/
HISTORY OF THE REIGN OV
FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.
HISTORY OF THE REIGN OF
FERDINAND AND ISABELLA THE CATHOLIC. By WILLIAM
H. PRESCOTT,
CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE INSTITUTE OF FRANCE; OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF HISTORY AT MADRID, ETC.
Conjugio tali !
Quae surgere regna
Virgil. VEneid. iv. 47. Crevere vires, famaque et imperi Porrecta majestas ab Euro Solis ad Occiduum cubile. H01at. Carm. iv. 15.
ant) WITH THE
(Station,
AUTHOR'S LATEST CORRECTIONS AND ADDITIONS,
Edited by JOHN FOSTER KIRK.
u- Alen<*w Josÿ' .
LONDON :
SWAN SONNENSCHEIN & CO., Ltd., PATERNOSTER SQUARE.
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EDITOR'S PREFACE.
In the intervals of composition, especially during the last years of his life, Mr. Prescott devoted much time to the revision of his published works. The changes he made included, besides many verbal amendments and some alterations of greater moment, numerous additions, principally to the notes, from the fresh material accumulated in the progress of his researches. Successive English editions published during his lifetime profited to some extent by this labour ; but his purpose to incorporate the whole of its results in a new American edition was unhappily frustrated by his death. He had intimated a desire that the task should, in this event, be undertaken by the writer, who had shared m the previous labour and was cognizant of the details, and to whom it has accordingly been intrusted by the publishers, the present proprietors of the copyrights. It has consisted mainly in collating the editions, errors having crept into the later and otherwise more perfect ones ; inserting emendations and addi¬ tions from the author's manuscripts ; verifying doubtful references ; and securing, by a careful supervision of the proofs, that high degree of typographical accuracy which is especially desirable in reprints of standard works. Occasional notes, confined to points of fact, have been appended by the editor, where statements in the text, based on insufficient authority or called in question by recent investigators, needed to be substantiated or corrected
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PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.
-aEnglish 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 guarantee 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 colonised ; 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 civilisation of the country, were banished ; and, in fine, such changes were introduced into the interior adminstration 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 cer¬ tainly 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
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1 The only histories of this reign by Continental writers, with which Iam acquainted, are the "Histoire des Rois Catholiques Ferdinand et Isabelle, par l'Abbd Mignot, Paris, 1766,'
PREFACE.
vm
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 favoured quarter of the globe was first revealed. As Iwas conscious that the value of the history must depend mainly on that of its materials, Ihave spared neither pains nor expense, from the
first, in collecting the most authentic. In accomplishing this, Imust 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 assist¬ ance, Iflatter myself that Ihave 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 beea printed, and some of them but little known to Spanish scholars. In obtaining copies of these from the public libraries, Imust add that Ihave found facilities under the present liberal government which were denied me under the preceding. In addition to these sources of information, I 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 pre¬ cluded 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 most general histories.
PREFACE.
IX
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. Imust further acknow¬ ledge my obligations to the library of Harvard University, in Cambridge, from whose rich repository of books relating to our own country Ihave derived material aid ; and, lastly, Imust not omit to notice the favours of another kind for which Iam indebted to my friend, Mr. William H. Gardiner, whose judicious counsels have been of essential benefit to me in the revision of my labours. In the plan of the work Ihave not limited myself to a strict chrono¬ logical 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 endeavoured 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 Ihave 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 Iam, 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. Imay have been more open to another fault,— that of too strong a bias in favour 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, Ican 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. Ihope Ishall be acquitted of egotism although Iadd a few words respecting the peculiar embarrassments Ihave encountered in composing these volumes. Soon after my arrangements were made, early in 1826, for obtaining the necessary materials from Madrid, Iwas deprived of the use of my eyes for all purposes of reading and writing, and had no pros-
PREFA CE.
X
pect of again recovering it. This was a serious obstacle to the prosecu¬ tion 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.1 Thus shut out from one sense, Iwas 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 Iwas 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 prosecu¬ tion of my labours, and in the revision of all previously written. Ihope I shall not be misunderstood as stating these circumstances to deprecate the severity of criticism, since Iam inclined to think the greater circumspec¬ tion Ihave been compelled to use has left me, on the whole, less exposed to inaccuracies than Ishould have been in the ordinary mode of com¬ position. But as Ireflect on the many sober hours Ihave passed in wading through black-letter tomes, and through manuscripts whose doubt¬ ful orthography and defiance of all punctuation were so many stumblingblocks to my amanuensis, it calls up a scene of whimsical distresses, not usually encountered, on which the good-natured reader may, perhaps, allow Ihave some right, now that Ihave got the better of them, to dwell
with satisfaction. Iwill only remark, in conclusion of this too prolix discussion about myself, that, while making my tortoise-like progress, Isaw what Ihad fondly looked upon as my own ground (having indeed lain unmolested by any other invader for so many ages) suddenly entered, and in part occu¬ pied, by one of my countrymen. Iallude 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, 1
" 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.
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PREFACE.
xi
stripped of the charm ot novelty. For what eye has not been attracted to the spot on which the light of that writer's genius has fallen ? Icannot quit the subject, which has so long occupied me, without one glance at the present unhappy condition of Spain ; who, shorn of her ancient splendour, 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 institu¬ tions. 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 ;
" Che l'antico valore
-non b 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. Noveviber iJSt7
PREFACE TO THE THIRD ENGLISH EDITION.
Since the publication of the First Edition of this work, it has undergone & careful revision ; and this, aided by the communications of several intelli¬ gent 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, Ireceived, 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 Iam 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. Imust 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 investi¬ gation of original sources and its fine spirit of criticism, must supply, what has been so long felt to be a desideratum with the student, the means of forming a perfect acquaintance with the Arabic 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 docu¬ ments, 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 would 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, even when forming the basis of his conclusions ; and Ihave gladly availed myself of the liberality and great kindness of Senor de Gayangos, who has placed these manuscripts at my disposal, transcribing such as Ihave selected for the corroboration and
PREFACE.
xiv
further illustration of my work. The difficulties attending this labour 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 favour from the public which has been so courteously accorded to the
preceding. ÿTarch 1841
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CONTENTS. -*•
INTRODUCTION. SECTION I. VlFW OF THE CASTILIAN MONARCHY BEFORE THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY.
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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 of the Clergy Their rich Possessions Limited Extent of the Royal Prerogative Poverty of the Crown Its Causes—Anecdote of Henry III.of Castile Constitution at the Beginning of the Fifteenth Century Constitutional Writers on Castile 1-2ÿ Notice of Marina and Sempere
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SECTION U. Review of the Constitution of Aragon to the Middle of the Fifteenth Century.
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Foreign Conquests Code of Soprarbe— The Ricos Hombres Their Immunities Their Turbulence Privileges of Union Their Abrogation The Legis¬ lature 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 Insti¬ tutions— 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 CaDmanv • •
tuse of Aragon
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CONTENTS.
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PART FIRST. THE PERIOD, IV//EA THE DIFFERENT KINGDOMS OF SPAIN WERE FIRST UNITED UNDER ONE MONARCHY, AND A THOROUGH REFORM WAS INTRODUCED INTO THEIR INTERNAL ADMINI¬ STRATION; OR THE PERIOD EXHIBITING MOST FULLY THE DOMESTIC POLICY OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.
CHAPTER 1 Statf. ok Castile at
Birth of Isabella — Reign of John II. oi-
the
Castile.
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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 ol Santillana John de Mena His Influence Baena's Cancionero Castilian Litera¬ ture under John II. Decline of Alvaro de Luna His Fall His Death Lamented 33-61 by John Death of John II.— Birth of Isabella
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CHAPTER IT Condition
of Aragon during the Minority of II. of Aragon. of
Ferdinand— Reign
John
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 II. succeeds to the Crown of Aragon— Carlos reconciled with his Father— —IsJohn 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 Rene of Anjou—Distress and Embarrassments of John— Popularity of the Duke of Lorraine of the Queen of Aragon— Improvement in John's Affairs— Siege of Barcelona —Death 62-78 — It surrenders
....... . CHAPTER III.
Reign of Henry
IV
of
Castile— Civil War— Marriage of Ferdi¬ nand and Isabella.
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Popularity of Henry IV. He disappoints Expectations His dissolute Habits Oppres¬ sion of the People Debasement of the Coin— Character of Pachec ÿ, 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 thf Nobles Deposition of Henry at Avila Division of Parties Intrigues of the Marqui3 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 78-Joq
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xvii
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IV.
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Factions in Castile War between France and Aragon— Death of Henry IV. of Castile.
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Factions in Castile Ferdinand and Isabella Civil Anarchy Revolt of Roussillon from Louis XI. Gallant Defence of Perpignan— Ferdinand raises the Siege Treaty between Franee and Aragon Isabella's Party gains Strength Interview between Henry IV. and Isabella at Sevogia 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 del Castillo 103-116
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CHAPTER V. Accession of Ferdinand and Isabella—War of the SuccessionBattle 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— Kingof 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 116-135
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CHAPTER VI. Internal Administration of Castile. Scheme of Reform for the Government of Castile—Administration of Justice— Establish¬ ment 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 of the Laws— Reorganization of the Tribunals—King and Queen preside in Courts of Justice— Re-establishment of Order— Reform of the Jurisprudence— Code of Ordenanfas 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— Usurpa¬ tions of the Church— Resisted by Cortes Difference with the Pope— Restoration of Trade— Salutary Enactments of Cortes Prosperity of the Kingdom Notice of Clemencin 135-160
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Establishment of the Modern Inquisition. Origin of the Ancient Inquisition—Its Introduction into Aragon— Retrospective View
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of the Jews in Spain— Under the Arabs Under the Castilians Persecution of the Their State at the Accession of Isabella— Charges against them Bigotry of
Jew
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CONTENTS.
xviii
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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 Proceed¬ ings of the Inquisitors—Conduct of the Papal Court — Final Organization of the Inquisition— Forms of Trial Torture— Injustice of its Proceedings Autos da reConvictions under Torquemada— Perfidious Policy of Rome Notice of Llorente's 161-180 History of the Inquisition •
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CHAPTER VIII. Review of the Political and Intellectual Condition of the Spanish Arabs previous to the War of Granada.
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Early Successes of Mahometanism Conquest of Spain Western Caliphate Form ol 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 favourable to it Provisions for Learning The actual Results Averroes Their Historical Merits Useful Discoveries The Impulse given by them to Etlrope— Their eleganr Literature Poetical Character— Influence on the Castilian Circumstances preju¬ 180-202 dicial to their Reputation Notices of Casiri, Conde, and Cardonne
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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— Valour 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 203-214
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CHAPTER X. War of Granada— Unsuccessful Attempt on Loja—Defeat in the Axarquia.
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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 Chris—
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xiv
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XI.
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War of Granada General View of the Policy pursued in the Conduct of this War. Abdallah marches against the Christians— 111 Omens— Marches on Lucena— Battle of
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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 Persever¬ ance 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 Demeanour of the Sovereigns Ceremonies on the Occupation of a City Release of Christian Captives Policy in fomenting the Moorish Factions Christian Con¬ quests Notice of Fernando del Pulgar Notice of Antonio de Lebrija 231-255
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CHAPTER XII. Internal Affairs of the Kingdom—Inquisition in Aragon.
Isabella enforces the Laws— Chastisement of certain Ecclesiastics— Marriage of Catharine of Navarre— Liberation of Catalan Serfs— Inquisition in Aragon— Remonstrances of Cortes— Conspiracy formed—Assassination of Arbues— Cruel Persecutions— In¬ quisition throughout Ferdinand's Dominions 251-255
....
CHAPTER XIII. War of Granada— Surrender of Velez Malaga—Siege and Con¬ quest of Malaga.
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Position of Velez Malaga Army before Velez— Defeat of El Zagal— Narrow Escape of Ferdinand— Surrender of Velez— Description of Malaga— Sharp Rencontre— Malaga invested by Sea and Land— Brilliant Spectacle— Extensive Preparations— The Queen visits the Camp— Summons of the Town— Danger of the Marquis of Cadiz— Civil
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Feuds of the Moors Attempt to assassinate the Sovereigns Distress and Resolu¬ tion of the Besieged Enthusiasm of the Christians— Discipline of the Army General Sally— Generosity of a Moorish Knight Outworks carried Grievous Famine Proposals for Surrender Haughty Demeanour of Ferdinand— Malaga surrenders at Discretion Purification of the City Entrance of the Sovereigns Release of Chris¬ tian Captives— Lament of the Malagans Sentence passed on them— Wary Device of Ferdinand Cruel Policy of the Victors Measures for repeopling Malaga 255-271
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CHAPTER XIV.
—
War of Granada Conquest of Baza— Submission of El Zagal.
The Sovereigns visit Aragon— Inroads into Granada— Border War— Embassy from
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Maximilian— Preparations for the Siege of Baza The King takes Command of the Army — Position and Strength of Baza—Assault on the Garden Despondency of the Spanish Chiefs Dispelled by Isabella— Gardens cleared of their Timber City closely invested—Mission from the Sultan of Egypt Houses erected for the Army — Its strict Discipline— Heavy Tempest Isabella's Energy Her patriotic
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CONTENTS.
XX
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Sacrifices Resolution of the Besieged Isabella visits the Camp Suspension of Arms Baza surrenders— Conditions— Occupation of the City Treaty of Surrender with El Zagal— Painful March of the Spanish Army— Interview between Ferdi. nand and El Zagal— Occupation of El Zagal's Domain—Equivalent assigned to him—Difficulties of this Campaign— Isabella's Popularity and Influence—Notice of 271-288 Peter Martyr
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........ CHAPTER XV.
War of Granada— Siege and Surrender of the City of Granada
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The Infanta Isabella Public Festivities— Granada summoned in vain — Knighthood of Don Juan Ferdinand's Policy Isabella deposes the Judges of Chancery — Ferdi¬ nand musters his Forces—Encamps in the Vega Position of Granada— Moslem and Christian Chivalry The Queen surveys the City— Skirmish with the Enemy Conflagration of the Christian Camp— Erection of Santa Fe Negotiations for Surrender Capitulation of Granada Commotions in Granada Preparations for occupying the city—The Cross raised on the Alhambra Fate of Abdallah Results of the War of Granada—Its Moral Influence Its Military Influence Destiny of the Moors Death and Character of the Marquis of Cadiz - Notice of Bernaldez, Curate of Los Palacios Irving's Chronicle of Granada 288-304
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CHAPTER XVI. Application of Christopher
Columbus at the Spanish Court.
Maritime Enterprise of the Portuguese— Early Spanish Discoveries— Early History of Columbus— Belief of Land in the West— Columbus applies to Portugal— To the Court of Castile— Referred to a Council— His Application rejected Pie prepares to leave Spain— Interposition in his Behalf— Columbus at Santa Fe— Negotiations again broken off— The Queen's favourable Disposition— Final Arrangement with Columbus— He sails on his First Voyage— Indifference to his Enterprise— Acknow¬ ledgments due to Isabella 304-316
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....... CHAPTER XVII.
Expulsion of the Jews from Spain.
Excitement against the Jews— Fomented by the Clergy— Violent Conduct of Torquemada — Edict of Expulsion— Its severe Operation—Constancy of the Jews— Routes of the Emigrants—Their Sufferings in Africa— In other Countries—Whole Number of Exiles—Disastrous Results—True Motives of the Edict Contemporary Judgments Mistaken Piety of the Queen 316-326
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CHAPTER XVIII. Attempted Assassination of
Ferdinand— Return and Second Columbus.
Voyage of
The Sovereigns visit Aragon—Attempt on Ferdinand's Life—General ConsternationLoyalty of the People— Slow Recovery of the King— Punishment of the AssassinReturn of Columbus— Discovery of the West Indies Joyous Reception of Columbus His 1rogiess to Barcelona— Interview with the Sovereigns— Sensations caused by the Discovery Boaid for Indian Affairs— Regulations of Trade— Preparations for a
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.
CONTENTS
xxi
— — Lisbon— Wary Diplomacy— Second Voyage of Columbus— Mission to Portugal— Disgust of John II.—Treaty of Tordesillas 326-340 —
Second Voyage— Conversion of the Natives New Powers granted to Columbus
Application to Rome— Famous Bulls of Alexander VI. Jealousy of the Court of
....
CHAPTER XIX.
—
Castilian Literature—Cultivation of the Court Classical Learning Science.
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Ferdinand's Education neglected— Instruction of Isabella— Her Collection of Books—
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Tuition of the Infantas Of Prince John The Queen's Care for the Education of her Nobles Labours of Martyr Of Lucio Marineo Scholarship of the Nobles Accomplished Women Classical Learning Lebrija Arias Barbosa Merits of the Spanish Scholars— Universities Sacred Studies Other Sciences Printing intro¬ The Queen encourages it— Its rapid Diffusion Actual Progress of duced Science 340-353
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Castilian Literature—Romances of Chivalry— Lyrical Poetry— The Drama.
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This Reign an Epoch in Polite Letters Romances of Chivalry— Their Pernicious Effects Ballads or Romances Early Cultivation in Spain— Resemblance to the English Moorish Minstrelsy Its Date and Origin—Its high Repute Numerous Editions of the Ballad— Lyric Poetry Cancionero General Its Literary Value Low State of Lyric Poetry Coplas of Manrique Rise of the Spanish Drama Tragicomedy of Celestina Criticism on it It opened the Way to Dramatic Writing Numerous Editions of it Juan de la Encina— His Dramatic Eclogues Torres de Naharro— His Comedies— Similar in Spirit with the later Dramas Not acted in Spain Low Condition of the Stage—Tragic Drama Oliva's Classic Imitations— Not popular— National Spirit of the Literature of this Epoch Moratin's Dramatic Criticism 353~372
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......... PART SECOND.
WHEN,, THE INTERIOR ORGANIZATION OP THE MONARCHY HA VING BEEN COMPLETED, THE SPANISH NATION ENTERED ON ITS SCHEMES OF DISCOVERY AND CONQUEST; OR THE PERIOD ILLUSTRATING MORE PARTICULARLY THE FOREIGN POLICY OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.
THE PERIOD
CHAPTER I. Italian Wars— General View of Europe— Invasion of Italy by Charles VIII. of France.
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Foreign Politics directed by Ferdinand— Europe at the Close of the Fifteenth Century
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Character of the reigning Sovereigns— Improved Political and Moral Condition More intimate Relations between States— Foreign Relations conducted by the
CONTENTS.
xxii
Sovereign— Italy the School of Politics— Her most powerful States— Character of Italian Politics— Internal Prosperity Intrigues of Sforza— Charles VIII. of France— His Pretensions to Naples Negotiations respecting Roussillon Charles's Coun* sellors in the Pay of Ferdinand Treaty of Barcelona Its Importance to SpainAlarm at the French Invasion, in Italy In Europe, especially Spain— Preparations of Charles An Envoy sent to the French Court— Announces Ferdinand's ViewsCharles's Dissatisfaction—The French cross the Alps Italian Tactics The Swiss Infantry— French Artillery— Sforza jealous of the French The Pope confers the Title of Catholic Naval Preparations in Spain Second Mission to Charles VIII. Bold Conduct of the Envoys The King of Naples flies to Sicily The French enter Naples General Hostility to them League of Venice — Zurita's Life and
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Writings
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373"395
CHAPTER II. Italian Wars— Retreat of Charles VIII.— Campaigns of Gonsalvo de Cordova— Final Expulsion of the French.
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Conduct of Charles— Plunders the Works of Art Retreat of the French— Gonsalvo de Cordova— His Early Life His brilliant Qualities— Raised to the Italian Command Arrives in Italy— Lands in Calabria— Marches on Seminara Gonsalvo s Prudence Battle of Seminara Defeat of the Neapolitans Gonsalvo retreats to Reggio Ferdinand recovers his Capital Gonsalvo in Calabria— His Successes Decline of the French— Besieged inAtella Gonsalvo surprises Laino Arrives before Atella Receives the Title of Great Captain— Beats a Detachment of Swiss— Capitulation of Montpensier Miserable State of the French— Death of Ferdinand of Naples Accession of Frederick II.— Total Expulsion of the French— Remarks on Guicciardini and Giovio Sismondi •. 395-412
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CHAPTER III. Italian Wars— Gonsalvo succours the Pope—Treaty with France
— Organization of the Spanish Militia. War on the Side of Roussillon— The Pope asks the Aid of Gonsalvo — Storming and Capture of Ostia— Gonsalvo enters Rome— Plis Reception by the Pope— Returns to Spain— Peace with France— Ferdinand's Views respecting Naples— HisFameacquired by the War— Influence of the War on Spain— Organization of the Militia . 412-418 CHAPTER IV. Alliances of the Royal Family— Death of Prince John and Princess Isabella.
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Royal Family of Castile—Joanna Beltraneja— Marriage of the Princess Isabella DeatJ of her Husband—Alliances with the House of Austria— And that of EnglandJoanna embarks—The Queen's Anxiety— Margaret of Austria— Returns in the Fleet —Marriage of John and Margaret— Second Marriage of Princess Isabella—Sudden Illness of 1rince John His Death— Plis amiable Character— The King and Queen of Portugal visit Spain Objections to their Recognition Isabella displeased Her — Daughter's Death—Its Effects on Isabella-Prince Miguel's Recognition 419-430
.
—
CONTENTS.
xxiii
CHAPTER V. Death of Cardinal Mendoza— Rise of Ximenes— Ecclesiastical Reform.
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Death of Mendoza— His early Life And Character— His Amours The Queen his Executor—Birth of Ximenes— He visits Rome— His Return and Imprisonment Established at Siguenza— Enters the Franciscan Order— His severe Penance— His ascetic Life— He is made Guardian of Salzeda— Introduced to the Queen— Made her Confessor— Elected Provincial— Corruption of the Monasteries— Attempts at Reform— See of Toledo vacant—Offered to Ximenes— He reluctantly accepts— Characteristic Anecdotes of Ximenes— His Austere Life— Reform in his Diocese— Example of his Severity— Reform of the Monastic Orders— Great Excitement caused by it Visit of the Franciscan General— Insults the Queen— The Pope's Interference Consents to the Reform— Its Operation and Effects—Alvaro Gomez and Bio¬ graphers of Ximenes 431-447
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....... CHAPTER VI.
Ximenes in Granada— Persecution, Insurrection, and Conversion of the Moors. Introductory Remarks— Ximenes, his Constancy of Purpose— Tranquil State of Granada —Tendilla—Talavera—Archbishop of Granada—His mild Policy— The Clergy dis¬ satisfied with it— Temperate Sway of the Sovereigns— Ximenes in Granada— His violent Measures— Destroys Arabic Books— Mischievous Effects— Revolt of the Albaycin— Ximenes besieged in his Palace—The Insurgents appeased by Talavera— Displeasure of the Sovereigns Ximenes hastens to Court Conversion of Granada Applauded by the Spaniards 447-458
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CHAPTER VII.
—
Death of Alonso de Aguilar— Edict AGAINST THE MOORS.
Rising in the Alpujarras
—
The Alpujarras— Rising of the Moors— Huejar sacked Ferdinand marches into the
—
Mountains— Carries Lanjaron— Punishment of the Rebels Revolt of the Sierra Vermeja Rendezvous at Ronda Expedition into the Sierra— The Moors retreat up the Mountains Return on the Spaniards Alonso de Aguilar — His Gallantry and Death His noble Character — Bloody Rout of the Spaniards Dismay of the Nation— The Rebels submit to Ferdinand Banishment or Conversion Commemo¬ rative Ballads— Melancholy Reminiscences Edict against the Moors of Castile—• Christianity and Mahometanism— Causes of Intolerance— Aggravated in the Fif¬ teenth Century Effects of the Inquisition Defects of the Treaty of Granada Evasion of it by the Christians— Priestly Casuistry— Last Notice of the Moors in the present Reign 459-474
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CHAPTER VIII.
Columbus—Prosecution of Discovery— His Treatment by thf. Court.
Progress of Discovery— Misconduct of the Colonists— Complaints against Columbus—
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His Second Return The Queen's Confidence in him unshaken Honours conferred on him— His Third Voyage Discovers Terra Firma— Mutiny in the Colony
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CONTENTS.
*xiv
Loud Complaints against Columbus— Bigoted Views in regard to the HeathenMore liberal Sentiments of Isabella— She sends back the Indian Slaves— Authority to Bobadilla— Outrage on Columbus— Deep Regret of the Sovereigns— Reception of Columbus— Vindication of the Sovereigns— Commission to Ovando Groundless Imputations on the Government—The Admiral's Despondency— His Fourth and Last Voyage— Remarkable Fate of his Enemies • • 474-488 • •
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CHAPTER IX. Spanish Colonial Policy.
Careful Provision for the Colonies— Liberal Grants— License for Private Voyages— Theii Success— IndianDepartment— Casa de Contratacion Important PapalConcessions— Spirit of the Colonial Legislation—The Queen's Zeal for converting the Natives—
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Unhappily defeated Immediate Profits from the Discoveries Origin of the Venereal Disease Moral Consequences of the Discoveries Their Geographical ExtentHistorians of the New World Peter Martyr Herrera— Muhoz 488-499
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CHAPTER X. Italian Wars— Partition of Naples— Gonsalvo overruns Calabria
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Louis XII.'s Designs on Italy Politics of that Country The French conquer MilanAlarm of the Spanish Court— Remonstrance to the Pope Boldness of Garcilasso de la Vega— Negotiations with Venice and the Emperor Louis openly menaces Naples Views of Ferdinand— Fleet fitted out under Gonsalvo de Cordova Partition of Naples Ground of Ferdinand's Claim Gonsalvo sails against the Turks Storm¬ ing of St. George Honours paid to Gonsalvo The Pope confirms the PartitionAstonishment of Italy Success and Cruelties of the French Fate of Frederick Gonsalvo invades Calabria— Invests Tarento Discontents in the Army Munificence of Gonsalvo He punishes a Mutiny Bolder Plan of Attack Tarento surrendersPerjury of Gonsalvo 500-515
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— — ........ CHAPTER XI.
Italian Wars— Rupture with France— Gonsalvo besieged in Barleta.
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Mutual Distrust of the French and Spaniards Cause of Rupture— The French begin Hostilities— The Italians favour them— The French Army — Inferiority of the Span¬ iards—Gonsalvo retires to Barleta— Siege of Canosa Chivalrous Character of the War — Tournament near Trani— Duel between Bayard and Sotomayor— Distress of the Spaniards— Spirit of Gonsalvo The French reduce Calabria Constancy of the Spaniards Nemours defies the Spaniards— Rout of the French Rear-guard—Arrival of Supplies—Design on Ruvo— Gonsalvo storms and takes it— His Treatment of the Prisoners— Prepares to leave Barleta 5 15—528
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CHAPTER XII.
— Negotiations with France—Victory of Cerignola
Italian Wars
Surrender of Naples.
Birth of Charles V.— Philip and Joanna visit Spain— Recognized by Cortes— Philip'* Discontent—Leaves Spain for France—Negotiates a Treaty with Louis XII.— Treaty of Lyons—The Great Captain refuses to comply with it— Marches out of Barleta
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CONTENTS.
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XXV
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Distress of the Troops Encamps before Cerignola— Nemours pursues The Spanish Forces— The French Forces— Battle of Cerignola Death of Nemours— Rout of the French Their Loss Pursuit of the Enemy D'Aubigny defeated Submission of Naples—Triumphant Entry of Gonsalvo— Fortresses of Naples Castel Nuovo stormed— Nearly all the Kingdom reduced 528-541
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CHAPTER XIII. Negotiations with France— Unsuccessful Invasion of Spain-
Truce.
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Treaty of Lyons Rejected by Ferdinand— His Policy examined Joanna's Despondency First Symptoms of her Insanity The Queen hastens to her Isabella's DistressHer Illness and Fortitude—The French invade Spain— Siege of Salsas Isabella's Exertions Ferdinand's Successes— Truce with France— Reflections on the Campaign , 541-552 Impediments to Historic Accuracy Speculative Writers
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CHAPTER XIV. Italian Wars— Condition of Italy—French and Spanish Armies on the Garigliano.
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Melancholy Condition of Italy Views of the Italian States Of the Emperor Great Preparations of Louis XII.— Death of Alexander VI.— Electioneering Intrigues— Julius II. Gonsalvo repulsed before Gaeta— Strength of his Forces Occupies San Germano The French encamp on the Garigliano Passage of the Bridge— Desperate Resistance The French resume their Quarters Anxious Expectation of Italy— Gonsalvo strengthens his Position Great Distress of the Army — Gonsalvo's Resolu¬ tion— Remarkable Instance of it Patience of the Spaniards— Situation of the French Their Insubordination Saluzzo takes the Command Heroism of Paredes and Bayard 552-566
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Italian Wars— Rout of the Garigliano Treaty with France— Gonsalvo's Military Conduct. Gonsalvo secures the Orsini— Assumes the Offensive— Plan of Attack — Consternation of the French— They retreat on Gaeta—Action at the Bridge of Mola— Hotly contested —Arrival of the Spanish Rear— The French routed— Their Loss—Gallantry of their Chivalry— Capitulation of Gaeta— Gonsalvo's Courtesy— Chagrin of Louis XII. — Sufferings of the French— The Spaniards occupy Gaeta— Public Enthusiasm— Extor¬ tions of the Spanish Troops Gonsalvo's Liberality to his Officers— Apprehensions of Louis XII.—Treaty with France Gallantry of Louis d'Ars— Causes of the French Failures Review of Gonsalvo's Conduct— His Reform of the Service—Influence over the Army His Confidence in their Character— Position of the Army— Results of the Campaigns— Memoirs of Gonsalvo de Cordovo French Chronicles 566-582
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CHAPTER XVI. Illness and Death of Isabella— Her Character.
Decline of the Queen's Health— Mad Conduct of Joanna—The Queen seized with a Fever
—Retains her Energies— Alarm of the Nation— Her Testament— Settles the Succes-
CONTENTS.
XXVI
sion— Ferdinand named Regent— Provision for him— Her Codicil— She fails rapidly Her Resignation and Death— Her Remains transported to Granada— Laid in the —Alhambra — Isabella's Person— Her Manners— Her Magnanimity— Her Piety— Her Bigotry—Common to her Age— And later Times— Her Strength of Principle— Her Practical Sense— Her unwearied Activity — Her Courage— Her Sensibility— Parallel Homage to her Virtues .
. . 583-601
with Queen Elizabeth— Universal
CHAPTER XVII. Ferdinand Regent— His second Marriage— Dissensions with
— Resignation of the Regency. Philip and Joanna proclaimed— Discontent of the Nobles— Don Juan Manuel— Philip's Pretensions— His Party increases— He tampers with Gonsalvo de Cordova— Ferdinand's Perplexities— Proposals for a second Marriage— Policy of Louis XII.— Treaty with France— Its Impolicy— Concord of Salamanca— Philip and Joanna embark— Reach Coruiia— Philip joined by the Nobles— His Character— Ferdinand unpopular— Interview with Philip— Courteous Deportment of Ferdinand— Philip's Distrust— Ferdinand resigns the Regency— His private Protest— His Motives— Second Interview—Departure of Ferdinand — Authorities for the Account of Philip
Philip
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601-617
CHAPTER XVIII.
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Columbus— His Return to Spain His Death.
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Columbus's last Voyage He learns Isabella's Death— His Illness— He visits the Court —Ferdinand's unjust Treatment of him— He declines in Health and Spirits His Death— His Person and Habits— His Enthusiasm— His lofty Character 617-622
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CHAPTER XIX.
— Proceedings in Castile— Ferdinand
Reign and Death of Philip I.
visits Naples.
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Philip and Joanna— Philip's arbitary Government Reckless Extravagance Troubles from the Inquisition— Ferdinand's Distrust of Gonsalvo— He sails for Naples Gonsalvo's Loyalty— Death of Philip— His Character Provisional Government Joanna's Condition— Convocation of Cortes— Ferdinand received with Enthusiasm His Entry into Naples— Restores the Angevins General Dissatisfaction 623-634
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CHAPTER XX. Ferdinand's Return and Regency— Gonsalvo's Honours and Retirement.
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Meeting of Cortes Joanna's insane Conduct— She changes her Ministers Disorderly State of Castile Distress of the Kingdom Ferdinand's politic Behaviour He leaves Naples Gonsalvo de Cordova Grief of the Neapolitans Brilliant Interview of Ferdinand and Louis Compliments to Gonsalvo The King's Reception in Castile—Joanna's Retirement—Irregularity of Ferdinand's Proceedings—General Amnesty He establishes a Guard His excessive Severity Disgust of the Nobles —Gonsalvo's Progress through the Country—Ferdinand breaks his Word— The Queen's Coolness— Gonsalvo withdraws from Court Splendour of his Retire-
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CONTENTS.
sacvil
CHAPTER XXI.
—Conquests
Ximenes
— University of AlcalX—Polyglot
in Africa
Bible.
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Policy of Ferdinand's Severity— Enthusiasm of Ximenes— His Designs against Oran His warlike Preparations— His Perseverance— Sends an Army to Africa Addresses the Troops— The Command left to Navarro Battle before Oran— The City stormed Moorish Loss— Ximenes enters Ora— nOpposition of his General— His Distrust of Ferdinand— Ximenes returns to Spain Refuses public Honours Navarro's African Conquests College of Ximenes at Alcali—Its magnificence Provisions for Education The King visits the University— Polyglot Edition of the Bible Diffi¬
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culties of the Task
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• 649-664
CHAPTER XXII. Wars and Politics of Italy.
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Projects against Venice League of Cambray Its Origin—Louis XII. invades Italy Resolution of Venice—Alarm of Ferdinand— Investiture of Naples Holy League Gaston de Foix— Battle of Ravenna—Death of Gaston de Foix His Character The French retreat Venice disgusted— Battle of Novara— Of La Motta—The , Spaniards victorious — Daru's " Histoire de Venise " 664-673
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CHAPTER XXIIL Conquest of Navarre.
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Sovereigns of Navarre Distrust of Spain— Negotiations with France Ferdinand demands a Passage— Navarre allied to France Invaded by Alva— And conquered Character of Jean d'Albret Discontent of the English Discomfiture of the French —Treaty of Orthis—Ferdinand settles his Conquests United with Castile—The King's Conduct examined Right of Passage Imprudence of Navarre It authorizes War— Gross Abuse of Victory Authorities for the History of Navarre 674-684
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CHAPTER XXIV.
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Death of Gonsalvo de Cordova Illness and Death of Ferdinand — His Character.
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Maximilian's Pretensions Gonsalvo ordered to Italy General Enthusiasm The King's Distrust Gonsalvo goes into Retirement The King's Desire for Children Decline of his Health Gonsalvo's Illness and Death Public Grief His Character His private Virtues His Want of Faith His Loyalty Ferdinand's Illness increases His Insensibility to his Situation His last Hours— His Death and Testament His Body transported to Granada His Person and Character— His Temperance and Economy His Bigotry—Accused of Hypocrisy His Perfidy— His shrewd Policy His Insensibility Contrast with Isabella Gloomy Close of his Life His , 684-701 kingly Qualities Judgment of his Contemporaries
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CONTENTS
XX VI11
CHAPTER XXV.
ÿ
Administration, Death, and Character of Cardinal Ximenes.
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Disputes respecting the Regency Charles proclaimed King— Anecdote of Ximenes His Military Ordinance His domestic Policy His foreign Policy— Assumes the sole Power— Intimidates the Nobles— Public Discontents— Treaty of Noyon Charles lands in Spain— His ungrateful Letter— The Cardinal's last Illness— His Death His Character— His Versatility of Talent — His despotic Government— His monastic Austerities His His Disinterestedness His moral Principle Economy of Time His Person Parallel with Richelieu Notice of Galindez de Carbajal 702-714
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CHAPTER XXVI. General Review of the Administration of Ferdinand and Isabella.
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Policy of the Crown Depression of the Nobles Their great Power Treatment of the Church Care of Morals— State of the Commons— Their Consideration Royal Ordinances Arbitrary Measures of Ferdinand— Advancement of Prerogative Legal Compilations— Organization of Councils Legal Profession advanced Character of the Laws— Erroneous Principles of Legislation Principal Exports Manufactures Agriculture Economical Policy— Internal Improvements Increase of Empire Government of Naples Revenues from the Indies— Spirit of Adventure — Progress of Discovery Excesses of the Spaniards Slavery in the Colonies— Colonial Admin¬ istration— General Prosperity Public Embellishments— Augmentation of Revenue Increase of Population Patriotic Principle— Chivalrous Spirit of the People Spirit of Bigotry Beneficent Imuulse—The Period of National Glory . 715-747
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HISTORY OF THE REIGN OF
FERDINAND AND ISABELLA. Introduction* SECTION I. VIEW OF THE CASTILIAN MONARCHY BEFORE THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY.
Early History and Constitution of Castile.— Saracen Invasion.— 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.
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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 inhabit¬ ants. 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 A
INTROD UCT10N
2
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 labours of a sober, industrious people, under whom agri culture 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 neighbouring 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 increas ing 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 indem¬ nified the nation for the scantiness of its territory at home, by the import¬ ant 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 1 Aragon was formally released from this homage 2 Navarre was too inconsiderable, and bore too in 1177, and Portugal in 1264. (Mariana, Histona near a resemblance in its government to the other (Madrid, 1780), de Espana lib. cap. 11, ; general Peninsular kingdoms, to require a separate notice ; 14 fib. 13, cap. 20.) The king of Granada, Aben Alah- for which, indeed, the national writers afford but mar, swore fealty to St. Ferdinand in 1245, binding very scanty materials. The Moorish empire of himself to the payment of an annual rent, to serve Granada, so interesting in itself, and so dissimilar under him with a stipulated number of his knights in all respects to Christian Spain, merits particular in war, and personally attend cortes when sum¬ attention. 1have deferred the consideration of it, moned; a whimsical stipulation this for a Maho¬ however, to that period of the history which is metan prince. Conde, Iiistoria de la Dominacion occupied with its subversion. See Part I., chap¬ de los Arabes en Espana (Madrid, 1820, 1821), torn. ter 8. iii cap. 30.
—
CASTILE.
3
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.1 Laws were enacted in the great national councils, com¬ posed 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.2 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.3 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 the religious as well as many of the civil privileges which they possessed under the ancient monarchy.4 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 ;6 and the men of higher rank or of 1 See the Canons of the fifth Council of Toledo. Florez, Espana sagrada (Madrid, 1747-1776), torn. vi. p. 168. 2 Recesvinto, in order more effectually to bring •bout the consolidation of his Gothic and Roman subjects into one nation, abrogated the law prohibit¬
ing their intermarriage. The terms in which his enactment is conceived disclose a far more enlight¬ ened 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, and first printed in 1600, at Madrid. (Los Doctores Asso y Manuel, Instituciones del Derecho civil de Castilla (Madrid, 17512), pp. 6, 7.) A second edition, under the super¬ vision 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 such features that brought upon these laws the sweep¬ ing condemnation of Montesquieu, as " pudriles, gauches, idiotes, frivoles dans le fond et gigantesques dans le style." Esprit des Lois, liv. 28, chap. 1. 3 Some of the local usages, afterwards incorpo¬ rated in the fueras, or charters, of the C&stilian communities, may probably derived from the
—
time of the Visigoths. The English reader may form a good idea of the tenor of the legal institu¬ tions 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. 4 The Christians, in all matters exclusively relat¬ ing to themselves, were governed by their o#n 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 {roste 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 cos¬ tume, and celebrate the pompous ceremonial, of the Romish communion. Florez, Espana sagrada, torn. x. trat. 33, cap. 7.— Morales, Cordnica general de Espana (Obras, Madrid, 1791-1793), lib. 12, cap. 78.— Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, part. 1, cap. 15, 22.
—
5 Morales, Cordnica, 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, Monarquia de Espana (Madrid, 1770), torn. i. p. 34, note). If we could rely 011 a singular statement, 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 fragment that in 1311 the ambassador of James IT.
INTROD UCT/ON.
4
more generous sentiments, who refused to accept a nominal and precaiious independence at the hands of their oppressors, escaped from the over¬ whelming inundation into the neighbouring 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.1 Here the broken remnant of the nation endeavoured 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.2 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 enjoy¬ ment 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. 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. 1 Bleda, Cordnica de los Moros de Espana (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 antiquary, Morales, considers the regions of the Pyrenees lying betwixt Aragon and Navarre, together with the Asturias, Biscay, Guipuscoa, the northern por¬ tion of Galicia and the Alpujarras (the last retreat, too, of the Moors, under the Christian domination), to have been untouched by the Saracen invaders. See lib. 12, cap. 76. 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 «»r -> (Treat a degree of to them, on the whole
—
*
—
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 as¬ certained by the amount of composition (that accu¬ rate measurement of civil rights with all the bar¬ barians 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 onefifth 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 murdering or maiming his own slave (lib. 6, tit. 5, leyes 12, 13) ; while, in other codes of the barbarians, the penalty was confined to similar trespasses o. '. the slaves of another ; and, by the Salic law, no higher mulct was imposed for killing than for kidnapping a slave. (Lex Salica, tit. t i, 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 providedÿ for their personal security, instead of limiting itself to the indemnification of their masters
CASTILE.
5
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 forti¬ fications 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 Gonzalez, 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.1 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,2 and nearly thrice that period before they had advanced the line of conquest to the Tagus,3 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 ulti¬ mately 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
J
3 Toledo was not reconquered until 1085 ; Lisbon Cordnica general, part. 3, fol. 54. I * According to Morales (Cordnica, lib. 13, cap. in 1147. 57), this took place about 850.
'
INTRODUCTION.
6
mountains, he beheld the pleasant valleys and fruitful vineyards of his 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.1 They interpreted the will of Heaven as mysteriously revealed in dreams and
ancestors delivered over to the
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.2 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 ardour in Spain as on the plains of Palestine.3 Hence the national character became exalted by a religious fervour, 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 among the 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 1 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 pre¬ lates, considersÿ 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 valour in war." Hist, de Espana, torn. ii.
p. 14-
2 The first occasion on which the military apostle condescended to reveal himself to the Leonese was the memorable day of Claviio, a.d. 844, when 70,000 infidels fell on the field. From that time, the name of St. Tago became the battle-cry of the Spaniards. The truth of the story is attested by a contemporary charter of Ramiro 1. 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 vote, as it is called, is given at length by Florez in his Collection (Espana sagrada, torn. 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, amnio evidence of its forgery. (Mondeiar.
Advertencias & la Historia de Mariana (Valencia,
—
1746), no. 157, Masdeu, Historia critica de Espana y dr la Cultura Espanola (Madrid, 1783-1805), torn. xvi. supl. 1, 8.) 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 Espana, torn. i. p. 416. 3 French, Flemishj Italian, and English volun¬ teers, 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 thousand, or, as some hundred thousand, joined the army before the battle of Navas de Tolosa ; a round exaggeration, which, however, imp ies the great number of such auxiliaries. (Garibay, Compendio historial de las Chrdnicas de Espana (Bar¬ celona, 1628), lib. 12, cap. 33.) The crusades in Spain were as rational enterprises as those in the East were vain and chimerical. Pope Pascal IIacted 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 " accounts state, a
CASTILE.
I
by the body of traditional minstrelsy which commemorated the heroic deeds performed in these wars. The influence of such popular composi¬ tions on a simple people is undeniable. A sagacious critic ventures to pro¬ nounce the poems of Homer the principal bond which united the Grecian states.1 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,2 by calling up the most inspiring national recollections in connection with their favourite 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.3 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 honour to the politest ages of Europe.4 The Spanish Arabs 1 See Heeren, Politics of Ancient Greece, trans¬
lated by Bancroft, chap. 7.
oldest manuscript extant of this poem (still preserved at Bivar, the hero's birthplace) 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 compo¬ sition to as early a date as 1153. (Coleccion de Poesias Gastellanas anteriores al Siglo XV. (Madrid, 1779-90), torn. i. p. 223.) Some of the later Spanish antiquaries have manifested a scepticism in relation to the "Cid" truly alarming. A volume was pub¬ lished at Madrid, in 1792, by Risco, under the title of " Castilla, 6 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. (Prdlogo.) 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 asser¬ tion that " of Rodrijjo Diaz, el Campeador, we absolutely know nothing, with any degree of pro¬ bability, not even his existence !" (Hist, critica, torn. xx. p. 370.) There are probably few of his countrymen who will thus coolly acquiesce in the annihilation of their favourite hero, whose exploits have beenthe 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 Miiller, who, far from doubting the existence of the Campeador, has suc¬ ceeded, in his own opinion at least, in clearing from his history the "mists of fable and extravagance" in which it had 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. s A modern minstrel inveighs loudly against this 2 The
"
charity of his ancestors, who devoted their " cantos de cigarra" to the glorification of the "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 : es culpa si de los Moros " No los valientes hechos cantan. pues tanto mas resplandecen nuestras celebres hazanas ; 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.
*
When the empress queen of Alfonso VII. was besieged in the castle of Azeca, in 1139, she re¬ proached the Moslem cavaliers for their want of courtesy and courage in attacking a fortress de¬ fended 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 gdndrale d'Espagne, traduite par d'Hermilly (Paris, 1744-51), torn. lii. p. 410.) It was a frequent occurrence to restore a noble captive to liberty without ransom, and even with costly pre¬ sents. 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, de Espana, torn. ii. p. 32.) When this same Castilian sovereign, after a career of almost unin¬ terrupted victory over the Moslems, died_ of the plague before Gibraltar,ÿ in 1350, the knights of Granada put on mourning for him, saying that " he was a noble prince, and one that knew how to honour his enemies as well as his friends. " Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, torn. iii. p. 140.
8
I NTROD UCTJON
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 feasts of Quixotic gallantry.1 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 favourable 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 2 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 honoui of his mistress, and challenging general admiration by his uncommon per¬ sonal intrepidity.3 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 valour, became characteristic traits of the Castilians previously to the sixteenth century, when the oppressive policy and fanaticism of the Aus¬ trian dynasty contrived to throw into the shade these generous virtues. Glimpses of them, however, might long be discerned in the haughty bearing 1 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 Espaiia, 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." " This singular fact, of the existence of an Arabic
military order, is recorded by Conde. (Dominacion de los Arabes, torn. 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 organi¬ zation of similar institutions in Christendom, which they preceded by a century at least. The loyal histori ans of the Spanish military orders, it is true would carry that of St. Jago as far back as the time o! Eamiro I, in the ninth century (Caro de Torres Historia de las Ordenes militaresde Santiago. Cala-
trava y Alcantara (Madrid, 1629), fol. 2.
— Rades y
Andrada, Chronica de las tres Ordenes y Cavallerias (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. 3 In one of the Paston letters we find the notice of a Spanish knight appearing at the court of Henry VI., ' wyth a KerchefTof Plesaunceiwrappedaboute hys arme, the gwych Knight," says the writer, " wyl renne a cours wyth a sharpe spere for his sou eyn lady sake." (t'enn, Original Letters (1787), vol. 1. p. 6.) The practice of using sharp spears. instead of the guarded and blunted weapons usual in the tournament, seems to have been atfected by the chivalrous nobles of Castile ; many of whom lost their lives from this circumstance in the splendid tourney given in honour of the nuptials of Blanche of Navarre and Henry, son of John II. (Crdnica 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 honour and reverence " by his feats of arms. His antagonist was the lord of v hargny ; on the second day they fought with battle-axes, and " the Castilian attracted general • • /:„Un'n/r a rlmi ra t i . i admiration by his uncommon fighting in daring with his visor up." Chrorniques (Paris, 1595), torn. ii. p. 109, r\r»
_ ___
...... ....
.
CASTILE.
9
of the Castilian noble, and in that erect, high-minded peasantry, whom oppression has not yet been able wholly to subdue.1 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 that 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.2 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 juris¬ diction over it. All arbitrary tallages were commuted for a certain fixed and moderate rent. An officer was appointed by the crown to reside within 1 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 beable to withstand them." Viaggio fatto in Spagna et in Francia (Vinegia, 1563), fob 10. 2 The most ancient of these regular charters of
period, is very equivocal ; for their indefatigable antiquary 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 Ajitichita Italiane (Napoli, 1752), dissert. 45.) Acts of incorporation, now extant, was granted by Alfonso enfranchisement became frequent in Spain during V., in 1020, to the city of Leon and its territory. the eleventh century. Several of these are preserved, (Marina rejects those of an earlier date, adduced by and exhibit, with sufficient precision, the nature or Asso and Manuel and other writers. Ensayo hist<5- the privileges accorded to the inhabitants. Robert¬ rico-crjtico sobre la antigua Legislacion de Castilla son, who wrote when the constitutional antiquities (Madrid, 1808), pp. 80-82.) It preceded, by a long of Castile had been but slightly investigated, would interval, those granted to the burgesses in other seem, therefore, to have little authority for deriving parts of Europe, with the exception, perhaps, of the establishment of communities from Italy, and Italy ; where several of the cities, as Milan, Pavia, ' still less for tracing their progress through France and Pisa, seem early in the eleventh century to have j and Germany to Spain. See his History of the exercised some of the functions of independent states. ! Reign of the Emperor Charles V. (London, 1796), But the extent of municipal immunities conceded to, j vol. i. pp. 39, 30. or rather assumed by, the Italian cities at this early i
IG
INTROD UCTION.
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 servi¬ tude, 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.1 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 immuni¬ ties in the free cities of other countries, as Italy for example,2 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 protect¬ ing arm in defence of constitutional rights. The earliest instance on record of popular representation in Castile occurred at Burgos, in 1169;3 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 ;4 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 nomina¬ tion of these was originally vested in the householders at large, but was afterwards confined to the municipalities,— a most mischievous alteration, 1 For this account of the ancient polity of the Castilian cities, the reader is referred to Sempere, Histoire des Cortes d'Espagne (Bordeaux, 1815), and Marina's valuable works, Ensayo histdricocritico sobre la antigua Legislacion de Castilla (nos. 160-196), and Teoria de las Cortes (Madrid, 1813, part 2, cap. 21-23), where the meagre out¬ line given above is filled up with copious illustra¬ tions. 2 The independence of the Lombard cities had been sacrificed, according to the admission of their enthusiastic historian, about the middle of the thir¬ teenth century. Sismondi, Histoire des Rdpubliques Italiennes du Moyen-Age (Paris, 1818), ch. 20. 3 Or in 1x60, according to the Cordnica general (part 4, fol. 344, 345), where the fact is mentioned. Mariana refers this celebration of cortes to 1170 (Hist, de Espana, lib. 11, cap. 2) ; but Ferrer;ÿ, who often rectifies the chronological inaccuracies of his predecessors, fixes it in 1169. (Hist. d'Espagne, torn. iii. p. 484.) Neither of these authors notices the presence of the commons in this assembly;
although the phrase used by the Chronicle lot cibdadanos, is perfectly unequivocal. 4 Capmany, Prfictica y Estilo de celebrar Cortef en Aragon, Cataluna y Valencia (Madrid, 1821), pp23°i a3*- 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 commu¬ nity was entitled to a seat in the legislature, from the time of receiving its municipal charter from the sovereign (Teoria, torn. 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 Cortes, 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, wt know, was the case in England.
—
.
CASTILE
ti
which subjected their election eventually to the corrupt influence of the crown.1 They assembled in the same chamber with the higher orders ot the nobility and clergy, but, on questions of moment, retired to deliberate by themselves.2 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 corresponding 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 *han 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;3 for their presence was not even required in many assemblies of the nation which occurred in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.4 The extraordinary power thus committed to the commons was, on the whole, unfavourable 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 encroach¬ ments of arbitrary power, and who, in fact, did eventually desert them in their utmost need.6 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 what it acquired in other European legislatures. It was soon recognized as a fundamental principle of the constitution that no tax could be imposed without its con¬ sent ;6 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.7 The commons showed a wise solicitude in regard to the mode of collecting the public revenue, oftentimes more
'
It was an evil of scarcely less magnitude, that contested elections were settled by the crown. (Capmany, Prhctica y Estilo, p. 231.) The latter practice, and, indeed, the former to a certain extent, is to he met with in English history. 8 Marina leaves this point in some obscurity. (Teoria, torn. 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 Coruna, apud Capmany, Practica y Estilo, pp. 240 et seq. 3 This, however, so contrary to the analogy of other European governments, is expressly contra¬ dicted 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 Cdrtes ni habia Brazos, no podian tratar cosa alguna, que ellos sin procuradores, y los procuradores sin ellos, no seria lo que hicieren." Relacion del Conde de Coruna, apud Capmany, Prdctica y Estilo, p. 247. This omission of the privileged orders was al¬ most uniform under Charles V. and his successors. But it would be unfair to seek for constitutional pre¬ cedent in the usages of a government whose avowed policy was altogether subversive of the constitution.
*
6 During the famous war of the Comunidades, under Charles V. For the preceding paragraph consult Marina (Teoria, part 1, cap. 10, 20, 26, 29), and Capmany(Practica 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, Teoria, part 1, cap. 23. 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 Cortfes, p. 254. 1 " Los Reyes en nuestros Reynos progenitores establecieron por leyes y ordenangas fechas en Cortes, que no se echassen, ni repartiessen ningunos pechos, seruicios, pedidos, ni monedas, ni otros tributos nueuos, especial, ni generalmente en todos nuestros Reynos, sin que primeramente sean llamados & Cortes los procuradores de todas las Ciudades, y villas de nuestros Reynos, y sean otorgados por los dichos procuradores que a las Cortes vinieren." (Recopilacion de las Leyes (Madrid, 1640), torn. li. fol. 124.) This law, passed under Alfonso XI., was confirmed by John II.,. Henry III., and Charles V.
•
INTROD UCT10N.
j2
onerous to the subject than the tax itself. Ihey watched carefully over its appropriation to its destined uses. They restraind a too piodigal expenditure, and ventured more than once to regulate the economy of the royal household.1 They kept a vigilant eye on the conduct of public officers, as well as on the right administration of justice, and com¬ missions 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.* The nomina¬ tion of regencies was subject to their approbation, and they defined the I. heir consent was nature of the authority to be intrusted to them. and this pre¬ the crown, to title of a esteemed indispensable to the validity the wreck of survive to continued has of it, image the least rogative, or at their ancient liberties.3 Finally, they more than once set aside the testa¬ mentary provisions of the sovereigns in regard to the succession.4 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, seems, in some instances, to have reached to the executive duties of the adminis¬ tration. 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 satis¬ factory 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 1 In 1258 they presented a variety of petitions to the king in relation to his own personal expendi¬ ture, 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 Espaha (Madrid, 1788), torn. i. pp. 91, 92.) The English reader is reminded of a very different result which attended interposition of the Commons in the time hard II., more than a century later. .ft™ Marina claims also the right of the cortes to be consulted on questions of war and peace, of which he adduces several precedents. (Tccria, part 2, fan. 19, 20.) Their interference in what is so gene¬
a/i™'ar
-
rally held the peculiar province of the executive was perhaps encouraged by the sovereign, with the politic design of relieving himself of the responsibi lity of measures whose success must depend eventu¬ ally 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. 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. Practica y Estilo, p. 229. 4 For the preceding notice of the cortes, see Marina, leoria, part, a, cap. 13, 19, 20, 21, 31, 35i 37> 3°-
CASTILE.
J3
celebrated Hermandad, or Holy Brotherhood, as the association was some¬ times 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 a 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 " cortes extraordinary." 1 With these immunities, the cities of Castile attained a degree of opulence and splendour unrivalled, unless in Italy,2 during the Middle Ages. At a very early period, indeed, their contact with the Arabs had familiarized the people with a better system of agriculture, and a dexterity in the mechanic arts unknown in other parts of Christendom.3 On the occupation of a conquered town, we find it distributed into quarters ot districts, appropriated to the several crafts, whose members were incor¬ porated 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.4 The excellent breed of sheep, which early became an object of legislative solicitude, furnished them with an import¬ ant staple, which, together with the simpler manufactures and the various products of a prolific soil, formed the materials of a profitable commerce.5 1 So at least they are styled by Marina.
See his
account of these institutions (Teoria, part. 2, cap.
39) ; also Salazar de Mendoza (Monarquia, lib. 3, cap. 15, 16, and Sempere (Histoire des Cortfes, chap. 12. 13.) One hundred cities associated in the Hermandad of 1315. In that of 1295 were thirtyfour. The knights and inferior nobility frequently made part of the association. Ine articles of con¬ federation are given by Risco, in his continuation of Florez (Espana sagrada (Madrid, 1775-1826), torn, 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 resti¬ tution, 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. - [The statement needs to be still further quali¬ fied. There could be no rivalry, in point of wealth, between the Castilian cities and the centres of trade
and manufacturing industry in Italy and Flanders.
—E°-] 3 See Sempere, Historia del
Luxo, torn. i. p. 97.— Masdeu, Hist, critica, torn. xiii. nos. 90, 91.— Gold
and silver, curiously wrought into plate, were exported in considerable quantities from Spain in the tenth and eleventh centuries. They were much used in the churches. The tiara of the pope was so richly incrusted with the precious metals, says Masdeu, as to receive the name of Spanoclista. The familiar use of these metals as ornaments of dress is attested by the ancient poem of the " Cid." See, in particular, the description of the costume 0! the Campeador ; vv. 3099 et seq. 4 Zuniga, Annales eclesiast' j seculares de Sevilla (Madrid, 1677), pp. 74, 75. Sempere, Historia del Luxo, torn. i. p. 80. 4 The historian of Seville describes that city, about the middle of the fifteenth century, as pos¬ sessing a flourishing commerce, and a degree ol
—
14
INTROD UCTION.
Augmentation of wealth brought with it the usual appetite for expensive pleasures : and the popular diffusion of luxury in the fourteenth and fif. teenth centuries is attested by the fashionable invective of the satirist, and by the impotence of repeated sumptuary enactments.1 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 favourite residence.2 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 ne* concessions on the part of the sovereign, and the popular authority con¬ tinued 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.8 A remarkable fact opulence unexampled since the conquest. It was I 1779-1792), torn. iii. pp. 336, 337). This acute filled with an active population, employed in the I writer, after a very careful examination of the various mechanic arts. Its domestic fabrics, as subject, differing from the authorities before quoted, well as natural products of oil, wine, wool, etc., considers the raw material for manufacture, and supplied a trade with France, Flanders, Italy, and the natural productions of the soil, to have con¬ England. (Zuniga, Annales de Sevilla, p. 341. stituted almost the only articles of export from See also Sempere, Historia del Luxo, p. 81, nota 2). Spain, until after the fifteenth century. (Ibid., p. The ports of Biscay, which belonged to the 338.) We will remark, in conclusion of this desul¬ Castihan crown, were the marts of an extensive tory note, that the term merinos is derived, by trade with the north, during the thirteenth and Conde, from moeditws, signifying wandering ; " shifted their fourteenth centuries. This province entered into the name of an Arabian tribe, who repeated treaties of commerce with France and place of residence with the season. (Hist, de lot England ; and her factories were established at Arabes en EspaSa, torn. i. p. 488, nota). The Bruges, the great emporium of commerical inter¬ derivation might startle any but a professed ety¬ course during this period between the north and mologist. 1 See the original acts, cited by south, before those of any other people in Europe, Sempere. (His¬ except the Germans. (Diccionario geograficotoria del Luxo, passim.) The archpnest of Hita histdrico de Espana, por la Real Academia de la inveighs freely against the luxury, cupidity, and Historia (Madrid, 1802), torn. i. p. 333). other fashionable sins of his age. (See Sanchez, The institution of the mesta is referred,says Laborde Poesias Castellanas, torn, iv.)—The influence of (Itineraire descriptif de l'Espagne (Paris, 1827-1830), Mammon appears to have been as supreme in the torn. iv. p. 47), to the middle of the fourteenth fourteenth century as at any later period. century, when the great plague, which devastated Sea up ome nescio, et rudo labrador, the country so sorely, left large depopulated tracts " Los dineros le fasen fidalgo e sabidor, open to pasturage. This popular opinion is erron¬ mas algo tiene, tanto es mas de valor, eous, since it engaged the attention of government 1 que no ha dineros, non es de si sefior." and became the subject of legislation as anciently as 1273, under Alfonso the Wise. (See Asso y Vv. 465 et seq. Manuel, Instituciones, Introd. p. 56). Capmany, ® Marina, Ensayo, however, dates the great improvement in the breed Annales de Sevilla, p. nos. 199, 297. — Zunfga. 341. of Spanish sheep from the year 1394, when Catharine Marina, Teoria, part 2, cap. 28. Mariana, of Lancaster brought with her, as a part of her Hist, de Espana, lib. dowry to the heir-apparent of Castile, a flock of of citizens into the 18, cap. 15. The admission king's council would have English merinos, distinguished at that time above a most important epoch for the commons, those of every other country for the beauty and [°™ed had they not soon been replaced by jurisconsults, delicacy of their fleece. (Memorias histdricas sobre whose studies and sentiments inclined them less to la Marina, Corawcio y Artes de Barcelona (Madrid the popular side than to that of prerogative
—
1
guanto
*
— —
CASTILE.
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 1393.1 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 favourable 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 strongholds or castles (the great number of which was originally implied in the name of the country),2 they were continually enlarging the circuit of their territories, with no other assistance than that of their own good swords.3 This independent mode of effecting their conquests would appear unfavourable 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.4 The higher nobility, or ricos hombres, were exempted from general taxa¬ tion 'y and the occasional attempt to infringe on this privilege, in seasons of great public emergency, was uniformly repelled by this jealous body.6 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.6 They also claimed the 1 Mariana, Hist, de Espana, lib. 18, cap. 17. 3 Costilla.
See Salazar de Mendoza, Monarqula,
—
torn. 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 twelth century, according to Salazar de Mendoza (Monarqula, torn. 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.
•"
Hizo guerra a los Moros, Ganando sus fortalezas V sus villas. Y en las lides que vencid Caballeros y caballos Se perdidron, Y en este oficio gan<5 Las rentas y los vasallos Que le didron." Coplas de Manrique, copla 31.
* A.sso and Manuel derive the introduction of
Scfs 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 cir¬ cumstance 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 con¬ quest, succeeded in obtaining an exemption from military service," one of the most conspicuous and essential of all the feudal relations. Histoire des Cortfcs, pp. 30, 72, 249. 6 Asso y Manuel, Instituciones, p. 26. Sempere, Histoire des Cortes, 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 Espana, torn. i. p. 644. See also torn. ii. p. 176. 6 Idem auctores, ubi supra. Prieto y Sotelo, Historia del Derecho real de Espaiif (Madrid, 1738), lib. 2, cap. 23 ; lib. 3, cap. 8.
—
—
—
—
INTROD UCTION.
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.1 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.2 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.3 Their rights of juris¬ diction, derived to them, it would seem, originally from royal grant,4 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.6 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.6 They secured to themselves the grandmasterships 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 favourable to the accumu¬ lation of great wealth. Their estates were scattered over every part of the kingdom, and, unlike the grandees of Spain at the present day,7 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.8 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.9 Alvaro de Luna, the powerful favourite of John the Second, could muster twenty thousand vassals.10 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,11 an 1 Siete Partidas (ed. de la Real Acad., Madrid,
1807), part. 4, tit. 25, ley n. On such occasions tney sent him a formal defiance by their king-atanns. Mariana, Hist, de Espana, torn. i. pp. 768, 912. • Ibid., torn. i. pp. 707, 713. 3 The forms of this solemnity may be found
Hist, de Espana, torn. i. p. Mariana, 907. 4
in
Manna, Ensayo, p. 128. ® John i., in 1390, authorized appeals from the seignorial tribunals to those of the crown. Ibid., torn. ii. p. 179. 6 The nature of these dignities is explained in Salazar de Mendoza, Monarquia, torn. i. pp. 155, 166, 203.
' From
the scarcity of these baronial residences,
some fanciful etymologists have derived the familial saying of ''chateaux en Espagne. " See Bourgoanne
Travels in Spain, torn. ii. chap. 72. 8 Mariana, Hist, de Espana, torn. i. p. 910. 9 Crdnica de Don Alvaro de Luna (ed. de la Acad., Madrid, 1784), App. p. 465. 10 Guzman, Generaciones y Semblanzas (Madrid, I77S)» 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.
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. Ihave been guided, in this History, in the reduction of sums, by a dis¬ sertation of Clemencin, in the sixth volume of the-
CASTILE.
17
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.1 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,2 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.3 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, notwith¬ standing 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 dis¬ dained 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 Memories de la Real Academia de la Historia (Madrid, 1821, pp. 507-566). 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 dif¬ ficulty, 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 con¬ siderably 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. 1 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 supj>orting an almost equally formidable host of needy « elations and dependants. According to Bourgoanne 'Travels in Spain, vol. i. chap. 4), no less than
three thousand of these gentry were maintained on the estates of the duke of Arcos, who died in
1780.
2 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 Espana, torn. i. p. 565. 3 The northern provinces, the theatre of this primitive independence, have always been con¬ secrated by this very circumstance, in the eyes of a Spaniard. " The proudest lord," says Navagiero, " feels it an honour 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 ridicu¬ lously enough with the humble character of his occupation, and has furnished many a pleasant anecdote to travellers. U
i8
INTRODUCTION.
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.1 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),8 and the cavalieros, or knights, enjoyed many of the immunities of the higher class, especially that of exemption from taxation.3 Knighthood appears to have been regarded with especial favour 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 Spain was indeed the land of chivalry. The court of King Arthur.4 respect for the sex, which had descended from the Visigoths,6 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,6 contributed still further to this exaltation of sentiment, which was maintained by the various military orders, who devoted them¬ selves, 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 extravagancies 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 Suero de Quinones, 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 with¬ out shield or target, with weapons bearing points of Milan steeL Six hundred and twenty-seven encounters took place, and one hundred and 1 An elaborate dissertation, by the advocate Don Alonso Carillo, on the pre-eminence aud 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 sovereigns "prerogativa tan ilustre," says the writer, "que ella sola imprimeel 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. 2 "Los llamaron fijosdalgo, que muestra a tanto como fiios de bien." (Siete Partidas, part. 2. tit. Por hidalgos se entienden las hombres 21.) escogidos de buenos lugares icon algo." Asso y Manuel, Instituciones, pp. 33, 34. 3 Recopilacion 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 fortifica¬ tions and public works, although, as the statute expresses it, " tengan privilegios para que scan •-ssentos de todos pechos. "
4 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 its caparisons. He was to live abstemiously, indulging himself in none of the effeminate delights of couch or banquet. During a repast, his mind was to be refreshed with the recital, from history, of deeds of ancient heroism; and in the fight he was com¬ manded to invoke the name of his mistress, that it might infuse new ardour 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. 4 See Fuero Juzgo, lib. 3, which is devoted almost exclusively to the sex. Montesquieu dis¬ cerns in the jealous surveillance which the Visi¬ goths maintained over the honour 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 Lois, liv. 14, chap-
I4i
6 Warton's expression. See his History of Eng¬ lish Poetry (London, 1824), vol. i. p. 245.
CASTILE.
x9
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 pursuing the adventures of a Launcelot or an Amadis.1 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 condes¬ cended, 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.2 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 ;8 and, until the twelfth, the sovereign held the right of jurisdiction over all ecclesiastical causes, and of collating to benefices, or at least of confirming or annulling the elec¬ tion 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 ffected 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 cortesÿ The ecclesiastics, eager to indemnify themselves for what they had sacri¬ ficed 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 had imperative claims on them.4 1 See the "Passo honroso" appended to the Crdnica de Alvaro de Luna. 2 The present narrative will introduce the reader to more than one belligerent prelate, who filled the very highest post in the Spanish and, Imay say, the Christian Church, next to the Papacy. (See Alvaro Gomez, De Rebus gestis a Francisco Ximenio Cisnerio (Compluti, 1565), fol. no et seq.) The practice, indeed, was familiar in other coun¬ tries, 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 Giovio, Vita Leonis X., apud ' Vitae Illustrium Virorum " (Basiliae, 1578), lib. a.
8 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 Espafia, lib. 9,
cap. 18.
—
* Siete Partidas, part. 1, tit. 6. Florez, Bÿpafia sagrada, torn. 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 Espana, torn. i. p. 177.) See also the Ensayo (nos. 322-364), where Marina has analyzed and discussed the general import of the fi-st of the
—
Partidas.
to
INTROD UCTION.
Notwithstanding the immediate dependence thus established on the head of the church by the legislation of Alfonso the Tenth, the general immuni¬ ties 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.1 This moral insensibility may probably be referred to the contagious example of their Mahometan neighbours ; but, from whatever source derived, the practice was indulged to such a shame¬ less extent that, as the nation advanced in refinement, in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, it became the subject of frequent legislative enact¬ ments, in which the concubines of the clergy are described as causing general scandal by their lawless effrontery and ostentatious magnificence of
apparel.2 Notwithstanding this prevalent licentiousness of the Spanish ecclesiastics, their influence became every day more widely extended, while this ascen¬ dency, 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 estab¬ lishment. These were the common reservoir into which flowed the copious streams of private as well as royal bounty ; and when the conse¬ quences 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 over fourteen capital towns and more than fifty smaller places ; and she was accounted inferior only to the queen in dignity.3 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 3 Lucio Marineo Siculo, Cosas IMarina, Ensayo, tibi siipra, and nps. 22° d se<j. I Espana memorables de (Alcalde
See the original acts, quoted by Sempere in his Histoita del Luxo, torn. 1. pp. 166 et seq.
Henares, 1539), fol. 16
CASTILE. fifteen large and populous towns, besides a great number of inferior
places.1 These princely funds, when intrusted to pious prelates, were muni¬ ficently dispensed in useful public works, and especially in the foundation of eleemosynary institutions, with which every great city in Castile was liberally supplied.2 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 factioa The moral perceptions of the people, in the meantime, were confused by the visible demeanour of the 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 oi 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 circum¬ scribed 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 the 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
—
1
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. (Itineraire, torn. 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 fate political troubles. They are stated by the intelligent author of A Year in Spain," on the
"
authority of the clergy of the diocese, at only onethird of the above sum ; an estimate confirmed by Mr. Inglis, who computes them at ,£40,000. Spain in 1830, vol. i. ch. 11. 2 Modern travellers, who condemnwithout reserve the corruption of the inferior clergy, bear uni¬ form testimony to the exemplary piety and munificent charities of the higher dignitaries of the church.
St
INTRODUCTION.
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 antipathy are to be discerned in the mutual jealousies and local peculiarities which still distinguish the different sections of the Peninsula, after their consolida¬ tion 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 formally recognized by a cortes convoked for the purpose ; and on the decease 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.1 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.2 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.® His legislative powers were to be exercised in concurrence with the cortes ;4 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
—
1 Marina, Teoria, part. 2, cap. 2, 5, 6. A seg.), where, however, its subsequent condition is remarkable instance of this occurred as late as the chiefly considered. 4 Not so exclusively, however, by any means, as accession of Charles V. 2 The earliest example of this permanent com¬ Marina pretends. (Teoria, part. 2, cap. 17, 18.) mittee of the commons, residing at court, and He borrows a pertinent illustration from the famous entering into the king's council, was in the minority code of Alfonso X., which was not received as law of Ferdinand IV.,in 1295. The subject is involved of the land till it had been formally published in in some obsecurity, which Marina has not suc¬ cortes, in 1348, more than seventy years after its ceeded in dispelling. He considers the deputation original compilation. In his zeal for popular rights, to have formed a necessary and constituent part 01 he omits to notice, however, the power, so frequently the council, from the time of its first appointment. assumed by the sovereign, of granting fveros, or (Teoria, torn. ii. cap. 27, 28.) Sempere, on the municipal charters ; a right, indeed, which the other hand, discerns no warrant for this, after its great lords, spiritual and temporal, exercised in introduction, till the time of the Austrian dynasty. common with him, subject to his sanction. See a (Histoire des Cortes, chap. 29.) Marina, who too multitude of these seignorial codes, enumerated by often mistakes anomaly for practice, is certainly not Assoand Manuel. (Instituciones, Introd., pp. 31 et justified, even by his own showing, in the sweeping seq.) The monarch claimed, moreover, though not conclusions at which he arrives. But if his pre¬ by any means so freely as in later times, the judices lead him to see more than has happened, on privilege of issuing pragmdticas, ordinances of an the one hand, those of Sempere, on the other, make executive character, or for the redress of grievances him sometimes " high gravel blind." submitted to him by the national legislature. 3 The important functions and history of this Within certain limits, this was undoubtedly a conbody are investigated by Marina. (Teoria, part. 2, i stitutional prerogative. But the history of Castile, cap. 27, 28, 2Q.) Sec also Sempere (Histoire des j like that of most other countries in Europe, shows C ortes, cap. 16), and the Informe de Don Agustin how easily it was abused in the hands of a® E10I (apud Semanario erudito, torn. iii. pp. 1x3 et | arbitrary prince.
CASTILE.
2$
higher judicatures, from a list of candidates presented to him on a vacancy by their members concurrently with his privy council.1 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.2 This, in the course of the long wars with the Moslems, would have secured him more ample possessions than were enjoyed by any other prince in Christendom. But several circumstances concurred to prevent this result. The long minorities with which Castile was afflicted perhaps more than any other 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 privi¬ leges; 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.3 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 farfamed 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 rumour to be circulated through the court, 1 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 after¬ wards. 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
furthur 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 (Teoria, part. 2, cap. 21-25), Rio' (Informe, apud Semanario erudito. torn. iii. pp. 129 et seq.), and Sempere (Histoire des Cortes, 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. 2 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. Mariana, Hist, de Espaha, lib. 15, cap. 19, 20.
*
34
INTROD UCTJON.
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 Iam, 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 relish¬ ing 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 engage¬ ments, 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 marvel¬ lous 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.1 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 J Garibay, Compendia, torn. ii. p. 399. Mariana, Hist, de Espana, torn. ii. pp. 234, 235. Pedro Lopez de Ayala, chancellor of Castile and chronicler of the reigns of four of its successive monarchs, terminated his labours 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 imprison¬ ment at Burgos. See Ayala, Crdnica de Castilla, P- 355, note (ed. de la Acad., 1780.)
CASTILE.
25
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 con¬ ferred 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 inti¬ mated, 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 ot 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 con¬ ceded 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, constitut¬ ing 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 act¬ ing 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
INTROD UCTION.
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 defi¬ ciency 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 remainsthe 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. Iallude 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 illustra¬ tions 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 dis¬ sertations 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 thoge 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 favourable con¬ struction 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 ofpower 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 govern¬ ment was long administered.
ARAGON.
27
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 Privileges Judicial Functions of Cortes The Justice His Great Authority Rise and Opulence of Barcelona Her Free Institutions— Intellectual Culture.
—
—
— —
—
—
—
—
—
The political institutions of Aragon, although bearing a general resem¬ blance 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 civi¬ lization than Aragon, and was distinguished by institutions quite as liberal. The seaboard 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 1 Catalonia was united with Aragon by the I Berengere, count of Barcelona, in 1150. Valencia marriage of Queen Petronilla with Raymond I was conquered from the Moors by James I.in 1338.
38
INTROBUCTION.
maintained a toilsome and infrequent intercourse with each other, those situated on the margin of this inland ocean found an easy mode of com¬ munication across the highroad 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 col¬ lision 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 with only 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.1 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.2 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.3 But while the princes of Aragon were thus enlarging the bounds 01 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 13 19, inalienable and indivisible.4 Each of them, however, maintained a separate constitution of government, and was administered by distinct laws. As it would be 1 Capmany, Mem. de Barcelona, torn. iii. pp. 45-47.— Hie Catalans were much celebrated during the Middle Ages for their skill with the crosshow ; for a more perfect instruction in which, the municipality of Barcelona established games and gymnasiums. Ibid.,torn. i. p. 113. 2 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, torn. i. fol. 247 ; torn. ii. fol. 60. - -Hermillv,
—
Histoire du Royaume de Majorque (Maestricht, 1777). PP- 227-268. 3 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 contra Turcos y GriegoSj Madrid, 1805), in a style much commended by Spanish critics for its elegance. See Mondejar, Advertencias, p. 114. It was confirmed by Alfonso III., in i32& Zurita, Anales. torn. ii. fol. 90.
*
AHAGON.
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 with¬ draw their allegiance, and, in the bold language of the ordinance, "to substitute any other ruler in his stead, even a pagan, if they listed. " 1 The whole of this wears much of a fabulous aspect, and may remind the reader of the government which Ulysses met with in Phseacia; where King Alcinous is surrounded by his " twelve illustrious peers or archons, " subordinate to himself, " who," says he, " rule over the people, Imyself being the thirteenth. " 2 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.3 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 honour (the denomination of fiefs in Aragon), on any but one of these high nobles. This, however, was in 1 See the fragments of the Fuero de Soprarbe, ancient times in Aragon, when there were as many cited by Blancas. Aragonensium Rerum Com- kings as ricos hombres." See Zurita, Anales, torn. mentarii (Caesaraugustm, 1588), pp. 25-29.—The i. fol. 316. 3 The authenticity of the well-known oath of the Aragonese to their sovereign de Soprarbe " " Fuero on his accession, " Nos que valemos tanto como has been keenly debated by the Aragonese and vos," etc., frequently quoted by historians, rests on Navarrese writers. Moret, in refutation of Blancas, the authority of Antonio Perez, the unfortunate who espouses it (see Commentarii, p. 289), states that, minister of Philip II.,who, however good vetM&er after a diligent investigation of the archives of that for the usages of his own time, has mad; a blunder region, he finds no mention of the laws, or even of in the very sentence preceding this, by confounding the name, of Soprarbe, until the eleventh century ; the Privilege of Union with one of the Laws of a startling circumstance for the antiquary. (InvesSoprarbe, which shows him to be insufficient, especi¬ tigaciones histdricas de las Antigiiedades del Reyno ally as he is the only authority for this ancient de Navarra (Pamplona, 1766), torn. vi. lib. 2, cap. ceremony. See Antonio Perez, Relaciones (Paris, 11.) Indeed, the historians of Aragon admit that 1598), fol. 92. the public documents previous to the fourteenth 1 A(65e/ctt century suffered so much from various causes as to 7dp Kara SypLOV dpurpeirbes leave comparatively few materials for authentic PatxiXrjes narrative. (Blancas, Commentarii, Pref. Risco, Apxoi Kpaivovai, TpiorxUieKaroi S' bydi Espaha sagrada, torn. xxx. Prdlogo.) Blancas transcribed his extract of the Laws of Soprarbe atiris. principally from Prince Charles of Viana's History, Odyss. ©. 390. written in the fifteenth century. See Commentarii In like manner Alfonso III. alludes to "the P- as-
*
—
INTRODUCTION.
3o
9
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.1 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.2 The privileges, both honorary and substantial, enjoyed by the ricot hombres were very considerable. They filled the highest post 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 unli¬ mited 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 infanzonts, equivalent to the Castilian hidalgos, together with the caballeros or knights, were also possessed of important though inferior immunities.8 The king distributed among the great barons the territory reconquered from the Moors, in proportions determined by the amount of theii respective services. We find a stipulation to this effect from James the First to his nobles, previous to his invasion of Majorca.4 On a similar principle they claimed nearly the whole of Valencia.5 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.6 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.7 With all this, their incomes in general, in this comparatively poor country, were very inferior to those of the great Castilian lords.8 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
Fueros y Observances, torn. i. fol. 130.— — Martel, Forma de celebrar Cortes en Aragon
1 Asso y Manuel, Instituciones, pp. 39, 40. Blancas, Commentarii, pp. 333, 334, 340.— Fueros y
Observancias_ del Reyno de Aragon (Zaragoza,
—
1667), torn. 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 honours to whichsoever of his legitimate children he might prefer, and, in de¬ fault 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 subinfeudation was established. The knights, on restoring their fiefs, might change their suzerains at pleasure. 2 Asso v Manuel, Instituciones, p. 41. Blancas,
Commentarii, pp. 307, 322, 331.
—
8
—
(Zaragoza, 1641), p. 98. Blancas, Commentarii, pp. 306, 312-317, 323, 360. Asso y Manuel, In¬ stituciones, pp. 40-43. Zurita, Anales, torn. i. fol. 124.
—
*8 Blancas, Commentarii, p. 334.
6 See the partition of Saragossa by Alonso the Warrior. Zurita, Anales, torn. i. fol. 43. 7 Mariana, Hist, de Fspana, torn. li. p. 198.— Blancas, Commentarii, p. 218. 8 See a register of these at the beginning of the sixteenth century, apud I.. Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. 25.
ARAGON.
3*
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.1 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.2 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 vigour,3 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.4 James the Conqueror artfully endea¬ voured to counterbalance their weight by that of the commons and the ecclesiastics.6 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 thtir sovereign than as his inferiors. Intrenched within the mountain fast¬ nesses 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 dis¬ criminated the relative position of the Aragonese and Castilian nobility by saying, " It was as difficult to divide the one as to unite the other." 6 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
—
2 Fueros y Observancias, torn i. p. 1 Zurita, Anales, torn. ii. fol. 127.— Blancas, 84. Zurita, Commentarii, p. 324.— " Adhaec Ricis hominibus Anales, torn. i. fol. 350. 3 Blancas somewhere boasts that no one of the ipsis majorum more institutisque concedebatur, ut sese possent, dum ipsi vellent, a nostrorum Return kings of Aragon has been stigmatized by a cog¬ jure et potestate, quasi nodum aliquem, expedire ; nomen of infamy, as in most of the other royal nequel expedire solum, sed dimisso prius quo races of Europe. Peter IV., "the Ceremonious," potirentur, Honore, bellum ipsis inferre ; Reges richly deserved one. vero Rici hominis sic expediti uxorem, filios, Zurita, Anales, torn. i. fol. 102. 5 Ibid., torn. i. fol. familiam, res, bona, et fortunas omnes in suam 198.— He recommended this recipere fidem tenebantur. Neque ulla erat eorum policy to his son-in-law, the king of Castile. 6 Sempere. Histoire des Cortes, p. 164. utihtatis facienda jactura."
*
INTRODUCTION.
32
liberties.1 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 The least offensive movement on the part of the on personal right or privilege, was encroachment monarch, the slightest cry of Union,, that " last voice," the At revolt general for a the signal 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
most frightful anarchy.
confederates.2 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 instru¬ ment 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." 3 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.4
—
1 Zurita, Anales, lib. 4, cap. 96. Abarca dates this event in the year preceding. Reyes de Aragon, en Anales histdricos (Madrid, 1682-1684), torn. ii. fob 8. 2 Blancas, Commentarii, pp. 192, 193. Zurita, Anales, torn. i. fol. 266 et alibi. 3 Zurita, Anales, torn. 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 Saragossa in Philip II.'s time. See Antonio Perez, Relaciones, fol, 95. 4 See the statute, De Prohibita Unione, etc. Fueros y Observancias, torn. i. fol. 178. A copy of the original Privileges was detected by Blancas among the manuscripts of the archbishop of Sara¬ gossa ; but lie declined publishing it, from deference to the prohibition of his ancestors. Commentarii,. at
—
p. 179.
—
A RAGon:
33
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 despot¬ ism on the one hand and popular license on the other, was more strongly protected, and causes hitherto decided by arms were referred for adjudica¬ tion to this tribunal.1 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 m Europe. The Aragonese cortes was composed of four branches or arms ;2 the ricos hombres, or great barons ; the lesser nobles, comprehending the knights ; the clergy ; and the commons. The nobility of every denomina¬ tion 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.3 The arm of the ecclesiastics embraced an ample delegation from the inferior as well as higher clergy.4 It is affirmed not to have been a com¬ ponent of the national legislature until more than a century and a half after the admission of the commons.6 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 recognised 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.6 1 Haec itaque domestica Regis victoria, quae " miserrimum universae Reipublicae interitum videbatur esse allatura, stabilem nobis constituit pacem, tranquillitatem, et otium. Inde enim Magistratus !ustitiae Aragonum in earn, quam nunc colimus,
amplitudinem dignitatis devenit." Ibid., p. 197. Martel, Forma de celebrar Cortes, cap. 8. , ''ra(tos del reirio porque abrafan, 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 Oataluna, and Matheu v Sanz, Constitucion de "• alencia, apud Capmany, Practica y Estilo, pp. 65, 183, 184.
-
—
3 Martel, Forma de celebrar Cortes, cap. 10, 17, 46. Blancas, Modo de proceder en Cortes de Aragon (Zaragoza, 1641), fol. 17, 18. Capmany, Practica y Estilo, p. 12. 6 Blancas, Modo de proceder, fol. 14,— and Com¬ mentary, p. 374. Zurrta, 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. *> One of the monarchs of Aragon, Alfonso the 21,
—
*
—
c
JNTR OD UCT10N. The commons enjoyed higher consideration and civil privileges than in Castile. For this they were perhaps somewhat indebted to the example of their Catalan neighbours, the influence of whose democratic institutions Ihe naturally extended to other parts of the Aragonese monarchy. 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. From a very early period we find them employed in offices of public trust, and on important missions.2 The epoch of their admission into the national assembly is traced as far back as 11335 several years earlier than the com¬ mencement of popular representation in Castile.3 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.4 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.5, 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.6 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 parliamen¬ tary etiquette.7 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 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 Espana, torn. t. 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 corona¬ tion. See Blancas, Coronaciones de los serenisimos Reyes de Aragon (Zaragoza, 1641), cap. 2. 1 Martel, Forma de celebrar Cortes, cap. 22. Asso y Manuel, Instituciones, p. 44. 2 Zurita, Anales, torn. i. fol. 163, a.d. 1250. Ibid., torn. i. fol. 51. The earliest appearance of popular representation in Catalonia is fixed by Ripoll at 1283 (apud Capmany, Practica y Estilo, p. 135)- What can Capmany mean by postponing ihe introduction of the commons into the cortes of Aragon to 1300? (See p. 56.) Their presence and names are commemorated by the exact Zurita, several times before the close of the twelfth
—
—
—
century.
4 Prdctica y Estilo, pp. X4, 17, 18, 30.— Martel, Forma de celebrar Cortes, cap. 10.—Those who
followed a mechanical occupation, including sur¬
geons and apothecaries, were excluded from a scat
cortes. (Cap. 17.) The faculty have rarely been treated with so little ceremony. 5 Martel, Forma de celebrar Cortes, cap. 7.7The 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.) 111 Catalonia and Valencia, the cortes was to be sum¬ moned every three years. Berart, Discurse breve sobre la Celebracion de Cortes de Aragon (1626),
in
fol. 12.
—
6 Capmany, Prictica 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. 7 See the ceremonial detailed with sufficient pro¬ lixity by Martel (Forma de celebrar Cortes, cap52i 53)> and a curious illustration of it in Zurita. Anales- torn. iv. fol. 313.
ARAGON.
35
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 oppos¬ ing 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 con¬ sequences, 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 depu¬ tation 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.1 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.2 It determined the succession to the crown, removed obnoxious ministers, reformed the house¬ hold and domestic expenditure of the monarch, and exercised the power, in the most unreserved manner, of withholding supplies, as well as of resist¬ ing what it regarded as an encroachment on the liberties of the nation.8 The excellent commentators on the constitution of Aragon have be¬ stowed comparatively little attention on the development of its parlia¬ mentary 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 une¬ quivocal evidence of the fidelity with which the guardians of the realm dis¬ charged 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 con¬ servation of their legal immunities to the municipal corporations and the 1 Capmany, PrActica y
Estilo, pp. 44 et seq.
— tica y Estilo, p. 51.— It was anciently the practice
Mattel, Forma de celebrar Cortes, cap. 50, 60 et of the legislature to grant supplies of troops, but
— Fueros y Observancias, torn. i. fob 229.— not of money. When Peter IV. requested a pecuni¬ Blancas, Modo de proceder. fol. 2-4.— Zurita, An- ary subsidy, the cortes told him that "such things ales, torn. iii. fol. 321.— Robertson, misinterpreting had not been usual ; that his Christian subjects a passage of Blancas (Commentarii, 375), states were wont to serve him with their persons, and it setl-
p.
that a "session of cortes continued forty days." was only for Jews and Moors to serve him with (History of Charles V., vol. i. p. 140.) It usually money." Blaucas, Modo de proceder, cap. 18. 3 See examples of them in Zurita, Anales, torn. i. lasted months. ® Fueros y Observancias, fol. 6, tit. Privileg. Gen. fol. 51, 263 ; torn. ii. fol. 391, 394i 4"4- — Blancas, Blancas, Commentarii, p. 371.— Capmany, Prdc- | Mode de proceder, fol. 98, rod.
—
36
INTROD UCTION.
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.! 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 ! " 2 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.3 The authority, indeed, of this magistrate in his own court was fully equal to providing adequate relief in all these cases.4 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 1 "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 II., in 1325, torture, then generally recognised by the municipal law of Europe, was expressly prohibited in Aragon, "as unworthy of
aequaljter omnes omni genere virtutum floruere, lit egregia haec laus videatur non hominum solum, illorum etiam temporum fuisse." (Commentarii, p. 340.}—The repeated confirmation 0! the General Privilege affords another point of analogy with Magna Charta, which, together with the Charter of the Forest, received, according to Lord Coke, the sanction of Parliament thirty-two James several times. Institutes, part ii. Proeme. 3 It was more frequently referred, both for the freemen." See Zurita, Anales, lib. 6, cap. 61, and sake of expedition and of obtaining a more full Fueros y Observancias, torn. i. fol. 9, Declaratio investigation, to commissioners nominated conjointly Priv. Generalis. by the cortes and the party demanding redress. 3 The patriotism of Blancas warms as he dwells The nature of the greuges, or grievances, which on the illusory picture of ancient virtue and con¬ might be brought before the legislature, and the trasts it with the degeneracy of his own day : " Et mode of proceeding in relation to them, are circum¬ vero prisca hsec tanta severitas, desertaque ilia ct stantially detailed by the parliamentary historians inculta vita, quando dies noctesque nostri armati of Aragon. See Bcrart, Discurso sobre la Celeconcursabant, ac in bello et Maurorum sanguine bracion de Cortes, cap. — Capmany, Practica y 7. assidui versabantur, veri quidem parsimoniae, forti- Estilo, pp. 37-44.— Blancas, Modo de proceder, captudinis, temperantiae, caeterarumque virtutum om¬ 14.— Martel, Forma de celebrar Cortes, cap. SÿSInium magistra fuit. In qua maleficia ac scelera, Blancas, Modo de proceder, cap. 14.—Yet Petef quae nunc in otiosa hac nostra umbratili et delicatS IV., in his dispute with the ue Justice Fernandez gignuntur, gigni non solebant ; quill isimo ita tunc Castro, denied this. Zurita, Anales, torn. ii. tol. '7° verum
*
ARAGON.
37
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 ar_ 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." 1 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 favourable 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 ;2 so that it approached both in spirit and substance to something like a popular repre¬ sentation. 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.3 Iri some other particulars the Aragonese commons possessed an advantage over those of Castile, i. By postponing their money grants to the conclusion of the session, and regulating them in some degree by the previous disposi¬ tions of the crown, they availed themselves of an important lever relinquished by the Castilian cortes.4 2. The kingdom of Aragon proper was circum¬ scribed within too narrow limits to allow of such local jealousies and estrangements, growing out of an apparent diversity of interests, as existed in the neighbouring 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,5 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 1 Blancas, Modo de proceder, ubi supra. 2 As for example the ciudadattos honrados of Saragossa. (Capmany, Practica y Estilo, p. 14.) Kciudadanohonrado in Catalonia, and Ipresume the same in Aragon, was a landowner who lived on his rents without being engaged in commerce or trade of any kind, answering to the French profirietaire. See Capmany, Mem. de Barcelona, torn. 11. Apend. jno.
y>.
8 Blancas, Modo de proceder, fol. roz. 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 definitely 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. 5 Practica y Estilo, p. 14.
*
INTRODUCTION.
38
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. 1 hey respect me 1 as their prince, and Ihold them for good vassals and comrades.' No part of the constitution of Aragon has excited more interest, or more deservedly, than the office of the Justicia, or Justice ;- 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.3 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."4 An appeal lay to his tribunal from those of the territorial and royal judges.3 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 subordi¬ nate judicatures were subjected to the revision of a dignified and dispas¬ sionate tribunal, might seem to afford sufficient security for personal liberty and property.6 In addition to these official functions, the Justice of Aragon was consti¬ tuted a permanent counsellor of the sovereign, and, as such, was required to accompany him wherever he might reside. He was to advise the king 1
V nos lenemos 4 ellos como buenos vassallos
processes was styled firtn.i de derecho, the las', Zurita, Anales, lib. j, cap. t7. j mani/estacion. I he Spanish writers are warm ÿ was made masculine for their encomiums of these two provisions. "Quit"15 tlon„ . .maS istrate, who was duobus pra-odiis." says B.ancas, " ita nostrS ACC°m/n.0 f "justicia. Antonio Perez, Kelaciones, reipublicae status continetur, ut nulla pars communium fortunarum tutelS vacua relinquatur. Bot 3 rp. -ominentani, 26. Zurita, the Anales, this ampified — author and Zurita have ; d ' , ... respecting them, which the reader may find extract' i11' 1;. Blancas> Commentani, pp. 343, ; ard in part translated by Mr. Mallam, in 0bservai'.c>*s, torn. 1. fol. 2., 25. Ages, vol. ii. pp. 75-77, notes. When comply fin!ÿ?mClUÿÿ!I, r°ya -ihe principal °f ! litigation became more frequent, the Justif,e.Wf.r these 'n which allowed one, afterwards two, and at a still la"' ' audlTe"ce. o 'ln person, Ibid., p. 355. I period, in 152S, five lieutenants, as they we e ® Puerm v n£ tom. fol. 23, 60 et called, who aided h m in the discharge of his onerou' Obseryanciasj sea III Per- duties. Martel, Forma de celebrar Cortes, NoW» ' , MamtestationibusFÿniis sona'rum -Ako3fol de Uztarruz, pp. 92-96. -Blancas, Comment ' 137 et, se.<J- > llt' 7. Juris -B juris.— BWns ancas, ÿLommentarn, pp. 350, 351.— nr. 3 Zurita, Anales, lib. 10, cap. 37—Thc first of these PP 3361-266
y companeros. e noun
J
.
fc 34*-«l™r? iurisrfu ekinvhincl?
justicia
ARAGON.
39
on all constitutional questions of a doubtful complexion ; and finally, on a new accession to the throne, it was his province to administer the corona¬ tion 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.1 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 be thought of their authenticity, are undeniably of very high antiquity.2 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 proteo tion of individuals persecuted by the crown, and in defiance of every attempt at intimidation.3 The kings of Aragon, chafed by this opposition, procured the resignation or deposition, on more than one occasion, of the obnoxious magistrate.4 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.5 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 arcere si quas forsan Reipub. intulerit, jus fasque — esto." Blancas, Commentarii, p. 26.
1 Blancas, Commentarii, 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 Cortes, 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.
a 1h« lawalludsd to runs thus : Ne quid autem " damni detrimentive leges aut libertat es nostra oatiantur, judex quidani medius adesto, ad quern a Reg* provocare, si aliauem keserit. injunasque
3 Such instances may be found in Zurita, Anales, torn. ii. fol. 385, 414. Blancas, Commentarii, pp. 199, 202-206, 214, 325. 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 hirn on his return to the city, and greeted him as the defender of their ancient and natural liberties. (Reyes de Aragon, torn. i. fol. 155.) So openly did the Aragonese support their magistrate in the boldest exercise of his authority. 4 This occurred once under Peter III. and twice ; under Alfonso V. (Zurita, Anales, torn. iii. fol. 2.-5 — Blancas, Commentarii, pp. 174, 489, 499.) 'I he was appointed by the king. Justice 4 Fueros y Observances, torn. i. fol. 22-
INTRODUCTION.
4o
was made responsible to the cortes for the faithful discharge of his duties, under penalty of death.1 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 toe lour estates, empowered to sit every year in Saragossa, with authority to investigate the charges preferred against the Justice, and to pronounce sentence upon him.1 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 steady support of public opinion. Fortunately the Justice of Aragon received such support, and was thus enabled to carry the original design of the institution into eflect, 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, fami¬ liarized 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.8 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 adminis¬ tration 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."4 The governments of Valencia and Catalonia, which, as has been already remarked, were administered independently of each other after their con¬ solidation into one monarchy, bore a very near resemblance to that of Aragon.5 No institution, however, corresponding in its functions with
lUV*? ,
25. ®cser™claS'. torn. 1. fol. Inquisitionis principles as would have guided the determination 2 1to"1'• ,3> tu.\ 0f a private suit, delivered an opinion, which was ' Arag., Officii Just. and torn, in fol. 37-41. Blancas. received as obligatory on the whole nation. Commcntaru, pp 391-399.— The examination was 4 See Zurila, Anales, lib. 8, cap. 29,—and the conducted in the first instance before a court of four admirable sentiments cited by Blancas from the ac thÿv lnnmsitors. r. .rn ) inquisitors, as they were termed, ...Kn who, after a ! parliamentary acts in 1451. (Commentaru, p. 35°-' patient hearing of both sides, reported the result From this independent position must be excepted, of their examination to a council of seventeen, chosen indeed, the lower classes of the peasantry, who like them from the cortes, from whose decision there seem to have been in a more abject state 111 Aragoo was no appeal. No lawyer was admitted into this than in most other feudal countries. " Era tan council, iest the law might be distorted by verbal absoluto su dominio [of their lords] que podian quibbles, says Blancas. The council, however, was matar con hambre, sed, y frio a sus vasallos dt allowed the advice of two of the profession. They servidumbre." (Asso Instituciones, p. Manuel, y voted by ballot, and the majority decided. Such, 4°, also Blancas, Commentarii, p. 309.) These after various modifications, were the regulations ulti¬ serfs extorted, an insurrection, the recognition in mately adopted in 1461, or rather 1467. Robertson of certain rights from their masters, on condition ol appears to have confounded the council of seventeen paying a specific tax ; whence the name villanoi with the court of inquisition. See his History of de iarada. Charles V., vol. i. note 31. * Although the legislatures of the different states z Probably no nation of the period would have of the crown united in one displayed a temperance similar to that exhibited body when of Aragon were nevertown, yet the) convened in the same by the Aragonese at the beginning of the fifteenth were so averse to all appearance of incorporation, century, in 1412 ; when the people, having been that the for the appointed monarch frequently split into factions by a contested succession, agreed places of meeting three distinct towns, within then to refer the dispute to a committee of judges, elected respective territories, and contiguous, in order tha equally from the three great provinces of the he might pass the more expeditiously from one to kingdom ; who, after an examination conducted with the other. See Blancas, Modo de procedeft all the forms of law, and on the same equitable
£°rum —
u/prp
— ___
_
—
A RAGON.
41
that of the Justicia, seems to have obtained in either.1 Valencia, which had derived a large portion of its primitive population, after the conquest, from Aragon, preserved the most intimate relations with the parent king dom, 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 ol any other of the confederated states ; circumstances which led to important results that fall within the compass of our narrative.2 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.3 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.4 Her consuls, and her commercial factories, were established in every considerable port in the Mediterranean and in the north of Europe.5 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.6 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 1 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, torn. i. fol. 281.) But we find no further mention of uhis officer, or of the office. Nor have Imet with any notice of it in the details of the Valencian con¬ stitution, compiled by Capmany from various writers. ÿractica y Estilo, pp. 161-208.) An anecdote of wimenes 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.
—
la Acad, de Hist., torn. v. pp. 81, 82, 112, 113. Capmany, Mem. de Barcelona, torn. 1. part. 1, pp. 4, 8, 10, 11. 6 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 estab¬
—
lished throughout Africa and Europe, in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries (torn. ii. Apend. These officers, during the Middle Ages, discharged much more important duties than at the present day, if we except those few residing with no. 23).
the Barbary powers. They settled the disputes 2 Capmany, Practica y Estilo, pp. 62-214. •—Cap- arising between their countrymen in the ports many has collected copious materials, from a variety where they were established ; they protected the of authors, for the parliamentary history of Cata¬ trade of tneir own nation with these ports ; and lonia and Valencia, forming a striking contrast to were employed in adjusting commercial relations, the scantiness of information he was able to glean treaties, &c. In short, they filled in some sort the respecting Castile. The indifference of the Spanish post of a modern ambassador, or resident minister, writers, til! very recently, to the constitutional anti¬ at a period when this functionary was only em¬ quities of the latter kingdom, so much more im¬ ployed on extraordinary occasions. portant than the other states of the 6 Macpherson, Annals of Commerce (London, Peninsula, is altogether inexplicable. 1825), vol. i. p. 655. Tne woollen manufacture s Corbera, Cataluna illustrada (Napoles, 1678), constituted the principal stapie of Barcelona (CapJib. i, c. 17.—Petrus de Marca cites a charter of many, Mem. de Barcelona, torn. i. p. 241). The Kaymond Berenger, count of Barcelona, to the English sovereigns encouraged the Catalan traders •city, as ancient as 1025, confirming its former priviby considerable immunities to frequent their ports ge/SA . <;e Mar(--a Hispanica, sive Limes Hispani- during the fourteenth century. Macpherson, ubt ÿctis (Partsus, 1688), Apend. no. 198. supra, pp. 502, 551, 588. Navarrete, Discurso histdrico, apud. Mem. d- ;
—
42
INTRODUCTION.
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.1 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 com¬ modious 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.2 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 regu/ores 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, trades¬ men, 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.3 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 Magniftcos ;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 honours of foreign ambassadors.4 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.5 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 1 Heeren, Essai sur l'lnfluence des Croisades, ordinances, in 1438, calls it urbs venerabilis in traduit par Villers (Paris, 1808), p. 376.—Capmany, egregiis templis, tuta ut in opt"imis, pulchra in Ce¬ Mem. de Barcelona, torn. i. p. 213, also pp. 170- teris mdificiis," &c. Capmany, Mem. de Barcelona, 180.—Capmany fixes the date of the publication of torn. ii. Apend. no. 13. 3 Capmany, Mem. de Barcelona, Apend. no. 24the Consvlado del Mar at the middle of the thirteenth century, under James I. He discusses and | —The senate or great council, though styled the refutes the claims of the Pisans to precedence in j " one hundred," seems to have fluctuated at dif¬ this codification. See his Preliminary Discourse ferent times between that number and double it* to the Costumbres maritimas de Barcelona. amount. 3 Navagiero, Viaggio, fol. Corbera, Cataluna illustrada, p. 84.— Capmany. 3. — L. Marineo styles it " the most beautiful city he had ever seen, or to Mem. de Barcelona, torn. ii. Apend. no. 29. speak more correctly, in the whole world." (Cosas Capmany, Mem. de Barcelona, torn. i. part. 3» " memorable*, fol. 18.) Alfonso V., in one of his P- 4°, — torn. iii. part. 2, pp. 317, 318.
*
A RAGON.
43
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.1 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.2 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."3 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 die 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 intrusted to them. F'erdinand, indignant at this language, ordered the patriot to withdraw into another apartment, where Capmany, Mem. de Barcelona, torn. i. part. 2,
—
P' I°7>~torn. ii. Apend. 30. Capmany says princi/>ai nobleza ; yet it may be presumed that much tne larger proportion of these noble candidates for c-'rawn from the inferior class of the privi¬ 5 Was 1leged orders, the knights and hidalgos. The great arons of Catalonia, fortified with extensive immuities and wealth, lived on their estates in the "ouniry, probably little relishing the levelling spirit OMhe: burghers of Barcelona. Barcelona revolted and was twice besieged v 1 the royal arms under John II.,once under Phdip
."C
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 memor¬ able events in the eighteenth century. An interest¬ ing 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. 3 Viaggio, fob 3.
INTROD UCTION.
44
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 the 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 then 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.1 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. - 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.3 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 tc which England owes so much of her commercial grandeur.4 The brisk concussion given to the minds of the Catalans in the busy career in which they were engaged seems to have been favourable 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,0 it is certain that under the family of Barcelona the Provencal 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 1 Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, torn. ii. fol. Zurita, Anales, torn. iii. lib. 12, cap. 59.— The183. king turned his back on the magistrates, who came to pay their respects to him on learning his inten¬ tion of quitting the city. He seems, however, to nave had the magnanimity to forgive, perhaps to admire, the independent conduct of Fiveller; for at his death, which occurred very soon after, we lind this citizen mentioned as one of his executors. See Capmany, Mem. de Barcelona, torn. ii. Apend.
29. 2 The taxes were assessed in the ratio of one-sixth on Valencia, two-sixths on Aragon, and three-sixths
3m Catalonia.
cap. 71.
See Martel, Forma de celebrar Cortes
- See the itemsi. specified by Capmany, Mem. de -Barcelona, torn.
i Idem, torn.
pp. 231, 232.
i. pp. 221, 234.
— Capmany states
that the statute of Alfonso V. prohibited "all foreign ships from taking cargoes in the ports of his domi¬ nions." (See also Colec. Dipl., torn. ii. no. i87;/ The object of this law, like that of the British Navi¬ gation Act, was the encouragement of the national marine. It deviated far, however, from the saga¬ cious policy of the latter, which imposed no restric¬ tion on the exportation of domestic produce to foreign countries, except, indeed, its own colonies. 4 Andres, Dell' Origine, de' Progressi, e delio Stato attuale d'ogni Letteratura (Ver.ezia, i7"3n part. i. cap. 11.— Lampillas, Saggio storico-apologetico della Letteratura Spagnuola (Genova, !77"|j part. i. dis. 6, sec. 7.— Andres conjectures, ana Lampillas decides, in favour of Catalonia. Area#* umbo; and the latter critic the worst possible aut rity on all questions of national preference.
A RAGON.
45
cultivated the gay science with considerable success.1 Their names have descended to us, as well as those of less illustrious troubadours, whom Petrarch and his contemporaries did not disdain to imitate ;2 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.3 The languishing condition of the poetic art, at the close of the four¬ teenth 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.4 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 performance of the candidates, " inscribed on parchment of various colours, 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 cortege of minstrelsy and chivalry ; " thus manifesting to the world," says the marquis, "the superiority which God and nature have assigned to genius over dulness."5 The influence of such an institution in awakening a poetic spirit is at 1 Velazquez, Origenes de la Poesla Castellana (M&laga, 1797), pp. 20-22. Andres, Letteratura, part. i. cap. u. 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, torn. i. pp. 175-179, 185-189, 222, 224,242-248,— torn. ii. p. 28), also Lanuza(IIistorias eclesiasticas y seculares de Aragon (Zaragoza, 1622), torn. i. p. 553). The Chronicle of James I. is par¬ ticularly esteemed for its fidelity. s Whether Jordi stole from Petrarch, or Petrarch from Jordi, has been matter of hot debate between the Spanish and French litterateurs. Sanchez, aftera careful examination of the evidence, candidly decides against his countryman. (Poesfas Castellanas, torn. 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 favour of the originality of the Valencian poet. After all, as the amount stolen, or, to speak more reverently, borrowed, does not exceed half-adozen lines, it is not of vital importance to the reputation of either poet. 3 The Abate Andres lamented, fifty years ago, that the worms and moths should be allowed to revel among the precious relics of ancient Castiliar literature. (Letteratura, torn. ii. p. 306.) Have their revels been disturbed yet ? Mayans y Siscar, Origenes de la Lengua Espanola (Madrid, 1737), torn. ii. p. 323, 324.—:Crescimbeni, Istoria della volgar Poesia) Venezia, 1731), torn. ii. p. 170.— Mariana, Hist, de Espana, torn. i. p. 183.— Velazquez, Poesia Castellana, pp. 23, 24. 4 Mayans y Siscar, Origenes, torn. ii. pp. 325-327ÿ
*
INTRODUCTION.
46
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 dei." 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.1 During the first half of the fifteenth century, long after the genuine race of the troubadours had passed away, the Provencal or Limousin verse was carried to its highest excellence by the poets of Valencia. - It would be presumptuous for any one, who has not made the rorÿinct dialects his particular study, to attempt a discriminating criticism of these com¬ positions, 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.3 In prose, too, they have (to borrow the words of Andres) their Boccaccio in Martorell, whose fiction of " Tirante el Blanco " is honoured 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.4 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 Provencal, once more rich and melodious than any other idiom in the Peninsula, ÿas abandoned as a patois to the lower orders of the Catalans, who, with the 1 Andres, Letteratura, torn. iv. pp. 85, 86. Capmany, Mem. de Barcelona, torn. ii. Apend. no. 16.
—
(Matriti, 1788), torn. ii. p. 146.— Andres, Lettera¬
p. 87. There were thirty-two chairs, or professorships, tura, Cervantes, —founded Don Quixote (ed. de Pelucer, and maintained the expense of the city : Madrid. 1787), six of theology ; six of jurisprudence ; five of medi¬ Espanola (Madrid, i. p. 6a.— Mender, Typography 1796), pp. 73-75- — Andres, torn. iv.
4
at
torn.
W'
cine ; six of philosophy ; four of grammar ; one of leratura, ubi supra.— Pellicer seems to take Map rhetoric ; one of surgery ; one of anatomy ; one of i torelli's in good earnest, that his book is only Hebrew, and another of Greek. It is singular that a versionword ofsom none should have existed for the Latin, so much of the from the Castilian The names most noted troubadours are collected 'J more currently studied at that time, and of so much Velazquez, Poesta 20-84Castellana (pp. more practical application always than either of the many, Mem. de Barcelona, torn. ii. Apend. no. 5r other ancient languages. pr The Valencian, "the sweetest and most graceful Some extracts and pertinent criticisms on theirin ' ductions may be found by the English reader of the Limousin dialects," says Mayans y Siscar, Retrosnective Review. (No- 7, art. 2.) It >5 j°. . Orlgenes, torn. i. p. 58. regretted that ttie autnor has not redeemed 3 Nicolas Antonio, Bibliotheca Hispana Vetus pledge of continuing his notices to the Castilian of Spanish poetry.
ARAGON.
47
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 Ihave used, appeared in 1588, in folio, at Saragossa, executed with much typographical beauty. The work was after¬ wards 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," Ihave 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 honours 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 histdricas de Barcelona" (5 torn. 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 labours 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, Ifear deprive the sketch which Ihave 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.
—
—
f
GENEALOGY OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.
Henry II. of Trastamara, d. 1379-
John I. of Castile, d. 1390.
Catharine
Henry III. of Castile,
of Lancaster. Mary
of Aragon. (lst wife*)
Henry IV. of Castile, d. 1474.
Leonora
of Aragon.
d. 1406.
John II.
Ferdinand I.
Leonora
of Aragon, d. 1416.
of Albuquerque
Isabella
Blanche
of Castile, d. 1454.
of Portugal.
of Navarre.
Alfonso,
Isabella the Catholic.
d. 1468.
(2d wife.)
(ist wife.)
John II.
of Aragon,
d. 1479.
Joan
Henriquez. (2d wife.) Ferdinand
Carlos, d. 1461.
blanche.
Leonora.
the Catholic.
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 ADMINIS¬ TRATION; OR THE PERIOD EXHIBITING MOST FULLY THE DOMESTIC POLICY OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.
-0
CHAPTER I.
— REIGN OF
STATE OF CASTILE AT THE BIRTH OF ISABELLA.
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 Trasta¬ mara in 1368 were as fatal to the nobility of Castile as the wars of the Roses 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 Catherine of Lancaster at the close of the fourteenth century, the third estate may be said to have attained to the highest degree of poli¬ tical 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 D
REIGN OF JOHN II. OF CASTILE.
5°
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 vigour. 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, post¬ poned 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 intellec¬ tual character, he abandoned the government of his kingdom to the control of favourites. 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 recom¬ mended him most effectually to the favour 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 1 Sempere y Guarinos, Historia del
Pn'x
• ttt A T? 2 Crdnica de III.. Ennaue
j
Luxo, torn. i. I (Madrid, 1780), passim.—Crdnica de Juan ll (Valencia, 1779), p. t Academia j
BIRTH OF ISABELLA.
51
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 honour of having their sons, after the fashion of the time, educated in his family. When he rode abroad, he was accom¬ panied 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 splendours of its satellite.1 The history of this man may remind the English reader of that of Cardinal Wolsey, whom he somewhat resem¬ bled 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 honours with exemplary meekness. John's blind partiality for his favourite 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 favourite.2 But the only witchcraft which he used was the ascendency of a strung 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
J
,, Crdnica de Alvaro de Luna, ed. de la Academia piadrid,1784), tjt. 3, Guzman, Generaggj (Madrid. W75). cap. 33, 34.— AW uarca,yi> Keyes de Aragon, en Anales histdricos, torn. • ol. 227. Crdnica de Juan II., passim. He possscd sixty towns and fortresses, and kept three
.
—
bl.tniiaS
—
—
lances constantly in pay. Oviedo, Quincuagenas, i°u ,and
MS.
nÿGrZmanI., Generaciones, cap. 33.— Crdnica de "an
II., o. aoi et alibi.— His complaisance
for the favourite, indeed, must be admitted, if we believe Guzman, to have been of a most extraor¬ dinary kind : " E lo que con mayor maravilla se puede decir 6 01'r, que aun en Ios autos naturales se did as! a la ordenanza del condestable, que seyendo el mozo bien complexionado, e teniendo a la reyna su muger moza y hermosa, si el condestable se lo contradixiese, no iria A dormir A su cama del la."
Ubi supra.
52
REIGN OF JOHN II. OF CASTILE.
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, pragmdticas, 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.1 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.2 They even ventured so far, during this reign, as to regulate the expenses of
all influence in it
the royal household ;3 and their language to the throne on all these occa¬ sions, though temperate and loyal, breathed a generous spirit of patriotism, evincing a perfect consciousness of their own rights, and a steady deter¬ mination to maintain them.4 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 represen¬ tation. 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 parsi¬ mony, 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
— —
1 Marina, Teoria, torn. i. cap. 20, torn. ii. pp. 216, 390, 391,—torn. iii. part. 2, no. 4. Capmany, Pr&ctica y Estilo, pp. 234, 235. Sempere, Histoire des Curtis, ch. 18, 24. 2 Several of this prince's laws 'or 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 :
hechos arduos de nuestros reynos " Porque en los es y natuconsejo necessario
rates,
de nuestros subditos, especialmente de los procuradores de
,
nuestros ciudades, villas y lugares de los nuestTOi reynos It was much easier to extort good la*1
from this monarch than to enforce them. 3 Mariana, Historia de Espafia, torn. ii. p. '99' 4 Marina, Teoria, ubi supra.
BIRTH OF ISABELLA.
53
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.1 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.2 The privilege of a voice in cortes, as it was called, came at length to be prized so highly by the favoured 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."3 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 ordi¬ nary 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 often¬ times in painful uncertainty, and deprived them of the cheering support of public opinion. The voice of remonstrance, which derives such con¬ fidence from numbers, would hardly now be raised in their deserted halls with the same frequency or energy as before ; and however the represen¬ tatives 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
—
ducats. ? Capmany, Prdctica v Estilo, p. 228. Sempere, ' tion from the crown, at an expense of 80,000Sempere, - Capmany, Practica y Estilo, p. 230.— 19.— Marina, Teoria, part. *> rap. 16. In 1656, the city of Palencia was con- Hist, des Cortes, chap. 19. ÿmi to 3 Marina, Teoria, torn. i. p. 161. repurchase its ancient right of representa-
"'St. des Cortes, chap.
—
REIGN OF JOHN II OF CASTILE.
44
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 It was enriched, most remarkable performance of the Middle Ages. 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.1 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 Provencal neighbours, vied with each other in lays of love and chivalry, those of Castile disdained these effemi¬ nate 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 accom¬ plished for a king, and, notwithstanding his aversion to business, mani¬ fested, 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.2 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 distinguishes the tribe in every country, soon turned their attention to the same polite studies ;3 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 V illena, descended from the royal houses of Castile and Aragon,4 but moie 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 1 See the ample collections of Sanchez, " Poesia Castellanas anteriores al Siglo XV." 4 torn., Madrid, 1779-1790. 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. 3 Velazquez, Origenes de la Poesia Castellana (Malaga, 1797), p. 45.— Sanchez, Poesias Castel¬ lanas, torn. 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." 4 He was the grandson, not, as Sanchez suppose (torn. i. p. 15), the son, of Alonso de Villena, tn first marquis as well as constable created in Castne, descended from James II. of Aragon. (See iJor mer, Enmiendas y Advertencias de Zurita l/ib"3e goza, 1683), pp. 371-376.) His mother was an 1 gitimate daughter of Henry II. of Castile. «u man, Generaciones, cap. 28. — Salazar de Mem-eza, Monarquia de Espaha (Madrid, 1770), torn. '• PP 20
339-
BIRTH OF ISABELLA.
55
specimen of his poetry, although much lauded by his contemporaries,1 has come down to us.2 He translated Dante's "Commedia" into prose, and is said to have given the first example of a version of the ÿEneid into a modern language.3 He laboured assiduously to introduce a more culti¬ vated taste among his countrymen, and his little treatise on the gay 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 approxi¬ mation, however faint, to an Art of Poetry in the Castilian tongue.4 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.5 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 Cuenca, to examine the valuable library of the deceased ; and the worthy ecclesiastic consigned more than a hundred volumes of it to the flames, as savouring too strongly of the black art. The Bachelor Cibdareal, the confidential physician of John the Second, in a lively letter on this occur¬ rence 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."6 John de Mena denounces this auto dafe of science in a similar, but graver, tone of sarcasm, in his Labe" rinto." These liberal sentiments in the Spanish writers of the fifteenth century may put to shame the more bigoted criticism of the seventeenth.7 1 Guzman, Generaciones, cap. 28.— Juan de VIena introduces Villena into his " Laberinto," in Ji agreeable stanza, which has something of the aannerism of Dante : " Aquel claro padre aquel dulce fuente
aquel que en el castolo monte resuena es don Enrique Senor de Villena honrra de Espaha y del siglo presente," &c. Juan de Mena, Obras (Alcald, 1566), fol. 138. The recent Castilian translators of Bouterwek's i* History of Spanish Literature have fallen into an '"iputing the beautiful cancion of the Querella de Amor " to Villena. It was composed by the marquis of Santillana. (Bouterwek, Iiistoria de la Literatura Espanola, traducida por Cortina y Hugalde y Mollinedo (Madrid, 1825), p. 196, and Whez, Poesias Castellanas, torn. 1. pp. 38, 143.)
7m
t!"stal<e 'nto which Nicolas Antonio had also
i> 'n supposing Villena's "Trabajos de Her¬ i cules written in verse, has been subsequently cor¬
rected by his learned commentator Bayer.
See
Nicolas Antonio, Bibliotheca Hispana Vetus, torn. ii. p. 222, nota. 3 Velazquez, Origenes de la Poesla Castellana, p. 45. Bouterwek, Literatura Espanola, trad, de Cortina y Mollinedo, nota S. 4 See an extract of it in Mayans y Siscar, Ori¬ genes de la Lengua Espanola, torn. ii. pp. 321 et seq. 4 Zurita, Anales de la Corona de Aragon, torn. iii. p. 227. — Guzman, Generaciones, cap. 28. 6 Centon epistolario, epist. 66.—The bishop en¬ deavoured to transfer the blame of the conflagration to the king. There can be little doubt, however, that the good father infused the suspicions of necro¬ mancy 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. " Comp. Juan de Mena, Obras, copl. 127,128 ; and Nic. Antonio. Bibliotheca Vetus, torn. ii. p. 220.
—
REIGN OF JOHN II. OF CASTILE.
56
Another of the illustrious wits of this reign was Inigo 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 He made his house an most important civil and military functions. 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 recom¬ pensed, and encouraged by his example.1 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 senti¬ ment, 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. 2 His epistle on the primitive history of Spanish verse, although containing notices sufficiently curious from the age and the source whence they pro¬ ceed, has perhaps done more service to letters by the valuable illustrations it has called forth from its learned editor.8 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 honour and purity of motive unimpeached even by his enemies. The king, notwithstanding his devo¬ tion 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.4 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 IPulgar, 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. 2 Garcilasso de la Vega, Obras, ed. de Herrera
—
(1580), pp. 75, 76.— Sanchez, Poesias Castellanas, torn. 1. 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. 1
See Sanchez, Poesias Castellanas, torn. i. pp. A copious catalogue of the marquis de
—
1-119.
Santillana's writings is given in the same volume (PP- 35 et seq.). Several of his poetical pieces are collected in the Cancionero general (Anvers, 1573)1 fol. 34 et seq. 4 Pulgar, Claros Varones, tit. 4.— Salazar de Mendoza, Monarqula, torn. i. p. 218. Idem, Ori* gen 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, Ouincuagenas, MS.. bat. 1, quinc. 1. dial. 8.
—
—
BIRTH OF ISABELLA.
57
which graced the court of John the Second, was John de Mena, a native of fair Cordova, "the flower of science and of chivalry,"1 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 prin¬ ciples 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.2 He was admitted into the private circle of the monarch, who, as his gossiping pnysician 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.3 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.4 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 beauti¬ ful 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 vigour, 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.5 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 1
" Flor de saber y caballeria." El Laberinto,
copla 114.
5 Nic. Antonio, Bibliotheca Vetus, torn. ii. pp.
*65 et seq
3 Cibdareal, Centon epistolario, epist. 47, 49. 4 See Velazquez, Poesla Castellana, p. 49. 5 A collection of them is incorporated in theCancionero general, fol. 41 et seu.
REIGN OF JOHN II OF CASTILE.
58
troubadours into a cancionero, '' tor 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 ceme¬ tery of the Escurial, with the dust of many a better worthy.1 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. 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 cor¬ poration 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.3 It is not often that the productions of a poetlaureate have been more liberally recompensed even by royal bounty. But the gifted spirits of that day mistook the road to immortality. Dis¬ daining 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 meta¬ phor as to become nearly unintelligible ; while they invoke the pagan deities with a shameless prodigality that would scandalise even a French lyric. This cheap display of schoolboy 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 culti¬ vated with considerable success. The latter, especially, might admit of advantageous comparison with that of any other country in Europe at the same period ;4 and it is remarkable that, after such early promise, 1 Castro,
Biblioteca Espanola (Madrid, 1781), j in him who would hope to excel in it a' curious j invention, a sane judgment, a various scholarship, the most primitive of all the Spanish cancioneros, ] familiarity with courts and public affairs, high birth notwithstanding its local position in the library is | and breeding, a temperate, courteous, and liberal specified by Castro with great precision, eluded the disposition, and, in fine, honev, sugar, salt, freedom, search of the industrious translators of Bouterwek, I and hilarity in his discourse. p. 26S. 3 Castro, Biblioteca Espanola, who think it may have disappeared during the torn. i. p. Z73-. French invasion. Literatura Espanola, trad, de 4 Perhaps the most conspicuous of these historical Cortina y Mollinedo, p. 205, nota Hh. compositions for mere literary execution is the See these collected in Castro, Biblioteca Es¬ Chronicle of Alvaro de Luna, to which Ihave had panola, torn. ii. p. 265 et seq. The veneration occasion to refer, edited in by Flores, the entertained for the poetic art in that day may diligent secretary of the Royal 1784, Academy of History. be conceived from Baena's whimsical prologue. He justly commends it for the purity and harmony "Poetry," he says, "or the gay science, is a very of its diction. The of the chronicler seduces subtile and delightsome composition. It demands him sometimes intoloyalty a swell of panegyric which may torn. i. pp. 266, 267.—This interesting document,
-
—
BIRTH OF ISABELLA.
59
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 improve¬ ment 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 endeavouring to forget the public calamities in the tranquillizing pursuit of letters, and a much larger portion in the indulgence of pleasure,1 the popu¬ lar 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 favourite 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 meantime, 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 com¬ plaisance, acquiesced in an arrangement professedly repugnant to his own inclinations.2 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 con¬ trived to extinguish whatever spark of latent affection for his ancient favourite 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 be thought to savour too strongly of the current 1 Seinpere, in his Historia del Luxo (torn. i. p. defect of Castilian prose ; but it more frequently 177), has published an extract from an unprinted unparts to his narrative a generous glow of senti¬ manuscript of the celebrated marquis of Villena, ment, raising it far above the lifeless details of entitled T1 iutifo de las Dcflas, in which, adverting ordinary history, and occasionally even to positive to the petits-maitres of his time, he recapitulates eloquence.— Nic. Antonio, in the tenth book of his the fashionable arts employed by them for the em¬ Peat repository, has assembled the biographical bellishment of the person, with a degree of minutean(l, bibliographical notices of the various Spanish I ness which might edify a modern dandy. authors of the fifteenth century, whose labours I 2 Crdnica de Juan 11., p. 459. Faria y Sousa, a Ilmmei*in.g light over their own age, | Europa Portuguesa (1679), torn. ii. pp. 335* 1 'iu ch has become faint°fin the superior illumination -172. the succeeding.
—
REIGN OF /OHN II. OF CASTILE.
6o
trial was referred to a commission of jurists and privy councillors, who, after a summary and informal investigation, pronounced on him the sentence of death on a specification of charges either general and indeter¬ minate, 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." 1 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.2 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 guerdor. 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, appro¬ priated as the cemetery for malefactors.3 (1453.) 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.4 1 Crdnica de Alvaro de Luna, tit. 128— Crdnica de Juan II., pp. 457, 460, 572. Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, torn. 11. fol. 227, 228. Garibay, Compendio historial de las Chrdnicas de Espana (Barcelona, 1628), torn. ii. p. 493. 2 Crdnica 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. Cibdareal, Centon et istolaiio, ep. 103.—Crdnica
——
—
"
*
—
de Juan II., p. 564. Crdnica de Alvaro de Luna, tit. 128, and Apend. p. 458. 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 : Que se hizo la moneda " que guarde para mis danos tantos tiempos tantos alios plata joyas oro y seda y de todo no me queda sino este cadahalso ; mundo malo mundo falso no ay quien contigo pueda." Manrique has the same sentiment in his exquisite
*
BIRTH OF ISABELLA.
61
John did not long survive his favourite's death, which he was seen after¬
wards 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.1 So far from deriving a wholesome warning from experience, John con¬ fided 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 death-bed, that " he had not been born the son of a mechanic, instead of king of Castile." He died July 2 ist, 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, after¬ wards queen of Castile, the subject of the present narrative. She had scarcely reached her fourth year at the time of her father's decease, hav¬ ing been born on the 22d of April, 145 1, at Madrigal. The king recom¬ mended 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.2
" Coplas." Igive 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 ai.
1Cibdareal, Centon epistolario, ep. 103.— Crdnica de Alvaro de Luna, tit. 138. 2 Crdnica de Juan II., p. 576. Cibdareal, Centon epistolario, epist. 105.— There has been considerable discrepancy, even among contemporary writers, both as to the place and the epoch of Isabella's birth, amounting, as regards the latter, to nearly two years. Ihave adopted the conclusion of Senor 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 Cathdlicas (2d ed. Madrid, 1770), torn. ii. pp. 743, 787.
—
REIGN OFJOHN II. OF ARAGON.
CHAPTER II.
—
CONDITION OF ARAGON DURING THE MINORITY OF FERDINAND REIGN OF JOHN II. OF ARAGON.
I452-I472' |ohn of Aragon- Difficulties with his Son Carlos—Birth of Ferdinand—Insurrection of Catalonia—Death of Carlos— His Character—Tragical Story of Blanche—Young Ferdi¬
nand 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 succes¬ sion in that kingdom. The throne, which had become vacant by the death of ÿlartin, 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 after 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 stipu¬ lation in her marriage contract, that, on the event of her death, the eldest 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. llallam. (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. " The reader of Spanish history often experiences embarrassment from the identity of names in the various princes of the Peninsula. Thus, the John mcnticned in the text, afterwards John II., might
De easily confounded with his namesake and con¬
The genealogical table at the beginning of this History will show their
temporary, John II. of Castile.
relationship to each other.
3 His grandfather, Charles III., created this title in favour of Carlos, appropriating it as the desig¬ Alt-son, nation henceforth of the heir-apparent. Anales del Reyno de Navarra, contin. de Moret
(Pamplona, 1766), torn. iv. p. 39R.— Salazar de Mcndoza, Monarquia, torn. ii. p. 331. See Part I., p. 80, note 2, of this H story.
*
MINORITY OF FERDINAND.
63
heir male, and, in default of sons, female, should inherit the kingdom to the exclusion of her husband.1 (1442.) 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 sove¬ reignty, solicit "the good-will and approbation of his father."2 Whether this approbation was withheld, or whether it was ever solicited, does not appear. It seems probable, however, that Carlos, perceiving no disposi¬ tion 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. 3 In. i447> John of Aragon contracted a second alliance, with Joan Henriquez, of the blood-royal of Castile, and daughter of Don Frederick Henriquez, admiral of that kingdom ;4 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 stepmother. Navarre was at that time divided by two potent factions, styled, from their ancient leaders, Beaumonts and Agramonts : whose hostility, origi¬ nating in a personal feud, had continued long after its original cause had become extinct.5 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 Agra¬ monts, 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 dis1 This fact, vaguely and variously reported by i1 sented by the national historians, on an incontestable Spanish writers, is fully established by Aleson, who basis. 3 Ibid., torn. iv. p. 467. cites the original instrument, contained in the 4 See Part I. chap. archives of the counts of I.erin. Anales de Na3 of this work. 5 Gaillard errs in referring the origin of these varra, torn. iv. pp. 354, 365. a See the reference to the original document in factions to this epoch. (Histoire de la Rivalite' de Aleson (torn. iv. pp. 365, 366). This industrious France et de l'Espagne (Paris, 1801), torn. iii. p. wrner has established the title of Prince Carlos to 227.) Aleson quotes a proclamation of John in Blanche, ' avarre, so frequently misunderstood or misrepre- relation to them in the lifetime of Queen Anales de Navarra, torn. iv. p. 494.
REIGN OF JOHN II OF ARAGON.
64
gust 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.1 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 ranco 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.2 (i452-) Some months before this event, Queen Joan had been delivered of a son, afterwards so famous as Ferdinand the Catholic,— whose humble pros¬ pects at the time of his birth, as a younger brother, afforded a striking contrast to the splendid destiny which eventually awaited him. This auspicious event occurred in the little town of Sos, in Aragon, on the ioth 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.3 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 recon¬ ciliation. 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.4 On his passage through France and the various courts of Italy,
—
r Zurita, Anales, torn. in. fol. 278. Lucio Marineo Siculo, Coronista de sus Magestades, Las Cosas memorables de Espana (Alcald de Henares, 1539)) fol. 104. Aleson, Anales de Navarra, torn. IV. pp.
—
494-498. s Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, torn. ii. fol. 223. Aleson, Anales de Navarra, torn. iv. pp. 501-503.
——
L. Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. 105. 3 Compendio, torn. iii. p. 419. L. Marineo de¬ scribes the heavens as being 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 splendour. A crown was also beheld in the sky, composed of various brilliant colours 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 (Vercladera Cordnic.. de Don Enrique IV., Rei de Castilla y Leon, y del Rei Don Alonso su Hermano,_ MS.), and Andrds Bemaldez, Cura de Los Palacios (Historia de los Reyes Catdhcos, 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, torn, iv. fol. 9), Ihave given it the preference. Zurita, Anales, torn. iv. fol. 3-48. — Aleson, Anales de Navarra, torn. iv. pp. 508-526 fMarineo, Cosas memorables, fol. 105.
-
MINORITY OF FERDINAND.
65
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 favourable 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.1 The frank and courteous manners of Carlos had won so powerfully on the affections of the Neapolitans, who distrusted the dark, ambiguous char¬ acter 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 But Carlos, from motives of prudence or support from the people. magnanimity, declined engaging in this new contest,2 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 attach¬ ment 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.3 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 endeavoured to recall the happier hours of youth in the pursuit of his favourite studies of philosophy and
history.4 In the meanwhile, John, now king of Aragon and its dependencies, alarmed by the reports of his son's popularity in Sicily, became as solicit¬ ous 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,
,«rP'annone> Istoria civile del Regno di Napoli iMilano, 1823), lib. 26, c. 7.— Ferreras, Histoire generale d Espagne, trad, par D'Hermilly (Paris, torn. vii. p. 60. L' Histoire du Royaume de 1 un des Par Secrdtaires-Interprettes de saaffr.rc> Majeste (Paris, 1596), p. 468. c-mpare tlle narrative of the Neapolitan histo(Historia della Citth e Regno di Wtrf ,?"™monte ( .aP°li> 167s), lib. 5, c. 2) and Giannone n-£°» ria civile, lib. 26, c. 7,— lib. 27, Introd.) with m °PP°,s>t* statements of L. Marineo, Cosas A1 °:a,b'eS (fol. 106), himself a contemporary, s Navarro torn. iv. p. 546), and • other Spanish writers
—
3 Enriquez del
Castillo, Crdnica de Enrique el
Quarto (Madrid, 1787), cap. 43.
—Nic. Antonio, Bibliotheca Vetus, torn. ii. p. 282.— L. Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. 106.—Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, torn. ii. fol. 250.— Carlos bargained with iZurita, Anales, torn. iv. fol. 97.
Pope Pius II. for a transfer of this library, particu¬ larly rich in the ancient classics, to Spain, which 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. was eventually defeated by his death.
66
REIGN OF JOHN II. OF A RAGON.
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.1 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
in
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 theAragonese 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.2 (1460.) In this unnatural procedure it was easy to discern the influence of the queen. In addition to her original causes of avejrsion 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 mar¬ riage ; 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 favourite 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
—
1 Aleson, Anales de Navarra, torn. iv. pp. 548-554. j 2 Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, ubi supra. Zurit*; -Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, torn. li. fol. -251.— Anales, torn. iv. fol. 70-75.—Aleson, Anales de N»Zunta, Anales, torn. iv. fol. 60—69, 1 varra, torn. iv. p. 556.
.
MINORITY OF FERDINAND
67
heir in the assembly of the states. After a brief interview he was arrested, and his person placed in strict confinement.1 The intelligence of this perfidious procedure diffused general consterna¬ tion 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 unconstitu¬ tional 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 offence. 2 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 movements of military opera¬ tions, 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 terri¬ tory 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.3 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 meantime, was secured in the inaccessible fortress of Morella, situated in a mountainous district on the confines of Valencia. John, on halting at Saragossa, endeavoured 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 trans¬ marine possessions of Sardinia and Sicily. The king of Castile supported
vr
ÿa7ne°. Cosas memorables, fol. 108. a' Anales, lib. 17, cap. 3. Aleson, Anales de tom" 'v' PP4 SS6) 557-— Castillo, Crdnica,
cap 27
—
—
memorables, fol. 108, 109.— Aboilca, Reyes deCosas Aragon, tom. ii. fol. 252. —Zurita,
—
Anales, lib. 17, cap. 45. Aleson, Anales de Navar-a tom. ii. p. 357. 3 Aleson, Anales de Navarra, tom. 11. p. 35S — Zurita, Anales, lib. 17, cap. 6. Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. fol. 253.— L. Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. nr.
—
68
REIGN OF JOHN II OF A RAGON.
Carlos at the same time by an irruption into Navarre; and his partisans, the Beaumonts, co-operated with these movements by a descent oc
Aragon.1 John, alarmed at the tempest which his precipitate conduct had arousea, 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 acclamations due to a conqueror returning from a campaign of victories.2 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.3 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
—
1 Zurita, Anales, lib. 17, cap. 6 L. Marineo, bells on her approach, the signal of alarm on the Cosas memorables, fol. in. appearance of an enemy or for the pursuit of arnaleCastillo, Crdnica, cap. 28. Abarca, Reyes de factor. a Alonso dePalencia, Cordnica, MS., part. 2, cap. Aragon, fol. 253, 254.—L. Marineo, Cosas memor- j ables, fol. 111, 112. Aleson, Anales de Navarra, 51. L. Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. 114 • tom- iv. pp. 559, 5G0.—The inhabitants of Tarraca | Aleson, Anales de Navarra, torn. iv. pp. s6i-5&3closed their gates upon the queen, and rung the | —Zurita, Anales, cap. 19, 24.
—
—
MINORITY OF FERDINAND.
69
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 favour 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 demeanour, that no one thing seemed to be wanting in him which belongs to a true and perfect prince." 1 He is described by another contemporary as " in person somewhat above the middle stature, having a thin visage, with a serene and modest expres¬ sion of countenance, and withal somewhat inclined to melancholy." 1 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.3 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 demeanour, 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 subse¬ quently contracted between that monarch and the king of Aragon, it was L. Marineo, Cosas
"
memorables, fol. 106.— P°r ÿuanto era la tan grande eltemplanga y mesura de aquel principe ; concierto crianqa y costumbres, limpieza de su vida,y su liberalidad y magnificencia, y finalmente su su dulce conversacion, que Duiguna cosa en el falfc»v». de aauellas que pertene-
scen a recta vivir, y que arman el verdadero y perfecto principe y senor." 2 Gundisalvus Garsias, apud Nic. Antonio, Bibliotheca Vetus, torn. it. p. 281. 3 Nic. Antonio, Bibliotheca Vetus, torn, ii- pp. 281, 282. Mariana, Hist. deEspana, torn. ii. p. +34-
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7°
REIGN OF JOHN JJ. OF A RAGON
stipulated that Blanche should be delivered into the custody of the countess of Foix, as surety tor the succession of the latter, and of her pos¬ terity, to the crown of Navarre.1 Conformably to this provision, John endeavoured 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 Berrl The unfortunate lady, comprehending too well her father's real purpose, be¬ sought 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 succour, she made a formal renunciation of her right to Navarre in favour 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,2 she reminded him of the dawn of happiness which she had enjoyed under his protection, of bis early engagements to her, and of her subsequent calamities ; and, antici¬ pating 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.3 On the same day, the last of April, 1462, she was delivered over to one of their emissaries, who conducted her to the castle of Ortes in B6arn, where, after languishing in dreadful suspense for nearly two years, she was poisoned by the command of her sister.4 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, on the 6th of October, 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, how¬ ever, in attributing it to assassination, and most of them, with the learned Antonio Lebrija, a contem¬ Beam. porary (loc. _cit ), in imputing it to poison. The 2 Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, torn. vii. p. no. fact of her ieath, which Aleson, on I know not Hist, du Royaume de Navarre, p. 496. Aleson, what authrrity, refers to the 2d of December, I4°4i Anales de Navarra, torn. iv. pp. 590-593. Abarca, was not publicly disclosed till some months afteI Reyes de Aragon, torn. ii. fol. 258, 259.—Zurita, its occurrence, when disclosure became necessary Anales, lib. 17, cap. 38. in consequence of the proposed interposition ol 4 Lebrija, De Bello Navariensi (Granata:, 1545), | Nnvarrese cortes. lib. 1, cap. 1, fol. 74.— Aleson. Anales de Navarra.
1 This treaty was signed at Olit in Navarre, April iath, 1462.—Zurita, Anales, lib. 17, cap. 38, 39.— Gaillard, Rivalit£, torn. iii. p. 235.— Gaillard confounds it with the subsequent one made in the month of May. near the town of Salvatierra in
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MINORITY OF FERDINAND.
71
1461, 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 heirapparent 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 honours reserved for such as have been duly canonized by the Church.1 The revolutionary spirit of the Barcelonians, kept alive by the recollec¬ tion of past injury, as well as by the apprehensions of future vengeance should John succeed in re-establishing 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 with¬ draw 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 he 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 intermitting discharge of stone bullets on the little garrison.2 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 he besieged, they were repulsed, after a desperate struggle, with great.. Alonso de Palencia, Cordnica, MS., part. 2, cap.
—
—
51. Zurita, Anales, torn. iv. fol. 98. Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, torn. li. fol. 256. Aleson, Anales de Navarra, torn. iv. pp. 563 et seq. L. Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. 114.—According to Lanuza,
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—
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 per¬ fectly sound and healthful state ! (Historias eclesiasticas y seculares de Aragon, torn. i. p. 553.) Aleson wonders that any should doubt the truth of miracles attested by the monks of the very monastery
Carlos was interred. tnÿwhtch L.
Marineo, Cosas memorables, fob n6
—
Alonso de Palencia, Cordnica, MS., part. 2, cap —Zurita, Anales, torn. iv. fol. rip.—The Span¬ iards, 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 five thousand balls were fired front 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 fieldpiece 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 (Qpere, Genova 1798).
pi.
REIGN OF JOHN II. OF A RAGON
slaughter. The queen displayed the most intrepid spirit in the midst oi 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.1 In the meanwhile, 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 subse¬ quently led to most important consequences. By three several treaties, of the 3d, 2 1st, 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 aliena¬ tion, 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.2 In pursuance of these arrangements, seven hundred French lances with a considerable body of archers and artillery 3 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 1 Alonso de Palencia, Cordnica, MS., part, 2, c. has been given by M. Petitot in his recent edi¬ tion of the Collection des Mdmoires relatifs k 51.— L. Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. 116. Zurita, Anales, torn. iv. fol. 1x3.—Abarca, Reyes l'Histoire de France (Paris, 1836), torn. xi. Introd.
—
de Aragon, torn. ii. fol. 259. 2 Zurita, Anales, torn. iv. fol. nr.—Another 100,000 crowns were to be paid in case further as¬ sistance should be required from the French monarch after the reduction of Barcelona. This treaty bac been incorrectly reported by most of the French and all the Spanish historians whom Ihave consulted, save the accurate Zurita. An abstract from the original documents, compiled by the Abbd lie arand.
P- 245A French lance 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 memor¬ ables, fol. 117.) Nothing could be more indeter¬ minate than the complement of a lance in the Middle Ages. It is not unusual to find it reckoned at five or six horsemen.
MINORITY OF FERDINAND.
73
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 promulgated, affording a still more extraordinary con¬ trast with those which have been since familiar in that unhappy country ! 1 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,2 the crown was offered to Don Pedro, constable of Portugal, a descendant of the ancient house of Barcelona. In the meanwhile, 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,3 Cervera, Amposta,4 Tortosa, and the most important places in the south of Catalonia. (1464.) Many of these places were strongly forti¬ fied, and most of them defended with a resolution which cost the con¬ queror 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 iv. fol. .e, &nta, Anales, Cordnica, MS., torn.
113-115.— Alonso
(Pharsalia, lib. 4) with his usual swell of hyber-
bole. part. 2, cap. Ta'encia, 4 The cold was so intense at the siege of Amposta, Jn conformity with the famous verdict given by 1.
j
XI. at Bayonne, April 23d, 1463, previously j that serpents of an enormous magnitude are re¬ J?ls interview between him and Henry IV. on the ! ported by L. Marineo to have descended from the
tel the
-lores of the Bidassoa.
See Part I. chap. 3 of this
3StTi7' his was the battle-ground of
'
1
mountains and taken refuge in the camp of the Portentous and supernatural voices
I besiegers.
during the nights. Indeed, Julius Ctesar in j were frequently heard appears to have been the
soldiers ' s wars with Pontpey. See his ingenious military the superstition of ÿ'''vre as simply narrated in his own Commen- so lively as to have prepared them for seeing and ,es (De Bello Civili, torn. i. p. 54), and by Lucan hearing anything.
'
REIGN OF fOHN II. OF A RAGON.
74
seemed likely to lead to a termination of the war, proved ultimately the cause of its protraction.1 It appeared, however, to present a favourable 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 Rene 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.2 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.3 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 Cata¬ lonia.4 (1464.) 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 1 Faria y Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, torn. ii. p. 390. Alonso de Palencia, MS., part. 2, cap. 6o, 61.—Castillo, Crdnica, pp. 43, 44, 46, 49, 50, 54.
—
(Histoire de Rend d'Anjou, Paris, 1825), who has, however, indulged in greater detail than was per¬
have been desired by Rene, or by his readers. — hapsComines 128, says of him, " A tous alarmes c'estoit
Zurita, Anales, torn. ii. fol. 116, 124, 127, 130, 137, 147.— M. La Clede states that "Don Pedro no sooner arrived in Catalonia than he was poi¬ soned." (Histoire gdndrale de Portugal (Paris, 1735), torn. iii. p. 245.) It must have been a very slow poison. He arrived January 21st, 1464, and died June 29th, 1466. 2 Sir Walter Scott, in his " Anne of Geierstein," has brought into full relief the ridiculous side of Rene'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 contem¬ porary princes. After all, the best tribute to his worth was the earnest attachment of his people. His biography has been well and diligently com¬ piled by the viscount of Villeneuve Bargemont
to
2
le premier homme arme, et de toutes pieces, et son cheval tousjours barde. II portoit un habillement que ces conducteurs portent en Italie, et seinbloit bien prince et chef de guerre ; et y avoit d'obeissance autant que monseigneur de Charolois, et luy obeissoit tout l'ost de meilleur coeur, car a la vdritd il estoit digne d'estre honord." Philippe de Comines, Memoires, dd. Petitot (Paris, 1826), by1, chap. 11.
* Villeneuve Bargemont, Hist, de Rene, torn, ii. pp. 168, 169.— Histoire de Louys XI., autrement dicte La Chromque scandaleuse, par un Greffier de l'Hostel de Ville de Paris (Paris, 1620), p. *45Zurita, Anales, torn. iv. fol. 150, 153.— Alonso de Palencia, Cordnica, MS., part. 2, cap. 17.— Palencia swells the numbers of the French in the service of
—
the duke of Lorraine to 20,000.
MINORITY OF FERDINAND.
75-
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 addi¬ tion 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 cala¬ mities, his eyesight, which had been impaired by exposure and protracted sufferings during the winter siege of Amposta, now failed him altogether.1 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 Cata¬ lonia, 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 ardour, 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, north-east 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 itself, in their extravagance ; while the ladies, it is said, pawned their rings, necklaces, and other ornaments of their attire, m order to defray the expenses of the war.2 King John, in the meanwhile, 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 con¬ stitution 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 ot her husband, and may be even said to have given them a direction. She conducted several important diplomatic negotiations to a happy issue,
*
L. Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. Villeneuve Bargemont, Hist, de Rend, torn. iL 139.— .unta> Anales, torn. iv. fol. 148, 149, 158.—Aleson, pp. 182, 183.—L. Marineo, fol. 140.—Zurita, Anales, Anales de Navarra, torn. iv. pp. 611-613.— Duclos, torn. iv. fol. 153-164.—Abarca, Reyes de Aragon,,. ÿ Louis XI. (Amsterdam, 1746), torn. ii. p. torn. ii. rey 29, cap. 7. 1,' *• Mem de Comines, Petitot, Introd. p. 258.
*
REIGN OF JOHN II. OF A RAGON
76
and, what was more uncommon in her sex, displayed considerable capacity for military affairs. Her persecution of her stepson 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 support1 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 enriques in his coffers, called on him for additional disbursements. As the darkest hour, however, is commonly said to precede the dawn¬ ing, so light now seemed to break upon the affairs of John. A physician in Lerida of the Hebrew race, which monopolised 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 physican to repeat his experiment, which in the end proved perfectly successful. Thus restored to his natural faculties, the octo¬ genarian 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.2 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, 1469.3 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 honours 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, anud the lamentations of the people, in the sepulchre of the sovereigns of Catalonia.4 1 Alonso de Palencia, Cordmca, MS., part. find no notice of this improbable confession in any 2, •cap. 38. L. Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. 143. contemporary author. Aleson, Anales de Navarra, torn. iv. p. 609. The 2 Mariana, Hist, de Espana, torn. ii. pp. 459> queen's death was said to have been caused by a 1 46°- L. Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. 141.— cancer. According to Aleson and some other j Alonso de Palencia, Cordnica, cap. 88. MS., Spanish writers, Joan was heard several times, in 3 [This date should be 1470. See Zurita, Anales, her last illness, to exclaim, in allusion, as was sup¬ i torn. iv. fol. Mem. de 178, and recto, Lenglet, posed, to her assassination of Carlos, "Alas ! Fer¬ Comines, Preuves, torn. iv. p. 384. —-Ed.] dinand, how dear thou hast cost thy mother ! " I Villeneuve Bareemont. Hist, de Rene. torn, ii-
—
—
—
—
*
MINORJTY OF FERDINAND.
77
As the father of the deceased prince was too old, and his children to 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 17 14, 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 extraor¬ dinary 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 insti¬ tuted a rigorous blockade of Barcelona by sea and land. The fortifica¬ tions 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, admon¬ ished them of their inability to cope with the veterans of Aragon 1 At length, reduced to the last extremity, they consented to enter into negotiations, which were concluded by a treaty equally honourable 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. Antony, 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 !o the hall of the great palace, and on the 2 2d of December 1472, solemnly swore there to respect the constitution and laws of Catalonia.2 1hus ended this long, disastrous civil war, the fruit of parental injustice and oppression, which had nearly cost the king of Aragon the fairest por-
_
pp. 182, 333, 334.— L. Marineo, Cosas memorables,
— —
j had already been married at that time more than a
fol. 142. Alonso de Palencia, Cordnica, part. 2, | year ! See the date of the official marriage re¬ cap. 39- Zurita, Anales, torn. iv. fol. 178 Accord- ! corded in Mem. de la Acad, de Hist., toui. vi. ln£ to M. de Villeneuve Bargemont, the princess Apend. no. 4. 1 Alonso de Palencia, Cordnica, MS., part. 2, Isabella's hand had been offered to the duke of Lorraine, and the envoy despatched to notify his 'tÿ cap. 29, 45. Zurita, Anales, torn. iv. fol. 180--183. acceptance of it, on arriving at the court of Castile, Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, rey 29, cap. 29. received from the lips of Henry IV. the first tidings j 2 L. Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. 144, 147?| his master's death (torn. ii. p. 184). He must | Zurita, Anales, torn. iv. fol. 187, 188.--Alonso de aa.e learned too with no less surprise that Isabella Palencia, Cordnica, MS., part. 2, cap 1.
—
—
—
CASTILE UNDER HENRY IV.
78
tion 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.
CHAPTER III. REIGN OF HENRY TV. 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 vith 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 judg¬ ment. 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 Nil pudet assuetos sceptris : mitissima sors est " Regnorum sub rege novo."
Lucan. Pharsalia, lib. 8.
MARRIAGE OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.
79
oftentimes popular with the vulgar, the reckless extravagance in which b<»
indulged himself was favourably 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 maravedi remaining in the royal coffers.1 He maintained greater state than was usual with the monarchs ot Castile, keeping in pay a body-guard of thirty-six hundred lances, splen¬ didly equipped, and officered by the sons of the nobility. He proclaimed a crusade against the Moors, a measure always popular in Castile, assum¬ ing 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 coun¬ try ; individual feats of prowess, too, commemorated in the romantic ballads of the time, were achieved ; but no victory was gained, no impor¬ tant 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 mur¬ mured at this timorous policy ; and the people of the south, on whom the charges of the expeditions fell with peculiar heaviness, from their neigh¬ bourhood 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 con¬ tempt ! 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."2 2 Zuniga, Anales eclesiasticos y seculares de Quincuagenas, MS., bat. quinc. i, .Ovieclo, a— Rodericks Sanctius, Historia i, — Hispanica, Sevilla, p. 344. — Castillo, Crdnica, cap. torn. ii. pp. 415, 419. — ,3,9' — Pulgar, Claros Varones, tit. — Mariana, Hist, de Espana, PPt'ii cap. part, Cordnica, x, MS., Palencia, de C'rdnica, i. Alonso Generaciones, Guzman, ÿastulo, — 20.
i.
20.
aP- 33-—-Although Henry's lavish expenditure, particularly on works of architecture, gained him 'te the appellation of the Liberal," he is Y,c"own i " on the roll of Castilian sovereigns by tile less 1 flattering title of " the Impotent."
—
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.
CASTILE UNDER HENRY IV.
80
The contempt to which the king exposed himself by his public conduct was still further heightened by his domestic. With even a greater indis¬ position to business than was manifested by his father,1 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.2 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 favours. 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.3 The queen's levity might have sought some justification in the unveileci licentiousness of her husband. One of the maids of honour, whom she brought in her train, acquired an ascendancy 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 scandalised 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.4 1 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 Espana, torn. ii. p. 423. 2 Pulgar, Crdnica delos Reyes Catdlicos (Valencia, 1780), cap. 2. —Alonso de Palencia, Cordnica, MS., part, i, cap. 4. Aleson, Anales de Navarra, torn. tv. 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 ! " 3 La Clede, Hist, de Portugal, torn. iii. pp. 325, 345.— Florez, Reynas Cathdlicas, torn. ii. pp. 763, 766. Alonso de Palencia, Cordnica, MS., part. 1, cap. 20, 21. — It does not appear, however, whom
—
—
Beltran de la Cueva indicated as the lady of his love (See Castillo, Crdnica, cap. 23i 24.) Two anecdotes may be mentioned as charac¬ teristic of the gallantry of the times. The arch¬ bishop of Seville concluded a superb ftte. given in honour of the royal nuptials, by introducing 011 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 honour, never to dance with any other woman. Alonso de Palencia, Cordnica, MS., cap. 47. — Castillo, Crdnica, cap. 23.
on this occasion.
*
MARRIAGE OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.
81
The stream of corruption soon finds its way from the higher to th* more humble walks of life. The middling classes, imitating their supe¬ riors, indulged in an excess of luxury equally demoralising, 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 perform¬ ance 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.1 But perhaps the most crying evil of this period was the shameless adulteration of the coin. Instead of five royal mints, which formerly existed, theie 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 pay¬ ment ; 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 favour, and reinstated in his possessions.2 The pusillanimous monarch knew neither when to pardon nor when to punish. But no part of Henry's conduct gave such umbrage to his nobles as the
— —
1 Alonso de Palencia, that, as the holy father possessed plenary power of Cordnica, MS., cap. 35. oempere, Hist, del Luxo, torn. i. p. 183. Idem, absolution of all offences committed upon earth, "ist. des Cortis, ch. and as purgatory is situated upon earth, tt properly Teorla, part. 1, 19. Marina,
—
— —
«ap. 2°, part. 2, pp. 390, 391. Zuiiiga, Anales de Sevilla, pp. 346, 349. The papal bulls of crusade lssued on these occasions, says Palencia, contained atnong other indulgences an exemption from the p.uns and penalties of purgatory, assuring to the soul of the purchaser, after death, an immediate .ÿ"slfi°n into a state of glory. Some of the more casu'sts doubted the validity of such a 11 a- "1. if But it was decided, after due examination
—
fell within his jurisdiction (cap. 32). Bulls of crusade were sold at the rate of 200 maravedis each and it is computed by the same historian that no less than 4,000,000 maravedis were amassed by this traffic in Castile in the space of four years ! 2 Saez, Monedas de Enrique IV. (Madrid, 1805) pp. 2-5. — Alonso de Palencia, Cordnica, MS., cap 36, 39. Castillo, Crdnica, cap. 19.
—
CASTILE UNDER IIENR Y IV.
j2
facility with which he resigned himself to the control of favourites, 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 subtle, 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 con¬ fines 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.1 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.2 These early adherents of Henry, little satisfied with seeing their own consequence eclipsed by the rising glories of the newly-created favourites,
—
1 Pulgar, Claros Varones, tit. 6. Castillo, Cr<5nica, cap. 15. Mendoza, Monarqui'a de Espana, torn. i. p. 328. The ancient marquisate of Villena, having been incorporated into the crown of Castile, devolved to Prince Henry of Aragon, on his mar¬ riage with the daughter of John II. It was subse¬ quently confiscated by that monarch, in consequence of the repeatec .ebellions of Prince Henry; and the title, together with a large «ro»ortion of the
——
domains originally attached to it, was conferred <* Don Juan Pacheco, by whom it was transmitted to his son, afterwards raised to the rank of duke 01 Escalona, in the reign of Isabella. Salazar de Mendoza, Dignidades de Castilla y Leon, lib. 3t
_
cap. 12, 17. 2 Pulgar, Claros Varones, tit. ao. Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 10, 11.
— Bernald®
>
MARRIAGE OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.
83
'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 neighbours. 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 domin¬ ions 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 favourite, 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 neighbours; and thus the seeds of a national aversion were implanted, which, under the influence of more important circumstances, ripened into open hostility.1 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 calculat¬ ing policy of riper years. The award of Louis dissatisfied all parties ; a tolerable proof of its impartiality. The Castilians, in particular, com¬ plained that the marquis of Villena and the archbishop of Toledo had compromised the honour 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 oi At least
puted to
ee
th.ese are the important consequences
Comines, Memoires, liv. a, chap. 8.—Also Castillo, 49.— Zurita, Anales, lib. 17
this interview by the French writers. Crdnica, cap. 48, Oaillard, Rwalit£, torn. iii. pp. 241-243.— cap. so.
CASTILE UNDER HENRY IV.
84
being pensioners of Louis,—a fact which does not appear improbable, considering the usual policy of this prince, who, as is well known, main¬ tained an espionage over the councils of most of his neighbours. Henry was so far convinced of the truth of these imputations that he dismissed the obnoxious ministers from their employments.1 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, seem to have derived somewhat of a constitu¬ tional 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 cogno¬ men of Beltraneja. Henry, however, had required the usual oath of allegi¬ ance to be tendered to her as presumptive heir to the crown. The con¬ federates, 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 favourite, Beltran de la Cueva, over the royal counsels, doubtless the true key to much of their patriotic sensi¬ bility ; 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 favour from him, until he had redressed their wrongs.2 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 Cuenca, 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 honour at a time like this, Ishall live to see you
—
1 Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, torn. ii. p. 12a. Zurita, Anales, lib. 17, cap. 56. Castillo, Crdnica, 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 tete-H-tite at her own table, while during the repast they were served by the ladies of the palace. Ibid., cap. 4*.
—
—
s See the memorial presented to the king, cited
at length in Marina, Teoria, torn. iii. Apend- no.
7-
— Castillo, Crdnica, cap. 58, 64.— Zurita, Anales, Fer"
—
lib. 17, cap. 56. Lebrija, Hispanarum Rerum dinando Rege et Elisabe ReginS Gestarum decades (apud Granatam, 1545), lib. j, cap. 1, a. Alonso de Palencia, Cordnica, MS., part. 1, cap. 6. "ernaldez Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. g.
——
MARRIAGE OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.
85
the most degraded monarch in .Spain ; when you will repent too late this
unseasonable pusillanimity." 1 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.2 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 colours 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 honours, was rolled in the dust, amid the mingled groans and clamours of the spec¬ tators. 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.3 (1465.) 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. Castillo( Crdnica,
cap. 2 from the original ar» st nl coPles
.....
65.
—Castillo, Crdnica. cap. 66,67.— Alonso de Palencia, instrument', which Cordnica, MS., part. 1, cap. 57. 3 Alonso de Palencia, Cordmca, MS., part 1, cap.
preserved in the archives of the house of e'ia, in Manna, Teoria, torn, iii part, a, Ap. 6, 8.
62.
— Castillo, Crdnica, cap. 68, 69,
7a.
86
CASTILE UNDER HENRY IV.
The pulpit and the forum resounded with the debates ot 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 Ifrom my mother's womb, and naked must Igo down to the earth ! " 1 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 com¬ passion 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 con¬ spicuous 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,2 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 him¬ self. He probably found more difficulty in controlling the operations of the jealous and aspiring aristocracy, with whom he was associated, than he 1 Alonso de Palencia, Cordnica, MS., part, i, constancy, ana uniform loyalty to his sovereign,— cap. 63, 70.— Castillo, Crdnica, cap. 75, 76. virtues of rare worth in those rapacious and turbu¬ 2 The celebrated marquis of Santillana died in lent times. (Pulgar, Claros Varones, tit. 9-) Fer1458, at the age of sixty. (Sanchez, Poesias Cas- dinandand Isabella created him duke del Infantado. title The 23.) descended to his This domain derives its name from its having beeU tellanas, torn. 1. p. eldest son, Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, who is once the patrimony of the infatites of Castile. See represented by his contemporaries to have been Salazar de Mendoza, Monarquia, torn. i. p. 2J9> worthy of his sire. Like him, he was imbued with and Dignidadesde Castilla, lib. 3, cap. 17. Oviedo, a love of letters ; he was conspicuous for his mag¬ Quincuagenas. MS., bat. I, quins j dial. S
—
nanimity and chivalrous honour, his moderation,
MARRIAGE OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.
87
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 con¬ federates, 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.1 In conformity with this dubious policy, he had, soon after the occur¬ rence 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 con¬ sented 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.2 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 partiesj until he was very generally execrated as the real source of the disturbances in the kingdom. In the meanwhile, 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, Hon 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 honour, the abject mind of Henry was content to purchase repose even by the most humiliating sacrifice. He acceded to the conditions ; applica¬ tion 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 1 Alonso de Palencia, MS., part, i, I cap. 64. Castillo, Crdnica,Cordnica, cap. 78.
—
2 Castillo. Crdnica, cap. 80, 82.
CASTILE UNDER HENRY IV
«48
splendid preparations were instantly commenced for the approaching nuptials. 1 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.2 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." 3 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 not the inclination to resent.4 With this person, then, so inferior to her in birth, and so much more 1 Rades y Andrada, Chronica de las tres Ordenes y Cavallerias (Toledo, 1572), fol. 76. Castillo, Crdnica, cap. 85. Alonso de Palencia, Cordnica, MS., part. 1, cap. 73. 'J L. Marineo, Cosas mcmorables, fol. 154. Florez, Reynas Cathdlicas, torn. ii. p. 789. Castillo, Crdnica, cap. 37.
—
—
—
—
3 Aleson,
—
Anales de Navarra, torn. iv. pp. 5®'»
—
562. Zurita, Anales, lib. 16, cap. 46, lib. I7> caP" a®
3.
— Castillo, Crdnica, cap, 31, 57.— Alonso ,
Palencia, Cordnica, MS., cap. 55. 4 Decad. de Palencia, apud Mem. de la Acad, de liist., torn. vi. p. 65, nota.
MARRIAGE OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.
89
unworthy of her in every other point of view, Isabella was now to be 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 dishonour 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 ! 1 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.2 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.3
united.
(1466.) 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 Alonso de Palencia, Cordnica, MS., cap. 73.— Mariana, Hist. deEspana, torn. ii. p. 450 Garibay, Compendio, torn. ii. p. 532.—This lady, Dona Beatriz f1 ernandez de Bobadilla, the most intimate personal nena of Isabella, will appear often in the course or our narrative. Gonzalo de Oviedo, who knew er well, describes her as "illustrating her generous meage by her conduct, which was wise, virtuous, and valiant." (Quincuagenas, MS., dial, de Caffer 1 , e 'ast epithet, rather singular for a
—
de Palencia, Cordnica, 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 tous ceux qui pouvoient faire obstacle a la satisfac¬ tion ou a la fortune d'lsabelle, mouroient toujours a propos pour elle." (Rivalite', torn. iii. pp. 280, 286.) This ingenious writer is fond of seasoning his style with those piquant sarcasms in which often¬ times more is meant than meets the ear, and which *®Me character, was not unmerited. Voltaire rendered fashionable in history. Idoubt, Palencia imputes his death to an attack of the however, if, amid all the heats of controversy and qu,'n®y- Cordnica, MS., cap. 73. faction, there is a single Spanish writer of that age, y Andrada, Las tres Ordenes, fob 77. or indeed of any subsequent one, who has ventured p. Torres, militares to impute to the contrivance of Isabella any one of Historia las Ordenes de . .r<? tw8°i Calatrava y Alcantara (Madrid, 1629), the fortunate coincidences to which the author lih• a, cap. 59. Castillo, Crdnica, cap. 8s. Alonso alludes.
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_
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j
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go
CASTILE UNDER HENRY IV.
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 armour. 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 noble¬ man, 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 well-nigh 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 neighbouring 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.1 (1467.) 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, dis¬ membered 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 excom¬ munication 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." 2 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 Anda| Cr<5nlca, cap. 93, 97.—Alonso de Palencia, Cordnic*, Castillo, I MS., part. 1, cap. 80. i 2 .Alonso de Palencia, Cordnica, MS., cap- 82-
1 Lebrija, Rerum Gestarum Decades, lib. I, cap.
Zunta, Anales, lib. 18, cap.
10.—
I
MAURIA GE OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.
91
lusia, being revived, carried new division into the cities, whose streets literally ran with blood.1 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 highroads was suspended, and no man, says a contemporary, dared move abroad beyond the walls of his city, unless attended by an armed escort. The organiza¬ tion 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 ;2 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.3 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 Cardenosa, 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, Imust endure this patiently until " Zuniga, Anales de Sevilla, pp. 351, 352.—Carta
. Levantami nto de Toledo, apud Castillo, Crdmca> P- 109.- Che historian of Seville has quoted an animated apostrophe addressed
to the citizens
number in this season of discord ; °P.e°f Mf <quina Sevilla en la sangre baiiada
ÿt,
d' os tus fijos, i tus cavalleros, fadoenemigo te tiene minguada," &c. fioem concludes with a summons to throw off °f their oppressors : < Despierta Sevilla e sacude el imperio, qjie faze a tus nobles tanto vituperio."
See Anales, p. aw
"
2 Quod in pace fors, seu natura, tunc fatum et ira dei vocabatur," says Tacitus (Historiap, lib. 4, cap. 26), adverting to a similar state of excitement. ® Saez quotes a MS. letter of a contemporary,
exhibiting a frightful picture of these disorders. (Monedas de Enrique IV., p. 1, note. Castillo, Crdnica, cap. 83, 87, et passim. Mariana, Hist. de Espana, torn. ii. p. 451. Marina, Teoria, torn. ii. p. 487. Alonso de Palencia, Cordnica, MS., 1, cap. 69.) The active force kept on duty y the hermandad amounted to 3000 horse. Ibid., cap. 89, 90.
gart.
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CASTILE UNDER HENR Y IV.
92
Iam 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 Ishould countenance such injustice ! " And on being told that the city, in that case, would probably transfer its allegiance to Henry, he added, " Much as Ilove power, Iam 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.1 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.2 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 subse¬ quent recognition by the people. But Ido not find that the deposition of Henry the Fourth was ever confirmed by an act of cortes. He still con¬ tinued 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 In this conjuncture they to the resentment of an offended sovereign. 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.3 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 de Palencia, Cordnica, MS., cap. 87, ;Castillo, Crdnica, cap. 94. Garibay, Com-
1 Alonso
92. 2
Ijb* x7> caP* 2°*
—
Manna, 1eona, part. 2, cap. 38.
3 Lebrija, Rerum Gestarum Decades, lib. x> cap. 3. Alonso de Palencia, Cordnica, MS., PaX? 1, cap. 92. Florez, Reynas Cathdlicas, torn, u
79c.
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MARRIAGE OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.
93
the country had been divided long enough under the rule monarchs; and that the death of Alfonso might perhaps contending of two an indication from Heaven of its disapprobation of into interpreted be their cause." She expressed herself desirous of establishing a reconcilia¬ tion 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 pro¬ claimed her sovereign of Castile, she still persisted in the same wise and temperate policy.1 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 adjust¬ ment 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 govern¬ ment; 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.2 In pursuance of these arrangements, an interview took place between Henry and Isabella, each attended by a brilliant cortbge of cavaliers and nobles, at a place called Toros de Guisando,3 in New Castile. (Sept. 9, 1468.) The monarch embraced his sister with the tenderest marks of affection, and then proceeded solemnly to recognise her as his future and nghtful 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 m cortes at Ocana, unanimously concurred in their approbation of these
ciown ; that
3-
Lebrija, Rerum Gestarum Decades, lib. i, cap. rerreras, Hist. d'Espagne, torn. vii. p. 218 onso de Palencia, Cordnica, part, i, cap. 92,
——
P«t 2, cap. 5. a c°Py °f the original compact cited at 1 u gth by Marina, Teoria, Apend. no. 11. Pulgar, Catdlicos, part. 1, cap. 2. ao called from four bulls, sculptured in stone,
e.
R|Ves
—
discovered there, with Latin inscriptions theiecn, indicating it to have been the site of one of Julius Caesar's victories during the civil war. (Estrada, Poblacion general de Espana (Madrid, 1748), torn. i. p. 306.) Galindez de Carbajal, a contemporary, fixes the date of this convention in August. Anales del Rey Fernando el Catdlico, MS., ano 1468.
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CASTILE UNDER HENR Y IV.
94
preliminary proceedings, and thus Isabella was announced to the world as the lawful successor to the crowns of Castile and Leon.1 It can hardly be believed that Henry was sincere in subscribing condi¬ tions 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 colouring from subsequent events. The new and legitimate basis on which the pretensions of Isabella to the throne now rested drew the attention of neighbouring princes, who contended with each other for the honour 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 rever¬ sion of a crown, might have been spared the commission of the catalogue of crimes which blackens his memory.2 Another suitor was the duke of Guienne, the unfortunate brother of 1 Alonso
cap.
4.
de Palencia, Cordnica, MS., part. 2, I on the throne of Castile." (Supplement to Volume
and Volume II. of Letters, Despatches, and State — Castillo, Crdnica, cap. 118.——Mariana, I.Papers, Introduction, p. xxvii.) Isabella, however,
Hist, de Espana, torn. ii. pp. 461, 462. Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, part, x, cap. 2. Castillo affirms
—
was not the first to assert the illegitimacy of Juana, that Henry, incensed by his sister's refusal of the nor was the assertion originally made in her interest. king of Portugal, dissolved the cortes at Ocana On the contrary, it had given rise to a civil war at before it had taken the oath of allegiance to her. a time when she could take no part in the dispute, (Crdnica, cap. 127.) This assertion, however, is and had no claim which could be affected by the counterbalanced by the opposite one of Pulgar, a decision. The claim which devolved upon her on contemporary writer like himself. (Reyes Catd¬ the death of Alfonso was established, while she licos, cap. 5.) And as Ferdinand and Isabella, in still remained passive, by a treaty to which the a letter addressed, after their marriage, to Henry sovereign was a party, and which was ratified by IV., transcribed also by Castillo, allude incidentally the representatives of the nation. How, then, can to such a recognition as to a well-known fact, the her assertion of it after Henry's death be considered balance of testimony must be admitted to be in an act of usurpation ? Ed.] 8 Isabella, who in a letter to Henry IV., dated favour of it. See Castillo, Crdnica, cap. 114. * [It is, however, asserted in a document dated Oct. 12th, 1469, adverts to these proposals of the English that Henry prince as being under consideration at November 27, 1470, had twice confessed the illegitimacy of Juana and taken a solemn oath the time of the convention of Toros de Guisando, to that effect. (See the Protest of Diego Ferrandes does not specify which of the brothers of Edward de Quinones, conde de Luna, when summoned by IV. was intended. (Castillo, Crdnica, cap. 136 )--* Henry IV. to swear fealty to the princess Juana, Mr. Turner, in his History of England during the Coleccion de Documentos indditos para la Historia Middle Ages (London, 1825), quotes part of the de Espana, torn, xiv.) This testimony is, perhaps, address delivered by the Spanish envoy to Richard insufficient ; but it is at least evident that, on the III., in 1483, in which the orator speaks of the occasions referred to, Henry, by consenting to re¬ unkindness which his queen Isabella had conceived cognise first Alfonso, and subsequently Isabella, as for Edward IV., for his refusal of her, and his rightful heir to the crown, abandoned the claims of taking instead to wife a widow of England." (Vol. uana and gave an implied sanction to the popular iii. 274.) The old chronicler Hall, on the other elief in regard to her paternity. Such an act, if hand, mentions that it was currently reported, it sprang from mere weakness, would leave the although he does not appear to credit it, that the historical question unsettled ; but it certainly justi¬ earl of Warwick had been despatched into Spam fied the action of the cortes and also the course of in order to request the hand of the princess Isabella Isabella in asserting her right to the succession. for his master, Edward IV., in 1463. (See his Yet Bergenroth, in speaking of these events, says, Chronicle of England (London, 1809), PP- 2ÿ'h The history of this usurpation is one of the most : 264.) Ifind nothing in the Spanish accounts o» "disgraceful . . Isabel branded the that period which throws any light on these ob¬ on record. heiress to the throne with the disparaging name of vious contradictions. hi Beltraneja, forced her to flee, and seated herself
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MAURIAGE OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.
95
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 favoured his preten¬ sions, the disadvantages resulting from such a union were too obvious to escape attention. The two countries were too remote from each other,1 and their inhabitants too dissimilar 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.2 The person on whom Isabella turned the most favourable 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 oi 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 valour, combined with maturity of judgment far above his years. Indeed, he was decidedly superior to his rivals in personal merit and attractions.3 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 . * The territories of France and Castile touched, indeed, on one point (Guipuscoa), but were sepa-
fated along the whole remaining line of frontier by the kingdoms of Aragon and Navarre. Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, cap. 8. Alonso de Cordnica, MS., part. 2, cap. 10. 3 i°'a'
— _ Isabella,within order to acquaint herself .intimately more the personal qualities of her re¬
spective suitors, had privately despatched her con¬ fidential chaplain, Alonso de Coca, to the courts of
lance and of Aragon, and his report on his return
"•'as altogether favourable 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 demeanour, and a spirit that was up to anything mui dispuesto para toda cosa que hacer quisiese. 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 marauis of Villena
CASTILE UNDER HENRY IV.
96
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.1 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,2 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 endeavoured 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 Ocana, where Isabella was then residing, bearing the proposals of their master. The princess returned, as before, a decided though temperate refusal.3 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. Neithei 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 Ocana, 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 repeti¬ tion of satirical stanzas which contrasted Alfonso's years with the youthful graces of Ferdinand.4 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 ol 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. (1469.) 1 Alonso
cap. 5.
de Palencia, Cordnica, MS., part, a,
Palenciaÿ Cordnica, MS., part, a, cap. 7.— Lebrija Rerum Gestarum
Decades, lib. 1, cap. 7. 2 See ante, p. 82, note 1. Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap- 7-~* 3 Faria y Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, torn. ii. p. Alonso de Palencia, Cordnica, MS., part. *1 IQi. Castillo, Crdnica, cap. 121, 127. Alonso de i cap. 7-
—
—
*
I
MARRIAGE OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.
97
Isabella, indignant at the oppressive treatment which she experienced 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 Frederick 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.1 Fortified by their approbation, Isabella dismissed the Aragonese envoy with a favourable answer to his master's suit.2 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 crowa But when her succession had been settled on a more secure basis, he lost no time in effecting this favourite 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 confiden¬ tial 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.8 Between parties thus favourably disposed there was no unnecessary delay. The marriage articles were signed, and sworn to by Ferdinand at Cervera on the 7th of January, 1469. 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 irom her brother, as well
j
Clares Var°nes, tit. a.
—
torn. iv. fol. 162.
Alonso
—
I Cor<5nica, MS., part, a, cap. 7. Pulgar, Reyes Zurita, Catdlicos, cap. 9. Palencia. 1 3 Zurita Anales, torn. iv. fol. 157, 163.
—
' Manneo, Cosas memorables, fol. 154. Anal es
G
CASTILE UNDER HENR Y IV.
98
to be settled on Isabella, far more ample than that usually assigned to the queens of Aragon.1 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 relin¬ quishment 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 Ocana 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, where he 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 2 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 See the copy of the original marriage contract, as it exists in the archives of Simancas, extracted in torn. vi. of Memorias de la Acad, de Hist. , Apend. no. i. -Zurita, Anales, lib. 18, cap. 31. Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, torn. vii. p. 236.
\
—
1 Alonso
—
de Palencia, Cor6nica, MS., part. 2,
— Castillo, Crdnica, cap. 128, }3\> XJ C" Zurita, Anales, torn. iv. fol. 162.— Beatriz de Boo dilla and Mencia de la Torre, the two ladies mo in her confidence, had escaped to the neighbouring town of Coca.
cap. 12.
MARRIAGE OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.
99
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.1 In the meantime, Gutierre de Cardenas, one of the household of the princess,2 and Alonso 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 Anda¬ lusia. 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.3 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 enriquesA 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 longcherished 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.6 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 Ferdi¬ nand 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.6 The greatest circumspec¬ tion, therefore, was necessary. The party journeyed chiefly in the night :
—
3 Alonso de Palencia, Cordnica, MS., cap. Crdnica, cap. 136.—Alonso de Palencia, p1 14. voronica, MS., part. 2, cap. 12. Carbajal, Anales, The bishop told Palencia that " if his own servants MS., ano 69. deserted him, he would oppose the entrance of ' ' This cavalier, who was of an ancient and honour- Ferdinand into the kingdom." 4 Zurita, Anales, lib. 18, cap. 26. The enrique ,family in Castile, was introduced to the prinesss service by the archbishop of Toledo. He is was a gold coin, so denominated from Henry II. ÿpresented by Gonzalo de Oviedo as a man of 5 Zurita, Anales, lib. 18, cap. 26. Abarca, Reyes '?'uchW sagacity and knowledge of the world, quail¬ de Ar agon, torn. ii. p. 273. 6 wHic;h Mem. de la Acad, de Hist., torn. vi. p. 78, ingterests of hishe united a steady devotion to the mistress. Oviedo. Quincuagenas. Ilust. 2. bat. 1, quinc. 2, dial. 1 '
9a-st'"0'
—
— —
CASTILE UNDER HENRY IV.
ioo
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, x?hich the count of Trevino, one of the partisans of Isabella, had occupied fcfth 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 Duenas 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.1 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 on the part both of Ferdinand and of herself2 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.3 Agreeably to these arrangements, Ferdinand, on the evening of the 15th of October, passed privately trom Duenas, accompanied by only four attendants, to the neighbouring city of Valladolid, where he was received by the archbishop of Toledo and conducted to the apartment of his mistress.4 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 Palencia, Cordnica, MS., part, a, him out to the princess, exclaiming at the same time, " £se es, ese es ! "This is he!" in com¬ memoration of which he was permitted to place o his escutcheon the letters SS, whose pronunciatio in Spanish resembles that of the exclamation whic he had uttered. Ibid., part, a, cap. 15. Ovieoo, cap 15. 4 Gutierre de Cardenas was the first who pointed Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, oninc. a. dial. 1 .Alonso de
— Zurita, Anales, loc. cit. 1 This letter, dated October rath, is cited at length by Castillo, Crdnica, cap. 136. 3 Alonso de Palencia, Cordnica, MS., part, a,
cap. 14.
—
*ÿ
MARRIAGE OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.
101
approaching to baldness. His muscular and well-proportioned frame was invigorated by the toils of war, and by the chivalrous exercises in which 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.1 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 colour, 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 Iever beheld, and the most gracious in her manners." 2 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 demeanour, 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.3 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 colouring of romance. The interview lasted more than two hours, when Ferdinand retired to his quarters at Duenas 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.4 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, 1469, in the palace of John de Vivero, the temporary residence of the princess, and subsequently appro¬ priated to the chancery of Valladolid. The nuptials were solemnized in Ae 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.6 A
he delighted.
___
Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. — Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, torn. ii. p. 362.— Gari-
L. Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. 182. uaribay, Compendio, lib. 18, cap. "Tan migo de los negocios," says Mariana, " que t. ecia ?°n el trabajo descansaba." Hist, de Espana,nlib. 25, cap. 18. hermosura, puestas delante S. A. todas ia ni to U.ÿCjeS 1ue y° he visto, ninguna vi tan graciosa, s;inr-tV!° LVer co.mo su persona, ni de tal manera e bonestisima." Oviedo- Quincuagenas, liIS j
8
201.—
bay, Compendio, lib. 18, cap. 1. Mariana, Hist, de Espana, torn. ii. p. 465. 8 Carbajal, Anales, MS., aho 1469. Alonso de Palencia, Cordnica, 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., torn, vi Apend. 4. See also the Ilust. 2.
*
—
—
—
T02
CASTILE UNDER HENRY IV.
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 dis¬ covered 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.1 The ensuing week was consumed in the usual festivities of this joyous season, at the expira¬ tion of which the new-married pair attended publicly the celebration of mass, agreeably to the usage of the time, in the collegiate church of Santa , ,. Maria.2 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 accom¬ panied the message with a copious extract from such of the articles of marriage as, by their import, would be most likely to conciliate his favour¬ able disposition. Henry coldly replied that "he must advise with his ministers." 3 Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdÿs, 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." (CEuvres, trad, de Llorente, torn. 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 ' La* Quincuagenas de los generosos 4 ilustres e no menos famosos Reyes, Principes, Duques,
—
1 The intricacies of this affair, at once the scandal and the stumbling-block of the Spanish historians, have been unravelled by Senor Clemencin, with his nsual perspicuity. See Mem. de la Acad., torn. vi. pp. 105-116, Ilust. 2. 2 Alonso de Palencia, Cordnica, MS., part. 2,
—
A lively narrative of the adventuies Prince Ferdinand, detailed in this chapter, may found in Cushing's Reminiscences of Spain (iws > A ,3,,-Alon.o de Cordnica, MS., part. 2, cap. 16. cap. 16.
"'SkSiffinlSiSp.
DEA TH OF 11ENR Y IV. Marqueses y Condeset Caballeros, et Personas notables de Espana, que escnbidel Capitan Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo y Yaldez, Alc&ide de sus Magestades de la Fortaleza de la Cibdade Puerto de Sancto Domingo de la Isla Espanola, Coronista de las Indias," etc. At the close of the third volume is this record of the octogenarian author : " AcaW de escribir de mi mano este famoso tractado de la nobleza de Espafia, domingo 1° dia de Pascua de Pentecostes XXIII. de mayo de 1556 anos. Laus Deo. Y de mi edad 79 anos." 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 iris 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 Ihave 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 honours 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., torn. vi. Ilust 10), enumerates three others, two in the king's private library, and one in that of the Academy.
CHAPTER IV. FACTIONS IN CASTILE.
-WAR BETWEEN FRANCE AND ARAGON. —
DEATH OF HENRY IV. OF CASTILE.
1469-M74 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
TROUBLES IN CASTILE AND ARAGON. 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 for¬ feited 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 unfavourable 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 ramifica¬ tions,4 the Zunigas, the Velascos,6 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 Duenas,7 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 ;8 and the populous province de Palencia, Cordnica, MS., part a, bishop of Toledo, who was indebted for the highest Gaillard, Rivalite, torn. iii. p. 284. Rades dignities in the church less to his birth than his Andrada, Las tres Ordenes, fol. 65. Caro de abilities. See Pulgar, Claros Varones, tit. 4, 9, and Salazar de Mendoza, Dignidades, lib. 3, cap. 17. Torres, Ordenes militares, fol. 43. 2 Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, 6 Alvaro de Zuniga, count of Palencia, and created dial. 23.— Castillo, Crdnica, p. 298. Alonso de by Henry IV. duke of Arevalo Pedro Fernandez Palencia, Cordnica, MS., part. 2, cap. 24. Henry, de Velasco, count of Haro, was raised to the post .veil knowing how little all this would avail without of constable of Castile in 1473, and the office con¬ the constitutional sanction of the cortes, twice issued tinued to be hereditary in the family from that his summons in 1470 for the convocation of the period. Pulgar, Claros Varones, tit. 3.— Salazar de deputies, to obtain a recognition of the title of Mendoza, Dignidades, lib. 3, cap. ax. The Pimentels, counts of Benavente, had estates Joanna ; but without effect. In the letters of con¬ vocation issued for a third assembly of the states, which gave them 60,000 ducats a year ; a very large in 1471, this purpose was prudently omitted, and income for that period; and far exceeding that ot thus the claims of Joanna failed to receive the any other grandee of similar rank in the kingdom. countenance of the only body which could give L. Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. 25. 1 Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 70. them validity. See the copies of the original writs, 8 [In letters addressed to Louis XI. by the king addressed to the cities of Toledo and Segovia, cited by Marina, Teoria, torn. ii. pp. 87-89. and queen of Castile and the grand master, in I47T> 3 The grand master of St. James, and his son, the French monarch is urged to accelerate the de¬ the marquis of Villena, afterwards duke of Escalona. parture of his brother, who, he is assured, will The rents of the former nobleman, whose avarice cordially welcomed in Biscay and Guipuscoa, re¬ was as insatiable as his influence over the feeble ceiving the treatment due to the eldest son of tn mind of Henry IV. was unlimited, exceeded those sovereign. As a further bait, Henry represen of any other grandee in the kingdom. See Pulgar, himself as weary of the government and desiroo Claros Varones, tit. 6. to resign it to his son-in-law. (Lenglet, Mem. , 4 The marquis of Santillana, first duke of In- Comines, Preuves, torn. iii. p. 157 ) A- ,S1 fantado, and his brothers, the counts of Coruna eagerness for the conclusion of the marriage and Tendilla, and above all Pedro Gonzalez de shown in a letter from the chancellor of the Pr . Mendoza. afterwards Cardinal of Spain and arch¬ cess Tuana to the duke of Guienne, whom 1 Alonso
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cap. ai. y
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,.
DEATH OF HENRY IV. of Andalusia, with the house of Medina Sidonia at its head, still main¬ tained 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 humours ; 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.1 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,2 could bring into the field, at four-andtwenty hours' notice, one thousand lances and ten thousand foot. The battles, far from assuming the character of those waged by the Italian (ondottieri 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 writer
2 This nobleman, Diego Hurtado, "muy gentil addresses as Prince of Asturias and the SOn " Castile and Leon. (Ibid., p. caballero y gran senor,"as Oviedo calls him, was ft 'in But although Louis, in a letter to Henry at this time only marquis of Santillana, and was 5°0 ;, expresses satisfaction with the match (ibid., not raised to the title of duke of Infantado tillthe 1 suPra), his real wishes in regard to his brother reign of Isabella (Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quilic. re of a different nature: they receivedtheir accom¬ 1, dial. 8). To avoid confusion, however, Ihave plishment, two years later, in Charles's death.— Ed.] given him the title by which he is usually recog¬ by Castilian writers. ,lta> nized torn. Anales, de iv. fol. 170. Alonso p
.
Valencia, Cordnica, MS., cap. 45.
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TROUBLES IN CASTILE AND ARAGON.
io6
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 honours, 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.1 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 vn 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 portrayed with lively fidelity in the chronicles, the letters, and the satires of the time.2 While Ferdinand's presence was more than ever necessary to support the drooping spirits of his party in Castile, he was unexpectedly sum moned into Aragon to the assistance of his father. No sooner had Barcelona submitted to King John, as mentioned in a preceding chapter,3 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 favourable. A large part of the garrisons in the principal cities had been withdrawn by Louis the Eleventh, 10 cover the frontier on the side of Burgundy and Brittany. John, there1 Bernaldez, Reyes de Catblicos, MS., cap. corruption of the clergy, and the prevalent depravi y 3. Salazar de Mendoza, Crdnica del Gran Cardenal of the people. In one of its stanzas it boldly ven¬ ds Espana, Don Pedro Gonzalez de Mendoza tures to promise another and a better sovereign to (Toledo, 1625), pp. 138, 150. Zufiiga, Anales de the country. This performance, even more interest Sevilla, p. 362. ing to the antiquary than to the historian, has beer. 2 Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 4, 5, 7. attributed by some to Pulgar (see Mariana, Zuniga, Anales de Sevilla, pp. 363, 364. Alonso de Espaha, torn. ii. p. 47s), and by others to Kodrigo de Palencia, Cordnica, MS., part. 2, cap. 35, 38, Cota (see Nic. Antonio, Bibliotheca Vetus, ton. ii. p. 264), but without satisfactory evidence in 39, 42. Saez, Monedas de Enrique IV., pp. 1-5. Pulgar, in an epistle addressed, in the autumn of favour of either. Bouterwek is much mistaken 1 asserting it to have been aimed at the governmen 1473, to the bishop of Coria, adverts to several circumstances which set in a strong light the anar of John II. The gloss of Pulgar, whose authority chical state of the kingdom and the total deficiency as a contemporary must be considered decisive, of police. The celebrated satirical eclogue, also, plainly proves it to have been directed again* ÿentitled Mingo Revulgo," exposes, with coarse j Henry IV. t See chap, ii *mt cutting sarcasm, tl.v license of the court, the
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ÿ
DEA TH OF HENR Y IV.
107
fore, gladly embraced the proposal ; and on a concerted day a simul¬ taneous 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 troops, 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 without1 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 meanwhile had convoked the ban and arrilre-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,2 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.8 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 become duke until 1496, Seigneur de Bresse, did — the year before his death.— Ed.]
Alonso de Palencia, Cordnica, MS., cap. 56. Mariana, Hist, de F.spana, torn. ii. p. 481. Zurita, Anales, turn. iv. fol. 191.—Barante, Histoire des
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Cues de Bourgogne (Paris, 1825), torn. ix. pp. •01-106. 2 [The person here spoken of, Philip of Savoy,
not
—
Alonso de Palencia, Cordnica, MS., cap. 70. Mariana, Hist, de Espana, torn. ii. p. 482.— L. Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. 148.— Zurita, Anales, torn. iv. fol. 195. Anquetil, Histoire de v. pp. 60, 61. France (Paris, 180s). 3
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io8
TROUBLES IN CASTILE AND ARAGON.
thousand infantry. With this corps he rapidly descended the Pyrenees, by the way of Manzanara, in the face of a driving tempest, which con¬ cealed 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 colours 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.1 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 nomi¬ nations 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.2 (Sept. 1473.) There is little reason to believe that this singular compact was sub¬ scribed in good faith by either party. John, notwithstanding the tem¬ porary succour 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 brighten¬ ing in Castile. The duke of Guienne, the destined spouse of her rival
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1Zurita, Anales, torn. iv. fol. 196.— Barante, Hist, j Rivalitd. torn. iii. p. 266. See the articles of the des Dues de Bourgogne, torn. x. pp. 105, 106.—L. treaty cited by Duclos, Hist, de Louis XI., tornMarineo, Cosas memorables, fol. 149. Alonso de ii. pp. 99, 101.- -Alonso de Palencia, Cordnica, MS-, Palencia, Cor<5nica, MS., cap. 70, 71, 72. cap. 73. a Zurita, Anales, torn. iv. fol. 200. Gaillard, I
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DEA TH OF HENRY 2 V.
109
Joanna, had died in France, but not until he had testified his contempt
of his engagements with the Castilian princess by openly soliciting the band of the heiress of Burgundy.1 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. 2 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 ascendancy 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,3 secured the attachment of the other members of this power¬ ful family.4 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 Louis XI. is supposed with much probability
to have assassinated his brother.
M. ae Barante
sums up his examination of the evidence with this remark: " Le roi Louis XI. ne fit peut-etre pas mourn- son frere, mais personne ne pensa qu'il en ;ut incapable." Hist, des Dues de Bourgogne, torn.
1 Oviedo assigns another reason for this
change
the disgust occasioned by Henry IV.'s transferring — the custody of his daughter
from the family of Men¬ doza to the Pachecos. Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. S. Salazar de Mendoza, Crdn. del Gran Cardenal, p. 133 Alonso de Palencia, Cordnica, MS., part. U-.P- 433The two princes alluded to were the duke of 2, cap. 46, 92. Castillo, Crdnica, cap. 163. The oegorbe, a cousin of Ferdinand, and the king of influence of these new allies, especially of the car¬ ortugal. The former, on his entrance into Castile, dinal, over Isabella's councils, was an additional assumed such sovereign state (giving his hand, for ground of umbrage to the archbishop of Toledo, instance, to the grandees to kiss) as disgusted these who, in a communication with the king of Aragon, and was eventually the occasion declared himself, though friendly to their cause, te ri? ? .nobles, breaking off the match. Alonso de Palencia, be released from all further obligations to serve it P MS., part. 2, cap. 62. Faria y Sousa, See Zurita, Anales, torn. iv. lib. 46, cap. 19. tÿoronica, ropa Portuguesa, torn. ii. p.
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302.
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TROUBLES IN CASTILE AND ARAGON.
no
Andres de Cabrera, an officer of thfe 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 assur¬ ances 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 endeavoured to obtain her brother's sanction to her union with Ferdinand. (Dec. 1473.) Henry, who was naturally of a placable temper, received her communication with com¬ placency, and in order to give public demonstration of the good under¬ standing 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 satis¬ faction. A succession of fetes and splendid entertainments, at which both parties assisted, seemed to announce an entire oblivion of all past iinimosities, and the nation welcomed with satisfaction these symptoms of repose after the vexatious struggle by which it had been so long agitated.1 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.2 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 lather to attend him in Aragon, where the storm of war, which had
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1 Carbajal. Anales, MS., anos 73, 74. Pulgar, Castillo, Crdnica, I42Oviedo has Reyes Catdlicos, p. 27.— Castillo, Crdnica, cap. given a full account of thiscap. 164. who was allied cavalier, 164. Alonso de Palencia, Cordnica, MS., part, 2, to an ancient Catalan family, but who raised hintcay. 75 Oviedo, Cuincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, self to such pre-eminence by his own deserts, says quinc. i, dial. 23. that writer, that he may well be considered the 2 Mendo/a, Cron. del. Gran Cardenal. pp. 141, founder of his house. Loc. cit.
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DEATH OF HENRY IV.
ixx
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 attend¬ ants, 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.1 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, fetes, 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 inter¬ cepted, so that John knew as little of his envoys or their proceedings as if they had been in Siberia or Japan. In the meantime, formidable preparations were making in the south of France for a descent on Rous¬ sillon ; 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 Montpellier, from an extreme solicitude, as the French government expressed it, to ascertain the safest route through a country infested 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.2 In the meanwhile, 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 j Carbajal, Anales, MS., afio 70.—This was the I 2 Gaillard, Rivalitd,torn. iit. pp. 367-276.—Duclos, eldest child of Ferdinand and Isabella, born Oct. Hist, de Louis XI., torn. it. pp. 113, 115.—Chronique 1470. afterwards queen of Portugal. I scandaleuse. ed. Petitot, torn, xm., pp. 443, 444-
TROUBLES IN CASTILE AND ARAGON
I13
fur which he wore to defend his person against the inclemencies of tne season, in order to defray the expense of transporting his baggage. In this extremity, finding himself disappointed in the co-operation, 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 inter¬ view 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 relin¬ quished 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 pro¬ cess. As Gordo occasionally visited the palace to pay his respects to the prince, the latter affected to regard him with more than usual favour, showing him such courtesy as might dissipate any distrust he had conceived of him. Gordo, thus assured, was invited at one of these 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 destinyHe 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." 1
— Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagnc,
1 Alonso de Palencia, Cordnica, MS., part. •» can. 83.
—
Zurita. Analcs. torn. iy. lib. ig» cap. 12.
torn,
vii p-
DEATH OF HENRY IV.
xl3
The supplies furnished by the Aragonese cortes were inadequate to king John's necessities, and he was compelled, while hovering with nis 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 honourable 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.1 The terms of capitulation, which permitted every inhabitant to evac¬ uate, 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." 2 Such was the miserable medley of hypocrisy and superstition which characterised 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 France, 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 ai immediate and personal interest at stake, but by the whole nation, took place on the night of the nth of December 1474.3 It was precipitated L. Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. 150.— Zurita, nales, torn. iv. lib. 19, cap. 13.— Chronique scanaleuse, ed. Petitot, torn. xiii. p. 456. Alonso de 2o'Cia> Cordnica, MS., part. 2. cap. 91. M• t>ee C0P'es of. the original letters, as given by oarante, in his History of the Dukes of Bur¬
—
gundy, in which the author lias so happily seized the tone and picturesque colouring of the ancient chronicles ; torn. x. pp. 289-298.* 3 Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 10. Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 74. Castillo, Crdnica, cap. 148.
—
—
[ihese letters and instructions were addressed, not to the generals who had granted the obnoxious whom Louis, on this account, denounced as rank traitors, but to the Sire du Bouchage, whom had sent to remove them, to appoint others in their places, and to take the most effective measures Jr seciirino. tk„ .ssion of Roussillon, the restoration of which to Aragon had just been formally special embassy, by Ferdinand and Isabella. (Legrand MSS., Bibliothequft ;'s orders in regard to the inhabitants of Perpignan were not carried out. Kd.
feri"s>
""
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—
H
TROUBLES IN CASTILE AND ARAGON. bv 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 with¬ out 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.1 The testaments of the Castilian sovereigns, though never esteemed positively binding, and occasionally, indeed, set aside,2 when deemed unconstitutional or even inexpedient by the legislature, 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, how¬ ever, 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 favourites, who, finding themselves screened by the interposition of royal authority from the consequences of measures for which they should be justly responsible, r 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 execu¬ tors," without, however, noticing in any more direct way the existence of a will. (Cr<5n., 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 Catdlicos, 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. (Cr<5n. 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 " (albaceas de su animd), and four others in conjunction with them as the guardians of his daughter Joanna. (Reyes Cat. , p. It seems not improbable that the existence of
this document has been confounded with that of
testament, and that, with reference to it, the Phrab above quoted of Castillo, as well as the passage
Bernaldez, is to be interpreted. Carbajal s wi story of the existence of a will, of its secretion more than thirty years, and its final suppression
.
Ferdinand, is too naked of testimony to deserve t , least weight with the historian. (See his Anal , MS., ano 74.) It should be remembered, howeye that most of the above-mentioned writers their works after the accession of Isabella, and t none, save Castillo, were the partisans of her riva It should also be added that in the letters aciaress by the princess Joanna to the different cities ot t kingdom, on her assuming the title of Queen , Castile (bearing date May 1475), it is exPreS„K, stated that Henry IV., on his death-bed, s° ,ÿn„;r affirmed her to be his only daughter and lawful a • These letters were drafted by John de Oviedo (J®,
conJP1. , ÿ
Gonzalez), the confidential secretary of Henry See Zurita, Anales, torn. iv. fol. 235-239. 2 As was the caÿe with the testaments of .A'10 of Leon and Alfonso the Wise, in the thirtee> £ century, and with that of Peter the Cruel, in fourteenth
.
DEATH OF HENRY IV.
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 king¬ dom reached so low an ebb since the great Saracen invasioa
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 Pellioer (Bibliotheca de Traductores, p. 7), in 1423. Nic. Antonio has fallen into the error of dating his birth nine years later. (Bibliotheca Vetus, torn. 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 Greek Trapezuntius, 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 Espanola (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, Zuniga, Marina, Clemencin, °r 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 °e 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 a'e lauded by Nic. Antonio as an elegant commentary, worthy to be assiduously studied > all who would acquaint themselves with the history of their country. The art of pirnting has done less perhaps for Spain than for any other country in Europe ; and 1 tW0 va'uable histories are still permitted to swell the rich treasure of manuscripts efG V,n whith her libraries are overloaded.
116
A CCESSION OF FERDINAND AND ISABEL LA.
Enriquez del Castillo, a native of Segovia, was the chaplain and historiographer oi King Henry IV., and a member of his privy council. His situation made him acquainted not only with the policy and intrigues of the court, but wi.h the personal feelings of the monarch, who reposed entire confidence in him, which C stillo 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 compiled, 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 Intro¬ duction 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 some¬ times breaks forth in a strain of considerable eloquence. The spirit of his work, notwith¬ standing its abundant loyalty, may be also commended for its candour in relation to the partisans of Isabella ; which has led some critics to suppose that it underwent a rifacimcnto 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 tie Flores, Secretary of the Spanish Academy of History, to whose learned labours in this w ay Castilian literature is so much indebted.
CHAPTER V. ACCESSION OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.
—WAR OF THE
SUCCESSION. -BATTLE OF TORQ.
1474-1476. Isabella proclaimed Queen. — Settlement of the Crown. — Alfonso of Portugal support5 Joanna.— Invades Castile.— Retreat of the Castilians.— Appropriation of the Church Plate. — Reorganisation of the Army.— Battle of Toro. Submission of the whole Kingdom.— Peace with France and Portugal.—Joanna takes the Veil. — Death of Toh» II. of Aragon.
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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 licentious¬ ness of the queen, and some other collateral circumstances, was never established by legal evidence, or even made the subject of legal inquiry, it
1 PrAjR OF THE SUCCESSION.
7
11
cannot reasonably be adduced as affording in itself a satisfactory basis for e pretensions of Isabella.1 These are to be derived from the will of the nation as expressed by its presentatives 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, pos¬ sessed 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 The popular belief of Joanna's illegitimacy was sounded on the following circumstances : i. 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 " 2' 1'le princess Joanna, the only 1 uÿ>artwS'" child of his second queen, Joanna of Portugal, was not born until the eighth year of her marriage, and ong after she had become notorious for her galAlthough Henry kept several mistresses, Ttne?he 3-maintained whom in so ostentatious a manner as o excite general scandal, he was never known to -.ave had issue by any one of them. To counter-Ittcethe presumption afforded by these facts, it that Henry appears, to the day of y.;? if sta'ed •s death, to have cherished the princess Joanna as is own offspring, and that Beltran de la Cueva, e of Albuquerque, her reputed father, instead supporting her claims to the crown on the demise fv"ry> as would have been natural had he been , to the honours of paternity, attached him¬ self to the adverse faction of Isabella. Joanna survived her husband about six mTrf6" y- Father Florez (Reynas Cathdlicas, ÿ1"S tom 760-786) has made a flimsy attempt to «-K;» T her ewash character ; but, to say nothing of
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—
j
"
almost every contemporary historian, as well as of the official documents of that day (see Marina, Teoria, torn. iii. part. 2, num. n), the stain has been too deeply fixed by the repeated testimony of Cas¬ tillo, the loyal adherent of her own party, to be thus easily effaced. It is said, however, that the queen died in the odour 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, Teoria, part. 2, cap. 1-10. See also Introd. sect. 1 of this History. 3 See Part I. chap. 3. See Part I. p. 104, note 2. 6 Fortunately, this strong place, in Much 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 junc¬ ture 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. x. (iuinc. x. dial, 23.
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*
ii8
ACCESSION OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.
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 Dona 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 cortege, 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 vouch¬ safed 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.1 The cities favourable 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 prin¬ cipal 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.2 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 discus¬ sion took place in regard to the respective authority to be enjoyed by the husband and wife in the administration of the government- Ferdinands 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 ot Trastamara. Isabellas triends, on the other hand, insisted that these rights devolved
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1 Bernaldez, Reyes CaMlicos, MS., cap 10 icct was not the recognition of Ferdinand ana Carbajal, Anales, MS. ano 7S.—Alonso de Palencia bella, but of their daughter, as successor to t e Coronica, MS., part. 2, cap. 93.—L. Marineo, crown. Among the nobles who openly testinec memorables, fol. 155.—Oviedo, Quincuagenas Cosas MS their adhesion to Isabella were no less than four o bat. 1, quinc. 2, dial. 3. in 2 Marina, whose peculiar researches and od- the six individuals to whom the late king had trusted the guardianship of his daughter portumties make him the best, is my only authority viz., the grand cardtual of Spain, the constable for this convention of the cortes. (Teoria, torn, Castile, the duke of Infantado, and the count pp 63, 89.) 1he extracts he makes from the writ benavente. of summons, however, seem to imply that the ob- 4
,
if
WAR OF THE SUCCESSION.
"9
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 ;1 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.2 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.3 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 distri¬ bution of power was rather nominal than real ; that their interests were indivisible; that his will would be hers ; and that the principle of the exclu¬ sion 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, sup¬ ported 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 1 A precedent for female inheritance, in the latter kingdom, was subsequently furnished by the undis¬ puted 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 barner, indeed ; but this has been since swept away by the decree of the late monarch, Ferdinand VII., and the para¬ mount authority of the cortes ; and we may nope that the successful assertion of her lawful rights by Isabella II. will put this much-vexed question at rest for ever.
—
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.
3 Salazar de Mendoza, Cr(5n. del Gran Cardenal,
lib. 1, cap. 40.
— L. Marineo, Cosas memorables,
222-224. — Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, pp. 35, 36.— See the —original instrument signed by Ferdinand and Isa¬ length in Dormer's Discursos varios bella, cited de Historia (Zaragoza, 1683), pp. 295-313.—It does not appear that the settlement was ever confirmed
fol. 155, 156. Zurita, Anales, torn. iv. fob at
by, or indeed presented to, the cortes. Marina speaks of it,however, as emanating from that body. (Teorfa, torn. ii. pp. 63, 64.) From Pulgar's state¬ ment, 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 cava¬ liers. 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 in¬ stance he has undoubtedly confounded the irregular proceedings of the aristocracy exclusively with the deliberate acts of the legislature.
i2o
ACCESSION OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.
extensive inliuence over the southern regions of New Castile. 1he 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 indi¬ vidual whom he had so zealously laboured to elevate.1 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 con¬ quest of a horde of African savages.'2 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 1 Alonso de Palencia, Cordnica, MS., part. 2, writers as the true cause of his defection from the Garibay, Compendio, lib. 18, cap. 3. queen. 2 Ruy de Pina, Chrdnica d'el Rey Alfonso v., Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 10, 11.— Pulgar, Letras (Madrid, 1775), let. 3, al Arzobispo cap. 173, apud. Co'lecqao de Livros ineditosdc Hisde Toledo.—The archbishop's jealousy of Cardinal toria Portugueza (Lisboa, 1790-93). torn. i. Mendoza is uniformly reported by the Spanish 1
—
cap. 94.
—
~%A,
WAR OF THE SUCCESSION.
121
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.1 These objections, sound as they were, were overruled by John's impetu¬ osity 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 favour 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 compen¬ sated 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 (1475) 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 dispen¬ sation 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.2 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 immedi¬ ately commenced active operations with the aid of the marquis ot Cadiz, 1
The ancient rivalry between the two nations was exasperated into the most deadly rancour by the fatal defeat at Aljubarrotta, in 1235, i" which fell the flower of the Castilian King John . wore mourning, it is said, tonobility. the day of his death, "J commemoration of this disaster. (Faria y Sousa, Luropa Portuguesa, torn. ii. pp. hhst. de Portugal, torn. iii. 394-396- La Clfede, pp. 357-359-) Pulgar, ®eSretary °f Ferdinand and Isabella, addressed, t, their order, a letter of remonstrance to the Icing 7Portugal, in which he endeavours, by numerous arguments founded on expediency and justice, to ÿissuade him t-etras, no. 7. from his meditated enterprise. Pulgar, ÿ
—
2 Ray de Pina, Chrdnica d'el Rey Alfonso V., cap. 174-178. Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 16, 17, 18. Bernaldez states that Alfonso, pre¬ viously 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, re¬ ceived his presents and used them in the cause of Isabella. Faria y Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, torn. ii. pp. 396-398. Zurita, Anales, torn. iv. fol. 230-340. La Clede, Hist, de Portugal, torn. iii. pp. 360362. Pulgar, Crdnica, p. 51. L. Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. 156. Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 2, dial. 3.
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122
ACCESS/ON OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.
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 constitu¬ tion.1 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 Alcala 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.2 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; m 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 rhe queen. "ho was at that time in a state of pregnancy, brought on a miscarriage by her inces-
sant personal exposure. *0'- *34*
Zurua, Anales, torn. iv.
Rey
2 Carbajal, Anales, MS. ano 75.—Pulgar, Catolicos, pp. 45-55 —Ferreras, Hist, d torn. vii. p. 411. -Bernaldez, Reyes Catblicos,
cap 24.
WAR OF THE SUCCESSION.
123
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 annoy¬ ing a fortified city ; and as its communications were cut off in consequence of the neighbouring 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 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 arch¬ bishop 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." 1 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.2 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 suffi¬ cient 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, Reyes Cat<51icos, MS., cap. 18.— p* Ternaldez, V Sousa,
2
" Pues no os maravilieis de eso,"says Oviedo,
Europa Portuguesa, torn. ii. pp. in relation to these troubles, "que n<5 solo entre 9ria Pulgar, Crdnica, pp. 55-60.—Ruy de hermanos suele haber esas diferencias. mas entred'el Rey Alfonso V., cap. 179.—La padre e hijo lo vimos ayer, como suelen decir." nA Chr<5n. "lst a..i ' torn, de Portugal, torn. iii. p. 366. —Zurita, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 2, dial. 3. Af>ales, iv fol. p;
240-243.
124
ACCESSION OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.
carried the most terrible desolation over the whole extent of its unpro¬ tected 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 circum¬ stances 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 meantime both the queen and her husband, undismayed by past reverses, were making every exertion for the reorganisation of an To accomplish this object, an addi¬ army on a more efficient footing. tional 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.1 The old king of Aragon advised them to imitate their ancestor Henry the Second, of glorious memory, by making liberal grants and alienations in favour 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, 1475, 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 maravedis. The clergy, who were very generally attached to Isabella's interests, far from discouraging this startling proposal, endeavoured to vanquish the queen's repugnance to it by arguments and pertinent illus¬ trations drawn from Scripture. This transaction certainly exhibits a degree of disinterestedness, on the part of this body, most unusual in thaf 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.2 found to contain about govia. She subsequently gave a more solid testi¬ * The royal coffers were(Pulgar, the raa Reyes Cutdh, p. mony of her gratitude, by raising him Isabella presented Cabrera with a golden of Marquis of Moya, with the grant of an estat goblet from her tab engaging that a similar pre¬ suitab e his new dignity.— Oviedo, Quincuagenas, sent should be regularly made to him and his suc. MS., bat. quinc. dial. 23. 10,000 marks of silver.
to
54.)
e,
"Cessors on the anniversary oi
to
his surrender of Se¬
1,
1,
2 'I'lie indignation of h)r.
Salazar de Mendoza
WAR OF THE SUCCESSION.
125
Thus provided with the necessary tunds, 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 frus¬ trated 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 amount¬ ing 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.1 At break of day the Castilians were surprised by the array of floating banners, and martial panoply glittering in the sun, from the opposite ÿ
ÿPlication of the church's money, which h 110 necessity whatever could justify. " This H,a,vers turv iY-7 canon flourished in the seventeenth cenS
find verified by any contemporary author. Annales de Sevilla, p. 372. 1 Carbajal, Anales, MS., anos 75, 76. Ruy de Gran. Pulgar, Cardenal, p. Pina, Chrdn. d'el Rey Alfonso V., cap. 187, 189.— 147. RevU r J?- > PP;. 60-62. Faria y Sousa, Europa Bernaldez,, Reyes Catdlicos,, MS.,, cap. 20, 22.form S& tom" P* 4°°* Rades-y Andrada, Las Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, pp. 63-78. L. Marineo, tres (Jrd iv. fol 2 Cnes'.Part* *> to'- 67. Zurita, Anales, tom. j Cosas memorables, fol. 156. Faria y Sousa, Europa Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. ' Portuguese, tom. it. pp. 401, 404 Several of thecouijj'i 2Q\ 4-b~Bernaldez, ,nlga gives some additional particulars i temporary Castilian historians compute the Portuttipectin£ the grant of the cortes, which 1 do not 1 suese army at double the amount gtven in the te.vt..
"".
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126
ACCESSION OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.
•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 oi the castle of Zamora, should have selected a position so obviously unsuit¬ able 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 succours 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 posi¬ tions, 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 ist 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 •flntil 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.1 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 1 Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, pp. 82-85.—Zurita, I Catdlicos, MS., cap. 23.—Ruy de Pina, Chrdn- d'd Anales, torn. iv. fol.252, 253.—Faria y Sousa, Europa Rey Alfonso V., can 100 Portuguesa, torn. h. pp. 404, 405.— Bernaldez, Reyes |
WAR OF THE SUCCESSION.
127
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 counter¬ balance 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 favour 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 hre 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 meanwhile, 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 ardour into their soldiers, who fought as if conscious that this struggle was to decide the fate of their wasters. 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.1 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 1' Anales, MS., ano 76.
—L. Marineo, |
torn. ii. pp. 404, 405.
— Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos,
leS' fo1' I5®'— Pulgar, Reyes Cat<5- MS., cap. 23.— La Clede, Hist, de Portugal, torn. i»i. 'icosÿ,pp. o nrTl"1 85-89.— Fariay Zurita, Anales, torn. iv. fol. Europa Portuguesa, | pp. Sousa,
378-383-
—
252-255.
128
ACCESSION OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.
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 armour of this knight was to be seen as late a? 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 corselet, were to be seen on that day in the thickest of the melee. 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 dis¬ appeared from the rest of civilised Europe. At length, after an obstinate struggle of more than three hours, the valour 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 endeavoured 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 favour 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 neighbouring eminence, succeeded, by lighting fires and sounding his trumpets, in rallying round him a number of fugitives ; and as the posi¬ tion 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 Nuho, some leagues distant from the field of action. Numbers o* his troops, attempting to escape across the neighbouring frontiers into their own country, were maimed or massacred by the Spanish peasants, in retaliation of the excesses wantonly committed by them in their inva¬ sion 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 honourable, as well as more rare, than military success, distributed clothes and money to several prisoners brought into Zamora in a state of
WAR OF THE SUCCESSION
.„
utter destitution, and enabled them to return in safety to their own country.1 The Castilian monarch remained on the field of battle till after mid¬ night, 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.2 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, and, in the expressive language of Bernaldez, "estaban aviva quien vence," 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 his brother, the count of Uruena, 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 their domains. The castle of Zamora, expecting no further succours 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
* Faria y Sousa
w the Portuguese,claims the honours of the victory because Prince John kept the held till morning. Even M. La Clfcde, with all his deference to the Portuguese historian, cannot swalthis. Faria y Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, torn. pp. "• 405-410. Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. '1 quinc. del Gran. 1, dial. 8. Salazar de Mendoza, Cr(5n. Cardenal, lib. 1, cap. 46. Pulgar, Reyes t-atdhcos, pp. 85-90.—L. Marineo, Cosas memores, fol. 158.—Carbajal, p MS., ano 76.— ernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos-Anales, MS. cap. 2H- Ruv de
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Pina, Chrdn. d'el Rey Alfonso V., cap. igx. Fer¬ dinand, 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. 2 Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, 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.
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I
130
ACCESS/ON OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.
exception of a few insignificant posts still garrisoned by the enemy, had acknowledged the supremacy of Ferdinand and Isabella.1 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.2 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 succour 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 honours 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 fr<3m 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 Nancy 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 ;8 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 suppliant 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 "wo 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 1 Rades y Andrada, Las tres Ordenes, torn. ii. fol. 79, 8o. Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, cap. 48-50, 55, 60.—Zurita, Anales, lib. 19, cap. 46, 48, 54, 58. Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, torn. vii. pp. 476-478, 517-519, 546. Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 10.—Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. t, dial. 8.
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2
' Gaillard, Rivalitd, torn. iii. pp. 290-292bajal, Anales, MS., ano 76. . 2 [The death of the duke of Burgundy, 'fri of closing, or averting, the war for which Louis na assembled his forces, was the signal for its p°® mencement, being followed by an immediate inv sion of the Burgundian dominions. Ed.] j
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WAR OF THE SUCCESSION
13*
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." 1 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 (Nov. 15, 1478). 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;2 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.8 While these hostile movements were in progress (1478), 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.4 In the autumn of the same year a treaty of peace was defini¬ tively adjusted between the plenipotentiaries of Castile and France at St. Jean de Luz, in which it was stipulated, as a principal article, that Louis
rnlJ
z' ReYes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 27.— ReyesCat<51icos, cap. 56, 57.—Gaillard, value, torn. iii. pp. 290-292. Zurita, Anales, lib. caP- IO- Ruy de Pina, Chronica ri'p»lCT?' Alfonso a\iJ 20lV., cap. 194-202. Faria y Sousa, D..i
ulgar
——
tn
tom" M/mofr«°rtlgUeSad !lv- S.t0 chap. 7. 2a
Era n
— PP- 4"-4i5—Comines,
Rar'a y Sousa, John was walking shores of the Tagus, with the duke of
anththe cardinal archbishop of Lisbon, wh».naii?a , received the
unexpected tidings of his his ott rjturn ,to Portugal. On his inquiring of he should receive him, " How anÿsbut ac ,n? an(l father ? " was the reply ; at which knitting his brow, skimmed a stone which £ held m his hand, with much violence, acrn« whisnc-Jÿ wate>". The cardinal, observing this, good car th° i6 duke of Braganza, "Iwill take , taat stone does not rebound on me." Sonn 1 Portugal for Rome, where he fixed hie Cr' residence. The duke lost his life on the
f.,.1
Jr°i!r
-j
scaffold for imputed treason, soon after John's acces¬ sion.— Europa Portuguesa, tom. ii. p. 416. 3 Comines, Mdmoires, liv. 5, chap. 7. Faria y Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, tom. ii. p. 116.—Zurita, Anales, lib. 20, cap. 25. Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 27. 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 011 his left; he attended him to his quarters, and, in short, during the whole twenty days of their conference, mani¬ fested 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 Catblicos, cap. 75.
—
—
*
—
132
ACCESSION OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.
the Eleventh should disconnect himself from his alliance with Portugal, and give no further support to the pretensions of Joanna.1 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 ot 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 farmhouses 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 ofMedellin, Merida, and Deleytosa. At this juncture the infanta Dona 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 embar¬ rassments 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 (Sept. 24, 1479).2 Reyes Catdlicos, cap. 85, .89, 90. —Carbajal, y—Pulgar, Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, torn. ii. £P- 42°> i__1 Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, torn. Ruy de Pina, ChrtSn. d'ai Rev Alfonso P- 53 —Carbajal, Anales, MS., 206 — L. Marineo, Cosas raemorables, fol. V., cap. 79.— Bernaldez, K 166, »<>» ÿ"atdlicos, MS-, 28, 36, 37. 1 Salazar de Mendoza, Crdn.
—
del Gran Cardenal,
p. 162. Zurita, Anales, lib. ao, cap. 25. Anales, MS., ano 79. 4
vii.
ano
cap.
ÿ
WAR OF THE SUCCESSION.
133
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,1 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.2 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 disorganisation which the licen¬ tious and predatory habits of the 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 undis¬ turbed possession of the throne of her ancestors. Joanna's interests alone were 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 °f all spiritual delights ; her subjection, liberty,— the only true liberty, partaking more of heaven than of earth. No kinsman," continued the
Catdlicos, cap.
— Faria y Sousa,
—
91. Reyes ÿaial, Analeq Mcf g ÿear> June 28th, 1478. Car- I Pulgar, Europa Portuguesa, torn. ii. pp. 420, 421. Ruy d« >,ar'no eodem. L. | Pina, Chrdn. d'el Rey Alfonso V., cap. 206.
—
eo> Cosas memorable*, fol. 168.
ACCESSION OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.
i34
disinterested preacher, " no true friend or faithful counsellor, would divert you from so holy a purpose." 1 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 pre¬ paration for resigning his crown anew, and retiring to the monastery ot Varatojo, on a bleak eminence near the Alantic 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.2 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.3 Such was his admirable constitution, that he retained not only his intellectual but his bodily vigour 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 manage¬ ment 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
—
1 Ruy de Pina, Chrdn. d'el Rey Alfonso
V., cap. the Portuguese y Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, torn. ii. p. affected a royalcrown from her interests. Joanna —Faria style and magnificence, and sub¬ Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, cap. 92. L. Marineo
20.
—
421.
—
speaks of the Sekora rnuy excelcnte as an inmate of the cloister at the period in whichhe 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 occa¬ sionally threatened to revive her dormant claims to theprejudice of the Castilian sovereigns. Shemay 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 beenaprincipalcause of those frequent intermar¬ riages between the royal families of the two countries by which Ferdinand and Isabella hoped to detach
scribed herself " Ithe Queen " to the last. i>»® died in the palace at Lisbon, in 1530, in the 6910 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 Senor Clemencin, Mero¬ de la Acad, de Hist., torn, vi., Ilust. 19. 2 Faria y Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, torn. "• P' 423. Ruy de Pina, Chrdn. d'el Key Alfonso
—
—
cap. 212.
3 Carbajal,
—
Anales, MS., ano 79. Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 42. Mariana, Hist, de Espana fed. Valencia), torn. viii. p. 204, note * Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, torn. ii. fol. 295-
—
—
ADMINISTRATION OF CASTILE.
135
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.
CHAPTER VL INTERNAL ADMINISTRATION OF CASTILK.
1475-1482. Schemes of Reform.— Holy Brotherhood.—Tumult at Segovia. The Queen's Presence of — Mind.—Severe Execution of Justice. — Royal Progress through Andalusia. — Reorganisa¬ tion
— —
—
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.
—
—
—
—
Ihave 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 entrusted to him exclusively for the benefit of his people ; who, endowed with intellectual gifts corresponding with his station, in an age of comparative barbarism, endeavours to impart to his land the light of civilisation 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 admini¬ stration of Castile was principally referred, was not fully unfolded until
136
ADMINISTRATION OF CASTILE.
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 the 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 neighbour. 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 this unbounded license than to direct against it that popular engine, the Santa Hermandad, or Holy Brother' hood, which had more than once shaken the Castilian monarchs on theii throne. The project for the reorganisation 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 Duenas 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 resist¬ ance ot 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 strongholds or fortresses with which it was plentifully studded. An annual contribution of eighteen thousand maravedis was assessed on every hundred vecinos or householders, for the equipment and mainten¬ ance 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 1
Among other examples, Pulgar mentions that of the alcayde of Castro-Nuno, Pedro de Mendana, who, from the strongholds in his possession, com¬ mitted 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)
* FTis to protect their territories from his rapacity. successful example was imitated by many knightly freebooters of the period. (Reyes licos, part. 2, cap. 66.)—See also extracts cl by Saez from manuscript notices by conTtÿm')D„ aries of Henry IV. Monedas de Enrique IV., PP-
°
1, 2.
ADMINISTRATION OF CASTILE.
137
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 1485.1 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 rigour, 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." 2
Notwithstanding the popular constitution of the hermandad, and the obvious advantages attending its introduction at this juncture, it experi¬ enced 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 bermandad, 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 °f 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 The Quademo of the laws of the hermandad has now become very rare. That in my possession *as printed at Burgos in 1527. It has since been incorporated, with considerable extension, into the ÿecopilacion of Philip II. * Quademo had (Hurgos, de las Leyes nuevas de la Herman1527), leyes 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 16, 20, 37* Pulgar, L. Marineo, Reyes Catdlicos, part. 2, cap. 51Cosas memorables, fol. 160, ed. 1539-
,
—
—
Mem. de la Acad, de Hist., torn. vi. Ilust. 4. Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 76. Lebrija, Reruni 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 ex¬ cluded 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.
— —
ADMINISTRATION OF CASTILE.
i38
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 twentytwo 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 ot crimi¬ nal 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.1 Isabella was so intent on the prosecution of her schemes of reform, that even in the minuter details she frequently superintended the execu¬ tion 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 1 Recopilacion de las Leyes (Madrid, 1640), lib. brija, Rerum Gestarum Decad., fol. 37, 388, tit. 13, ley 44. Zuiiiga, Annales de Sevilla, p. Pragmaticas del Reyno (Sevilla, 1520), fol. 85379 Pulgar, Reyes Cat<51icos, part. 2, cap. 51 Marineo' Cosas memorables, fol. 160. Mem. de la Acad, de Hist., torn. vi. Ilust. 6. Le-
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ADMINISTRATION 01 CASTILE.
139
to receive conditions trom 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 meanwhile, assembling in greater numbers than before, continued to show the most hostile dispositions, calling out "Death to the alcayde ! Attack the castle 1" 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 Iwill do all in my power to redress them ; for Iam 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 demeanour, 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 Ishall intrust to one of my own servants, on whom Ican 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 mto the affair, and render justice to all parties. The mob accordingly dispersed, and the queen, after a candid examination, having ascertained ÿhe groundlessness or gross exaggeration of the charges against Cabrera, tnd 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 favourable moment or resistance had escaped, made no further attempts to disturb. Thus, y a happy presence of mind, an affair which threatened, at its outset, disastrous consequences, was settled without bloodshed, or compromise of
the royal dignity.1
CaM?rbaja1' Anales, MS., ano 76.— Pulgar, Reyes I Decad., fol. 41, 42.—Gonzalo de Oviedo lavishes
— —
a> caP- 59- Ferreras, Hist. d'Es- many encomiums on Cabrera, for " his generous' ' m- V11>- p. 477. Lebrija, Rerum Gestarum | qualities, his singular prudence in government, and
En™., t
ADMINISTRA TION OF CASTILE. 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 ÿexposure 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 headquarters. The first days of her residence there were consumed in fetes, 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 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 tor their crimes, escaped into the neighbouring 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 his solicitude for his vassals, whom he inspired with I his character is the unshaken confidence which h» the deepest attachment." (Quincuagenas, MS., bat. i, quinc. *. dial. 23.) The best panegyric on royal mistress reposed in him to the day [ death.
ADMINISTRATION OF CASTIIE.
141
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.1 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 circum¬ jacent 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, accom¬ panied 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. Bhe 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 neighbourhood 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.2 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 to that pursued at Seville,
_
——
—
Sevilla, p. 381. Pulgar, I 3 Bernaldez, Reyes Cat<51icos, MS., cap. 29. Reyes Cÿrti; 2' caP" 7°> 71- Bernaldez, Zurita, Anales, torn. iv. fol. 283. Zuniga, Annales iveyes Cir I°S' ÿP29- Carbajal, Anales, de Sevilla, p. 382. Lebrija, Rcrum Gestarum Deaiio 77 I m°S'Cosas memorables, fol. 162 ; 1 cades, lib. 7.—L. Marineo, Cosas memorables, ubi wh0 says ' arln'°i t*lan 8000 guilty fled from Seville j supra. Garibay, Compendio. lib. 18, cap. 11. and
Cordov
,
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—
—
142
ADMINISTRATION OF CASTILE.
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.1 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 Yanez de Lugo. This person, being convicted of a capital offence attended with the most aggravating circumstances, sought to obtain a commutation of his punish¬ ment 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 appro¬ priate 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.2 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 robberknights, 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 8 captivity." 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 reorganised 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 lawDuring the last century, this body had consisted of prelates, knights, and
mr mas la via
por remediar
Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, part. 2, caj L. Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. 162.
ADMINISTRATION OF CASTILE.
*43
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, recognised, but the transaction of business was reserved for the counsellors specially appointed.1 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 sove¬ reigns, who paid great deference to its opinions, and very frequently
assisted at its deliberations.2 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 remo¬ delled. 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 guarantee for a faithful inter¬ pretation of the law.8 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
*
Ordenangas 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 Cort&s, pp. 123,
129.) It should not have escaped Marina. Lib. 2, tit. 3 of the Ordenangas Reales is de¬ voted to the royal council. The number of the members was limited to one prelate, as president, three knights, and eight or nine jurists. (Prdlogo.) I he sessions were to be held every day, in the palace. (Leyes 1, 2.) They were instructed to refer to the -er tr'bunals all matters not strictly coming within their own jurisdiction. (Ley 4.) Their acts, in all except those specially reserved, were to have cÿse® the force of law without the royal signature. (Leyes ?3> ?4-). See also Los Doctores Asso y Manuel, Instituciones del Derecho civil de Castilla (Madrid, *792), Introd. p. in ; and Santiago Agustin Riol, intorme, apud Semanario erudito (Madrid, 1788), is mistaken in stating the Ir.4' u'11' ofR.jurists number in the council, at this time, at sixteen, a change which did not take place till ri'a"P H.'s reign. (Recop. de las Leyes, lib. 2, ,4, ley 1.) Marina denies that the council could constitu¬
-
—
tionally 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. (Teoria, 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. 3 Ordenamjas Reales, lib. 2, tit. 4. — Marina, Teoria 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. (Teoria, ubi supra.) The legislature probably mistook the true cause oi the evil. Few will doubt, at any rate, that the remedy proposed must have been fraught with far greater.
ADMINISTRATION OF CASTILE. 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.1 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. " Iwell 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."2 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."8 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 labourer, 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 strongholds 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."4 II. Codification ot 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
—
- x uigar, xÿeyes ÿaioncos, p. 1ÿ7. ÿ of the language, also, of Peter Martyr, another con f m. he king porary witness of the beneficial changes 1 : was required to take his seat in the council il every government. Opus Epistolarum (AmsteJo rrtdav. (Ordenanÿas Reales, lib. 2, tit. 3 1< ley 32.) 1670), ep 31.
ADMINISTRATION OR CASTILE.
145
compilation of Alfonso the Tenth, digested chiefly from maxims of the civil law.1 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 con¬ tradictory. 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.2 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 Ordenan$as 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 honours 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.3 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 " Ordenangas " 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, 1 Prieto y
Sotelo, Historia del Derecho real de
—
Lspana (Madrid, 1738), lib. 3, cap. 16-21. Marina "as made an elaborate commentary on Alfonso's
celebrated code, in his Ensayo histdrico-crltico sobre ,a antigua Legislacion de Castilla (Madrid, 1808), Pp. 269 et seq. The English reader will find a more SU jC1SCt anal3'sis in Dr. Dunham's History of Spain and .Portugal (London, 183a), in Lardner's Cyclo¬ pedia, vol. iv. pp. The latter has given a more exact and, at121-150. the same time, extended view Castilian legislation, ,ear'y probably, than is I t 0 be found, in the same compass, in any of the reninsular writers. Marina (in his Ensayo histdrico-crltico, p. 388) quotes a popular satire of the fifteenth century, irected, with considerable humour, against theae
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 creminal, E todo el dia se esta de valde Por la justicia andar muy igual : Alii 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. 3 Mendez enumerates no less than five editions of this code, by 1500; a sufficient evidence of its autho¬
"
rity and general reception throughout Castiie. Typographia Espaiiola, pp. 203, 261, 270. K
ADMINISTRATION OF CASTILE.
146
" Nueva Recopilacion," which has since formed the law of the Spanish
monarchy.1 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. The nobles 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 organisation 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 honourable 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." 2 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 1Ordenangas Reales, Prdlogo.—Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., torn. vi. Ilust. 9.— Marina, Ensayo histcSrico-critico, pp. 390 et seq. — Mendez, Typographia Espanola, p. 261. The authors of the three lastmentioned works abundantly disprove Asso y Manuel's insinuation, that Montalvo's code was the fruit of his private study, without any commis¬ sion for it, and that it gradually usurped an autho¬ rity which it had not in its origin. (Discurso pre-
—
J*
liminar al Ord. de Alcald.) The injustice of 1
last remark, indeed, is apparent from the posi declaration of Bernaldez : Los Reyes mandaroo el 11 tener en todas las ciudades, villas 6 lugares los cos de Montalvo, I f>or (Idetessninar todas CatoliCOSi Reyes fia,'a cortar los plditos." Mb., cap. 43. ley J» 2
"
°rdenancas Reales lib. t, tit. 2
' f"
ADMINISTRATION OF CAST/IF.
147
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.1 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 desordenes pasadas." 2 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.3 This measure, aowever 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 revoca¬ tion, which had frequently occurred under the preceding reigns. As the intended measure involved the interests of most of the consider¬ able 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 Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. i, quinc. i, memorial to the sovereigns, Apendice, No. 10, of
dial. 44.
Clemencin's valuable compilation. The commons — Sempere notices this feature of the royal had pressed the measure, as one of the last neces¬
policy. Hist. des Cortes, chap. 24. Anales, MS. aiio 80. j Carbajal, See
sity to the crown, as early as the cortes of Madrigal, the emphatic language, on this and other in 1476. The reader will find the whole petition . grievances, of the Castilian commons, in their ! extracted by Marina, Teoria, torn. ii. cap. 5. 1
*
ADMINISTRATION OF CASTILE.
148
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 argest class, should retain such a proportion only of their pensions as might be judged commensurate with their services to the state.1 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 maravedis, 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.2 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 maravedis among the widows and orphans of those loyalists who had fallen in the War of the Succes¬ sion.3 This resumption of grants may be considered as the basis of those economical reforms which, without oppression to the subject, augmented the public revenue more than twelvefold during this auspicious reign.4 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 macebearer and a body-guard, 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 to enforce this law on the highest offenders, b) 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.6
_______ ___ ________
1 Salazar de Mendoza, Crdn. del Gran of reduction given at length by Senor Clemencin, cap. 51. Mem. de la Acad, de Hist., torn.Cardenal, vi. Ilust. ln Mem. de la Acad., torn. vi. loc. cit. queen, 5. Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, part. 2, cap. 'ÿ° monarch," said the high-minded 95. sin Ordenanÿas Reales, lib. 6, tit. 4, ley 26 ; incorpo¬ a should consent to alienate his demesnes,-01 rated also into the Recopilacion of Philip II., lib. the loss of revenue necessarily deprives him 01 5, tit. 10, cap. 17. See also leyes and 3 best means of rewarding the attachment 15. a Admiral Enriquez, for instance, resigned 240,000 friends, and of making himself feared by his maravedis of his annual income ; the duke of 1, Alva, mies. xPulgar, r _ _ uigai) Reyes Catblicos, part. 575,000 ; : the duke of Medina Sidonia, 180,000. 575,000 M®*®* UV . <ÿPuignr, Reyes Catdlicos, ubi sup Tk» loyal family The of the Mendozas were also great i la Acad, de Hist., torn. vi. loc. c. • '' losers, but none forfeited so much as the overgrown h"3; jey ÿ i 5 Ordenanqas Reales, lib. a, favourite of Henry IV., ' Beltran ae de la ia t-ueva, Cueva, duke tit. 9, ley 11. Pulgar, Reyes C" ,'i;cos, par'* > ., neiiran of Albuquerque, who titgÿ ÿ had uniformly supported the ! cap. 06, roi. Recop. de las Bey > , " royal cause, and" whose in,'' icted retrenchment amounted to ley 10 al. These affairs were *,400,000 maravedis of yearly rent, "ee the sca'e true spirit of knight-errantry. conduÿ fflentl0i*
— —
——
—
—
—
— —
—
~
*
it
—
——
*
ADMINISTRATION' OF CASTILE.
140
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 to 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 deter¬ mine 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 separ¬ ately as they could, by the most ample acknowledgments.1 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 antechamber of the palace at Valladolid, between two young noble¬ men, Ramiro Nunez de Guzman, lord of Toral, and Frederick 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 Frederick, 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 °ne, in which two young men of the noble houses a narrow bridge across the Xarama, three leagues °f Velasco and Ponce de Leon agreed to fight on from Madrid. Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. horseback, with sharp spears {puntas de diatnantes)ÿ 1, dial. 23. 1 Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, lorn. vii. pp. 487. m doublet and hose, without defensive armour of ar*y kind. The place appointed for the combat was 488
A DMINJSTRA TION OF CASTJLA
she was not overtaken by the officers of her guard until she had reached the fortress. She instantly summoned the admiral to deliver up his son to justice j and on his replying that " Don Frederick 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 Frederick 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 con¬ cealment. 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 delin¬ quent, 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.1 Notwithstanding the strict impartiality as well as vigour of the adminis¬ tration, 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 far from pursuing the odious policy of preceding princes in diminish ing the amount of represented cities, they never failed to direct theii writs to all those which, at their accession, retained the right of representation, and subsequently enlarged the number by the conquest of Grana a, 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. 2 By making merit the standard of preferment, t ey opened the path of honour to every class of the community. uniformly manifested the greatest tenderness for the rights of the com mons in reference to taxation ; and as their patriotic policy was obvious/ directed to secure the personal rights and general prosperity of the poop
—
1 Carbajal, Anales, MS.,ano8o. Pulgar, Reyes summoned, except those in imnl atdlicos, part. 2, cap. 100. j-esump''00 on the court, until the measure tor the 2 For body, example, at the great cortes of Toledo, in of the grants, which so nearly allec 180, it does not appear
that any of the nobility were
was brought before the legislature.
ADMINISTRATION OR CASTILE. 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,1 there can be no doubt that the forms under which they were permanently organised 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.2 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,3 that 1 Conde gives the following account of these ; which, it may well be believed, was set aside by his chivalric associations among the Spanish Arabs, ; high-spirited subjects. Zurita, Anales, lib. i,cap. 52. which, as far as Iknow, have hitherto escaped the 1 3 The apparition of certain preternatural light notice of European historians. The Moslem ! in a forest discovered to a Galician peasant, in the fronteros professed great austerity"in their lives, beginning of the ninth century, the spot in which which they consecrated to perpetual war, and bound was deposited a marble sepulchre containing the themselves by a solemn vow to defend the frontier ashes of St. James. The miracle is reported with against the incursions of the Christians. They were sufficient circumstantiality by Florez (Historia choice cavaliers, possessed of consummate patience, 1 Compostellsna, lib. 1, cap. 2, apud Espana sagrada, and enduring fatigue, and always prepared to die | torn, xx.) and Ambrosio de Morales (Cordnica rather than desert their posts. It appears highly general de Espana (Obras, Madrid, 1791-3), lib. 9, probable that the Moorish fraternities suggested the cap. 7), who establishes, to his own satisfaction, the idea of those military orders, so renowned for their advent of St. James into Spain. Mariana, with valour in Spain and in Palestine, which rendered more scepticism than his brethren, doubts the such essential services to Christendom ; for both the genuineness of the body, as well as the visit of the institutions were established on similar principles." apostle, but, like a good Jesuit, concludes, " It is Conde, Historia de la Dominacion de los Arabes en not expedient to disturb with such disputes the Espana (Madrid, 1820), torn. i. p. 619, note. devotion of the people, so firmly settled as_ it is." * See the details, given by Mariana, of the over- (Lib. 7, cap. 10.) The tutelar saint of Spain con-
grown possessions of the Templars in Castile at the ! tinued to support his people by taking part with period of their extinction, in the beginning of the them in battle against the infidel down to a very (Hist, de Espana, lib. J5, cap. l.}te period. Caro de Torres mentions two engageThe knights of the Temple and the Hospitallers ments in which he cheered on the squadrons of to have acquired still greater power in Aragon, ! Cortes and Pizarro, " with his sword flashing one of the monarchs was so infatuated as to iightning in the eyes of the Indians." Ordenes bequeath them bis whole dominions, a bequest 1 militares, fol. 5.
fourteenth century.
£here
—
ADMINISTRATION OF CASTILE. 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 annoy¬ ance 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 117 5 , were distinguished by a white mantle embroidered with a red cross, in fashion of a sword, with the escalop 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 colour 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 traveller, and maintain perpetual war upon the Mussulman.1 Ihe 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 defence had accordingly been intrusted 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 defence. 1he emprise was eagerly sought by a monk of a distant convent in Navarre, who had once been a soldier, and whose military ardour 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
GaribÿComÿSÿtbiÿ.
ÿ 3_I5*~Qu*
T<wre»- Ordenes militares, fol-
I
ADMINISTRATION OF CASTILE
153
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 insti¬ tuted at the commencement of the fourteenth century, and continued dependent on the parent stock.1 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 eventu¬ ally rose to an importance little inferior to that of its rival.2 The internal economy of these three fraternities was regulated by the same general principles. The direction of affairs was intrusted 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 function¬ aries alone, or combined with the conventual clergy, as in the order of Calatrava, which seems to have recognised 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 Chris¬ tian 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 institutionn, granted the military orders almost unlimited rights over the conquests achieved by their own valour. 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. The 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 conl
Rades y Andrada, Las tres Ordenes, part- 2, j " Rades y Andrada, Las tres Ordenes, part. 3, 0l- 3-9, 49 Caro de Torres, Ordenes militares, fol | fol. 1-6.—The knights of Alcantara wore a white 49, 50. Garibay, Compendio, torn. ii. pp. 100-104 j mantle embroidered with a green cross.
— —
ADMINISTRATION OF CASTILE.
J54
siderable 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 ot 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 organised 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.1 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 im¬ portant 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 grandmastership of St. James, by the death of the incumbent, in 1476, sbe 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 delibe¬ rating 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, con¬ sented to waive this privilege in favour 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 bs administration for life, in the same manner as had been done with that 0 Calatrava in 1487. and of Alcantara in 1494.2
folpan. 1 f Zÿ
Part- U i - Caro de Torres, Ordenes militares, fol. 4$. 7* LÿS ires 0rdents> n-i 2' SI 1 83.-Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, part. 2, cap. 64. s H pa'r' Ordenes Torres> Rades y Andrada. Las tres Ordenes, part. 1, fc> • 9 7. passim militares uuuiares, passim —I L,. Manneo, Cosas memorables, 70 : part 2 fol 82 82 • part 2 fol. 54-— °vln?.
—
Olo
«-awSMthin;ar «•»* srSS
ADMINISTRATION OF CASTILE.
155.
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 acknow¬ ledged 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 honours 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.1 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.2 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.3 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 per¬ petually 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 appoint¬ ment.-*
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 James, by conferring that dignity on Alonso de in the reign of Alfonso VI., and the ascendency
Cardenas, with their usual policy of making merit which the combination of kingcraft and priestcraft succeeded in securing to the former in opposition
ra,1 Caro T thandebirth the standard of preferment. Torres, Ordenes militares, fol.
84.—
Riol has given a full account of the constitution of this council, Informe, apud Semanario erudito, torn. 111. pp. ,64 ej seq 1 1he reader will find a view of the condition and general resources of the military orders as existing the present centurv in Spain, in Laborde, 'n. Itineraire descriptif de l'Espagne (2d edition, Paris, l8?7-.3°), torn. v. pp. 102-117. Most readers are acquainted with the curious s'ory- related by Robertson, of the ordeal to which the Romish and Muzarabic rituals were subjected
to the will of the nation. Cardinal Ximenes after¬ wards established a magnificent chapel in the cathedral church of Toledo for the performance of the Muzarabic services, which have been retained there to the present time. Flechier, Histoire du Cardinal Ximine (Paris, 1693), p- 142. Bourgoanne, Travels in Spain, Eng. trans., vol. iii.
—
chap. 1.
4 Marina, Ensayo histbrico-crjtico, nos. 322, 334, 341.— Riol, Informe, apud Semanario erudito, pp. 92 et seq.
156
ADMINISTRATION OF CASTILE.
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 effec¬ tual 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 Taragona, and afterwards of Cuenca.1 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 further 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 tempo¬ ralities 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 dishonoured 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 on 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 of Henry IV.'s reign, a papal bull had been granted
1 Marina, Ensayo histdrico-critico, nos.
335-337. Reales, lib. 1, tit. 3, leyes 19, ; lib. against the provision of foreigners to benetnce • — Ordenanÿas e ley 2; lib. ley tit. 20
Riol, Informe, apud Seraanario erudito. loc. cit. — In the latter part ÿ*»
3,
1,
6.
Mariana, Hist, de Espana, torn. vii. P* Valencia
'
ADMINISTRATION OF CASTILE.
1
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 ;1 and Alfonso de Burgos was accordingly translated to the see of Cuenca. 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 solicita¬ tions of her husband, as we shall see hereafter.2 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.3 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 accumu¬ late 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 district 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 1 Riol, in his account of this celebrated concordat, ! todos los varones de sus Reynos asi por largo conorefers to the original instrument as existing in his i scimiento como por larga e secreta informacion. time in the archives of Simancas, Semanario erudito, ! acordaron encojer 6 elegir," etc Quincuagenas, torn. iii. p. c)5. dial. deTalavera. j MS., 2 "Loquees 3 Salazar de Mendoza, Cr<5n. del Gran Cardenal pfiblico hoy en Espana e notorio," j says Gonzalo de Oviedo, nunca los Reyes Cath<5- ! lib. x, cap. 52.— Idem, Dignidades de Castilla, p. " cos desearon ni procuraron sino que proveer c pre- ; 374.— Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, part. 2, cap. 104.— sentar para las dignidades de la Iglesia hombres j See also the similar independent conduct pursued tapazes e idoneos para la buena administracion del | by Ferdinand, three years previous, with reference scrvicio del culto divino, d a la buena enseiianza e ! to the see of "larajona, related by Zur=ta, Anaies. utilidad de los Christianos sus vasallos ; v entre : torn. iv. fob 40a.
ADMINISTRATION OF CAST/IF.
i5 8
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.1 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 authorised, 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 com¬ munication 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 pro¬ tection 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 furks. Some of their regulations, indeed, as those prohibiting the exportation of the precious metals, savour too strongly of the ignorance of the true prin¬ ciples 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 honour 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 sub¬ jects 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 sixfold between the years 1477 and 1482.2 1 Bernaldez,
Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 44.
— lib 6 tit a lev ao lib 6 tit 1
'
10, ley
'3
—
cited bV Cedulas, torn. v. no! 182.-See also other wholÿom Saeza \Itonearÿmrf0np0f """Tv sub->ects' Crnrÿ6 P\ 3-—Also the laws for the encouragement of commerce and g coarse Henry rClgn) °f MinS° ÿ security of property, as that respectmg contract. Revulzo eleriX , i™ (Ordenangas Reales, lib. 5, tit. 8, ley 5). -fraUif 2477,' *< , Xl 6 * Zffi 64--;Ordenan9as tradesmen (lib. tit. 8, lev 5),—purveyance ( aft .Reales lib tit J?/ rceales, lib. t.t. ley ; lib. 8, ley ; tit. n, ley et at >-Recopilacion de las Leyes, satire
ÿ
a. 4,
o 3,
22
5, tit.
5,
2
2
ADMINISTRATION OF CASTILE.
*5 9
1hus released from the heavy burdens imposed on it, the spring of enter¬ prise recovered its former elasticity. The productive capital of the country was made to flow through the various channels of domestic industry. lhe hills and the valleys again rejoiced in the labour of the husbandman ; and the cities were embellished with stately edifices, both public and private, which attracted the gaze and commendation of foreigners.1 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,2 which seems almost as magical as one of those transformations in romance wrought by the hands of some benevolent
fairy.3 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 demeanour, which formed a striking con¬ trast with the meanness in mind and manners that had distinguished their predecessor. They both exhibited a practical wisdom in their own per¬ sonal relations, which always commands respect, and which, however it may have savoured 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.4 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.
—
5> tit. 20, 2i, 22 ; lib. 6, tit. 18, ley x. Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, part. 2, cap. 99. Zurita, Anales, torn. iv. fol. 312 Mem. de la Acad, de Hist., torn.
—
—
—
vi., Ilust. 11. The revenue, it appears, in 1477, amounted to 27,415,228 maravedis ; and in the year 1482 we find it increased to 150,695,288 maravedis. (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 Senor Clemencin, it exhibits such a variety of important details respecting the re¬ sources and population of the country that it must materially contribute towards an exact history of tins period. The compilation, which consists of twelve folio volumes in manuscript, is deposited in •he archives of Simancas. One of the statutes passed at Toledo expressly t" ovides for the erection of spacious and handsome edifices (casus grandes y Men fechas) for the tran¬ saction of municipal affairs, in all the principal *owns and cities in the kingdom. Ordenancas
—
Reales, lib. 7, tit. x, ley 1.— See also L. Marineo, Cosas memorables, passim,— et al. auct. 2 "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 a hacer en muchos anos, sola una muger, con su trabajo y gobernacion, lo hizo en poco tiempo. " Copla 21. 3 The beautiful lines of Virgil, so often mis¬ applied, " Jam reditet Virgo ; redeunt Saturnia regna ;
—
—
Jam nova progenies," etc.
seem to admit here of a pertinent application.
Carro de las Donas, apud Mem. de la Acad, de Hist., torn. 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 Ordenangas Reales, lib. 2, tit. 14, Icy 31 ; lib. 8, tit. 10, ley 7.) L. Marineo, according ta whom " hell is full of gamblers," highly commends the sovereigns for their efforts to discountenance this vice. Cosas memorables, fol. i6s.
*
—
160
ADMINISTRATION OF CASTILE.
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 magni¬ ficence, which dazzled the multitude, and is blazoned with great solemnity in the garrulous chronicles of the day.1 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 endeavoured 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 harmoni¬ ous 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 Illustra¬ tions, 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 contem¬ porary 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 honour to any country. See, for example, the splendid ceremony of j Curate of Los Palacios devotes the 326. and Prince Johns baptism, to which the ossipin$ 1 chapters of his History.
*
THE INQUISITION.
CHAPTER VII. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MODERN INQUISITION.
CMgin 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 accom¬ modating 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 truthsare 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 perse¬ cution, 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, L
THE INQUISITION.
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 1 233, 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 pecu¬ liarities 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 four¬ teenth 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 perse1 Mosheim, Ecclesiastical History, translated by 4 Sismondi, Hist, des Francais, torn. vii. chap. 3Maclaine (Charlestown, 1810), cent. 13, P. 2, chap. Limborch, History of the Inquisition, translated 5.— Sismondi, Histoire des Franijais (Paris, 1821), by Chandler (London, 1731), book 1, chap. 24.— torn. vi. chap. 24-28 ; torn. vii. chap. 2, 3.— Idem, Liorente, Histoire critiquedel'Inquisition d'Espagne De la Litterature du Midi de l'Europe (Paris, 1813), (Paris, 1818), torn. i. p. no.— Before this time we torn. i. cuap. 6.— In the former of these works M. find a constitution of Peter I. of Aragon against Sismondi has described the physical ravages of the heretics, prescribing in certain cases the burning of crusades in southern France, with the same spirit heretics and the confiscation of their estates, in iig7and eloquence with which he has exhibited their Marca Hispanica, sive Limes Hispanicus (Parisns, desolating moral influence in the latter. Some 1688), p. 1384. 3 Nic. Antonio, Bibliotheca Vetus, torn, "• PCatholic writers would fain excuse St. Dominic from the imputation of having founded the Inquisi¬ 186. Liorente, Hist, de l'Inquisition, torn, i- PP" tion. It is true he died some years before the 110-124.— Puigblanch cites some of the instructions perfect organisation of that tribunal ; but as he from Eymerich's work, whose authority in the courts established the principles on which, and the monkish of the Inquisition he compares to that of Gratians militia by whom, it was administered, it is doing him Decretals in other ecclesiastical judicatures. One no injustice to regard him as its real author. The of these may suffice to show the spirit of the whole. Sicilian Paramo, indeed, in his heavy quarto (De " When the inquisitor has an opportunity, he sna Origine et Progressu Officii Sanctae Inquisitionis, manage so as to introduce to the conversation of tn Matriti, 1598), traces it up to a much more remote prisoner some one of his accomplices, or any otn antiquity, which, to a Protestant ear at least, savours converted heretic, who shall feign that he s not a little of blasphemy. According to him, God persists in his heresy, telling him that he na was the first inquisitor, and His condemnation of abjured for the sole purpose of escaping Pun!s," Adam and Eve furnished the model of the judicial ment, by deceiving the inquisitors. Having tn forms observed in the trials of the Holy Office. The gained his confidence, he shall go into his cell i0 1 sentence of Adam was the type of the inquisitorial day after dinner, and, keeping up the conversa reconciliation ; his subsequent raiment of the skins till night, shall remain with him under P*Jtexla]l of animals was the model of the san-benito, and his its being too late for him to return home. He sn expulsion from Paradise the precedent for the con¬ then urge the prisoner to tell him all the particu = fiscation of the goods of heretics. This learned per- of his past life, having first told him the whole 0 sonagededuces a succession of inquisitors through the own ; and in the meantime spies shall be ÿ patriarchs,Moses,Nebuchad nezzar, and King David, hearing at the door, as well as a notary, f®.0 jer », down to John the Baptist, and even our Saviour, to certify what may be said within." Pu'gh'a > in whose precepts and conduct he finds abundant Inquisition translated by Walton t Unmasked, authority for the tribunal ! Paramo, De Origine don, 1816), vol. i. pp. 238, 239. Inquisitionis, lib. r, tit.
—
—
_
—
.
1, 2, 3.
THE INQUISITION
163
eution, 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.1 By the middle of the fifteenth century, the Albigensian heresy had been 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 seemed 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.2 Mariana, Hist, de Espana, lib. 12, cap. 11; lib. ! sickness or excessive labour; to wear a religious ?'> cap. 17. Llorente, Hist, de l'lnquisition, torn. ! dress with a small cross embroidered on each side 1-
——
chap. 3 The nature of the penance imposed on ; of the breast ; to attend mass every day if he had reconciled heretics by the ancient Inquisition was the means of doing so, and vespers on Sundays and rnuch more severe than that of later times. Llorente festivals; to recite the service for the day and the S!'es,an act of St. Dominic respecting a person of j night, and to repeat the pater nostcr seven times in this description, named Ponce Roger. The penitent 1 the day, ten times in the evening, and twenty times *'as commanded to be 0/ his clothes and ! at midnight." (Ibid., chap. 4.) 11 the said Roger "stripped eaten with rods by a priest, three Sundays in sue• j failed in any of the above requisitions, he was to be ceP">n,from the gate of the city to the door of the ! burnt as a relapsed heretic ! This was the encourthurch ;not to eat any kind of animal food during j agement held out by St. Dominic to : < n .ience. his whole life 2 Montesquieu, Esprit des Loi chap. 1. ; to keep three Lents a year, withoul j do, con.Cheating fish ; to abstain from fish, oil, and wine j — See the canon of the 17th council o> ee days in the week during life except in en—"* '**"»r»ing the Israelitish race to bond:... . iu FJorisr ÿ'
THE INQUISITION.
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 unfavourable 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 had scarcely been found among later Moslems.1 The Jews accordingly, under these favourable 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.2 Whatever may be thought of their success in speculative philosophy,3 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.4 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 particu¬ larly in astronomy ; while in the cultivation of elegant letters they revived the ancient glories of the Hebrew muse.5 This was indeed the golden age of modern Jewish literature, which, under the Spanish caliphs, experi¬ enced a protection so benign, although occasionally checkered by the Espana sagrada (Madrid, 1747-75), torn. vi. p. 220.
moeurs, ses in¬
par son caractfcre, ses " Ce peuple, Juzgo(ed. de la Acad. (Madrid, 1815), stitutions, stationnaire. semblait etre destine k —lib.The Fuero tit. and 3) is composed of the inhuman Un attachement excessif a leurs propres traditions rester
12,
2
most
ordinances against this unfortunate people. 1 The Koran grants protection to the Jews on payment of tribute. See the Koran, translated by Sale (London, 1825), chap. 9. Still, there is ground enough (though less among the Spanish Arabs than the other Moslems) for the following caustic remark of the author above quoted : " La religion juive est un vieux tronc qui a produit deux branches qui ont couvert toute la terre ;je veux dire, le Mahometisme et le Christianisme : ou plutSt c'est une mere qui a engendre deux lilies, qui l'ont accablde de mille plaies ; car, en fait de religion, les plus proches sont les plus grands des ennemis." Montesquieu, Lettres Persanes, let. 60. 2 The first academy founded by the learned Jews in Spain was that of Cordova, a.d. 948. Castro, Biblioteca Espanola, torn. i. p. 2.— Basnage, His¬ tory of the Jews, translated by Taylor (London, 1708), book 7, chap. 5. 3 In addition to their Talmudic lore and Caba¬ listic mysteries, the Spanish Jews were well read in the philosophy of Aristotle. They pretended that the Stagirite was a convert to and had Judaism borrowed his science from the writings of Solomon. (Brucker, Historia critica Philosophize (Lipsiae, 1766), torn. 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 intel¬ lectual, and indeed moral, character of the nation :
dominait chez les Juifs tous les penchans de l'esprit : ils restaient presque etrangers aux progres de la civilisation, au mouvement gcndral de la societe ; ils dtaient en quelque sorte moralement isoles, alors nieme qu'ils communiquaient avec tous les peuples, Aussi nou; et parcouraient toutes les contrees. cherchons en vain, dans ceux de leurs ecrits qui nous sont connus, non-seulement de vraies decouvertes, mais meme des idees reellement originales. Histoire comparee des Systemes de Philosoph18
(Paris, 1822), torn. iv. p. 299. 4 Castro,
Biblioteca Espanola, torn i. PP- ?'•
—
Benjamin of Tudela's celebrated Itinerary, having been translated into the various lan¬ guages of Europe, passed into sixteen editions before the middle of the last century. Ibid., torn. l. PP* 79, 80. 5 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 Strang8 land, cannot be applied to the Spanish Jews, who, far from hanging their harps upon the willows, poure forth their lays with a freedom and vivacity wmc may be thought to savour more of the model troubadour than of the ancient Hebrew minstre • Castro has collected, under Siglo XV., a few g'83. ings of such as, by their incorporation into a. . trail Cancionero, escaped the fury of the Inquisit'd"" Biblioteca Espanola, torn. i. pp. 265-364. 33, et alibi.
•Vn
THE INQUISITION.
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.1 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 corres¬ pondence 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 con¬ struction of his celebrated Tables. James the First of Aragon conde¬ scended to receive instruction from them in ethics ; and in the fifteenth century we notice John the Second of Castile employing a Jewish secre¬ tary in the compilation of a national Cancionero.2 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 equi¬ page and apparel for which this singular people, notwithstanding their avarice, have usually shown a predilection.3 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.4 With these foolish calumnies, the more probable charge of usury and extortion was indus¬ triously preferred against them ; till at length, towards the close of the 1 Castro has done for the Hebrew what Casiri a »ew years before did for the Arabic literature of Spain, by giving notices of such works as have sur¬ vived the ravages of time and superstition. The first volume of his Biblioteca Espanola contains an analysis accompanied with extracts from more than
seven hundred different works, with biographical ÿsketches of their authors ; the whole bearing most honourable testimony to the talent and various ÿÿtuditron of the Spanish Jews Basnage, History of the Jews, book 7, chap. 5, 1"• Castro, Biblioteca Espanola, torn. i. pp. 110, 265, 267.— Mariana, Hist, de Espana, torn. i. P- 906 ; torn. ii. pp. 63, 147, 459.— Samuel Levi, easurer of Peter the Cruel, who was sacrificed to e cupidity of his master, is reported by Mariana nave left behind him the incredible sum of 400,000
—
3°ÿ;-S
swe" 'be royal coffers. See torn. ii. p. 82. Scott, with his usual discernment, s availed himself of these opposite traits in his n "raits of Rebecca and Isaac in Ivanhoe, in which 1
.Walter
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. 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 an¬ other instance in the old Scottish ballad of " The Jew's Daughter" n Percy's " Reliques of Ancient Poetry. "
THE INQUISITION.
i66
lourteenth 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.1 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.2 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,3 their residence was restricted within certain pre¬ scribed 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 embroid¬ ered on their garments.4 Such was the condition of the Spanish Jews at the accession of Ferdi¬ nand 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
——
1 Bernaldez, Reyes Cat<51icos, MS., cap. 43. Mariana, Hist, de Espana, torn. ii. pp. 186, 187.
In 1391, 5000 Jews were sacrificed to the popular fury, and. according to Mariana, no less than 10,000 had perished from the same cause in Navarre about sixty years before. See torn. i. p. 912. 2 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. Vin¬ (Hist, de Espana, torn. ii. pp. 220, 230.) cent. The age of miracles had probably ceased by Isa¬ bella's time, or the Inquisition might have been spared. Nic. Antonio, in his notice of the life and labours of this Dominican (Bibliotheca Vetus, torn. ii. pp. 205, 207), states that he preached his inspired sermons in his vernacular Valencian dialect to audi¬ ences of French, English, and Italians indiscrimi¬ nately, 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, " of St. if it prove anything, proves that the hearers
—
than
Vincent possessed more miraculous powers himself, and that they should have been canonizerather than the preacher." P. 87, note. :i from the callings of vintwere
They interdicted ners, grocers, taverners, especially of apothecaries. and of physicians and nurses. Ordenanjas Reales, , , lib. 8. tit. 3, leyes 11, 15, 18. than 1 No law was more frequently reiterated stewards as that prohibiting the Jews from acting tn of the nobility, or farmers and collectors of to public rents. The repetition of the law shows Um what extent this people had engrossed what tn was known of financial science in that day. For s multiplied enactments in Castile against them, the refiul®' Ordenangas Reales (lib. 8, tit. 3). For tne tions respecting the Jews in Aragon, many of oppressive, particularly at the commencement the fifteenth century, see Fueros y Observances Reyno de Aragon (Zaragoza, 1667), torn, i- f°'- .' Marca Hispanica, pp. 1416, 1433- Zurita, Ana torn. iii. lib. r2. cap. 43.
.
ÿ
—
THE INQ UfSITION. 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.1 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 circum¬ spect, 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.2 (1478.) 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 ambi¬ tious 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 labour or mechanical arts. They considered them¬ selves 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 familes." 3
Bernaidez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 43.— (Doblado, Letters from Spain (London, 1822), lei Llorente, Hist, de l'Inquisition, pref. p. 26.—A 2.) Clemencin notices two works with this titie, manuscript entitled Tizon de Esjrafla (Brand of one as ancient as Ferdinand and Isabella's time, Spain), tracing up many a noble pedigree to a and both written by bishops. Mem. de la Acad, de Jewish or Mahometan root, obtained a circulation, Hist., torn. vi. p. 125. to the great scandal of the country, which the efforts 2 Mariana, Hist, de Espana, torn. ii. p. 479.— of the government, combined with those of the In¬ Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, part. ii. cap. 77. 3 Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 43. have to suppress. able wholly been not quisition, Copies of it, however are now rarely to be met with.
THE JNQ UTS/TION.
i68
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 pre¬ vailed 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 Niccolb 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 founded rather 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 univer¬ sally 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.1 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.2 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
—
1 Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, ubi supra. Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, part. 2, cap. 77. Zuniga, Annales de Seviila, p. 386. Mem. de la Acad, de Hist., torn. vi. p. 44. Llorente, torn. i. pp. 143, 145. Some writers are inclined to view the Spanish In¬ quisition, in its origin, as little else than a political engine. Guizot remarks of the tribunal, in one of his lectures, " EUe contenait en germe ce qu'elle est devenue ; mais elle ne l'etait pas en cominen$ant : elle fut d'abord plus politique que religieuse, et destinee a maintenir l'ordre plutSt qu'a defendre
—
—
—
la foi." (Cours d'Histoire moderne (Paris, 1828-30)1 in
torn. v. lec. 11.) This statement is inaccurate reference to Castile, where the facts do not warrant
in imputing any other motive for its adoption — us than religious zeal. The general character of f' ef"
1 dinand, as well as the circumstances under which was introduced into Aragon, may justify the infer¬
ence of a more worldly policy in its establishment
there. Essai sur les Moeurs et l'Esprit des Nations. chap. 176.
-
THE INQUISITION.
