HISTORY OF THE REIGN OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA, THE CATHOLIC. 

BYWILLIAM H. PRESCOTT. 

IN THREE VOLUMES. VOL. II. 

CONTENTS OF VOLUME II. 

PART FIRST. [CONTINUED. ]

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 INQUISITION THROUGHOUT FERDINAND'S DOMINIONS

CHAPTER XIII. WAR OF GRANADA. --SURRENDER OF VELEZ MALAGA. --SIEGE AND CONQUEST OF MALAGA. POSITION OF VELEZ MALAGA ARMY BEFORE VELEZ DEFEAT OF EL ZAGAL NARROW ESCAPE OF FERDINAND SURRENDER OF VELEZ DESCRIPTION OF MALAGA SHARP RECONTRE 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 FEUDS OF THE MOORS ATTEMPT TO ASSASSINATE THE SOVEREIGNS DISTRESS AND RESOLUTION 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 DEMEANOR OF FERDINAND MALAGA SURRENDERS AT DISCRETION PURIFICATION OF THE CITY ENTRANCE OF THE SOVEREIGNS RELEASE OF CHRISTIAN CAPTIVES LAMENT OF THE MALAGANS SENTENCE PASSED ON THEM WARY DEVICE OF FERDINAND CRUEL POLICY OF THE VICTORS MEASURES FOR REPEOPLING MALAGA

CHAPTER XIV. WAR OF GRANADA. --CONQUEST OF BAZA. --SUBMISSION OF EL ZAGAL. THE SOVEREIGNS VISIT ARAGON INROADS INTO GRANADA BORDER WAR EMBASSY FROM 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 FOB THE ARMY ITS STRICT DISCIPLINE HEAVY TEMPEST ISABELLA'S ENERGY HER PATRIOTIC 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 FERDINAND AND EL ZAGAL OCCUPATION OF EL ZAGAL'S DOMAIN EQUIVALENT ASSIGNED TO HIM DIFFICULTIES OF THIS CAMPAIGN ISABELLA'S POPULARITY AND INFLUENCE NOTICE OF PETER MARTYR

CHAPTER XV. WAR OF GRANADA. -SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF THE CITY OF GRANADA. THE INFANTA ISABELLA PUBLIC FESTIVITIES GRANADA SUMMONED IN VAIN KNIGHTHOOD OF DON JUAN FERDINAND'S POLICY ISABELLA DEPOSES THE JUDGES OF CHANCERY FERDINAND 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

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 HE PREPARES TO LEAVE SPAIN INTERPOSITION IN HIS BEHALF COLUMBUS AT SANTA FE NEGOTIATIONS AGAIN BROKEN OFF THE QUEEN'S FAVORABLE DISPOSITION FINAL ARRANGEMENT WITH COLUMBUS HE SAILS ON HIS FIRST VOYAGE INDIFFERENCE TO HIS ENTERPRISE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS DUE TO ISABELLA NOTICE OF NAVARRETE

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

CHAPTER XVIII. ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF FERDINAND. --RETURN AND SECOND VOYAGE OF COLUMBUS. THE SOVEREIGNS VISIT ARAGON ATTEMPT ON FERDINAND'S LIFE GENERAL CONSTERNATION LOYALTY OF THE PEOPLE SLOW RECOVERY OF THE KING PUNISHMENT OF THE ASSASSIN RETURN OF COLUMBUS DISCOVERY OF THE WEST INDIES JOYOUS RECEPTION OF COLUMBUS HIS PROGRESS TO BARCELONA INTERVIEW WITH THE SOVEREIGNS SENSATIONS CAUSED BY THE DISCOVERY BOARD FOR INDIAN AFFAIRS REGULATIONS OF TRADE PREPARATIONS FOR A SECOND VOYAGE CONVERSION OF THE NATIVES NEW POWERS GRANTED TO COLUMBUS APPLICATION TO ROME FAMOUS BULLS OF ALEXANDER VI JEALOUSY OF THE COURT OF LISBON WARY DIPLOMACY SECOND VOYAGE OF COLUMBUS MISSION TO PORTUGAL DISGUST OF JOHN II TREATY OF TORDESILLAS

CHAPTER XIX. CASTILIAN LITERATURE. --CULTIVATION OF THE COURT. --CLASSICAL LEARNING. -- SCIENCE. FERDINAND'S EDUCATION NEGLECTED INSTRUCTION OF ISABELLA HER COLLECTION OF BOOKS TUITION OF THE INFANTAS OF PRINCE JOHN THE QUEEN'S CARE FOR THE EDUCATION OF HER NOBLES LABORS 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 INTRODUCED THE QUEEN ENCOURAGES IT ITS RAPID DIFFUSION ACTUAL PROGRESS OF SCIENCE

CHAPTER XX. CASTILIAN LITERATURE. --ROMANCES OF CHIVALRY. --LYRICAL POETRY. -- THE DRAMA. 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 BALLADS 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

PART SECOND. 

THE PERIOD WHEN, THE INTERIOR ORGANIZATION OF THE MONARCHY HAVING BEENCOMPLETED, THE SPANISH NATION ENTERED ON ITS SCHEMES OF DISCOVERY ANDCONQUEST; OR THE PERIOD ILLUSTRATING MORE PARTICULARLY THE FOREIGN POLICYOF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA. 

CHAPTER I. ITALIAN WARS. --GENERAL VIEW OF EUROPE. --INVASION OF ITALY BY CHARLES VIII. , OF FRANCE. FOREIGN POLITICS DIRECTED BY FERDINAND EUROPE AT THE CLOSE OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY CHARACTER OF THE REIGNING SOVEREIGNS IMPROVED POLITICAL AND MORAL CONDITION MORE INTIMATE RELATIONS BETWEEN STATES FOREIGN RELATIONS CONDUCTED BY THE 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 COUNSELLORS IN THE PAY OP FERDINAND TREATY OF BARCELONA ITS IMPORTANCE TO SPAIN ALARM AT THE FRENCH INVASION, IN ITALY IN EUROPE, ESPECIALLY SPAIN PREPARATIONS OF CHARLES AN ENVOY SENT TO THE FRENCH COURT ANNOUNCES FERDINAND'S VIEWS CHARLES'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 WRITINGS

CHAPTER II. ITALIAN WARS. --RETREAT OF CHARLES VIII. --CAMPAIGNS OF GONSALVO DE CORDOVA. --FINAL EXPULSION OF THE FRENCH. 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 IN ATELLA 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 FREDERIC II TOTAL EXPULSION OF THE FRENCH REMARKS ON GUICCIARDINI AND GIOVIO SISMONDI

CHAPTER III. ITALIAN WARS. --GONSALVO SUCCORS 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 HIS RECEPTION BY THE POPE RETURNS TO SPAIN PEACE WITH FRANCE FERDINAND'S VIEWS RESPECTING NAPLES HIS FAME ACQUIRED BY THE WAR INFLUENCE OF THE WAR ON SPAIN ORGANIZATION OF THE MILITIA

CHAPTER IV. ALLIANCES OF THE ROYAL FAMILY. --DEATH OF PRINCE JOHN AND PRINCESS ISABELLA. ROYAL FAMILY OF CASTILE JOANNA BELTRANEJA MARRIAGE OF THE PRINCESS ISABELLA DEATH OF HER HUSBAND ALLIANCES WITH THE HOUSE OF AUSTRIA AND THAT OF ENGLAND JOANNA 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 PRINCE JOHN HIS DEATH HIS 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

CHAPTER V. DEATH OF CARDINAL MENDOZA. --RISE OF XIMENES. --ECCLESIASTICAL REFORM. 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 BIOGRAPHERS OF XIMENES

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 DISSATISFIED 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 OP GRANADA APPLAUDED BY THE SPANIARDS

CHAPTER VII. RISING IN THE ALPUXARRAS. --DEATH OF ALONSO DE AGUILAR. --EDICT AGAINST THE MOORS. THE ALPUXARRAS RISING OF THE MOORS HUEJA 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 COMMEMORATIVE BALLADS MELANCHOLY REMINISCENCES EDICT AGAINST THE MOORS OF CASTILE CHRISTIANITY AND MAHOMETANISM CAUSES OF INTOLERANCE AGGRAVATED IN THE FIFTEENTH 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

CHAPTER VIII. COLUMBUS. --PROSECUTION OF DISCOVERY. --HIS TREATMENT BY THE COURT. PROGRESS OF DISCOVERY MISCONDUCT OF THE COLONISTS COMPLAINTS AGAINST COLUMBUS HIS SECOND RETURN THE QUEEN'S CONFIDENCE IN HIM UNSHAKEN HONORS CONFERRED ON HIM HIS THIRD VOYAGE DISCOVERS TERRA FIRMA MUTINY IN THE COLONY LOUD COMPLAINTS AGAINST COLUMBUS BIGOTED VIEWS IN REGARD TO THE HEATHEN MORE 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

CHAPTER IX. SPANISH COLONIAL POLICY. CAREFUL PROVISION FOR THE COLONIES LIBERAL GRANTS LICENSE FOR PRIVATE VOYAGES THEIR SUCCESS INDIAN DEPARTMENT CASA DE CONTRATACION IMPORTANT PAPAL CONCESSIONS SPIRIT OF THE COLONIAL LEGISLATION THE QUEEN'S ZEAL FOB CONVERTING THE NATIVES UNHAPPILY DEFEATED IMMEDIATE PROFITS FROM THE DISCOVERIES ORIGIN OF THE VENEREAL DISEASE MORAL CONSEQUENCES OP THE DISCOVERIES THEIR GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT HISTORIANS OF THE NEW WORLD PETER MARTYR HERRERA AND MUÑOZ

PART FIRST. [CONTINUED. ]

CHAPTER XII. 

INTERNAL AFFAIRS OF THE KINGDOM. --INQUISITION IN ARAGON. 

1483-1487. 

Isabella enforces the Laws. --Punishment of Ecclesiastics. --Inquisition inAragon. --Remonstrances of the Cortes. --Conspiracy. --Assassination of theInquisitor Arbues. --Cruel Persecutions. --Inquisition throughoutFerdinand's Dominions. 

In such intervals of leisure as occurred amid their military operations, Ferdinand and Isabella were diligently occupied with the interiorgovernment of the kingdom, and especially with the rigid administration ofjustice, the most difficult of all duties in an imperfectly civilizedstate of society. The queen found especial demand for this in the northernprovinces, whose rude inhabitants were little used to subordination. Shecompelled the great nobles to lay aside their arms, and refer theirdisputes to legal arbitration. She caused a number of the fortresses, which were still garrisoned by the baronial banditti, to be razed to theground; and she enforced the utmost severity of the law against suchinferior criminals as violated the public peace. [1]

Even ecclesiastical immunities, which proved so effectual a protection inmost countries at this period, were not permitted to screen the offender. A remarkable instance of this occurred at the city of Truxillo, in 1486. An inhabitant of that place had been committed to prison for some offenceby order of the civil magistrate. Certain priests, relations of theoffender, alleged that his religious profession exempted him from all butecclesiastical jurisdiction; and, as the authorities refused to deliverhim up, they inflamed the populace to such a degree, by theirrepresentations of the insult offered to the church, that they rose in abody, and, forcing the prison, set at liberty not only the malefactor inquestion, but all those confined there. The queen no sooner heard of thisoutrage on the royal authority, than she sent a detachment of her guard toTruxillo, which secured the persons of the principal rioters, some of whomwere capitally punished, while the ecclesiastics, who had stirred up thesedition, were banished the realm. Isabella, while by her example sheinculcated the deepest reverence for the sacred profession, uniformlyresisted every attempt from that quarter to encroach on the royalprerogative. The tendency of her administration was decidedly, as therewill be occasion more particularly to notice, to abridge the authoritywhich that body had exercised in civil matters under preceding reigns. [2]

Nothing of interest occurred in the foreign relations of the kingdom, during the period embraced by the preceding chapter; except perhaps themarriage of Catharine, the young queen of Navarre, with Jean d'Albret, aFrench nobleman, whose extensive hereditary domains, in the southwestcorner of France, lay adjacent to her kingdom. This connection wasextremely distasteful to the Spanish sovereigns, and indeed to many of theNavarrese, who were desirous of the alliance with Castile. This wasultimately defeated by the queen-mother, an artful woman, who, being ofthe blood royal of France, was naturally disposed to a union with thatkingdom. Ferdinand did not neglect to maintain such an understanding withthe malcontents of Navarre, as should enable him to counteract any undueadvantage which the French monarch might derive from the possession ofthis key, as it were, to the Castilian territory. [3]

In Aragon, two circumstances took place in the period under review, deserving historical notice. The first relates to an order of the Catalanpeasantry, denominated vassals _de remenza_. These persons were subjectedto a feudal bondage, which had its origin in very remote ages, but whichhad become in no degree mitigated, while the peasantry of every other partof Europe had been gradually rising to the rank of freemen. The grievousnature of the impositions had led to repeated rebellions in precedingreigns. At length, Ferdinand, after many fruitless attempts at a mediationbetween these unfortunate people and their arrogant masters, prevailed onthe latter, rather by force of authority than argument, to relinquish theextraordinary seignorial rights, which they had hitherto enjoyed, inconsideration of a stipulated annual payment from their vassals. [4]

The other circumstance worthy of record, but not in like manner creditableto the character of the sovereign, is the introduction of the modernInquisition into Aragon. The ancient tribunal had existed there, as hasbeen stated in a previous chapter, since the middle of the thirteenthcentury, but seems to have lost all its venom in the atmosphere of thatfree country; scarcely assuming a jurisdiction beyond that of an ordinaryecclesiastical court. No sooner, however, was the institution organized onits new basis in Castile, than Ferdinand resolved on its introduction, ina similar form, in his own dominions. 

Measures were accordingly taken to that effect in a meeting of a privycouncil convened by the king at Taraçona, during the session of the cortesin that place, in April, 1484; and a royal order was issued, requiring allthe constituted authorities throughout the kingdom to support the newtribunal in the exercise of its functions. A Dominican monk, Fray GaspardJuglar, and Pedro Arbues de Epila, a canon of the metropolitan church, were appointed by the general, Torquemada, inquisitors over the diocese ofSaragossa; and, in the month of September following, the chief justiciaryand the other great officers of the realm took the prescribed oaths. [5]

The new institution, opposed to the ideas of independence common to allthe Aragonese, was particularly offensive to the higher orders, many ofwhose members, including persons filling the most considerable officialstations, were of Jewish descent, and of course precisely the classexposed to the scrutiny of the Inquisition. Without difficulty, therefore, the cortes was persuaded in the following year to send a deputation to thecourt of Rome, and another to Ferdinand, representing the repugnance ofthe new tribunal to the liberties of the nation, as well as to theirsettled opinions and habits, and praying that its operation might besuspended for the present, so far at least as concerned the confiscationof property, which it rightly regarded as the moving power of the wholeterrible machinery. [6]

Both the pope and the king, as may be imagined, turned a deaf ear to theseremonstrances. In the mean while the Inquisition commenced operations, andautos da fe were celebrated at Saragossa, with all their usual horrors, inthe months of May and June, in 1485. The discontented Aragonese, despairing of redress in any regular way, resolved to intimidate theiroppressors by some appalling act of violence. They formed a conspiracy forthe assassination of Arbues, the most odious of the inquisitorsestablished over the diocese of Saragossa. The conspiracy, set on foot bysome of the principal nobility, was entered into by most of the newChristians, or persons of Jewish extraction in the district. A sum of tenthousand reals was subscribed to defray the necessary expenses for theexecution of their project. This was not easy, however, since Arbues, conscious of the popular odium that he had incurred, protected his personby wearing under his monastic robes a suit of mail, complete even to thehelmet beneath his hood. With similar vigilance, he defended, also, everyavenue to his sleeping apartment. [7]

At length, however, the conspirators found an opportunity of surprisinghim while at his devotions. Arbues was on his knees before the great altarof the cathedral, near midnight, when his enemies, who had entered thechurch in two separate bodies, suddenly surrounded him, and one of themwounded him in the arm with a dagger, while another dealt him a fatal blowin the back of his neck. The priests, who were preparing to celebratematins in the choir of the church, hastened to the spot; but not beforethe assassins had effected their escape. They transported the bleedingbody 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 withhis blood. The whole scene will readily remind the English reader of theassassination of Thomas à Becket. [8]

The event did not correspond with the expectations of the conspirators. Sectarian jealousy proved stronger than hatred of the Inquisition. Thepopulace, ignorant of the extent or ultimate object of the conspiracy, were filled with vague apprehensions of an insurrection of the newChristians, who had so often been the objects of outrage; and they couldonly be appeased by the archbishop of Saragossa, riding through thestreets, and proclaiming that no time should be lost in detecting andpunishing the assassins. 

This promise was abundantly fulfilled; and wide was the ruin occasioned bythe indefatigable zeal, with which the bloodhounds of the tribunalfollowed up the scent. In the course of this persecution, two hundredindividuals perished at the stake, and a still greater number in thedungeons of the Inquisition; and there was scarcely a noble family inAragon but witnessed one or more of its members condemned to humiliatingpenance in the autos da fe. The immediate perpetrators of the murder wereall hanged, after suffering the amputation of their right hands. One, whohad appeared as evidence against the rest, under assurance of pardon, hadhis sentence so far commuted, that his hand was not cut off till after hehad been hanged. It was thus that the Holy Office interpreted its promisesof grace. [9]

Arbues received all the honors of a martyr. His ashes were interred on thespot where he had been assassinated. [10] A superb mausoleum was erectedover them, and, beneath his effigy, a bas-relief was sculpturedrepresenting his tragical death, with an inscription containing a suitabledenunciation of the race of Israel. And at length, when the lapse ofnearly two centuries had supplied the requisite amount of miracles, theSpanish Inquisition had the glory of adding a new saint to the calendar, by the canonization of the martyr under Pope Alexander the Seventh, in1664. [11]

The failure of the attempt to shake off the tribunal served only, as usualin such cases, to establish it more firmly than before. Efforts atresistance were subsequently, but ineffectually, made in other parts ofAragon, and in Valencia and Catalonia. It was not established in thelatter province till 1487, and some years later in Sicily, Sardinia, andthe Balearic Isles. Thus Ferdinand had the melancholy satisfaction ofriveting the most galling yoke ever devised by fanaticism, round the necksof a people, who till that period had enjoyed probably the greatest degreeof constitutional freedom which the world had witnessed. 

FOOTNOTES

[1] Lebrija, Rerum Gestarum Decades, iii. Lib. 1, cap. 10. --Pulgar, ReyesCatólicos, part. 3, cap. 27, 39, 67, et alibi. --L. Marineo, CosasMemorables, fol. 175. --Zurita, Anales, tom. Iv. Fol. 348. 

[2] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 66. --A pertinent example of thisoccurred, December, 1485, at Alcalá de Henares, where the court wasdetained during the queen's illness, who there gave birth to her youngestchild, Doña Catalina, afterwards so celebrated in English history asCatharine of Aragon. A collision took place in this city between the royaljudges and those of the archbishop of Toledo, to whose diocese itbelonged. The later stoutly maintained the pretensions of the church. Thequeen with equal pertinacity asserted the supremacy of the royaljurisdiction over every other in the kingdom, secular or ecclesiastical. The affair was ultimately referred to the arbitration of certain learnedmen, named conjointly by the adverse parties. It was not then determined, however, and Pulgar has neglected to acquaint us with the award. ReyesCatólicos, cap. 53. --Carbajal, Anales, MS. , año 1485. 

[3] Aleson, Annales de Navarra, tom. V. Lib. 35, cap. 2. 

[4] Zurita, Anales, tom. Iv. Cap. 52, 67. --Mariana, Hist. De España, lib. 25, cap. 8. 

[5] Llorente, Hist. De l'Inquisition, tom. I. Chap. 6, art. 2. --Zurita, Anales, lib. 20, cap. 65. 

At this cortes, convened at Taraçona, Ferdinand and Isabella experiencedan instance of the haughty spirit of their Catalan subjects, who refusedto attend, alleging it to be a violation of their liberties to be summonedto a place without the limits of their principality. The Valencians alsoprotested, that their attendance should not operate as a precedent totheir prejudice. It was usual to convene a central or general cortes atFraga, or Monzon, or some town, which the Catalans, who were peculiarlyjealous of their privileges, claimed to be within their territory. It wasstill more usual, to hold separate cortes of the three kingdomssimultaneously in such contiguous places in each, as would permit theroyal presence in all during their session. See Blancas, Mode de Procederen Cortes de Aragon, (Zaragoza, 1641, ) cap. 4. 

[6] By one of the articles in the Privilegium Generale, the Magna Chartaof Aragon, it is declared, "Que turment: ni inquisicion; no sian en Aragoncomo sian contra Fuero el qual dize que alguna pesquisa no hauemos: etcontra el privilegio general, el qual vieda que inquisicion so sia feyta. "(Fueros y Observancias, fol. 11. ) The tenor of this clause (although theterm _inquisicion_ must not be confounded with the name of the moderninstitution) was sufficiently precise, one might have thought, to securethe Aragonese from the fangs of this terrible tribunal. 

[7] Llorente, Hist. De l'Inquisition, chap. 6, art. 2, 3. 

[8] Llorente, ubi supra. --Paramo, De Origine Inquisitionis, pp. 182, 183. --Ferreras, Hist. D'Espagne, tom. Viii. Pp. 37, 38. 

[9] Llorente, Hist. De l'Inquisition, tom. I. Chap. 6, art. 5. --Blancas, Aragonensium Rerum Commentarii, (Caesaraugustae, 1588, ) p. 266. Amongthose, who after a tedious imprisonment were condemned to do penance in anauto 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 allperished miserably within a year, in different ways, by the judgment ofGod. (Hist. De España, tom. Ii. P. 368. ) Unfortunately for the effect ofthis moral, Llorente, who consulted the original processes, must bereceived as the better authority of the two. 

[10] According to Paramo, when the corpse of the inquisitor was brought tothe place where he had been assassinated, the blood, which had beencoagulated on the pavement, smoked up and boiled with most miraculousfervor! De Origine Inquisitionis, p. 382. 

[11] Paramo, De Origine Inquisitionis, p. 183. --Llorente, Hist. Del'Inquisition, chap. 6, art. 4. France and Italy also, according toLlorente, could each boast a saint inquisitor. Their renown, however, hasbeen, eclipsed by the superior splendors of their great master, St. Dominic;

 --"Fils inconnus d'un si glorieux père. "

CHAPTER XIII. 

WAR OF GRANADA. --SURRENDER OF VELEZ MALAGA. --SIEGE AND CONQUEST OF MALAGA. 

1487. 

Narrow Escape of Ferdinand before Velez. --Malaga invested by Sea andLand. --Brilliant Spectacle. --The Queen visits the Camp. --Attempt toAssassinate the Sovereigns. --Distress and Resolution of the Besieged. --Enthusiasm of the Christians. --Outworks Carried by them. --Proposals forSurrender. --Haughty Demeanor of Ferdinand. --Malaga Surrenders atDiscretion. --Cruel Policy of the Victors. 

Before commencing operations against Malaga, it was thought expedient bythe Spanish council of war to obtain possession of Velez Malaga, situatedabout five leagues distant from the former. This strong town stood alongthe southern extremity of a range of mountains that extend to Granada. Itsposition afforded an easy communication with that capital, and obviousmeans of annoyance to an enemy interposed between itself and the adjacentcity of Malaga. The reduction of this place, therefore, became the firstobject of the campaign. 

The forces assembled at Cordova, consisting of the levies of theAndalusian cities principally, of the retainers of the great nobility, andof the well-appointed chivalry which thronged from all quarters of thekingdom, amounted on this occasion to twelve thousand horse and fortythousand foot; a number, which sufficiently attests the unslackened ardorof the nation in the prosecution of the war. On the 7th of April, KingFerdinand, putting himself at the head of this formidable host, quittedthe fair city of Cordova amid the cheering acclamations of itsinhabitants, although these were somewhat damped by the ominous occurrenceof an earthquake, which demolished a part of the royal residence, amongother edifices, during the preceding night. The route, after traversingthe Yeguas and the old town of Antequera, struck into a wild, hillycountry, that stretches towards Velez. The rivers were so much swollen byexcessive rains, and the passes so rough and difficult, that the army inpart of its march advanced only a league a day; and on one occasion, whenno suitable place occurred for encampment for the space of five leagues, the men fainted with exhaustion, and the beasts dropped down dead in theharness. At length, on the 17th of April, the Spanish army sat down beforeVelez Malaga, where in a few days they were joined by the lighter piecesof their battering ordnance; the roads, notwithstanding the immense laborexpended on them, being found impracticable for the heavier. [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 sostrong, that the old chief, El Zagal, found it necessary to make an effortto relieve the beleaguered city, notwithstanding the critical posture inwhich his absence would leave his affairs in the capital. Dark clouds ofthe enemy were seen throughout the day mustering along the heights, whichby night were illumined with a hundred fires. Ferdinand's utmost vigilancewas required for the protection of his camp against the ambuscades andnocturnal sallies of his wily foe. At length, however, El Zagal, havingbeen foiled in a well-concerted attempt to surprise the Christian quartersby night, was driven across the mountains by the marquis of Cadiz, andcompelled 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 formersuccesses, now hastened to transfer their allegiance to his rival, Abdallah, and closed the gates against him; and the unfortunate chiefwithdrew to Guadix, which, with Almeria, Baza, and some less considerableplaces, still remained faithful. [2]

Ferdinand conducted the siege all the while with his usual vigor, andspared no exposure of his person to peril or fatigue. On one occasion, seeing a party of Christians retreating in disorder before a squadron ofthe enemy, who had surprised them while fortifying an eminence near thecity, the king, who was at dinner in his tent, rushed out with no otherdefensive armor than his cuirass, and, leaping on his horse, chargedbriskly into the midst of the enemy, and succeeded in rallying his ownmen. In the midst of the rencontre, however, when he had discharged hislance, he found himself unable to extricate his sword from the scabbardwhich hung from the saddle-bow. At this moment he was assaulted by severalMoors, and must have been either slain or taken, but for the timely rescueof the marquis of Cadiz, and a brave cavalier, Garcilasso de la Vega, who, galloping up to the spot with their attendants, succeeded after a sharpskirmish in beating off the enemy. Ferdinand's nobles remonstrated withhim on this wanton exposure of his person, representing that he couldserve them more effectually with his head than his hand. But he answered, that "he could not stop to calculate chances, when his subjects wereperilling their lives for his sake;" a reply, says Pulgar, which endearedhim to the whole army. [3]

At length, the inhabitants of Velez, seeing the ruin impending from thebombardment of the Christians, whose rigorous blockade both by sea andland excluded all hopes of relief from without, consented to capitulate onthe usual conditions of security to persons, property, and religion. Thecapitulation of this place, April 27th, 1487, was followed by that of morethan twenty places of inferior note lying between it and Malaga, so thatthe approaches to this latter city were now left open to the victoriousSpaniards. [4]

This ancient city, which, under the Spanish Arabs in the twelfth andthirteenth centuries, formed the capital of an independent principality, was second only to the metropolis itself, in the kingdom of Granada. Itsfruitful environs furnished abundant articles of export, while itscommodious port on the Mediterranean opened a traffic with the variouscountries washed by that inland sea, and with the remoter regions ofIndia. Owing to these advantages, the inhabitants acquired unboundedopulence, which showed itself in the embellishments of their city, whoselight forms of architecture, mingling after the eastern fashion withodoriferous gardens and fountains of sparkling water, presented anappearance most refreshing to the senses in this sultry climate. [5]

The city was encompassed by fortifications of great strength, and inperfect repair. It was commanded by a citadel, connected by a covered waywith a second fortress impregnable from its position, denominatedGebalfaro, which stood along the declivities of the bold sierra of theAxarquia, whose defiles had proved so disastrous to the Christians. Thecity lay between two spacious suburbs, the one on the land side being alsoencircled by a formidable wall; and the other declining towards the sea, showing an expanse of olive, orange, and pomegranate gardens, intermingledwith the rich vineyards that furnished the celebrated staple for itsexport. 

Malaga was well prepared for a siege by supplies of artillery andammunition. Its ordinary garrison was reinforced by volunteers from theneighboring towns, and by a corps of African mercenaries, Gomeres, as theywere called, men of ferocious temper, but of tried valor and militarydiscipline. The command of this important post had been intrusted by ElZagal to a noble Moor, named Hamet Zeli, whose renown in the present warhad been established by his resolute defence of Ronda. [6]

Ferdinand, while lying before Velez, received intelligence that many ofthe wealthy burghers of Malaga were inclined to capitulate at once, ratherthan hazard the demolition of their city by an obstinate resistance. Heinstructed the marquis of Cadiz, therefore, to open a negotiation withHamet Zeli, authorizing him to make the most liberal offers to the alcaydehimself, as well as his garrison, and the principal citizens of the place, on condition of immediate surrender. The sturdy chief, however, rejectedthe proposal with disdain, replying, that he had been commissioned by hismaster to defend the place to the last extremity, and that the Christianking 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 hiswhole army as far as Bezmillana, a place on the seaboard about two leaguesdistant from Malaga. [7]

The line of march now lay through a valley commanded at the extremitynearest the city by two eminences; the one on the sea-coast, the otherfacing the fortress of the Gebalfaro, and forming part of the wild sierrawhich overshadowed Malaga on the north. The enemy occupied both theseimportant positions. A corps of Galicians were sent forward to dislodgethem from the eminence towards the sea. But it failed in the assault, and, notwithstanding it was led up a second time by the commander of Leon andthe brave Garcilasso de la Vega, [8] was again repulsed by the intrepidfoe. 

A similar fate attended the assault on the sierra, which was conducted bythe troops of the royal household. They were driven back on the vanguard, which had halted in the valley under command of the grand master of St. James, prepared to support the attack on either side. Being reinforced, the Spaniards returned to the charge with the most determined resolution. They were encountered by the enemy with equal spirit. The latter, throwingaway their lances, precipitated themselves on the ranks of the assailants, making use only of their daggers, grappling closely man to man, till bothrolled promiscuously together down the steep sides of the ravine. No mercywas 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 mean while, pent up in the valley, were compelled to witness themortal 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, whowere again forced to give way before their impetuous adversaries, and fallback on the vanguard under the grand master of St. James. Here, however, they speedily rallied; and, being reinforced, advanced to the charge athird time, with such inflexible courage as bore down all opposition, andcompelled the enemy, exhausted, or rather overpowered by superior numbers, to abandon his position. At the same time the rising ground on the seasidewas carried by the Spaniards under the commander of Leon and Garcilasso dela Vega, who, dividing their forces, charged the Moors so briskly in frontand rear, that they were compelled to retreat on the neighboring fortressof Gebalfaro. [9]

As it was evening before these advantages were obtained, the army did notdefile into the plains around Malaga before the following morning, whendispositions were made for its encampment. The eminence on the sierra, sobravely contested, was assigned as the post of greatest danger to themarquis duke of Cadiz. It was protected by strong works lined withartillery, and a corps of two thousand five hundred horse and fourteenthousand foot was placed under the immediate command of that nobleman. Aline of defence was constructed along the declivity from this redoubt tothe seashore. Similar works, consisting of a deep trench and palisades, or, where the soil was too rocky to admit of them, of an embankment ormound of earth, were formed in front of the encampment, which embraced thewhole circuit of the city; and the blockade was completed by a fleet ofarmed vessels, galleys and caravels, which rode in the harbor under thecommand of the Catalan admiral, Requesens, and effectually cut off allcommunication by water. [10]

The old chronicler Bernaldez warms at the aspect of the fair city ofMalaga, thus encompassed by Christian legions, whose deep lines, stretching far over hill and valley, reached quite round from one arm ofthe sea to the other. In the midst of this brilliant encampment was seenthe royal pavilion, proudly displaying the united banners of Castile andAragon, and forming so conspicuous a mark for the enemy's artillery, thatFerdinand, after imminent hazard, was at length compelled to shift hisquarters. The Christians were not slow in erecting counter-batteries; butthe work was obliged to be carried on at night, in order to screen themfrom the fire of the besieged. [11]

The first operations of the Spaniards were directed against the suburb, onthe land side of the city. The attack was intrusted to the count ofCifuentes, the nobleman who had been made prisoner in the affair of theAxarquia, and subsequently ransomed. The Spanish ordnance was served withsuch effect, that a practicable breach was soon made in the wall. Thecombatants now poured their murderous volleys on each other through theopening, and at length met on the ruins of the breach. After a desperatestruggle the Moors gave way. The Christians rushed into the enclosure, atthe same time effecting a lodgment on the rampart; and, although a part ofit, undermined by the enemy, gave way with a terrible crash, they stillkept possession of the remainder, and at length drove their antagonists, who sullenly retreated step by step, within the fortifications of thecity. The lines were then drawn close around the place. Every avenue ofcommunication was strictly guarded, and every preparation was made forreducing the town by regular blockade. [12]

In addition to the cannon brought round by water from Velez, the heavierlombards, which from the difficulty of transportation had been left duringthe late Siege at Antequera, were now conducted across roads, levelled forthe purpose, to the camp. Supplies of marble bullets were also broughtfrom the ancient and depopulated city of Algezira, where they had lainever since its capture in the preceding century by Alfonso the Eleventh. The camp was filled with operatives, employed in the manufacture of ballsand powder, which were stored in subterranean magazines, and in thefabrication of those various kinds of battering enginery, which continuedin use long after the introduction of gunpowder. [13]

During the early part of the siege, the camp experienced some temporaryinconvenience from the occasional interruption of the supplies transportedby water. Rumors of the appearance of the plague in some of the adjacentvillages caused additional uneasiness; and deserters, who passed intoMalaga, reported these particulars with the usual exaggeration, andencouraged the besieged to persevere, by the assurance that Ferdinandcould not much longer keep the field, and that the queen had actuallywritten to advise his breaking up the camp. Under these circumstances, Ferdinand saw at once the importance of the queen's presence in order todispel 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 receivingtidings of El Zagal's march from Granada, and had actually enforced leviesof all persons capable of bearing arms, between twenty and seventy yearsof age, throughout Andalusia, but subsequently disbanded them, on learningthe discomfiture of the Moorish army. Without hesitation, she now setforward, accompanied by the cardinal of Spain and other dignitaries of thechurch, together with the infanta Isabella, and a courtly train of ladiesand cavaliers in attendance on her person. She was received at a shortdistance from the camp by the marquis of Cadiz and the grand master of St. James, and escorted to her quarters amidst the enthusiastic greetings ofthe soldiery. Hope now brightened every countenance. A grace seemed to beshed over the rugged features of war; and the young gallants thronged fromall quarters to the camp, eager to win the guerdon of valor from the handsof those from whom it is most grateful to receive it. [14]

Ferdinand, who had hitherto brought into action only the lighter pieces ofordnance, from a willingness to spare the noble edifices of the city, nowpointed his heaviest guns against its walls. Before opening his fire, however, he again summoned the place, offering the usual liberal terms incase of immediate, compliance, and engaging otherwise, "with the blessingof God, to make them all slaves"! But the heart of the alcayde washardened like that of Pharaoh, says the Andalusian chronicler, and thepeople were swelled with vain hopes, so that their ears were closedagainst the proposal; orders were even issued to punish with death anyattempt at a parley. On the contrary, they made answer by a more livelycannonade than before, along the whole line of ramparts and fortresseswhich overhung the city. Sallies were also made at almost every hour ofthe day and night on every assailable point of the Christian lines, sothat the camp was kept in perpetual alarm. In one of the nocturnalsallies, a body of two thousand men from the castle of Gebalfaro succeededin surprising the quarters of the marquis of Cadiz, who, with hisfollowers, was exhausted by fatigue and watching, during the two precedingnights. The Christians, bewildered with the sudden tumult which broketheir slumber, were thrown into the greatest confusion; and the marquis, who rushed half armed from his tent, found no little difficulty inbringing them to order, and beating off the assailants, after receiving awound in the arm from an arrow; while he had a still narrower escape fromthe ball of an arquebus, that penetrated his buckler and hit him below thecuirass, but fortunately so much spent as to do him no injury. [15]

The Moors were not unmindful of the importance of Malaga, or the gallantrywith which it was defended. They made several attempts to relieve it, whose failure was less owing to the Christians than to treachery and theirown miserable feuds. A body of cavalry, which El Zagal despatched fromGuadix to throw succors into the beleaguered city, was encountered and cutto pieces by a superior force of the young king Abdallah, who consummatedhis baseness by sending an embassy to the Christian camp, charged with apresent of Arabian horses sumptuously caparisoned to Ferdinand, and ofcostly silks and Oriental perfumes to the queen; at the same timecomplimenting them on their successes, and soliciting the continuance oftheir friendly dispositions towards himself. Ferdinand and Isabellarequited this act of humiliation by securing to Abdallah's subjects theright of cultivating their fields in quiet, and of trafficking with theSpaniards in every commodity, save military stores. At this paltry pricedid the dastard prince consent to stay his arm, at the only moment when itcould be used effectually for his country. [16]

More serious consequences were like to have resulted from an attempt madeby another party of Moors from Guadix to penetrate the Christian lines. Part of them succeeded, and threw themselves into the besieged city. Theremainder were cut in pieces. There was one, however, who, making no showof resistance, was made prisoner without harm to his person. Being broughtbefore the marquis of Cadiz, he informed that nobleman, that he could makesome important disclosures to the sovereigns. He was accordingly conductedto the royal tent; but, as Ferdinand was taking his siesta, in the sultryhour of the day, the queen, moved by divine inspiration, according to theCastilian historian, deferred the audience till her husband should awake, and commanded the prisoner to be detained in the adjoining tent. This wasoccupied by Doña Beatrix de Bobadilla, marchioness of Moya, Isabella'searly friend, who happened to be at that time engaged in discourse with aPortuguese nobleman, Don Alvaro, son of the duke of Braganza. [17]

The Moor did not understand the Castilian language, and, deceived by therich attire and courtly bearing of these personages, he mistook them forthe king and queen. While in the act of refreshing himself with a glass ofwater, he suddenly drew a dagger from beneath the broad folds of his_albornoz_, or Moorish mantle, which he had been incautiously suffered toretain, and, darting on the Portuguese prince, gave him a deep wound onthe head; and then, turning like lightning on the marchioness, aimed astroke at her, which fortunately glanced without injury, the point of theweapon being turned by the heavy embroidery of her robes. Before he couldrepeat his blow, the Moorish Scaevola, with a fate very different fromthat of his Roman prototype, was pierced with a hundred wounds by theattendants, who rushed to the spot, alarmed by the cries of themarchioness, and his mangled remains were soon after discharged from acatapult into the city; a foolish bravado, which the besieged requited byslaying a Galician gentleman, and sending his corpse astride upon a mulethrough the gates of the town into the Christian camp. [18]

This daring attempt on the lives of the king and queen spread generalconsternation throughout the army. Precautions were taken for the future, by ordinances prohibiting the introduction of any unknown person armed, orany Moor whatever, into the royal quarters; and the bodyguard wasaugmented by the addition of two hundred hidalgos of Castile and Aragon, who, with their retainers, were to keep constant watch over the persons ofthe sovereigns. 

Meanwhile, the city of Malaga, whose natural population was greatlyswelled by the influx of its foreign auxiliaries, began to be straitenedfor supplies, while its distress was aggravated by the spectacle ofabundance which reigned throughout the Spanish camp. Still, however, thepeople, overawed by the soldiery, did not break out into murmurs, nor didthey relax in any degree the pertinacity of their resistance. Theirdrooping spirits were cheered by the predictions of a fanatic, whopromised that they should eat the grain which they saw in the Christiancamp; a prediction, which came to be verified, like most others that areverified at all, in a very different sense from that intended orunderstood. 

The incessant cannonade kept up by the besieging army, in the mean time, so far exhausted their ammunition, that they were constrained to seeksupplies from the most distant parts of the kingdom, and from foreigncountries. The arrival of two Flemish transports at this juncture, fromthe 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, thatvolunteers, eager to share in it, flocked from all parts of the Peninsulato the royal standard. Among others, the duke of Medina Sidonia, who hadfurnished his quota of troops at the opening of the campaign, now arrivedin person with a reinforcement, together with a hundred galleys freightedwith supplies, and a loan of twenty thousand doblas of gold to thesovereigns for the expenses of the war. Such was the deep interest in itexcited throughout the nation, and the alacrity which every order of menexhibited in supporting its enormous burdens. [19]

The Castilian army, swelled by these daily augmentations, varied in itsamount, according to different estimates, from sixty to ninety thousandmen. Throughout this immense host, the most perfect discipline wasmaintained. Gaming was restrained by ordinances interdicting the use ofdice and cards, of which the lower orders were passionately fond. Blasphemy was severely punished. Prostitutes, the common pest of a camp, were excluded; and so entire was the subordination, that not a knife wasdrawn, and scarcely a brawl occurred, says the historian, among the motleymultitude. Besides the higher ecclesiastics who attended the court, thecamp was well supplied with holy men, priests, friars, and the chaplainsof the great nobility, who performed the exercises of religion in theirrespective quarters with all the pomp and splendor of the Roman Catholicworship; exalting the imaginations of the soldiers into the highdevotional feeling, which became those who were fighting the battles ofthe Cross. [20]

Hitherto, Ferdinand, relying on the blockade, and yielding to the queen'sdesire to spare the lives of her soldiers, had formed no regular plan ofassault upon the town. But, as the season rolled on without the leastdemonstration of submission on the part of the besieged, he resolved tostorm the works, which, if attended by no other consequences, might atleast serve to distress the enemy, and hasten the hour of surrender. Largewooden towers on rollers were accordingly constructed, and provided withan apparatus of drawbridges and ladders, which, when brought near to theramparts, would open a descent into the city. Galleries were also wrought, some for the purpose of penetrating into the place, and others to sap thefoundations of the walls. The whole of these operations was placed underthe direction of Francisco Ramirez, the celebrated engineer of Madrid. 

But the Moors anticipated the completion of these formidable preparationsby a brisk, well-concerted attack on all points of the Spanish lines. Theycountermined the assailants, and, encountering them in the subterraneouspassages, drove them back, and demolished the frame-work of the galleries. At the same time, a little squadron of armed vessels, which had beenriding in safety under the guns of the city, pushed out and engaged theSpanish fleet. Thus the battle raged with fire and sword, above and underground, along the ramparts, the ocean, and the land, at the same time. Even Pulgar cannot withhold his tribute of admiration to thisunconquerable spirit in an enemy, wasted by all the extremities of famineand fatigue. "Who does not marvel, " he says, "at the bold heart of theseinfidels in battle, their prompt obedience to their chiefs, theirdexterity in the wiles of war, their patience under privation, andundaunted perseverance in their purposes?" [21]

A circumstance occurred in a sortie from the city, indicating a trait ofcharacter worth recording. A noble Moor, named Abrahen Zenete, fell inwith a number of Spanish children who had wandered from their quarters. Without injuring them, he touched them gently with the handle of hislance, saying, "Get ye gone, varlets, to your mothers. " On being rebukedby his comrades, who inquired why he had let them escape so easily, hereplied, "Because I saw no beard upon their chins. " "An example ofmagnanimity, " says the Curate of Los Palacios, "truly wonderful in aheathen, and which might have reflected credit on a Christian hidalgo. "[22]

But no virtue nor valor could avail the unfortunate Malagans against theoverwhelming force of their enemies, who, driving them back from everypoint, compelled them, after a desperate struggle of six hours, to shelterthemselves within the defences of the town. The Christians followed uptheir success. A mine was sprung near a tower, connected by a bridge offour arches with the main works of the place. The Moors, scattered andintimidated by the explosion, retreated across the bridge, and theSpaniards, carrying the tower, whose guns completely enfiladed it, obtained possession of this important pass into the beleaguered city. Forthese and other signal services during the siege, Francisco Ramirez, themaster of the ordnance, received the honors of knighthood from the hand ofKing Ferdinand. [23]

The citizens of Malaga, dismayed at beholding the enemy established intheir defences, and fainting under exhaustion from a siege which hadalready lasted more than three months, now began to murmur at theobstinacy of the garrison, and to demand a capitulation. Their magazinesof grain were emptied, and for some weeks they had been compelled todevour the flesh of horses, dogs, cats, and even the boiled hides of theseanimals, 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 wereengendered. Multitudes were seen dying about the streets. Many deserted tothe Spanish camp, eager to barter their liberty for bread; and the cityexhibited all the extremes of squalid and disgusting wretchedness, bred bypestilence and famine among an overcrowded population. The sufferings ofthe citizens softened the stern heart of the alcayde, Hamet Zeli, who atlength yielded to their importunities, and, withdrawing his forces intothe Gebalfaro, consented that the Malagans should make the best terms theycould with their conqueror. 

A deputation of the principal inhabitants, with an eminent merchant namedAli Dordux at their head, was then despatched to the Christian quarters, with the offer of the city to capitulate, on the same liberal conditionswhich had been uniformly granted by the Spaniards. The king refused toadmit the embassy into his presence, and haughtily answered through thecommander of Leon, "that these terms had been twice offered to the peopleof Malaga, and rejected; that it was too late for them to stipulateconditions, and nothing now remained but to abide by those which he, astheir conqueror, should vouchsafe to them. " [24]

Ferdinand's answer spread general consternation throughout Malaga. Theinhabitants saw too plainly that nothing was to be hoped from an appeal tosentiments of humanity. After a tumultuous debate, the deputies weredespatched a second time to the Christian camp, charged with propositionsin which concession was mingled with menace. They represented that thesevere response of King Ferdinand to the citizens had rendered themdesperate. That, however, they were willing to resign to him theirfortifications, their city, in short, their property of every description, on his assurance of their personal security and freedom. If he refusedthis, they would take their Christian captives, amounting to five or sixhundred, from the dungeons in which they lay, and hang them like dogs overthe battlements; and then, placing their old men, women, and children inthe fortress, they would set fire to the town, and cut a way forthemselves through their enemies, or fall in the attempt. "So, " theycontinued, "if you gain a victory, it shall be such a one as shall makethe name of Malaga ring throughout the world, and to ages yet unborn!"Ferdinand, unmoved by these menaces, coolly replied, that he saw nooccasion to change his former determination; but they might rest assured, if they harmed a single hair of a Christian, he would put every soul inthe place, man, woman, and child, to the sword. 

The anxious people, who thronged forth to meet the embassy on its returnto the city, were overwhelmed with the deepest gloom at its ominoustidings. Their fate was now sealed. Every avenue to hope seemed closed bythe stern response of the victor. Yet hope will still linger; and, although there were some frantic enough to urge the execution of theirdesperate menaces, the greater number of the inhabitants, and among themthose most considerable for wealth and influence, preferred the chance ofFerdinand's clemency to certain, irretrievable ruin. 

For the last time, therefore, the deputies issued from the gates of thecity, charged with an epistle to the sovereigns from their unfortunatecountrymen, in which, after deprecating their anger, and lamenting theirown blind obstinacy, they reminded their highnesses of the liberal termswhich their ancestors had granted to Cordova, Antequera, and other cities, after a defence as pertinacious as their own. They expatiated on the famewhich the sovereigns had established by the generous policy of their pastconquests, and, appealing to their magnanimity, concluded with submittingthemselves, their families, and their fortunes to their disposal. Twentyof the principal citizens were then delivered up as hostages for thepeaceable demeanor of the city until its occupation by the Spaniards. "Thus, " says the Curate of Los Palacios, "did the Almighty harden thehearts of these heathen, like to those of the Egyptians, in order thatthey might receive the full wages of the manifold oppressions which theyhad wrought on his people, from the days of King Roderic to the presenttime. " [25]

On the appointed day, the commander of Leon rode through the gates ofMalaga, at the head of his well-appointed chivalry, and took possession ofthe _alcazaba_, or lower citadel. The troops were then posted on theirrespective stations along the fortifications, and the banners of ChristianSpain triumphantly unfurled from the towers of the city, where thecrescent had been displayed for an uninterrupted period of nearly eightcenturies. 

The first act was to purify the town from the numerous dead bodies, andother offensive matter, which had accumulated during this long siege, andlay festering in the streets, poisoning the atmosphere. The principalmosque was next consecrated with due solemnity to the service of SantaMaria de la Encarnacion. Crosses and bells, the symbols of Christianworship, were distributed in profusion among the sacred edifices; where, says the Catholic chronicler last quoted, "the celestial music of theirchimes, sounding at every hour of the day and night, caused perpetualtorment to the ears of the infidel. " [26]

On the eighteenth day of August, being somewhat more than three monthsfrom the date of opening trenches, Ferdinand and Isabella made theirentrance into the conquered city, attended by the court, the clergy, andthe whole of their military array. The procession moved in solemn state upthe principal streets, now deserted, and hushed in ominous silence, to thenew cathedral of St. Mary, where mass was performed; and as the gloriousanthem of the Te Deum rose for the first time within its ancient walls, the sovereigns, together with the whole army, prostrated themselves ingrateful adoration of the Lord of hosts, who had thus reinstated them inthe domains of their ancestors. 

The most affecting incident was afforded by the multitude of Christiancaptives, who were rescued from the Moorish dungeons. They were broughtbefore the sovereigns, with their limbs heavily manacled, their beardsdescending to their waists, and their sallow visages emaciated bycaptivity and famine. Every eye was suffused with tears at the spectacle. Many recognized their ancient friends, of whose fate they had long beenignorant. Some, had lingered in captivity ten or fifteen years; and amongthem were several belonging to the best families in Spain. On entering thepresence, they would have testified their gratitude by throwing themselvesat the feet of the sovereigns; but the latter, raising them up andmingling their tears with those of the liberated captives, caused theirfetters to be removed, and, after administering to their necessities, dismissed them with liberal presents. [27]

 The fortress of Gebalfaro surrendered on the day after the occupation ofMalaga by the Spaniards. The gallant Zegri chieftain, Hamet Zeli, wasloaded with chains; and, being asked why he had persisted so obstinatelyin his _rebellion_, boldly answered, "Because I was commissioned todefend the place to the last extremity; and, if I had been properlysupported, I would 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 theseverest penalties from molesting either the persons or property of theinhabitants. These latter were directed to remain in their respectivemansions with a guard set over them, while the cravings of appetite weresupplied by a liberal distribution of food. At length, the wholepopulation of the city, comprehending every age and sex, was commanded torepair to the great courtyard of the alcazaba, which was overlooked on allsides by lofty ramparts garrisoned by the Spanish soldiery. To this place, the scene of many a Moorish triumph, where the spoil of the border forayhad been often displayed, and which still might be emblazoned with thetrophy of many a Christian banner, the people of Malaga now directed theirsteps. As the multitude swarmed through the streets, filled with bodingapprehensions of their fate, they wrung their hands, and, raising theireyes to heaven, uttered the most piteous lamentations. "Oh, Malaga, " theycried, "renowned and beautiful city, how are thy sons about to forsakethee! Could not thy soil, on which they first drew breath, be suffered tocover them in death? Where is now the strength of thy towers, where thebeauty of thy edifices? The strength of thy walls, alas, could not availthy children, for they had sorely displeased their Creator. What shallbecome of thy old men and thy matrons, or of thy young maidens delicatelynurtured within thy halls, when they shall feel the iron yoke of bondage?Can thy barbarous conquerors without remorse thus tear asunder the dearestties of life?" Such are the melancholy strains, in which the Castilianchronicler has given utterance to the sorrows of the captive city. [28]

The dreadful doom of slavery was denounced on the assembled multitude. One-third was to be transported into Africa in exchange for an equalnumber of Christian captives detained there; and all, who had relatives orfriends in this predicament, were required to furnish a specification ofthem. Another third was appropriated to reimburse the state for theexpenses of the war. The remainder were to be distributed as presents athome and abroad. Thus, one hundred of the flower of the African warriorswere sent to the pope, who incorporated them into his guard, and convertedthem all in the course of the year, says the Curate of Los Palacios, intovery good Christians. Fifty of the most beautiful Moorish girls werepresented by Isabella to the queen of Naples, thirty to the queen ofPortugal, others to the ladies of her court; and the residue of both sexeswere apportioned among the nobles, cavaliers, and inferior members of thearmy, according to their respective rank and services. [29]

As it was apprehended that the Malagans, rendered desperate by theprospect of a hopeless, interminable captivity, might destroy or secretetheir jewels, plate, and other precious effects, in which this wealthycity abounded, rather than suffer them to fall into the hands of theirenemies, Ferdinand devised a politic expedient for preventing it. Heproclaimed that he would receive a certain sum, if paid within ninemonths, as the ransom of the whole population, and that their personaleffects should be admitted in part payment. This sum averaged about thirtydoblas a head, including in the estimate all those who might die beforethe determination of the period assigned. The ransom, thus stipulated, proved more than the unhappy people could raise, either by themselves, oragents employed to solicit contributions among their brethren of Granadaand Africa; at the same time, it so far deluded their hopes, that theygave in a full inventory of their effects to the treasury. By this shrewddevice, Ferdinand obtained complete possession both of the persons andproperty of his victims. [30]

Malaga was computed to contain from eleven to fifteen thousandinhabitants, exclusive of several thousand foreign auxiliaries, within itsgates at the time of surrender. One cannot, at this day, read themelancholy details of its story, without feelings of horror andindignation. It is impossible to vindicate the dreadful sentence passed onthis unfortunate people for a display of heroism, which should haveexcited admiration in every generous bosom. It was obviously mostrepugnant to Isabella's natural disposition, and must be admitted to leavea stain on her memory, which no coloring of history can conceal. It mayfind some palliation, however, in the bigotry of the age, the moreexcusable in a woman whom education, general example, and natural distrustof herself accustomed to rely, in matters of conscience, on the spiritualguides, whose piety and professional learning seemed to qualify them forthe trust. Even in this very transaction, she fell far short of thesuggestions of some of her counsellors, who urged her to put everyinhabitant without exception to the sword; which, they affirmed, would bea just requital of their obstinate _rebellion_, and would prove awholesome warning to others! We are not told who the advisers of thisprecious measure were; but the whole experience of this reign shows, thatwe shall scarcely wrong the clergy much by imputing it to them. That theirarguments could warp so enlightened a mind, as that of Isabella, from thenatural principles of justice and humanity, furnishes a remarkable proofof the ascendency which the priesthood usurped over the most giftedintellects, and of their gross abuse of it, before the Reformation, bybreaking the seals set on the sacred volume, opened to mankind theuncorrupted channel of divine truth. [31]

The fate of Malaga may be said to have decided that of Granada. The latterwas now shut out from the most important ports along her coast; and shewas environed on every point of her territory by her warlike foe, so thatshe could hardly hope more from subsequent efforts, however strenuous andunited, than to postpone the inevitable hour of dissolution. The crueltreatment of Malaga was the prelude to the long series of persecutions, which awaited the wretched Moslems in the land of their ancestors; in thatland, over which the "star of Islamism, " to borrow their own metaphor, hadshone in full brightness for nearly eight centuries, but where it was nowfast descending amid clouds and tempests to the horizon. 

The first care of the sovereigns was directed towards repeopling thedepopulated city with their own subjects. Houses and lands were freelygranted to such as would settle there. Numerous towns and villages with awide circuit of territory were placed under its civil jurisdiction, and itwas made the head of a diocese embracing most of the recent conquests inthe south and west of Granada. These inducements, combined with thenatural advantages of position and climate, soon caused the tide ofChristian population to flow into the deserted city; but it was very longbefore it again reached the degree of commercial consequence to which ithad been raised by the Moors. [32]

After these salutary arrangements, the Spanish sovereigns led back theirvictorious legions in triumph to Cordova, whence dispersing to theirvarious homes, they prepared, by a winter's repose, for new campaigns andmore brilliant conquests. 

FOOTNOTES

[1] Vedmar, Antiguedad y Grandezas de la Ciudad de Velez, (Granada, 1652, )fol. 148. --Mariana, Hist. De España, tom. Ii. Lib. 27, cap. 10. --Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, part. Iii. Cap. 70. --Carbajal, Anales, MS. , año 1487. --Bleda, Corónica, lib. 5, cap. 14. 

[2] Cardonne, Hist. D'Afrique et d'Espagne, tom. Iii. Pp. 292-294. --Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, ubi supra. --Vedmar, Antiguedad de Velez, fol. 151. 

[3] L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 175. --Vedmar, Antiguedad. --deVelez, fol. 150, 151. --Marmol, Rebelion de Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 14. 

In commemoration of this event, the city incorporated into its escutcheonthe figure of a king on horseback, in the act of piercing a Moor with hisjavelin. Vedmar, Antiguedad de Velez, fol. 12. 

[4] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 52. --Marmol, Rebelion deMoriscos, lib. 1, cap. 14. 

[5] Conde doubts whether the name of Malaga is derived from the Greek_malakè_, signifying "agreeable, " or the Arabic _malka_, meaning "royal. "Either etymology is sufficiently pertinent. (See El Nubiense, Descripcionde España, p. 186, not. ) For notices of sovereigns who swayed the sceptreof Malaga, see Casiri, Bibliotheca Escurialensis, tom. Ii. Pp. 41, 56, 99, et alibi. 

[6] Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. Iii. P. 237. --Pulgar, ReyesCatólicos, cap. 74. --El Nubiense, Descripcion de España, not. , p. 144. 

[7] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 82. --Vedmar, Antiguedad deVelez, fol. 154. --Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 74. 

[8] This cavalier, who took a conspicuous part both in the military andcivil transactions of this reign, was descended from one of the mostancient and honorable houses in Castile. Hyta, (Guerras Civiles deGranada, tom. I. P. 399, ) with more effrontery than usual, has imputed tohim a chivalrous rencontre with a Saracen, which is recorded of anancestor, in the ancient Chronicle of Alonso XI. 

 "Garcilaso de la Vega desde alli se ha intitulado, porque en la Vega hiciera 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 amuch older date than the period assigned in the Chronicle. Quincuagenas, MS. , bat. 1, quinc. 3, dial. 43. 

[9] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 75. --Salazar de Mendoza, Crón. Del GranCardenal, lib. 1, cap. 64. 

[10] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 83. --Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 76. --Carbajal, Anales, MS. , año 1487. 

[11] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, ubi supra. --Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , ubi supra. 

[12] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist. , lib. 1, epist. 83--Pulgar, ReyesCatólicos, cap. 76. --Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, cap. 83. --Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS. , bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 36. 

[13] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 76. 

[14] Salazar de Mendoza, Crón. Del Gran Cardenal, lib. 1, cap. 64. --Zurita, Anales, tom. Iv. Cap. 70. --Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 83. 

[15] Bleda, Corónica, lib. 5, cap. 15. --Conde, Dominacion, tom. Iv. Pp. 237, 238. --Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 83. --Pulgar, ReyesCatólicos, cap. 79. 

[16] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, ubi supra. 

During the siege, ambassadors arrived from an African potentate, the kingof Tremecen, bearing a magnificent present to the Castilian sovereigns, interceding for the Malagans, and at the same time asking protection forhis subjects from the Spanish cruisers in the Mediterranean. Thesovereigns graciously complied with the latter request, and complimentedthe African monarch with a plate of gold, on which the royal arms werecuriously embossed, says Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, cap. 84. 

[17] This nobleman, Don Alvaro de Portugal, had fled his native country, and sought an asylum in Castile from the vindictive enmity of John II, whohad been put to death by the duke of Braganza, his elder brother. He waskindly received by Isabella, to whom he was nearly related, andsubsequently preferred to several important offices of state. His son, thecount of Gelves, married a granddaughter of Christopher Columbus. Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS. 

[18] Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS. , bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 23. --Peter Martyr, Opus Epist. , lib. 1, epist. 63. --Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 84. --Bleda, Corónica de los Moros, lib. 5, cap. 15. --L. Marineo, CosasMemorables, fol. 175, 176. 

[19] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 87-89. --Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 84. 

[20] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 87. --Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 71. 

[21] Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. Iii. Pp. 237, 238. --Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 80. --Caro de Torres, Ordenes Militares, fol. 82, 83. 

[22] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 9l. --Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 84. The honest exclamation of the Curate brings to mind the similarencomium of the old Moorish ballad, "Caballeros Granadinos, Aunque Moros, hijosdalgo. "

Hyta, Guerras de Granada, tom. I. , p. 257. 

[23] There is no older well-authenticated account of the employment ofgunpowder in mining in European warfare, so far as I am aware, than thisby Ramirez. Tiraboschi, indeed, refers, on the authority of anotherwriter, to a work in the library of the Academy of Siena, composed by oneFrancesco Giorgio, architect of the duke of Urbino, about 1480, in whichthat person claims the merit of the invention. (Letteratura Italiana, tom. Vi. P. 370. ) The whole statement is obviously too loose to warrant anysuch conclusion. The Italian historians notice the use of gunpowder minesat the siege of the little town of Serezanello in Tuscany, by the Genoese, in 1487, precisely contemporaneous with the siege of Malaga. (Machiavelli, Istorie Fiorentine, lib. 8. --Guicciardini, Istoria d'Italia, (Milano, 1803, ) tom. Iii. Lib. 6. ) This singular coincidence, in nations havingthen but little intercourse, would seem to infer some common origin ofgreater antiquity. However this may be, the writers of both nations areagreed in ascribing the first successful use of such mines on any extendedscale to the celebrated Spanish engineer, Pedro Navarro, when servingunder Gonsalvo of Cordova, in his Italian campaigns at the beginning ofthe sixteenth century. Guicciardini, ubi supra. --Paolo Giovio, de VitâMagni Gonsalvi, (Vitae Illustrium Virorum, Basiliae, 1578, ) lib. 2. --Aleson, Annales de Navarra, tom. V. Lib. 35, cap. 12. 

[24] Cardonne, Hist. D'Afrique et d'Espagne, tom. Iii. P. 296. --L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 175. --Rades y Andrada, Las Tres Ordenes, fol. 54. --Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 92. --Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 85. 

[25] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 93. --Cardonne, Hist. D'Afrique etd'Espagne, tom. Iii. P. 296. 

The Arabic historians state that Malaga was betrayed by Ali Dordux, whoadmitted the Spaniards into the castle, while the citizens were debatingon Ferdinand's terms. (See Conde, Domination de los Arabes, tom. Iii. Cap. 39. ) The letter of the inhabitants, quoted at length by Pulgar, would seemto be a refutation of this. And yet there are good grounds for suspectingfalse play on the part of the ambassador Dordux, since the Castilianwriters admit that he was exempted, with forty of his friends, from thedoom of slavery and forfeiture of property, passed upon his fellow-citizens. 

[26] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 85. 

[27] Carbajal, whose meagre annals have scarcely any merit beyond that ofa mere chronological table, postpones the surrender till September. Anales, año 1487. --Marmol, Rebelion de Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 14. 

[28] Bleda, Corónica, lib. 5, cap. 15. 

As a counterpart to the above scene, twelve Christian renegades, found inthe city, were transfixed with canes, _acañavereados_, a barbarouspunishment derived from the Moors, which was inflicted by horsemen at fullgallop, who discharged pointed reeds at the criminal, until he expiredunder repeated wounds. A number of relapsed Jews were at the same timecondemned to the flames. "These, " says Father Abarca, "were the _fêtes_and illuminations most grateful to the Catholic piety of our sovereigns"!Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. Ii. Rey 30, cap. 3. 

[29] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, ubi supra. --Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , ubi supra. --Peter Martyr, Opus Epist. , epist. 62. 

[30] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 87. --L. Marineo, CosasMemorables, fol. 176. --Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. Iii. P. 238. --Cardonne, Hist. D'Afrique et d'Espagne, tom. Iii. P. 296. --Carbajal, Anales, MS. , año 1487. 

Not a word of comment escapes the Castilian historians on this mercilessrigor of the conqueror towards the vanquished. It is evident thatFerdinand did no violence to the feelings of his orthodox subjects. _Tacendo clamant. _

[31] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 87. --Bleda, Corónica, lib. 5, cap. 15. 

About four hundred and fifty Moorish Jews were ransomed by a wealthyIsraelite of Castile for 27, 000 doblas of gold. A proof that the Jewishstock was one which thrived amidst persecution. 

It is scarcely possible that the circumstantial Pulgar should have omittedto notice so important a fact as the scheme of the Moorish ransom, had itoccurred. It is still more improbable, that the honest Curate of LosPalacios should have fabricated it. Any one who attempts to reconcile thediscrepancies of contemporary historians even, will have Lord Orford'sexclamation to his son Horace brought to his mind ten times a day; "Oh!read me not history, for that I know to be false. "

[32] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 94. --Col. De Céd. , tom. Vi. No. 321. 

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 GreatStrength. --Gardens Cleared of their Timber. --The Queen Raises the Spiritsof her Troops. --Her Patriotic Sacrifices. --Suspension of Arms. --BazaSurrenders. --Treaty with Zagal. --Difficulties of the Campaign. --Isabella'sPopularity and Influence. 

In the autumn of 1487, Ferdinand and Isabella, accompanied by the youngerbranches of the royal family, visited Aragon, to obtain the recognitionfrom the cortes of Prince John's succession, now in his tenth year, aswell as to repress the disorders into which the country had fallen duringthe long absence of its sovereigns. To this end, the principal cities andcommunities of Aragon had recently adopted the institution of thehermandad, organized on similar principles to that of Castile. Ferdinand, on his arrival at Saragossa in the month of November, gave his royalsanction to the association, extending the term of its duration to fiveyears, a measure extremely unpalatable to the great feudal nobility, whosepower, or rather abuse of power, was considerably abridged by this popularmilitary force. [1]

The sovereigns, after accomplishing the objects of their visit, andobtaining an appropriation from the cortes for the Moorish war, passedinto Valencia, where measures of like efficiency were adopted forrestoring the authority of the law, which was exposed to such perpetuallapses in this turbulent age, even in the best constituted governments, asrequired for its protection the utmost vigilance, on the part of thoseintrusted with the supreme executive power. From Valencia the courtproceeded to Murcia, where Ferdinand, in the month of June, 1488, assumedthe command of an army amounting to less than twenty thousand men, a smallforce compared with those usually levied on these occasions; it beingthought advisable to suffer the nation to breathe a while, after theexhausting efforts in which it had been unintermittingly engaged for somany years. 

Ferdinand, crossing the eastern borders of Granada, at no great distancefrom Vera, which speedily opened its gates, kept along the southern slantof the coast as far as Almeria; whence, after experiencing some roughtreatment from a sortie of the garrison, he marched by a northerly circuiton Baza, for the purpose of reconnoitring its position, as his numberswere altogether inadequate to its siege. A division of the army under themarquis duke of Cadiz suffered itself to be drawn here into an ambuscadeby the wily old monarch El Zagal, who lay in Baza with a strong force. After extricating his troops with some difficulty and loss from thisperilous predicament, Ferdinand retreated on his own dominions by the wayof Huescar, where he disbanded his army, and withdrew to offer up hisdevotions at the cross of Caravaca. The campaign, though signalized by nobrilliant achievement, and indeed clouded with some slight reverses, secured the surrender of a considerable number of fortresses and towns ofinferior note. [2]

The Moorish chief, El Zagal, elated by his recent success, made frequentforays into the Christian territories, sweeping off the flocks, herds, andgrowing crops of the husbandman; while the garrisons of Almeria andSalobrena, and the bold inhabitants of the valley of Purchena, poured asimilar devastating warfare over the eastern borders of Granada intoMurcia. To meet this pressure, the Spanish sovereigns reinforced thefrontier with additional levies under Juan de Benavides and Garcilasso dela Vega; while Christian knights, whose prowess is attested in many aMoorish lay, flocked there from all quarters, as to the theatre of war. 

During the following winter, of 1488, Ferdinand and Isabella occupiedthemselves with the interior government of Castile, and particularly theadministration of justice. A commission was specially appointed tosupervise the conduct of the corregidors and subordinate magistrates, "sothat every one, " says Pulgar, "was most careful to discharge his dutyfaithfully, in order to escape the penalty, which was otherwise sure toovertake him. " [3]

While at Valladolid, the sovereigns received an embassy from Maximilian, son of the emperor Frederic the Fourth, of Germany, soliciting their co-operation in his designs against France for the restitution of his latewife's rightful inheritance, the duchy of Burgundy, and engaging in turnto support them in their claims on Roussillon and Cerdagne. The Spanishmonarchs had long entertained many causes of discontent with the Frenchcourt, both with regard to the mortgaged territory of Roussillon, and thekingdom of Navarre; and they watched with jealous eye the daily increasingauthority of their formidable neighbor on their own frontier. They hadbeen induced, in the preceding summer, to equip an armanent at Biscay andGuipuscoa, to support the duke of Brittany in his wars with the Frenchregent, the celebrated Anne de Beaujeu. This expedition, which proveddisastrous, was followed by another in the spring of the succeeding year. [4] But, notwithstanding these occasional episodes to the great work inwhich they were engaged, they had little leisure for extended operations;and, although they entered into the proposed treaty of alliance withMaximilian, they do not seem to have contemplated any movement ofimportance before the termination of the Moorish war. The Flemishambassadors, after being entertained for forty days in a style suited toimpress them with high ideas of the magnificence of the Spanish court, andof its friendly disposition towards their master, were dismissed withcostly presents, and returned to their own country. [5]

These negotiations show the increasing intimacy growing up between theEuropean states, who, as they settled their domestic feuds, had leisure toturn their eyes abroad, and enter into the more extended field ofinternational politics. The tenor of this treaty indicates also thedirection which affairs were to take, when the great powers should bebrought into collision with each other on a common theatre of action. 