169
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; Iact 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 demeanour, complied with all humility, and was afterwards heard to say, " This is the confessor that Iwanted."1 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 immor¬ tality 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 laboured 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."2 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.8 It was not Siguenca, Historia de la Orden de San Gerd-
Mem. de la Acad, de Hist., torn. vi. jjmo> apudThis *3anecdote is more characteristic of t,uste order — than given a fr
the individual. Oviedo has U"s prelate, whose virtues raised him
condition to the highest posts in th°m u humblest to quote that writer's i.0'1appellation ' an(1 Sainedof him, wn Hs> '"e " el sancto, <5 el buen arzo-
v-
ie
!r° fD t0<la Espana." Quincuagenas, MS., dial.
3 Zurita, Anales, torn. iv. fol. 323. 3 The uniform tenderness with which the most liberal Spanisli writers of the present comparatively enlightened age, as Marina, JLlorente, Ciemencin, etc., regard the memory of Isabella, affords an honourable 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 then> on the a<re in which she lived.
170
THE INQUISITION.
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 dis¬ cerning 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.1 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.2 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 unfavourable to the Jews.3 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.4 ._
—
1 Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, part. 2, cap. 77. Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 43. — Llorente, 1list, de l'lnquisition, torn. 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 In¬ quisition. Ihave lollowed Llorente, whose chrono¬ logical accuracy, here and elsewhere, rests on the
—
most authentic documents.
2 Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., ubi supra. Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, part. 2, cap. 77. Ifind 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. (Crdn. del Gran
—
politic and humane. The imputation of was not cast upon it until the age when big esteemed a virtue. u„aIew 3 In the interim, a caustic publication jr £ Qj appeared, containing strictures on the c l-jjstiaii the administration, and even on the , rpa]3. religion, which was controverted at lengtn y ÿ vera, afterwards Archbishop of Oranat \ t;0B scandal occasioned by this ill-timed P nonular
.
— undoubtedly contributed to exacerbate
equally
odium against the Israelites.
V"
. rortes of
fj,e It is worthy of remark that the famous Toledo, assembled but a short time PFÿ. enacts above-mentioned ordinances, and wn:tc ,eW<_ y- . several oppressive laws in relation to * made no allusion whatever to the proposearme be was to ment of a tribunal which terrific powers.
*
THE INQUISITION.
171
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,1 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 re¬ move its sittings from the convent of St. Paul, within the city, to the spacious fortress of Triana, in the suburbs.2 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.3' 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 con¬ tinued after a sincere conversion to Christianity, and all of them trivial, on which capital accusations were to be alleged, and even satisfactorily
established.4 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 pre-
-
This ordinance, in which Llorente discerns the of that name, which had been usurped from the: first regular encroachment of the new tribunal on crown. the civil jurisdiction, was aimed partly at the v The historian of Seville quotes the Latin inscrip¬ Andalusian nobility, who afforded a shelter to the tion on the portal of the edifice in which the sittings J ewish fugitives. Llorente has fallen into the error, of the dread tribunal were he;d. Its concluding more than once, of speaking of the count of Arcos, apostrophe to the Deity is one that the per ecuted a'id marquis of Cadiz, as separate persons. lhe might join in as heartily as their oppressors : Possessor of both titles was Rodrigo Ponce de "Exurge, Domine ; judica causam tuam ; capite Leon, who inherited the former of them from his nobis vulpes." Zuniga, Annales de Sevilla, p. 389 Realcs, lib. 8, tit. 3, ley 26. •n r: Th.e latter (which he afterwards made so 4;1 Ordenan9asHist, ustrious *n the Moorish wars) was conferred de l'lnquisition, torn. i. ppLlorente, "n him by Henry city IV., being derived from the J54-159-
THE INQUISITION.
*72
pared 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 1heretics were burnt, and ought to burn as long as any can be found." Many of the convicts were persons estimable for learning and probity; and among these three clergymen are named, together with other indi¬ viduals 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 thou¬ sand 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 thou¬ sand 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 gener¬ ally total confiscation of property, and not unfrequently imprisonment for life.2 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.3 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
.
C;ft-'I-lcos' MS:> caP- 44- — mother of mercy and the fountain ol' charity, content f l!Jrn,Tailr Z. 1}e>iÿiS Inquisition, torn. p. 160.-L. with the imposition of penances, generously acc«ds r Marfnin' ÿosas. meiTtorables, fol. i64.-The lan- i life to many who do not deserve it ; while thosewho ,our the 10 statu" persist obstinately in their errors, after being apphel' nftfe Quemavan, is so j prisoned on the testimony of trustworthy witnesses, I"' "\ to eauiilSICt equivocal that it if; has led some doubts whether he she causes to be to the torture, and condemn* meant to assert that the persons to be burnt were miserably perish, bewailing to the flames inclosed the statuesor fastened to them. Llorente's their errorT andlome invokiJTg the name of Christ, «b* who the others call upon that of Moses. Many, again, hln}.t04dl?Card rÿthS, ™rrn the heinous notwithstanding realised fabled sincerely repent, she, r"e Th! crueltvTf cruelty of PhKT 1 halans. —l his monument of fanaticism ness of their transgressions, merely sentences ÿ was Such were the tender removed 'ir'orderÿtnÿn alf f0r the construction mercies , f the Spanish Inquisition. " . .the r0°? V rcnch. a Bernaldez states that guards were posted i ' iviSinfn PnSÿes of the city of Seville in order to nreffltf * ciÿos™ "m*" naldez Re es MScap' 44—ldt~Be" Mariana, 1 emigration of the Jewish inhabitants, wWhwÿf T l lib Ta I"q,ulslt,°' was forbidden under pain of death. Ihe tribun many ;
1
i
put
in
V,
t
can
ubi suDra
-apital
r,
I exemitinni
.' Hoj efc-rit I srs? i Vi
C
V* the
>
t!™usanJ j however, had greater terrors for them, and
following gentle terms : "The Church, who is the
lhdr
P' 4'
""**
THE INQUISITION.
173
both sovereigns to proceed in the great work of purification by an auda¬ cious 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, appoint¬ ing Thomas de Torquemada inquisitor-general of Castile and Aragon, and clothing him with full powers to frame a new constitution for the Holy Office. (Aug. 2 and Oct. 17, 1483.) 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.1 Without going into details respecting the organization of its various courts, which gradu¬ ally swelled to thirteen during the present reign, Ishall endeavour toexhibit 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.2 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.3 The accused, in the meantime, 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 inter¬ course 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
__
L. Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. 164.— Zuniga, Annales de Sevilla, p. 396.—Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, part, 2, cap. 77.— Garibay, Compendio, torn. ii. lib. 18, cap. 17.— Paramo, De Origine In¬ quisitionis, lib. 2, tit. 2, cap. 2. Llorente, Hist, de — Inquisition, torn. i. pp. 163-173. Over these subordinate tribunals Ferdinand erected a court of supervision, with appellate juris¬ diction, under the name of Council of the Supreme, consisting of the grand inquisitor as president, and !.!'ree other ecclesiastics, two of them doctors of law.
'
I he 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 he Inquisition on secular jurisdiction. The expo¬ nent, however, wholly failed, because most of the questions brought before this court were determined ythe princip]esof the canon law, of which the grand nquisitor was to be sole interpreter, the others hav¬
ing only, as it was termed, a " consultative voice." Llorente, torn. i. pp. 173, 174.— Zurita, Anales, torn. iv. fol. 324.— Riol, Informe, apud Semanario erudito, torn. iii. pp. 156 et seep 3 Puigblanch, Inquisition Unmasked, vol. i. chap. 4.— Llorente, Hist, de l'lnquisition, torn. 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, Dis¬ covery and Playne Declaration of sundry subtili. Practises of the Holy Inquisition of Spayne, Engtrans- (London, 1569), fol. 14.
THE INQUISITION.
174
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 favoured 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 what¬ ever was made of such testimony as had arisen, in the course of the examination, in his own favour. 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 fur¬ nished with no other sources of information than what had been granted to his client. To add to the injustice of these proceedings, every dis¬ crepancy 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 inextric¬ able contradiction.1 If the prisoner refused to confess his guilt, or, as was usual, was sus¬ pected 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 confes¬ sion 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.2 Should the rack, however, prove inef¬ fectual to force a confession of his guilt, he was so far from being con¬ sidered 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 1
— —
Limborch, Inquisition, book 4, chap. 20. Mon-
tanus, Inquisition of Spayne, fol. 6-15. Llorente, Hist, de 1' Inquisition, torn. i. chaj). 6, art. 1; chap. 9, art. 4-9. Puigblanch, Inquisition Unmasked, vol. 5. chap. 4. 2 Llorente, Hist, de l'Inquisition, torn. i. chap. .9, art. 7. By a subsequent regulation of Philip II
—
—
,
the repetition of torture in the same processt y> strictly prohibited to the inquisitors. But making use of a sophism worthy of the arc ?- . himself, contrived to evade this law, by pretending. only s after each new infliction, that they had pended, and not terminated, the torture !
THE INQUISITION.
175
silence to await the doom which was to consign him to an ignominious death, or a life scarcely less ignominious.1 The proceedings of the tribunal, as Ihave 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.2 Even the poor forms of justice recognized in this court might be readily dis¬ pensed 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,3 were not permitted to flow into the royal exchequer until they had first discharged the expenses, whether in the shape of salaries or other¬ wise, incident to the Holy Office.4 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 Inquisition 24 seq. fied by the fact that those who confessed and sought Limborch, Inquisition, vol. ii. chap. 29.— Puig- absolution within the brief —blanch, of grace allowed by Inquisition Unmasked, vol. i. chap. the inguisitors from the publication 1 Montanus,
of Spayne, fol.
et
4.
—
Llorente, Hist, de l'Inquisition, ubi supra.— Ishall
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 for¬ tune 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 Halens "Narrative of his Imprisonment in the Dun¬ geons of the Inquisition at Madrid, and his Escape, tn
1817-18."
" 1 he prisoner had indeed the right of challenging uny witness on the ground of personal enmity. U.lorente, Hist, de l'Inquisition, torn. i. chap. 9, rt- to-) But as he was kept in ignorance of the names of the witnesses employed against him, and us, even if he conjectured right, the degree of enmity competent to set aside testimony was to be deter¬ mined by his judges, it is evident that his privilege ®®*"enge was wholly nugatory. Confiscation had long been decreed as the punof convicted heretics by the statutes of Jmcnt astile (Ordenangas Reales, lib. 8, tit. 4.) The >0 arice of the present system, however, is exempli¬ i
term
of their edict
were liable to arbitrary fines ; and those who con¬
fessed after that period, escaped with nothing short of confiscation. Llorente, Hist, de l'Inquisition, torn. i. pp. 176, 177. Ibid., torn. i. p. 216. Zurita, Anales, torn. iv. fol. 324. Salazar de Mendoza, Monarquia, torn. 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 ir came to be proverbial that all who were not roasted were at least singed. Devant l'Inquisition, quand on vient a jubf, " Si l'on ne sort roti, l'on sort au moins fiambd."
*
—
—
—
1
176
THE INQUISITION.
Judgment.1 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— was 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.2 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.3 These were of a yellow colour, 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.4 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.5 of breath, and, after recording sixty, — became in despair, pace with their unable
1 Montanus, Inquisition of Spayne, fol. 46. Puigblanch, Inquisition Unmasked, vol. i. chap. 4. Every reader of Tacitus and Juvenal will remem¬ ber 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 Francais, torn. iv. chap. 4.) Paramo, as usual, finds authority for inquisitorial autos da fe, where one would least expect it, in the New Testa¬ ment. Among other examples, he quotes the re¬ mark of Jaines and John, who, when the village of Samaria refused to admit Christ within its walls, would have called down fire from heaven to its inhabitants. " Lo ! " says Paramo, consume fire, punishment of heretics ;for the Samaritans"were the 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 overzealous disciples : " Ye know not what manner spirit ye are of. The Son of Man is not come of to destroy men's lives, but to save them." 2 Puigblanch, vol. i. chap. 4. — The inquisit .s after the celebration of an auto da fe at G'-idaloupe, in 1485, wishing probably to :ustif_- 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 ovei Spain) in testimony of her approbation of the Holy Office. Their petition was answered by such a profusion cf miracles that Dr. Sanctius de la Fnente, who acted as scribeFrancis on the occasion,
out
to keep
gave up
marvellous rapidity. Paramo, De Origine Inquisi¬ tionis, lib. 2, tit. 2, cap. 3. 3 San benito, according to Llorente (torn. i. P' 127), is a corruption of saco bendito, being the name given to the dresses worn by penitents previously to the thirteenth century. 4 Llorente, Hist, de l'lnquisition, torn. i. chapvol. 9, art. 16. Puigblanch, Inquisition Unmasked, Mceurs, '• chap. 4.— Voltaire remarks (Essai sur les chap. 140) that " An Asiatic, arriving at Madrid on it the day of an auto da fe, would doubt whether or were a festival, religious celebration, sacrifice, Monte¬ massacre : it is all of them. They reproach zuma with sacrificing human captives to the gods. What would he have said had he witnessed an auto da fe ? "
—
5 The government, at least, cannot be with remissness in promoting this. Ifine tw0, ,e(j nances iu the royal collection of pragntdticas,ÿ in September, 1501 (there must be some error , date of one of them), inhibiting, under pain 0 fiscation of property, such as I'd been rcc° n(p an. and their children by the mother's side, . children by the father's, from holding any 0 the privy council, courts of justice, or in tlie cipalities, or any other place of trust or n 0f They were also excluded from the .L° m/ticas notaries, surgeons, and apothecaries. (Prri°I . 0f del Reyno, fol. 5, 6.) This was visiting the the fathers, to an extent unparalleled m legislation. The sovereigns might find a pr»ÿ
THE INQUISITION.
177
It is remarkable that a system so monstrous as that of the Inquisition, presenting the most effectual barrier, probably, that was ever opposed
knowledge, should have been revived at the close when the light of civilization was rapidly century, fifteenth of the 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 valour 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 purposed 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.1 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 m little more than a year.2 The number of convicts was greatly swelled to the progress of
'n a law of Sylla, excluding the children of the pro¬ scribed Romans from political honours ; thus in¬ dignantly noticed by Sallust : " Quin solus omnium, Post memoriam hominum, supplicia in post futuros
composuit ; guts jrius injuria gudm vita, certa
Fragmenta, lib. *' The Hist. Aragonese, as we shall see hereafter, made 1.
a mnnly though
ineffectual resistance, from the first, introduction of the Inquisition among them 1° °y "Jd 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. 2 X485-6. (Llorente, Hist, de l'lnquisition, torn. 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.
THE INQUISITION.
i78
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 sacri¬ ficed 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.1 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.2 Many of the reconciled were after¬ wards 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 !" 8 1he 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 tea-. poral interests, however, were held light in comparison with the purga¬ tion 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 ! 4 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 Inquisi¬ tion, provided they were rich enough to pay for them, and afterwards more than publicly burnt, and some time after, the imp 6000 volumes of Oriental learning, on the au of Cuenca being comprehended in that of Murcia. tion of Judaism, sorcery, or heresy, at ( , science, (Tom. iv. p. 252.) Zurita says that, by 1520, the feof Salamanca, the very nursery of Inquisition of Seville had sentenced more than 4000 rente, Hist, de l'lnquisition, torn. i. chap, e, p ", persons to be burnt, and 30,000 to other punishments. This may remind one of the similar sentence . Another author, whom he quotes, carries up the by Lope de Barrientos, another Dominican, estimate of the total condemned by this single tri¬ fifty years before, upon the books of t e bunal, within the same term of time, to 100,000. of Villena. Fortunately for the dawning h by n Anales, torn. iv. fol. 324. Spain, Isabella did not, as was done of \ 2 By an article of the primitive instructions, the cessors, commit the censorship of the pre? inquisitors were required to set apart a small portion judges of the Holy Office, notwithstanai g ÿ of the confiscated estates for the education and occasional assumption of power by the gr Christian nurture of minors, children of the con¬ quisitor. __L. demned. Llorente says that, in the immense num¬ 1'ulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, part. 2, »P- 77ÿ. ber of processes which he had occasion to consult, Manneo, Cosas memorables, fol. , £ota the he met with no instance of their attention to the ous desolation of the land may be niferreci fate of these unfortunate orphans ! Hist, de l'ln¬ estimates, althoughsomewhat discordant, 0 jjb. quisition, torn. i. chap. 8. houses in Andalusia. Garibay (Compe , p'|gar 3 Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. -ne# 44. — Torquemada 18, cap. 17) puts these at three thousan waged war upon freedom of thought in every form. (Reyes Catdlicos, part a, cap. 77) at four, LIn 1490 he caused several Hebrew Bibles to be I1 (Cosas memorables, fol. 164) as high as nv 1 Llorente afterwards
reduces this estimate to
8800 burnt, 96,504 otherwise punished ; the diocese
ÿ
*
THE INQUISITION.
179
revoking them, at the instance of the Castilian court Meanwhile, the odium excited by the unsparing rigour 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.1 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 pro¬ tection of his person, he was allowed an escort of fifty horse and two hundred foot in his progresses through the kingdom.2 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 pro¬ ductive 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,3 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 function¬ aries as have at different times pretended to give its transactions to the world have con¬ fined 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 Hist, de l'lnquisition, torn. i. chap. 8, —art.Llorente, 6. lice." Gerusalemme Lib" Per la ft—il tutto Nic. Antonio, Bibliotheca Vetus, torn. iL p. 340. erata, 26.
1 Llorente, Hist, de l'lnquisition, torn. i. chap. J, art, 8 ; chap. 8, art. 6.
*
3
cant. 4, stanza
THE SPANISH ARABS.
i8o
tribunal of Madrid from 1790 to 1792. His official station consequently afforded hint 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 wanned 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 retrench¬ ment. 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.
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 con¬ sequent 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 neighbours, the present chapter will be devoted to a consideration of their previous history in the Peninsula, where they Pr0' bably 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 judices of preceding sects ; the military spirit and discipline which it established among all classes, so that the multifarious nations who
—
1
See Introduction, Section 1, p.
pre¬
2, note 2, of this History.
181
THE SPANISH ARABS.
embraced it assumed the appearance of one vast, well-ordered camp ;1 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 ;2 or, lastly, the peculiar adaptation of the doctrines of Mahomet to the character of the wild tribes among whom they were preached.3 It is sufficient to say that these latter, within a century after the coming of their apostle, having succeeded in establish¬ ing 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 careei of victory seems to have sharpened, rather than satisfied.4 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 Guada1The Koran, in addition to the repeated assur¬ ances 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 per¬ mitted to remain at home, are accurately defined. (Sale's Koran, chap. 2, 8, 9, et alibi.) When the aleihed, or Mahometan crusade, which, in its gene¬ ral design and immunities, bore a close resemblance to the Christian, was preached in the mosque, every trae 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." 2 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 func¬ tions. It was their duty to lead the array 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 pre¬ rogatives resemble those assumed anciently by the popes. They conferred investitures on the Moslem princes by the symbol of a ring, a sword, or a stand¬ ard. 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 'twas sacrilege to disobey. See D'Herbelot, Bibliotheque Orientale (La Haye, 1777-9), voce Khali-
"
fak. .3 The character of the Arabs, before the introduc¬ tion of Islam, like that of most rude nations, is to
be gathered from their national songs and romances. ÿThe poems suspended at Mecca, familiar to us in
the elegant version of Sir William Jones, and, still
—
more, the recent translation of "Antar," a com¬ position indeed of the age of A1 Raschid, but wholly devoted to the primitive Bedouins, present us with a lively picture of their peculiar habits, which, notwithstand ingthe influence of a temporary civilization, may be thought to bear great resemblance to those
—
of their descendants at the present day. Startling as it may be, there is scarcely a vestige of any of the particulars circumstantially narrated by the national historians ÿMariana, Zurita, Abarca, Moret, etc.) as the immediate causes of the subver¬ sion 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 Iknow, 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 thewritersof the thirteenth century. Nothing, indeed, can be more jejune than the original nar¬ ratives 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(Espana sagrada, torn. vi. and viii.), afford the only histories contem¬ porary with the event. Conde is mistaken in his assertion (Dominacion de los Arabes, Prdl. p. vii.) that the work of Isidore de Beja was the only nar¬ rative 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, accord¬ ing to Conde (Dominacion de los Arabes, torn. i. p. 36), greedily circulated among the Saracens, of the magnificence and general prosperity of the Gothic monarchy, may sufficiently account foriits 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), torn. i. p. 37.
*
THE SPANISH ARABS.
lete near Xerez, about two leagues distant from Cadiz.1 The Goths appear never to have afterwards rallied under one head, but their broken detach¬ ments 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,2 may be considered liberal Such of the Christians as chose were permitted to remain in the conquered territory in undisturbed posses¬ sion 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 inter¬ marry with the conquerors ;3 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.4 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 cir¬ cumstances to the Saracen.5 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 revolu¬ tion was effected, continued to occupy her throne as independent princes 1The 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 critical de Espana y de la Cultura Espanola " (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, Espana sagrada, torn. vi. p. 430. Isidori Pacensis Episcopi Chronicon, apud Florez, Espana sagrada, torn. viii. p. 200.) The tales of the and marble chariot, of the gallant steed Oreliaivory 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 the romantic national ballads, as well as in the more elaborate productions of Scott and
happy and prosperous, but now desolated, Spain. Pacensis Chronicon, apud Florez, Espana sagrada, torn. viii. p. 292. 3 The frequency of this alliance may be inferred from an extraordinary, though doubtless extrava¬ gant, 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, torn. iv. fol. 314. 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, torn. x. p. 74) to have occasione the destruction of only forty individuals. Most 0 these unhappy fanatics solicited the crown 0 martyrdom by an open violation of the Mahometan laws and usages. The details are given by Florez in the tenth volume of his collection. 4 Bleda, Cordnica de los Moros de Espan Southey. Cardonne, (Valencia, s Whatever 2, cap. 16, 17.— curses," says an eye-witness whose Hist, de 1618), lib. " I'AfriOue et de l'Espagne, torn. J- PP- ÿ meagre diction is quickened on this occasion into et seq., 179. Conde, Dominacion de los Arab » something like sublimity, " whatever curses were denounced by the prophets of old against Jerusalem, Pr<51. p. vii. and torn. i. pp. 29-54, 75ÿ7-— 202-2 Obras, torn. vi. pp. 407-417 ; torn. vii. pp4ÿ whatever fell upon ancient Babylon, —-Florez, Espana sagrada, torn. x. pp. 21— W' miseries Rome inflicted upon the glorious whatever of the martyrs, all these were visited uponcompany Fuero Juzgo, Int. p. 40. the
"
*
—
—
once
THE SPANISH ARABS. from the middle of the eighth to the close of the eleventh century, a period which forms the most honourable 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 insti¬ tutions founded on the Koran, seems to wear but one. The sovereign was the depositary of all power, the fountain of honour, 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 capitanias, 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 allegi¬ ance to the heir-apparent from the principal officers of state.1 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.2 This pleasing moral picture affords a strong contrast to the sanguinary scenes which so
"
1 Conde,
cap. 1-46.
Dominacion de los Arabes, part. 2,
disinterested and honest nature of the homage when the object of it is beyond the reach of flattery
—Diod., i. 70 seq. funerals of the Egyptian kings, remarks on the
. Diodorus Siculus, noticing a similar usage at •he
et
184
THE SPANISH ARABS.
often attend the transmission of the sceptre from one generation to another among the nations of the East1 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, onethird 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 dockyards 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 favourite 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 desert2 The public squares and private courtyards 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.3 Without adverting to that magnificent freak of the caliphs, the construc¬ tion 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 Christen¬ dom, 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
—l3Z-Conde, 1
Dominacion de los Arabes, ubi supra. elle des arbres pour s'asseoir it leur ombre, Masdeu, Historia critica, torn. xiii. pp. 178, sur des fontaines jaillissantes pour rever h leur bruit, silence et des mosquees aux ldgers minarets, 2 The same tasti is ,4. noticed at the present day, sdlevant a chaque pas du sein d'une terre pieuse. by a traveller whose pictures glow with the warm . colours of the East : "Aussi dfes que vous approchez, Lamartine, Voyage en Orient, torn. i. p. i72Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, torn. 1. PP* en Europe ou en Asie, d'une terre possddde les 199, 265, 284, 285, 417, 446, 447, et alibi. Cardonne par Musulmans, vous la reconnaissez de loin au riche et l'Afrique et de l'Espagne, torn. i. pp. sombre voile de verdure qui flotte gracieusemen* eA *t
—
sea*
THE SPANISH ARABS.
185
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.1 But if all this gives 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 execu tion. 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 Asiastic 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 supe¬ riority 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.2 Before the discovery of America, Spain was to the rest of Europe whai 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.3 The Arabs, with their usual activity, penetrated into these arcana of wealth. Abundant traces of their labours are still to be met with along the barren ridge of mountains that covers the north of Andalusia ; and the diligent Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, torn. i. pp.
an Arabic historian the conditions on which Abder-
j12' 22®" — Swinburne, Travels through Spain rahman I. proffered his alliance to the Christian ft1' U-ondon, 1787), let. — Xerif Aledris, conocido princes of Spain, viz. the annual tribute of 35.
por ti Nubiense, Descripcion de
10,000
Espaha, con Trauccton y Notas de Conde (Madrid, 1799), pp. 161, Morales, Obras, torn. x. p. 61. Chenier, , ÿherches historiques sur les Maures, et Histoire
10,000 pounds of silver, 10,000 horses, etc. etc. The absurdity of this story, incon¬ siderately repeated by historians, if any argument
Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, torn. i. pp.
fifty years after the conquest. See Bibliotheca Arabico-Hispana Escurialensis (Matriti, 1760), torn. ii. p. 104. 3 Hist. Naturalis, lib. 33, cap 4.
—
R2
ounces of gold,
were necessary to prove it, becomes sufficiently mani¬
de Maroc (Paris, 1787), torn. ii. p. 312. fest from the fact that the instrument is dated in the t 7"mPlre Laborde, Itineraire, torn. iii. p. 226. i42d year of the Hegira, being a little more than
— Masdeu, Historia critica, torn.
228, 270, 611.
—
P- 118. Cardonne, Hist, de l'Afrique et de sPaRne, torn. i. pp. 338-343. Casiri quotes from
—
THE SPANISH ARABS.
i86
Bowles has enumerated no less than five thousand of their excavations in the kingdom or district of Jaen.1 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 acquaintarice with the science of hus¬ bandry 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, when 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 senarate families. With¬ out 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 labour, 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.2 Whatever consequence a nation may derive, in its own age, fro111 physical resources, its intellectual development will form the subject 1 Introduction a l'Histoire naturelle de l'Espagne, traduite par Flavigny (Paris, 1776), p. 411. 1 See a sensible essay by the Abbe Correa de Serra on the husbandry of the Spanish Arabs, con¬ tained in torn. i. of Archives Littdraires de l'Europe (Paris, 1804). Masdeu, Historia critica, torn. xiii. pp. 115, 117, 127. 131. Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, torn. i. cap. 44. — Casiri, Bibliotheca, Escurialensis, torn. i. p. 338. An absurd story has been transcribed from Cardonne, with little hesita¬ tion, by almost every succeeding writer upon subject. According to him (Hist, de l'Afriquethis et
—
—
—
the
de IEspagne, torn. i. p. 338), "the banks of Guadalquivir were lined with no less than CM}* tn« thousand villages and hamlets." The length of miles, river, not exceeding three hundred far® of number scarcely afford room for the same passag houses. Conde's version of the Arabic farms, ana represents twelve thousand hamlets, regio castles to have " been scattered over the by . watered by the Guadalquivir ;" indicatingextrenr indefinite statement nothing more than the populousness of the province of Andalusia.
wou,
THE SPANISH ARABS.
187
of deepest interest to posterity. The most flourishing periods of both Thus the reigns of Abderrahman the Third, the and regency of Almanzor, embracing the latter Second, the Alhakem 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 depotism 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.1 If all this be thought to savour 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. 1he stream of royal bounty awakened life in the remotest districts. But not unfrequently coincide.
Casiri, Bibliotheca Escurialensis, torn. ii. pp. 1 much greater space than printing. The correct 3®i 202. Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, part. grounds on which the estimates of these ancient ?> cap. 88. This number will appear less startling libraries are to be formed are exhibited by the « we consider that it was the ancient usage to make learned and ingenious Balbi, in his recent work. separate volume of each book into which a work " Essai statistique sur les Bibliotheques de Vienne." was divided ; that only one side of the leaf was (Vienne, 1835.) usually written on, and that writing always covers
—
—
j88
THE SPANISH ARABS
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 France, 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.1 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 ÿif 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 sue. cessor, 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.
—
Tiraboschi, Storia della Letteratura Italiana 2, cap. Among the accomplished women of th" (Roma, 1782-97), torn. iii. p. 231. Turner, History period, 93. Valadata, the daughter of the caliph Ma" of the Anglo-Saxons (London, 1820), vol. iti. p. 137. hornet, is celebrated as having frequently carrieo --Andres, Dell' Origine, de' Progressi e dello Stato away the palm of eloquence in her discussions witn attuale dogni Letteratura (Venezia, 1783), part. 1, the most learned academicians. Others again, with cap. 8, 9. Casiri, Bibliotheca torn. an intrepidity that might shame the degeneracy oj 0 •ii. p. 149. Masdeu, Historia crltica, torn. xiii. pp. a modern blue, plunged boldly into the studies 1
—
—
——
Escurialensist
165, 171. Conde, Doniinacion de los Arabes, part
philosophy, history, and jurisprudence.
THE SPANISH ARABS.
189
By the close of the eleventh they had advanced their line ot 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 memor¬ able day of Navas de Tolosa. (12 12.) 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-andtwenty Spaniards," gave a permanent ascendency to the Christian arms. The vigorous campaigns of James the First of Aragon, and of St. Ferdi¬ nand of Castile, gradually stripped away the remaining territories 01 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 sufficent strength t6 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.1 Its popula¬ tion, according to a contemporary, at the beginning of the fourteenth century, amounted to two hundred thousand souls ;2 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.3 The light and elegant architec¬ ture 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 porticos 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
*
Garibay, Compendio, iib. cap. 3. a Zurita, Analtes, lib. 20, cap.39, 42.
j I
3 L. Marineo* Coÿas meniorables, fol. 169.
THE SPANISH ARABS.
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."1 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." 2 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 1 Conde, Dominacion de los 8 Pedraza, Antigiiedad de Granada, fol. 1°I* . Arabes, torn. ii. p. 147. Casiri, Bibliotheca Escurialensis, torn. ii. pp. Denina, Delle Rivoluzioni d'ltalia (Venezia, 1810;. 248 et seq. Pedraza, Antigiiedad y Excelencias de y Montpalau, Memorias nistdricas sobre Granada (Madrid, 1608), lib. 1. Pedraza has col¬ la Capmany Marina, Comercio y Artes de Barcelona (Madrid, lected the various etymologies of the term Granada, 1779~92), iv. p- 67 e?..se1' which some writers have traced to the fact of the Conde, torn. iii. p. 218 } torn. Dominacion de los Arabes, torn. ui. capcity having been the spot where the pomegranate 26. —The ambassador of the emperor Frederick lll-t was first introduced from Africa ; others to the large on his passage to the court of Lisbon in the middle quantity of grain in which its vega abounded ; the fifteenth century, contrasts the superior c others again to the resemblance which the city, of as well as general civilization, of Granad tivation, divided into two hills thickly sprinkled with houses, at this period with that 0 of the other countries , bore to a half-opened pomegranate. (Lib. 2, cap. SismoQd 17.) The arms of the city, which were in part com¬ Europe through which he had travelled. Moyen-Ag Histoire des Republiques Italiennes du posed of a pomegranate, would seem to favour the (Paris, 1818), torn. ix. p. 405. derivation of its name from that of the fruit.
— —
—
—
[ THE SPANISH ARABS.
101
valuable plantations in the vega, imposed the onerous tax of one-seventh
The precious metals were also obtained in considerable quantities, and the royal mint was noted for the purity and elegance of its coin.1 The sovereigns of Granada were for the most part distinguished by liberal tastes. They freely dispensed their revenues in the protection of letters, in 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 fttcs 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 pro¬ longed 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 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 Arabic sovereigns visiting in person the court of Castile. These civilities were reciprocated by the Christian princes. As late as H63, 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.2 The Moorish and Christian knights were also in the habit of exchanging Vlsits at the courts of their respective masters. The latter were wont to
on all the agricultural produce of the kingdom.
a5o-ÿ1IÿrKibc?t1!leCa,
Escurialensis, torn. ii. pp. Snanish a 5 hofvolume of the Memoirs of the contains an erudite u*y essay bv money, principally w'th reference ce tn to that,Ar?bic coined in Spam ; pp. 225315,
mixed up with perfumes and cloth of gold, we meet with a litter of tame lions. (Conde. Dominacion de los Arabes, torn. iii. pp. 163, 183.) This latter symbol of royalty appears to have been deemed peculiarly appropriate to the kings of Leon. Fen-eras informs us that the ambassadors from France at the mavserÿC.ÿC?t'on a royal donative in that day Castilian court, in 1434, were received by John II. martial a full-grown domesticated lion crouching at his with In spirit of the age. one. m-irU 1? ,ow,the S of Granada to the Castilian feet. (Hist. d'Espagne, torn. vi. p. 401.) The same sovereign c twenty taste royal reaLjVe noble appears still to exist in Turkejr. Dr. Clarke, steeds of the , stud banks of the Xenil, with superb in his visit to Constantinople, met with one of these caparisons °j saine richly terrific pets, who used to follow his master, Hassan number of scimitars garnished ' * 1 with gold and jewels end, in another, Pacha, about like a dog.
"r
f?n
j
Te
ÿ
i92
THE SPANISH ARABS.
repair to Granada to settle their affairs of honour, 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 inter¬ change of social courtesy between the two nations, it could not but happen that each should contract some of the peculiarities natural to the other. The Spaniard acquired something of the gravity and magnificence or demeanour 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 East1 Indeed, if wt 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 undis¬ guised spectator of the public festivals ; while her knight, bearing an embroidered mantle or scarf, or some other token of her favour, contends openly in her presence for the prize of valour, mingles with her in the graceful dance of the Zambra, or sighs away his soul in moonlight seren¬ ades under her balcony.2 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.3 The chivalrous character ascribed to the 1 Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, torn. iii. cap. celona, torn. iv. Apend. no. 11), who quotes a Hennquez del Castillo (Crdnica, cap. 138) document from the public archives of Catalonia, gives an account of an intended duel between two showing the number of Saracens residing in Castilian nobles, in the presence of the .king of Aragon even great in the thirteenth and fourteenth cen¬ Granada, as late as 1470. One of the parties, Don turies, the most flourishing period of, the Granadian Alfonso de Aguilar, failing to keep his engagement, empire) had enabled many of them confessedly to the other rode round the lists in triumph, with his speak and write the language with purity Spanish adversary's portrait contemptuously fastened to the and elegance. Some of the graceful little songs tail of his horse. which are still chanted by the peasantry of Spain in a It must be admitted that these ballads, so far their dances, to the accompaniment of the castanet, as facts are concerned, are too inexact to furnish are referred by a competent critic (Conde, De la other than a very slippery foundation for history. Poesia Oriental, MS.) to an Arabian origin. There The most beautiful portion perhaps of the Moorish can be little therefore, in imputing much .of ballads, for example, is taken up with (he feuds of this peculiarhazard, minstrelsy to the Arabians themselves, the Abencerrages in the latter days of Granada. the contemporaries, and perhaps the eye-witnesses, Yet this family, whose romantic story is still re¬ of the events they celebrate. peated to the traveller amid the ruins of the Alham¬ 3 Casiri (Bibliotheca Escurialensis, torn. ii. p. 259) bra, is scarcely noticed, as far as Iam aware, by has transcribed a passage from an Arabian author contemporary writers, foreign or domestic, and of the fourteenth century, inveighing bitterly against would seem to owe its chief celebrity to the apocry¬ the luxury of the Moorish ladies, their gorgeous phal version of Gines Perez de Hita, whose '' Mllesian apparel and habits of expense, " amounting almost tales," according to the severe sentence of Nic. to insanity," in a tone which may remind one of the Antonio, " are fit only to amuse the lazy and the similar philippic by his contemporary Dante against listless." (Bibliotheca Nova, torn. i. p. 536.) his fair of Florence. Two ordinances countrywomen But although the Spanish ballads are not entitled of a king of Granada, cited by Conde in his History, to the credit of strict historical documents, they prescribe the separation of the women from the men may yet perhaps be received in evidence of the pre¬ >n the mosques, an, prohibit their attendance at vailing character of the social relat:ons of the ; certain festivals without the project'"" of their a remark indeed predicable of most works of age fiction husbands, or some near relative. Their fenunes written Dy authors contemporary with the events savanies, as we have seen, were in the habit ol they describe, and more especially so of that popular freely with men of letters, and of assi,stminstrelsy which, emanating from a simple, uncor- conferring An rupted class, is less likely 10 swerve from truth than jng in person at the academical stances. lastly, the frescos alluded to in the text represent more ostentatious works of art. The long tne and cohabita¬ the tournaments, presence a; of females the tion of the Saracens with the Christians (full " fortunate knight receiving the palm of victory .rot*' which is afforded by Capmany (Mem- evidence de Bar¬ their hands.
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38.
Y
THE SPANISH ARABS.
193
conformity to this. Thus some of Moslems appears, moreover, in perfect were their sovereigns, we are told, after the fatigues of the tournament, of discourses florid and wont to recreate their spirits with " elegant poetry, amorous and knightly history." The ten qualities enumerated as essential the gifts of poetry to a true knight were " piety, valour, courtesy, prowess, the horse, the sword, of in management the dexterity and and eloquence, especially in the Arabs, Spanish the of history The bow."1 and lance, 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 Arabic 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 tran¬ quillity 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 main¬ tain 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.2 Many of these were drawn from the regions of the Alpujarras, whose rugged inhabitants had not been corrupted y 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 w ich they were trained from childhood.3 But their strength lay chiefly ln t'leir cavalry. Their spacious vegas afforded an ample field for the , P ay of their matchless horsemanship ; while the face of the country, rsected by mountains and intricate defiles, gave a manifest advantage 1
Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, torn. i. Th large, pieux, hardi, entreprenant, et chevaleureux." V0'. torn. iii. p. The reader may compare Chroniijues, liv. ii. chap. 118. jjese essentials ofug. 2 Casin, on Arabic authority, compuies it at a good Moslem cavalier with enumerated by old Froissart of a good and 200,000 men. Bibliotheca Escurialensis, torn. i. p.
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—
5" Christian knight of his own day : " Le gentil 338. tvaher atoutes ces Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, p. 250. vertus que un chevalier av°ir : il fut lie, nobles loyal, amoureux, sage, secret,
•f
N
IQ4
THE SPANISH ARABS.
to the Arabic light-horse over the steel-clad cavalry of the Christians, and was particularly suited to the wild guerrilla 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.1 Lastly, in addition to these means of defence, may be mentioned their early acquaintance with gun¬ powder, which, like the Greek fire of Constantinople, contributed perhaps in some degree to prolong a 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, dis¬ tracted 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 unfavourable to letters. The Koran, whatever be the merit of its literary execution, does not, we believe, contain a single precept in favour of general science.2 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.8 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 Paris, 1810) has cited several others of the, — liberal import. But such traditions canno
1 Mem. de la Acad- de Hist., torn. vi. p. 169. These ruined fortifications still thickly stud the border territories of Granada ; and many an Andalusian mil], 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. D'Herbelot (Bib. Orientale, torn. 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. f Eisner (Des Effets de la Religion de Mohammed,
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ÿ
ceived in evidence of the original doctrin dv • Prophet. They are rejected as apocryphal Persians and the whole sect of the Shutes, entitled to little weight with a European. a When the caliph A1 Mamon encouragea nyÿ example as well as patronage a more en g policy, he was accused by the more,° °- _;,,ies of sulmans of attempting to subvert thepri 'iuB, their religion. See Pococke, Spec. Hist.
(Oxon. 1650), p. 166.
THE SPANISH ARABS
195
others, which rose upon its ruins, became the centres of so many intellec¬ tual 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 favour¬ able 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 super¬ stitions 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 favourable 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. 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.1 The Spanish Arabs emulated their countrymen of the East in their devo¬ tion 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 n°ble 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 Casiri, Pan- x> 8. f'bHotheca ÿtterat,ura'h-scunalensis, torn. ?.aPu. pp. 71, 251 et
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•>--
in editions, on the autwL of authority Casiri, that seventy public libraries listed in Spain at the beginning of the fourteenth entury. A sagacious critic in the Edinburgh Re¬ ...u siatea stated in the early editi
view {ox January 1839, in a well-deserved stricture on this passage, remarks that, after a careful exami¬ nation of the manuscript in the Escurial to which Casiri refers for his account, he could find no war¬ rant for the assertion. It must be confessed te savour rather strongly of the gigantesque.
196
THE SPANISH ARABS.
the surviving treasures of the Escurial ; and, to conclude this summary ot naked details, some of their scholars appear to have entered upon as various a field of philosophical inquiry as would be crowded into a modem encyclopaedia.1 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 charac¬ teristics, which sometimes, indeed, served to neutralize each other. An acute and subtle 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 philoso¬ phers ; 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 impor¬ tant truths ; at least, this is certain in regard to their metaphysical labours. 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 Arabic 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 con¬ fident assertion that he was wholly unacquainted with the Greek language. 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.3 But what1 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, torn. ii. p. 107.— See also torn. i. p. 370 ; torn. ii. p. 7 1 et alibi.—Zuniga, Annates de Sevilla, p. 22. — D'Herbelot, Bib. Orientale, voce Tarikh.— Masdeu, Historia crltica, torn. xiii. pp. 203, 205. Andres, Letteratura, part. 1, cap. 8. 2 Consult the sensible, though perhaps severe, remarks of Degerando on Arabian science. (Hist. de la Philosophic, torn. iv. cap. 24.)— The reader may also peruse with advantage a disquisition on Arabian metaphysics in Turner's History of Eng¬ land, vol. iv. pp. 405-449.— Brucker, Hist. Philo¬ sophise, torn. in. p. 105.—Ludovicus Vives seems to
—
have been the author of the imputation in the text. (Nic. Antonio, Bibliotheca Vetus, torn. ii. P- 394-1 Averroes translated some of the philosophical works of Aristotle from the Greek into Arabic ; a Latin version of which translation was afterwards made. D'Herbelot, however, is mistaken (Bib. orientale, nrs art. Roschd) in saying that Averroes was the who translated Aristotle into Arabic ; as this naa been done two centuries before, at least, by Hona and others in the ninth century (see Casiri, Inolio na. theca Escurialensis, torn. i. p. 304), and Bayle shown that a Latin version of the Stagirite was use by the Europeans before the alleged period. art. Averroes. s Sprengel, Histoire de la Mc'decine, traduite p» lourdan 4 Paris. 1814). torn. li. pp. 363 et seq
THE SPANISH ARABS.
197
ever 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," 1 and they silently perfected several of those useful arts which have had a sensible influence on the happiness and improvement of mankind. Al¬ gebra 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;2 the origin of which latter fabric Tiraboschi Has ascribed to an Italian of Trevigi, in the middle of the fourteenth century.3 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 sam<
channel.4 fhe influence of the Spanish Arabs, however, is discernible not so much
in the amount of 1
knowledge as in the impulse which they communicated
am supra.
Degerando, Hist, de la Philosophic, torn. iv.
by the Moorish king of Granada at the siege of
battle furnishes the earliest in¬ stance on recordofof Crecy the use of artillery by the Euro¬ Christians ; although Du Cange, among seve*3 examples which he enumerates, a istinct notice of its existence as far has traced back as 133 Vwossarium ad Scriptores Media; et Infimae Lattni(1'aris, 1793), and Supplement (Paris, 1766), voce Sombarda.) Carnes t to a muchThe history of the Spanish Arabs earlier period. It was employed
Casiri quotes a passage from a Spanish author at the close of the eleventh century (whose MS., ac¬ cording 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, torn. ii. Nic. Antonio, Bibliotheca Vetus, torn. ii. p. 8.
Baza, in 1312 and 1325. (Conde, Dominacion de los BibliothecaEscurialensis, torn. ii.p. 9.— Andres, Arabes, torn. iii. cap. 18.— Casiri, Bibliotheca EscuLetteratura, part. 1, cap. 10. rialensis, torn. ii. p. 7.) It is distinctly noticed in an . Letteratura Italiana, torn. v. p. 87. treatise Arabic as ancient as 1249 ; and, finally, Ihe 2
pean
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p. 12.
198
THE SPANISH ARABS.
to the long-dormant energies of Europe. Their invasion was coeval with the commencement of that night of darkness which divides the modem from the ancient world. The soil had been impoverished by lon°, assiduous cultivation. The Arabians came like a torrent, sweeping down and obliterating even the landmarks of former civilization, but bringing nevertheless 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 labours 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 prin¬ ciples of taste, that it would be found difficult, if not impossible, 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 ot Bembo, for instance, done into literal English, would have an air ot intolerable artifice and verbiage. The choicest morsels of Massillon, Bossuet, or the rhetorical Thomas, would savour 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 those 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 ot
THE SPANISH ARABS.
199
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.1 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 trans¬ lated by them.2 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.3 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, more¬ over, 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 coloured 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 dis¬ tinguished the later productions in the decay of the empire. Whatever be thought of the influence of the Arabic on European litera¬ ture in general, there can be no reasonable doubt that it has been con¬ siderable on the Provencal and the Castilian. In the latter especially, so far from being confined to the vocabulary or to external forms of composih°n, it seems to have penetrated deep into its spirit, and is plainly discernible in that affectation of stateliness and Oriental hyperbole which characterizes Spanish writers even at the present day ; in the subtilties and conceits with which the ancient Castilian verse is so liberally espangled ; and in the relish for proverbs and prudential maxims, which ls so general that it may be considered national.4 3 Sir William Jones, Traite sur la Poesie orientate, 'he co,,nfCh <iomPÿa.'ns.i 'n one of his letters from his own •{ ,at "jurisconsults and divines, nay sec. a. Sismondi says that Sir W. Jones is mistaken
—
taken to rhyming ; and he was in citing the history of Tiniour by Ebn Arabschah m'ght begin to low in verse ;" as an Arabic epic. (Literature du Midi, torn. i. p. 1 Memoires pour la Vie de Petrarque, 57.) It is Sismondi who is mistaken, since the 243« 2 A \ English critic states that the Arabs have 110 heroic history is not Popular1!6-2' he"e.ratura, part. 1, cap. 11.—Yet this poem, and that this poetical prose themselves. contradicted by Reinesius, who accounted such even by the Arabs states learning than Iam more 3 much It would require ,mer and Pindar were translated into Aral,; v Uie V middle of the eighth century. fortified with, to enter into the merits of the question ®ee influ¬ probable the respecting raised been 38) tom 9.1US> Bibliotheca Graeca (Hamb 1712- which has A xn. p 753. ence of the Arabic on the literature of Europe.
efraid th aPud torn ;;;
200
THE SPANISH ARABS.
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
" Ofladye-love and war, romance and knightly worth."1 The same spirit, penetrating into France, stimulated the more sluggish inventions of the trouvire, and, at a later and more polished period, called forth the imperishable creations of the Italian muse.2 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.3 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 posses¬ sion of the finest climate and monuments of antiquity, has so seldom been quickened into a display of genius, and added so little of positive value to the literary treasures descended from its ancient masters. Yet this people, W. Schlegel, in a work of little bulk but much value, in refuting with his usual vivacity the extra¬ vagant theory of Andres, has been led to conclusions of an opposite nature, which maybe thought perhaps scarcely less extravagant. (Observations sur la Langue et la Litterature Proven£ales, p. 64.) It must indeed seem highly improbable that the Sara¬ cens, 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 in¬ deed 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" publi¬ cation 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 peculi¬ arities and varieties of Arabian verse ; the same cadences and number of syllables, the same inter¬ mixture of assonances and consonances, the hemistich and prolonged repetition of thedouble 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 habi¬ tual studies had given him such a keen relish for Oriental literature that he was in a manner denatu¬ ralized from his own. 1 Byron's beautiful line may seem almost a version of Conde's Spanish text, "sucesos de annas y de amores con muy estraflos lances y en elegante estilo. de los Arabes, torn. i. p. 457— Dominacion 2 Sismondi, in his Literature du Midi (to®. '• pp. 267 et seq.), and more fully in his Rdpubliques Italiennes (torn. xvi. pp. 448 et seq.), derives the jealousy of the sex, the ideas of honour, and the deadly spirit of revenge, which distinguished the southern nations of Europe in the fifteenth ana sixteenth centuries, from the Arabians. Whatever be thought of the jealousy of the sex, it might have been supposed that the principles of honour and t spirit of revenge might, without seeking further, fin abundant precedent in the feudal habits and insti tions of our European ancestors. . , 3 " Quas ferversiones potius, quam version meritb dixeris." Bibliotheca Escurialensis, torn. a£6.
THE SPANISH ARABS.
201
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 pheno¬ menon 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 birthplace 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 monu¬ ments 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 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 tnree-quarters °f the magnificent collection of Eastern manuscripts which it contained, the Spanish gov¬ ernment, 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-IIispana Escurialensis," which appeared in the years 1760-70, and which would reflect credit from 'be splendour of its typographical execution on any press of the present day. Ihis work, although censured by some later Orientalists as hasty and superficial, must ever be highly valued as affording the only
ln the
complete index to the rich repertory of Arabic manuscripts
Escurial, and for the ample evidence which it exhibits of the science and mental
ÿIture of the Spanish Arabs.
among whom Andres and
Several other native scholars, Masdeu may be particularly noticed, have made extensive researches into the literary hisof 'his people.
0
Still their political history, so essential to a correct knowledge o was comparatively neglected, until Senor Conde, the late kaineÿ. 1 rarÿ the Academy, who had given ample evidence of his Oriental learning in is ver.ion
e Spanish,
202
THE SPANISH ARABS.
and illustrations of the Nubian Geographer, and a Dissertation on Arabic Coins published in the filth volume of the Memoirs of the Royal Academy of History, compiled his work entitled " Historia de la Dominacion de los Arabes en Espana." The first volume in 1820. appeared But 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 manu¬ scripts ; 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 subse¬ quent condition of Spain under the viczroys, and of the empire of the Omeyades;. undoubtedly the most splendid portion of the 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 exclu¬ sively from an Arabic 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. 1hehistory, 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 wi be willing to compete, even on their own ground, and who is, happily, not exposed to t e national or religious prejudices which can interfere with his rendering perfect justice to his subject.
—
—
[Conde's reputation has been vehemently assailed by a learned Dutch scholar, RDozy, who describes him as a mere pretender in Arabic lore, "knowing little of t e language beyond the characters in which it is written, supplying the lack of the most elementary knowledge by an extremely fertile imagination and an unequalled impudence, forging dates by the hundred, and inventing facts by the thousand, while pretending 0 give a faithful translation of Arabic texts." The work in which these charges appear (Recherches sur l'Histoire politique et litteraire de l'Espagne pendant le moyen Age) '5 chiefly confined to the eleventh century, and was left unfinished at the author's deat The sufficiency of his proofs, so far as they extend, must be left to the judgment 0ÿ competent Arabic scholars. Ed.]
—
SURPRISE OF ALHAMA.
ao$
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. Valour 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 Ismail, 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 senti¬ ments 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, " hut 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. Hist" de I'Afrique A4£rd.°nne.>. s> tom- m. cap. 32, 34.
et de l'Espagne, torn.
iii. pp. 467-469-— Conde, Dominacion de lot*
WAR OF GRANADA.
204
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 26th of December, by the Moorish monarch, who, scaling the walls under favour 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, into slavery in Granada. The intelligence of this disaster caused deep mortification to the Spanish sovereigns, especially to Ferdinand, by whose grandfather Zahara had been recovered trom 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 by the people of Granada with the joy that might have been expected. 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 ! " 1 It was not long before the desired opportunity for retaliation presented itself to the Spaniards. One Juan de Ortega, a captain of escalations, or scalers, 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 Alhama, 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 tastes common to the people of the East, used to frequent arnounte the of this — Granada, million gold ducats, and that it
1 Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 51. Conde, Dominacion de losArabes, torn. iii. caj). 34. Pulgar, Reyes Catblicos, p. 180. L. Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. 171. Marmol, Historia del Rebelion y Castigo de los Moriscos (Madrid, 1797), -3ib. 1, cap. 12 I.cbrija states that the revenues of
—
—
—
—
commencement
at
to a
of
war, kept in pa'
7000 horsemen on its peace establishment, ana
coU
send forth 21,000 warriors from its gates. The of these estimates would not seem to be exaggeratc Rerum Gestarum Decades, ii. lib. 1, cap. i»
SURPRISE OF ALHAMA.
205
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 depbt 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.1 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 travers¬ ing 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.2 Later in life he formed a connection with the daughter of the marquis of Villena, the factious minister of Plenry the Pourth, 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) recon¬ ciliation between them. The fiery spirit of the marquis of Cadiz, no 1
Estrada, Poblacion de Espana, torn. ii. pp. 247. which feat, says Zuiiiga, the king complimented him. 248. El Nubiense, Descripcion de Espaiia, p. 222, with the title of " the youthful David." nota.—Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, p. 181.—Manuel, Don Juan, count of Arcos, had no children born Rcbelion de los Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 121. in wedlock, but a numerous progeny by his concu¬ - Ziiiiiga,
—
de Sevifla, pp. 349> 3®?bines. Among these latter was Dona Leonora Nunez Inis occurredAnnales in fight of Madrono, when Don de Prado, the mother of Don Rodrigo. The brilliant Rodrigo, stoopingthe to adjust his buckler, which had and attractive qualities of this youth so far won the un'aced, was suddenly surrounded by a party affections of his father that the latter obtained the ofcT Moors. He snatched a sling from one of them, royal sanction (a circumstance not infrequent in an
and made such
brisk use of it that, after disabling toreral, he succeeded in putting them to flight ; for
age when the aws of descent were very unsettled); to bequeath him his titles and estates, to the preju¬ dice of more legitimate heirs.
ÿao6
WAR OF GRANADA.
longer allowed to escape in domestic broil, urged him to seek dis¬ tinction in more honourable 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, adelatiiado of Andalusia, a relative of Ferdinand, and to the alcaydes of two or three neighbouring 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 march, 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.1 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, a circumstance which favoured 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 meantime 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
—
1 Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 52. L. Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. 171.— Pulgar comlutes the marquis's army at 3000 horse and 4000
foot. Reyes Catdlicos, p. 181. Conde, Dominacioo de los Arabes, torn. iii. cap. 34.
—
SURPRISE OF ALHAMA.
207
sounding and banner flying, at the head of his army, and took possession of the fortress.1 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 could 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 manu¬ facturing 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 succours 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 outworks contiguous to the buildings of the Clty, leaped into the street, and joined their companions there, while others again sallied from the gates, now opened for the second time. 2 Ihe 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 heads boiling oil, pitch, and missiles of every description. But the Weapons of the Moors glanced comparatively harmless from the mailed •umour of the Spaniards, while their own bodies, loosely arrayed in such a lrnents as they could throw over them in the confusion of the night, Presented a fatal mark to their enemies. Still they continued to maintain stout resistance, checking the progress of the Spaniards by barricades of timber hastily thrown across the streets ; and as their intrenchments were °r one after another, they disputed every inch of ground with the CaP-
2-"ÿ' hrTn ÿestarum Decades, ii. lib. i,
Aiiales 1
RevprJr'.ina,eS|. A1S"' ano 1482.— BerS tr.r,
ÿ
AfHque et d» ae rw i
2 Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., ubi supra. Conde, Dominacion de los Aiabes, cap. 34.—
Zurita, Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. 172. fo1, 3IS- — Cardonne, — Hist, de
dlicos, MS., cap. 52.
Jispagne, torn, iii pp. 252, 253.
—
qoS
wAr OF GRANADA.
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 valour 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. 1he latter, after enduring some loss, succeeded in sheltering t hemselves so effectually under a roof or canopy constructed of their own shields, in the manner practised in war previous to the exclusive use of firearms, 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. Ihe 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.1 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 this, 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 rene¬ gade, 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.2 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 Pr°iConde,
Dominacion dc los Arabes, ubi supra. I
s
Catdlicos, ÿ
Bernaldez, Reyes Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, ubi supra. — Mariana, I Hist, de l'Afrique de l'Espagne,
-Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, pp. 182, Hist, de Espana, torn, ii pp. 545, 183. 546.
et
tom.
lonne* ÿ
2,4
SURPRISE OF ALHAMA.
209
vidence 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 iow 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 J " 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 power¬ ful levies as he could enforce of the militia of Granada.1 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 pro¬ vided reinforcements and supplies requisite for the prosecution of the war.2
On the 5th of March, the king of Granada appeared before the walls 1
Passeavase el Rey Moro " Por 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 echd en el fuego V al mensagero matava.
Ay de mi Alhama !
Hombres, ninos y mugeres,
Lloran tan grande perdida. Lloravan todas las damas Ouantas 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 Hita (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, torn. 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. 2 L. Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. 172. Conde, Dominacion de Io's Arabes, torn. iii. cap. 54 Carbajal, Anales, MS.,ano 1482. Mariana, Hist.
—
—de Espana, torn. ii. pp.
545)
— 546-
O
210
WAR OF GRANADA.
of Aihama. with an army which amounted to three thousand horse and firty 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 sepul¬ ture, 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.1 At length, however, Abul Hacen, after the loss of more than two thousand of his bravest troops in these precipitate assaults, became con¬ vinced of the impracticability of forcing a position whose natural strength was so ably seconded by the valour of its defenders, and he determined to reduce the place by the more tardy but certain method of blockade. In this he was favoured 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 labour, 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.2 At this crisis they received the unwelcome tidings of the failure of an expedition destined for their relief by Alonso de Aguilar. This cavalier, Conde, Dominacion de los Arabe, — authors. iii. cap. 34.— Pufgar, Reyes Catblicos, loc. . ii. lib. *8, Garibay, Compendio,
1 Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 52. Bemaldez swells the Moslem army to 5500 horse and 80,000 foot, but Ihave preferred the more moderate and probable estimate of the Arabic
4J
torn.
Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, pp. *83, 184.
ci '-ÿP'
SURPRISE OF ALHAMA.
211
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. 1 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 1, • miscalculate. Soon after the occupation of Alhama, the marquis, foreÿ eing the diffi¬ culties 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 pre¬ tensions 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.2 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 I Cosas memorables, Cat<51icos, MS., cap. 52. — aZ* mga, Annaies de Sevilla, p. 360.— L. Marineo, I Gestarum Decades lib. cap. 'ZuK"14'ÿ Rey=s
foL 24, 172. 1,
3.
Lebrija, Rerum
212
WAR OF GRANADA.
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 vigour 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 awaiting 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.1 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 con¬ quest 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 prompted 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.2 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 repre¬ sented 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 1 Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, pp. 183, 184.— Bernaldez, Reyes Cat61icos, MS., cap. 53. Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, torn. vii. p. 572. Zuniga, Annates
—
—
de Sevilla, pp. 392, 393. Cardonne, Hist, del Afr 1 ._ et de l'Espagne, torn. iii. p. 257. j„
—
2 Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, pp.
.
183-186. Ov
Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 2a
ÿ
r
I
SURPRISE OF ALHAMA.
213
preparation lor ApriL Isabella had been employed in making vigorous and summoning supplies, carrying on the war, by enforcing the requisite them¬
the north, to hold the crown vassals, and the principal nobility of After this, she Andalusia. in standard selves in readiness to join the royal the state ol notwithstanding Cordova, to proceeded by rapid stages advanced. far then was she which pregnancy in the king Here the sovereigns received the unwelcome information that before down sat of Granada, on the retreat of the Spaniards, had again he which of want the Alhama; having brought with him artillery, from damp a struck news This siege. had suffered so much in the preceding 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 sard, " 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 Alharna 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 honour and policy alike forbade them to adopt a measure which could not fail to damp the ardour of the nation." This opinion of the queen, thus decisively expressed, determined the question, and kindled a spark of her own enthuSlasm ln the breasts of the most desponding.1 It was settled that the king should march to the relief of the besieged, bking with him the most ample supplies of forage and provisions, at the of a force strong enough to compel the retreat of the Moorish Monarch. This was effected without delay; and Abul Hacen once more taking up his camp on the rumour of Ferdinand's approach, the latter °ok possession of the city, without opposition, on the 14th of May. The ng was attended by a splendid train of his prelates and principal 0 ty j and he prepared with their aid to dedicate his new conquest to e service of the Cross, with all the formalities of the Romish church. er ceremony of purification, the three principal mosques of the city by the cardinal of Spain as temples of Christian worship. s' crosses, a sumptuous service ot plate, and other sacred utensils, ÿera% furnished by the queen ; and the principal church of Santa Mar' aria de la Encarnacion long exhibited a covering of the altar, richly
Reconsecrated
the theatre of Ihave followed, lived in Andalusia, — action, have had more be supposed he information. of — received the tidings 187, 188. is Catdlicos, The
Catdlicos, MS., cap. 53, 54.
ÿu'g»r fyute of
Antf»
rcÿnand took the more southern
may
accurate means 'he Moori5i,'U|e-la'.w'lere pp. of no discrepancy u2 s retreat. consequence ; but as Bernaldez, whom
to
Pulgar, Reyes
WAR OF GRANADA.
214
embroidered by her own hands. Isabella lost no opportunity of manifest¬ ing 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 greenÿ unripened crops, but by cutting down the trees and eradicating the vines, and then, without so much as having broken a lance in the expedi¬ tion, returned in triumph to Cordova.1 Isabella in the meanwhile was engaged in active measures for prose¬ cuting 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 ist 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 coast2 1 Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. i,quinc. i, dial. 28. Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 54) 55- Lebrija, Rerum Gestarum Decades, lib. 1, cap. 6. Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, cap. 34. Salazar de Mendoza, Cr<5n. del Gran Cardenal, pp. 180, 181. Marmol, Rebelion de los Moriscos, fib 1, cap. 12 —During this second siege, a body of Moorish knights, to the number of forty, succeeded m scaling the walls of the city in the night, and had
—
——
—
—
nearly reached the gates with the intention of throw¬ ing them open to their countrymen, when they were overpowered, after a desperate resistance, by the Christians, who acquired a rich booty, as many 01 the captives were persons of rank. There is con¬ siderable variation in the authorities in regard to the date of Ferdinand's occupation of Alhama. have been guided, as before, by Bernaldez. s Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, pp. 188, 189.
'
ROUT in the axarquia.
CHAPTER X.
—
ON LOJA. WAR OF GRANADA. UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT DEFEAT IN THE AXARQUIA.
—
1482-1483. .ÿsuccessful Attempt on Loja.— Revolution in Granada.—Expedition to the Axarquia. Military Array.— Moorish Preparations.— Bloody Conflict among the Mountain*.—The
Spaniards force a Passage.—The Marqui* of Cadiz escapes.
Loja stands not many leagues from Alhama, 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 Under the Moors, it was on its arms, "A flower among thorns." defended by a strong fortress, while ihe Xenil, circumscribing it like a deep moat upon the south, foimed 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 from 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 meanwhile, 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, on 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 foi distinction in the new war, and suffered his ardour 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 unfavourable prognostics from the dejected mien of those who bore the royal standard to the de Espana, torn. ii. pp. 242, 243.— Zurita, Anales, "que et ile l'Espagne, torn. iii. p. 261.
Poblacion
torn. iv. fol.
3i7.-C*rdon
2l6
WAR OF GRAJVABA.
cathedral of Cordova in order to receive the benediction of the church before entering on the expedition.1 Ferdinand, crossing the Xenil at Ecija, arrived again on its banks before Loja on the ist 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 unfavourable 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. 2 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 entrench¬ ment 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 Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. 173*— __ gar,L.Reyes Catdlicos, 187.—Zurita, Anales,
1 Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 58. Mariana, Hist de Espana, torn. ii. pp. 249, 350. Cardonne, Hist, de l'Afrique et de 1 Espagne, torn. iii. pp. 259, 260.
2
iv. fol. 316, 317.
p.
ÿul"
torn.
ROUT IN THE AXARQUIA.
217
Christians sustained a heavy loss, particularly in the death of Rodngo
Tellez Giron, grand master of Calatrava. He was hit by two arrows, one 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 chronicler, 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 Cast and his death threw a general gloom over the army.1 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 upon him. His men were so badly provided with the necessary utensils for dressing their food that they were obliged 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, heing the 4th of July. No sooner did the Moors of Loja perceive their enemy abandoning his strong position than they sallied forth in considf *a ÿorce t0 take possession of it Ferdinand's men, who had not been . advised of the proposed manoeuvre, no sooner beheld the Moorish array tightening the crest of the mountain, and their own countrymen rapidly escending, than they imagined that these latter had been surprised in eir 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 ro en files, endeavour to reanimate their spirits and restore order. He 1 ÿ easÿ ÿave caÿmed the winds as the disorder of a panic-struck mob unschooled by discipline or experience. Ali Atar's practised eye ÿee iy discerned the confusion which prevailed through the Christian delay, he rushed forth at the head of his whole array from the gates of Loja, and impetuously a real danger what into converted had ore been only an imaginary one.2 1
1
—
Las tres Ordenes, fol. 80,
lÿbrija Rer„n. ÿ sas memorables, fol. 173.— Conde, TV,,- eÿfarum Decades, ii. lib. 1, cap. Carbalalÿ ,de los Arabes, torn. !ii. p. uaJal,T?°n Anales, MS., ano 148a.
'
2 Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, pp. 189-191.—Ber naldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 58. Conde. Dominacion de los Arabes, torn. ui. pp. 214-217. Cardonne, Hist, de l'Afrique et de 1 Dspagne, torn iii. pp. afo, »6x.
WAR OF GRANADA.
2l8
At this peiilous 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 honour 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, suc¬ ceeded 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 Zuniga. 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 Pena 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.1 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 lor an enemy who, whatever might be his natural 1 Bernaldez, Reyes
Catdlicos, MS., cap. 58.
Antequera. The unfortunate fugitives, who had — scrambled the summit of the rocks,
Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, torn. iii. pp. 214217. Pulgar, Reyes Cat<51icos, ubi supra. Lebrija, Rerum Gestarum Decades, ii. lib. 1, cap. The 7. Pefia de los Enamorados received its from a tragical incident in Moorish history. name 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, re¬ solved to make their escape intothe Spanish territory.
—
—
to
finding a
further escape impracticable, after tenderly embi ac ing each other, threw themselves headlong from t dizzy heights, preferring this dreadful death to la ÿ ing into the hands of their vindictive pursuers. 1 spot consecrated as the scene of this tragic inciae * has received the name of Rock of the Loverslegend is prettily told by Mariana (Hist, de Espana, torn. ii. pp. 253, 254), who concludes with the pi 3 reflection that " such constancy would have be Before they could effect their purpose, were hotly pursued by the damsel's however, they truly admirable had it been shown in defence ot father at the true faith, rather than in the gratification of law! head of a party of Moorish horsemen, and overtaken appetite near a precipice which rises between Archidona and
—
ÿ
ROUT IN THE AXARQUIA.
2 19
strength, must become formidable when armed with the energy of
despair.
did more for At this juncture, a division among the Moors themselves division grew out of This their own. of successes the Christians than any among discord of seeds the sows which polygamy, of the vicious system closely. unite most institutions our happier own and nature whom those The old king of Granada had become so deeply enamoured 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 belong ing to herself and attendants, succeeded, by means of this perilous convey¬ ance, 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 \bul Hacen.1 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 tdhered to him ; while Granada, and by far the larger portion of the king¬ dom, 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 assist¬ ance on their part, however, being warily rejected by both factions, not¬ withstanding the mutual hatred between them, 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 °wn arms.2 the diadem e!KHominacion de los Arabes, torn. iii. pp. was the last of his race destined to wearfelicity, frenapT,.7,' Cardonne, Hist, de l'Afrique et de l'Es- of Granada. The Arabs, with great quality in some of significant ios Mÿ°m' U!'.,PP- 2®2i a(>3.— Marmol, Rebelion de Suently select names Examples of this may
iWk°S' hb" '> caP- 12- — Bernaldez states that te objects they represent. in the southern regions of the kine- r,f r rage,was taken at the influence which the be readily found the Moors lingered the longest. a Person °f Christian line- Peninsula, where age nda allowed to exerc'se over him. Pulgar The etymology of Gibraltar, Gebal Tarik, Mount Mnts w!PS' Thus, Algeziras comes 00dy known. well is Tarik, Abencerrages, the of ,masaacre of which island; y better Deuer au authority that iknow „., of, from an Arabic word which signifies an forms 'tli th« u v. 0Uj any 1„™S ÿ K, burden term signifying herbage or of a mnnw k-.ii from many comes Alpujarras has an and ballad, ancient nothinÿr lost cause¬ signifying another, °f Gines P 'jS r°mantic colouring under the hand pasturage; Arrecife from Arabic word -wadstands Hita. 2 r\,_ , rez way or highroad, etc. The been has violence much et de l'Espagne, for river. This without ubi supra —f' Hj1St,-ÿe into the names of supra . t>* tljS, e> Hominacion de los Arabes, ubi changed into guad, and enters Guadal¬ example, for ; streams LittU bvth c ÿ surn.amed "el Chico," the many of the southern Guadiana, narrow or little f'om an nnni 6 r Pamsh writers, to distinguish him quivir, great river; mannerÿ the same name; and "el Zogoybi," nver : Guadalete, etc. In the samebeen the & retained"city," has "Jortunate, by the Moors, " ' ' term Medina, signifying , itindicating he that
Ettet
S p
j
—.... ...... .
_
'
WAR OF GRANADA.
220
No military operations worthy ot notice occurred during the remainder of the campaign, except occasional cavalÿcidus, 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 truitfulness and abundant pasturage in the southern regions of the Peninsula. Ihe 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 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, Valladolid, for example, as a royal residence. On the xst 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 Alcald de Henares, where he devoted himself to science, especially to alchemy ; 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 ascen¬ dency in the councils of his sovereigns.1 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 neighbouring courts, by means of secret agents whom he pensioned there. Ferdinand obtained a similar result by the more honourable expedient of resident embassies, a practice which he is said to have introduced,2 and which, while it has as a prefix to the names of many of the Spanish I Anales, MS., aho 1483. towns, as Medina Celi. Medina del Campo, etc. torn. v. p. See Conde's notes to El Nubiense, Description de epist. 158.n, ed. 1766. Espaha, passim.
——Peter Martyr, ,
AJeson, Anales de i Opus
—
2 Fred. w- nueMarslaar, De Leg. 2, 11. Mendoza, Crbn. del / --ntlv i° p. 181.— Pulgar, Claros Varones, Gran Cardenal, ( fort derives the word atttbassadeur (anci tit. 20. Carbajal, English l-ar<
t Salazar de
—
embassador) from the Spanish word e
ROUT IN THE AXARQUIA.
221
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 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 part1 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.2 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 send.
-
. — ----.... fulgar, Reyes
„8__p
*fs>
Catdlicos,.pp. 195-198.—Zurita,
tom iv. fol. 218. 2 Anales de Navarra, lib. 34, cap. 1. . • °.n' Royaume H"istoiredu de Navarre, p. 558. Leonora's on, (jaston de Foix, prince of Viana, was slain, by
—
.ental wound from a lance, at a tourney at gC in Lisoon, 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 throneon the demiseofhis 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.
yÿnÿassador, the older English form, may have come directly from the Spanish embajador ;but
V.sla*or> o-ntbasciator, and ambaxiator are mediaeval Latin forms, derived usually from ambactus the yUcar!§e)> while ambassador, as an Italian form, occurs at least as early as 1470, under which date
(see
aruuviu sioulu iuuuwv, 10111. vu., ™slaenza> et e aciesso Jtsernarao Jtsemoo, aottore. But Venf"6 a M'lan had long maintained the same usage in their intercourse with each other, as well court of Rome, where, indeed, resident ministers from foreign states were the rule, not, as elsewhe Vt t0 t''C 'atter t'le fifteenth century, the exception. (See Reumont, Delia Dipiomazia
as with th
italiana'd l's""
£art
?32
WAR OF GRANADA.
to its present proprietors as should effectually prevent them from disturb¬
ing 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.1 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 Logrono, prepared to resist by arms, if necessary, the occupation of that country by her insidious and powerful neighbour. The death of the king of France, which occurred not long after, fortunately relieved the sovereigns from apprehensions of any immediate annoyance in that
quarter.2 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 thou¬ sand men, and sixteen thousand beasts of burden, for the purpose of conveying supplies to the garrison in Alhama. But the sovereigns experi¬ enced 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 their 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 intro¬ duced into the finances, felt the pressure of these embarrassments peculiarly at the present juncture. 1he maintenance of the royal guard and of the vast national police of the hermandad, the incessant military operations of 2 Aleson,
Anales de Navarra, lib. 34, cap. a; lib-
Histoire du Royaume de Navarre, pp. ——La Clfcde, Hist, de Portugal, 438-441. — Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, p. 199 Man-
35, cap. i.
578, 579.
—
torn
ROUT IN THE AXARQUIA. the late campaign, together with the equipment of a navy, not merely for war, but for maritime discovery, were so many copious drains on the exchequer.1 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 alio 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.' 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 Conral, 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. ? 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 °n this station, he was strongly urged to make a descent on the environs of Malaga, by his adalidcs or scouts, men who, being for the most part Moorish deserters or renegadoes, were employed by the border chiefs to 1Lebrija,
—
Rerum Gestarum Decades, it. lib. a, cap. i. Besides the armada in the Mediterranean, a fleet under Pedro de Vera was prosecuting a voyage of discovery and conquest to the Canaries, which will be the subject of more particular notice
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 hereafter. envoy, of much higher rank, Don Juan de Castilian 2 Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, p. 199. Mariana, Vera. This knight, while conversing with certain torn. li. p. Coleccion de Cddulas Moorish Docuin the Alhambra, was so much cavaliers y otros inentos (Madrid, 1829), torn. iii. no. 25. For this scandalized by the freedom with which one of them ÿmportant collection, of conception, that he gave the which immaculate treated the only few a copies were printed for distribution, at the expense of the circumcised dog the lie, and smote him a sharp blow Spanish government, Iam indebted to the politeness on the head with his sword. Ferdinand, says BerCalderon de la Barca. id naldez, who tells the story, was much gratified with nernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. !5° ~T the exploit, and recompensed the good knight with . u'gar, Reyes •uposed on the Catdlicos, p. 202. Juan de Corral many honours. king of Granada by means of certain
— —
—
°
—
224
WAR OF GRANADA.
reconnoitre the enemy's country or to guide them in their marauding ex¬ peditions.1 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.2 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 noblemen, 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.3 In the meanwhile, 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 neighbouring 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 confi¬ dence 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, 1 The adalid was a guide, or scout, whose busi¬ ness 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 Ihave 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, Isuspect, is intended to be limited to the persons who aided him in the execution of his peculiar office. It was com¬ mon 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 toray. The post, as may well be believed was one of great trust and personal hazard
—
2 Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos. p. 203. L. Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. 173. Zurita, Anales, torn. iv. fol. 320. 3 Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 36.— Lebrija, Rerum Gestarum Decades, 11. 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 01 very extensive judicial authority in the province o, 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 adelan¬ tado seems to have been generally established over a border province, as Andalusia for example. Manna discusses the civil authority of this in his Teorfa, torn. ii. cap. 23. See also Salazar Mendoza, Dignidades, lib. 2, cap. 15.
ROUT IN THE AXARQUIA. 225 which amounted appears to have been considerably less than that of the horse, 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 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 eights under which he was defiling. This last corps was placed under the direction of Reduan Benegas, a chief of Christian lineage, according to ernaldez, and who may perhaps be identified with the Reduan that, in e later Moorish ballads, seems to be shadowed forth as the personificah°n ot love and heroism.2
RadesT0?'"??2' ÿeyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 60.—
Las tres Ordenes. fol. 71.— Zurita, Anales .n°rada, lv'
S<villa' f°im 0 395'
ÿ
320.— Zuiiiga,
Annales de Lebrija, Rerum Gestarum De-
cades, ii. lib. 2, cap. 2. — Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 36. • Conde, Dominacion de ios Arabes, torn, iii p. 217. Cardonne, Hist, de l'Afrique et de 1'Espagne,
—
P
WAX OF tjxANADA.
ti6
The Castilian army in the meantime 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 highmettled 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 evolu tions, 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.1 In the meanwhile, 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 could now 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. 2 The little army commenced its retrograde movement with undiminished spirit. But it was now embarrassed with the transportation of its plunder,
_
____ _
____
1 Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes,
r t
p.ÿlrro*.
U
1!
'
torn. iii. V
R0U7 IN THE AXARQUIA.
'
227
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 inclosure, 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.1 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 seenv d, says Bernaldez, ..rif 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 nigged 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 hghter 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.2 The dismay occasioned by these scenes, occurring amidst the darkness °f 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 east, 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 tahe, until midnight ; when at length, after having seen their best and ReVes Catdlicos, p. 205.— Garibay, I Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, ubi supra. — Cardonne, Con>nfMwr r' tom»• P- 636Hist, de l'Afrique et de l'Espagne, torn. 111. pp. * ez> Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 60. | 264-267.
—
228
WAR OF GRANADA.
bravest followers fall thick around them, they determined at all hazards to Better lose force a passage across the sierra in the face ot the enemy. his addressing men, "in our lives," said the grand master of St. James, like without resistance, butchered be than the foe, cutting a way through cattle in the shambles."1 The marquiz 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 await the coming up of his friends, who he confidently expected would follow on his track.2 But the grand master and his associates, missing this track in the dark¬ ness 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 endeavouring 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 unintermitted shower of missiles of every description.3 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, had 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 was now 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.
—
1 Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, p. 206. Rades y Andrada, Las tres Ordenes, fol. 71, 72. 2 Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, loc. cit.— Bernaldez Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 60. 3 Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, 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 01 La Cuesta de la Matanza, or "The Hill of the Massacre. "
ROUT IN THE AXARQUJA. Some, oppressed with fatigue and terror, fell down and died without sc 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.1 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 sud¬ denly 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 fell 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 resist¬ ance, he was forced to surrender to his generous enemy.2 The marquis of Cadiz had better fortune. After waiting till dawn for the coming up of his friends, he concluded that they had extricated them¬ selves 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.3 dhe number of the slain in the two days' action is admitted by the Spanish writers to have exceeded eight hundred, with double that number °f 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 Oviedo, who one of his dialogues to this I 60. Cardonne, Hist, de 1'Afrique et de I'Espagne nobleman, says devotes him, " Fue una de las buenas torn. iii. pp. 266. 267. The count, according to Isnzas de nuestraof Espana en su tiempo ;y muy sabio Oviedo, remained a long while a prisoner in Granada, ) prudente Hallose en grandes cargos y until he was ransomed by the payment of several negocios decaballero. paz y de guerra." Quincuagenas, MS , thousand doblas of gold. Quincuagenas, MS., bat. V <iuinc. i, dial. 36. 1, quinc- 1, dial. 36. -'•Conde, MS., cap. 60. •1
—
de los Arabes, torn. 111. p. V ,Zurlta>Dominacion Anales, torn. iv. fol. 321- — Carbaial, 1
ano 1483. l ulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, ' MS.,i'ernaldez, supra. Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap.
—
—
—
—
Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, Marmol says that three brothers and two nephews of the marquis, whose names he gives, were all slain. Rebelion tie los Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 12.
23°
WAR OF GRANADA.
meagre in ihis portion of their annals to allow any opportunity of veri¬ fication. 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 wander¬ ing in the wilderness, or were pining away existence in the dungeons of Malaga and Granada.1 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 j who, instead of confessing, partaking of 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 in¬ fluenced by covetousness and love of ungodly gain." 2 1Zuniga, Annalesde Sevilla,fol. 395.— Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., ubi supra. Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, p. 206. — Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1 quinc. 1, dial. 36.— Marmol, Rebelion de los, Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 12. - Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 60. Pulgar has devoted a large space to the unfortunate expedition tothe Axarquta. Hisintimacy with the principalper¬ sons 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 endeavoured to make out a connected tissue from a comparison of the Moslem with the Castilian authorities. But here the meagrenessof 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 amplifica¬ tion 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, so far as Christian Spain is concerned, the most glorious portion of her history.
I
MILITARY POLICY OF THE SOVEREIGNS.
/BunrWAR OF GRANADA.
231
CHAPTER XI.
—GENERAL CONDUCT OF
VIEW OF THE
POLICY PURSUED IN THE
THIS WAR.
I483-I487.
——
—
— ——
Artillery. Defeat and Capture of Abdaltah. Policy of the Sovereigns. I-arge Trains of Her Troops. the of Care Isabella's Roads. Stupendous — Description of the Pieces. Lord Scales. Perseverance. — Discipline of the Army. Swiss Mercenaries. Knglish Occupation Magnificence of the Nobles. Isabella visits the Camp.— Ceremonies on the
—
of a City.
—
—
The young monarch, Abu Abdullah, 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 Moslem. 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, ir. 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 1 Por esa puerte de Elvira sale muy gran cabalgada ; cudnto del hidalgo mora, cudnto de la yegua baya.
"
Cuanta pluma y gentileza, cudnto capellar de grana, cudnto bayo borceguf, cuanto raso que se esmalta,
" Cuanto de espuelade oro,
cuanta estribera de p'ata !
Toda es gente valerosa, y esperta para batallx " 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 habia : Aid te guarde, mi hijo, 'Mahoma vaya en tu guarda.' Hita, Guerras de Granada, torn. i. p. 23*
WAR OF GRANADA.
23 2
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.1 The advance of the party was not conducted so cautiously but that it reached the ear of Don Diego Fernandez de Cordova, a/cayde de loi 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 noble¬ man 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 forti¬ fications 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 awaited the approach of the enemy.2 The Moorish army, after crossing the borders, began to mark its careei through the Christian territory with the usual traces of devastation, and, sweeping across the environs of Lucena, poured a marauding foray into the rich campina 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 meanwhile, who had lost no time in muster¬ ing 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 beleaguer¬ ing 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. 1he conflict, so well disputed, remained doubtful for some time, until it was determined by the death of the veteran chieftain Ali Atar, " the best 1 Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, torn. iii. cap. 36. Cardonne, Hist, de l'Afrique et de l'Espagne, torn. iii. pp. 267-271. Bernaldez, Reyes MS., cap. 60. Pedraza, Antigiiedad de Catdlicos, Granada, fol. 10. Marmol, Rebelion de los Moriscos, lib. i,
—
—
—
—
cap. 12 1 Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, part 3, cap. 20.
—The
donzeles, of whom Diego de Cordova was alcayde or captain, were a body of young cavaliers, origin¬
ally 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, torn. xiv. p. 80.
—
MILITARY POLICY OF THE SOVEREIGNS.
233
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 honourable death the melancholy spectacle of his country's
humiliation.1 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 jiassage across the stream, swollen by excessive rains to a height much above its ordinary level The contusion 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, making scarcely a show of resistance, were cut down on the banks by the pitiless Spaniards. The young king Abdallah, who had been con¬ spicuous during that day in the hottest of the fight, mounted on a milkwhite 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 a eature of chivalry which 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 0 ged him in his castle of Baena, where he was entertained with the most delicate and courtly hospitality.2 early the whole of the Moslem cavalry were cut up or captured in 1S action. Many of them were persons of rank, commanding high ransoms, lhe loss inflicted on the infantry was also severe, including the W 0 e °f their dear-bought plunder. Nine or indeed, according to some •vcounts, two-and-twenty— banners fell into the hands of the Christians aCtl°n *n commemoration of which the Spanish sovereigns granted to e count 'of Cabra, and his nephew, the alcayde de los donzeles, the ____cgeÿ of bearing the same number of banners on their escutcheon,
—
h'S
36-AWcaDRminac' ?n de los Arabes, , de
Caÿ.1
Keyes
Aran
t, torn. 111. cap
lion de los Moriscos, lib. i, cap
Reyÿcawiicosmpubfio' >
tom-
ul» supra.
637.-iV.gar,
PReye — Bernaldez,
— —
Catblicos, MS., cap. 61. Conde, Hominacion de los Arabes, tom. iii. cap. 36. Cardonne. Hist, de l'Afrique et de l'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 o the period. All authorities, however, both Chris'ian and Moor¬ ish, agree as to its general results.
—
2.34
WAR OF GRANADA.
together with the head of a Moorish king, encircled by a golden coronet, with a chain of the same metal around the neck.1 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 Arabic 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.2 King Ferdinand, who was at Yitoria 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.3 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 Dignidades, p. 38a.-Oviedo, Quin,6
9" ... caP" 1' fXrab?S'Jt0ÿ111'
--- — <-*P- 23-
AViarmol,
Rebelion de Ios Moriscos, lib. i, cap. xa.-CharleS v- does not seem to have partaken of his grandtatners delicacy in regard to an interview with his roya in any part of his deportment
MILITARY POLICY OF THE SOVEREIGN
*35
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 honour and his country's freedom for the possession of immediate but most precarious sovereignty; a sove¬ reignty which could scarcely be expected to survive the period when he could be useful to the master whose breath had made him.1 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, Imight 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.2 Notwithstanding the importance of the results in the war of Granada, a detail of the successive steps by which they were achieved would be m°st odious and trifling. No siege or single military achievement of great moment occurred until nearly four years from this period, in 1487 ; "°ugh in the intervening time a large number of fortresses and petty towns, together with a very extensive tract of territory, were recovered rom the enemy. Without pursuing the chronological order of events, ls Probable that the end of history will be best attained by presenting 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 ÿÿJÿalgadas, or inroads into the enemy's territory,3 which, pouring 3 The term cavalgada seems to be used iud.fferDominacbn IT*ÿAJabes, cap. 36. supra.— Conde, ji ently by the ancient Spanish writers to represent a Pulear Conde, I marauding party, the foray itself, or the booty tabeo loc. cit. 9»t<Slicos, — OominacinA ,ÿ?yes. de los Arabes, cap. it I 36. 1
d
in
*36
WAR OF GRANADA.
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-favoured 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.1 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 con¬ junction with this rigorous system of blockade. The Moorish towns were for the most part strongly defended, pre¬ senting 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 1 Pul£ar> Reyes Catdlicos,
cap. 22.— Mem. de la Acad, de Hist., torn. vi. Ilust. 6.
MILITARY POLICY OF THE SOVEREIGNS.
237
of these strongholds. artillery as the only effectual means for the reduction although Spain deficient, extremely In this, they as well as the Moors were any other than use its of examples earlier appears to have furnished particular the had have to seems who Isabella, country in Europe. artisans and engineers skilful most the caused control of this department, Forges and Italy. Germany, France, from kingdom the into to be invited for prepared materials requisite the all and camp, the in constructed were the of quantities Iÿtrge the manufacture of cannon, balls, and powder. last were also imported from Sicily, Flanders, and Portugal. Com¬ missaries 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.1 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, con¬ sisting 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.2 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 °f the century, when the stone balls discharged, according to Zurita, at e siege of Balaguer, weighed not less than five hundred and fifty pounds. was very long before the exact proportions requisite for obtaining the greatest effective force could be ascertained.3 The awkwardness with which their artillery was served corresponded 1 the rudeness of its manufacture. It is noticed as a remarkable cir-
AnaUU'gar' ÿeye? Catdlicos, cap. 3a, 41.— Zurita, 3
£
— Roman Empire, chap. — used by Mahomet
Gucrra, lib- 3. a/e!H' Arte della de Hist., torn. vi. Ilust. 6.
According to
Gibbon, the cannon
thirty years in the siege of Constantinople, about which weighed before this time, threw stone balls measure of the above six hundred pounds. The and Fall of the
bore was twelve palms. Decline 68.
WAR OF GRANADA. cumstance by the chronicler that two batteries, at the siege of Albahar, discharged one hundred and forty balls in the course of a day.1 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 exten¬ sive conflagration." 2 The transportation of their bulky engines was not the least of the diffi¬ culties 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 con¬ structing roads for the artillery across these sierras, by levelling the moun¬ tains, 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 demoli¬ tion of one of the most rugged parts of the sierra, which no one could have believed practicable by human industry.8 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 arquebuse 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 grew rife in the Sierra Nevada, or Snowy Mountains, near Granada. A piece of linen or cotton cloth steeped in this decoction was wrapped round the
—
1 Mem. de la Acad, de Hist., torn. 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 inven¬ tion in our time, that of our ingenious countryman Jacob Perkins, by which a gun, with the a d of that miracle-worker, steam, is enabled to throw a thou¬ sand bullets in a single minute. 1 L. Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. »»
—
Pulcar, Reyes Catdlicos, cap. 44- Some writers, as the Abbe Mignot (Histoire des Rois Cathohques
Ferdinand et Isabelle (Paris, T760), torn- i P- 2.73'> have referred the invention of bombs to the siege of Ronda. Ifind no authority for this. Pulgar s
words are, " They made many iron balls, large an small, some of which they cast in a mould, having reduced the iron to a state of fusion, so t! at it woulu run like any other metal." s Puigar, Reyes Catdlicos, cap. 51.— I'ernalue*, P.eyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 8a.
MILITARY POLICY OF THE SOVEREIGNS.
139
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 1 stream into the vein, and diffuse its fatal influence over the whole system 1
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 ol this, migrated to Seville and other cities of Andalusia, where they were settled on estates which had been confiscated by the inquisitors ; who looked for¬ ward, no doubt with satisfaction, to the time when they should be per¬ mitted 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 other5 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 rigour 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 favourable effect on his enemies, who were exasperated, rather than intimidated, by this ferocious act of vengeance.2 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 and 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 Mendoza, Guerra de Granada (Valencia, 177ÿ)1 PF-73, 74- Zurita, Anales, t m. iv. lib. 20, cap. 59. Mem. de la Acad, de Hist., torn. vi. p. 168. wording to 'ÿwished the Mendoza, a decoction of the quince most effectual antidote known against ™s poison.
—
Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, torn, ii
00*.
Lebrija, Rerum Gestarum Decades, ii. lib. 4, cap. — Bernaldez, Reyes Catblicos, MS., cap. 76. — Marmol, Rebelion de los Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 12.
2.
Pulgar. who is by no means bigoted for the age, — seems to think the liberal terms granted by Ferdinand to the enemies of the faith stand in need of perpetual
apology.
See Reyes Cat Cilices, cap. 44 et passim.
34°
WAR OF GRANADA.
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.1 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 medi¬ cines at her own charge. This is considered the earliest attempt at the formation of a regular camp hospital on record.2 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-estabish the empire of the Cross over the ancient domain of Christendom. On this point she concentrated all the energies of her powerful mind, never suffer¬ ing 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 after the death 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 cam¬ paign 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 prepara¬ tions, 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." 8 A circumstance which had frequently frustrated the most magnificent military enterprises under former reigns was the factions of these potent
—
1 Bemaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 75. Pulgar, Reyes Catolicos, cap. 21, 33, 42. Lebrija, Rerum Gestarum Decades, 11. lib. 8, cap. 6. Marjuol, Rebelion de los Moriscos, lib 1, cap. 13.
—
—
Mem. de la Acad, de Hist., torn vi. Ilust. e>3 Lebrija, Rerum Gestarum Decades, ii. lib- 3» a
— Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, cap. 31.
cap. 6.
MILITARY POLICY OF THE SOVEREIGNS.
241
the crown, could vassals, who, independent of each other, and almost of of time, and length a for concert efficient in act to brought rarely be experi¬ broke up the camp on the slightest personal jealousy. Ferdinand when who, Celi, Medina of enced something of this temper in the duke of the to support his of troops he had received orders to detach a corps your Tell messenger, the to replying refused, ** the count of Benavente, master that Icame 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; endeavoured to direct it in the path of honourable 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 honours 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.1 Still more emphatic honours 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 ana 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 honours were followed by the more substantial gratuity of a hun¬ dred thousand maravedis 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 circum¬ scribed beyond every other in Europe by stately and ceremonious etiquette.2 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 neighbours. another daring achievement, the sovem anc* ÿ1S the royal suit worn by the mA vays ,\w"a s ot Castile on Lady-day J a present, not »ol)e estimated by its cost.— Reyes /Wrm ! ii. fol. agon> torn. 30,
reigns
t_
— — —
- Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, ubi supra. Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., lib. x, epist. 41. BernaMe.*, Anaies, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 68. Zurita, torn. iv. cap. 58.
WAR OF GRANADA. 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 con¬ dition 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.1 The brilliant successes of the Spanish sovereigns diffused general satis¬ faction 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 armour, except in front ; by which means they were less encum¬ bered 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." 2 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 contri¬ buted 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 Christendom 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,3 by the Spanish writers. "There came from Britain," says Peter will need to be reminded, was not Scales, — history but Widvile, or Wydevile, often modernized as
1 Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, cap. 31, 67, 69. Lebrija, Reruin Gestarum Decades, u. lib. 2, cap.
xo.
4 Reyes
*
Catdlicos, cap. at. [The family name, as few readers of
English
Woodville ; and the person mentioned in the text, Sir Edward Widvile, had no claim to the designa¬ tion either of Earl Rivers or Lord Scales, the former
MILITARY POLICY OF THE SOVEREIGNS.
243
Martyr, "a cavalier, young, wealthy, and high-bora He was allied to the blood-royal of England. He was attended by a beautiful train of house¬ hold troops, three hundred in number, armed after the fashion of their land with long-bow and battle-axe." This nobleman particularly distin¬ guished himself by his gallantry in the second siege of Ix>ja, in i486. 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 cn blarhc, 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 car¬ ried, 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.1 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 taste 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.2 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 prin¬ ciples ot religion and patriotism, was well calculated to inflame the imagi¬ nations 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. e potent and wealthy barons exhibited in the camp all the magnificence 0 1 rinces. The pavilions, decorated with various-coloured pennons, and
fitle h(
latter havinwÿfilent0- brother Richard, and the lnt0 abeyance, on the death, without ice,,? • °f the famil,' 'a I4,a3> °f the most famous member -Ed.! Uy' Anthony Widvile, the second earl.
J Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., lib. x, epist. 6a.— Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 78. v Guillaumede Ialigny, Histoire de Charles VIII. (Paris, 1617), pp. 90-94.
244
WAR OF GRANADA.
emblazoned with the armorial bearings of their ancient houses, shone with a splendour which a Castilian writer likens to that of the city of Seville.1 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.'2 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, i486, 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 holiday soldiers ! " His vassals, stung by this rebuke, rallied, and, penetrating the breach, carried the place by the fury of their assault. a Notwithstanding the remonstrances of the sovereigns against this osten¬ tation 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 i486, 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
—
IBcrnaldez, Reyes Cat<51icos, MS., cap. 75. other grandee in the kingdom." Inanother place he This city, even before the New World had poured "The duke Inigo was a perfect Alexander for its treasures into its lap, was conspicuous for its says, his liberality, in all his actions princely, maintaining magnificence, as the ancient proverb testifies. unbounded hospitality among his numerous vas¬ Zuniga, Annales de Sevilla, p. 183. sals and dependants, and beloved throughout Spain- Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, cap. 41. His palaces were garnished with the most costly 3 Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, cap. 59. —This noble¬ tapestries, jewels, and rich stuffs of gold and silver. man, whose name was Inigo Lopez de His chapel was filled with accomplished singers and was son of the first duke, Diego Hurtado,Mendoza, who whole ported Isabella's claims to the crown. Oviedo sup¬ musicians ; his falcons, hounds, and his stud was hunting establishment, including a magnificent present at the siege of Illora, and gives a any minute of 01 horses, those were by not to be matched description of his appearance there. came," other nobleman in the kingdom. Of the truth of all " He body says that writer, "attended by a numerous of pee(! have which," concludes myself "I Oviedo, cavaliers and gentlemen, as befitted so great a lord. an eye-witness, and enough others can testifylie displayed all the luxuries which belong to a Sec quinct>ee Oviedo Uviedo (Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, *1 H time of peace; and his tables, which tj,e were carefully 1 1, dial. 8), who has given the genealogy served, were loaded with rich and curiously wrought Mendozas endless f.u0;. and its Mendozinos all in plate, of which he had a greater profusion I tV.->n on,.
MILITARY POLICY OF THE SOVEREIGNS.
245
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 colour, 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 them. He wq dressed in a crimson doublet, with chausses, or breecnes, ot yellow satin. Over his shoulders was thrown a cassock or mantle of rich brocade, and a sopravest of the same material concealed his cuirass. By his side, close girt, he wore a Moorish scimitar, and beneath his bonnet his hair w.is ; . fined by a cap or head-dress of the finest stuff. Ferdinand was mounted on a noble war-horse of a bright chestnut colour. In the splendid train of chivalry which attended him. Bernalde/. 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 com¬ plete mail, over which was thrown a French surcoat of dark silk brocade. A buckle 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 horseman ship 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 head-dress, 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.1 I
Bernald
caP' ®?°* — lively author'nf'6" v<"'C°S' •Wiong otber suits rS armoar * ear in Spain " describes, ®useum of the arm ÿ a' SU'J t0 I36 seen 1" 'he
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 'I1056 worn by j was no stranger to the dangers of a battle. By the wdinand and his °n ' In one of comparative heights of the armour, Isabella would most consuicn Uiustn.ous consort seem to be the bigger of the two, as she certainly 's 'tie suit of armour UsUally worn stat,10.ns bv V °Ur the seems was the better." A Year in Spain, by a Young He Catholic. s,!ugly seated n war-horse, with a pair of red American (Boston, 1829), p. it*
?
Lnt"'"1'
WAR OF GRANADA.
246
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.1 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 favour, in bulls of crusade and taxes on ecclesi¬ astical rents.2 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 solem¬ ' nities, 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.8 Ihe 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 ol rank, some of whom had been taken in the fatal expedition of the 1 Cardinal Mendoza, in the campaign of I 3 In i486 we find Ferdinand and Isabella pr¬ offered the queen to raise a body of 3000 horse1485, and forming a pilgrimage to the shrine of St. James 01 march at its UI..U1U lis head ueaa to the me reliet relief ot of Alhama, and | Compostella. Carbajal, Anales, MS., afio 86. at the , so;-.* i .v fn 1.. her same t.m. time to supply with such sums of- money s | Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. t73as might be necessary in the present exigency Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 82, °7Poigur, Reyes Catdlicos, cap. so. o,.
MILITARY POLICY OF THE SOVEREIGNS.
347
Axarquia, were restored to the light of heavea 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 warfare1 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 colours 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 saddle-bow, after the barbarous fashion long practised in these wars.'It was observed that the old king Abul Hacen did not long survive his brother's accession.3 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 alfakis and other considerable persons of Granada, scan¬ dalized at these fatal feuds, effected a reconciliation on the basis of a 1
—
Pulgar,
Reyes Catdlicos, cap. 47 • Berualdex, IO qne cabezas famosas Reyes Catdlicos, MS., 1 Aveis presentado a damas ? " 75. Conde, Dominacioncap. de los Arabes, 111 cap. torn. This sort of trophy was also borae by the Christiai 37- Cardonne, Hist, de l'Afrique et de 1 Espagne, cavaliers. Examples of this may be found even as tom.iii.pp. 376, 281, 282. Abarca, ReyesdeAragon, torn. ii. fol. late as the siege of Granada. See, among others.
—
304.
—
El enjaeza el caballo "De las
the ballad beginning
.... vista
_
dos Reyes. "
de los "A cabezas de fama, »ys one of the 3 The Arabic histor. rc alludes . tobythehisvulgar old Moorish ballads. A garland of j brother, Ctu-istian heads seems to have been deemed no un port of the old king s assassma jr j but leaves us in the dark in regard to his own opinion suitable present from a Moslem knight to his lady- of its credibility: "Algunos dicen que le procure ®ve. Thus one of the Zegris triumphantly asks, la muerte su hcrmano el Rey Zagal ; pero Dios Ic 1 Que Cristianos habeis sabe, que es el unico eterno e immutable." Conde, inuerto, escalade que murallas f Dominacion de los Arabes, torn. iii. cap 38.
|
—
WAR OF GRANADA.
248
division of tfie 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.1 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 occasion 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.2 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 i486, 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 •n the possession of their ancient lands, under their own law.3 1hus the strong posts which might 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 1 Conde, Dominacion de los
—
Arabes, torn. iii. cap.
See this old romance, mixing up fact and fiction,
38. Cardonne, Hist, de l'Afrique et de I'Espagne, with more of the former than usual, in Hita, Guerras pp. 291, 292.— Mariana, Hist, de Espana, lib. 25, de Granada, torn. i. p. , 292. cap. 9.— Marmol, Rebelion de los Moriscos, lib. 1, 2 Among other achievements, Zagal surprised and cap. 12.
"
Muy revuelta anda Granada en armas y fuego ardiendo, y los ciudadanos de ella duras muertes padeciendo Por tres reyes que hay esquivoa, cada uno pretendiendo el mando, cetro y corona de Granada y su gobierno," etc.
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 Catdlicos, cap. 48. ® Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 75Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, cap. 48.—Lebrija, Rerum Gestarum, Decades, ii. lib. 3, cap. 5, 7.1 lib. 4> caP* 2, 3. Marmol, Rebelion de los Moriscos, lib. *1
—
cap. x2*
MILITARY POLICY OF THE SOVEREIGNS.
249
with the Barbary Moors, that the
afforded facilities for a communication entirely intercept On this vigilance of the Castilian cruisers could not all the strength of the point, therefore, it was determined to concentrate monarchy, by sea and land, in the ensuing campaign of 1487. Granada are Fernando del Two of the most important authorities for the war of is called from the Latin he as Nebrissensis, or Lebrija, Pulgar, and Antonio de Nebrissa. of the former. He was Few particulars have been preserved resj>ecting the biography recognize certain writers Castilian The Toledo. probably a native of Pulgar, near to Henry IV, provincialisms in his style belonging to that district. He was secretary seem-, to have retainr ! He him. by functions confidential various with charged and was historiographer his place on the accession of Isabella, by whom he was appointed national he was already in 1482, when, from certain remarks in his letters, it would appear to the advanced in years. This office, in the fifteenth century, comprehended, in addition a private more obvious duties of an historian, the intimate and confidential relations of on foreign secretary. " It was the business of the chronicler, " says Bernaldez, "to carry passing was whatever with himself acquainting his master, correspondence in the service of 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 progre-ses through the kingdom, as well as in her military expeditions into the Moorish territory. He was consequently an eye-witne*s 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 Grnnada, as his history stops 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 favourably 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 ot Mingo Pevulgo," his " Letters," and his " Claros Varones," or sketches of illustrious men, have alone been published. The last contains notices of the most distinguished individuals °f 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 17ÿ0, from the press of Benito Montfort, in large folio. Antonio de Lebrija was one of the most active and erudite scholars of this period. lie was bom 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 univer¬ sity of Bologna. He returned to Spain ten years alter, richly stored with classical learnlng and the liberal arts that were then taught in the flourishing schools of Italy. He lost rto time in dispensing to his countrymen his various acquisitions. He was appointed to e two chairs of grammar and poetry (a thing unprecedented) in the university of Sala¬ manca, and lectured at the same time in these distinct departments. He was subse¬ quently preferred by Cardinal Ximenes to a professorship in his university of AlcalA de enares, 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 erests of the institution. Here he continued, delivering his lectures and expounding
25 O
WAR OF GRANADA.
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, philo¬ logical, 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 labours 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 honours as could be rendered by posterity. For very many years, the anni¬ versary of his death was commemorated by public services, and a funeral panegyric, in the university of Alcala. 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 i486. 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 per¬ formance 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 produc¬ tion 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. 1he history, although composed, so far as it goes, with sufficient elaboration and pomp of style, is one that adds, on the whole, but little to the fame of I-ebrija. It was at best but adding a leaf to the laurel on his brow, and was certainly not worth a plagiarism.
INQUISITION IN AT AGON.
CHAPTER XII.
— INQUISITION IN ARAGON.
INTERNAL AFFAIRS OF THE KINGDOM.
1483-1487.
— —
—
—
Isabella enforces the Tÿaws. Punishment of Ecclesiastics. Inquisition in Aragon. Remon¬ strances of the Cortes. Conspiracy. Assassination of the Inquisitor Arbues. Crue Persecutions. Inquisition throughout Ferdinand's Dominions.
—
—
In such intervals of leisure as occurred amid their military operations, Ferdinand and Isabella were diligently occupied with the interior govern¬ ment of the kingdom, and especially with the rigid administration of justice, the most difficult of all duties in an imperfectly civilized state of society. The queen found especial demand for this in the northern provinces, whose rude inhabitants were little used to subordination. She compelled the great nobles to lay aside their arms and refer their disputes to legal arbi¬ tration. She caused a number of the fortresses, which were still garrisoned by the baronial banditti, to be razed to the ground ; and she enforced the utmost severity of the law against such inferior criminals as violated the public peace.1
Even ecclesiastical immunities, which proved so effectual a protection period, were not permitted to screen the offender. A remarkable instance of this occurred at the city of Truxillo, in i486. An inhabitant of that place had been committed to prison for some offence by order of the civil magistrate. Certain priests, relations of the offender, alleged that his religious profession exempted him from all but ecclesiastical jurisdiction; and as the authorities refused to deliver him up, they inflamed the populace to such a degree, by their representations °f the insult offered to the Church, that they rose in a body, and, forcing t e prison, set at liberty not only the malefactor in question, but all those confined there. The queen no sooner heard of this outrage on the royal authority than she sent a detachment of her guard to Truxillo, which secured the persons of the principal rioters, some of whom were capitally punished, while the ecclesiastics who had stirred up the sedition were anished the realm. Isabella, while by her example she inculcated the pest reverence for the sacred profession, uniformly resisted every empt from that quarter to encroach on the royal prerogative. The ency pf her administration was decidedly, as there will be occasion more particularly to notice, to abridge the authority which the clergy had exercised in civil matters under preceding reigns.2 in most countries at this
C»P. 10
tKeru{? Gestarum Decades, iii. lib. I, I
- Pulcrar, Reyes Cat<51icos, cap. 66.—A pertinent
V Alcali ÿ-cye!> Catdlicos, t-atolicos, of this occurred, December, 1485, cap. 27. 67° _ y.l'f.f ' deexample . ' L. Marineo, Cosas memorables, was detained during: Henares, where the
33. 67, p. et „ 1:1
fol. [,r5"
ÿ
part. 3,
Zunta. Anales. torn. iv. fol. 348.
at
37,
court
the illness of the queen, who there gave birth to her
INTERNAL AFFAIRS. Nothing of interest occurred in the foreign relations of the kingdom during the period embraced by the preceding chapter, except perhaps the marriage of Catharine, the young queen of Navarre, with Jean d'Albret, a French nobleman, whose extensive hereditary domains, in the south-west corner of France, lay adjacent to her kingdom. (1484-) This connection was extremely distasteful to the Spanish sovereigns, and indeed to many of the Navarrese, who were desirous of the alliance with Castile. This was ultimately defeated by the queen-mother, an artful woman, who, being of the blood-royal of France, was naturally disposed to a union with that kingdom. Ferdinand did not neglect to maintain such an understanding with the malcontents of Navarre as should enable him to counteract any undue advantage which the French monarch might derive from the pos¬ session of this key, as it were, to the Castilian territory.1 In Aragon, two circumstances took place in the period under review deserving historical notice. The first relates to an order of the Catalan peasantry, denominated vassals de re/nenza. These persons were subjected to a feudal bondage, which had its origin in very remote ages, but which had become in no degree mitigated, while the peasantry of every other part of Europe had been gradually rising to the rank of freemen. The grievous nature of the impositions had led to repeated rebellions in pre¬ ceding reigns. At length Ferdinand, after many fruitless attempts at a mediation between these unfortunate people and their arrogant masters, prevailed on the latter, rather by force of authority than argument, to relinquish the extraordinary seignorial rights which they had hitherto enjoyed, in consideration of a stipulated annual payment from their vassals.2 (i486.) The other circumstance worthy of record, but not in like manner credit¬ able to the character of the sovereign, is the introduction of the Modern Inquisition into Aragon. The ancient tribunal had existed there, as has been stated in a previous chapter, since the middle of the thirteenth century, but seems to have lost all its venom in the atmosphere of that free country ; scarcely assuming a jurisdiction beyond that of an ordinary ecclesiastical court. No sooner, however, was the institution organized on its new basis in Castile, than Ferdinand resolved on its introduction, in a similar form, in his own dominions. Measures were accordingly taken to that effect at a meeting of his privy council convened by the king at Taragona, during the session of the cortes in that place, in April 1484 ; and a royal order was issued, requiring all the constituted authorities throughout the kingdom to support the new youngest child, Dona Catalina, afterwards so cele¬ brated in English history as Catharine of Aragon.
A collision took place in this city between the royal judges and those of the archbishop of Toledo, to whose diocese it belonged. The latter stoutly main¬ tained the pretensions of the Church. The queen with equal pertinacity asserted the supremacy of the royal jurisdiction over every other in the king¬ dom, secular or ecclesiastical. The affair was ulti¬
mately referred to the arbitration of certain learned men, named conjointly by the adverse parties. was not then determined, however, and Pulgar ha.ÿ neglected to acquaint us with the award. ÿeye Catdlicos, cap. 53. Carbajal, Anales, MS.,ano i4B51 Aleson, Anales de Navarra, torn. v. lib. 35> cap. 2. Zurita, Anales, torn. iv. cap. 52, 67- Mariana, Hist, de EspaSa, lib. 25, cap. 8.
_
—
*
—
INQUISITION IN AX AGON.
253
A Dominican monk, Fray canon of the metropolitan a Epila, de Gaspard Juglar, and Pedro Arbues inquisitors over the Torquemada, general, the church, were appointed by following, the September of month the in and ; diocese of Saragossa took the pre¬ realm the of officers great other the and chief justiciary scribed oaths.1 to The new institution, opposed to the ideas of independence common ot many orders, higher the to all the Aragonese, was particularly offensive official considerable most the filling whose members, including persons stations, were of Jewish descent, and of course precisely the class exposed to the scrutiny of the Inquisition. Without difficulty, therefore, the cortes was persuaded in the following year to send a deputation to the court o« Rome, and another to Ferdinand, representing the repugnance of the new tribunal to the liberties of the nation, as well as to their settled opinions and habits, and praying that its operation might be suspended lor the present, so far, at least, as concerned the confiscation of property, which it rightly regarded as the moving power of the whole terrible machinery." Both the pope and the king, as may be imagined, turned a deaf ear to these remonstrances. In the meanwhile the Inquisition commenced operations, and autos da fe were celebrated at Saragossa, with all their usual horrors, in the months of May and June, in 1485. The discontented Aragonese, despairing of redress in any regular way, resolved to intimidate their oppressors by some appalling act of violence. They formed a con¬ spiracy for the assassination ot Arbues, the most odious of the inquisitors established over the diocese of Saragossa. The conspiracy, set on foot by some of the principal nobility, was entered into by most of the new Chris¬ tians, or persons of Jewish extraction, in the district. The sum of ten thousand reals was subscribed to defray the necessary expenses for the execution of their project. This was not easy, however, since Arbues, onscious of the popular odium that he had incurred, protected his person Dy wearing under his monastic robes a suit of mail, complete even to the lielmet beneath his hood. With similar vigilance he defended also every avenue to his sleeping apartment.3 At length, however, the conspirators found an opportunity of surprising 1111 while at his devotions. Arbues was on his knees before the great
tribunal in the exercise of its functions.
1
Llorente, Hist, de l'Inquisition, torn. t. chap. 6,
"t 2.—Zurita,
Anales, lib.
—
cap. 65. At this fortes, convened at Taragona,20,Ferdinand and Isa, ? experienced an instance of the haughty spirit ot their Catalan subjects, who refused to attend, alle e§'ng it to be a
violation of their liberties to be
without the limits of their nS~nrdj't0 alkcPlace Valencians also protested that
their rm
ance sllou'd not operate as a precedent o ?rejudlce- 11 was usual to convene a cenS?rtes at h>raga, or Monzon, or some °f their cdtae<-ata'ans, who were peculiarly jealous jPnvdeges, claimed to be within their terrimore usual to hold separate cortes the thre'ÿv klngdoms simultaneously in such conP'ttces in each as would permit the royal
to their
traS
«J«r
presence in all during their session. See Biancas, Modo de proceder en Cortes de Aragon (Zaragoza, 1641), cap. 4. By one of the articles in the PrivilegiuinGenerale, Que the hlagna Charta of Aragon, it is declared, "como turment : ni inquisicion ; uo sian en Aragon pesquisa alguna que qual dize el c. ucio r contra Fuero sian sian contra „] „i „„„i eTaual no hauemos : et_ contra el pri (pueros vObserviedaque inquisicion so sia y - t ,| though vancias, fol. n.). The tenor of 'his clause (aunouÿn the term inquisicion m was sufflciently the name ot the modern . secure the Araprecise one might have
—
.....
thoughtÿto secureÿ
(a°S , S°"eso from chap. ;tion cn. p 6, art. 3 Llorente, Hist, de 1 Inquisition, a, 3ÿ
INTERNAL AFFAIRS.
*54
altar of the cathedral, near midnight, when his enemies, who had entered
the church in two separate bodies, suddenly surrounded him, and one of them wounded him in the arm with a dagger, while another dealt him a fatal blow in the back of his neck. The priests, who were preparing to celebrate matins in the choir of the church, hastened to the spot, but not before the assassins had effected their escape. They transported the bleeding body of the inquisitor to his apartment, where he survived only two days, blessing the Lord that he had been permitted to seal so good a cause with his blood. The whole scene will readily remind the English reader of the assassination of Thomas A Becket.1 The event did not correspond with the expectations of the conspirators. Sectarian jealousy proved stronger than hatred of the Inquisition. The populace, ignorant of the extent or ultimate object of the conspiracy, were filled with vague apprehensions of an insurrection of the new Christians, who had so often been the objects of outrage ; and they could only be appeased by the archbishop of Saragossa riding through the streets and proclaiming that no time should be lost in detecting and punishing the assassins. This promise was abundantly fulfilled ; and wide was the ruin occasioned by the indefatigable zeal with which the bloodhounds of the tribunal followed up the scent. In the course of this persecution, two hundred individuals perished at the stake, and a still greater number in the dungeons of the Inquisition ; and there was scarcely a noble family in Aragon but witnessed one or more of its members condemned to humiliat¬ ing penance in the autos da fe. The immediate perpetrators of the murder were all hanged, after suffering the amputation of their right hands. One, who had appeared as evidence against the rest under assurance of pardon, had his sentence so far commuted that his hand was not cut off till after he had been hanged. It was thus that the Holy Office interpreted its promises of grace.2 Arbues received all the honours of a martyr. His ashes were interred on the spot where he had been assassinated.3 A superb mausoleum was erected over them, and beneath his effigy a bas-relief was sculptured representing his tragical death, with an inscription containing a suitable denunciation of the race of Israel. And at length, when the lapse of nearly two centuries had supplied the requisite amount of miracles, the Spanish Inquisition had the glory of adding a new saint to the calendar,
—
1 Llorente, ubi supra. Paramo, De Origine Inquisitionis, pp. 182, 183. Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, torn. viii. pp. 37, 38. 2 Llorente, Hist, de l'lnquisition, torn. i. chap. 6, art. 5. Blancas, Aragonensium Rerum Commentarii (Csesaraugustaÿ 1588), p. 266.—Among those who, after a tedious imprisonment, were condemned to do penance in an auto da fe, was a nephew of king Ferdinand, Don James of Navarre. Mariana, willing to point the tale with a suitable moral, informs us that, although none of the conspirators were ever brought to trial, they all perished miserably within
—
—
a year, in different ways, by the judgment of God. (Hist, de Espana, torn. li. p. 368.) Unfortunately for the effect of this moral, Llorente, who consulted the original processes, must be received as the better authority of the two. 3 According to Paramo, when the corpse of the • inquisitor was brought to the place where he had been assassinated, the blood, which had been coagu lated on the pavement, smoked up and boiled with most miraculous fervour ! De Origine Inquisitionis, P- 382.
CONQUEST OF MALAGA.
*55
by the canonization of the martyr under Pope Alexander the Seveiuii, in 1664.1 The failure of the attempt to shake off the tribunal served only, as usual in such cases, to establish it more firmly than before. Efforts at resistance were subsequently, but ineffectually, made in other parts of Aragon, ant! in Valencia and Catalonia. It was not established in the latter province till 1487, and some years later in Sicily, Sardinia, and the Balearic Isles. Thus Ferdinand had the melancholy satisfaction of riveting the most galling yoke ever devised by fanaticism round the necks of a people who till that period had enjoyed probably the greatest degree of constitutional freedom which the world had witnessed.
CHAPTER XIIL WAR OF GRANADA.
— SURRENDER
-SIEGE AND CONQt KS1
OF VELEZ MALAGA.
OF MALAGA.
1487. Narrow Escape of Ferdinand before Velez.— Malaga invested by Sea and Land. —Brilliant Spectacle.—The Queen visits the Camp.—Attempt to assassinate the Sovereigns.— Distress and Resolution of the Besieged.— Enthusiasm of the Christians. Outworks carried by them.— Proposals for Surrender.— Haughty Demeanour of Ferdinand.— Malaga surrenders at Discretion. Cruel Policy of the Victors.
—
—
Before commencing operations against Malaga, it was thought expedient by the Spanish council of war to obtain possession of Velez Malaga, situated about five leagues distant from the former. This strong town itood along the southern extremity of a range of mountains that extend to Granada. Its position afforded an easy communication with that capital, and obvious means of annoyance to an enemy interposed between itself and the adjacent city of Malaga. The reduction of this place, there¬ fore, became the first object of the campaign. The forces assembled at Cordova, consisting of the levies of the Andalusian cities principally, of the retainers of the great nobility, and of the well-appointed chivalry which thronged from all quarters of the kingdom, amounted on this occasion to twelve thousand horse and forty thousand foot • a number which sufficiently attests the unslackened ardour of the nation in the prosecution of the war. On the of April 14ÿ7) King Ferdinand, putting himself at the head of this7thformidable host, quitted the fair city of Cordova amid the cheering acclamations of its Inquisitionis, p. 183— bWntram& DedeOrigine 1'Inquisition, chap. 6, art. 4.— France according to Llorente, could boa*!st a sainta!so> inquisitor. Their renown, how4t
ever, has been eclipsedbythesuperior splendour,
_
of their great master, St. Dominic , « pjjs inconnus d'un si glorieux p£re."
WAR OF GRANADA.
256
inhabitants, although these were somewhat damped by the ominous occur¬ rence of an earthquake, which demolished a part of the royal residence, The route, after among other edifices, during the preceding night traversing the Yeguas and the old town of Antequera, struck into a wild, hilly country that stretches towards Velez. The rivers were so much swollen by excessive rains, and the passes so rough and difficult, that the army in part of its march advanced only a league a day ; and on one occasion, when no suitable place occurred for encampment for the space of five leagues, the men fainted with exhaustion, and the beasts dropped down dead in the harness. At length, on the 17th of April, the Spanish army sat down before Velez Malaga, where in a few days they were joined by the lighter pieces of their battering ordnance, the roads, notwithstanding the immense labour expended on them, being found impracticable for the heavier guns.1 The Moors were aware of the importance of Velez to the security of Malaga. The sensation excited in Granada by the tidings of its danger was so strong, that the old chief, El Zagal, found it necessary to make an effort to relieve the beleaguered city, notwithstanding the critical posture in which his absence would leave his affairs in the capital. Dark clouds of the enemy were seen throughout the day mustering along the heights, which by night were illumined with a hundred fires. Ferdinand's utmost' vigilance was required for the protection of his camp against the ambuscades and nocturnal sallies of his wily foe. At length, however, El Zagal, having been foiled in a well-concerted attempt to surprise the Christian quarters by night, was driven across the mountains by the marquis of Cadiz, and compelled to retreat on his capital, completely baffled in his enterprise. There the tidings of his disaster had preceded him. The fickle populace, with whom misfortune passes for misconduct, unmindful of his former successes, now hastened to transfer their allegi¬ ance to his rival, Abdallah, and closed the gates against him ; and the unfortunate chief withdrew to Guadix, which, with Almeria, Baza, and some less considerable places, still remained faithful.2 Ferdinand conducted the siege all the while with his usual vigour, and spared no exposure of his person to peril or fatigue. On one occasion, seeing a party of Christians retreating in disorder before a squadron of the enemy, who had surprised them while fortifying an eminence near the city, the king, who was at dinner in his tent, rushed out with no other defensive armour than his cuirass, and, leaping on his horse, charged briskly into the midst of the enemy, and succeeded in rallying his own men. In the midst of the rencontre, however, when he had discharged his lance, he v edmar, Aiitigtitdad y Grandezas de la Ciudad de Velez (Granada, 1652), fol. 148.—Mariana, Hist. dt. I' spana, torn. ii. lib. 25, cap. 10.—Pulgar, Reyes Cat61icos, part. iii. cap. 70. Carbajal, Anales, MS. ano 1487. Bleda, Cordnica. lib. 5, cap. 14.—In the general summons to Alava for the campaign of this year, we find a particular call on the cavalleros and
—
—
hidalgos, with the assurance of pay during the tifli of service, and the menace of forfeiting their privi¬ leges as exempts from taxation, in case of non-com pliance. Col. de Cddulas, torn. iv. no. 20. - Cardonne, Hist, de l'Afrique et de I'Espagn-t. torn. iii. pp. 292-294. — Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, u. supra.— Vedmar, Antigiiedad de Velez, fol- ies"
CONQUEST OF MALAGA.
*57
found himself unable to extricate his sword from the scabbard which hurg from the saddle-bow. At this moment he was assaulted by several Moors, and must have been either slain or taken but for the timely rescue of the marquis of Cadiz, and a brave cavalier, Garcilasso de la Vega, who, galloping up to the spot with their attendants, succeeded, after a sharp skirmish, in beating off the enemy. Ferdinand's nobles remonstrated with him on this wanton exposure of his person, representing that he could serve them more effectually with his head than his hand. But he answered that "he could not stop to calculate chances when his subjects were perilling their lives for his sake;" a reply, says Pulgar, which endeared him to the whole army.1 At length, the inhabitants of Velez, seeing the ruin impending from the bombardment of the Christians, whose rigorous blockade both by sea and land excluded all hopes of relief from without, consented to capitulate on the usual conditions of security to their persons, property, and religion. The capitulation of this place (April 27th, 1487) was followed by that of more than twenty places of inferior note lying between it and Malaga, so that the approaches to this latter city were now left open to the victorious Spaniards.2 This ancient city, which, under the Spanish Arabs in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, formed the capital of an independent principality, was second only to the metropolis itself, in the kingdom of Granada. Its fruitful environs furnished abundant articles of export, while its com¬ modious port on the Mediterranean opened a traffic with the various countries washed by that inland sea, and with the remoter regions of India Owing to these advantages, the inhabitants acquired unbounded opulence, which showed itself in the embellishments of their city, whose light forms of architecture, mingling after the Eastern fashion with odori¬ ferous gardens and fountains of sparkling water, presented an appearance most refreshing to the senses in this sultry climate.3 The city was encompassed by fortifications of great strength and in perfect repair. It was commanded by a citadel, connected by a covered way with a second fortress, impregnable from its position, denominated Gebalfaro, which stood along the declivities of the bold sierra of the Axarquia, whose defiles had proved so disastrous to the Christians. The city lay between two spacious suburbs, the one on the land side being also encircled by a formidable wall, and the other declining towards the sea, showing an expanse of olive, orange, and pomegranate gardens, intermingled with the rich vineyards that furnished the celebrated staple for its export. 3 Conde doubts whether the name of Malaga U
derived from the Greek fiaXaKT], signifying --agree¬ able," or the Arabic malka, meaning " royal." Either etymology is sufficiently pertinent. (See El Nubiense, Descripcion de Espaha, p. 186, nota.) For notices of sovereigns who swayed the sceptre of Malaga, see Casiri, Bibliothcca Escurialensis, torn. iL pp. 41, 56, 99, et alibi. R
258
WAR OF GRANADA.
Malaga was well prepared for a siege by supplies of artillery and ammunition. Its ordinary garrison was reinforced by volunteers from the neighbouring towns, and by a corps of African mercenaries, Gomeres, as they were called, men of ferocious temper, but of tried valour and military discipline. The command of this important post had been intrusted by El Zagal to a noble Moor, named Hamet Zeli, whose renown in the present war had been established by his resolute defence of Ronda. 1 Ferdinand, while lying before Velez, received intelligence that many of the wealthy burghers of Malaga were inclined to capitulate at once, rather than hazard the demolition of their city by an obstinate resistance. He instructed the marquis of Cadiz, therefore, to open a negotiation with Hamet Zeli, authorizing him to make the most liberal offers to the alcayde himself, as well as his garrison and the principal citizens of the place, on condition of immediate surrender. The sturdy chief, however, rejected the proposal with disdain, replying that he had been commissioned by his master to defend the place to the last extremity, and that the Chris¬ tian king could not offer a bribe large enough to make him betray his trust. Ferdinand, finding little prospect of operating on this Spartan temper, broke up his camp before Velez on the 7th of May, and advanced with his whole army as far as Bezmillana, a place on the sea-board about two leagues distant from Malaga.2 The line of march now lay through a valley commanded at the extremity nearest the city by two eminences ; the one on the sea-coast, the other facing the fortress of the Gebalfaro, and forming part of the wild sierra which overshadowed Malaga on the north. The enemy occupied both these important positions. A corps of Galicians was sent forward to dislodge them from the eminence towards the sea. But it failed in the assault, and, notwithstanding it was led up a second time by the com¬ mander of Leon and the brave Garcilasso de la Vega,3 was again repulsed by the intrepid foe. A similar fate attended the assault on the sierra, which was conducted by the troops of the royal household. They were driven back on the van¬ guard, which had halted in the valley under command of the grand mastei Being of St. James, prepared to support the attack on either side. reinforced, the Spaniards returned to the charge with the most determined resolution. They were encountered by the enemy with equal spirit. The 1 Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, torn. lii. p. 237-— Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, cap. 74.—El Nubiense, Descripcion de Espaha, p. 144, nota.
_
2 Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 82. Vedmar, Antiguedad de Velez, fol. 154.—Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, cap. 74. a This cavaiier, who took a conspicuous part in both the military and civil transactions of this reign, was descended from one of the most ancient and honourable houses in Castile. Hita (Guerras civiles de Granada, torn. i. p. 399), with more effrontery than usual, has imputed to him a chivalrous ren-
contre with a Saracen, which is recorded of an an¬
cestor, in the ancient Chronicle of Alonso XI. •
de la Vega " Garcilaso desde alii se ha intitulado, porque en la Vega hicieraÿ campo con aquel pagano."
Oviedo, however, with good reason, distrusts the etymology and the story, as he traces both the cognomen and the peculiar device of the family to a mucn older date than the period assigned in the Chronic e. Quincuagenas, MS., bat. x, quinc. 3, dial. 41
CONQUEST OF MALAGA.
259
latter throwing away their lances, precipitated themselves on the ranks of the assailants, making use only of their daggers, grappling closely man to man, till both rolled promiscuously together down the steep sides of the ravine. No mercy was asked or shown. None thought of sparing or of spoiling, for hatred, says the chronicler, was stronger than avarice. The main body of the army, in the meanwhile, pent up in the valley, were compelled to witness the mortal conflict, and listen to the exulting cries of the enemy, which, after the Moorish custom, rose high and shrill above the din of battle, without being able to advance a step in support of their companions, who were again forced to give way before their impetuous adversaries, and fall back on the vanguard under the grand master of St
Here, however, they speedily rallied, and, being reinforced, advanced to the charge a third time with such inflexible courage as bore down all opposition, and compelled the enemy, exhausted, or rather over¬ powered by superior numbers, to abandon his position. At the same time the rising-ground on the seaside was carried by the Spaniards under the commander of Leon and Garcilasso de la Vega, who, dividing their forces, charged the Moors so briskly in front and rear that they were compelled to retreat on the neighbouring fortress of Gebalfaro.1 As it was evening before these advantages were obtained, the army did not defile into the plains around Malaga before the following morning, when dispositions were made for its encampment. The eminence on the sierra, so bravely contested, was assigned, as the post of greatest danger, to the marquis duke of Cadiz. It was protected by strong works lined with artillery, and a corps of two thousand five hundred horse and fourteen thousand foot was placed under the immediate command of that nobleman. A line of defence was constructed along the declivity from this redoubt to the sea-shore. Similar works, consisting of a deep trench and palisades, or, where the soil was too rocky to admit of them, of an embankment or mound of earth, were formed in front of the encampment, which embraced the whole circuit of the city ; and the blockade was completed by a fleet of armed vessels, galleys and caravels, which rode in the harbour under the command of the Catalan admiral, Requesens, and effectually cut off all communication by water.2 The old chronicler Bernaldez warms at the aspect of the fair city of Malaga, thus encompassed by Christian legions, whose deep lines, stretching far over hill and valley, reached quite round from one arm of the sea to the other. In the midst of this brilliant encampment was seen the royal pavilion, proudly displaying the united banners of Castile and mgon, and forming so conspicuous a mark for the enemy's artillery that mdinand, after imminent hazard, was at length compelled to shift his Quarters. The Christians were not slow in erecting counter-batteries ; but
James.
de' MUiÿr'0Za'Re)'es Cat<51icos, cap. 75. — Salazar I Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 83— *~rdn. del Gran Cardenal, lib. Pulgar,Reyes Catdlicos, cap 76.— Carbajal, Anales, 2
ÿP- 5<i *
1,
j
I MS. , ano *487.
20O
WAR OF GRANADA.
the work was obliged to be carried on at night, in order to screen them from the fire of the besieged.1 The first operations of the Spaniards were directed against the suburb, on the land side of the city. The attack was intrusted to the count of Cifuentes, the nobleman who had been made prisoner in the affair of the Axarquia and subsequently ransomed. The Spanish ordnance was served with such effect that a practicable breach was soon made in the wall. The combatants now poured their murderous volleys on each other through the opening, and at length met on the ruins of the breach. After a desperate struggle, the Moors gave way. The Christians rushed into the inclosure, at the same time effecting a lodgment on the rampart, and although a part of it, undermined by the enemy, gave way with a terrible crash, they still kept possession of the remainder, and at length drove their antagonists, who sullenly retreated step by step, within the fortifications of the city. The lines were then drawn close around the place. Every avenue of communication was strictly guarded, and every preparation was made for reducing the town by regular blockade.2 In addition to the cannon brought round by water from Velez, the heavier lombards, which from the difficulty of transportation had been left during the late siege at Antequera, were now conducted, across roads levelled for the purpose, to the camp. Supplies of marble bullets were also brought from the ancient and depopulated city of Algezira, where they had lain ever since its capture in the preceding century by Alfonso the Eleventh. The camp was filled with operatives employed in the manu¬ facture of balls and powder, which were stored in subterranean magazines, and in the fabrication of those various kinds of battering enginery which continued in use long after the introduction of gunpowder.3 During the early part of the siege, the camp experienced some temporary inconvenience from the occasional interruption of the supplies transported by water. Rumours of the appearance of the plague in some of the adjacent villages caused additional uneasiness ; and deserters who passed into Malaga reported these particulars with the usual exaggeration, and encouraged the besieged to persevere, by the assurance that Ferdinand could not much longer keep the field, and that the queen had actually written to advise his breaking up the camp. Under these circumstances, Ferdinand saw at once the importance of the queen's presence in order to dispel the delusion of the enemy and to give new heart to his soldiers. He accordingly sent a message to Cordova, where she was holding her court, requesting her appearance in the camp. Isabella had proposed to join her husband before Velez, on receiving tidings of El Zagal's march from Granada, and had actually enforced levies of all persons capable of bearing arms, between twenty and seventy years 1 Pulgar, Reyes Cat(5licos,ubi
supra.—Bernaldez, ub' s?praC0S' 2yD . 2 Peter .Cat™ MartwMJ?-> Opus Epist lib. 1, eput. 63.Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, cap. 76.— Bemaldez. Reyes
Catdlicos, cap. 8*—Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. i, quinc. i, dial. 36. » Pulgar, Reyes Cakicos, cap. /(S.
CONQUEST OF MALAGA.
261
disbanded them on learn¬ ofag» throughout Andalusia, but subsequently hesitation, she now Without ing th discomfiture of the Moorish army. other dignitaries and Spain of set foi mrd, accompanied by the cardinal courtly train of a and Isabella, infanta of the :hurch together with the received at was She her person. on attendance ladies aid cavaliers in the grand and Cadiz of marquis the by camp the from a short distance enthusiastic the amidst her quarters to escorted )f and St. James, master A grace greeting s of the soldiery. Hope now brightened every countenance. gallants young the and war of ; seemed to be shed over the rugged features thronged from all quarters to the camp, eager to win the guerdon of valour from the hands of those from whom it is most grateful to receive it.1 Ferdinand, who had hitherto brought into action only the lighter pieces of ordnance, from a willingness to spare the noble edifices of the city, now pointed his heaviest guns against its walls. Before opening his fire, how ever, he again summoned the place, offering the usual liberal terms in case of immediate compliance, and engaging otherwise, "with the blessing of God, to make them all slaves " ! But the heart of the alcayde was hardened like that of Pharaoh, says the Andalusian chronicler, and the people were swelled with vain hopes, so that their ears were closed against the proposal ; orders were even issued to punish with death any attempt at a parley. On the contrary, they made answer by a more lively cannonade than before, along the whole line of ramparts and fortresses which overhung the city. Sallies were also made at almost every hour of the day and night on every assailable point of the Christian lines, so that the camp was kept in perpetual alarm. In one of the nocturnal sallies, a body of two thousand men from the castle of Gebalfaro succeeded in surprising the quarters of the marquis of Cadiz, who, with his followers, was exhausted by fatigue and watching during the two preceding nights. e Christians, bewildered with the sudden tumult which broke their umber, were thrown into the greatest confusion ; and the marquis, who half armed from his tent, found no little difficulty in bringing them 0 order, and beating off the assailants, after receiving a wound in the arm r°m an arrow ; while he had a still narrower escape from the ball of an that penetrated his buckler and hit him below the cuirass, but ortunately so much spent as to do him no injury.2 e Moors were not unmindful of the importance of Malaga, or the ga antry with which it was defended. They made several attempts to e it, the failure of which was owing less to the Christians than to aC ery anc* their own miserable feuds. A body of cavalry, which El 2 esPatched from Guadix to throw succours into the beleagured city, Was je"C0Untered and cut to pieces by a superior force of the young king A1 who consummated his baseness by sending an embassy to the
pushed
jtfquebuse,
1, cap. g!e_H-en<?oza> *--r<5n del Gran Cardenal, „n»ldez p.,. lir"a' Anales, torn. iv. cap. 70.— ÿaJdlicos MS. cap. 83. Ulcila' (v_v-eSCordnica, lib. c. cap. 15—C'onde, Domi-
——
nacion de los Arabes, torn. iv. pp. 337, 238. Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 83 Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, cap. 79.
26?
WAR OF GRANADA.
Christian camp, charged with a present of Arabian horses sumptuously caparisoned to Ferdinand, and of costly silks and Oriental perfumes to the queen ; at the same time complimenting them on their successes, and soliciting the continuance of their friendly dispositions towards himself. Ferdinand and Isabella requited this act of humiliation by securing to Abdallah's subjects the right of cultivating their fields in quiet, and of trafficking with the Spaniards in every commodity save military stores. At this paltry price did the dastard prince consent to stay his arm at the only moment when it could be used effectually for his country.1 More serious consequences were like to have resulted from an attempt made by another party of Moors from Guadix to penetrate the Christian lines. Part of them succeeded, and threw themselves into the besieged city. The remainder were cut in pieces. There was one, however, who, making no show of resistance, was taken prisoner without harm to his person. Being brought before the marquis of Cadiz, he informed that nobleman that he could make some important disclosures to the sovereigns. He was accordingly conducted to the royal tent ; but, as Ferdinand was taking his siesta, in the sultry hour of the day, the queen, moved by divine inspiration, according to the Castilian historian, deferred the audience till her husband should awake, and commanded the prisoner to be detained in the adjoining tent. This was occupied by Dona Beatrix de Bobadilla, marchioness of Moya, Isabella's early friend, who happened to be at that time engaged in discourse with a Portuguese nobleman, Don Alvaro, son of the duke of Braganza.2 The Moor did not understand the Castilian language, and, deceived by the rich attire and courtly bearing of these personages, he mistook them for the king and queen. While in the act of refreshing himself with a glass of water, he suddenly drew a dagger from beneath the broad folds of his albornoz, or Moorish mantle, which he had been incautiously suffered to retain, and darting on the Portuguese prince, gave him a deep wound on the head, and then, turning like lightning on the marchioness, aimed a stroke at her, which fortunately glanced without injury, the point of the weapon being turned by the heavy embroidery of her robes. Before he could repeat his blow, the Moorish Scaevola, with a fate very different from that of his Roman prototype, was pierced with a hundred wounds by the attendants, who rushed to the spot, alarmed by the cries of the marchion¬ ess, and his mangled remains were soon after discharged from a catapult 1 Pulgar, Reyes Cat(51icos,ubi 2 This supra.— During the nobleman, Don Alvaro de Portugal, had siege, ambassadors arrived from an African poten¬ fled his native country, and sought an asylum m tate, the king of Tremecen, bearing a magnificent Castile from the vindictive enmity of John II.» y, piesent to the Castilian sovereigns, interceding for had put to death the duke of Braganza, his eider the Malayans, and at the same time asking protec¬ brother. He was kindly received by Isabella, to tion for his subjects from the Spanish cruisers in the whom he was nearly related, and subsequently pre¬ Mediterranean. The sovereigns graciously com¬ ferred to several important offices of state. His son, plied with the latter request, and complimented 0 African monarch with a plate of gold, on which the the count of Gelves, married a granddaughter the Christopher Columbus. Oviedo, Quincuagenas, royal arms were curiously embossed, says Bernaldez, MS. Reyes Catdlicos, cap. 84.
CONQUEST OF MALAGA.
263
into the city j a foolish bravado, which the besieged requited by slaying a Galician gentleman and sending his corpse astride upon a mule through the gates of the town into the Christian camp.1 This daring attempt on the lives of the king and queen spread general consternation throughout the army. Precautions were taken for the future, by ordinances prohibiting the introduction of any unknown person armed, or any Moor whatever, into the royal quarters; and the body¬ guard was augmented by the addition of two hundred hidalgos of Castile and Aragon, who, with their retainers, were to keep constant watch over the persons of the sovereigns. Meanwhile, the city of Malaga, whose natural population was greatly swelled by the influx of its foreign auxiliaries, began to be straitened for supplies, while its distress was aggravated by the spectacle of abundance which reigned throughout the Spanish camp. Still, however, the people, overawed by the soldiery, did not break out into murmurs, nor did they relax in any degree the pertinacity of their resistance. Their drooping spirits were cheered by the predictions of a fanatic, who promised that they should eat the grain which they saw in the Christian camp ; a prediction which came to be verified, like most others that are verified at all, in a very different sense from that intended or understood. The incessant cannonade kept up by the besieging army, in the mean¬ time, so far exhausted their ammunition that they were constrained to seek supplies from the most distant parts of the kingdom, and from foreign countries. The arrival of two Flemish transports at this juncture, from the emperor of Germany, whose interest had been roused in the crusade, afforded a seasonable reinforcement of military stores and
munitions. The obstinate defence of Malaga had given the siege such celebrity that volunteers, eager to share in it, flocked from all parts of the Peninsula to
the royal standard.
Among others, the duke of Medina Sidonia, who had
furnished his quota of troops at the opening of the campaign, now arrived
m person with a reinforcement, together with a hundred galleys freighted with supplies, and a loan of twenty thousand doblas of gold to the sovereigns for the expenses of the war. Such was the deep interest in it excited throughout the nation, and the alacrity which every order of men exhibited in supporting its enormous burdens.2 The Castilian army, swelled by these daily augmentations, varied in its amount, according to different estimates, from sixty to ninety thousand men. Throughout this immense host the most perfect discipline was maintained. Gaming was restrained by ordinances interdicting the use °f dice and cards, of which the lower orders were passionately fond. dial o, tJ Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, Martyr, Opus Epist., lib. 1, epist. 43-~BtVn,ijter ez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 84.
Bleda, Cordnica, lib. 5, cap. 15.—L. Marineo, Cosai memorables, fol. 17s, 176.
Reyes Catdlicos, cap. 87-89.— Bemal— dez, Pulgar, Reye* Catdlicos, MS., cap 84 2
WAR OF GRANADA.
264
Blasphemy was severely punished. Prostitutes, the common pest of a camp, were excluded ) and so entire was the subordination, that not a knife was drawn, and scarcely a brawl occurred, says the historian, among the motley multitude. Besides the higher ecclesiastics who attended the court, the camp was well supplied with holy men, priests, friars, and the chaplains of the great nobility, who performed the exercises of religion in their respective quarters with all the pomp and splendour of the Roman Catholic worship ; exalting the imaginations of the soldiers into the high devotional feeling which became those who were fighting the teattles of the Cross.1 Hitherto, Ferdinand, relying on the blockade, and yielding to the queen's desire to spare the lives of her soldiers, had formed no regular plan of assault upon the town. But as the season rolled on without the least demonstration of submission on the part of the besieged, he resolved to storm the works, which, if attended by no other consequences, might at least serve to distress the enemy and hasten the hour of surrender. Large wooden towers on rollers were accordingly constructed, and provided with an apparatus of drawbridges and ladders, which, when brought near to the ramparts, would open a descent into the city. Galleries were also wrought, some for the purpose of penetrating into the place, and others to sap the foundations of the walls. The whole of these operations was placed under the direction of Francisco Ramirez, the celebrated engineer of Madrid. But the Moors anticipated the completion of these formidable pre¬ parations by a brisk, well-concerted attack on all points of the Spanish lines. They countermined the assailants, and, encountering them in the subterraneous passages, drove them back, and demolished the frame-work of the galleries. At the same time, a little squadron of armed vessels, which had been riding in safety under the guns of the city, pushed out and engaged the Spanish fleet. Thus the battle raged with fire and sword, above and under ground, along the ramparts, the ocean, and the land, at the same time. Even Pulgar cannot withhold his tribute of admiration to this unconquerable spirit in an enemy wasted by all the extremities of famine and fatigue. " Who does not marvel," he says, " at the bold heart of these infidels in battle, their prompt obedience to their chiefs, their dexterity in the wiles of war, their patience under privation, and undaunted perseverance in their purposes ? " 2 A circumstance occurred in a sortie from the city, indicating a trait of character worth recording. A noble Moor, named Abrahen Zenete, fell in with a number of Spanish children who had wandered from their quarters. Without injuring them, he touched them gently with the handle of his lance, saying, « Get ye gone, varlets, to your mothers." On
•• Co»d.. Domin.cion 'd.
,„m. i!i
„„ |dt T°""'
"ÿ
•»
CONQUEST OF MALAGA.
265
being rebuked by his comrades, who inquired why he had let them escape "An example of magnanimity," says the Curate of Los Palacios, " truly wonderful in a heathen, and which might have reflected credit on a Christian hidalgo." 1 But no virtue or valour could avail the unfortunate Malagans against the overwhelming force of their enemies, who, driving them back from every point, compelled them, after a desperate struggle of six hours, to shelter themselves within the defences of the town. The Christians followed up their success. A mine was sprung near a tower connected by a bridge of four arches with the main works of the place. The Moors, scattered and intimidated by the explosion, retreated across the bridge ; and the Spaniards, carrying the tower, whose guns completely enfiladed it, obtained possession of this important pass into the beleaguered city. For these and other signal services during the siege, Francisco Ramirez, the master of the ordnance, received the honours of knighthood from the hand of King Ferdinand.2 The citizens of Malaga, dismayed at beholding the enemy established in their defences, and fainting under exhaustion from a siege which had already lasted more than three months, now began to murmur at the obstinacy of the garrison, and to demand a capitulation. Their magazines of grain were emptied, and for some weeks they had been compelled to devour the flesh of horses, dogs, cats, and even the boiled hides of these animals, or, in default of other nutriment, vine-leaves dressed with oil, and leaves of the palm-tree, pounded fine, and baked into a sort of cake. In consequence of this loathsome and unwholesome diet, diseases were engendered. Multitudes were seen dying about the streets. Many deserted to the Spanish camp, eager to barter their liberty for bread ; and the city exhibited all the extremes of squalid and disgusting wretchedness, bred by pestilence and famine among an over¬ crowded population. The sufferings of the citizens softened the stern heart of the alcayde, Hamet Zeli, who at length yielded to their impor¬ tunities, and, withdrawing his forces into the Gebalfaro, consented that so easily, he replied, " Because Isaw no beard upon their chins."
RevLUl£a!',Teyes Cat<51icos, cap. 91.— Bernaldez,
notice the use of gunpowder mines at the siege of the little town of Serezanello in Tuscany, by the Genoese, in 1487, precisely contemporaneous with the siege of Malaga. (Machiavelli, Istorie Floren¬ tine, lib. 8.— Guicciardini, Istoria d'ltalia (Milano, " Caballeros Granadinos, 1803). torn. iii. lib. 6.) This singular coincidence, nque -Moros, hijosdalgo." in nations having then but little intercourse, would ita, Guerras de Granada, torn. i. p. 257. seem to infer some common origin of greater antiquity. However this may be, the writers of "npbvm. "f nr° we't*au thenticated instance of the gunpowder in mining in European both nations are agreed in ascribing the first suc¬ Warfare r scale to than this m-, as 1.al" aware, of an earlier date cessful use of such mines on any extended the celebrated Spanish engineer, Pedro Navarroÿ ? ""aboschi, indeed, refers, on the author'ty of r t0 a w°rk in the library of when serving under Gonsalvo de Cordova, in his U'e r*?.iter« composed by one Francesco Italian campaigns at the beginning of the sixteenth Giorein .my, • Siena, Uuke of Urbino, about century. Guicciardini, ubi supra.— Paolo Giovio, .'480 iii'ivV°k 1ei?t of" person claims the merit of the De Vita Magni Gonsalvi (Vitae Illustrium Virorum, invention '?? The who'l 1 etteratura Italiana, torn. vi. p. 370.) | Basiliae, 1578), lib. 2. Aleson, Anales de Navurra, statement is torn. v. lib. 35, cap. 12. obviously too loose to *»~ra-it y such conclusion. The Italian historians
MS'' fap" g4-— The honest exclanation of the°r Curate brings to mind the similar the old Moorish ballad : ™
tncomin encomium of
.
=„
AcaHi?
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WAR OF GRANADA.
266
the Malagans should make the best terms they could with their con¬ queror. A deputation of the principal inhabitants, with an eminent merchant named Ali Dordux at their head, was then despatched to the Christian quarters, with the offer of the city to capitulate, on the same liberal conditions which had been uniformly granted by the Spaniards. The king refused to admit the embassy into his presence, and haughtily answered, through the commander of Leon, that " these terms had been twice offered to the people of Malaga, and rejected ; that it was too late for them to stipulate conditions, and nothing now remained but to abide by those which he, as their conqueror, should vouchsafe to them." 1 Ferdinand's answer spread general consternation throughout Malaga. The inhabitants saw too plainly that nothing was to be hoped from an appeal to sentiments of humanity. After a tumultuous debate, the depu¬ ties were despatched a second time to the Christian camp, charged with propositions in which concession was mingled with menace. They repre¬ sented that the severe response of King Ferdinand to the citizens had rendered them desperate ; that they were willing to resign to him their fortifications, their city,— in short, their property of every description, on his assurance of their personal security and freedom : if he refused this, they would take their Christian captives, amounting to five or six hundred, from the dungeons in which they lay, and hang them like dogs over the battlements ; and then, placing their old men, women, and children in the fortress, they would set fire to the town, and cut a way for themselves through their enemies, or fall in the attempt. "So," they continued, "if you gain a victory, it will be such a one as shall make the name of Malaga ring throughout the world, and to ages yet unborn !" Ferdinand, unmoved by these menaces, coolly replied that he saw no occasion to change his former determination, but they might rest assured, if they harmed a single hair of a Christian, he would put every soul in the place» man, woman, and child, to the sword. The anxious people, who thronged forth to meet the embassy on its return to the city, were overwhelmed with the deepest gloom at its ominous tidings. Their fate was now sealed. Every avenue to hope seemed closed by the stern response of the victor. Yet hope will still linger ; and although there were some frantic enough to urge the exe¬ cution of their desperate menaces, the greater number of the inhabitants, and among them those most considerable for wealth and influence, pre¬ ferred the chance of Ferdinand's clemency to certain, irretrievable ruin. For the last time, therefore, the deputies issued from the gates of the city, charged with an epistle to the sovereigns from their unfortunate countrymen, in which, after deprecating their anger and lamenting their
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1
Cardonne, Hist, de l'Afrique et de l'Espagne, L. Marineo, Cosas memorables, fob 175. Rades y Andrada, Las tres Ordenes, fol.
—
torn. iii. p. 296.
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Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, cap. 92. Reyes Catolicos, MS., cap. 85.
54-
ÿ
CONQUEST OF MALAGA.
26 j
own blind obstinacy, they reminded their highnesses of the liberal terms which their ancestors had granted to Cordova, Antequera, and other cities, after a defence as pertinacious as their own. They expatiated on the fame which the sovereigns had established by the generous policy of their past conquests, and, appealing to their magnanimity, concluded with sub¬ mitting themselves, their families, and their fortunes to their disposal. Twenty of the principal citizens were then delivered up as hostages for the peaceable demeanour of the city until its occupation by the Spaniards. "Thus," says the Curate of Los Palacios, "did the Almighty harden the hearts of these heathen, like to those of the Egyptians, in order that they might receive the full wages of the manifold oppressions which they had wrought on his people, from the days of King Rodcric to the present time!"1 On the appointed day, the commander of Leon rode through the gates of Malaga, at the head of his well-appointed chivalry, and took possession of the alcazaba, or lower citadel. The troops were then posted at their respective stations along the fortifications, and the banners of Christian Spain triumphantly unfurled from the towers of the city, where the cres¬ cent had been displayed for an uninterrupted period of nearly eight
centuries.. The first act was to purify the town from the numerous dead bodies, and other offensive matter, which had accumulated during this long siege, and lay festering in the streets, poisoning the atmosphere. The princi¬ pal mosque was next consecrated with due solemnity to the service of Santa Maria de la Encarnacion. Crosses and bells, the symbols of Christian worship, were distributed in profusion among the sacred edi¬ fices ; where, says the Catholic chronicler last quoted, " the celestial music of their chimes, sounding at every hour of the day and night, caused perpetual torment to the ears of the infidel." 2 On the eighteenth day of August, being somewhat more than three months from the date of opening trenches, Ferdinand and Isabella made their entrance into the conquered city, attended by the court, the clergy, and the whole of their military array. The procession moved in solemn state up the principal streets, now deserted and hushed in ominous silence, to the new cathedral of St. Mary, where mass was performed ; and as the glorious anthem of the Te Deum rose for the first time within its ancient walls, the sovereigns, together with the whole army, prostrated themselves in grateful adoration of the Lord of hosts, who had thus rein¬ stated them in the domains of their ancestors.
*
Pulgar, Reyes cap. 93.—Cardonne, of the ambassador Dordux, since the Castilian writers Hot. de l'Afrique etCatdlicos, de l'Espagne, torn. in. p. 296. admit that he was exempted, with forty of his friends, rhe Arabic historians state that Malaga was be¬ from the doom of slavery and forfeiture of property
trayed by Ali who admitted the Spaniards 'J)to the castleDordux, while citizens were debating on trdinand's terms. the (See Conde, Dominacion de . ? frabes, torn. iii. cap. 39.) The letter of the inhabitants, at length by Pulgar, would seem to be a quoted good groundsrefutation of this. And yet there are for suspecting false play on the part
,
passed upon his fellow-citizens. 2 Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 85. — The reader may remember Don Quixote's rebuke of Master Peter, the unlucky puppet-man, for violat¬ ing historical accuracy by introducing bells into hi* Moorish pantomime. Part. 2, cap. 26.
268
WAR OF GRANADA.
The most affecting incident was afforded by the multitude of Christian captives who were rescued from the Moorish dungeons. They were brought before the sovereigns, with their limbs heavily manacled, their beards descending to their waists, and their sallow visages emaciated by captivity and famine. Every eye was suffused with tears at the spectacle. Many recognized their ancient friends, of whose fate they had long been ignorant. Some had lingered in captivity ten or fifteen years ; and among them were several belonging to the best families in Spain. On entering the presence, they would have testified their gratitude by throwing them¬ selves at the feet of the sovereigns ; but the latter, raising them up and mingling their tears with those of the liberated captives, caused their fetters to be removed, and, after administering to their necessities, dis¬ missed them with liberal presents.1 The fortress of Gebalfaro surrendered on the day after the occupation of Malaga by the Spaniards. The gallant Zegri chieftain, Hamet Zeli, was loaded with chains ; and being asked why he had persisted so obsti. nately in his rebellion, boldly answered, " Because Iwas commissioned to defend the place to the last extremity ; and if I had been properly supported, Iwould have died sooner than surrender now ! " The doom of the vanquished was now to be pronounced. On entering the city, orders had been issued to the Spanish soldiery, prohibiting them under the severest penalties from molesting either the persons or property of the inhabitants. These latter were directed to remain in their re¬ spective mansions with a guard set over them, while the cravings of appetite were supplied by a liberal distribution of food. At length, the whole population of the city, comprehending every age and sex, was commanded to repair to the great courtyard of the alcazaba, which was overlooked on all sides by lofty ramparts garrisoned by the Spanish soldiery. To this place, the scene of many a Moorish triumph, where the spoil of the border foray had been often displayed, and which might still be emblazoned with the trophy of many a Christian banner, the people of Malaga now directed their steps. As the multitude swarmed through the streets, filled with boding apprehensions of their fate, they wrung their hands, and, raising their eyes to heaven, uttered the most piteous lamenta¬ tions. " O Malaga," they cried, " renowned and beautiful city, how are thy sons about to forsake thee ! Could not thy soil, on which they first drew breath, be suffered to cover them in death ? Where is now the strength of thy towers, where the beauty of thy edifices ? The strength of thy walls, alas ! could not avail thy children, for they had sorely displeased their Creator. What shall become of thy old men and thy matrons, or of thy young maidens delicately nurtured within thy halls, when they shall feel the iron yoke of bondage ? Can thy barbarous conquerors without 1
Carbaial, whose meagre annals have scarcely | ano Moriscos, lib. any merit beyond that of a mere chronological table, i i, 1487.—Marmol, Rebelion de los postpones
the surrender till September.
Anales. !
caD 14
.
CONQUEST OF MALAGA
269
remorse thus tear asunder the dearest ties of life ? " Such are the melan¬ choly strains in which the Castilian chronicler has given utterance to the sorrows of the captive city.1 The dreadful doom of slavery was denounced on the assembled multitude. One-third was to be transported into Africa in exchange for an equal number of Christian captives detained there ; and all who had relatives or friends in this predicament were required to furnish a specification of them. Another third was appropriated to reimburse the state for the expenses of the war. The remainder were to be distributed as presents at home and abroad. Thus, one hundred of the flower of the African warriors were sent to the pope, who incorporated them into his guard, and converted them all in the course of the year, says the Curate of Los Palacios, into very good Christians. Fifty of the most beautiful Moorish girls were presented by Isabella to the queen of Naples, thirty to the queen of Portugal, others to the ladies of her court ; and the residue of both sexes were apportioned among the nobles, cavaliers, and inferior members of the army, according to their respective rank and services.2 As it was apprehended that the Malagans, rendered desperate by the prospect of a hopeless, interminable captivity, might destroy or secrete their jewels, plate, and other precious effects, in which this wealthy city abounded, rather than suffer them to fall into the hands of their enemies, Ferdinand devised a politic expedient for preventing it. He proclaimed that he would receive a certain sum, if paid within nine months, as the ransom of the whole population, and that their personal effects should be admitted in part payment. This sum averaged about thirty doblas a head, including in the estimate all those who might die before the determination of the period assigned. The ransom thus stipulated proved more than the unhappy people could raise, either by themselves, or agents employed to solicit contributions among their brethren of Granada and Africa ; at the same time, it so far deluded their hopes that they gave in a full inventory of their effects to the treasury. By this shrewd device Ferdinand obtained complete possession both of the persons and property of his victims 3 Malaga was computed to contain from eleven to fifteen thousand inhabitants, exclusive of several thousand foreign auxiliaries, within its gates at the time of surrender. One cannot, at this day, read the
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Bleda, Cordnica, lib. 5, cap. 15.—As a counter¬ Reyes Catdlicos, MS., ubi supra. Peter Martyr, above twelve Christian renegades, Opus Epist., epist. 62. found in the city,scene, were transfixed with canes, acaflReyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 87. L. * Bernaldez, avtttado5, a barbarous punishment derived from Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. 176. Conde,
part to the
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the Moors, which was tom. iii. p. 238. CarSallop, who discharged inflicted by horsemen at full Dominacion de los Arabes, de l'Espagne, tom. iii. until he expired under pointed reeds at the criminal donne, Hist de l'Afrique etMS., aiio 1487.—Not a repeated Anales, Carbajal, number wounds. A p. — °f relapsed 296. ews J were at the same word of comment escapes the Castilian historians on to the flames. "These " <==.i>c fatWtime condemned this merciless rigour of the conqueror towards the vanquished. It is evident that Ferdinand did r,o o piety of our sovereigns !" Abarca, Reyes violence to the feelings of his orthodox subjects. gon' tomd. rey 30, cap. 3. 1™ Tacendc clamant. Vulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, ubisupra. Bernaldei,
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27©
WAR OF GRANADA.
melancholy details of its story without feelings of horror and indignation It is impossible to vindicate the dreadful sentence passed on this unfortunate people for a display of heroism which should have excited admiration in every generous bosom. It was obviously most repugnant to Isabella's natural disposition, and must be admitted to leave a stain on her memory which no colouring of history can conceal. It may find some palliation, however, in the bigotry of the age, the more excusable in a woman, whom education, general example, and natural distrust of herself, accustomed to rely, in matters of conscience, on the spiritual guides whose piety and professional learning seemed to qualify them for the trust. Even in this very transaction she fell far short of the suggestions of some of her counsellors, who urged her to put every inhabitant without exception to the sword ; which, they affirmed, would be a just requital of their obstinate rebellion, and would prove a wholesome warning to others 1 We are not told who the advisers of this precious measure were ; but the whole experience of this reign shows that we shall scarcely wrong the clergy much by imputing it to them. That their arguments could warp so enlightened a mind as that of Isabella from the natural principles of justice and humanity, furnishes a remarkable proof of the ascendency which the priesthood usurped over the most gifted intellects, and of their gross abuse of it, before the Reformation, by breaking the seals set on the sacred volume, opened to mankind the uncorrupted channel of divine truth.1 The fate of Malaga may be said to have decided that of Granada. The latter was now shut out from the most important ports along her coasts ; and she was environed on every point of her territory by her war¬ like foe, so that she could hardly hope more from subsequent efforts, however strenuous and united, than to postpone the inevitable hour of dissolution. The cruel treatment of Malaga was the prelude to the long series of persecutions which awaited the wretched Moslems in the land of their ancestors ; in that land over which the star of Islamism," to " borrow their own metaphor, had shone in full brightness for nearly eight centuries, but where it was now fast descending amid clouds and tempests to the horizon. 1 Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 87.— Moorish ransom, had it occurred. It is still more Bleda, Cordnica, lib. 5, cap. 15. About four hun- improbable Los Palacios dred and fifty Moorish Jews were ransomed by a should havethat the honest Curate of who attempts fabricated it. Any one wealthy Israelite of Castile for 27,000 doblas of to reconcile the contemporary discrepancies of even gold ; a proof that the Jewish stock was one which historians will have Lord Orford's exclamation to thrived amidst persecution. It is scarcely possible his son Horace brought to his mind ten times a day : that the circumstantial Pulgar should have omitted Oh ! read me not history, for that Iknow to be " to notice so important a fact as the scheme of the false." * * [The exact terms of the offer made to the inhabitants of Malaga in the name of the Spanish sovereigns are to be found in a document bearing date Sept. 4, 1487, which is preserved in the Archives of Simancas, and printed in the eighth volume of the Coleccion de Documentos indditos para la Historia de EspanaL he ransom for each person was fixed at thirty doblas de oi'o of a specified weight, or the equivalent in wines, jewels, or silks To facilitate speedy payment, the people were to dispose of their effects at public auction. If the sum thus raised fell short of two-thirds of the whole amount required, the difference was to be made up within sixty days. The remaining third was to be paid in two instalments, in April and October, 14S8, hostages in sufficient numbers being retained till the final payment.— Ed.]
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SIEGE OF BAZA. The first care of the sovereigns was directed towards repeopling the
depopulated city with their own subjects. Houses and lands were freely granted to such as would settle there. Numerous towns and villages with a wide circuit of territory were placed under its civil jurisdiction, and it was made the head of a diocese embracing most of the recent These inducements, conquests in the south and west of Granada. combined with the natural advantages of position and climate, soon caused the tide of Christian population to flow into the deserted city ; but it was very long before it again reached the degree of commercial consequence to which it had been raised by the Moors.1 After these salutary arrangements, the Spanish sovereigns led back their victorious legions in triumph to Cordova ; whence dispersing to their various homes, they prepared, by a winter's repose, for new campaigns and more brilliant conquests.
CHAPTER XIV. WAR OF GRANADA.
-CONQUEST OF BAZA.-SUBMISSION OF EL ZAGAL. 1487—1489.
The Sovereigns visit Aragon. The King lays Siege to Baza. Its great Strength. Gardeni cleared of their Timber.—The Queen raises the Spirits of her Troops.— Her patriotic Sacrifices. Suspension of Arms. Baza surrenders. Treaty with El Zagal. Difficulties of the Campaign. Isabella's Popularity and Influence.
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In the autumn of 1487, Ferdinand and Isabella, accompanied by the
younger branches of the royal family, visited Aragon, to obtain the
recognition from the cortes of Prince John's succession, the boy being now in his tenth year, as well as to repress the disorder into which the country had fallen during the long absence of its sovereigns. To this end, the principal cities and communities of Aragon had recently adopted the institution of the hermandad, organized on similar principles to that of Castile. Ferdinand, on his arrival at Saragossa in the month of November, gave his royal sanction to the association, extending the term of its duration to five years ; a measure extremely unpalatable to the great feudal nobility, whose power, 01 rather abuse ot power, was considerably abridged by this popular military force.2 The sovereigns, after accomplishing the objects of their visit, and obtaining an appropriation from the cortes for the Moorish war, passed
l5oifwefiindÿ" ,Catf.icos>
niUnitv fr ,
caP- 94-— In July. ro.yal ordinance authorizing an im-
taxes. and other important Vrinleires *!?to van°us Malaga and its territory, for the
further encouragement of population in the con¬ quered city.— Col. de Ce'd. , torn. vi. no. 321. 2 Zurita, Anales, torn. iv. fol. 351, 352, 356.— Mariana, Hist, de Espana, torn. ii. lib. 25, cap. is Puigar, Reyes Catdiicos, part. 3, cap. 95.
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WAR OF GRANADA.
272
into Valencia, where measures of like efficiency were adopted for restoring the authority of the law, which was exposed to such perpetual lapses in this turbulent age, even in the best-constituted governments, as required for its protection the utmost vigilance on the part of those intrusted with the supreme executive power. From Valencia the court proceeded to Murcia, where Ferdinand, in the month of June 1488, assumed the com¬ mand of an army amounting to less than twenty thousand men, a small force compared with those usually levied on these occasions ; it being thought advisable to suffer the nation to breathe a while, after the exhaust¬ ing efforts in which it had been unintermittingly engaged for so many years. Ferdinand, crossing the eastern borders of Granada, at no great distance from V era, which speedily opened its gates, kept along the southern slant of the coast as far as Almeria ; whence, after experiencing some rough treat¬ ment in a sortie of the garrison, he marched by a northerly circuit on Baza, for the purpose of reconnoitring its position, as his numbers were altogether inadequate to its siege. A division of the army under the marquis duke of Cadiz suffered itself to be drawn here into an ambuscade by the wily old monarch El Zagal, who lay in Baza with a strong force. After extri¬ cating his troops with some difficulty and loss from this perilous predica¬ ment, Ferdinand retreated on his own dominions by the way of Huescar, where he disbanded his army, and withdrew to offer up his devotions at the cross of Caravaca. The campaign, though signalized by no brilliant achievement, and indeed clouded with some slight reverses, secured the surrender of a considerable number of fortresses and towns of inferior note.1 The Moorish chief, El Zagal, elated by his recent success, made frequent forays into the Christian territories, sweeping off the flocks, herds, and growing crops of the husbandman; while the garrisons of Almeria and Salobrena, and the bold inhabitants of the valley of Purchena, poured a similar devastating warfare over the eastern borders of Granada into Murcia. To meet this pressure, the Spanish sovereigns reinforced the frontier with additional levies under Juan de Benavides and Garcilasso de la Vega; while Christian knights, whose prowess is attested in many a Moorish lay, flocked there from all quarters, as to the theatre of war. During the following winter, of 1488, Ferdinand and Isabella occupied themselves with the interior government of Castile, and particularly the administration of justice. A commission was specially appointed to super¬ vise the conduct of the corregidors and subordinate magistrates, " so that every one," says Pulgar, "was most careful to discharge his duty faithfully, in order to escape the penalty which was otherwise sure to over¬ take him."2 Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, — 239> ,24°. — Pulgar, Reyes Catulicos, cap.
1 Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, torn. viii. p. 76. Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, cap. 98. Zuniga, Annales de Sevilla, p. 402. Cardonne, Hist, de i'Afrique et de l'Espagne, torn. iii. pp. 298, 299. Carbajal, Anales, MS., auo 1488.
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3
torn, iii- PP"
100, 101.
During the preceding year, while the court was at Murcia, we find one of the examples of prompt an(1 severe exercise of justice which sometimes occur m
SIEGE OF BAZA.
*73
While at Valladolid, the sovereigns received an embassy from Maxi¬ milian, son of the emperor Frederick the Fourth 1 of Germany, soliciting their co-operation in his designs against France for the restitution of his late wife's rightful inheritance, the duchy of Burgundy, and engaging in turn to support them in their claims on Roussillon and Cerdagne. The Spanish monarchs had long entertained many causes of discontent with the French court, both with regard to the mortgaged territory of Roussillon and the kingdom of Navarre ; and they watched with jealous eye the daily increasing authority of their formidable neighbour on their own frontier. They had been induced, in the preceding summer, to equip an armament at Biscay and Guipuscoa, to support the Duke of Brittany in his wars with the French regent, the celebrated Anne de Beaujeu. This expedition, which proved disastrous, was followed by another in the spring of the succeeding year.2 But, notwithstanding these occasional episodes to the great work in which they were engaged, they had little leisure for extended operations ; and although they entered into the proposed treaty of alliance with Maximilian, they do not seem to have contemplated any movement of importance before the termination of the Moorish war. The Flemish ambassadors, after being entertained for forty days in a style suited to impress them with high ideas of the magnificence of the Spanish court and of its friendly disposition towards their master, were dismissed with costly presents, and returned to their own country.3 These negotiations show the increasing intimacy growing up between the European states, who, as they settled their domestic feuds, had leisure to turn their eyes abroad and enter into the more extended field of inter¬ national politics. The tenor of this treaty indicates also the direction which affairs were to take when the great powers should be brought into collision with each other on a common theatre of action. All thoughts were now concentrated on the prosecution of the war with Granada, which it was determined should be conducted on a more enlarged scale than it had yet been ; notwithstanding the fearful pest which had desolated the country during the past year, and the extreme scarcity of grain, owing to the inundations caused by excessive rains in the fruitful provinces of the south. The great object proposed in thip "US
reign. One of the collectors having been of " Frederick the Handsome," whether as rival 01 resisted and personallyroyal maltreated by the alcayde colleague of Louis of Bavaria, being properly dis¬ of SalvatierTa, a place belonging to the crown, and allowed by most historians. Ed.] oy the alcalde of 2 Ialigny, Hist, de Lharles VIII., pp. 92, a territorial court of the duke of 94.— Alva, the queen caused one of the royal judges Sismondi, Hist, des Frangais, torn. xv. p. 77. privately to enter into the place and take cognizance Aleson, Anales de Navarra, torn. v. p. 61. Histoire of the affair. The latter, after a brief investigation, du Royaume de Navarre, pp. 578, 579. Pulgar, commanded the to be hung up over his own Reyes Catdlicos, cap. 102. In the first of these fortress, and thealv.ayde alcalde to be delivered over to the expeditions, more than a thousand Spaniards were court of chancery at Valladolid, who ordered his slain or taken at the disastrous battle of St. Aubin, ri"ht hand to be amputated and banished him the in 1488, being the same in which Lord Rivers, the realm. This summary justice was perhaps neces- English noble who made such a gallant figure at the ÿory in a community that might be said to be in siege of Loja, lost his life. In the spring of 1489, ransition from a of barbarism to that of civi¬ the levies sent into France amounted to two thou¬ lisation, and had state People that no a salutary effect in proving to the sand in number. These efforts abroad, simultaneous rank was elevated enough to raise with the great operations of the Moorish war, show He oUender above the law. Pulgar, cap. 09the resources as well as energy of the sovereigns. IStyled usually Frederick the Third, the claims Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, ubi supra. S
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274
WAR OF GRANADA.
campaign was the reduction of Baza, the capital of that division of the empire which belonged to El Zagal. Besides this important city, that monarch's dominions embraced the wealthy seaport of Almeria, Guadix, and numerous other towns and villages of less consequence, together with the mountain region of the Alpujarras, rich in mineral wealth ; whose inhabitants, famous for the perfection to which they had carried the silkmanufacture, were equally known for their enterprise and courage in war : so that El Zagal's division comprehended the most potent and opulent portion of the empire.1 In the spring of 1489 the Castilian court passed to Jaen, at which place the queen was to establish her residence, as presenting the most favourable point of communication with the invading army. Ferdinand advanced as far as Sotogordo, where, on the 27 th of May, he put himself at the head of a numerous force, amounting to about fifteen thousand horse and eighty thousand foot, including persons of every description ; among whom was gathered, as usual, that chivalrous array of nobility and knighthood which, with stately and well-appointed retinues, was accustomed to follow the royal standard in these crusades.2 The first point against which operations were directed was the strong leagues only from Baza, which surrendered after a brief post of Cuxar, but desperate resistance. The occupation of this place, and some adjacent fortresses, left the approaches open to El Zagal's capital. As the Spanish army toiled up the heights of the mountain barrier which towers above Baza on the west, their advance was menaced by clouds of Moorish light troops, who poured down a tempest of musket-balls and arrows on their heads. These, however, were quickly dispersed by the advancing van¬ guard ; and the Spaniards, as they gained the summits of the hills, beheld the lordly city of Baza, reposing in the shadows of the bold sierra that stretches towards the coast, and lying in the bosom of a fruitful valley extending eight leagues in length and three in breadth. Through this 1 Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. Juan Pacheco, duke of Escalona, marquis of 91.— Zurlta, Anales, torn. iv. fol. 354.— Bleda, Cordnica, Villena. fol. 607.— Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, torn. ii. fol. Juan Pimentel, count of Benavente. Fadrique de Toledo, son of the duke of Alva. J07.— Such was the scarcity of grain that the prices in 1489, quoted by Bernaldez, are double those of Diego Fernandez de Cordova, count of Cabra. the preceding year. — Both Abarca and Zurita men¬ Gomez Alvarez de Figueroa, count of Feria. tion the report that four-fifths of the whole population Alvaro Teller Giron, count of Urena. were swept away by the pestilence of 1488. Zurita Juan de Silva, count of Cifuentes. finds more difficulty in swallowing this monstrous Fadrique Enriquez, adelantado of Andalusia. statement than Father Abarca, whose appetite for Alonso Fernandez de Cordova, lord of Aguilar the marvellous appears to have been fully equal to Gonsalvo de Cordova, brother of the last, known
that of most of his calling in Spain. afterwards as the Great Captain. 2 Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., lib. 2, epist. 70. Luis Porto-Carrero, lord of Palma. Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, cap. 104. It may not be Gutierre de Cardenas, first commander of Leon. amiss to specify the names of the most distinguished Pedro Fernandez de Velasco, count of Haro, coocavaliers who usually attended the king in these stable of Castile. Moorish wars ; the heroic ancestors of many a noble Beltran de la Cueva, duke of Albuquerque. house still extant in Spain : Diego Fernandez de Cordova, alcayde of the roj pages, afterwards marquis of Comaras. Alonso de Cardenas, master of Saint Jago. . Alvaro de Zuniga, duke of Bejar. Juan de Zuniga, master of Alcantara. Inigo Lopez de Mendoza, count of Tendilla, at Juan Garcia de Padilla, master of Calatrava. wards marquis of Mondejar. Rodrigo Ponce de Leon, marquis duke of Luis de Cerda, duke of Medina Celi. Cadiz. Inigo Lopez de Mendoza, marquis of SantilEnrique de Guzman, duke of Medina Sidonia. second duke of Infantado. Pedro Manrique, duke of Najera. Garcilasso de la Vega, lord of Batras
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SIEGE OF BAZA.
275
valley flowed the waters of the Guadalentin and the Guadalquiton, whose streams were conducted by a thousand canals over the surface of the vega.
In the midst of the plain, adjoining the suburbs, might be descried the orchard or garden, as it was termed, of Baza, a league in length, covered with a thick growth of wood, and with numerous villas and pleasure-houses of the wealthy citizens, now converted into garrisoned fortresses. The suburbs were encompassed by a low mud wall ; but the fortifications of the city were of uncommon strength. The place, in addition to ten thousand troops of its own, was garrisoned by an equal number froir Alrueria ; picked men, under the command of the Moorish prince Cidi Yahye, a relative of El Zagal, who lay at this time in Guadix, prepared to cover his own dominions against any hostile movement of his rival in Granada. These veterans were commissioned to defend the place to the last extremity; and as due time had been given for preparation, the town was victualled with fifteen months' provisions, and even the crops growing in the vega had been garnered before their prime, to save them from the hands of the enemy.1 The first operation, after the Christian army had encamped before tb * walls of Baza, was to get possession of the garden, without which it would be impossible to enforce a thorough blockade, since its labyrinth of avenues afforded the inhabitants abundant facilities of communication with the surrounding country. The assault was intrusted to the grand master of St. James, supported by the principal cavaliers and the king in person. Their reception by the enemy was such as gave them a foretaste of the perils and desperate daring they were to encounter in the present siege. The broken surface of the ground, traversed by intricate passes and thickly studded with trees and edifices, was peculiarly favourable to the desultory and illusory tactics of the Moors. The Spanish cavalry was brought at once to a stand ; the ground proving impracticable for it ; it was dis¬ mounted, and led to the charge by its officers on foot. The men, however, were soon scattered far asunder from their banners and their leaders. Ferdinand, who from a central position endeavoured to overlook the field, with the design of supporting the attack on the points most requiring it, soon lost sight of his columns amid the precipitous ravines and the dense masses of foliage which everywhere intercepted the view. The combat was carried on, hand to hand, in the utmost confusion. Still the Spaniards pressed forward, and after a desperate struggle for twelve hours, in which many of the bravest on both sides fell, and the Moslem chief, Reduan Zafarga, had four horses successively killed under him, the enemy were beaten back behind the intrenchments that covered the suburbs, and the Spaniards, hastily constructing a defence of palisades, pitched their tents 011 the field of battle.2 t°m" iv" f°l. 360—Conde, t>omtoari™ An?le\Arat)es.> torn. di. p. Peter
Martvr
r\
241.
—
U-S Plst-> 'm. 2, epist. 70. — EsVada °t>llcion <fe Espana, torn. ii. fol. 239.'
Marmol, Rebelion de los Moriscos, lib. r, cap. 16.
—
z Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, cap. 106, 107. Conde, Dominacicn de los Arabes, torn. iii. cap. 40. — Peter
WAR OF GRANADA.
276
The following morning Ferdinand had the mortification to observe that the ground was too much broken, and obstructed with wood, to afford a suitable place for a general encampment To evacuate his position however, in the face of the enemy, was a delicate manoeuvre, and must necessarily expose him to severe loss. This he obviated, in a great measure, by a fortunate stratagem. He commanded the tents nearest the town to be left standing, and thus succeeded in drawing off the greater part of his forces before the enemy was aware of his intention. After regaining his former position, a council of war was summoned to deliberate on the course next to be pursued. The chiefs were filled with despondency as chey revolved the difficulties of their situation. They almost despaired of enforcing the blockade of a place whose peculiar situation gave it such advantages. Even could this be effected, the camp would be exposed, they argued, to the assaults of a desperate garrison on the one hand, and of the populous city of Guadix, hardly twenty miles distant, on the other ; while the good faith of Granada could scarcely be expected to outlive a single reverse of fortune ; so that, instead of besieg¬ ing, they might be more properly regarded as themselves besieged. In addition to these evils, the winter frequently set in with much rigour in this quarter ; and the torrents, descending from the mountains and mingling with the waters of the valley, might overwhelm the camp with an inundation which, if it did not sweep it away at once, would expose it to the perils of famine by cutting off all external communications. Under these gloomy impressions, many of the council urged Ferdinand to break up his position at once, and postpone all operations on Baza until the reduction of the surrounding country should make it comparatively easy. Even the marquis of Cadiz gave in to this opinion ; and Gutierre de Cardenas, commander of Leon, a cavalier deservedly high in the confi¬ dence of the king, was almost the only person of consideration decidedly opposed to it. In this perplexity, Ferdinand, as usual in similar exigencies, resolved to take counsel of the queen.1 Isabella received her husband's despatches a few hours after they were written, by means of the regular line of posts maintained between the camp and her station at Jaen. She was filled with chagrin at their import, from
— Pulgar relates
Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 71.
these particulars with a perspicuity very diffe¬ rent fiom his entangled narrative of some of the
preceding operations in this war. Both he and Martyr were present during the whole siege of Baza.
—
1 Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 92. Cardonne, Hist, de 1'Afrique et l'Espagne, torn. iii. pp. 299, 300. Bleda Cordnica, p. 611.— Garibay, Compendio, torn. ii. p. 664.— Don Gutierre de Cardenas, who possessed so high a place in the confidence of the sovereigns, occupied a station in the queen's household, as we have seen, at the time of her marriage with Ferdinand. His discretion and general ability enabled him to retain the influ¬ ence which he had early acquired, as is shown by a popular distich of that time :
—
y el Cardenal, y Chacon, y Fray " Cardenas, Mortero,
Traen la Corte al retortero." Fray Mortero was Don Alonso de Burgos, bishop of Palencia, confessor of the sovereigns. Don Juan Chacon was the son of Gonsalvo, who had the care of Don Alfonso and the queen during her minority, when he was induced by the liberal iargesses of John II. of Aragon to promote her marriage with his son Ferdinand. The elder Chacon was treated by the sovereigns with the greatest deference and respect, being usually called by them "father. After his death they continued to manifest a similarÿ regard towards Don Juan, his eldest son, and heir of his ample honours and estates. Salazaf de Mendoza, Dignidades, lib. 4, cap. 1. Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS. bat. 1, quinc. 2, dial 1 "•
—
SIEGE OF BAZA.
277
which she plainly saw that all her mighty preparations were about to vanish into air. Without assuming the responsibility of deciding the proposed question, however, she besought her husband not to distrust the providence of God, which had conducted them through so many perils towards the consummation of their wishes. She reminded him that the Moorish fortunes were never at so low an ebb as at present, and that their own operations could probably never be resumed on such a formidable scale or under so favourable auspices as now, when their arms had not been stained with a single important reverse. She concluded with the assurance that, if his soldiers would be true to their duty, they might rely on her for the faithful discharge of hers in furnishing them with all the requisite supplies. The exhilarating tone of this letter had an instantaneous effect, silencing the scruples of the most timid, and confirming the confidence of the others. The soldiers, in particular, who had received with dissatisfaction some intimation of what was passing in the council, welcomed it with generous enthusiasm ; and every heart seemed now intent on furthering the wishes of their heroic queen by prosecuting the siege with the utmost vigour. The army was accordingly distributed into two encampments; one under the marquis duke of Cadiz, supported by the artillery ; the other under King Ferdinand, on the opposite side of the city. Between the two lay the garden or orchard before mentioned, extending a league in length ; so that, in order to connect the works of the two camps, it became necessary to get possession of this contested ground, and to clear it of the heavy timber with which it was covered. This laborious operation was intrusted to the commander of Leon, and the work was covered by a detachment of seven thousand troops, posted in such a manner as to check the sallies of the garrison. Notwithstanding four thousand ia/adores, or pioneers, were employed in the task, the forest was so dense, and the sorties from the city so annoying, that the work of devastation did not advance more than ten paces a day, and was not com¬ pleted before the expiration of seven weeks. When the ancient groves, so long the ornament and protection of the city, were levelled to the ground, preparations were made for connecting the two camps by a deep trench, through which the mountain waters were made to flow ; while the borders were fortified with palisades, constructed of the timber lately hewn, to¬ gether with strong towers of mud or clay, arranged at regular intervals. In this manner the investment of the city was complete on the side of ' he vega.1
As means of communication still remained open, however, by the opposite sierra, defences of similar strength, consisting of two stone walls separated by a deep trench, were made to run along the rocky heights and ravines of the mountains until they touched the extremities of the fortir Cardonne, Hist,
Cni'
P- 304.
de l'Afnque et de l'Espagne, I 109—Peter Martyr Opus Ernst., lib. 2,
epist.
— Pulgar, Reyes Cat/Micos, cap. | Bernaldez, Reyes Catdhcos, MS., cap. 92.
WAR OF GRANADA.
278
fications on the plain j and thus Baza was encompassed by an unbroken line of circumvallation. In the progress of the laborious work, which occupied ten thousand men, under the indefatigable commander of Leon, for the space of two months, it would have been easy for the people of Guadix, or of Granada, by co-operation with the sallies of the besieged, to place the Christian army in great peril. Some feeble demonstration of such a movement was made at Guadix, but it was easily disconcerted. Indeed, El Zagal was kept in check by the fear of leaving his own territory open to his rival should he march against the Christians. Abdallah, in the meanwhile, lay inactive in Granada, incurring the odium and contempt of his people, who stigmatized him as a Christian in heart, and a pensioner of the Spanish sovereigns. Their discontent gradually swelled into a rebellion, which was suppressed by him with a severity that at length induced a sullen acquiescence in a rule which, however inglorious, was at least attended with temporary security.1 While the camp lay before Baza, a singular mission was received from the sultan of Egypt, who had been solicited by the Moors of Granada to interpose in their behalf with the Spanish sovereigns. Twro Franciscan friars, members of a religious community in Palestine, were bearers of despatches, which, after remonstrating with the sovereigns on their persecution of the Moors, contrasted it with the protection uniformly extended by the sultan to the Christians in his dominions. The com¬ munication concluded with menacing a retaliation of similar severities on these latter, unless the sovereigns desisted from their hostilities against Granada. From the camp, the two ambassadors proceeded to Jaen, where they were received by the queen with all the deference due to their holy pro¬ fession, which seemed to derive additional sanctity from the spot in which it was exercised. The menacing import of the sultan's communication, however, had no power to shake the purposes of Ferdinand and Isabella. who made answer that they had uniformly observed the same policy in regard to their Mahometan as to their Christian subjects, but that they could no longer submit to see their ancient and rightful inheritance in the hands of strangers ; and that, if these latter would consent to live under their rule as true and loyal subjects, they should experience the same paternal indulgence which had been shown to their brethren. With this answer the reverend emissaries returned to the Holy Land, accompanied by substantial marks of the royal favour in a yearly pension of one thou¬ sand ducats, which the queen settled in perpetuity on their monastery, together with a richly-embroidered veil, the work of her own fair hands, to be suspended over the Holy Sepulchre. The sovereigns subsequently despatched the learned Peter Martyr as their envoy to the Moslem court Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, torn. iii. I 25, cap. cap. 40.— Mariana, Hist, de Espana, torn. ii. lib. | in.
*
12.
— Pulsar, Reyes Catdlicos, cap.
SIEGE OF BAZA.
279
in order to explain their proceedings more at length, and avert any dis¬ astrous consequences from the Christian residents.1 In the meanwhile, the siege went forward with spirit, skirmishes and single rencontres taking place every day between the high-mettled cavaliers on both sides. These chivalrous combats, however, were discouraged by Ferdinand, who would have confined his operations to a strict blockade, and avoided the unnecessary effusion of blood ; especially as the advantage was most commonly on the side of the enemy, from the peculiar adap¬ tation of their tactics to this desultory warfare. Although some months had elapsed, the besieged rejected with scorn every summons to surrender ; relying on their own resources, and still more on the tempestuous season of autumn, now fast advancing, which, if it did not break up the encamp¬ ment at once, would at least, by demolishing the roads, cut off all external communication. In order to guard against these impending evils, Ferdinand caused more than a thousand houses, or rather huts, to be erected, with walls of earth or clay, and roofs made of timber and tiles ; while the common soldiers constructed cabins by means of palisades loosely thatched with the branches of trees. The whole work was accomplished in four days ; and the inhabitants of Baza beheld with amazement a city of solid edifices, with all its streets and squares in regular order, springing as it were by magic out of the ground, which had before been covered with the light and airy pavilions of the camp. The new city was well supplied, owing to the providence of the queen, not merely with the necessaries but the iuxuries of life. Traders flocked there as to a fair, from Aragon, Valencia, Catalonia, and even Sicily, freighted with costly merchandise, and with jewellery and other articles of luxury ; such as, in the indignant lament of an old chronicler, too often corrupt the souls of the soldiery, and " bring waste and dissipation into a camp." That this was not the result, however, in the present instance, is attested by more than one historian. Among others, Peter Martyr, the Italian scholar before mentioned, who was present at this siege, dwells with astonishment on the severe decorum and military discipline which every¬ where obtained among this motley congregation of soldiers. " Who would have believed," says he, that the Galician, the fierce Asturian, and the " tude inhabitant of the Pyrenees, men accustomed to deeds of atrocious violence, and to brawl and battle on the lightest occasions at home, should single amicably, not only with one another, but with the Toledans, the La-Manchans, and the wily and jealous Andalusians; all living together ln harmonious subordination to authority, like members of one family, speaking one tongue, and nurtured under a common discipline ; so that the camp seemed like a community modelled on the principle of Plato s republic ! " In another part of this letter, which was addressed to a 1 Pulgar,
Reyes Catdlicos, cap. 112.— Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, torn. viii. p. 86.
WAR OF GRANADA.
Milanese prelate, he panegyrizes the camp hospital of the queen, then " is so profusely supplied with medical attendants, apparatus, and whatever may contribute to the restoration or solace of the sick, that it is scarcely surpassed in these respects by the magnificent establishments of Milan."1 During the five months which the siege had now lasted, the weather had proved uncommonly propitious to the Spaniards, being for the most part of a bland and equal temperature, while the sultry heats of mid¬ summer were mitigated by cool and moderate showers. As the autumnal season advanced, however, the clouds began to settle heavily around the mountains; and at length one of those storms predicted by the people of Baza burst forth with incredible fury, pouring a volume of waters down the rocky sides of the sierra, which, mingling with those of the vega, inundated the camp of the besiegers, and swept away most of the frail edifices constructed for the use of the common soldiery. A still greater calamity befell them in the dilapidation of the roads, which, broken up or worn into deep gullies by the force of the waters, were rendered per¬ fectly impassable. All communication with Jaen was of course suspended, and a temporary interruption of the convoys filled the camp with conster¬ nation. This disaster, however, was speedily repaired by the queen, who, with an energy always equal to the occasion, caused six thousand pioneers to be at once employed in reconstructing the roads : the rivers were bridged over, causeways new laid, and two separate passes opened through the mountains, by which the convoys might visit the camp and return without interrupting each other. At the same time, the queen bought up immense quantities of grain in all parts of Andalusia, which she caused to be ground in her own mills 3 and when the roads, which extended more than seven leagues in length, were completed, fourteen thousand mules might be seen daily traversing the sierra, laden with supplies, which from that time forward were poured abundantly, and with the most perfect regularity, into the camp.2 Isabella's next care was to assemble new levies of troops, to relieve or reinforce those now in the camp 3 and the alacrity with which all orders of men from every quarter of the kingdom answered her summons is worthy of remark. But her chief solicitude was to devise expedients for meeting the enormous expenditures incurred by the protracted operations of the year. For this purpose she had recourse to loans from individuals and religious corporations, which were obtained without much difficulty) from the general confidence in her good faith. As the ~um thus raised,
a novelty in war 3 which, he says,
—
Bernaldez, Reyes Cat(51icos, MS. Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., lib. 2, epist. 73, 80.— Pulgar, Reyes 1
Catdlicos, cap. 1x3, 114, 117.— Garibay, Compendio, torn. ii. p. 667.— Bleda, Cordnica, p. 64. The plague, which fell heavily this year on some parts of Andalusia, does not appear to have attacked the camp, which Bleda imputes to the healing influ¬ ence of the Spanish sovereigns, " whose good faith,
—
religion, and virtue banished the contagion from their army, where it must otherwise have prevailed. Personal comforts and cleanliness of the soldiers, though not quite so miraculous a cause, may b® considered perhaps full as efficacious. Peter Martyr, Opus Epist.. lib. 2, epist. 7 4Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, cap. 116.
-
SIEGE OE BAZA.
281
although exceedingly large for that period, proved inadequate to the expenses, further supplies were obtained from wealthy individuals, whose loans were secured by mortgage of the royal demesne ; and as a deficiency still remained in the treasury, the queen, as a last resource,' pawned the crown jewels and her own personal ornaments to the merchants of Bar¬ celona and Valencia for such sums as they were willing to advance on them.1 Such were the efforts made by this high-spirited woman for the furtherance of her patriotic enterprise. The extraordinary results which she was enabled to effect are to be ascribed less to the authority of her station than to that perfect confidence in her wisdom and virtue with which she had inspired the whole nation, and which secured their earnest co-operation in all her undertakings. The empire which she thus exercised, indeed, was far more extended than any station however exalted, or any authority however despotic, can confer ; for it was over the hearts of her people. Notwithstanding the vigour with which the siege was pressed, Baza made no demonstration of submission. The garrison was indeed greatly reduced in number ; the ammunition was nearly expended ; yet there still remained abundant supplies of provisions in the town, and no signs of despondency appeared among the people. Even the women of the place, with a spirit emulating that of the dames of ancient Carthage, freely gave up their jewels, bracelets, necklaces, and other personal ornaments, of which the Moorish ladies were exceedingly fond, in order to defray the charges of the mercenaries. The camp of the besiegers, in the meanwhile, was also greatly wasted both by sickness and the sword. Many, desponding under perils and fatigues which seemed to have no end, would even at this late hour have abandoned the siege ; and they earnestly solicited the queen's appearance in the camp, in the hope that she would herself countenance this measure on witnessing their sufferings. Others, and by far the larger part, anxiously desired the queen's visit as likely to quicken the operations of the siege and bring it to a favourable issue. There seemed to be a virtue in her presence which, on some account or other, made it earnestly desired by all. Isabella yielded to the general wish, and on the 7th of November arrived at the camp, attended by the infanta Isabella, the cardinal of Spain, her friend the marchioness of Moya, and other ladies of the royal household. The inhabitants of Baza, says Bernaldez, lined the battle¬ and housetops, to gaze at the glittering cavalcade as it emerged ments lrom the depths of the mountains, amidst flaunting banners and strains of de sÿlgar' heyes Catdlicos, cap. 118. Archivo ancas, m Mem. de la Acad, de Hist., torn. y. c'ty of Valencia lent 35>ooo florins on fhc, , crown a°d 20,000 on a collar of rubies. *holly ClemencÿnV101 "deemed till Seiior «• K,ven a catalogue of the1495. Src \f «.m. de royal jewels la Acad, de Hist., torn. vi. Ilustracion
—
th.11'
6), which appear to have been extremely rich and numerous for a period anterior to the discovery of those countries whose mines have since furnished Europe with its bijouterie. Isabella, however, set so little value on tbem that she divested herself of most of them in favour of her daughters.
282
WAR OF GRANADA.
martial music ; while the Spanish cavaliers thronged forth in a body from the camp to receive their beloved mistress, and gave her the most ani¬ mated welcome. " She came," says Martyr, " surrounded by a choir of nymphs, as if to celebrate the nuptials of her child ; and her presence seemed at once to gladden and reanimate our spirits, drooping under long vigils, dangers, and fatigue." Another writer, also present, remarks that from the moment of her appearance a change seemed to come over the scene : no more of the cruel skirmishes which had before occurred ever} day ; no report of artillery, or clashing of arms, or any of the rude sounds of war, was to be heard, but all seemed disposed to reconciliation and peace.1 The Moors probably interpreted Isabella's visit into an assurance that the Christian army would never rise from before the place until its sur¬ render. Whatever hopes they had once entertained of wearying out the besiegers were therefore now dispelled. Accordingly, a few days after the queen's arrival, we find them proposing a parley for arranging terms of capitulation. On the third day after her arrival, Isabella reviewed her army, stretched out in order of battle along the slope of the western hills ; after which she proceeded to reconnoitre the beleaguered city, accompanied by the king and the cardinal of Spain, together with a brilliant escort of the Spanish chivalry. On the same day a conference was opened with the enemy through the comcndador of Leon, and an armistice arranged, to continue until the old monarch, El Zagal, who then lay at Guadix, could be informed of the real condition of the besieged, and his instructions be received, determining the course to be adopted. The alcayde of Baza represented to his master the low state to which the garrison was reduced by the loss of lives and the failure of ammunition. Still, he expressed such confidence in the spirit of his people that he undertook to make good his defence some time longer, provided any reasonable expectation of succour could be afforded ; otherwise it would be a mere waste of life, and must deprive him of such vantage-ground as he now possessed for enforcing an honourable capitulation. The Moslem prince acquiesced in the reasonableness of these representations. He paid a just tribute to the loyalty of his brave kinsman Cidi Yahye, and the gallantry of his defence, but, confessing at the same time his own inability to relieve him, authorized him to negotiate the best terms of surrender which he could, for himself and garrison. 2 A mutual desire of terminating the protracted hostilities infused a spirit of moderation into both parties, which greatly facilitated the adjustment of the articles. Ferdinand showed none of the arrogant bearing which marked his conduct towards the unfortunate people of Malaga, whether 1 Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 92. Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, cap. 120, 121. Hist. d'Espagne, torn. viii. p. 93. PeterFerreras, Martyr, Opus Epist., lib. 3, epist. 80.
— —
Martyr, Opus Epist., lib. — ct. ,y>Ct<ir.Oominacion de los Arabes, eL,
—
3, epist. So.— torn. iii. p. 343S-arbaja!, Anales, MS., ano 1489.—Cardonne, '. de 1Afrique et de 1'Espagne, torn. iii. P- 3°S'
p
SIEGE OF BAZA.
283
from a conviction of its impolicy, or, as is more probable, because the city of Baza was itself in a condition to assume a more imposing attitude. The * principal stipulations of the treaty were, that the foreign mercenaries employed in the defence of the place should be allowed to march out with the honours of war ; that the city should be delivered up to the Christians ; but that the natives might have the choice of retiring with their personal effects where they listed, or of occupying the suburbs as subjects of the Castilian crown, liable only to the same tribute which they paid to their Moslem rulers, and secured in the enjoyment of their property, religion, laws, and usages.1 On the fourth day of December, 1489, Ferdinand and Isabella took possession of Baza, at the head of their legions, amid the ringing of bells, the peals of artillery, and all the other usual accompaniments of this triumphant ceremony ; while the standard of the Cross, floating from the ancient battlements of the city, proclaimed the triumph of the Christian arms. The brave alcayde, Cidi Yahye, experienced a reception from the sovereigns very different from that of the bold defender of Malaga. He was loaded with civilities and presents ; and these acts of courtesy so won upon his heart that he expressed a willingness to enter into their service. " Isabella's compliments," says the Arabian historian dryly, " were repaid in more substantial coin." 2 Cidi Yahye was soon prevailed on to visit his royal kinsman El Zagal, at Guadix, for the purpose of urging his submission to the Christian sovereigns. In his interview with that prince he represented the fruitlessness of any attempt to withstand the accumulated forces of the Spanish monarchies ; that he would only see town after town pared away from his territory, until no ground was left for him to stand on and make terms with the victor. He reminded him that the baleful horoscope of Abdallah had predicted the downfall of Granada, and that experience had abun¬ dantly shown how vain it was to struggle against the tide of destiny. The unfortunate monarch listened, says the Arabian annalist, without so much as moving an eyelid, and after a long and deep meditation, replied, with the resignation characteristic of the Moslems, What Allah wills, he brings "
___
R<-Viÿ?'gaf' ,Reyes Catdlicos, cap. 124.— Marmol. e ion de los -
line
---
Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 16. T_ _ charQMÿ J
J-
c
A*cnives ot bimancas, bearing date
Dec *
o
surrender
S UtBaza. In return for his alacrity in
•
.ln which Ferdinand recites and confirms th C x* in hie Promises contained in an agreement made Monri'ci?3?16* ÿ Gutierre de Cardenas, with the brine.;,
and renegade, previously to the
event,— "por la prisa que a mi instant;a x .Por me 1servir distes i. la entrega delta," — and
rendered V1?,w
. with hi.
°'her services rendered or to be
por lo mucho y bien que me habeie ' .,como 0 y me Yahia,
servirdis," — esPero Sue nephews, was to be received into Ferdinand11i?n<1 ÿusehold, maintained and treated like
"the
pre
.
. alleros," and secured in the possession of hIs cvineyards and castles, with immunity
from taxes, and the right to visit any town with an armed escort of twenty men. His reward for obtain¬ ing the surrender of Guadix and bringing over his brother-in-law the king to the service of the Spanish sovereign was to be 10,000 reales. As he had pro¬ fessed his desire to become a Christian, he was to receive baptism in Ferdinand's chamber, in order that his conversion might not be known to his countrymen till after the surrender of Guadix, as secrecy on this point wouid enable him to render more effectual service during the remainder of the conquest, and would also prevent the desertion of his followers to swell the ranks of the enemy. " Lo habeis de tener en secreto por mas servir & Dios y a mi en lo restante de la conquista, en que desta manera sereis mas parte, e porque vuestra gente de guerra no os deje e se vaya con nuestros enemigos. ' Col. de Doc. ine'd. para la Hist, de Kspana, torn. viii. Ei>.]
—
284
WAR OF GRANADA.
to pass in his own way. Had he not decreed the fall of Granada, this good sword might have saved it ; but his will be done ! " It was then arranged that the principal cities of Almeria, Guadix, and their dependencies, constituting the domain of El Zagal, should be formally surrendered by that prince to Ferdinand and Isabella, who should instantly proceed at the head of their army to take possession of them.1 On the seventh day of December, therefore, the Spanish sovereigns, without allowing themselves or their jaded troops any time for repose, marched out of the gates of Baza, King Ferdinand occupying the centre and the queen the rear of the army. Their route lay across the savage district of the long sierra which stretches towards Almeria, leading through many a narrow pass which a handful of resolute Moors, says an eye-witness, might have made good against the whole Christian army, over mountains whose peaks were lost in clouds, and valleys whose depths were never warmed by the sun. The winds were exceedingly bleak, and the weather inclement; so that men as well as horses, exhausted by the fatigues of previous service, were benumbed by the intense cold, and many of them frozen to death. Many more, losing their way in the intricacies of the sierra, would have experienced the same miserable fate, had it not been for the marquis of Cadiz, whose tent was pitched on one of the loftiest hills, and who caused beacon-fires to be lighted around it, in order to guide the stragglers back to their quarters. At no great distance from Almeria, Ferdinand was met, conformably to the previous arrangement, by El Zagal, escorted by a numerous body of Moslem cavaliers. Ferdinand commanded his nobles to ride forward and receive the Moorish prince. " His appearance," says Martyr, who was in the royal retinue, " touched my soul with compassion ; for, although a lawless barbarian, he was a king, and had given signal proofs of heroism." El Zagal, without waiting to receive the courtesies of the Spanish nobles, threw himself from his horse, and advanced towards Ferdinand with the design of kissing his hand ; but the latter, rebuking his followers for their " rusticity " in allowing such an act of humiliation in the unfortunate monarch, prevailed on him to remount, and then rode by his side towards Almeria.2 This city was one of the most precious jewels in the diadem of Granada. It had amassed great wealth by its extensive commerce with Syria, Egypt, and Africa ; and its corsairs had for ages been the terror of the Catalan and Pisan marine. It might have stood a siege as long as that of Baza, but it was now surrendered without a blow, on conditions similar to those granted to the former city. After allowing some days for the refreshment of their wearied forces in this pleasant region, which, sheltered from the bleak winds of the north by the sierra they had lately traversed, and 1
Conde, Dominacionde ios Arabes, torn. iii. cap. <o.-bleda, Cordmca, p. 6.2.-Bernaldez, Reyes Catdicos, MS., cap. 92.— Marmot, Rebehon de los
Monscos, hb. 1, cap. if,
2 Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., lib. 3. ePist" 8l"— Cardonne, Hist de l'Afrique et de 1'Espagne, torn. iii. p. 340.— Pulear, Reyes Catblicos, loc. cit Cond<5j Arabes, ton,, iii. cap. 40 de
Bo.ninacion lo'
—
SIEGE OF BAZA.
285
fanned by the gentle breezes of the Mediterranean, is compared by Martyr to the gardens of the Hesperides, the sovereigns established a strong garrison there under the commander of Leon, and then, striking again into the recesses of the mountains, marched on Guadix, which, after some opposition on the part of the populace, threw open its gates to them. The surrender of these principal cities was followed by that of all the subordinate dependencies belonging to El Zagal's territory, comprehending a multitude of hamlets scattered along the green side of the mountainchain that stretched from Granada to the coast To all these places the same liberal terms, in regard to personal rights and property, were secured, as to Baza.1 As an equivalent for these broad domains, the Moorish chief was placed in possession of the tahay or district, of Andaraz, the vale of Alhaurin, and half the salt-pits of Maleha, together with a considerable revenue in money. He was, moreover, to receive the title of King of Andaraz, and to render homage for his estates to the crown of Castile. This shadow of royalty could not long amuse the mind of the unfor¬ tunate prince. He pined away amid the scenes of his ancient empire ; and after experiencing some insubordination on the part of his new vassals, he determined to relinquish his petty principality and withdraw forever from his native land. Having received a large sum of money as an indemnification for the entire cession of his territorial rights and possessions to the Castilian crown, he passed over to Africa, where, it is reported, he was plundered of his property by the barbarians, and con¬ demned to starve out the remainder of his days in miserable indigence.'2 The suspicious circumstances attending this prince's accession to the throne, throw a dark cloud over his fame, which would otherwise seem, at least so far as his public life is concerned, to be unstained by any opprobrious act He possessed such energy, talent, and military science as, had he been fortunate enough to unite the Moorish nation under him by an undisputed title, might have postponed the fall of Granada for many years. As it was, these very talents, by dividing the state in his favour, served only to precipitate its ruin. The Spanish sovereigns having accomplished the object of the campaign, after stationing part of their forces on such points as would secure the permanence of their conquests, returned with the remainder tc Jaen, where they disbanded the army on the 4th of January, 1490. The losses sustained by the troops, during the whole period of their prolonged service, greatly exceeded those of any former year, amounting to not less
* [The
terms were even more liberal than had been granted to Baza, since the inhabitants, as well as Moors, were not only to retain theirJews own tehgion and but to remain in possession of their homes, law, secure from plunder or molestation. ee the Capitulation (from the Archives of Simancas)> dated Feb. n 1400, in the Col. de Doc. indc Wt* k Hist, de EspaHa. torn. xi. Ed.]
—
8 El Nubiense, Descripcion de Espana, p. 1S0, nota. — Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 1488. — Cardonne, Hist, de l'Afrique et de l'Espagne, torn. iii. p 304. — Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., lib. 3, epist. 81. Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, torn. ill. pp. 245, 246. Bernaldez, Reyes Catblicos, MS., cap oa
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286
WAR OF GRANADA
.
than twenty thousand men, by far the larger portion of whom are said to have fallen victims to diseases incident to severe and long-continued hardships and exposure.1 Thus terminated the eighth year of the war of Granada; a year more glorious to the Christian arms, and more important in its results, than any of the preceding. During this period an army of eighty thousand men had kept the field, amid all the inclemencies of winter, for more than seven months ; an effort scarcely paralleled in those times, when both the amount of levies and period of service were on the limited scale adapted to the exigencies of feudal warfare.2 Supplies for this immense host, not¬ withstanding the severe famine of the preceding year, were punctually fur¬ nished, in spite of every embarrassment presented by the want of navigable rivers, and the interposition of a precipitous and pathless sierra. The history of this campaign is, indeed, most honourable to the courage, constancy, and thorough discipline of the Spanish soldier, and to the patriotism and general resources of the nation ; but most of all to Isabella. She it was who fortified the timid councils of the leaders after the dis¬ asters of the garden, and encouraged them to persevere in the siege. She procured all the supplies, constructed the roads, took charge of the sick, and furnished, at no little personal sacrifice, the immense sums demanded for carrying on the war ; and when at last the hearts of the soldiers were fainting under long-protracted sufferings, she appeared among them, like some celestial visitant, to cheer their faltering spirits and inspire them with her own energy. The attachment to Isabella seemed to be a pervading principle, which animated the whole nation by one common impulse, impressing a unity of design on all its movements. This attachment was imputable to her sex as well as character. The sympathy and tender care with which she regarded her people naturally raised a reciprocal sentiment in their bosoms. But when they beheld her direct¬ ing their counsels, sharing their fatigues and dangers, and displaying all the comprehensive intellectual powers of the other sex, they looked up to her as to some superior being, with feelings far more exalted than those of mere loyalty. The chivalrous heart of the Spaniard did homage to her, as to his tutelar saint ; and she held a control over her people such as no man could have acquired in any age,— and probably no woman, in an age and country less romantic. Pietro Martire, or, as he is called in English, Peter Martyr,
so often quoted in the
present chapter, and who will constitute one of our best authorities during the remainder ot the History, was a native of Arona (not of Anghiera, as a place
commonly supposed),
situated on the borders of Lago Maggiore in Italy. (Mazzuchelli, Scrittori d Italia (Brescia, 17 53— ÿ3)» torn. ii., voce Anghiera.) He was of noble Milanese extraction. In and 8000 foot, under the count of Cifuentes, for lb c space of eight months during thiis siege. See ZunigaAnnales de Sevilla, p. 404.
SIEGE OF BAZA.
11477
twenty- two years of age, he was sent to complete his education at Rome, where f at he continued ten years, and formed an intimacy with the most distinguished literary characters of that cultivated capital. In 1487 he was persuaded by the Castilian ambassador, the count of Tendilla, to accompany him to Spain, where he was received with marked distinction by the queen, who would have at once engaged him in the tuition of the young nobility of the court ; but Martyr having expressed a preference of a military life, she, with her usual delicacy, declined to press him on the point. He was present, as we have seen, at the siege of Baza, and continued with the army during the subsequent campaigns of the Moorish war. Many passages of his correspondence, at this period, show a whimsical mixture of self-complacency with a consciousness of the ludicrous figure which he made in " exchanging the Muses for Mars." At the close of the war he entered the ecclesiastical profession, for which he had been originally destined, and was persuaded to resume his literary vocation. He opened his school at Valladolid, Saragossa, Barcelona, Alcala de Henares, and other places ; and it was thronged with the principal young nobility from all parts of Spain, who, as he boasts in one of his letters, drew their literary nourishment from him : " Suxerunt mea literalia ubera Castellae principes fere omnes." His important services were fully estimated by the queen, and after her death by Ferdinand and Charles V., and he was recompensed with high ecclesiastical preferment as well as civil dignities. He died about the year 1525, at the age of seventy, and his remains were interred beneath a monument in the cathedral church of Granada, of which he was prior. Among Martyr's principal works is a treatise " De Legatione Babylonica," being an account of a visit to the sultan of Egypt, in 1501, for the purpose of deprecating the retaliation with which he had menaced the Christian residents in Palestine for the injuries inflicted on the Spanish Moslems Peter Martyr conducted his negotiation with such address that he not only appeased the sultan's resentment, but obtained several impor¬ tant immunities for his Christian subjects, in addition to those previously enjoyed by
them.
He also wrote an account of the discoveries of the New World, entitled
" De Rebus
Oceanicis et Novo Orbe " (Coloniae, 1574), a book largely consulted and commended by subsequent historians. But the work of principal value in our researches is his "Opus Epistolarum, " being a collection of his multifarious correspondence with the most con¬
siderable persons of his time, whether in political or literary life. The letters are in Latin, and extend from the year 1488 to the time of his death. Although not conspicu¬
ous for elegance of diction, they are most valuable to the historian, from the fidelity *ud general accuracy of the details, as well as for the intelligent criticism in which they abound, for all which uncommon facilities were afforded by the writer's intimacy with the leading actors and the most recondite sources of information of the period. 1his high character is fully authorized by the judgments of those best qualified to pro¬ nounce on their merits, Martyr's own contemporaries. Among these, Dr. Galindez de arbajal, a counsellor of King Ferdinand, and constantly employed in the highest concerns of state, commends these epistles as " the work of a learned and upright man, 1 calculated to throw light on the transactions of the period." (Anales, MS., prdlogo.) Alvaro Gomez, another contemporary who survived Martyr, in the Life of l(lme"es, which he was selected to write by the University of Alcala, declares that artyr s Letters abundantly compensate by their fidelity for the unpolished style in ich they are written." (De Rebus gestis, fol. 6.) And John de Vergara, a name celebrity in the literary annals of the period, expresses himself in the owing emphatic terms : Iknow no record of the time more accurate and valuable. I " ®yself have often witnessed the promptness with which he put down things the moment ey occurred. Ihave sometimes seen him write one or two letters while they were e bng the table ; lor as he did not pay much attention to style and mere finish of expression, his composition -equired but little time, and experienced no interruption from 15 ordinary avocations." (See his letter to Florian de Ocampo, apud Quintanilla y
—
*
ÿ.highest
WAR OF GRANADA.
a88
Mendoza, Archetypo de Virtudes, Espejo de Prelados, el Venerable Padre y Siervo de Dios, F. Francisco Ximenez de Cisneros (Palermo, 1653), Archivo, p. 4.) This account of the precipitate manner in which the epistles were composed may help to explain the cause of the occasional inconsistencies and anachronisms that are to be found in them, and which their author, had he been more patient of the labour of revision, would doubtless have corrected. But he seems to have had little relish for this, even in his more elaborate works, composed witii a view to publication. (See his own honest con¬ fessions in his book " De Rebus Oceanicis," dec. 8, cap. 8, 9.) After all, the errors, such as they are, in his Epistles, may probably be chiefly charged on the publisher. The first edition appeared at Alcali de Henares, in 1530, about four years after the author's death. It has now become exceedingly rare. The second and last, being the one used in the present History, came out in a more beautiful form from the Elzevir press, Amsterdam, in 1670, folio. Of this also but a small number of copies were struck off. The learned editor takes much credit to himself for having purified the work from many errors, which had flowed from the heedlessness of his predecessor. It will not be diffi¬ cult to detect several yet remaining, such, for example, as a memorable letter on the lues venerea (No. 68), obviously misplaced, even according to its own date ; and that numbered 168, in which two letters are evidently blended into one. But it is un¬ necessary to multiply examples. It is very desirable that an edition of this valuable correspondence should be published, under the care of some one qualified to illustrate it by his intimacy with the history of the period, as well as to correct the various inaccura¬ cies which have crept into it, whether through the carelessness of the author or of his editors. Ihave been led into this length of remark by some strictures which met my eye in the recent work of Mr. Hallam, who intimates his belief that the Epistles of Martyr, instead of being written at their respective dates, were produced by him at some later period (Introduction to the Literature of Europe (London, 1837), vol. i. pp. 439-441) ; a con¬ clusion which 1 suspect this acute and candid critic would have been slow to adopt, had he perused the correspoudence in connection with the history of the times, or weighed the unqualified testimony borne by contemporaries to its minute accuracy,
—
—
CHAPTER XV. WAR OF GRANADA.
—
SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF THE CITY OF GRANADA.
1490— 1492. The Infanta Isabella affianced to the Prince of Portugal.—Isabella deposes Judges at Valladolid.— Encampment before Granada. The Queen surveys the City. Moslem and Christian Chivalry. Conflagration of the Christian Camp. Erection of Santa Fe. Capitulation of Granada.—Results of the War. Its moral Influence.—Its military Influ¬ ence. Fate of the Moors.— Death and Character of the Marquis of Cadiz.
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—
—
—
—
—
In the spring of 1490, ambassadors arrived from Lisbon for the purpose of carrying into effect the treaty of marriage which had been arranged between Alonso, heir of the Portuguese monarchy, and Isabella, infanta of Castile. An alliance with this kingdom, which from its contiguity possessed such ready means of annoyance to Castile, and which had shown such willingness to employ them in enforcing the pretensions of
SURRENDER OF THE CAPITAL.
289
Joanna Beltraneja, was an object of importance to Ferdinand and Isabella.
No inferior consideration could have reconciled the queen to a separation from this beloved daughter, her eldest child, whose gentle and uncom¬ monly amiable disposition seems to have endeared her beyond their other children to her parents. The ceremony of the affiancing took place at Seville, in the month of April, Don Fernando de Silveira appearing as the representative of the prince of Portugal ; and it was followed by a succession of splendid fetes and tourneys. Lists were enclosed, at some distance from the city, on the shores of the Guadalquivir, and surrounded with galleries hung with silk and cloth of gold, and protected from the noontide heat by canopies or awnings, richly embroidered with the armorial bearings of the ancient houses of Castile. The spectacle was graced by all the rank and beauty of the court, with the infanta Isabella in the midst, attended by seventy noble ladies and a hundred pages of the royal household. The cavaliers of Spain, young and old, thronged to the tournament, as eager to win laurels on the mimic theatre of war, in the presence of so brilliant an assemblage, as they had shown themselves in the sterner contests with the Moors. King Ferdinand, who broke several lances on the occasion, was among the most distinguished of the combatants for personal dexterity and horsemanship. The martial exercises of the day were relieved by the more effeminate recreations of dancing and music in the evening; and every one seemed willing to welcome the season of hilarity after the longprotracted fatigues of war.1 In the following autumn, the infanta was escorted into Portugal by the cardinal of Spain, the grand master of St. James, and a numerous and magnificent retinue. Her dowry exceeded that usually assigned to the infantas of Castile by five hundred marks of gold and a thousand of silver , and her wardrobe was estimated at one hundred and twenty thousand gold florins. The contemporary chroniclers dwell with much complacency on these evidences of the stateliness and splendour of the Castilian court. Unfortunately, these fair auspices were destined to be clouded too soon by the death of the prince, her husband.2 No sooner had the campaign of the preceding year been brought to a close than Ferdinand and Isabella sent an embassy to the king of Granada, requiring a surrender of his capital, conformably to his stipulations at Loja, which guaranteed this on the capitulation of Baza, Almeria, and Guadix. That time had now arrived. King Abdallah, however, excused himself from obeying the summons of the Spanish sovereign, replying that he was no longer his own master, and that, although he had the strongest desire to keep his engagements, he was prevented by the inhabitants of MS., ano 1490.— Bernaldez, ' Anales, ÿIS., cap. Zuniga, Annales de
Europa Portuguesa, torn. ii. pp.
Faria Sousa, 845.— 52-456. — Florez, Reynas Cathdlicas, — Oviedo, OuinReyes 'ulgar, f cap. '127 A°i4:4r?x7P«Par'JRÿes C-'atdlicos, part.
evil 1=.
1
95.
Clfede, Hist, de Portugal, torn. iv. p. •?' Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, t. ii.
a- p, la y
p. 452.
2
y
p.
Catdlicos, cap. 129.cuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 2, dial. 3.
T
WAR OF GRANADA.
29o
the city, now swollen much beyond its natural population, who resolutely insisted on its defence.1 It is not probable that the Moorish king did any great violence to his feelings in this evasion of a promise extorted from him in captivity. At least it would seem so from the hostile movements which immediately succeeded. The people of Granada resumed all at once their ancient activity, foraying into the Christian territories, surprising Alhendin and some other places of less importance, and stirring up the spirit of revolt in Guadix and other conquered cities. Granada, which had slept through the heat of the struggle, seemed to revive at the very moment when exer¬ tion became hopeless. Ferdinand was not slow in retaliating these acts of aggression. In the spring of 1490 he marched with a strong force into the cultivated plain of Granada, sweeping off, as usual, the crops and cattle, and rolling the tide of devastation up to the very walls of the city. In this campaign he con¬ ferred the honour of knighthood on his son, Prince John, then only twelve years of age, whom he had brought with him, after the ancient usage of the Castilian nobles, of training up their children from very tender years in the Moorish wars. The ceremony was performed on the banks of the grand canal, under the battlements almost of the beleaguered city. The dukes of Cadiz and Medina Sidonia were Prince John's sponsors; and, after the completion of the ceremony, the new knight conferred the honours of chivalry in like manner on several of his young companions-in¬ arms.2 In the following autumn, Ferdinand repeated his ravages in the vega, and at the same time appearing before the disaffected city of Guadix with a force large enough to awe it into submission, proposed an immediate investigation of the conspiracy. He promised to inflict summary justice on all who had been in any degree concerned in it ; at the same time offering permission to the inhabitants, in the abundance of his clemency, to depart with all their personal effects wherever they would, provided they should prefer this to a judicial investigation of their conduct This politic proffer had its effect There were few, if any, of the citizens who had not been either directly concerned in the conspiracy or privy to it. With one accord, therefore, they preferred exile to trusting to the tender mercies of their judges. In this way, says the Curate of Los Palacios, by the mystery of our Lord, was the ancient city of Guadix brought again within the Christian fold : the mosques were converted into Christian temples, filled with the harmonies of Catholic worship, and the pleasant 1 Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, torn. iii. cap. Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 90. Neither the Arabic nor Castilian authorities impeach the justice of the summons made by the Spanish sovereigns. I do not, however, find any other ioundation for the obligation imputed to Abdallah in them than that monarch's agreement during his captivity at Loja, in i486, to surrender his capital
—
4x.
provided the latter shou
in exchange for
Guadix, conquered within six months. Pulgar, — be Catdlicos, p. 375.—Garibay, Compendio, p. 418.
torn. '»•
Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. X76:""" Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, cap. 130.—Zurita, Anal , torn. iv. cap. 85. Cardonne, Hist, de l'Afrique de l'Espagne, torn. iii. p. 309. 8 L.
—
SURRENDER OF THE CAPITAL.
291
places, which for nearly eight centuries had been trampled under the foot of the infidel, once more restored to the followers of the Cross. A similar policy produced similar results in the cities of Almeria and Baza, whose inhabitants, evacuating their ancient homes, transported themselves, with such personal effects as they could carry, to the city of Granada or the coast of Africa. The space thus opened by the fugitive population was quickly filled by the rushing tide of Spaniards.1 It is impossible at this day to contemplate these events with the trium¬ phant swell of exultation with which they are recorded by contemporary chroniclers. That the Moors were guilty (though not so generally as pretended) of the alleged conspiracy, is not in itself improbable, and is corroborated indeed by the Arabic statements. But the punishment was altogether disproportionate to the offence. Justice might surely have been satisfied by a selection of the authors and principal agents of the medi¬ tated insurrection ; for no overt act appears to have occurred. But avarice was too strong for justice ; and this act, which is in perfect confor¬ mity to the policy systematically pursued by the Spanish crown for more than a century afterwards, may be considered as one of the first links in the long chain of persecution which terminated in the expulsion of the
Moriscos. During the following year, 1491, a circumstance occurred illustrative of the policy of the present government in reference to ecclesiastical matters. The chancery of Valladolid having appealed to the pope in a case coming within its own exclusive jurisdiction, the queen commanded Alonso de Valdivieso, bishop of Leon, the president of the court, together with all the auditors, to be removed from their respective offices, which she delivered to a new board, having the bishop of Oviedo at its head. This is one among many examples of the constancy with which Isabella, not¬ withstanding her reverence for religion and respect for its ministers, refused to compromise the national independence by recognizing in any degree the usurpations of Rome. From this dignified attitude, so often aban¬ doned by her successors, she never swerved for a moment during the course of her long reign.2 The winter of 1490 was busily occupied with preparations for the closing campaign against Granada. Ferdinand took command of the army in the month of April, 1491, with the purpose of sitting down before the Moorish capital, not to rise until its final surrender. The troops, which mustered m the Val de Velillos, are computed by most historians at fifty thousand horse and foot, although Martyr, who served as a volunteer, swells the number to eighty thousand. They were drawn from the different cities, chiefly, as usual, from Andalusia, which had been stimulated to truly
——
Hist d« w'ÿP' *3r, 132- Ber- Compendio, torn. iv. p. 424.— Cardonne, aldez, Reyes kiff MS., cap. 97. Conde, l'Afrique et de I'Espagne, torn. iii. pp. 309. 210. |°minacion H.. < CfS' toma Carbajal, Anales, MS., aKo 1491. Peter cap. i}i. f_Ar 41ÿ— ,??' lartvr. 0,1,,..
WAR OF GRANADA.
292
gigantic efforts throughout this protracted war,1 and from the nobility of every quarter, many of whom, wearied out with the contest, contented themselves with sending their quotas, while many others, as the marquises of Cadiz and Villena, the counts ofTendilla, Cabra, and Urena, and Alonso de Aguilar, appeared in person, eager, as they had borne the brunt of so many hard campaigns, to share in the closing scene of triumph. On the 26th of the month the army encamped near the fountain of Ojos de Huescar, in the vega, about two leagues distant from Granada. Ferdinand's first movement was to detach a considerable force, under the marquis of Villena, which he subsequently supported in person with the remainder of the army, for the purpose of scouring the fruitful regions of the Alpujarras, which served as the granary of the capital. This service was performed with such unsparing rigour that no less than twenty-four towns and hamlets in the mountains were ransacked and razed to the ground. After this, Ferdinand returned loaded with spoil to his former position on the banks of the Xenil, in full view of the Moorish metropolis, which seemed to stand alone, like some sturdy oak, the last of the forest, bidding defiance to the storm which had prostrated all its brethren. Notwithstanding the failure of all external resources, Granada was still formidable from its local position and its defences. On the east it was fenced in by a wild mountain barrier, the Sierra Nevada, whose snow-clad summits diffused a grateful coolness over the city through the sultry heats of summer. The side towards the vega, facing the Christian encamp¬ ment, was encircled by walls and towers of massive strength and solidity. The population, swelled to two hundred thousand by- the immigration from the surrounding country, was likely, indeed, to be a burden in a protracted siege; but among them were twenty thousand, the flower of the Moslem chivalry, who had escaped the edge of the Christian sword. In front of the city, for an extent of nearly ten leagues, lay unrolled the magnificent vega, —
" Fresca y regalada vega,
Dulce recreacion de damas Y de hombres gloria immensa,"
whose prolific beauties could scarcely be exaggerated in the most florid strains of the Arabian minstrel, and which still bloomed luxuriant, not¬ withstanding the repeated ravages of the preceding season.2 1 According to Zuniga the quota furnished by Seville this season amounted to 6000 foot and 500 horse, who were recruited by fresh reinforcements
no less than five times during the campaign. Anaales de Sevilla, p. 406. The supplies drawn from he northern provinces of Guipuscoa and Alava mounted to only 1000 foot, 450 crossbowmen, and ÿjo lancers, who were to keep the field for sixty
—
—
uays. Col. de Cedulas, torn. lii. no. 43 ; torn. iv. no. 31. 2 Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, torn. iii. cap. 42. Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. too.
— — Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., lib. 3, epist.
89. •—Marmol. Rebelion de los Moriscos, lib. 1, cap.
L. Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. 177Martyr remarks that the Genoese merchants,
*8.
the " voyagers to every clime, declare this to be has largest
fortified city in the world." Casiri collected a body of interesting particulars respect¬ ing the wealth, population, and social habits ot Granada, from various Arabic authorities. Bib'1®" theca Escurialensis, torn. ii. pp. 247-260. the French work of Laborde, Voyage pittoresque (Parts,
—
1807), and the English one of Murphy, Engravings of Arabian Antiquities of Spain (London, 18167, do ample justice in their finished designs to the general topography and architectural magnificence of Granada.
SURRENDER OF THE CAPITAL.
29 3
The inhabitants of Granada were filled with indignation at the sight of their enemy, thus encamped under the shadow, as it were, of their battlements. They sallied forth in small bodies, or singly, challenging the Spaniards to equal encounter. Numerous were the combats which took place between the high-mettled cavaliers on both sides, who met on the level arena, as on a tilting-ground, where they might display their prowess in the presence of the assembled beauty and chivalry of their respective nations ; for the Spanish camp was graced, as usual, by the presence of queen Isabella and the infantas, with the courtly train of ladies who had accompanied their royal mistress from Alcald la Real. The Spanish ballads glow with picturesque details of these knightly tourneys, forming the most attractive portion of this romantic minstrelsy, which, celebrating the prowess of Moslem as well as Christian warriors, sheds a dying glory round the last hours of Granada.1 The festivity which reigned throughout the camp on the arrival of Isabella did not divert her attention from the stern business of war. She superintended the military preparations, and personally inspected every part of the encampment. She appeared on the field superbly mounted, and dressed in complete armour ; and as she visited the different quarters and reviewed her troops, she administered words of commendation or sympathy, suited to the condition of the soldier.2 On one occasion she expressed a desire to take a nearer survey of the city. For this purpose a house was selected, affording the best point of view, in the little village of Zubia, at no great distance from Granada. The king and queen stationed themselves before a window which com¬ manded an unbroken prospect of the Alhambra and the most beautiful quarter of the town. In the meanwhile, a considerable force, under the marquis duke of Cadiz, had been ordered, for the protection of the royal persons, to take up a position between the village and the city of Granada, with strict injunctions on no account to engage the enemy, as Isabella was unwilling to stain the pleasures of the day with unnecessary effusion of
blood.
The people of Granada, however, were too impatient long to endure the presence and, as they deemed it, the bravado of their enemy. They burst forth from the gates of the capital, dragging along with them several pieces °f ordnance, and commenced a brisk assault on the Spanish lines. The 1 On
one
occasion, a Christian knight having discomfited with body of Moslem a handful of men a much superior chivalry, King Abdallah testified nis admiration the following of his prowess by sending him on day a magnificent present, together with his own sword superbly mounted. (Mem. de ÿ ÿca(l- de Hist., torn. vi. p. 178.) The Moorish ballad beginning
" A1 Rey Chico de Granada "
describes the panic occasioned in the city by the •hristian encampment on
the Xenil :
Por ese fresco Genii " un campo viene marchando,
todo de lucida gente, las armas van relumbrando. " Las vanderas traen tendidas, y un estandarte dorado ; el General de esta gente es el invicto Fernando. Y tambien viene la Reyna, Muger del Rey don Fernando, la qual tiene tanto esfuerzo que anima a qualquier soldado." 2 Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 10*.
WAR OF GRANADA.
294
latter sustained the shock with firmness, till the marquis of Cadiz, seeing them thrown into some disorder, found it necessary to assume the offensive, and, mustering his followers around him, made one of those desperate charges which had so often broken the enemy. The Moorish cavalry faltered, but might have disputed the ground, had it not been for the infantry, which, composed of the rabble population of the city, was easily thrown into confusion, and hurried the horse along with it. The rout now became general. The Spanish cavaliers, whose blood was up, pursued to the very gates of Granada ; " and not a lance," says Bernaldez, "that day, but was dyed in the blood of the infidel." Two thousand of the enemy were slain and taken in the engagement, which lasted only a short time ; and the slaughter was stopped only by the escape of the fugitives within the walls of the city.1 About the middle of July, an accident occurred in the camp, which was like to have been attended with fatal consequences. The queen was lodged in a superb pavilion belonging to the marquis of Cadiz, and always used by him in the Moorish war. By the carelessness of one of her attendants, a lamp was placed in such a situation that during the night, perhaps owing to a gust of wind, it set fire to the drapery or loose hangings of the pavilion, which was instantly in a blaze. The flame communicated with fearful rapidity to the neighbouring tents, made of light, combustible materials, and the camp was menaced with general conflagration. This occurred at the dead of night, when all but the sentinels were buried in sleep. The queen, and her children, whose apartments were near hers, were in great peril, and escaped with difficulty, though fortunately without injury. The alarm soon spread. The trumpets sounded to arms, for it was supposed to be some night attack of the enemy. Ferdinand, snatch¬ ing up his arms hastily, put himself at the head of his troops, but, soon ascertaining the nature of the disaster, contented himself with posting the marquis of Cadiz, with a strong body of horse, over against the city, in order to repel any sally from that quarter. None, however, was attempted, and the fire was at length extinguished without personal injury, though not without loss of much valuable property, in jewels, plate, brocade, and other costly decorations of the tents of the nobility.2 In order to guard against a similar disaster, as well as to provide com¬ fortable winter-quarters for the army, should the siege be so long protracted as to require it, it was resolved to build a town of substantial edifices on the place of the present encampment. The plan was immediately put in execution. The work was distributed in due proportions among the MS., cap. 101.— lbernaldez, ReyesdeCatdlicos, los Arabes, torn. m.
r Conde,
Domination Martyr Opus Eprst., lib. P
cap.
4, epist. 90—
Catdhcos, cap. rÿ.-Zunta, Anales, caused -a in commemoration t according ot this event at Zubia, where, to Mr. Irving, the house from which she witnessed
tom. iv. cap. 88.—Isabella afterwards
action is to be seen at the present day. See Conquest of Granada, chap. 90, note. a Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., lib. 4, *Plst- 9' " Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap ioi.~-
Garibay, Compendio, torn. ii. p. 673— B.Ieda' Cordnica.p. 619.— Marmol.Rebeliondelos MonscoS, lib 1 cap 18
\
SURRENDER OF THE CAPITAL. troops of the several cities and of the great nobility ; the soldier
*95 was on
a sudden converted into an artisan, and, instead of war, the camp echoed with the sounds of peaceful labour. In less than three months this stupendous task was accomplished. The spot so recently occupied by light, fluttering pavilions, was thickly covered with solid structures of stone and mortar, comprehending, besides dwell¬ ing-houses, stables for a thousand horses. The town was thrown into a quadrangular form, traversed by two spacious avenues, intersecting each other at right angles in the centre, in the form of a cross, with stately portals at each of the four extremities. Inscriptions on blocks of marble in the various quarters, recorded the respective shares of the several cities in the execution of the work. When it was completed, the whole army was desirous that the new city should bear the name of their illustrious queen ; but Isabella modestly declined this tribute, and bestowed on the place the title of Santa Fe, in token of the unshaken trust manifested by her people throughout this war in Divine Providence. With this name it still stands as it was erected in 1491, a monument of the constancy and enduring patience of the Spaniards, " the only city in Spain," in the words of a Castilian writer, "that has never been contaminated by the Moslem heresy." 1 The erection of Santa Fe by the Spaniards struck a greater damp into the people of Granada than the most successful military achievement could have done. They beheld the enemy setting foot on their soil with a resolution never more to resign it They already began to suffer from the rigorous blockade, which effectually excluded supplies from their own territories, while all communication with Africa was jealously intercepted. Symptoms of insubordination had begun to show themselves among the overgrown population of the city, as it felt more and more the pressure of famine. In this crisis the unfortunate Abdallah and his principal counsellors became convinced that the place could not be maintained much longer; and at length, in the month of October, propositions were made, through the vizier Abul Cazim Abdelmalic, to open a negotiation for the surrender of the place. The affair was to be conducted with the utmost caution ; since the people of Granada, notwithstanding their precarious condition and their disquietude, were buoyed up by indefinite expectations of relief from Africa or some other quarter. The Spanish sovereigns intrusted the negotiation to their secretary, Fernando de Zafra, and to Gonsalvo de Cordova, the latter of whom was selected for this delicate business from his uncommon address and his familiarity with the Moorish habits and language. Thus the capitulation 1
Estrada, Poblacion de Espana, torn. ii. pp. I
eter Martyr, Opus Epist., lib. 4, epist. j 1-Vi Uebelionde los Moriscos, lib. I, cap. ' t8• warmo1, fiita, who
01
—
embellishes his florid prose with I
castonal extracts from the beautiful ballad poetry S'ves one commemorating the erection of
0411,0 Fe :
1
Oreada. esta Santa Fe " con mucho lienzo encerado
al rededor muchas tiendas de seda, oro, y brocado. " Donde estan Duques, y Condes, Seiiores de gran estado, ' etc. Guerras de Granada, p. S'S-
WAR OF GRANADA.
296
of Granada was referred to the man who acquired in her long wars the military science which enabled him, at a later period, to foil the most distinguished generals of Europe. The conferences were conducted by night, with the utmost secrecy, sometimes within the walls of Granada, and at others in the little hamlet of Churriana, about a league distant from it. At length, after large dis¬ cussion on both sides, the terms of capitulation were definitively settled, and ratified by the respective monarchs on the 25th of November, 1491.1 The conditions were of similar though somewhat more liberal import than those granted to Baza. The inhabitants of Granada were to retain possession of their mosques, with the free exercise of their religion, with all its peculiar rites and ceremonies ; they were to be judged by their own laws, under their own cadis or magistrates, subject to the general control of the Castilian governor ; they were to be unmolested in their ancient usages, manners, language, and dress ; to be protected in the full enjoy¬ ment of their property, with the right of disposing of it on their own account, and of migrating when and where they would ; and to be furnished with vessels for the conveyance of such as chose within three years to pass into Africa. No heavier taxes were to be imposed than those customarily paid to their Arabic sovereigns, and none whatever before the expiration of three years. King Abdallah was to reign over a specified territory in the Alpujarras, for which he was to do homage to the Castilian crown. The artillery and the fortifications were to be delivered into the hands of the Christians, and the city was to be sur¬ rendered in sixty days from the date of the capitulation. Such were the principal terms of the surrender of Granada, as authenticated by the most accredited Castilian and Arabic authorities ; which Ihave stated the more precisely, as affording the best data for estimating the extent of Spanish perfidy in later times.2 The conferences could not be conducted so secretly but that some report of them got air among the populace of the city, who now regarded Abdallah with an evil eye for his connection with the Christians. When ii. cap. 90.—Cardonne, 42.— Zurita, Anales, — cap. Hist, de l'Afrique iii. pp- 3'7> de l'Espagne,
1 Pedraza, Antiguedad de Granada, fol. 74. Giovio, De Vita Gonsalvi, apud Vitse Illust. Virorum, pp. an, 212. Salazar de Mendoza, Crdn. del Gran Cardenal, p. 236. Cardonne, Hist, de l'Afrique et de l'Espagne, torn. iii. pp. 316, 317. Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, torn. iii. cap. 42. L. Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. 178.— Marmol, however, assigns the date in the text to a separate capitulation respecting Abdallah, dating that made in behalf of the city three days later. (Rebelion de los Mpriscos, lib. 1, cap. 19.) This author has given the articles of the treaty with greater fulness and precison than any other Spanish historian.* '2 Marmol, Rebelion de los Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 19- Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, torn. iii.
—
—
—
—
—
torn.
et
torn.
318.—Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 28.— Martyr adds that the principal Moorish nobility were to remove from the city. (Opus Epist., lib. 4, epist. 92.) Pedraza, who has devoted a volume to the history of Granada, does not to think the capitulations worth specifying. Most of the modern Castilians pass very lightly over them. They iurnish too bitter a comment on the conduct of subsequent Spanish monarchs, Marino and the judicious Zurita agree in every substantia particular with Conde, and this coincidence may considered as establishing the actual terms ot treaty.
_
for the surrender of the city and the private capitulation with the Moorish dat'> which, with the substance, is correctly given in the text. They have documents but, apparently, not the original documents -at Simaneas. in the 8t.i volume of the Col. de Doc. indd para la Hist, de Espana EnTl treat,es-that
SURRENDER OF THE CAPITAL.
297
the fact of the capitulation became known, the agitation speedily mounted into an open insurrection, which menaced the safety of the city as well as of Abdallah's person. In this alarming state of things, it was thought best by that monarch's counsellors to anticipate the appointed day of surrender; and the 2d of January, 1492, was accordingly fixed on for that purpose. Every preparation was made by the Spaniards for performing this last act of the drama with suitable pomp and effect. The mourning which the court had put on for the death of Prince Alonso of Portugal, occa¬ sioned by a fall from his horse a few months after his marriage with the infanta Isabella, was exchanged for gay and magnificent apparel. On the morning of the 2d, the whole Christian camp exhibited a scene of the most animating bustle. The grand cardinal Mendoza was sent forward at the head of a large detachment, comprehending his household troops, and the veteran infantry grown gray in the Moorish wars, to occupy the Alhambra preparatory to the entrance of the sovereigns.1 Ferdinand stationed himself at some distance in the rear, near an Arabian mosque, since consecrated as the hermitage of St. Sebastian. He was surrounded by his courtiers, with their stately retinues, glittering in gorgeous panoply, and proudly displaying the armorial bearings of their ancient houses. The queen halted still farther in the rear, at the village of Armilla.2 As the column under the grand cardinal advanced up the Hill of Martyrs, over which a road had been constructed for the passage of the artillery, he was met by the Moorish prince Abdallah, attended by fifty cavaliers, who, descending the hill, rode up to the position occupied by Ferdinand on the banks of the Xenil. As the Moor approached the Spanish king, he would have thrown himself from his horse and saluted his hand in token of homage; but Ferdinand hastily prevented him, embracing him with every mark of sympathy and regard. Abdallah then delivered up the keys of the Alhambra to his conqueror, saying, " They are thine, O king, since Allah so decrees it : use thy success with clemency and moderation." Ferdinand would have uttered some words of con¬ solation to the unfortunate prince, but he moved forward with a dejected air to the spot occupied by Isabella, and, after similar acts of abeisance, passed on to join his family, who had preceded him with his most valuable effects on the route to the Alpujarras.8 The sovereigns during this time awaited with impatience the signal of the occupation of the city by the cardinal's troops, which, winding slowly ÿ
te-
O-viedo, whose narrative exhibits many discre¬ les w'th those of other
contemporaries, assigns
'he count of Tendilla, the first captainytanada. (Quincuagenas, MS., bat. r, onirJ'ÿ x> dial. 28.) But as this writer, though an e p-., ha,rt
(v,es$'. was hut thirteen or fourteen years of l'me of the capture, and wrote some sixty c-innÿ.av.er ""orn. his early recollections, his authority e considered of equal weight with that of
a»e a t Vearc I
ns who, like Martyr, described events as they
ÿepaÿng before them. et
raza, Antiguedad de Grana da, fo!
"•
Salazar de Mendoza, Crdn. dei Gran Cardenal, p. torn. iv. cap. 90. Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., lib. 4, epist. 92. Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, torn. ii. fol. 309. Marmol, Rebelion de los Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 20. 3 Marmol, Rebelion de los Moriscos, ubi supra. Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, torn. iii. cap. 43. Pedraza, Antigiiedad de Granada, fol. 76. Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 102. Zurita, Anales, torn. iv. cap. 90.— Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quine. 1, dial. 28.
238. — Zurita, Anales,
—
——
—
—
— —
298
WAR OF GRANADA.
along the outer circuit of the walls, as previously arranged, in order to spare the feelings of the citizens as far as possible, entered by what is now called the gate of Los Molinos. In a short time, the large silver cross, borne by Ferdinand throughout the crusade, was seen sparkling in the sunbeams, while the standards of Castile and St. Jago waved triumphantly from the red towers of the Alhambra. At this glorious spectacle the choir of the royal chapel broke forth into the solemn anthem of the Te Deum ; and the whole army, penetrated with deep emotion, prostrated themselves on their knees in adoration of the Lord of hosts, who had at length granted the consummation of their wishes in this last and glorious triumph of the Cross.1 The grandees who surrounded Ferdinand then advanced towards the queen, and, kneeling down, saluted her hand in token of homage to her as sovereign of Granada. The procession took up its march towards the city, " the king and queen moving in the midst," says an historian, " emblazoned with royal magnificence ; and as they were in the prime of life, and had now achieved the completion of this glorious conquest, they seemed to represent even more than their wonted majesty. Equal with each other, they were raised far above the rest of the world. They appeared, indeed, more than mortal, and as if sent by heaven for the salvation of Spain." 2 In the meanwhile the Moorish king, traversing the route of the Alpujarras, reached a rocky eminence which commanded a last view of Granada. He checked his horse, and, as his eye for the last time wandered over the scenes of his departed greatness, his heart swelled, and he burst into tears. "You do well," said his more masculine mother, "to weep like a woman for what you could not defend like a man !" " Alas ! " exclaimed the unhappy exile, " when were woes ever equal to mine ! " The scene of this event is still pointed out to the traveller by the people of the district ; and the rocky height from which the Moorish chief took his sad farewell of the princely abodes of his youth is commemorated by 1 Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., nbi supra. One — is reminded of Tasso's description of the somewhat similar feelings exhibited by the crusaders on their entrance into Jerusalem : apparir Gerusalem si vede, " Ecco Ecco additar Gerusalem si scorge ; Ecco da mille voci unitamente
Gerusalemme salutar si sente.
their entrance into the city until the 5th or 6th of January. A letter transcribed by Pedraza, addressed by the queen to the prior of Guadalupe, one of her council, dated from the city of Granada on the 2d of January 1492, shows the inaccuracy of this state¬ ment. See folio 76. In Mr. Lockhart's picturesque version of the Moorish ballads the reader may find an animated description of the triumphant entry of the Christian army into Granada :
A1 gran piacer che quella prima vista Dolcemente spirb neli' altrui petto, Alta contrizion successe, mista Di timoroso e riverente affetto. Osano appena d' innalzar la vista Ver la citta."
was crying in Granada when the sun was " There going
Gerusalemme Liberata, Cant. iii. st. 3, 5.
Hist, de Espana, torn. ii. p. 597, * Mariana, — Antiguedad de Granada, fol. 76.—Carbajal, Pedraza, Anales, MS., ano 1492 — Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, torn. iii. cap. 43.— Bleda, Cordnica, pp. 621, 622. —Zurita, Anales, torn. iv. cap. 90. Marmol, Rebelion de los Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. L. Marineo, and indeed most of the Spanish autho¬ — rities, represent the
—
20.
sovereigns as having postponed
down, Some calling on the Trinity, some calling on Mahoun ; Here passed away the Koran, there in the cross was borne, And here was heard the Christian bell, and there the Moorish horn ; Te Deum laudamus was up the Alcala sung; Down from the Alhambra's minarets were all the , crescents flung ; The arms thereon of Aragon and Castile tney display ; One king comes in in triumph, one weeping goes away "
SURRENDER OF THE CAPITAL.
299
the poetical title of El ultimo Sospiro del A/oro, " The Last Sigh of the Moor." The sequel of Abdallah's history is soon told. Like his uncle, El Zagal, he pined away in his barren domain of the Alpujarras, under the shadow, as it were, of his ancient palaces. In the following year he passed over to Fez with his family, having commuted his petty sovereignty for a considerable sum of money paid him by Ferdinand and Isabella, and soon after fell in battle in the service of an African prince, his kinsman. " Wretched man," exclaims a caustic chronicler of his nation, " who could lose his life in another's cause, though he did not dare to die in his own ! Such," continues the Arabian, with characteristic resignation, " was the immutable decree of destiny. Blessed be Allah, who exalteth and debaseth the kings of the earth, according to his divine will, in whose fulfilment consists that eternal justice which regulates all human affairs." The portal through which King Abdallah for the last time issued from his capital was at his request walled up, that none other might again pass through it. In this condition it remains to this day, a memorial of the sad destiny of the last of the kings of Granada. 1 The fall of Granada excited a general sensation throughout Christen¬ dom, where it was received as counterbalancing, in a manner, the loss of Constantinople nearly half a century before. At Rome the event was commemorated by a solemn procession of the pope and cardinals to St. Peter's, where high mass was celebrated, and the public rejoicing continued for several days.2 The intelligence was welcomed with no less satisfaction m England, where Henry the Seventh was seated on the throne. The circumstances attending it, as related by Lord Bacon, will not be devoid of interest for the reader.8 1Conde,
—
Dominacion de los Arabes, torn, iii- cap.
9°- Cardonne, Hist, de l'Afrique et de l'Espagne, torn. iii. pp. 319, Garibay, Compendio, torn. iv. lib. 40, cap. 42. 320. Marmol, Rebelion de los Moris-
—
Joy, and the false prophet Mahomet play the prin¬ cipal parts. The difficulty of a precise classification of this piece has given rise to warmer discussion among Italian critics than the subject may br thought to warrant. See Signorelli, Vicende della Coltura nelle due Sicilie (Napoli, 1810), torn. iii. pp.
— cos, lib. i, cap. 20. Mr. in his beautiful Spanish Sketch-book, "TheIrving, Alhambra," devotes a chapter to mementos of Boabdil, in which he traces 543 et seq. minutely the route of the deposed monarch after 3 "Somewhat about this time came letters from quitting the gates of his capital. same author, Ferdinando and Isabella, king and queen of Spain, m the Appendix to his Chronicle TheGranada, con¬ signifying the final conquest of Granada from the of cludes a notice of Abdallah's fate with the following Moors ; which action, in itself so worthy, King description of his person ; "A portrait of Boabdil Ferdinando, whose manner was never to lose any el Chico is to be seen in the picture-gallery of the virtue for the showing, had expressed and displayed Generalife. He is represented a mild, hand¬ in his letters at large, with all the particularities some face, a fair complexion, andwith yellow hair. His and religious punctos and ceremonies that were dress is of yellow brocade, relieved with black observed in the reception of that city and kingdom ; 'civet ; and he has a black velvet cap, surmounted showing, amongst other things, that the king would "1th a crown. In the armoury of Madrid are two not by any means in person enter the city until he suits of armour said to have belonged to him, one had first aloof seen the Cross set up upon the greater of solid steel, with very little ornament ; the morion tower of Granada, whereby it became Christian closed. From the proportions suits of ground. That likewise, before he would enter, he wmour, he must have been of offullthese ture and did homage to God above, pronouncing by an herald v,g°rous form." from the height of that tower, that he did acknow¬ Note, p. 398. Senarega, Commentarii de Rebus Genuensibus, ledge to have recovered that kingdom by the help ÿ°rator'» Rerum Italicarum Scriptores of God Almighty, and the glorious Virgin, and the
—
?'-ani'
—
I723~5I)) torn. xxiv. p. 531. It formed tk e subject of a theatrical representation before the court at Naples, in the same year. This drama, or £aria> as it is called by its distinguished author, oannazaro, is an allegorical medley, in which Faith-
virtuous apostle St. James, and the holy father Innocent VIII., together with the aids and services of his prelates, nobles, and commons. That yet he stirred not from his camp, till he had seen a little army of martyrs, to the number of seven hundred
3°°
WAR OF GRANAJJA.
Thus ended the war of Granada, which is often compared by the Castilian chroniclers to that of Troy in its duration, and which certainly fully equalled the latter in variety of picturesque and romantic incidents, and in circumstances of poetical interest. With the surrender of its capital terminated the Arabian empire in the Peninsula, after an existence of seven hundred and forty-one years from the date of the original conquest. The consequences of this closing war were of the highest moment to Spain. The most obvious was the recovery of an extensive territory, hitherto held by a people whose difference of religion, language, and general habits made them not only incapable of assimilating with their Christian neighbours, but almost their natural enemies ; while their local position was a matter of just concern, as interposed between the great divisions of the Spanish monarchy, and opening an obvious avenue to invasion from Africa. By the new conquest, moreover, the Spaniards gained a large extent of country, possessing the highest capacities for production, in its natural fruitfulness of soil, the temperature of climate, and the state of cultivation to which it had been brought by its ancient occupants ; while its shores were lined with commodious havens that afforded every facility for commerce. The scattered fragments of the ancient Visigothic empire were now again, with the exception of the little state of Navarre, combined into one great monarchy, as originally destined by nature : and Christian Spain gradually rose, by means of her new acquisitions, from a subordinate situation to the level of a first-rate European power. The moral influence of the Moorish war, its influence on the Spanish character, was highly important. The inhabitants of the great divisions of the country, as in most countries during the feudal ages, had been brought too frequently into collision with each other to allow the existence of a pervading national feeling. This was particularly the case in Spain, where independent states insensibly grew out of the detached fragments of and more Christians, that had lived in bonds and nor enlarged and set farther the bounds of the servitude, as slaves to the Moors, pass before his Christian world. But this is now done by the eyes, singing a psalm for their redemption ; and prowess and of Ferdinando and Isabella, that he had given tribute unto God, by alms and kings of Spaindevotion ; who have, to their immortal honour, relief extended to them all, for his admission into recovered the great and rich kingdom of Granada, the city. These things were in the letters, with and the populous and mighty city of the same name many 1 lore ceremonies of a kind of holy ostentation. from the Moors, having been in possession thereof The king, ever willing to put himself into the by the space " of seven hundred years, and more; for consort or quire of all religious actions, and natu¬ which this assembly and all Christians are to render rally affecting much the king of Spain, as far as one laud and noble king can affect another, partly for his virtues, and act of thethanks to God, and to celebrate this king of Spain ; who in this is not only partly for a counterpoise to France, upon the re¬ new of victorious but gaining apostolical, the in ceipt of these letters, sent all his nobles and prelates to the Christian faith. And the rather that were about the court, together with the mayor provinces tor that this victory and conquest is obtained with¬ and aldermen of London, in great solemnity to the out much effusion of blood. Whereby it is to be church of Paul, there to hear a declaration from the terri¬ lord chancellor, now cardinal. When they were hoped that there shall be gained not only newwhom tory, assembled, the cardinal, standing upon the upper¬ the but infinite souls to the Church of Christ, it be live Almighty, have as it would seems, most step, or halfpace, before the quire, and all the converted. Herewithal he did relate some of the nobles, prelates, and governors of the city at the victory. foot of the stairs, made a speech to them, letting most memorable particulars of the war andassembly And, after his speech ended, the whole them know that they were assembled in that was secrated place to sing unto God a new song. con¬ went solemnly in procession, and Te DeumKing For sung." Lord Bacon, History of the Reign of that, said he, these many years the Christians have Henry VII., in his Works (ed. London, 1819), v°lnot gained new ground or territory upon the infidels, v. pd. £5. 86 See also Hall, Chronicle, p. 453-
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SURRENDER OF THE CAPITAL.
301
territory recovered at different times from the Moorish monarchy. The war of Granada subjected all the various sections of the country to one common action, under the influence of common motives of the most exciting interest ; while it brought them in conflict with a race the extreme repugnance of whose institutions and character to their own served greatly to nourish the nationality of sentiment. In this way the spark of patriotism was kindled throughout the whole nation, and the most distant provinces of the Peninsula were knit together by a bond of union which has remained indissoluble. The consequences of these wars in a military aspect are also worthy of notice. Up to this period, war had been carried on by irregular levies, extremely limited in numerical amount and in period of service, under little subordination, except to their own immediate chiefs, and wholly unprovided with the apparatus required for extended operations. The Spaniards were even lower than most of the European nations in military science, as is apparent from the infinite pains of Isabella to avail herself of all foreign resources for their improvement. In the war of Granada, masses of men were brought together far greater than had hitherto been known in modern warfare. They were kept in the field not only through long campaigns, but far into the winter ; a thing altogether unprecedented. They were made to act in concert, and the numerous petty chiefs brought into complete subjection to one common head, whose personal character en¬ forced the authority of station. Lastly, they were supplied with all the requisite munitions through the providence of Isabella, who introduced nto the service the most skilful engineers from other countries, and kept in pay bodies of mercenaries,— as the Swiss, for example, reputed the best disciplined troops of that day. In this admirable school the Spanish soldier was gradually trained to patient endurance, fortitude, and thorough sub¬ ordination ; and those celebrated captains were formed, with that invincible infantry, which in the beginning of the sixteenth century spread the military fame of their country over all Christendom. But, with all our sympathy for the conquerors, it is impossible without a deep feeling of regret to contemplate the decay and final extinction of a race who had made such high advances in civilization as the Spanish Arabs ; to see them driven from the stately palaces reared by their own hands, wandering as exiles over the lands which still blossomed with the fruits of their industry, and wasting away under persecution, until their very name as a nation was blotted out from the map of history.1 It must be admitted, however, that they had long since reached their utmost limit of advance¬ ment as a people. The light shed over their history shines from distant ages ; for during the later period of their existence they appear to have reposed in a state of torpid, luxurious indulgence, which would seem to
Ona}?16 A
an descendants of the Spanish Moors, I for many generations, and perhaps still continue, to .wJ}°!ly t0 relinquish the hope of restoration put up a petition to that effect in their mosques every to I delicious abodes of their ancestors, continued | Friday. Pedraza, Antigiiedad de flranada, foi. 7.
3°2
WAR OF GRANADA.
argue that, when causes of external excitement were withdrawn, the inherent vices of their social institutions had incapacitated them for the further production of excellence. In this impotent condition, it was wisely ordered that their territory should be occupied by people whose religion and more liberal form of government, however frequently misunder¬ stood or perverted, qualified them for advancing still higher the interests of humanity. It will not be amiss to terminate the narrative of the war of Granada with some notice of the fate of Rodrigo Ponce de Leon, marquis duke of Cadiz ; for he may be regarded in a peculiar manner as the hero of it, having struck the first stroke by the surprise of Alhama, and witnessed every campaign till the surrender of Granada. A circumstantial account of his last moments is afforded by the pen of his worthy countryman, the Andalusian Curate of Los Palacios. The gallant marquis survived the close of the war only a short time, terminating his days at his mansion in Seville, on the 28th of August, 1492, by a disorder brought on by fatigue and incessant exposure. He had reached the forty-ninth year of his age, and, although twice married, left; no legitimate issue. In his person he was of about the middle stature, of a compact, symmetrical frame, a fair complexion, with light hair inclining to red. He was an excellent horse¬ man, and well skilled in most of the exercises of chivalry. He had the rare merit of combining sagacity with intrepidity in action. Though somewhat impatient and slow to forgive, he was frank and generous, a warm friend, and a kind master to his vassals.1 He was strict in his observance of the Catholic worship, punctilious in keeping all the church festivals and in enforcing their observance through¬ out his domains ; and in war he was a most devout champion of the Virgin. He was ambitious of acquisitions, but lavish in expenditure, especially in the embellishment and fortification of his towns and castles ; spending on Alcala de Guadaira, Xerez, and Alanis, the enormous sum of seventeen million maravedis. To the ladies he was courteous, as became a true knight. At his death, the king and queen with the whole court went into mourning ; " for he was a much-loved cavalier," says the Curate, " and was esteemed, like the Cid, both by friend and foe ; and no Moor durst abide in that quarter of the field where his banner was displayed." His body, after lying in state for several days in his palace at Seville, with his trusty sword by his side, with which he had fought all his battles, was borne in solemn procession by night through the streets of the city, which was everywhere filled with the deepest lamentation, and was finally deposited in the great chapel of the Augustine church, in the tomb of his ancestors. Ten Moorish banners, which he had taken in battle with the infidel before the war of Granada, were borne along at his funeral, " and i Carbajal, Auales, MS., ano 1492.—Don Hen- I the Moorish war, the firm friend, of the marqu* nque de Guzman, duke of Medina Sidonia, the of Cadiz, died the 28th of August, on the same aair ancient enemy, and, since the commencement of | with the latter.
SURRENDER OF THE CAPITAL. still wave over his sepulchre," says Bernaldez, " keeping alive the memory of his exploits, as undying as his soul" The banners have long since mouldered into dust ; the very tomb which contained his ashes has been sacrilegiously demolished ; but the fame of the hero will survive as long as anything like respect for valour, courtesy, unblemished honour, or any other attribute of chivalry, shall be found in Spain.1 One of the chief authorities on which the account of the Moorish war rests is Andres Bernaldez, Curate of Los Palacios. He was a native of Fuente in Leon, and appears to have received his early education under the care of his grandfather, a notary of that place, whose commendations of a juvenile essay in historical writing led him later in life, according to his own account, to record the events of his time in the extended and regular form of a chronicle. After admission to orders, he was made chaplain to Deza, archbishop of Seville, and curate of Los Falacios, an Andalusian town not far from Seville, where he discharged his ecclesiastical functions with credit from 1488 to 1513, at which time, as we find no later mention of him, he probably closed his life with his labours. Bernaldez had ample opportunities for accurate information relative to the Moorish war, since he lived, as it were, in the theatre of action, and was personally intimate with the most considerable men of Andalusia, especially the marquis of Cadiz, whom he has made the Achilles of his epic, assigning him a much more important part in the principal transactions than is always warranted by other authorities. His chronicle is just such as might have been anticipated from a person of lively imagination, and competent scholar¬ ship for the time, deeply dyed with the bigotry and superstition of the Spanish clergy in that century. There is no great discrimination apparent in the work of the worthy curate, who dwells with goggle-eyed credulity on the most absurd marvels, and expends more pages on an empty court-show than on the most important schemes of policy. But, if he is no philosopher, he has, perhaps for that very reason, succeeded in making us completely master of the popular feelings and prejudices of the time ; while he gives a most vivid portraiture of the principal scenes and actors in this stirring war, with all their chivalrous exploit and rich theatrical accompaniment. His credulity and fana¬ ticism, moreover, are well compensated by a simplicity and loyalty of purpose which secure much more credit to his narrative than attaches to those of more ambitious writers, whose judgment is perpetually swayed by personal or party interests. The chronicle descends as late as 1513, although, as might be expected from the author's character, it is entitled to much less confidence in the discussion of events which fell without the scope of his personal observation. Notwithstanding its historical value is fully recog¬ nized by the Castilian critics, it has never been admitted to the press, but still remains mgulfed in the ocean of manuscripts with which the Spanish libraries are deluged. It is remarkable that the war of Granada, which is so admirably suited in all its cir« cumstances to poetical purposes, should not have been more frequently commemorated by the epic muse. The only successful attempt in this way with which Iam acquainted is the Conquisto di Granata," by the Florentine Girolamo Gratiani, Modena, 1650. " The author has taken the license, independently of his machinery, of deviating very freely from the historic track ; among other things, introducing Columbus and the Great Captain as principal actors in the drama, in which they played at most but a very subZuiiiga,
—
Annales de Sevilla, p. 411. Bernaldez. Reyes Catdlicos, The marquis lelt daughters by a noble Spamsh lady, *'10 all .ormed high He was succ?ei]ed in his titles andconnections. estates, by the permission °< Ferdinand and Isabella, by Don Rodrigo Ponce Leon, the son of his eldest daughter, who hnn 1 .res: illegitimate MS., cap. 104.
married with one of her kinsmen. Cadiz was sub¬ sequently annexed by the Spanish sovereigns to the crown, from which it had been detached in Henry IV.'s time, and considerable estates were given as an equivalent, together with the title of I)uke of Arcos, to the family of Porice de Leon.
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
3°4
ordinate part. The poem, which swells into twenty-six cantos, is in such repute with tht Italian critics that Quadrio does not hesitate to rank it "among the best epical produc¬ tions of the age." A translation of this work has recently appeared at Nuremberg, from the pen of C. M. Winterling, which is much commended by the German critics. Mr. Irving's late publication, the " Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada," has super¬ seded all further necessity for poetry, and, unfortunately for me, for history. He has fully availed himself of all the picturesque and animating movements of this romantic era ; and the reader who will take the trouble to compare his Chronicle with the present more prosaic and literal narrative will see how little he has been seduced from historic accuracy by the poetical aspect of his subject. The fictitious and romantic dre s of his work has enabled him to make it the medium for reflecting more vividly the floating opinions and chimerical fancies of the age, while he has illuminated the picture with the dramatic brilliancy of colouring denied to sober history.
CHAPTER XVI. APPLICATION OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS AT THE SPANISH COURT
1492.
—
Early Discoveries of the Portuguese.—Of the Spaniards. Columbus. — His Application at the Castilian Court. Rejected. — Negotiations resumed. Favourable Disposition of the Queen. Arrangement with Columbus. He sails on his first Voyage. — Indifference to the Enterprise.— Acknowledgments due to Isabella.
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—
While Ferdinand and Isabella were at Santa Fe, the capitulation was signed that opened the way to an extent of empire compared with which their recent conquests, and indeed all their present dominions, were insignificant. The extraordinary intellectual activity of the Europeans in the fifteenth century, after the torpor of ages, carried them forward to high advancement in almost every department of science, but especially nautical, whose surprising results have acquired for the age the glory of being designated as peculiarly that of maritime discovery. This was eminently favoured by the political condition of modern Europe. Under the Roman empire, the traffic with the East naturally centred in Rome, the commercial capital of the West. After the dismemberment of the empire, it continued to be conducted principally through the channel of the Italian ports, whence it was diffused over the remoter regions of Christendom. But these countries, which had now risen from the rank of subordinate provinces to that of separate, independent states, viewed with jealousy this monopoly of the Italian cities, by means of which the latter were rapidly advancing beyond them in power and opulence. This was especially the case with Portugal and Castile,1 which, placed on the 1 Aragon, or
rather Catalonia, maintained an
commerce with the Levant, and the of the East, during the Middle ÿVges, through the flourishing port of Barcelona.
extensive
remote regions
See Capmany y Montpalau, Memorias histdricas sobre la Marina, Comercio y Artes de Barcelona (Madrid, 1770-02) passim p
HIS APPLICATION AT THE COURT. remote frontiers of the European continent, were far removed from the great routes of Asiatic intercourse ; while this disadvantage was not compensated by such an extent of territory as secured consideration to some other of the European states, equally unfavourably situated tor commercial purposes with themselves. Thus circumstanced, the two nations of Castile and Portugal were naturally led to turn their eyes on the great ocean which washed their western borders, and to seek in its hitherto unexplored recesses for new domains, and, if possible, strike out some undiscovered tract towards the opulent regions of the East. The spirit of maritime enterprise was fomented, and greatly facilitated in its operation, by the invention of the astrolabe, and the important discovery of the polarity of the magnet, whose first application to the purposes of navigation on an extended scale may be referred to the fifteenth century.1 The Portugese were the first to enter on the brilliant path of nautical discovery, which they pursued under the infant Don Henry with such activity that before the middle of the fifteenth century they had penetrated as far as Cape de Verd, doubling many a fearful headland which had shut in the timid navigator of former days ; until ai
length, in i486, they descried the lofty promontory which terminates Africa on the south, and which, hailed by King John the Second, under whom it was discovered, as the harbinger of the long-sought passage to the East, received the cheering appellation of the Cape of Good Hope. The Spaniards, in the meanwhile, did not languish in the career of maritime enterprise. Certain adventurers from the northern provin- es of Biscay and Guipuscoa, in 1393, had made themselves masters of one 01 the smallest of the group of islands supposed to be the Fortunate Isles of the ancients, since known as the Canaries. Other private adventurers from Seville extended their conquests over these islands in the beginning of the following century. These were completed in behalf of the crown under Ferdinand and Isabella, who equipped several fleets for their reduc¬ tion, which at length terminated in 1495 with that of Teneriffe.2 From mathematicians in the court of Madeira and the Azores. See Navarrete, CoiecI. TT0Unc't 'T Portugal first devised the application cion de los Viages y Descubrimientos que hicieron if 'he ? ancient astrolabe to navigation, thus afford- por Mar los Espanoles (Madrid, 1825-29), i., 1
torn,
ng to the mariner the essential advantages apper- introd., sec. 33. Tiraboschi, Letteratura Italiana, aimng to the modern quadrant. The discovery of torn. iv. pp. 173, 174- Capmany, Mem. de Bar¬ e polarity of the needle, which vulgar tradition, celona, torn. iii. part. 1, cap. 4. — Koch, Tableau des ÿhom scruple by Robertson, assigned Revolutions de l'Europe (Paris, 1814), torn. i. pp. tn fi, A the Amalfite Flavio Gioja, is clearly proved to 358-360. 2 Four of the islands were conquered on behalf 1,- 'T occurred more than a century earlier. Tiraj?b who investigates the matter with his usual of private adventurers chiefly from Andalusia, before Pÿiog by the doubtful reference of the accession of Ferdinand and Isabella, and under Gni ,?n'I rovins, whose age and personal identity their reign were held a. the property of a noble ev.. contested, traces the familiar use of the Castilian family, named Peraza. The sovereigns „ neec"c as far back as the first half of the sent a considerable armament from Seville in 1480, which subdued the great island of Canary on behalf r- 5enth century, by a pertinent passage from the crown, and another in 1493, which effected bvs 6 1 s'milar 0 ÿ'e<1 'n I244> and sustains this of references to other authors of the the reduction of Palma and Teneriffe after a sturdy Capmany resistance from the natives. Bernaldez postpones use finds notice its of no Ce?'tUry-. bv tl e de Mendoza, stl!lan navigators earlier than 1403. It the last conquest to 1495. SalazarPulgar, was Reyes torn. i. pp. 347-349.— Monarquia, considerably fifteenth later the in j centu Catbiicos, Reyes 'he Bernaldez, Portuguese voyagers, trusting to , Catblicos, pp. 136, 203. its cr..1?] Navarrete, Colleccion ventured to quit the Mediterranean 1 MS., cap. 64, 65, 66, 133. ' and°Afmean coasts and extend their navigation to 1 de Viages, torn. I., introd., sec. 28.
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—
" ar.e
thirtnetlCi ' same?
.
rU
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U
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. the commencement of their reign, Ferdinand and Isabella had shown an earnest solicitude for the encouragement of commerce and nautical science, as is evinced by a variety of regulations, which, however imper¬ fect from the misconception of the true principles of trade in that day, are sufficiently indicative of the dispositions of the government.1 Under them, and indeed under their predecessors as far back as Henry the Third, a considerable traffic had been carried on with the western coast of Africa, from which gold-dust and slaves were imported into the city of Seville. The annalist of that city notices the repeated interference of Isabella in behalf of these unfortunate beings, by ordinances tending to secure them a more equal protection of the laws, or opening such social indulgences as might mitigate the hardships of their condition. A misunderstanding gradually arose between the subjects of Castile and Portugal, in relation to their respective rights of discovery and commerce on the African coast, which promised a fruitful source of collision between the two crowns, but which was happily adjusted by an article in the treaty of 1479, terminated the war of the succession. By this it was settled that the right of traffic and of discovery on the western coast of Africa should be exclusively reserved to the Portuguese, who in their turn should resign all claims on the Canaries to the crown of Castile. The Spaniards, thus excluded from further progress to the south, seemed to have no other opening left for naval adventure than the hitherto untravelled regions of the great western ocean. Fortunately, at this juncture an individual appeared among them, in the person of Christopher Columbus, endowed with capacity for stimulating them to this heroic enterprise and conducting it to a glorious issue.2 This extraordinary man was a native of Genoa, of humble parentage, though perhaps honourable descent.8 He was instructed in his early youth at Pavia, where he acquired a strong relish for the mathematical sciences, in which he subsequently excelled. At the age of fourteen he engaged in a seafaring life, which he followed with little intermission till 1470; when, probably little more than thirty years of age,4 he landed in 1 Among the provisions of the sovereigns enacted previous to the present date may be noted those for regulating the coin and weights ; for opening a free trade between Castile and Aragon ; for security to Genoese and Venetian trading vessels ;for safe con¬ duct to mariners and fishermen ; for privileges to the seamen of Palos ;for prohibiting the plunder of vessels wrecked on the coast ; and an ordinance of the very last year, requiring foreigners to take their return cargoes in the products of the country. See these laws, as extracted from the Ordenangas Reales and the various public archives, in Mem. de la Acad, de Hist. torn. vi. Ilust. 11. 2 Zuniga, Annales de Sevilla, pp. 373, 374, 398. — Zurita, Anales, torn. iv. lib. 20, cap. 30, 34.— Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, torn, i., introd., sec. 21, 24. Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, torn. vii.
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—
Script., torn, xxiii. p. 202. It is very generally agreed that the father of Columbus exercised the craft of a wool-carder, or weaver. The admiral s son, Ferdinand, after some speculation on the genealogy of his illustrious parent, concludes with remarking that, after all, a noble descent would confer less lustre on him than to have sprung from such a father ; a philosophical sentiment, indicating pretty strongly that he had no great ancestry to boast of. Ferdinand finds something extremely mysterious and typical in his father's name 01 Columbus, signifying a dove, in token of his being ordained to "carry the olive-branch and oil 0 baptism over the ocean, like Noah's dove, to denote the peace and union of the heathen people with the church, after they had been shut up in the ark o darkness and confusion." Fernando Colon, Histons del Almirante, cap. 1, 2, apud Barcia, Histortadores
— Memorials of Columbus (London, (Madrid, I749I 1823), p. 14.— Senarega, apud Muratori, Rerum primitivos de las Indias occidentales Ital. Script, torn. xxiv. p. 533.— Antonio Gallo, De torn. i. cap. i3I-T MS., Bernaldez, Catdlicos, Reyes Navigatione Columbi, apud Muratori, Rerutn Ital. Mufioz (Madrid- 03>
p. 548.
3 Spotorno,
4
Historia del Nuevo-Mundo
"
HIS APPLICATION AT THE COURT.
307
Portugal, the country to which adventurous spirits from all parts of the world then resorted, as the great theatre of maritime enterprise. After his arrival, he continued to make voyages to the then known parts of the world, and, when on shore, occupied himself with the construction and sale of charts and maps ; while his geographical researches were con¬ siderably aided by the possession of papers belonging to an eminent Portuguese navigator, a deceased relative of his wife. Thus stored with all that nautical science in that day could supply, and fortified by large practical experience, the reflecting mind of Columbus was naturally led to speculate on the existence of some other land beyond the western waters, and he conceived the possibility of reaching the eastern shores of Asia, whose provinces of Zipango and Cathay were emblazoned in such gorgeous colours in the narratives of Mandeville and the Poli, by a more direct and commodious route than that which traversed the Eastern continent.1 The existence of land beyond the Atlantic, which was not discredited by some of the most enlightened ancients,2 had become matter of common speculation at the close of the fifteenth century, when maritime adventure was daily disclosing the mysteries of the deep, and bringing to light new regions, that had hitherto existed only in fancy. A proof of this popular belief occurs in a curious passage of the " Morgante Maggiore" of the Florentine poet Pulci, a man of letters, but not distinguished for scientific attainments beyond his day.3 The passage is remarkable, independently of the cosmographical knowledge it implies, for its allusion to phenomena in physical science not established till more
—
lib. 2, sec. 13. There are no sufficient data for
determining the period of Columbus's birth. The learned Munoz places it in 1446. (Hist, del NuevoMundo, lib. 2, sec. 12.) Navarrete, who has weighed the various authorities with caution, seems
inclined to remove it back eight or ten years further, resting chiefly on a remark of Bernaldez, that he died in 1506, "in a good old age, at the age of seventy, a little more or less." (Cap. X3X.) The expression is somewhat vague. In order to recon¬ cile the facts with this hypothesis, Navarrete is
hending, in addition to popular rumours of land described in western voyages, such relics as appeared to have floated to the European shores from the other side of the Atlantic. Hist, del Almirante, cap. 6-8. 8 None of the intimations are so precise as that contained in the well-known lines of Seneca's Medea, " Venient annis saecula," etc.,
although, when regarded as a mere poetical vagary, it has not the weight which belongs to more serious suggestions, of similar import, in the writings of Aristotle and Strabo. The various allusions in the " Prophecies," which, if literally taken, would ancient classic writers to an undiscovered world seem toÿestablish his birth near the time assigned form the subject of an elaborate essay in the by Munoz. Incidental allusions in some other Memorias da Acad. Real das Sciencias de Lisboa authorities, speaking Columbus's old age at or (torn. v. pp. 101-112), and are embodied in much near the time 'of his ofdeath, detail in the first section of Humboldt's Navarrete's inference. (See strongly corroborate greater "Histoire de la Gdographie du nouveau Contin'om. i., introd., sec. 54.}— Mr.Coleccion de Viages, Irving willing seems ent a ; ; " work in which the author, with his usual to rely exclusively on the authority of Bernaldez. acuteness, has successfully applied the vast stores Antonio de Herrera, Historiageneral delas Indias of his erudition and experience to the illustration occidentals (Amberes, 1728), torn. i. dec. lib. i, of many interesting points connected with the dis¬ caP" 7-—Gomara, Historia de las Indias, 1, cap. 14, covery of the New World, and the personal history apud Barcia, Hist, torn, ii.— Bernaldez, of Columbus. tyeyes Catdlicos, primitivos, 3 It is probably the knowledge of this which has MS., cap. 118. Navarrete, Colec¬ cion de Viages, torn. 1., introd., sec. 30. Ferdinand led some writers to impute part of his work to the V-oluinbus enumerates three grounds on which his learned Marsilio Ficino, and others, with still less lather s conviction of land in the west was founded. charity and to refer the authorship of *'.rst, natural reason, or conclusions drawn from the whole probability, Comp. Tasso, Opere to Politian. ; ÿjCience secondly, authority of writers, amount- (Venezia, 1735-42), torn. x. p. 129; and Cresc.nnog to little more than vague speculations of the beni, Istoria della volgar Poesia (Venezia, 173.' "dents ; thirdly, testimony of sailors, compre¬ torn. iii. pp. 273, 274.
compelled to reject, as a chirographical blunder, a passage in a letter of the admiral, placing his birth ln *456, and to distort another passage in his book of
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CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
3°8
than a century later. The Devil, alluding to the vulgar superstition respect ing the Pillars of Hercules, thus addresses his companion Rinaldo :
" Know that this theory is false ; his bark
The daring mariner shall urge far o'er The western wave, a smooth and level plain, Albeit the earth is fashioned like a wheel. Man was in ancient days of grosser mould, And Hercules might blush to learn how far Beyond the limits he had vainly set, The dullest sea-boat soon shall wing her way. Men shall descry another hemisphere. Since to one common centre all things tend, So earth, by curious mystery divine Well balanced, hangs amid the starry spheres. At our Antipodes are cities, states, And thronged empires, ne'er divined of yore. But see, the Sun speeds on his western path To glad the nations with expected light." 1
Columbus's hypothesis rested on much stronger ground than mete popular belief. What indeed was credulity with the vulgar, and specula¬ tion with the learned, amounted in his mind to a settled practical convic¬ tion, that made him ready to peril life and fortune on the result of the experiment. He was fortified still further in his conclusions by a correspoi. lence with the learned Italian Toscanelli, who furnished him with a map *vf his own projection, in which the eastern coast of Asia was deline¬ ated opposite to the western frontier of Europe.2 Filled with lofty anticipations of achieving a discovery which would settle a question of such moment, so long involved in obscurity, Columbus submitted the theory on which he had founded his belief in the existence of a western route to King John the Second of Portugal. Here he was doomed to encounter for the first time the embarrassments and mortifica¬ tions which so often obstruct the conceptions of genius, too sublime for the age in which they are formed. After a long and fruitless negotiation, and a dishonourable attempt on the part of the Portuguese to avail them1 Pulci, Morgante Maggiore,
—
canto 25, St. 229,
1have used blank verse, as affording facility for a more literal version than the corresponding; otiava rima of the original. This passage of Pulci, which has not fallen under the notice of Humboldt, or any other writer on the same subject I have consulted, affords, probably, the mostwhom circum¬ stantial prediction that is to be found of the exist¬ ence of a western world. Dante, two centuries before, had intimated more vaguely his belief in an undiscovered quarter of the globe : De' vostri sensi, ch' e del rimanente, " Non vogliate negar l'esperienza, Diretro al sol, del mondo senza gente." Inferno, cant. 26, v. 115. 8 Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, torn, ii., Col. dipl., no. 1. Munoz, Hist, del N uevo-Mundo, lib. 2, sec. 17. It is singular that Columbus, in his 230.
——
visit to Iceland in 1477 (see Fernando Colon
Hist.
del Almirante, cap. 4), should have learned nothing of the Scandinavian voyages to the northern shores of America in the tenth and following centuries , yet if he was acquainted with them it appears equally surprising that he should not have adduced the fact in support of his own hypothesis of the existence of land in the west, and that he should have taken a route so different from that of his pre¬ decessors in the path of discovery. It may be, how¬ ever, as M. de Humboldt has well remarked, that
the information he obtained in Iceland was too
vague to suggest the idea that the lands thus dis¬ covered by the Northmen had any connection wi
the Indies, of which he was in pursuit. 1" ColumDus's day, indeed, so little was understood 0 the true position of these countries that Greenland is laid down on the maps in the European seas, an as a peninsular prolongation of Scandinavia, bee Humboldt, Geographic du nouveau Continent, to1
11. Dp. Il8, 125.
HIS APPLICATION AT THE COURT.
selves clandestinely of his information, he quitted Lisbon in disgust, determined to submit his proposals to the Spanish sovereigns, relying on
their reputed character for wisdom and enterprise.1 The period of his arrival in Spain, being the latter part of 1484, would seem to have been the most unpropitious possible to his design. The nation was then in the heat of the Moorish war, and the sovereigns were unintermittingly engaged, as we have seen, in prosecuting their campaigns, or in active preparation for them. The large expenditure incident to this exhausted all their resources ; and indeed the engrossing character of this domestic conquest left them little leisure for indulging in dreams of distant and doubtful discovery. Columbus, moreover, was unfortunate in his first channel of communication with the court. He was furnished by Fray Juan Perez de Marchena, guardian of the convent of La Rabida in Andalusia, who had early taken a deep interest in his plans, with an intro¬ duction to Fernando de Talavera, prior of Prado, and confessor of the queen, a person high in the royal confidence, and gradually raised through a succession of ecclesiastical dignities to the archiepiscopal see of Granada. He was a man of irreproachable morals, and of comprehensive benevolence for that day, as is shown in his subsequent treatment of the unfortunate Moriscos.2 He was also learned ; although his learning was that of the cloister, deeply tinctured with pedantry and superstition, and debased by such servile deference even to the errors of antiquity as at once led him to discountenance everything like innovation or enterprise.3 With these timid and exclusive views, Talavera was so far from com¬ prehending the vast conceptions of Columbus, that he seems to have regarded him as a mere visionary, and his hypothesis as involving prin¬ ciples not altogether orthodox. Ferdinand and Isabella, desirous of obtain¬ ing the opinion of the most competent judges on the merits of Columbus's theory, referred him to a council selected by Talavera from the most eminent scholars of the kingdom, chiefly ecclesiastics, whose profession embodied most of the science of that day. Such was the apathy exhibited by this learned conclave, and so numerous were the impediments suggested by dulness, prejudice, or scepticism, that years glided away before it came to a decision. During this time, Columbus appears to have remained in attendance on the court, bearing arms occasionally in the campaigns, and experiencing from the sovereigns an unusual degree of deference and personal attention ; an evidence of which is afforded in the disbursements repeatedly made by the royal order for his private expenses, and in the instructions issued to the municipalities of the different towns in Andalusia Herrera, Indias occidentale-;. torn. i. dec. I, lib. >cap. 7.—-Munoz, Hist. del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 2, c. ig, Gomara, Hist, de las Indias, cap. 15. nz°ni, Novi Orbis Historia, lib. i, cap. 6. Colon, Hist, de! Almirante, cap. xo. o Ia y Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, torn. ii. part. cap. Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS.. dial, de Talavera.
Far'U
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Salazar de Mendoza, Cr<5n. del Gran Cardenal, Herrera, Indias occidentales, torn. i. dec. lib. 1, 1, cap. 8. Fernando Colon, Hist, del Almirante, cap. xi. Munoz postpones his advent to Spain to 1485, on the supposition that he offered his services to Genoa immediately after this rupture with Portugal. Hist, del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 2, 3
p. 214.
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sec. 21.
——
CHRISTOPHER COL UMB US. to supply him gratuitously with lodging and other personal accommoda¬
tions. 1 At length, however, Columbus, wearied out by this painful procrastina¬ tion, pressed the court for a definite answer to his propositions ; when he was informed that the council of Salamanca pronounced his scheme to be " vain, impracticable, and resting on grounds too weak to merit the sup¬ port of the government" Many in the council, however, were too enlightened to acquiesce in this sentence of the majority. Some of the most considerable persons of the court, indeed, moved by the cogency of Columbus's arguments and affected by the elevation and grandeur of his views, not only cordially embraced his scheme, but extended their per¬ sonal intimacy and friendship to him. Such, among others, were the grand cardinal Mendoza, a man whose enlarged capacity, and acquaintance with affairs, raised him above many of the narrow prejudices of his order, and Deza, archbishop of Seville, a Dominican friar, whose commanding talents were afterwards unhappily perverted in the service of the Holy Office, over which he presided as successor to Torquemada.2 The authority of these individuals had undoubtedly great weight with the sovereigns, who softened the verdict of the junto by an assurance to Columbus that, " although they were too much occupied at present to embark in his undertaking, yet at the conclusion of the war they should find both time and inclination to treat with him." Such was the ineffec¬ tual result of Columbus's long and painful solicitation ; and, far from receiving the qualified assurance of the sovereigns in mitigation of their refusal, he seems to have considered it as peremptory and final. In great dejection of mind, therefore, but without further delay, he quitted the court, and bent his way to the south, with the apparently almost desperate intent of seeking out some other patron to his undertaking.3 Columbus had already visited his native city of Genoa, for the purpose of interesting it in his scheme of discovery ; but the attempt proved unsuccessful. He now made application, it would seem, to the dukes of Medina Sidonia and Medina Celi, successively, from the latter of whom he experienced much kindness and hospitality ; but neither of these nobles, whose large estates lying along the sea-shore had often invited them to maritime adventure, was disposed to assume one which seemed too hazardous for the resources of the crown. Without wasting time in further solicitation, Columbus prepared with a heavy heart to bid adieu to Spain (1491), and carry his proposals to the king of France, from 1 Herrera, Indias occidentales, dec. I, lib. i, cap. 8. Zuniga, Annates de Sevilla, p. 104. Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, torn. i. sec. 60, 61,
Seville. His see to gre as confessor he over to have maintained an intimate correspondence
of preferment, the metropolitan situation of Ferdinand gave him — influence appe that monarch, with whom
—
torn. ii. Col. dipl., nos. 2, 4. :
This prelate, Diego de Deza, was born of poor the day of his death. Oviedo, Quincuagenas, m •> but respectable parents, at Toro. He early entered dial, de ae ueza. Deza. the Dominican order, where his learning and :I aiai. 3 Fernando Colon, Hist, del Almirante, cap. ti¬ exemplary life recommended him to the notice "ouce of 01 i Salazar de Mendoza,Cr<5n. del Gran Cardenal, p. the sovereiÿnc ÿkÿTTTi*ÿ cTi. l° to take | «5-—Munoz, Hist, del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 2, sec. PHnreÿ charge L"c
—
of lvL'= a ? C£Urt He was after- | 25, 29—Navkrrete, Coleccion de Viages, torn. 1. ÿIraisfd throÿtl! raised, through V0IL the usual course of episcopal 1 introd., sec 60
HIS APPLICA TION A T THE COURT.
3n
whom he had received a letter of encouragement while detained in
Andalusia.1 His progress, however, was arrested at the convent of La Rabida, which he visited previous to his departure, by his friend the guardian, who prevailed on him to postpone his journey till another effort had been made to move the Spanish court in his favour. For this purpose the worthy ecclesiastic undertook an expedition in person to the newly-erected city of Santa Fe, where the sovereigns lay encamped before Granada. Juan Perez had formerly been confessor of Isabella, and was held in great consideration by her for his excellent qualities. On arriving at the camp, he was readily admitted to an audience, when he pressed the suit of Columbus with all the earnestness and reasoning of which he was capable. The friar's eloquence was supported by that of several eminent persons whom Columbus during his long residence in the country had interested in his project, and who viewed with sincere regret the prospect of its abandonment. Among these individuals are particularly mentioned Alonso de Quintanilla, comptroller-general of Castile, Louis de St. Angel, a fiscal officer of the crown of Aragon, and the marchioness of Moya, the personal friend of Isabella, all of whom exercised considerable influence over her counsels. Their representations, combined with the opportune season of the application, occurring at the moment when the approaching termination of the Moorish war allowed room for interest in other objects, wrought so favourable a change in the dispositions of the sovereigns that they consented to resume the negotiation with Columbus. An invitation was accordingly sent to him to repair to Santa Fe, and a considerable sum provided for his suitable equipment and his expenses on the road.2 Columbus, who lost no time in availing himself of this welcome intelligence, arrived at the camp in season to witness the surrender of Herrera, Indias occidentales, dec. i, lib. x, cap. 8 Munoz, Hist, del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 2, sec. 27. Spotorno, Memorials of Columbus, pp. S'TSS- J'he last dates the application to Genoa A letter from the duke PJ' PJ tÿlatCeli'? to-Portugal. ot Medina the cardinal of Spain, dated 19th March 1493, refers to his entertaining Columbus as Ms guest for two years. It is very difficult to If Herrera • e'errnme the date of these two years. s correct in the statement that, after a five years' residence at court, whose commencement he had y referrcd to 1484, he carried his proposals ,,re.!'°U, the duke of Medina Celi (see cap. 7, 8), the two y ars may have intervened between Z489-149T. places them between the departure from pÿrete rtugal and the first application to the court of Some other writers, and among li's *486.* them Munoz and Irving, referring his application
— ——
to Genoa to 1485, and his first appearance in Spain to a subsequent period, make no provision for the residence with the duke of Medina Celi. Mr. Irving, indeed, is betrayed into a chronological inaccuracy in speaking of a seven years' residence at the court in 1491, which he had previously noticed as having before begun in i486. (Life of Columbus (London, 1828), comp. vol. i. pp. 109, 141.) In fact, the discrepancies among the earliest authorities are such as to render hopeless any attempt to settle with precision the chronology of Columbus's movements previous to his first
voyage.
* Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, torn. viii. pp. 129, 130.— Munoz, Hist, del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 2, sec. 31. Herrera, Indias occidentales, dec. 1, lib. 1, cap. 8. Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, torn i-, introd. sec. 60.
—
—
[According to the account of the duke of Medina Celi, Columbus, when received by him, was on his
u-ay,»;0m Portugal to seek the favour and assistance of the French king. The duke asserts that he fit lunse'f have furnished him with three four caravels, but perceiving that the expedition had her Isabella, and, , undertaken by the he had by letter commended it obtain of Columbus, the made As the object of this
was a one sent request, was to a <k • ,are overrated his own services »• le matter. Yet in the dearth or conflict of evidence the document seems entitled to more considera'nan it has hitherto received, especially as the terms of it imply a reference to Isabella's acquaintance » • '? 1 the facts, perhaps to that of Columbus himself — I.e..J
to Ke
q
or
crown,
to
US 1:0 'ÿe c°urt. return on statement, 111 the advantages of the discovery, we may suspect the writer of having
at
312
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
Granada, when every heart, swelling with exultation at the triumphant termination of the war, was naturally disposed to enter with greater confidence on a new career of adventure. In his interview with the king and queen, he once more exhibited the arguments on which his hypothesis was founded. He then endeavoured to stimulate the cupidity of his audience by picturing the realms of Mangi and Cathay, which he confidently expected to reach by this western route, in all the barbaric splendours which had been shed over them by the lively fancy of Marco Polo and other travellers of the Middle Ages ; and he concluded with appealing to a higher principle, by holding out the prospect of extending the empire of the Cross over nations of benighted heathen, while he proposed to devote the profits of his enterprise to the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre. This last ebullition, which might well have passed for fanaticism in a later day, and given a visionary tinge to his whole project, was not quite so preposterous in an age in which the spirit of the crusades might be said still to linger, and the romance of religion had not yet been dispelled by sober reason. The more temperate suggestion of the diffusion of the gospel was well suited to affect Isabella, in whose heart the principle of devotion was deeply seated, and who, in all her under¬ takings, seems to have been far less sensible to the vulgar impulses of avarice or ambition than to any argument connected, however remotely, with the interests of religion.1 Amidst all these propitious demonstrations towards Columbus, an obstacle unexpectedly arose in the nature of his demands, which stipulated for himself and heirs the title and authority of Admiral and Viceroy over all lands discovered by him, with one-tenth of the profits. This was deemed wholly inadmissible. Ferdinand, who had looked with cold distrust on the expedition from the first, was supported by the remon¬ strances of Talavera, the new archbishop of Granada, who declared that " such demands savoured of the highest degree of arrogance, and would be unbecoming in their Highnesses to grant to a needy foreign adventurer." Columbus, however, steadily resisted every attempt to induce him to modify his propositions. On this ground the conferences were abruptly broken off, and he once more turned his back upon the Spanish court, resolved rather to forego his splendid anticipations of discovery, at the very moment when the career so long sought was thrown open to him, than surrender one of the honourable distinctions due to his services. This last act is perhaps the most remarkable exhibition in his whole life, of that proud, unyielding spirit which sustained him through so many years of trial, and enabled him at length to achieve his great enterprise, in the face of every obstacle which man and nature had opposed to it.2 1 Herrera, Indias
occidentales, dec. i,lib.
8.—Primer Viage de Colon, apud Navarrete, x, cap. Colecde Viages, torn. i. pp. 2, Colon, Hist, del Almirante, cap. 13.117. Fernando
cion
—
Muiioz, Hist, del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 2, sec 28, 29.- Fernando Colon, Hist, del Almirante, un supra.
*
HIS APPLICATION AT THE COURT The misunderstanding was
not
suffered to be of long duration.
Columbus's friends, and especially Louis de St. Angel, remonstrated with the queen on these proceedings in the most earnest manner. He frankly told her that Columbus's demands, if high, were at least contingent on success, when they would be well deserved, while, if he failed, he required nothing. St Angel expatiated on his qualifications for the undertaking, so signal as to insure in all probability the patronage of some other monarch, who would reap the fruits of his discoveries ; and he ventured to remind the queen that her present policy was not in accordance with the magnanimous spirit which had hitherto made her the ready patron of Far from being displeased, Isabella was great and heroic enterprise. moved by his honest eloquence. She contemplated the proposals of Columbus in their true light ; and, refusing to hearken any longer to the suggestions of cold and timid counsellors, she gave way to the natural impulses of her own noble and generous heart. " Iwill assume the under¬ taking," said she, " for my own crown of Castile, and am ready to pawn my jewels to defray the expenses of it, if the funds in the treasury shall be found inadequate." The treasury had been reduced to the lowest ebb by the late war ; but the receiver, St Angel, advanced the sums required, from the Aragonese revenues deposited in his hands. Aragon, however, was not considered as adventuring in the expedition, the charges and emoluments of which were reserved exclusively for Castile.1 Columbus, who was overtaken by the royal messenger at a few leagues' distance only from Granada, experienced the most courteous reception on his return to Santa Fe, where a definitive arrangement was concluded with the Spanish sovereigns, April 17th, 1492. By the terms of the capitulation, Ferdinand and Isabella, as lords of the ocean-seas, constituted Christopher Columbus their admiral, viceroy, and governor-general of all such islands and continents as he should discover in the western ocean, with the privilege of nominating three candidates, for the selection of one by the crown, for the government of each of these territories. He was to be vested with exclusive right of jurisdiction over all commercial transactions within his admiralty. He was to be entitled to one-tenth of all the products and profits within the limits of his discoveries, and an additional eighth, provided he should contribute one eighth part of the expense. By a subsequent ordinance, the official dignities above enumerated were settled on him and his heirs forever, with the privilege of prefixing to their names the title of Don, which had not then degenerated into an appellation °fmere courtesy.2 No sooner were the arrangements completed, than Isabella prepared, with her characteristic promptness, to forward the expedition by the most tndias occidentals, dec. i, lib. x, cap. I 2 Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, torn, ii., CoL »__Me"era' • Munoz, Hist, diplomat., nos. 5, 6.—Zuniga, Annales de Seviila, del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 2, sec. 33;— Fernando Colon, Hist, del Almirante, cap. I p 412.—Mariana, Hist, de Espana, torn. 11. p. *omara, Hist, de las Indias, cap
**
k
£05.
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
3*4
efficient measures. Orders were sent to Seville and the other ports of Andalusia, to furnish stores and other articles requisite for the voyage, free of duty, and at as low rates as possible. The fleet, consisting of three vessels, was to sail from the little port of Palos in Andalusia, which had been condemned for some delinquency to maintain two caravels for a twelvemonth for the public service. The third vessel was furnished by the admiral, aided, as it would seem, in defraying the charges by his friend the guardian of La Rabida, and the Pinzons, a family in Palos long distinguished for its enterprise among the mariners of that active community. With their assistance, Columbus was enabled to surmount the disinclination, and indeed open opposition, manifested by the Andalusian mariners to his perilous voyage ; so that in less than three months his little squadron was equipped for sea. A sufficient evidence of the extreme unpopularity of the expedition is afforded by a royal ordinance of the 30th of April, promising protection to all persons who should embark in it from criminal prosecution of whatever kind, until two months after their return. The armament consisted of two caravels, or light vessels without decks, and a third of larger burden. The total number of persons who embarked amounted to one hundred and twenty ; and the whole charges of the crown for the expedition did not exceed seventeen thousand florins. The fleet was instructed to keep clear of the African coast, and other maritime possessions of Portugal. At length, all things being in readiness, Columbus and his whole crew partook of the sacrament and confessed themselves, after the devout manner of the ancient Spanish voyagers when engaged in any important enterprise ; and on the morning of the 3d of August, 1492, the intrepid navigator, bidding adieu to the Old World, launched forth on that unfathomed waste of waters where no sail had been ever spread before.1 It is impossible to peruse the story of Columbus without assigning to him almost exclusively the glory of his great discovery ; for from the first moment of its conception to that of its final execution he was encountered by every species of mortification and embarrassment, with scarcely a heart to cheer or a hand to help him.2 Those more enlightened persons whom, 1 Peter Martyr, De Rebus Oceanicis et Novo Orbe (Colonise, 1574), dec. x, lib. i.-— Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, torn, ii., Col. diplomat., nos. 7, 8, 9, 10, 12.— Herrera, Indias occidentales, dec. 1, lib. 1, cap. 9. Fernando Colon, Hist, del cap. 14. Munoz, Hist, del NuevoAlmirante, Mundo, lit). 2, sec. 33. Benzoni, Novi Orbis Hist., lib. 1, cap. 6. Gomara, Hist, de las Indias, cap. 15. The expression inthe text will not seem too strong, even admitting the previous discoveries of the Northmen, which were made in so much higher latitudes. Humboldt has well shown the probabili¬ ties, Hpriori, of such discoveries, made in a narrow part of the Atlantic, where the Orcades, the Islands, Iceland, and Greenland afforded theFaroe voy¬
—
——
—
ager so many intermediate stations, at
distances from eachother. (Gdographie dumoderate nouveau Continent, torn. ii. pp. 183 et seq.) The publication of the original Scandinavian MSS. (of which imper¬
fect notices and selections only have hitherto founa their way into the world) by the Royal Society of Northern Antiquaries, at Copenhagen, is a mattei of the deepest interest ; and it is fortunate that it is to be conducted under auspices which must insure its It
execution in the most faithful and able manner. may be doubted, however, whether the declaration of the Prospectus, that " it was the knowledge of the Scandinavian voyages, in all probability, which prompted the expedition of Columbus," can ever be established. His personal history furnishes strong internal evidence to the contrary.
How strikingly are the forlorn condition ana indomitable energy of Columbus depicted in -lA
following noble verses of Chiabrera !—
da cor, ch' alto destin non scelse, " Certo Son 1' imprese magnanime neglette ; Ma le bell' aim.-. alle hell' nore elette
HIS APPLICATION AT THE COURT
315
during his long residence in Spain, he succeeded in interesting in his expedition, looked to it probably as the means of solving a dubious problem, with the same sort of vague and sceptical curiosity as to its successful result with which we contemplate, in our day, an attempt to arrive at the Northwest passage. How feeble was the interest excited, even among those who from their science and situation would seem to have their attention most naturally drawn towards it, may be inferred from the infrequency of allusion to it in the correspondence and other writings of that time, previous to the actual discovery. Peter Martyr, one of the most accomplished scholars of the period, whose residence at the Castilian court must have fully instructed him in the designs of Columbus, and
whose inquisitive mind led him subsequently to take the deepest interest in the results of his discoveries, does not, so far as Iam aware, allude to him in any part of his voluminous correspondence with the learned men of his time, previous to the first expedition. The common people regarded, not merely with apathy, but with terror, the prospect of a voyage that was to take the mariner from the safe and pleasant seas which he was accustomed to navigate, and send him roving on the boundless wilderness of waters, which tradition and superstitious fancy had peopled with innumerable forms of horror. It is true that Columbus experienced a most honourable reception at the Castilian court ; such as naturally flowed from the benevolent spirit of Isabella and her just appreciation of his pure and elevated character. But the queen was too little of a proficient in science to be able to esti¬ mate the merits of his hypothesis ; and as many of those on whose judg¬ ment she leaned deemed it chimerical, it is probable that she never entertained a deep conviction of its truth ; at least not enough to warrant the liberal expenditure which she never refused to schemes of real import¬ ance. This is certainly inferred by the paltry amount actually expended on the armament, far inferior to that appropriated to the equipment of two several fleets in the course of the late war for a foreign expedition, as well as to that with which in the ensuing year she followed up
Columbus's discoveries. But while, on a review of the circumstances, we are led more and more to admire the constancy and unconquerable spirit which carried Columbus
victorious through all the difficulties of his undertaking, we must remem¬
ber, in justice to Isabella, that, although tardily, she did in fact furnish the resources essential to its execution ; that she undertook the enterprise when it had been explicitly declined by other powers, and when probably none other of that age would have been found to countenance it ; and that, after once plighting her faith to Columbus, she became his steady gioir nelle fatiche eccelse ;
Masmo popolar, frale catena. be. opurto
d' onore. il suo cammin reffrena.
Cosl lunga stagion per modi iruteffni
Europa disprezzb 1' inclita speme, Schernendo il vulgo, e seco 1 Regi insieme Nudo nocchier, fromettitor di Regnt." Rime, parte i, canzone 12.
EXPULSION OF THE JE WS.
friend, shielding him against the calumnies ot his enemies, reposing in him the most generous confidence, and serving him in the most acceptable manner, by supplying ample resources for the prosecution of his glorious discoveries.1 It is now more than thirty years since the Spanish government intrusted Don Martin Fernandez de Navarrete, one of the most eminent scholars of the country, with the care of exploring the public archives, for the purpose of collecting information relative to the voyages and discoveries of the early Spanish navigators. In 1825, Senor Navarrete gave to the world the first-fruits of his indefatigable researches, in two volumes, the commencement of a series, comprehending letters, private journals, royal ordinances, and other original documents, illustrative of the discovery of America. These two volumes are devoted exclusively to the adventures and personal history of Columbus, and must be regarded as the only authentic basis on which any notice of the great navigator can hereafter rest. Fortunately, Mr. living's visit to Spain, at this period, enabled the world to derive the full benefit of Senor Navarrete's researches, by present¬ ing their results in connection with whatever had been before known of Columbus, in the lucid and attractive form which engages the interest of every reader. It would seem highly proper that the fortunes of the discoverer of America should engage the pen of an inhabitant of her most favoured and enlightened region ; and it is unnecessary to add that the task has been executed in a manner which must secure to the historian a share in the imperishable renown of his subject. The adventures of Columbus, which form so splendid an episode to the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, cannot properly come within the scope of its historian, except so far as relates to his personal intercourse with the .government, or to their results on the fortunes of the Spanish monarchy.
CHAPTER XVII. EXPULSION OF THE JEWS FROM SPAIN.
I492.
—
ÿExcitement against the Jews. Edict of Expulsion. Dreadful Sufferings of the Emi¬ grants. Whole Number of Exiles. Disastrous Results. True Motives of the Edict.
—
Contemporary Judgments.
—
—
—
While the Spanish sovereigns were detained before Granada, they pub¬ lished their memorable and most disastrous edict against the Jews; inscribing it, as it were, with the same pen which drew up the glorious capitulation of Granada and the treaty with Columbus. The reader has been made acquainted in a preceding chapter with the prosperous con¬ dition of the Jews in the Peninsula, and the pre-eminent consideration 1 Columbus, in a letter : written on his thitvl ln fewwance, was expatiating only on heartfelt • e' tribute to the? enectual effectual | the inconvenience ~?f,lJ5ayS an • and cost, her Highness approved patronage which he experienced from the queen. it, on the contrary, and gave it all the support in In the midst of the general
..
"
incredulity," says he, "the Almighty infused into the queen, my lady, the spirit of intelligence and energy ; and whilst every
'
her power." See Carta al Ama del Principe D.
Juan, apud Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, torn. i- p. 266.
EXPULSION OF THE JE W$
which they attained there beyond any other part of Christendom. The envy raised by their prosperity, combined with the high religious excite¬ ment kindled in the long war with the infidel, directed the terrible arm of the Inquisition, as has been already stated, against this unfortunate people ; but the result showed the failure of the experiment, since com¬ paratively few conversions, and those frequently of a suspicious character; were effected, while the great mass still maintained a pertinacious attach¬ ment to ancient errors.1
Under these circumstances, the popular odium, inflamed by the dis clergy at the resistance which they encountered in the work of proselytism, gradually grew stronger and stronger against the unhappy Israelites. Old traditions, as old indeed as the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, were revived, and charged on the present generation, with all the details of place and action. Christian children were said to be kidnapped in order to be crucified in derision of the Saviour; the host, it was rumoured, was exposed to the grossest indignities ; and physicians and apothecaries, whose science was particularly cultivated by the Jews in the Middle Ages, were accused of poisoning their Christian patients. No rumour was too absurd for the easy credulity of the people. The Israelites were charged with the more probable offence of attempting to convert to their own faith the ancient Christians) as well as to reclaim such of their own race as had recently embraced Christianity. A great scandal was occasioned also by the intermarriages which still occasionally took place between Jews and Christians ; the latter condescending to repair their dilapidated fortunes by these wealthy alliances, though at the expense of their vaunted purity of blood.2 These various offences were urged against the Jews with great per¬ tinacity by their enemies, and the sovereigns were importuned to adopt a more rigorous policy. The inquisitors, in particular, to whom the work of conversion had been specially intrusted, represented the incompetence °f all lenient measures to the end proposed. They asserted that the only mode left for the extirpation of the Jewish heresy was to eradicate the seed ; and they boldly demanded the immediate and total banishment of every unbaptized Israelite from the land.3 Ihe Jews, who had obtained an intimation of these proceedings,. resorted to their usual crafty policy for propitiating the sovereigns. They commissioned one of their body to tender a donative of thirty content of the
surh
a ?ro°f °f 'he high consideration in which Paramo, De Origine Inquisitionis, p. 164.— VSsrae'ites as were willing to embrace Christi- Llorente, Hist, de l'lnquisition, torn. i. cap. 7, sec. 2
anit ,
Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 94.—Ferreras, — Peter Avi?lla> and Pulgar, were private secretaries of the 3.Hist. d'Espagne, torn. viii. p. 128. W6l e
'le'd' mat three of that number, Alvarez,
,en' (Mem. de la Acad, de Hist., torn. vi. Ilust. expression of Martyr's, among .ycMental ar ones by contemporaries, affords the true kev t S1IP P°Pu'ar odium against the Jews : " Cum nam Judaeorum tabido commercio, qui hac qhUe.vlderent, a innumeri Christianis ?Un-t 'n Hispania ditior* P'nnmorum animos corrumpi ac seduci," ct ic' fh °Pus Epist., epist. oa jg
mariv
°
ÿ
3 Paramo, De Origine Inquisitionis, p. 163.— Salazar de Mendoza refers the sovereign's consent to the banishment of the Jews, in a great measure, to the urgent remonstrances of the cardinal of Spain.
The bigotry of the biographer makes him claim the credit of every fanatical act for his illustrious hero Se6 Cr«5n. del Gran Cardenal, p. 250.
3l8
.
EXPULSION OF THE JEWS
thousand ducats towards defraying the expenses of the Moorish war. The negotiation, however, was suddenly interrupted by the inquisitorgeneral, Torquemada, who burst into the apartment of the palace where the sovereigns were giving audience to the Jewish deputy, and, drawing forth a crucifix from beneath his mantle, held it up, exclaiming, "Judas Iscariot sold his Master for thirty pieces of silver. Your Highnesses would sell Him anew for thirty thousand ; here He is, take Him, and barter Him away." So saying, the frantic priest threw the crucifix on the table, and left the apartment The sovereigns, instead of chastising this presumption, or despising it as a mere freak of insanity, were overawed by it. Neither Ferdinand nor Isabella, had they been left to the un¬ biassed dictates of their own reason, could have sanctioned for a moment so impolitic a measure, which involved the loss of the most industrious and skilful portion of their subjects. Its extreme injustice and cruelty rendered it especially repugnant to the naturally humane disposition of the queen.1 But she had been early schooled to distrust her own reason, and indeed the natural suggestions of humanity, in cases of conscience. Among the reverend counsellors on whom she most relied in these matters was the Dominican Torquemada. The situation which this man enjoyed as the queen's confessor, during the tender years of her youth, gave him an ascendency over her mind which must have been denied to a person of his savage, fanatical temper, even with the advantages of this spiritual con¬ nection, had it been formed at a riper period of her life. Without oppos¬ ing further resistance to the representations, so emphatically expressed, of the holy persons in whom she most confided, Isabella at length silenced her own scruples, and consented to the fatal measure of proscription. The edict for the expulsion of the Jews was signed by the Spanish sovereigns at Granada, March 30th, 1492. The preamble alleges, in vindication of the measure, the danger of allowing further intercourse between the Jews and their Christian subjects, in consequence of the incorrigible obstinacy with which the former persisted in their attempts to make converts of the latter to their own faith, and to instruct them in their heretical rites, in open defiance of every legal prohibition and penalty. When a college or corporation of any kind — the instrument goes on to state— is convicted of any great or detestable crime, it is right that it should be disfranchised, the less suffering with the greater, the innocent with the guilty. If this be the case in temporal concerns, it is much more so in those which affect the eternal welfare of the soul. If finally decrees that all unbaptized Jews, of whatever age, sex, or con¬ dition, should depart from the realm by the end of July next ensuing j prohibiting them from revisiting it, on any pretext whatever, under penalty ot death and confiscation of property. It was, moreover, interdicted to 1Llorente, Hist, de
l'lnquisition, torn. i. chap. Spain, animadverting with much severity on the tenor of certain municipal ordinances against the
7, sect. 5.—Pulgar, in a letter to the cardinal of
in Guipuscoa and Toledo, in 1482, plainly Jews to the taste intimates
that they were not at all See Letras (Amstelodami, 16701.
of the queen.
let. 31.
EXPULSION OF THE JEWS.
jtq
every subject to harbour, succour, or minister to the necessities of any
Jew, after the expiration of the term limited for his departure. The persons and property of the Jews, in the meantime, were taken under the royal protection. They were allowed to dispose of their effects of every kind on their own account, and to carry the proceeds along with them, in bills of exchange, or merchandise not prohibited, but neither in gold nor silver.1 The doom of exile fell like a thunderbolt on the heads of the Israelites. A large proportion of them had hitherto succeeded in shielding them¬ selves from the searching eye of the Inquisition, by an affectation of rever¬ ence for the forms of Catholic worship, and a discreet forbearance of whatever might offend the prejudices of their Christian brethren. They had even hoped that their steady loyalty and a quiet and orderly dis¬ charge of their social duties would in time secure them higher immunities. Many had risen to a degree of opulence, by means of the thrift and dexterity peculiar to the race, which gave them a still deeper interest in the land of their residence.2 Their families were reared in all the elegant refinements of life ; and their wealth and education often disposed them to turn their attention to liberal pursuits, which ennobled the character, indeed, but rendered them personally more sensible to physical annoyance and less fitted to encounter the perils and privations of their dreary pil¬ grimage. Even the mass of the common people possessed a dexterity in various handicrafts which afforded a comfortable livelihood, raising them far above similar classes in most other nations, who might readily be detached from the soil on which they happened to be cast, with com¬ paratively little sacrifice of local interests.3 These ties were now severed at a blow. They were to go forth as exiles from the land of their birth ; the land where all whom they ever loved had lived or died ; the land not so much of their adoption as of their inheritance ; which had been the home of their ancestors for centuries, and with whose prosperity and glory they were of course as intimately associated as was any ancient Spaniard. They were to be cast out helpless and defenceless, with a brand of infamy set on them, among nations who had always held them in derision and
hatred. Those provisions of the edict which affected a show of kindness to the Jews were contrived so artfully as to be nearly nugatory. As they were excluded from the use of gold and silver, the only medium for represent¬ ing their property was bills of exchange. But commerce was too limited and imperfect to allow of these being promptly obtained to any very considerable, much less to the enormous amount required in the present
— Le>'es< I't). 8, tit. 2, ley — Pragm&ticas del asrentingthe greaterpart 0/Castile I It willhardly V>s Reyno, ed. 1520, fol. 3. do to take the good Curate's statement d la lettre. Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 1492. Recop. de
mentions one, in particular, by the name of Abraham,
2.
2 The Curate of Los Palacios speaks of several Israelites worth one or two millions of maravedis, ™ of another as having even amassed ten. He
See Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 112. 3 Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, ubi supra.
32°
EXPULSION OF THE JE JVS.
instance. It was impossible, moreover, to negotiate a sale of their effects under existing circumstances, since the market was soon glutted with commodities ; and few would be found willing to give anything like an equivalent for what, if not disposed of within the prescribed term, the proprietors must relinquish at any rate. So deplorable, indeed, was the sacrifice of property that a chronicler of the day mentions that he had seen a house exchanged for an ass, and a vineyard for a suit of clothes ! In Aragon, matters were still worse. The government there discovered that the Jews were largely indebted to individuals and to certain corpora¬ tions. It accordingly caused their property to be sequestrated for the benefit of their creditors, until their debts should be liquidated. Strange, indeed, that the balance should be found against a people who have been everywhere conspicuous for their commercial sagacity and resources, and who, as factors of the great nobility and farmers of the revenue, enjoyed at least equal advantages in Spain with those possessed in other countries for the accumulation of wealth.1 While the gloomy aspect of their fortunes pressed heavily on the hearts of the Israelites, the Spanish clergy were indefatigable in the work of con¬ version. They lectured in the synagogues and public squares, expounding the doctrines of Christianity, and thundering forth both argument and invective against the Hebrew heresy. But their laudable endeavours were in a great measure counteracted by the more authoritative rhetoric of the Jewish Rabbins, who compared the persecutions of their brethren to those which their ancestors had suffered under Pharaoh. They encouraged them to persevere, representing that the present afflictions were intended as a trial of their faith by the Almighty, who designed in this way to guide them to the promised land, by opening a path through the waters, as he had done to their fathers of old. The more wealthy Israelites enforced their exhor tations by liberal contributions for the relief of their indigent brethren. 1hus strengthened, there were found but very few, when the day of departure arrived, who were not prepared to abandon their country rather than their religion. Phis extraordinary act of self-devotion by a whole people for conscience' sake may be thought, in the nineteenth century, to meiit other epithets than those of "perfidy, incredulity, and stiff-necked obstinacy, with which the worthy Curate of Los Palacios, in the charit¬ able feeling of that day, has seen fit to stigmatize it.2 When the period of departure arrived, all the principal routes through the country might be seen swarming with emigrants, old and young, the sick and the helpless, men, women, and children, mingled promiscuously together, some mounted on horses or mules, but far the greater part undertaking their painful pilgrimage on foot. The sight of so much misery
ZuritSrAnaie7s; torn!v! fSÿ-Capmÿ noticesÿ num if* MCm' d® BarCelona' time there were but three, and in
Catalonia but
t0m'
Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap » * Berna.de*, ~ d'EsPa*ne' ÿ
'
¥ EXPULSION OF THE JEWS.
32 x
touched even the Spaniards with pity, though none might succour them : for the grand inquisitor, Torquemada, enforced the ordinance to that effect by denouncing heavy ecclesiastical censures on all who should pre¬ sume to violate it. The fugitives were distributed along various routes, being determined in their destination by accidental circumstances much more than by any knowledge of the respective countries to which they were bound. Much the largest division, amounting according to some estimates to eighty thousand souls, passed into Portugal ; whose monarch, John the Second, dispensed with his scruples of conscience so far as to give them a free passage through his dominions on their way to Africa, in consideration of a tax of a cruzado a head. He is even said to have silenced his scruples so far as to allow certain ingenious artisans to establish themselves permanently in the kingdom.1 A considerable number found their way to the ports of Santa Maria and Cadiz, where, after lingering some time in the vain hope of seeing the waters open for their egress, according to the promises of the Rabbins, they embarked on board a Spanish fleet for the Barbary coast. Having crossed over to Ercilla, a Christian settlement in Africa, whence they proceeded by land towards Fez, where a considerable body of their countrymen resided, they were assaulted on their route by the roving tribes of the desert, in quest of plunder. Notwithstanding the interdict, the Jews had contrived to secrete small sums of money, sewed up in their garments or the linings of their saddles. These did not escape the avaricious eyes of their spoilers, who are even said to have ripped open the bodies of their victims in search of gold which they were supposed to have swallowed. The lawless barbarians, mingling lust with avarice, abandoned themselves to still more frightful excesses, violating the wives and daughters of the. unresisting Jews, or massacring in cold blood such as offered resistance. But, without pursuing these loathsome details further, it need only be added that the miserable exiles endured such extremity of famine that they were glad to force a nourishment from the grass which grew scantily among the sands of the desert ; until at length great numbers of them. wasted by disease and broken in spirit, retraced their steps to Ercilla, and consented to be baptized, in the hope of being permitted to revisit their native land. The number, indeed, was so considerable that the priest who officiated was obliged to make use of the mop, or hyssop, with which the Roman Catholic missionaries were wont to scatter the holy drops whose mystic virtue could cleanse the soul in a moment from the foulest stains of infidelity. " Thus," says a Castilian historian, " the calamities of these poor blind creatures proved in the end an excellent remedy, that God made use of to unseal their eyes, which they now opened to the vain 1 Zurita, Anales, torn. v. fol.
9.—Ferreras, Hist. I torn. iv. p. 95.—Mariana,
d'Espagne, torn. viii. p. 133.— Bernaldez, Reyes p. 602. Catdiicos, ubi supra.— La Clede, Hist, de Portugal, j
Hist, de Espafia, torn. ii.
322
EXPULSION OF THE JEWS.
promises of the Rabbins ; so that, renouncing their ancient heresies, they became faithful followers of the Cross ! " 1 Many of the emigrants took the direction of Italy. Those who landed at Naples brought with them an infectious disorder, contracted by long confinement in small, crowded, and ill-provided vessels. The disorder was so malignant, and spread with such frightful celerity, as to sweep off more than twenty thousand inhabitants of the city in the course of the year, whence it extended its devastation over the whole Italian peninsula. A graphic picture of these horrors is thus given by a Genoese historian, an eye-witness of the scenes he describes. " No one," he says, " could behold the sufferings of the Jewish exiles unmoved. A great many perished of hunger, especially those of tender years. Mothers, with scarcely strength to support themselves, carried their famished infants in their arms, and died with them. Many fell victims to the cold, others to intense thirst, while the unaccustomed distresses incident to a sea-voyage aggra¬ vated their maladies. Iwill not enlarge on the cruelty and the avarice which they frequently experienced from the masters of the ships which transported them from Spain. Some were murdered to gratify their cupidity, others forced to sell their children for the expenses of the passage. They arrived in Genoa in crowds, but were not suffered to tarry there long, by reason of the ancient law which interdicted the Jewish traveller from a longer residence than three days. They were allowed, however, to refit their vessels, and to recruit themselves for some days from the fatigues of their voyage. One might have taken them for spectres, so emaciated were they, so cadaverous in their aspect, and with eyes so sunken ; they differed in nothing from the dead, except in the power of motion, which indeed they scarcely retained. Many fainted and expired on the mole, which, being completely surrounded by the sea, was the only quarter vouchsafed to the wretched emigrants. The infection bred by such a swarm of dead and dying persons was not at once perceived ; but, when the winter broke up, ulcers began to make their appearance, and the malady, which lurked for a long time in the city, broke out into the plague in the following year." 2 Many of the exiles passed into Turkey, and to different parts of the Levant, where their descendants continued to speak the Castilian language far into the following century. Others found their way to France, and even England. Part of their religious services is recited to this day in Spanish, in one or more of the London synagogues ; and the modern Jew still reverts with fond partiality to Spain, as the cherished land of his fathers, illustrated by the most glorious recollections in their eventful history.8
_ Zurita, Anales,
1 Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, torn. viii. p. i33. liernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 113. 2 Senarega, apud Muratori, Rerum Ital. Script. torn. xxiv. pp. 531, 532. 3 See a sensible notice of Hebrew literature in Spain, in the Retrospective Review, vol. iii.p. 209 Mariana, Hist, de Espaha, torn. ii. lib 16, cap.
t torn. v. fol. 9.— Not a few of learned exiles attained to eminence in those countri of Europe where they transferred their residenc One is mentioned by Castro as a leading p1""tioner of medicine in Genoa ; another, as filling posts of astronomer and chronicler under K-in8 of Portugal. Many of them publistiea '
EXPULSION OF THE JEWS
323
The whole number of Jews expelled from Spain by Ferdinand and Isabella is variously computed at from one hundred and sixty thousand to eight hundred thousand souls ; a discrepancy sufficiently indicating the paucity of authentic data. Most modern writers, with the usual predilec¬ tion for startling results, have assumed the latter estimate ; and Llorente has made it the basis of some important calculations in his History of the Inquisition. A view of all the circumstances will lead us without much hesitation to adopt the most moderate computation.1 This, moreover, is placed beyond reasonable doubt by the direct testimony of the Curate of Los Palacios. He reports that a Jewish Rabbin, one of the exiles, subse¬ quently returned to Spain, where he was baptized by him. This person, whom Bernaldez commends for his intelligence, estimated the whole number of his unbaptized countrymen in the dominions of Ferdinand and Isabella, at the publication of the edict, at thirty-six thousand families. Another Jewish authority, quoted by the Curate, reckoned them at thirtyfive thousand. This, assuming an average of four and a half to a family, gives the sum total of about one hundred and sixty thousand individuals, agreeably to the computation of Bernaldez. There is little reason for supposing that the actual amount would suffer diminution in the hands of either the Jewish or Castilian authority ; since the one might naturally be led to exaggerate in order to heighten sympathy with the calamities of his nation, and the other to magnify as far as possible the glorious triumphs of the Cross.2 The detriment incurred by the state, however, is not founded so much on any numerical estimate as on the subtraction of the mechanical skill, intelligence, and general resources of an orderly, industrious population. In this view, the mischief was incalculably greater than that inferred by the mere number of the exiled ; and although even this might have been gradually repaired in a country allowed the free and healthful development of its energies, yet in Spain this was so effectually counteracted by the Inquisition, and other causes in the following century, that the loss may be deemed irretrievable. The expulsion of so numerous a class of subjects by an independent act of the sovereign might well be regarded as an enormous stretch of preround numbers to 670,000, or ten per cent, of the whole population of the kingdom. Now, it is mani¬ festly improbable that so large a portion of the whole nation, conspicuous moreover for wealth and intelli¬ 372. 1 From a curious document in the Archives of gence, could have been held so light in a political Simancas, consisting of a report made to the Spanish aspect as the Jews certainly were, or have tamely sovereigns by their accountant-general, Quintanilla, submitted for so many years to the most wanton in 1492, it would appear that the population of the indignities without resistance ; or, finally, that the kingdom of Castile, exclusive of Granada, was then Spanish government would have ventured on so bold estimated at 1,500,000 vecinos, or householders. a measure as the banishment of so numerous and (See Mem. de la Acad, de Hist., Apend. no. 12.) powerful a class, and that too with as few precau¬ This, allowing four and a half to a family, would tions, apparently, as would be required for driving make the whole population 6,750,000. It appears out of the country a roving gang of gipsies. 2 Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. no. Tom the statement of Bernaldez that the kingdom of Castile contained five-sixths of the whole number Llorente, Hist, de l'lnquisition, torn. i. chap. 7, of Jews in the Spanish monarchy. This proportion, sect. 7.— Mariana, Hist, de Espana, torn. ii. ib. 26. ;f 800,000 be Zurita, Anales, torn. v. fol. 9. received as the total, would amount in
works in various departments of science, which were translated into the Spanish and other European languages. Biblioteca Espanola, torn. i. pp. 359-
—
ÿ
—
EXPULSION OF THE JE IVS.
324
rogative, altogether incompatible with anything like a free government But, to judge the matter rightly, we must take into view the actual position of the Jews at that time. Far from forming an integral part of the com¬ monwealth, they were regarded as alien to it, as a mere excrescence, which, so far from contributing to the healthful action of the body politic, was nourished by its vicious humours, and might be lopped off at any time when the health of the system demanded it. Far from being pro¬ tected by the laws, the only aim of the laws in reference to them was to define more precisely their civil incapacities, and to draw the line of division more broadly between them and the Christians. Even this humiliation by no means satisfied the national prejudices, as is evinced by the great number of tumults and massacres of which they were the victims. In these circumstances, it seemed to be no great assumption of authority to pronounce sentence of exile against those whom public opinion had so long proscribed as enemies to the state. It was only carrying into effect that opinion, expressed as it had been in a great variety of ways ; and, so far as the rights of the nation were concerned, the banishment of a single Spaniard would have been held a grosser violation of them than that of the whole race of Israelites. It has been common with modern historians to detect a principal motive for the expulsion of the Jews in the avarice of the government. It is only necessary, however, to transport ourselves back to those times to find it in perfect accordance with their spirit, at least in Spain. It is indeed incredible that persons possessing the political sagacity of Ferdinand and Isabella could indulge a temporary cupidity at the sacrifice of the most important and permanent interests, converting their wealthiest districts into a wilderness and dispeopling them of a class of citizens who contri¬ buted beyond all others not only to the general resources but to the direct revenues of the crown ; a measure so manifestly unsound as to lead even a barbarian monarch of that day to exclaim, " Do they call this Ferdinand a politic prince, who can thus impoverish his own kingdom and enrich ours ? " 1 It would seem, indeed, when the measure had been determined on, that the Aragonese monarch was willing, by his expedient of seques¬ tration, to control its operation in such a manner as to secure to his own subjects the full pecuniary benefit of it.2 No imputation of this kind attaches to Castile. The clause of the ordinance which might imply such a design, by interdicting the exportation of gold and silver, was only enforcing a law which had been already twice enacted by cortes in the present reign, and which was deemed of such moment that the offence was made capital3 See Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, torn ..u. p.Bajazet. 310.— Paramo, De Origine Inquisitionis, 1
p.
I68.
*
'
SOmewJ?a.t innocent'y
ng 1erdlnand was a politic Christian,
making the interests of church and state mutually subservient to each other 1 " Reyes de Araj, > ÿ Toledo, 1480, and at Murcia, 1488See Recop. de las Leyes, lib. 6, tit. 18, ley 1.
Onceÿat3'
EXPULSION OF THE JE WS.
325
We need look no further for the principle of action, in this case, than the spirit of religious bigotry which led to a similar expulsion of the Jews from England, France, and other parts of Europe, as well as from Portu¬ gal, under circumstances of peculiar atrocity, a few years later.1 Indeed, the spirit of persecution did not expire with the fifteenth century, but extended far into the more luminous periods of the seventeenth and eighteenth ; and that, too, under a ruler of the enlarged capacity of Frederick the Great, whose intolerance could not plead in excuse the blindness of fanaticism.2 How far the banishment of the Jews was con¬ formable to the opinions of the most enlightened contemporaries, may be gathered from the encomiums lavished on its authors from more than one quarter. Spanish writers, without exception, celebrate it as a sublime sacrifice of all temporal interests to religious principle. The best-instructed foreigners, in like manner, however they may condemn the details of its execution or commiserate the sufferings of the Jews, commend the act, as evincing the most lively and laudable zeal for the true faith.3 It cannot be denied that Spain at this period surpassed most of the nations of Christendom in religious enthusiasm, or, to speak more cor¬ rectly, in bigotry. This is doubtless imputable to the long war with the Moslems, and its recent glorious issue, which swelled every heart with exultation, disposing it to consummate the triumphs of the Cross by purging the land from a heresy which, strange as it may seem, was scarcelj less detested than that of Mahomet. Both the sovereigns partook largely of these feelings. With regard to Isabella, moreover, it must be borne constantly in mind, as has been repeatedly remarked in the course of this history, that she had been used to surrender her own judgment in matters of conscience to those spiritual guardians who were supposed in that age to be its rightful depositaries, and the only casuists who could safely determine the doubtful line of duty. Isabella's pious disposition, and her trembling solicitude to discharge her duty at whatever cost of personal inclination, greatly enforced the precepts of education. In this way her very virtues became the source of her errors. Unfortunately, she lived in 1 The Portuguese government caused all children of fourteen years of age, or under, to be taken from their parents and retained in the country, as fit sub¬ jects for a Christian education. The distress occa¬ sioned by this cruel provision may be well imagined. Many of the unhappy parents murdered their childien to defeat the ordinance ; and many laid violent hands on themselves. Faria y Sousa coolly remarks that "it was a great mistake in King Emanuel to think of converting to Christianity any Jew old enough to pronounce the name of Moses." He fixes three years of age as the utmost limit. (Europa Portuguesa, torn. ii. p. 496.) Mr.
Turner has condensed, with his usual industry, the
most essential chronological facts relative to modem Jewish history, in a note contained in the second
volume of his History of F.ngland, pp. 114-120. - 'Ihey were also ejected from Vienna in 1669. The illiberal and indeed most cruel legislation of Frederick II. in reference to his Jewish subjects
transports us back to the darkest
periods of the Visigothic monarchy. The reader will find a sum¬ mary of these enactments in the third volume of Milman's agreeable History of the Jews. 3 The accomplished and amiable Florentine, Pico di Mirandola, in his treatise on Judicial Astrology, remarks that " the sufferings of the Jews, in which the glory of divine justice delighted, were so ex¬ treme as to fill us Christians with commiseration. " The Genoese historian Senarega, indeed, admits that the measure savoured of some slight degree of cruelty : " Res hsec primo conspe tu laudabilis visa est, quia decus nostras Religionis respiceret, sed aliquantulum in se crudelitatis continere, si eos non belluas, sed homines a Deo creatos, consideravimus." De Rebus Genuensibus, apud Muratori, Rerum Ital. Script., torn, xxiv.— Illescas, Hist. Pontif., apud Paramo, De Origine Inquisitionis, p.
167.
326
ATTEMPT ON FERDINANDS LIFE.
an age and station which attached to these errors the most momentous consequences.1— But we gladly turn from these dark prospects to a brighter page of her history.
CHAPTER XVIII. ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF FERDINAND.
—
RETURN AND SECOND
VOYAGE OF COLUMBUS.
I492-I493-
—
—
Attempt on Ferdinand's Life. Consternation and Loyalty of the People. Return of Colum¬ bus.— His Progress to Barcelona. Interviews with the Sovereigns. Sensations caused by the Discovery.— Regulation of Trade. Conversion of the Natives. Famous Bulls of Alexander VI.—Jealousy of Portugal. Second Voyage of Columbus. Treaty of Tordesillas.
—
—
—
—
—
—
Towards the latter end of May 1492 the Spanish sovereigns quitted Granada, between which and Santa Fe they had divided their time since the surrender of the Moorish metropolis. They were occupied during the two following months with the affairs of Castile. In August they visited Aragon, proposing to establish their winter residence there, in order to provide for its internal administration and conclude the negotiations for the final surrender of Roussillon and Cerdagne by France, to which these pro¬ vinces had been mortaged by Ferdinand's father, John the Second ; proving ever since a fruitful source of diplomacy, which threatened more than once to terminate in open rupture. Ferdinand and Isabella arrived in Aragon on the 8th of August, accom¬ panied by Prince John and the infantas and a brilliant train of Castilian nobles. Intheir progress through the country they were everywhere received with the most lively enthusiasm. The whole nation seemed to abandon itself to jubilee at the approach of its illustrious sovereigns, whose heroic constancy had rescued Spain from the detested empire of the Sarcens. After devoting some months to the internal police of the kingdom, the court transferred its residence to Catalonia, whose capital it reached about the middle of October. During its detention in this place, Ferdinand s career was wellnigh brought to an untimely close.2 It was a good old custom of Catalonia, long since fallen into desuetude, for the monarch to preside in the tribunals of justice at least once a week, for the purpose of determining the suits of the poorer classes especially,
byraimllie tWollowin/mnfÿ °l th!! ex?u¥on I had inspired Isabella, to whom history cannot refuse
ATTEMPT ON FERDINAND'S LIFE.
327
who could not afford the more expensive forms of litigation. King Ferdinand, in conformity with this usage, held a court in the house of deputation, on the 7th of December, being the vigil of the Conception of the Virgin. At noon, as he was preparing to quit the palace, after the con¬ clusion of business, he lingered in the rear of his retinue, conversing with some of the officers of the court As the party was issuing from a little chapel contiguous to the royal saloon, and just as the king was descending a flight of stairs, a ruffian darted from an obscure recess in which he had concealed himself early in the morning, and aimed a blow with a short sword, or knife, at the back of Ferdinand's neck. Fortunately the edge of the weapon was turned by a gold chain or collar which he was in the habit of wearing. It inflicted, however, a deep wound between the shoulders. Ferdinand instantly cried out, " St. Mary preserve us ! treason ! treason ! " and his attendants, rushing on the assassin, stabbed him in three places with their poniards, and would have despatchd him on the spot, had not the king, with his usual presence of mind, commanded them to desist, and take the man alive, that they might ascertain the real authors of the con¬ spiracy. This was done accordingly, and Ferdinand, fainting with loss of blood, was carefully removed to his apartments in the royal palace.1 The report of the catastrophe spread like wildfire through the city. All classes were thrown into consternation by so foul an act, which seemed to cast a stain on the honour and good faith of the Catalans. Some sus¬ pected it to be the work of a vindictive Moor, others of a disappointed courtier. The queen, who had swooned on first receiving intelligence of the event, suspected the ancient enmity of the Catalans, who had shown such determined opposition to her husband in his early youth. She gave instant orders to hold in readiness one of the galleys lying in the port, in order to transport her children from the place, as she ieared the conspiracy might be designed to embrace other victims.2 The populace, in the meanwhile, assembled in great numbers round the palace where the king lay. All feelings of hostility had long since given way to devoted loyalty towards a government which had uniformly respected the liberties of its subjects, and whose paternal sway had secured similar blessings to Barcelona with the rest of the empire. They thronged round the building, crying out that the king was slain, and demanding that his murderers should be delivered up to them. Ferdinand, exhausted 1 Zurita, Anales, torn. v. fol. 15.— Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 116.— Garibay, Compendio, torn. ii. pp. 678, 679.— Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, torn. ii. fol. 315.— Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 1492.— Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 4, dial. 9.— A brief account of this event, with a very long and ostentatious commentary on its enormity, is to be found in a rare and curious old volume, entitled "Los Tratados del Doctor Alonso Ortiz," printed at Seville in 1493, the same year with the intended assassination. The writer,
a canon of the metropolitan church of Toledo, pours forth a flood of eloquence on this occasion, in a dis¬
course addressed to the Catholic sovereign, which,
whatever merit it may have in a rhetorical point of view, bears abundant testimony to his loyalty. - Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 125. — Ber¬ naldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. ri6. Abarca, The great bell of Reyes de Aragon, ubi supra. Velilla, whose miraculous tolling always announced some disaster to the monarchy, was heard to strike at the time of this assault on Ferdinand, being the fifth time since the subversion of the kingdom by the Moors. The fourth was on the as¬ sassination of the inquisitor Arbues. All which is established by a score of good orthodox wit¬
—
—
_
nesses, as reported by Dr. Diego Dormer, in his Discursos varies, pp. 206, 207.
32g
RETURN OF COLUMBUS.
as he was, would have presented himself at the window of his apartment, but was prevented from making the effort by his physicians. It was with great difficulty that the people were at length satisfied that he was still living, and that they finally consented to disperse, on the assurance that the assassin should be brought to condign punishment The king's wound, which did not appear dangerous at first, gradually exhibited more alarming symptoms. One of the bones was found to be fractured, and a part of it was removed by the surgeons. On the seventh day his situation was considered extremely critical. During this time the queen was constantly by his side, watching with him day and night, and adminis¬ tering all his medicines with her own hand. At length the unfavourable symptoms yielded ; and his excellent constitution enabled him so far to recover, that in less than three weeks he was able to show himself to the eyes of his anxious subjects, who gave themselves up to a delirium of joy, offering thanksgivings and grateful oblations in the churches ; while many a pilgrimage, which had been vowed for his restoration to health, was per¬ formed by the good people of Barcelona, with naked feet, and even on their knees, among the wild sierras that surround the city. The author of the crime proved to be a peasant, about sixty years of age, of that humble class, dc remenza, as it was termed, which Ferdinand had been instrumental some few years before in releasing from the baser and more grinding pains of servitude. The man appeared to be insane ; alleging, in vindication of his conduct, that he was the rightful proprietor of the crown, which he expected to obtain by Ferdinand's death. He declared himself willing, however, to give up his pretensions on condition of being set at liberty. The king, convinced of his alienation of mind, would have discharged him ; but the Catalans, indignant at the reproach which such a crime seemed to attach to their own honour, and perhaps distrusting the plea of insanity, thought it necessary to expiate it by the blood of the offender, and condemned the unhappy wretch to the dreadful doom of a traitor ; the preliminary barbarities of the sentence, however, were remitted at the intercession of the queen.1 In the spring of 1493, while the court was still at Barcelona, letters were received from Christopher Columbus, announcing his return to Spain, and the successful achievement of his great enterprise, by the discovery of land beyond the western ocean. The delight and astonishment raised by this intelligence were proportioned to the scepticism with which his project had been originally viewed. The sovereigns were now filled with a natural impatience to ascertain the extent and other particulars of the important 1 Tratados
del Doctor Alonso Ortiz, fol. -Peter Martyr Opus Epist epist. 125127, 186. ,3I._
(Compendio, torn. ii. lib. to, cap. i.) A letter written by Isabella to her confessor, Fernando de Talavera, during her husband's illness, shows the Reyes deep anxiety of her own mind, as well as that of the •; °k Ifij-Beraaldez, l°m- C1-,Ci??r y', tCr ÿairowlng citizens of Barcelona, at his critical situation, furthe inhuman nishing abundant evidence, if it were needed, of her crueltÿs Tv,6 mlSerab * a column ofconcludes tenderness of heart and the warmth of her conjugal ?Dman> attachment. See Correspondent epistolar, apud pnmero por clemencia y mtsencordia de la Reyna." Mem. de la Acad, de Iriit., torn. vi. Ilust. 13-
pnmero.—L. Manneo, Cosas memorable*, Tratado
Tnflirtii Shh lSZ
fh°8aron'e
SECOND VOYAGE.
329
discovery ; and they transmitted instant instructions to the admiral to repair to Barcelona as soon as he should have made the preliminary arrangements for the further prosecution of his enterprise.1 The great navigator had succeeded, as is well known, after a voyage the natural difficulties of which had been much augmented by the distrust and mutinous spirit of his followers, in descrying land on Friday, the 12th of October 1492. After some months spent in exploring the delightful regions now for the first time thrown open to the eyes of a European, he embarked in the month of January 1493 for Spain. One of his vessels had previously foundered, and another had deserted him ; so that he was left alone to retrace his course across the Atlantic. After a most tem¬ pestuous voyage, he was compelled to take shelter in the Tagus, sorely against his inclination.2 He experienced, however, the most honourable reception from the Portuguese monarch, John the Second, who did ample justice to the great qualities of Columbus, although he had failed to profit by them.3 After a brief delay, the admiral resumed his voyage, and, crossing the bar of Saltes, entered the harbour of Palos about noon on the 15th of March 1493, being exactly seven months and eleven days since his departure from that port. 4 Great was the agitation in the little community of Palos as they beheld the well-known vessel of the admiral re-entering their harbour. Their desponding imaginations had long since consigned him to a watery grave ; 1 Herrera, Indias occidentalcs, dec. i, lib 2, cap. 3.— Munoz, Hist, del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 4, sect. 13, 14. Columbus concludes a letter addressed, on his arrival at Lisbon, to the treasurer Sanchez, in the
—
following glowing terms : "Let processions be made, festivals held, temples filled with branches and flowers, for Christ rejoices on earth as in heaven, seeing the future redemption of souls. Let us rejoice, also, for the temporal benefit likely to result, not merely to Spain, but to all Christen¬ dom.' See Primer Viage de Colon, apud Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, torn. i. 2 Herrera, Indias occidentalcs, torn. i. dec. i, lib. 2, cap. 2. — Primer Viage de Colon, apud Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, torn. i.— Fernando Colon, Hist. del Almirante, cap. 39. The Portuguese historian, Faria y Sousa, appears to be nettled at the pros¬ perous issue of the voyage ; for he testily remarks that " the admiral entered Lisbon with a vainexultation, in order to make Portugal feel, y displaying the tokens of his discovery, how much she had erred in not acceding to his propositions." Europa Portuguesa, torn. ii. pp. 462, 463. 3 My learned friend Mr. John Pickering has pointed out to me a passage in a Portuguese author giving some particulars of Columbus's visit to Portugal. The passage, which Ihave not seen noticed by any writer, is extremely interesting, com¬ ing, as it does, from a person high in the royal con¬ fidence, and an eye-witness of what he relates. " In the year 1493, on the sixth day of March, arrived in Lisbon Christopher Columbus, an Italian, who came from the discovery, made under the authority of the sovereigns of Castile, of the islands of Cipango and Antilia ; from which countries he brought with him the first specimens of the people, as well as of the gold and other things to be found there ; and he was entitled admiral of them. The king, being forthwith informed of this, commanded him into li s iir ocnce : and appeared to be annoyed and
—
§lorious
vexed, as well from the belief that the said discoverywas made within the seas and boundaries of his seigniory of Guinea, — which might give rise to disputes, — as because the said admiral, having become somewhat haughty by his situation, and in the relation of his adventures always exceeding the bounds of truth made this affair, as to gold, silver, and riches, much greater than it was. Especiallydid the king accuse himself of negligence, in having declined this enterprise, when Columbus first came to ask his assistance, from want of credit and con¬ fidence in it. And, notwithstanding the king was importuned to kill him on the spot ; since with i i; death the prosecution of the undertaking, so far as the sovereigns of Castile were concerned, wouid cease, from want of a suitable person to take charge of it ; and notwithstanding this might be done with¬ out suspicion of the king's being privy to it, for inasmuch as the admiral was overbearing and puffed up by his success, they might easily bring it about that his own indiscretionshould appear the occasion of his death,—yet the king, as he was a prince greatly fearing God, not only forbade this, but even showed the admiral honour and much favour, and therewith dismissed him." Ruy de Pina, Chronica d'el Rei Dom Joao II., cap. 66, apud Collecgao de Livros ineditos de Historia Portugueza (Lisboa,
—
1700-93), torn. ii. Fernando Colon, Hist,del Almirante, cap. 40, 4 r .
de S. Domingue (Paris, —*Charlevoix,i. Histoire 84-90.— Primer Viage de Colon,
1730), torn. pp. apud Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, torn. i.— La Clede, Hist, de Portugal, torn. xv. pp. 53-58. Columbus sailed from Spain on Friday, discovered land on Friday, and re-entered the port of Palos on Friday. These curious coincidences should have sufficed, one might think, to dispel, especially with American mariners, the superstitious dread, still so prevalent, of commencing a voyage on that ominous
—
33°
RETURN OF COLUMBUS.
for, in addition to the preternatural horrors which hung over the voyage, they had experienced the most stormy and disastrous winter within the recollection of the oldest mariners.1 Most of them had relatives or friends on board. They thronged immediately to the shore, to assure themselves with their own eyes of the truth of their return. When they beheld their faces once more, and saw them accompanied by the numerous evidences which they brought back of the success of the expedition, they burst forth in acclamations of joy and gratulation. They awaited the landing of Columbus, when the whole population of the place accompanied him and his crew to the principal church, where solemn thanksgivings were offered up for their return ; while every bell in the village sent forth a joyous peal in honour of the glorious event. The admiral was too desirous of pre¬ senting himself before the sovereigns to protract his stay long at Palos. He took with him on his journey specimens of the multifarious products of the newly-discovered regions. He was accompanied by several of the native islanders, arrayed in their simple barbaric costume, and decorated, as he passed through the principal cities, with collars, bracelets, and other ornaments of gold, rudely fashioned; he exhibited also considerable quantities of the same metal in dust, or in crude masses,2 numerous vegetable exotics, possessed of aromatic or medicinal virtue, and several kinds of quadrupeds unknown in Europe, and birds whose varieties of gaudy plumage gave a brilliant effect to the pageant The admiral's pro¬ gress through the country7 was everywhere impeded by the multitudes thronging forth to gaze at the extraordinary spectacle, and the more extraordinary man, who, in the emphatic language of that time, which has now lost its force from its familiarity, first revealed the existence of a "New World." As he passed through the busy, populous city of Seville, every window, balcony, and housetop which could afford a glimpse of him is described to have been crowded with spectators. It was the middle of April before Columbus reached Barcelona. The nobility and cavaliers in attendance on the court, together with the authorities of the city, came to the gates to receive him, and escorted him to the royal presence. Ferdi¬ nand and Isabella were seated, with their son Prince John, under a superb canopy of state, awaiting his arrival. On his approach they rose from their seats, and, extending their hands to him to salute, caused him to be seated before them. These were unprecedented marks of condes¬ cension to a person of Columbus's rank in the haughty and ceremonious court of Castile. It was, indeed, the proudest moment in the life of Columbus. He had fully established the truth of his long-contested theory, in the face of argument, sophistry, sneer, scepticism, and con¬ He had achieved this, not by chance, but by calculation tempt.
A.
SECOND VOYAGE.
33'
supported through the most adverse circumstances by consummate conduct. The honours paid him, which had hitherto been reserved only for rank, or fortune, or military success, purchased by the blood and tears of thousands, were in his case a homage to intellectual power successfully exerted in behalf of the noblest interests of humanity.1 After a brief interval, the sovereigns requested from Columbus a recital of his adventures. His manner was sedate and dignified, but warmed by the glow of natural enthusiasm. He enumerated the several islands which he had visited, expatiated on the temperate character of the climate, and the capacity of the soil for every variety of agricultural production, appeal¬ ing to the samples imported by him as evidence of their natural fruitfulness. He dwelt more at large on the precious metals to be found in these islands, which he inferred less from the specimens actually obtained, than from the uniform testimony of the natives to their abundance in the unexplored regions of the interior. Lastly, he pointed out the wide scope afforded to Christian zeal, in the illumination of a race of men whose minds, far from being wedded to any system of idolatry, were prepared by their extreme simplicity for the reception of pure and uncorrupted doc¬ trine. The last consideration touched Isabella's heart most sensibly ; and the whole audience, kindled with various emotions by the speaker's eloquence, filled up the perspective with the gorgeous colouring of their own fancies, as ambition, or avarice, or devotional feeling predominated in their bosoms. When Columbus ceased, the king and queen, together with all present, prostrated themselves on their knees in grateful thanks¬ givings, while the solemn strains of the Te Deum were poured forth by the choir of the royal chapel, as in commemoration of some glorious victory.2 The discoveries of Columbus excited a sensation, particularly among men of science, in the most distant parts of Europe, strongly contrasting with the apathy which had preceded them. They congratulated one another on being reserved for an age which had witnessed the consum¬ mation of so grand an event. The learned Martyr, who, in his multi¬ farious correspondence, had not even deigned to notice the preparations for the voyage of discovery, now lavished the most unbounded panegyric on its results; which he contemplated with the eye of a philosopher, having far less reference to considerations of profit or policy than to the prospect which they unfolded of enlarging the boundaries of knowledge.3 1 Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 133, 134, 140.
cap. 118.— — Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., viii. pp.
141, 142. Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne. torn. —Fernando Colon, Hist, del Almirante, ubi supra. -• -Zuniga, Annales de Sevilla, p. 413. Gomara, Hist, de las Indias, cap. 17. Benzoni, Novi Orbis
——
—
Hist., lib. x, cap. 8, 9. Gallo, apud Muratori, Rerum Ital. Script., torn, xxiii. p. 203. 2 Herrera, Indias occidentales, torn. i. dec. 1, lib.
— —
Munoz, Hist, del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 4, 16, 17. Fernando Colon, Hist. del. Almi-
2, cap. 3.
sec. t ran-r
Si supra.
3 In a letter written soon after the admiral's return, Martyr announces the discovery to his correspond¬ ent, Cardinal Sforza, in the following manner:. "Mira res ex eo terrarum orbe, quern sol horarum quatuor et viginti spatio circuit, ad nostra usque tempora, quod minime te latet, trita cognitaque dimidia tantum pars, ab A urea utpote Chersoneso, ad Gades nostras Hispanas, reliqua vero a cosmographis pro incognita relicta est. Et si qu«e mentio facta, ea tenuis et incerta. Nunc autem, o beatum facinus ! meorum regum auspiciis, quod hituit hactenus a rcrum primordio, intelligi cceptum est." In.»
RETURN or COLUMBUS.
,32
Most of the scholars of the day, however, adopted the erroneous hypo¬ thesis of Columbus, who considered the lands he had discovered as bordering on the eastern shores of Asia, and lying adjacent to the vast and opulent regions depic ed in such golden colours by Mandeville and the Poli. This conjecture, which was conformable to the admiral's opinions before undertaking the voyage, was corroborated by the apparent similarity between various natural productions of these islands and of the East. From this misapprehension, the new dominions soon came to be distinguished as the West Indies, an appellation by which they are still recognised in the titles of the Spanish crown.1 Columbus, during his residence at Barcelona, continued to receive from the Spanish sovereigns the most honourable distinctions which royal bounty could confer. When Ferdinand rode abroad, he was accompanied by the admiral at his side. The courtiers, in emulation of their master, made frequent entertainments, at which he was treated with the punctilious deference paid to a noble of the highest class.2 But the attentions most grateful to his lofty spirit were the preparations of the Spanish court for prosecuting his discoveries on a scale commensurate with their importance A board was established for the direction of Indian affairs, consisting of a superintendent and two subordinate functionaries. The first of these officers was Juan de Fonseca, archdeacon of Seville, an active, ambitious prelate, subsequently raised to high episcopal preferment, whose shrewd¬ ness and capacity for business enabled him to retain the control of the Indian department during the whole of the present reign. An office for the transaction of business was instituted at Seville, and a custom-house placed under its direction at Cadiz. This was the origin of the important establishment of the Casa de la Contratacian de las Indias, or India House.3 The commercial regulations adopted exhibit a narrow policy in some of their features, for which a justification may be found in the spirit of the a subsequent epistle to the learned Pomponio Leto, he breaks out in a strain of warm and generous Prse laetitia prosiliisse te, vixque a sentiment lachrymis prae gaudio temperasse, quando literal adspexisti meas. quibus de Antipodum Orbe latenti
"
hactenus, te certiorem feci, mi suavissime Pomponi, insinuasti. Ex tuisipse Uteris colligo, quid senseris. Sensisti autem, tantique rem fecisti, quanti virum
summa doctrina insignitum decuit. Guis namque cibus sublimibuspraestari potest ingeniisistosuavior? quod condimentum gravius ? a me facio conjecturam. Beari sentio spiritus meos, quando accitos alloquor prudentes aliquos ex his qui ab ea redeunt provincia. Implicent animos pecuniarum cumulis augendis misen avari, libidinibus obscoeni; nostras nos mentes, postquam Deo pleni aliquandiu fuerimus, contemplando, hujuseemodi rerum notitia -demulceamus. " Opus Epist., epist. 124, 152. 1 Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 118. Gallo, apud Muratori, Rerum Ital. Script., torn. xxiii. p. 203.—Gomara, Hist, de las Indias, capi 28.— Peter Martyrseems to have received the popular inference, respecting the identity of the new discov•tries with the East Indies, with some distrust • " Insulas reperit plures ; has esse, de quibus fit
_
apud cosmographos mentio extra Oceanum Orientalem, adjacentes Indite arbitrantur. Nec inficior ego penitus, quamvis sphaerae magnitudo aliter sentire videatur ; neque enim desunt qui parvo tractu a finibus Hispanis distare littus Indicum, putent. Opus Epist., epist. 135. 2 Herrera, Indias occidentales, dec. 1, lib. 2, cap¬ s'— Benzoni, Novi Orbis Hist., lib. i, cap. „?ÿ Gomara, Hist, de las Indias, cap. 17- Zuniga, Annales de Sevilla, p. 4x3. — Fernando Colon, Hist del Almirante, ubi supra.— He was permitted to quarter the royal arms with his own, which consisted of a group of golden islands amid azure billows. Io these were afterwards added five anchors, with the celebrated motto, well known as bring carved on his sepulchre. (See Part II. chap. 18.) He received besides, soon after his return, the substantial gratu¬ ity of a thousand doblas of gold from the roya treasury, and the premium of 10,000 maravedis mised to the person who first descried land. oee Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, Col. diplom., nos. 2°j 32» 38.. r. 3 Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, torn, "• cou diplom., no. 45.— Munoz, Hist, del Nuevo-Mundo lib. 4, sec. 21.
—
Pro¬
SECOND VOYAGE.
333
age, and in the practice of the Portuguese particularly, but which entered still more largely into the colonial legislation of Spain under later princes. The new territories, far from being permitted free intercourse with foreign nations, were opened only under strict limitations to Spanish subjects, and were reserved, as forming, in some sort, part of the exclusive revenue of the crown. All persons of whatever description were interdicted, under the severest penalties, from trading with or even visiting the Indies with¬ out license from the constituted authorities. It was impossible to evade this, as a minute specification of the ships, cargoes, crews, with the property appertaining to each individual, was required to be taken at the office in Cadiz, and a corresponding registration in a similar office established at Hispaniola. A more sagacious spirit was manifested in the ample provision made of whatever could contribute to the support or permanent prosperity of the infant colony. Grain, plants, the seeds of numerous vegetable pro¬ ducts, which in the genial climate of the Indies might be made valuable articles for domestic consumption or export, were liberally furnished. Commodities of every description for the supply of the fleet were exempted from duty. The owners of all vessels throughout the ports of Andalusia were required, by an ordinance somewhat arbitrary, to hold them in readi¬ ness for the expedition. Still further authority was given to impress both officers and men, if necessary, into the service. Artisans of every sort, provided with the implements of their various crafts, including a great number of miners for exploring the subterraneous treasures of the new regions, were enrolled in the expedition ; in order to defray the heavy charges of which, the government, in addition to the regular resources, had recourse to a loan, and to the sequestrated property of the exiled Jews.1 Amid their own temporal concerns, the Spanish sovereigns did not forget the spiritual interests of their new subjects. The Indians who accompanied Columbus to Barcelona had been all of them baptized, being offered up, in the language of a Castilian writer, as the first-fruits of the gentiles. King Ferdinand and his son Prince John stood as sponsors to two of them, who were permitted to take their names. One of the Indians remained attached to the prince's establishment ; the residue were sent to Seville, whence, after suitable religious instruction, they were to be returned as missionaries for the propagation of the faith among their own countrymen. Twelve Spanish ecclesiastics were also destined to this service; among whom was the celebrated Las Casas,2 so conspicuous afterwards for his benevolent exertions in behalf of the unfortunate natives. The most ex¬ plicit directions were given to the admiral to use every effort for the illumination of the poor heathen, which was set forth as the primary object of the expedition. He was particularly enjoined " to abstain from all
*
Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, Col. diplom., nos. 33, 35) 43. — Herrera, Tndias occidentales, dec. L lib. 2, cap. 4. — Munoz. Hist, del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 4, sec. 21.
ÿ [This is a mistake, which the author has corrected in the History of the Conquest of Mexico. Las Casas, who was at this time a student, did not embark for the New World till some years later.- -Ld.
334
RETURN OF COLUMBUS.
means of annoyance, and to treat them well and lovingly, maintaining a
familiar intercourse with them, rendering them all the kind offices in his power, distributing presents of the merchandise and various commodities which their Highnesses had caused to be embarked on board the fleet foi that purpose ; and finally, to chastise, in the most exemplary manner, all who should offer the natives the slightest molestation." Such were the instructions emphatically urged on Columbus for the regulation of his in¬ tercourse with the savages ; and their indulgent tenor sufficiently attests the benevolent and rational views of Isabella in religious matters, when not warped by any foreign influence.1 Towards the last of May, Columbus quitted Barcelona for the purpose of superintending and expediting the preparations for departure on his second voyage. He was accompanied to the gates of the city by all the nobility and cavaliers of the court. Orders were issued to the different towns to provide him and his suite with lodgings free of expense. His former commission was not only confirmed in its full extent, but consider¬ ably enlarged. For the sake of despatch, he was authorised to nominate to all offices, without application to government ; and ordinances and letters patent, bearing the royal seal, were to be issued by him, subscribed by himself or his deputy. He was intrusted, in fine, with such unlimited jurisdiction as showed that, however tardy the sovereigns may have been in granting him their confidence, they were not disposed to stint the measure of it when his deserts were once established.2 Soon after Columbus's return to Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella applied to the court of Rome to confirm them in the possession of their recent discoveries, and invest them with similar extent of jurisdiction with that formerly conferred on the kings of Portugal. It was an opinion, as ancient perhaps as the crusades, that the pope, as vicar of Christ, had competent authority to dispose of all countries inhabited by heathen nations, in favour of Christian potentates. Although Ferdinand and Isabella do not seem to have been fully satisfied of this right, yet they 1 See the original instructions, apud Navarrete, expected to find some notice of him in the records Coleccion de Viages, Col. diplom., no. 45. Munoz, of the city. An intelligent friend of mine, Mr. Hist, del Nuevo-Mundo, lit). 4, sec. 22. Zuniga, George Sumner, on a visit to that capital, examined Annales de Sevilla, p. 413.— L. Marineo eagerly these records, as well as the archives of the crown claims the conversion of the natives as the prime of Aragon, in the hope of meeting with some such object of the expedition with the sovereigns, far out¬ account, but vain. The dietaria,or "day-book, in weighing all temporal considerations. The passage of Barcelona records the entrance of the Catholic is worth quoting, if only to show what egregious sovereigns and the heir apparent into the city, on blunders a contemporary may make in the relation the 14th of November 1492, in the following termsto¬: of events passing, as it were, under his own eyes. he king, the queen, and the prince entered I "The Catholic sovereigns having subjugated the day the city, and took up their abode in the palace Canaries, and established Christian worship there, of the bishop of Urgil, in the Calle Ancha." .T. n sent Peter Colon, with thirty-five ships, called a description of the shows and rejoicings caravels, and a great numbe of men, to other much follows which took place on the occasion. After this come larger islands abounding in mines of gold, not so two other entries! "1493, February 4. — Hie king, much, however, for the sake of the gold, as for the the queen, and the prince went to Montserrat. salvation of the poor heathen natives." Cosas ' February 14.— The king, the queen, and the prince memorables, fol. 161. returned to Barcelona." But not a word is given 2 See copies of the original documents, apud to only the discoverer a world ! And we can Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, torn. ii. Col. diplom. , conjecture that theofhaughty Catalan felt no desire nos. 39, 41, 42, 43.— Considering the importance glory no of to communicate an event which reflected Columbus's discoveries, and the distinguished recep¬ on him, and the advantages of which were jealously tion given to him at Barcelona, one might have reserved for his Castilian rivals.
——
SECOND VOYAGE.
335
were willing to acquiesce in its assumption in the present instance, from the conviction that the papal sanction would most effectually exclude the pretensions of all others, and especially their Portuguese rivals. In their application to the Holy See they were careful to represent their own dis¬ coveries as in no way interfering with the rights formerly conceded by it to their neighbours. They enlarged on their services in the propagation of the faith, which they affirmed to be a principal motive of their present operations. They intimated, finally, that although many competent persons deemed their application to the court of Rome for a title to territories already in their possession to be unnecessary, yet, as pious princes and dutiful children of the church, they were unwilling to proceed further without the sanction of him to whose keeping its highest interests were
intrusted.1 The pontifical throne was at that time filled by Alexander the Sixth ; a man who, although degraded by unrestrained indulgence of the most sordid appetites, was endowed by nature with singular acuteness as well as energy of character. He lent a willing ear to the application of the Spanish government, and made no hesitation in granting what cost him nothing, while it recognised the assumption of powrers which had already begun to totter in the opinion of mankind. On the 3d of May 1493 he published a bull, in which, taking into consideration the eminent services of the Spanish monarchs in the cause of the church, especially in the subversion of the Mahometan empire in Spain, and willing to afford still wider scope for the prosecution of their pious labours, he, " out of his pure liberality, infallible knowledge, and plenitude of apostolic power," confirmed them in the possession of all lands discovered, or hereafter to be discovered, by them in the western ocean, comprehending the same extensive rights of jurisdiction with those formerly conceded to the kings of Portugal. This bull he supported by another, dated on the following day, in which the pope, in order to obviate any misunderstanding with the Portu¬ guese, and acting, no doubt, on the suggestion of the Spanish sovereigns, defined with greater precision the intention of his original grant to the latter, by bestowing on them all such lands as they should discover to the west and south of an imaginary line, to be drawn from pole to pole, at the distance of one hundred leagues to the west of the Azores and Cape de Verd Islands.2 It seems to have escaped his Holiness that the Spaniards, by pursuing a western route, might in time reach the eastern limits of countries previously granted to the Portuguese. At least this would appear from the import of a third bull, issued September 25th of the same year, which invested the sovereigns with plenary authority over 1 Herrera, Indias occidentales, dec. i, lib. 2, cap. 4. Munoz, Hist, del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 4, sec. 18. - A point south of the meridian is something new geometry ; yet so says the bull of his Holiness :
—
" Omnes insulas et terras Armas inventas et inveniendas, detectas et detegendas, versus occidentem et meridiem, fabricando et constituendo unam lineam a Polo Arctico, scilicet septentrione, ad Polum Aataieticum, scilicet meridiem."
RETURN OF COLUMBUS.
33<5
all countries discovered by them, whether in the East or within the boundaries of India, all previous concessions to the contrary notwithstand¬ ing. With the title derived from actual possession thus fortified by the highest ecclesiastical sanction, the Spaniards might have promised them¬ selves an uninterrupted career of discovery, but for the jealousy of their rivals the Portuguese.1 The court of Lisbon viewed with secret disquietude the increasing maritime enterprise of its neighbours. While the Portuguese were timidly creeping along the barren shores of Africa, the Spaniards had boldly launched into the deep, and rescued unknown realms from its embraces, which teemed in their fancies with treasures of inestimable wealth. Their mortification was greatly enhanced by the reflection that all this might have been achieved for themselves, had they but known how to profit by the proposals of Columbus.2 From the first moment in which the success of the admiral's enterprise was established, John the Second, a politic and ambitious prince, had sought some pretence to check the career of discovery, or at least to share in the spoils of it.3 In his interview with Columbus, at Lisbon, he suggested that the dis¬ coveries of the Spaniards might interfere with the rights secured to the Portuguese by repeated papal sanctions since the beginning of the present century, and guaranteed by the treaty with Spain in 1479. Columbus, without entering into the discussion, contented himself with declaring that he had been instructed by his own government to steer clear of all Portuguese settlements on the African coast, and that his course indeed had led him in an entirely different direction. Although John professed himself satisfied with the explanation, he soon after despatched an ambassador to Barcelona, who, after dwelling on some irrelevant topics, touched as it were incidentally on the real object of his mission, the late voyage of discovery. He congratulated the Spanish sovereigns on its success, expatiated on the civilities shown by the court of Lisbon to Columbus on his late arrival there, and acknowledged the satisfaction felt by his master at the orders given to the admiral to hold a western course from the Canaries, expressing a hope that the same course would be pursued in future, without interfering with the rights of Portugal by deviation to the south. This was the first occasion on which the existence of such claims had been intimated by the Portuguese. In the meanwhile, Ferdinand and Isabella received intelligence that King John was equipping a considerable armament in order to anticipate or defeat their discoveries in the west. They instantly sent one of their household, Don Lope de Herrera, as ambassador to Lisbon, with instruc1 See the original papal grants, transcribed by Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, torn, ii., Col. diplom., nos. 17, 18. Appendice, al Col. diplom
no. 11. 2
Padre Abarca considers " that the discovery of
a new world, first offered to the kings of Portugal
and England, was reserved by Heaven for P ' beingforced, in a manner, on Ferdinand, in r •• pense for the subjugation of the Moors an Reyes de Aragon, ro-tS. IVPortugal,
expulsion of the Jews!" 3IO, 3II.
I.a Clÿde. Hist. de.
tom*
. PP'
SECOND VOYAGE.
331
tions to make their acknowledgments to the king for his hospitable recep¬ tion of Columbus, accompanied with a request that he would prohibit his subjects from interference with the discoveries of the Spaniards in the west, in the same manner as these latter had been excluded from the Portuguese possessions in Africa. The ambassador was furnished with orders of a different import, provided he should find the reports correct respecting the equipment and probable destination of a Portuguese armada. Instead of a conciliatory deportment, he was in that case to assume a tone of remonstrance, and to demand a full explanation from King John of his designs. The cautious prince, who had received, through his secret agents in Castile, intelligence of these latter instructions, managed matters so discreetly as to give no occasion for their exercise. He abandoned, or at least postponed, his meditated expedition, in the hope of adjusting the dispute by negotiation, in which he excelled. In order to quiet the apprehensions of the Spanish court, he engaged to fit out no fleet from his dominions within sixty days ; at the same time he sent a fresh mission to Barcelona, with directions to propose an amicable adjustment of the conflicting claims of the two nations, by making the parallel of the Canaries a line of partition between them ; the right of discovery to the north being reserved to the Spaniards, and that to the south to the Portuguese.1 While this game of diplomacy was going on, the Castilian court availed itself of the interval afforded by its rival to expedite preparations for the second voyage of discovery ; which, through the personal activity of the admiral, and the facilities everywhere afforded him, were fully completed before the close of September. Instead of the reluctance, and indeed avowed disgust, which had been manifested by all classes to his former voyage, the only embarrassment now arose from the difficulty of selection among the multitude of competitors who pressed to be enrolled in the present expedition. The reports and sanguine speculations of the fir adventurers had inflamed the cupidity of many, which was still furthe* heightened by the exhibition of the rich and curious products which Columbus had brought back with him, and by the popular belief that the new discoveries formed part of that gorgeous East
" whose caverns teem With diamond flaming, and with seeds of gold," and which tradition and romance had alike invested with the supernatural splendours of enchantment. Many others were stimulated by the wild love of adventure which had been kindled in the long Moorish war, but which now, excluded from that career, sought other objects in the vast, untravelled regions of the New World. The complement of the fleet was originally fixed at twelve hundred souls, a number eventually swelled through 1 Faria y Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, torn. ii. p. I
463. —Hen-era, Indias occidentals, loc. cit.
pp. 606, 607. — Mariana, Hist, de Espana, torn. ii.torn. iv. p;r
— —La Glide, Hist, de Portugal,
Mufioz, Hist, del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 4, sec. 27, «8. | 33-58-
V
338
RETURN OF COLUMBUS
importunity or various pretences oi the applicants, to fifteen hundred. Among these were many who enlisted without compensation, including several persons of rank, hidalgos, and members of the royal household The whole squadron amounted to seventeen vessels, three of them of one hundred tons' burden each. With this gallant navy, Columbus, dropping down the Guadalquivir, took his departure from the bay of Cadiz on the 25th of September 1493 1 presenting a striking contrast to the melancholy plight in which, but the year previous, he had sallied forth like some forlorn knight-errant on a desperate and chimerical enterprise.1 No sooner had the fleet weighed anchor than Ferdinand and Isabella despatched an embassy in solemn state to advise the king of Portugal of it. This embassy was composed of two persons of distinguished rank, Don Pedro de Ayala and Don Garci Lopez de Carbajal. Agreeably to their instructions, they represented to the Portuguese monarch the inadmissibility of his propositions respecting the boundary-line of navigation ; they argued that the grants of the Holy See, and the treaty with Spain in 1479, had reference merely to the actual possessions of Portugal, and the right of discovery by an eastern route along the coasts of Africa to the Indies ; that these rights had been invariably respected by Spain ; that the late voyage of Columbus struck into a directly opposite track ; and that the several bulls of Pope Alexander the Sixth, prescribing the line of partition, not from east to west, but from the north to the south pole, were intended to secure to the Spaniards the exclusive fight of discovery in the western ocean. The ambassadors concluded with offering, in the name of their sovereigns, to refer the whole matter in dispute to the arbitration of the court of Rome, or of any common umpire. King John was deeply chagrined at learning the departure of the Spanish expedition. He saw that his rivals had been acting, while he had been amused with negotiation. He at first threw out hints of an immediate rupture, and endeavoured, it is said, to intimidate the Castilian ambas¬ sadors by bringing them accidentally, as it were, in presence of a splendid array of cavalry, mounted and ready for immediate service. He vented his spleen on the embassy, by declaring that " it was a mere abortion, having neither head nor feet ;" alluding to the personal infirmity of Ayala, who was lame, and to the light, frivolous character of the other envoy.2 These symptoms of discontent were duly notified to the Spanish govern¬ ment, who commanded the superintendent, Fonseca, to keep a vigilant eye on the movements of the Portuguese, and, in case any hostile armament should quit their ports, to be in readiness to act against it with one double its force. King John, however, was too shrewd a prince to be drawn into so impolitic a measure as war with a powerful adversary, quite as likely
__
Co]onl%stAdefAld? Setvilla>P- 413— Fernando Orbis Historia, lib. i, cap. p.-Gomara, Hist, de Be™aldez. las2 Indias. cap. so. . Revcs Catdiicos MSr a 118-- Peter Martyr, LaClede Hist de Portugal, torn. iv. pp- 53-S8-*8' '• n 1 De » Rebus Ocean.cs, aec.caP\. x, lib v-Benwni, Nov! lib.
MuRÿHis!. def Nuevo-Mundo,
4
SECOND VOYAGE.
339
to baffle him in the field as in the council. Neither did he relish the suggestion of deciding the dispute by arbitration, since he well knew that his claim rested on too unsound a basis to authorize the expectation of a favourable award from any impartial umpire. He had already failed in an application for redress to the court of Rome, which answered him by reference to its bulls, recently published In this emergency, he came to the resolution at last, which should have been at first adopted, of deciding the matter by a fair and open conference. It was not until the following year, however, that his discontent so far subsided as to allow his acquies¬
cence in this measure. At length, commissioners named by the two crowns convened at Tordesillas, and on the 7th of June 1494, subscribed articles of agreement, which were ratified in the course of the same year by the respective powers. Inthis treaty the Spaniards were secured in the exclusive right of navigation and discovery in the western ocean. At the urgent remonstrance of the Portuguese, however, who complained that the papal line of demar¬ cation cooped up their enterprises within too narrow limits, they consented that, instead of one hundred, it should be removed three hundred and seventy leagues west of the Cape de Verd Islands, beyond which all dis¬ coveries should appertain to the Spanish nation. It was agreed that one or two caravels should be provided by each nation, to meet at the Grand Canary and proceed due west the appointed distance, with a number of scientific men on board, for the purpose of accurately determining the longitude ; and if any lands should fall under the meridian, the direction of the line should be ascertained by the erection of beacons at suitable distances. The proposed meeting never took place. But the removal of the partition-line was followed by important consequences to the Portuguese, who derived from it their pretensions to the noble empire of Brazil.1 Thus the singular misunderstanding, which menaced an open rupture at one time, was happily adjusted. Fortunately, the accomplishment of the passage round the Cape of Good Hope, which occurred soon afterwards, led the Portuguese in an opposite direction to their Spanish rivals, their Brazilian possessions having too little attractions, at first, to turn them from the splendid path of discovery thrown open in the East. It was not many years, however, before the two nations, by pursuing opposite routes of cir¬ cumnavigation, were brought into collision on the other side of the globe ; a circumstance never contemplated, apparently, by the treaty of Tordesillas. Their mutual pretensions were founded, however, on the provisions of that treaty, which, as the reader is aware, was itself only supplementary to the original bull of demarcation of Alexander the Sixth.2 Thus this bold 1 Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, Doc. diplom.,
75.— Faria y Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, torn. p. 463.— Herrera, Indias occidentales, dec. i, lib. 2, cap. 8, 10. Mariana, Hist, de Espana, torn. ii- pp. 606, 607 La Clede, Hist, de Portugal, torn. av. pp. 60-62. Zurita, Anales, tom. v. fol. 31. 11 The contested territory was the Molucca Islands, 00. 11.
——
—
which each party claimed for itself, by virtue of the treaty of Tordesillas. After ntore than one congress, in which all the cosmographical science of the day was put in requisition, the affair was terminated ct I'amiable by the Spanish government's relinquish¬ ing its pretensions, in consideration of 350,000 ducats paid by the court of Lisbon. See La Clede, Hist
34°
CAST1L1AN LITERA TURK.
stretch of papal authority, so often ridiculed as chimerical and absurd, was in a measure justified by the event, since it did, in fact, determine the principles on which the vast extent of unappropriated empire in the eastern and western hemispheres was ultimately divided between two petty states of Europe.
CHAPTER XIX. CASTILIAN LITERATURE.-CULTIVATION OF THE COURT. CLASSICAL LEARNING. SCIENCE.
—
—
Early Education of Ferdinand.—Of Isabella.—Her Library.— Earty promise of Prince John. —Scholarship of the Nobles.—Accomplished Women.— Classical Learning.—Univer¬ sities.— Printing introduced.— Encouraged by the Queen Actual Progress of Science.
—
We have now arrived at the period when the history of Spain becomes incorporated with that of the other states of Europe. Before embarking on the wide sea of European politics, however, and bidding adieu for a season to the shores of Spain, it will be necessary, in order to complete the view of the internal administration of Ferdinand and Isabella, to show its operation on the intellectual culture of the nation. This, as it consti¬ tutes, when taken in its broadest sense, a principal end of all government, should never be altogether divorced from any history. It is particularly deserving of note in the present reign, which stimulated the active develop¬ ment of the national energies in every department of science, and which forms a leading epoch in the ornamental literature of the country. The present and the following chapter will embrace the mental progress of the kingdom, not merely down to the period at which we have arrived, but through the whole of Isabella's reign, in order to exhibit as far as possible its entire results, at a single glance, to the eye of the reader. We have beheld, in a preceding chapter, the auspicious literary promise afforded by the reign of Isabella's father, John the Second of Castile. Under the anarchical sway of his son, Henry the Fourth, the court, as we have seen, was abandoned to unbounded license, and the whole nation sunk into a mental torpor, from which it was roused only by the tumults of civil war. In this deplorable state of things, the few blossoms of literature which had begun to open under the benign influence of the preceding reign were speedily trampled under foot, and every vestige of civilization seemed in a. fair way to be effaced from the land. The first years of Ferdinand and Isabella's government were too much clouded by civil dissensions to afford a much more cheering prospect.
Marianÿ hL.'X Elpafiaj tlm.' li!°pp 4°o;
875'- | ÿ"ar
d® Mendoza- Monarqufa, torn. ii. PP- 2°*'
CLASSICAL LEARNING—SCIENCE.
341
Ferdinand's early education, moreover, had been greatly neglected. Before the age of ten, he was called to take part in the Catalan wars. His boy¬ hood was spent among soldiers, in camps instead of schools, and the wisdom which he so eminently displayed in later life was drawn far more from his own resources than from books.1 Isabella was reared under more favourable auspices ; at least more favourable to mental culture. She was allowed to pass her youth in retire¬ ment, and indeed oblivion, as far as the world was concerned, under her mother's care, at Arevalo. In this modest seclusion, free from the engross¬ ing vanities and vexations of court life, she had full leisure to indulge the habits of study and reflection to which her temper naturally disposed her. She was acquainted with several modern languages,2 and both wrote and discoursed in her own with great precision and elegance. No great expense or solicitude, however, appears to have been lavished on her edu¬ cation. She was uninstructed in the Latin, which in that day was of greater importance than at present, since it was not only the common medium of communication between learned men, and the language in which the most familiar treatises were often composed, but was frequently used by welleducated foreigners at court, and especially employed in diplomatic inter¬ course and negotiation.3 Isabella resolved to repair the defects of education by devoting herself to the acquisition of the Latin tongue, so soon as the distracting wars with Portugal which attended her accession were terminated. We have a letter from Pulgar, addressed to the queen soon after that event, in which he inquires concerning her progress, intimating his surprise that she can find time for study amidst her multitude of engrossing occupations, and ex¬ pressing his confidence that she will acquire the Latin with the same facility with which she had already mastered other languages. The result justified his prediction ; for " in less than a year," observes another con¬ temporary, " her admirable genius enabled her to obtain a good knowledge of the Latin language, so that she could understand without much diffi¬ culty whatever was written or spoken in it."4 Isabella inherited the taste of her father, John the Second, for collecting books. She endowed the convent of San Juan de los Reyes at Toledo, at the time of its foundation, 1477, wltÿ a library consisting principally of manuscripts.6 The Archives of Simancas contain catalogues of part of two Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. 182.— It is suffi¬ cient evidence of her familiarity with the Latin, that the letters addressed to her by her confessor seem to have been written in that language and the Castilian indifferently, exhibiting occasionally a curious patchwork in the alternate use of each in the same epistle. See Correspondencia epistolar, apud Mem. de la Acad, de Hist., torn. vi. Ilust. 13. 6 Previous to the introduction of printing, collec¬ tions of books were necessarily very small and thinly 181. scattered, owing to the extreme cost of manuscripts. 4 Carro de las Dofias, lib. 2, cap. 62 et seq., apud The learned Saer. has collected some curious particu¬ Mem. de la Acad, de Hist., torn. vi. Ilust. 21.— lars relative to this matter. The most copious Pulgar, Letras (Amstelodami, 1670), let. 11.— L. ! library which he could find any account of in the
1 L. Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. 153. 2 [Bergenroth says that Ferdinand and Isabella, though they wrote Spanish well, " seem to have been unable to understand any other language." (Letters and Despatches, vol. i., introd., p. xxxv.) No evidence is adduced to support this conclusion— or conjecture ; nor is any notice taken of the evi¬ dence by which, in Isabella's case, it is clearly refuted.—Ed.] 3 L. Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. 154,
CAST1LIAN LITERATURE.
342
separate collections belonging to her, whose broken remains have contri¬ buted to swell the magnificent library of the Escurial. Most of them are in manuscript ; the richly-coloured and highly-decorated binding of these volumes (an art which the Spaniards derived from the Arabs) shows how highly they were prized, and the worn and battered condition of some of them proves that they were not kept merely for show.1 The queen manifested the most earnest solicitude for the instruction of her own children. Her daughters were endowed by nature with amiable dispositions, that seconded her maternal efforts. The most competent masters, native and foreign, especially from Italy, then so active in the revival of ancient learning, were employed in their tuition. This was particularly intrusted to two brothers, Antonio and Alessandro Geraldino, natives of that country. Both were conspicuous for their abilities and classical erudition • and the latter, who survived his brother Antonio, was
subsequently raised to high ecclesiastical preferments.2 Under these masters, the infantas made attainments rarely permitted to the sex, and acquired such familiarity with the Latin tongue especially as excited lively admiration among those over whom they were called to preside in riper years.3 A still deeper anxiety was shown in the education of her only son, middle of the fifteenth century was owned by the half a century before, should have found a place in counts of Benavente, and contained not more than the collection. one hundred and twenty volumes. Many of these * Antonio, the eldest, died in 1488. Part of his were duplicates ; of Livy alone there were eight Latin poetical works, entitled " Sacred Bucolics," The cathedral churches in Spain rented their books every year by auction to the highest bidders, whence they derived a considerable revenue. It would appear from a copy of Gratian's Canons, preserved in the Celestine monastery in Paris, that the copyist was engaged twenty-one months in tran¬ scribing that manuscript. At this rate, the produc¬ tion of four thousand copies by one hand would require nearly eight thousand years,—a work now easily performed in less than four months. Such was the tardiness in multiplying copies before the invention of printing. Two thousand volumes may be procured now at a price which in those days would hardly have sufficed to purchase fifty. See Tratadode Monedas de Enrique III.,apud Moratin, Obras, ed. de la Acad. (Madrid, 1830), torn. i. pp. 01, 92. But does not Moratin draw his conclusions
copies.
was printed in 1505, at Salamanca.
The younger
brother, Alessandro, after bearing arms in the Portu¬ guese war, was subsequently employed in the instruction of the infantas, finally embraced the ecclesiastical state, and died bishop of St. Domingo,
in 1525. Mem. de la Acad, de Hist.? torn. vi. Ilust. 16.—Tiraboschi, Letteratura Italiana, torn. vi. part. 2, p. 285. a The learned Valencian, Luis Vives, in his treatise "De Christiana Femini," remarks, ' /Etas nostra quatuor illas Isabellae reginae filias, quas paulloante memoravi, eruditas vidit. Non sine laudibus et admiratione refertur mihi passim in hac terra Joannam, Philippi conjugem, Caroli hujus matrem, ex tempore latinis orationibus, quae de more apud novos principes oppidatim habentur, latine respondisse. Idem de regina sua, Joanna: sorore, Britanni from extreme cases ? prtedicant ; idem omnes de duabus aliis, qu$ in \ Navagiero,Viaggiofatto in Spagnaetin Francia Lusitania fato concessere. " (De Christianÿ Femma, (Vinegia, 1363), fol. 23. Mem. de la Acad, de Hist., cap. 4, apud Mem. de la Acad, de Hist., torn. vi. torn. vi. Ilust. 17.—The larger collection comprised Ilust. 16.)— It appears, however, that Isabella was about two hundred and one articles, or distinct not inattentive to the more humble accomplishments, works. Of these, about a third is taken up with in the education of her daughters. "Regina, says. theology, comprehending Bibles, psalters, missals, the same author, nere, suere, acu pingere quatuot lives of saints, and works of the Fathers ; one-fifth, filias suas doctas "esse voluit." Another contempo¬ civil law and the municipal code of Spain ; one- rary, the author of the Carro de las Donas (lib. 2, fourth, ancient classics, modern literature, and cap. 62, apud Mem. de la Acad, de Hist., Ilust. 21;* romances of chivalry ; one-tenth, history ; the re¬ says, She educated her son and daughters, giving sidue is devoted to ethics, medicine, grammar, them "masters of life and letters, and surrounding astrology, etc. The only Italian author, besides them with such persons as tended to make them Leonardo Bruno d'Areizo, is Boccaccio. The works vessels of election, and kings in heaven." Erasmus of the latter writer consisted of the " Fiammetta " notices the literary attainments of the younges the treatises "De Casibus Illustrium Viroruin" and daughter of the sovereigns, the unfortunate Catharine " De Claris Mulieribus," and probably the " De¬ of Aragon, with unqualified admiration. In one o1 cameron ;" the first in the Italian, and the three his letters he styles her egregie doctam ; and " last translated into the Spanish. It is singular that another he non tantum in sexusRegina remarks, " neither of Boccaccio's great contemporaries, Dante miraculum literata est ; nec minus pietate suspiciand Petrarch, the former of whom had been tran¬ enda, quam cruditione. " Epistolae (Londim, 101-. slated by Villena, and imitated by Juan de Mena, lib. 19, epist. 31 ; lib. 2, epist 24.
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CLASSICAL LEARNING—SCIENCE.
Prince John, heir of the united Spanish monarchies.
343
Every precaution
was taken to train him up in a manner that might tend to the formation of a character suited to his exalted station. He was placed in a class consisting of ten youths, selected from the sons of the principal nobility. Five of them were of his own age, and five of riper years, and they were all brought to reside with him in the palace. By this means it was hoped to combine the advantages of public with those of private education ;
which last, from its solitary character, necessarily excludes the subject of it from the wholesome influence exerted by bringing the powers into daily collision with antagonists of a similar age.1 A mimic council was also formed on the model of a council of state, composed of suitable persons of more advanced standing, whose province it was to deliberate on, and to discuss, topics connected with government and public policy. Over this body the prince presided, and here he was initiated into a practical acquaintance with the important duties which were to devolve on him at a future period of life. The pages in attend¬ ance on his person were also selected with great care from the cavaliers and young nobility of the court, many of whom afterwards filled with credit the most considerable posts in the state. The severer discipline of the prince was relieved by attention to more light and elegant accomplish¬ ments. He devoted many of his leisure hours to music, for which he had a fine natural taste, and in which he attained sufficient proficiency to per¬ form with skill on a variety of instruments. In short, his education was happily designed to produce that combination of mental and moral excel¬ lence which should fit him for reigning over his subjects with benevo¬ lence and wisdom. How well the scheme succeeded is abundantly attested by the commendations of contemporary writers, both at home and abroad, who enlarge on his fondness for letters and for the society of learned men, on his various attainments, and more especially his Latin scholarship, and above all on his disposition, so amiable as to give promise of the highest excellence in maturer life, — a promise, alas ! most unfortun¬ ately for his own nation, destined never to be realized.2 Next to her family, there was no object which the queen had so much at heart as the improvement of the young nobility. During the troubled reign of her predecessor they had abandoned themselves to frivolous pleasure, or to a sullen apathy from which nothing was potent enough to arouse 'them but the voice of war.3 She was obliged to relinquish her plans of amelioration during the all- engrossing struggle with Granada, de la sciencia que los del imperio." The extraor¬ — dinary promise of this young prince made his name
1 Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., dial, de Deza. Mem. de la Acad, de Hist. torn. vi. Ilust. 14. 1 Mem. de la Acad, de Hist., torn. vi. Ilust. 14.— Juan de la Encina, in the dedication to the prince of his translation of Virgil's Bucolics, pays the fol¬ lowing compliment to the enlightened and liberal taste of Prince John : Favoresceis tanto la sciencia nndando acompanado de tantos e tan doctisimos varones, que no menos dejareis perdurable memoria de haber alargado e estendido los limites e twrminos
"
known in distant parts of Europe, and his untimely death, which occurred in the twentieth year of his age, was commemorated by an epitaph of the learned Greek exile, Constantine Lascaris. 3 "Aficionados a la guerra," says Oviedo, speak¬ ing of some young nobles of his time, "for su Esfiafiola y natural inclination." Quincuagenas, MS., bat. i, quinc. 1, dial. 36.
CASTJLIAN LITERA TURE.
344
when it would have been esteemed a reproach for a Spanish knight to have exchanged the post of danger in the field for the effeminate pursuit of letters. But no sooner was the war brought to a close than Isabella resumed her purpose. She requested the learned Peter Martyr, who had come into Spain with the count of Tendilla a few years previous, to repair to the court and open a school there for the instruction of the young nobility.1 In an epistle addressed by Martyr to Cardinal Mendoza, dated at Granada, April 1492, he alludes to the promise of a liberal recompense from the queen if he would assist in reclaiming the young cavaliers of the court from the idle and unprofitable pursuits in which, to her great morti¬ fication, they consumed their hours. The prejudices to be encountered seem to have filled him with natural distrust of his success ; for he remarks, " Like their ancestors, they hold the pursuit of letters in light estimation, considering them an obstacle to success in the profession of arms, which alone they esteem worthy of honour." He, however, ex¬ presses his confidence that the generous nature of the Spaniards will make it easy to infuse into them a more liberal taste ; and in a subsequent letter he enlarges on the " good effects likely to result from the literary ambition exhibited by the heir-apparent, on whom the eyes of the nation were naturally turned." 2 Martyr, in obedience to the royal summons, instantly repaired to court, and in the month of September following we have a letter dated from Saragossa, in which he thus speaks of his success : " My house, all day long, swarms with noble youths, who, reclaimed from ignoble pursuits to those of letters, are now convinced that these, so far from being a hin¬ drance, are rather a help in the profession of arms. Iearnestly inculcate on them that consummate excellence in any department, whether of war or peace, is unattainable without science. It has pleased our royal mistress, the pattern of every exalted virtue, that her own near kinsman, the duke of Guimaraens, as well as the young duke of Villahermosa, the king's nephewr, should remain under my roof during the whole day ; an example which has been imitated by the principal cavaliers of the court, who, after attending my lectures in company with their private tutors, retire at evening to review them with these latter in their own quarters." 3 Another Italian scholar, often cited as authority in the preceding portion of this work, Lucio Marineo Siculo, co-operated with Martyr in the introduction of a more liberal scholarship among the Castilian nobles. He was born at Bedino, in Sicily, and, after completing his studies at Rome under the celebrated Pomponio Leto, opened a school in his 1 For some account of this eminent Italian scholar, I negotiis, ut aliis exemplum prxberet, a primis see the postscript to Part. I., chap. 14, of this His- grammatica; rudimentis studere coepit, et omnes , suae domfls adolescentes utriusque sexfls nobilium CI2yp . . ~
,
.
.
Martjrr, Opus Epist, epist. 102, 103—
a addressed to Charles VUCrV°,,ÿa":"e0'r dlsc?urs.® V., thus notices the queen s solicitude for the
mstruc-
her young nob.hty : Isabella prtesertim Regina magnanima, virtutum omnium maxima cultrix Ous quidem multis et magnis occupata
tion o
liberos, prmceptoribus liberaliter et hononficeconductis erudiendos commendabat." Mem. de la Hist. torn. vi. Apend. 16.- See also Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, qumc. x»
Acad, de
dial. *6. Peter Martyr, Opus Epist.. epist. n5-
CLASSICAL LEARNING—SCIENCE.
345
native island, where he continued to teach for five years. He was then induced to visit Spain, in i486, with the admiral Henriquez, and soon took his place among the professors of Salamanca, where he filled the chairs of poetry and grammar with great applause for twelve years. He was subsequently transferred to the court, which he helped to illumine by his exposition of the ancient classics, particularly the Latin.1 Under the auspices of these and other eminent scholars, both native and foreign, the young nobility of Castile shook off the indolence in which they had so long rusted, and applied with generous ardour to the cultivation of science ; so that, in the language of a contemporary, " while it was a most rare occurrence to meet with a person of illustrious birth, before the present reign, who had even studied Latin in his youth, there were now to be seen numbers every day who sought to shed the lustre of letters over the martial glory inherited from their ancestors." 2 The extent of this generous emulation may be gathered from the large correspondence both of Martyr and Marineo with their disciples, including the most considerable persons of the Castilian court; it maybe still further inferred from the numerous dedications to these persons of contemporary publications, attesting their munificent patronage of literary enterprise;3 and still more unequivocally from the zeal with which many of the highest rank entered on such severe literary labour as few, from the mere love of letters, are found willing to encounter. Don Gutierre de Toledo, son of the duke of Alva and a cousin of the king, taught in the university of Salamanca. At the same place, Don Pedro Fernandez de Velasco, son of the count of Haro, who subsequently succeeded his father in the hereditary dignity of grand constable of Castile, read lectures on Pliny and Ovid. Don Alfonso de Manrique, son of the count of Paredes, was professor of Greek in the university of AlcaH All ages seemed to catch the generous enthusiasm ; and the marquis of Denia, although turned of 1 A particular account of Marineo's writings may be found in Nic. Antonio. (Bibliotheca Nova, torn. ii. Apend. p. 369.) The most important of these is his work "De Rebus Hispaniae Memorabilibus," often cited, in the Castilian, in this History. It is a rich repository of details respecting the geography, statistics, and manners of the Peninsula, with a copious historical notice of events in the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella. The author's insatiable curiosity, during a long residence in the country, enabled him to collect many facts of a kind that do not fall within the ordinary compass of history ; while his extensive learning, and his familiarity ÿwith foreign models, peculiarly qualified him for estimating the institutions he describes. It must be confessed he is sufficiently partial to the land of his adoption. The edition referred to in this work is in black letter, printed before, or soon after, the author's death (the date of which is uncertain), in IS39> at Alcala de Henares, by Juan Brocar, one of a family long celebrated in the annals of Castilian printing. Marineo's prologue concludes with the following noble tribute to letters : " Porque todos los otros bienes son subjectos a la fortuna y mudables y en poco tiempo mudan muchos duenos passando ÿde unos senores en otros, mas los dones de letras y
hystorias que se ofrescen para perpetuiuad de memoria y fama son immortales y prorogan y guardan para siempre la memoria assi de los que los reciben, como de los que los ofrescen." 2 Sepulveda, Democrites, apud Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., torn. vi. Ilust. 16. Signorelli, Coltura nelle Sicilie, torn. iv. p. 318. Tiraboschi, Letteratura Italiana, torn. vii. part. 3, lib. 3, cap. 4. Comp. Lampillas, Saggio storico-apologetico de la Letteratura Spagnuola (Genova, 1778), torn. ii. dis. 2, sec. 5. The patriotic abate is greatly scandalized by the degree of influence which Tiraboschi and other Italian critics ascribe to their own language over the Castilian, especially at this period. The seven volumes in which he has discharged his bile on the heads of the offenders afford valuable materials for the historian of Spanish literature. Tiraboschi must be admitted to have the better of his antagonist in temper, if not in argument. 3 Among these we find copious translations from the ancient classics, as Ctesar, Appian, Plutarch, Plautus, Sallust. ÿEsop, Justin, Boethius, Apuieius, Herodian, affording strong evidence of the activity of the Castilian scholars in this department Mcmde la Acad, de Hist., torn. vi. pp. 406, 407.— Mender, Typographia Espanola, pp. 133, 139.
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—
346
CAST1LIAN LITERATURE.
sixty, made amends for the sins of his youth, by learning the elements of the Latin tongue at this late period. In short, as Giovio remarks in his eulogium on Lebrija, "No Spaniard was accounted noble who helo science in indifference." From a very early period, a courtly stamp war impressed on the poetic literature of Spain. A similar character was nov imparted to its erudition; and men of the most illustrious birth seemed eager to lead the way in the difficult career of science, which was thrown open to the nation.1 In this brilliant exhibition those of the other sex must not be omitted, who contributed by their intellectual endowments to the general illumina¬ tion of the period. Among them, the writers of that day lavish their panegyrics on the marchioness of Monteagudo, and Dona Maria Pacheco of the ancient house of Mendoza, sisters of the historian Don Dieg< Hurtado,2 and daughters of the accomplished count of Tendilla,3 who while ambassador at Rome induced Martyr to visit Spain, and who was grandson of the famous marquis of Santillana, and nephew of the grand cardinal.4 This illustrious family, rendered yet more illustrious by its merits than its birth, is worthy of specification, as affording altogether the most remarkable combination of literary talent in the enlightened court of Castile. The queen's instructor in the Latin language was a lady named Dona Beatriz de Galindo, called from her peculiar attainments la Latina. Another lady, Dona Lucia de Medrano, publicly lectured on the Latin classics in the university of Salamanca ; and another, Dona Francisca de Lebrija, daughter of the historian of that name, filled the chair of rhetoric with applause at Alcald. But our limits will not allow a further enumera¬ tion of names which should never be permitted to sink into oblivion, were it only for the rare scholarship, peculiarly rare in the female sex, which they displayed in an age comparatively unenlightened.5 Female education in that day embraced a wider compass of erudition, in reference to the ancient languages, than is common at present ; a circumstance attributable, For an account of Santillana, see the first — chapter of this History. The cardinal, in early
z balazar de Mendoza, Digmdades, cap. 21. Lucio Marineo Siculo, in his discourse above al¬ luded to, in which he exhibits the condition of letters under the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, enumerates the names of the nobility most conspi¬ cuous for their scholarship. This valuable document was to be found only in the edition of Marineo's work, " De Rebus Hispania: Memorabilibus," printed at Alcala in 1630, whence it has been transferred by Clemencin to the sixth volume of the Memoirs of the Royal Academy of History. 2 His work "Guerra de Granada " was first pub¬ lished at Madrid in 1610, and " may be compared," says Nic. Antonio, in a judgment which has been ratified by the general consent of his countrymen, "with the compositions of Sallust or any other ancient historian." His poetry and his celebrated pkaresco novel, " Lazarillo de Tormes," have made an epoch in the ornamental literature of Spain. 3 Oviedo has devoted one of his dialogues to this nobleman, equally distinguished by his successes in arms, letters, and love ; the last of which, according to that writer, he had not entirely resigned at the age of seventy.— Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc ÿ 1, dial. 28.
_
4
life, is said to have translated for his father the ALneid, the Odyssey, Ovid, Valerius Maximus, ana Sallust. (Mem. de la Acad, de Hist., torn. vi. IlusL 16.) This herculean feat would put modem schoolboys to shame ; and we may suppose that partial versions only of these authors are in¬ , tended. 6 Mem. de la Acad, de Hist., torn. vi. Must. to. Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., dial, de Grizio. Senor Clemencin has examined with much care t in intellectual culture of the nation under Isabella,nathe sixteenth Ilustracion of his work. He touched lightly on its poetical character, consider¬ ing, no doubt, that this had been sufficiently devel¬ oped by other critics. His essay, however, is nc in information in regard to the scholarship an severer studies of the period. The reader w would pursue the inquiry still further may n abundant materials in Nic. Antonio, Bibnothear Vetus, torn. ii. lib. io, cap. 13. ,et seq-"ÿ Bibliotheca Hispana Nova (Matriti, 1783-8), i. ii., passim.
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CLASSICAL LEARNING—SCIENCE.
34T
probably, to the poverty of modern literature at that time, and the new and general appetite excited by the revival of classical learning in Italy. I am not aware, however, that it was usual for learned ladies, in any other country than Spain, to take part in the public exercises of the gymnasium and deliver lectures from the chairs of the universities.1 This peculiarity, which may be referred in part to the influence of the queen, who encour¬ aged the love of study by her own example, as well as by personal attend¬ ance on the academic examinations, may have been also suggested by a similar usage, already noticed, among the Spanish Arabs.2 While the study of the ancient tongues came thus into fashion with persons of both sexes and of the highest rank, it was widely and most thoroughly cultivated by professed scholars. Men of letters, some of whom have been already noticed, were invited into Spain from Italy, the theatre at that time on which, from obvious local advantages, classical discovery was pursued with greatest ardour and success. To this country it was usual also for Spanish students to repair, in order to complete their discipline in classical literature, especially the Greek, as first taught on sound principles of criticism by the learned exiles from Constantinople. The most remarkable of the Spanish scholars who made this literary pilgrimage to Italy was Antonio de Lebrija, or Nebrissensis, as he is more frequently called from his Latin name.3 After ten years passed at Bologna and other seminaries of repute, with particular attention to their interior discipline, he returned, in 1473, to bis native land, richly laden with the stores of various erudition. He was invited to fill the Latin chair at Seville, whence he was successively transferred to Salamanca and Alcala, both of which places he long continued to enlighten by his oral instruction and publications. The earliest of these was his Introduccion.es Latinas,. the third edition of which was printed in 1485, being four years only from the date of the first ; a remarkable evidence of the growing taste for classical learning. A translation in the vernacular accompanied the last edition, arranged, at the queen's suggestion, in columns parallel with those of the original text ; a form which, since become common, was then a novelty.4 The publication of his Castilian grammar, Grammatica Castil/ana, followed in 1492 ; a treatise designed particularly for the instruction of the ladies of the court. The other productions of this indefatigable scholar embrace a large circle of topics, independently of his various treatises on philology and criticism. Some were translated into French and Italian, and their republication was continued to the last century. No man of his own or of later times contributed more essenti1[The two examples cited in the text do not Mendez, Typographia Espanola, pp. 271, 272. show that the practice was "usual" in Spain; — In the second edition, published 111 1482, the.while at least one earlier instance in another country author states that no work of the time had a greater more than a thousand copies of it having, — the famous Novella d'Andrea of Bologna— will circulation, been disposed of, at a high price, in the preceding. he recollected by most readers.— Ed.] 2 See Part I. chap. 8, of this History. year. Ibid., p. 237. 3 For a notice of this scholar, see the postscript to Part I. chap, n, of this History.
*
348
CASTIL1AN LITERATURE.
ally than Lebrija to the introduction ot a pure and healthful erudition into Spain. It is not too much to say that there was scarcely an eminent Spanish scholar in the beginning of the sixteenth century who had not formed himself on the instructions of this master.1 Another name worthy ot commemoration is that of Arias Barbosa, a learned Portuguese, who, after passing some years, like Lebrija, in the schools of Italy, where he studied the ancient tongues under the guidance of Politiano, was induced to establish his residence in Spain. In 1489 we find him at Salamanca, where he continued for twenty, or, according to some accounts, forty years teaching in the departments of Greek and rhetoric. At the close of that period he returned to Portugal, where he superintended the education of some of the members of the royal family, .and survived to a good old age. Barbosa was esteemed inferior to Lebrija in extent of various erudition, but as having surpassed him in an accurate knowledge of the Greek, and poetical criticism. In the former, indeed, he seems to have obtained a greater repute than any Spanish scholar of the time. He composed some valuable works, especially on ancient prosody. The unwearied assiduity and complete success of his academic labours have secured to him a high reputation among the restorers of ancient learning, and especially that of reviving a livelier relish for the study of the Greek, by conducting it on principles of pure criticism, ji the same manner as Lebrija did with the Latin.2 The scope of the present work precludes the possibility of a copious enumeration of the pioneers of ancient learning, to whom Spain owes so large a debt of gratitude.3 The Castilian scholars of the close of the fifteenth and the beginning of the sixteenth century may take rank with their illustrious contemporaries of Italy. They could not, indeed, achieve such brilliant results in the discovery of the remains of antiquity, for such 1 Nic. Antonio, Bib iotlieca Nova, torn. i. pp. 8 Among these are particularly deserving of 132-139.— Lampillas, Letteratura Spagnuola, torn. attention the brothers John and Francis Vergara, pro¬ ii dis. 2, sec. 3.— Dialogo de las Lenguas, apud fessors at Alcald, the latter of whom was esteemed Mayans y Siscar, Origenes (Madrid, 1737), torn. ii. one of the most accomplished scholars of the age; pp. 46, 47.— Lucio Marineo pays the following Nunez de Guzman, of the ancient house of that elegant compliment to this learned Spaniard, in his name, professor for many years at Salamanca and discourse before quoted : " Amisit nuper Hispania Alcala, and the author of the Latin version in the maximum sui cultorcm in re litteraria, Antonium famous Polyglot of Cardinal Ximenes ; he left Ncbrissensem, qui primus ex Italia in Hispaniam behind him numerous works, especially commen¬ Musas adduxit, quibuscum barbariem ex sua patria taries on the classics ; Olivario, whose curious fugavit, et Hispaniam totam lingua; Latinse lec- erudition was abundantly exhibited in his illustra¬ tionibus illustravit." " Meruerat id," says Gomez tions of Cicero and other Latin authors ; and, lastly, de Castro of Lebrija, " et multo majora hominis Vives, whose fame belongs rather to Europe than eruditio, cui Hispania debet, quicquid habet his own country, and who, when only twenty-six bonarum literarum." The acute author of the years old, drew from Erasmus the encomium that " DiSlogo de las Lenguas," while he renders ample "there was scarcely any one of the age whom he homage to Lebrija's Latin erudition, disputes his could venture to compare with him in philosophy, critical acquaintance with his own language, from eloquence, liberal learning." But the most his being a native of Andalusia, where the Castilian unequivocaland testimony to the deep and various was not spoken with purity : " Hablaba y escrivia scholarship afforded by that stu¬ the of como en el Andalucia y no como en la Castilla " pendous literary period is work of Cardinal Ximenes, c p. 92. See also pp. 9, 10, 46, 53. Polyglot Bible, whose versions in the Greek, Latin, - Barbosa, Bibiiolheca Lusitana (Lisboa occi¬ and Oriental tongues were collated, with a _sing dental, ,74,), torn. i. pp. 76-78.— Signorelli, Coltura exception, by Spanish scholars. Erasmus, Episto.a;, nelle Siulie, torn. iv. pp. 315-321— Mayans y lib 19, epist 101. — Lampillas, Letteratura SpaS" vjiscar, Ongenes, torn. 1. p. 173.—Lampillas, Lettera- nuola, torn. ii. pp. 382-384, 495, 792-794 \ V'; PfaSnUx a' t0m- "• dis- 2> sec" 5— Nic. Antonio, ' ii. p. 208 et seq.—- Gomez, be Rebus gestis,
ÿ
'
v:
BibholHeca Nova, torn 1. pp. ijq. I7,
37-
CLASSICAL LEARNING—SCIENCE.
349
remains had been long scattered and lost amid the centuries of exile and disastrous warfare consequent on the Saracen invasion. But they were unwearied in their illustrations, both oral and written, of the ancient authors ; and their numerous commentaries, translations, dictionaries, grammars, and various works of criticism, many of which, though now obsolete, passed into repeated editions in their own day, bear ampletestimony to the generous zeal with which they conspired to raise their contemporaries to a proper level for contemplating the works of the great masters of antiquity, and well entitled them to the high eulogium of Erasmus, that "liberal studies were brought, in the course of a few years, in Spain to so flourishing a condition as might not only excite the admira¬ tion, but serve as a model to the most cultivated nations of Europe." 1 The Spanish universities were the theatre on which this classical erudi¬ tion was more especially displayed. Previous to Isabella's reign, there were but few schools in the kingdom; not one, indeed, of any note, except in Salamanca ; and this did not escape the blight which fell on every generous study. But under the cheering patronage of the present government they were soon filled, and widely multiplied. Academies of repute were to be found in Seville, Toledo, Salamanca, Granada, and Alcala ; and learned teachers were drawn from abroad by the most liberal emoluments. At the head of these establishments stood " the illustrious city of Salamanca," as Marineo fondly terms it, " mother of all liberal arts and virtues, alike renowned for noble cavaliers and learned men." 2 Such was its reputation that foreigners as well as natives were attracted to its schools, and at one time, according to the authority of the same professor, seven thousand students were assembled within its walls. A letter of Peter Martyr to his patron the count of Tendilla gives a whimsical picture of the literary enthusiasm of this place. The throng was so great to hear his introductory lecture on one of the Satires of Juvenal that every avenue to the hall was blockaded, and the professor was borne in on the shoulders of the students. Professorships in every department of science then studied, as well as of polite letters, were established at the university, the " new Athens," as Martyr somewhere styles it. Before the close of Isabella's reign, however, its glories were rivalled, if not eclipsed, by those of Alcala;3 which combined higher advantages for ecclesiastical with civil education, and which, under the splendid patronage of Cardinal Ximenes, executed the famous Polyglot version of the Scriptures, the most stupendous literary enterprise of that age.4 1 Erasmus, Epistolae, p. 977.
• La muy esclarecida ciudad de Salamanca, madre dc las artes liberates, y todas virtudes, y ansi de cavalleros como de letrados varones, muy ilustre." Cosas memorables, fol. n. Chacon, Hist. de la Universidad de Salamanca, apud Semanario erudito, torn, xviii. pp. x-61. 3 " Academia Complutensis," says Erasmus of this university, "non aliunde celebritalem nominis auspicau est quam a complectendo iinguas ac
"
—
bonas literas. Cujus praecipuum ornamentum est
egregius ille senex, planeque dignus, qui multosvincat
Nestoras, Antonius Nebrissensis." Epist.
ad Ludovicum Vivem, 1521, Epistolae, p. 755. Cosas memorables, ubi supra. Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 57. Gomez, De Rebus gestis, lib. 4. Chacon, Universidad de Salamanca, ubi-. supra. It appears that the practice of scraping. with the feet as an expression of disapprobation,, familiar in our universities, is of venerable anti
*
— —
—
—
classical literature.
35o
This active cultivation was not confined to the dead languages, but spread more or less over every department of knowledge. Theological science, in particular, received a large share of attention. It had always formed a principal object of academic instruction, though suffered to languish under the universal corruption of the preceding reign. It was so common for the clergy to be ignorant of the most elementary knowledge, that the council of Aranda found it necessary to pass an ordinance, the year before Isabella's accession, that no person should be admitted to orders who was ignorant of Latin. The queen took the most effectual means for correcting this abuse, by raising only competent persons to ecclesiastical dignities. The highest stations in the church were reserved for those who combined the highest intellectual endowments with unblem¬ ished piety. Cardinal Mendoza, whose acute and comprehensive mind entered with interest into every scheme for the promotion of science, was archbishop of Toledo ; Talavera, whose hospitable mansion was itself an academy for men of letters, and whose princely revenues were liberally dispensed for their support, was raised to the see of Granada ; and Ximenes, whose splendid literary projects will require more particular notice hereafter, succeeded Mendoza in the primacy of Spain. Under the protection of these enlightened patrons, theological studies were pursued with ardour, the Scriptures copiously illustrated, and sacred eloquence cultivated with success. A similar impulse was felt in the other walks of science. Jurispru¬ dence assumed a new aspect, under the learned labours of Montalvo.1 The mathematics formed a principal branch of education, and were successfully applied to astronomy and geography. Valuable treatises were produced on medicine, and on the more familiar practical arts, as husbandry, for example.2 History, which since the time of Alfonso the Tenth had been held in higher honour and more widely cultivated in Castile than in any other European state, began to lay aside the garb of chronicle and to be studied on more scientific principles. Charters and diplomas were consulted, manuscripts collated, coins and lapidary inscriptions deciphered, and collections made of these materials, the true basis of authentic history ; and an office of public archives, like that now existing at Simancas, was established at Burgos, and placed under the care of Alonso de Mota, as keeper, with a liberal salary.8 Nothing could have been more opportune for the enlightened purposes quity ; for Martyr mentions that
he was saluted with it before finishing his discourse by one or two idle youths, dissatisfied with its length. The lecturer, however, seems to have given general satisfaction, for he was escorted back in triumph to his lodgings, to use his own language, "like a victor in the Olympic games," after the conclusion of the exercise. \ For some remarks on the labours of this distin¬ guished jurisconsult, see Part I. chap. 6, and Part il. chap. 26, of the present work. The most remarkable of these latter is Herrera's
"
treatise on Agriculture, which, since its publication in Toledo in 1520, has passed through a variety o editions at home and translations abroad. JNic. Antonio, Bibliotheca Nova, torn. i. p. S°3„ 3 This collection, with the ill-luck which has too often befallen such repositaries in Spain, was burn in the war of the Communities, in the time o Charles V. Mem. de la Acad, de Hist., torn, vi. Ilust. 16. Morales, Obras, torn. vii. p. 18. —Inform de Riol, who particularly notices the solicitudeo Ferdinand and Isabella for preserving the puDi
—
documents.
CLASSICAL LEARNING—SCIENCE.
351
of Isabella than the introduction of the art of printing into Spain at the commencement, indeed in the very first year, of her reign. She saw, from the first moment, all the advantages which it promised for diffusing
She encouraged its and perpetuating the discoveries of science. establishment by large privileges to those who exercised it, whether natives or foreigners, and by causing many of the works composed by her subjects to be printed at her own charge.1 Among the earlier printers we frequently find the names of Germans,— a people who to the original merits of the discovery may justly add that of its propagation among every nation of Europe. We meet with a pragmdtica, or royal ordinance, dated in 1477, exempting a German, named Theodoric, from taxation, on the ground of being "one of the principal persons in the discovery and practice of the art of printing books, which he had brought with him into Spain at great risk and expense, with the design of ennobling the libraries of the kingdom."2 Monopolies for printing and selling books for a limited period, answering to the modern copyright, were granted to certain persons in consideration of their doing so at a reasonable rate.8 It seems to have been usual for the printers to be also the publishers and vendors of books. These exclusive privileges, however, do not appear to have been carried to a mischievous extent Foreign books, of every description, by a law of 1480, were allowed to be imported into the kingdom free of all duty whatever ; an enlightened provision, which might furnish a useful hint to legislators of the nineteenth century.4 The first press appears to have been erected at Valencia, in 1474; although the glory of precedence is stoutly contested by several places, and especially by Barcelona.5 The first work printed was a collection of songs composed for a poetical contest in honour of the Virgin, for the most part in the Limousin or Valencian dialect.6 In the following year the first ancient classic, being the works of Sallust, was printed ; and in 1478 there appeared from the same press a translation of the Scriptures in the Limousin, by father Boniface Ferrer, brother of the famous Dominican, St. Vincent Ferrer.7 Through the liberal patronage of the government, the art was widely diffused ; and before the end of the fifteenth century presses were established and in active operation in the 1 Mendez, Typographia Espanola, p.
51. - Archivo de Murcia, apud Mem. de la Acad, de
Hist., torn. vi. p. 244.
Mendez, Typographia Espanola, pp. 52, 332. Ordenancjas Reales, lib. 4, tit. 4, ley 22. The preamble of this statute is expressed in the following enlightened terms: " Considerando los Reyes de gioriosa memoria quanto era provechoso y honroso, que a estos sus reynos se truxessen libros de olras partes para que con ellos se hiziessen los hombres leirados, quisieron y ordenaron, que de los libros no >e pagasse e! alcavala i.o qual parece que rt dmda en provecho universal de todos, y en eunoblecimiento de nuestros Reynos." 5 Cnpmany, Mem. de Barcelona, torn. i. part. 2,
*
—
......
—
lib. 2, cap. 6. Mendez, Typographia Espanola, pp. 55, 93. Bouterwek intimates that the art of printing was first practised in Spain by German
—
printers at Seville, in the beginning 0/ the sixteenth centuiy. (Geschichteder Poesie und Beredsamkeit (Gottingen, 1801-17), Band iii. S. 98.)— He appears to have been misled by a solitary example quoted from Mayans v Siscar. The want of materials has more than once led this eminent critic to build sweeping conclusions on slender premises. fi The title of the book is " Certamen poetich en Iohorde la Concecio," Valencia, 1474, 4<4>. The name of the printer is wanting. Mendez, Typographic Espanola, p. 56. < Mendez, Typographia Espanola, pp. 61-63.
CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
352
principal cities of the united kingdom ; in Toledo, Seville, Ciudad Real, Granada, Valladolid, Burgos, Salamanca, Zamora, Saragossa, Valencia, Barcelona, Monte Rey, Lerida, Murcia, Tolosa, Tarragona, Alcaic de Henares, and Madrid. It is painful to notice amidst the judicious provisions for the encourage¬ ment of science, one so entirely repugnant to their spirit as the establish¬ ment of the censorship. By an ordinance dated at Toledo, July 8th»
1502, it was decreed that, "as many of the books sold in the kingdom
were defective, or false, or apocryphal, or pregnant with vain and super¬ stitious novelties, it was therefore ordered that no book should hereafter be printed without special license from the king, or some person regularly commissioned by him for the purpose." The names of the commissioners then follow, consisting mostly of ecclesiastics, archbishops and bishops, with authority respectively over their several dioceses.1 This authority was devolved in later times, under Charles the Fifth and his successors, on the Council of the Supreme, over which the inquisitor-general presided ex officio. The immediate agents employed in the examination were also drawn from the Inquisition, who exercised this important trust, as is well known, in a manner most fatal to the interests of letters and humanity. Thus a provision destined in its origin for the advancement of science, by purifying it from the crudities and corruptions which naturally infect it in a primitive age, contributed more effectually to its discouragement than any other which could have been devised, by interdicting the freedom of expression so indispensable to freedom of inquiry.2 While endeavouring to do justice to the progress of civilization in this reign, Ishould regret to present to the reader an overcoloured picture of its results. Indeed, less emphasis should be laid on any actual results than on the spirit of improvement which they imply in the nation, and the liberal dispositions of the government. The fifteenth century was distinguished by a zeal for research and laborious acquisition, especially
in ancient literature, throughout Europe, which showed itself in Italy in the beginning of the age, and in Spain, and some other countries, towards the close. It was natural that men should explore the long-buried treasures which had descended from their ancestors, before venturing on anything of their own creation. Their efforts were eminently successful ; and, by opening an acquaintance with the immortal productions of ancient litera¬ ture, they laid the best foundation for the cultivation of the modern. In the sciences, their success was more equivocal. A blind reverence for authority, a habit of speculation instead of experiment,— so pernicious
_ productions, qui sVtend meme k celles de la presse ,
1 Mendez, Typographia Espanola, pp. 52, 5a. Pragmaticas del Reyno, foi. ij8, 139. 2 Llorente, Hist, de l'lnquisition, torn. i. chap. 13, art. 1. " Adempte per inquisitiones" says Tacitus of the gloomy times of Domitian, et " ioquendi audiendique commercio." (Vita Agricolae sect. 2.) Beaumarchais, in a merrier vein, indeed' makes the same bitter reflections : IIs'est e'tabli " dans Madrid un systeme de liberte sur la vente dei
—
et que, pourvu que je ne parle en mes ecrits nt a ni de a.
l'autoritd, ni de culte, ni de la politique, morale, ni gens en place, ni des corps en credit, ni l'Opera, ni des autres spectacles, ni de personne qu tienne k quelque chose, je puis tout iniprime librement, sous l'inspection de deux ou trois ce • seurs. " Mariage de Figaro, acte 5, sc. 3-
ROMANTIC FICTION AND POETRY.
353
in physics,—in short, an ignorance of the true principles of philosophy, often led the scholars of that day in a wrong direction. Even when they took a right one, their attainments, under all these impediments, were necessarily so small as to be scarcely perceptible, when viewed from the brilliant heights to which science has arrived in our own age. Unfortu¬ nately for Spain, its subsequent advancement has been so retarded that a comparison of the fifteenth century with those which succeeded it is by no means so humiliating to the former as in some other countries of Europe ; and it is certain that in general intellectual fermentation no period has surpassed, if it can be said to have rivalled, the age of Isabella.
CHAPTER XX. CASTILIAN LITERATURE.
— ROMANCES OF CHIVALRY.-LYRICAL POETRY.THE DRAMA.
—
This Reign an Epoch in Polite Letters. — Romances of Chivalry. Ballads or Romances.— Moorish Minstrelsy. " Cancionero general."— Its Literary Value. Rise of the Spanish Drama. Criticism on "Celestina." Encina.— Naharro. Low Condition of the Stage.
—
—
—
—
—
National Spirit of the Literature of this Epoch.
—
Ornamental or polite literature, which, emanating from the taste and sensibility of a nation, readily exhibits its various fluctuations of fashion and feeling, was stamped in Spain with the distinguishing characteristics of this revolutionary age. The Provengal, which reached such high per¬ fection in Catalonia, and subsequently in Aragon, as noticed in an introductory chapter,1 expired with the union of this monarchy with Castile, and the dialect ceased altogether to be applied to literary purposes after the Castilian became the language of the court in the united kingdoms. The poetry of Castile, which throughout the present reign continued to breathe the same patriotic spirit and to exhibit the same national peculiarities that had distinguished it from the time of the Cid, submitted soon after Ferdinand's death to the influence of the more polished Tuscan, and henceforth, losing somewhat of its distinctive physiognomy, assumed many of the prevalent features of the Continental literature. Thus the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella becomes an epoch as memorable in literary as in civil history. The most copious vein of fancy, in that day, was turned in the direction of the prose romance of chivalry, now seldom disturbed, even in its own country, except by the antiquary. The circumstances of the age naturally
—
1 Eichhorn, Geschichte der Kultur und Litteratur I 129, 130. See also the conclusion of the Introaer neueren Europa (Gdttingen, 1796-1811!, pp. ) duction, Sec. 2, of this History.
7
CAST!LIAN LITERATURE.
354
led to its production. The romantic Moorish wars,— teeming with adven¬ turous exploit and picturesque incident, carried on with the natural enemies of the Christian knight, and opening moreover all the legendary stores of Oriental fable, the stirring adventures by sea as well as land, above all, the discovery of a world beyond the waters, whose unknown regions gave full scope to the play of the imagination, all contributed to stimulate the appetite for the incredible chimeras, the magnanime menzogne, of chivalry. The publication of " Amadis de Gaula " gave a decided impulse to this popular feeling. This romance, which seems now well ascertained to be the production of a Portuguese in the latter half of the fourteenth century,1 was first printed in a Spanish version, probably not far from 1490.2 Its editor, Garci Ordonez de Montalvo, states in his prologue that " he corrected it from the ancient originals, pruning it of all superfluous phrases, and substituting others of a more polished and elegant style."3 How far its character was benefited by this work of purification may be doubted ; although it is probable it did not suffer so much by such a process as it would have done in a later and more cultivated period. The simple beauties of this fine old romance, its bustling incidents, relieved by the delicate play of Oriental machinery, its general truth of portraiture, above all, the knightly character of the hero, who graced the prowess of chivalry with a courtesy, modesty, and fidelity unrivalled in the creations of romance, soon recommended it to popular favour and imitation. A continuation, bearing the title of " Las Sergas de Esplandian," was given to the world by Montalvo himself, and grafted on the original stock, as the fifth book of the Amadis. before 15 10. A sixth, containing the adventures of his nephew, was printed at Salamanca in the course of the last-mentioned year ; and thus the idle writers of the day
—
1 Nic. Antonio seems unwilling to relinquish the pretensions of his own nation to the authorship of this romance. (See Bibliotheca Nova, torn. ii. p. 394.) Later critics, and among them Lampillas (Ensayo histdrico-apologdtico de la Literatura Espanola, torn, v p. 168), who resigns no more than he is compelled to do, are less disposed to contest the claims of the Portuguese. Mr. Southey has cited two documents, one historical, the other poetical, which seem to place its composition by Lobeira in the latter part of the fourteenth century beyond any reasonable doubt. (See Amadis of Gaul, pref., also Sarmiento, Memorias para la Historia de la Poesia y Poetas Espanoles, Obras posthumas (Madrid, 1775), torn. i. p. 239.) Bouterwek, and after him Sismondi, without adducing any authority, have fixed the era of Lobeira's death at 1325. Dante, who died but four years previous to that date, furnishes a negative argument, at least, against this, since in his notice of some of the best names in chivalry then known, he makes no allusion to Amadis, the best of all. Cf. Inferno cantos v., xxxi., xxxii. ; alsoDe Vulg.iri Eloquentifi!
—
to his edition at Saragossa in 1521, still preserved in the royal library at Madrid, where he alludes to his former publication of it in the time of Ferdinand and Isabella. (Cervantes, Don Quixote, ed. rellicer, Discurso prelim.) — Mr. Dunlop, who has analyzed these romances with a patience that more will be disposed to commend than imitate, has been led into the error of supposing that the first edition of the "Amadis" was printed at Seville, in 1520, from detached fragments appearing in the time ot Ferdinand and Isabella, and subsequently by Mon¬ talvo, at Salamanca, in 1547- See History of Pro5* Fiction, vol. ii. chap. 10. s The following is Montalvo's brief prologue the introduction of the first book : " Aqvi conuemja el primero libro del esforcado et virtuoso cauauer Amadis hijo del rey Perion de Gaula : y delarey Elisena : el qual fue coregido y emendado por M0 honrado y virtuoso cauallero Garciordones decamp 1 talvo, regidor dela noble uillade Medina del et corregiolo delos antiguos originates 9ue.®sta
.
p corruptos, et compuestos en antiguo estilo falta delos diferentes escriptores. Quitando mu ÿ palabras superfiuas : et poniendo otras de The excellent old romance, " Tirante the polido y elegante estilo : tocantes ala cauauer White," Tirant lo Blanch, was printed genti at Valencia in 1490. (See Mendez, Typographia Espanola, actos della, animando los coracones manzebos belicosos que con grandissimo a '• PP- '72-75-) If, as Cervantes asserts, the abrazan el arte dela milicia corporal animan Amadis was the first book of chivalry printed in immortal memoria del arte de caualleria no Spam, it must have been anterior to this date Amadis c.e This is rendered probable by Montalvo's prologue | honestissimo que glorioso." 1 (Venecia, 1533). fo! 1.
cap. 10.
*
ROMANTIC FICTION AND POETRY.
355
continued to propagate dulness through a series of heavy tomes, amount¬ ing in all to four-and-twenty books, until the much-abused public would no longer suffer the name of Amadis to cloak the manifold sins of his posterity.1 Other knights-errant were sent roving about the world at the same time, whose exploits would fill a library ; but fortunately they have been permitted to pass into oblivion, from which a few of their names only have been rescued by the caustic criticism of the curate in Don Quixote ; who, it will be remembered, after declaring that the virtues of the parent shall not avail his posterity, condemns them and their companions, with one or two exceptions only, to the fatal funeral-pile.2 These romances of chivalry must have undoubtedly contributed to nourish those exaggerated sentiments which from a very early period entered into the Spanish character. Their evil influence, in a literary view, resulted less from their improbabilities of situation, which they possessed in common with the inimitable Italian epics, than from the false pictures which they presented of human character, familiarizing the eye of the reader with such models as debauched the taste and rendered him incapable of relishing the chaste and sober productions of art. It is remarkable that the chivalrous romance, which was so copiously cultivated through the greater part of the sixteenth century, should not have assumed the poetic form, as in Italy, and indeed among our Norman ancestors ; and that in its prose dress no name of note appears to raise it to a high degree of literary merit. Perhaps such a result might have been achieved but for the sublime parody of Cervantes, which cut short the whole race of knights-errant, and, by the fine irony which it threw around the mock heroes of chivalry, extinguished them for ever.3 The most popular poetry of this period, that springing from the body of the people, and most intimately addressed to it, is the ballads, or romances, as they are termed in Spain. These, indeed, were familiar to the Peninsula as far back as the twelfth and thirteenth centuries ; but in the present reign they received a fresh impulse from the war with Granada, 1 Nic. Antonio enumerates the
editions of thir¬
teen of this doughty family of knights-errant.
(Bib-
with the same tone of criticism. "Los qualcs," he says, speaking of books of chivalry, " de mas de ser mentirossissimos, son tal mal compuestos, assi por dezir las mentiras tan desvergongadas, como por tener elestilo desbaragado, que no ay buenestomago que lo pueda leer." Apud Mayans y Siscar, Origenes, torn. ii. p. 158.
liotheca Nova, torn. ii. pp. 394, 395-) He dismisses his notice with the reflection, somewhat more charitable than that of Don Quixote's curate, that " he had felt little interest in investigating these fables, yet was willing to admit, with others, that 3 The labours of Bowles, Rios, Arrieta, Pellicer, their reading was not wholly useless." Moratin has collected an appalling catalogue of part of the and Navarrete would seem to have left little to books of chivalry published in Spain at the close of desire in regard to the illustration of Cervantes. the fifteenth and in the following century. The But the commentaries of Clemencin, published since first on the list is the Carcelde Amor, por Diego this chapter was written, in 1833, show how much Hernandez de San Pedro, en Burgos, ano de 1496. yet remained to be supplied. They afford the most copious illustrations, both literary and historical, Obras, torn. i. pp. 93-98. 2 Cervantes, Don Quixote, torn. i. part. 1, cap. of his author, and exhibit that nice taste in verbal 6. The curate's wrath is very emphatically ex¬ criticism which is not always joined with such pressed : " Pues vayan todos al corral, dixo el extensive erudition. Unfortunately, the premature Cura, que a trueco de quemar a la reyna Pinli- death of Clemencin has left the work unfinished ; quiniestra, y al pastor Darinel y a sus eglogas, y but the fragment completed, which reaches to the a las endiabladas y revueltas razones de su autor, close of the First Part, is of sufficient value permanquemara con ellos al padre que me engendro si : ently to associate the name of its author with that andubiera en figura de caballero andante." The j of the greatest genius of his country. author of the " Dialogo de las Lenguas" chimes in j
—
356
CASTILIAN LITERATURE.
and composed, under the name of the Mooris ballads, what may perhaps be regarded, without too high praise, as the most exquisite popular min¬ strelsy of any age or country. The humble narrative lyrics making up the mass of ballad poetry, and forming the natural expression of a simple state of society, would seem to be most abundant in nations endowed with keen sensibilities, and placed in situations of excitement and powerful interest fitted to develop them. The light and lively French have little to boast of in this way.1 The Italians, with a deeper poetic feeling, were too early absorbed in the gross business habits of trade, and their literature received too high a direction from its master spirits at its very commencement to allow any consider¬ able deviation in this track. The countries where it has most thriven are probably Great Britain and Spain. The English and the Scotch, whose constitutionally pensive and even melancholy temperament has been deepened by the sober complexion of the climate, were led to the culti¬ vation of this poetry still further by the stirring scenes of feudal warfare in which they were engaged, especially along the Borders. The Spaniards to similar sources of excitement added that of high religious feeling in their struggles with the Saracens, which gave a somewhat loftier character to their effusions. Fortunately for them, their early annals gave birth, in the Cid, to a hero whose personal renown was identified with that of his country, and round whose name might be concentrated all the scattered lights of song, thus enabling the nation to build up its poetry on the proudest historic recollections.2 The feats of many other heroes, fabulous as well as real, were permitted to swell the stream of traditionary verse; and thus a body of poetical annals, springing up as it were from the depths of the people, was bequeathed from sire to son, contributing, perhaps, more powerfully than any real history could have done, to infuse a common principle of patriotism into the scattered members of the nation. There is considerable resemblance between the early Spanish ballad and the British. The latter affords more situations of pathos and deep tenderness, particularly those of suffering, uncomplaining love, a favourite theme with old English poets of every description.3 We do not find, either, in the ballads of the Peninsula, the wild, romantic adventures of the roving outlaw, of the Robin Hood genus, which enter so largely into English minstrelsy. Ihe former are in general of a more sustained and 1 The fabliaux cannot fairly be considered as These graceful little per¬ formances, the work of professed bards, who had nothing further in view than the of a listless audience, have little claim amusement to be considered as the expression of national feeling or sentiment. The poetry of the south of France, more impassioned and lyrical in its character, wears the stamp not merely of patrician elegance, but refined artifice, which must not be confounded with the natural flow of popular minstrelsy. - How far the achievements claimed for the Campeador are strictly true, is little to the purpose.
an exception to this.
It is enough that they were received as true, through¬
out the Peninsula, as far back as the twelfth, or at 'a'es' the thirteenth, century.
One exception, among others, readily occurs in the pathetic old ballad of the Conde Alarcos, whose woful catastrophe, with the unresisting suffering of the countess, suggests many points of coincidence with the English minstrelsy. The English reader will find a version of it in the " Ancient Poetry and Romances of Spain " from the pen of Mr. Bowrtng, to whom the literary world is so largely indebted for an acquaintance with the popular minstrelsy of
Europe.
ROMANTIC FICTION AND POETRY.
357
chivalrous character, less gloomy, and, although fierce, not so ferocious, nor so decidedly tragical in their aspect, as the latter. The ballads of the Cid, however, have many points in common with the Border poetry ; the same free and cordial manner, the same love of military exploit, relieved by a certain tone of generous gallantry, and accompanied by a strong expression of national feeling. The resemblance between the minstrelsy of the two countries vanishes, however, as we approach the Moorish ballads. The Moorish wars had always afforded abundant themes of interest for the Castilian muse ; but it was not till the fall of the capital that the very fountains of song were broken up, and those beautiful ballads were produced, which seem like the echoes of departed glory lingering round the ruins of Granada. Incom¬ petent as these pieces may be as historical records, they are doubtless sufficiently true to manners.1 They present a most remarkable combin¬ ation of not merely the exterior form, but the noble spirit of European chivalry, with the gorgeousness and effeminate luxury of the East. They are brief, seizing single situations of the highest poetic interest, and strik¬ ing the eye of the reader with a brilliancy of execution so artless in appearance withal as to seem rather the effect of accident than study. We are transported to the gay seat of Moorish power, and witness the animating bustle, its pomp and its revelry, prolonged to the last hour of its existence. The bull-fight of the Vivarrambla, the graceful tilt of reeds, the amorous knights with their quaint significant devices, the dark Zegris or Gomeres, and the royal, self-devoted Abencerrages, the Moorish maiden radiant at the tourney, the moonlight serenade, the stolen interview, where the lover gives vent to all the intoxication of passion in the burning lan¬ guage of Arabian metaphor and hyperbole,2—these, and a thousand similar scenes, are brought before the eye, by a succession of rapid and animated touches, like the lights and shadows of a landscape. The light trochaic structure of the redondilla,3 as the Spanish ballad measure is called, rolling 1 Ihave already noticed the insufficiency of the
romances for authentic history, in Part I. chap. 8, p. 102, note 2. My conclusions there have been con¬
firmed by Mr. Irving (whose researches have led him in a similar direction) in his "Alhambra," published nearly a year after the above note was written. The great source of the popular miscon¬ ceptions respecting the domestic history of Granaca is Gines Perez de Hita, whose work under the title of " Historia de los Vandos de los Zegries y Aben¬ cerrages, Cavalleros Moros de Granada, y las Ouerras civiles que huvo en ella," was published at Alcala in 1604. This romance, written in prose, embodied many of the old Moorish ballads, whose singular beauty, combined with the romantic and picturesque character of the work itself, soon made it extremely popular, until at length it seems to have acquired a degree of the historical credit claimed for it by its author as a translation from an Arabic chronicle ; a credit which has stood it in good stead with the tribe of travel-mongers and raconteurs, persons always of easy faith, who have propagated its fables far and wide. Their credulity, however, may be pardoned in what has imposed on the per¬ spicacity of so cautious an historian as Miiller. Allgemeine Geschichte (1817), Band ii. S. 504.
4 Thus, in one of these romances we have a Moorish lady " shedding drops of liquid silver, and scattering her hair of Arabian gold," over the corpse of her murdered husband 1 Sobre el cuerpo de Albencayde " Destila liquida plata, Y convertida en cabellos Esparce el oro de Arabia. " Can anything be more Oriental than this imagery ? In another we have an " hour of years of impatient hopes ;" a passionate sally, that can scarcely be outmatched by Scriblerus. This taint of exaggera¬ tion, however, far from being peculiar to the popular minstrelsy, has found its way, probably through this channel in part, into most of the poetry of the Peninsula. 3 The redondilla may be considered as the basis cf Spanish versification. It is of great antiquity, and compositions in it are still extant as old as the time of the infante Don Manuel, at the close of the thirteenth century. (See Cancionero general, fol. 207.) The redondilla admits of great variety ; but in the romances it is most frequently found to consist of eight syllables, the last foot, and some or ail of the preceding, as the case may be, being trochees.
35g
CASTILIAN LITERATURE.
on its graceful, negligent asonante,x whose continued repetition seems by its monotonous melody to prolong the note of feeling originally struck, is admirably suited by its flexibility to the most varied and opposite expres¬
sion ; a circumstance which has recommended it as the ordinary measure of dramatic dialogue. Nothing can be more agreeable than the general effect of the Moorish ballads, which combine the elegance of a riper period of literature with the natural sweetness and simplicity, savouring sometimes even of the rudeness, of a primitive age. Their merits have raised them to a sort of classical dignity in Spain, and have led to their cultivation by a higher order of writers, and down to a far later period, than in any other country in Europe. The most successful specimens of this imitation may be assigned to the early part of the seventeenth century ; but the age was too late to enable the artist, with all his skill, to seize the true colouring of the antique. It is impossible, at this period, to ascertain the authors of these venerable lyrics, nor can the exact time of their production be now deter¬ mined ; although, as their subjects are chiefly taken from the last days of the Spanish Arabian empire, the larger part of them was probably posterior, but, as they were printed in collections at the beginning of the sixteenth century, could not have been long posterior, to the capture of Granada. How far they may be referred to the conquered Moors, is uncertain. Many of these wrote and spoke the Castilian with elegance, and there is nothing improbable in the supposition that they should seek some solace under present evils in the splendid visions of the past. The bulk of this poetry, however, was in all probability the creation of the Spaniards themselves, naturally attracted by the picturesque circumstances in the character and condition of the conquered nation to invest them with poetic interest. (Rengifo, Arte poetica Espanola (Barcelona, 1727), ' Spanish Arabs ; whose superior cultivation naturally cap. 9, 44.) Critics have derived this delightful affected the unformed literature of their neighbour, measure from various sources. Sarmiento traces it and through no channel more obviously than its to the hexameter of the ancient Romans, which popular minstrelsy. 1 The asonante is a rhyme made by uniformity of may be bisected into something analogous to the redondillas. (Memorias, pp. 168-171.) Bouterwek the vowels, without reference to the consonants 'y thinks it may have been suggested by the songs the regular rhyme, which obtains in other European of the Roman soldiery. (Geschichte der Poesie literatures, is distinguished in Spain by the term und Beredsamkeit, Band iii., Einleitung, S. 20.) consonante. Thus tire four following words, taken Velazquez borrows it from the rhyming hexameters at random from a Spanish ballad, are consecutive of the Spanish Latin poets, of which he gives speci¬ asonantes : regozijo, ficllico, luzido, antarillo. In mens of the beginning of the fourteenth century. this example, the two last syllables have the asson¬ (Poesia Castellana, pp. 77, 78.) Later critics refer ance : although this is not invariable, it sometimes its derivation to the Arabic. Conde has given a lading on the antepenultima and the final syllable. translation of certain Spanish Arabian poems in (See Rengifo, Arte poetica Espanola, pp. 214, 215, the measure of the original, from which it is evident 218.) There is a wild, artless melody in the that the hemistich of an Arabic verse corresponds asonan/e, and a graceful movement, coming someperfectly with the redondilla. (See his Domination I where, as it does, betwixt regular rhyme and blank de los Arabes, passim.) The same author, in a verse, which would make its introduction verytreatise, which he never published, on the poesia desirable, but vety feasible, in our own language. oriental," shows more precisely the intimate"affinity An attempt ofnot the kind has been made by A cleversubsisting between the metrical form of the Arabian writer in the Retrospective Review. (Vol. iv. art. and the old Castilian verse. The reader will find 2.) If it has failed, it is from the impediments pre¬ an analysis of his manuscript in Part I. chap. 8, p sented by the language, which has not nearly the 199, note 4, of this History. This theory is rendered same number of vowel terminations, nor of slmP'e the more plausible by the influence which the Arabic double has exercised on Castilian versification in other re¬ uniform vowel sounds, as the Spanish; the termination, however fuil of grace and beauty in spects, as in the prolonged repetition of the rhyme effect o. for example, which is wholly borrowed from the' the Castilian, assumes, perhaps from the association, rather a doggerel air in the English.
ROMANTIC FICTION AND POETRY.
359
The Moorish romances fortunately appeared after the introduction of print¬ ing into the Peninsula, so that they were secured a permanent existence, instead of perishing with the breath that made them, like so many of their predecessors. This misfortune, which attaches to so much of popular poetry in all nations, is not imputable to any insensibility in the Spaniards to the excellence of their own. Men of more erudition than taste may have held them light, in comparison with more ostentatious and learned productions. This fate has befallen them in other countries than Spain.1 But persons of finer poetic feeling and more enlarged spirit of criticism have estimated them as a most essential and characteristic portion of Castilian literature. Such was the judgment of the great Lope de Vega, who, after expatiating on the extraordinary compass and sweetness of the romance, and its adaptation to the highest subjects, commends it as worthy of all estimation for its peculiar national character.2 The modern Spanish writers have adopted a similar tone of criticism, insisting on its study as essential to a correct appreciation and comprehension of the genius of the language.3 The Castilian ballads were first printed in the " Cancionero general " of Fernando del Castillo, in 15 11. They were first incorporated into a separate work, by Sepulveda, under the name of " Romances sacados de Historias antiguas," printed at Antwerp, in 155 i.4 Since that period they have passed into repeated editions at home and abroad, especially in Germany, where they have been illustrated by able critics.5 Ignorance of their authors and of the era of their production has prevented any attempt at exact chronological arrangement ; a circumstance rendered, moreover, 1 This may be still further inferred from the tenor of a humorous, satirical old romance, in which the writer implores the justice of Apollo on the heads of the swarm of traitor poets who have deserted the ancient themes of song, the Cids, the Laras, the Gonzalez, to celebrate the Ganzuls and Abderrahmans and the fantastical fables of the Moors ; " Tanta Zayda y Adalifa,
tanta Draguta y Daraxa, tanto Azarque y tanto Adulce, tanto Gazul, y Abenamar, tanto alquizer y marlota, tanto almayzar, y almalafa,
tantas emprisas y plumas, tantas cifras y medallas, tanta roperia Mora.
Y en vanderillas y adargas,
tanto mote, y tantas motas
muera yo sino me cansan.
Los Alfonsos, los Henricos, los Sanchos, y los de Lara, que es dellos, y que es del Cid tanto olvido en glorias tantas? ninguna pluma las buela, ninguna Musa las canta? Justicia, Apollo, justicia, vengadores rayos langa contra Poetas Moriscos." Dr. Johnson's opinions are well known in regard to this department of English literature, which, by his ridiculous parodies, he succeeded for a time in throwing into the shade, or, in the language of his
admiring biographer, made " perfectly contempt¬ ible." Petrarch, with like pedantry, rested his hopes of fame on his Latin epic, and gave away his lyrics as alms to baliad-singers. Posterity, deciding on surer principles of taste, has reversed both these decisions. 2 " Algunos quieren que sean la cartilia de los Poetas ; yo no lo siento assi ; antes bien los hallo capaces, no solo de exprimir y declarar qualquier concepto con facil dulzura, pero de prosequir toda grave accion de numeroso Poema. Y soy tan de veras Espanol, queporseren nuestro idioma natural este genero, no me puedo persuadir que no sea digno de toda estimacion." (Coleccion de Obras sueltas (Madrid, 1776-9), torn. iv. p. 176. Prdlogo.) In another place, he finely styles them " Iliads without a Homer." 3 See, among others, the encomiastic and ani¬ mated criticism of Fernandez and Quintana. Fer¬ nandez, Poesias escogidas de nuestros Cancioneros y Romanceros antiguos (Madrid, 1796), torn, xvi., Prdlogo.—Quintana, Poesias selectas Castellanas, Introd., art. 4. 4 Nic. Antonio, Bibliotheca Nova, torn. ii. p. 10. The Spanish translators of Bouterwek have noticed the principal "collections and earliest editions" of the Romances. This original edition of Sepulveda has escaped their notice. See Literatura Espanola,
—
pp. 217, 218.
5 See Grimm, Depping, Herder, etc.
This last
poet has given a selection of the Cid ballads, chrono¬
logically arranged, and translated with eminent simplicity and spirit, if not with the scrupulous fidelity usually aimed at by the Germans. See his Sammtliche Werke (Wien, 1813), Band iii.
36o
CAST1L1AN LITERA TURE.
nearly impossible by the perpetual modification which the original style of the more ancient ballads has experienced in their transition through successive generations ; so that, with one or two exceptions, no earlier date should probably be assigned to the oldest of them, in their present form, than the fifteenth century.1 Another system of classification has been adopted, of distributing them according to their subjects; and independent collections also of the separate departments, as ballads of the Cid, of the Twelve Peers, the Morisco ballads, and the like, have been repeatedly published, both at home and abroad.2 The higher and educated classes of the nation were not insensible to the poetic spirit which drew forth such excellent minstrelsy from the body of the people. Indeed, Castilian poetry bore the same patrician stamp through the whole of the present reign which had been impressed on it in its infancy. Fortunately, the new art of printing was employed here, as in the case of the romances, to arrest those fugitive sallies of imagination which in other countries were permitted, from want of this care, to pass into oblivion ; and cancioneros, or collections of lyrics, were published, embodying the productions of this reign and that of John the Second, thus bringing under one view the poetic culture of the fifteenth century. The earliest cancionero printed was at Saragossa, in 1492. It compre¬ hended the works of Mena, Manrique, and six or seven other bards of less note.3 A far more copious collection was made by Fernando del Castillo, and first published at Valencia, in 15 n, under the title of "Cancionero general," since which period it has passed into repeated editions. This compilation is certainly more creditable to Castillo's industry than to his discrimination or power of arrangement. Indeed, in this latter respect it is so defective that it would almost seem to have been put together 1 Sarmiento, Memorias, pp. 242, 243. — Moratin easily be seen by reference to other compilations. considers that none have come down to us, in their When to this is added the consideration of the large original costume, of an earlier date than John II.'s number which insensibly glided into oblivionwithout reign, the first half of the fifteenth century. (Obras, ever coming to the press, one may form a notion of torn. i. p. 84.) The Spanish translators of Bouter- the immense mass of these humble lyrics which wek transcribe a romance, relating to the Cid, from floated among the common people of Spain ; and the fathers Berganza and Merino, purporting to we shall be the less disposed to wonder at the proud exhibit the primitive, uncorrupted diction of the and chivalrous bearing that marks even the peasantry thirteenth century. Native critics are of course the of a nation which seems to breathe the very air of only ones competent to questions of this sort ; but romantic song. 3 The title of this work was to the less experienced eye of a foreigner the style Coplas de \ita of this ballad would seem to resemble much less Christi, de la Cena con la Pasion,"y de la Veronica that genuine specimen of the versification of the pre¬ con la Resurreccion de nuestro Redemtor. E las ceding age, the poem of the Cid, than the composi¬ siete Angustias e siete Gozos de nuestra Senora, tions of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. con otras obras mucho provechosas." It concludes '2 The principle of philosophical arrangement, if with the following notice : " Fue la presente °hra it may be so called, is pursued still further in the emprentada en la insigne — Ciudad de Zaragoza de latest Spanish publications of the romances, where Aragon por industria e expensas de Paulo Hums de the Moorish minstrelsy is embodied in a separate Constancia aleman. A 27 dias de Noviembre volume and distributed with reference to its topics. M92-" (Mendez, Typographia Espanola, pp. '34i This system is the more practicable with this class 136.) It appears there were two or three other can¬ of ballads, since it far exceeds in number any other. cioneros none of which, however, were See Duran, Romancero de Romances Moriscos*. admitted compiled, to of the press. (Bouterwek, The Romancero Ihave used is the ancient edition Literatura the honours Espanola, nota.) The learned Castro, of Medina del Campo, 1602. It is divided into nine some fifty years an analysis witn published since, parts, though it is not easy to see on what principle copious extracts from one of these, made by llaena, since productions differing widely in date and tenor the a copy of which physician II., of Jewish John are brought into juxtaposition. The collection con¬ existed in the royal library of the Escurial. Bibltotains nearly a thousand ballads, which, however theca Espanola, etseq. torn. i. p. 265 fall far short of the entire number
preserved, as may
ROMANTIC FICTION AND POETR Y
361
fortuitously, as the pieces came to hand. A large portion of the authors appear to have been persons of rank ; a circumstance to which perhaps they were indebted, more than to any poetic merit, for a place in the miscellany, which might have been decidedly increased in value by being diminished in bulk.1 The works of devotion with which the collection opens are on the whole the feeblest portion of it. We discern none of the inspiration and lyric glow which were to have been anticipated from the devout enthusi¬ astic Spaniard. We meet with anagrams on the Virgin, glosses on the creed, and pater noster, canciones on original sin and the like unpro¬ mising topics, all discussed in the most bald, prosaic manner, with abund¬ ance of Latin phrase, scriptural allusion, and commonplace precept, unen¬ livened by a single spark of true poetic fire, and presenting altogether a farrago of the most fantastic pedantry. The lighter, especially the amatory poems, are much more successfully executed, and the primitive forms of the old Castilian versification are developed with considerable variety and beauty. Among the most agree¬ able effusions in this way may be noticed those of Diego Lopez de Haro, who, to borrow the encomium of a contemporary, was " the mirror of gallantry for the young cavaliers of the time." There are few verses in the collection composed with more facility and grace.2 Among the more elaborate pieces, Diego de San Pedro's " Desprecio de la Fortuna " may be distinguished, not so much for any poetic talent which it exhibits, as for its mercurial and somewhat sarcastic tone of sentiment.8 The simi¬ larity of subject may suggest a parallel between it and the Italian poet Guidi's celebrated ode on Fortune ; and the different styles of execution may perhaps be taken as indicating pretty fairly the distinctive peculiarities of the Tuscan and the old Spanish school of poetry. The Italian, intro¬ ducing the fickle goddess in person on the scene, describes her triumphant march over the ruins of empires and dynasties, from the earliest time, in a flow of lofty dithyrambic eloquence, adorned with all the brilliant colour¬ ing of a stimulated fancy and a highly-finished language. The Castilian, on the other hand, instead of the splendid personification, deepens his verse into a moral tone, and, dwelling on the vicissitudes and vanities of human life, points his reflections with some caustic warning, often con¬ veyed with enchanting simplicity, but without the least approach to lyric exaltation, or indeed the affectation of it. This proneness to moralise the song is in truth a characteristic of the Cancionero general, pp. 83-89.— Oviedo, Quin—Moratinhas given cuagenas, MS.
1 Cancionero general, passim.
a list of the men of rank who contributed to this miscellany ; it contains the names of the highest nobility of Spain. (Orig. del Teatro Espanol, Obras, torn. i. pp. 85, 86.) Castillo's Cancionero passed through several editions, the latest of which appeared in 1573. See a catalogue, not entirely complete, of the different Spanish Cancioneros in
Boutervvek, Literatura Espahola, trad., p. 217.
2
— Some meagre information respecting this person is given by Nic Antonio, whose biographical notices may be oftens charged with deficiency in chronological data : u. circumstance perhaps unavoidable from the obscuri; y of their subjects. Bibliotheca Vetus, torn. ii. lib3 Cancionero general, pp. 158-161.
10, cap. 6.
I
362
CASTILJAN LITERA TURE.
old Spanish bard. He rarely abandons himself without reserve to thefrolic puerilities so common with the sister Muse of Italy,
" Scritta cosi come la penna getta,
Per fuggir 1' ozio, e non per cercar gloria."
It is true, he is occasionally betrayed by verbal subtilties and other affectations of the age ;1 but even his liveliest sallies are apt to be seasoned with a moral or sharpened by a satiric sentiment. His defects, indeed, are of the kind most opposed to those of the Italian poet, showing them¬ selves, especially in the more elaborate pieces, in a certain tumid stateliness and overstrained energy of diction. On the whole, one cannot survey the " Cancionero general " without some disappointment at the little progress of the poetic art since the reign of John the Second, at the beginning of the century. The best pieces in the collection are of that date, and no rival subsequently arose to compete with the masculine strength of Mena or the delicacy and fascinating graces of Santillana. One cause of this tardy progress may have been the direction to utility manifested in this active reign, which led such as had leisure for intellectual pursuits to cultivate science, rather than abandon themselves to the mere revels of the imagination. Another cause may be found in the rudeness of the language, whose. delicate finish is so essential to the purposes of the poet, but which was so imperfect at this period that Juan de la Encina, a popular writer of the. time, complained that he was obliged, in his version of Virgil's Eclogues, to coin, as it were, a new vocabulary, from the want of terms correspond¬ ing with the original in the old one.2 It was not until the close of the. present reign, when the nation began to breathe awhile from its tumultuouscareer, that the fruits of the patient cultivation which it had been steadil) though silently experiencing began to manifest themselves in the improved condition of the language and its adaptation to the highest poetical uses. The intercourse with Italy, moreover, by naturalizing new and more finished forms of versification, afforded a scope for the nobler efforts oi the poet, to which the old Castilian measures, however well suited to the wild and artless movements of the popular minstrelsy, were altogethe: inadequate. We must not dismiss the miscellaneous poetry of this period without some notice of the " Coplas " of Don Jorge Manrique,3 on the death of 1 There are probably more direct puns in Petrarch's lyrics alone than in all the Cancionero general. There is another kind of niaiser/e, however, to which the Spanish poets were much addicted, being the transposition of the word in every variety of tense and combination ; as, for example,
addled tr.2
Cervantes calls them— that Don Quixote. Tom. i. — brrnns - Velazquez, Poesia Castellana, — More than half learned Ambrosio later,
vuestros olvidos "Acordad Y olvida vuestros
acuerdos
razotus, as
cap. x. p. iz.
of poor
a century
the
Morales complained of the barrenness of the Cas¬ tilian, which he imputed to the too exclusive adop¬ tion of the Latin upon all subjects of dignity and importance. Obras, torn. xiv. pp. 147, 148, L. Marineo, speaking of this accomplished nobleman, styles him " virum satis illustrem. itu.Ji enim poetam et philosophum natura formavu a. peperit. " He unfortunately fell in a skirmish, five:
Porque tales desacuerdos Acuerden vuestros sentidos," etc. Cancionero general, fol. 326. It was such subtilties as these e Y5.ars after his father's death, in 1479- Mariana. ntricades Hisit de Espaoa. torn. ii. p. 531.
—
ROMANTIC FICTION AND POETRY.
363:
his father, the count of Paredes, in 1474. 1 The elegy is of considerable length, and is sustained throughout in a tone of the highest morsi dignity ; while the poet leads us up from the transitory objects of th# lower world to the contemplation of that imperishable existence which Christianity has opened beyond the grave. A tenderness pervades the piece, which may remind us of the best manner of Petrarch ; while, with the exception of a slight taint of pedantry, it is exempt from the meretri¬ cious vices that belong to the poetry of the age. The effect of the senti¬ ment is heightened by the simple turns and broken melody of the old Castilian verse, of which perhaps this may be accounted the most finished specimen ; such would seem to be the judgment of his own countrymen,2 whose glosses and commentaries on it have swelled into a separate volume.3 Ishall close this survey with a brief notice of the drama, whose founda¬ tions may be said to have been laid during this reign. The sacred plays, or mysteries, so popular throughout Europe in the Middle Ages, may be traced in Spain to an ancient date. Their familiar performance in the churches, by the clergy, is recognised in the middle of the thirteenth century, by a law of Alfonso the Tenth, which, while it interdicted certain profane mummeries that had come into vogue, prescribed the legitimate topics for exhibition.4 The transition from these rude spectacles to more regular dramatic efforts was very slow and gradual. In 1414, an allegorical comedy, composed by the celebrated Henry, marquis of Villena, was performed at Saragossa, in the presence of the court.5 In 1469, a dramatic eclogue, by an anonymous author, was exhibited in the palace of the count of Urena, in the presence of Ferdinand, on his coming into Castile to espouse the infanta Isabella.6 These pieces may be regarded as the earliest theatrical 1 An elaborate character of this Quixotic old the Partidas above cited, published by the council of cavalier may be found in Pulgar, Claros Varones, Aranda in 1473. (Apud Moratin, Obras, torn. i. p. 87.) Moratin considers it certain that the repre¬ tit. 13. 2 " Don Jorge Manrique," says Lope de Vega, sentation of the mysteries existed in Spain as far " cuyas coplas Castellanas admiren los ingenios back as the eleventh century. The principal estrangeros y merecen estar escritas con letras de grounds for this conjecture appear to be the fact oro." Obras sueltas, torn, xii., Prdlogo. that such notorious abuses had crept into practice 8 Coplas de Don Jorge Manrique, ed. Madrid, by the middle of the thirteenth century as to require 1779. Dialogo de las Lenguas, apud Mayans y the intervention of the law. (Ibid. pp. 11, 13.) Siscar, Origenes, torn. ii. p. 149.— Manrique's The circumstance would seem compatible with a Coplas have also been the subject of a separate much more recent origin. a Cervantes, Comedias y Entremeses (Madrid, publication in the United States. Professor Long¬ fellow's version, accompanying it, is well calculated 1749), torn, i., prdlogo de Nasarre. — Velazquez, to give the English reader a correct notion of the Poesia Castellana, p. 86. —The fifth volume of the Castilian bard, and, of course, a very exaggerated Memoirs of the Spanish Royal Academy of History one of the literary culture of the age. contains a dissertation on the "national diversions," 4 After proscribing certain profane mummeries, by Don Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos, replete with the law confines the clergy to the representation of curious erudition, and exhibiting the discriminating such subjects as " the birth of our Saviour, in taste to have been expected from its accomplished which is shown how the angels appeared announc¬ author. Among these antiquarian researches the ing His nativity ; also His advent, and the coming writer has included a brief view of the first theatrical of the three Magi kings to worship Him ; and His attempts in Spain. See Mem. de la Acad, de Hist., resurrection, showing His crucifixion and ascension torn. v. Mem. 6. 6 Moratin, Obras, torn. i. p. on the third day ; and other such things leading 115.— Nasarre men to do well and live constant in the faith. ' (Cervantes, Comedias, pr<5h), Jovellanos (Mem. de (Siete Partidas, tit. 6, ley 34.) It is worth noting, la Acad, de Hist., torn. v. Memor. 6), Pellicer that similar abuses continued common among the (Origen y Progreso de la Comedia (1804), torn. i. p. ecclesiastics down to Isabella's reign, as may be 12), and others, refer the authorship of this littleinferred from a decree, very similar to the law of piece, without hesitation, to Juan de la Encinaÿ
—
364
CASTILIAN LITERATURE.
attempts, after the religious dramas and popular pantomimes already noticed but unfortunately they have not come down to us. The next production deserving attention is a " Dialogue between Love and an Old Man," imputed to Rodrigo Cota, a poet of whose history nothing seems
to be known and little conjectured, but that he flourished during the reigns of John the Second and Henry the Fourth. The dialogue is written with much vivacity and grace, and with as much dramatic movement as is compatible with only two interlocutors.1 A much more memorable production is referred to the same author, the tragicomedy of " Celestina," or " Calisto and Melibea," as it is frequently called. The first act, indeed, constituting nearly one-third of the piece, is all that is ascribed to Cota. The remaining twenty acts, which, however, should rather be denominated scenes, were written by another hand, some — though, to judge from the internal evidence afforded by the style, not many— years later. The second author was Fernando de Roxas, bachelor of law, as he informs us, who composed this work, as a sort of intellectual relaxation, during one of his vacations. The time was certainly not misspent The continuation, however, is not esteemed by the Castilian critics as having risen quite to the level of the original act.2 The story turns on a love-intrigue. A Spanish youth of rank is enamoured of a lady, whose affections he gains with some difficulty, but whom he finally seduces, through the arts of an accomplished courtesan, whom the author has introduced under the romantic name of Celestina. The piece, although comic, or rather sentimental, in its progress, ter¬ minates in the most tragical catastrophe, in which all the principal actors are involved. The general texture of the plot is exceedingly clumsy, yet it affords many situations of deep and varied interest in its progress. The principal characters are delineated in the piece with considerable skill. although the year of its representation corresponds respecting the authorship of the first act of the precisely with that cf his birth. The prevalence of "Celestina." Some impute it to Juan de Mena; so gross a blunder among the Spanish scholars others with more probability to Rodrigo Cota el shows how little the antiquities of their theatre were Tio of Toledo, a person who, although literally studied before the time of Moratin. nothing is known of him, has in some way or other 1 This little piece has been published at length obtained the credit of the authorship of some of by Moratin, in the first volume of his works. (See the most popular effusions of the fifteenth century > Origenes del Teatro Espanol, Obras, torn. i. pp. such, for example, as the Dialogue above cited of 303-314.) The celebrated marquis of Santillana's i "Love and an Old Man." the Coplas of "Mingo poetical dialogue, " Comedieta da Ponza," has no Revulga," and this first act of the " Celestina. pretensions to rank as a dramatic composition, not- j The principal foundation of these imputations would withstanding its title, which is indeed as little appear to be the bare assertion of an editor of the significant of its real character as the term "Com- 44 Dialogue between Love and an Old Man, which -r.edia " is of Dante's epic. It is a discourse on the appeared at Medina del Campo in 1569, nearly a vicissitudes of human life, suggested by a sea-fight century, probably, after Cota's death ; another near Ponza in 1435. It is conducted without any example of the obscurity which involves the history attempt at dramatic action or character, or, indeed, of the early Spanish drama. Many of the Castilian dramatic development of any sort. The same critics detect a flavour of antiquity in the first act remarks may be made of the political satire, 4 4 Mingo which should carry back its composition as far: as Revulgo," which appeared in Henry IV.'s reign. John II.'s reign. Moratin does not discern this, Dialogue was selected by these authors as a more however, and is inclined to refer its production to popular and spirited medium than direct narrative a date not much if at all more distant than Isabella s for conveying their sentiments. The 44 Comedieta time. To the unpractised eye of a foreigner, as tar da Ponza " has never appeared in print ; the copy as style is concerned, the whole work might wen which Ihave used is a transcript from the one in seem the production of the same period. Moratin, the Royal Library at Madrid, and belongs to Mr. Obras, torn. i. pp. 88, 115, 116.— Diilogo de las George Ticknor. p' I.enguas, apud y Siscar, Origenes, P>ÿMayans - Tragicomedia de Calisto y Melibea (AlcaH 165-167. Nic. Antonio, Bibliolheca Nova, torn1586), Introd.—Nothing is positively ascertained p. 263.
—
ROMANTIC FICTION AND POETRY.
365
The part of Celestina, in particular, in which a veii of plausible hypocrisy is thrown over the deepest profligacy of conduct, is managed with much address. The subordinate parts are brought into brisk comic action, with natural dialogue, though somewhat obscene ; and an interest of a graver complexion is raised by the passion of the lovers, the timid, confiding tenderness of the lady, and the sorrows of the brokep-hearted parent. The execution of the play reminds us, on the whole, less of the Spanish than of the old English theatre, in many of its defects as well as beauties ; in the contrasted strength and imbecility of various passages ; in its inter¬ mixture of broad farce and deep tragedy; in the unseasonable introduction of frigid metaphor and pedantic allusion in the midst of the most passionate discourses ; in the unveiled voluptuousness of its colouring, occasionally too gross for any public exhibition ; but, above all, in the general strength and fidelity of its portraiture. The tragicomedy, as it is styled, of " Celestina," was obviously never intended for representation, to which not merely the grossness of some of the details, but the length and arrangement of the piece, rendered it unsuitable. But, notwithstanding this, and its approximation to the character of a romance, it must be admitted to contain within itself the essential elements of dramatic composition ; and, as such, it is extolled by the Spanish critics as opening the theatrical career of Europe. A similar claim has been maintained for productions nearly contemporaneous in other countries, and especially for Politian's " Orfeo," which there is little doubt was publicly acted before 1483. Notwithstanding its repre¬ sentation, however, the " Orfeo," presenting a combination of the eclogue and the ode, without any proper theatrical movement, or attempt at development of character, cannot fairly come within the limits of dramatic writing. A more ancient example than either, at least as far as the exterior forms are concerned, may be probably found in the celebrated French farce of "Pierre Pathelin," printed as early as 1474, having been repeatedly played during the preceding century, which, with the requisite modifications, still keeps possession of the stage. The pre¬ tensions of this piece, however, as a work of art, are comparatively humble ; and it seems fair to admit that in the higher and more important elements of dramatic composition, and especially in the delicate and at the same time powerful delineation of character and passion, the Spanish critics may be justified in regarding the "Celestina" as having led the way in modern Europe.1 1 Such is the high encomium of the Abate Andres (Letteratura, torn. v. part. 2, lib. 1.)—Cervantes and the does not hesitate to call it "libro divino acute author of the " Diilogo de las Lenguas " concludes a criticism upon it with the remark that " there is no book in the Castilian which surpasses it in the propriety and elegance of its diction." (Don Quixote, ed. de Pellicer, torn. i. p. 239.— Mayans y Siscar, torn. ii. p. 167.)-—Its merits indeed seem in some degree to have disarmed even
the severity of foreign critics ; and Signorelli, after standing up stoutly in defence of the precedence of the " Orfeo '' as a dramatic composition, admits the " Celestina" to be a " work rich in various beauties, and meriting undoubted applause. In fact," he continues, "the vivacity of the description of character, and faithful portraiture of manners, nave made it immortal." Storia critica de' Teatri antichi e inoderni (Napoli, 1813), torn. vi. pp. 146. 147-
366
CASTILIAN LITERA TURE.
Without deciding on its proper classification as a work of art, however, its real merits are settled by its wide popularity both at home and abroad. It has been translated into most of the European languages, and the preface to the last edition published in Madrid, so recently as 1822, enumerates thirty editions of it in Spain alone in the course of the six¬ teenth century. Impressions were multiplied in Italy, at the very time when it was interdicted at home on the score of its immoral tendency. A popularity thus extending through distant ages and nations shows how faithfully it is built on the principles of human nature.1 The drama assumed the pastoral form, in its early stages, in Spain, as in Italy. The oldest specimens in this way which have come down to us are the productions of Juan de la Encina, a contemporary of Roxas. He was born in 1469, and, after completing his education at Salamanca, was received into the family of the duke of Alva. He continued there several years, employed in the composition of various poetical works ; among others, a version of Virgil's Eclogues, which he so altered as to accommodate them to the principal events in the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella. He visited Italy in the beginning of the following century, and was attracted by the munificent patronage of Leo the Tenth to fix his residence at the papal court. While there, he continued his literary labours. He embraced the ecclesiastical profession ; and his skill in music recommended him to the office of principal director of the pontifical chapel. He was subsequently presented with the priory of Leon, and returned to Spain, where he died in 1534.2 Encina's works first appeared at Salamanca, in 1496, collected into one wolume folio.3 Besides other poetry, they comprehend a number of dramatic eclogues, sacred and profane : the former suggested by topics drawn from Scripture, like the ancient mysteries ; the latter chiefly amatory. They were performed in the palace of his patron, the duke of Alva, in the presence of Prince John, the duke of Infantado, and other eminent persons of the court; and the poet himself occasionally assisted at the representation.4 1 Bouterwek, Literatura Espanola, notas de traductores, p. 234. —Andres, Letteratura, torn. v. pp. 170, 171.—Lampillas, Letteratura Spagnuola, torn. vi. pp. 57-59. " Rojas, Viage entretenido (1614), fol. 46.— Nic. Antonio, Bibliotheca Nova, torn. i. p. 684. Moratin, Obras, torn. i. pp. 126, 127.— Pellicer Origen de la Comedia, torn. 1. pp. u, 12. 3 They were published under the title " Cancionero de todas las Obras de Juan de la Encina con otras anadidas." (Mendez, Typographia Espa¬ nola, p. 247.) Subsequent impressions of his works, more or less complete, appeared at Salamanca in 1509, and at Saragossa in 1512 and 1516.—Moratin, Obras, torn. i. p. 127, nota. 4 The comedian Rojas, who flourished in the beginning of the following century, and whose ' Viage entretenido" is so essential to the know¬ ledge of the early histrionic art in Spain, identifies the appearance of Encina's Eclogues with the dawn of the Castilian drama. His verses mav y be
_
worth quoting :
Que es en nuestra madre Espana, " porque en la dichosa era,
que aquellos gloriosos Reyes
dignos de memoria eterna Don Fernando e Ysabel (que ya con los santos reynan) de echar de Espana acabavan todos los Moriscos, que eran De aquel Reyno de Granada, y entonces se dava en ella principio a la Inquisicion, se le dio a nuestra comedia. Juan de la Encina el primero, aquel insigne poeta, que tanto bien empezo de quien tenemos tres egloga* Que el mismo represento al Almirante y Duquessa de Castilla, y de Infantado que estas fueron las primerai Y para mas honra suya, y de la comedia nuestra,
ROMANTIC FICTION AND POETRY.
367
Encina's eclogues are simple compositions, with little pretence to dramatic artifice. The story is too meagre to admit of much ingenuity or contrivance, or to excite any depth of interest. There are few interlo¬ cutors, seldom more than three or four, although on one occasion rising to as many as seven ; of course there is little scope for theatrical action. The characters are of the humble class belonging to pastoral life, and the dialogue, which is extremely appropriate, is conducted with facility ; but the rustic condition of the speakers precludes anything like literary elegance or finish, in which respect they are doubtless surpassed by some of his more ambitious compositions. There is a comic air imparted to them, however, and a lively colloquial turn which renders them very agreeable. Still, whatever be their merit as pastorals, they are entitled to little consideration as specimens of dramatic art, and in the vital spirit of dramatic composition must be regarded as far inferior to the " Celestina." The simplicity of these productions, and the facility of their exhibition, which required little theatrical decoration or costume, recommended them to popular imitation, which continued long after the regular forms of the drama were introduced into Spain.1 The credit of this introduction belongs to Bartolom£ Torres de Naharro, often confounded by the Castilian writers themselves with a player of the same name who flourished half a century later.2 Few particulars have been ascertained of his personal history. He was born at Torre, in the province of Estremadura. In the early part of his life he fell into the hands of the Algerines, and was finally released from captivity by the exertions of certain benevolent Italians, who generously paid his He then established his residence in Italy, at the court of ransom. Leo the Tenth. Under the genial influence of that patronage which quickened so many of the seeds of genius to production in every depart¬ ment, he composed his " Propaladia," a work embracing a variety of lyrical and dramatic poetry, first published at Rome in 15 17. Unfor¬ tunately, the caustic satire levelled in some of the higher pieces of this collection at the license of the pontifical court brought such obloquy on the head of the author as compelled him to take refuge in Naples, where he remained under the protection of the noble family of Colonna. No further particulars are recorded of him, except that he embraced the en los dias que Colon
descubrio la gran riqueza De Indias y nuevo mundo, y el gran Capitan empieza a sugetar aquel Reyno <le Napoles, y su tierra. A descubrirse empezo el uso de la comedia porque todos se animassen a emprender cosas tan buenas." fob 46. 47. 1 Signorelli, correcting what he denominates the *' romance " of Lampillas, considers Encina to have composed only one pastoral drama, and that on occasion of Ferdinand's entrance into Castile. The
critic should have been more charitable, as he has made two blunders himself in correcting one. Storia critica de' Teatri, torn. iv. pp. 192, 193. 2 Andres, confounding Torres de Naharro the poet with Naharro the comedian, who flourished about half a century later, is led into a ludicrous train of errors in controverting Cervantes, whose criticism on the actor is perpetually misapplied by Andres to the poet. Velazquez seems to have con¬ founded them in like manner ; another evidence of the extremely superficial acquaintance of the Spanish critics with their early drama. Comp. Cervantes Comedias y Entremeses, torn, i., prdlogo.— Andre-, Letteratura, torn. v. p. 179.—Velazquez, Poesi'.i Castellana, p. 88.
CASTILIAN LITERATURE.
ecclesiastical profession ; and the time and place of his death are alike uncertain. In person he is said to have been comely, with an amiable disposition and sedate and dignified demeanour.1 His " Propaladia," first published at Rome, passed through several editions, subsequently in Spain, where it was alternately prohibited or permitted, according to the caprice of the Holy Office. It contains, among other things, eight comedies, written in the native redondillas, which continue to be regarded as the suitable measure for the drama. They afford the earliest example of the division into jornadas, or days, and of the introito, or prologue, in which the author, after propitiating the audience by suitable compliments, and witticisms not over-delicate, gives a view of the length and general scope of his play.2 The scenes of Naharro's comedies, with a single exception, are laid in Spain and Italy ; those in the latter country probably being selected with reference to the audiences before whom they were acted. The diction is easy and correct, without much affectation of refinement or rhetorical ornament. The dialogue, especially in the lower parts, is sustained with much comic vivacity ; indeed, Naharro seems to have had a nicer percep¬ tion of character as it is found in lower life than as it exists in the higher j and more than one of his plays are devoted exclusively to its illustration. On some occasions, however, the author assumes a more elevated tone, and his verse rises to a degree of poetic beauty, deepened by the moral reflection so characteristic of the Spaniards. At other times, his pieces are disfigured by such a Babel-like confusion of tongues as makes it doubtful which may be the poet's vernacular. French, Spanish, Italian, with a variety of barbarous patois and mongrel Latin, are all brought into play at the same time, and all comprehended, apparently with equal facility, by each one of the dramatis persona. But it is difficult to conceive how such a jargon could have been comprehended, far more relished, by an Italian audience.3 Naharro's comedies are not much to be commended for the intrigue, which generally excites but a languid interest, and shows little power or adroitness in the contrivance. With every defect, however, they must be allowed to have given the first forms to Spanish comedy, and to exhibit many of the features which continued to be characteristic of it in a state 1 Nic. Antonio, Bibliotheca Nova, torn. i. p. 202.
first to
Bouterwek,
reduce them to three. Comp. Cervantes, Comedias, i., pr<51. de Nasarre.— Geschichte der Poesie und Beredsamkeit, Band —Pellicer, Origen de la Comedia, torn. ii. p. 17.— S. 285, and Cervantes, Comedias, i.j P torn,
—
torn,
ill.
',
3 In the argument to the Moratin, Obras, torn. i. p. 48. Seraphina " he thus 1 Bartolome Torres de Naharro, Propaladia prepares the audience for "this colloquial oita (Madrid, 1573). The deficiency of the earlier podrida ; Spanish books, of which Bouterwek repeatedly Mas haveis de estar alerta " por complains, has led him into an error respecting the sentir los personages " Propaladia," which he had never seen. He states que hablan quatro lenguages. that Naharro was the first to distribute the play hasta acabar su rehyerta into three jornadas or acts, and takes Cervantes no salen de cuenta cierta roundly to task for assuming the original merit of por Latin e Italiano this distribution to himself. In fact, Naharro did Castelianoy Valenciano introduce the division into five jornadas, and Cer¬ que ninguno desconcierta. vantes assumes only the credit of having been the Propaladia, p. 5ÿ
—
I ROMANTIC FICTION AND POETRY.
369
more perfect development under Lope de Vega and Calderon. Such, for instance, is the amorous jealousy, and especially the point of honour, so conspicuous on the Spanish theatre; and such, too, the moral confusion too often produced by blending the foulest crimes with zeal for religion.1 These comedies, moreover, far from blind conformity with the ancients, discovered much of the spirit of independence and deviated into many of the eccentricities which distinguish the national theatre in later times, and which the criticism of our own day has so successfully explained and defended on philosophical principles. Naharro's plays were represented, as appears from his prologue, in Italy, probably not at Rome, which he quitted soon after their publication, but at Naples, which, then forming a part of the Spanish dominions, might more easily furnish an audience capable of comprehending them.2 It is remarkable that, notwithstanding their repeated editions in Spain, they do not appear to have ever been performed there. The cause of this, probably, was the low state of the histrionic art, and the total deficiency in theatrical costume and decoration ; yet it was not easy to dispense with these in the representation of pieces which brought more than a score of persons occasionally, and these crowned heads, at the same time upon the stage.3 Some conception may be afforded of the lamentable poverty of the theatrical equipment from the account given by Cervantes of its condition half a century later. " The whole wardrobe of a manager of the theatre at that time," says he, " was contained in a single sack, and amounted only to four dresses of white fur trimmed with gilt leather, four beards, four wigs, and four crooks, more or less. There were no trap-doors, movable clouds, or machinery of any kind. The stage itself consisted only of four or six planks, placed across as many benches, arranged in the form of a square, and elevated but four palms from the ground. The 01
1 The following is an example of the precious reasoning with which Floristan, in the play above quoted, reconciles his conscience to the murder of his wife Orfea in order to gratify the jealousy of his mistress Seraphina. Floristan is addressing himself to a priest :
Y por mas dano escusar " no lo quiero hora hazer,
sino que es menester. quo yo mate luego a Orfea
do Serafina lo vea porque lo pueda creer. Que yo bien me mataria pues toda razon me inclina ; pero se de Serafina que se desespeiaria. y Orfea, pues que haria ?
quando mi muerte supiesse : que creo que no pudiesse sostener lavida un dia. Pues hablando aca entre nos a Orfea cabe la suerte : porque con su sola muerte se escusaran otras dos : de modo que padre vos si llamar me la quereys,
a mi merced me hareys. y tambien servicio a Dios.
porque si yo la matare morira christianamente ;
yo morire penitente,
quando mi suerte llegare." Propaladia, fol. 68.
3 Signorelli waxes exceedingly wroth with
Don Bias Nasarre for the assertion that Naharro first taught the Italians to write comedy, taxing him with downright mendacity ; and he stoutly denies the probability of Naharro's comedies ever having been performed on the Italian boards. The critic seems to be in the right, as far as regards the influence of the Spanish dramatist ; but he might have been spared all doubts respecting their representation in the country, had he consulted the prologue of Naharro himself, where he asserts the fact in the most explicit manner. Comp. Propaladia, pr<51., and Signorelli, Storia critica de' Teatri, torn. vi. pp. 171-179. See also Moratin, Origenes, Obras, torn. i. pp. 149, 150. 3 Propaladia; see the comedies of Trofea "am. " "Tinelaria." Jovellanos, Memoria sobre las Diversioncs publicas, apud Mem. de la Acad, de Hist.
—
—
torn. v. 2 A
CASTILIAN LITERATURE.
37°
only decoration of the theatre was an old coverlet, drawn from side to side by cords, behind which the musicians sang some ancient romance, without the guitar." 1 In fact, no further apparatus was employed than that demanded for the exhibition of mysteries, or the pastoral dialogues which succeeded them. The Spaniards, notwithstanding their precocity, com¬ pared with most of the nations of Europe, in dramatic art, were un accountably tardy in all its histrionic accompaniments. The public remained content with such poor mummeries as could be got up by stroll¬ ing players and mountebanks. There was no fixed theatre in Madrid until the latter part of the sixteenth century, and that consisted of a courtyard, with only a roof to shelter it, while the spectators sat on benches ranged around, or at the windows of the surrounding houses.2 A similar impulse with that experienced by comic writing was given to tragedy. The first that entered on this department were professed scholars, who adopted the error of the Italian dramatists, in fashioning their pieces servilely after the antique, instead of seizing the expression of their own age. The most conspicuous attempts in this way were made by Fernan Perez de Oliva.3 He was born at Cordova in 1494, and after many years passed in the various schools of Spain, France, and Italy, returned to his native land, and became a lecturer in the university of Salamanca. He instructed in moral philosophy and mathematics, and established the highest reputation for his critical acquaintance with the ancient languages and his own. He died young, at the age of thirty-nine, deeply lamented for his moral no less than for his intellectual worth.4 His various works were published by the learned Morales, his nephew, some fifty years after his death. Among them are translations in prose of the Electra of Sophocles, and the Hecuba of Euripides. They may with more propriety be termed imitations, and those too of the freest kind. Although they conform, in the general arrangement and progress of the story, to their originals, yet characters, nay, whole scenes and dialogues, are occasionally omitted ; and in those retained it is not always easy to recognize the hand of the Grecian artist, whose modest beauties are thrown into shade by the ambitious ones of his imitator.5 But, with all this, Oliva's tragedies must be admitted to be executed, on the whole, with vigour ; and the diction, notwithstanding the national tendency to 1 Cervantes, Comedias, torn, i., pr<51. 4 Pellicer, Origen de ia Comedia, torn. ii. pp.
-62.
—
viii. art. 3. 3 Oliva, Obras (Madrid, 1787). Vasco Diaz Tanco, a native of Estremadura, who flourished in the first half of the sixteenth century, mentions in one of his works three tragedies composed by him¬ self on Scripture subjects. As there is no evidence, however, of their having been printed, or performed', or even read in manuscript by any one, they hardly deserve to be included in the catalogue of dramatic compositions. (Moratin, Obras, torn. i. pp. 150, tj1- — Lampillas, Letteratura Spagnuola, torn, v! dis. 1, sec. 5.) This patriotic litterateur endea¬ vours to establish the production of Oliva's tragedies
—
in the year 1515, in the hope of antedating t5a'
ia 58 Trissino's " Sophonisba," composed a yeaf ot
See also American Quarterly Review, no.
>
_
and thus securing to his nation the palm Pre , dence, in time at least, though it should be on'y, a few months, on the tragic theatre of mou Europe. Letteratura Spagnuola, ubi supra. 4 Nic. Antonio, Bibliotheca Nova, torn. 1. P- 3 . , Oliva, Obras, pref. de Morales. 5 The following passage, for example, in "Vengaza, de Agamemnon," imitated fiom Electra of Sophocles, will hardly be charged on Greek dramatist : " Habed, yo os ruego, -os compassion, no querais atapar con vuestros con J los respiraderos de las hornazas de fuego, que a p. i°5 me atormentan." See Oliva, Obras,
—
ROMANTIC FICTION AND POETRY.
37i
exaggeration above alluded to, may be generally commended for decorum, and an imposing dignity quite worthy of the tragic drama ; indeed, they may be selected as affording probably the best specimen of the progress of prose composition during the present reign.1 Oliva's reputation led to a similar imitation of the antique. But the Spaniards were too national in all their tastes to sanction it. These classi¬ cal compositions did not obtain possession of the stage, but were confined to the closet, serving only as a relaxation for the man of letters ; while the voice of the people compelled all who courted it to accommodate their inventions to those romantic forms which were subsequently developed in such variety of beauty by the great Spanish dramatists.2 We have now surveyed the different kinds of poetic culture familiar to Spain under Ferdinand and Isabella. Their most conspicuous element is the national spirit which pervades them, and the exclusive attachment which they manifest to the primitive forms of versification peculiar to the Peninsula. The most remarkable portion of this body of poetry may doubtless be considered the Spanish romances, or ballads ; that popular minstrelsy which, commemorating the picturesque and chivalrous incidents of the age, reflects most faithfully the romantic genius of the people who gave it utterance. The lyric efforts of the period were less successful. There were few elaborate attempts in this field, indeed, by men of decided genius. But the great obstacle may be found in the imperfection of the language and the deficiency of the more exact and finished metrical fwms indispensable to high poetic execution. The whole period, however, comprehending, as it does, the first decided approaches to a regular drama, may be regarded as very important in a literary aspect, since it exhibits the indigenous peculiarities of Castilian literature in all their freshness, and shows to what a degree of excellence it could attain, while untouched by any foreign influence. The present reign may be regarded as the epoch which divides the ancient from the modern school of Spanish poetry ; in which the language was slowly but steadily undergoing the process of refinement, that " made the knowledge of it," to borrow the words of a contemporary critic, " pass for an elegant accomplishment, even with the cavaliers and dames of cultivated Italy ;" 8 and which finally gave full scope to the poetic talent that raised the literature of the country to such brilliant heights in the sixteenth century. 1 Compare the diction of these tragedies with a nearer imitation of the classical models of anti¬ that of the " Centon epistolario," for instance, quity, the practice so generally followed by the esteemed one of the best literary compositions of Italians, and one which naturally recommends itself
John II.'s reign, and see the advance made, not only in orthography, but in the verbal arrangement generally, and the whole complexion of the style. 2 Notwithstanding some Spanish critics, as Cueva, for example, have vindicated the romantic forms of the drama on scientific principles, it is apparent that the most successful writers in this department have been constrained to adopt them by public opinion rather than their own, which would have suggested
to the scholar.
See the canon's discourse in Cer¬
vantes, Don Quixote, ed. de Pellicer, torn. iii. pp.
—and, more explicitly, Lope de Vega, Obras sueltas, torn. iv. p.
207-220,
406.
3 " Ya en Italia, assi entre Damas, como entre Caballeros, se tiene por gentileza y galania, saber
hablar Castellano. " Di&logo de las Lenguas, apud Mayans y Siscar, Origenes, torn. N. p. 4.
372
CASTILIAN LITERATURE
Ihave had occasion to advert more than once in the course of this chapter to the superficial acquaintance of the Spanish critics with the early history of their own drama, authentic materials for which are so extremely rare and difficult of access as to preclude the expectation of anything like a satisfactory account of it out of the Peninsula. The nearest approach to this within my knowledge is made in an article in the eighth number of the American Quarterly Review, ascribed to Mr. Ticknor, late professor of Modern Literature in Harvard University. This gentleman, during a residence in the Peninsula, had every facility for replenishing his library with the most curious and valuable works, both printed and manuscript, in this department ; and his essay embodies in a brief compass the results of a well-directed industry, which he has expanded in greater detail in his lectures on Spanish literature, delivered before the classes of the University. The subject is discussed with his usual elegance and perspicuity of style ; and the foreign, and indeed Castilian, scholar may find much novel information there, in the views presented of the early progress of the dramatic and the histrionic art in the Peninsula. Since the publication of this article, Moratin's treatise, so long and anxiously expected, Orfgenes del Teatro Espanol," has made its appearance under the auspices of the " Royal Academy of History, which has enriched the national literature with so many admirable editions of its ancient authors. Moratin states in his Preface that he was employed from his earliest youth in collecting notices, both at home and abroad, of whatever might illustrate the origin of the Spanish drama. The results have been two volumes, containing in the First Part an historical discussion, with ample explanatory notes, and a catalogue of dramatic pieces from the earliest epoch down to the time of Lope de Vega chronologically arranged, and accompanied with critical analyses, and copious illustrative extracts from pieces of the greatest merit. The Second Part is devoted to the publication of entire pieces of various authors, which from their extreme rarity, or their existence only in manuscript, have had but little circulation. The selections throughout are made with that careful discrimination which resulted from poetic talent combined with extensive and thorough erudition. The criticisms, although sometimes warped by the peculiar dramatic principles of the author, are conducted in general with great fairness ; and ample, but not extravagant, commendation is bestowed on productions whose merit, to be properly appreciated, must be weighed by one conversant with the character and intellectual culture of the period. The work, unfortunately, did not receive the last touches of its author, and undoubtedly something may be found wanting to the full completion of his design. On the whole, it must be considered as a rich repertory of old Castilian literature, much of it of the most rare and recondite nature, directed to the illustration of a department that has hitherto been suffered to languish in the lowest obscurity, but which is now so arranged that it maybe. contemplated, as it were, under one aspect, and its real merits accurately determined. It was not till some time after the publication of this History that my attention was called to that portion of the writings of Don Martinez de la Rosa in which he criticises the various departments of the national literature. This criticism is embodied in the annotations and appendix to his elegant Poetica (Obras literarias (Paris, 1827), torn. " " i. ii.). The former discuss the general laws by which the various kinds of poetry are to be regulated ; the latter presents a very searching and scientific analysis of the principal productions of the Spanish poets, down to the close of the last century. critic exemplifies his own views by copious extracts from the subjects of his criticism, and throws much collateral light on the argument by illustrations borrowed from foreign litei ature. In the examination of the Spanish drama, especially comedy, which he jaodestly qualifies as a ' succinct notice, not very exact," he is very elaborate, and discovers the same taste and sagacity in estimating the merits of individual writers which he had shown in discussing the general principles of the art. Had Iread his work sooner, it would have greatly facilitated my own inquiries in the same obscure path , and Ishould have recognised at least one brilliant exception to my sweeping remark on. the apathy manhested by the Castilian scholars to the antiquities of the national drama.
PART SECOND. (1493-1517.) THE PERIOD WHEN THE INTERIOR ORGANIZATION OF THE MONARCHY HAVING BEEN COMPLETED, THE SPANISH NATION ENTERED ON ITS SCHEMES OP DISCOVERY AND CONQUEST; OR THE PERIOD ILLUSTRATING MORE PARTICULARLY THE FOREIGN POLICY OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.
CHAPTER I.
-INVASION OF ITALY BY
ITALIAN WARS. -GENERAL VIEW OF EUROPE.
CHARLES VIII. OF FRANCE.
I493-I495-
—
—
Europe at the Close of the Fifteenth Century. More intimate Relations between States. Italy the School of Politics.— Pretensions of Charles VIII. to Naples.— Treaty of Barce¬ lona.— The French invade Naples.— Ferdinand's Dissatisfaction. Tactics and Arms of the different Nations.— Preparations of Spain. Mission to Charles VIII.— Bold Conduct of the Envoys. The French enter Naples.
—
—
—
We have now reached that memorable epoch when the different nations of Europe, surmounting the barriers which had hitherto confined them within their respective limits, brought their forces, as if by a simultaneous impulse, against each other on a common theatre of action. In the preceding part of this work, we have seen in what manner Spain was prepared for the contest, by the concentration of her various states under one government, and by such internal reforms as enabled the government to act with vigour. The genius of Ferdinand will appear as predominant in what concerns the foreign relations of the country as did that of Isabella in its interior administration ; so much so, indeed, that the accurate and well-informed historian who has most copiously illustrated this portion of the national annals does not even mention, in his introductory notice, the name of Isabella, but refers the agency in these events exclusively to her more ambitious consort.1 In this he is abundantly justified, both by 1 Zurita, Historia del Rey Don Hernando el Cathdlico (Anales, torn. v. vi., Zaragoza, 1580), lib. u int-od.
374
ITALIAN WARS.
the prevailing character of the policy pursued, widely differing from that which distinguished the queen's measures, and by the circumstance that the foreign conquests, although achieved by the united efforts of both crowns, were undertaken on behalf of Ferdinand's own dominions of Aragon, to which in the end they exclusively appertained. The close of the fifteenth century presents, on the whole, the most striking point of view in modern history ; one from which we may contem¬ plate the consummation of an important revolution in the structure of political society, and the first application of several inventions destined to exercise the widest influence on human civilization. The feudal institutions, or rather the feudal principle, which operated even where the institutions, strictly speaking, did not exist, after having wrought its appointed uses, had gradually fallen into decay ; for it had not the power of accommodating itself to the increased demands and improved condition of society. However well suited to a barbarous age, it was found that the distribution of power among the members of an independent aristocracy was unfavourable to that degree of personal security and tranquillity which is indispensable to great proficiency in the higher arts of civilisation. It was equally repugnant to the principle of patriotism, which is so essential to national independence, but which must have operated feebly among a people whose sympathies, instead of being concentrated on the state, were claimed by a hundred masters, as was the case in every feudal community. The conviction of this reconciled the nation to the transfer of authority into other hands ; not those of the people, indeed, who were too ignorant, and too long accustomed to a subordinate, dependent situation, to admit of it,— but into the hands of the sovereign. It was not until three centuries more had elapsed that the condition of the great mass of the people was to be so far improved as to qualify them for asserting and maintaining the political consideration which of right belongs to them. In whatever degree public opinion and the progress of events might favour the transition of power from the aristocracy to the monarch, it is obvious that much would depend on his personal character ; since the advantages of his station alone made him by no means a match for the combined forces of his great nobility. The remarkable adaptation of the characters of the principal sovereigns of Europe to this exigency, in the latter half of the fifteenth century, would seem to have had something providential in it. Henry the Seventh of England, Louis the Eleventh of France, Ferdinand of Naples, John the Second of Aragon and his son Ferdinand, and John the Second of Portugal, however different in othei respects, were all distinguished by a sagacity which enabled them to devise the most subtile and comprehensive schemes of policy, and which was prolific in expedients for the circumvention of enemies too potent to be encountered by open force. Their operations, all directed towards the same point, were attended with similar success, resulting in the exaltation of the royal prerogative at the
EXPEDITION OF CHARLES VIII.
375
expense of the aristocracy, with more or less deference to the rights of the people, as the case might be ; in France, for example, with almost total indifference to them, while in Spain they were regarded, under the parental administration of Isabella, which tempered the less scrupulous policy of her husband, with tenderness and respect. In every country, however, the nation at large gained greatly by the revolution, which came on insensibly, at least without any violent shock to the fabric of society, and which, by securing internal tranquillity and the ascendency of law over brute force, gave ample scope for those intellectual pursuits that withdraw mankind from sensual indulgence and too exclusive devotion to the animal wants of our nature. No sooner was the internal organization of the different nations of Europe placed on a secure basis, than they found leisure to direct their views, hitherto confined within their own limits, to a bolder and more distant sphere of action. Their international communication was greatly facilitated by several useful inventions coincident with this period, or then first extensively applied. Such was the art of printing, diffusing know¬ ledge with the speed and universality of light ; the establishment of posts, which, adopted by Louis the Eleventh in the fifteenth century, came into frequent use in the beginning of the sixteenth ;1 and lastly, the compass, which, guiding the mariner unerringly through the trackless wastes of the ocean, brought the remotest regions into contact. With these increased facilities for intercommunication, the different European states might be said to be brought into as intimate relation with one another as the different provinces of the same kingdom were before. They now for the first time regarded each other as members of one great community, in whose action they were all mutually concerned. A greater anxiety was manifested to detect the springs of every political movement of their neighbours. Missions became frequent, and accredited agents were stationed, as a sort of honourable spies, at the different courts. The science of diplomacy, on narrower grounds, indeed, than those on which it is now practised, began to be studied.2 Schemes of aggression and resist¬ ance, leading to political combinations the most complex and extended, were gradually formed. We are not to imagine, however, the existence of any well-defined ideas of a balance of power at this early period. The object of these combinations was some positive act of aggression or resist¬ ance, for purposes of conquest or defence, not for the maintenance of any abstract theory of political equilibrium. This was the result of much deeper reflection, and of prolonged experience. 1 [The postal system as a means of "international communication " can scarcely be said to have existed before the seventeenth century. The posts estab¬ lished by Louis XI. were merely relays of horses for the conveyance of government messengers. Ed.] a The Legazione," or official correspondence of Machiavelh while stationed at the different European courts, may be .egarded as the most
—
complete manual of diplomacy as it existed at the beginning of the sixteenth century. It affords more copious and curious information respecting the interior workings of the governments with which he resided than is to be found in any regular history ; and it shows the variety and extent of duties attached to the office of resident minister from the first moment of its creation.
ITALIAN WARS.
376
The management of the foreign relations of the nation at the close of the fifteenth century was resigned wholly to the sovereign. The people took no further part or interest in the matter than if it had concerned only the disposition of his private property. His measures were, therefore, often characterized by a degree of temerity and precipitation that could not have been permitted under the salutary checks afforded by popular interposition. A strange insensibility, indeed, was shown to the rights and interests of the nation. War was regarded as a game, in which the sove¬ reign parties engaged, not on behalf of their subjects, but exclusively on .heir own. Like desperate gamblers, they contended for the spoils or the honours of victory with so much the more recklessness as their own station was too elevated to be materially prejudiced by the results. They contended with all the animosity of personal feeling ; every device, how¬ ever paltry, was resorted to ; and no advantage was deemed unwarrant¬ able which could tend to secure the victory. The most profligate maxims of state policy were openly avowed by men of reputed honour and in¬ tegrity. In short, the diplomacy of that day is very generally character¬ ised by a low cunning, subterfuge, and petty trickery which would leave an indelible stain on the transactions of private individuals. Italy was, doubtless, the great school where this political morality was taught. That country was broken up into a number of small states, too nearly equal to allow the absolute supremacy of any one, while at the same time it demanded the most restless vigilance on the part of each to maintain its independence against its neighbours. Hence such a com¬ plexity of intrigues and combinations as the world had never before witnessed. A subtile, refined policy was conformable to the genius of the Italians. It was partly the result, moreover, of their higher cultivation, which naturally led them to trust the settlement of their disputes to superior intellectual dexterity, rather than to brute force, like the barbarians beyond the Alps.1 From these and other causes, maxims were gradually established so monstrous in their nature as to give the work which first embodied them in a regular system the air of a satire rather than a serious performance, while the name of its author has been converted into a byword for political knavery.2 At the period before us, the principal states of Italy were the republics of Venice and Florence, the duchy of Milan, the papal see, and the king¬ dom of Naples. The others may be regarded merely as satellites, revolv¬ ing round some one or other of these superior powers, by whom their , says satiust, noticing
consequence of increased refinement among the ancients, " magnum inter mortales certamen fuit, vine corporis an virtute animi res militaris magis . Turn demum periculo atque neprocederet. gotiis compertum est, in bello plurimum ingenium posse." Bellum Catilinarium, cap. 1, 2. 2 Machiavelli's political treatises, his "Principe" and "Discorsi sopra Tito Livio," which appeared after Kit death, excited no scandal at the time of
..
their publication. They came into the world, indeed, from the pontifical press, under the privilege Ottne reigning pope, Clement VII. It was not until thirty years later that they were placed in the Index; ana this not from any exceptions taken to the immoral' > of their doctrines, as Ginguene has well prove; (Histoire littdraire d'ltalie (Paris, iSii-i9)> t01"' viii. pp. 32, 74), but from the imputations they con¬ tained on the court of Rome.
»r»K»v
,r •ÿ! |i"' ' i ÿ
•
EXPEDITION OF CHARLES VIII
377
respective movements were regulated and controlled. Venice may be considered as the most formidable of the Italian powers, taking into consideration her wealth, her powerful navy, her territory in the north, and her princely colonial domain. There was no government in that age which attracted such general admiration, both from natives and foreigners, who seem to have looked upon it as affording the very best model of political wisdom.1 Yet there was no country where the citizen enjoyed i<2ss positive freedom ; none whose foreign relations were conducted with more absolute selfishness, and with a more narrow, bargaining spirit, savouring rather of a company of traders than of a great and powerful state. But all this was compensated, in the eyes of her contemporaries, by the stability of her institutions, which still remained unshaken amidst revolutions which had convulsed or overturned every other social fabric in Italy.2 The government of Milan was at this time under the direction of Lodovico Sforza, or Lodovico the Moor, as he is commonly called ; an epithet suggested by his complexion, but one which he willingly retained, as indicating the superior craftiness on which he valued himself.3 He held the reins in the name of his nephew, then a minor, until a con¬ venient season should arrive for assuming them in his own. His cool, perfidious character was stained with the worst vices of the most profligate class of Italian statesmen of that period. The central parts of Italy were occupied by the republic of Florence, which had ever been the rallying-point of the friends of freedom, too often of faction, but which had now resigned itself to the dominion of the Medici, whose cultivated tastes and munificent patronage shed a splendid illusion over their administration, which blinded the eyes of contempor¬ aries, and even of posterity. The papal chair was filled by Alexander the Sixth, a pontiff whose licentiousness, avarice, and unblushing effrontery have been the theme of unmingled reproach with Catholic as well as Protestant miters. His pre¬ ferment was effected by lavish bribery, and by his consummate address as well as energy of character. Although a native Spaniard, his election was extremely unpalatable to Ferdinand and Isabella, who deprecated the scandal it must bring upon the Church, and who had little to hope for themselves, in a political view, from the elevation of one of their own
1 Aquel Senado 6 Senoria de Venecianos," says " Gonzalo de Oviedo, " donde me parece & mi que esta recogido todo el saber e prudencia de los hombres humanos ; porque 6s la gente del mundo que mejor se sabe gobernar; 6 la republica, que mas tiempo h& durado en el mundo por la buena forma de su regimiento, 6 donde con mejor manera han los hombres vivido en comunidad sin tener Rey ;" etc. Quincuagenas, MS., bat. i, quinc. 3, dial. 44. 2 Of all the incense which poets and politicians have offered to the Queen of the Adriatic, none is snore exquisite than that conveyed in these few
lines, where Sannazaro notices her position as the bulwark of Christendom : Italum regina, altae pulcherrima Romse " Una zEmula, quae terris, qua: dominaris aquis !
Tu tibi vel reges cives facis ; O decus ! O lux Ausonise, per quam libera turba sumus ; Per quam barbaries nobis non imperat, et Sol Exoriens nostro clarius orbe micat ! " Opera Latina, lib. 3, eleg. i, 95.
3 Guicciardini, Istoria, torn. i. lib. 3, p.
147.
37«
ITALIAN WARS.
subjects even, whose mercenary spirit placed him at the control ot the highest bidder.1 The Neapolitan sceptre was swayed by Ferdinand the First, whose father, Alfonso the Fifth, the uncle of Ferdinand of Aragon, had obtained the crown by the adoption of Joanna of Naples, or rather by his own good sword. Alfonso settled his conquest on his illegitimate son Ferdinand, to the prejudice of the rights of Aragon, by whose blood and treasure he had achieved it. Ferdinand's character, the very opposite of his noble father's, was dark, wily, and ferocious. His life was spent in conflict with his great feudal nobility, many of whom supported the pretensions of the. Angevin family. But his superior craft enabled him to foil every attempt of his enemies. In effecting this, indeed, he shrunk from no deed of treachery or violence, however atrocious, and in the end had the satisfac¬ tion of establishing his authority, undisputed, on the fears of his subjects. He was about seventy years of age at the period of which we are treating, 1493. The heir-apparent, Alfonso, was equally sanguinary in his temper, though possessing less talent for dissimulation than his father. Such was the character of the principal Italian courts at the close of the fifteenth century. The politics of the country were necessarily regulated by the temper and views of the leading powers. They were essentially selfish and personal. The ancient republican forms had been gradually effaced during this century, and more arbitrary ones introduced. The name of freedom, indeed, was still inscribed on their banners, but the spirit had disappeared. In almost every state, great or small, some military adventurer or crafty statesman had succeeded in raising his own authority on the liberties of his country ; and his sole aim seemed to be to enlarge it still further, and to secure it against the conspiracies and revolutions which the reminiscence of ancient independence naturally called forth. Such was the case with Tuscany, Milan, Naples, and the numerous subordinate states. In Rome, the pontiff proposed no higher object than the concentration of wealth and public honours in the hands of his own family. In short, the administration of every state seemed to be managed with exclusive reference to the personal interests of its chief. Venice was the only power of sufficient strength and stability to engage in more extended schemes of policy, and even these were con¬ ducted, as has been already noticed, in the narrow and calculating spirit of a trading corporation. But while no spark of generous patriotism seemed to warm the bosoms of the Italians, while no sense of public good, or even menace of foreign unequivocal language : " Sed hoc — lowing pnnceps illustrissime, placuisse meis Regibus
1 Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 119, 123. Fleury, Histoire eccldsiastique, contin. (Paris, 1722), torn. xxiv. lib. 117, p. 545.—Peter Martyr, whose residence and rank at the Spanish court gave access to the best sources of information as to him the repute in which the new pontiff was held there, expresses himself in one of his. letters to Cardinal Sforra, who had assisted at his election in the fol¬
habeto,
11011
pontineatum ad Alexandrum, quamvis eoruni dd'O" narium, pervenisse. Verentur namque ne '|hu*
cupiditas. ne ambitio, ne (quod gravius) molhties filiahs Christianam reiigionem in praeceps trahat.
Epist. 119.
EXPEDITION OF CHARLES VIII.
379
invasion, could bring them to act in concert with one another,1 the internal condition of the country was eminently prosperous. Italy had far outstripped the rest of Europe in the various arts of civilized life ; and she everywhere afforded the evidence of faculties developed by unceasing intellectual action. The face of the country itself was like a garden ; "cultivated through all its plains to the very tops of the mountains ; teeming with population, with riches, and an unlimited commerce ; illus¬ trated by many munificent princes, by the splendour of many noble and beautiful cities, and by the majesty of religion ; and adorned with all those rare and precious gifts which render a name glorious among the nations."2 Such are the glowing strains in which the Tuscan historian celebrates the prosperity of his country, ere yet the storm of war had descended on her beautiful valleys. This scene of domestic tranquillity was destined to be changed by that terrible invasion which the ambition of Lodovico Sforza brought upon his country. He had already organized a coalition of the northern powers of Italy, to defeat the interference of the king of Naples in behalf of his grandson, the rightful duke of Milan, whom his uncle held in subjection during a protracted minority, while he exercised all the real functions of sovereignty in his name. Not feeling sufficiently secure from his Italian confederacy, Sforza invited the king of France to revive the hereditary claims of the house of Anjou to the crown of Naples, promising to aid him in the enterprise with all his resources. In this way, this wily politician proposed to divert the storm from his own head, by giving Ferdinand sufficient occupation at home. The throne of France was at that time filled by Charles the Eighth, a monarch scarcely twenty-two years of age. His father, Louis the Eleventh, had given him an education unbecoming not only a great prince, but even a private gentleman. He would allow him to learn no other Latin, says Brantome, than his favourite maxim, " Qui nescit dissimulare, nescit regnare." 3 Charles made some amends for this, though with little judgment, in later life, when left to his own disposal. His favourite studies were the exploits of celebrated conquerors, of Caesar and Charlemagne particularly, which filled his young mind with vague and visionary ideas of glory. These dreams were still further nourished by the tourneys and other chivalrous spectacles of the age, in which he delighted, until he seems to have imagined himself some doughty paladin of romance, destined to the achievement of a grand and perilous enterprise. It affords some proof of this exalted state of his imagination, that he gave his only son the name of Orlando, after the celebrated hero of Roncesvalles.4 1 A remarkable example of this occurred in the 2 Guicciardini, Istoria, torn. i. lib. j, p. 2. 3 Brant6me, Vies des Hommes illustres, CEuvres. middle of the fifteenth century, when the inundation of the Turks, which seemed ready to burst upon completes (Paris, 1822-3), torn. ii. disc, r, pp. a„ them after overwhelming the Arabian and Greek 20. empires, had no power to still the voice of faction, Sismondi, Hist, des Framjais, torn. xv. p tta» or to concentrate the attention of the Italian states, — Gaillard, Rivalit<5, torn. iv. pp. 2, 3. even for a moment.
*
ITALIAN WARS.
.380
With a mind thus excited by chimerical visions of military glory, he lent a willing ear to the artful propositions of Sforza. In the extravagance of vanity, fed by the adulation of interested parasites, he affected to regard the enterprise against Naples as only opening the way to a career of more splendid conquests, which were to terminate in the capture of Constanti¬ nople and the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre. He even went so far as to purchase of Andrew Paleologus, the nephew and heir of Constantine, the last of the Caesars, his title to the Greek empire.1 Nothing could be more unsound, according to the principles of the present day, than Charles's claims to the crown ot Naples. Without dis¬ cussing the original pretensions of the rival houses of Aragon and Anjou, it is sufficient to state that at the time of Charles the Eighth's invasion the Neapolitan throne had been in the possession of the Aragonese family more than half a century, under three successive princes solemnly recog¬ nised by the people, sanctioned by repeated investitures of the papal suzerain, and admitted by all the states of Europe. If all this did not give validity to their title, when was the nation to expect repose ? Charles's claim, on the other hand, was derived originally from a testa¬ mentary bequest of Ren£, count of Provence, operating to the exclusion of the son of his own daughter, the rightful heir of the house of Anjou ;2 Naples being too notoriously a female fief to afford any pretext for the action of the Salic law. The pretensions of Ferdinand of Spain, as repre¬ sentative of the legitimate branch of Aragon, were far more plausible.3 Independently of the defects in Charles's title, his position was such as to make the projected expedition every way impolitic. A misunder¬ standing had for some time subsisted between him and the Spanish sovereigns, and he was at open war with Germany and England ; so that it was only by large concessions that he could hope to secure their acquiescence in an enterprise most precarious in its character, and where even complete success could be of no permanent benefit to his kingdom. "He did not understand," says Voltaire, "that a dozen villages adjacent to one's territory are of more value than a kingdom four hundred leagues distant."4 By the treaties of Staples and Senlis he purchased a recon1 Daru, Histoire de la Republique de Venise (Paris, 1821), torn. iii. liv. 20. See the deed of ces¬ sion, in the memoir of M. de Foncemagne. (Mimoires de l'Academie des Inscriptions et BellesLettres, torn. xvii. pp. 539-579.) This document, as well as some others which appeared on the eve of Charles's expedition, breathes a tone of Quixotic and religious enthusiasm that transports us back to the days of the ct usades. a [This is somewhat incorrectly stated. The French claim was derived, not from the testament of Rend, under which his nephew, Charles of Maine, succeeded him, in July 1480, as count of Provence and titular king of Sicily, but from the will of this latter prince, who died childless in December 1481, coupled with alleged earlier settlements uniting Naples and Provence, with the effect, as was main¬ tained, of excluding female branches from the suc¬ cession- Conf. Comines, Memoires, liv. 7, chap. 1
—
and documents in Lenglet, torn. iii. pp. 324~33®> torn. iv. par. 2, pp. 5-13. Ed.] 3 The conflicting claims of Anjou and Aragon are stated at length by Gaillard, with more candour and impartiality than were to be expected from a French writer. (Histoire de Frangois I. (Paris, 1769), torn. i. pp. 71-92.) They form the subject ot a juvenile essay of Gibbon, in which we may dis¬ cern the germs of many of the peculiarities which afterwards characterized the historian of the (de¬ cline and Fall. Miscellaneous Works (London, 1814), vol. iii. pp. 206-222. . . 4 Essai sur les Moeurs, chap. 107. His pontic father, Louis XI., acted on this principle, for he made no attempt to maintain his pretensions I Naples; although Mably affects to doubt whether this was not the result of necessity rather tnan policy. " II est douteux si cette moderation lu l'ouvrage d'une connoissance approfondie de ses
—
—
..
EXPEDITION OF CHARLES VIII.
381
ciliation with Henry the Seventh of England, and with Maximilian the emperor elect ; and finally, by that of Barcelona, effected an amicable adjustment of his difficulties with Spain.1 This treaty, which involved the restoration of Roussillon and Cerdagne, was of great importance to the crown of Aragon. These provinces, it will be remembered, had been originally mortgaged by Ferdinand's father, King John the Second, to Louis the Eleventh of France, for the sum of three hundred thousand crowns, in consideration of aid to be afforded by the latter monarch against the Catalan insurgents. Although the stipulated sum had never been paid by Aragon, yet a plausible pretext for requiring the restitution was afforded by Louis the Eleventh's incom¬ plete performance of his engagements, as well as by the ample reimburse¬ ment which the French government had already derived from the revenues of these countries.2 This treaty had long been a principal object of Ferdinand's policy. He had not, indeed, confined himself to negotiation, but had made active demonstrations more than once of occupying the contested territory by force. Negotiation, however, was more consonant to his habitual policy ; and, after the termination of the Moorish war, he pressed it with the utmost vigour, repairing with the queen to Barcelona, in order to watch over the deliberations of the envoys of the two nations at Figueras.3 The French historians accuse Ferdinand of bribing two ecclesiastics, in high influence at their court, to make such a representation of the affair as should alarm the conscience of the young monarch. These holy men insisted on the restoration of Roussillon as an act of justice, since the sums for which it had been mortgaged, though not repaid, had been spent in the common cause of Christendom, the Moorish war. The soul, they said, could never hope to escape from purgatory until restitution was made of all property unlawfully held during life. His royal father, Louis the Eleventh, was clearly in this predicament, as he himself would here after be, unless the Spanish territories should be relinquished ; a measure, moreover, the more obligatory on him, since it was well known to be the dying request of his parent. These arguments made a suitable impression vrais infarcts, ou seulement de cette defiance qu'il dence of the last in any Spanish authority, where, avoit des grands de son royaume, et qu'il n'osoit if true, it would naturally have been noticed. I de vue." Observations sur l'Histoire de must, indeed, except Bernaldez, who says that Ferdinand, having repaid the money, borrowed by ranee, CEuvres (Paris 1794-5), '*v- 6, chap. 4. 1 Flassan, Histoire de la Diplomatic Frangaise his father from Louis XI., to Charles VIII., the (Paris, 1809), torn. i. pp. 254-259. Dumont, Corps latter monarch returned it to Isabella, in consider¬ universel diplomatique du Droit des Gens (Amster¬ ation of the great expenses incurred by the Moorish
ferdre
—
dam, 1726-31), torn. iii. pp. 297-300. 2 See the narrative of these transactions in the fifth and sixth chapters of Part I. of this History.— Most historians seem to take it for granted that Louis XI. advanced a sum of money to the king of Aragon ; and some state that payment of the debt for which the provinces were mortgaged was sub¬ sequently tendered to the French king. (See, among others, Sismondi, Rdpubliques Italiennes, torn. xii. p. 93.— Roscoe, Life_ and Pontificate of Leo X. (London, 1827), vol. i. p. 147.) The first of these statements is a palpable error ; and Ifind no evi¬
war. It is a pity that this romantic piece of gallan¬ try does not rest on any better authority than that of the Curate of Los Palacios, who shows a degree of ignorance in the first part of his statement that entitles him to little credit in the last. Indeed, the worthy Curate, although much to be relied on for what passed in his own province, may be found frequently tripping in the details of what passed. out of it. Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap.
117. J
Zurita, Hist, del Rey Hernando, lib. 1, cap. 4,
7. 10.
ITALIAN WATS.
382
on the young monarch, and a still deeper on his sister, the duchess of Beaujeu, who exercised great influence over him, and who believed her own soul in peril of eternal damnation by deferring the act of restoration any longer. The effect of this cogent reasoning was no doubt greatly enhanced by the reckless impatience of Charles, who calculated no cost
in the prosecution of his chimerical enterprise. With these amicable dispositions an arrangement was at length concluded, and received the signatures of the respective monarchs on the same day, being signed by Charles at Tours, and by Ferdinand and Isabella at Barcelona, January x9th, I493-1 The principal articles of the treaty provided that the contracting parties should mutually aid each other against all enemies ; that they should recip¬ rocally prefer this alliance to that with any other, the vicar of Christ excepted ; that the Spanish sovereigns should enter into no under¬ standing with any power, the vicar of Christ excepted, prejudicial to the interests of France ; that their children should not be disposed of in marriage to the kings of England or of the Romans, or to any enemy of France, without the French king's consent. It was finally stipu¬ lated that Roussillon and Cerdagne should be restored to Aragon, but that, as doubts might be entertained to which power the possession of these countries rightfully appertained, arbitrators named by Ferdinand and Isabella should be appointed, if requested by the French monarch, with full power to decide the question, by whose judgment the contracting parties mutually promised to abide. This last provision, obviously too well guarded to jeopard the interests of the Spanish sovereigns, was intro¬ duced to allay in some measure the discontents of the French, who loudly nveighed against their cabinet, as sacrificing the interests of the nation ; accusing, indeed, the cardinal D'Albi, the principal agent in the negotia¬ tion, of being in the pay of Ferdinand.2 The treaty excited equal surprise and satisfaction in Spain, where Roussillon was regarded as of the last importance, not merely from the extent of its resources, but from its local position, which made it the key of Catalonia. The nation, says Zurita, looked on its recovery as scarcely less important than the conquest of Granda ; and they doubted some sinister motive, or deeper policy than appeared in the conduct of the 1 Fleury, Histoire ecclisiastique, contin., torn. .xxiv. pp. 533-555. Zurita, Hist, del Rey Hernando, lib. 1, cap. 14. Daru, Hist, de Venise, torn. iii. pp. 51, 52- — Gaillard, Rivalitd, torn. iv. p. 10. Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, torn, ii, rey 30, cap. 6.— Comines, alluding to the affair of Roussillon, says that Ferdi¬ nand and Isabella, whether from motives of economy or hypocrisy, always employed priests in their negotiations : "Car toutes leurs ceuvres ont fait mener et conduire partelles gens(religieux), ou par hypocrisie, ou afin de moins despendre." (Mdmoires, p. an.) The French king, however, made more use of the clergy in this very transaction than the Spanish. Zurita, Hist, del Rey Hernando, lib.
——
—
1578), lib. 1, p. 16.—The treaty of Barcelona given at length by Dumont (Corps diplomatique) torn. iii. pp. 297-300). It is reported with sufficient
inaccuracy by many historians, who make no hesita¬ tion in saying that Ferdinand expressly °oun himself, by one of the articles, not to interfere wit , Charles's meditated attempt on Naples. (Gaillar Rivaliti, torn. iv. p. 11.—Voltaire, Essai sur e Moeurs, chap. 107 —Comines, Mdmoires, liv. 1 chap. 23. — Giovio, Hist, sui Temporis, lib. 1, P- } • Varillas, Politique d'Espagne, ou du R01 Ferdin¬ and (Amsterdam, 1688), pp. 11, ta- Roscoe, in of Leo X., torn. i. chap. 3.) So far from this, ther is no allusion whatever to the proposed expeditio a, cap. 10. in the treaty? nor is the name of Naples on 8 Paolo Giovio. Hist, sui Temporis (Basilim, mentioned in it.
—
—
I
EXPEDITION OF CHARLES VIII.
383
French king. He was influenced, however, by no deeper policy than the cravings of a puerile ambition.1 ' The preparations of Charles, in the meanwhile, excited general alarm throughout Italy. Ferdinand, the old king of Naples, who in vain endeavoured to arrest them by negotiation, had died in the beginning of 1494. He was succeeded by his son Alfonso, a prince of bolder but less politic character, and equally odious, from the cruelty of his disposition, with his father. He lost no time in putting his kingdom in a posture of defence ; but he wanted the best of all defences—the attachment of his subjects. His interests were supported by the Florentine republic and the pope, whose family had intermarried with the royal house of Naples. Venice stood aloof, secure in her remoteness, unwilling to compromise her interests by too precipitate a declaration in favour of either party. The European powers regarded the expedition of Charles the Eighth with somewhat different feelings ; most of them were not unwilling to see so formidable a prince waste his resources in a remote and chimerical expedition ; Ferdinand, however, contemplated with more anxiety an event which might terminate in the subversion of the Neapolitan branch of his house, and bring a powerful and active neighbour in contact with his own dominions in Sicily. He lost no time in fortifying the faltering courage of the pope by assurances of support. His ambassador, then resident at the papal court, was Garcilasso de la Vega, father of the illustrious poet of that name, and familiar to the reader by his exploits in the Granadine war. This personage with rare political sagacity combined
1
an energy of purpose which could not fail to infuse courage into the hearts of others. He urged the pope to rely on his master, the king of Aragon, who, he assured him, would devote all his resources, if necessary, to the protection of his person, honour, and estate. Alexander would gladly have had this promise under the hand of Ferdinand ; but the latter did not think it expedient, considering his delicate relations with France, to put himself so far in the power of the wily pontiff.2 In the meantime, Charles's preparations went forward with the languor and vacillation resulting from divided councils and multiplied embarrass¬ ments. " Nothing essential to the conduct of a war was at hand," says Comines. The king was very young, weak in person, headstrong in will, surrounded by few discreet counsellors, and wholly destitute of the requisite funds.3 His own impatience, however, was stimulated by that of the youthful chivalry of his court, who burned for an opportunity of distinction ; as well as by the representations of the Neapolitan exiles, who hoped, under his protection, to re-establish themselves in their own country. Several of these, weary with the delay already experienced, 1 Zurita, Hist, del Rey Hernando, lib. x, cap. 28.
Reyes de Aragon, ubi supra. — Abarca, - Zurita. Hist, del Rey Hernando, lib. a8.
i, cap.
— Reinbo, Istoria Viniziana (Milano, 1809), torn.
lib. 2, pp. 118, up.— Oviedo, Quincuagenas. MS., bat. x, quinc. 3, dial. 43. 3 Comines, Mdmoires, liv. 7, introd.
1.
ITALIAN WARS.
$84
made overtures to King Ferdinand to undertake the enterprise on his own behalf, and to assert his legitimate pretensions to the crown of Naples, which, they assured him, a large party in the country was ready to sustaia The sagacious monarch, however, knew how little reliance was to be placed on the reports of exiles, whose imaginations readily exaggerated the amount of disaffection in their own country. But although the season had not yet arrived for asserting his own paramount claims, he was deter¬ mined to tolerate those of no other potenate.1 Charles entertained so little suspicion of this, that in the month of June he despatched an envoy to the Spanish court, requiring Ferdinand's fulfil¬ ment of the treaty of Barcelona, by aiding him with men and money, and by throwing open his ports in Sicily for the French navy. " This gracious proposition," says the Aragonese historian, " he accompanied with infor¬ mation of his proposed expedition against the Turks ; stating incidentally, as a thing of no consequence, his intention to take Naples by the way." 2 Ferdinand saw the time was arrived for coming to an explicit declaration with the French court He appointed a special mission, in order to do this in the least offensive manner possible. The person selected for this delicate task was Alonso de Silva, brother of the count of Cifuentes, and clavero of Calatrava, a cavalier possessed of the coolness and address requisite for diplomatic success.3 The ambassador, on arriving at the French court, found it at Vienne in all the bustle of preparation for immediate departure. After seeking in vain a private audience from King Charles, he explained to him the pur¬ port of his mission in the presence of his courtiers. He assured him of the satisfaction which the king of Aragon had experienced at receiving intelligence of his projected expedition against the infidel. Nothing gave his master so great contentment as to see his brother monarchs employing their arms and expending their revenues against the enemies of the Cross ; where even failure was greater gain than success in other wars. He offered Ferdinand's assistance in the prosecution of such wars, even though they should be directed against the Mahometans of Africa, over whom the papal sanction had given Spain exclusive rights of Conquest. He besought the king not to employ the forces destined to so glorious a purpose against any one of the princes of Europe, but to reflect how great a scandal this must necessarily bring on the Christian cause ; above all, he cautioned him against forming any designs on Naples, since that king¬ dom was a fief of the Church, in whose favour an exception was expressly made by the treaty of Barcelona, which recognized her alliance and 1 Zurita, Hist, del Rey Hernando,
lib. i, cap.
so— Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 123.—Comines, MCmoires, liv. 7, chap. 3.—Mariana, Hist.
2 Zurita, Hist, del Rey
31
Hernando, lib. x, cap-
a Oviedo notices Silva as one of three brothers, q.e pÿa' tom" "• hb- a.6t cap. 6.—Zurita con- all gentle cavaliers, of unblemished honour, recludes the arguments which decided Ferdinand markable for the plainness of their persons, the enterP"se with one which elegance and courtesy of their manners, and the ÿ,at aSSUIn,lng .,th<T may be considered the gist of the whole matter: magnificence one, of their style of living. Th>s 'ntendia bien. que no era tan facil la Alonso, he describes as a man of a singularly clear qje se ProPoma> hb. 1, cap. to head. Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 4-
,,
EXPEDITION OF CHARLES VIII.
385
protection as paramount to every other obligation. Silva's discourse was responded to by the president of the parliament of Paris in a formal Latin oration, asserting generally Charles's right to Naples, and his resolution to enforce it previously to his crusade against the infidel. As soon as it was concluded, the king rose and abruptly quitted the apartment.1 Some days after, he interrogated the Spanish ambassador, whether his master would not, in case of a war with Portugal, feel warranted by the terms of the late treaty in requiring the co-operation of France, and on what plea the latter power could pretend to withhold it. To the first of these propositions the ambassador answered in the affirmative if it were a defensive war, but not, if an offensive one, of his own seeking ; an expla¬ nation by no means satisfactory to the French monarch. Indeed, he seems not to have been at all prepared for this interpretation of the compact. He had relied on this, as securing without any doubt the non-interference of Ferdinand, if not his actual co-operation in his designs against Naples. The clause touching the rights of the church was too frequent in public treaties to excite any particular attention ; and he was astounded at the broad ground which it was now made to cover, and which defeated the sole object proposed by the cession of Roussillon. He could not disguise his chagrin and indignation at what he deemed the perfidy of the Spanish court. He refused all further intercourse with Silva, and even stationed a sentinel at his gate, to prevent his communication with his subjects ; treating him as the envoy, not of an ally, but of an open enemy. 2 The unexpected and menacing attitude, however, assumed by Ferdi¬ nand, failed to arrest the operations of the French monarch, who, having completed his preparations, left Vienne in the month of August 1494, and crossed the Alps at the head of the most formidable host which had scaled that mountain barrier since the irruption of the northern barbarians.2 It will be unnecessary to follow his movements in detail. It is sufficient to remark that his conduct throughout was equally defective in principle and in sound policy. He alienated his allies by the most signal acts of perfidy, seizing their fortresses for himself, and entering their capitals with all the vaunt and insolent port of a conqueror. On his approach to Rome, the pope and the cardinals took refuge in the castle of St. Angelo, and on the 31st of December 1494 Charles defiled into the city at the head of his victorious chivalry ; if victorious they could be called, when, 1 Zurita, Hist, del Rey Hernando, ubi supra. 2 Ibid., lib. 1, cap. 31, 41. 3 Villeneuve, Memoires, apud Petitot, Collection
des Memoires, torn. xiv. pp. 255, 256. —The French army consisted of 3600 gens d'armes, 20,000 French infantry, and 8000 Swiss, without including the regular camp-followers. (Sismondi, Republiques Italiennes, torn. xii. p. 132.) The splendour and novelty of their appearance excited a degree of ad¬ miration which disarmed in some measure the terror of the Italians. Peter Martyr, whose distance from the theatre of action enabled him to contemplate more calmly the operation of events, beheld with a
prophetic eye the magnitude of the calamities im¬ pending over his country. In one of his letters he writes thus : " Scribitur exercitum visum fuisse nostra tempestate nullum unquam nitidiorem. Et qui futuri sunt calamitatis participes, Carolum aciesque illius ac peditum turmas laudibus extoF lunt; sed Italorum impensa instructas." (Opus Epist., epist. 143.) He concludes another with this remarkable prediction : " Perimeris, Galle, ex majori parte, nec in patriam redibis. Jacebis insepultus ; sed tua non restituetur strages, Italia * Epist. 123. 2 B
ITALIAN WARS.
386
as an Italian historian remarks, they had scarcely broken a lance, or 1 spread a tent, in the whole of their progress. The Italians were panic-struck at the aspect of troops so different from their own, and so superior to them in organization, science, and military equipment ; and still more in a remorseless ferocity of temper which had rarely been witnessed in their own feuds. W arfare was conducted on peculiar principles in Italy, adapted to the character and circumstances of the people. The business of fighting, in her thriving communities, instead of forming part of the regular profession of a gentleman, as in other countries at this period, was intrusted to the hands of a few soldiers of fortune, condottieri, as they were called, who hired themselves out, with the forces under their command, consisting exclusively of heavy-armed cavalry, to whatever state would pay them best These forces constituted the capital, as it were, of the military chief, whose obvious interest it was to economize as far as possible, avoiding all unnecessary expenditure of his resources. Hence the science of defence was almost exclusively studied. The object seemed to be, not so much the annoyance of the enemy as self-preservation. The common interests of the condottiert being paramount to every obligation to the state which they served, they easily came to an understanding with one another to spare their troops as much as possible; until at length battles were fought with little more personal hazard than would be incurred in an ordinary tourney. The man-at-arms was rivetted into plates of steel of sufficient thickness to turn a musket-ball. The ease of the soldier was so far consulted that the artillery, in a siege, was not allowed to be fired on either side from sunset to sunrise, for fear of disturbing his repose. Prisoners were made for the take of their ransom, and but little blood was spilled in an actioa Machiavelli records two engagements, at Anghiari and Castracaro, among the most noted of the time for their important consequences. The one lasted four hours, and the other half a day. The reader is hurried along through all the bustle of a well-contested fight, in the course of which the field is won and lost several times ; but when he comes to the close, and looks for the list of killed and wounded, he finds to his surprise not a single man slain in the first of these actions, and in the second only one, who, having tumbled from his horse, and being unable to rise from the weight of his armour, was suffocated in the mud ! Thus war became disarmed of its terrors. Courage was no longer essential in a soldier ;and the Italian, made effeminate, if not timid, was incapable of encountering the adventurous daring and severe discipline of the northern warrior.2 The astonishing success of the French was still more imputable to the
_
Istoria, torn. i. 2 D11 Bos, Histoire de la Ligne faite a Cambray i. lib. i, yuicciaraim, istona, i, p. 71. \7 Guicciardini, Scipione Ammirato, Istorie Florentine (Firenze, (Paris, 1728), torn. i. dissert, prelim. Machiavelli, 1647). P. 205.— Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, torn! Istorie Florentine, lib. 5. Denina, Rivoluzioru iii. lib. 29, introd. Comines, Memoires, liv. d' Italia, lib. 18, cap. 3. chap. 17.—-Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 71! rniinr. o dial.