All thoughts were now concentrated on the prosecution of the war withGranada, which, it was determined, should be conducted on a more enlargedscale than it had yet been; notwithstanding the fearful pest which haddesolated the country during the past year, and the extreme scarcity ofgrain, owing to the inundations caused by excessive rains in the fruitfulprovinces of the south. The great object proposed in this campaign was thereduction of Baza, the capital of that division of the empire whichbelonged to El Zagal. Besides this important city, that monarch'sdominions embraced the wealthy sea-port of Almeria, Guadix, and numerousother towns and villages of less consequence, together with the mountainregion of the Alpuxarras, rich in mineral wealth; whose inhabitants, famous for the perfection to which they had carried the silk manufacture, were equally known for their enterprise and courage in war, so that ElZagal's division comprehended the most potent and opulent portion of theempire. [6] In the spring of 1489, the Castilian court passed to Jaen, atwhich place the queen was to establish her residence, as presenting themost favorable point of communication with the invading army. Ferdinandadvanced as far as Sotogordo, where, on the 27th of May, he put himself atthe head of a numerous force, amounting to about fifteen thousand horseand eighty thousand foot, including persons of every description; amongwhom was gathered, as usual, that chivalrous array of nobility andknighthood, who, with stately and well-appointed retinues, were accustomedto follow the royal standard in these crusades. [8]

The first point, against which operations were directed, was the strongpost of Cuxar, two leagues only from Baza, which surrendered after a briefbut desperate resistance. The occupation of this place, and some adjacentfortresses, left the approaches open to El Zagal's capital. As the Spanisharmy toiled up the heights of the mountain barrier, which towers aboveBaza on the west, their advance was menaced by clouds of Moorish lighttroops, who poured down a tempest of musket-balls and arrows on theirheads. These however were quickly dispersed by the advancing vanguard; andthe Spaniards, as they gained the summits of the hills, beheld the lordlycity of Baza, reposing in the shadows of the bold sierra that stretchestowards the coast, and lying in the bosom of a fruitful valley, extendingeight leagues in length, and three in breadth. Through this valley flowedthe waters of the Guadalentin and the Guadalquiton, whose streams wereconducted by a thousand canals over the surface of the vega. In the midstof the plain, adjoining the suburbs, might be descried the orchard orgarden, as it was termed, of Baza, a league in length, covered with athick growth of wood, and with numerous villas and pleasure-houses of thewealthy citizens, now converted into garrisoned fortresses. The suburbswere encompassed by a low mud wall; but the fortifications of the citywere of uncommon strength. The place, in addition to ten thousand troopsof its own, was garrisoned by an equal number from Almeria; picked men, under the command of the Moorish prince Cidi Yahye, a relative of ElZagal, who lay at this time in Guadix, prepared to cover his own dominionsagainst any hostile movement of his rival in Granada. These veterans werecommissioned to defend the place to the last extremity; and, as due timehad been given for preparation, the town was victualled with fifteenmonths' provisions, and even the crops growing in the vega had beengarnered before their prime, to save them from the hands of the enemy. [8]

The first operation, after the Christian army had encamped before thewalls of Baza, was to get possession of the garden, without which it wouldbe impossible to enforce a thorough blockade, since its labyrinth ofavenues afforded the inhabitants abundant facilities of communication withthe surrounding country. The assault was intrusted to the grand master ofSt. James, supported by the principal cavaliers, and the king in person. Their reception by the enemy was such as gave them a foretaste of theperils and desperate daring they were to encounter in the present siege. The broken surface of the ground, bewildered with intricate passes, andthickly studded with trees and edifices, was peculiarly favorable to thedesultory and illusory tactics of the Moors. The Spanish cavalry wasbrought at once to a stand; the ground proving impracticable for it, itwas dismounted, and led to the charge by its officers on foot. The men, however, were soon scattered far asunder from their banners and theirleaders. Ferdinand, who from a central position endeavored to overlook thefield, with the design of supporting the attack on the points mostrequiring it, soon lost sight of his columns amid the precipitous ravines, and the dense masses of foliage which everywhere intercepted the view. Thecombat was carried on, hand to hand, in the utmost confusion. Still theSpaniards pressed forward, and, after a desperate struggle for twelvehours, in which many of the bravest on both sides fell, and the Moslemchief Reduan Zafarga had four horses successively killed under him, theenemy were beaten back behind the intrenchments that covered the suburbs, and the Spaniards, hastily constructing a defence of palisades, pitchedtheir tents on the field of battle. [9]

The following morning Ferdinand had the mortification to observe, that theground was too much broken and obstructed with wood, to afford a suitableplace for a general encampment. To evacuate his position, however, in theface of the enemy, was a delicate manoeuvre, and must necessarily exposehim to severe loss. This he obviated, in a great measure, by a fortunatestratagem. He commanded the tents nearest the town to be left standing, and thus succeeded in drawing off the greater part of his forces, beforethe enemy was aware of his intention. 

After regaining his former position, a council of war was summoned todeliberate on the course next to be pursued. The chiefs were filled withdespondency, as they revolved the difficulties of their situation. Theyalmost despaired of enforcing the blockade of a place, whose peculiarsituation gave it such advantages. Even could this be effected, the campwould be exposed, they argued, to the assaults of a desperate garrison onthe one hand, and of the populous city of Guadix, hardly twenty milesdistant, on the other; while the good faith of Granada could scarcely beexpected to outlive a single reverse of fortune; so that, instead ofbesieging, they might be more properly regarded as themselves besieged. Inaddition to these evils, the winter frequently set in with much rigor inthis quarter; and the torrents, descending from the mountains, andmingling with the waters of the valley, might overwhelm the camp with aninundation, which, if it did not sweep it away at once, would expose it tothe perils of famine by cutting off all external communication. Underthese gloomy impressions, many of the council urged Ferdinand to break uphis position at once, and postpone all operations on Baza, until thereduction of the surrounding country should make it comparatively easy. Even the marquis of Cadiz gave in to this opinion; and Gutierre deCardenas, commander of Leon, a cavalier deservedly high in the confidenceof the king, was almost the only person of consideration decidedly opposedto it. In this perplexity, Ferdinand, as usual in similar exigencies, resolved to take counsel of the queen. [10]

Isabella received her husband's despatches a few hours after they werewritten, by means of the regular line of posts maintained between the campand her station at Jaen. She was filled with chagrin at their import, fromwhich she plainly saw, that all her mighty preparations were about tovanish into air. Without assuming the responsibility of deciding theproposed question, however, she besought her husband not to distrust theprovidence of God, which had conducted them through so many perils towardsthe consummation of their wishes. She reminded him, that the Moorishfortunes were never at so low an ebb as at present, and that their ownoperations could probably never be resumed on such a formidable scale orunder so favorable auspices as now, when their arms had not been stainedwith a single important reverse. She concluded with the assurance, that, if his soldiers would be true to their duty, they might rely on her forthe faithful discharge of hers in furnishing them with all the requisitesupplies. 

The exhilarating tone of this letter had an instantaneous effect, silencing the scruples of the most timid, and confirming the confidence ofthe others. The soldiers, in particular, who had received withdissatisfaction some intimation of what was passing in the council, welcomed it with general enthusiasm; and every heart seemed now intent onfurthering the wishes of their heroic queen by prosecuting the siege withthe utmost vigor. 

The army was accordingly distributed into two encampments; one under themarquis duke of Cadiz, supported by the artillery, the other under KingFerdinand on the opposite side of the city. Between the two lay the gardenor orchard before mentioned, extending a league in length; so that, inorder to connect the works of the two camps, it became necessary to getpossession of this contested ground, and to clear it of the heavy timberwith which it was covered. 

This laborious operation was intrusted to the commander of Leon, and thework was covered by a detachment of seven thousand troops, posted in sucha manner as to check the sallies of the garrison. Notwithstanding fourthousand _taladores_, or pioneers, were employed in the task, theforest was so dense, and the sorties from the city so annoying, that thework of devastation did not advance more than ten paces a day, and was notcompleted before the expiration of seven weeks. When the ancient groves, so long the ornament and protection of the city, were levelled to theground, preparations were made for connecting the two camps, by a deeptrench, through which the mountain waters were made to flow; while theborders were fortified with palisades, constructed of the timber latelyhewn, together with strong towers of mud or clay, arranged at regularintervals. In this manner, the investment of the city was complete on theside of the vega. [11]

As means of communication still remained open, however, by the oppositesierra, defences of similar strength, consisting of two stone wallsseparated by a deep trench, were made to run along the rocky heights andravines of the mountains until they touched the extremities of thefortifications on the plain; and thus Baza was encompassed by an unbrokenline 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, itwould 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 ingreat peril. Some feeble demonstration of such a movement was made atGuadix, but it was easily disconcerted. Indeed, El Zagal was kept in checkby the fear of leaving his own territory open to his rival, should hemarch against the Christians. Abdallah, in the mean while, lay inactive inGranada, incurring the odium and contempt of his people, who stigmatizedhim as a Christian in heart, and a pensioner of the Spanish sovereigns. Their discontent gradually swelled into a rebellion, which was suppressedby him with a severity, that at length induced a sullen acquiescence in arule, which, however inglorious, was at least attended with temporarysecurity. [12]

While the camp lay before Baza, a singular mission was received from thesultan of Egypt, who had been solicited by the Moors of Granada tointerpose in their behalf with the Spanish sovereigns. Two Franciscanfriars, members of a religious community in Palestine, were bearers ofdespatches; which, after remonstrating with the sovereigns on. Theirpersecution of the Moors, contrasted it with the protection uniformlyextended by the sultan to the Christians in his dominions. Thecommunication concluded with menacing a retaliation of similar severitieson these latter, unless the sovereigns desisted from their hostilitiestowards Granada. 

From the camp, the two ambassadors proceeded to Jaen, where they werereceived by the queen with all the deference due to their holy profession, which seemed to derive additional sanctity from the spot in which it wasexercised. The menacing import of the sultan's communication, however, hadno power to shake the purposes of Ferdinand and Isabella, who made answer, that they had uniformly observed the same policy in regard to theirMahometan, as to their Christian subjects; but that they could no longersubmit to see their ancient and rightful inheritance in the hands ofstrangers; and that, if these latter would consent to live under theirrule, as true and loyal subjects, they should experience the same paternalindulgence which had been shown to their brethren. With this answer thereverend emissaries returned to the Holy Land, accompanied by substantialmarks of the royal favor, in a yearly pension of one thousand ducats, which the queen settled in perpetuity on their monastery, together with arichly embroidered veil, the work of her own fair hands, to be suspendedover the Holy Sepulchre. The sovereigns subsequently despatched thelearned Peter Martyr as their envoy to the Moslem court, in order toexplain their proceedings more at length, and avert any disastrousconsequences from the Christian residents. [13]

In the mean while, the siege went forward with spirit; skirmishes andsingle rencontres taking place every day between the high-mettledcavaliers on both sides. These chivalrous combats, however, werediscouraged by Ferdinand, who would have confined his operations to strictblockade, and avoided the unnecessary effusion of blood; especially as theadvantage was most commonly on the side of the enemy, from the peculiaradaptation of their tactics to this desultory warfare. Although somemonths had elapsed, the besieged rejected with scorn every summons tosurrender; relying on their own resources, and still more on thetempestuous season of autumn, now fast advancing, which, if it did notbreak up the encampment at once, would at least, by demolishing the roads, cut off all external communication. 

In order to guard against these impending evils, Ferdinand caused morethan a thousand houses, or rather huts, to be erected, with walls of earthor clay, and roofs made of timber and tiles; while the common soldiersconstructed cabins by means of palisades loosely thatched with thebranches of trees. The whole work was accomplished in four days; and theinhabitants of Baza beheld with amazement a city of solid edifices, withall its streets and squares in regular order, springing as it were bymagic out of the ground, which had before been covered with the light andairy pavilions of the camp. The new city was well supplied, owing to theprovidence of the queen, not merely with the necessaries, but the luxuriesof life. Traders flocked there as to a fair, from Aragon, Valencia, Catalonia, and even Sicily, freighted with costly merchandise, and withjewelry and other articles of luxury; such as, in the indignant lament ofan old chronicler, "too often corrupt the souls of the soldiery, and bringwaste and dissipation into a camp. "

That this was not the result, however, in the present instance, isattested by more than one historian. Among others, Peter Martyr, theItalian scholar before mentioned, who was present at this siege, dwellswith astonishment on the severe decorum and military discipline, whicheverywhere obtained among this motley congregation of soldiers. "Who wouldhave believed, " says he, "that the Galician, the fierce Asturian, and therude inhabitant of the Pyrenees, men accustomed to deeds of atrociousviolence, and to brawl and battle on the lightest occasions at home, should mingle amicably, not only with one another, but with the Toledans, La-Manchans, and the wily and jealous Andalusian; all living together inharmonious subordination to authority, like members of one family, speaking one tongue, and nurtured under a common discipline; so that thecamp seemed like a community modelled on the principles of Plato'srepublic!" In another part of this letter, which was addressed to aMilanese prelate, he panegyrizes the camp hospital of the queen, then anovelty in war; which, he says, "is so profusely supplied with medicalattendants, apparatus, and whatever may contribute to the restoration orsolace of the sick, that it is scarcely surpassed in these respects by themagnificent establishments of Milan. " [14]

During the five months which the siege had now lasted, the weather hadproved uncommonly propitious to the Spaniards, being for the most part ofa bland and equal temperature, while the sultry heats of midsummer weremitigated by cool and moderate showers. As the autumnal season advanced, however, the clouds began to settle heavily around the mountains; and atlength one of those storms, predicted by the people of Baza, burst forthwith incredible fury, pouring a volume of waters down the rocky sides ofthe sierra, which, mingling with those of the vega, inundated the camp ofthe besiegers, and swept away most of the frail edifices constructed forthe use of the common soldiery. A still greater calamity befell them inthe dilapidation of the roads, which, broken up or worn into deep gulliesby the force of the waters, were rendered perfectly impassable. Allcommunication was of course suspended with Jaen, and a temporaryinterruption of the convoys filled the camp with consternation. Thisdisaster, however, was speedily repaired by the queen, who, with an energyalways equal to the occasion, caused six thousand pioneers to be at onceemployed 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 interruptingeach other. At the same time, the queen bought up immense quantities ofgrain from all parts of Andalusia, which she caused to be ground in herown mills; and, when the roads, which extended more than seven leagues inlength, were completed, fourteen thousand mules might be seen dailytraversing the sierra, laden with supplies, which from that time forwardwere poured abundantly, and with the most perfect regularity, into thecamp. [15]

Isabella's next care was to assemble new levies of troops, to relieve orreinforce those now in the camp; and the alacrity with which all orders ofmen from every quarter of the kingdom answered her summons is worthy ofremark. But her chief solicitude was to devise expedients for meeting theenormous expenditures incurred by the protracted operations of the year. For this purpose, she had recourse to loans from individuals and religiouscorporations, which were obtained without much difficulty, from thegeneral confidence in her good faith. As the sum thus raised, althoughexceedingly large for that period, proved inadequate to the expenses, further supplies were obtained from wealthy individuals, whose loans weresecured by mortgage of the royal demesne; and, as a deficiency stillremained in the treasury, the queen, as a last resource, pawned the crownjewels and her own personal ornaments to the merchants of Barcelona andValencia, for such sums as they were willing to advance on them. [16] Suchwere the efforts made by this high-spirited woman, for the furtherance ofher patriotic enterprise. The extraordinary results, which she was enabledto effect, are less to be ascribed to the authority of her station, thanto that perfect confidence in her wisdom and virtue, with which she hadinspired the whole nation, and which secured their earnest co-operation inall her undertakings. The empire, which she thus exercised, indeed, wasfar 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 vigor with which the siege was pressed, Baza made nodemonstration of submission. The garrison was indeed greatly reduced innumber; the ammunition was nearly expended; yet there still remainedabundant supplies of provisions in the town, and no signs of despondencyappeared among the people. Even the women of the place, with a spiritemulating that of the dames of ancient Carthage, freely gave up theirjewels, bracelets, necklaces, and other personal ornaments, of which theMoorish ladies were exceedingly fond, in order to defray the charges ofthe mercenaries. 

The camp of the besiegers, in the mean while, was also greatly wasted bothby sickness and the sword. Many, desponding under perils and fatigues, which seemed to have no end, would even at this late hour have abandonedthe siege; and they earnestly solicited the queen's appearance in thecamp, in the hope that she would herself countenance this measure, onwitnessing their sufferings. Others, and by far the larger part, anxiouslydesired the queen's visit, as likely to quicken the operations of thesiege, and bring it to a favorable issue. There seemed to be a virtue inher presence, which, on some account or other, made it earnestly desiredby all. 

Isabella yielded to the general wish, and on the 7th of November arrivedbefore the camp, attended by the infanta Isabella, the cardinal of Spain, her friend, the marchioness of Moya, and other ladies of the royalhousehold. The inhabitants of Baza, says Bernaldez, lined the battlementsand housetops, to gaze at the glittering cavalcade as it emerged from thedepths of the mountains, amidst flaunting banners and strains of martialmusic, while the Spanish cavaliers thronged forth in a body from the campto receive their beloved mistress, and gave her the most animated welcome. "She came, " says Martyr, "surrounded by a choir of nymphs, as if tocelebrate the nuptials of her child; and her presence seemed at once togladden and reanimate our spirits, drooping under long vigils, dangers, and fatigue. " Another writer, also present, remarks that, from the momentof her appearance, a change seemed to come over the scene. No more of thecruel skirmishes, which had before occurred every day; no report ofartillery, or clashing of arms, or any of the rude sounds of war, was tobe heard, but all seemed disposed to reconciliation and peace. [17]

The Moors probably interpreted Isabella's visit into an assurance, thatthe Christian army would never rise from before the place until itssurrender. Whatever hopes they had once entertained of wearying out thebesiegers, were therefore now dispelled. Accordingly, a few days after thequeen's arrival, we find them proposing a parley for arranging terms ofcapitulation. 

On the third day after her arrival, Isabella reviewed her army, stretchedout in order of battle along the slope of the western hills; after which, she proceeded to reconnoitre the beleaguered city, accompanied by the kingand the cardinal of Spain, together with a brilliant escort of the Spanishchivalry. On the same day, a conference was opened with the enemy throughthe _comendador_ of Leon; and an armistice arranged, to continue until theold monarch, El Zagal, who then lay at Guadix, could be informed of thereal 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 thegarrison was reduced by the loss of lives and the failure of ammunition. Still, he expressed such confidence in the spirit of his people, that heundertook to make good his defence some time longer, provided anyreasonable expectation of succor could be afforded; otherwise, it would bea mere waste of life, and must deprive him of such vantage ground as henow possessed, for enforcing an honorable capitulation. The Moslem princeacquiesced in the reasonableness of these representations. He paid a justtribute to his brave kinsman Cidi Yahye's loyalty, and the gallantry ofhis defence; but, confessing at the same time his own inability to relievehim, authorized him to negotiate the best terms of surrender which hecould, for himself and garrison. [18]

A mutual desire of terminating the protracted hostilities infused a spiritof moderation into both parties, which greatly facilitated the adjustmentof the articles. Ferdinand showed none of the arrogant bearing, whichmarked his conduct towards the unfortunate people of Malaga, whether froma conviction of its impolicy, or, as is more probable, because the city ofBaza was itself in a condition to assume a more imposing attitude. Theprincipal stipulations of the treaty were, that the foreign mercenariesemployed in the defence of the place should be allowed to march out withthe honors of war; that the city should be delivered up to the Christians;but that the natives might have the choice of retiring with their personaleffects where they listed; or of occupying the suburbs, as subjects of theCastilian crown, liable only to the same tribute which they paid to theirMoslem rulers, and secured in the enjoyment of their property, religion, laws, and usages. [19]

On the fourth day of December, 1489, Ferdinand and Isabella tookpossession of Baza, at the head of their legions, amid the ringing ofbells, the peals of artillery, and all the other usual accompaniments ofthis triumphant ceremony; while the standard of the Cross, floating fromthe ancient battlements of the city, proclaimed the triumph of theChristian arms. The brave alcayde, Cidi Yahye, experienced a receptionfrom the sovereigns very different from that of the bold defender ofMalaga. He was loaded with civilities and presents; and these acts ofcourtesy so won upon his heart, that he expressed a willingness to enterinto their service. "Isabella's compliments, " says the Arabian historian, dryly, "were repaid in more substantial coin. "

Cidi Yahye was soon prevailed on to visit his royal kinsman El Zagal, atGuadix, for the purpose of urging his submission to the Christiansovereigns. In his interview with that prince, he represented thefruitlessness of any attempt to withstand the accumulated forces of theSpanish monarchies; that he would only see town after town pared away fromhis territory, until no ground was left for him to stand on, and maketerms with the victor. He reminded him, that the baleful horoscope ofAbdallah had predicted the downfall of Granada, and that experience hadabundantly shown how vain it was to struggle against the tide of destiny. The unfortunate monarch listened, says the Arabian annalist, without somuch as moving an eyelid; and, after a long and deep meditation, repliedwith the resignation characteristic of the Moslems, "What Allah wills, hebrings 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 thenarranged, that the principal cities of Almeria, Guadix, and theirdependencies, constituting the domain of El Zagal, should be formallysurrendered by that prince to Ferdinand and Isabella, who should instantlyproceed at the head of their army to take possession of them. [20]

On the seventh day of December, therefore, the Spanish sovereigns, withoutallowing themselves or their jaded troops any time for repose, marched outof the gates of Baza, King Ferdinand occupying the centre, and the queenthe rear of the army. Their route lay across the most savage district ofthe long sierra, which stretches towards Almeria; leading through many anarrow pass, which a handful of resolute Moors, says an eye-witness, mighthave made good against the whole Christian army, over mountains whosepeaks were lost in clouds, and valleys whose depths were never warmed by asun. The winds were exceedingly bleak, and the weather inclement, so thatmen, as well as horses, exhausted by the fatigues of previous service, were benumbed by the intense cold, and many of them frozen to death. Manymore, losing their way in the intricacies of the sierra, would haveexperienced the same miserable fate, had it not been for the marquis ofCadiz, whose tent was pitched on one of the loftiest hills, and who causedbeacon fires to be lighted around it, in order to guide the stragglersback to their quarters. 

At no great distance from Almeria, Ferdinand was met, conformably to theprevious arrangement, by El Zagal, escorted by a numerous body of Moslemcavaliers. Ferdinand commanded his nobles to ride forward and receive theMoorish prince. "His appearance, " says Martyr, who was in the royalretinue, "touched my soul with compassion; for, although a lawlessbarbarian, he was a king, and had given signal proofs of heroism. " ElZagal, without waiting to receive the courtesies of the Spanish nobles, threw himself from his horse, and advanced towards Ferdinand with thedesign of kissing his hand; but the latter, rebuking his followers fortheir "rusticity, " in allowing such an act of humiliation in theunfortunate monarch, prevailed on him to remount, and then rode by hisside towards Almeria. [21]

This city was one of the most precious jewels in the diadem of Granada. Ithad amassed great wealth by its extensive commerce with Syria, Egypt, andAfrica; and its corsairs had for ages been the terror of the Catalan andPisan marine. It might have stood a siege as long as that of Baza, but itwas now surrendered without a blow, on conditions similar to those grantedto the former city. After allowing some days for the refreshment of theirwearied forces in this pleasant region, which, sheltered from the bleakwinds of the north by the sierra they had lately traversed, and fanned bythe gentle breezes of the Mediterranean, is compared by Martyr to thegardens of the Hesperides, the sovereigns established a strong garrisonthere, under the commander of Leon, and then, striking again into therecesses of the mountains, marched on Guadix, which, after some oppositionon the part of the populace, threw open its gates to them. The surrenderof these principal cities was followed by that of all the subordinatedependencies belonging to El Zagal's territory, comprehending a multitudeof hamlets scattered along the green sides of the mountain chain thatstretched from Granada to the coast. To all these places the same liberalterms, in regard to personal rights and property, were secured, as toBaza. 

As an equivalent for these broad domains, the Moorish chief was placed inpossession of the _taha_, or district, of Andaraz, the vale of Alhaurin, and half the salt-pits of Maleha, together with a considerable revenue inmoney. He was, moreover, to receive the title of King of Andaraz, and torender homage for his estates to the crown of Castile. 

This shadow of royalty could not long amuse the mind of the unfortunateprince. He pined away amid the scenes of his ancient empire; and, afterexperiencing some insubordination on the part of his new vassals, hedetermined to relinquish his petty principality, and withdraw for everfrom his native land. Having received a large sum of money, as anindemnification for the entire cession of his territorial rights andpossessions to the Castilian crown, he passed over to Africa, where, it isreported, he was plundered of his property by the barbarians, andcondemned to starve out the remainder of his days in miserable indigence. [22]

The suspicious circumstances attending this prince's accession to thethrone throw a dark cloud over his fame, which would otherwise seem, atleast as far as his public life is concerned, to be unstained by anyopprobrious act. He possessed such energy, talent, and military science, as, had he been fortunate enough to unite the Moorish nation under him byan undisputed title, might have postponed the fall of Granada for manyyears. As it was, these very talents, by dividing the state in his favor, 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 thepermanence of their conquests, returned with the remainder to Jaen, wherethey disbanded the army on the 4th of January, 1490. The losses sustainedby the troops, during the whole period of their prolonged service, greatlyexceeded those of any former year, amounting to not less than twentythousand men, by far the larger portion of whom are said to have fallenvictims to diseases incident to severe and long-continued hardships andexposure. [23]

Thus terminated the eighth year of the war of Granada, a year moreglorious to the Christian arms, and more important in its results, thanany of the preceding. During this period, an army of eighty thousand menhad kept the field, amid all the inclemencies of winter, for more thanseven months; an effort scarcely paralleled in these times, when both theamount of levies, and period of service, were on the limited scale adaptedto the exigencies of feudal warfare. [24] Supplies for this immense host, notwithstanding the severe famine of the preceding year, were punctuallyfurnished, in spite of every embarrassment presented by the want ofnavigable rivers, and the interposition of a precipitous and pathlesssierra. 

The history of this campaign is, indeed, most honorable to the courage, constancy, and thorough discipline of the Spanish soldier, and to thepatriotism and general resources of the nation; but most of all toIsabella. She it was, who fortified the timid councils of the leaders, after the disasters of the garden, and encouraged them to persevere in thesiege. She procured all the supplies, constructed the roads, took chargeof the sick, and furnished, at no little personal sacrifice, the immensesums demanded for carrying on the war; and when at last the hearts of thesoldiers were fainting under long-protracted sufferings, she appearedamong them, like some celestial visitant, to cheer their falteringspirits, and inspire them with her own energy. The attachment to Isabellaseemed to be a pervading principle, which animated the whole nation by onecommon impulse, impressing a unity of design on all its movements. Thisattachment was imputable to her sex as well as character. The sympathy andtender care, with which she regarded her people, naturally raised areciprocal sentiment in their bosoms. But when they beheld her directingtheir counsels, sharing their fatigues and dangers, and displaying all thecomprehensive intellectual powers of the other sex, they looked up to heras to some superior being, with feelings far more exalted than those ofmere loyalty. The chivalrous heart of the Spaniard did homage to her, asto his tutelar saint; and she held a control over her people, such as noman could have acquired in any age, --and probably no woman, in an age andcountry less romantic. 

 * * * * *

Pietro Martire, or, as he is called in English, Peter Martyr, so oftenquoted in the present chapter, and who will constitute one of our bestauthorities during the remainder of the history, was a native of Arona(not of Anghiera, as commonly supposed), a place situated on the bordersof Lake Maggiore in Italy. (Mazzuchelli, Scrittori d'ltalia, (Brescia, 1753-63, ) tom. Ii. _voce_ Anghiera. ) He was of noble Milanese extraction. In 1477, at twenty-two years of age, he was sent to complete his educationat Rome, where he continued ten years, and formed an intimacy with themost distinguished literary characters of that cultivated capital. In1487, he was persuaded by the Castilian ambassador, the count of Tendilla, to accompany him to Spain, where he was received with marked distinctionby the queen, who would have at once engaged him in the tuition of theyoung nobility of the court, but, Martyr having expressed a preference ofa military life, she, with her usual delicacy, declined to press him onthe point. He was present, as we have seen, at the siege of Baza, andcontinued with the army during the subsequent campaigns of the Moorishwar. Many passages of his correspondence, at this period, show a whimsicalmixture of self-complacency with a consciousness of the ludicrous figurewhich he made in "exchanging the Muses for Mars. "

At the close of the war, he entered the ecclesiastical profession, forwhich he had been originally destined, and was persuaded to resume hisliterary vocation. He opened his school at Valladolid, Saragossa, Barcelona, Alcalá de Henares, and other places; and it was thronged withthe principal young nobility from all parts of Spain, who, as he boasts inone of his letters, drew their literary nourishment from him. "Suxeruntmea literalia ubera Castellae principes fere omnes. " His importantservices were fully estimated by the queen, and, after her death, byFerdinand and Charles V. , and he was recompensed with high ecclesiasticalpreferment as well as civil dignities. He died about the year 1525, at theage of seventy, and his remains were interred beneath a monument in thecathedral 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 thepurpose of deprecating the retaliation with which he had menaced theChristian residents in Palestine, for the injuries inflicted on theSpanish Moslems. Peter Martyr conducted his negotiation with such address, that he not only appeased the sultan's resentment, but obtained severalimportant immunities for his Christian subjects, in addition to thosepreviously enjoyed by them. 

He also wrote an account of the discoveries of the New World, entitled "DeRebus Oceanicis et Novo Orbe, " (Coloniae, 1574, ) a book largely consultedand commended by subsequent historians. But the work of principal value inour researches is his "Opus Epistolarum, " being a collection of hismultifarious correspondence with the most considerable persons of histime, whether in political or literary life. The letters are in Latin, andextend from the year 1488 to the time of his death. Although notconspicuous for elegance of diction, they are most valuable to thehistorian, from the fidelity and general accuracy of the details, as wellas for the intelligent criticism in which they abound, for all which, uncommon facilities were afforded by the writer's intimacy with theleading actors, and the most recondite sources of information of theperiod. 

This high character is fully authorized by the judgments of those bestqualified to pronounce on their merits, --Martyr's own contemporaries. Among these, Dr. Galindez de Carbajal, a counsellor of King Ferdinand, andconstantly employed in the highest concerns of state, commends theseepistles as "the work of a learned and upright man, well calculated tothrow light on the transactions of the period. " (Anales, MS. , prólogo. )Alvaro Gomez, another contemporary who survived Martyr, in the Life ofXimenes, which he was selected to write by the University of Alcalá, declares, that "Martyr's Letters abundantly compensate by their fidelityfor the unpolished style in which they are written. " (De Rebus Gestis, fol. 6. ) And John de Vergara, a name of the highest celebrity in theliterary annals of the period, expresses himself in the following emphaticterms. "I know no record of the time more accurate and valuable. I myselfhave often witnessed the promptness with which he put down things themoment they occurred. I have sometimes seen him write one or two letters, while they were setting the table. For, as he did not pay much attentionto style and mere finish of expression, his composition required butlittle time, and experienced no interruption from his ordinaryavocations. " (See his letter to Florian de Ocampo, apud Quintanilla yMendoza, Archetypo de Virtudes, Espejo de Prelados, el Venerable Padre ySiervo de Dios, F. Francisco Ximenez de Cisneros, (Palermo, 1653, )Archivo, p. 4. ) This account of the precipitate manner in which theepistles were composed, may help to explain the cause of the occasionalinconsistencies and anachronisms, that are to be found in them; and whichtheir author, had he been more patient of the labor of revision, woulddoubtless have corrected. But he seems to have had little relish for this, even in his more elaborate works, composed with a view to publication. (See his own honest confessions in his book "De Rebus Oceanicis, " dec. 8, cap. 8, 9. ) After all, the errors, such as they are, in his Epistles, mayprobably be chiefly charged on the publisher. The first edition appearedat Alcalá de Henares, in 1530, about four years after the author's death. It has now become exceedingly rare. The second and last, being the oneused in the present History, came out in a more beautiful form from theElzevir press, Amsterdam, in 1670, folio. Of this also but a small numberof copies were struck off. The learned editor takes much credit to himselffor having purified the work from many errors, which had flowed from theheedlessness of his predecessor. It will not be difficult to detectseveral yet remaining. Such, for example, as a memorable letter on the_lues venerea_, (No. 68, ) obviously misplaced, even according to itsown date; and that numbered 168, in which two letters are evidentlyblended into one. But it is unnecessary to multiply examples. --It is verydesirable, that an edition of this valuable correspondence should bepublished, under the care of some one qualified to illustrate it by hisintimacy with the history of the period, as well as to correct the variousinaccuracies which have crept into it, whether through the carelessness ofthe author or of his editors. 

I have been led into this length of remark by some strictures which met myeye in the recent work of Mr. Hallam; who intimates his belief, that theEpistles of Martyr, instead of being written at their respective dates, were produced by him at some later period; (Introduction to the Literatureof Europe, (London, 1837, ) vol. I. Pp. 439-441;) a conclusion which Isuspect this acute and candid critic would have been slow to adopt, had heperused the correspondence in connection with the history of the times, orweighed the unqualified testimony borne by contemporaries to its minuteaccuracy. 

FOOTNOTES

[1] Zurita, Anales, tom. Iv. Fol. 351, 352, 356. --Mariana, Hist. DeEspaña, tom. Ii. Lib. 25, cap. 12. --Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, part. 3, cap. 95. 

[2] Ferreras, Hist. D'Espagne, tom. Viii. P. 76. --Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 98. --Zuñiga, Annales de Sevilla, p. 402. --Cardonne, Hist. D'Afriqueet d'Espagne, tom. Iii. Pp. 298, 299. --Carbajal, Anales, MS. , año 1488. 

[3] Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. Iii. Pp. 239, 240. --Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 100, 101. --During the preceding year, while thecourt was at Murcia, we find one of the examples of prompt and severeexercise of justice, which sometimes occur in this reign. One of the royalcollectors having been resisted and personally maltreated by the alcaydeof Salvatierra, a place belonging to the crown, and by the alcalde of aterritorial court of the duke of Alva, the queen caused one of the royaljudges privately to enter into the place, and take cognizance of theaffair. The latter, after a brief investigation, commanded the alcayde tobe hung up over his fortress, and the alcalde to be delivered over to thecourt of chancery at Valladolid, who ordered his right hand to beamputated, and banished him the realm. This summary justice was perhapsnecessary in a community, that might be said to be in transition from astate of barbarism to that of civilization, and had a salutary effect inproving to the people that no rank was elevated enough to raise theoffender above the law. Pulgar, cap. 99. 

[4] Ialigny, Hist. De Charles VIII. , pp. 92, 94. --Sismondi, Hist. DesFrançais, tom. Xv. P. 77. --Aleson, Annales de Navarra, tom. V. P. 61. --Histoire du Royaume de Navarre, pp. 578, 579. --Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 102. 

In the first of these expeditions, more than a thousand Spaniards wereslain or taken at the disastrous battle of St. Aubin, in 1488, being thesame in which Lord Rivers, the English noble, who made such a gallantfigure at the siege of Loja, lost his life. In the spring of 1489, thelevies sent into France amounted to two thousand in number. These effortsabroad, simultaneous with the great operations of the Moorish war, showthe resources as well as energy of the sovereigns. 

[5] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, ubi supra. 

[6] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 91. --Zurita, Anales, tom. Iv. Fol. 354. --Bleda, Corónica, fol. 607. --Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. Ii. Fol. 307. 

Such was the scarcity of grain that the prices in 1489, quoted byBernaldez, are double those of the preceding year. --Both Abarca and Zuritamention the report, that four-fifths of the whole population were sweptaway by the pestilence of 1488. Zurita finds more difficulty in swallowingthis monstrous statement than Father Abarca, whose appetite for themarvellous appears to have been fully equal to that of most of his callingin Spain. 

[7] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist. , lib. 2, epist. 70. --Pulgar, ReyesCatólicos, cap. 104. 

It may not be amiss to specify the names of the most distinguishedcavaliers who usually attended the king in these Moorish wars; the heroicancestors of many a noble house still extant in Spain. 

 Alonso de Cardenas, master of Saint Jago. Juan de Zuñiga, master of Alcantara. Juan Garcia de Padilla, master of Calatrava. Rodrigo Ponce de Leon, marquis duke of Cadiz. Enrique de Guzman, duke of Medina Sidonia. Pedro Manrique, duke of Najera. Juan Pacheco, duke of Escalona, marquis of Villena. Juan Pimentel, count of Benavente. Fadrique de Toledo, son of the duke of Alva. Diego Fernandez de Cordova, count of Cabra. Gomez Alvarez de Figueroa, count of Feria. Alvaro Tellez Giron, count of Ureña. Juan de Silva, count of Cifuentes. Fadrique Enriquez, adelantado of Andalusia. Alonso Fernandez de Cordova, lord of Aguilar. Gonsalvo de Cordova, brother of the last, known afterwards as the Great Captain. Luis Porto-Carrero, lord of Palma. Gutierre de Cardenas, first commander of Leon. Pedro Fernandez de Velasco, count of Haro, constable of Castile. Beltran de la Cueva, duke of Albuquerque. Diego Fernandez de Cordova, alcayde of the royal pages, afterwards marquis of Comaras. Alvaro de Zuñiga, duke of Bejar. Iñigo Lopez de Mendoza, count of Tendilla, afterwards marquis of Mondejar. Luis de Cerda, duke of Medina Celi. Iñigo Lopez de Mendoza, marquis of Santillana, second duke of Infantado. Garcilasso de la Vega, lord of Batras. 

[8] Zurita, Anales, tom. Iv. Fol. 360. --Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. Iii. P. 241. --Peter Martyr, Opus Epist. , lib. 2, epist. 70. --Estrada, Poblacion de España, tom. Ii. Fol. 239. --Marmol, Rebelion de Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 16. 

[9] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 106, 107. --Conde, Dominacion de losArabes, tom. Iii. Cap. 40. --Peter Martyr, Opus Epist. , epist. 71. Pulgarrelates these particulars with a perspicuity very different from hisentangled narrative of some of the preceding operations in this war. Bothhe and Martyr were present during the whole siege of Baza. 

[10] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 92. --Cardonne, Hist. D'Afriqueet d'Espagne, tom. Iii. Pp. 299, 300. --Bleda, Corónica, p. 611. --Garibay, Compendio, tom. Ii. P. 664. 

Don Gutierre de Cardenas, who possessed so high a place in the confidenceof the sovereigns, occupied a station in the queen's household, as we haveseen, at the time of her marriage with Ferdinand. His discretion andgeneral ability enabled him to retain the influence which he had earlyacquired, as is shown by a popular distich of that time. 

 "Cardenas, y el Cardenal, y Chacon, y Fray Mortero, Traen la Corte al retortero. "

Fray Mortero was Don Alonso de Burgos, bishop of Palencia, confessor ofthe sovereigns. Don Juan Chacon was the son of Gonsalvo, who had the careof Don Alfonso and the queen during her minority, when he was induced bythe liberal largesses of John II. , of Aragon, to promote her marriage withhis son Ferdinand. The elder Chacon was treated by the sovereigns with thegreatest deference and respect, being usually called by them "father. "After his death, they continued to manifest a similar regard towards DonJuan, his eldest son, and heir of his ample honors and estates. Salazar deMendoza, Dignidades, lib. 4, cap. 1. --Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS. , bat. 1, quinc. 2, dial. 1, 2. 

[11] Cardonne, Hist. D'Afrique et d'Espagne, tom. Iii. P. 304. --Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 109. --Peter Martyr, Opus Epist. , lib. 2, epist. 73. --Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 92. 

[12] Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. Iii. Cap. 40. --Mariana, Hist. De España, tom. Ii. Lib. 25, cap. 12. --Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 111. 

[13] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 112. --Ferreras, Hist. D'Espagne, tom. Viii. P. 86. 

[14] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. --Peter Martyr, Opus Epist. , lib. 2, epist. 73, 80. --Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 113, 114, 117. --Garibay, Compendio, tom. Ii. P. 667. --Bleda, Corónica, p. 64. 

The plague, which fell heavily this year on some parts of Andalusia, doesnot appear to have attacked the camp, which Bleda imputes to the healinginfluence of the Spanish sovereigns, "whose good faith, religion, andvirtue banished the contagion from their army, where it must otherwisehave prevailed. " Personal comforts and cleanliness of the soldiers, thoughnot quite so miraculous a cause, may be considered perhaps full asefficacious. 

[15] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist. , lib. 2, epist. 73. --Pulgar, ReyesCatólicos, cap. 116. 

[16] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 118. --Archivo de Simancas, in Mem. Dela Acad. De Hist. , tom. Vi. P. 311. 

The city of Valencia lent 35, 000 florins on the crown and 20, 000 on acollar of rubies. They were not wholly redeemed till 1495. Señor Clemencinhas given a catalogue of the royal jewels, (see Mem. De la Acad. De Hist. , tom. Vi. Ilustracion 6, ) which appear to have been extremely rich andnumerous, for a period anterior to the discovery of those countries, whosemines have since furnished Europe with its _bijouterie_. Isabella, however, set so little value on them, that she divested herself of most ofthem in favor of her daughters. 

[17] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 92. --Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 120, 121. --Ferreras, Hist. D'Espagne, tom. Viii. P. 93. --PeterMartyr, Opus Epist. , lib. 3, epist. 80. 

[18] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist. , lib. 3, epist. 80. --Conde, Dominacion delos Arabes, tom. Iii. P. 242. --Carbajal, Anales, MS. , año 1489. --Cardonne, Hist. D'Afrique et d'Espagne, tom. Iii. P. 305. 

[19] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 124. --Marmol, Rebelion de Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 16. 

[20] Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. Iii. Cap. 40. --Bleda, Corónica, p. 612. --Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 92. --Marmol, Rebelion deMoriscos, lib. 1, cap. 16. 

[21] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist. , lib. 3, epist. 81. --Cardonne, Hist. D'Afrique et d'Espagne, tom. Iii. P. 340. --Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, loc. Cit. --Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. Iii. Cap. 40. 

[22] El Nubiense, Descripcion de España, p. 160, not. --Carbajal, Anales, MS. , año 1488. --Cardonne, Hist. D'Afrique et d'Espagne, tom. Iii. P. 304. --Peter Martyr, Opus Epist. , lib. 3, epist. 81. --Conde, Dominacion de losArabes, tom. Iii. Pp. 245, 246. --Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 93. 

[23] Zurita, Anales, tom. Iv. Fol. 360. --Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. Ii. Fol. 308. 

[24] The city of Seville alone maintained 600 horse and 8000 foot underthe count of Cifuentes, for the space of eight months during this siege. See Zuñiga, Annales de Sevilla, p. 404. 

CHAPTER XV. 

WAR OF GRANADA. --SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF THE CITY OF GRANADA. 

1490-1492. 

The Infanta Isabella Affianced to the Prince of Portugal. --IsabellaDeposes Judges at Valladolid. --Encampment before Granada. --The QueenSurveys the City. --Moslem and Christian Chivalry. --Conflagration of theChristian Camp. --Erection of Santa Fe. --Capitulation of Granada. --Resultsof the War. --Its Moral Influence. --Its Military Influence. --Fate of theMoors. --Death and Character of the Marquis of Cadiz. 

In the spring of 1490, ambassadors arrived from Lisbon for the purpose ofcarrying into effect the treaty of marriage, which had been arrangedbetween Alonso, heir of the Portuguese monarchy, and Isabella, infanta ofCastile. An alliance with this kingdom, which from its contiguitypossessed such ready means of annoyance to Castile, and which had shownsuch willingness to employ them in enforcing the pretensions of JoannaBeltraneja, was an object of importance to Ferdinand and Isabella. Noinferior consideration could have reconciled the queen to a separationfrom this beloved daughter, her eldest child, whose gentle and uncommonlyamiable disposition seems to have endeared her beyond their other childrento her parents. 

The ceremony of the affiancing took place at Seville, in the month ofApril, Don Fernando de Silveira appearing as the representative of theprince of Portugal; and it was followed by a succession of splendid_fêtes_ and tourneys. Lists were enclosed, at some distance from thecity on the shores of the Guadalquivir, and surrounded with galleries hungwith silk and cloth of gold, and protected from the noontide heat bycanopies or awnings richly embroidered with the armorial bearings of theancient houses of Castile. The spectacle was graced by all the rank andbeauty of the court, with the infanta Isabella in the midst, attended byseventy noble ladies, and a hundred pages of the royal household. Thecavaliers of Spain, young and old, thronged to the tournament, as eager towin laurels on the mimic theatre of war, in the presence of so brilliantan assemblage, as they had shown themselves in the sterner contests withthe Moors. King Ferdinand, who broke several lances on the occasion, wasamong the most distinguished of the combatants for personal dexterity andhorsemanship. The martial exercises of the day were relieved by the moreeffeminate recreations of dancing and music in the evening; and every oneseemed willing to welcome the season of hilarity, after the long-protracted fatigues of war. [1]

In the following autumn, the infanta was escorted into Portugal by thecardinal of Spain, the grand master of St. James, and a numerous andmagnificent retinue. Her dowry exceeded that usually assigned to theinfantas of Castile, by five hundred marks of gold and a thousand ofsilver; and her wardrobe was estimated at one hundred and twenty thousandgold florins. The contemporary chroniclers dwell with much complacency onthese evidences of the stateliness and splendor of the Castilian court. Unfortunately, these fair auspices were destined to be clouded too soon bythe 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 atLoja, which guaranteed this, on the capitulation of Baza, Almeria, andGuadix. That time had now arrived; King Abdallah, however, excused himselffrom obeying the summons of the Spanish sovereigns; replying that he wasno longer his own master, and that, although he had all the inclination tokeep his engagements, he was prevented by the inhabitants of the city, nowswollen much beyond its natural population, who resolutely insisted on itsdefence. [3]

It is not probable that the Moorish king did any great violence to hisfeelings, in this evasion of a promise extorted from him in captivity. Atleast, it would seem so from the hostile movements which immediatelysucceeded. The people of Granada resumed all at once their ancientactivity, foraying into the Christian territories, surprising Alhendin andsome other places of less importance, and stirring up the spirit of revoltin Guadix and other conquered cities. Granada, which had slept through theheat of the struggle, seemed to revive at the very moment when exertionbecame hopeless. 

Ferdinand was not slow in retaliating these acts of aggression. In thespring of 1490, he marched with a strong force into the cultivated plainof Granada, sweeping off, as usual, the crops and cattle, and rolling thetide of devastation up to the very walls of the city. In this campaign heconferred the honor of knighthood on his son, prince John, then onlytwelve years of age, whom he had brought with him, after the ancient usageof the Castilian nobles, of training up their children from very tenderyears in the Moorish wars. The ceremony was performed on the banks of thegrand canal, under the battlements almost of the beleaguered city. Thedukes of Cadiz and Medina Sidonia were prince John's sponsors; and, afterthe completion of the ceremony, the new knight conferred the honors ofchivalry in like manner on several of his young companions in arms. [4]

In the following autumn, Ferdinand repeated his ravages in the vega, and, at the same time appearing before the disaffected city of Guadix with aforce large enough to awe it into submission, proposed an immediateinvestigation of the conspiracy. He promised to inflict summary justice onall who had been in any degree concerned in it; at the same time offeringpermission to the inhabitants, in the abundance of his clemency, to departwith all their personal effects wherever they would, provided they shouldprefer this to a judicial investigation of their conduct. This politicproffer had its effect. There were few, if any, of the citizens who hadnot been either directly concerned in the conspiracy, or privy to it. Withone accord, therefore, they preferred exile to trusting to the tendermercies of their judges. In this way, says the Curate of Los Palacios, bythe mystery of our Lord, was the ancient city of Guadix brought againwithin the Christian fold; the mosques converted into Christian temples, filled with the harmonies of Catholic worship, and the pleasant places, which for nearly eight centuries had been trampled under the foot of theinfidel, were once more restored to the followers of the Cross. 

A similar policy produced similar results in the cities of Almeria andBaza, whose inhabitants, evacuating their ancient homes, transportedthemselves, with such personal effects as they could carry, to the city ofGranada, or the coast of Africa. The space thus opened by the fugitivepopulation was quickly filled by the rushing tide of Spaniards. [5]

It is impossible at this day to contemplate these events with thetriumphant swell of exultation, with which they are recorded bycontemporary chroniclers. That the Moors were guilty (though not sogenerally as pretended) of the alleged conspiracy, is not in itselfimprobable, and is corroborated indeed by the Arabic statements. But thepunishment was altogether disproportionate to the offence. Justice mightsurely have been satisfied by a selection of the authors and principalagents of the meditated insurrection;--for no overt act appears to haveoccurred. But avarice was too strong for justice; and this act, which isin perfect conformity to the policy systematically pursued by the Spanishcrown for more than a century afterwards, may be considered as one of thefirst links in the long chain of persecution, which terminated in theexpulsion of the Moriscoes. 

During the following year, 1491, a circumstance occurred illustrative ofthe policy of the present government in reference to ecclesiasticalmatters. The chancery of Valladolid having appealed to the pope in a casecoming within its own exclusive jurisdiction, the queen commanded Alonsode Valdivieso, bishop of Leon, the president of the court, together withall the auditors, to be removed from their respective offices, which shedelivered to a new board, having the bishop of Oviedo at its head. This isone among many examples of the constancy with which Isabella, notwithstanding her reverence for religion, and respect for its ministers, refused to compromise the national independence by recognizing in anydegree the usurpations of Rome. From this dignified attitude, so oftenabandoned by her successors, she never swerved for a moment during thecourse of her long reign. [6]

The winter of 1490 was busily occupied with preparations for the closingcampaign against Granada. Ferdinand took command of the army in the monthof April, 1491, with the purpose of sitting down before the Moorishcapital, not to rise until its final surrender. The troops, which musteredin the Val de Velillos, are computed by most historians at fifty thousandhorse and foot, although Martyr, who served as a volunteer, swells thenumber to eighty thousand. They were drawn from the different cities, chiefly, as usual, from Andalusia, which had been stimulated to trulygigantic efforts throughout this protracted war, [7] and from the nobilityof every quarter, many of whom, wearied out with the contest, contentedthemselves with sending their quotas, while many others, as the marquisesof Cadiz, Villena, the counts of Tendilla, Cabra, Ureña, and Alonso deAguilar, appeared in person, eager, as they had borne the brunt of so manyhard campaigns, to share in the closing scene of triumph. 

On the 26th of the month, the army encamped near the fountain of Ojos deHuescar, in the vega, about two leagues distant from Granada. Ferdinand'sfirst movement was to detach a considerable force, under the marquis ofVillena, which he subsequently supported in person with the remainder ofthe army, for the purpose of scouring the fruitful regions of theAlpuxarras, which served as the granary of the capital. This service wasperformed with such unsparing rigor, that no less than twenty-four townsand hamlets in the mountains were ransacked, and razed to the ground. After this, Ferdinand returned loaded with spoil to his former position onthe banks of the Xenil, in full view of the Moorish metropolis, whichseemed 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 stillformidable from its local position and its defences. On the east it wasfenced in by a wild mountain barrier, the _Sierra Nevada_, whose snow-cladsummits diffused a grateful coolness over the city through the sultryheats of summer. The side towards the vega, facing the Christianencampment, was encircled by walls and towers of massive strength andsolidity. The population, swelled to two hundred thousand by theimmigration from the surrounding country, was likely, indeed, to be aburden in a protracted siege; but among them were twenty thousand, theflower of the Moslem chivalry, who had escaped the edge of the Christiansword. In front of the city, for an extent of nearly ten leagues, layunrolled 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 floridstrains of the Arabian minstrel, and which still bloomed luxuriant, notwithstanding the repeated ravages of the preceding season. [8]

The inhabitants of Granada were filled with indignation at the sight oftheir enemy, thus encamped under the shadow, as it were, of theirbattlements. They sallied forth in small bodies, or singly, challengingthe Spaniards to equal encounter. Numerous were the combats which tookplace between the high-mettled cavaliers on both sides, who met on thelevel arena, as on a tilting-ground, where they might display theirprowess in the presence of the assembled beauty and chivalry of theirrespective nations; for the Spanish camp was graced, as usual, by thepresence of Queen Isabella and the infantas, with the courtly train ofladies who had accompanied their royal mistress from Alcalá la Real. TheSpanish 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 adying glory round the last hours of Granada. [9]

The festivity, which reigned throughout the camp on the arrival ofIsabella, did not divert her attention from the stern business of war. Shesuperintended the military preparations, and personally inspected everypart of the encampment. She appeared on the field superbly mounted, anddressed in complete armor; and, as she visited the different quarters andreviewed her troops, she administered words of commendation or sympathy, suited to the condition of the soldier. [10]

On one occasion, she expressed a desire to take a nearer survey of thecity. For this purpose, a house was selected, affording the best point ofview, in the little village of Zubia, at no great distance from Granada. The king and queen stationed themselves before a window, which commandedan unbroken prospect of the Alhambra, and the most beautiful quarter ofthe town. In the mean while, a considerable force, under the marquis dukeof Cadiz, had been ordered, for the protection of the royal persons, totake up a position between the village and the city of Granada, withstrict injunctions on no account to engage the enemy, as Isabella wasunwilling to stain the pleasures of the day with unnecessary effusion ofblood. 

The people of Granada, however, were too impatient long to endure thepresence, and, as they deemed it, the bravado of their enemy. They burstforth from the gates of the capital, dragging along with them severalpieces of ordnance, and commenced a brisk assault on the Spanish lines. The latter sustained the shock with firmness, till the marquis of Cadiz, seeing them thrown into some disorder, found it necessary to assume theoffensive, and, mustering his followers around him, made one of thosedesperate charges, which had so often broken the enemy. The Moorishcavalry faltered; but might have disputed the ground, had it not been forthe infantry, which, composed of the rabble population of the city, waseasily thrown into confusion, and hurried the horse along with it. Therout 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 theenemy were slain and taken in the engagement, which lasted only a shorttime; and the slaughter was stopped only by the escape of the fugitiveswithin the walls of the city. [11]

About the middle of July, an accident occurred in the camp, which had liketo have been attended with fatal consequences. The queen was lodged in asuperb pavilion, belonging to the marquis of Cadiz, and always used by himin the Moorish war. By the carelessness of one of her attendants, a lampwas placed in such a situation, that, during the night, perhaps owing to agust of wind, it set fire to the drapery or loose hangings of thepavilion, which was instantly in a blaze. The flame communicated withfearful rapidity to the neighboring tents, made of light, combustiblematerials, and the camp was menaced with general conflagration. Thisoccurred at the dead of night, when all but the sentinels were buried insleep. The queen and her children, whose apartments were near hers, werein great peril, and escaped with difficulty, though fortunately withoutinjury. The alarm soon spread. The trumpets sounded to arms, for it wassupposed to be some night attack of the enemy. Ferdinand, snatching up hisarms hastily, put himself at the head of his troops; but, soonascertaining the nature of the disaster, contented himself with postingthe marquis of Cadiz, with a strong body of horse, over against the city, in order to repel any sally from that quarter. None, however, wasattempted, and the fire was at length extinguished without personalinjury, though not without loss of much valuable property, in jewels, plate, brocade, and other costly decorations of the tents of the nobility. [12]

In order to guard against a similar disaster, as well as to providecomfortable winter quarters for the army, should the siege be so longprotracted as to require it, it was resolved to build a town ofsubstantial edifices on the place of the present encampment. The plan wasimmediately put in execution. The work was distributed in due proportionsamong the troops of the several cities and of the great nobility; thesoldier was on a sudden converted into an artisan, and, instead of war, the camp echoed with the sounds of peaceful labor. 

In less than three months, this stupendous task was accomplished. The spotso recently occupied by light, fluttering pavilions, was thickly coveredwith solid structures of stone and mortar, comprehending, besidesdwelling-houses, stables for a thousand horses. The town was thrown into aquadrangular form, traversed by two spacious avenues, intersecting eachother at right angles in the centre, in the form of a cross, with statelyportals at each of the four extremities. Inscriptions on blocks of marblein the various quarters, recorded the respective shares of the severalcities in the execution of the work. When it was completed, the whole armywas desirous that the new city should bear the name of their illustriousqueen, but Isabella modestly declined this tribute, and bestowed on theplace the title of _Santa Fe_, in token of the unshaken trust, manifestedby her people throughout this war, in Divine Providence. With this name itstill stands as it was erected in 1491, a monument of the constancy andenduring patience of the Spaniards, "the only city in Spain, " in the wordsof a Castilian writer, "that has never been contaminated by the Moslemheresy. " [13]

The erection of Santa Fe by the Spaniards struck a greater damp into thepeople of Granada, than the most successful military achievement couldhave done. They beheld the enemy setting foot on their soil, with aresolution never more to resign it. They already began to suffer from therigorous blockade, which effectually excluded supplies from their ownterritories, while all communication with Africa was jealouslyintercepted. Symptoms of insubordination had begun to show themselvesamong the overgrown population of the city, as it felt more and more thepressure of famine. In this crisis, the unfortunate Abdallah and hisprincipal counsellors became convinced, that the place could not bemaintained much longer; and at length, in the month of October, propositions were made through the vizier Abul Cazim Abdelmalic, to open anegotiation for the surrender of the place. The affair was to be conductedwith the utmost caution; since the people of Granada, notwithstandingtheir precarious condition, and their disquietude, were buoyed up byindefinite expectations of relief from Africa, or some other quarter. 

The Spanish sovereigns intrusted the negotiation to their secretaryFernando de Zafra, and to Gonsalvo de Cordova, the latter of whom wasselected for this delicate business, from his uncommon address, and hisfamiliarity with the Moorish habits and language. Thus the capitulation ofGranada was referred to the man, who acquired in her long wars themilitary science, which enabled him, at a later period, to foil the mostdistinguished generals of Europe. 

The conferences were conducted by night with the utmost secrecy, sometimeswithin the walls of Granada, and at others, in the little hamlet ofChurriana, about a league distant from it. At length, after largediscussion on both sides, the terms of capitulation were definitivelysettled, and ratified by the respective monarchs on the 25th of November, 1491. [14]

The conditions were of similar, though somewhat more liberal import, thanthose granted to Baza. The inhabitants of Granada were to retainpossession of their mosques, with the free exercise of their religion, with all its peculiar rites and ceremonies; they were to be judged bytheir own laws, under their own cadis or magistrates, subject to thegeneral control of the Castilian governor; they were to be unmolested intheir ancient usages, manners, language, and dress; to be protected in thefull enjoyment of their property, with the right of disposing of it ontheir own account, and of migrating when and where they would; and to befurnished with vessels for the conveyance of such as chose within threeyears to pass into Africa. No heavier taxes were to be imposed than thosecustomarily paid to their Arabian sovereigns, and none whatever before theexpiration of three years. King Abdallah was to reign over a specifiedterritory in the Alpuxarras, for which he was to do homage to theCastilian crown. The artillery and the fortifications were to be deliveredinto the hands of the Christians, and the city was to be surrendered insixty days from the date of the capitulation. Such were the principalterms of the surrender of Granada, as authenticated by the most accreditedCastilian and Arabian authorities; which I have stated the more precisely, as affording the best data for estimating the extent of Spanish perfidy inlater times. [15]

The conferences could not be conducted so secretly, but that some reportof them got air among the populace of the city, who now regarded Abdallahwith an evil eye for his connection with the Christians. When the fact ofthe capitulation became known, the agitation speedily mounted into an openinsurrection, which menaced the safety of the city, as well as ofAbdallah's person. In this alarming state of things, it was thought bestby that monarch's counsellors, to anticipate the appointed day ofsurrender; and the 2d of January, 1492, was accordingly fixed on for thatpurpose. 

Every preparation was made by the Spaniards for performing this last actof the drama with suitable pomp and effect. The mourning which the courthad put on for the death of Prince Alonso of Portugal, occasioned by afall from his horse a few months after his marriage with the infantaIsabella, was exchanged for gay and magnificent apparel. On the morning ofthe 2d, the whole Christian camp exhibited a scene of the most animatingbustle. The grand cardinal Mendoza was sent forward at the head of a largedetachment, comprehending his household troops, and the veteran infantrygrown grey in the Moorish wars, to occupy the Alhambra preparatory to theentrance of the sovereigns. [16] Ferdinand stationed himself at somedistance in the rear, near an Arabian mosque, since consecrated as thehermitage of St. Sebastian. He was surrounded by his courtiers, with theirstately retinues, glittering in gorgeous panoply, and proudly displayingthe armorial bearings of their ancient houses. The queen halted stillfarther in the rear, at the village of Armilla. [17]

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 onthe banks of the Xenil. As the Moor approached the Spanish king, he wouldhave thrown himself from his horse, and saluted his hand in token ofhomage, but Ferdinand hastily prevented him, embracing him with every markof sympathy and regard. Abdallah then delivered up the keys of theAlhambra to his conqueror, saying, "They are thine, O king, since Allah sodecrees it; use thy success with clemency and moderation. " Ferdinand wouldhave uttered some words of consolation to the unfortunate prince, but hemoved forward with dejected air to the spot occupied by Isabella, and, after similar acts of obeisance, passed on to join his family, who hadpreceded him with his most valuable effects on the route to theAlpuxarras. [18]

The sovereigns during this time waited with impatience the signal of theoccupation of the city by the cardinal's troops, which, winding slowlyalong the outer circuit of the walls, as previously arranged, in order tospare the feelings of the citizens as far as possible, entered by what isnow called the gate of Los Molinos. In a short time, the large silvercross, borne by Ferdinand throughout the crusade, was seen sparkling inthe sunbeams, while the standards of Castile and St. Jago wavedtriumphantly from the red towers of the Alhambra. At this gloriousspectacle, the choir of the royal chapel broke forth into the solemnanthem 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 lastand glorious triumph of the Cross. [19] The grandees who surroundedFerdinand then advanced towards the queen, and kneeling down saluted herhand in token of homage to her as sovereign of Granada. The processiontook up its march towards the city, "the king and queen moving in themidst, " says an historian, "emblazoned with royal magnificence; and, asthey were in the prime of life, and had now achieved the completion ofthis glorious conquest, they seemed to represent even more than theirwonted majesty. Equal with each other, they were raised far above the restof the world. They appeared, indeed, more than mortal, and as if sent byHeaven for the salvation of Spain. " [20]

In the mean while the Moorish king, traversing the route of theAlpuxarras, reached a rocky eminence which commanded a last view ofGranada. He checked his horse, and, as his eye for the last time wanderedover the scenes of his departed greatness, his heart swelled, and he burstinto tears. "You do well, " said his more masculine mother, "to weep like awoman, for what you could not defend like a man!" "Alas!" exclaimed theunhappy exile, "when were woes ever equal to mine!" The scene of thisevent 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 farewellof the princely abodes of his youth, is commemorated by the poetical titleof _El Ultimo Sospiro del Moro_, "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 Alpuxarras, under the shadow, asit were, of his ancient palaces. In the following year, he passed over toFez with his family, having commuted his petty sovereignty for aconsiderable sum of money paid him by Ferdinand and Isabella, and soonafter fell in battle in the service of an African prince, his kinsman. "Wretched man, " exclaims a caustic chronicler of his nation, "who couldlose his life in another's cause, though he did not dare to die in hisown. Such, " continues the Arabian, with characteristic resignation, "wasthe immutable decree of destiny. Blessed be Allah, who exalteth anddebaseth the kings of the earth, according to his divine will, in whosefulfilment consists that eternal justice, which regulates all humanaffairs. " The portal, through which King Abdallah for the last time issuedfrom his capital, was at his request walled up, that none other mightagain pass through it. In this condition it remains to this day, amemorial of the sad destiny of the last of the kings of Granada. [21]

The fall of Granada excited general sensation throughout Christendom, where it was received as counterbalancing, in a manner, the loss ofConstantinople, nearly half a century before. At Rome, the event wascommemorated by a solemn procession of the pope and cardinals to St. Peter's, where high mass was celebrated, and the public rejoicingcontinued for several days. [22] The intelligence was welcomed with noless satisfaction in England, where Henry the Seventh was seated on thethrone. The circumstances attending it, as related by Lord Bacon, will notbe devoid of interest for the reader. [23]

Thus ended the war of Granada, which is often compared by the Castilianchroniclers to that of Troy in its duration, and which certainly fullyequalled the latter in variety of picturesque and romantic incidents, andin circumstances of poetical interest. With the surrender of its capital, terminated the Arabian empire in the Peninsula, after an existence ofseven 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, hithertoheld by a people, whose difference of religion, language, and generalhabits, made them not only incapable of assimilating with their Christianneighbors, but almost their natural enemies; while their local positionwas a matter of just concern, as interposed between the great divisions ofthe Spanish monarchy, and opening an obvious avenue to invasion fromAfrica. By the new conquest, moreover, the Spaniards gained a large extentof country, possessing the highest capacities for production, in itsnatural fruitfulness of soil, temperature of climate, and in the state ofcultivation to which it had been brought by its ancient occupants; whileits shores were lined with commodious havens, that afforded every facilityfor commerce. The scattered fragments of the ancient Visigothic empirewere now again, with the exception of the little state of Navarre, combined into one great monarchy, as originally destined by nature; andChristian Spain gradually rose by means of her new acquisitions from asubordinate situation, to the level of a first-rate European power. 

The moral influence of the Moorish war, its influence on the Spanishcharacter, was highly important. The inhabitants of the great divisions ofthe country, as in most countries during the feudal ages, had been broughttoo frequently into collision with each other to allow the existence of apervading national feeling. This was particularly the case in Spain, whereindependent states insensibly grew out of the detached fragments ofterritory recovered at different times from the Moorish monarchy. The warof Granada subjected all the various sections of the country to one commonaction, under the influence of common motives of the most excitinginterest; while it brought them in conflict with a race, the extremerepugnance of whose institutions and character to their own, servedgreatly to nourish the nationality of sentiment. In this way, the spark ofpatriotism was kindled throughout the whole nation, and the most distantprovinces of the Peninsula were knit together by a bond of union, whichhas remained indissoluble. 

The consequences of these wars in a military aspect are also worthy ofnotice. Up to this period, war had been carried on by irregular levies, extremely limited in numerical amount and in period of service; underlittle subordination, except to their own immediate chiefs, and whollyunprovided with the apparatus required for extended operations. TheSpaniards were even lower than most of the European nations in militaryscience, as is apparent from the infinite pains of Isabella to availherself of all foreign resources for their improvement. In the war ofGranada, masses of men were brought together, far greater than hadhitherto been known in modern warfare. They were kept in the field notonly through long campaigns, but far into the winter; a thing altogetherunprecedented. They were made to act in concert, and the numerous pettychiefs brought in complete subjection to one common head, whose personalcharacter enforced the authority of station. Lastly, they were suppliedwith all the requisite munitions, through the providence of Isabella, whointroduced into the service the most skilful engineers from othercountries, and kept in pay bodies of mercenaries, as the Swiss forexample, reputed the best disciplined troops of that day. In thisadmirable school, the Spanish soldier was gradually trained to patientendurance, fortitude, and thorough subordination; and those celebratedcaptains were formed, with that invincible infantry, which in thebeginning of the sixteenth century spread the military fame of theircountry over all Christendom. 

But, with all our sympathy for the conquerors, it is impossible, without adeep feeling of regret, to contemplate the decay and final extinction of arace, who had made such high advances in civilization as the SpanishArabs; to see them driven from the stately palaces reared by their ownhands, wandering as exiles over the lands, which still blossomed with thefruits of their industry, and wasting away under persecution, until theirvery name as a nation was blotted out from the map of history. [24] Itmust be admitted, however, that they had long since reached their utmostlimit of advancement as a people. The light shed over their history shinesfrom distant ages; for, during the later period of their existence, theyappear to have reposed in a state of torpid, luxurious indulgence, whichwould seem to argue, that, when causes of external excitement werewithdrawn, the inherent vices of their social institutions hadincapacitated them for the further production of excellence. In thisimpotent condition, it was wisely ordered, that their territory should beoccupied by a people, whose religion and more liberal form of government, however frequently misunderstood or perverted, qualified them foradvancing still higher the interests of humanity. 