—
—
—
EXPEDITION OF CHARLES VIII.
387
free use and admirable organization of their infantry, whose strength lay in the Swiss mercenaries. Machiavelli ascribes the misfortunes of his nation chiefly to its exclusive reliance on cavalry.1 This service, during the whole of the Middle Ages, was considered among the European nations the most important ; the horse being styled by way of eminence "the battle." The memorable conflict of Charles the Bold with the Swiss mountaineers, however, in which the latter broke in pieces the celebrated Burgundian ordonna?ices,constituting the finest body of chivalry of the age, demonstrated the capacity of infantry ; and the Italian wars, with which we are now engaged, at length fully re-established its ancient
.superiority. The Swiss were formed into battalions varying from three to eight •thousand men each. They wore little defensive armour, and their prin¬ cipal weapon was the pike, eighteen feet long. Formed into these solid battalions, which, bristling with spears all around, received the technical appellation of the hedgehog, they presented an invulnerable front on every quarter. In the level field, with free scope allowed for action, they bore down all opposition, and received unshaken the most desperate charges of the steel-clad cavalry on their terrible array of pikes. They were too unwieldy, however, for rapid or complicated manoeuvres ; they were easily disconcerted by any unforeseen impediment, or irregularity of the ground ; and the event proved that the Spanish foot, armed with its short swords and bucklers, by breaking in under the long pikes of its enemy, could succeed in bringing him to close action, where his formid¬ able weapon was of no avail. It was repeating the ancient lesson of the Roman legion and the Macedonian phalanx.2 In artillery the French were at this time in advance of the Italians, perhaps of every nation in Europe. The Italians, indeed, were so exceed¬ ingly defective in this department that their best field-pieces consisted of small copper tubes covered with wood and hides. They were mounted on unwieldy carriages drawn by oxen, and followed by cars or waggons loaded with stone-balls. These guns were worked so awkwardly that the besieged, says Guicciardini, had time between the discharges to repair the mischief inflicted by them. From these circumstances, artillery was held in so little repute that some of the most competent Italian writers thought it might be dispensed with altogether in field engagements.2 The French, on the other hand, were provided with a beautiful train of ordnance, consisting of bronze cannon about eight feet in length, and many smaller pieces.4 They were lightly mounted, drawn by horses, Arte della Guerra, lib. 2.
s Machiavelli, Arte della Guerra, lib. 3.—Du Bos, Ligue de Cambray, torn. i. dis. prelim.— Giovio, Hist, sui Teimporis, lib. 2, p. 41.— Polybius, in his minute account of this celebrated military institution of the Greeks, has recapitulated nearly
ail the advantages and defects imputed to the Swiss
hJriston by modern European writers. (See lilt. 17, sec. 25 et seq.) It is singular that these ex¬
ploded arms and tactics should be revived, after the lapse of nearly seventeen centuries, to be foiled again in the same manner as before. 1Guicciardini, Istoria, torn. i. pp. 45, 46 Machi¬ avelli, Arte della Guerra, lib. 3. Du Bos, Ligue de Cambray, ubi supra. Guicciardini speaks of the name of "cannon," which the French gave to their pieces, as a novelty at that time in Italy. Istoria, pp. 45, 46.
—
*
—
388
ITALIAN WARS.
and easily kept pace with the rapid movements of the army. They dis charged iron balls, and were served with admirable skill, intimidating their enemies by the rapidity and accuracy of their fire, and easily demolishing their fortifications, which, before this invasion, were constructed with little strength or science.1 The rapid successes of the French spread consternation among the Italian states, who now for the first time seemed to feel the existence of a common interest and the necessity of efficient concert. Ferdinand was active in promoting these dispositions, through his ministers, Garcilasso de la Vega and Alonso de Silva. The latter had quitted the French court on its entrance into Italy, and withdrawn to Genoa. From this point he opened a correspondence with Lodovico Sforza, who now began to under¬ stand that he had brought a terrible engine into play, the movements of which, however mischievous to himself, were beyond his strength to con¬ trol. Silva endeavoured to inflame still further his jealousy of the French, who had already given him many serious causes of disgust, and, in order to detach him more effectually from Charles's interests, encouraged him with the hope of forming a matrimonial alliance for his son with one of the infantas of Spain. At the same time, he used every effort to bring about a co-operation between the duke and the republic of Venice, thus opening the way to the celebrated league which was concluded in the following year.2 The Roman pontiff had lost no time, after the appearance of the French army in Italy, in pressing the Spanish court to fulfil its engage¬ ments. He endeavoured to propitiate the goodwill of the sovereigns by several important concessions. He granted to them and their successors the tercias, or two-ninths of the tithes, throughout the dominions of Castile; an impost still forming part of the regular revenue of the crown.3 He caused bulls of crusade to be promulgated throughout Spain, grant¬ ing at the same time a tenth of the ecclesiastical rents, with the under¬ standing that the proceeds should be devoted to the protection of the Holy See. Towards the close of this year, 1494, or the beginning of the following, he conferred the title of Catholic on the Spanish sovereigns, in consideration, as is stated, of their eminent virtues, their zeal in defence of the true faith and the apostolic see, their reformation of conventual discipline, their subjugation of the Moors of Granada, and the purification of their dominions from the Jewish heresy. This orthodox title, which still continues to be the jewel most prized in the Spanish crown, has been appropriated in a peculiar manner to Ferdinand and Isabella, who are' universally recognized in history as Los Reyes CatolioosI 1 Gievio, Hist,
_
sui Temporis, lib. s, p. 4a.
not live to be old.
Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS.,
Arte della Guerra, lib. 7. Machiavelli. bat. i, quinc. 4. 3 Zurita, Hist, del Rey 3 Mariana, Hist de Espana, torn. ii. lip. 26, Hernando, lib. 1, cap. AUnso de Silva
acquitted himself to the entire 35 — satisfaction of the eevereigns ra Ms difficult mission. He was subsequeatly sent on various others to the different Italian comrts, aad aaiformly sustained hw reputation for aMiity ami prudence. He did
——
cap. 6. Salazar de Mendoza, Monarquia, lib. 3. cap. 14. This branch of the revenue yields at the present day, according to Laborde, about 6,000,000 reals, or 1,500,000 francs. Itineraire, torn. vi. p. Sr» Zurita, Abarca, and other Spanish historians.
*
EXPEDITION OF CHARLES VIII.
389
Ferdinand was too sensible of the peril to which the occupation of Naples by the French would expose his own interests, to require any stimulant to action from the Roman pontiff. Naval preparations had been going forward during the summer in the ports of Galicia and Guipuscoa. A considerable armament was made ready for sea by the latter part of December, at Alicant, and placed under the command of Galceran de Requesens, count of Trevento. The land-forces were intrusted to Gonsalvo de Cordova, better known in history as the Great Captain. Instructions were at the same time sent to the viceroy of Sicily to provide for the security of that island, and to hold himself in readiness to act in concert with the Spanish fleet.1 Ferdinand, however, determined to send one more embassy to Charles the Eighth, before coming to an open rupture with him. He selected for this mission Juan de Albion and Antonio de Fonseca, brother of the bishop of that name, whom we have already noticed as superintendent of the Indian department. The two envoys reached Rome, January 28th, same day on which Charles set out on his march for Naples. 1495, They followed the army, and on arriving at Velletri, about twenty miles from the capital, were admitted to an audience by the monarch, who received them in the presence of his officers. The ambassadors freely enumerated the various causes of complaint entertained by their master against the French king ; the insult offered to him in the person of his minister, Alonso de Silva ; the contumelious treatment of the pope, and forcible occupation of the fortresses and estates of the church ; and finally the enterprise against Naples, the claims to which, as a papal fief, could of right be determined in no other way than by the arbitration of the pontiff himself. Should King Charles consent to accept this arbitration, they tendered the good offices of their master as mediator between the parties ; should he decline it, however, the king of Spain stood absolved from all further obligations of amity with him, by the terms of the treaty of Barce¬ lona, which expressly recognised his right to interfere in defence of the church. 2 Charles, who could not dissemble his indignation during this discourse,
I
fix the date of Alexander's grant at the close of 1496. (Hist, del Rey Hernando, lib. 2, cap. 40.— Reyes de Aragon, rey 30, cap. 9.) Martyr notices it with great particularity as already conferred, in a letter of February 1495. (Opus Epist., epist. 157.) The pope, according to Comines, designed to compliment Ferdinand and Isabella for their conquest of Granada, by transferring to them the title of Most Christian, hitherto enjoyed by the kings of France. He had even gone so far as to address them thus in more than one of his briefs. This produced a remonstrance from a number of the cardinals, which led him to substitute the title of Most Catholic. The epithet of Catholic was not new in the royal house of Castile, nor indeed of Aragon ; having been given to the Asturian prince Alfonso I. about the middle of the eighth, and to Pedro II. of Aragon at the beginning of the thirteenth century. Iwill remark, in conclusion, that although the phrase Los Reyes Catdlzcos, as applied to a female
equally with a male, would have a whimsical ap¬ pearance literally translated into English, it is per¬ fectly consonant to the Spanish idiom,which requires that all words having reference to both a masculine and a feminine noun should be expressed in the former gender. So also in the ancient languages : *H;ue»' rupavvoi, says Queen Hecuba (Euripides, TPfllAA. v. 474). But it is clearly incorrect to render Los Reyes Catdlicos, as usually done by English writers, by the corresponding term of Catholic kings." 1 Zurita, Hist, del Rey Hernando, cap. 41. Quintana, Vidas de Espaholes celebres (Madrid, 1807, 1830), torn. i. p. 322.—Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 1495. 2 Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 138.—
"
—
Sismondi, Rdpubliques Italiennes, torn. xii. pp. 192
4-
- 194. — Garibay, Compendio, lib. 19, cap.
ITALIAN WARS.
39o
retorted with great acrimony, when it was concluded, on the conduct of Ferdinand, which he stigmatized as perfidious, accusing him, at the same time, of a deliberate design to circumvent him, by introducing into their treaty the clause respecting the pope. As to the expedition against Naples, he had now gone too far to recede ; and it would be soon enough to canvass the question of right when he had got possession of it. His courtiers, at the same time, with the impetuosity of their nation, heightened by the insolence of success, told the envoys that they knew well enough how to defend their rights with their arms, and that King Ferdinand would find the French chivalry enemies of quite another sort from the holiday tilters of Granada. These taunts led to mutual recrimination, until at length Fonseca, though naturally a sedate person, was so far transported with anger that he exclaimed, " The issue, then, must be left to God,—arms must decide it 3 " and producing the original treaty, bearing the signatures of the two monarchs, he tore it in pieces before the eyes of Charles and his court. At the same time he commanded two Spanish knights who served in the French army to withdraw from it, under pain of incurring the penalties of treason. The French cavaliers were so much incensed by this audacious action that they would have seized the envoys, and, in all probability, offered violence to their persons, but for the interposition of Charles, who with more coolness caused them to be conducted from his presence and sent back under a safe escort to Rome. Such are the circumstances reported by the French and Italian writers of this remarkable interview. They were not aware that the dramatic exhibition, as far as the ambassa¬ dors were concerned, was all previously concerted before their departure from Spain.1 Charles pressed forward on his march without further delay. Alfonso the Second, losing his confidence and martial courage, the only virtues that he possessed, at the crisis when they were most demanded, had precipitately abandoned his kingdom while the French were at Rome, and taken refuge in Sicily, where he formally abdicated the crown in favour of his son, Ferdinand the Second. This prince, then twenty-five years of age, whose amiable manners were rendered still more attractive by contrast with the ferocious temper of his father, was possessed of talent and energy competent to the present emergency, had he been sustained by his subjects. But the latter, besides being struck with the same panic which had paralyzed the other people of Italy, had too little interest in the government to be willing to hazard much in its defence. A change of 1 Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. i, quinc. 3, dial. 43.—Zurita, Hist, del Rey Hernando, lib. 1, cap- 43-;— Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. *38. Giovio, Hist, sui Temporis, lib. 2, p. 46.— Lanuza, Historias, torn. i. lib. 1, cap. 6.—This appears from a letter of Martyr s, dated three months before the interview : in which he says " Antonius Fonseca, vir equestris ordinis, et armis
—
clarus, destinatus est orator, qui eum moneat, ne. priusquam de jure inter ipsum et Alfonsum regent Neapolitanum decernatur, ulterius procedat._ rert in mandatis Antonius Fonseca, ut Carolo capitulure. id sonans ostendat, anteque ipsius oculos (si detrectaverit) pacti veteris chirographum laceret, atqu*indicat inimicitias." Opus Epist., epist. 144-
EXPEDITION OF CHARLES VIII.
391
dynasty was only a change of masters, by which they had little either to gain or to lose. Though favourably inclined to Ferdinand, they refused to stand by him in his perilous extremity. They gave way in every direction, as the French advanced, rendering hopeless every attempt of their spirited young monarch to rally them, till at length no alternative was left but to abandon his dominions to the enemy without striking a blow in their defence. He withdrew to the neighbouring island of Ischia, whence he soon after passed into Sicily, and occupied himself there in collecting the fragments of his party, until the time should arrive for more decisive action.1 Charles the Eighth made his entrance into Naples at the head of his legions, February 2 2d, 1495, having traversed this whole extent of hostile territory in less time than would be occupied by a fashionable tourist of the present day. The object of his expedition was now achieved. He seemed to have reached the consummation of his wishes ; and although he assumed the titles of King of Sicily and of Jerusalem, and affected the state and authority of Emperor, he took no measures for prosecuting his chimerical enterprise further. He even neglected to provide for the security of his present conquest, and, without bestowing a thought on the government of his new dominions, resigned himself to the licentious and effeminate pleasures so congenial with the soft voluptuousness of the climate and his own character.2 While Charles was thus wasting his time and resources in frivolous amusements, a dark storm was gathering in the north. There was not a state through which he had passed, however friendly to his cause, which had not complaints to make of his insolence, his breach of faith, his infringement of their rights, and his exorbitant exactions. His impolitic treatment of Sforza had long since alienated that wily and restless politi¬ cian, and raised suspicions in his mind of Charles's designs against his own duchy of Milan. The emperor elect, Maximilian, whom the French king thought to have bound to his interests by the treaty of Senlis, took umbrage at his assumption of the imperial title and dignity. The Spanish ambassadors, Garcilasso de la Vega, and his brother, Lorenzo Suarez, the latter of whom resided at Venice, were indefatigable in stimulating the spirit of discontent. Suarez, in particular, used every effort to secure the co-operation of Venice, representing to the government, in the most urgent terms, the necessity of general concert and instant action among the great powers of Italy, if they would preserve their own liberties.3 Venice, from its remote position, seemed to afford the best point for coolly contemplating the general interests of Italy. Envoys of the 1 Comines, Memoires, liv. 7, chap. 16.—Villeneuve, Memoires, apud Petitot, Collection des Mdmoires, torn. xii. p. 260. Ammirato, Istorie Florentine, torn. iii. lib. 26. Summonte, Hist, ui Napoli, torn. iii. lib. 6, cap. 1, 2. 2 Giovio, Hist, sui Temporis, lib- 2, p. 55. Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, lib. 29, cap. 1. a
——
——
Andrd de la Vigne, Histoire de Charles VIII. (Paris, 1617), p. 201. 3 Giovio, Hist, sui Temporis, lib. 2, p. 56. Guicciardini, Istoria, torn. 1. pp. 86, 87.— Bembo, IstoriaViniziana, torn. i. lib. 2, p. 120. Zurita, Hist. del Rey Hernando, lib. 2, chap. 3, 5. Comines, Memoires, liv 7, chap. 19.
——
—
ITALIAN WARS.
i92
different European powers were assembled there, as if by common consent, with the view of concerting some scheme of operation for their mutual good. The conferences were conducted by night, and with such secrecy as to elude for some time the vigilant eye of Comines, the sagacious minister of Charles, then resident at the capital. The result was the celebrated league of Venice. It was signed the last day of March 1495, on the part of Spain, Austria, Rome, Milan, and the Venetian republic. The ostensible object of the treaty, which was to last twenty-five years, was the preservation of the estates and rights of the confederates, especially of the Roman see. A large force, amounting in all to thirtyfour thousand horse and twenty thousand foot, was to be assessed in stipulated proportions on each of the contracting parties. The secret articles of the treaty, however, went much further, providing a formidable plan of offensive operations. It was agreed in these that King Ferdinand should employ the Spanish armament, now arrived in Sicily, in re-estab¬ lishing his kinsman on the throne of Naples ; that a Venetian fleet, of forty galleys, should attack the French positions on the Neapolitan coasts ; that the duke of Milan should expel the French from Asti, and blockade the passes of the Alps, so as to intercept the passage of further reinforce¬ ments ; and that the emperor and the king of Spain should invade the French frontiers, and their expenses be defrayed by subsidies from the allies.1 Such were the terms of this treaty, which may be regarded as forming an era in modern political history, since it exhibits the first example of those extensive combinations among European princes, for mutual defence, which afterwards became so frequent. It shared the fate of many other coalitions, where the name and authority of the whole have been made subservient to the interests of some one of the parties, more powerful or more cunning than the rest. The intelligence of the new treaty diffused general joy throughout Italy. In Venice, in particular, it was greeted with fetes, illuminations, and the most emphatic public rejoicing, under the very eyes of the French minister, who was compelled to witness this unequivocal testimony of the detestation in which his countrymen were held.2 The tidings fell heavily
—
1 Guicciardini, Istoria, torn. i. lib. a, p. 88. Comines, Memoires, liv. 7, chap. 20. Bembo, Istoria Viniziana, torn. i. lib. 2, pp. 122, 123. Daru, Hist, de Venise, torn. iii. pp. 255, 256. Zurita, Hist, del Rey Hernando, lib. 2, cap. 5. - Comines, Memoires, p. 96. Comines takes great credit to himself for his perspicacity in detect¬ ing the secret negotiations carried on at Venice against his master. According to Bembo, however,
—— —
—
the affair was managed with such profound caution as to escape his notice until it was officially an¬ nounced by the doge himself, when he was so much astounded by the intelligence that he was obliged to ask the secretary of the senate, who accompanied him home, the particulars of what the doge had said, as his ideas were so confused at the time that he had not perfectly comprehended itIstoria Viniziana, lib. 2, pp. 128, 129.*"
* [The account given by Bembo is based apparently on that of the contemporary Venetian diarist Malipiero, whose Annali Veneti have been published in the Archivio storico Italiano, torn. viii. But the veracity of Comines in this, as in other cases in which it has been hastily impugned, can be established on the highest possible authority. The minutes of the Venetian senate at this period are still preserved in the so-called " Secret Archives," and it is there recorded that on the 30th of March, the day before the treaty was signed, the French ambassador presented hi7nsel_f before the senate and urged tne inex¬ pediency of the league,—' dnnostrava l'inutilith della lega." See Romanin, Storia documentata di Venezia, torn. v. (Venezia, 1856). Ills consternation when informed, in the public audience to which he was summoned two days later, that the treaty had been concluded on the previous evening, is admitted by himself. It proceeded not from any previous ignorance of the negotiations, but from a natural inference
EXPEDITION OF CHARLES VIII
i
i
393
on the ears of the French in Naples. It dispelled the dream of idle dissipation in which they were dissolved. They felt little concern, indeed, on the score of their Italian enemies, whom their easy victories taught them to regard with the same insolent contempt thai the paladins of romance are made to feel for the unknightly rabble, myriads of whom they could overturn with a single lance. But they felt serious alarm as they beheld the storm of war gathering from other quarters,— from Spain and Germany, in defiance of the treaties by which they had hoped to secure the neutrality of those powers. Charles saw the necessity of instant action. Two courses presented themselves; either to strengthen fiimself in his new conquests, and prepare to maintain them until he could receive fresh reinforcements from home, or to abandon them altogether and retreat across the Alps before the allies could muster in sufficient strength to oppose him. With the indiscretion characteristic of his whole enterprise, he embraced a middle course, and lost the advantages which would have resulted from the exclusive adoption of either.
The principal light by which we are to be guided through the remainder of this ÿÿhistory is the Aragonese annalist, Zurita, whose great work, although less known abroad than those of some more recent Castilian writers, sustains a reputation at home unsur¬ passed by any other in the great, substantial qualities of an historian. The m*tice of his life and writings has been swelled into a bulky quarto by Dr. Diego Dormer, m a •work entitled "Progressos de la Historia en el Reyno de Aragon. Zaragoza, 1680;" from which Iextract a few particulars. Geronimo Zurita, descended from an ancient and noble family, was born at Saragossa, December 4th, 1512. He was matriculated at an early age in the university of Alcala. He there made extraordinary proficiency, under the immediate instruction of the learned Nunez de Guzman, commonly called El Pinciano. He became familiar with the ancient and a variety of modern tongues, and attracted particular attention by the purity and elegance of his Latinity. His personal merits, and his father's influence, recom¬ mended him, soon after quitting the university, to the notice of the emperor Charles V. He was consulted and employed in affairs of public importance, and subsequently raised So several posts of honour, attesting the entire confidence reposed in his integrity and abilities. His most honourable appointment, however, was that of national historio¬ grapher. In 1547, an act passed the cortes general of Aragon, providing for the office of national chronicler, with a fixed salary, whose duty it should be to compile, from authentic sources, a faithful history of the monarchy. The talents and eminent qualifications of that the preparations to give effect to the agreement were in a more advanced state than was actually the case, and from consequent alarm for the safety of the king. ("J'avoye le coeur serre et estoye en grant doubte de la personne du Roy et de toute sa compaignie, et cuydoye leur cas plus prest qu'il n'estoit. ") It would have been strange indeed if so astute a diplomatist had observed the extraordinary conflux of envoys at Venice and found himself excluded from their conclaves, without, as Bembo pretends, "having the least suspicion of what was going on." The ignorance was on the side of the diarists, who knew only of the public audience to which Comines was summoned, not of the previous private one of his own seeking. The fragments which have been preserved of his correspondence at this period, and two letters of the duke of Orleans to the duke of Bourbon, attest his activity in gathering information and communicating It to his master, besides confirming particulars mentioned in his memoirs. (See Mile. Dupont's edition, torn, iii., preuves.) Nor is it just to say that he "takes great credit to himself for his perspicacity in detecting the secret negotiations." He merely tells us that he had good means of prpcuring information, which he paid for, and he says that the king received similar warnings from W ÿagents at Rome and Milan.— Ed. 1
_
394
ITALIAN WATS.
Zurita recommended him to this post, and he was raised to it by the unanimous consent of the legislature, in the following year, 1548. From this time he conscientiously devoted himself to the execution of his great task. He visited every part of his own country, as well as Sicily and Italy, for the purpose of collecting materials. The public archives, and every accessible source of information, were freely thrown open to his inspection by order of the government ; and he returned from his literary pilgrimage with a large accumulation of rare and original documents. The first portion of his annals was published at Saragossa, in two volumes folio, 1562. The work was not completed until nearly twenty years later, and the last two volumes were printed under nis own eye at Saragossa, in 1580, a few months only before his death. This edition, being one of those used in the present history, is in large folio, fairly executed, with. double columns on the page, in the fashion of most of the ancient Spanish historians. The whole work was again published, as before, at the expense of the state, in 1585, by his son, amended and somewhat enlarged, from the manuscripts left by his father. Bonterwek has fallen into the error of supposing that no edition of Zurita's Annals appeared till after the reign of Philip II., who died in 1592. (Geschichte der Poesie und Beredsamkeit, Band iii. S. 319.) No incidents worthy of note seem to have broken the peaceful tenor of Zurita's life, which he terminated at Saragossa, in the sixty-eighth year of his age, in the monastery of Santa Engracia, to which he had retired during a temporary residence in the city, to superintend the publication of his Annals. Hisrich collection of books and manuscripts was left to the Carthusian monastery of Aula Dei ; but, from accident or neglect, the greater part have long since perished. His remains were interred in the convent where he died, and a monument, bearing a modest inscription, was erected over them by his son. The best monument of Zurita, however, is his Annals. They take up the history of Aragon from its first rise after the Arabic conquest, and continue it to the death of Ferdinand the Catholic. The reign of this prince, as possessing the largest interest and importance, is expanded into two volumes folio ; being one-third of the whole work. The minuteness of Zurita's investigations has laid him open to the charge of prolixity, especially in the earlier and less important periods. It should be remembered, however, that his work was to be the great national repository of facts, interesting to his own countrymen, but which, from difficulty of access to authentic sources, could never before be fully exhibited to their inspection. But, whatever be thought of his redundancy in this or the subsequent parts of his narrative, it must be admitted that he has uniformly and emphatically directed the attention of the reader to the topics most worthy of it ; sparing no pains to illustrate the constitutional antiquities of the country, and to trace the gradual formation of her liberal polity, instead of wasting his strength on mere superficial gossip, like most of the chroniclers of the period. There is no Spanish historian less swayed by party or religious prejudice, or by the feeling of nationality, which is so apt to overflow in the loyal effusions of the Castilian writers. This laudable temperance, indeed, has brought on him the rebuke of more than one of his patriotic countrymen. There is a sobriety and coolness in his estimate of historical evidence, equally removed from temerity on the one hand, and credulity on the other ; in short, his whole manner is that of a man conversant with public business and free from the closest pedantry which too often characterizes the monkish annalists. Ihe greater part of his life was passed under the reign of Charles V., when the spirit of the nation was not yet broken by arbitrary power, nor debased by the melancholy super¬ stition which settled on it under his successor ; an age in which the memory of ancient liberty had not wholly faded away, and when, if men did not dare express all they thought, they at least thought with a degree of independence which gave a masculine character to their expression. In this, as well as in the liberality of his religious sentiments, he may be compared favourably with his celebrated countryman Mariana, who, educated in the cloister, and at a period when the nation was schooled to maxims of despotism, exhibits-
f
CAMPAIGNS OF GONSAL VO.
395
few glimpses of the sound criticism and reflection which are to be found in the writings of his Aragonese rival. The seductions of style, however, the more fastidious selection of incidents, in short, the superior graces of narration, have given a wider fame to the former, whose works have passed into most of the cultivated languages of Europe, while those of Zurita remain, as far as Iam aware , still undisturbed in the vernacular.
CHAPTER II. ITALIAN WARS.
— RETREAT OF CHARLES VIII.— CAMPAIGNS OF GONSALVO DE
CORDOVA.
—
FINAL EXPULSION OF THE FRENCH.
1495-1496.
— —
— —
—
Impolitic Conduct of Charles. He plunders the Works of Art. Gonsalvo de Cordova. His Brilliant Qualities. Raised to the Italian Command. Battle of Seminara.— Gonsalvo's Successes. Decline of the French. He receives the Title of Great Captain.— Expulsion of the French from Italy.
—
—
Charles the Eighth might have found abundant occupation, during his brief residence at Naples, in placing the kingdom in a proper posture of defence, and in conciliating the goodwill of the inhabitants, without which he could scarcely hope to maintain himself permanently in his conquest. So far from this, however, he showed the utmost aversion to business, wasting his hours, as has been already noticed, in the most frivolous amusements. He treated the great feudal aristocracy of the country with utter neglect ; rendering himself difficult of access, and lavishing all dignities and emoluments with partial prodigality on his French subjects. His followers disgusted the nation still further by their insolence and unbridled licentiousness. The people naturally called to mind the virtues of the exiled Ferdinand, whose temperate rule they con¬ trasted with the rash and rapacious conduct of their new masters. The spirit of discontent spread more widely, as the French were too thinly scattered to enforce subordination. A correspondence was entered into with Ferdinand in Sicily, and in a short time several of the most consider¬ able cities of the kingdom openly avowed their allegiance to the house of. Aragon.1 In the meantime, Charles and his nobles, satiated with a life of inactivity and pleasure, and feeling that they had accomplished the great object of the expedition, began to look with longing eyes towards their own country. Their impatience was converted into anxiety on receiving tidings of the coalition mustering in the north. Charles, however, took care to secure
—
1 Comines, Memoires, liv. 7, chap. 17. Summonte, Hist, di Napoli, torn. iii. lib. 6, cap. 2.— Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, lib. ag, cap. a.
396
ITALIAN WARS.
to himself some of the spoils of victory, in a manner which we have seen
practised on a much greater scale by his countrymen in our day. He collected the various works of art with which Naples was adorned, pre¬ cious antiques, sculptured marble and alabaster, gates of bronze curiously wrought, and such architectural ornaments as were capable of transporta¬ tion, and caused them to be embarked on board his fleet for the south of France, "endeavouring," says the Curate of Los Palacios, "to build up his own renown on the ruins of the kings of Naples, of glorious memory." His vessels, however, did not reach their place of destination, but were captured by a Biscayan and Genoese fleet off Pisa.1 Charles had entirely failed in his application to Pope Alexander the Sixth for a recognition of his right to Naples by a formal act of investiture.2 He determined, however, to go through the ceremony of a coronation ; and on the 12th of May he made his public entrance into the city, arrayed in splendid robes of scarlet and ermine, with the imperial diadem on his head, a sceptre in one hand, and a globe, the symbol of universal sovereignty, in the other ; while the adulatory populace saluted his royal ear with the august title of Emperor. After the conclusion of this farce, tie made preparations for his instant departure from Naples. On the 20th of May he set out on his homeward march, at the head of one-half of his army, amounting in all to not more than nine thousand fighting-men. The other half was left for the defence of his new conquest. This arrangement was highly impolitic, since he neither took with him enough to cover his retreat, nor left enough to secure the preservation of Naples.3 It is not necessary to follow the French army in its retrograde move¬ ment through Italy. It is enough to say that this was not conducted with sufficient despatch to anticipate the junction of the allied forces, who assembled to dispute its passage on the banks of the Taro, near Fornovo. An action was there fought, in which King Charles, at the head of his loyal chivalry, achieved such deeds of heroism as shed a lustre over his ill-concerted enterprise, and which, if they did not gain him an undisputed victory, secured the fruits of it, by enabling him to effect his retreat with¬ out further molestation. At Turin he entered into negotiation with the calculating duke of Milan, which terminated in the treaty of Vercelli, October 10th, 1495. By this treaty Charles obtained no other advantage than that of detaching his cunning adversary from the coalition. The 1 Bernaldez, Reyes Cat<51icos, MS., cap.
lib. 6, cap.
Summonte, Hist, di Napoli, torn. iii. 140-143. Cicero, in his charges against Verres, makes a a.—According to Giannone (Istoria di Napoli, —remark respecting the Greeks that may well apply cap. 2), he did the investiture from to the plundered Italians of Charles VIII. 's day and
our own : "Deinde hie ornatus, haec opera, atque
artificia, signa, tabulae pictae, Graecos homines nimio opere delectant. Itaque ex illorum querimoniis intelligere possumus haec illis acerbissima videri, quae nobis forsitan levia et contemnenda esse videantur. Mihi credite, judices, cum multas acceperint per hosce annos socii atque exterae nationes calamitates et injurias, nullas Graeci homines gravius tulerunt nec ferunt, quam hujuscemodi spoliationes fanorum -.atque oppidorum."— Actio ii. lib. 4, cap. 59
2
lit).
the obtain pope ; but this statement is contradicted by several, and confirmed by none, of the authorities Ihave consulted. 3 Brantome, Hommes illustres, CEuvres, tom-iiIn PP* 3-5- — Comines, Memoires, liv. 8, chap. 2. particulars of the coronation are recorded with punc¬ o secretary tilious precision by Andre de la Vigne, Queen Anne. (Hist, de Charles VIII., P- 201*/ Daru has confounded this farce with Chanes original entry into Naples in Februarv Hirt. Venise, torn. iii. liv. 20, p. 247
29,
CAMPAIGNS OP GONSALVO.
397
Venetians, although refusing to accede to it, made no opposition to any arrangement which would expedite the removal of their formidable foe beyond the Alps. This was speedily accomplished ; and Charles, yielding to his own impatience and that of his nobles, recrossed that mountain rampart which nature has so ineffectually provided for the security of Italy, and reached Grenoble with his army on the 27th of the month. Once more restored to his own dominions, the young monarch abandoned himself without reserve to the licentious pleasures to which he was passionately addicted, forgetting alike his dreams of ambition, and the brave companions-in-arms whom he had deserted in Italy. Thus ended this memorable expedition, which, though crowned with complete success, was attended with no other permanent result to its authors than that of
opening the way to those disastrous wars which wasted the resources of their country for a great part of the sixteenth century.1 Charles the Eighth had left as his viceroy in Naples Gilbert de Bourbon, duke of Montpensier, a prince of the blood, and a brave and loyal noble¬ man, but of slender military capacity, and so fond of his bed, says Comines, that he seldom left it before noon. The command of the forces in Calabria was intrusted to M. d'Aubigny, a Scottish cavalier of the house of Stuart, raised by Charles to the dignity of grand constable of France. He was so much esteemed for his noble and chivalrous qualities that he was styled by the annalists of that day, says Brantome, "grand chevalier sans reproche." He had large experience in military matters, and was reputed one of the best officers in the French service. Besides these principal commanders, there were others of subordinate rank stationed at the head of small detachments on different points of the kingdom, and especially in the fortified cities along the coasts.2 Scarcely had Charles the Eighth quitted Naples, when his rival, Fer¬ dinand, who had already completed his preparations in Sicily, made a descent on the southern extremity of Calabria. He was supported in this by the Spanish levies under the admiral Requesens and Gonsalvo of Cordova, who reached Sicily in the month of May. As the latter of these commanders was destined to act a most conspicuous part in the Italian wars, it may not be amiss to give some account of his early life. Gonzalo Fernandez de Cordova, or Aguilar, as he is sometimes styled from the territorial title assumed by his branch of the family, was born at Montilla in 1453. His father died early, leaving two sons, Alonso de Aguilar, whose name occurs in some of the most brilliant passages of the war of Granada, and Gonsalvo, three years younger than his brother. During the troubled reigns of John the Second and Henry the Fourth, 1 Villeneuve, Mdmoires, apud Petitot, Collection de Mdmoires, torn. xiv. pp. 262, 263. Flassan, Diplomatic Frangaise, torn i. pp. 267-269.— Comines, Les conMemoires, liv. 8, chap. 10-12, 18. quetes," observes Montesquieu, " sont aisees a faire, par>ce qu'on les fait avec toutes ses forces ; elles sont
—
—"
difliciles h conserver, parce qu'on ne les defend qu'avec une partie de ses forces."—Grandeur et Decadence des Romains, chap. 4. 2 Comines, Memoires, liv. 8, chap. 1. BrantSme, — Hommes illustres, torn. ii. p. 59.
ITALIAN WARS.
598
the city of Cordova was divided by the feuds of the rival families of Cabra and Aguilar ; and it is reported that the citizens of the latter faction, after the loss of their natural leader, Gonsalvo's father, used to testify their loyalty to his house by bearing the infant children along with them in their rencontres : thus Gonsalvo may be said to have been literally nursed amid the din of battle.1 On the breaking out of the civil wars, the two brothers attached them¬ selves to the fortunes of Alfonso and Isabella. At their court the young Gonsalvo soon attracted attention by the uncommon beauty of his person, his polished manners, and proficiency in all knightly exercises. He indulged in a profuse magnificence in his apparel, equipage, and general style of living; a circumstance which, accompanied with his brilliant qualities, gave him the title at the court of elprincipe de los cavalleros, the prince of cavaliers. This carelessness of expense, indeed, called forth more than once the affectionate remonstrance of his brother Alonso, who, as the elder son, had inherited the mayorazgo, or family estate, and who provided liberally for Gonsalvo's support. He served during the Portu¬ guese war under Alonso de Cardenas, grand master of St James, and was honoured with the public commendations of his general for his signal display of valour at the battle of Albuera; where, it was remarked, the young hero incurred an unnecessary degree of personal hazard by the ostentatious splendour of his armour. Of this commander, and of the count of Tendilla, Gonsalvo always spoke with the greatest deference, acknowledging that he had learnt the rudiments of war from them.2 The long war of Granada, however, was the great school in which his military discipline was perfected. He did not, it is true, occupy so eminent a position in these campaigns as some other chiefs of riper years and more enlarged experience; but on various occasions he displayed uncommon proofs both of address and valour. He particularly dis¬ tinguished himself at the capture of Tajara, Illora, and Monte Frio. At the last place he headed the scaling-party, and was the first to mount the walls in the face of the enemy. He wellnigh closed his career in a midnight skirmish before Granada, which occurred a short time before the end of the war. In the heat of the struggle his horse was slain ; and Gonsalvo, unable to extricate himself from the morass in which he was entangled, would have perished, but for a faithful servant of the family, who mounted him on his own horse, briefly commending to his master the care of his wife and children. Gonsalvo escaped, but his brave lollower paid for his loyalty with his life. At the conclusion of the war, he was selected, together with Ferdinand's secretary Zafra, in consequence of his plausible address and his familiarity with the Arabic, to conduct the negotiation with the Moorish government. He was secretly introHer,n*nd°' lib-kwio Vita Magni Gonsalvi, lib. iovio,
3> cap. 7- |
i. pp.
204,
2
Pulgar, Sumario de las Hazanas del Gran
(Madrid, 1834), p. 145- — Giovio, Vita | Capitan Magni et seq.
I
Gonsalvi, lib. 1, pp. 205
CAMPAIGNS OF GONSALVO.
399
duced for this purpose by night into Granada, and finally succeeded in arranging the terms of capitulation with the unfortunate Abdallah, as has been already stated. In consideration of his various services, the Spanish sovereigns granted him a pension and a large landed estate in the con¬ quered territory.1 After the war, Gonsalvo remained with the court, and his high reputation and brilliant exterior made him one of the most distinguished ornaments of the royal circle. His manners displayed all the romantic gallantry characteristic of the age, of which the following, among other instances, is recorded. The queen accompanied her daughter Joanna on board the fleet which was to bear her to Flanders, the country of her destined husband. After bidding adieu to the infanta, Isabella returned in her boat to the shore ; but the waters were so swollen that it was found difficult to make good a footing for her on the beach. As the sailors were preparing to drag the bark higher up the strand, Gonsalvo, who was present, and dressed, as the Castilian historians are careful to inform us, in a rich suit of brocade and crimson velvet, unwilling that the person of his royal mistress should be profaned by the touch of such rude hands, waded into the water, and bore the queen in his arms to the shore, amid the shouts and plaudits of the spectators. The incident may form a counterpart to the well-known anecdote of Sir Walter Raleigh.2 Isabella's long and intimate acquaintance with Gonsalvo enabled her to form a correct estimate of his great talents. When the Italian expedition was resolved on, she instantly fixed her eyes on him as the most suitable person to conduct it. She knew that he possessed the qualities essential to success in a new and difficult enterprise,— courage, constancy, singular prudence, dexterity in negotiation, and inexhaustible fertility of resource. She accordingly recommended him, without hesita¬ tion, to her husband, as the commander of the Italian army. He approved her choice, although it seems to have caused no little surprise at the court, which, notwithstanding the favour in which Gonsalvo was held by the sovereigns, was not prepared to see him advanced over the heads of veterans of so much riper years and higher military renown than himself, The event proved the sagacity of Isabella.3 The part of the squadron destined to convey the new general to Sicily was made ready for sea in the spring of 1495. After a tempestuous
—
1 Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 90. Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, lib. 1, pp. 211, 212. Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, torn. iiL cap. 42. Quintana, Espanoles cdlebres, torn. i. pp. 207-216. Pulgar, Sumario, p. 193. Florian has given circulation to a popular error by his romance of Gonsalve de Cordoue," where the young warrior is made to play a part he is by no means entitled to, as hero of the Granadine war. Graver writers, who cannot lawfully plead the privilege of romancing, have committed the same error. See, among others, Varillas, Politique de Ferdinand, p. 3. 1 Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, p. 214. — Chronica Gran Capitan Gonzalo Hernandez de Cordova
—
— "
—
—
y Aguilar (Alcald de Henares, 1584), cap. 23. Another example of his gallantry occurred during
the Granadine war, when the fire of Santa Fe had — consumed the royal with the greater part of the tent,
queen's apparel and other valuable effects. Gon¬ salvo, on learning the disaster at his castle of Mora, supplied the queen so abundantly from the magnificent wardrobe of his wife, Dona Maria Manrique, as led Isabella pleasantly to remark that "the fire had done more execution in his quarters than in her own." Pulgar, Sumario, p. 187. 3 Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalri, p. 214. Chrdnica
del Gran Capitan, cap. 23.
—
400
ITALIAN WARS.
voyage, tie reached Messina on the 24th of May. He found that Ferdinand of Naples had already begun operations in Calabria, where he had occupied Reggio with the assistance of the admiral Requesens, who reached Sicily with a part ot the armament a short time previous to Gonsalvo's arrival. The whole effective force of the Spaniards did not exceed six hundred lances and fifteen hundred foot, besides those employed in the fleet, amounting to about three thousand five hundred more. The finances of Spain had been too freely drained in the late Moorish war to authorize any extraordinary expenditure ; and Ferdinand designed to assist his kinsman rather with his name than with any great accession of numbers. Preparations, however, were going forward for raising additional levies, especially among the hardy peasantry of the Asturias and Galicia, on which the war of Granada had fallen less heavily than on the south.1 On the 26th of May, Gonsalvo de Cordova crossed over to Reggio in Calabria, where a plan of operations was concerted between him and the Neapolitan monarch. Before opening the campaign, several strong places in the province, which owed allegiance to the Aragonese family, were placed in the hands of the Spanish general, as security for the reimburse¬ ment of expenses incurred by his government in the war. As Gonsalvo placed little reliance on his Calabrian or Sicilian recruits, he was obliged to detach a considerable part of his Spanish forces to garrison these
places.2 The presence of their monarch revived the dormant loyalty of his Calabrian subjects. They thronged to his standard, till at length he found himself at the head of six thousand men, chiefly composed of the. raw militia of the country. He marched at once with Gonsalvo on St. Agatha, which opened its gates without resistance. He then directed his course towards Seminara, a place of some strength about eight leagues from Reggio. On his way he cut in pieces a detachment of French on its march to reinforce the garrison there. Seminara imitated the example of: St Agatha, and, receiving the Neapolitan army without opposition., unfurled the standard of Aragon on its walls. While this was going forward, Antonio Grimani, the Venetian admiral, scoured the easterncoasts of the kingdom with a fleet of four-and-twenty galleys, and, attack1Zurita, Hist, del Rey Hernando, lib. a, cap. 7,
3
torn. ii. lib. 26, cap. • 2,
de Espana, 24. Mariana, i. p. Quintana, Espafioles celebres, — — Zurita, Hist, del Rey Hernando, lib. cap. 7 —Chrdnica del Gran Capitan, ubi supra.— Giovio, in — The occupation of these places by Gonsalvo torn.
222.
his biography of Gonsalvo, estimates these forces at 5000 foot and 600 horse, which last in his History he raises to 700. Ihave followed Zurita, as presenting the more probable statement, and as generally more accurate in all that relates to his own nation. It is a hopeless task to attempt to reconcile the manifold inaccuracies, contradictions, and discrepancies which perplex the narratives of the writers on both sides, in everything relating to numerical estimates. The difficulty is greatly increased by the extremely vague application of the term la?tce, as we meet with it in¬ cluding six, four, and three, or even a less number of followers, as the case might be.
10.
Hist,
excited the pope's jealousy as to the design ot trie Spanish sovereigns. In consequence of his remon¬ strances, the Castilian envoy, Garcilasso de la Vega, was instructed to direct Gonsalvo that, " in case any inferior places had been since put into his hands, tie should restore them ; if they were pf importance. however, he was first to confer with his own goveinment." King Ferdinand, as Abaroe assures nu readers, " was unwilling to give cause of complain to any one, unless he were greatly a gainer by tt.
—
Reyes de Aragon, rey 30, cap. 8. Zurita, Hist. Rey Hernando, torn. v. lib. 2, cap. 8.
CAMPAIGNS OP GONSALVO.
401
ing the strong town of Monopoli, in the possession of the French, put the greater part of the garrison to the sword. D'Aubigny, who lay at this time with an inconsiderable body of French troops in the south of Calabria, saw the necessity of some vigorous movement to check the further progress of the enemy. He determined to concentrate his forces, scattered through the province, and march against Ferdinand, in the hope of bringing him to a decisive action. For this purpose, in addition to the garrisons dispersed among the prin¬ cipal towns, he summoned to his aid the forces, consisting principally of Swiss infantry, stationed in the Basilicate under Pr£cy, a brave young cavalier, esteemed one of the best officers in the French service. After the arrival of this reinforcement, aided by the levies of the Angevin barons, D'Aubigny, whose effective strength now greatly surpassed that of his adversary, directed his march towards Seminara. ] Ferdinand, who had received no intimation of his adversary's junction with Prdcy, and who considered him much inferior to himself in numbers, no sooner heard of his approach than he determined to march out at once, before he could reach Seminara and give him battle. Gonsalvo was of a different opinion. His own troops had too little experience in war with the French and Swiss veterans to make him willing to risk all on the chances of a single battle. The Spanish heavy-armed cavalry, indeed, were a match for any in Europe, and were even said to surpass every other in the beauty and excellence of their appointments, at a period when arms were finished to luxury.2 He had but a handful of these, however ; by far the greatest part of his cavalry consisting of ginetes, or light-armed troops, of inestimable service in the wild guerilla warfare to which they had been accustomed in Granada, but obviously incapable of coping with the iron gendarmerie of France. He felt some distrust, too, in bringing his little corps of infantry without further preparation, armed, as they were, only with short swords and bucklers, and much reduced, as has been already stated, in number, to encounter the formidable phalanx of Swiss pikes. As for the Calabrian levies, he did not place the least reliance on them. At all events, he thought it prudent, before coming to action, to obtain more accurate information than they now possessed of the actual strength of the enemy.3 In all this, however, he was overruled by the impatience of Ferdinand and his followers. The principal Spanish cavaliers, indeed, as well as the Italian, among whom may be found names which afterwards rose to high distinction in these wars, urged Gonsalvo to lay aside his scruples ; repre¬ senting the impolicy of showing any distrust of their own strength at this
*
— — — — — pp. 88, 92. — Chronica del Gran
1 Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, pp. 215-217. de Cambray, introd., p. 58. Idem, Hist, sui Temporis, pp. 83-85. Bembo, Ligue ÿ Zurita, Hist, del Rey Hernando, ib. a, cap. J. Istoria Viniziana, lib. 3, pp. 160, 185. Zurita, Hist. Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, ub» supra. del Rey Hernando, hb. 2, cap. 8. Guicciardini,
Istoria, lib. 2, Capitan, cap. 25.
7 C
ITALIAN WARS.
402
crisis, and of balking the ardour of their soldiers, now hot for action. The Spanish chief, though far from being convinced, yielded to these earnest remonstrances, and King Ferdinand led out his little army without further delay against the enemy. After traversing a chain of hills stretching in an easterly direction from Seminara, at the distance of about three miles he arrived before a small stream, on the plains beyond which he discerned the French army in rapid advance against him. He resolved to await its approach ; and, taking position on the slope of the hills towards the river, he drew up his horse on the right wing, and his infantry on the left.1 The French generals, D'Aubigny and Prÿcy, putting themselves at the head of their cavalry on the left, consisting of about four hundred heavyarmed and twice as many light-horse, dashed into the water without hesitation. Their right was occupied by the bristling phalanx of Swiss spearmen in close array ; behind these were the militia of the country. The Spanish ginetes succeeded in throwing the French gendarmerie into some disorder before it could form after crossing the stream ; but no sooner was this accomplished than the Spaniards, incapable of withstand¬ ing the charge of their enemy, suddenly wheeled about and precipitately retreated, with the intention of again returning on their assailants, after the fashion of the Moorish tactics. The Calabrian militia, not compre¬ hending this manoeuvre, interpreted it into a defeat. They thought the battle lost, and, seized with a panic, broke their ranks and fled to a man before the Swiss infantry had time so much as to lower its lances against them.
King Ferdinand in vain attempted to rally the dastardly fugitives. The French cavalry was soon upon them, making frightful slaughter in their ranks. The young monarch, whose splendid arms and towering plumes made him a conspicuous mark in the field, was exposed to imminent peril. He had broken his lance in the body of one of the foremost of the French cavaliers, when his horse fell under him, and as his feet were entangled in the stirrups, he would inevitably have perished in the mel£e, but for the prompt assistance of a young nobleman named Juan de Altavilla, who mounted his master on his own horse and calmly awaited the approach of the enemy, by whom he was immediately slain. Instances of this affect¬ ing loyalty and self-devotion not unfrequently occur in these wars, throwing a melancholy grace over the darker and more ferocious features of the time.2 Gonsalvo was seen in the thickest of the fight, long after the king's escape, charging the enemy briskly at the head of his handful of Spaniards, not in the hope of retrieving the day, but of covering the flight of the 2i6, Chronica del Gran Capitan, cap. s(- — — Chronica del Gran Capitan, cap. 24.— Quin¬ Hist, di Napoli, torn. ni. lib. 6, cap. —Guicciar-
1 Giorio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, lib. i, pp. 2 '7-
tan a, Espafioles cdlebres, torn. i. pp.
a Giovio, Hist, sui Temporis, lib. 123-227. pp. 3,
Sinnmonte,
_
83-85.
2.
dini, Istoria, lib. 3, p. ua.—Garibay, Compendio, torn. ii. lib. ig, p. 6go.
CAMPAIGNS OF GONSALVO.
«,
k
*
>
s
403
panic-struck Neapolitans. At length he was borne along by the rushing tide, and succeeded in bringing off the greater part of his cavalry safe to Seminara. Had the French followed up the blow, the greater part of the royal army, with probably King Ferdinand and Gonsalvo at its head, would have fallen into their hands ; and thus not only the fate of the campaign, "but of Naples itself, would have been permanently decided by this battle. Fortunately, the French did not understand so well how to use a victory as how to gain it. They made no attempt to pursue. This is imputed to the illness of their general, D'Aubigny, occasioned by the extreme unhealthiness of the climate. He was too feeble to sit long on his horse, and was removed into a litter as soon as the action was decided. Whatever was the cause, the victors by this inaction suffered the golden fruits of victory to escape them. Ferdinand made his escape on the same day on board a vessel which conveyed him back to Sicily ; and Gonsalvo, on the following morning before break of day, effected his retreat across the mountains to Reggio, at the head of four hundred Spanish lances. Thus terminated the first battle of importance in which Gonsalvo of Cordova held a distinguished command, the only one which he lost during his long and fortunate career. Its loss, however, attached no dis¬ credit to him, since it was entered into in manifest opposition to his judg¬ ment. On the contrary, his conduct throughout this affair tended greatly to establish his reputation, by showing him to be no less prudent in council than bold in action.1 King Ferdinand, far from being disheartened by this defeat, gained new confidence from his experience of the favourable dispositions existing towards him in Calabria. Relying on a similar feeling of loyalty in his capital, he determined to hazard a bold stroke for its recovery, and that, too, instantly, before his late discomfiture should have time to operate on the spirits of his partisans. He accordingly embarked at Messina, with a handful of troops only, on board the fleet of the Spanish admiral, Requesens. It amounted in all to eighty vessels, most of them of incon¬ siderable size. With this armament, which, notwithstanding its formidable show, carried little effective force for land operations, the adventurous young monarch appeared off the harbour of Naples before the end of
June.
Charles's viceroy, the duke of Montpensier, at that time garrisoned Naples with six thousand French troops. On the appearance of the Spanish navy, he marched out to prevent Ferdinand's landing, leaving a few only of his soldiers to keep the city in awe. But he had scarcely quitted it before the inhabitants, who had waited with impatience an opportunity for throwing off the yoke, sounded the tocsin, and, rising to arms through every part of the city and massacring the feeble remains of 1
—
Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 1, p. 112. Giovio, Hist, sui Temporis, lib. 3, p. 85. — Lanuza, Historias,
torn. i. lib. 1, cap. 7.
4°4
ITALIAN WARS.
the garrison, shut the gates against him ; while Ferdinand, who had succeeded in drawing off the French commander in another direction, no sooner presented himself before the walls than he was received with transports of joy by the enthusiastic people.1 The French, however, though excluded from the city, by making a circuit effected an entrance into the fortresses which commanded it. From these posts Montpensier sorely annoyed the town, making frequent attacks on it, day and night, at the head of his gendarmerie, until they were at length checked in every direction by barricades which the citizens hastily constructed with waggons, casks of stones, bags of sand, and whatever came most readily to hand. At the same time, the windows, balconies, and house-tops were crowded with combatants, who poured down such a deadly shower of missiles on the heads of the French as finally compelled them to take shelter in their defences. Montpensier was now closely besieged, till at length, reduced by famine, he was compelled to capitulate. Before the term prescribed for his surrender had arrived, however, he effected his escape at night, by water, to Salerno, at the head of twentyfive hundred men. The remaining garrison, with the fortresses, submitted to the victorious Ferdinand in the beginning of the following year. And thus, by one of those sudden turns which belong to the game of war, the exiled prince, whose fortunes a few weeks before had appeared perfectly desperate, was again established in the palace of his ancestors.2 Montpensier did not long remain in his new quarters. He saw the necessity of immediate action, to counteract the alarming progress of the enemy. He quitted Salerno before the end of winter, strengthening his army by such reinforcements as he could collect from every quarter of the country. With this body he directed his course towards Apulia, with the intention of bringing Ferdinand, who had already established his head¬ quarters there, to a decisive engagement. Ferdinand's force, however, was so far inferior to that of his antagonist as to compel him to act on the defensive until he had been reinforced by a considerable body of troops from Venice. The two armies were then so equally matched that neither cared to hazard all on the chances of a battle ; and the campaign wasted away in languid operations, which led to no important result. In the meantime, Gonsalvo de Cordova was slowly fighting his way up through southern Calabria. The character of the country, rough and mountainous, like the Alpujarras, and thickly sprinkled with fortified places, enabled him to bring into play the tactics which he had learned in the war of Granada. He made little use of heavy-armed troops, relying on his ginetcs, and still more on his foot ; taking care, however, to avoid any direct encounter with the dreaded Swiss battalions. He made amends
_
1 Summonte, Hist, di Napoli, torn. vi. p. 519. Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 2, pp. 113, 114.— Giovio
Villeneuve!
Hist, sui Temporis, lib. 3, pp. 87, 88.—
Memoires, ap'-d Petitot, Collection dcs Memoires,
torn. xiv. pp. 264, 263.
8 Gioyio, Hist, sui Temporis, lib. 3, pp. 88-90, 114-119. Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. a, pp. Summonte, Hist, di Napoli, torn. vi. pp. 52°> 531.
—
—
CAMPAIGNS OP GONSALVO. for paucity of numbers and want of real strength by rapidity of movement and the wily tactics of Moorish warfare ; darting on the enemy where least expected, surprising his strongholds at dead of night, entangling him in ambuscades, and desolating the country with those terrible forays whose effects he had so often witnessed on the fair vegas of Granada. He adopted the policy practised by his master, Ferdinand the Catholic, in the Moorish war, lenient to the submissive foe, but wreaking terrible vengeance on such as resisted.1 The French were sorely disconcerted by these irregular operations, so unlike anything to which they were accustomed in European warfare. They were further disheartened by the continued illness of D'Aubigny, and by the growing disaffection of the Calabrians, who in the southern provinces contiguous to Sicily were particularly well inclined to Spain. Gonsalvo, availing himself of these friendly dispositions, pushed forward his successes, carrying one stronghold after another, until by the end of the year he had overrun the whole of Lower Calabria. His progress would have been still more rapid but for the serious embarrassments which he experienced from want of supplies. He had received some reinforcements from Sicily, but very few from Spain ; while the boasted Galician levies, instead of fifteen hundred, had dwindled to scarcely three hundred men ; who arrived in the most miserable plight, destitute of clothing and munitions of every kind. He was compelled to weaken still further his inadequate force by garrisoning the conquered places, most of which, however, he was obliged to leave without any defence at all. In addition to this, he was so destitute of the necessary funds for the pay¬ ment of his troops that he was detained nearly two months at Nicastro, until February 1496, when he received a remittance from Spain. After this, he resumed operations with such vigour that by the end of the follow¬ ing spring he had reduced all Upper Calabria, with the exception of a small corner of the province, in which D'Aubigny still maintained himself. At this crisis he was summoned from the scene of his conquests to the support of the king of Naples, who lay encamped before Atella, a town intrenched among the Apennines, on the western borders of the
Basilicate.2 The campaign of the preceding winter had terminated without any decisive results, the two armies of Montpensier and King Ferdinand having continued in sight of each other without ever coming to action. These protracted operations were fatal to the French. Their few supplies were intercepted by the peasantry of the country ; their Swiss and German mercenaries mutinied and deserted for want of pay ; and the Neapolitans in their service went off in great numbers, disgusted with the insolent and 2 Zurita, Hist, del Rey Hernando, lib. 2, cap. 1 Bembo, Istoria Viniziana, lib. 3, pp. 173, 174.— Chronica del Gran Capitan, cap. 26. — Giovio, Vita 11, 20.— Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 2, p. 140.— Magni Gonsalvi, lib. 1, p. 218.—Villeneuve, Mi- Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, lib. 1, pp. 219, 220. moires, p. 313. Sismondi, Republiques Italiennes, Chronica del Gran Capitan, cap. 25, 26.
—
torn. xii. p. 386.
—
ITALIAN WARS.
406
overbearing manners of their new allies. Charles the Eighth, in the meanwhile, was wasting his hours and health in the usual round of pro¬ fligate pleasures. From the moment of recrossing the Alps he seemed to have shut out Italy from his thoughts. He was equally insensible to the supplications of the few Italians at his court and the remonstrances of his French nobles, many of whom, although opposed to the first expedition, would willingly have undertaken a second to support their brave comrades, whom the heedless young monarch now abandoned to their fate.1 At length Montpensier, finding no prospect of relief from home, and straitened by the want of provisions, determined to draw off from the neighbourhood of Benevento, where the two armies lay encamped, and retreat to the fruitful province of Apulia, whose principal places were still garrisoned by the French. He broke up his camp secretly at dead of night, and gained a day's march on his enemy before the latter began his pursuit. This Ferdinand pushed with such vigour, however, that he over¬ took the retreating army at the town of Atella, and completely intercepted its further progress. This town, which, as already noticed, is situated on the western skirts of the Basilicate, lies in a broad valley encompassed by a lofty amphitheatre of hills, through which flows a little river, tributary to the Ofanto, watering the town and turning several mills which supplied it with flour. At a few miles' distance was the strong place of Ripa Candida, garrisoned by the French, through which Montpensier hoped to maintain his communications with the fertile regions of the interior. Ferdinand, desirous if possible to bring the war to a close by the capture of the whole French army, prepared for a vigorous blockade. He dis¬ posed his forces so as to intercept supplies by commanding the avenues to the town in every direction. He soon found, however, that his army, though considerably stronger than his rival's, was incompetent to this with¬ out further aid. He accordingly resolved to summon to his support Gonsalvo de Cordova, the fame of whose exploits now resounded through every part of the kingdom.2 1he Spanish general received Ferdinand's summons while encamped with his army at Castrovillari, in the north of Upper Calabria. It he complied with it, he saw himself in danger of losing all the fruits of his long campaign of victories, for his active enemy would not fail to profit by his absence to repair his losses. If he refused obedience, however, it might defeat the most favourable opportunity which had yet presented itself for bringing the war to a close. He resolved, therefore, at once to
______
ÿSt0rir'l.v. 8 chap 3epp- I4°' *37, 158. rades." (Ligue de Cambray, torn. i., <}Kert-Commes Memoires, 23. 24. -Peter prelim., p. 66.) Comines confirms the d.st.ncepiSt' ,u3- aa\i i>os discrimi¬ the yF?pUS «Bos discrimi- j tion, with a high tribute to the loyalty of cnaP : ?! nates between the character of the German levies Swiss, which has continued their honourable or landsknechts and the Swiss, in the 11V. rnrt>r;c>ÿ A.,., .v.. present day. MdmoireS. following racteristic 10 the dmoires, M terms: " Les lansquenets dtoient meme de coup mieux faits, generalement parlant, et debeau- 8, chap, ax. bien Giovio, Vita Magm Gonsalvi, lib. 1/ PP- 2i3> meilleure mine sous les amies, que les 28. Suisses ; mais ils etoient incapables de fantassins 210. Chronica del Gran Capitan, cap. Au contraire des Suisses, ils etoient sans discipline. Quintana, Espanoles celebres, torn. i. p- 2_2?-. Guic obeissance p. 184.— liembo, Istoria Viniziana, lib. 3, pour leurs chefs, et sans amitie pour leurs cama- ciardini, Istoria. lib. 3, p. 153.
Hob'
—
1
—
...
-—
---
CAMPAIGNS OF GONSAL VO.
quit the field of his triumphs and march to King Ferdinand's relief. But before his departure he prepared to strike such a blow as should, if pos¬ sible, incapacitate his enemy for any effectual movement during his absence. He received intelligence that a considerable number of Angevin lords, mostly of the powerful house of San Severino, with their vassals and a reinforcement of French troops, were assembled at the little town of Laino, on the north-western borders of Upper Calabria, where they lay awaiting a junction with D'Aubigny. Gonsalvo determined to surprise this place, and capture the rich spoils which it contained, before his departure. His road lay through a wild and mountainous country. The passes were occupied by the Calabrian peasantry in the interest of the Angevin party. The Spanish general, however, found no difficulty in forcing a way through this undisciplined rabble, a large body of whom he surrounded and cut to pieces as they lay in ambush for him in the valley of Murano. Laino, whose base is washed by the waters of the Lao, was defended by a strong castle built on the opposite side of the river, and connected by a bridge with the town. All approach to the place by the high-road was commanded by this fortress. Gonsalvo obviated this diffi¬ culty, however, by a circuitous route across the mountains. He marched all night, and, fording the waters of the Lao about two miles above the town, entered it with his little army before break of day, having previously detached a small corps to take possession of the bridge. The inhabitants, startled from their slumbers by the unexpected appearance of the enemy in their streets, hastily seized their arms and made for the castle on the other side of the river. The pass, however, was occupied by the Span¬ iards ; and the Neapolitans and French, hemmed in on every side, began a desperate resistance, which terminated with the death of their chief, Americo San Severino, and the capture of such of his followers as did not fall in the mel£e. A rich booty fell into the hands of the victors. The most glorious prize, however, was the Angevin barons, twenty in number, whom Gonsalvo, after the action, sent prisoners to Naples. This decisive blow, of which the tidings spread like wild-fire throughout the country, settled the fate of Calabria. It struck terror into the hearts of the French, and crippled them so far as to leave Gonsalvo little cause for anxiety during his proposed absence.1 The Spanish general lost no time in pressing forward on his march towards Atella. Before quitting Calabria he had received a reinforce¬ ment of five hundred soldiers from Spain ; and his whole Spanish forces, according to Giovio, amounted to one hundred men-at-arms, five hundred light cavalry, and two thousand foot, picked men, and well schooled in the hardy service of the late campaign.2 Although a great part of his march 1 Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, pp. 219, 220.— Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 3, pp. 158, 159.— Mariana, de Espana, torn. ii. lib. 26, cap. 12. Chronica del Gran Capitan, cap. 27.—Zurita, Hist. Hist, 5 Giovio, Hist, del Rey Hernando, lib. 4, p. del Rey Hernando, torn. i. lib. 2, cap. 26.— celebres, torn. i. pp, 227, 228.— 132. Quintana, Espanoles
ITALIAN WARS.
408
lay through a hostile country, he encountered little opposition ; for the terror of his name, says the writer last quoted, had everywhere gone before him. He arrived before Atella at the beginning of July. The king of Naples was no sooner advised of his approach than he marched out of the camp, attended by the Venetian general, the marquis of Mantua, and the papal legate, Caesar Borgia, to receive him. All were eager to do honour to the man who had achieved such brilliant exploits ; who in less than a year had made himself master of the larger part of the kingdom of Naples, and that with the most limited resources, in defiance of the bravest and best-disciplined soldiery in Europe. It was then, according to the Spanish writers, that he was by general consent greeted with the title of the Great Captain, by which he is much more familiarly known in Spanish, and, it may be added, in most histories of the period, than by his own name.1 Gonsalvo found the French sorely distressed by the blockade, which was so strictly maintained as to allow few supplies from abroad to pass into the town. His quick eye discovered at once, however, that in order to render it perfectly effectual it would be necessary to destroy the mills in the vicinity which supplied Atella with flour. He undertook this, on the day of his arrival, at the head of his own corps. Montpensier, aware of the importance of these mills, had stationed a strong guard for their defence, consisting of a body of Gascon archers and the Swiss pikemea Although the Spaniards had never been brought into direct collision with any large masses of this formidable infantry, yet occasional rencontres with small detachments, and increased familiarity with its tactics, had stripped it of much of its terrors. Gonsalvo had even so far profited by the example of the Swiss as to strengthen his infantry by mingling the long pikes with the short swords and bucklers of the Spaniards.2 He formed his cavalry into two divisions, posting his handful of heavyarmed with some of the light horse, so as to check any sally from the town, while he destined the remainder to support the infantry in the attack upon the enemy. Having made these arrangements, the Spanish chieftain led on his men confidently to the charge. The Gascon archery, i
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Quintana, Espanoles c£lebres, torn. i. p. 228. recognition was in the instrument of capitulation Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, lib. 1, p. 220. The at that place. dei Rey Hernando, lib. 2, Aragonese historians are much ruffled by the cap. 27.) This (Hist, seems to derive support from the irreverent manner in which Guicciardini Gujcciardini notices the fact that Gonsalvo s biographer and cont p origin of the cognomen of the Great Captain, which begins to distinguish him by tna |/ ÿ even his subsequent panegyric cannot atone for : Giovio. from this period. Abarca assigns a hl8ne _ capitano Consalvo jwrwaiiuca, "Era Ernandes, Cll di casad'Aghilar, LdiAU /TgniiaX, ; to f the .v. it, .i, quoting uie woras grant quuiiug the words ofÿthe 01 me royal royai gran di patria Cordovese, uomo di molto valore, valnre ed I duchy of -r o Sessa, made to Gonsalvo, as authority. esercitato lungamente nelle guerre di Granata, il (Reyes former de a In Aragon, 9.) cap. rey 39, quale nel principio della venuta sua in Italia, edition I intimated my doubt of the historian s cognominato daLla jattanza.
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j
ÿ
SJ>agnuola il Gran A subsequent inspection of the instru¬ Capitano, per significare con questo titolo la accuracy. ment itself, in a work since come into my possession, shows this distrust to have been well founded, for it is there simply said that the title was conferred in Italy. Pulgar, Sumario, p. 138. This was improving on the somewhat similar expedient ascribed by Polybius to King Pyrrhus, who mingled alternate cohorts, armed with short weapons after the Roman fashion, with those of his before Atella, and the first example of its forma! Macedonian spearmen. Lib. 17, sec. 24.
suprema podesth sopra loro, meritb per le preclare vittorie che ebbe dipoi, che per consentimento universale gli fosse confermato e perpetuato questo sopranome, per significazione di virtu grande, e di grande eccellenza nella disciplina militare." (Istoria, torn. i. p. 1x2.) According to Zurita, the title was not conferred till the Spanish general's appearance
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CAMPAIGNS OF GONSALVO.
409
however, seized with a panic, scarcely awaited his approach, but fled shamefully, before they had time to discharge a second volley of arrows, leaving the battle to the Swiss. These latter, exhausted by the sufferings of the siege, and dispirited by long reverses and by the presence of a new and victorious foe, did not behave with their wonted intrepidity, but, after a feeble resistance, abandoned their position and retreated towards the city. Gonsalvo, having gained his object, did not care to pursue the fugitives, but instantly set about demolishing the mills, every vestige of which, in a few hours, was swept from the ground. Three days after, he supported the Neapolitan troops in an assault on Ripa Candida, and carried that important post, by means of which Atella maintained a com¬ munication with the interior.1 Thus cut off from all their resources, and no longer cheered by hopes of succour from their own country, the French, after suffering the severest privations and being reduced to the most loathsome aliment for sub¬ sistence, made overtures for a capitulation. The terms were soon arranged with the king of Naples, who had no desire but to rid his country of the invaders. It was agreed that if the French commander did not receive assistance in thirty days, he should evacuate Atella, and cause every place holding under him in the kingdom of Naples, with all its artillery, to be surrendered to King Ferdinand, and that on these conditions his soldiers should be furnished with vessels to transport them back to France ; that the foreign mercenaries should be permitted to return to their own homes ; and that a general amnesty should be extended to such Neapo¬ litans as returned to their allegiance in fifteen days.2 Such were the articles of capitulation, signed on the 21st of July 1496, which Comines, who received the tidings at the court of France, does not hesitate to denounce as " a most disgraceful treaty, without parallel, save in that made by the Roman consuls at the Caudine Forks, which was too dishonourable to be sanctioned by their countrymen." The reproach is certainly unmerited, and comes with ill grace from a court which was wasting in riotous indulgence the very resources indispensable to the brave and loyal subjects who were endeavouring to maintain its honour in a foreign land.3 Unfortunately, Montpensier was unable to enforce the full performance of his own treaty, as many of the French refused to deliver up the places intrusted to them, under the pretence that their authority was derived, not from the viceroy, but from the king himself. During the discussion of this point the French troops were removed to Baia and Pozzuolo and the adjacent places on the coast. The unhealthiness of the situation, together
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5 Villeneuve, Mdmoires, p. 1 Giovio, Hist, sui Temporis, lib. 4, p. 133. 318. Comines, MtfIdem, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, pp. 230, 221. Zurita, moires, liv. 8, chap. si. Giovio, Hist, sui Temporis, Hist, del Rey Hernando, lib. 2, cap. 27. Chrdnica lib. 4. p. 136. Comines, Mdmoires, liv. 8, chap. ax. del Gran Capitan, cap. 28. Quintana, F.spanoies celebres, torn. i. p. 229.—Abarca, Reyes de Aragon,
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rey 30, cap. 9.
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ITALIAN WARS.
4 IO
with that of the autumnal season, and an intemperate indulgence in fruits and wine, soon brought on an epidemic among the soldiers, which swept them off in great numbers. The gallant Montpensier was one of the first victims. He refused the earnest solicitations of his brother-in-law, the marquis of Mantua, to quit his unfortunate companions and retire to a place of safety in the interior. The shore was literally strewed with the bodies of the dying and the dead. Of the whole number of Frenchmen, amounting to not less than five thousand, who marched out of Atella, not more than five hundred ever reached their native country. The Swiss and other mercenaries were scarcely more fortunate. " They made their way back as they could through Italy," says a writer of the period, "in the most deplorable state of destitution and suffering, the gaze of all, and a sad example of the caprice of fortune." 1 Such was the miserable fate of that brilliant and formidable array which scarcely two years before had poured down on the fair fields of Italy in all the insolence of expected conquest. Well would it be if the name of every conqueror, whose suc¬ cesses, though built on human misery, are so dazzling to the imagination, could be made to point a moral for the instruction of his species as effect¬ ually as that of Charles the Eighth. The young king of Naples did not live long to enjoy his triumphs. On his return from Atella he contracted an inauspicious marriage with his aunt, a lady of nearly his own age, to whom he had been long attached. A careless and somewhat intemperate indulgence in pleasure, succeeding the hardy life which he had been lately leading, brought on a flux which carried him off in the twenty-eighth year of his age and second of his reign. (Sep. 7th, 1496.) He was the fifth monarch who, in the brief compass of three years, had sat on the disastrous throne of Naples. Ferdinand possessed many qualities suited to the turbulent times in which he lived. He was vigorous and prompt in action, and naturally of a high and generous spirit. Still, however, he exhibited glimpses, even in his last hours, of an obliquity, not to say ferocity, of temper, which characterized many of his line, and which led to ominous conjectures as to what would have been his future policy.'2 He was succeeded on the throne by his uncle Frederick, a prince of a gentle disposition, endeared to the Neapolitans by repeated acts of benevolence, and by a magnani¬ mous regard for justice, of which the remarkable fluctuations of his fortune had elicited more than one example. His amiable virtues, how¬ ever, required a kindlier soil and season for their expansion, and, as the event proved, made him no match for the subtile and unscrupulous politicians of the age.
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1 Giovio, Hist, sui Temporis, p. 137. Comines, Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 18S. While stretche Mimoires, liv. 8, chap. 21.— Giovio, Vita Magni on his death-bed, Ferdinand, according to hem00, Gonsalvi, lib. 1, p. 221. Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. caused the head of his prisoner, the Bishop o 3, p. 160. Villeneuve, Mdmoires, apud Petitot, Teano, to be brought to him and laid at the foo torn. xiv. p. 318. his couch, that he might be assured with his o 2 Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, lib. 29, cap 2 the of execution of the sentence. Istoria vin * Summonte, Hist, di Napoli, lib. 6, cap. 2.— Peter eyes ziana, lib. 3, p. 189.
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CAMPAIGNS OF GONSALVO.
411
His first act was a general amnesty to the disaffected Neapolitans, who felt such confidence in his good faith that they returned, with scarcely an exception, to their allegiance. His next measure was to request the aid of Gonsalvo de Cordova in suppressing the hostile movements made by the French during his absence from Calabria. At the name of the Great Captain, the Italians flocked from all quarters, to serve without pay under a banner which was sure to lead them to victory. Tower and town, as he advanced, went down before him ; and the French general, D'Aubigny, soon saw himself reduced to the necessity of making the best terms he could with his conqueror, and evacuating the province altogether. The submission of Calabria was speedily followed by that of the few remaining cities in other quarters, still garrisoned by the French ; comprehending the last rood of territory possessed by Charles the Eighth in the kingdom of Naples.1 Our narrative now leads us on the beaten track of Italian history. Ihave endeavoured to make the reader acquainted with the peculiar character and pretensions of the princi¬ pal Spanish authorities on whom Ihave relied in the progress of the work. This would be superfluous in regard to the Italians, who enjoy the rank of classics, not only in their own country, but throughout Europe, and have furnished the earliest models among the moderns of historic composition. Fortunately, two of the most eminent of them, Guicciardini and Paolo Giovio, lived at the period of our narrative, and have embraced the whole extent of it in their histories. These two writers, besides the attractions of elegant scholarship and talent, occupied a position which enabled them to take a clear view of all the principal political movements of their age ; circumstances which have made their accounts of infinite value in respect to foreign transactions, as well as domestic. Guicciardini was a conspicuous actor in the scenes he describes ; and a long residence at the court of Ferdinand the Catholic opened to him the most authentic sources of information in regard to Spain. Giovio, from his intimate relations with the principal persons of his time, had also access to the best sources of knowledge ; while in the notice of foreign transactions he was but little exposed to those venal influences which led him too often to employ the golden or iron pen of history as interest dictated. Unfortunately, a lamentable hiatus occurs in his greatest work, " Historise sui Temporis," embracing the whole period intervening between the end of Charles VIII. 's expedition and the accession of Leo X., in 15 13. At the time of the memorable sack of Rome by the Duke of Bourbon in 1527, Giovio deposited his manuscript, with a quantity of plate, in an iron chest, which he hid in an obscure corner of the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva. The treasure, however, did not escape the searching eyes of two Spanish soldiers, who broke open the chest, and one of them seized on the plate, regard¬ ing the papers as of no value. The other, not being quite such a fool, says Giovio, preserved such of the manuscripts as were on vellum and ornamented with rich bindings, but threw away what was written on paper. The part thus thrown away contained six books, relating to the period above mentioned, which were never afterwards recovered. The soldier brought the remainder to their author, who bought them at the price of a vacant benefice, which he persuaded the pope to confer on the freebooter, in his native land of Cordova. It is not often that simony has found so good an apology. The deficiency, although never repaired by Giovio, was in some degree supplied by his biographies of eminent men, and, among 1 Gicvio, Hist, sui Temporis, lib. 4, p. 139.— I 33 — Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 3, p. 160. Giannone, Znrita, Hist del Rey Hernando, lib. 2, cap. 30, | Istoria di Napoli, torn. iii. lib. 29, cap. 3.
ITALIAN WATS.
412
others, by that of Gonsalvo de Cordova, in which he has collected with great industry all the events of any interest in the life of this great commander. The narrative is in general corroborated by the Spanish authorities, and contains some additional particulars, especially respecting his early life, which Giovio's personal intimacy with the principal characters of the period might easily have furnished. This portion of our story is, moreover, illustrated by the labours of M. Sismondi in his " Republiques Italiennes," which may undoubtedly claim to be ranked among the most remarkable historical achievements of our time, whether we consider the dexte¬ rous management of the narrative, or the admirable spirit of philosophy by which it is illumined. It must be admitted that he has perfectly succeeded in unravelling the intricate web of Italian politics ; and notwithstanding the complicated and indeed motley character of his subject, the historian has left a uniform and harmonious impres¬ sion on the mind of the reader. This he has accomplished by keeping constantly in view the principle which regulated all the various movements of the complex machinery ; so that his narrative becomes, what he terms it in his English abridgment, a history of Italian liberty. By keeping this principle steadily before him, he has been able to solve much that hitherto was dark and problematical in his subject ; and if he has occasion¬ ally sacrificed something to theory, he has, on the whole, pursued the investigation in a truly philosophical manner, and arrived at results the most honourable and cheering to
humanity. Fortunately, his own mind was deeply penetrated with reverence for the free institu¬ tions which he has analyzed. If it is too much to say that the historian of republics should be himself a republican, it is at least true that his soul should be penetrated to its very depths with the spirit which animates them. No one who is not smitten with the love of freedom can furnish the key to much that is enigmatical in her character, and reconcile his readers to the harsh and repulsive features that she sometimes wears, by revealing the beauty and grandeur of the soul within. That portion of our narrative which is incorporated with Italian story is too small to occupy much space on Sismondi's plan. He has discussed it, moreover, in a manner not very favourable to the Spaniards, whom he seems to have regarded with somewhat of the aversion with which an Italian of the sixteenth century viewed the ultramontane barbarians of Europe. Perhaps the reader may find some advantage in contemplating another side of the picture, and studying the less familiar details presented by the Spanish authorities.
CHAPTER III. ' IIALIAN WARS.—GONSALVO SUCCOURS THE POPE.
—TREATY WITH FRANCE.
-ORGANIZATION OF THE SPANISH MILITIA.
1496-1498.
—
Gonsalvo succours the Pope.
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Storms Ostia. Reception in Rome.— Peace with France. Ferdinand's Reputation advanced by his Conduct in the War.— Organization of the Militia.
It had been arranged by the treaty of Venice, that, while the allies were carrying on the war in Naples, the emperor elect and the king of Spain should make a diversion in their favour by invading the French frontiers. Ferdinand had performed his part of the engagement Ever since the
GONSALVO SUCCOURS THE POPE.
oeginning of the war, he had maintained a large force along the borders from Fontarabia to Perpignan. In 1496 the regular army kept in pay amounted to ten thousand horse and fifteen thousand foot ; which, to¬ gether with the Sicilian armament, necessarily involved an expenditure exceedingly heavy under the financial pressure occasioned by the Moorish war. The command of the levies in Roussillon was given to Don Enrique Enriquez de Guzman, who, far from acting on the defensive, carried his men repeatedly over the border, sweeping off fifteen or twenty thousand head of cattle in a single foray, and ravaging the country as far as Carcassona and Narbonne.1 The French, who had concentrated a considerable force in the south, retaliated by similar inroads, in one of which they succeeded in surprising the fortified town of Salsas. The works, however, were in so dilapidated a state that the place was scarcely tenable, and it was abandoned on the approach of the Spanish army. A truce soon followed, which put an end to further operations in that quarter.2 The submission of Calabria seemed to leave no further occupation for the arms of the Great Captain in Italy. Before quitting that country, however, he engaged in an adventure which, as narrated by his bio¬ graphers, forms a brilliant episode to his regular campaigns. Ostia, the seaport of Rome, was among the places in the papal territory forcibly occupied by Charles the Eighth, and on his retreat had been left to a French garrison under the command of a Biscayan adventurer named Menaldo Guerri. The place was so situated as entirely to command the mouth of the Tiber, enabling the piratical horde who garrisoned it almost wholly to destroy the commerce of Rome, and even to reduce the city to great distress for want of provisions. The imbecile government, incapable of defending itself, implored Gdnsalvo's aid in dislodging this nest of formidable freebooters. The Spanish general, who was now at leisure, complied with the pontiff's solicitations, and soon after presented himself before Ostia with his little corps of troops, amounting in all to three hundred horse and fifteen hundred foot.3 Guerri, trusting to the strength of his defences, refused to surrender. Gonsalvo, after coolly preparing his batteries, opened a heavy cannonade on the place, which at the end of five days effected a practicable breach in the walls. In the meantime, Garcilasso de la Vega, the Castilian ambassador at the papal court, who could not bear to remain inactive so near the field where laurels were to be won, arrived to Gonsalvo's support with a handful of his own countrymen resident in Rome. This gallant 1 Zurita, Hist, del Rey Hernando, lib. 2, cap. ra, 14, 16, 34. Giovio says, in allusion to King Ferdi¬ nand's show of preparation on the frontier, "Ferdinandus, maxime cautus et pecuniae tenax, speciem ingentis coacti exercitus ad deterrendos hostes praebere, quam helium gerere mallet, quum id sine mgenti pecunifi administrari non posse intelligeret." Hist, sui Temporis, p. 140. 1 Zurita, Hist, del Rey Hernando, lib. a, cap.
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35> 36- Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, rey 30, cap. 9. Garibay, Compendio, torn. ii. lib. 19, cap. 5.
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Comines, Memoires, liv. 8, chap. 33. Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 169. » Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, lib. 1, p. 221. Chronica del Gran Capitan, cap. 30.—Zurita, Hist. del Rey Hernando, lib. 3, cap. 1.— Villeneuve. Memoires, p. 317.
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4*4
ITALIAN WATS.
little band, scaling the walls on the opposite side to that assailed by Gonsalvo, effected an entrance into the town, while the garrison wasoccupied with maintaining the breach against the main body of the Spaniards. Thus surprised, and hemmed in on both sides, Guerri and his associates made no further resistance, but surrendered themselves. prisoners of war • and Gonsalvo, with more clemency than was usually shown on such occasions, stopped the carnage, and reserved his captives to grace his entry into the capital.1 This was made a few days after, with all the pomp of a Roman triumph. The Spanish general entered by the gate of Ostia, at the head of his martial squadrons in battle-array, with colours flying and music playing, while the rear was brought up by the captive chief and his confederates, so long the terror, now the derision, of the populace. The balconies and windows were crowded with spectators, and the streets lined with multitudes, who shouted forth the name of Gonsalvo de Cordova, the " deliverer of Rome ! " The procession took its way through the principal streets of the city towards the Vatican, where Alexander the Sixth awaited its approach, seated under a canopy of state in the chief saloon of the palace, surrounded by his great ecclesiastics and nobility. On Gonsalvo's entrance the cardinals rose to receive him. The Spanish general knelt down to receive the benediction of the pope ; but the latter, raising him up, kissed him on the forehead, and complimented him with the golden rose, which the Holy See was accustomed to dispense as the reward of its most devoted champions. In the conversation which ensued, Gonsalvo obtained the pardon of Guerri and his associates, and an exemption from taxes for the oppressed inhabitants of Ostia. In a subsequent part of the discourse, the pope taking occasion most inopportunely to accuse the Spanish sovereigns of unfavourable dispositions towards himself, Gonsalvo replied with much warmth, enumerating the various good offices rendered by them to the church, and, roundly taxing the pope with ingratitude, somewhat bluntly advised him to reform his life and conversation, which brought scandal on all Christendom. His Holiness testified no indignation at this unsavoury rebuke of the Great Captain, though, as the historians with some naivete inform us, he was greatly surprised to find the latter so fluent in discourse, and so well instructed in matters foreign to his profession.2 Gonsalvo experienced the most honourable reception from King Frederick on his return to Naples. During his continuance there, he was lodged and sumptuously entertained in one of the royal fortresses ; and the grateful monarch requited his services with the title of Duke of St. Angelo, and an estate in Abruzzo containing three thousand vassals. He had before pressed these honours on the victor, who declined accepting
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1 Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, p. 222
tans, Espanoles celebres, torn. i. p. 234. 2 Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, p. 222.
Quin¬
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Hist, del Rey Hernando, lib. 3, cap. 1. GuicciarGran 3, p. 175.-—Chronica del cap. 30.
dini, Istoria, lib. —Zurita, Capitan,
GONSALVO SUCCOURS THE POPE.
4ÿ5
them till he had obtained the consent of his own sovereigns. Soon after, Gonsalvo, quitting Naples, revisited Sicily, where he adjusted certain differences which had arisen betwixt the viceroy and the inhabitants respecting the revenues of the island. Then embarking with his whole force, he reached the shores of Spain in the month of August 1498. His return to his native land was greeted with a general enthusiasm far more grateful to his patriotic heart than any homage or honours conferred by foreign princes. Isabella welcomed him with pride and satisfaction, as having fully vindicated her preference of him to his more experienced rivals for the difficult post of Italy; and Ferdinand did not hesitate to declare that the Calabrian campaigns reflected more lustre on his crown than the conquest of Granada.1 The total expulsion of the French from Naples brought hostilities between that nation and Spain to a close. The latter had gained her point, and the former had little heart to resume so disastrous an enter¬ prise. Before this event, indeed, overtures had been made by the French court for a separate treaty with Spain. The latter, however, was unwilling to enter into any compact without the participation of her allies. After the total abandonment of the French enterprise, there seemed to exist no further pretext for prolonging the war. The Spanish government, moreover, had little cause for satisfaction with its confederates. The emperor had not co-operated in the descent on the enemy's frontier, according to agreement ; nor had the allies ever reimbursed Spain for the heavy charges incurred in fulfilling her part of the engagements. The Venetians were taken up with securing to themselves as much of the Neapolitan territory as they could, by way of indemnification for their own expenses.2 The duke of Milan had already made a separate treaty with King Charles. In short, every member of the league, after the first alarm subsided, had shown itself ready to sacrifice the common weal to its own private ends. With these causes of disgust, the Spanish government consented to a truce with France, to begin for itself on the 5th of March, and for the allies, if they chose to be included in it, seven weeks later, and to continue till the end of October 1497. This truce was subsequently prolonged, and, after the death of Charles the Eighth, terminated in a definitive treaty of peace, signed at Marcoussi, August 5th, 1498.3 In the discussions to which these arrangements gave rise, the project is said to have been broached for the conquest and division of the kingdom of Naples by the combined powers of France and Spain, which was carried into effect some years later. According to Comines, the proposition originated with the Spanish court, although it saw fit, in a
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1 Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, p. 223. Chronica de" coustume quand elles leur sont biensdantes del Gran Capitan, cap. 31, 32. Zurita, Hist, del comme sont cellescy, qui sont du costd de leur goufre de Venise." Memoires, p. 194. Rey Hernando, lib. 3, cap. 38. :l Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 3, p. s Comines says, with some naiveti, in reference 178. Zurita, Hist, del Rey Hernando, lib. 2, cap. 44 ; lib. 3, to the places in Naples which the Venetians had cap. 13, 19, at, 26. Comines, Mdmoires, liv. £> got into their possession, " Je croy que leur inten¬ tion n'est point d« !*• rendre ; ear ils ne l'ont point I chap. 23.
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4i6
ITALIAN WARS.
subsequent period of the negotiations, to disavow the fact 1 The Spanish writers, on the other hand, impute the first suggestion of it to the French, who, they say, went so far as to specify the details of the partition subsequently adopted; according to which the two Calabrias were assigned to Spain. However this may be, there is little doubt that Ferdinand had long since entertained the idea of asserting his claim, at some time or other, to the crown of Naples. He, as well as his father, and indeed the whole nation, had beheld with dissatisfaction the transfer of what they deemed their rightful inheritance, purchased by the blood and treasure of Aragon, to an illegitimate branch of the family. The accession of Frederick, in particular, who came to the throne with the support of the Angevin party, the old enemies of Aragon, had given great umbrage to the Spanish monarch. The Castilian envoy, Garcilasso de la Vega, agreeably to the instruc¬ tions of his court, urged Alexander the Sixth to withhold the investiture of the kingdom from Frederick, but unavailingly, as the pope's interests were too closely connected by marriage with those of the royal family of Naples. Under these circumstances, it was somewhat doubtful what course Gonsalvo should be directed to pursue in the present exigency. That prudent commander, however, found the new monarch too strong in the affections of his people to be disturbed at present. All that now remained for Ferdinand, therefore, was to rest contented with the possession of the strong posts pledged for the reimbursement of his expenses in the war, and to make such use of the correspondence which the late campaigns had opened to him in Calabria, that, when the time arrived for action, he might act with effect.2 Ferdinand's conduct through the whole of the Italian war had greatly enhanced his reputation throughout Europe for sagacity and prudence. It afforded a most advantageous comparison with that of his rival, Charles the Eighth, whose very first act had been the surrender of so important a territory as Roussillon. The construction of the treaty relating to this, indeed, laid the Spanish monarch open to the imputation of artifice. But this, at least, did no violence to the political maxims of the age, and only made him regarded as the more shrewd and subtile diplomatist ; while, on the other hand, he appeared before the world in the imposing attitude of the defender of the church, and of the rights of his injured kinsman. His influence had been clearly discernible in every operation of moment, whether civil or military. He had been most active, through his ambassadors, at Genoa, Venice, and Rome, in stirring up the great Italian confederacy, which eventually broke the power of King Charles ; and his 1 Comines gives soms curious details respecting fate of Naples should liv* the French embassy, which be decided. 1 he considers to have 8, chap. >een completely outwitted by the 23. cap° superior managelib. 2> ment of the Spanish Zurita, Hist, Key H **, rnandojib. who intended 26, 33. — Mariana, del 26, ca.P" "othing further at thisgovernment, Hist. de_ issp time by the proposal tom, i. libof a 16. Salazar de Mendoza, Mona •vision than to amuse the French court until the 3, cap. 10
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_-
.
GONSALVO SUCCOURS THE POPE.
4i7
representations had tended, as much as any other cause, to alarm the jealousy of Sforza, to fix the vacillating politics of Alexander, and to quicken the cautious and dilatory movements of Venice. He had shown equal vigour in action, and contributed mainly to the success of the war by his operations on the side of Roussillon, and still more in Calabria. On the latter, indeed, he had not lavished any extraordinary expenditure; a circumstance partly attributable to the state of his finances, severely taxed, as already noticed, by the Granadine war, as well as by the operations in Roussillon ; but in part, also, to his habitual frugality, which, with a very different spirit from that of his illustrious consort, always stinted the measure of his supplies to the bare exigency of the occasion. Fortunately, the genius of the Great Captain was so fruitful in resources as to supply every deficiency, enabling him to accomplish such brilliant results as effectually concealed any poverty of preparation on the part of his master. The Italian wars were of signal importance to the Spaniards. Until that time, they had been cooped up within the narrow limits of the Peninsula, uninstructed and taking little interest in the concerns of the rest of Europe. A new world was now opened to them. They were taught to measure their own strength by collision with other powers on a common scene of action ; and success, inspiring them with greater confidence, seemed to beckon them on towards the field where they were destined to achieve still more splendid triumphs. This war afforded them also a most useful lesson of tactics. The war of Granada had insensibly trained up a hardy militia, patient and capable of every privation and fatigue, and brought under strict subordination. This was a great advance beyond the independent and disorderly habits of the feudal service. A most valuable corps of light troops had been formed, schooled in all the wild, irregular movements of guerilla warfare. But the nation was still defective in that steady, well-disciplined infantry, which, in the improved condition of military science, seemed destined to decide the fate of battles in Europe thenceforward. The Calabrian campaigns, which were suited in some degree to the display of their own tactics, fortunately gave the Spaniards opportunity for studying at leisure those of their adversaries. The lesson was not lost. Before the end of the war, important innovations were made in the dis¬ cipline and arms of the Spanish soldier. The Swiss pike, or lance, which, as has been already noticed, Gonsalvo de Cordova had mingled with the short sword of his own legions, now became the regular weapon of onethird of the infantry. The division of the various corps in the cavalry and infantry services was arranged on more scientific principles, and the whole, in short, completely reorganized.1
——
1 Mem. de la Acad, de Hist., torn. vi. Ilust. 6. they were very adroit. " Hispano," says Rivy, qnam caesim, adsueto petere Zurita, Hist, del Rey Hernando, lib. 3, cap. 6. " punctim magis,habiles [gladii] et cum mucronihostem, brevitate The ancient Spaniards, who were as noted as the modern for the temper and finish of their blades, bus." (Hist., lib. 22, cap. 47-) Sandoval notices as the peculiar espadas," "cortas the short of sword, which used short swords, in the manaaemeia
2 D
ITALIAN WARS. Before the end of the war, preparations were made for embodying a national militia, which should take the place of the ancient hermandad. Laws were passed regulating the equipment of every individual according to his property. A man's arms were declared not liable for debt, even to the crown ; and smiths and other artificers were restricted, under severe penalties, from working them up into other articles.1 In 1496 a census was taken of all persons capable of bearing arms ; and by an ordinance, dated at Valladolid, February 2 2d, in the same year, it was provided that one out of every twelve inhabitants between twenty and forty-five years of age should be enlisted in the service of the state, whether for foreign war or the suppression of disorders at home. The remaining eleven were liable to be called on in case of urgent necessity. These recruits were to be paid during actual service, and excused from taxes ; the only legal exempts were the clergy, hidalgos, and paupers. A general review and inspection of arms were to take place every year, in the months of March and September, when prizes were to be awarded to those best accoutred and most expert in the use of their weapons. Such were the judicious regulations by which every citizen, without being withdrawn from his regular occupation, was gradually trained up for the national defence, and which, without the oppressive incumbrance of a numerous standing army, placed the whole effective force of the country, prompt and fit for action, at the disposal of the government, whenever the public good should call for it.2 unless he owned a horse also, and that none but ecclesiastics and women should be allowed the use of mules in the saddle. These edicts were enforced with the utmost rigour, the king himself setting the example of conformity to them. By these season¬ able precautions, the breed of Spanish horses, so long noted throughout Europe, was restored to its ancient credit, and the mule consigned to the humble and appropriate offices of drudgery, or raised only for exportation. For these and similar provisions, see Pragmaticas del Reyno, fol. 127-132— Matdo Aleman's whimsical picaresco novel, Guz the kingdom of late years, in consequence of the man d'Alfarache, contains a comic adventure show¬ exclusive demand for the ginetes in the Moorish ing the excessive rigour with which the edict war. Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS.— Ordinances against mules was enforced, as late as the close of were also passed for encouraging the breed of Philip II.'s reign. The passage is extracted in horses, which had suffered greatly from the prefer¬ Roscoe's elegant version of the Spanish Novelists, ence very generally given by the Spaniards to vol. i. p. 132. 3 See a copy of the ordinance taken front the mules. Tins had been carried to such a length that, while it was nearly impossible, according to Ber- Archives of Simancas ; apud Mem. de la Acad, de naldez, to mount ten or twelve thousand cavalry on Hist., torn. vi. apend- 13.—When Francis I., who horses, ten times that number could be provided was destined to feel the effects of this careful with mules. (Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 184.) military discipline, beheld, during his detention in century, " E porque si a esto se diesse lugar, says one of Spain in the beginning of the following the Jbragmdticas, adverting to this evil, muy striplings, with scanty down upon the ohm, ai " se perderia en nuestros reynos la armed with swords at their sides, he is said to hav prestamente nobleza de la cauelleria que en ellos suele auer, e se cried out, O bienaventurada Espana, que pare y " oluidaria el exercicio militar de que en los tiempos cria los hombres armados !" (L. Marineo, (-os,a~ passados nuestra nacion de Espana ha alcanqado memorables, lib. 5.) An exclamation not unworthy gran fama e loor," it was ordered that no person in of a Napoleon,—or an Attila. the kingdom should be allowed to keep a mule
weapon of the Spanish soldier in the twelfth century. Historia de los Reyes de Castilla y de Leon (Mad¬ rid, 1792), torn. ii. p. 240. 1 Pragmaticas del Reyno, fol. 83, 127, 129. — The former of these ordinances, dated Taracona, Sept. 18th, 1495, is extremely precise in specifying the appointments required for each individual. Among other improvements, introduced somewhat earlier, may be mentioned that of organizing and thoroughly training a small corps of heavy-armed cavalry, amounting to twenty-five hundred. The number of men-at-arms had been greatly reduced in
ALLIANCES AND DEATHS.
419
CHAPTER IV. ALLIANCES OF THE ROYAL FAMILY.-DEATH OF PRINCE JOHN AND PRINCESS ISABELLA.
—
Matrimonial Alliances with Portugal.— With Austria. — Marriage of John and Margaret.— Death of Prince John.— The Queen's Resignation. Indepen¬ dence of the Cortes of Aragon. — Death of the Princess Isabella.— Recognition of her infant Son, Miguel.
Royal Family of Castile.
—
The credit and authority which the Spanish sovereigns established by the success of their arms were greatly raised by the matrimonial connec¬ tions which they formed for their children. This was too important a spring of their policy to be passed over in silence. Their family consisted of one son and four daughters, whom they carefully educated in a manner befitting their high rank, and who repaid their solicitude by exemplary filial obedience, and the early manifestation of virtues rare even in a private station.1 They seem to have inherited many of the qualities which dis¬ tinguished their illustrious mother ; great decorum and dignity of manners, combined with ardent sensibilities and unaffected piety, which, at least in the eldest and favourite daughter, Isabella, was, unhappily, strongly tinctured with bigotry. They could not, indeed, pretend to their mother's com¬ prehensive mind and talent for business, although there seems to have been no deficiency in these respects, or, if any, it was most effectually supplied by their excellent education. 2 The marriage of the princess Isabella with Alonso, the heir of the Portuguese crown, in 1490, has been already noticed. This had been eagerly desired by her parents, not only for the possible contingency which it afforded of bringing the various monarchies of the Peninsula under one head (a design of which they never wholly lost sight), but from the wish to conciliate a formidable neighbour, who possessed various means of annoy¬ ance, which he had shown no reluctance to exert. The reigning monarch, John the Second, a bold and crafty prince, had never forgotten his ancient quarrel with the Spanish sovereigns in support of their rival, Joanna Beltraneja, or Joanna the Nun, as she was generally called in the Castilian court after she had taken the veil. John, in open contempt of the treaty of Alcantara, and indeed of all monastic rule, had not only removed his relative from the convent of Santa Clara, but had permitted 1 The princess Dona Isabel, the eldest daughter, de Henares, December 5th, 1485. The daughters was born at Duenas, October ist, 1470. Their all lived to reign ; but their brilliant destinies were second child and only son, Juan, prince of clouded with domestic afflictions, from which royalty Asturias, was not born until eight years later, June could afford no refuge. Carbajal, Anales, MS., loc. 30th, 1478, at Seville. Dona Juana, whom the mult. 2 The only exception to these remarks was that queen used playfully to call her " mother-in-law," suegra, from her resemblance to King Ferdinand's afforded by the infanta Joanna, whose unfortunate mother, was born at Toledo, November 6th, 1479- eccentricities, developed in later life, must be im¬ Doha Maria was born at Cordova in 1482, and puted, indeed, to bodily infirmity. Dona Catalina, the fifth and last child, at AlcaU
420
THE ROYAL FAMILY.
her to assume a royal state and subscribe herself Ithe Queen." This empty insult he accompanied with more serious efforts to form such a foreign alliance for the liberated princess as should secure her the support of some arm more powerful than his own, and enable her to renew the
"
struggle for her inheritance with better chance of success.1 These flagrant proceedings had provoked the admonitions of the Roman see, and had formed the topic, as may be believed, of repeated, though ineffectual, remonstrance from the court of Castile.2 It seemed probable that the union of the princess of Asturias with the heir of Portugal, as originally provided by the treaty of Alcantara, would so far identify the interests of the respective parties as to remove all further cause of disquietude. The new bride was received in Portugal in a spirit which gave cordial assurance of these friendly relations for the future ; and the court of Lisbon celebrated the auspicious nuptials with the gorgeous magnificence for which, at this period of its successful enterprise, it was distinguished above every other court in Christendom.3 (Nov. 2 2d, 1490.) Alonso's death, a few months after this event, however, blighted the fair hopes which had begun to open of a more friendly feeling between the two countries. His unfortunate widow, unable to endure the scenes of her short-lived happiness, soon withdrew into her own country, to seek such consolation as she could find in the bosom of her family. There, abandoning herself to the melancholy regrets to which her serious and pensive temper naturally disposed her, she devoted her hours to works of piety and benevolence, resolved to enter no more into engagements which had thrown so dark a cloud over the morning of her life.4 On King John's death, in 1495, the crown of Portugal devolved on Emanuel, that enlightened monarch who had the glory in the very com¬ mencement of his reign of solving the grand problem, which had so long perplexed the world, of the existence of an undiscovered passage to the East. This prince had conceived a passion for the young and beautiful Isabella during her brief residence in Lisbon ; and soon after his accession to the throne he despatched an embassy to the Spanish court inviting her to share it with him. But the princess, wedded to the memoiy of her early love, declined the proposals, notwithstanding they were strongly seconded by the wishes of her parents, who, however, were unwilling to constrain their daughter's inclinations on so delicate a point, trusting 1 Nine
different matches were proposed for
Joanna in the course of her life; but they all
vanished into air, and "the excellent lady," as she was usually called by the Portuguese, died as she had lived, in single blessedness, at the ripe age of sixty-eight. In the Mem. de la Acad, de Hist., torn, vi., the 19th Ilustracion is devoted to this topic, in regard to which Father Florez shows suffi¬ cient ignorance or inaccuracy. Reynas Cathdlicas, torn. ii. p. 780. 2 Instructions relating to this matter, written with the queen's own hand, still exist in the Archives of Simancas. Mem. de la Acad, de Hist., ubi supra.
La Cl&de, Histoire de Portugal, torn. iv. p. 100. The Portuguese historian, Faria y Sousa, expends half-a-dozen folio pages on these royal revelries, which cost six months' preparation, and taxed the wits of the most finished artists and arti¬ ficers in fi, nee, England, Flanders, Castile, and Portugal, (e nropa Portuguesa, torn. ii. pp. 452 e' seq.) We sesj>, throughout, the name luxury ot spectacle, the same elegant games of chivalry, as the tilt of reeds, the rings, and the IfVe, which the Castilians adopted from the Spanish Arabs. 4 Zurita, Hist. del. Rey Hernando, to®, v. fob 38. Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, torn. ii. -'of- 312,
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ALLIANCES AND DEATHS.
421
perhaps to the effects of time and the perseverance of her royal suitor.1 In the meanwhile, the Catholic sovereigns were occupied with negotia¬ tions for the settlement of the other members of their family. The ambitious schemes of Charles the Eighth established a community of interests among the great European states, such as had never before existed, or, at least, been understood ; and the intimate relations thus introduced naturally led to intermarriages between the principal powers, who until this period seem to have been severed almost as far asunder as if oceans had rolled between them. The Spanish monarchs, in particular, had rarely gone beyond the limits of the Peninsula for their family alliances. The new confederacy into which Spain had entered now opened the way to more remote connections, which were destined to exercise a permanent influence on the future politics of Europe. It was while Charles the Eighth was wasting his time at Naples that the marriages were arranged between the royal houses of Spain and Austria, by which the weight of these great powers was thrown into the same scale, and the balance of Europe unsettled for the greater part of the following century.2 The treaty provided that Prince John, the heir of the Spanish monarchies, then in his eighteenth year, should be united with the princess Margaret, daughter of the emperor Maximilian, and that the archduke Philip, his son and heir, and sovereign of the Low Countries in his mother's right, should marry Joanna, second daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella. No dowry was to be required with either princess.3 In the course of the following year, arrangements were also concluded for the marriage of the youngest daughter of the Castilian sovereigns with a prince of the royal house of England, the first example of the kind for more than a century.4 Ferdinand had cultivated the goodwill of Henry the Seventh, in the hope of drawing him into the confederacy against the French monarch, and in this had not wholly failed, although the wary king seems to have come into it rather as a silent partner, if we may so say, than with the intention of affording any open or very active co-opera¬ tion.5 The relations of amity between the two courts were still further 1 Zurita, Hist, del Rey Hernando, torn. v. fol. 78, 82.— La Clede, Hist, de Portugal, torn. iv. p. 95.
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Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 146. Martyr, in a letter written at the close of 1496, thus speaks of the princess Isabella's faithful attachment to her husband's memory : " Mira fuit hujus foeminae in abjiciendis secundis nuptiis constantia. Tanta est ejus modestia, tanta vidualis castitas, ut nec mensa post inariti mortem comederit, nec lauti quicquam degustaverit. Jejuniis sese vigiliisque ita maceravit, ut sicco stipite siccior sit effecta. Suffulta rubore perturbatur, quandocunque dejugali thalamo sermo intexitur. Parentum tamen aliquando precibus, veluti olfacimus, infiectetur, Viget fama, futuram vestri regis Emmanuelis uxorem," Epist. 171. 2 Zurita, Hist, del Rey Hernando, torn. v. fol.
63;3
Zurita, Hist, del Rey Hernando, torn. v. lib. Eerreras, Hist. d'Espagne, torn. viii. p.
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2, cap. 5.
160.
4 Ibelieve there is no instance of such a union, save that of John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, with
Dona Constanza, daughter of Peter the Cruel, in 1371, from whom Queen Isabella was lineally des¬ cended on the father's side. The title of Prince aj Ast-urias, appropriated to the heir-apparent of Castile, was first created for the infant Don Henry, afterwards Henry III., on occasion of his marriage with John of Gaunt's daughter, in 1388. It was professedly in imitation of the English title of Prince of Wales ; and Asturias was selected, as that portion of the ancient Gothic monarchy which had never bowed beneath the Saracen yoke. Florez, Reynas Cathdlicas, torn. ii. pp. 708-715. Mendoza, Dignidades, lib. 3, cap. 23. 5 Zurita, Hist, del Rey Hernando, lib. 2, cap. 25. Fcedera (London, 1727), vol. xii. pp. 638— Rymer, 642. Ferdinand used his good offices to mediate a; peace between Henry VII. and the king of Scots and it is a proof of the respect entertained for him by
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THE ROYAL FAMILY.
422
strengthened by the treaty of marriage above alluded to, finally adjusted October ist, 1496, and ratified the following year, between Arthur, prince of Wales, and the infanta Dona Catalina, conspicuous in English history, equally for her misfortunes and her virtues, as Catharine of Aragon.1 The French viewed with no little jealousy the progress of these various negotiations, which they zealously endeavoured to thwart by all the artifices of diplomacy. But King Ferdinand had sufficient address to secure in his interests persons of the highest credit at the courts of Henry and Maximilian, who promptly acquainted him with the intrigues of the French government and effectually aided in counteracting them.2 The English connection was necessarily deferred for some years, on account of the youth of the parties, neither of whom exceeded eleven years of age. No such impediment existed in regard to the German alliances, and measures were taken at once for providing a suitable con¬ veyance for the infanta Joanna into Flanders, which should bring back the princess Margaret on its return. By the end of summer, in 1496, a fleet consisting of one hundred and thirty vessels, large and small, strongly manned and thoroughly equipped with all the means of defence against the French cruisers, was got ready for sea in the ports of Guipuscoa and Biscay.3 The whole was placed under the direction of Don Fadrique Enriquez, admiral of Castile, who carried with him a splendid show of chivalry, chiefly drawn from the northern provinces of the kingdom. A more gallant and beautiful armada never before quitted the shores of Spain. The infanta Joanna, attended by a numerous suite, arrived on board the fleet towards the end of August, at the port of Laredo, on the eastern borders of Asturias, where she took a last farewell of the queen her mother, who both these monarchs, that they agreed to refer their disputes to his arbitration. (Rymer, Foedera, vol. xii. p. 671.) " And so," says the old chronicler Hall, of the English prince, " beying confederate and alied by treatie and league with al his neighbors, he gratefied with his moost heartie thanks kyng Ferdi¬ nand and the quene his wife, to which woman none other was comparable in her tyme, for that they were the mediators, organes, and instrumentes by the which the truce was concluded betwene the Scottish kynge and him, and rewarded his ambassadoure moost liberally andibountefully." Chronicle, p. 483.
1 See the marriage treaty in Rymer. (Foedera, vol. xii. pp. 658-666.) The contract had been ar¬ ranged between the Spanish and English courts as far back as March 1489, when the elder of the par¬ ties had not yet reached the fifth year of her age. This was confirmed by another, more full and de¬ finite, in the following year, 1400. By this treaty it was stipulated that Catharine's portion should be 200,oco gold crowns, one-half to be paid down at the date of her marriage, and the remainder in two
equal payments in the course of the two years ensuing. The prince of Wales was to settle on her one-third of the revenues of the principality of Wales, the dukedom of Cornwall, and trie earldom of Chester. Rymer, Foedera, volume xii. pp. 411"
4I7-*
.
" Procuro," says Zunta, que se enectuassen los matrimonios de sus hiios, no solo con promesas, pero con dadivas que se hizieron a los privados de aquellosprincipes, que en ello entendian." Hist, del , Rey Hernando, lib. 2, cap. 3. 3 Historians differ, as usual, as to the strength of this armament. Martyr makes it no vessels, ana 10,000 soldiers (Opus Epist., epist. 168) ; while Bernaldez carries the numDer to 130 sail and 25,000 soldiers (Reyes CatcSlicos, MS., cap. 153). ÿerreras adopts the latter estimate (torn. viii. p. 173)- Martyr may have intended only the galleys and regular troops, while Bernaldez, more loosely, included ves¬ sels and seamen of every description. See also the royal ordinances, ap. Coleccion de Cedulas (torn. t. nos. 79, 80, 82), whose language implies a very large number, without specifying it.
_
[For the details of the negotiation which preceded the marriage treaty,—characterized by more than
character and conduct during that period. The views which he"advances—founded on testimony inte-
resting and important indeed, but inconclusive alike from want of fulness and its often doubtful nature-
have not been generally accepted.
— Ed.]
ALLIANCES AND DEATHS.
423
had postponed the hour of separation as long as possible, by accompany¬ ing her daughter to the place of embarkation. The weather, soon after her departure, became extremely rough and tempestuous ; and it was so long before any tidings of the squadron reached the queen, that her affectionate heart was filled with the most distressing apprehensions. She sent for the oldest and most experienced navigators in these boisterous northern seas, consulting them, says Martyr, day and night on the probable causes of delay, the prevalent courses of the winds at that season, and the various difficulties and dangers of the voyage ; bitterly regretting that the troubles with France prevented any other means of communication than the treacherous element to which she had trusted her daughter.1 Her spirits were still further depressed at this juncture by the death of her own mother, the dowager Isabella, who, under the mental infirmity with which she had been visited for many years, had always experienced the most devoted attention from her daughter, who ministered to her necessities with her own hands, and watched over her declining years with the most tender solicitude. 2 At length, the long-desired intelligence came of the arrival of the Castilian fleet at its place of destination. It had been so grievously shattered, however, by tempests, as to require being refitted in the ports of England. Several of the vessels were lost, and many of Joanna's attendants perished from the inclemency of the weather and the numerous hardships to which they were exposed. The infanta, however, happily reached Flanders in safety, and, not long after, her nuptials with the archduke Philip were celebrated at Lille with all suitable pomp and solemnity. The fleet was detained until the ensuing winter, to transport the destined bride of the young prince of Asturias to Spain. This lady, who had been affianced in her cradle to Charles the Eighth of France, had received her education in the court of Paris. On her intended husband's marriage with the heiress of Brittany, she had been returned to her native land under circumstances of indignity never to be forgiven by the house of Austria. She was now in the seventeenth year of her age, and had already given ample promise of those uncommon powers of mind which distinguished her in riper years, and of which she has left abundant evidence in various written compositions.3 On her passage to Spain, in midwinter, the fleet encountered such tremendous gales that part of it was shipwrecked, and Margaret's vessel had wellnigh foundered. She retained, however, sufficient composure 1 Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 172.—Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 1496. Mariana, Hist, de Espaiia, torn. ii. lib. 26, cap. 12. 2 Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 1496. Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 172. 3 Peter Martyr, Opus Epist.,epist. 174. Garibay, Compendio, torn. ii. lib. 19, cap. 6. Gaillard, Rivalite, torn. iii. pp. 416, 423. Sandoval, Historia
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del Emperador Carlos V. (Amberes, 1681), torn. i.p. These, comprehending her verses, public ad¬ dresses, and discourse on her own life, have been collected into a single volume, under the title of " La Couronne Margaritique," Lyons, 1549, by the French writer Jean la Maire de Beiges, her faithful follower, whose greatest glory it is to have been the instructor of Clement Marot. 2.—
THE ROYAL FAMILY.
424
amidst the perils of her situation to indite her own epitaph, in the form of a pleasant distich, which Fontenelle has made the subject of one of his amusing dialogues, where he affects to consider the fortitude displayed by her at this awful moment as surpassing that of the philosophic Adrian in his dying hour, or the vaunted heroism of Cato of Utica.1 Fortunately, however, Margaret's epitaph was not needed ; she arrived in safety at the port of Santander, early in March 1497. The young prince of Asturias, accompanied by the king his father, hastened towards the north to receive his royal mistress, whom they met and escorted to Burgos, where she was received with the highest marks of satisfaction by the queen and the whole court. Preparations were instantly made for solemnizing the nuptials of the royal pair, after the expiration of Lent, in a style of magnificence such as had never before been witnessed under the present reign. The marriage ceremony took place on the 3d of April, and was performed by the Archbishop of Toledo in the presence of the grandees and principal nobility of Castile, the foreign ambassadors, and the delegates from Aragon. Among these latter were the magistrates of the principal cities, clothed in their municipal insignia and crimson robes of office, who seem to have had quite as important parts assigned them by their democratic communities, in this and all similar pageants, as any of the nobility or gentry. The nuptials were followed by a brilliant succession of fetes, tourneys, tilts of reeds, and other warlike spectacles, in which the matchless chivalry of Spain poured into the lists to display their magnificence and prowess in the presence of their future queen.2 The chronicles of the day remark on the striking contrast exhibited at these entertainments between the gay and familiar manners of Margaret and her Flemish nobles and the pomp and stately ceremonial of the Castilian court, to which, indeed, the Austrian princess, nurtured as she had been in a Parisian atmosphere, could never be wholly reconciled.3 The marriage of the heir-apparent could not have been celebrated at a more auspicious period. It was in the midst of negotiations for a general peace, when the nation might reasonably hope to taste the sweets of repose after so many uninterrupted years of war. Every bosom swelled with exultation in contemplating the glorious destinies of the country 1 Fontenelle, CEuvres, torn. i. dial.
4.
Ci gist Margot, la gentil' damoiselle " Qu'a deux maris, et encore est pucelle."
—
" V aunque," says the last author, " a la princessa se le dexaron todos sus criados,
torn. ii. fol. 330.
estilos, y entretenimientos, se la advirtio, que en las ceremonia* no havia de tratar a las personas Reales, It must be allowed that Margaret's quiet ttonctui- y Grandes con la familiaridad y Uaneza de las casas lance was much more suited to Fontenelle's habitual de Austria, Borgouia, y Francia, sino con la gravethan the imposing scene of Cato's death. Indeed, the French satirist was so averse to scenes of all kinds, that he has contrived to find a ridiculous side in this last act of the patriot Roman.
dad, y mesurada autoridad de los Reyes y naciones de Espana 1 " The sixth volume of the Spanish Academy of History contains an inventory, taken from the Archives of Simancas, of the rich plate and 2 That these were not mere holiday sports, was jewels presented to the princess Margaret on the day proved by the melancholy death of Alonso de Car¬ of her marriage. They are said to be " of such value denas, son of the comendador of Leon, who lost his and perfeet workmanship that the like was never life in a tourney. Oviedo, Quincuagenas. MS., bat. before seen." (Ilust. ri, pp. 338-342.) Isabella had 1, quinc. 2, dial. r. turned these baubles to good account in the war 01 f Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 1497-16.— Mariana, Granada. She was too simple in her taste to attach Hist, de Espana, torn. ii. lib. 26, cap. Lanuza much value to luxury of apparel. — Historias, lib. 1, cap. 8 Abarca, Reyes de Aragon!
taste
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ALLIANCES AND DEATHS.
425
under the beneficent sway of a prince, the first heir of the hitherto divided monarchies of Spain. Alas ! at the moment when Ferdinand and Isabella, blessed in the affections of their people, and surrounded by all the trophies of a glorious reign, seemed to have reached the very zenith of human felicity, they were doomed to receive one of those mournful lessons which admonish us that all earthly prosperity is but a dream.1 Not long after Prince John's marriage, the sovereigns had the satisfac¬ tion to witness that of their daughter Isabella, who, notwithstanding her repugnance to a second union, had yielded at length to the urgent entreaties of her parents to receive the addresses of her Portuguese lover. She required as the price of this, however, that Emanuel should first banish the Jews from his dominions, where they had bribed a resting-place since their expulsion from Spain; a circumstance to which the super¬ stitious princess imputed the misfortunes which had fallen of late on the royal house of Portugal. Emanuel, whose own liberal mind revolted at this unjust and impolitic measure, was weak enough to allow his passion to get the better of his principles, and passed sentence of exile on every Israelite in his kingdom ; furnishing, perhaps, the only example in which love has been made one of the thousand motives for persecuting this unhappy race.2 The marriage, ushered in under such ill-omened auspices, was cele¬ brated at the frontier town of Valencia de Alcantara, in the presence of the Catholic sovereigns, without pomp or parade of any kind. While they were detained there, an express arrived from Salamanca, bringing tidings of the dangerous illness of their son, the prince of Asturias. He had been seized with a fever in the midst of the public rejoicings to which his arrival with his youthful bride in that city had given rise. The symptoms speedily assumed an alarming character. The prince's constitution, naturally delicate, though strengthened by a life of habitual temperance, sunk under the violence of the attack ; and when his father, who posted with all possible expedition to Salamanca, arrived there, no hopes were entertained of his recovery.3 Ferdinand, however, endeavoured to cheer his son with hopes which he did not feel himself ; but the young prince told him that it was too late to
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1 It 5s precisely this period, or rather the whole Hist, del Rey Hernando, torn. v. fol. 127, 128. period from 1493 to 1497, which Oviedo selects as La Cldde, Hist, de Portugal, torn. iv. p. 101. The that of the greatest splendour and festivity at the physicians recommended a temporary separation of court of the Catholic sovereigns. " El ano de 1493, John from his young bride ; a remedy, however, y uno 6 dos despues, y aun hasta el de 1497 anos which the queen opposed from conscientious scru¬ fue cuando la corte de los Reyes Catdlicos Don ples somewhat singular. " Hortantur medici RegiFernando e Dona Isabel de gloriosa memoria, mas nam, hortatur et Rex, ut a principis latere Maralegres tiempos 6 mas regozijados, vino en su corte, garitam aliquando semoveat, interpellet. Inducias e mas encumbrada andubo la gala e las fiestas e precantur. Protestantur periculum ex frequenti servicios de galanes e damas." Quincuagenas, MS., copula ephebo imminere ; qualiter eum suxerit, bat. 1, cjuinc. 4, dial. 44. quamve subtristis incedat, consideret iterum atque ! Faria y Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, torn. ii. pp. iterum monent ; medullas Itedi, stomachum hebetari 498, 499.— La Clede, Hist, de Portugal, torn. iv. p. se sentire Reginae renunciant. Intercidat, dum 95. Zurita, torn. v. lib. 3, cap. 6. Lanuza, His- licet, obstetque principiis, instant. Nil proficiunt. torias, ubi supra. Respondet Regina, homines non oportere, quos 3 Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 1497. Florez, Deus jugali vinculo junxerit, separare." Peter Reynas Cat'ndlicas, torn. ii. pp. 846, 848.—Zurita, Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 176.
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THE ROYAL FAMILY.
426
be deceived ; that he was prepared to part with a world which, in its best estate, was filled with vanity and vexation ; and that all he now desired was that his parents might feel the same sincere resignation to the divine will which he experienced himself. Ferdinand gathered new forti¬ tude from the example of his heroic son, whose presages were unhappily too soon verified. He expired on the 4th of October 1497, in the twentieth year of his age, in the same spirit of Christian philosophy which he had displayed during his whole illness.1 Ferdinand, apprehensive of the effect which the abrupt intelligence of this calamity might have on the queen, caused letters to be sent at brief intervals, containing accounts of the gradual decline of the prince's health, so as to prepare her for the inevitable stroke. Isabella, however, who through all her long career of prosperous fortune may be said to have kept her heart in constant training for the dark hour of adversity, received the fatal tidings in a spirit of meek and humble acquiescence, testifying her resignation in the beautiful language of Scripture, The Lord hath given, and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be His name !"a " Thus," says Martyr, who had the melancholy satisfaction of rendering the last sad offices to his royal pupil, " was laid low the hope of all Spain." "Never was there a death," says another chronicler, "which occasioned such deep and general lamentation throughout the land." All the un¬ availing honours which affection could devise were paid to his memory. His funeral obsequies were celebrated with melancholy splendour, and his remains deposited in the noble Dominican monastery of St. Thomas at Avila, which had been erected by his parents. The court put on a new and deeper mourning than that hitherto used, as if to testify their unwonted grief.3 All offices, public and private, were closed for forty days ; and sable-coloured banners were suspended from the walls and portals of the cities. Such extraordinary tokens of public sorrow bear strong testimony to the interest felt in the young prince, independently of his exalted station ; similar and perhaps more unequivocal evidence of his worth is afforded by abundance of contemporary notices, not merely in works designed for the public, but in private correspondence. 'Ihe learned Martyr, in particular, whose situation as Prince John's preceptor afforded him the best opportunities of observation, is unbounded in com¬ mendations of his royal pupil, whose extraordinary promise of intellectual
"
0pUl,EP,s;V -memorab1ÿ
yf' ep,st" l82-~L- 1 simulare asrumnam nituntur ; ast nos prastratum in r Carbaial, I intends ipsorum animum cernimus ; oculos alter in A„Z 'mq i82\ • Anales, Mb., alio 1497.—Oviedo, Quincuagenas, faciem alterius crebro conjiciunt, in propatulo sedmore of a i cntes. Undequid lateat proditur. Nimirum tamen, /yr' • n inJohn's | desinerent humana carne vestiti esse homines, esI1?, r A •
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' rfh7 Pr"?ce kWn' ""I with | sentque adamante duriores, nisi quid amisennt I .1 ÿ?urs qUa=familiarity ferebat super- sentirent.'' sennrent. , .
icicuai I • nec mirum K t; ™ abat tamen. Perlegerat namque sHP?r" 3 Blancas, divini Coronaciones de los serenissimos Aristotelis pleraque volumina," etc. Ubi supra. de Aragon (Zaragoza, 1641), lib. 3, cap. tos Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 183. Martyr Reyes Garibay, torn. ii. lib. 19, cap. o. Compendio, draws an affecting picture of the anguish of wnicn bereaved parents, which betrayed itself in the Sackcloth was substituted for the white serge looks till this time had been used as the mourning more eloquent than words : Reges tantam dis- dress.
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ALLIANCES AND DEATHS.
427
and moral excellence had furnished him with the happiest— alas ! delusive auguries for the future destiny of his country.1 By the death of John without heirs, the succession devolved on his eldest sister, the queen of Portugal.2 Intelligence, however, was received, soon after that event, that the archduke Philip, with the restless ambition which distinguished him in later life, had assumed for himself and his wife Joanna the title of "Princes of Castile." Ferdinand and Isabella, disgusted with this proceeding, sent to request the attendance of the king and queen of Portugal in Castile, in order to secure a recognition of their rights by the national legislature. The royal pair, accordingly, in obedi¬ ence to the summons, quitted their capital of Lisbon early in the spring of 1498. In their progress through the country they were magnificently entertained at the castles of the great Castilian lords, and towards the close of April reached the ancient city of Toledo, where the cortes had been convened to receive them.3 After the usual oaths of recognition had been tendered, without opposi¬ tion, by the different branches to the Portuguese princes, the court adjourned to Saragossa, where the legislature of Aragon was assembled for a similar purpose. Some apprehensions were entertained, however, of the unfavourable disposition of that body, since the succession of females was not counte¬ nanced by the ancient usage of the country ; and the Aragonese, as Martyr remarks in one of his Epistles, " were well known to be a pertina¬ cious race, who would leave no stone unturned in the maintenance of
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their constitutional rights."4 These apprehensions were fully realized ; for no sooner was the object of the present meeting laid before cortes in a speech from the throne, 1 Peter Martyr, OpusEpist., epist. 182.— Garibay, without issue in less than three years, and Mar¬ Compendio, torn. ii. lib. 19, cap. 6. L. Marineo, garet passed the remainder of her life in widowhood, Cosas memorables, fol. 182.— Blancas, Coronaciones, being appointed by her father, the emperor, to the p. 248. It must be allowed to furnish no mean government of the Netherlands, which she adminis¬ with ability. She died in 1530. proof of the excellence of Prince John's heart, that tered 3 Marina has transcribed from it was not corrupted by the liberal doses of flattery the archives of with which his worthy tutor was in the habit of Toledo the writ of summons to that city on this regaling him from time to time. Take the begin¬ occasion. Teorfa, torn. ii. p. 16. Zurita, Hist, del ning of one of Martyr's letters to his pupil, in the Rey Hernando, torn. v. lib. 3, cap. 18.— Bernaldez, following modest strain : " Mirande in pueritia Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 154. La Clide, Hist. senex, salve. Quotquot tecum versantur homines, de Portugal, torn. iv. p. 101.— Carbajal, Anales, sive genere polleant, sive ad obsequium fortunse MS., ano 1498. Faria y Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, humiliores destinati ministri, te laudant, extollunt, torn. ii. pp. 500, 501.—The last writer expatiates with great satisfaction on the stately etiquette ob¬ admirantur." Opus Epist., epist. 98. 2 Hopes were entertained of a male heir at the served at the reception of the Portuguese monarchs time of John's death, as his widow was left pregnant ; and their suite by the Spanish sovereigns. " Queen but these were frustrated by her being delivered of Isabella," he says, "appeared leaning on the arm of a still-born infant at the end of a few months. her old favourite Gutierre de Cardenas, comendador Margaret did not continue long in Spain. She of Leon, and of a Portuguese noble, Don Juan de experienced the most affectionate treatment from Sousa. The latter took care to acquaint her with the king and queen, who made her an extremely the rank and condition of each of his countrymen liberal provision. (Zurita, Hist, del Rey Hernando, as they were presented, in order that she might the torn. v. lib. 3, cap. 4.) But her Flemish followers better adjust the measure of condescension and could not reconcile themselves to the reserve and courtesy due to each ; a perilous obligation," he burdensome ceremonial of the Castilian court, so continues, "with all nations, but with the Por¬ different from the free and jocund life to which tuguese most perilous ! " 4 Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. they had been accustomed at home ; and they pre¬ 194. Abarca, vailed on their mistress to return to her native land Reyes de Aragon, torn, ii fol. 334. — Mariana, Hist in the course of the year 1499. She was subse¬ de Espana, torn. ii. lib. 27, cap. 3.
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quently married to the duke of Savoy, who died
THE ROYAL FAMILY.
428
with which parliamentary business in Aragon was always opened, than decided opposition was manifested to a proceeding which it was declared had no precedent in their history. The succession of the crown, it was contended, had been limited by repeated testaments of their princes to male heirs ; and practice and public sentiment had so far coincided with this, that the attempted violation of the rule by Peter the Fourth, in favour of his own daughters, had plunged the nation in a civil war. It was further urged that by the will of the very last monarch, John the Second, it was provided that the crown should descend to the male issue of his son Ferdinand, and, in default of such, to the male issue of Ferdinand's daughters, to the entire exclusion of the females. At all events, it was better to postpone the consideration of this matter until the result of the queen of Portugal's pregnancy, then far advanced, should be ascertained ; since, should it prove to be a son, all doubts of constitutional validity would be removed. In answer to these objections, it was stated that no express law existed in Aragon excluding females from the succession ; that an example had already occurred, as far back indeed as the twelfth century, of a queen who held the crown in her own right ; that the acknowledged power of females to transmit the right of succession necessarily inferred that right existing in themselves ; that the present monarch had doubtless as com¬ petent authority as his predecessors to regulate the law of inheritance, and that his act, supported by the supreme authority of cortes, might set aside any former disposition of the crown ; that this interference was called for by the present opportunity of maintaining the permanent union of Castile and Aragon, without which they must return to their ancient divided state and comparative insignificance.1 These arguments, however cogent, were far from being conclusive with the opposite party ; and the debate was protracted to such length that Isabella, impatient of an opposition to what the practice in her own dominions had taught her to regard as the inalienable right of her daughter, inconsiderately exclaimed, " It would be better to reduce the country by arms at once, than endure this insolence of the cortes." To which Antonio de Fonseca, the same cavalier who had spoken his mind so fearlessly to King Charles the Eighth on his march to Naples, had the independence to reply, " lhat the Aragonese had only acted as good and loyal subjects, who, as they were accustomed to keep their oaths, con¬ sidered well before they took them • and that they must certainly stand excused if they moved with caution in an affair which they found so Corona- up his claim to the throne of France, a principle cionÿlanhaST ranTt4rM P' a73p-IdT' yana,' 4': de JEsPafia. too repugnant to the commonest rules of inheritance torn n lib ÿ rln del Rey to obtain any countenance. The exclusion of d dllst'remarkable Hernando ton?' ?«1 3"r j-i I females in Aragon could not pretend to be founded that the Arae-oneseshniiidc'" on any express law, as in Fran e, but the practice, riÿht a«l"ies«d irfemalÿ b the three e«v
°!,Sh SS£Sn£?
1S
to O
precisely the principle on which Edward I II. set
.
single ee.mple »'•!' the -cepuon'of unlform' q'"te
*
aS
ALLIANCES AND DEATHS.
429
difficult to justify by precedent in their history."1 This blunt expostula¬ tion of the honest courtier, equally creditable to the sovereign who could endure and the subject who could make it, was received in the frank spirit in which it was given, and probably opened Isabella's eyes to her own precipitancy, as we find no further allusion to coercive measures. Before anything was determined, the discussion was suddenly brought to a close by an unforeseen and most melancholy event,— the death of the queen of Portugal, the unfortunate subject of it That princess had pos¬ sessed a feeble constitution from her birth, with a strong tendency to pulmonary complaints. She had early felt a presentiment that she should not survive the birth of her child ; this feeling strengthened as she approached the period of her delivery; and in less than one hour after that event, which took place on the 23d of August 1498, she expired in the arms of her afflicted parents.2 This blow was almost too much for the unhappy mother, whose spirits had not yet had time to rally since the death of her only son. She, indeed, exhibited the outward marks of composure, testifying the entire resignation of one who had learned to rest her hopes of happiness on a better world. She schooled herself so far as to continue to take an interest in all her public duties, and to watch over the common weal with the same maternal solicitude as before ; but her health gradually sunk under this accumulated load of sorrow, which threw a deep shade of melancholy over the evening of her life. The infant, whose birth had cost so dear, proved a male, and received the name of Miguel, in honour of the saint on whose day he first saw the light. In order to dissipate in some degree the general gloom occasioned by the late catastrophe, it was thought best to exhibit the young prince before the eyes of his future subjects ; and he was accordingly borne in the arms of his nurse, in a magnificent litter, through the streets of the city, escorted by the principal nobility. Measures were then taken for obtaining the sanction of his legitimate claims to the crown. Whatever doubts had been entertained of the validity of the mother's title, there could be none whatever of the child's, since those who denied the right of females to inherit for themselves admitted their power of conveying such a right to male issue. As a preliminary step to the public recogni¬ tion of the prince, it was necessary to name a guardian, who should be empowered to make the requisite engagements and to act in his behalf The Justice of Aragon, in his official capacity, after due examination, appointed "the grandparents, Ferdinand and Isabella, to the office of
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1 Blancas, Coronaciones, lib. 3, cap. 18. Zurita, successors for their meritorious and loyal services. Hist, del Rey Hernando, torn. v. lib. 3, cap. 30. — See the document in Dormer, Discursos varios, It is a proof of the high esteem in which Isabella P- 354•z Carbajal, Ana!e<, MS., anos 1470, 1498.— held this independent statesman, that we find his name mentioned in her testament among half-a-dozen Florez, Reynas Cathdlicas, torn. ii. pp. 846, 847. others whom she particularly recommended to her Faria y Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, torn. ii. p. 504.
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43°
THE ROYAL FAMILY.
guardians during his minority, which would expire by law at the age of fourteen.1 On Saturday, the 2 2d of September, when the queen had sufficiently recovered from a severe illness brought on by her late sufferings, the four arms of the cortes of Aragon assembled in the house of deputation at Saragossa; and Ferdinand and Isabella made oath as guardians of the heir-apparent, before the Justice, not to exercise any jurisdiction whatever in the name of the young prince during his minority ; engaging, moreover, so far as lay in their power, that, on his coming of age, he should swear to respect the laws and liberties of the realm before entering on any of the rights of sovereignty. The four estates then took the oath of fealty to Prince Miguel, as lawful heir and successor to the crown of Aragon ; with the protestation that it should not be construed into a precedent for exacting such an oath hereafter during the minority of the heir-apparent With such watchful attention to constitutional forms of procedure did the people of Aragon endeavour to secure their liberties ; forms which con¬ tinued to be observed in later times, long after those liberties had been swept away.2 In the month of January of the ensuing year, the young prince's succession was duly confirmed by the cortes of Castile, and in the follow¬ ing March by that of Portugal. Thus, for once, the crowns of the three monarchies of Castile, Aragon, and Portugal were suspended over one head. The Portuguese, retaining the bitterness of ancient rivalry, looked with distrust at the prospect of a union, fearing, with some reason, that the importance of the lesser State would be wholly merged in that of the greater. But the untimely death of the destined heir of these honours, which took place before he had completed his second year, removed the causes of jealousy, and defeated the only chance which had ever occurred of bringing under the same rule three independent nations, which, from their common origin, their geographical position, and, above all, their resemblance in manners, sentiments, and language, would seem to have originally been intended to form but one.8
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1 Blancas, Commentarii, pp. 510, 511. Idem, Coronaciones, lib. 3, cap. 19. Gerdnimo Martel, Forma de celebrar Cortes en Aragon (Zaragoza, 1641), cap. 44.— Alvaro Gomez, De Rebus gestis a Francisco Ximenio Cisnerio (Compluti, 1569), fol. 28.— Lanuza, Historias, lib. 1, cap. 9. 2 Blancas, Coronaciones, ubi supra. Idem, Commentarii, pp. 510, 511. The reverence of the Aragonese for their institutions is shown in their abservance of the most insignificant ceremonies. A remarkable instance of this occurred in the year 1481, at Saragossa, when, the queen having been constituted lieutenant-general of the kingdom, and
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duly qualified to hold a cortes in the absence of th king her husband, who by the ancient laws ot 1 land was required to preside over it in person, 1 was deemed necessary to obtain a formal act 01
legislature for opening the door for her admissio • See Blancas, Modo de proceder en Cortes de Arago (Zaragoza, 1641), fol. 82, 83. 8 Faria y Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, torn, u- PPMb., P504, 507. Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, * 154. Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 1499- cap. 33* Hist, del Rey Hernando, torn. v. lib. 3, »• —Sandoval, Hist, del Emp. Carlos V., torn.
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p. 4.
MONASTIC REFORMS.
43 1
CHAPTER V. DEATH OF CARDINAL MENDOZA.-RISE OF XIMENES.-ECCLESIASTICAL REFORM.
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th of Mendoza. His early Life, and Character. The Queen his Executor. Origin of Ximenes. He enters the Franciscan Order. His Ascetic Life. Confessor to the Queen. Made Archbishop of Toledo. Austerity of his Life. Reform of the Monastic Orders. Insults offered to the Queen.—She consents to the Reform.
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In the beginning of 1495 the sovereigns lost their old and faithful minister, the grand cardinal of Spain, Don Pedro Gonzalez de Mendoza He was the fourth son of the celebrated marquis of Santillana, and was placed by his talents at the head of a family every member of which must be allowed to have exhibited a rare union of public and private virtue. The cardinal had reached the age of sixty-six, when his days were termin¬ ated, after a long and painful illness, on the nth of January, at his palace of Guadalaxara.1 In the unhappy feuds between Henry the Fourth and his younger brother Alfonso, the cardinal had remained faithful to the former. But on the death of that monarch he threw his whole weight, with that of his powerful family, into the scale of Isabella, whether influenced by a convic¬ tion of her superior claims or her capacity for government. This was a most important acquisition to the royal cause ; and Mendoza's consum¬ mate talents for business, recommended by the most agreeable address, secured him the confidence of both Ferdinand and Isabella, who had long been disgusted with the rash and arrogant bearing of their old minister, Carillo. On the death of that turbulent prelate, Mendoza succeeded to the archiepiscopal see of Toledo. His new situation naturally led to still more intimate relations with the sovereigns, who uniformly deferred to his experience, consulting him on all important matters, not merely of a public but of a private nature. In short, he gained such ascendency in the cabinet during a long ministry of more than twenty years, that he was pleasantly called by the courtiers the " third king of Spain." 2 The minister did not abuse the confidence so generously reposed in 1 Carbajai, Anales, MS., ano - Alvaro Gomez says of him, " Nam praeter 1495.— Salazar de Mendoza, Cr<5n. del Gran Cardenal, lib. 2, cap. 45, clarissimum turn natalium, turn fortunae, turn 46. Zurita, Anales, torn. v. fol. 61. Pulgar, Claros dignitatis splendorem, quae in illo ornamenta Varones, tit. 4. His disorder was an abscess on summa erant, incredibilem animi sublimitatem cum the kidneys, which confined him to the house nearly pari morum facilitate, elegantiSque conjunxerat ; a year before his death. When this event happened, ut merito locum in republica summo proximum ad a white cross of extraordinary magnitude and supremum usque diem tenuerit." (De Rebus gestis, splendour, shaped precisely like that on his arms, fol. 9.) Martyr, noticing the cardinal's death, be¬ was seen in the heavens directly over his house, stows the following brief but comprehensive pane¬ by a crowd of spectators, for more than two gyric on him : " Periit Gonsalus Mendotiae, domtis hours ; a full account of which was duly trans¬ splendor et lucida fax ; periit quem universa colebat mitted to Rome by the Spanish court, and has Hispania, quem exteri etiam principes vcnerabautuij obtained easy credit with the principal Spanish quem ordo cardineus collegam sibi esse gloriabatur. Opus Epist., epist. 158. historians.
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432
RISE OF XIMENES.
him. He called the attention of his royal mistress to objects most deserv¬ ing it. His views were naturally grand and lofty ; and if he sometimes yielded to the fanatical impulse of the age, he never failed to support her heartily in every generous enterprise for the advancement of her people. When raised to the rank of primate of Spain, he indulged his natural inclination for pomp and magnificence. He filled his palace with pages, selected from the noblest families in the kingdom, whom he carefully educated. He maintained a numerous body of armed retainers, which, far from being a mere empty pageant, formed a most effective corps for public service on all requisite occasions. He dispensed the immense revenues of his bishopric with the same munificent hand which has so frequently distinguished the Spanish prelacy, encouraging learned men and endowing public institutions. The most remarkable of these were the college of Santa Cruz at Valladolid, and the hospital of the same name for foundlings at Toledo, the erection of which, completed at his sole charge, consumed more than ten years each.1 The cardinal, in his younger days, was occasionally seduced by those amorous propensities in which the Spanish clergy freely indulged, conta¬ minated, perhaps, by the example of their Mahometan neighbours. He left several children by his amours with two ladies of rank, from whom gome of the best houses in the kingdom are descended.2 A characteristic anecdote is recorded of him in relation to this matter. An ecclesiastic, who one day delivered a discourse in his presence, took occasion to advert to the laxity of the age— in general terms, indeed, but bearing too pertinent an application to the cardinal to be mistaken. The attendants of the latter boiled with indignation at the freedom of the preacher, whom they determined to chastise for his presumption. They prudently, how¬ ever, postponed this until they should see what effect the discourse had on their master. The cardinal, far from betraying any resentment, took no other notice of the preacher than to send him a dish of choice game, which had been served up at his own table, where he was entertaining a party of friends that day, accompanying it at the same time, by way of sauce, with a substantial donative of gold doblas ; an act of Christian charity not at all to the taste of his own servants. It wrought its effects on the worthy divine, who at once saw the error of his ways, and, the next time he mounted the pulpit, took care to frame his discourse in such a manner as to counteract the former unfavourable impressions, to the entire satisfaction, if not edification, of his audience. " Nowadays," says the honest biographer who reports the incident, himself a lineal descend¬ ant of the cardinal, "the preacher would not have escaped so easily. And with good reason ; for the holy gospel should be discreetly preached, 1 Salazar de Mendoza, Cr<5n. del Gran
Cardenal, I vueltas ds las ttcgociactoties desta vidct , tuvo tres
•PP* 263-273, 381-410. Vjran varon, ymuy experimentado y prudente en negocios, says Ovicdo of the cardinal, ufero d
hijos varones," etc. Then follows a full notice 01 this graceless progeny. Quincuagenas, MS., bat\ x, quinc. x, dial. 8?
MONASTIC REFORMS.
433
' cum grano salis,' that is to say, with the decorum and deference due to majesty and men of high estate." 1 When Cardinal Mendoza's illness assumed an alarming aspect, the court removed to the neighbourhood of Guadalaxara, where he was con¬ fined. The king and queen, especially the latter, with the affectionate concern which she manifested for more than one of her faithful subjects, used to visit him in person, testifying her sympathy for his sufferings, and benefiting by the lights of the sagacious mind which had so long helped to guide her. She still further showed her regard for her old minister by condescending to accept the office of his executor, which she punctually discharged, superintending the disposition of his effects according to his testament,2 and particularly the erection of the stately hospital of Santa Cruz before mentioned, not a stone of which was laid before his death.3 In one of her interviews with the dying minister, the queen requested his advice respecting the nomination of his successor. The cardinal, in reply, earnestly cautioned her against raising any one of the principal nobility to this dignity, almost too exalted for any subject, and which, when combined with powerful family connections, would enable a man of factious disposition to defy the royal authority itself, as they had once had bitter experience in the case of Archbishop Carillo. On being pressed to name the individual whom he thought best qualified, in every point of view, for the office, he is said to have recommended Fray Francisco Ximenez de Cisneros, a friar of the Franciscan order, and confessor of the queen. As this extraordinary personage exercised a more important control over the destinies of his country than any other subject during the remainder of the present reign, it will be necessary to put the reader in possession of his history.4 Ximenez de Cisneros or Ximenes, as he is usually called— was born at the little town of Tordelaguna, in the year 1436,6 of an ancient but decayed family.6 He was early destined by his parents for the church,
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1 Salazar de Mendoza, Cr<5n. del Gran Cardenal, lib. 2, cap. 66. The doctor Pedro Salazar de Men¬ doza's biography of his illustrious relative is a very fair specimen of the Spanish style of book-making in ancient times. One event seems to suggest an¬ other with about as much cohesion as the rhymes of " The House that Jack built." There is scarcely a place or personage of note, that the grand cardinal was brought in contact with in the course of his life, whose history is not made the theme of profuse dissertation. Nearly fifty chapters are taken up, for example, with the distinguished men who graduated at the college of Santa Cruz. 2 "Non hoc," says Tacitus with truth, " praecipuum amicorum munus est, prosequi defunctum ignavo questu : sed quae voluerit meminisse, quae mandaverit exsequi." Annales, lib. 2, sect. 71. 3 Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 143. Carbajal, Anales, MS-, aiio 1494. Salazar de Mendoza, Crbn. del Gran Cardenal, lib. 2, cap. 45- — A foundling-hospital does not seem to have come amiss in Spain, where, according to Salazar, the wretched parents frequently destroyed their offspring by casting them into wells and pits, or exposing them in desert places to die of famine. "The More compassionate," he observes, "laid
—
—
—
them at the doors of churches, where they were too often worried to death by dogs and other animals." The grand cardinal's nephew, who founded a similar institution, is said to have furnished an asylum in the course of his life to no less than 13,000 of these little victims ! Ibid., cap. 61. Salazar de Mendoza, Crdn. del Gran Cardenal, lib. 2, cap. 46. Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fol. 8.— The dying cardinal is said to have recommended, among other things, that the queen should repair any wrong done to Joanna Beltraneja, by marrying her to the young prince of Asturias ; which sug¬ gestion was so little to Isabella's taste that she broke off the conversation, saying, " the good man wandered and talked nonsense." 5 It is singular that Flechier should have blundered some twenty years in the date of Ximenes' birth, which he makes 145ÿ. (Hist, de Ximenes, liv. 1, p. 3.) It is not singular that Marsollier should. Histoire du Ministere du Car¬ dinal Ximenez (Toulouse, 1694), liv. 1, p. 3. 6 The honourable extraction of Ximenes is in¬ timated in Juan Vergara's verses at the end of the Complutensian Polyglot : Nomine Cisnerius clarS de stirpe parentum, " Et meritis factus clarior ipse suis. ' 2 E
*
—
RISE OF XIMENES.
434
and, after studying grammar at Alcaic, was removed at fourteen to the university of Salamanca. Here he went through the regular course of instruction then pursued, devoting himself assiduously to the civil and canon law, and at the end of six years received the degree of bachelor in each of them, a circumstance at that time of rare occurrence.1 Three years after quitting the university, the young bachelor removed by the advice of his parents to Rome, as affording a better field for ecclesiastical preferment than he could find at home. Here he seems to have attracted some notice by the diligence with which he devoted him¬ self to his professional studies and employments. But still he was far from reaping the golden fruits presaged by his kindred ; and at the expiration of six years he was suddenly recalled to his native country by the death of his father, who left his affairs in so embarrassed a condition as to require his immediate presence.2 Before his return, Ximenes obtained a papal bull, or expectative, prefer¬ ring him to the first benefice of a specified value which should become vacant in the see of Toledo. Several years elapsed before such a vacancy offered itself by the death of the archpriest of Uzeda (1473); an(ÿ Ximenes took possession of that living by virtue of the apostolic grant. This assumption of the papal court to dispose of the church livings at its own pleasure had been long regarded by the Spaniards as a flagrant imposition ; and Carillo, the archbishop of Toledo, in whose diocese the vacancy occurred, was not likely to submit to it tamely. He had, more¬ over, promised this very place to one of his own followers. He deter¬ mined, accordingly, to compel Ximenes to surrender his pretensions in favour of the latter, and, finding argument ineffectual, resorted to force, confining him in the fortress of Uzeda, whence he was subsequently removed to the strong tower of Santorcaz, then used as a prison for con¬ tumacious ecclesiastics. But Carillo understood little of the temper of Ximenes, which was too inflexible to be broken by persecution. The archbishop in time became convinced of this, and was persuaded to release him, but not till after an imprisonment of more than six years.3 Ximenes, thus restored to freedom, and placed in undisturbed possession of his benefice, was desirous of withdrawing from the jurisdiction of his vindictive superior, and not long after effected an exchange for the chaplainship of Siguenza (1480). In this new situation he devoted himself Fray Pedro de Quintanilla y Mendoza makes a goodly genealogical tree for his hero, of which King Pelayo, King Pepin, Charlemagne, and other royal ÿworthies, are the respectable roots. (Prooemia Dedicatoria, pp. 5-35.) According to Gonxalo de Oviedo, his father was a poor hidalgo, who, having spent his little substance on the education of his children, was obliged to take up the profession of an advocate. Quincuagenas, MS. 1 Quintanilla, Archetypo, p. 6. Gomez, De Rebus gestis, Ximen. , fol. 2. Idem, Miscellanear., MS., ex Bibliotheci Regia Matritensi, torn, il fol.
—
—
189.
- Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fol.
2.—
Idem Mis««d
lanear., MS., ubi supra.— Eugenio de Robles, C?mpendio de la Vida y Hazaiias del Cardenal -Don Fray Francisco Ximenez de Cisneros (Toledo, „ 1604), cap. ri. 3 Quintanilla, Archetypo, pp. 8, 10. Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fol. 2. Flechier, Hist, de Ximenes, pp. 8-10. Suma de la Vida del R. S. Cardenal Don Fr. Francisco Ximenez de Cisneros, sacada de los Memoriales de Juan de Vallejo, P-tje de Camara, e de algunas Personas que en su Tiempo lo vieron para la Ilustrisima Senora Dona Catahna de la Zerda, Condesa de Coruha, a quien Dios guarde, y su Gracia, por un Criado de su Casa, MS.
—
—
—
.
MONASTIC REFORMS.
435
with renewed ardour to his theological studies, occupying himself dili¬ gently, moreover, with Hebrew and Chaldee, his knowledge of which proved of no little use in the concoction of his famous Polyglot. Mendoza was at that time bishop of Siguenza. It was impossible that a man of his penetration should come in contact with a character like that of Ximenes without discerning its extraordinary qualities. It was not long before he appointed him his vicar, with the administration of his diocese ; in which situation he displayed such capacity for business that the count of Cifuentes, on falling into the hands of the Moors after the unfortunate affair of the Axarquia, confided to him the sole management of his vast estates during his captivity.1 But these secular concerns grew more and more distasteful to Ximenes, whose naturally austere and contemplative disposition had been deepened, probably, by the melancholy incidents of his life, into stern religious enthusiasm. He determined, therefore, to break at once from the shackles which bound him to the world, and seek an asylum in some religious establishment, where he might devote himself unreservedly to the service of Heaven. He selected for this purpose the Observantines of the Franciscan order, the most rigid of the monastic societies. He resigned his various employments and benefices, with annual rents to the amount of two thousand ducats, and, in defiance of the arguments and entreaties of his friends, entered on his noviciate in the convent of San Juan de los Reyes, at Toledo ; a superb pile then erecting by the Spanish sovereigns, in pursuance of a vow made during the war of Granada.2 He distinguished his noviciate by practising every ingenious variety of mortification with which superstition has contrived to swell the inevitable catalogue of human sufferings. He slept on the ground, or on the hard floor, with a billet of wood for his pillow. He wore haircloth next his skin, and exercised himself with fasts, vigils, and stripes to a degree scarcely surpassed by the fanatical founder of his order. At the end of the year he regularly professed, adopting then for the first time the name of Francisco, in compliment to his patron saint, instead of that of Gonzalo, by which he had been baptized. No sooner had this taken place, than his reputation for sanctity, which his late course of life had diffused far and wide, attracted multitudes of all ages and conditions to his confessional ; and he soon found himself absorbed in the same vortex of worldly passions and interests from which he had been so anxious to escape. At his solicitation, therefore, he was permitted to transfer his abode to the convent of Our Lady of Castanar,
—
1 Suma de la Vida de Cisneros, hfS. Gomez, De was the most sumptuous and noted of its time. It Rebus gestis, fol. 3. Robles, Vida de Ximenez, was originally destined by the Catholic sovereigns cap. ii. Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., dial, de for their place of sepulture ; an honour afterwards
—
— reserved for Granada, on its recovery from the Quintanilla, Archetypo, p. —Gomez, Miscel- infidels The great chapel was garnished with the " gestis, fetters taken from the dungeons of Malaga, in Rebus lanear., MS., ubi supra.— Idem, De fol. 4.—This edifice, says Salazar de Mendoza, in which the Moors confined their Christian captives. i. library, Monarqu'a. respect its sacristy, choir, cloisters, Ximeni.
11.
to
etc
torn.
p 4to
RISE OF XIMENES. so called from a deep forest of chestnuts in which it was embosomed. In the midst of these dark mountain solitudes he built with his own hands a
little hermitage or cabin, of dimensions barely sufficient to admit his Here he passed his days and nights in prayer, and in meditations on the sacred volume, sustaining life, like the ancient anchorites, on the green herbs and running waters. In this state of selfmortification, with a frame wasted by absiinence and a mind exalted by spiritual contemplation, it is no wonder that he should have indulged in ecstasies and visions, until he fancied himself raised into communication with celestial intelligences. It is more wonderful that his understanding was not permanently impaired by these distempered fancies. This period of his life, however, seems to have been always regarded by him with peculiar satisfaction ; for long after, as his biographer assures us, when reposing in lordly palaces and surrounded by all the appliances of luxury, he looked back with fond regret on the hours which had glided so peacefully in the hermitage of Castanar.1 Fortunately, his superiors, choosing to change his place of residence •according to custom, transferred him at the end of three years to the Here he practised, indeed, similar austerities, but it convent of Salzeda. was not long before his high reputation raised him to the post of guardian of the convent. This situation necessarily imposed on him the manage¬ ment of the institution ; and thus the powers of his mind, so long wasted in unprofitable reverie, were again called into exercise for the benefit of others. An event which occurred some years later, in 1492, opened to
entrance.
him a still wider sphere of action. By the elevation of Talavera to the metropolitan see of Granada, the office of queen's confessor became vacant. Cardinal Mendoza, who was consulted on the choice of a successor, well knew the importance of selecting a man of the highest integrity and talent ; since the queen's tenderness ot conscience led her to take council of her confessor not merely in regard to her own spiritual concerns, but all the great measures of her administration. He at once fixed his eye on Ximenes, of whom he
had never lost sight, indeed, since his first acquaintance with him at Siguenza He was far from approving his adoption of the monastic life, and had been heard to say that " parts so extraordinary would not long be buried in the shades of a convent." He is said, also, to have predicted that Ximenes would one day succeed him in the chair of Toledo ) a prediction which its author contributed more than any other to verify." He recommended Ximenes in such emphatic terms to the queen as raised a strong desire in her to see and converse with him herself. An invitation was accordingly sent him from the cardinal to repair to the court at V alladolid, without intimating the real purpose of it Ximenes 1 Fidchier, Hist, de Ximenes, p. 14.—Quintanilla, Arc ypo, pP; De Rebus gestis, fol. 4.— Suma deI,3\7IA la Vidade Ctsneros, MS.-Oviedo,
~1Go,??ez'
Quincuagenas, MS.
de Mendoza, Cr<5n. del Gran Cardenai, * 2,Salazar lib. cap. 63.— Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fol. 4;~ Suma de la Vida de Cisneros, MS—Robles, VidJ de Ximenez, cap. 12.
MONASTIC REFORMS.
437
obeyed the summons, and, after a short interview with his early patron, was conducted, as if without any previous arrangement, to the queen's apartment. On finding himself so unexpectedly in the royal presence, he betrayed none of the agitation or embarrassment to have been expected from the secluded inmate of a cloister, but exhibited a natural dignity of manner, with such discretion and fervent piety, in his replies to Isabella's various interrogatories, as confirmed the favourable prepossessions she had derived from the cardinal. Not many days after, Ximenes was invited to take charge of the queen's conscience (1492). Far from appearing elated by this mark of royal favour, and the prospects of advancement which it opened, he seemed to view it with disquietude, as likely to interrupt the peaceful tenor of his religious duties ; and he accepted it only with the understanding that he should be allowed to conform in every respect to the obligations of his order, and to remain in his own monastery when his official functions did not require attendance at court.1 Martyr, in more than one of his letters dated at this time, notices the impression made on the courtiers by the remarkable appearance of the new confessor, in whose wasted frame and pallid care-worn countenance they seemed to behold one of the primitive anchorites from the deserts of Syria or Egypt.2 The austerities and the blameless purity of Ximenes' life had given him a reputation for sanctity throughout Spain ;3 and Marty indulges the regret that a virtue which had stood so many trials should be exposed to the worst of all, in the seductive blandishments of a court But Ximenes' heart had been steeled by too stern a discipline to be moved by the fascinations of pleasure, however it might be by those of ambition. Two years after this event he was elected provincial of his order in Castile, which placed him at the head of its numerous religious establish ments. In his frequent journeys for their inspection he travelled on foot, supporting himself by begging alms, conformably to the rules of his order. On his return he made a very unfavourable report to the queen of the condition of the various institutions, most of which he represented to have grievously relaxed in discipline and virtue. Contemporary accounts corroborate this unfavourable picture, and accuse the religious communi¬ ties of both sexes throughout Spain, at this period, of wasting their hours not merely in unprofitable sloth, but in luxury and licentiousness. The
—
1 Fidchier, Hist, de Ximenes, pp. 18, 19. Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 108. Robles, Vida de Ximener, ubi supra. Oviedo, Quincuagenas,
MS. '2 Peter
—
—
—
Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 108. " Prseterea," says Martyr, in a letter to Don Ferhando Alvarez, one of the royal secretaries, " nonne tu sanctissimum quendam virum a suutudine abstrusisque silvis, macie ob abstinentiam confectum, relicti Granatensie loco fuisse suffectum, scriptitasti 7 In istius facie obducta, nonne Hilarionis te imaginem
aut primi Pauli vultum conspexisse fateris ? " Opus Epist., epist. 105. * " Todos hablaban," says Oviedo, " de la sanctimonia ivida de este religioso." The same writer says that he saw him at Medina del Campo, in 1494, in a solemn procession, on the day of Corpus Christi, his body much emaciated, and walking barefooted in his coarse friar's dress. In the same procession was the magnificent cardinal of Spain, little dreaming how soon his proud honours were to descend on the head of his more humble companion. Quincuagenas, MS.
_
RISE OF XIMENES.
438
Franciscans, in particular, had so far swerved from the obligations of their institute, which interdicted the possession of property of any description, that they owned large estates in town and country, living in stately edifices, and in a style of prodigal expense not surpassed by any of the monastic orders. Those who indulged in this latitude were called Conventuals, while the comparatively small number who put the strictest construction on the rule of their founder were denominated Observantines, or brethren of the observance. Ximenes, it will be remembered, was one of the latter.1 The Spanish sovereigns had long witnessed with deep regret the scandalous abuses which had crept into these ancient institutions, and had employed commissioners for investigating and reforming them, but ineffectually. Isabella now gladly availed herself of the assistance of her confessor in bringing them into a better state of discipline. In the course of the same year, 1494, she obtained a bull with full authority for this purpose from Alexander the Sixth, the execution of which she intrusted to Ximenes. The work of reform required all the energies of his powerful mind, backed by the royal authority. For, in addition to the obvious difficulty of persuading men to resign the good things of this world for a life of penance and mortification, there were other impediments, arising from the circumstance that the conventuals had been countenanced in their lax interpretation of the rules of their order by many of their own superiors, and even the popes themselves. They were, besides, sustained in their opposition by many of the great lords, who were apprehensive that the rich chapels and masses which they or their ancestors had founded in the various monasteries would be neglected by the observantines, whose scrupulous adherence to the vow of poverty excluded them from what, in church as well as state, is too often found the most cogent incentive to the performance of duty.2 From these various causes, the work of reform went on slowly; but the untiring exertions of Ximenes gradually effected its adoption in many establishments ; and where fair means could not prevail, he sometimes resorted to force. The monks of one of the convents in Toledo, being ejected from their dwelling in consequence of their pertinacious resistance, marched out in solemn procession, with the crucifix before them, chanting, at the same time, the psalm In exitu Israel, in token of their persecution. Isabella resorted to milder methods. She visited many of the nunneries in person, taking her needle or distaff with her, and endeavouring by her conversation and example to withdraw their inmates from the low and frivolous pleasures to which they were addicted.3
_
Hist, de Ximenes, pp. 25, 26.-Quin* Fiddlier, aa. — Oomez, Do Ke Archetypo, pp. _ tanilla, gestis, tol. 6, 7. Robk-s, Vida de Ximenez, cap.
1 Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. aoi. Suma de la Vida de Cisneros, MS. Mosheim, Ecclesiastical History, vol. iii. cent. 14, p. a. Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 163.—L. Marineo Cosas memorables, fol. 165. Oviedo, Epilogo real' imperial y pontifical, MS., apud Mem. de la de Hist., torn. vi. Ilust. 8.—Zurita, Hist, del Rev Hernando, lib. 3, cap. 15.
—
—
Acad!
—
31,
3 Fiddlier, Hist, de Ximenes, p. 25-—Qui.nÿ" ilia, Archetypo, lib. 1, cap. n. Mein- dela A de• de Hist., twn. vi. Ilust. 8.-Robles, Vida Ximenez, ubi supra.
—
MONASTIC REFORMS.
439
While the reformation was thus silently going forward, the vacancy in the archbishopric of Toledo already noticed occurred by the death of the grand cardinal (1495). Isabella deeply felt the responsibility of providing a suitable person for this dignity, the most considerable not merely in Spain, but probably in Christendom, after the papacy ; one which, moreover, raised its possessor to eminent political rank, as high chancellor of Castile.1 The right of nomination to benefices was vested in the queen by the original settlement of the crown. She had uniformly discharged this trust with the most conscientious impartiality, conferring the honours of the church on none but persons of approved piety and learning.2 In the present instance she was strongly solicited by Ferdinand in favour of his natural son Alfonso, archbishop of Saragossa. But this prelate, although not devoid of talent, had neither the age nor experience, and. still less the exemplary morals, demanded for this important station ; and the queen mildly but unhesitatingly resisted all entreaty and expostu¬ lation of her husband on his behalf.3 The post had always been filled by men of high family. The queen, loath to depart from this usage, notwithstanding the dying admonition of Mendoza, turned her eyes on various candidates before she determined in favour of her own confessor, whose character presented sc rare a com¬ bination of talent and virtue as amply compensated any deficiency of
birth. As soon as the papal bull reached Castile, confirming the royal nomina¬ tion, Isabella summoned Ximenes to her presence, and, delivering to him the parcel, requested him to open it before her. The confessor, who had no suspicion of their real purport, took the letters and devoutly pressed them to his lips ; when, his eye falling on the superscription, " To our venerable brother, Francisco Ximenez de Cisneros, archbishop elect of Toledo," he changed colour, and involuntarily dropped the packet from his hands, exclaiming, " There is some mistake in this : it cannot be intended for me ! " and abruptly quitted the apartment. The queen, far from taking umbrage at this unceremonious proceeding, waited awhile, until the first emotions of surprise should have subsided 1 Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. i, quinc. a, dial. 1.— Ferdinand and Isabella annexed the dig¬ nity of high chancellor in perpetuity to that of arch¬ bishop of Toledo. It seems, however, at least in later times, to have been a mere honorary title. (Mendoza, Dignidades, lib. 2, cap. 8.) The revenues of the archbishopric at the beginning of the six¬ teenth century amounted to 80,000 ducats (Navagiero, Viaggio, fol. 9. L. Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. 23), equivalent to about 702,300 dollars
—
at the present day. 4 De mas desto,'' says Lucio Marineo,
"
" tenia quando avia de dar alguna dig-
por costumbre, que nidad, o obispado, mas mirava en virtud, honestidad, y sciencia de las persunas, que las riquezas, y generosidad, aun que fuessen sus deudos. Lo qual fue causa que muchos de los que hablavan poco, y tenian los cabellos mas cortos que las cejas, comenjaron a traer los ojos baxos mirando la tierra- y
andar con mas gravedad, y hazer mejor vida, simulando por Ventura algvnos mas la virtud, que exercitandola." (Cosas memorable*, fol. 182.) " L'hypocrisie est l'hommage que le vice rend £ la vertu." The maxim is now somewhat stale, like most others of its profound author. 3 Quintanilla, Archetypo, lib. 1, cap. 16.— Salazar de Mendoza, Cr<5n. del Gran Cardenal, lib. 2, cap. 63. This prelate was at this time only twenty-four years of age. He had been raised to the see of Saragossa when only six. This strange abuse of
—
—
preferring infants to the highest dignities of the church seems to have prevailed in Castile as well as Aragon ; for the tombs of five archdeacons might be seen in the church of Madre de Dios at Toledo, in Salazar's time, whose united ages amounted to only thirty years. See Crdn. del Gran Cardenal, ubi supra.
44°
RISE OR XIMENES.
Finding that he did not return, however, she despatched two of the grandees, who she thought would have the most influence with him, to seek him out and persuade him to accept the office. The nobles instantly repaired to his convent in Madrid, in which city the queen then kept her court. They found, however, that he had already left the place. Having ascertained his route, they mounted their horses, and, following as fast as possible, succeeded in overtaking him at three leagues' distance from the city, as he was travelling on foot at a rapid rate, though in the noontide heat, on his way to the Franciscan monastery at Ocana. After a brief expostulation with Ximenes on his abrupt departure, they prevailed on him to retrace his steps to Madrid ; but, upon his arrival there, neither the arguments nor entreaties of his friends, backed as they were by the avowed wishes of his sovereign, could overcome his scruples, or induce him to accept an office of which he professed himself unworthy. " He had hoped," he said, " to pass the remainder of his days in the quiet practice of his monastic duties ; and it was too late now to call him into public life, and impose a charge of such heavy responsibility on him, for which he had neither capacity nor inclination." In this resolution he per¬ tinaciously persisted for more than six months, until a second bull was obtained from the pope, commanding him no longer to decline an appoint¬ ment which the church had seen fit to sanction. This left no further room for opposition, and Ximenes acquiesced, though with evident reluctance, in his advancement to the first dignity in the kingdom.1 There seems to be no good ground for charging Ximenes with hypocrisy in this singular display of humility. The nolo episcopari, indeed, has passed into a proverb ; but his refusal was too long and sturdily maintained to be reconciled with affectation or insincerity. He was, moreover, at this time in the sixtieth year of his age, when ambition, though not extin¬ guished, is usually chilled in the human heart. His habits had been long accommodated to the ascetic duties of the cloister, and his thoughts turned from the business of this world to that beyond the grave. However gratifying the distinguished honour conferred on him might be to his personal feelings, he might naturally hesitate to exchange the calm seques¬ tered way of life, to which he had voluntarily devoted himself, for the turmoil and vexations of the world. But although Ximenes showed no craving for power, it must be con¬ fessed he was by no means diffident in the use of it. One of the very first acts of his administration is too characteristic to be omitted. The government of Cazorla, the most considerable place in the gift of the arch¬ bishop of Toledo, had been intrusted by the grand cardinal to his younger brother, Don Pedro Hurtado de Mendoza. The friends of this nobleman 1 Ganbay, Compendio, torn. h. lib. 19, cap. 4.— Mariana, Hist, de EspaSa, torn. ii. lib. 26, cap. 7.— Suma de la Vida de Cisneros, MS.— Quintanilla, Archetypo, lib. i,cap. 16.—Gomez, De Rebus
fol. 11.—Carbaial, Anales, MS.,ano 1495.—Robles, Vida de Ximenex. cap. 13.—Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS
MONASTIC REFORMS.
44i
applied to Ximenes to confirm the appointment, reminding him at the same time of his own obligations to the cardinal, and enforcing their peti¬ tion by the recommendation which they had obtained from the queea This was not the way to approach Ximenes, who was jealous of any improper influence over his own judgment, and, above all, of the too easyabuse of the royal favour. He was determined, in the outset, effectually to discourage all such applications ; and he declared that the sovereigns " might send him back to the cloister again, but that no personal considera¬ tions should ever operate with him in distributing the honours of the church." The applicants, nettled at this response, returned to the queen, complaining in the bitterest terms of the arrogance and ingratitude of the new primate. Isabella, however, evinced no symptoms of disapprobation, not altogether displeased, perhaps, with the honest independence of her minister ; at anyrate, she took no further notice of the affair. 1 Some time after, the archbishop encountered Mendoza in one of the avenues of the palace, and as the latter was turning off to avoid the meet¬ ing, he saluted him with the title of Adelantado of Cazorla. Mendoza stared with astonishment at the prelate, who repeated the salutation, assur¬ ing him " that, now he was at full liberty to consult his own judgment, without the suspicion of any sinister influence, he was happy to restore him to a station for which he had shown himself well qualified." It is scarcely necessary to say that Ximenes was not importuned after this with solicitations for office. Indeed, any personal application he affected to regard as of itself sufficient ground for a denial, since it indicated " the want either of merit or of humility in the applicant." 2 After his elevation to the primacy, he retained the same simple and austere manners as before, dispensing his large revenues in public and private charities, but regulating his domestic expenditure with the severest economy,3 until he was admonished by the Holy See to adopt a state more consonant with the dignity of his office, if he would not disparage it in popular estimation. In obedience to this, he so far changed his habits as to display the usual magnificence of his predecessors in all that met the public eye,— his general style of living, equipage, and the number and pomp of his retainers ; but he relaxed nothing of his personal mortifica¬ tions. He maintained the same abstemious diet amidst all the luxuries of his table. Under his robes of silk or costly furs he wore the coarse frock of St. Francis, which he used to mend with his own hands. He used no linen about his person or bed ; and he slept on a miserable pallet like that used by the monks of his fraternity, and so contrived as to be concealed from observation under the luxurious couch in which he affected to repose.4 sleek and fat, for the archbishop would not ride
5 Gomei, De Rebus gestis. fol. n.
— Robles, Vida de Ximenez, cap. 14. himself, nor allow his brethren to ride either." ' "Ibid. He kept five or six friars of his order," says Quincuagenas, MS. Gonzalo de Oveido, "in his palace with him, and * Suma de la Vida de Cisneros, MS.—Quintanilla, as many asses in his stables ; but the latter all grew Archetypo, lib. a, cap. 8, 9.— Gomez, De Rebus 3
13,
RISE OF XJMENES.
442
As soon as Ximenes entered on the duties of his office, he bent all the energies of his mind to the consummation of the schemes of reform which his royal mistress, as well as himself, had so much at heart. His attention was particularly directed to the clergy of his diocese, who had widely departed from the rule of St. Augustine, by which they were bound. His attempts at reform, however, excited such a lively dissatisfaction in this reverend body that they determined to send one of their own number to Rome, to prefer their complaints against the archbishop at the papal court.1 The person selected for this delicate mission was a shrewd and intelli¬ gent canon by the name of Albornoz. It could not be conducted so privately as to escape the knowledge of Ximenes. He was no sooner acquainted with it than he despatched an officer to the coast, with orders to arrest the emissary. In case he had already embarked, the officer was authorized to fit out a fast-sailing vessel, so as to reach Italy, if possible, before him. He was at the same time fortified with despatches from the sovereigns to the Spanish minister, Garcilasso de la Vega, to be delivered immediately on his arrival. The affair turned out as had been foreseen. On arriving at the port, the officer found the bird had flown. He followed, however, without delay, and had the good fortune to reach Ostia several days before him. He forwarded his instructions at once to the Spanish minister, who in pursuance of them caused Albornoz to be arrested the moment he set foot on shore, and sent him back as a prisoner of state to Spain ; where a close confinement for two-and-twenty months admonished the worthy canon of the inexpediency of thwarting the plans of Ximenes.2 His attempts at innovation among the regular clergy of his own order were encountered with more serious opposition. The reform fell most heavily on the Franciscans, who were interdicted by their rules from holding property, whether as a community or as individuals ; while the members of other fraternities found some compensation for the surrender of their private fortunes in the consequent augmentation of those of their fraternity. There was no one of the religious orders, therefore, in which the archbishop experienced such a dogged resistance to his plans as in his own. More than a thousand friars, according to some accounts, quitted the country and passed over to Barbary, preferring rather to live with the infidel than conform to the strict letter of the founder's rules.3
—
gestis, fol. 12. Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS.— Robles, Vida de Ximenez, cap. 13.— He commonly slept in his Franciscan habit. Of course his toilet took no long time. On one occasion, as he was travelling, and up as usual long before dawn, he urged his muleteer to dress himself quickly ; at which the latter irreverently exclaimed, " Cuerpo de Dios ! does your holiness think Ihave nothing more to do than to shake myself like a wet spaniel and tighten my cord a little T" Quintanilla, Arche-
minister Navagiero, noticing the condition of
the
canons of Toledo some few years later, celebrates them as "lording it above all others in their own
city, being especial favourites with the ladies, dwell¬ the most ing in stately mansions, passing, in short, to agreeable lives in the world, without any one trouble them." Viagg;io, fol. 9. fol. gestis, Rebus 17. Pe de 1 • Quintanilla, Archetypo, pp. 22, 23.— Mem. la Acad, de Hist., torn. vL p. 201. Zurita, Hist. account ubi supra. typo, del Rey Hernando, lib. 3, cap. 15. One Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fol. 16. The Venetian represents the migration as being to Italy and othei
'
—
S0?162'
——
MONASTIC REFORMS.
443
The difficulties of the reform were perhaps augmented by the mode in which it was conducted. Isabella, indeed, used all gentleness and persuasion ;1 but Ximenes carried measures with a high and inexorable hand. He was naturally of an austere and arbitrary temper, and the severe training which he had undergone made him less charitable for the lapses of others, especially of those who, like himself, had voluntarily incurred the obligations of monastic rule. He was conscious of the recti¬ tude of his intentions, and as he identified his own interests with those of the church, he regarded all opposition to himself as an offence against religion, warranting the most peremptory exertion of power. The clamour raised against his proceedings became at length so alarm¬ ing that the general of the Franciscans, who resided at Rome, determined to anticipate the regular period of his visit to Castile for inspecting the affairs of the order (1496). As he was himself a conventual, his prejudices were of course all enlisted against the measures of reform ; and he came over fully resolved to compel Ximenes to abandon it altogether, or to undermine, if possible, his credit and influence at court But this functionary had neither the talent nor temper requisite for so arduous an undertaking. He had not been long in Castile before he was convinced that all his own power, as head of the order, would be incompetent to protect it against the bold innovations of his provincial while supported by royal authority. He demanded, therefore, an audience of the queen, in which he declared his sentiments with very little reserve. He expressed his astonish¬ ment that she should have selected an individual for the highest dignity in the church, who was destitute of nearly every qualification, even that of birth; whose sanctity was a mere cloak to cover his ambition ; whose morose and melancholy temper made him an enemy not only of the elegances but the common courtesies of life ; and whose rude manners were not compensated by any tincture of liberal learning. He deplored the magnitude of the evil which his intemperate measures had brought on the church, but which it was, perhaps, not yet too late to rectify ; and he concluded by admonish¬ ing her that, if she valued her own fame or the interests of her soul, she would compel this man of yesterday to abdicate the office for which he had proved himself so incompetent, and return to his original obscurity ! The queen, who listened to this violent harangue with an indignation that prompted her more than once to order the speaker from her presence, put a restraint on her feelings, and patiently waited to the end. When he had finished, she calmly asked him, "If he was in his senses, and knew whom he was thus addressing?" " Yes," replied the enraged friar, "I am in my senses, and know very well whom Iam speaking to ;— the queen Christian countries, where the conventual order was zones, y hecha duefia de ellas, las persuadia con protected ; which would seem the more probable, suavidad y eficacia i. que votasen clausura Y es though not the better authenticated, statement of cosa admirable, que raro fue el convento donde entrd esta celebre heroina, donde no lograse en el the two. 1 Trataba las monjas," says Riol, " con un propio dia el efecto de su santo de-eo." Informe, " agrado y amor tan carinoso, que las robaba Ioscora- apud Semanario erudito, torn. iii. p. no.
RISE OF XIMENES.
444
of Castile, a mere handful of dust, like myself ! " With these words he rushed out of the apartment, shutting the door after him with furious violence.1 Such impotent bursts of passion could, of course, have no power to turn the queen from her purpose. The general, however, on his return to Italy, had sufficient address to obtain authority from His Holiness to send a commission of conventuals to Castile, who should be associated with Ximenes in the management of the reform. These individuals soon found themselves mere ciphers ; and, highly offended at the little account which the archbishop made of their authority, they preferred such complaints of his proceedings to the pontifical court that Alexander the Sixth was induced, with the advice of the college of cardinals, to issue a brief, November 9th, 1496, peremptorily inhibiting the sovereigns from proceed¬ ing further in the affair until it had been regularly submitted for examina¬ tion to the head of the church.2 Isabella, on receiving this unwelcome mandate, instantly sent it to Ximenes. The spirit of the latter, however, rose in proportion to the obstacles it had to encounter. He sought only to rally the queen's courage, beseeching her not to faint in the good work, now that it was so far advanced, and assuring her that it was already attended with such beneficent fruits as could not fail to secure the protection of Heaven. Isabella, every act of whose administration may be said to have had reference, more or less remote, to the interests of religion, was as little likely as himself to falter in a matter which proposed these interests as its direct and only object. She assured her minister that she would support him in all that was practicable ; and she lost no time in present¬ ing the affair, through her agents, in such a light to the court of Rome as might work a more favourable disposition in it. In this she succeeded, though not till after multiplied delays and embarrassments ; and such ample powers were conceded to Ximenes (1497), in conjunction with the apostolic nuncio, as enabled him to consummate his grand scheme of reform, in defiance of all the efforts of his enemies.3 The reformation thus introduced extended to the religious institutions of every order equally with his own. It was most searching in its opera¬ tion, reaching eventually to the moral conduct of the subjects of it, no less than to mere points of monastic discipline. As regards the latter, it may be thought of doubtful benefit to have enforced the rigid interpreta¬ tion of a rule founded on the melancholy principle that the amount of happiness in the next world is to be regulated by that of self-inflicted suffering in this. But it should be remembered that, however objectionFiddlier, Hist, de Ximenes, pp. 56, 58.—-Gomez, j 3 Quintanilla, Archetypo, lib. 1, cap. n-i4De Rebus gestls> fob MHist, del Rey j Riol the various monastic reforms Hernando, lib. 3, cap. 15—Robles, Vida de Xl- effected discusses by Ximenes, in his Memorial to Philip menez, cap. 13. V., apud Semanario erudito, torn. iii. PP. - Gomez, De Rebus 1
—
gestis, fol. 23
Archetypo, lib. 1, cap. xi.
— Quintanilla,
no
MONASTIC REFORMS.
445
able such a rule may be in itself, yet where it is voluntarily assumed as an imperative moral obligation it cannot be disregarded without throwing down the barrier to unbounded license ; and that the reassertion of it, under these circumstances, must be a necessary preliminary to any effectual reform of morals. The beneficial changes wrought in this latter particular, which Isabella had far more at heart than any exterior forms of discipline, are the theme of unqualified panegyric with her contemporaries.1 The Spanish clergy, as Ihave before had occasion to remark, were early noted for their dis¬ solute way of life, which, to a certain extent, seemed to be countenanced by the law itself.2 This laxity of morals had been carried to a most lamentable extent under the last reign, when all orders of ecclesiastics, whether regular or secular, infected probably by the conupt example of the court, are represented (we may hope it is an exaggeration) as wallow¬ ing in all the excesses of sloth and sensuality. So deplorable a pollution of the very sanctuaries of religion could not fail to occasion sincere regret to a pure and virtuous mind like Isabella's. The stain had sunk too deep, however, to be readily purged away. Her personal example, indeed, and the scrupulous integrity with which she reserved all ecclesiastical prefer¬ ment for persons of unblemished piety, contributed greatly to bring about an amelioration in the morals of the secular clergy. But the secluded inmates of the cloister were less open to these influences ; and the work of reform could only be accomplished there by bringing them back to a rever¬ ence for their own institutions, and by the slow operation of public opinion. Notwithstanding the queen's most earnest wishes, it may be doubted whether this would have ever been achieved without the co-operation of a man like Ximenes, whose character combined in itself all the essential elements of a reformer. Happily, Isabella was permitted to see before her death, if not the completion, at least the commencement, of a decided amendment in the morals of the religious orders ; an amendment which, far from being transitory in its character, calls forth the most emphatic eulogium from a Castilian writer far in the following century • who, while he laments their ancient laxity, boldly challenges comparison for the religious communities of his own country with those of any other, in temperance, chastity, and exemplary purity of life and conversation.3
The authority on whom the life of Cardinal Ximenes mainly rests is Alvaro Gomez de Castro. He was born in the village of St. Eulalia, near Toledo, in 15 15, and received length so intolerable as call were called, was — for repeated laws, regulating their apparel, and
1 L. Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. 165. Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 201.— et al.
2 The practice of concubnage by the clergy was
fully recognized, and the ancient Jueros of Castile permitted their issue to inherit the estates of such parents as died intestate. (See Marina, Ensayo histdrico-critico sobre la antigua Legislacion de Castilla (Madrid, 1808), p. 184.) The effrontery of these legalized strumpets, barra&anas, as they
at
to
prescribing a badge for distinguishing them from honest women. (Sempere, Hist, del Luxo, torn. i. pp. 165-169.)— Spain is probably the only country in Christendom where concubinage was ever sanc¬ tioned by law ; a circumstance doubtless imputable in some measure to the influence of the Mahometans. Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fol. 23.
'
446
RISE OF XIMENES.
his education at AlcalA, where he obtained great repute for his critical acquaintance with the ancient classics. He was afterwards made professor of the humanities in the university ; a situation which he filled with credit, but subsequently exchanged for the rhetorical chair in a school recently founded at Toledo. While thus occupied, he was chosen by the university of AlcalA to pay the most distinguished honour which could be rendered to the memory of its illustrious founder, by a faithful record of his extraordinary life. The most authentic sources of information were thrown open to him. He obtained an intimate acquaintance with the private life of the cardinal from three of his principal domestics, who furnished abundance of reminiscences from personal observation, while the archives of the university supplied a mass of documents relating to the public services of its patron. From these and similar materials, Gomez prepared his biography, after many years of patient labour. The work fully answered public expectation; and its merits are such as to lead the learned Nic Antonio to express a doubt whether any¬ thing more excellent or perfect in its way could be achieved : " quo opere in eo genere an prsestantius quidquam aut perfectius, esse possit, non immerito ssepe dubitavi." (Bibliotheca Nova, torn. i. p. 59.) The encomium maybe thought somewhat excessive; but it cannot be denied that the narrative is written in an easy and natural manner, with fidelity and accuracy, with commendable liberality of opinion, though with a judgment sometimes warped into an undue estimate of the qualities of his hero. It is distinguished, moreover, by such beauty and correctness of Latinity as have made it a text- book in many of the schools and colleges of the Peninsula. The first edition, being that used in the present work, was published at AlcalA in 1569. It has since been reprinted twice in Germany, and perhaps elsewhere. Gomez was busily occupied with other literary lucubrations during the remainder of his life, and published several works in Latin prose and verse, both of which he wrote with ease and elegance. He died of a catarrh, in 1580, in the sixty-sixth year of his age, leaving behind him a reputation for disinterested¬ ness and virtue which is sufficiently commemorated in two lines of his epitaph :
" Nemini unquam sciens nocui,
Prodesse quain pluribus curavi."
The work of Gomez has furnished the basis for all those biographies of Ximenes which have since appeared in Spain. The most important of these, probably, is Quintanilla s ; which, with little merit of selection or arrangement, presents a copious mass of details, drawn from every quarter whence his patient industry could glean them. Its author was a Franciscan, and employed in procuring the beatification of Cardinal Ximenes by the court of Rome ; a circumstance which probably disposed him to easier faith in the marvellous of his story than most of his readers will be ready to give. The work was published at Palermo in 1653. In addition to these authorities, Ihave availed myself of a curious old manuscript, presented to me by Mr. O. Rich, entitled " Suma de la Vida del R. S. Cardenal Don Fr. Francisco Ximenez de Cisneros." It was written within half a century after the cardinal's death, by " un criado de la casa de Coruna." The original, in "very ancient letter," was extant in the archives of that noble house in Quintanilla's time, and is often cited by him. (Archetypo, apend., p. 77.) Its author evidently had access to those contemporary notices some of which furnished the basis of Castro's narrative, from which, indeed, it exhibits no material discrepancy. The extraordinary character of Ximenes has naturally attracted the attention of foreign writers, and especially the French, who have produced repeated biographies of him. The most eminent of these is by Flechier, the eloquent bishop of Nismes. It is written with the simple elegance and perspicuity which characterize his other compositions, and in the general tone of its sentiments, on all matters both of Church and state, is quite as orthodox as the most bigoted admirer of the cardinal could desire. Another life, by Marsollier, has obtained a very undeserved repute. The author, not content with the
PERSECUTIONS IN GRANADA.
447
extraordinary qualities really appertaining to his hero, makes him out a sort of universal genius, rivalling Moliere's Dr. Pancrace himself. One may form some idea of the historian's accuracy from the fact that he refers the commencement and conduct of the war of Granada chiefly to the counsels of Ximenes, who, as we have seen, was not even introduced at court till after the close of the war. Marsollier reckoned largely on the ignorance and gullibility of his readers. The event proved he was not mistaken.
CHAPTER VI. XIMENES IN GRANADA.-PERSECUTION, INSURRECTION, AND CONVERSION OF THE MOORS.
1499-15°°.
—
—
—
Tranquil State of Granada. Mild Policy of Talavera. Clergy dissatisfied with it. Violent Measures of Ximenes.— His Fanaticism.—Its mischievous Effects.—Insurrection in Granada. Tranquillity restored. Baptism of the Inhabitants.
—
—
Moral energy, or constancy of purpose, seems to be less properly an independent power of the mind than a mode of action by which its various powers operate with effect But, however this may be, it enters more largely, perhaps, than mere talent, as commonly understood, into the formation of what is called character, and is often confounded by the vulgar with talent of the highest order. In the ordinary concerns of life, indeed, it is more serviceable than brilliant parts ; while in the more important these latter are of little weight without it, evaporating only in brief and barren flashes, which may dazzle the eye by their splendour, but pass away and are forgotten. The importance of moral energy is felt not only, where it would be expected, in the concerns of active life, but in those more exclusively of an intellectual character,— in deliberative assemblies, for example, where talent, as usually understood, might be supposed to assert an absolute supremacy, but where it is invariably made to bend to the controlling influence of this principle. No man destitute of it can be the leader of a party ; where there are few leaders, probably, who do not number in their ranks minds from which they would be compelled to shrink in a contest for purely intellectual pre-eminence. This energy of purpose presents itself in a yet more imposing form when stimulated by some intense passion, as ambition, or the nobler principle of patriotism or religion ; when the soul, spurning vulgar considerations of interest, is ready to do and to dare all for conscience' sake ; when, insensible alike to all that this world can give or take away, it loosens itself from the gross tie? whicb bind it to earth, and, however humble its
44ÿ
XIMENES.
powers in every other point of view, attains a grandeur and elevation which genius alone, however gifted, can never reach. But it is when associated with exalted genius, and under the action of the potent principles above mentioned, that this moral energy conveys an image of power which approaches nearer than anything else on earth to that of a divine intelligence. It is, indeed, such agents that Providence selects for the accomplishment of those great revolutions by which the world is shaken to its foundations, new and more beautiful systems created, and the human mind carried forward at a single stride, in the career of improvement, further than it had advanced for centuries. It must, indeed, be confessed that this powerful agency is sometimes for evil as well as for good. It is this same impulse which spurs guilty Ambition along his bloody track, and which arms the hand of the patriot sternly to resist him ; which glows with holy fervour in the bosom of the martyr, and which lights up the fires of persecution, by which he is to win his crown of glory. The direction of the impulse, differing in the same individual under different circumstances, can alone determine whether he shall be the scourge or the benefactor of his species. These reflections have been suggested by the character of the extra¬ ordinary person brought forward in the preceding chapter, Ximenes de Cisneros, and the new and less advantageous aspect in which he must now appear to the reader. Inflexible constancy of purpose formed, perhaps, the most prominent trait of his remarkable character. What direction it might have received under other circumstances it is impossible to say. It would be no great stretch of fancy to imagine that the unyielding spirit, which in its early days could voluntarily endure years of imprison¬ ment rather than submit to an act of ecclesiastical oppression, might under similar influences have been aroused, like Luther's, to shake down the ancient pillars of Catholicism, instead of lending all its strength to uphold them. The latter position, however, would seem better assimi¬ lated to the constitution of his mind, whose sombre enthusiasm naturally prepared him for the vague and mysterious in the Romish faith, as his inflexible temper did for its bold and arrogant dogmas. At any rate, it was to this cause he devoted the whole strength of his talents and com manding energies. We have seen in the preceding chapter with what promptness he entered on the reform of religious discipline as soon as he came into office, and with what pertinacity he pursued it in contempt of all personal interest and popularity. We are now to see him devoting himself with similar zeal to the extirpation of heresy ; with contempt not merely of personal consequences, but also of the most obvious principles of good faith and national honour. Nearly eight years had elapsed since the conquest of Granada, and the subjugated kingdom continued to repose in peaceful security under the shadow of the treaty which guaranteed the unmolested enjoyment of its
PERSECUTIONS IN GRANADA.
449
ancient laws and religion. This unbroken continuance of public tranquil¬ lity, especially difficult to be maintained among the jarring elements of the capital, whose motley population of Moors, renegades, and Christians suggested perpetual points of collision, must be chiefly referred to the discreet and temperate conduct of the two individuals whom Isabella had charged with the civil and ecclesiastical government. These were Mendoza, count of Tendilla, and Talavera, archbishop of Granada. The former, the brightest ornament of his illustrious house, has been before made known to the reader by his various important services, both military and diplomatic. Immediately after the conquest of Granada he was made alcayde and captain-general of the kingdom ; a post for which he was every way qualified by his prudence, firmness, enlightened views, and long experience.1 The latter personage, of more humble extraction,2 was Fray Fernando de Talavera, a Hieronymite monk, who, having been twenty years prior of the monastery of Santa Maria del Prado, near Valladolid, was made confessor of Queen Isabella, and afterwards of the king. This situation necessarily gave him considerable influence in all public measures. If the keeping of the royal conscience could be safely intrusted to any one, it might certainly be to this estimable prelate, equally distinguished for his learning, amiable manners, and unblemished piety ; and if his character was somewhat tainted with bigotry, it was in so mild a form, so far tempered by the natural benevolence of his disposition, as to make a favourable contrast to the dominant spirit of the time.3 After the conquest, he exchanged the bishopric of Avila for the archiepiscopal see of Granada. Notwithstanding the wishes of the sovereigns, he refused to accept any increase of emolument in this new and more exalted station. His revenues, indeed, which amounted to two millions of maravedis annually, were somewhat less than he before enjoyed.4 The greater part of this sum he liberally expended on public improvements and works of charity; objects which, to their credit be it spoken, have rarely failed to engage a large share of the attention and resources of the
higher Spanish clergy.6 " Hoinbre," his son, the historian, says of him,
probably, in the sixth volume of the Mem. de la
battalias ganadas." (Guerra de Granada, lib. i, p. 9.) Oviedo dwells with sufficient amplification on the personal history and merits of this distinguished individual in his .garrulous reminiscences. Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 28. 2 Oviedo, at least, can find no better pedigree for him than that of Adam: "Quanto a su linage <51 fud del linage de todos los humanos <5 de aquel barro y subcesion de Adan." (Quincuagenas, MS., dial, de Talavera.) It is a very hard case when a Castilian can make out no better genealogy for his hero. 3 Pedraza, Antiguedad de Granada, lib. 3, cap. 10. Marmol, Rebelion de los Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 21. Talavera's correspondence with the queen, published in various works, but most correctly,
homilies on the love of company, dancing, and the like heinous offences. The whole savours more of the sharp twang of Puritanism than of the Roman Catholic school. But bigotry is neutral ground, or, which the most opposite sects may meet. 4 Pedraza, Antiguedad de Granada, lib. 3, cap. 10.— Marmol, lib. 1, cap. 21.— Equivalent to 56,000 dollars of the present day ; a sum which Pedraza makes do quite as hard duty, according to its mag¬ nitude, as the 500 pounds of Pope's Man of Ross. 5 Pedraza, ubi supra.— Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., dial, de Talavera.—The worthy archbishop's benefactions on some occasions were of rather an extraordinary character. " Pidiendole limosna," says Pedraza, "una muger que no tenia camisa, se entr<5 en una casa, ye se desnudd la suya y se la
1
" de prudencia en negocios graves, de animo firme, Acad, de Hist. (Uust. 13), is not calculated to raise asegurado con luenga experiencia de rencuentros i his reputation. His letters are little else than
— —
2
r
XIMENES.
45°
The subject which pressed most seriously on the mind of the good archbishop was the conversion of the Moors, whose spiritual blindness he regarded with feelings of tenderness and charity very different from those entertained by most of his reverend brethren. He proposed to accom¬ plish this by the most rational method possible. Though late in life, he set about learning Arabic, that he might communicate with the Moors in their own language, and commanded his clergy to do the same.1 He caused an Arabic vocabulary, grammar, and catechism to be compiled, and a version in the same tongue to be made of the liturgy, comprehend¬ ing the selections from the Gospels, and proposed to extend this at some future time to the whole body of the Scriptures.2 Thus unsealing the sacred oracles which had been hitherto shut out from their sight, he opened to them the only true sources of Christian knowledge, and by endeavour¬ ing to effect their conversion through the medium of their understandings, instead of seducing their imaginations with a vain show of ostentatious ÿceremonies, proposed the only method by which conversion could be sincere and permanent These wise and benevolent measures of the good prelate, recommended as they were by the most exemplary purity of life, acquired him great authority among the Moors, who, estimating the value of the doctrine by its fruits, were well inclined to listen to it, and numbers were daily added to the church.3 The progress of proselytism, however, was necessarily slow and painful among a people reared from the cradle not merely in antipathy to, but abhorrence of, Christianity ; who were severed from the Christian com¬ munity by strong dissimilarity of language, habits, and institutions, and now indissolubly knit together by a common sense of national misfortune. Many of the more zealous clergy and religious persons, conceiving, indeed, this barrier altogether insurmountable, were desirous of seeing it swept away at once by the strong arm of power. They represented to the sovereigns that it seemed like insensibility to the goodness of Providence, which had delivered the infidels into their hands, to allow them any longer to usurp the fair inheritance of the Christians, and that the whole of the stiff-necked race of Mahomet might justly be required to submit without exception to instant baptism, or to sell their estates and remove to Africa. This, they maintained, could be scarcely regarded as an infringement of the treaty, since the Moors would be so great gainers on the score of dio ; diziendo con san Pedro, No tengo oro ni plata Arabic language, according to Dr. M'Crie que darte, doyte lo que tengo." Antiguedad de mation in Spain, p. 70), who cites Schnurrer, lubl. Granada, lib. 3, cap. 10. 1 Marmol, Rebelion de los Moriscos, lib. 1, " oieaa, (..oronica, I1D. 5, cap. 23.— cap. 21.— Pedraza, Antiguedad de Granada, ubi Antiguedad de Granada, lib. 3, cap. 10. Marino> , , supra. Rebelion de los Moriscos, iib. x, cap. 21. Gome 2 Fidchier, Hist, de Ximenes, p 17.— Quintan- De Rebus gestis, fol. 29. " Hacia lo que predicaba, ilia, Archetypo, lib. 2, cap. 2.— Gomez, De Rebus 6 predicd lo que says Oviedo of the ate u gestis, fol. 32. Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS.—These • bishop, briefly, 6hizo," " asi fue mucho provechoso e ti acts were published at Granada, in 1505, in Roman en aquella ciudad para la conversion de los Moros. characters, being the first books ever printed in the Quincuagenas, MS. .ÿ
—
—
-
>(
PERSECUTIONS IN GRANADA.
451
their eternal salvation ; to say nothing of the indispensableness of such a measure to the permanent tranquillity and security of the kingdom ! 1 But these considerations, "just and holy as they were," to borrow the words of a devout Spaniard,2 failed to convince the sovereigns, who resolved to abide by their royal word, and to trust to the conciliatory measures now in progress, and a longer and more intimate intercourse with the Christians, as the only legitimate means for accomplishing their object. Accordingly, we find the various public ordinances, as low down as 1499, recognizing this principle, by the respect which they show for the most trivial usages of the Moors,8 and by their sanctioning no other stimulant to conversion than the amelioration of their condition.4 Among those in" favour of more active measures was Ximenes, arch¬ bishop of Toledo. Having followed the court to Granada in the autumn of 1499, he took the occasion to communicate his views to Talavera, the archbishop, requesting leave at the same time to participate with him in his labour of love ; to which the latter, willing to strengthen himself by so efficient an ally, modestly assented. Ferdinand and Isabella soon after removed to Seville (Nov. 1499), but, before their departure, enjoined on the prelates to observe the temperate policy hitherto pursued, and to beware of giving any occasion for discontent to the Moors.5 No sooner had the sovereigns left the city, than Ximenes invited some of the leading alfaquis, or Mussulman doctors, to ÿconference, in which he expounded, with all the eloquence at his command, the true foundations of the Christian faith and the errors of their own ; and that his teaching might be the more palatable, enforced it by liberal presents, consisting mostly of rich and costly articles of dress, of wruczs the Moors were at all times exceedingly fond. This policy ne pursueÿ or some time, till the effect became visible. Whether the preacning or ÿresects of the archbishop nad most weight, does not appear.6 It is proDapie, however, that the Moorish doctors found conversion a much more pleasant and profitable ousiness than they had anticipated, for they one after another declared tneir conviction of their errors, and their willingness to receive baptism. The example of these learned persons was soon followed by great numbers 1 Marmol, Rebelion de los Moriscos, lib. i, cap.
33-
Ibid., ubi supra. 3 In the firagmdtica dated Granada, October 30th, 1499, prohibiting silk apparel of any descrip¬ 2
tion, an exception was made in favour of the Moors, whose robes were usually of that material, among the wealthier classes. Pragmaticas del Reyno, fob X20. 4 Another law, October 31st, 1499, provided against the disinheritance of Moorish children who had em¬ braced Christianity, and secured, moreover, to the female converts a portion of the property which had fallen to the state on the conquest of Granada. (Pragmaticas del Reyno, fob 5.) Llorente has reported this pragmatic with some inaccuracy. Mist, de l'Inquisition, torn. i. p. 334. 5 Bleda, Cordnica, lib. 5, cap. 23. — Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fob 29. Quintanilla, Archetypo, lib. 2, p. 54. — Suma de la Vida de Cisneros. MS.—
—
Ferdinand and Isabella, according to Ferreras, took counsel of sundry learned theologians and jurists, whether they could lawfully compel the Mahometans to become Christians, notwithstanding the treaty, which guaranteed to them the exercise of theii religion. After repeated conferences si this erudite body, "il fut decide," says the historian, " qu'on solliciteroit la conversion des Mahometans Je la Ville et du Royaume de Grenade, en ordonnant k ceux qui ne voudroient pas embrasser la religion Chrdtienne, de vendre leurs biens et de sortir du royaume." (Hist. d'Espagne, torn. viii. p. 194.) Such was the idea of solicitation entertained by these reverend casuists ! The story, however, wants a better voucher than Ferreras. ® The honest Robles appears to be of the latter opinion. " Alfin," says he, with na'ivett, " con halagos, dadivas, y caricias, los truxo a conocimiento del verdadero Dios." Vida de Ximenez, p. too.
XIMENES.
45 2
of their illiterate disciples, insomuch that no less than four thousand are said to have presented themselves in one day for baptism ; and Ximenes, unable to administer the rite to each individually, was obliged to adopt the expedient familiar to the Christian missionaries, of christening them en masse by aspersion ; scattering the consecrated drops from a mop, or hyssop, as it was called, which he twirled over the heads of the multitude.1 So far all went on prosperously ; and the eloquence and largesses of the archbishop, which latter he lavished so freely as to encumber his revenues for several years to come, brought crowds of proselytes to the Christian fold.2 There were some, indeed, among the Mahometans, who regarded these proceedings as repugnant, if not to the letter, at least to the spirit of the original treaty of capitulation, which seemed intended to provide not only against the employment of force, but of any undue incentive to conversion.3 Several of the more sturdy, including some of the principal citizens, exerted their efforts to stay the tide of defection, which threatened soon to swallow up the whole population of the city. But Ximenes, whose zeal had mounted up to fever heat in the excitement of success, was not to be cooled by any opposition, however formidable ; and, if he had hitherto respected the letter of the treaty, he now showed himself prepared to trample on letter and spirit indifferently when they crossed his designs. Among those most active in the opposition was a noble Moor named Zegri, well skilled in the learning of his countrymen, with whom he had great consideration. Ximenes. having exhausted all his usual artillery of arguments and presents on this obdurate infidel, had him taken into custody by one of his officers named Leon, "a lion," says a punning historian, " by nature as well as by name," 4 and commanded the latter to take such measures with his prisoner as would clear the film from his eyes. This faithful functionary executed his orders so effectually that, after a few days of fasting, fetters, and imprisonment, he was able to present his charge to his employer, penitent to all outward appearance, and with an humble mien strongly contrasting with his former proud and lofty bearing. After the most respectful obeisance to the archbishop,
——
1 Robles, Vida de Ximenez, cap. 14. Marmol, Rebelion de tos Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 24. Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fol. 29.— Suma de la Vida de Cisneros, MS.— Some ecclesiastical writers find no trace of christening by aspersion earlier than the fourteenth century. (Fleury, Histoire ecclesiastique, liv. 98.) Rut Father Torquemada, in discussing the validity of this mode of baptism, finds, or imagines he finds, warrant for it as far back as the age of the Apostles. " Lo ha avido," he says of the bautizando con kisopo, " y huvo en la primitiva Iglesia, en tiempo de los Apdstolos de Christo, y en otros despues. Ksto dice Tertuliano averse usado, y en su tiempo se debia de usar tambien, nombrando el bautismo con el nombre de aspersion de agua. Y lo mismo lo dice San Cypriano en la Epistola 76, Ad
—
Magnum, ydice serVerdadero Bautismo." Monarquia Indiana (Madrid, 1723), torn. iii. lib. 16, cap. 1. i Robles, Vida de Ximenez, cap. 14. Quintanilla, Archetypo, fol. 55. The sound of bells, so unusual to
—
—
Mahometan ears, pealing day and night from the newly-consecrated mosques, gained Ximenes the appellation of alfaqui campanero from the Granadmes. Suma de la Vida de Cisneros, MS. 3 Marmol, Rebelion de los Moriscos, lib- 1, cap. in 25* Take for example the following provisions the treaty : " Que si algun Moro tuviere alguna renegada por inuger, 110 sera apremiada a ser Christiana contra su voluntad, sino que sera interrogada, en presencia de Christianos y de Moros, y se siguirh su voluntad ; y lo mesmo se entendera con losniiios y niilas nacidos de Christiana y Moro. Ql16 ningun Moro ni Mora seran apremiados a ser Chris¬ tianos contra su voluntad ; y que si alguna doncella, 6 casada, <5 viuda, por razon de algunos amores se quisiere tornar Christiana, tampoco sera recebida, hasta ser interrogada." The whole treaty is given that in extenso by Marmol, and by no other author Ihave seen. Gomez, De Rebus gestis, lib. 2, fol. 29.
—
*
PERSECUTIONS IN GRANADA.
453
Zegri informed him that " on the preceding night he had had a revelation from Allah, who had condescended to show him the error of his ways, and commanded him to receive instant baptism ;" at the same time, pointing to his gaoler, he "jocularly " remarked, "Your reverence has only to turn this lion of youn, loose among the people, and, my word for it, there will not be a Mussulman left many days within the walls of Granada."1 " Thus," exclaims the devout Ferreras, " did Providence avail itself of the darkness of the dungeon to pour on the benighted minds of the infidel the light of the true faith ! " 2 The work of proselytism now went on apace; for terror was added to the other stimulants. The zealous propagandist, in the meanwhile, flushed with success, resolved not only to exterminate infidelity, but the very characters in which its teachings were recorded. He accordingly caused all the Arabic manuscripts which he could procure to be heaped together in a common pile in one of the great squares of the city. The largest part were copies of the Koran, or works in some way or other connected with theology ; with many others, however, on various scien¬ tific subjects. They were beautifully executed, for the most part, as to their chirography, and sumptuously bound and decorated ; for in all relating to the mechanical finishing of books the Spanish Arabs excelled every people in Europe. But neither splendour of outward garniture, nor intrinsic merit of composition, could atone for the taint of heresy in the eye of the stern inquisitor ; he reserved for his university of AlcaM three hundred works, indeed, relating to medical science, in which the Moors were as pre-eminent in that day as the Europeans were deficient ; but all the rest, amounting to many thousands,3 he consigned to indis¬ criminate conflagration.4 This melancholy auto da fe, it will be recollected, was celebrated, not by an unlettered barbarian, but by a cultivated prelate, who was at that very time actively employing his large revenues in the publication of the most stupendous literary work of the age, and in the endowment of the most learned university in Spain.5 It took place, not in the darkness of 1 Robles, Vida de Ximenez, cap. 14.— Suma de and the Moorish metropolis would naturally be the la Vidade Cisneros, MS.— Gomez, De Rebus gestis, depository of such literary treasures as had escaped fol. 30. -Marmoi, Rebelion de los Moriscos, lib. 1, the general shipwreck of time and accident. On cap. 25. — Zegri assumed the baptismal name of the the whole, the estimate of Gomez would appear Great Captain, Gonzalo Hernandez, whose prowess much too small, and that of Robles as dispropor¬ he had experienced in a personal rencontre in the tionately exaggerated. Conde, better instructed in vega of Granada. Marmoi, Rebelion de los Moris- Arabic lore than any of his predecessors, may be cos, ubi supra. Suma de la Vida de Cisneros, MS. found, perhaps, bereas elsewhere, the best authority. 4 Gomez, De Rebus gestis, lib. 2, fob - Hist. d'Espagne, torn. viii. p. 195. 30. — Mar¬ 3 According to Robles (Vida de Ximenez, p. 104) moi, Rebelion de los Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 25. and the Suma de la Vida de Cisneros, 1,005,000 ; Robles, Vida de Ximenez, cap. 14.— Suma de la to Conde (El Nubiense, Descripcion de Espana, p. Vida de Cisneros, MS. Quintanilla, Archetypo, p. 1, note), 80,000 ; to Gomez and others, 5000. There 58. 5 Yet the archbishop might find somecountenance are scarcely any data for arriving at probability in this monstrous discrepancy. The famous library for his fanaticism in the most polite capital of the of Ommeyades at Cordova was said to contain Europe. The faculty of Theology in Paris, some 600,000 volumes. It had long since been dissipated ; few years later, declared "que e'en etait fait de la and no similar collection had been attempted in religion, si on permettait 1'etude du Grec et de Granada, where learning was never in that palmy l'Hebreu ! " Villers, Essai sur 1'Espritet l'lnfluence de la Reformation de Luther (Paris, 1820), p. 64, state which it reached under the Cordovan dynasty. Sill, however, learned men were to be found there, note.
—
—
—
454
XIMENES.
the Middle Ages, but in the dawn of the sixteenth century, and in the midst of an enlightened nation, deeply indebted for its own progress to these very stores of Arabian wisdom. It forms a counterpart to the imputed sacrilege of Omar,1 eight centuries before, and shows that bigotry is the same in every faith and ever) age. The mischief occasioned by this act, far from being limited to the immediate loss, continued to be felt still more severely in its conse¬ quences. Such as could, secreted the manuscripts in their possession till an opportunity occurred for conveying them out of the country ; and many thousands in this way were privately shipped over to Barbary.2 Thus Arabian literature became rare in the libraries of the very country to which it was indigenous ; and Arabic scholarship, once so flourishing in Spain, and that too in far less polished ages, gradually fell into decay from want of aliment to sustain it. Such were the melancholy results of this literary persecution; more mischievous, in one view,. than even that directed against life ; for the loss of an individual will scarcely be felt beyond his own generation, while the annihilation of a valuable work, or, in other words, of mind itself embodied in a permanent form, is a loss to all future time. The high hand with which Ximenes now carried measures excited serious alarm in many of the more discreet and temperate Castilians in the city. They besought him to use greater forbearance, remonstrating against his obvious violations of the treaty, as well as against the expedi¬ ency of forced conversions, which could not, in the nature of things, be lasting. But the pertinacious prelate only replied that "a tamer policy might, indeed, suit temporal matters, but not those in which the interests of the soul were at stake ; that the unbeliever, if he could not be drawn, should be driven, into the way of salvation : and that it was no time to stay the hand, when the ruins of Mahometanism were tottering to their foundations." He accordingly went on with unflinching resolution.3 But the patience of the Moors themselves, which had held out so marvellously under this system of oppression, began now to be exhausted. Many signs of this might be discerned by much less acute optics than those of the archbishop ; but his were blinded by the arrogance of success. At length, in this inflammable state of public feeling, an incident occurred which led to a general explosion. Three of Ximenes' servants were sent on some business o the Albaycin, a quarter inhabited exclusively by Moors, and encompassed by walls, which separated it from the rest of the city.4 These men had 1 Gibbon's argument, if it does not shake the foundations of the whole story of the Alexandrian conflagration, may at least raise a natural scepti¬ cism as to the pretended amount and value of the works destroyed. - The learned Granadine, Leo Africanus, who emigrated to Fez after the fall of the capital, notices a single collection of 3000 manuscripts belonging to an individual, which he saw in Algiers, whither ttiey
had been secretly brought by the Moriscos from Spain. Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, prolo— Casiri, Bibliotheca Escurialensis, torn, t- P-
go.
172.
—
Gomez, De Rebus gestis, lol. 3°- Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, rey 30, cap. 10. 4 Casiri, Bibliotheca Escurialensis, torn, m P* 281. Pedraza, Antigtiedad de Granada, lib. 3s.
cap
—
to.
PERSECUTIONS IN GRANADA.
455
made themselves peculiarly odious to the people by their activity in their master's service. A dispute, having arisen between them and some inhabitants of the quarter, came at last to blows, when two of the servants were massacred on the spot, and their comrade escaped with difficulty from the infuriated mob.1 The affair operated as a signal for insurrection. The inhabitants of the district ran to arms, got possession of the gates, barricaded the streets, and in a few hours the whole Albaycin was in rebellion.2 In the course of the following night, a large number of the enraged populace made their way into the city to the quarters of Ximenes, with the purpose of taking summary vengeance on his head for all his perse¬ cutions. Fortunately, his palace was strong, and defended by numerous resolute and well-armed attendants. The latter, at the approach of the rioters, implored their master to make his escape, if possible, to the for¬ tress of the Alhambra, where the count of Tendilla was established. But the intrepid prelate, who held life too cheap to be a coward, exclaimed, " God forbid Ishould think of my own safety, when so many of the faithful are perilling theirs ! No, Iwill stand to my post, and await there, if Heaven wills it, the crown of martyrdom."3 It must be con¬ fessed he well deserved it. The building, however, proved too strong for the utmost efforts of the mob ; and at length, after some hours of awful suspense and agitation to the beleagured inmates, the count of Tendilla arrived in person at the head of his guards, and succeeded in dispersing the insurgents and driving them back to their own quarters. But no exertions could restore order to the tumultuous populace, or induce them to listen to terms; and they evefc stoned the messenger charged with pacific proposals from the count ot Tendilla. They organized themselves under leaders, provided arms, and took every possible means for maintaining their defence. It seemed as if, smitten with the recollections of ancient liberty, they were resolved to recover it again at all hazards.4 At length, after this disorderly state of things had lasted for several days, Talavera, the archbishop of Granada, resolved to try the effect of his personal influence, hitherto so great with the Moors, by visiting himself the disaffected quarter. This noble purpose he put in execution, in spite of the most earnest remonstrances of his friends. He was attended only by his chaplain, bearing the crucifix before him, and a few of his domestics, on foot and unarmed like himself. At the sight of their venerable pastor, with his countenance beaming with the same serene and benign expression 1 Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fol. 31.—There are some discrepancies. not important, however be¬ tween the narrative of Gomez and the other authori¬ ties. Gomez, considering his uncommon opportuni¬ ties of information, is worth them all 3 Suma de la Vida de Cisneros, MS. Gomez, De Rebus gestis, lib. 2, fol. 31. Marmol, Rebelion de los Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 26.
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—
—
—
3 Robles, Vida de Ximenez, cap. 14.—-Mariana, Hist, de Espaha, torn. ii. lib. 27, cap. 5. Quintanilia, Archetypo, p. 56. Peter Martyr, Opus Epist.,
—
—
epist. 212. Mariana, Hist, de Espana, ubi sup.— Bleda, Cordnica lib. 5, cap. 23.— Mendoza, Guerra de Granada, p. it.
*
XIMENES.
456
with which they were familiar when listening to his exhortations from the pulpit, the passions of the multitude were stilled. Every one seemed willing to abandon himself to the tender recollections' of the past ; and the simple people crowded around the good man, kneeling down and kissing the hem of his robe, as if to implore his benediction. The count of Tendilla no sooner learned the issue, than he followed into the Albaycin, attended by a handful of soldiers. When he had reached the place where the mob was gathered, he threw his bonnet into the midst of them, in token of his pacific intentions. The action was received with acclama¬ tions, and the people, whose feelings had now taken another direction, recalled by his presence to the recollection of his uniformly mild and equitable rule, treated him with similar respect to that shown the arch¬ bishop of Granada.1 These two individuals took advantage of this favourable change of feel¬ ing to expostulate with the Moors on the folly and desperation of their conduct, which must involve them in a struggle with such overwhelming odds as that of the whole Spanish monarchy. They implored them to lay down their arms and return to their duty, in which event they pledged themselves, as far as in their power, to allow no further repetition of the grievances complained of, and to intercede for their pardon with the sovereigns. The count testified his sincerity by leaving his wife and two children as hostages in the heart of the Albaycin ; an act which must be admitted to imply unbounded confidence in the integrity of the Moors.2 These various measures, backed, moreover, by the counsels and authority of some of the chief alfaquis, had the effect to restore tranquillity among the people, who, laying aside their hostile preparations, returned once more to their regular employments.8 The rumour of the insurrection, in the meanwhile, with the usual exaggeration, reached Seville, where the court was then residing. In one respect rumour did justice, by imputing the whole blame of the affair to the intemperate zeal of Ximenes. That personage, with his usual promptness, had sent early notice of the affair to the queen by a negro slave uncommonly fleet of foot. But the fellow had become intoxicated by the way, and the court were several days without any more authentic tidings than general report. The king, who had always regarded Ximenes' elevation to the primacy, to the prejudice, as the reader may remember, of his own son, with dissatisfaction, could not now restrain his indignation, but was heard to exclaim tauntingly to the queen, " So we are like to pay 1 Marmol, Rebelion de los Moriscos, lib. i, cap.
Moorish works and Spanish faith were all that were
—Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. — Quinta- wanting to make a good Christian." A bitter san nilla, Archetypo, p. 56.— Bleda, Corbnica, ubi supra. casm this on his own countrymen ! Pedraza. AntiMarmol, Rebelion de los Moriscos, loc. cit. — giiedad de Granada, lib. 3. cap. Mendoza, Guerra de Granada, lib. 1, p. Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 2*2- — Bleda, —That such confidence was justified, may be inferred from Cordnica, loc. cit.— Marmol, Rehelion do 1"® a common saying of Archbishop Talavera, "That. Moriscos, ubi supra. 26.
212.
3
10.
11.
PERSECUTIONS IN GRANADA.
457
dear for your archbishop, whose rashness has lost us in a few hours what we have been years in acquiring." 1
The queen, confounded at the tidings, and unable to comprehend the silence of Ximenes, instantly wrote to him in the severest terms, demanding an explanation of the whole proceeding. The archbishop saw his error in committing affairs of moment to such hands as those of his sable messenger; and the lesson stood him in good stead, according to his moralizing biographer, for the remainder of his life.2 He hastened to repair his fault by proceeding to Seville in person and presenting himself before the sovereigns. He detailed to them the history of all the past transactions ; recapitulated his manifold services, the arguments and exhortations he had used, the large sums he had expended, and his various expedients, in short, for effecting conversion, before resorting to severity. He boldly assumed the responsibility of the whole proceeding, acknow¬ ledging that he had purposely avoided communicating his plans to the sovereigns for fear of opposition. If he had erred, he said, it could be imputed to no other motive, at worst, than too great zeal for the interests of religion ; but he concluded with assuring them that the present position of affairs was the best possible for their purposes, since the late conduct of the Moors involved them in the guilt, and consequently all the penalties, of treason, and that it would be an act of clemency to offer pardon on the alternatives of conversion or exile ! 3 The Archbishop's discourse, if we are to credit his enthusiastic biographer, not only dispelled the clouds of royal indignation, but drew forth the most emphatic expressions of approbation.4 How far Ferdinand and Isabella were moved to this by his final recommendation, or what, in clerical language, may be called the " improvement of his discourse," does not appear. They did not, at any rate, adopt it to its literal extent. In due time, however, commissioners were sent to Granada, fully authorized to inquire into the late disturbances and punish their guilty authors. In the course of the investigation, many, including some of the principal citizens, were imprisoned on suspicion. The greater part made their peace by embracing Christianity. Many others sold their estates and migrated to Barbary ; and the remainder of the population, whether from fear of punishment or contagion of example, abjured their ancient superstition and consented to receive baptism. The whole number of converts was estimated at about fifty thousand, whose future relapses promised an almost inexhaustible supply for the fiery labours of the Inquisition. From this period the name of Moors, which had gradually superseded the primitive one of Spanish Arabs, gave way to the title of Moriscos, by which
1 Mariana, Hist, de Espana, torn. ii. lib. 27, cap. j
3 Gomez, de Rebus gestis, ubi supra.
De Rebus gestis, fob 33. — Suma de 1* — Robles, Vida de Ximenez, cap. 14.— Suma de la ] Vida * Gomez, de Cisneros, MS. vidade Cisneros, MS. 2 Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fol. Robles, i 32. —
5.
Vida de Ximenez, cap. 14.
XJMENES.
458
this unfortunate people continued to be known through the remainder of their protracted existence in the Peninsula.1 The circumstances under which this important revolution in religion was effected in the whole population of this great city will excite only feelings of disgust at the present day, mingled, indeed, with compassion for the unhappy beings who so heedlessly incurred the heavy liabilities attached to their new faith. Every Spaniard, doubtless, anticipated the political advantages likely to result from a measure which divested the Moors of the peculiar immunities secured by the treaty of capitulation and subjected them at once to the law of the land. It is equally certain, however, that they attached great value in a spiritual view to the mere show of conversion, placing implicit confidence in the purifying influence of the waters of baptism, to whomever and under whatever circumstances administered. Even the philosophic Martyr, as little tinctured with bigotry as any of the time, testifies his joy at the conversion, on the ground that, although it might not penetrate beneath the crust of infidelity which had formed over the mind of the older and of course inveterate Mussulman, yet it would have full effect on his posterity, subjected from the cradle to the searching operation of Christian discipline.2 With regard to Ximenes, the real author of the work, whatever doubts were entertained of his discretion in the outset, they were completely dis¬ pelled by the results. All concurred in admiring the invincible energy of the man who, in the face of such mighty obstacles, had so speedily effected this momentous revolution in the faith of a people bred from childhood in the deadliest hostility to Christianity ;3 and the good arch¬ bishop Talavera was heard in the fulness of his heart to exclaim that "Ximenes had achieved greater triumphs than even Ferdinand and Isabella ; since they had conquered only the soil, while he had gained the souls, of Granada ! " 4
——
1 Bleda, Cordnica, lib. 5, cap. 23. Mariana, Hist. I re ancipiti, neque plane confirmata, barbara civitate tie Espaniia, torn. ii. lib. 27, cap. 5. Peter Martyr, adhuc suum Mahunietum spirante, tanta animi conOpus Epist., epist. 215. Marmol, Rebelion de los tentione, ut Christi doctrinam ampleclerentur, laborMoriscos, lib. 1, cap. 27.— Gomez, De Rebus gestis, averat et effecerat." (De Rebus gestis, fol. 33-) lib. 2, fol. 32.— Lanuza, Historias, torn. i. lib. 1, The panegyric of the Spaniard is endorsed by cap. 11. Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 1500.— Bernal- Flechier (Histoire de Ximenes, p. 119)1 who, in ihe dez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 159. The last age of Louis XIV., displays all the bigotry of that author carries the number of converts in Granada of Ferdinand and Isabella. , and its environs to 70,000. Talavera, as Ihave already noticed, had caused 3 "Tu vero inquies," he says, in a letter to the the offices, catechisms, and other religious exercises cardinal of Santa Cruz, " iisdem in suum Mahome- to be translated into Arabic for the use of the con¬ lem viver.t animis, atque id jure merito susp:candum verts, proposing to extend the translation at some est. Durum namque majorum instituta relinquere ; future time to the great body of the Scriptures. attamen ego existimo, consultum optime fuisse That time had now arrived ; but Ximenes vehem¬ ipsorum admittere postulata ; paulatim namque ently remonstrated against the measure. "It would nova superveniente discipline, juvenum saltern et be throwing pearls before swine," said he, " to open infantum atque eo tutius nepotum, inanibus illis the Scriptures to persons in their low state of lgnoisuperstitionibus abrasis, novis imbuentur ritibus. ance, who could not fail, as St. Paul says, to wrest De senescentibus, qui callosis animis induruerunt, them to their own destruction. The word of God haud ego quidem id futurum inficior." Opus Epist., should be wrapped in discreet mystery from the epist. 215.— Gonsalvo de Cordova expresses himself vulgar, who feel little reverence for what is plain in a similar tone of satisfaction in a letter to the and obvious. It was for this reason that our bavisecretary Almazan, Carta fecha en Caragoga (Sira- our Himself clothed His doctrines in parables, when cusa?), April 16th, 1501, MS. He addressed the people. The Scriptures should De 3 " Magnaedeinceps," says Gomez, "apud omnes confined to the three ancient languages, which Go venerationi Ximenius esse coepit. Porrb plus mentis with mystic import permitted to be inscribed ove. acie videre quhm solent homines credebatur, qubd the head of His crucified Son ; and the vernacu a.
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DEATH OF ALONSO DE AGUILAR.
455*
CHAPTER VII. RISING IN THE ALPUJARRAS. — DEATH OF ALONSO DE AGUILAR. — EDICT AGAINST THE MOORS.
1500-1502.
—
Rising in the Alpnjarras. Expedition to the Sierra Vermeja. —Alonso de Aguilar. — His. noble Character, and Death.— Bloody Rout of the Spaniards.— Final Submission to Ferdinand. Cruel Policy of the Victors. — Commemorative Ballads.— Edict against the Moors.— Causes of Intolerance.— Last Notice of the Moors under the present Reign.
—
While affairs went forward so triumphantly in the capital of Granada, they excited general discontent in other parts of that kingdom, especially the wild regions of the Alpujarras. This range of maritime Alps, which stretches to the distance of seventeen leagues in a south-easterly direction from the Moorish capital, sending out its sierras like so many broad arms. towards the Mediterranean, was thickly sprinkled with Moorish villages,, cresting the bald summits of the mountains, or checkering the green slopes and valleys which lay between them. Its simple inhabitants, locked up within the lonely recesses of their hills, and accustomed to a life of penury and toil, had escaped the corruptions, as well as refinements, of civilization. In ancient times they had afforded a hardy militia for the princes of Granada ; and they now exhibited an unshaken attachment to their ancient institutions and religion, which had been somewhat effaced in the great cities by more intimate intercourse with the Europeans. These warlike mountaineers beheld with gathering resentment the faith¬ less conduct pursued towards their countrymen, which they had good reason to fear would soon be extended to themselves ; and their fiery passions were inflamed to an ungovernable height by the public apos¬ They at length resolved to anticipate any similar tasy of Granada. attempt on themselves by a general insurrection. They accordingly seized on the fortresses and strong passes throughout the country, and began as usual with forays into the lands of the Christians. These bold acts excited much alarm in the capital, and the count of Tendilla took vigorous measures for quenching the rebellion in its birth. Gonsalvo de Cordova, his early pupil, but who might now well be his master in the art of war, was at thac time residing in Granada ; and Tendilla availed himself of his assistance to enforce a hasty muster of levies and march at once against the enemy. His first movement was against Huejar, a fortified town situated in one should be reserved for such devotional and moral treatises as holy men indite, in order to quicken the soul, and turn it from the pursuit of worldly vanities to heavenly contemplation." De Rebus gestis, fol. 32, 33. The narrowest opinion, as usual, prevailed, and Talavera abandoned his wise and benevolent purpose.
The sagacious arguments of the primate
lead his biographer, Gomez, to conclude that h, had, prophetic knowledge of the coming heresy of" Luther, which owed so much of its success to the vernacular versions of the Scriptures ; in which prob¬ able opinion he is faithfully echoed, as usual, by the good Bishop of Nismes. Flechier, Hist, d® Ximenes, pp. 117-110. a
46c
R1 SING IN THE ALPUJARRAS.
of the eastern ranges of the Alpujarras,1 whose inhabitants had taken the lead in the insurrection. The enterprise was attended with more difficulty than was expected. " God's enemies," to borrow the charitable epithet of the Castilian chroniclers, had ploughed up the lands in the neighbour¬ hood ; and as the light cavalry of the Spaniards was working its way through the deep furrows, the Moors opened the canals which intersected the fields, and in a moment the horses were floundering up to their girths in the mire and water. Thus embarrassed in their progress, the Spaniards presented a fatal mark to the Moorish missiles, which rained on them with pitiless fury ; and it was not without great efforts and considerable loss that they gained a firm landing on the opposite side. Undismayed, however, they then charged the enemy with such vivacity as compelled him to give way and take refuge within the defences of the town. No impediment could now check the ardour of the assailants. They threw themselves from their horses, and bringing forward the scalingladders, planted them against the walls. Gonsalvo was the first to gain the summit ; and as a powerful Moor endeavoured to thrust him from the topmost round of the ladder, he grasped the battlements firmly with his left hand and dealt the infidel such a blow with the sword in his right as brought him headlong to the ground. He then leapt into the place, and was speedily followed by his troops. The enemy made a brief and ineffectual resistance. The greater part were put to the sword ; the remainder, including the women and children, were made slaves, and the town was delivered up to pillage.2 The severity of this military execution had not the effect of intimidating the insurgents ; and the revolt wore so serious an aspect that King Fer¬ dinand found it necessary to take the field in person, which he did at. the head of as complete and beautiful a body of Castilian chivalry as ever graced the campaigns of Granada.3 Quitting Alhendin, the place of ren¬ dezvous, in the latter end of February 1500, he directed his march on Lanjaron, one of the towns most active in the revolt, and perched high among the inaccessible fastnesses of the sierra, south-east of Granada. The inhabitants, trusting to the natural strength of a situation which had once baffled the arms of the bold Moorish chief El Zagal, took no precautions to secure the passes. Ferdinand, relying on this, avoided the more direct avenue to the place, and, bringing his men by a circuitous 1 Alpujarras, an Arabic word, signilying "land of warriors, according to .Salazar de Mendoza. <Monarquia, torn. ii. p. 138.) According to the more accurate and learned Conde, it is derived from an Arabic term for " pasturage." (El Nubiense, Desc'pcion de Espaha, p. 187.)
La Alpuxarra, aquessa sierra "que al Sol la cerviz levanta y que poblada de Villas, es Mar de penas, y plantas,
adonde sus poblaciones ondas navegan de plata." , *. Mderon (Comedias CMadrid, 1760). tom. i. p.
353), whose gorgeous muse sheds a blaze of g'ory over the rudest scenes. Marmol, Rebelion de los Moriscos, torn. i. Kb. t, cap. 28. — Quintana, Espanoles celebres. tom. i. P» 239.— Bleda, Cor6nica, lib. 5, cap. 23.— Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 150.—Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. fol. 338. Mendoza, Guerra e
-
Granada, p. 12.
—
If we are to believe Martyr, the royal iorce amounted to 80,000 foot and 15,000 horse. So large an army, so promptly brought into the held, wouia suggest high ideas of the resources of the nation to° high, indeed, to gain credit, even from Martv t 8
,
without confirmationr
DEATH OF ALONSO DE AG HILAR.
461
route over dangerous ravines and dark and dizzy precipices, where the foot of the hunter had seldom ventured, succeeded at length, after incred¬ ible toil and hazard, in reaching an elevated point which entirely com¬ manded the Moorish fortress. Great was the dismay of the insurgents at the apparition of the Christian banners, streaming in triumph in the upper air from the very pinnacles of the sierra. They stoutly persisted, however, in the refusal to surrender. But their works were too feeble to stand the assault of men who had vanquished the more formidable obstacles of nature ; and after a short struggle, the place was carried by storm, and its wretched inmates experi¬ enced the same dreadful fate with those of Huejar. (March 8th, 1500).1 At nearly the same time, the count of Lerin took several other fortified places in the Alpujarras, in one of which he blew up a mosque filled with women and children. Hostilities were carried on with all the ferocity of a civil, or rather servile, war ; and the Spaniards, repudiating all the feelings of courtesy and generosity which they had once shown to the same men, when dealing with them as honourable enemies, now regarded them only as rebellious vassals, or indeed slaves, whom the public safety required to be not merely chastised, but exterminated. These severities, added to the conviction of their own impotence, at length broke the spirit of the Moors, who were reduced to the most humble concessions ; and the Catholic king, " unwilling out of his great clemency," says Abarca, " to stain his sword with the blood of all these wild beasts of the Alpujarras," consented to terms which may be deemed reasonable, at least in comparison with his previous policy. These were, the surrender of their arms and fortresses, and the payment of the round sum of fifty thousand ducats.2 As soon as tranquillity was re-established, measures were taken for securing it permanently, by introducing Christianity among the natives, without which they never could remain well affected to their present government. Holy men were, therefore, sent as missionaries, to admonish them, calmly and without violence, of their errors, and to instruct them in the great truths of revelation.3 Various immunities were also proposed as an additional incentive to conversion, including an entire exemption to the convert from the payment of his share of the heavy mulct lately imposed.4 The wisdom ot these temperate measures became every day more visible, in the conversion not merely of the simple mountaineers, but of nearly all the population of the great cities of Baza, Guadix, and Almeria, who consented before the end of the year to abjure their ancient religion and receive baptism.5
,
—
1 Peter Martyr, Opus lipist. epist. 215. Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, torn. ii. fol. 338. Zurua, Anales, torn. v. lib. 3. cap. 45. Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 1500.
—
—
Marmol, Rebelion de los Moriscos, lib. 1, cap —Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, torn. ii. fol. 338.— Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 159.— Bleda,
28.
Cordnica, lib. 5, cap. 24.
—
3 Bleda, Cordnica, lib. 5, cap. 24. Bernaldez. Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 165. 4 Privilegios a los Moros de Valdelecrin y las Alpuxarras que se convirtieren, i. 30 de Julio de 1500. Archivo de Simancas, apud Mem. de la. Acad, de Hist., torn. vi. apend. 14. s Carbajal, Anales, MS., aiio 1500.- Garibay,. Compendio, torn, it lib. 19, cap. 10.
RISING IN THE ALPUJARRAS.
462
This defection, however, caused great scandal among the more sturdy of their countrymen, and a new insurrection broke out on the eastern confines of the Alpujarras (Dec. 1500), which was suppressed with similar circumstances of stern severity, and a similar exaction of a heavy sum of -money, money, whose doubtful efficacy may be discerned, sometimes in staying, but more frequently in stimulating, the arm of persecution.1 But while the murmurs of rebellion died away in the east, they were heard in thunders from the distant hills on the western borders of Granada. This district, comprehending the sierras Vermeja and Villa Luenga, in the neighbourhood of Ronda, was peopled by a war-like race, among whom was the African tribe of Gandules, whose blood boiled with the same tropical fervour as that which glowed in the veins of their ancestors. They had early s own symptoms of discontent at the late proceedings in the capital. The duchess of Arcos, widow of the great marquis duke of Cadiz, whose estates lay in that quarter,2 used her personal exertions to appease them ; and the government made the most earnest assurances of its intention to respect whatever had been guaranteed by the treaty of capitulation.3 But they had learned to place little trust in princes ; and the rapidly extending apostasy of their countrymen exasperated them to such a degree that they at length broke out in the most atrocious acts of violence ; murdering the Christian missionaries, and kidnapping, if report be true, many Spaniards of both sexes, whom they sold as slaves in Africa. They were accused, with far more probability, of entering intc a secret correspondence with their brethren on the opposite shore, in order to •secure their support in the meditated revolt.4 The Government displayed its usual promptness and energy on this occasion. Orders were issued to the principal chiefs and cities of Anda 'usia to muster their forces with all possible despatch and concentrate *hem on Ronda. The summons was obeyed with such alacrity that in the
—
1 Carbajal, Anales, MS., aiio 1501.— Zurita, head, the dauntless envoy sailed up the Nile under Anales, torn. v. lib. 4, cap. 27, 31. a Mameluke guard to Grand Cairo. Far from 2 The great marquis of Cadiz was third count of experiencing any outrage, however, he was court¬ Arcos, from which his descendants took their title eously received by the Sultan ; although the on the resumption of Cadiz by the crown after ambassador declined compromising the dignity of his death. Mendoza, Dignidades, lib. 3, cap. 8, the court he represented, by paying the usual humiliating mark of obeisance, in prostrating him¬ .17. 3 See two letters, dated Seville, January and self on the ground in the royal presence ; an February 1500, addressed by Ferdinand and Isa¬ independent bearing highly satisfactory to the bella to the inhabitants of the Serrania de Ronda, Castilian historians. (See Garibay, Compendio, preserved in the Archives of Simnncas, apud Mem. torn. ii. lib. 19, cap. 12.) He had three audiences, de la Acad, de Hist., torn. vi. Ilust. 15. in which he succeeded so completely in effacingthe 4 Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. unfavourable impressions of the Moslem P[mc<j 165.
—
— that the latter
Bleda, Cordnica, lib. 5, cap. 25. Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 221. The complaints of the Spanish and African Moors to the Sultan of Egypt, or of Babylon, as he was then usually styled, had drawn from that prince sharp remonstrances to the Catholic sovereigns against their persecutions of the Moslems, accompanied by menaces of strict retali¬ ation on the Christians in his dominions. In order to avert such calamitous consequences, Peter Martyr was sent as ambassador to Egypt. He left Granada in August 1501, proceeded to Venice, and embarked there for Alexandria, which place he reached in December. Though cautioned, on his arrival, that his mission, in the present exasperated »tate of feeling at the court, might cost him his
—
not only dismissed him with liberal presents, but granted, at his request, several "?P°r" tant privileges to the Christian residents, ana the pilgrims to the Holy Land, which lay within his dominions. Martyr s account of this interesting visit, which gave him ample opportunity for study¬ ing the manners of a nation, and seeing the stupendous monuments of ancient art, then litt familiar to Europeans, was published in
_
under the title of " De Legatione Babylonica, 1 three books, appended to his more celebrate "Decades de Rebus Oceanicis et Novo Grbe. Mazzuchelli (Scrittori d' Italia, voce Anghlerj notices an edition which he had seen pubhs separately, without date or name of the print
.
DEATH OF ALONSO DE AGUILAR.
4ÿ3
course of a very few weeks the streets of that busy city were thronged with a shining array of warriors drawn from all the principal towns of Andalusia. Seville sent three hundred horse and two thousand foot. The principal leaders of the expedition were the count of Cifuentes, who, as assistant of Seville, commanded the troops of that city; the count of Urena, and Alonso de Aguilar, elder brother of the Great Captain, and distinguished like him for the highest qualities of mind and person. It was determined by the chiefs to strike at once into the heart of the Sierra Vermeja, or Red Sierra, as it was called from the colour of its rocks, rising to the east of Ronda, and the principal theatre of insurrection. On the 18th of March 1501, the little army encamped before Monarda, on the skirts of a mountain, where the Moors were understood to have assembled in considerable force. They had not been long in these quarters before parties of the enemy were seen hovering along the slopes of the mountain, from which the Christian camp was divided by a narrowriver,—the Rio Verde, probably, which has gained such mournful celebrity in Spanish song.1 Aguilar's troops, who occupied the van, were so much roused by the sight of the enemy that a small party, seizing a banner, rushed across the stream, without orders, in pursuit. The odds, however, were so great that they would have been severely handled, had not Aguilar, while he bitterly condemned their temerity, advanced promptly to their support with the remainder of his corps. The count of Urena followed with the central division, leaving the count of Cifuentes with the troops of Seville to protect the camp.2 The Moors fell back as the Christians advanced, and, retreating nimbly from point to point, led them up the rugged steeps far into the recesses of the mountains. At length they reached an open level, encompassed on all sides by a natural rampart of rocks, where they had deposited their valuable effects, together with their wives and children. The latter, at sight of the invaders, uttered dismal cries, and fled into the remoter depths of the sierra. The Christians were too much attracted by the rich spoil before them to think of following, and dispersed in every direction in quest of plunder, with all the heedlessness and insubordination of raw, inexperienced levies. It was in vain that Alonso de Aguilar reminded them that their wily enemy was still unconquered, or that he endeavoured to force them into the ranks again, and restore order. No one heeded his call, or thought of countryman Bryant seems to intimate, by his omission, somewhat of a similar difficulty, in his agreeable stanzas on the beautiful stream of that Percy, in his well-known version of one of these name in New England. Zuniga, Annales de Sevilla, ano 1501. Abarca, agreeable romances, adopts the tame epithet of "gentle river," from the awkwardness, he says, of Reyes de Aragon, torn. ii. p. 340. Bleda, Cordnica, the literal translation of "verdant river." He was lib. 5, cap. 26. — Bernaldez, Reyes Catdiicos, MS., not aware, it appears, that the Spanish is a proper cap. 165. " Fue muy gentil capitan," says Oviedo, name. (See Reliques of Ancient English Poetry speaking of this latter nobleman, "y valiente vezes dio testimonio grande de sit < London, 1812), vol. i. p. 357. ) The more faithful lanza ; y muchas rer-'on of "green river," however, would have animoso esfuerzo." Quincuagenas, MS., bat. >, soothing very unpoetical in it ; though our gifted 0 nine i, dial. 36. 1
Rio Verde, Rio Verde, " Tinto va en sangre viva."
-
—
—
—
464
RISING IN THE ALPUJARRAS.
anything beyond the present moment and of securing as much booty to himself as he could carry. The Moors, in the meanwhile, finding themselves no longer pursued, were aware of the occupation of the Christians, whom they not improbably had purposely decoyed into the snare. They resolved to return to the scene of action and surprise their incautious enemy. Stealthily advancing, therefore, under the shadows of night, now falling thick around, they poured through the rocky defiles of the enclosure upon the astonished Spaniards. An unlucky explosion, at this crisis, of a cask of powder, into which a spark had accidentally fallen, threw a broad glare over the scene, and revealed for a moment the situation of the hostile parties ;— the Spaniards in the utmost disorder, many of them without arms, and staggering under the weight of their fatal booty ; while their enemies were seen gliding like so many demons of darkness through every crevice and avenue of the enclosure, in the act of springing on their devoted victims. This appalling spectacle, vanishing almost as soon as seen, and followed by the hideous yells and war-cries of the assailants, struck a panic into the hearts of the soldiers, who fled, scarcely offering any resistance. The darkness of the night was as favourable to the Moors, familiar with all the intricacies of the ground, as it was fatal to the Christians, who, bewildered in the mazes of the sierra, and losing their footing at every step, fell under the swords of their pursuers, or went down the dark gulfs and precipices which yawned all around.1 Amidst this dreadful confusion, the count of Urena succeeded in gain¬ ing a lower level of the sierra, where he halted and endeavoured to rally his panic-struck followers. His noble comrade, Alonso de Aguilar, still maintained his position on the heights above, refusing all entreaties of his followers to attempt a retreat. " When," said he, proudly, " was the banner of Aguilar ever known to fly from the field ? " His eldest son, the heir of his house and honours, Don Pedro de Cordova, a youth of great promise, fought at his side. He had received a severe wound on the head from a stone, and a javelin had pierced quite through his leg. With one knee resting on the ground, however, he still made a brave defence with his sword. The sight was too much for the father, and he implored him to suffer himself to be removed from the field. " Let not the hopes of our house be crushed at a single blow," said he ; " go, my son, live as becomes a Christian knight,—live, and cherish your desolate mother." All his entreaties were fruitless, however; and the gallant boy refused to leave his father's side, till he was forcibly borne away by the attendants, who fortunately succeeded in bringing him in safety to the station occupied by the count of Urena,2 lAbarca
_
__ ___
----belion
_
KeReyes de Aragon, v • 340.—Marmol,. torn. jurn. 2, *fol. , __riviedo. 1de los c ' • Mb. 1, <cap. g• QyjedO; he Compendio, torn. ii. lib. 19. cap. 10.—Bernaldez, j Quincuagenas, Moriscos, , 1, MS., quinc. bat.ÿ Jeeves Cat6licos, MS-, cap. 165. Marmol, Rcbelion : boy, who lived to man a!terWards s de los Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 28. created marquis of Priego by the Catno sovereigns. 2 Mendoza, Guerra de Granada, p. 13. Abarca, ! Salazar de Mendoza, Digniaades. >
Reyes de Aragon, torn. ii. fol.
_ 340.— ÿiirita. Anales,"tom. LV, a Annies. tr.ni v ron Zurita, v. Mb. 4, 33 ~Garibay, w
-.1
ÿ
-wjw uv ixioguuj
t
j
1
3
—
—
j
DEATH OF ALONSO DE AGUILAR.
465
Meantime the brave little band of cavaliers, who remained true to Aguilar, had fallen one after another; and the chief, left almost alone, retreated to a huge rock which rose in the middle of the plain, and, placing his back against it, still made fight, though weakened by loss of blood, like a lion at bay, against his enemies.1 In this situation he was pressed sc hard by a Moor of uncommon size and strength that he was compelled to turn and close with him in single combat. The strife was long and desperate, till Don Alonso, whose corselet had become unlaced in the previous struggle, having received a severe wound in the breast, followed by another on the head, grappled closely with his adversary, and they came rolling on the ground together. The Moor remained uppermost ; but the spirit of the Spanish cavalier had not sunk with his strength, and he proudly exclaimed as if to intimidate his enemy, " Iam Don Alonso de Aguilar ;" to which the other rejoined, " And Iam the Feri de Ben Estepar," a well-known name of terror to the Christians. The sound of this detested name roused all the vengeance of the dying hero ; and, grasping his foe in mortal agony, he rallied his strength for a final blow ; but it was too late,— his hand failed, and he was soon despatched by the dagger of his more vigorous rival. (March 18th, 1501.) 2 Thus fell Alonso Hernandez de Cordova, or Alonso de Aguilar, as he is commonly called from the land where his family estates lay. 3 " He was of the greatest authority among the grandees of his time," says Father Abarca, " for his lineage, personal character, large domains, and the high posts which he filled, both in peace and war. More than forty years of his life he served against the infidel, under the banner of his house in boyhood, and as leader of that same banner in later life, or as viceroy of Andalusia and commander of the royal armies. He was the fifth lord of his warlike and pious house who had fallen fighting for their country and religion against the accursed sect of Mahomet. And there is good reason to believe," continues the same orthodox authority, " that his soul has received the glorious reward of the Christian soldier ; since he was armed 1 It is the simile of the fine old ballad :
Pero poco le valia. Porque sobre el cargan muchos, Y le dan grandes heridas, Tantas que cay<5 alii muerto Entre la gente enemiga."
Alonso " Solo queda Don es acabada
Su campana
Pelea como un Leon Pero poco aprovechaba."
The warrior's death is summed up with an artless Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., ubi supra.— brevity, that would be affectation in more studied Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, torn. ii. ubi supra.— composition : Garibay, Compendio, torn. ii. lib. 19, cap. 10. queda Don Alonso, Mendoza, Guerra de Granada, p. 13. Sandoval, " YMuerto Hist, del Emp. Carlos V., torn. i. p. 5.— According eterna fama ganada." to Hita's prose, Aguilar had first despatched more 3 Paolo Giovio finds an etymology for the name than thirty Moors with his own hand. (Guerras de device of the Granada, part. i. p. 568.) The ballad, with more in the eagle (aguila), assumed as theSt. Ferdinand discretion, does not vouch for any particular number. warlike ancestors of Don Alonso. of Castile, in consideration of the services of this illustrious house at the taking of Cordova in 1236, Don Alonso en este tiempo " Muy allowed it to bear as a cognomen the name of that gran batalla hacia, city. This branch, however, still continued to be El cavallo le havian muerto, distinguished by their territorial epithet of Aguilar ; Por muralla le tenia. although Don Alonso's brother, the Great Capta n, Y arrimado d un gran penon as we have seen, was more generally known by that Con valor se defendia : of Cordova. Vita Magni Gonsalvi, fob 204. Muchos Moros tiene muertos, 2 G 2
—
—
466
1?I SING IN THE ALPUJARRAS.
on that very morning with the blessed sacraments of confession and communion." 1 The victorious Moors, all this time, were driving the unresisting Spaniards, like so many terrified deer, down the dark steeps of the sierra. The count of Urena, who had seen his son stretched by his side, and received a severe wound himself, made the most desperate efforts to rally the fugitives, but was at length swept away by the torrent. Trusting himself to a faithful adalid who knew the passes, he succeeded with much difficulty in reaching the foot of the mountain with such a small remnant of his followers as could keep in his track.2 Fortunately, he there found the count of Cifuentes, who had crossed the river with the rear-guard and encamped on a rising-ground in the neighbourhood. Under favour of this strong position, the latter commander and his brave Sevillians, all fresh for action, were enabled to cover the shattered remains of the Spaniards, and beat off the assaults of their enemies till the break of morn, when they vanished, like so many foul birds of night, into the recesses of the mountains. The rising day, which dispersed their foes, now revealed to the Chris¬
tians the dreadful extent of their own losses. Few were to be seen of all that proud array which had marched up the heights so confidently under the banners of their ill-fated chiefs the preceding evening. The bloody roll of slaughter, besides the common file, was graced with the names of the best and bravest of the Christian knighthood. Among the number was Francisco Ramirez de Madrid, the distinguished engineer, who had contributed so essentially to the success of the Granadine war.3 The sad tidings of the defeat soon spread throughout the country, occasioning a sensation such as had not been felt since the tragic affair of the Axarquia. Men could scarcely credit that so much mischief could be inflicted by an outcast race, who, whatever terror they once inspired, had long been regarded with indifference or contempt. Every Spaniard seemed to consider himself in some way or other involved in the disgrace; and the most spirited exertions were made on all sides to retrieve it. By the beginning of April, King Ferdinand found himself at Ronda, at the head of a strong body of troops, which he determined to lead in person, 1 Reyes de Aragon, torn. ii. fol. 340, 341.— The hero's body, left on the field of battle, was treated with decent respect by the Moors, who restored it to King Ferdinand ; and the sovereigns caused it to be interred with all suitable pomp in the church of St. Hypolito at Cordova. Many years afterwards the marchioness of Priego, his descendant, had the tomb opened ; and, on examining the mouldering remains, the iron head of a lance, received in his last mortal struggle, was found buried in the bones. Bleda, Cordnica, lib. 5, cap. 26.
el Conde de Urena, * " Tambien Mai herido en demasia, Se sale de la batalla Llevado por una guia.
" Que sabia bien la senda Que de la Sierra salia :
Muchos Moros dexaba muertos Por su grande valentia. " Tambien algunos se escapan, Que al buen Conde Ie seguian. " Oviedo, speaking of this retreat of the good count and his followers, says, " Volvieron las riendas a sus caballos, y se retiraron a mas que galope P°rQ multitud de los Infieles." Quincuagenas, Mo., bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 36. , , 3 Zuhiga, Annalesde Sevilla,ano 1501.—Caroajai, Anales, MS., ano 1501.— Bleda, Cordnica, lib; 5« cap. 26. — Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. x, quinc. x, dial. 36. Foramore particular notice of Rain" ezsee Part I. chapter 13, of this History.
.
—
DEATH OF ALONSO DE AGUILAR.
467
notwithstanding the remonstrances of his courtiers, into the heart of the Sierra, and take bloody vengeance on the rebels. These latter, however, far from being encouraged, were appalled by the extent of their own success ; and as the note of warlike preparation reached them in their fastnesses, they felt their temerity in thus bringing the whole weight of the Castilian monarchy on their heads. They accordingly abandoned all thoughts of further resistance, and lost no time in sending deputies to the king's camp, to deprecate his anger and sue in the most submissive terms for pardon. Ferdinand, though far from vindictive, was less open to pity than the queen ; and in the present instance he indulged in a full measure of the indignation with which sovereigns, naturally identifying themselves with the state, are wont to regard rebellion, by viewing it in the aggravated light of a personal offence. After some hesitation, however, his prudence got. the better of his passions, as he reflected that he was in a situation to dictate the terms of victory without paying the usual price for it. His past experience seems to have convinced him of the hopelessness of infusing sentiments of loyalty in a Mussulman towards a Christian prince ; for, while he granted a general amnesty to those concerned in the insur¬ rection, it was only on the alternative of baptism or exile, engaging at the same time to provide conveyance for such as chose to leave the country, on the payment of ten doblas of gold a head.1 These engagements were punctually fulfilled. The Moorish emigrants were transported in public galleys from Estepona to the Barbary coast The number, however, was probably small ; by far the greater part being obliged, however reluctantly, from want of funds, to remain and be baptized. "They would never have stayed," says Bleda, "if they could have mustered the ten doblas of gold ; a circumstance," continues that charitable writer, " which shows with what levity they received baptism, and for what paltry considerations they could be guilty of such sacrilegious hypocrisy ! " 2 But, although every spark of insurrection was thus effectually extinguished, it was long, very long, before the Spanish nation could recover from the blow, or forget the sad story of its disaster in the Red Sierra. It became the theme not only of chronicle, but of song ; the note of sorrow was prolonged in many a plaintive romance, and the names of Aguilar and his unfortunate companions were embalmed in that beautiful minstrelsy, scarcely less imperishable, and far more touching, than the stately and elaborate records of history.3 The popular feeling was 1 Bleda, Cordnica, lib. 5, cap- 26, 27.— Robles, Vida de Ximenez, cap. 16.—Bemaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 165.—Mariana, Hist, de Espana, lib. 27, cap. 5.— Marmol, Rebelion de los Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 28. 'ÿi Cordnica, lib. 5, cap. 27. The Curate of Eos Talacios disposes of the Moors rather summarily : " The Christians stripped them, gave them a free
—
passage, and sent them to the devil !" Reyer Catdlicos, cap. 165. 3 According to one of the romances, cited by Hita the expedition of Aguilar was a piece of romantic
Quixotism, occasioned by King Ferdinand's chal¬ lenging the bravest of his knights to plant his bannet on the summits of the Alpujairas :
RISING IN THE aLPUJARRAS.
468
displayed after another fashion in regard to the count of Urena and his followers, who were accused of deserting their posts in the hour of peril ; and more than one ballad of the time reproachfully demanded an account from him of the brave companions-in-arms whom he had left in the Sierra.1 The imputation on this gallant nobleman appears wholly undeserved ; for certainly he was not called on to throw away his own life and those of his brave followers, in a cause perfectly desperate, for a chimerical point of honour. And so far from forfeiting the favour of his sovereigns by his conduct on this occasion, he was maintained by them in the same high stations which he before held, and which he continued to fill with dignity to a good old age.2 It was about seventy years after this event, in 1570, that the duke of Arcos, descended from the great marquis of Cadiz and from this same count of Urena, led an expedition into the Sierra Vermeja, in order to suppress a similar insurrection of the Moriscos. Among the party were many of the descendants and kinsmen of those who had fought under Aguilar. It was the first time since, that these rude passes had been trodden by Christian feet ; but the traditions of early childhood had made every inch of ground familiar to the soldiers. Some way up the eminence, they recognised the point at which the count of Urena had made his stand ; and further still, the fatal plain, belted round with its dark rampart of rocks, where the strife had been hottest. Scattered fragments of arms and harness still lay rusting on the ground, which was covered with the bones of the warriors, that had lain for more than half a century unburied and bleaching in the sun.3 Here was the spot on which the brave son of de vosotros, amigos, " Qual Ira a la Sierra manana,
A poner mi Real pendon Encima de la Alpuxarra?"
of Saavedra, however, appears to have been a familiar one in Seville, and occurs two or three times in the muster-roll of nobles and cavaliers of that city who joined King Ferdinand's army in the preceding year, 1500. Zuniga, Annales de Sevilla, eodem anno. 1 Mendoza notices these splenetic effusions (Guerra de Granada, p. 13); and Bleda (Cordnica, p. 636) cites the following couplet from one of them : Decid, conde de Urena,
All shrunk from the perilous emprise, till Alonso de Aguilar stepped forward and boldly assumed it for himself : A todos tiembla la barba, Sino fuera don Alonso, Que de Aguilar se Ilamaba. Don Alonso donde queda." Levantdse en pie ante el Rey De esta manera le habla. s The Venetian ambassador, Navagiero, saw the empresa, Senor, Aquesa count of Urena at Ossuna in 1526. He was enjoying " Para mi estaba guardada, a green old age, or, as the minister expresses it Que mi senora la reyna molto vecchio e gentil corteggiano per6." ""Diseases," Ya me la tiene mandada. said the veteran, good-humouredly, el Rey sometimes visit me, but seldom tarry long ; formy " Alegrdse mucho Por la oferta que le daba, body is like a crazy old inn, where travellers find Aun no era amanecido such poor fare that they merely touch and go." Don Alonso ya cavalga." Viaggio, fol. 17. 3 Guerra de Granada, p. 301. Compare the be cannot it slip¬ ditties, denied, popular are These similar painting of Tacitus, in the scene where pery authorities for any important fact, unless sup¬ Germamcus pays the last sad offices to the remains ported by more direct historic testimony. When of Varus and his legions: " Dein semiruto_ vallo, composed, however, by contemporaries, or those who humili fossa, accisae jam reliquiae consedisse intellithey may naturally very the record time, lived near campi albentia ossa, ut fugerant, medio gebantur : many true details, too insignificant in their conse¬ ut restiterant, disjecta vel aggerata ; adjacebant quences to attract the notice of history. The ballad equorumque artus, simul truncis fragmina telorum, translated with so muchelaborate simplicity by Percy is chiefly taken up, as the English reader may re¬ arborum antefixa ora." (Annales, lib. 1, sect. 61.) nothing short of this celebrated defalls Mendoza member, with the exploits of a Sevillian hero named Saavedra. No such personage is noticed, as far as scription of the Roman historian : Iam aware, by the Spanish Chroniclers. The name Pan etiam Arcadia dicat se judice victum."
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DEATH OF ALONSO DE AGOI LAR.
4 69
Aguilar had fought so sturdily by his father's side ; and there the huge rock at whose foot the chieftain had fallen, throwing its dark shadow over the remains of the noble dead who lay sleeping around. The stronglymarked features of the ground called up all the circumstances, which the soldiers had gathered from tradition ; their hearts beat high, as they recapitulated them one to another ; and the tears, says the eloquent historian who tells the story, fell fast down their iron cheeks, as they gazed on the sad relics and offered up a soldier's prayer for the heroic souls which once animated them.1 1ranquillity was now restored throughout the wide borders of Granada. ihe banner of the Cross floated triumphantly over the whole extent of its wild sierras, its broad valleys, and populous cities. Every Moor, in exterior at least, had become a Christian. Every mosque had been converted into a Christian church. Still the country was not entirely purified from the stain of Islamism, since many professing their ancient faith were scattered over different parts of the kingdom of Castile, where they had been long resident before the surrender of their capital. The late events seemed to have no other effect than to harden them in error ; and the Spanish government saw with alarm the pernicious influence of their example and persuasion, in shaking the infirm faith of the new converts.
To obviate this, an ordinance was published, in the summer of 1501, prohibiting all intercourse between these Moors and the orthodox king¬ dom of Granada.2 At length, however, convinced that there was no other way to save the precious seed from being choked by the thorns of infidelity than to eradicate them altogether, the sovereigns came to the extraordinary resolution of offering them the alternative of baptism or exile. They issued a pragmatica to that effect from Seville, February 12th, 1502. After a preamble, duly setting forth the obligations of gratitude on the Castilians to drive God's enemies from the land which He in His good time had delivered into their hands, and the numerous backslidings occasioned among the new converts by their intercourse with their unbaptized brethren, the act goes on to state, in much the same terms with the famous ordinance against the Jews, that all the unbaptized Moors in the kingdoms of Castile and Leon, above fourteen years of age if males, and twelve if females, must leave the country by the end of April following; that they might sell their property in the meantime, and take the proceeds in anything save gold and silver and merchandise regularly prohibited ; and, finally, that they might emigrate to any foreign country, except the dominions of the Grand Turk, and such parts of
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1 Mendoza, Guerra de Granada, pp. 300-302. Moorish history, displays such liberal sentiments The Moorish insurrection of 1570 was attended with (too liberal, indeed, to permit its publication till after its author's death), profound reflection, long historic this forth calling at least one good result, in masterpiece, the work of the accomplished Diego and classic elegance of style, as well entitle him to of the Spanish Sallust. appellation the a as alike accomplished Hurtado de Mendoza, '2 Pragmiticas del Reyno, fol. 6. statesman, warrior, and historian. His " Guerra de of fragment barren a Granada," confined as it is to
47°
RISING IN THE ALPUJARRAS.
Africa as Spain was then at war with. Obedience to these severe provisions was enforced by the penalties of death and confiscation of property.1 This stern edict, so closely modelled on that against the Jews, must have been even more grievous in its application.2 For the Jews may be
said to have been denizens almost equally of every country ; while the Moors, excluded from a retreat among their countrymen on the African shore, were sent into the lands of enemies or strangers. The former, moreover, were far better qualified by their natural shrewdness and com¬ mercial habits for disposing of their property advantageously, than the simple, inexperienced Moors, skilled in little else than husbandry or rude mechanic arts. We have nowhere met with any estimate of the number who migrated on this occasion. The Castilian writers pass over the whole affair in a very few words ; not, indeed, as is too evident, from any feelings of disapprobation, but from its insignificance in a political view. Their silence implies a very inconsiderable number of emigrants ; a circumstance not to be wondered at, as there were very few, probably, who would not sooner imitate their Granadine brethren in assuming the mask of Christianity, than encounter exile under all the aggravated miseries with which it was accompanied.3 Castile might now boast, for the first time in eight centuries, that every outward stain, at least, of infidelity was purified from her bosom. But how had this been accomplished? By the most detestable expedients which sophistry could devise and oppression execute ; and that, too, under an enlightened government, proposing to be guided solely by a conscientious regard for duty. To comprehend this more fully, it will be necessary to take a brief view of public sentiment in matters of religion at that time. It is a singular paradox, that Christianity, whose doctrines inculcate unbounded charity, should have been made so often an engine of persecution • while Mahometanism, whose principles are those of avowed intolerance, should have exhibited, at least till later times, a truly philo¬ sophical spirit of toleration.4 Even the first victorious disciples of the Prophet, glowing with all the fiery zeal of proselytism, were content with the exaction of tribute from the vanquished ; at least, more vindictive feelings were reserved only for idolaters, who did not, like the Jews and Christians, acknowledge with themselves the unity of God. With these 1 Pragmaticas del Reyno, fol. 7. 2 Bleda anxiously claims the credit
Their sympathy for the exiles, however, is whimsic¬ of the act ally enough contrasted by an orthodox anxiety to of expulsion for Fray Thomas de Torquemada, of justify the conduct of their own government. The inquisitorial memory. (Cordnica, p. 640.) That reader may recollect a pertinent example in the eminent personage had, indeed, been dead some story of Sancho's Moorish friend, Ricote. Don years ; but this edict was so obviously suggested by Quixote, part. 2, cap. 54. that against the Jews, that it may be considered as The spirit of toleration professed by the Moors, the resuit of his principles, if not directly taught by indeed, was made a principal argument against him. Thus it is, " the evil that men do lives after them in the archbishop of Valencia's memorial to them. " III. The Mahometans would seem the Philip 3 The Castilian writers, especially the dramatic. better Christians of the two. See Geddes, Miscelhave not been insensible to the poetical situations laneous Tracts (London, 1702-6), vol. i. p. gj. afforded by the distresses of the banished Moriscos.
*
DEATH OF ALONSO DE AGU1LAR. latter denominations they had obvious sympathy, since it was their creed which formed the basis of their own.1 In Spain, where the fiery tem¬ perament of the Arab was gradually softened under the influence of a temperate climate and higher mental culture, the toleration of the Jews and Christians, as we have already had occasion to notice, was so remarkable that within a few years after the conquest ,we find them not only protected in the enjoyment of civil and religious freedom, but mingling on terms almost of equality with their conquerors. It is not necessary to inquire here how far the different policy of the Christians was owing to the peculiar constitution of their hierarchy, which, composed of a spiritual militia drawn from every country in Europe, was cut off by its position from all human sympathies, and attached to no interests but its own; which availed itself of the superior science and reputed sanctity that were supposed to have given it the key to the dread mysteries of a future life, not to enlighten but to enslave the minds of a credulous world ; and which, making its own tenets the only standard of faith, its own rites and ceremonial the only evidence of virtue, obliterated the great laws of morality written by the divine hand on every heart, and gradually built up a system of exclusiveness and intolerance most repug¬ nant to the mild and charitable religion of Jesus Christ. Before the close of the fifteenth century, several circumstances operated to sharpen the edge of intolerance, especially against the Arabs. The Turks, whose political consideration of late years had made them the peculiar representatives and champions of Mahometanism, had shown a ferocity and cruelty in their treatment of the Christians which brought general odium on all the professors of their faith ; and on the Moors, of course, though most undeservedly, in common with the rest. The bold, heterodox doctrines, also, which had occasionally broken forth in different parts of Europe in the fifteenth century, like so many faint streaks of light ushering in the glorious morn of the Reformation, had roused the alarm of the champions of the church, and kindled on more than one occasion the fires of persecution ; and before the close of the period the Inquisition was introduced into Spain. From that disastrous hour, religion wore a new aspect in this unhappy country. The spirit of intolerance, no longer hooded in the darkness of the cloister, now stalked abroad in all his terrors. Zeal was exalted into fanaticism, and a rational spirit of proselytism into one of fiendish perse¬ cution. It was not enough now, as formerly, to conform passively to the doctrines of the church, but it was enjoined to make war on all who 1 Heeren seems willing to countenance the learned Pluquet in regarding Islamism, in its ancient form, as one of the modifications of Christianity ; placing the principal difference between that and Socinianism, for example, in the mere rites of circum¬ cision and baptism. (Essai sur l'lnfluence des Croisades, traduit par Villers (Paris, 1808), p. 175, not.) " The Mussulmans," says Sir William Jones, "are a sort of heterodox Christians, if Locke
reasons justly, because they firmly believe the immaculate conception, divine character, and mira¬ cles of the Messiah; heterodox in denying vehe¬ mently his character of Son, and his equality, as God, with the Father, of whose unity and attri¬ butes they entertain and express the most awful ideas." See his Dissertation on the Gods of Greece, Italy, and India ; Works (London, 1799), vol. i. p. 279.