It will not be amiss to terminate the narrative of the war of Granada withsome 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, havingstruck the first stroke by the surprise of Alhama, and witnessed everycampaign till the surrender of Granada. A circumstantial account of hislast moments is afforded by the pen of his worthy countryman, theAndalusian Curate of Los Palacios. The gallant marquis survived the closeof the war only a short time, terminating his days at his mansion inSeville, on the 28th of August, 1492, with a disorder brought on byfatigue and incessant exposure. He had reached the forty-ninth year of hisage, and, although twice married, left no legitimate issue. In his person, he was of about the middle stature, of a compact, symmetrical frame, afair complexion, with light hair inclining to red. He was an excellenthorseman, and well skilled indeed in most of the exercises of chivalry. Hehad 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. [25]

He was strict in his observance of the Catholic worship, punctilious inkeeping all the church festivals and in enforcing their observancethroughout his domains; and, in war, he was a most devout champion of theVirgin. He was ambitious of acquisitions, but lavish of expenditure, especially in the embellishment and fortification of his towns andcastles; spending on Alcalá de Guadaira, Xerez, and Alanis, the enormoussum of seventeen million maravedies. To the ladies he was courteous, asbecame a true knight. At his death, the king and queen with the wholecourt went into mourning; "for he was a much-loved cavalier, " says theCurate, "and was esteemed, like the Cid, both by friend and foe; and noMoor durst abide in that quarter of the field where his banner wasdisplayed. "

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 hisbattles, was borne in solemn procession by night through the streets ofthe city, which was everywhere filled with the deepest lamentation; andwas finally deposited in the great chapel of the Augustine church, in thetomb of his ancestors. Ten Moorish banners, which he had taken in battlewith the infidel, before the war of Granada, were borne along at hisfuneral, "and still wave over his sepulchre, " says Bernaldez, "keepingalive the memory of his exploits, as undying as his soul. " The bannershave long since mouldered into dust; the very tomb which contained hisashes has been sacrilegiously demolished; but the fame of the hero willsurvive as long as anything like respect for valor, courtesy, unblemishedhonor, or any other attribute of chivalry, shall be found in Spain. [26]

 * * * * *

One of the chief authorities on which the account of the Moorish warrests, is Andres Bernaldez, Curate of Los Palacios. He was a native ofFuente in Leon, and appears to have received his early education under thecare of his grandfather, a notary of that place, whose commendations of ajuvenile essay in historical writing led him later in life, according tohis own account, to record the events of his time in the extended andregular form of a chronicle. After admission to orders, he was madechaplain to Deza, archbishop of Seville, and curate of Los Palacios, anAndalusian town not far from Seville, where he discharged hisecclesiastical functions with credit, from 1488 to 1513, at which time, aswe find no later mention of him, he probably closed his life with hislabors. Bernaldez had ample opportunities for accurate informationrelative to the Moorish war, since he lived, as it were, in the theatre ofaction, and was personally intimate with the most considerable men ofAndalusia, especially the marquis of Cadiz, whom he has made the Achillesof his epic, assigning him a much more important part in the principaltransactions, than is always warranted by other authorities. His Chronicleis just such as might have been anticipated from a person of livelyimagination, and competent scholarship for the time, deeply dyed with thebigotry and superstition of the Spanish clergy in that century. There isno great discrimination apparent in the work of the worthy curate, whodwells with goggle-eyed credulity on the most absurd marvels, and expendsmore pages on an empty court show, than on the most important schemes ofpolicy. But if he is no philosopher, he has, perhaps for that very reason, succeeded in making us completely master of the popular feelings andprejudices of the time; while he gives a most vivid portraiture of theprincipal scenes and actors in this stirring war, with all theirchivalrous exploit, and rich theatrical accompaniment. His credulity andfanaticism, moreover, are well compensated by a simplicity and loyalty ofpurpose, which secure much more credit to his narrative than attaches tothose of more ambitious writers, whose judgment is perpetually swayed bypersonal or party interests. The chronicle descends as late as 1513, although, as might be expected from the author's character, it is entitledto much less confidence in the discussion of events which fell without thescope of his personal observation. Notwithstanding its historical value isfully recognized by the Castilian critics, it has never been admitted tothe press, but still remains ingulfed in the ocean of manuscripts, withwhich the Spanish libraries are deluged. 

It is remarkable that the war of Granada, which is so admirably suited inall its circumstances to poetical purposes, should not have been morefrequently commemorated by the epic muse. The only successful attempt inthis way, with which I am acquainted, is the "Conquisto di Granata, " bythe Florentine Girolamo Gratiani, Modena, 1650. The author has taken thelicense, independently of his machinery, of deviating very freely from thehistoric track; among other things, introducing Columbus and the GreatCaptain as principal actors in the drama, in which they played at most buta very subordinate part. The poem, which swells into twenty-six cantos, isin such repute with the Italian critics, that Quadrio does not hesitate torank it "among the best epical productions of the age. " A translation ofthis 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 superseded all further necessity for poetry, and, unfortunately forme, for history. He has fully availed himself of all the picturesque andanimating movements of this romantic era; and the reader who will take thetrouble to compare his Chronicle with the present more prosaic and literalnarrative, will see how little he has been seduced from historic accuracyby the poetical aspect of his subject. The fictitious and romantic dressof his work has enabled him to make it the medium for reflecting morevividly the floating opinions and chimerical fancies of the age, while hehas illuminated the picture with the dramatic brilliancy of coloringdenied to sober history. 

FOOTNOTES

[1] Carbajal, Anales, MS. , año 1490. --Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 95. --Zuñiga, Annales de Sevilla, pp. 404, 405. --Pulgar, ReyesCatólicos, part. 3, cap. 127. --La Clède, Hist. De Portugal, tom. Iv. P. 19. --Faria y Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, tom. Ii. P. 452. 

[2] Faria y Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, tom. Ii. Pp. 452-456. --Florez, Reynas Cathólicas, p. 845. --Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 129. --Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS. , bat. 1, quinc. 2, dial. 3. 

[3] Conde, Domination de los Arabes, tom. Iii. Cap. 41. --Bernaldez, ReyesCatólicos, MS. , cap. 90. 

Neither the Arabic nor Castilian authorities impeach the justice of thesummons made by the Spanish sovereigns. I do not, however, find any otherfoundation for the obligation imputed to Abdallah in them, than thatmonarch's agreement during his captivity at Loja, in 1486, to surrenderhis capital in exchange for Guadix, provided the latter should beconquered within six months. Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, p. 275. --Garibay, Compendio, tom. Iv. P. 418. 

[4] L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 176. --Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 130. --Zurita, Anales, tom. Iv. Cap. 85. --Cardonne, Hist. D'Afrique etd'Espagne, tom. Iii. P. 309. 

[5] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 131, 132. --Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 97. --Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. Iii. Cap. 41. --PeterMartyr, Opus Epist. , lib. 3, epist. 84. --Garibay, Compendio, tom. Iv. P. 424. --Cardonne, Hist. D'Afrique et d'Espagne, tom. Iii. Pp. 309, 310. 

[6] Carbajal, Anales, MS. , año 1491. 

[7] According to Zuñiga, the quota furnished by Seville this seasonamounted to 6000 foot and 500 horse, who were recruited by freshreinforcements no less than five times during the campaign. Annales deSevilla, p. 406. --See also Col. De Cédulas, tom. Iii. No. 3. 

[8] Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. Iii. Cap. 42. --Bernaldez, ReyesCatólicos, MS. , cap. 100. --Peter Martyr, Opus Epist. , lib. 3, epist. 89. --Marmol, Rebelion de Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 18. --L. Marineo, CosasMemorables, fol. 177. 

Martyr remarks, that the Genoese merchants, "voyagers to every clime, declare this to be the largest fortified city in the world. " Casiri hascollected a body of interesting particulars respecting the wealth, population, and social habits of Granada, from various Arabic authorities. Bibliotheca Escurialensis, tom. Ii. Pp. 247-260. 

The French work of Laborde, Voyage Pittoresque, (Paris, 1807, ) and theEnglish one of Murphy, Engravings of Arabian Antiquities of Spain, (London, 1816, ) do ample justice in their finished designs to the generaltopography and architectural magnificence of Granada. 

[9] On one occasion, a Christian knight having discomfited with a handfulof men a much superior body of Moslem chivalry, King Abdallah testifiedhis admiration of his prowess by sending him on the following day amagnificent present, together with his own sword superbly mounted. (Mem. De la Acad. De Hist. , tom. Vi. P. 178. ) The Moorish ballad beginning

 "Al Rey Chico de Granada"

describes the panic occasioned in the city by the Christian encampment onthe Xenil. 

 "For ese fresco Genil 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 Hey don Fernando, la qual tiene tanto esfuerzo que anima a qualquier soldado. "

[10] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 101. 

[11] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 101. --Conde, Dominacion de losArabes, tom. Iii. Cap. 42. --Peter Martyr, Opus Epist. , lib. 4, epist. 90. --Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 133. --Zurita, Anales, tom. Iv. Cap. 88. 

Isabella afterwards caused a Franciscan monastery to be built incommemoration of this event at Zubia, where, according to Mr. Irving, thehouse from which she witnessed the action is to be seen at the presentday. See Conquest of Granada, chap. 90, note. 

[12] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist. , lib. 4, epist. 91. --Bernaldez, ReyesCatólicos, MS. , cap. 101. --Garibay, Compendio, tom. Ii. P. 673. --Bleda, Corónica, p. 619. --Marmol, Rebelion de Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 18. 

[13] Estrada, Poblacion de España, tom. Ii. Pp. 344, 348. --Peter Martyr, Opus Epist. , lib. 4, epist. 91. --Marmol, Rebelion de Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 18. 

Hyta, who embellishes his florid prose with occasional extracts from thebeautiful ballad poetry of Spain, gives one commemorating the erection ofSanta Fe. 

 "Cercada esta Santa Fe con mucho lienzo encerado al rededor muchas tiendas de seda, oro, y brocado. 

 "Donde estan Duques, y Condes, Señores de gran estado, " etc. 

Guerras de Granada, p. 515. 

[14] Pedraza, Antiguedad de Granada, fol. 74. --Giovio, De Vita Gonsalvi, apud Vitae Illust. Virorum, pp. 211, 212. --Salazar de Mendoza, Crón. DelGran Cardenal, p. 236. --Cardonne, Hist. D'Afrique et d'Espagne, tom. Iii. Pp. 316, 317. --Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. Iii. Cap. 42. --L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 178. --Marmol, however, assigns the date inthe text to a separate capitulation respecting Abdallah, dating that madein behalf of the city three days later. (Rebelion de Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 19. ) This author has given the articles of the treaty with greaterfulness and precision than any other Spanish historian. 

[15] Marmol, Rebelion de Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 19. --Conde, Dominacion delos Arabes, tom. Iii. Cap. 42. --Zurita, Anales, tom. Ii. Cap. 90. --Cardonne, Hist. D'Afrique et d'Espagne, tom. Iii. Pp. 317, 318. --Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS. , bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 28. Martyr adds, that theprincipal Moorish nobility were to remove from the city. (Opus Epist. , lib. 4, epist. 92. ) Pedraza, who has devoted a volume to the history ofGranada, does not seem to think the capitulations worth specifying. Mostof the modern Castilians pass very lightly over them. They furnish toobitter a comment on the conduct of subsequent Spanish monarchs. Marmol andthe judicious Zurita agree in every substantial particular with Conde, andthis coincidence may be considered as establishing the actual terms of thetreaty. 

[16] Oviedo, whose narrative exhibits many discrepancies with those ofother contemporaries, assigns this part to the count of Tendilla, thefirst captain-general of Granada. Quincuagenas, MS. , bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 28. But, as this writer, though an eye-witness, was but thirteen orfourteen years of age at the time of the capture, and wrote some sixtyyears later from his early recollections, his authority cannot beconsidered of equal weight with that of persons who, like Martyr, described events as they were passing before them. 

[17] Pedraza, Antiguedad de Granada, fol. 75. --Salazar de Mendoza, Crón. Del Gran Cardenal, p. 238. --Zurita, Anales, tom. Iv. Cap. 90. --PeterMartyr, Opus Epist. , lib. 4, epist. 92. --Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. Ii. Fol. 309. --Marmol, Rebelion de Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 20. 

[18] Marmol, Rebelion de Moriscos, ubi supra. --Conde, Dominacion de losArabes, tom. Iii. Cap. 43. --Pedraza, Antiguedad de Granada, fol. 76. --Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 102. --Zurita, Anales, tom. Iv. Cap. 90. --Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS. , bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 28. 

[19] Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS. , ubi supra. --One is reminded of Tasso'sdescription of the somewhat similar feelings exhibited by the crusaders ontheir entrance into Jerusalem. 

 "Ecco apparir Gerusalem si vede, Ecco additar Gerusalem si scorge; Ecco da mille voci unitamente Gerusalemme salutar si sente. 

 * * * * *

 "Al gran placer che quella prima vista Dolcemente spirò nell' altruì petto, Alta contrizion successe, mista Di timoroso e riverente affetto, Osano appena d'innalzar la vista Ver la città. "

Gerusalemme Liberata, --Cant. Iii. St. 3, 5. 

[20] Mariana, Hist. De España tom. Ii. P. 597. --Pedraza, Antiguedad deGranada, fol. 76. --Carbajal, Anales, MS. , año 1492. --Conde, Dominacion delos Arabes, tom. Iii. Cap. 43. --Bleda, Corónica, pp. 621, 622. --Zurita, Anales, tom. Iv. Cap. 90. --Marmol, Rebelion de Moriscos, lib. I. Cap. 20. --L. Marineo, and indeed most of the Spanish authorities, represent thesovereigns as having postponed their entrance into the city until the 5thor 6th of January. A letter transcribed by Pedraza, addressed by the queento the prior of Guadalupe, one of her council, dated from the city ofGranada on the 2d of January, 1492, shows the inaccuracy of thisstatement. See folio 76. 

In Mr. Lockhart's picturesque version of the Moorish ballads, the readermay find an animated description of the triumphant entry of the Christianarmy into Granada. 

 "There was crying in Granada when the sun was going 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 they display; One king comes in in triumph, one weeping goes away. "

[21] Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. Iii. Cap. 90. --Cardonne, Hist. D'Afrique et d'Espagne, tom. Ii. Pp. 319, 320. --Garibay, Compendio, tom. Iv. Lib. 40, cap. 42. --Marmol, Rebelion de Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 20. 

Mr. Irving, in his beautiful Spanish Sketch-book, "The Alhambra, " devotesa chapter to mementos of Boabdil, in which he traces minutely the route ofthe deposed monarch after quitting the gates of his capital. The sameauthor, in the Appendix to his Chronicle of Granada, concludes a notice ofAbdallah's fate with the following description of his person. "A portraitof Boabdil el Chico is to be seen in the picture gallery of theGeneralife. He is represented with a mild, handsome face, a faircomplexion, and yellow hair. His dress is of yellow brocade, relieved withblack velvet; and he has a black velvet cap, surmounted with a crown. Inthe armory of Madrid are two suits of armor said to have belonged to him, one of solid steel, with very little ornament; the morion closed. From theproportions of these suits of armor, he must have been of full stature andvigorous form. " Note, p. 398. 

[22] Senarega, Commentarii de Rebus Genuensibus, apud Muratori, RerumItalicarum Scriptores, (Mediolani, 1723-51, ) tom. Xxiv. P. 531. --It formedthe subject of a theatrical representation before the court at Naples, inthe same year. This drama, or _Farsa_, as it is called by itsdistinguished author, Sannazaro, is an allegorical medley, in which Faith, Joy, and the false prophet Mahomet play the principal parts. Thedifficulty of a precise classification of this piece, has given rise towarmer discussion among Italian critics, than the subject may be thoughtto warrant. See Signorelli, Vicende della Coltura nelle due Sicilie, (Napoli, 1810, ) tom. Iii. Pp. 543 et seq. 

[23] "Somewhat about this time, came letters from Ferdinando and Isabella, king and queen of Spain; signifying the final conquest of Granada from theMoors; which action, in itself so worthy, King Ferdinando, whose mannerwas, never to lose any virtue for the showing, had expressed and displayedin his letters, at large, with all the particularities and religiouspunctos and ceremonies, that were observed in the reception of that cityand kingdom; showing amongst other things, that the king would not by anymeans in person enter the city until he had first aloof seen the Cross setup upon the greater tower of Granada, whereby it became Christian ground. That likewise, before he would enter, he did homage to God above, pronouncing by an herald from the height of that tower, that he didacknowledge to have recovered that kingdom by the help of God Almighty, and the glorious Virgin, and the virtuous apostle St. James, and the holyfather Innocent VIII. , together with the aids and services of hisprelates, nobles, and commons. That yet he stirred not from his camp, tillhe had seen a little army of martyrs, to the number of seven hundred andmore Christians, that had lived in bonds and servitude, as slaves to theMoors, pass before his eyes, singing a psalm for their redemption; andthat he had given tribute unto God, by alms and relief extended to themall, for his admission into the city. These things were in the letters, with many more ceremonies of a kind of holy ostentation. 

"The king, ever willing to put himself into the consort or quire of allreligious actions, and naturally affecting much the king of Spain, as faras one king can affect another, partly for his virtues, and partly for acounterpoise to France; upon the receipt of these letters, sent all hisnobles and prelates that were about the court, together with the mayor andaldermen of London, in great solemnity to the church of Paul; there tohear a declaration from the lord chancellor, now cardinal. When they wereassembled, the cardinal, standing upon the uppermost step, or halfpace, before the quire, and all the nobles, prelates, and governors of the cityat the foot of the stairs, made a speech to them; letting them know thatthey were assembled in that consecrated place to sing unto God a new song. For that, said he, these many years the Christians have not gained newground or territory upon the infidels, nor enlarged and set farther thebounds of the Christian world. But this is now done by the prowess anddevotion of Ferdinando and Isabella, kings of Spain; who have, to theirimmortal honor, recovered the great and rich kingdom of Granada, and thepopulous and mighty city of the same name from the Moors, having been inpossession thereof by the space of seven hundred years, and more; forwhich this assembly and all Christians are to render laud and thanks toGod, and to celebrate this noble act of the king of Spain; who in this isnot only victorious but apostolical, in the gaining of new provinces tothe Christian faith. And the rather for that this victory and conquest isobtained without much effusion of blood. Whereby it is to be hoped, thatthere shall be gained not only new territory, but infinite souls to theChurch of Christ, whom the Almighty, as it seems, would have live to beconverted. Herewithal he did relate some of the most memorable particularsof the war and victory. And, after his speech ended, the whole assemblywent solemnly in procession, and Te Deum was sung. " Lord Bacon, History ofthe Reign of King Henry VII. , in his Works, (ed. London, 1819, ) vol. V. Pp. 85, 86. --See also Hall, Chronicle, p. 453. 

[24] The African descendants of the Spanish Moors, unable wholly torelinquish the hope of restoration to the delicious abodes of theirancestors, continued for many generations, and perhaps still continue, toput up a petition to that effect in their mosques every Friday. Pedraza, Antiguedad de Granada, fol. 7. 

[25] Carbajal, Anales, MS. , año 1492. 

Don Henrique de Guzman, duke of Medina Sidonia, the ancient enemy, and, since the commencement of the Moorish war, the firm friend of the marquisof Cadiz, died the 28th of August, on the same day with the latter. 

[26] Zuñiga, Annales de Sevilla, p. 411. --Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 104. 

The marquis left three illegitimate daughters by a noble Spanish lady, whoall formed high connections. He was succeeded in his titles and estates, by the permission of Ferdinand and Isabella, by Don Rodrigo Ponce de Leon, the son of his eldest daughter, who had married with one of her kinsmen. Cadiz was subsequently annexed by the Spanish sovereigns to the crown, from which it had been detached in Henry IV. 's time, and considerableestates were given as an equivalent, together with the title of Duke ofArcos, to the family of Ponce de Leon. 

CHAPTER XVI. 

APPLICATION OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS AT THE SPANISH COURT. 

1492. 

Early Discoveries of the Portuguese. --Of the Spaniards. --Columbus. --HisApplication at the Castilian Court. --Rejected. --Negotiations Resumed. --Favorable Disposition of the Queen. --Arrangement with Columbus. --He Sailson his First Voyage. --Indifference to the Enterprise. --Acknowledgments dueto Isabella. 

While Ferdinand and Isabella were at Santa Fe, the capitulation wassigned, that opened the way to an extent of empire, compared with whichtheir recent conquests, and indeed all their present dominions, wereinsignificant. The extraordinary intellectual activity of the Europeans inthe fifteenth century, after the torpor of ages, carried them forward tohigh advancement in almost every department of science, but especiallynautical, whose surprising results have acquired for the age, the glory ofbeing designated as peculiarly that of maritime discovery. This waseminently favored by the political condition of modern Europe. Under theRoman empire, the traffic with the east naturally centred in Rome, thecommercial capital of the west. After the dismemberment of the empire, itcontinued to be conducted principally through the channel of the Italianports, whence it was diffused over the remoter regions of Christendom. Butthese countries, which had now risen from the rank of subordinateprovinces to that of separate independent states, viewed with jealousythis monopoly of the Italian cities, by means of which these latter wererapidly advancing beyond them in power and opulence. This was especiallythe case with Portugal and Castile, [1] which, placed on the remotefrontiers of the European continent, were far removed from the greatroutes of Asiatic intercourse; while this disadvantage was not compensatedby such an extent of territory, as secured consideration to some other ofthe European states, equally unfavorably situated for commercial purposeswith themselves. Thus circumstanced, the two nations of Castile andPortugal were naturally led to turn their eyes on the great ocean whichwashed their western borders, and to seek in its hitherto unexploredrecesses for new domains, and if possible strike out some undiscoveredtrack towards the opulent regions of the east. 

The spirit of maritime enterprise was fomented, and greatly facilitated inits operation, by the invention of the astrolabe, and the importantdiscovery of the polarity of the magnet, whose first application to thepurposes of navigation on an extended scale may be referred to thefifteenth century. [2] The Portuguese were the first to enter on thebrilliant path of nautical discovery, which they pursued under the infantDon Henry with such activity, that, before the middle of the fifteenthcentury, they had penetrated as far as Cape de Verd, doubling many afearful headland, which had shut in the timid navigator of former days;until at length, in 1486, they descried the lofty promontory whichterminates Africa on the south, and which, hailed by King John the Second, under whom it was discovered, as the harbinger of the long-sought passageto the east, received the cheering appellation of the Cape of Good Hope. 

The Spaniards, in the mean while, did not languish in the career ofmaritime enterprise. Certain adventurers from the northern provinces ofBiscay and Guipuscoa, in 1393, had made themselves masters of one of thesmallest of the group of islands, supposed to be the Fortunate Isles ofthe ancients, since known as the Canaries. Other private adventurers fromSeville extended their conquests over these islands in the beginning ofthe following century. These were completed in behalf of the crown underFerdinand and Isabella, who equipped several fleets for their reduction, which at length terminated in 1495 with that of Teneriffe. [3] From thecommencement of their reign, Ferdinand and Isabella had shown an earnestsolicitude for the encouragement of commerce and nautical science, as isevinced by a variety of regulations which, however imperfect, from themisconception of the true principles of trade in that day, aresufficiently indicative of the dispositions of the government. [4] Underthem, and indeed under their predecessors as far back as Henry the Third, a considerable traffic had been carried on with the western coast ofAfrica, from which gold dust and slaves were imported into the city ofSeville. The annalist of that city notices the repeated interference ofIsabella in behalf of these unfortunate beings, by ordinances tending tosecure them a more equal protection of the laws, or opening such socialindulgences as might mitigate the hardships of their condition. Amisunderstanding gradually arose between the subjects of Castile andPortugal, in relation to their respective rights of discovery and commerceon the African coast, which promised a fruitful source of collisionbetween the two crowns; but which was happily adjusted by an article inthe treaty of 1479, that terminated the war of the succession. By this itwas settled, that the right of traffic and of discovery on the westerncoast of Africa should be exclusively reserved to the Portuguese, who intheir turn should resign all claims on the Canaries to the crown ofCastile. The Spaniards, thus excluded from further progress to the south, seemed to have no other opening left for naval adventure than the hithertountravelled regions of the great western ocean. Fortunately, at thisjuncture, an individual appeared among them, in the person of ChristopherColumbus, endowed with capacity for stimulating them to this heroicenterprise, and conducting it to a glorious issue. [5]

This extraordinary man was a native of Genoa, of humble parentage, thoughperhaps honorable descent. [6] He was instructed in his early youth atPavia, where he acquired a strong relish for the mathematical sciences, inwhich he subsequently excelled. At the age of fourteen, he engaged in aseafaring life, which he followed with little intermission till 1470;when, probably little more than thirty years of age, [7] he landed inPortugal, the country to which adventurous spirits from all parts of theworld then resorted, as the great theatre of maritime enterprise. Afterhis arrival, he continued to make voyages to the then known parts of theworld, and, when on shore, occupied himself with the construction and saleof charts and maps; while his geographical researches were considerablyaided by the possession of papers belonging to an eminent Portuguesenavigator, a deceased relative of his wife. Thus stored with all thatnautical science in that day could supply, and fortified by largepractical experience, the reflecting mind of Columbus was naturally led tospeculate 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 gorgeouscolors in the narratives of Mandeville and the Poli, by a more direct andcommodious route than that which traversed the eastern continent. [8]

The existence of land beyond the Atlantic, which was not discredited bysome of the most enlightened ancients, [9] had become matter of commonspeculation at the close of the fifteenth century; when maritime adventurewas daily disclosing the mysteries of the deep, and bringing to light newregions, that had hitherto existed only in fancy. A proof of this popularbelief occurs in a curious passage of the "Morgante Maggiore" of theFlorentine poet Palci, a man of letters, but not distinguished forscientific attainments beyond his day. [10] The passage is remarkable, independently of the cosmographical knowledge it implies, for its allusionto phenomena in physical science, not established till more than a centurylater. The Devil, alluding to the vulgar superstition respecting thepillars 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. " [11]

Columbus's hypothesis rested on much higher ground than mere popularbelief. What indeed was credulity with the vulgar, and speculation withthe learned, amounted in his mind to a settled practical conviction, thatmade him ready to peril life and fortune on the result of the experiment. He was fortified still further in his conclusions by a correspondence withthe learned Italian Toscanelli, who furnished him with a map of his ownprojection, in which the eastern coast of Asia was delineated opposite tothe western frontier of Europe. [12]

Filled with lofty anticipations of achieving a discovery, which wouldsettle a question of such moment, so long involved in obscurity, Columbussubmitted the theory on which he had founded his belief in the existenceof a western route to King John the Second, of Portugal. Here he wasdoomed to encounter for the first time the embarrassments andmortifications, which so often obstruct the conceptions of genius, toosublime for the age in which they are formed. After a long and fruitlessnegotiation, and a dishonorable attempt on the part of the Portuguese toavail themselves clandestinely of his information, he quitted Lisbon indisgust, determined to submit his proposals to the Spanish sovereigns, relying on their reputed character for wisdom and enterprise. [13]

The period of his arrival in Spain, being the latter part of 1484, wouldseem to have been the most unpropitious possible to his design. The nationwas then in the heat of the Moorish war, and the sovereigns wereunintermittingly engaged, as we have seen, in prosecuting their campaigns, or in active preparation for them. The large expenditure, incident tothis, exhausted all their resources; and indeed the engrossing characterof this domestic conquest left them little leisure for indulging in dreamsof distant and doubtful discovery. Columbus, moreover, was unfortunate inhis first channel of communication with the court. He was furnished byFray Juan Perez de Marchena, guardian of the convent of La Rabida inAndalusia, who had early taken a deep interest in his plans, with anintroduction to Fernando de Talavera, prior of Prado, and confessor of thequeen, a person high in the royal confidence, and gradually raised througha succession of ecclesiastical dignities to the archiepiscopal see ofGranada. He was a man of irreproachable morals, and of comprehensivebenevolence for that day, as is shown in his subsequent treatment of theunfortunate Moriscoes. [14] He was also learned; although his learning wasthat of the cloister, deeply tinctured with pedantry and superstition, anddebased by such servile deference even to the errors of antiquity, as atonce led him to discountenance everything like innovation or enterprise. [15]

With these timid and exclusive views, Talavera was so far fromcomprehending the vast conceptions of Columbus, that he seems to haveregarded him as a mere visionary, and his hypothesis as involvingprinciples not altogether orthodox. Ferdinand and Isabella, desirous ofobtaining the opinion of the most competent judges on the merits ofColumbus's theory, referred him to a council selected by Talavera from themost eminent scholars of the kingdom, chiefly ecclesiastics, whoseprofession embodied most of the science of that day. Such was the apathyexhibited by this learned conclave, and so numerous the impedimentssuggested by dulness, prejudice, or skepticism, that years glided awaybefore it came to a decision. During this time, Columbus appears to haveremained in attendance on the court, bearing arms occasionally in thecampaigns, and experiencing from the sovereigns an unusual degree ofdeference and personal attention; an evidence of which is afforded in thedisbursements repeatedly made by the royal order for his private expenses, and in the instructions, issued to the municipalities of the differenttowns in Andalusia, to supply him gratuitously with lodging and otherpersonal accommodations. [16]

At length, however, Columbus, wearied out by this painful procrastination, pressed the court for a definite answer to his propositions; when he wasinformed, that the council of Salamanca pronounced his scheme to be "vain, impracticable, and resting on grounds too weak to merit the support of thegovernment. " Many in the council, however, were too enlightened toacquiesce in this sentence of the majority. Some of the most considerablepersons of the court, indeed, moved by the cogency of Columbus'sarguments, and affected by the elevation and grandeur of his views, notonly cordially embraced his scheme, but extended their personal intimacyand friendship to him. Such, among others, were the grand cardinalMendoza, a man whose enlarged capacity and acquaintance with affairsraised him above many of the narrow prejudices of his order, and Deza, archbishop of Seville, a Dominican friar, whose commanding talents wereafterwards unhappily perverted in the service of the Holy Office, overwhich he presided as successor to Torquemada. [17] The authority of theseindividuals had undoubtedly great weight with the sovereigns, who softenedthe verdict of the junto, by an assurance to Columbus, that, "althoughthey were too much occupied at present to embark in his undertaking, yet, at the conclusion of the war, they should find both time and inclinationto treat with him. " Such was the ineffectual result of Columbus's long andpainful solicitation; and, far from receiving the qualified assurance ofthe sovereigns in mitigation of their refusal, he seems to have consideredit as peremptory and final. In great dejection of mind, therefore, butwithout further delay, he quitted the court, and bent his way to thesouth, with the apparently almost desperate intent of seeking out someother patron to his undertaking. [18]

Columbus had already visited his native city of Genoa, for the purpose ofinteresting it in his scheme of discovery; but the attempt provedunsuccessful. He now made application, it would seem, to the dukes ofMedina Sidonia and Medina Celi, successively, from the latter of whom heexperienced much kindness and hospitality; but neither of these nobles, whose large estates lying along the sea-shore had often invited them tomaritime adventure, was disposed to assume one which seemed too hazardousfor the resources of the crown. Without wasting time in furthersolicitation, Columbus prepared with a heavy heart to bid adieu to Spain, and carry his proposals to the king of France, from whom he had received aletter of encouragement while detained in Andalusia. [19]

His progress, however, was arrested at the convent of La Rabida, which hevisited previous to his departure, by his friend the guardian, whoprevailed on him to postpone his journey till another effort had been madeto move the Spanish court in his favor. For this purpose the worthyecclesiastic undertook an expedition in person to the newly erected cityof Santa Fe, where the sovereigns lay encamped before Granada. Juan Perezhad formerly been confessor of Isabella, and was held in greatconsideration by her for his excellent qualities. On arriving at the camp, he was readily admitted to an audience, when he pressed the suit ofColumbus 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 inhis project, and who viewed with sincere regret the prospect of itsabandonment. Among these individuals are particularly mentioned Alonso deQuintanilla, comptroller general of Castile, Louis de St. Angel, a fiscalofficer of the crown of Aragon, and the marchioness of Moya, the personalfriend of Isabella, all of whom exercised considerable influence over hercounsels. Their representations, combined with the opportune season of theapplication, occurring at the moment when the approaching termination ofthe Moorish war allowed room for interest in other objects, wrought sofavorable a change in the dispositions of the sovereigns, that theyconsented to resume the negotiation with Columbus. An invitation wasaccordingly sent to him to repair to Santa Fe, and a considerable sumprovided for his suitable equipment, and his expenses on the road. [20]

Columbus, who lost no time in availing himself of this welcomeintelligence, arrived at the camp in season to witness the surrender ofGranada, when every heart, swelling with exultation at the triumphanttermination of the war, was naturally disposed to enter with greaterconfidence on a new career of adventure. At his interview with the kingand queen, he once more exhibited the arguments on which his hypothesiswas founded. He then endeavored to stimulate the cupidity of his audience, by picturing the realms of Mangi and Cathay, which he confidently expectedto reach by this western route, in all the barbaric splendors which hadbeen shed over them by the lively fancy of Marco Polo and other travellersof the Middle Ages; and he concluded with appealing to a higher principle, by holding out the prospect of extending the empire of the Cross overnations of benighted heathen, while he proposed to devote the profits ofhis enterprise to the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre. This lastebullition, which might well have passed for fanaticism in a later day, and given a visionary tinge to his whole project, was not quite sopreposterous in an age, in which the spirit of the crusades might be saidstill to linger, and the romance of religion had not yet been dispelled bysober reason. The more temperate suggestion of the diffusion of the gospelwas well suited to affect Isabella, in whose heart the principle ofdevotion was deeply seated, and who, in all her undertakings, seems tohave been far less sensible to the vulgar impulses of avarice or ambition, than to any argument connected, however remotely, with the interests ofreligion. [21]

Amidst all these propitious demonstrations towards Columbus, an obstacleunexpectedly arose in the nature of his demands, which stipulated forhimself and heirs the title and authority of Admiral and Viceroy over alllands discovered by him, with one-tenth of the profits. This was deemedwholly inadmissible. Ferdinand, who had looked with cold distrust on theexpedition from the first, was supported by the remonstrances of Talavera, the new archbishop of Granada; who declared, that "such demands savored ofthe highest degree of arrogance, and would be unbecoming in theirHighnesses 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 moreturned his back upon the Spanish court, resolved rather to forego hissplendid anticipations of discovery, at the very moment when the career solong sought was thrown open to him, than surrender one of the honorabledistinctions due to his services. This last act is perhaps the mostremarkable exhibition in his whole life, of that proud, unyielding spirit, which sustained him through so many years of trial, and enabled him atlength to achieve his great enterprise, in the face of every obstaclewhich man and nature had opposed to it. [22]

The misunderstanding was not suffered to be of long duration. Columbus'sfriends, and especially Louis de St. Angel, remonstrated with the queen onthese proceedings in the most earnest manner. He frankly told her, thatColumbus's demands, if high, were at least contingent on success, whenthey would be well deserved; that, if he failed, he required nothing. Heexpatiated on his qualifications for the undertaking, so signal as toinsure in all probability the patronage of some other monarch, who wouldreap 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 great and heroicenterprise. Far from being displeased, Isabella was moved by his honesteloquence. She contemplated the proposals of Columbus in their true light;and, refusing to hearken any longer to the suggestions of cold and timidcounsellors, she gave way to the natural impulses of her own noble andgenerous heart; "I will assume the undertaking, " said she, "for my owncrown of Castile, and am ready to pawn my jewels to defray the expenses ofit, if the funds in the treasury shall be found inadequate. " The treasuryhad been reduced to the lowest ebb by the late war, but the receiver, St. Angel, advanced the sums required, from the Aragonese revenues depositedin his hands. Aragon however was not considered as adventuring in theexpedition, the charges and emoluments of which were reserved exclusivelyfor Castile. [23]

Columbus, who was overtaken by the royal messenger at a few leagues'distance only from Granada, experienced the most courteous reception onhis return to Santa Fe, where a definitive arrangement was concluded withthe Spanish sovereigns, April 17th, 1492. By the terms of thecapitulation, 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 thewestern ocean, with the privilege of nominating three candidates, for theselection of one by the crown, for the government of each of theseterritories. He was to be vested with exclusive right of jurisdiction overall commercial transactions within his admiralty. He was to be entitled toone-tenth of all the products and profits within the limits of hisdiscoveries, and an additional eighth, provided he should contribute one-eighth part of the expense. By a subsequent ordinance, the officialdignities above enumerated were settled on him and his heirs for ever, with the privilege of prefixing the title of Don to their names, which hadnot then degenerated into an appellation of mere courtesy. [24]

No sooner were the arrangements completed, than Isabella prepared with hercharacteristic promptness to forward the expedition by the most efficientmeasures. Orders were sent to Seville and the other ports of Andalusia, tofurnish 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 beencondemned for some delinquency to maintain two caravels for a twelvemonthfor the public service. The third vessel was furnished by the admiral, aided, as it would seem, in defraying the charges, by his friend theguardian of La Rabida, and the Pinzons, a family in Palos longdistinguished for its enterprise among the mariners of that activecommunity. With their assistance, Columbus was enabled to surmount thedisinclination, and indeed open opposition, manifested by the Andalusianmariners to his perilous voyage; so that in less than three months hislittle squadron was equipped for sea. A sufficient evidence of the extremeunpopularity of the expedition is afforded by a royal ordinance of the30th of April, promising protection to all persons, who should embark init, from criminal prosecution of whatever kind, until two months aftertheir return. The armament consisted of two caravels, or light vesselswithout decks, and a third of larger burden. The total number of personswho embarked amounted to one hundred and twenty; and the whole charges ofthe crown for the expedition did not exceed seventeen thousand florins, The fleet was instructed to keep clear of the African coast, and othermaritime possessions of Portugal. At length, all things being inreadiness, Columbus and his whole crew partook of the sacrament, andconfessed themselves, after the devout manner of the ancient Spanishvoyagers, when engaged in any important enterprise; and on the morning ofthe 3d of August, 1492, the intrepid navigator, bidding adieu to the OldWorld, launched forth on that unfathomed waste of waters where no sail hadbeen ever spread before. [25]

It is impossible to peruse the story of Columbus without assigning to himalmost exclusively the glory of his great discovery; for, from the firstmoment of its conception to that of its final execution, he wasencountered by every species of mortification and embarrassment, withscarcely a heart to cheer, or a hand to help him. [26] Those moreenlightened persons whom, during his long residence in Spain, he succeededin interesting in his expedition, looked to it probably as the means ofsolving a dubious problem, with the same sort of vague and skepticalcuriosity as to its successful result, with which we contemplate, in ourday, an attempt to arrive at the Northwest passage. How feeble was theinterest excited, even among those who from their science and situationwould seem to have their attention most naturally drawn towards it, may beinferred from the infrequency of allusion to it in the correspondence andother writings of that time, previous to the actual discovery. PeterMartyr, one of the most accomplished scholars of the period, whoseresidence at the Castilian court must have fully instructed him in thedesigns of Columbus, and whose inquisitive mind led him subsequently totake the deepest interest in the results of his discoveries, does not, sofar as I am aware, allude to him in any part of his voluminouscorrespondence with the learned men of his time, previous to the firstexpedition. The common people regarded, not merely with apathy, but withterror, the prospect of a voyage, that was to take the mariner from thesafe and pleasant seas which he was accustomed to navigate, and send himroving on the boundless wilderness of waters, which tradition andsuperstitious fancy had peopled with innumerable forms of horror. 

It is true that Columbus experienced a most honorable reception at theCastilian court; such as naturally flowed from the benevolent spirit ofIsabella, and her just appreciation of his pure and elevated character. But the queen was too little of a proficient in science to be able toestimate the merits of his hypothesis; and, as many of those, on whosejudgment she leaned, deemed it chimerical, it is probable that she neverentertained a deep conviction of its truth; at least not enough to warrantthe liberal expenditure, which she never refused to schemes of realimportance. This is certainly inferred by the paltry amount actuallyexpended on the armament, far inferior to that appropriated to theequipment of two several fleets in the course of the late war for aforeign expedition, as well as to that, with which in the ensuing year shefollowed up Columbus's discoveries. 

But while, on a review of the circumstances, we are led more and more toadmire the constancy and unconquerable spirit, which carried Columbusvictorious through all the difficulties of his undertaking, we mustremember, in justice to Isabella, that, although tardily, she did in factfurnish the resources essential to its execution; that she undertook theenterprise when it had been explicitly declined by other powers, and whenprobably none other of that age would have been found to countenance it;and that, after once plighting her faith to Columbus, she became hissteady friend, shielding him against the calumnies of his enemies, reposing in him the most generous confidence, and serving him in the mostacceptable manner, by supplying ample resources for the prosecution of hisglorious discoveries. [27]

 * * * * *

It is now more than thirty years since the Spanish government intrustedDon Martin Fernandez de Navarrete, one of the most eminent scholars of thecountry, with the care of exploring the public archives, for the purposeof collecting information relative to the voyages and discoveries of theearly Spanish navigators. In 1825, Señor Navarrete gave to the world thefirst fruits of his indefatigable researches, in two volumes, thecommencement of a series, comprehending letters, private journals, royalordinances, and other original documents, illustrative of the discovery ofAmerica. These two volumes are devoted exclusively to the adventures andpersonal history of Columbus, and must be regarded as the only authenticbasis, on which any notice of the great navigator can hereafter rest. Fortunately, Mr. Irving's visit to Spain, at this period, enabled theworld to derive the full benefit of Señor Navarrete's researches, bypresenting their results in connection with whatever had been before knownof Columbus, in the lucid and attractive form, which engages the interestof every reader. It would seem highly proper, that the fortunes of thediscoverer of America should engage the pen of an inhabitant of her mostfavored and enlightened region; and it is unnecessary to add, that thetask has been executed in a manner which must secure to the historian ashare in the imperishable renown of his subject. The adventures ofColumbus, which form so splendid an episode to the reign of Ferdinand andIsabella, cannot properly come within the scope of its historian, exceptso far as relates to his personal intercourse with the government, ortheir results on the fortunes of the Spanish monarchy. 

FOOTNOTES

[1] Aragon, or rather Catalonia, maintained an extensive commerce with theLevant, and the remote regions of the east, during the Middle Ages, through the flourishing port of Barcelona. See Capmany y Montpalau, Memorias Históricas sobre la Marina, Comercio y Artes de Barcelona, (Madrid, 1779-92, ) passim. 

[2] A council of mathematicians in the court of John II. , of Portugal, first devised the application of the ancient astrolabe to navigation, thusaffording to the mariner the essential advantages appertaining to themodern quadrant. The discovery of the polarity of the needle, which vulgartradition assigned to the Amalfite Flavio Gioja, and which Robertson hassanctioned without scruple, is clearly proved to have occurred more than acentury earlier. Tiraboschi, who investigates the matter with his usualerudition, passing by the doubtful reference of Guiot de Provins, whoseage and personal identity even are contested, traces the familiar use ofthe magnetic needle as far back as the first half of the thirteenthcentury, by a pertinent passage from Cardinal Vitri, who died 1244; andsustains this by several similar references to other authors of the samecentury. Capmany finds no notice of its use by the Castilian navigatorsearlier than 1403. It was not until considerably later in the fifteenthcentury, that the Portuguese voyagers, trusting to its guidance, venturedto quit the Mediterranean and African coasts, and extend their navigationto Madeira and the Azores. See Navarrete, Coleccion de los Viages yDescubrimientos que hicieron por Mar los Españoles, (Madrid, 1825-29, )tom. I. Int. Sec. 33. --Tiraboschi, Letteratura Italiana, tom. Iv. Pp. 173, 174. --Capmany, Mem. De Barcelona, tom. Iii. Part. 1, cap. 4. --Koch, Tableau des Révolutions de l'Europe, (Paris, 1814, ) tom. I. Pp. 358-360. 

[3] Four of the islands were conquered on behalf of private adventurers, chiefly from Andalusia, before the accession of Ferdinand and Isabella, and under their reign were held as the property of a noble Castilianfamily, named Peraza. The sovereigns sent a considerable armament fromSeville in 1480, which subdued the great island of Canary on behalf of thecrown, and another in 1493, which effected the reduction of Palma andTeneriffe after a sturdy resistance from the natives. Bernaldez postponesthe last conquest to 1495. Salazar de Mendoza, Monarquía, tom. I. Pp. 347-349. --Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, pp. 136, 203. --Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 64, 65, 66, 133. --Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. I. Introd. , sec. 28. 

[4] Among the provisions of the sovereigns enacted previous to the presentdate, may be noted those for regulating the coin and weights; for openinga free trade between Castile and Aragon; for security to Genoese andVenetian trading vessels; for safe conduct to mariners and fishermen; forprivileges to the seamen of Palos; for prohibiting the plunder of vesselswrecked on the coast; and an ordinance of the very last year, requiringforeigners to take their return cargoes in the products of the country. See these laws as extracted from the Ordenanças Reales and the variouspublic archives, in Mem. De la Acad. De Hist. , tom. Vi. Ilust. 11. 

[5] Zuñiga, Annales de Sevilla, pp. 373, 374, 398. --Zurita, Anales, tom. Iv. Lib. 20, cap. 30, 34. --Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages. 

[6] Spotorno, Memorials of Columbus, (London, 1823, ) p. 14. --Senarega, apud Muratori, Rerum Ital. Script. , tom. Xxiv. P. 535. --Antonio Gallo, DeNavigatione Columbi, apud Muratori, Rerum Ital. Script. , tom. Xxiii. P. 202. 

It is very generally agreed that the father of Columbus exercised thecraft of a wool-carder, or weaver. The admiral's son Ferdinand, after somespeculation on the genealogy of his illustrious parent, concludes withremarking, that, after all, a noble descent would confer less lustre onhim 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'sname of _Columbus_, signifying a _dove_, in token of his being ordained to"carry the olive-branch and oil of baptism over the ocean, like Noah'sdove, to denote the peace and union of the heathen people with the church, after they had been shut up in the ark of darkness and confusion. "Fernando Colon, Historia del Almirante, cap. 1, 2, apud Barcia, Historiadores Primitivos de las Indian Occidentals, (Madrid, 1749, ) tom. I. , tom. I. Introd. , sec. 21, 24. --Ferreras, Hist. D'Espagne, tom. Vii. P. 548. 

[7] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 131. --Muñoz, Historia del Nuevo-Mundo, (Madrid, 1793, ) lib. 2, sec. 13. 

There are no sufficient data for determining the period of Columbus'sbirth. The learned Muñoz places it in 1446. (Hist. Del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 2, sec. 12. ) Navarrete, who has weighed the various authorities withcaution, 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 goodold age, at the age of seventy, a little more or less. " (Cap. 131. ) Theexpression is somewhat vague. In order to reconcile the facts with thishypothesis, Navarrete is compelled to reject, as a chirographical blunder, a passage in a letter of the admiral, placing his birth in 1456, and todistort another passage in his book of "Prophecies, " which, if literallytaken, would seem to establish his birth near the time assigned by Muñoz. Incidental allusions in some other authorities, speaking of Columbus's oldage at or near the time of his death, strongly corroborate Navarrete'sinference. (See Coleccion de Viages, tom. I. Introd. , sec. 54. )--Mr. Irving seems willing to rely exclusively on the authority of Bernaldez. 

[8] Antonio de Herrera, Historia General de las Indias Occidentales, (Amberes, 1728, ) tom. I. Dec. 1, lib. 1, cap. 7. --Gomara, Historia de lasIndias, cap. 14, apud Barcia, Hist. Primitivos, tom. Ii. --Bernaldez, ReyesCatólicos, MS. , cap. 118. --Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. I. Introd. , sec. 30. 

Ferdinand Columbus enumerates three grounds on which his father'sconviction of land in the west was founded. First, natural reason, --orconclusions drawn from science; secondly, authority of writers, --amountingto little more than vague speculations of the ancients; thirdly, testimonyof sailors, comprehending, in addition to popular rumors of land describedin western voyages, such relics as appeared to have floated to theEuropean shores from the other side of the Atlantic. Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 6-8. 

[9] None of the intimations are so precise as that contained in the well-known lines of Seneca's Medea, "Venient annuis saecula, " etc. , although, when regarded as a mere poetical vagary, it has not the weightwhich belongs to more serious suggestions, of similar import, in thewritings of Aristotle and Strabo. The various allusions in the ancientclassic writers to an undiscovered world form the subject of an elaborateessay in the Memorias da Acad. Real das Sciencias de Lisboa, (tom. V. Pp. 101-112, ) and are embodied, in much greater detail, in the first sectionof Hnmboldt's "Histoire de la Géographie du Nouveau Continent;" a work inwhich the author, with his usual acuteness, has successfully applied thevast stores of his erudition and experience to the illustration of manyinteresting points connected with the discovery of the New World, and thepersonal history of Columbus. 

[10] It is probably the knowledge of this which has led some writers toimpute part of his work to the learned Marsilio Ficino, and others, withstill less charity and probability, to refer the authorship of the wholeto Politian. Comp. Tasso, Opere, (Venezia, 1735-42, ) tom. X. P. 129. --andCrescimbeni, Istoria della Volgar Poesia, (Venezia, 1731, ) tom. Iii. Pp. 273, 274. 

[11] Pulci, Morgante Maggiore, canto 25, st. 229, 230. --I have used blankverse, as affording facility for a more literal version than thecorresponding _ottava rima_ of the original. This passage of Pulci, which has not fallen under the notice of Humboldt, or any other writer onthe same subject whom I have consulted, affords, probably, the mostcircumstantial prediction that is to be found of the existence of awestern world. Dante, two centuries before, had intimated more vaguely hisbelief in an undiscovered quarter of the globe. 

 "De' vostri sensi, ch' è del rimanente, Non vogliate negar l'esperienza, Diretro al sol, del mondo senza gente. "

Inferno, cant. 26, v. 115. 

[12] Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. Ii. , Col. Dipl. , no. 1. --Muñoz, Hist. Del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 2, sec. 17. --It is singular that Columbus, inhis visit to Iceland, in 1477, (see Fernando Colon, Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 4, ) should have learned nothing of the Scandinavian voyages to thenorthern shores of America in the tenth and following centuries; yet if hewas acquainted with them, it appears equally surprising that he should nothave adduced the fact in support of his own hypothesis of the existence ofland in the west; and that he should have taken a route so different fromthat of his predecessors in the path of discovery. It may be, however, asM. De Humboldt has well remarked, that the information he obtained inIceland was too vague to suggest the idea, that the lands thus discoveredby the Northmen had any connection with the Indies, of which he was inpursuit. In Columbus's day, indeed, so little was understood of the trueposition of these countries, that Greenland is laid down on the maps inthe European seas, and as a peninsular prolongation of Scandinavia. SeeHumboldt, Géographie du Nouveau Continent, tom. Ii. Pp. 118, 125. 

[13] Herrera, Indias Occidentals, tom. I. Dec. 1, lib. 1, cap. 7. --Muñoz, Hist. Del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 2, sec. 19. --Gomara, Hist. De las Indias, cap. 15. --Benzoni, Novi Orbis Historia, lib. 1, cap. 6. --Fernando Colon, Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 10. --Faria y Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, tom. Ii. Part. 3, cap. 4. 

[14] Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS. , dial. De Talavera. 

[15] Salazar de Mendoza, Crón. Del Gran Cardenal, p. 214. --Herrera, IndiasOccidentales, tom. I. Dec. 1, lib. 1, cap. 8. --Fernando Colon, Hist. DelAlmirante, cap. 11. 

[16] Herrera, Indias Occidentales, dec. 1, lib. 1, cap. 8. --Zuñiga, Annales de Sevilla, p. 104. --Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. I. Sec. 60, 61, tom. Ii. , Col. Dipl. , nos. 2, 4. 

[17] This prelate, Diego de Deza, was born of poor but respectableparents, at Toro. He early entered the Dominican order, where his learningand exemplary life recommended him to the notice of the sovereigns, whocalled him to court to take charge of Prince John's education. He wasafterwards raised, through the usual course of episcopal preferment, tothe metropolitan see of Seville. His situation, as confessor of Ferdinand, gave him great influence over that monarch, with whom he appears to havemaintained an intimate correspondence, to the day of his death. Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS. , dial. De Deza. 

[18] Fernando Colon, Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 11. --Salazar de Mendoza, Crón. Del Gran Cardenal, p. 215. --Muñoz, Hist. Del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 2, sec. 25, 29. --Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. I. , Introd. , sec. 60. 

[19] Herrera, Indias Occidentales, dec. 1, lib. 1, cap. 8. --Muñoz, Hist. Del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 2, sec. 27. --Spotorno, Memorials of Columbus, pp. 31-33. --The last dates the application to Genoa prior to that to Portugal. 

A letter from the duke of Medina Celi to the cardinal of Spain, dated 19thMarch, 1493, refers to his entertaining Columbus as his guest for twoyears. It is very difficult to determine the date of these two years. IfHerrera is correct in the statement, that, after a five years' residenceat court, whose commencement he had previously referred to 1484, hecarried his proposals to the duke of Medina Celi, (see cap. 7, 8. ) the twoyears may have intervened between 1489-1491. Navarrete places them betweenthe departure from Portugal and the first application to the court ofCastile, in 1486. Some other writers, and among them Muñoz and Irving, referring his application to Genoa to 1485, and his first appearance inSpain to a subsequent period, make no provision for the residence with theduke of Medina Celi. Mr. Irving indeed is betrayed into a chronologicalinaccuracy, in speaking of a seven years' residence at the court in 1491, which he had previously noticed as having before begun in 1486. (Life ofColumbus, (London, 1828, ) comp. Vol. I. Pp. 109, 141. ) In fact, thediscrepancies among the earliest authorities are such as to renderhopeless any attempt to settle with precision the chronology of Columbus'smovements previous to his first voyage. 

[20] Ferreras, Hist. D'Espagne, tom. Viii. Pp. 129, 130. --Muñoz, Hist. DelNuevo-Mundo, lib. 2, sec. 31. --Herrera, Indias Occidentales, dec. 1, lib. 1, cap. 8. --Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. I. , Introd. , sec. 60. 

[21] Herrera, Indias Occidentales, dec. 1, lib. 1, cap. 8. --Primer Viagede Colon, apud Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. I. Pp. 2, 117. --Fernando Colon, Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 13. 

[22] Muñoz, Hist. Del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 2, sec. 28, 29. --Fernando Colon, Hist. Del Almirante, ubi supra. 

[23] Herrera, Indias Occidentales, dec. 1, lib. 1, cap. 8. --Muñoz, Hist. Del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 2, sec. 32, 33. --Fernando Colon, Hist. DelAlmirante, cap. 14. --Gomara, Hist. De las Indias, cap. 15. 

[24] Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. Ii. , Col. Diplomat. , nos. 5, 6. --Zuñiga, Annales de Sevilla, p. 412. --Mariana, Hist. De España, tom. Ii. P. 605. 

[25] Peter Martyr, De Rebus Oceanicis et Novo Orbe, (Coloniae, 1574, ) dec. 1, lib. 1. --Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. Ii. , Col. Diplomat. , nos. 7, 8, 9, 10, 12. --Herrera, Indias Occidentales, dec. 1, lib. 1, cap. 9. --Fernando Colon, Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 14. --Muñoz, Hist. Del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 2, sec. 33. --Benzoni, Novi Orbis Hist. , lib. 1, cap. 6. --Gomara, Hist. De las Indias, cap. 15. 

The expression in the text will not seem too strong, even admitting theprevious discoveries of the Northmen, which were made in so much higherlatitudes. Humboldt has well shown the probability, _a priori_, ofsuch discoveries, made in a narrow part of the Atlantic, where theOrcades, the Feroe Islands, Iceland, and Greenland afforded the voyager somany intermediate stations, at moderate distances from each other. (Géographie du Nouveau Continent, tom. Ii. Pp. 183 et seq. ) Thepublication of the original Scandinavian MSS. , (of which imperfect noticesand selections, only, have hitherto found their way into the world, ) bythe Royal Society of Northern Antiquaries, at Copenhagen, is a matter ofthe deepest interest; and it is fortunate that it is to be conducted underauspices, which must insure its execution in the most faithful and ablemanner. It may be doubted, however, whether the declaration of theProspectus, that "it was the knowledge of the Scandinavian voyages, in allprobability, which prompted the expedition of Columbus, " can ever beestablished. His personal history furnishes strong internal evidence tothe contrary. 

[26] How strikingly are the forlorn condition and indomitable energy ofColumbus depicted in the following noble verses of Chiabrera;

 "Certo da cor, ch' alto destin non scelse, Son l' imprese magnanime neglette; Ma le bell' alme alle bell' opre elette Sanno gioir nelle fatiche eccelse; Nè biasnio popolar, frale catena, Spirto d'onore, il suo cammin reffrena. Così lunga stagion per modi indegni Europa disprezzò l'inclita speme, Schernendo il vulgo, e seco i Regi insieme, _Nudo nocchier, promettitor di Regni. _"

Rime, parte 1, canzone 12. 

[27] Columbus, in a letter written on his third voyage, pays an honest, heartfelt tribute to the effectual patronage which he experienced from thequeen. "In the midst of the general incredulity, " says he, "the Almightyinfused into the queen, my lady, the spirit of intelligence and energy;and, whilst every one else, in his ignorance, was expatiating only on theinconvenience and cost, her Highness approved it, on the contrary, andgave it all the support in her power. " See Carta al Ama del Principe D. Juan, apud Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. I. P. 266. 

CHAPTER XVII. 

EXPULSION OF THE JEWS FROM SPAIN. 

1492. 

Excitement against the Jews. --Edict of Expulsion. --Dreadful Sufferings ofthe Emigrants. --Whole Number of Exiles. --Disastrous Results. --True Motivesof the Edict. --Contemporary Judgments. 

While the Spanish sovereigns were detained before Granada, they publishedtheir memorable and most disastrous edict against the Jews; inscribing it, as it were, with the same pen which drew up the glorious capitulation ofGranada and the treaty with Columbus. The reader has been made acquaintedin a preceding chapter with the prosperous condition of the Jews in thePeninsula, and the pre-eminent consideration, which they attained therebeyond any other part of Christendom. The envy raised by their prosperity, combined with the high religious excitement kindled in the long war withthe infidel, directed the terrible arm of the Inquisition, as has beenalready stated, against this unfortunate people; but the result showed thefailure of the experiment, since comparatively few conversions, and thosefrequently of a suspicious character, were effected, while the great massstill maintained a pertinacious attachment to ancient errors. [1]

Under these circumstances, the popular odium, inflamed by the discontentof the clergy at the resistance which they encountered in the work ofproselytism, gradually grew stronger and stronger against the unhappyIsraelites. Old traditions, as old indeed as the thirteenth and fourteenthcenturies, were revived, and charged on the present generation, with allthe details of place and action. Christian children were said to bekidnapped, in order to be crucified in derision of the Saviour; the host, it was rumored, was exposed to the grossest indignities; and physiciansand apothecaries, whose science was particularly cultivated by the Jews inthe Middle Ages, were accused of poisoning their Christian patients. Norumor was too absurd for the easy credulity of the people. The Israeliteswere charged with the more probable offence of attempting to convert totheir own faith the _ancient Christians_, as well as to reclaim suchof their own race as had recently embraced Christianity. A great scandalwas occasioned also by the inter-marriages, which still occasionally tookplace between Jews and Christians; the latter condescending to repairtheir dilapidated fortunes by these wealthy alliances, though at theexpense of their vaunted purity of blood. [2]

These various offences were urged against the Jews with great pertinacityby their enemies, and the sovereigns were importuned to adopt a morerigorous policy. The inquisitors, in particular, to whom the work ofconversion had been specially intrusted, represented the incompetence ofall lenient measures to the end proposed. They asserted, that the onlymode left for the extirpation of the Jewish heresy, was to eradicate theseed; and they boldly demanded the immediate and total banishment of everyunbaptized Israelite from the land. [3]

The Jews, who had obtained an intimation of these proceedings, resorted totheir usual crafty policy for propitiating the sovereigns. Theycommissioned one of their body to tender a donative of thirty thousandducats towards defraying the expenses of the Moorish war. The negotiation, however, was suddenly interrupted by the inquisitor-general, Torquemada, who burst into the apartment of the palace, where the sovereigns weregiving audience to the Jewish deputy, and, drawing forth a crucifix frombeneath his mantle, held it up, exclaiming, "Judas Iscariot sold hismaster for thirty pieces of silver. Your Highnesses would sell him anewfor thirty thousand; here he is, take him, and barter him away. " Sosaying, the frantic priest threw the crucifix on the table, and left theapartment. The sovereigns, instead of chastising this presumption, ordespising it as a mere freak of insanity, were overawed by it. NeitherFerdinand nor Isabella, had they been left to the unbiassed dictates oftheir own reason, could have sanctioned for a moment so impolitic ameasure, which involved the loss of the most industrious and skilfulportion of their subjects. Its extreme injustice and cruelty rendered itespecially repugnant to the naturally humane disposition of the queen. [4]But she had been early schooled to distrust her own reason, and indeed thenatural suggestions of humanity, in cases of conscience. Among thereverend counsellors, on whom she most relied in these matters, was theDominican Torquemada. The situation which this man enjoyed as the queen'sconfessor, during the tender years of her youth, gave him an ascendencyover her mind, which must have been denied to a person of his savage, fanatical temper, even with the advantages of this spiritual connection, had it been formed at a riper period of her life. Without opposing furtherresistance to the representations, so emphatically expressed, of the holypersons in whom she most confided, Isabella, at length, silenced her ownscruples, and consented to the fatal measure of proscription. 

The edict for the expulsion of the Jews was signed by the Spanishsovereigns at Granada, March 30th, 1492. The preamble alleges, invindication of the measure, the danger of allowing further intercoursebetween the Jews and their Christian subjects, in consequence of theincorrigible obstinacy, with which the former persisted in their attemptsto make converts of the latter to their own faith, and to instruct them intheir heretical rites, in open defiance of every legal prohibition andpenalty. When a college or corporation of any kind, --the instrument goeson to state, --is convicted of any great or detestable crime, it is rightthat it should be disfranchised, the less suffering with the greater, theinnocent with the guilty. If this be the case in temporal concerns, it ismuch more so in those which affect the eternal welfare of the soul. Itfinally decrees, that all unbaptized Jews, of whatever sex, age, orcondition, should depart from the realm by the end of July next ensuing;prohibiting them from revisiting it, on any pretext whatever, underpenalty of death and confiscation of property. It was, moreover, interdicted to every subject, to harbor, succor, or minister to thenecessities of any Jew, after the expiration of the term limited for hisdeparture. The persons and property of the Jews, in the mean time, weretaken under the royal protection. They were allowed to dispose of theireffects of every kind on their own account, and to carry the proceedsalong with them, in bills of exchange, or merchandise not prohibited, butneither in gold nor silver. [5]

The doom of exile fell like a thunderbolt on the heads of the Israelites. A large proportion of them had hitherto succeeded in shielding themselvesfrom the searching eye of the Inquisition, by an affectation of reverencefor the forms of Catholic worship, and a discreet forbearance of whatevermight offend the prejudices of their Christian brethren. They had evenhoped, that their steady loyalty, and a quiet and orderly discharge oftheir social duties, would in time secure them higher immunities. Many hadrisen to a degree of opulence, by means of the thrift and dexteritypeculiar to the race, which gave them a still deeper interest in the landof their residence. [6] Their families were reared in all the elegantrefinements of life; and their wealth and education often disposed them toturn 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 drearypilgrimage. Even the mass of the common people possessed a dexterity invarious handicrafts, which afforded a comfortable livelihood, raising themfar above similar classes in most other nations, who might readily bedetached from the soil on which they happened to be cast, withcomparatively little sacrifice of local interests. [7] These ties were nowsevered at a blow. They were to go forth as exiles from the land of theirbirth; the land where all whom they ever loved had lived or died; theland, not so much of their adoption, as of inheritance; which had been thehome of their ancestors for centuries, and with whose prosperity and glorythey were of course as intimately associated, as was any ancient Spaniard. They were to be cast out helpless and defenceless, with a brand of infamyset on them, among nations who had always held them in derision andhatred. 

Those provisions of the edict, which affected a show of kindness to theJews, were contrived so artfully, as to be nearly nugatory. As they wereexcluded from the use of gold and silver, the only medium for representingtheir property was bills of exchange. But commerce was too limited andimperfect to allow of these being promptly obtained to any veryconsiderable, much less to the enormous amount required in the presentinstance. It was impossible, moreover, to negotiate a sale of theireffects under existing circumstances, since the market was soon gluttedwith commodities; and few would be found willing to give anything like anequivalent for what, if not disposed of within the prescribed term, theproprietors must relinquish at any rate. So deplorable, indeed, was thesacrifice of property, that a chronicler of the day mentions, that he hadseen a house exchanged for an ass, and a vineyard for a suit of clothes!In Aragon, matters were still worse. The government there discovered, thatthe Jews were largely indebted to individuals and to certain corporations. It accordingly caused their property to be sequestrated for the benefit oftheir creditors, until their debts should be liquidated. Strange, indeed, that the balance should be found against the people, who have beeneverywhere conspicuous for their commercial sagacity and resources, andwho, as factors of the great nobility and farmers of the revenue, enjoyedat least equal advantages in Spain with those possessed in othercountries, for the accumulation of wealth. [8]

While the gloomy aspect of their fortunes pressed heavily on the hearts ofthe Israelites, the Spanish clergy were indefatigable in the work ofconversion. They lectured in the synagogues and public squares, expoundingthe doctrines of Christianity, and thundering forth both argument andinvective against the Hebrew heresy. But their laudable endeavors were ina great measure counteracted by the more authoritative rhetoric of theJewish Rabbins, who compared the persecutions of their brethren to thosewhich their ancestors had suffered under Pharaoh. They encouraged them topersevere, representing that the present afflictions were intended as atrial of their faith by the Almighty, who designed in this way to guidethem to the promised land, by opening a path through the waters, as he haddone to their fathers of old. The more wealthy Israelites enforced theirexhortations by liberal contributions for the relief of their indigentbrethren. Thus strengthened, there were found but very few, when the dayof departure arrived, who were not prepared to abandon their countryrather than their religion. The extraordinary act of self-devotion by awhole people for conscience' sake may be thought, in the nineteenthcentury, to merit other epithets than those of "perfidy, incredulity, andstiff-necked obstinacy, " with which the worthy Curate of Los Palacios, inthe charitable feeling of that day, has seen fit to stigmatize it. [9]

When the period of departure arrived, all the principal routes through thecountry might be seen swarming with emigrants, old and young, the sick andthe helpless, men, women, and children, mingled promiscuously together, some mounted on horses or mules, but far the greater part undertakingtheir painful pilgrimage on foot. The sight of so much misery touched eventhe Spaniards with pity, though none might succor them; for the grandinquisitor, Torquemada, enforced the ordinance to that effect, bydenouncing heavy ecclesiastical censures on all who should presume toviolate it. The fugitives were distributed along various routes, beingdetermined in their destination by accidental circumstances, much morethan any knowledge of the respective countries to which they were bound. Much the largest division, amounting according to some estimates to eightythousand souls, passed into Portugal; whose monarch, John the Second, dispensed with his scruples of conscience so far as to give them a freepassage through his dominions on their way to Africa, in consideration ofa tax of a _cruzado_ a head. He is even said to have silenced hisscruples so far as to allow certain ingenious artisans to establishthemselves permanently in the kingdom. [10]

A considerable number found their way to the ports of Santa Maria andCadiz, where, after lingering some time in the vain hope of seeing thewaters open for their egress, according to the promises of the Rabbins, they embarked on board a Spanish fleet for the Barbary coast. Havingcrossed over to Ercilla, a Christian settlement in Africa, whence theyproceeded by land towards Fez, where a considerable body of theircountrymen resided, they were assaulted on their route by the rovingtribes of the desert, in quest of plunder. Notwithstanding the interdict, the Jews had contrived to secrete small sums of money, sewed up in theirgarments or the linings of their saddles. These did not escape theavaricious eyes of their spoilers, who are even said to have ripped openthe bodies of their victims, in search of gold, which they were supposedto have swallowed. The lawless barbarians, mingling lust with avarice, abandoned themselves to still more frightful excesses, violating the wivesand daughters of the unresisting Jews, or massacring in cold blood such asoffered resistance. But without pursuing these loathsome details further, it need only be added, that the miserable exiles endured such extremity offamine, that they were glad to force a nourishment from the grass whichgrew scantily among the sands of the desert; until at length great numbersof them, wasted by disease, and broken in spirit, retraced their steps toErcilla, and consented to be baptized, in the hope of being permitted torevisit their native land. The number, indeed, was so considerable, thatthe priest who officiated was obliged to make use of the mop, or hyssop, with which the Roman Catholic missionaries were wont to scatter the holydrops, whose mystic virtue could cleanse the soul in a moment from thefoulest stains of infidelity. "Thus, " says a Castilian historian, "thecalamities of these poor blind creatures proved in the end an excellentremedy, that God made use of to unseal their eyes, which they now openedto the vain promises of the Rabbins; so that, renouncing their ancientheresies, they became faithful followers of the Cross!" [11]

Many of the emigrants took the direction of Italy. Those who landed atNaples brought with them an infectious disorder, contracted by longconfinement in small, crowded, and ill-provided vessels. The disorder wasso malignant, and spread with such frightful celerity, as to sweep offmore than twenty thousand inhabitants of the city, in the course of theyear, 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, "couldbehold the sufferings of the Jewish exiles unmoved. A great many perishedof hunger, especially those of tender years. Mothers, with scarcelystrength to support themselves, carried their famished infants in theirarms, and died with them. Many fell victims to the cold, others to intensethirst, while the unaccustomed distresses incident to a sea-voyageaggravated their maladies. I will not enlarge on the cruelty and theavarice which they frequently experienced from the masters of the shipswhich transported them from Spain. Some were murdered to gratify theircupidity, others forced to sell their children for the expenses of thepassage. They arrived in Genoa in crowds, but were not suffered to tarrythere long, by reason of the ancient law which interdicted the Jewishtraveller from a longer residence than three days. They were allowed, however, to refit their vessels, and to recruit themselves for some daysfrom the fatigues of their voyage. One might have taken them for spectres, so emaciated were they, so cadaverous in their aspect, and with eyes sosunken; they differed in nothing from the dead, except in the power ofmotion, which indeed they scarcely retained. Many fainted and expired onthe mole, which, being completely surrounded by the sea, was the onlyquarter vouchsafed to the wretched emigrants. The infection bred by such aswarm of dead and dying persons was not at once perceived; but, when thewinter 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 thefollowing year. " [12]

Many of the exiles passed into Turkey, and to different parts of theLevant, where their descendants continued to speak the Castilian languagefar into the following century. Others found their way to France, and evenEngland. Part of their religious services is recited to this day inSpanish, in one or more of the London synagogues; and the modern Jew stillreverts with fond partiality to Spain, as the cherished land of hisfathers, illustrated by the most glorious recollections in their eventfulhistory. [13]

The whole number of Jews expelled from Spain by Ferdinand and Isabella isvariously computed from one hundred and sixty thousand to eight hundredthousand souls; a discrepancy sufficiently indicating the paucity ofauthentic data. Most modern writers, with the usual predilection forstartling results, have assumed the latter estimate; and Llorente has madeit the basis of some important calculations, in his History of theInquisition. A view of all the circumstances will lead us without muchhesitation to adopt the more moderate computation. [14] This, moreover, isplaced beyond reasonable doubt by the direct testimony of the Curate ofLos Palacios. He reports, that a Jewish Rabbin, one of the exiles, subsequently returned to Spain, where he was baptized by him. This person, whom Bernaldez commends for his intelligence, estimated the whole numberof his unbaptized countrymen in the dominions of Ferdinand and Isabella, at the publication of the edict, at thirty-six thousand families. AnotherJewish authority, quoted by the Curate, reckoned them at thirty-fivethousand. This, assuming an average of four and a half to a family, givesthe sum total of about one hundred and sixty thousand individuals, agreeably to the computation of Bernaldez. There is little reason forsupposing, that the actual amount would suffer diminution in the hands ofeither the Jewish or Castilian authority; since the one might naturally beled to exaggerate, in order to heighten sympathy with the calamities ofhis nation, and the other, to magnify as far as possible the glorioustriumphs of the Cross. [15]

The detriment incurred by the state, however, is not founded so much onany 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 bythe mere number of the exiled; and, although even this might have beengradually repaired in a country allowed the free and healthful developmentof its energies, yet in Spain this was so effectually counteracted by theInquisition, and other causes in the following century, that the loss maybe deemed irretrievable. 