172
RISING IN THE ALPUJARRAS.
refused them. The natural feelings of compunction in the discharge of this sad duty was a crime ; and the tear of sympathy, wrung out by the sight of mortal agonies, was an offence to be expiated by humiliating penance. The most frightful maxims were deliberately engrafted into the code of morals. Any one, it was said, might conscientiously kill an apostate wherever, he could meet him. There was some doubt whether a man might slay his own father, if a heretic or infidel, but none what¬ ever as to his right, in that event, to take away the life of his son or of his brother.1 These maxims were not a dead letter, but of most active operation, as the sad records of the dread tribunal too well prove. The character of the nation underwent a melancholy change. The milk of charity, nay, of human feeling, was soured in every bosom. The liberality of the old Spanish cavalier gave way to the fiery fanaticism of the monk. The taste for blood, once gratified, begat a cannibal appetite in the people, who, cheered on by the frantic clergy, seemed to vie with one another in the eagerness with which they ran down the miserable game of the Inquisition. It was at this very time, when the infernal monster, gorged but not sated with human sacrifice, was crying aloud for fresh victims, that Granada surrendered to the Spaniards, under the solemn guarantee of the full enjoyment of civil and religious liberty. The treaty of capitulation granted too much, or too little,— too little for an independent state, too much for one whose existence was now merged in that of a greater ; for it secured to the Moors privileges in some respects superior to those of the Castilians, and to the prejudice of the latter. Such, for example, was the permission to trade with the Barbary coast, and with the various places in Castile and Andalusia, without paying the duties imposed on the Spaniards themselves ; 2 and that article, again, by which runaway Moorish slaves from other parts of the kingdom were made free and incapable of being reclaimed by their masters, if they could reach Granada.3 The former of these provisions struck at the commercial profits of the Spaniards, the latter directly at their property. It is not too much to say that such a treaty, depending for its observance on the good faith and forbearance of the stronger party, would not hold together a year in any country of Christendom, even at the present day, before some flaw or pretext would be devised to evade it. How much greater was the probability of this in the present case, where the weaker party was viewed with all the accumulated odium of long hereditary hostility and religious rancour ! The work of conversion, on which the Christians, no doubt, much 1 See the bishop of Orihuela's treatise, "De talcing away the life of every Moor in the kingdom, Be'ilo Sacro," etc., cited by the industrious for their shameless infidelity. Ubi supra ;— and Clemencin. (Mem. de. la Acad, de Hist., torn. vi. Bleda, Cor<5nica, p. 095. Ilust. 15.) The Moors and Jews, of course, stood - The articles of the treaty are detailed at length no chance in this code ; the reverend father expresses by Marmol, Rebelion de los Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 19. a Marmol, Rebellion de los Moriscor, lib. t, cap an opinion, with which Bleda heartily coincides, that the government would be perfectly justified in 19.
DEATH OF ALONSO DE AGUILAR.
473
relied, was attended with greater difficulties than had been anticipated by the conquerors. It was now found that, while the Moors retained their present faith, they would be much better affected towards their countrymen in Africa than to the nation with which they were incorporated. In short, Spain still had enemies in her bosom ; and reports were rife, in every quarter, of their secret intelligence with the Barbary states, and of Chris¬ tians kidnapped to be sold as slaves to Algerine corsairs. Such tales, greedily circulated and swallowed, soon begat general alarm ; and men are not apt to be over-scrupulous as to measures which they deem essential to their personal safety. The zealous attempt to bring about conversion by preaching and expostu¬ lation was fair and commendable. The intervention of bribes and pro¬ mises, if it violated the spirit, did not, at least, the letter of the treaty. The application of force to a few of the most refractory, who by their blind obstinacy were excluding a whole nation from the benefits of redemp¬ tion, was to be defended on other grounds ; and these were not wanting to cunning theologians, who considered that the sanctity of the end justified extraordinary means, and that where the eternal interests of the soul were at stake the force of promises and the faith of treaties were equally nugatory.1 But the chef-d'oeuvre of monkish casuistry was the argument imputed to Ximenes for depriving the Moors of the benefits of the treaty, as a legitimate consequence of the rebellion into which they had been driven by his own malpractices. This proposition, however, far from outraging the feelings of the nation, well drilled by this time in the metaphysics of the cloister, fell short of them, if we are to judge from recommendations of a still more questionable import, urged, though ineffectually, on the sovereigns at this very time, from the highest quarter.2 Such are the frightful results to which the fairest mind may be led, when it introduces the refinements of logic into the discussions of duty ; when, proposing to achieve some great good, whether in politics or religion, it conceives that the importance of the object authorizes a departure from 1 See the arguments of Ximenes, or of his enthu¬ siastic biographer Flechier, for it is not always easy to discriminate between them. Hist, de Ximenes, pp. 108, 109. Montesquieu, in those admirable Letters which disguise so much deep philosophy under the pleasant veil of raillery, makes a stricture on this compulsory proselytism worth all the argu¬ ments of its advocates : " Celui qui veut me faire changer de religion ne le fait sans doute que parce qu'il ne changeroit la sienne, quand on voudroit l'y forcer; il trouve done Strange que je ne fassepas une chose qu'il ne feroit pas lui-meme, peut-etre, pour l'empire du monde." Lettres Persanes, let. 85. 2 The duke of Medina Sidonia proposed to Fer¬ dinand and Isabella to be avenged on the Moors, in some way not explained, after their disembarka¬ tion in Africa, on the ground that, the term of the royal safe-conduct having elapsed, they might law¬ fully be treated as enemies. To this proposal, which would have done honour to a college of Jesuits in the sixteenth century, the sovereigns made a reply too creditable not to be transcribed. " El Rei c la
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Reina. Fernando de Zafra, nuestro secretSrio. Vimos vuestra letra, en que nos fecistes saber lo que el duque de Medinasiddnia tenia pensado que se podia facer contra los Moros de Villaluenga despues de desembarcados allende. Decidle que le agradecemos y tenemos en servicio el buen deseo que tiene de nos servir :peroporque nvestrapalabra y segvro real asl se debe guardar d los infieles como d los Crisliatios, y facidndose lo que 61 dice pareceria cautela y engano armado sobre nuestro seguro para no le guardar, que en ninguna manera se haga eso, ni otra cosa de que pueda parecer que se quebranta nuestro seguro. De Granada veinte y nueve de mayo de quinidntos y un aHos.—Yo eL Rei. Yo la Rdina. For mandado del Rei e del Rdina, Miguel Perez Almazan." (Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., torn. vi. Ilust. 15, from the original in the archives of the family of Medina Sidonia ) Would that the suggestions of Isabella's own heart, instead of the clergy, had always been the guide of her con duct in these matters !
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474
PROGRESS OF DISCO VER Y.
the plain principles of morality which regulate the ordinary affairs of life; and when, blending these higher interests with those of a personal nature, it becomes incapable of discriminating between them, and is led insensibly to act from selfish motives, while it fondly imagines itself obeying only the conscientious dictates of duty.1 With these events may be said to terminate the history of the Moors, or the Moriscos, as henceforth called, under the present reign. Eightcenturies had elapsed since their first occupation of the country, during which period they had exhibited all the various phases of civilization, from its dawn to its decline. Ten years had sufficed to overturn the splendid remains of this powerful empire ; and ten more for its nominal conversion to Christianity. A long century of persecution, of unmitigated and unmerited suffering, was to follow, before the whole was consummated by the expulsion of this unhappy race from the Peninsula. Their story, in this latter period, furnishes one of the most memorable examples in history of the impotence of persecution, even in support of a good cause against a bad one. It is a lesson that cannot be too deeply pondered through every succeeding age. The fires of the Inquisition are, indeed, extinguished, probably to be lighted no more. But where is the land which can boast that the spirit of intolerance, which forms the very breath of persecution, is altogether extinct in its bosom ?
CHAPTER VIII. COLUMBUS.
— PROSECUTION OF DISCOVERY. — IIIS TREATMENT BY THE COURT. I494-I5°3-
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Progress of Discovery.— Reaction of Public Feeling.— The Queen's Confidence in Columbus. He discovers Terra Firma.— Isabella sends back the Indian Slaves. Complaints against Columbus. — Superseded in the Government. Vindication of the Sovereigns. — His fourth and last Voyage.
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The reader will turn with satisfaction from the melancholy and mortifying details of superstition to the generous efforts which the Spanish government was making to enlarge the limits of science and dominion in the west. " Amidst the storms and troubles of Italy, Spain was every day 1 A memorial of the archbishop of Valencia to Philip III. affords an example of this moral obli¬ quity, that may make one laugh, or weep, according to the temper of his philosophy. In this precious document he says, " Your Majesty may, without any scruple of conscience, make slaves of all the Moriscos, and may put them into your own galleys or mines, or sell them to strangers. And as to their children, they may be all sold at good rates here in Spain ; which will be so far from being a punish¬ ment, that it will be a mercy to them, since by that means they will all become Christians ; which they
would never have been had they continued with their parents. By the holy execution of which piece of justice, a great sum of money will Jlow into your Majesty's treasury." (Geddes, Miscellaneous Tracts, vol. i. p. 71.) " II n'est point d'hostilite excellente comme la Chrestienne," says old Mon¬ taigne ; " nostre zele faict merveilles, quand il va secondant nostre pente vers la haine, la cruaute, l'ambition, l'avarice, la detraction, la rebellion. Nostre religion est faicte pour extirper les vices ; elle les couvre, les nourrit, les incite." Essais, liv. a, chap. 12.
4
TREA TMENT OF COL UMB US.
4 7s her wings over a wider sweep of empire, and extending the giory of her name to the far antipodes." Such is the swell of exultation with which the enthusiastic Italian, Martyr, notices the brilliant progress of discovery under his illustrious countryman Columbus.1 The Spanish sovereigns had never lost sight of the new domain, so unexpectedly opened to them, as it were, from the depths of the ocean. The first accounts transmitted by the great navigator and his companions, on his second voyage, while their imaginations were warm with the beauty and novelty of the scenes which met their eyes in the New World, served to keep alive the tone of excitement which their unexpected successes had kindled in the nation.1 The various specimens sent home in the return ships of the products of these unknown regions, confirmed the agreeable belief that they formed part of the great Asiatic continent, which had so long excited the cupidity of Europeans. The Spanish court, sharing in the general enthusiasm, endeavoured to promote the spirit of discovery and coloniza¬ tion, by forwarding the requisite supplies, and complying promptly with the most minute suggestions of Columbus. But in less than two years from the commencement of his second voyage the face of things experi¬ enced a melancholy change. Accounts were received at home of the most alarming discontent and disaffection in the colony ; while the actual returns from these vaunted regions were so scanty as to bear no proportion to the expenses of the expedition. This unfortunate result was in a great measure imputable to the miscon¬ duct of the colonists themselves. Most of them were adventurers, who had embarked with no other expectation than that of getting together a fortune as speedily as possible in the golden Indies. They were without subordination, patience, industry, or any of the regular habits demanded for success in such an enterprise. As soon as they had launched from their native shore, they seemed to feel themselves released from the con¬ straints of all law. They harboured jealousy and distrust of the admiral as a foreigner. The cavaliers and hidalgos, of whom there were too many in the expedition, contemned him as an upstart, whom it was derogatory to obey. From the first moment of their landing in Hispaniola, they indulged the most wanton license in regard to the unoffending natives, who, in the simplicity of their hearts, had received the white men as messengers from Heaven. Their outrages, however, soon provoked a general resistance, which led to such a war of extermination that, in less than four years after the Spaniards had set foot on the island, one-third of si retching
,
s
i
1 " Inter has Italiae procellas magis indies ac magis alas protendit Hispania, imperium auget, gloriam nomenque suum ad Antipodes porriget." Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 146. '2 See, among others, a letter of Dr. Chanca, who accompanied Columbus on his stcond voyage. It is addressed to the authorities of Seville. After noticing the evidences of gold in Hispaniola, he says, " Ansi que de cierto los Reyes nuestros Sennres desrle ncora se Dueden tener por los mas
pro-peros e mas ricos Principes del mundo, pontile tal cosa hasta agora no se ha visto ni leido de ninguno en el mundo, porque verdaderamente a otro
camino que los navios vuelvan puedan llevar tanfca cantidad de oro que se pueden maravillar cualescjuiera que lo supieren." In another part of the letter, the Doctor is equally sanguine in regard to the fruitfulness of the soil and climate. Lo ra de Dr. Chanca, apud Navarrete, Coleccion dr * age*, torn. i. pp. 198-224.
PROGRESS OF DISCO VER V
476
its population, amounting, probably, to several hundred thousands, were sacrificed ! Such were the melancholy auspices under which the inter¬ course was opened between the civilized white man and the simple natives of the western world.1 These excesses, and a total neglect of agriculture,— for none would condescend to turn up the earth for any other object than the gold they could find in it, at length occasioned an alarming scarcity of provisions ; while the poor Indians neglected their usual husbandry, being willing to starve themselves, so that they could starve out their oppressors.2 In order to avoid the famine which menaced his little colony, Columbus was obliged to resort to coercive measures, shortening the allowance of food, and compelling all to work, without distinction of rank. These unpalat¬ able regulations soon bred general discontent. The high-mettled hidalgos, especially, complained loudly of the indignity of such mechanical drudgery, while Father Boil and his brethren were equally outraged by the diminution of their regular rations.8 The Spanish sovereigns were now daily assailed with complaints of the mal-administration of Columbus, and of his impolitic and unjust severities to both Spaniards and natives. They lent, however, an unwilling ear to these vague accusations ; they fully appreciated the difficulties of his situation ; and although they sent out an agent to inquire into the nature of the troubles which threatened the existence of the colony (August 1495), they were careful to select an individual who they thought would be most grateful to the admiral ; and when the latter, in the following year, 1496, returned to Spain, they received him with the most ample acknow¬ ledgments of regard. " Come to us," they said, in a kind letter of con¬ gratulation, addressed to him soon after his arrival, " when you can do it without inconvenience to yourself, for you have endured too many vexations already."4 The admiral brought with him, as before, such samples of the productions of the western hemisphere as would strike the public eye and keep alive the feeling of curiosity. On his journey through Andalusia he passed some days under the hospitable roof of the good curate Bernaldez, who dwells with much satisfaction on the remarkable appearance of the Indian chiefs following in the admiral's train, gorgeously decorated with golden collars and coronets and various barbaric ornaments. Among these he particularly notices certain '• belts and masks of cotton and of wood, with figures of the Devil embroidered and carved thereon, sometimes in his own proper likeness, and at others in that of a cat or an owl. There is
t
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1 Fernando Colon, Hist, del Almirante, cap. 60, 1 CEuvres de Don Barthelemi de las Casas, prdcddees 62.— Munoz, Hist, del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 5, sec. j de sa Vie (Paris, 1822), torn. i. p. 11. 25. Herrera, Indias occidentales, dec. 1, lib. 2, ' 3 Martyr, De Rebus Oceanicis, dec. 1, lib. 4. cap. 9. Benzon'., Novi Orbis Hist., lib. 1, cap. 1 Gomara, Hist, de las Indias, cap. 20, torn. ii. Herrera, Indias occidentales, dec. 1, lib. 2, cap. 12. 9. 2 The Indians had some grounds for relying on j 4 Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, torn. ii. , Doc. the efficacy of starvation, if. as Las Casas gravely ; dipl., no. roi. Fe nando Colon, Hist, del Almiasserts, "one Spaniard consumed in a single day as rante, cap. 64. Muiioz, Hist, del Nuevo-Mundo. much at -would suffice three families. ! " Llorenta, lib. 5. sec. 31.
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&
TREATMENT OF COLUMBUS.
477 much reason," he infers, " to believe that he appears to the islanders in this guise, and that they are all idolaters, having Satan for their lord ! 1 " But neither the attractions of the spectacle, nor the glowing repre¬ sentations of Columbus, who fancied he had discovered in the mines of Hispaniola the golden quarries of Ophir, from which King Solomon had enriched the Temple of Jerusalem, could rekindle the dormant enthusiasm of the nation. The novelty of the thing had passed. They heard a different tale, moreover, from the other voyagers, whose wan and sallow visages provoked the bitter jest that they had returned with more gold in their faces than in their pockets. In short, the scepticism of the public seemed now quite in proportion to its former overweening confidence ; and the returns were so meagre, says Bernaldez, that it was very generally " believed there was little or no gold in the island." 2 Isabella was far from participating in this unreasonable distrust. She had espoused the theory of Columbus when others looked coldly or contemptuously on it.3 She firmly relied on his repeated assurances that the track of discovery would lead to other and more important regions. She formed a higher estimate, moreover, of the value of the new acquisitions than any founded on the actual proceeds in gold and silver ; keeping ever in view, as her letters and instructions abundantly show, the glorious purpose of introducing the blessings of Christian civilization among the heathen.4 She entertained a deep sense of the merits of Columbus, to whose serious and elevated character her own bore much resemblance ; although the enthusiasm which distinguished each was naturally tempered in hers with somewhat more of benignity and discretion. But although the queen was willing to give the most effectual support to his great enterprise, the situation of the country was such as made delay in its immediate prosecution unavoidable. Large expense was necessarily incurred for the actual maintenance of the colony ;5 the exchequer was liberally drained, moreover, by the Italian war, as well as by the profuse magnificence with which the nuptials of the royal family were now celebrating. It was, indeed, in the midst of the courtly revelries attending the marriage of Prince John that the admiral presented himself before the sovereigns at Burgos, after his second voyage. Such was the low condition of the treasury from these causes that Isabella was obliged to defray the cost of an outfit to the colony, at this time, from funds dio Nuestro Senor el espiritu de inteligencia y — esfuerzo grande, y ha hizo de todo heredera como
1 Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 131. Herrera expresses the same charitable opinion : " Muy claramente se conocio que el demonio estava apoderado de aquella gente, y la traia ciega y enganada, hablandoles, y mostrandoles en diversas figuras. Indias occidentales, lib. 3, cap. 4. 2 Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 131. Munoz, Hist, del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 6, sec. 1. 3 Columbus, in his letter to Prince John's nurse, dated 1500, makes the following ample acknowledg¬ ment of the queen's early protection of him : "En todos hobo incredulidad, y a la Reina mi Senora
a
cara y muy amada hija." "Su Alteza loaprobaba al contrario, y lo sostuvo fasta que pudo. ' Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, torn. 1. p. 266. 4 See the letters to Columbus, dated May 14th,
de 1493, August 1494, apud Navarrete, Coleccion Viages, torn. ii. pp. 66, 154, et mult. al. 5 The salaries alone, annually disbursed by the crown to persons resident in the colony, amounted to six mil.ions of maravedis. Munoz, Hist, del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 5, sec. 33.
PROGRESS OF PISCO VER V
473
originally destined for the marriage of her daughter Isabella with the king of Portugal.1 This unwelcome delay, however, was softened to Columbus by the distinguished marks which he daily received of the royal favour ; and various ordinances were passed, confirming and enlarging his great powers and privileges in the most ample manner, to a greater extent, indeed, than his modesty, or his prudence, would allow him to accept.2 The language in which these princely gratuities were conferred rendered them doubly grateful to his noble heart, containing, as they did, the most emphatic acknowledgments of his " many, good, loyal, distinguished, and continual services," and thus testifying the unabated confidence of his sovereigns in his integrity and prudence.8 Among the impediments to the immediate completion of the arrange¬ ments for the admiral's departure on his third voyage may be also noticed the hostility of Bishop Fonseca, who at this period had the control of the Indian department; a man of an irritable and, as it would seem, most unforgiving temper, who, from some causes of disgust which he had con¬ ceived with Columbus previous to his second voyage, lost no opportunity of annoying and thwarting him, for which his official station unfortunately afforded him too many facilities.4 From these various circumstances the admiral's fleet was not ready before the beginning of 1498. Even then further embarrassment occurred in manning it, as few were found willing to embark in a service which had fallen into such general discredit This led to the ruinous expedient of substituting convicts, whose regular punishments were commuted into transportation, for a limited period, to the Indies. No measure could possibly have been devised more effectual for the ruin of the infant settle¬ The seeds of corruption, which had been so long festering in ment. the Old World, soon shot up into a plentiful harvest in the New, and Columbus, who suggested the measure, was the first to reap the fruits of it. At length, all being in readiness, the admiral embarked on board his little squadron, consisting of six vessels, whose complement of men, not¬ withstanding every exertion, was still deficient, and took his departure from the port of St. Lucar, May 30th, 1498. He steered in a more southerly direction than on his preceding voyages, and on the 1st of August succeeded in reaching terra firma ;thus entitling himself to the 1 Munoz. Hist, del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 6, sec. 2. Fernando Colon, Hist, del Almirante, cap. 64. Herrera, Indias occidentals, lib. 3,
—— cap. 1.
- Such, for example, was the grant of an immense
tract of land in Hispaniola, with the title of count
or duke, as the admiral might prefer. Hist, del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 6, sec. 17.
Munoz,
s The instrument establishing the tnayorazgo, or perpetual entail of Columbus's estates, contains an injunction that " his heirs shall never use any other
signature than that of ' the Admiral,' el Almirante, whatever other titles and honours may belong to them." That title indicated his peculiar achieve¬ ments, and it was an honest pride which led him by this simple expedient to perpetuate the remembrance of them in his posterity. See the original docu¬ ment, apud Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, torn. ii. pp. 221-235. 4 Munoz, Hist, del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 6, sec. 20. — Fernando Colon, Hist, del Almirante, cap. 64.
—Zuniga, Annales de Sevilla, ario 1406.
TREATMENT OF COLUMBUS.
479
glory of being the first to set foot on the great southern continent, to which he had before opened the way.1 It is not necessary to pursue the track of the illustrious voyager, whose career, forming the most brilliant episode to the history of the present reign, has been so recently traced by a hand which few will care to follow. It will suffice briefly to notice his personal relations with the Spanish government, and the principles on which the colonial administration was conducted. On his arrival at Hispaniola, Columbus found the affairs of the colony
in the most deplorable confusion. An insurrection had been raised by the arts of a few factious individuals against his brother Bartholomew, to whom he had intrusted the government during his absence. In this desperate rebellion, all the interests of the community were neglected. The mines, which were just beginning to yield a golden harvest, remained unwrought. The unfortunate natives were subjected to the most inhuman oppression. There was no law but that of the strongest. Columbus, on his arrival, in vain endeavoured to restore order. The very crews he brought with him, who had been unfortunately reprieved from the gibbet in their own country, served to swell the mass of mutiny. The admiral exhausted art, negotiation, entreaty, force, and succeeded at length in patching up a specious reconciliation by such concessions as essentially impaired his own authority. Among these was the grant of large tracts of land to the rebels, with permission to the proprietor to employ an allotted number of the natives in its cultivation. This was the origin of the celebrated system of repartimiaitos, which subsequently led to the foulest abuses that ever disgraced humanity.2 Nearly a year elapsed after the admiral's return to Hispaniola before he succeeded in allaying these intestine feuds. In the meanwhile, rumours were every day reaching Spain of the distractions of the colony, accom¬ panied with most injurious imputations on the conduct of Columbus and his brother, who were loudly accused of oppressing both Spaniards and Indians, and of sacrificing the public interests, in the most unscrupulous manner, to their own. These complaints were rung in the very ears of the sovereigns by numbers of the disaffected colonists, who had returned to Spain, and who surrounded the king, as he rode out on horseback, clamouring loudly for the discharge of the arrears of which they said the admiral had defrauded them.3 There were not wanting, even, persons of high consideration at the 1 Peter Martyr, De Rebus Oceanicis, dec. i. lib.
Herrera, Indias occidentals, dec. 1, lib. 3, cap. 16
ii., Doc. — Munoz, Hist, del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 6, sec. de Viages, — Navarrete, Coleccion dipl., nos. n6, Tercer Viage de Colon, apud 40-42. — cap. 7.— ii. lib. Garibay, Compendio, Orbis Novi Benzoiii, i. p. 245. — Navarrete, lib. 7.— Hist., lib. cap. n.— Herrera, Indias occiden- Peter Martyr, De Rebus Oceanicis, dec.
6.
torn.
120.
3
torn. 1, 10, tales, dec. 1, lib. 3, cap. 10, 11.
torn.
19, 1,
Hist, de las Indias, cap. 23. Benzoni, — Munoz, Hist, del Gomara, Novi Orbis Hist., cap. 11.—Ferdinand Columbus Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 6, sec. 19. 2 that he and his brother, who were then mentions Hist, Benzoni, 20. cap. Gomara, de las Indias, — Novi Orbis Hist., lib. 1, cap 10, 11. Garibay, pages to the queen, could not stir out into the court¬ by Compendio, torn. ii. lib. 19, cap. 7. Fernando yard of the Alhambra without being followed 111 the Colon, Hist, del Almirante, cap. 73-82.— Peter fifty of these vagabonds, who insulted them r grossest manner, "as the sons of the adventur Mar vr, De Rebus Oceanicis. dec. 1, lib. 5.
——
—
4&0
PROGRESS OF DISCOVERY.
court, to give credence and circulation to those calumnies. The recent discovery of the pearl-fisheries of Paria, as well as of more prolific veins of the precious metals in Hispaniola, and the prospect of an indefinite extent of unexplored country, opened by the late voyage of Columbus, made the viceroyalty of the New World a tempting bait for the avarice and ambition of the most potent grandee. They artfully endeavoured, therefore, to
undermine the admiral's credit with the sovereigns, by raising in their minds suspicions of his integrity, founded not merely on vague reports, but on letters received from the colony, charging him with disloyalty, with appropriating to his own use the revenues of the island, and with the design of erecting an independent government for himself.1 Whatever weight these absurd charges may have had with Ferdinand, they had no power to shake the queen's confidence in Columbus or lead her to suspect his loyalty for a moment. But the long-continued distrac¬ tions of the colony made her feel a natural distrust of his capacity to govern it, whether from the jealousy entertained of him as a foreigner, or from some inherent deficiency in his own character. These doubts were mingled, it is true, with sterner feelings towards the admiral, on the arrival, at this juncture, of several of the rebels with the Indian slaves assigned to them by his orders.2 It was the received opinion among good Catholics of that period, that heathen and barbarous nations were placed by the circumstance of their infidelity without the pale both of spiritual and civil rights. Their souls were doomed to eternal perdition. Their bodies were the property of the Christian nation who should occupy their soil. 3 Such, in brief, were the profession and the practice of the most enlightened Europeans of the fif¬ teenth century ; and such the deplorable maxims which regulated the inter¬ course of the Spanish and Portuguese navigators with the uncivilized natives of the western world.4 Columbus, agreeably to these views, had, very soon who had led so many brave Spanish hidalgos to seek therefore, in furtherance of this, confer on the their graves in the land of vanity and delusion which Spanish sovereigns imperial supremacy over ail lands discovered by them,— not, however, to the he had found out." Hist, del Almirante, cap. 85. 1 Benzoni, Novi Orbis Hist., lib. 1, cap. 12. prejudice of authorities already existing there, and National feeling operated, no doubt, as well as over such nations only as voluntarily embraced avarice to sharpen the tooth of slander against the Christianity. Such is the sum of his thirty proposi¬ admiral. "ALgre multi patiuntur," says Columbus's tions submitted to the council of the Indies for the countryman, with honest warmth, " peregrinum inspection of Charles V. (CEuvres, ed. de Llorente, hominem, et quidem e nostra Italia ortum, tantum torn. i. pp. 286-311.) One may see in these arbitrary honoris ac gloria; consequutum, ut non tantum and whimsical limitations the good bishop's desire Hispanicm gentis, sed et cujusvis alterius homines to reconcile what reason told him were the natural rights of man, with what faith prescribed as the superaverit. " Benzoni, lib. 1, cap. 5. 3 Herrera, Indias occidentales, lib. 4, cap. 7, 10, legitimate prerogative of the pope. Few Roman and more especially lib. 6, cap. 13.— Las Casas, Catholics at the present day will be found sturdy enough to maintain this lofty prerogative, however fEuvres, 6d. de Llorente, torn. i. p. 306. 3 " La qualite de Catholique Romain," says the carefully limited. Still fewer in the sixteenth cen¬ philosophic Villers, "avait tout-a-fait remplace celle tury would have challenged it. Indeed, it is but d'homme, et meme de Chretien. Qui n'etait pas just to Las Casas to admit that the general scope of Catholique Romain, n'dtait pas homme, etait moins his arguments, here and elsewhere, is very far in qu'homme ; et eut-il ete un souverain, c'dtait une advance of his age. bonne action que de lui dter la vie." (Essai sur la A Spanish casuist founds the right of his nation Reformation, p. 56, ed. 1820.) Las Casas rests the to enslave the Indians, among other things, on their title of the Spanish crown to its American posses¬ smoking tobacco and not trimming their beards A sions on the original papal grant, made on condition /' Espagnole. At least this is Montesquieu's inter¬ of converting the natives to Christianity. The pope, pretation of it. (Esprit des Lois, lib. 15, chap. 3.) as vicar of Jesus Christ, possesses plenary authority The doctors of the Inquisition could hardly have •ret ail men for the safety of their souls. might, found a better reason.
—
*
TREATMENT OF COLUMBUS.
481
after the occupation of Hispaniola, recommended a regular exchange of slaves for the commodities required for the support of the colony ; repre¬ senting, moreover, that in this way their conversion would be more surely effected, an object, it must be admitted, which he seems to have ever had most earnestly at heart. Isabella, however, entertained views on this matter far more liberal than those of her age. She had been deeply interested by the accounts she had received from the admiral himself of the gentle, unoffending character of the islanders ; and she revolted at the idea of consigning them to the horrors of slavery, without even an effort for their conversion. She hesitated, therefore, to sanction his proposal ; and when a number of Indian captives were advertised to be sold in the markets of Andalusia, she commanded the sale to be suspended till the opinion of a council of theologians and doctors, learned in such matters, could be obtained as to its conscientious lawfulness. She yielded still further to the benevolent impulses of her nature, causing holy men to be instructed as far as possible in the Indian languages, and sent out as missionaries for the conversion of the natives.1 Some of them, as Father Boil and his brethren, seem, indeed, to have been more concerned for the welfare of their own bodies than for the souls of their benighted flock. But others, imbued with a better spirit, wrought in the good work with disinterested zeal, and, if we may credit their accounts, with some efficacy.2 In the same beneficent spirit, the royal letters and ordinances urged over and over again the paramount obligation of the religious instruction of the natives, and of observing the utmost gentleness and humanity in all dealings with them. When, therefore, the queen learned the arrival of two vessels from the Indies, with three hundred slaves on board, which the admiral had granted to the mutineers, she could not repress her indignation, but impatiently asked, " By what authority does Columbus venture thus to dispose of my subjects?" (June 20th, T500.) She instantly caused proclamation to be made in the southern provinces, that all who had Indian slaves in their possession, granted by the admiral, should forthwith provide for their return to their own country ; while the few still held by the crown were to be restored to freedom in like
—
manner.3 After a long and visible reluctance, the queen acquiesced in sending out a commissioner to investigate the affairs of the colony. The person appointed to this delicate trust was Don Francisco de Bobadilla, a poor 1 Munoz, Hist,
their fear of the admiral, and at the same time so
lib..ii., Doc. desirous to oblige him, that they voluntarily became — Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, torn, dipl., no. 92. — Herrera, Indias occidentales, lib. 3, Christians." Hist, del Almirante, cap. 84. 3 Herrera. Indias occidentales, lib. 4, cap. 7. cap. del Nuevo-Mundo,
5, sec.
34-
4.
'2 "Among other things that the holy fathers carried out," says Robles, "was a little organ and several bells, which greatly delighted the simple people, so that from one to two thousand persons were baptized every day." (Vida de Ximenez, p. 120.) Ferdinand Columbus remarks, with some naivetf, that " the Indians were so obedient from
Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, torn, ii., Doc. dipl. , — Las Casas observes that " so great was the queen's indignation at the admiral s misconduct in this particular, that nothing but the consideration of his great public services saved him from immedi" ate disgrace." (Euvres, <5d. de Llorente, torn. 1. no. 134.
p. 306.
2 H
482
PROGRESS OF DISCOVERY.
knight of Calatrava. He was invested with supreme powers of civil and criminal jurisdiction. He was to bring to trial and pass sentence on all such as had conspired against the authority of Columbus. He was authorized to take possession of the fortresses, vessels, public stores, and property of every description, to dispose of all offices, and to command whatever persons he might deem expedient for the tranquillity of the island, without distinction of rank, to return to Spain and present them¬ selves before the sovereigns. Such, in brief, was the sum of the extra¬ ordinary powers intrusted to Bobadilla.1 It is impossible now to determine what motives could have led to the selection of so incompetent an agent for an office of such high responsi¬ bility. He seems to have been a weak and arrogant man, swelled with immeasurable insolence by the brief authority thus undeservedly bestowed on him. From the very first he regarded Columbus in the light of a convicted criminal, on whom it was his business to execute the sentence of the law. Accordingly, on his arrival at the island, after an ostentatious parade of his credentials, he commanded the admiral to appear before him, and, without affecting the forms of a legal inquiry, at once caused him to be manacled and thrown into prison. (August 23, 1500.) Colum¬ bus submitted without the least show of resistance, displaying in this sad reverse a magnanimity of soul which would have touched the heart of a generous adversary. Bobadilla, however, discovered no such sensibility ; and after raking together all the foul or frivolous calumnies which hatred or the hope of favour could extort, he caused the whole loathsome mass of accusation to be sent back to Spain with the admiral, whom he commanded to be kept strictly in irons during the passage ; " afraid," says Ferdinand Columbus, bitterly, " lest he might by any chance swim back again to the island." 2 This excess of malice served, as usual, however, to defeat itself. So enormous an outrage shocked the minds of those most prejudiced against Columbus. All seemed to feel it as a national dishonour that such indig¬ nities should be heaped on the man who, whatever might be his indiscre¬ tions, had done so much for Spain, and for the whole civilized world ; a man who, in the honest language of an old writer, " had he lived in the days of ancient Greece or Rome, would have had statues raised and temples and divine honours dedicated to him, as to a divinity ! " 8 None partook of the general indignation more strongly than Ferdinand and Isabella, who, in addition to their personal feelings of disgust at so 1 Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, torn, ii., Doc. dipl., nos. 127-130. The original commission to Bobadilla was dated March 21st, and May 21st, 1499 ; the execution of it, however, was delayed until July 1500, in the hope, doubtless, of obtaining such tidings from Hispaniola as should obviate the necessity of a measure so prejudicial to the ad¬ miral. 2 Fernando Colon, Hist, del Almirante, cap. 86. Garibay, Compendio, torn. ii. lib. 19, cap. 7. Peter Martyr, De Rebus Oceanicis, dec. 1, lib. a.
— ——
—
Gomara, Hist, de las Indias, cap. 23 Herrera, Indias occidentals, lib. 4, cap. 10.— Benzoni, Novi Orbis Hist., lib. 1, cap. 12. 3 Benzoni, Novi Orbis Hist., lib. 1, cap. Z2. Herrera, Indias occidentales, lib. 6, cap. 15. Ferdinand Columbus tells us that his father kept the fetters in which he was brought home, hanging up in an apartment in his house, as a perpetual memorial of national ingratitude, and, when he died, ordered them to be buried in the same grave with himself. Hist, del Almirante, cap. 86.
——
TREATMENT OF COLUMBUS.
483
gross an act, readily comprehended the whole weight of obloquy which its perpetration must necessarily attach to them. They sent to Cadiz without an instant's delay, and commanded the admiral to be released from his ignominious fetters. They wrote to him in the most benignant terms, expressing their sincere regret for the unworthy usage which he had experi¬ enced, and requesting him to appear before them as speedily as possible at -Granada, where the court was then staying. At the same time they furnished him a thousand ducats for his expenses, and a handsome retinue to .escort him on his journey. •Columbus, revived by these assurances of the kind dispositions of his sovereigns, proceeded without delay to Granada, which he reached on the 17th of December 1500. Immediately on his arrival he obtained an audience. The queen could not repress her tears at the sight of the man whose illustrious services had met with such ungenerous requital, as it were, at her own hands. She endeavoured to cheer his wounded spirit with the most earnest assurances of her sympathy and sorrow for his mis¬ fortunes. Columbus, from the first moment of his disgrace, had relied on the good faith and kindness of Isabella ; for, as an ancient Castilian writer remarks, " she had ever favoured him beyond the king her husband, pro¬ tecting his interests, and showing him special kindness and goodwill." When he beheld the emotion of his royal mistress, and listened to her consolatory language, it was too much for his loyal and generous heart ; and throwing himself on his knees, he gave vent to his feelings, and sobbed aloud. The sovereigns endeavoured to soothe and tranquillise his mind, and after testifying their deep sense of his injuries, promised him that impartial justice should be done his enemies, and that he should be reinstated in his emoluments and honours.1 Much censure has attached to the Spanish government for its share in this unfortunate transaction ; both in the appointment of so unsuitable an agent as Bobadilla, and the delegation of such broad and indefinite powers. With regard to the first, it is now too late, as has already been remarked, to ascertain on what grounds such a selection could have been made. There is no evidence of his being indebted for his promotion to intrigue or any undue influence. Indeed, according to the testimony of one of his contemporaries, he was reputed " an extremely honest and religious man ;" and the good bishop Las Casas expressly declares that "no impu¬ tation of dishonesty or avarice had ever rested on his character." 2 It was an error of judgment ; a grave one, indeed, and must pass for as much as it is worth. But in regard to the second charge, of delegating unwarrantable powers, it should be remembered that the grievances of the colony were represented
——
1 Garibay, Compendio, torn. ii. lib. 19, cap. 7. Peter Martyr, De Rebus Oceanicis, dec. 1, lib. 7. Fernando Colon, Hist, del Almirante, cap. 86, 87. Herrera, Indias occidentales, dec. 1, lib. 4, cap.
—
8-10. 12.
— Benzoni, Novi Orbis Hist., lib.
2,
cap.
Oviedo, Hist. gen. de las Ind., P. r, lib. 3, cap. 6.— Las Casas, lib. 2, cap. 6, apud Navarrete, torn i., introd., p 99. ÿ
484
PROGRESS OF DISCOVERY.
as of a most pressing nature, demanding a prompt and peremptory remedy ; that a more limited and partial authority, dependent for its exercise on instructions from the government at home, might be attended with ruinous delays ; that this authority must necessarily be paramount to that of Columbus, who was a party implicated ; and that although unlimited juris¬ diction was given over all offences committed against him, yet neither he nor his friends were to be molested in any other way than by temporary suspension from office, and a return to their own country, where the merits of their case might be submitted to the sovereigns themselves. This view of the matter, indeed, is perfectly conformable to that of Ferdinand Columbus, whose solicitude, so apparent in every page, for his
father's reputation, must have effectually counterbalanced any repugnance he may have felt at impugning the conduct of his sovereigns. " The only ground of complaint," he remarks, in summing up his narrative of the trans¬ action, " which Ican bring against their Catholic Highnesses is, the unfit¬ ness of the agent whom they employed, equally malicious and ignorant. Had they sent out a suitable person, the admiral would have been highly gratified, since he had more than once requested the appointment of some one with full powers of jurisdiction in an affair where he felt some natural delicacy in moving, in consequence of his own brother having been originally involved in it." And as to the vast magnitude of the powers in¬ trusted to Bobadilla, he adds, " It can scarcely be wondered at, considering the manifold complaints against the admiral made to their Highnesses." 1 Although the king and queen determined without hesitation on the complete restoration of the admiral's honours, they thought it better tc defer his reappointment to the government of the colony until the present disturbances should be settled and he might return there with personal safety and advantage. In the meantime, they resolved to send out a competent individual, and to support him with such a force as should overawe faction and enable him to place the tranquillity of the island on a permanent basis. The person selected was Don Nicolas de Ovando, comendador of Lares, of the military order of Alcantara. He was a man of acknowledged prudence and sagacity, temperate in his habits, and plausible and politic in his address. It is sufficient evidence of his standing at court that he had been one of the ten youths selected to be educated in the palace as companions for the prince of Asturias. He was furnished with a fleet of two-and-thirty sail, carrying twenty-five hundred persons, many of them of the best families in the kingdom, with every variety of article for the nourishment and permanent prosperity of the colony ; and the general equipment was in a style of expense and magnificence such as had never before been lavished on any armada destined for the western waters.2 1 — Benzoni, Novi Orbis Hist., lib. cap. — Mem. Herrera, Indias occidentals, dec. I, lib. cap. 1 de la Acad. deHist., torn. vi. p. 385. — Fernando Colon, Hist, del Almirante, cap. 87. |
1 Fernando Colon, Hist, del Almirante, cap. 86.
1
si.
4,
i,
la.
TREATMENT OF COLUMBUS.
485
The new governor was instructed immediately on his arrival to send Bobadilla home for trial. (September, 1501.) Under his lax administra¬ tion, abuses of every kind had multiplied to an alarming extent, and the poor natives, in particular, were rapidly wasting away under the new and most inhuman arrangement of the repartimientos which he had established. Isabella now declared the Indians free, and emphatically enjoined on the authorities of Hispaniola to respect them as true and faithful vassals of the crown. Ovando was especially to ascertain the amount of losses sustained by Columbus and his brothers, to provide for their full indemnification, and to secure the unmolested enjoyment in future of all their lawful rights and pecuniary perquisites.1 Fortified with the most ample instructions in regard to these and other details of his administration, the governor embarked on board his mag¬ nificent flotilla, and crossed the bar of St Lucar, February 15 th, 1502. A furious tempest dispersed the fleet before it had been out a week, and a report reached Spain that it had entirely perished. The sovereigns, over¬ whelmed with sorrow at this fresh disaster, which consigned so many of their best and bravest to a watery grave, shut themselve up in their palace for several days. Fortunately, the report proved ill-founded. The fleet rode out the storm in safety, one vessel only having perished, and the remainder reached in due time the place of destination.2 The Spanish government has been roundly taxed with injustice and ingratitude for its delay in restoring Columbus to the full possession of his colonial authority, and that too by writers generally distinguished for candour and impartiality. No such animadversion, however, so far as I am aware, is countenanced by contemporary historians ; and it appears to be wholly undeserved. Independent of the obvious inexpediency of returning him immediately to the theatre of disaffection before the embers of ancient animosity had had time to cool, there were several features in his character which make it doubtful whether he were the most competent person, in any event, for an emergency demanding at once the greatest coolness, consummate address, and acknowledged personal authority. His sublime enthusiasm, which carried him victorious over every obstacle, involved him also in numerous embarrassments, which men It led him to of more phlegmatic temperament would have escaped. count too readily on a similar spirit in others,— and to be disappointed. It gave an exaggerated colouring to his views and descriptions, that inevitably led to a reaction in the minds of such as embarked their all on the splendid dreams of a fairyland which they were never to realise.3 1 Herrera, Indias occidentales, lib. 4, cap. 11-13. torn.
Thus, he believed his great discovery announced in
as I ii., Doc. the Apocalypse, and in Isaiah ; he identified, with Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, —dipl., Hispaniola nos. 138, 144.— Fernando Colon, Hist, del have before stated, the mines of
those which furnished So'omon with materials for his temple ; he fancied that he had determined the locality of the garden of Eden in the newlyactual him led feeling of Columbus greatest extrava¬ to trace out allusions in Scripture to the various discovered region of Paria. But his. his project of a crusade for the recovery was gance life. adventurous circumstances and scenes of his
Almirante, cap. 87.
- Herrera, Indias occidentales, lib. 5, cap. I-
3 The high devotional
PROGRESS OF DISCOVERY.
486
Hence a fruitful source of discontent and disaffection in his followers. It led him, in his eagerness for the achievement of his great enterprises, to be less scrupulous and politic as to the means than a less ardent spirit would have been. His pertinacious adherence to the scheme of Indian slavery, and his impolitic regulation compelling the labour of the hidalgos, are pertinent examples of this.1 He was, moreover, a foreigner, without rank, fortune, or powerful friends ; and his high and sudden elevation naturally raised him up a thousand enemies among a proud, punctilious, and intensely national people. Under these multiplied embarrassments, resulting from peculiarities of character and situation, the sovereigns might well be excused for not intrusting Columbus, at this delicate crisis, with disen tangling the meshes of intrigue and faction in which the affairs of the colony were so unhappily involved. Itrust these remarks will not be construed into an insensibility to the merits and exalted services of Columbus. " A world," to borrow the words, though not the application, of the Greek historian, " is his monument." His virtues shine with too bright a lustre to be dimmed by a few natural blemishes ; but it becomes necessary to notice these, to vindicate the Spanish government from the imputation of perfidy and ingratitude, where it has been most freely urged, and apparently with the least foundation. It is more difficult to excuse the paltry equipment with which the admiral was suffered to undertake his fourth and last voyage. The object proposed by this expedition was the discovery of a passage to the great Indian Ocean, which he inferred, sagaciously enough from his premises, though, as it turned out,— to the great inconvenience of the commercial world,— most erroneously, must open somewhere between Cuba and the coast of Paria. Four caravels only were furnished for the expedition, the largest of which did not exceed seventy tons' burden ; a force forming a striking contrast to the magnificent armada lately intrusted to Ovando, and altogether too insignificant to be vindicated on the ground of the different objects proposed by the two expeditions.2 Columbus, oppressed with growing infirmities, and a consciousness, perhaps, of the decline of popular favour, manifested unusual despond¬ ency previously to his embarkation. He talked, even, of resigning the of the Holy sepulchre,
lhxs he cherished lrom the
first hour of his discovery, pressing it in the most urgent manner on the sovereigns, and making actual provision for it in his testament. This was a flight, however, beyond the spirit even of this romantic age, and probably received as little serious attention from the queen as from her more cool and calculat¬ ing husband. Peter Martyr, De Rebus Oceanicis, dec. 1, lib. 6. TercerViage de Colon, apud Navar¬ rete, Coleccion de Viages, torn. i. p. 259, torn, ii., Doc. dipl., no 140. Herrera, Indias occidentales, lib. 6, cap. 15. 1 Another example was the injudicious punish¬ ment of delinquents by diminishing their regular allowance of food, a measure so obnoxious as to call
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for the interference of the sovereigns, who prohibited it altogether. (Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, torn, ii., Doc. dipl. no. 97.) Herrera, who must be admitted to have been in no degree insensible to the merits of Columbus, closes his account of the various accusations urged against him and his brothers, with the 1 emark that, " with every allowance for calumny, they must be confessed not to have governed the Castilians with the moderation that they ought to have shown." Indias occidentales, lib. 4, cap. 9. Garibay, Compendio, torn. ii. lib. 19, cap. 14. Fernando Colon, Hist, del Almirante, cap. 88. Herrera, Indias occidentales, lib. 5, cap. 1. Benzoni, Novi Orbis. , cap 14.
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TREATMENT OF COLUMBUS.
487
task of further discovery to his brother Bartholomew. "I have estab¬ lished," said he, " all that Iproposed, the existence of land in the west. Ihave opened the gate, and others may enter at their pleasure ; as indeed they do, arrogating to themselves the title of discoverers, to which they can have little claim, following as they do in my track." He little thought the ingratitude of mankind would sanction the claims of these adventurers so far as to confer the name of one of them on that world which his genius had revealed.1 The great inclination, however, which the admiral had to serve the Catholic sovereigns, and especially the most serene queen, says Ferdinand Columbus, induced him to lay aside his scruples and encounter the perils and fatigues of another voyage. A few weeks before his departure, he received a gracious letter from Ferdinand and Isabella, the last ever addressed to him by his royal mistress, assuring him of their purpose to maintain inviolate all their engagements with him, and to perpetuate the inheritance of his honours in his family.2 Comforted and cheered by these assurances, the veteran navigator, quitting the port of Cadiz on the 9th of March 1502, once more spread his sails for these golden regions which he had approached so near, but was destined never to reach. It will not be necessary to pursue his course further than to notice a single occurrence of most extraordinary nature. The admiral had received instructions not to touch at Hispaniola on his outward voyage. The leaky condition of one of his ships, however, and the signs of an approach ing storm, induced him to seek a temporary refuge there \ at th« me time, he counselled Ovando to delay for a few days the departure of the fleet, then riding in the harbour, which was destined to carry Bobadilla and the rebels with their ill-gotten treasures back to Spain. The churlish governor, however, not only refused Columbus admittance, but gave orders for the instant departure of the vessels. The apprehensions of the experienced mariner were fully justified by the event. Scarcely
—
1 It would be going out of our way to investigate entos," etc., containing, among other things, the the pretensions of Amerigo Vespucci to the honour original letters recording Vespucci's American voy¬ of first discovering the South American continent. ages, illustrated by all the authorities and facts that The reader will find them displayed with perspicuity could come within the scope of his indefatigable and candour by Mr. Irving, in his " Life of Colum¬ researches. The whole weight of evidence leads bus." (Appendix, No. 9.) Few will be disposed to irresistibly to the conviction that Columbus is contest the author's conclusion respecting their fal¬ entitled to the glory of being the original discoverer lacy, though all may not have the same charity as he, of the southern continent, as well as islands, of the in tracing its possible origin to an editorial blunder western hemisphere. Coleccion de Viages, torn. instead of wilful fabrication on the part of Vespucci ; iii. pp. 183-334. 2 Fernando Colon, Hist, del Almirante, cap. 87. in which light, indeed, it seems to have been re¬ garded by the two most ancient and honest historians Herrera notices this letter, written, he says, "con of the event, Las Casas and Herrera. There is no tanta humanidad, que parecia extraordinaria de lo reason to suspect him, however, of pretending to que usavan con otros, y no sin razon, pues jamas anything beyond the discovery of Paria, or of nadie les hizo tal servicio." (Indias occidentales, of the anticipating in any degree the important conse¬ lib. 5, cap. 1.) Among other instancesmay be quence destined to result from such pretensions. queen's personal regard for Columbus and Diego sons, two his receiving her noticed confirmed, been since have Mr. Irving's conclusions death of the on in the fullest manner, by M. de Humboldt, in his Fernando, as her own pages,they had formerly Geographic du nouveau Continent," published in Prince John, in whose servicede Viages, torn. 11., "1839; in which he has assembled a mass of testi¬ been. (Navarrete, Coleccion of 1503, we mony suggesting the most favourable impressions of Doc. dipl., no. 125.)—By an ordinanceroyal house¬ find Diego Colon made contino of the Vespucci s innocence of the various charges brought maravedis. of salary 50,000 annual an with s Irving hold, Mr. of against him. Since the appearance work, Seiior Navarrete has published the third Ibid., Doc. dipl., no. 150. volume of his " Coleccion de Viages y Descubrimi-
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483
SPANISH COLONIAL POLLCY
had the Spanish fleet quitted its moorings, before one of those tremendous hurricanes came on, which so often desolate these tropical regions, sweep¬ ing down everything before it, and fell with such violence on the little navy that out of eighteen ships, of which it was composed, not more than three or four escaped. The rest all foundered, including those which contained Bobadilla and the late enemies of Columbus. Two hundred thousand castellanos of gold, half of which belonged to the government, went to the bottom with them. The only one of the fleet which made its way back to Spain was a crazy, weather-beaten bark, which contained the admiral's property, amounting to four thousand ounces of gold. To com¬ plete these curious coincidences, Columbus with his little squadron rode out the storm in safety under the lee of the island, where he had pru¬ dently taken shelter on being so rudely repulsed from the port. This evenhanded retribution of justice, so uncommon in human affairs, led many to discern the immediate interposition of Providence. Others, in a less Chris¬ tian temper, referred it all to the necromancy of the admiral.1
CHAPTER IX. SPANISH COLONIAL POLICY.
—
Careful Provision for the Colonies. — License for Private Voyages. Important Papal Con¬ cessions. — The Queen's Zeal for Conversion.— Immediate Profits from the Discoveries. Their moral Consequences. Their geographical Extent.
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A consideration of the colonial policy pursued during Isabella's lifetime has been hitherto deferred to avoid breaking the narrative of Columbus' personal adventures. Ishall now endeavour to present the reader with a brief outline of it, so far as can be collected from imperfect and scanty materials ; for, however incomplete in itself, it becomes important as containing the germ of the gigantic system developed in later ages. Ferdinand and Isabella manifested from the first an eager and enlight¬ ened curiosity in reference to their new acquisitions, constantly interro¬ gating the admiral minutely as to their soil and climate, their various vegetable and mineral products, and especially the character of the uncivilized races who inhabited them. They paid the greatest deference to his suggestions, as before remarked, and liberally supplied the infant settlement with whatever could contribute to its nourishment and perma¬ nent prosperity.2 Through their provident attention, in a very few years 1 Peter Martyr, De Rebus Oceanicis, dec. i, lib.
, Doc. dipl., no. 79); also an elaborate
torn. ii.
to. — Garibay, Compendio, torn. ii. lib. 19, cap. 14. memorial presented by the admiral in the same year, Colon, Hist, del Almirante, cap. 88.— setting forth the various necessities of the colony, — FernandoNovi Orbis Hist., cap. Benzoni, Herrera, every item of which is particularly answered by the — Indias occidentales, lib. 5, cap. 12.
2.
1 See, in particular, a letter to Columbus, dated
August 1494 (apud Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages,
sovereigns, in a manner showing how attentively they consid- d his suggestions. Ibid., torn. L pp.
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SPANISH COLONIAL POLICY.
489
after its discovery the island of Hispaniola was in possession of the most important domestic animals, as well as fruits and vegetables, of the Old World,, some of which have since continued to furnish the staple of a far more lucrative commerce than was ever anticipated from its gold-mines.1 Emigration to the new countries was encouraged by the liberal tenor of the royal ordinances passed from time to time. The settlers in Hispaniola were to have their passage free ; to be excused from taxes ; to have the absolute property of such plantations on the island as they should engage to cultivate for four years ; and they were furnished with a gratuitous supply of grain and stock for their farms. All exports and imports were exempted from duty ; a striking contrast to the narrow policy of later ages. Five hundred persons, including scientific men and artisans of every description, were sent out and maintained at the expense of government. To provide for the greater security and quiet of the island, Ovando was authorized to gather the residents into towns, which were endowed with the privileges appertaining to similar corporations in the mother country ; and a number of married men, with their families, were encouraged to establish themselves in them, with the view of giving greater solidity and permanence to the settlement.2 With these wise provisions were mingled others savouring too strongly of the illiberal spirit of the age. Such were those prohibiting Jews, Moors, 01 indeed any but Castilians, for whom the discovery was considered ex¬ clusively to have been made, from inhabiting, or even visiting, the New World. The government kept a most jealous eye upon what it regarded as its own peculiar perquisites, reserving to itself the exclusive possession of all minerals, dyewoods, and precious stones that should be discovered ; and although private persons were allowed to search for gold, they were subjected to the exorbitant tax of two-thirds, subsequently reduced to onefifth, of all they should obtain, for the crown.3 The measure which contributed more effectually than any other, at this period, to the progress of discovery and colonization, was the license granted, under certain regulations, in 1495, ÿor voyages undertaken by private individuals. No use was made of this permission until some years later, in 1499. The spirit of enterprise had flagged, and the nation had experienced something like disappointment on contrasting the meagre results of their own discoveries with the dazzling successes of the Portu¬ guese, who had struck at once into the very heart of the jewelled East. The reports of the admiral's third voyage, however, and the beautiful 1 Abundant evidence of this is furnished by the long enumeration of articles subjected to tithes, con¬ tained in an ordinance dated October 5th, 1501, showing with what indiscriminate severity this heavy burden was imposed from the first on the most important products of human industry. Recopilacion de Leyesdelos Reynos de las Indias (Madrid,
April 23d, 1497.—No. no, May 6th, 1497.—No. 121, July 22d, 1497. Herrera, Indias occidentales, _dec.
—
., 1, lib. 4, cap. 12. 3 Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, torn. 11., Doc,
dipl., nos. 86, 121.— Herrera, Indias occidentales, lib. 3, cap. 2.— Munoz, Hist, del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. all 5, sec. 34.—The exclusion of foreigners, at least but "Catholic Christians," is particularly recom¬ 1774), torn. i. lib. 1, tit. 16, ley 2. to communication first his in by 2 Columbus mended , Doc. Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, torn. ii. dip!., no. 86, April 10th, 1495.— Nos. 103, 105-108, the crown. Primer Viage de Colon.
49°
SPANISH COLONIAL POLICY.
specimens of pearls which he sent home from the coast of Paria, revived the cupidity of the nation. Private adventurers now proposed to avail themselves of the license already granted, and to follow up the track of discovery on their own account. The government, drained by its late heavy expenditures, and jealous of the spirit of maritime adventure begin¬ ning to show itself in the other nations of Europe,1 willingly acquiesced in -* a measure which, while it opened a wide field of enterprise for its subjects, ! secured to itself all the substantial benefits of discovery, without any of the burdens. The ships fitted out under the general license were required to reserve one-tenth of their tonnage for the crown, as well as two-thirds of all the gold, and ten per cent, of all other commodities which they should procure. The government promoted these expeditions by a bounty on all vessels of six hundred tons and upwards engaged in them.2 With this encouragement the more wealthy merchants of Seville, Cadiz, and Palos, the old theatre of nautical enterprise, freighted and sent out little squadrons of three or four vessels each, which they intrusted to the experienced mariners who had accompanied Columbus in his first voyage, or since followed in his footsteps. They held in general the same course pursued by the admiral on his last expedition, exploring the coasts of the great southern continent. Some of the adventurers returned with such rich freights of gold, pearls, and other precious commodities as well com¬ pensated the fatigues and perils of the voyage. But the greater number were obliged to content themselves with the more enduring, but barren, honours of discovery.3 The active spirit of enterprise now awakened, and the more enlarged commercial relations with the new colonies, required a more perfect organization of the department for Indian affairs, the earliest vestiges of which have been already noticed in a preceding chapter.4 By an ordinance dated at Alcala, January 20th, 1503, it was provided that a board should be established, consisting of three functionaries, with the titles of treasurer, factor, and comptroller. Their permanent residence was assigned in the old alcazar of Seville, where they were to meet every day for the despatch of 1 Among the foreign adventurers were the two i Fonseca, equally with the admiral. (Doc. dipl., Cabots, who sailed in the service of the English | no. 35.) The only legal claim which he could make monarch, Henry VII., in 1407, and ran down the in all such expeditions as were not conducted under whole coast of North America, from Newfoundland him was to one-eighth of the tonnage, and this was to within a few degrees of Florida, thus encroaching, regularly provided for in the general license. (Doc. as it were, on the very field of discovery preoccupied dipl., no. 86.) The sovereigns, indeed, in conse¬ by the Spaniards. quence of his remonstrances published an ordinance, a Muhoz, Hist, del Nuevo-Mimdo, lib. 5, sect. June 2d, 1497, in which, after expressing their un¬ 32.— Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, Doc. dipl., abated respect for all the rights and privileges of the admiral, they declare that whatever shall be no. 86. 3 Columbus seems to have taken exceptions at found in their previous license repugnant to these the license for private voyages, as an infringement shall be null and void. (Doc. dipl., no. 113.) The of his own prerogatives. It is difficult, however, to hypothetical form in which this is stated shows understand on what ground. There is nothing in that the sovereigns, with an honest desire of keeping his original capitulations with the government their engagements with Columbus, had not a very having reference to the matter (see Navarrete. clear perception in what manner they had beer Coleccion de Viages, Doc. dipl., no. 5); while, in violated. Peter Martyr, De Rebus Oceanicis, dec. the letters patent made out previously to his second I, lib. 9. Herrera, Indias occiden tales, lib. 4, cap voyage, the right of granting licenses is expressly 11. Benzoni, Novi Orbis Hist., cap. 13. reserved to the crown, and to the superintendent, Part I. chap. 18 of this History.
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*
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SPAN/SB' COLONIAL POLICY.
491
business. The board was expected to make itself thoroughly acquainted with whatever concerned the colonies, and to afford the government all information that could be obtained affecting their interests and commercial prosperity. It was empowered to grant licenses under the regular con¬ ditions, to provide for the equipment of fleets, to determine their destina¬ tion, and to furnish them with instructions on sailing. All merchandise for exportation was to be deposited in the alcazar, where the return cargoes were to be received and contracts made for their sale. Similar authority was given to it over the trade with the Barbary coast and the Canary Islands. Its supervision was to extend in like manner over all vessels which might take their departure from the port of Cadiz, as well as from Seville. With these powers were combined others of a purely judicial character, authorizing it to take cognizance of questions arising out of particular voyages, and of the colonial trade in general. In this latter capacity it was to be assisted by the advice of two jurists, maintained by a regular salary from the government.1 Such were the extensive powers intrusted to the famous Casa de Contratacion, or House of Trade, on this its first definite organization ; and although its authority was subsequently somewhat circumscribed by the appellate jurisdiction of the Council of the Indies, it has always continued the great organ by which the commercial transactions with the colonies have been conducted and controlled. The Spanish government, while thus securing to itself the more easy and exclusive management of the colonial trade by confining it within one narrow channel, discovered the most admirable foresight in providing for its absolute supremacy in ecclesiastical affairs, where alone it could be contested. By a bull of Alexander the Sixth, dated November 16th, 1501, the sovereigns were empowered to receive all the tithes in the colonial dominions.2 Another bull, of Pope Julius the Second, July 28th, 1508 granted them the right of collating to all benefices, of whatever descrip¬ tion, in the colonies, subject only to the approbation of the Holy See. By these two concessions, the Spanish crown was placed at once at the head of the church in its transatlantic dominions, with the absolute disposal of all its dignities and emoluments.3 It has excited the admiration of more than one historian, that Ferdinand and Isabella, with their reverence for the Catholic church, should have had the courage to assume an attitude of such entire independence of its spiritual chief.4 But whoever has studied their reign will regard this measure as perfectly conformable to their habitual policy, which nevet 1 Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, torn. ii. Doc. | of it in Solorzano, Politica Indiana, lib. 4. cap. j, dipl., no. 148.— Solorzano yPereyra, Politica Indiana Se ÿ Politica Indiana, torn. ii. lib. 4, aip. (Madrid, 1776), lib. 6, cap. 17. Linage de Veitia, apud Semanario erudito, Norte de la Contratacion de las Indias occidentales 2, sec. 9.— Riol, Informe, 161. untorn, 160, iiiIll1UU, pp. torn. de Annales Zuniga, 1. (Sevilla, 1672), lib. 1, cap. History of the Raynal, see others, Among Sevilla, ano 1503.— Herrera, Indias occidentales, * by Justamond translated Indies, West and East fol. Viaggio, 15, Navagiero, ' "»6b Hb. Oj . 5, 12.- i'Utvdgiciu, (London, 1788), vol. iv. p. 277.— Robertson, History "NT •\rc\ 1 K..11 apud . Coleccion 2 See the ~ original bull, oniirl Navarrete, 1796), vol. 111. p. 283. de Viages, torn. ii. apend. 14, and a Spanish version of America (London,
— —
"w-
—
Solorzano
492
SPANISH COLONIAL POLICY.
suffered a zeal for religion, or a blind deference to the church, to com¬ promise in any degree the independence of the crown. It is much more astonishing that pontiffs could be found content to divest themselves of such important prerogatives. It was deviating widely from the subtle and tenacious spirit of their predecessors, and as the consequences came to be more fully disclosed, furnished ample subject of regret to those who suc¬ ceeded them. Such is a brief summary of the principal regulations adopted by Fer¬ dinand and Isabella for the administration of the colonies. Many of their peculiarities, including most of their defects, are to be referred to the peculiar circumstances under which the discovery of the New World was effected. Unlike the settlements on the comparatively sterile shores of North America, which were permitted to devise laws accommodated to their necessities, and to gather strength in the habitual exercise of political functions, the Spanish colonies were from the very first checked and con¬ trolled by the over-legislation of the parent country. The original project of discovery had been entered into with indefinite expectations of gain. The verification of Columbus's theory of the existence of land in the west gave popular credit to his conjecture that that land was the far-famed Indies. The specimens of gold and other precious commodities found there served to maintain the delusion. The Spanish government regarded the expedition as its own private adventure, to whose benefits it had exclusive pretensions. Hence those jealous regulations for securing to itself a monopoly of the most obvious sources of profit, the dyewoods and the precious metals. These impolitic provisions were relieved by others better suited to the permanent interests of the colony. Such was the bounty offered in various ways on the occupation and culture of land, the erection of municipalities, the right of intercolonial traffic, and of exporting and importing merchandise of every description free of duty.1 These and similar laws show that the government, far from regarding the colonies merely as a foreign acquisition to be sacrificed to the interests of the mother country, as at a later period, was disposed to legislate for them on more generous principles, as an integral portion of the monarchy. Some of the measures even of a less liberal tenor may be excused, as sufficiently accommodated to existing circumstances. No regulation, for example, was found eventually more mischievous in its operation than that which confined the colonial trade to the single port of Seville, instead of permitting it to find a free vent in the thousand avenues naturally opened in every part of the kingdom ; to say nothing of the grievous monopolies and exactions for which this concentration of a mighty traffic on so small a point was found, in later times, to afford unbounded facility.
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1 Munoz, Hist, del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 5, sec. 32, I 12. Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages. torn, ii Doc 33.— Herrera, India* occidentales, lib. 4, cap. 11, | dip]., no. 86.
SPANISH COLONIAL POLICY.
493
But the colonial trade was too limited in its extent under Ferdinand and Isabella to involve such consequences. It was confined chiefly to a few wealthy seaports of Andalusia, from the vicinity of which the first adventurers had sallied forth on their career of discovery. It was no inconvenience to them to have a common port of entry so central and
accessible as Seville, which, moreover, by this arrangement became a great mart for European trade, thus affording a convenient market to the country for effecting its commercial exchanges with every quarter of Christendom.1 It was only when laws adapted to the incipient stages of commerce were perpetuated to a period when that commerce had swelled to such gigantic dimensions as to embrace every quarter of the empire, that their gross impolicy became manifest. It would not be giving a fair view of the great objects proposed by the Spanish sovereigns in their schemes of discovery, to omit one which was paramount to all the rest, with the queen at least,—the propagation ol Christianity among the heathen. The conversion and civilization of this simple people form, as has been already said, the burden of most of her official communications from the earliest period.2 She neglected no means for the furtherance of this good work, through the agency of missionaries exclusively devoted to it, who were to establish their residence among the natives and win them to the true faith by their instructions and the edifying example of their own lives. It was with the design ot ameliorating the condition of the natives that she sanctioned the intro¬ duction into the colonies of negro slaves born in Spain. (1501.) This she did on the representation that the physical constitution of the African was much better fitted than that of the Indian to endure severe toil undei a tropical climate. To this false principle of economizing human suffering we are indebted for that foul stain on the New World, which has grown deeper and darker with the lapse of years.3 Isabella, however, was destined to have her benevolent designs in regard to the natives defeated by her own subjects. The popular doctrine of the absolute rights of the Christian over the heathen seemed to warrant the exaction of labour from these unhappy beings to any degree which avarice on the one hand could demand, or human endurance concede on the other. The device of the repartimientos systematized and completed the whole scheme of oppression. The queen, it is true, abolished them under into the New World, comprehending the material facts, and some little known, may be found in the whom a more intimate intercourse had been opened fifth chapter of Bancroft's " History ot the United by the intermarriages of the royal family with the States;" a work in which the author has shown house of Burgundy. See Zuhiga, Annales de Se- singular address in creating a unity of interest out of a subject which, in its early stages, would seem villa, p. 415. 8 Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, torn, ii., Doc. to want every other unity. It is the deficiency oi dipl., no. 45, et loc. al. Las Casas, amidst his un¬ this, probably, which has prevented Mr. Grahame's sparing condemnation of the guilty, does ample valuable History from attaining the popularity to justice to the pure and generous, though, alas ! which its solid merits justly entitle it. Should the be con¬ unavailing efforts of the queen. See CEuvres, ed. remaining volumes of Mr. Bancroft's work ducted with the same spirit, scholarship, and impade Llorente, torn. i. pp. 21, 307, 395, et alibi. fail to take it cannot 3 Herrera, Indias occidentales, lib. 4, cap. 12.— tiality as the volume before us, A good account of the introduction of negro slavery a permanent rank in American literature. 1 The historian of Seville mentions that it was the resort especially of the merchants of Flanders, with
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SPANISH COLONIAL POLICY.
494
OvancLo's administration, and declared the Indians " as free as her own subjects." 1 But his representation that the Indians, when no longer compelled to work, withdrew from all intercourse with the Christians, thus annihilating at once all hopes of their conversion, subsequently induced her to consent that they should be required to labour moderately and for a reasonable compensation.2 This was construed with their usual r- latitude by the Spaniards. They soon revived the old system of distribu* tion on so terrific a scale that a letter of Columbus, written shortly after Isabella's death, represents more than six-sevenths of the whole popula¬ tion of Hispaniola to have melted away under it ! 8 The queen was too far removed to enforce the execution of her own beneficent measures ; nor is it probable that she ever imagined the extent of their violation, for there was no intrepid philanthropist, in that day, like Las Casas, to pro¬ claim to the world the wrongs and sorrows of the Indian.4 A conviction, however, of the unworthy treatment of the natives seems to have pressed heavily on her heart ; for in a codicil to her testament, dated a few days only before her death, she invokes the kind offices of her successor in their behalf in such strong and affectionate language as plainly indicates how intently her thoughts were occupied with their condition down to the last hour of her existence.6 The moral grandeur of the maritime discoveries under this reign must not so far dazzle us as to lead to a very high estimate of their immediate results in an economical view. Most of those articles which have since formed the great staples of South American commerce, as cocoa, indigo, cochineal, tobacco, etc., were either not known in Isabella's time, or not cultivated for exportation. Small quantities of cotton had been brought to Spain, but it was doubted whether the profit would compensate the expense of raising it. The sugar-cane had been transplanted into His¬ paniola, and thrived luxuriantly in its genial soil. But it required time to grow it to any considerable amount as an article of commerce ; and this was still further delayed by the distractions as well as avarice of the colony, which grasped at nothing less substantial than gold itself, The only vegetable product extensively used in trade was the brazil-wood, whose beautiful dye and application to various ornamental purposes made it, from the first, one of the most important monoplies of the crown. 1 Herrera, Indias occidentales, lib. 4, cap. 11. 2 Dec. 20th, Ibid., lib. 5, cap. 11. See
—
—
1503. the instructions to Ovando in Navarrete (Coleccion de Viages, torn, ii., Doc. dipl. , no. 153.) "Pay them regular wages," says the ordinance, for their labour," " como personas libres como lo son, y no como siervos." Las Casas, who analyses these in¬ structions, which Llorente, by the by, has misdated, exposes the atrocious manner in which they were violated, in every particular, by Ovando and his successors. CEuvres, 4d. de Llorente, torn. i. p. seq. 309 et Ibid.,
—
ubi supra. Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. 2, cap. 36, MS., apud Irving, vol. iii. p. 412. The
—
venerable bishop confirms this frightful picture of
desolation, in its full extent, in his various memorials
prepared for the Council of the Indies. CEuvres, 6d. de Llorente, torn, i., passim. Las Casas made his first voyage to the Indies, it is true, in 1498, or at latest 1502 ; but there is 110 trace of his taking an active part in denouncing the oppressions of the Spaniards earlier than 1510, when he combined his efforts with those of the Dominican missionaries lately arrived in St. Domingo, in the same good work. It was not until some years later, 1515, that he returned to Spain and pleaded the cause of the injured natives before the throne. Llorente, CEuvres de Las Casas, torn. i. pp. 1-23. Nic. Antonio, Bibhotheca Nova, torn. i. pp. 151,
*
—
192.
5 See the will, apud Dormer,
p. 381.
ÿ
Discursos varies,
SPANISH COLONIAL POLICY.
495
The accounts are too vague to afford any probable estimate of the precious metals obtained from the new territories previous to Ovando's mission. Before the discovery of the mines of Hayna it was certainly very inconsiderable. The size of some of the specimens of ore found there would suggest magnificent ideas of their opulence. One piece of gold is reported by the contemporary historians to have weighed three thousand two hundred castellanos, and to have been so large that the Spaniards served up a roasted pig on it, boasting that no potentate in Europe could dine off so costly a dish.1 The admiral's own statement, that the miners obtained from six gold castellanos to one hundred or even two hundred and fifty in a day, allows a latitude too great to lead to any definite conclusion.2 More tangible evidence of the riches of the island is
afforded by the fact that two hundred thousand castellanos of gold went down in the ships with Bobadilla. But this, it must be remembered, was the fruit of gigantic efforts, continued, under a system of unexampled oppression, for more than two years. To this testimony might be added that of the well-informed historian of Seville, who infers from several royal ordinances that the influx of the precious metals had been such, before the close of the fifteenth century, as to affect the value of the currency and the regular prices of commodities.3 These large estimates, however, are scarcely reconcilable with the popular discontent at the meagreness of the returns obtained from the New World, or with the assertion of Bernaldez, of the same date with Zuniga's reference, that "so little gold had been brought home as to raise a general belief that there was scarcely any in the island." 4 This is still further confirmed by the frequent representa¬ tions of contemporary writers, that the expenses of the colonies consider¬ ably exceeded the profits, and may account for the very limited scale on which the Spanish government, at no time blind to its own interests, pursued its schemes of discovery, as compared with its Portuguese neigh¬ bours, who followed up theirs with a magnificent apparatus of fleets and armies that could have been supported only by the teeming treasures of the Indies.5
— apply only to the period antecedent to Ovando's
1 Herrera, Indias occidentales, lib. 5, cap. 1.
Fernando Colon, Hist, del Almirante, cap. 84.— administration, in 1502. The operations under him
Oviedo, Relacion sumaria de la Historia natural de las Indias, cap. 84, apud Barcia, Historiadores primitivos, tom. i. Tercer Viage de Colon, apud Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. i. p. 274. Zuniga, Aunalesde Sevilla, p. 415. Thealteration was in the gold currency, which continued to rise in value till 1497, when it gradually sunk, in consequence of the importation from the mines of Hispaniola. Clemencin has given its relative value, as compared with silver, for several different years ; and the year he assigns for the commencement of its depreciation is precisely the same with that indi¬ cated by Zuniga. (Mem. de la Acad, de Hist., torn. vi. Ilust. 20.) The value of silver was not materially affected till the discovery of the great mines of Potosi and Zacatecas. Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 131. 6 The estimates in the text, it will be noticed,
-
—
'ÿ
were conducted on a far more extensive and efficient plan. The system of repartimientos being revived, the whole physical force of the island, aided by the best mechanical apparatus, was employed in extort¬ ing from the soil all its hidden stores of wealth. The success was such that in 1506, within two years after Isabella's death, the four founderies established in the island yielded an annual amount, according to Herrera, of 450,000 ounces of gold. It must be of the gross remarked, however, that one-filth only sum obtained from the mines was at that time paid to the crown. It is a proof how far these returns exceeded the expectations at the time of Ovando s appointment, that the person then sent out as marker of the gold was to receive, as a reasonable compen¬ sation, one per cent of all the gold assayed. The perquisite, however, was found to be so excessive that the functionary was recalled and a new arrange¬ ment made with his successor. (See Herrera, India*
SPANISH COLONIAL POLICY. While the colonial commerce failed to produce immediately the splendid returns which were expected, it was generally believed to have introduced a physical evil into Europe, which, in the language of an eminent writer, more than counterbalanced all the benefits that resulted from the dis¬
"
covery of the New World." I allude to the loathsome disease which Heaven has sent as the severest scourge of licentious intercourse between the sexes, and which broke out with all the virulence of an epidemic in almost every quarter of Europe, in a very short time after the discovery of America. The coincidence of these two events led to the popular belief of their connection with each other, though it derived little support from any other circumstance. The expedition of Charles the Eighth against Naples, which brought the Spaniards, soon after, in immediate contact with the various nations of Christendom, suggested a plausible medium for the rapid communication of the disorder ; and this theory of its origin and transmission, gaining credit with time, which made it more difficult to be refuted, has passed with little examination from the mouth of one historian to another to the present day. The extremely brief interval which elapsed between the return of Columbus and the simultaneous appearance of the disorder at the most distant points of Europe, long since suggested a reasonable distrust of the correctness of the hypothesis; and an American, naturally desirous of relieving his own country from so melancholy a reproach, may feel satis faction that the more searching and judicious criticism of our own day haf at length established beyond a doubt that the disease, far from originating in the New World, was never known there till introduced by Europeans.1 occidentales, dec. i, lib. 6, cap. iS.) When Navagiero visited Seville, in 1520, the royal fifth of the gold which passed through the mints amounted to about 100,000 ducats annually. Viaggio, fol. 15. 1 The cur ous reader is particularly referred to a late work, entitled Lettere sulla Storiade' MaliVenerei, di Domenico Tkietic, Vetiezia , 1823; for the know¬ ledge and loan of which Iam indebted to my friend, Dr. Walter Channing. In this work the author has assembled all the early notices of the disease of any authority, and discussed their import with great in¬ tegrity and judgment. The following positions may be considered as established by his researches, x. That neither Columbus nor his son, in their copious narratives and correspondence, alludes in any way to the existence of such a disease in the New World. Imust add that an examination of the original docu¬ ments published by Navarrete since the date of Dr. Thiene's work fully confirms this statement. 2. That among the frequent notices of the disease,
Isabella's reigns that the first work appeared affect ing to trace the origin of the disease to America ; and this, published 1517, was the production not of a Spaniard, but a foreigner. A letter of Peter Martyi to the learned Portuguese Arias Barbosa, professoi of Greek at Salamanca, noticing the symptoms o! the disease in the most unequivocal manner, will settle at once this much-vexed question, if we can rely on the genuineness of the date, the 5th of April 1488, about five years before the return of Columbus, Dr. Thiene, however, rejects the date as apocryphal, on the ground: 1. That the name of "morbus Gallicus, ' given to the disease by Martyr, was not in use till after the French invasion, in 1494. 2. That the superscription of Greek professor at Sala¬ manca was premature, as no such professorship existed there till 1508. As to the first of these
objections, it may be remarked that there is but one author prior to the French invasion who notices the disease at all. He derives it from Gaul, though during the twenty-five years immediately following not giving it the technical appellation of morbus the discovery of America, there is not a single inti¬ Gallicus ; and Martyr, it may be observed, far mation of its having been brought from that country ; from confining himself to this, alludes to one or two but, on the contrary, a uniform derivation of it from other names, showing that its title was then quite some other source, generally France. 3. That the undetermined. In regard to the second objection, disorder was known and circumstantially described Dr. Thiene does not cite his authority for limiting previous to the expedition of Charles VI 11., and of the introduction of Greek at Salamanca to 1508, course could not have been introduced by the He may have found a plausible one in the account Spaniards in that way, as vulgarly supposed. 4. of that university compiled by one of its officers, 1hat v. rious contemporary authors trace its exis¬ Pedro Chacon, in 1569, inserted in the eighteenth tence in a variety of countries as far back as 1493 volume of the Semanario erudito (Madrid, 1789). and the beginning of 1494, showing a rapidity and The accuracy of the writer's chronology, however, extent of diffusion perfectly irreconcilable with its may well be doubted from a gross anachronism on importation by Columbus in 1493. 5. Lastly, that the same page with the date referred to, where he a was not till after the close of Ferdinand and speaks of Queen Joanna as inheriting the crown in
SPANISH COLONIAL POLICY.
497
Whatever be the amount of physical good or evil immediately resulting
to Spain from her new discoveiies, their moral consecjuences were inestim¬ able. 1he ancient limits of human thought and action were over¬ leaped ; the veil which had covered the secrets of the deep for so many centuries was removed ; another hemisphere was thrown open; and a boundless expansion promised to science, from the infinite varieties in which nature was exhibited in these unexplored regions. The success of the Spaniards kindled a generous emulation in their Portuguese rivals, who soon after accomplished their long-sought passage into the Indian seas, and thus completed the great circle of maritime discovery.1 It would seem as if Providence had postponed this grand event until the possession of America, with its stores of precious metals, might supply such materials for a commerce with the East as should bind together the most distant quarters of the globe. The impression made on the enlightened minds of that day is evinced by the tone of gratitude and exultation in which they indulge at being permitted to witness the con¬ summation of these glorious events, which their fathers had so long, but in vain, desired to see.2 The discoveries of Columbus occurred most opportunely for the Spanish nation, at the moment when it was released from the tumultuous struggle in which it had been engaged for so many years with the Moslems. The severe schooling of these wars had prepared it for entering on a bolder theatre of action, whose stirring and romantic perils raised still higher the chivalrous spirit of the people. The operation of this spirit was shown in the alacrity with which private adventurers embarked in expeditions to the New World, under cover of the general license, during the last two years of this century. Their efforts, combined with those of Columbus, extended the range of discovery from its original limits, twenty-four degrees of north latitude, to probably more than fifteen south, comprehending some of the most important territories in the western hemisphere. Before the end of 1500, the principal groups of the West Indian Islands had been visited, and the whole extent of the southern continent coasted, from the Bay of Honduras to Cape St. Augustine. One adventurous mariner, indeed, named Lepe, penetrated several degrees south of this, to a point 1512. (Hist, de la Universidad de Salamanca, p. of the letter, cites it as settling the period when 55.) Waiving this, however, the fact of Barbosa Barbosa filled the Greek chair at Salamanca. being Greek Professor at Salamanca in 1488 is (See Bibliotheca Nova, torn. i. p. 170.) Martyr's directly intimated by his pupil the celebrated epistle, if we admit the genuineness of the date, Andrew Resendi. " Arias Lusitanus," says he, must dispose at once of the whole question of the " quadraginta, et eo plus annos Salamanticse turn American origin of the venereal disease. But as Latinas litteras, turn Graecas, magna cum laude this question is determined quite as conclusively, professus est." (Responsio ad Quevedum, apud though not so summarily, by the accumulated evi¬ will probably Barbosa, Bibliotheca Lusitana, torn. 1, p. 77.) dence from other sources, the reader the matter not worth so much discussion. Now, as Barbosa, by general consent, passed think 1 This event occurred in 1497, Vasco da Gama Portugal, country, native several years in his November 20th, before his death in 1530, this assertion of Resendi doubling the Cape of Good Hope, in Calicut the following necessarily places him at Salamanca in the situation in that year, and reaching torn, iii Hist, Portugal, de of Greek instructor some time before the date of May, 1498. La Clede, . Martyr's letter. It may be added, indeed, that pp.2 104-109. fcpisL, Opus Martyr, Peter See, among others, Nic. Antonio, than whom a more competent critic 181. epist. date the could not be found, so far from suspecting 2 I
SPANISH COLONIAL POLICY.
498
not reached by any other voyager for ten or twelve years after. A great part of Brazil was embraced in this extent, and two successive Castilian
navigators landed and took formal possession of it for the crown of Castile, previous to its reputed discovery by the Portuguese Cabral ;1 although the claims to it were subsequently relinquished by the Spanish government, conformably to the famous line of demarcation established by the treaty of Tordesillas.2 While the colonial empire of Spain was thus every day enlarging, the man to whom it was all due was never permitted to know the extent or the value of it. He died in the conviction in which he lived, that the land he had reached was the long-sought Indies. But it was a country far richer than the Indies ; and had he on quitting Cuba struck into a westerly instead of southerly direction, it would have carried him into the very depths of the golden regions whose existence he had so long and vainly asserted. As it was, he " only opened the gates," to use his own language, for others more fortunate than himself ; and, before he quitted Hispaniola for the last time, the young adventurer arrived there who was destined, by the conquest of Mexico, to realize all the magnificent visions, which had been derided as only visions, in the lifetime of Columbus.
The discovery of the New World was fortunately reserved for a period when the human race was sufficiently enlightened to form some conception of its importance. Public attention was promptly and eagerly directed to this momentous event, so that few facts worthy of note, during the whole progress of discovery from its earliest epoch, escaped contemporary record. Many of these notices have, indeed, perished through neglect, in the various repositories in which they were scattered. The researches of Navarrete have rescued many, and will, it is to be hoped, rescue many more, from their progress to oblivion. The first two volumes of his compilation, containing the journals and letters of Columbus, the correspondence of the sovereigns with him, and a vast quantity of public and private documents, form, as Ihave elsewhere remarked, the most authentic basis for a history of that great man. Next to these in importance is the " History of the Admiral," by his son Ferdinand, whose own experience and opportuni¬ ties, combined with uncommon literary attainments, eminently qualified him for record¬ ing his father's extraordinary life. It must be allowed that he has done this with a 1 Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, torn. iii. pp. Verd Islands. The Spanish court made some show Cabral's pretensions to the discovery of at first of resisting the pretensions of the Portuguese, Brazil appear not to have been doubted until by preparations for establishing a colony on theÿ recently. They are sanctioned both by Robertson northern extremity of the Brazilian territory. and Raynal. (Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, torn. iii. p. 39.) 1 The Portuguese court formed, probably, no very It is not easy to understand how it come finally to accurate idea of the geographical position of Brazil. admit these pretensions. Any correct admeasure¬ King Emanuel, in a letter to the Spanish sovereigns ment with the Castilian league would only have acquainting them with Cabral's voyage, speaks of included the fringe, as it were, of the north-eastern the newly-discovered region as not only convenient, promontory of Brazil. The Portuguese league, but necessary, for the navigation to India. (See the allowing seventeen to a degree, may have been letter, apttd Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, torn. adopted, which would embrace nearly the whole iii. no. 13.) The oldest maps of this country, whether territory which passed under the name of Brazil in from ignorance or design, bring it twenty-two degrees the best ancient maps, extending from Para on the east of its proper longitude, so that the whole of the north to the great river of San Pedro on the south. vast tract now comprehended under the name of (See Malte-Brun, Universal Geography (Boston, Brazil would fall on the Portuguese side of the | 1824-9), hook 91.) Mariana seems willing to help partition-line agreed on by the two governments, the Portuguese, by running the partition-line one which, it will be remembered, was removed to three I hundred leagues farther west than they hundred and seventy leagues west of the Cape de 1 themselves. Hist, de Espana, torn. ii. p. claimed 607.
—
18-26.
SPANISH COLONIAL POLICY.
499
candour and good faith seldom warped by any overweening, though natural, partiality for his subject. His work met with a whimsical fate. The original was early lost, but happily not before it had been translated into the Italian, from which a Spanish version was afterwards made ; and from this latter, thus reproduced in the same tongue in which it originally appeared, are derived the various translations of it into the other languages of Europe. The Spanish version, which is incorporated into Barcia's collection, is exe¬ cuted in a slovenly manner, and is replete with chronological inaccuracies ; a circum¬ stance not very wonderful, considering the curious transmigration it has undergone. Another contemporary author of great value is Peter Martyr, who took so deep an interest in the nautical enterprise of his day as to make it, independently of the abundant notices scattered through his correspondence, the subject of a separate work. His history, " De Rebus Oceanicis et Novo Orbe," has all the value which extensive learning, a reflecting, philosophical mind, and intimate familiarity with the principal actors in the scenes he describes, can give. Indeed, that no source of information might be wanting to him, the sovereigns authorized him to be present at the Council of the Indies when¬ ever any communication was made to that body respecting the progress of discovery. Ihe principal defects of his work arise from the precipitate manner in which the greater part of it was put together, and the consequently imperfect and occasionally contradic¬ tory statements which appear in it. But the honest intentions of the author, who seems to have been fully sensible of his own imperfections, and his liberal spirit, are so apparent as to disarm criticism in respect to comparatively venial errors. But the writer who has furnished the greatest supply of materials for the modern historian is Antonio de Herrera. He did not flourish, indeed, until near a century after the discovery of America ; but the post which he occupied of Historiographer of the Indies gave him free access to the most authentic and reserved sources of information. He has availed himself of these with great freedom ; transcribing whole chapters from the unpublished narratives of his predecessors, especially of the good bishop Las Casas, whose great work, " Cronica de las Indias occidentals," contained too much that was offensive to national feeling to be allowed the honours of the press. The Apostle of the Indians, however, lives in the pages of Herrera, who, while he has omitted the tumid and overheated declamation of the original, is allowed by the Castilian critics to have retained whatever is of most value, and exhibited it in a dress far superior to that of his predecessor. It must not be omitted, however, that he is also accused of occa¬ sional inadvertence in stating as fact what Las Casas only adduced as tradition or con¬ jecture. His " Historia general de las Indias occidentales," bringing down the narrative to 1554, was published in four volumes, at Madrid, in 160 1. Herrera left several other histories of the different states of Europe, and closed his learned labours in 1625, at the age of seventy-five. No Spanish historian had since arisen to contest the palm with Herrera on his own ground, until, at the close of the last century, Don Juan Bautista Munoz was commis¬ sioned by the government to prepare a history of the New World. The talents and liberal acquisitions of this scholar, the free admission opened to him in every place of public and private deposit, and the immense mass of materials collected by his inde¬ fatigable researches, authorized the most favourable auguries of his success. These were justified by the character of the first volume, which brought the narrative of early ÿdiscovery to the period of Bobadilla's mission, written in a perspicuous and agreeable style, with such a discriminating selection of incident and skilful arrangement as convey the most distinct impression to the mind of the reader. Unfortunately, the untimely leath of the author crushed his labours in the bud. Their fruits were not wholly lost, •however. Senor Navarrete, availing himself of them, in connection with those derived lrom his own extensive investigations, is pursuing in part the plan of Munoz, by the publication of original documents ; and Mr. Irving has completed this design in regaid to the early history of Spanish discovery, by the use which he has made of these materials in constructing out of them the noblest monument to the memory of Columbus.
ITALIAN WATS.
CHAPTER X. ITALIAN WARS. -PARTITION OF NAPLES.
—
GONSALVO OVERRUNS CALABRIA.
1498-1502.
—
Louis XII.'s Designs on Italy. Alarm of the Spanish Court.— Bold Conduct of its Minister at Rome. Celebrated Partition of Naples.— Gonsalvo sails against the Turks. Success and Cruelties of the French. Gonsalvo invades Calabria. — He punishes a Mutiny.—
—
—
—
His munificent Spirit.— He captures Tarento. — Seizes the Duke of Calabria.
During the last four years of our narrative, in which the unsettled state of the kingdom and the progress of foreign discovery appeared to demand the whole attention of the sovereigns, a most important revolution was going forward in the affairs of Italy. The death of Charles the Eighth would seem to have dissolved the relations recently arisen between that country and the rest of Europe, and to have restored it to its ancient independence. It might naturally have been expected that France, under her new monarch, who had reached a mature age, rendered still more mature by the lessons he had received in the school of adversity, would feel the folly of reviving ambitious schemes, which had cost so dear and ended so disastrously. Italy, too, it might have been presumed, lacerated and still bleeding at every pore, would have learned the fatal consequence of invoking foreign aid in her domestic quarrels, and of throwing open the gates to a torrent sure to sweep down friend and foe indiscriminately in its progress. But experience, alas ! did not bring wisdom, and passion triumphed as usual. Louis the Twelfth, on ascending the throne, assumed the titles of Duke of Milan and King of Naples, thus unequivocally announcing his intention of asserting his claims, derived through the Visconti family, to the former, and, through the Angevin dynasty, to the latter state. His aspiring temper was stimulated rather than satisfied by the martial renown he had acquired in the Italian wars ; and he was urged on by the great body of the French chivalry, who, disgusted with a life of inaction, longed for a field where they might win new laurels and indulge in the joyous license of military adventure. Unhappily, the court of France found ready instruments for its purpose in the profligate politicians of Italy. The Roman pontiff, in particular, Alexander the Sixth, whose criminal ambition assumes something respect¬ able by contrast with the low vices in which he was habitually steeped, willingly lent himself to a monarch who could so effectually serve his selfish schemes of building up the fortunes of his family. The ancient republic of Venice, departing from her usual sagacious policy, and yielding to her hatred of Lodovico Sforza, and to the lust of territorial acquisition,
PARTITION OF NAPLES.
consented to unite her arms with those of France against Milan, in con¬ sideration of a share (not the lion's share) of the spoils of victory. Flor¬ ence and many other inferior powers, whether from fear or weakness, or the shortsighted hope of assistance in their petty international feuds, con¬ sented either to throw their weight into the same scale or to remain neutral.1 Having thus secured himself from molestation in Italy, Louis the Twelfth entered into negotiations with such other European powers as were most likely to interfere with his designs. The emperor Maximilian, whose relations with Milan would most naturally have demanded his inter¬ position, was deeply entangled in a war with the Swiss. The neutrality of Spain was secured by the treaty of Marcoussis, August 5th, 1498, which settled all the existing differences with that country. And a treaty with Savoy in the following year guaranteed to the French army a free passage through her mountain-passes into Italy.2 Having completed these arrangements, Louis lost no time in mustering his forces, which, descending like a torrent on the fair plains of Lombardy, effected the conquest of the entire duchy in little more than a fortnight ; and although the prize was snatched for a moment from his grasp, yet French valour and Swiss perfidy soon restored it. The miserable Sforza, the dupe of arts which he had so long practised, was transported into France, where he lingered out the remainder of his days in doleful cap¬ tivity. He had first called the barbarians into Italy, and it was a righteous retribution which made him their earliest victim.3 By the conquest of Milan, France now took her place among the Italian powers. A preponderating weight was thus thrown into the scale, which disturbed the ancient political balance, and which, if the projects on Naples should be realized, would wholly annihilate it. These conse¬ quences, to which the Italian states seemed strangely insensible, had long been foreseen by the sagacious eye of Ferdinand the Catholic, who watched the movements of his powerful neighbour with the deepest anxiety. He had endeavoured before the invasion of Milan to awaken the different governments in Italy to a sense of their danger, and to stir them up to some efficient combination against it.4 Both he and the queen had beheld with disquietude the increasing corruptions of the papal court, and that shame¬ less cupidity and lust of power which made it the convenient tool of the French monarch. 1 Guicciardini, Istoria, torn. i. lib. 4, p. 214, ed.
Epist., epist. 213,7
itie same sagacious writer, tne
from Italy removed him 1645.—Flassan, Diplomatic Frangaise, torn. i. pp. distance of whose residence rancours and prejudices which 275> 277. 2
400.
Dumont, Corps diplomatique, torn., 111. pp. 397-
279. — Flassan, Diplomatic Frangaise, torn. i. p. Md-
3 Guicciardini,
Istoria, lib. 4, pp. 250-252.—
moires de la Trc'moille, chap. 19, apud Petitot, Col¬ lection de Memoires, torn. xiv. — Buonaccorsi, Diario de' Successi piii importanti (Fiorenza, 1568), pp. 2629-
4 Zurita, Hist, del Rey Hernando, torn. i. lib. 3, cap. 31. Martyr, in a letter written soon after Sforza's recovery of his capital, says that the Span¬ ish sovereigns "could not conceal their joy at the •event, such was their jealousy of France." (Opus
—
from those political clouded the optics of his countrymen, saw with deep regret their coalition with France, the fatal conse¬ quences of which he predicted in a letter to a friend in Venice, the former minister at the Spanish court. " The king of France," says he, " after he has dined with the duke of Milan, will come and sup with you.' (Epist. 207.) Daru, on the authority of Burchard, refers this remarkable prediction, which time so fully verified, to Sforza, on his quitting his capital. (Hist, de Venise, torn. iii. p. 326, 2d ed.) Martyrs letter, however, is dated some months previously to that event.
ITALIAN WARS.
5°2
By their orders, Garcilasso de la Vega, the Spanish ambassador, read a letter from his sovereigns in the presence of his Holiness, commenting on his scandalous immorality, his invasion of ecclesiastical rights apper¬
taining to the Spanish crown, his schemes of selfish aggrandizement, and especially his avowed purpose of transferring his son, Caesar Borgia, from a sacred to a secular dignity ; a circumstance that must necessarily make him, from the manner in which it was to be conducted, the instrument of Louis the Twelfth.1 This unsavoury rebuke, which probably lost nothing of its pungency from the tone in which it was delivered, so incensed the pope that he attempted to seize the paper and tear it in pieces, giving vent at the same time to the most indecent reproaches against the minister and his sove¬ reigns. Garcilasso coolly waited till the storm had subsided, and then replied, undauntedly, " that he had uttered no more than became a loyal subject of Castile ; that he should never shrink from declaring freely what his sovereigns commanded, or what he conceived to be for the good of Christendom ; and if his Holiness were displeased with it, he . could dismiss him from his court, where he was convinced, indeed, his residence could be no longer useful." 2 Ferdinand had no better fortune at Venice, where his negotiations were conducted by Lorenzo Suarez de la Vega, an adroit diplomatist, brother of Garcilasso.3 These negotiations were resumed after the occupation of Milan by the French, when the minister availed himself of the jealousy occasioned by that event to excite a determined resistance to the proposed aggression on Naples. But the republic was too sorely pressed by the Turkish war — which Sforza, in the hope of creating a diversion in his own favour, had brought on his country— to have leisure for other operations. Nor did the Spanish court succeed any better at this crisis with the emperor Maximilian, whose magnificent pretensions were ridiculously contrasted with his limited authority, and still more limited revenues— so scanty, indeed, as to gain him the contemptuous epithet among the Italians of pochi denari, or "the Moneyless." He had conceived himself, indeed, greatly injured, both on the score of his imperial rights and his connection with Sforza, by the conquest of Milan ; but with the levity and cupidity essential to his character, he suffered himself, notwithstanding the remon1 Louis XII., for the good offices of the pope in the affair of his divorce from the unfortunate Jeanne of France, promised the uncardinalled Caesar Borgia the duchy of Valence in Dauphiny, with a rent of 20,000 livres, and a considerable force tosnpport him in his flagitious enterprises against the princes of Romagna. (Guicciardini, Istoria, torn. i. lib. 4, p.
—
Sismondi, Hist, des Frangais, torn. xv. p. 27s.) In a letter written not long after by the Span¬ ish minister to his sovereigns, he freely comments on the selfish and fickle character of the pope, veil¬ ing himself " como suela en las ypocrisias. Yo no lo puedo sufrir." Carta de Garcilasso de la Vega, Roma, 8 tie Nov. 1499, MS. * Zurita, Hist, del Rey Hernando, torn. i. lib. 3, cap- 33- Garcilasso de la Vega seems to have pos¬ 207.
—
sessed little of the courtly and politic address of a diplomatist. In a subsequent audience, which the pope gave him together with a special embassy from Castile, his blunt expostulation so much exasperated hjs Holiness that the latter hinted it would not cost him much to have him thrown into the Tiber. The bold bearing of the Castilian, however, appears to have had its effect ; since we find the pope soon after revoking an offensive ecclesiastical provision he had made in Spain, taking occasion at the same time to eulogize the character of the Catholic sove¬ reigns in full consistory. Ibid., lib. 3, cap. 33, 353 Oviedohas made this cavalier the subject of one of his dialogues. Quincuagenas, MS , bat. 1, quinc. 3, dial. 44.
PARTITION OF NAPLES.
503
strances of the Spanish court, to be bribed into a truce with King Louis,
which gave the latter full scope for his meditated enterprise on Naples.1 Thus disembarrassed of the most formidable means of annoyance, the French monarch went briskly forward with his preparations, the object of which he did not affect to conceal. Frederick, the unfortunate king of Naples, saw himself with dismay now menaced with the loss of empire, before he had time to taste the sweets of it. He knew not where to turn for refuge, in his desolate condition, from the impending storm. His treasury was drained, and his kingdom wasted, by the late war. His subjects, although attached to his person, were too familiar with revolu¬ tions to stake their lives or fortunes on the cast. His countrymen, the Italians, were in the interests of his enemy ; and his nearest neighbour, the pope, had drawn from personal pique motives for the most deadly hostility.2 He had as little reliance on the king of Spain, his natural ally and kinsman, who, he well knew, had always regarded the crown of Naples as his own rightful inheritance. He resolved, therefore, to apply at once to the French monarch ; and he endeavoured to propitiate him by the most humiliating concessions,— the offer of an annual tribute, and the surrender into his hands of some of the principal fortresses in the kingdom. Finding these advances coldly received, he invoked, in the extremity of his distress, the aid of the Turkish sultan, Bajazet, the terror of Christendom, requesting such supplies of troops as should enable him to make head against their common foe. This desperate step produced no other result than that of furnishing the enemies of the unhappy prince with a plausible ground of accusation against him, of which they did not fail to make good use.3 The Spanish government, in the meantime, made the most vivid remonstrances, through its resident minister, or agents expressly accre¬ dited for the purpose, against the proposed expedition of Louis the Twelfth. It even went so far as to guarantee the faithful discharge of the tribute proffered by the king of Naples.4 But the reckless ambition of the French monarch, overleaping the barriers of prudence, and indeed of common sense, disdained the fruits of conquest without the name. Ferdinand now found himself apparently reduced to the alternative of abandoning the prize at once to the French king, or of making battle with him in defence of his royal kinsman. The first of these measures, which would bring a restless and powerful rival on the borders of his cap. 3. 1 Zurita, Hist, del Rey Hernando, torn. i. lib. 3, Comp. Giannone, Istoria di Napoh, lib. 29, a, Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. i. lib- 4, P- 223cap. 38, 39.— Daru, Hist, de Venise, torn. iii. pp. hb. i. 3, cap. 22. tom. Hernando, Hist, Rey del 33b. 339, 347. Muratori, Anriali d'ltalia (Milano, 2b°2&5, pp. lib. 5, 3 Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. 1. 1830), tom. xiv. pp. 9, 10. Guicciardini, Istoria, 3Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, lib. 29, cap. cap. tom. i. lib. s, p. 260. lib. 3, 2 Alexander VI. had requested the hand of Car- Zurita, Hist, del Rey Hernando, torn. 1. lib. 1, p- 229.— Gonsalvt, Magni Vita Giovio, iotta, daughter of King Frederick, for his son, Caesar 40. 111. p. 338. liorgia ; but this was a sacrifice at which pride and Daru, Hist, de Venise, tom. Epist., lib. 14. epist. Peter Martyr, Opus parental affection alike revolted. The slight was not to be forgiven by the implacable Borgias. 218.
—
—
—
—
—
*
ITALIAN WARS.
Sicilian dominions, was not to be thought of for a moment. The latter, which pledged him a second time to the support of pretensions hostile to his own, was scarcely more palatable. A third expedient suggested itself; the partition of the kingdom, as hinted in the negotiations with Charles the Eighth, by which means the Spanish government, if it could not rescue the whole prize from the grasp of Louis, would at least divide it with him.1 Instructions were accordingly given to Gralla, the minister at the court of Paris, to sound the government on this head, bringing it forward as his own private suggestion. Care was taken at the same time to secure a party in the French councils to the interests of Ferdinand.2 The sugges¬ tions of the Spanish envoy received additional weight from the report of a considerable armament then equipping in the port of Malaga. Its osten¬ sible purpose was to co-operate with the Venetians in the defence of their possessions in the Levant. Its main object, however, was to cover the coasts of Sicily in any event from the French, and to afford means for prompt action on any point where circumstances might require it. The fleet consisted of about sixty sail, large and small, and carried forces amounting to six hundred horse and four thousand foot, picked men, many of them drawn from the hardy regions of the north, which had been taxed least severely in the Moorish wars.3 The command of the whole was intrusted to the Great Captain, Gonsalvo de Cordova, who since his return home had fully sustained the high reputation which his brilliant military talents had acquired for him abroad. Numerous volunteers, comprehending the noblest of the young chivalry of Spain, pressed forward to serve under the banner of this accom¬ plished and popular chieftain. Among them may be particularly noticed Diego de Mendoza, son of the grand cardinal, Pedro de la Paz,4 Gonzalo Pizarro, father of the celebrated adventurer of Peru, and Diego de Paredes, whose personal prowess and feats of extravagant daring furnished many an incredible legend for chronicle and romance. With this gallant armament the Great Captain weighed anchor in the port of Malaga, in
—
1 See Part II., chapter 3, of this History. Cotron, mortgaged to him in Italy. (Hist, del Rey Ferdinand, it seems, entertained the thought of Hernando, lib. 3, cap. 40.) Comines calls the visiting Italy in person. This appears from a same nobleman a good sort of a man, "qui aiseletter, or rather an elaborate memorial, of Garcilasso ment croit, et pour especial tels personttages," de la Vega, urging various considerations to dis¬ meaning King Ferdinand. Comines, Mÿmoires, suade his master from this step. In the course of liv. 8, chap. 23. 3 Bembo, Istoria, Viniziana, torn. iii. lib. 5, p. it he lays open the policy and relative strength of the Italian states, half of whom, at least, he regards 324.— Ulloa, Vita et Fatti dell' invitissimo Imperaas in the interests of France. At the same time he tore Carlo V. (Venetia, 1606), fol. 2.— Mariana, advises the king to carry the war across his own Hist, de Espana, torn. ii. lib. 27, cap. 7. Giovio, borders into the French territory, and thus, by Vitae Illust. Virorum, torn. i. p. 226. —Zurita, Hist. compelling Louis to withdraw his forces, in part, del Rey Hernando, torn. i. lib. 4, cap. 11. Abarca, from Italy, cripple his operations in that country. Reyes de Aragon, torn. ii. rey 30, cap. 10, sec. 13. The letter is full of the suggestions of a shrewd This cavalier, one of the most valiant captains policy, but shows that the writer knew much more in the army, was so diminutive in size that, when of Italian politics than of what was then passing in mounted, he seemed almost lost in the high demithe cabinets of Paris and Madrid. Carta de Gar¬ peak war-saddle then in vogue ; which led a wag, cilasso de la Vega, Toledo, 25 de Agosto, 1500, MS. according to Brantdme, when asked if he had seen 2 According to Zurita, Ferdinand secured the Don Pedro de Paz pass that way, to answer that services of Guillaume de Poictiers, lord of Clerieux "he had seen his horse and saddle, but 110 rider.' and governor of Paris, by the promise of the city of CEuvres, torn. i. disc. 9.
— —
*
PARTITION OF NAPLES.
505
May 1500, designing to touch at Sicily before proceeding against the Turks.1 Meanwhile, the negotiations between France and Spain, respecting Naples, were brought to a close, by a treaty for the equal partition of that kingdom between the two powers, ratified at Granada, November 1ith, 1500. This extraordinary document, after enlarging on the unmixed evils flowing from war, and the obligation on all Christians to preserve inviolate the blessed peace bequeathed them by the Saviour, proceeds to state that no other prince, save the kings of France and Aragon, can pretend to a title to the throne of Naples ; and as King Frederick, its present occupant, has seen fit to endanger the safety of all Christendom by bringing on it its bitterest enemy, the Turks, the contracting parties, in order to rescue it from this imminent peril and preserve inviolate the bond of peace, agree to take possession of his kingdom and divide it between them. It is then provided that the northern portion, comprehending the Terra di Lavoro and Abruzzo, be assigned to France, with the title of King of Naples and Jerusalem, and the southern, consisting of Apulia and Calabria, with the title of Duke of those provinces, to Spain. The dogana, an important duty levied on the flocks of the Capitanate, was to be collected by the officers of the Spanish government, and divided equally with France. Lastly, any inequality between the respective territories was to be so adjusted that the revenues accruing to each of the parties should be precisely equal. The treaty was to be kept profoundly secret until prepar¬ ations were completed for the simultaneous occupation of the devoted territory by the combined powers.2 Such were the terms of this celebrated compact, by which two European potentates coolly carved out and divided between them the entire dominions of a third, who had given no cause for umbrage, and with whom they were both at that time in perfect peace and amity. Similar instances of political robbery (to call it by the coarse name it merits) have occurred in later times \ but never one founded on more flimsy pretexts, or veiled under a more detestable mask of hypocrisy. The principal odium of the transaction has attached to Ferdinand, as the kinsman of the unfortunate king of Naples. His conduct, however, admits of some palliatory considerations that cannot be claimed for Louis. The Aragonese nation always regarded the bequest of Ferdinand's uncle Alfonso the Fifth in favour of his natural offspring as an unwarrantable and illegal act. The kingdom of Naples had been won by their own good swords, and, as such, was the rightful inheritance of their own princes. Nothing but the domestic troubles of his dominions had prevented John the Second of Aragon, on the decease of his brother, from asserting his claim by arms. His son, Ferdinand the Catholic, had hitherto acquiesced
_ lib.
1 Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, torn. viii. p. 217—
Garibay, Compendio, torn. ii.
I
'JSee the
fPudg Dumont» Corp*
cap. 161.— diplomatique, torn. 111. pp. 445. 446. 1 19, cap. 9.
Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlieos, MS.,
ITALIAN WARS.
5°6
in the usurpation of the bastard branch of his house only from similar causes. On the accession of the present monarch, he had made some demonstrations of vindicating his pretensions to Naples, which, however, the intelligence he received from that kingdom induced him to defer to a more convenient season.1 But it was deferring, not relinquishing, his purpose. In the meantime, he carefully avoided entering into such engagements as should compel him to a different policy by connecting his own interests with those of Frederick ; and with this view, no doubt, rejected the alliance, strongly solicited by the latter, of the duke of Calabria, heir-apparent to the Neapolitan crown, with his third daughter, the infanta Maria. Indeed, this disposition of Ferdinand, so far from being dissembled, was well understood by the court of Naples, as is acknowledged by its own historians.2 It may be thought that the undisturbed succession to the throne of Naples of four princes, each of whom had received the solemn recognition of the people, might have healed any defects in their original title, how¬ ever glaring. But it may be remarked, in extenuation of both the French and Spanish claims, that the principles of monarchical succession were but imperfectly settled in that day ; that oaths of allegiance were tendered too lightly by the Neapolitans, to carry the same weight as in other nations ; and that the prescriptive right derived from possession, neces¬ sarily indeterminate, was greatly weakened in this case by the comparatively few years, not more than forty, during which the bastard line of Aragon had occupied the throne,— a period much shorter than that after which the house of York had in England, a few years before, successfully con¬ tested the validity of the Lancastrian title. It should be added that Ferdinand's views appear to have perfectly corresponded with those of the Spanish nation at large ; not one writer of the time, whom Ihave met with, intimating the slightest doubt of his title to Naples, while not a few insist on it with unnecessary emphasis.3 It is but fair to state, however, that foreigners, who contemplated the transaction with a more impartial eye, condemned it as inflicting a deep stain on the characters of both potentates. Indeed, something like an apprehension of this, in the parties themselves, may be inferred from their solicitude to deprecate public censure by masking their designs under a pretended zeal for religion. Before the conferences respecting the treaty were brought to a close, the Spanish armada under Gonsalvo, after a detention of two months in Sicily, where it was reiniorced by two thousand recruits, who had been serving as mercenaries in Italy, held its course for the Morea. (September The Turkish squadron lying before Napoli di Romania, 2 ist, 1500.) 1 See Part II., chapter 3, of this History. 5 Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, lib. 29, cap.
— reader's patience— in discussing the multifarious — grounds of the incontrovertible title of the house of Mendoza, who exhausts the subject and the
3.
Zurita, Hist, del rey Hernando, torn. i. lib. 3, cap. 32-
8 See,
in
particular, the Doctor Salazar de
Aragon to Naples, Monarquia, torn, i., lib. 3, cap 12-13.
PARTITION OF NAPLES.
507without awaiting Gonsalvo's approach, raised the siege, and retreated' precipitately to Constantinople. The Spanish general, then uniting his forces with the Venetians stationed at Corfu, proceeded at once against the fortified place of St. George, in Cephalonia, which the Turks had lately wrested from the republic.1 The town stood high on a rock, in an impregnable position, and was garrisoned by four hundred Turks, all veteran soldiers, prepared to die in its defence. We have not room for the details of this siege, in which both parties displayed unbounded courage and resources, and which was pro¬ tracted nearly two months under all the privations of famine and the inclemencies of a cold and stormy winter.2 At length, weary with this fatal procrastination, Gonsalvo and the Venetian admiral, Pesaro, resolved on a simultaneous attack on separate quarters of the town. The ramparts had been already shaken by the mining operations of Pedro Navarro, who in the Italian wars acquired such terrible celebrity in this department, till then little understood. The Venetian cannon, larger and better served than that of the Spaniards, had opened a practicable breach in the works, which the besieged repaired with such temporary defences as they could. The signal being given at the appointed hour, the two armies made a desperate assault on different quarters of the town, under cover of a murderous fire of artillery. The Turks sustained the attack with dauntless resolution, stopping up the breach with the bodies of their dead and dying comrades, and pouring down volleys of shot, arrows, burning oil and sulphur, and missiles of every kind, on the heads of the assailants. But the desperate energy, as well as numbers, of the latter, proved too strong for them. Some forced the breach, others scaled the ramparts ; and, after a short and deadly struggle within the walls, the brave garrison, four-fifths of whom, with their commander, had fallen, were overpowered, and the victorious banners of St. Jago and St. Mark were planted side by side triumphantly on the towers.3 The capture of this place, although accomplished at considerable loss, and after a most gallant resistance by a mere handful of men, was of great service to the Venetian cause ; since it was the first check given to the arms of Bajezet, who had filched one place after another from the republic, menacing its whole colonial territory in the Levant. The promptness and efficiency of King Ferdinand's succour to the Venetians gained him high reputation throughout Europe, and precisely of the kind which he most 1 Giovio, Vita Illust. Virorum, torn. i. p. 226.— I Among others, he indicates the coldness of theas usual, is in cipher.. Chronica del Gran Capitan, cap. 9—Zurita, Hist. ! viceroy. Part of these letters, fhas en Messina a 15, del Rev Hernando, torn. i. lib. 4- cap. 19.—Gonsalvo ; Cartas d los Reyes Catdlicos, M£>. de isoi, Setiembre de 21 y which Messina, in was detained most unexpectedly supra. Virorum, 2 Illust. Giovio, Vitse he had reached July 19, by various embarrassments, 1 del Gran Capi an, cap. 14. enumerated in his correspondence with the sove- ÿhrdnica # Illus Giovio, Vitm reigns. The difficulty of obtaining supplies for the ; J%ri™Pgist_ ,Vÿorum, .pV," troops was among the most prominent. The pepple ; Chrdnica del Gran Cap •' • 4> • • of the isiand showed 110 goodwill to the cause, del Rey Hernando, • , P•> Obstacles multiplied until it seemed as if they came Bernaldez, Reyes C from the devil himself ;parecen ostaculos deldiabto.
,
_ _
_
5°8
ITALIAN WARS.
coveted, that of being the zealous defender of the faith ; while it formed a favourable contrast to the cold supineness of the other powers of Christendom. The capture of St. George restored to Venice the possession of Cephalonia; and the Great Captain, having accomplished this important object, returned in the beginning of the following year, 1501, to Sicily. Soon after his arrival there, an embassy waited on him from the Venetian senate, to express their grateful sense of his services ; which they testified by enrolling his name on the golden book, as a nobleman of Venice, and by a magnificent present of plate, curious silks and velvets, and a stud of beautiful Turkish horses. Gonsalvo courteously accepted the proffered honours, but distributed the whole of the costly largess, with the exception of a few pieces of plate, among his friends and soldiers.1 In the meanwhile, Louis the Twelfth having completed his preparations for the invasion of Naples, an army, consisting of one thousand lances and ten thousand Swiss and Gascon foot, crossed the Alps, and directed its march towards the south. (June 1st, 1500.) At the same time a powerful armament, under Philip de Ravenstein, with six thousand five hundred additional troops on board, quitted Genoa for the Neapolitan capital. The command of the land-forces was given to the Sire D'Aubigny, the same brave and experienced officer who had formerly coped with Gonsalvo in the campaigns of Calabria.2 No sooner had D'Aubigny crossed the papal borders than the French and Spanish ambassadors announced to Alexander the Sixth and the college of cardinals the existence of the treaty for the partition of the kingdom between the sovereigns, their masters, requesting his Holiness to confirm it and grant them the investiture of their respective shares. In this very reasonable petition his Holiness, well drilled in the part he was to play, acquiesced without difficulty ; declaring himself moved thereto solely by his consideration of the pious intentions of the parties, and the unworthiness of King Frederick, whose treachery to the Christian commonwealth had forfeited all right (if he ever possessed any) to the crown of Naples.3 From the moment that the French forces had descended into Lombardy, the eyes of all Italy were turned with breathless expectation on Gonsalvo and his army in Sicily. The bustling preparations of the French monarch had diffused the knowledge of his designs throughout Europe. Those of the king of Spain, on the contrary, remained enveloped in profound secrecy. Few doubted that Ferdinand would step forward to shield his kinsman from the invasion which menaced him, and, it might
_—
1 Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 167. 1 torn. i. p. 265.— Sainct-Gelais, Histoire de Louys u;ntana, Espanoles celebres. torn. i. p. 246. XII. (Paris, 1622), p. 163. Buonaccorsi, Diario, iovio, Vita: lllust. Virorum, p. 228.— Ulloa, Vita !' p. 46. di Carlo V., fol. 4. 3 Zurita, Hist, del Rey Hernando, i. lib. 4, 2 Jean d'Auton, Histoire de Louys XII. (Paris | cap. 43. — Lanuza, Historias, torn. i.torn. lib. 1, cap. 1262), part. 1, chap. 44, 45, 48.— Guiccardini Istoria' j 14-
—
PARTITION OP NAPLES.
509
be, his own dominions in Sicily j and they looked to the immediate junction of Gonsalvo with King Frederick, in order that their combined strength might overpower the enemy before he had gained a footing in the kingdom. Great was their astonishment when the scales dropped from their eyes, and they beheld the movements of Spain in perfect accordance with those of France, and directed to crush their common victim between them. They could scarcely credit, says Guicciardini, that Louis the Twelfth could be so blind as to reject the proffered vassalage and substantial sov¬ ereignty of Naples, in order to share it with so artful and dangerous a rival as Ferdinand.1 The unfortunate Frederick, who had been advised for some time past of the unfriendly dispositions of the Spanish government,2 saw no refuge from the dark tempest mustering against him on the opposite quarters of his kingdom. He collected such troops as he could, however, in order to make battle with the nearest enemy before he should cross the thresh¬ old.
On the 28th of June the French army resumed its march.
Before
quitting Rome, a brawl rose between some French soldiers and Spaniards resident in the capital ; each party asserting the paramount right of its own sovereign to the crown of Naples. From words they soon came to blows, and many lives were lost before the fray could be quelled ; a melancholy augury for the permanence of the concord so unrighteously established between the two governments. 3 On the 8th of July the French crossed the Neapolitan frontier. Frederick, who had taken post at St. Germano, found himself so weak that he was compelled to give way on its approach, and retreat on his capital. The invaders went forward, occupying one place after another with little resistance, till they came before Capua, where they received a temporary check. During a parley for the surrender of that place they burst into the town, and, giving free scope to their fiendish passions, butchered seven thousand citizens in the streets, and perpetrated outrages worse than death on their defenceless wives and daughters. It was on this occasion that Alexander the Sixth's son, the infamous Caesar Borgia, selected forty of the most beautiful from the principal ladies of the place and sent them back to Rome to swell the complement of his seraglio. The dreadful doom of Capua intimidated further resistance, but inspired such detestation of the French throughout the country as proved of infinite prejudice to their cause in their subsequent struggle with the Spaniards.4
—
1 Guicciardini, Istoria, torn. i. lib. 5, p. 266. Ul- 1 King Louis. Lanuza, Historias, lib. i, cap. 14. Zurita, Hist, del Rey Hernando, torn. i. lib. 4, loa, Vita di Carlo V., fol. 8. . 2 In the month of April the king of Naples received cap. 37. 2 D'Auton, Hist, de Louys XII., part. 1, chap. 48. command by letters from his envoys in Spain, written Summonte, Hist, di Napoli, torn. iii. lib. 6, cap. of King Ferdinand, informing him that he had chap. an of case in 4.— D'Auton, Hist, de Louys XII., part. 1, nothing to expect from that monarch Vita di Carlo V., fob 8.—Guicciardini, invasion of his territories by France. Frederick 51-54.— Ulloa,pp. Hist, del Rey Zurita, 268, lib. Istoria, 5, 269.— this which at bitterly complained of the late hour Istoria intelligence was given, which effectually prevented an Hernando, torn. i. lib. 4, cap. 41.— Giannone, accommodation ha might otherwise have made with di Napoli, lib. 29, cap. 3.
/
ITALIAN WARS. King Frederick, shocked at bringing such calamities on his subjects. lesigned his capital without a blow in its defence, and, retreating to the isle of Ischia, soon after embraced the counsel of the French Admiral Ravenstein, to accept a safe-conduct into France and throw himself on the generosity of Louis. (Oct. 1501.) The latter received him cour¬ teously, and assigned him the duchy of Anjou, with an ample revenue for his maintenance, which, to the credit of the French King, was continued •after he had lost all hope of recovering the crown of Naples.1 With this show of magnanimity, however, he kept a jealous eye on his royal guest ; under pretence of paying him the greatest respect, he placed a guard over his person, and thus detained him in a sort of honourable captivity to the day of his death, which occurred in 1504. Frederick was the last of the illegitimate branch of Aragon who held the Neapolitan sceptre ; a line of princes who, whatever might be their characters in other respects, accorded that munificent patronage to letters which sheds a ray of glory over the roughest and most turbulent reign. It might have been expected that an amiable and accomplished prince, like Frederick, would have done still more towards the moral development of his people, by healing the animosities which had so long festered in their bosoms. His gentle character, however, was ill suited to the evil times on which he had fallen ; and it is not improbable that he found greater contentment in the calm and cultivated retirement of his latter years, sweetened by the sympathies of friendship which adversity had proved,2 than when placed on the dazzling heights which attract the admiration •and envy of mankind.3 Early in March, Gonsalvo de Cordova had received his first official intelligence of the partition treaty, and of his own appointment to the post of lieutenant-general of Calabria and Apulia. He felt natural regre' at being called to act against a prince whose character he esteemed, and with whom he had once been placed in the most intimate and friendly relations. In the true spirit of chivalry, he returned to Frederick, before taking up arms against him, the duchy of St. Angel and the other large domains with which that monarch had requited his services in the late war, requesting at the same time to be released from his obligations of homage and fealty. The generous monarch readily complied with the latter part of his request, but insisted on his retaining the grant, which he declared an inadequate compensation, after all, for the benefits the Great Captain had once rendered him.4 the virtues of his unfortunate sovereign, the more — unsuspicious them in the
1 St. Gelais, Hist, de Louys XII., p. 163. D'Au ton, Hist, de Louys XII., part. 1, ch. 56.— Summonte, Hist, di Napoli, torn. lii. p. 541. 2 The reader will readily call to mind the Nea¬ politan poet Sannazaro, whose fidelity to his royal master forms so beautiful a contrast with the con¬ duct of Pontano, and indeed of too many of his tribe, whose gratitude is of that sort that will only rise above zero in the sunshine of a court. His various poetical effusions afford a noble testimony
to
were produced as many of days of his adversity. 3 "Neque mala vel bona," says the philosophic Roman, ' quae vulgus putet ; multos, qui conflictari adversis videantur, beatos ; ac plerosque, quamquam magnas per opes, miserrimos ;si illi gravem fortunain constanter tolerent, hi prospera inconsulti utantur." Tacitus, Annales, lib. 6, sect. 22. Zurita, Hist del Rey Hernando, torn. i. lib. 4,
*
PARTITION OF NAPLES.
5II
1he levies assembled at Messina amounted to three hundred heavyarmed, three hundred light-horse, and three thousand eight hundred infantry, together with a small body of Spanish veterans, which the Castilian ambassador had collected in Italy. The number of the forces was incon¬ siderable, but they were in excellent condition, well disciplined, and seasoned to all the toils and difficulties of war. On the 5th of July the Great Captain landed at Tropea, and commenced the conquest of Calabria, ordering the fleet to keep along the coast, in order to furnish whatever supplies he might need. The ground was familiar to him, and his progress was facilitated by the old relations he had formed there, as well as by the important posts which the Spanish government had retained in its hands as an indemnification for the expenses of the late war. Not¬ withstanding the opposition or coldness of the great Angevin lords who resided in this quarter, the entire occupation of the two Calabrias, with the exception of Tarento, was effected in less than a month.1 This city, remarkable in ancient times for its defence against Hannibal, was of the last importance. King Frederick had sent thither his eldest son, the duke of Calabria, a youth about fourteen years of age, under the care of Juan de Guevara, count of Potenza, with a strong body of troops, considering it the place of greatest security in his dominions. Independ¬ ently of the strength of its works, it was rendered nearly inaccessible by its natural position ; having no communication with the mainland except by two bridges, at opposite quarters of the town, commanded by strong towers, while its exposure to the sea made it easily open to supplies from abroad. Gonsalvo saw that the only method of reducing the place must be by blockade. Disagreeable as the delay was, he prepared to lay regular siege to it, ordering the fleet to sail round the southern point of Calabria and blockade the port of Tarento, while he threw up works on the land side, which commanded the passes to the town and cut off its communi¬ cations with the neighbouring country. The place, however, was well victualled, and the garrison prepared to maintain it to the last.2 Nothing tries more severely the patience and discipline of the soldier than a life of sluggish inaction, unenlivened, as in the present instance, by any of the rencontres or feats of arms which keep up military excite¬ ment and gratify the cupidity or ambition of the warrior. The Spanish troops, cooped up within their intrenchments, and disgusted with the languid monotony of their life, cast many a wistful glance at the stirring scenes of war in the centre of Italy, where Csesar Borgia held out mag¬ nificent promises of pay and plunder to all who embarked in his adventur-
—
i. lib 4, cap. 44.— Mariana, cap. 35.-V71UV1U, p. 230.— Illust. Virorum, V TUVJUm, p. Giovio, Vita Chronica del Gran Capitan, cap. 21. Lanuza, it. lib. 27, cap. 9.
"""f
ILcC
XliUSU
Historias, torn. i. lib. 1, cap. 14.
—
1 Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, torn. ii. rey 30, cap.
si, see. 8
—
Zurita, Hist, del Rey Hernando, torn.
Hist, de Espana, torn.
2 Giovio, Vitas 111. Virorum, p. 231.—Ulloa, vitat
di Carlo V., fol. 9.— Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, lib. cap. 31 29, cap. 3.— Chronica del Gran Capitan,
ITALIAN WATS. ous enterprises. He courted the aid, in particular, of the Spanish veterans, whose worth he well understood, for they had often served under his banner, in his feuds with the Italian princes. In consequence of these inducements, some of Gonsalvo's men were found to desert every day j while those who remained were becoming hourly more discontented, from the large arrears due from the government ; for Ferdinand, as already remarked, conducted his operations with a stinted economy very different from the prompt and liberal expenditure of the queen, always competent to its object.1
A trivial incident, at this time, swelled the popular discontent into mutiny. The French fleet, after the capture of Naples, was ordered to the Levant to assist the Venetians against the Turks. Ravenstein, ambi¬ tious of eclipsing the exploits of the Great Captain, turned his arms against Mitilene, with the design of recovering it for the republic. He totally failed in the attack, and his fleet was soon after scattered by a tempest, and his own ship wrecked on the isle of Cerigo. He subsequently found his way, with several of his principal officers, to the shores of Calabria, where he landed in the most forlorn and desperate plight. Gonsalvo, touched with his misfortunes, no sooner learned his necessities than he sent him abundant supplies of provisions, adding a service of plate, and a variety of elegant apparel for himself and followers ; consulting his own munificent spirit in this, much more than the limited state of his finances.2 This excessive liberality was very inopportune. The soldiers loudly complained that their general found treasures to squander on foreigners, while his own troops were defrauded of their pay. The Biscayans, a people of whom Gonsalvo used to say "he had rather be a lion-keeper than undertake to govern them," took the lead in the tumult. It soon swelled into open insurrection ; and the men, forming themselves into regular companies, marched to the general's quarters and demanded pay¬ ment of their arrears. One fellow, more insolent than the rest, levelled a pike at his breast with the most angry and menacing looks. Gonsalvo, however, retaining his self-possession, gently put it aside, saying, with a good-natured smile, " Higher, you careless knave, lift your lance higher, or you will run me through in your jesting." As he was reiterating his assur¬ ances of the want of funds, and his confident expectation of speedily obtaining them, a Biscayan captain called out, " Send your daughter to the brothel, and that will soon put you in funds ! " This was a favourite daughter named Elvira, whom Gonsalvo loved so tenderly that he would not part with her even in his campaigns. Although stung to the heart by this audacious taunt, he made no reply, but without changing a muscle of 1 Carta de Gonzalo 4 los Reyes, Tarento, 10 de Mayo, 1502, MS.—Don Juan Manuel, the Spanish minister at Vienna, seems to have been fully sensible of this trait of his master. He told the emperor Maximilian, who had requested the loan of 300,000 ducats from Spain, that it was as much sioney as would suffice King Ferdinand for the
conquest, not merely of Italy, but Africa into the bargain. Zurita, Hist, del Rey Hernando, torn.
.
lib. 3, cap. 42. - Bembo, Istoria Viniziana, torn. iii. lib. 6, p. 368. Giovio, Vita: Illust. Virorum, p. #37. D'Auton, part, 1, chap. 71, 72.
—
—
TIT/OAT OF NAPLES.
513 his countenance, continued, in the same tone as before, to expostulate with the insurgents, who at length were prevailed on to draw off, and dis¬ perse to their quarters. Ihe next morning, the appalling spectacle of the lifeless body of the Hiscayan, hanging by the neck from a window of the house in which he had been quartered, admonished the army that there were limits to the generals forbearance it was not prudent to overstep.* An unexpected event, which took place at this juncture, contributed even more than this monitory lesson to restore subordination to the army. This was the capture of a Genoese galleon with a valuable freight, chiefly iron, bound to some 1urkish port, as it was said, in the Levant, which Gonsalvo, moved no doubt by his zeal for the Christian cause, ordered to be seized by the Spanish cruisers, and the cargo to be disposed ot for the satisfaction of his troops. Giovio charitably excuses this act of hostility against a friendly power with the remark that when " the Great Captain did anything contrary to law he was wont to say, 'A general must secure the victory at all hazards, right or wrong; and when he has done this, he can compensate those whom he has injured with tenfold benefits.' " 2 The unexpected length of the siege of Tarento determined Gonsalvo, at length, to adopt bolder measures for quickening its termination. The city, whose insulated position has been noticed, was bounded on the north by a lake, or rather arm of the sea, forming an excellent interior harbour, about eighteen miles in circumference. The inhabitants, trusting to the natural defences of this quarter, had omitted to protect it by fortifications, and the houses rose abruptly from the margin of the basin. Into this reservoir the Spanish commander resolved to transport such of his vessels then riding in the outer bay as from their size could be conveyed across the narrow isthmus which divided it from the inner. After incredible toil, twenty of the smallest craft were moved on huge cars and rollers across the intervening land and safely launched on the bosom of the lake. The whole operation was performed amid the exciting accompaniments of discharges of ordnance, strains of martial music, and loud acclamations of the soldiery. The inhabitants of Tarento saw with consternation the fleet so lately floating in the open ocean under their impregnable walls, now quitting its native element, and moving, as it were by magic, across the land, to assault them on the quarter where they were the least defended.3 The Neapolitan commander perceived it would be impossible to hold out longer, without compromising the personal safety of the young prince
—
1 Chronica del Gran Capitan, cap. 34. QuinfcHia, Espanoles celebres, torn. L pp. 252, 253. Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, p. 232.—The turbu, lent character of the Biscayans is noticed by the Great Captain in a letter, of somewhat earlier date, to the secretary Almazan. Carta, 16 de Abril,
'Sor, MS. 3
lit, i, p Giovin. Vita Magni Maffni fl/tncalwi tl 971. Giovio, Vita Gonsalvi, lib. 233. T.
3 Ibid., u'bi supra.
- Chronica del Gran Capitan,
doubtless, cap. 33.—Gonsalvo took the hint for this, — from Hannibal's similar exgedien tÿ (See Pollybras,
ITALIAN WARS.
5r4
under his care. He accordingly entered into negotiations for a truce with the Great Captain, during which articles of capitulation were arranged, guaranteeing to the duke of Calabria and his followers the right of evacuat¬ ing the place and going wherever they listed. The Spanish general, in order to give greater solemnity to these engagements, bound himself to observe them by an oath on the sacrament.1 On the xst of March 1502, the Spanish army took possession, according to agreement, of the city of Tarento ; and the duke of Calabria, with his suite, was permitted to leave it, in order to rejoin his father in France In the meantime, advices were received from Ferdinand the Catholic, instructing Gonsalvo on no account to suffer the young prince to escape from his hands, as he was a pledge of too great importance for the Spanish government to relinquish. The general in consequence sent after the duke, who had proceeded in company with the count of Potenza as far as Bitonto, on his way to the north, and commanded him to be arrested and brought back to Tarento. Not long after, he caused him to be conveyed on board one of the men-of-war in the harbour, and, in contempt of his solemn engagements, sent a prisoner to Spain.2 The national writers have made many awkward attempts to varnish over this atrocious act of perfidy in their favourite hero. Zurita vindicates it by a letter from the Neapolitan prince to Gonsalvo, requesting the latter to take this step since he preferred a residence in Spain to one in France, but could not with decency appear to act in opposition to his father's wishes on the subject. If such a letter, however, were really obtained from the prince, his tender years would entitle it to little weight, and of course it would afford no substantial ground for justification. Another explanation is offered by Paolo Giovio, who states that the Great Captain, undetermined what course to adopt, took the opinion of certain learned jurists. This sage body decided " that Gonsalvo was not bound by his oath, since it was repugnant to his paramount obligations to his master ; and that the latter was not bound by it, since it was made without his privity ! " 3 The man who trusts his honour to the tampering of casuists has parted with it already.4 1 Zurita, Hist, del Rey Hernando, torn. i. lib. 4, cap. 52, 53. Guicciardini, Istoria, torn. i. lib. 5, p. 270. Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, ib. 29, cap. 3. Muratori, Annali d'ltalia, torn. xiv. p. 14.— The various authorities differ more irreconcilably than usual in the details of the siege. I have followed Paolo Giovio, a contemporary, and per¬
—
ÿ
—
—
-
sonally acquainted with the principal actors. All agree in the only fact in which one would willingly see some discrepancy, Gonsalvo's breach of faith to the young duke of Calabria. 2 Zurita, Hist, del Rey Hernando, torn. i. lib. 4, cap. 56.— Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, torn. ii. rey 30, cap. 11, sec. 10 12. Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., fol. 9.— Lanuza, Historias, lib. 1, cap. 14.— Martyr, who was present on the young prince's arrival at court, where he experienced the most honourable reception, speaks of him in the highest terms : " Adolescens namque est et regno et regio sanguine dignus. inirae indolis, forma egregius." 'See Opus
— —
Epist., epist. 252.) He survived to the year 1550, but without ever quitting Spain, contrary to the fond prediction of his friend Sannazaro : " Nam mihi, nam tempus veniet, cum reddita sceptra Parthenopes, fractosque tua sub cuspide reges Ipse canam."
—Opera Latina, Ecloga 4.
3 Zurita, Hist, del
Rey Hernando, lib. 4, cap.
58.— Giovio, Vitae Must. Virorum, lib. 1, p. 234.
—
Mariana coolly disposes of Gonsalvo's treachery with the remark, " No parece se le guardo lo que tenian asentado. En la guerra quien hay que de todo punto lo guarde ? " (Hist, de Espana,tom. ii. P- 675-) -" Dolus an virtus, quis in hoste requirat ? " 4 In Gonsalvo's correspondence is a letter to the sovereigns, written soon after the occupation of Tarento. in which he mentions his efforts to secure
RESOLUTION OF THE STAN/ARES.
51$ Ihe only palliation of the act must be sought in the prevalent laxity and corruption of the period, which is rife with examples of the
most flagrant violation of both public and private faith. Had this been the act of a Siorza, indeed, or a Borgia, it could not reasonably have excited surprise. But coming from one of a noble, magnanimous nature, like Gonsalvo exemplary in his private life, and unstained with any of the grosser vices of the age, it excited general astonishment and reprobation, even among his contemporaries. It has left a reproach on his name which the historian may regret, but cannot wipe away.
CHAPTER XI. ITALIAN WARS.
—
-GONSALVO BESIEGED IN
RUPTURE WITH FRANCE.
BARLETA.
1502, 1503.
—
Rupture between the French and Spaniards. — Gonsalvo retires to Barleta. Chivalrous Character of the War. — Tourney near Trani.— Duel between Bayard and Sotomayor. Distress of Barleta.— Constancy of the Spaniards. Gonsalvo storms and takes Ruvo. Prepares to leave Barleta.
—
—
—
It was hardly to be expected that the partition treaty between France and Spain, made so manifestly in contempt of all good faith, would be maintained any longer than suited the convenience of the respective parties. The French monarch, indeed, seems to have prepared, from the first, to dispense with it so soon as he had secured his own moiety of the kingdom ;1 and sagacious men at the Spanish court inferred that the duke of Calabria in the Spanish interests. He speaks with confidence of his own ascendency over the young man's mind, and assures the sovereigns that the latter will be content to continue with him till he Ishall receive instructions from Spain how to dispose of him. At the same time the Great Captain took care to maintain a surveillance over the duke, by means of the attendants on his person. We find no allusion to any promises under oath. The communication is too brief to clear up the difficulties in this dark transaction. As coming • rom Gonsalvo himself, the document has great interest, and Iwill give it to the reader in the original : "A vuestras altezas he dado aviso de la entrada de las vanderas e gente de vuestras altezas por lagraciade nuestro Senor en Tarentoel primero dia de Marzo, e asi en la platica que estava con el dtiquedon fernandode ponerse al servicio y amparo ile vuestras ny ofrecimiento altezas syn otro partidotiempo demas de certificarle seria libre que en todo para yr donde quisiese sy vuestras altezas bien no le tratasen y que vuestras ei respeto tenian le altezas que a tal persona como el se deve. El conde de -potenga e algunos de los que estan ceerca del han trabajadp por apartarle de este proposito e levarle a Iscla asi yo por muchos modos he procuradc de
reducirle al servicio de vuestras altezas y tengole en tal termino que puedo certificar a vuestras altegas que este mozo no les saldra de la mano con consenso suyo del servicio de vuestras altejas asta tanto que vuestras altezas me embien a mandar como del he de disponer e de lo que con el se ha de facer y por las contrastes que en esto han entrevenido no ha salido de taranto porque asi ha convenido. El viernes que sera once de marzo saldra a castellaneta que es quince millas de aqui con algunos destos suyos que le quieren seguir con alguna buena parte de compania destos criados de vuestras altezas para acompanarle y este mismo dia viernes entraranjas vanderas e gente de vuestras altejas enÿel Castillo De de tarento con ayuda de nuestro Senor. Tarento, 10 de Marzo, 1502, MS. 1 Peter Martyr, in a letter written from Vemces, while detained there on his way to Alexandria, speaks of the efforts made by the French emissaries to induce the republic to break with Spam and support their master in his designs on Naples "Adsunt namque a Ludovico rege Gallorum oratores, qui omni nixu conantur a vobisVenetoi um animos avertere. Fremere dentibus aiunt oratorem primarium Galium, quia nequeat per Venetorum suffragia consequi, ut aperte vobis hostuitateni
-
ITALIAN WATS.
King Ferdinand would do as much, when he should be in a situation to assert his claims with success.1 It was altogether improbable, whatever might be the good faith of the parties, that an arrangement could long subsist which so rudely rent asunder the members of this ancient monarchy • or that a thousand points of collision should not arise between rival hosts, lying as it were on their arms within bowshot of each other and in view of the rich spoil which each regarded as its own. Such grounds for rupture did occur, sooner probably than either party had foreseen, and certainly before the king of Aragon was prepared to meet it. The immediate cause was the extremely loose language of the partition treaty, which assumed such a geographical division of the kingdom into four provinces as did not correspond with any ancient division, and still
less with the modern, by which the number was multiplied to twelve.2 The central portion, comprehending the Capitanate, the Basilicate, and the Principality, became debatable ground between the parties, each of whom insisted on these as forming an integral part of its own moiety. The French had no ground whatever for contesting the possession of the Capitanate, the first of these provinces, and by far the most important, on account of the tolls paid by the numerous flocks which descended every winter into its sheltered valleys from the snow-covered mountains of Abruzzo.3 There was more uncertainty to which of the parties the two other provinces were meant to be assigned. It is scarcely possible that language so loose, in a matter requiring mathematical precision, should have been unintentional. Before Gonsalvo de Cordova had completed the conquest of the southern moiety of the kingdom, and while lying before Tarento, he received intelligence of the occupation by the French of several places, both in the Capitanate and Basilicate. He detached a body of troops for the protection of these countries, and, after the surrender of Tarento, marched towards the north to cover them with his whole army. As he was not in a condition for immediate hostilities, however, he entered into negotiations, which, if attended with no other advantage, would at least gain him time.4 edicant, utque velint Gallis regno Parthenopeo last writer, it may be observed, discusses the matter contra vestra praesidia ferre suppetias." The letter with equal learning and candour, and more per¬ is dated October ist, 1501. Opus Epist., epist. spicuity than either of the preceding. He admits reasonable grounds for doubt to which moiety of the 331. 1 Martyr, after noticing the grounds of the par¬ kingdom the Basilicate and Principalities should be tition treaty, comments with his usual shrewdness assigned. Mariana, Hist, de Espana, torn. ii. p. on the politic views of the Spanish sovereigns : 670. Guicciardini, Istoria, torn. i. lib. 5, pp. 274, " Facilius namque se sperant, earn partem, quam 275.— Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, lib. 1, pp. 234, sibi Galli sortiti sunt, habituros aliquando, quam si 235universum regnum occuparint." Opus Epist., The provision of the partition treaty, that the epist. 218. Spaniards should collect the tolls paid by the flocks 2 The Italian historians, who have investigated on their descent from the Frenchdistrict of Abruzzo the subject with some parade of erudition, treat it into the Capitanate, is conclusive evidence of the so vaguely as to leave it, after all, nearly as per¬ intention of the contracting parties to assign the plexed as they found it. Giovio includes the Capi¬ latter to Spain. See the treaty apud Dumont, tanate in Apulia, according to the ancient division ; Corps diplomatique, torn. iii. pp. 445, 446. Guicciardini, according to the modern ; and the Zurita, Hist, del Rey Hernando, torn. i. lib. 4, Spanish historian Mariana, according to both. The cap. «3 — Mariana. Hist, de Espana, torn. ii. lib..
—
*
RESOLUTION OF THE SPANIARDS.
511
The pretensions of the two parties, as might have been expected, were too irreconcilable to admit of compromise ; and a personal conference between the respective commanders-in-chief (April 1st, 1502) led to no
better arrangement than that each should retain his present acquisitions till explicit instructions could be received trom their respective courts. But neither of the two monarchs had further instructions to give ; and the Catholic king contented himself with admonishing his general to post¬ pone an open rupture as long as possible, that the government might have time to provide more effectually for his support and strengthen itself by alliance with other European powers. But however pacific may have been the disposition of the generals, they had no power to control the passions of their soldiers, who, thus brought into immediate contact, glared on each other with the ferocity of bloodhounds ready to slip the leash which held them in temporary check. Hostilities soon broke out along the lines of the two armies, the blame of which each nation charged on its opponent. There seems good ground, however, for imput¬ ing it to the French, since they were altogether better prepared for war than the Spaniards, and entered into it so heartily as not only to assail places in the debatable ground, but in Apulia, which had been unequivo¬ cally assigned to their rivals.1 In the meanwhile the Spanish court fruitlessly endeavoured to interest the other powers of Europe in its cause. The emperor Maximilian, although dissatisfied with the occupation of Milan by the French, appeared wholly engrossed with the frivolous ambition of a Roman coronation. The pontiff and his son, Caesar Borgia, were closely bound to King Louis by the assistance which he had rendered them in their marauding enter¬ prises against the neighbouring chiefs of Romagna. The other Italian princes, although deeply incensed and disgusted by this infamous alliance, stood too much in awe of the colossal power which had planted its foot so firmly on their territory to offer any resistance. Venice alone, surveying from her distant watch-tower, to borrow the words of Peter Martyr, the whole extent of the political horizon, appeared to hesitate. The trench ambassadors loudly called on her to fulfil the terms of her late treaty with their master, and support him in his approaching quarrel ; but the wily republic saw with distrust the encroaching ambition of her powerful neigh¬ bour, and secretly wished that a counterpoise might be lound in the success of Aragon. Martyr, who stopped at Venice on his return fiom Egypt, appeared before the senate (October 1501) an(ÿ employed all his Captain,
the Great 20 cap. 4.—Bernaldez states ttiat ÿ27, cap. 12. Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., fol. 10.— with the French general inGonsalvo, in his account of these transactions to the finding his conference to decide the quarre latter the to proposed tual, effet and sovereigns, notices " the intemperate language single combat. bearing " both 01 the viceroy and Alegre. This between their respective nations by
—
part of the letter is in cipher. Carta de Tarento, 10 de Marzo, 1502, MS. 1 D'Auton, Hist, de Louys XII., part. 2, chap.
3~7-
re¬ (Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 167.) We should of quire some other authority, however, than that flight, the good Curate to vouch for this romantic s general Spanish the with keeping so entirely out of most character, in which prudence was probably the
del Rey Hernando, torn. i. lib. — Zurita, Hist, 65.— Giovio, Vitse Illust. Virorum, conspicuous attribute. Istoria di Napoli, lib. Giannone, —
4, cap. 60, 62, 64,
torn. i. p. 236.
ITALIAN WATS.
eloquence in supporting his master's cause in opposition to the French envoys ; but his pressing entreaties to the Spanish sovereigns to send thither some competent person, as a resident minister, show his own conviction of the critical position in which their affairs stood.1 The letters of the same intelligent individual during his journey through the Milanese 2 are filled with the most gloomy forebodings of the termina¬ tion of a contest for which the Spaniards were so indifferently provided ; while the whole north of Italy was alive with the bustling preparations of the French, who loudly vaunted their intention of driving their enemy not merely out of Naples, but Sicily itself.3 Louis the Twelfth superintended these preparations in person, and, to be near the theatre of operations, crossed the Alps, and took up his quarters at Asti. (July 1502.) At length, all being in readiness, he brought things to an immediate issue, by commanding his general to proclaim war at once against the Spaniards, unless they abandoned the Capitanate in four-andtwenty hours.4 The French force in Naples amounted, according to their own state¬ ments, to one thousand men-at-arms, three thousand five hundred French and Lombard and three thousand Swiss infantry, in addition to the Neapolitan levies raised by the Angevin lords throughout the kingdom. The command was intrusted to the duke of Nemours, a brave and chivalrous young nobleman, of the ancient house of Armagnac, whom family connections, more than talents, had raised to the perilous post of viceroy over the head of the veteran D'Aubigny. The latter would have thrown up his commission in disgust, but for the remonstrances of his sovereign, who prevailed on him to remain where his counsels were more than ever necessary to supply the inexperience of the young commander. The jealousy and wilfulness of the latter, however, defeated these inten¬ tions : and the misunderstanding of the chiefs, extending to their followers, led to a fatal want of concert in their movements. With these officers were united some of the best and bravest of the French chivalry; among whom may be noticed Jacques de Chabannes,
—
1 Daru, Hist, de Venise, torn. iii. p. 345. Bembo, Istoria Viniziana, torn. i. lib. 6.— Peter Martyr, Opus Epist. , epist. 238, 240, 252.—This may appear strange, considering that Lorenzo Suarez de la Vega was there, a person of whom Gonzalo de Oviedo wriLes, " Fue gentil caballero, e sabio, e de gran muy entendido e de mucho prudencia ; reposo e honesto e afable e de Iinda conversacion ;" and again, more explicitly, " Embaxador a Venecia, en el qua! oficio sirvio muy bien, e como prudente varon." (Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 3, dial. 44.) Martyr admits his prudence, but objects his ignorance of Latin, a deficiency, however heinous in the worthy tutor's eyes, probably of no rare occur¬ rence among the elder Castilian nobles. - Many of Martyr's letters were addressed to both Ferdinand and Isabella. The former, however, was ignorant of the Latin language, in which they were written. Martyr playfully alludes to this in one of his epistles, reminding the queen of her promise to interpret thein faithfully to her husband. The unconstrained and familiar tone of his correspond¬
.....
ence affords a pleasing example of the personal intimacy to which the sovereigns, in defiance of the usual stiffness of Spanish etiquette, admitted men
of learning and probity at their court, without dis¬ tinction of rank. Opus Epist., epist. 230. 3 " Galli," says Martyr, in a letter more remark¬ able for strength of expression than elegance of Latinity, " furunt, saeviunt, internecionem nostril minantur, putantque idsibi fore facillimum. Regem eorum esse in itinere, inquiunt, ut ipse cum duplicato exercitu Alpes trajiciat in Italiam. Vestro nomini insurgunt. Cristas erigunt in vos superbissime. Provinciam hanc, veluti rem humilem, parvique momenti, se aggressuros praeconantur. Nihil esse negotii eradicare exterminareque vestra praesidia ex utraque Sicilia blacterant. Insolenter nimis exspuendo insultant." Opus Epist., epist. 241. 4
D'Auton, Hist, de Louys XII., part. 2, chap.
— Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, lib. 29, cap. 4.— Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 5, pp. 274, 275.— Buonaccorsi, Diario, p. 61. 8.
RESOLUTION OF THE SPANIARDS
5i9 known commonly as the Sire de la Palice, a favourite of Louis the more Twelfth, and well entitled to be so by his deserts; Louis d'Ars; Ives d'Albgre, brother of the Prdcy who gained so much renown in the wars of Charles the Eighth ; and Pierre de Bayard, the knight " sans peur et sans reproche," who was then entering on the honourable career in which he seemed to realize all the imaginary perfections of chivalry.1 Notwithstanding the small numbers of the French force, the Great Captain was in no condition to cope with them. He had received no reinforcements from home since he first landed in Calabria. His little corps of veterans was destitute of proper clothing and equipments, and the large arrears due them made the tenure of their obedience extremely pre¬ carious.2 Since affairs began to assume their present menacing aspect, he had been busily occupied with drawing together the detachments posted in various parts of Calabria, and concentrating them on the town of Atella in the Basilicate, where he had established his own quarters. He had also opened a correspondence with the barons of the Aragonese faction, who were most numerous as well as most powerful in the northern section of the kingdom, which had been assigned to the French. He was parti¬ cularly fortunate in gaining over the two Colonnas, whose authority, powerful connections, and large military experience proved of inestimable value to him.3 With all the resources he could command, however, Gonsalvo found himself, as before noticed, unequal to the contest, though it was impos¬ sible to defer it, after the peremptory summons of the French viceroy to surrender the Capitanate. To this he unhesitatingly answered that " the Capitanate belonged of right to his own master ; and that, with the bless¬ ing of God, he would make good its defence against the French king, or any other who should invade it." Notwithstanding the bold front put on his affairs, however, he did not choose to abide the assault of the French in his present position. He instantly drew off with the greater part of his force to Barleta, a fortified seaport on the confines of Apulia, on the Adriatic, the situation of which would enable him either to receive supplies from abroad, or to effect a retreat, if necessary, on board the Spanish fleet, which still kept the coast of Calabria. The remainder of his army he distributed in Bari, Andria, these suggestions, but showed a strange insensibility . „ to the last. 3 Carta de Gonzalo & los Reyes, Tarento, 10 de — Marzo, 1502, MS.— Zurita, Hist, del Rey Hernando, Ulust. Virorum, p. — Giovio, Vitas sketches of most of the French captains mentioned lib. 4, cap. 62, 65. particular, was distin¬ in the text into his admirable gallery of national 230. — Prospero Colonna, in science, but his military his for only portraits. See Vies des Hommes illustres, CEuvres, guished not lie is com¬ fondness for letters and the arts, of which patron. torn. ii. and iii. magnificent a as Xiraboschi by 1 Martyr's epistles at this crisis are filled with memorated Italiana, torn. vin. p. 77.) a<? expostulation, argument, and entreaties to the sove¬ (Letteratura his portrait among the effigies reigns, begging them to rouse from their apathy and Giovio has introduced who, it must be confessed are take measures to secure the wavering attentions ot of illustrious men,his work to the hand of the husin Venice, as well as to send more effectual aid to their more indebted of the artist. Flogia Virorum Lelhca Italian troops. Ferdinand listened to the first 0* torian than Virtute Illustrium (Basihte, 1578), hu- s-
—
Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 5, p. 265. D'Auton, Hist, de Louys XII., part. 1, chap. 57.— Gaillard, Rivalitd, torn. iv. pp. 221-233. St Gelais, Hist, de Louys XII., p. 169. Brantome has introduced
J
—
ITALIAN WARS.
52°
Canosa, and other adjacent towns, where he confidently hoped to main¬ tain himself till the arrival of reinforcements, which he solicited in the most pressing manner from Spain and Sicily, should enable him to take the field on more equal terms against his adversary.1 The French officers, in the meantime, were divided in opinion as to the best mode of conducting the war. Some were for besieging Bari, held by the illustrious and unfortunate Isabella of Aragon ;2 others, in a more chivalrous spirit, opposed the attack of a place defended by a female, and advised an immediate assault on Barleta itself, whose old and dilapidated works might easily be forced, if it did not at once surrender. The duke of Nemours, deciding on a middle course, determined to invest the lastmentioned town, and cutting off all communication with the surrounding country, to reduce it by regular blockade. This plan was unquestionably the least eligible of all, as it would allow time for the enthusiasm of the French— the Furia Fra/icese, as it was called in Italy, which carried them victorious over so many obstacles— to evaporate, while it brought into play the stern resolve, the calm, unflinching endurance, which distinguished the Spanish soldier.3 One of the first operations of the French viceroy was the siege of Canosa (July 2, 1502), a strongly-fortified place west of Barleta, garrisoned by six hundred picked men under the engineer Pedro Navarro. The defence of the place justified the reputation of this gallant soldier. He beat off two successive assaults of the enemy, led on by Bayard, La Palice, and the flower of their chivalry. He had prepared to sustain a third, resolved to bury himself under the ruins of the town rather than surrender ; but Gonsalvo, unable to relieve it, commanded him to make the best terms he could, saying " the place was of far less value than the lives of the brave men who defended it." Navarro found no difficulty in obtaining an honourable capitulation • and the little garrison, dwindled to one-third of its original number, marched out through the enemy's camp, with colours flying and music playing, as if in derision of the powerful force it had so nobly kept at bay.4 After the capture of Canosa, D'Aubigny, whose misunderstanding with Nemours still continued, was despatched with a small force into the south, to overrun the two Calabrias. The viceroy, in the meanwhile, having 1 D'Auton, Hist, de Louys XII., part. 2, chap. 8. Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., fol. xo. Chrdnica del Gran Capitan, cap. 42. — Summonte, Hist, di Napoli, torn. iii. p. 541. s This beautiful and high-spirited lady, whose fate has led Boccalini, in his whimsical satire of the to call her the most un¬ " Ragguagli di Parnasso," fortunate female on record, had seen her father, Alfonso II., and her husband, Galeazzo Sforza, driven from their thrones by the French, while her son still remained in captivity in their hands. No wonder they revolted from accumulating new woes on her devoted head. _a Giovio, Vitse Must. Virorum, p. 237. Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 5, pp. 282, 283. Garibay, Compendio. torn. ii. lib. 19, cap. 14. Peter Martyr,
—
—
_
—
—
—
Opus Epist., epist. 249.— Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 168. Chrdnica del Gran Capitan, cap. 47. —Zurita, Hist, del Rey Hernando, torn. i. lib. 4, cap. 69. Giovio, Vitae Must. Virorum, torn. i. p. 241. D'Auton, part. 2, chap. ix. Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 247.— Martyr says that the Spaniards marched through the enemy's camp, shouting, " Espana, Espana, viva Espaha ! " (ubi supra). Their gallantry in the defence of Canosa elicits a hearty eulogium from Jean d'Auton, the royal historiographer of Louis XII. : "Je ne veux ooav par ma Chronique mettre les biensfaicts des Espaignols en oubly, mais dire que pour vertueuse defence, doibuent auoir louange honorable." Hist, de Louys XII., chap. 11.
*
—
——
RESOLUTION OF THE SPANIARDS.
52I fruitlessly attempted the reduction of several strong places held by the Spaniards in the neighbourhood of Barleta, endeavoured to straiten the ganison theie by desolating the surrounding country and sweeping off the flocks and herds which grazed in its fertile pastures. The Spaniards, however, did not remain idle within their defences, but, sallying out in small detachments, occasionally retrieved the spoil from the hands of the enemy, or annoyed him with desultory attacks, ambuscades, and other irregular movements of guerilla warfare, in which the French were com¬
paratively unpractised.1 The war now began to assume many of the romantic features of that of Granada. 1 lie knights on both sides, not content with the usual military
rencontres, defied one another to jousts and tourneys, eager to establish their prowess in the noble exercises of chivalry. One of the most remark¬ able of these meetings took place between eleven Spanish and as many French knights, in consequence of some disparaging remarks of the latter on the cavalry of their enemies, which they affirmed inferior to their own. The Venetians gave the parties a fair field of combat in the neutral terri¬ tory under their own walls of Trani. A gallant array of well-armed knights of both nations guarded the lists and maintained the order of the fight. On the appointed day (Sept. 20th, 1502) the champions appeared in the field, armed at all points, with horses richly caparisoned, and barbed or covered with steel panoply like their masters. The roofs and battlements of Trani were covered with spectators, while the lists were thronged with the French and Spanish chivalry, each staking in some degree the national honour on the issue of the contest. Among the Castilians were Diego de Paredes and Diego de Vera, while the good knight Bayard was most conspicuous on the other side. As the trumpets sounded the appointed signal, the hostile parties rushed to the encounter. Three Spaniards were borne from their saddles by the rudeness of the shock, and four of their antagonists' horses slam. The fight, which began at ten in the morning, was not to be protracted beyond sunset. Long before that hour, all the French save two, one of them the chevalier Bayard, had been dismounted, and their horses, at which the Spaniards had aimed more than at the riders, disabled or slain. The Spaniards, seven of whom were still on horseback, pressed hard on their adversaries, leaving little doubt of the fortune of the day. The latter, however, intrenching themselves behind the carcases of their dead horses, made good their defence against the Spaniards, who in vain tiied to spur their terrified steeds over the barrier. In this way the fight was protracted till sunset ; and as both parties continued to keep possession of the field, the palm of victory was adjudged to neither, while both were pronounced to have demeaned themselves like good and valiant knights." 1 Bernaldez,
Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 169.- I
V"f°L IG-Chr<5nicadeI ÿ
2 Chronica
del Gran Cÿpitan, ag*.53ÿ D Auton,
I Vki' Ilfusÿÿrorum.'pp. 238,' ,39-MeWres
de
522
ITALIAN WARS.
The tourney being ended, the combatants met in the centre of the lists, and embraced each other in the true companionship of chivalry, " making good cheer together," says an old chronicler, before they separated. The Great Captain was not satisfied with the issue of the fight. " We have, at least," said one of his champions, " disproved the taunt of the Frenchmen, and shown ourselves as good horsemen as they." "I sent you for better," coldly retorted Gonsalvo.1 A more tragic termination befell a combat d loutrance between the chevalier Bayard and a Spanish cavalier named Alonso de Sotomayor. who had accused the former of uncourteous treatment of him while his prisoner. Bayard denied the charge, and defied the Spaniard to prove it in single fight, on horse or on foot, as he best liked. Sotomayor, aware of his antagonist's uncommon horsemanship, preferred the latter alternative. At the day and hour appointed (Feb. 2d, 1503) the two knights entered the lists, armed with sword and dagger, and sheathed in complete harness ; although, with a degree of temerity unusual in these combats, they wore their visors up. Both combatants knelt down in silent prayer for a few moments, and then, rising and crossing themselves, advanced straight against each other ; " the good knight Bayard," says Brantome, " moving as light of step as if he were going to lead some fair lady down the dance." The Spaniard was of a large and powerful frame, and endeavoured to crush his enemy by weight of blows, or to close with him and bring him to the ground. The latter, naturally inferior in strength, was rendered still weaker by a fever, from which he had not entirely recovered. He was more light and agile than his adversary, however, and superior dexterity enabled him not only to parry his enemy's strokes, but to deal him occasionally one of his own, while he sorely distressed him by the rapidity of his movements. At length, as the Spaniard was somewhat thrown off his balance by an ill-directed blow, Bayard struck him so sharply on the gorget that it gave way, and the sword entered his throat Furious with the agony of the wound, Sotomayor collected all his strength for a last struggle, and, grasping his antagonist in his arms, they both rolled in the dust together. Before either could extricate himself, the quick-eyed Bayard, who had retained his poniard in his left hand during the whole combat, while the Spaniard's had remained in his belt, drove the steel with such convulsive strength under his enemy's eye that it pierced quite through the brain. After the judges had awarded the honours ot the day to Bayard, the minstrels as usual began to pour Bayard par le Loyal Serviteur, chap. 23, apud Petitot, Collection des Memoires, torn. xv.— Brant8me, CEuvres, torn. iii. disc. 77. —This celebrated tourney, its causes, and all the details of the action, are told in as many different ways as there are narrators ; and this notwithstanding it was fought in the presence of a crowd of witnesses, who W
nothing to do but look on and note what passed before their eyes. The only facts in which all agree are, that there was such a tournament, and that neither party gained the advantage. So much for history ! 1 D'Auton, Hist, de Louys XII., ubi supra. tiuintana. Esparioles celebres, torn. ii. p. 263.
—
RESOLUTION OF THE SPANIARDS.
523, forth triumphant strains in praise of the victor ; but the good knight commanded them to desist, and, having first prostrated himself on his knees in gratitude for his victory, walked slowly out of the lists, expressing a wish that the combat had had a different termination, so that his honour had been saved.1 In these jousts and tourneys, described with sufficient prolixity, but in a truly heart-stirring tone, by the chroniclers of the day, we may discern the last gleams of the light of chivalry, which illumined the darkness of the Middle Ages , and although rough in comparison with the pastimes of more polished times, they called forth such displays of magnificence, courtesy, and knightly honour as throw something like the grace of civilization over the ferocious features of the age. While the Spaniards, cooped up within the old town of Barleta, sought to vary the monotony of their existence by these chivalrous exercises or an occasional foray into the neighbouring country, they suffered greatly from the want of military stores, food, clothing, and the most common necessaries of life. It seemed as if their master had abandoned them to their fate on this forlorn outpost, without a struggle in their behalf.2 How different from the parental care with which Isabella watched over the wel¬ fare of her soldiers in the long war of Granada ! The queen appears to have taken no part in the management of these wars, which, notwith¬ standing the number of her own immediate subjects embarked in them, she probably regarded, from the first, as appertaining to Aragon as. exclusively as the conquests in the New World did to Castile. Indeed, whatever degree of interest she may have felt in their success, the declining state of her health at this period would not have allowed her to take any part in the conduct of them. Gonsalvo was not wanting to himself in this trying emergency, and his, noble spirit seemed to rise as all outward and visible resources failed. He cheered his troops with promises of speedy relief, talking confidently of the supplies of grain he expected from Sicily and the men and money he was to receive from Spain and Venice. He contrived, too, says Giovio, that a report should get abroad that a ponderous coffer lying in his apart¬ ment was filled with gold, which he could draw upon in the last extremity. The old campaigners, indeed, according to the same authority, shook their heads at these and other agreeable fictions of their general with a very sceptical air. They derived some confirmation, however, from the arrival soon after of a Sicilian bark laden with corn, and another from Venice with various serviceable stores and wearing apparel, which Gonsalvo bought on 1 Brantome, CEuvres, torn, vi., Discours sur les Duels. D'Auton, Hist, ae J-* All ton, riist. XII-, part. 2, de J_»ouys Louys jvii-, chap. 27. Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., fol. n. Me¬ moires de Bayard, chap. 22, apud Petitot, Collection des Memoirs. Giovio, Vita; Illust. Virorum, p.
——
240. 1
—
—
According to Martyr, the besieged had been so
severely pressed by famine for some time before this that Gonsalvo entertained serious thoughts of em-
barking the whole of his little garrison on board thefleet and abandoning the place to the enemy graviter " Barlettte inclusos fame pesteque urgen aiunt. Vicina ipsoium omnia Galh occupant, et
.
nostras quotidie '•
1 n.agis ac magis premunt.larlettSj .1
-,.li«nnonrlo
ITALIAN WATS. his own credit and that of his principal officers and distributed gratuitously .among his destitute soldiers.1 At this time he received the unwelcome tidings that a small force which had been sent from Spain to his assistance, under Don Manuel de Benavides, and which had effected a junction with one much larger from Sicily under Hugo de Cardona, had been surprised by D'Aubigny near Terranova and totally defeated. (Dec. 25th, 1502.) This disaster was mllowed by the reduction of all Calabria, which the latter general, at the head of his French and Scottish gendarmerie, rode over from one extremity to the other without opposition.2 • The prospect now grew darker and darker around the little garrison of Barleta. The discomfiture of Benavides excluded hopes of relief in that direction. The gradual occupation of most of the strong places in Apulia by the duke of Nemours cut off all communication with the neighbouring country ; and a French fleet cruising in the Adriatic rendered the arrival of further stores and reinforcements extremely precarious. Gonsalvo, however, maintained the same unruffled cheerfulness as before, and endeavoured to infuse it into the hearts of others. He perfectly understood the character of his countrymen, knew all their resources, and tried to rouse every latent principle of honour, loyalty, pride, and national feeling ; and such was the authority which he acquired over their minds, and so deep the affection which he inspired, by the amenity of his manners and the generosity of his disposition, that not a murmur or symptom of insubordination escaped them during the wrhole of this long and painful siege. But neither the excellence of his troops, nor the resources of his own genius, would have been sufficient to extricate Gonsalvo from the difficulties of his situation, without the most flagrant errors on the part of his opponent. The Spanish general, who understood the character of the French commander perfectly well, lay patiently awaiting his opportunity, like a skilful fencer, ready to make a decisive thrust at the first vulnerable point that should be presented. Such an occasion at length offered itself early in the following year.3
(January 1503.) The French, no less weary than their adversaries of their long inaction. sallied out from Canosa, where the viceroy had established his head¬ quarters, and, crossing the Ofanto, marched up directly under the walls of Barleta, with the intention of drawing out the garrison from the " old den," as they called it, and deciding the quarrel in a pitched battle. The duke of Nemours, accordingly, having taken up his position, sent a trumpet into the place to defy the Great Captain to the encounter ; but the latter returned for answer that " he was accustomed to choose his own place and time for fighting, and would thank the French general to 1 Giovio, Vitae
Ulusi. Virorum, p. 242.
—Zurita,
Hist, del Rey Hernando, torn. i. lib. 5, cap.
4.—
T'ernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 167.— Guicciÿardini, Istoria, lib. 5, p. 283.
- Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 3, p. 294.— D'Auton,
—
Hist, de Louys XII., part. 2, chap. 22. Chrdnica del Gran Capitan, cap. 63 s Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., fol. n. Giovio, Vine Illust. Virorum, torn. i. p. 247.— Zurita, Hist, del Rey Hernando, torn. i. lib. 5, cap. 9.
—
RESOLUTION OF THE SEAN/ARES.
525 wait till his men found time to shoe their horses and burnish up their arms. At length, bTemours, after remaining some days and finding there was no chance of decoying his wily foe from his defences, broke up his camp and retired, satisfied with the empty honours of his gasconade. Ivo sooner had he faiily turned his back than Gonsalvo, whose soldiers had been lestrained with difficulty from sallying out on their insolent foe ordered the whole strength of his cavalry, under the command of Diego de Mendoza, flanked by two corps of infantry, to issue forth and pursue the French. Mendoza executed these orders so promptly that he brought up his horse, which were somewhat in advance of the foot, on the rear-guard of the French, before it had got many miles from Barleta. The latter instantly halted to receive the charge of the Spaniards, and, after a lively skirmish of no great duration, Mendoza retreated, followed by the incau¬ tious enemy, who, in consequence of their irregular and straggling march, were detached from the main body of their army. In the meantime, the advancing columns of the Spanish infantry, which had now come up with the retreating horse, unexpectedly closing on the enemy's flanks, threw them into some disorder, which became complete when the flying cavalry of the Spaniards, suddenly wheeling round in the rapid style of the Moorish tactics, charged them boldly in front. All was now confusion. Some made resistance, but most sought only to escape ; a few effected it, but the greater part of those who did not fall on the field were carried prisoners to Barleta, where Mendoza found the Great Captain with his whole army drawn up under the walls in order of battle, ready to support him in person if necessary. The whole affair passed so expeditiously that the viceroy, who, as has been said, conducted his retreat in a most dis¬ orderly manner, and in fact had already dispersed several battalions of his infantry to the different towns from which he had drawn them, knew nothing of the rencontre till his men were securely lodged within the walls of Barleta.1 The arrival of a Venetian trader, at this time, with a cargo of grain. brought temporary relief to the pressing necessities of the garrison." This was followed by the welcome intelligence of the total discomfiture of the French fleet under M. de Prejan by the Spanish admiral Lezcano, in an action off Otranto, which consequently left the seas open for the supplies daily expected from Sicily. Fortune seemed now in the giving vein ; for in a few days a convoy of seven transports from that island, show Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, pp. 243, 244.— with pride and a swell of exultation which deeply than Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., fol. xi, 12.—A dispute that this insult of the French cut moreGiovio, itas them. by inflicted injuries the arose, soon after this affair, between a French officer all Guicciardini, Istoria,
and some Italian gentlemen at Gonsalvo's table, in consequence of certain injurious reflections made by the former on the bravery of the Italian nation. The quarrel was settled by a combat a toutvalue between thirteen knights on each side, fought under the protection of the Great Captain, who took a lively interest in the success of his allies. It ter¬ minated in the discomfiture and capture of all the French. The tourney covers more pages in the Italian historians than the longest battle, and is told
Illust. Virorum, pp 244-247.— lib. 29, pp. 206-208.- Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, 111. pp. cap. 4.— Summonte, Hist, di Napoli, torn. supply was owing to the avarice of the 54i"Thisgeneral, Alegre, who having got possession
French to the of a magazine of corn in Foggia, sold it where reserving it, Venetian merchant, instead of army. own it was most needed, for his
524
ITALIAN WATS.
his own credit and that of his principal officers and distributed gratuitously .among his destitute soldiers.1 At this time he received the unwelcome tidings that a small force which had been sent from Spain to his assistance, under Don Manuel de Benavides, and which had effected a junction with one much larger from Sicily under Hugo de Cardona, had been surprised by D'Aubigny near Terranova and totally defeated. (Dec. 25th, 1502.) This disaster was followed by the reduction of all Calabria, which the latter general, at the head of his French and Scottish gendarmerie, rode over from one extremity to the other without opposition.2 • The prospect now grew darker and darker around the little garrison of Barleta. The discomfiture of Benavides excluded hopes of relief in that direction. The gradual occupation of most of the strong places in Apulia by the duke of Nemours cut off all communication with the neighbouring country ; and a French fleet cruising in the Adriatic rendered the arrival of further stores and reinforcements extremely precarious. Gonsalvo, however, maintained the same unruffled cheerfulness as before, and endeavoured to infuse it into the hearts of others. He perfectly understood the character of his countrymen, knew all their resources, and tried to rouse every latent principle of honour, loyalty, pride, and national feeling ; and such was the authority which he acquired over their minds, and so deep the affection which he inspired, by the amenity of his manners and the generosity ot his disposition, that not a murmur or symptom of insubordination escaped them during the whole of this long and painful siege. But neither the excellence of his troops, nor the resources of his own genius, would have been sufficient to extricate Gonsalvo from the difficulties of his situation, without the most flagrant errors on the part of his opponent. The Spanish general, who understood the character of the French commander perfectly well, lay patiently awaiting his opportunity, like a skilful fencer, ready to make a decisive thrust at the first vulnerable point that should be presented. Such an occasion at length offered itself early in the following year.3 (January 1503.) The French, no less weary than their adversaries of their long inaction. sallied out from Canosa, where the viceroy had established his head¬ quarters, and, crossing the Ofanto, marched up directly under the walls of Barleta, with the intention of drawing out the garrison from the " old den," as they called it, and deciding the quarrel in a pitched battle. The duke of Nemours, accordingly, having taken up his position, sent a trumpet into the place to defy the Great Captain to the encounter ; but the latter returned for answer that " he was accustomed to choose his own place and time for fighting, and would thank the French general to
—
1
Giovio, Vita: lllusl. Virorum, p. 242. Zurita, Hist, del Rey Hernando, torn. i. lib. 5, cap. 4.— Tlernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 167.— Guicci-ardini, Istoria, lib. 5, p. 283. " Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 5, p. 294. D'Auton
—
—
Hist, de Louys XII., part. 2, chap. 22. Chronica del Gran Capitan, cap. 63 3 Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., fol. 11. Giovio, Vine Must. Virorum, torn. i. p. 247.— Zurita, Hist, del Rey Hernando, torn. i. lib. 5, cap. 9.
—
RESOLUTION OF THE SEAN/ARES.
52,
wait till his men found time to shoe their horses and burnish up their arms." At length, Nemours, after remaining some days and finding there was no chance of decoying his wily foe from his defences, broke up his camp and retired, satisfied with the empty honours of his gasconade. No sooner had he fairly turned his back than Gonsalvo, whose soldiers had been lestrainLd with difficulty from sallying out on their insolent foe ordered the whole strength of his cavalry, under the command of Diego de Mendoza, flanked by two corps of infantry, to issue forth and pursue the French. Mendoza executed these orders so promptly that he brought up his horse, which were somewhat in advance of the foot, on the rear-guard of the French, before it had got many miles from Barleta. The latter instantly halted to receive the charge of the Spaniards, and, after a lively skirmish of no great duration, Mendoza retreated, followed by the incau¬ tious enemy, who, in consequence of their irregular and straggling march, were detached from the main body of their army. In the meantime, the advancing columns of the Spanish infantry, which had now come up with the retreating horse, unexpectedly closing on the enemy's flanks, threw them into some disorder, which became complete when the flying cavalry of the Spaniards, suddenly wheeling round in the rapid style of the Moorish tactics, charged them boldly in front. All was now confusion. Some made resistance, but most sought only to escape ; a few effected it, but the greater part of those who did not fall on the field were carried prisoners to Barleta, where Mendoza found the Great Captain with his whole army drawn up under the walls in order of battle, ready to support him in person if necessary. The whole affair passed so expeditiously that the viceroy, who, as has been said, conducted his retreat in a most dis¬ orderly manner, and in fact had already dispersed several battalions of his infantry to the different towns from which he had drawn them, knew nothing of the rencontre till his men were securely lodged within the walls of Barleta.1 The arrival of a Venetian trader, at this time, with a cargo of grain, brought temporary relief to the pressing necessities of the garrison.This was followed by the welcome intelligence of the total discomfiture of the French fleet under M. de Prdjan by the Spanish admiral Lezcano, in an action off Otranto, which consequently left the seas open for the supplies daily expected from Sicily. Fortune seemed now in the giving vein • for in a few days a convoy of seven transports from that island, Giovio, Vitae Must. Virorum, pp. 243, 244.— Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., fol. 11, 12.—A dispute arose, soon after this affair, between a French officer and some Italian gentlemen at Gonsalvo's table, in consequence of certain injurious reflections made
with pride and a swell of exultation which show t an that this insult of the French cut more deeply Vitas all the injuries inflicted by them. Giovio, Must. Virorum, pp 244-247. Guicciardini, Istoria, Napoli, lib. 29, pp. 206-208.- Giannone, Istoria di — Summonte, Hist, di Napoli, torn. 111. pp.
between thirteen knights on each side, fought under
supply was owing to the avarice of the 542~Thisgeneral, Alegre, who having got possession
.
—
by the former on the bravery of the Italian nation. cap. 4. The quarrel was settled by a combat d Voutvalue
the protection of the Great Captain, who took a lively interest in the success of his allies. It ter¬ minated in the discomfiture and capture of all the trench. The tourney covers more pages in the Italian historians than the longest battle, and is told
French
it to the
sold of a magazine of corn in Foggia, whereVenetian merchant, instead of reserving it, it was most needed, for his own army.
526
ITALIAN WARS.
laden with grain, meat, and other stores, came safe into Barleta, and supplied abundant means for recruiting the health and spirits of its famished inmates.1 Thus restored, the Spaniards began to look forward with eager confi¬ dence to the achievement of some new enterprise. The temerity of the viceroy soon afforded an opportunity. The people of Castellaneta, a town near Tarento, were driven by the insolent and licentious behaviour of the French garrison to betray the place into the hands of the Spaniards. The duke of Nemours, enraged at this defection, prepared to march at once with his whole force and take signal vengeance on the devoted little town ; and this, notwithstanding the remonstrances of his officers against a step which must inevitably expose the unprotected garrisons in the neighbourhood to the assault of their vigilant enemy in Barleta. The event justified these apprehensions.2 No sooner had Gonsalvo learned the departure of Nemours on a distant expedition than he resolved at once to make an attack on the town of Ruvo, about twelve miles distant, and defended by the brave La Palice with a corps of three hundred French lances and as many foot. With his usual promptness, the Spanish general quitted the walls of Barleta the same night on which he received the news (Feb. 22d, 1503), taking with him his whole effective force, amounting to about three thousand infantry and one thousand light and heavy armed horse. So few. indeed, remained to guard the city that he thought it prudent to take some of the principal inhabitants as hostages to insure its fidelity in his absence. At break of day the little army arrived before Ruvo. Gonsalvo immediately opened a lively cannonade on the old ramparts, which in less '
than four hours effected a considerable breach. He then led his men to the assault, taking charge himself of those who were to storm the breach, while another division, armed with ladders for scaling the walls, was in¬ trusted to the adventurous cavalier Diego de Paredes. The assailants experienced more resolute resistance than they had anticipated from the inconsiderable number of the garrison. La Palice, throwing himself into the breach with his iron band of dismounted gendarmes, drove back the Spaniards as often as they attempted to set foot on the broken ramparts ; while the Gascon archery showered down volleys of arrows thick as hail, from the battlements, on the exposed persons of the assailants. The latter, however, soon rallied under the eye of their general, and returned with fresh fury to the charge, until the over¬ whelming tide of numbers bore down all opposition, and they poured in through the breach and over the walls with irresistible fury. The brave little garrison were driven before them 3 still, however, occasionally making fight in the streets and houses. Their intrepid young commander, La 1 IVAuton, Hist, de Louys XII., part, i, chap. I
— Giovio.
72.— Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 254 Vitse Must. Virorum, p. 242.
)
Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 5, p. 206 Hist, de Louys XII., part. p. chap 21
*
0
— D'Autan,
RESOLUTION OF THE SPANIARDS.
527 Palice, retreated facing the enemy, who pressed thick and close upon him till, his further progress being arrested by a wall, he placed his back against it, and kept them at bay, making a wide circle around him with the deadly sweep ol his battle-axe. But the odds were too much for him; and at length, after repeated wounds, having been brought to the ground by a deep cut in the head, he was made prisoner ; not, however, before he had flung his sword far over the heads of the assailants, disdaining, in the true spirit of a knight-errant, to yield it to the rabble around him.1 All resistance was now at an end. The women of the place had fled, like so many frightened deer, to one of the principal churches ; and Gonsalvo, with more humanity than was usual in these barbarous wars, placed a guard over their persons, which effectually secured them from the insults of the soldiery. After a short time spent in gathering up the booty and securing his prisoners, the Spanish general, having achieved the object of his expedition, set out on his homeward march, and arrived without interruption at Barleta. The duke of Nemours had scarcely appeared before Castellaneta before he received tidings of the attack on Ruvo. He put himself, without losing a moment, at the head of his gendarmes, supported by the Swiss pikemen, hoping to reach the beleaguered town in time to raise the siege. Great was his astonishment, therefore, on arriving before it, to find no trace of an enemy, except the ensigns of Spain unfurled from the deserted battlements. Mortified and dejected, he made no further attempt to recover Castellaneta, but silently drew off to hide his chagrin within the walls of Canosa.2 Among the prisoners were several persons of distinguished rank. Gon¬ salvo treated them with his usual courtesy, and especially La Palice, whom he provided with his own surgeon and all the appliances for rendering his situation as comfortable as possible. For the common file, however, he showed no such sympathy, but condemned them all to serve in the Spanish admiral's galleys, where they continued to the close of the campaign. An unfortunate misunderstanding had long subsisted between the French and Spanish commanders respecting the ransom and exchange of prisoners ; and Gonsalvo was probably led to this severe measure, so different from his usual clemency, by an unwillingness to encumber himself with a super¬ fluous population in the besieged city.3 But, in truth, such a proceeding, however offensive to humanity, was not at all repugnant to the haughty 1 Giovio, Vita: Illust. Virorum, pp. 248, 249.— over them, which calls to mind the doughty feats ., ÿuicciardini, Istoria, p. 296. Bernaldez, Reyes of
—
Catdlicos, MS., cap. 175.— D'Auton, Hist, de Louys XII., part. 2, chap. 31.— Chrdnica del Gran Capi-
—
tan, cap. 72.
The gallant behaviour of La Palice, and indeed the whole siege of Ruvo, is told by
_
proVest knigÿ. u Both Paynim and the peers of Charlemagne.
.... '
—
gq
h: ...nro 2 Bernaldez, Reyes Cat<5 1 r p. "J • del Gran Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., fo . i worthy of the chivalrous pen of old Froissart. Capitan, cap. 72. de L y VTT •> nhi simra. H'-st. -,ere is an inexpressible charm imparted to the Auton, D f nu;ntana rench memoirs and chronicles of this ancient date, Giovio, Vitae Illust. A iroru , p. ÿ7 5 ot only from the picturesque character of the ] Espanoles celebres, torn. .ll-P- 7 • cap. .4. lib. 5. 'letails, but from a gentle tinge of romance shed ; del Rey Hernando, torn. 1.
Jean d'Auton in a truly heart-stirring tone, quite
-
1
_,,„c
_ ,r;L Hist!
_
ITALIAN WATS.
3*8
spirit of chivalry, which, reserving its courtesies exclusively for those of gentle blood and high degree, cared little for the inferior orders, whethe.' soldier or peasant, whom it abandoned without remorse to all the caprice and cruelties of military license. The capture of Ruvo was attended with important consequences to the Spaniards. Besides a valuable booty of clothes, jewels, and money, they brought back with them nearly a thousand horses, which furnished Gon salvo with the means of augmenting his cavalry, the small number o which had hitherto materially crippled his operations. He accordingly selected seven hundred of his best troops and mounted them on the French horses ; thus providing himself with a corps burning with zeal to approve itself worthy of the distinguished honour conferred on it.1 A few weeks after, the general received an important accession of strength by the arrival of two thousand German mercenaries, which Don Juan Manuel, the Spanish minister at the Austrian court, had been per¬ mitted to raise in the emperor's dominions. This event determined the Great Captain on a step which he had been some time meditating. The new levies placed him in a condition for assuming the offensive. His stock of provisions, moreover, already much reduced, would be obviously insufficient long to maintain his increased numbers. He resolved, there¬ fore, to sally out of the old walls of Barleta, and, availing himself of the high spirits in which the late successes had put his troops, to bring the enemy at once to battle.2
CHAPTER XII. ITALIAN WARS.
— NEGOTIATIONS WITH FRANCE.— VICTORY OF CERIGNOLA.
-SURRENDER OF NAPLES. I5°3-
—
—
—
Philip and Joanna visit Spain. Treaty of Lyons. The Great Captain refuses to comply with it.— Encamps before Cerignola.— Battle, and Rout of the French. —Triumphant Entry of Gonsalvo into Naples.
Birth of Charles V.
Before accompanying the Great Captain further in his warlike operations, it will be necessary to take a rapid glance at what was passing in the French and Spanish courts, where negotiations were in train for putting a stop to them altogether. The reader has been made acquainted in a preceding chapter with the marriage of the infanta Joanna, second daughter of the Catholic soveGitmo, Vitae Illust. Virorum, p. 249. I Zurita, Hist, del Rey Hernando, torn. i. lib. 5, cap. lGaribay, Compenclio, torn. n. lib. cap. 15.— j 16.—Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., fol. 19,
17.
-
VICTOR Y OF CERIGNOLA.
2Q
reigns, with the archduke Philip, son of the emperor Maximilian, and sovereign, in right of his mother, of the Low Countries. The first fruit of this marriage was the celebrated Charles the Fifth, born at Ghent, February 24th, 1500, whose birth was no sooner announced to Queen Isabella than she predicted that to this infant would one day descend the rich inheritance of the Spanish monarchy.1 The premature death of the heir-apparent, Prince Miguel, not long after, prepared the way for this event by devolving the succession on Joanna, Charles's mother. From that moment the sovereigns were pressing in their entreaties that the arch¬ duke and his wife would visit Spain, that they might receive the customary oaths of allegiance, and that the former might become acquainted with the character and institutions of his future subjects. The giddy young prince, however, thought too much of present pleasure to heed the call of ambition or duty, and suffered more than a year to glide away before he complied with the summons of his royal parents.2 In the latter part of 1501, Philip and Joanna, attended by a numerous suite of Flemish courtiers, set out on their journey, proposing to take their way through France. They were entertained with profuse magnificence and hospitality at the French court, where the politic attentions of Louis the Twelfth not only effaced the recollection of ancient injuries to the house of Burgundy,8 but left impressions of the most agreeable character on the mind of the young prince.4 After some weeks passed in a suc¬ cession of splendid fetes and amusements at Blois, where the archduke confirmed the treaty of Trent recently made between his father, the emperor, and the French king, stipulating the marriage of Louis's eldest daughter, the princess Claude, with Philip's son Charles, the royal pair
—
affianced from her infancy. This twofold insult, which sank deep intothe heart of Maximilian, seems to have made no impression on the volatile spirits son. " Sors cecidit super Mathiam," in allusion to the of 4hisMariana, Hist, de Espana, lib. 27, cap. ir.— circumstance of Charles being born on that saint's day ;* a day which, if we are to believe Garibay, St. Gelais describes the cordial reception of Philip the court at Blois, where he was by was fortunate to him through the whole course of and Joanna his life. Compendio, torn. it. lib. 19, cap. 9. probably present himself. The historian shows his 2 A effect produced on their young the of opinion letter from Joanna, in the collection of Senor own de Gayangos, shows much eagerness to vindicate minds by these flattering attentions, by remarking, si tres grand semblant d monstra leur herself and her husband, as far as may be, from any "Le roy suspicions of unwillingness to visit Spain, caused amour, que par noblesse et honestete de cceur tl les by their delay : Io no se que ninguno de mi casa obligeoit envers luy de leur en souvenir toute leur diga que pueden"retardar nuestra yda alia, y si lo vie." (Hist, de Louys XII., pp. 164, 165 ) dixese seria tambien castigado quanto nunca fue passing through Paris, Philip took his seat m the persona, y deseo tanto la yda alia que todos los parliament as peer of France, and subsequently did impydimientos 1ue se ysieren trabajare que quitar- homage to Louis XII. as his suzerain for his estates of inferiority not COn t0<ÿas m's fuerjas. " Carta al Secretario in Flanders ; an acknowledgment insist a at all palatable to the Spanish historians, who Almazan, Bruselas, Noviembre 4, 1500, MS. his Charles VIII., Louis's predecessor, had contrived with much satisfaction on the haughty refusal of to secure the hand of Anne of Bretagne, notwith¬ j wife, the archduchess, to take part in the ceremony. Carbajal, Zurita, Anales, torn. v. lib. 4, cap. 55 standing she was already married by proxy to Anales, MS., ano 1502. Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, Philip's father, the emperor Maximilian ; and this, i.-Dumont, Corps too, in contempt of his own engagements to Mar- torn. ii. rey 30, cap. 13, sec. Saret, the emperor's daughter, to whom he had been diplomatique, torn. iv. part. 1, p. 17.
*
Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 1500. Sandoval, Hist, del Emp. Carlos V., torn. i. p. 2. The queen expressed herself in the language of Scripture,
—
Jn
—
* [The day of Saint Matthias fell, not on the 24th, but °n Tuesday
1509 ! and it is possible that the latter date was really that of Charles
their
frrorÿPthere1be one,
rniHnieht 'see Cordnica having arisen from the fact that the event took place within an hour v„ 1'ehpe 1° llamado el Hermoso, escrita por Don Lorenzo de Padilla y dingida al bmp
published in the 8th volume of the Col. de Doc. indd. para la Hist, de Espana.—En.J
de
ÿ
53°
ITALIAN WARS.
resumed their journey towards Spain, which they entered by the way of Fontarabia, January 29th, 1502.1 Magnificent preparations had been made for their reception. The grand constable ot castile, the duke of Najara, and many other of the principal grandees, waited on the borders to receive them. Brilliant fetes and illuminations, and all the usual marks of public rejoicing, greeted their progress through the principal cities of the north ; and a pragmatica relaxing the simplicity, or rather severity, of the sumptuary laws of the period, so far as to allow the use of silks and various coloured apparel, shows the attention of the sovereigns to every circumstance, however trifling, which could affect the minds of the young princes agreeably, and diffuse an air of cheerfulness over the scene.2 Ferdinand and Isabella, who were occupied with the affairs of Andalusia at this period, no sooner heard of the arrival of Philip and Joanna than they hastened to the north. They reached Toledo towards the end of April, and in a few days the queen, who paid the usual penalties of royalty, in seeing her children, one after another, removed far from her into distant lands, had the satisfaction of again folding her beloved daughter in her arms. On the 22nd of the ensuing month the archduke and his wife received the usual oaths of fealty frcm the cortes, duly convoked for the purpose at Toledo.8 King Ferdinand, not long after, made a journey into Aragon, in which the queen's feeble health would not permit her to accompany him, in order to prepare the way for a similar recognition by the estates of that realm. We are not informed what arguments the sagacious monarch made use of to dispel the scruples formerly entertained by that indepen¬ dent body, on a similar application in behalf of his daughter, the late queen of Portugal.4 They were completely successful, however; and Philip and Joanna, having ascertained the favourable disposition of cortes, made their entrance in great state into the ancient city of Saragossa, in the month of October. On the 27th, having first made oath before the Justice to observe the laws and liberties of the realm, Joanna as future queen proprietor, and Philip as her husband, were solemnly recognized by
— —
1 Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 1502. Sandoval, Hist, del Emp. Carlos V., torn. i. p. s2 Zurita, Anales, torn. v. lib. 4, cap. 55. Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, torn. viii. p. 220. This extreme
ancient usage in the present instance, since Joanna had a son, to whom tne cortes might lawfully have tendered its oath of recognition ; for a female, al¬ though excluded from the throne in her own person, — simplicity of attire, in which Zurita discerns " the was regarded as competent to transmit the title modesty of the times," was enforced by laws the unimpaired to her male heirs. Blancas suggests no policy of which, whatever be thought of their moral explanation of the affair (Coronaciones, lib. 3, cap. import, may well be doubted in an economical view. 20, and Commentarii, pp. 274, 511), and Zurita Ishall have occasion to draw the reader's attention quietly dismisses it with the remark that "there to them hereafter. was some opposition raised, but the king had man¬ 3 The writ is dated at Llerena, March 8. It was aged it so discreetly beforehand that there was not extracted by Marina from the archives of Toledo, the same difficulty as formerly." (Hist, del Rey Teoria, torn. ii. p. 18. Hernando, torn. i. lib. 5, cap. 5.) It is curious to that the Aragonese writers, see with what effrontery the prothonotary of the * It is remarkable so inquisitive on all points touching the cortes, in the desire to varnish over the departure generally constitutional history of their country, should have from constitutional precedent, declares, in the open¬ omitted to notice the grounds on which the cortes ing address, "the princess Joanna, true and lawful thought proper to reverse its former decision in the heir to the crown, to whom, in default of male heirs, analogous case of the infanta Isabella. There seems the usage and law of the land require the oath of to have been even less reason for departing from allegiance." Coronaciones, ubi supra.
_
VICTOR Y OF CERIGNOLA.
53 x
the tour arms of Aragon as successors to the crown, in default of male issue ot K.ing Ferdinand. Ihe circumstance is memorable, as affording the first example of the parliamentary recognition of a female heir-apparent in Aragonese history.1 Amidst all the honours so liberally lavished on Philip, his bosom secretly swelled with discontent, fomented still further by his followers, who pressed him to hasten his return to Flanders, where the free and social manners of the people were much more congenial to their tastes than the reserve and stately ceremonial of the Spanish court. The young prince shared in these feelings, to which, indeed, the love of pleasure, and an instinctive aversion to anything like serious occupation, naturally disposed him. Ferdinand and Isabella saw with regret the frivolous disposition of their son-in-law, who, in the indulgence of selfish and effeminate ease, was willing to repose on others all the important duties of government. They beheld with mortification his indifference to Joanna, who could boast few personal attractions,2 and who cooled the affections of her husband by alternations of excessive fondness and irritable jealousy, for which last the levity of his conduct gave her too much occasion. Shortly after the ceremony at Saragossa, the archduke announced his intention of an immediate return to the Netherlands by the way of France. The sovereigns, astonished at this abrupt determination, used every argument to dissuade him from it. They represented the ill effects it might occasion the princess Joanna, then too far advanced in a state of pregnancy to accompany him. They pointed out the impropriety, as well as danger, of committing himself to the hands of the French king, with whom they were now at open war \ and they finally insisted on the import¬ ance of Philip's remaining long enough in the kingdom to become familiar with the usages and establish himself in the affections of the people over whom he would one day be called to reign. All these arguments were ineffectual ; the inflexible prince, turning a deaf ear alike to the entreaties of his unhappy wife and the remonstrances of the Aragonese cortes still in session, set out from Madrid, with the whole of his Flemish suite, in the month of December. He left Ferdinand and Isabella disgusted with the levity of his conduct, and the queen, in particular, filled with mournful solicitude for the welfare of the daughter with whom his destinies were united.3 Before his departure for France, Philip, anxious to re-establish harmony between that country and Spain, offered his services to his father-in-law in 1 Carbajal,
Anales, MS., ano iSoo.-Abarca,
satHiSTia:
only female who ever sat, in her own right, on the throne of Aragon, never received the homage <>f cortes as heir-apparent ; the custom not having been establish-d at that time, the middle of the twelfth century. (Zurita, Anales, torn. v. lib. 5, cap. 5-)
J
Blancas has
dtscfficd
rswyrsssfc-ssf <ÿ Joanna,
_
EpisLj ubi supra.—Zurita, Q Gomez, De Rebus ran 10 Anales, toim v ' lih to , ano 1502. Anales, tMS., Anales, Carbatal 44.-Carbajal, gestts, fol.
,
-
ITALIAN IVATS.
532
negotiating with Louis the Twelfth, if possible, a settlement ot the differ¬ ences respecting Naples. Ferdinand showed some reluctance at intrusting so delicate a commission to an envoy in whose discretion he placed small reliance, which was not augmented by the known partiality which Philip entertained for the French monarch.1 Before the archduke had crossed the frontier, however, he was overtaken by a Spanish ecclesiastic named Bernaldo Boyl, abbot of St Miguel de Cuxa, who brought full powers to Philip from the king for concluding a treaty with France, accompanied at the same time with private instructions of the most strict and limited nature. He was enjoined, moreover, to take no step without the advice of his reverend coadjutor, and to inform the Spanish court at once if different propositions were submitted from those contemplated by his
instructions.2 Thus fortified, the archduke Philip made his appearance at the French court in Lyons, where he was received by Louis with the same lively ex¬ pressions of regard as before. With these amiable dispositions, the nego¬ tiations were not long in resulting in a definitive treaty, arranged to the mutual satisfaction of the parties, though in violation of the private instruc¬ tions of the archduke. In the progress of the discussions, Ferdinand, according to the Spanish historians, received advices from his envoy, the abate Boyl, that Philip was transcending his commission ; in consequence of which the king sent an express to France, urging his son-in-law to adhere to the strict letter of his instructions. Before the messenger reached Lyons, however, the treaty was executed. Such is the Spanish account of this blind transaction.3
The treaty, which was signed at Lyons, April 5 th, 1503, was arranged on the basis of the marriage of Charles, the infant son of Philip, and Claude, princess of France ; a marriage which, settled by three several treaties, was destined never to take place. The royal infants were immediately to assume the titles of King and Queen of Naples, and Duke and Duchess of Calabria. Until the consummation of the marriage, the French division of the kingdom was to be placed under the adminis¬ tration of some suitable person named by Louis the Twelfth, and the Spanish under that of the archduke Philip, or some other deputy appointed by Ferdinand. All places unlawfully seized by either party were to be restored ; and, lastly, it was settled, with regard to the disputed province of the Capitanate, that the portion held by the French 1Such manifest partiality for the French court and manners was shown by Philip and his Flemish followers, that the Spaniards very generally believed the latter were in the pay of Louis XII. See Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fol. 44. Zurita, Anales, torn. v. lib. 5, cap. 23. Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 253. Lanuza, Historias, cap. 16. 2 Zurita, Anales, torn. v. lib. 5, cap. 10. Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, torn. ii. rey 30, cap. 13, sec. 2.— Garibay, Compendio, torn. ii. lib. 19, cap. 15.
—
,
St. Gelais, Hist, de Louys XII. pp. 170, 171.—Claude de Seyssel, Histoire de Louys XII.
cap. 23.
—
(Paris, 1615), p. 108. Abarca, Reyes de Aragon,
torn. ii. rey 30, cap. 13, sec. 3.—Mariana, Hist, de Espana, torn. ii. pp. 690, 691. Lanuza, Historias, torn. i. cap. 16. Some of the French historians speak — of two agents besides Philip employed in the ne¬ gotiations. Father Boyl is the only one named by — the Spanish writers as regularly commissioned for the purpose, although it is not improbable that D'Auton, Hist, de Louys XII., part. 1, chap. 32. Gralla, the resident minister at Louis's court, took I •' Zurita, Hist del Rey Hernando, torn. i. lib. 5, I part in the discussions.
—
—
—
—
—
VICTOR Y OF CER1GN0LA. jhould be governed by an agent of King
533
Louis, and the Spanish by the
irchduke Philip on behalf of Ferdinand.1 Such in substance was the treaty of Lyons ; a treaty which, while it seemed to consult the interests of Ferdinand by securing the throne of Naples eventually to his posterity, was in fact far more accommodated to those of Louis, by placing the immediate control of the Spanish moiety under a prince over whom that monarch held entire influence. It is impossible that so shrewd a statesman as Ferdinand could, from the mere consideration of advantages so remote and dependent on so pre¬ carious a contingency as the marriage of two infants then in their cradles, have seriously contemplated an arrangement which surrendered all the actual power into the hands of his rival ; and that, too, at the moment when his large armament, so long preparing for Calabria, had reached that country, and when the Great Captain, on the other quarter, had received such accessions of strength as enabled him to assume the offensive, on at least equal terms with the enemy. No misgivings on this head, however, appear to have entered the minds of the signers of the treaty, which was celebrated by the court at Lyons with every show of public rejoicing, and particularly with tourneys and tilts of reeds, in imitation of the Spanish chivalry. At the same time, the French king countermanded the embarkation of fresh troops on board a fleet equipping at the port of Genoa for Naples, and sent orders to his generals in Italy to desist from further operations. The archduke forwarded similar instructions to Gonsalvo, accompanied with a copy of the powers intrusted to him by Ferdinand. That prudent officer, how¬ ever, whether in obedience to previous directions from the king, as Spanish writers affirm, or on his own responsibility, from a very natural sense of duty, refused to comply with the ambassador's orders ; declaring " he knew no authority but that of his own sovereigns, and that he felt bound to prosecute the war with all his ability, till he received their commands to the contrary." 2
Indeed, the archduke's despatches arrived at the very time when the 1 See the treaty, apud Dumont, Corps diploma¬ himself bound to recognize the validity of any treaty which the other should sign, until first rati¬ tique, tom. iv. pp. 27—29. fied by himself. With these views, founded on principles now universally recognized in European diplomacy, it was natural to caution his general against any unauthorized interference on the part of
___
frL
rnch and nresumntUOUS cha-
534
ITALIAN WATS.
Spanish general, having strengthened himself by a reinforcement from the neighbouring garrison of Tarento under Pedro Navarro, was prepared to sally forth and try his fortune in battle with the enemy. Without further delay, he put his purpose into execution, and on Friday, the 28th of April 1503, marched out with his whole army from the ancient walls of Barleta ; a spot ever memorable in history as the scene of the extraordinary suffer¬ ings and indomitable constancy of the Spanish soldier. The road lay across the field of Cannae, where, seventeen centuries before, the pride of Rome had been humbled by the victorious arms of Hannibal,1 in a battle which, though fought with far greater numbers, was not so decisive in its consequences as that which the same scenes were to witness in a few hours. The coincidence is certainly singular ; and one might almost fancy that the actors in these fearful tragedies, unwilling to deface the fair haunts of civilization, had purposely sought a more fitting theatre in this obscure and sequestered region. The weather, although only at the latter end of April, was extremely sultry j the troops, notwithstanding Gonsalvo's orders on crossing the river Ofanto, the ancient Aufidus, had failed to supply themselves with sufficient water for the march ; parched with heat and dust, they were soon distressed by excessive thirst ; and as the burning rays of the noon¬ tide sun beat fiercely on their heads, many of them, especially those cased in heavy armour, sank down on the road, fainting with exhaustion and fatigue. Gonsalvo was seen in every quarter, administering to the neces¬ sities of his men, and striving to reanimate their drooping spirits. At length, to relieve them, he commanded that each trooper should take one of the infantry on his crupper, setting the example himself by mount¬ ing a German ensign behind him on his own horse. In this way the whole army arrived early in the afternoon before Cerignola, a small town on an eminence about sixteen miles from Barleta, where the nature of the ground afforded the Spanish general a favourable position for his camp. The sloping sides of the hill were covered with vineyards, and its base was protected by a ditch of considerable depth. Gonsalvo saw at once the advantages of the ground. His men were jaded by the march ; but there was no time to lose, as the French, who, on his departure from Barleta, had been drawn up under the walls of Canosa, were now rapidly advancing. All hands were put in requisition, therefore, for widening the trench, in which they planted sharp-pointed stakes ; while the earth which they excavated enabled them to throw up } Neither Polybius (lib. 3, sec. 24, et seq.) nor Livy (Hist., lib. 22, cap. 43-50), who give the circumstantial narratives of the battle, is precise enough to enable us to ascertain the exact spot in which it was fought. Strabe, in his topographical notices of this part of Italy, briefly alludes to "the affair of Cannae " (ra Trepl Kdwcts), without any description of the scene of action. (Geog., lib. 6, p. 285.) Cluverius fixes the site of the ancient Cannae on the right bank of the Aufidus,
most
the modern Ofanto, between three and four miles below Canusium, and notices the modern hamlet of nearly the same name, Canne, where common tradition recognizes the ruins of the ancient town. (Italia Antiqua, lib. 4, cap. 12, sec. 8.) D'Anville makes no difficulty in identifying these two Geo¬ graphic ancienne, abregee, torn. 1. p. 208), having laid down the ancient town in his maps in the direct line, and about midway, between Barleta and Cerignola.
VICTORY OF CERIGNOLA.
53S
a parapet of considerable height on the side next the town. On this rampart he mounted his little train of artillery, consisting of thirteen
guns
and behind it drew up his forces in order of battle.1 Before these movements were completed in the Spanish camp, the bright aims and banners of the French were seen glistening in the distance amid the tall fennel and cane-brakes with which the country was thickly covered. As soon as they had come in view of the Spanish encampment, they were brought to a halt, while a council of war was called to determine the expediency of giving battle that evening. The duke of Nemours would have deferred it till the following morning, as the day was already far spent, and allowed no time for reconnoitring the position of his enemy. But Ives d'Alfcgre, Chandieu, the commander of the Swiss, and some other officers, were for immediate action, representing the importance of not balking the impatience of the soldiers, who were all hot for the assault In the course of the debate, Alfcgre was so much heated as to throw out some rash taunts on the courage of the viceroy, which the latter would have avenged on the spot, had not his arm been arrested by Louis d'Ars. He had the weakness, however, to suffer them to change his cooler purpose, exclaiming, " We will fight to-night, then ; and perhaps those who vaunt the loudest will be found to trust more to their spurs than their swords ;" a prediction bitterly justified by the event.2 While this dispute was going on, Gonsalvo gained time for making the necessary disposition of his troops. In the centre he placed his German auxiliaries, armed with their long pikes, and on each wing the Spanish infantry under the command of Pedro Navarro, Diego de Paredes, Pizarro, and other illustrious captains. The defence of the artillery was com¬ mitted to the left wing. A considerable body of men-at-arms, including those recently equipped from the spoils of Ruvo, was drawn up within the intrenchments, in a quarter affording a convenient opening for a sally, and placed under the orders of Mendoza and Fabrizio Colonna, whose brother Prospero and Pedro de la Paz took charge of the light cavalry, which was posted without the lines to annoy the advance of the enemy, and act on any point, as occasion might require. Having completed his preparations, the Spanish general coolly waited the assault of the French. The duke of Nemours had marshalled his forces in a very different order. He distributed them into three battles or divisions, stationing his heavy horse, composing altogether, as Gonsalvo declared, the finest body of cavalry seen for many years in Italy," under the command of Louis d'Ars, on the right. The second and centre division, formed somethe troops, but to a mound and a ditch.
This
— had mode of securing a position, which Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 5, p. 303.— Chrdnica del ancientinto disuse, was revived after thls. according 1 Giovio, Vitse
Illust. Virorum, fol. 253-255.
Gran Capitan, cap. 75, 76.— Zurita, Anales, torn. v. fallen came into general practice J'b. 5, cap. 27.— Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. to the same author, and of the best captains the age. Ubi supra. 256. — Ulloa, Vita di Carlo v., fol. 16, 17. Giovio among 2 BrantCme, CEuvres, torn. u. disc. 8. Lrarnier, says that he had heard Fabrizio Colonna remark torn. v. PP- 3§5i more than once, in allusion to the intrenchments at Histoire de France (Paris, 1783-8), Uelais, the base of the hill, " that the victory was owing, 396.—Gaillard, Rivalitd, torn. iv. p. 244— p. XII., Louys Hist, z?1* de not to the skill of the commander nor the valour of
—
ITALIAN WARS.
536
what in the rear of the right, was made up of the Swiss and Gascon infantry, headed by the brave Chandieu ; and his left, consisting chiefly of his light cavalry, and drawn up, like the last, somewhat in the rear of the preceding, was intrusted to Alegre.1 It was within half an hour of sunset when the duke de Nemours gave orders for the attack, and, putting himself at the head of the gendarmerie on the right, spurred at full gallop against the Spanish left. The hostile armies were nearly equal, amounting to between six and seven thousand men each. The French were superior in the number and condition of their cavalry, rising to a third of their whole force ; while Gonsalvo's strength lay chiefly in his infantry, which had acquired a lesson of tactics under him that raised it to a level with the best in Europe. As the French advanced, the guns on the Spanish left poured a lively fire into their ranks, when, a spark accidentally communicating with the magazine of powder, the whole blew up with a tremendous explosion. The Spaniards were filled with consternation ; but Gonsalvo, converting the misfortune into a lucky omen, called out, " Courage, soldiers ! these are the beacon-lights of victory ! We have no need of our guns at close
quarters." In the meantime, the French van under Nemours, advancing rapidly under the dark clouds of smoke which rolled heavily over the field, were unexpectedly brought up by the deep trench, of whose existence they were unapprised. Some of the horse were precipitated into it, and all received a sudden check, until Nemours, finding it impossible to force the works in this quarter, rode along their front in search of some practicable passage. In doing this, he necessarily exposed his flank to the fatal aim of the Spanish arquebusiers. A shot from one of them took effect on the unfortunate young nobleman, and he fell, mortally wounded, from his saddle. At this juncture, the Swiss and Gascon infantry, briskly moving up to second the attack of the now disordered horse, arrived before the entrench¬ Undismayed by this formidable barrier, their commander, ments. Chandieu, made the most desperate attempts to force a passage ; but the loose earth freshly turned up afforded no hold to the feet, and his men were compelled to recoil from the dense array of German pikes which bristled over the summit of the breastwork. Chandieu, their leader, made every effort to rally and bring them back to the charge, but in the act of doing this was hit by a ball, which stretched him lifeless in the ditch ; his burnished arms, and the snow-white plumes above his helmet, making him a conspicuous mark for the enemy. All was now confusion. The Spanish arquebusiers, screened by their defences, poured a galling fire into the dense masses of the enemy, who were mingled together indiscriminately, horse and foot, while, the leaders 1
Chronica del Gran Capitan, cap. 76.—Giovio, Vita; Illust. Virorum, fol. S53-is<. -Ulloa' V ta di
Carlo V., fol. 17.
VICTOR Y OF CERIGNOLA. being down, no one seemed capable of bringing them to order. At this critical moment, Gonsalvo, whose eagle eye took in the operations of the whole field, ordered a general charge along the line ; and the Spaniards leaping their intrenchments, descended with the fury of an avalanche on their foes, whose wavering columns, completely broken by the violence of the shock, were seized with a panic, and fled, scarcely offering any resist¬ ance. Louis d'Ars, at the head of such of the men-at-arms as could follow him, went off" in one direction, and Ives d'Ategre, with his light cavalry, which had hardly come into action, in another ; thus fully verifying the ominous prediction of his commander. The slaughter fell most heavily on the Swiss and Gascon foot, whom the cavalry under Mendoza and Pedro de la Paz rode down and cut to pieces without sparing, till the shades of evening shielded them at length from their pitiless pursuers.1 Prospero Colonna pushed on to the French encampment, where he found the tables in the duke's tent spread for his evening repast, ot which the Italian general and his followers did not fail to make good account,— a trifling incident, that well illustrates the sudden reverses
of war. The Great Captain passed the night on the field of battle, which on the following morning presented a ghastly spectacle of the dying and the dead. More than three thousand French are computed by the best accounts to have fallen. The loss of the Spaniards, covered as they were by their defences, was inconsiderable.2 All the enemy's artillery, consist¬ ing of thirteen pieces, his baggage, and most of his colours, fell into their hands. Never was there a more complete victory, achieved too within the space of little more than an hour. The body of the unfortunate Nemours, which was recognised by one of his pages from the rings on the fingers, was found under a heap of slain, much disfigured. It appeared that he had received three several wounds, disproving, if need were, by his honourable death, the injurious taunts of Alhgre. Gonsalvo was affected even to tears at beholding the mutilated remains of his young and gallant adversary, who, whatever judgment might be formed of his capacity as a leader, was allowed to have all the qualities which belong to a true knight. With him perished the last scion of the illustrious house of Armagnac. Gonsolvo ordered his remains to be conveyed to Barleta, where they were r Chronica del Gran Capitan, cap. 75.— Gamier, tion, not readily accounted for, as he had undoubted Hist, de France, torn. v. pp. 356, 397- — Fleurange, access to the best means of information. The too well screened to sustain much Memoires, chap. 5, apud Petitot, Collection des Spaniards wereestimate makes it more than a hun¬ Memoires, torn. xvi.— Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, injury, and no and some considerably less- The odds
—
ubi sup. Guicciardini, Istoria, torn. i. pp. 303, 304. dred killed, impossible; as the St. Gelais, Hist, de Louys XII., pp. 171, I72-— are indeed startling, but notexposed by personal Spaniards were not much BrantSme, CEuvres, torn. ii. disc. 8. latter were thrown the until enemy the '- Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, fol. 255. — Gari- , collision with anything of bay, Compendio, torn. ii. lib. 19, cap. 15. Bernal- j into too much disorder to think and di?credez, Reyes Cat<51icos, MS., cap. 180.— Peter Martyr, escape. The more than usual confusion of the particulars Opus Epist., epist. 256. Fleurange, Memoires, 1 pancy in the various statements to the attributed be probably may chap. 5.— No account, that Iknow of, places the of this action and consequents imperfect French loss so low as 3000 ; Garibay raises it to lateness of theithour, fougnt. was which 45oo, and the French marechal de Fleurange rates light, in that ot the Swiss alone at sooo ; a round exaggera¬
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ITALIAN WATS.
538
laid in the cemetery of the convent of St. Francis, with all the honours due to his high station.1 The Spanish commander lost no time in following up his blow, well aware that it is quite as difficult to improve a victory as to win one. The French had rushed into battle with too much precipitation to agree on any plan of operations, or any point on which to rally in case of defeat. They accordingly scattered in different directions, and Pedro de la Paz was despatched in pursuit of Louis d'Ars, who threw himself into Venosa,2 where he kept the enemy at bay for many months longer. Paredes kept close on the scent of Al&gre, who, finding the gates shut against him wherever he passed, at length took shelter in Gaeta, on the extreme point of the Neapolitan territory. There he endeavoured to rally the scattered relics of the field of Cerignola, and to establish a strong position, from which the French, when strengthened by fresh supplies from home, might recom¬ mence operations for the recovery of the kingdom. The day after the battle of Cerignola the Spaniards received tidings of another victory, scarcely less important, gained over the French in Calabria, the preceding week.3 The army sent out under Portocarrero had reached that coast early in March ; but soon after its arrival its gallant commander fell ill and died.4 The dying general named Don Fernando de Andrada as his successor ; and this officer, combining his forces with those before in the country under Cardona and Benavides, encountered the French commander D'Aubigny in a pitched battle, not far from Seminara, on Friday the 21st of ApriL It was near the same spot on which the latter had twice beaten the Spaniards. But the star of France was on the wane ; and the gallant old officer had the mortification to see his little corps of veterans completely routed after a sharp engagement of less than an hour, while he himself was retrieved with difficulty from the hands of the enemy by the valour of his Scottish guard.5 The Great Captain and his army, highly elated with the news of this fortunate event, which annihilated the French power in Calabria, began their march on Naples, Fabrizio Colonna having been first detached into the Abruzzi to receive the submission of the people in that quarter. The
—— — —
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1 Quintana, Espanoles celebres, torn. i. p. cap. 8, 24. Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, fol. 250. 277. Giovio, Vita: Illust. Virorum, fol. 255. Ferreras, The reader may perhaps recollect the distinguished Hist. d'Espagne, torn. viii. pp. 248, 249. Ulloa, part played in the Moorish war by Luis Portocar¬ Vita di Carlo V., fol. 17. Bernaldez, Reyes Cat<5- rero, lord of Palma. He was of noble Italian origin, licos, MS., cap. 181. being descended from the ancient Genoese house oi 2 It was to this same city of Venusium that the Boccanegra. The Great Captain and he had mar¬ rash and unfortunate Varro made his retreat, some ried sisters ; and this connection probably recom¬ seventeen centuries before, from the bloody field of mended him, as much as his military talents, to the Cannae. Liv. Hist., lib. 22, cap. 49. Calabrian command, which it was highly important 3 Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, fol. 255. Peter should be intrusted to one who would maintain a Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 256.—Chrdnica del Gran good understanding with the commander-in-chief ; Capitan, cap. 80.—-Friday, says Guicciardini, allud¬ a thing not easy to secure among the haughty nobil¬ ing no doubt to Columbus's discoveries as well as ity of Castile. these two victories, was observed to be a lucky day 5 Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, fol. 255- —Peter to the Spaniards. (Istoria, torn. i. p. 304.) Accord¬ Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 256.—Chrdnica del GraF ing to Gaillard, it was regarded from this time by Capitan, cap. 80. Varillas, Louis XII. de Histoire the French with more superstitious dread than ever. (Paris, 1688), torn. i. pp. 289-292. See the account Rivalite, torn. iv. p. 340. of D'Aubigny's victories at Part IIin Seminara, 4 Zurita, Hist, del Rey Hernando, torn. i. lib. 5, chapters 2 and 11, of this History.
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—
VICTORY OF CER1GN0LA.
539
tidings of the victory had spread tar and wide ; and as Gonsalvo's army advanced, they beheld the ensigns of Aragon floating from the battlements of the towns upon their route, while the inhabitants came forth to greet the conqueror, eager to testify their devotion to the Spanish cause. The army halted at Benevento ; and the general sent his summons to the city of Naples, inviting it in the most courteous terms to resume its ancient allegiance to the legitimate branch of Aragon. It was hardly to be expected that the allegiance of a people who had so long seen their country set up as a mere stake for political gamesters should sit very closely upon them, or that they should care to peril their lives on the transfer of a crown which had shifted on the heads of half-a-dozen pro¬ prietors in as many successive years.1 With the same ductile enthusiasm, therefore, with which they had greeted the accession of Charles the Eighth and of Louis the Twelfth, they now welcomed the restoration of the ancient dynasty of Aragon ; and deputies from the principal nobility and citizens waited on the Great Captain at Acerra, where they tendered him the keys of the city and requested the confirmation of their rights and privileges. Gonsalvo, having promised this in the name of his royal master, on the following morning, the 14th of May 1503, made his entrance in great state into the capital, leaving his army without the walls. He was escorted by the military of the city under a royal canopy borne by the deputies. The streets were strewed with flowers, the edifices decorated with appro¬ priate emblems and devices, and wreathed with banners emblazoned with the united arms of Aragon and Naples. As he passed along, the city rang with the acclamations of countless multitudes who thronged the streets ; while every window and housetop was filled with spectators, eager to behold the man who, with scarcely any other resources than those of his own genius, had so long defied, and at length completely foiled, the power of France. On the following day a deputation of the nobility and people waited on the Great Captain at his quarters, and tendered him the usual oaths of allegiance for his master, King Ferdinand, whose accession finally closed the series of revolutions which had so long agitated this unhappy country.2 The city of Naples was commanded by two strong fortresses still held by the French, which, being well victualled and supplied with ammunition, showed no disposition to surrender. The Great Captain determined, therefore, to reserve a small corps for their reduction, while he sent for¬ ward the main body of his army to besiege Gaeta. But the Spanish infantry refused to march until the heavy arrears, suffered to accumulate
'
Since 1494 the sceptre of Naples had passed into the hands of no less than seven princes, Ferdinand h, Alfonso II., Ferdinand II., Charles VIII., Fre¬ III., Louis XII., Ferdinand the Catholic. jy private estate in the kingdom in the same time had probably changed masters half so often. Gon¬ salvo notices this revolutionary spirit of the Nea¬ politans in this emphatic language : Regno tan " tremoloso que la paz que al mundo sosiega a el lo
drick °
& altera. "-Carta al Rey Cathdlico de Napoles, 31 . de Octubre, 15051 MS. Giannone, 2 Guicciardmi, Istoria, torn. 1. p. 304Hist. Istoria di Napoli, lib. 29, cap.ÿ.-Ferreraÿ Hist, di d'Espagne, torn. vm. p. 250.— Summonte, Napoli, torn, iii- PP- SS*> A53;"7 ÿ Camn Capi del Gran d' Italia, torn. xiv. p. 4°;— ChrdnicaV., fol. 18. di Carlo tan, cap. 81—Ulloa, Vita
'?™
54°
ITALIAN WARS.
through the negligence of the government, were discharged ; and Gonsalvo, afraid of awakening the mutinous spirit which he had once found it so difficult to quell, was obliged to content himself with sending forward his cavalry and German levies, and to permit the infantry to take up its quarters in the capital, under strict orders to respect the persons and property of the citizens. He now lost no time in pressing the siege of the French fortresses, whose impregnable situation might have derided the efforts of the most formidable enemy in the ancient state of military science. But the reduction of these places was intrusted to Pedro Navarro, the celebrated engineer, whose improvements in the art of mining have gained him the popular reputation of being its inventor, and who displayed such unprece¬ dented skill on this occasion as makes it a memorable epoch in the annals of war.1 Under his directions, the small tower of St. Vincenzo having been first reduced by a furious cannonade, a mine was run under the outer defences of the great fortress called Castel Nuovo. On the 21st of May the mine was sprung, a passage was opened over the prostrate ramparts, and the assailants, rushing in with Gonsalvo and Navarro at their head, before the garrison had time to secure the drawbridge, applied their ladders to the walls of the castle and succeeded in carrying the place by escalade after a desperate struggle, in which the greater part of the French were slaughtered. An immense booty was found in the castle. The Angevin party had made it a place of deposit for their most valuable effects, gold, jewels, plate, and other treasures, which, together with its well-stored magazines of grain and ammunition, became the indiscriminate spoil of the victors. As some of these, however, complained of not getting their share of the plunder, Gonsalvo, giving full scope in the exultation of the moment to military license, called out, gayly, " Make amends for it, then, by what you can find in my quarters ! " The words were not uttered to deaf ears. The mob of soldiery rushed to the splendid palace of the Angevin prince of Salerno, then occupied by the Great Captain, and in a moment its sumptuous furniture, paintings, and other costly decorations, together with the contents of its generous cellar, were seized and appro¬ priated without ceremony by the invaders, who thus indemnified them¬ selves at their general's expense for the remissness of the government. After some weeks of protracted operations, the remaining fortress, Castel d'Uovo, as it was called, opened its gates to Navarro ; and a French fleet, coming into the harbour, had the mortification to find itself fired on from the walls of the place it was intended to relieve. Before this event, Gonsalvo, having obtained funds from Spain for paying 1
I"he Italians, in their admiration of Pedro Nav- • scarcely less, since he was the first who discovarro, caused medals to be struck on which the : ered the extensive and formidable uses to which invention of mines was ascribed to him. (Marini. j they might be applied in the science of deDaru, Hist, de Vemse, torn. m. p. 351.) 1 struction. See Part I. chapter note 2. of p. 265, 13, Mthough not actually the inventor, his glory was ! this History.
INVASION OF SPA IN
off his men, quitted the capital and directed his march on Gaeta. The important results of his victories were now fully disclosed. D'Aubigny with the wreck of the forces escaped from Seminara, had The two Abruzzi, the Capitanate, all the Basilicate, except Venosa, still held by Louis d'Ars, and indeed every considerable place in the kingdom had tendered its submission, with the exception of Gaeta. therefore, to his aid Andrada, Navarro, and his other officers, the Great Captain resolved to concentrate all his strength on this point, designing to press the siege, and thus exterminate at a blow the feeble remains of the French power in Italy. The enterprise was attended with more difficulty than he had anticipated.1
surrendered'
Summoning,'
CHAPTER XIII. NEGOTIATIONS WITH FRANCE.
— UNSUCCESSFUL INVASION OF
SPAIN.—TRUCE.
ÿOS-
Ferdinand's Policy examined. — First Symptoms of Joanna's Insanity.— Isabella's Distress and Fortitude.— Efforts of France.— Siege of Salsas. — Isabella's Levies.— Ferdinand's Successes.— Reflections on the Campaign.
The events noticed in the preceding chapter glided away as rapidly as the flitting phantoms of a dream. Scarcely had Louis the Twelfth received the unwelcome intelligence of Gonsalvo de Cordova's refusal to obey the mandate of the archduke Philip, before he was astounded with the tidings of the victory of Cerignola, the march on Naples, and the surrender of that capital, as well as of the greater part of the kingdom, following one another in breathless succession. It seemed as if the very means on which the French king had so confidently relied for calming the tempest had been the signal for awakening all its fury and bringing it on his devoted head. Mortified and incensed at being made the dupe of what he deemed a perfidious policy, he demanded an explanation of the archduke, who was still in France. The latter, vehemently protesting his own innocence, felt, or affected to feel, so sensibly the ridiculous and, as it appeared, dishonourable part played by him in the transaction, that he was thrown into a severe illness, which confined him to his bed. Zurita, Hist, del Rey Hernando, torn. i. lib. 5, Sp- 3°> 31, 34, 3S-— Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum,
255-257- — Garibay, Compendio, torn. ii. lib. 19, ÿpP' II-"rS.ernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 3- Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 6, pp. 307—309.—
• > _5ummonte, Ulloa, Vita di Carlo ., • P',' Istone Florentine, to • 554 Chronica del torn. PNapoli, Hist, di Sismondi, Gran Capitan, cap. 4, > 7, 9 1' ' pp. Hist, dies Franjais, to
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INSANITY OF JOANNA.
542
Without delay he wrote to the Spanish court in terms of bitter expostulation, urging the immediate ratification of the treaty made pursuant to its orders, and an indemnification to France for its subsequent violation. Such is the account given by the French historians, The Spanish writers, on the other hand, say that, before the news of Gonsalvo's successes reached Spain, King Ferdinand refused to confirm the treaty sent him by his son-in-law, until it had undergone certain material modifications. If the Spanish monarch hesitated to approve the treaty in the doubtful posture of his affairs, he was little likely to do so when he had the game entirely in his own hands.2 He postponed an answer to Philip's application, willing probably to gain time fox the Great Captain to strengthen himself firmly in his recent acquisitions. At length, after a considerable interval, he despatched an embassy to France, announcing his final determination never to ratify a treaty made in contempt of his orders and so clearly detrimental to his interests. He endeavoured, however, to gain further time by spinning out the negotiation, holding up for this purpose the prospect of an ultimate accommodation, and suggesting the re-establishment of his kins¬ man, the unfortunate Frederick, on the Neapolitan throne, as the best means of effecting it The artifice, however, was too gross even for the credulous Louis, who peremptorily demanded of the ambassadors the instant and absolute ratification of the treaty, and, on their declaring it was beyond their powers, ordered them at once to leave his court. "I had rather," said he, "suffer the loss of a kingdom, which may perhaps be retrieved, than the loss of honour, which never can." A noble sentiment, but falling with no particular grace from the lips of Louis the Twelfth.3 The whole of this blind transaction is stated in so irreconcilable a manner by the historians of the different nations that it is extremely difficult to draw anything like a probable narrative out of them. The Spanish writers assert that the public commission of the archduke was controlled by strict private instructions ;4 while the French, on the other hand, are either silent as to the latter, or represent them to have been as broad and unlimited as his credentials. 5 If this be true, the negotia¬ tion must be admitted to exhibit, on the part of Ferdinand, as gross an
ior several days.1
1 St. Gelias seems willing to accept Philip's state¬ ment, and to consider the whole affair of the nego¬ tiation as "one of Ferdinand's old tricks," "l'an-
writers, as Gaiilard and Varillas, are perpetually contrasting the bonne foi of Louis XII. with the michanceti of Ferdinand, whose secret intentions, cienne cautele de celuy qui en sgavoit bien faire even, are quoted in evidence of his hypocrisy, while d'autres." Hist, de Louys XII., p. 172. the most objectionable acts of his rival seem to be Idem, ubi supra.—Gamier, Hist, de France, abundantly compensated by fine sentiment some torn. v. p. 410.'— Gaillard, Rivalitd, torn. iv. pp. 238, like that in the text. 4 Zurita, Hist, 239. Zurita, Anales, torn. v. lib. 5, cap. 23. Garidel Rey torn. i. lib. 5i Hernando, bay, Compendio, torn. ii. lib. 19, cap. 15. Ferreras cap. 10. Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, torn. ii. rey 30, Hist. d'Espagne, torn. viii. p. 233. cap. 13, sec. 2. Mariana, Hist, de Espana, torn. u. 3 Gamier, Hist, de France, torn. v. p. 388. pp. 690, 691. et al. Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, torn. ii. rey 30, cap. 5 Seyssel, Hist, 13 de Louys XII.,p. 61.—St. Gelais, sec. 3.—Guieciardini, Istoria, torn. i. p. 300, ed.' Hist, de Louys XII., p. 17x. Gaillard, Rivalitÿ, x' t-5-~ Zurita, Anales, torn. v. lib. 5, cap. 9. It is torn. iv. p. 239. Gamier, Hist, de France, torn. v. p amusing to see with what industry certain French i 387. D Auton, Hist, de Louys XII. part. 2, chap. 32-
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INVASION OF SPAIN.
541 political of jugglery and example falsehood as ever disgraced the annals ot diplomacy.1
But it is altogether improbable, as I have before remarked, that a monarch so astute and habitually cautious should have intrusted unlimited authority, in so delicate a business, to a person whose discretion, inde¬ pendently of his known partiality for the French monarch, he held so lightly. It is much more likely that he limited, as is often done, the full powers committed to him in public, by private instructions of the most explicit character ; and that the archduke was betrayed by his own vanity, and perhaps ambition (for the treaty threw the immediate power into his own hands), into arrangements unwarranted by the tenor of these instructions.2 If this were the case, the propriety of Ferdinand's conduct in refusing the ratification depends on the question how far a sovereign is bound by the acts of a plenipotentiary who departs from his private instructions. Formerly, the question would seem to have been unsettled. Indeed, some of the most respectable writers on public law in the beginning of the seventeenth century maintain that such a departure would not justify the prince in withholding his ratification ; deciding thus, no doubt, on princi¬ ples of natural equity, which appear to require that a principal should be held responsible for the acts of an agent, coming within the scope of his powers, though at variance with his secret orders, with which the other contracting party can have no acquaintance or concern.3 The inconvenience, however, arising from adopting a principle in poli¬ tical negotiations ÿwhich must necessarily place the destinies of a whole nation in the hands of a single individual, rash or incompetent, it may be, without the power of interference or supervision on the part of the govern¬ ment, has led to a different conclusion in practice ; and it is now generally admitted, by European writers, not merely that the exchange of ratifica¬ tions is essential to the validity of a treaty, but that a government is not bound to ratify the doings of a minister who has transcended his private
instructions.4 Varillas regards Philip's mission to France as a no consequence, and indeed altogether preposterous, coup de nialtri on the part of Ferdinand, who considering the attitude assumed by the nation at thereby rid himself of a dangerous rival at home, that very time for maintaining its claims by the likely to contest his succession to Castile on sword ; and he dismisses the subject with a re¬ Isabella's death, while he employed that rival in flection that seems to rest the merits of the case
outwitting Louis XII. by a treaty which he meant to disavow. (Politique de Ferdinand, liv. i, pp. 146-150.) The first of these imputations is suffi¬ ciently disproved by the fact that Philip quitted
more on might than right: " Exitus, qui judex est rerum aeternus, loquatur. Nostri regno potiuntur
majori ex parte." (Opus Epist., epist. 257.) This reserve of Martyr might be construed unfavourably Pa'n in opposition to the pressing remonstrances for Ferdinand, were it not for the freedom with of the king, queen, and cortes, and to the general which he usually criticises whatever appears really disgust of the whole nation, as is repeatedly stated objectionable to him in the measures of the govern~y Gomez, Martyr, and other contemporaries. ment. ., 3 Grotius, De Jure Belli et Pacis, lib. 2, cap. 11, 4 he second will be difficult to refute and still harder to prove, as it rests on a man's secret inten¬ sec. 12; lib. 3. cap. 22, sec. 4.— Gentihs, De Jure tions, known only to himself. Such are the flimsy Belli, lib. 3, cap. 14, apud Bynkershoek, Quaest. . cobwebs of which this political dreamer's theories Turis Publici, lib. 2, cap. 7. Bynkershoek, Quaest. Juris Publici, lib. 2, cap. chateaux en Espagne. chap. 1—Vattel, Droit - Martyr,trub' whose copious correspondence furnishes 7.—Mably, Droit publique, the most valuable commentary, unquestionably, on \ des Gens, liv. 2, chap. 12.—Martens, Law of the proceedings of this reign, is provokingly reserved i Nations, trans., book 2, chap. 1.— Bynkershoek writers, has discussed tne 111 regard to this interesting matter. He contents j the earliest of these amplitude, perspicuity, and iam r,ln?seh with remarking, in one of his letters, that question with an by any who have followed him. the Spaniards derided Philip's negotiations as of ness unsurpassed
.
.
ar?
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*
INSANITY OF JOANNA.
544
But whatever be thought of Ferdinand's good faith in the early stages of this business, there is no doubt that at a later period, when his position was changed by the success of his arms in Italy, he sought only to amuse the French court with a show of negotiation, in order, as we have already intimated, to paralyze its operations and gain time for securing his con¬ quests. The French writers inveigh loudly against this crafty and treacher¬ ous policy ; and Louis the Twelfth gave vent to his own indignation in no very measured terms. But however we may now regard it, it was in per¬ fect accordance with the trickish spirit of the age ; and the French king resigned all right of rebuking his antagonist on this score, when he con¬ descended to become a party with him to the infamous partition treaty, and still more when he so grossly violated it. He had voluntarily engaged with his Spanish rival in the game, and it afforded no good ground of complaint that he was the least adroit of the two. While Ferdinand was thus triumphant in his schemes of foreign policy and conquest, his domestic life was clouded with the deepest anxiety, in consequence of the declining health of the queen, and the eccentric con¬ duct of his daughter, the infanta Joanna. We have already seen the extravagant fondness with which that princess, notwithstanding her occa¬ sional sallies of jealousy, doted on her young and handsome husband.1 From the hour of his departure she had been plunged in the deepest dejection, sitting day and night with her eyes fixed on the ground, in uninterrupted silence, or broken only by occasional expressions of petulant discontent. She refused all consolations, thinking only of rejoining her absent lord, and " equally regardless," says Martyr, who was then at the court, "of herself, her future subjects, and her afflicted parents."2 On the ioth of March 1503 she was delivered of her second son, who received the baptismal name of Ferdinand, in compliment to his grand¬ father.3 No change, however, took place in the mind of the unfortunate mother, who from this time was wholly occupied with the project of returning to Flanders. An invitation to that effect, which she received from her husband in the month of November, determined her to under¬ take the journey, at all hazards, notwithstanding the affectionate remon¬ strances of the queen, who represented the impracticability of traversing France, agitated as it then was with all the bustle of warlike preparation, or of venturing by sea at this inclement and stormy season. One evening, while her mother was absent at Segovia, Joanna, whose residence was at Medina del Campo, left her apartment in the castle, and sallied out, though in dishabille, without announcing her purpose to any 1 Philip is known in history by the title of " The Handsome." implying that he was, at least, quite as remarkable for his personal qualities as his mental. 2 Opus Epist., epist. Ferreras, Hist. 253. d'Espagne, torn. viii. pp. 235, 238. Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fol. 44. 3 Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 1503. Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fol. 45, 46. He was born at Alcalde Henares. Ximenes availed himself of this circum¬
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stance to obtain from Isabella a permanent exemp¬
tion from taxes for his favourite city, which his princely patronage was fast raising up to contest the palm of literary precedence with Salamanca, the ancient " Athens of Spain." The citizens of the lace long preserved, and still preserve, for aught know, the cradle of the royal infant, in token of their gratitude. Robles, Vida ed Ximenez, p. 127.
INVASION OF SPAIN
545
of her attendants. They followed, however, and used every argument and entreaty to prevail on her to return, at least for the night, but without effect ; until the bishop of Burgos, who had charge of her household, finding every other means ineffectual, was compelled to close the castle gates in order to prevent her departure. The princess, thus thwarted in her purpose, gave way to the most violent indignation. She menaced the attendants with her utmost ven¬ geance for their disobedience, and, taking her station on the barrier, she obstinately refused to re-enter the castle, or even to put on any additional clothing, but remained cold and shivering on the spot till the following morning. The good bishop, sorely embarrassed by the dilemma to which he found himself reduced, of offending the queen by complying with the mad humour of the princess, or the latter still more by resisting it, despatched an express in all haste to Isabella, acquainting her with the affair, and begging instructions how to proceed. The queen, who was staying, as has been said, at Segovia, about forty miles distant, alarmed at the intelligence, sent the king's cousin, the admiral Henriquez, together with the archbishop of Toledo, at once to Medina, and prepared to follow as fast as the feeble state of her health would permit. The efforts of these eminent persons, however, were not much more successful than those of the bishop. All they could obtain from Joanna was that she would retire to a miserable kitchen in the neighbourhood during the night ; while she persisted in taking her station on the barrier as soon as it was light, and continued there, immovable as a statue, the whole day. In this deplorable state she was found by the queen on her arrival ; and it was not without great difficulty that the latter, with all the deference habitually paid her by her daughter, succeeded in persuading her to return to her own apartments in the castle. These were the first unequivocal symptoms of that hereditary taint of insanity which had clouded the latter days of Isabella's mother, and which, with a few brief intervals, was to shed a deeper gloom over the long-protracted existence of her unfortunate daughter.1 The conviction of this sad infirmity of the princess gave a shock to the unhappy mother, scarcely less than that which she had formerly been called to endure in the death of her children. The sorrows, over which time had had so little power, were opened afresh by a calamity which naturally filled her with the most gloomy forebodings for the fate of her people, whose welfare was to be committed to such incompetent nands. 1nese domestic griefs were still turther swelled at this time by the death of two of her ancient friends and counsellors, Juan Chacon, adelantado of Murcia,2 and Gutierre de Cardenas, grand commander of Leon.3 They 1 Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 268.— Zurita, riist del uei Key Rey Hernando,1 torn. p 56.— torn 1. i. lib. 5, 56. 5 5' cap. , , r>„ -e • fol. 46. Sestis, .Rebus 2<?% de bondad," mirror 0/ virtue, as . Espejo
Gomf
7
tj
of coniador mayor, which he filled for many years,
an ~r. r' mm to enabled him — ducats , year, without unihmit imputation on his honesty. a enabled
acquire «ii immense estate, 50,000 to atquut
.,.,0,
muutation
2. Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 2, dial.that of his 3 The name of this cavalier, as well as He was always much of St. master grand Cardenas, egarded by the sovereigns, de and the lucrative post cousin, Alonso 2 M ÿ
vle"P
styles this cavalier.
546
INSANITY OF JOANNA.
had attached themselves to Isabella in the early part of her life, when her fortunes were still under a cloud ; and they afterwards reaped the requital of their services in such ample honours and emoluments as royal gratitude could bestow, and in the full enjoyment of her confidence, to which their steady devotion to her interests well entitled them.1 But neither the domestic troubles which pressed so heavily on Isabella's heart, nor the rapidly declining state of her own health, had power to blunt the energies of her mind, or lessen the vigilance with which she watched over the interests of her people. A remarkable proof of this was given in the autumn of the present year, 1503, when the country was menaced with an invasion from France. The whole French nation had shared the indignation of Louis the Twelfth at the mortifying result of his enterprise against Naples ; and it answered his call for supplies so promptly and liberally that in a few months after the defeat of Cerignola he was able to resume operations on a more formidable scale than France had witnessed for centuries. Three large armies were raised ; one to retrieve affairs in Italy, a second to penetrate into Spain by the way of Fontarabia, and a third to cross into Roussillon and get possession of the strong post of Salsas, the key of the mountain-passes in that quarter. Two fleets were also equipped in the ports of Genoa and Marseilles, the latter of which was to support the invasion of Roussillon by a descent on the coast of Catalonia. These various corps were intended to act in concert, and thus, by one grand, simultaneous movement, Spain was to be assailed on three several points of her territory. The results did not correspond with the magnificence of
the apparatus.2 The army destined to march on Fontarabia was placed under the com¬ mand of Alan d'Albret, father of the king of Navarre, along the frontiers of whose dominions its route necessarily lay. Ferdinand had assured himself of the favourable dispositions of this prince, the situation of whose kingdom, more than its strength, made his friendship important ; and the sire d'Albret, whether from a direct understanding with the Spanish monarch, or fearful of the consequences which might result to his son from the hostility of the latter, detained the forces intrusted to him so long among the bleak and barren fastnesses of the mountains that at James, has become familiar to us in the Granadine war. If Don Gutierre made a less brilliant figure than the latter, he acquired, by means of his inti¬ macy with the sovereigns and his personal qualities, as great weight in the royal councils as any subject in the kingdom. " Nothing of any importance," says Oviedo, "was done without his advice." He was raised to the important posts of comendador de Leon and contador mayor, which last, in the words of the same author, "made its possessor a second king over the public treasury." He left large estates, and more than five thousand vassals. His eldest son was created duke of Maqueda. Quincuagenas, MS., bat. i, quinc. 2, dial. 1. Col. de Ced., torn. v. no. 182.
—
1 Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 255.— Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fol. 45. For some further account of these individuals, see Part I., chapter 14, p. 276, note. Martyr thus panegyrizes the queen's fortitude under her accumulated sorrows : " Sentit, licet constantissima sit, et supra fceminam prudens, has alapas fortunse ssevientis regina, ita concussa fluetibus undique, veluti vasta rupes, maris in medio." Opus Epist., loc. cit. " Gamier, Hist, de France, torn. v. pp. 405, 406.
—
—
EePeras> Hist. d'Espagne, torn. viii. pp. 235-238. Guicciardini, Istoria, torn. i. pp. 300, 301.— Memoires de la Tremoille, chap. 19, apud Petitot, Col¬ lection des Memoires, torn. xiv.
—
INVASION' OF SPAIN.
547 length, exhausted by fatigue and want of food, the army melted away without even reaching the enemy's borders.1 The force directed against Roussillon was of a more formidable character. It was commanded by the mardchal de Rieux, a brave and experienced officer, though much broken by age and bodily infirmities. It amounted to more than twenty thousand men. Its strength, however, lay chiefly in its numbers. It was, with the exception of a few thousand lansquenets under William de la Marck,2 made up of the arribre-ban of the kingdom and the undisciplined militia from the great towns of Languedoc. With this numerous array the French marshal entered Roussillon without opposition, and sat down before Salsas on the 16th of September 1503. The old castle of Salsas, which had been carried without much difficulty by the French in the preceding war, had been put in a defensible con¬ dition at the commencement of the present, under the superintendence of Pedro Navarro, although the repairs were not yet wholly completed. Ferdinand, on the approach of the enemy, had thrown a thousand picked men into the place, which was well victualled and provided for a siege ; while a corps of six thousand was placed under his cousin, Don Frederick de Toledo, duke of Alva, with orders to take up a position in the neigh¬ bourhood, where he might watch the movements of the enemy, and annoy him as far as possible by cutting off his supplies.3 Ferdinand, in the meanwhile, lost no time in enforcing levies throughout the kingdom, with which he might advance to the relief of the beleaguered fortress. While thus occupied, he received such accounts of the queen's indisposition as induced him to quit Aragon, where he then was, and hasten by rapid journeys to Castile. The accounts were probably exaggerated ; he found no cause for immediate alarm on his arrival, and Isabella, ever ready to sacrifice her own inclinations to the public weal, persuaded him to return to the scene of operations, where his presence at this juncture was so important Forgetting her illness, she made the most unwearied efforts for assembling troops without delay to support her husband. The grand constable of Castile was commissioned to raise levies through every part of the kingdom, and the principal nobility flocked in with their retainers from the farthest provinces, all eager to obey the call of their beloved mistress. Thus strengthened, Ferdinand, whose head¬ quarters were established at Gerona, saw himself in less than a month in Aleson, Annales, de Navarra, torn. v. pp. 1101I2, The king of Navarre promised to oppose the passage of the French, if attempted, through his dominions, and, in order to obviate any distrust on the part of Ferdinand, sent his daughter Margaret to
more familiar to us now in the pages of romance some than of history,—who perished ignominiously in ngnt,
twenty years before this period, in 1484,
not
at
but by the hands of the common executioner 11. p. Utrecht. Duclos, Hist, de Louis XI., torn. reside at the court of Castile, as a pledge for his Real, Gonzalo Ayora, Capitan de la Guardia "delity. Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, torn. viii. p. 1794), carta Cartas al Rey, Don Fernando (Madrid, a35de Navarra, torn. v. pp. 112, Younger brother of Robert, third duke of Bouil¬ o p. 407v. torn. France, Hist, de -Gamier, lon. (D'Auton, Hist- de Louys XII., part. 2, pp. torn. v.. lib. 5, cap. S'' '?3i 186.) The reader will not confound him with Zurita Anaies, cap. 13, sec rey 30, 11. torn. Aragon, •is namesake, the famous "boar of Ardennes," Reyes de
3??
-Aleson, /nnales
?ia
—
Tcc r'r
548
INSANITY OF JOANNA.
possession of a force which, including the supplies of Aragon, amounted to ten or twelve thousand horse and three or four times that number of foot. He no longer delayed his march, and about the middle of October put his army in motion, proposing to effect a junction with the duke of Alva, then lying before Perpignan, at a few leagues' distance from Salsas.1 Isabella, who was at Segovia, was made acquainted by regular expresses with every movement of the army. She no sooner learned its departure from Gerona than she was filled with disquietude at the prospect of a speedy encounter with the enemy, whose defeat, whatever glory it might reflect on her own arms, could be purchased only at the expense of Chris¬ tian blood. She wrote in earnest terms to her husband, requesting him not to drive his enemies to despair by closing up their retreat to their own land, but to leave vengeance to Him to whom alone it belonged. She passed her days, together with her whole household, in fasting and con¬ tinual prayer, and, in the fervour of her pious zeal, personally visited the several religious houses of the city, distributing alms among their holy inmates, and imploring them humbly to supplicate the Almighty to avert the impending calamity.2 The prayers of the devout queen and her court found favour with Heaven.3 King Ferdinand reached Perpignan on the 19th of October ; and on that same night the French marshal, finding himself unequal to the rencontre with the combined forces of Spain, broke up his camp and, setting fire to his tents, began his retreat towards the frontier, having consumed nearly six weeks since first opening trenches. Ferdinand pressed close on his flying enemy, whose rear sustained some annoyance from the Spanish ginetes in its passage through the defiles of the sierras. The retreat, however, was conducted in too good order to allow any material loss to be inflicted on the French, who succeeded at length in sheltering themselves under the cannon of Narbonne, up to which place they were pursued by their victorious foe. Several places on the frontier, as Leocate, Palme, Sigean, Roquefort, and others, were abandoned to the Spaniards, who pillaged them of whatever was worth carrying off ; without any violence, however, to the persons of the inhabitants, whom, as a Christian population, if we are to believe Martyr, Ferdinand refused even to make prisoners.4
—
1 Gonzalo Ayora, Cartas, cap. 9. Zurita, Anales, ubi supra.— Bernaldez, Reyes Cat<51icos, MS., cap. 197, 198.— Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 1503. San¬ doval, Hist, del £mp. Carlos V., torn. i. p. 8.— Col. de Cedulas, torn. i. no. 97 The most authentic account of the siege of Salsas is to be found in the correspondence of Gonzalo Ayora, dated in the Spanish camp. This individual, equally eminent in letters and arms, filled the dissimilar posts of cap. tain of the royal guard and historiographer of the crown. He served in the army at this time, and was present at all its operations. Pref. ad Cartas de Ayora ; and Nic. Antonio, Bibliotheca Nova, torn.
—
—
vein. He concludes one of his letters with praying, no doubt most sincerely, that the Almighty would
"
be pleased to infuse less benevolence into the hearts
of the sovereigns, and incite them to chastise and
humble the proud French, and strip them of their ill-gotten possessions, which, however repugnant to their own godly inclinations, would tend greatly to replenish their coffers, as well as those of their faithful and loving subjects." See this graceless petition in his Cartas, carta 9, p. 66. 3 " Exaudivit igitur sanctae reginae religiosorumque ac virginum preces summus Altitonans." (Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 263.) The i. p. 551. learned Theban borrows an epithet more familiar Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 263. The to Greek and Roman than to Christian ears. * Peter loyal captain, Ayora, shows little of this Christian * Zurita, Hist, del Rey Hernando, torn. i. lib. 5.
—
INVASION OF SPAIN.
549 The Spanish monarch made no attempt to retain these acquisitions, but. having dismantled some of the towns which offered most returned loaded with the spoils of victory to his own dominions. " Had he been as good a general as he was a statesman," says a Spanish historian, " he might have penetrated to the centre of France." 1 Ferdi¬ nand, however, was too prudent to attempt conquests which could only be maintained, if maintained at all, at an infinite expense of blood and treasure. He had sufficiently vindicated his honour by meeting his foe so promptly and driving him triumphantly over the border; and he preferred, like a cautious prince, not to risk all he had gained by attempting more, but to employ his present successes as a vantage-ground for entering on negotiation, in which at all times he placed more reliance than on the sword. In this his good star still further favoured him. The armada equipped at so much cost by the French king at Marseilles had no sooner put to sea than it was assailed by furious tempests, and so far crippled that it was obliged to return to port without even effecting a descent on the Spanish
resistance,'
coast.
These accumulated disasters so disheartened Louis the Twelfth that he consented to enter into negotiations for a suspension of hostilities ; and an armistice was finally arranged, through the mediation of his pensioner, Frederick, ex-king of Naples, between the hostile monarchs. It extended only to their hereditary dominions ; Italy and the circumjacent seas being still left open as a common arena, on which the rival parties might meet and settle their respective titles by the sword. This truce, first concluded for five months, was subsequently prolonged to three years. It gave Fer¬ dinand, what he most needed, leisure and means to provide for the security of his Italian possessions, on which the dark storm of war was soon to burst with tenfold fury.2 The unfortunate Frederick, who had been drawn from his obscurity to take part in these negotiations, died in the following year. It is singular
—
1 Aleson, Annales de Navarra, torn. v. p. 113-— cap. 54. Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, torn. ii. rey 30, caP- 13, sec. 11. Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. Oviedo, who was present in this campaign, seems to Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 1;503. Bernaldez, have been of the same opinion. At least he says, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 198. Garnier, Hist, de " If the king had pursued vigorously, not a French¬ trance, torn. v. pp. 408, 409. Gonzalo Ayora, man would have lived to carry back the tidings of Cartas, carta 11. Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., defeat to his own land." If we are to believe him, dial, de Deza. Peter Martyr seems to have shared Ferdinand desisted from the pursuit at the earnest none of Isabella's scruples in regard to bringing the entreaty of Bishop Deza, his confessor. Quincuage¬ enemy to battle. On the contrary, he indulges in nas, MS. 2 Zurita, Anales, torn. v. lib. 5, cap. 55.—Abarca, a most querulous strain of sarcasm against the sec. 11. Catholic king for his remissness in this particular : Reyes de Aragon, torn. ii. rey 30, cap. 13, Lanuza, epist. 264.— Quare elucescente die moniti nostri de Gallorum —Peter Martyr, Opus Epist.,Garibay, Compendio, discessu ad eos, at sero, concurrerunt. Rex Per- Historias, torn. i. cap. 17. Machiavelh, Legazione piniani agebat, ad millia torn. ii. lib. 19, cap. 16— passuum sex non brevia, prima as uti nosti. Propterea sero id a Roma, let. 27.— Mons. Vanllas notices actum, venit concitato demangeaison cursu, at sero. Ad hostes itur, at sero. Cernunt the weak side of Louis XII. "une travaille flit il dont "ostium acies, at sero, at a longe. Distabant jam de faire la paix h contretemps, de tnuliaria ciroiter duo. Ergo sero Phryges sapuerunt. durant toute sa vie." (Politique ' Cujus hac culpa, tu scrutator aliunde ; mea est, si i p. 148.) A statesman shrewder than Varilias, best key to t his the perhaps, furnishes, nescis. Maximam dedit ea dies, qua est, si nescis, De Retz, plieni ue foibles gens calendaruni Novembrium sexta, Hispanis ignomi- policy, in the remark, "Les mam, et aliquando jacturam illis pariet collachry- jamais quand ils le doivent. manaam." Letter to the cardinal of Santa Cruz, «PlSt. 202.
—
—
— —
——
—
—
-
ÿ«rdlna
ÿ
55°
INSANITY OF JOANNA.
that the last act of his political life should have been to mediate a peace between the dominions of two monarchs who had united to strip him of his own. The results of this campaign were as honourable to Spain as they were disastrous and humiliating to Louis the Twelfth, who had seen his arms baffled at every point, and all his mighty apparatus of fleets and armies dissolve, as if by enchantment, in less time than had been occupied in preparing it The immediate success of Spain may no doubt be ascribed, in a considerable degree, to the improved organization and thorough dis¬ cipline introduced by the sovereigns into the national militia at the close of the Moorish war, without which it would have been scarcely possible to concentrate so promptly on a distant point such large masses of men, all well equipped and trained for active service. So soon was the nation called to feel the effect of these wise provisions. But the results of the campaign are, after all, less worthy of notice as indicating the resources of the country than as evidence of a pervading patriotic feeling, which could alone make these resources available. Instead of the narrow local jealousies which had so long estranged the people of the separate provinces, and more especially those of the rival states of Aragon and Castile, from one another, there had been gradually raised up a common national sentiment, like that knitting together the constituent parts of one great commonwealth. At the first alarm of invasion on the frontier of Aragon, the whole extent of the sister kingdom, from the green valleys of the Guadalquivir up to the rocky fastnesses of the Asturias, responded to the call, as to that of a common country, sending forth, as we have seen, its swarms of warriors, to repel the foe and roll back the tide of war upon his own land. What a contrast did all this present to the cold and parsimonious hand with which the nation, thirty years before, dealt out its supplies to King John the Second, Ferdinand's father, when he was left to cope single-handed with the whole power of France, in this very quarter of Roussillon ! Such was the consequence of the glorious union, which brought together the petty and hitherto discordant tribes of the Peninsula under the same rule, and, by creating common interests and an harmonious principle of action, was silently preparing them for con¬ stituting one great nation,— one and indivisible, as intended by nature.
Those who have not themselves had occasion to pursue historical inquiries will scarcely imagine on what loose grounds the greater part of the narrative is to be built. With the exception of a few leading outlines, there is such a mass of inconsistency and contradiction in the details, even of contemporaries, that it seems almost as hope¬ less to seize the true aspect of any particular age as it would be to transfer to the canvas a faithful likeness of an individual from a description simply of his prominent
features. Much of the difficulty might seem to be removed, now that we are on the luminous and beaten track of Italian history ; but, in fact, the vision is rather dazzled than assisted
INVASION OF SPAIN.
55i
by the numerous cross-lights thrown oyer the path, and the infinitely various points of view from which every object is contemplated. Besides the local and party prejudices which we had to encounter in the contemporary Spanish historians, we have now a host of national prejudices, not less unfavourable to truth ; while the remoteness of the scene of action necessarily begets a thousand additional inaccuracies in the gossiping and credulous chroniclers of France and Spain. The mode in which public negotiations were conducted at this period interposes still further embarrassments in our search after truth. They were regarded as the personal concerns of the sovereign, in which the nation at large had no right to interfere. They were settled, like the rest of his private affairs, under his own eye, without the parti¬ cipation of any other branch of the government. They were shrouded, therefore, in an impenetrable secrecy, which permitted such results only to emerge into light as suited the monarch. Even these results cannot be relied on as furnishing the true key to the intentions of the parties. The science of the cabinet, as then practised, authorized such a system of artifice and shameless duplicity as greatly impairs the credit of those official documents which we are accustomed to regard as the surest foundations of history. The only records which we can receive with full confidence are the private corres pondence of contemporaries, which, from its very nature, is exempt from most of tht restraints and affectations incident more or less to every work destined for the public eye. Such communications,, indeed, come like the voice of departed years ; and when, as in Martyr's case, they proceed from one whose acuteness is combined with singular opportunities for observation, they are of inestimable value. Instead of exposing to us only the results, they lay open the interior workings of the machinery, and we enter into all the shifting doubts, passions, and purposes which agitate the minds of the actors. Unfortunately, the chain of correspondence here, as in similar cases, when not originally designed for historical uses, necessarily suffers from occasional breaks and interruptions. The scattered gleams which are thrown over the most prominent points, however, shed so strong a light as materially to aid us in groping our way through the darker and mor perplexed passages of the story. The obscurity which hangs over the period has not been dispelled by those modern writers who, like Varillas, in his well-known work, Politique de Ferdinand le Catholique, affect to treat the subject philosophically, paying less attention to facts than to their causes and consequences. These ingenious persons, seldom willing to take things as they find them, seem to think that truth is only to be reached by delving deep below the surface. In this search after more profound causes of action, they reject whatever is natural and obvious. They are inexhaustible in conjectures and fine-spun conclusions, inferring quite as much from what is not said or done as from what is. In short, they put the reader as completely in possession of their hero's thoughts on all occasions as any professed romance-writer would venture to do. All this may be very agreeable, and to persons of easy faith very satisfactory ; but it is not history, and may well remind us of the astonishment somewhere expressed by Cardinal de Retz at the assurance of those who, at a distance from the scene of action, pretended to lay open all the secret springs of policy, of which he himself, though a principal party, was ignorant. No prince, on the whole, has suffered more from these unwarrantable lrber ties t ran Ferdinand the Catholic. His reputation for shrewd policy suggests a ready key to puts whatever is mysterious and otherwise inexplicable in his government , while it anc su 1 e writers like Gaillard and Varillas constantly on the scent after the most secret y t sources of action, as if there were always somerhing more to be detecte cone human of rules '.. meets the eye. Instead of judging him by the general y 1 thing is referred to deep-laid stratagem ; no allowance is made for t le 01 s ing forces, the passions and casualties of life ; every action procee us ' wary calculation that regulates the moves upon a chessboai , an , historica evi consummate artifice is built up, not only unsupported by
7
ITALIAN WARS.
5s2
manifest contradiction to the principles of our nature. The part of our subject embraced in the present chapter has long been debatable ground between the French and Spanish historians ; and the obscurity which hangs over it has furnished an ample range for speculation to the class of writers above alluded to, which they have not failed to improve.
CHAPTER XIV. ITALIAN WARS.
—CONDITION
OF ITALY.
— FRENCH AND SPANISH
ARMIES ON THE GARIGLIANO.
I5°3.
—
Melancholy State of Italy.— Great Preparations of Louis. Gonsalvo repulsed before Gaeta. Armies on the Garigliano. Bloody passage of the Bridge. Anxious Expec¬ tation of Italy. Critical Situation of the Spaniards. Gonsalvo's Resolution.— Heroism of Paredes and Bayard.
—
—
—
—
—
We must now turn our eyes towards Italy, where the sounds of war, which had lately died away, were again heard in wilder dissonance than ever. Our attention, hitherto, has been too exclusively directed to mere military manoeuvres to allow us to dwell much on the condition of this unhappy land. The dreary progress of our story, over fields of blood and battle, might naturally dispose the imagination to lay the scene of action in some rude and savage age ; an age, at best, of feudal heroism, when the energies of the soul could be roused only by the fierce din of war. Far otherwise, however : the tents of the hostile armies were now pitched in the bosom of the most lovely and cultivated regions of the globe ; in¬ habited by a people who had carried the various arts of policy and social life to a degree of excellence elsewhere unknown ; whose natural resources had been augmented by all the appliances of ingenuity and industry ; whose cities were crowded with magnificent and costly works of public utility ; into whose ports every wind that blew wafted the rich freights of distant climes ; whose thousand hills were covered to their very tops with the golden labours of the husbandman ; and whose intellectual development showed itself not only in a liberal scholarship far outstripping that of their contemporaries, but in works of imagination, and of elegant art more particularly, which rivalled the best days of antiquity. The period before us, indeed, the commencement of the sixteenth century, was that of their meridian splendour, when Italian genius, breaking through the cloud which had temporarily obscured its early dawn, shone out in full effulgence ; for we are now touching on the age of Machiavelli, Ariosto, and Michael Angelo, —the golden age of Leo the Tenth. It is impossible, even at this distance of time, to contemplate without
ARMIES ON THE GAR1GLIAN0.