The expulsion of so numerous a class of subjects by an independent act ofthe sovereign, might well be regarded as an enormous stretch ofprerogative, altogether incompatible with anything like a free government. But to judge the matter rightly, we must take into view the actualposition of the Jews at that time. Far from forming an integral part ofthe commonwealth, they were regarded as alien to it, as a mereexcrescence, which, so far from contributing to the healthful action ofthe body politic, was nourished by its vicious humors, and might be loppedoff at any time, when the health of the system demanded it. Far from beingprotected by the laws, the only aim of the laws, in reference to them, wasto define more precisely their civil incapacities, and to draw the line ofdivision more broadly between them and the Christians. Even thishumiliation by no means satisfied the national prejudices, as is evincedby the great number of tumults and massacres of which they were thevictims. In these circumstances, it seemed to be no great assumption ofauthority, to pronounce sentence of exile against those whom publicopinion had so long proscribed as enemies to the state. It was onlycarrying into effect that opinion, expressed as it had been in a greatvariety of ways; and, as far as the rights of the nation were concerned, the banishment of a single Spaniard would have been held a grosserviolation of them, than that of the whole race of Israelites. 

It has been common with modern historians to detect a principal motive forthe expulsion of the Jews, in the avarice of the government. It is onlynecessary, however, to transport ourselves back to those times, to find itin perfect accordance with their spirit, at least in Spain. It is indeedincredible, that persons possessing the political sagacity of Ferdinandand Isabella could indulge a temporary cupidity at the sacrifice of themost important and permanent interests, converting their wealthiestdistricts into a wilderness, and dispeopling them of a class of citizenswho contributed beyond all others, not only to the general resources, butthe direct revenues of the crown; a measure so manifestly unsound, as tolead even a barbarian monarch of that day to exclaim, "Do they call thisFerdinand a politic prince, who can thus impoverish his own kingdom andenrich ours!" [16] It would seem, indeed, when the measure had beendetermined on, that the Aragonese monarch was willing, by his expedient ofsequestration, to control its operation in such a manner as to secure tohis own subjects the full pecuniary benefit of it. [17] No imputation ofthis kind attaches to Castile. The clause of the ordinance, which mightimply such a design, by interdicting the exportation of gold and silver, was only enforcing a law, which had been already twice enacted by cortesin the present reign, and which was deemed of such moment, that theoffence was made capital. [18]

We need look no further for the principle of action, in this case, thanthe spirit of religious bigotry, which led to a similar expulsion of theJews from England, France, and other parts of Europe, as well as fromPortugal, under circumstances of peculiar atrocity, a few years later. [19] Indeed, the spirit of persecution did not expire with the fifteenthcentury, but extended far into the more luminous periods of theseventeenth and eighteenth; and that, too, under a ruler of the enlargedcapacity of Frederic the Great, whose intolerance could not plead inexcuse the blindness of fanaticism. [20] How far the banishment of theJews was conformable to the opinions of the most enlightenedcontemporaries, may be gathered from the encomiums lavished on its authorsfrom more than one quarter. Spanish writers, without exception, celebrateit as a sublime sacrifice of all temporal interests to religiousprinciple. The best instructed foreigners, in like manner, however theymay condemn the details of its execution, or commiserate the sufferings ofthe Jews, commend the act, as evincing the most lively and laudable zealfor the true faith. [21]

It cannot be denied, that Spain at this period surpassed most of thenations of Christendom in religious enthusiasm, or, to speak morecorrectly, in bigotry. This is doubtless imputable to the long war withthe Moslems, and its recent glorious issue, which swelled every heart withexultation, disposing it to consummate the triumphs of the Cross bypurging the land from a heresy, which, strange as it may seem, wasscarcely less detested than that of Mahomet. Both the sovereigns partooklargely of these feelings. With regard to Isabella, moreover, it must beborne constantly in mind, as has been repeatedly remarked in the course ofthis History, that she had been used to surrender her own judgment, inmatters of conscience, to those spiritual guardians, who were supposed inthat age to be its rightful depositaries, and the only casuists who couldsafely determine the doubtful line of duty. Isabella's pious disposition, and her trembling solicitude to discharge her duty, at whatever cost ofpersonal inclination, greatly enforced the precepts of education. In thisway, her very virtues became the source of her errors. Unfortunately, shelived in an age and station, which attached to these errors the mostmomentous consequences. [22]--But we gladly turn from these dark prospectsto a brighter page of her history. 

FOOTNOTES

[1] It is a proof of the high consideration in which such Israelites aswere willing to embrace Christianity were held, that three of that number, Alvarez, Avila, and Pulgar, were private secretaries of the queen. (Mem. De la Acad. De Hist. , tom. Vi. Ilust. 18. )

An incidental expression of Martyr's, among many similar ones bycontemporaries, affords the true key to the popular odium against theJews. "Cum namque viderent, Judaeorum tabido commercio, qui hac horâ suntin Hispaniâ _innumeri Christianis ditiores_, plurimorum animos corrumpi acseduci, " etc. Opus Epist. , epist. 92. 

[2] Paramo, De Origine Inquisitionis, p. 164. --Llorente, Hist. Del'Inquisition, tom. I. Cap. 7, sec. 3. --Peter Martyr, Opus Epist. , epist. 94. --Ferreras, Hist. D'Espagne, tom. Viii. P. 128. 

[3] Paramo, De Origine Inquisitionis, p. 163. 

Salazar de Mendoza refers the sovereign's consent to the banishment of theJews, in a great measure, to the urgent remonstrances of the cardinal ofSpain. The bigotry of the biographer makes him claim the credit of everyfanatical act for his illustrious hero. See Crón. Del Gran Cardenal, p. 250. 

[4] Llorente, Hist. De l'Inquisition, tom. I. Chap. 7, sect. 5. 

Pulgar, in a letter to the cardinal of Spain, animadverting with muchseverity on the tenor of certain municipal ordinances against the Jews inGuipuscoa and Toledo, in 1482, plainly intimates, that they were not atall to the taste of the queen. See Letras, (Amstelodami, 1670, ) let. 31. 

[5] Carbajal, Anales, MS. , año 1492. --Recep. De las Leyes, lib. 8, tit. 2, ley 2. --Pragmáticas del Reyno, ed. 1520, fol. 3. 

[6] The Curate of Los Palacios speaks of several Israelites worth one ortwo millions of maravedies, and another even as having amassed ten. Hementions one in particular, by the name of Abraham, as renting the_greater part of Castile_! It will hardly do to take the good Curate'sstatement _à la lettre_. See Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 112. 

[7] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, ubi supra. 

[8] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 10. --Zurita, Analos, tom. V. Fol. 9. 

Capmany notices the number of synagogues existing in Aragon, in 1428, asamounting to nineteen. In Galicia at the same time there were but three, and in Catalonia but one. See Mem. De Barcelona, tom. Iv. Apend. Num. 11. 

[9] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 10, 113. --Ferreras, Hist. D'Espagne, tom. Viii. P. 131. 

[10] Zurita, Anales, tom. V. Fol. 9. --Ferreras, Hist. D'Espagne, tom. Viii. P. 133. --Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, ubi supra. --La Clède, Hist. DePortugal, tom. Iv. P. 95. --Mariana, Hist. De España, tom. Ii. P. 602. 

[11] Ferreras, Hist. D'Espagne, tom. Viii. P. 133. --Bernaldez, ReyesCatólicos, MS. , cap. 113. 

[12] Senarega, apud Muratori, Rerum Ital. Script. , tom. Xxiv. Pp. 531, 532. 

[13] See a sensible notice of Hebrew literature in Spain, in theRetrospective Review, vol. Iii. P. 209. --Mariana, Hist. De España, tom. Ii. Lib. 26, cap. 1. --Zurita, Anales, tom. V. Fol. 9. 

Not a few of the learned exiles attained to eminence in those countries ofEurope where they transferred their residence. One is mentioned by Castroas a leading practitioner of medicine in Genoa; another, as filling theposts of astronomer and chronicler, under King Emanuel of Portugal. Manyof them published works in various departments of science, which weretranslated into the Spanish and other European languages. BibliotecaEspañola, tom. I. Pp. 359-372. 

[14] From a curious document in the _Archives of Simancas_, consisting ofa report made to the Spanish sovereigns by their accountant general, Quintanilla, in 1492, it would appear, that the population of the kingdomof Castile, exclusive of Granada, was then estimated at 1, 500, 000_vecinos_, or householders. (See Mem. De la Acad. De Hist. , Apend. No. 12. ) This, allowing four and a half to a family, would make the wholepopulation 6, 750, 000. It appears from the statement of Bernaldez, that thekingdom of Castile contained five-sixths of the whole amount of Jews inthe Spanish monarchy. This proportion, if 800, 000 be received as thetotal, would amount in round numbers to 670, 000, or ten per cent, of thewhole population of the kingdom. Now, it is manifestly improbable that solarge a portion of the whole nation, conspicuous moreover for wealth andintelligence, could have been held so light in a political aspect, as theJews certainly were, or have tamely submitted for so many years to themost wanton indignities without resistance; or finally, that the Spanishgovernment would have ventured on so bold a measure as the banishment ofso numerous and powerful a class, and that too with as few precautions, apparently, as would be required for driving out of the country a rovinggang of gypsies. 

[15] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 110. --Llorente, Hist. Del'Inquisition, tom. I. Chap. 7, sect. 7. --Mariana, Hist. De España, tom. Ii. Lib. 26. --Zurita, Anales, tom. V. Fol. 9. 

[16] Bajazet. See Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. Ii. P. 310. --Paramo, DeOrigine Inquisitionis, p. 168. 

[17] "In truth, " Father Abarca somewhat innocently remarks, "KingFerdinand was a politic Christian, making the interests of church andstate mutually subservient to each other"! Reyes de Aragon, tom. Ii. Fol. 310. 

[18] Once at Toledo, 1480, and at Murcia, 1488. See Recop. De las Leyes, lib. 6, tit. 18, ley 1. 

[19] The Portuguese government caused all children of fourteen years ofage, or under, to be taken from their parents and retained in the country, as fit subjects for a Christian education. The distress occasioned by thiscruel provision may be well imagined. Many of the unhappy parents murderedtheir children to defeat the ordinance; and many laid violent hands onthemselves. Faria y Sousa coolly remarks, that "It was a great mistake inKing Emanuel to think of converting any Jew to Christianity, old enough topronounce the name of Moses!" He fixes three years of age as the utmostlimit. (Europa Portuguesa, tom. Ii. P. 496. )

Mr. Turner has condensed, with his usual industry, the most essentialchronological facts relative to modern Jewish history, into a notecontained in the second volume of his History of England, pp. 114-120. 

[20] They were also rejected from Vienna, in 1669. The illiberal, andindeed most cruel legislation of Frederic II. , in reference to his Jewishsubjects, transports us back to the darkest periods of the Visigothicmonarchy. The reader will find a summary of these enactments in the thirdvolume of Milman's agreeable History of the Jews. 

[21] The accomplished and amiable Florentine, Pico di Mirandola, in histreatise on Judicial Astrology, remarks that, "the sufferings of the Jews, _in which the glory of divine justice delighted_, were so extreme asto fill us Christians with commiseration. " The Genoese historian, Senarega, indeed admits that the measure savored _of some slight degreeof cruelty_. "Res haec primo conspectu laudabilis visa est, quia decusnostrae Religionis respiceret, sed aliquantulum in se crudelitatiscontinere, si eos non belluas, sed homines a Deo creatos, consideravimus. "De Rebus Genuensibus, apud Muratori, Rerum Ital. Script. , tom. Xxiv. --Illescas, Hist. Pontif. , apud Paramo, De Origine Inquisitionis, p. 167. 

[22] Llorente sums up his account of the expulsion, by assigning thefollowing motives to the principal agents in the business. "The measure, "he says, "may be referred to the fanaticism of Torquemada, to the avariceand superstition of Ferdinand, to the false ideas and inconsiderate zealwith which they had inspired Isabella, to whom history cannot refuse thepraise of great sweetness of disposition, and an enlightened mind. " Hist. De l'Inquisition, tom. I. Ch. 7, sec. 10. 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF FERDINAND. --RETURN AND SECOND VOYAGE OFCOLUMBUS. 

1492-1493. 

Attempt on Ferdinand's Life. --Consternation and Loyalty of the People. --Return of Columbus. --His Progress to Barcelona. --Interviews with theSovereigns. --Sensations caused by the Discovery. --Regulations of Trade. --Conversion of the Natives. --Famous Bulls of Alexander VI. --Jealousy ofPortugal. --Second Voyage of Columbus. --Treaty of Tordesillas. 

Towards the latter end of May, 1492, the Spanish sovereigns quittedGranada, between which and Santa Fe they had divided their time since thesurrender of the Moorish metropolis. They were occupied during the twofollowing months with the affairs of Castile. In August they visitedAragon, proposing to establish their winter residence there in order toprovide for its internal administration, and conclude the negotiations forthe final surrender of Roussillon and Cerdagne by France, to which theseprovinces had been mortgaged by Ferdinand's father, John the Second;proving ever since a fruitful source of diplomacy, which threatened morethan once to terminate in open rupture. 

Ferdinand and Isabella arrived in Aragon on the 8th of August, accompaniedby Prince John and the infantas, and a brilliant train of Castiliannobles. In their progress through the country they were everywherereceived with the most lively enthusiasm. The whole nation seemed toabandon itself to jubilee, at the approach of its illustrious sovereigns, whose heroic constancy had rescued Spain from the detested empire of theSaracens. After devoting some months to the internal police of thekingdom, the court transferred its residence to Catalonia, whose capitalit reached about the middle of October. During its detention in thisplace, Ferdinand's career was wellnigh brought to an untimely close. [1]

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 aweek, for the purpose of determining the suits of the poorer classesespecially, who could not afford the more expensive forms of litigation. King Ferdinand, in conformity with this usage, held a court in the houseof deputation, on the 7th of December, being the vigil of the conceptionof the Virgin. At noon, as he was preparing to quit the palace, after theconclusion of business, he lingered in the rear of his retinue, conversingwith some of the officers of the court. As the party was issuing from alittle chapel contiguous to the royal saloon, and just as the king wasdescending a flight of stairs, a ruffian darted from an obscure recess inwhich he had concealed himself early in the morning, and aimed a blow witha short sword, or knife, at the back of Ferdinand's neck. Fortunately theedge of the weapon was turned by a gold chain or collar which he was inthe habit of wearing. It inflicted, however, a deep wound between theshoulders. Ferdinand instantly cried out, "St. Mary preserve us! treason, treason!" and his attendants, rushing on the assassin, stabbed him inthree places with their poniards, and would have despatched him on thespot, had not the king, with his usual presence of mind, commanded them todesist, and take the man alive, that they might ascertain the real authorsof the conspiracy. This was done accordingly, and Ferdinand, fainting withloss of blood, was carefully removed to his apartments in the royalpalace. [2]

The report of the catastrophe spread like wildfire through the city. Allclasses were thrown into consternation by so foul an act, which seemed tocast a stain on the honor and good faith of the Catalans. Some suspectedit 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 suchdetermined opposition to her husband in his early youth. She gave instantorders to hold in readiness one of the galleys lying in the port, in orderto transport her children from the place, as she feared the conspiracymight be designed to embrace other victims. [3]

The populace, in the mean while, assembled in great numbers round thepalace where the king lay. All feelings of hostility had long since givenway to devoted loyalty towards a government, which had uniformly respectedthe liberties of its subjects, and whose paternal sway had secured similarblessings to Barcelona with the rest of the empire. They thronged roundthe building, crying out that the king was slain, and demanding that hismurderers should be delivered up to them. Ferdinand, exhausted as he was, would have presented himself at the window of his apartment, but wasprevented from making the effort by his physicians. It was with greatdifficulty that the people were at length satisfied that he was stillliving, 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, graduallyexhibited more alarming symptoms. One of the bones was found to befractured, and a part of it was removed by the surgeons. On the seventhday his situation was considered extremely critical. During this time, thequeen was constantly by his side, watching with him day and night, andadministering all his medicines with her own hand. At length, theunfavorable symptoms yielded; and his excellent constitution enabled himso far to recover, that in less than three weeks he was able to showhimself to the eyes of his anxious subjects, who gave themselves up to adelirium of joy, offering thanksgivings and grateful oblations in thechurches; while many a pilgrimage, which had been vowed for hisrestoration to health, was performed by the good people of Barcelona, withnaked feet, and even on their knees, among the wild sierras that surroundthe city. 

The author of the crime proved to be a peasant, about sixty years of age, of that humble class, _de remensa_, as it was termed, which Ferdinandhad been so instrumental some few years since in releasing from the baserand more grinding pains of servitude. The man appeared to be insane;alleging, in vindication of his conduct, that he was the rightfulproprietor of the crown, which he expected to obtain by Ferdinand's death. He declared himself willing, however, to give up his pretensions, oncondition of being set at liberty. The king, convinced of his alienationof mind, would have discharged him; but the Catalans, indignant at thereproach which such a crime seemed to attach to their own honor, andperhaps distrusting the plea of insanity, thought it necessary to expiateit by the blood of the offender, and condemned the unhappy wretch to thedreadful doom of a traitor; the preliminary barbarities of the sentence, however, were remitted, at the intercession of the queen. [4]

In the spring of 1493, while the court was still at Barcelona, letterswere received from Christopher Columbus, announcing his return to Spain, and the successful achievement of his great enterprise, by the discoveryof land beyond the western ocean. The delight and astonishment, raised bythis intelligence, were proportioned to the skepticism, with which hisproject had been originally viewed. The sovereigns were now filled with anatural impatience to ascertain the extent and other particulars of theimportant discovery; and they transmitted instant instructions to theadmiral to repair to Barcelona, as soon as he should have made thepreliminary arrangements for the further prosecution of his enterprise. [5]

The great navigator had succeeded, as is well known, after a voyage thenatural difficulties of which had been much augmented by the distrust andmutinous spirit of his followers, in descrying land on Friday, the 12th ofOctober, 1492. After some months spent in exploring the delightfulregions, now for the first time thrown open to the eyes of a European, heembarked in the month of January, 1493, for Spain. One of his vessels hadpreviously foundered, and another had deserted him; so that he was leftalone to retrace his course across the Atlantic. After a most tempestuousvoyage, he was compelled to take shelter in the Tagus, sorely against hisinclination. [6] He experienced, however, the most honorable receptionfrom the Portuguese monarch, John the Second, who did ample justice to thegreat qualities of Columbus, although he had failed to profit by them. [7]After a brief delay, the admiral resumed his voyage, and crossing the barof Saltes entered the harbor of Palos about noon, on the 15th of March, 1493, being exactly seven months and eleven days since his departure fromthat port. [8]

Great was the agitation in the little community of Palos, as they beheldthe well-known vessel of the admiral re-entering their harbor. Theirdesponding imaginations had long since consigned him to a watery grave;for, in addition to the preternatural horrors which hung over the voyage, they had experienced the most stormy and disastrous winter within therecollection of the oldest mariners. [9] Most of them had relatives orfriends on board. They thronged immediately to the shore, to assurethemselves with their own eyes of the truth of their return. When theybeheld their faces once more, and saw them accompanied by the numerousevidences which they brought back of the success of the expedition, theyburst forth in acclamations of joy and gratulation. They awaited thelanding of Columbus, when the whole population of the place accompaniedhim and his crew to the principal church, where solemn thanksgivings wereoffered up for their return; while every bell in the village sent forth ajoyous peal in honor of the glorious event. The admiral was too desirousof presenting himself before the sovereigns, to protract his stay long atPalos. He took with him on his journey specimens of the multifariousproducts of the newly discovered regions. He was accompanied by several ofthe native islanders, arrayed in their simple barbaric costume, anddecorated, as he passed through the principal cities, with collars, bracelets, and other ornaments of gold, rudely fashioned; he exhibitedalso considerable quantities of the same metal in dust, or in crudemasses, [10] numerous vegetable exotics, possessed of aromatic ormedicinal virtue, and several kinds of quadrupeds unknown in Europe, andbirds, whose varieties of gaudy plumage gave a brilliant effect to thepageant. The admiral's progress through the country was everywhere impededby the multitudes thronging forth to gaze at the extraordinary spectacle, and the more extraordinary man, who, in the emphatic language of thattime, which has now lost its force from its familiarity, first revealedthe existence of a "New World. " As he passed through the busy, populouscity of Seville, every window, balcony, and housetop, which could afford aglimpse of him, is described to have been crowded with spectators. It wasthe middle of April before Columbus reached Barcelona. The nobility andcavaliers in attendance on the court, together with the authorities of thecity, came to the gates to receive him, and escorted him to the royalpresence. Ferdinand 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 ofcondescension to a person of Columbus's rank, in the haughty andceremonious court of Castile. It was, indeed, the proudest moment in thelife of Columbus. He had fully established the truth of his long-contestedtheory, in the face of argument, sophistry, sneer, skepticism, andcontempt. He had achieved this, not by chance, but by calculation, supported through the most adverse circumstances by consummate conduct. The honors paid him, which had hitherto been reserved only for rank, orfortune, or military success, purchased by the blood and tears ofthousands, were, in his case, a homage to intellectual power, successfullyexerted in behalf of the noblest interests of humanity. [11]

After a brief interval, the sovereigns requested from Columbus a recitalof his adventures. His manner was sedate and dignified, but warmed by theglow of natural enthusiasm. He enumerated the several islands which he hadvisited, expatiated on the temperate character of the climate, and thecapacity of the soil for every variety of agricultural production, appealing to the samples imported by him, as evidence of their naturalfruitfulness. He dwelt more at large on the precious metals to be found inthese islands, which he inferred, less from the specimens actuallyobtained, than from the uniform testimony of the natives to theirabundance in the unexplored regions of the interior. Lastly, he pointedout the wide scope afforded to Christian zeal, in the illumination of arace of men, whose minds, far from being wedded to any system of idolatry, were prepared by their extreme simplicity for the reception of pure anduncorrupted doctrine. The last consideration touched Isabella's heart mostsensibly; and the whole audience, kindled with various emotions by thespeaker's eloquence, filled up the perspective with the gorgeous coloringof their own fancies, as ambition, or avarice, or devotional feelingpredominated in their bosoms. When Columbus ceased, the king and queen, together with all present, prostrated themselves on their knees ingrateful thanksgivings, while the solemn strains of the Te Deum werepoured forth by the choir of the royal chapel, as in commemoration of someglorious victory. [12]

The discoveries of Columbus excited a sensation, particularly among men ofscience, in the most distant parts of Europe, strongly contrasting withthe apathy which had preceded them. They congratulated one another onbeing reserved for an age which had witnessed the consummation of so grandan event. The learned Martyr, who, in his multifarious correspondence, hadnot even deigned to notice the preparations for the voyage of discovery, now lavished the most unbounded panegyric on its results; which hecontemplated with the eye of a philosopher, having far less reference toconsiderations of profit or policy, than to the prospect which theyunfolded of enlarging the boundaries of knowledge. [12]

Most of the scholars of the day, however, adopted the erroneous hypothesisof Columbus, who considered the lands he had discovered, as bordering onthe eastern shores of Asia, and lying adjacent to the vast and opulentregions depicted in such golden colors by Mandeville and the Poli. Thisconjecture, which was conformable to the admiral's opinions beforeundertaking the voyage, was corroborated by the apparent similaritybetween various natural productions of these islands, and of the east. From this misapprehension, the new dominions soon came to be distinguishedas the West Indies, an appellation by which they are still recognized inthe titles of the Spanish. Crown. [13]

Columbus, during his residence at Barcelona, continued to receive from theSpanish sovereigns the most honorable distinctions which royal bountycould confer. When Ferdinand rode abroad, he was accompanied by theadmiral at his side. The courtiers, in emulation of their master, madefrequent entertainments, at which he was treated with the punctiliousdeference paid to a noble of the highest class. [14] But the attentionsmost grateful to his lofty spirit were the preparations of the Spanishcourt for prosecuting his discoveries, on a scale commensurate with theirimportance. A board was established for the direction of Indian affairs, consisting of a superintendent and two subordinate functionaries. Thefirst of these officers was Juan de Fonseca, archdeacon of Seville, anactive, ambitious prelate, subsequently raised to high episcopalpreferment, whose shrewdness, and capacity for business, enabled him tomaintain the control of the Indian department during the whole of thepresent reign. An office for the transaction of business was instituted atSeville, and a custom-house placed under its direction at Cadiz. This wasthe origin of the important establishment of the _Casa de la Contratacionde las Indias_, or India House. [15]

The commercial regulations adopted exhibit a narrow policy in some oftheir features, for which a justification may be found in the spirit ofthe age, and in the practice of the Portuguese particularly, but whichentered still more largely into the colonial legislation of Spain underlater princes. The new territories, far from being permitted freeintercourse with foreign nations, were opened only under strictlimitations to Spanish subjects, and were reserved, as forming, in somesort, part of the exclusive revenue of the crown. All persons of whateverdescription were interdicted, under the severest penalties, from tradingwith, or even visiting the Indies, without license from the constitutedauthorities. It was impossible to evade this, as a minute specification ofthe ships; cargoes, crews, with the property appertaining to eachindividual, was required to be taken at the office in Cadiz, and acorresponding registration in a similar office established at Hispaniola. A more sagacious spirit was manifested in the ample provision made ofwhatever could contribute to the support or permanent prosperity of theinfant colony. Grain, plants, the seeds of numerous vegetable products, which in the genial climate of the Indies might be made valuable articlesfor domestic consumption or export, were liberally furnished. Commoditiesof 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 readiness for theexpedition. Still further authority was given to impress both officers andmen, if necessary, into the service. Artisans of every sort, provided withthe implements of their various crafts, including a great number of minersfor exploring the subterraneous treasures of the new regions, wereenrolled in the expedition; in order to defray the heavy charges of which, the government, in addition to the regular resources, had recourse to aloan, and to the sequestrated property of the exiled Jews. [16]

Amid their own temporal concerns, the Spanish sovereigns did not forgetthe spiritual interests of their new subjects. The Indians, whoaccompanied Columbus to Barcelona, had been all of them baptized, beingoffered up, in the language of a Castilian writer, as the first-fruits ofthe gentiles. King Ferdinand, and his son, Prince John, stood as sponsorsto two of them, who were permitted to take their names. One of the Indiansremained attached to the prince's establishment; the residue were sent toSeville, whence, after suitable religious instruction, they were to bereturned as missionaries for the propagation of the faith among their owncountrymen. Twelve Spanish ecclesiastics were also destined to thisservice; among whom was the celebrated Las Casas, so conspicuousafterwards for his benevolent exertions in behalf of the unfortunatenatives. The most explicit directions were given to the admiral, to useevery effort for the illumination of the poor heathen, which was set forthas the primary object of the expedition. He was particularly enjoined "toabstain from all means of annoyance, and to treat them well and lovingly, maintaining a familiar intercourse with them, rendering them all the kindoffices in his power, distributing presents of the merchandise and variouscommodities, which their Highnesses had caused to be embarked on board thefleet for that purpose; and finally, to chastise, in the most exemplarymanner, all who should offer the natives the slightest molestation. " Suchwere the instructions emphatically urged on Columbus for the regulation ofhis intercourse with the savages; and their indulgent tenor sufficientlyattests the benevolent and rational views of Isabella, in religiousmatters, when not warped by any foreign influence. [17]

Towards the last of May, Columbus quitted Barcelona for the purpose ofsuperintending and expediting the preparations for departure on his secondvoyage. He was accompanied to the gates of the city by all the nobilityand cavaliers of the court. Orders were issued to the different towns toprovide him and his suite with lodgings free of expense. His formercommission was not only confirmed in its full extent, but considerablyenlarged. For the sake of despatch, he was authorized to nominate to alloffices, without application to government; and ordinances and letterspatent, bearing the royal seal, were to be issued by him, subscribed byhimself or his deputy. He was intrusted, in fine, with such unlimitedjurisdiction, as showed, that, however tardy the sovereigns may have beenin granting him their confidence, they were not disposed to stint themeasure of it, when his deserts were once established. [18]

Soon after Columbus's return to Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella applied tothe court of Rome, to confirm them in the possession of their recentdiscoveries, and invest them with similar extent of jurisdiction with thatformerly conferred on the kings of Portugal. It was an opinion, as ancientperhaps as the crusades, that the pope, as vicar of Christ, had competentauthority to dispose of all countries inhabited by heathen nations, infavor of Christian potentates. Although Ferdinand and Isabella do not seemto have been fully satisfied of this right, yet they were willing toacquiesce in its assumption in the present instance, from the convictionthat the papal sanction would most effectually exclude the pretensions ofall others, and especially their Portuguese rivals. In their applicationto the Holy See, they were careful to represent their own discoveries asin no way interfering with the rights formerly conceded by it to theirneighbors. They enlarged on their services in the propagation of thefaith, which they affirmed to be a principal motive of their presentoperations. They intimated, finally, that, although many competent personsdeemed their application to the court of Rome, for a title to territoriesalready in their possession, to be unnecessary, yet, as pious princes, anddutiful children of the church, they were unwilling to proceed furtherwithout the sanction of him, to whose keeping its highest interests wereintrusted. [19]

The pontifical throne was at that time filled by Alexander the Sixth; aman who, although degraded by unrestrained indulgence of the most sordidappetites, was endowed by nature with singular acuteness, as well asenergy of character. He lent a willing ear to the application of theSpanish government, and made no hesitation in granting what cost himnothing, while it recognized the assumption of powers, which had alreadybegun to totter in the opinion of mankind. 

On the 3d of May, 1493, he published a bull, in which, taking intoconsideration the eminent services of the Spanish monarchs in the cause ofthe church, especially in the subversion of the Mahometan empire in Spain, and willing to afford still wider scope for the prosecution of their piouslabors, he, "out of his pure liberality, infallible knowledge, andplenitude of apostolic power, " confirmed them in the possession of alllands discovered or hereafter to be discovered by them in the westernocean, comprehending the same extensive rights of jurisdiction with thoseformerly conceded to the kings of Portugal. 

This bull he supported by another, dated on the following day, in whichthe pope, in order to obviate any misunderstanding with the Portuguese, and acting no doubt on the suggestion of the Spanish sovereigns, definedwith greater precision the intention of his original grant to the latter, by bestowing on them all such lands as they should discover to the westand south of an imaginary line, to be drawn from pole to pole, at thedistance of one hundred leagues to the west of the Azores and Cape de VerdIslands. [20] It seems to have escaped his Holiness, that the Spaniards, by pursuing a western route, might in time reach the eastern limits ofcountries previously granted to the Portuguese. At least this would appearfrom the import of a third bull, issued September 25th of the same year, which invested the sovereigns with plenary authority over all countriesdiscovered by them, whether in the east, or within the boundaries ofIndia, all previous concessions to the contrary notwithstanding. With thetitle derived from actual possession, thus fortified by the highestecclesiastical sanction, the Spaniards might have promised themselves anuninterrupted career of discovery, but for the jealousy of their rivals, the Portuguese. [21]

The court of Lisbon viewed with secret disquietude the increasing maritimeenterprise of its neighbors. While the Portuguese were timidly creepingalong the barren shores of Africa, the Spaniards had boldly launched intothe deep, and rescued unknown realms from its embraces, which teemed intheir fancies with treasures of inestimable wealth. Their mortificationwas greatly enhanced by the reflection, that all this might have beenachieved for themselves, had they but known how to profit by the proposalsof Columbus. [22] From the first moment in which the success of theadmiral's enterprise was established, John the Second, a politic andambitious prince, had sought some pretence to check the career ofdiscovery, or at least to share in the spoils of it. [23]

In his interview with Columbus, at Lisbon, he suggested, that thediscoveries of the Spaniards might interfere with the rights secured tothe Portuguese by repeated papal sanctions since the beginning of thepresent century, and guaranteed by the treaty with Spain, in 1479. Columbus, without entering into the discussion, contented himself withdeclaring, that he had been instructed by his own government to steerclear of all Portuguese settlements on the African coast, and that hiscourse indeed had led him in an entirely different direction. AlthoughJohn professed himself satisfied with the explanation, he soon afterdespatched an ambassador to Barcelona, who, after dwelling on someirrelevant topics, touched, as it were, incidentally on the real object ofhis mission, the late voyage of discovery. He congratulated the Spanishsovereigns on its success; expatiated on the civilities shown by the courtof Lisbon to Columbus, on his late arrival there; and acknowledged thesatisfaction felt by his master at the orders given to the admiral, tohold a western course from the Canaries, expressing a hope that the samecourse would be pursued in future, without interfering with the rights ofPortugal by deviation to the south. This was the first occasion, on whichthe existence of such claims had been intimated by the Portuguese. 

In the mean while, Ferdinand and Isabella received intelligence that KingJohn was equipping a considerable armament in order to anticipate ordefeat their discoveries in the west. They instantly sent one of theirhousehold, Don Lope de Herrera, as ambassador to Lisbon, with instructionsto make their acknowledgments to the king for his hospitable reception ofColumbus, accompanied with a request that he would prohibit his subjectsfrom interference with the discoveries of the Spaniards in the west, inthe same manner as these latter had been excluded from the Portuguesepossessions in Africa. The ambassador was furnished with orders of adifferent import, provided he should find the reports correct, respectingthe equipment and probable destination of a Portuguese armada. Instead ofa conciliatory deportment, he was, in that case, to assume a tone ofremonstrance, and to demand a full explanation from King John, of hisdesigns. The cautious prince, who had received, through his secret agentsin Castile, intelligence of these latter instructions, managed matters sodiscreetly as to give no occasion for their exercise. He abandoned, or atleast postponed, his meditated expedition, in the hope of adjusting thedispute by negotiation, in which he excelled. In order to quiet theapprehensions of the Spanish court, he engaged to fit out no fleet fromhis dominions within sixty days; at the same time he sent a fresh missionto Barcelona, with directions to propose an amicable adjustment of theconflicting claims of the two nations, by making the parallel of theCanaries a line of partition between them; the right of discovery to thenorth being reserved to the Spaniards, and that to the south to thePortuguese. [24]

While this game of diplomacy was going on, the Castilian court availeditself of the interval afforded by its rival, to expedite preparations forthe second voyage of discovery; which, through the personal activity ofthe admiral, and the facilities everywhere afforded him, were fullycompleted before the close of September. Instead of the reluctance, andindeed avowed disgust, which had been manifested by all classes to hisformer voyage, the only embarrassment now arose from the difficulty ofselection among the multitude of competitors, who pressed to be enrolledin the present expedition. The reports and sanguine speculations of thefirst adventurers had inflamed the cupidity of many, which was stillfurther heightened by the exhibition of the rich and curious productswhich Columbus had brought back with him, and by the popular belief thatthe 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 supernaturalsplendors of enchantment. Many others were stimulated by the wild love ofadventure, kindled in the long Moorish war, but which, now excluded fromthat career, sought other objects in the vast, untravelled regions of theNew World. The complement of the fleet was originally fixed at twelvehundred souls, which, through importunity or various pretences of theapplicants, was eventually swelled to fifteen hundred. Among these weremany who enlisted without compensation, including several persons of rank, hidalgos, and members of the royal household. The whole squadron amountedto seventeen vessels, three of them of one hundred tons' burden each. Withthis gallant navy, Columbus, dropping down the Guadalquivir, took hisdeparture from the bay of Cadiz, on the 25th of September, 1493;presenting a striking contrast to the melancholy plight, in which, but theyear previous, he sallied forth like some forlorn knight-errant, on adesperate and chimerical enterprise. [25]

No sooner had the fleet weighed anchor, than Ferdinand and Isabelladespatched an embassy in solemn state to advise the king of Portugal ofit. This embassy was composed of two persons of distinguished rank, DonPedro de Ayala, and Don Garci Lopez de Carbajal. Agreeably to theirinstructions, they represented to the Portuguese monarch theinadmissibility of his propositions respecting the boundary line ofnavigation; they argued that the grants of the Holy See, and the treatywith Spain in 1479, had reference merely to the actual possessions ofPortugal, and the right of discovery by an eastern route along the coastsof Africa to the Indies; that these rights had been invariably respectedby Spain; that the late voyage of Columbus struck into a directly oppositetrack; and that the several bulls of Pope Alexander the Sixth, prescribingthe line of partition, not from east to west, but from the north to thesouth pole, were intended to secure to the Spaniards the exclusive rightof discovery in the western ocean. The ambassadors concluded withoffering, in the name of their sovereigns, to refer the whole matter indispute to the arbitration of the court of Rome, or of any common umpire. 

King John was deeply chagrined at learning the departure of the Spanishexpedition. He saw that his rivals had been acting while he had beenamused with negotiation. He at first threw out hints of an immediaterupture; and endeavored, it is said, to intimidate the Castilianambassadors, by bringing them accidentally, as it were, in presence of asplendid array of cavalry, mounted and ready for immediate service. Hevented his spleen on the embassy, by declaring, that "it was a mereabortion; having neither head nor feet;" alluding to the personalinfirmity of Ayala, who was lame, and to the light, frivolous character ofthe other envoy. [26]

These symptoms of discontent were duly notified to the Spanish government;who commanded the superintendent, Fonseca, to keep a vigilant eye on themovements of the Portuguese, and, in case any hostile armament should quittheir ports, to be in readiness to act against it with one double itsforce. King John, however, was too shrewd a prince to be drawn into soimpolitic a measure as war with a powerful adversary, quite as likely tobaffle him in the field, as in the council. Neither did he relish thesuggestion of deciding the dispute by arbitration; since he well knew, that his claim rested on too unsound a basis, to authorize the expectationof a favorable award from any impartial umpire. He had already failed inan application for redress to the court of Rome, which answered him byreference to its bulls, recently published. In this emergency, he came tothe resolution at last, which should have been first adopted, of decidingthe matter by a fair and open conference. It was not until the followingyear, however, that his discontent so far subsided as to allow hisacquiescence 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 wereratified, in the course of the same year, by the respective powers. Inthis treaty, the Spaniards were secured in the exclusive right ofnavigation and discovery in the western ocean. At the urgent remonstranceof the Portuguese, however, who complained that the papal line ofdemarcation cooped up their enterprises within too narrow limits, theyconsented, that instead of one hundred, it should be removed three hundredand seventy leagues west of the Cape de Verd islands, beyond which alldiscoveries should appertain to the Spanish nation. It was agreed that oneor two caravels should be provided by each nation, to meet at the GrandCanary, and proceed due west, the appointed distance, with a number ofscientific men on board, for the purpose of accurately determining thelongitude; and if any lands should fall under the meridian, the directionof the line should be ascertained by the erection of beacons at suitabledistances. The proposed meeting never took place. But the removal of thepartition line was followed by important consequences to the Portuguese, who derived from it their pretensions to the noble empire of Brazil. [27]

Thus this singular misunderstanding, which menaced an open rupture at onetime, was happily adjusted. Fortunately, the accomplishment of the passageround the Cape of Good Hope, which occurred soon afterwards, led thePortuguese in an opposite direction to their Spanish rivals, theirBrazilian possessions having too little attractions, at first, to turnthem from the splendid path of discovery thrown open in the east. It wasnot many years, however, before the two nations, by pursuing oppositeroutes of circumnavigation, were brought into collision on the other sideof the globe; a circumstance never contemplated, apparently, by the treatyof Tordesillas. Their mutual pretensions were founded, however, on theprovisions of that treaty, which, as the reader is aware, was itself onlysupplementary to the original bull of demarcation of Alexander the Sixth. [28]

Thus this bold stretch of papal authority, so often ridiculed aschimerical and absurd, was in a measure justified by the event, since itdid, in fact, determine the principles on which the vast extent ofunappropriated empire in the eastern and western hemispheres wasultimately divided between two petty states of Europe. 

FOOTNOTES

[1] Zurita, Anales, tom. V. Fol. 13. --Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS. , bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 28. 

[2] Zurita, Anales, tom. V. Fol. 15. --Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 116. --Garibay, Compendio, tom. Ii. Pp. 678, 679. --Abarca, Reyes deAragon, tom. Ii. Fol. 315. --Carbajal, Anales, MS. , año 1492. --Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS. , bat. 1, quinc. 4, dial. 9. 

[3] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist. , epist. 125. --Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 116. --Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, ubi supra. 

The great bell of Velilla, whose miraculous tolling always announced somedisaster to the monarchy, was heard to strike at the time of this assaulton Ferdinand, being the fifth time since the subversion of the kingdom bythe Moors. The fourth was on the assassination of the inquisitor Arbues. All which is established by a score of good orthodox witnesses, asreported by Dr. Diego Dormer, in his Discursos Varies, pp. 206, 207. 

[4] L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 136. --Peter Martyr, Opus Epist. , epist. 125, 127, 131. --Zurita, Anales, tom. V. Fol. 16. --Bernaldez, ReyesCatólicos, MS. , loc. Cit. --Garibay, after harrowing the reader's feelingswith half a column of inhuman cruelties inflicted on the miserable man, concludes with the comfortable assurance, "Pero abogaronle primero porclemencia y misericordia de la Reyna. " (Compendio, tom. Ii. Lib. 19, cap. 1. )

A letter written by Isabella to her confessor, Fernando de Talavera, during her husband's illness, shows the deep anxiety of her own mind, aswell as that of the citizens of Barcelona, at his critical situation, furnishing abundant evidence, if it were needed, of her tenderness ofheart, and the warmth of her conjugal attachment. See CorrespondenciaEpistolar, apud Mem. De la Acad. De Hist. , tom. Vi. Ilust. 13. 

[5] Herrera, Indias Occidentales, dec. 1, lib. 2, cap. 3. --Muñoz, Hist. Del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 4, sect. 13, 14. 

Columbus concludes a letter addressed, on his arrival at Lisbon, to thetreasurer Sanchez, in the following glowing terms; "Let processions bemade, festivals held, temples be filled with branches and flowers, forChrist rejoices on earth as in Heaven, seeing the future redemption ofsouls. Let us rejoice, also, for the temporal benefit likely to result, not merely to Spain, but to all Christendom. " See Primer Viage de Colon, apud Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. I. 

[6] Herrera, Indias Occidentales, tom. I. Dec. 1, lib. 2, cap. 2. --PrimerViage de Colon, apud Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. I. --FernandoColon, Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 39. 

The Portuguese historian, Faria y Sousa, appears to be nettled at theprosperous issue of the voyage; for he testily remarks, that "the admiralentered Lisbon with a vainglorious exultation, in order to make Portugalfeel, by displaying the tokens of his discovery, how much she had erred innot acceding to his propositions. " Europa Portuguesa, tom. Ii. Pp. 462, 463. 

[7] My learned friend, Mr. John Pickering, has pointed out to me a passagein a Portuguese author, giving some particulars of Columbus's visit toPortugal. The passage, which I have not seen noticed by any writer, isextremely interesting, coming, as it does, from a person high in the royalconfidence, and an eye-witness of what he relates. "In the year 1493, onthe sixth day of March, arrived in Lisbon Christopher Columbus, anItalian, who came from the discovery, made under the authority of thesovereigns of Castile, of the islands of Cipango and Antilia; from whichcountries he brought with him the first specimens of the people, as wellas of the gold and other things to be found there; and he was entitledadmiral of them. The king, being forthwith informed of this, commanded himinto his presence; and appeared to be annoyed and vexed, as well from thebelief that the said discovery was made within the seas and boundaries ofhis seigniory of Guinea, --which might give rise to disputes, --as becausethe said admiral, having become somewhat haughty by his situation, and inthe relation of his adventures always exceeding the bounds of truth, madethis affair, as to gold, silver, and riches, much greater than it was. Especially did the king accuse himself of negligence, in having declinedthis enterprise, when Columbus first came to ask his assistance, from wantof credit and confidence in it. And, notwithstanding the king wasimportuned to kill kim on the spot; since with his death the prosecutionof the undertaking, so far as the sovereigns of Castile were concerned, would cease, from want of a suitable person to take charge of it; andnotwithstanding this might be done without suspicion of the king's beingprivy to it, --for inasmuch as the admiral was overbearing and puffed up byhis success, they could easily bring it about, that his own indiscretionshould appear the occasion of his death, --yet the king, as he was a princegreatly fearing God, not only forbade this, but even showed the, admiralhonor and much favor, and therewith dismissed him. " Ruy de Pina, Chronicad'el Rei Dom Joaõ II. , cap. 66, apud Collecçaõ de Livros Ineditos deHistoria Portugueza, (Lisboa, 1790-93, ) tom. Ii. 

[8] Fernando Colon, Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 40, 41. --Charlevoix, Histoire de S. Domingue, (Paris, 1730, ) tom. I. Pp. 84-90. --Primer Viagede Colon, apud Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. I. --La Clède, Hist. DePortugal, tom. Iv. 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 shouldhave sufficed, one might think, to dispel, especially with Americanmariners, the superstitions dread, still so prevalent, of commencing avoyage on that ominous day. 

[9] Primer Viage de Colon, Let 2. 

[10] Muñoz, Hist. Del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 4, sec. 14. --Fernando Colon, Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 41. 

Among other specimens, was a lump of gold, of sufficient magnitude to befashioned into a vessel for containing the host; "thus, " says Salazar deMendoza, "converting the first fruits of the new dominions to pious uses. "Monarquía, pp. 351, 352. 

[11] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist. , epist. 133, 134, 140. --Bernaldez, ReyesCatólicos, MS. , cap. 118. --Ferreras, Hist. D'Espagne, tom. Viii. Pp. 141, 142. --Fernando Colon, Hist. Del Almirante, ubi supra. --Zuñiga, Annales deSevilla, p. 413. --Gomara, Hist. De las Indias, cap. 17. --Benzoni, NoviOrbis Hist. , lib. 1, cap. 8, 9. --Gallo, apud Muratori, Rerum Ital. Script. , tom. Xxiii. P. 203. 

[12] Herrera, Indias Occidental. , tom. I. Dec. 1, lib. 2, cap. 3. --Muñoz, Hist. Del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 4, sec. 15, 16, 17. --Fernando Colon, Hist. DelAlmirante, ubi supra. 

[12] In a letter, written soon after the admiral's return, Martyrannounces the discovery to his correspondent, Cardinal Sforza, in thefollowing manner. "Mira res ex eo terrarum orbe, quem sol horarum quatuoret viginti spatio circuit, ad nostra usque tempora, quod minime te latet, trita cognitaque dimidia taptum pars, ab Aurea utpote Chersoneso, ad Gadesnostras Hispanas, reliqua vero a cosmographis pro incognitâ relicta est. Et si quae mentio facta, ea tenuis et incerta. Nunc autem, o beatumfacinus! meorum regum auspiciis, quod latuit hactenus a rerum primordio, intelligi coeptum est. " In a subsequent epistle to the learned PomponioLeto, he breaks out in a strain of warm and generous sentiment. "Praelaetitia prosiliisse te, vixque a lachrymis prae gaudio temperasse, quandoliteras adspexisti meas, quibus de Antipodum Orbe latenti hactenus, tecertiorem feci, mi suavissime Pomponi, insinuasti. Ex tuis ipse literiscolligo, quid senseris. Sensisti autem, tantique rem fecisti, quanti virumsummâ doctrinâ insignitum decuit. Quis namque cibus sublimibus praestaripotest ingeniis isto suavior? quod condimentum gravius? a me facioconjecturam. Beari sentio spiritus meos, quando accitos alloquor prudentesaliquos ex his qui ab eâ redeunt provinciâ. Implicent animos pecuniarumcumulis augendis miseri avari, libidinibus obscoeni; noetras nos mentes, postquam Deo pleni aliquandiu fuerimus, contemplando, hujuscemodi rerumnotitiâ demulceamus. " Opus Epist. , epist. 124, 152. 

[13] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 118. --Gallo, apud Muratori, Rerum Ital. Script. , tom. Xxiii. P. 203. --Gomara, Hist. De las Indias, cap. 18. 

Peter Martyr seems to have received the popular inference, respecting theidentity of the new discoveries with the East Indies, with some distrust. "Insulas reperit plures; has esse, de quibus fit apud cosmographos mentioextra Oceanum Orientalem, adjacentes Indiae arbitrantur. Nec inficior egopenitus, quamvis sphaerae magnitudo aliter sentire videatur; neque enimdesunt qui parvo tractu a finibus Hispanis distare littus Indicum, putent. " Opus Epist. , epist. 135. 

[14] Herrera, Indias Occidentales, dec. 1, lib. 2, cap. 3. --Benzoni, NoviOrbis Hist. , lib. 1, cap. 8. --Gomara, Hist. De las Indias, cap. 17. --Zuñiga, Annales de Sevilla, p. 413. --Fernando Colon, Hist. Del Almirante, ubi supra. 

He was permitted to quarter the royal arms with his own, which consistedof a group of golden islands amid azure billows. To these were afterwardsadded five anchors, with the celebrated motto, well known as being carvedon his sepulchre. (See Part II. Chap. 18. ) He received besides, soon afterhis return, the substantial gratuity of a thousand doblas of gold, fromthe royal treasury, and the premium of 10, 000 maravedies, promised to theperson who first descried land. See Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, Col. Diplom. , nos. 20, 32, 38. 

[15] Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. Ii. Col. Diplom. , no. 45. --Muñoz, Hist. Del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 4, sec. 21. 

[16] Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, Col. Diplom. , nos. 33, 35, 45. --Herrera, Indias Occidentales, dec. 1, lib. 2, cap. 4. --Muñoz, Hist. DelNuevo-Mundo, lib. 4, sec. 21. 

[17] See the original instructions, apud Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, Col. Diplom. , no. 45. --Muñoz, Hist. Del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 4, sec. 22. --Zuñiga, Annales de Sevilla, p. 413. 

L. Marineo eagerly claims the conversion of the natives, as the primeobject of the expedition with the sovereigns, far outweighing all temporalconsiderations. The passage is worth quoting, if only to show whategregious blunders a contemporary may make in the relation of eventspassing, as it were, under his own eyes. "The Catholic sovereigns havingsubjugated the Canaries, and established Christian worship there, sent_Peter Colon_, with _thirty-five_ ships, called caravels, and _a greatnumber of men_ to other much larger islands abounding in mines of gold, not so much, however, for the sake of the gold, as for the salvation ofthe poor heathen natives. " Cosas Memorables, fol. 161. 

[18] See copies of the original documents, apud Navarrete, Coleccion deViages, tom. Ii. , Col. Diplom. , nos. 39, 41, 42, 43. 

[19] Herrera, Indias Occidentales, dec. 1, lib. 2, cap. 4. --Muñoz, Hist. Del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 4, sec. 18. 

[20] A point south of the meridian is something new in geometry; yet sosays the bull of his Holiness. "Omnes insulas et terras firmas inventas etinveniendas, detectas et detegendas, versus Occidentem et meridiem, fabricando et constituendo unam lineam a Polo Arctico, scilicetseptentrione, ad Polum Antarcticum, scilicet meridiem. "

[21] See the original papal grants, transcribed by Navarrete, Coleccion deViages, tom. Ii. , Col. Diplom. , nos. 17, 18. Appendice al Col. Diplom. , no. 11. 

[22] Padre Abarca considers "that the discovery of a new world, firstoffered to the kings of Portugal and England, was reserved by Heaven forSpain, being forced, in a manner, on Ferdinand, in recompense for thesubjugation of the Moors, and the expulsion of the Jews!" Reyes de Aragon, fol. 310, 311. 

[23] La Clède, Hist. De Portugal, tom. Iv. Pp. 53-58. 

[24] Faria y Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, tom. Ii. P. 463. --Herrera, IndiasOccidentales, loc. Cit. --Muñoz, Hist. Del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 4, sec. 27, 28. --Mariana, Hist. De España, tom. Ii. Pp. 606, 607. --La Clède, Hist. DePortugal, tom. Iv. Pp. 53-58. 

[25] Zuñiga, Annales de Sevilla, p. 413. --Fernando Colon, Hist. DelAlmirante, cap. 44. --Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 118. --PeterMartyr, De Rebus Oceanicis, dec. 1, lib. 1. --Benzoni, Novi Orbis Historia, lib. 1, cap. 9. --Gomara, Hist. De las Indias, cap. 20. 

[26] La Clède, Hist. De Portugal, tom. Iv. Pp. 53-58. --Muñoz, Hist. DelNuevo-Mundo, lib. 4, sec. 27, 28. 

[27] Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, Doc. Diplom. , no. 75. --Faria y Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, tom. Ii. P. 463. --Herrera, Indias Occidentales, dec. 1, lib. 2, cap. 8, 10. --Mariana, Hist. De España, tom. Ii. Pp. 606, 607. --LaClède, Hist. De Portugal, tom. Iv. Pp. 60-62. --Zurita, Anales, tom. V. Fol. 31. 

[28] The contested territory was the Molucca Islands, which each partyclaimed for itself, by virtue of the treaty of Tordesillas. After morethan one congress, in which all the cosmographical science of the day wasput in requisition, the affair was terminated _à l'amiable_ by the Spanishgovernment's relinquishing its pretensions, in consideration of 350, 000ducats, paid by the court of Lisbon. See La Clède, Hist. De Portugal, tom. Iv. Pp. 309, 401, 402, 480. --Mariana, Hist. De España, tom. Ii. Pp. 607, 875. --Salazar de Mendoza, Monarquía, tom. Ii. Pp. 205, 206. 

CHAPTER XIX. 

CASTILIAN LITERATURE. --CULTIVATION OF THE COURT. --CLASSICAL LEARNING. --SCIENCE. 

Early Education of Ferdinand. --Of Isabella. --Her Library. --Early Promiseof Prince John. --Scholarship of the Nobles. --Accomplished Women. --Classical Learning. --Universities. --Printing Introduced. --Encouraged bythe Queen. --Actual Progress of Science. 

We have now arrived at the period, when the history of Spain becomesincorporated with that of the other states of Europe. Before embarking onthe wide sea of European politics, however, and bidding adieu, for aseason, to the shores of Spain, it will be necessary, in order to completethe view of the internal administration of Ferdinand and Isabella, to showits operation on the intellectual culture of the nation. This, as itconstitutes, when taken in its broadest sense, a principal end of allgovernment, should never be altogether divorced from any history. It isparticularly deserving of note in the present reign, which stimulated theactive development of the national energies in every department ofscience, and which forms a leading epoch in the ornamental literature ofthe country. The present and the following chapter will embrace the mentalprogress of the kingdom, not merely down to the period at which we havearrived, but through the whole of Isabella's reign, in order to exhibit asfar as possible its entire results, at a single glance, to the eye of thereader. 

We have beheld, in a preceding chapter, the auspicious literary promiseafforded 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 wehave seen, was abandoned to unbounded license, and the whole nation sunkinto a mental torpor, from which it was roused only by the tumults ofcivil war. In this deplorable state of things, the few blossoms ofliterature, which had begun to open under the benign influence of thepreceding reign, were speedily trampled under foot, and every vestige ofcivilization seemed in a fair way to be effaced from the land. 

The first years of Ferdinand and Isabella's government were too muchclouded by civil dissensions, to afford a much more cheering prospect. Ferdinand's early education, moreover, had been greatly neglected. Beforethe age of ten, he was called to take part in the Catalan wars. Hisboyhood was spent among soldiers, in camps instead of schools, and thewisdom which he so eminently displayed in later life, was drawn far morefrom his own resources, than from books. [1]

Isabella was reared under more favorable auspices; at least more favorableto mental culture. She was allowed to pass her youth in retirement, andindeed oblivion, as far as the world was concerned, under her mother'scare, at Arevalo. In this modest seclusion, free from the engrossingvanities and vexations of court life, she had full leisure to indulge thehabits of study and reflection to which her temper naturally disposed her. She was acquainted with several modern languages, and both wrote anddiscoursed in her own with great precision and elegance. No great expenseor solicitude, however, appears to have been lavished on her education. She was uninstructed in the Latin, which in that day was of greaterimportance than at present; since it was not only the common medium ofcommunication between learned men, and the language in which the mostfamiliar treatises were often composed, but was frequently used by well-educated foreigners at court, and especially employed in diplomaticintercourse and negotiation. [2]

Isabella resolved to repair the defects of education, by devoting herselfto the acquisition of the Latin tongue, so soon as the distracting warswith Portugal, which attended her accession, were terminated. We have aletter from Pulgar, addressed to the queen soon after that event, in whichhe inquires concerning her progress, intimating his surprise, that she canfind time for study amidst her multitude of engrossing occupations, andexpressing his confidence that she will acquire the Latin with the samefacility with which she had already mastered other languages. The resultjustified his prediction; for "in less than a year, " observes anothercontemporary, "her admirable genius enabled her to obtain a good knowledgeof the Latin language, so that she could understand without muchdifficulty whatever was written or spoken in it. " [3]

Isabella inherited the taste of her father, John the Second, for thecollecting of books. She endowed the convent of San Juan de los Reyes atToledo, at the time of its foundation, 1477, with a library consistingprincipally of manuscripts. [4] The archives of Simancas containcatalogues of part of two separate collections, belonging to her, whosebroken remains have contributed to swell the magnificent library of theEscurial. Most of them are in manuscript; the richly colored and highlydecorated binding of these volumes (an art which the Spaniards derivedfrom the Arabs) show how highly they were prized, and the worn andbattered condition of some of them prove that they were not kept merelyfor show. [5]

The queen manifested the most earnest solicitude for the instruction ofher own children. Her daughters were endowed by nature with amiabledispositions, that seconded her maternal efforts. The most competentmasters, native and foreign, especially from Italy, then so active in therevival of ancient learning, were employed in their tuition. This wasparticularly intrusted to two brothers, Antonio and Alessandro Geraldino, natives of that country. Both were conspicuous for their abilities andclassical erudition, and the latter, who survived his brother Antonio, wassubsequently raised to high ecclesiastical preferments. [6] Under thesemasters, the infantas made attainments rarely permitted to the sex, andacquired such familiarity with the Latin tongue especially, as excitedlively admiration among those over whom they were called to preside inriper years. [7]

A still deeper anxiety was shown in the education of her only son, PrinceJohn, heir of the united Spanish monarchies. Every precaution was taken totrain him up in a manner that might tend to the formation of the charactersuited to his exalted station. He was placed in a class consisting of tenyouths, selected from the sons of the principal nobility. Five of themwere of his own age, and five of riper years, and they were all brought toreside with him in the palace. By this means it was hoped to combine theadvantages of public with those of private education; which last, from itssolitary character, necessarily excludes the subject of it from thewholesome influence exerted by bringing the powers into daily collisionwith antagonists of a similar age. [8]

A mimic council was also formed on the model of a council of state, composed of suitable persons of more advanced standing, whose province itwas to deliberate on, and to discuss, topics connected with government andpublic policy. Over this body the prince presided, and here he wasinitiated into a practical acquaintance with the important duties, whichwere to devolve on him at a future period of life. The pages, inattendance on his person, were also selected with great care from thecavaliers and young nobility of the court, many of whom afterwards filledwith credit the most considerable posts in the state. The severerdiscipline of the prince was relieved by attention to more light andelegant accomplishments. He devoted many of his leisure hours to music, for which he had a fine natural taste, and in which he attained sufficientproficiency to perform with skill on a variety of instruments. In short, his education was happily designed to produce that combination of mentaland moral excellence, which should fit him for reigning over his subjectswith benevolence and wisdom. How well the scheme succeeded is abundantlyattested by the commendations of contemporary writers, both at home andabroad, who enlarge on his fondness for letters, and for the society oflearned men, on his various attainments, and more especially his Latinscholarship, and above all on his disposition, so amiable as to givepromise of the highest excellence in maturer life, --a promise, alas! mostunfortunately for his own nation, destined never to be realized. [9]

Next to her family, there was no object which the queen had so much atheart, as the improvement of the young nobility. During the troubled reignof her predecessor, they had abandoned themselves to frivolous pleasure, or to a sullen apathy, from which nothing was potent enough to arousethem, but the voice of war. [10] She was obliged to relinquish her plansof amelioration, during the all-engrossing struggle with Granada, when itwould have been esteemed a reproach for a Spanish knight to have exchangedthe post of danger in the field for the effeminate pursuit of letters. Butno sooner was the war brought to a close, than Isabella resumed herpurpose. She requested the learned Peter Martyr, who had come into Spainwith 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. [11] Inan epistle addressed by Martyr to Cardinal Mendoza, dated at Granada, April, 1492, he alludes to the promise of a liberal recompense from thequeen, if he would assist in reclaiming the young cavaliers of the courtfrom the idle and unprofitable pursuits, in which, to her greatmortification, they consumed their hours. The prejudices to be encounteredseem to have filled him with natural distrust of his success; for heremarks, "Like their ancestors, they hold the pursuit of letters in lightestimation, considering them an obstacle to success in the profession ofarms, which alone they esteem worthy of honor. " He however expresses hisconfidence, that the generous nature of the Spaniards will make it easy toinfuse into them a more liberal taste; and, in a subsequent letter, heenlarges on the "good effects likely to result from the literary ambitionexhibited by the heir apparent, on whom the eyes of the nation werenaturally turned. " [12] Martyr, in obedience to the royal summons, instantly repaired to court, and in the month of September following, wehave a letter dated from Saragossa, in which he thus speaks of hissuccess. "My house, all day long, swarms with noble youths, who, reclaimedfrom ignoble pursuits to those of letters, are now convinced that these, so far from being a hindrance, are rather a help in the profession ofarms. I earnestly inculcate on them, that consummate excellence in anydepartment, whether of war or peace, is unattainable without science. Ithas pleased our royal mistress, the pattern of every exalted virtue, thather own near kinsman, the duke of Guimaraena, as well as the young duke ofVillahermosa, the king's nephew, should remain under my roof during thewhole day; an example which has been imitated by the principal cavaliersof the court, who, after attending my lectures in company with theirprivate tutors, retire at evening to review them with these latter intheir own quarters. " [13] Another Italian scholar, often cited asauthority in the preceding portion of this work, Lucio Marineo Siculo, co-operated with Martyr in the introduction of a more liberal scholarshipamong the Castilian nobles. He was born at Bedino in Sicily, and, aftercompleting his studies at Rome under the celebrated Pomponio Leto, openeda school in his native island, where he continued to teach for five years. He was then induced to visit Spain, in 1486, with the admiral Henriquez, and soon took his place among the professors of Salamanca, where he filledthe chairs of poetry and grammar with great applause for twelve years. Hewas subsequently transferred to the court, which he helped to illumine, byhis exposition of the ancient classics, particularly the Latin. [14] Underthe auspices of these and other eminent scholars, both native and foreign, the young nobility of Castile shook off the indolence in which they had solong rusted, and applied with generous ardor to the cultivation ofscience; so that, in the language of a contemporary, "while it was a mostrare occurrence, to meet with a person of illustrious birth, before thepresent reign, who had even studied Latin in his youth, there were now tobe seen numbers every day, who sought to shed the lustre of letters overthe martial glory inherited from their ancestors. " [15]

The extent of this generous emulation may be gathered from the largecorrespondence both of Martyr and Marineo with their disciples, includingthe most considerable persons of the Castilian court; it may be stillfurther inferred from the numerous dedications to these persons, ofcontemporary publications, attesting their munificent patronage ofliterary enterprise; [16] and, still more unequivocally, from the zealwith which many of the highest rank entered on such severe literary laboras few, from the mere love of letters, are found willing to encounter. DonGutierre 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 PedroFernandez de Velasco, son of the count of Haro, who subsequently succeededhis father in the hereditary dignity of grand constable of Castile, readlectures on Pliny and Ovid. Don Alfonso de Manrique, son of the count ofParedes, was professor of Greek in the university of Alcalá. All agesseemed to catch the generous enthusiasm; and the marquis of Denia, although turned of sixty, made amends for the sins of his youth, bylearning the elements of the Latin tongue, at this late period. In short, as Giovio remarks in his eulogium on Lebrija, "No Spaniard was accountednoble who held science in indifference. " From a very early period, acourtly stamp was impressed on the poetic literature of Spain. A similarcharacter was now imparted to its erudition; and men of the mostillustrious birth seemed eager to lead the way in the difficult career ofscience, which was thrown open to the nation. [17]

In this brilliant exhibition, those of the other sex must not be omitted, who contributed by their intellectual endowments to the generalillumination of the period. Among them, the writers of that day lavishtheir panegyrics on the marchioness of Monteagudo, and Doña Maria Pacheco, of the ancient house of Mendoza, sisters of the historian, Don DiegoHurtado, [18] and daughters of the accomplished count of Tendilla, [19]who, while ambassador at Rome, induced Martyr to visit Spain, and who wasgrandson of the famous marquis of Santillana, and nephew of the grandcardinal. [20] This illustrious family, rendered yet more illustrious byits merits than its birth, is worthy of specification, as affordingaltogether the most remarkable combination of literary talent in theenlightened court of Castile. The queen's instructor in the Latin languagewas a lady named Doña Beatriz de Galindo, called from her peculiarattainments _la Latina_. Another lady, Doña Lucia de Medrano, publiclylectured on the Latin classics in the university of Salamanca. Andanother, Doña Francisca de Lebrija, daughter of the historian of thatname, filled the chair of rhetoric with applause at Alcalá. But our limitswill not allow a further enumeration of names, which should never bepermitted to sink into oblivion, were it only for the rare scholarship, peculiarly rare in the female sex, which they displayed, in an agecomparatively unenlightened. [21] Female education in that day embraced awider compass of erudition, in reference to the ancient languages, than iscommon at present; a circumstance attributable, probably, to the povertyof modern literature at that time, and the new and general appetiteexcited by the revival of classical learning in Italy. I am not aware, however, that it was usual for learned ladies, in any other country thanSpain, to take part in the public exercises of the gymnasium, and deliverlectures from the chairs of the universities. This peculiarity, which maybe referred in part to the queen's influence, who encouraged the love ofstudy by her own example, as well as by personal attendance on theacademic examinations, may have been also suggested by a similar usage, already noticed, among the Spanish Arabs. [22]

While the study of the ancient tongues came thus into fashion with personsof both sexes, and of the highest rank, it was widely and most thoroughlycultivated by professed scholars. Men of letters, some of whom have beenalready noticed, were invited into Spain from Italy, the theatre, at thattime, on which, from obvious local advantages, classical discovery waspursued with greatest ardor and success. To this country it was usual alsofor Spanish students to repair, in order to complete their discipline inclassical literature, especially the Greek, as first taught on soundprinciples of criticism, by the learned exiles from Constantinople. Themost remarkable of the Spanish scholars, who made this literary pilgrimageto Italy, was Antonio de Lebrija, or Nebrissensis, as he is morefrequently called from his Latin name. [23] After ten years passed atBologna and other seminaries of repute, with particular attention to theirinterior discipline, he returned, in 1473, to his native land, richlyladen with the stores of various erudition. He was invited to fill theLatin chair at Seville, whence he was successively transferred toSalamanca and Alcalá, both of which places he long continued to enlightenby his oral instruction and publications. The earliest of these was his_Introducciones Latinas_, the third edition of which was printed in1485, being four years only from the date of the first; a remarkableevidence of the growing taste for classical learning. A translation in thevernacular accompanied the last edition, arranged, at the queen'ssuggestion, in columns parallel with those of the original text; a formwhich, since become common, was then a novelty. [24] The publication ofhis Castilian grammar, "_Grammatica Castillana_, " followed in 1492; atreatise designed particularly for the instruction of the ladies of thecourt. The other productions of this indefatigable scholar embrace a largecircle of topics, independently of his various treatises on philology andcriticism. Some were translated into French and Italian, and theirrepublication has been continued to the last century. No man of his own, or of later times, contributed more essentially than Lebrija to theintroduction of a pure and healthful erudition into Spain. It is not toomuch to say, that there was scarcely an eminent Spanish scholar in thebeginning of the sixteenth century, who had not formed himself on theinstructions of this master. [25]

Another name worthy of commemoration, is that of Arias Barbosa, a learnedPortuguese, who, after passing some years, like Lebrija, in the schools ofItaly, where he studied the ancient tongues under the guidance ofPolitiano, was induced to establish his residence in Spain. In 1489, wefind him at Salamanca, where he continued for twenty, or, according tosome accounts, forty years, teaching in the departments of Greek andrhetoric. At the close of that period he returned to Portugal, where hesuperintended the education of some of the members of the royal family, and survived to a good old age. Barbosa was esteemed inferior to Lebrijain extent of various erudition, but to have surpassed him in an accurateknowledge of the Greek and poetical criticism. In the former, indeed, heseems to have obtained a greater repute than any Spanish scholar of thetime. He composed some valuable works, especially on ancient prosody. Theunwearied assiduity and complete success of his academic labors havesecured to him a high reputation among the restorers of ancient learning, and especially that of reviving a livelier relish for the study of theGreek, by conducting it on principles of pure criticism, in the samemanner as Lebrija did with the Latin. [26]

The scope of the present work precludes the possibility of a copiousenumeration of the pioneers of ancient learning, to whom Spain owes solarge a debt of gratitude. [27]

The Castilian scholars of the close of the fifteenth, and the beginning ofthe sixteenth century, may take rank with their illustrious contemporariesof Italy. They could not indeed achieve such brilliant results in thediscovery of the remains of antiquity, for such remains had been longscattered and lost amid the centuries of exile and disastrous warfareconsequent on the Saracen invasion. But they were unwearied in theirillustrations, both oral and written, of the ancient authors; and theirnumerous commentaries, translations, dictionaries, grammars, and variousworks of criticism, many of which, though now obsolete, passed intorepeated editions in their own day, bear ample testimony to the generouszeal with which they conspired to raise their contemporaries to a properlevel for contemplating the works of the great masters of antiquity; andwell entitled them to the high eulogium of Erasmus, that "liberal studieswere brought, in the course of a few years, in Spain to so flourishing acondition, as might not only excite the admiration, but serve as a modelto the most cultivated nations of Europe. " [28]

The Spanish universities were the theatre on which this classicalerudition 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 onevery generous study. But under the cheering patronage of the presentgovernment, they were soon filled, and widely multiplied. Academies ofrepute were to be found in Seville, Toledo, Salamanca, Granada, andAlcalá; and learned teachers were drawn from abroad by the most liberalemoluments. At the head of these establishments stood "the illustriouscity of Salamanca, " as Marineo fondly terms it, "mother of all liberalarts and virtues, alike renowned for noble cavaliers and learned men. "[29] Such was its reputation, that foreigners as well as natives wereattracted to its schools, and at one time, according to the authority ofthe same professor, seven thousand students were assembled within itswalls. A letter of Peter Martyr, to his patron the count of Tendilla, gives a whimsical picture of the literary enthusiasm of this place. Thethrong was so great to hear his introductory lecture on one of the Satiresof Juvenal, that every avenue to the hall was blockaded, and the professorwas borne in on the shoulders of the students. Professorships in everydepartment of science then studied, as well as of polite letters, wereestablished at the university, the "new Athens, " as Martyr somewherestyles it. Before the close of Isabella's reign, however, its glories wererivalled, if not eclipsed, by those of Alcalá; [30] which combined higheradvantages for ecclesiastical with civil education, and which, under thesplendid patronage of Cardinal Ximenes, executed the famous polyglotversion of the Scriptures, the most stupendous literary enterprise of thatage. [31]

This active cultivation was not confined to the dead languages, but spreadmore or less over every department of knowledge. Theological science, inparticular, received a large share of attention. It had always formed aprincipal object of academic instruction, though suffered to languishunder the universal corruption of the preceding reign. It was so commonfor the clergy to be ignorant of the most elementary knowledge, that thecouncil of Aranda found it necessary to pass an ordinance, the year beforeIsabella's accession, that no person should be admitted to orders who wasignorant of Latin. The queen took the most effectual means for correctingthis abuse, by raising only competent persons to ecclesiastical dignities. The highest stations in the church were reserved for those who combinedthe highest intellectual endowments with unblemished piety. CardinalMendoza, whose acute and comprehensive mind entered with interest intoevery scheme for the promotion of science, was archbishop of Toledo;Talavera, whose hospitable mansion was itself an academy for men ofletters, and whose princely revenues were liberally dispensed for theirsupport, was raised to the see of Granada; and Ximenes, whose splendidliterary projects will require more particular notice hereafter, succeededMendoza in the primacy of Spain. Under the protection of these enlightenedpatrons, theological studies were pursued with ardor, the Scripturescopiously illustrated, and sacred eloquence cultivated with success. 