553
feelings of ssdncss the fate ot such a country, thus suddenly converted into an arena for the bloody exhibitions of the gladiators of Europe ; to behold her trodden under foot by the very nations on whom she had freely poured the light of civilization ; to see the fierce soldiery of Europe, from the Danube to the Tagus, sweeping like an army of locusts over her fields, defiling her pleasant places, and raising the shout of battle or of brutal triumph under the shadow of those monuments of genius which have been the delight and despair of succeeding ages. It was the old story of the Goths and Vandals acted over again. Those more refined arts of the cabinet on which the Italians were accustomed to rely, much more than on the sword, in their disputes with one another, were of no avail against these rude invaders, whose strong arm easily broke through the subtile webs of policy which entangled the movements of less formid¬ able adversaries. It was the triumph of brute force over civilization, one of the most humiliating lessons by which Providence has seen fit to rebuke the pride of human intellect.1 The fate of Italy inculcates a most important lesson. With all this outward show of prosperity, her political institutions had gradually lost the vital principle which could alone give them stability or real value. The forms of freedom, indeed, in most instances, had sunk under the usurpation of some aspiring chief. Everywhere patriotism was lost in the most intense selfishness. Moral principle was at as low an ebb in private as in public life. The hands which shed their liberal patronage over genius and learning were too often red with blood ; the courtly precincts which seemed the favourite haunt of the Muses were too often the Epicu¬ rean stye of brutish sensuality ; while the head of the church itself, whose station, exalted over that of every worldly potentate, should have raised him at least above their grosser vices, was sunk in the foulest corruptions that debase poor human nature. Was it surprising, then, that the tree, thus cankered at heart, with all the goodly show of blossoms on its branches, should have fallen before the blast which now descended m such pitiless fury from the mountains ? Had there been an invigorating national feeling, any common principle of coalition, among the Italian states,— had they, in short, been true to themselves,— they possessed abundant resources in their wealth, talent, and superior science, to have shielded their soil from violation. Unfortun¬ ately, while the other European states had been augmenting their strength incalculably by the consolidation of their scattered fragments into one
—
O pria si cara al ciel del mondo parte, Che l'acqua eigne, e '1 sasso orrido serra ; O lieta sopra ogn' altra e dolce terra, Che '1 auperbo Appennin segna e diparte ; Che val omai, se '1 buon popol di Marte Ti lascio del mar donna e de la terra? Le genti a te gia serve, or ti fan guerra, E pongon man ne le tue treccie sparte. Lasso ! ne manca de' tuoi figli ancora, Chi le piu strane a te chiamando insiem"
La spada sua nel tuo del corpo adopre. Or son queste simili a 1 antich °Pr®. • O pur cosl pietate e Dio s' onora Ahi secol duro, ahi traiignatp seme. Bembo, Rime, Son. ioo. ÿ
to » othar This exquisite little lvric, inferior subjec : S.nce< ne which had appeared on the same composed by Hemjo 44 Italia mia " of Petrarch, wastreating. at the period of which we are
554
ITALIAN WARS.
whole, those of Italy, in the absence of some great central point round which to rally, had grown more and more confirmed in their original dis¬ union. Thus, without concert in action, and destitute of the vivifying impulse of patriotic sentiment, they were delivered up to be the spoil and mockery of nations whom in their proud language they still despised as barbarians ; an impressive example of the impotence of human genius, and of the instability of human institutions, however excellent in them¬ selves, when unsustained by public and private virtue.1 The great powers who had now entered the lists created entirely new interests in Italy, which broke up the old political combinations. The conquest of Milan enabled France to assume a decided control over the affairs of the country. Her recent reverses in Naples, however, had greatly loosened this authority ; although Florence and other neighbouring states, which lay under her colossal shadow, still remained true to her. Venice, with her usual crafty policy, kept aloof, maintaining a position of neutrality between the belligerents, each of whom made the most pressing efforts to secure so powerful an ally. She had, however, long since enter¬ tained a deep distrust of her French neighbour ; and although she would enter into no public engagements, she gave the Spanish minister every assurance of her friendly disposition towards his government.2 She inti¬ mated this still more unequivocally by the supplies she had allowed her citizens to carry into Barleta during the late campaign, and by other indirect aid of a similar nature during the present ; for all which she was one day to be called to a heavy reckoning by her enemies. The disposition of the papal court towards the French monarch was still less favourable ; and it took no pains to conceal this after his reverses in Naples. Soon after the defeat of Cerignola, it entered into correspond¬ ence with Gonsalvo de Cordova ; and although Alexander the Sixth refused to break openly with France and sign a treaty with the Spanish sovereigns, he pledged himself to do so on the reduction of Gaeta. In the meantime, he freely allowed the Great Captain to raise such levies as he could in Rome, before the very eyes of the French ambassador. So little had the immense concessions of Louis, including those of principle and honour, availed to secure the fidelity of this treacherous ally.3 With the emperor Maximilian, notwithstanding repeated treaties, he 1 The philosophic Machiavelli discerned the true causes of the calamities, in the corruptions of his country ; which he has exposed, with more than his usual boldness and bitterness of sarcasm, in the seventh book of his " Arte deila Guerra." 2 Lorenzo Suarez de la Vega filled the post of minister to the republic during the whole of the war. His long continuance in the office at so criti¬ cal a period, under so vigilant a sovereign as Fer¬
dinand, is sufficient warrant for his ability. Peter Martyr, while he admits his talents, makes some objections to his appointment, on the ground of his want of scholarship : " Nec placet quod hunc elegeritis hac tempestate. Maluissem namque virum, qui Latinam calleret, vel saltern intelligeret,linguam; hie tantum suam patriam vernaculam novit ; prudentem esse alias, atque inter ignaros literarum
satis esse gnarum, Rex ijise mihi testatus est. Cupissem tamen ego, quae dixi." (See the letter tc the Catholic queen. Opus Epist., epist. 246.) The objections have weight, undoubtedly, Latin being the common medium of diplomatic intercourse at that time. Martyr, who on his return through V enice from his Egyptian mission took charge for the time of the interests of Spain, might probably have been prevailed on to assume the difficulties of a diplomatic station there himself. See also Part II., chapter 11, note 1, p. 518, of this History. 3 Zurita, Hist, del Rey Plernando, torn. i. lib. 5, cap. 38, 48. -Bembo, Istoria Viniziana, torn. iii. lib. 6.— Daru, Hist, de Venise, torn. iii. p. 347. Guicciardini, Istoria, torn. i. lib. 6, p. 311, ed. 1645. Buonaccorsi, Diario, pp. 77, 81.
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ARMIES ON THE GA R1GLIAN0.
555
was on scarcely better terms. That prince was connected with Spain by the matrimonial alliances of his family, and no less averse to France from personal feeling, which, with the majority of minds, operates more power¬ fully than motives of state policy. He had, moreover, always regarded the occupation ot Alilan by the latter as an infringement, in some measure, of his imperial rights. The Spanish government, availing itself of these
feelings, endeavoured through its minister, Don Juan Manuel, to stimulate Maximilian to the invasion of Lombardy. As the emperor, however, demanded, as usual, a liberal subsidy for carrying on the war, King Fer¬ dinand, who was seldom incommoded by a superfluity of funds, preferred reserving them for his own enterprises to hazarding them on the Quixotic schemes of his ally. But although the negotiations were attended with no result, the amicable dispositions of the Austrian government were evinced by the permission given to its subjects to serve under the banners of Gonsalvo, where indeed, as we have already seen, they formed some of the best troops.1 But, while Louis the Twelfth drew so little assistance from abroad, the heartiness with which the whole French people entered into his feelings at this crisis made him nearly independent of it, and, in an incredibly short space of time, placed him in a condition for resuming operations on a far more formidable scale than before. The preceding failures in Italy he attributed in a great degree to an overweening confidence in the superi¬ ority of his own troops, and his neglect to support them with the necessary reinforcements and supplies. He now provided against this by remitting large sums to Rome, and establishing ample magazines of grain and military stores there, under the direction of commissaries, for the mainten¬ ance of the army. He equipped without loss of time a large armament at Genoa, under the marquis of Saluzzo, for the relief of Gaeta, still block¬ aded by the Spaniards. He obtained a small supply of men from his Italian allies, and subsidized a corps of eight thousand Swiss, the strength of his infantry ; while the remainder of his army, comprehending a fine body of cavalry and the most complete train of artillery, probably, in Europe, was drawn from his own dominions. Volunteers of the highest rank pressed forward to serve in an expedition to which they confidently looked for the vindication of the national honour. The command was intrusted to the mardchal de la Trÿmouille, esteemed the best general in France ; and the whole amount of force, exclusive of that employed permanently in the fleet, is variously computed at from twenty to thirty thousand men.2 Zurita, Hist, del Rey Hernando, torn. i. lib. 5, 9*P* 55- Coxe. History of the House of Austria (London, 1807), vol. i. chap. 23. 2 Buonaccorsi, Diario, p. 78. St. Gelais, Hist. de Louys XII., pp. 173, 174*— Varillas, Hist, de Louis XII., torn. i. pp. 386, 387.— Memoires de la Lremoille, chap. 19, apud Petitot, Collection des Memoires, torn. xiv. — Muratori, Annali d'ltaha, J
—
—
ÿ
xiv. anno 1503.— Carta de Gonzalo, MS. Historians, as usual, differ widely in their estimates whose of the French numbers. Guicciai dim, is usually moderate computation of 20,000 menreconcile his to trouble the take not does followed, given by himsum total with the various estimates that amount exceed considerably which detail, in Istoria, pp. 308, 309, 312. torn.
556
ITALIAN WATS.
In the month of July the army was on its march across the broad plains of Lombardy, but, on reaching Parma, the appointed place of rendezvous for the Swiss and Italian mercenaries, was brought to a halt by tidings of an unlooked-for event, the death of Pope Alexander the Sixth. He expired on the 18th of August 1503, at the age of seventy-two, the victim, there is very little doubt, of poison he had prepared for others ; thus closing an infamous life by a death equally infamous. He was a man of undoubted talent and uncommon energy of character. But his powers were perverted to the worst purposes, and his gross vices were unredeemed, if we are to credit the report of his most respectable contemporaries, by a single virtue. In him the papacy reached its lowest degradation. His pontificate, however, was not with¬ out its use; since that Providence which still educes good from evil made the scandal which it occasioned to the Christian world a principal spring of the glorious Reformation.1 The death of this pontiff occasioned no particular disquietude at the Spanish court, where his immoral life had been viewed with undisguised reprobation, and made the subject of more than one pressing remon¬ strance, as we have already seen.. His public course had been as little to its satisfaction ; since, although a Spaniard by birth, being a native of Valencia, he had placed himself almost wholly at the disposal of Louis the Twelfth, in return for the countenance afforded by that monarch to the iniquitous schemes of his son, Caesar Borgia The pope's death was attended with important consequences on the movements of the French. Louis's favourite minister, Cardinal D'Amboise, had long looked forward to this event as opening to him the succession to the tiara. He now hastened to Italy, therefore, with his master's approba¬ tion, proposing to enforce his pretensions by the presence of the French army, placed, as it would seem, with this view at his disposal. The army, accordingly, was ordered to advance towards Rome and halt within a few miles of its gates. The conclave of cardinals, then convened to supply the vacancy in the pontificate, were filled with indignation at this attempt to overawe their election ; and the citizens beheld with anxiety the encampment of this formidable force under their walls, anticipating some counteracting movement on the part of the Great Captain, which might involve their capital, already in a state of anarchy, in all the horrors of war. Gonsalvo, indeed, had sent forward a detachment of between two and three thousand men, under Mendoza 1 Carta de Gonzalo, Del Real, Gaeta, 8 de Agosto, 1503, MS.—Buonaccorsi, Diario, p. 81. ljembo, Istoria Viniziana, lib. 6.—The little cere¬ mony with which Alexander's remains were treated, while yet scarcely cold, is the best commentary on the general detestation in which he was held. Lorsque Alexandre," says the pope's mattre des ceremonies, " rendit ie dernier soupir, il n'y avait dans sa chambre que I'eveque de Rieti, le dataire et quelques palefreniers. Cette chambre fut aussitdt pilMe. La face du cadavre devint noire ;
la langue s'enfla au point qu'elle remplissait la
— ilbouche qui resta ouverte. La bi&re dans laquelle
fallait mettre le corps se trouva trop petite ; on 1 y enfonga k coups de poings. Les restes du pap*: insultes par ses domestiques furent portes dans l'dglise de St. Pierre, sans etre accompagnes de pretreni de torches, et on les pla<ja en dedans de la grille du chceur pour les derober aux outrages de la populace." Notice de Burchard, apud Brequigny, Notices et Extraits des Manuscrits de la Bibliotheque du Roi (Paris, 1787-1818), torn. i. p. 120.
ARMIES ON THE GAR1GL1AN0.
557
and Fabrizio Colonna, who posted themselves in the neighbourhood of the city, where they could observe the movements of the enemy.1 At length Cardinal D'Amboise, yielding to public feeling and the representations of pretended friends, consented to the removal of the French forces from the neighbourhood, and trusted for success to his personal influence. He overestimated its weight. It is foreign to our purpose to detail the proceedings of the reverend body thus convened to supply the chair of St. Peter. They are displayed at full length by the Italian writers, and must be allowed to form a most edifying chapter in ecclesiastical history.2 It is enough to state that, on the departure of the French, the suffrages of the conclave fell on an Italian (Sept. 2 2d), who assumed the name of Pius the Third, and who justified the policy of the choice by dying in less time than his best friends had anticipated,— within
a month after his elevation.3 The new vacancy was at once supplied by the election of Julius the
Second (Oct. 31st), the belligerent pontiff who made his tiara a helmet, and his crosier a sword. It is remarkable that, while his fierce, inexorable temper left him with scarcely a personal friend, he came to the throne by the united suffrages of the rival factions of France, Spain, and, above all,. Venice, whose ruin in return he made the great business of his restless pontificate.4 No sooner had the game into which Cardinal D'Amboise had entered with such prospects of success been snatched from his grasp by the superior address of his Italian rivals, and the election of Pius the Third been publicly announced, than the French army was permitted to resume its march on Naples, after the loss— an irreparable loss—of more than a month. A still greater misfortune had befallen it, in the meantime, in. the illness of Trÿmouille, its chief ; which compelled him to resign the command into the hands of the marquis of Mantua, an Italian nobleman, who held the second station in the army. He was a man of some military experience, having fought in the Venetian service, and led the allied forces, with doubtful credit indeed, against Charles the Eighth at the battle of Fornovo. His elevation was more acceptable to his own country¬ men than to the French ; and in truth, however competent to ordinary exigencies, he was altogether unequal to the present, in which he was compelled to measure his genius with that of the greatest captain of the age.5 The Spanish commander, in the meanwhile, was detained before the was extremely grateful to Queen Isabella, . Buonaccorsi, Diario, p. 82. Machiavelli, Lega¬ of Pius to be prima a Roma, let. i, 3, et al- Bembo, who caused Te Deums and thanksgivings of Istoria Viniziana, torn. iii. lib. 6. —Ammirato, celebrated in the churches for the appointment See fold. Christian Istorie Florentine, torn. iii. lib. 28.—Zurita, Anales, ' ' so worthy a pastor over the Opus Epist., epist. 265. Martyr, t0™- v- lib- s, cap. Peter 47. Machiavelli, Legazione prima a Roma, let. Guicciardini, in particular, has related them with a circumstantiality which could scarcely have Bembo, Istoria Viniziana, lib. 7. ft Gamier, Hist, de France, torn. v. pp. 435~438oeen exceeded by one of the conclave itself. Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 6, p. 316.—Buonaccorsi, sl°™i Hb. 6, pp. 316-318. Hist, de Louys XII., Bembo, Istoria Viniziana, lib. 6.—Ammirato, Diario, p. 83—St. Gelais, stone Fiorentine, torn. iii. lib. 28. The election P- 173. tions
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—
*
•
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ITALIAN WARS.
558
strong post of Gaeta, into which Ives d'Albgre had thrown himself, as
already noticed, with the fugitives from the field of Cerignola, where he had been subsequently reinforced by four thousand additional troops under the marquis of Saluzzo. From these circumstances, as well as the great strength of the place, Gonsalvo experienced an opposition to which, of late, he had been wholly unaccustomed. His exposed situation in the plains, under the guns of the city, occasioned the loss of many of his best men, and, among others, that of his friend Don Hugo de Cardona, one of the late victors at Seminara, who was shot down at his side while convers¬ ing with him. At length, after a desperate but ineffectual attempt to ex¬ tricate himself from his perilous position, by forcing the neighbouring eminence of Mount Orlando, he was compelled to retire to a greater distance, and draw off his army to the adjacent village of Castellone, which may call up more agreeable associations in the reader's mind as the site of the Villa Formiana of Cicero.1 At this place he was still occupied with the blockade of Gaeta, when he received intelligence that the French had crossed the Tiber and were in full march against him.2 While Gonsalvo lay before Gaeta, he had been intent on collecting such reinforcements as he could from every quarter. The Neapolitan division under Navarro had already joined him, as well as the victorious legions of Andrada from Calabria, His strength was further augmented by the arrival of between two and three thousand troops, Spanish, German, and Italian, which the Castilian minister, Francisco de Rojas, had levied in Rome ; and he was in daily hopes of a more important accession from the same quarter, through the good offices of the Venetian ambassador. Lastly, he had obtained some additional recruits, and a remittance of a considerable sum of money, in a fleet of Catalan ships lately arrived from Spain. With all this, however, a heavy amount of arrears remained due to his troops. In point of numbers he was still far inferior to the enemy ; no computation swelling them higher than three thousand horse, two of them light cavalry, and nine thousand foot. The strength of his army lay in his Spanish infantry, on whose thorough discipline, steady nerve, and strong attachment to his person he felt he might confidently rely. In cavalry, and still more in artillery, he was far below the French ; which, together with his great numerical inferiority, made it impossible for him to keep the open country. His only resource was to get possession of some pass or strong position which lay in their route, where he might detain them till the arrival of further reinforcements should enable him to face them on more equal terms. The deep stream of the Garigliano presented such a line of defence as he wanted.3 1 Cicero s country-seat stood midway between Gaeta and Mola, the ancient Formim, about two
2 Giovio, Vita; Must. Virorum, fol. 258, 259.— Chronica del Gran Capitan, lib. 2 cap. 95.—Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., fol. ig.-Peter MaHyr, Opus
(Cluyerius, Ital. iipist., epist. 261. discerned, | 3 Carta de Gonzalo, Del Real, Gaeta, 8 de -tiU on the borders of the old Appian Way, by the
AntTn aHK
a
/wfk 1he
Antia., lib. 3, cap. 6.)
remains of his mansion
classical and credulous tourist.
Agosto, 1503, MS.—Zurita, Hist del Rey Her-
mtndo, tom3'i. lib. 5, cap.' 38, 43, 44, 4k 57- ~
ARMIES ON THE GA RIGLIANO.
5Sg
On the 6th of October, therefore, the Great Captain broke up his camp
at Castellone, and, abandoning the whole region north of the Garigliano to the enemy, struck into the interior of the country, and took post at San
Germano, a strong place on the other side of the river, covered by the
two fortresses of Monte Casino 1 and Rocca Secca. Into this last he threw a body of determined men under Villalba, and awaited calmly the approach
of the enemy. It was not long before the columns of the latter were descried in full march on Ponte Corvo, at a few miles' distance only on the opposite side of the Garigliano. After a brief halt there, they traversed the bridge be¬ fore that place, and advanced confidently forward in the expectation of encountering little resistance from a foe so much their inferior. In this they were mistaken ; the garrison of Rocca Secca, against which they directed their arms, handled them so roughly that, after in vain endeavour¬ ing to carry the place in two desperate assaults, the marquis of Mantua resolved to abandon the attempt altogether, and, recrossing the river, to seek a more practicable point for his purpose lower down.2 Keeping along the right bank, therefore, to the south-east of the moun¬ tains of Fondi, he descended nearly to the mouth of the Garigliano, the site, as commonly supposed, of the ancient Minturnse.3 The place was covered by a fortress called the Tower of the Garigliano, occupied by a small Spanish garrison, who made some resistance, but surrendered on being permitted to march out with the honours of war. On rejoining their countrymen under Gonsalvo, the latter were so much incensed that the garrison should have yielded on any terms, instead of dying on their posts, that, falling on them with their pikes, they massacred them all to a man. Gonsalvo did not think proper to punish this outrage, which, how¬ ever shocking to his own feelings, indicated a desperate tone of resolution, which he felt he should have occasion to tax to the utmost in the present
exigency.4 The ground now occupied by the armies was low and swampy, a character which it possessed in ancient times ; the marshes on the southern side being supposed to be the same in which Marius concealed himself from his enemies during his proscription.5 Its natural humidity was Giovio, Vitse Illust. Virorum, fol. *58, 259.— 1 Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., fol. 21.—Guicciardini, oismondi, Hist, des Franjais, torn. xv. p. 417. — Istoria, torn. ii. lib. 6, pp. 326, 327.—Peter Garibay, Compendio, torn. ii. lib. 19, cap. 16. Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 267.— Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 188. rerreras, Hist. d'Espagne, torn. viii. pp. 252-257. 8 The remains of this city, which stood about Mariana, Hist, de Espana, lib. xxvi. cap. 5. The Castilian writers do not state the sum total of the four miles above the mouth of the Liris, are still to •Spanish force, which is to be inferred only from the be seen, on the right of the road. In ancient days scattered estimates, careless and contradictory as it was of sufficient magnitude to cover both sides of usoal, of the various detachments which joined it. the river. See Strabo, Geographia, lib. 5, p. 233 The Spaniards carried Monte Casino by storm, (Paris, 1629), with Casaubon's notes, p. no. stid with sacrilegious violence plundered the del Gran Capitan, lib. 2, cap. 107.— * Chronica Vita Magni Gonsalvi, fol. 263. Benedictine monastery of all its costly plate. They Giovio, 6 The marshes of Minturnse lay between the city were compelled, however, to respect the bones of the martyrs, and other saintly relics ; a division of and the mouth of the Liris. (Cluvenus, Ital. Antiq spoil probably not entirely satisfactory to its lib. 3, cap. 10, sec. 9.) The Spanish army encamped, reverend inmates. Viovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, «ays Guicciardini, "in a place called by Livy, fol. 262. from its vicinity to Sessa, himself. Chronica del Gran Capitan, lib. 2, cap. 102.— oerhaps the marshes in which Marius hid
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560
ITALIAN WARS.
greatly increased, at this time, by the excessive rains, which began earlier and with much more violence than usual. The French position was neither so low nor so wet as that of the Spaniards. It had the advantage, moreover, of being supported by a well-peopled and friendly country in the rear, where lay the large towns of Fondi, Itri, and Gaeta ; while their fleet, under the admiral Prdjan, which rode at anchor in the mouth of the Garigliano, might be of essential service in the passage of the river. In order to effect this, the marquis of Mantua prepared to throw a bridge across at a point not far from Trajetto. He succeeded in it, not¬ withstanding the swollen and troubled condition of the waters,1 in a few days, under cover of the artillery, which he had planted on the bank of the river, and which from its greater elevation entirely commanded the opposite shore. The bridge was constructed of boats belonging to the fleet, strongly secured together and covered with planks. The work being completed, on the 6th of November the army advanced upon the bridge, supported by such a lively cannonade from the batteries along the shore as made all resistance on the part of the Spaniards ineffectual. The impetuosity with which the French rushed forward was such as to drive back the advanced guard ot their enemy, which, giving way in disorder, retreated on the main body. Before the confusion could extend farther, Gonsalvo, mounted d la gineta, in the manner of the light cavalry, rode through the broken ranks, and, rallying the fugitives, quickly brought them to order. Navarro and Andrada, at the same time, led up the Spanish infantry, and the whole column, charging furiously against the French, compelled them to falter and at length to fall back on the bridge. The struggle now became desperate ; officers and soldiers, horse and foot, mingling together, and fighting hand to hand, with all the ferocity kindled by close personal combat. Some were trodden under the feet of the cavalry, many more were forced from the bridge, and the waters of the Garigliano were covered with men and horses, borne down by the current and struggling in vain to gain the shore. It was a contest of mere bodily strength and courage, in which skill and superior tactics were of little avail. Among those who most distinguished themselves, the name of the noble Italian, Fabrizio Colonna, is particularly mentioned. An heroic action is recorded also of a person of inferior rank, a Spanish alferez, (Istoria, lib. 6.) The historian makes two blunders turnus amnis " (Carm., lib. i. 30), and still less with in a breath. 1st. Aquce Sinuessatus was a name that of Silius Italicus, derived not from Sessa, the ancient Suessa Aurunca, but from the adjacent Sinuessa, a town about ten Liris qui fonte quieto " Dissimulat miles south-east of Minturnse. (Comp. Livy, lib. cursum, et nullo mutabilis imbre 22, cap. 14, and Strabo, lib. 5, p. 233) ; 2d. The Perstringit tacitas gernmanti gurgite ripas." name did not indicate marshes, but natural hot Punica, lib. 4. springs, particularly noted for their salubrity. * Salubritate harum aquarum," says Tacitus in Indeed, the stream exhibits at the present day the allusion to them (Annales, lib. 12), and Pliny same soft and tranquil aspect celebrated by the notices their medicinal properties more explicitly. Loman poets. Its natural character, however, was Hist. Naturalis, lib. 31, cap. 2. entirely changed at the period before us, in conse¬ 1 This does not accord with Horace's character quence of the unexampled heaviness and duration of the Garigliano, the ancient Liris, as the " taci- of the autumnal rains.
....
ARMIES ON THE GA RIGLIANO.
561
or standard-bearer, named Illescas. The right hand of this man was shot away by a cannon-ball. As a comrade was raising up the fallen colours,
the gallant ensign resolutely grasped them, exclaiming that " he had one hand still left." At the same time, muffling a scarf round the bleeding stump, he took his place in the ranks as before. This brave deed did not go unrewarded, and a liberal pension was settled on him at Gonsalvo's instance. During the heat of the melde the guns on the French shore had been entirely silent, since they could not be worked without doing as much mischief to their own men as to the Spaniards, with whom they were closely mingled. But as the French gradually recoiled before their im¬ petuous adversaries, fresh bodies of the latter rushing forward to support their advance necessarily exposed a considerable length of column t« the range of the French guns, which opened a galling fire on the farther extremity of the bridge. The Spaniards, notwithstanding "they threw themselves into the face of the cannon," as the marquis of Mantua exclaimed, " with as much unconcern as if their bodies had been made of air instead of flesh and blood," found themselves so much distressed by this terrible fire that they were compelled to fall back ; and the van, thus left without support, at length retreated in turn, abandoning the bridge to the enemy.1 This action was one of the severest which occurred in these wars. Don Hugo de Moncada, the veteran of many a fight by land and sea, told Paolo Giovio that " he had never felt himself in such imminent peril in any of his battles as in this." 2 The French, notwithstanding they remained masters of the contested bridge, had met with a resistance which greatly discouraged them ; and instead of attempting to push their success further, retired that same evening to their quarters on the other side of the river. The tempestuous weather, which continued with una¬ bated fury, had now broken up the roads, and converted the soil into a morass, nearly impracticable for the movements of horse, and quite so for those of artillery, on which the French chiefly relied ; while it interposed comparatively slight obstacles to the manoeuvres of infantry, which con¬ stituted the strength of the Spaniards. From a consideration of these circumstances, the French commander resolved not to resume active operations till a change of weather, by restoring the roads, should enable him to do so with advantage. Meanwhile he constructed a redoubt on the Spanish extremity of the bridge, and threw a body of troops into it in order to command the pass whenever he should be disposed to use it.3 While the hostile armies thus lay facing each other, the eyes of all Italy 106,—"
., Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. i88-— — Chrdnica del Gran Capitan, lib. 2, cap. Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, torn. ii. rey 30, cap. 14. Garnier, Hist, de France, torn. v. pp. 440, 441. 2 Giovio, Vita: Illust. Virorum, fol. 264. Garibay, Compendio, torn. ii. lib. 19, cap. 16. leter Martyr. 3 Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 6, pp. 3®?! .32°-~T" Opus Epist., epist. 269. Giovio, it® Illust. Virorum, fol. Vita: Illust. Virorum, fol. 262.—Machiavelli, Giovio, di Vita Ulloa, 262-264. Carlo V., fol. 22.— Machiavelli, Legazior.e prima a Legazione prima a Roma, let. 29. Garmer, Hist oma> let. 11, Nov. 10.— let. 16, Nov. 13. let. 17. de France, torn. v. pp. 443~4452 N
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56z
ITALIAN WARS.
were turned on them, in anxious expectation of a battle which should finally decide the fate of Naples. Expresses were daily despatched from the French camp to Rome, whence the ministers of the different European powers transmitted the tidings to their respective governments. Machiavelli represented at that time the Florentine republic at the papal court, and his correspondence teems with as many floating rumours and speculations as a modern gazette. There were many French residents in the city, with whom the minister was personally acquainted. He frequently notices their opinions on the progress of the war, which they regarded with the most sanguine confidence, as sure to result in the triumph of their own arms, when once fairly brought into collision with the enemy. The calmer and more penetrating eye of the Florentine discerns symptoms in the con¬ dition of the two armies of quite a different tendency.1 It seemed now obvious that victory must declare for that party which could best endure the hardships and privations of its present situatioa The local position of the Spaniards was far more unfavourable than that of the enemy. The Great Captain, soon after the affair of the bridge, had -drawn off his forces to a rising-ground about a mile from the river, which was crowned by the little hamlet of Cintura, and commanded the route to Naples. In front of his camp he sunk a deep trench, which, in the saturated soil, speedily filled with water ; and he garnished it at each -extremity with a strong redoubt. Thus securely intrenched, he resolved patiently to await the movements of the enemy. The situation of the army, in the meantime, was indeed deplorable. Those who occupied the lower level were up to their knees in mud and water ; for the excessive rains and the inundation of the Garigliano had converted the whole country into a mere quagmire, or rather standing pool. The only way in which the men could secure themselves was by covering the earth as far as possible with boughs and bundles of twigs > and it was altogether uncertain how long even this expedient would serve against the encroaching element. Those on the higher grounds were scarcely in better plight. The driving storms of sleet and rain, which had continued for several weeks without intermission, found their way into every crevice of the flimsy tents and crazy hovels, thatched only with branches of trees, which afforded a temporary shelter to the troops. In addition to these evils, the soldiers were badly fed, from the difficulty of finding resources in the waste and depopulated regions in which they were quartered,2 and badly paid, from the negligence, or perhaps poverty, of King Ferdinand, whose inadequate remittances to his general exposed
—
1 Legazione prima a Roma, let. 9, io, 18. The French showed the same confidence from the begin¬ ning of hostilities. One of that nation having told Suarez, the Castilian minister at Venice, that the marshal de la Tremouille said, " He would give 20,000 ducats if he could meet Gonsalvo de Cordova «n the plains of Viterbo," the Spaniard smartly Teplied, " Nemours would have given twice as much
not to have met him at Cerignola." Zurita, Anales, torn. y. lib. 5, cap. 36. 2 This barren tract of uninhabited country must have been of very limited extent, for it lay in the
Campania Felix, in the neighbourhood of the culti¬ vated plains of Sessa, the Massican mountain, and Falernian fields, names which call up associations while good poetry and good wine , 'al. !nu,st , shall be held in honour.
—
ARMIES ON THE GARIGLI A NO.
563
him, among many other embarrassments, to the eminent hazard of dis¬ affection among the soldiery, especially the foreign mercenaries, which nothing, indeed, but the most delicate and judicious conduct on his part
could have averted.1 In this difficult crisis, Gonsalvo de Cordova retained all his usual equanimity, and even the cheerfulness so indispensable in a leader who would infuse heart into his followers. He entered freely into the dis¬ tresses and personal feelings of his men, and instead of assuming any exemption from fatigue or suffering on the score of his rank, took his turn in the humblest tour of duty with the meanest of them, mounting guard himself, it is said, on more than one occasion. Above all, he displayed that inflexible constancy which enables the strong mind in the hour of darkness and peril to buoy up the sinking spirits around it. A remarkable instance of this fixedness of purpose occurred at this time. The forlorn condition of the army, and the indefinite prospect of its continuance, raised a natural apprehension in many of the officers that, if it did not provoke some open act of mutiny, it would in all probability break down the spirits and constitution of the soldiers. Several of them, therefore, among the rest Mendoza and the two Colonnas, waited on the commander-in-chief, and, after stating their fears without reserve, besought him to remove the camp to Capua, where the troops might find healthy and commodious quarters, at least until the severity of the season was mitigated ; before which, they insisted, there was no reason to anticipate any movement on the part of the enemy. But Gonsalvo felt too deeply the importance of grappling with the French before they should gain the open country, to be willing to trust to any such precarious contingency. Besides, he distrusted the effect of such a retrograde movement on the spirits of his own troops. He had decided on his course after the most mature deliberation ; and, having patiently heard his officers to the end, replied in these few but memorable words : It is indispensable to the public service to maintain our present position ; and be assured, I would sooner march forward two steps, though it should bring me to my grave, than fall back one to gain a hundred years." The decided tone of the reply relieved him from further
importunity.2
There is no act of Gonsalvo's life which on the whole displays more strikingly the strength of his character. When thus witnessing his faithful followers drooping and dying around him, with the consciousness that a word could relieve them from all their distresses, he yet refrained from uttering it, in stern obedience to what he regarded as the call of duty ; S.
Mariana, Hist, de Espana, torn. ii. lib. 28, cap. for the crown of Aragon, the revenues of which Guicciardina, Istoria, torn. i. lib. 6, p. 328.— were far more limited than those of Castile. 188.—
Machiavelli, Legazione prima a Roma, let. 44.
Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. — Chronica del Gran Capitan, lib. cap. 108.— Garicap. 16.—Guiccibay, Compendio, torn. ii. lib. ardini, Istoria, lib. 6, p. 328.—Zurita, Anales, cap. lib. s, v. 58.
loa, Vita di Carlo V., fol. 22. Chronica del Gran CaP' io7' Ic,8- The Neapolitan conquests, win be remembered, were undertaken exclusively
—
—
2
2, 19,
torn.
ITALIAN WARS.
5®4
and this, too, on his own responsibility, in opposition to the remonstrances of those on whose judgment he most relied. Gonsalvo confided in the prudence, sobriety, and excellent constitution of the Spaniards for resisting the bad effects of the climate. He relied, too, on their tried discipline, and their devotion to himself, for carrying them through any sacrifice he should demand of them. His experience at Barleta led him to anticipate results of a very opposite character with the French troops. The event justified his conclusions in both respects. The French, as already noticed, occupied higher and more healthy ground, on the other side of the Garigliano, than their rivals. They were fortunate enough also to find more effectual protection from the weather in the remains of a spacious amphitheatre, and some other edifices, which still covered the site of Minturnae. With all this, however, they suffered more severely from the inclement season than their robust adversaries. Numbers daily sickened and died. They were much straitened, more¬ over, from want of provisions, through the knavish peculations of the commissaries who had charge of the magazines in Rome. Thus situated, the fiery spirits of the French soldiery, eager for prompt and decisive action, and impatient of delay, gradually sunk under the protracted miseries of a war where the elements were the principal enemy, and where they saw themselves melting away like slaves in a prison-ship, without even the chance of winning an honourable death on the field of battle.1 The discontent occasioned by these circumstances was further swelled by the imperfect success which had attended their efforts when allowed to measure weapons with the enemy. At length the latent mass of disaffection found an object on which to vent itself, in the person of their commander-in-chief, the marquis of Mantua, never popular with the French soldiers. They now loudly taxed him with imbecility, accused him of a secret understanding with the enemy, and loaded him with the opprobrious epithets with which Trans¬ alpine insolence was accustomed to stigmatize the Italians. In all this they were secretly supported by Ives d'Alegre, Sandricourt, and other French officers, who had always regarded with dissatisfaction the elevation of the Italian general ; till at length the latter, finding that he had influence with neither officers nor soldiers, and unwilling to retain command where he had lost authority, availed himself of a temporary illness, under which he was labouring, to throw up his commission, and withdrew abruptly to his own estates. He was succeeded by the marquis of Saluzzo, an Italian, indeed, by birth, being a native of Piedmont, but one who had long served under the
French banners, where he had been intrusted by Louis the Twelfth with. very important commands. He was not deficient in energy of character
—
1 Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, fol. 265. Gamier, Hist, de France, torn. v. p. 445. Zurita, Anales, torn. v. lib. 5, cap. 59. Buonaccorsi, Diario, fol.
—
—
—
85- Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., fol.
.
Hist, de Louis XI1, torn. i. pp. 401,
22.
— Varillas,,
402.
ARMIES ON THE GAR1GLIANO.
565
or military science. But it required powers of a higher order than his to bring the army under subordination, and renew its confidence, under present circumstances. The Italians, disgusted with the treatment of their former chief, deserted in great numbers. The great body of the French chivalry, impatient of their present unhealthy position, dispersed among the adjacent cities of Fondi, Itri, and Gaeta, leaving the low country around the Tower of the Garigliano to the care of the Swiss and German infantry. Thus, while the whole Spanish army lay within a mile of the river, under the immediate eye of their commander, prepared for instant service, the French were scattered over a country more than ten miles in extent, where, without regard to military discipline, they sought to relieve the dreary monotony of a camp by all the relaxations which such comfortable quarters could afford.1 It must not be supposed that the repose of the two armies was never broken by the sounds of war. More than one rencontre, on the contrary, with various fortune, took place, and more than one display of personal prowess by the knights of the two nations, as formerly at the siege of Barleta. The Spaniards made two unsuccessful efforts to burn the enemy's bridge ; but they succeeded, on the other hand, in carrying the strong fortress of Rocca Guglielma, garrisoned by the French. Among the feats of individual heroism, the Castilian writers expatiate most com¬ placently on that of their favourite cavalier, Diego de Paredes, who de¬ scended alone on the bridge against a body of French knights, all armed in proof, with a desperate hardihood worthy of Don Quixote, and would most probably have shared the usual fate of that renowned personage on such occasions, had he not been rescued by a sally of his own countrymen. The French find a counterpart to this adventure in that of the preux chevalier Bayard, who with his single arm maintained the barriers of the bridge against two hundred Spaniards for an hour or more.2 Such feats, indeed, are more easily achieved with the pen than with the sword. It would be injustice, however, to the honest chronicler of the day to suppose that he did not himself fully
" Believe the magic wonders that he sung." Every heart confessed the influence of a romantic age,—the dying age,
indeed, of chivalry, but when, with superior refinement, it had lost nothing
of the enthusiasm and exaltation of its prime. A shadowy twilight of romance enveloped every object. Every day gave birth to such extrava¬ gances, not merely of sentiment, but of action, as made it difficult to dis¬ cern the precise boundaries of fact and fiction. The chronicler might Gamier, Hist, de France, torn. v. pp. 440-443. Mdmoires de Bayard, chap. 35, apud Petitot, Col-Giovio, Vite Illust. Viromm, fol. 364, 365.- lection des Memoires, torn. xw-Vaÿ, Ifot do
*
Guicciardini, Istoria, torn. i. lib. 6, p. 329.Machtavelli Legazione prima a Roma, let. 44-— »t. Gelais, Hist, de Louys XII., pp. 173, 174. Chronica del Gran Capitan, lib. a, cap. 106.
—
Louis XII., torn. 1. p. 4i7--Qÿptanÿ ce'lebres, torn. 1. pp. 288-290.—Machiaveih, Lega zione prima a Roma, let. 39, 44-
ITALIAN WARS.
566
innocently encroach sometimes on the province of the poet, and the poet occasionally draw the theme of his visions from the pages of the chronicler. Such, in fact, was the case ; and the romantic Muse of Italy, then coming forth in her glory, did little more than give a brighter flush of colour to the chimeras of real life. The characters of living heroes, a Bayard, a Paredes, and a La Palice, readily supplied her with the elements of those ideal combinations in which she has so gracefully embodied the perfections of chivalry.1
CHAPTER XV.
-ROUT OF THE GARIGLIANO.-TREATY WITH FRANCE.
ITALIAN WARS.
GONSALVO'S MILITARY CONDUCT. 1503-1504.
—
Gonsalvo crosses the River. Consternation of the French.— Action near Gaeta. — Hotly con¬ tested. The French defeated. — Gaeta surrenders.— Public Enthusiasm.— Treaty with France. —Review of Gonsalvo's Military Conduct.— Results of the Campaign.
—
Seven weeks had now elapsed while the two armies had lain in sight of each other without any decided movement on either side. During this time the Great Captain had made repeated efforts to strengthen himself, through the intervention of the Spanish ambassador, Francisco de Rojas,2 by reinforcements from Rome. His negotiations were chiefly directed to secure the alliance of the Orsini, a powerful family, long involved in a bitter feud with the Colonnas, then in the Spanish service. A reconcili¬ ation between these noble houses was at length happily effected ; and Bartolommeo d'Alviano, the head of the Orsini, agreed to enlist under the Spanish commander with three thousand men. This arrangement was finally brought about through the good offices of the Venetian minister at Rome, who even advanced a considerable sum of money towards the pay¬ ment of the new levies.3 The appearance of this corps, with one of the most able and valiant of the Italian captains at its head, revived the drooping spirits of the camp. Soon after his arrival, Alviano strongly urged Gonsalvo to abandon his original plan of operations, and avail himself of his augmented strength to 1 Compare the prose romances of D'Auton, of the
" loyal serviteur' of Bayard, and the no less loyal biographer of the Great Captain, with the poetic ones of Ariosto, Berni, and the like.
" Magnanima menzogna ! or quando e il vero Si bello, che si possa a te preporre?"
s He succeeded Garcilasso de la Vega at the court of Rome. Oviedo says, in reference to the
illustrious house of Rojas, En todas las historias. de Espana no se hallan tantos caballeros de un linage y nombre notados por valerosos caballeros V valientes milites como deste nombre de Rojas." Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 2, dial. 8. 3 Mariana, Hist, de Espana, torn. ii. lib. 28, cap. 5-— Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 6, pp. 319, 320. Zurita, Anales, torn. v. lib. 5, cap. 48, 57. Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, torn. ii. rey 30, cap. 14, sec. 4, 5. Daru, Hist, de Venise, torn. iii. pp. 364, 365.
"
—
—
—
THE FRENCH DRIVEN FROM NAPLES.
5 67
attack the enemy in his own quarters. The Spanish commander had intended to confine himself wholly to the defensive, and, too unequal in force to meet the French in the open field, as before noticed, had intrenched himself in his present strong position, with the fixed purpose of awaiting the enemy there. Circumstances had now greatly changed. The original inequality was diminished by the arrival of the Italian levies, and still further compensated by the present disorderly state of the French army. He knew, moreover, that, in the most perilous enterprises, the assailing party gathers an enthusiasm and an impetus in its career which counterbalance large numerical odds ; while the party taken by surprise is proportionably disconcerted, and prepared, as it were, for defeat before a blow is struck. From these considerations, the cautious general acqui¬ esced in Alviano's project to cross the Garigliano, by establishing a bridge at a point opposite Suzio, a small place garrisoned by the French, on the right bank, about four miles above their headquarters. The time for the attack was fixed as soon as possible after the approaching Christmas, when the French, occupied with the festivities of the season, might be thrown off their guard.1 This day of general rejoicing to the Christian world at length arrived. It brought little joy to the Spaniards, buried in the depths of these dreary morasses, destitute of most of the necessaries of life, and with scarcely any other means of resisting the climate than those afforded by their iron constitutions and invincible courage. They celebrated the day, however, with all the devotional feeling and the imposing solemnities with which it is commemorated by the Roman Catholic Church ; and the exercises of religion, rendered more impressive by their situation, served to exalt still higher the heroic constancy which had sustained them under such un¬ paralleled sufferings. In the meanwhile, the materials for the bridge were collected, and the work went forward with such despatch that on the 28th of December all was in readiness for carrying the plan of attack into execution. The task of laying the bridge across the river was intrusted to Alviano, who had charge of the van. The central and main division of the army under Gonsalvo was to cross at the same point ; while Andrada at the head of the rear-guard was to force a passage at the old bridge, lower down the stream, opposite to the Tower of the Garigliano.2 The night was dark and stormy. Alviano performed the duty intrusted to him with such silence and celerity that the work was completed without attracting the enemy's notice. He then crossed over with the van-guard, 1 Giovio, Vitae Illust.
Virorum, pp. 267, 268.
waited to receive his attack. Dc Bello Civili, lib. — iii. _ . ... cap. 92.
Vita di Carlo V., fol. 22. — Guicciardini, yiloa, Istoria,
2 Chrdnica del Gran Capitan, lib. 2, cap. no.torn. i. lib. 6, pp. 329, 330. Machiavelli, cap. 189.-G10V10, Legazione prima a Roma, let. 36. Caesar, at the Bernaldez, Reyes Catdhcos, MS., — Hist. battle of Pharsalia, acted on the principle mentioned Vita Magni Gonsalvi, lib. 3, fol. 266.—Zurita, 60.—Peter ui the text, in becoming the assailing party ; and he del Rey Hernando, torn. 1.. lib. 5, cap. Buonaccorsi, epist. 270.— severely censures Pompey for allowing the ardour Martyr, Opus Epist., of his troops to escape in inaction, as they coldly
—
568
ITALIAN WARS.
consisting chiefly of cavalry, supported by Navarro, Paredes, and Pizarro, and, falling on the sleeping garrison of Suzio, cut to pieces all who offered resistance. The report of the Spaniards having passed the river spread far and wide, and soon reached the headquarters of the marquis of Saluzzo, near the Tower of the Garigliano. The French commander-in-chief, who had believed that the Spaniards were lying on the other side of the river, as torpid as the snakes in their own marshes, was as much astounded by the event as if a thunderbolt had burst over his head from a cloudless sky. He lost no time, however, in rallying such of his scattered forces as he could assemble, and in the meanwhile despatched Ives d'Albgre with a body of horse to hold the enemy in check till he could make good his own retreat on Gaeta. His first step was to demolish the bridge near his own quarters, cutting the moorings of the boats and turning them adrift down the river. He abandoned his tents and baggage, together with nine of his heaviest cannon, leaving even the sick and wounded to the mercy of the enemy, rather than encumber himself with anything that should retard his march. The remainder of the artillery he sent forward in the van ; the infantry followed next ; and the rear, in which Saluzzo took his own station, was brought up by the men-at-arms to cover the retreat. Before Albgre could reach Suzio, the whole Spanish army had passed the Garigliano and formed on the right bank. Unable to face such superior numbers, he fell back with precipitation, and joined himself ro the main body of the French, now in full retreat on Gaeta.1 Gonsalvo, afraid the French might escape him, sent forward Prospero Colonna with a corps of light horse to annoy and retard their march until he could come up. Keeping the right bank of the river with the main body, he marched rapidly through the deserted camp of the enem37, leaving little leisure for his men to glean the rich spoil which lay tempting them on every side. It was not long before he came up with the French, whose movements were greatly retarded by the difficulty of dragging their guns over the ground completely saturated with rain. The retreat was conducted, however, in excellent order ; they were eminently favoured by the narrowness of the road, which, allowing but a comparatively small body of troops on either side to come into action, made success chiefly depend on the relative merits of these. The French rear, as already stated, was made up of their men-at-arms, including Bayard, Sandricourt, La Fayette, and others of their bravest chivalry, who, armed at all points, found no great difficulty in beating off the light troops which formed the advance of the Spaniards. At every bridge, stream, and narrow pass, which afforded a favourable position, the French cavalry closed their ranks and made a resolute stand to gain time tor the columns in advance. 1 Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 189.— Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., fol. 22, 23.— Guicciardini, Istoria, p. 330.— Gamier, Hist, de France, torn. v. pp. 448, 449.— Chronica del Gran Capitan, lib. 2,
cap. ito.— Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, torn. ii. rey 30, cap. 14, sec. 6.— Zrrita, Anales, torn. v. lib. 5, cap. 60. — Senarega, apud Muratori, Rerum Ital. Script., torn. xxiv. p. 579.
THE FRENCH DRIVEN FROM NAPLES. In this way, alternately halting and retreating, with perpetual skirmishes, though without much loss on either side, they reached the bridge before Mola di Gaeta. Here, some of the gun-carriages, breaking down or being overturned, occasioned considerable delay and confusion. The infantry, pressing on, became entangled with the artillery. The marquis of Saluzzo endeavoured to avail himself of the strong position afforded by the bridge to restore order. A desperate struggle ensued. The French knights dashed boldly into the Spanish ranks, driving back for a time the tide of pursuit. The chevalier Bayard, who was seen as usual in the front of danger, had three horses killed under him ; and at length, carried forward by his ardour into the thickest of the enemy, was retrieved with difficulty from their hands by a desperate charge of his friend Sandricourt.1 The Spaniards, shaken by the violence of the assault, seemed for a moment to hesitate ; but Gonsalvo had now time to bring up his men-atarms, who sustained the faltering columns, and renewed the combat on more equal terms. He himself was in the hottest of the melee, and at one time was exposed to imminent hazard by his horse's losing his footing on the slippery soil and coming with him to the ground. The general fortunately experienced no injury, and, quickly recovering himself, con¬ tinued to animate his followers by his voice and intrepid bearing as before. The fight had now lasted two hours. The Spaniards, although still in excellent heart, were faint with fatigue and want of food, having travelled six leagues without breaking their fast since the preceding evening. It was, therefore, with no little anxiety that Gonsalvo looked for the coming up of his rear-guard, left, as the reader will remember, under Andrada at the lower bridge, to decide the fortune of the day. The welcome spectacle at length presented itself. The dark columns of the Spaniards were seen, at first faint in the distance, by degrees grow¬ ing more and more distinct to the eye. Andrada had easily carried the French redoubt on his side of the Garigliano ; but it was not without difficulty and delay that he recovered the scattered boats which the French had set adrift down the stream, and finally succeeded in re-estab¬ lishing his communications with the opposite bank. Having accom¬ plished this, he rapidly advanced by a more direct road, to the east of that lately traversed by Gonsalvo along the sea-side, in pursuit of the French. The latter beheld with dismay the arrival of this fresh body of troops, who seemed to have dropped from the clouds on the field of battle. They scarcely waited for the shock before they broke and gave way in all directions. The disabled carriages of the artillery, which clogged up the avenues in the rear, increased the confusion among the torn. Istoria, lib. 6, pp. 33°, 33*.- ÿtorie Fiorentmÿ * Guicciardini, p » „ monte, Hist, d Hist, de France, torn. v. pp- 449~45iarnier, _ÿ;0Vj0 vita Magni corsi, D.ano, pp. 84, B5.-U10V10, Chronica del Gran Capitan, ubi supra.-Varillas,
Hist de Louis XII., torn, ipp. 416-418.— Ammirato,
Gonsalvi. fol. 258.
ITALIAN WATS.
57°
fugitives ; and the foot were trampled down without mercy under the heels of their own cavalry, in the eagerness of the latter to extricate them¬ selves from their perilous situation. The Spanish light-horse followed up their advantage with the alacrity of vengeance long delayed, inflicting bloody retribution for all they had so long suffered in the marshes of Sessa. At no great distance from the bridge the road takes two directions, the one towards Itri, the other to Gaeta. The bewildered fugitives here separated, by far the greater part keeping the latter route. Gonsalvo sent forward a body of horse under Navarro and Pedro de la Paz, by a short cut across the country, to intercept their flight. A large number fell into his hands in consequence of this manoeuvre ; but the greater part of those who escaped the sword succeeded in throwing themselves into Gaeta.1 The Great Captain took up his quarters that night in the neighbouring village of Castellone. His brave followers had great need of refreshmentÿ having fasted and fought through the whole day, and that under a driving storm of rain which had not ceased for a moment. Thus terminated the battle or rout, as it is commonly called— of the Garigliano, the most important in its results of all Gonsalvo's victories, and furnishing a suit¬ able close to his brilliant military career.2 The loss of the French is computed at from three to four thousand men, left dead on the field, together with all their baggage, colours, and splendid train of artillery. The Spaniards must have suffered severely during the sharp conflict on the bridge ; but no estimate of their loss is to be met with in any native or foreign writer.3 It was observed that the 29th of December, on which this battle was won, came on Friday, the same ominous day of the week which had so often proved auspicious to the Spaniards under the present reign.4 The disparity of the forces actually engaged was probably not great, since the extent of country over which the French were quartered prevented
—
——
1 Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 190. Garnier, Hist, de France, torn. v. pp. 452, 453.
L' onda Tirrena del suo sangue crebbe, E di tronchi resto coperto il lito, E gli augelii ne fer secure prede." Operd, torn. ii. p. 57-
Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., fol. 23.— Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 6, p. 331. Garibay, Compendio, tornii. lib. 19, cap. 16. Chronica del Gran Capitan, ubi supra. Buonaccorsi, Diario, pp. 84, 85.— Aminirato, Istorie Fiorentine, ubi supra. Varillas, Hist, de Louis XII., torn. i. pp. 416-418.
—
——
3 The curate of Los Palacios sums up the loss of the French, from the time of Gonsalvo's occupation of Barleta to the surrender of Gaeta, in the following 2 Soon after the rout of the Garigliano, Bembo manner : 6000 prisoners, 14,000 killed in battle, a produced the following sonnet, which most critics still greater number by exposure and fatigue, be¬ agree was intended, although no name appears in sides a considerable body cut off by the peasantry. it, for Gonsalvo de Cordova : To balance this bloody roll, he computes the Spanish loss at two hundred slain in the field ! Reyes Cat<5* Ben devria farvi onor d' eterno esempio licos, MS.j cap. 191. Napoli vostra, e 'n mezzo al suo bel monte Chrdmca del Gran Capitan, lib. 2, cap. no.'* Scolpirvi in lieta e coronata fronte, Zurita, Anales, ubi supra.— Garibay, Compendio, Gir trionfando, e dar ivoti al tiempio : lib. 19, cap. 16. Quintana, Espanoles celebres, Poi che 1' avete all' orgoglioso ed empio torn. 1. pp. 296, 297.— Guicciardini, who has been Stuolo ritolta, e pareggiate 1' onte ; followed in this by the French writers, fixes the date Or ch' avea piii la voglia e le man pronto of the rout as the 28th of December. If, however, A far d' Italia tutta acerbo scempio. it occurred on Friday, as he, and every authority, Torcestel voi Signor, dal corso ardito, indeed, asserts, it must have been on the 29th, as E foste tal, ch' ancora esser vorebbe stated by the Spanish historians. Istoria, lib. 69 A por di qua dall' Alpe nostra il piede. P- 33°.
"
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*
—
THE FRENCH DRIVEN FROM NAPLES.
57e
many of them from coming up in time for action. Several corps, who succeeded in reaching the field at the close of the fight, were seized with such a panic as to throw down their arms without attempting resistance.1 The admirable artillery, on which the French placed their chief reliance was not only of no service, but of infinite mischief to them, as we have seen. The brunt of the battle fell on their chivalry, which bore itself throughout the day with a spirit and gallantry worthy of its ancient renown ; never flinching, till the arrival of the Spanish rear-guard fresh in the at so critical a juncture, turned the scale in their adversaries' favour. Early on the following morning, Gonsalvo made preparations for storm¬ ing the heights of Mount Orlando, which overlooked the city of Gaeta. Such was the despondency of its garrison, however, that this strong posi¬
fieldÿ.
tion, which bade defiance a few months before to the most desperate efforts of Spanish valour, was now surrendered without a struggle. The same feeling of despondency had communicated itself to the garrison of Gaeta ; and before Navarro could bring the batteries of Mount Orlando to bear upon the city, a flag of truce arrived from the marquis of Saluzzo with proposals for capitulation. This was more than the Great Captain could have ventured to promise himself. The French were in great force ; the fortifications of the place in excellent repair ; it was well provided with artillery and ammunition, and with provisions for ten days at least ; while their fleet, riding in the harbour, afforded the means of obtaining supplies from Leghorn, Genoa, and other friendly ports. But the French had lost all heart ; they were sorely wasted by disease ; their buoyant self-confidence was gone, and their spirits were broken by the series of reverses which had followed with¬ out interruption from the first hour of the campaign to the last disastrous affair of the Garigliano. The very elements seemed to have leagued against them. Further efforts they deemed a fruitless struggle against destiny ; and they now looked with melancholy longing to their native land, eager only to quit these ill-omened shores for ever. The Great Captain made no difficulty in granting such terms as, while they had a show of liberality, secured him the most important fruits of victory. This suited his cautious temper far better than pressing a des¬ successes, m no perate foe to extremity. He was, moreover, with all his y in arrears deep usual, as and, funds, condition to do so ; he was without an Italian says to his army ; while there was scarcely a ration of bread, , , historian, in his whole camp.2 is , , . It was agreed by the terms of capitulation, January Spaniards, to French should evacuate Gaeta at once, and deliver it up escrip with its artillery, munitions, and military stores of every
'ÿ
1 Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, fol. 268.
_
Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, fol. 268, 269. Chronica del Gran Capitan, lib. 2, cap. 111.—V<?ter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 270. Guicciardmi, 2
—
r„„,i. at. cap. 29.
vr. ?!.•
;z:
ITALIAN WARS.
572
prisoners on both sides, including those taken in the preceding campaign
— an arrangement greatly to the advantage of the enemy— were to be
restored ; and the army in Gaeta was to be allowed a free passage by land or sea, as they should prefer, to their own country.1 From the moment hostilities were brought to a close, Gonsalvo dis¬ played such generous sympathy for his late enemies, and such humanity in relieving them, as to reflect more honour on his character than all his victories. He scrupulously enforced the faithful performance of the treaty, and severely punished any violence offered to the French by his own men. His benign and courteous demeanour towards the vanquished, so remote from the images of terror with which he had been hitherto associated in their minds, excited unqualified admiration ; and they testified their sense of his amiable qualities by speaking of him as the "gentil capitaine et gentil cavalier." 2 The news of the rout of the Garigliano and the surrender of Gaeta diffused general gloom and consternation over France. There was scarcely a family of rank, says a writer of that country, that had not some one of its members involved in these sad disasters.3 The court went into mourning. The king, mortified at the discomfiture of all his lofty schemes by the foe whom he despised, shut himself up in his palace, refusing access to every one, until the agitation of his spirits threw him into an illness which had wellnigh proved fatal. Meanwhile his exasperated feelings found an object on which to vent themselves in the unfortunate garrison of Gaeta, who so pusillanimously abandoned their post to return to their own country. He commanded them to winter in Italy, and not to recross the Alps without further orders. He sentenced Sandricourt and Albgre to banishment for insubordination to their commander-in-chief,— the latter for his conduct, more particularly, before the battle of Cerignola ; and he hanged the commissaries of the army, whose infamous peculations had been a principal cause of its ruin.4 1 Zurita, Hist, del Rey Hernando, torn. i. lib. 5, honour, left the whole affair to the discretion of the cap. 61. Gamier, Hist, de France, torn. v. pp. Great Captain. With regard to the sweeping charge 454, 455. Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. made by certain modern French historians against the Spanish general of a similar severity to the 190. Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, lib. 29, cap. 4. No particular mention was made of the Italian other Italians indiscriminately, found in the place, allies in the capitulation. It so happened that there is not the slightest foundation for it in any several of the great Angevin lords, who had been contemporary authority. See Gaillard, Rivalitd, taken in the preceding campaigns of Calabria, were torn. iv. p. 254. Gamier, Hist, de France, torn. v. found in arms in the place. (Giovio, Vita Magni p. 456. Varillas, Hist, de Louis XII., torn. i. pp. Gonsalvi, fol. 252, 253, 269.) Gonsalvo, in conse¬ 41c), 420. 2 Fleurange, quence of this manifest breach of faith, refusing to Memoires, chap. 5, apud Petitot, regard them as comprehended in the treaty, sent Collection des Memoires, torn. xvi. Bernaldez, them all prisoners of state to the dungeons of Castel Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. Giovio, Vine Nuovo in Naples. This action has brought on him Illust. Virorum, fol. 269, 270. 190. Chronica del Gran much unmerited obloquy with the French writers. Cm>itan, cap. hi. 3 BrantOme, who visited the banks of the Garigli¬ Indeed, before the treaty was signed, if we are to credit the Italian historians, Gonsalvo peremptorily ano some fifty years after this, beheld them in
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—
refused to include the Neapolitan lords within it. Thus much is certain, that, after having been taken and released, they were now found under the French banners a second time. It seems not improbable, therefore, that the French, however naturally desir¬ ous they may have been of protection for their allies finding themselves unable to enforce it, acquiesced in such an equivocal silence with respect to them as, without apparently compromising their own
—
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_
imagination thronged with the shades of the illus¬ trious dead whose bones lay buried in its dreary and pestilent marshes. There is a sombre colouring in the vision of the old chronicler, not unpoeticaL Vies des Hommes illustres, disc. 6. 4 Gamier, Hist, de France, torn. v. pp. 4?6-45®" Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, fol. 269-270.— Guicciardini, Istoria, torn. i. lib. 6, pp. 332, 337. St. Gelais, Hist, de Louys XII., p. 173
—
THE FRENCH DRIVEN FROM NAPLES. But the impotent wrath of their monarch was not needed to fill the bitter cup which the French soldiers were now draining to the dregs. A large number of those who embarked for Genoa died of the maladies contracted during their long bivouac in the marshes of Minturnse. The rest recrossed the Alps into h ranee, too desperate to heed their master's prohibition. Those who took their way by land suffered still more severely from the Italian peasantry, who retaliated in full measure the barbarities they had so long endured from the French. They were seen wandering like spectres along the highroads and principal cities on the route, pining with cold and famine ; and all the hospitals in Rome, as well as the stables,, sheds, and every other place, however mean, affording shelter, were filled with the wretched vagabonds, eager only to find some obscure retreat to die in. The chiefs of the expedition fared little better. Among others, the marquis of Saluzzo, soon after reaching Genoa, was carried off by a fever caused by his distress of mind. Sandricourt, too haughty to endure dis¬ grace, laid violent hands on himself. Alegre, more culpable, but more courageous, survived to be reconciled with his sovereign, and to die a soldier's death on the field of battle.1 Such are the dismal colours in which the French historians depict the last struggle made by their monarch for the recovery of Naples. Few military expeditions have commenced under more brilliant and imposing auspices ; few have been conducted in so ill-advised a manner through their whole progress ; and none attended in their close with more indis¬ criminate and overwhelming ruin. On the 3d of January 1504 Gonsalvo made his entry into Gaeta; and the thunders of his ordnance, now for the first time heard from its battle¬ ments, announced that this strong key to the dominions of Naples had passed into the hands of Aragon. After a short delay for the refreshment of his troops, he set out for the capital. But, amidst the general jubilee which greeted his return, he was seized with a fever, brought on by the incessant fatigue and high mental excitement in which he had been kept for the last four months. The attack was severe, and the event for some time doubtful. During this state of suspense the public mind was in the deepest agitation. The popular manners of Gonsalvo had won the hearts of the giddy people of Naples, who transferred their affections, indeed, as readily as their allegiance; and prayers and vows for his restoration were offered up in all the churches and monasteries of the city. His excellent constitution at length got the better of his disease. As soon as this favour¬ able result was ascertained, the whole population, rushing to the other extreme, abandoned itself to a delirium of joy ; and, when he was sufficiently recovered to give them audience, men of all ranks thronged to
—
—
Buonaccorsi, Diario, p. 86. Ulloa, Vita di I cap. 190. Giovio, Vitse Iljust. Virorum, ubi supra, Carlo V. , fol. 23.— Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., j -Gaillard, Rivalitd, torn. iv. pp. 354*~25 •
*
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ITALIAN WARS. Castel Nuovo, to tender their congratulations, and obtain a sight of the hero who now returned to their capital, for the third time, with the laurel of victory on his brow. Every tongue, says his enthusiastic biographer, was eloquent in his praise : some dwelling on his noble port and the beauty of his countenance ; others on the elegance and amenity of his manners ; and all dazzled by a spirit of munificence which would have become royalty itself.1 The tide of panegyric was swelled by more than one bard, who sought, though with indifferent success, to catch inspiration from so glorious a theme ; trusting doubtless that his liberal hand would not stint the recom¬ pense to the precise measure of desert. Amid this general burst of adula¬ tion, the muse of Sannazaro, worth all his tribe, was alone silent ; for the trophies of the conqueror were raised on the ruins of that royal house under which the bard had been so long sheltered; and this silence, so rare in his tuneful brethren, must be admitted to reflect more credit on his name than the best he ever sung.2 The first business of Gonsalvo was to call together the different orders of the state and receive their oaths of allegiance to King Ferdinand. He next occupied himself with the necessary arrangements for the reorganiz¬ ation of the government, and for reforming various abuses which had crept into the administration of justice, more particularly. In these attempts to introduce order he was not a little thwarted, however, by the insubordin¬ ation of his own soldiery. They loudly clamoured for the discharge of the arrears, still shamefully protracted, till, their discontent swelling to open mutiny, they forcibly seized on two of the principal places in the kingdom as security for the payment. Gonsalvo chastised their insolence by dis¬ banding several of the most refractory companies and sending them home for punishment. He endeavoured to relieve them in part by raising con¬ tributions from the Neapolitans. But the soldiers took the matter into their own hands, oppressing the unfortunate people on whom they were quartered in a manner which rendered their condition scarcely more toler¬ able than when exposed to the horrors of actual war.3 This was the intro¬ duction, according to Guicciardini, of those systematic military exactions in time of peace which became so common afterwards in Italy, adding an inconceivable amount to the long catalogue of woes which afflicted that unhappy land.4 Amidst his manifold duties, Gonsalvo did not forget the gallant officers who had borne with him the burdens of war ; and he requited their services
__ later wrung from Filicaja the beautiful lament,
1 Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, fol. 370-271. Quintana, Espanoles celebres, torn. i. p. 298. Chronica del Gran Capitan, lib. 3, cap. 1. Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, torn. ii. fol. 359. Bernaldez' Reyes Cat<51icos, MS., cap. 190, 191. 2 Giovio, Vita: Illust. Virorum, fol. 271.
which has lost something of its touching graces even under the hand of Lord Byron. 4 Zurita, Anales, torn. v. lib. 5, cap. 64.— Guicci¬ ardini, Istoria, lib. 6, pp. 340, 341.—Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, ubi supra.— See also Gonsalvo's letter to the sovereigns, in which he states that all Italy 3 " Per servir sempre, vincitrice o vinta." this year was wasted by a terrible famine, brought by the neglect of husbandry as well as by the rhe Italians began at this early period to feel the on rains. Carta de Napoles, 25 de •pressure of those woes, which a century and a half unprecedented Agosto 1503, MS.
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THE FRENCH DRIVEN FROM NAPLES.
575
in a princely style, better suited to his feelings than his interests, as sub¬ sequently appeared. Among them were Navarro, Mendoza, Andrada, Benavides, Leyva, the Italians Alviano and the two Colonnas, most of whom lived to display the lessons of tactics which they learned under this great commander, on a still wider theatre of glory, in the reign of Charles the Fifth. He made them grants of cities, fortresses, and exten¬ sive lands, according to their various claims, to be held as fiefs of the crown. All this was done with the previous sanction of his royal master, Ferdinand the Catholic. They did some violence, however, to his more economical spirit, and he was heard somewhat peevishly to exclaim, " It boots little for Gonsalvo de Cordova to have won a kingdom for me, if he lavishes it all away before it comes into my hands." It began to be per¬ ceived at court that the Great Captain was too powerful for a subject.1 Meanwhile, Louis the Twelfth was filled with serious apprehensions for the fate of his possessions in the north of Italy. His former allies, the emperor Maximilian and the republic of Venice, the latter more especially, had shown many indications not merely of coldness to himself, but of a secret understanding with his rival, the Spanish king. The restless pope, Julius the Second, had schemes of his own wholly independent of France. The republics of Pisa and Genoa, the latter one of her avowed depend¬ encies, had entered into correspondence with the Great Captain and invited him to assume their protection ; while several of the disaffected party in Milan had assured him of their active support in case he would march with a sufficient force to overturn the existing government. Indeed, not only France, but Europe in general, expected that the Spanish commander would avail himself of the present crisis to push his victorious arms into upper Italy, revolutionize Tuscany in his way, and, wresting Milan from the French, drive them, crippled and disheartened by their late reverses, beyond the Alps.2 But Gonsalvo had occupation enough on his hands in settling the dis¬ ordered state of Naples. King Ferdinand, his sovereign, notwithstanding the ambition of universal conquest absurdly imputed to him by the French writers, had no design to extend his acquisitions beyond what he could permanently maintain. His treasury, never overflowing, was too deeply drained by the late heavy demands on it for him so soon to embark on another perilous enterprise, that must rouse anew the swarms of enemies who seemed willing to rest in quiet after their long and exhausting struggle ; nor is there any reason to suppose he sincerely contemplated such a move¬ ment for a moment.3 Giovio, VitSE Illust. Virorum, fol. 270, 271. — campaign against Louis XII. had cost the Spanish Chrdnica del Gran Capitan, lib. 3, cap. 1. Ulloa, crown 331 cuentos or millions of maravedis, equival¬ Vita di Carlo V., fol. 24. ent to 9,268,000 dollars of the present time. A
'
— Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 6, p. 338.—Zurita, moderate charge enough for the conquest of a king¬ Gist, del Rey dom ; and made still lighter to the Spaniards by
Hernando, torn. i. lib. 5, cap. 64.— Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, rey 30, cap. 14.— Buon- one-fifth of the whole being drawn from Naples accorsi, Diario, pp. 83, 86. itself. See Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, torn. ii. foL Zurita, Anales, torn. v. lib. 5, cap. 66. The 3S9-
—
ITALIAN WARS.
576
The apprehension of it, however, answered Ferdinand's purpose, bypreparing the French monarch to arrange his differences with his rival, as the latter now earnestly desired, by negotiation. Indeed, two Spanish ministers had resided during the greater part of the war at the French court, with the view of improving the first opening that should occur for accomplishing this object ; and by their agency a treaty was concluded, to continue for three years, which guaranteed to Aragon the undisturbed possession of her conquests during that period. The chief articles pro¬ vided for the immediate cessation of hostilities between the belligerents, and the complete re-establishment of their commercial relations and intercourse, with the exception of Naples, from which the French were to be excluded. The Spanish crown was to have full power to reduce all refractory places in that kingdom ; and the contracting parties solemnly pledged themselves each to render no assistance, secretly or openly, to the enemies of the other. The treaty, which was to run from the 25th of February 1504, was signed by the French king and the Spanish plenipo¬ tentiaries at Lyons on the nth of that month, and ratified by Ferdinand and Isabella at the convent of Santa Maria de la Mejorada, the 31st of March following.1 There was still a small spot in the heart of Naples, comprehending Venosa and several adjoining towns, where Louis d'Ars and his brave associates yet held out against the Spanish arms. Although cut off by the operation of this treaty from the hope of further support from home, the French knight disdained to surrender, but sallied out at the head of his little troop of gallant veterans, and thus, armed at all points, says Brantome, with lance in rest, took his way through Naples and the centre of Italy. He marched in battle array, levying contributions for his support on the places through which he passed. In this manner he entered France, and presented himself before the court at Blois. The king and queen, delighted with his prowess, came forward to welcome him, and made good cheer, says the old chronicler, for himself and his companions, whom they recom¬ pensed with liberal largesses, proffering at the same time any boon to the brave knight which he should demand for himself. The latter in return simply requested that his old comrade Ives d'Albgre should be recalled from exile. This trait of magnanimity, when contrasted with the general ferocity of the times, has something in it inexpressibly pleasing. It shows, like others recorded of the French gentlemen of that period, that the age of chivalry—the chivalry of romance, indeed— had not wholly passed away. 2 The pacification of Lyons sealed the fate of Naples, and, while it ter1The treaty is to be found in Dumont, Corps diplomatique, torn. iv. no. 26, pp. 51-53.—Zurita, Anales, torn. v. lib. 5, cap. 64. Machiavelli, Legaziones conda a Francia, let. 9, Feb. 11. 2 Brantome, CEuvres, torn. ii. disc. 11.— Fleurange, Memoires, chap. 5, apud Petitot, Collection
—
—
des Memoires, torn. xvi. Buonaccorsi, Diario, p. 85.— Gaillard, Rivalitd, torn. iv. pp. 255-260. See also Mdmoires de Bayard, chap. 25 ; the good knight "sans peur et sans reproche" made one of this intrepid little band, having joined Louis d Arsafter the capitulation of Gaeta.
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THE FRENCH DRIVEN FROM NAPLES.
577
minated the wars in that kingdom, closed the military career of Gonsalvo de Cordova. It is impossible to contemplate the magnitude of the results achieved with such slender resources, and in the face of such overwhelm¬ ing odds, without deep admiration for the genius of the man by whom they were accomplished. His success, it is true, is imputable in part to the signal errors of his adversaries. The magnificent expedition of Charles the Eighth failed to produce any permanent impression, chiefly in consequence of the pre¬ cipitation with which it had been entered into, without sufficient concert with the Italian states, who became a formidable enemy when united in his rear. He did not even avail himself of his temporary acquisition of Naples to gather support from the attachment of his new subjects. Far from incorporating with them, he was regarded as a foreigner and an enemy, and, as such, expelled by the joint action of all Italy from its bosom, as soon as it had recovered sufficient strength to rally. Louis the Twelfth profited by the errors of his predecessor. His acquisitions in the Milanese formed a basis for future operations; and by negotiation and otherwise he secured the alliance and the interests of the various Italian governments on his side. These preliminary arrangements were followed by preparations every way commensurate with his object. He failed in the first campaign, however, by intrusting the command to incompetent hands, consulting birth rather than talent or experience. In the succeeding campaigns, his failure, though partly chargeable on himself, was less so than on circumstances beyond his control. The first of these was the long detention of the army before Rome by Cardinal D'Amboise, and its consequent exposure to the unexampled severity of the ensuing winter ; a second was the fraudulent conduct of the commis¬ saries, implying, no doubt, some degree of negligence in the person who appointed them ; and lastly, the want of a suitable commander-in-chief o« the army. La Tremouille being ill, and D'Aubigny a prisoner in the hands of the enemy, there appeared no one among the French qualified to cope with the Spanish general. The marquis of Mantua, indepen¬ dently of the disadvantage of being a foreigner, was too timid in council and dilatory in conduct to be any way competent to this difficult task. If his enemies, however, committed great errors, it is altogether owing to Gonsalvo that he was in a situation to take advantage of them, Nothing could be more unpromising than his position on first entering Calabria. Military operations had been conducted in Spain on principles totally different from those which prevailed in the rest of Europe. This was the case especially in the late Moorish wars, where the old tactics and the character of the ground brought light cavalry chiefly into use. This, indeed, constituted his principal strength at this period ; for his infantry, though accustomed to irregular service, was indifferently armed and dis ciplined. An important revolution, however, had occurred in the other parts of Europe. The infantry had there regained the superiority which 2 o
578
ITALIAN IVANS.
it maintained in the days of the Greeks and Romans. The experiment had been made on more than one bloody field ; and it was found that the solid columns of Swiss and German pikes not only bore down all opposi¬ tion in their onward march, but presented an impregnable barrier, not to be shaken by the most desperate charges of the best heavy-armed cavalry. It was against these dreaded battalions that Gonsalvo was now called to measure for the first time the bold but rudely-armed and comparatively raw recruits from Galicia and Asturias. He lost his first battle, into which, it should be remembered, he was precipitated against his will. He proceeded afterwards with the greatest caution, gradually familiarising his men with the aspect and usages of the enemy whom they held in such awe, before bringing them again to a direct encounter. He put himself to school during this whole campaign, care¬ fully acquainting himself with the tactics, discipline, and novel arms of his adversaries, and borrowing just so much as he could incorporate into the ancient system of the Spaniards without discarding the latter altogether. Thus, while he retained the short sword and buckler of his countrymen, he fortified his battalions with a large number of spearmen, after the German fashion. The arrangement is highly commended by the saga¬ cious Machiavelli, who considers it as combining the advantages of both systems ; since, while the long spear served all the purposes of resistance, or even of attack on level ground, the short swords and targets enabled their wearers, as already noticed, to cut in under the dense array of hostile pikes and bring the enemy to close quarters, where his formidable weapon was of no avail.1 While Gonsalvo made this innovation in the arms and tactics, he paid equal attention to the formation of a suitable character in his soldiery. The circumstances in which he was placed at Barleta, and on the Garigliano, imperatively demanded this. Without food, clothes, or pay, with¬ out the chance even of retrieving his desperate condition by venturing a blow at the enemy, the Spanish soldier was required to remain passive. To do this demanded patience, abstinence, strict subordination, and a degree of resolution far higher than that required to combat obstacles however formidable in themselves, where active exertion, which tasks the utmost energies of the soldier, renews his spirits and raises them to a contempt of danger. It was calling on him, in short, to begin with achieving that most difficult of all victories, the victory over himself. All this the Spanish commander effected. He infused into his men a portion of his own invincible energy. He inspired a love of his person, which led them to emulate his example, and a confidence in his genius and resources, which supported them under all their privations by a firm
—
1 Machiavelli, Arte della Guerra, lib. 2. Machia¬ velli considers the victory over D'Aubigny at Seminara as imputable in a great degree to the peculiar arms of the Spaniards, who, with their short swords and shields, gliding in among the deep ranks of
the Swiss spearmen, brought them to close com¬ bat, where the former had the whole advantage. Another instance of the kind occurred at the memorable batile of Ravenna some years later. Ubi supra.
THE FRENCH DRIVEN FROM NAPLES.
579
reliance on a fortunate issue. His manners were distinguished by a graceful courtesy, less encumbered with etiquette than was usual with persons of his high rank in Castile. He knew well the proud and inde¬ pendent feelings of the Spanish soldier, and, far from annoying him by unnecessary restraints, showed the most liberal indulgence at all times. But his kindness was tempered with severity, which displayed itself, on such occasions as required interposition, in a manner that rarely failed to repress everything like insubordination. The reader will readily recall an example of this in the mutiny before Tarento ; and it was doubtless by the assertion of similar power that he was so long able to keep in check his German mercenaries, distinguished above the troops of every other nation by their habitual licence and contempt of authority. While Gonsalvo relied so freely on the hardy constitution and patient habits of the Spaniards, he trusted no less to the deficiency of these quali¬ ties in the French, who, possessing little of the artificial character formed under the stern training of later times, resembled their Gaulish ancestors in the facility with which they were discouraged by unexpected obstacles, and the difficulty with which they could be brought to rally.1 In this he did not miscalculate. The French infantry, drawn from the militia of the country, hastily collected and soon to be disbanded, and the independent nobility and gentry who composed the cavalry service, were alike difficult to be brought within the strict curb of military rule. The severe trials, which steeled the souls and gave sinewy strength to the constitutions of the Spanish soldiers, impaired those of their enemies, introduced divisions into their councils, and relaxed the whole tone of discipline. Gonsalvo watched the operation of all this, and, coolly awaiting the moment when his weary and disheartened adversary should be thrown off his guard, collected all his strength for a decisive blow, by which to terminate the action. Such was the history of those memorable campaigns which closed with the brilliant victories of Cerignola and the Garigliano. In a review of his military conduct, we must not overlook his politic deportment towards the Italians, altogether the reverse of the careless and insolent bearing of the French. He availed himself liberally of their superior science, showing great deference, and confiding the most impor¬ Far from the reserve usually shown to tant trusts to their officers.2 foreigners, he appeared insensible to national distinctions, and ardently embraced them as companion-in-arms, embarked in a common cause with himself. In their tourney with the French before Barleta, to which the whole nation attached such importance as a vindication of national honour, they were entirely supported by Gonsalvo, who furnished them with arms,
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____
1 "Prima," says Livy pithily, speaking of LXXC U1 the proelia Gauls in the time of the Republic, ' eorum prcelia jeminaplus quam virorum, postrema minus quam foemina_o nim T rum." " TLib. 10, cap. 28. 1, '2 ~ Two of the most distinguished of these were *the Colonnas, Prospero and Fabrizio, of whom freauent
--------
our narrative. , , best lliCUkllMl has been made in mention -. - The commentary on the military reputation of the latter is selected by Machiavelh as the is the fact that he is 01 the Art Ot on tile rtrinrmal in his Dialogues Oil principal interlocutor 1X1 War. 1XCIJ
ITALIAN WARS.
580
secured a fair field of fight, and shared the triumph of the victors as that of his own countrymen— paying those delicate attentions which cost far less, indeed, but to an honourable mind are of greater value, than more substantial benefits. He conciliated the good-will of the Italian states by various important services : of the Venetians, by his gallant defence of their possessions in the Levant ; of the people of Rome, by delivering them from the pirates of Ostia ; while he succeeded, notwithstanding the excesses of his soldiery, in captivating the giddy Neapolitans to such a degree, by his affable manners and splendid style of life, as seemed to efface from their minds every recollection of the last and most popular of their monarchs, the unfortunate Frederick. The distance of Gonsalvo's theatre of operations from his own country, apparently most discouraging, proved extremely favourable to his purposes. The troops, cut off from retreat by a wide sea and an impassable mountain barrier, had no alternative but to conquer or to die. Their long continu¬ ance in the field without disbanding gave them all the stern, inflexible qualities of a standing army ; and as they served through so many succes¬ sive campaigns under the banner of the same leader, they were drilled in a system of tactics far steadier and more uniform than could be acquired under a variety of commanders, however able. Under these circumstances, which so well fitted them for receiving impressions, the Spanish army was gradually moulded into the form determined by the will of its great chief. When we look at the amount of forces at the disposal of Gonsalvo, it appears so paltry, especially compared with the gigantic apparatus of later wars, that it may well suggest disparaging ideas of the whole contest. To judge correctly, we must direct our eyes to the result. With this insigni¬ ficant force we shall then see the kingdom of Naples conquered, and the best generals and armies of France annihilated ; an important innovation effected in military science ; the art of mining, if not invented, carried to unprecedented perfection ; a thorough reform introduced in the arms and discipline of the Spanish soldier ; and the organization completed of that valiant infantry which is honestly eulogised by a French writer as irresistible in attack and impossible to rout,1 and which carried the banners of Spain 'ictorious for more than a century over the most distant parts of Europe.
The brilliant qualities and achievements of Gonzalo de Cordova have naturally made him a popular theme both for history and romance. Various biographies of him have appeared in different European languages, though none, Ibelieve, hitherto in English. The authority of principal reference in these pages is the life which Paolo Giovio has incorporated in his great work, "Vita; Illustrium Virorurn," which Ihave elsewhere noticed. 1his life of Gonsalvo is not exempt from the prejudices, nor from the minor 1 See
p. 60.
Dubos, Ligue de Cambray, dissert. prelim.,
troop3. a-ee a similar strain of panegyric from the —This French writer has shown himseif chivalrous pen of old Brantdme, CEuvres, torn. i.
superior to national distinctions, in the liberal testi¬
mony which he bears to the character of these brave
disc. 27.
THE FRENCH DRIVEN FROM NAPLES. inaccuracies, which may be charged on most of the author's productions ; but these are abundantly compensated by the stores of novel and interesting details which Giovio's familiarity with the principal actors of the time enabled him to throw into his work, and by the skilful arrangement of his narrative, so disposed as, without studied effort, to bring into light the prominent qualities of his hero. Every page bears the marks of that "golden pen" which the politic Italian reserved for his favourites; and while this obvious partiality may put the reader somewhat on his guard, it gives an interest to the work inferior to none other of his agreeable compositions. The most imposing of the Spanish memoirs of Gonsalvo, in bulk at least, is the "Chronica del Gran Capitan," Alcal4 de Ilenares, 1584. Nic. Antonio doubts whether the author were the Pulgar who wrote the "History of the Catholic Kings," of such frequent reference in the Granadine wars, or another Pulgar— del Salar, as he is called— who received the honours of knighthood from King Ferdinand for his valorous exploits against the Moors. (See Bibliotheca Nova, torn. i. p. 387.) With regard to the firs«. Pulgar, there is no reason to suppose that he lived into the sixteenth century ; and as to the second, the work composed by him, so far from being the one in question, was a compendium, bearing the title of " Sumario de los Hechos del Gran Capitan," printed as early as 1527, at Seville. (See the editor's prologue to Pulgar's "Chronica de los Reyes Catdlicos," ed. Valencia, 1780.) Its author, therefore, remains in obscurity. He sustains no great damage on the score of reputation, however, from this circumstance* as his work is but an indifferent specimen of the rich old Spanish chronicle, exhibiting most of its characteristic blemishes, with a very small admixture of its beauties. The long and prosy narrative is overloaded with the most frivolous details, trumpeted forth in a strain of glorification, which sometimes disfigures more meritorious compositions in the Castilian. Nothing like discrimination of character, of course, is to be looked for in the unvarying swell of panegyric, which claims for its subject all the extravagant flights of a hero of romance. With these deductions, however, and a liberal allowance, conse¬ quently, for the nationality of the work, it has considerable value as a record of events too recent in their occurrence to be seriously defaced by those deeper stains of error which are so apt to settle on the weather-beaten monuments of antiquity. It has accord¬ ingly formed a principal source of the "Vida del Gran Capitan," introduced by Quintana in the first volume of his " Espanoles celebres," printed at Madrid in 1807. This memoir, in which the incidents are selected with discernment, displays the usual freedom and vivacity of its poetic author. It does not bring the general politics of the period under review, but will not be found deficient in particulars having immediate connection with the personal history of its subject ; and, on the whole, exhibits in an agreeable and compendious form whatever is of most interest or importance for the general reader. The French have also an " Histoire de Gonsalve de Cordoue," composed by Father Duponcet, a Jesuit, in two vols. i2mo, Paris, 1714. Though an ambitious, it is a bung¬ ling performance, most unskilfully put together, and contains quite as much of what its hero did not do as of what he did. The prolixity of the narrative is not even relieved by that piquancy of style which forms something like a substitute for thought in many of the lower order of French historians. It is less to history, however, than to romance that the French public is indebted for its conceptions of the character of Gonsalvo de Cordova, as depicted by the gaudy pencil of Florian, in that highly poetic colouring which is more attractive to the majority of readers than the cold and sober delineations of truth. The contemporary French accounts of the Neapolitan wars of Louis XII. are extremely meagre and few in number. The most striking, on the whole, is D'Auton's chronicle, composed in the true chivalrous vein of old Froissart, but, unfortunately, terminating before the close of the first campaign. St. Gelais and Claude Seyssel touch very lightly on this part of their subject. History becomes in their hands, moreover, little better than fulsome panegvric, carried to such a height, indeed, by the latter writer, as brought on him the most severe strictures from his contemporaries ; so that he was compelled to
ITALIAN WARS. take up the pen more than once in his own vindication. The memoirs of Bayard, Fleurange, and La Tremouille, so diffuse in most military details, are nearly silent in regard to those of the Neapolitan war. The truth is, the subject was too ungrateful in itself, and presented too unbroken a series of calamities and defeats, to invite the attention of the French historians, who willingly turned to the brilliant passages in this reign more soothing to national vanity. The blank has been filled up, or rather attempted to be so, by the assiduity of their later writers. Among those occasionally consulted by me are Varillas, whose " Histoire de Louis XII.," loose as it is, rests on a somewhat more solid basis than his metaphysical reveries, assuming the title of "Politique de Ferdinand," already repeatedly noticed; Gamier, whose perspicuous narrative, if inferior to that of Gaillard in acuteness and epigrammatic point, makes a much nearer approach to truth ; and, lastly, Sismondi, who, if he may be charged, in his "Histoire des Fran5ais," with some of the defects incident to indiscreet rapidity of composition, succeeds by a few brief and animated touches in opening deeper views into character and conduct than can be got from volumes of ordinary writers. The want of authentic materials for a perfect acquaintance with the reign of Louis XII. is a subject of complaint with French writers themselves. The memoirs of the period, occupied with the more dazzling military transactions, make no attempt to instruct us in the interior organization or policy of the government. One might imagine that their authors lived a century before Philippe de Comines, instead of coming after him, so inferior are they, in all the great properties of historic composition, to this eminent statesman. The French savans have made slender contributions to the stock of original documents collected more than two centuries ago by Godefroy for the illustration of this reign. It can scarcely be supposed, however, that the labours of this early antiquary exhausted the department in which the French are rich beyond all others, and that those who work the same mine hereafter should not find valuable materials for a broader foundation of this interesting portion of their history. It is fortunate that the reserve of the French in regard to their relations with Italy at this time has been abundantly compensated by the labours of the most eminent contem¬ porary writers of the latter country, as Bembo, Machiavelli, Giovio, and the philosophic oluicciardini ; whose situation as Italians enabled them to maintain the balance of historic truth undisturbed, at least by undue partiality for either of the two great rival powers ; whose high public stations introduced them to the principal characters of the day, and to springs of action hidden from vulgar eyes ; and whose superior science, as well as genius, qualified them for rising above the humble level of garrulous chronicle and memoir to the classic dignity of history. It is with regret that we must now strike into a track unillumined by the labours of those great masters of their art in modern times. Since the publication of this History, the Spanish Minister at Washington, Don Angel Calderon de la Barca, did me the favour to send me a copy of the biography above noticed as the " Sumario de los Hechos del Gran Capitan." It is a recent reprint from the edition of 1527, of which the industrious editor, Don F. Martinez de la Rosa, was able to find but one copy in Spain. In its new form it covers about a hundred duode¬ cimo pages. It has positive value as a contemporary document, and as such Igladly avail myself of it. But the greater part is devoted to the early history of Gonsalvo, over which my limits have compelled me to pass lightly ; and, for the rest, Iam happy to find, on the perusal of it, nothing of moment which conflicts with the statements drawn from other sources. The able editor has also combined an interesting notice of its author, Pulgar, El de las Hazanas, one of those heroes whose doughty feats shed tbfc illusions of knight-errantry over the war of Granada.
ILLNESS AND DEATH OF ISABELLA.
583
CHAPTER XVI. ILLNESS AND DEATH OF ISABELLA.
— HER CHARACTER.
1504.
—
—
Decline of the Queen's Health. Alarm of the Nation.— Her Testament and Codicil. Her Resignation and Death.— Her Remains transported to Granada. Isabella's Person. Her Manners. Her Character. Parallel with Queen Elizabeth.
—
—
—
—
The acquisition of an important kingdom in the heart of Europe, and of the New World beyond the waters, which promised to pour into her lap all the tabled treasures of the Indies, was rapidly raising Spain to the first rank of European powers. But in this noontide of her success she was to experience a fatal shock in the loss of that illustrious personage who had so long and so gloriously presided over her destinies. We have had occasion to notice more than once the declining state of the queen's health during the last few years. Her constitution had been greatly impaired by incessant personal fatigue and exposure, and by the unremitting activity of her mind. It had suffered far more severely, however, from a series of heavy domestic calamities, which had fallen on her with little intermission since the death of her mother in 1496. The next year she followed to the grave the remains of her only son, the heir and hope of the monarchy, just entering on his prime ; and, in the succeeding, was called on to render the same sad office to the best-beloved of her daughters, the amiable queen of Portugal.
The severe illness occasioned by this last blow terminated in a dejection of spirits from which she never entirely recovered. Her surviving children were removed far from her into distant lands, with the occasional excep¬ tion, indeed, of Joanna, who caused a still deeper pang to her mother's affectionate heart, by exhibiting infirmities which justified the most melan¬ choly presages for the future. Far from abandoning herself to weak and useless repining, however, Isabella sought consolation where it was best to be found, in the exercises of piety, and in the earnest discharge of the duties attached to her exalted station. Accordingly, we find her attentive as ever to the minutest interests of her subjects ; supporting her great minister Ximenes in his schemes of reform, quickening the zeal for discovery in the West, and at the close of the year 1503, on the alarm of the French invasion, rousing her dying energies to kindle a spirit of resistance in her people. These strong mental exertions, however, only accelerated the decay of her bodily strength, which was gradually sinking under that sickness of the heart which admits of .no cure, and scarcely of consolation.
ILLNESS AND DEATH OF ISABELLA.
5S4
In the beginning of that very year she had declined so visibly that the cortes of Castile, much alarmed, petitioned her to provide for the govern¬ ment of the kingdom after her decease, in case of the absence or incapacity of Joanna.1 She seems to have rallied in some measure after this ; but it was only to relapse into a state of greater debility, as her spirits sunk under the conviction, which now forced itself on her, of her daughter's settled
insanity. Early in the spring of the following year (1504) that unfortunate lady embarked for Flanders, where, soon after her arrival, the inconstancy of her husband and her own ungovernable sensibilities occasioned the most scandalous scenes. Philip became openly enamoured of one of the ladies of her suite ; and his injured wife, in a paroxysm of jealousy, personally assaulted her fair rival in the palace, and caused the beautiful locks which had excited the admiration of her fickle husband to be shorn from her head. This outrage so affected Philip that he vented his indignation against Joanna in the coarsest and most unmanly terms, and finally refused to have any further intercourse with her.2 The account of this disgraceful scene reached Castile in the month of June. It occasioned the deepest chagrin and mortification to the unhappy parents. Ferdinand soon after fell ill of a fever, and the queen was seized with the same disorder, accompanied by more alarming symptoms. Her illness was exasperated by anxiety for her husband, and she refused to credit the favourable reports of the physicians while he was detained from her presence. His vigorous constitution, however, threw off the malady, while hers gradually failed under it. Her tender heart was more keenly sensible than his to the unhappy condition of their child, and to the gloomy prospects which awaited her beloved Castile.3 Her faithful follower, Martyr, was with the court at this time in Medina del Campo. In a letter to the count of Tendilla, dated October 7th, he states that the most serious apprehensions were entertained by the physi¬ cians for the queen's fate. " Her whole system," he says, " is pervaded by a consuming fever. She loathes food of every kind, and is tormented with incessant thirst, while the disorder has all the appearance of terminating in a dropsy." 4 In the meanwhile, Isabella lost nothing of her solicitude for the welfare of her people and the great concerns of government. While reclining, as she was obliged to do great part of the day, on her couch, she listened to the recital or reading of whatever occurred of interest at home or abroad. She gave audience to distinguished foreigners, especially such Italians as could acquaint her with particulars of the late war, and above all in regard
—
1 Mariana,
a8, cap. 11
Hist, de Espana, torn. ii. lib. Zurita, Anales, torn. v. lib. 5, cap.
2 Garibay, Compendio, torn.
Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fol. 46.
— Carbajal,
MS., ano 1504. Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fol. 46, 47. — Pet" _ Anales, cap. 16. Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. Carbajal, Anales,
ii. lib. 19, Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 271, 272.—
8
MS., ano 1504.
373.—
* Opus Epist., epist. 274.
HER CHARACTER.
585
to Gonsalvo de Cordova, in whose fortunes she had always taken the liveliest concern.1 She received with pleasure, too, such intelligent tra¬ vellers as her renown had attracted to the Castilian court. She drew forth their stores of various information, and dismissed them, says a writer of the age, penetrated with the deepest admiration of that masculine strength of mind which sustained her so nobly under the weight of a mortal malady.2 This malady was now rapidly gaining ground. On the 15th of October we have another epistle of Martyr, of the following melancholy tenor. " You ask me respecting the state of the queen's health. We sit sorrowful in the palace all day long, tremblingly waiting the hour when religion and virtue shall quit the earth with her. Let us pray that we may be permitted to follow hereafter where she is soon to go.
She so far transcends all human excellence that there is scarcely anything of mortality about her. She can hardly be said to die, but to pass into a nobler existence, which should rather excite our envy than our sorrow. She leaves the world filled with her renown, and she goes to enjoy life eternal with her God in heaven. Iwrite this," he concludes, " between hope and fear, while the breath is
still fluttering within her." 3 The deepest gloom now overspread the nation. Even Isabella's long illness had failed to prepare the minds of her faithful people for the sad catastrophe. They recalled several ominous circumstances which had before escaped their attention. In the preceding spring, an earthquake, accompanied by a tremendous hurricane, such as the oldest men did not remember, had visited Andalusia, and especially Carmona, a place belong¬ ing to the queen, and occasioned frightful desolation there. The super¬ stitious Spaniards now read in these portents the prophetic signs by which Heaven announces some great calamity. Prayers were put up in every temple, processions and pilgrimages made in every part of the country, for the recovery of their beloved sovereign, — but in vain.4 Isabella, in the mean time, was deluded with no false hopes. She felt too surely the decay of her bodily strength, and she resolved to perform what temporal duties yet remained for her while her faculties were still unclouded. On the 12th of October she executed that celebrated testament which reflects so clearly the peculiar qualities of her mind and character. She
A A short time before her death she received a precious stones, among which was a carbuncle oi visit from the distinguished officer, Prospero inestimable value. The liberal Italian met with Colonna. The Italian noble, on being presented rather an uncourtly rebuke from Ximenes, who to King Ferdinand, told him that "he had come to told him, on leaving the presence, that "he had Castile to behold the woman who from her sick-bed rather have the money his diamonds cost, to spend ruled the world ; " " ver una sehora que desde la in the service of the church, than all the gems of the cama mandava al mundo." Sandoval, Hist, del Indies." Ibid. a Opus Epist., epist. 276. Emp. Carlos V., torn. i. p. 8. Carta de Gonzalo & los 4 Bernaldez, Reyes Catblicos, MS., cap, 200, 201. Reyes, en Napoles, 25 de Agosto, 1503, MS. Garibay, Carbajal, Anales, MS., aho 1504. De Rebus gestis, fol. 47.— Among the * Gomez,introduced Compendio, torn. ii. lib. 19, cap. 16. Zuniga, foreigners to the queen at this time was a celebrated Venetian traveller, named Vianelli, Annales de Sevilla, pp. 423, 424. who presented her with a cross of pure gold set with
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—
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586
ILLNESS AND DEATH OF ISABELLA.
begins with prescribing the arrangements for her burial She orders her remains to be transported to Granada, to the Franciscan monastery of Santa Isabella in the Alhambra, and there deposited in a low and humble sepulchre, without other memorial than a plain inscription on it. " But," she continues, " should the king my lord prefer a sepulchre in some other place, then my will is that my body be there transported, and laid by his side ; that the union we have enjoyed in this world, and, through the mercy of God, may hope again for our souls in heaven, may be represented by our bodies in the earth." Then, desirous of correcting by her example, in this last act of her life, the wasteful pomp of funeral obsequies to which the Castilians were addicted, she commands that her own should be per¬ formed in the plainest and most unostentatious manner, and that the sum saved by this economy should be distributed in alms among the poor. She next provides for several charities, assigning, among others, marriage portions for poor maidens, and a considerable sum for the redemption of Christian captives in Barbary. She enjoins the punctual discharge of all her personal debts within a year ; she retrenches superfluous offices in the royal household, and revokes all such grants, whether in the forms of lands or annuities, as she conceives to have been . made without sufficient ... warrant. She inculcates on her successors the importance of maintaining the integrity of the royal domains, and, above all, of never divesting them¬ selves of their title to the important fortress of Gibraltar. After this she comes to the succession of the crown, which she settles on the infanta Joanna as " queen proprietor," and the archduke Philip as her husband. She gives them much good counsel respecting their future administration ; enjoining them, as they would secure the love and obedi¬ ence of their subjects, to conform in all respects to the laws and usages of the realm, to appoint no foreigner to office,—an error into which Philip's connections, she saw, would be very likely to betray them,—and to make no laws or ordinances " which necessarily require the consent of cortes " during their absence from the kingdom.1 She recommends to them the same conjugal harmony which had ever subsisted between her and her husband ; she beseeches them to show the latter all the deference and filial affection " due to him beyond every other parent, for his eminent virtues ;" and finally inculcates on them the most tender regard for the liberties and welfare of their subjects. She next comes to the great question proposed by the cortes of 1503, respecting the government of the realm in the absence or incapacity ot Joanna. She declares that, after mature deliberation, and with the advice of many ot the prelates and nobles of the kingdom, she appoints King Ferdinand her husband to be the sole regent of Castile, in that exigency, 1
Ni fagan fuera de los dichos mis Reynos e
Seftorios, Leyes e Premdticas, ni las otras cosas que en Cortes se deven hazer segund las Leyesde ellos"
{Testamento, apud Dormer, Discursos varios. ©
—
343l> an honcmrable testimony to the legislative rights of the cortes, which contrasts strongly with the despotic assumption of preceding and succeed¬ ing princes.
HER CHARACTER.
58?
until the majority of her grandson Charles ; being led to this, she adds, « by the consideration of the magnanimity and illustrious qualities of the king my lord, as well as his large experience, and the great profit which will redound to the state from his wise and beneficent rule." She expresses her sincere conviction that his past conduct affords a sufficient guarantee for his faithful administration, but, in compliance with established usage, requires the customary oath from him on entering on the duties of the office. She then makes a specific provision for her husband's personal main¬ tenance, which, " although less than she could wish, and far less than he deserves, considering the eminent services he has rendered the state," she settles at one-half of all the net proceeds and profits accruing from the newly-discovered countries in the West; together with ten millions of maravedis annually, assigned on the alcavalas of the grand-masterships of the military orders. After some additional regulations respecting the descent of the crown on failure of Joanna's lineal heirs, she recommends in the kindest and most emphatic terms to her successors the various members of her house¬ hold, and her personal friends, among whom we find the names of the marquis and marchioness of Moya (Beatrice de Bobadilla, the companion of her youth), and Garcilasso de la Vega, the accomplished minister at the papal court. And lastly, concluding in the same beautiful strain of conjugal tender¬ ness in which she began, she says, " Ibeseech the king my lord that he will accept all my jewels, or such as he shall select, so that, seeing them, he may be reminded of the singular love Ialways bore him while living, and that Iam now waiting for him in a better world ; by which remem¬ brance he may be encouraged to live the more justly and holily in this." Six executors were named to the will. The two principal were the king and the primate Ximenes, who had full powers to act in conjunction with any one of the others.1 Ihave dwelt the more minutely on the details of Isabella's testament, from the evidence it affords of her constancy in her dying hour to the principles which had governed her through life ; of her expansive and sagacious policy ; her prophetic insight into the evils to result from her death, evils, alas ! which no forecast could avert ; her scrupulous atten¬ tion to all her personal obligations ; and that warm attachment to her friends which could never falter while a pulse beat in her bosom. After performing this duty she daily grew weaker, the powers of her mind seeming to brighten as those of her body declined. The concerns of her government still occupied her thoughts ; and several public
—
1 have before me three copies of Isabella's testament ; one in MS., apud Carbajal, Anales, ano 15-M ! a second, printed in the beautiful Valencia edition of Mariana, torn. ix. apend. no. 1 ; and a
third, published in Dormer's Discursos varios de Historia, pp. 314-388. Iam not aware that it has been printed elsewhere.
I
588
ILLNESS AND DEATH OF ISABELLA.
measures, which she had postponed through urgency of other business or growing infirmities, pressed so heavily on her heart that she made them the subject of a codicil to her former will. It was executed November
23d, 1504, only three days before her death. Three of the provisions contained in it are too remarkable to pass unnoticed. The first concerns the codification of the laws. For this purpose the queen appoints a commission to make a new digest of the statutes and pragmaticas, the contradictory tenor of which still occasioned much embarrassment in Castilian jurisprudence. This was a subject she always had much at heart ; but no nearer approach had been made to it than the valuable though insufficient work of Montalvo in the early part of her reign ; and, notwithstanding her precautions, none more effectual was destined to take place till the reign of Philip the Second.1 The second item had reference to the natives of the New World. Gross abuses had arisen there since the partial revival of the repartimientos, although, Las Casas says, " intelligence of this was carefully kept from the ears of the queen."2 Some vague apprehension of the truth, however, appears to have forced itself on her ; and she enjoins her successors, in the most earnest manner, to quicken the good work of converting and civilizing the poor Indians, to treat them with the greatest gentleness, and redress any wrongs they may have suffered in their persons or property. Lastly, she expresses her doubts as to the legality of the revenue drawn from the alcavalas, constituting the principal income of the crown. She directs a commission to ascertain whether it were originally intended to be perpetual, and if this were done with the free consent of the people ; enjoining her heirs, in that event, to collect the tax so that it should press least heavily on her subjects. Should it be found otherwise, however, she directs that the legislature be summoned to devise proper measures for supplying the wants of the crown,— " measures depending for their validity on the good pleasure of the subjects of the realm." 3 Such were the dying words of this admirable woman, displaying the same respect for the rights and liberties of the nation which she had shown through life, and striving to secure the blessings of her benign administration to the most distant and barbarous regions under her sway. These two documents were a precious legacy bequeathed to her people, to guide them when the light of her personal example should be with¬ drawn for ever. 1 The Ordenancas reales de Castilla, "published Ton avait meme eu soin de les cacher a cette " in 1484, and the Pragm&ticas del Reyno," first princesse, parcequ'elle ne cessait de recommanuet printed in 1503, comprehend the general legislation of de traiter les Indiens avec douceur, et de ne rien this reign ; a particular account of which the reader negliger pour les rendre heureux : fai yu, atttst may find in Part I. chapter 6, and Part II. chapter que bea-ucoup if Espagnols, les lettres quelle ecri26ÿ2 of this History. vait a ce sujet, et les ordres quelle enveyait, ct Las Casas, who will not be suspected of qui prouve que cette admirable reine aurati Jttis sycophancy, remarks, in his narrative of the de¬ Jin a taut dcouautes, sielle avait pu les connattrc. struction of the Indies, " Les plus grandes horreurs CEuvres, ed. de Llore'nte, torn. t. p. ai. 3 The original codicil is still preserved among the cesÿguerres et de cette boucherie commencerent aussitot qu on sut en Amenque que la reine Isabelle | manuscripts of the Royal Library at Madrid. I'15 mourir ; car jasqu alors ll ne s'e'tait pas appended to the queen's testament in the worb -"ÿe | Commis autant de crimes daus 1lie Espagnole, et before ! noticed.
HER CHARACTER.
589
The queen's signature to the codicil, which still exists among the manu¬ scripts of the Royal Library at Madrid, shows, by its irregular and scarcely legible characters, the feeble state to which she was then reduced.1 She had now adjusted all her worldly concerns, and she prepared to devote herself, during the brief space which remained, to those of a higher nature. It was but the last act of a life of preparation. She had the misfortune, common to persons of her rank, to be separated in her last moments from those whose filial tenderness might have done so much to soften the bitterness of death. But she had the good fortune, most rare, to have secured for this trying hour the solace of disinterested friendship ; for she beheld around her the friends of her childhood, formed and proved in the dark season of adversity. As she saw them bathed in tears around her bed, she calmly said, " Do not weep for me, nor waste your time in fruitless prayers for my recovery, but pray rather for the salvation of my souL"2 On receiving the extreme unction, she refused to have her feet exposed, as was usual on that occasion ; a circumstance which, occurring at a time when there can be no suspicion of affectation, is often noticed by Spanish writers as a proof of that sensitive delicacy and decorum which distinguished her through life.3 At length, having received the sacraments, and performed all the offices of a sincere and devout Christian, she gently expired, a little before noon, on Wednesday, November 26th, 1504, in the fifty-fourth year of her age, and thirtieth of her reign.4 " My hand," says Peter Martyr, in a letter written on the same day to the archbishop of Granada, " falls powerless by my side for very sorrow. The world has lost its noblest ornament ; a loss to be deplored not only by Spain, which she has so long carried forward in the career of glory, but by every nation in Christendom ; for she was the mirror of every virtue, the shield of the innocent, and an avenging sword to the wicked. Iknow none of her sex, in ancient or modern times, who in my judgment is at all worthy to be named with this incomparable woman."5 No time was lost in making preparations for transporting the queen's body unembalmed to Granada, in strict conformity to her orders. It was escorted by a numerous cortkge of cavaliers and ecclesiastics, among whom was the faithful Martyr. The procession began its mournful march the day following her death, taking the route through Arevalo, Toledo, and Jaen. Scarcely had it left Medina del Campo when a tremendous tempest set in, which continued with little interruption during the whole journey. The roads were rendered nearly impassable ; the bridges swept away, the small streams swollen to the size of the Tagus, and the level
_
1 Clemencin has given a fac-simile of this last signature of the queen in the Mem. de la Acad, de Hist., torn. vi. Ilust. ai. * L. Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. 187. Garibay, Compendio, torn. ii. lib. 19, cap. 16. 3 Ardvalo, Historia Palentina, MS., apud Mem.
—
—
de la Acad, de Hist., torn. vi. p. 572. L. Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. 187. Garibay, Compendio, ubi supra. Isabella was born April 22d, 1451, and ascended the throne December 12th, 1474. 5 Opus Epist., epist. 279.
—
*
590
ILLNESS AND DEATH OF ISABELLA.
country buried under a deluge of water. Neither sun nor stars were seen during their whole progress. The horses and mules were borne down by the torrents, and the riders in several instances perished with them. " Never," exclaims Martyr, " did Iencounter such perils in the whole of my hazardous pilgrimage to Egypt." 1 At length, on the 18th of December, the melancholy and way-worn cavalcade reached the place of its destination ; and, amidst the wild strife of the elements, the peaceful remains of Isabella were laid, with simple solemnities, in the Franciscan monastery of the Alhambra. Here, under the shadow of those venerable Moslem towers, and in the heart of the capital which her noble constancy had recovered for her country, they continued to repose till after the death of Ferdinand, when they were removed to be laid by his side in the stately mausoleum of the cathedral church of Granada.2 Ishall defer the review of Queen Isabella's administration until it can be made in conjunction with that of Ferdinand's, and shall confine myself at present to such considerations on the prominent traits of her character as have been suggested by the preceding history of her life. Her person, as mentioned in the early part of the narrative, was of the middle height, and well-proportioned. She had a clear, fresh complexion, with light-blue eyes and auburn hair,— a style of beauty exceedingly rare in Spain. Her features were regular, and universally allowed to be uncommonly handsome.3 The illusion which attaches to rank, more especially when united with engaging manners, might lead us to suspect some exaggeration in the encomiums so liberally lavished on her. But they would seem to be in a great measure justified by the portraits that remain of her, which combine a faultless symmetry of features with singular sweetness and intelligence of expression. Her manners were most gracious and pleasing. They were marked by natural dignity and modest reserve, tempered by an affability which flowed from the kindliness of her disposition. She was the last person to be approached with undue familiarity; yet the respect which she imposed was mingled with the strongest feelings of devotion and love. She showed great tact in accommodating herself to the peculiar situation and character of those around her. She appeared in arms at the head of her troops, and shrunk from none of the hardships of war. During the reforms introduced into the religious houses, she visited the nunneries
—
1 Opus Epist., epist. 280. The text exaggerate the language of the epistle.
does not (Reyes Catdlicos, part. 1, cap. 4.) L- Marineo says, " Todo lo que avia en el rey de dignidad, se hallava en la reyna de graciosa hermosura, y en entrambos se mostrava una majestad venerable, aunque a juyzio de muchos la reyna era de mayor hermosura." (Cosas memorables, fol. 182.) And Oviedo, who had likewise frequent opportunities of personal observation, does not hesitate to declare, " En hermosura puestas delante de S. A. todas las mugeres que yo he visto, ninguna vi tan graeios*, ni tanto de ver como su persona." Quincuagenas, MS.
—
Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 20. Carbajal, Anales, MS., aiio 1504.—Garibay, Compendio, torn. ii. lib. 19, cap. 16.—Zurita, torn. v. lib. 5, cap. 84.— Navagiero, Viaggio, fol. 23. s The Curate of Los Palacios remarks of her, "Fue muger hermosa, de muy gentil cuerpo, e gesto, e composicion." (Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 201.) Pulgar, another contemporary, eulogizes el mirar muy gracioso, y honesto, las facciones "del rostro bien puestas, la cara toda muy hermosa." 'l
HER CHARA CIEli.
|
59>
in person, taking her needlework with her, and passing the day in the society of the inmates. When travelling in Galicia, she attired herself in the costume of the country, borrowing for that purpose the jewels and other ornaments of the ladies there, and returning them with liberal addi¬ tions.1 By this condescending and captivating deportment, as well as by her higher qualities, she gained an ascendency over her turbulent subjects which no king of Spain could ever boast. She spoke the Castilian with much elegance and correctness. She had an easy fluency of discourse, which, though generally of a serious complex¬ ion, was occasionally seasoned with agreeable sallies, some of which have passed into proverbs.2 She was temperate even to abstemiousness in her diet, seldom or never tasting wine ; 3 and so frugal in her table, that the daily expenses for herself and family did not exceed the moderate sum of forty ducats.4 She was equally simple and economical in her apparel. On all public occasions, indeed, she displayed a royal magnificence ;5 but she had no relish for it in private, and she freely gave away her clothes6 and jewels,7 as presents to her friends. Naturally of a sedate though cheerful temper,s she had little taste for the frivolous amusements which make up so much of a court life ; and if she encouraged the presence of minstrels and musicians in her palace, it was to wean her young nobility from the coarser and less intellectual pleasures to which they were addicted.9 Among her moral qualities, the most conspicuous, perhaps, was her
magnanimity. She betrayed nothing little or selfish, in thought or action. Her schemes were vast, and executed in the same noble spirit in which they were conceived. She never employed doubtful agents or sinister measures, but the most direct and open policy.10 She scorned to avail herself of advantages offered by the perfidy of others.11 Where she had once given her confidence, she gave her hearty and steady support ; and she was scrupulous to redeem any pledge she had made to those who ventured in her cause, however unpopular. She sustained Ximenes in all his obnoxious but salutary reforms. She seconded Columbus in the prosecution of his arduous enterprise, and shielded him from the calumny 1 Mem. de la Acad,
Ibid.
3 L.
de Hist., torn. vi. Ilust. 8.
para su hermana ; que no tengo agora cosa buena ; mas yo le los enviare presto buenos." Reynas
Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. 182. Pulgar, Cathdlicas, torn. ii. p. 839. " See the magnificent inventory presented to her Reyes Catdlicos, part. 1, cap. 4.
Mem. de la Acad, de Hist , torn. vi. p. 323. daughter-in-law, Margaret of Austria, and to her Such occasions have rare charms, of course, for daughter Maria, queen of Portugal, apud Mem. de the gossiping chroniclers of the period. See, among la Acad, de Hist., torn. vi. Ilust. 12. 8 others, the gorgeous ceremonial of the baptism and " Alegre," says the author of the " Carro de las presentation of Prince John at Seville, 1478, as Donas," " de unaalegria honesto y mui mesurada." related by the good Curate of Los Palacios. Mem. de la Acad, de Hist., torn. vi. p. 558U Among the retainers of the court, Bernaldez (Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 32, 33.) " Isabella was surrounded and served," says Pulgar, " by grandees notices " la moltitud de poetas, de trobadores, e and lords of the highest rank, so that it was said musicos de todas partes." Reyes Catdlicos, MS., she maintained too great pomp ;pontpa. demasiada." cap. 201. 10 Reyes Catdlicos, part. 1, cap. 4. " Queria que sus cartas e mandamtentos fuesen Florez quotes a passage from an original letter complidos con diligencia." Pulgar, Reyes Catbof the queen, written soon after one of her progresses licos, part. 1, cap. 4. U See a remarkable instance of this in her into Galicia, showing her habitual liberality in this way: Decid a dona Luisa, que porque treatment of the faithless Juan de Corral, noticed " vengo de Galicia desecha de vestidos. no le envio in Part I., chanter 10, of this History.
*
592
ILLNESS AND DEATH OF ISABELLA.
of his enemies. She did the same good service to her favourite, Gonsalvo de Cordova ; and the day of her death was felt, and, as it proved, truly felt, by both, as the last of their good fortune.1 Artifice and duplicity were so abhorrent to her character, and so averse from her domestic policy, that when they appear in the foreign relations of Spain it is cer¬ tainly not imputable to her. She was incapable of harbouring any petty distrust or latent malice ; and, although stern in the execution and exaction of public justice, she made the most generous allowance, and even some¬ times advances, to those who had personally injured her.2 But the principle which gave a peculiar colouring to every feature of Isabella's mind was piety. It shone forth from the very depths of her soul with a heavenly radiance which illuminated her whole character. Fortunately, her earliest years had been passed in the rugged school of adversity, under the eye of a mother who implanted in her serious mind such strong principles of religion as nothing in after-life had power to shake. At an early age, in the flower of youth and beauty, she was intro¬ duced to her brother's court ; but its blandishments, so dazzling to a young imagination, had no power over hers ; for she was surrounded by a moral atmosphere of purity, "Driving far off each thing of sin and guilt."*
Such was the decorum of her manners, that, though encompassed by false friends and open enemies, not the slightest reproach was breathed on her fair name in this corrupt and calumnious court. She gave a liberal portion of her time to private devotions, as well as to the public exercises of religion.4 She expended large sums in useful charities, especially in the erection of hospitals and churches, and the more doubtful endowments of monasteries.5 Her piety was strikingly exhibited 1 The melancholy tone of Columbus's correspond¬
ence after the queen's death shows too well the
colour of his fortunes and feelings. (Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, torn. i. pp. 341 et seq.) The sentiments of the Great Captain were still more unequivocally expressed, according to Giovio : "Nec multis inde diebus Regina fato concessit, incredibili cum dolore atque jactura Consa:vi ; nam ab ea tanquam alumnus, ac in ejus regia educatus, cuncta quae exoptari possent virtutis et dignitatis incrementa ademptum fuisse fatebatur, rege ipso quanquam minus benigno parumque liberali nunquani regina: voluntati reluctari auso. Id vero praeclare tanquam verissimum apparuit eiata regina." Vitae Illust. Virorum, p. 275. The reader may recall a striking example of this, in the early part of her reign, in her great tenderness and forbearance towards the humours of Carillo, archbishop of Toledo, her quondam friend, but then her most implacable foe. :1 Isabella at her brother's court might well have sat for the whole of Milton's beautiful portraiture : So is dear to heaven saintly chastity, " That, when a soul is found sincerely so, A thousand liveried angels lackey her, Driving far off each thing of sin and guilt, And, in clear dream and solemn vision, Tell her of things that no gross ear can hear,
-
Till oft converse with heavenly habitants Begin to cast a beam on the outward shape, The unpolluted temple of the mind, And turns it by degrees to the soul's essence, Till all be made immortal." 4 "Era tanto," says L. Marineo, "el ardor y diligencia que tonia cerca el culto divino, que aunque de dia y de noche estava muy ocupada en grandes y arduos negocios de la governacion de muchos reynos y senorios, parescia que su vida era mas contemplativa que activa. Porque siempre se hallava presente a los divinos oficios y a la palabra de Dios. Era tanta su atencion que si alguno de los que celebravan o cantavan los psalmos, o otras cosas de la yglesia errava alguna dicion o syllaba, lo sintia y lo notava, y despues como maestro a discipulo se lo emendava y corregia. Acostumbrava cada dia dezir todas las horas canbnicas demas de otras muchas votivas y extra ordinarias devociones que tenia." Cosas memorables, fol. 183. 8 Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, part. 1, cap. 4. Lucio Marineo enumerates many of these splendid charities. (Cosas memorables, fol. 165.) See also the notices scattered over the Itinerary (ViaggiO in Spagna) of Navagiero, who travelled through the country a few years after.
—
HER CHARACTER.
593
ir that unfeigned humility which, although the very essence of our faith, is so rarely found ; and most rarely in those whose great powers and exalted stations seem to raise them above the level of ordinary mortals. A remarkable illustration of this is afforded in the queen's correspondence with Talavera, in which her meek and docile spirit is strikingly contrasted with the Puritanical intolerance of her confessor.1 Yet Talavera, as we have seen, was sincere and benevolent at heart. Unfortunately, the royal conscience was at times committed to very different keeping ; and that humility which, as we have repeatedly had occasion to notice, made her defer so reverentially to her ghostly adviserÿ led, under the fanatic Torquemada, the confessor of her early youth, to those deep blemishes on her administration, the establishment of the Inquisition and the exile of the Jews. But though blemishes of the deepest dye on her administration, they are certainly not to be regarded as such on her moral character. It will be difficult to condemn her, indeed, without condemning the age ; for these very acts are not only excused, but extolled by her contemporaries, as constituting her strongest claims to renown, and to the gratitude of her country.2 They proceeded from the principle, openly avowed by the court of Rome, that zeal for the purity of the faith could atone for every crime. This immoral maxim, flowing from the head of the church, was echoed in a thousand different forms by the subordinate clergy, and greedily received by a superstitious people.3 It was not to be expected that a solitary woman, filled with natural diffidence of her own capacity on such subjects, should array herself against those venerated counsellors whom she had been taught from her cradle to look to as the guides and guardians of her conscience. However mischievous the operations of the Inquisition may have been in Spain, its establishment, in point of principle, was not worse than many other measures which have passed with far less censure, though in a much more advanced and civilized age.4 Where, indeed, during the sixteenth The archbishop's letters are little better than a ! Blancas, Commentarii, p. 263. —Zurita, Anales, torn. homily on the sins of dancing, feasting, dressing, : v. lib. x, cap. 6. and the like, garnished with scriptural allusions, i 3 Sismondi displays the mischievous influence and conveyed in a tone of sour rebuke that would ! of these theological dogmas in Italy, as well as V(-l ÿ(lone cre(iit to the most canting Roundhead Spain, under the pontificate of Alexander VI. and in Oliver Cromwell's court. The queen, far from his immediate predecessors, in the 90th chapter of taking exception at it, vindicates herself from the ! his eloquent and philosophical ' Histoire des grave imputations with a degree of earnestness Republiques Italiennes." and simplicity which may provoke a smile in the 4 Iborrow almost the words of Mr. Hallam, who reader. " Iam aware," she concludes, " that cus- noticing the penal statutes against Catholics unde.tom cannot make an action, bad in itself, good ; Elizabeth, says, " They established a persecution but I wish your opinion whether, under all the which fell not at all short in principle of that for circumstances, these can be considered bad; that, which the Inquisition had become so odious.' 'f so, they may be discontinued in future." See (Constitutional History of England (Paris, 1827), this curious correspondence in Mem. de la Acad, de i vol. i. chap. 3.) Even Lord Burleigh, commenting Hist., torn. vi. Ilust. 13. on the mode of examination adopted in certain cases Such encomiums become still more striking in by the High Commission court, does not hesitate to v' :iters of sound and expansive views, like Zurita say the interrogatories were " so curiously penned, • no Blancas, who, although flourishing in a better- i so full of branches and circumstances, as he thought instructed age, do not scruple to pronounce the the inquisitors of Spain used not so many questions inquisition 1 ' the greatest evidence of her prudence to comprehend and to trap their preys. Ibid.. and piety, whose uncommon utility not only Spain, chap. 4. j but all Christendom, freely acknowledged ! I " 2 P
594
ILLNESS AND DEATH OF ISABELLA.
and the greater part of the seventeenth century, was the principle of persecution abandoned by the dominant party, whether Catholic or Pro¬ testant? And where that of toleration asserted, except by the weaker? It is true, to borrow Isabella's own expression in her letter to Talavera, the prevalence of a bad custom cannot constitute its apology. But it should serve much to mitigate our condemnation of the queen, that she fell into no greater error, in the imperfect light in which she lived, than was common to the greatest minds in a later and far riper period.1 Isabella's actions, indeed, were habitually based on principle. Whatever errors of judgment be imputed to her, she most anxiously sought in all situations to discern and discharge her duty. Faithful in the dispensation of justice, no bribe was large enough to ward off the execution of the law.2 No motive, not even conjugal affection, could induce her to make an unsuitable appointment to public office.3 No reverence for the ministers of religion could lead her to wink at their misconduct;4 nor could the deference she entertained for the head of the church allow her to tolerate his encroachments on the rights of her crown.5 She seemed to consider herself especially bound to preserve entire the peculiar claims and privi¬ leges of Castile, after its union under the same sovereign with Aragon.6 And although, " while her own will was law," says Peter Martyr, " she governed in such a manner that it might appear the joint action of both Ferdinand and herself," yet she was careful never to surrender into his hands one of those prerogatives which belonged to her as queen-proprietor of the kingdom.7 Isabella's measures were characterized by that practical good sense without which the most brilliant parts may work more to the woe than to the weal of mankind. Though engaged all her life in reforms, she had none of the failings so common in reformers. Her plans, though vast, were never visionary. The best proof of this is, that she lived to see most of them realized. She was quick to discern objects of real utility. She saw the importance of the new discovery of printing, and liberally patronized it, from the first 1 liven Milton, in his essay on the " Liberty of : of this on the occasion of Ximenes's appointment Unlicensed Printing," the most splendid argument, i to the primacy. See Part II., chapter 5, of this perhaps, the world had then witnessed in behalf of ! History. 4 See, among other intellectual liberty, would exclude Popery from the instances, her exemplary chas¬ lenefits of toleration, as a religion which the public tisement of the ecclesiastics of Truxillo. Part I., rood required at all events to be extirpated. Such chapter 12, of this History. 5 Ibid., Part I. ÿvere the crude views of the rights of conscience en¬ chapter 6, Part II. chapter 10, et tertained, in the latter half of the seventeenth cen¬ alibi. Indeed, this independent attitude was shown, by those of one gifted minds whose extraordi¬ as Ihave more than once had occasion to notice, tury, nary elevation enabled it to catch and reflect back not merely in shielding the rights of her own crown, the coming light of knowledge, long before it had but in the boldest remonstrances against the corrupt fallen on the rest of mankindpractices and personal immorality of those who 2 The most remarkable example of this, perhaps, filled the chair of St. Peter at this period. occurred in the case of the wealthy Galician knight ® The public acts of this reign afford repeated Yanez de Lugo, who endeavoured to purchase a evidence of the pertinacity with which Isabella in pardon of the queen by the enormous bribe of 40,000 sisted on reserving the benefits of the Moorish con¬ doblas of gold. The attempt failed, though warmly quests and the American discoveries for her own supported by some of the royal counsellors. The subjects of Castile, by whom and for whom they story is well vouched. Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, had been mainly achieved. The same thing Is part. 2, cap. 97. — L. Marineo, Cosas memorables! reiterated in the most emphatic manner in he' fol. 180. testament. 3 The reader may recollect a pertinent 7 Opus Epist., epist. illustration
31.
HER CHARACTER.
595
moment it appeared.1 She had none of the exclusive, local prejudices too common with her countrymen. She drew talent from the most remote quarters to her dominions by munificent rewards. She imported foreign artisans for her manufactures, foreign engineers and officers for the dis¬ cipline of her army, and foreign scholars to imbue her martial subjects with more cultivated tastes. She consulted the useful in all her subor¬ dinate regulations ; in her sumptuary laws, for instance, directed against the fashionable extravagances of dress, and the ruinous ostentation so much affected by the Castilians in their weddings and funerals.2 Lastly, she showed the same perspicacity in the selection of her agents, well knowing that the best measures become bad in incompetent hands. But although the skilful selection of her agents was an obvious cause of Isabella's success, yet another, even more important, is to be found in her own vigilance and untiring exertions. During the first busy and bustling years of her reign, these exertions were of incredible magnitude. She was almost always in the saddle, for she made all her journeys on horseback ; and she travelled with a rapidity which made her always present on the spot where her presence was needed. She was never intimidated by the weather, or the state of her own health ; and this reckless exposure undoubtedly contributed much to impair her excellent constitution.3 She was equally indefatigable in her mental application. After assidu¬ ous attention to business through the day, she was often known to sit up all night dictating despatches to her secretaries.4 In the midst of these overwhelming cares she found time to supply the defects of early edu¬ cation by learning Latin, so as to understand it without difficulty, whether written or spoken, and indeed, in the opinion of a competent judge, to attain a critical accuracy in it5 As she had little turn for light amuse¬ ments, she sought relief from graver cares by some useful occupation appropriate to her sex ; and she left ample evidence of her skill in this way, in the rich specimens of embroidery, wrought with her own fair hands, with which she decorated the churches. She was careful to instruct her daughters in these more humble departments of domestic duty ; for she thought nothing too humble to learn which was useful.6
J-
Mem. de la Acad, de Hist., torn. vi. p. 49. The preamble of one of herpragnidticas against this lavish 'expenditure at funerals contains some reflections worth quoting for the evidence they afford of her practical good sense : Nos deseando pro" provecho, e conveer e remediar al tal gasto sin siderando que esto no redunda en sufragio e alivio de las animas de los defuntos." etc. " Pero los Catdlicos Chris tianos que creemos que hai otra vida despues desta, donde las animas esperan folganza e vida perdurable, desta habemos de curar e procurar de la ganar par obras meritorias, e no por cosas transitorias e vanas corno son los lutos e gostos eaccesivos." Mem. de la Acad, de Hist., tuni. vi. p. 318. 3 Her exposure in this way on one occasion brought on a miscarriage According to Gomez, indeed, she finally died of a painful internal disorder
occasioned by her long and laborious journeys. (De Rebus gestis, fol. 47.) Giovio adopts the same (Vita; Illust. Virorum, p. 275.) The account. authorities are good, certainly ; but Martyr, who was in the palace, with every opportunity of cor¬ rect information, and with no reason for conceal¬ ment of the truth, in his private correspondence with Tendilla and Talavera makes 110 allusion
whatever to such a complaint in his circumstantial account of the queen's illness, 4 Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, torn. vii. p. 411- — Mem. de la Acad, de Hist., torn. vi. p. 29. 5 L. Marineo, Cosas memorable.,, fol. 182.— " Pronunciaba con primor el latin, y era tan habil en la prosodia, que si erraban algun acento, luego le corregia." Idem, apud Florez, Reynas Cathdlicas, torn- ii. p. 834. 6 If we are to believe Florez, the king A'ore no
596
ILLNESS AND DEATH OF ISABELLA.
With all her high qualifications, Isabella would have been still unequal to the achievement of her grand designs, without possessing a degree of fortitude rare in either sex ; not the courage which implies contempt of personal danger,—though of this she had a larger share than falls to most men;1 nor that which supports its possessor under the extremities of bodily
pain,— though of this she gave ample evidence, since she endured the greatest suffering her sex is called to bear, without a groan ; 2 but that moral courage which sustains the spirit in the dark hour of adversity, and, gathering light from within to dispel the darkness, imparts its own cheer¬ ing influence to all around This was shown remarkably in the stormy seaso.i which ushered in her accession, as well as through the whole of the Moorish war. It was her voice that decided never to abandon Alhama.3 Her remonstrances compelled the king and nobles to return to the field, when they had quitted it after an ineffectual campaign. As dangers and difficulties multiplied, she multiplied resources to meet them ; and when her soldiers lay drooping under the evils of some protracted siege, she appeared in the midst, mounted on her war-horse, with her delicate limbs cased in knightly mail,4 and, riding through their ranks, breathed new courage into their hearts by her own intrepid bearing. To her personal efforts, indeed, as well as counsels, the success of this glorious war may be mainly im¬ puted ; and the unsuspicious testimony of the Venetian minister, Navagiero, a few years later, shows that the nation so considered it. " Queen Isabel," says he, " by her singular genius, masculine strength of mind, and other virtues most unusual in our own sex as well as hers, was not merely of great assistance in, but the chief cause of, the conquest of Granada. She was, indeed, a most rare and virtuous lady, one of whom the Spaniards talk far more than of the king, sagacious as he was and uncommon for his time." 6 Happily, these masculine qualities in Isabella did not extinguish the softer ones which constitute the charm of her sex. Her heart overflowed with affectionate sensibility to her family and friends. She watched over the declining days of her aged mother, and ministered to her sad infirmi¬ ties with all the delicacy of filial tenderness.6 We have seen abundant shirt but of the queen's making : " Preciabase de no haverse puesto su marido camisa, que ella no huviesse hilado y cosido." (Reynas Cathdlicas, torn. ii. p. 832.) If this be taken literally, his wardrobe, considering the multitude of her avocatioDS, must have been indifferently furnished. 1 Among many evidences of this, what other need be given than her conduct at the famous riot at Segovia ? Part I., chapter 6, of this History. Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, part r, cap. 4.— "No fue la Reyna," says L. Marineo, "de animo menos fuerte para sufrir los dolores corporales. Porque como yo fuy informado de las duenas que le Servian en la camara, ni en los dolores que padescia de sus enfermidades, ni en los del parto (que es cosa de grande admiracion) nunca la vieron quexarse ; antes con increyble y maravillosa fortaleza los suffria y simulava." (Cosas memorables, fol. 186 ) To disthe same effect writes the anonymous author of the
Carro de las JJonas, apud
Hist-, torn. vi. p. 559.
3 "Era firme en sus propdsitos, de los quales se retraia con gran dificultad." Pulgar. Reyes Catd-
licos, part. 1, cap. 4. * 1he reader may refresh his recollection 0' Tasso's graceful sketch of Erminia in similar war¬ like panoply : durissimo acciar preme ed offende " Col II delicato collo e 1' aurea chioma ; E la tenera man lo scudo prende Pur troppo grave e insopportabil soma. Cosl tutta di ferro intorno splende, E in atto militar se stessa doma." Gerusalemme Liberata, canto 6, stanza 5s' ® Viaggio, fol. 27. b We find one of the first articles in the marriag treaty with Ferdinand enjoining him to clieris
HER CHARACTER.
597
proofs how fondly and faithfully she loved her husband to the last,1 though this love was not always as faithfully requited.2 For her children she lived more than for herself ; and for them too she died, for it was their loss and their afflictions which froze the current of her blood before age had time to chill it. Her exalted state did not remove her above the sympathies of friendship.3 With her friends she forgot the usual distinctions of rank, sharing in their joys, visiting and consoling them in sorrow and sickness, and condescending in more than one instance to assume the office of exe¬ cutrix on their decease.4 Her heart, indeed, was filled with benevolence to all mankind. In the most fiery heat of war she was engaged in devis¬ ing means for mitigating its horrors. She is said to have been the first to introduce the benevolent institution of camp hospitals ; and we have seen, more than once, her lively solicitude to spare the effusion of blood even of her enemies. But it is needless to multiply examples of this beautiful but familiar trait in her character.6 It is in these more amiable qualities of her sex that Isabella's superiority becomes most apparent over her illustrious namesake, Elizabeth of Eng¬ land,6 whose history presents some features parallel to her own. Both were disciplined in early life by the teachings of that stern nurse of wisdom, Adversity. Both were made to experience the deepest humiliation at the hands of their nearest relative, who should have cherished and protected them. Both succeeded in establishing themselves on the throne after the most precarious vicissitudes. Each conducted her kingdom, through a the marchioness of Moya, who, seldom separated from her royal mistress through life, had the melancholy satisfaction of closing her eyes in death. Oviedo, who saw them frequently together, says that the queen never addressed this lady, even in later life, with any other than the endearing title of hija marq-uesa, "daughter marchioness." Quin¬ cuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 23. As was the case with Cardenas, the comendador misma madre. E aqui tomen ejemplo los hijos mayor, and the grand cardinal Mendoza, to whom, como han de servir a sus padres, pues una Rexna as we have already seen, she paid the kindest tan poderosa y en negocios tan arduos puesta, todos attentions during their last illness. While in this los mas de los anos (puesto todoaparte ypospuesto) way she indulged the natural dictates of her heart, iba a visitar a su madre y la servia humilmente." she was careful to render every outward mark o:' Viaggio, p. 557. respect to the memory of those whose rank or 1 Among other little tokens of mutual affection, services entitled them to such consideration. it may be mentioned that not only the public coin, " Quando," says the author so often quoted, "quiera but their furniture, books, and other articles of que fallescia alguno de los grandes de su reyno, o personal property, were stamped with their initials, algun principe Christiano, luego embiavan varones F & I, or emblazoned with their devices, his being sabios y religiosos para consolar a sus heredores y a yoke, and hers a sheaf of arrows. (Oviedo, deudos. Y demas desto se vestian de ropas de Iuto Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 2, dial. 3.) It en testimonio del dolor y sentimiento que hazian." was common, says Oviedo, for each party to take a L. Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. 185. 5 Her humanity was shown in her attempts to device whose initial corresponded with that of the name of the other : as was the case here, with jugo mitigate the ferocious character of those national flechas. amusements, the bull-fights the popularity of 2 Marineo thus speaks of the queen's discreet and which throughout the country was too great, as she most amiable conduct in these delicate matters : intimates in one of her letters, to admit of her was so much " Amava en tanta manera al Rey su marido, que abolishing them altogether. ofShe andava sobre aviso con celos a ver si el amava a moved at the sanguinary issue one of these com¬ Arevalo, sajs a con¬ otras. Y si sentia que mirava a alguna dama o bats, which she witnessed at donzella de su casa con senal de amores, con mucha temporary, that she devised a plan, by guarding serious any preventing prudencia buscava medios y maneras con que the horns of the bulls, for despedir aquella tal persona de su casa, con su injury to the men and horses ; and she neverÿwouid pre¬ this until spectacles mucha honrra y provecho." (Cosas memorables, attend another of these foi. 182.) There was unfortunately too much j caution had been adopted. Oviedo, Quincuagenas, cause for this uneasiness. See Part II., chapter 24, MS. 6 Isabel, the name of the Catholic queen, is of this History. 3 The best beloved of her friends probably was correctly rendered into English by that of Elizabeth. and treat her mother with all reverence, and to provide suitably for her royal maintenance. (Mem. de la Acad, de Hist., torn. vi. Apend. no. i.) The author of the " Carro de las Donas" thus notices her tender devotedness to her parent at a later period : "Y esto me dijo quien lo vido por sus proprios ojos, que la Reyna Dana Isabel, nuestra senora, cuando estaba alii en Arevalo visitando a su madre, ella misma por su persona servia a su
*
598
ILLNESS AND DEATH OF ISABELLA.
long and triumphant reign, to a height of glory which it had never before reached Both lived to see the vanity of all earthly grandeur, and to fall the victims of an inconsolable melancholy ; and both left behind an illus¬ trious name, unrivalled in the subsequent annals of their country. But with these few circumstances of their history the resemblance ceases. Their characters afford scarcely a point of contact. Elizabeth, inheriting a large share of the bold and bluff King Harry's temperament, was haughty, arrogant, coarse, and irascible ; while with these fiercer qualities she mingled deep dissimulation and strange irresolution. Isabella, on the other hand, tempered the dignity of royal station with the most bland and courteous manners. Once resolved, she was constant in her purposes, and her con¬ duct in public and private life was characterised by candour and integrity. Both may be said to have shown that magnanimity which is implied by the accomplishment of great objects in the face of great obstacles. But Elizabeth was desperately selfish ; she was incapable of forgiving, not merely a real injury, but the slightest affront to her vanity ; and she was merciless in exacting retribution. Isabella, on the other hand, lived only for others,— was ready at all times to sacrifice self to considerations of public duty, and, far from personal resentments, showed the greatest con¬ descension and kindness to those who had most sensibly injured her; while her benevolent heart sought every means to mitigate the authorized severities of the law, even towards the guilty.1 Both possessed rare fortitude. Isabella, indeed, was placed in situa¬ tions which demanded more frequent and higher displays of it than her rival ; but no one will doubt a full measure of this quality in the daughter of Henry the Eighth. Elizabeth was better educated, and every way more highly accomplished, than Isabella. But the latter knew enough to maintain her station with dignity ; and she encouraged learning by a munificent patronage.2 The masculine powers and passions of Elizabeth seemed to divorce her in a great measure from the peculiar attributes of her sex ; at least from those which constitute its peculiar charm ; for she had abundance of its foibles, — a coquetry and love of admiration which age could not chill : a levity, most careless, if not criminal ;3 and a fond¬ ness for dress and tawdry magnificence of ornament, which was ridiculous,
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1 She gave evidence of this in the commutation J If one need be convinced how many faces history of the sentence she obtained for the wretch who can wear, and how difficult it is to get at the true stabbedher husband, and whom her ferocious nobles one, he has only to compare Dr. Lingard's account would have put to death without the opportunity of of this reign with Mr. Turner's. Much obliquity confession and absolution, that " his soul might was to be expected, indeed, from the avowed apolo¬ perish with his body ! " (See her letter to gist of a persecuted party, like the former writer. Talavera.) She showed this merciful temper, so Hut it attaches, I fear, to the latter in more ihan rare in that rough age, by dispensing altogether one instance, as in the reign of Richard III., for with the preliminary barbarities sometimes pre¬ example. Does it proceed from the desire of saying scribed by the law in capital executions. Mem. de something new on a beaten topic, where the new la Acad, de Hist., torn. vi. Ilust. 13. cannot always be true? Or, as is most probable, 2 Hume admits that, " unhappily for literature, from that confiding benevolence which throws at least for the learned of this age, Queen somewhat of its own light over the darkest shades Elizabeth's vanity lay more in shining by her own of human character? The unprejudiced reader may earning than in encouraging men of genius by her perhaps agree that the balance of this great queen s liberality " good and bad qualities is held with a more steady , 3 Which of the two, the reader of the records of and impartial hand by Mr. Hallam than any preced¬ those times may be somewhat puzzled
—
to determine.
ing
writer.
HER CHARACTER.
599 to according the different periods of life in which it was or disgusting, indulged.1 Isabella, on the other hand, distinguished through life for decorum of manners and purity beyond the breath of calumny, was content with the legitimate affection which she could inspire within the range of her domestic circle. Far from a frivolous affectation of orna¬ ment of dress, she was most simple in her own attire, and seemed to set no value on her jewels but as they could serve the necessities of the state ;2 when they could be no longer useful in this way, she gave them away, as we have seen, to her friends. Both were uncommonly sagacious in the selection of their ministers ; though Elizabeth was drawn into some errors in this particular by her levity,8 as was Isabella by religious feeling. It was this, combined with her excessive humility, which led to the only grave errors in the adminis¬ tration of the latter. Her rival fell into no such errors ; and she was a stranger to the amiable qualities which led to them. Her conduct was certainly not controlled by religious principle ; and though the bulwark of the Protestant faith, it might be difficult to say whether she were at heart most a Protestant or a Catholic. She viewed religion in its con¬ nection with the state, in other words, with herself; and she took measures for enforcing conformity to her own views, not a whit less despotic, and scarcely less sanguinary, than those countenanced for conscience' sake by her more bigoted rival.4 This feature of bigotry, which has thrown a shade over Isabella's othev wise beautiful character, might lead to a disparagement of her intellectual power compared with that of the English queen. To estimate this aright, we must contemplate the results of their respective reigns. Elizabeth found all the materials of prosperity at hand, and availed herself of them most ably to build up a solid fabric of national grandeur. 'Isabella created these materials. She saw the faculties of her people locked up in a death¬ like lethargy, and she breathed into them the breath of life for those great and heroic enterprises which terminated in such glorious consequences tc the monarchy. It is when viewed from the depressed position of her early days that the achievements of her reign seem scarcely less than miraculous. The masculine genius of the English queen stands out relieved beyond its natural dimensions by its separation from the softer qualities of her sex ;
—
1 The
unsuspicious testimony of her godson,
for thirty years or more, despite his total destitution
Harrington, places these foibles in the most of moral worth. ludicrous light. If the well-known story, repeated Queen Elizabeth, indeed, in a declaration to by historians, of the three thousand dresses left in her* people, proclaims, "We know not, nor have any of our subjects
her wardrobe at her decease, be true, or near truth, it affords a singular contrast with Isabella's taste in these matters. 2 The reader will remember how effectually they answered this purpose in the Moorish war See Part I. chapter 14, of this History. 3 It is scarcely necessary to mention the names of Hatton and Leicester, both recommended to the first offices in the state chiefly by their personal attractions, and the latter of whom continued tc maintain the highest place in his sovereign's favour
any meaning to allow, that
should be molested, either by examination or inquisition, in any matter of faith, as long as they (Turners shall profess the Christian faith. ,rÿI)s rern!!I:,, Elizabeth, vol. ii. p. 241, note ) I om in Jones : definition of Parson Thwackum's "When Imention religion, Imean the Christian but the religion, Christian the only religion ; and not Protestant religion ; and not only the Protestant be would It England. of church the religion, but difficult to say which fared worst, Puritans or Catbw lies, under this system of toleration.
_
600
ILLNESS AND DEATH OF ISABELLA.
while her rival's, like some vast but symmetrical edifice, loses in appear¬ ance somewhat of its actual grandeur from the perfect harmony of its proportions. The "-cumstances of their deaths, which were somewhat similar, dis¬ played t-*e great dissimilarity of their characters. Both pined amidst their royal state, a prey to incurable despondency, rather than any marked bodily distemper. In Elizabeth it sprung from wounded vanity, a sullen conviction that she had outlived the admiration on which she had so long fed,— and even the solace of friendship and the attachment of her subjects. Nor did she seek consolation where alone it was to be found, in that sad hour. Isabella, on the other hand, sank under a too-acute sensibility to the sufferings of others. But, amidst the gloom which gathered around her, she looked with the eye of faith to the brighter prospects which unfolded of the future ; and when she resigned her last breath, it was amidst the tears and universal lamentations of her people. It is in this undying, unabated attachment of the nation, indeed, that we see the most unequivocal testimony to the virtues of Isabella. In the downward progress of things in Spain, some of the most ill-advised measures of her administration have found favour and been perpetuated; while the more salutary have been forgotten. This may lead to a miscon¬ ception of her real merits. In order to estimate these, we must listen to the voice of her contemporaries, the eyewitnesses of the condition in which she found the state, and in which she left it. We shall then see but one judgment formed of her, whether by foreigners or natives. The French and Italian writers equally join in celebrating the triumphant glories of her reign, and her magnanimity, wisdom, and purity of character.1 Her own subjects extol her as " the most brilliant exemplar of every virtue," and mourn over the day of her death as " the last of the prosperity and happiness of their country ;"2 while those who had nearer access to her person are unbounded in their admiration of those amiable qualities whose full power is revealed only in the unrestrained intimacies of domestic life.3 The judgment of posterity has ratified the sentence of her own age. The most enlightened Spaniards of the present day, by no means insensible to the errors of her government, but more capable of appreciating its merits than those of a less instructed age, bear honour¬ able testimony to her deserts ; and, while they pass over the bloated 1 Quum generosi," says Paolo Giovio, speaking sa vie a estd telle, qu'elle a bien mdritd couronnede " of her, " prudentisque animi magnitudine, turn laurier apres sa mort." Memoires de Bayard, chap. pudicitiae et pietatis laude antiquis heroidibus com- 26. See also Comines, Memoires, chap. 23- — Navaparanda." (Vitae Illust. Virorum, p. 205.) Guicciar- giero, Viaggio, fol. 27.— et ah auct. dini eulogizes her as " Donna di onestissinii costumi, Iborrow the words of one contemporary : "Quo e in concetto grandissimo nei Regni suoi di magnani- quidem die omnis Hispaniae felicitas. omne decus, niita e prudenza." (Istoria, lib. 6.) The loyal ser- omnium virtutum pulcherrimuni specimen interiit ; vittur notices her death in the following chivalrous (L. Marineo, Cosas memorables, lib. 21), and the strain: " L'an 1506, une des plus triumphantes et sentiments of all. glorieuses dames qui puis mille ans ait este sur terre 3 If the reader needs further testimony 0' this, he alia de vie a trespas ; ce fut la royne Ysabel de will find abundance collected by the indefatigable Castille, qui ayda, le bras arme, a conquester le Clemencin, in the 21st Ilust. of the Mem. de la Acad. royaulme de Grenade sur les Mores. Je veux bien de Hist. torn vi. asseureraux lecteurs de ceste presente hystoire. que
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FERDINAND RESIGNS TO PHILIP.
601
magnificence of succeeding monarchs, who arrest the popular eye, dwell with enthusiasm on Isabella's character, as the most truly great in their line of princes.1
CHAPTER XVII. FERDINAND REGENT.
— HIS SECOND MARRIAGE.— DISSENSIONS WITH
PHILIP. — RESIGNATION OF THE REGENCY.
1504-1506. Ferdinand Regent.—Philip's Pretensions.—Ferdinand's Perplexities.—Impolitic Treaty with France.—The King's second Marriage.— Landing of Philip and Joanna.— Unpopularity of Ferdinand.— His Interview with his Son-in-law. — He resigns the Regency.
The death of Isabella gives a new complexion to our history, a principal object of which has been the illustration of her personal character and public administration. The latter part of the narrative, it is true, has been chiefly occupied with the foreign relations of Spain, in which her interference has been less obvious than in the domestic. But still we have been made conscious of her presence and parental supervision, by the maintenance of order and the general prosperity of the nation. Her death will make us more sensible of this influence, since it was the signal It would be easy to cite the authority over and over again of such writers as Marina, Sempere, Llorente, Navarrete, Quintana, and others, who have
done such honour to the literature of Spain in the It will be sufficient, however, to advert to the remarkable tribute paid to Isabella's character by the Royal Spanish Academy of History, present century.
who in 1805 appointed theirlatesecretary, Clemencin, to deliver a eulogy on that illustrious theme, and who raised a still nobler monument to her memory, by the publication, in 1821, of the various docu¬ ments compiled by him for the illustration of her reign, as a separate volume of their valuable Me-
* [The glowing picture here presented of Isabella's character has, it must be confessed, something of an ideal aspect, owing perhaps to a lack of those strong and expressive touches which stamp a likeness as authentic even when other evidence is wanting. It is, however, the portrait bequeathed to us by her con¬
temporaries ; and recent investigation has brought nothing to light that calls for its rejection. Bergenroth, it is true, has endeavoured to reverse the common opinion, depicting Isabella not only a$ bigoted and tyrannical, but also as untruthful and hypocritical. But in support of this view he adds little to the wellknown facts of her history, except the distorted medium through which he examines them. Even the meagre evidence he adduces from the results of his own discoveries would bear in some instances a con¬ struction the very opposite of that which he puts upon it. Citing a long letter addressed by the Catholic Queen to Henry VII. of England, under date of September 15, 1496, he thus refers to the strong professions it contains of a desire for peace : No words can be more becoming a great and pious Queen. It is to be " regretted that in the same letter she urged the King of England to declare war upon France, and thereby to render the bloodshed and slaughter more general than it was." (Letters, Despatches, and State Papers, vol. i., Introduction.) Now, the argument of the letter is, that the war undertaken by the French king for the conquest of Italy was one of mere aggression, that he had not himself been assailed or menaced by other powers, and that it was a matter of common interest that he should be restrained front putting his designs into execution. England is invited to join the league against him, not, as Bergenroth puts it, in order " to render the bloodshed and slaughter more generai," but as the most effectual means of re-estab¬ lishing general tranquillity. " It is certain," says this letter, which its German critic, had he lived a few years longer, would probably have commented upon_ in a different spirit, " that there is nothing which _ _ _ _ onrj tn „ J.ei'va • •_ _ 1 K 1 !J rAnt/>rt t IVlfh J
.....
_ ________ —
.1.
1_ *
*ÿ
—
doubt we can feel is whether to ascribe them to a want of critical power or to a strong bias perverting its exercise. In either case the defect is remarkable in a mind which was otherwise admirably fitied for the work of historical investigation. Eli.
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THE REGENCY OF FERDINAND.
602
lor disorders which even the genius and authority of Ferdinand were unable to suppress. While the queen's remains were yet scarcely cold, King Ferdinand tool? the usual measures for announcing the succession. He resigned the crown of Castile, which he had worn with so much glory for thirty years. From a platform raised in the great square of Toledo, the heralds pro¬ claimed, with sound of trumpet, the accession of Philip and Joanna to the Castilian throne, and the royal standard was unfurled by the duke of Alva in honour of the illustrious pair. The king of Aragon then publicly assumed the title of administrator or governor of Castile, as provided by the queen's testament, and received the obeisance of such of the nobles as were present, in his new capacity. These proceedings took place on the evening of the same day on which the queen expired.1 A circular letter was next addressed to the principal cities, requiring them, after the customary celebration of the obsequies of their late sovereign, to raise the royal banners in the name of Joanna; and writs were immediately issued in her name, without mention of Philip's, for the convocation of a cortes to ratify these proceedings.2 The assembly met at Toro, January nth, 1505. The queen's will, or rather that portion of it which related to the succession, was read aloud, and received the entire approbation of the commons, who, together with the grandees and prelates present, took the oaths of allegiance to Joanna as queen and lady proprietor, and to Philip as her husband. They then determined that the exigency contemplated in the testament, of Joanna's incapacity, actually existed,3 and proceeded to tender their homage to King Ferdinand, as the lawful governor of the realm in her name. The latter in turn made the customary oath to respect the laws and liberties of the kingdom, and the whole was terminated by an embassy from the cortes, with a written account of its proceedings, to their new sovereigns in Flanders.4 All seemed now done that was demanded for giving a constitutional sanction to Ferdinand's authority as regent. By the written law of the land, the sovereign was empowered to nominate a regency in case of the minority or incapacity of the heir-apparent.5 This had been done in the present instance by Isabella, at the earnest solicitation of the cortes, made two years previously to her death. It had received the cordial approba1 Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fol. 52.— Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 279. Garibay, Compendio, torn. ii. lib. 20, cap. 1. Carbajal, Anales, MS., afio 1504. —Sandoval, Hist, del Emp. Carlos V., torn. i. p. 9. " Sapientise alii," says Martyr, in allusion to those prompt proceedings, " et summae bonitati adscri-
had led Isabella to allude to her daughter's infirmity only in very general terms, are well remarked by the cortes. See the copy of the original act in Zurita, torn. vi. lib. 6, cap. 4. — Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, torn. ii. rey 30, cap. 15, sec. 2.— Zurita, Anales, torn. vi. lib. 6, cap. 3.-bunt ; alii, rem novam admirati, regem incusant, Marina, Teoria, part. 2, cap. 4.— Mariana, Hist, de remque arguunt non debuisse fieri." Ubi supra. Espana, torn. ii. lib. 28, cap. 12. Sandoval, Hist. 3 Philip's name was omitted, as being a foreigner, del Emp. Carlos V., torn. i. p. 9. until he should have taken the customary oath to 5 Siete Partidas, part. 2, tit. 15, ley 3.— Guiccirespect the laws of the realm, and especially to con¬ ardini, with the ignorance of the Spanish constitution fer office on none but native Castilians. Zurita natural enough in a foreigner, disputes the queen S Anales, torn. v. lib. 5, cap. 84. right to make any such settlement. Istorta. The maternal tenderness and delicacy which lib. 7.
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*
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HE RESIGNS TO PHILIP.
603
tion ot that body, which had undeniable authority to control such testamenta y provisions.1 Thus, from the first to the last stage of the proceeding, the whole had gone on with a scrupulous attention to con¬ stitutional forms. Yet the authority of the new regent was far from being firmly seated ; and it was the conviction of this which had led him to accelerate measures. Many of the nobles were extremely dissatisfied with the queen's settle¬ ment of the regency, which had taken air before her death ; and they had even gone so far as to send to Flanders before that event, and invite Philip to assume the government himself, as the natural guardian of his wife.2 These discontented lords, if they did not refuse to join in the public acts of acknowledgment to Ferdinand at Toro, at least were not reserved in intimating their dissatisfaction.3 Among the most prominent were the marquis of Villena, who may be said to have been nursed to faction from the cradle, and the duke of Najara, both potent nobles, whose broad domains had been grievously clipped by the resumption of the crown lands so scrupulously enforced by the late government, and who looked forward to their speedy recovery under the careless rule of a young, inexperienced prince, like Philip.4 But the most efficient of his partisans was Don Juan Manuel, Ferdinand's ambassador at the court of Maximilian. This nobleman, descended from one of the most illustrious houses in Castile, was a person of uncommon parts ; restless and intriguing, plausible in his address, bold in his plans, but exceedingly cautious, and even cunning, in the execution of them. He had formerly insinuated himself into Philip's confidence during his visit to Spain, and, on receiving news of the queen's death, hastened without delay to join him in the Netherlands. Through his means, an extensive correspondence was soon opened with the discontented Castilian lords ;5 and Philip was persuaded, not only to assert his pretensions to undivided supremacy in Castile, but to send a letter to his royal father-in-law, requiring him to resign the government at once, and retire into Aragon.6 The demand was treated with some con-
y See the whole subject of the powers of cortes in the Sire de Beyre, who was sent to Spain immedi this particular, as discussed very fully and satisfac¬ ately on the receipt of the intelligence of Isabella's torily by Marina, Teoria, part. 2, cap. 13. death, accredited openly to Ferdinand, and privately 'l Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. to each of the prelates and grandees. See Col. de 203. Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, torn. ii. rey 30, cap. 15, Doc. in£d. para la Hist, de Espana, torn. viii. Ed.] 6 "Nor was it sufficient," says Dr. Robertson, sec. 3. Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 274, 277. 3 Zurita's assertion, that all the nobility present in allusion'to Philip's pretensions to the government, did homage to Ferdinand (Anales, torn. vi. cap. 3), " to oppose to these just rights, and to the inclina¬ would seem to be contradicted by a subsequent tion of the people of Castile, the authority of a testa¬ passage. Comp. cap. 4. ment, the genuineness 0/ which was perhaps doubt¬ i Isabella in her will particularly enjoins on her ful, and its contents to him appeared certainly successors never to alienate or to restore the crown to be iniquitous." (History of the Reign of the lands recovered from the marquisate of Villena. Emperor Charles V. (London, 1796), vol. ii. p. 7.) But who ever intimated a doubt of its genuineness, Dormer, Discursos varios, p. 331. 6 [Philip's immediate agent, in'his communications before Dr. Robertson ? Certainly no one living with the Castilian nobility, was his maitre-d'hotel, at that time * for the will was produced before
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* [The doubt was intimated by Philip, at least, a ; appears from his instructions to an agent sent to Monsalvo de Cordova. In this document Ferdinand is represented as unlawfully exercising the rights of sovereignty, "en se vantant en ce de certain testami : de ladite feue royne, lequel toutesfoiz ledit seigneur roy [Philip] n'a jamais peu voir, ne autre pour luy, ir copie ne autrement, quelque requeste ou poursuite qu i! en ait faite ne fait faire.
Parquoy appert cler
lent que ce n'est que abuz, combien que, quant ore»
THE REGENCY OF FERDINAND.
604
tempt by Ferdinand, who admonished him of his incompetency to govern a nation like the Spaniards, whom he understood so little, but urged him at the same time to present himself before them with his wife as soon as possible.1 Ferdinand's situation, however, was far from comfortable. Philip's, or rather Manuel's emissaries, were busily stirring up the embers of disaffec¬ tion. They dwelt on the advantages to be gained from the free and lavish disposition of Philip, which they contrasted with the parsimonious temper of the stern old Catalan, who had so long held them under his yoke.2
Ferdinand, whose policy it had been to crush the overgrown power of the nobility, and who, as a foreigner, had none of the natural claims to loyalty enjoyed by his late queen, was extremely odious to that jealous and haughty body. The number of Philip's adherents increased in it every day, and soon comprehended the most considerable names in the kingdom. The king, who watched these symptoms of disaffection with deep anxiety, said little, says Martyr, but coolly scrutinized the minds of those around him, dissembling as far as possible his own sentiments.3 He received further and more unequivocal evidence, at this time, of the alienation of his son-in-law. An Aragonese gentleman, name Conchillos, cortes, by the royal secretary, in the session imme¬ or whether it be in existence, Ihave no knowledge. diately following the queen's death ; and Zurita has The codicil, as we have seen, with the queen's preserved the address of that body, commenting on signature, is still extant in the Royal Library at the part of its contents relating to the succession. Madrid.* 1 Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 282. Zurita, (Anales, torn. vi. cap. 4.) Dr. Carbajal, a member of the royal council, who was present, as he expressly Anales, torn. vi. lib. 6, cap. 1. Gomez, De Rebus declares, at the approval of the testament, " a cuyo gestis, fol. 53. Mariana, Hist, de Espana, torn. iL otorgamiento y aun ordenacion me halle,' has tran¬ lib. 28, cap. 12. t 2 scribed the whole of the document in his Annals, " Existimantes," says Giovio, " sub florentiswith the signatures of the notary and the seven dis¬ simo juvene rege aliquanto liberius atque licentius tinguished persons who witnessed its execution. ipsorum potentiS fruituros, quam sub austero et Dormer, the national historiographer of Aragon, parum liberali, ut aiebant, sent Catalano." Vitas has published the instrument, with the same minute¬ Illust. Virorum, p. 277. 3 ness, in his " Discursos varios," from authentic " Rex quaecunque versant atque ordiuntur, senMSS. in his possession, " escrituras autenticas en tit, dissimulat et animos omnium tacitus scrutatur.' mi poder." Where the original is now to be found, Opus Epist., epist. 289.
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il en eust quelque chose, que ce ne peut de riens avanchier ne prejudicier quant au droit dudit seigneur roy." Instructions to Jehann de Hesdin (unfinished copy without date), Le Glay, Negociations diplomatiques entre la France et l'Autriche, torn. i. There is a certified copy of the will in the Archives of Simancas. Ed.] [Bergenroth makes the extraordinary statement that " in an additional clause to her testament the Queen ordered, once again, and more explicitly, that her husband Ferdinand should be her immediate successor, without mentioning the conditions of her daughter's absence, unwillingness, or incapacity." (Letters, Despatches, and State Papers, Supplementary Volume, Introd., p. xxxii.) This is putting an absurd construction on a passage in which Philip and Juana are exhorted to treat Ferdinand with the reverence due to a father, to be governed by his counsels, etc., advice which, however strongly worded, implies a recognition, instead of a denial, of the rights of those to whom it was addressed. Nor is the case improved by a translation in which " ruego y ntando" are rendered simply "order," and "obedientes y subjetos " " obedient subjects." In no part of her will does Isabella appoint Ferdinand her " successor," and in this particular clause he is not even appointed to administer the government, Juana's presence and capacity being assumed, though her ability, as well as that of her husband, is very naturally mis¬ trusted.— Ed.) t [ -The extant letters and documents relating to the affair show that it was conducted, at this critical .stage, with a greatei degree of dissimulation than would be irÿferred from the account given in the text, -and in the authorities cited in the note. We find Philip, for example, on the 28th of January, sending an autograph letter to his father-in-law full of professions of filial love and duty. Subsequently, indeed, both parties referred to their own demeanour at this period as proof of their amicable and disinterested intentioris, r erdinand professing to have always declared his purpose to retire from the government on the arrival of his daughter and son-in-law, and Philip asserting, in his own name and that of his wife, that they had from the first and continuously, by letters and embassies, offered entire obedience to Ferdinand. resolving to be governed in all things by his will and advice. The first public indication of the struggle secretly in preparation was a letter addressed to the cortes, on the 13th of April, in the joint names of Philip and Juana, commanding that body to suspend its until their arrival, when they would make such arrangements as were suitable, but still "con proceedings el consejo y parescer del dicho Seiior Rey nuestro fo,lowed See CoL !e and
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KÿsJrtiSssr
"
Lptember
°c°ober'
HE RESIGNS TO PHILIP.
605
whom he had placed near the person of his daughter, obtained a letter from her, in which she approved in the fullest manner of her father's retaining the administration of the kingdom. The letter was betrayed to Philip ; the unfortunate secretary was seized and thrown into a dungeon, and Joanna was placed under a rigorous confinement, which much aggra¬ vated her malady.1 With this affront the king received also the alarming intelligence that the emperor Maximilian and his son Philip were tampering with the fidelity of the Great Captain ;2 endeavouring to secure Naples in any event to the archduke, who claimed it as the appurtenance of Castile, by whose armies its conquest, in fact, had been achieved. There were not wanting persons of high standing at Ferdinand's court to infuse suspicions, however unwarrantable, into the royal mind, of the loyalty of his viceroy, a Castilian by birth, who owed his elevation exclusively to the queen.3 The king was still further annoyed by reports of the intimate relations subsisting between his old enemy, Louis the Twelfth, and Philip, whose children were affianced to each other. The French monarch, it was said, was prepared to support his ally in an invasion of Castile, for the recovery 1 Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, torn. ii. rey 30, cap. Lanuza, Historias, tom. i. lib. 1, cap.
15, sec. 4.
—
the first overtures would seem to have been madeby Gonsalvo himself, whose position, as the repre¬
Opus Epist., epist. 286. —Zurita, sentative of Ferdinand, was certainly very different — Peter Martyr, Anales, vi. lib. 6, cap. 8.— Oviedo, Quincua- from that of the Castilian nobles in general. See 18.
tom.
genas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 3, dial. 9. — Oviedo had the story from a brother of Conchillos.* 2 [If we may judge from the tone and tenor of a letter, dated Brussels, May 5th, 1505, in which Philip acknowledges a communication from the Great Captain, containing information and advice,
Col. de Doc. in£d. para la Hist, de Espana, tom.
viii.—Ed.] a Giovio, Vitae IllusL Virorum, pp. 275-277.— Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 6, cap. 5, n.—Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., fol. 25.—Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. rey 30, cap. 15, sec. 3.
* [There is a minute account of the affair of Conchillos, confirmed in some particulars by documentary evidence, in Lorenzo de Padilla's Crdnica de Felipe el Hermoso. No mention is there made of Juana's being put under restraint, and as her pregnancy was one cause of her husband's postponing their depar¬ ture for Spain, it is scarcely probable that he would have added to the risks of her condition, and thus imperilled his own prospects, by harsh treatment at such a time. Philip was then visiting his father at Treves, and during his absence Juana addressed a letter to Beyre, which, besides appearing to contradict the statement of her having signed the letter in favour of her father, of which, however, there can be no doubt,—is so remarkable for its statements in regard to herself that the literal translation which is here subjoined will not be thought out of place : " Brussels, 3d of May 1505. " The Queen.— Monsieur de Beyre : Ihave not written to you before, for you know how unwillingly I write ; but since they think there [in Spain] that Iam wanting in intellect (que tcngo falta de seso), it is reasonable that Ishould defend myself somewhat, although Iought not to marvel that false testimony is brought against me, since it was brought against our Lord. But the thing being of such a character, and reported maliciously at such a time, you will speak to my lord the king, my father, on my part, for those who publish it are acting not only against me, but also against his highness, since there are some who say he is not displeased at it, in order that he may govern our kingdoms ; which Ido not believe, his highness being so great and so Catholic, and Ihis daughter so obedient. Iknow, indeed, that the king my lord [Philip], to justify himself, wrote thither [to Spain] complaining in some way of me ; but this should have been a matter between parents and children ; the more so, that if on any occasion Igave way to passion and said that Idid not have the state which became my dignity, it is notorious that the cause was nothing but jealousy ; and Iam not the only one in whom this passion has been seen, but the queen my lady, to whom God give glory, as excellent and select a person as any in the world (tan excelente y escogida per¬ sona en el mundo), was likewise jealous ; but time cured her highness, as, with the pleasure of God, it will do me. Irequest and command you to speak to all the persons there whom you see it would be proper [to speak to about the matter], in order that those whose intentions are good may rejoice at the truth, and that those who have an evil desire may know that, without doubt, if Ifelt myself to be such as they wish, Iwould not fail to give up to my lord the king, my husband, the government of those kingdoms, and of all those in the world which are mine, nor would omit to give him all the powers that Icould, as well for the love Ibear him and what Iknow of his highness, as because Icould not, conformably with reason, give to any other the government of his children and mine, and of all their possessions, without doing what 1 ought not to do. Ihope in God we shall very soon be there, where my good servants and sub¬ jects will see me with much pleasure." Col. de Doc. ined. para la Hist, de Espaha, torn. viii. pp._ 291—293. Had this letter, taken from the Archives of Simancas, been known to Bergenroth, whose views in regard to [ uana there will be further occasion to notice, he would no doubt have adduced it as crowning evidence of her sanity and of the plots of which he considers her to have been the victim. Eli.]
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6o6
THE REGENCY OF FERDINAND.
of his rights, by a diversion in his favour on the side of Roussillon, as well as of Naples.1 The Catholic king felt sorely perplexed by these multiplied embarrass¬ ments. During the brief period of his regency, he had endeavoured to recommend himself to the people by a strict and impartial administration of the laws and the maintenance of public order. The people, indeed, appreciated the value of a government under which they had been pro¬ tected from the oppressions of the aristocracy more effectually than at any former period. They had testified their goodwill by the alacrity with which they confirmed Isabella's testamentary dispositions at Toro. But all this served only to sharpen the aversion of the nobles. Some of Ferdinand's counsellors would have persuaded him to carry measures with a higher hand. They urged him to reassume the title of King of Castile, which he had so long possessed as husband of the late queen ;2 and others even advised him to assemble an armed force, which should overawe all opposition to his authority at home, and secure the country from invasion. He had facilities for this in the disbanded levies lately returned from Italy, as well as in a considerable body drawn from his native dominions of Aragon, awaiting his orders on the frontier.3 Such violent measures, however, were repugnant to his habitual policy, tem¬ perate and cautious. He shrunk from a contest in which even success must bring unspeakable calamities on the country ;4 and if he ever seriously entertained such views,5 he abandoned them, and employed his levies on another destination in Africa.6 His situation, however, grew every hour more critical. Alarmed by rumours of Louis's military pre¬ parations, for which liberal supplies were voted by the states-general; trembling for the fate of his Italian possessions ; deserted and betrayed by the great nobility at home ; there seemed now no alternative left for him but to maintain his ground by force, or to resign at once, as required by Philip, and retire into Aragon. This latter course appears never to have been contemplated by him. He resolved at all hazards to keep the reins in his own grasp, influenced in part, probably, by the consciousness of his rights, as well as by a sense of duty, which forbade him to resign the trust he had voluntarily assumed into such incompetent hands as those of
—
1 Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 290. Buonaccorsi, Diario, p. 94. 2 The vice-chancellor, Alonso de la Caballerfa, prepared an elaborate argument in support of Ferdinand's pretensions to the regal authority and title, less as husband of the late queen than as the lawful guardian and administrator of his daughter. See Zurita, Anales, torn. vi. cap. 14. 3 Zurita, Anales, torn. vi. lib. 6, cap. 5, 15— Lanuza, Historias, torn. i. lib. 1, cap. 18. 4 Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist 291. 5 Robertson speaks with confidence of Ferdinand's intention to "oppose Philip's landing by force of arms" (History of Charles V., vol. ii. p. 13), an imputation which has brought a heavy judgment or; the historian's head from the clever author of the •' History of Spain and Portugal." (Lardner-
Cabinet Cyclopaedia.) " All this," says the latter, " is at variance with both truth and probability ;
nor does Ferreras, the only authority cited for this unjust declamation, afford the slightest ground for it. ' (Vol. ii. p. 286, note.) Nevertheless, this is so stated by Ferreras (Hist. d'Espagne, torn. viii. p
282), who is supported by Mariana (Hist. d< Espaiia, torn. ii. lib. 28, cap. 16), and, in the most unequivocal manner, by Zurita (Anales, torn. vi. lik 6, cap. 21), a much higher authority than either. Martyr, it is true, whom Dr. Dunham does not appear to have consulted on this occasion, declares that .' king had no design of resorting to force. See Opus. Epist., epist. 291, 305. 6 Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS, cap. 202.Carbajal, Anales, MS., aho 1505.
HE RESIGNS TO PHILIP.
607
Philip and his counsellors ; and partly, no doubt, by natural reluctance to relinquish the authority which he had enjoyed for so many years. To keep it, he had recourse to an expedient such as neither friend nor toe could have anticipated. He saw the only chance of maintaining his present position lay in detaching France from the interests of Philip, and securing her to him¬ self. The great obstacle to this was their conflicting claims on Naples. This he purposed to obviate by proposals of marriage to some member of the royal family, in whose favour these claims, with the consent of King Louis, might be resigned. He accordingly despatched a confidential envoy privately into France, with ample instructions for arranging the preliminaries. This person was Juan de Enguera, a Catalan monk of much repute for his learning, and a member of the royal council.1 Louis the Twelfth had viewed with much satisfaction the growing mis¬ understanding betwixt Philip and his father-in-law, and had cunningly used his influence over the young prince to foment it. He felt the deepest disquietude at the prospect of the enormous inheritance which was to devolve on the former, comprehending Burgundy and Flanders, Austria, and probably the Empire, together with the united crowns of Spain and their rich dependencies. By the proposed marriage, a dismemberment might be made at least of the Spanish monarchy ; and the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon, passing under different sceptres, might serve, as they had formerly done, to neutralize each other. It was true, this would involve a rupture with Philip, to whose son his own daughter was promised in marriage. But this match, extremely distasteful to his subjects, gradually became so to Louis, as every way prejudicial to the interests of France.2 Without much delay, therefore, preliminaries were arranged with the Aragonese envoy ; and immediately after, in the month of August, the count of Cifuentes, and Thomas Malferit, regent of the royal chancery, were publicly sent as plenipotentiaries on the part of King Ferdinand, to conclude and execute the treaty. It was agreed, as the basis of the alliance, that the Catholic king should be married to Germaine, daughter of Jean de Foix, viscount of Narbonne, 1 Before venturing on this step, it was currently reported that Ferdinand had offered his hand,
may find some palliation, at least sufficient to screen him from the charge of wilful misstatement, in the fact that Clemencin, a native historian, and a most patient and fair enquirer after truth, has come to the same conclusion. (Mem. de la Acad, de Hist., torn. vi. Ilust. 19.) Both writers rely on the authority of Sandoval, an historian of the latter half of the sixteenth century, whose naked assertion cannot be permitted to counterbalance the strong testimony afforded by the silence of contemporaries and the general discredit of succeeding writers. (Hist, del in circulation, of a testament of Henry IV. having Emp. Carlos V., torn. i. p. 10.) Sismondi, not con¬ lately come into Ferdinand's possession, avowing tent with this first offer of King Ferdinand, makes Joanna to be his legitimate daughter, See Carbajal him afterwards propose for a daughter of King (Anales, MS., ano 1474), the only authority for this Emanuel, or, in other words, his own grand¬ last rumour, Robertson has given incautious cred¬ daughter ! Hist, des Franijais, torn. xv. chap ence to the first story, which has brought Dr. 3°. Fleurange, Mdmoires, chap. 13.— Seyssel, Hisfc Dunham's iron flail somewhat unmercifully 011 hi houlders again ; yet his easy faith in the matter de Louys XII., pp. 223-229.
though unsuccessfully, to Joanna Beltraneja, Isa¬ bella's unfortunate competitor for the crown of Castile, who still survived in Portugal. (Zurita, Anales, torn. vi. lib. 6, cap. 14.— Mariana, Hist, de Espana, torn. ii. lib. 28, cap. 13. et al.) The re¬ port originated, doubtless, in the malice of the Castilian nobles, who wished in this way to discredit the king still more with the people. It received, perhaps, some degree of credit from a silly story,
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6o8
THE REGENCY OF FERDINAND.
and of one of the sisters of Louis the Twelfth, and granddaughter io Leonora, queen of Navarre,— that guilty sister of King Ferdinand whose fate is recorded in the earlier part of our History. The princess Germaine, it will be seen, therefore, was nearly related to both the contracting parties. She was at this time eighteen years of age, and very beautiful.1 She had been educated in the palace of her royal uncle, where she had imbibed the free and volatile manners of his gay, luxurious court. To this lady Louis the Twelfth consented to resign his claims on Naples, to be secured by way of dowry to her and her heirs, male or female, in perpetuity. In case of her decease without issue, the moiety of the kingdom recognized as his by the partition treaty with Spain was to revert to him. It was further agreed that Ferdinand should reimburse Louis the Twelfth for the expenses of the Neapolitan war, by the payment of one million of gold ducats, in ten yearly instalments ; and, lastly, that a complete amnesty should be granted by him to the lords of the Angevin or French party in Naples, who should receive full restitution of their confiscated honours and estates. A mutual treaty of alliance and commerce was to subsis' henceforth between France and Spain ; and the two monarchs, holding one another, to quote the words of the instrument, " as two souls in one and the same body," pledged themselves to the maintenance and defence of their respective rights and kingdoms against every other power whatever. This treaty was signed by the French king at Blois, October T2th, 1505, and ratified by Ferdinand the Catholic, at Segovia, on the 16th of the same month.2 Such were the disgraceful and most impolitic terms of this compact, by which Ferdinand, in order to secure the brief possession of a barren authority, and perhaps to gratify some unworthy feelings of revenge, was content to barter away all those solid advantages, flowing from the union of the Spanish monarchies, which had been the great and wise object of his own and Isabella's policy. For in the event of male issue,— and that he would have issue was by no means improbable, considering he was not yet fifty-four years of age,— Aragon and its dependencies must be totally severed from Castile.3 In the other alternative, the splendid Italian con¬ quests, which after such cost of toil and treasure he had finally secured to himself, must be shared with his unsuccessful competitor. In any event, he had pledged himself to such an indemnification of the Angevin faction in Naples as must create inextricable embarrassment, and inflict 1 Aleson, Annales de Navarra, torn. v. lib. 1 35, Dumont, Corps diplomatique, torn. iv. no. 4°cap. 7, sec. 4.— Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fob 56. pp. 72-74Saiazar de Mendoza, Monarquia, torn. 1. p. 410. These dependencies did not embrace, however, Laquelle," says Fleurarjge, who had doubtless the half of Granada and the West Indies, as often seen the princess, " etoit bonne et fort belle ed by Gaillard, who gravely assures us that 'es princesse, du moins elle n'avoit point perdu son etats eonquis par Ferdinand ctoient conquetes qe embonpoint. ' (Memoires, chap. 19). It would be communaute, dont la moitie appartenoit au marl, strange if she had at the age of eighteen. Varillas et la moitie aux snfans." (Rivalite, torn, iv- Pgets over the discrepancy of age between the parties 1 306.) Such are the gross misconceptions of fact o® very well, by making Ferdinand's at this time only j which this writer's speculations rest ! 37 years ! Hist, de Louis XII., torn i. p. 457. i
"
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suppos¬
HE RESIGNS TO PHILIP.
609
great injury on his loyal partisans, into whose hands their estates had already passed. And last, though not least, he dishonoured by this unsuitable and precipitate alliance his late illustrious queen, the memory of whose transcendent excellence, if it had faded in any degree from his own breast, was too deeply seated in those of her subjects to allow them to look on the present union otherwise than as a national indignity. So, indeed, they did regard it ; although the people of Aragon, in whom late events had rekindled their ancient jealousy of Castile, viewed the match with more complacency, as likely to restore them to that political importance which had been somewhat impaired by the union with their more powerful neighbour.1 The European nations could not comprehend an arrangement so irre¬ concilable with the usual sagacious policy of the Catholic king. The petty Italian powers, which, since the introduction of France and Spain into their political system, were controlled by them more or less in all their movements, viewed this sinister conjunction as auspicious of no good to their interests or independence. As for the archduke Philip, he could scarcely credit the possibility of this desperate act, which struck off at a blow so rich a portion of his inheritance. He soon received confirmation, however, of its truth, by a prohibition from Louis the Twelfth to attempt a passage through his dominions into Spain until he should come to some amicable understanding with his father-in-law.2 Philip, or rather Manuel, who exercised unbounded influence over his counsels, saw the necessity now of temporizing. The correspondence was resumed with Ferdinand, and an arrangement was at length concluded between the parties, known as the concord of Salamanca, November 24th, I5°5- The substance of it was, that Castile should be governed in the joint names of Ferdinand, Philip, and Joanna, but that the first should be entitled, as his share, to one-half of the public revenue. This treaty, exe¬ cuted in good faith by the Catholic king, was only intended by Philip to lull the suspicions of the former until he could effect a landing in the kingdom, where, he confidently believed, nothing but his presence was wanting to insure success. He completed the perfidious proceeding by sending an epistle, well garnished with soft and honeyed phrases, to his royal father-in-law. These artifices had their effect, and completely imposed, not only on Louis, but on the more shrewd and suspicious
Ferdinand.3 r Zurita, Anales, torn. vi. lib. 6, cap. 10. Mariana, Hist, de Espana, torn. ii. lib. 28, cap. 16. 2 Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, torn. ii. rey 30, cap. J 5, sec. 8. Zurita, Anales, torn. vi. lib. 6, cap. 21. Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 7. He received much more unequivocal intimation in a letter from Ferdi¬ nand, curious as showing that the latter sensibly felt the nature and extent of the sacrifices he was making. "You," says he to Philip, "by lending yourself to be the easy dupe of France, have driven rne most reluctantly into a second marriage ; have stripped me of the fair fruits of my Neapolitan conquests," etc. He concludes with this appeal to
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—
him : " Sit satis, fili, pervagatum ; redi in te, si filius, non hostis accesseris ; his non obstantibus, mi filius, amplexabere. Magna est paternae vis naturae." Philip may have thought his father-inlaw's late conduct an indifferent commentary on the See the king's letter " paternae vis naturae." quoted by Peter Martyr in his correspondence with the count of Tendilla, Opus Epist., epist. 293. 3 Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 1506.—Zurita, Anales, torn. vi. lib. 6, cap. 23.— Mariana, Hist, de Espana, torn. ii. lib. 28, cap. 16.—Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 292. Zurita has transcribed the whole of this dutiful and most loving epistle. Ub: 2 O
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THE REGENCY OF FERDINAND.
6to
On the 8th of January 1506, Philip and Joanna embarked on board a splendid and numerous armada, and set sail from a port in Zealand. A furious tempest scattered the fleet soon after leaving the harbour ; Philip's ship, which took fire in the storm, narrowly escaped foundering, and it was not without great difficulty that they succeeded in bringing her, a miserable wreck, into the English port of Weymouth.1 King Henry the Seventh, on learning the misfortunes of Philip and his consort, was prompt to show every mark of respect and consideration for the royal pair, thus thrown upon his island. They were escorted in magnificent style to Windsor, and detained, with dubious hospitality, for nearly three months. During this time, Henry the Seventh availed himself of the situation and inexperience of his young guest so far as to extort from him two treaties, not altogether reconcilable, so far as the latter was concerned, with sound policy or honour.2 The respect which the English monarch entertained for Ferdinand the Catholic, as well as their family connection, led him to offer his services as a common mediator between the father and son. He would have persuaded the latter, says Lord Bacon, " to be ruled by the counsel of a prince so prudent, so experienced, and so fortunate as King Ferdinand ; " to which the archduke replied, " If his father-in-law would let him govern Castile, he should govern him." 3 At length Philip, having reassembled his Flemish fleet at Weymouth, embarked with Joanna and his numerous suite of courtiers and military retainers, and reached Coruna, in the north-western corner of Galicia, after a prosperous voyage, on the 28th of ApriL4 A short time previous to this event, the count of Cifuentes having passed into France for the purpose, the betrothed bride of King Ferdinand quitted that country under his escort, attended by a brilliant train of French and Neapolitan lords.5 On the borders, at Fontarabia, she was received by the archbishop of Saragossa, Ferdinand's natural son, with a numerous retinue, composed chiefly of Aragonese and Catalan nobility, and was conducted with much solemnity to Duenas, where she was joined by the king. In this place, where thirty years before he had been united to Isabella, he now, as if to embitter still further the recollections of the past, led to the altar her young and beautiful successor. (March 18th, supra.—Guicciardini considers Philip as only practising the lessons he had learned in Spain, •learti Spagnuole." (Istoria, lib. 7.) The phrase would seem to have been proverbial with the Italians, like the " Punica fides," which their Roman ancestors fastened on the character of their African enemy, perhaps with equal justice. 1 Joanna, according to Sandoval, displayed much composure in her alarming situation. When informed by Philip of their danger, she attired herself in her richest dress, securing a considerable sum of money to her person, that her body, if found, might
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WrTn°F'*w f'a fei?eive J ,
h"
VII., Works, vol. v. pp. 177-179.— Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 7. Rymer, Foedera, torn. xiii. pp. 123" 132.—One was a commercial treaty with Flanders, so disastrous as to be known in that country by the name of " malus intercursus ;" the other involved the surrender of the unfortunate duke of Suffolk. 3 Bacon, Hist, of Henry VII Works, vol. v. p-
—
179.
qin a letter dated Coruna, April 26th, Philip informs Ferdinand of his arrival on the afternoon of that day. He issued a circular to the nobles bear°b?fq",es S-Ulted to i inS the same date and making the same statement d= D°<= in*L para la de Espana. torn. ?-J°- i
3tVTA1-
llist.
. Quincuagenas, MS., bat, 1, quinc
-Mdmoires de Bayard, chap. 26.
HE RESIGNS TO PHILIP.
611
1506.) "It seemed hard," says Martyr, in his quiet way, "that these nuptials should take place so soon, and that too in Isabella's own kingdom of Castile, where she had lived without peer, and where her ashes are still held in as much veneration as she enjoyed while living."1 It was less than six weeks after this that Philip and Joanna landed at Coruna. Ferdinand, who had expected them at some nearer northern port, prepared without loss of time to go forward and receive them. He sent on an express to arrange the place of meeting with Philip, and advanced himself as far as Leon. But Philip had no intention of such an interview at present. He had purposely landed in a remote corner of the country, in order to gain time for his partisans to come forward and declare themselves. Missives had been despatched to the principal nobles and cavaliers, and they were answered by great numbers of all ranks, who pressed forward to welcome and pay court to the young monarch.2 Among them were the names of most of the considerable Castilian families, and several, as Villena and Najara, were accompanied by large, well-appointed retinues of armed followers. The archduke brought over with him a body of three thousand German infantry, in complete order. He soon mustered an additional force of six thousand native Spaniards, which, with the chivalry who thronged to meet him, placed him in a condition to dictate terms to his father-in-law ; and he now openly proclaimed that he had no intention of abiding by the con¬ cord of Salamanca, and that he would never consent to an arrangement prejudicing in any degree his and his wife's exclusive possession of the crown of Castile.3 It was in vain that Ferdinand endeavoured to gain Don Juan Manuei to his interests by the most liberal offers. He could offer nothing to compete with the absolute ascendency which the favourite held over his young sovereign. It was in vain that Martyr, and afterwards Ximenes, were sent to the archduke, to settle the grounds of accommodation, or at least the place of interview with the king. Philip listened to them with courtesy, but would abate not a jot of his pretensions ; and Manuel did not care to expose his royal master to the influence of Ferdinand's superior address and sagacity in a personal interview.4 Martyr gives a picture, by no means unfavourable, of Philip at this time. He had an agreeable person, a generous disposition, free and open
.Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 300.— Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 2, dial. 36. Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 1506. Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 203.— " Some affirmed," says <-.urita, " that Isabella, before appointing her hus¬ band to the regency, exacted an oath from him, tiiat he would not marry a second time." (Anales,
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2
Quisque enim in spes suas pronus et expeditus,
" Giovio, borrowing the commodo serviendum," — familiar metaphor, "et orientem solem potius says
quam
occidentem adorandum esse dictitabat." Vitae Illust Virorum, p. 278. 3 Zurita, Anales, torn. vi. lib. 6, cap. 29, 30. Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fol. 57.— Bernaldez, Reyes torn. v. lib. 5, cap. 84.) This improbable story, so Catdlicos, MS., cap. 204.—Peter Martyr, Opus inconsistent with the queen's character, has been Epist., epist. 304, 305. Carbajal, Annies, MS., ano transcribed with more or less qualification by 1506.— Sandoval, Hist, del Emp. Carlos V., torn. i. succeeding historians, from Mariana to Quin- p. 10. tana. Robertson repeats it without any qualifi¬ Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 306, 308, 309. cation at all. See History of Charles V., vol. iiGomez, De Rebus gestis, fol. 59.— Giovio, \ ita: D. 6. Illust. Virorum, p. 278.
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6X2
THE REGENCY OF FERDINAND.
manners, with a certain nobleness of soul, although spurred on by a most craving ambition. But he was so ignorant of affairs that he became the dupe of artful men, who played on him for their own purposes.1 Ferdinand, at length, finding that Philip, who had now left Coruna, was advancing by a circuitous route into the interior on purpose to avoid him, and that all access to his daughter was absolutely refused, could no longer repress his indignation ; and he prepared a circular letter to be sent to the different parts of the country, calling on it to rise and aid him in rescu¬ ing the queen, their sovereign, from her present shameful captivity.2 It does not appear that he sent it.3 He probably found that the call would not be answered ; for the French match had lost him even that degree of favour with which he had been regarded by the commons ; so that the very expedient on which he relied for perpetuating his authority in Castile was the chief cause of his losing it altogether. He was doomed to experience still more mortifying indignities. By the orders of the marquis of Astorga and the count of Benevente, he was actually refused admittance into those cities ; while proclamation was made by the same arrogant lords prohibiting any of their vassals from aiding or harbouring his Aragonese followers. " A sad spectacle, indeed," exclaims the loyal Martyr, " to behold a monarch, yesterday almost omni¬ potent, thus wandering a vagabond in his own kingdom, refused even the sight of his own child ! " 4 Of all the gay tribe of courtiers who fluttered around him in his pros¬ perity, the only Castilians of note who now remained true were the duke of Alva and the count of Cifuentes ;5 for even his son-in-law, the constable of Castile, had deserted him.13 There were some, however, at a distance
..
1 Nil benignius Philippo in terns, nullus inter that . every day those about him are stealing " orbis principes animosior, inter juvenes pulchrior," off, and if his quarrel had been proclaimed and (Opus Epist., epist. 285.) In a subsequent published in the kingdom it would have gone letter he thus describes the unhappy predicament differently. Ibeseech your holiness that no one of the young prince : " Nescit hie juvenis, nescit but yourself may know of this, for Itell it only for quo se vertat, hinc avaris, illinc ambitiosis, atque your information, and in order that you make haste utrimque vafris horainibus circumseptus alienigena, to come to a settlement, and have it sealed and bonae naturae, apertique animi. Trahetur in sworn to there without waiting to consult his diversa, perturbabitur ipse atque obtundetur. highness." Col. de Doc. indd. para la Hist, de Omnia confundentur. Utinam vana praedicem !" Espana, torn. xiv. Ed.] iOpus Epist., epist. Epist. 308. 308. 1 Zurita, Anales, torn. vi. lib. 7, cap. 2. Ayer era Rey de Espana, 3 [The momentary flash of desperate resolution oy no lo soy de una villa ; aroused in Ferdinand, on finding how completely ayer villas y castillos, he had been outwitted by his antagonist, is deoy ninguno posseya ; scribedi n a letter, without date, addressed by his ayer tenia criados," etc. secretary, Almazan, to Ximenes, who, intrusted with the fullest powers, was vainly endeavouring to The lament of King Roderic, in this fine old effect a compromise with Philip. " His highness," ballad, would seem hardly too extravagant in the says the writer, " is determined upon making the mouth of his royal descendant. 5 agreement soon, as he has written to you himself ; " Ipsae amicos res optimae pariunt, adverss and if it is not made soon, he intends to take probant." , — Pub. Syrus. another way of doing what he sees that he ought to 8 [When the Constable, who had asked and do ; and this he will not fail to do, even if he (necessarily) received permission from Ferdinand, should be left alone, with only his cloak and sword was going off, Alva said to him, jestingly, I " (antique quedase solo con una espada y una capa supposed you had any honour till now that 1 se en la ma.no). For he thinks that as he has reason you are going to lose it " (nunca pensd que X®?13. ,. and justice on his side, and as he has not taken the honra, sino agora que veo que vais a Per"f, way of deceit, even if he should be embarrassed at which the Constable replied, laughing, V the beginning, in the end God will give him victory to [V3 and forces will be raised from where people do not you wish me to be a traitor, like you? FMP* eyes shall never see." Crdnica de think of it (de do las rentes no piensan). He says your el Hermoso. Ed.]
etc.
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"
'Jeve£
—
HE RESIGNS TO PHILIP. from the scene of operations— as the good Talavera, for instance, and the count of Tendilla— who saw with much concern the prospect of changing the steady and well-tried hand, which had held the helm for more than thirty years, for the capricious guidance of Philip and his favourites.1 An end was at length put to this scandalous exhibition ; and Manuel, whether from increased confidence in his own resources, or the fear of
bringing public odium on himself, consented to trust his royal charge to the peril of an interview.2 The place selected was an open plain near Puebla de Senabria, on the borders of Leon and Galacia. (June 23d.) But even then the precautions taken were of a kind truly ludicrous, consider¬ ing the forlorn condition of King Ferdinand. The whole military apparatus of the archduke was put in motion, as if he expected to win the crown by battle. First came the well-appointed German spearmen, all in fighting order. Then the shining squadrons of the noble Castilian chivalry, and their armed retainers. Next followed the archduke, seated on his warhorse and encompassed by his body-guard ; while the rear was closed by the long files of archers and light cavalry of the country.3 Ferdinand, on the other hand, came into the field attended by about two hundred nobles and gentlemen, chiefly Aragonese and Italians, riding on mules, and simply attired in the short black cloak and bonnet of the country, with no other weapon than the sword usually worn. The king trusted, says Zurita, to the majesty of his presence, and the reputation he had acquired by his long and able administration. The Castilian nobles, brought into contact with Ferdinand, could not well avoid paying their obeisance to him. He .-eceived them in his usual gracious and affable manner, making remarks the good-humour of which was occasionally seasoned with something of a more pungent character. To the duke of Najara, who was noted for being a vainglorious person, and who came forward with a gallant retinue in all the panoply of war, he exclaimed, " So, duke, you are mindful as ever, Isee, of the duties of a great captain ! " Among others was Garcilasso de la Vega, Ferdinand's minister formerly at Rome. Like many of the Castilian lords, he wore armour under his dress, the better to guard against surprise. The king, embracing him, felt the mail beneath, and, tapping him familiarly on the shoulder, said, " Icongratulate you, Garcilasso ; you have grown wonder1 Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 306, 311.— hazer q' las vistas seran como v. al. dicho para ver Robles, Vida de Ximenez, p. 143. Mariana, Hist, de plazer y no para negogios, y asy suplico a v. al. q" Espana, torn. ii. lib. 28, cap. 19.— Lanuza, Historias, asi se faga, pues suy voluntad no es otra syno de
—
—
torn. i. lib. 1, cap. ig. Sandoval, Hist. del. Emp. Carlos V., torn. 1. p. 10. " There are several letters of Philip to the Catholic king, written soon after landing, filled with expres¬ sions of respect, and affecting a great eagerness for the interview, which he was so careful to defeat. A letter without date probably written j ust previous to their meeting concludes in the following manner.
—
— —
The original is somewhat damaged.
It is signed,
as usual, by Philip, ElRey. " Con el y intyenaen en hro concordio y espero en nro sehor q' quando
fueres llegado a buenavete quedara tan poque a'
..
muy obediente & v. al. y a lo q' v. aI. dicho q' estan movidos en estos reynos ..ser.. ... echandolos quant me pesa dello, y es testigo, q' . . . muy
humyl y obediete hijo q' sus reales manos besa." Autografa de Felipe, MS. The only pretext for all this pomp of war was the rumour that the king was levying a considerable force, and the duke of Alva mustering his followers in Leon, rumours willingly circulated, no doubt, if not a sheer device of the enemy. Zurita, Anales, lib. 7, cap. a.
—
THE REGENCY OF FERDINAND.
614
fully lusty since we last met." The desertion, however, of one who had received so many favours from him touched him more nearly than that of all the rest. As Philip drew near, it was observed he wore an anxious, embarrassed air, while his father-in-law maintained the same serene and cheerful aspect as usual. After exchanging salutations, the two monarchs alighted, and entered a small hermitage in the neighbourhood, attended only by Manuel and archbishop Ximenes. They had no sooner entered than the latter, addressing the favourite with an air of authority it was not easy to resist, told him it was not meet to intrude on the private concerns of their masters, and, taking his arm, led him out of the apartment, and coolly locked the door on him, saying at the same time that he would serve as porter. The conference led to no result Philip was well schooled in his part, and remained, says Martyr, immovable as a rock.1 There was so little mutual confidence between the parties that the name of Joanna, whom Ferdinand desired so much to see, was not even mentioned during the interview.2 But, however reluctant Ferdinand might be to admit it, he was no longer in a condition to stand upon terms ; and, in addition to the entire loss of influence in Castile, he received such alarming accounts from Naples as made him determine on an immediate visit in person to that kingdom. He resolved, therefore, to bow his head to the present storm, in hopes that a brighter day was in reserve for him. He saw the jealousy hourly springing up between the Flemish and Castilian courtiers ; and he probably anticipated such misrule as would afford an opening, perhaps with the goodwill of the nation, for him to resume the reins so uncere¬ moniously snatched from his grasp.3 At any rate, should force be neces¬ sary, he would be better able to employ it effectively, with the aid of his ally, the French king, after he had adjusted the affairs of Naples.4 Whatever considerations may have influenced the prudent monarch, he authorized the archbishop of Toledo, who kept near the person of the archduke, to consent to an accommodation on the very grounds proposed by the latter. On the 27th of June he signed and solemnly swore to an agreement by which he surrendered the entire sovereignty of Castile to Philip and Joanna, reserving to himself only the grand-masterships of the military orders, and the revenues secured by Isabella's testament.6 On the following day he executed another instrument of most singular 1 Durior Caucasia rupe, patemum nihil ausculwould have gained upon him in that sort, asue would " tavit." Opus Epist., epist. 310. have governed his councils and designs, if not his 8 Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. i, quinc. 3, affections." (Hist, of Henry VII., Works, vol. v. pdial. 43. — Robles, Vida de Ximenez, pp. 146-149. 180.) The prediction must have been suggested by Mariana, Hist, de Espana, torn. ii. lib. 28, cap. 20. the general estimation of their respective characters J Zurita, Anales, torn. vi. lib. 7, cap. 5. Gomez, De for the parties never met again after Ferdinand with—Rebus gestis, fob 61, 62. Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, ! drew to Aragon. torn. ii. rey 30, cap. 15. Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano Zurita, Anales, torn. vi. lib. 7, cap. 8. Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 204. j 5J Bernaldez, Reyes 1506. MS., cap. 204.— 3 Lord Bacon remarks, in allusion to Philip's pre¬ Ii Carbajal, Anales, MS.,Catdlicos, ano 1506. Zurita, Anales, mature death, "There was an observation by the torn. vi. lib. 7, cap 7. Peter Martyr, Opus Epistwisest of that court, that, if he had lived, his father epist. 2x0.
—
——
—
—
—
HE RESIGNS TO PHILIP.
615
import, in which, after avowing in unequivocal terms his daughter's inca¬ pacity,1 he engages to assist Philip in preventing any interference in her behalf, and to maintain him, as far as in his power, in the sole, exclusive
authority.2 Before signing these papers, he privately made a protest, in the presence of several witnesses, that what he was about to do was not of his own free will, but from necessity, to extricate himself from his perilous situation and shield the country from the impending evils of a civil war. He con¬ cluded with asserting that, far from relinquishing his claims to the regency, it was his design to enforce them, as well as to rescue his daughter from her captivity, as soon as he was in a condition to do so.3 Finally, he completed this chain of inconsistencies by addressing a circular letter, dated July 1st, to the different parts of the kingdom, announcing his resignation of the government into the hands of Philip and Joanna, and declaring the act one which, notwithstanding his own right and power to the contrary, he had previously determined on executing so soon as his children should set foot in Spain.4 It is not easy to reconcile this monstrous tissue of incongruity and dissimulation with any motives of necessity or expediency. Why should he, so soon after preparing to raise the kingdom in his daughter's cause, thus publicly avow her imbecility, and deposit the whole authority in the hands of Philip ? Was it to bring odium on the head of the latter, by encouraging him to a measure which he knew must disgust the Castilians ? 5 But Ferdinand by this very act shared the responsibility with him. Was it in the expectation that uncontrolled and undivided power, in the hands of one so rash and improvident, would the more speedily work his ruin ? As to his clandestine protest, its design was obviously to afford a plausible pretext at some future time for reasserting his claims to the government, on the ground that his concessions had been the result of force. But, then, why neutralize the operation of this by the declaration, spontaneously made in his manifesto to the people, that his abdication was not only a free but most deliberate and premeditated act ? He was led to this last avowal, probably, by the desire of covering over the mortification of his 1 [The language of this part of the document is as follows : " La dicha Serenisyma rreyna Nuestra
hija en ninguna manera se quiere ocupar ni entender en ningun negocio de regimento ni governacion ni otra cosa y aunque lo quiese fazer sera [? seria] total destruycion y perdimiento destos rreynos segund sus enfermedades e pasiones que aqui no se espresan por la onestidad. " Bergenroth, Letters, Despatches, and State Papers, Supplementary Volume.—Ed.] 2 Zurita, Anales, torn. vi. lib. 7, cap. 8. 3 Idem, ubi supra. 4 Zurita, Anales, ubi supra. Ferdinand's mani¬ festo, as well as the instrument declaring his daughter's incapacity, is given at length by Zurita. The secret protest rests on the unsupported authority of the historian : and surely a better authority can¬ not easily be found, considering his proximity to the
—
period, his resources as national historiographer, and the extreme caution and candour with which he discriminates between fact and rumour. It is very remarkable, however, that Peter Martyr, with every opportunity for information, as a member of the royal household apparently high in the king's con¬ fidence, should have made no allusion to this secret
protest in his correspondence with Tendilla and Talavera, both attached to the royal party, and to whom he appears to have communicated all matters of interest without reserve.* 6 This motive is charitably imputed to him by Gaillard. (Rivalite, torn. iy. p. 311.) The same writer commends Ferdinand's habilitS, in extricat¬ ing himself from his embarrassments by the treaty auquel ilfit consentir Philippe dans leur entrevue" ! p. 310.
"
* The protest and the agreement are both in the Archives of Simancas, and have been published in the Col. de Doc. indd. para la Hist, de Espana, torn. xiv. Ed 1
—
THE REGENCY OF FERDINAND.
6i6
defeat; a thin varnish, which could impose on nobody. The whole of the proceedings are of so ambiguous a character as to suggest the inevitable inference that they flowed from habits of dissimulation too strong to be controlled even when there was no occasion for its exercise. We occasion¬ ally meet with examples of a similar fondness for superfluous manoeuvring in the humbler concerns of private life.1 After these events, one more interview took place between King Ferdinand and Philip (July 5th), in which the former prevailed on his son-in-law to pay such attention to decorum, and exhibit such outward marks of a cordial reconciliation, as, if they did not altogether impose on the public, might at least throw a decent veil over the coming separation.2 Even at this last meeting, however, such was the distrust and apprehension entertained of him that the unhappy father was not permitted to see and embrace his daughter before his departure.3 Throughout the whole of these trying scenes, says his biographer, the king maintained that propriety and entire self-possession which comported with the dignity of his station and character, and strikingly contrasted with the conduct of his enemies. However much he may have been touched with the desertion of a people who had enjoyed the blessings of peace and security under his government for more than thirty years, he manifested 1 [Ferdinand's course, tortuous or vacillating as the queen my daughter, requesting her to take it was, might admit of a more favourable explanation some women into her service [Juana, when coming than that which is suggested in the text, and the to Spain, had left her Flemish attendants behind], imputations on his conduct in regard to his daughter as he thought it very wrong that she should be thus seem to be entirely groundless. Far from "encour¬ alone : tell the king my son, and the archbishop of aging" Philip to undertake any " measure " against Toledo, who spoke to me about this, that Iwas on his wife, Ferdinand, before leaving Spain, sent an the point of writing to her when Ilearned that she envoy to his son-in-law to makesuch representations had taken women, and seeing it was done Idesisted as might induce him to treat her with consideration from writing, both because it was unnecessary and and kindness. "Tell him," says the letter of in¬ lest the sight of my letter might have some ill effect structions carried by the envoy, "that Ifear certain upon her (lefiudiera hacer alguna alteration)." In¬ persons will seek to increase the differences between structions tp Luis Ferrer, Barcelona, J uly 29th, 1506, him and the queen my daughter, and that Irecom¬ Papiers d'Etat du Cardinal de Granvelle, torn. i. Bergenroth, citing a single passage from this mend him to be continually on his guard, his best course being to live in perfect harmony with her. . document, that in which Philip is urged to treat his By kind, gentle, and loving treatment he will do wife kindly and lovingly and to live in harmony more with her than in any other manner ; . and with her, asks if it is " possible to suppose that eyen this is also the way to benefit her health, which a man like Ferdinand would have advised Philip will be injured by a contrary mode of proceeding. to live with her as a good husband and to gain her Ishould wish the king my son to make every trial affections, if she had been mad ? " The meaning and endeavour that he can to ameliorate my of Ferdinand's language will be clear if we remem¬ daughter's health ; for if God should give her ber that the jealousy for which she had undoubted health, as Itrust that He will do if aided by proper grounds had been represented as an instigating efforts, the king my son would be freer from care, cause of Juana's fits of aberration. Her father and she would delight in pleasing him in everything; intimates that it is in Philip's power, by a proper and tell him that Isay this out of love for him, and line of conduct, to ameliorate ner condition. But for his good, which is the truth ; and also because it is clear from the whole tenor of this letter that he as a father Iwish to see love and agreement between was convinced of her incapacity ; and this convic¬ them. Also, if anything should be said about put¬ tion forms his justification both in struggling to ting the queen my daughter into a fortress, of which retain possession of the government, and, when there has already been some talk, and they should forced to relinquish it, in resigning it to Philip ask you about my opinion or pleasure in regard to exclusively.— Ed.] 2 [In a letter it, you will say that, for the love Ibear the king my written on the same day, Ferdinand son, Iwould never give my voice or consent to it ; describes this interview as lasting an hour and 8 for Iregard it as certain that this is the least befit¬ half, during which the parties were alone together, ting thing to do, and if my opinion and counsel be and the elder monarch instructed and counselled " followed, for no cause in the world should it be the younger, after which was admitted. done. . By love and good treatment he can do Col. de Doc. ined. para laXimenes Hist, de Espana, torn. more with her than by any other method, and this xiv. Eu.] is a safe way, as well as that which God requires, 3 Zurita, Anales, torn. vi. lib. 7, cap. while the other is full of inconveniences. At Mariana, Hist, cap. 21 the time of my departure Iwas asked on the part — Gomez, De de Espana, torn. ii. lib. 28, Martyr, Rebus gestis, fol. 64.— Peter of the king my son to write with my own hand to Opus F.pist. , epist. 210.
. .
..
. .
...
—
I
RETURN OF COLUMBUS. no outward sign of discontent.
617
On the contrary, he took leave of the
assembled grandees with many expressions of regard, noticing kindly their past services to him, and studying to leave such an impression as should efface the recollection of recent differences.1 The circumspect monarch looked forward, no doubt, to the day of his return. The event did not
seem very improbable ; and there were other sagacious persons besides himself, who read in the dark signs of the times abundant augury of some speedy revolution.2 The principal authorities for the events of this chapter, as the reader may remark, are Martyr and Zurita. The former, not merely a spectator, but actor in them, had undoubtedly the most intimate opportunities of observation. He seems to have been sufficiently impartial, too, and prompt to do justice to what was really good in Philip's character ; although that of his royal master was of course calculated to impress the deepest respect on a person of Martyr's uncommon penetration and sagacity. The Aragonese chronicler, however, though removed to a somewhat further distance as to time, was from that circumstance placed in a point of view more favourable for embrac¬ ing the whole field of action than if he had taken part and jostled in the crowd as one of it. He has accordingly given much wider scope to his survey, exhibiting full details of the alleged grievances, pretensions, and policy of the opposite party, and, although con¬ demning them himself without reserve, has conveyed impressions of Ferdinand's conduct less favourable, on the whole, than Martyr. But neither the Aragonese historian, nor Martyr, nor any contemporary writer, native or foreign, whom Ihave consulted, countenances the extremely unfavourable portrait which Dr. Robertson has given of Ferdinand in his transactions with Philip. It is difficult to account for the bias which this eminent historian's mind has received in this matter, unless it be that he has taken his impressions from the popular notions enter¬ tained of the character of the parties, rather than from the circumstances of the particular case under review ; a mode of proceeding extremely objectionable in the present instance, where Philip, however good his natural qualities, was obviously a mere tool in the hands of corrupt and artful men, working exclusively for their own selfish purposes.
CHAPTER XVIII. COLUMBUS.
—
HIS RETURN TO SPAIN.
— HIS DEATH.
1504-1506.
—
—
'Return of Columbus from his fourth Voyage. — His illness. Neglected by Ferdinand. His Death.— His Person and Character.
While the events were passing which occupy the beginning of the pre¬ ceding chapter, Christopher Columbus returned from his fourth and last voyage. It had been one unbroken series of disappointments and disasters. ÿ
—
Zurita, Anaies, torn. vi. lib. 7, cap. 10. Oviedo, j also the melancholy vaticinations of Martyr (Opus Epist., epist. 3ir):. who seems to echo back the
Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 3, dial. 9. *"
— Se?.
Zurita, Anales, toni. vi. lib. 7. cap. 10.
sentiments of his friends 1e:\dillaand Ia!a\era.
HJCTURN OF COLUMBUS.
6i8
After quitting Hispaniola, and being driven by storms nearly to the island of Cuba, he traversed the gulf of Honduras, and coasted along the margin of the golden region which had so long flitted before his fancy. The natives in vain invited him to strike into its western depths, and he pressed forward to the south, now solely occupied with the grand object of dis¬ covering a passage into the Indian Ocean. At length, after having with great difficulty advanced somewhat beyond the point of Nombre de Dios, he was compelled, by the fury of the elements and the murmurs of his men, to abandon the enterprise and retrace his steps. He was subse¬ quently defeated in an attempt to establish a colony on terra firma by the ferocity of the natives ; was wrecked on the island of Jamaica, where he was permitted to linger more than a year, through the malice of Ovando, the new governor of St. Domingo ; and finally, having re-embarked with his shattered crew in a vessel freighted at his own expense, was driven by a succession of terrible tempests across the ocean, until, on the 7th of November 1504, he anchored in the little port of St. Lucar, twelve leagues
from Seville.1 In this quiet haven Columbus hoped to find the repose his broken constitution and wounded spirit so much needed, and to obtain a speedy restitution of his honours and emoluments from the hand of Isabella. But here he was to experience his bitterest disappointment. At the time of his arrival the queen was on her death-bed; and in a very few days Columbus received the afflicting intelligence that the friend on whose steady support he had so confidently relied was no more. It was a heavy blow to his hopes, for " he had always experienced favour and protection from her," says his son Ferdinand, " while the king had not only been indifferent, but positively unfriendly, to his interests." 2 We may readily credit that a man of the cold and prudent character of the Spanish mon¬ arch would not be very likely to comprehend one so ardent and aspiring as that of Columbus, nor to make allowance for his extravagant sallies ; and if nothing has hitherto met our eye to warrant the strong language ol the son, yet we have seen that the king, from the first, distrusted the admiral's projects, as having something unsound and chimerical in them. The affliction of the latter at the tidings of Isabella's death is stiongly depicted in a letter written immediately after to his son Diego. "It is our chief duty," he says, " to commend to God most affectionately and devoutly the soul of our deceased lady the queen. Her life was always Catholic and virtuous, and prompt to whatever could redound to His holy
_
— admiral's own letter to the sovereigns from Jamaica. Benzonb Novi Orbis Hist., lib. 1, cap. 14 Fer¬ They are all collected in the first volume of Navar¬ nando Colon, Hist, del Almirante, cap. 88-108.— rete. (Ubi supra.) Whatever cloud may be thrown Herrera, Indias occidentales, dec. 1, lib. 5, cap. 2- over the early part of is there career, Columbus's 12 ; lib. 6, cap. 1-13. Navarrete, Coleccion de abundant light every step of his path after the Viages, torn. i. pp. 282-325.—The best authorities commencement on of his great enterprise. for the fourth voyage are the relations of Mendez 2 Hist. del. Almirante, cap. 108. and Porras, both engaged in it, and, above all, the 1 Martyr, De Rebus Oceanicis, dec.
—
3, lib. 4.
HIS DEATH.
619
service ; wherefore we may trust she now rests in glory, far from all con¬ cern for this rough and weary world." 1 Columbus, at this time, was so much crippled by the gout, to which he had been long subject, that he was unable to undertake a journey to Segovia, where the court was, during the winter. He lost no time, how¬ ever, in laying his situation before the king through his son Diego, who was attached to the royal household. He urged his past services, the original terms of the capitulation made with him, their infringement in almost every particular, and his own necessitous condition. But Ferdinand was too busily occupied with his own concerns, at this crisis, to give much heed to those of Columbus, who repeatedly complains of the inattention shown to his application.2 At length, on the approach of a milder season, the admiral, having obtained a dispensation in his favour from the ordinance prohibiting the use of mules, was able by easy journeys to reach Segovia and present himself before the monarch.3 (May 1505.) He was received with all the outward marks of courtesy and regard by Ferdinand, who assured him that " he fully estimated his important services, and, far from stinting his recompense to the precise terms of the capitulation, intended to confer more ample favours on him in Castile"4 These fair words, however, were not seconded by actions. The king probably had no serious thoughts of reinstating the admiral in his govern¬ ment. His successor, Ovando, was high in the royal favour. His rule, however objectionable as regards the Indians, was every way acceptable to the Spanish colonists ;5 and even his oppression of the poor natives was so far favourable to his cause that it enabled him to pour much larger sums into the royal coffers than had been gleaned by his more humane predecessor.6 The events of the last voyage, moreover, had probably not tended to dispel any distrust which the king had previously entertained of the ad¬ miral's capacity for government. His men had been in a state of perpetual insubordination ; while his letter to the sovereigns, written under distress¬ ing circumstances, indeed, from Jamaica, exhibited such a deep colouring of despondency, and occasionally such wild and visionary projects, as might almost suggest the suspicion of a temporary alienation of mind.7 But, whatever reasons may have operated to postpone Columbus's resto¬ ration to power, it was the grossest injustice to withhold from him the 1 Cartas de Colon, apud Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, torn. i. p. 341. 2 See his interesting correspondence with his son
6 Ibid., dec. 1, lib. 5, cap. 12 ; lib. 6, cap. 16-18.
ii. lib. 19, Compendio, —Garibay, in which sober This document exhibits torn.
7
a medley,
cap. 14.
Diego, now printed for the first time by Senor narrative and sound reasoning are strangely blended Navarrete from the original MSS. in the duke of with crazy dreams, doleful lamentation, and wild Veragua's possession. Coleccion de Viages, torn. i. schemes for the recovery of Jerusalem, the conver¬ p. 338 et seq. sion of the Grand Khan, etc. Vagaries like_ these, 3 Herrera, Indias occidentales, dec. 1, lib. 6, cap. which come occasionally like clouds over his soul *4- — Fernando Colon, Hist, del Almirante, cap. 108. to shut out the light of reason, cannot fail to fill the For an account of this ordinance see Part II. mind of the reader, as they doubtless did those of chapter 3, p. 418, note 1, of this History. the sovereigns at the time, with mingled sentiments 4 Herrera, Indias occidentales, dec. 1, lib. 6, cap. of wonder and compassion. See Cartas de Colon, apud Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, torn. i. p.. Hs Ibid., dec 1, lib. 5, cap. 12. ag6.
—
620
RETURN OF COLUMBUS.
revenues secured by the original contract with the crown. According to his own statement, he was so far from receiving his share of the remittances made by Ovando, that he was obliged to borrow money, and had actually incurred a heavy debt for his necessary expenses.1 The truth was, that, as the resources of the new countries began to develop themselves more abundantly. Ferdinand felt greater reluctance to comply with the letter of the original capitulation ; he now considered the compensation as too vast and altogether disproportioned to the services of any subject ; and at length was so ungenerous as to propose that the admiral should relinquish his claims, in consideration of other estates and dignities to be assigned him in Castile.2 It argued less knowledge of character than the king usually showed, that he should have thought the man who had broken off all negotiations on the threshold of a dubious enterprise rather than abate one tittle of his demands, would consent to such abatement when the success of that enterprise was so gloriously established. What assistance Columbus actually received from the crown at this time, or whether he received any, does not appear. He continued to reside with the court, and accompanied it on its removal to Valladolid. He no doubt enjoyed the public consideration due to his high repute and extraordinary achievements ; though by the monarch he might be regarded in the unwelcome light of a creditor whose claims were too just to be disavowed and too large to be satisfied. With spirits broken by this unthankful requital of his services, and with a constitution impaired by a life of unmitigated hardship, Columbus's health now rapidly sank under the severe and reiterated attacks of his disorder. On the arrival of Philip and Joanna, he addressed a letter to them, through his brother Bartholomew, in which he lamented the infir¬ mities which prevented him from paying his respects in person, and made a tender of his future services. The communication was graciously received, but Columbus did not survive to behold the young sovereigns.3 His mental vigour, however, was not impaired by the ravages of disease, and on the 19th of May 1506 he executed a codicil, confirming certain testamentary dispositions formerly made, with special reference to the entail of his estates and dignities ; manifesting in his latest act the same solicitude he had shown through life, to perpetuate an honourable name. Having completed these arrangements with perfect composure, he expired on the following day, being that of our Lord's ascension (May 20th, 1506), with little apparent suffering, and in the most Christian spirit of resignation.4 His remains, first deposited in the convent of St. Francis at \ alladolid, were, six years later, removed to the Carthusian monastery
_
—
1 See Cartas de Colon, apud Navarrete, Coieccion de Viages, torn. i. p. 338. 2 Fernando Colon, Hist, del Almirante, cap. 108. — Herrera, Indias occidentales, lib. 6, cap.
Viages, torn. iii. p. 330. Herrera, Indias occiden¬ tales, ubi supra. Annales de Sevilla, p. 429. — Fernando * Zuniga, Hist, del Almirante, cap. 108. Hernalde/, Colon, *4Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 131.— Navarrete, Coiec4 Navarrete has given the letter, Coleccion de I cion de Viages, torn, ii., Doc. dipl. 158. ÿ
—
HIS DEATH.
621
of Las Cuevas at Seville, where a costly monument was raised over them by King Ferdinand, with the memorable inscription,
" A Castilla y a Leon
Nuevo mundo did Colon; "
"the like of which," says his son Ferdinand, with as much truth as sim¬ plicity, "was never recorded of any man in ancient or modern times."1" From this spot his body was transported, in the year 1536, to the island of St. Domingo, the proper theatre of his discoveries, and on the cession of that island to the French, in 1795, was again removed to Cuba, where his ashes now quietly repose in the cathedral church of its capital. 2 There is considerable uncertainty as to Columbus's age, though it seems probable it was not far from seventy at the time of his death.3 His person. has been minutely described by his son. He was tall and well made, his head large, with an aquiline nose, small light-blue or greyish eyes, a fresh complexion and red hair, though incessant toil and exposure had bronzed the former and bleached the latter before the age of thirty. He had a majestic presence, with much dignity and at the same time affability of manner. He was fluent, even eloquent, in discourse ; generally temperate in deportment, but sometimes hurried by a too-lively sensibility into a sally of passion.4 He was abstemious in his diet, indulged little in amuse¬ ments of any kind, and, in truth, seemed too much absorbed by the great cause to which he had consecrated his life to allow scope for the lower pursuits and pleasures which engage ordinary men. Indeed, his imagina¬ tion, by feeding too exclusively on this lofty theme, acquired an unnatural exaltation, which raised him too much above the sober realities of existence, leading him to spurn at difficulties which in the "end proved insurmountable, and to colour the future with those rainbow tints which. too often melted into air. This exalted state of the imagination was the result in part, no doubts of the peculiar circumstances of his life ; for the glorious enterprise which he had achieved almost justified the conviction of his acting under the influence of some higher inspiration than mere human reason, and led his
—
1 Hist, del Almirante, ubi supra. The following Abbot's " Letters from Cuba," a work of much in¬ eulogium of Paolo Giovio is a pleasing tribute to the terest and information, with the requisite allowance deserts of the great navigator, showing the high esti¬ for the inaccuracies of a posthumous publication. 3 The various theories respecting the date of Co¬ mation in which he was held, abroad as well as at home, by the enlightened of his own day : " Incom- lumbus's birth cover a range of twenty years, from parabilis Liguribus honos, eximium Italise decus, et 1436 to 1456. There are sturdy objections to either preefulgidum jubar seculo nostro nasceretur, quod of the hypotheses ; and the historianwill find it easiei priscorum heroum, Hercuiis, et Liberi patris famam to cut the knot than to unravel it. Comp. Navar obscuraret. Q uorum memoriam grata olim mortalitas rete, Coleccion de Viages, torn, i., Introd., sec. 54. aeternis literarum monumentis coelo consecrarit." Munoz, Hist, del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 2, sec. 12. Spotorno, Memorials of Columbus, pp. 12, 25. Llogia Virorum Must,, lib. 4, p. 123. Irving, Life of Columbus, vol. iv. book 18, - Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, torn, ii., Doc. dipl. 177. On the left of the grand altar of this chap. 4. Fernando Colon, Hist, del Almirante, cap. 3. stately edifice is a bust of Columbus, placed in a n-.che in the wall, and near it a silver urn, containing j Novi Orbis Hist., lib. 1, cap. 14.—Herrera, Indias ail that now remains of the illustrious voyager. See : occidentales, dec. 1, lib. 6, cap. 15.
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—
— —
*
—
622
RETURN OF COLUMBUS.
cievout mind to discern intimations respecting himself in the dark and mysterious annunciations of sacred prophecy.1 That the romantic colouring of his mind, however, was natural to him, and not purely the growth of circumstances, is evident from the chimerical speculations in which he seriously indulged before the accomplishment of his great discoveries. His scheme of a crusade for the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre was most deliberately meditated and strenuously avowed from the very first date of his proposals to the Spanish government. His enthusiastic communications on the subject must have provoked a smile from a pontiff like Alexander the Sixth ;2 and may suggest some apology for the tardiness with which his more rational projects were accredited by the Castilian government. But these visionary fancies never clouded his judgment in matters relating to his great undertaking ; and it is curious to observe the prophetic accuracy with which he discerned not only the existence but the eventual resources of the western world; as is suffi¬ ciently evinced by his precautions, to the very last, to secure the full fruits of them, unimpaired, to his posterity. Whatever were the defects of his mental constitution, the finger of the historian will find it difficult to point to a single blemish in his moral character. His correspondence breathes the sentiment of devoted loyalty to his sovereigns. His conduct habitually displayed the utmost solicitude for the interests of his followers. He expended almost his last maravedi in restoring his unfortunate crew to their native land. His dealings were regulated by the nicest principles of honour and justice. His last com¬ munication to the sovereigns from the Indies remonstrates against the use of violent measures in order to extract gold from the natives, as a thing equally scandalous and impolitic.3 The grand object to which he dedi¬ cated himself seemed to expand his whole soul, and raised it above the petty shifts and artifices by which great ends are sometimes sought to be compassed. There are some men in whom rare virtues have been closely allied, if not to positive vice, to degrading weakness. Columbus's char¬ acter presented no such humiliating incongruity. Whether we contemplate it in its public or private relations, in all its features it wears the same noble aspect. It was in perfect harmony with the grandeur of his plans, and their results more stupendous than those which Heaven has permitted any other mortal to achieve.4 1 See the extracts from Columbus's book of Pro¬
The former, illegitimate, inherited his father's genius, says a Castilian writer, and the latter his honours ii., Doc. dipl. no. 140), as still existing in the Bibli- and estates. (Zuniga, Annales de Sevilla, ano 1506.) otheca Colombina at Seville. Fernando, besides other works now lost, left a valu¬ See his epistle to the most selfish and sensual of able memoir of his father, often cited in this history. the successors of St. Peter, in Navarrete, Coleccion He was a person of rather uncommon literary attain¬ de Viages, torn, ii., Doc. dipl. no. 145. ments, and amassed a library, in his extensive travels, 3 "El oro, bien que segun informacion el sea of 20,000 volumes, perhaps the largest private col¬ mucho, no me parescid bien ni servicio de vuestras lection in Europe at that day. (Ibid., ano i53S | Altezas de se le tomar por via de roho. La buena Diego did not succeed to his father's dignities till orden evitara escandolo y mala fama," etc. Cartas he had obtained a judgment in his favour against the de Colon, apud Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, torn. ; crown from the Council of the Indies; an act highly _ P'T?', „„ , F . ; honourable to that showing that the , Columbus left two sons, Fernando and, Diego, independence of thetribunal, and courts of justice, the greatest
phecies (apud Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, torn.
..
.
FERDINAND VISITS NAPLES.
CHAPTER XIX. REIGN AND DEATH OF PHILIP I.-PROCEEDINGS IN CASTILE. FERDINAND VISITS NAPLES.
—
1506.
— —
Philip and Joanna. Their reckless Administration. — Ferdinand distrusts Gonsalvo.— He sails for Naples. Philip's Death and Character. The Provisional Government. Joanna's Condition.— Ferdinand's Entry into Naples.— Discontent caused by his Mea¬ sures there.
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—
King Ferdinand had no sooner concluded the arrangement with Philip, and withdrawn into his hereditary dominions, than the archduke and his wife proceeded towards Valladolid, to receive the homage of the estates convened in that city. Joanna, oppressed with an habitual melancholy, and clad in the sable habiliments better suited to a season of mourning than rejoicing, refused the splendid ceremonial and festivities with which the city was prepared to welcome her. Her dissipated husband, who had long since ceased to treat her not merely with affection, but even decency, would fain have persuaded the cortes to authorize the confinement of his wife, as disordered in intellect, and to devolve on him the whole charge Df the government. In this he was supported by the archbishop of Toledo and some of the principal nobility. But the thing was distasteful to the commons, who could not brook such an indignity to their own " natural sovereign ;" and they were so staunchly supported by the admiral Enriquez, a grandee of the highest authority from his connection with the crown, that Philip was at length induced to abandon his purpose, and to content himself with an act of recognition similar to that made at Toro.1 No notice whatever was taken of the Catholic king, or of his recent arrangement transferring the regency to Philip. (July 12th, 1506.) The usual oaths of allegiance were tendered to Joanna as queen and lady proprietor of the kingdom, and to Philip as her husband, and finally to their eldest son, Prince Charles, as heir-apparent and lawful successor on the demise of his mother.2 bulwark of civil liberty, was well maintained under enforce, for specific honours and revenues in CastileKing Ferdinand. Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, The titles of Duke of Veragua and Marquis of Ja¬ torn, ii., Doc. dipl. nos. 163, 164 ; torn, iii., Supl. maica, derived from the places visited by the admiral
Col. dipl. no. 69.) The young admiralsubsequently married a lady of the great Toledo family, niece of the duke of Alva. (Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. x, quinc. 2, dial. 8.) This alliance with one of the most ancient branches of the haughty aristocracy of Castile proves the extraordinary consideration which Columbus must have attained during his own lifetime. A new opposition was made by Charles V. to the succession of Diego's son ; and the latter, dis¬ couraged by the prospect of this interminable litiga¬ tion with the crown, prudently consented to commute bis claims, too vast and indefinite for any subject to
in his last voyage, still distinguish the family, whose
proudest title, above all that monarchs can confer,
have descended from Columbus. Spotorno, Memorials of Columbus, p. 123. 1 Marina tells an anecdote, too long for insertion here, in relation to this cortes, showing the sturdy stuff of which a Castilian commoner in that day was made. (Teoria, part. 2, cap. 7.) It will scarce y gain credit without a better voucher than the anony¬ mous scribbler from whom he has borrowed it. 2 Mariana, Hist, de Espana, torn. ii. lib. 28, cap. 22. Zurita, Anales, torn. vi. lib. 7, cap. xx. — Abarca, is to
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REIGN AND DEATH OF PHILIP.
By the tenor of these acts the royal authority would seem to have been From this moment, however, Philip assumed the government into his own hands. The effects were soon visible in the thorough revolution introduced into every department. Old incumbents in office were ejected without ceremony, to make way for new favourites. The Flemings, in particular, were placed in every considerable post, and the principal fortresses of the kingdom intrusted to their keeping. No length or degree of service was allowed to plead in behalf of the aged occupant The marquis and marchioness of Moya, who had been the personal friends of the late queen, and particularly recommended by her to her daughter's favour, were forcibly expelled from Segovia, whose strong citadel was given to Don Juan Manuel. There were no limits to the estates and honours lavished on this crafty minion.1 The style of living at the court was on the most thoughtless scale of wasteful expenditure. The public revenues, notwithstanding liberal appro¬ priations by the late cortes, were wholly unequal to it. To supply the deficit, offices were sold to the highest bidder. The income drawn from the silk manufactures of Granada, which had been appropriated to defray King Ferdinand's pension, was assigned by Philip to one of the royal treasurers. Fortunately, Ximenes obtained possession of the order and had the boldness to tear it in pieces. He then waited on the young monarch, and remonstrated with him on the recklessness of measures which must infallibly ruin his credit with the people. Philip yielded in this instance ; but although he treated the archbishop with the greatest outward deference, it is not easy to discern the habitual influence over his counsels claimed for the prelate by his adulatory biographers. 2 All this could not fail to excite disgust and disquietude throughout the nation. The most alarming symptoms of insubordination began to appear in different parts of the kingdom. In Andalusia, in particular, a confederation of the nobles was organized, with the avowed purpose of rescuing the queen from the duress in which it was said she was held by At the same time the most tumultuous scenes were her husband. exhibited in Cordova, in consequence of the high hand with which the Inquisition was carrying matters there. Members of many of the principal families, including persons of both sexes, had been arrested on the charge of heresy. This sweeping proscription provoked an insurrection, coun¬ tenanced by the marquis of Priego, in which the prisons were broken open, and Lucero, an inquisitor who had made himself deservedly odious by his cruelties, narrowly escaped falling into the hands of the infuriated popu-
virtually vested in Joanna.
—
Reyes de Aragon, torn. ii. rey 30, cap. 15. Joanna on this occasion was careful to inspect the powers of the deputies herself, to see that they were all regularly authenticated. Singular astuteness for a mad woman ! 1 Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 312. Mari¬ ana. Hist, de Espana, torn. ii. lib. 28, cap. 22.
—
—
Lanuza, Historias, torn. i. lib. 1, cap. 21. — Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fol. 65.— Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. x, quinc. 1, dial. 23. Robles, Vtda de Ximenez, cap. 17.— Gomez, D Rebus gestis, fol. 65-—Abarca, Reyes de Aragon? rey 3°» cap. 16.— Quintanilla, AreAetypo, lib. 3? cao. 14.
-
FERDINAND VISITS NAPLES.
625
lace.1 The grand inquisitor, Deza, archbishop of Seville, the steady friend of Columbus, though his name is unhappily registered on some of the darkest pages of the tribunal, was so intimidated as to resign his office.2 The whole affair was referred to the royal council by Philip, whose Flemish education had not predisposed him to any reverence for the institution ; a circumstance which operated quite as much to his prejudice, with the more bigoted part of the nation, as his really exceptional acts.3 The minds of the wise and the good were filled with sadness, as they listened to the low murmurs of popular discontent, which seemed to be gradually swelling into strength for some terrible convulsion ; and they looked back with fond regret to the halcyon days which they had enjoyed under the temperate rule of Ferdinand and Isabella. The Catholic king, in the meantime, was pursuing his voyage to Naples. Soon after the conquest he had been earnestly pressed by the Neapolitans to visit his new dominions.4 He now went, less, however, in compliance with that request than to relieve his own mind by assuring himself of the fidelity of his viceroy, Gonsalvo de Cordova. That illustrious man had not escaped the usual lot of humanity ; his brilliant successes had brought on him a full measure of the envy which seems to wait on merit like its shadow. Even men like Rojas, the Castilian ambassador at Rome, and Prospero Colonna, the distinguished Italian commander, condescended to employ their influence at court to depreciate the Great Captain's services and raise suspicions of his loyalty. His courteous manners, bountiful largesses, and magnificent style of living, were represented as politic arts to seduce the affections of the soldiery and the people. His services were in the market for the highest bidder. He had received the most splendid offers from the king of France and the pope. He had carried on a cor¬ respondence with Maximilian and Philip, who would purchase his adhe¬ sion, if possible, to the latter, at any price ; and if he had not hitherto committed himself by any overt act, it seemed probable he was only 1 Lucero (whom honest Martyr, with a sort of back¬ worthy of an inquisitor. The archbishop kept a handed pun, usually nicknames Tenebrero) resumed tame lion in his palace, which used to accompany his inquisitorial functions on Philip's death. Among him when he went abroad, and lie down at his feet his subsequent victims was the good archbishop when he said mass in the church. The monster had Talavera, whose last days were embittered by his been stripped of his teeth and claws when young, persecution. His insane violence at length provoked but he was " espantable en su vista e aspeto," says again the interference of government. His case Oviedo, who records two or three of his gambols,— was referred to a special commission, with Ximenes lion's play, at best. Quincuagenas, MS. 3 Llorente, Hist, de l'lnquisition, torn. i. chap. at its head. Sentence was pronounced against him. The prisons he had filled were emptied. His judg¬ 10, art. 3, 4. Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, rey 30, cap. ments were reversed, as founded on insufficient and 16.— Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS.— Peter Martyr, frivolous grounds. But alas ! what was this to the Opus Epist., epist. 333, 334, et al.— "Toda lagente," hundreds he had consigned to the stake, and the says Zurita, in reference to this affair, " noble y de
—
thousands he had plunged in misery ? He was in the end sentenced,— not to be roasted alive,— but to retire to his own benefice and confine himself to the duties of a Christian minister ! Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fol. 77.— Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 333, 334, et al.— Llorente, Hist, de l'lnquisition, torn. i. chap. 10, art. 3, 4. Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., dial, de Deza. 2 Oviedo has given an ample notice of this prelate, Ferdinand's confessor, in one of his dialogues. He Mentions a singular taste, in one respect, quite
—
limpia sangre se avia escandalizado dello " (Anales,
torn. vi. lib. 7, cap. 11) ; and he plainly intimates his conviction that Philip s profane interference brought Heaven's vengeance on his head in the shape of a premature death. Zurita was secretary of the Holy
Office in the early part of the sixteenth century. Had he lived in the nineteenth, he might have acted the He was certainly not born for
part of a Llorente. a bigot.
* Summonte, Hist, di Napoli, torn. iv. lib. 6,
cap. 5.
2 R
REIGN AND DEATH OF PHILIP.
626
waiting to be determined in his future course by the result of King Fer¬ dinand's struggle with his son-in-law.1 These suggestions, in which some truth, as usual, was mingled with a large infusion of error, gradually excited more and more uneasiness in the breast of the cautious and naturally distrustful Ferdinand. He at first endeavoured to abridge the powers of the Great Captain by recalling half the troops in his service, notwithstanding the unsettled state of the king¬ dom.2 He then took the decisive step of ordering his return to Castile, on pretence of employing him in affairs of great importance at home. To allure him more effectually, he solemnly pledged himself, by an oath, to transfer to him, on his landing in Spain, the grand-mastership of St. Jago with all its princely dependencies and emoluments, the noblest gift in the possession of the crown. Finding all this ineffectual, and that Gonsalvo still procrastinated his return on various pretexts, the king's uneasiness increased to such a degree that he determined to press his own departure for Naples, and bring back, if not too late, his too powerful vassal.3 On the 4th of September 1506, Ferdinand embarked at Barcelona, on board a well-armed squadron of Catalan galleys, taking with him his young and beautiful bride and a numerous train of Aragonese nobles. On the 24th of the month, after a boisterous and tedious passage, he reached the port of Genoa. Here, to his astonishment, he was joined by the Great Captain, who, advised of the king's movements, had come from Naples
——
1 Giovio, Vitas lllust. Virorum, p. 276. Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, torn. ii. rey 30, cap. 16. Zurita, Anales, torn. vi. lib. 6, cap. 5, 11, 17, 27, 31 ; lib. 7, cap. 14. Buonaccorsi, Diario, p. 123.— Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., fol. 30. Mariana, Hist, de Espana, torn. ii. lib. 28, cap. 23. Gonsalvo in one of his letters to the king, notices these imputations so pre¬ judicial to his honour. He implores his master to take no precipitate measures in consequence, and concludes with the most vehement protestations of loyalty and devotion to his service. The document is so curious that Iwill lay the whole of it before the reader, and it may serve as a sample of the Great Captain's style of composition and ortho¬ graphy, which last, as with some other great cap¬ tains of a more modern date, will hardly stand a comparison with his military science. " A1 muy alto y muy poderoso y catolyco princype, Rei y Senor el Rey despana y de las dos cegilias, mi Senor. Muy alto muy poderoso y catolyco Rey y Senor. Por algunas letras e dado avyso a v. m'» de las causas que man detenydo y asy por no saber que v. al. las aya regebydo como por satisfager a la gertyficagion que deve tener de my anymo y devo dar de my servytud a v. m'a syntiendo que alia y en otras partes algunas synyfycan tener alguna yntiligengia e platyca comigo a su proposyto y en gran perjuygio de mi onrra y de vuestro servycio de lo cual dios qui to su poder y my voluntad como ellos bien saben y syntiendo que algunos dalla escriven a rroma y otras partes no estan sus hyjos con v. al. en tanto acuerdo como al byen dellos y destos rreynos convernya delybre enbyar albornos presona propya con lo presente creyendo que mas presto navegara por las portas el que yo por golfos a suplycalle y asy se lo suplyco y sus rreales pies y manos beso por ello ny my tardanga pues a sydo por aver myrado su servycio my duda que de my se le ponga no le haga haser cosa que no convenga a
—
—
—
su estado y servygio que por esta letra de my mano y propia voluntad escryta certyfico y prometo 4 v. Mta que no tyene presona mas suya ni cyerta para bevyr y morir en vuestra fe y servygio que yo y aunque v. al. se redusyere a un cavallo solo y en el mayor estremo que mala fortuna pudiese abrar y en my mano estuvyere la potestad del mundo con el auturidad y libertad que pudiese desear afyrmo que no e de rreconoser en mys dias otro rey ni senor syno a v. altera cuanto me querra por su syervo y vasallo en fyrmesa de lo cual por esta lo juro a dyos y a santa mariay a los santos cuatro evangelos como crystiano y hago pleyto omenaje dello 4 vra. alteza como cavallero y en fe dello pongo aqui my nombre y sello con el sello de mys armas y la embyo a v. mta porque de my tenga lo que asta agora no tyene aunque creo que para con v. al. ny para mas oblygarme de lo que yo lo este y por my voluntad y devda no sea negesario mas porque se habla en lo escusado rrespondo con parte de lo que devo y con ayuda de dios my presona sera muy presto con v. al. por satysfazer a mas sy converna y esta la acabo pidiendo a nuestro Senor que la rreal presona y estado de v. al. con vitoria prospere. de Napoles en Castilnovo escrita a dos dias de Julyo de nvi anos.
de V. al
muy umyl servydor que sus rreales pies y manos beso
Gongalo Hernandez Duque de Terranova." 2 Mariana, Hist,
de Espana, lib. 28, cap.
Zurita, Anales, torn. vi. lib. 6, cap. 5. . . 3 Zurita, Anales, torn. vi. lib. 7, cap. 6.— Guicciardini, Istoria, torn. iv. p. 12, ed. di Milano, 1803.— Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, lib. 30, cap. i-— Giovio, Vitae lllust. Virorum, p. 2S0.— Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 3, dial. 9-
FERDINAND VISITS NAPLES.
627
with a small fleet to meet him. This frank conduct of his general, if it did not disarm Ferdinand of his suspicions, showed him the policy of con¬ cealing them ) and he treated Gonsalvo with all the consideration and show of confidence which might impose, not merely on the public, but on the immediate subject of them.1 The Italian writers of the time express their astonishment that the Spanish general should have so blindly trusted himself into the hands of his suspicious master.2 But he, doubtless, felt strong in the consciousness of his own integrity. There appears to have been no good reason for impeaching this. His most equivocal act was his delay to obey the royal summons ; but much weight is reasonably due to his own explanation, that he was deterred by the distracted state of the country, arising from the proposed transfer of property to the Angevin barons, as well as from the precipitate disbanding of the army, which it required all his authority to prevent from breaking into open mutiny.3 To these motives may be probably added the natural though perhaps unconscious reluctance to relinquish the exalted station, little short of absolute sovereignty, which he had so long and so gloriously filled. He had, indeed, lorded it over his viceroyalty with most princely sway. But he had assumed no powers to which he was not entitled by his services and peculiar situation. His public operations in Italy had been uni¬ formly conducted for the advantage of his country, and, until the late final treaty with France, were mainly directed to the expulsion of that power beyond the Alps.4 Since that event he had busily occupied himself with the internal affairs of Naples, for which he made many excellent provisions, contriving by his consummate address to reconcile the most conflicting interests and parties. Although the idol of the army and of the people, there is not the slightest evidence of an attempt to pervert his popularity to an unworthy purpose. There is no appearance of his having been corrupted, or even dazzled, by the splendid offers repeatedly made him by the different potentates of Europe. On the contrary, the proud answer recorded of him, to Pope Julius the Second, breathes a spirit of deter¬ mined loyalty, perfectly irreconcilable with anything sinister or selfish in his motives.6 The Italian writers of the time, who affect to speak of these motives with some distrust, were little accustomed to such examples of 1
Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, ubi supra.—
indeed, forms the burden of his correspondence at this time. See in particular his letter to the king, dated Oct. 31st, 1505, and another of his duchess to the same, written Jan. 17th, 1506, MS. 4 My limits will not allow room for the complex politics and feuds of Italy, into which Gonsalvo entered with all the freedom of an independent potentate. See the details, apud Chrdriica del Gran Capitan, lib. 2, cap. 112-127. Sismondi, Republiques Italiennes, tom.xiii. chap. 103. Guicciardini, Istoria, torn. iii. p. 235 et alibi. Zurita, Anales, torn. vi. lib. 6, cap. 7, 9. Mariana, Hist, de Espana, torn. ii. lib. 28, cap. 7.— Carta del Gran Capitan fi his speedy return, and explaining the postponement los Reyes, de Napoles, 25 de Agosto, 1503, MS. 5 Zurita, Anales, lib. 6, can. ti. of it by the unsettled state of the kingdom, wh»«h, j
Summonte, Hist, di Napoli, torn. iv. lib. 6, cap.
Cosas memorables, fol. 187.— Uuonaccorsi, Diario, p. 123. Capmany, Mem. de Barcelona, torn. i. p. 152.— " Este," says Capmany 01 the squadron which bore the king from Barce¬ lona, "se puede decir fud el tiltimo armamento que salib de aquella capital." Guicciardini, Istoria, torn. iv. p. 30.— Machiavelli, Legazione seconda a Roma, let. 23.— Gianno.Pe' tstoria di Napoli, lib. 30, cap. 1. Zurita, Anales, lib. 6, cap. 31.—There are several i jetters from Gonsalvo, in the year 1506, announcing 5-— L. Marineo,
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—
—
—
—
628
REIGN AND DEA TH OF PHILIP.
steady devotion ;1 but the historian who reviews all the circumstances must admit that there was nothing to justify such distrust, and that the only exceptionable acts in Gonsalvo's administration were performed, not to advance his own interests, but those of his master, and in too strict obedience to his commands. King Ferdinand was the last person who had cause to complain of them. After quitting Genoa, the royal squadron was driven by contrary winds into the neighbouring harbour of Portofino, where Ferdinand received intelligence which promised to change his destination altogether. This was the death of his son-in-law, the young king of Castile. This event, so unexpected and awfully sudden, was occasioned by a fever, brought on by too violent exercise at a game of ball, at an enter¬ tainment made for Philip by his favourite, Manuel, in Burgos, where the court was then held. Through the unskilfulness of his physicians, as it was said, who neglected to bleed him, the disorder rapidly gained ground,2 and on the sixth day after his attack, being the 25th of September 1506, he breathed his last.3 He was but twenty-eight years old, of which brief period he had enjoyed, or endured, the "golden cares" of sovereignty but little more than two months, dating from his recognition by the cortes. His body, after being embalmed, lay in state for two days, decorated with the insignia—the mockery of royalty, as it had proved to him— and was then deposited in the convent of Miraflores, near Burgos, to await its final removal to Granada, agreeably to his last request.4 1 IIGran Capitan," says Guicciardini, " conscio lucida lampas." He was at least the better prophet " del sospetti, i quali il reforse turn vanamerrte aveva on this occasion. Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. Zurita, Anales, torn. vi. lib. 7, cap. 14. avuti di lui," etc. (Istoria, torn. iv. p. 30.) This 313. — ;i Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 3, way of damning a character by surmise is very com¬ mon with Italian writers of this age, who uniformly dial. 9.— Fortunately for Ferdinand's reputation, Philip's death was attended by too unequivocal resort to the very worst motive as the key of what¬ ever is dubious or inexplicable in conduct. Not a circumstances, and recorded by too many eyewit¬ least at without nesses to admit the suggestion of poison.* It seems sudden death, for example, occurs, a sospctto of poison from some hand or other. What he drank freely of cold water while very hot. The brought on was an epidemic which at that the morals the land of he fever ! a fearful commentary on 2 Philip's disorder was lightly regarded at first by time afflicted Castile. Machiavelli, Legazione sehis Flemish physicians, whose practice and predic¬ conda a Roma, let. 29.—Zuniga, Anales de Sevilla, tions were alike condemned by their coadjutor Lo- ano 1506. 4 Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 313, 316.— dovico Marliano, an Italian doctor, highly com¬ mended by Martyr as " inter philosophos et medicos Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 206. Gomez, * [According to Bergenroth, however, " the general opinion was that he had been poisoned," and he insinuates that Luis Ferrer, Ferdinand's envoy to Philip, was the person who rendered his master this service. (Letters, Despatches, and State Papers, Supplementary Vol., Introduction.) But the suspicion is unsupported by a particle of evidence, and seems to be sufficiently refuted by a description of the symp¬ toms and course of the disease, to be found in a letter addressed to Ferdinand by a Dr. Parra, one of the consulting physicians. According to this statement, Philip, having played ball for two or three hours and allowed himself to cool off suddenly, was feverish on Sept. 17th, but ate as usual, and said nothing to his medical attendants until the evening of the next day, Saturday, when he was seized with a chill. On Sunday fever came on, with a pain in the side, and he spit blood. He was bled on the other side (de la parte contrarid), which relieved the pain ; but in the evening the chill returned, and was followed by an access of fever. He rose on Monday, though the fever still continued, and his tongue and palate, but especially the uvula, were so swollen that he could scarcely speak or swallow the saliva. He said he had 110 other pain, and if they cured him of that he should be well. Cupping-glasses were applied to his shoulders and neck, and purgatives were administered with effect. On Wednesday the writer and other doctors were summoned. All agreed on the necessity of bleeding. The blood came thick and bad. ihe chill returned, followed by a sweat, which lasted six hours, and was thought to" augur an improvement ; but the patient grew very weak, and all his senses and his speech were confined (turbadas), what he said being scarcely understood, till he fell into a lethargy, from which it was hard to wake him, and which continued till his death. Parra was told that the sweat brought out small black spots on the ÿslCÿnS' ?ySf ?Tnlng JPParently those of his own province, which was perhaps « to the German blatUrn. It was subsequently -a.word doubt' l been given to Phihp ;1° but Parra saw no signs of this, nor did the doctors suspect nÿfKincr ÿ' La j r verdad » anything, es, he concludes, que la materia fud y much* se hizo mal.cosa." Col. de Doc. iired. para la Hist, de mucha, y por su callar mal socorrida,
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SCc, ,°X\f
h.
f
reTlatrd'
Espana/tom wii-EoT
FERDINAND VISITS NAPLES.
629
Philip was of the middle height ; he had a fair, florid complexion, regular features, long flowing locks, and a well-made, symmetrical figure. Indeed, he was so distinguished for comeliness both of person and coun¬ tenance that he is designated on the roll of Spanish sovereigns as Felipe el Hermoso, or the Handsome.1 His mental endowments were not so extraordinary. The father of Charles the Fifth possessed scarcely a single quality in common with his remarkable son. He was rash and impetuous in his temper, frank and careless. He was born to great expectations, and early accustomed to command, which seemed to fill him with a crude, intemperate ambition, impatient alike of control or counsel. He was not without generous and even magnanimous sentiments, but he abandoned himself to the impulse of the moment, whether for good or evil ; and as he was naturally indolent and fond of pleasure, he willingly reposed the burden of government on others, who, as usual, thought more of their own interests than those of the public. His early education exempted him from the bigotry characteristic of the Spaniards ; and had he lived he might have done much to mitigate the grievous abuses of the Inquisition.2 As it was, his premature death deprived him of the oppor¬ tunity of compensating, by this single good act, the manifold mischiefs of his administration. This event, too improbable to have formed any part of the calculations of the most far-sighted politician, spread general consternation throughout the country. The old adherents of Ferdinand, with Ximenes at their head, now looked forward with confidence to his re-establishment in the regency. Many others, however, like Garcilasso de la Vega, whose loyalty to their old master had not been proof against the times, viewed this with some apprehension.3 Others, again, who had openly from the first linked their fortunes to those of his rival—as the duke of Najara, the marquis of Villena, and, above all, Don Juan Manuel— saw in it their certain ruin, and turned their thoughts towards Maximilian, or the king of Portugal, or any other monarch whose connection with the royal family might afford plausible pretext for interference in the government. On Philip's Flemish followers the tidings fell like a thunderbolt; and in their bewilder¬ ment they seemed like so many famished birds of prey, still hovering
—
De Rebus gestis, fol. 66. Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 1506. L. Marineo, Cosas meniorables, fol. 187. Sandoval, Hist, del Erop. Carlos V., torn. i. p.
—
—
11.
1 L.
Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. 187, 188.—
Sandoval, Hist, del Emp. Carlos V., ubi supra.—
Martyr, touched with the melancholy fate of his young sovereign, pays the following not inelegant and certainly not parsimonious tribute to his memory, in a letter written a few days after his death, which, it may be noticed, he makes a day earlier than other contemporary accounts : " Octavo Calendas Octobris animam emisit ille juvenis, formosus, pulcher, elegans ; animo pollens et ingenio, procerae validseque naturae, uti flos vernus evanuit.' Opus Epist., epist. 316. z [How little real ground there was for any hopes <t>f this kind may be inferred from the language of
the letters patent of Sept. 30th, 1505, suspending the proceedings of the Inquisition until the arrival in Spain of Philip and Juana. "No es nuestra voluntad," the missive concludes, " que por ello sea visto ni entendido ni se entienda que Nos queremos alzar, remover ni quitar la dicha Inquisicion de los dichos nuestros reinos 6 senorias, antes la quere¬ mosfavorescer,ayudar 6 multifilicar, 6 sr nccesano en todo el tnundo." Col. de Doc. fuese fonerlaHist, de Espana, torn. viii. Ed.] ined. para la 3 Garcilasso de la Vega appears to have been one of those dubious politicians who, to make use of a modern phrase, are always " on the fence. The wags of his day applied to him a coarse saving of the old duke of Alva in Henry IV.'s time, Que era como el perro de ventero, que ladra a los de fuera, y muerde a los de dentro." Zurita, Anales, torn. vi. lib. 7, cap. 39.
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"
630
REIGN AND DEATH OF PHILIT.
round the half-devoured carcase from which they had been uncere¬ moniously scared.1 The weight of talent and popular consideration was undoubtedly on the king's side. The most formidable of the opposition, Manuel, had declined greatly in credit with the nation during the short, disastrous period of his administration ; while the archbishop of Toledo, who might be considered as the leader of Ferdinand's party, possessed talents, energy, and reputed sanctity of character, which, combined with the authority of his station, gave him unbounded influence over all classes of the Castilians. It was fortunate for the land, in this emergency, that the primacy was in such able hands. It justified the wisdom of Isabella's choice, made in opposition, it may be remembered, to the wishes of Ferdinand, who was now to reap the greatest benefit from it. That prelate, foreseeing the anarchy likely to arise on Philip's death, assembled the nobility present at the court, in his own palace, the day before this event took place. It was there agreed to name a provisional council, or regency, who should carry on the government and provide for the tranquillity of the kingdom. It consisted of seven members, with the archbishop of Toledo at its head, the duke of Infantado, the grand con¬ stable and the admiral of Castile, both connected with the royal family, the duke of Najara, a principal leader of the opposite faction, and two Flemish lords. No mention was made of Manuel.2 The nobles, in a subsequent convention on the 1st of October, ratified these proceedings, and bound themselves not to carry on private war, or attempt to possess themselves of the queen's person, and to employ all their authority in supporting the provisional government, whose term was limited to the end of December.3 A meeting of cortes was wanting to give validity to their acts, as well as to express the popular will in reference to a permanent settlement of the government. There was some difference of opinion, even among the king's friends, as to the expediency of summoning that body at this crisis; but the greatest impediment arose from the queen's refusal to sign the writs.4 King Ferdinand in all his difficulties, objected to calling the cortes together, on the grounds that the summonses, not being by the proper authority, would be informal ; that many cities might conse¬ quently refuse to obey them, and the acts of the remainder be open to objection, as not those of the nation ; that, after all, should cortes assemble, it was quite uncertain under what influences it might be made to act, and whether it would pursue the course most expedient for Ferdinand's interests ; and finally, that if the intention was to procure the appointment of a regency, this had already been done by the nomination of King Ferdinand at filled the office of sole regent at this juncture. It I'oro in 1505, and to start the question anew was is not warranted by Martyr (Opus Epist., epist. unnecessarily to bring that act into doubt. The 317), and is contradicted by the words of the original duke does not seem to have that Ferdi¬ instrument cited as usual by Zurita (ubi supra). nand had forfeited his originalconsidered claim to the regency The archbishop's biographers, one and all, claim as by his abdication ; perhaps on the ground that many merits and services for their hero as if, like had never been formally by the commons. QuintaniHa, they were working expressly for his Ishall have occasion toaccepted return to this hereafter beatification. the See | discussion in Zurita, Anales, extenso , apud 4 The duke of Alva, the staunch supporter of I lib. 7, cap. 26.
1 Mariana, Hist, de Espana, torn. ii. lib. 29, cap. Bernaldez, Reyes Catblicos, MS., cap. 206.— Zurita, Anales, torn. vi. lib. 7, cap. 22. - Zurita, Anales, torn. vi. lib. 7, cap. 15. Mariana, Hist, de Espana, torn. ii. lib. 29, cap. 1.— Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 317.—Zuniga, Annales de Sevilla, ano 1506.— Gomez, He Rebus gestis, fol. 67. 3 Zurita, Anales, torn. vi. lib. 7, cap. 16. Ifind — no authority for the statement made by Alvaro Gomez (De Rebus gestis, fol. 68), and faithfully echoed by Robles (Vida de Ximenez, cap. 17) and QuintanilIa(Archetypo, lib. 3, cap. i4),thatXimenes
2.
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—
T
FERDINAND VISITS NAPLES.
631
This unhappy lady's condition had become truly deplorable. During her husband's illness she had never left his bedside,1 but neither then, nor since his death, had been seen to shed a tear. She remained in a state of stupid insensibility, sitting in a darkened apartment, her head resting on her hand, and her lips closed, as mute and immovable as a statue. When applied to for issuing the necessary summons for the cortes, or to make appointments to office, or for any other pressing busi¬ ness which required her signature, she replied, " My father will attend to all this when he returns ; he is much more conversant with business than Iam ; Ihave no other duties now but to pray for the soul of my departed husband." The only orders she was known to sign were for paying the salaries of her Flemish musicians : for in her abject state she found some consolation in music, of which she had been passionately fond from childhood. The few remarks which she uttered were discreet and sen¬ sible, forming a singular contrast with the general extravagance of her actions. On the whole, however, her pertinacity in refusing to sign
anything was attended with as much good as evil, since it prevented her name from being used, as it would undoubtedly have often been, in the existing state of things, for pernicious and party purposes.2 Finding it impossible to obtain the queen's co-operation, the council at length resolved to issue the writs of summons in their own name, as a measure justified by necessity. The place of meeting was fixed at Burgos in the ensuing month of November; and great pains were taken that the different cities should instruct their representatives in their views respect¬ ing the ultimate disposition of the government.3 Long before this, indeed immediately after Philip's death, letters had been despatched by Ximenes and his friends to the Catholic king, acquainting him with the state of affairs, and urging his immediate return to Castile. He received them at Portofino. He determined, however, to continue his voyage, in which he had already advanced so far, to Naples. The wary monarch perhaps thought that the Castilians, whose attachment to his own person he might with some reason distrust, would not be the less inclined to his rule after having tasted the bitterness of anarchy. In his reply, therefore, after briefly expressing a decent regret at the untimely death of his son-in-law, and his undoubting confidence in the loyalty of the Castilians to their queen his daughter, he prudently intimates that he retains nothing but kindly recollections of his ancient subjects, and promises to use all possible despatch in adjusting the affairs of Naples, that he may again return to them.4 2 Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 318.— Mari¬ 1 [Dr. Parra, whose watchfulness seems to have been excited by what he had heard of Juana's con¬ ana, Hist, de Espana, torn. ii. lib. 29, cap. 2. — dition, says that during the five hours he was in at¬ Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fob 71-73.
tendance she was constantly present, doing or order¬ ing what was to be done, speaking to her husband and the physicians, and attending upon Philip "con el mejor semblante, y tiento, y aire y gracia, que en mi vida vi muger de ningun estado." Ed.]
—
3 Zurita, Anales, lib. 7, cap. 22. L. Marineo, Cosas memorables, fob 187. Zuniga, Annales de Sevilla, ano 1506. Peter Mar¬ tyr, Opus Epist., epist. 317. Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fob 63, 69, 71. Shall we wrong Ferdinand
*
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632
REIGN AND DEATH OF PHILIP.
After this the king resumed his voyage, and having touched at several places on the coast, in all which he was received with great enthusiasm. arrived before the capital of his new dominions in the latter part of October. All were anxious, says the great Tuscan historian of the time, to behold the prince who had acquired a mighty reputation throughout Europe for his victories over both Christian and infidel, and whose name was everywhere revered for the wisdom and equity with which he had ruled in his own kingdom. They looked to his coming, therefore, as an event fraught with importance, not merely to Naples, but to all Italy, where his personal presence and authority might do so much to heal existing feuds and establish permanent tranquillity.1 The Neapolitans, in particular, were intoxicated with joy at his arrival. The most splendid preparations were made for his reception. A fleet of twenty vessels of war came out to meet him and conduct him into port ; and as he touched the shores of his new dominions the air was rent with acclama¬ tions of the people, and with the thunders of artillery from the fortresses which crowned the heights of the city, and from the gallant navy which rode in her waters.2 The faithful chronicler of Los Palacios, who generally officiates as the master of ceremonies on these occasions, dilates with great complacency on all the circumstances of the celebration, even to the minutest details of the costume worn by the king and his nobility. According to him, the monarch was arrayed in a long, flowing mantle of crimson velvet, lined with satin of the same colour. On his head was a black velvet bonnet, garnished with a resplendent ruby and a pearl of inestimable price. He rode a noble white charger, whose burnished caparisons dazzled the eye with their splendour. By his side was his young queen, mounted on a milk-white palfrey, and wearing a skirt, or under-garment, of rich brocade, and a French robe, simply fastened with clasps or loops of fine wrought gold. On the mole they were received by the Great Captain, who, surrounded by his guard of halberdiers and his silken array of pages wearing his device, displayed all the pomp and magnificence of his household. After passing under a triumphal arch, where Ferdinand swore to respect the liberties and privileges of Naples, the royal pair moved forward under a gorgeous canopy, borne by the members of .the municipality, while the reins of their steeds were held by some of the principal nobles. After them followed the other lords and cavaliers of the kingdom, with the
_
much by applying to him the pertinent verses of Lucan, on a somewhat similar occasion ?
"Tutumque putavit
lam bonus esse socer ; lacrymas non sponte cadentes Effudit, gemitusque expressit pectore laeto, Non aliter manifesta putans abscondere mentis Gaudia, quam lacrymis." Pharsalia, lib. 9. 1 "Un re glorioso per tante vittorie avute contro
gl'. Infedeli, e contro i Cristiani, venerabile per opinione di prudenza, e dei quale risonava fama Cristianissima, che avesse con singolare giustizia e tranquillith governato i reamisuoi." Guicciardini, Istoria. torn. iv. p. 31. — Also ! uonaccorsi, Diano, p. 124. Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, lib. 30, cap. i> ~ Summonte, Hist, di Napoli, torn. iv. lib. 6, cap. 5 ' Guicciardini, Istoria, torn. iv. p. 31. — Giovio, Vitae .Illust. Virorum, pp. 278, 279. — Bembo, Istoria Viniziana, lib. 7.
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r
FERDINAND VISITS NAPLES.
633
clergy, and ambassadors assembled from every part of Italy and Europe, bearing congratulations and presents from their respective courts. As the procession halted in the various quarters of the city, it was greeted with joyous bursts of music from a brilliant assemblage of knights and ladies, who did homage by kneeling down and saluting the hands of their new sovereigns. At length, after defiling through the principal streets and squares, it reached the great cathedral, where the day was devoutly closed with solemn prayer and thanksgiving.1 Ferdinand was too severe an economist of time to waste it willingly on idle pomp and ceremonial. His heart swelled with satisfaction, however, as he gazed on the magnificent capital thus laid at his feet, and pouring forth the most lively expressions of a loyalty which of late he had been led to distrust. With all his impatience, therefore, he was not disposed to rebuke this spirit by abridging the season of hilarity. But, after allowing sufficient scope for its indulgence, he devoted himself assiduously to the great purposes of his visit. He summoned a parliament general of the kingdom, where, after his own recognition, oaths of allegiance were tendered to his daughter Joanna
and her posterity, as his successors, without any allusion being made to the rights of his wife. This was a clear evasion of the treaty with France ; but Ferdinand, though late, was too sensible of the folly of that stipulation, which secured the reversion of his wife's dower to the latter crown, to allow it to receive any sanction from the Neapolitans.2 Another and scarcely less disastrous provision of the treaty he com¬ plied with in better faith. This was the re-establishment of the Angevin proprietors in their ancient estates, the greater part of which, as already noticed, had been parcelled out among his own followers, both Spaniards and Italians. It was, of course, a work of extraordinary difficulty and vexation. When any flaw or impediment could be raised in the Angevin title, the transfer was evaded. When it could not, a grant of other land or money was substituted if possible. More frequently, however, the equivalent, which probably was not very scrupulously meted out, was obliged to be taken by the Aragonese proprietor. To accomplish this, the king was compelled to draw largely on the royal patrimony in Naples, as well as to make liberal appropriations of land and rents in his native dominions. As all this proved insufficient, he was driven to the expedient of replenishing the exchequer by draughts on his new subjects.3 The result, although effected without violence or disorder, was unsatis¬ factory to all parties. The Angevins rarely received the full extent of their demands. The loyal partisans of Aragon saw the fruits of many a
——
1 Bernaldez, Reyes 3 Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, lib. 30, cap. 1. Catdlicos, MS., cap. 210.—/ Zurita, Anales, torn. vi. lib. 7, cap. 20.— Giovify* Summonte, Hist, di Napoli, torn. iv. lib. 6, cap. 5. Vita: Illust. Virorum, ubi supra.— Ga'ribay, Com- Buonaccorsi, Diario, p. 129. Guicciardini, Istoria,
pendio, lib. 20, cap. q. 2 Zurita, Anales, ubisupra.—Guicciardini, Istoria,
torn. iv. pp. 72, 73.
torn. iv. p. 71.