A similar impulse was felt in the other walks of science. Jurisprudenceassumed a new aspect, under the learned labors of Montalvo. [32] Themathematics formed a principal branch of education, and were successfullyapplied to astronomy and geography. Valuable treatises were produced onmedicine, and on the more familiar practical arts, as husbandry, forexample. [33] History, which since the time of Alfonso the Tenth had beenheld in higher honor and more widely Cultivated in Castile than in anyother European state, began to lay aside the garb of chronicle, and to bestudied on more scientific principles. Charters and diplomas wereconsulted, manuscripts collated, coins and lapidary inscriptionsdeciphered, and collections made of these materials, the true basis ofauthentic history; and an office of public archives, like that nowexisting at Simancas, was established at Burgos, and placed under the careof Alonso de Mota, as keeper, with a liberal salary. [34]

Nothing could have been more opportune for the enlightened purposes ofIsabella, than the introduction of the art of printing into Spain, at thecommencement, indeed in the very first year, of her reign. She saw, fromthe first moment, all the advantages which it promised for diffusing andperpetuating the discoveries of science. She encouraged its establishmentby large privileges to those who exercised it, whether natives orforeigners, and by causing many of the works, composed by her subjects, tobe printed at her own charge. [35]

Among the earlier printers we frequently find the names of Germans; apeople, who to the original merits of the discovery may justly add that ofits propagation among every nation of Europe. We meet with a_pragmática_, or royal ordinance, dated in 1477, exempting a German, named Theodoric, from taxation, on the ground of being "one of theprincipal persons in the discovery and practice of the art of printingbooks, which he had brought with him into Spain at great risk and expense, with the design of ennobling the libraries of the kingdom. " [36]Monopolies for printing and selling books for a limited period, answeringto the modern copyright, were granted to certain persons, in considerationof their doing so at a reasonable rate. [37] It seems to have been usualfor the printers to be also the publishers and venders of books. Theseexclusive privileges, however, do not appear to have been carried to amischievous 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 legislatorsof the nineteenth century. [38]

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. [39] The first work printed was a collectionof songs, composed for a poetical contest in honor of the Virgin, for themost part in the Limousin or Valencian dialect. [40] In the following yearthe first ancient classic, being the works of Sallust, was printed; and, in 1478, there appeared from the same press a translation of theScriptures, in the Limousin, by Father Boniface Ferrer, brother of thefamous Dominican, St. Vincent Ferrer. [41] Through the liberal patronageof the government, the art was widely diffused; and before the end of thefifteenth century, presses were established and in active operation in theprincipal cities of the united kingdom; in Toledo, Seville, Ciudad Real, Granada, Valladolid, Burgos, Salamanca, Zamora, Saragossa, Valencia, Barcelona, Monte Rey, Lerida, Murcia, Tolosa, Tarragona, Alcalá deHenares, and Madrid. 

It is painful to notice amidst the judicious provisions for theencouragement of science, one so entirely repugnant to their spirit as theestablishment of the censorship. By an ordinance, dated at Toledo, July8th, 1502, it was decreed, that, "as many of the books sold in the kingdomwere defective, or false, or apocryphal, or pregnant with vain andsuperstitious novelties, it was therefore ordered that no book shouldhereafter be printed without special license from the king, or some personregularly commissioned by him for the purpose. " The names of thecommissioners then follow, consisting mostly of ecclesiastics, archbishopsand bishops, with authority respectively over their several dioceses. [42]This authority was devolved in later times, under Charles the Fifth andhis successors, on the Council of the Supreme, over which the inquisitor-general presided _ex-officio_. The immediate agents employed in theexamination were also drawn from the Inquisition, who exercised thisimportant trust, as is well known, in a manner most fatal to the interestsof letters and humanity. Thus a provision, destined in its origin for theadvancement of science, by purifying it from the crudities and corruptionswhich naturally infect it in a primitive age, contributed more effectuallyto its discouragement, than any other which could have been devised, byinterdicting the freedom of expression, so indispensable to freedom ofinquiry. [43]

While endeavoring to do justice to the progress of civilization in thisreign, I should regret to present to the reader an over-colored picture ofits results. Indeed, less emphasis should be laid on any actual results, than on the spirit of improvement, which they imply in the nation, and theliberal dispositions of the government. The fifteenth century wasdistinguished by a zeal for research and laborious acquisition, especiallyin ancient literature, throughout Europe, which showed itself in Italy inthe beginning of the age, and in Spain, and some other countries, towardsthe close. It was natural that men should explore the long-buriedtreasures descended from their ancestors, before venturing on anything oftheir own creation. Their efforts were eminently successful; and, byopening an acquaintance with the immortal productions of ancientliterature, they laid the best foundation for the cultivation of themodern. 

In the sciences, their success was more equivocal. A blind reverence forauthority, a habit of speculation, instead of experiment, so pernicious inphysics, in short, an ignorance of the true principles of philosophy, often led the scholars of that day in a wrong direction. Even when theytook a right one, their attainments, under all these impediments, werenecessarily so small, as to be scarcely perceptible, when viewed from thebrilliant heights to which science has arrived in our own age. Unfortunately 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 ofEurope; and, it is certain, that in general intellectual fermentation, noperiod has surpassed, if it can be said to have rivalled, the age ofIsabella. 

FOOTNOTES

[1] L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 153. 

[2] L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 154, 182. 

[3] Carro de las Doñas, lib. 2, cap. 62 et seq. , apud Mem. De la Acad. DeHist. , tom. Vi. Ilust. 21. --Pulgar, Letras, (Amstelodami, 1670, ) let. 11. --L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 182. --It is sufficient evidence ofher familiarity with the Latin, that the letters addressed to her by herconfessor seem to have been written in that language and the Castilianindifferently, exhibiting occasionally a curious patchwork in thealternate use of each in the same epistle. See Correspondencia Epistolar, apud Mem. De la Acad. De Hist. , tom. Vi. Ilust. 13. 

[4] Previous to the introduction of printing, collections of books werenecessarily very small and thinly scattered, owing to the extreme cost ofmanuscripts. The learned Saez has collected some curious particularsrelative to this matter. The most copious library which he could find anyaccount of, in the middle of the fifteenth century, was owned by thecounts of Benavente, and contained not more than one hundred and twentyvolumes. Many of these were duplicates; of Livy alone there were eightcopies. The cathedral churches in Spain rented their books every year byauction to the highest bidders, whence they derived a considerablerevenue. 

It would appear from a copy of Gratian's Canons, preserved in theCelestine monastery in Paris, that the copyist was engaged twenty-onemonths in transcribing that manuscript. At this rate, the production offour thousand copies by one hand would require nearly eight thousandyears, a work now easily performed in less than four months. Such was thetardiness in multiplying copies before the invention of printing. Twothousand volumes may be procured now at a price, which in those days wouldhardly have sufficed to purchase fifty. See Tratado de Monedas de EnriqueIII. , apud Moratin, Obras, ed. De la Acad. , (Madrid, 1830, ) tom. I. Pp. 91, 92. Moratin argues from extreme cases. 

[5] Navagiero, Viaggio fatto in Spagna et in Francia, (Vinegia, 1563, )fol. 23. --Mem. De la Acad. De Hist. , tom. Vi. Ilust, 17. The largestcollection comprised about two hundred and one articles, or distinctworks. Of these, about a third is taken up with theology, comprehendingBibles, psalters, missals, lives of saints, and works of the fathers; one-fifth, civil law and the municipal code of Spain; one-fourth, ancientclassics, modern literature, and romances of chivalry; one-tenth, history;the residue is devoted to ethics, medicine, grammar, astrology, etc. Theonly Italian author, besides Leonardo Bruno d'Arezzo, is Boccaccio. Theworks of the latter writer consisted of the "Fiammetta, " the treatises "DeCasibus Illustrium Virorum, " and "De Claris Mulieribus, " and probably the"Decameron;" the first in the Italian, and the three last translated intothe Spanish. It is singular, that neither of Boccaccio's greatcontemporaries, Dante and Petrarch, the former of whom had been translatedby Villena, and imitated by Juan de Mena, half a century before, shouldhave found a place in the collection. 

[6] Antonio, the eldest, died in 1488. Part of his Latin poetical works, entitled "Sacred Bucolics, " was printed in 1505, at Salamanca. The youngerbrother, Alessandro, after bearing arms in the Portuguese war, wassubsequently employed in the instruction of the infantas, finally embracedthe ecclesiastical state, and died bishop of St. Domingo, in 1525. Mem. Dela Acad. De Hist. , tom. Vi. Ilust. 16. --Tiraboschi, Letteratura Italiana, tom. Vi. Part. 2, p. 285. 

[7] The learned Valencian, Luis Vives, in his treatise "De ChristianâFeminâ, " remarks, "Aetas noster quatuor illas Isabellae reginae filias, quas paullo ante memoravi, eruditas vidit. Non sine laudibus etadmiratione refertur mihi passim in hae terrâ Joannam, Philippi conjugem, Caroli hujus matrem, extempore latinis orationibus, quae de more apudnovos principes oppidatim habentur, latine respondisse. Idem de reginâsuâ, Joannae sorore, Britanni praedicant; idem omnes de duabus aliis, quaein Lusitaniâ fato concessere. " (De Christianâ Feminâ, cap. 4, apud Mem. Dela Acad. De Hist. , tom. Vi. Ilust. 16. )--It appears, however, thatIsabella was not inattentive to the more humble accomplishments, in theeducation of her daughters. "Regina, " says the same author, "nere, suere, acu pingere quatuor filias auas doctas esse voluit. " Another contemporary, the author of the Carro de las Doñas, (lib. 2, cap. 62, apud Mem. De laAcad. De Hist. , Ilust. 21, ) says, "she educated her son and daughters, giving them masters of life and letters, and surrounding them with suchpersons as tended to make them vessels of election, and kings in Heaven. "

Erasmus notices the literary attainments of the youngest daughter of thesovereigns, the unfortunate Catharine of Aragon, with unqualifiedadmiration. In one of his letters, he styles her "egregie doctam;" and inanother he remarks, "Regina non tantum in sexus miraculum literata est;nec minus pietate suspicienda, quam eruditione. " Epistolae, (Londini, 1642, ) lib. 19, epist. 31; lib. 2, epist. 24. 

[8] Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS. , dial. De Deza. --Mem. De la Acad. De Hist. , tom. Vi. Ilust. 14. 

[9] Mem. De la Acad. De Hist. , tom. Vi. Ilust. 14. 

Juan de la Eucina, in the dedication to the prince, of his translation ofVirgil's Bucolics, pays the following compliment to the enlightened andliberal taste of Prince John. "Favoresceis tanto la sciencia andandoacompañado de tantos e tan doctísimos varones, que no menos dejareisperdurable memoria de haber alargado e estendido los límites e términos dela sciencia que los del imperio. " The extraordinary promise of this youngprince made his name known in distant parts of Europe, and his untimelydeath, which occurred in the twentieth year of his age, was commemoratedby an epitaph of the learned Greek exile, Constantine Lascaris. 

[10] "Aficionados á la guerra, " says Oviedo, speaking of some young noblesof his time, "_por su Española y natural inclinacion_. " Quincuagenas, MS. , bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 36. 

[11] For some account of this eminent Italian scholar, see the postscriptto Part I. Chap. 14, of this History. 

[12] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist. , epist. 102, 103. 

Lucio Marineo, in a discourse addressed to Charles V. , thus notices thequeen's solicitude for the instruction of her young nobility. "Isabellapraesertim Regina magnanima, virtutum omnium maxima cultrix. Quae quidemmultis et magnis occupata negotiis, ut aliis exemplum praeberet, a primisgrammaticae rudimentis studere coepit, et omnes suae domûs adolescentesutriusque sexûs nobilium liberos, praeceptoribus liberaliter et honorificeconductis erudiendos commendabat. " Mem. De la Acad. De Hist. , tom. Vi. Apend. 16. --See also Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS. , bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 36. 

[13] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist. , epist. 115. 

[14] A particular account of Marineo's writings may be found in Nic. Antonio. (Bibliotheca Nova, tom. Ii. Apend. P. 369. ) The most important ofthese is his work "De Rebus Hispaniae Memorabilibus, " often cited, in theCastilian, in this History. It is a rich repository of details respectingthe geography, statistics, and manners of the Peninsula, with a copioushistorical notice of events in Ferdinand and Isabella's reign. Theauthor's insatiable curiosity, during a long residence in the country, enabled him to collect many facts, of a kind that do not fall within theordinary compass of history; while his extensive learning, and hisfamiliarity with foreign models, peculiarly qualified him for estimatingthe institutions he describes. It must be confessed he is sufficientlypartial to the land of his adoption. The edition, referred to in thiswork, is in black letter, printed before, or soon after, the author'sdeath (the date of which is uncertain), in 1539, at Alcalá de Henares, byJuan Brocar, one of a family long celebrated in the annals of Castilianprinting. Marineo's prologue concludes with the following noble tribute toletters. "Porque todos los otros bienes son subjectos a la fortuna ymudables y en poco tiempo mudan muchos dueños passando de unos señores enotros, mas los dones de letras y hystorias que se ofrescen paraperpetuidad de memoria y fama son immortales y prorogan y guardan parasiempre la memoria assi de los que los reciben, como de los que losofrescen. "

[15] Sepulveda, Democrites, apud Mem. De la Acad. De Hist. , tom. Vi. Ilust. 16. --Signorelli, Coltura nelle Sicilie, tom. Iv. P. 318. --Tiraboschi, Letteratura Italiana, tom. Vii. Part. 3, lib. 3, cap. 4. --Comp. Lampillas, Saggio Storico-Apologetico de la Letteratura Spagnuola, (Genova, 1778, ) tom. Ii. Dis. 2, sect. 5. --The patriotic Abate is greatlyscandalized by the degree of influence which Tiraboschi and other Italiancritics ascribe to their own language over the Castilian, especially atthis period. The seven volumes, in which he has discharged his bile on theheads of the offenders, afford valuable materials for the historian ofSpanish literature. Tiraboschi must be admitted to have the better of hisantagonist in temper, if not in argument. 

[16] Among these we find copious translations from the ancient classics, as Caesar, Appian, Plutarch, Plautus, Sallust, Aesop, Justin, Boëthius, Apulius, Herodian, affording strong evidence of the activity of theCastilian scholars in this department. Mem. De la Acad. De Hist. , tom. Vi. Pp. 406, 407. --Mendez, Typographia Española, pp. 133, 139. 

[17] Salazar de Mendoza, Dignidades, cap. 21. 

Lucio Marineo Siculo, in his discourse above alluded to, in which heexhibits the condition of letters under the reign of Ferdinand andIsabella, enumerates the names of the nobility most conspicuous for theirscholarship. This valuable document was to be found only in the edition ofMarineo's work, "De Rebus Hispaniae Memorabilibus, " printed at Alcalá, in1630, whence it has been transferred by Clemencin to the sixth volume ofthe Memoirs of the Royal Academy of History. 

[18] His work "Guerra de Granada, " was first published at Madrid, in 1610, and "may be compared, " says Nic. Antonio, in a judgment which has beenratified by the general consent of his countrymen, "with the compositionsof Sallust, or any other ancient historian. " His poetry and his celebrated_picaresco_ novel "Lazarillo de Tormes, " have made an epoch in theornamental literature of Spain. 

[19] Oviedo has devoted one of his dialogues to this nobleman, equallydistinguished by his successes in arms, letters, and love; the last ofwhich, according to that writer, he had not entirely resigned at the ageof seventy. --Quincuagenas, MS. , bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 28. 

[20] For an account of Santillana, see the First Chapter of this History. The cardinal, in early life, is said to have translated for his father theAeneid, the Odyssey, Ovid, Valerius Maximus, and Sallust. (Mem. De laAcad. De Hist. , tom. Vi. Ilust. 16. ) This Herculean feat would put modernschool-boys to shame, and we may suppose that partial versions only ofthese authors are intended. 

[21] Mem. De la Acad. De Hist. , tom. Vi. Ilust. 16. --Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS. , dial. De Grizio. 

Señor Clemencin has examined with much care the intellectual culture ofthe nation under Isabella, in the sixteenth _Ilustracion_ of his work. Hehas touched lightly on its poetical character, considering, no doubt, thatthis had been sufficiently developed by other critics. His essay, however, is rich in information in regard to the scholarship and severer studies ofthe period. The reader, who would pursue the inquiry still further, mayfind abundant materials in Nic. Antonio, Bibliotheca Vetus, tom. Ii. Lib. 10, cap. 13 et seq. --Idem, Bibliotheca Hispana Nova, (Matriti, 1783-8, )tom. I. Ii. Passim. 

[22] See Part I. Chap. 8, of this History. 

[23] For a notice of this scholar, see the postscript to Part I. Chap. 11, of this History. 

[24] Mendez, Typographia Española, pp. 271, 272. In the second edition, published 1482, the author states, that no work of the time had a greatercirculation, more than a thousand copies of it, at a high price, havingbeen disposed of in the preceding year. Ibid. , p. 237. 

[25] Nic. Antonio, Bibliotheca Nova, tom. I. Pp. 132-139. --Lampillas, Letteratura Spagnuola, tom. Ii. Dis. 2, sec. 3. --Dialogo de las Lenguas, apud Mayans y Siscar, Orígenes, (Madrid, 1737, ) tom. Ii. Pp. 46, 47. 

Lucio Marineo pays the following elegant compliment to this learnedSpaniard, in his discourse before quoted. "Amisit nuper Hispania maximumsui cultorem in re litterariâ, Antonium Nebrissensem, qui primus ex Italiâin Hispaniam Musas adduxit, quibuscum barbariem ex suâ patriâ fugavit, etHispaniam totam linguae Latinae lectionibus illustravit. " "Meruerat id, "says Gomez de Castro of Lebrija, "et multo majora hominis eruditio, cuiHispania debet, quicquid habet bonarum literarum. "

The acute author of the "Dialogo de las Lenguas, " while he renders amplehomage to Lebrija's Latin erudition, disputes his critical acquaintancewith his own language, from his being a native of Andalusia, where theCastilian was not spoken with purity. "Hablaba y escrivia como en elAndalucia y no como en la Castilla. " P. 92. See also pp. 9, 10, 46, 53. 

[26] Barbosa, Bibliotheca Lusitana, (Lisboa Occidental, 1741, ) tom. I. Pp. 76-78. --Signorelli, Coltura nelle Sicilie, tom. Iv. Pp. 315-321. --Mayans ySiscar, Origenes, tom. I. P. 173. --Lampillas, Letteratura Spagnuola, tom. Ii. Dis. 2, sect. 5. --Nic. Antonio, Bibliotheca Nova, tom. I. Pp. 170, 171. 

[27] Among these are particularly deserving of attention the brothers Johnand Francis Vergara, professors at Alcalá, the latter of whom was esteemedone of the most accomplished scholars of the age; Nuñez de Guzman, of theancient house of that name, professor for many years at Salamanca andAlcalá, and the author of the Latin version in the famous Polyglot ofCardinal Ximenes; he left behind him numerous works, especiallycommentaries on the classics; Olivario, whose curious erudition wasabundantly exhibited in his illustrations of Cicero and other Latinauthors; and lastly Vives, whose fame rather belongs to Europe than hisown country, who, when only twenty-six years old, drew from Erasmus theencomium, that "there was scarcely any one of the age whom he couldventure to compare with him in philosophy, eloquence, and liberallearning. " But the most unequivocal testimony to the deep and variousscholarship of the period is afforded by that stupendous literary work ofCardinal Ximenes, the Polyglot Bible, whose versions in the Greek, Latin, and Oriental tongues were collated, with a single exception, by Spanishscholars. Erasmus, Epistolae, lib. 19, epist. 101. --Lampillas, LetteraturaSpagnuola, tom. Ii. Pp. 382-384, 495, 792-794; tom. Ii. P. 208 et seq. --Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 37. 

[28] Erasmus, Epistolae, p. 977. 

[29] "La muy esclarecida ciudad de Salamanca, madre de las artesliberales, y todas virtudes, y ansi de cavalleros como de letradosvarones, muy ilustre. " Cosas Memorables, fol. 11. --Chacon, Hist. De laUniversidad de Salamanca, apud Semanario Erudito, tom. Xviii. Pp. 1-61. 

[30] "Academia Complutensis, " says Erasmus of this university, "nonaliunde celebritatem nominis auspicata est quàm a complectendo linguae acbonas literas. Cujus praecipuum oramentum est egregius ille senex, planéque dignus qui multos vincat Nestoras, Antonius Nebrissensis. " Epist. Ad Ludovicum Vivem, 1521. Epistolae, p. 755. 

[31] Cosas Memorables, ubi supra. --Peter Martyr, Opus Epist. , epist. 57. --Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, lib. 4. --Chacon, Universidad de Salamanca, ubisupra. 

It appears that the practice of scraping with the feet as an expression ofdisapprobation, familiar in our universities, is of venerable antiquity;for Martyr mentions, that he was saluted with it before finishing hisdiscourse by one or two idle youths, dissatisfied with its length. Thelecturer, however, seems to have given general satisfaction, for he wasescorted back in triumph to his lodgings, to use his own language, "like avictor in the Olympic games, " after the conclusion of the exercise. 

[32] For some remarks on the labors of this distinguished jurisconsult, see Part I. Chap. 6, and Part II. Chap. 26, of the present work. 

[33] The most remarkable of these latter is Herrera's treatise onAgriculture, which since its publication in Toledo, in 1520, has passedthrough a variety of editions at home and translations abroad. Nic. Antonio, Bibliotheca Nova, tom. I. P. 503. 

[34] This collection, with the ill luck which has too often befallen suchrepositories in Spain, was burnt in the war of the Communities, in thetime of Charles V. Mem. De la Acad. De Hist. , tom. Vi. Ilust. 16. --Morales, Obras, tom. Vii. P. 18. --Informe de Ríol, who particularlynotices the solicitude of Ferdinand and Isabella for preserving the publicdocuments. 

[35] Mendez, Typographia Española, p. 51. 

[36] Archivo de Murcia, apud Mem. De la Acad. De Hist. , tom. Vi. P. 244. 

[37] Mendez, Typographia Española, pp. 52, 332. 

[38] Ordenanças Reales, lib. 4, tit. 4, ley 22. --The preamble of thisstatute is expressed in the following enlightened terms; "Considerando losReyes de gloriosa memoria quanto era provechoso y honroso, que a estos susreynos se truxessen libros de otras partes para que con ellos se hiziessenlos hombres letrados, quisieron y ordenaron, que de los libros no sepagasse el alcavala. .. . Lo qual parece que redunda en provecho universalde todos, y en ennoblecimiento de nuestros Reynos. "

[39] Capmany, Mem. De Barcelona, tom. I. Part. 2, lib. 2, cap. 6. --Mendez, Typographia Española, pp. 55, 93. 

Bouterwek intimates, that the art of printing was first practised in Spainby German printers at Seville, _in the beginning of the sixteenthcentury_. (Bouterwek, Geschichte der Poesie und Beredsamkeit, (Göttingen, 1801-17, ) band iii. P. 98. )--He appears to have been misled by a solitaryexample quoted from Mayans y Siscar. The want of materials has more thanonce led this eminent critic to build sweeping conclusions on slenderpremises. 

[40] The title of the book is "Certamen poetich en lohor de la Concecio, "Valencia, 1474, 4to. The name of the printer is wanting. Mendez, Typographia Española, p. 56. 

[41] Ibid. , pp. 61-63. 

[42] Mendez, Typographia Española, pp. 52, 53. --Pragmáticas del Reyno, fol. 138, 139. 

[43] Llorente, Hist. De l'Inquisition, tom. I. Chap. 13, art. 1. 

"Adempto per _inquisitiones_, " says Tacitus of the gloomy times ofDomitian, "et loquendi audiendique commercio. " (Vita Agricolae, sec. 2. )Beaumarchais, in a merrier vein, indeed, makes the same bitterreflections. "Il s'est établi dans Madrid un système de liberté sur lavente des productions, qui s'étend même a celles de la presse; et que, pourvu que je ne parle en mes écrits ni de l'autorité, ni de culte, ni dela politique, ni de la morale, ni des gens en place, ni des corps encrédit, ni de l'Opéra, ni des autres spectacles, ni de personne qui tienneà quelque chose, je puis tout imprimer librement, sous l'inspection dedeux ou trois censeurs, " Mariage de Figaro, acte 5, sc. 3. 

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 LiteraryValue. --Rise of the Spanish Drama. --Criticism on "Celestina. "--Encina. --Naharro. --Low Condition of the Stage. --National Spirit of the Literatureof this Epoch. 

Ornamental or polite literature, which, emanating from the taste andsensibility of a nation, readily exhibits its various fluctuations offashion and feeling, was stamped in Spain with the distinguishingcharacteristics of this revolutionary age. The Provencal, which reachedsuch high perfection in Catalonia, and subsequently in Aragon, as noticedin an introductory chapter, [1] expired with the union of this monarchywith Castile, and the dialect ceased to be applied to literary purposesaltogether, after the Castilian became the language of the court in theunited kingdoms. The poetry of Castile, which throughout the present reigncontinued to breathe the same patriotic spirit, and to exhibit the samenational peculiarities that had distinguished it from the time of the Cid, submitted soon after Ferdinand's death to the influence of the morepolished Tuscan, and henceforth, losing somewhat of its distinctivephysiognomy, assumed many of the prevalent features of continentalliterature. Thus the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella becomes an epoch asmemorable in literary, as in civil history. 

The most copious vein of fancy, in that day, was turned in the directionof the prose romance of chivalry; now seldom disturbed, even in its owncountry, except by the antiquary. The circumstances of the age naturallyled to its production. The romantic Moorish wars, teeming with adventurousexploit and picturesque incident, carried on with the natural enemies ofthe Christian knight, and opening moreover all the legendary stores ofOriental fable, --the stirring adventures by sea as well as land, --aboveall, the discovery of a world beyond the waters, whose unknown regionsgave full scope to the play of the imagination, all contributed tostimulate the appetite for the incredible chimeras, the _magnanimemenzogne_, of chivalry. The publication of "Amadis de Gaula" gave adecided impulse to this popular feeling. This romance, which seems nowwell ascertained to be the production of a Portuguese in the latter halfof the fourteenth century, [2] was first printed in a Spanish version, probably not far from 1490. [3] Its editor, Garci Ordoñez 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 morepolished and elegant style. " [4] How far its character was benefited bythis work of purification may be doubted; although it is probable it didnot suffer so much by such a process as it would have done in a later andmore cultivated period. The simple beauties of this fine old romance, itsbustling incidents, relieved by the delicate play of Oriental machinery, its general truth of portraiture, above all, the knightly character of thehero, who graced the prowess of chivalry with a courtesy, modesty, andfidelity unrivalled in the creations of romance, soon recommended it topopular favor and imitation. A continuation, bearing the title of "LasSergas de Esplandian, " was given to the world by Montalvo himself, andgrafted on the original stock, as the fifth book of the Amadis, before1510. A sixth, containing the adventures of his nephew, was printed atSalamanca in the course of the last-mentioned year; and thus the idlewriters of the day continued to propagate dulness through a series ofheavy tomes, amounting in all to four and twenty books, until the much-abused public would no longer suffer the name of Amadis to cloak themanifold sins of his posterity. [5] Other knights-errant were sent rovingabout the world at the same time, whose exploits would fill a library; butfortunately they have been permitted to pass into oblivion, from which afew of their names only have been rescued by the caustic criticism of thecurate in Don Quixote; who, it will be remembered, after declaring thatthe virtues of the parent shall not avail his posterity, condemns them andtheir companions, with one or two exceptions only, to the fatal funeralpile. [6]

These romances of chivalry must have undoubtedly contributed to nourishthose exaggerated sentiments, which from a very early period entered intothe Spanish character. Their evil influence, in a literary view, resultedless from their improbabilities of situation, which they possessed incommon with the inimitable Italian epics, than from the false pictureswhich they presented of human character, familiarizing the eye of thereader with such models as debauched the taste, and rendered him incapableof relishing the chaste and sober productions of art. It is remarkablethat the chivalrous romance, which was so copiously cultivated through thegreater part of the sixteenth century, should not have assumed the poeticform, as in Italy, and indeed among our Norman ancestors; and that, in itsprose dress, no name of note appears to raise it to a high degree ofliterary merit. Perhaps such a result might have been achieved, but forthe sublime parody of Cervantes, which cut short the whole race ofknights-errant, and by the fine irony, which it threw around the mockheroes of chivalry, extinguished them for ever. [7]

The most popular poetry of this period, that springing from the body ofthe people, and most intimately addressed to it, is the ballads, or_romances_, as they are termed in Spain. These indeed were familiarto the Peninsula as far back as the twelfth and thirteenth centuries; butin the present reign they received a fresh impulse from the war withGranada, and composed, under the name of the Moorish ballads, what mayperhaps be regarded, without too high praise, as the most exquisitepopular minstrelsy of any age or country. 

The humble narrative lyrics making up the mass of ballad poetry, andforming the natural expression of a simple state of society, would seem tobe most abundant in nations endowed with keen sensibilities, and placed insituations of excitement and powerful interest, fitted to develop them. The light and lively French have little to boast of in this way. [8] TheItalians, with a deeper poetic feeling, were too early absorbed in thegross business habits of trade, and their literature received too high adirection from its master spirits, at its very commencement, to allow anyconsiderable deviation in this track. The countries where it has mostthriven, are probably Great Britain and Spain. The English and the Scotch, whose constitutionally pensive and even melancholy temperament has beendeepened by the sober complexion of the climate, were led to thecultivation of this poetry still further by the stirring scenes of feudalwarfare in which they were engaged, especially along the borders. TheSpaniards, to similar sources of excitement, added that of high religiousfeeling in their struggles with the Saracens, which gave a somewhatloftier character to their effusions. Fortunately for them, their earlyannals gave birth, in the Cid, to a hero whose personal renown wasidentified with that of his country, round whose name might beconcentrated all the scattered lights of song, thus enabling the nation tobuild up its poetry on the proudest historic recollections. [9] The featsof many other heroes, fabulous as well as real, were permitted to swellthe stream of traditionary verse; and thus a body of poetical annals, springing up as it were from the depths of the people, was bequeathed fromsire to son, contributing, perhaps, more powerfully than any real historycould have done, to infuse a common principle of patriotism into thescattered members of the nation. 

There is considerable resemblance between the early Spanish ballad and theBritish. The latter affords more situations of pathos and deep tenderness, particularly those of suffering, uncomplaining love, a favorite theme withold English poets of every description. [10] We do not find, either, inthe ballads of the Peninsula, the wild, romantic adventures of the rovingoutlaw, of the Robin Hood genus, which enter so largely into Englishminstrelsy. The former are in general of a more sustained and chivalrouscharacter, less gloomy, and although fierce not so ferocious, nor sodecidedly tragical in their aspect, as the latter. The ballads of the Cid, however, have many points in common with the border poetry; the same freeand cordial manner, the same love of military exploit, relieved by acertain tone of generous gallantry, and accompanied by a strong expressionof national feeling. 

The resemblance between the minstrelsy of the two countries vanishes, however, as we approach the Moorish ballads. The Moorish wars had alwaysafforded abundant themes of interest for the Castilian muse; but it wasnot till the fall of the capital, that the very fountains of song werebroken up, and those beautiful ballads were produced, which seem like theechoes of departed glory, lingering round the ruins of Granada. Incompetent as these pieces may be as historical records, they aredoubtless sufficiently true to manners. [11] They present a mostremarkable combination, of not merely the exterior form, but the noblespirit of European chivalry, with the gorgeousness and effeminate luxuryof the east. They are brief, seizing single situations of the highestpoetic interest, and striking the eye of the reader with a brilliancy ofexecution, so artless in appearance withal as to seem rather the effect ofaccident than study. We are transported to the gay seat of Moorish power, and witness the animating bustle, its pomp and its revelry, prolonged tothe last hour of its existence. The bull-fight of the Vivarrambla, thegraceful tilt of reeds, the amorous knights with their quaint significantdevices, the dark Zegris, or Gomeres, and the royal, self-devotedAbencerrages, the Moorish maiden radiant at the tourney, the moonlightserenade, the stolen interview, where the lover gives vent to all theintoxication of passion in the burning language of Arabian metaphor andhyperbole, [12]--these, and a thousand similar scenes, are brought beforethe eye, by a succession of rapid and animated touches, like the lightsand shadows of a landscape. The light trochaic structure of the_redondilla_ [13], as the Spanish ballad measure is called, rollingon its graceful, negligent _asonante_, [14] whose continued repetitionseems by its monotonous melody to prolong the note of feeling originallystruck, is admirably suited by its flexibility to the most varied andopposite expression; a circumstance which has recommended it as theordinary measure of dramatic dialogue. 

Nothing can be more agreeable than the general effect of the Moorishballads, which combine the elegance of a riper period of literature, withthe natural sweetness and simplicity, savoring sometimes even of therudeness, of a primitive age. Their merits have raised them to a sort ofclassical dignity in Spain, and have led to their cultivation by a higherorder of writers, and down to a far later period, than in any othercountry in Europe. The most successful specimens of this imitation may beassigned to the early part of the seventeenth century; but the age was toolate to enable the artist, with all his skill, to seize the true coloringof the antique. It is impossible, at this period, to ascertain the authorsof these venerable lyrics, nor can the exact time of their production benow determined; although, as their subjects are chiefly taken from thelast days of the Spanish Arabian empire, the larger part of them wasprobably posterior, and, as they were printed in collections at thebeginning of the sixteenth century, could not have been long posterior, tothe capture of Granada. How far they may be referred to the conqueredMoors, is uncertain. Many of these wrote and spoke the Castilian withelegance, and there is nothing improbable in the supposition, that theyshould seek some solace under present evils in the splendid visions of thepast. The bulk of this poetry, however, was in all probability thecreation of the Spaniards themselves, naturally attracted by thepicturesque circumstances in the character and condition of the conquerednation to invest them with poetic interest. 

The Moorish _romances_ fortunately appeared after the introduction ofprinting into the Peninsula, so that they were secured a permanentexistence, instead of perishing with the breath that made them, like somany of their predecessors. This misfortune, which attaches to so much ofpopular poetry in all nations, is not imputable to any insensibility inthe Spaniards to the excellence of their own. Men of more erudition thantaste may have held them light, in comparison with more ostentatious andlearned productions. This fate has befallen them in other countries thanSpain. [15] But persons of finer poetic feeling, and more enlarged spiritof criticism, have estimated them as a most essential and characteristicportion of Castilian literature. Such was the judgment of the great Lopede Vega, who, after expatiating on the extraordinary compass and sweetnessof the _romance_, and its adaptation to the highest subjects, commends itas worthy of all estimation for its peculiar national character. [16] Themodern Spanish writers have adopted a similar tone of criticism, insistingon its study, as essential to a correct appreciation and comprehension ofthe genius of the language. [17]

The Castilian ballads were first printed in the "Cancionero General" ofFernando del Castillo, in 1511. They were first incorporated into aseparate work, by Sepulveda, under the name of "Romances sacados deHistorias Antiguas, " printed at Antwerp, in 1551. [18] Since that period, they have passed into repeated editions, at home and abroad, especially inGermany, where they have been illustrated by able critics. [19] Ignoranceof their authors, and of the era of their production, has prevented anyattempt at exact chronological arrangement; a circumstance rendered, moreover, nearly impossible, by the perpetual modification which theoriginal style of the more ancient ballads has experienced, in theirtransition through successive generations; so that, with one or twoexceptions, no earlier date should probably be assigned to the oldest ofthem, in their present form, than the fifteenth century. [20] Anothersystem of classification has been adopted, of distributing them accordingto their subjects; and independent collections also of the separatedepartments, as ballads of the Cid, of the Twelve Peers, the Moriscoballads, and the like, have been repeatedly published, both at home andabroad. [21]

The higher and educated classes of the nation were not insensible to thepoetic spirit, which drew forth such excellent minstrelsy from the body ofthe people. Indeed, Castilian poetry bore the same patrician stamp throughthe whole of the present reign, which had been impressed on it in itsinfancy. Fortunately, the new art of printing was employed here, as in thecase of the _romances_, to arrest those fugitive sallies of imagination, which in other countries were permitted, from want of this care, to passinto oblivion; and _cancioneros_, or collections of lyrics, werepublished, embodying the productions of this reign and that of John theSecond, thus bringing under one view the poetic culture of the fifteenthcentury. 

The earliest _cancionero_ printed was at Saragossa, in 1492. Itcomprehended the works of Mena, Manrique, and six or seven other bards ofless note. [22] A far more copious collection was made by Fernando delCastillo, and first published at Valencia, in 1511, under the title of"Cancionero General, " since which period it has passed into repeatededitions. This compilation is certainly more creditable to Castillo'sindustry, than to his discrimination or power of arrangement. Indeed, inthis latter respect it is so defective, that it would almost seem to havebeen put together fortuitously, as the pieces came to hand. A largeportion of the authors appear to have been persons of rank; a circumstanceto which perhaps they were indebted, more than to any poetic merit, for aplace in the miscellany, which might have been decidedly increased invalue by being diminished in bulk. [23]

The _works of devotion_ with which the collection opens, are on thewhole the feeblest portion of it. We discern none of the inspiration andlyric glow, which were to have been anticipated from the devout, enthusiastic Spaniard. We meet with anagrams on the Virgin, glosses on thecreed and pater noster, _canciones_ on original sin and the likeunpromising topics, all discussed in the most bald, prosaic manner, withabundance of Latin phrase, scriptural allusion, and commonplace precept, unenlivened by a single spark of true poetic fire, and presentingaltogether a farrago of the most fantastic pedantry. 

The lighter, especially the amatory poems, are much more successfullyexecuted, and the primitive forms of the old Castilian versification aredeveloped with considerable variety and beauty. Among the most agreeableeffusions 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 forthe young cavaliers of the time. " There are few verses in the collectioncomposed with more facility and grace. [24] Among the more elaboratepieces, Diego de San Pedro's "Desprecio de la Fortuna" may bedistinguished, not so much for any poetic talent which it exhibits, as forits mercurial and somewhat sarcastic tone of sentiment. [25] Thesimilarity of subject may suggest a parallel between it and the Italianpoet Guidi's celebrated ode on Fortune; and the different styles ofexecution may perhaps be taken, as indicating pretty fairly thedistinctive peculiarities of the Tuscan and the old Spanish school ofpoetry. The Italian, introducing the fickle goddess, in person, on thescene, describes her triumphant march over the ruins of empires anddynasties, from the earliest time, in a flow of lofty dithyrambiceloquence, adorned with all the brilliant coloring of a stimulated fancyand a highly finished language. The Castilian, on the other hand, insteadof this splendid personification, deepens his verse into a moral tone, and, dwelling on the vicissitudes and vanities of human life, points hisreflections with some caustic warning, often conveyed with enchantingsimplicity, but without the least approach to lyric exaltation, or indeedthe affectation of it. 

This proneness to moralize the song is in truth a characteristic of theold Spanish bard. He rarely abandons himself, without reserve, to thefrolic puerilities so common with the sister Muse of Italy, "Scritta così come la penna getta, Per fuggir l'ozio, e non per cercar gloria. "

It is true, he is occasionally betrayed by verbal subtilties and otheraffectations of the age; [26] but even his liveliest sallies are apt to beseasoned with a moral, or sharpened by a satiric sentiment. His defects, indeed, are of the kind most opposed to those of the Italian poet, showingthemselves, especially in the more elaborate pieces, in a certain tumidstateliness and overstrained energy of diction. 

On the whole, one cannot survey the "Cancionero General" without somedisappointment at the little progress of the poetic art, since the reignof John the Second, at the beginning of the century. The best pieces inthe collection are of that date, and no rival subsequently arose tocompete with the masculine strength of Mena, or the delicacy andfascinating graces of Santillana. One cause of this tardy progress mayhave been the direction to utility manifested in this active reign, whichled 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 delicatefinish is so essential to the purposes of the poet, but which was soimperfect at this period that Juan de la Encina, a popular writer of thetime, complained that he was obliged, in his version of Virgil's Eclogues, to coin, as it were, a new vocabulary, from the want of termscorresponding with the original, in the old one. [27] It was not until theclose of the present reign, when the nation began to breathe awhile fromits tumultuous career, that the fruits of the patient cultivation which ithad been steadily, though silently experiencing, began to manifestthemselves in the improved condition of the language, and its adaptationto the highest poetical uses. The intercourse with Italy, moreover, bynaturalizing new and more finished forms of versification, afforded ascope for the nobler efforts of the poet, to which the old Castilianmeasures, however well suited to the wild and artless movements of thepopular minstrelsy, were altogether inadequate. 

We must not dismiss the miscellaneous poetry of this period, without somenotice of the "Coplas" of Don Jorge Manrique, [28] on the death of hisfather, the count of Paredes, in 1474 [29]. The elegy is of considerablelength, and is sustained throughout in a tone of the highest moraldignity, while the poet leads us up from the transitory objects of thislower world to the contemplation of that imperishable existence, whichChristianity has opened beyond the grave. A tenderness pervades the piece, which may remind us of the best manner of Petrarch; while, with theexception of a slight taint of pedantry, it is exempt from themeretricious vices that belong to the poetry of the age. The effect of thesentiment is heightened by the simple turns and broken melody of the oldCastilian verse, of which perhaps this may be accounted the most finishedspecimen; such would seem to be the judgment of his own countrymen, [30]whose glosses and commentaries on it have swelled into a separate volume. [31]

I shall close this survey with a brief notice of the drama, whosefoundations may be said to have been laid during this reign. The sacredplays, or mysteries, so popular throughout Europe in the Middle Ages, maybe traced in Spain to an ancient date. Their familiar performance in thechurches, by the clergy, is recognized in the middle of the thirteenthcentury, by a law of Alfonso the Tenth, which, while it interdictedcertain profane mummeries that had come into vogue, prescribed thelegitimate topics for exhibition. [32]

The transition from these rude spectacles to more regular dramaticefforts, was very slow and gradual. In 1414, an allegorical comedy, composed by the celebrated Henry, marquis of Villena, was performed atSaragossa, in the presence of the court. [33] In 1469, a dramatic eclogueby an anonymous author was exhibited in the palace of the count of Ureña, in the presence of Ferdinand, on his coming into Castile to espouse theinfanta Isabella. [34] These pieces may be regarded as the earliesttheatrical attempts, after the religious dramas and popular pantomimesalready noticed; but unfortunately they have not come down to us. The nextproduction deserving attention is a "Dialogue between Love and an OldMan, " imputed to Rodrigo Cota, a poet of whose history nothing seems to beknown, and little conjectured, but that he flourished during the reigns ofJohn the Second, and Henry the Fourth. The dialogue is written with muchvivacity and grace, and with as much dramatic movement as is compatiblewith only two interlocutors. [35]

A much more memorable production is referred to the same author, thetragicomedy of "Celestina, " or "Calisto and Melibea, " as it is frequentlycalled. The first act, indeed, constituting nearly one-third of the piece, is all that is ascribed to Cota. The remaining twenty, which howevershould rather be denominated scenes, were continued by another hand, some, though to judge from the internal evidence afforded by the style, not manyyears later. The second author was Fernando de Roxas, bachelor of law, ashe informs us, who composed this work as a sort of intellectualrelaxation, during one of his vacations. The time was certainly notmisspent. The continuation, however, is not esteemed by the Castiliancritics to have risen quite to the level of the original act. [36]

The story turns on a love intrigue. A Spanish youth of rank is enamouredof a lady, whose affections he gains with some difficulty, but whom hefinally seduces, through the arts of an accomplished courtesan, whom theauthor has introduced under the romantic name of Celestina. The piece, although comic, or rather sentimental in its progress, terminates in themost tragical catastrophe, in which all the principal actors are involved. The general texture, of the plot is exceedingly clumsy, yet it affordsmany situations of deep and varied interest in its progress. The principalcharacters are delineated in the piece with considerable skill. The partof Celestina, in particular, in which a veil of plausible hypocrisy isthrown over the deepest profligacy of conduct, is managed with muchaddress. The subordinate parts are brought into brisk comic action, withnatural dialogue, though sufficiently obscene; and an interest of a gravercomplexion is raised by the passion of the lovers, the timid, confidingtenderness of the lady, and the sorrows of the broken-hearted parent. Theexecution of the play reminds us on the whole less of the Spanish, than ofthe old English theatre, in many of its defects, as well as beauties; inthe contrasted strength and imbecility of various passages; itsintermixture of broad farce and deep tragedy; the unseasonableintroduction of frigid metaphor and pedantic allusion in the midst of themost passionate discourses; in the unveiled voluptuousness of itscoloring, occasionally too gross for any public exhibition; but, aboveall, in the general strength and fidelity of its portraiture. 

The tragicomedy, as it is styled, of Celestina, was obviously neverintended for representation, to which, not merely the grossness of some ofthe details, but the length and arrangement of the piece, are unsuitable. But, notwithstanding this, and its approximation to the character of aromance, it must be admitted to contain within itself the essentialelements of dramatic composition; and, as such, is extolled by the Spanishcritics, as opening the theatrical career of Europe. A similar claim hasbeen maintained for nearly contemporaneous productions in other countries, and especially for Politian's "Orfeo, " which, there is little doubt, waspublicly acted before 1483. Notwithstanding its representation, however, the "Orfeo, " presenting a combination of the eclogue and the ode, withoutany proper theatrical movement, or attempt at development of character, cannot fairly come within the limits of dramatic writing. A more ancientexample 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 thepreceding century, and which, with the requisite modifications, stillkeeps possession of the stage. The pretensions of this piece, however, asa work of art, are comparatively humble; and it seems fair to admit, thatin the higher and more important elements of dramatic composition, andespecially in the delicate, and at the same time powerful delineation ofcharacter and passion, the Spanish critics may be justified in regardingthe "Celestina" as having led the way in modern Europe. [37]

Without deciding on its proper classification as a work of art, however, its real merits are settled by its wide popularity, both at home andabroad. It has been translated into most of the European languages, andthe preface to the last edition, published in Madrid, so recently as 1822, enumerates thirty editions of it in Spain alone, in the course of thesixteenth century. Impressions were multiplied in Italy, and at the verytime when it was interdicted at home on the score of its immoral tendency. A popularity thus extending through distant ages and nations, shows howfaithfully it is built on the principles of human nature. [38]

The drama assumed the pastoral form, in its early stages, in Spain, as inItaly. The oldest specimens in this way, which have come down to us, arethe productions of Juan de la Encina, a contemporary of Roxas. He was bornin 1469, and, after completing his education at Salamanca, was receivedinto the family of the duke of Alva. He continued there several years, employed in the composition of various poetical works, among others, aversion of Virgil's Eclogues, which he so altered as to accommodate themto the principal events in the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella. He visitedItaly in the beginning of the following century, and was attracted by themunificent patronage of Leo the Tenth to fix his residence at the papalcourt. While there, he continued his literary labors. He embraced theecclesiastical profession; and his skill in music recommended him to theoffice of principal director of the pontifical chapel. He was subsequentlypresented with the priory of Leon, and returned to Spain, where he died in1534. [39]

Encina's works first appeared at Salamanca, in 1496, collected into onevolume, folio. [40] Besides other poetry, they comprehend a number ofdramatic eclogues, sacred and profane; the former, suggested by topicsdrawn from Scripture, like the ancient mysteries; the latter, chieflyamatory. They were performed in the palace of his patron, the duke ofAlva, in the presence of Prince John, the duke of Infantado, and othereminent persons of the court; and the poet himself occasionally assistedat the representation. [41]

 Encina's eclogues are simple compositions, with little pretence todramatic artifice. The story is too meagre to admit of much ingenuity orcontrivance, or to excite any depth of interest. There are fewinterlocutors, seldom more than three or four, although on one occasionrising to as many as seven; of course, there is little scope fortheatrical action. The characters are of the humble class belonging topastoral life, and the dialogue, which is extremely appropriate, isconducted with facility; but the rustic condition of the speakersprecludes anything like literary elegance or finish, in which respect theyare doubtless surpassed by some of his more ambitious compositions. Thereis a comic air imparted to them, however, and a lively colloquial turn, which renders them very agreeable. Still, whatever be their merit aspastorals, they are entitled to little consideration as specimens ofdramatic art; and, in the vital spirit of dramatic composition, must beregarded as far inferior to the "Celestina. " The simplicity of theseproductions, and the facility of their exhibition, which required littletheatrical decoration or costume, recommended them to popular imitation, which continued long after the regular forms of the drama were introducedinto Spain. [42]

The credit of this introduction belongs to Bartholomeo Torres de Naharro, often confounded by the Castilian writers themselves with a player of thesame name, who flourished half a century later. [43] Few particulars havebeen ascertained of his personal history. He was born at Torre, in theprovince of Estremadura. In the early part of his life he fell into thehands of the Algerines, and was finally released from captivity by theexertions of certain benevolent Italians, who generously paid his ransom. He then established his residence in Italy, at the court of Leo the Tenth. Under the genial influence of that patronage, which quickened so many ofthe seeds of genius to production in every department, he composed his"Propaladia, " a work embracing a variety of lyrical and dramatic poetry, first published at Rome, in 1517. Unfortunately, the caustic satire, levelled in some of the higher pieces of this collection at the license ofthe pontifical court, brought such obloquy on the head of the author ascompelled him to take refuge in Naples, where he remained under theprotection of the noble family of Colonna. No further particulars arerecorded of him except that he embraced the ecclesiastical profession; andthe time and place of his death are alike uncertain. In person he is saidto have been comely, with an amiable disposition, and sedate and dignifieddemeanor. [44]

His "Propaladia, " first published at Rome, passed through several editionssubsequently in Spain, where it was alternately prohibited, or permitted, according to the caprice of the Holy Office. It contains, among otherthings, eight comedies, written in the native _redondillas_; whichcontinue to be regarded as the suitable measure for the drama. They affordthe earliest example of the division into _jornadas_, or days, and ofthe _intróito_, or prologue, in which the author, after propitiatingthe audience by suitable compliment, and witticisms not over delicate, gives a view of the length and general scope of his play. [45]

The scenes of Naharro's comedies, with a single exception, are laid inSpain and Italy; those in the latter country probably being selected withreference to the audiences before whom they were acted. The diction iseasy and correct, without much affectation of refinement or rhetoricalornament. The dialogue, especially in the lower parts, is sustained withmuch comic vivacity; indeed, Naharro seems to have had a nicer perceptionof character as it is found in lower life, than as it exists in thehigher; and more than one of his plays are devoted exclusively to itsillustration. On some occasions, however, the author assumes a moreelevated tone, and his verse rises to a degree of poetic beauty, deepenedby the moral reflection so characteristic of the Spaniards. At othertimes, his pieces are disfigured by such a Babel-like confusion oftongues, as makes it doubtful which may be the poet's vernacular. French, Spanish, Italian, with a variety of barbarous _patois_, and mongrelLatin, are all brought into play at the same time, and all comprehended, apparently with equal facility, by each one of the _dramatis personae_. But it is difficult to conceive how such a jargon could have beencomprehended, far more relished, by an Italian audience. [46]

Naharro's comedies are not much to be commended for the intrigue, whichgenerally excites but a languid interest, and shows little power oradroitness in the contrivance. With every defect, however, they must beallowed to have given the first forms to Spanish comedy, and to exhibitmany of the features which continued to be characteristic of it in a stateof more perfect development under Lope de Vega and Calderon. Such, forinstance, is the amorous jealousy, and especially the point of honor, soconspicuous on the Spanish theatre; and such, too, the moral confusion toooften produced by blending the foulest crimes with zeal for religion. [47]

These comedies, moreover, far from blind conformity with the ancients, discovered much of the spirit of independence, and deviated into many ofthe eccentricities which distinguish the national theatre in later times;and which the criticism of our own day has so successfully explained anddefended 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, butat Naples, which, then forming a part of the Spanish dominions, might moreeasily furnish an audience capable of comprehending them. [48] It isremarkable that, notwithstanding their repeated editions in Spain, they donot appear to have ever been performed there. The cause of this, probably, was the low state of the histrionic art, and the total deficiency intheatrical costume and decoration; yet it was not easy to dispense withthese in the representation of pieces, which brought more than a score ofpersons occasionally, and these crowned heads, at the same time, upon thestage. [49]

Some conception may be afforded of the lamentable poverty of thetheatrical equipment, from the account given of its condition, half acentury later, by Cervantes. "The whole wardrobe of a manager of thetheatre, at that time, " says he, "was contained in a single sack, andamounted only to four dresses of white fur trimmed, with gilt leather, four beards, four wigs, and four crooks, more or less. There were notrapdoors, movable clouds, or machinery of any kind. The stage itselfconsisted only of four or six planks, placed across as many benches, arranged in the form of a square, and elevated but four palms from theground. The only decoration of the theatre was an old coverlet, drawn fromside to side by cords, behind which the musicians sang some ancient_romance_, without the guitar. " [50] In fact, no further apparatuswas employed than that demanded for the exhibition of mysteries, or thepastoral dialogues which succeeded them. The Spaniards, notwithstandingtheir precocity, compared with most of the nations of Europe, in dramaticart, were unaccountably tardy in all its histrionic accompaniments. Thepublic remained content with such poor mummeries, as could be got up bystrolling players and mountebanks. There was no fixed theatre in Madriduntil the latter part of the sixteenth century; and that consisted of acourtyard, with only a roof to shelter it, while the spectators sat onbenches ranged around, or at the windows of the surrounding houses. [51]

A similar impulse with that experienced by comic writing, was given totragedy. The first that entered on this department were professedscholars, who adopted the error of the Italian dramatists, in fashioningtheir pieces servilely after the antique, instead of seizing theexpression of their own age. The most conspicuous attempts in this waywere made by Fernan Perez de Oliva. [52] He was born at Cordova, in 1494, and, after many years passed in the various schools of Spain, France, andItaly, returned to his native land, and became a lecturer in theuniversity of Salamanca. He instructed in moral philosophy andmathematics, and established the highest reputation for his criticalacquaintance with the ancient languages and his own. He died young, at theage of thirty-nine, deeply lamented for his moral, no less than for hisintellectual worth. [53]

His various works were published by the learned Morales, his nephew, somefifty years after his death. Among them are translations in prose of theElectra of Sophocles, and the Hecuba of Euripides. They may with morepropriety be termed imitations, and those too of the freest kind. Althoughthey conform, in the general arrangement and progress of the story, totheir originals, yet characters, nay whole scenes and dialogues, areoccasionally omitted; and in those retained, it is not always easy torecognize the hand of the Grecian artist, whose modest beauties are throwninto shade by the ambitious ones of his imitator. [54] But with all this, Oliva's tragedies must be admitted to be executed, on the whole, withvigor; and the diction, notwithstanding the national tendency toexaggeration above alluded to, may be generally commended for decorum andan imposing dignity, quite worthy of the tragic drama; indeed, they may beselected as affording probably the best specimen of the progress of prosecomposition during the present reign. [55]

Oliva's reputation led to a similar imitation of the antique. But theSpaniards were too national in all their tastes to sanction it. Theseclassical compositions did not obtain possession of the stage, but wereconfined to the closet, serving only as a relaxation for the man ofletters; while the voice of the people compelled all who courted it, toaccommodate their inventions to those romantic forms, which weresubsequently developed in such variety of beauty by the great Spanishdramatists. [56]

We have now surveyed the different kinds of poetic culture familiar toSpain under Ferdinand and Isabella. Their most conspicuous element is thenational spirit which pervades them, and the exclusive attachment whichthey manifest to the primitive forms of versification peculiar to thePeninsula. The most remarkable portion of this body of poetry maydoubtless be considered the Spanish _romances_, or ballads; thatpopular minstrelsy, which, commemorating the picturesque and chivalrousincidents of the age, reflects most faithfully the romantic genius of thepeople who gave it utterance. The lyric efforts of the period were lesssuccessful. There were few elaborate attempts in this field, indeed, bymen of decided genius. But the great obstacle may be found in theimperfection of the language and the deficiency of the more exact andfinished metrical forms, indispensable to high poetic execution. 

The whole period, however, comprehending, as it does, the first decidedapproaches to a regular drama, may be regarded as very important in aliterary aspect; since it exhibits the indigenous peculiarities ofCastilian literature in all their freshness, and shows to what a degree ofexcellence it could attain, while untouched by any foreign influence. Thepresent reign may be regarded as the epoch which divides the ancient fromthe modern school of Spanish poetry; in which the language was slowly butsteadily undergoing the process of refinement, that "made the knowledge ofit, " to borrow the words of a contemporary critic, "pass for an elegantaccomplishment, even with the cavaliers and dames of cultivated Italy;"[57] and which finally gave full scope to the poetic talent, that raisedthe literature of the country to such brilliant heights in the sixteenthcentury. 

 * * * * *

I have had occasion to advert more than once in the course of this chapterto the superficial acquaintance of the Spanish critics with the earlyhistory of their own drama, authentic materials for which are so extremelyrare and difficult of access, as to preclude the expectation of anythinglike a satisfactory account of it out of the Peninsula. The nearestapproach to this within my knowledge is made in an article in the eighthnumber of the American Quarterly Review, ascribed to Mr. Ticknor, lateProfessor of Modern Literature in Harvard University. This gentleman, during a residence in the Peninsula, had every facility for replenishinghis library with the most curious and valuable works, both printed andmanuscript, in this department; and his essay embodies in a brief compassthe results of a well-directed industry, which he has expanded in greaterdetail in his lectures on Spanish literature, delivered before the classesof the University. The subject is discussed with his usual elegance andperspicuity of style; and the foreign, and indeed Castilian scholar, mayfind much novel information there, in the views presented of the earlyprogress of the dramatic and the histrionic art in the Peninsula. 

Since the publication of this article, Moratin's treatise, so long andanxiously expected, "Orígenes del Teatro Español, " has made its appearanceunder the auspices of the Royal Academy of History, which has enriched thenational literature with so many admirable editions of its ancientauthors. Moratin states in his Preface, that he was employed from hisearliest youth in collecting notices, both at home and abroad, of whatevermight illustrate the origin of the Spanish drama. The results have beentwo volumes, containing in the First Part an historical discussion, withample explanatory notes, and a catalogue of dramatic pieces from theearliest epoch down to the time of Lope de Vega, chronologically arranged, and accompanied with critical analyses, and copious illustrative extractsfrom pieces of the greatest merit. The Second Part is devoted to thepublication of entire pieces of various authors, which from their extremerarity, or their existence only in manuscript, have had but littlecirculation. The selections throughout are made with that carefuldiscrimination, which resulted from poetic talent combined with extensiveand thorough erudition. The criticisms, although sometimes warped by thepeculiar dramatic principles of the author, are conducted in general withgreat fairness; and ample, but not extravagant, commendation is bestowedon productions, whose merit, to be properly appreciated, must be weighedby one conversant with the character and intellectual culture of theperiod. The work unfortunately did not receive the last touches of itsauthor, and undoubtedly something may be found wanting to the fullcompletion of his design. On the whole, it must be considered as a richrepertory of old Castilian literature, much of it of the most rare andrecondite nature, directed to the illustration of a department, that hashitherto been suffered to languish in the lowest obscurity, but which isnow so arranged that it may be 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 myattention was called to that portion of the writings of Don Martinez de laRosa, in which he criticizes the various departments of the nationalliterature. This criticism is embodied in the annotations and appendix tohis elegant "Poetica" (Obras Literarias, (Paris, 1827, ) tom. I. Ii. ) Theformer discuss the general laws, by which the various kinds of poetry areto be regulated; the latter presents a very searching and scientificanalysis of the principal productions of the Spanish poets, down to theclose of the last century. The critic exemplifies his own views by copiousextracts from the subjects of his criticism, and throws much collaterallight on the argument by illustrations borrowed from foreign literature. In the examination of the Spanish drama, especially comedy, which hemodestly qualifies as a "succinct notice, not very exact, " he is veryelaborate; and discovers the same taste and sagacity in estimating themerits of individual writers, which he had shown in discussing the generalprinciples of the art. Had I read his work sooner, it would have greatlyfacilitated my own inquiries in the same obscure path; and I should haverecognized, at least, one brilliant exception to my sweeping remark on theapathy manifested by the Castilian scholars to the antiquities of thenational drama. 

FOOTNOTES

[1] Eichhorn, Geschichte der Kultur und Litteratur der Neueren Europa, (Göttingen, 1796-1811, ) pp. 129, 130. --See also the conclusion of theIntroduction, Sec. 2, of this History. 

[2] Nic. Antonio seems unwilling to relinquish the pretensions of his ownnation to the authorship of this romance. (See Bibliotheca Nova, tom. Ii. P. 394. ) Later critics, and among them Lampillas, (Ensayo Historico-Apologético de la Literatura Española, (Madrid, 1789, ) tom. V. P. 168, )who resigns no more than he is compelled to do, are less disposed tocontest the claims of the Portuguese. Mr. Southey has cited two documents, one historical, the other poetical, which seem to place its composition byLobeira in the latter part of the fourteenth century beyond any reasonabledoubt. (See Amadis of Gaul, pref. , --also Sarmiento, Memorias para laHistoria de la Poesía y Poetas Españoles, Obras Posthumas, (Madrid, 1775, )tom. I. P. 239. ) Bouterwek, and after him Sismondi, without adducing anyauthority, have fixed the era of Lobeira's death at 1325. Dante, who diedbut four years previous to that date, furnishes a negative argument, atleast, against this, since, in his notice of some doughty names ofchivalry then popular, he makes no allusion to Amadis, the best of all. Inferno, cantos v. , xxxi. 

[3] The excellent old romance "Tirante the White, " _Tirant lo Blanch_, wasprinted at Valencia in 1490. (See Mendez, Typographia Española, tom. I. Pp. 72-75. ) If, as Cervantes asserts, the "Amadis" was the first book ofchivalry printed in Spain, it must have been anterior to this date. Thisis rendered probable by Montalvo's prologue to his edition at Saragossa, in 1521, still preserved in the royal library at Madrid, where he alludesto his former publication of it in the time of Ferdinand and Isabella. (Cervantes, Don Quixote, ed. Pellicer, Discurso Prelim. )

Mr. Dunlop, who has analyzed these romances with a patience that more willbe disposed to commend than imitate, has been led into the error ofsupposing that the first edition of the "Amadis" was printed at Seville, in 1526, from detached fragments appearing in the time of Ferdinand andIsabella, and subsequently by Montalvo, at Salamanca, in 1547. See Historyof Prose Fiction, vol. Ii. Chap. 10. 

[4] The following is Montalvo's brief prologue to the introduction of thefirst book. "Aqvi comiença el primero libro del esforçado et virtuosocauallero Amadis hijo del rey Perion de Gaula; y dela reyna Elisena: elqual fue coregido y emendado por el honrado y virtuoso caualleroGarciordoñes de Montalvo, regidor dela noble uilla de Medina del campo; etcorregiole delos antiguos originales que estauan corruptos, et compuestosen antiguo estilo: por falta delos diferentes escriptores. Quitando muchaspalabras superfluas; et poniendo otras de mas polido y elegante estilo:tocantes ala caualleria et actos della, animando los coraçones gentiles demanzebos belicosos que con grandissimo affetto abrazan el arte delamilicia corporal animando la immortal memoria del arte de caualleria nomenos honestissimo que glorioso. " Amadis de Gaula, (Venecia, 1533, ) fol. 1. 

[5] Nic. Antonio enumerates the editions of thirteen of this doughtyfamily of knights-errant. (Bibliotheca Nova, tom. Ii. Pp. 394, 395. ) Hedismisses his notice with the reflection, somewhat more charitable thanthat of Don Quixote's curate, that "he had felt little interest ininvestigating these fables, yet was willing to admit, with others, thattheir reading was not wholly useless. "

Moratin has collected an appalling catalogue of _part_ of the booksof chivalry published in Spain at the close of the fifteenth and thefollowing century. The first on the list is the _Carcel de Amor_, porDiego Hernandez de San Pedro, en Burgos, año de 1496. Obras, tom. I. Pp. 93-98. 

[6] Cervantes, Don Quixote, tom. I. Part. 1, cap. 6. 

The curate's wrath is very emphatically expressed. "Pues vayan todos alcorral, dixo el Cura, que a trueco de quemar a la reyna Pintiquïniestra, yal pastor Darinel y a sus eglogas, y a las endiabladas y revueltas razonesde su autor, quemara con ellos al padre que me engendro si andubiera enfigura de caballero andante. " The author of the "Dialogo de las Lenguas"chimes in with the same tone of criticism. "Los quales, " he says, speakingof books of chivalry, "de mas de ser mentirossissimos, son tal malcompuestos, assi por dezir las mentiras tan desvergonçadas, como por tenerel estilo desbaraçado, que no ay buen estomago que lo pueda leer. " ApudMayans y Siscar, Orígenes, tom. Ii. P. 158. 

[7] The labors of Bowles, Rios, Arrieta, Pellicer, and Navarrete wouldseem to have left little to desire in regard to the illustration ofCervantes. But the commentaries of Clemencin, published since this chapterwas written, in 1833, show how much yet remained to be supplied. Theyafford the most copious illustrations, both literary and historical, ofhis author, and exhibit that nice taste in verbal criticism, which is notalways joined with such extensive erudition. Unfortunately, the prematuredeath of Clemencin has left the work unfinished; but the fragmentcompleted, which reaches to the close of the First Part, is of sufficientvalue permanently to associate the name of its author with that of thegreatest genius of his country. 

[8] The fabliaux cannot fairly be considered as an exception to this. These graceful little performances, the work of professed bards, who hadnothing further in view than the amusement of a listless audience, havelittle claim to be considered as the expression of national feeling orsentiment. The poetry of the south of France, more impassioned and lyricalin its character, wears the stamp, not merely of patrician elegance, butrefined artifice, which must not be confounded with the natural flow ofpopular minstrelsy. 

[9] How far the achievements claimed for the Campeador are strictly true, is little to the purpose. It is enough that they were received as true, throughout the Peninsula, as far back as the twelfth, or, at latest, thethirteenth century. 

[10] One exception, among others, readily occurs in the pathetic oldballad of the Conde Alarcos, whose woful catastrophe, with the unresistingsuffering of the countess, suggests many points of coincidence with theEnglish minstrelsy. The English reader will find a version of it in the"Ancient Poetry and Romances of Spain, " from the pen of Mr. Bowring, towhom the literary world is so largely indebted for an acquaintance withthe popular minstrelsy of Europe. 

[11] I have already noticed the insufficiency of the _romances_ toauthentic history, Part I. Chap. 8, Note 30. My conclusions there havebeen confirmed by Mr. Irving, (whose researches have led him in a similardirection, ) in his "Alhambra, " published nearly a year after the abovenote was written. 

The great source of the popular misconceptions respecting the domestichistory of Granada is Gines Perez de Hyta, whose work, under the title of"Historia de los Vandos de los Zegries y Abencerrages, Cavalleros Moros deGranada, y las Guerras Civiles que huvo en ella, " was published at Alcaláin 1604. This romance, written in prose, embodied many of the old Moorishballads in it, whose singular beauty, combined with the romantic andpicturesque character of the work itself, soon made it extremely popular, until at length it seems to have acquired a degree of the historicalcredit claimed for it by its author as a translation from an Arabianchronicle; a credit which has stood it in good stead with the tribe oftravel-mongers and _raconteurs_, persons always of easy faith, whohave propagated its fables far and wide. Their credulity, however, may bepardoned in what has imposed on the perspicacity of so cautions anhistorian as Müller. Allgemeine Geschichte, (1817, ) band ii. P. 504. 

[12] Thus, in one of their _romances_, we have a Moorish lady "sheddingdrops of liquid silver, and scattering her hair of Arabian gold" over thecorpse of her murdered husband!

 "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 "anhour of years of impatient hopes;" a passionate sally, that can scarcelybe outmatched by Scriblerus. This taint of exaggeration, however, so farfrom being peculiar to the popular minstrelsy, has found its way, probablythrough this channel in part, into most of the poetry of the Peninsula. 

[13] The _redondilla_ may be considered as the basis of Spanishversification. It is of great antiquity, and compositions in it are stillextant, as old as the time of the infante Don Manuel, at the close of thethirteenth century. (See Cancionero General, fol. 207. ) The redondillaadmits of great variety; but in the romances it is most frequently foundto consist of eight syllables, the last foot, and some or all of thepreceding, as the case may be, being trochees. (Rengifo, Arte PoeticaEspanola, (Barcelona, 1727, ) cap. 9, 44. ) Critics have derived thisdelightful measure from various sources. Sarmiento traces it to thehexameter of the ancient Romans, which may be bisected into somethinganalogous to the redondillas. (Memorias, pp. 168-171. ) Bouterwek thinks itmay have been suggested by the songs of the Roman soldiery. (Geschichteder Poesie und Beredsamkeit, band iii. , Einleitung, p. 20. )--Velazquezborrows it from the rhyming hexameters of the Spanish Latin poets, ofwhich he gives specimens of the beginning of the fourteenth century. (Poesía Castellana, pp. 77, 78. ) Later critics refer its derivation to theArabic. Conde has given a translation of certain Spanish-Arabian poems, inthe measure of the original, from which it is evident, that the hemistichof an Arabian verse corresponds perfectly with the redondilla. (See hisDominacion de los Arabes, passim. ) The same author, in a treatise, whichhe never published, on the "poesía oriental, " shows more precisely theintimate affinity subsisting between the metrical form of the Arabian andthe old Castilian verse. The reader will find an analysis of hismanuscript in Part I. Chap. 8, Note 49, of this History. 

This theory is rendered the more plausible by the influence which theArabic has exercised on Castilian versification in other respects, as inthe prolonged repetition of the rhyme, for example, which is whollyborrowed from the Spanish Arabs; whose superior cultivation naturallyaffected the unformed literature of their neighbors, and through nochannel more obviously than its popular minstrelsy. 

[14] The _asonante_ is a rhyme made by uniformity of the vowels, withoutreference to the consonants; the regular rhyme, which obtains in otherEuropean literatures, is distinguished in Spain by the term _consonante_. Thus the four following words, taken at random from a Spanish ballad, areconsecutive _asonantes_; _regozijo_, _pellico_, _luzido_, _amarillo_. Inthis example, the two last syllables have the assonance; although this isnot invariable, it sometimes falling on the antepenultima and the finalsyllable. (See Rengifo, Arte Poética Española, pp. 214, 215, 218. ) Thereis a wild, artless melody in the _asonante_, and a graceful movementcoming somewhere, as it does, betwixt regular rhyme and blank verse, whichwould make its introduction very desirable, but not very feasible, in ourown language. An attempt of the kind has been made by a clever writer, inthe Retrospective Review. (Vol. Iv. Art. 2. ) If it has failed, it is fromthe impediments presented by the language, which has not nearly the sameamount of vowel terminations, nor of simple uniform vowel sounds, as theSpanish; the double termination, however full of grace and beauty in theCastilian, assumes, perhaps from the effect of association, rather adoggerel air in the English. 

[15] This may be still further inferred from the tenor of a humorous, satirical old _romance_, in which the writer implores the justice ofApollo on the heads of the swarm of traitor poets, who have deserted theancient themes of song, the Cids, the Laras, the Gonzalez, to celebratethe 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 lança contra Poetas Moriscos. "

Dr. Johnson's opinions are well known, in regard to this department ofEnglish literature, which, by his ridiculous parodies, he succeeded for atime in throwing into the shade, or, in the language of his admiringbiographer, made "perfectly contemptible. "

Petrarch, with like pedantry, rested his hopes of fame on his Latin epic, and gave away his lyrics, as alms to ballad-singers. Posterity, decidingon surer principles of taste, has reversed both these decisions. 

[16] "Algunos quieren que sean la cartilla de los Poetas; yo no lo sientoassi; antes bien los hallo capaces, no solo de exprimir y declararqualquier concepto con facil dulzura, pero de prosequir toda grave accionde numeroso Poema. Y soy tan de veras Español, que por ser en nuestroidioma natural este genero, no me puedo persuadir que no sea digno de todaestimacion. "(Coleccion de Obras Sueltas, (Madrid, 1776-9, ) tom. Iv. P. 176, Prólogo. ) In another place he finely styles them "Iliads without aHomer. "

[17] See, among others, the encomiastic and animated criticism ofFernandez and Quintana. Fernandez, Poesías Escogidas, de NuestrosCancioneros y Romanceros Antiguos, (Madrid, 1796, ) tom. Xvi. , Prólogo. --Quintana, Poesías Selectas Castellanas, Introd. Art. 4. 

[18] Nic. Antonio, Bibliotheca Nova, tom. Ii. P. 10. --The Spanishtranslators of Bouterwek have noticed the principal "collections andearliest editions" of the _Romances_. This original edition of Sepulvedahas escaped their notice. See Literatura Española, pp. 217, 218. 

[19] See Grimm, Depping, Herder, etc. This last poet has embraced aselection of the Cid ballads, chronologically arranged, and translatedwith eminent simplicity and spirit, if not with the scrupulous fidelityusually aimed at by the Germans. See his Sämmtliche Werke, (Wien, 1813, )band iii. 

[20] Sarmiento, Memorias, pp. 242, 243. --Moratin considers that none havecome down to us, in their original costume, of an earlier date than JohnII. 's reign, the first half of the fifteenth century. (Obras, tom. I. P. 84. ) The Spanish translators of Bouterwek transcribe a _romance_, relating to the Cid, from the fathers Berganza and Merino, purporting toexhibit the primitive, uncorrupted diction of the thirteenth century. Native critics are of course the only ones competent to questions of thissort; but, to the less experienced eye of a foreigner, the style of thisballad would seem to resemble much less that genuine specimen of theversification of the preceding age, the poem of the Cid, than thecompositions of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. 

[21] The principle of philosophical arrangement, if it may so be called, is pursued still further in the latest Spanish publications of the_romances_, where the Moorish minstrelsy is embodied in a separatevolume, and distributed with reference to its topics. This system is themore practicable with this class of ballads, since it far exceeds innumber any other. See Duran, Romancero de Romances Moriscos. 

The Romancero I have used is the ancient edition of Medina del Campo, 1602. It is divided into nine parts, though it is not easy to see on whatprinciple, since the productions of most opposite date and tenor arebrought into juxtaposition. The collection contains nearly a thousandballads, which, however, fall far short of the entire number preserved, asmay easily be seen by reference to other compilations. When to this isadded the consideration of the large number which insensibly glided intooblivion without ever coming to the press, one may form a notion of theimmense mass of these humble lyrics, which floated among the common peopleof Spain; and we shall be the less disposed to wonder at the proud andchivalrous bearing that marks even the peasantry of a nation, which seemsto breathe the very air of romantic song. 

[22] The title of this work was "Coplas de Vita Christi, de la Cena con laPasion, y de la Veronica con la Resurreccion de nuestro Redemtor. E lassiete Angustias e siete Gozos de nuestra Señora, con otras obras muchoprovechosas. " It concludes with the following notice, "Fue la presenteobra emprentada en la insigne Ciudad de Zaragoza de Aragon por industria eexpensas de Paulo Hurus de Constancia aleman. A 27 dias de Noviembre, 1492. " (Mendez, Typographia Española, pp. 134, 136. ) It appears there weretwo or three other cancioneros compiled, none of which, however, wereadmitted to the honors of the press. (Bouterwek, Literatura Española, nota. ) The learned Castro, some fifty years since, published an analysiswith copious extracts from one of these made by Baena, the Jewishphysician of John II. , a copy of which existed in the royal library of theEscurial. Bibliotheca Española, tom. I. P. 265 et seq. 

[23] Cancionero General, passim. --Moratin has given a list of the men ofrank who contributed to this miscellany; it contains the names of thehighest nobility of Spain. (Orig. Del Teatro Español, Obras, tom. I. Pp. 85, 86. ) Castillo's Cancionero passed through several editions, the latestof which appeared in 1573. See a catalogue, not entirely complete, of thedifferent Spanish Cancioneros in Bouterwek, Literatura Española, trad. , p. 217. 

[24] Cancionero General, pp. 83-89. --Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS. 

[25] Cancionero General, pp. 158-161. --Some meagre information of thisperson is given by Nic. Antonio, whose biographical notices may be oftencharged with deficiency in chronological data; a circumstance perhapsunavoidable from the obscurity of their subjects. Biblioteca Vetus, tom. Ii. Lib. 10, cap. 6. 

[26] There are probably more direct puns in Petrarch's lyrics alone, thanin all the Cancionero General. There is another kind of _niaiserie_, however, to which the Spanish poets were much addicted, being thetransposition of the word in every variety of sense and combination; as, for example, "Acordad Vuestros olvidos Y olvida vuestros acuerdos Porque tales desacuerdos Acuerden vuestros sentidos, " etc. 

Cancionero General, fol. 226. 

It was such subtilties as these, _entricadas razones_, as Cervantescalls them, that addled the brains of poor Don Quixote. Tom. I. Cap. 1. 

[27] Velasquez, Poesía Castellana, p. 122. --More than half a centurylater, the learned Ambrosio Morales complained of the barrenness of theCastilian, which he imputed to the too exclusive adoption of the Latinupon all subjects of dignity and importance. Obras, tom. Xiv. Pp. 147, 148. 

[28] L. Marineo, speaking of this accomplished nobleman, styles him "virumsatis illustrem. --Eum enim poetam et philosophum natura formavit acpeperit. " He unfortunately fell in a skirmish, five years after hisfather's death, in 1479. Mariana, Hist. De España, tom. Ii. P. 531. 

[29] An elaborate character of this Quixotic old cavalier may be found inPulgar, Claros Varones, tit. 13. 

[30] "Don Jorge Manrique, " says Lope de Vega, "cuyas coplas Castellanasadmiren los ingenios estrangeros y merecen estar escritas con letras deoro. " Obras Sueltas, tom. Xii. Prólogo. 

[31] Coplas de Don Jorge Manrique, ed. Madrid, 1779. --Diálogo de lasLenguas, apud Mayans y Siscar, Orígenes, tom. Ii. P. 149. --Manrique'sCoplas have also been the subject of a separate publication in the UnitedStates. Professor Longfellow's version, accompanying it, is wellcalculated to give the English reader a correct notion of the Castilianbard, and, of course, a very exaggerated one of the literary culture ofthe age. 

[32] After proscribing certain profane mummeries, the law confines theclergy to the representation of such subjects as "the birth of ourSaviour, in which is shown how the angels appeared, announcing hisnativity; also his advent, and the coming of the three Magi kings toworship him; and his resurrection, showing his crucifixion and ascensionon the third day; and other such things leading men to do well and liveconstant in the faith. " (Siete Partidas, tit. 6, ley 34. ) It is worthnoting, that similar abuses continued common among the ecclesiastics, downto Isabella's reign, as may be inferred from a decree, very similar to thelaw of the Partidas above cited, published by the council of Aranda, in1473. (Apud Moratin, Obras, tom. I. P. 87. ) Moratin considers it certain, that the representation of the mysteries existed in Spain, as far back asthe eleventh century. The principal grounds for this conjecture appear tobe, the fact that such notorious abuses had crept into practice by themiddle of the thirteenth century, as to require the intervention of thelaw. (Ibid. , pp. 11, 13. ) The circumstance would seem compatible with amuch more recent origin. 

[33] Cervantes, Comedias y Entremeses, (Madrid, 1749, ) tom. I. Prólogo deNasarre. --Velazquez, Poesía Castellana, p. 86. --The fifth volume of theMemoirs of the Spanish Royal Academy of History contains a dissertation onthe "national diversions, " by Don Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos, repletewith curious erudition, and exhibiting the discriminating taste to havebeen expected from its accomplished author. Among these antiquarianresearches, the writer has included a brief view of the first theatricalattempts in Spain. See Mem. De la Acad. De Hist. , tom. V. Mem. 6. 

[34] Moratin, Obras, tom. I. P. 115. --Nasarre (Cervantes, Comedias, pról. ), Jovellanos (Mem. De la Acad. De Hist. , tom. V. Memor. 6), Pellicer(Orígen y Progreso de la Comedia, (1804, ) tom. I. P. 12), and others, refer the authorship of this little piece, without hesitation, to Juan dela Encina, although the year of its representation corresponds preciselywith that of his birth. The prevalence of so gross a blunder among theSpanish scholars, shows how little the antiquities of their theatre werestudied before the time of Moratin. 

[35] This little piece has been published at length by Moratin, in thefirst volume of his works. (See Orígenes del Teatro Español, Obras, tom. I. Pp. 303-314. )

The celebrated marquis of Santillana's poetical dialogue, "Comedieta daPonza, " has no pretensions to rank as a dramatic composition, notwithstanding its title, which is indeed as little significant of itsreal character, as the term "Commedia" is of Dante's epic. It is adiscourse on the vicissitudes of human life, suggested by a sea-fight nearPonza, in 1435. It is conducted without any attempt at dramatic action orcharacter, or, indeed, dramatic development of any sort. The same remarksmay be made of the political satire, "Mingo Revulgo, " which appeared inHenry IV. 's reign. Dialogue was selected by these authors as a morepopular and spirited medium than direct narrative for conveying theirsentiments. The "Comedieta da Ponza" has never appeared in print; the copywhich I have used is a transcript from the one in the royal library atMadrid, and belongs to Mr. George Ticknor. 

[36] Tragicomedia de Calisto y Melibea, (Alcalá, 1586, ) Introd. --Nothingis positively ascertained respecting the authorship of the first act ofthe Celestina. Some impute it to Juan de Mena; others with moreprobability to Rodrigo Cota el Tio, of Toledo, a person who, althoughliterally nothing is known of him, has in some way or other obtained thecredit of the authorship of some of the most popular effusions of thefifteenth century; such, for example, as the Dialogue above cited of "Loveand an Old Man, " the Coplas of "Mingo Revulgo, " and this first act of the"Celestina. " The principal foundation of these imputations would appear tobe the bare assertion of an editor of the "Dialogue between Love and anOld Man, " which appeared at Medina del Campo, in 1569, nearly a century, probably, after Cota's death; another example of the obscurity whichinvolves the history of the early Spanish drama. Many of the Castiliancritics detect a flavor of antiquity in the first act which should carryback its composition as far as John II. 's reign. Moratin does not discernthis, however, and is inclined to refer its production to a date not muchmore distant, if any, than Isabella's time. To the unpractised eye of aforeigner, as far as style is concerned, the whole work might well seemthe production of the same period. Moratin, Obras, tom. I. Pp. 88, 115, 116. --Diálogo de las Lenguas, apud Mayans y Siscar, Orígenes, pp. 165-167. --Nic. Antonio, Bibliotheca Nova, tom. Ii. P. 263. 

[37] Such is the high encomium of the Abate Andres, (Letteratura, tom. V. Part. 2, lib. 1. )--Cervantes does not hesitate to call it "libro divino;"and the acute author of the "Diálogo de las Lenguas" concludes a criticismupon it with the remark, that "there is no book in the Castilian whichsurpasses it in the propriety and elegance of its diction. " (Don Quixote, ed. De Pellicer, tom. I. , p. 239. --Mayans y Siscar, tom. Ii. P. 167. )

Its merits indeed seem in some degree to have disarmed even the severityof foreign critics; and Signorelli, after standing up stoutly in defenceof the precedence of the "Orfeo" as a dramatic composition, admits the"Celestina" to be a "work, rich in various beauties, and meritingundoubted applause. In fact, " he continues, "the vivacity of thedescription of character, and faithful portraiture of manners, have madeit immortal. " Storia Critica de' Teatri Antichi e Moderni, (Napoli, 1813, )tom. Vi. Pp. 146, 147. 

[38] Bouterwek, Literatura Española, notas de traductores, p. 234. --Andres, Letteratura, tom. V. Pp. 170, 171. --Lampillas, LetteraturaSpagnuola, tom. Vi. Pp. 57-59. 

[39] Rojas, Viage Entretenido, (1614, ) fol. 46. --Nic. Antonio, BibliothecaNova, tom. I. P. 684. --Moratin, Obras, tom. I. Pp. 126, 127. --Pellicer, Orígen de la Comedia, tom. I. Pp. 11, 12. 

[40] They were published under the title "Cancionero de todas las Obras deJuan de la Encina con otras añadidas. " (Mendez, Typographia Española, p. 247. ) Subsequent impressions of his works, more or less complete, appearedat Salamanca in 1509, and at Saragossa in 1512 and 1516. --Moratin, Obras, tom. I. P. 127, nota. 

[41] The comedian Rojas, who flourished in the beginning of the followingcentury, and whose "Viage Entretenido" is so essential to the knowledge ofthe early histrionic art in Spain, identifies the appearance of Encina'sEclogues with the dawn of the Castilian drama. His verses may be worthquoting. 

 "Que es en nuestra madre España, 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 España acabavan todos los Moriscos, que eran De aquel Reyno de Granada, y entonces se dava en ella princípio 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 eglogas Que el mismo represento al Almirante y Duquessa de Castilla, y de Infantado que estas fueron las primeras Y para mas honra suya, y de la comedia nuestra, en los dias que Colon descubrio la gran riqueza De Indias y nuevo mundo, y el gran Capitan empieza, a sugetar aquel Reyno de Napoles, y su tierra. A descubrirse empezo el uso de la comedia porque todos se animassen a emprender cosas tan buenas. "

Fol. 46, 47. 

[42] Signorelli, correcting what he denominates the "romance" ofLampillas, considers Encina to have composed only one pastoral drama, andthat, on occasion of Ferdinand's entrance into Castile. The critic shouldhave been more charitable, as he has made two blunders himself incorrecting one. Storia Critica de' Teatri, tom. Iv. Pp. 192, 193. 

[43] Andres, confounding Torres de Naharro, the poet, with Naharro thecomedian, who flourished about half a century later, is led into aludicrous train of errors in controverting Cervantes, whose criticism ofthe actor is perpetually misapplied by Andres to the poet. Velasquez seemsto have confounded them in like manner. Another evidence of the extremelysuperficial acquaintance of the Spanish critics with their early drama. Comp. Cervantes, Comedias y Entremeses, tom. I. Prólogo. --Andres, Letteratura, tom. V. P. 179. --Velazquez, Poesía Castellana, p. 88. 

[44] Nic. Antonio, Bibliotheca Nova, tom. I. P. 202. --Cervantes, Comedias, tom. I. Pról. De Nasarre. --Pellicer, Orígen de la Comedia, tom. Ii. P. 17. --Moratin, Obras, tom. I. P. 48. 

[45] Bartolomé Torres de Naharro, Propaladia, (Madrid, 1573. )--Thedeficiency of the earlier Spanish books, of which Bouterwek repeatedlycomplains, has led him into an error respecting the "Propaladia, " which hehad never seen. He states that Naharro was the first to distribute theplay into three jornadas or acts, and takes Cervantes roundly to task forassuming the original merit of this distribution to himself. In fact, Naharro did introduce the division into _five_ jornadas, and Cervantesassumes only the credit of having been the first to _reduce them tothree_. Comp. Bouterwek, Geschichte der Poesie und Beredsamkeit, band iii. P. 285, --and Cervantes, Comedias, tom. I. Pról. 

[46] In the argument to the "Seraphina, " he thus prepares the audience forthis colloquial _olla podrida_. 

 "Mas haveis de estar alerta por sentir los personages que hablan quatro lenguages, hasta acabar su rehyerta no salen de cuenta cierta por Latin e Italiano Castellano y Valenciano que ninguno desconcierta. "

Propaladia, p. 50. 

[47] The following is an example of the precious reasoning with whichFloristan, in the play above quoted, reconciles his conscience to themurder of his wife Orfea, in order to gratify the jealousy of his mistressSeraphina. Floristan is addressing himself to a priest. 

 "Y por mas daño escusar no lo quiero hora hazer, sino que es menester, que 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 desesperaría. Y Orfea, pues que haria? quando mi muerte supiesse; que creo que no pudiesse sostener la vida 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. 

[48] Signorelli waxes exceedingly wroth with Don Blas Nasarre for theassertion, that Naharro first taught the Italians to write comedy, taxinghim with downright mendacity; and he stoutly denies the probability ofNaharro's comedies ever having been performed on the Italian boards. Thecritic seems to be in the right, as far as regards the influence of theSpanish dramatist; but he might have been spared all doubts respectingtheir representation in the country, had he consulted the prologue ofNaharro himself, where he asserts the fact in the most explicit manner. Comp. Propaladia, pról. , and Signorelli, Storia Critica de' Teatri, tom. Vi. Pp. 171-179. --See also Moratin, Orígenes, Obras, tom. I. Pp. 149, 150. 

[49] Propaladia; see the comedies of "Trofea" and "Tinelaria. "--Jovellanos, Memoria sobre las Diversiones Públicas, apud Mem. De la Acad. De Hist. , tom. V. 

[50] Cervantes, Comedias, tom. I. Pról. 

[51] Pellicer, Orígen de la Comedia, tom. Ii. Pp. 58-62. --See alsoAmerican Quarterly Review, no. Viii. Art. 3. 

[52] Oliva, Obras, (Madrid, 1787. )--Vasco Diaz Tanco, a native ofEstremadura, who flourished in the first half of the sixteenth century, mentions in one of his works three tragedies composed by himself onScripture subjects. As there is no evidence, however, of their having beenprinted, or performed, or even read in manuscript by any one, they hardlydeserve to be included in the catalogue of dramatic compositions. (Moratin, Obras, tom. I. Pp. 150, 151. --Lampillas, Letteratura Spagnuola, tom. V. Dis. 1, sec. 5. ) This patriotic _littérateur_ endeavors toestablish the production of Oliva's tragedies in the year 1515, in thehope of antedating that of Trissino's "Sophonisba, " composed a year later, and thus securing to his nation the palm of precedence, in time at least, though it should be only for a few months, on the tragic theatre of modernEurope. Letteratura Spagnuola, ubi supra. 

[53] Nic. Antonio, Bibliotheca Nova, tom. I. P. 386. --Oliva, Obras, pref. De Morales. 

[54] The following passage, for example, in the "Venganza de Agamemnon, "imitated from the Electra of Sophocles, will hardly be charged on theGreek dramatist. 

"Habed, yo os ruego, de mi compassion, no querais atapar con vuestrosconsejos los respiraderos de las hornazas de fuego, que dentro meatormentan. " See Oliva, Obras, p. 185. 

[55] Compare the diction of these tragedies with that of the "CentonEpistolario, " for instance, esteemed one of the best literary compositionsof John II. 's reign, and see the advance made, not only in orthography, but in the verbal arrangement generally, and the whole complexion of thestyle. 

[56] Notwithstanding some Spanish critics, as Cueva, for example, havevindicated the romantic forms of the drama on scientific principles, it isapparent that the most successful writers in this department have beenconstrained to adopt them by public opinion, rather than their own, whichwould have suggested a nearer imitation of the classical models ofantiquity, so generally followed by the Italians, and which naturallyrecommends itself to the scholar. See the canon's discourse in Cervantes, Don Quixote, ed. De Pellicer, tom. Iii. Pp. 207-220, --and, moreexplicitly, Lope de Vega, Obras Sueltas, tom. Iv. P. 406. 

[57] "Ya en Italia, assi entre Damas, como entre Caballeros, se tiene porgentileza y galania, saber hablar Castellano. " Diálogo de las Lenguas, apud Mayans y Siscar, Orígenes, tom. Ii. P. 4. 

PART SECOND. 

1493-1517. 

THE PERIOD WHEN, THE INTERIOR ORGANIZATION OF THE MONARCHY HAVING BEENCOMPLETED, THE SPANISH NATION ENTERED ON ITS SCHEMES OF DISCOVERY ANDCONQUEST; OR THE PERIOD ILLUSTRATING MORE PARTICULARLY THE FOREIGN POLICYOF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA. 

CHAPTER I. 

ITALIAN WARS. --GENERAL VIEW OF EUROPE. --INVASION OF ITALY BY CHARLES VIII. OF FRANCE. 

1493-1495. 

Europe at the Close of the Fifteenth Century. --More Intimate Relationsbetween States. --Italy the School of Politics. --Pretensions of CharlesVIII. To Naples. --Treaty of Barcelona. --The French Invade Naples. --Ferdinand's Dissatisfaction. --Tactics and Arms of the Different Nations. --Preparations of Spain. --Mission to Charles VIII. --Bold Conduct of theEnvoys. --The French enter Naples. 

We have now reached that memorable epoch, when the different nations ofEurope, surmounting the barriers which had hitherto confined them withintheir respective limits, brought their forces, as if by a simultaneousimpulse, against each other on a common theatre of action. In thepreceding part of this work, we have seen in what manner Spain wasprepared for the contest, by the concentration of her various states underone government, and by such internal reforms, as enabled the government toact with vigor. The genius of Ferdinand will appear as predominant in whatconcerns the foreign relations of the country, as did that of Isabella inits interior administration. So much so, indeed, that the accurate andwell-informed historian, who has most copiously illustrated this portionof the national annals, does not even mention, in his introductory notice, the name of Isabella, but refers the agency in these events exclusively toher more ambitious consort. [1] In this he is abundantly justified, bothby the prevailing character of the policy pursued, widely differing fromthat which distinguished the queen's measures, and by the circumstancethat the foreign conquests, although achieved by the united efforts ofboth crowns, were undertaken on, behalf of Ferdinand's own dominions ofAragon, to which in the end they exclusively appertained. 

The close of the fifteenth century presents, on the whole, the moststriking point of view in modern history; one from which we maycontemplate the consummation of an important revolution in the structureof political society, and the first application of several inventionsdestined to exercise the widest influence on human civilization. Thefeudal institutions, or rather the feudal principle, which operated evenwhere the institutions, strictly speaking, did not exist, after havingwrought its appointed uses, had gradually fallen into decay; for it hadnot the power of accommodating itself to the increased demands andimproved condition of society. However well suited to a barbarous age, itwas found that the distribution of power among the members of anindependent aristocracy was unfavorable to that degree of personalsecurity and tranquillity indispensable to great proficiency in the higherarts of civilization. It was equally repugnant to the principle ofpatriotism, so essential to national independence, but which must haveoperated feebly among a people whose sympathies, instead of beingconcentrated on the state, were claimed by a hundred masters, as was thecase in every feudal community. The conviction of this reconciled thenation to the transfer of authority into other hands; not those of thepeople, indeed, who were too ignorant, and too long accustomed to asubordinate, dependent situation, to admit of it, --but into the hands ofthe sovereign. It was not until three centuries more had elapsed, that thecondition of the great mass of the people was to be so far improved, as toqualify them for asserting and maintaining the political considerationwhich of right belongs to them. 

In whatever degree public opinion and the progress of events might favorthe transition of power from the aristocracy to the monarch, it is obviousthat much would depend on his personal character; since the advantages ofhis station alone made him by no means a match for the combined forces ofhis great nobility. The remarkable adaptation of the characters of theprincipal sovereigns of Europe to this exigency, in the latter half of thefifteenth century, would seem to have something providential in it. Henrythe Seventh of England, Louis the Eleventh of France, Ferdinand of Naples, John the Second of Aragon, and his son Ferdinand, and John the Second ofPortugal, however differing in other respects, were all distinguished by asagacity, which enabled them to devise the most subtile and comprehensiveschemes of policy, and which was prolific in expedients for thecircumvention of enemies too potent to be encountered by open force. 

Their operations, all directed towards the same point, were attended withsimilar success, resulting in the exaltation of the royal prerogative atthe expense of the aristocracy, with more or less deference to the rightsof the people, as the case might be; in France, for example, with almosttotal indifference to them, while in Spain they were regarded, under theparental administration of Isabella, which tempered the less scrupulouspolicy of her husband, with tenderness and respect. In every country, however, the nation at large gained greatly by the revolution, which cameon insensibly, at least without any violent shock to the fabric ofsociety, and which, by securing internal tranquillity and the ascendencyof law over brute force, gave ample scope for those intellectual pursuits, that withdraw mankind from sensual indulgence, and too exclusive devotionto the animal wants of our nature. 

No sooner was the internal organization of the different nations of Europeplaced on a secure basis, than they found leisure to direct their views, hitherto confined within their own limits, to a bolder and more distantsphere of action. Their international communication was greatlyfacilitated by several useful inventions coincident with this period, orthen first extensively applied. Such was the art of printing, diffusingknowledge with the speed and universality of light; the establishment ofposts, which, after its adoption by Louis the Eleventh, came into frequentuse in the beginning of the sixteenth century; and lastly, the compass, which, guiding the mariner unerringly through the trackless wastes of theocean, brought the remotest regions into contact. With these increasedfacilities for intercommunication, the different European states might besaid to be brought into as intimate relation with one another, as thedifferent provinces of the same kingdom were before. They now for thefirst time regarded each other as members of one great community, in whoseaction they were all mutually concerned. A greater anxiety was manifestedto detect the springs of every political movement of their neighbors. Missions became frequent, and accredited agents were stationed, as a sortof honorable spies, at the different courts. The science of diplomacy, onnarrower grounds, indeed, than it is now practised, began to be studied. [2] Schemes of aggression and resistance, leading to politicalcombinations the most complex and extended, were gradually formed. We arenot to imagine, however, the existence of any well-defined ideas of abalance of power at this early period. The object of these combinationswas some positive act of aggression or resistance, for purposes ofconquest or defence, not for the maintenance of any abstract theory ofpolitical equilibrium. This was the result of much deeper reflection, andof prolonged experience. 

The management of the foreign relations of the nation, at the close of thefifteenth century, was resigned wholly to the sovereign. The people tookno further part or interest in the matter, than if it had concerned onlythe disposition of his private property. His measures were, therefore, often characterized by a degree of temerity and precipitation, that couldnot have been permitted under the salutary checks afforded by popularinterposition. A strange insensibility, indeed, was shown to the rightsand interests of the nation. War was regarded as a game, in which thesovereign parties engaged, not on behalf of their subjects, butexclusively on their own. Like desperate gamblers, they contended for thespoils or the honors of victory, with so much the more recklessness astheir own station was too elevated to be materially prejudiced by theresults. They contended with all the animosity of personal feeling; everydevice, however paltry, was resorted to; and no advantage was deemedunwarrantable, which could tend to secure the victory. The most profligatemaxims of state policy were openly avowed by men of reputed honor andintegrity. In short, the diplomacy of that day is very generallycharacterized by a low cunning, subterfuge, and petty trickery, whichwould leave an indelible stain on the transactions of private individuals. 

Italy was, doubtless, the great school where this political morality wastaught. That country was broken up into a number of small states, toonearly equal to allow the absolute supremacy of any one; while, at thesame time, it demanded the most restless vigilance on the part of each tomaintain its independence against its neighbors. Hence such a complexityof intrigues and combinations as the world had never before witnessed. Asubtile, refined policy was conformable to the genius of the Italians. Itwas partly the result, moreover, of their higher cultivation, whichnaturally led them to trust the settlement of their disputes to superiorintellectual dexterity, rather than to brute force, like the_barbarians_ beyond the Alps. [3] From these and other causes, maximswere gradually established, so monstrous in their nature as to give thework, which first embodied them in a regular system, the air of a satirerather than a serious performance, while the name of its author has beenconverted into a by-word of political knavery. [4]

At the period before us, the principal states of Italy were, the republicsof Venice and Florence, the duchy of Milan, the papal see, and the kingdomof Naples. The others may be regarded merely as satellites, revolvinground some one or other of these superior powers, by whom their respectivemovements were regulated and controlled. Venice may be considered as themost formidable of the great powers, taking into consideration her wealth, her powerful navy, her territory in the north, and princely colonialdomain. There was no government in that age which attracted such generaladmiration, both from natives and foreigners; who seem to have looked uponit as affording the very best model of political wisdom. [5] Yet there wasno country where the citizen enjoyed less positive freedom; none whoseforeign relations were conducted with more absolute selfishness, and witha more narrow, bargaining spirit, savoring rather of a company of tradersthan of a great and powerful state. But all this was compensated, in theeyes of her contemporaries, by the stability of her institutions, whichstill remained unshaken, amidst revolutions which had convulsed oroverturned every other social fabric in Italy. [6]

The government of Milan was at this time under the direction of LodovicoSforza, or Lodovico the Moor, as he is commonly called; an epithetsuggested by his complexion, but which he willingly retained, asindicating the superior craftiness on which he valued himself. [7] He heldthe reins in the name of his nephew, then a minor, until a convenientseason should arrive for assuming them in his own. His cool, perfidiouscharacter was stained with the worst vices of the most profligate class ofItalian 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, toooften of faction; but which had now resigned itself to the dominion of theMedici, whose cultivated tastes and munificent patronage shed a splendidillusion over their administration, which has blinded the eyes ofcontemporaries, and even of posterity. 

The papal chair was filled by Alexander the Sixth, a pontiff whoselicentiousness, avarice, and unblushing effrontery have been the theme ofunmingled reproach, with Catholic as well as Protestant writers. Hispreferment was effected by lavish bribery, and by his consummate address, as well as energy of character. Although a native Spaniard, his electionwas extremely unpalatable to Ferdinand and Isabella, who deprecated thescandal it must bring upon the church, and who had little to hope forthemselves, in a political view, from the elevation of one of their ownsubjects even, whose mercenary spirit placed him at the control of thehighest bidder. [8]

The Neapolitan sceptre was swayed by Ferdinand the First, whose father, Alfonso the Fifth, the uncle of Ferdinand of Aragon, had obtained thecrown by the adoption of Joanna of Naples, or rather by his own goodsword. Alfonso settled his conquest on his illegitimate son Ferdinand, tothe prejudice of the rights of Aragon, by whose blood and treasure he hadachieved it. Ferdinand's character, the very opposite of his noblefather's, was dark, wily, and ferocious. His life was spent in conflictwith his great feudal nobility, many of whom supported the pretensions ofthe Angevin family. But his superior craft enabled him to foil everyattempt of his enemies. In effecting this, indeed, he shrunk from no deedof treachery or violence, however atrocious, and in the end had thesatisfaction of establishing his authority, undisputed, on the fears ofhis subjects. He was about seventy years of age at the period of which weare treating, 1493. The heir apparent, Alfonso, was equally sanguinary inhis temper, though possessing less talent for dissimulation than hisfather. 

Such was the character of the principal Italian courts at the close of thefifteenth century. The politics of the country were necessarily regulatedby the temper and views of the leading powers. They were essentiallyselfish and personal. The ancient republican forms had been graduallyeffaced during this century, and more arbitrary ones introduced. The nameof freedom, indeed, was still inscribed on their banners, but the spirithad disappeared. In almost every state, great or small, some militaryadventurer, or crafty statesman, had succeeded in raising his ownauthority on the liberties of his country; and his sole aim seemed to beto enlarge it still further, and to secure it against the conspiracies andrevolutions, which the reminiscence of ancient independence naturallycalled forth. Such was the case with Tuscany, Milan, Naples, and thenumerous subordinate states. In Rome, the pontiff proposed no higherobject than the concentration of wealth and public honors in the hands ofhis own family. In short, the administration of every state seemed to bemanaged with exclusive reference to the personal interests of its chief. Venice was the only power of sufficient strength and stability to engagein more extended schemes of policy, and even these were conducted, as hasbeen already noticed, in the narrow and calculating spirit of a tradingcorporation. 

But, while no spark of generous patriotism seemed to warm the bosoms ofthe Italians; while no sense of public good, or even menace of foreigninvasion, could bring them to act in concert with one another, [9] theinternal condition of the country was eminently prosperous. Italy had faroutstripped the rest of Europe in the various arts of civilized life; andshe everywhere afforded the evidence of faculties developed by unceasingintellectual 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;illustrated by many munificent princes, by the splendor of many noble andbeautiful cities, and by the majesty of religion; and adorned with allthose rare and precious gifts, which render a name glorious among thenations. " [10] Such are the glowing strains in which the Tuscan historiancelebrates the prosperity of his country, ere yet the storm of war haddescended on her beautiful valleys. 

This scene of domestic tranquillity was destined to be changed by thatterrible invasion which the ambition of Lodovico Sforza brought upon hiscountry. He had already organized a coalition of the northern powers ofItaly, to defeat the interference of the king of Naples in behalf of hisgrandson, the rightful duke of Milan, whom his uncle held in subjectionduring a protracted minority, while he exercised all the real functions ofsovereignty in his name. Not feeling sufficiently secure from his Italianconfederacy, Sforza invited the king of France to revive the hereditaryclaims of the house of Anjou to the crown of Naples, promising to aid himin the enterprise with all his resources. In this way, this wilypolitician proposed to divert the storm from his own head, by givingFerdinand sufficient occupation at home. 

The throne of France was at that time filled by Charles the Eighth, amonarch scarcely twenty-two years of age. His father, Louis the Eleventh, had given him an education unbecoming, not only a great prince, but even aprivate gentleman. He would allow him to learn no other Latin, saysBrantôme, than his favorite maxim, "Qui nescit dissimulare, nescitregnare. " [11] Charles made some amends for this, though with littlejudgment, in later life, when left to his own disposal. His favoritestudies were the exploits of celebrated conquerors, of Caesar andCharlemagne particularly, which filled his young mind with vague andvisionary ideas of glory. These dreams were still further nourished by thetourneys and other chivalrous spectacles of the age, in which hedelighted, until he seems to have imagined himself some doughty paladin ofromance, destined to the achievement of a grand and perilous enterprise. It affords some proof of this exalted state of his imagination, that hegave his only son the name of Orlando, after the celebrated hero ofRoncesvalles. [12]

With a mind thus excited by chimerical visions of military glory, he lenta willing ear to the artful propositions of Sforza. In the extravagance ofvanity, fed by the adulation of interested parasites, he affected toregard the enterprise against Naples as only opening the way to a careerof more splendid conquests, which were to terminate in the capture ofConstantinople, and the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre. He even went sofar as to purchase of Andrew Paleologus, the nephew and heir ofConstantine, the last of the Caesars, his title to the Greek empire. [13]

Nothing could be more unsound, according to the principles of the presentday, than Charles's claims to the crown of Naples. Without discussing theoriginal pretensions of the rival houses of Aragon and Anjou, it issufficient to state, that, at the time of Charles the Eighth's invasion, the Neapolitan throne had been in the possession of the Aragonese familymore than half a century, under three successive princes solemnlyrecognized by the people, sanctioned by repeated investitures of the papalsuzerain, and admitted by all the states of Europe. If all this did notgive validity to their title, when was the nation to expect repose?Charles's claim, on the other hand, was derived originally from atestamentary bequest of René, count of Provence, operating to theexclusion of the son of his own daughter, the rightful heir of the houseof Anjou; Naples being too notoriously a female fief to afford any pretextfor the action of the Salic law. The pretensions of Ferdinand, of Spain, as representative of the legitimate branch of Aragon, were far moreplausible. [14]

Independently of the defects in Charles's title, his position was such asto make the projected expedition every way impolitic. A misunderstandinghad for some time subsisted between him and the Spanish sovereigns, and hewas at open war with Germany and England; so that it was only by largeconcessions that he could hope to secure their acquiescence in anenterprise most precarious in its character, and where even completesuccess could be of no permanent benefit to his kingdom. "He did notunderstand, " says Voltaire, "that a dozen villages adjacent to one'sterritory, are of more value than a kingdom four hundred leagues distant. "[15] By the treaties of Etaples and Senlis, he purchased a reconciliationwith Henry the Seventh of England, and with Maximilian, the emperor elect;and finally, by that of Barcelona, effected an amicable adjustment of hisdifficulties with Spain. [16]

This treaty, which involved the restoration of Roussillon and Cerdagne, was of great importance to the crown of Aragon. These provinces, it willbe remembered, had been originally mortgaged by Ferdinand's father, KingJohn the Second, to Louis the Eleventh of France, for the sum of threehundred thousand crowns, in consideration of aid to be afforded by thelatter monarch against the Catalan insurgents. Although the stipulated sumhad never been paid by Aragon, yet a plausible pretext for requiring therestitution was afforded by Louis the Eleventh's incomplete performance ofhis engagements, as well as by the ample reimbursement, which the Frenchgovernment had already derived from the revenues of these countries. [17]This treaty had long been a principal object of Ferdinand's policy. He hadnot, indeed, confined himself to negotiation, but had made activedemonstrations more than once of occupying the contested territory byforce. Negotiation, however, was more consonant to his habitual policy;and, after the termination of the Moorish war, he pressed it with theutmost vigor, repairing with the queen to Barcelona, in order to watchover the deliberations of the envoys of the two nations at Figueras. [18]

The French historians accuse Ferdinand of bribing two ecclesiastics, inhigh influence at their court, to make such a representation of theaffair, as should alarm the conscience of the young monarch. These holymen insisted on the restoration of Roussillon as an act of justice; sincethe sums for which it had been mortgaged, though not repaid, had beenspent in the common cause of Christendom, the Moorish war. The soul, theysaid, could never hope to escape from purgatory, until restitution wasmade of all property unlawfully held during life. His royal father, Louisthe Eleventh, was clearly in this predicament, as he himself wouldhereafter be, unless the Spanish territories should be relinquished; ameasure, moreover, the more obligatory on him, since it was well known tobe the dying request of his parent. These arguments made a suitableimpression on the young monarch, and a still deeper on his sister, theduchess of Beaujeu, who exercised great influence over him, and whobelieved her own soul in peril of eternal damnation by deferring the actof restoration any longer. The effect of this cogent reasoning was nodoubt greatly enhanced by the reckless impatience of Charles, whocalculated no cost in the prosecution of his chimerical enterprise. Withthese amicable dispositions an arrangement was at length concluded, andreceived the signatures of the respective monarchs on the same day, beingsigned by Charles at Tours, and by Ferdinand and Isabella at Barcelona, January 19th, 1493. [19]

The principal articles of the treaty provided, that the contractingparties should mutually aid each other against all enemies; that theyshould reciprocally prefer this alliance to that with any other, _thevicar of Christ excepted_; that the Spanish sovereigns should enterinto no understanding with any power, _the vicar of Christ excepted_, prejudicial to the interests of France; that their children should not bedisposed of in marriage to the kings of England, or of the Romans, or toany enemy of France, without the French king's consent. It was finallystipulated that Roussillon and Cerdagne should be restored to Aragon; butthat, as doubts might be entertained to which power the possession ofthese countries rightfully appertained, arbitrators _named by Ferdinandand Isabella_ should be appointed, if requested by the French monarch, with full power to decide the question, by whose judgment the contractingparties mutually promised to abide. This last provision, obviously toowell guarded to jeopard the interests of the Spanish sovereigns, wasintroduced to allay in some measure the discontents of the French, wholoudly inveighed against their cabinet, as sacrificing the interests ofthe nation; accusing, indeed, the Cardinal D'Albi, the principal agent inthe negotiation, of being in the pay of Ferdinand. [20]

The treaty excited equal surprise and satisfaction in Spain, whereRoussillon was regarded as of the last importance, not merely from theextent of its resources, but from its local position, which made it thekey of Catalonia. The nation, says Zurita, looked on its recovery asscarcely less important than the conquest of Granada; and they doubtedsome sinister motive, or deeper policy than appeared in the conduct of theFrench king. He was influenced, however, by no deeper policy than thecravings of a puerile ambition. [21]

The preparations of Charles, in the mean while, excited general alarmthroughout Italy. Ferdinand, the old king of Naples, who in vainendeavored to arrest them by negotiation, had died in the beginning of1494. He was succeeded by his son Alfonso, a prince of bolder but lesspolitic character, and equally odious, from the cruelty of hisdisposition, with his father. He lost no time in putting his kingdom in aposture of defence; but he wanted the best of all defences, the attachmentof his subjects. His interests were supported by the Florentine republicand the pope, whose family had intermarried with the royal house ofNaples. Venice stood aloof, secure in her remoteness, unwilling tocompromise her interests by too precipitate a declaration in favor ofeither party. 

The European powers regarded the expedition of Charles the Eighth withsomewhat different feelings; most of them were not unwilling to see soformidable a prince waste his resources in a remote and chimericalexpedition; Ferdinand, however, contemplated with more anxiety an event, which might terminate in the subversion of the Neapolitan branch of hishouse, and bring a powerful and active neighbor in contact with his owndominions in Sicily. He lost no time in fortifying the faltering courageof the pope by assurances of support. His ambassador, then resident at thepapal court, was Garcilasso de la Vega, father of the illustrious poet ofthat name, and familiar to the reader by his exploits in the Granadinewar. This personage with rare political sagacity combined an energy ofpurpose, 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, heassured him, would devote his whole resources, if necessary, to theprotection of his person, honor, and estate. Alexander would gladly havehad this promise under the hand of Ferdinand; but the latter did not thinkit expedient, considering his delicate relations with France, to puthimself so far in the power of the wily pontiff. [22]

In the mean time, Charles's preparations went forward with the languor andvacillation resulting from divided councils and multiplied embarrassments. "Nothing essential to the conduct of a war was at hand, " says Comines. Theking was very young, weak in person, headstrong in will, surrounded by fewdiscreet counsellors, and wholly destitute of the requisite funds. [23]His own impatience, however, was stimulated by that of the youthfulchivalry of his court, who burned for an opportunity of distinction; aswell as by the representations of the Neapolitan exiles, who hoped, underhis protection, to re-establish themselves in their own country. Severalof these, weary with the delay already experienced, made overtures to KingFerdinand to undertake the enterprise on his own behalf, and to assert hislegitimate pretensions to the crown of Naples, which, they assured him, alarge party in the country was ready to sustain. The sagacious monarch, however, knew how little reliance was to be placed on the reports ofexiles, whose imaginations readily exaggerated the amount of disaffectionin their own country. But, although the season had not yet arrived forasserting his own paramount claims, he was determined to tolerate those ofno other potentate. [24]

Charles entertained so little suspicion of this, that, in the month ofJune, he despatched an envoy to the Spanish court, requiring Ferdinand'sfulfilment of the treaty of Barcelona, by aiding him with men and money, and by throwing open his ports in Sicily for the French navy. "Thisgracious proposition, " says the Aragonese historian, "he accompanied withinformation of his proposed expedition against the Turks; statingincidentally, as a thing of no consequence, his intention to take Naplesby the way. " [25]

Ferdinand saw the time was arrived for coming to an explicit declarationwith the French court. He appointed a special mission, in order to do thisin the least offensive manner possible. The person selected for thisdelicate task was Alonso de Silva, brother of the count of Cifuentes, and_clavero_ of Calatrava, a cavalier possessed of the coolness and addressrequisite for diplomatic success. [26]

The ambassador, on arriving at the French court, found it at Vienne in allthe bustle of preparation for immediate departure. After seeking in vain aprivate audience from King Charles, he explained to him the purport of hismission in the presence of his courtiers. He assured him of thesatisfaction which the king of Aragon had experienced, at receivingintelligence of his projected expedition against the infidel. Nothing gavehis master so great contentment, as to see his brother monarchs employingtheir arms, and expending their revenues, against the enemies of theCross; where even failure was greater gain than success in other wars. Heoffered Ferdinand's assistance in the prosecution of such wars, eventhough they should be directed against the Mahometans of Africa, over whomthe papal sanction had given Spain exclusive rights of conquest. Hebesought the king not to employ the forces destined to so glorious apurpose against any one of the princes of Europe, but to reflect how greata scandal this must necessarily bring on the Christian cause; above all, he cautioned him against forming any designs on Naples, since that kingdomwas a fief of the church, in whose favor an exception was expressly madeby the treaty of Barcelona, which recognized her alliance and protectionas paramount to every other obligation. Silva's discourse was responded toby the president of the parliament of Paris in a formal Latin oration, asserting generally Charles's right to Naples, and his resolution toenforce it previously to his crusade against the infidel. As soon as itwas concluded, the king rose and abruptly quitted the apartment. [27]

Some days after, he interrogated the Spanish ambassador, whether hismaster would not, in case of a war with Portugal, feel warranted by theterms of the late treaty in requiring the co-operation of France, and onwhat plea the latter power could pretend to withhold it. To the first ofthese propositions the ambassador answered in the affirmative, if it werea defensive war, but not, if an offensive one, of his own seeking; anexplanation by no means satisfactory to the French monarch. Indeed, heseems not to have been at all prepared for this interpretation of thecompact. He had relied on this, as securing without any doubt the non-interference of Ferdinand, if not his actual co-operation in his designsagainst Naples. The clause touching the rights of the church was toofrequent in public treaties to excite any particular attention; and he wasastounded at the broad ground, which it was now made to cover, and whichdefeated the sole object proposed by the cession of Roussillon. He couldnot disguise his chagrin and indignation at what he deemed the perfidy ofthe Spanish court. He refused all further intercourse with Silva, and evenstationed a sentinel at his gate, to prevent his communication with hissubjects; treating him as the envoy, not of an ally, but of an open enemy. [28]

The unexpected and menacing attitude, however, assumed by Ferdinand, failed to arrest the operations of the French monarch, who, havingcompleted his preparations, left Vienne in the month of August, 1494, andcrossed the Alps at the head of the most formidable host which had scaledthat mountain barrier since the irruption of the northern barbarians. [29]It will be unnecessary to follow his movements in detail. It is sufficientto remark, that his conduct throughout was equally defective in principleand in sound policy. He alienated his allies by the most signal acts ofperfidy, seizing their fortresses for himself, and entering their capitalswith all the vaunt and insolent port of a conquerer. On his approach toRome, the pope and the cardinals took refuge in the castle of St. Angelo, and on the 31st of December, Charles defiled into the city at the head ofhis victorious chivalry; if victorious they could be called, when, as anItalian historian remarks, they had scarcely broken a lance, or spread atent, in the whole of their progress. [30]

The Italians were panic-struck at the aspect of troops so different fromtheir own, and so superior to them in organization, science, and militaryequipment; and still more in a remorseless ferocity of temper, which hadrarely been witnessed in their own feuds. Warfare was conducted onpeculiar principles in Italy, adapted to the character and circumstancesof the people. The business of fighting, in her thriving communities, instead of forming part of the regular profession of a gentleman, as inother countries at this period, was intrusted to the hands of a fewsoldiers of fortune, _condottieri_, as they were called, who hiredthemselves out, with the forces under their command, consistingexclusively 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 allunnecessary expenditure of his resources. Hence, the science of defencewas almost exclusively studied. The object seemed to be, not so much theannoyance of the enemy, as self-preservation. The common interests of the_condottieri_ being paramount to every obligation towards the statewhich they served, they easily came to an understanding with one anotherto spare their troops as much as possible; until at length battles werefought with little more personal hazard than would be incurred in anordinary tourney. The man-at-arms was riveted into plates of steel ofsufficient thickness to turn a musket-ball. The ease of the soldier was sofar consulted, that the artillery, in a siege, was not allowed to be firedon either side from sunset to sunrise, for fear of disturbing his repose. Prisoners were made for the sake of their ransom, and but little blood wasspilled in an action. Machiavelli records two engagements, at Anghiari andCastracaro, among the most noted of the time for their importantconsequences. The one lasted four hours, and the other half a day. Thereader 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, whenhe comes to the close, and looks for the list of killed and wounded, hefinds to his surprise not a single man slain, in the first of theseactions; and, in the second, only one, who, having tumbled from his horse, and being unable to rise, from the weight of his armor, was suffocated inthe mud! Thus war became disarmed of its terrors. Courage was no longeressential in a soldier; and the Italian, made effeminate, if not timid, was incapable of encountering the adventurous daring and severe disciplineof the northern warrior. [31]

The astonishing success of the French was still more imputable to the freeuse and admirable organization of their infantry, whose strength lay inthe Swiss mercenaries. Machiavelli ascribes the misfortunes of his nationchiefly to its exclusive reliance on cavalry. [32] This service, duringthe whole of the Middle Ages, was considered among the European nationsthe most important; the horse being styled by way of eminence "thebattle. " The memorable conflict of Charles the Bold with the Swissmountaineers, however, in which the latter broke in pieces the celebratedBurgundian _ordonnance_, constituting the finest body of chivalry ofthe age, demonstrated the capacity of infantry; and the Italian wars, inwhich we are now engaged, at length fully re-established its ancientsuperiority. 

The Swiss were formed into battalions varying from three to eight thousandmen each. They wore little defensive armor, and their principal weapon wasthe pike, eighteen feet long. Formed into these solid battalions, which, bristling with spears all around, received the technical appellation ofthe _hedgehog_, they presented an invulnerable front on every quarter. Inthe level field, with free scope allowed for action, they bore down allopposition, 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 easilydisconcerted by any unforseen impediment, or irregularity of the ground;and the event proved, that the Spanish foot, armed with its short swordsand bucklers, by breaking in under the long pikes of its enemy, couldsucceed in bringing him to close action, where his formidable weapon wasof no avail. It was repeating the ancient lesson of the Roman legion andthe Macedonian phalanx. [33]

In artillery, the French were at this time in advance of the Italians, perhaps of every nation in Europe. The Italians, indeed, were soexceedingly defective in this department, that their best field-piecesconsisted of small copper tubes, covered with wood and hides. They weremounted on unwieldy carriages drawn by oxen, and followed by cars orwagons loaded with stone balls. These guns were worked so awkwardly, thatthe besieged, says Guicciardini, had time between the discharges to repairthe mischief inflicted by them. From these circumstances, artillery washeld in so little repute, that some of the most competent Italian writersthought it might be dispensed with altogether in field engagements. [34]

The French, on the other hand, were provided with a beautiful train ofordnance, consisting of bronze cannon about eight feet in length, and manysmaller pieces. [35] They were lightly mounted, drawn by horses, andeasily kept pace with the rapid movements of the army. They dischargediron balls, and were served with admirable skill, intimidating theirenemies by the rapidity and accuracy of their fire, and easily demolishingtheir fortifications, which, before this invasion, were constructed withlittle strength or science. [36]

The rapid successes of the French spread consternation among the Italianstates, who now for the first time seemed to feel the existence of acommon interest, and the necessity of efficient concert. Ferdinand wasactive in promoting these dispositions, through his ministers, Garcilassode la Vega and Alonso de Silva. The latter had quitted the French court onits entrance into Italy, and withdrawn to Genoa. From this point he openeda correspondence with Lodovico Sforza, who now began to understand, thathe had brought a terrible engine into play, the movements of which, however mischievous to himself, were beyond his strength to control. Silvaendeavored to inflame still further his jealousy of the French, who hadalready given him many serious causes of disgust; and, in order to detachhim more effectually from Charles's interests, encouraged him with thehopes of forming a matrimonial alliance for his son with one of theinfantas of Spain. At the same time, he used every effort to bring about aco-operation between the duke and the republic of Venice, thus opening theway to the celebrated league which was concluded in the following year. [37]

The Roman pontiff had lost no time, after the appearance of the Frencharmy in Italy, in pressing the Spanish court to fulfil its engagements. Heendeavored to propitiate the good-will of the sovereigns by severalimportant concessions. He granted to them and their successors the_tercias_, or two-ninths of the tithes, throughout the dominions ofCastile; an impost still forming part of the regular revenue of the crown. [38] He caused bulls of crusade to be promulgated throughout Spain, granting at the same time a tenth of the ecclesiastical rents, with theunderstanding that the proceeds should be devoted to the protection of theHoly See. Towards the close of this year, 1494, or the beginning of thefollowing, he conferred the title of Catholic on the Spanish sovereigns, in consideration, as is stated, of their eminent virtues, their zeal indefence of the true faith of the apostolic see, their reformation ofconventual discipline, their subjugation of the Moors of Granada, and thepurification of their dominions from the Jewish heresy. This orthodoxtitle, which still continues to be the jewel most prized in the Spanishcrown, has been appropriated in a peculiar manner to Ferdinand andIsabella, who are universally recognized in history as _Los ReyesCatólicos_. [39]

Ferdinand was too sensible of the peril, to which the occupation of Naplesby the French would expose his own interests, to require any stimulant toaction from the Roman pontiff. Naval preparations had been going forwardduring the summer, in the ports of Galicia and Guipuscoa. A considerablearmament was made ready for sea by the latter part of December, atAlicant, and placed under the command of Galceran de Requesens, count ofTrevento. The land forces were intrusted to Gonsalvo de Cordova, betterknown in history as the Great Captain. Instructions were at the same timesent 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. [40]

Ferdinand, however, determined to send one more embassy to Charles theEighth, before coming to an open rupture with him. He selected for thismission Juan de Albion and Antonio de Fonseca, brother of the bishop ofthat name, whom we have already noticed as superintendent of the Indiandepartment. The two envoys reached Rome, January 28th, 1495, the same dayon which Charles set out on his march for Naples. They followed the army, and on arriving at Veletri, about twenty miles from the capital, wereadmitted to an audience by the monarch, who received them in the presenceof his officers. The ambassadors freely enumerated the various causes ofcomplaint entertained by their master against the French king; the insultoffered to him in the person of his minister Alonso de Silva; thecontumelious treatment of the pope, and forcible occupation of thefortresses and estates of the church; and finally, the enterprise againstNaples, the claims to which as a papal fief could of right be determinedin no other way than by the arbitration of the pontiff himself. ShouldKing Charles consent to accept this arbitration, they tendered the goodoffices of their master as mediator between the parties; should he declineit, however, the king of Spain stood absolved from all further obligationsof amity with him, by the terms of the treaty of Barcelona, whichexpressly recognized his right to interfere in defence of the church. [41]

Charles, who could not dissemble his indignation during this discourse, retorted with great acrimony, when it was concluded, on the conduct ofFerdinand, which he stigmatized as perfidious, accusing him, at the sametime, of a deliberate design to circumvent him, by introducing into theirtreaty the clause respecting the pope. As to the expedition againstNaples, he had now gone too far to recede; and it would be soon enough tocanvass the question of right, when he had got possession of it. Hiscourtiers, at the same time, with the impetuosity of their nation, heightened by the insolence of success, told the envoys, that they knewwell enough how to defend their rights with their arms, and that KingFerdinand would find the French chivalry enemies of quite another sortfrom the holiday tilters of Granada. 

These taunts led to mutual recrimination, until at length Fonseca, thoughnaturally a sedate person, was so far transported with anger, that heexclaimed, "The issue then must be left to God, --arms must decide it;"and, producing the original treaty, bearing the signatures of the twomonarchs, 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 Frencharmy to withdraw from it, under pain of incurring the penalties oftreason. The French cavaliers were so much incensed by this audaciousaction, that they would have seized the envoys, and, in all probability, offered violence to their persons, but for Charles's interposition, whowith more coolness caused them to be conducted from his presence, and sentback under a safe escort to Rome. Such are the circumstances reported bythe French and Italian writers of this remarkable interview. They were notaware that the dramatic exhibition, as far as the ambassadors wereconcerned, was all previously concerted before their departure from Spain. [42]

Charles pressed forward on his march without further delay. Alfonso theSecond, losing his confidence and martial courage, the only virtues thathe possessed, at the crisis when they were most demanded, hadprecipitately abandoned his kingdom while the French were at Rome, andtaken refuge in Sicily, where he formally abdicated the crown in favor ofhis son, Ferdinand the Second. This prince, then twenty-five years of age, whose amiable manners were rendered still more attractive by contrast withthe ferocious temper of his father, was possessed of talent and energycompetent to the present emergency, had he been sustained by his subjects. But the latter, besides being struck with the same panic which hadparalyzed the other people of Italy, had too little interest in thegovernment to be willing to hazard much in its defence. A change ofdynasty was only a change of masters, by which they had little either togain or to lose. Though favorably inclined to Ferdinand, they refused tostand by him in his perilous extremity. They gave way in every direction, as the French advanced, rendering hopeless every attempt of their spiritedyoung monarch to rally them, till at length no alternative was left, butto abandon his dominions to the enemy, without striking a blow in theirdefence. He withdrew to the neighboring island of Ischia, whence he soonafter passed into Sicily, and occupied himself there in collecting thefragments of his party, until the time should arrive for more decisiveaction. [43]

Charles the Eighth made his entrance into Naples at the head of hislegions, February 22d, 1495, having traversed this whole extent of hostileterritory in less time than would be occupied by a fashionable tourist ofthe present day. The object of his expedition was now achieved. He seemedto have reached the consummation of his wishes; and, although he assumedthe titles of King of Sicily and of Jerusalem, and affected the state andauthority of Emperor, he took no measures for prosecuting his chimericalenterprise further. He even neglected to provide for the security of hispresent conquest; and, without bestowing a thought on the government ofhis new dominions, resigned himself to the licentious and effeminatepleasures so congenial with the soft voluptuousness of the climate, andhis own character. [44]

While Charles was thus wasting his time and resources in frivolousamusements, a dark storm was gathering in the north. There was not a statethrough which he had passed, however friendly to his cause, which had notcomplaints to make of his insolence, his breach of faith, his infringementof their rights, and his exorbitant exactions. His impolitic treatment ofSforza had long since alienated that wily and restless politician, andraised suspicions in his mind of Charles's designs against his own duchyof Milan. The emperor elect, Maximilian, whom the French king thought tohave bound to his interests by the treaty of Senlis, took umbrage at hisassumption of the imperial title and dignity. The Spanish ambassadors, Garcilasso de la Vega, and his brother Lorenzo Suarez, the latter of whomresided at Venice, were indefatigable in stimulating the spirit ofdiscontent. Suarez, in particular, used every effort to secure the co-operation of Venice, representing to the government, in the most urgentterms, the necessity of general concert and instant action among the greatpowers of Italy, if they would preserve their own liberties. [45]

Venice, from its remote position, seemed to afford the best point forcoolly contemplating the general interests of Italy. Envoys of thedifferent European powers were assembled there, as if by common consent, with the view of concerting some scheme of operation for their mutualgood. The conferences were conducted by night, and with such secrecy as toelude for some time the vigilant eye of Comines, the sagacious minister ofCharles, then resident at the capital. The result was the celebratedleague of Venice. It was signed the last day of March, 1495, on the partof Spain, Austria, Rome, Milan, and the Venetian republic. The ostensibleobject of the treaty, which was to last twenty-five years, was thepreservation of the estates and rights of the confederates, especially ofthe Roman see. A large force, amounting in all to thirty-four thousandhorse and twenty thousand foot, was to be assessed in stipulatedproportions on each of the contracting parties. The secret articles of thetreaty, however, went much further, providing a formidable plan ofoffensive operations. It was agreed in these, that King Ferdinand shouldemploy the Spanish armament, now arrived in Sicily, in re-establishing hiskinsman on the throne of Naples; that a Venetian fleet of forty galleysshould attack the French positions on the Neapolitan coasts; that the dukeof Milan should expel the French from Asti, and blockade the passes of theAlps, so as to intercept the passage of further reinforcements; and thatthe emperor and the king of Spain should invade the French frontiers, andtheir expenses be defrayed by subsidies from the allies. [46] Such werethe terms of this treaty, which may be regarded as forming an era inmodern political history, since it exhibits the first example of thoseextensive combinations among European princes, for mutual defence, whichafterwards became so frequent. It shared the fate of many othercoalitions, where the name and authority of the whole have been madesubservient to the interests of some one of the parties, more powerful, ormore cunning, than the rest. 

The intelligence of the new treaty diffused general joy throughout Italy. In Venice, in particular, it was greeted with _fêtes_, illuminations, and the most emphatic public rejoicing, in the very eyes of the Frenchminister, who was compelled to witness this unequivocal testimony of thedetestation in which his countrymen were held. [47] The tidings fellheavily on the ears of the French in Naples. It dispelled the dream ofidle dissipation in which they were dissolved. They felt little concern, indeed, on the score of their Italian enemies, whom their easy victoriestaught them to regard with the same insolent contempt, that the paladinsof romance are made to feel for the unknightly rabble, myriads of whomthey could overturn with a single lance. But they felt serious alarm asthey beheld the storm of war gathering from other quarters, --from Spainand Germany, in defiance of the treaties by which they had hoped to securethem. Charles saw the necessity of instant action. Two courses presentedthemselves: either to strengthen himself in his new conquests, and prepareto maintain them until he could receive fresh reinforcements from home, orto abandon them altogether and retreat across the Alps, before the alliescould muster in sufficient strength to oppose him. With the indiscretioncharacteristic of his whole enterprise, he embraced a middle course, andlost the advantages which would have resulted from the exclusive adoptionof either. 

 * * * * *

The principal light, by which we are to be guided through the remainder ofthis history, is the Aragonese annalist, Zurita, whose great work, although less known abroad than those of some more recent Castilianwriters, sustains a reputation at home, unsurpassed by any other, in thegreat, substantial qualities of an historian. The notice of his life andwritings has been swelled into a bulky quarto by Dr. Diego Dormer, in awork entitled, "Progressos de la Historia en el Reyno de Aragon. Zaragoza, 1680;" from which I extract a few particulars. 

Gerónimo Zurita, descended from an ancient and noble family, was born atSaragossa, December 4th, 1512. He was matriculated at an early age in theuniversity of Alcalá. He there made extraordinary proficiency, under theimmediate instruction of the learned Nuñez de Guzman, commonly called ElPinciano. He became familiar with the ancient, and a variety of moderntongues, and attracted particular attention by the purity and elegance ofhis Latinity. His personal merits, and his father's influence, recommendedhim, soon after quitting the university, to the notice of the emperorCharles V. He was consulted and employed in affairs of public importance, and subsequently raised to several posts of honor, attesting the entireconfidence reposed in his integrity and abilities. His most honorableappointment, however, was that of national historiographer. 

In 1547, an act passed the cortes general of Aragon, providing for theoffice of national chronicler, with a fixed salary, whose duty it shouldbe to compile, from authentic sources, a faithful history of the monarchy. The talents and eminent qualifications of Zurita recommended him to thispost, and he was raised to it by the unanimous consent of the legislature, in the following year, 1548. From this time he conscientiously devotedhimself to the execution of his great task. He visited every part of hisown country, as well as Sicily and Italy, for the purpose of collectingmaterials. The public archives, and every accessible source ofinformation, were freely thrown open to his inspection, by order of thegovernment; and he returned from his literary pilgrimage with a largeaccumulation of rare and original documents. The first portion of hisannals was published at Saragossa, in two volumes folio, 1562. The workwas not completed until nearly twenty years later, and the last twovolumes were printed under his own eye at Saragossa, in 1580, a few monthsonly before his death. This edition, being one of those used in thepresent history, is in large folio, fairly executed, with double columnson the page, in the fashion of most of the ancient Spanish historians. Thewhole work was again published, as before, at the expense of the state, in1585, by his son, amended and somewhat enlarged, from the manuscripts leftby his father. Bouterwek has fallen into the error of supposing, that noedition of Zurita's Annals appeared till after the reign of Philip II. , who died in 1592. (Geschichte der Poesie und Beredsamkeit, band iii. P. 319. )

No incidents worthy of note seem to have broken the peaceful tenor ofZurita's life; which he terminated at Saragossa, in the sixty-eighth yearof his age, in the monastery of Santa Engracia, to which he had retiredduring a temporary residence in the city, to superintend the publicationof his Annals. His rich collection of books and manuscripts was left tothe Carthusian monastery of Aula Dei; but from accident or neglect, thegreater part have long since perished. His remains were interred in theconvent where he died, and a monument, bearing a modest inscription, waserected over them by his son. 

The best monument of Zurita, however, is his Annals. They take up thehistory of Aragon from its first rise after the Arabic conquest, andcontinue it to the death of Ferdinand the Catholic. The reign of thisprince, as possessing the largest interest and importance, is expandedinto two volumes folio; being one-third of the whole work. 