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634
REIGN AND DEATH OF PHILIP.
hard-fought battle snatched from their grasp, to be given back again to their enemies.1 Lastly, the wretched Neapolitans, instead of the favours and immunities incident to a new reign, found themselves burdened with additional imposts, which, in the exhausted state of the country, were perfectly intolerable. So soon were the fair expectations formed of Ferdi nand's coming, like most other indefinite expectations, clouded over by disappointment ; and such were some of the bitter fruits of the disgraceful treaty with Louis the Twelfth.2
CHAPTER XX. Ferdinand's return and regency.— gonsalvo's honours and RETIREMENT.
i5o6~I5°9* Joanna's mad Conduct.— She changes her Ministers.— Disorders in Castile.— Ferdinand's politic Behaviour.— He leaves Naples.— His brilliant Reception by Louis XII.— Honours
—
to Gonsalvo. Ferdinand's Return to Castile.— His excessive Severity. Great Captain.— His honourable Retirement.
— Neglect of the
While Ferdinand was thus occupied in Naples, the representatives of most of the cities, summoned by the provisional government, had assembled in Burgos (Nov. 1506). Before entering on business they were desirous to obtain the queen's sanction to their proceedings. A committee waited on her for that purpose, but she obstinately refused to give them audience.3 She still continued plunged in moody melancholy, exhibiting, however, occasionally the wildest freaks of insanity. Towards the latter end of December, she determined to leave Burgos and remove her husband's remains to their final resting-place in Granada. She insisted on seeing them herself before her departure. The remonstrances of her counsellors, and of the holy men of the monastery of Miraflores, proved equally fruit¬ less. Opposition only roused her passions into frenzy, and they were obliged to comply with her mad humours. The corpse was removed from the vault ; the two coffins of lead and wood were opened, and such as chose gazed on the mouldering relics, which, notwithstanding their having 1 Such, for example, was the fate of the doughtytriumph of style, let him compare the interminable little cavalier, Pedro de la Paz, the gallant Leyva, prolixities of Zurita with Mariana, who in this so celebrated in the subsequent wars of Charles portion of his narrative has embodied the facts ana V., the ambassador Roias, the Quixotic Paredes, opinions of his predecessor, with scarcely any alter¬ and others. The last of these adventurers, ac¬ ation, save that of greater condensation, in his own cording to Mariana, endeavoured to repair his transparent and harmonious diction. It is quite as broken fortunes by driving the trade of a corsair great a miracle in its way as the rifacivtento 01 in the Levant. Hist, de Espana, torn. ii. lib. 29 Berni. cap. 4. 3 Mariana, Hist, de Espana, torn. ii. lib- 'q' 3 If any one would see a perfect specimen of the cap. 2.—Zurita, Anales, torn. vi. lib. 7, cap. 29-
RETIREMENT OF GONSALVO.
635
been embalmed, exhibited scarcely a trace of humanity. The queen was not satisfied till she touched them with her own hand, which she did without shedding a tear or testifying the least emotion. The unfortunate lady, indeed, was said never to have been seen to weep since she detected her husband's intrigue with the Flemish courtesan. The body was then placed on a magnificent car, or hearse, drawn by four horses. It was accompanied by a long train of ecclesiastics and nobles, who, together with the queen, left the city on the night of the 20th of
December. She made her journeys by night, saying that "a widow, who had lost the sun of her own soul, should never expose herself to the light of day." When she halted, the body was deposited in some church or monastery, where the funeral services were performed as if her husband had just died ; and a corps of armed men kept constant guard, chiefly, as it would seem, with the view of preventing any female from profaning the place by her presence. For Joanna still retained the same jealousy of her sex which she had unhappily had so much cause to feel during Philip's lifetime.1 In a subsequent journey, when at a short distance from Torquemada, she ordered the corpse to be carried into the courtyard of a convent, occupied, as she supposed, by monks. She was filled with horror, how¬ ever, on finding it a nunnery, and immediately commanded the body to be removed into the open fields. Here she encamped with her whole party at dead of night ; not, however, until she had caused the coffins to be unsealed, that she might satisfy herself of the safety of her husband's relics ; although it was very difficult to keep the torches, during the time, from being extinguished by the violence of the wind, and leaving the company in total darkness.2 These mad pranks, savouring of absolute idiocy, were occasionally checkered by other acts of more intelligence, but not less startling. She had early shown a disgust to her father's old counsellors, and especially 1 Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist.
324, 332, 339,
three times.
Such mistakes would be too trivial for
— —Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 1506.— Bernal- ones the ground for unsparing condemnation of dez, Reyes Catdiicos, MS., cap. 206.— Robles, Vida others. de Ximenez, cap. 17.— " Childish as was the affec¬ Peter Martyr, Opus Epist. , epist. 339. —A foolish tion," says Dr. Dunham, "of Joanna for her husband, Carthusian monk, " laevi sicco foliolevior,"to borrow 363- Mariana, Hist, de Espana, torn. ii. lib. 29, notice in any but an author who has made similar
cap. 3.
3
she did not, as Robertson relates, cause the body to Martyr's words, though more knave than fool pro¬ be removed from the sepulchre after it was buried, bably, filled Joanna with absurd hopes of her hus¬ and brought to her apartment. She once visited the band's returning to life, which, he assured her, had sepulchre, and, after affectionately gazing on the happened, as he had read, to a certain prince, after corpse, was persuaded to retire. Robertson seems he had been dead fourteen years. As Philip wasnot to have read, at least not with care, the author¬ disembowelled, he was hardly in a condition for such ities for the reign of Fernando." (History of Spain an auspicious event. The queen, however, seems and Portugal, vol. ii. p. 287, note.) Whoever will to have been caught with the idea. (Opus Epist., take the trouble to examine these authorities will epist. 328.) Martyr loses all patience at the inven¬ probably not find Dr. Dunham much more accurate tions of this " blactero cucullatus," as he calls him m the matter than his predecessor. Robertson, in his abominable Latin, as well as at the mad indeed, draws largely from the Epistles of Peter pranks of the queen, and the ridiculous figure which Martyr, the best voucher for this period, which his he and the other grave personages of the court werecritic apparently has not consulted. In the very compelled to make on the occasion. It is impossiblepage preceding that in which he thus taxes Robertson to read his jeremiads on the subject without a smile. with inaccuracy, we find him speaking of Charles See, in particular, Ids whimsical epistle to his old. VIII. as the reigning monarch of France ; an error friend the archbishop at Granada, Opus Epist.,. not merely clerical, since it is repeated no less than ; epist. 333.
636
FERDINAND'S RETURN AND REGENCY.
to Ximenes, who, she thought, interfered too authoritatively in her domestic concerns. Before leaving Burgos, however, she electrified her husband's adherents by revoking all grants made by the crown since Isabella's death. This, almost the only act she was ever known to sign, was a severe blow to the courtly tribe of sycophants on whom the golden favours of the late reign had been so prodigally showered. At the same time she reformed her privy council by dismissing the present members and reinstating those appointed by her royal mother, sarcastically telling one of the ejected counsellors that " he might go and complete his studies at Salamanca." The remark had a biting edge to it, as the worthy jurist was reputed somewhat low in his scholarship.1 These partial gleams of intelligence, directed in this peculiar way, led many to discern the secret influence of her father. She still, however, pertinaciously refused to sanction any measures of cortes for his recall ;and when pressed by that body on this and other matters, at an audience which she granted before leaving Burgos, she plainly told them " to return to their quarters, and not to meddle further in the public business without her express commands." Not long after this, the legislature was pro¬ rogued by the royal council for four months. The term assigned for the provisional government expired in December;, and was not renewed. No other regency was appointed by the nobles; and the kingdom, without even the shadow of protection afforded by its cortes, and with no other guide but its crazy sovereign, was left to drift at random amidst the winds and waves of faction. This was not slow in brewing in every quarter, with the aid especially of the overgrown nobles, whose license, on such occasions as this, proved too plainly that public tranquillity was not founded so much on the stability of law as on the personal character of the reigning sovereign.3 The king's enemies, in the meantime, were pressing their correspond¬ ence with the emperor Maximilian, and urging his immediate presence in Spain. Others devised schemes for marrying the poor queen to the young duke of Calabria, or some other prince, whose years or incapacity might enable them to act over again the farce of King Philip.4 To add to the troubles occasioned by this mesh of intrigue and faction, the country, of Gibraltar.— Isabella's high-spirited friend, th of Moya, put herself the head of — marchioness body of troops with better success, during her hu:
1 Mariana, Hist, de Esjiaiia, torn. ii. lib. 29, cap. 3.— Zurita, Anales, torn. vi. lib. 7, cap. 26, 38, 54. Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fob 72. Sandoval, Hist. del Emp. Carlos V., torn. i. p. it. 2 [In a letter to the princess of Wales, dated
—
at
band's illness, and re-established herself in the stron lortress of Segovia, which Philip had transferred t March 15th, 1507, Ferdinand states that Juana is Manuel. (Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 343-" continually sending to him and begging him very Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 207.) "N pressingly to return. Bergenroth, Letters, Des¬ one lamented the circumstance," saysOviedo. 1" patches, and State Papers, Suppl. Vol.—Ed.] marchioness closed her life not long after this, a 3 Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, torn. ii. rey 30, cap. about sixty years of age. Her husband, thong lS-— Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 346.— Zurita, much survived her. Quincuagenas, MS. Anales, lib. 7, cap. 36-38. Zuniga, Annales de bat. 1, older, quinc. 1, dial. 23. £>evilla, ano 1507. — Bernaldez, Reyes Cntrtlicos, [The only direct suitor for Juana's hand seem - IS., cap. 206.—The duke of Medina Sidonia, son to*have been Henry VII. of England, who, accorc of the nobleman who bore so honourable a part in ing to Bergenroth, was ready to marry her " san the Granadine war, mustered a large force by land or insane.' Letters, Despatches, and State Paper! and sea for the recovery- of his ancient patrimony i vol. i.—Ed.]
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RETIREMENT OF GONSALVO.
637
which of late years had suffered from scarcity, was visited by a pestilence that fell most heavily on the south. In Seville alone, Bernaldez reports the incredible number of thirty thousand persons to have fallen victims to it.1 But although the storm was thus darkening from every quarter, there was no general explosion, to shake the state to its foundations, as in the time of Henry the Fourth. Orderly habits, if not principles, had been gradually formed under the long reign of Isabella. The great mass of the people had learned to respect the operation and appreciate the bene¬ fits of law ; and notwithstanding the menacing attitude, the bustle, and transitory ebullitions of the rival factions, there seemed a manifest reluc¬ tance to break up the established order of things, and by deeds of violence and bloodshed to renew the days of ancient anarchy. Much of this good result was undoubtedly to be attributed to the vigor¬ ous counsels and conduct of Ximenes,2 who, together with the grand constable and the duke of Alva, had received full powers from Ferdinand to act in his name. Much is also to be ascribed to the politic conduct of the king. Far from an intemperate zeal to resume the sceptre of Castile, he had shown throughout a discreet forbearance. He used the most courteous and condescending style in his communications to the nobles and the municipalities, expressing his entire confidence in their patriotism, and in their loyalty to the queen his daughter. Through the archbishop, and other important agents, he had taken effectual measures to soften the opposition of the more considerable lords ; until, at length, not only such accommodating statesmen as Garcilasso de la Vega, but more sturdy opponents, as Villena, Benavente, and Bejar, were brought to give in their adhesion to their old master. Liberal promises, indeed, had been made by the emperor in the name of his grandson Charles, who had already been made to assume the title of King of Castile. But the promises of the imperial braggart passed lightly with the more considerate Castilians, who knew how far they usually outstripped his performance, and who felt, on the other hand, that their true interests were connected with those of a prince whose superior talents and personal relations all concurred to recommend him to the seat which he had once so honour¬ ably occupied. The great mass of the common people, too, notwithstand¬ ing the temporary alienation of their feelings from the Catholic king by his recent marriage, were driven by the evils they actually suffered, and 1 Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 208.— Gomez, De grandees, a stretch of authority which this haughty Rebus1 gestis, fol. 71.— Mariana, Hist.de Espana, body could ill brook. (Robles, Vida de Ximenez,
torn, ii lib. 29, cap. 2.
— The worthy Curate of Los cap. 17.) Zurita, indeed, who thinks the archbishop
Palacios does not vouch for this exact amount from had a strong relish forsovere.gn power, accuses him
his own knowledge. He states, however, that 170 died out of his own little parish of 500 persons, and he narrowly escaped with life himself after a severe Ubi supra. attack, 2 Ximenes equipped and paid out of his own funds a strong corps for the ostensible purpose of protecting the queen's person, but quite as much to •nforce order by checking the turbulent spirit of the
of being " at heart much more of a king than a friar." (Anales, torn. vi. lib. 7, cap. 29.) Gomez, on the contrary, traces every political act of his to the purest patriotism. (De Rebus gestis, fol. 70, et al.) In the mixed motives of action, Ximenes might have been puzzled himself to determine ow much belonged to the one principle and how much to the other.
Erobably
638
FERDINAND'S RETURN AND REGENCY.
the vague apprehension of greater, to participate in the same sentiments ; so that, in less than eight months from Philip's death, the whole nation may be said to have returned to its allegiance to its ancient sovereign. The only considerable exceptions were Don Juan Manuel and the duke of Najara. The former had gone too far to recede, and the latter possessed too chivalrous or too stubborn a temper to do so.1 At length, the Catholic monarch, having completed his arrangements at Naples, and waited until the affairs of Castile were fully ripe for his return, set sail from his Italian capital, June 4th, 1507. He proposed to touch at the Genoese port of Savona, where an interview had been arranged between him and Louis the Twelfth. During his residence in Naples he had assiduously devoted himself to the affairs of the kingdom. He had avoided entering into the local politics of Italy, refusing all treaties and alliances proposed to him by its various states, whether offensive or defensive. He had evaded the importunate solicitations and remon¬ strances of Maximilian in regard to the Castilian regency, and had declined, moreover, a personal conference proposed to him by the emperor during his stay in Italy. After the great work of restoring the Angevins to their estates, he had thoroughly reorganized the interior administration of the kingdom ; creating new offices and entirely new departments. He made large reforms, moreover, in the courts of law, and prepared the way for the new system demanded by its relations as a dependency of the Spanish monarchy. Lastly, before leaving the city, he acceded to the request of the inhabitants for the re- establishment of their ancient
university.2 In all these sagacious measures he had been ably assisted by his viceroy, Gonsalvo de Cordova. Ferdinand's deportment towards the latter had been studied, as Ihave said, to efface every uncomfortable impression from his mind. On his first arrival, indeed, the king had condescended to listen to complaints, made by certain officers of the exchequer, of Gonsalvo's waste and misapplication of the public moneys. The general simply asked leave to produce his own accounts in his defence. The first item, which he read aloud, was two hundred thousand seven hundred and thirty-six ducats, given in alms to the monasteries and the poor, to secure their prayers for the success of the king's enterprise. The second was seven hundred thousand four hundred and ninety-four ducats to the spies employed in his service. Other charges equally preposterous followed ; while some of the audience stared incredulous, others laughed, and the king himself, ashamed of the paltry part he was playing, dismissed
—
1 Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 351. L. — Summonte, Hist, di Napoli, torn. iv. lib. 6, cap Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. 187.— Lanuza, 5- — L. Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. 187 Historias, torn. i. lib. x, cap. 21. Zurita, Anales, Buonaccorsi, Diario, p. 129.— Bernaldez, Reyes torn. vi. lib. 7, cap. 19, 22, 25, 30, 39.— Guicciardini, Catdlicos, MS., 210. — Signorelli, Coltura nelle Istoria, torn. iv. p. 76, ed. Milano, 1803.— Robles, Sicilie, torn. iv.cap. p. 84. — The learned Neapolitan Vida de Ximenez, cap. 17.— Sandoval, Hist, del civilian, Giannone, bears emphatic testimony to Emp. Carlos V., torn. i. p. 12. the general excellence of the Spanish legislation for 4 Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, lib. 30, cap. 1-* Naples. Ubi supra.
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RETIREMENT OF GONSALVO.
639
,
the whole affair as a jest. The common saying of cuentas del Gran Capitan at this day, attests at least the popular faith in the anecdote.1 From this moment Ferdinand continued to show Gonsalvo unbounded marks of confidence ; advising with him on all important matters, and mak¬
ing him the only channel of royal favour. He again renewed, in the most emphatic manner, his promise to resign the grand-mastership of St. Jago in his favour on their return to Spain, and made formal application to the pope to confirm it2 In addition to the princely honours already conferred on the Great Captain, he granted him the noble duchy of Sessa, by an instrument which, after a pompous recapitulation of his stately titles and manifold services, declares that these latter were too great for recompense.8 Unfortunately for both king and subject this was too true.4 Gonsalvo remained a day or two behind his royal master in Naples, to settle his private affairs. In addition to the heavy debts incurred by his own generous style of living, he had assumed those of many of his old companions-in-arms, with whom the world had gone less prosperously than with himself. The claims of his creditors, therefore, had swollen to such an amount that, in order to satisfy them fully, he was driven to sacrifice part of the domains lately granted him. Having discharged all the obli¬ gations of a man of honour, he prepared to quit the land over which he had ruled with so much splendour and renown for nearly four years. The Neapolitans in a body followed him to the vessel ; and nobles, cavaliers, and even ladies of the highest rank, lingered on the shore to bid him a last adieu. Not a dry eye, says the historian, was to be seen. So completely had he dazzled their imaginations and captivated their hearts by his bril¬ liant and popular manners, his munificent spirit, and the equity of his administration,— qualities more useful, and probably more rare in those turbulent times, than military talent. He was succeeded in the office of grand constable of the kingdom by Prospero Colonna, and in that of vice roy by the count of Ribagorza, Ferdinand's nephew.6 1 Giovio, Vitse Must. Virorum, p. xoa. — Chronica del Gran Capitan, lib. 3. Machiavelli expresses his astonishment that Gon¬ salvo should have been the dupe of promises, the very magnitude of which made them suspicious ! ' Ho sentito ragionare di questo accordo fra Consalvo e il Re, e maravigliarsi ciascuno che Consalvo se ne fidi ; e quanto quel Re c stato fiiil liberate verso di lui, anto piu ne insospettisce la brigata, pensando che il Re abbi fatto per assicurarlo, e per poterneniegliodisporresotto questa sicurth. " (Legazione seconda a Roma, let 23, Oct. 6th.) But what alternative had he, unless indeed that of open rebel¬ lion, tor which he seems to have had no relish ? And if he had, it was too late after Ferdinand was in Naples. " Chronica del Gran Capitan, lib. 3, cap. 3. — r mrita, Annales, torn. vi. lib. 7, cap. 6, 49. — Giovio, vttse Must Virorum, p. 279.— Vos el ilustre Don " begins the instru¬ Gonzalo Hernandez de Cordoba," ment, "Duque de Terra Nova, Marques de Saniangelo y Vitonto, y mi Condestable del reyno de ÿiNapoles, nuestro muy charo y muy amado primo, y uno del nuestro secreto Consejo," etc. (See the document apud Quintana, Espanoles celebres, torn. Apend. no. 1.) The revenues from his various
-
estates amounted to 40,000 ducats. Zurita speaks of another instrument, a public manifesto of the Catholic king, proclaiming to the world his sense of his general's exalted services and unimpeachable loyalty. (Anales, torn. vi. lib. 8, cap. 3.) This sort of testimony seems to contain an implication not very flattering, and, on the whole, is so improbable that Icannot but think the Aragonese historian lias con¬ founded it with the grant of Sessa, bearing precisely the same date, February 25th, and containing also, though incidentally, and as a thing of course, the most ample tribute to the Great Captain. Comp. also Pulgar, Sumario, p. 138. 4 Tacitus may explain why : " Beneficia e& usqut Iseta sunt, dum videntur exsolvi posse ; ubi multum " (Annales, redditur. odium gratia antevenere, pro lib. 4, sec. 18.) "II n'est pas si dangereux," says vein, caustic more Rochefoucault, in a " de faire du mal k la plupart des hommes, que de leur faire trop de bien." 5 Giovio, Vitas Must. Virorum, pp. 2S0, 281.— Garibay, Compendio, torn. ii. lib. 20, cap. 9. Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, lib. 30, cap. 1. Summonte, Hist, di Napoli, torn. iv. lib. 6, cap. 5.— Guicciardini, Istoria, torn. iv. p. 72. Chrdnica del Gran Capitan lib. 2, cap 4.
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—
FERDINAND'S RETURN AND REGENCY.
640
On the 28th of June the royal fleet of Aragon entered the little port of Savona, where the king of France had already been waiting for it several days. The French navy was ordered out to receive the Catholic monarcn. and the vessels on either side, gaily decorated with the national flags and ensigns, rivalled each other in the beauty and magnificence of their equip¬ King Ferdinand's galleys were spread with rich carpets and ments. awnings of yellow and scarlet, and every sailor in the fleet exhibited the same gaudy-coloured livery of the royal house of Aragon. Louis the Twelfth came to welcome his illustrious guests, attended by a gallant train of his nobility and chivalry ; and in order to reciprocate as far as possible the confidence reposed in him by the monarch with whom he had been so recently at deadly feud, immediately went on board the vessel of the latter.1 Horses and mules richly caparisoned awaited them at the landing. The French king, mounting his steed, gallantly placed the young queen of Aragon behind him. His cavaliers did the same with the ladies of her suite, most of them Frenchwomen, though attired, as an old chronicler of the nation rather peevishly complains, after the Spanish fashion ; and the whole party, with the ladies en croupe, galloped off to the royal quarters in
Savona.2 Blithe and jocund were the revels which rung through the halls of this fair city during the brief residence of its royal visitors. Abundance of good cheer had been provided by Louis's orders, writes an old cavalier3 who was there to profit by it ; and the larders of Savona were filled with the choicest game, and its cellars well stored with the delicious wines of Corsica, Languedoc, and Provence. Among the followers of Louis were the marquis of Mantua, the brave La Palice, the veteran D'Aubigny, and many others of renown, who had so lately measured swords with the Spaniards on the fields of Italy, and who now vied with each other in rendering them these more grateful, and no less honourable, offices of chivalry.4 As the gallant D'Aubigny was confined to his apartment by the gout, Ferdinand, who had always held his talents and conduct in high esteem, complimented him by a visit in person. But no one excited such general 1 Spettacoio certamente memorabile, vedere | Bayard, chap. 27, apud Petitot, Collection des insieme due Re potentissimi tra tutti i Principi Cris- ! Memoires, torn, xv.) See also Fleurange (Memoires, tiani, stati poco innanzi si acerbissimi inimici, non chap, ip, apud Petitot, Collection des Memoires, solo riconciliati, e congiunti di parentado, ma deposti torn, xvi.), who notices the same arrogant bearing. 1 For fighting isegni dell' odio, e della memoria delle offese, comand feasting, and all the generous mettere ciascuno di loro la vita propria hi arbitrio pastimes of chivalry, none of the French chroniclers dell' altro con non minore confidenza, che se sempre of this time rivals D'Auton. He is the very Froisfossero stati concordissimi fratelli." (Guicciardini, sart of the sixteenth century. A part of his works Istoria, torn. iv. p. 75.) This astonishment of the still remains in manuscript. That which is printed Italian is an indifferent tribute to the habitual good retains the same form, Ibelieve, in which it was faith of the times. given to the public by Godefroy, in the beginning 2 D'Auton, Hist, de Louys XII., part. 3, chap. of the seventeenth century ; while many an inferior 38- — Buonaccorsi, Diario, p. 132.— St. Gelais, Hist. chronicler and memoir-monger has been published de Louys XII., p. 204. — Germaine appears to have and republished, with all the lights of editorial been no great favourite with the French chroniclers. erudition. '• Et y estoit sa femme Germaine de Fouez, qui 4 Hist, de Louys XII., part. 3, v&p. D'Auton, tcuoit une marvcilleuse audace. Elle fist peu de — Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., ubi supracompte de tous les Frangois, mesmement de son 38Bembo, Istoria Viniziana, lib. 7.— St. Gelais, His trere, le gentil due de Nemours." (Me'moires de de I.ouys
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XII., p. 204.
RETIREMENT OR GONSALVO.
641
interest and attention as Gonsalvo de Cordova, who was emphatically the hero of the day. At least, such is the testimony of Guicciardini, who will not be suspected of undue partiality. Many a Frenchman there had had bitter experience of his military prowess. Many others had grown familiar with his exploits in the exaggerated reports of their countrymen. They had been taught to regard him with mingled feelings of fear and hatred, and could scarcely credit their senses as they beheld the bugbear of their imaginations distinguished above all others for "the majesty of his pre¬ sence, the polished elegance of his discourse, and manners in which dignity was blended with grace."1 But none were so open in their admiration as King Louis. At his request, Gonsalvo was admitted to sup at the same table with the Aragonese sovereigns and himself. During the repast he surveyed his illustrious guest with the deepest interest, asking him various particulars respecting those memorable campaigns which had proved so fatal to France. To all these the Great Captain responded with becoming gravity, says the chronicler; and the French monarch testified his satisfaction, at parting, by taking a massive chain of exquisite workmanship from his own neck, and throwing it round Gonsalvo's. The historians of the event appear to be entirely overwhelmed with the magnitude of the honour conferred on the Great Captain by thus admitting him to the same table with three crowned heads ; and Guicciardini does not hesitate to pro¬ nounce it a more glorious epoch in his life than even that of his triumphal entry into the capital of Naples.2 During this interview the monarchs held repeated conferences, at which none were present but the papal envoy and Louis's favourite minister, D'Amboise. The subject of discussion can only be conjectured by the subsequent proceedings, which make it probable that it related to Italy ; and that it was in this season of idle dalliance and festivity that the two princes who held the destinies of that country in their hands matured the famous league of Cambray, so disastrous to Venice, and reflecting little credit on its projectors, either on the score of good faith or sound policy. But to this we shall have occasion to return hereafter.3 At length, after enjoying for four days the splendid hospitality of their royal entertainer, the king and queen of Aragon re-embarked, and reached their own port of Valencia, after various detentions, on the 20th of July 1 Guicciardini, Istoria, torn. iv. pp. 76, 77.— condita di gjazia : ma sopra tutti il Re di Francia, Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, p. 282.— Chrdnica del etc. Guicciardini, ubi supra. 2 Brantdme, Vies des Hommes illustres, disc. Gran Capitan, lib. 3, cap. 4. " Ma non dava minore materia ai ragionamenti il Gran Capitano, al 6.— Chronica del Gran Capitan, lib. 3, cap. 4.— quale non erano meno volti gli occhi degli uomini Guicciardini, Istoria, torn, iv, pp. 77, 78.— D'Auton, per la fama del suo valore, e per la memoria di Hist, de Louys XII., ubi supra.— Qumtana, tante vittorie, la quale faceva, che i Franzesi, Espanoles cdlebres, torn. i. p. 319. Memoires de ancora che vinti tante volte di Iui, e che solevano Bayard, chap. 27, apud Petitot, Collection des avere in sommo odio e orrore il suo nome, non si Memoires, torn. xv. — Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, saziassero di contemplarlo e onorarlo. . . . E MS., cap. 210.— Pulgar, Sumario, p. 1953 D'Auton, Hist, de Louys XII., part. 3, chap. accresceva l'ammirazione degli uomni la maesth eccellente della presenza sua, la magnificenza delle 38.— Buonaccorsi, Diario, p. 133. Ulloa, Vita di parole, i gesti, e la maniera piena di gravity Carlo V., fol. 36.
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2 S
642
FERDINAND'S RETURN AND REGENCY.
1507. Ferdinand, having rested a short time in his beautiful capital, pressed forward to Castile, where his presence was eagerly expected. On the borders he was met by the dukes of Albuquerque and Medina Celi, his faithful follower the count of Cifuentes, and many other nobles and cavaiers. He was soon after joined by deputies from many of the principal cities in the kingdom, and, thus escorted, made his entry into it by the way of Monteagudo, on the 21st of August. How different from the for¬ lorn and outcast condition in which he had quitted the country a short year before ! He intimated the change in his own circumstances by the greater state and show of authority which he now assumed. The residue of the old Italian army, just arrived under the celebrated Pedro Navarro, count of Oliveto,1 preceded him on the march ; and he was personally attended by his alcaldes, alguazils, and kings-at-arms, with all the appro¬ priate insignia of royal supremacy.2 At Tortoles he was met by the queen, his daughter, accompanied by Archbishop Ximenes. The interview between them had more of pain than pleasure in it. The king was greatly shocked by Joanna's appearance ; for her wild and haggard features, emaciated figure, and the mean, squalid attire in which she was dressed, made it difficult to recognise any trace of the daughter from whom he had been so long separated. She discovered more sensibility on seeing him than she had shown since her husband's death, and henceforth resigned herself to her father's will with little opposi¬ tion. She was soon after induced by him to change her unsuitable residence for more commodious quarters at Tordesillas. Her husband's remains were laid in the monastery of Santa Clara, adjoining the palace, from whose windows she could behold his sepulchre. From this period, although she survived forty-seven years, she never quitted the walls of her habitation ; and although her name appeared jointly with that of her son, Charles the Fifth, in all public acts, she never afterwards could be induced to sign a paper, or take part in any transactions of a public nature. She lingered out a half century of dreary existence, as completely dead to the world as the remains which slept in the monastery of Santa Clara beside her.3 * * [Herr Bergenroth, whose researches in the Archives of Simancas have thrown a strong light on some portions of Juana's unhappy career, argues very strenuously that "the story of her madness — must be abandoned, and replaced by another drawn — in strong hard lines, and coloured with the strongest tints." According to this theory she was perfectly — Martyr, Opus F.pist , epist. 358.— Gomez, De Rebus sane down to the closing years of her life, when her gestis, fol. 74 — Oviedo Quincuagenas, MS. reason gave way under the effects of a long confine¬ 3 Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fol. 75.— Peter Martyr ment, which had originally no other motive than the Opuÿ Epist., epist. 363.— Zurita, Anales, lib. 8, cap. statecraft and personal ambition of three successive 49- Sandoval, Hist, del Emp. Carlos V., torn. i. rulers, her father, her husband, and her son. Her P- 13-— Philip's remains were afterwards removed to right to the Spanish inheritance was incompatible, the cathedral church of Granada ; where they were we are told, with the "plans" of Ferdinand, the deposited, together with those of his wife Joanna, in of Philip, and the notions entertained " greediness" a magnificent sepulchre erected by Charles V. near by Charles of " his duties towards God and the that of Ferdinand and Isabella. Pedraza, Antigiie- world." In the very clearness of her title, whic dad de Granada, lib. 3, cap. 7 Colmenar, Defices could not " be explained away, consisted her greates de 1'Espagne et du Portugal (Leide, 1715), torn iii danger. Her death, however, would not have bene¬ p. 490. fited either King Ferdinand or King Philip. "a
1 King Ferdinand had granted him the title and territory of Oliveto in the kingdom of Naples, in
recompense for his eminent services in the Italian wars. Aleson, Annales de Navarra, torn. v. p. Giovio, Vita; IUust. Virorum, p. 190. 178. 8 Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 210. Zurita, Anales, torn. vi. lib. 8, cap. 4, 7. Peter
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RETIREMENT OF GONSALVO.
643
From this time the Catholic king exercised an authority nearly as
undisputed, and far less limited and defined, than in the days of Isabella. So firm did he feel in his seat, indeed, that he omitted to obtain the con¬ stitutional warrant of cortes. He had greatly desired this at the late irregular meeting of that body. But it broke up, as we have seen, without effecting anything ; and, indeed, the disaffection of Burgos and some other principal cities at that time must have made the success of such an appli¬ cation very doubtful. But the general cordiality with which Ferdinand was greeted gave no ground for apprehending such a result at present. Many, indeed, of his partisans objected to any intervention of the legislature in this matter, as superfluous ; alleging that he held the regency she died, her son, and not her father, would have been her successor in Castile, whilst her husband would have lost even the pretext he had for med¬ dling in the affairs of Spain. Both could, therefore, gain only if she continued to live and yet was pre¬ vented from exercising her royal prerogatives. . The madness of Juana was, as it were, the founda¬ tion-stone of the political edifice of Ferdinand and of Charles, which would have immediately crumbled to pieces if she had been permitted to exercise her hereditary right." (Letters, Despatches, and State
Papers, Supplementary Vol.) There is something almost ludicrous in this reason¬ ing, which proceeds on the assumption that the clearness of Juana's title made it inevitable that she should be got rid of in some way, the means to be employed being the only point on which a question can have arisen. Nor is it correct to say ihat her death would have been a bar to that ambition which attained its object by the pretence of her insanity. Ferdinand's claim— which Herr Bergenroth so strangely confounds with that of a " successor " to the crown was limited, to the minority of his grand¬ son, and, like Philip's during the same period, it would have been equally good whether Juana was insane or dead. But it is idle to discuss the possible motives of a crime in the absence of proof that it has been committed. The evidence in the present case has no direct bearing on the persons accused. It relates exclusively to Juana. It shows what has never been a matter of dispute that her state was not one of absolute imbecility or of raving madness. It furnishes instances of her carrying on connected conversations and exhibiting a rational demeanour, of the consequent denial of her insanity by persons who had occasional intercourse with her, and of re¬ ports to the same effect spread among the populace. Many indications of an opposite character which incidentally appear are considered by Herr Bergen¬ roth as sufficiently accounted for by the treatment to which she was subjected. If an inquiry were to be instituted on grounds like these, it would be proper to take the opinion of authorities competent to decide on questions of mental pathology. But this is unnecessary ; the incompetency of Juana is established by historical facts. At two periods of her life—in the interval between her husband's death and her father's return to Spain, and during the insurrection of the Comunidades in 1520 she was at full liberty " to exercise her hereditary right," and was surrounded by people who urged and implored her to do so. These, on the first occasion, were the nobles of Castile, whose desertion of Ferdinand had compelled him to lay down the sceptre a few months before, and some of whom had just cause for apprehension if he were allowed to resume it. On the second occasion it was the people of the towns, who, driven to revolt by the exactions of the government and by feudal oppression, flocked around the queen, freed
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her from confinement, and wished to replace her on the throne. On these two occasions the conduct of She would make no decisions, give no commands, sign no decrees. Neither en¬ treaties nor threats could induce her to perform a single act pertaining to the attributes of sovereignty. On both occasions those who had staked their hopes on her capacity ceased to assert it. On both occa¬ sions she willingly resigned herself to the control of those who declared her incapable of reigning. There is still another point in Herr Bergenroth's discussion of this subject which cannot be passed overin silence. To account for Isabella's participa¬ tion in setting aside her daughter under a false pretence, he discovers, on the evidence of some letters showing that Juana, while in Flanders, was as eccentric in regard to religious observances as in most other matters, that she had become "a heretic," and as such could not be allowed to ascend the Castilian throne. Concluding that this " deviation from the true faith " must have had its origin in a revolt of her better nature against corrupting doctrines and practices inculcated upon her in early life, he draws an imaginary picture of her education, and winds up with the assertion that " her mother forced her by severe punishment, and even by the application of torture, to comply outwardly with the dictates of religion and duty, as religion and duty were understood by her." As proof of this state¬ ment he refers to the following passage from a letter written to Charles V., in 1522, by the Marquis of Denia, who had charge of Juana : "In truth, if your Majesty would apply the torture it would in many respects be a service and a good thing rendered to God and to her Highness. Persons who are in her frame of mind require it, and the Queen your grandmother served and treated in this way the Queen our lady, her daughter." But even if we admit that the authority is sufficient,—which Herr Bergenroth, who regards the marquis as a persistent liar, should hardly have done,—and that the word premia means here not simply compulsion, but tor¬ ture, the inference must be rejected, since the context shows that no reference was intended to matters of religionorto Juana'searlylife. The subject of the letter is her proposed removal fromTordesillasto Arevalo,
J uana was the same.
and the marquis expresses a fear that the same untractable disposition which she manifested in other things— refusing to eat or to go to bed, to be washed or dressed would prove an obstacle in the present instance. He probably recollected her obstinate attempt, in 1503, to leave Medina del Campo, which gave the first decided token of her insanity and the first occasion for subjecting her to restraint (Ante, p. 545.) That his allusion is to something that had occurred after she became insane is clear from his citing it as a proof of the treatment necessary for persons in her state of mind," " laspersonas gtee
—
"
—
— Ed.]
estan en s-u disposition."
FERDINAND'S RETURN AND REGENCY.
644
as natural guardian of his daughter, nominated, moreover, by the queen's will, and confirmed by the cortes at Toro. These rights, they argued, were not disturbed by his resignation, which was a compulsory act, and had never received any express legislative sanction, and which, in any event, must be considered as intended only for Philip's lifetime, and to be necessarily determined with that. But, however plausible these views, the irregularity of Ferdinand's proceedings furnished an argument for disobedience on the part of dis¬ contented nobles, who maintained that they knew no supreme authority but that of their queen, Joanna, till some other had been sanctioned by the legislature. The whole affair was finally settled with more attention to constitutional forms in the cortes held at Madrid, October 6th, 15 10, when the king took the regular oaths as administrator of the realm in his
daughter's name, and as guardian of her son.1 Ferdinand's deportment, on his first return, was distinguished by a most gracious clemency, evinced not so much, indeed, by any excessive remuneration of services, as by the politic oblivion of injuries. If he ever alluded to these, it was in a sportive way, implying that there was no rancour or ill-will at heart. " Who would have thought," he exclaimed one day to a courtier near him, " that you could so easily abandon yout old master for one so young and inexperienced ? " " Who would have thought," replied the other, with equal bluntness, " that my old master would have outlived my young one ? " 2 With all this complaisance, however, the king did not neglect pre¬ cautions for placing his authority on a sure basis, and fencing it round so as to screen it effectually from the insults to which it had been formerly exposed. He retained in pay most of the old Italian levies, with the ostensible purpose of an African expedition. He took good care that the military orders should hold their troops in constant readiness, and that the militia of the kingdom should be in condition for instant service. He formed a body-guard to attend the royal person on all occasions. It consisted at first of only two hundred men, armed and drilled after the fashion of the Swiss, and placed under the command of his chronicler Ayora, an experienced martinet who made some figure at the defence of Salsas. This institution probably was immediately suggested by the garde du corps of Louis the Twelfth, at Savona, which, altogether on a more 1 Zurita, Anales, torn. vi. lib. 7, cap. 26, 34 ; lib. que se den 6 encomienden en caso," etc. (MS. Ce See the bold language of the protest of la Bibliotcca de la Real Acad, de Hist., apud the marquis of Priego against this assumption of Marina, Teoria, torn. ii. part. 2, cap. 18.) Marina, the regency by the Catholic king. " En caso tan however, is not justified in regarding Ferdinands grande," he says, " que se trata de gobernacion de subsequent convocation of cortes for this purpose as grandes reinos e senorios justa e razonable cosa a concession to the demands of the nation. (Teoria, fuera, 6 seria que fueramos llamados 6 certificados ubi supra.) It was the result of the treaty of Blois, de ello, porque yo £ los otros caballeros grandes e with guaranteed by I,on is XI I., the las ciudades 6 alcaldes mayores vieramos lo que objectMaximilian, of which was to secure the succession to debiamos hacer 6 consentir como vasallos 6 leales the archduke Charles. Zurita, Anales, lib. w servidores de la reina nuestra senora, porque la cap. 47. administracion e gobernacion destos reinos se diera Giovio, Vitas Must. Virorum, p. 282.— Chronica 6 concediera & quien las leyes destos reynos mandan del Gran Capitan, lib. 3, cao. 4.
9, cap. 20.
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-
RETIREMENT OE GONSALVO.
64b
formidable scale indeed, had excited his admiration by the magnificence of its appointments and its thorough discipline.1 Notwithstanding the king's general popularity, there were still a few considerable persons who regarded his resumption of authority with an evil eye. Of these, Don Juan Manuel had fled the kingdom before his approach, and taken refuge at the court of Maximilian, where the coun¬ sellors of that monarch took good care that he should not acquire the ascendency he had obtained over Philip. The duke of Najara, however, still remained in Castile, shutting himself up in his fortresses, and refusing all compromise or obedience. The king without hesitation commanded Navarro to march against him with his whole force. Najara was persuaded by his friends to tender his submission, without awaiting the encounter ; and he surrendered his strongholds to the king, who, after detaining them some time in his keeping, delivered them over to the duke's eldest son.2 With another offender he dealt more sternly. This was Don Pedro de Cordova, marquis of Priego, who, the reader may remember, when quite a boy, narrowly escaped the bloody fate of his father, Alonso de Aguilar, in the fatal slaughter of the Sierra Vermeja. This nobleman, in common with some other Andalusian lords, had taken umbrage at the little estima¬ tion and favour shown them, as they conceived, by Ferdinand, in comparison with the nobles of the north ; and his temerity went so far as not only to obstruct the proceedings of one of the royal officers sent to Cordova to inquire into recent disturbances there, but to imprison him in the dungeons of his castle of Montilla. This outrage on the person of his own servant exasperated the king beyond all bounds. He resolved at once to make such an example of the offender as should strike terror into the disaffected nobles and shield the royal authority from the repetition of similar indignities. As the marquis was one of the most potent and extensively allied grandees in the kingdom, Ferdinand made his preparations on a formidable scale ; ordering, in addition to the regular troops, a levy of all between tne ages of twenty and seventy throughout Andalusia. Priego's friends, alarmed at these signs of the gathering tempest, besought him to avert it, if possible, by instant concession ; and his uncle, the Great Captain, urged this most emphatically, as the only way of escaping utter ruin. The rash young man, finding himself likely to receive no support in the unequal contest, accepted the counsel, and hastened to Toledo, to throw himself at the king's feet. The indignant monarch, however, would not admk him into his presence, but ordered him to deliver up his fortresses, and to remove to the distance of five leagues from the court The Great Zurita, Anales, torn. vi. lib. 8, cap. 10 — MSS. j Gentilshommes, qu'il reputoit a grande chose, et de Torres y de Oviedo, apud Mem. de la Acad, de j triomphale ordonnance." Ubi supra. Hist. torn. vi. Illust. 6.—D'Auton, Hist, de Louys ! 2 Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 210. XII., part. 3, chap. 38. The Catholic king was j Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 363. — Gomez, De very minute in his inquiries, according to Auton, | Rebus gestis, fol. 75.—Zurita, Anales, torn. vi. lib. 'du faict et de l'estat des gardes du Roy, et de ses I 8, cap. 15.
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—
646
FERDINAND'S RETURN AND REGENCY.
Captain soon after sent the king an inventory of his nephew's castles and estates, at the same time deprecating his wrath, in consideration of the youth and inexperience of the offender. Ferdinand, however, without heeding this, went on with his prepara¬ tions, and, having completed them, advanced rapidly to the south. When arrived at Cordova, he ordered the imprisonment of the marquis. (Sept. 1508.) A formal process was then instituted against him before the royal council, on the charge of high treason. He made no defence, but threw himself on the mercy of his sovereign. The court declared that he had incurred the penalty of death, but that the king, in consideration of his submission, was graciously pleased to commute this for a fine of twenty millions of maravedis, perpetual banishment from Cordova and its district, and the delivery of his fortresses into the royal keeping, with the entire demolition of the offending castle of Montilla. This last, famous as the birthplace of the Great Captain, was one of the strongest and most beautiful buildings in all Andalusia.1 Sentence of death was at the same time pronounced against several cavaliers and other inferior persons con¬ cerned in the affair, and was immediately executed. The Castilian aristocracy, alarmed and disgusted by the severity of a sentence which struck down one of the most considerable of their order, were open in their remonstrances to the king, beseeching him, if no other consideration moved him in favour of the young nobleman, to grant something to the distinguished services of his father and his uncle. The latter, as well as the grand constable, Velasco, who enjoyed the highest consideration at court, was equally pressing in his solicitations. Ferdi" nand, however, was inexorable ; and the sentence was executed. The nobles chafed in vain ; although the constable expostulated with the king in a tone which no subject in Europe but a Castilian grandee would have ventured to assume. Gonsalvo coolly remarked, " It was crime enough in Don Pedro to be related to me." 2 This illustrious man had had good reason to feel, before this, that his credit at court was on the wane. On his return to Spain, he was received with unbounded enthusiasm by the nation. He was detained by illness a few days behind the court, and his journey towards Burgos to rejoin it, on his recovery, was a triumphal procession the whole way. The roads were thronged with multitudes so numerous that accommoda¬ tions could scarcely be found for them in the towns on the route ;3 for they came from the remotest parts of the country, all eager to catch a 1
" Montiliana," writes Peter Martyr, " ilia atria,
quae vidisti aliquando, multo auro, multoque ebore compta ornataque, proh dolor ! funditus dirui sunt
jussa." (Opus Epist., epist. 405.) He was well acquainted with the lordly halls of Montilla, for he had been preceptor to their young master, who was a favourite pupil, to judge from the bitter wailings of the kind-hearted pedagogue over his fate. See epist. 404, 405. 2
Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 215 —
Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 392, 393> 4°5"~~ Giovio, Vitas lllust. Virorum, p. 284.— Zurita,, Anales, torn. vi. lib. 8, cap. 20, 21, 32. Carbaja Anales, MS., ano 1507. Garibay, Compendio, torn. ii. lib. 20, cap. 10.— Chronica del Gran Capital lib. 3, cap. 6. Sandoval, Hist, del Emp. Carlos torn. i. p. 13. 3 Giovio, Vitae lllust. Virorum, p. 282. Pulsar,
—
Sumario, p. 197.
—
—
—
RETIREMENT OF GONSALVO.
647
glimpse of the hero whose name and exploits, the theme of story and of song, were familiar to the meanest peasant in Castile. In this way he made his entry into Burgos, amid the cheering acclamations of the people. and attended by a cortege of officers, who pompously displayed on their own persons, and the caparisons of their steeds, the rich spoils of Italian conquests. The old count of Urena, his friend, who with the whole court came out by Ferdinand's orders to receive him, exclaimed, with a prophetic sigh, as he saw the splendid pageant come sweeping by, " This gallant ship, Ifear, will require deeper water to ride in than she will find in Castile ! " 1 Ferdinand showed his usual gracious manners in his reception of Gonsalvo. It was not long, however, before the latter found that this was all he was to expect. No allusion was made to the grand-mastership. When it was at length brought before the king, and he was reminded of his promises, he contrived to defer their performance under various pre¬ texts ; until at length it became too apparent that it was his intention to evade them altogether. While the Great Captain and his friends were filled with an indignation at this duplicity which they could ill suppress, a circumstance occurred to increase the coldness arising in Ferdinand's mind towards his injured subject. This was the proposed marriage (a marriage which, from what¬ ever cause, never took place 2) of Gonsalvo's daughter Elvira to his friend the constable of Castile.3 Ferdinand had designed to secure her large inheritance to his own family, by an alliance with his grandson, Juan de Aragon, son of the archbishop of Saragossa. His displeasure at finding himself crossed in this was further sharpened by the petulant spirit of his young queen. The constable, now a widower, had been formerly married to a natural daughter of Ferdinand. Queen Germaine, adverting to his intended union with the lady Elvira, unceremoniously asked him, " If he did not feel it a degradation to accept the hand of a subject, after having wedded the daughter of a king ? " " How can Ifeel it so," he replied, alluding to the king's marriage with her, " when so illustrious an example has been set me ? " Germaine, who certainly could not boast the magnanimity of her predecessor, was so stung with the retort that she not only never forgave the constable, but extended her petty resentment to Gonsalvo, who saw the duke of Alva from this time installed in the in — his
1 Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 210. Giovio, Vita; Illust. Virorum, ubi supra. Chronica
del Gran Capitan, lib. 3, cap. 5.
—
2 Quintana errs in stating that Dona Elvira married the constable. (Espanoles celebres, torn. t. p. 321.) He had two wives, Dona Blanca de Herrera and Dona Juana de Aragon, and at his death was laid by their side in the church of Santa Clara de Medina del Pomar. (Salazarde Mendoza, Dignidades, lib 3, cap. 21.) Elvira married the count of Cabra. Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., fol. 42. 3 Bernardino de Velasco, grand constable of Castile, as he was called par excellence, succeeded
1492 to that dignity, which became hereditary in family. He was third count of Haro, and was created by the Catholic sovereigns, for his distin¬ guished services, duke of Frias. He had large estates, chiefly in Old Castile, with a yearly revenue, according to L. Marineo, of 60,000 ducats.ÿ He appears to have possessed many noble and brilliant qualities, accompanied, however, with a haughtiness which made him feared rather than loved. He died in February 1512, after a few hours' illness, as appears by a letter of Peter Martyr. Opus Epist.,_ epist. 479.— Salazar de Mendoza, Dignidades, ubi supra.— L. Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. 23.
64B
FERDINAND'S RETURN AND REGENCY.
honours he had before exclusively enjoyed, of immediate attendance on her person whenever she appeared in public.1 However indifferent Gonsalvo may have been to the little mortifications inflicted by female spleen, he could no longer endure his residence at a court where he had lost all consideration with the sovereign and experienced nothing but duplicity and base ingratitude. He obtained leave, without difficulty, to withdraw to his own estates ; where, not long after, the king, as if to make some amends for the gross violation of his promises, granted him the royal city of Loja, not many leagues from Granada. It was given to him for life, and Ferdinand had the effrontery to propose, as a condition of making the grant perpetual to his heirs, that Gonsalvo should relinquish his claim to the grand-mastership of St. Jago. But the latter haughtily answered, " He would not give up the right of complain¬ ing of the injustice done him for the finest city in the king's dominions." 2 From this time he remained on his estates in the south, chiefly at Loja, with an occasional residence in Granada, where he enjoyed the society of his old friend and military instructor, the count of Tendilla. He found abundant occupation in schemes for improving the condition of his tenantry and of the neighbouring districts. He took great interest in the fate of the unfortunate Moriscos, numerous in this quarter, whom he shielded as far as possible from the merciless grasp of the Inquisition, while he supplied teachers and other enlightened means for converting them, or confirming them in a pure faith. He displayed the same magnifi¬ cence and profuse hospitality in his living that he had always done. His house was visited by such intelligent foreigners as came to Spain, and by the most distinguished of his countrymen, especially the younger nobility and cavaliers, who resorted to it as the best school of high-bred and knightly courtesy. He showed a lively curiosity in all that was going on abroad, keeping up his information by an extensive correspondence with agents, whom he regularly employed for the purpose, in the principal European courts. When the league of Cambray was adjusted, the king of France and the pope were desirous of giving him the command of the allied armies. But Ferdinand had injured him too sensibly to care to see him again at the head of a military force in Italy. He was as little desirous of employing him in public affairs at home, and suffered the remainder of his days to pass away in distant seclusion; a seclusion, however, not unpleasing to himself, nor unprofitable to others.3 The world called it disgrace ; and the old count of Urena exclaimed, " The good ship is stranded at last, as Ipredicted ! " " Not so," said Gonsalvo, to whom the observation was reported ; " she is still in excellent trim, and waits only the rising of the tide to bear away as bravely as ever." 4 Vita Magni Gonsalvi, pp. 282, 283. I9iov!°> 2 Giovio, Vitas Must. Virorum, pp. 284, 285— Chronica del Gran Capitan, lib. 3, cap. 6,-Pulgar,
« Cujus negotium,
an otium gloriosius
incertum."
See Pignotti, Storia della Toscana (Pisa, 1813). P- 2o8- . torn. ix. p. 155. „ "ascription on Guicciardims monument 4 Quintana, Espanoles ÿVAe celebres, torn. 1. PP- f2.' might have been written on Gonsalvo s : : 334 -Giovio, Vitas Must. Virorum, p. 286. -Chr*
S"m£Tl°.
.
UN1VERS1TV OF ALCALA.
649
CHAPTER XXI.
— UNIVERSITY OF — POLYGLOT BIBLE.
XIMENES. -CONQUESTS IN AFRICA. ALCALA.
1508-1510. Enthusiasm of Ximenes. — His warlike Preparations.— He sends an Army to Africa. —Storms Oran. — His triumphant Entry.—The King's Distrust of him.— He returns to Spain.— Navarro's African Conquests.— Magnificent Endowments of Ximenes. — University of AlcalA. — Complutensian Polyglot.
The high-handed measures of Ferdinand, in regard to the marquis of Priego and some other nobles, excited general disgust among the jealous aristocracy of Castile. But they appear to have found more favour with the commons, who were probably not unwilling to see that haughty bodyhumbled which had so often trampled on the rights of its inferiors.1 As a matter of policy, however, even with the nobles, this course does no! seem to have been miscalculated; since it showed that the king, whose talents they had always respected, was now possessed of power to enforce obedience, and was fully resolved to exert it. Indeed, notwithstanding a few deviations, it must be allowed thai Ferdinand's conduct on his return was extremely lenient and liberal , more especially considering the subjects of provocation he had sustained in the personal insults and desertion of those on whom he had heaped so many favours. History affords few examples of similar moderation on the restoration of a banished prince or party. In fact, a violent and tyrannical course would not have been agreeable to his character, in which passion, however strong by nature, was habitually subjected to reason. The present, as it would seem, excessive acts of severity are to be regarded, therefore, not as the sallies of personal resentment, but as the dictates of a calculating policy, intended to strike terror into the turbulent spirits whom fear only could hold in check. To this energetic course he was stimulated, as was said, by the counsels of Ximenes. This eminent prelate had now reached the highest ecclesi¬ astical honours short of the papacy. Soon after Ferdinand's restoration, he received a cardinal's hat from Pope Julius the Second ;2 and this was nica del Gran Capitan, lib. 3, cap. 7ÿ9.— Peter after which the whole procession moved under thir¬ Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 560.—Guicciardini, teen triumphal arches, each inscribed witr. the nar.iT of one of his victories. For a description of t.ieo-r Istoria, torn. iv. pp. 77, 78 1 On his return from Cordova, Ferdinand experi¬ civic honours, see Bernaldez, Keyes Catdlicos, MS. enced a most loyal and enthusiastic reception from cap. 216 J and Zuniga, Annales de Sevilla, ano 1506 5 He obtained this dignity, at the king's solicita¬ the ancient capital of Andalusia. The most interest¬
ing part of the pageant was the troops of children, tion, during his visit to Naples. See Ferdinand* gaily dressed, who came out to meet him, present¬ letter, apud Quintanilla, copied from the archivesing the keys of the city and an imperial crown ; of Alcala. Archetype, Apend. no. IS-
650
AFRICAN EXPEDITION OF XIMENES.
followed by his appointment to the office of inquisitor-general of Castile, in the place of Deza, archbishop of Seville. The important functions devolved on him by these offices, in conjunction with the primacy of Spain, might be supposed to furnish abundant subject and scope for his aspiring spirit. But his views, on the contrary, expanded with every step of his elevation, and now fell little short of those of an independent monarch. His zeal glowed fiercer than ever for the propagation of the Catholic faith. Had he lived in the age of the Crusades, he would indubitably have headed one of those expeditions himself ; for the spirit of the soldier burned strong and bright under his monastic weeds.1 Indeed, like Columbus, he had formed plans for the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre, even at this late day.2 But his zeal found a better direction in a crusade against the neighbouring Moslems of Africa, who had retali¬ ated the wrongs of Granada by repeated descents on the southern coasts of the Peninsula, calling in vain for the interference of government. At the instigation and with the aid of Ximenes, an expedition had been fitted out soon after Isabella's death, which resulted in the capture of Mazarquivir, an important port and formidable nest of pirates on the Barbary coast, nearly opposite Carthagena. (Sept. 13th, 1505.) He now medi¬ tated a more difficult enterprise, the conquest of Oran.3 This place, situated about a league from the former, was one of the most considerable of the Moslem possessions in the Mediterranean, being a principal mart for the trade of the Levant. It contained about twenty thousand inhabitants, was strongly fortified, and had acquired a degree of opulence by its extensive commerce which enabled it to maintain a swarm of cruisers that swept this inland sea and made fearful depredations on its populous borders.4 No sooner was Ferdinand quietly established again in the government, than Ximenes urged him to undertake this new conquest. The king saw its importance, but objected the want of funds. The cardinal, who was prepared for this, replied that " he was ready to lend whatever sums were necessary, and to take sole charge of the expedition, leading it, if the king pleased, in person." Ferdinand, who had no objection to this mode of making acquisitions, more especially as it would open a vent for the turbulent spirits of his subjects, readily acquiesced in the proposition. The enterprise, however disproportionate it might seem to the resources 1 "Ego tamen dum universas ejus actionescomparo," says Alvaro Gomez, " magis ad bellica exercitia a naturS effictum esse judico. Erat enim vir animi invicti et sublimis, omniaque in melius asse•.•ers ccnantis." De Rebus gestis, fol. 95. 8 From a letter of king Emanuel of Portugal it appears that Ximenes had endeavoured to interest Mm, together with the kings of Aragon and England, In a crusade to the Holy Land. There was much method in his madness, if we may judge from the
primate, but wisely confined himself to his own
crusades in India, which were likely to make better returns, at least in this world, than those to Pales¬ tine. The letter is still preserved in the archives 01 Alcaic ; see a copy in Quintaniila, Archetypo, Apeno. no. j 6. Zurita, Anales, torn. vi. lib. 6, cap. 15. Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fol. 77. Robles, Vida deXimenez, cap. 17. Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 1507. ana, Hist, de Espana, torn. ii. lib. 28, cap. 15 I sareful survey he had procured of the coast, as well 29, cap. 9 as his plan of operations. The Portuguese monarch Peter Martyr- Opus Epi t., epist. 418. praises in round terms the edifying zeal of the
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*
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—
—
"
r UNIVERSITY OF AL CALA.
65 1
of a private individual, was not beyond those of the cardinal. He had been carefully husbanding his revenues for some time past, with a view to this object ; although he had occasionally broken in upon his appropria¬ tions, to redeem unfortunate Spaniards who had been swept into slavery. He had obtained accurate surveys of the Barbary coast from an Italian engineer named Vianelli. He had advised, as to the best mode of con¬ ducting operations, with his friend Gonsalvo de Cordova, to whom, if it had been the king's pleasure, he would gladly have intrusted the conduct of the expedition. At his suggestion, that post was now assigned to the celebrated engineer, Count Pedro Navarro.1 No time was lost in completing the requisite preparations. Besides the Italian veterans, levies were drawn from all quarters of the country, espe¬ cially from the cardinal's own diocese. The chapter of Toledo entered heartily into his views, furnishing liberal supplies, and offering to accom¬ pany the expedition in person. An ample train of ordnance was procured, with provisions and military stores for the maintenance of an army four months. Before the close of spring, in 1509, all was in readiness, and a fleet of ten galleys and eighty smaller vessels rode in the harbour of Carthagena, having on board a force amounting in all to four thousand horse and ten thousand foot. Such were the resources, activity, and energy displayed by a man whose life, until within a very few years, had been spent in cloistered solitudes and in the quiet practices of religion, and who now, oppressed with infirmities more than usual, had passed the seventieth year of his age. In accomplishing all this, the cardinal had experienced greater obstacles than those arising from bodily infirmity or age. His plans had been con¬ stantly discouraged and thwarted by the nobles, who derided the idea of " a monk fighting the battles of Spain, while the Great Captain was left to stay at home and count his beads like a hermit." The soldiers, especially those of Italy, as well as their commander Navarro, trained under the banners of Gonsalvo, showed little inclination to serve under their spiritual leader. The king himself was cooled by these various manifestations of discontent. But the storm which prostrates the weaker spirit serves only to root the stronger more firmly in its purpose ; and the genius of Ximenes, rising with the obstacles it had to encounter, finally succeeded in triumph¬ ing over all, in reconciling the king, disappointing the nobles, and restoring obedience and discipline to the army.2 On the 16th of May 1509 the fleet weighed anchor, and on the follow¬ ing day reached the African port of Mazarquivir. No time was lost in disembarking, for the fires on the hill-tops showed that the country was already in alarm. It was proposed to direct the main attack against a.
—
1 Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fob 96-100. Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 218. RoblesÿVida de Ximenez, cap. 17. Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 413. Chrdn. del GranCapitan, lib 3, cap. 7.
—
—
—
s Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fob 100-102.— Robles,. Vida de Ximenez, ubi supra.— Quintanilla, Archctypo, lib. 3, cap. 19. Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos,. MS. , cap 218.
—
65 2
AFRICAN EXPEDITION OF X1MENES.
lofty height, or ridge of land, rising between Mazarquivir and Oran, so near the latter as entirely to command it At the same time, the fleet was to drop down before the Moorish city, and, by opening a brisk cannonade, divert the attention of the inhabitants from the principal point of assault. As soon as the Spanish army had landed and formed in order of battle, Ximenes mounted his mule and rode along the ranks. He was dressed in his pontifical robes, with a belted sword at his side. A Franciscan friar rode before him, bearing aloft the massive silver cross, the archiepiscopal standard of Toledo. Around him were other brethren of the order, wear¬
ing their monastic frocks with scimitars hanging from their girdles. As the ghostly cavalcade advanced, they raised the triumphant hymn of Vexilla regis, until at length the cardinal, ascending a rising-ground, imposed silence, and made a brief but animated harangue to his soldiers. He reminded them of the wrongs they had suffered from the Moslems, the devastation of their coasts, and their brethren dragged into merciless slavery. When he had sufficiently roused their resentment against the enemies of their country and religion, he stimulated their cupidity by dwelling on the golden spoil which awaited them in the opulent city of Oran ; and he concluded his discourse by declaring that he had come to peril his own life in the good cause of the Cross, and to lead them on to battle, as his predecessors had often done before him.1 The venerable aspect and heart-stirring eloquence of the primate kindled a deep, reverential enthusiasm in the bosoms of his martial audience, which showed itself by the profoundest silence. The officers, however, closed around him at the conclusion of the address, and besought him not to expose his sacred person to the hazard of the fight ; reminding him that his presence would probably do more harm than good, by drawing off the attention of the men to his personal safety. This last consideration moved the cardinal, who, though reluctantly, consented to relinquish the command to Navarro; and, after uttering his parting benediction over the prostrate ranks, he withdrew to the neighbouring fortress of Mazarquivir. The day was now far spent, and dark clouds of the enemy were seen gathering along the tops of the sierra which it was proposed first to attack Navarro, seeing this post so strongly occupied, doubted whether his men would be able to carry it before nightfall, if indeed at all, without previous rest and refreshment, after the exhausting labours of the day. He returned, therefore, to Mazarquivir, to take counsel of Ximenes. The latter, whom he found at his devotions, besought him " not to falter at this hour, but to go forward in God's name, since both the blessed Saviour and the false prophet Mahomet conspired to deliver the enemy into his hands." The soldier's scruples vanished before the intrepid bearing of the prelate, and, returning to the army, he gave instant orders to advance.2 1Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., ubi supra - Gomez, Re Rebus gestis, fol. 108-110. Zurita, Anals, etom. vi. lib. 8, cap. 30 —Gomez Quintanilla, Archetypo, lib. 3, cap. 19. Zurita, De Rebus gestis, fol. 108.—Oviedo, Quincuagenas' Annies, lib. 8, cap. 30. MS., dial, de Ximenez. '
—
UNIVERSITY OF ALCALA.
653
Slowly and silently the Spanish troops began their ascent up the steep sides of the sierra, under the friendly cover of a thick mist, which, rolling heavily down the skirts of the hills, shielded them for a time from the eye of the enemy. As soon as they emerged from it, however, they were saluted with showers of balls, arrows, and other deadly missiles, followed by the desperate charges of the Moors, who, rushing down, endeavoured to drive back the assailants. But they made no impression on the long pikes and deep ranks of the latter, which remained unshaken as a rockStill, the numbers of the enemy, fully equal to those of the Spaniards, and the advantages of their position, enabled them to dispute the ground with fearful obstinacy. At length Navarro got a small battery of heavy guns to operate on the flank of the Moors. The effect of this movement was The exposed sides of the Moslem column, finding no soon visible. shelter from the deadly volleys, were shaken and thrown into disorder. The confusion extended to the leading files, which now, pressed heavily by the iron array of spearmen in the Christian van, began to give ground. Retreat was soon quickened into a disorderly flight. The Spaniards pursued ; many of them, especially the raw levies, breaking their ranks, and following up the flying foe without the least regard to the commands or menaces of their officers ; a circumstance which might have proved fatal, had the Moors had strength or discipline to rally. As it was, the scattered numbers of the Christians, magnifying to the eye their real force, served only to increase the panic and accelerate the speed of the fugitives. 1 While this was going on, the fleet had anchored before the city and opened a very heavy cannonade, which was answered with equal spirit from sixty pieces of artillery which garnished the fortifications. The troops on board, however, made good their landing, and soon joined themselves to their victorious countrymen descending from the sierra. They then pushed forward in all haste towards Oran, proposing to carry the place by escalade. They were poorly provided with ladders, but the desperate energy of the moment overleaped every obstacle ; and, planting their long pikes against the walls or thrusting them into the crevices of the stones, they clambered up with incredible dexterity, although they were utterly unable to repeat the feat the next day in cold blood. The first who gained the summit was Sousa, captain of the cardinal's guard, who, shouting forth "St Jago and Ximenes!" unfurled his colours, emblazoned with the primate's arms on one side and the Cross on the other, and planted them on the battlements. Six other banners were soon seen streaming from the ramparts ; and the soldiers leaping into the town got possession of the gates, and threw them open to their comrades. The whole army now rushed in, sweeping everything before it. Some few of the Moors endeavoured to make head against the tide, but most fled into the houses 1 Peter
Martyr,
Opus Epist., epist.
Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap.
—
I Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fol. 110 in. Abarcaÿ 218.— j Reyes de Aragon, torn. ii. rey 30, cap. 18.
418.
654
AFRICAN EXPEDITION OF XIMENES.
and mosques for protection. Resistance and flight were alike unavailing. No mercy was shown ; no respect for age or sex ; and the soldiery aban¬ doned themselves to all the brutal license and ferocity which seem to stain religious wars above every other. It was in vain Navarro called them off. They returned like blood-hounds to the slaughter, and never slackened, till at last, wearied with butchery and gorged with the food and wine found in the houses, they sank down to sleep promiscuously in the streets and public squares.1 The sun, which on the preceding morning had shed its rays on Oran, flourishing in all the pride of commercial opulence and teeming with a free and industrious population, next rose on it a captive city, with its ferocious conquerors stretched in slumber on the heaps of their slaughtered victims.2 No less than four thousand Moors were said to have fallen in the battle, and from five to eight thousand were made prisoners. The loss of the Christians was inconsiderable. As soon as the Spanish com¬ mander had taken the necessary measures for cleansing the place from its foul and dismal impurities, he sent to the cardinal, and invited him to take possession of it. The latter embarked on board his galley, and as he coasted along the margin of the city, and saw its gay pavilions and sparkling minarets reflected in the waters, his soul swelled with satisfaction at the glorious acquisition he had made for Christian Spain. It seemed incredible that a town so strongly manned and fortified should have been carried so easily. As Ximenes landed and entered the gates, attended by his train of monkish brethren, he was hailed with thundering acclamations by the army as the true victor of Oran, in whose behalf Heaven had con¬ descended to repeat the stupendous miracle of Joshua, by stopping the sun in his career.3 But the cardinal, humbly disclaiming all merits of his own, was heard to repeat aloud the sublime language of the Psalmist, "Non nobis, Domine, non nobis," while he gave his benedictions to the soldiery. He was then conducted to the alcazar, and the keys of the fortress were put into his hand. The spoil of the captured city, amounting, as was said, to half a million of gold ducats, the fruit of long succcessful trade and piracy, was placed at his disposal for distribution.
—
1 Gomez, De Rrbus gestis, ubi supra. Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 218. Ro'.les, Vida de Ximenez, cap. 22.—Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., ubi supra.— Quintanilla, Archetypo, lib. 3, cap. 19.—Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 1509. Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS.— Sandoval, Hist, del Emp. Carlos V., torn. i. p. 15. 2 Sed tandem somnus ex labore et vino obortus " eos oppressit, et cruentis hostium cadaveribus tantS securitate et fiducia indormierunt, ut permulti in Oranis urbis plateis ad multam diem stertuerint," Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fol. nr. 3 To accommodate the Christians, as the day far advanced when the action began, the sun was was permitted to stand still several hours : there is some discrepancy as to the precise number ; most autho¬ rities, however, make it four. There is no miracle
—
—
in the whole Roman Catholic budget better vouched than this. It is recorded by four eyewitnesses, men of learning and character. It is attested, moreover, by a cloud of witnesses, who depose to have re¬ ceived it, some from tradition, others from direct communication with their ancestors present in the action ; and who all agree that it was matter of public notoriety and belief at the time. See the whole formidable array of evidence set forth by Quintanilla. (Archetypo, pp. 236 et seq., and Apend. p. 103.) It was scarcely to have been expected that so astounding a miracle should escape the notice of all Europe, where it must have been as apparent as at Oran. This universal silence may be thought, indeed, the greater miracle of the two.
r UNIVERSITY OF ALCALA.
655
But that which gave most joy to his heart was the liberation of three
hundred Christian captives, languishing in the dungeons of Oran. A few hours after the surrender, the mezuar of Tremecen arrived with a
powerful reinforcement to its relief, but instantly retreated on learning
the tidings. Fortunate indeed was it that the battle had not been deferred till the succeeding day. This, which must be wholly ascribed to Ximenes, was by most referred to direct inspiration. Quite as probable an explanation may be found in the boldness and impetuous enthusiasm of the cardinal's character.1 The conquest of Oran opened unbounded scope to the ambition of Ximenes, who saw in imagination the banner of the Cross floating triumphant from the walls of every Moslem city on the Mediterranean. He experienced, however, serious impediments to his further progress. Navarro, accustomed to an independent command, chafed in his present subordinate situation, especially under a spiritual leader whose military science he justly held in contempt. He was a rude, unlettered soldier, and bluntly spoke his mind to the primate. He told him " his commis¬ sion under him terminated with the capture of Oran ; that two generals were too many in one army ; that the cardinal should rest contented with the laurels he had already won, and, instead of playing the king, go home to his flock, and leave fighting to those to whom the trade belonged." 2 But what troubled the prelate more than this insolence of his general was a letter which fell into his hands, addressed by the king to Count Navarro, in which he requested him to be sure to find some pretence for detaining the cardinal in Africa as long as his presence could be made in any way serviceable. Ximenes had before had good reason to feel that the royal favour to him flowed from selfishness, rather than from any personal regard. The king had always wished the archbishopric of Toledo for his favourite, and natural son, Alfonso of Aragon. After his return from Naples, he importuned Ximenes to resign his see, and exchange it for that of Saragossa, held by Alfonso ; till at length the indignant prelate replied, "that he would never consent to barter away the dignities of the church ; that, if his Highness pressed him any further, he would indeed throw up the primacy, but it should be to bury himself in the friar's cell from which the queen had originally called him." Ferdinand, who, independently of the odium of such a proceeding, could ill afford to part with so able a minister, knew his inflexible temper too well ever to resume the subject.3 With some reason, therefore, for distrusting the good-will of his sovereign, Ximenes put the worst possible construction on the expressions
—
1 Bernaldez, Reyes 3 Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, lib. 3, p. 107. Cat<51icos, MS., cap. 218.— Robles, Vida de Ximenez, cap. 22. Gomez, De Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fol. 117.— Sandoval, Hist. Rebus gestis, fol. 113.— Lanuza, Historias, torn. i. del Emp. Carlos V., torn. i. p. 16.— "The worthy
—
brother," says Sandoval of the prelate, " thought — his archbishopric worth more tvan the good graces
hb. 1, cap. 22. — Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS.
Sandoval, Hist. del. Emp. Carlos V., torn. i. p. 15.
- Flechier, Histoire de Ximenes, pp. 308, 309.
—
Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, torn. ii. rey 30, cap. 18.
of a covetous old monarch. "
656
AFRICAN EXPEDITION OF XIMENES.
in his letter. He saw himself a mere tool in Ferdinand's hands, to be used so long as occasion might serve, with the utmost indifference to his These humiliating suspicions, together own interests or convenience. with the arrogant bearing of his general, disgusted him with the further prosecution of the expedition ; while he was confirmed in his purpose of returning to Spain, and found an obvious apology for it in the state of his own health, too infirm to encounter with safety the wasting heats of an African summer. Before his departure, he summoned Navarro and his officers about him, and after giving them much good counsel respecting the government and defence of their new acquisitions, he placed at their disposal an ample supply of funds and stores for the maintenance of the army several months. He then embarked (May 2 2d), not with the pompous array and circumstance of a hero returning from his conquests, but with a few domestics only, in an unarmed galley ; showing, as it were, by this very act, the good effects of his enterprise, in the security which it brought to the before perilous navigation of these inland seas. 1 Splendid preparations were made for his reception in Spain, and he was invited to visit the court at Valladolid, to receive the homage and public testimonials due to his eminent services. But his ambition was of too noble a kind to be dazzled by the false lights of an ephemeral popularity. He had too much pride of character, indeed, to allow room for the indulgence of vanity. He declined these compliments, and hastened without loss of time to his favourite city of Alcala. There, too, the citizens, anxious to do him honour, turned out under arms to receive him, and made a breach in the walls that he might make his entry in a style worthy of a conqueror. But this also he declined, choosing to pass into the town by the regular avenue, with no peculiar circumstance attending his entrance, save only a small train of camels led by African slaves and laden with gold and silver plate from the mosques of Oran, and a precious collection of Arabian manuscripts for the library of his infant university of Alcald. He showed similar modesty and simplicity in his deportment and conversation. He made no allusion to the stirring scenes in which he had been so gloriously engaged ; and if others made any, turned the discourse into some other channel, particularly to the condition of his college, its discipline and literary progress, which, with the great project for the publication of his famous Polyglot Bible, seemed now almost wholly to absorb his attention.2 His first care, however, was to visit the families in his diocese, and minister consolation and relief, which he did in the most benevolent 1 Peter Martyr, Opus Epist.,epist. 420. — Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fol. 118.— Quintanilla, Archetypo, lib. 3, cap. 20. 2 Quintanilla, Archetypo, lib. 3, cap. 20.— Gomez,
De Rebus gestis, fob
torn. vi. lib. 8, cap. 30.
cap. 22.
119, 120.—Zurita,
Anales,
— Robles, Vida de Ximenez,
r UNIVERSITY OF ALCALA.
657
manner, to those who were suffering from the loss of friends, whether by death or absence, in the late campaign. Nor did he in his academical retreat lose sight of the great object which had so deeply interested him, of extending the empire of the Cross over Africa. From time to time he remitted supplies for the maintenance of Oran; and he lost no oppor¬ tunity of stimulating Ferdinand to prosecute his conquests. The Catholic king, however, felt too sensibly the importance of his new possessions to require such admonition; and Count Pedro Navarro was furnished with ample resources of every kind, and, above all, with the veterans formed under the eye of Gonsalvo de Cordova. Thus placed on an independent field of conquest, the Spanish general was not slow in pushing his advantages. His first enterprise was against Bugia (Jan. 13th, 15 10), whose king, at the head of a powerful army, he routed in two pitched battles, and got possession of his flourishing capital (Jan. 31st). Algiers, Tennis, Tremecen, and other cities on the Barbary coast, sub¬ mitted one after another to the Spanish arms. The inhabitants were received as vassals of the Catholic king, engaging to pay the taxes usually imposed by their Moslem princes, and to serve him in war, with the addition of the whimsical provision, so often found in the old Granadine treaties, to attend him in cortes. They guaranteed, moreover, the libera¬ tion of all Christian captives in their dominions ; for which the Algerines, however, took care to indemnify themselves, by extorting the full ransom from their Jewish residents. It was of little moment to the wretched Israelite which party won the day, Christian or Mussulman ; he was sure to be stripped in either case.1 On the 26th of July 15 10, the ancient city of Tripoli, after a most bloody and desperate defence, surrendered to the arms of the victorious general, whose name had now become terrible along the whole northern borders of Africa. In the following month, however (Aug. 28th), he met with a serious discomfiture in the island of Gelves, where four thousand of his men were slain or made prisoners.2 This check in the brilliant career
1 Zurita, Anales, torn. vi. lib. 9.. cap. i, 2, 4, 13. —Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 433-437. Quintanilla, Archetypo, lib. 3, cap. 20.— Mariana, Hist, de Espana, lib. 29, cap. 22. Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fol. 122-124.— Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 222.— Zurita gives at length the capitulation with Algiers, lib. 9, cap. 13. * Chdnier, Recherches sur les Maures, torn. ii. PP* 355> 3S6. It is but just to state that this disas¬ ter was imputable to Don Garcia de Toledo, who had charge of the expedition, and who expiated his temerity with his life. He was eldest son of the old duke of Alva, and father of that noble¬ man who subsequently acquired such gloomy celebrity by his conquests and cruelties in the Netherlands. The tender poet, Garcilasso de la Vega, offers sweet incense to the house of Toledo, in one of his pastorals, in which he mourns over the disastrous day of Gelves : O patria lagrimosa, icomo buelves " los ojos a los Gelves sospirando !"
—
—
The death of the young nobleman is veiled under a
simile, which challenges comparison with — beautiful of Latin and Italian song, from the great masters
whom the Castilian bard derived it.
Puso en el duro suelo la hermosa " cara, coma la rosa matutina,
cuando ya el sol declina '1 medio dia ; que pierde su alegria, imarchitando va la color mudando ; o en el campo cual queda el lirio bianco, qu' el arado crudamente cortado al passar dexa ; del cual aun no s' alexa pressuroso aquel color hermoso, o se destierra ; mas ya la madre tierra descuidada, no 1' administra nada de su aliento, qu' era el sustentamiento ivigor suyo : tal esth el rostro tuyo en el arena, fresca rosa, aÿucena blanca ipura. Garcilasso de la Vega, Obras, ed. de Herrera, pp. 507, 508. ÿ
*0
658
AFRICAN EXPEDITION OF XIMENES.
of Count Navarro put a final stop to the progress of the Castilian arms in Africa under Ferdinand.1 The results already obtained, however, were of great importance, whether we consider the value of the acquisitions, being some of the most opulent marts on the Barbary coast, or the security gained for commerce by sweep¬ ing the Mediterranean of the pestilent hordes of marauders which had so long infested it. Most of the new conquests escaped from the Spanish crown in later times, through the imbecility or indolence of Ferdinand's successors. The conquests of Ximenes, however, were placed in so strong a posture of defence as to resist every attempt for their recovery by the enemy, and to remain permanently incorporated with the Spanish empire.2 This illustrious prelate, in the meanwhile, was busily occupied, in his retirement at Alcate de Henares, with watching over the interests and rapid development of his infant university. This institution was too important in itself, and exercised too large an influence over the intel¬ lectual progress of the country, to pass unnoticed in a history of the present reign.
As far back as 1497, Ximenes had conceived the idea of establishing a university in the ancient town of Alcald, where the salubrity of the air, and the sober, tranquil complexion of the scenery, on the beautiful borders of the Henares, seemed well suited to academic study and meditation. He even went so far as to obtain plans at this time for his buildings from a celebrated architect. Other engagements, however, postponed the com¬ mencement of the work till 1500, when the cardinal himself laid the corner¬ stone of the principal college, with a solemn ceremonial,3 and invocation 1 The reader may feel some curiosity respecting | the battlements at midnight, and, at others, mounted the fate of Count Pedro Navarro. He soon after ! on a white charger, and brandishing a naked sword this went to Italy, where he held a high command, in the thick of the fight. His last appearance was and maintained his reputation in the wars of that in 1643, when Oran was closely beleagured by the country, until he was taken by the French in the Algerines. A sentinel on duty saw a figure moving great battle of Ravenna. Through the carelessness along the parapet one clear, moonlight night, or coldness of Ferdinand, he was permitted to dressed in a Franciscan frock, with a general's languish in captivity, till he took his revenge by baton in his hand. As soon as it was hailed by the enlisting in the service of the French monarch. terrified soldier, it called to him to "tell the garri¬ Before doing this, however, he resigned his Neapo¬ son to be of good heart, for the enemy should not litan estates, and formally renounced his allegiance prevail against them." Having uttered these words, to the Catholic king ; of whom, being a Navarrese the apparition vanished without ceremony. It by birth, he was not a native subject. He unfortu¬ repeated its visit in the same manner on the follow¬ nately fell into the hands of his own countrymen in ing night, and, a few days after, its assurance was one of the subsequent actions in Italy, and was verified by the total discomfiture of the Algerines, imprisoned at Naples, in Castel Nuovo, which he in a bloody battle under the walls. See the evi¬ had himself formerly gained from the French. Here dence of these various apparitions, as collected, for he soon after died; if we are to believe Brant Ome, the edification of the court of Rome, by that prince iteing privately despatched by command of Charles of miracle-mongers, Quintanilla. (Archetypo, ppV., or, as other writers intimate, by his own hand. 3T7> 335. 338, 340.) Bishop Fle'chier appears to His remains, first deposited in an obscure corner have no misgivings as to the truth of these old of the church of Santa Maria, were afterwards wives' tales. (Histoire de Ximenes, liv. 6.) Oran, removed to the chapel of the great Gonsalvo, and a after resisting repeated assaults by the Moors, was superb mausoleum was erected over them by the at length so much damaged by an earthquake, in prince of Sessa, grandson of the hero. Gomez, De 1790, that it was abandoned, and its Spanish garri¬ Rebus gestis, fol. 124. Aleson, Annales deNavarra, son and population were transferred to the neigh¬ torn. v. pp. 226, 285, 406. Brantfime, Vies des bouring city of Mazarquivir. Hommes lllustres, disc. 9. Giovio, Vitae Illust. 3 The custom, familiar at the present day, of Virorum, pp. 190-193. depositing coins and other tokens, with inscriptions 2 Ximenes continued to watch over the city which bearing the names of the architect and founder and he had so valiantly won, long after his death. He date of the building, under the corner-stone, was never failed to be present inseasons of extraordinary observed on this as of peril. At least the gaunt, gigantic figure of a monk, ancient usage, occasion, where it is noticed more prtsco Gomez, De Rebitf dressed in the robes of his order and wearing a gestis, fol. 28. cardinal's hat, was seen sometimes stalking along
_
—
——
UNIVERSITY OR ALCALA.
659
of the blessing of Heaven on his designs. From that hour, amidst all the engrossing cares of Church and State, he never lost sight of this great object. When at AlcaM, he might be frequently seen on the ground, with the rule in his hand, taking the admeasurements of the buildings, and stimulating the industry of the workmen by seasonable rewards.1 The plans were too extensive, however, to admit of being speedily accom¬ plished. Besides the principal college of San Ildefonso, named in honour of the patron saint of Toledo, there were nine others, together with a hospital for the reception of invalids at the university. These edifices were built in the most substantial manner, and such parts as admitted of it, as the libraries, refectories, and chapels, were finished with elegance, and even splendour. The city of Alcald. underwent many important and expensive alterations, in order to render it more worthy of being the seat of a great and flourishing university. The stagnant water was carried off by drains, the streets were paved, old buildings removed, and new and spacious avenues thrown open.2 At the expiration of eight years, the cardinal had the satisfaction of seeing the whole of his vast design completed, and every apartment of the spacious pile carefully furnished with all that was requisite for the comfort and accommodation of the student. It was, indeed, a noble enterprise, more particularly when viewed as the work of a private individual. As such it raised the deepest admiration in Francis the First, when he visited the spot, a few years after the cardinal's death. " Your Ximenes," said he, " has executed more than Ishould have dared to conceive ; he has done, with his single hand, what in France it has taken a line of kings to accomplish." 3 The erection of the buildings, however, did not terminate the labours of the primate, who now assumed the task of digesting a scheme of instruc¬ tion and discipline for his infant seminary. In doing this, he sought light wherever it was to be found, and borrowed many useful hints from the venerable university of Paris. His system was of the most enlightened kind, being directed to call all the powers of the student into action, and not to leave him a mere passive recipient in the hands of his teachers. Besides daily recitations and lectures, he was required to take part in public examinations and discussions, so conducted as to prove effectually his talent and acquisitions. In these gladiatorial displays Ximenes took the deepest interest, and often encouraged the generous emulation of the scholar by attending in person. Two provisions may be noticed as characteristic of the man : one, that the salary of a professor should be regulated by the number of his dis¬ ciples ; another, that every professor should be re-eligible at the expiration 1 Fldchier, Histoire de
Ximenes, p. 597.
J Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS.— Robles, Vida de
—
accused the cardinal of too great a passion for building, and punningly said, "The church of
Ximenez, cap. 16. Quintanilla, Archetypo, p. 178. Toledo had never had a bishop of greater edifica¬ Colmenar, D(Slices de l'Espagne, torn. ii. pp. 308- tion, in every sense, than Ximenes." Flechier,
—
—
fol. 7, who notices particularly the library, " piena di molti libri et Latini et Greci et Hebraici." The good people 3io.—Navagiero, Viaggio,
—
Histoire de Ximenes, p. 597. 3 Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fol. 79.
660
AFRICAN EXPEDITION OF XIMENES.
of every four years. It was impossible that any servant of Ximenes should
sleep on his post.1 Liberal foundations were made for indigent students, especially in divinity. Indeed, theological studies, or rather such a general course of study as should properly enter into the education of a Christian minister, was the avowed object of the institution ; for the Spanish clergy up to this period, as before noticed, were too often deficient in the most common elements of learning. But in this preparatory discipline the comprehensive mind of Ximenes embraced nearly the whole circle of sciences taught in other universities. Out of the forty-two chairs, indeed, twelve only were dedicated to divinity and the canon law ; while fourteen were appro¬ priated to grammar, rhetoric, and the ancient classics ; studies which probably found especial favour with the cardinal as furnishing the keys to a correct criticism and interpretation of the Scriptures.2 Having completed his arrangements, the cardinal sought the most com¬ petent agents for carrying his plans into execution ; and this indifferently from abroad and at home. His mind was too lofty for narrow local pre¬ judices, and the tree of knowledge, he knew, bore fruit in every clime.8 He took especial care that the emolument should be sufficient to tempt talent from obscurity, and from all quarters, however remote, where it was to be found. In this he was perfectly successful, and we find the univer¬ sity catalogue at this time inscribed with the names of the most distin¬ guished scholars in their various departments, many of whom we are enabled to appreciate by the enduring memorials of erudition which they have bequeathed to us.4 In July 1508, the cardinal received the welcome intelligence that his academy was open for the admission of pupils; and in the following month the first lecture, being on Aristotle's Ethics, was publicly delivered. Students soon flocked to the new university, attracted by the reputation of its professors, its ample apparatus, its thorough system of instruction, and, above all, its splendid patronage, and the high character of its founder. We have no information of their number in Ximenes's lifetime ; but it must have been very considerable, since no less than seven thousand came out to receive Francis the First, on his visit to the university, within twenty years after it was opened.6 1 Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fol. 3 Lampillas, in his usual patriotic vein, stoutly 82-84. 2 Navagiero says it was prescribed that the maintains that the chairs of the university were all lectures should be in Latin. Viaggio, fol. 7. supplied by native Spaniards. Trovd in Spagna, Robles, Vida de Ximenez, cap. 16. Of these profes¬ he says of the cardinal, tutta"quella scelta copia " richiedeva la grande sorships, six were appropriated to theology ; six to di grandi uomini, quali canon law ; four to medicine ; one to anatomy ; impresa," etc. (Letteratura Spagnuola, torn. L one to surgery ; eight to the arts, as they were part. 2, p. 160.) Alvaro Gomez, who flourished two called, embracing logic, physics, and metaphysics ; centuries earlier, and personally knew the professors, one to ethics ; one to mathematics ; four to the is the better authority. De Rebus gestis, folancient languages ; four to rhetoric ; and six to 80-82. grammar. One is struck with the disproportion of 4 L. Alvaro the mathematical studies to the rest. Though an 1 Gomez Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. 13. knew several of these savans, whose scholar¬ important part of general education, and conse¬ ship (and he was a competent judge) he notices the of course embraced in most universities with quently liberal panegyric. De Rebus gestis, fol. 8° it r.ad too little reference to a religious one to find et seq. much favour with the cardinal. 5 Quintanilla, Archetypo, lib. 3, cap. 17-
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—
UNIVERSITY OF ALCALA.
661
Five years after this period, in 15 13, King Ferdinand, in an excursion made for the benefit of his declining health, paid a visit to Alcala. Ever since his return from Oran, the cardinal, disgusted with public life, had remained with a few brief exceptions in his own diocese, devoted solely to his personal and professional duties. It was with proud satisfaction that he now received his sovereign, and exhibited to him the noble testimony of the great objects to which his retirement had been consecrated. The king, whose naturally inquisitive mind no illness could damp, visited every part of the establishment, and attended the examinations, listening with interest to the public disputations of the scholars. With little learning of his own, he had too often been made sensible of his deficiencies not to appreciate it in others. His acute perception readily discerned the im¬ mense benefit to his kingdom and the glory conferred on his reign by the labours of his ancient minister, and he did ample justice to them in the unqualified terms of his commendation. It was on this occasion that the rector of San Ildefonso, the head of the university, came out to receive the king, preceded by his usual train of attendants, with their maces, or wands of office. The royal guard, at this exhibition, called out to them to lay aside these insignia, as unbecoming any subject in the presence of his sovereign. " Not so," said Ferdinand, who had the good sense to perceive that majesty could not be degraded by its homage to letters ; " not so ; this is the seat of the Muses, and those who are initiated in their mysteries have the best right to reign here."1 In the midst of his pressing duties, Ximenes found time for the execu¬ tion of another work, which would alone have been sufficient to render his name immortal in the republic of letters. This was his famous Bible, or Complutensian Polyglot, as usually termed, from the place where it was printed.2 It was on the plan, first conceived by Origen, of exhibiting in one view the Scriptures in their various ancient languages. It was a work of surpassing difficulty, demanding an extensive and critical acquaintance with the most ancient, and consequently the rarest manuscripts. The character and station of the cardinal afforded him, it is true, uncommon facilities. The precious collection of the Vatican was liberally thrown open to him, especially under Leo the Tenth, whose munificent spirit delighted in the undertaking.3 He obtained copies, in like manner, of whatever was of value in the other libraries of Italy, and, indeed, of Europe generally ; and Spain supplied him with editions of the Old Testament of great antiquity, which had been treasured up by the banished Israelites.4
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3 Ximenes acknowledges his obligations to his } Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fol. 86. The reader will readily call to mind the familiar anecdote of Holiness, in particular for the Greek MSS. : King Charles and Dr. Busby. ex ipsis ;exemplaribus j quidem Graeca Atque " 2 Alcala de Henares," says Martyr in one of his Sanctitati tuse debemus ; qui ex ista Apostolicÿ early letters, " quae dicitur esse Complutum. Sit, bibliotheca antiquissimos tam Vetens quam Novi vel ne,_nilmihi curse." (Opus Epist., epist. 254.) codices perquam humane ad nos misisti." Biblia These irreverent doubts were uttered before it had Polyglotta (Compluti, 1514-17), Prdlogo. 4 gained its literary celebrity. L. Marineo derives 1 ' Maximam," says tlm cardinal in his Preface, the name Complutum from the abundant fruitful- I " laboris nostri partem in eo prsecipue fuisse ness of the soil,— " complumiento que tiene de cada versatam ; ut et virorum in linguarum cognitione cosa." Cosas memorables, fol. 13. i eminentissimorum opera uteremur, et castigatissima 1
662
AFRICAN EXPEDITION OF XIMENE:
Some idea may be formed of the lavish expenditure in this way, from the fact that four thousand gold crowns were paid for seven foreign manu¬ scripts, which, however, came too late to be of use in the compilation.1 The conduct of the work was intrusted to nine scholars, well skilled in the ancient tongues, as most of them had evinced by works of critical acuteness and erudition. After the labours of the day, these learned sages were accustomed to meet, in order to settle the doubts and difficulties which had arisen in the course of their researches, and, in short, to com¬ pare the results of their observations. Ximenes, who, however limited his attainments in general literature,2 was an excellent biblical critic, frequently presided, and took a prominent part in these deliberations. "Lose no time, my friends," he would say, " in the prosecution of our glorious work ; lest, in the casualties of life, you should lose your patron, or I have to lament the loss of those whose services are of more price in my eyes than wealth and worldly honours." 3 The difficulties of the undertaking were sensibly increased by those of the printing. The art was then in its infancy, and there were no types in Spain, if indeed in any part of Europe, in the Oriental character. Ximenes, however, careful to have the whole executed under his own eye, imported artists from Germany, and had types cast in the various languages required, in his foundries at Alcald.4 The work when completed occupied six volumes folio ;6 the first four devoted to the Old Testament, the fifth to the New; the last containing a Hebrew and Chaldaic vocabulary, with other elementary treatises of singu¬ lar labour and learning. It was not brought to an end till 1517, fifteen years after its commencement, and a few months only before the death of its illustrious projector. Alvaro Gomez relates that he had often heard John Broccario, the son of the printer,6 say that, when the last sheet was struck off, he, then a child, was dressed in his best attire and sent with a copy to the cardinal. The latter, as he took it, raised his eyes to heaven, and devoutly offered up his thanks for being spared to the completion of this good work. Then, turning to his friends who were present, he said omni ex parte vetustissimaque exemplaria pro ' Greek Demetrius Cretensis, and Juan de Vergara ; archetypis haberemus ; quorum quidem, tarn Heb- all thorough linguists, especially in the Greek ana raeorum quam Graecorum ac Latinorum, multiplicem i Latin. To these were joined Paulo Coronel, Alfonso copiam, variis ex locis, non sine summo labore con- j a physician, and Alfonso Zamora, converted Jews, quisivimus." Biblia Polyglotta Compluti, Pr<5- ! and familiar with the Oriental languages. Zamora logo. has the merit of the philological compilations rela¬ 1 Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fol. 39. Quintanilla, tive to the Hebrew and Chaldaic, in the last volume. Archetypo, lib. 3, cap. 10. Iidem auct. ut supra; et Suma de la \ida de * Martyr speaks of Ximenes, in one of his epistles, Cisneros, MS. as " doctrina singulari oppletum." (Opus Epist., Quintanilla, Archetypo, lib. 3, cap. 10. epist. 108.) He speaks with more distrust in 5 The work was originally put at the extreme y another : " Aiunt esse virum, si non Uteris, morum low price of six ducats and a naif a copy- (ÿ'r 1 tamen sanctitate egregium." (Epist. 160.) This Polyglotta Compluti, Praefix.) As only 6o° ÿ 9.P1e. ' was written some years later, when he had better however, were struck off, it has become exceeding 5 knowledge of him. rare and valuable. According to Brunei, it na 3 Quintanilla, Archetypo, lib. 3, cap. 10. Gomez ! been sold as high as . ,, £63. De Rebus gestis, fol. 38. The scholars employed in 8 et solertiS honorabilis .v'r' -iafr; " Industrie the compilation were the venerable Lebrija, the Guillelmi Magisff • de impressoris Brocario, artis leal-lied Nunez, or Pinciano, of whom the reader has Anno Domini 1517. Julii die decimo.' yi had some account, Lopez de Zuniga, a controversi¬ Polyglotta Compluti. Postscript to 4th an " alist of Erasmus, Bnrtholomeo de Castro, the famous part of Vetus Test.
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UNIVERSITY OF ALCALA.
663
that " of all the acts which distinguished his administration, there was none, however arduous, better entitled to their congratulation than this."1 This is not the place, if 1 were competent, to discuss the merits of this great work, the reputation of which is familiar to every scholar. Critics, indeed, have disputed the antiquity of the manuscripts used in the com¬ pilation, as well as the correctness and value of the emendations.2 Unfor¬ tunately, the destruction of the original manuscripts, in a manner which forms one of the most whimsical anecdotes in literary history, makes it impossible to settle the question satisfactorily.3 Undoubtedly, many blem¬ ishes may be charged on it, necessarily incident to an age when the science of criticism was imperfectly understood,4 and the stock of materials much more limited, or at least more difficult of access, than at the present day.5 After every deduction, however, the cardinal's Bible has the merit of being the first successful attempt at a polyglot version of the Scriptures, and con¬ sequently of facilitating, even by its errors, the execution of more perfect and later works of the kind.6 Nor can we look at it in connection with the age, and the auspices under which it was accomplished, without regard¬ ing it as a noble monument of piety, learning, and munificence, which entitles its author to the gratitude of the whole Christian world. Such were the gigantic projects which amused the leisure hours of this great prelate. Though gigantic, they were neither beyond his strength to execute, nor beyond the demands of his age and country. They were not like those works which, forced into being by whim or transitory imDe Rebus gestis, fol. 38.— The part formerly cited in the Trinitarian controversy, and which Porson so completely overturned, rests in part on what Gibbon calls the honest bigotry of the Complutensian editors." One of the three Greek manuscripts in which that text is found is a forgery from the Polyglot of Alcala, according to Mr. Norton, in his recent work, " The Evidencesof the Genuineness of the Gospels " (Boston, 1837, vol. on the same scale, which was unfortunately defeated i., Additional Notes, p. xxxix.),—a work which few by his death. Ibid., fol. 39. can be fully competent to criticise, but which no 2 The principal controversy on this subject was person can peruse without confessing the acuteness earned on in Germany between Wetstein and and strength of its reasoning, the nice discrimination Goeze ; the former impugning, the latter defending, of its criticism, and the precision and purity of its the Complutensian Bible. The cautious and candid diction. Whatever difference of opinion may be Michaelis, whose prepossessions appear to have been formed as to some of its conclusions, no one will on the side of Goeze, decides ultimately, after his deny that the originality and importance of its views own examination, in favour of Wetstein, as regards make it a substantial accession to theological the value of the MSS. employed ; not, however, as science ; and that, within the range permitted by relates to the grave charge of wilfully accommodating the subject, it presents, on the whole, one of the the Greek text to the Vulgate. See the grounds and noblest specimens of scholarship and elegance of merits of the controversy, apud Michaelis, Intro¬ composition to be found in our youthful literature. s "Accedit," say the editors of the Polyglot, ad¬ duction to the New Testament, translated by transcribers, " ubiMarsh, vol. ii. part, x, chap. 12, sec. 1 ; part. 2, verting to the blunders of early Latinorum codicum varietas est, aut depracunque notes. (id quod librariorum imperitia 3 Professor suspitio lectionis vatse visited Germany, of Moldenhauer, accidere videAlcalfi in 1784, for the interesting purpose of simul et negligentia frequentissime originem recurrendum examining the MSS. used in the Complutensian mus), ad primam Scripturae Prdlogo. Compluti, Polyglotta Biblia est Polyglot. He there learned that they had all been 6 Tiraboschi adduces a Psalter, published in four disposed of, as so much waste paper {membranes at Genoa, in 1516, as the first inutiles), by the librarian of that time, to a rocket- of the ancient tongues, version. (Letteratura Itahana, maker of the town, who soon worked them up in essay of a polyglot Lampillas does not fail to add iqi*) pviii. torn. no assigns the regular way of his vocation ! He catalogue which he has reason for doubting the truth of the story. The this enormity to the black of Modena. (Let¬ librarian the against mustered name of the librarian, unfortunately, is not recorded. torn. ii. part. 2, p. 290. J L he It would have been as imperishable as that of teratura Spagnuola, the Bible were Complutensian of volumes three first chap. Omar. Marsh's Michaelis, vol. ii. part. 1, printed before 1516, although the whole work did 12, sec. 1, note. „ |I not following year. the till press the pass witnesses, three The celebrated text of " the 1 Gomez,
devoted to the Old Testament contains the Hebrew original with the Latin Vulgate, the Septuagint version, and the Chaldaic paraphrase, with Latin translations by the Spanish scholars. The New Testament was printed in the original Greek, with the vulgate of Jerome. After the completion of this work, the cardinal projected an edition of Aristotle
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664
WARS AND POLITICS OF 1TAL V.
pulse, perish with the breath that made them ; but, taking deep root, were cherished and invigorated by the national sentiment, so as to bear rich fruit for posterity. This was particularly the case with the institution at Alcall It soon became the subject of royal and private benefaction. Its founder bequeathed it, at his death, a clear revenue of fourteen thousand ducats. By the middle of the seventeenth century, this had increased to forty-two thousand, and the colleges had multiplied from ten to thirty-five.1 The rising reputation of the new academy, which attracted students from every quarter of the Peninsula to its halls, threatened to eclipse the glories of the ancient seminary at Salamanca, and occasioned bitter jealousies between them. The field of letters, however, was wide enough for both, especially as the one was more immediately devoted to theo¬ logical preparation, to the entire exclusion of civil jurisprudence, which formed a prominent branch of instruction at the other. In this state of things, their rivalry, far from being productive of mischief, might be regarded as salutary, by quickening literary ardour, too prone to languish without the spur of competition. Side by side the sister universities went forward, dividing the public patronage and estimation. As long as the good era of letters lasted in Spain, the Academy of Ximenes, under the influence of its admirable discipline, maintained a reputation inferior to none other in the Peninsula,2 and continued to send forth its sons to occupy the most exalted posts in Church and State, and shed the light of genius and science over their own and future ages.8
CHAPTER XXII. WARS AND POLITICS OF ITALY.
1508-1513.
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league of Cambray.— Alarm of Ferdinand. Holy League. Battle of Ravenna. Death of Gaston de Foix. Retreat of the French. The Spaniards victorious.
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The domestic history of Spain, after Ferdinand's resumption of the regency, contains few remarkable events. Its foreign relations were more important. Those with Africa have been already noticed, and we must now turn to Italy and Navarre. °aP- I7ÿ°,Vied°J eruditionis laudem veluti postliminio reflorescenti. Quincuagenas, MS., dial, de Ximeni.— Ferdinand | Gratulor Compluto, quod duorum praesulum Fran; conceded liberal grants and immunities cisci et Alfonsi efflorescit omni tn r on more than one occasion. Gomez De to Alcala ,. felicibus auspiciis sic „,,Tnv Senere studiorum, ut jure optimo irafJ-irAovrov Rebus gestis, fol. 43, 45. ' 2 Erasmus, in a letter to his friend Vergara, in apP®'lare possimus." Epistolae, pp. 771Oumtillana is for passing the sum total 01f 1 2527. perpetrates a Greek pun on the classic name of Alcald, intimating the highest opinion of the state yor*s of these worthies of Alcald to the crea lts founder. They might serve as a makevveig of science there : " Gratulor tibi, ornatissime adoto turn the scale in favour of his beatification. Arcae* lescens, gratulor vestrae Hispani® ad pristinan typo, lib. 3. cap. 17.
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WARS AND POLITICS OF ITALY.
665
The possession of Naples necessarily brought Ferdinand within the sphere of Italian politics. He showed little disposition, however, to avail himself of it for the further extension of his conquests. Gonsalvo, indeed, during his administration, meditated various schemes for the overthrow of the French power in Italy, but with a view rather to the preservation than enlargement of his present acquisitions. After the treaty with Louis the Twelfth, even these designs were abandoned, and the Catholic monarch seemed wholly occupied with the internal affairs of his kingdom, and the establishment of his rising empire in Africa.1 The craving appetite of Louis the Twelfth, on the other hand, sharpened by the loss of Naples, sought to indemnify itself by more ample acquisitions in the north. As far back as 1504, he had arranged a plan with the emperor for the partition of the Continental possessions of Venice, introducing it into one of those abortive treaties at Blois for the marriage of his daughter.2 The scheme is said to have been com¬ municated to Ferdinand in the royal interview at Savona. No immediate action followed, and it seems probable that the latter monarch, with his usual circumspection, reserved his decision until he should be more clearly satisfied of the advantages to himself.3 At length the projected partition was definitely settled by the celebrated treaty of Cambray, December 10th, 1508, between Louis the Twelfth and the emperor Maximilian, in which the pope, King Ferdinand, and all princes who had any claims for spoliations by the Venetians, were invited to take part. The share of the spoil assigned to the Catholic monarch was the five Neapolitan cities, Trani, Brindisi, Gallipoli, Pulignano, and Otranto, pledged to Venice for considerable sums advanced by her during the late war.4 The Spanish court, and, not long after, Julius the Second, ratified the treaty, although it was in direct contravention of the avowed purpose of the pontiff, to chase the barbarians from Italy. It was his bold policy, however, to make use of them first for the aggrandizement of the church, and then to trust to his augmented strength and more favourable opportunities for eradicating them altogether. Never was there a project more destitute of principle or sound policy. There was not one of the contracting parties who was not at that very time in close alliance with the state the dismemberment of which he was plotting. As a matter of policy, it went to break down the principal barrier on which each of these powers could rely for keeping in check the overweening ambition of its neighbours and maintaining the balance of Italy.5 The alarm of Venice was quieted for a time by assurances from the courts of France and Spain that the league was directed solely against 4 Flassan, Diplomatic Frangaise, torn. i. lib. a, 1 Guicciardini, Istoria, torn. iii. lib. 5, p. 257. e<L J Milano, 1803.— Zurita, Anales, torn. vi. lib. 6, cap. p. 283.— Dumont, Corps diplomatique, torn. iv. part
7'
ÿDumont,
'» This argument, used by Machiavelli against Corps diplomatique, torn. iv. part, i, no. 30.- Flassan, Diplomatic FranSaise, torn. i. pp. Louts s rupture with Venice, applies with more or less force to all the other allies. Opere, II Principe, 282, 283. cap. 3. 3 Guicciardini, Istoria, torn. iv. p. 78.
WARS AND POLITICS OF ITAL Y.
666
the Turks, accompanied by the most hypocritical professions of good-will, and amicable offers to the republic.1 The preamble of the treaty declares that, it being the intention of the allies to support the pope in a crusade against the infidel, they first pro¬ posed to recover from Venice the territories of which she had despoiled the church and other powers, to the manifest hindrance of these pious designs. The more flagitious the meditated enterprise, the deeper was the veil of hypocrisy thrown over it in this corrupt age. The true reasons for the confederacy are to be found in a speech delivered at the German diet, some time after, by the French minister Hdlian. "We," he remarks, after enumerating various enormities of the republic, " wear no fine purple ; feast from no sumptuous services of plate ; have no coffers over¬ flowing with gold. We are barbarians. Surely," he continues in another place, "if it is derogatory to princes to act the part of merchants, it is unbecoming in merchants to assume the state of princes." 2 This, then, was the true key to the conspiracy against Venice ; envy of her superior wealth and magnificence, hatred engendered by her too arrogant bearing, and lastly the evil eye with which kings naturally regard the movements of an active, aspiring republic3 To secure the co-operation of Florence, the kings of France and Spain agreed to withdraw their protection from Pisa for a stipulated sum of money. There is nothing in the whole history of the merchant princes of Venice so mercenary and base as this bartering away for gold the independence for which this little republic had been so nobly contending for more than fourteen years.4 Early in April 1509, Louis the Twelfth crossed the Alps at the head of a force which bore down all opposition. City and castle fell before him, and his demeanour to the vanquished, over whom he had no rights beyond the ordinary ones of war, was that of an incensed master taking vengeance on his rebellious vassals. In revenge for his detention before Peschiera, he hung the Venetian governor and his son from the battle¬ ments. This was an outrage on the laws of chivalry, which, however 1 Non si curb di rovinare ognuno ; ®°?' Ligue de Cambray, torn. i. pp. 66, 67. I ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., fol. 36, 37.— Guicciardini, 1 Ne vidde come la potenza troppa Istoria, torn. iv. p. 141. Bembo, Istoria Viniziana, Era nociva " torn. ii. lib. 7. Dell' Asino d'Oro, cap. 5, , bee a liberal extract from this harangue, apud I 4 Mariana, Hist, Daru, Hist, de Venise, torn. iii. liv. 23,—also apud Espana, lib. 29, cap. i5-~ de „ T,tn,p ; Rns- Lfgue de Cambray, torn. t™ i. p. Du Bos, 240 et seq. Ammirato, Istorie Florentine, torn, iii- lib. 28, p The old poet, Jean Marot, sums up the sins of the 286 Peter Martyr, Opus Epist.,epist. 423. —Louis republic in the following verse : XII. was in alliance with Florence, but insisted on 100,000 ducats as the price of his acquiescence in " Autre Dieu n'ont que l'or, c'est leur cr6ance." her recovery of Pisa. Ferdinand, or rather his CEuvres de Clement Marot, avec les Ouvrages, de general, Gonsalvo de Cordova, had taken Pisa under Marot (La Haye, 1731), torn. v. p. 71. Jean his 3 See the undisguised protection, and the king insisted on 50,000 ducats satisfaction with which Martyr, a Milanese, predicts (Opus Epist., epist. for his abandonment of her. This honourable trans¬ 410), and Guicciardini, a Florentine, records, the action resulted in the payment of the respective humiliation of Venice. (Istoria, lib. 4, p. I37.) amounts to the royal jobbers ; the 50,000 excess 0 The arrogance of the rival republic does not escape Louis's portion being kept a profound secre lroni Ferdinand, who was made to believe by the pahthe satirical lash of Machiavelli : ties that his ally received only a like sum wd San Marco, impetuoso ed importuno, " Credendosi himself. Guicciardini, Istoria, torn. iv. pp- 781 ">• haver sempre il vento in poppa, 156, 157-
Pu
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WARS AND POLITICS OF ITALY.
667
hard they bore on the peasant, respected those of high degree. Louis's rank, and his heart it seems, unhappily, raised him equally above sympathy with either class.1 On the 14th of May 1509 was fought the bloody battle of Agnadel, which broke the power of Venice and at once decided the fate of the war.2 Ferdinand had contributed nothing to these operations, except by his diversion on the side of Naples, where he possessed himself without difficulty of the cities allotted to his share. They were the cheapest, and, if not the most valuable, were the most permanent, acquisitions of the war, being reincorporated in the monarchy of Naples. Then followed the memorable decree by which Venice released her Continental provinces from their allegiance, authorizing them to provide in any way they could for their safety ; a measure which, whether origi¬ nating in panic or policy, was perfectly consonant with the latter.3 The confederates, who had remained united during the chase, soon quarrelled over the division of the spoiL Ancient jealousies revived. The republic, with cool and consummate diplomacy, availed herself of this state of feeling. Pope Julius, who had gained all that he had proposed, and was satisfied with the humiliation of Venice, now felt all his former antipathies and distrust of the French return in full force. The rising flame was diligently fanned by the artful emissaries of the republic, who at length effected a reconciliation on her behalf with the haughty pontiff. The latter having taken this direction, went forward in it with his usual impetuosity. He planned a new coalition for the expulsion of the French, calling on the other allies to take part in it. Louis retaliated by summoning a council to inquire into the pope's conduct, and by marching his troops into the territories of the church.4 The advance of the French, who had now got possession of Bologna (May 2 1st, 15 n), alarmed Ferdinand. He had secured the objects for which he had entered into the war, and was loath to be diverted from enter¬ prises in which he was interested nearer home. "I know not," writes Peter Martyr at this time, " on what the king will decide. He is intent on- following up his African conquests. He feels natural reluctance at breaking with his French ally. But Ido not well see how he can avoid
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1 M6moires de Bayard, chap; 30. Fleurange, though struck out with a rude hand. The poem is M6moires, chap. 8. Guicciardini, Istoria, torn. iv. so conscientious in its facts and dates that it is com¬
— describes the execution in the mended by a French critic as the most exact record —Jean Marot of the Italian campaign. Ibid ,Remarques, p. 16. following summary style :
p. 183.
cool and
3 Foreign historians impute this measure to the former motive, the Venetians to the latter. The cool and deliberate conduct of this government, from Qu'ils firent au herault, furent pris et sanglez which all passion, to use the language of the abbe Puis devant tout le monde pendus et estranglez. I)u Bos, seems to have been banished, may autho¬ CEuvres, torn. v. p. 158. rize our acquiescence in the statement most flattering 2 The fullest account, probably, of the action is in to the national vanity. See the discussion apud the "Voyage de Venise ' of Jean Marot. (CEuvres, Ligue de Cambray, pp. 126 et seq. T Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 221.— torn. v. pp. 124-139.) This pioneer of French song, since eclipsed by his more polished son, accom¬ Fleurange, Memoires, chap. 7.—Peter Martyr, Opus panied his master, Louis XII., on his Italian ex- Epist, epist. 416.— Guicciardini, Istoria, torn, iv edition, as his poet chronicler ; and the subject pp. 178, 179, 190, 191 ; torn. v. pp. 71, 82-86.— as elicited occasionally some sparks of poetic fire, Bembo, Istoria Viniziana, lib. 7, 9, 10.
Ce chastelain de lk, aussi le capitaine, " Pour la derrision et response vilaine
WARS AND POLITICS OF ITALY.
668
supporting the pope and the church, not only as the cause of religion, but of freedom ; for if the French get possession of Rome, the liberties of all Italy and of every state in Europe are in periL " 1 The Catholic king viewed it in this light, and sent repeated and earnest remonstrances to Louis the Twelfth against his aggressions on the church, beseeching him not to interrupt the peace of Christendom, and his own pious purpose more particularly, of spreading the banners of the Cross over the infidel regions of Africa. The very sweet and fraternal tone of these communications filled the king of France, says Guicciardini, with much distrust of his royal brother ; and he was heard to say, in allusion to the great preparations which the Spanish monarch was making by sea and land, " Iam the Saracen against whom they are directed" 2 To secure Ferdinand more to his interests, the pope granted him the investiture, so long withheld, of Naples, on the same easy terms on which it was formerly held by the Aragonese line. His holiness further released him from the obligation of his marriage treaty, by which the moiety of Naples was to revert to the French crown in case of Germaine's dying without issue. This dispensing power of the successors of St. Peter, so convenient for princes in their good graces, is undoubtedly the severest tax ever levied by superstition on human reason.3 On the 4th of October 1511 a treaty was concluded between Julius the Second, Ferdinand, and Venice, with the avowed object of protecting the church, in other words, driving the French out of Italy.4 From the pious purpose to which it was devoted, it was called the Holy League. The quota to be furnished by the king of Aragon was twelve hundred heavy and one thousand light cavalry, ten thousand foot, and a squadron of eleven galleys, to act in concert with the Venetian fleet. The combined forces were to be placed under the command of Hugo de Cardona, viceroy of Naples, a person of polished and engaging address, but without the resolution or experience requisite to military success. The rough old pope sarcastically nick-named him " Lady Cardona." It was an appointment that would certainly never have been made by Queen Isabella. Indeed,
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1 Opus Epist., epist. 465. Mdmoires de Bayard, -chap. 46. Fleurange, Mdmoires, chap. 26. Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 225. 2 Istoria, lib. 9, p. 13s. Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 1511. Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. Martyr, Peter Opus Epist., epist. 463. 225. Machiavelli's friend Vettori, in one of his letters, speaks of the Catholic king as the principal author of the new coalition against France, and notices three hundred lances which he furnished the pope in advance, for this purpose. (Machiavelli, Opere, Lettere famigliari, no. 8.) He does not seem to understand that these lances were part of the ser¬ vices due for the fief of Naples. The letter above quoted of Martyr, a more competent and unsuspi¬ cious authority, shows Ferdinand's sincere aversion to a rupture with Louis at the present juncture ; and a subsequent passage of the same epistle shows him too much in earnest in his dissuasives to be open to the charge of insincerity : " Ut mitibus verbis ipsum, Reginam ejus uxorem, ut consiliarios omnes Cabanillas alloquatur, ut agant apud reÿem
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suum de pace, dat in frequentibus mandatis." Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., ubi supra. See further, epist.
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f Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., no. 441.— Mariana, Hist, de Espana, Giovio,
torn. ii. lib. 29, cap. 24. — Illust. Virorum, p. 164.— Sandoval, Hist, del — Vitae Emp. Carlos V., torn. i. p. 18. The act of investi¬
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ture was dated July 3d, 1310. In the following August the pontiff remitted the feudal services for the annual tribute of a white palfrey, and the aid of 300 lances when the estates of the church should be invaded. (Zurita, Anales, torn. vi. lib. 9, cap. it.) The pope had hitherto refused the investiture, except on the most exorbitant terms ; which so much dis¬ gusted Ferdinand that he passed by Ortia, on his return from Naples, without condescending to meet his Holiness, who was waiting there for a persona. interview with him. Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 333. Guicciardini, Istoria, torn. iv. p. 734 Guicciardini, Istoria, torn. v. lib. to, p. 207 Mariana, Hist, de Espana, torn. ii. lib. 30, cap- 5' ' Rvmer. Fcedera, torn. xiii. pp. 303-308.
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WARS AND POLITICS OP ITALY.
669
the favour shown this nobleman on this and other occasions was so much beyond his deserts as to raise a suspicion in many that he was more nearly allied by blood to Ferdinand than was usually imagined.1 Early in 15 12, France, by great exertions and without a single confeder¬ ate out of Italy, save the false and fluctuating emperor, got an army into the field superior to that of the allies in point of numbers, and still more so in the character of its commander. This was Gaston de Foix, duke de Nemours and brother of the queen of Aragon. Though a boy in years, for he was but twenty-two, he was ripe in understanding, and possessed consum¬ mate military talents. He introduced a severer discipline into his army, and an entirely new system of tactics. He looked forward to his results with stern indifference to the means by which they were to be effected. He disregarded the difficulties of the roads and the inclemency of the season, which had hitherto put a check on military operations. Through the midst of frightful morasses, or in the depth of winter snows, he per¬ formed his marches with a celerity unknown in the warfare of that age. In less than a fortnight after leaving Milan he relieved Bologna (Feb. 5th), then besieged by the allies, made a countermarch on Brescia, defeated a detachment by the way, and the whole Venetian army under its walls, and, on the same day with the last event, succeeded in carrying the place by storm. After a few weeks' dissipation of the carnival, he again put him¬ self in motion, and, descending on Ravenna, succeeded in bringing the allied army to a decisive action under its walls. Ferdinand, well under¬ standing the peculiar characters of the French and of the Spanish soldier, had cautioned his general to adopt the Fabian policy of Gonsalvo, and avoid a close encounter as long as possible2 This battle, fought with the greatest numbers, was also the most murderous, which had stained the fair soil of Italy for a century. (April nth, 1512.) No less than eighteen or twenty thousand, according to authentic accounts, fell in it, comprehending the best blood of France and Italy.3 The viceroy Cardona went off somewhat too early for his reputa¬ tion. But the Spanish infantry, under the Count Pedro Navarro, behaved in a style worthy of the school of Gonsalvo. During the early part of the day, they lay on the ground, in a position which sheltered them from the deadly artillery of Este, then the best mounted and best served of any in Europe. When at length, as the tide of battle was going against them,
—
1 Guicciardini, Istoria, " Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 230, 231. torn. v. lib. 10, p. 20S.— Bembo, Istoria Viniziana, torn. ii. lib. 12.— Mari¬ Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. v. lib. 10, pp. 260-272.—
Giovio, Vita Leonis X., apud Vitae Illust. Virorum, ana, Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 483. Vettori, it lib. 2, pp. 37, 38. Memoires de Bayard, chap. seems, gave credence to the same suggestion : 48. — Fleurange, Mdinoires, chap. 26-28. 3 Ariosto introduces the bloody rout of Ravenna Spagna ha sempre amato assai questo suo Vicere, e per errore che abbia fatto non l'ha gastigato, ma among the visions of Melissa \ in which the courtly piii presto fatto piii grande, e si pub pensare, come prophetess (or rather poet) predicts the glories of; molti dicono, che sia suo figlio, e che abbia in the house of Este : pensiero lasciarlo Re di Napoli." (Machiavelli, 1 destrier nno alia pancia Opere, let. di 16 Maggio, 1514.) According to " Nuoteranno Nel sangue uinan per tutta la campagna , Aleson, the king would have appointed Navarra Ch' a seppellire ii popol verra manco to the post of commander-in-chief, had not his low birth disqualified him for it in the eyes of the 'ledesco, Ispano, Greco, Italo, e franco. Orlando Fur'ÿso, canto 3, St. 55a'hes. Anales de Navarra, tom. v. lib. 3;. cap. 12Hist, de Espana, torn. ii. lib. 30, cap. 5, 14.—
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m
670
WARS AND POLITICS OP ITALY.
they were brought into the field, Navarro led them at once against a deep column of landsknechts, who, armed with the long German pike, were bearing down all before them. The Spaniards received the shock of this formidable weapon on the mailed panoply with which their bodies were covered, and, dexterously gliding into the hostile ranks, contrived with their short swords to do such execution on the enemy, unprotected except by corselets in front, and incapable of availing themselves of their long weapon, that they were thrown into confusion and totally discomfited. It was repeating the experiment more than once made during these wars, but never on so great a scale, and it fully established the superiority of the Spanish arms.1 The Italian infantry, which had fallen back before the landsknechts, now rallied under cover of the Spanish charge ; until at length the over¬ whelming clouds of French gendarmerie headed by Ives d'Albgre, who lost his own life in the melee, compelled the allies to give ground. The retreat of the Spaniards, however, was conducted with admirable order, and they preserved their ranks unbroken, as they repeatedly turned to drive back the tide of pursuit. At this crisis, Gaston de Foix, flushed with success, was so exasperated by the sight of this valiant corps going off in so cool and orderly a manner from the field, that he made a desperate charge at the head of his chivalry, in hopes of breaking it. Unfortunately, his wounded horse fell under him. It was in vain his followers called out, " It is our viceroy, the brother of your queen ! " The words had no charm for a Spanish ear, and he was despatched with a multitude of wounds. He received fourteen or fifteen in the face ; good proof, says the loyal serviteur, " that the gentle prince had never turned his back." 2 There are few instances in history, if indeed there be any, of so brief and at the same time so brilliant a military career as that of Gaston de Foix; and it well entitled him to the epithet his countrymen gave him of the "Thunderbolt of Italy."8 He had not merely given extraordinary promise, but in the course of a very few months had achieved such results as might well make the greatest powers of the peninsula tremble for their possessions. His precocious military talents, the early age at which he assumed the command of armies, as well as many peculiarities of his 1 BrantSme, Vies des Homraes illustres, disc. 6. — Istoria, torn. v. lib. 10, pp. — Peter Martyr, Istoria, torn. v. lib. 10, pp. 290-305. epist. 483. — Brantflme, Vies306-309. — Guicciardini, des Hommes Illustres, Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 231, 233. — disc. perspicuous — The most that the best, is, — 24. Memoires de Bayard, chap. 54.— Du Bellay, and animated, description of the fight of Ravenna, Memoires, apud Petitot, Collection des Memoires, among contemporary writers, will be found in torn. xvii. p. 234. — Fleurange, Memoires, chap 29, Guicciardini (ubi supra) ; among the modern in 30.— Bembo, Istoria Viniziana, torn. ii. lib. xiv. chap— Sismondi (Republiques Italfennes, torn. combining Machiavelli does justice to the gallantry of this 12.
109), an author who has the rare merit of valiant corps, whose conduct on this occasion fur¬ profound philosophical analysis with the superficial nishes him with a pertinent illustration, in estimat¬ and picturesque graces of narrative. . ing the comparative value of the Spanish, or rather 3 "Le foudre de l'ltalie." (Gaillard, Rivahte, Roman arms, and the German. Opere, torn, iv., torn. iv. p. ; light authority, Iacknowledge, 391 Arte della Guerra, lib. 2, p. 67. even for a sobriquet.) 2 Memoires de Bayard, chap54 Guicciardini, !
.
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IVAPS AND POLITICS OF ITALY.
67 1
discipline and tactics, suggest some resemblance to the beginning of Napoleon's career. Unhappily, his brilliant fame is sullied by a recklessness of human life, the more odious in one too young to be steeled by familiarity with the iron trade to which he was devoted. It may be fair, however, to charge this on the age rather than on the individual, for surely never was there one characterized by greater brutality and more unsparing ferocity in its wars.1 So little had the progress of civilization done for humanity.
It is
not until a recent period that a more generous spirit has operated ; that a fellow-creature has been understood not to forfeit his rights as a man
because he is an enemy ; that conventional laws have been established, tending greatly to mitigate the evils of a condition which, with every alleviation, is one of unspeakable misery ; and that those who hold the destinies of nations in their hands have been made to feel that there is less true glory, and far less profit, to be derived from war than from the wise prevention of it The defeat at Ravenna struck a panic into the confederates. The stout heart of Julius the Second faltered, and it required all the assurances of the Spanish and Venetian ministers to keep him staunch to his purpose. King Ferdinand issued orders to the Great Captain to hold himself in readiness for taking the command of forces to be instantly raised for Naples. There could be no better proof of the royal consternation.2 The victory of Ravenna, however, was more fatal to the French than to their foes. The uninterrupted successes of a commander are so far unfortunate, that they incline his followers, by the brilliant illusion they throw around his name, to rely less on their own resources than on him whom they have hitherto found invincible; and thus subject their own destiny to all the casualties which attach to the fortunes of a single individual The death of Gaston de Foix seemed to dissolve the only bond which held the French together. The officers became divided, the soldiers disheartened, and, with the loss of their young hero, lost all interest in the service. The allies, advised of this disorderly state of the army, recovered confidence, and renewed their exertions. Through Ferdinand's influence over his son-in-law, Henry the Eighth of England, the latter had been induced openly to join the League in the beginning of the present year.3 The Catholic king had the address, moreover, just 1 One example may suffice, occurring in the war of the League, in 1510. When Vicenza was taken
by the Imperialists, a number of the inhabitants, amounting to one or, according to some accounts, S1* thousand, took refuge in a neighbouring grotto, with their wives and children, comprehending many the principal families of the place. A French officer, detecting their retreat, caused a heap of fagots to be piled up at the mouth of the cavern and set on fire. Out of the whole number of fugitives only one escaped with life ; and the blackened and convulsed appearance of the bodies showed too plainly the cruel agonies of suffocation. (Memoires de Bayard, chap. 40. Bembo Istoria Viniziana,
—
—
—
torn. iL lib. 10.) Bayard executed two of the authors of this diabolical act on the spot. But the " cheva¬ lier sans reproche " was an exception to, rather than an example of. the prevalent spirit of the age. 2 Guicciardini, Istoria, torn. v. lib. 10, pp._ 310lib. 3, 312, 322, 323.—Chrdnica del Gran Capitan, cap. 7.— Mariana, Hist, de Espana, torn. ii. lib. 30, lib. Gonsalvi, Magni 3, p. cap. 9.— Giovio, Vita 288. — Carbajal, Anales, MS., alio 151a.—See also Machtaapud Maggio 16, 1514. Lettera di Veftori, velli, Opere. 3 Dumont, Corps diplomatique, torn. iv. p. 137. He had become a party to it as early as November 17th of the preceding year ; he deferred its pub! • a-
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WARS AND POLITICS OF ITAL Y.
before the battle, to detach the emperor from France by effecting a truce between him and Venice.1 The French, now menaced and pressed on every side, began their retreat under the brave La Palice ; and to such an impotent state were they reduced that in less than three months after the fatal victory (June 28th) they were at the foot of the Alps, having aban¬ doned not only their recent but all their conquests in the north of Italy.51 The same results now took place as in the late war against Venice. The confederates quarrelled over the division of the spoiL The republic, with the largest claims, obtained the least concessions. She felt that she was to be made to descend to an inferior rank in the scale of nations. Ferdinand earnestly remonstrated with the pope, and subsequently, by means of his Venetian minister, with Maximilian, on this mistaken policy.3 But the indifference of the one and the cupidity of the other were closed against argument. The result was precisely what the prudent monarch foresaw. Venice was driven into the arms of her perfidious ancient ally ; and on the 23d of March 15x3 a definitive treaty was arranged with France for their mutual defence.4 Thus the most efficient member was alienated from the confederacy ; all the recent advantages of the allies were com¬ promised ; new combinations were to be formed, and new and intermin¬ able prospects of hostility opened. Ferdinand, relieved from immediate apprehensions of the French, took comparatively little interest in Italian politics. He was too much occu¬ pied with settling his conquests in Navarre. The army, indeed, under Cardona still kept the field in the north of Italy. The viceroy, after re-establishing the Medici in Florence, remained inactive. The French. in the meanwhile, had again mustered in force, and, crossing the moun¬ tains, encountered the Swiss in a bloody battle at Novara (June 6th, 1513), where the former were entirely routed. Cardona, then rousing from his lethargy, traversed the Milanese without opposition, laying waste the ancient territories of Venice, burning the palaces and pleasure-houses of its lordly inhabitants on the beautiful banks of the Brenta, and ap¬ proaching so near to the " Queen of the Adriatic " as to throw a few impotent balls into the monastery of San Secondo. The indignation of the Venetians and of Alviano, the same general who had fought so gallantly under Gonsalvo at the Garigliano, hurried them into an engagement with the allies near La Motta (Oct. 7), at two miles' distance from Vicenza. Cardona, loaded with booty and entangled among the mountain-passes, was assailed under every disadvantage. The
_
tion, however, until he had received the last instal¬ torn. viii. pp. 380, 381.— Guicciardini, Istoria, torn. ment of a subsidy that Louis XII. was to pay him v. lib. Anales, torn. vi. lib. 10, pp. for the maintenance of peace. (Rvmer, Fcedera, 10, cap. 20. 33s, 336.— Zurita, torn. xiii. pp. 311-323.— Sismondi, Hist, des FranZurita, Anales, lib. torn. vi. 10, cap. 44-48. 9ais, torn. xv. p. 385.) Even the chivalrous Harry Guicciardini, Istoria, torn. vi. lib. 11, p. 52. Martyr the Eighth could not escape the trickish spirit of the reports a the Venetian with conversation he had that age. minister in Spain, touching this business. Opus 1 Guicciardini, Istoria, torn. v. lib. 10, p. 320. Epist., epist. 520. " Mdmoires de Bayard, chap. 55. Fleurange 4 Dumont, Corps diplomatique, torn. iv. part, ip Alemoires, chap. 31.— Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagna'. no. 86.
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HHP WARS AND POLITICS OF ITALY.
6n
German allies gave way before the impetuous charge of Alviano ; but the Spanish infantry stood its ground unshaken, and by extraordinary disci¬ pline and valour succeeded in turning the fortunes of the day. More than four thousand of the enemy were left on the field; and a large number of prisoners, including many of rank, with all the baggage and artillery, fell into the hands of the victors.1 Thus ended the campaign of 1513: the French driven again beyond the mountains; Venice cooped up within her sea-girt fastnesses, and compelled to enrol her artisans and common labourers in her defence,— but still strong in resources, above all in the patriotism and unconquerable spirit of her people.2
Count Daru has supplied the desideratum, so long standing, of a full, authentic history of a State whose institutions were the admiration of earlier times, and whose long stability and success make them deservedly an object of curiosity and interest to our own. The style of the work, at once lively and condensed, is not that best suited to historic writing, being of the piquant, epigrammatic kind much affected by French writers. The subject, too, of the revolutions of empire, does not afford room for the dramatic interest attaching to works which admit of more extended biographical development Abundant interest will be found, however, in the dexterity with which he has disen¬ tangled the tortuous politics of the republic ; in the acute and always sensible reflections with which he clothes the dry skeleton of fact ; and in the novel stores of information he has opened. The foreign policy of Venice excited too much interest among friends and enemies in the day of her glory, not to occupy the pens of the most intelligent writers. But no Italian chronicler, not even one intrusted with the office by the government itself, has been able to exhibit the interior workings of the complicated machinery so satisfac¬ torily as M. Daru has done, with the aid of those voluminous state papers, which were as jealously guarded from inspection, until the downfall of the republic, as the records of the Spanish Inquisition. 1 Guicciardini, Istoria, torn. vi. lib. ri, pp. 101- beloved by the soldiery that they refused to be separated from his remains, which were borne at 138.-Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 523. Mariana, Hist.de Espana, torn- ti. lib. 30, cap. 21.— the head of the army for some weeks after his death.
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—
J leurar.ge, Mcmoires, chap. 36, 37. Also an original letter of King Ferdinand to Archbishop Deza, apud Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. ?4.2- Alviano died a little more than a year after this defeat, at sixty years of age. He was so much
—
They were finally laid in the church of St. Stephen in Venice; and the senate, with more gratitude than is usually conceded to republics, settled an honourable pension on his family. 2 Daru, Hist, de Venise, torn. iii. pp. 615, 6.16.
& D
CONQUEST OF NA VARRE.
674
CHAPTER XXIIL CONQUEST OF NAVARRE.
1512-1513.
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— —
Sovereigns of Navarre. Ferdinand demands a Passage. Invasion and Conquest of Navarre, Treaty of Orthfes. Ferdinand settles his Conquests. His Conduct examined. Gross Abuse of the Victory.
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—
While the Spaniards were thus winning barren laurels on the fields of Italy, King Ferdinand was making a most important acquisition of terri¬ tory nearer home. The reader has already been made acquainted with the manner in which the bloody sceptre of Navarre passed from the hands of Eleanor, Ferdinand's sister, after a reign of a few brief days, into those of her grandson Phoebus. (1479.) A fatal destiny hung over the house of Foix ; and the latter prince lived to enjoy his crown only four years, when he was succeeded by his sister Catharine. (1483.) It was not to be supposed that Ferdinand and Isabella, so attentive to enlarge their empire to the full extent of the geographical limits which nature seemed to have assigned it, would lose the opportunity now pre¬ sented of incorporating into it the hitherto independent kingdom of Navarre, by the marriage of their own heir with its sovereign. All their efforts, however, were frustrated by the queen-mother Magdaleine, sister of Louis the Eleventh, who, sacrificing the interests of the nation to her prejudices, evaded the proposed match under various pretexts, and in the end effected a union between her daughter and a French noble, Jean d'Albret, heir to considerable estates in the neighbourhood of Navarre. This was a most fatal error. The independence of Navarre had hitherto been maintained less through its own strength than the weakness of its neighbours. But now that the petty states around her had been absorbed into two great and powerful monarchies, it was not to be expected that so feeble a barrier would be longer respected, or that it would not be swept away in the first collision of those formidable forces. But although the independence of the kingdom must be lost, the princes of Navarre might yet maintain their station by a union with the reigning family of France or Spain. By the present connection with a mere private indi¬ vidual they lost both the one and the other.1 Still, the most friendly relations subsisted between the Catholic king and his niece during the lifetime of Isabella. The sovereigns assisted her in taking possession of her turbulent dominions, as well as in allaying the deadly feuds of the Beaumonts and Agramonts, with which they were rent
* See Part I, chapters
10, 12.
CONQUEST OF NAVARRE.
675
asunder. They supported her with their arms in resisting her uncle Jean, viscount of Narbonne, who claimed the crown on the groundless pretext of its being limited to male heirs.1 The alliance with Spain was drawn still closer by the avowed purpose of Louis the Twelfth to support his nephew, Gaston de Foix, in the claims of his deceased father.2 The death of the young hero, however, at Ravenna, wholly changed the rela¬ tions and feelings of the two countries. Navarre had nothing immediately to fear from France. She felt distrust of Spain on more than one account, especially for the protection afforded the Beaumontese exiles, at the head of whom was the young count of Lerin, Ferdinand's nephew.3 France, too, standing alone, and at bay against the rest of Europe, found the alliance of the little state of Navarre of importance to her ; especially at the present juncture, when the project of an expedition against Guienne, by the combined armies of Spain and England, naturally made Louis the Twelfth desirous to secure the good- will of a prince who might be said to wear the keys of the Pyrenees, as the king of Sardinia did those of the Alps, at his girdle. With these amicable dispositions, the king and queen of Navarre despatched their plenipotentiaries to Blois, early in May, soon after the battle of Ravenna, with full powers to con¬ clude a treaty of alliance and confederation with the French government.4 In the meantime, June 8th, an English squadron arrived at Passage, in Guipuscoa, having ten thousand men on board under Thomas Grey, marquis of Dorset,5 in order to co-operate with King Ferdinand's army in the descent on Guienne This latter force, consisting of two thousand five hundred horse, light and heavy, six thousand foot, and twenty pieces of artillery, was placed under Don Fadrique de Toledo, the old duke of Alva, grandfather of the general who wrote his name in indelible characters of blood in the Netherlands under Philip the Second.6 Before making any movement, however, Ferdinand, who knew the equivocal dispositions of the Navarrese sovereigns, determined to secure himself from the annoy¬ ance which their strong position enabled them to give him on whatever route he adopted. He accordingly sent to request a free passage through their dominions, with the demand, moreover, that they should intrust six of their principal fortresses to such Navarrese as he should name, as a guarantee for their neutrality during the expedition. He accompanied Histoire du Royaume de Navarre, pp. 567, 570. Aleson, Annales de Navarra, torn. v. lib. 34, cap. '• Diccionario geografico-histdrico de Espana, por
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—
1649), p. 20. Holinshed, Chronicles, p. s68(London, 1810).— Mariana, Hist, de Espaiia, tom. ix. p. 315. His Valencian editors correct his text, by substi¬ tuting marquis of Dorchester ! « The young poet Garcilasso de la Vega gives a
— Academia de la Historia (Madrid, 1802),
tom. ii. p, 117.
2 Aleson, Annales de Navarra, torn. v. lib. 35, cap. 13.—-Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 9, cap. 54oismondi, Hist, des Franjais, tom. xv. p. 500. 2 Aleson, Annales de Navarra, ubi supra. Dumont, Corps diplomatique, tom. iv. part. 1, P' M7- See also the king's letter to Deza, dated Burgos, July 20th, 1512, apud Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 235. 5 Aleson, Annales de Navan-a, tom. v. p. 245. Herbert, Life and Raigneof Henry VIII. (London
brilliant sketch of this stern old nobleman in his as our imagination would
days, such — scarcely have formed of him
—
—
younger
at any period :
Otro Marte 'n guerra, en corte Febo. " Mostravase mancebo en las senales
del rostro, qu' eran tales, qu' esperanga icierta connanja claro davan a cuantos le miravan : qu' el setia, en auien s' informaria un ser divino." Obras, ed. de Herrera, p. 105.
676
CONQUEST OF NA VARRE.
•
this modest proposal with the alternative that the sovereigns should become parties to the Holy League ; engaging in that case to restore certain places in his possession, which they claimed, and pledging the whole strength of the confederacy to protect them against any hostile attempts of France.1 The situation of these unfortunate princes was in the highest degree embarrassing. The neutrality they had so long and sedulously maintained was now to be abandoned ; and their choice, whichever party they espoused, must compromise their possessions on one or the other side of the Pyrenees, in exchange for an ally whose friendship had proved by repeated experience quite as disastrous as his enmi y. In this dilemma they sent ambassadors into Castile, to obtain some modification of the terms, or at least to protract negotiations till some definitive arrangement should be made with Louis the Twelfth.2 On the 17th of July their plenipotentiaries signed a treaty with that monarch at Blois, by which France and Navarre mutually agreed to defend •jach other, in case of attack, against all enemies whatever. By another provision, obviously directed against Spain, it was stipulated that neither nation should allow a passage to the enemies of the other through its dominions ; and, by a third, Navarro pledged herself to declare war on the English now assembled in Guipuscoa, and all those co-operating with them.3 Through a singular accident, Ferdinand was made acquainted with the principal articles of this treaty before its signature.4 His army had remained inactive in its quarters around Vitoria ever since the landing of the English. He now saw the hopelessness of further negotiation, and, determining to anticipate the stroke prepared for him, commanded his general to invade without delay and occupy Navarre. The duke of Alva crossed the borders on the 21st of July, proclaiming that no harm should be offered to those who voluntarily submitted. On the 23d he arrived before Pampelona. King John, who, all the while he had been thus dallying with the lion, had made no provision for defence, had already abandoned his capital, leaving it to make the best terms it could for itself. On the following day, the city, having first obtained assurance of respect for all its franchises and immunities, surrendered ; " a circumstance," devoutly exclaims King Ferdinand, " in which we truly discern the hand of our blessed Lord, whose miraculous interposition has
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1 Lebiija, De Bello Navariensi, lib. i, cap. 3. — no. 69. Carta del Rey a D. Diego Deza, apud Zurita, Anales, torn. vi. lib. 10, cap. 4, 5. Aleson, Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 235. Annales de Navarra, torn. v. lib. 35, cap. 15. Peter 4 A confidential secretary of King Jean of Na¬ Martyr, Opus Epist. , epist. 488. Bernaldez, Reyes varre was murdered in his sleep by his mistress. Catdlicos, MS., ubi supra.— Garibay, Compendio, His papers, containing the heads of the proposed torn. ii. lib. 29, cap. 25. — Sandoval, Hist, del Emp! treaty with France, fell into the hands of a priest of Carlos V., torn. i. p. 25. Pampelona, who was induced by the hopes of a 2 Zurita, Anales, torn. vi. lib. 10, cap. 7, 8.— Peter reward to betray them to Ferdinand. The story is Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 487.— daribay, Com¬ told by Martyr, in a letter dated July 18th, IS'2pendio, torn. iii. lib. 29, cap. 23. (Opus Epist., epist. 490.) Its truth is attested by 3 Dumont, Corps diplomatique, torn. iv. part. 1 the conformity of the proposed terms with those 0 ' the actual treaty,
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CONQUEST OF NA VARRE.
677
been visible through all this enterprise, undertaken for the weal of the church and the extirpation of the accursed schism." 1 The royal exile, in the meanwhile, had retreated to Lumbier, where he solicited the assistance of the duke of Longueville, then encamped on the northern frontier for the defence of Bayonne. The French commander, however, stood too much in awe of the English, still lying in Guipuscoa, to weaken himself by a detachment into Navarre; and the unfortunate monarch, unsupported either by his own subjects or his new ally, was com¬ pelled to cross the mountains and take refuge with his family in France.2 The duke of Alva lost no time in pressing his advantage ; opening the way by a proclamation of the Catholic king, that it was intended only to hold possession of the country, as security for the pacific disposition of its sovereigns, until the end of his present expedition against Guienne. From whatever cause, the Spanish general experienced so little resistance that in less than a fortnight he overran and subdued nearly the whole of Upper Navarre. So short a time sufficed for the subversion of a monarchy which, in defiance of storm and stratagem, had maintained its independence unimpaired, with a few brief exceptions, for seven centuries.3 On reviewing these extraordinary events, we are led to distrust the capacity and courage of a prince who could so readily abandon his king¬ dom, without so much as firing a shot in its defence. John had shown, however, on more than one occasion, that he was destitute of neither. He was not, it must be confessed, of the temper best suited to the fierce and stirring times on which he was cast. He was of an amiable disposi¬ tion, social and fond of pleasure, and so little jealous of his royal dignity that he mixed freely in the dances and other entertainments of the humblest of his subjects. His greatest defect was the facility with which he reposed the cares of state on favourites, not always the most deserving. His greatest merit was his love of letters.4 Unfortunately, neither his merits nor defects were of a kind best adapted to extricate him from his present perilous situation, or enable him to cope with his wily and resolute adversary. For this, however, more commanding talents might well have failed. The period had arrived when, in the regular progress of events, Navarre must yield up her independence to the two great nations on her 1 Carta del Rey i. D. Diego Deza, Burgos, July Lebrija, De Bello Navariensi, lib. 1, cap. 4.— 26th, apud Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. "Jean d'Albret you were born," said Catharine to 236 Histoire du Royaume de Navarre, pp. 620- her unfortunate husband, as they were flying from 627. Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, torn. ii. rey 30, their kingdom, "and Jean d'Albret you will die.
—— —
—
Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 495.— Had I been king, and you queen, we had been Aleson, Annales de Navarra, torn. v. lib. 35, cap. reigning in Navarre at this moment." (Garibay, Father cap. ax.
—
15- Bernaldez has incorporated into his chronicle several letters of King Ferdinand, written during the progress of the war. It is singular that, coming from so high a source, they should not have been more freely resorted te by the Spanish writers. They are addressed to his confessor, Deza, arch¬ bishop of Seville, with whom Bernaldez, curate of a parish in his diocese, was, as appears from other parts of his work, on terms of intimacy. 2 Aleson, Annales de Navarra, torn. v. lib. 35, cap. 15. Histoire du Royaume de Navarre, p. 622.
—
Compendio, torn. iii. lib. 29, cap. 26.-) Abarca treats the story as an old wife's tale, and Garibay as an old woman for repeating it. Reyes de Aragon, torn. ii. rey 30, cap. 21. a Manifesto del Rey D. Fernando, July 30th, apud Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 236.— Lebrija, De Bello Navariensi, lib. 1, cap. 5.— Gari¬ bay, Compendio, torn. iii. lib. 29, cap. 26. Aleson, Annales de Navarra, torn. v. lib. 35, cap. 2.— Histoire du Royaume de Navarre, pp.
*
603. 604.
CONQUEST OF NA VARRE.
678
borders ; who, attracted by the strength of her natural position and her political weakness, would be sure, now that their own domestic discords were healed, to claim each the moiety which seemed naturally to fall within its own territorial limits. Particular events might accelerate or retard this result, but it was not in the power of human genius to avert its final
consummation. King Ferdinand, who descried the storm now gathering on the side of France, resolved to meet it promptly, and commanded his general to cross the mountains and occupy the districts of Lower Navarre. In this he expected the co-operation of the English. But he was disappointed. The marquis of Dorset alleged that the time consumed in the reduction of Navarre made it too late for the expedition against Guienne, which was now placed in a posture of defence. He loudly complained that his master had been duped by the Catholic king, who had used his ally to make conquests solely for himself; and, in spite of every remonstrance, he re-embarked his whole force, without waiting for orders ; "a pro¬ ceeding," says Ferdinand in one of his letters, " which touches me most deeply, from the stain it leaves on the honour of the most serene king my son-in-law, and the glory of the English nation, so distinguished in times past for high and chivalrous emprize."1 The duke of Alva, thus unsupported, was no match for the French under Longueville, strengthened, moreover, by the veteran corps returned from Italy with the brave La Palice. Indeed, he narrowly escaped being hemmed in between the two armies, and only succeeded in anticipating by a few hours the movements of La Palice, so as to make good his retreat through the pass of Roncesvalles and throw himself into Pampelona.2 Hither he was speedily followed by the French general, accompanied by Jean d'Albret. On the 27th of November the besiegers made a desperate though ineffectual assault on the city, which was repeated with equal ill-fortune on the two following days. The beleaguer¬ ing forces, in the meantime, were straitened for provisions ; and at length, after a siege of some weeks, on learning the arrival of fresh reinforcements under the duke of Najara,3 they broke up their encampment, and with¬ drew across the mountains ; and with them faded the last ray of hope for the restoration of the unfortunate monarch of Navarre.4 On the 1st of April in the following year, 15 13, Ferdinand effected a 1 See the king's third letter to Deza, Logrofio, November 12th, apud Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 236. Mariana, Hist, de Espana, torn. ii. lib. 30, cap. 12. Lebrija, De Bello Navariensi, lib. 1, cap. 7. Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 499. Herbert, Life of Henry VIII., p. 24. Holin-
that he brought into the field on this occasion 1100 horse and 3000 foot raised and equipped on his own estates. Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 507. 4 Memoires de Bayard, chap. — 55, 56. — Fleurange, Mdmoires, chap. 33.— Lebrija, De Bello Navariensi, lib. 1, cap. 8, 9. Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, torn. — shed, Chronicles, p. 571. ii. rey 30, cap. 21. Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 2 Garcilasso de la Vega alludes to these military i312- —Jean and Catharine d'Albret passed the re¬ exploits of the duke in his second eclogue : mainder of their days in their territories on the French side of the Pyrenees. They made one more Con mas ilustre nombre los arneses " de faint and fruitless attempt to recover their dominions, los fieros Franceses abollava." during the regency of Cardinal Ximenes. (Carba¬ Obras, ed. de Herrera, p. 505. jal, Anales, MS., cap. 12.) Broken in spirits, their ÿ Such was the power of the old duke of Najara health gradually declined, and neither of them long
—
— —
— —
B
CONQUEST OF NA VARRE. truce with Louis the
679
Twelfth, embracing their respective territories west
of the Alps. It continued a year, and at its expiration was renewed for a similar time.1 This arrangement, by which Louis sacrificed the interests of his ally the king of Navarre, gave Ferdinand ample time for settling and fortifying his new conquests ; while it left the war open in a quarter where, he well knew, others were more interested than himself to prose¬ cute it with vigour. The treaty must be allowed to be more defensible on the score of policy than of good faith.2 The allies loudly inveighed against the treachery of their confederate, who had so unscrupulously sacrificed the common interest by relieving France from the powerful diversion he was engaged to make on her western borders. It is no justification of wrong, that similar wrongs have been committed by others ; but those who commit them (and there was not one of the allies who could escape the imputation, amid the political profligacy of the
times) certainly forfeit the privilege to complain.3
survived the loss of their crown. Jean died June was concluded at Mechlin, in the names of Ferdi¬ 23d, 1517, and Catharine followed on the 12th of nand, the king of England, the emperor, and the February of the next year,—happy, at least, that, pope. (Rymer, Foedera, torn. xiii. pp. 354-358.) as misfortune had no power to divide them in life, The Castilian envoy, Don Luis Carroz, was not so they were not long separated by death. (His- present at Mechlin, but it was ratified and solemnly toire du Royaume de Navarre, p. 643. Aleson, sworn to by him, on behalf of his sovereign, in Annales de Navarra, torn. v. lib. 35, cap. 20, 21.) London, April 18th. (Ibid., torn. xiii. p. 363.) By Their bodies sleep side by side in the cathedral this treaty, Spain agreed to attack France in church of Lescar, in their own dominions of Beam ; Guienne, while the other powers were to co-operate and their fate is justly noticed by the Spanish his¬ by a descent on other quarters. (See also Dumont, torians as one of the most striking examples of that Corps diplomatique, torn. iv. part. 1, 110. 79.) This stern decree by which the sins of the fathers are was in direct contradiction of the treaty signed only visited on the children to the third and fourth gene¬ five days before at Orthbs, and, if made with the privity of King Ferdinand, must be allowed to be ration. 1 Flassan, Diplomatic Frangaise, torn. i. p. 293. a gratuitous display of perfidy, not easily matched —Rymer, Foedera, torn. xiii. pp. 350-352. Guic¬ in that age. As such, of course, it is stigmatized ciardini, Istoria, torn. vi. lib. 11, p. 82 ; lib. 12, p. by the French historians,— that is, the later ones, 168. Mariana, Hist, de Espana, torn. ii. lib. 30, for Ifind no comment on it in contemporary writers. cap. 22. " Fu cosa ridicola, " says Guicciardini in (See Rapin, History of England, translated by relation to this truce, " che nei medesimi giorni, che Tindal (London, 1785-9), vol. ii. pp. 93, 94.— Sisla si bandiva solennemente per tutta la Spagna, mondi, Hist, des Frangais, torn. xv. p. 626.) Ferdi¬ venne un araldo a significargli in nome del Re nand, when applied to by Henry VIII. to ratify the d'Inghilterra gli apparati potentissimi, che ei faceva acts of his minister, in the foilowing summer, re¬ per assaltare la Francia, e a sollecitare che egli fused, on the ground that the latter had transcended medesimamente movesse, secondo che aveva pro- his powers. (Herbert, Life of Hemy VIII., p. 29.) messo, la guerra dalla parte di Spagna." Istoria, The Spanish writers are silent. His assertion de¬ rives some probability from the tenor of one of the torn. vi. lib. 12, p. 84. Francesco Vettori, the Florentine ambassador articles, which provides that in case he refuses to the treaty it shall still be binding between confirm lay he that at the papal court, writes to Machiavelli awake two hours that night speculating on the real England and the emperor; language which, as it may seem to authorize, such a contin¬ anticipates, this making truce, motives of the Catholic king in which, regarded simply as a matter of policy, he gency.— Public treaties have, for obvious reasons, received as the surest basis for his¬ generally been various with this condemns in toto. He accompanies predictions respecting the consequences likely to re¬ tory. One might well doubt this, who attempts to discrepancies and contra¬ multifarious the reconcile occurred, never sult from it. These consequences however ; and the failure of his predictions may be dictions in those of the period under review. The then practised, was a as diplomacy, of science his arguments. of received as the best refutation mere game of finesse and falsehood, in which the Machiavelli, Opere, Lett, famigl., Aprile 21, 1513. 3 Guicciardini, Istoria, torn. vi. lib. xi, pp. 81, more solemn the protestations of the_ parties, 82.—Machiavelli, Opere, ubi supra.—Peter Martyr, the more #ground was there for distrusting their Opus Epist., epist. 538.—-On the 5th of April a treaty sincerity. for * [In several elaborate letters to his minister in England, Ferdinand gives a great variety of reasons haying having made the truce with France. One, on which he seems to lay particular stress, is that, and other taken a bad cold which had made him very ill, he had been solemnly charged by his confessor arei in the "persons of tender consciences" to seek a reconciliation with his enemies, as good Christians restonsd to twdd1), to <enter habit of doing when preparing for death. He is ready, however (being now only that, while 'he latter pur¬ into fresh engagements against France, if requested by Henry, stipulatingshall be confined to the acquis! sues the conuuest of Normandy and other provinces, his own movements the truce while it would render of Bdarnÿ—an operation which, he asserts, would be no infraction of Letters, Despatches, (Bergenroth, a great service to his ally by detaining French troops in that quarter. is that lie made strenuous and State Papers vol. ii.) What is really to be said in favour of Ferdinand the treaty against his signing to prevent efforts to inform his ambassador in England of the truce in tune
—
——
*
tiorf
France.- -Ed.]
—
C0NQUES1 Of NA VARKE.
68o
Ferdinand availed himself of the interval of repose now secured to settle his new conquests. He had transferred his residence first to Burgos, and afterwards to Logrono, that he might be near the theatre of operations. He was indefatigable in raising reinforcements and supplies, and expressed his intention at one time, notwithstanding the declining He showed his state of his health, to take the command in person. usual sagacity in various regulations for improving the police, healing the domestic feuds, as fatal to Navarre as the arms of its enemies,—and confirming and extending its municipal privileges and immunities, so as to conciliate the affections of his new subjects.1 On the 23d of March 15 13 the estates of Navarre took the usual oaths of allegiance to King Ferdinand.2 On the 15th of June 1515, the Catholic monarch, by a solemn act in cortes, held at Burgos, incorporated his new conquests into the kingdom of Castile.3 The event excited some surprise, considering his more intimate relations with Aragon. But it was to the arms of Castile that he was chiefly indebted for the conquest ; and it was on her superior wealth and resources that he relied for main¬ taining it. With this was combined the politic consideration that the Navarrese, naturally turbulent and factious, would be held more easily in subordination when associated with Castile than with Aragon, where the spirit of independence was higher, and often manifested itself in such bold assertion of popular rights as falls most unwelcome on a royal ear. To all this must be added the despair of issue by his present marriage, which had much abated his personal interest in enlarging the extent of his patrimonial domains. Foreign writers characterise the conquest of Navarre as a bold, unblushing usurpation, rendered more odious by the mask of religious hypocrisy. The national writers, on the other hand, have employed their pens industriously to vindicate it; some endeavouring to rake a good claim for Castile out of its ancient union with Navarre—almost as ancient, indeed, as the Moorish conquest. Others resort to considerations of expediency, relying on the "mutual benefits of the connection to both kingdoms ; arguments which prove little else than the weakness of the cause.4 All lay more or less stress on the celebrated bull of Julius the Second, of February 18th, 15 12, by which he excommunicated the sovereigns of Navarre as heretics, schismatics, and enemies of the
—
1 Carta del Rey a Don Diego Deza, Nov.
4 The honest canon 12th, Salazar de Mendoza (taking MS., cap. the hint from I.ebrija, indeed) finds abundant war¬ rant for Ferdinand's treatment of Navarre in the torn. vi. lib. 10, cap. 13, hard measure dealt by the Israelites of old to the 36, 43.— Carbaial, Anales, MS., alio 1513. people of Ephron, and to Sihon, king of the Amo2 Hist, du Royaume de Navarre, pp. 629, 630. rites. (Monarqula, torn. i. lib. 3, cap. 6.) It Aleson, Annales de Navarra, torn. v. lib. 35, cap. might seem strange that a Christian should look >6;® Garibay, Compendio, torn. iii. lib. 30, cap. 1. for authority in the practices of the race he so much Zurita, Anales, torn. vi. lib. 10, cap. 92.— Car- abominates, instead of the inspired precepts of the bajal,.Anales, MS., ano 1515.—Garibay, Compendio, Founder of his religion ! But in truth your torn. iii. lib. 30, cap. 1. Aleson, Annales de Na¬ thoroughbred casuist is apt to be very little of » varra, torn. v. lib. 35, cap. 7.— Sandoval, Hist, del Christian. F.nip. Carlos V ., torn. i. p. a6.
1512, apud Bernaldez, Reyes Catdlicos,
— cap. 16.— Zurita, Anales,
236. Aleson, Annales de Navarra, torn. v. lib. 35,
—
—
—
CONQUEST OF NAVARRE.
68 1
church; releasing their subjects from their allegiance, laying their
dominions under an interdict, and delivering them over to any who should take, or had already taken, possession of them.1 Most, indeed,
are content to rest on this, as the true basis and original ground of the conquest. The total silence of the Catholic king respecting this docu¬ ment before the invasion, and the omission of the national historians since to produce it, have caused much scepticism as to its existence. And although its recent publication puts this beyond doubt, the instru¬ ment contains, in my judgment, strong internal evidence for distrusting the accuracy of the date affixed to it, which should have been posterior to the invasion ; a circumstance materially affecting the argument, as it makes the papal sentence not the original basis of the war, but only a sanction subsequently obtained to cover its injustice and authorize retain¬ ing the fruits of it.2 But, whatever authority such a sanction may have had in the sixteenth century, it will find little respect in the present, at least beyond the limits of the Pyrenees. The only way in which the question can be fairly tried must be by those maxims of public law universally recognized as settling the intercourse of civilized nations; a science, indeed, imperfectly deve
1 See the original bull of
11.,apud Mariana, Julius ix. Apend. no. 2, ed. Valencia, 1796. " Joannem et Catharinam," says the bull, in the usual conciliatory style of the Vatican, " perditionis filios, — excommunicatos, anathemizatos, maledictos, aetemi supplicii reos,"
itself, any further than to warn it of the imminent danger in which it stood of falling into the schism. Now, it is obvious that this second bull, so general in its import, would have been entirely superfluous, in reference to Navarre, after the publication of the first ; while, on the other hand, nothing could be etc. " Our armies swore terribly in Flanders, cried more natural than that these general menaces and my uncle Toby, but nothing to this. For my own warnings, having proved ineffectual, should be part, Icould not have a heart to curse my dogs so." followed by the particular sentence of excommuni¬ 2 rhe ninth volume of the splendid Valencian cation contained in the bull of February. 3d. In edition of Mariana contains in the Appendix the fact, the bull of February makes repeated allusion famous bull of Julius II. of Feb. 18th, 1512, the to a former one, in such a manner as to leave no original of which is to be found in the royal archives doubt that the bull of July 21st is intended ; since of Barcelona. The editor, Don Francisco Ortiz y not only the sentiments but the very form of expres¬ Sanz, has accompanied it with an elaborate disqui¬ sion are perfectly coincident in both for whole sition, in which he makes the apostolic sentence sentences together.— 4th. Ferdinand makes no the great authority for the conquest. It was a mention of the papal excommunication, either in great triumph, undoubtedly, to be able to produce his private correspondence, where he discusses the the document, after the Spanish historians had grounds of the war, or in his manifesto to the been so long challenged in vain by foreign writers Navarrese, where it would have served his purpose to do this, and when its existence might well be quite as effectually as his arms. Isay nothing ol doubted, since no record of it appears 011 the papal the negative evidence afforded by the silence ol register. (Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, torn. ii. rey contemporary writers, as Lebrija, Carbajal, Ber3°, cap. 21.) Paris de Grassis, mattre des cere¬ naldez, and Martyr, who, while they allude to a sen¬ monies of the chapel of Julius II. and I.eo X., tence of excommunication passed in the consistory, makes no mention of bull or excommunication, or to the publication of the bull of July, give no although very exact and particular in reporting such intimation of the existence of that of February ; a facts. (Brequigny, Manuscrits de la Bibliotheque silence altogether inexplicable. The inference from du Roy, torn. ii. p. 570.) There is no reason that I all this is that the date of the bull of February 18th, know for doubting the genuineness of the present 1512, is erroneous ; that it should be placed at some instrument. There are conclusive reasons to my period posterior to the conquest, and consequently mind, however, for rejecting its date and assigning could not have served as the ground of it, but was it to some time posterior to the conquest. 1st. The probably obtained at the instance of the Catholic bull denounces John and Catharine as having king, in order, by the odium which it threw on the openly joined themselves to Louis XII. and borne sovereigns of Navarre, as excommunicate, to remove arms with him against England, Spain, and the that under which he lay himself, and at the same church > a charge for which there was no pretence time secure what might be deemed a sufficient till five months later.— 2d. With this bull the editor warrant for retaining his acquisitions. Readers in has given another, dated Rome, July 21st, 1512. general may think more time has been spent on the noticed by Peter Martyr. (Opus Epist.,_ epist. 497.) discussion than it is worth. But the important This latter is general in its import, being directed light in which it is viewed by those who entertain against all nations whatever, engaged in alliance more deference for a papal decree is sufficiently with France against the church. The sovereigns of attested by the length and number of the disquisi¬ Navarre are not even mentioned, nor the nation tions on it, down to the present century. Hist, de Espaiia, torn.
—
—
—
682
CONQUEST OF NAVARRE.
loped at that time, but in its general principles the same as now, founded, as these are, on the immutable basis of morality and justice. We must go back a step beyond the war, to the proximate cause of it. This was Ferdinand's demand of a free passage for his troops through Navarre. The demand was perfectly fair, and in ordinary cases would doubtless have been granted by a neutral nation.1 But that nation must, after all, be the only judge of its propriety, and Navarre may find a justification for her refusal on these grounds. First, that, in her weak and defenceless state, it was attended with danger to herself. Secondly, that, as by a previous and existing treaty with Spain, the validity of which was recognised in her new one of July 17th with France, she had agreed to refuse the right of passage to the latter nation, she consequently could not grant it to Spain without a violation of her neutrality.2 Thirdly, that the demand of a passage, however just in itself, was coupled with another, the surrender of the fortresses, which must compromise the independence of the kingdom.8 But although, for these reasons, the sovereigns of Navarre were war¬ ranted in refusing Ferdinand's request, they were not therefore authorized to declare war against him, which they virtually did by entering into a defensive alliance with his enemy Louis the Twelfth, and by pledging themselves to make war on the English and their confederates ; an article pointedly directed at the Catholic king. True, indeed, the treaty of Blois had not received the ratification of the Navarrese sovereigns ; but it was executed by their plenipotentiaries duly authorized, and, considering the intimate intercourse between the two nations, was undoubtedly made with their full knowledge and concurrence. Under these circumstances, it was scarcely to be expected that King Fer¬ dinand, when an accident had put him in possession of the result of these "•egotiations, should wait for a formal declaration of hostilities, and thus deprive himself of the advantage of anticipating the blow of his enemy. The right of making war would seem to include that of disposing of its fruits ; subject, however, to those principles of natural equity which should regulate every action, whether of a public or private nature. No principle can be clearer, for example, than that the penalty should be proportioned to the offence. Now, that inflicted on the sovereigns of Navarre, which went so far as to dispossess them of their crown and annihilate the political existence of their kingdom, was such as nothing but extraordinary aggres¬ sions on the part of the conquered nation, or the self-preservation of the victors, could justify. As neither of these contingencies existed in the 1 [It is hardly necessary to observe that this statement, if intended to have a general application, cannot be accepted as correct.— Ed.] 3 Dumont,
Corps diplomatique, torn. iv. part i,
no. 69. 3 According to Galindcz de Carbajal, only three
fortresses were originally demanded by Ferdinand. {Anales, MS., ano 151a.) He may have confounded
the number with that said to have been finally con¬ ceded by the king of Navarre ; a concession, how¬ ever, which amounted to little, since it excluded hy name two of the most important places required, and the sincerity of which may well be doubted, it, as it would seem, it was not made till after the negotiations with France had been adjusted, bee Zurita, Anales, lib. 10, cap. 7.
COJVQ VEST OF NA VARRE.
683
present case, !erdinancl s conduct must be regarded as a flagrant example of the abuse of the rights of conquest. We have been but too familiar, indeed, with similar acts of political injustice, and on a much larger scale, in the present civilized age. But although the number and splendour of the precedents may blunt our sensibility to the atrocity of the act, they can never constitute a legitimate warrant for its perpetration. While thus freely condemning Ferdinand's conduct in this transaction, I; cannot go along with those who, having inspected the subject less minutely, are disposed to regard it as the result of a cool, premeditated policy from the outset Ihe propositions originally made by him to Navarre appear to have been conceived in perfect good faith. The requisition of the for¬ tresses, impudent as it may seem, was nothing more than had been before made in Isabella's time, when it had been granted, and the security subse¬ quently restored, as soon as the emergency had passed away.1 The alternative proposed, of entering into the Holy League, presented many points of view so favourable to Navarre, that Ferdinand, ignorant as he then was of the precise footing on which she stood with France, might have seen no improbability in her closing with it. Had either alternative been embraced, there would have been no pretext for the invasion. Even when hostilities had been precipitated by the impolitic conduct of Navarre, Ferdinand (to judge, not from his public manifestoes only, but from his private correspondence) would seem to have at first contemplated holding the country only till the close of his French expedition.2 But the facility of retaining these conquests, when once acquired, was too strong a tempta¬ tion. It was easy to find some plausible pretext to justify it, and obtain such a sanction from the highest authority as should veil the injustice of the transaction from the world, and from his own eyes. And that these were blinded is but too true, if, as an Aragonese historian declares, he could remark on his death-bed "that, independently of the conquest having been undertaken at the instance of the sovereign pontiff for the extirpation of the schism, he felt his conscience as easy in keeping it as in keeping his crown of Aragon." 3
—
Ihave made use of three authorities exclusively devoted to Navarre, in the present History. 1. " L'Histoire du Royaume de Navarre, par un des Secretaires- Interprettes de sa Maiestÿ." Paris, 1596, 8vo. This anonymous work, from the pen of one of Henry IV.'s secretaries, is little else than a meagre compilation of facts, and these deeply coloured by the national prejudices of the writer. It derives some value from this circumstance,
however, in the contrast it affords to the Spanish version of the same transactions. 2. It covers A tract entitled " Ailii Antonii Nebrissensis de Bello Navariensi Libri Duo. manifesto, July 30th, 1513, apud Bernaldez, Reyes Lebrija, De Bello Catdlicos,;, MS., cap. 235. ' Navariensi, lib. 1, cap. 7. it. rey 30, cap. ji 3 torn. Aragon, de Reyes - See King Ferdinand's letter, July 30th, and his | Abarca,
1 Aleson, Annates de Navan-a, torn. v. lib. 35, Garibay, Compendio, torn. iii. lib. 39, cap. 13.
cap. i, 3.
—
'
—
684
DEATH OF GONSALVO.
less than thirty pages folio, and is chiefly occupied, as the title imports, with the military events of the conquest by the duke of Alva. It was originally incorporated in the volume containing its learned author's version, or rather paraphrase, of Pulgar's Chronicle, with some other matters ; and first appeared from the press of the younger Lebrija, " apud inclytam Granatam, 1545." 3- But the great work illustrating the history of Navarre is the " Annales del Reyno of which the best edition is that in seven volumes, folio, from the press of Ibafiez, Pamplona, 1766. Its typographical execution would be creditable to any country. The three first volumes were written by Moret, whose profound acquaint¬ ance with the antiquities of his nation has made his book indispensable to the student of this portion of its history. The fourth and fifth are the continuation of his work by Francisco de Aleson, a Jesuit who succeeded Moret as historiographer of Navarre. The two last volumes are devoted to investigations illustrating the antiquities of Navarre, from the pen of Moret, and are usually published separately from his great historic work. Aleson's continuation, extending from 1350 to 1527, is a production of considerable merit. It shows extensive research on the part of its author, who, however, has not always confined himself to the most authentic and accredited sources of information. His references exhibit a singular medley of original contemporary documents and apocryphal authorities of a very recent date. Though a Navarrese, he has written with the impartiality of one in whom local prejudices were extinguished in the more comprehensive national feelings of a Spaniard.
CHAPTER XXIV. DEATH OF GONSALVO DE CORDOVA.
— ILLNESS AND DEATH OF
-HIS CHARACTER.
FERDINAND.
—
— — —
Gonsalvo ordered to Italy. General Enthusiasm.- -The King's Distrust. Gonsalvo in Retirement.— Decline of his Health. His Death, and noble Character. Ferdinand's Illness.— It increases. He dies.— His Character.—A Contrast to Isabella. The Judg¬ ment of his Contemporaries.
—
—
Notwithstanding the good order which King Ferdinand maintained in Castile by his energetic conduct, as well as by his policy of diverting the effervescing spirits of the nation to foreign enterprise, he still expe¬ rienced annoyance from various causes. Among these were Maximilian's pretensions to the regency, as paternal grandfather of the heir-apparent The emperor, indeed, had more than once threatened to assert his pre¬ posterous claims to Castile in person \ and although this Quixotic monarch, who had been tilting against windmills all his life, failed to excite any powerful sensation, either by his threats or his promises, it furnished a plausible pretext for keeping alive a faction hostile to the interests of the Catholic king. In the winter of 1509 an arrangement was made with the emperor, through the mediation of Louis the Twelfth, by which he finally relin¬ quished his pretensions to the regency of Castile, in consideration of the
DEATH AND CHAEACTEE OF FERDINAND.
685
aid of three hundred lances, and the transfer to him of the fifty thousand ducats which Ferdinand was to receive from Pisa.1 No bribe was too paltry for a prince whose means were as narrow as his projects were vast and chimerical. Even after this pacification, the Austrian party contrived to disquiet the king, by maintaining the archduke Charles's pretensions to the government in the name of his unfortunate mother ; until at length the Spanish monarch came to entertain not merely distrust, but positive aversion, for his grandson ; while the latter, as he advanced in years, was taught to regard Ferdinand as one who excluded him from his rightful inheritance by a most flagrant act of usurpation.2 Ferdinand's suspicious temper found other grounds for uneasiness, where there was less warrant for it, in his jealousy of his illustrious sub¬ ject Gonsalvo de Cordova. This was particularly the case when circum¬ stances had disclosed the full extent of that general's popularity. After the defeat of Ravenna, the pope and the other allies of Ferdinand urged him in the most earnest manner to send the Great Captain into Italy, as the only man capable of checking the French arms and restoring the fortunes of the league. The king, trembling for the immediate safety of his own
dominions, gave a reluctant assent, and ordered Gonsalvo to hold himself in readiness to take command of an army to be instantly raised for Italy.' (May 1512.) These tidings were received with enthusiasm by the Castilians. Men of every rank pressed forward to serve under a chief whose service was itself sufficient passport to fame. " It actually seemed," says Martyr, " as if Spain were to be drained of all her noble and generous blood. Nothing appeared impossible, or even difficult, under such a leader. Hardly a cavalier in the land but would have thought it a reproach to remain behind. Truly marvellous," he adds, " is the authority which he has acquired over all orders of men ! " 4 Such was the zeal with which men enlisted under his banner, that great difficulty was found in completing the necessary levies for Navarre, then menaced by the French. The king, alarmed at this, and relieved from apprehensions of immediate danger to Naples by subsequent advices from that country, sent orders greatly reducing the number of forces to be raised. But this had little effect, since every man who had the means preferred acting as a volunteer under the Great Captain to any other service, however gainful ; and many a poor cavalier was there, who expended his little all, or incurred a heavy debt, in order to appear in the field in a style becoming the chivalry of Spain. Ferdinand's former distrust of his general was now augmented tenfold by this evidence of his unbounded popularity. He saw in imagination 1 Mariana, Hist, de Espana, torn. ii. lib. 29, cap.
31.— Zurita, Anales, torn. vi. lib. 8, cap. 45, 47. 2 Anales, torn. vi. lib. 10, cap. 55,
Zurita,
69-
—
Peter Martyr, Opus Epist , epist. 531. s Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 486.
—
Chrdnica del Gran Capitan, lib. 3, cap. 7.—Zurita, Anales, torn. vi. lib. 10, cap. 2. Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, lib. 3, p. 288. 4 Opus Epist. epist. 487.— Pulgar, Sumano, p.
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201.
DEATH OF GONSALVO.
686
much more danger to Naples from such a subject than from any enemy, however formidable. He had received intelligence, moreover, that the French were in full retreat towards the north. He hesitated no longer, but sent instructions to the Great Captain at Cordova to disband his levies, as the expedition would be postponed till after the present winter ; at the same time inviting such as chose to enlist in the service of Navarre.1 (August 15 12.) These tidings were received with indignant feelings by the whole army. The officers refused, nearly to a man, to engage in the proposed service. Gonsalvo, who understood the motives of this change in the royal purpose, was deeply sensible of what he regarded as a personal affront. He, how¬ ever, enjoined on his troops implicit obedience to the king's commands. Before dismissing them, as he knew that many had been drawn into expensive preparations far beyond their means, he distributed largesses among them, amounting to the immense sum, if we may credit his bio¬ graphers, of one hundred thousand ducats. " Never stint your hand," said he to his steward, who remonstrated on the magnitude of the dona¬ tive ; " there is no mode of enjoying one's property like giving it away." He then wrote a letter to the king, in which he gave free vent to his indig¬ nation, bitterly complaining of the ungenerous requital of his services, and asking leave to retire to his duchy of Terranova in Naples, since he could be no longer useful in Spain. This request was not calculated to lull Ferdinand's suspicions. He answered, however, " in the soft and pleasant style which he knew so well how to assume," says Zurita ; and after specify¬ ing his motives for relinquishing, however reluctantly, the expedition, he recommended Gonsalvo's return to Loja, at least until some more definite arrangement could be made respecting the affairs of Italy. Thus condemned to his former seclusion, the Great Captain resumed his late habits of life, freely opening his mansion to persons of merit, inter¬ esting himself in plans for ameliorating the condition of his tenantry and neighbours, and in this quiet way winning a more unquestionable title to human gratitude than when piling up the blood-stained trophies of victory. Alas for humanity, that it should have deemed otherwise ! 2 Another circumstance which disquieted the Catholic king was the failure of issue by his present wife. The natural desire of offspring was further stimulated by hatred of the house of Austria, which made him eager to abridge the ample inheritance about to descend on his grandson Charles. It must be confessed that it reflects little credit on his heart or his under¬ standing that he should have been so ready to sacrifice to personal resent¬ ment those noble plans for the consolidation of the monarchy which had
——
1 Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, lib. 3, p. 289. 14.— Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, pp- 29O1 291Chronica del Gran Capitan, lib. 3, cap. 7, 8. Chrdnica del Gran lib. 3, cap. 7, 8, 9»—' Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., fol. 38. Peter Martyr, Zurita, Anales, torn.Capitan, vi. cap. 28. — Quintan*, Opus Epist., epist. 498. Pulgar, Sumario, p. Espanoles cdlebres, torn.lib.i. io, pp. 328-332. — Abarca, •01. Reyes de Aragon, torn. ii. rey 30, cap. 20. Pu'c r" Mariana, Hist, de Espana, torn. ii. lib. 30, cap. Sumario, pp. 201-208.
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rJEATH AND CHARACTER OF FERDINAND.
687
so worthily occupied the attention both of himself and of Isabella in his early life. His wishes had nearly been realized. Queen Germaine was delivered of a son, March 3d, 1509. Providence, however, as if unwilling to defeat the glorious consummation of the union of the Spanish kingdoms, so long desired and nearly achieved, permitted the infant to live only a few hours.1 Ferdinand repined at the blessing denied him, now more than ever. In order to invigorate his constitution, he resorted to artificial means.2 The medicines which he took had the opposite effect. At least from this time, the spring of 15 13, he was afflicted with infirmities before unknown to him. Instead of his habitual equanimity and cheerfulness, he became impatient, irritable, and frequently a prey to morbid melancholy. He lost all relish for business, and even for amusements, except field-sports, to which he devoted the greater part of his time. The fever which consumed him made him impatient of long residence in any one place, and during these last years of his life the court was in perpetual migration. The unhappy monarch, alas ! could not fly from disease, or from himself.3 In the summer of 1515 he was found one night by his attendants in a state of insensibility, from which it was difficult to rouse him. He exhibited flashes of his former energy after this, however. On one occasion he made a journey to Aragon, in order to preside at the deli¬ berations of the cortes, and enforce the grant of supplies, to which the nobles, from selfish considerations, made resistance. The king failed, indeed, to bend their intractable tempers, but he displayed on the occa¬ sion all his wonted address and resolution.4 On his return to Castile, which, perhaps from the greater refinement and deference of the people, seems to have been always a more agreeable residence to him than his own kingdom of Aragon, he received intelli¬ gence very vexatious, in the irritable state of his mind. He learned that the Great Captain was preparing to embark for Flanders, with his friend the count of Urena, the marquis of Priego his nephew, and his future son-in-law, the count of Cabra. Some surmised that Gonsalvo designed to take command of the papal army in Italy ; others, to join himself with the archduke Charles, and introduce him, if possible, into Castile. Ferdinand, clinging to power more tenaciously as it was ready to slip of itself from his grasp, had little doubt that the latter was his purpose. He sent orders therefore to the south to prevent the meditated embarkation,
—
1 Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 1509. Zurita, October 1513, " non eadem facultas in audiendo, non eadem lenitas. Tria sunt illi, ne priores Anales, torn. vi. lib. 10, cap. 55. 2 They are detailed with such curious precision resumat vires, opposita : senilis setas J secundum by Martyr who is much too precise, indeed, for our namque agit et sexagesimum annum : uxor, quam pages- -as to leave little doubt of the fact. Opus a latere nunquam abigit : et venatus coeloque vivendi cupiditas, quae ilium in sylvis detinet, ultra Epist., epist. 531. s Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 1513, et seq. L. quam in juvenili setate, citra salutem, fas esset." Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. 188.—Gomez, De Opus Epist., epist. 529.
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—
4 Zurita, Anales, torn. vi. lib. 10, cap. 93, 94.— Rebus gestis, fob 146.— Sandoval, Hist, del Emp.ÿ Carlos V., torn. i. p. 27. " Non idem est vultus," Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 1515—peter Martyr, says Peter Martyr of the king, in a letter dated in Opus Epist., epist. 550.
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688
DEATH OF GONSALVO.
and, if necessary to seize Gonsalvo's person. But the latter was soon to embark on a voyage where no earthly arm could arrest him.1 In the aqfumn of 15 15 he was attacked by a quartan fever. Its approaches at first were mild. His constitution, naturally good, had been invigorated by the severe training of a military life ; and he had been so fortunate that, notwithstanding the free exposure of his person to danger, he had never received a wound. But although little alarm was occa¬ sioned at first by his illness, he found it impossible to throw it off ; and he removed to his residence in Granada, in hopes of deriving benefit from its salubrious climate. Every effort to rally the declining powers of nature proved unavailing; and on the 2d of December 1515 he expired, in his own palace at Granada, in the arms of his wife, and his beloved daughter Elvira.2 The death of this illustrious man diffused universal sorrow throughout the nation. All envy and unworthy suspicion died with him. The king and the whole court went into mourning. Funeral services were per¬ formed in his honour in the royal chapel and all the principal churches of the kingdom.3 Ferdinand addressed a letter of consolation to his duchess, in which he lamented the death of one " who had rendered him inestimable services, and to whom he had ever borne such sincere affec¬ tion " !4 His obsequies were celebrated with great magnificence in the ancient Moorish capital, under the superintendence of the count of Tendilla, the son and successor of Gonsalvo's old friend, the late governor of Granada.5 His remains, first deposited in the Franciscan monastery, were afterwards removed, and laid beneath a sumptuous mausoleum in the church of San Geronimo ;6 and more than a hundred banners and royal pennons, waving in melancholy pomp around the walls of the chapel, proclaimed the glorious achievements of the warrior who slept
—— —
1 Zurita, Anales, torn. vi. lib. io, cap. 5 Peter Martyr notices the death of this estimable 96. Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, torn. ii. rey 30, cap. 23. nobleman, full of years and of honours, in a letter Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, p. 292. dated July 18th, 1515. It is addressed to Tendilla's 2 Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, pp. 271, son, and breathes the consolation flowing from the 292 Chronica del Gran Capitan, lib. 3, cap. 9. Peter mild and philosophical spirit of its amiable author. Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 560.— Carbajaf, Anales, The count was made marquis of Mondejar by MS., ano 1515-— Garibay, Compendio, torn. ii. lib. Ferdinand a short time before his death. His 20, cap. 23. — Pulgar, Sumario, p. 209. various titles and dignities, including the govern¬ "Voylh la belle recompense," says Brantflme ment of Granada, descended to his eldest son, Don drily, "que fist ce roy [Ferdinand] & ce grand Luis, Martyr's early pupil ; his genius was inherited capitaine, a qui il estoit tant oblig£. Je croy encore in full measure by a younger, the famous Diego que si ces grands honneurs mortuaires et funerailles Hurtado de Mendoza. 6 The following epitaph is placed over them : luy eussent beaucoup coust£, et qu'il les luy eust fallu faire St ses propres cousts et despens, comme a ceux du peuple, il n'y eust pas consommd cent "Gonzali Fernandez pe Cordova escus, tant il estoit avare." CEuvres, torn. i. p. 78. Qui propria virtu te See a copy of the original letter in the Chronica Magni Ducis nomen del Gran Capitan (fol. 164). It is dated Jan. 3d, Proprium sibi fecit, 1516, only three weeks before Ferdinand's death. Ossa, Ihave before me a copy of an autograph letter of Perpetual tandem Ferdinand to his chaplain, Father De Aponte, in Luci restituenda, which the king directs him to wait on the duchess Huic interea tumulo and tender her the consolations proper under her Credita sunt ; bereavement, with the assurance of the unalterable Gloria minime consepulta." continuance of the royal favour and protection. The sympathetic tone of the epistle, and the delicate terms in which it is expressed, are honourable to See the Quarterly Review, No. 127, art. 1. Th* the monarch. writer copied the inscription from the tablet.
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I DEATH AND CHARACTER OE FERDINAND.
689
beneath.1 His noble wife, Doha Maria Manrique, survived him but a few days. His daughter Elvira inherited the princely titles and estates of her father, which, by her marriage with her kinsman the count of Cabra, were perpetuated in the house of Cordova.2 Gonsalvo, or, as he is called in Castilian, Gonzalo Hernandez de Cordova, was sixty-two years old at the time of his death. His counte¬ nance and person are represented to have been extremely handsome ; his manners, elegant and attractive, were stamped with that lofty dignity which so often distinguishes his countrymen. "He still bears," says Martyr, speaking of him in the last years of his life, " the same majestic port as when in the height of his former authority ; so that every one who visits him acknowledges the influence of his noble presence, as fully as when, at the head of armies, he gave laws to Italy."3 His splendid military successes, so gratifying to Castilian pride, have made the name of Gonsalvo as familiar to his countrymen as that of the Cid, which, floating down the stream of popular melody, has been treasured up as a part of the national history. His shining qualities, even more than his exploits, have been often made the theme of fiction ; and fiction, as usual, has dealt with them in a fashion to leave only confused and erroneous conceptions of both. More is known of the Spanish hero, "for instance, to foreign readers, from Florian's agreeable novel than from any authentic record of his actions. Yet Florian, by dwelling only on the dazzling and popular traits of his hero, has depicted him as the very personification of romantic chivalry. This certainly was not his character, which might be said to have been formed after a riper period of civilisa¬ tion than the age of chivalry. At least, it had none of the nonsense of that age— its fanciful vagaries, reckless adventure, and wild romantic gallantry.4 His characteristics were prudence, coolness, steadiness of purpose, and intimate knowledge of man. He understood, above all, the temper of his own countrymen. He may be said in some degree to have formed their military character ; their patience of severe training and hardship, their unflinching obedience, their inflexible spirit under reverses, and their decisive energy in the hour of action. It is certain that the Spanish soldier under his hands assumed an entirely new aspect from that which he had displayed in the romantic wars of the Peninsula.
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1 Navagiero, Viaggio fol. 24. On the top of the monument was seen the marble effigy of the Great
Captain, armed and kneeling. The banners and other military trophies, which continued to garnish the walls of the chapel, according to Pedraza, as late as 1600, had disappeared before the eighteenth century ; at least we may infer so from Colmenars silence respecting them in his account of the sepul¬ chre. Pedraza, Antigiiedad de Granada, fol. 114Colmenar, Delices de l'Espagne, torn. iii. p. 505. Chronica del Gran Capitan, lib. 3, cap. 9. Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, fol. 292. Gonsalvo was created duke of Terra Nuova and Sessa, and marquis of Bitonto, all in Italy, with estates of the
His princely honours were transmitted by Doha Elvira to her son, Gonzalo Hernandez de Cordova, who filled the posts, under Charles V., of governor of Milan and captain-general of Italy. Under Philip II. his descendants were raised to a Spanish dukedom, with the title of Dukes of Baena L. Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. 24. — Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., fol. 41.— Salazar de Mendoza, Dig-
nidades, p. 307. . 3 Opus Epist., epist. 498.— Giovio, Vita Magm Gonsalvi, p. 292 Pulgar, Stimario, p. 2rz. a cross-bow device his Gonsalvo assumed for moved by a pulley, with the motto, " Ingenium of a mind characteristic was superat vires." It more to policy than force and daring ex¬ value of 40,000 ducats rent. He was also grand trustingBrantfime, i. p. torn. OEuvres, 75constable of Naples, and a nobleman of Venice. ploit. 2 X
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DEATH OF GONSAL VO.
6go
Gonsalvo was untainted with the coarser vices characteristic of the time. He discovered none of that griping avarice which was too often the reproach of his countrymen in these wars. His hand and heart were liberal as the day. He betrayed none of the cruelty and licentiousness which disgrace the age of chivalry. On all occasions he was prompt to protect women from injury or insult. Although his distinguished manners and rank gave him obvious advantages with the sex, he never abused them ;1 and he has left a character, unimpeached by any historian, of unblemished morality in his domestic relations. This was a rare virtue in the sixteenth century. Gonsalvo's fame rests on his military prowess ; yet his character would seem in many respects better suited to the calm and cultivated walks of civil life. His government of Naples exhibited much discretion and sound policy ; 2 and there, as afterwards in his retirement, his polite and liberal tanners secured not merely the good-will but the strong attachment of those around him. His early education, like that of most of the noble cavaliers who came forward before the improvements introduced under Isabella, was taken up with knightly exercises more than intellectual accomplishments. He was never taught Latin, and had no pretensions to scholarship ; but he honoured and nobly recompensed it in others. His solid sense and liberal taste supplied all deficiencies in himself, and led him to select friends and companions from among the most enlightened and virtuous of the community.3 On this fair character there remains one foul reproach. This is his breach of faith in two memorable instances : first to the young duke of Calabria, and afterwards to Caesar Borgia, both of whom he betrayed into the hands of King Ferdinand, their personal enemy, in violation of his most solemn pledges.4 True, it was in obedience to his master's com¬ mands, and not to serve his own purposes ; and true also, this want of faith was the besetting sin of the age. But history has no warrant to tamper with right and wrong, or to brighten the character of its favourites by diminishing one shade of the abhorrence which attaches to their vices. They should rather be held up in their true deformity, as the more con¬ spicuous from the very greatness with which they are associated. It may be remarked, however, that the reiterated and unsparing opprobrium with 1 Giovio, Vitae Ilust. Virorum, p.
271.
Ibid., p. 281.— Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, lib. 30, cap. 1, 5. s Gtovio, Vita; Ilust. Virorum, p. 271. Amigo de sus amigos, i Que Senor para criados Y parientes ! i Qud enemigo de enemigos ! i Que maestro de esforzados Y valientes ! i Qud seso para discretos ! i Que gracia para donosos ! 2
"
i Qud razon ! Muy benigno 4 los sugetos, Y 4 los bravos y dariosos
Un leon." Copl*"-
Don Jorge Manrique.
. Borgia, after the death of his father Alex of a sa VI., escaped to Naples under favour duct signed by Gonsalvo. Here, howevei, ÿ triguing spirit soon engaged him m sc ie b. troubling the peace of Italy, and, indeed, jn j' his verting the authority of the Spaniards s , consequence of which the Great Captain 'ÿ person, and sent him prisoner to Castilefeast, is the Spanish version of the tostory,' [y0 course the one most favourable t|iat Mariana dismisses it with coolly remar S ÿ "the Great Captain seems to have con jv,me 1 public good, in the affair, more than his igte(J |jb. a conduct well worthy to be pondered an > by all princes and rulers." Hist, de Hsi ÿ
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DEATH AND CHARACTER OF FERDINAND.
691
which foreign writers, who have been little sensible to Gonsalvo's merits, have visited these offences, affords tolerable evidence that they are the only ones of any magnitude that can be charged on him. 1 As to the imputation of disloyalty, we have elsewhere had occasion to notice its apparent groundlessness. It would be strange, indeed, if the ungenerous treatment which he had experienced ever since his return from Naples had not provoked feelings of indignation in his bosom. Nor would it be surprising, under these circumstances, if he had been led to regard the archduke Charles's pretensions to the regency, as he came of age, with a favourable eye. There is no evidence, however, of this, or of any act unfriendly to Ferdinand's interests. His whole public life, on the con¬ trary, exhibited the truest loyalty : and the only stains that darken his fame were incurred by too unhesitating devotion to the wishes of his master. He is not the first nor the last statesman who has reaped the royal recompense of ingratitude for serving his king with greater zeal than he had served his Maker. Ferdinand's health, in the meantime, had declined so sensibly that it was evident he could not long survive the object of his jealousy.2 His disease had now settled into a dropsy, accompanied with a distressing affection of the heart. He found difficulty in breathing, complained that he was stifled in the crowded cities, and passed most of his time, even 1 That but one other troubled him, appears from Yet it must be confessed that it leaves an imputation the fact (if it be a fact) of Gonsalvo's declaring, on that one might wish— though with little chance of his_death-bed, that "there were three acts of his life success at this day— to see cleared away from the which he deeply repented." Two of these were his memory of Gonsalvo. The letter is of so much in¬ treatment of Borgia and the duke of Calabria. He terest and importance, that, as it has not found its was silent respecting the third. " Some historians way into print, Iwill give an extract from the ori¬ suppose," says Quintana, " that by this last he ginal : " El me respondio, bien creo que el Rey mi meant his omission to possess himself of the crown padre tiene alguna causa de desconfianga del Gran of Naples when it was in his power ! " These his¬ Capitan for que yo se que tui tenido flaiicas con el torians, no doubt, like Fouche. considered a blunder Key de Francia muerto, y con este de agora : pero si yo fuesse que el Rey mi padre sabria si es assi la in politics as worse than a crime. Since the publication of the earlier editions of this verdad y siendo assi castigarlo \ a, y sino servirme work, Ihave received from Spain a copy of a re¬ ya del : y aun quiero vos dezir quel dho Gran Capi¬ markable letter, which states some particulars that, tan me ha desseado servir a mi y me ha embiado had they sooner come under my notice, would un¬ un suyo & Tornay, mas yo no quise fazer nada, doubtedly have been taken into the account in aunque estuvo enojado del Rey mi padre : pero si making up my estimate of Gonsalvo's integrity. viene al proposito del Rey mi padre, y me lo quiere The letter, which is dated November 2d, 15x5, is embiar aqui con alguna cosa yo se lo guardare que addressed to King Ferdinand by the bishop of no tenga platicas de Francia, antes podra ser que Trinopoli, his ambassador at the court of London. nos sirvamos del contra Francia. Yo le dixe It details a conversation with the English monarch, que v. al. no creya que tuviese alguna disconfiamja Henry VIII., in which the latter, after some in¬ del dho Gran Capitan, antes creya que lo guarquiries about Gonsalvo, remarks, " Iwell believe daba para quando hubiesse neces idad de servise that the king my father-in-law has some ground for del." 2 The miraculous bell of Velilla, a little village in distrusting the Great Captain, as Iknow that he held a negotiation both with the late king of France Aragon, nine leagues from Saragossa, about this and with the present king [Charles VIII. and Louis time gave one of those prophetic tintinnabulations XII.]. If Iwere in my father's place, Iwould sift which always boded some great calamity to the the matter to the bottom; and if it were proved country. The side on which the blows fell denoted against the Great Captain, Iwould punish Him for the quarter where the disaster was to happen. Its and contri¬ it; and if it were not proved, Iwould make use of sound, says Dr. Dormer, caused dismaythe hearts of his services. Imust further tell you that the Great tion, with dismal " fear of change," in enough tostop strong was arm No it. who heard all to me, services Captain once made an offer of his cost sending one of his own followers to Tournay, where it on these occasions, as those found to theirvoice ill-omened Its it. attempted profanely who was at I although Ithen was, for the purpose ; but, March in time that time not on the best terms with King Ferdi¬ was heard for the twentieth and last it pro¬ 1679. As no event of importance followed, nand, Idid not choose to give him encouragement. See the edifying The bishop endeavours to explain the nature ÿof bably tolled for its own funeral. — miraculous the of Diego Dormer, Dr. in history, compromise to these services in such a way as not bell, as the loyalty of Gonsalvo. In regard to his corre¬ powers and performances of this celebrated witnesses. Dis' spondence with the French court, Henry's language duly authenticated by a host of pp. varios, 108-244 5s too vague to authorise any definite conclusion. cursos
DEATH OF GONSALVO.
692
after the weather became cold, in the fields and forests, occupied, as far as his strength permitted, with the fatiguing pleasures of the chase. As the winter advanced he bent his steps towards the south. He passed some time, in December, at a country-seat of the duke of Alva, near Placencia, where he hunted the stag. He then resumed his journey to Andalusia, but fell so ill on the way, at the little village of Madrigalejo, near Truxillo, that it was found impossible to advance further.1 (Jan. 1516.) The king seemed desirous of closing his eyes to the danger of his situa¬ tion as long as possible. He would not confess, nor even admit his con¬ fessor into his chamber.2 He showed similar jealousy of his grandson's envoy, Adrian of Utrecht. This person, the preceptor of Charles, and afterwards raised through his means to the papacy, had come into Castile some weeks before, with the ostensible view of making some permanent arrangement with Ferdinand in regard to the regency. The real motive, as the powers which he brought with him subsequently proved, was that he might be on the spot when the king died, and assume the reins of govern¬ ment. Ferdinand received the minister with cold civility ; and an agree¬ ment was entered into, by which the regency was guaranteed to the monarch, during not only Joanna's life, but his own. Concessions to a dying man cost nothing. Adrian, who was at Guadalupe at this time, no sooner heard of Ferdinand's illness than he hastened to Madrigalejo. The king, however, suspected the motives of his visit. " He has come to see me die," said he, and, refusing to admit him into his presence, ordered the mortified envoy back again to Guadalupe.3 At length the medical attendants ventured to inform the king of his real situation, conjuring him if he had any affairs of moment to settle, to do it without delay. He listened to them with composure, and from that moment seemed to recover all his customary fortitude and equanimity. After receiving the sacrament, and attending to his spiritual concerns, he called his attendants around his bed, to advise with them respecting the disposition of the government. Among those present at this time were his faithful followers the duke of Alva and the marquis of Denia, his majordomo, with several bishops and members of his council.4
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1 Carbajal, Anales, MS., alios 1513-1516. Gomez, ni recibiese los Sacramentos." According to the De Rebus gestis, fol. 146. Peter Martyr, Opus same writer, Ferdinand was buoyed up by the pre¬ Epist., epist. 542, 558, 561, 564.—Zurita, Anales, diction of an old sibyl, " la beata del Barco, that torn. vi. lib. 10, cap. 99. Carbajal states that the "he should not die till he had conquered Jerusalem. king had been warned by some soothsayer to beware (Anales, MS., cap. 2.) We are again reminded 01 of Madrigal, and that he had ever since avoided Shakspeare : entering the town of that name in Old Castile. The " It hath been prophesied to me many years, name of the place he was now in was not precisely Ishould not die but in Jerusalem." that indicated, but corresponded near enough for a King Henry IV. prediction. The event proved that the witches of 3 Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 1516, caP; t'~ Spain, like those of Scotland, could } 1 Gomez, De Rebus gestis, ubi supra. Peter Mar Keep the word of promise to our ear, " And Opus Epist., epist. 565. Sandoval, Hist, del i-mp. break it to our hope." Carlos V., torn. i. p. 35. The story derives little confirmation from the charac¬ Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 1516, cap- 2 ter of Ferdinand. He was not superstitious, at least Carbajal, who was a member of the royal ÿun.'( while his faculties were in vigour. was present with him during the whole of his 3 " A la verdad," says Carbajal, " le tentd mucho illness ; and his circumstantial and spirited narra el enemigo en aquel paso con incredulidad que le of it forms an exception to the general characte ponia de no morir tan presto, para que ni confesase his itinerary
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r DEATH AND CHARACTER OF FERDINAND.
693
The king, it seems, had made several wills. By one, executed at Bur¬ gos in 15 12, he had committed the government of Castile and Aragon to the infante Ferdinand during his brother Charles's absence. This young prince had been educated in Spain under the eye of his grandfather, who entertained a strong affection for him. The counsellors remonstrated in the plainest terms against this disposition of the regency. Ferdinand, they said, was too young to take the helm into his own hands. His appointment would be sure to create new factions in Castile; it would raise him up to be in a manner a rival of his brother, and kindle ambitious desires in his bosom, which could not fail to end in his disappointment, and perhaps destruction.1 The king, who would never have made such a devise in his better days, was more easily turned from his purpose now than he would once have been. "To whom then," he asked, "shall Ileave the regency?'' "To Ximenes, archbishop of Toledo," they replied. Ferdinand turned away his face, apparently in displeasure, but after a few moments' silence rejoined, " It is well ; he is certainly a good man, with honest intentions. He has no importunate friends or family to provide for. He owes everything to Queen Isabella and myself ; and as he has always been true to the inte¬ rests of our family, Ibelieve he will always remain so."2 He, however, could not so readily abandon the idea of some splendid establishment for his favourite grandson ; and he proposed to settle on him the grandmasterships of the military orders. But to this his attend¬ ants again objected,, on the same grounds as before ; adding that this powerful patronage was too great for any subject, and imploring him not to defeat the object which the late queen had so much at heart, of incor¬ porating it with the crown. "Ferdinand will be left very poor, then," exclaimed the king, with tears in his eyes. " He will have the good-will of his brother," replied one of his honest counsellors, "the best legacy your Highness can leave him." 8 The testament, as finally arranged, settled the succession of Aragon and Naples on his daughter Joanna and her heirs. Ihe administration of Castile during Charles's absence was intrusted to Ximenes, and that of Aragon to the king's natural son, the archbishop of Saragossa, whose good sense and popular manners made him acceptable to the people. Fie granted several places in the kingdom of Naples to the infante Ferdinand, with an annual stipend of fifty thousand ducats, chargeable on the public revenues. To his queen Germaine he left the yearly income of thirty thousand gold florins stipulated by the marriage settlement, with five thousand a year more during widowhood.4 The will contained, besides, Anales, MS., ano 1516, cap. ' Carbajal, Ibid., ubi supra.
2.
® Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 1516, cap. 2. Ferdinand's gay widow did not long enjoy this latter pension. Soon after his death, she gave her hand to the marquis of Brandenburg, and, he dying,
she married the prince of Calabria, who had been
detained in a sort of honourable captivity in Spain ever since the dethronement of his father, King Frederick. (Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 4, dial. 44.) It was the second sterile match, says Guicciardini, which Charles V., for obvious politic reasons, provided for the rightful heir of Naples. Istoria, torn. viii. lib. 15, p. 10
DEATH OF GONSALVO
694
several appropriations for pious and charitable purposes, but nothing worthy of particular note.1 Notwithstanding the simplicity of the various pro¬ visions of the testament, it was so long, from the formalities and periphrases with which it was encumbered, that there was scarce time to transcribe it in season for the royal signature. On the evening of the 2 2d of January 1516 he executed the instrument ; and a few hours later, between one and two of the morning of the 23d, Ferdinand breathed his last.2 The scene of this event was a small house belonging to the friars of Guadalupe. " In so wretched a tenement," exclaims Martyr, in his usual moralising vein, " did this lord of so many lands close his eyes upon the world." 3 Ferdinand was nearly sixty-four years old, of which forty-one had elapsed since he first swayed the sceptre of Castile, and thirty-seven since he held that of Aragon. A long reign ; long enough, indeed, to see most of those whom he had honoured and trusted of his subjects gathered to the dust, and a succession of contemporary monarchs come and disappear like shadows.4 He died deeply lamented by his native subjects, who enter¬ tained a partiality natural towards their own hereditary sovereign. The event was regarded with very different feelings by the Castilian nobles, who calculated their gains on the transfer of the reins from such old and steady hands into those of a young and inexperienced master. The commons, however, who had felt the good effect of this curb on the nobility in their own personal security, held his memory in reverence as that of a national benefactor.5 Ferdinand's remains were interred, agreeably to his orders, in Granada. A few of his most faithful adherents accompanied them, the greater part being deterred by a prudent caution of giving umbrage to Charles.6 The funeral train, however, was swelled by contributions from the various towns through which it passed. At Cordova especially, it is worthy of note that the marquis of Priego, who had slender obligations to Ferdinand, came )ut with all his household to pay the last melancholy honours to his remains. They were received with military respect in Granada, where the people, while they gazed on the sad spectacle, says Zurita, were naturally 1 Ferdinand's testament is to be found in Carspeaks of Madrigalejo as a " meschant village, bajal, Anales, MS. Dormer, Discursos varios, p. which he had seen. , 4 Since Ferdinand ascended the throne, he had Mariana, Hist, de Espana, ed. Valencia, seen no less than four kings of England, as many torn. ix. Apend. no. 2. 3 Oviedo, Quincuayenas, MS-, bat. 1, quinc of France, and also of Naples, three of Portugal, 3, dial. 9. The queen was at Alcala de Henares when two German emperors, and half-a-dozen popes. As she received tidings of her husband's illness. She to his own subjects, scarcely one of all those familiar posted with all possible despatch to Madrigaleio, to the reader in the course of our history now sur¬ but, although she reached it on the 20th, she was vived, except, indeed, the Nestor of his time, the not admitted, says Gomez, notwithstanding her octogenarian Ximenes. 4 Zurita, Anales, torn. vi. lib. 10, cap. 100. tears, to a private interview with the king, till the testament was executed, a few hours only before his Blancas, Commentarii, p. 275. Lanuza, HistoriaS death. De Rebus gestis, fol. 147. torn. i. lib. 1, cap. 25. 3 Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 6 Zurita, Anales, ubi supra. The honest Martyr 1516. L. Marineo, Cosas memorable.-., fol. 188. Gomez, De Rebus was one of the few who paid this last tribu e 0 gestis, fol. 148. "Tot regnorum dominus, totque respect to their ancient master. " Ego ut mortuo palmarum cumulis ornatus, Christiana; reiigionis dehitum prsestem," says he, in a letter to Pnncc amplificator et prostrator hostium, Rex in rusticana Charles's physician, " corpus ejus exanime, Granaobiit casa, et pauper contra hominum opinionem tam,sepulchro sedem destinatam, comitabor. Opus obiit." Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 566. Epist., epist. 566. Brant6me(Vies des Hoinmes illustres, p. 72), who
393etseq.
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DEATH AND CHARACTER OF FERDINAND.
695
affected as they called to mind the pomp and splendour of his triumphal entry on the first occupation of the Moorish capital.1 By his dying injunctions all unnecessary ostentation was interdicted at his funeral. His body was laid by the side of Isabella's in the monastery of the Alhambra ; and the year following,2 when the royal chapel of the metropolitan church was completed, they were both transported thither. A magnificent mausoleum of white marble was erected over them by their grandson, Charles the Fifth. It was executed in a style worthy of the age. The sides were adorned with figures of angels and saints, richly sculptured in bas-relief. On the top reposed the effigies of the illustrious pair, whose titles and merits were commemorated in the following brief and not very felicitous inscription :— " MAHOMETICiE SECI7E PROSTRATORES, ET HASRETICjE PERVICACIjE EXTINCTORES, FeRNANDUS ArAGONUM, ET HELISABETA CaSTELL/E, VIR ET UXOR UNANIMES, CaTHOLICI APPELLATI, MARMOREO CLAUDUNTUR HOC TUMULO." 3 King Ferdinand's personal appearance has been elsewhere noticed. He " was of the middle size," says a contemporary who knew him well. " His complexion was fresh ; his eyes bright and animated ; his nose and mouth small and finely formed, and his teeth white ; his forehead lofty and serene ; with flowing hair of a bright chestnut colour. His manners were courteous, and his countenance seldom clouded by anything like spleen or melancholy. He was grave in speech and action, and had a marvellous dignity of presence. His whole demeanour, in fine, was truly that of a great king. For this flattering portrait Ferdinand must have sat at an earlier and happier period of his life.4 His education, owing to the troubled state of the times, had been neglected in his boyhood, though he was early instructed in all the generous pastimes and exercises of chivalry.6 He was esteemed one of the most perfect horsemen of his court. He led an active life, and the only kind of reading he appeared to relish was history. It was natural that so busy an actor on the great political theatre should have found peculiar interest and instruction in this study.6 He was naturally of an equable temper, and inclined to moderation in
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Anales, torn. vi. lib. 10, cap. 100. Peter Martyri Opus Epist., epist. 572. Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, torn. ii. rey 30, cap. 24. Carbajal, Anales,
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MS., ano 1516, cap. 5.
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rappellent la renaissance des arts en Italie, et sont k la fois d'une belle execution et d'une conception noble." Laborde, Voyage pittoresque, torn. ii.
—
p. 25. Pul4 L. Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. 182 Hist., torn. vi. Ilust. 21. also in the morning According to Pedraza, this event did not take place gar's portrait of the king, taken live did not writer the of his life, the close of which Antigiiedad de Granada, lib. 3, cap. 7. >525 "Habia," 3 Pedraza, Antigiiedad de Granada, lib. 3, cap. to see, is equally bright and pleasing. el con qualquier que singular, 7- " Assai bello per Spagna," says Navagiero, who, says he, "una gracia porque as an Italian, had a right to be fastidious. (Viaggio, fablese, luego le amaba 6 le deseaba servir, Reyes Cat<5amigable." fol. 23.) The artist, however, was not a Spaniard ; tenia la communicacion at least common tradition assigns the work to Philip licos, p. 36. 5 He tilted lightly," says Puigar, "and with a of Burgundy, an eminent sculptor of the period, who by any man in the kingdom." has left many specimens of his excellence in Toledo dexterity not surpassed and other parts of Spain. (Mem. de la Acad, de Reyes Catdlicos, ubi supra. 6 L. Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. 153. work magnificent Hist., torn. vi. p. 577.) Laborde's de Aragon, torn. ii. rey 30, cap. 24. 2 Mem. de la Acad, de
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contains an engraving of the monuments of the Abarca, Reyes Sandoval, Hist, del Emp. Carlos V., torn. i. p 37. Catholic sovereigns and Philip and Joanna; "qui
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DEATH OF GONSALVO.
696 all things.
The only amusement for which he cared much was hunting, especially falconry, and that he never carried to excess till his last years.1 He was indefatigable in application to business. He had no relish for the pleasures of the table, and, like Isabella, was temperate even to abstemiousness in his diet.2 He was frugal in his domestic and personal expenditure ; partly, no doubt, from a willingness to rebuke the opposite spirit of wastefulness and ostentation in his nobles. He lost no good opportunity of doing this. On one occasion, it is said, he turned to a gallant of the court, noted for his extravagance in dress, and, laying his hand on his own doublet, exclaimed, " Excellent stuff this ; it has lasted me three pair of sleeves ! " 3 This spirit of economy was carried so far as to bring on him the reproach of parsimony.4 And parsimony, though not so pernicious on the whole as the opposite vice of prodigality, has always found far less favour with the multitude, from the appearance of disin¬ terestedness which the latter carries with it. Prodigality in a king, hot ever, who draws not on his own resources, but on the public, forfeits even *his equivocal claim to applause. But, in truth, Ferdinand was rather frugal than parsimonious. His income was moderate ; his enterprises numerous and vast. It was impossible that he could meet them without husbanding his resources with the most careful economy.5 No one has accused him of attempting to enrich his exchequer by the venal sale of offices, like Louis the Twelfth ; or by griping extortion, like another royal contemporary, Henry the Seventh. He amassed no treasure,6 and, indeed. died so poor that he left scarcely enough in his coffers to defray the charges of his funeral.7 Ferdinand was devout ; at least he was scrupulous in regard to the day of need. "Mas el Rey," says Zurita, "que siempre supo gastar su dinero provechosamente, y nunca fue escasso en despendello en las cosas del estado, tuvo mas aparejo para emplearlo, que para encerrarlo." (Anales, torn. vi. fol. 225.) The historian, it must be allowed, lays quite as much Henrique! grand admiral : " we are to have a fowl emphasis on his liberality as it will bear. 7 Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, torn. ii. rey 30, cap. for dinner to-day." (Sempere, Hist, del Luxo, torn. ii. p. 2, nota.) The royal cuisztte would have 24. Zurita, Anales, torn. vi. lib. 10, cap. ioo--" afforded small scope for the talents of a Vatel or an Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 566. " Vix ad Ude. funeris pompam et paucis familiaribus prarbendas :l Sempere, Hist, del Luxo, ubi supra. vestes pullatas, pecuniae apud eum, neque ahbi Machiavelli, by a single coup de pinceau, thus congestas, repertae sunt ; quod nemo unquam de ' tharacterizes, or caricatures, the princes of his time : vivente judicavit." (Peter Martyr, ubi supra.) "Un imperatore instabile e vario ; un re di Francia Guicciardini alludes to the same fact, as evidence tdegnoso e pauroso ; un re d' Inghilterra ricco, of the injustice of the imputations on Ferdinand. feroce, e cupido di gloria ; un re di Spagna taccagno "Ma accade," adds the historian, truly enough, t avaro ; per gli altri re, io no li conosco." Cicero, "quasi sempre per il giudizio corrotto degli uomini, with his usual practical good sense, does not dis¬ che nei Re ipiii lodata la prodigalith, benche a dain to enumerate frugality in his catalogue of quella sia annessa la rapacith. che la parsimoma royal virtues : " Omnes sunt in illo regise virtutes ; congiunta con l'astinenza dalla roba di altri. sed pratcipue singularis et admiranda frugalitas ; (Istoria, torn. vi. lib. 12, p. 273.) The state ot etsz hoc verbo scio laudari reges non so/erz." Ferdinand's coffers formed, indeed, a strong con¬ Oratio pro Rege Dciotaro. trast to that of his brother monarch's, Henry VII., s The revenues of his own kingdom of Aragon whose treasure of store," to borrow the words ot were very limited. His principal foreign expedi¬ " Bacon, left at his death, under his own key and tions were undertaken solely on account of that keeping,"amounted unto the sum of eighteen hun¬ crown ; and this, notwithstanding the aid from dred thousand pounds sterling ; a huge mass ot Castile, may explain, and in some degree excuse, money, even for these times. (Hist, of Henry his very scanty remittances to his troops. VII., Works, vol. v. p. 183.) Sir Edward Coke 6 On one occasion, having obtained a liberal swells this huge mass to "fifty and three hundred supply from the states of Aragon (a rare occurrence), thousand pounds 1 Institutes, part 4, chap. 35" lis counsellors advised him to lock it up against a
1 Pulgar, indeed, notices his fondness for chess, tennis, and other games of skill, in early life. Reyes Catdlicos, part. 2, cap. 3. 2 L. Marineo, Cosasmemorables, fol. 182. Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, part. 2, cap. 3.— 11 Stop and dine with us," he was known to say to his uncle, the
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DEATH AND CHARACTER OR FERDINAND.
697
exterior of religion. He was punctual in attendance on mass, careful to observe all the ordinances and ceremonies of his church, and left many tokens of his piety, after the fashion of the time, in sumptuous edifices and endowments for religious purposes. Although not a superstitious man for the age, he is certainly obnoxious to the reproach of bigotry; for he co-operated with Isabella in all her exceptionable measures in Castile, and spared no effort to fasten the odious yoke of the Inquisition on Aragon ; and subsequently, though happily with less success, on Naples.1 Ferdinand has incurred the more serious charge of hypocrisy. His Catholic zeal was observed to be marvellously efficacious in furthering his temporal interests.2 His most objectionable enterprises even were covered with a veil of religion, in this, however, he did not materially differ from the practice of the age. Some of the most scandalous wars of that period were ostensibly at the bidding of the church, or in defence of Christendom against the infidel. This ostentation of a religious rnon/e was indeed very usual with the Spanish and Portuguese. The crusading spirit, nourished by their struggle with the Moors, and subsequently by their African and American expeditions, gave such a religious tone habitually to their feelings as shed an illusion over their actions and enterprises, frequently disguising their true character even from themselves. It will not be so easy to acquit Ferdinand of the reproach of perfidy which foreign writers have so deeply branded on his name,3 and which those of his own nation have sought rather to palliate than to deny.4 It is but fair to him, however, even here, to take a glance at the age. He came forward when government was in a state of transition from the feudal -forms to those which it has assumed in modern times ; when the superior ' Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, torn. ii. rey 30, cap. 24. — L. Marineo, Cosas memorables, fob 182.— Zurita Anales, lib. 9, cap. 20.— Ferdinand's conduct in regard to the Inquisition in Aragon displayed singular duplicity. In consequence of the remon¬
strance of cortes, in 1512, in which that high-spirited body set forth the various usurpations of the Holy
Office, Ferdinand signed a compact, abridging its jurisdiction. He repented of these concessions, however, and in the following year obtained from Rome a dispensation from his engagements. This proceeding produced such an alarming excitement in the kingdom that the monarch found it expedient to renounce the papal brief, and apply for another, confirming his former compact. (Llorente, Hist. de 1'Inquisition, torn. i. pp. 371 et seq.) One may well d. ubt whether bigotry entered as largely as less pardonable motives of state policy into this
miserable juggling. 2 " Disoit-on," says I'rantdme, "que la reyne Isabelle de Castille e'stoit une fort devote et religieuse princesse, et que luy, quel grand zele qu il y eust, n'estoit devolieux que par ypocrisie, couvrant ses actes et ambitions par ce sainct zele de religion. (CEuvres, tom.i. p. 70.) "Coprl, 'says Guicciardini, " quasi tutte le sue cupidith sotto colore di onesto zelo della religione e di santa intenzione al bone
comune." (Istoria, torn. vi. lib. 12, p. 274.) The penetrating eye of Machiavelli glances at the same trait. II Principe, cap. 21. " Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 12, p. 273.— DuBellay, Memoires, apud Petitot, Collection des Memoires, torn. xvii. p. 272. — Giovio, Plist. sui Temporis, lib. it, p. 160 ; lib. 16, p. 336. — Machiavelli, Opere! torn. ix. Lett, diverse, no. 6, ed. Milano, 1805.— Herbert, Life of Henry VIII., p. 63.— Sismondi, Rdpubliques Italiennes, torn. xvi. cap. 112.— Voltaire sums up Ferdinand's character 111 the fol¬ lowing pithy sentence : " On l'appelait en Espagne le sage, le /undent ; en Italic, lefiieux ;en France et a Londrcs, le fterjidc." Essai sur les Mceurs, chap. 114.* 4 " Homo era de verdad," says I'ulgar, " come quiera que las necesidades gra/ufes en que ie pusieron las guerras, le facian algunas veces variar." (Reyes Catdlicos, part. 2, cap. 3.) Zurita exposes and condemns this blemish in his hero's character with a candour which does him credit : notado, no solo de los estrangeros, '' Fuede muy sus naturales, que no guardava la verdad, pero y fe que prometia ; y que se anteponia siempre, y soprepujava el respeto de su propria utilidad, Anales, torn. vi. a lo que era justo y honesto. fob 406.
Ferdinam had not the reputation, among the princes of his * [ Bergenroth, however, asserts that 1"Certainly, he says, "Queen Isabella excelled her husband in time, of being a very untruthful man. Papers, vol. i., Introduction.) Such disregard to [sic] veracity." (Letters, Despatches, and State judgments, in defiance of all evidence, require no con ment.— Ed.]
DEA TH OF GONSAL VO.
698
strength of the great vassals was circumvented by the superior policy of the reigning princes. It was the dawn of the triumph of intellect over the brute force which had hitherto controlled the movements of nations, as of individuals. The same policy which these monarchs had pursued in their own domestic relations they introduced into those with foreign states, when, at the close of the fifteenth century, the barriers that had so long kept them asunder were broken down. Italy was the first field on which the great powers were brought into anything like a general collision. It was the country, too, in which this crafty policy had been first studied and reduced to a regular system. A single extract from the political manual of that age 1 may serve as a key to the whole science, as then understood. " A prudent prince," says Machiavelli, " will not, and ought not to, observe his engagements when it would operate to his disadvantage, and the causes no longer exist which induced him to make them."2 Sufficient evidence of the practical application of the maxim may be found in the manifold treaties of the period, so contradictory, or, what is to the same purpose for our present argument, so confirmatory, of one another in their tenor, as clearly to show the impotence of all engagements. There were no less than four several treaties, in the course of three years, solemnly stipulating the marriage of the archduke Charles and Claude of France. Louis the Twelfth violated his engagements, and the marriage alter all never took place.3 Such was the school in which Ferdinand was to make trial of his skill with his brother monarchs. He had an able instructor in his father, John the Second of Aragon, and the result showed that the lessons were not lost on him. " He was vigilant, wary, and subtle," writes a French contem¬ porary, " and few histories make mention of his being outwitted in the whole course of his life."4 Fie played the game with more adroitness than his opponents, and he won it. Success, as usual, brought on him the reproaches of the losers. This is particularly true of the French, whose master, Louis the Twelfth, was more directly pitted against him.5 Yet Ferdinand does not appear to be a whit more obnoxious to the charge of unfairness than his opponent.0 If he deserted his allies when it suited his 1 Charles V., in particular, testified his respect 1 parut mÿcontent qu'il lui ravit une partie de sa for Machiavelli by having the " Principe " trans¬ gloire ; II itt a bien menti, I'ivrogtu, dit-il, avec lated for his own use. loule la grossieretd du temps, je I'ai tromfii plus de 2 Machiavelli, Opere, torn, vi., II Principe, cap. dir." (Gaillard, Rivahtd, torn. iv. p. 240.) The 18, ed. Genova, 1798. anecdote has been repeated by other modern 3 Dumont, Corps diplomatique, torn. iv. part 1, writers, Iknow not on what authority. Ferdinand nos. 7, 11, 28, 29. Seyssel, Hist, de LouysXIl. , pp. was too shrewd a politician to hazard his game by St. Gelais, Hist, de Louys XII., p. 184. playing the braggart. 228-230 4 Mdmoirs de Bayard, chap. 61.— "This 6 Paolo Giovio strikes the balance of their prince," says Lord Herbert, who was not disposed to over¬ respective merits in this particular, in the following rate the talents, any more than the virtues, of terms : Ex horum enim longe maximorum nostra: " Ferdinand, " was thought the most active and tempestatis regum ingeniis, et turn liquidb et politique of his time. No man knew better how to inultum antea prteclare compertum est, nihil omnino serve his turn ,on everybody, or to make their ends sanctum et vel in rite conceptis sancitinviolabile, conduce to his. ' Life of Henry VIII., p. 63. isque foederibus reperiri, qubd, in proferendis 1m5 According to them, the Catholic king took no periis augendisque opibus, apud eos nihil ad illustns great pains to conceal bis treachery. "Quelqu'un iamae interesset, dolone et nusquam sine laldisant un jour a Ferdinand, que Louis XII. laciis, decus an fide integra veraque virtute niterentir. "accusoit de l'avoir trompe trois fois, Ferdinand Hist, sui Temporis. lib. 11, p. 160.
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DEATH AND CHARACTER OF FERDINAND.
699
convenience, he, at least, did not deliberately plot their destruction and betray them into the hands of their deadly enemy, as his rival did with Venice in the league of Cambray.1 The partition of Naples, the most scandalous transaction of the period, he shared equally with Louis ; and if the latter has escaped the reproach of the usurpation of Navarre, it was because the premature death of his general deprived him of the pretext and means for achieving it. Yet Louis the Twelfth, the father of his people," " has gone down to posterity with a high and honourable reputation.2 Ferdinand, unfortunately for his popularity, had nothing of the frank and cordial temper, the genial expansion of the soul, which begets love. He carried the same cautious and impenetrable frigidity into private life that he showed in public. " No one," says a writer of the time, "could read his thoughts by any change of his countenance." 5 Calm and calculating, even in trifles, it was too obvious that everything had exclusive reference to self. He seemed to estimate his friends only by the amount of services they could render him. He was not always mindful of these services. Witness his ungenerous treatment of Columbus, the Great Captain, Navarro, Ximenes,— the men who shed the brightest lustre and the most substantial benefits on his reign. Witness also his insensibility to the virtues and long attachment of Isabella, whose memory he could so soon dishonour by a union with one every way unworthy to be her successor. Ferdinand's connection with Isabella, while it reflected infinite glory on his reign, suggests a contrast most unfavourable to his character. Hers was all magnanimity, disinterestedness, and deep devotion to the interests of her people. His was the spirit of egotism. The circle of his views might be more or less expanded, but self was the steady, unchangeable centre. Her heart beat with the generous sympathies of friendship, and the purest constancy to the first, the only object of her love. We have seen the measure of his sensibilities in other relations. They were not more refined in this ; and he proved himself unworthy of the admirable woman with whom his destinies were united, by indulging in those vicious gallantries too generally sanctioned by the age.4 Ferdinand, in fine, a shrewd and politic prince, " surpassing," as a French writer, not his friend,. 1 An equally pertinent example occurs in the Aragon, was born of the viscountess of Eboli, a efficient support he gave Caesar Borgia in his Catalan lady. He was mad-: achbishop of Saraflagitious enterprises against some of the most faith¬ gossa when only six years old. There was little of ful allies of France. See Sismondi, Republiques the religious profession, however, in his life. He took an active part in the political and military Italiennes, torn. xiii. cap. 101. Read the honeyed panegyrics of Seyssel, St. movements of the period, and seems to have been less scrupulous in his gallantries than his even nothing Gaillard, of to even, say Gelais, Voltaire were attractive, Varillas, e tutti quanti, undiluted by scarce a drop father. His manners in private life of censure. Rare indeed is it to find one so imbued and his public conduct discreet. His father always and intrusted affection, peculiar with him with the spirit of philosophy as to raise himself regarded as we have seen, above the local or national prejudices which pass him with the regency of Aragon, daughters, three also, had Ferdinand death. for patriotism with the vulgar. Sismondi is the at his them a noble Portu¬ only writer in the French language, that has come by three different ladies, one ofnamed Hona Juana, was child eldest The under my notice, who has weighed the deserts of guese. constable of Castile. The l.ouis XII. in the historic balance with impartiality and married the grand others, each named Maria, embraced the religious and candour. And Sismondi is not a Frenchman. profession in a convent in Madrigal. L- Marineo, 3 Giovio, Hist, sui Temporis, lib. 16, p. 335de Mendoza.. Ferdinand left four natural children, one son Cosas memorables, fol. 188.—Salazar and three daughters. The former, Hon Alonso de | Monarqufa, torn. i. p. 410.
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DEATH OF G0NSALV0.
700
has remarked, "all the statesmen of his time in the science of the cabinet," 1 may be taken as the representative of the peculiar genius of the age ; while Isabella, discarding all the petty artifices of state policy, and pursuing the noblest ends by the noblest means, stands far above her age. In his illustrious consort Ferdinand may be said to have lost his good genius.2 From that time his fortunes were under a cloud. Not that victory sat less constantly on his banner ; but at home he had lost
" All that should accompany old age,
As honour, love, obedience, troops of friends."
His ill-advised marriage disgusted his Castilian subjects. He ruled over them, indeed, but more in severity than in love. The beauty of his young queen opened new sources of jealousy ;3 while the disparity of their ages, and her fondness for frivolous pleasure, as little qualified her to be his partner in prosperity as his solace in declining years.4 His tenacity of power drew him into vulgar squabbles with those most nearly allied to him by blood, which settled into a mortal aversion. Finally, bodily infirmity broke the energies of his mind, sour suspicions corroded his heart, and he had the misfortune to live long after he had lost all that could make life desirable. Let us turn from this gloomy picture to the brighter season of the morning and meridian of his life ; when he sat with Isabella on the united thrones of Castile and Aragon, strong in the love of his own subjects, and in the fear and respect of his enemies. We shall then find much in his character to admire; his impartial justice in the administration of the laws ; his watchful solicitude to shield the weak from the oppression of 1 Enfin il surpassa tous les Princes de son siecle en la science du Cabinet, et c'esl a lui qu'on doit attribuer le premier et le souverain usage de la
"
politique moderne." Varillas, Politique de Ferdi¬ nand, liv. 3, disc. ro. 2 Brantdme notices a sobriquet which his country¬ men had given to Ferdinand. " Nos Francois appelloient ce roy Ferdinand Jehan Gipon, je ne sijay pour quelle derision ; mais il nous cousta bon, et nous fist bien du mal, et fust un grand roy et sage." Which his ancient editor thus explains : Gipon de l'italien giubone, c'est que nous appellons jupon et jupe ; voulant par lh taxer ce prince de s'etre laisse gouverner par Isabelle, reine de Castile, sa femme, dont il endossoit la jupe , pour ainsi dire, pendant qu'elle portoit les chavsses." (Vies des Homines illustres, disc. 5.) There is morehumour than truth in the etymology. The gipon was part of a man's attire, being, as Mr. Tyrwhitt defines it, " a short cassock," and was worn under the armour. Thus, Chaucer, in the Prologue to his " Canterbury Tales," says of his knight's dress,
fustian he wered a gipon " Of Alle besmotred with his habergeon.'
b.1
Again, in his " Knighte's Tale," Som wol ben armed in an habergeon, " And in a brest-plate, and in a gipon." * 3 When Ferdinand visited Aragon, in 1515, during his troubles with the cortes, he imprisoned the vicechancellor, Antonio Agustin ; being moved to this, according to Carbajal, by his jealousy of that minister's attentions to his young queen. (Anales, MS., aiio 1515.) It is possible Zurita, however, treats it as mere scandal, referring the imprisonment to political offences exclusively. Anales, torn. vi. fol. 393.— See also Dormer, Anales de la Corona de Aragon (Zaragoza, 1697), lib. 1, cap. 9. ' Era poco hermosa," says Sandoval, who grudges her even this quality, algo coja, amiga inucho de holgarse, y andar en banquetes, huertos y jardmes, y en fiestas. Introduxo esta Setiora en Castilla comidas soberbias, siendo los Castellanos, y aun sus Reyes muy moderados en esto. Pasabansele pocos dias que no convidase, 6 fuese convidada. La que mas gastaba en fiestas y banquetes Hist, del Emp. con ella, era_ mas su amiga." Carlos V., torn. i. p. 12.
*
no 1u?stlon ab°ut tbe identity of gij>e and gipon with Fr. juje and jupon ; It. giubba, giuppa, and giubbone giuppone ;low Lat. juja, zuppa ; and old Germ, jofie, joppe , jujbe. The gannenl designated by these different forms was common to both sexes, and is variously defined as ajerkin, cassock, Ua la" dl™nutlves.ÿ{'<Wfo and giubberello, seem to offer the correct derivaw K ,C in general derive from double. See ÿhÿ.'ymo'ogists Torriano, Vocabolario Italiano e Inglese (London, 1688), Ducange; Benecke und Muller, Mittolhochdeutsches Wdrterbuch.— En.] ÿ
ZZfZl'lS
DEATH AND CHARACTER OF FERDINAND.
70 1
the strong ; his wise economy, which achieved great results without burdening his people with oppressive taxes ; his sobriety and moderation ; the decorum, and respect for religion, which he maintained among his subjects ; the industry he promoted by wholesome laws and his own example ; his consummate sagacity, which crowned all his enterprises with brilliant success, and made him the oracle of the princes of the age. Machiavelli, indeed, the most deeply read of his time in human character, imputes Ferdinand's successes, in one of his letters, to " cunning and good-luck rather than superior wisdom." 1 He was indeed fortunate : and the " star of Austria," which rose as his declined, shone not' with a brighter or steadier lustre. But success through a long series of years sufficiently of itself attests good conduct. " The winds and waves," says Gibbon, truly enough, " are always on the side of the most skilful mariner." The Florentine statesman has recorded a riper and more deliberate judgment, in the treatise which he intended as a mirror for the rulers of the time. "Nothing," says he, "gains estimation for a prince like great enterprises. Our own age has furnished a splendid example of this in Ferdinand of Aragon. We may call him a new king, since from a feeble one he has made himself the most renowned and glorious monarch of Christendom ; and, if we ponder well his manifold achievements, we must acknowledge all of them very great, and some truly extraordinary." 2 Other eminent foreigners of the time join in this lofty strain of panegyric3 The Castilians, mindful of the general security and prosperity they had enjoyed under his reign, seem willing to bury his frailties in his grave.4 While his own hereditary subjects, exulting with patriotic pride in the glory to which he had raised their petty state, and touched with grateful recollections of his mild, paternal government, deplore his loss in strains of national sorrow, as the last of the revered line who was to preside over the destinies of Aragon as a separate and independent
kingdom.5 1 Opere, torn. ix. Lettere diverse, no. 6, ed. eccellentissimo consiglio, e virtu, e ne! quale, se fosse Milano, 1805.— His correspondent, Vettori, is still stato constante nelle promesse, nopotresti facilmentemore severe in his analysis of Ferdinand's public riprendere cosa alcuna." (Istoria, torn. vi. lib. 12, conduct. (Let. di 16 Maggio, 1514-) These states¬ p. 273.) See also Brantome (CEuvres, torn. iv. disc.
men were the friends of France, with which Ferdi¬ 5).— Giovio, with scarcely more qualification, Hist. nand was at war, and personal enemies of the sui Temporis, lib. 16, p. 336. Navagiero, Viaggio, Medici, v/hom that prince re-established in the fol. 27,— et alios. government. As political antagonists, therefore, " Principe el mas senalado," says the prince of every way, of the Catholic king, they were not likely the Castilian historians, in his pithy manner, " en to be altogether unbiassed in their judgments of valor y justicia y prudencia que en muchos siglos his policy. These views, however, find favour with Espaiia tuvo. Tachas a nadie pueden faltar sea por Lord Herbert, who had evidently read, though he la fragilidad propia, o por lamalicia y envidiaagena does not refer to, this correspondence. Life of que comitate principalmente los altos lugares. Espejo sin duda por sus grandes virtudes en que Henry VIII., p. 63. 2 Opere, torn, vi., IIPrincipe, cap 21, ed. Genova, todos los Principes de Espaiia se deben mirar. ' (Mariana, Hist, de Espaiia, torn. ix. p. 375, cap. ÿ Martyr, who had better opportunities than any ult.) See also a similar tribute to his deserts, with other foreigner for estimating the character of greater amplification, in Garibay, Cornpendio, torn. Ferdinand, affords the most honourable testimony 11. lib. 20, cap. 24.— Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fol. to his kingly qualities, in a letter written when the 148.—Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., fol. 42.— Ferreras, writer had no motive for flattery, after that Hist. d'Espagne, torn. ix. p. 426 et seq.— et plurtmus antiq. et recentibus, monarch's death, to Charles V.'s physician. (Opus auct. 5 See the closing chapter of the great Aragonese Epist., epist. 567.) Guicciardini, whose national who terminates his historic labours with annalist, prejudices did not lie in this scale, comprehends (Zunta, nearly as much in one brief sentence : Re di the death of Ferdinand the Catholic.
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"
702
REGENCY OF KIMENES.
CHAPTER XXV. ADMINISTRATION, DEATH, AND CHARACTER OF CARDINAL XIMENESL
I5T6-1517.
—
—
Ximenes Governor of Castile. Charles proclaimed King. Domestic Policy of Ximenes.-— He intimidates the Nobles.— Public Discontents.— Charles lands in Spain. His Ingrati¬ tude to Ximenes. —The Cardinal's Illness and Death.— His extraordinary Character.
—
The personal history of Ferdinand the Catholic terminates, of course, with the preceding chapter. In order to bring the history of his reign, however, to a suitable close, it is necessary to continue the narrative through the brief regency of Ximenes, to the period when the government was delivered into the hands oi Ferdinand's grandson and successor, Charles the Fifth. By the testament of the deceased monarch, as we have seen, Cardinal Ximenes de Cisneros was appointed sole regent of Castile. He met with opposition, however, from Adrian, the dean of Louvain, who produced powers of similar purport from Prince Charles. Neither party could boast a sufficient warrant for exercising this important trust ; the one claiming it by the appointment of an individual who, acting merely as regent himself, had certainly no right to name his successor ; while the other had only the sanction of a prince who, at the time of giving it, had no jurisdiction whatever in Castile. The misunderstanding which ensued was finally settled by an agreement of the parties to share the authority in common, till further instructions should be received from Charles.1 It was not long before they arrived (Feb. 14th, 1516). They confirmed the cardinal's authority in the fullest manner, while they spoke of Adrian only as an ambassador. They intimated, however, the most entire con¬ fidence in the latter; and the two prelates continued as before to administer the government jointly. Ximenes sacrificed nothing by this Anales, torn. vi. lib. io, cap. too.) Iwill cite only one extract from the profuse panegyrics of the
national writers ; which attests the veneration in which Ferdinand's memory was held in Aragon. It is from one whose pen is never prostituted to parasitical or party purposes, and whose judgment is usually as correct as the expression of it is candid. " Quo plaugore ac lamentatione universa civitas complebatur. Neque solum homines, sed ipsa tecta, et parietes urbis videbantur acerbum illius, qui omnibus chartssimus erat, interitum lugere. Et meritb. Erat enim, ut scitis, exemplum prudentia: ac fortitudinis : sum'nae in re domestica continentiae :exiinim in publicS dignitatis : humanitatis praetereh, ac leporis admirabilis. . . Neque eos solum, sed omnes certh tanta amplectebatur benevolentiS, ut interdum non nobis Rex, sed uuiuscujusque nostrum genitor ac parens videretur Post ejus interitum omnis nostra juventus lancuet
.
deliciis plus dedita quam deceret : nec perinde, ac debuerat, in laudis et gloria: cupiditate versatur. ; Quid plura? nulla res fuit in usu bene regnandi posita, quae illius Regis scientiam effugeret. . - • Fuit enim eximia corporis venustate praeditus. Sed pluris facere deberent consiliorum ac virtutum suarum, quam posteris reliquit, effigiem : quibus denique factum videmus, ut ab eo usque ad hoc tempus, non solum nobis, sed Hispaniae cunctse, diuturnitas pacis otium confirmarit. Hasc aliaque ejusmodi quotidie h nostris senibus de Catho'ici Regis memoria enarrantur : quae h rei veritate nequaquam abhorrent." Blancas, Commentary p-
..
276. 1 Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 1516, cap. 8.—Robles, Vida de Ximenez, cap. 18.— Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fol. 150.—Qu iitanilla, Archetypo, lib«' 4,
— Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., dial.
cap. 5.
Ximeni.
DEA TH AND CHADACTED OF XIMENES.
703
arrangement, for the tame and quiet temper of Adrian was too much over¬ awed by the bold genius of his partner to raise any opposition to his measures.1 The first requisition of Prince Charles was one that taxed severely the power and popularity of the new regent. This was to have himself pro¬ claimed king; a measure extremely distasteful to the Castilians, who regarded it not only as contrary to established usage, during the lifetime of his mother, but as an indignity to her. It was in vain that Ximenes and the council remonstrated on the impropriety and impolicy of the measure.2 Charles, fortified by his Flemish advisers, sturdily persisted in his purpose. The cardinal, consequently, called a meeting of the pre¬ lates and principal nobles in Madrid, to which he had transferred the seat of government, and whose central position and other local advantages made it from this time forward, with little variation, the regular capital of the kingdom.3 The Doctor Carbajal prepared a studied and plausible argument in support cf the measure.4 As it failed, however, to produce conviction in his audience, Ximenes, chafed by the opposition, and pro¬ bably distrusting its real motives, peremptorily declared that those who refused to acknowledge Charles as king, in the present state of things, would refuse to obey him when he was so. " Iwill have him proclaimed in Madrid to-morrow," said he, "and Idoubt not every other city in the kingdom will follow the example." He was as good as his word ; and the conduct of the capital was imitated, with little opposition, by all the other cities in Castile. Not so in Aragon, whose people were too much attached to their institutions to consent to it till Charles first made oath in person to respect the laws and liberties of the realm.5 The Castilian aristocracy, it may be believed, did not much relish the new yoke imposed on them by their priestly regent. On one occasion, it is said, they went in a body, and demanded of Ximenes by what powers he held the government so absolutely. He referred them for answer to Ferdinand's testament and Charles's letter. As they objected to these, he led them to a window of the apartment, and showed them a park of artillery below, exclaiming at the same time, " There are my credentials, then ! " The story is characteristic, but, though often repeated, must be admitted to stand on slender authority.6 1 Carbajal has given us Charles's epistle, which is subscribed " El Principe." He did not venture on the title of king in his correspondence with the Castilians, though he affected it abroad. Anales, MS., aho 15x6, cap. 10. " The letter of the council is dated March 14th, 1516. It is recorded by Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 1516, cap. 10. 3 It became permanently so in the reign of Philip II. Semanario erudito, torn. iii. p. 79Carbajal penetrates into the remotest depths o Spanish history for an authority for Charles s claim. He can find none better, however, than the examples of Alfonso VIII. and berdinand III. ; the former of whom used force, and the latter obtained the crown by the voluntary cession of his mother.
.
*
.
His argument, it is clear, rests much more strongly
on expediency than precedent. 1516, cap. 11.
Anales, MS., ano
—
De Rebus gestis, fol. 151 et seq. Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 1516, cap. 9-11. Lanuza. Historias, torn. i. lib. 2, cap. 2. Dormer, Anales de Aragon, lib. 1, cap. 1, 13. Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 572, 590, 603. Sandoval, Hist. del Emp. Carlos V., torn. i. p. 53. ® Roi les, Vida de Xinienez, cap. 18. Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fol. 158. Lanuza, Historias, torn. i. lib. 2, cap. 4.—Alvaro Gomez finds no better authority than vulgar rumour for this story. Accord¬ ing to Robles, the cardinal, after this bravado, twirled his cordelier's belt about his fingers, saying he wanted nothing better than that to tame the 5 Gomez,
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REGENCY OF X1MENES. One of the regent's first acts was the famous ordinance encouraging the burgesses, by liberal rewards, to enroll themselves into companies, and submit to regular military training at stated seasons. The nobles saw the operation of this measure too well not to use all their efforts to counteract it. In this they succeeded for a time, as the cardinal, with his usual bold¬ ness, had ventured on it without waiting for Charles's sanction, and in opposition to most of the council. The resolute spirit of the minister, however, eventually triumphed over all resistance ; and a national corps was organised, competent, under proper guidance, to protect the liberties of the people, but destined, unfortunately, to be ultimately turned against them.1 Armed with this strong physical force, the cardinal now projected the boldest schemes of reform, especially in the finances, which had fallen into some disorder in the latter days of Ferdinand. He made a strict inqui¬ sition into the funds of the military orders, in which there had been much waste and misappropriation ; he suppressed all superfluous offices in the state, retrenched excessive salaries, and cut short the pensions granted by Ferdinand and Isabella, which he contended should determine with their lives. Unfortunately, the state was not materially benefited by these economical arrangements, since the greater part of what was thus saved was drawn off to supply the waste and cupidity of the Flemish court, who dealt with Spain with all the merciless rapacity that could be shown to a conquered province.2 The foreign administration of the regent displayed the same courage and vigour. Arsenals were established in the southern maritime towns, and a numerous fleet was equipped in the Mediterranean against the Barbary corsairs. A large force was sent into Navarre, which defeated an invading army of French (March 25th, 1516); and the cardinal followed up the blow by demolishing the principal fortresses of the kingdom ; a precautionary measure, to which, in all probability, Spain owes the per¬ manent preservation of her conquest.3 The regent's eye penetrated to the farthest limits of the monarchy. He sent a commission to Hispaniola, to inquire into and ameliorate the condition of the natives. At the same time he earnestly opposed (though without success, being overruled in this by the Flemish coun¬ sellors) the introduction of negro slaves into the colonies, which he predicted, from the character of the race, must ultimately result in a
pride of the Castihan nobles with !" But Ximenes Quintanilla, Archetypo, lib. 4, cap. 5,— Sempere, was neither a fool nor a madman; although his Hist, des Cortes, chap. 25.— Gomez, De Rebus over-zealous biographers make him sometimes one gestis, fol. 159.—Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS. and sometimes the other. Voltaire, who never lets 1 Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fol. 174 et seq.— the opportunity slip of seizing a paradox in character I Robles, Vida de Ximenez, cap. 18.—Carbajal, or conduct, speaks of Ximenes as one "qui, toujours S Anales, MS., ano is 16 cap 12. vetu en cordelier met son faste h fouler sous ses ! 3 Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 1516, cap. n-— sandales le taste Espagnol. Essai sur les Moeurs, | Aleson, Annales de Navarra, torn. v. p. 3*7-ctiap.121. Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., cpist. 570.— Quintanilla, 1 Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 1516. cap. I3._ | Archetypo/ lib. 4, cap.5.
*
HIS DEATH AND CHAEACTED.
servile war.1 prediction.2
705
It is needless to remark how well the event has verified the
It is with less satisfaction that we must contemplate his policy in regard Inquisition. As head of that tribunal, he enforced its authority and pretensions to the utmost. He extended a branch of it to Oran, and also to the Canaries and the New World.3 In 1512, the 7iew Chris¬ tians had offered Ferdinand a large sum of money to carry on the Navarrese war, if he would cause the trials before that tribunal to be conducted in the same manner as in other courts, where the accuser and the evidence were confronted openly with the defendant. To this reasonable petition Ximenes objected, on the wretched plea that, in that event, none would be found willing to undertake the odious business of informer. He backed his remonstrance with such a liberal donative from his own funds as sup¬ plied the king's immediate exigency and effectually closed his heart against the petitioners. The application was renewed in 1516 by the unfortunate Israelites, who offered a liberal supply in like manner to Charles, on similar terms. But the proposal, to which his Flemish counsellors, who may be excused, at least, from the reproach of bigotry, would have inclined the young monarch, was finally rejected through the interposition 0/ to the
Ximenes.4 The high-handed measures of the minister (15 17), while they disgusted the aristocracy, gave great umbrage to the dean of Louvain, who saw himself reduced to a mere cipher in the administration. In consequence of his representations, a second and afterwards a third minister was sent to Castile, with authority to divide the government with the cardinal. But all this was of little avail. On one occasion the co-regents ventured to rebuke their haughty partner, and assert their own dignity, by subscrib¬ ing their names first to the despatches and then sending them to him for his signature. But Ximenes coolly ordered his secretary to tear the paper in pieces and make out a new one, which he signed, and sent out without the participation of his brethren. And this course he continued during the remainder of his administration.6 1 [I11 overruling
the opinion of Ximenes the
Flemish ministers of Charles were supported by that
of the commissioner whom the cardinal himself had
—
sent to Hispaniola, the licentiate Alonzo de Zuazo. In his report to Chievres, dated January 22d, 1518,
Zuazo affirms the necessity of introducing negro slaves into the colony, advising that they should be procured by purchase at Cabo Verde, both males and females, from fifteen to twenty years old, and that they should be settled in pueblos and married. His scheme seems to have been to establish a species of serfdom, and his object to save the natives from extermination. " Es tierra esta,"he adds, "la mejor que hay en el mundo para los mugeres, para los hombres viejos." Col. de Doc. in<£d. para la Hist, de Espana, torn. ii.— Ed.] 2 Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fol. 164, 165.— Herrera, Indias occidentals torn. i. p._ 278.— Las Casas, CEuvres, 6d. de Llorente, torn. i. p. 239.— Robertson states the ground of Ximenes's objection to have been the inquity of reducing one set of men to slavery in order to liberate another. (History ot
America, vol. i. p. 283.) A very enlightened reason, for which, however, Ifind not the least warrant in Herrera (the authority cited by the historian), nor in Gomez, nor in any other writer. 3 Llorente, Hist, de l'lnquisition, torn. i. chap. 10, art. 5. 4 Paramo, De Origine Inquisitionis, lib. 2, tit. 2, cap. 5. Llorente, Hist, de l'lnquisition, torn. i. chap. 11, art. 1. Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fob 184, 185. 5 Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 1517, cap. 2. Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fob 189, 190. Robles, Vida de Ximenez, cap. 18. Peter Martyr, Opus Epist.,epist. 581. Oviedo,Quincuagenas,MS.— "Ni properaveritis," says Martyr in a letter to Marlianq, Prince Charles's physician, "ruent omnia. Nescit Hispania parere non regibus, aut non legitime regnaturis. Nauseam znduczt magttanzmzs vzrzs hujzts fratrz's, licet potentis et reipublicae amatoris, gubernatio. Est quippe grandis animo, et ipse, ad zedificandum literatosque viros fovendum natis magis quam ad imperandum, bellicis colloquiis et apparatibus gaudet." Opus Epist., epist. 573. 2 Y
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REGENCY OF XIMENES.
706
The cardinal not only assumed the sole responsibility of the most important public acts, but, in the execution of them, seldom condescended to calculate the obstacles or the odds arrayed against him. He was thus brought into collision, at the same time, with three of the most powerful grandees of Castile ; the dukes of Alva and Infantado, and the count of Urena. Don Pedro Giron, the son of the latter, with several other young
noblemen, had maltreated and resisted the royal officers while in the discharge of their duty. They then took refuge in the little town of Villafrata, which they fortified and prepared for a defence. The cardinal without hesitation mustered several thousand of the national militia, and, investing the place, set it on fire and deliberately razed it to the ground. The refractory nobles, struck with consternation, submitted. Their friends interceded for them in the most humble manner ; and the cardinal, whose lofty spirit disdained to trample on a fallen foe, showed his usual clemency by soliciting their pardon from the king.1 But neither the talents nor authority of Ximenes, it was evident, could much longer maintain subordination among the people, exasperated by the shameless extortions of the Flemings, and the little interest shown for them by their new sovereign. The most considerable offices in church and state were put up to sale ; and the kingdom was drained of its funds by the large remittances continually made, on one pretext or another, to Flanders. All this brought odium, undeserved indeed, on the cardinal's government ; 2 for there is abundant evidence that both he and the council remonstrated in the boldest manner on these enormities, while they endeavoured to inspire nobler sentiments in Charles's bosom, by recalling the wise and patriotic administration of his grandparents.3 The people, in the meanwhile, outraged by these excesses, and despairing of redress from a higher quarter, loudly clamoured for a convocation of cortes, that they might take the matter into their own hands. The cardinal evaded this as long as possible. He was never a friend to popular assemblies, much less in the present inflamed state of public feeling, and in the absence of the sovereign. He was more anxious for his arrival than any other individual, probably, in the kingdom. Braved by the aristocracy at home, thwarted in every favourite measure by the Flemings abroad, with an injured, indignant people to control, and oppressed, moreover, by infirmities and years, even his stern, inflexible spirit could scarcely
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1 Gomez, De Rubus gestis, fol. 198-201. Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 567, 584, 590. Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 1517, cap. 3, 6. Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS. Sandoval, Hist, del Emp. Carlos V., torn. i. p. 73. 2 In a letter to Marliano, Martyr speaks of the large sums " ab hoc gubernatore ad vos missae, sub parandae classis praetextu. " (Opus Epist., epist. 376.) Ina subsequent epistle to his Castilian corres¬ pondents he speaks in a more sarcastic tone : " Bonus illeJrater Ximenez Cardinalis gubernator thesauros _ad Belgas transmittendos coacervavit. . . Glacialis Oceani areolae ditabuntur. vestra expilabitur Castilla." (Epist. 606.) From some "ansa
—
.
or other, it is evident the cardinal's government was
not at all to honest Martyr's taste.
Gomez suggests,
as the reason, that his salary was clipped off m tn general retrenchment, which he admits was a very
hard case. (De Rebus gestis, fol. I77-). i' however, was never an extravagant encomiast 01£ 11 cardinal, and one may imagine much more credits reasons than that assigned lor his disgust with hii '
.
now.
See a letter in Carbajal, containing this H°n tribute to the illustrious dead. (Anales, Mo., a 1517; cap.
4.)
Charles might have found an ant-
dote to the poison of his Flemish sycophants in faithful counsels of his Castilian ministers.
HIS DEATH AND CHARACTER.
707
sustain him under a burden too grievous, in these circumstances, for any subject.1 At length the young monarch, having made all preliminary arrange¬ ments, prepared, though still in opposition to the wishes of his courtiers, to embark for his Spanish dominions. Previously to this, on the 13th of August 15x6, the French and Spanish plenipotentiaries signed a treaty of peace at Noyon. The principal article stipulated the marriage of Charles to the daughter of Francis the First, who was to cede, as her dowry, the French claims on Naples. The marriage, indeed, never took place. But the treaty itself may be considered as finally adjusting the hostile relations which had subsisted, during so many years of Ferdinand's reign, with the rival monarchy of France, and as closing the long series of wars which had grown out of the league of Cambray.2 * On the 17th of September 15 17 Charles landed at Villaviciosa, in the Asturias. Ximenes at this time lay ill at the Franciscan monastery of Aguilera, near Aranda on the Douro. The good tidings of the royal landing operated like a cordial on his spirits, and he instantly despatched letters to the young monarch, filled with wholesome counsel as to the conduct he should pursue in order to conciliate the affections of the people. He received at the same time messages from the king, couched in the most gracious terms, and expressing the liveliest interest in his restoration to health. The Flemings in Charles's suite, however, looked with great appre¬ hension to his meeting with the cardinal. They had been content that the latter should rule the state when his arm was needed to curb the Castilian aristocracy ; but they dreaded the ascendency of his powerful mind over their young sovereign when brought into personal contact with him. They retarded this event by keeping Charles in the north as long as possible. In the meantime, they endeavoured to alienate his regards from the minister by exaggerated reports of his arbitrary conduct and temper, rendered more morose by the peevishness of age. Charles showed a facility to be directed by those around him in early years, which gave little augury of the greatness to which he afterwards rose. 3 By the persuasions of his evil counsellors, he addressed that memorable letter to Ximenes, which is unmatched, even in court annals, for cool and base ingratitude. He thanked the regent for all his past services, named 1 Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 602.— Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fol. 194. Robles, Vida de Ximenez, cap. 18.—Martyr, in a letter written just before the king's landing, notices the cardinal's low state of health and spirits : "Cardinalis gubernator Matriti febribus aegrotaverat : convaluerat ; nunc recidivavit. . . Breves fore dies illius, medici Est octogenario major ; ipse regis autumant. adventum affectu avidissimo desiderare videtur. Sentit sine rege non rite posse corda Hispanorum moderari ac regi." Epist. 598. 2 Flassan, Diplomatic Franjaise, torn. 1. p 3x3. Dumont, Corps diplomatique, torn. iv. part. 1, no. 106.
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—
* [This is too strongly, and not quite clearly, stated. The treaty, by dissolving the league r* Cambray, put an end to the war which had sprui from that alliance. But as some of its provisions remained unexecuted, and the grounds of rivalry, instead of being contracted, were speedily widened, the peace proved to be of short duration, and was followed by wars bloodier even than those which had preceded it. Ed.] 3 Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 1517, cap. 9. Dormer, Anales de Aragon, lib. 1, cap. 1. Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., fol. 43. Dolce, Vita di Carlo V., p. 12. Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fol. 212. Sando¬ val, Hist, del Emp. Carlos V., torn. i. p. 83.
—
—
—
— — —
708
REGENCY OF XJMENES.
a place for a personal interview with him, where he might obtain the benefit of his counsels for his own conduct and the government of the kingdom ; after which he would be allowed to retire to his diocese and
seek from Heaven that reward which Heaven alone could adequately bestow ! 1 Such was the tenor of this cold-blooded epistle, which, in the language of more than one writer, killed the cardinal. This, however, is stating the matter too strongly. The spirit of Ximenes was of too stern a stuff to be so easily extinguished by the breath of royal displeasure.2 He was, indeed, deeply moved by the desertion of the sovereign whom he had served so faithfully, and the excitement which it occasioned brought on a return of his fever, according to Carbajal, in full force. But anxiety and disease had already done their work upon his once hardy constitu¬ tion ; and this ungrateful act could only serve to wean him more effectually from a world which he was soon to leave.3 In order to be near the king, he had previously transferred his residence to Roa. He now turned his thoughts to his approaching end. Death may be supposed to have but little terrors for the statesman who in his last moments could aver " That he had never intentionally wronged any man, but had rendered to every one his due, without being swayed, as far as he was conscious, by fear or affection." Yet Cardinal Richelieu on his deathbed declared the same ! 4 As a last attempt he began a letter to the king. His fingers refused, however, to perform their office, and after tracing a few lines he gave it The purport of these seems to have been to recommend his up. university at Alcald to the royal protection. He now became wholly occupied with his devotions, and manifested such contrition for his errors, and such humble confidence in the Divine mercy, as deeply affected all present. In this tranquil frame of mind, and in the perfect possession of his powers, he breathed his last, November 8th, 15x7, in the eighty-first year of his age and the twenty-second since his elevation to the primacy. The last words that he uttered were those of the Psalmist, which he used 1 Carbajal, Anales, MS., ubi supra.— Gomez, De cardinal in a trout (De Rebus gestis, fol. 206). Rebus gestis, fol. 215.— Sandoval, Hist, del Emp. Others say, in a letter from Flanders (see Moreri, Carlos V., torn. i. p. 84. Dictionnaire historique, voce Ximenes). Oviedo 2 " Cette terrible lettre qui fut la cause de sa notices a rumour of his having been poisoned by mort," says, plumply, Marsollier ; a writer who is one of his secretaries, but vouches for the innocence sure either to misstate or overstate (Ministere du of the individual accused, whom he personally knew. Card. Ximenez, p. 447). Byron, alluding to the fate (Quincuagenas, MS., dial, de Xim.) Reports of of a modern poet, thinks it " strange " that this kind were too rife in those days to deserve credit unless supported by very clear evidence. the mind, that very fiery particle, Martyr and Carbajal, both with the court at the " Should let itself be snuffed out by an article ! " time, intimate no suspicion of foul play. 4 Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 1517, cap. 9. The frown of a critic, however, might as well prove Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fol. 213, 214. — Quintanfatal as that of a king. In both cases, Iimagine, it ilia. Archetype, lib. 4, cap. 8. Oviedo, Quincua¬ would be hard to prove any closer connection between genas, MS.— "'Voila mon juge, qui prononcera the two events than that of time. bientot ma sentence. Je le prie de tout mon cceur 3 "Con aquel desptdimiento," says Galindez de de_ me condamner, si, dans mon ministere, je me Carbajal, " con esto acabd de tantos servicios luego suis propose autre chose que le bien de la religion que lleg<5 esta carta el'Cardenal rescibid alteracion et celui de l'etat.' Le lendemain, au point du jour, y tomole recia calentura que en pocos dias le des- il voulut recevoir l'extreme onction." Jay, Hispacho." (Anales, MS., ano 1517, cap. 9.) Gomez toire du Ministere du Cardinal Richelieu (Paris. tells a long story of noison administered to the 1816), torn. ii. p. 217.
—
—
HIS DEATH AND CHARACTER.
709
frequently to repeat in health, "In te, Domine, speravi,"— " In thee, Lord, have Itrusted." His body, arrayed in his pontifical robes, was seated in a chair of state, and multitudes of all degrees thronged into the apartment to kiss the hands and feet. It was afterwards transported to Alcala, and laid in the chapel of the noble college of San Ildefonso, erected by himself. His obsequies were celebrated with great pomp, contrary to his own orders, by all the religious and literary fraternities of the city; and his virtues commemorated in a funeral discourse by a doctor of the university, who, considering the death of the good a fitting occasion to lash the vices of the living, made the most caustic allusion to the Flemish favourites of Charles, and their pestilent influence on the country.1 Such was the end oi this remarkable man ; the most remarkable, in many respects, of his time. His character was of that stern and lofty cast which seems to rise above the ordinary wants and weaknesses of humanity; his genius, of the severest order, like Dante's or Michael Angelo's in the regions of fancy, impresses us with ideas of power that excite admiration akin to terror. His enterprises, as we have seen, were of the boldest character ; his execution of them equally bold. He disdained to woo fortune by any of those soft and pliant arts which are often the most 'effectual. He pursued his ends by the most direct means. In this way he frequently multiplied difficulties ; but difficulties seemed to have a charm for him, by the opportunities they afforded of displaying the energies of his soul. With these qualities he combined a versatility of talent usually found only in softer and more flexible characters. Though bred in the cloister, he distinguished himself both in the cabinet and the camp. For the latter, indeed, so repugnant to his regular profession, he had a natural genius, according to the testimony of his biographer ; and he evinced his relish for it by declaring that " the smell of gunpowder was more grateful In every situation, to him than the sweetest perfume of Arabia ! " 2 however, he exhibited the stamp of his peculiar calling ; and the stern lineaments of the monk were never wholly concealed under the mask of the statesman or the visor of the warrior. He had a full measure of the religious bigotry which belonged to the age ; and he had melancholy scope for displaying it, as chief of that dread tribunal over which he presided during the last ten years of his life.3 ÿ Praetextam junxi saccho, galeamque galero, Robles, Vida de Ximenez, cap. 18.— Gomez, Frater, dux, praesul, cardineusque pater. De Rebus gestis, fob 215—217.—Quintanilla, Archean Quin virtute mea junctum est diadenm cucullo, typo, lib. 4, cap. 12-15; wno quotes ÿMarano, Ciim mihi regnanti paruit Hesperia. eye-witness. Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 1517, cap. 9, who dates the cardinal's death December 8th, 2 Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fob 160.— Robles,, in which he is followed by Lanuza. The following cap. 17.—"And who can doubt,' epitaph, of no great merit, was inscribed on his Vida de Ximenez, de Oviedo, " that powder against sepulchre, composed by the learned John Vergara exclaims Gonzaio to the Lord?" Quincuaincense is infidel the in his younger days : genas, MS. , . , 3 During this period, Ximenes "permit la conlyceum, musis Franciscus grande " Condideram damnation," to use the mild language of Llorente, Condor in exiguo nunc ego sarcophago.
—
—
REGENCY OF X/MENES. He carried the arbitrary ideas of his profession into political life His regency was conducted on the principles of a military despotism. It was his maxim that " a prince must rely mainly on his army for securing the respect and obedience of his subjects." 1 It is true he had to deal with a martial and factious nobility, and the end which he proposed was to curb their licentiousness and enforce the equitable administration of justice ; but, in accomplishing this, he showed little regard to the con¬ stitution, or to private rights. His first act, the proclaiming of Charles king, was in open contempt of the usages and rights of the nation. He evaded the urgent demands of the Castilians for a convocation of cortes ; for it was his opinion that " freedom of speech, especially in regard to their own grievances, made the people insolent and irreverent to their rulers." 2 The people, of course, had no voice in the measures which involved their most important interests. His whole policy, indeed, was to exalt the royal prerogative at the expense of the inferior orders of the state ;3 and his regency, short as it was, and highly beneficial to the country in many respects, must be considered as opening the way to that career of despotism which the Austrian family followed up with such hard¬ hearted constancy. But, while we condemn the politics, we cannot but respect the prin¬ ciples, of the man. However erroneous his conduct in our eyes, he was guided by his sense of duty. It was this, and the conviction of it in the minds of others, which constituted the secret of his great power. It made him reckless of difficulties, and fearless of all personal con¬ sequences. The consciousness of the integrity of his purposes rendered him, indeed, too unscrupulous as to the means of attaining them. He held his own life cheap, in comparison with the great reforms that he had at heart. Was it surprising that he should hold as lightly the convenience and interests of others, when they thwarted their execution ? His views were raised far above considerations of self. As a statesman, he identified himself with the state ; as a churchman, with the interests of his religion. He severely punished every offence against these. He as freely forgave every personal injury. He had many remarkable of more than 2500 individuals to the stake, and nearly 50,000 to other punishments ! (Hist, de l'lnquisition, torn. i. chap. 10, art. 5 ; torn. iv. chap. 46.) In order to do justice to what is really good in the characters of this age, one must absolutely close his eyes against that odious fanaticism which enters more or less into all, and into the best, un¬ fortunately, most largely. 1 " Persuasum haberet, non alii ratione animos humanos imperia aliorum laturos, nisi vi facta aut adhibita. Quare pro certo affirmare solebat, nullum unquam principem exteris populis formidini, aut suis reverentia: fuisse, nisi comparato militum exercitu, atque omnibus belli instruments ad manum paratis." (Gomez, De Re bus gestis, fol. 95.) We may well apply to the card inal what Cato, or rather Lucan, applied to Pompey: amavit." " Praetulit arma tog<e ; sed pacem armatus Pharsalia, lib. 0
2 "Nullh enim re magis populos insolescere, et irreverentiam oinnem exhibere, quam cum libertatem loquendi nacti sunt, et pro hbidine suas vulgo jactant querimonias." Gomez quotes the language of Ximenes in his correspondence with Charles. De Rebus gestis, fol. 194. Oviedo makes a reflection, showing that he con¬ ceived the cardinal's policy better than most of his biographers. He states that the various immunities and the military organization which he gave to the towns enabled them to raise the insurrection known as the war of the " comunidades " at the begin¬ ning of Charles's reign. But he rightly considers this as only an indirect consequence of his policy, which made use of the popular arm only to break down the power of the nobles and establish the of the crown. Quincuagenas, MS., supremacy dial, de Xim.
*
HIS DEATH AND CHADACTED.