The minuteness of Zurita's investigations has laid him open to the chargeof prolixity, especially in the earlier and less important periods. Itshould be remembered, however, that his work was to be the great nationalrepository of facts, interesting to his own countrymen, but which, fromdifficulty of access to authentic sources, could never before be fullyexhibited to their inspection. But, whatever he thought of his redundancy, in this or the subsequent parts of his narrative, it must be admitted thathe has uniformly and emphatically directed the attention of the reader tothe topics most worthy of it; sparing no pains to illustrate theconstitutional antiquities of the country, and to trace the gradualformation of her liberal polity, instead of wasting his strength on meresuperficial 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 loyaleffusions of the Castilian writers. This laudable temperance, indeed, hasbrought 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 publicbusiness, and free from the closet pedantry which too often characterizesthe monkish annalists. The greater part of his life was passed under thereign of Charles V. , when the spirit of the nation was not yet broken byarbitrary power, nor debased by the melancholy superstition which settledon it under his successor; an age, in which the memory of ancient libertyhad not wholly faded away, and when, if men did not dare express all theythought, they at least thought with a degree of independence which gave amasculine character to their expression. In this, as well as in theliberality of his religious sentiments, he may be compared favorably withhis celebrated countryman Mariana, who, educated in the cloister, and at aperiod when the nation was schooled to maxims of despotism, exhibits fewglimpses of the sound criticism and reflection, which are to be found inthe writings of his Aragonese rival. The seductions of style, however, themore fastidious selection of incidents, in short, the superior graces ofnarration, have given a wider fame to the former, whose works have passedinto most of the cultivated languages of Europe, while those of Zuritaremain, as far as I am aware, still undisturbed in the vernacular. 

FOOTNOTES

[1] Zurita, Historia del Rey Don Hernando el Cathólico, (Anales, tom. V. Vi. , Zaragoza, 1580, ) lib. 1, Introd. 

[2] The "Legazione, " or official correspondence of Machiavelli, whilestationed at the different European courts, may be regarded as the mostcomplete manual of diplomacy as it existed at the beginning of thesixteenth century. It affords more copious and curious informationrespecting the interior workings of the governments with whom he resided, than is to be found in any regular history; and it shows the variety andextent of duties attached to the office of resident minister, from thefirst moment of its creation. 

[3] "Sed diu, " says Sallust, noticing the similar consequence of increasedrefinement among the ancients, "magnum inter mortales certamen fuit, vinecorporis an virtute animi res militaris magis procederet. ***** Tum demumpericulo atque negotiis compertum est, in bello plurimum ingenium posse. "Bellum Catilinarium, cap. 1, 2. 

[4] Machiavelli's political treatises, his "Principe" and "Discorsi sopraTito Livio, " which appeared after his death, excited no scandal at thetime of their publication. They came into the world, indeed, from thepontifical press, under the privilege of the reigning pope, Clement VII. It was not until thirty years later that they were placed on the Index;and this not from any exceptions taken at the immorality of theirdoctrines, as Ginguené has well proved, (Histoire Littéraire d'Italie, (Paris, 1811-19, ) tom. Viii. Pp. 32, 74, ) but from the imputations theycontained on the court of Rome. 

[5] "Aquel Senado é Señoría de Venecianos, " says Gonzalo de Oviedo, "dondeme parece á mi que esta recogido todo el saber é prudencia de los hombreshumanos; porque és la gente del mundo que mejor se sabe gobernar; é larepublica, que mas tiempo há durado en el mundo por la buena forma de suregimiento, é donde con mejor manera hán los hombres vivido en comunidadsin tener Rey;" etc. Quincuagenas, MS. , bat. 1, quinc. 3, dial. 44. 

[6] Of all the incense which poets and politicians have offered to theQueen of the Adriatic, none is more exquisite than that conveyed in thesefew lines, where Sannazaro notices her position as the bulwark ofChristendom. 

 "Una Italum regina, altae pulcherrima Romae Aemula, quae terris, quae dominaris aquis! Tu tibi vel reges cives facis; O decus! O lux Ausoniae, per quam libera turba sumus; Per quam barbaries nobis non imperat, et Sol Exoriens nostro clarius orbe micat!"

Opera Latina, lib. 3, eleg. 1, 95. 

[7] Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. I. Lib. 3, p. 147. 

[8] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist. , epist. 119, 123. --Fleury, HistoireEcclésiastique, contin. (Paris, 1722, ) tom. Xxiv. Lib. 117, p. 545. --PeterMartyr, whose residence and rank at the Spanish court gave him access tothe best sources of information as to the repute in which the new pontiffwas held there, expresses himself in one of his letters to CardinalSforza, who had assisted at his election, in the following unequivocallanguage. "Sed hoc habeto, princeps illustrissime, non placuisse meisRegibus pontificatum ad Alexandrum, quamvis eorum ditionarium, pervenisse. Verentur namque ne illius cupiditas, ne ambitio, ne (quod gravius)mollities filialis Christianam religionem in praeceps trahat. " Epist. 119. 

[9] A remarkable example of this occurred in the middle of the fifteenthcentury, when the inundation of the Turks, which seemed ready to burstupon them, after overwhelming the Arabian and Greek empires, had no powerto still the voice of faction, or to concentrate the attention of theItalian states, even for a moment. 

[10] Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. I. Lib. 1, p. 2. 

[11] Brantôme, Vies des Hommes Illustres, Oeuvres Complètes, (Paris, 1822-3, ) tom. Ii. Disc. I. Pp. 2, 20. 

[12] Sismondi, Hist. Des Français, tom. Xv. P. 112. --Gaillard, Rivalité, tom. Iv. Pp. 2, 3. 

[13] Daru, Histoire de la République de Venise, (Paris, 1821, ) tom. Iii. Liv. 20. --See the deed of cession, in the memoir of M. De Foncemagne. (Mémoires de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, tom. Xvii. Pp. 539-579. ) This document, as well as some others which appeared on the eveof Charles's expedition, breathes a tone of Quixotic and religiousenthusiasm that transports us back to the days of the crusades. 

[14] The conflicting claims of Anjou and Aragon are stated at length byGaillard, with more candor and impartiality than were to be expected froma French writer. (Histoire de François I. , (Paris, 1769, ) tom. I. Pp. 71-92. ) They form the subject of a juvenile essay of Gibbon, in which we maydiscern the germs of many of the peculiarities which afterwardscharacterized the historian of the Decline and Fall. Miscellaneous Works, (London, 1814. ) vol. Iii. Pp. 206-222. 

[15] Essai sur les Moeurs, chap. 107. --His politic father, Louis XI. , acted on this principle, for he made no attempt to maintain hispretensions to Naples; although Mably affects to doubt whether this werenot the result of necessity rather than policy. "Il est douteux si cettemodération fut l'ouvrage d'une connoissance approfondie de ses vraisintérêts, ou seulement de cette défiance qu'il avoit des grands de sonroyaume, et qu'il n'osoit perdre de vue. " Observations sur l'Histoire deFrance, Oeuvres, (Paris, 1794-5, ) liv. 6, chap. 4. 

[16] Flassan, Histoire de la Diplomatic Française, (Paris, 1809, ) tom. I. Pp. 254-259. --Dumont, Corps Universel Diplomatique du Droit des Gens, (Amsterdam, 1726-31, ) tom. Iii. Pp. 297-300. 

[17] See the narrative of these transactions in the Fifth and SixthChapters of Part I. Of this History. 

Most historians seem to take it for granted, that Louis XI. Advanced a sumof money to the king of Aragon; and some state, that payment of the debt, for which the provinces were mortgaged, was subsequently tendered to theFrench king. (See, among others, Sismondi, Républiques Italiennes, tom. 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 I findno evidence of the last in any Spanish authority, where, if true, it wouldnaturally have been noticed. I must, indeed, except Bernaldez, who says, that Ferdinand having repaid the money, borrowed by his father from LouisXI. , to Charles VIII. , the latter monarch returned it to Isabella, inconsideration of the great expenses incurred by the Moorish war. It is apity that this romantic piece of gallantry does not rest on any betterfoundation than the Curate of Los Palacios, who shows a degree ofignorance in the first part of his statement, that entitles him to littlecredit in the last. Indeed, the worthy curate, although much to be reliedon for what passed in his own province, may be found frequently trippingin the details of what passed out of it. Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 117. 

[18] Zurita, Hist. Del Rey Hernando, lib. 1, cap. 4, 7, 10. 

[19] Fleury, Histoire Ecclésiastique, contin. , tom. Xxiv. Pp. 533-555. --Zurita, Hist. Del Rey Hernando, lib. 1, cap. 14. --Daru, Hist. De Venise, tom. Iii. Pp. 51, 52. --Gaillard, Rivalité, tom. Iv. P. 10. --Abarca, Reyesde Aragon, tom. Ii. Rey 30, cap. 6. 

Comines, alluding to the affair of Roussillon, says that Ferdinand andIsabella, whether from motives of economy or hypocrisy, always employedpriests in their negotiations. "Car toutes leurs oeuvres ont fait mener etconduire par telles gens (religieux), ou par hypocrisie, ou afin de moinsdespendre. " (Mémoires, p. 211. ) The French king, however, made more use ofthe clergy in this very transaction than the Spanish. Zurita, Hist. DelRey Hernando, lib. 1, cap. 10. 

[20] Paolo Giovio, Historia sui Temporis, (Basiliae, 1578, ) lib. 1, p. 16. --The treaty of Barcelona is given at length by Dumont. (CorpsDiplomatique, tom. Iii. Pp. 297-300. ) It is reported with sufficientinaccuracy by many historians, who make no hesitation in saying, thatFerdinand expressly bound himself, by one of the articles, not tointerfere with Charles's meditated attempt on Naples. (Gaillard, Rivalité, tom. Iv. P. 11. --Voltaire, Essai sur les Moeurs, chap. 107. --Comines, Mémoires, liv. 8, chap. 23. --Giovio, Hist. Sui Temporis, lib. 1, p. 16. --Varillas, Politique d'Espagne, ou du Roi Ferdinand, (Amsterdam, 1688, ) pp. 11, 12. --Roscoe, Life of Leo X. , tom. I. Chap. 3. ) So far from this, thereis no allusion whatever to the proposed expedition in the treaty, nor isthe name of Naples once mentioned in it. 

[21] Zurita, Hist. Del Rey Hernando, lib. 1, cap. 18. --Abarca, Reyes deAragon, ubi supra. 

[22] Zurita, Hist. Del Rey Hernando, lib. 1, cap. 28. --Bembo, IstoriaViniziana, (Milano, 1809, ) tom. I. Lib. 2, pp. 118, 119. --Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS. , bat. 1, quinc. 3, dial. 43. 

[23] Comines, Mémoires, liv. 7, introd. 

[24] Zurita, Hist. Del Rey Hernando, lib. 1, cap. 20. --Peter Martyr, OpusEpist. , epist. 123. --Comines, Mémoires, liv. 7, chap. 3. --Mariana, Hist. De España, tom. Ii. Lib. 26, cap. 6. --Zurita concludes the arguments whichdecided Ferdinand against assuming the enterprise, with one which may beconsidered the gist of the whole matter. "El Rey entendia bien que no eratan facil la causa que se proponia. " Lib. 1, cap. 20. 

[25] Zurita, Hist. Del Rey Hernando, lib. 1, cap. 31. 

[26] Oviedo notices Silva as one of three brothers, all gentle cavaliers, of unblemished honor, remarkable for the plainness of their persons, theelegance and courtesy of their manners, and the magnificence of theirstyle of living. This one, Alonso, he describes as a man of a singularlyclear head. Quincuagenas, MS. , bat. 1, quinc. 4. 

[27] Zurita, Hist. Del Rey Hernando, ubi supra. 

[28] Zurita, Hist. Del Rey Hernando, lib, 1, cap. 31, 41. 

[29] Villeneuve, Mémoires, apud Petitot, Collection des Mémoires, tom. 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, Républiques Italiennes, tom. Xii. P. 132. )

The splendor and novelty of their appearance excited a degree ofadmiration, which disarmed in some measure the terror of the Italians. Peter Martyr, whose distance from the theatre of action enabled him tocontemplate more calmly the operation of events, beheld with a propheticeye the magnitude of the calamities impending over his country. In one ofhis letters, he writes thus; "Scribitur exercitum visum fuisse nostratempestate nullum unquam nitidiorem. Et qui futuri sunt calamitatisparticipes, Carolum aciesque illius ac peditum turmas laudibus extollunt;sed Italorum impensâ instructas. " (Opus Epist. , epist. 143. ) He concludesanother with this remarkable prediction; "Perimeris, Galle, ex majoriparte, nec in patriam redibis. Jacebis insepultus; sed tua non restitueturstrages, Italia. " Epist. 123. 

[30] Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. I. Lib. 1, p. 71. --Scipione Ammirato, Istorie Fiorentine, (Firenze, 1647, ) p. 205. --Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, tom. Iii. Lib. 29, introd. --Comines, Mémoires, liv. 7, chap. 17. --Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS. , bat. 1, quinc. 3, dial. 43. 

[31] Du Bos, Histoire de la Ligue faite à Cambray, (Paris, 1728), tom. I. Dissert, prélim. --Machiavelli, Istorie Fiorentine, lib. 5. --Denina, Rivoluzioni d'Italia, lib. 18, cap. 3. 

[32] Arte della Guerra, lib. 2. 

[33] Machiavelli, Arte della Guerra, lib. 3. --Du Bos, Ligue de Cambray, tom. I. Dis. Prélim. --Giovio, Hist. Sui Temporis, lib. 2, p. 41. Polybius, in his minute account of this celebrated military institution of theGreeks, has recapitulated nearly all the advantages and defects imputed tothe Swiss _hérisson_, by modern European writers. (See lib. 17, sec. 25 et seq. ) It is singular, that these exploded arms and tactics should berevived, after the lapse of nearly seventeen centuries, to be foiled againin the same manner as before. 

[34] Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. I. Pp. 45, 46. --Machiavelli, Arte dellaGuerra, lib. 3. --Du Bos, Ligue de Cambray, ubi supra. 

[35] Guicciardini speaks of the name of "cannon, " which the French gave totheir pieces, as a novelty at that time in Italy. Istoria, pp. 45, 46. 

[36] Giovio, Hist. Sui Temporis, lib. 2, p. 42. --Machiavelli, Arte dellaGuerra, lib. 7. 

[37] Zurita, Hist. Del Rey Hernando, lib. 1, cap. 35. --Alonso da Silvaacquitted himself to the entire satisfaction of the sovereigns, in hisdifficult mission. He was subsequently sent on various others to thedifferent Italian courts, and uniformly sustained his reputation forability and prudence. He did not live to be old. Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS. , bat. 1, quinc. 4. 

[38] Mariana, Hist. De España, tom. Ii. Lib. 26, cap. 6. --Salazar deMendoza, Monarquía, lib. 3, cap. 14. 

This branch of the revenue yields at the present day, according toLaborde, about 6, 000, 000 reals, or 1, 500, 000 francs. Itinéraire, tom. Vi. P. 51. 

[39] Zurita, Abarca, and other Spanish historians, fix the date ofAlexander'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 greatparticularity as already conferred, in a letter of February, 1495. (OpusEpist. , epist. 157. ) The pope, according to Comines, designed tocompliment Ferdinand and Isabella for their conquest of Granada, bytransferring to them the title of Most Christian, hitherto enjoyed by thekings of France. He had even gone so far as to address them thus in morethan one of his briefs. This produced a remonstrance from a number of thecardinals; which led him to substitute the title of Most Catholic. Theepithet of Catholic was not new in the royal house of Castile, nor indeedof Aragon; having been given to the Asturian prince Alfonso I. About themiddle of the eighth, and to Pedro II. , of Aragon, at the beginning of thethirteenth century. 

I will remark, in conclusion, that, although the phrase _Los ReyesCatólicos_, as applied to a female equally with a male, would have awhimsical appearance literally translated into English, it is perfectlyconsonant to the Spanish idiom, which requires that all words, havingreference to both a masculine and a feminine noun, should be expressed inthe former gender. So also in the ancient languages; _Aemen tyrannoi_, says Queen Hecuba; (Euripides, _Troad_, v. 476. ) But it is clearlyincorrect to render _Los Reyes Católicos_, as usually done by Englishwriters, by the corresponding term of "Catholic kings. "

[40] Carbajal, Anales, MS. , año 1495. 

[41] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 138. --Sismondi, RépubliquesItaliennes, tom. Xii. Pp. 192-194. --Garibay, Compendio, lib. 19, cap. 4. 

[42] Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS. , bat. 1, quinc. 3, dial. 43. --Zurita, Hist. Del Rey Hernando, lib. 1, cap. 43. --Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 138. --Giovio, Hist. Sui Temporis, lib. 2, p. 46. --Lanuza, Historias, tom. I. Lib. 1, cap. 6. 

This appears from a letter of Martyr's, dated three months before theinterview; in which he says, "Antonius Fonseca, vir equestris ordinis, etarmis clarus, destinatus est orator, qui eum moneat, ne, priusquam de jureinter ipsum et Alfonsum regem Neapolitanum decernatur, ulterius procedat. Fert in mandatis Antonius Fonseca, ut Carolo capitulum id sonans ostendat, anteque ipsius oculos (si detrectaverit) pacti veteris chirographumlaceret, atque indicat inimicitias. " Opus Epist. , epist. 144. 

[43] Comines, Mémoires, liv. 7, chap. 16. --Villeneuve, Mémoires, apudPetitot, Collection des Mémoires, tom. Xii. , p. 260. --Ammirato, IstorieFlorentine, tom. Iii. Lib. 26. --Summonte, Hist. Di Napoli, tom. Iii. Lib. 6, cap. 1, 2. 

[44] Giovio, Hist. Sui Temporis, lib. 2, p. 55. --Giannone, Istoria diNapoli, lib. 29, cap. 1, 2. --André de la Vigne, Histoire de Charles VIII. , (Paris, 1617, ) p. 201. 

[45] Giovio, Hist. Sui Temporis, lib. 2, p. 56. --Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. I. Pp. 86, 87. --Bembo, Istoria Viniziana, tom. I. Lib. 2, p. 120--Zurita, Hist. Del Rey Hernando, lib. 2, chap. 3, 5. --Comines, Mémoires, liv. 7, chap. 19. 

[46] Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. I. Lib. 2, p. 88. --Comines, Mémoires, liv. 7, chap. 20. --Bembo, Istoria Viniziana, tom. I. Lib. 2, pp. 122, 123. --Daru, Hist. De Venise, tom. Iii. Pp. 255, 256. --Zurita, Hist. DelRey Hernando, lib. 2, cap. 5. 

[47] Comines, Mémoires, p. 96. --Comines takes great credit to himself forhis perspicacity in detecting the secret negotiations carried on at Veniceagainst his master. According to Bembo, however, the affair was managedwith such profound caution, as to escape his notice until it wasofficially announced by the doge himself; when he was so much astounded bythe intelligence, that he was obliged to ask the secretary of the senate, who accompanied him home, the particulars of what the doge had said, ashis ideas were so confused at the time, that he had not perfectlycomprehended it. Istoria Viniziana, lib. 2, pp. 128, 129. 

CHAPTER II. 

ITALIAN WARS. --RETREAT OF CHARLES VIII. --CAMPAIGNS OF GONSALVO DECORDOVA. --FINAL EXPULSION OF THE FRENCH. 

1495-1496. 

Impolitic Conduct of Charles. --He Plunders the Works of Art. --Gonsalvo deCordova. --His Brilliant Qualities. --Raised to the Italian Command. --Battleof Seminara. --Gonsalvo's Successes. --Decline of the French. --He Receivesthe Title of Great Captain. --Expulsion of the French from Italy. 

Charles the Eighth might have found abundant occupation, during his briefresidence at Naples, in placing the kingdom in a proper posture ofdefence, and in conciliating the good-will of the inhabitants, withoutwhich he could scarcely hope to maintain himself permanently in hisconquest. So far from this, however, he showed the utmost aversion tobusiness, wasting his hours, as has been already noticed, in the mostfrivolous amusements. He treated the great feudal aristocracy of thecountry with utter neglect; rendering himself difficult of access, andlavishing all dignities and emoluments with partial prodigality on hisFrench subjects. His followers disgusted the nation still further by theirinsolence and unbridled licentiousness. The people naturally called tomind the virtues of the exiled Ferdinand, whose temperate rule theycontrasted with the rash and rapacious conduct of their new masters. Thespirit of discontent spread more widely, as the French were too thinlyscattered to enforce subordination. A correspondence was entered into withFerdinand in Sicily, and in a short time several of the most considerablecities of the kingdom openly avowed their allegiance to the house ofAragon. [1]

In the mean time, Charles and his nobles, satiated with a life ofinactivity and pleasure, and feeling that they had accomplished the greatobject of the expedition, began to look with longing eyes towards theirown country. Their impatience was converted into anxiety on receivingtidings of the coalition mustering in the north. Charles, however, tookcare to secure to himself some of the spoils of victory, in a manner whichwe have seen practised, on a much greater scale, by his countrymen in ourday. He collected the various works of art with which Naples was adorned, precious antiques, sculptured marble and alabaster, gates of bronzecuriously wrought, and such architectural ornaments as were capable oftransportation, and caused them to be embarked on board his fleet for thesouth of France, "endeavoring, " says the Curate of Los Palacios, "to buildup his own renown on the ruins of the kings of Naples, of gloriousmemory. " His vessels, however, did not reach their place of destination, but were captured by a Biscayan and Genoese fleet off Pisa. [2]

Charles had entirely failed in his application to Pope Alexander the Sixthfor a recognition of his right to Naples, by a formal act of investiture. [3] 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 diademon his head, a sceptre in one hand, and a globe, the symbol of universalsovereignty, in the other; while the adulatory populace saluted his royalear with the august title of Emperor. After the conclusion of this farce, he made preparations for his instant departure from Naples. On the 20th ofMay, he set out on his homeward march, at the head of one-half of hisarmy, amounting in all to not more than nine thousand fighting men. Theother half was left for the defence of his new conquest. This arrangementwas highly impolitic, since he neither took with him enough to cover hisretreat, nor left enough to secure the preservation of Naples. [4]

It is not necessary to follow the French army in its retrograde movementthrough Italy. It is enough to say, that this was not conducted withsufficient despatch to anticipate the junction of the allied forces, whoassembled 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 hisloyal chivalry, achieved such deeds of heroism, as shed a lustre over hisill-concerted enterprise, and which, if they did not gain him anundisputed victory, secured the fruits of it, by enabling him to effecthis retreat without further molestation. At Turin he entered intonegotiation with the calculating duke of Milan, which terminated in thetreaty of Vercelli, October 10th, 1495. By this treaty Charles obtained noother advantage than that of detaching his cunning adversary from thecoalition. The Venetians, although refusing to accede to it, made noopposition to any arrangement, which would expedite the removal of theirformidable foe beyond the Alps. This was speedily accomplished; andCharles, yielding to his own impatience and that of his nobles, recrossedthat mountain rampart which nature has so ineffectually provided for thesecurity of Italy, and reached Grenoble with his army on the 27th of themonth. Once more restored to his own dominions, the young monarchabandoned himself without reserve to the licentious pleasures to which hewas passionately addicted, forgetting alike his dreams of ambition, andthe brave companions in arms whom he had deserted in Italy. Thus endedthis memorable expedition, which, though crowned with complete success, was attended with no other permanent result to its authors, than that ofopening the way to those disastrous wars, which wasted the resources oftheir country for a great part of the sixteenth century. [5]

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 loyalnobleman, but of slender military capacity, and so fond of his bed, saysComines, that he seldom left it before noon. The command of the forces inCalabria was intrusted to M. D'Aubigny, a Scottish cavalier of the houseof Stuart, raised by Charles to the dignity of grand constable of France. He was so much esteemed for his noble and chivalrous qualities, that hewas styled by the annalists of that day, says Brantôme, "grand chevaliersans reproche. " He had large experience in military matters, and wasreputed one of the best officers in the French service. Besides theseprincipal commanders, there were others of subordinate rank stationed atthe head of small detachments on different points of the kingdom, andespecially in the fortified cities along the coasts. [6]

Scarcely had Charles the Eighth quitted Naples, when his rival, Ferdinand, who had already completed his preparations in Sicily, made a descent onthe southern extremity of Calabria. He was supported in this by theSpanish levies under the admiral Requesens, and Gonsalvo of Cordova, whoreached Sicily in the month of May. As the latter of these commanders wasdestined to act a most conspicuous part in the Italian wars, it may not beamiss to give some account of his early life. 

Gonzalo Fernandez de Cordova, or Aguilar, as he is sometimes styled fromthe territorial title assumed by his branch of the family, was born atMontilla, in 1453. His father died early, leaving two sons, Alonso deAguilar, whose name occurs in some of the most brilliant passages of thewar of Granada, and Gonsalvo, three years younger than his brother. Duringthe troubled reigns of John the Second and Henry the Fourth, the city ofCordova was divided by the feuds of the rival families of Cabra andAguilar; and it is reported that the citizens of the latter faction, afterthe loss of their natural leader, Gonsalvo's father, used to testify theirloyalty to his house by bearing the infant children along with them intheir rencontres; thus Gonsalvo may be said to have been literally nursedamid the din of battle. [7]

On the breaking out of the civil wars, the two brothers attachedthemselves to the fortunes of Alfonso and Isabella. At their court, theyoung Gonsalvo soon attracted attention by the uncommon beauty of hisperson, his polished manners, and proficiency in all knightly exercises. He indulged in a profuse magnificence in his apparel, equipage, andgeneral style of living; a circumstance, which, accompanied with hisbrilliant qualities, gave him the title at the court of _el príncipe delos cavalleros_, the prince of cavaliers. This carelessness of expense, indeed, called forth more than once the affectionate remonstrance of hisbrother Alonso, who, as the elder son, had inherited the _mayorazgo_, or family estate, and who provided liberally for Gonsalvo's support. Heserved during the Portuguese war under Alonso de Cardenas, grand master ofSt. James, and was honored with the public commendations of his generalfor his signal display of valor at the battle of Albuera; where, it isremarked, the young hero incurred an unnecessary degree of personal hazardby the ostentatious splendor of his armor. Of this commander, and of thecount of Tendilla, Gonsalvo always spoke with the greatest deference, acknowledging that he had learned the rudiments of war from them. [8]

The long war of Granada, however, was the great school in which hismilitary discipline was perfected. He did not, it is true, occupy soeminent a position in these campaigns as some other chiefs of riper yearsand more enlarged experience; but on various occasions he displayeduncommon proofs both of address and valor. He particularly distinguishedhimself at the capture of Tajara, Illora, and Monte Frio. At the lastplace, he headed the scaling party, and was the first to mount the wallsin the face of the enemy. He wellnigh closed his career in a midnightskirmish before Granada, which occurred a short time before the end of thewar. In the heat of the struggle his horse was slain; and Gonsalvo, unableto extricate himself from the morass in which he was entangled, would haveperished, but for the faithful servant of the family, who mounted him onhis own horse, briefly commending to his master the care of his wife andchildren. Gonsalvo escaped, but his brave follower paid for his loyaltywith his life. At the conclusion of the war, he was selected, togetherwith Ferdinand's secretary Zafra, in consequence of his plausible address, and his familiarity with the Arabic, to conduct the negotiation with theMoorish government. He was secretly introduced for this purpose by nightinto Granada, and finally succeeded in arranging the terms of capitulationwith the unfortunate Abdallah, as has been already stated. Inconsideration of his various services, the Spanish sovereigns granted hima pension, and a large landed estate in the conquered territory. [9]

After the war, Gonsalvo remained with the court, and his high reputationand brilliant exterior made him one of the most distinguished ornaments ofthe royal circle. His manners displayed all the romantic gallantrycharacteristic of the age, of which the following, among other instances, is recorded. The queen accompanied her daughter Joanna on board the fleetwhich was to bear her to Flanders, the country of her destined husband. After bidding adieu to the infanta, Isabella returned in her boat to theshore; but the waters were so swollen, that it was found difficult to makegood a footing for her on the beach. As the sailors were preparing to dragthe bark higher up the strand, Gonsalvo, who was present, and dressed, asthe Castilian historians are careful to inform us, in a rich suit ofbrocade and crimson velvet, unwilling that the person of his royalmistress should be profaned by the touch of such rude hands, waded intothe water, and bore the queen in his arms to the shore, amid the shoutsand plaudits of the spectators. The incident may form a counterpart to thewell-known anecdote of Sir Walter Raleigh. [10]

Isabella's long and intimate acquaintance with Gonsalvo enabled her toform a correct estimate of his great talents. When the Italian expeditionwas resolved on, she instantly fixed her eyes on him as the most suitableperson to conduct it. She knew that he possessed the qualities essentialto success in a new and difficult enterprise, --courage, constancy, singular prudence, dexterity in negotiation, and inexhaustible fertilityof resource. She accordingly recommended him, without hesitation, to herhusband, 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 favor in which Gonsalvo was held by the sovereigns, was not prepared to see him advanced over the heads of veterans, of somuch riper years and higher military renown than himself. The event provedthe sagacity of Isabella. [11]

The part of the squadron destined to convey the new general to Sicily wasmade ready for sea in the spring of 1495. After a tempestuous voyage, hereached Messina on the 24th of May. He found that Ferdinand, of Naples, had already begun operations in Calabria, where he had occupied Reggiowith the assistance of the admiral Requesens, who reached Sicily with apart of the armament a short time previous to Gonsalvo's arrival. Thewhole effective force of the Spaniards did not exceed six hundred lancesand fifteen hundred foot, besides those employed in the fleet, amountingto about three thousand and five hundred more. The finances of Spain hadbeen too freely drained in the late Moorish war to authorize anyextraordinary expenditure; and Ferdinand designed to assist his kinsmanrather 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 whichthe war of Granada had fallen less heavily than on the south. [12. ]

On the 26th of May, Gonsalvo de Cordova crossed over to Reggio inCalabria, where a plan of operation was concerted between him and theNeapolitan monarch. Before opening the campaign, several strong places inthe province, which owed allegiance to the Aragonese family, were placedin the hands of the Spanish general, as security for the reimbursement ofexpenses incurred by his government in the war. As Gonsalvo placed littlereliance on his Calabrian or Sicilian recruits, he was obliged to detach aconsiderable part of his Spanish forces to garrison these places. [13]

The presence of their monarch revived the dormant loyalty of his Calabriansubjects. They thronged to his standard, till at length he found himselfat the head of six thousand men, chiefly composed of the raw militia ofthe country. He marched at once with Gonsalvo on St. Agatha, which openedits gates without resistance. He then directed his course towardsSeminara, a place of some strength about eight leagues from Reggio. On hisway he cut in pieces a detachment of French on its march to reinforce thegarrison there. Seminara imitated the example of St. Agatha, and, receiving the Neapolitan army without opposition, unfurled the standard ofAragon on its walls. While this was going forward, Antonio Grimani, theVenetian admiral, scoured the eastern coasts of the kingdom with a fleetof four and twenty galleys, and, attacking the strong town of Monopoli, inthe possession of the French, put the greater part of the garrison to thesword. 

D'Aubigny, who lay at this time with an inconsiderable body of Frenchtroops in the south of Calabria, saw the necessity of some vigorousmovement to check the further progress of the enemy. He determined toconcentrate his forces, scattered through the province, and march againstFerdinand, in the hope of bringing him to a decisive action. For thispurpose, in addition to the garrisons dispersed among the principal towns, he summoned to his aid the forces, consisting principally of Swissinfantry, stationed in the Basilicate under Précy, a, brave youngcavalier, esteemed one of the best officers in the French service. Afterthe arrival of this reinforcement, aided by the levies of the Angevinbarons, D'Aubigny, whose effective strength now greatly surpassed that ofhis adversary, directed his march towards Seminara. [14]

Ferdinand, who had received no intimation of his adversary's junction withPrécy, and who considered him much inferior to himself in numbers, nosooner heard of his approach, than he determined to march out at oncebefore he could reach Seminara, and give him battle. Gonsalvo was of adifferent opinion. His own troops had too little experience in war withthe French and Swiss veterans to make him willing to risk all on thechances of a single battle. The Spanish heavy-armed cavalry, indeed, werea match for any in Europe, and were even said to surpass every other inthe beauty and excellence of their appointments, at a period, when armswere finished to luxury. [15] He had but a handful of these, however; byfar the greatest part of his cavalry consisting of _ginetes_, orlight-armed troops, of inestimable service in the wild guerilla warfare towhich they had been accustomed in Granada, but obviously incapable ofcoping 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 muchreduced, as has been already stated, in number, to encounter theformidable phalanx of Swiss pikes. As for the Calabrian levies, he did notplace the least reliance on them. At all events, he thought it prudent, before coming to action, to obtain more accurate information than they nowpossessed, of the actual strength of the enemy. [16]

In all this, however, he was overruled by the impatience of Ferdinand andhis followers. The principal Spanish cavaliers, indeed, as well as theItalian, among whom, may be found names which afterwards rose to highdistinction in these wars, urged Gonsalvo to lay aside his scruples;representing the impolicy of showing any distrust of their own strength atthis crisis, and of balking the ardor of their soldiers, now hot foraction. The Spanish chief, though far from being convinced, yielded tothese earnest remonstrances, and King Ferdinand led out his little armywithout further delay against the enemy. 

After traversing a chain of hills, stretching in an easterly directionfrom Seminara, at the distance of about three miles he arrived before asmall stream, on the plains beyond which he discerned the French army inrapid advance against him. He resolved to wait its approach; and, takingposition on the slope of the hills towards the river, he drew up his horseon the right wing, and his infantry on the left. [17]

The French generals, D'Aubigny and Précy, putting themselves at the headof their cavalry on the left, consisting of about four hundred heavy-armed, and twice as many light horse, dashed into the water withouthesitation. Their right was occupied by the bristling phalanx of Swissspearmen in close array; behind these were the militia of the country. TheSpanish _ginetes_ succeeded in throwing the French gendarmerie intosome disorder, before it could form after crossing the stream; but, nosooner was this accomplished, than the Spaniards, incapable ofwithstanding the charge of their enemy, suddenly wheeled about andprecipitately retreated with the intention of again returning on theirassailants, after the fashion of the Moorish tactics. The Calabrianmilitia, not comprehending 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 lowerits lances against them. 

King Ferdinand in vain attempted to rally the dastardly fugitives. TheFrench cavalry was soon upon them, making frightful slaughter in theirranks. The young monarch, whose splendid arms and towering plumes made hima conspicuous mark in the field, was exposed to imminent peril. He hadbroken his lance in the body of one of the foremost of the Frenchcavaliers, when his horse fell under him, and as his feet were entangledin the stirrups, he would inevitably have perished in the _mêlée_, but forthe prompt assistance of a young nobleman named Juan de Altavilla, whomounted his master on his own horse, and calmly awaited the approachof the enemy, by whom he was immediately slain. Instances of thisaffecting loyalty and self-devotion not unfrequently occur in these wars, throwing a melancholy grace over the darker and more ferocious features ofthe time. [18]

Gonsalvo was seen in the thickest of the fight, long after the king'sescape, charging the enemy briskly at the head of his handful ofSpaniards, not in the hope of retrieving the day, but of covering theflight of the panic-struck Neapolitans. At length he was borne along bythe rushing tide, and succeeded in bringing off the greater part of hiscavalry safe to Seminara. Had the French followed up the blow, the greaterpart of the royal army, with probably King Ferdinand and Gonsalvo at itshead, would have fallen into their hands, and thus not only the fate ofthe campaign, but of Naples itself, would have been permanently decided bythis battle. Fortunately, the French did not understand so well how to usea victory, as to gain it. They made no attempt to pursue. This is imputedto the illness of their general, D'Aubigny, occasioned by the extremeunhealthiness 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. Whateverwas the cause, the victors by this inaction suffered the golden fruits ofvictory to escape them. Ferdinand made his escape on the same day on boarda vessel which conveyed him back to Sicily; and Gonsalvo, on the followingmorning before break of day, effected his retreat across the mountains toReggio, at the head of four hundred Spanish lances. Thus terminated thefirst battle of importance in which Gonsalvo of Cordova held adistinguished command; the only one which he lost during his long andfortunate career. Its loss, however, attached no discredit to him, sinceit was entered into in manifest opposition to his judgment. On thecontrary, his conduct throughout this affair tended greatly to establishhis reputation by showing him to be no less prudent in council, than boldin action. [19]

King Ferdinand, far from being disheartened by this defeat, gained newconfidence from his experience of the favorable dispositions existingtowards him in Calabria. Relying on a similar feeling of loyalty in hiscapital, he determined to hazard a bold stroke for its recovery; and that, too, instantly, before his late discomfiture should have time to operateon the spirits of his partisans. He accordingly embarked at Messina, witha handful of troops only, on board the fleet of the Spanish admiral, Requesens. It amounted in all to eighty vessels, most of them ofinconsiderable size. With this armament, which, notwithstanding itsformidable show, carried little effective force for land operations, theadventurous young monarch appeared off the harbor of Naples before the endof June. 

Charles's viceroy, the duke of Montpensier, at that time garrisoned Napleswith six thousand French troops. On the appearance of the Spanish navy, hemarched out to prevent Ferdinand's landing, leaving a few only of hissoldiers to keep the city in awe. But he had scarcely quitted it beforethe inhabitants, who had waited with impatience an opportunity forthrowing off the yoke, sounded the tocsin, and, rising to arms throughevery part of the city, and massacring the feeble remains of the garrison, shut the gates against him; while Ferdinand, who had succeeded in drawingoff the French commander in another direction, no sooner presented himselfbefore the walls, than he was received with transports of joy by theenthusiastic people. [20]

The French, however, though excluded from the city, by making a circuiteffected an entrance into the fortresses which commanded it. From theseposts, Montpensier sorely annoyed the town, making frequent attacks on it, day and night, at the head of his gendarmerie, until they were at lengthchecked in every direction by barricades which the citizens hastilyconstructed with wagons, casks of stones, bags of sand, and whatever camemost readily to hand. At the same time, the windows, balconies, and house-tops were crowded with combatants, who poured down such a deadly shower ofmissiles on the heads of the French as finally compelled them to takeshelter in their defences. Montpensier was now closely besieged, till atlength, reduced by famine, he was compelled to capitulate. Before the termprescribed for his surrender had arrived, however, he effected his escapeat night, by water, to Salerno, at the head of twenty-five hundred men. The remaining garrison, with the fortresses, submitted to the victoriousFerdinand, the beginning of the following year. And thus, by one of thosesudden turns which belong to the game of war, the exiled prince, whosefortunes a few weeks before appeared perfectly desperate, was againestablished in the palace of his ancestors. [21]

Montpensier did not long remain in his new quarters. He saw the necessityof immediate action, to counteract the alarming progress of the enemy. Hequitted Salerno before the end of winter, strengthening his army by suchreinforcements as he could collect from every quarter of the country. Withthis body, he directed his course towards Apulia, with the intention ofbringing Ferdinand, who had already established his headquarters there, toa decisive engagement. Ferdinand's force, however, was so far inferior tothat of his antagonist, as to compel him to act on the defensive, until hehad been reinforced by a considerable body of troops from Venice. The twoarmies were then so equally matched, that neither cared to hazard all onthe fate of a battle; and the campaign wasted away in languid operations, which led to no important result. 

In the mean time, Gonsalvo de Cordova was slowly fighting his way upthrough southern Calabria. The character of the country, rough andmountainous, like the Alpuxarras, and thickly sprinkled with fortifiedplaces, enabled him to bring into play the tactics which he had learned inthe war of Granada. He made little use of heavy-armed troops, relying onhis _ginetes_, and still more on his foot; taking care, however, toavoid any direct encounter with the dreaded Swiss battalions. He madeamends for paucity of numbers and want of real strength, by rapidity ofmovement and the wily tactics of Moorish warfare; darting on the enemywhere least expected, surprising his strong-holds at dead of night, entangling him in ambuscades, and desolating the country with thoseterrible forays, whose effects he had so often witnessed on the fair vegasof Granada. He adopted the policy practised by his master Ferdinand theCatholic in the Moorish war, lenient to the submissive foe, but wreakingterrible vengeance on such as resisted. [22]

The French were sorely disconcerted by these irregular operations, sounlike anything to which they were accustomed in European warfare. Theywere further disheartened by the continued illness of D'Aubigny, and bythe growing disaffection of the Calabrians, who in the southern provincescontiguous to Sicily were particularly well inclined to Spain. 

Gonsalvo, availing himself of these friendly dispositions, pushed forwardhis successes, carrying one strong-hold after another, until by the end ofthe year he had overrun the whole of Lower Calabria. His progress wouldhave been still more rapid but for the serious embarrassments which heexperienced from want of supplies. He had received some reinforcementsfrom 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 andmunitions of every kind. He was compelled to weaken still further hisinadequate force by garrisoning the conquered places, most of which, however, he was obliged to leave without any defence at all. In additionto this, he was so destitute of the necessary funds for the payment of histroops, that he was detained nearly two months at Nicastro, untilFebruary, 1496, when he received a remittance from Spain. After this, heresumed operations with such vigor, that by the end of the followingspring he had reduced all Upper Calabria, with the exception of a smallcorner of the province, in which D'Aubigny still maintained himself. Atthis crisis, he was summoned from the scene of his conquests to thesupport of the king of Naples, who lay encamped before Atella, a townintrenched among the Apennines, on the western borders of the Basilicate. [23] The campaign of the preceding winter had terminated without anydecisive results, the two armies of Montpensier and King Ferdinand havingcontinued in sight of each other, without ever coming to action. Theseprotracted operations were fatal to the French. Their few supplies wereintercepted by the peasantry of the country; their Swiss and Germanmercenaries mutinied and deserted for want of pay; and the Neapolitans intheir service went off in great numbers, disgusted with the insolent andoverbearing manners of their new allies. Charles the Eighth, in the meanwhile, was wasting his hours and health in the usual round of profligatepleasures. From the moment of recrossing the Alps he seemed to have shutout Italy from his thoughts. He was equally insensible to thesupplications of the few Italians at his court, and the remonstrances ofhis 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. [24]

At length Montpensier, finding no prospect of relief from home, andstraitened by the want of provisions, determined to draw off from theneighborhood of Benevento, where the two armies lay encamped, and retreatto the fruitful province of Apulia, whose principal places were stillgarrisoned 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 hispursuit. This Ferdinand pushed with such vigor, however, that he overtookthe retreating army at the town of Atella, and completely intercepted itsfurther progress. This town, which, as already noticed, is situated on, the western skirts of the Basilicate, lies in a broad valley encompassedby a lofty amphitheatre of hills, through which flows a little river, tributary to the Ofanto, watering the town, and turning several millswhich supplied it with flour. At a few miles' distance was the strongplace of Ripa Candida, garrisoned by the French, through which Montpensierhoped to maintain his communications with the fertile regions of theinterior. 

Ferdinand, desirous if possible to bring the war to a close, by thecapture of the whole French army, prepared for a vigorous blockade. Hedisposed his forces so as to intercept supplies by commanding the avenuesto the town in every direction. He soon found, however, that his army, though considerably stronger than his rival's, was incompetent to thiswithout further aid. He accordingly resolved to summon to his supportGonsalvo de Cordova, the fame of whose exploits now resounded throughevery part of the kingdom. [25]

The Spanish general received Ferdinand's summons while encamped with hisarmy at Castrovillari, in the north of Upper Calabria. If he complied withit, he saw himself in danger of losing all the fruits of his long campaignof victories; for his active enemy would not fail to profit by his absenceto repair his losses. If he refused obedience, however, it might defeatthe most favorable opportunity which had yet presented itself for bringingthe war to a close. He resolved, therefore, at once to quit the field ofhis triumphs, and march to King Ferdinand's relief. But, before hisdeparture, he prepared to strike such a blow as should, if possible, 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 areinforcement of French troops, were assembled at the little town ofLaino, on the northwestern borders of Upper Calabria; where they layawaiting a junction with D'Aubigny. Gonsalvo determined to surprise thisplace, and capture the rich spoils which it contained, before hisdeparture. His road lay through a wild and mountainous country. The passeswere occupied by the Calabrian peasantry in the interest of the Angevinparty. The Spanish general, however, found no difficulty in forcing a waythrough this undisciplined rabble, a large body of whom he surrounded andcut 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 astrong castle built on the opposite side of the river, and connected by abridge with the town. All approach to the place by the high road wascommanded by this fortress. Gonsalvo obviated this difficulty, however, bya circuitous route across the mountains. He marched all night, and, fording the waters of the Lao about two miles above the town, entered itwith his little army before break of day, having previously detached asmall corps to take possession of the bridge. The inhabitants, startledfrom their slumbers by the unexpected appearance of the enemy in theirstreets, hastily seized their arms and made for the castle on the otherside of the river. The pass, however, was occupied by the Spaniards; andthe Neapolitans and French, hemmed in on every side, began a desperateresistance, which terminated with the death of their chief, Americo SanSeverino, and the capture of such of his followers as did not fall in themêlée. A rich booty fell into the hands of the victors. The most gloriousprize, however, was the Angevin barons, twenty in number, whom Gonsalvo, after the action, sent prisoners to Naples. This decisive blow, whosetidings spread like wildfire throughout the country, settled the fate ofCalabria. It struck terror into the hearts of the French, and crippledthem so far as to leave Gonsalvo little cause for anxiety during hisproposed absence. [26]

The Spanish general lost no time in pressing forward on his march towardsAtella. Before quitting Calabria he had received a reinforcement of fivehundred soldiers from Spain, and his whole Spanish forces, according toGiovio, amounted to one hundred men-at-arms, five hundred light cavalry, and two thousand foot, picked men, and well schooled in the hardy serviceof the late campaign. [27] Although a great part of his march lay througha hostile country, he encountered little opposition; for the terror of hisname, says the writer last quoted, had everywhere gone before him. Hearrived before Atella at the beginning of July. The king of Naples was nosooner advised of his approach, than he marched out of camp, attended bythe Venetian general, the marquis of Mantua, and the papal legate, CaesarBorgia, to receive him. All were eager to do honor to the man who hadachieved such brilliant exploits; who, in less than a year, had madehimself master of the larger part of the kingdom of Naples, and that, withthe most limited resources, in defiance of the bravest and bestdisciplined soldiery in Europe. It was then, according to the Spanishwriters, that he was by general consent greeted with the title of theGreat 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. [28]

Gonsalvo found the French sorely distressed by the blockade, which was sostrictly maintained as to allow few supplies from abroad to pass into thetown. His quick eye discovered at once, however, that in order to renderit perfectly effectual, it would be necessary to destroy the mills in thevicinity, which supplied Atella with flour. He undertook this, on the dayof his arrival, at the head of his own corps. Montpensier, aware of theimportance of these mills, had stationed a strong guard for their defence, consisting of a body of Gascon archers, and the Swiss pikemen. Althoughthe Spaniards had never been brought into direct collision with any largemasses of this formidable infantry, yet occasional rencontres with smalldetachments, and increased familiarity with its tactics, had stripped itof much of its terrors. Gonsalvo had even so far profited by the exampleof the Swiss, as to strengthen his infantry by mingling the long pikes, with the short swords and bucklers of the Spaniards. [29]

He made two divisions of his cavalry, posting his handful of heavy-armed, 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 uponthe enemy. Having made these arrangements, the Spanish chieftain led onhis men confidently to the charge. The Gascon archery, however, seizedwith a panic, scarcely awaited his approach, but fled shamefully, beforethey had time to discharge a second volley of arrows, leaving the battleto the Swiss. These latter, exhausted by the sufferings of the siege, anddispirited by long reverses, and by the presence of a new and victoriousfoe, did not behave with their wonted intrepidity, but, after a feebleresistance, 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, ina few hours, was swept from the ground. Three days after, he supported theNeapolitan troops in an assault on Ripa Candida, and carried thatimportant post, by means of which Atella maintained a communication withthe interior. [30]

Thus cut off from all their resources, and no longer cheered by hopes ofsuccor from their own country, the French, after suffering the severestprivations, and being reduced to the most loathsome aliment forsubsistence, made overtures for a capitulation. The terms were soonarranged with the king of Naples, who had no desire but to rid his countryof the invaders. It was agreed, that, if the French commander did notreceive assistance in thirty days, he should evacuate Atella, and causeevery place holding under him in the kingdom of Naples, with all itsartillery, to be surrendered to King Ferdinand; and that, on theseconditions, his soldiers should be furnished with vessels to transportthem back to France; that the foreign mercenaries should be permitted toreturn to their own homes; and that a general amnesty should be extendedto such Neapolitans as returned to their allegiance in fifteen days. [31]

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 nothesitate to denounce as "a most disgraceful treaty, without parallel, savein that made by the Roman consuls at the Caudine Forks, which was toodishonorable to be sanctioned by their countrymen. " The reproach iscertainly unmerited; and comes with ill grace from a court, which waswasting in riotous indulgence the very resources indispensable to thebrave and loyal subjects, who were endeavoring to maintain its honor in aforeign land. [32]

Unfortunately, Montpensier was unable to enforce the full performance ofhis own treaty; as many of the French refused to deliver up the placesintrusted to them, under the pretence that their authority was derived, not from the viceroy, but from the king himself. During the discussion ofthis point, the French troops were removed to Baia and Pozzuolo, and theadjacent places on the coast. The unhealthiness of the situation, togetherwith that of the autumnal season, and an intemperate indulgence in fruitsand wine, soon brought on an epidemic among the soldiers, which swept themoff in great numbers. The gallant Montpensier was one of the firstvictims. He refused the earnest solicitations of his brother-in-law, themarquis of Mantua, to quit his unfortunate companions, and retire to aplace of safety in the interior. The shore was literally strewed with thebodies of the dying and the dead. Of the whole number of Frenchmen, amounting to not less than five thousand, who marched out of Atella, notmore than five hundred ever reached their native country. The Swiss andother mercenaries were scarcely more fortunate. "They made their way backas they could through Italy, " says a writer of the period, "in the mostdeplorable state of destitution and suffering, the gaze of all, and a sadexample of the caprice of fortune. " [33] Such was the miserable fate ofthat brilliant and formidable array, which scarcely two years before hadpoured down on the fair fields of Italy in all the insolence of expectedconquest. Well would it be, if the name of every conqueror, whosesuccesses, though built on human misery, are so dazzling to theimagination, could be made to point a moral for the instruction of hisspecies, as effectually as that of Charles the Eighth. 

The young king of Naples did not live long to enjoy his triumphs. On hisreturn from Atella, he contracted an inauspicious marriage with his aunt, a lady nearly of his own age, to whom he had been long attached. Acareless and somewhat intemperate indulgence in pleasure, succeeding thehardy life which he had been lately leading, brought on a flux whichcarried him off in the twenty-eighth year of his age, and second of hisreign. 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 whichhe lived. He was vigorous and prompt in action, and naturally of a highand generous spirit. Still, however, he exhibited glimpses, even in hislast hours, of an obliquity, not to say ferocity of temper, whichcharacterized many of his line, and which led to ominous conjectures as towhat would have been his future policy. [34]

He was succeeded on the throne by his uncle Frederic, a prince of gentledisposition, endeared to the Neapolitans by repeated acts of benevolence, and by a magnanimous regard for justice, of which the remarkablefluctuations of his fortune had elicited more than one example. Hisamiable virtues, however, required a kindlier soil and season for theirexpansion; and, as the event proved, made him no match for the subtile andunscrupulous politicians of the age. 

His first act was a general amnesty to the disaffected Neapolitans, whofelt such confidence in his good faith, that they returned, with scarcelyan exception, to their allegiance. His next measure was to request the aidof Gonsalvo de Cordova in suppressing the hostile movements made by theFrench during his absence from Calabria. At the name of the Great Captain, the Italians flocked from all quarters, to serve without pay under abanner which was sure to lead them to victory. Tower and town, as headvanced, went down before him; and the French general, D'Aubigny, soonsaw himself reduced to the necessity of making the best terms he couldwith his conqueror, and evacuating the province altogether. The submissionof Calabria was speedily followed by that of the few remaining cities inother quarters, still garrisoned by the French; comprehending the lastrood of territory possessed by Charles the Eighth in the kingdom ofNaples. [35]

 * * * * *

Our narrative now leads us on the beaten track of Italian history. I haveendeavored to make the reader acquainted with the peculiar character andpretensions of the principal Spanish authorities, on whom I have relied inthe progress of the work. This would be superfluous in regard to theItalian, who enjoy the rank of classics, not only in their own country, but throughout Europe, and have furnished the earliest models among themoderns of historic composition. Fortunately, two of the most eminent ofthem, Guicciardini and Paolo Giovio, lived at the period of our narrative, and have embraced the whole extent of it in their histories. These twowriters, besides the attractions of elegant scholarship, and talent, occupied a position which enabled them to take a clear view of all theprincipal political movements of their age; circumstances, which have madetheir accounts of infinite value in respect to foreign transactions, aswell as domestic. Guicciardini was a conspicuous actor in the scenes hedescribes; and a long residence at the court of Ferdinand the Catholicopened to him the most authentic sources of information in regard toSpain. Giovio, from his intimate relations with the principal persons ofhis time, had also access to the best sources of knowledge, while in thenotice of foreign transactions he was but little exposed to those venalinfluences, which led him too often to employ the golden or iron pen ofhistory as interest dictated. Unfortunately, a lamentable hiatus occurs inhis greatest work, "Historiae sui Temporis, " embracing the whole periodintervening between the end of Charles VIII. 's expedition and theaccession of Leo X. , in 1513. At the time of the memorable sack of Rome bythe duke of Bourbon, in 1527, Giovio deposited his manuscript, with aquantity of plate, in an iron chest, which he hid in an obscure corner ofthe church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva. The treasure, however, did notescape the searching eyes of two Spanish soldiers, who broke open thechest, and one of them seized on the plate, regarding the papers as of novalue. The other, not being quite such a fool, says Giovio, preserved suchof 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 periodabove mentioned, which were never afterwards recovered. The soldierbrought the remainder to their author, who bought them at the price of avacant 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 sogood an apology. The deficiency, although never repaired by Giovio, was insome degree supplied by his biographies of eminent men, and, among others, by that of Gonsalvo de Cordova, in which he has collected with greatindustry all the events of any interest in the life of this greatcommander. The narrative is in general corroborated by the Spanishauthorities, and contains some additional particulars, especiallyrespecting his early life, which Giovio's personal intimacy with theprincipal characters of the period might easily have furnished. 

This portion of our story is, moreover, illustrated by the labors of M. Sismondi, in his "Républiques Italiennes, " which may undoubtedly claim tobe ranked among the most remarkable historical achievements of our time;whether we consider the dexterous management of the narrative, or theadmirable spirit of philosophy by which it is illumined. It must beadmitted, that he has perfectly succeeded in unravelling the intricate webof Italian politics; and, notwithstanding the complicated, and, indeed, motley character of his subject, the historian has left a uniform andharmonious impression on the mind of the reader. This he has accomplished, by keeping constantly in view the principle which regulated all thevarious 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 solvemuch that hitherto was dark and problematical in his subject; and if hehas occasionally sacrificed something to theory, he has, on the whole, pursued the investigation in a truly philosophical manner, and arrived atresults the most honorable and cheering to humanity. Fortunately, his ownmind was deeply penetrated with reverence for the free institutions whichhe has analyzed. If it is too much to say that the historian of republicsshould be himself a republican, it is at least true that his soul shouldbe penetrated to its very depths with the spirit which animates them. Noone, who is not smitten with the love of freedom, can furnish the key tomuch that is enigmatical in her character, and reconcile his readers tothe harsh and repulsive features that she sometimes wears, by revealingthe beauty and grandeur of the soul within. 

That portion of our narrative which is incorporated with Italian story istoo small to occupy much space on Sismondi's plan. He has discussed it, moreover, in a manner not very favorable to the Spaniards, whom he seemsto have regarded with somewhat of the aversion with which an Italian ofthe sixteenth century viewed the ultramontane barbarians of Europe. Perhaps the reader may find some advantage in contemplating another sideof the picture, and studying the less familiar details presented by theSpanish authorities. 

FOOTNOTES

[1] Comines, Mémoires, liv. 7, chap. 17. --Summonte, Hist. Di Napoli, tom. Iii. Lib. 6, cap. 2. --Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, lib. 29, cap. 2. 

[2] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 140-143. 

[3] Summonte, Hist. Di Napoli, tom. Iii. Lib. 6, cap. 2. 

According to Giannone, (Istoria di Napoli, lib. 29, cap. 2, ) he did obtainthe investiture from the pope; but this statement is contradicted byseveral, and confirmed by none, of the authorities I have consulted. 

[4] Brantôme, Hommes Illustres, Oeuvres, tom. Ii. Pp. 3-5. --Comines, Mémoires, liv. 8, chap. 2. 

The particulars of the coronation are recorded with punctilious precisionby André de la Vigne, secretary of Queen Anne. (Hist. De Charles VIII. , p. 201. ) Daru has confounded this farce with Charles's original entry intoNaples in February. Hist. De Venise, tom. Iii. Liv. 20, p. 247. 

[5] Villeneuve, Mémoires, apud Petitot, Collection de Mémoires, tom. Xiv. Pp. 262, 263. --Flassan, Diplomatie Française, tom. I. Pp. 267-269. --Comines, Mémoires, liv. 8, chap. 10-12, 18. 

[6] Comines, Mémoires, liv. 8, chap. 1. --Brantôme, Hommes Illustres, tom. Ii. P. 59. 

[7] Zurita, Hist. Del Rey Hernando, lib. 2, cap. 7. --Giovio, Vita MagniGonsalvi, lib. 1, pp. 204, 205. 

[8] Pulgar, Sumario de las Hazañas del Gran Capitan, (Madrid, 1834, ) p. 145. --Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, lib. 1, pp. 205 et seq. 

[9] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist. , epist. 90. --Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, lib. 1, pp. 211, 212. --Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. Iii. Cap. 42. --Quintana, Españoles Célebres, tom. I. Pp. 207-216. --Pulgar, Sumario, p. 193. 

Florian has given circulation to a popular error by his romance of"Gonsalve de Cordone, " where the young warrior is made to play a part heis by no means entitled to, as hero of the Granadine war. Graver writers, who cannot lawfully plead the privilege of romancing, have committed thesame error. See, among others, Varillas, Politique de Ferdinand, p. 3. 

[10] Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, p. 214. --Chrónica del Gran CapitanGonzalo Hernandez de Cordova y Aguilar, (Alcalá de Henares, 1584, ) cap. 23. 

Another example of his gallantry occurred during the Granadine war, whenthe fire of Santa Fe had consumed the royal tent, with the greater part ofthe queen's apparel and other valuable effects. Gonsalvo, on learning thedisaster, at his castle of Illora, supplied the queen so abundantly fromthe magnificent wardrobe of his wife Doña Maria Manrique, as led Isabellapleasantly to remark, that, "the fire had done more execution in hisquarters, than in her own. " Pulgar, Sumario, p. 187. 

[11] Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, p. 214. --Chrónica del Gran Capitan, cap. 23. 

[12] Zurita, Hist. Del Rey Hernando, lib. 2, cap. 7, 24. --Quintana, Españoles Célebres, tom. I. P. 222. --Chrónica del Gran Capitan, ubi supra. 

Giovio, in his biography of Gonsalvo, estimates these forces at 5000 footand 600 horse, which last in his History he raises to 700. I have followedZurita, as presenting the more probable statement, and as generally moreaccurate in all that relates to his own nation. It is a hopeless task toattempt to reconcile the manifold inaccuracies, contradictions, anddiscrepancies, which perplex the narratives of the writers on both sides, in everything relating to numerical estimates. The difficulty is greatlyincreased by the extremely vague application of the term _lance_, aswe meet with it, including six, four, three, or even a less number offollowers, as the case might be. 

[13] Mariana, Hist. De España, tom. Ii. Lib. 26, cap. 10. --Zurita, Hist. Del Rey Hernando, lib. 2, cap. 7. 

The occupation of these places by Gonsalvo excited the pope's jealousy, asto the designs of the Spanish sovereigns. In consequence of hisremonstrances, the Castilian envoy, Garcilasso de la Vega, was instructedto direct Gonsalvo, that, "in case any inferior places had been since putinto his hands, he should restore them; if they were of importance, however, he was first to confer with his own government. " King Ferdinand, as Abarca assures his readers, "was unwilling to give cause of complaintto any one, _unless he were greatly a gainer by it_. " Reyes de Aragon, rey30, cap. 8. --Zurita, Hist. Del Rey Hernando, tom. V. Lib. 2, cap. 8. 

[14] Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, pp. 215-217. --Idem, Hist. Sui Temporis, pp. 83-85. --Bembo, Istoria Viniziana, lib. 3, pp. 160, 185. --Zurita, Hist. Del Rey Hernando, lib. 2, cap. 8. --Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 2, pp. 88, 92. --Chrónica del Gran Capitan, cap. 25. 

[15] Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, lib. 1. --Du Bos, Ligue de Cambray, introd. , p. 58. 

[16] Zurita, Hist. Del Rey Hernando, lib. 2, cap. 7. --Giovio, Vita MagniGonsalvi, ubi supra. 

[17] Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, lib. 1, pp. 216, 217. --Chrónica del GranCapitan, cap. 24. --Quintana, Españoles Célebres, tom. I. Pp. 223-227. 

[18] Giovio, Hist. Sui Temporis, lib. 3, pp. 83-85. --Chrónica del GranCapitan, cap. 24. --Summonte, Hist. Di Napoli, tom. Iii. Lib. 6, cap. 2. --Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 2, p. 112. --Garibay, Compendio, tom. Ii. Lib. 19, p. 690. 

[19] Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 1, p. 112. --Giovio, Hist. Sui Temporis, lib. 3, p. 85. --Lanuza, Historias, tom. I. Lib. 1, cap. 7. 

[20] Summonte, Hist. Di Napoli, tom. Vi. P. 519. --Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 2, pp. 113, 114. --Giovio, Hist. Sui Temporis, lib. 3, pp. 87, 88. --Villeneuve, Mémoires, apud Petitot, Collection des Mémoires, tom. Xiv. Pp. 264, 265. 

[21] Giovio, Hist. Sui Temporis, lib. 3, pp. 88-90, 114-119. --Guicciardini, Istoria, lib, 2, pp. 114-117. --Summonte, Hist. Di Napoli, tom. Vi. Pp. 520, 521. 

[22] Bembo, Istoria Viniziana, lib. 3, pp. 173, 174. --Chrónica del GranCapitan, cap. 26. --Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, lib. 1, p. 218. --Villeneuve, Mémoires, p. 313. --Sismondi, Républiques Italiennes, tom. Xii. P. 386. 

[23] Zurita, Hist. Del Rey Hernando, lib. 2, cap. 11, 20. --Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 2, p. 140. --Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, lib. 1, pp. 219, 220. --Chrónica del Gran Capitan, cap. 25, 26. 

[24] Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 3, pp. 140, 157, 158. --Comines, Mémoires, liv. 8, chap. 23, 24. --Peter Martyr, Opus Epist. , epist. 183. 

Du Bos discriminates between the character of the German levies orlandsknechts and the Swiss, in the following terms. "Les lansquenetsétoient même de beaucoup mieux faits, _généralement_ parlant, et debien meilleure mine sous les armes, que les fantassins Suisses; mais ilsétoient incapables de discipline. Au contraire des Suisses, ils étoientsans obéissance pour leur chefs, et sans amitié pours leurs camarades. "(Ligue de Cambray, tom. I. Dissert. Prélim. , p. 66. ) Comines confirms thedistinction with a high tribute to the loyalty of the Swiss, which hascontinued their honorable characteristic to the present day. Mémoires, liv. 8, chap. 21. 

[25] Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, lib. 1, pp. 218, 219. --Chrónica del GranCapitan, cap. 28. --Quintana, Españoles Célebres, tom. I. P. 226. --Bembo, Istoria Viniziana, lib. 3, p. 184. --Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 3, p. 158. 

[26] Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, pp. 219, 220. --Chrónica del GranCapitan, cap. 27. --Zurita, Hist. Del Rey Hernando, tom. I. Lib. 2, cap. 26. --Quintana, Españoles Célebres, tom. I. Pp. 227, 228. --Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 3, pp. 158, 159. --Mariana, Hist. De España, tom. Ii. Lib. 26, cap. 12. 

[27] Giovio, Hist. Del Rey Hernando, lib. 4, p. 132. 

[28] Quintana, Españoles Célebres, tom. I. P. 228. --Giovio, Vita MagniGonsalvi, lib. 1, p. 220. 

The Aragonese historians are much ruffled by the irreverent manner inwhich Guicciardini notices the origin of the cognomen of the GreatCaptain; which even his subsequent panegyric cannot atone for. "Eracapitano Gonsalvo Ernandes, di casa d'Aghilar, di patria Cordovese, uomodi molto valore, ed esercitato lungamente nelle guerre di Granata, ilquale nel principio della venuta sua in Italia, cognominato _dallajattanza Spagnuola_ il Gran Capitano, per significare con questo titolola suprema podestà sopra loro, meritò per le preclare vittorie che ebbedipoi, che per consentimento universale gli fosse confermato e perpetuatequesto sopranome, per significazione di virtù grande, e di grandeeccellenza nella disciplina militare. " (Istoria, tom. I. P. 112. )According to Zurita, the title was not conferred till the Spanishgeneral's appearance before Atella, and the first example of its formalrecognition was in the instrument of capitulation at that place. (Hist. Del Rey Hernando, lib. 2, cap. 27. ) This seems to derive support from thefact that Gonsalvo's biographer and contemporary, Giovio, begins todistinguish him by that epithet from this period. Abarca assigns a higherantiquity to it, quoting the words of the royal grant of the duchy ofSessa, made to Gonsalvo, as authority. (Reyes de Aragon, rey 39, cap. 9. )In a former edition, I intimated my doubt of the historian's accuracy. Asubsequent inspection of the instrument itself, in a work since come intomy possession, shows this distrust to have been well founded; for it isthere simply said, that the title was conferred in Italy. Pulgar, Sumario, p. 188. 

[29] This was improving on the somewhat similar expedient ascribed byPolybius to King Pyrrhus, who mingled alternate cohorts, armed with shortweapons after the Roman fashion, with those of his Macedonian spearmen. Lib. 17 sec. 24. 

[30] Giovio, Hist. Sui Temporis, lib. 4, p. 133. --Idem, Vita MagniGonsalvi, pp. 220, 221. --Zurita, Hist. Del Rey Hernando, lib. 2, cap. 27. --Chrónica del Gran Capitan, cap. 28. --Quintana, Españoles Célebres, tom. I. P. 229. --Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, rey 30, cap. 9. 

[31] Villeneuve, Mémoires, p. 318. --Comines, Mémoires, liv. 8, chap. 21. --Giovio, Hist. Sui Temporis, lib. 4, p. 136. 

[32] Comines, Mémoires, liv. 8, chap. 21. 

[33] Giovio, Hist. Sui Temporis, p. 137. --Comines, Mémoires, liv. 8, chap. 21. --Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, lib. 1, p. 221. --Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 3, p. 160. --Villeneuve, Mémoires, apud Petitot, tom. Xiv. P. 318. 

[34] Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, lib. 29, cap. 2. --Summonte, Hist. DiNapoli, lib. 6, cap. 2. --Peter Martyr, Opus Epist. , epist. 188. 

While stretched on his death-bed, Ferdinand, according to Bembo, causedthe head of his prisoner, the Bishop of Teano, to be brought to him, andlaid at the foot of his couch, that he might be assured with his own eyesof the execution of the sentence. Istoria Viniziana, lib. 3, p. 189. 

[35] Giovio, Hist. Sui Temporis, lib, 4, p. 139. --Zurita, Hist. Del ReyHernando, lib. 2, cap. 30, 33. --Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 3, p. 160. --Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, tom. Iii. Lib. 29, cap. 3. 

CHAPTER III. 

ITALIAN WARS. --GONSALVO SUCCORS THE POPE. --TREATY WITH FRANCE. --ORGANIZATION OF THE SPANISH MILITIA. 

1496-1498. 