711
opportunities of showing this. His administration provoked numerous lampoons and libels. He despised them, as the miserable solace of spleen and discontent, and never persecuted their authors.1 In this he formed an honourable contrast to Cardinal Richelieu, whose character and condition suggest many points of resemblance with his own. His disinterestedness was further shown by his mode of dispensing his large revenues. It was among the poor, and on great public objects. He built up no family. He had brothers and nephews; but he contented himself with making their condition comfortable, without diverting to their benefit the great trusts confided to him for the public.2 The greater part of the funds which he left at his death was settled on the university of Alcald.3 He had, however, none of that pride which would have made him ashamed of his poor and humble relatives. He had, indeed, a con¬ fidence in his own powers, approaching to arrogance, which led him to undervalue the abilities of others, and to look on them as his instruments rather than his equals. But he had none of the vulgar pride founded on wealth or station. He frequently alluded to his lowly condition in early life with great humility, thanking Heaven, with tears in his eyes, for its extraordinary goodness to him. He not only remembered, but did many acts of kindness to, his early friends, of which more than one touching anecdote is related. Such traits of sensibility, gleaming through the natural austerity and sternness of a disposition like light breaking through a dark cloud, affect us the more sensibly by contrast. He was irreproachable in his morals, and conformed literally to all the rigid exactions of his severe order, in the court as faithfully as in the cloister. He was sober, abstemious, chaste. In the latter particular he was careful that no suspicion of the license which so often soiled the clergy of the period should attach to him.4 On one occasion, while on a journey, he was invited to pass the night at the house of the duchess of Maqueda, being informed that she was absent The duchess was at home, however, and entered the apartment before he retired to rest. " You have deceived me, lady," said Ximenes, rising in anger : " if you have any 1 Quincuagenas, MS., ubi supra.— Mr. Burke ..otices this noble trait, in a splendid panegyric which he poured forth on the character of Ximenes, at Sir Joshua Reynolds's table, as related by Madame d'Arblay in the last and not least remark¬ able of her productions. (Memoirs of Dr. Burney, vol. ii. pp. 231 et seq.) Hie orator, if the lady reports him rightly, notices, as two of the cardinal s characteristics, his freedom from bigotry and des¬ potism ! . a Their connection with so distinguished a person, however, enabled most of them to form high alli¬ ances ; of which Oviedo gives some account Quincuagenas, MS. ÿ
.
...
' " Die, and endow a college or a cat ! "
The verse is somewhat stale, but expresses, better
than a page of prose can, the credit due to such posthumous benefactions, when they set aside the dearest natural ties for the mere indulgence of a selfish vanity. Such motives cannot be imputed to Ximenes. Hehad always conscientiously abstained from appropriating his archiepiscopal revenues, as we have seen, to himself or his family. His dying bequest, therefore, was only in keeping with his whole life. 4 The good father Quintanilla vindicates his hero's chastity somewhat at the expense of his breed¬ ing. " His purity was unexampled," says he. "He shunned the sex, like so many evil spirits ; looking on every woman as a devil, let her be never so holy. Had it not been in the way of his professional call¬ ing, it is not too much to ray he would never have suffered his eyes to light on one of them ! ' Arche¬ type, p- 80.
7 12
REGENC Y OF XIMENES.
business with me, you will find me to-morrow at the confessional." So saying, he abruptly left the palace.1 He carried his austerities and mortifications so far as to endanger his health. There is a curious brief extant of Pope Leo the Tenth, dated the last year of the cardinal's life, enjoining on him to abate his severe penance, to eat meat and eggs on the ordinary fasts, to take off his Francisan frock, and sleep in linen and on a bed. He would never consent, however, to divest himself of his monastic weeds. " Even laymen," said he, alluding to a custom of the Roman Catholics, u put these on when they are dying \ and shall I, who have worn them all my life, take them off at that time ? " 2 Another anecdote is told in relation to his dress. Over his coarse woollen frock he wore the costly apparel suited to his rank. An imperti¬ nent Franciscan preacher took occasion one day before him to launch out against the luxuries of the time, especially in dress, obviously alluding to the cardinal, who was attired in a superb suit of ermine, which had been presented to him. He heard the sermon patiently to the end, and, after the services were concluded, took the preacher into the sacristy, and, having commended the general tenor of his discourse, showed under his furs and fine linen the coarse frock of his order, next his skin. Some accounts add that the friar, on the other hand, wore fine linen under his monkish frock. After the cardinal's death, a little box was found in his apartment, containing the implements with which he used to mend the rents of his threadbare garment with his own hands.3 With so much to do, it may well be believed that Ximenes was avari¬ cious of time. He seldom slept more than four hours, or at most lour and a half. He was shaved in the night, hearing at the same time some edifying reading. He followed the same practice at his meals, or varied it with listening to the arguments of some of his theological brethren, generally on some subtile question of school divinity. This was his only recreation. He had as little taste as time for lighter and more elegant amusements. He spoke briefly, and always to the point. He was no friend of idle ceremonies and useless visits, though his situation exposed him more or less to both. He frequently had a volume lying open on the table before him, and when his visitor stayed too long, or took up his time with light and frivolous conversation, he intimated his dissatisfaction by resuming his reading. The cardinal's book must have been as fatal to a reputation as Fontenelle's ear-trumpet4 1 Flechier, Histoire de Ximenes, liv. 6, p.
634.
Quintanilla has given the brief of his Holiness in externa, with commentaries thereon, twice as long. See Archetypo, lib. 4, cap. 10. » Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fol. 219 Quintanilla, Archetypo, lib. 2, cap. 4.—The reader may lind a pendant to this ancedote in a similar one recorded of Ximenes's predecessor, the grand cardinal Mendoza, in Part II. chapter 5 of this History. The conduct of the two primates on the occasion was 2
—
sufficiently characteristic.
—
4 Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS. Gomez, De Rebus gestis, ubi supra.— Robles, Vida deXimenez, cap. 13. Quintanilla, Archetypo, lib. 2, cap. 5, 7, 8 ; who cites Dr. Vergara, the cardinal's friend. It is Baron Grimm, Ithink, who tells us of Fontenelle's habit of dropping his trumpet when the conversation did not pay nim for the trouble of holding it up. The good-natured Reynolds, according to Goldsmith, could " shift his trumpet " on such an emergency
—
also.
—
HIS DEATH AND CHARACTER.
7IJ this sketch of Ximenes de Cisneros with a brief outline of Iwill close his person. His complexion was sallow ; his countenance sharp and emaciated ; his nose aquiline ; his upper lip projected far over the lower. His eyes were small, deep set in his head, dark, vivid, and penetrating ; his forehead ample, and, what was remarkable, without a wrinkle, though the expression of his features was somewhat severe.1 His voice was clear, but not agreeable ; his enunciation measured and precise. His demeanour was grave, his carriage firm and erect ; he was tall in stature, and his whole presence was commanding. His constitution, naturally robust, was impaired by his severe austerities and severer cares, and in the latter years of his life was so delicate as to be extremely sensible to the vicissitudes and inclemency of the weather.2 I have noticed the resemblance which Ximenes bore to the great French minister, Cardinal Richelieu. It was, after all, however, morts in the circumstances of situation than in their characters, though the most prominent traits of these were not dissimilar.8 Both, though bred eccle¬ siastics, reached the highest honours of the state, and, indeed, may be said to have directed the destinies of their countries.4 Richelieu's autho¬ rity, however, was more absolute than that of Ximenes, for he was screened by the shadow of royalty ; while the latter was exposed, by his insulated and unsheltered position, to the full blaze of envy, and, of course, oppositioa Both were ambitious of military glory, and showed capacity for attaining it. Both achieved their great results by that rare union of high mental endowments and great efficiency in action which is always
irresistible. The moral basis of their characters was entirely different. The French cardinal's was selfishness, pure and unmitigated. His religion, politics, his principles in short, in every sense, were subservient to this. Offences against the state he could forgive ; those against himself he pursued with implacable rancour. His authority was literally cemented with blood. His immense powers and patronage were perverted to the aggrandizement of his family. Though bold to temerity in his plans, he betrayed more than once a want of true courage in their execution. Ihough violent and impetuous, he could stoop to be a dissembler. 'I hough arrogant in the extreme, he courted the soft incense of flattery. In his manners he had 3 A little treatise has been devoted to this very subject entitled "Tarallcle du Card. Ximenes et a du Card. Richelieu, par Mons. l'Abbd Richard 1;ichelieu's was found to be perforated with Trevoux, 1705." 222 pp. 12mo. The author, with 1oile t ho.es. '] he AbW Richard deduces a theory a candour rare indeed where national vanity is in¬ torn this which may startle the physiologist even terested, strikes the balance without hesitation in ore than the facts : On ouvrit son Test, 011 y favour of (lie foreigner Ximenes. •1 The catalogue of the various offices of Ximenes 12 pctits trous par oil s'exhaloient les vapeurs ,u'UVa oerveau, of Quintamlla At the ce qui fit qu'il n'efit jamais auctin j occupies nearly half a page ones that he filled weie a e tcte I au time of 1 is death, the chief que le Te-t de Xiinenÿs etoit lieu and consequently "'is suture, k quoi i'on attribua les effroyables those of archbishop of Toledo, of Castile, car_ chancellor grand de tete qu'il avoit presqtte toujours. , primate of Spain, of dinal of the Roman church, inquisitor-general Kobles, Vida deXimenez, cap. 18. Gomez, De ! Castile, and regent. Kebus gestis. fob 218.
\'.me.ne's's
i;e:id was examined some forty years ft his alter interment, and the skull was found t" be W1'"0ut sutures. (Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fob
f
"
—
714
REGENCY OF XIMENES.
the advantage over the Spanish prelate. He could be a courtier in courts, and had a more refined and cultivated taste. In one respect he had the advantage over Ximenes in morals ; he was not, like him, a bigot. He had not the religious basis in his composition which is the foundation of bigotry.— Their deaths were typical of their characters. Richelieu died, as he had lived, so deeply execrated that the enraged populace would scarcely allow his remains to be laid quietly in the grave. Ximenes, on the contrary, was buried amid the tears and lamentations of the people ; his memory was honoured even by his enemies, and his name is reverenced by his countrymen to this day as that of a Saint.
Dr. Lorenzo Galindez de Carbajal, one of the best authorities for transactions in the latter part of our History, was born of a respectable family, at Placencia, in 1472. Little is gathered of his early life but that he was studious in his habits, devoting himself assiduously to the acquisition of the civil and canon law. He filled the chair of pro¬ fessor in this department, at Salamanca, for several years. His great attainments and respectable character recommended him to the notice of the Catholic queen, who gave him a place in the royal council. In this capacity he was constantly at the court, where he seems to have maintained himself in the esteem of his royal mistress, and of Ferdinand after her death. The queen testified her respect for Carbajal by appointing him one of the commissioners for preparing a digest of the Castilian law. He made considerable progress in this arduous work ; but how great is uncertain, since, from whatever cause (there appears to be a mystery about it), the fruits of his labour were never made public ; a circumstance deeply regretted by the Castilian jurists. Asso y Manuel, Insti. tuciones, Introd., p. 99. Carbajal left behind him several historical works, according to Nic. Antonio, whose catalogue, however, rests on very slender grounds. (Libliotheca Nova, torn. ii. p. 3.) The work by which he is best known to Spanish scholars is his " Anales del Rey Don Fernando el Catolico," which still remains in manuscript. There is certainly no Chris¬ tian country for which the invention of printing, so liberally patronized there at its birth, has done so little as for Spain. Her libraries teem at this day with manuscripts of the greatest interest for the illustration of every stage of her history ; but which, alas ! in the present gloomy condition of affairs, have less chance of coming to the light than at the close of the fifteenth century, when the art of printing was in its infancy. Carbajal's Annals cover the whole ground of our narrative, from the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella to the coming of Charles V. into Spain. They are plainly written, without ambition of rhetorical show or refinement. The early part is little better than memoranda of the principal events of the period, with particular notice of all the migrations of the court. In the concluding portion of the work, however, com¬ prehending Ferdinand's death and the regency of Ximenes, the author is very full and circumstantial. As he had a conspicuous place in the government, and was alway* with the court, his testimony in regard to this important period is of the highest value as that of an eyewitness and an actor, and, it may be added, a man of sagacity and sound principles. No better commentary on the merit of his work need be required than the brief tribute of Alvaro Gomez, the accomplished biographer of Cardinal Ximenes : << Porro Annales Laurentii Galendi Caravajali, quibus vir gravissimus rerumque illarum cum primis particeps quinquaginta ferme annorum memoriam complexus est. haud vulgariter mcam operam juverunt". De Rebus gestis, Prasfatio.
.
FERDINAND AND ISABELLA
Jl5
CHAPTER XXVI. GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF
FERDINAND AND
ISABELLA. Policy of the Crown. -Towards the Nobles.-The Clergy.-Consideration of the Commons. -Advancement of Prerogative.-Legal Compilations.-The Legal Profession -Trade -Manufactures.-Agriculture.- Restrictive Policy.-Revenues.-Progress of Discovery —Colonial Administration.— General Prosperity.—Increase of Population Chivalro,« lvairous ' Spirit.—The Period of National Glory.
—
We have now traversed that important period of history comprehending the latter part of the fifteenth and the beginning of the sixteenth century°; a period when the convulsions which shook to the ground the ancient political fabrics of Europe, roused the minds of its inhabitants from the lethargy in which they had been buried for ages. Spain, as we have seen, felt the general impulse. Under the glorious rule of Ferdinand and Isabella we have beheld her emerging from chaos into a new existence, unfolding, under the influence of institutions adapted to her genius, energies of which she was before unconscious ; enlarging her resources from all the springs of domestic industry and commercial enterprise ; and insensibly losing the ferocious habits of a feudal age in the refinements of an intellectual and moral culture. In the fulness of time, when her divided powers had been concentrated under one head, and the system of internal economy completed, we have seen her descend into the arena with the other nations of Europe, and in a very few years achieve the most important acquisitions of territory, both in that quarter and in Africa ; and finally crowning the whole by the discovery and occupation of a boundless empire beyond the waters. In the progress of the action we may have been too much occupied with its details to attend sufficiently to the principles which regulated them. But now that we have reached the close, we may be permitted to cast a parting glance over the field that we have traversed, and briefly survey the prin¬ cipal steps by which the Spanish sovereigns, under Divine providence, led their nation up to such a height of prosperity and glory. Ferdinand and Isabella, on their accession, saw at once that the chiei source of the distractions of the country lay in the overgrown powers and directed factious spirit of the nobility. Their first efforts, therefore, were was going orwar movement similar A to abate these as far as possible. with so in the other European monarchies; but in none was tt crowned and bold those of means speedy and complete success as in Castile, by this of chapter early an in decisive measures which have been detailed
716
FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.
work.1 The same policy was steadily pursued during the remainder of their reign ; less indeed by open assault than by indirect means.2 Among these, one of the most effectual was the omission to summon the privileged orders to cortes, in several of the most important sessions of that body. This, so far from being a new stretch of prerogative, was only an exercise of the anomalous powers already familiar to the crown, as elsewhere noticed.3 Nor does it seem to have been viewed as a grievance by the other party, who regarded these meetings with the more indifference, since their aristocratic immunities exempted them from the taxation which was generally the prominent object of them. But, from whatever cause proceeding, by this impolitic acquiescence they sur¬ rendered, undoubtedly, the most valuable of their rights,— one which has enabled the British aristocracy to maintain its political consideration unimpaired, while that of the Castilian has faded away into an empty pageant.4 Another practice steadily pursued by the sovereigns was to raise men of humble station to offices of the highest trust ; not, however, like their contemporary, Louis the Eleventh, because their station was humble, in order to mortify the higher orders, but because they courted merit wher¬ ever it was to be found ;5— a policy much and deservedly commended by the sagacious observers of the time.6 The history of Spain does not probably afford another example of a person of the lowly condition of Ximenes attaining, not merely the highest offices in the kingdom, but eventually its uncontrolled supremacy.7 The multiplication of legal tribunals and other civil offices afforded the sovereigns ample scope for pursuing this policy, in the demand created for professional science. The nobles, intrusted hitherto with the chief direction of affairs, now saw it pass into the hands of persons who had other qualifications than martial prowess or hereditary rank. Such as courted distinction were compelled to seek it by the regular avenues of academic discipline. How extensively the spirit operated, and with what brilliant success, we have already seen.8 1 Ante, Part I., chapter 6. 3 Among the minor means for diminishing the consequence of the nobility may be mentioned the regulation respecting the " privilegios rodados ; " instruments formerly requiring to be countersigned by the great lords and prelates, but which, from the time of Ferdinand and Isabella, were submitted for signature only to officers especially appointed tor the purpose. Salazar de Mendoza, Dignidades, lib.
jurists, on the charge of bribery and other mal¬
versation, from their seats in the royal council. Quincuagenas, MS., dial, de Grizio. 6 See a letter of the council to Charles V., com¬ mending the course adopted by his grandparents in their promotions to office, apud Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 1517, cap. 4. 1 Yet strange instances of promotion are not wanting in Spanish history ; witness the adventurer Ripperda in Philip V.'s time, and the Prince of the 2, cap. 12. Peace, in our own ; men who, owing their success 3 Ante, Introd., sect. i. less to their own powers than the imbecility of others, 4 A pertinent example of this policy of the sovereigns occurred in the coites of Madrigal, 1476; could lay no claim to the bold and independent sway by Ximenes. where, notwithstanding the important subjects of exercised 8 Ante, Part I. chapter 19. " No os parece £ legislation, none but the third estate were present. (Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, p. 94.) An equally appo¬ vos," says Oviedo in one of his Dialogues, "que es site illustration is afforded by the care to summon niejor ganado eso, que les d£ su principe por sus the great vassals to the cortes of loledo in 1480, servicios, e !o que llevan justamente de sus oficios, when matters nearly touching them, as the revoca¬ que lo que se adquiere robando capas agenas, e tion of their honours and estates, were under dis¬ matando e vertiendo sangre de Cristianos?" (Quin¬ cuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 3, dial. 9.) The cussion, but not till then. Ibid., p. 165. sentiment would have been too enlightened for a 5 The same principle made them equally vigilant Oviedo Spanish cavalier of the fifteenth century. office. in those of the purity maintaining in mentions that in 1497 they removed a number of
—
RE VIE IV OF THEIR ADMINISTRATION.
717 But, whatever the .nistocracy may have gained in refinement of character, it resigned much o its prescriptive power when it condescended to enter the arena on terms of equal competition with its inferiors for the prizes of talent and scholarship. Ferdinand pursued a similar course in his own dominions of Aragon, where he unitormly supported the commons, or may more properly be said to have been supported by them, in the attempt to circumscribe the authority of the great feudatories. Although he accomplished this to a considerable extent, their power was too firmly intrenched behind positive institutions to be affected like that of the Castilian aristocracy, whose rights had been swelled beyond their legitimate limits by every species of
usurpation.1 With all the privileges retrieved from this order, it still possessed a disproportionate weight in the political balance. The great lords still claimed some of the most considerable posts, both civil and military.2 Their revenues were immense, and their broad lands covered unbroken leagues of extent in every quarter of the kingdom.3 The queen, who reared many of their children in the royal palace under her own eye, endeavoured to draw her potent vassals to the court ;4 but many, still cherishing the ancient spirit of independence, preferred to live in feudal grandeur, surrounded by their retainers in their strong castles, and wait 1 In the cortes of Calatayud, in
1515, the Aragon-
ese nobles withheld the supplies, with the design of
compelling the crown to lehnquish certain rights of jurisdiction which it assumed over their vassals. parecio," said the archbishop of Saragossa I'Les in a speech on the occasion. " que auian perdido mucho, en que el ceptro real cobras-e lo suyo, por su industria. . Esto los otros cstados del reyno lo atribuyeron & gran virtud : y lo estimauan por beneficio inmortal." (Zurita, Anales, torn. vi. lib. 10, cap. 93.) The other estates, in fact, saw their interests too clearly not to concur with the crown in this assertion of its ancient prerogative. Blancas, Modo de proceder, fol. too. 2 Such, for example, were those of great chan¬ cellor, of admiral, and of constable of Castile. The first of these ancient offices was permanently united by Isabella with that of archbishop of Toledo. 1he office of admiral became hereditary, after Henry III., in the noble family of Enriquez, and that of constable in the house of Velasco. Although of great authority and importance in their origin, and, indeed, in the time of the Catholic sovereigns, these posts gradually, after becoming hereditary, declined into mere titular dignities. Salazar de Mendoza, Dignidades, lib. 2, cap. 8, 10 ; lib. 3, cap. 21. L. Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol.
..
42-
3 The
—
duke of Infantado, head of the ancient
house of Mendoza, whose estates lay in Castile, and,
dom.
Iwill select a few of the names familiar to
us in the present narrative :
Enriquez, admiral of Castile, 50,000 ducats in¬ come, equal to $440,000. Velasco, constable of Castile, 60,000 ducats in¬ come, estates in Old Castile. Toledo, duke of Alva, 50,000 ducats income, estates in Castile and Navarre. Mendoza, duke of Infantado, 50,000 ducats in¬ come, estates in Castile and other provinces. Guzman, duke of Medina Sidonia, 55,000 ducats income, estates in Andalusia. Cerda, duke of Medina Celi, 30,000 ducats income, estates in Castile and Andalusia. Ponce de Leon, duke of Arcos, 25,000 ducats income, estates in Andalusia. Pacheco, duke of Escalona (marquis of Villena), 60,000 ducats income, estates in Castile. Cordova, duke of Sessa, 60,000 ducats income, estates in Naples and Andalusia. Aguilar, marquis of Priego, 40,000 ducats income, estates in Andalusia and Estremadura. Mendoza, count of Tendilla, 15,000 ducats in¬ come, estates in Castile. Pimentcl, count of Benavente, 60,000 ducats in¬
come, estates in Castile. Giron, count of Urena, 20,000 ducats
income,
estates in Andalusia. Silva, count of Cifuentes, 10,000 ducats income, , estates in Andalusia.
. . " VJ
The (Cosas memorables, fol. 24, 25.)discrepancies, by confirmed, with some slight alibi. See also et 18, 33, fol. Viaggio, Navagiero, 2. discurso Salazar de Mendoza, Dignidades, estaban las "E11 casa de aquellos Pnncipes 30,000 vassals. (Viaggio, fol. 6, 33.) Oviedo makes por de los principles senores 6 cavalleros hiias bat. 1, MS., the same statement. (Quincuagenas, sus hijas, y en Infantas las de e Reyna la quinc. 1, dial. 8.) Lucio Marineo, among other damas de de hijos y mayorazgos todos los things in his curiousfarrago, has given an estimate la corte andabanmas heredados de sus reynos. of tlie rents, " poco mas <5 menos,'' of the great srrandes e los 4, quinc. 1, bat. MS., nobility of Castile and Aragon, whose whole amount Oviedo, Quincuagenas, he computes at one-third of those of the whole king¬ dial. 44.
indeed, in most of the provinces of the kingdom, is
described by Navagiero as living in great magnifi¬ cence. He maintained a body-guard of zoo toot, besides men-at-arms, and could muster more than
*
7 18
FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.
there, in grim repose, the hour when they might sally forth and reassert by arms their despoiled authority. Such a season occurred on Isabella's death. The warlike nobles eagerly seized it ; but the wily and resolute Ferdinand, and afterwards the iron hand of Ximenes, kept them in check, and prepared the way for the despotism of Charles the Fifth, round whom the haughty aristocracy of Castile, shorn of substantial power, were content to revolve as the satellites of a court, reflecting only the borrowed splendours of royalty.
The queen's government was equally vigilant in resisting ecclesiastical encroachment. It may appear otherwise to one who casts a superficial glance at her reign, and beholds her surrounded always by a troop of ghostly advisers, and avowing religion as the great end of her principal operations at home and abroad.1 It is certain, however, that, while in all her acts she confessed the influence of religion, she took more effectual means than any of her predecessors to circumscribe the temporal powers of the clergy.2 The volume of her pragmaticas is filled with laws designed to limit their jurisdiction and restrain their encroachments on the secular authorities.3 Towards the Roman See, she maintained, as we have often had occasion to notice, the same independent attitude. By the celebrated concordat made with Sixtus the Fourth, in 1482, the pope conceded to the sovereigns the right of nominating to the higher dignities of the church.4 The Holy See, however, still assumed the collation to inferior benefices, which were too often lavished on non-residents and otherwise unsuitable persons. The queen sometimes extorted a papal indulgence granting the right of presentation for a limited time ; on which occasions she showed such alacrity that she is known to have disposed in a single day of more than twenty prebends and inferior dignities. At other times, when the nomina¬ tion made by his Holiness, as not unfrequently happened, was distasteful to her, she would take care to defeat it by forbidding the bull to be published until laid before the privy council ; at the same time sequestrat¬ ing the revenues of the vacant benefice till her own requisitions were complied with.5 She was equally solicitous in watching over the morals of the clergy, 1 Corao quier que oia el parecer de personas religiosas 6 de los otros letrados que cerca della eran, pero la mayor parte seguia las cosas por su arbitrio." Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, part, i, cap. 4. Lucio Marineo has collected many particulars
"
wealthiest in Christendom ; " its canons lived in stately palaces, and its revenues, with those of the archbishopric, equalled those of the whole city of Toledo. (Viaggio, fol. 9.) He notices also the great opulence of the churches of Seville, Guadalupe, etc., respecting the great wealth of the Spanish clergy in fol. 11, 13. 3 See Pragmaticas del Reyno, fol. his time. There were four metropolitan sees in 11, 140, 141, Castile : 171, et loc. al. From one of these ordinances it appears the clergy were not backward in remonstrat¬ Toledo, income 80,000 ducats. ing against what they deemed an infringement of St. James, " 24.000 " their rights. (Fol. 172.) The queen, however, while Seville, 20,000 " she guarded against their usurpations, interfered " Granada, " 10,000 " more than once, with her usual sense of justice, on their application, to shield them from the encroach¬ There were twenty-nine bishoprics, whose aggregate ments of the civil tribunals. Riol, Informe, apud revenues, very unequally apportioned, amounted to Semanario erudito, torn. iii. pp. 98, 99. 4 See Part I. chapter 6 of this History. 251,000 ducats. The church livings in Aragon were much fewer and leaner than in Castile. (Cosas 5 See examples of this, in Informe, apud Riol, fol. memorables, 23.) The Venetian Navagiero Semanario erudito, torn. iii. pp. 95-102. PragmSSDeaks of the metropolitan church of Toledo as "the ticas del Reyno, fol. 14.
—
—
RE VIE W OF THEIR ADMINISTRATION.
7ig
inculcating on the higher prelates to hold frequent pastoral communication with their sufiragans, and to report to her such as were delinquent.1 By these vigilant measures she succeeded in restoring the ancient discipline of the church, and weeding out the sensuality and indolence which had so long defiled it ; while she had the inexpressible satisfaction to see the principal places, long before her death, occupied by prelates whose learning and religious principle gave the best assurance of the stability of the reformation.2 Few of the Castilian monarchs have been brought more frequently into collision, or pursued a bolder policy, with the court of Rome. Still fewer have extorted from it such important graces and con¬ cessions ; a circumstance which can only be imputed, says a Castilian writer, "to singular good fortune and consummate prudence;" 3 to that deep conviction of the queen's integrity we may also add, which disarmed resistance, even in her enemies.4 The condition of the commons under this reign was probably, on the whole, more prosperous than in any other period of Spanish history. New avenues to wealth and honours were opened to them ; and persons and property were alike protected under the fearless and impartial administra¬ tion of the law. "Such was the justice dispensed to every one under this
auspicious reign," exclaims Marineo, " that nobles and cavaliers, citizens and labourers, rich and poor, masters and servants, all equally partook of it" 5 We find no complaints of arbitrary imprisonment, and no attempts, so frequent both in earlier and later times, at illegal taxation. In this particular, indeed, Isabella manifested the greatest tenderness for her people. By her commutation of the capricious tax of the alcavala for a determinate one, and still more by transferring its collection from the revenue officers to the citizens themselves, she greatly relieved her
subjects.6 1 Riol, Informe, apud Semanario erudito, torn. he did not cause the apostolical envoy—curso aposiii. p. 94.— L. Marineo, Cosas memorables fol. 182. tolico— to be seized and hanged on the spot ! He a Oviedo bears emphatic testimony to this : " En orders him to recall the mission which had been de¬
nuestros tiempos hH habido en Espaiia de nuestra Nacion grandes varone- Letrados, excelentes Periados y Religiosos y personas que por sus habilidades y sciencias hin subido a las mas altas dignidades de Capelos d de Arzobispados y todo lo que mas se puede alcanzar, en la Iglesia de Dios. " Quincuagenas, MS-, dial, de Talavera.— Col. de Cedulas, torn. i. p. 440. 3 " Lo que debe admirar es, que en el tiempo mismo que se contendia con tanto ardor, obtuvieron los Reyes de la santa Sede mas gracias y privilcgios que ninguno de sus sucesores ; prueba de su felicidad, y de su prudentisiina conducta.*' Riol, Informe, apud Semanario erudito, torn. iii. p. 95. 4 Since the publication of the earlier editions of this work, I have met with an instance of Ferdi¬ nand's spirit in the assertion of his ecclesiastical rights quite equal to any displayed by his illustrious consort, and too remarkable to be passed over in silence. It was on occasion of an infringement of what he deemed the immunities of his crown at Naples. It occurred in 1508 ; and in a letter dated from I'.urgos, May 22nd of that year, he reproves in
spatched to Rome, and declares that if the offensive bull is not at once revoked he will withdraw the obedience of the crowns of Castile and Aragon from
the Holy See ! "Y estamos muy determinados si su Santidad no revoca Iuego el Breve y los autos por virtud del fechos, de le guitar la ohediencia de todos los Reynos de las Coronas de Castilla y Aragon y de facer otras provisiones convenientes k caso tan grave y de tanta importancia." It is curious to see how the commentators of a later date endeavour to reconcile this bold bearing of the Catholic king with his loyalty as a true son of the church. A copy of the original document in the royal archives of Naples may be found in theÿ Obras ineditas de Quevedo, Madrid, 1794, torn. xi. p. 35 " Porque la igualidad de lajusticia que los bienlos auenturados Principes hazian era tal, que todos : aora hombres de qualquier condicion que fuessen labradores, nobles, y caualleros : aora plebeyos, y y ricos, o pobres. flacos, o fuertes, senores, o sieruos en lo que a la justicia tocaua todos fuessen iguales. ., Cosas memorables, fol. 180. 6 The- Oeneficial changes were made with the Ximenes. of agency the through no measured terms his viceroy, the count of R'var- advice and gestis, fol. 24.— Quintanilla, goza, for allowing the publication of the papal bull (Gomez, De Rebus The alcavala, a tax of onewhich had been the cause of offence. He asks why Archetypo, p. 181.)
.
720
FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.
Finally, notwithstanding the perpetual call for troops for the military operations in which the government was constantly engaged, and notwith¬ standing the example of neighbouring countries, there was no attempt to establish that iron bulwark of despotism, a standing army ; at least, none nearer than that of the voluntary levies of the hermandad, raised and paid by the people. The queen never admitted the arbitrary maxims of Ximenes in regard to the foundation of government. Hers was essentially one of opinion, not force.1 Had it rested on any other than the broad basis of public opinion, it could not have withstood a day the violent shocks to which it was early exposed, nor have achieved the important revolution that it finally did, both in the domestic and foreign concerns of the country. The condition of the kingdom, on Isabella's accession, necessarily gave the commons unwonted consideration. In the tottering state of her affairs, she was obliged to rest on their strong arm for support. It did not fail her. Three sessions of the legislature, or rather the popular branch of it, were held during the two first years of her reign. It was in these early assemblies that the commons bore an active part in concocting the wholesome system of laws which restored vitality and vigour to the
exhausted republic.2 After this good work was achieved, the sessions of that body became more rare. There was less occasion for them, indeed, during the existence of the hermandad, which was of itself an ample representation of the Castilian commons, and which, by enforcing obedience to the law at home, and by liberal supplies for foreign war, superseded in a great degree the call for more regular meetings of cortes.3 The habitual economy, too, not to say frugality, which regulated the public as well as private expenditure of the sovereigns, enabled them, after this period, with occasional exceptions, to dispense with other aid than that drawn from the regular revenues of the crown. There is every ground for believing that the political franchises of the people, as then understood, were uniformly respected. The number of tenth on all transfers of property, produced more than any other branch of the revenue. As it was
enjoyed, the people were very generally unprovided with arms, offensive or defensive, having sold or
have seen in her testament, entertained great scruples as to the right to continue it, without the confirmation of the people, after that was termin¬ ated. Ximenes recommended its abolition, without any qualification, to Charles V., but in vain. (Iidem auct., ubi supra.) Whatever be thought of its legality, there can be no doubt it was one of the most successful means ever devised by a govern¬ ment for shackling the industry and enterprise of its
unprepared to meet either domestic disturbance or foreign invasion. (Pragmaticas del Reyno, fol. 83.) What a tribute does this afford, in that age of violence, to the mild, paternal character of the administration ! 2 The most important were those of Madrigal in 1476, and of Toledo in 1480, to which Ihave often had occasion to refer. "Las mas notables," say Asso and Manuel, in reference to the latter, ''y famosas de este Reynado, en el qual podemos asegurar, que tuvo principio el mayor aumento, y arreglo de nuestra Jurisprudencia." (Instituciones, Introd., p. 91.) Marina notices this cortes with equal panegyric. (Teorla, torn. i. p. 75.) See also Sempere, Hist, des Corths, p. 197. 3 See Part I. chapters 10, n, et alibi-
originally designed, more than a century before, to suffered them to fall into decay, insomuch that, in furnish funds for the Moorish war, Isabella, as we their present condition, they would be found wholly
subjects. 1 A pragmatic was issued, September 18th, 1495, prescribing the weapons and the seasons for a regular training of the militia. The preamble declares that it was made at the instance of the representatives of the cities and the nobles, who complained that in consequence of the tranquillity which the king¬ dom, through the divine mercy, had for some years
REVJEW OF THEIR ADMINISTRATION.
fix
cities summoned to cortes, which had so often varied according tc the caprice of princes, never fell short of that prescribed by long usage. On the contrary, an addition was made by the conquest of Granada ; and in a cortes held soon after the queen's death we find a most narrow and impolitic remonstrance of the legislature itself against the alleged unautho¬ rized extension of the privilege of representation.1 In one remarkable particular, which may be thought to form a material exception to the last observations, the conduct of the crown deserves to be noticed. This was, the promulgation of pragmdticas, or royal ordi¬ nances, and that to a greater extent, probably, than under any other reign, before or since. This important prerogative was claimed and exercised, more or less freely, by most European sovereigns in ancient times. No¬ thing could be more natural than that the prince should assume such authority, or that the people, blind to the ultimate consequences, and impatient of long or frequent sessions of the legislature, should acquiesce in the temperate use of it. As far as these ordinances were of an execu¬ tive character, or designed as supplementary to parliamentary enactments, or in obedience to previous suggestions of cortes, they appear to lie open to no constitutional objections in Castile.2 But it was not likely that limits somewhat loosely defined would be very nicely observed ; and under preceding reigns this branch of prerogative had been most intoler¬ ably abused.3 A large proportion of these laws are of an economical character, designed to foster trade and manufactures and to secure fairness in com mercial dealings.4 Many are directed against the growing spirit of luxury, and many more occupied with the organization of the public tribunals. Whatever be thought of their wisdom in some cases, it will not be easy to detect any attempt to innovate on the settled principles of criminal juris1 At Valladolid, in 1506. The number ot cities the common weal." " Muchas de estegdnero," they having right of representation, " que acostumbran add, "contieneel libro raro intitulado Pragmdticas continuamente embiar procuradores 4 cortes," ac¬ del Regno, que se imprimib la primera vez en AlcalA cording to Pulgar, was seventeen. (Reyes Cat<51icos, en 1528." (Instituciones, Introd., p. no.) This is cap. 95.) This was before Granada was added. an error ; see note 4, p. 724. 3 Martyr, writing some years after that event, enume¬ " Por la presente premAtica-sencion," said John rates only sixteen as enjoying the privilege. (Opus II. in one of his ordinances, " lo cual todo € cada Epist., epist. 460.) Pulgar's estimate, however, is cosa dello 6 parte dello quiero 6 mando 6 ordeno corroborated by the petition of the cortes of Valla¬ que se guarde 6 cumpla daqui adelante para siempre dolid, which, with more than usual effrontery, would jamAs en todas las cibdades 6 villas 6 logares non limit the representation to eighteen cities, as pre¬ embargante cualesqmer leyes e fueros 6 derechos e scribed "por algunas Ieyes 6 inmemorial uso." ordenamientos, constituciones 6 posesiones 6 premAticas-senciones, 6 usos 6 costumbres, ca en cuanto Marina, Teorfa, torn. i. p. 161. Many of these pragmdticas purport, in their 4 esto atane yo los abrogo e derogo." (Marina, preambles, to be made at the demand of cortes ; Teoria, torn. ii. p. 216.) This was the very essence many more at the petition of corporations or in¬ of despotism ; and John found it expedient to retract dividuals ; and many from the good pleasure of the these expressions on the subsequent remonstrance sovereigns, bound to " remedy all grievances and of cortes. provide for the exigencies of the state." These it is worthy of remark, as evincing the * Indeed, of civilization under this reign, that most ordinances very frequently are stated to have been progress made with the advice of the royal council. They of the criminal legislation is to be referred to its were proclaimed in the public squares of the city in commencement, while the laws of the subsequent which they were executed, and afterwards in those period chiefly concern the new relations which grow of the principal towns in the kingdom. The doctors out of an increased domestic industry. It is in the Asso and Manuel divide pragmdticas into two " Ordenangas reales," and " Leyes de la Hermanc'asses ; those made at the instance of cortes, and dad," both published by 1485, that we must look those emanating from the sovereign, as supreme for the measures against violence and rapine. legislator of the kingdom, moved by his anxiety for
—
"
2 Z
FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.
72 2
prudence or on those regulating the transfer of property. When these were to be discussed, the sovereigns were careful to call in the aid of the legislature; an example which found little favour with their successors.1 It is good evidence of the public confidence in the government, and the generally beneficial scope of these laws, that, although of such unprece¬ dented frequency, they should have escaped parliamentary animadversion.2 But, however patriotic the intentions of the Catholic sovereigns, and however safe, or even salutary, the power intrusted to such hands, it was a fatal precedent, and under the Austrian dynasty became the most effectual lever for overturning the liberties of the nation. The preceding remarks on the policy observed towards the commons in this reign must be further understood as applying with far less qualifica tion to the queen than to her husband. The latter, owing perhaps to the lessons which he had derived from his own subjects of Aragon, "who never abated one jot of their constitutional rights," says Martyr, "at the command of a king," 3 and whose meetings generally brought fewer supplies to the royal coffers than grievances to redress, seems to have had little relish for popular assemblies. He convened them as rarely as possible in Aragon,4 and, when he did, omitted no effort to influence their delibera¬ tions.6 He anticipated, perhaps, similar difficulties in Castile, after his second marriage had lost him the affections of the people. At any rate, he evaded calling them together on more than one occasion imperiously demanded by the constitution ;c and, when he did so, he invaded their 1 Thus, for example, the important criminal laws of the Hermandad, and the civil code called the
Toro," were made under the express " Laws of the (Leyes de la
sanction of commons. Hermandad, Quaderno de las Leves y nuevas Decisiones hechas y ordenadas en la Ciudad de Toro (Medina del Campo, 1555), fol. 49.) Nearly all, if not all, the acts of the Catholic sovereigns introduced into the famous code of the " Ordenangas reales " were passed in the cortes of Madrigal in 1476, or Toledo in 1480. 2 It should be stated, however, that the cortes ot Valladolid, in 1506, two years after the queen'sdeath, enjoined Philip and Joanna to make no laws with¬ out the consent of cortes ; remonstrating, at the same time, against the existence of many royal Jrragmdticas, as an evil to be redressed. " Y por esto se estableci<5 lei que no hiciesen ni renovasen leyes sino en cortes. . . Y porque fuera de esta drden se han hecho muchas premdticas de que estos vuestros reynos se tienen por agraviados, manden que aquellas se revean y provean y remedien los agravios que las tales prematicas tienen." (Marina, 'reoria, torn. ii. p. 218.) Whether this is to be understood of the ordinances of the reigning sove¬ reigns, or their predecessors, may be doubted. It is certain that the nation, however it may have acquiesced in the exercise of this power by the late queen, would not have been content to resign it to such incompetent hands as those of Philip and his crazy wife. Liberi patriis legibus, nil iinperio Regis gubernantur." Opus Epist., epist. 438. 4 Capmany, however, understates the number i/hen he limits it to four sessions only during this whole reign. Practica y Estilo, p. 62. 6 See ante, page 530, note 4, of this History. — " Si quis aliquid," says Martyr, speaking of a cortes general held at Monzon by Queen Germaine,
—
fol. i.
.
"
sibi contra jus illatum putat, aut a regia corona quaequam deberi existimat, nunquam dissolvuntur conventus, donee conquerenti satisfiat, neque Regibus parere in exigendis pecuniis, solent aliter. Regina quotidie scribit, se vexari eorum petitionibus, nec exsolvere se quire, quod se maxime optare
ostendit. Rex imminentis necessitatis bellicas vim proponit, ut in aliud tempus querelas differant, per literas, per nuntios, per ministros, conventum praesidentesque hortatur monetque, et summissis fere verbis rogare videtur." 1512. (Opus Epist. , epist. 493.) Blancas notices the astuteness of Ferdinand, who, instead of money granted by the Aragonese with difficulty and reservations, usually applied for troops at once, which were furnished and paid by the state. (Modo de proceder, fol. 100, roi.) Zurita tells us that both the king and queen were averse to meetings of cortes in Castile oftener than absolutely necessary, and both took care, on such occasions, to have their own agents near the deputies, to influence their proceedings. " Todas las vezes que en lo passado elRey, yla Reynadona Isabel llamauan k cortes en Castilla, temian de las Uamar : y despues de llamados, y ayuntados los procuradores, ponian tales personas de su parte, que continuamente se juntassen con ellos ; por escusar lo que podria resultar de aquellos ayuntamientos : y tambien por darles k entender, que no tenian tanto poder, quanto ellos se imaginauan. ' (Anales, torn. vi. vol. 96.) This course is as repugnant to Isabella's character as it is in keeping with her husband's. Under their joint administration, it is not always easy to discriminate the part which belongs to each. Their respective characters, and political conduct in affairs where they were separately concerned ,furnish us a pretty safe clue to our judgment in others. 6 As, for example, both when he resigned and resumed the regency. See Part II., chapters 17, 20.
REVIEW OF THEIR ADMINISTRATION.
7 23
privileges,1 and announced principles of government 2 which formed a discreditable, and, it must be admitted, rare exception to the usual tenor of his administration. Indeed, the most honourable testimony is borne to
its general equity and patriotism by a cortes convened soon after the queen's death, when the tribute, as far as she was concerned, still more unequivocally, must have been sincere.8 A similar testimony is afforded by the panegyrics and the practice of the more liberal Castilian writers, who freely resort to this reign as the great fountain of constitutional precedent4 The commons gained political consideration, no doubt, by the depres¬ sion of the nobles ; but their chief gain lay in the inestimable blessings of domestic tranquillity and the security of private rights. The crown absorbed the power, in whatever form, retrieved from the privileged orders; the pensions and large domains, the numerous fortified places, the rights of seigniorial jurisdiction, the command of the military orden. and the like. Other circumstances conspired to raise the regal authority still higher ; as, for example, the international relations then opened with the rest of Europe, which, whether friendly or hostile, were conducted by the monarch alone, who, unless to obtain supplies, rarely condescended to seek the intervention of the other estates ; the concentration of the dismembered provinces of the Peninsula under one government ; the immense acquisitions abroad, whether from discovery or conquest, regarded in that day as the property of the crown, rather than of the nation ; and, finally, the consideration flowing from the personal character and long successful rule of the Catholic sovereigns. Such were the manifold causes which, without the imputation of a criminal ambition, or indifference to the rights of their subjects, in Ferdinand and Isabella, all combined to swell the prerogative to an unprecedented height under their reign. This, indeed, was the direction in which all the governments of Europe, at this period, were tending. The people, wisely preferring a single master to a multitude, sustained the crown in its efforts to recover from the aristocracy the enormous powers it so grossly abused. This was the revolution of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The power thus deposited in a single hand was found in time equally incompatible with the great ends of civil government ; while it gradually accumulated to an extent which threatened to crush the monarchy by its own weight. But the institutions derived from a Teutonic origin have been found to possess a las interpretar y emendar donde vieren que cumple, . 1 In the first cortes after Isabella's death, at Toro, etc. in 1505, Ferdinand introduced the practice, which (Leyes de Toro, fol. 2.) What could John has since obtained, of administering an oath of II., or any despot of the Austrian line, claim more ? 3 See the address of the cortes, in Marina, Teoria, secrecy to the deputies, as to the proceedings of the session ; a serious wound to popular representation. torn. i. p. 282. . the writers repeatedly cited by me, it is (Marina, Teorla, torn. i. p. 273.) Capmany (Pr&ctica * Among y Estilo, p. 232) errs in describing this as "un enough to point out the citizen Marina, who has arteficio Maquiavdlico inventado por la politico derived more illustrations of his liberal theory of the and Isabella Aletnotia." The German Machiavelism has quite constitution from the reign of Ferdinand sins enough in this way to answer for. than from any other, and who loses no opportunity of and of 2 The government," "paternal introductory law to the " Leyes de Toro " panegyric on their holds this strange language: "Y porque el rey contrasting it with the tyrannical policy of later >(
fertenesce y ha poder de hazer fueros y leyes, y de
times.
724
FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.
conservative principle, unknown to the fragile despotisms of the East. The seeds of liberty, though dormant, lay deep in the heart of the nation, waiting only the good time to germinate. That time has at length arrived. Larger experience and a wide moral culture have taught men not only the extent of their political rights, but the best way to secure them. And it is the reassertion of these by the great body of the people which now con¬ stitutes the revolution going forward in most of the old communities of Europe. The progress of liberal principles must be controlled, of course, by the peculiar circumstances and character of the nation ; but their ultimate triumph, in every quarter, none can reasonably distrust May it not be abused ! The prosperity of the country under Ferdinand and Isabella, its growing trade and new internal relations, demanded new regulations, which, as before noticed, were attempted to be supplied by the pragmdticas. This was adding, however, to the embarrassments of a juris¬ prudence already far too cumbrous. The Castilian lawyer might despair of a critical acquaintance with the voluminous mass of legislation which, in the form of municipal charters, Roman codes, parliamentary statutes, and royal ordinances, were received as authority in the courts.1 The manifold evils resulting from this unsettled and conflicting jurisprudence had led the legislature repeatedly to urge its digest into a more simple and uniform system. Some approach was made towards this in the code of the " Ordenangas Reales," compiled in the early part of the queen's reign.2 The great body of Fragmdticas, subsequently issued, were also collected into a separate volume by her command,3 and printed the year before her death.4 These two codes may therefore be regarded as embracing the ordinary legislation of her reign. In 1505 the celebrated little code, called "Leyes de Toro," from the place where the cortes was held, received the sanction of that body.5 Its laws, eighty-four in number, and designed as supplementary to those 1 Marina enumerates no less than nine separate codes of civil and municipal law in Castile, by which the legal decisions were to be regulated, in Ferdi¬ nand and Isabella's time. Ensayo histdrico-critico sobre la antigua Legislacion de Castilla (Madrid, 1808), pp. 383-386. Asso y Manuel, Institutiones, Introd. 2 See Part I., chapter 6, of this History. 3 " A collection," says Senor Clemencin, " of the last importance, and indispensable to a right under¬ standing of the spirit of Isabella's government, but, nevertheless, little known to Castilian writers, not ÿexcepting the most learned of them." (Mem. de la Acad, de Hist., torn. vi. Ilust. 9.) No edition of ' he Pragmdticas has appeared since the publication of Philip II.'s"Nueva Recopilacion," in 1567, in which a large portion of them are embodied. The remainder having no further authority, the work has gradually fallen into oblivion. But, whatever be the cause, the fact is not very creditable to pro¬ fessional science in Spain. The earliest edition was at Alcala de Henares, printed by Lanzalao Polono, in 1503. It was revised and prepared for the press by Johan Ramirez, secre¬ tary of the royal council, from whom the work is
*
often called " Pragmdticas de Ramirez." It passed through several editions by 1550. Clemencin (ubi supra) enumerates five ; but his list is incomplete, as the one in my possession, probably the second, has escaped his notice. It is a fine old folio, in black letter, containing in addition some ordinances of Joanna, and the "Laws of Toro," in 192 folios. On the last is this notice by the printer : Fue ympressa la presente obra en la muy noble y muy leal cibdad de Seuilla, por Juan Varela ympressor dec libros. Acabose a dos dias del mes de otubre de mill y veynte arios. " The first leafafter the table of contents exhibits the motives of its publication : E " porque como algunasde ellas (pragmdticas sanciones 6 cartas) ha mucho tiempo que se dieron, 6 otras se hicieron en diversos tiempos, estan derramadas por muchas partes, no se saben por todos, e aun mucnas de las dichas justicias no tienen complida noticia de todas ellas, paresciendo ser necesario 6 provechoso ; mandamos d los del nuestro consejo que las hiciesea juntar e corregir e impremir," &c. 5 " Leyes de Toro," say Asso and Manuel, veneradas tanto desde entonces, que se les did el " primer lugar de valimiento sobre todas las del Reyno."" Instituciones, Introd., p. 95.
REVIEW OF THEIR ADMINISTRATION.
7*5
already existing, are chiefly occupied with the rights of inheritance and marriage. It is here that the ominous term "mayorazgo" may be said to have been naturalized in Castilian jurisprudence.1 The peculiar feature of these laws, aggravated in no slight degree by the glosses of the civilians," is the facility which they give to entails ; a fatal facility, which, chiming in with the pride and indolence natural to the Spanish character, ranks them among the most efficient agents of the decay of husbandry and the general impoverishment of the country. Besides these codes, there were the " Leyes de la Hermandad," 3 the de Alcavalas," with others of less note for the regulation of Quaderno " trade, made in this reign.4 But still the great scheme of a uniform digest of the municipal law of Castile, although it occupied the most distin¬ guished jurisconsults of the time, was unattained at the queen's death.5 How deeply it engaged her mind in that hour is evinced by the clause in her codicil in which she bequeaths the consummation of the work, as an imperative duty, to her successors.0 It was not completed till the reign of Philip the Second ; and the large proportion of Ferdinand and Isabella's laws admitted into that famous compilation shows the prospec¬ tive character of their legislation, and the uncommon discernment with which it was accommodated to the peculiar genius and wants of the nation.7 The immense increase of empire, and the corresponding development of the national resources, not only demanded new laws, but a thorough reorganization of every department of the administration. Laws may be received as indicating the disposition of the ruler, whether for good or for evil ; but it is in the conduct of the tribunals that we are to read the true 1 See the sensible memorial of Jovellanos, " Informe al Real y Supremo Consejo en el Expediente de Ley agraria. " Madrid, 1795. There have been several editions of this code since the first of 1505. (Marina, Ensayo, No. 450.) Ihave copies of two editions, in black letter, neither of them known to Marina ; one, above noticed, printed at Seville in
—
1520 ; and the other at Medina del Campo in 1555, probably the latest. The laws were subsequently incorporated in the " Nueva Recopilacion." 2 Esta ley," says Jovellanos, " quelos jurisconsultos llaman k boca llena injusta y birbara, lo es mucho mas por la extension que los pragm&ticos le dicron en sus comentarios. " (Informe, p. 76, nota.) The edition of Medina del Campo, in 1555, is swelled
by the commentaries of Miguel de Cifuentes, till the
text, in the language of bibliographers, looks like
in oceano. ' "cymba 3 Ante, Part chapter 6.
I., 4 Leyes del Quaderno nuevo de las Rentas de las Alcavalas y Franquezas, hecho en la Vega de Granada (Salamanca, 1550) J a little code of 37 folios, containing 147 laws for the regulation of the crown rents. It was made in the Vega of Granada, December 10th, 1491. The greater part of these laws, like so many others of this reign, have been admitted into the " Nueva Recopilacion." 5 At the head of these, undoubtedly, must be placed Dr. Alfonso Diaz de Montalvo, noticed more than once in the course of this History. He illus¬ trated three successive reigns by his labours, which tte continued to the close of a long life, and after he
_
had become blind. The Catholic sovereigns highly appreciated his services, and settled a pension on him of 30,000 maravedis. Besides his celebrated compilation of the " Ordenanÿas reales," he wrote commentaries on the ancient code of the " Fuero real," and on the " Siete Partidas," printed for the first time under his own eye, in 1491. (Mendez, Typographia Espanola, p. 183.) Marina (Ensayo, p. 405) has bestowed a beautiful eulogium on this venerable lawyer, who first gave to light the prin¬ cipal Spanish codes; and introduced a spirit of criticism into the national jurisprudence. 6 This gigantic work was committed wholly or in part to Dr. Lorenzo Galindez de Carbajal. He laboured many years on it, but the results of his labours, as elsewhere noticed, have never been com¬ municated to the public. See Asso y Manuel, Instituciones, pp. 5°, 99.— Marina, Ensayo, pp. 392, 406,— and Clemencin, whose Ilust. 9 exhibits a most clear and satisfactory view of the legal compilations under this reign. 7 Lord Bacon's comment on Henry VII.'s laws might apply with equal force to these of Ferdinand and Isabella : " Certainly his times for good com¬ For his laws, monwealth's laws did excel. whoso marks them well, are deep, and not vulgar ; not made upon the spur of a particular occasion for the present, but out of providence of the future, to make the estate of his people still more and more happy |after the manner of the legislators in ancient and heroical times." Hist, of Henry VII., Works (ed. i8i9j, vol. v. p. 60.
...
FERDINAND AND ISABELLA. character of his government. It was the upright and vigilant adminis¬ tration of these which constituted the best claim of Ferdinand and Isabella to the gratitude of their country. To facilitate the despatch ot business, it was distributed among a number of bureaus or councils, at the head of which stood the " royal council," whose authority and functions I have already noticed.1 In order to leave this body more leisure for its executive duties, a new audience, or chancery, as it was called, was established at Valladolid, in 1480, whose judges were drawn from the members of the king's council. A similar tribunal was instituted, after the Moorish conquests, in the southern division of the monarchy; and both had supreme jurisdiction over all civil causes, which were carried up to them from the inferior audiences throughout the kingdom.2 The " council of the supreme " was placed over the Inquisition with a special view to the interests of the crown ; an end, however, which it very imperfectly answered, as appears from its frequent collision with the royal and secular jurisdictions.3 The "council of the orders" had charge, as the name imports, of the great military fraternities.4 The " council of Aragon" was intrusted with the general administration of that kingdom and its dependencies, including Naples, and had besides extensive jurisdiction as a court of appeal.5 Lastly, the "council of the Indies." was instituted by Ferdinand, in 1511, for the control of the American department. Its powers, comprehensive as they were in its origin, were so much enlarged under Charles the Fifth and his successors that it became the depository of all law, the fountain of all nominations, both ecclesiastical and temporal, and the supreme tribunal, where all questions, whether of government or trade in the colonies, were finally adjudicated." 8 Such were the forms which the government assumed under the hands of Ferdinand and Isabella. The great concerns of the empire were brought under the control of a few departments, which looked to the The chief stations were occupied by crown as their common head. lawyers, who were alone competent to the duties ; and the precincts of the court swarmed with a loyal militia, who, as they owed their elevation 1 Ante, Part I., chapter 6.
2 Pragmaticas del Reyno, fol. 24, 30,
tit. 2, leyes 1, 2.—Also Solorzano, Politica Indiana,
torn. ii. lib. 5, cap. 15 ; who goes no further back — Recop. than the remodelling of this tribunal under Charles V- — Riol, Informe, apud Semanario erudito, torn. iii. pp. 159, 160.—The third volume of the Semanarioerudito, pp.
39.
de las Leyes (ed. 1640), torn. i. lib. 2, tit. 5, leyes 1, 2, 3, 11, 12, 20 ; tit. 7, ley 1.— Ordenangas reales, lib. 2, tit. 4. —The southern chancery, first opened at Ciudad Real, in 1494, was subsequently trans¬ ferred by the sovereigns to Granada. 3 Ante, Part I., chapter 7, page 173, note 2. Part I., chapter 6, page 151, note 1. *5 Ante, Riol, Inforrae, apud Semanario erudito, torn. iii. p. 149. It consisted of a vice-chancellor, as pre¬ sident and six ministers, two from each of the three provinces of the crown. It was consulted by the
icing on all appointments and matters of government.
The Italian department was committed to a separate tribunal, called the council of Italy, in T556. Capmany (Mem. de Barcelona, torn. iv. Apend. 17) has explained at length the, functions and authority of this institution. 6 See the nature and broad extent of these powers, in Recop. de las Leyes de las Indias, torn. i. lib. 2,
73-233, contains a report, drawn up by command of Philip V., in 1726, by Don Santiago Agustin Riol, on the organisation and state of the various tribunals, civil and ecclesiastical, under Ferdinand and Isabella; together with an account of the papers contained in their archives. It is an able memorial, replete with curious information. It is singular that this interesting and authentic docu¬ ment should have been so little consulted, consider¬ ing the popular character of the collection in which is preserved. Ido not recollect ever to have met it. with a reference to it in any author. It was by mereaccident, in the absence of a general index, that I stumbled on it in the mare magnum in which it is. engulfed.
REVIEW OF THEIR ADMINISTRATION. to its patronage, were not likely to interpret the law to the disparagement
of prerogative.1 The greater portion of the laws of this reign are directed, in some form or other, as might be expected, to commerce and domestic industry. Their very large number, however, implies an extraordinary expansion of the national energy and resources, as well as a most earnest disposition in the government to foster them. The wisdom of these efforts, at all times, is not equally certain. Iwill briefly enumerate a few of the most character¬ istic and important provisions. By a pragmatic of 1500, all persons, whether natives or foreigners, were prohibited from shipping goods in foreign bottoms from a port where a Spanish ship could be obtained.3 Another prohibited the sale of vessels to foreigners.8 Another offered a large premium on all vessels of a certain tonnage and upwards ;* and others held out protection and various immunities to seamen.5 The drift of the first of these laws, like that of the famous English navigation act, so many years later, was, as the preamble sets forth, to exclude foreigners from the carrying trade ; and the others were equally designed to build up a marine, for the defence as well as commerce of the country. In this the sovereigns were favoured by their important colonial acquisitions, the distance of which, moreover, made it expedient to employ vessels of greater burden than those hitherto used. The language of subsequent laws, as well as various circumstances within our knowledge, attests the success of these provisions. The number of vessels in the merchant service of Spain at the beginning of the sixteenth century amounted to a thousand, according to Campomanes.6 We may infer the flourishing condition of their commercial marine from their military, as shown in the armaments sent at different times against the Turks or the Barbary corsairs.7 The convoy which accompanied the infanta Joanna to Flanders in 1496 consisted of one hundred and thirty vessels, great and small, having a force of more than twenty thousand men on board ; a formidable equipment, inferior only to that of the farfamed "Invincible Armada."8 A pragmatic was passed, in 1491, at the petition of the inhabitants of the northern provinces, requiring English and other foreign traders to 1 Pusieron los Reyes Catdlicos," says the pene¬ trating Mendoza, "el goviernode la justicia, i cosas en manos de Letrados, gente media entre os grandes i pequefioSj sin ofensa de los unos ni de los otros. Cuyu profesion eran letras legales, comedimiento, secreto, verdad, vida liana, i sin corrupcion de costumbres." Guerra de Granada, p.
"
fmhlicas IS-
2 Granada, September 3d, Pragmiticasdel Reyno, fol. 135. A pragmatic of similar import was issued by Henry III. Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages,
—
torn, i., Introd.
, p. 46.
s Granada, August nth, 1301. PragmAticas del Reyno, fol. 137. Alfaro, November 10th, 1495. Ibid., fol. 136. 5 See a number of these, collected by Navarrete,
*
Coleccion de Viages, Introd., pp. 43, 44-
« Cited by Robertson, History of America, vol. iii. p. 305. , „ . 7 The fleet fitted out against the Turks, in 1482, consisted of seventy sail ; and that under Gonsalvo, I., Part in 1500, of sixty, large and small. (Ante, chapter 6 ; Part II., chapter 10.) See other expedi¬ de tions, enumerated by Navarrete, Coleccion Viages, torn, i- p. S°- . 8 Cura de los Palacios, MS., cap. 153 ; who, indeed, estimates the complement of this fleet at which must certainly 25 000 men ; a round number, include persons of every description. The Invin¬ ot cible Armada consisted, according to Dunham, soldiers, about 130 vessels, large and small, 20,000Portugal. and 8000 seamen. (History of Spam and of vol. v. p. 39- ) The estimate falls below that
_
.
most writers.
728
FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.
take their returns in the fruits or merchandise of the country, and not in gold or silver. This law seems to have been designed less to benefit the manufacturer than to preserve the precious metals in the country.1 It was the same in purport with other laws prohibiting the exportation of these metals, whether in coin or bullion. They were not new in Spain, nor indeed peculiar to her.2 They proceeded on the principle that gold and silver, independently of their value as a commercial medium, constituted, in a peculiar sense, the wealth of a country. This error, common, as I have said, to other European nations, was eminently fatal to Spain, since the produce of its native mines before the discovery of America,3 and of those in that quarter afterwards, formed its great staple. As such, these metals should have enjoyed every facility for transportation to other countries, where their higher value would afford a corresponding profit to the exporter. The sumptuary laws of Ferdinand and Isabella are open, for the most part, to the same objections with those just noticed. Such laws, prompted in a great degree, no doubt, by the declamations of the clergy against the pomps and vanities of the world, were familiar in early times to most European states. There was ample scope for them in Spain, where the example of their Moslem neighbours had done much to infect all classes with a fondness for sumptuous apparel and a showy magnificence of living. Ferdinand and Isabella fell nothing short of the most zealous ot their predecessors in their efforts to restrain this improvident luxury. They did, however, what few princes on the like occasions have done, enforced the precept by their own example. Some idea of their habitual economy, or rather frugality, may be formed from a remonstrance presented by the commons to Charles the Fifth, soon after his accession, which represents his daily household expenses as amounting to one hundred and fifty thousand maravedis ; while those of the Catholic sove¬ reigns were rarely fifteen thousand, or one-tenth of that sum.4
—
1 En el real de la vega de Granada, December 20th. (Pragmdticas del Reyno, fol. 133.) " V les apercibays," enjoins the ordinance, " que los marauedis porque los vendieren los han de sacar de nuestros reynos en mercadurias : y ni en oro ni en plata ni en moneda amonedada de manera que no pueden pretender ygnorancia : y den fiantjas lianas y abonadas de lo fazer y cumplir assi : y si falleredes que sacan o lleuan oro o plata o moneda contra el tenor y forma de las dichas leyes y desta nuestra carta mandamos vos que gelo torneys : y sea perdido coino las dichas leyes mandan, y demas cayan y incurran en las penas en las leyes de nuestros reynos contenidas contra los que sacan oro o plata o moneda fuera dellos sin nuestra licencia y mandado : las quales executad en ellos y en sus fiadores." See also a law of similar import, in the following year, 1492, apud Col. de Cddulas, torn. i. no. 67. * Pragm&ticas del Reyno, fol. 92, 134.—These laws were as old as the fourteenth century in Castile, and had been renewed by every succeeding monarch, from the time of John I. (Ordenanÿas reales, lib. tit, 6. 9, leyes 17-22.) Similar ones were passed unedr the contemporary princes, Henry VII. and VIII. of England, James IV. of Scotland, etc.
—
3
-" Balucis malleator Hispanae."
says Martial, noticing the noise made by the gold¬ beaters, hammering out the Spanish ore, as one of the chief annoyances which drove him from the capital (lib. 12, ep. 57). See also the precise state¬ ment of Pliny, cited Part. I., chapter 8, of this History. 4 Porque hacidndose ansl al modo e costumbre de los dichos senores Reyes pasados, cesaran los inmensos gastos y sin provecho que en la mesa e casa de S. M. se hacen; pues el dano desto notoriamente paresce porque se halla en el plato real y en los platos que se hacen a los privados e criados de su casa gastarse cada un dia ciento y cincuenta mil maravedis ; y los catdlicos Reyes D. Hernando 6 Doha Isabel, seyendo tan excelentes y tan poderosos, en su plato y en el plato del principe D. Joan que haya gldria. e de las senoras infantas con gran numero y multitud de damas no se gastar cada un dia, seyendo mui abastados como de tales Reyes, mas de doce & quince mil maravedis." Peticion de la Junta de Tordesillas, October 20, 1520, apud Sandoval, Hist, del Emp* Carlos V., torn, L p.
"
230.
REVIEW OF THEIR ADMINISTRATION.
729
They passed several salutary laws for restraining the ambitious expen¬ diture at weddings and funerals,— as usual, most affected by those who could least afford it.1 In 1494 they issued a pragmatic prohibiting the importation or manufacture of brocades, or of gold or silver embroidery, and also plating with these metals. The avowed object was to check the growth of luxury and the waste of the precious metals.2 These provisions had the usual fate of laws of this kind. They gave an artificial and still higher value to the prohibited article. Some evaded them. Others indemnified themselves for the privation by some other and scarcely less expensive variety of luxury. Such, for example, were the costly silks which came into more general use after the conquest of Dranada. But here the government, on remonstrance of the cortes, again interposed its prohibition, restricting the privilege of wearing them to certain specified classes.3 Nothing, obviously, could be more impolitic than these various provisions directed against manufactures, which, under proper encouragement, or indeed without any, from the peculiar advantages afforded by the country, might have formed an important branch of industry, whether for the supply of foreign markets or for home consumption. Notwithstanding these ordinances, we find one, in 1500, at the petition of the silk-growers in Granada, against the introduction of silk thread from the kingdom of Naples ;4 thus encouraging the production of the raw material, while they interdicted the uses to which it could be applied Such are the inconsistencies into which a government is betrayed by an over-zealous and impertinent spirit of legislation ! The chief exports of the country in this reign were the fruits and natural products of the soil, the minerals, of which a great variety was deposited in its bosom, and the simpler manufactures, as sugar, dressed skins, oil, wine, steel, etc.5 The breed of Spanish horses, celebrated in ancient times, had been greatly improved by the cross with the Arabian. It had, however, of late years fallen into neglect ; until the government, by a number of judicious laws, succeeded in restoring it to such repute that this noble animal became an extensive article of foreign trade.6 But 1 In 1493 repeated in 1501. Recop. de las ÿLeyes, torn. I. ii. fol. 3.— In 1502. Pragmdticas, del Reyno, fol. 139. Segovia, September 2d ; also in 1496 and 1498. Pragmaticas del Reyno, fol. 123, 125, 126. <ÿranada>'n '499- — This on petition of cortes, • u ÿear preceding. Sempere, in his sensible *?«ÿ Histoire del Luxo," has exhibited the series of the manifold sumptuary laws in Castile. It is a history 'mP°tent struggle of authority against the a indulgence of the innocent propensities implanted !n our nature, and naturally increasing with increas¬ es wealth and civilization. Rn la nombrada y gran cibdad de Granada, 20. Pragmaticas del Reyno, fol. 135. Pragmaticas del Reyno, passim. Diccionario Scogr.lfico-hist. de Espaiia, torn. i. p. 333.— Capmany, Mem. de Barcelona, torn. iii. part. 3, cap. 2. Mines of lead, copper, and silver were wrought
"A1
—
—
extensively in Guipuzcoa and Biscay. Col. de Cdd., torn. i. no. 25. 6 Pragmaticas del Reyno, fol. 127, 128.—Ante, 12.—The cortes of Toledo, Part II., chapter 3, note 11 in 1525, complained que habia tantos caballcs en Castilla." (Mem. como Francia Espanoles en de la Acad, de Hist., torn. vi. p. 285.) The trade, laws against the ; the however, was contraband exportation of horses being as ancient as the time reales, fol. Ordenanÿas also of Alfonso XI. (See 85, 86.) Laws can never permanently avail against have mules of favour in national prejudices. Those been so strong in the Peninsula, and such the con¬ the that horses, of breed sequent decay of the fine Spaniards have been compelled to supply themselves reckons Bourgoanne with the latter from abroad. that 20,000 were annually imported into the country from France at the close of the last century. Tra¬ vels in Spain, torn. i. chap. 4.
FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.
73°
the chief staple of the country was wool ; which, since the introduction of English sheep at the close of the fourteenth century, had reached a degree of fineness and beauty that enabled it, under the present reign, to compete with any other in Europe.1 To what extent the finer manufactures were carried, or made an article of export, is uncertain. The vagueness of statistical information in these early times has given rise to much crude speculation and to extravagant estimates of their resources, which have been met by a corresponding scepticism in later and more scrutinizing critics. Capmany, the most acute of these, has advanced the opinion that the coarser cloths only weremanufactured in Castile, and those exclusively for home consumption.2 The royal ordinances, however, imply, in the character and minuteness of their regulations, a very considerable proficiency in many of the mechanic arts.3 Similar testimony is borne by intelligent foreigners visiting or residing in the country at the beginning of the sixteenth century, who notice the fine cloths and manufacture of arms in Segovia,4 the sil*ks and velvets of Granada and Valencia,5 the woollen and silk fabrics of Toledo, which gave employment to ten thousand artisans,6 the curiously wrought plate of Valladolid,7 and the fine cutlery and glass manufactures of Barcelona, rivalling those of Venice.8 The recurrence of seasons of scarcity, and the fluctuation of prices, might suggest a reasonable distrust of the excellence of the husbandry under this reign.9 The turbulent condition of the country may account for this pretty fairly during the early part of it. Indeed, a neglect of agriculture to the extent implied by these circumstances is wholly irre¬ concilable with the general tenor of Ferdinand and Isabella's legislation, which evidently relies on this as the main spring of national prosperity. It is equally repugnant, moreover, to the reports of foreigners, who could best compare the state of the country with that of others at the same period. They extol the fruitfulness of a soil which yielded the products of the most opposite climes ; the hills clothed with vineyards and planta¬ tions of fruit-trees, much more abundant, it would seem, in the northern
*
—
Hist, del Luxo, torn. i. p. 170. "Tiene muchas mas de diez mil personas. Es de mas desto la ouejas," says Marineo, cuya lana es tan singular, ciudad rnuy rica, por los grandes tratos de mercaque no solamente se aprouechan della en Espana, durias." Cosas memorables, fol. 12. 7 Ibid. fol. 15. Navagiero, a more parsimonious mas tambien se lleua en abundancia a otras partes." (Cosas memorables, fol. 3.) He notices especially eulogist, remarks, nevertheless, "Sono in Valladolid the fine wool of Molina, in whose territory 400,000 assai artefici di ogni sorte, e se vi lavora benessimo sheep pastured, fol. 19. de tutte le arti, e sopra tutto d'argenti, e vi son 2 Mem. de Barcelona, torn. iii. pp. 338, tanti argenteri quanti non sono in due altre terre." 339. "Or if ever exported," he adds, "it was at some Viaggio, fol. 35. 8 Geron. Paulo, a writer at the close period long posterior to the discovery of America." the fif¬ s Pragmaticas del Reyno, passim. Many of them teenth century, cited by Capmany, Mem.ofde Bar¬ were designed to check impositions, too often celona, torn. i. part. 3, p. 23. 9 The twentieth Ulustracion of Senor Clemencin's practised in the manufacture and sale of goods, and to keep them up to a fair standard. invaluable compilation contains a table of prices L. Marineo, Cosas memorables, fol. 11. of grain, in different parts of the kingdom, under 5 Ibid., fol. Ferdinand and Isabella. Take, for example, those. 19. Navagiero, Viaggio, fol. 26. The Venetian minister, however, pronounces them of Andalusia. In 1488, a year of great abundance, inferior to the silks of his own country. th zfanega. of wheat sold in Andalusia for 50 mara6 " Proueyda," says Marineo, " de todos officios, vedis ; in 1489, it rose to 100 ; in 1505, a season of y artes mecanicas que en ella se exercitan mucho : great scarcity, to 375, and even 600 ; in 1508 it was? y principalmente en lanor, y exercicio de lanas, y at 306 ; and in 1309 it had fallen to 85 maravedis. sedas. Por las quales dos cosas biuen en esta ciudad Mem. de la Acad, de Hist., torn. vi. pp. 551, 552.
"
,
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*
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REVIEW OE THEIR ADMINISTRATION.
regions than at the present day ; the valleys and delicious vegas, glowing with the ripe exuberance of southern vegetation ; extensive districts, now smitten with the curse of barrenness, where the traveller scarce discerns the vestige of a road or of a human habitation, but which then teemed with all that was requisite to the sustenance of the populous cities in their neighbourhood.1 The inhabitant of modern Spain or Italy, who wanders amid the ruins of their stately cities, their grass-grown streets, their palaces and temples crumbling into dust, their massive bridges choking up the streams they once proudly traversed, the very streams themselves, which bore navies on their bosoms, shrunk into too shallow a channel for the meanest craft to navigate,— the modern Spaniard who surveys these vestiges of a giant race, the tokens of his nation's present degeneracy, must turn for relief to the prouder and earlier period of her history, when only such great works could have been achieved ; and it is no wonder that he should be led, in his enthusiasm, to invest it with a romantic and exaggerated colouring.2 Such a period in Spain cannot be looked for in the last, still less in the seventeenth century, for the nation had then reached the lowest ebb of its fortunes ;8 nor in the close of the sixteenth, for the desponding lan¬ guage of cortes shows that the work of decay and depopulation had then already begun.4 It can only be found in the first half of that century, in the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, and that of their successor, Charles the Fifth ; in which last, the state, under the strong impulse it had received, was carried onward in the career of prosperity, in spite of the ignorance and mismanagement of those who guided it. There is no country which has been guilty of such wild experiments, or has shown, on the whole, such profound ignorance of the true principles 2 Capmany has well exposed some of these extra¬ 1 Compare, for example, the accounts of the environs of Toledo and Madrid, the two most con¬ vagances. (Mem. de Barcelona, torn. iii. part. 3, siderable cities in Castile, by ancient and modem cap. 2.) The boldest of them, however, may find a travellers. One of the most intelligent and recent warrant in the declarations of the legislature itself. of the latter, in his journey between these_ two "En los lugares de obrages de lanas," asserts the capitals, remarks, " There is sometimes a visible cortes of 1594, " donde se solian labrar veinte y track, and sometimes none ; most commonly we treinta mil arrobas, no se labran hoi seis, y donde passed over wide sands. The country between habia senores de ganado de grandfsima cantidad, Madrid and Toledo, I need scarcely say, is ill han disminuido en la misma y mayor proporcion, peopled and ill cultivated ; for it is all a part of the acaeciendo lo mismo en todas las otras cosas del same arid plain that stretches on every side around comercio universal y particular. Lo cual hace que the capital, and which is bounded on this side by no haya ciudad de las principales destos reinos ni the Tagus. The whole of the way to Toledo, I lugar ninguno, de donde no falte notable vecindad, passed through only four inconsiderable villages, como se echa bien de ver en la muchedumbre de and saw two others at a distance. A great part of casas que estan cerradas y despobladas, y en la baja the land is uncultivated, covered with furze and que han dado los arrendamientos de las pocas que aromatic plants ; but here and there some com land se arriendan y habitan." Apud Mem. de la Acad. is to be seen." (Inglis, Spain in 1830, vol. i. p. 366.) de Hist., torn. vi. p. 304. 3 A point which most writers would probably What a contrast does all this present to the language of the Italians, Navagiero and Marineo, in whose agree in fixing at 1700, the year of Charles II.'s time the country around Toledo "surpassed all death, the last and most imbecile of the Austrian at this other districts of Spain in the excellence and fruit- dynasty. The population of the kingdom See Laborde to 6,000,000. fulness of the soil ; " which, " skilfully irrigated by time had dwindled who 1830), ed. *43, pp. vi. 125. torn. (Itindraire, cultivated, the waters of the Tagus, and minutely better foundation for this census than furnished every variety of fruit and vegetable pro¬ seems to have table. his in those of most for of instead duce to the neighbouring city ; " while, 4 See the unequivocal language of cortes, under the sunburnt plains around Madrid, it is described it infers as situated " in the bosom of a fair country, with Philip II. (supra). With every allowance, in the prosperity of the in ample territory, yielding rich harvests ÿof corn an alarming decline nation. and wine, and all the other aliments of life." Cosas memorables, foL 12, 13. Viaggio, fol. 7, 8.
_
—
732
FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.
of economical science, as Spain under the sceptre of the family of Austria. And as it is not always easy to discriminate between their acts and those of Ferdinand and Isabella, under whom the germs of much of the subse¬ quent legislation may be said to have been planted, this circumstance has brought undeserved discredit on the government of the latter. Unde¬ served, because laws mischievous in their eventual operation were not always so at the time for which they were originally devised ; not to add that what was intrinsically bad has been aggravated tenfold under the blind legislation of their successors.1 It is also true that many of the most exceptionable laws sanctioned by their names are to be charged on their predecessors, who had ingrafted their principles into the system long before ;2 and many others are to be vindicated by the general practice of •other nations, which authorized retaliation on the score of self-defence.3 Nothing is easier than to parade abstract theorems—true in the abstract — in political economy; nothing harder than to reduce them to practice. That an individual will understand his own interests better than the government can, or, what is the same thing, that trade, if left alone, will find its way into the channels on the whole most advantageous to the community, few will deny. But what is true of all together is not true of any one singly ; and no one nation can safely act on these principles, if others do not. In point of fact, no nation has acted on them since the formation of the present political communities of Europe. All that a new state, or a new government in an old one, can now propose to itself is, not to sacrifice its interests to a speculative abstraction, but to accommodate its institutions to the great political system of which it is a member. On these principles, and on the higher obligation of providing the means of national independence in its most extended sense, much that was bad in the economical policy of Spain at the period under review may be vindicated. It would be unfair to direct our view to the restrictive measures of Ferdinand and Isabella without noticing also the liberal tenor of their legislation in regard to a great variety of objects. Such, for example, are the laws encouraging foreigners to settle in the country ;4 those for 1 One has only to read, for an evidence of this, the lib. 6, tit. 18, of the " Nueva Recopilacion," on " cosas prohibidas ;" the laws on gilding and plat¬ ing, lib. 5, tit. 24 ; on apparel and luxury, lib. 7, tit. 12 ; on woollen manufactures, lib. 7, tit. 14-17, et leges al. Perhaps no stronger proof of the degener¬ acy of the subsequent legislation can be given than by contrasting it with that of Ferdinand and Isabella in two important laws. 1. The sovereigns, in 1492, required foreign traders to take their returns in the products and manufactures of the country. By a law of Charles V., in 1552, the exportation of numerous domestic manufactures was prohibited, and the foreign trader, in exchange for domestic wool, was required to import into the country a certain amount of linen and woollen fabrics. 2. By an ordinance, in 1500, Ferdinand and Isabella pro¬ hibited the importation of silk thread from Naples, to encourage its production at home. This appears from the tenor of subsequent laws to have perfectly succeeded. In 1552, however, a law was passed
interdicting the export of manufactured silk and admitting the importation of the raw material. By this sagacious provision, both the culture of silk and the manufacture were speedily crushed in Castile. 2 See examples of these in the reigns of Henry III. and John II. (Recop. de las Leyes, torn. ii. fob 180, 181.) Such also were the numerous tariffs fixing the prices of grain, the vexatious class of sumptuary laws, those for the regulation of the various crafts, and, above all, on the exportation of the precious metals. 3 The English Statute Book alone will furnish abundant proof of this, in the exclusive regulations of trade and navigation existing at the close of the fifteenth century. Mr. Sharon Turner has enumer¬ ated many, under Henry VIII., of similar import with, and, indeed, more partial in their operation than, those of Ferdinand and Isabella. History of England, vol. iv. pp. 170 et seq. 4 Ordenanjas reales, lib. 6, tit. 4, ley 6.
REVIEW OF THEIR ADMINISTRATION.
733
facilitating communication by internal improvements, roads, bridges, canals, on a scale of unprecedented magnitude;1 for a similar attention to the wants of navigation, by constructing moles, quays, lighthouses, along the coast, and deepening and extending the harbours, "to accommo¬ date," as the acts set forth, " the great increase of trade ; " for embellish¬ ing and adding in various ways to the accommodations of the cities : 2 for relieving the subject from onerous tolls and oppressive monopolies ;3 for establishing a uniform currency and standard of weights and measures throughout the kingdom,4 objects of unwearied solicitude through this whole reign ; for maintaining a police which, from the most disorderly and dangerous, raised Spain, in the language of Martyr, to be the safest country in Christendom ;5 for such equal justice as secured to even' man the fruits of his own industry, inducing him to embark his capital-in useful enterprises ; and, finally, for enforcing fidelity to contracts,6 of which the sovereigns gave such a glorious example in their own administration as effectually restored that public credit which is the true basis of public prosperity. While these important reforms were going on in the interior of the monarchy, it experienced a greater change in its external condition by the immense augmentation of its territory. The most important of its foreign acquisitions were those nearest home, Granada and Navarre ; at least. they were the ones most capable, from their position, of being brought under control and thoroughly and permanently identified with the Spanish monarchy. Granada, as we have seen, was placed under the sceptre of Castile, governed by the same laws, and represented in its cortes. being, in the strictest sense, part and parcel of the kingdom. Navarre was also united to the same crown. But its constitution, which bore considerable analogy to that of Aragon, remained substantially the same as before. The government, indeed, was administered by a viceroy ; but Ferdinand made as few changes as possible, permitting it to retain its own legislature, its ancient courts of law, and its laws themselves. So the forms, if not the spirit, of independence continued to survive its union with the victorious state.7 1Archivo de Simancas ; in which most of these abuse, however, is noticed by Madame d'Aulnoy
ordinances appear to be registered.— Mem. de la in her " Voyage d'Espagne,' as still existing, to Acad, de Hist., torn. vi. Ilust. n. Seealso Col. de the great prejudice of travellers, in the seventeenth Cedulas, torn. ii. p. 443 ; torn. iv. nos. 33, 38. century. Dunlop, Memoirs of Philip IV. and " Ennoblescence los cibdades 6 villas en tener Charles II., vol. ii. chap. 11.
— casas grandes 6 bien fechas en que fagan sus ayuntamientos iconceios," etc. (Ordenansas reales, lib.
7> tit 1, ley 1.) Senor Clemencin has specified the nature and great variety of these improvements, as collected from the archives of the different cities of the kingdom. Mem. de la Acad, de Hist., torn. vi. Ilust. ii. Col. de C6dulas, torn. iv. no. 9. Col. de Cidulas, torn. i. nos. 71, 72. Pragmit'cas del Reyno, fol. 63, 91, 93. Recop. de las Leyes, lib. 5, tit. 11, ley 12. Among the acts for restricting monopolies may be mentioned one which prohibited the nobility and great landholders from preventing their tenants opening inns and houses without their especial licence. ri> entert?'nment U ragmaticas del Reyno, 1493, fol. 516.) The same
—
— —
—
—
PragmAticas del Reyno, fol. 93-112. Recop. de las Leyes, lib. 5, tit. 21, 22. 8 "Ut nulla unquam perse tuta regio, tutiorem se fuisse jactare possit." Opus Epist., epist. 31. 8 For various laws tending to secure this, and prevent frauds in trade, see Ordenangas reales, lib. 3, tit. 8, ley 5.— Pragmiticas del Reyno, fol. 45, 66, 67, et alibi. — Col. de C6dulas, torn. ii. no. 63. " The fullest, though a sufficiently meagre, account of the Navarrese constitution, is to be found in Capmany's collection, " Pr&ctica y Estilo " (pp. 250-258), and in the Diccionario geogrdfico-hist. de Espana" (torn. ii. pp. 140-143). The histori¬ cal and economical details in the latter are more copious.
*
"
FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.
734
The other possessions of Spain were scattered over the various quarters of Europe, Africa, and America. Naples was the conquest of Aragon; -or, at least, made on behalf of that crown. The queen appears to have taken no part in the conduct of that war, whether distrusting its equity or its expediency, in the belief that a distant possession in the heart of Europe would probably cost more to maintain than it was worth. In fact, Spain is the only nation in modern times which has been able to keep its hold on such possessions for any very considerable period ; a circumstance implying more wisdom in her policy than is commonly conceded to her. The fate of the acquisitions alluded to forms no exception to the remark ; and Naples, like Sicily, continued permanently ingrafted on the kingdom -of Aragon. A fundamental change in the institutions of Naplls became requisite to accommodate them to its new relations. Its great offices of state and its legal tribunals were reorganized. Its jurisprudence, which, under the Angevin race, and even the first Aragonese, had been adapted to French usages, was now modelled on the Spanish. The various innovations were conducted by the Catholic king with his usual prudence ; and the reform in the legislation is commended by a learned and impartial Italian civilian, as breathing a spirit of moderation and wisdom.1 He conceded many privileges to the people, and to the capital especially, whose venerable university he resuscitated from the decayed state into which it had fallen, making liberal appropriations from the treasury for its endowment. The support of a mercenary army, and the burdens incident to the war, pressed heavily on the people during the first years of his reign. But the Nea¬ politans, who, as already noticed, had been transferred too often from one victor to another to be keenly sensible to the loss of political inde¬ pendence, were gradually reconciled to his administration, and testified their sense of its beneficent character by celebrating the anniversary of his death, for more than two centuries, with public solemnities, as a day of mourning throughout the kingdom.2 But far the most important of the distant acquisitions of Spain were those secured to her by the genius of Columbus and the enlightened patronage of Isabella. Imagination had ample range in the boundless perspective of these unknown regions ; but the results actually realized from the discoveries, during the queen's life, were comparatively insignifi¬ cant. In a mere financial view, they had been a considerable charge 1 " Queste furono," says Giannone, " le prime leggi che ci diedero gli Spagnuoli : leggi tutte provvide e savie, nello stabilir delle quali furono veramente gli Spagnuoli piu d' ogni altra nazione avveduti, e piii estatti imitatori de' Romani." Istoria di Napoli, lib. 30, cap. 5. 2 Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, lib. 29, cap. 4 ; lib. 30, cap. i, 2, 5. Signorelli, Coltura nelle Sicilie, torn. iv. p. 84. Every one knows the persecutions, the exile, and long imprisonment which Giannone suffered for the freedom with which he treated the • clergy in his philosophical history. The generous conduct of Charles of Bourbon to his heirs is not so
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—
well known. Soon after his accession to the throne of Naples, that prince settled a liberal pension on the son of the historian, declaring that "it did not comport with the honour and dignity of the govern¬ ment to permit an individual to languish in indi¬ gence, whose parent had been the greatest man, the most useful to the state, and the most unjustly per¬ secuted, that the age had produced." Noble sentiments, giving additional grace to the act which they accompanied. See the decree, cited by Corniam, Secoli della Letteratura Italiana (Brescia, 1804-
1813I. torn. ix. art. 15.
REVIEW OF THEIR ADMINISTRATION. on the crown. This was, indeed, partly owing to the humanity of Isabella, who interfered, as we have seen, to prevent the compulsory exaction of Indian labour. This was subsequently, and immediately after her death indeed, carried to such an extent that nearly half a million of ounces of gold were yearly drawn from the mines of Hispaniola alone.1 The pearl-fisheries,1 and the culture of the sugar-cane, introduced from the Canaries,8 yielded large returns under the same inhuman system. Ferdinand, who enjoyed, by the queen's testament, half the amount of the Indian revenues, was now fully awakened to their importance. It would be unjust, however, to suppose his views limited to immediate pecuniary profits; for the measures he pursued were, in many respects, well contrived to promote the nobler ends of discovery and colonization. He invited the persons most eminent for nautical science and enterprise, as Pinzon, Soiis, Vespucci, to his court, where they constituted a sort of board of navigation, constructing charts and tracing out new routes for projected voyages.4 The conduct of this department was intrusted to the last-mentioned navigator, who had the glory, the greatest which accident and caprice ever granted to man, of giving his name to the new hemisphere.
Fleets were now fitted out on a more extended scale, which might vie, indeed, with the splendid equipments of the Portuguese, whose brilliant successes in the East excited the envy of their Castilian rivals. The king occasionally took a share in the voyage, independently of the interest which of right belonged to the crown.5 The government, however, realized less from these expensive enterprises than individuals, many of whom, enriched by their official stations, or by accidentally falling in with some hoard of treasure among the savages, returned home to excite the envy and cupidity of their countrymen.6 But the spirit of adventure was too high among the Castilians to require such incentive, especially when excluded from its usual field in Africa and Europe. A striking proof of the facility with which the romantic cavaliers of that day could be directed to this new career of danger on the ocean was given at the time of the last-meditated expedition into Italy under the Great Captain. A squadron of fifteen vessels, bound for the New World, was then riding in the Guadalquivir. Its complement was limited to one thousand two hundred men ; but, on Ferdinand's countermanding Gonsalvo's enterprise, more than three thousand volunteers, many of them of 1 Herrera, Indias occidentales, dec. x, lib. 6, cap. *8.—According to Martyr, the two mints of HisPaniola yielded 300,000 pounds of gold annually. De Rebus Oceanicis, dec. 1, lib. 10. 2 The pearl-fisheries of Cubagua were worth 75,ooo ducats a year. Herrera, Indias occidentales, dec. 1, lib. 7, cap. 9. 3 Oviedo, Historia natural de las Indias, lib. 4, cap. 8. Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fol. 165. Navarrete, Coleccion de viages, torn. iii. docu¬ ments, 1-13. Herrera, Indias occidentales, dec. t. lib. 7, cap. x.
*
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—
5 Navarrete, Coleccion
de Viages, torn. iii. pp.
treasurer of Hispan¬ 48& Bernardin de Santa Clara,years' residence there,
iola, amassed, during a few 96,000 ounces of gold. This same nouveau rich used to serve gold dust, says Herrera, instead of salt, at his entertainments. (Indias occidentales, dec. 1, lib. 7, cap. 3.) Many believed, according to the same author, that gold was so abundant as to be dragged up in nets from the beds of the rivers ; lib. xo, cap. 14.
*
736
FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.
noble family, equipped with unusual magnificence for the Italian service, hastened to Seville and pressed to be admitted into the Indian armada.1 Seville itself was in a manner depopulated by the general fever of emigra¬ tion, so that it actually seemed, says a contemporary, to be tenanted only by women.2 In this universal excitement, the progress of discovery was pushed forward with a success, inferior, indeed, to what might have been effected in the present state of nautical skill and science, but extraordinary for the times. The winding depths of the Gulf of Mexico were penetrated, as well as the borders of the rich but rugged Isthmus which connects the American continents. In 15 12 Florida was discovered by a romantic old knight, Ponce de Leon, who, instead of the magical fountain of health, found his grave there.3 Solis, another navigator, who had charge of an expedition, projected by Ferdinand,4 to reach the South Sea by the cir¬ cumnavigation of the continent, ran down the coast as far as the great Rio de la Plata, where he also was cut off by the savages. In 15 13, Vasco Nunez de Balboa penetrated, with a handful of men, across the narrow part of the Isthmus of Darien, and from the summit of the Cordilleras, the first of Europeans, was greeted with the long-promised vision of the southern ocean.5 The intelligence of this event excited a sensation in Spain inferior only to that cause by the discovery of America. The great object which had so long occupied the imagination of the nautical men of Europe, and formed the purpose of Columbus's last voyage, the discovery of a com¬ munication with these far western waters, was accomplished. The famous spice islands, from which the Portuguese had drawn such countless sums of wealth, were scattered over this sea ; and the Castilians, after a journey of a few leagues, might launch their barks on its quiet bosom, and reach, and perhaps claim, the coveted possessions of their rivals, as falling west of the papal line of demarcation. Such were the dreams, and such the actual progress of discovery, at the close of Ferdinand's reign. Our admiration of the dauntless heroism displayed by the early Spanish navigators, in their extraordinary career, is much qualified by a considera¬ tion of the cruelties with which it was tarnished ; too great to be either palliated or passed over in silence by the historian. As long as Isabella 1 Ante, Part. II., chapter 24. — Herrera, Indias Ferdinand de Soto, the ill-fated discoverer of theoccidentals, dec. 1, lib. 10, cap. 6, 7. Mississippi, whose bones bleach beneath its waters 2 Per esser Sevilla nel loco che e, vi vanno tanti His adventures are told with uncommon spirit by. " di loro alle Indie, che la citth resta mal popolata, e Mr. Bancroft, vol. i. chap. 2, of his History of th. quasi in man di donne. " (Navagiero, Viaggio, fol. United States. 4 Herrera, Indias occidentales, 15.) Horace said, fifteen centuries before, dec. 2, lib. 1 cap. 7. extremos curris mercator ad Indos, " Impiger 5 The life of this daring cavalier forms one in thtPer mare pauperiem fugiens, per saxa, per ignes." elegant series of national biographies by Quintana Epist. 1. 1. "Vidas de Espanoles cdlebres " (torn. ii. pp. 1-82) 3 Herrera, Indias occidentales, dec. 1, lib. 9, cap. and is familiar to the English reader in Irving's 10. Almost all the Spanish expeditions in the New " Companions of Columbus." The third volume 01 World, whether on the northern or southern conti¬ Navarrete's laborious compilation is devoted to thenent, have a tinge of romance beyond what is found illustration of the minor Spanish voyagers, who in those of other European nations. One of the followed up the bold track of discovery, between. most striking and least familiar of them is that of Columbus and Cortes. Coleccion de Viages.
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REVIEW OF THEIR ADMINISTRATION.
737
lived, the Indians found an efficient friend and protector; but "her death," says the venerable Las Casas, "was the signal for their destruc¬ tion." 1 Immediately on that event, the system of repartimientos, originally authorized, as we have seen, by Columbus, who seems to have had no doubt, from the first, of the crown's absolute right of property over the natives,2 was carried to its full extent in the colonies.3 Every Spaniard, however humble, had his proportion of slaves ; and men, many of them not only incapable of estimating the awful responsibility of the situation, but without the least touch of humanity in their natures, were individually intrusted with the unlimited disposal of the lives and destinies of their fellow-creatures. They abused this trust in the grossest manner; tasking the unfortunate Indian far beyond his strength, inflicting the most refined punishments on the indolent, and hunting down those who resisted or escaped, like so many beasts of chase, with ferocious bloodhounds. Every step of the white man's progress in the New World may be said to have been on the corpse of a native. Faith is staggered by the recital of the number of victims immolated in these fair regions within a very few years after the discovery ; and the heart sickens at the loathsome details of barbarities recorded by one who, if his sympathies have led him some¬ times to overcolour, can never be suspected of wilfully misstating facts of which he was an eyewitness.4 A selfish indifference to the rights of the original occupants of the soil is a sin which lies at the door of most of the primitive European settlers, whether papist or puritan, of the New World. But it is light in comparison with the fearful amount of crimes to be charged on the early Spanish colonists ; crimes that have, perhaps, in this world, brought down the retribution of Heaven, which has seen fit to turn this fountain of inexhaustible wealth and prosperity to the nation into the waters of bitterness. It may seem strange that no relief was afforded by the government to these oppressed subjects. But Ferdinand, if we may credit Las Casas, was never permitted to know the extent of the injuries done to them.5 He was surrounded by men in the management of the Indian department whose interest it was to keep him in ignorance.® The remonstrances of 1 Las Casas, Mdmoire, CEuvres, id. de Llorente,
torn. i. p. 188. 2
islay todas " V crean (Vuestras Altczas) questaque las otras aquf no
son asi suyas como Castilla, falta salvo asiento y mandarles hacer lo que quisieren." Priniera Carta de Colon, apud Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, torn. i. p. 93. 3 Herrera, Indias occidentales, dec. 1, lib. 8, cap. 9- Las Casas, CEuvres, id. de Llorente, torn. i. pp. 228, 229. 4 See the various Memorials of Las Casas, some of them expressly prepared for the Council of the Indies. He affirms that more than 12,000,000 lives were wantonly destroyed in the New World within thirty-eight years after the discovery, and this in addition to those exterminated in the conquest of the country. (CEuvres, id. de Llorente, torn. i. p-
—
?87-) Herrera admits that Hispaniola was reduced, less than twentv-hve years, from 1,000 jw to
in
14,000 souls. (Indias occidentales, dec. i, lib. ro, cap. 12.) The numerical estimates of a large savage population must, of course, be in a great degree hypothetical. That it was large, however, in these fair regions, may readily be inferred from the facili¬
_
ties of subsistence and the temperate habits of the natives. The minimum sum in the calculation when the number had dwindled to a few thousand, might be more easily ascertained. 5 CEuvres, id. de Llorente, torn. i. p. 228. 8 One resident at the court, says the bishop ol Chiapa, wasproprietor of 800 and another of 1100 Indians. (CEuvres, id. de Llorente, torn. i. p. 238.) We learn their names from Herrera. The first was Bishop Fonseca, the latter the commendador Conchillos, both prominent men in the Indian depart¬ ment. (Indias occidentales, dec. 1, lib. 9, cap. 14.) The last-named person was the same individual sent by Ferdinand to his daughter in Flanders and 3A
738
FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.
some zealous missionaries led him,1 in 1501, to refer the subject of the repartimientos to a council of jurists and theologians. This body yielded to the representations of the advocates of the system, that it was indis¬ pensable for maintaining the colonies, since the European was altogether unequal to labour in this tropical climate ; and that it, moreover, afforded the only chance for the conversion of the Indian, who, unless compelled, could never be brought in contact with the white man.2 On these grounds, Ferdinand openly assumed for himself and his ministers the responsibility of maintaining this vicious institution, and subsequently issued an ordinance to that effect, accompanied, however, by a variety of humane and equitable regulations for restraining its abuse.3 The license was embraced in its full extent ; the regulations were openly disregarded.4 Several years after, in 15 15, Las Casas, moved by the spectacle of human suffering, returned to Spain, and pleaded the cause of the injured natives, in tones which made the dying monarch tremble on his throne. It was too late, however, for the king to execute the remedial measures he contemplated.5 The efficient interference of Ximenes, who sent a commission for the purpose to Hispaniola, was attended with no permanent results. And the indefatigable " protector of the Indians " was left to sue for redress at the court of Charles, and to furnish a splendid if not a solitary example there of a bosom penetrated with the true spirit of Christian philanthropy.6 Ihave elsewhere examined the policy pursued by the Catholic sove¬ reigns in the government of their colonies. The supply of precious metals yielded by them proved eventually far greater than had ever entered into the conception of the most sanguine of the early discoverers. Their prolific soil and genial climate, moreover, afforded an infinite variety of imprisoned there by the archduke Philip. After shows the good bishop knew no other fear than that that prince's death, he experienced signal favours of his Maker. 3 Recop. de Leyes de las Indias, August 14th, from the Catholic king, and amassed great wealth as secretary of the Indian board. Oviedo has 1509, lib. 6, tit. 8, ley 1. Herrera, Indias occidendevoted one of his dialogues to him. Quincuagenas, tales, dec. 1, lib. 9, cap. 14. The text expresses nearly enough the subse¬ MS., bat. 1, quinc. 3, dial. 9. 1 The Dominican and other missionaries, to their quent condition of things in Spanish America. credit be it told, laboured with unwearied zeal and 'No government," says Heeren, "has done so courage for the conversion of the natives and the much for the aborigines as the Spanish." (Modern vindication of their natural rights. Yet these were History, Bancroft's trans., vol. i. p. 77.) Whoever the men who lighted the fires of the Inquisition peruses its colonial codes may find much ground for in their own land. To such opposite results may the eulogium. But are not the very number and the same principle lead, under different circum¬ repetition of these humane provisions sufficient stances ! proof of their inefficacy ? 2 Las Casas concludes an elaborate memorial, pre¬ 5 Herrera, Indias occidentales, dec. 2, lib. 2, cap. pared for the government in 1542, on the best means 3- Las Casas, Mcmoire, apud CEuvres, ed. de of arresting the destruction of the aborigines, with Llorente, torn. i. p. 239. 6 In the remarkable two propositions. 1. That the Spaniards would still discussion between the doctor continue to settle in America, though slavery were Sepulveda and Las Casas, before a commission abolished, from the superior advantages for acquir¬ named by Charles V., in 1550, the former vindicated ing riches it offered over the Old World. 2. That, the persecution of the aborigines by the conduct of if they would not, this would not justify slavery, the Israelites towards their idolatrous neighbours. since " God forbids us to do evil that rood may But the Spanish Fenelon replied that the behaviour " come of it." Rare maxim from a Spanish church¬ of the Jews was no precedent for Christians ; that man of the sixteenth century ! The whole argument, the law ofÿ Moses was a law of rigour but that of ; which comprehends the sum of what has been since Jesus Christy one of grace, mercy, peace, good will, said more diffusely in defence of abolition, is singu¬ and charity. ' (CEuvres, ed. de Llorente, torn. i. p. larly acute and cogent. In its abstract principles it 374-) The Spaniard first persecuted the Jews, and is unanswerable, while it exposes and denounces the then quoted them as an authority for persecuting all misconduct of his countrymen with a freedom which other infidels.
—
*
_
—
REVIEW OF THEIR ADMINISTRATION.
739
vegetable products, which might have furnished an unlimited commerce with the mother country. Under a judicious protection, their population and productions, steadily increasing, would have enlarged to an incalcul¬ able extent the general resources of the empire. Such, indeed, might have been the result of a wise system of legislation. But the true principles of colonial policy were sadly misunderstood in the sixteenth century. The discovery of a world was estimated, like that of a rich mine, by the value of its returns in gold and silver. Much of Isabella's legislation, it is true, is of that comprehensive character which shows that she looked to higher and far nobler objects. But with much that is good there was mingled, as in most of her institutions, one germ of evil, of little moment at the time, indeed, but which, under the vicious culture of her successors, shot up to a height that overshadowed and blighted all the rest. This was the spirit of restriction and monopoly, aggravated by the subsequent laws of Ferdinand, and carried to an extent under the Austrian dynasty that paralyzed colonial trade. Under their most ingeniously perverse system of laws, the interests of both the parent country and the colonies were sacrificed. The latter, condemned to look for supplies to an incompetent source, were miserably dwarfed in their growth ; while the former contrived to convert the nutri¬ ment which she extorted from the colonies into a fatal poison. The streams of wealth which flowed in from the silver quarries of Zacatecas and Potosf were jealously locked up within the limits of the Peninsula. The great problem proposed by the Spanish legislation of the sixteenth century was the reduction of prices in the kingdom to the same level as in other European nations. Every law that was passed, however, tended by its restrictive character to augment the evil. The golden tide, which,, permitted a free vent, would have fertilised the region through which it poured, now buried the land under a deluge which blighted every green and living thing. Agriculture, commerce, manufactures, every branch of national industry and improvement, languished and fell to decay ; and the nation, like the Phrygian monarch, who turned all that he touched to gold, cursed by the very consummation of its wishes, was poor in the midst of its treasures. From this sad picture let us turn to that presented by the period of our history when, the clouds and darkness having passed away, a new morn seemed to break upon the nation. Under the firm but temperate sway of Ferdinand and Isabella, the great changes we have noticed were effected without convulsion in the state. On the contrary, the elements of the social system, which before jarred so discordantly, were brought into harmonious action. The restless spirit of the nobles was turned from civil faction to the honourable career of public service, whether in arms or letters. The people at large, assured of the security of private rights, were occupied with the different branches of productive labour. Trade, as is abundantly shown by the legislation of the period, had not
74°
FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.
yet fallen into the discredit which attached to it in later times.1 The precious metals, instead of flowing in so abundantly as to palsy the arm
of industry, served only to stimulate it.2 The foreign intercourse of the country was every day more widely extended. Her agents and consuls were to be found in all the princi¬ pal ports of the Mediterranean and the Baltic.3 The Spanish mariner, instead of creeping along the beaten track of inland navigation, now struck boldly across the great western ocean. The new discoveries had converted the land-trade with India into a sea-trade ; and the nations of the Peninsula, who had hitherto lain remote from the great highways of commerce, now became the factors and carriers of Europe. The flourishing condition of the nation was seen in the wealth and population of its cities, the revenues of which, augmented in all to a surprising extent, had in some increased forty and even fifty fold beyond what they were at the commencement of the reign :4 the ancient and lordly Toledo ; Burgos, with its bustling, industrious traders;5 Valladolid, sending forth its thirty thousand warriors from its gates, where the whole population now scarcely reaches two-thirds of that number ;6 Cordova, in the south, and the magnificent Granada, naturalizing in Europe the arts and luxuries of the East ; Saragossa, " the abundant," as she was called from her fruitful territory; Valencia, " the beautiful ;" Barcelona, rivalling in independence and maritime enterprise the proudest of the Italian 1 Jt is only necessary to notice the contemptuous language of Philip II.'s laws, which designate the most useful mechanic arts, as those of blacksmiths, shoemakers, leather-dressers, and the like, as "oficios viles y baxos ;" corresponding, probably, with the epithet '' Baeawiac " (illiberal arts) of the Greeks, among whom various menial and mechanic occupa¬ tions fell into disrepute from their being engrossed by the slaves. (See Aristotle, Politics, lib. 3.) A whimsical distinction prevails in Castile in reference to the more humble occupations. A man of gentle blood may be a coachman, lacquey, scullion, or any other menial, without disparaging his nobility, which is said to sleep in the meanwhile. But he fixes on it an indelible stain if he exercises any mechanical vocation. " Hence," says Capmany, " 1 have often seen a village in this province in which the vagabonds, smugglers, and hangmen even, were natives, while the farrier, shoemaker, etc., was a foreigner." (Mem. de Barcelona, torn. i. part. 3, p 40; torn. lii. part. 2, pp. 317, 318.) See also some sensible remarks on the subject by Blanco White, the ingenious author of Doblado s Letters from Spain, p. 44. 2 "The interval between the acquisition of money and the rise of prices," Hume observes, "is the only time when increasing gold and silver are favourable to industry." (Essays, part. 2, essay 3.) An ordi¬ nance of June 13th, 1497, complains of the scarcity of the precious metals, and their insufficiency to the demands of trade. (Pragmaticas del Reyno, fol. 93.) It appears, however, from Zuniga, that the importation of gold from the New World began to have a sensible effect on the prices of commodities from that very year. Annales de Sevilla, p. 413. 3 Mr. Turner has made several extracts from the Harleian MSS., showing that the trade of Castile with England was very considerable in Isabella's time. (History of England, vol. iv. p. 90.) A
pragmatic of July 21st, 1494, for the erection of a consulate at Burgos, notices the commercial estab¬ lishments in England, France, Italy, and the Low Countries. This tribunal, with other extensive privileges, was empowered to hear and determine suits between merchants ; " which," says the plainspoken ordinance, " in the hands of lawyers are never brought to a close ; porque se presentauan escritos y libelos de letrados de manera que por mal pleyto que fuesse le sostenian los letrados de manera que los hazian immortelles." (Pragmdticas del Reyno, fol. 146-148.) This institution rose soon to be of the greatest importance in Castile. The sixth volume of the Memoirs of the Academy of History contains a schedule of the respective revenues afforded by the cities of Castile in the years 1477, 1482, and 1504 ; embracing, or course, the commencement and close of Isabella s reign. The original document exists in the ar hives of Simancas. We may notice the large ami unt and great increase of taxes in Toledo, particul- rly, and in Seville ; the former thriving from its lanufactories, and the latter from the Indian trade Seville, in 1304, furnished near a tenth of the whole revenueIlust. 5. 5 "No ay en ella," says Marineo of the lattet city, "gente ociosa, ni baldia, sino que ti dos traba ian, ansi mugeres como hombres, y los c licos como los grandes, buscando la vida con sus munos, y con sudores de sus carnes. Unos exercitan las artes mecanicas ; y otros las liberates. Los que tratan las mercaderias, y hazen rica la ciudad, son muy fieles, y liberales." (Cosas memorables, fol. 16.) It will not be easy to meet, in prose or verse, with a finer-coloured picture of departed glory than Mr. Slidell has given of the former city, the venerable Gothic capital, in his "Year in Spain," chap. 12. 8 Sandoval, Hist, del Emp. Carlos V, torn. i. p. 60.
*
RE VIE W OF THE I R A DMINISTRA TION.
74 1
republics ; Medina del Campo, whose fairs were already the great mart for the commercial exchanges of the Peninsula ;2 and Seville,8 the golden gate of the Indies, whose quays began to be thronged with merchants from the most distant countries of Europe. The resources of the inhabitants were displayed in the palaces and public edifices, fountains, aqueducts, gardens, and other works of utility and ornament This lavish expenditure was directed by an improved taste. Architecture was studied on purer principles than before, and, with the sister arts of design, showed the influence of the new connection with Italy in the first gleams of that excellence which shed such lustre over the Spanish school at the close of the century.4 A still more decided impulse was given to letters. More printing-presses were pro¬ bably at work in Spain in the infancy of the art than at the present day.5 Ancient seminaries were remodelled ; new ones were created. Barcelona, Salamanca, and Alcald, whose cloistered solitudes are now the grave rather than the nursery of science, then swarmed with thousands of disciples, who under the generous patronage of the government found letters the surest path to preferment.6 Even the lighter branches of literature felt the revolutionary spirit of the times, and, after yielding the last fruits of the ancient system, displayed new and more beautiful varieties under the influence of Italian culture.7 1
1 It was a common saying in Navagiero's time, in the school of Michael Angelo. The most suc¬ " Barcelona la ricca, Saragossa la harta, Valentia cessful architectural achievement was the cathedral la hermosa." (Viaggio, fol. 5.) The grandeur and of Granada by Diego de Siloe. Pedraza, Antigucommercial splendour of the first-named city, which edad de Granada, fol. 82. Mem. de la Acad, de forms the subject of Capmanv's elaborate work, Hist., torn. vi. Ilust. 16. 4 At least so says Clemencin, a competent judge : have been sufficiently displayed in Part I., chapter Desde los mismos principios de su establecimiento a, of this History. " A Igurtot supotten," says Capmany, "que fue mas comun la imprenta en Espana que lo es al estas ferias eran ya famosas en tiempo de los Reyes cabo de trescientos anos dentro ya del siglo deciCatdlicos," etc. (Mem. de Barcelona, torn. iii. p. monono." EJogio de Dona Isabel, Mem. de la 356.) A very cursory glance at the laws of this time Acad, de Hist., torn. vi. 6 Ante, Introduction, sect. 2 ; Part. I., chapter will show the reasonableness of the supposition. See the Pragm&ticas, fol. J46, and the ordinances 19; Part II., chapter 21. The "Pragmdticas del from the Archives of Simancas, apud Mem. de la Reyno " comprises various ordinances defining the Acad., torn. vi. pp 249, 252, providing for the erec¬ privileges of Salamanca and Valladolid, the manner tion of buildings and other accommodations for the of conferring degrees, and of election to the chairs , "great resort of traders." In 1520, four years after of the universities, so as to obviate any undue influ¬ Ferdinand's death, the city, in a petition to the ence or corruption. (Fol. 14-21.) " Porque," says regent, represented the losses sustained by its the liberal language of the last law, " los estudios merchants in the recent fire as more than the generales donde las ciencias se leen y aprenden revenues of the crown would probably be able to effuerjan las leyes y fazen a los nuestros subditos y virmeet for several years. (Ibid., p. 264.) Navagiero, naturales sabidores y honrrados y acrecientan who visited Medina some six years later, when it tudes : y porque en el dar y assignar de las citedra* dadas scan porque hbertad toda was rebuilt, bears unequivocal testimony to its com¬ salariadas deue auer mercial importance t "Medina ibuona terra, epiena & personas sabidores y cientes. " (Tarasona, October di buone case, abondante assai se non che le tante 5tn, 1495.) If one would see the totally different have been con¬ ferie che se vi fanno ogn' anno, e il concorso grande principles on which such elections let him read Doblado's che vi £ di tutta Spagna, fanno pur che il tutto si ducted in modern times, university of The pp. Spain, from 103-107. Letters abon¬ e feria La paga piii di quel che si faria. in the beginning of the dante certo di molte cose, ma sopra tutto di speci- Barcelona was suppressed a brief survey of taken has Laborde century. last magle ma arie assai, che vengono di Portogallo ; at the present dilapidated condition of the others, gior faccende che se vi facciano sono cambij. least as it was in 1830, since which it can scarcely Viaggio, fol. 36. seq. et vi. p. torn. Itin6raire, 144 have mended. no vi<5 & Sevilla 7 See the concluding note to this chapter. ' Quiea No vi<5 maravilla." Erasmus, in a lively and elegant epistle to his Greek professor at Alcald, Vergara,lÿJ CflPnW z-vr» 1 • The proverb, according to Zuniga,_is as old as the friend.' Francis time of Alonso XI. Annales de Sevilla, p. 183. whose palmy state he Spain, of literature and 4 The most eminent sculptors were, for the most co-operathe and to Isabella's patronage part, foreigners; as Miguel Florentin, Pedro attributes enlightened subjects: 01 some of her tmn of Italv y, |I] tion wflv from tt Italy, hiefly Torregiano, Filipe de Borgona,—chiefly erudition!# ÿ Hispan ÿ vestrse> tanto successu, priscam perfection to rapidly advancing where the art was
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742
•
FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.
With this moral development of the nation, the public revenues, the sure index, when unforced, of public prosperity, went on augmenting with astonishing rapidity. In 1474, the year of Isabella's accession, the ordi¬ nary rents of the Castilian crown amounted to 885,000 reals ;1 in 1477, to 2,390,078; in 1482, after the resumption of the royal grants, to / 2,7 11,591 > an<3 finally, in 1504, when the acquisition of Granada2 and the domestic tranquillity of the kingdom had encouraged the free expansion of all its resources, to 26,283,334 ; or thirty times the amount received at her accession.3 All this, it will be remembered, was derived from the customary established taxes, without the imposition of a single new one. Indeed, the improvements in the mode of collection tended materially to lighten the burdens on the people. The accounts of the population at this early period are, for the most part, vague and unsatisfactory. Spain, in particular, has been the subject of the most absurd, though, as it seems, not incredible estimates, suffi¬ ciently evincing the paucity of authentic data.4 Fortunately, however, we labour under no such embarrassment as regards Castile in Isabella's reign. By an official report to the crown on the organization of the militia, in 1492, it appears that the population of the kingdom amounted to 1,500,000 vecinos, or householders; or, allowing four and a half to a family (a moderate estimate), to 6,750,000 souls.5 The census, it will be observed, was limited to the provinces immediately composing the crown of Castile, to the exclusion of Granada, Navarre, and the Aragonese dominions.6 It was taken, moreover, before the nation had time to gloriam sibi postliminib vindicanti. Quae quum semper et regionis amoenitate fertilitateque, semper ingeniorum eminentium ubere proventu, semper bellica laude floruerit, quid desiderari poterat ad summam felicitatem, nisi ut studiorum et religionis adjungeret ornamenta, quibus aspirante Deo sic paucis annis effloruit ut casteris regionibus quamlibet hoc decorum genere praecellentibus vel invidiae Vos istam felicitatem queat esse vel exemplo._ secundum Deum debetis laudatissimae Reginarum Elisabetae, Francisco Cardinali quondam, Alonso Fonsecae nunc Archiepiscopo Toletano, et si qui sunt horum similes, quorum autoritas tuetur, benignitas alit fovetque bonas artes." Epistolae, p. 978. 1 The sums in the text express the realde vellon; to which they have been reduced by Senor Clemencin, from the original amount in maravedis, which varied very materially in value in different years. Mem. de la Acad, de Hist., torn. vi. Ilust. 5. 2 The kingdom of Granada appears to have con¬ tributed rather less than one-eighth of the whole
...
tax. 3 In addition to the last-mentioned sum, the extraordinary service voted by cortes, for the dowry of the infantas, and other matters, in 1504, amounted to 16,113,014 reals de velion ; making a sum total, for that year, of 42,396,348 reals. The bulk of the crown revenues was derived from the alcavalas, and the tercias, or two-ninths of the ecclesiastical tithes. These important statements were transcribed from the books of the escribanla mayor de rentas, in the archives of Simancas. Ibid., ubi supra. 4 The pretended amount of population has been generally in the ratio of the distance of the period taken, and, of course, of the difficulty of refutation. A few random remarks of ancient writers have
proved the basis for the wildest hypotheses, raising the estimates to the total of what the soil, under the highest possible cultivation, would be capable of supporting. Even for so recent a period as Isabella's time, the estimate commonly received does not fall below eighteen or twenty millions. The official returns, cited in the text, of the most populous por¬ tion of the kingdom, fully expose the extr vagance of preceding estimates. » These interesting particulars are obtained from a memorial, prepared by order of Ferdinand and Isabella, by their contador, Alonso de Quintanilla, on the mode of enrolling and arming the militia, in 1492 ; as a preliminary step to which, he procured a census of the actual population of the kingdom. It is preserved in a volume entitled A' elactones tocantes d la junta de la Hermandad, in that rich national repository, the archives of Simancas. See a'copious extract, apud Mem. de la Acad, de Hist., torn. vi. Apend. 12. 6 I am acquainted with no sufficient and authentic data for computing the population, at this time, of the crown of Aragon, always greatly below that of the sister kingdom. Ifind as little to be relied on notwithstanding the numerous estimates, in one form or another, vouchsafed by historians and travellers, of the population of Granada. Marineo enumerates fourteen cities and ninety-seven towns (omitting, as he says, many places of less note) at the time of the conquest ; a statement obviously too vague for statistical purposes. (Cosas memorables, fol. 179.) The capital, swelled by the influx from the country, contained, according to him, 200,000 souls at the same period. (Fol. 177.) In 1506, at the time of the forced conversions, we find the numbers in the city dwindled to fifty or at most
.
REVIEW OF THEIR ADMINISTRATION
743
recruit from the long and exhausting struggle of the Moorish war, and
twenty-five years before the close of the reign, when the population, under circumstances peculiarly favourable, must have swelled to a much larger amount. Thus circumscribed, however, it was probably consider¬ ably in advance of that of England at the same period.1 How have the destinies of the two countries since been reversed ! 1 he territorial limits of the monarchy, in the meantime, went on expanding beyond example Castile and Leon, brought under the same sceptre with Aragon and its foreign dependencies, Sicily and Sardinia; with the kingdoms of Granada, Navarre, and Naples ; with the Canaries, Oran, and the other settlements in Africa ; and with the islands and vast continents of America. To these broad domains the comprehensive schemes of the sovereigns would have added Portugal ; and their arrange¬ ments for this, although defeated for the present, opened the way to its eventual completion 2 under Philip the Second.3 The petty states, which had before swarmed over the Peninsula, neutralizing each other's operations, and preventing any effective move¬ ment abroad, were now amalgamated into one whole. Sectional jealousies and antipathies, indeed, were too sturdily rooted to be wholly extin¬ guished ; but they gradually subsided under the influence of a common government and community of interests. A more enlarged sentiment was infused into the people, who, in their foreign relations, at least, assumed the attitude of one great nation. The names of Castilian and Aragonese were merged in the comprehensive one of Spaniard ; and Spain, with an empire which stretched over three quarters of the globe, and which almost realized the proud boast that the sun never set within her borders, now rose, not to the first class only, but to the first place, in the scale of European powers. The extraordinary circumstances of the country tended naturally to nourish the lofty, romantic qualities and the somewhat exaggerated tone of sentiment which always pervaded the national character. The age of chivalry had not faded away in Spain, as in most other lands.4 It was seventy thousand. (Comp. Bleda, Cordnicm lib. 5, cap. 33, and Bemaldez, Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. I59-) I.oose as these estimates necessarily are, we have no better to guide us in calculating the total amount of the population of the Moorish kingdom, or of the losses sustained by the copious emigrations during the first fifteen years after the conquest, although there has been no lack of confident asser¬ tion as to both in later writers. The desideratum in regard to Granada will now probably not be supplied ; the public offices in the kingdomof Aragon, if searched with the same industry as those in Castile, would doubtless afford the means for cor¬ recting the crude estimates so current respecting
sorts) a century later, in 1588, at only 900,000. The historian cites Lodovico Guicciardini, however,
for another estimate, as high as 2,000,000, for the same reign of Queen Elizabeth. History of Eng¬ land, vol. vi. Append. 3. comple¬ 2 It is scarcely correct to speak of the tion " of a union which, effected through conquest and usurpation, lasted only sixty years.—Ed. 3 Philip II. claimed the Portuguese crown in right of his mother, and his wife, both descended from Maria, third daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, who, as the reader may remember, married King
_
EtiaOkTcaxton
mourns over the little honour paid ; nnd it is suf¬ to the usages of chivalry in his time that country. in England that 1 Hallam, in his "Constitutional History of ficient evidence of its decay to issue an necessary it England," estimates the population of the realm, in Richard III. thought those possessed of the requisite r4?5, at 3,000,000 (vol. i. p. 10). 1he discrepancies, ordinance requiring History (Turner, knighthood. a year to receive however, of the best historians on this subject, prove /4oEngland, vol. iii. PP- 391. 39*-) The use the difficulty of arriving at even a probable result. of well consequence a ; chivalry Hume, on the authority of Sir Edward Coke, puts artilleiy was fatal to early period of our history. the population of England (including people of all understood, even at the
744
.
FERDINAND AND ISABELLA
fostered, in time of peace, by the tourneys, jousts, and other warlike pageants which graced the court of Isabella.1 It gleamed out, as we have seen, in the Italian campaigns under Gonsalvo de Cordova, and shone forth in all its splendours in the war of Granada. " This was a right gentle war," says Navagiero, in a passage too pertinent to be omitted, " in which, as firearms were comparatively little used, each knight had the opportunity of showing his personal prowess ; and rare was it that a day passed without some feat of arms and valorous exploit. The nobility and chivalry of the land all thronged there to gather renown. Queen Isabel, who attended with her whole court, breathed courage into every heart. There was scarce a cavalier who was not enamoured of some one or other of her ladies, the witness of his achievements, who, as she presented him his weapons or some token of her favour, admonished him to bear himself like a true knight, and show the strength of his passion by his valiant deeds.2 "What knight so craven, then," exclaims the chivalrous Vene¬ tian, " that he would not have been more than a match for the stoutest adversary ; or who would not sooner have lost his life a thousand times than return dishonoured to the lady of his love? In truth," he concludes, " this conquest may be said to have been achieved by love, rather than arms." 3 The Spaniard was a knight-errant, in its literal sense,4 roving over seas on which no bark had ever ventured, among islands and continents where no civilized man had ever trodden, and which fancy peopled with all the marvels and drear enchantments of romance; courting danger in every form, combating everywhere, and everywhere victorious. The very odds At least, so we may infer from the verses of Ariosto, where Orlando throws Cimosco's gun into the sea : tolse e disse : Accib piii non istea " Lo Mai cavalier per te d' essere ardito ;
Ne quanto il buono val, mai piii si vanti II rio per te valer, qui giii rimanti." Orlando Furioso, canto 9, St. 90.
Don Quixote is loud in his maledictions on " the diabolical invention," as he terms it, so fatal to knight-errantry, and makes little doubt that the soul of the inventor is paying the penalty in hell, for thus putting it in the power of any coward to take away the life of a brave cavalier. Part. i. cap.
38-1
" Quien podra contar," exclaims the old Curate
of Los Palacios, " la grandeza, el concierto deÿsu
corte, la cavalleria de los Nobles de toda Espana,
Duques, Maestres, Marqueses 6 Ricos homes ; los Galanes, las Damas. las Fiestas, los Torneos, la Moltitud de Poetas 6 Trovadores," etc. Reyes Cat<51icos, MS., cap. 201. 2 Oviedo notices the existence of a lady-love, even with cavaliers who had passed their prime, as a thing of quite as imperative necessity in his day as it was afterwards regarded by the gallant knight of La Mancha : " Costumbre es en Espana entre los senores de estado que venidos ila corte, aunque n<5 esten enamorados <5 que pasen de la mitad de la edad, fingir que aman por servir y favorescer £ alguna dama, y gastar como quien son en fiestas y otras cosas que »e ofrescen de tales pasatiempos y amores, sin que les d£ pena Cupido." Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1. quinc. i. dial. 28
s Viaggio, fol. 27. —Andrea Navagiero, whose Itinerary has been of such frequent reference in these pages, was a noble Venetian, born in 1485. He became very early distinguished, in his culti¬ vated capital, for his scholarship, poetical talents, and eloquence, of which he has left specimens, especially in Latin verse, in the highest repute to this day with his countrymen. He was not, however, exclusively devoted_ to letters, but was employed in several foreign missions by the republic. It was on his visit to Spain, as minister to Charles V., soon after that monarch's accession, that he wrote his Travels ; and he filled the same office at the court of Francis I., when he died at the premature age of forty-six, in 1529. (Tiraboschi, Letteratura Italiana, torn. vii. part. 3, p. 228, ed. 1785.) His death was universally lamented by the good and the learned of his time, and is commemorated by his friend, Cardi¬ nal Bembo, in twosonnets, breathing all the sensibil¬ ity of that tender and elegant poet. (Rime, Son. 109, 110.) Navagiero becomes connected with Castilian literature by the circumstance of Boscan's referring to his suggestion the innovation he so successfully made in the forms of the national verse. Obras, fol. 20, ed. 1543.
*
Fernando de Pulgar, after enumerating various cavaliers of his acquaintance who had journeyed to distant climes inquest of adventures and honourable feats of arms, continues, " E oi decir de otros Castellanos que con £nimode Caballeros fueron por los Reynos estranos £ facer armas con qualquier Caballero que quisiere facerlas con ellos, <f por ellas ganaron honra para si, e fama de valientes y esforzadoe Caballeros para los Fijosdalgos de Castilia." Claros Varones, tit. 17.
REVIEW OF THEIR ADMINISTRATION.
presented by the defenceless natives among whom he was cast, a thou¬ " sand of whom," to quote the words of Columbus, were not equal to three Spaniards," was in itself typical of his profession ;1 and the brilliant destinies to which the meanest adventurer w as often called, now carving out with his good sword some El Dorado '' more splendid than fancy " had dreamed of, and now overturning some old barbaric dynasty, were full as extraordinary as the wildest chimeras which Ariosto ever sang or Cervantes satirized. His countrymen who remained at home, feeding greedily on the reports of his adventures, lived almost equally in an atmosphere of romance. A spirit of chivalrous enthusiasm penetrated the very depths of the nation, swelling the humblest individual with lofty aspirations and a proud consciousness of the dignity of his nature. " The princely disposition of the Spaniards," says a foreigner of the time, " delighteth me much, as well as the gentle nurture and noble conversation, not merely of those of high degree, but of the citizen, peasant, and common labourer." 2 What wonder that such sentiments should be found incompatible with sober, methodical habits of business, or that the nation indulging them should be seduced from the humble paths of domestic industry to a brilliant and bolder career of adventure? Such consequences became too apparent in the following reign.3 In noticing the circumstances that conspired to form the national character, it would be unpardonable to omit the establishment of the Inquisition, which contributed so largely to counterbalance the benefits resulting from Isabella's government ; an institution which has done more than any other to stay the proud march of human reason ; which, by imposing uniformity of creed, has proved the fruitful parent of hypocrisy and superstition ; which has soured the sweet charities of human life,4 and, settling like a foul mist on the goodly promise of the land, closed up the fair buds of science and civilization ere they were fully opened Alas ! that such a blight should have fallen on so gallant and generous a people 1 That it should have been brought on it, too, by one of such
"
" Son todos," says the Admiral, " de ningun wgenio en las armas, y muy cobardes, que mil no aguadarian tres ! " (Primer Viage de Colon.) What could the bard of chivalry say more? quel ch'al timor non diede albergo " Ma Kstima la vil turba e l'arme tante Quel che dentro alia mandra a l'aer cupo, II numer dell' agnelle estimi il lupo."
*
Orlando Furioso, canto ia. L. Marineo, Cosas memorables, foL 30. " I Spagnuoli," says the Venetian minister, " non solo in questo paese di Granata, ma in tutto 1 resto della Spagna medesimamente, non sono moito industriosi, ne piantano, ne lavorano volpntieri la terra ; ma se danno ad altro, e piu volontieri vanno alia guerra, o alle Indie ad acquistarsi facultk, che per tal vie." (Viaggio, fol. 25.) Testimonies to the same purport thicken as the stream of history descends. See several collected by Capmany (Mem. de Barcelona, torn. iii. pp. 358 et seq.), who cer¬
*
'
tainly cannot be charged with ministering to the
vanity of his countrymen.
One may trace its immediate influence in the writings of a man like the Curate of Los Palacios, naturally, as it would seem, of an amiable, humane disposition, but who complacently remarks, "They Ferdinand and Isabella] lighted up the fires for the eretics, in which, with good reason, they have burnt, and shall continue to bum, so long as a soul of them remains ! " (Reyes Catdlicos, MS., cap. 7.) It becomes more perceptible in the literature of later times, and, what is singular, most of all in the lighter departments of poetry and fiction, which seem naturally devoted to purposes of pleasure. No one can estimate the full influence of the Inquisition in perverting moral sense, and infusing the deadly venom of misanthropy into the heart, who has not perused the works of the great Castilian poets, Lope de Vega. Ercilla, above all Calderon, whose lips seom to have been touched with fire from the veryaltars of this accursed tribunal.
*
t
746
FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.
unblemished patriotism and purity ot motive as Isabella ! How must her virtuous spirit, if it be permitted the departed good to look down on the scene of their earthly labourers, mourn over the misery and moral degradation entailed on her country by this one act ! So true is it that the measures of this great queen have had a permanent influence, whether for good or for evil, on the destinies of her country. The immediate injury inflicted on the nation by the spirit of bigotry in the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, although greatly exaggerated,1 was doubtless serious enough. Under the otherwise beneficent operation of their government, however, the healthful and expansive energies of the state were sufficient to heal up these and deeper wounds, and still carry it onward in the career of prosperity. With this impulse, indeed, the nation continued to advance higher and higher, in spite of the system of almost unmingled evil pursued in the following reigns. The glories of this later period, of the age of Charles the Fifth, as it is called, must find their true source in the measures of his illustrious predecessors. It was in their court that Boscan, Garcilasso, Mendoza, and the other master-spirits were trained, who moulded Castilian literature into the new and more classical forms of later times.2 It was under Gonsalvo de Cordova that Leyva, 1 The late secretary of the Inquisition has made what authority?), to 2,000,000 ; and, going on with the process, computes that this loss may fairly infer tims. According to him 13,000 were publicly burned one of 8,000,000 inhabitants to Spain at the present by the several tribunals of Castile and Aragon, and day ! (Ibid., ubi supra.) Thus the mischief im¬ 191,413 suffered other punishments, between 1481, puted to the Catholic sovereigns goes on increasing the date of the commencement of the modern insti¬ in a sort of arithmetical progression with the dura¬ tution, and 1518. (Hist, de l'lnquisition, torn. iv. tion of the monarchy. Nothing is so striking to the chap. 46.) Llorente appears to have come to these imagination as numerical estimates ; they speak a appalling results by a very plausible process of cal¬ volume in themselves, saving a world of periphrasis culation, and without any design to exaggerate. and argument ; nothing is so difficult to form with Nevertheless, his data are exceedingly imperfect, exactness, or even probability, when they relate to and he has himself, on a revision, considerably re¬ an early period ; and nothing more carelessly re¬ duced, in his fourth volume, the original estimates ceived and confidently circulated. The enormous in the first. Ifind good grounds for reducing them statements of the Jewish exiles, and the baseless still further. 1. He quotes Mariana for the fact ones of the Moorish, are not peculiar to Llorente, that 2000 suffered martyrdom at Seville in 1481, and but have been repeated, without the slightest quali¬ makes this the basis of his calculations for the other fication or distrust, by most modern historians and tribunals of the kingdom. Marineo, a contemporary, travellers. 2 In the two closing chapters of Part I. of this on the other hand, states that "in the course of a few years they burned nearly 2000 heretics ; " thus History Ihave noticed the progress of letters in not only diffusing this amount over a greater period this reign ; the last which displayed the antique of time, but embracing all the tribunals then exist¬ colouring and truly national characteristics ot ing in the country. (Cosas memorables, fol. 164.) Castilian poetry. There were many circumstances which operated, at this period, to work an import¬ 2. Bernaldez states that five-sixths of the Jews resided in the kingdom of Castile. (Reyes Catdlicos, ant revolution, and subject the poetry of the Pen¬ MS., cap. no.) Llorente, however, has assigned insula to a foreign influence. The Italian Muse, an equal amount of victims to each of the five tri¬ after her long silence, since the age of the trecentisti, bunals of Aragon with those of the sister kingdom, had again revived, and poured forth such ravishing excepting only Seville. One might reasonably dis¬ strains as made themselves heard and felt in every trust Llorente's tables, from the facility with which corner of Europe. Spain, in particular, was open he receives the most improbable estimates in other to their influence. Her language had an intimate matters, as, for example, the number of banished affinity with the Italian. The improved taste and Jews, which he puts at 800,000. (Hist, de l'lnqui¬ culture of the period led to a diligent study of sition, torn. i. p. 261.) Ihave shown, from contem¬ foreign models. Many Spaniards, as we have seen, porary sources, that this number did not probably went abroad to perfect themselves in the schools of exceed 160,000, or, at most, 170,000. (Part I.chap¬ Italy ; while Italian teachers filled some of the ter 17.) Indeed, the cautious Zurita, borrowing, principal chairs in the Spanish universities. Lastly, probably, from the same authorities, cites the latter the acquisition of Naples, the land of Sannazarc number. (Anales, torn. v. fol. 9.) Mariana, who and of a host of kindred spirits, opened an obvious owes so much of his narrative to the Aragonese his¬ communication with the literature of that country. torian, converting, as it would appear, these 170,000 With the nation thus prepared, it was not difficult individuals into families, states the whole, in round for a genius like that of Boscan, supported by the numbers, at 800,000 souls. (Hist, de Espana, torn. tender and polished Garcilasso, ano Dy Mendoza, ii. lib. 26, cap. 1.) Llorente, not content with this, whose stern spirit found relief in images of pastoral •swells the amount still further, by that of the Moor¬ tranquillity and ease, to recommend the more fin¬ ish exiles, and by emigrants to the New World (on ished forms of Italian versification to their country-
an elaborate computation of the number of its vic¬
REVIEW OF THEIR ADMINISTRATION.
747
Pescara, and those great captains with their invincible legions were formed, who enabled Charles the Fifth to dictate laws to Europe for half a century. And it was Columbus who not only led the way, but animated the Spanish navigator with the spirit of discovery. Scarcely was Ferdi¬ nand's reign brought to a close, before Magellan completed (1520), what that monarch had projected, the circumnavigation of the southern con¬ tinent ; the victorious banners of Cortes had already (1518) penetrated into the golden realms of Montezuma ; and Pizarro, a very few years later (I524)» following up the lead of Balboa, embarked on the enterprise which ended in the downfall of the splendid dynasty of the Incas. Thus it is that the seed sown under a good system continues to yield fruit under a bad one. The season of the most brilliant results, however, is not always that of the greatest national prosperity. The splendours of foreign conquest in the boasted reign of Charles the Fifth were dearly purchased by the decline of industry at home, and the loss of liberty. The patriot will see little to cheer him in this " golden age " of the national history, whose outward show of glory will seem to his penetrating eye only the hectic brilliancy of decay. He will turn to an earlier period, when the nation, emerging from the sloth and licence of a barbarous age, seemed to renew its ancient energies, and to prepare like a giant to run its course ; and glancing over the long interval since elapsed, during the first half of which the nation wasted itself on schemes of mad ambition, and in the latter has sunk into a state of paralytic torpor, he will fix his eye on the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella as the most glorious epoch in the annals of his country. men. These poets were all born in Isabella's reign. purer and nobler standard was attained, but the The first of tnem, the principal means of effecting national characteristics were effaced ; beauty was this literary revolution, singularly enough, was a everywhere, but it was the beauty of art, not of Catalan ; whose compositions in the Castilian prove ÿnature. The change itself was perfectly natural. the ascendency which this dialect had already It corresponded with the external circumstances of obtained as the language of literature. The second, the nation, and its transition from an insulated Garcilasso de la Vega, was son of the distinguished position to a component part of the great European statesman and diplomatist of that name, so often commonwealth, which subjected it to other influ¬ noticed in our History ; and Mendoza was a ences and principles of taste, and obliterated, to a younger son of the amiable count of Tendilla, the certain extent, the peculiar features of the national governor of Granada, whom he resembled in no¬ physiognomy thing but his genius. Both the elder Garcilasso and How far the poetic literature of Castile was bene¬ Tendilla had represented their sovereigns at the fited by the change, has been matter of long and papal court, where they doubtless became tinctured hot debate between the critics of the country, in with that relish for the Italian which produced which Ishall not involve the reader. The revolu¬ such results in the education of their children. tion however, was the growth of circumstances, The new revolution penetrated far below_ the and was immediately effected by individuals be¬ superficial forms of versification ; and the Castilian longing to the age of Ferdinand and Isabella. As poet relinquished, with his redondillas and artless sucn, Ihad originally proposed to devote a separate asonantes, the homely but heartful themes of the chapter to its illustration. But Ihave been deterred olden time J or, if he dwelt on them, it was with an from it by the unexpected length to which the air of studied elegance and precision very remote work has already extended, as well as by the con¬ from the Doric simplicity and freshness of the sideration, on a nearer view, that these results, romantic minstrelsy. If he aspired to some bolder though prepared under a preceding reign, properly theme, it was rarefy suggested by the stirring and fall under the domestic history of Charles V., a patriotic recollections ofhis nation's history. Thus, history which still remains to be written. But nature and the rude graces of a primitive age gave who will attempt a pendant to the delineations of way to superior refinement and lettered elegance ; Robertson I many popular blemishes were softened down, a
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INDEX A »Birr, Abikl, his letter from Cuba, 621 note. in, 56o note ; number of students, 660; visited by Abdallah, or Boabdil, proclaimed Sultan of Gran¬ Ferdinand, 661 ; bequest to, by Ximenes, 664 ; its reputation, 664 ; Ximenes buried there, 709. ada, 219; son of Hacen, 335; marches against the Christians, 331 ; defeated and captured, 333; Alcantara, military order of, 15a, 153. debates in the Spanish council respecting, 334 I Alcavala, commutation of the capricious tax of, treaty with, 334; his interview with Ferdinand, 719 ; remarks on it, 735 note. 333 ; seeks the protection of the Castilian sove¬ Alexander VI., Ferdinand and Isabella's application reigns, 347 ; cuts to pieces a body of El Zagal's to, 334 ; his character, 334, 377 ; famous bulls of, cavalry, and receives privileges from Ferdinand 338, 339 ; takes refuge in the Castle of St. Angelo, and Isabella, 261 ; inactive in Granada, 378; sum¬ 137 ; his solicitations, and grants to Spain, 139 ; confers the title of Cathalic on the Spanish sove¬ moned to surrender Granada, 389 ; capitulates, reigns, 139 ; aided by Gonsalvo at Ostia, 164 ; 395 5 bis life endangered, 396 ; his meeting with his reception of Gonsalvo, 164 ; empowers Ferdi¬ r erdinand, 397 ; takes a last view of Granada, nand and Isabella to receive aJl the tithes in the 398 ; hit fate, 398 ; living's remarks on him, colonial note. dominions, 343; aids Louis XII., 500; 399 remonstrance to, by the Spanish sovereigns, 501 ; Abdallah, or The Valiant," brother of Hacen, his bravery in the rout of the Axarquia, 335 ; his confirms the partition of Naples, 508 ; his purposes in regard to France, 554, 556 ; his death, 556 ; advancement to the throne, 347 ; defeated before
"
Velez Malaga, 356 ; draws the duke of Cadis into an ambuscade, 371 ; extent of his domain, 37a ; makes forays into the Christian territories, a73 1 l<ePt if check at Guadix, 377 ; treaty of surrender with, 383 ; his interview with Ferdinand, 384 ; occupation of his domain, 384 ; terms of the capitulation, 384 note ; equivalent assigned to, 284 ; remarks respecting him, 385. Adalid, meaning of, 333 note Adelantado, title and office of, 334 note. Adrian of Utrecht, preceptor of Charles V., and envoy to Ferdinand, 693 ; opposes Ximenes, 703. Adventure, spirit of, in the time of Ferdinand and Isabella, 735. Africa, Oran in, captured, 653; Navarro's conquests in, 657 Agnadel, battle of, 667. Agriculture, in Spain, 186; in Granada, 190; during the reign of Ferdinand and Imbella, 730. Aguilar, Alonso de, his connection with the expedi¬ tion to Axarquia, 334 ; brother of Gonsalvo de Cordova, 397 ; leader of the expedition against Sierra Vermeja, 463 ; his gallantry and death, 464 1 his noble character, 465 ; his income, 717 note. Albaycin, revolt of the, 454 ; insurgents appeased by Talavera, 455. Albigenses, their sufferings from the Inquisition,
..
remarks respecting him, 556 ; treatment of his remains, 556 note ; the election of his successor,
5S6. 557*
Alfonso X. of Castile, his code, 19. Alfonso of Castile, brother of Henry IV., demand by the nobles that he shall be publicly acknow¬ ledged as Henry's successor, 84 ; crowned after the deposition of Henry IV., 85 ; at the battle of Olmedo, 90 ; his death and character, 91. Alfonso V. of Aragon, succeeds Ferdinand I., 63 ; the government of his kingdom devolves on his brother John, 6a ; his death, 64. Alfonso, king of Portugal, his proposal rejected by Isabella, 96 ; supports the cause of Joanna, 120 ; his invasion of Castile, 121 ; measures for a union of, with Jownna, 121, 132 ; challenged by Ferdi¬ nand to a personal combat, 123 ; his position before Zamord, 125 ; suddenly decamps, 126; overtaken by Ferdinand, 126; his escape, 128; visits France, 129 ; his disappointment as to succour, 130 ; returns to Portugal, 130 ; Prince Tohn is crowned, but resigns in favour of, 131 ;
his death, 133.
Alfonso II., king of Naples, flies to Sicily, anc" abdicates the crown in favour of Ferdinand II., 39°-
..
Alfonso, a physician employed in the compilation of the Complutensian Polyglot, 662 note. 163, 163. Albion, Juan de, sent on a mission to Charles VIII., Alhakem II., his encouragement of literature, 187. description of, 204 ; Spanish expedition Alhama, 389against, 204, 206 ; its fall, 208 ; besieged by the Albornoz, sent on a mission to Rome ; treatment 01, Moors, 209 ; distress of the garrison there, 210 ; by Ximenes, 442. siege raised, 211 ; again besieged and abandoned, Albret, Jean d , his marriage with Catharine of by Ferdinand, 213 ; Isabella the ; entered 212 takes Navarre, 353 ; abandons hi! capital, 674 ; cause of not abandoning it, 596. refuge in France, 677; his character, 677; accom¬ of Granada, 189 ; taken possession The, Alhambra, panies Longueville, 678 ; further remarks respect¬ of, 297 ; cross raised on, 297 ; Isabella buried ing, 670 note ; unjust treatment of, 683. burial-place, 695. Ferdinand's there, ; 590; A leal4 de Henares, literary character of, 349 Ximenes returns to, from Africa, with valuable Aligre, Ives d', throws himself into ;Gaeta, 537, 557 ; a faction, secretly supports 564 despatched to Arabian manuscripts, 656. hold the enemy in check, 567, 568 ; banished, A lea14, University of, 658 ; its magnificence, 659 ; and a 576, 670 death, his recall ; 13 573 provisions for education in, 659 ; professorships
..
-
75°
j±yj
Aristotle, reverence for, among the Spanish Arabs, 196 ; Ximenes projects an edition of, 663 note. Army, Castilian, discipline of the, at Malaga, 263 ; numbers of the, in 1488, 271 ; houses erected for it, near Baza, 279: strict discipline of the, 279 J their painful march from Baza, 283. Arrows, poisoned by the Moors, 238. Ars, Louis d', his gallantry, 576. Artillery, early knowledge of, in Spain, 71 note; remarks respecting the, 237 ; difficulty of trans¬ 666. porting it, 238 ; comparison of the t rench and Alpujarras, rising of the Moors in the, 459 ; new the Italian, 387. insurrection there, 461. Alva, duke of, his loyalty to Ferdinand, 612 ; com¬ Astrolabe, invention of the, 304 ; application of the,
Almeria, painful inarch of the Spanish army to, 283 ; occupation of, 284 ; Ferdinand's policy in regard to, 290. Almeyda, Edward de, his desperate heroism at the battle of Toro, 127. Alonso, heir of the Portuguese monarchy, his union with the infanta Isabella, 132, 288, 419 ; public festivities thereupon, 289 ; his death, 296, 420. Alps crossed by Charles VIII., 385 ; by Louis XII.,
mander of the expedition against Guienne, 675 ;
to navigation, 304 note.
invades Navarre, 676 ; his retreat, 678 ; opposes Atar, Ali, the defender of Loja, 231 ; killed at the Ximenes, 705. battle of Lucena, 232. Alvaro, son of the duke of Braganza, assassinated, Atella, Montpensier besieged in, 406. 262. Aubigny, M. d', commander of the forces in Calabria, Aiviano, Bartolommeo d', the head of the Orsini, 397 ; defeats the Spaniards near Seminara, 402 ; enlists under Gonsalvo, 566 ; urges him to attack commander of the land-forces sent against Naples, the French, 566, 567 ; builds a bridge and crosses ; superseded, 518 ; despatched to the Calathe Garigliano, 567, 568 j his bravery near Vicenza, rias, 520 ; defeats a small force near Terranova, 673 ; his death and burial, 673 note. 524 ; is defeated near Seminara, 538, 578 note ; Amadis de Gaula, remarks on the, 353. visited by Ferdinand, 640. Amboise, Cardinal d', his pretensions to the papal Austria, alliances with the house of, 421. See chair, 556 ; unsuccessful, 557. Maximilian. Ammunition, the kinds of, 237. Autos da fe, account of, 175. Amposta, reduction of, 73. Averroes, his commentary on Aristotle, 196. Ancient Inquisition, origin and history of the, 161. Axarquia, expedition to, 223.
fo8
See Modern Inquisition.
Andalusia, the theatre of savage warfare between Bacon, Lord, cited respecting the fall of Granada. the Guzmans and Ponces de Leon, 105, 140 ; 299 note. royal progress through, 141 ; Don Pedro Hen- Baena, Alphonse de, 57. riquez, adelantado of, 224 ; loss of, at the rout in Balboa, Vasco Nunez de, crosses the isthmus of the Axarquia, 229. Darien, 736. Andrada, 560; the rear-guard left under, 567, 569 } Ballads or romances, historical value of, 192 note joins Gonsalvo, 569. early cultivation of, in Spain, 355 ; their resem¬ Angevin lords, Gonsalvo'* treatment of the, 572 blance to the English, 356 ; numerous editions o; note; restoration of the, by Ferdinand, 633. them, 359. Arabs. See Moors. Bancroft, George, remarks on his History, 493 Aragon, Alonso de, natural son of Ferdinand, 699 note. note. Bank, the first in Europe, established at Barcelona, Aragon, Juan de, proposition for the union of, with 41Elvira, 647. Barbosa, Arias, an eminent scholar, notice of, 347. Aragon, state of, in the middle of the fifteenth cen¬ Barcelona, its early civilisation, and institutions, 27 ; tury, 1; its gradual expansion, 2 ; its union with its early commercial prosperity, 41 ; first bank of exchange and deposit established at, 41 ;her muni¬ Catalonia, 27 ; with Valencia, 27 ; attention given to the navy of, 28 ; its extensive conquests, 28 ; cipal institutions and various objects of interest, origin of the government of, 28 ; barons of, 29 ; 42 ; independent conduct of, towards Ferdinand measures for reducing the authority of the nobles I., 43 ; the consistory of, established, 45 ; its in¬ of, 31, 33 ; Alfonso III. approves the Privileges fluence, 45 ; university of, founded, 46 ; besieged by John, and surrenders, 77, 106 ; rejoicings at, of Union, 31 ; anarchy in, 31 ; defeat of the army of the union in, 32 ; full possession of constitu¬ upon the recovery of Ferdinand, 228 ; the court tional liberty in, 33 ; the cortes of, and its various at, 328 ; reception of Columbus there, 330; the treaty of, between the Spanish sovereigns and branches, 33 ; its mode of conducting business, ; the of fidelity government in, Charles VIII., 381 ; suppression of the university officers of ; 34 35 the General Privilege, 35 ; influence of the free of, 741 note. institutions of, manifested by writers there, 46 Barleta, Gonsalvo retires to, 520 ; distress of the Spaniards at, 523 ; constancy of the Spaniards note ; condition of, during the minority of Ferdi¬ there, 524 ; arrival of supplies, 325 ; Gonsalvo nand, 62 ; reign of John II., 63 ; treaty of, with prepares to leave, 528, 534. France, 72 ; termination of the civil war in, 77 ; union of, with Castile, by the marriage of Ferdi¬ Barons of Aragon, 29 ; their small number, 29 ; their great power, 30 ; privileges of union, 31 ; reduced nand and Isabella, 97, 134 ; troubles there, 104 ; by Peter IV., 32. treaty between, and France, 108 ; introduction of the ancient Inquisition into, 162 ;opposition there, Battles, remarks on the mode of conducting, in Italy, 385. to the introduction of the Inquisition by Ferdi¬ nand, 177 note ; liberation of Catalan serfs in, 252 ; Bayard, Pierre de, 519 ; at the siege of Barleta, further particulars respecting the Inquisition in, 320 ;at a tournament, 321 ; duel between him and Sotomayor, 522 ; heroism of, 565 ; his ardour at 252 ; remonstrance of the cortes, 253 ; conspiracy, the bridge of Mola, 569. 253 ; assassination of Arbues, 253 ; cruel perse¬ cutions there, 254 ; visited by Ferdinand and Baza reconnoitred by Ferdinand, 271 ; preparations for the siege of, 273 ; the king takes command of Isabella, in 1487, 271 ; the hermandad adopted the army there, 273 ; position and strength of, there, 271 ; its extensive commerce in the Middle Ages, 304 note; treatment of the Jews in, 319 ; 274 ; assault on the garden before, 275 ; despon¬ visited by the sovereigns, in 1492, 326 ; difficulties dency of the Spanish chiefs before, 276 ; the queen in, respecting female succession to the crown, 42ÿ ; Ferdinand's conduct in regard to the In¬ quisition in, 697 note ; his treatment of the nobles in, 417; population of, 742 note; victims of the Inquisition in, 746 note. Arbues, Pedro, inquisitor in Saragossa, 252 ; assas¬ sinated, 253 ; honoured as a martyr, 254. Architecture in Spain, 741.
raises the spirits of her troops, 276 ; gardens the. e cleared of their timber, 277 ; closely invested, 277 ; despatches sent thither from the sultan of Egypt, 278 ; houses erected there for the army, 27c ; effects of a heavy tempest, 279 ; resolution of the besieged in, 281 ; Isabella visits the camp before, 281 ; suspension of arms, 281 ; its surrender, 282 : the conditions, 283 ; occupation of, 283 ; treatycf
INDEX.
75*
surrender with El Zagal, 283 ; Ferdinand's policy Calatrava, grand master of. See Giron. in regard to, 290. Calatrava, knights of, 152. Beatrix, Doha, of Portugal, her exertions to bring Cambray, League of, 641 ; partition of the conti¬ about a peace with Castile, 132. nental possessions of Venice thereby, 665 ; with¬ Beltraneja. See Joanna Beltraneja. out principle or good policy, 665 ; its origin, 666 ; Benegas, Reduan, 225, 229. dissolved by the treaty of Noyon, 707, 726 notes. Canaries, historical notice of the, 305 note ; Ximenes Benemaquez, fate of tne town of, 259. Bergenroth, G. A., asserts the legitimacy of la Bel¬ extends the Inquisition to the, 705. traneja, 94 note ;conjectures that Ferdinand and Cancionero General, 360 ; its literary value, 360. Isabellaunderstood no language but Spanish, 341 Cancioneros, publication of, 360. note ; his views of the character of Catharine of Canosa, besieged, 520 French sally out of, 524. Aragon not generally accepted, 422 note ; his Capmany, Antonio, notice of, and of his writings, 47. absurd construction of a clause in Isabella's will, Capua, fate of, 509. ; 604 note his groundle-s aspersions on the char¬ Carbajal, Lorenzo Galindez de, notice of, and of his writings, 714 note. acter of Isabella, 600, 697 note ; his theory of Queen Juana's sanity and unjust imprisonment, Cardenas, Alonso de, grand master of St. James, his enterprise in the district around Malaga, 180, 616, 642, 642 notes ; his remarks on the death of Philip the Handsome, 628 note ; cited, 636, 637, 223, 224, 226, 227, 228 ; entrusted with the assault on Baza, 275 ; escorts the infanta Isabella to Por¬ 679 notes. tugal, 289. Bernaldez, Andresÿ curate of Los Palacios, notice Cardenas, Gutierre de, of the household of Isabella, of, and of his writings, 303. Beyre, Sire de, agent of Philip the Handsome in facts respecting, 99. Spain, 603. Cardona, Hugo de, commander of the forces raised by virtue of the Holy League, 668 ; lays waste Bible, Ximenes' edition of the, 348 note, 656 ; ac¬ Venetian territories, 672. count of it, 661. Bigotry of Isabella, 168, 325 ;respecting the heathen, Carillo, Alfonso, archbishop of Toledo, his char¬ acter and influence, 81, 82 ; disgraced, 83 ; his the common ; age to of Isabella, and to 480 593 ; league with the marquis of Villena against the later times, 594. Blancas, Jerome, notice of, and of his writings, 47. crown, 83 ; assists in deposing Henry IV. of Castile, 85 ; at the battle of Olmedo, 90 ; his dis¬ Blanche, daughter of John II. of Aragon, 62 ; title position towards Isabella, 104 ; furnishes a body to the crown of Navarre left to, 68 ; her tragical of horse to Ferdinand, 107; accompanies Isabella story, 69 ; her death, 70 ; her repudiation by to Segovia, 109 ; his conduct towards Isabella, Henry IV., 79. 120, 122 ; at the battle of Toro, 137 ; purchases Boabdil. See Abdailah. pardon, Board of Indian affairs established, 332, 490. X29 ; his death, 220 ; his imprisonment of Ximenes, 434. Bobadilla, Francisco de, sent out to Hispaniola with the queen's magnanimity towards, 592 note. extraordinary powers, 481, 483 ; his treatment of Carillo, Columbus, 482 ; remarks respecting his appoint¬ Carlos, prince of Viana, his title to Navarre, 62 ; takes against his father, 63 ; is defeated, 64 ; arms ment and his extraordinary powers, 483 ; Ovando released from captivity, 64 ;seeks an asylum with is ordered to send him home for trial, 484 ; his Alfonso V. at Naples, 64 ; urged to assert his fate, 487. title to the throne, after the death of Alfonso V., Bobadilla, Dona Beatriz Fernandez de, the intimate 64 ; his reception, and manner of life in Sicily, friend of Isabella, 89 note ; the wife of Andrez de ; his reconciliation with his father, 65 ; negotia¬ Cabrera, 109 ; mentioned in Isabella's testament, 65 tion for a union of, with Isabella, 66 ; imprisoned, 587 ; present at her death, 597 note ; expelled ; the consequences thereof, 67 ; released, 68 ; from Segovia, 624 ; re-establishes herself at Se¬ 67 his reception by the people, 68 ; his sudden death, govia, 636 note. 68, by the of taken possession ; French, 70 ; his character, 69. Bologna, 667 Casa de Contratacion, powers entrusted to the, 490. relieved by the duke of Nemours, 669. Books, Isabella's collection of, 341 ,* remarks on col¬ Casas, Las, 333 ; on the treatment of the Indians, 588 note, 736, 737 note ; his memorial on the best lections of, before the introduction of printing, means of arresting the destruction of the abori¬ 341 note ; destroyed by Ximenes, 453. gines, 738 note ; his appeal to Ferdinand in their Borgia, Caesar, proposition to transfer, from a sacred behalf, 738. to a secular dignity, 502 ; his conduct at Capua, Castellaneta, expedition against, by the duke of 509 ; Gonsalvo's treatment of, 690. Nemours, 526. Montpensier. See Courbon, Gilbert de. condition of, in the middle of the fifteenth Boyl, Bernaldo, sent to negotiate a treaty with Castile, characteristic traits of the people of, ; 1 century, France, 532. before the sixteenth century, 8 ; its liberal political Braganza, duke of, anecdote respecting, 131 note. institutions, 9 ; first popular representation in, 10 ; possession of, Brazil, discovered and taken 497. power granted to the commons of, 10, 22 ; the Brescia, captured by the French, 669. organised, 12 ; opulence and splen¬ Hermandad note. Bull-fights, Isabella's views of, 597 dour of the cities of, 13 ; its situation favourable Burgundy, Charles the Bold, duke of, visited by the aristocracy, 15 ;privileges and of the to rights a by followed Alfonso of Portugal, 130; his death immunities of the higher nobility of, 15 ; knight¬ French invasion of the Burgundian dominions, with especial favour in, 18 ; in¬ regarded hood 130 note. fluence of the ecclesiastics in, 19 ; sacrifices in, the made to pope, 19 ;effect of the long minorities Cabra, Count of, 232 ; honours conferred on him, in, 23 ; dilapidated condition of the revenues, at 241. fourteenth century, 24 ; com¬ the of beginning the de Cabrera, Andres de, the husband of Beatriz parative power of the sovereign and people in, Bobadilla, his exertions to reconcileÿ Henry IV. birth of Isabella, 49 ; acces¬ the at state of, ; 23 and Isabella, 109 ; his co-operation in favour of sion of John II., 49 ; rise of Alvaro de Luna, 50 ; proclaiming Isabella as queen, 117 note ; Marquis civil discord, 50 ; oppresnobles; the of jealousy of Moya ;tumults at Segovia respecting, 138 ; ex¬ sion of the commons in, 51 » ÿ consequences, 53 * pelled from Segovia, 624 ; survives his wife, 636 of, 53 ; encouragement of literature literature early note. there, under John II., 54; Henry, marquis of Cadiz, Ponce de Leon, marquis of, his opposition to Villena, 34; Inigo Lopez de Mendoza, marquis the Guzmans, 141. See Leon. of Santillana, 55 i John de Mena, 56 ;minor iumiCalabria, the duke of, at Tarento, 511; guarantee naries, 57 ; epistolary and historical composition to, 514 ; treatment of, 514, 690. ; at this period, 58 ;decline of Alvaro de Luna, 59 Calabria, invasion of, by Gonsalvo de Cordova, his fall, 39 ; his death, 60 ; accession of Henry 511 ; D'Aubigny despatched to, 520 I reduced, debase80 ; in, people IV., 78 ; oppression of the $24
752
w-
ment ot the coin there, 81 ; sale of papal bulls of Catalonia, united to Aragon, 27 success of the navy of, 28 ; poetical talent in, 44 ; insurrection in, 67 ; crusade in, 81 note ; Juan Pacheco and Alfonso feelings there in regard to Carlos, after his death, Carillo, 168 ; interview of the king of, with Louis league the of ; the consequences, 83 71 ; general revolt in, 72 ; sovereignty of, offered XI.. 83 ; to Henry IV. of Castile, 73 ; election of Rene le nobles, 83 ; deposition of Henry IV., 85, 93 ; Bon, of Anjou, to the throne of, 74 ; libeiation of and ; .crowned, Alfonso publicly acknowledged 85 serfs there, 252 ; the court transfers its residence consequent division of parties, 85 ; battle of 01to, death Alfonso, anarchy of ; in, civil medo, 89 ; 326 ; attempt to assassinate Ferdinand in, 336 ; 90 loyalty of the people of, 327. See Catalans. 91 ; crown of, offered to Isabella, 93 ; treaty be¬ of Lancaster, union of Henry III.with, 49. Catharine Isa¬ confederates the and in, Henry 93; tween bella acknowledged heir to the crown of, 93 ; Catharine, succeeds Francis Phoebus, of Navarre, 322 ; proposition for the union of, with John, son union of, with Aragon, by the marriage of Ferdi¬ of Ferdinand and Isabella, 223; her marriage with nand and Isabella, 97 ; factions there, 103 ; civil anarchy, 105 ; War of the Succession ; Joanna's Jean d'Albret, 252. See Albret. and Isabella's title to the crown of, considered, Catharine of Aragon, her birth, 252, 419 notes ; her early education, 342 note ; her union with the 116; accession of Ferdinand and Isabella, 117; house of England, 421. invasion of, by Alfonso of Portugal, 131 ; dis¬ the title of, conferred on Ferdinand and Catholic, re¬ its ; army, Castilian the of retreat 123 orderly Isabella, 388. organisation, 124, 125 ; battle of Toro, 127 ; sub¬ mission of the whole kingdom of, 129 ; termina¬ Celestina, the tragi-comedy of, 364 ; criticised, 364 ; opened the way to dramatic writing, 365 ; nume¬ tion of the War of Succession, 13a ; schemes of rous editions of it, 365. reform there, introduced after the accession of Isabella, 135 ; administration of justice in, 135, Celi, Medina, Duke of, Columbus's application to, reorganisation of Segovia, ; at tumult 310. ; 138 140 tribunals in, 14a ; codification of the laws there, Centurion, Domingo, sent as a legate by pope Sixtus IV. to the court of Castile, 156. ; nobility reducing the of, schemes for ; 145 U4 Evocation of the royal grants, 147 ; military orders Cerdagne, pledged to the kingof France, 72 ; revolt there, 106. of, 150 ;masterships annexed to the crown of, 153 ; ecclesiastical usurpations in, resisted, 155 ; regu¬ Cerignola, Gonsalvo encamps at, 534 ; battle of, 536, lation of trade in, 157 ; prosperity of the kingdom 554> 558 ; loss at, 537. of, 158 ; influence of the royal authority in, 159 ; Charles VIII. of France, his early education, 379 ; organisation of the Inquisition in, 163, 168, 170; Si, his pretensions to Naples, 380 ; his negotiations respecting Roussillon, 380 ; counsellors of, in the state of the Jews there at the accession of Isabella, pay of Ferdinand, 381 ; his measures for invading 166 ; their persecution, 168 ; papal bull authoris¬ Italy, 383 ; sends an envoy to the Spanish court, ing the Inquisition in, 170; dreadful slaughter of the troops of, in the Axarquia, 328 ;Columbus's 383 ; Ferdinand's special mission to him, 384 ; his dissatisfaction, 384 ; crosses the Alps with a for¬ application to the court of, 309 ; mental progress midable army, 385 ; enters Rome, 386 ; second of, till the end of Isabella's reign, 340 ; classical mission to, from Ferdinand, 389 ; his dissatisfac¬ literature in, 347 ; edict against tne Moors of, tion, pretensions of, supremacy the to Philip's ; 389 ; enters Naples, 390 ; general hostility 469 to him, 391 ; his indiscretion after the league of 603 ; concord of Salamanca for the government of, Venice, 393 ; his general conduct, 395 ; plunders 609, 611 ; sovereignty of, resigned to Philip and works of art, 395 ; goes through the ceremony of Joanna, 614 ; provisional government for, after coronation, 396 ; his retreat, 396 ; his disregard the death of Philip, 630 ; disorderly state of, 636 ; for Italy, 405 ; his death, 500 ; cause of his fail¬ distress of the kingdom, 637 ; Navarre united ure in Italy, 577. with, 680; Maximilian's pretensions to the regency of, 684 ; administration of, entrusted to Ximenes, Charles V. (the First of Spain), birth of, 529 note ; proposal for the union of, with the princess Claude, 693; Charles V. proclaimed king of, 703 ; public discontents in, 706 ;population there, 742 ;victims 329 ; named king by Isabella, 586, 587 ; made to assume the title of King of Castile, 637 ; regards of the Inquisition in, 746 note. See Castilian himself as excluded by Ferdinand from his right¬ literature, Ferdinand, and Ferdinand and Isa¬ ful possession, 685 ; Adrain of Utrecht, preceptor bella. of and envoy to Ferdinand, 692 ; erects a marble Castilian literature, its early state, 53 ; state of, during the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, 340 ; mausoleum over the remains of Ferdinand and Isa¬ Isabella's collection of books, 341 ; her care for bella, 695 ; proclaimed king, 703 ; prepares to embark for his Spanish dominions, 707 ; his pro¬ the education of her children, 343 ; of Prince John, 342 ; of her nobles, 343 ; Peter Martyr, posed union with the daughter of Francis I., 707 ; lands in Spain, 707 ; his ungrateful letter to 343 ; Lucio Marineo Siculo, 344; scholarship of Ximenes, 707 ; indebted to the reign of Ferdinand the nobles, 345 ; accomplished ladies, 346 ; clas¬ and Isabella, 746. sical learning, 347 ; Antonio de Lebrija, 347 ; Arias Barbosa, 347 ; merits of the Spanish Charles of Bourbon, his generous conduct to the heirs of Giannone, 734 note. scholars, 348 ; universities, 349 ; sacred studies, 349 ; other sciences, 350 ; printing introduced, Chivalry, circumstances favourable to, in Spain, 8 ; romances of, 152 ; continuance of, in Spain, 743. and encouraged by the queen, 350 ; its rapid dif¬ See Military Orders. fusion, 351 ; Actual progress of science, 352 ; this reign an epoch in polite letters, 353 ; romances of Christians sold as slaves, 81, 223 ; treatment of, by the Spanish Arabs, 182 ; liberation of, 246 ;release chivalry, 353 ; ballads or romances, 355 ; lyric of, at Malaga, 267 ; at Oran, 655. poetry, 360 ; publications of cancioneros, 360 ; ow state of lyric poetry, 362 ; rise of the Spanish Church of Rome, measures for preventing usurpa¬ tions by the, 155 ; resisted by the cortes of Castile, drama, 363 ; tragic drama, 369 ; the foundation of, laid in the court of Ferdinand and Isabella, 135; treatment of the, by the sovereigns, 718. See Pope. ; further remarks respecting Castilian poetry ; 746 its subsequent development, 746 note. Church plate, appropriation of, for the support of Castilian monarchy, view of the, before the fifteenth the royal treasury, 124. century, 2 ;election to the crown, 22 ; controlled, Cicero, his country-seat, 558 note. 22. Cid, remarks on the, 6 note. Castillo, Enriquez del, notice of, 365 note. Cifuentes, Don Juan de Silva, count of, 224. Castro, Bartholomeo de, employed in the compila¬ Cisneros, Francisco Ximenez de. See Ximenes. tion of the Complutensian Polyglot, 662 note. Classical literature, in Spain, 347. Catalans, insurrection of the, 67 ; repulsed at Gero- Claude, the princess, daughter of Louis XII., 529. na, 71 ; reject the conciliatory advances of John, Clemencin, Diego, author of the sixth volume of the " Memoirs of the Royal Spanish Academy of 77. See Catalonia. Catalina. See Catharine of A ragon. History," 160 note.
TNDEX.
753
Clergy, on the education of the, in Spain, 349 ; their hadits, 444 ; their opposition to Talavera's mild policy for the conversion of the Moors, 450 ; the queen's measures for circumscribing the powers
Concubinage, practised by the clergy in Spain, 20. Conde, his works respecting the Moors, 201. Condottieri, mercenaries in Italy, described, 385. Confiscation decreed against heretics, 176. of the, 718 ; their wealth, 718 note ; the queen's Coplas, by Don Jorge Manrique, 362. care of their morals, 719. See Ecclesiastics. Cordova, Alonso Hernandez de. See Agvilar. Coin, debasement of, in Castile, 81, 157; enactments Cordova, Diego Fernandez de, 231. respecting, 157. Cordova, Gonsalvo de, a negotiator of a treaty Colonies, careful provision made for the, 488 ; emi¬ for the surrender of Granada, 295 ; land-forces gration to the, encouraged, 488 ; licensefor private against Charles VIII. intrusted to, 388 ; his early voyages to the, 489 ; spirit of the legislation of life, 397; his brilliant qualities, 398 ; his gallantry the, 491 ; trade of, confined to Seville, 492 ; to the queen, 599 ; raised to the Italian command. articles of commerce in the, 494; slavery there, 399 ; arrives in Sicily, 390 ; lands in Calabria, ; administration the of government the, of 738 400 ; his prudence in regard to the battle of Seminara, 401 ; his bravery, 402 ; his retreat to Reggio, 738. See His/>aniola and West Indies. Coionna, Prospero, sent to harass the French, 568 ; 402; his movements in Southern Calabria, 404; his visit to Isabella, 585 note ; successor to Gonhis successes, 404 ; summoned to the aid of Fer¬ salvo, at Naples, 639. dinand, in Atella, 406 surprises Laino, 406 ; Columbus, Christopher, early history of, 306 ; his arrives before Atella, 408; receives the title of belief of land in the west, 307, 308 ; applies to Great Captain, 408 ; beats a detachment of Swiss, Portugal, 308; to the court at Castile, 309; his 408 ; succours the pope bystorming and capturing case referred to a council, 309 ; his application Ostia, 413; enters Rome, 413; his reception by rejected, 310 ; his application to Medina Sidonia the pope, 414 ; by Frederick, at Naples, 414 ; re¬ and Medina Celi, 310 J prepares to leave Spain, turns to Spain, 414 ; marches against Huejar, 310 ; period of his residence with the Duke of 4ÿ9 ; fleet fitted out under, 504 ; sails against the Medina Celi, 310 note ; interposition in his behalf, lurks, 504, 505 ; storms and captures St. George, 311 ; present at the surrender of Granada, 311 ; 507 ; honours paid to, 508 ; conduct of, towards urges his suit before Ferdinand and Isabella, 311 ; Frederick, 510 ; invades Calabria, 511; invests the nature of his demands, 312 ; Isabella favour¬ Tarento, 511 ; his munificence, 512 ; punishes a able towards, 312 ; final arrangement with, 313 ; mutiny, 512 ; Tarento surrenders to, 514 ; his sails on his first voyage, 314 ; indifference to his forces, 519; retires to Barleta, 520; his spirit, enterprise, 315 ; his tribute to Isabella, 316 note. 523 ; routs the French, 525 ; captures Ruvo, 526 ; returns from his voyage, 328 ; invited to Barce¬ returns to Barleta, 527 ; his treatment of the lona, 328 ; the West Indies discovered by, 320 ; prisoners, 527 ; prepares to leave Barleta, 528 ; his visit to Portugal, 329 ; his reception by John refuses to comply with the conditions of the treaty II., 329 note ; his reception at Palos, 329 : his of Lyons, 533 ; marches out of Barleta, 534 ; dis¬ progress to Barcelona, 330; his reception at the tress of the troops under, 534; encamps before Cerignola, 534 ; his forces, 535 ; routs the French, court, 330; his interview with the sovereigns, ; his caused discovery, by sensations ; 331 331 537 ; pursues the enemy, 538 ; his entry into royal attentions shown to, at Barcelona, 332 ; Naples, 539 ; his movements against Gaeta, 539, preparations for his second voyage, 332, 333, 337 ; 541 ; concessions to, by the pope, 554 ; sends z detachment near to the city of Rome, 556 ! instructions to, respecting the natives, 333 ; new repulsed before Gaeta, 558 ; strength of his forces, powers granted to, 334 sails on his second voyage, 558 ; takes post at San Germano, 559 ; his bloody 338 ; complaints against him, 476 ; his second resistance at the bridge of Garigliano, 561 ;streng¬ return, 476 ; reaction of public feeling respecting thens his position, 562 ; great distress of the army him, 477 ; the queen's confidence inhim unshaken, of, 562 ; his remarkable resolution, 563 ; secures 477 ; honours conferred on him, 477 ; difficulties the alliance of the Orsini, 566 ; crosses the Garig¬ as to his third voyage, 478 ; sails, 478 ; discovers liano, and pursues the French, 568 ; routs the terra firma, 478 ; his endeavours to quell the enemy, 569 ; his treatment of the Angevin lords, mutiny at Hispaniola, 479 ; loud complaints against him, 479 ; superseded in his government, 572 note ; his courtesy to the vanquished, 572 ; takes possession of Gaeta, 573 ; his enthusiastic and sent to Spain, by Bobadilla, 482 ; his recep¬ reception, 573, 574 ; extortions and clamours of the his ; in stead, 484 tion, 482 ; Ovando commissioned troops under, 574 ; his liberality to his officers, remarks respecting the delay to send him out, 485 ; review of F's military conduct, 577 ; his ; ; last voyage, and 574, 575 equipment for his fourth 486 reform of the military service, 577, 578 ; his influ¬ his despondency, 486 J last letter of the sovereigns the army, over ence 578, 579 ; his confidence in at touch to to him, 487 ; sails, 487 ; forbidden the character of the Spaniards, 579 : his politic Hispaniola though in distress, 487; remarkable Italians, the to deportment the with fate of his enemies, 487 ; dissatisfied 579 : position of his army, 580 ; results of the campaigns under, 580 ; license for private voyages, 490 note ; affected by by the death of of, affected note ; memoirs his 580 the death of Isabella, 592 ; his return from Isabella, 591 ; his communications with Philip the last voyage, 617, 618 ; learns Isabella's death, 618 ; note} distrusted Handsome, by Ferdinand, 605 his illness, 619 ; visits the court, 619; unjust treat¬ 625 ; loyalty of, 626, 627 ; his reception of Ferdi¬ ment of, by Ferdinand, 619; declines in health Ferdinand's confidence in, Naples, 632; at nand and spirits, 620 ; his death, 620 ; his person and 639 ; grief of the Neapolitans at his departure, habits, 621 ; his enthusiasm. 621 ;his lofty charac¬ by Louis XII., compliments to, 641; his 639; ter, 622 ; remarks respecting the family of, 622, reception in Spain, and progress through the 623 note. breaks his word Ferdinand to, 647 ; ; country, 646 Columbus, Diego, son of Christopher Columbus, propositions for the marriage of his daughter, 647 ; 622, 623 note. his retire¬ splendid ; from court, withdraws 648 Columbus, Ferdinand, his History of the Admiral, ment, 648 ; ordered to Italy, 685 ; zeal to enlist 498 ; notice of, 622, 623 note. Ferdinand, by and distrusted again ; under, 685 Comines, minister of Charles VIII., at Venice, 391, ordered to disband his levies, 686 ; writes to Fer¬ 392 ; his account of his negotiations confirmed by ; 686 retirement, prepares into goes and dinand, the minutes of the senate, 392 note. to embark for Flanders, 687 ;his illness and death, Commerce of Granada, 190. 688 ; public grief, 688 ; his character, 689 ; his Commons of Castile, power granted to the, xx \ treat¬ private virtues, 690; his want of faith, 690 ; his ment of, by John I., 14 ; permanent committee of loyalty, 691. ,__ . the, resides at court, 22 note ; oppression of the, Pedro de, marquis of Priego, Ferdinand s Cordova, the under the, ; of state 51 its consequences, 53 ; shown by, to the respect ; towards, severity 645 onrl TcaK(*lljI fftlcm rtf F/»rÿinnnH con¬ reign of Isabella, 7Tfl Ferdinand and 719 !; their COI1" remains of Ferdinand, 694. sideration, 720. embellishment of, 182 note; persecutions Cordova, Complutensian Polyglot Bible. See Polyglot.
_
ÿ
_
3
754
iNl
administration of Ferdinand and Isabella on, of, by the Arabs, 184 ; great mosque of, 184 ; population of, 186 ; literature and education in, 7I5Exports ; from Spain, in the reign of Ferdinand and the 188 empire dismemberment of ; of, 187 Isabella, 729. troubles in, from the Inquisition, 624. Eymerich, his instructions relative to inquisitions, Coronation, forms of, 118. 162 ; cited, 162 note. Coronel, Paulo, employed in the compilation of the Complutensian Polyglot, 662 note. Ferdinand I., of Aragon, his application to the Corral, John de, justice inflicted on, 223. city of Barcelona, 43 ; short reign of, 62 ; suc¬ Cortes of Aragon, composed of four branches, 33 ; ceeded by Alfonso V., 62. their several privileges and powers, 33, 34 ; their manner of conducting business, 34 ; judicial func¬ Ferdinand the Catholic, his birth, 64 ; sworn heir to the crown, 70 ; renunciation of allegiance to, by tions of, 36; their control over the government, the Catalans,72 ;his junction with Joan,before Ge37 ; compared with that of Castile, 37 ; remon¬ strate against the Inquisition, 253; recognise rona,75 ;the consequences, 75 ; his narrow escape, Philip and Joanna, 530. 75 ! negotiations for his marriage, 76, 94, 96 ; articles of marriage, 97 ; enters Castile, 99 ; his Cortes of Castile, pass acts respecting the nobility, private interview with Isabella, 100 ; his personal 148; resist the usurpations of the Church, 155 ; appearance, 100 ; his marriage, iox ; raises the pass acts respecting coin, 157 ; proceedings of, siege before Perpignan, 107 ; his reception by respecting the succession, after the decease of Henry IV., at Segovia, 109; summoned to the Isabella, 602 ; convocation of, after the death of assistance of his father in Aragon, no, 112; his Philip, 630, 631 ; meeting of, 634. summary execution of justice, in the case of Council, Royal, reorganization of the, 142, 726. Gordo, 112; marches against Alfonso, king of Councils, organization of, 726. Portugal, 122; challenges him to personal com¬ Cretensis, Demetrius, employed in the compilation bat, 123 ; retreats, 123 ;reorganizes the army, and of the Complutensian Polyglot, 662 note. proceeds to Zamcra, 125 ; overtakes Alfonso on Cross, the standard of the, 246. the retreat, 126 ; engages in the battle of Toro, Crusades, opened the way to the Inquisition, 161. Currency, laws establishing uniformity in the, 728 ; 127 ; his humanity, 128 ; his visit to his father, Cuxar, surrender of, 274. 131, 131 note ; marches towards Alhama, 209, 211, 212 ; raises the second siege, 213 ; his unsuccess¬ ful attempt on Loja, 215, 216 ; the first monarch Darien, isthmus of, crossed by Vasco Nunez de to send embassies to foreign powers, 220 ; his first Balboa, 736. in the politics of Italy, 220 ; his interference Daru, Count, his " Histoire de Venise," 673 note. treatment of Abdallah, 234, 235 ; his terms to the Deza, Diego de, archbishop of Seville favours the vanquished Moors, 238 ; his body-guard, 241 ; his project of Columbus, 310 ; notice of, 310 note ; an meeting with the queen in the camp before Moclin, inquisitor, 625 ; succeeded by Ximenes, 649. his ; costume, 244 ; his conduct in relation to 244 Discoveries, the early, made by the Spaniards, 305 ; the Inquisition in Aragon,252; Inquisition through¬ moral consequences of the western, 497 ; progress out his dominions, 255 ; his expedition to Velez in> 7?5Malaga, 255 ; narrow escape of, 256 ; his haughty Dominican friars, punishment of heresy committed demeanour to the embassy from besieged Malaga, to, 162. 266 ; his wary device respecting the plate, 269 ; Donzeles, account of the, 231 note. assumes the command of the army at Murcia, 271 ; Dorset, marquis of. See Grey. makes inroads into Granada, 271 ; his measures Drama, Spanish, rise of the, 363 ; the tragi-comedy for the reduction of Baza, 273 ; takes command of of "Celestina," 364 ; Juan de la Encina, 366 ; the army, 273 ; names of the distinguished cava¬ Torres de Naharro, 367 ; low condition of the liers who usually attended, 274 note ; his treat¬ stage, 369 ; tragic drama, 369 ; Fernan Perez de ment of the people of Baza, 282 ; his interview Oliva, 369. El Zagal, 284 ; occupation of his domain, with Duelling, prohibited, 148 ; practised, 191. 284 ; devastates Granada, 296 ; confers knight¬ Duponcet, his " Histoire de Gonsalve de Cordoue," hood on his son, Prince John, 296 ; his policy in 581. regard to Guadix, and other cities, 296 ; musters his forces, in 1491, for the closing campaign against Early literature of Castile, 53. See Castile. Granada, 291 ; encamps in the Vega, 291 ; distheir licen¬ appioves the stipulations demanded by Columbus, Ecclesiastics, influence of, in Castile, 19 ; tiousness, 20 ; their great wealth, 20, and note 312 ; attempt on the life of, 326 ; his slow re¬ covery, 327 ; punishment of the assassin, 328 ; chastisement of, by Isabella, 251. See Clergy. early education of, neglected, 340 ;foreign politics Education under Alhakem II., 187; provisions for, by, 373 ; his determination respecting the directed See Moors. 194 ; the results, 195. crown of Naples, 383 ; sends an envoy to the Egypt, the mission from the sultan of, to Ferdinand French court, and Isabella, 278. 384 ; his conduct in relation to the expedition of Charles VIII., 387, 388 ; makes Elizabeth of England, Isabella compared with, naval preparations, 388 ; his second mission to 597Charles VIII., 389; bold conduct of his envoys, El Zagal. See Abdallah. respecting views Portugal, Naples, 415 ; his fame, of II. 420; of ;_his successor Emanuel, 389 John acquired by the war, 416 ; mediates a peace be¬ union of, with the infanta Isabella, 420, 425 ; tween Henry VII. and the King of Scots, 421 note ; banishes the Jews from Portugal, 425. takes the field, and marches towards the mountains Embassies, resident, earliest instances of, 220 note. of Granada, 460 ; the rebels submit to, 466 ; his Encina, Juan de la, notice of, 366 ; his dramatic negotiations with Venice, 502 ; with the emperor eclogues, 366. Maximilian, 502 ; his views and measures in regard Enriquez, Fadrique, admiral of Castile, commander to the French invasion of Italy, 503 ; his partition of a Spanish armada to carry Joanna to Flanders, of Naples with Louis XII., 504, 505 ; ground of 422his claim to Naples, 505 ; his rupture with France, Epila, Pedro Arbues de, inquisitor in Saragossa, rbues. See A 252. 515 ; his instructions to Philip to make a treaty Erasmus, on the science and literature of Spain, with Louis XII., 532 ; rejects the treaty, 342 ; his policy examined, 542 ; his measures in regard to under Isabella, 741 note. Europe, state of, at the close of the fifteenth cen¬ the French invasion, 547 ; his successes, 548 ; suf¬ fers from speculative writers, 551 ; his treaty with tury, 373 ; character of reigning sovereigns in, Louis XII., 576 ; named regent of Castile in the 374 ; improved political and moral condition of, testament of Isabella, 586 ; the queen's provision 374 ; more intimate relations between states, 375 ; foreign relations conducted by the sovereign, 37s ; for, 587 ; resigns the crown of Castile to Philip, Italy the school of politics. 375 ; effect of the 602 iassumes the title of administrator of Castile.
INDEX. ooa ; his negotiations with Philip, 604 note ; un¬ popular, 604, 612 ; his perplexities, 606 ; proposals for his second marriage, 607 ; his marriage with the princess Germaine, 608, 610 ; his impolitic treaty with France, 608 ; his futile efforts to re¬ tain the government of Castile, 612 note ; has an interview with Philip, 613; his courteous deport¬ ment, 613 ; his resignation of the regency, 614 ; his conduct in regard to his daughter defended, 616 note ; his second interview with Philip, 616 ; his departure, 616; his disposition towards Colum¬ bus, 618 ; his unjust treatment of him, 619, 620 ; the purpose of perverting his pension, 624 ; his distrust of Gonsalvo, 625 ; sails for Naples, 626 ; his deportment towards Gonsalvo, 626, 627, 638 ; his reception, 632 ; his entry into Naples, 632 ; summons a parliament and restores the Angevins, 633 ; his politic behaviour respecting Castile, 637 ; allegiance to, 637 ; leaves Naples,638 ;hL brilliant interview with Louis XII., 640; reception of, in Castile, 641 ; his interview with Joanna, 642; ir¬ regularity of his proceedings, 643, 644 ; grants a general amnesty, 644 ; establishes a guard, 644 ; his excessive severity, 645 ; his treatment of Gon¬ salvo, 647 ;policy of his severityj 649 ; Ximenes's distrust of, 655; his visit to the university of AlcalS, 661 ; spoil assigned to, by the league of Cambray, 665 5 remonstrates with Louis XII. against his aggressions on the church, 668 ; the pope grants him the investiture of Naples, and other favours, 668 ; becomes a party in the Holy League, 668 ; his distrust of Navarre, 674 ; demands a passage for his army through Navarre, 675, 6R2 ; effects a truce with Louis XII. 678, 679, 680 note ; settles his conquests, 680 ; unites Navarre with Castile, 63o; examination of his conduct respecting Na¬ varre, 680 ; his aversion for his grandson Charles V., 685 ; orders Gonsalvo to Italy, 685 ; distrusts him, and orders him to disband his levies, 686 ; Gonsalvo's complaint to, 686 ; his desire for chil¬ dren, 686 J decline of his health, 687 ; perplexed by Gonsalvo's movements, 687 ; his conduct on occasion of Gonsalvo's death, 688 ; his illness in¬ creases, 691 ; insensible to his situation, 692 ; jeal¬ ous of Adrian of Utrecht, his grandson's envoy, 692 ; his last hours, 692 ; his wills, 693 ; his dis¬ position of the regency, 693 ; intrusts the adminis¬ tration of Castile toXimenes, 693 ; his testament, 693, 694 ; his death, 694 ; his reign, 694 ; his re¬ mains transported to Granada, 694 ; his person and character, 695 ! his education, 695 ; his tem¬
,
perance and economy, 695, 696 ; dies poor, 696 ; his bigotry, 697 ; conduct of, in regard to the In¬ quisition in Aragon, 697 ; accused of hypocrisy, 697 ; charged with perfidy, 697 ; his shrewd policy, 698 ; his insensibility, 699 ; contrasted with Isa¬ bella, 609 ; natural children of, 699 note ; gloomy close of nis life, 700 ; his kingly qualities, 700, 701 ; judgment of his contemporaries, 701 ; arbi¬ trary measures of, 722 ; maintains slavery in the
New World, 737. Ferdinand II., of Naples, succeeds Alfonso II., 390 : makes a descent on the southern extremity of Calabria, 397 ; commences operations, 399 ; marches on Seminara, ÿ00 ; his conduct in regard to the battle near Seminara, 401 ; defeated, 402 ; his perilous situation, 402 ; recovers Naples, 403 ; besieges Montpensier in Atella, 406; his death, 410.
Ferdinand, son of Philip and Joanna, born, 544 ; government of Castile and Aragon to be com¬ mitted to, 693 ; his grandfather's anxiety respect¬ ing, 693 ; grants to, 693.
.
Ferdinand and Isabella, genealogy of, 48 ; their
marriage disconcerts the operations of the marquis of Villena, 103 ; their poverty and perplexities, 104 : negotiations for the marriage of their daughter, Isabellaÿ with the dauphin of France, 110; their accession, 118; comparative powers and rights of, 118 ; theirÿ exertions and measures for reorganising the Castilian army, 124 ; submis¬ sion of the whole kingdom of Castile to, 129 ; their scheme of reform for the government of Castile,
'55
135 ; their progress through Andalusia, 141 ; their reorganisation of the tribunals, 142; pre¬ side in courts of justice, 143 ; their difference with pope Sixtus IV., 156 ; their treatment of his legate, 156 ; their regulation of trade, 156 ; pre¬ eminence of their authority, 157 ; their conduct alter the fall of Alhama, 209 ; their resources, 222 ; anecdote illustrative of their regard to justice, 223 ; take measures to procure artillery, 236 ; their policy towards the nobles, 240 ; com¬ position of their army, 241 ; Swiss mercenaries, 242; the English lord Scales, 242; disapprove the magnificence displayed, 243 ; their meeting in the camp before Moclin, 244 ; Slidell's remarks on the armour of, 245 note ; their devout demeanour, 246 ; their ceremonies on the occupation of a new city, 246 ; their standard of the cross, 246 ; their liberation of Christian captives, 246 ; their policy in fomenting the Moorish factions, 246 ; an attempt to assassinate, 262 ; their entrance into Malaga, 267 ; their measures for repeopling Malaga, 270 ; return to Cordova, 271 ; visit Aragon in 1487, 271; occupied with the interior government of Castile, 272 ; their reception of an embassy from Maxi¬ milian, 273 ; their resources, 273 note ; embassy to, from the sultan of Egypt, 278 ; their return to Jaen, 28s ; summon Abdallah to surrender the capital of Granada, 289 ; their survey of the city of Granada, 293 ; their entrance into it, 298 ; their early interest in navigation and commerce, 305 ; Columbus applies to, 309, 311 ; their final arrange¬ ment with Columbus, 313; awed by Torquemada's violent conduct respecting the Jews, 318 ; their edict for the expulsion of the Jews, 318, 323 ; visit Aragon, 326 ; invite Columbus to Barcelona, 328 ; their reception of him, 330 ; their interview with him, 331 ; make preparation for his second voyage, 332, 337 ; their exertions for the conversion of the natives, 333; their instructions respecting them, 333 ; their application to the court of Rome, 334; their wary diplomacy in sending an ambassa¬ dor to Lisbon, 336; inform John II. that Columbus has sailed on his second voyage, 338 ; adjustment of their difficulty with John II., by the treaty ot Tordesillas, 339 ; operation of their administration on the intellectual, literary, and scientific character of the nation, 340 ; their reign an epoch in polite letters, 353; national spirit of the literature of this epoch, 371 ; their treaty with Charles VIII., 381 ' the title of Catholic conferred on them by the pope, 388 ; their family, 419 ; their temperate sway in regard to the conversion of the Moors, 450 ; displeased on occasion of the revolt of the Albaycin, 456 ; their edict against the Moors of Castile, 469 ; loud complaints to, against Colum bus, 479 ; their reception of Columbus when sent home by Bobadilla, 482 ; vindication of them, 483 ; their last letter to Columbus, 487 ; make careful provision for the colonies, 488; liberal grants, 488 ; their independent attitude in regard to the pope, 491 ; spirit of the colonial legislation under, 491 ; alarmed by the French conquests in Italy, 501 ; their remonstrance to the pope, 50a ; solicit Philip and Joanna to visit Spain, 529, 530 ; seized with fever, 584 ; their burial-place, 590 ; marble mausoleum erected over their remains by Charles V., 695 ; their characters contrasted, 699 ; general review of the administration of, 715 ; tneir policy at their accession, 715 ; their depression of the nobles, 716 ; raise men of humble station to offices of the highest trust, 716 ; state of the commons under, 719 ; the promulgation of ftragmaticas, or royal ordinances by, 721 and note ; advancement of prerogative under, 723 ; legal compilations, 724 ; organisation of councils, 726 ; legal profes¬ sion advanced by, 726 ; character of the laws, 727; erroneous principles of their legislation, 728; economical policy under, 731, 732 ; internal im¬ provements under, 732, 733 ; increase of empire, 733; their government of Naples, 734 ; their revenues from the Indies, 734, 735> 73-1 ; spirit of adventure in their reign, 735 ; progress of dis¬ covery, 736; their colonial administration, 739;
IN1
756
general prosperity unaer, 73c) ; chivalrous spirit of Grain, scarcity of, 273 note. the people under, 743 ; their reign the period of Gralla, Spanish minister at the court of Paris, national glory, 747. See Castile, Ferdinand, instructions to, in relation to the partition of Isabella, and Spain. Naples, 504. Ferrier, St. Vincent, his miracles for the conversion Granada, the kingdom of, in the middle of the fif¬ teenth century, 1; description of, 189; Agricul¬ of the Jews, 166. Feudal institutions, decay of, 373. ture and commerce of, 190 ; Etymologies of the Florida, discovered, 736. word, 190 note ; resources of the crown of, 190 ; Foix, Gaston de, duke of Nemours, and brother of luxurious character of the people of, 191 ; her the queen of Aragon, commander of the French successful resistance against the Christians, 193 ; army in Italy, 699 ; his death, 670 ; his character, the war of, 203 ; Isabella's measures for carrying on the war of, 2i2; 213 ; unsuccessful attempt on 670, 671 ; effects of his death on the French army, Loja, 215 ;revolution in, 219 ;measures for carry¬ 671. Foix, Jean de, the daughter of, married to Ferdi¬ ing on the war there, in 1483, 222 ; expedition to nand, 607, 608. the Axarquia, 223 ; battle of Lucena and capture Fonseca, Antonio de, sent on a mission to Charles of Abdallah, 232 ; general policy of the war of, VIII., 389; his bold conduct, 389; his hostility 235 ; further preparations for the war with, 236, to Columbus, 478 ; proprietor of slaves, 737 note. 239 ; composition of the Spanish army, 241 ; its Foreigners, encouraged to settle in Spain, 732. magnificent appearance, 243; Christian conquests, France, treaties between, and Aragon, 324, 359 ; 248 ; authorities for the war of, 249 ; expedition visited by Alfonso of Portugal, 130 ; makes peace to Velez, 255 ; to Malaga, 257 ; fate of, decided, with Castile, 131 ; rupture of, with Spain, 515 J 270 ; inroads into, 272 ; border war in, 273 ; her control over Italy, 554 ; effects of the rout of measures for the reduction of Baza in, 273 ; its the Garigliano on, 572 ; treaty with, 607 ; its im¬ surrender, 282 ; occupation of El Zagal's domain, policy, 608. See Charles, and Louis. 284 ; difficulties of the campaign in, 286 ; Abdallah Frederick III., German emperor, styled improperly summoned to surrender the capital of, 289 ; Ferdi¬ Frederick IV., 273 note. nand ravages, 290 ; preparations for the closing Frederick II.,of Prussia, his treatment of the Jews, campaign against, 291 ; position of the capital ol, 325 note. 292 ; its capitulation, 295, 296 note ; termination Frederick II., of Naples, successor of Ferdinand of the war of, 300 ;its results, 300 ;moral influence II., 410 ; his acts, 411 ; his reception of Gonsalvo, of the war of, 300 ; its military influence, 300 ; authorities in relation to the war of Bernaldez, 303 414 ; threatened by Louis XII., 503; his applications for aid, 503; his attempts at self-defence, note ; Irving, 303 ;effects of the war of, on Spain, 508 ; his fate, 510 ; remarks respecting him, 510, 417 ; tranquil state of, till 1499, 448 ; measures for converting the Moors in, 449, 457, 472 ; rising of 549 ; mediator of a truce between France and Spain, 549. the Moors at the Alpujarras, 459 ;Huejar sacked, French army. See Mantua. 460 ; Lanjaron captured, 461 1 revolt of the Sierra French chronicles, notices of, 581. Vermeja, 462 ; tranquillity restored to, 469 ; eva¬ Funerals, Isabella's preamble respecting, 586, 595 sion of the treaty of, by the Christians, 472 ; its note ; laws respecting, 729. union with Castile, 733 ; chivalrous spirit in the war of, 743. Gaeta, Gonsalvo's movements against, 539, 541 ; Granada, city of, described, 189 ; summoned to relief sent to, by Louis XII., 555, 557, 558 ; Gon¬ surrender, 289 ; its position, 292 ; numerous coinsalvo repulsed before, 558 ; tne French retreat to, bats near, 292 ; surveyed by Ferdinand and Isa¬ bella, 2<J3 ; skirmish before, 293 ; conflagration of 56S. 57c * capitulation of, 571 ; the Spaniards occupy, 573. the Christian camp before, 294 ; city of Santa Fe Gardens before Baza, 274 ; cleared of their timber, built near, 294 ; propositions by Abdallah for the surrender of, 295 ; its capitulation, 295 ; the con¬ 277Garigliano, armies on the, 552, 553 ; the French ditions, 296 ; commotions in, 296 ; preparations encamp there, 559 ; bloody passage of the bridge for occupying, 296 ; effects of the fall of, through¬ of, 560 ; distresses of the Spanish army on the, out Christendom, 299 ; revolt of the Albaycin, 562 ; of the French army there, 564; crossed by 4SS ; conversion of Moors at, 457 ; the burialthe Spaniards, 568; rout of the, 570; its effects place of Ferdinand and Isabella, 590, 695 ; popu¬ on France, 572. lation of, 742 note. Gebalfaro, 257 ; surrender of, 268. Greek manuscripts, furnished to Ximenes by the Gelves, discomfiture of Navarro in the island of, pope, 661. 657 ; cause of the disaster in, 657 note. Grey, Thomas, marquis of Dorset ; his co-operation Genealogy of Ferdinand and Isabella, 48. with Ferdinand, 675 ; his discontent and return General Privilege, the Magna Chartaof Aragon, 33. to England, 678. Germaine, the princess, married to Ferdinand, 607, Guadix, in the domain of El Zagal, 273 ; guarded 608, 6ro ; facts respecting, 608 ; her coolness by Cidi Yahye, 275 ; El Zagal at, 282 ; occupation towards Gonsalvo, 647 ; delivered of a son, 687 ; of, 284 ; Ferdinand's policy in regard to, 290. Ferdinand's bequests to, 693 ; her subsequent Guicciardini, remarks on, 411 note. marriages, 693 note. Guienne, the duke of, Joanna affianced to, 103, 104 Gerona, Queen Joan seeks refuge there from the note ; his death, 108. Catalans, 71 ; the duke of Lorraine compelled to Guienne, expedition against, 675. . abandon the siege of, 75. Guzman, Henrique de. See Sidonia. Giannone, Charles's generous conduct to the heirs Guzman, Nunez de, a distinguished scholar, 348
_
_
.
of, 734 note. note. Giovio, Paolo, remarks on, 411 note; his life of Guzmans, their factions with the family of Ponce Gonsalvo de Cordova, 580. de Leon, 105, 140. Giron, Pedro, proposition for the marriage of, with Isabella, 87, 88 ; his character, 88 ; nis death, Hacen, Muley Abul, surprises Zahara, 203; be¬ sieges Alhama, 209 ; expelled from Granada, 219 ; -.89Giron, Pedro de, opposes royal officers, 706. his opposition to the Christians in their expedition Gold, in the West Indies, 490, 735. to the Axarquia, 225 ; his death, 247. Gomez, Alvaro, notice of, and of his works, 445 ; his Hallam, Henry, notice of, 47 ; his remarks on the tribute to Carbajal, 714. Epistles of Peter Martyr, 288 ; cited respecting Gonsalvo. See Cordova, Gonsalvo de. penal statutes against the Catholics under Eliza¬ Gordo, Ximenes, of Saragossa, Ferdinand's sum¬ beth, 593 note; his character of Elizabeth, 598 mary execution of, 112. note. Goths. See Visigoths. Heathen, bigoted views in relation to the 480. See Grahame. remarks on his History, 493 note. Indians
ILA.
757
Henriquez, Frederick, punishment of, 149. her marriage with John II. of Castile, 59; her Henriquez, Pedro, aids in the expedition against death, 423. Alhama, 205 ; Adelantado of Andalusia, his con¬ Isabella the Catholic, her birth, 61, 78 ; negotiation nection with the expedition to the Axarquia, 324 ; for her union with Carlos, 66, 88 ; further negoti¬ his escape, 228. ations for her marriage, 76 note, 87, 88 ; her pro¬ Henry III.of Castile, his device for the recovery of jected union with the grand-master of Calatrava, his estates, 23 ; union of, with Catharine of Lan¬ 87, 88 ; her education, 87 ; crown of Castile offered caster, 47 ; his death, 49. to, 92 ; declined, 92 ; acknowledged heir to the Henry IV. of Castile, his accession and popularity, crown, 93 ; suitors to, 94, 95 ; her marriage with 78 ; disappoints expectations, 79 ; his dissolute Ferdinand, 94, 96, 97, too, 101 ;menaced with im¬ prisonment, 96 ; her critical situation, 98 ; her nabits_, 79 ; his repudiation of Blanche of Aragon, private interview with Ferdinand, 100; personal 79 ; his marriage with Joanna, 79 ; controlled by favourites of humble origin, 81 ; his interview appearance of, 101 ; her pretensions opposed to with Louis XI. on the banks of the Bidassoa, those of Joanna, 103 ; her reliance on the arch¬ ; league against, the nobles consequences, ; bishop of Toledo, 104; the party of, gains strength. 83 83 108 ; has an interview with Henry IV., at Segovia, 83 J his breach of faith with the confederates, 84 J deposed near the city of Avila, 85 ; his recourse 109 ; basis of her title to the crown, 116; pro¬ to negotiation, 86 ; disbands his forces, 86 ; not claimed queen, 117 ; her exertions and success in raising an army to oppose Alfonso of Portugal, present in person at the action of Olmedo, 90 ; 122 ; her thanksgiving for the victory at Toro, treaty of, with the confederates, 93 ; threatens Isabella with imprisonment, 96 ; his approbation 129 ; takes active measures for the defence of the of the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella so¬ western borders, 131 ; her schemes of reform, 135 : see Castile ;her presence of mind and suppres¬ licited, too, 102, 103 ; opposes the pretensions of sion of the tumults at Segovia, 138 ; her visit to Joanna to those of Isabella, 103, 117; meets Seville, 139 ; her execution of justice, 140, 141 ; French ambassadors, 103 ; his interview with Isa¬ endeavours to reconcile the families of Guzman bella at Segovia, 109; his illness and death, 113, and Ponce _de Leon, 140; her progress through 117 ; influence of his reign, 114, 133. Henry VII. of England, his reception and enter¬ Andalusia, in 1478, 141 ; her conduct in the case of Alvaro Yanez de Lugo, 141 ; of Frederick tainment of Philip and Joanna, 610. Henriquez, 149: see Ferdinand and Isabella; Heresy, punishment of, 161, 162 note, 733 note. makes her court a nursery of virtue and generous Hermandad, or Holy Brotherhood, an association ambition, 159 ; tendency of her administration, in Castile, 12 ; a confederacy, 91 ; establishment 160; state of the Jews at her accession, 166 ; in¬ of the, 136; code of the, 136; opposed by the fluenced by the bigotry of the age, anecdote, 168 ; nobility, 137 ; remonstrance against it, 148 ; sanc¬ character of her confessor, Torquemada, 169 ; tioned in Aragon, 271 ; Leyes de la, 725. solicits a papal bull for the introduction of the Herrera, Antonio de, notice of him and his works, Inquisition into Castile, 170 ; resorts to milder 498. measures, 170 ; enforces the papal bull, 170 ; her Hispaniola, misconduct of the colonists at, 47s; vigorous measures in regard to the sieges of mutiny there, 479 ; oppression of the natives, 479 ; Alhama, 212, 213 ; removal of, to Logrono, 222 ; Columbus forbidden to enter the harbour at, 487 ; her care of troops, 239 ; her perseverance, 240 ; progress of the settlement there, 488 ; liberal her policy towards the nobles, 240 ; her courtesy grants for emigration to, 488 ; persons prohibited to the English lord Scales, 243 ; visits the camp, from going to, 489 ; license for private voyages to, 489 ; Ximenes sends a commission to, 704 ; 244 ; her royal costume, 244 ; enforces the laws, gold drawn from, 735 ; introduction of sugar-cane 251 ;chastises certain ecclesiastics, 257 ; visits the camp before Malaga, 260 ; establishes her resid¬ into, 735. See Colonies and West Indies. ence at Jaen, 273 ; her encouragement of her Holy Brotherhood. See Hermandad. and troops before Baza, 276 ; her reception of the em¬ Ferdinand, II., Holy League, between Julius bassy from the sultan of Egypt, 278 ; her com¬ Venice, 668. with the army interrupted, 280 ;energy munication Horses, laws respecting, 729. and patriotic sacrifices of, 280 ; visits the camp, Hospitals, Isabella said to be the first to institute popularity her and influence, 286; deposes 281 ; camp. 597. the judges of chancery, 29: ; animates the troops House of trade, 491. Granada, before ; 293 surveys the city of Granada, Huejar, sacked, 460. 293 J in danger, from the conflagration of the Humboldt, his " Histoire de la Giographie du camp, Christian 294 ; her favourable disposition nouveau Continent," 307 note.
_
Illbscas, heroism of, 561. India House, origin of the, 332. Indian Affairs, Board of, established, 332, 344. Indians, accompany Columbus to Spam, 329 ; measures for the conversion of, 331, 333, 493 I accompany Columbus on his second return to Spain, 476 ; bigoted views in regard to, 480 ; de¬ clared tree, 485 ; Isabella's zeal for converting them, 493 ; their diminution, 493, 588 note ; Isabella's care for them, 737 ; subsequent treat¬ ment of them, 737. Indies, council of the, 726 j revenues from the, 734, 735.
Indulgences, sale of papal, for the prosecution of the Moorish war, 81. Infantado, duke of, his style of living described by
.
Navagiero, 717 note. Inglis, his " Spain in 1830," cited, 731 note. Inquisition, establishment of the, i6r. See Ancient Inquisition and Modern Inquisition. Internal improvements in Spain, 732, 733. Intolerance, remarks on, 470, 593. See Toleration. Irving, Washington, his description of Abdallah, of 299 note ; his " Chronicle of the Conquest Granada," 303 ; his " History of Columbus, 499Portugal, of Isabella, the granddaughter of John I.
towards Columbus, 312; acknowledgments due to, for aiding Columbus, 315 ; finally consents to the proscription of the Jews, 318 ; her mistaken piety, 325 ; alarmed at the attempt made on Ferdi¬ nand's life, 327 ; her early education, 340 j her collection of books, 341, 342 note ; her solicitude for the instruction of her children, 342 ; of her son, Prince John, 342 ; of the nobles, 343 ; dissatisfied with the proceedings respecting the succession of females to the crown, 428 ; her affliction at the loss of her daughter, 429 ; Mendoza's executor, 433 ; Ximenes her confessor, 436 ; her attempts to reform the religious establishments, 438 ; offers the see of Toledo to Ximenes, 439 ; insulted by the general of the Franciscans, 443 ; consents to the reform by Ximenes, 444 ; her confidence in Columbus, 477, 480; sends back Indian slaves, 481 ; 481 ; sends out the commissioner, Bobadilla, declares the Indians free, 485, 493 ; her zeal for ; slavery, negro sanctions conversion, their 493 493 ; her benevolent purposes in regard to the Indians defeated, 493 ; takes no part in the Italian wars, 523 ; her ill-health, 523, 544, 546, 547 ; her prediction respecting Charles V., 529 ; her visit to Joanna, 545 *, her distress, 545 ; her illness and fortitude, 546, 547, 583! her exertions for oppos¬ ing the French invasion, 548 ; decline of her health,
758
INL
583 ; 585, 588, retains her energies, 584 ; alarm of the nation, 583 ; particulars of her testament,
the mother of Joanna, commonly called BeltraTuja, 84 ; to be divorced, 93 ; her death ; re¬ Ferdinand marks on her character, 117 note. succession, the settles ; 586 585* 586 named regent by her, 586 ; her codicil, 588 ; her Joanna Beltraneja, daughter of Joanna, wife of Henry IV. of Castile, 84 ; supported by a fraction appointment of a commission for the codification of the royal party, 95 ; affianced to the duke of of the laws, 588 ; her zeal for the conversion of Guienne, 103, 104 note ; Guienne dies, and other the Indians, 588 ; her signature to the codicil, negotiations take place, 108 ; foundation of the note ; 589 ; her resignation and death, 589, 595; laid in popular belief of her illegitimacy, 116 note ; her her remains transported to Granada, 589 pretensions to the crown considered, 117 ; parti¬ her man¬ the Alhambra, 590 ; the person of, 590 ; sans of, 119 ; supported by Alfonso of Portugal, ners, 590 ; her magnanimity, 591 ; her piety, 120; measures 111 regard to her marrying him, 592 ; her bigotry, 593, 599 ; her strength of prin¬ 121 ; the veil taken by her, 132, 133 ; her pro¬ ciple, 594 ; her practical sense, 594 ; unwearied sensibility marriage with Francis Phoebus, 221 ; fur¬ posed ; her activity of, 595 ; her courage, 596 ther remarks respecting her, 170 ; her death, 170 to her family and friends, 596 ; compared with to homage the note report respecting Ferdinand's proposed ; universal ; Elizabeth of England, 597 union with, 607 note. her virtues, 600 ; Bergenroth's aspersions on her daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, and her testament authenticity of Joanna, character, 601 note ; mother of Charles V., 222 ; proposition for the questioned by Philip the Handsome, 603 note ; marriage of, Francis Phoebus, king of Na¬ her treat¬ with 618 ; Columbus, effect of her death on varre, 222 ; her birth, 419 ; her marriage into the ment of the church, 718; her care of the morals family of Austria, 421, 423 ; her embarkation, of the clergy, 718, 719. Isabella, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, 422 ; her arrival in Flanders, 423 ; her nuptials of pomp, 423 ; Charles celebrated uncommon with the with union her for dauphin measures V., son of, 528, 529 ; her despondency, 544 ; birth France, no; with Alonsoÿ son of the prince of of her second son, 544 ; insane, 545 ; visited by Portugal, 132 ; accompanies her mother to the Isabella, 545 ; her mad conduct, 584 ; her in¬ camp, 244 ; affianced to Alonso, heir of the Portu¬ capacity, 602 ; favours the government by her guese monarchy, 288, 419 ; escorted to Portugal, father, 605 ; rigorously confined, 605 ; letter to 289; her attachment to her husband's memory, Beyre denying her insanity, 605 note ; treatment 420 note ; her union with Emanuel of Portugal, of, by her husband and her father, 616 note ; het 420, 425 ; her premature death, 429. condition and at the death of her husband, 631 ; her unfortunate, illustrious Aragon, of Isabella 520 conduct in regard to her husband's remains, 634 ; note: changes her ministers, 635, 636 ; her interview Italian military tactics, 385. with Ferdinand, 642; her death, 642; Bergen¬ Italy, the school of politics at the close of the roth's views in regard to her sanity, 642, 643 note. fifteenth century, 375 ;her most powerful states, See Philip, and Philip andJoanna. 376; character of the politics of, 378 ; its_ internal prosperity, 379 ; intrigues of Sforza in, 379 ; John II. of Castile, accession of, 49 ; his kingdom governed by favourites, 50 ; his partiality to Alalarmed at the invasion of Charles VIII., 38a ; varo de Luna, 50, 51 ; his oppression of the com¬ military tactics in, 385 ; effects of the news of the mons, 51; his encouragement of literature, 54 ; league of Venice on, 392 ; influence of the war his marriage with the princess Isabella, 59 ; his thereon Spain, 367 ; Louis XII.'s designs on, 500; death, 60. politics of, 500 ; conquests in, 501 ; astonishment of, at the partition of Naples, 508 ; wars there, John II. of Aragon, governs Aragon during the ab¬ sence of Alfonso V., 62 ; title of his son Carlos to between the French and Spaniards, 517 ; favours Navarre, 62 ; his marriage with Joan Henriquez, the Spaniards, 517 ; chivalrous character of the war there, 521 ; melancholy condition of, 552 ; 63 ; her deportment towards Carlos, 63 ; defeats Carlos, 64 ; succeeds to the crown of Aragon, 65 ; views of the states of, 554; anxious expectation of, his hypocritical reconciliation with Carlos, 63 ; during the battle of the Garigliano, 562 ; invaded his perfidious treatment and imprisonment of him, by Louis XII., 666; abandoned by the French, 67 ; his escape from the fury of the Catalans, 67 ; 672. releases his son Carlos from prison, 68 ; his treaty with Louis XI. of France, 72; allegiance to, re¬ Jealousy, the cause of the revolution in Granada, nounced by the Catalans, 72 ; his successes, 73 ; 467. his distresses, embarrassments, and calamities, 74 ; Jews, retrospective view of, in Spain, 163 ; condi¬ death of the wife of, 73 ; improvement in his tion of, under the Arabs, 163 ;under the Castilians, affairs, 76 ; restoration of his eyesight, 76 ; be¬ 164 ; persecution of, 165, 171 ; legislative enact¬ sieges and subdues Barcelona, 77 ; his embarrass¬ ments respecting, 166 ; their state at the accession ments at the time of Ferdinand's entrance into of Isabella, 166 ; charges brought against them, Castile, 99; writes to Ferdinand respecting the 167 ; proofs admitted against, 171 ; excitement against them, 316 ; clergy foment the excitement, archbishop of Toledo, 104 ; takes part with Roussillon and Cerdagne against Louis XI. , 106 ; 317; various offences urged against, 317; Torquethrows himself into Perpignan, 106 ; his animamada's violent conduct respecting, 317 ; Isabella's feelings towards them, 318 ; edict for their expul¬ ting_ conduct, 107; relieved by Ferdinand, 107; Louis detains his ambassadors, no ; his interview sion, 318, 323 ; its severe operation, 318 ; their with Ferdinand, subsequently to the battle of constancy, 320 ; their departure, 320 ; treatment of them in Portugal, 320 ; their sufferings in Toro, 131 note ; his death and character, 134 ; his zeal against heretics, 162. Africa, 321 ; in Italy, 321 ; eminent and learned men among the exiled, 322 note ; whole number John, Duke of Calabria and Lorraine, intrusted with the government of Catalonia, 74 ; abandons of, exiled, 323 ; disastrous results of their expul¬ the siege of Gerona, 75 ; his popularity and suc¬ sion, 323 ; motives of the edict, 324; contemporary cesses, 73 ; his death, 76. judgments on them elsewhere, 325 ; banished from Portugal, 425 ; prohibited from going to the John, Prince, son of Alfonso of Portugal, 120 ; New World, 440. marches to the aid of his father at Zamora, 125 ; takes part in the battle of Toro, 127 ; crowned, Joan, her marriage with John of Aragon, 63 ; her deportment towards Carlos, 63, 66 ; is besieged at 130 ; resigns the crown to his father, 131 ; proosition for the union of Alonso, son of, with IsaEsteila, 64 ; gives birth to Ferdinand the Catholic, ella of Castile, 132 ; discoveries in the reign of, 64 ; forbidden to enter Barcelona, 68 ;seeks refuge in Gerona, 71 ; besieges Rosas, and joins Prince 305 ; Columbus applies to, 308 ; his conduct to¬ wards the exiled Jews, 320 ; his reception of Ferdinand, before Gerona, 73 ; her death, 75. Columbus on his return from his first voyage, 329 Joanna, a Portuguese princess, a sister of Alfonso V., married to Henry IV. of Castile, 79; her note, 336; endeavours to check the career of Spanish discovery, 336 ; sends an ambassador to gaiety, the consequent suspicions, 80, 116 note ;
U1JL.
759
Ferdinand and Isabella, 336 ; his wary diplomacy agement of, by Alhakem II., 187; state of, among in regard to their embassy to him, 336 ; advised the Spanish Arabs, 194 ; circumstances favourable of Columbus's having sailed on his second voyage, to it, iÿ4 ; palmy state of, during the reign of the sovereigns, 741 note ; further observations respect¬ 338 ; his disgust, 338 ; adjustment of the mis¬ understanding by the treaty of Tordesillas, 339 ; ing it, 746 note. See Castilian literature. dies, and the crown devolves on Emanuel, 420. Llorente, his computations respecting the victims John, son of Ferdinand and Isabella, proposition for of the Inquisition, 178 ; notice of his History of the union of, with Catharine of Navarre, 222 ; the Inquisition, 179 note ; computations respect¬ measures for the recognition of, 271 ; honour of ing the Inquisition, taken from, 746 note. knighthood conferred on, 290 ; his birth and early Loja, Ferdinand's unsuccessful attempt on, 215 ; education, 343, 419 note; his attainments, 343; All Atar, the defender of, 231 ; Lord Scales dis¬ tinguishes himself at, 242. prince of the Asturias, 419 note ; union of, with Margaret, 421, 424 ; his sudden illness, 425 ; his Lombardy, conquered by the French, 501. death, 425 ; his amiable character, 426. Longfellow, Henry W., his version of Manrique's
John of Navan-e. S.-e Aibret.
Coplas, 363 note.
Joshua, his miracle of the sun standing still said to Longueville, strengthened by Palice, and pursues be repeated at Oran, 654 note. the duke of Alva, 678. Lorraine, duke of. See John. Juana. See Joanna. Judges, abridgment of the commission of the, 143 Louis XI., of France, his treaty with John II., of
Aragon, 72 ; his interview with Henry IV., of Castile, on the banks of the Bidassoa, 82 ; the Saraeossa, 501. consequences, 83 ; his proposition respecting the union of his brother and Joanna, 103 ; offers made Julius II., his bull of July 28th, 1508. 491 : his elec¬ tion as pope, 557 ; furnishes Ximenes with Greek to him by the Spanish court to secure this mar¬ manuscripts, 661, 662 ; ratifies the treaty of Camriage, 104 note ; Roussillon and Cerdagne revolt bray, 665 ; his opposition to the French, 667 ; from, 106 ; treaty of, with the king of Aragon, 108 ; grants Ferdinand the investiture of Naples, and detains ambassadors of John II., no ;revokes the other favours, 668 ; becomes a party in the Holy capitulation granted by his generals in Roussillon, League, 668; his bull, excommunicating the sove¬ 113 note; the first monarch to extend an interest reigns of Navarre, 680. to European politics, 220 ; his standing in regard Ju.isprudence, reform of the, 144 ; study of, in to Navarre, 221, 222; succeeded by Charles Spain, 350. See Laws. VIII., 379. Justice, administration of, in Castile, 112, 135, 140, Louis XII., his designs on Italy, 501 ; his negotia¬ king preside tions with various European powers, 501 ; openly 'and queen in courts of, 143, 149; menaces Naples, 503, 508 ; his rupture with Fer¬ 143 ; measures for the administration of, 272 ; Marineo cited respecting, 719. dinand, 515 ; crosses the Alps, 518 ; negoti¬ ates a treaty with Philip, at Lyons, 532 ; demands Justice of Aragon, his court, 29 ; causes referred to, explanation of the archduke, 541 ; his indigna¬ an 33 ;institution of the office of, 38 ; important func¬ tion, and measures for invading Spain, 546 ; his tions of, 38 ; examples of independent conduct of, great preparations against Italy, 555 ; his chagrin 39 ; his great consideration, 40. after the rout of Garigliano, 572 ; his treatment King of Aragon, extent of his authority, 28. of the garrison of Gaeta, 572 ; his apprehensions for the fate of his possessions in the north of King of Castile, his power and the people's cora'Italy, 575 ; his treaty with Ferdinand, 576 ; compared, 14. causes of his failure in Italy, 577 ; memoirs of the Knighthood, favoured by the law of Castile, 18. period of, 582 ; his policy respecting the mis¬ Knights, civilities between the Moorish and Chris¬ understanding between Ferdinand and Philip, tian, 191. See Chivalry. Koran, the, exacts military service of all persons, 607 ; his brilliant interview with Ferdinand at Savona, 640 ; his compliments to Gonsalvo, 641 ; 180 note. his projects against Venice, 665 ;his partition of the continental possessions of Venice with Maxi¬ Ladies, literary, in Spain, 345. milian, 665 ; crosses the Alps and invades Italy, Laino, surprised by Gonsalvo, 406. 666 ; his aggressions on the church, 668 ; his Lance, complement of a, 72 note. treaty with Navarre, 676 ; his truce with Ferdi¬ Lanjaron, captured, 460. nand, 678, 679. Laws, codification of the, 144 ; compilation of, 724 ; Lucena, battle of, 232. character of the, 727. Lebrija, Antonio de, notices of, and of his writings, Lucero, an inquisitor, 625 note. justice executed on, 141 ; 249, 347 ; employed in the compilation of the Lugo, Alvaro Yariez de, Isabella refuses to pardon, 594 note. Complutensian Polyglot, 662 note. and rise character of, 50 ; a de, Luna, Alvaro Leo X., his brief to Ximenes, 712. favourite of John II. of Castile, 50, 51 ; viewed Leon, Ponce de, discovers Florida, 736. the nobles, by with jealousy 50 ; his influence in Leon, Rodrigo Ponce de, facts respecting, 105, 206 ; the oppression of the Commons, 51 ; the " Chro¬ his opposition to the duke of Medina Sidonia, his decline, nicle of, 58 note; 59 ; his influence 140, 205 : made marquis of Cadiz, 205 ; his ex¬ in relation to the marriage of John II., and its pedition against Alh. ma, 205; his indomitable ; fall, his consequences, 59 ; 59 his death, 60 ; spirit there, 210 ; his connection with the expe¬ lamented by John, 61. dition to theAxarquia, 224, 227; his escape, 229 ; rejected by Ferdinand, ; of, 532 rewarded, 241 ; rescues Ferdinand, 256 ; danger Lyons, the treaty 542 ; treaty of in 1504, 576. of, before Malaga, 261 ; takes possession of the Castile, of, in state 362. citadel, 267 ;drawn into an ambuscade near Baza, Lyric poetry, low 271 ; clears the gardens of their timber, 277 ; minister at the papal death and heroic character of, 302 ; his descen¬ Machiavelli, Florentine court, 562. dants and titles, 303 note. Madrid, becomes the seat of government, 703 ; Leonora, 608. of the environs of, 731 note. account of Libraries, remarks on, before the introduction Magnet, discovery of the polarity of the, 254, 255 printing, 241 note. note. World, License for private voyages to the New Mahometantsm, remarks on, 180. *s9on the environs of, 223 ; description Literature, early state of, in Castile, 53 ; its en¬ Malaga, descent of 257 ; expedition against, 257 ; sharp rencontre couragement under John II., 54, 58 ; marquis of by sea and land, 259 ; the invested ; before, 258 Villena, 53; marquis of Stantillana, 55 ; John de sur¬ brilliant spectacle of, 259 ; summoned to sally Mena, 56 ; minor luminaries, 57 ; epistolary and in. 262, 263 ; general esses disti : 260 render, historical composition at this period, 58 ; encournote.
Juglar, Fray Gaspard, inquisitor over the diocese of
.
760
tJyJ-
from, 264; outworks carried, 265 ; proposals for ÿsurrendering, 265 ; surrenders, 266 ; taken posses¬ sion of, 267 ; purification of, 267 ; release of Christian captives at, 267 ; lament of the inhabi¬ tants of, 268 ; sentence passed on them, 269 ; wary device of Ferdinand respecting the plate found there 269 ; cruel policy of the victors, 269 ; terms of the capitulation, 270 note ; measures for repeopling, 270. Manrique, Jorge, his "Coplas," 362; translated by Longfellow, 363 note. Mantua, marquis of, appointed commander of the French army, 557 ; his attack on Rocca Secca, -559 > builds a bridge across the Garigliano, and passes over, 560 ; resumes his quarters, 561 ; situa¬ tion of the army under, 564 ; their insubordination, 564 ; his resignation, 564 ; succeeded by Saluzzo,
564-
Manuel, Juan, ambassador at the court of Maxi¬ milian, 603 ; his character, 603 ; his ascendency over Philip, 6ti ; estates and honours lavished on, 624 ; his flight to the court of Maximilian, 739-
Manufactures in Spain, 186 ; laws respecting, 729 ; extent of the finer, 730. Manuscripts, Greek, furnished to Ximenes by the pope, 661 ; their value, and destruction, 661, 663, Marchena. See Perez. Margaret, daughter of Maximilian, her union with Prince John, 171, 173, 174 ; incidents in the early life of, 173 ; her voyage to Spain, and reception there, 174. Maria, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, her
birth, 419 note.
Mariana, notice of his works, 26. Marineo, Lucio, an eminent scholar in Spain, 344 ; notice of his writings, 345 ; cited respecting the administration of justice, 719. Martel, Jerome, public historiographer, 47. Martyr, Peter, d Anghiera, notice of him, and his works, 286 note, 408; his allusions to Columbus, 315, 331 ; invited to the court to open a school for the young nobility, 343 ; his labours, 344 ; cited re¬ specting Isabella's sickness and death, 584, 585, 589- ,. Masterships, grand, annexed to the crown, 154. Maximilian, his embassy to Ferdinand and Isabella, 273 ; negotiations of the Spanish court with, 502 ; his truce with the king of Naples, 303 ; partial to Spain, 5SS ; tampers with Gonsalvo de Cordova, 605 ; shares the possession of Venice with Louis XII., 663. Mazarquivir, captured, 650 ; Ximenes' expedition arrives at, 651. Mechlin, treaty of, 679 note. Medina, commercial importance of, 740. Medina Celi, duke of, his account of the aid he had rendered to Columbus, 310 note. Mena, John de, a distinguished poet fn the reign of John II., 56 ; his influence on Castilian poetry,
death, 421 ; his early life, 431; his character, 431 ; his amours, 431 ; the queen his executor, 433; names Ximenes as his successor, 433. Mendoza, Salazar de, justifies Ferdinand's treat¬ ment of Navarre, 680 note. Merlo, Diego de, his expedition against Alhama, 204, 205.
Metals, erroneous policy in regard to, 158 ; in the
West Indies, 494, 738. Miguel, son of Emanuel of Portugal, and Isabella, his birth, 429 ; his recognition as heir to the throne, 430 ; his death, 430. Milan, conquered by the French, 501, 554. Military orders of Castile, 150 ; order of St. Jago, or St. James, of Compostella, 131 ; of Calatrava, 152, 153 ; of Alcantara, 152, 153 ; their reforma¬ tion, 154. Military service, exacted by the Koran, 180 note ; remarks on, 577 ; Gonsalvo's reform of the, 578. Military tactics in Italy, 383. Militia, discipline of the, 241 ; organisation ol, 417. Mineral wealth of Spain, 185. Ministers, resident, first maintained at foreign courts hy Ferdinand the Catholic, 220. Minturnae, the ancient city of, 339 note. Miracle of the sun standing still at the storming of Oran, 654 note. Moclin, meeting of Ferdinand and Isabella in the camp before, 244. Modern Inquisition, turned against the Jews, 166; authorised in Castile, 170 ; put into operation at Seville, 170 ; its sanguinary character, 171 ; its final organisation, 173 ;forms of trial by the, 173 ; torture, 174 ;its injustice, 174; the autos dafe, 175 ; convictions under Torquemada, 177 ; particulars respecting its introduction into Aragon, 232 ; remonstrance of the cortes, 253 ; conspiracy, 253 ; assassination of Arbues, 254 ; cruel persecutions, 234 ; established throughout Ferdinand's domjnions, 255 ; remarks on its establishment in Spain, 593, 745 > subsequent troubles from the, 624 ; Ferdinand's conduct in regard to the, in Aragon, 697 note ; effects of the, 74s ; number of victims of the, 746 note. See Ancient Inquisition. Mola di Gaeta, action at the bridge of, 569. Moldenhauer, professor, his visit to Alcala, respect¬ ing the manuscripts used in the Complutensian Polyglot, 663 note. Molucca Islands, congress respecting the, 339 note. Monasteries, their corrupt state, 437 ; attempts at reform in, 438, 442. Monastic orders, Ximenes, attempts to reform the, 442 ; great excitement among them, 442. Montalvo, Alfonso Diaz de, his work entitled " Ordenangas Reales," 145 ; author of other works, 723 note. Montilla, demolition of the castle of, 646. Montpensier, duke of, left as viceroy of Charles XII. at Naples, 397; his disasters there, 403; besieged at Atella, 406; his capitulation, 409; his
death, 410. Moorish minstrelsy, 357 ; its date, 358 ; its high repute, 359. Moors, religious toleration of the, 3 ; their refine¬ remonstrance to the king and queen respecting ments and attainments, 7 ; crusade against, under the hermanded, 148 ; his magnificent train, 243 ; Henry IV. of Castile, 79 ; Papal indulgences for his bravery, 244 ; opposed to Ximenes, 705. the prosecution of the war against them, 81 ; their Mendoza, Diego de, his rout of the French rear¬ deportment towards the Jews, 163; their conquests guard, near Barleta, 325. of Spain, 181 ; their policy towards the conquered, Mendoza, Inigo Lopez de, marquis of Santillana, 182 ; their intermarriages, 182 : checked by the an illustrious wit of the reign of John II., 55 ; his defeat at Tours, 182 ; their form of government, death, 56. 183 ; character and education of their sovereigns, Mendoza, Inigo Lopez de. See Tendilla. 183 ; their military establishment, 184 J sumptu¬ ous public works of the, 184 ; husbandry and Mendoza, Pedro Gonzales de, archbishop of Seville and cardinal of Spain, favours Isabella, 109 ; his manufactures among them, 186 ; their high civi¬ bravery at the battle of Toro, 127 ; accompanies lisation and prosperity, 187 ; their literature under Isabella, to suppress the tumults at Segovia, 138 ; Alhakem II., 187 ; intellectual development p evails on Ferdinand and Isabella to open nego¬ among them, 187 ; contraction of their dominion, tiations with the court of Rome, 156 ; favours the 188 ; reciprocal civilities between them and the Jews, 170 ; the successor of Carillo, archbishop of Spaniards, 191 ;their gallantry, 192; their ballads Toledo, 220 ; sent forward to take possession of or romances, 192, 198 ; their chivalrous character, the Aihambra, at the capitulation of Granada, 192 ; their successful resistance in Granada, 193 ; literature of the, 194 ; their historical merits, 196 '. 297 ; favours the project of Columbus 310 ; his 6.
Mendana, Pedro de, his grievous devastations, 136. Mendoza, Diego Hurtado de, facts respecting, 86 note ; marquis of Santillana, 105 ; addresses a
EX.
76r
gross abuse of the victory over, 683 ; authorities their useful discoveries, 197 ; impulse given by respecting, 675 note ; French defeated by a force them to Europe, 197; their elegant literature, sent there by Ximenes, 695. 198; poetical character of the, 198; their influence on Castilian literature, 199 ; circumstances pre¬ Navarrete, Martin Fernandez de, his researches in the public archives of Spain, 316, 498 notes. judicial to their literary reputation, 200 ; surprise Zahara, 203 ; their reception of the Spanish at Navarro, Pedro, his celebrity, 507 ;defends Canosa, Alhama, 206; besiege Alhama, 211, 212; with¬ 507 ; his services at Na.ples, 539, 540 ; joins Gon¬ draw, 209, 213 ; skirmish with the Spaniards salvo, 558 ; commander of the expedition against before Loja, 216 ; internal dissensions among the, Oran, 651, 652 ; sends for the cardinal to take pos¬ session of Oran, 654 ; his opposition to Ximenes, in Granada, 219 ; their opposition to the Chris¬ tians in the expedition to the Axarquia, 225 ; their 655 ; his African conquests, 657 ; his fate, 658 losses at the battle of Lucena, 233 ; strength of note ; his conduct at the battle of Ravenna, 660, their fortresses, 236, 238 ; their modes of defence, 670. 238; terms to the vanquished, 238; policy in Navigation, historical remarks respecting, 304. fomenting the factions among them, 246 ; success Negroes, slavery of the, sanctioned, 493. See Indians. and advancement of the Christians against, 248 ; their civil feuds at the siege of Malaga, 261 ; Nemours, duke of, supersedes D'Aubigny, 518 ; in¬ general sally of the, 264; termination of their vests Barleta, 519, 520 ; defies the Spaniards, 524 ; empire in the Peninsula, 300 ; their destiny, 301 ; discomfited, 525 ; his expedition to Castellaneta, Talavera's mild policy for the conversion of, 449 ; 526 ; fights the Spanish at Cerignola, 535 ; his books of the, burnt, 453 ; revolt in the Albaycin, forces, 535 ; his death, 536 ; rout of the French, 454 ; conversion of, at Granada, 457 ; called 537 ; his burial, 537, 538. See Foix. Moriscos, 457 ; rising of the, in the Alpujarras, New World, historians of the, 498 note ; Inquisition extended to the, 430. 425 ; their punishment, 461 : measures for intro¬ ducing Christianity among them, 461, 472 ; trans¬ Nobles of Castile, privileges and immunities of the, ported to the Barbary coast, 467 ; edict against 15 ; their jealousy of Aivaro de Luna, 50 ; thenleague against Henry IV. of Castile, 83 ; oppose those in Castile, 469 ; termination of their history during the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, 474 ; the Santa Hermandad, 86 ; plans for reducing, prohibited from going to the New World, 489; 145 ; policy of the sovereigns towards the, 240 ; magnificence of the, 243 ; their gallantry, 243 ; expedition against, in Africa, under Ximenes, the queen's care for the education of the, 343 ; 650 ; their loss at Oran, 654. See Granada. their scholarship, 345 ;accomplished women, 345 ; 'Moral energy, remarks on, 447. dissatisfied with the queen's settlement of the Moratin, his "Origenes del Teatro Espanol," 371 regency, 603 ; their disgust with Ferdinand's note ; his dramatic criticism, 372. severity in the case of the marquis of Priego, Moriscos, the Moors so called, 457 ; Gonsalvo's kindness to them, 648. 646 ; their feelings at the death of Ferdinand, 694 ; Moya, marchioness of. See Bobadilla. Ximenes replies to, 703 ; depression of, by Ferdi¬ nand and Isabella, at their accession, 716 ; thenMunoz, Juan Bautista, notice of him and his writ¬ great power, 717; their immense revenues, 717 note. ings, 499. Northmen, remarks on the discoveries by the, 308, Naharro, Bartholomeo Torres de, notice of him, 314 notes. Norton, Andrews, his "Evidences of the Genuine¬ 367 ; his comedies, 368. ness of the Gospels," commended, 663 note. Najara, duke of, dissatisfied with the queen's settle¬ ment of the regency, 603 ; surrenders, 645 ; arrives Novara, battle of, 672. Noyon, treaty of, 707. at Pampelona with reinforcements, 678. Nunez, employed on the compilation of the ComNames, Arabian mode of selecting, 219 note. plutensian Polyglot, 662 note. Naples, origin of the French claim to, 380 note ;dis¬ satisfactions respecting the crown of, 383 ; threat¬ ened by Louis XII., 503; partition of, between Oliva, Fernan Perez de, notice of, 369 ; his classical imitations, 370 ; not popular, 370. France and Spain, 504, 505, 508 ; ground of Ferdi¬ nand's claim to, 505 ; astonishment of Italy at the Olmedo, battles of, 51, 189. partition of, 509 ; French forces there, 518 ; sub¬ Omeyades, dynasty of the, 182, 183 ; sumptuous public works by the, 184 ; their revenues, 185 ; mission of, to the Spanish, 539 ; princes of, 539 their decay, 188, 191, 194. note ; Gonsalvo's triumphant entry into, 539 ; re¬ duction of the fortresses of, 539 ; enthusiasm for Oran, description of, 650 ; warlike preparations against, 651 ; battle before, 653 ; the city of. Gonsalvo at, 573 ; extortions of the Spanish troops stormed, 653 ; entered by the army, 653 ;Moorish there, 574 ; treaty respecting, 608 ; enthusiastic loss at, 654 ; entered by Ximenes, 654 ; miracle reception of Ferdinand at, 63a ; dissatisfactions said to have been performed there, 654 note ; there, 633 ; Ferdinand's acts there, 638 ; Gonsalvo Ximenes said to continue to watch over, 658 note ; leaves, 639 ; the pope grants the investiture of, to earthquake at, in 1790, and abandoned, 658 note. Ferdinand, 668 ; government of, 734 ; regard there for Ferdinand, 734. See Charles VIII., and Ordenangas Reales, the work of Montalvo, 145, 714.
Orders. See Military Orders. Garigliano. Navagiero, Andrea, his account of the revenues of Ortega, John de, scales the battlements of Alhama,
206. the nobles in Castile, 717 note ; cited respecting chivalry in the war of Granada, 743 > notice of Orthes, treaty of, 679. Ostia, the storming and capture of. 413. him and his works. 744 note. Navarre, in the middle of the fifteenth century, 1; Ovando, Nicolas de, sent out to Hispaniola, 484 ; instructions to, 484 ; refuses Columbus admittance title of Carlos to, 62 ; factions of the Beaumonts to Hispaniola, 487 ; sends Bobadilla and others and AgTamonts, 63 ;defeat of Carlos, 64 ; influence to Spain, 487. of Louis XI. in the councils of ;crown of, devolves on Francis Phoebus, 221 ; marriage of Catharine Oviedo y Valdes, Gor.zalo Fernandez de, author of the " Quincuagenas," facts respecting, 102 ; char¬ of, 252 ; sovereigns of, 674 ; Ferdinand's distrust acter of his work, 103. of, 674 ; negotiations of, with France, 675; Fer¬ dinand demands a passage through, for his army, Juan, marquis of Villena. See Villena. Pacheco, of, princes 675, 682 ; embarrassing situation of the €76 ; allied to France, 676 ; invaded by the duke Pacific Ocean, its discovery, and the effect thereof on Spain, 736. of Alva, 676 ; abandoned by John, 676 ;conquered, re-purchases its ancient right of represen¬ 677 ; united with Castile, 680, 733 ; examination Palencia, tation, 52 note. of Ferdinand's conduct respecting the treatment of, 63o ; excommunication of the sovereigns of, Palencia, Alonso de, notice of, 114 note." by Julius II., 680; imprudence of, in not grant¬ Palice, Sire de la, 519 ; Canosa, 520 ; his brave defence of Ruvo, 526 ; made prisoner, 527 ; treating Ferdinand's request, 682 : authorises war, 683 }
762
IN1
in, 320, 325 note , Jews_ banished from, 425 ; king and queen of, visit Spain, 427 ; Philip II.'s claim to the crown of, 743 note. See Alfonso. Portuguese, maritime enterprise of the, 305 ; jealous of the Spanish maritime enterprise, 335. 329Pampelona, the duke of Alva retreats to, 678 ; be¬ Pragmaticas, issued, 51, 718 frequency of, in the sieged, 678. reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, 721 note; col¬ lected and published, 724. Papal indulgences. See Indulgences. Press, censorship of the, established, 351. Paredes, Diego de, heroism of, 565. Parra, Doctor, his account of the illness and death Priego. See Cordova, Pedro de. Printing, introduction of, into Spain, 350 ; the queen of Philip the Handsome, 628 note. encourages it, 350 ; its rapid diffusion, 351 ; fre¬ Pearl fisheries, returns from the, 735. quency of presses for, 741. Pedro, constable of Portugal, crown of Catalonia Provencal literature, revives inAragon, 44 ;flourishes offered to, 73 ; his death, 75. in Valencia, 46 writers there, 46 ;abandoned, 46. Pena de los Enamorados, origin of its name, 218 Pulci, the Florentine poet, cited respecting the exist¬ note. ence of land in the west, 307. Perez, Fray Juan de Marchena, guardian of the convent of La Rabida, his interest and exertions Pulgar, Fernando del, his account of the Swiss in behalf of Columbus, 309, 310. mercenaries, 242 ; remarks respecting him, 248 note. Perpignan, gallant defence of, 107 ; siege and re¬ Purgatory, exemption from, by papal bulls, 248 duction of, by the French, 113. note. Pesaro, a Venetian admiral, storms St. George, 507. Peschiera, Louis XII. hangs the Governor of, and his son, 666. Quincuagrnas, account of this curious manuscript, Peter IV. prepares laws for the discipline of the 102. navy, 28 ; defeats the army of the Union at Quintanilla, his Life of Ximenes, 446. Epila, 32 ; his magnanimous policy, 33. Philip, archduke, son of Maximilian, union of, with a passport not to honour, Rank, 146. Joanna, 421, .423 ,' his claims to the crown of Castile, after the death of Prince John, 427 ; Ravenna, battle of, 669 ; its effects, 671. Charles V., son of, 529 ; his visit to Spain with Ravenstein, Philip de, 508, 510 ; shipwrecked, 512. Joanna, 529 ; reception of, at the French court, Redondilla, remarks on the, 357 note. Reauan, 225, 229. 529, 532 ; in Spain, 530 ; recognised by the cortes, Reform of the monasteries, 438 ; in the diocese of 530 ; his discontent, 53X ; leaves Spain for France, Ximenes, 441 ; of the monastic orders, 442 ; great 531 ; negotiates a treaty with Louis XII., 532 ; excitement caused by it, 442 ; visit of the Fran¬ Louis XII. demands an explanation of him, 541 ; general, who insults the queen, 443 ; the ciscan his treatment of Joanna, 584, 623 ; his pretensions pope's interference, 443 ; the queen's consent to a to supremacy in Castile, 603 ; increase of his reform, 444 ; its operation and effects, 444. party, 604 ; tampers with Gonsalvo, 605 ; lands at Coruna, and is joined by the nobles, 610, 611 ; Renÿ le Bon, of Anjou, crown of Catalonia offered to, 74. 612 Martyr's account of his character, 611, ;avoids the system of, 737. Ferdinand, 612 ; his interviews with Ferdinand, Repartimientos, 613, 616 ; his arbitrary government, 624 ; refers Revenues, derived from the West Indies, 73s, 740 ; augmentation of the, 742. the affairs of the Inquisition to the royal' council, Cardinal, his declaration on his death¬ 625 ; his death, 628 ; medical report of his illness, Richelieu, bed, 708 ; parallel between him and Ximenes, 628 note ; his character, 629 ; his remains moved 7*3and note. to Granada, 635, 642, Riol, Santiago Agustin, on the various tribunals Philip II., claims the Portuguese crown, 743 note. under Ferdinand and Isabella, 726 note. Philip and Joanna, the accession of, 602 ; embark for Spain, and arrive in England, 610 ; arrive at Rivers, earl of, from Britain. See Scales. Coruna, 610 ; sovereignty of Castile surrendered Robertson, William, 25 note ; on the genuineness of Isabella's testament, 603 note ; on Ferdinand's to, 614 ;proceed to Valladolid, 623 ; style of living intention to oppose Philip's landing, 606 note ; on at the court of, 624. Ferdinand's proposed union with Joanna BelPhoebus, Francis, the crown of Navarre devolves traneja, 607 note ; on the queen's exaction of an on, 470 ;proposition for the union of, with Joanna from Ferdinand that he would not marry a oath the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, 470 ; his second time, 611 note ; his bias respecting Fer¬ sudden death, 470, 674. transactions with Philip, 617 note ; on dinand's Pinciano. See Nuflez. Ximenes' objection to slavery, 704 note. Pisa, France and Spain withdraw their protection king of the Goths, fatal battle of, 181. Roderic, from, 666. Roger, Ponce, a reconciled heretic, his punishment, Pius III., elected pope, 557 ; his death, 557. note. 162 Plague, its ravages in Castile, 406 ; at Seville, 421. Poetry, Castilian, 53 ; premium for, at Seville, 58 ; Roman Catholic. See Church. Hebrew, 164 ; Moorish, 198, 355 ; subsequent Romances of chivalry, 353 ; their evil effects, 355. Castilian, 355 ; development of the Castilian, and Rome, perfidious policy of, in regard to dispensa¬ tions, 228. See Church and Pope. further remarks respecting it, 746 note. Ronda, prisoners taken at, liberated, 246 ; Hamlet Poison, put upon arrows by the Moors, 238. the defender of, 257 ; rendezvous at, 462, 466. Zeli, Polygamy, the cause of the revolution in Granada, Roussillon, pledged to the French king, 72; revolt 218. 106 ; second French invasion of, 111 ; siege there, Polyglot Bible, Ximenes's edition of the, 348 note, and reduction of, perfidy of Louis XI., 113 ; nego¬ 349, 656 ; account of it, 656 ; difficulties of the respecting, 380 ; restored to Aragon, 382 ; tiations task, 662 ; scholars employed in its compilation, invaded by the French, 547. 662 note ; its merits, 663 ; destruction of the Ruvo, captured, 526 ; the important consequences, manuscripts which formed the basis of it, 663. 528. Pope, difference of the crown with the, 404 ; makes See a grant to Ferdinand and Isabella, 471. Alexander VI., Julius II., Leo X., Pius III. St. Angkl, Louis de, intercedes with Isabella for and Sixtits JV. Columbus, 312. Population, augmentation of, in Spain, 742 ; census St. Dominic, remarks on, 162 note ; act of, for a penitent heretic, 162 note. of, in Castile, 742 note ; mode of estimating it, St. George, the storming of, 507. 742 note. Portugal, treaty of peace with, 132 ; application of St. James, grand master of, 103 ; military order of, Columbus to the king of, 308 ; treatment of Jews 151. See Cardenas and Villena. ment of, 527 ; commands the French retreat from Italy, 672 ; strengthens Longueville, 678. Palos, Columbus sails from, 314 ; reception of Columbus at, on his return from his first voyage,
_
,
EX. Salamanca, literary character of, 349 ; the concord of, 609, bri ; university of, 664, 741. Salsas, siege of, 547-
Saluzzo, marquis of, sent to the relief of Gaeta, 555, 558 ; succeeds the marquis of Mantua as com¬ mander of the French army in Italy, 564 ; his retreat to Gaeta, 568 ; routed, 569 ; fate of the army under, 573 ; his death, 573. San Germano, Gonsalvo takes post at, 559. Santa Fe, history of the origin of, 204. Santa Hermandad, establishment of the, 136. See Hermandad. Santillana, Inigo Lopez de Mendoza, marquis of, an illustrious wit of the reign of John II., 55 ; his death, $6, 86 note ; cited, 60 note. Saracen invasion of Spain, 1, 4 Saragossa, autos da fe celebrated at, 253 ; visited by the sovereigns, 271. Savona, brilliant interview of Ferdinand and Louis
7$ 5
Sousa, first gains the summit of the walls of Oram
653.
South Sea, effect of its discoveiy on Spain, 736. Southey, Robert, his History of the Spanish Arabs, 202.
Spain, 1; consolidation of the various states of, 1 ; number of states in, reduced to four, 1; influence of the Visigoths on, 2 ; of the Saracen invasion on, 3 ; of the ecclesiastics there, 6 ; state of the Jews in, at the accession of Isabella, 166 ; early successes of Mahometanism and the Arabs in, 180; conquest of, 182 ; treatment of Christians in, 182; mineral wealth of, 185; civilities between the people of, and the Spanish Arabs, 191 ; merits of the scholars of, 348 ; universities of, 349 ; in¬ troduction of printing into, 350 ; encouraged by the queen, 350 ; its rapid diffusion, 351 ; impor¬ tance of the treaty of Barcelona to, 383; alarmed at the expedition of Charles VIII. into Italy, 383 ; XII. at, 640. peace of, with France, 415 ; influence of the Savoy, Philip, seigneur de Bresse, afterwards duke Italian wars on, 416 ; moral consequences of her discoveries in the west, 497 ; her geographical of, 107 note. Scales, Lord, aids the Spanish sovereigns, 242 ; extent, 497 ; neutrality of, secured in relation to mistake regarding him, 242 note ; the queen's France and Italy, 501 ; alarmed by the French courtesy to, 243 ; his costume at the meeting of conquests in Italy, 501 ; rupture of, with France, Ferdinand and Isabella before Moclin, 245 ; loses 515 ; invasion of, by Louis XII., 546 ; effects of his life, 273 note. the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella on, 715 ; policy of the crown at their accession, 715 ; de¬ Scott, Sir Walter, his representation of Rent's char¬ acter, 74 note ; of Rebecca and Isaac, 165 note. pression of the nobles in, 716 ; treatment of the Scupltors in Spain, 741 note. church in, 718; morals there, 718, 719; state of Segovia, interview there, between Henry IV. and the commons in, 719 ; royal ordinances for, 721 ; advancement of prerogative in, 723 ; legal com¬ Isabella, 109 ; Isabella proclaimed queen there, pilations there, 724; organisation of councils in, at, suppressed by Isabella, 138. 117 ; tumult march against, 400 ; battle of, 401. Seminara, the 726 ; legal profession in; advanced, 726, 727 ; Sempere, critical notice of, 26. character of the laws during the reign of Ferdi¬ nand and Isabella, 727 ; erroneous principles of Seville, the corporation of, offer premiums for poetry, legislation in, 728 ; principal exports from, 729; 58 ; reception of Isabella there, 139 ; Inquisition manufactures, 729, 730; agriculture, 730; econo¬ at, 170 ; prevalence of the plague at, 171 ; recep¬ mical policy in, 731, 732 ; internal improvements tion of Columbus at, 330; colonial trade confined in, 733 ; increase of the empire of, 733 ; its go¬ to, 492 ; heretics burned there, 746 note. See vernment of Naples, 734; its revenues from the Mendoza. Indies, 735 ; spirit of adventure in, 735 ; progress Sforza, Lodovico, intrigues of, 379 ; his proposal to of discovery, 736 ; effect produced there by the the king of France, 379 ; jealous of the French, discovery of the South Sea, 736 ; slavery in its 387, 391 ; unpopularity of, 500; his fate, 501. colonies, 737 ; administration of laws in the Sheep, in Castile, 13. colonies of, 739 ; its general prosperity, 739 ; Sidonia, Medina, the duke of, head of the Guzmans, opulence of the towns of, 740 ; public embellish¬ 105 ; a supporter of Isabella, 140 ; marches to re¬ ments in, 741; augmentation of its revenue, 742; lieve Alhama, an ; to Malaga, 263 ; death of, of its population, 742 ; patriotic principle in, 743;. 302 note ; application made to, by Columbus, spirit of, 743, 744 ; spirit of bigotry in, chivalrous his note. income, ; 310 717 Sierra Vermeja, revolt of the, 462 ; expedition into 74s ; beneficent impulse there, 746 ; the period off its national glory, 747. See Castile. the, 463 ; Spaniards routed there, 465 ; submission of, 466 ; fate of the inhabitants of, 466 ballads Spaniards, their gradual encroachment on the Sara¬ cens, 4 ; dissensions among them, 4 ; extend their thereon, 467 ; melancholy reminiscences respect¬ ÿinquests to the Douro and Tagus, 5 ; their reli¬ ing, 468. gious fervour and fanaticism, 6 ; their traditional Silva, Alonso de, sent by Ferdinand to the French minstrelsy, 6 ; their respect for the Mahometans, court, 384 ; Charles's dissatisfaction with him, the, 305 ; their progress 384 ; opens a correspondence with Sforza, 387. 7 ; early discoveries; by their excesses, 737 ; their in discovery, 736 Silva, Juan de, count of Cifuentes, his connection principle, ; their chivalrous spirit, patriotic Axarquia, 743 to with the expedition 224. 743, 744. See Castile. Silveira, Fernando de, representative of theÿ prince Arabs. See Moors. Spanish infanta the with affiancing of Portugal, at the Spanish fleet, fitted out under Gonsalvo de Cordova, Isabella, 288. 5°4Sismondi, remarks on the writings of, 412 note. Sixtus IV., the sovereigns of Castile differ with, Stage, low condition of the, 369. introduced into Hispaniola from the 155 ; sends a legate to the court of Castile, 156 ; Sugar-cane Canaries, 735-_ grants a bull, authorising the Inquisition in Cas¬ Pulgar's account of the, 242 ; mercenaries, a Swiss of cross his present tile, 170 ; his conduct, 172 ; employment of, 301 ; their value in the expedition to the sovereigns for a standard? 194. their organisation, 386. VIII., Charles ex¬ regular of 386 ; Slaves, condition of the Visigothic, 4 change of, recommended by Columbus, 481 ; Fernando Fray de, anecdote respecting Talavera, sent Isabella's proceedings in regard to, 481, 493 J him and Isabella, 169 ; regards Columbus's theory back, 481 ; introduction of, into the New World, the demands of Colum¬ ; opposes visionary, as 309 493 ; in the colonies, 737. bus, 312 ; archbishop of Granada, 448 ; remarks Siidell, his remarks on the armour of Ferdinand and his policy, 449 ; the clergy mild ; respecting, 449 Isabella, 245 note ; his description of Toledo, 740 dissatisfied with it, 450 ; appeases the insurgents note. commends ; Ximenes, 458 ; Albaycin, the 455 of Solis, invited to court, 735 ; his discoveries, 736. the queen's correspondence with, 593 note ; a. Sos, in Aragon, the birthplace of Ferdinand the Inquisition, note. the of 625 victim Catholic, 64. • Soto, Ferdinand de, his discoveries and death, 730 Tarento, invested by Gonsalvo de Cordova, 511 note.
Sotomayor, Alonso de, his duel with Bayard, 522.
surrenders, 513.
Tendilla. Inigo Lopez de Mendoza, count of, re-
1JSL
ÿ0 4
_
_
marks respecting, 448 ; his conduct at the Albaycin, 4ss ; his income, 717 note. Xhiene, his "Lettere sulla Storia de' Mali venerei,"
496 note.
Ticknor, George, his essay on the early progress of the dramatic and the histrionic art in Spain, 371 note.
Time, economy of, by Ximenes, 712. Toledo, account of the environs of, 731 note. Toledo, wealth and grandeur of the archbishop of, 20, 717 note. See Carillo, Mendoza, and Ximenes. Toledo, Fadrique de. See A Iva. Toledo, Garcia de, commander of the expedition against Gelves, loses his life, 657 note. Toleration among the Moors, 3 ; remarks on the want of, 470. See Intolerance. Tordesillas, treaty of, 339. Toro, battle of, 127 ; meeting of the assembly at, in 1505, 602. Toro, Leyes de, 724. Torquemada, Thomas de, the confessor of Isabella, facts respecting, 169 ; inquisitor-general of Castile and Aragon, 172 ; convictions under, 177 ; his last days and death, 178 ; his fanaticism, 178 ; his violent conduct at a Jewish negotiation with Fer¬ dinand and Isabella, 317 ; forbids the Jews receiv¬ ing assistance, 320. Torture by the Inquisition, 224. Tournament, near Trani, 521. Trade, various regulations of, 157, 727. Trani, tournament near, 521. Trastamara, revolution of, 49 ; termination of the male line of the house of, 114. Tribunals of Castile, reorganisation of the, 142. Tripoli captured, 657. Truxillo, punishment of certain ecclesiastics there, 251.
Turks, Frederick's application to, for aid, 503 ; Gensalvo's expedition against them, 506 ; their defence of St. George, 507. Universities, Spanish, 349, 658, 664, 741. Urena, count of, 463 ; his conduct at the Sierra Vermeja, 464, 465, 468 ; goes out to meet Gonsalvo, 647 ; comes into collision with Ximenes, 706.
Valadata, her intellectual character, 188 note. Valencia, conquered by Aragon, 27 ; loans by the city of, 280 ; printing press at, in 1474, 351. Vega, Garcilasso de la, rescues Ferdinand, 256 ; notice of, 258 note. Minister of Ferdinand, 387 ; aids Gonsalvo at the storming of Ostia, 413 ; his boldness towards the pope, 502 ; Ferdinand's deportment towards him, 613, 637. Vega, Lorenzo Suarez de la, his negotiations at Venice, 502 ; his ability, 554 note. Velasco, Bernardino de, grand constable, 646 ; pro¬ posed union of, with Elvira, 647 ; facts respecting, 647 note ; his income, 717 note. Velez Malaga, position of, 255 ; its surrender, 256. Velilla, prophetic tintinnabulations of the miraculous bell of, 691 note. V enereal disease, origin of the, 495. Venice, the celebrated league of, 391 ; aids France against Milan, 500; Ferdinand's negotiations with, 502 ;her distrust of France, 554 ; projects against, 663 > partition of, by the treaty of Cambray, 665 ; power of, broken by the battle of Agnadel, 667 ; continental provinces of, released from their alle¬ giance, 667 ; becomes a party in the Holy Leajgue, 668 ; disgusted, 672 ; her definitive treaty with France for their mutual defence, 672 ; laid waste by Cardona. 672 ; Daru's history of, 673 note. Vergara, Juan de, employed in the compilation of the Complutensian Polyglot, 662 note ; his epitaph on Ximenes, 709 note. Vespucci, Amerigo, 487 note ; gives the name to ihe western continent, 733. Viana, prince of. See Carlos. Vicenza, cruelties at the capture of, 671 note. Villafrata, destroyed by Ximenes, 706. Villena, Henry, marquis of, his literary character, J4 ; fate of his library, 5«, 178 note.
Villena, Juan Pacheco, marquis of, character ane influence of, 81 ; disgraced, 83 ; his league with the archbishop of Toledo against the crown, 183 ; assists in deposing Henry IV., 85; his intrigues to prevent a reconciliation of parties, 86 ; sup¬ ports Joanna Beltraneja, 95, 129 ; threatens Isabella with imprisonment, 96 ; his endeavours to prevent the union of Ferdinand and Isabella, 98 ; appointed grand master of St. James, 103 ; his avarice, 104 note ; incenses Henry IV. against Isabella, no; his death, 113; dissatisfied with the settlement of the queen's regency, 603 ; favours Ferdinand, 637 ; his income, 717 note. Visigoths, overrun Spain, 2 ; character of their laws, 2 ; Spain taken from them, 3 ; condition of slaves among them, 4. War of the Succession, 116. Weights and measures, laws respecting, 733. West, belief of land in the, 307. West Indies, discovery of the, 329 ; why so called, 332 ; regulations of trade with, 332 ; preparations for a second voyage to, 332. See Colonies, Hispaniola, and Indies, Western Caliphate, the, 183. Wool, in Spam, 730.
Ximenes, Cardinal, his famous Polyglot Bible, 348 note, 349 ; his birth, 433 ; visits Rome, 433 ;
his return and imprisonment, 434 ; established at Siguenza, 434 ; enters the Franciscan order, 435 ; his severe penance, 435 ; his ascetic life, 435 ; made guardian of Salzeda, 436 ; introduced to the queen, and made her confessor, 436 ; elected provincial, 437 ; his attempts at reform, 438 ; the see of Toledo offered to him, 439 ; he reluctantly accepts, 440 ; anecdotes of, 440 ; his austere life, 441 ; reform in his diocese, 441 ; example of his severity, 442 ; authorities on whom his life mainly rests, 445 ; his moral energy, 448 ;goes to Granada, 451 ;his violent measuresfor converting the Moors, 451 ; destroys Arabic books, 453 ; besieged in his palace, 455 ; his communications to the sovereigns respecting the revolt of the Albaycin, 457 ; hastens to court, 457 ; general approbation of his meas¬ ures, 458 ; his rebuke of Vianelli, 585 note ; sustained by the queen, 591 ; remonstrates with Philip on the recklessness of his measures, 624 ; his influence, 630 ; his conduct upon the death of Philip, 630, 657 note ; honours conferred, 649 : his enthusiasm, 650; his designs against Oran, 650; his warlike preparations, 651 ; his perseverance, 651 ; sends an army to Africa, 651 ; addresses the troops, 652 ; relinquishes the command to Na¬ varro, 652 ;his entry into Oran, 654 ;opposition to him, by Navarro, 655 ; his distrust of Ferdinand, 655; gives counsel to Navarro, and returns to Spain, 656 ; refuses public honours, 656 ; his return to Alcald, 656 ; his general deportment, 656 ; visits the families of his diocese, 656 ; said to continue to watch over Oran after his death, 658 note ; busily occupied with his university at Alcala, 658 ; his reception of Ferdinand at the university of Alcald, 661 ; account of his Polyglot Bible, 661 ; difficulties of the task, 662 ; persons employed about it, 662 note ; his gratitude on its completion, 662, 663 ; his projected edition of Aristotle, 663 note ; grand projects of, 663 ; his bequest to the university of Alcald, 664 ; the administration of Castile left to, 693 ; meets with opposition re¬ specting the regency, 702 ; opposes the desire of Charles to be proclaimed king, 702, 703 ; replies to the Castilian aristocracy, 703 J his military ordi¬ nance, 704 ; his domestic policy, 704 ; his foreign policy, 704 ; sends a commission to Hispaniola, to ameliorate the condition of the natives, 704, 738 ; extends the Inquisition, 705 ; assumes the sole power, 706 ; intimidates the nobles, 706 ; burns Villafrata, 706 ; public discontents under, 706 ; his reception of Charles, 707 ; Charles's ungrate¬ ful letter to, 707 ; his last illness, 708 ; his death, 708 ; celebration of his obsequies, 709; Vergara' s epitaph on, yog note ; his character, 709 ; his ver-
INDEX.
7ÿb
•atility of talent, 709 J his bigotry, 709 j his des¬ Zamora, Alfonso, employed ir. the compilation of the Complutensian Polyglot, 662. potic government, 710 ; his moral principle, 710 ; his disinterestedness, 711 ;his self-confidence, 711 ; Zegri, a Moor, his conversion, 452. his chastity, 7ix ; his monastic austerity, 7x2 ; Zeli, Hamet, the defender of Ronda. entrusted with the command of Gebalfaro, 257 ; his remark after anecdote in relation to his dress, 712 ; Quintanilla his surrender, 263. cited respecting, 712 note ; his economy of time. 712 ; description of his person, 713 ; examination Zenete, Abrahen, a noble Moor, generosity of, of his skull, 713 note ; parallel between him and 264. Zoraya, the sultana, jealous of the sultan Abu) Richelieu, 713. Hacen, 218 ; her success, 2x9 ; her embassy to Cordova for the redemption of Abdallah, 239 ; hei Vahia Alnayar, or Cidi Yahye, surrenders Baza, of Abdallah for his weakness, 298. reproof Ferdinand, his note. with 283 283 ; agreement Zuazo, Alonzo de, commissioner to Hispaniola, hi? Zagal. See Abdallah, or, " The Valiant." in favour of negro slavery, 705 note. report Zuniga. Lopez de, employed in the compilatioa of Zahara, surprised by the Moors, 203. the Complutensian Polyglot, 662 note. Zamora, defection of, 122 ; Ferdinand passes to, 125 ; Icing of Portugal arrives before, 125 ; sur¬ Zurita, Geronimo, his life and writing- , 393. render ofi xao
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