Gonsalvo Succors the Pope. --Storms Ostia. --Reception in Rome. --Peace withFrance. --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 werecarrying on the war in Naples, the emperor elect and the king of Spainshould make a diversion in their favor, by invading the French frontiers. Ferdinand had performed his part of the engagement. Ever since thebeginning of the war, he had maintained a large force along the bordersfrom Fontarabia to Perpignan. In 1496, the regular army kept in payamounted to ten thousand horse and fifteen thousand foot; which, togetherwith the Sicilian armament, necessarily involved an expenditureexceedingly heavy under the financial pressure occasioned by the Moorishwar. The command of the levies in Roussillon was given to Don EnriqueEnriquez de Guzman, who, far from acting on the defensive, carried his menrepeatedly over the border, sweeping off fifteen or twenty thousand headof cattle in a single foray, and ravaging the country as far as Carcassonaand Narbonne. [1] had concentrated a considerable force in the south, retaliated by similar inroads, in one of which they succeeded insurprising the fortified town of Salsas. The works, however, were in sodilapidated a state, that the place was scarcely tenable, and it wasabandoned 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 thearms of the Great Captain in Italy. Before quitting that country, however, he engaged in an adventure, which, as narrated by his biographers, forms abrilliant episode to his regular campaigns. Ostia, the seaport of Rome, was, among the places in the papal territory, forcibly occupied by Charlesthe Eighth, and on his retreat had been left to a French garrison underthe command of a Biscayan adventurer named Menaldo Guerri. The place wasso situated as entirely to command the mouth of the Tiber, enabling thepiratical horde who garrisoned it almost wholly to destroy the commerce ofRome, and even to reduce the city to great distress for want ofprovisions. The imbecile government, incapable of defending itself, implored Gonsalvo's aid in dislodging this nest of formidable freebooters. The Spanish general, who was now at leisure, complied with the pontiff'ssolicitations, and soon after presented himself before Ostia with hislittle corps of troops, amounting in all to three hundred horse andfifteen hundred foot. [3]

Guerri, trusting to the strength of his defences, refused to surrender. Gonsalvo, after coolly preparing his batteries, opened a heavy cannonadeon the place, which at the end of five days effected a practicable breachin the walls. In the mean time, Garcilasso de la Vega, the Castilianambassador at the papal court, who could not bear to remain inactive sonear the field where laurels were to be won, arrived to Gonsalvo'ssupport, with a handful of his own countrymen resident in Rome. Thisgallant little band, scaling the walls on the opposite side to thatassailed by Gonsalvo, effected an entrance into the town, while thegarrison was occupied with maintaining the breach against the main body ofthe Spaniards. Thus surprised, and hemmed in on both sides, Guerri and hisassociates made no further resistance, but surrendered themselvesprisoners of war; and Gonsalvo, with more clemency than was usually shownon such occasions, stopped the carnage, and reserved his captives to gracehis entry into the capital. [4]

This was made a few days after, with all the pomp of a Roman triumph. TheSpanish general entered by the gate of Ostia, at the head of his martialsquadrons in battle array, with colors flying and music playing, while therear was brought up by the captive chief and his confederates, so long theterror, now the derision, of the populace. The balconies and windows werecrowded with spectators, and the streets, lined with multitudes, whoshouted forth the name of Gonsalvo de Cordova, the "deliverer of Rome!"The procession took its way through the principal streets of the citytowards 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'sentrance, the cardinals rose to receive him. The Spanish general kneltdown to receive the benediction of the pope; but the latter, raising himup, 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 mostdevoted champions. 

In the conversation which ensued, Gonsalvo obtained the pardon of Guerriand his associates, and an exemption from taxes for the oppressedinhabitants of Ostia. In a subsequent part of the discourse, the popetaking occasion most inopportunely to accuse the Spanish sovereigns ofunfavorable dispositions towards himself, Gonsalvo replied with muchwarmth, enumerating the various good offices rendered by them to thechurch; and, roundly taxing the pope with ingratitude, somewhat bluntlyadvised him to reform his life and conversation, which brought scandal onall Christendom. His Holiness testified no indignation at this unsavoryrebuke of the Great Captain, though, as the historians with somesimplicity inform us, he was greatly surprised to find the latter sofluent in discourse, and so well instructed in matters foreign to hisprofession. [5]

Gonsalvo experienced the most honorable reception from King Frederic onhis return to Naples. During his continuance there, he was lodged andsumptuously entertained in one of the royal fortresses; and the gratefulmonarch requited his services with the title of Duke of St. Angelo, and anestate in Abruzzo, containing three thousand vassals. He had beforepressed these honors on the victor, who declined accepting them till hehad obtained the consent of his own sovereigns. Soon after, Gonsalvo, quitting Naples, revisited Sicily, where he adjusted certain differenceswhich had arisen betwixt the viceroy and the inhabitants respecting therevenues of the island. Then embarking with his whole force, he reachedthe shores of Spain in the month of August, 1498. His return to his nativeland was greeted with a general enthusiasm far more grateful to hispatriotic heart, than any homage or honors conferred by foreign princes. Isabella welcomed him with pride and satisfaction, as having fullyvindicated her preference of him to his more experienced rivals for thedifficult post of Italy; and Ferdinand did not hesitate to declare, thatthe Calabrian campaigns reflected more lustre on his crown, than theconquest of Granada. [6]

The total expulsion of the French from Naples brought hostilities betweenthat nation and Spain to a close. The latter had gained her point, and theformer had little heart to resume so disastrous an enterprise. Before thisevent, indeed, overtures had been made by the French court for a separatetreaty with Spain. The latter, however, was unwilling to enter into anycompact, without the participation of her allies. After the totalabandonment of the French enterprise, there seemed to exist no furtherpretext for prolonging the war. The Spanish government, moreover, hadlittle cause for satisfaction with its confederates. The emperor had notco-operated in the descent on the enemy's frontier, according toagreement; nor had the allies ever reimbursed Spain for the heavy chargesincurred in fulfilling her part of the engagements. The Venetians weretaken up with securing to themselves as much of the Neapolitan territoryas they could, by way of indemnification for their own expenses. [7] Theduke of Milan had already made a separate treaty with King Charles. Inshort, every member of the league, after the first alarm subsided, hadshown itself ready to sacrifice the common weal to its own private ends. With these causes of disgust, the Spanish government consented to a trucewith 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 continuetill the end of October, 1497. This truce was subsequently prolonged, and, after the death of Charles the Eighth, terminated in a definitive treatyof peace, signed at Marcoussi, August 5th, 1498. [8]

In the discussions to which these arrangements gave rise, the project issaid to have been broached for the conquest and division of the kingdom ofNaples by the combined powers of France and Spain, which was carried intoeffect some years later. According to Comines, the proposition originatedwith the Spanish court, although it saw fit, in a subsequent period of thenegotiations, to disavow the fact. [9] The Spanish writers, on the otherhand, impute the first suggestion of it to the French, who, they say, wentso far as to specify the details of the partition subsequently adopted, according to which the two Calabrias were assigned to Spain. However thismay be, there is little doubt that Ferdinand had long since entertainedthe idea of asserting his claim, at some time or other, to the crown ofNaples. He, as well as his father, and indeed the whole nation, had beheldwith dissatisfaction the transfer of what they deemed their rightfulinheritance, purchased by the blood and treasure of Aragon, to anillegitimate branch of the family. The accession of Frederic, inparticular, 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 instructionsof his court, urged Alexander the Sixth to withhold the investiture of thekingdom from Frederic, but unavailingly, as the pope's interests were tooclosely connected, by marriage, with those of the royal family of Naples. Under these circumstances, it was somewhat doubtful what course Gonsalvoshould be directed to pursue in the present exigency. That prudentcommander, however, found the new monarch too strong in the affections ofhis people to be disturbed at present. All that now remained forFerdinand, therefore, was to rest contented with the possession of thestrong posts pledged for the reimbursement of his expenses in the war, andto make such use of the correspondence which the late campaigns had openedto him in Calabria, that, when the time arrived for action, he might actwith effect. [10]

Ferdinand's conduct through the whole of the Italian war had greatlyenhanced his reputation throughout Europe for sagacity and prudence. Itafforded a most advantageous comparison with that of his rival, Charlesthe Eighth, whose very first act had been the surrender of so important aterritory as Roussillon. The construction of the treaty relating to this, indeed, laid the Spanish monarch open to the imputation of artifice. Butthis, at least, did no violence to the political maxims of the age andonly made him regarded as the more shrewd and subtile diplomatist; while, on the other hand, he appeared before the world in the imposing attitudeof 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 hisambassadors at Genoa, Venice, and Rome, in stirring up the great Italianconfederacy, which eventually broke the power of King Charles; and hisrepresentations had tended, as much as any other cause, to alarm thejealousy of Sforza, to fix the vacillating politics of Alexander, and toquicken the cautious and dilatory movements of Venice. He had shown equalvigor in action; and contributed mainly to the success of the war by hisoperations on the side of Roussillon, and still more in Calabria. On thelatter, indeed, he had not lavished any extraordinary expenditure; acircumstance partly attributable to the state of his finances, severelytaxed, as already noticed, by the Granadine war, as well as by theoperations 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 theoccasion. Fortunately, the genius of the Great Captain was so fruitful inresources, as to supply every deficiency; enabling him to accomplish suchbrilliant results, as effectually concealed any poverty of preparation onthe part of his master. 

The Italian wars were of signal importance to the Spanish nation. Untilthat time, they had been cooped up within the narrow limits of thePeninsula, uninstructed and taking little interest in the concerns of therest of Europe. A new world was now opened to them. They were taught tomeasure their own strength by collision with other powers on a commonscene of action; and, success inspiring them with greater confidence, seemed to beckon them on towards the field, where they were destined toachieve still more splendid triumphs. 

This war afforded them also a most useful lesson of tactics. The war ofGranada had insensibly trained up a hardy militia, patient and capable ofevery privation and fatigue, and brought under strict subordination. Thiswas a great advance beyond the independent and disorderly habits of thefeudal service. A most valuable corps of light troops had been formed, schooled in all the wild, irregular movements of guerilla warfare. But thenation was still defective in that steady, well-disciplined infantry, which, in the improved condition of military science, seemed destined todecide the fate of battles in Europe thenceforward. 

The Calabrian campaigns, which were suited in some degree to the displayof their own tactics, fortunately gave the Spaniards opportunity forstudying at leisure those of their adversaries. The lesson was not lost. Before the end of the war important innovations were made in thediscipline and arms of the Spanish soldier. The Swiss pike, or lance, which, as has been already noticed, Gonsalvo de Cordova had mingled withthe short sword of his own legions, now became the regular weapon of one-third of the infantry. The division of the various corps in the cavalryand infantry services was arranged on more scientific principles, and thewhole, in short, completely reorganized. [11]

Before the end of the war, preparations were made for embodying a nationalmilitia, which should take the place of the ancient hermandad. Laws werepassed regulating the equipment of every individual according to hisproperty. A man's arms were declared not liable for debt, even to thecrown; and smiths and other artificers were restricted, under severepenalties, from working them up into other articles. [12] In 1496, acensus was taken of all persons capable of bearing arms; and by anordinance, dated at Valladolid, February 22d, in the same year, it wasprovided that one out of every twelve inhabitants, between twenty andforty-five years of age, should be enlisted in the service of the state, whether for foreign war, or the suppression of disorders at home. Theremaining eleven were liable to be called on in case of urgent necessity. These recruits were to be paid during actual service, and excused fromtaxes; the only legal exempts were the clergy, hidalgos, and paupers. Ageneral review and inspection of arms were to take place every year, inthe months of March and September, when prizes were to be awarded to thosebest accoutred, and most expert in the use of their weapons. Such were thejudicious regulations by which every citizen, without being withdrawn fromhis 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 foraction, at the disposal of the government, whenever the public good shouldcall for it. [13]

FOOTNOTES

[1] Zurita, Hist. Del Rey Hernando, lib. 2, cap. 12-14; 16, 24. 

Giovio says, in allusion to King Ferdinand's show of preparation on thefrontier, "Ferdinandus, maximè cautus et pecuniae tenax, speciem ingentiscoacti exercitus ad deterrendos hostes praebere, quam bellum gereremallet, quum id sine ingenti pecunià administrari non posse intelligeret. "Hist. Sui Temporis, p. 140. 

[2] Zurita, Hist. Del Rey Hernando, lib. 2, cap. 35, 36. --Abarca, Reyes deAragon, rey 30, cap. 9. --Garibay, Compendio, tom. Ii. Lib. 19, cap. 5. --Comines, Mémoires, liv. 8, chap. 23. --Peter Martyr, Opus Epist. , epist. 169. 

[3] Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, lib. 1, p. 221. --Chrónica del GranCapitan, cap. 30. --Zurita, Hist. Del Rey Hernando, lib. 3, cap. 1. --Villeneuve, Mémoires, p. 317. 

[4] Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, p. 222. --Quintana, Españoles Célebres, tom. I. P. 234. 

[5] Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, p. 222. --Zurita, Hist. Del Rey Hernando, lib. 3, cap. 1. --Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 3, p. 175. --Chrónica del GranCapitan, cap. 30. 

[6] Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, p. 223. --Chrónica del Gran Capitan, cap. 31, 32. --Zurita, Hist. Del Rey Hernando, lib. 3, cap. 38. 

[7] Comines says, with some _naïveté_, in reference to the places inNaples which the Venetians had got into their possession, "Je croy queleur intention n'est point de les rendre; car ils ne l'ont point decoustume quand elles leur sont bienséantes comme sont cellescy, qui sontdu costé de leur goufre de Venise. " Mémoires, p. 194. 

[8] Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 3, p. 178. --Zurita, Hist. Del ReyHernando, lib. 2, cap. 44; lib. 3, cap. 13, 19, 21, 26. --Comines, Mémoires, liv. 8, chap. 23. 

[9] Comines gives some curious details respecting the French embassy, which he considers to have been completely outwitted by the superiormanagement of the Spanish government; who intended nothing further at thistime by the proposal of a division, than to amuse the French court untilthe fate of Naples should be decided. Mémoires, liv. 8, chap. 23. 

[10] Zurita, Hist. Del Rey Hernando, lib. 2, cap. 26, 33. --Mariana, Hist. De España, lib. 26, cap. 16. --Salazar de Mendoza, Monarquía, tom. I. Lib. 3, cap. 10. 

[11] Mem. De la Acad. De Hist. , tom. Vi. Ilust. 6. --Zurita, Hist. Del ReyHernando, lib. 3, cap. 6. 

The ancient Spaniards, who were as noted as the modern for the temper andfinish of their blades, used short swords, in the management of which theywere very adroit. "Hispano, " says Livy, "punctim magis, quam caesim, adsueto petere hostem, brevitate habiles [gladii] et cum macronibus. "(Hist. , lib. 22, cap. 47. ) Sandoval notices the short sword, "cortasespadas, " as the peculiar weapon of the Spanish soldier in the twelfthcentury. Historia de los Reyes de Castilla y de Leon, (Madrid, 1792, ) tom. Ii. P. 240. 

[12] Pragmáticas del Reyno, fol. 83, 127, 129. 

The former of these ordinances, dated Taraçona, Sept. 18th, 1495, isextremely precise in specifying the appointments required for eachindividual. 

Among other improvements, introduced somewhat earlier, may be mentionedthat of organizing and thoroughly training a small corps of heavy-armedcavalry, amounting to twenty-five hundred. The number of men-at-arms hadbeen greatly reduced in the kingdom of late years, in consequence of theexclusive demand for the _ginetes_ in the Moorish war. Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS. 

Ordinances were also passed for encouraging the breed of horses, which hadsuffered greatly from the preference very generally given by the Spaniardsto mules. This had been carried to such a length, that, while it wasnearly impossible, according to Bernaldez, to mount ten or twelve thousandcavalry on horses, ten times that number could be provided with mules. (Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 184. ) "E porque si a esto se diesse lugar, "says one of the _pragmáticas_, adverting to this evil, "muy prestamente seperderia en nuestros reynos la nobleza de la cauellería que en ellos sueleauer, e se oluidaria el exercicio militar de que en los tiempos passadosnuestra nacion de España ha alcançado gran fama e loor;" it was orderedthat no person in the kingdom should be allowed to keep a mule, unless heowned a horse also; and that none but ecclesiastics and women should beallowed the use of mules in the saddle. These edicts were enforced withthe utmost rigor, the king himself setting the example of conformity tothem. By these seasonable precautions, the breed of Spanish horses, solong noted throughout Europe, was restored to its ancient credit, and themule consigned to the humble and appropriate offices of drudgery, orraised only for exportation. For these and similar provisions, seePragmáticas del Reyno, fol. 127-132. 

Matéo Aleman's whimsical _picaresco_ novel, Guzman d'Alfarache, contains acomic adventure, showing the excessive rigor with which the edict againstmules was enforced, as late as the close of Philip II. 's reign. Thepassage is extracted in Roscoe's elegant version of the Spanish Novelists, Vol. I. P. 132. 

[13] See a copy of the ordinance taken from the Archives of Simancas; apudMem. De la Acad. De Hist. , tom. Vi. Apend. 13. 

When Francis I, who was destined to feel the effects of this carefulmilitary discipline, beheld, during his detention in Spain in thebeginning of the following century, striplings with scarce down upon thechin, all armed with swords at their sides, he is said to have cried out, "O bienaventurada España, que pare y eria los hombres armados!" (L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, lib. 5. ) An exclamation not unworthy of aNapoleon, --or an Attila. 

CHAPTER IV. 

ALLIANCES OF THE ROYAL FAMILY. --DEATH OF PRINCE JOHN AND PRINCESSISABELLA. 

Royal Family of Castile. --Matrimonial Alliances with Portugal. --WithAustria. --Marriage of John and Margaret. --Death of Prince John. --TheQueen's Resignation. --Independence of the Cortes of Aragon. --Death of thePrincess Isabella. --Recognition of her Infant Son Miguel. 

The credit and authority which the Castilian sovereigns established by thesuccess of their arms, were greatly raised by the matrimonial connectionswhich they formed for their children. This was too important a spring oftheir policy to be passed over in silence. Their family consisted of oneson and four daughters, whom they carefully educated in a manner befittingtheir high rank; and who repaid their solicitude by exemplary filialobedience, and the early manifestation of virtues rare even in a privatestation. [1] They seem to have inherited many of the qualities whichdistinguished their illustrious mother; great decorum and dignity ofmanners, combined with ardent sensibilities, and unaffected piety, which, at least in the eldest and favorite daughter, Isabella, was, unhappily, strongly tinctured with bigotry. They could not, indeed, pretend to theirmother's comprehensive mind, and talent for business, although there seemsto have been no deficiency in these respects; or, if any, it was mosteffectually supplied by their excellent education. [2]

The marriage of the princess Isabella with Alonso, the heir of thePortuguese crown, in 1490, has been already noticed. This had been eagerlydesired by her parents, not only for the possible contingency, which itafforded, of bringing the various monarchies of the Peninsula under onehead, (a design of which they never wholly lost sight, ) but from the wishto conciliate a formidable neighbor, who possessed various means ofannoyance, which he had shown no reluctance to exert. The reigningmonarch, John the Second, a bold and crafty prince, had never forgottenhis ancient quarrel with the Spanish sovereigns in support of their rivalJoanna Beltraneja, or Joanna the Nun, as she was generally called in theCastilian court after she had taken the veil. John, in open contempt ofthe treaty of Alcantara, and indeed of all monastic rule, had not onlyremoved his relative from the convent of Santa Clara, but had permittedher to assume a royal state, and subscribe herself "I the Queen. " Thisempty insult he accompanied with more serious efforts to form such aforeign alliance for the liberated princess as should secure her thesupport of some arm more powerful than his own, and enable her to renewthe struggle for her inheritance with better chance of success. [3] Theseflagrant proceedings had provoked the admonitions of the Roman see, andhad formed the topic, as may be believed, of repeated, though ineffectualremonstrance from the court of Castile. [4]

It seemed probable that the union of the princess of the Asturias with theheir of Portugal, as originally provided by the treaty of Alcantara, wouldso far identify the interests of the respective parties as to remove allfurther cause of disquietude. The new bride was received in Portugal in aspirit which gave cordial assurance of these friendly relations for thefuture; and the court of Lisbon celebrated the auspicious nuptials withthe gorgeous magnificence, for which, at this period of its successfulenterprise, it was distinguished above every other court in Christendom. [5]

Alonso's death, a few months after this event, however, blighted the fairhopes which had begun to open of a more friendly feeling between the twocountries. His unfortunate widow, unable to endure the scenes of hershort-lived happiness, soon withdrew into her own country to seek suchconsolation as she could find in the bosom of her family. There, abandoning herself to the melancholy regrets to which her serious andpensive temper naturally disposed her, she devoted her hours to works ofpiety and benevolence, resolved to enter no more into engagements, whichhad thrown so dark a cloud over the morning of her life. [6]

On King John's death, in 1495, the crown of Portugal devolved on Emanuel, that enlightened monarch, who had the glory in the very commencement ofhis reign of solving the grand problem, which had so long perplexed theworld, of the existence of an undiscovered passage to the east. Thisprince had conceived a passion for the young and beautiful Isabella duringher brief residence in Lisbon; and, soon after his accession to thethrone, he despatched an embassy to the Spanish court inviting her toshare it with him. But the princess, wedded to the memory of her earlylove, declined the proposals, notwithstanding they were strongly secondedby the wishes of her parents, who, however, were unwilling to constraintheir daughter's inclinations on so delicate a point, trusting perhaps tothe effects of time, and the perseverance of her royal suitor. [7]

In the mean while, the Catholic sovereigns were occupied with negotiationsfor the settlement of the other members of their family. The ambitiousschemes of Charles the Eighth established a community of interests amongthe great European states, such as had never before existed, or, at least, been understood; and the intimate relations thus introduced naturally ledto intermarriages between the principal powers, who, until this period, seem to have been severed almost as far asunder as if oceans had rolledbetween them. The Spanish monarchs, in particular, had rarely gone beyondthe limits of the Peninsula for their family alliances. The newconfederacy into which Spain had entered, now opened the way to moreremote connections, which were destined to exercise a permanent influenceon the future politics of Europe. It was while Charles the Eighth waswasting his time at Naples, that the marriages were arranged between theroyal houses of Spain and Austria, by which the weight of these greatpowers was thrown into the same scale, and the balance of Europe unsettledfor the greater part of the following century. [8]

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 sonand heir, and sovereign of the Low Countries in his mother's right, shouldmarry Joanna, second daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella. No dowry was tobe required with either princess. [9]

In the course of the following year, arrangements were also concluded forthe marriage of the youngest daughter of the Castilian sovereigns with aprince of the royal house of England, the first example of the kind formore than a century. [10] Ferdinand had cultivated the good-will of Henrythe Seventh, in the hope of drawing him into the confederacy against theFrench monarch; and in this had not wholly failed, although the wary kingseems 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-operation. [11] The relations of amity between the two courts were still furtherstrengthened by the treaty of marriage above alluded to, finally adjustedOctober 1st, 1496, and ratified the following year, between Arthur, princeof Wales, and the infanta Doña Catalina, conspicuous in English history, equally for her misfortunes and her virtues, as Catharine of Aragon. [12]The French viewed with no little jealousy the progress of these variousnegotiations, which they zealously endeavored to thwart by all theartifices of diplomacy. But King Ferdinand had sufficient address tosecure in his interests persons of the highest credit at the courts ofHenry and Maximilian, who promptly acquainted him with the intrigues ofthe French government, and effectually aided in counteracting them. [13]

The English connection was necessarily deferred for some years, on accountof the youth of the parties, neither of whom exceeded eleven years of age. No such impediment occurred in regard to the German alliances, andmeasures were taken at once for providing a suitable conveyance for theinfanta Joanna into Flanders, which should bring back the princessMargaret on its return. By the end of summer, in 1496, a fleet consistingof one hundred and thirty vessels, large and small, strongly manned andthoroughly equipped with all the means of defence against the Frenchcruisers, was got ready for sea in the ports of Guipuscoa and Biscay. [14]The whole was placed under the direction of Don Fadrique Enriquez, admiralof Castile, who carried with him a splendid show of chivalry, chieflydrawn from the northern provinces of the kingdom. A more gallant andbeautiful armada never before quitted the shores of Spain. The infantaJoanna, attended by a numerous suite, arrived on board the fleet towardsthe end of August, at the port of Laredo, on the eastern borders of theAsturias, where she took a last farewell of the queen her mother, who hadpostponed the hour of separation as long as possible, by accompanying herdaughter to the place of embarkation. 

The weather soon after her departure became extremely rough andtempestuous; and it was so long before any tidings of the squadron reachedthe queen, that her affectionate heart was filled with the mostdistressing apprehensions. She sent for the oldest and most experiencednavigators in these boisterous northern seas, consulting them, saysMartyr, day and night on the probable causes of delay, the prevalentcourses of the winds at that season, and the various difficulties anddangers of the voyage; bitterly regretting that the troubles with Franceprevented any other means of communication, than the treacherous elementto which she had trusted her daughter. [15] Her spirits were still furtherdepressed at this juncture by the death of her own mother, the dowagerIsabella, who, under the mental infirmity with which she had been visitedfor many years, had always experienced the most devoted attention from herdaughter, who ministered to her necessities with her own hands, andwatched over her declining years with the most tender solicitude. [16]

At length, the long-desired intelligence came of the arrival of theCastilian fleet at its place of destination. It had been so grievouslyshattered, however, by tempests, as to require being refitted in the portsof England. Several of the vessels were lost, and many of Joanna'sattendants perished from the inclemency of the weather, and the numeroushardships to which they were exposed. The infanta, however, happilyreached Flanders in safety, and, not long after, her nuptials with thearchduke Philip were celebrated in the city of Lisle with all suitablepomp and solemnity. 

The fleet was detained until the ensuing winter, to transport the destinedbride of the young prince of the Asturias to Spain. This lady, who hadbeen affianced in her cradle to Charles the Eighth of France, had receivedher education in the court of Paris. On her intended husband's marriagewith the heiress of Brittany, she had been returned to her native landunder circumstances of indignity never to be forgiven by the house ofAustria. She was now in the seventeenth year of her age, and had alreadygiven ample promise of those uncommon powers of mind which distinguishedher in riper years, and of which she has left abundant evidence in variouswritten compositions. [17]

On her passage to Spain, in midwinter, the fleet encountered suchtremendous gales, that part of it was ship-wrecked, and Margaret's vesselhad wellnigh foundered. She retained, however, sufficient composure amidstthe perils of her situation, to indite her own epitaph, in the form of apleasant distich, which Pontenelle has made the subject of one of hisamusing dialogues, where he affects to consider the fortitude displayed byher at this awful moment as surpassing that of the philosophic Adrian inhis dying hour, or the vaunted heroism of Cato of Utica. [18]

Fortunately, however, Margaret's epitaph was not needed; she arrived insafety at the port of Santander in the Asturias, early in March, 1497. 

The young prince of the Asturias, accompanied by the king his father, hastened towards the north to receive his royal mistress, whom they metand escorted to Burgos, where she was received with the highest marks ofsatisfaction by the queen and the whole court. Preparations were instantlymade for solemnizing the nuptials of the royal pair, after the expirationof Lent, in a style of magnificence such as had never before beenwitnessed under the present reign. The marriage ceremony took place on the3d of April, and was performed by the archbishop of Toledo in the presenceof the grandees and principal nobility of Castile, the foreignambassadors, and the delegates from Aragon. Among these latter were themagistrates of the principal cities, clothed in their municipal insigniaand crimson robes of office, who seem to have had quite as important partsassigned them by their democratic communities, in this and all similarpageants, as any of the nobility or gentry. The nuptials were followed bya brilliant succession of fetes, tourneys, tilts of reeds, and otherwarlike spectacles, in which the matchless chivalry of Spain poured intothe lists to display their magnificence and prowess in the presence oftheir future queen. [19] The chronicles of the day remark on the strikingcontrast, exhibited at these entertainments, between the gay and familiarmanners of Margaret and her Flemish nobles, and the pomp and statelyceremonial of the Castilian court, to which, indeed, the Austrianprincess, nurtured as she had been in a Parisian atmosphere, could neverbe wholly reconciled. [20]

The marriage of the heir apparent could not have been celebrated at a moreauspicious period. It was in the midst of negotiations for a generalpeace, when the nation might reasonably hope to taste the sweets ofrepose, after so many uninterrupted years of war. Every bosom swelled withexultation in contemplating the glorious destinies of their country underthe beneficent sway of a prince, the first heir of the hitherto dividedmonarchies of Spain. Alas! at the moment when Ferdinand and Isabella, blessed in the affections of their people, and surrounded by all thetrophies of a glorious reign, seemed to have reached the very zenith ofhuman felicity, they were doomed to receive one of those mournful lessons, which admonish us that all earthly prosperity is but a dream. [21]

Not long after Prince John's marriage, the sovereigns had the satisfactionto witness that of their daughter Isabella, who, notwithstanding herrepugnance to a second union, had yielded at length to the urgententreaties of her parents to receive the addresses of her Portugueselover. She required as the price of this, however, that Emanuel shouldfirst banish the Jews from his dominions, where they had bribed a resting-place since their expulsion from Spain; a circumstance to which thesuperstitious princess imputed the misfortunes which had fallen of late onthe royal house of Portugal. Emanuel, whose own liberal mind revolted atthis unjust and impolitic measure, was weak enough to allow his passion toget the better of his principles, and passed sentence of exile on everyIsraelite in his kingdom; furnishing, perhaps, the only example, in whichlove has been made one of the thousand motives for persecuting thisunhappy race. [22]

The marriage, ushered in under such ill-omened auspices, was celebrated atthe frontier town of Valencia de Alcantara, in the presence of theCatholic sovereigns, without pomp or parade of any kind. While they weredetained there, an express arrived from Salamanca, bringing tidings of thedangerous illness of their son, the prince of the Asturias. He had beenseized with a fever in the midst of the public rejoicings to which hisarrival with his youthful bride in that city had given rise. The symptomsspeedily 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 postedwith all possible expedition to Salamanca, arrived there, no hopes wereentertained of his recovery. [23]

Ferdinand, however, endeavored to cheer his son with hopes which he didnot feel himself; but the young prince told him that it was too late to bedeceived; that he was prepared to part with a world, which in its bestestate was filled with vanity and vexation; and that all he now desiredwas, that his parents might feel the same sincere resignation to thedivine will, which he experienced himself. Ferdinand gathered newfortitude from the example of his heroic son, whose presages wereunhappily too soon verified. He expired on the 4th of October, 1497, inthe twentieth year of his age, in the same spirit of Christian philosophywhich he had displayed during his whole illness. [24]

Ferdinand, apprehensive of the effect which the abrupt intelligence ofthis calamity might have on the queen, caused letters to be sent at briefintervals, containing accounts of the gradual decline of the prince'shealth, so as to prepare her for the inevitable stroke. Isabella, however, who through all her long career of prosperous fortune may be said to havekept 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, "TheLord hath given, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be his name!" [25]

"Thus, " says Martyr, who had the melancholy satisfaction of rendering thelast sad offices to his royal pupil, "was laid low the hope of all Spain. ""Never was there a death, " says another chronicler, "which occasioned suchdeep and general lamentation throughout the land. " All the unavailinghonors which affection could devise were paid to his memory. His funeralobsequies were celebrated with melancholy splendor, and his remainsdeposited in the noble Dominican monastery of St. Thomas at Avila, whichhad been erected by his parents. The court put on a new and deepermourning than that hitherto used, as if to testify their unwonted grief. [26] All offices, public and private, were closed for forty days; andsable-colored banners were suspended from the walls and portals of thecities. Such extraordinary tokens of public sorrow bear strong testimonyto the interest felt in the young prince, independently of his exaltedstation; similar, and perhaps more unequivocal evidence of his worth, isafforded by abundance of contemporary notices, not merely in worksdesigned for the public, but in private correspondence. The learnedMartyr, in particular, whose situation, as Prince John's preceptor, afforded him the best opportunities of observation, is unbounded incommendations of his royal pupil, whose extraordinary promise ofintellectual and moral excellence had furnished him with the happiest, alas! delusive auguries, for the future destiny of his country. [27]

By the death of John without heirs, the succession devolved on his eldestsister, the queen of Portugal. [28] Intelligence, however, was receivedsoon after that event, that the archduke Philip, with the restlessambition which distinguished him in later life, had assumed for himselfand his wife Joanna the title of "princes of Castile. " Ferdinand andIsabella, disgusted with this proceeding, sent to request the attendanceof the king and queen of Portugal in Castile, in order to secure arecognition of their rights by the national legislature. The royal pair, accordingly, in obedience to the summons, quitted their capital of Lisbon, early in the spring of 1498. In their progress through the country, theywere magnificently entertained at the castles of the great Castilianlords, and towards the close of April reached the ancient city of Toledo, where the cortes had been convened to receive them. [29]

After the usual oaths of recognition had been tendered, withoutopposition, by the different branches to the Portuguese princes, the courtadjourned to Saragossa, where the legislature of Aragon was assembled fora similar purpose. 

Some apprehensions were entertained, however, of the unfavorabledisposition of that body, since the succession of females was notcountenanced by the ancient usage of the country; and the Aragonese, asMartyr remarks in one of his Epistles, "were well known to be apertinacious race, who would leave no stone unturned, in the maintenanceof their constitutional rights. " [30]

These apprehensions were fully realized; for, no sooner was the object ofthe present meeting laid before cortes in a speech from the throne, withwhich parliamentary business in Aragon was always opened, than decidedopposition was manifested to a proceeding, which it was declared had noprecedent 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 theattempted violation of the rule by Peter the Fourth, in favor of his owndaughters, had plunged the nation in a civil war. It was further urgedthat by the will of the very last monarch, John the Second, it wasprovided that the crown should descend to the male issue of his sonFerdinand, and in default of such to the male issue of Ferdinand'sdaughters, to the entire exclusion of the females. At all events, it wasbetter to postpone the consideration of this matter until the result ofthe queen of Portugal's pregnancy, then far advanced, should beascertained; since, should it prove to be a son, all doubts ofconstitutional validity would be removed. 

In answer to these objections, it was stated, that no express law existedin Aragon excluding females from the succession; that an example hadalready occurred, as far back indeed as the twelfth century, of a queenwho held the crown in her own right; that the acknowledged power offemales to transmit the right of succession necessarily inferred thatright existing in themselves; that the present monarch had doubtless ascompetent authority as his predecessors to regulate the law ofinheritance, and that his act, supported by the supreme authority ofcortes, might set aside any former disposition of the crown; that thisinterference was called for by the present opportunity of maintaining thepermanent union of Castile and Aragon; without which they must otherwisereturn to their ancient divided state, and comparative insignificance. [31]

These arguments, however cogent, were far from being conclusive with theopposite party; and the debate was protracted to such length, thatIsabella, impatient of an opposition to what the practice in her owndominions had taught her to regard as the inalienable right of herdaughter, inconsiderately exclaimed, "It would be better to reduce thecountry by arms at once, than endure this insolence of the cortes. " Towhich Antonio de Fonseca, the same cavalier who spoke his mind sofearlessly to King Charles the Eighth, on his march to Naples, had theindependence to reply, "That the Aragonese had only acted as good andloyal subjects, who, as they were accustomed to mind their oaths, considered well before they took them; and that they must certainly standexcused if they moved with caution in an affair, which they found sodifficult to justify by precedent in their history. " [32] This bluntexpostulation of the honest courtier, equally creditable to the sovereignwho could endure, and the subject who could make it, was received in thefrank spirit in which it was given, and probably opened Isabella's eyes toher own precipitancy, as we find no further allusion to coercive measures. 

Before anything was determined, the discussion was suddenly brought to aclose by an unforeseen and most melancholy event, --the death of the queenof Portugal, the unfortunate subject of it. That princess had possessed afeeble constitution from her birth, with a strong tendency to pulmonarycomplaints. She had early felt a presentiment that she should not survivethe birth of her child; this feeling strengthened as she approached theperiod of her delivery; and in less than one hour after that event, whichtook place on the 23d of August, 1498, she expired in the arms of herafflicted parents. [33]

This blow was almost too much for the unhappy mother, whose spirits hadnot yet had time to rally, since the death of her only son. She, indeed, exhibited the outward marks of composure, testifying the entireresignation of one who had learned to rest her hopes of happiness on abetter world. She schooled herself so far, as to continue to take aninterest in all her public duties, and to watch over the common weal withthe same maternal solicitude as before; but her health gradually sunkunder this accumulated load of sorrow, which threw a deep shade ofmelancholy over the evening of her life. 

The infant, whose birth had cost so dear, proved a male, and received thename of Miguel, in honor of the saint on whose day he first saw the light. In order to dissipate, in some degree, the general gloom occasioned by thelate catastrophe, it was thought best to exhibit the young prince beforethe eyes of his future subjects; and he was accordingly borne in the armsof his nurse, in a magnificent litter, through the streets of the city, escorted by the principal nobility. Measures were then taken for obtainingthe sanction of his legitimate claims to the crown. Whatever doubts hadbeen entertained of the validity of the mother's title, there could benone whatever of the child's; since those who denied the right of femalesto inherit for themselves, admitted their power of conveying such a rightto male issue. As a preliminary step to the public recognition of theprince, it was necessary to name a guardian, who should be empowered tomake the requisite engagements, and to act in his behalf. The Justice ofAragon, in his official capacity, after due examination, appointed thegrandparents, Ferdinand and Isabella, to the office of guardians duringhis minority, which would expire by law at the age of fourteen. [34]

On Saturday, the 22d of September, when the queen had sufficientlyrecovered from a severe illness brought on by her late sufferings, thefour _arms_ of the cortes of Aragon assembled in the house of deputationat Saragossa; and Ferdinand and Isabella made oath as guardians of theheir apparent, before the Justice, not to exercise any jurisdictionwhatever in the name of the young prince during his minority; engaging, moreover, as far as in their power, that, on his coming of age, he shouldswear to respect the laws and liberties of the realm, before entering onany of the rights of sovereignty himself. The four estates then took theoath of fealty to Prince Miguel, as lawful heir and successor to the crownof Aragon; with the protestation, that it should not be construed into aprecedent for exacting such an oath hereafter during the minority of theheir apparent. With such watchful attention to constitutional forms ofprocedure, did the people of Aragon endeavor to secure their liberties;forms, which continued to be observed in later times, long after thoseliberties had been swept away. [35]

In the month of January, of the ensuing year, the young prince'ssuccession was duly confirmed by the cortes of Castile, and, in thefollowing March, by that of Portugal. Thus, for once, the crowns of thethree monarchies of Castile, Aragon, and Portugal were suspended over onehead. The Portuguese, retaining the bitterness of ancient rivalry, lookedwith distrust at the prospect of a union, fearing, with some reason, thatthe importance of the lesser state would be wholly merged in that of thegreater. But the untimely death of the destined heir of these honors, which took place before he had completed his second year, removed thecauses of jealousy, and defeated the only chance, which had ever occurred, of bringing under the same rule three independent nations, which, fromtheir common origin, their geographical position, and, above all, theirresemblance in manners, sentiments, and language, would seem to haveoriginally been intended to form but one. [36]

FOOTNOTES

[1] The princess Doña Isabel, the eldest daughter, was born at Dueñas, October 1st, 1470. Their second child and only son, Juan, prince of theAsturias, was not born until eight years later, June 30th, 1478, atSeville. Doña Juana, whom the queen used playfully to call her "mother-in-law, " _suegra_, from her resemblance to King Ferdinand's mother, wasborn at Toledo, November 6th, 1479. Doña Maria was born at Cordova, in1482, and Doña Catalina, the fifth and last child, at Alcalá de Henares, December 5th, 1485. The daughters all lived to reign; but their brilliantdestinies were clouded with domestic afflictions, from which royalty couldafford no refuge. Carbajal, Anales, MS. , loc. Mult. 

[2] The only exception to these remarks, was that afforded by the infantaJoanna, whose unfortunate eccentricities, developed in later life, must beimputed, indeed, to bodily infirmity. 

[3] Nine different matches were proposed for Joanna in the course of herlife; but they all vanished into air, and the "excellent lady, " as she wasusually called by the Portuguese, died as she had lived, in singleblessedness, at the ripe age of sixty-eight. In the Mem. De la Acad. DeHist. , tom. Vi. , the 19th Ilustracion is devoted to this topic, in regardto which Father Florez shows sufficient ignorance, or inaccuracy. ReynasCathólicas, tom. Ii. P. 780. 

[4] Instructions relating to this matter, written with the queen's ownhand, still exist in the archives of Simancas. Mem. De la Acad. De Hist. , ubi supra. 

[5] La Clède, Histoire de Portugal, tom. Iv. P. 100. 

The Portuguese historian, Faria y Sousa, expends half a dozen folio pageson these royal revelries, which cost six months' preparation, and taxedthe wits of the most finished artists and artificers in France, England, Flanders, Castile, and Portugal. (Europa Portuguesa, tom. Ii. Pp. 452 etseq. ) We see, throughout, the same luxury of spectacle, the same elegantgames of chivalry, as the tilt of reeds, the rings, and the like, whichthe Castilians adopted from the Spanish Arabs. 

[6] Zurita, Hist. Del Rey Hernando, tom. V. Fol. 38. --Abarca, Reyes deAragon, tom. Ii. Fol. 312. 

[7] Zurita, Hist. Del Rey Hernando, tom. V. Fol. 78, 82. --La Clède, Hist. De Portugal, tom. Iv. P. 95. --Peter Martyr, Opus Epist. , epist. 146. 

Martyr, in a letter written at the close of 1496, thus speaks of theprincess Isabella's faithful attachment to her husband's memory; "Mirafuit hujus foeminae in abjiciendis secundis nuptiis constantia. Tanta estejus modestia, tanta vidualis castitas, ut neo mensa post mariti mortemcomederit, nec lauti quicquam degustaverit. Jejuniis sese vigiliisque itamaceravit, ut sicco stipite siccior sit effecta. Suffulta ruboreperturbatur, quandocunque de jugali thalamo sermo intexitur. Parentumtamen aliquando precibus, veluti olfacimus, inflectetur. Viget fama, futuram vestri regis Emmanuelis uxorem. " Epist. 171. 

[8] Zurita, Hist. Del Rey Hernando, tom. V. Fol. 63. 

[9] Zurita, Hist. Del Rey Hernando, tom. V. Lib. 2, cap. 5. --Ferreras, Hist. D'Espagne, tom. Viii. P. 160. 

[10] I believe there is no instance of such a union, save that of John ofGaunt, duke of Lancaster, with Doña Constanza, daughter of Peter theCruel, in 1371, from whom Queen Isabella was lineally descended on thefather's side. The title of _Prince of the Asturias_, appropriated tothe heir apparent of Castile, was first created for the infant Don Henry, afterwards Henry III. , on occasion of his marriage with John of Gaunt'sdaughter, in 1388. It was professedly in imitation of the English title ofPrince of Wales; and the Asturias were selected as that portion of theancient Gothic monarchy, which had never bowed beneath the Saracen yoke. Florez, Reynas Cathólicas, tom. Ii. Pp. 708-715. --Mendoza, Dignidades, lib. 3, cap. 23. 

[11] Zurita, Hist. Del Rey Hernando, lib. 2, cap. 25. --Rymer, Foedera, (London, 1727, ) vol. Xii. Pp. 638-642. 

Ferdinand used his good offices to mediate a peace between Henry VII. Andthe king of Scots; and it is a proof of the respect entertained for him byboth these monarchs, that they agreed to refer their disputes to hisarbitration. (Rymer, Foedera, vol. Xii. P. 671. ) "And so, " says the oldchronicler Hall, of the English prince, "beying confederate and alied bytreatie and league with al his neighbors, he gratefied with his moostheartie thanks kyng Ferdinand and the quene his wife, to which woman noneother was comparable in her tyme, for that they were the mediators, organes, and instrumentes by the which the truce was concluded betwene theScottish kynge and him, and rewarded his ambassadoure moost liberally andbountefully. " Chronicle, p. 483. 

[12] See the marriage treaty in Rymer. (Foedera, vol. Xii. Pp. 658-666. )The marriage had been arranged between the Spanish and English courts asfar back as March, 1489, when the elder of the parties had not yet reachedthe fifth year of her age. This was confirmed by another, more full anddefinite, in the following year, 1490. By this treaty, it was stipulated, that Catharine's portion should be 200, 000 gold crowns, one-half to bepaid down at the date of her marriage, and the remainder in two equalpayments in the course of the two years ensuing. The prince of Wales wasto settle on her one-third of the revenues of the principality of Wales, the dukedom of Cornwall, and earldom of Chester. Rymer, Foedera, vol. Xii. Pp. 411-417. 

[13] "Procuro, " says Zurita, "que se effectuassen los matrimonios de sushijos, no solo con promesas, pero con dadivas que se hizieron a losprivados de aquellos principes, que en ello entendian. " Hist. Del ReyHernando, lib. 2, cap. 3. 

[14] Historians differ, as usual, as to the strength of this armament. Martyr makes it 110 vessels, and 10, 000 soldiers, (Opus Epist. , epist. 168;) while Bernaldez carries the number to 130 sail, and 25, 000 soldiers, (Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 153. ) Ferreras adopts the latter estimate, (tom. Viii. P. 173. ) Martyr may have intended only the galleys and regulartroops, while Bernaldez, more loosely, included vessels and seamen ofevery description. See also the royal ordinances, ap. Coleccion deCédulas, (tom. I. Nos. 79, 80, 82, ) whose language implies a very largenumber, without specifying it. 

[15] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist. , epist. 172. --Carbajal, Anales, MS. , año1496. --Mariana, Hist. De España, tom. Ii. Lib. 26, cap. 12. 

[16] Carbajal, Anales, MS. , año 1496. --Peter Martyr, Opus Epist. , epist. 172. 

[17] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist. , epist. 174. --Garibay, Compendio, tom. Ii. Lib. 19, cap. 6. --Gaillard, Rivalité, tom. Iii. Pp. 416, 423. --Sandoval, Historia del Emperador Carlos V. , (Amberes, 1681, ) tom. I. P. 2. 

These, comprehending her verses, public addresses, and discourse on herown life, have been collected into a single volume, under the title of "LaCouronne Margaritique, " Lyons, 1549, by the French writer Jean la Maire deBelges, her faithful follower, but whose greatest glory it is, to havebeen the instructor of Clement Marot. 

[18] Fontenelle, Oeuvres, tom. I. Dial. 4. 

 "Ci gist Margot, la gentil' damoiselle Qu'a deux maris, et encore est pucelle. "

It must be allowed that Margaret's quiet nonchalance was much more suitedto Fontenelle's habitual taste, than the imposing scene of Cato's death. Indeed, the French satirist was so averse to scenes of all kinds, that hehas contrived to find a ridiculous side in this last act of the patriotRoman. 

[19] That these were not mere holiday sports, was proved by the melancholydeath of Alonso de Cardenas, son of the comendador of Leon, who lost hislife in a tourney. Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS. , bat. 1, quinc. 2, dial. 1. 

[20] Carbajal, Anales, MS. , año 1497. --Mariana, Hist. De España, tom. Ii. Lib. 26, cap. 16. --Lanuza, Historias, lib. 1, cap. 8. --Abarca, Reyes deAragon, tom. Ii. Fol. 330. 

"Y aunque, " says the last author, "a la princessa se le dexaron todos suscriados, estilos, y entretenimientos, se la advirtio, que en lasceremonias no havia de tratar a las personas Reales, y Grandes con lafamiliaridad y llaneza de las casas de Austria, Borgoñia, y Francia, sinocon la gravedad, y mesurada autoridad de los Reyes y naciones de España!"

The sixth volume of the Spanish Academy of History contains an inventory, taken from the archives of Simancas, of the rich plate and jewels, presented to the princess Margaret on the day of her marriage. They aresaid to be "of such value and perfect workmanship, that the like was neverbefore seen. " (Ilust. 11, pp. 338-342. ) Isabella had turned these baublesto good account in the war of Granada. She was too simple in her taste toattach much value to luxury of apparel. 

[21] It is precisely this period, or rather the whole period from 1493 to1497, which Oviedo selects as that of the greatest splendor and festivityat the court of the Catholic sovereigns. "El año de 1493, y uno ó dosdespues, y aun hasta el de 1497 años fué cuando la corte de los ReyesCatólicos Don Fernando é Doña Isabel de gloriosa memoria, mas alegrestiempos é mas regozijados, vino en su corte, é mas encumbrada andubo lagala é las fiestas é servicios de galanes é damas. " Quincuagenas, MS. , bat. 1, quinc. 4, dial. 44. 

[22] Faria y Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, tom. Ii. Pp. 498, 499. --La Clède, Hist. De Portugal, tom. Iv. P. 95. --Zurita, tom. V, lib. 3, cap. 6. --Lanuza, Historias, ubi supra. 

[23] Carbajal, Anales, MS. , año 1497. --Florez, Reynas Cathólicas, tom. Ii. Pp. 846, 848. --Zurita, Hist. Del Rey Hernando, tom. V. Fol. 127, 128. --LaClède, Hist. De Portugal, tom. Iv. P. 101. 

The physicians recommended a temporary separation of John from his youngbride; a remedy, however, which the queen opposed from conscientiousscruples somewhat singular. "Hortantur medici Reginam, hortatur et Rex, uta principis latere Margaritam aliquando semoveat, interpellet. Induciasprecantur. Protestantur periculum ex frequenti copulâ ephebo imminere;qualiter eum suxerit, quamve subtristis incedat, consideret iterum atqueiterum monent; medullas laedi, stomachum hebetari se sentire Reginaerenunciant. Intercidat, dum licet, obstetque principiis, instant. Nilproficiunt. Respondet Regina, homines non oportere, quos Deus jugalivinculo junxerit, separare. " Peter Martyr, Opus Epist. , epist. 176. 

[24] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist. , epist. 182. --L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 182. --Carbajal, Anales, MS. , año 1497. --Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS. , dial. De Deza. 

Peter Martyr, in more of a classic than a Christian vein, refers PrinceJohn's composure in his latter hours to his familiarity with the divineAristotle. "Aetatem quae ferebat superabat; nec mirum tamen. Perlegeratnamque divini Aristotelis pleraque volumina, " etc. Ubi supra. 

[25] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist. , epist. 183. 

Martyr draws an affecting picture of the anguish of the bereaved parents, which betrayed itself in looks more eloquent than words. "Reges tantamdissimulare aerumnam nituntur; ast nos prostratum in internis ipsorumanimum cernimus; oculos alter in faciem alterius crebro conjiciunt, inpropatulo sedentes. Unde quid lateat proditur. Nimirum tamen, desinerenthumanâ carne vestiti esse homines, essentque adamante duriores, nisi quidamiserint sentirent. "

[26] Blancas, Coronaciones de los Serenissimos Reyes de Aragon, (Zaragoza, 1641, ) lib. 3, cap. 18. --Garibay, Compendio, tom. Ii. Lib. 19, cap. 6. --Sackcloth was substituted for the white serge, which till this time hadbeen used as the mourning dress. 

[27] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist. , epist. 182. --Garibay, Compendio, tom. Ii. Lib. 19, cap. 6. --L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 182. --Blancas, Coronaciones, p. 248. 

It must be allowed to furnish no mean proof of the excellence of PrinceJohn's heart, that it was not corrupted by the liberal doses of flatterywith which his worthy tutor was in the habit of regaling him, from time totime. Take the beginning of one of Martyr's letters to his pupil, in thefollowing modest strain. "Mirande in pueritiâ senex, salve. Quotquot tecumversantur homines, sive genere polleant, sive ad obsequium fortunaehumiliores destinati ministri, te laudant, extollunt, admirantur. " OpusEpist. , epist. 98. 

[28] Hopes were entertained of a male heir at the time of John's death, ashis widow was left pregnant; but these were frustrated by her beingdelivered of a still-born infant at the end of a few months. Margaret didnot continue long in Spain. She experienced the most affectionatetreatment from the king and queen, who made her an extremely liberalprovision. (Zurita, Hist. Del Rey Hernando, tom. V. Lib. 3, cap. 4. ) Buther Flemish followers could not reconcile themselves to the reserve andburdensome ceremonial of the Castilian court, so different from the freeand jocund life to which they had been accustomed at home; and theyprevailed on their mistress to return to her native land in the course ofthe year 1499. She was subsequently married to the duke of Savoy, who diedwithout issue in less than three years, and Margaret passed the remainderof her life in widowhood, being appointed by her father, the emperor, tothe government of the Netherlands, which she administered with ability. She died in 1530. 

[29] Marina has transcribed from the archives of Toledo the writ ofsummons to that city on this occasion. Teoría, tom. Ii. P. 16. --Zurita, Hist. Del Rey Hernando, tom. V. Lib. 3, cap. 18. --Bernaldez, ReyesCatólicos, MS. , cap. 154. --La Clède, Hist. De Portugal, tom. Iv. P. 101. --Carbajal, Anales. MS. , año 1498. --Faria y Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, tom. Ii. Pp. 500, 501. 

The last writer expatiates with great satisfaction on the statelyetiquette observed at the reception of the Portuguese monarchs and theirsuite by the Spanish sovereigns. "Queen Isabella, " he says, "appearedleaning on the arm of her old favorite Gutierre de Cardenas, comendador ofLeon, and of a Portuguese noble, Don Juan de Sousa. The latter took careto acquaint her with the rank and condition of each of his countrymen, asthey were presented, in order that she might the better adjust the measureof condescension and courtesy due to each; a perilous obligation, " hecontinues, "with all nations, but with the Portuguese most perilous!"

[30] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist. , epist. 194. --Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. Ii. Fol. 334. --Mariana, Hist. De España, tom. Ii. Lib. 27, cap. 3. 

[31] Blancas, Commentarii, p. 273. --Idem, Coronaciones, lib. 1, cap. 18. --Mariana, Hist. De España, tom. Ii. Lib. 27, cap. 3. --Zurita, Hist. Del ReyHernando, tom. V. Fol. 55, 56. 

It is remarkable that the Aragonese should so readily have acquiesced inthe right of females to convey a title to the crown which they could notenjoy themselves. This was precisely the principle on which Edward III. Set up his claim to the throne of France, a principle too repugnant to thecommonest rules of inheritance to obtain any countenance. The exclusion offemales in Aragon could not pretend to be founded on any express law, asin France, but the practice, with the exception of a single example threecenturies old, was quite as uniform. 

[32] Blancas, Coronaciones, lib. 3, cap. 18. --Zurita, Hist. Del ReyHernando, tom. V. Lib. 3, cap. 30. 

It is a proof of the high esteem in which Isabella held this independentstatesman, that we find his name mentioned in her testament among half adozen others, whom she particularly recommended to her successors fortheir meritorious and loyal services. See the document in Dormer, Discursos Varios, p. 354. 

[33] Carbajal, Anales, MS. , años 1470, 1498. --Florez, Reynas Cathólicas, tom. Ii. Pp. 846, 847. --Faria y Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, tom. Ii. P. 504. 

[34] Blancas, Commentarii, pp. 510, 511. --Idem, Coronaciones, lib. 3, cap. 19. --Gerónimo Martel, Forma de Celebrar Cortes en Aragon, (Zaragoza, 1641, ) cap. 44. --Alvaro Gomez, De Rebus Gestis a Francisco XimenioCisnerio, (Compluti, 1569, ) fol. 28. --Lanuza, Historias, lib. 1, cap. 9. 

[35] Blancas, Coronaciones, ubi supra. --Idem, Commentarii, pp. 510, 511. 

The reverence of the Aragonese for their institutions is shown in theirobservance of the most insignificant ceremonies. A remarkable instance ofthis occurred in the year 1481, at Saragossa, when, the queen having beenconstituted _lieutenant general_ of the kingdom, and duly qualifiedto hold a cortes in the absence of the king her husband, who, by theancient laws of the land, was required to preside over it in person, itwas deemed necessary to obtain a formal act of the legislature, foropening the door for her admission. See Blancas, Modo de Proceder enCortes de Aragon, (Zaragoza, 1641, ) fol. 82, 83. 

[36] Faria y Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, tom. Ii. Pp. 504, 507. --Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 154. --Carbajal, Anales, MS. , año 1499. --Zurita, Hist. Del Rey Hernando, tom. V. Lib. 3, cap. 33--Sandoval, Hist. Del Emp. Carlos V. , tom. I. P. 4. 

CHAPTER V. 

DEATH OF CARDINAL MENDOZA. --RISE OF XIMENES. --ECCLESIASTICAL REFORM. 

Death 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 hisLife. --Reform of the Monastic Orders. --Insults Offered to the Queen. --SheConsents to the Reform. 

In the beginning of 1495, the sovereigns lost their old and faithfulminister, the grand cardinal of Spain, Don Pedro Gonzalez de Mendoza. Hewas the fourth son of the celebrated marquis of Santillana, and was placedby his talents at the head of a family, every member of which must beallowed to have exhibited a rare union of public and private virtue. Thecardinal reached the age of sixty-six, when his days were terminated aftera long and painful illness, on the 11th of January, at his palace ofGuadalaxara. [1]

In the unhappy feuds between Henry the Fourth and his younger brotherAlfonso, the cardinal had remained faithful to the former. But on thedeath of that monarch, he threw his whole weight, with that of hispowerful family, into the scale of Isabella, whether influenced by aconviction of her superior claims, or her capacity for government. Thiswas a most important acquisition to the royal cause; and Mendoza'sconsummate talents for business, recommended by the most agreeableaddress, secured him the confidence of both Ferdinand and Isabella, whohad long been disgusted with the rash and arrogant bearing of their oldminister, Carillo. 

On the death of that turbulent prelate, Mendoza succeeded to thearchiepiscopal see of Toledo. His new situation naturally led to stillmore intimate relations with the sovereigns, who uniformly deferred to hisexperience, consulting him on all important matters, not merely of apublic, but of a private nature. In short, he gained such ascendency inthe cabinet, during a long ministry of more than twenty years, that he waspleasantly called by the courtiers the "third king of Spain. " [2]

The minister did not abuse the confidence so generously reposed in him. Hecalled the attention of his royal mistress to objects most deserving it. His views were naturally grand and lofty; and, if he sometimes yielded tothe fanatical impulse of the age, he never failed to support her heartilyin every generous enterprise for the advancement of her people. Whenraised to the rank of primate of Spain, he indulged his naturalinclination for pomp and magnificence. He filled his palace with pages, selected from the noblest families in the kingdom, whom he carefullyeducated. He maintained a numerous body of armed retainers, which, farfrom being a mere empty pageant, formed a most effective corps for publicservice on all requisite occasions. He dispensed the immense revenues ofhis bishopric with the same munificent hand which has so frequentlydistinguished the Spanish prelacy, encouraging learned men, and endowingpublic institutions. The most remarkable of these were the college ofSanta Cruz at Valladolid, and the hospital of the same name for foundlingsat Toledo, the erection of which, completed at his sole charge, consumedmore than ten years each. [3]

The cardinal, in his younger days, was occasionally seduced by thoseamorous propensities, in which the Spanish clergy freely indulged, contaminated, perhaps, by the example of their Mahometan neighbors. Heleft several children by his amours with two ladies of rank, from whomsome of the best houses in the kingdom are descended. [4] A characteristicanecdote is recorded of him in relation to this matter. An ecclesiastic, who one day delivered a discourse in his presence, took occasion to advertto the laxity of the age, in general terms, indeed, but bearing toopertinent an application to the cardinal to be mistaken. The attendants ofthe latter boiled with indignation at the preacher's freedom, whom theydetermined to chastise for his presumption. They prudently, however, postponed this until they should see what effect the discourse had ontheir master. The cardinal, far from betraying any resentment, took noother notice of the preacher than to send him a dish of choice game, whichhad been served up at his own table, where he was entertaining a party offriends that day, accompanying it at the same time, by way of sauce, witha substantial donative of gold doblas; an act of Christian charity not atall to the taste of his own servants. It wrought its effects on the worthydivine, who at once saw the error of his ways, and, the next time hemounted the pulpit, took care to frame his discourse in such a manner asto counteract the former unfavorable impressions, to the entiresatisfaction, if not edification, of his audience. "Now-a-days, " says thehonest biographer who reports the incident, himself a lineal descendant ofthe cardinal, "the preacher would not have escaped so easily. And withgood reason; for the holy Gospel should be discreetly preached, 'cum granosalis, ' that is to say, with the decorum and deference due to majesty andmen of high estate. " [5]

When Cardinal Mendoza's illness assumed an alarming aspect, the courtremoved to the neighborhood of Guadalaxara, where he was confined. Theking and queen, especially the latter, with the affectionate concern whichshe manifested for more than one of her faithful subjects, used to visithim in person, testifying her sympathy for his sufferings, and benefitingby the lights of the sagacious mind, which had so long helped to guideher. She still further showed her regard for her old minister bycondescending to accept the office of his executor, which she punctuallydischarged, superintending the disposition of his effects according to histestament, [6] and particularly the erection of the stately hospital ofSanta Cruz, before mentioned, not a stone of which was laid before hisdeath. [7]

In one of her interviews with the dying minister, the queen requested hisadvice respecting the nomination of his successor. The cardinal, in reply, earnestly cautioned her against raising any one of the principal nobilityto this dignity, almost too exalted for any subject, and which, whencombined with powerful family connections, would enable a man of factiousdisposition to defy the royal authority itself, as they had once bitterexperience in the case of Archbishop Carillo. On being pressed to name theindividual whom he thought best qualified, in every point of view, for theoffice, he is said to have recommended Fray Francisco Ximenez de Cisneros, a friar of the Franciscan order, and confessor of the queen. As thisextraordinary personage exercised a more important control over thedestinies of his country than any other subject, during the remainder ofthe present reign, it will be necessary to put the reader in possession ofhis history. [8]

Ximenez de Cisneros, or Ximenes, as he is usually called, was born at thelittle town of Tordelaguna, in the year 1436, [9] of an ancient butdecayed family. [10] He was early destined by his parents for the church, and, after studying grammar at Alcalá, was removed at fourteen to theuniversity of Salamanca. Here he went through the regular course ofinstruction then pursued, devoting himself assiduously to the civil andcanon law, and at the end of six years received the degree of bachelor ineach of them, a circumstance at that time of rare occurrence. [11]

Three years after quitting the university, the young bachelor removed bythe advice of his parents to Rome, as affording a better field forecclesiastical preferment than he could find at home. Here he seems tohave attracted some notice by the diligence with which he devoted himselfto his professional studies and employments. But still he was far fromreaping the golden fruits presaged by his kindred; and at the expirationof six years he was suddenly recalled to his native country by the deathof his father, who left his affairs in so embarrassed a condition, as torequire his immediate presence. [12]

Before his return, Ximenes obtained a papal bull, or _expectative_, preferring him to the first benefice of a specified value, which shouldbecome vacant in the see of Toledo. Several years elapsed before such avacancy offered itself by the death of the archpriest of Uzeda; andXimenes took possession of that living by virtue of the apostolic grant. 

This assumption of the papal court to dispose of the church livings at itsown pleasure, had been long regarded by the Spaniards as a flagrantimposition; and Carillo, the archbishop of Toledo, in whose diocese thevacancy occurred, was not likely tamely to submit to it. He had, moreover, promised this very place to one of his own followers. He determined, accordingly, to compel Ximenes to surrender his pretensions in favor ofthe latter, and, finding argument ineffectual, resorted to force, confining him in the fortress of Uzeda, whence he was subsequently removedto the strong tower of Santorcaz, then used as a prison for contumaciousecclesiastics. But Carillo understood little of the temper of Ximenes, which was too inflexible to be broken by persecution. The archbishop intime became convinced of this, and was persuaded to release him, but nottill after an imprisonment of more than six years. [13]

Ximenes, thus restored to freedom, and placed in undisturbed possession ofhis benefice, was desirous of withdrawing from the jurisdiction of hisvindictive superior; and not long after effected an exchange for thechaplainship of Siguenza. In this new situation he devoted himself withrenewed ardor to his theological studies, occupying himself diligently, moreover, with Hebrew and Chaldee, his knowledge of which proved of nolittle use in the concoction of his famous Polyglot. 

Mendoza was at that time bishop of Siguenza. It was impossible that a manof his penetration should come in contact with a character like that ofXimenes, without discerning its extraordinary qualities. It was not longbefore he appointed him his vicar, with the administration of his diocese;in which situation he displayed such capacity for business, that the countof Cifuentes, on falling into the hands of the Moors, after theunfortunate affair of the Axarquia, confided to him the sole management ofhis vast estates during his captivity. [14]

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 religiousenthusiasm. He determined, therefore, to break at once from the shackleswhich bound him to the world, and seek an asylum in some religiousestablishment, where he might devote himself unreservedly to the serviceof Heaven. He selected for this purpose the Observantines of theFranciscan order, the most rigid of the monastic societies. He resignedhis various employments and benefices, with annual rents to the amount oftwo thousand ducats, and, in defiance of the arguments and entreaties ofhis friends, entered on his novitiate in the convent of San Juan de losReyes, at Toledo; a superb pile then erecting by the Spanish sovereigns, in pursuance of a vow made during the war of Granada. [15]

He distinguished his novitiate by practising every ingenious variety ofmortification with which superstition has contrived to swell theinevitable catalogue of human sufferings. He slept on the ground, or onthe hard floor, with a billet of wood for his pillow. He wore hair-clothnext his skin; and exercised himself with fasts, vigils, and stripes, to adegree scarcely surpassed by the fanatical founder of his order. At theend of the year, he regularly professed, adopting then for the first timethe name of Francisco, in compliment to his patron saint, instead of thatof Gonzalo, by which he had been baptized. 

No sooner had this taken place, than his reputation for sanctity, whichhis late course of life had diffused far and wide, attracted multitudes ofall ages and conditions to his confessional; and he soon found himselfabsorbed in the same vortex of worldly passions and interests, from whichhe had been so anxious to escape. At his solicitation, therefore, he waspermitted to transfer his abode to the convent of our Lady of Castañar, socalled from a deep forest of chestnuts, in which it was embosomed. In themidst of these dark mountain solitudes, he built with his own hands alittle hermitage or cabin, of dimensions barely sufficient to admit hisentrance. Here he passed his days and nights in prayer, and in meditationson the sacred volume, sustaining life, like the ancient anchorites, on thegreen herbs and running waters. In this state of self-mortification, witha frame wasted by abstinence, and a mind exalted by spiritualcontemplation, it is no wonder that he should have indulged in ecstasiesand visions, until he fancied himself raised into communication withcelestial intelligences. It is more wonderful that his understanding wasnot permanently impaired by these distempered fancies. This period of hislife, however, seems to have been always regarded by him with peculiarsatisfaction; for long after, as his biographer assures us, when reposingin lordly palaces, and surrounded by all the appliances of luxury, helooked back with fond regret on the hours which glided so peacefully inthe hermitage of Castañar. [16]

Fortunately, his superiors, choosing to change his place of residenceaccording to custom, transferred him at the end of three years to theconvent of Salzeda. Here he practised, indeed, similar austerities, but itwas not long before his high reputation raised him to the post of guardianof the convent. This situation necessarily imposed on him the managementof the institution; and thus the powers of his mind, so long wasted inunprofitable reverie, were again called into exercise for the benefit ofothers. An event which occurred some years later, in 1492, opened to him astill wider sphere of action. 

By the elevation of Talavera to the metropolitan see of Granada, theoffice of queen's confessor became vacant. Cardinal Mendoza, who wasconsulted on the choice of a successor, well knew the importance ofselecting a man of the highest integrity and talent; since the queen'stenderness of conscience led her to take counsel of her confessor, notmerely in regard to her own spiritual concerns, but all the great measuresof her administration. He at once fixed his eye on Ximenes, of whom he hadnever lost sight, indeed, since his first acquaintance with him atSiguenza. He was far from approving his adoption of the monastic life, andhad been heard to say, that "parts so extraordinary would not long beburied in the shades of a convent. " He is said, also, to have predictedthat Ximenes would one day succeed him in the chair of Toledo. Aprediction, which its author contributed more than any other to verify. [17]

He recommended Ximenes in such emphatic terms to the queen, as raised astrong desire in her to see and converse with him herself. An invitationwas accordingly sent him from the cardinal to repair to the court atValladolid, without intimating the real purpose of it. Ximenes obeyed thesummons, and, after a short interview with his early patron, wasconducted, as if without any previous arrangement, to the queen'sapartment. On finding himself so unexpectedly in the royal presence, hebetrayed none of the agitation or embarrassment to have been expected fromthe secluded inmate of a cloister, but exhibited a natural dignity ofmanners, with such discretion and fervent piety, in his replies toIsabella's various interrogatories, as confirmed the favorableprepossessions she had derived from the cardinal. 

Not many days after, Ximenes was invited to take charge of the queen'sconscience. Far from appearing elated by this mark of royal favor, and theprospects of advancement which it opened, he seemed to view it withdisquietude, as likely to interrupt the peaceful tenor of his religiousduties; and he accepted it only with the understanding, that he should beallowed to conform in every respect to the obligations of his order, andto remain in his own monastery when his official functions did not requireattendance at court. [18]

Martyr, in more than one of his letters dated at this time, notices theimpression made on the courtiers by the remarkable appearance of the newconfessor, in whose wasted frame, and pallid, care-worn countenance, theyseemed to behold one of the primitive anchorites from the deserts of Syriaor Egypt. [19] The austerities and the blameless purity of Ximenes's lifehad given him a reputation for sanctity throughout Spain; [20] and Martyrindulges the regret, that a virtue, which had stood so many trials, shouldbe exposed to the worst of all, in the seductive blandishments of a court. But Ximenes's heart had been steeled by too stern a discipline to be movedby the fascinations of pleasure, however it might be by those of ambition. 

Two years after this event, he was elected provincial of his order inCastile, which placed him at the head of its numerous religiousestablishments. In his frequent journeys for their inspection he travelledon foot, supporting himself by begging alms, conformably to the rules ofhis order. On his return he made a very unfavorable report to the queen ofthe condition of the various institutions, most of which he represented tohave grievously relaxed in discipline and virtue. Contemporary accountscorroborate this unfavorable picture, and accuse the religious communitiesof both sexes throughout Spain, at this period, of wasting their hours, not merely in unprofitable sloth, but in luxury and licentiousness. TheFranciscans, in particular, had so far swerved from the obligations oftheir institute, which interdicted the possession of property of anydescription, that they owned large estates in town and country, living instately edifices, and in a style of prodigal expense not surpassed by anyof the monastic orders. Those who indulged in this latitude were called_conventuals_, while the comparatively small number who put the strictestconstruction on the rule of their founder were denominated_observantines_, or brethren of the observance. Ximenes, it will beremembered, was one of the latter. [21]

The Spanish sovereigns had long witnessed with deep regret the scandalousabuses which had crept into these ancient institutions, and had employedcommissioners for investigating and reforming them, but ineffectually. Isabella now gladly availed herself of the assistance of her confessor inbringing them into a better state of discipline. In the course of the sameyear, 1494, she obtained a bull with full authority for this purpose fromAlexander the Sixth, the execution of which she intrusted to Ximenes. Thework of reform required all the energies of his powerful mind, backed bythe royal authority. For, in addition to the obvious difficulty ofpersuading men to resign the good things of this world for a life ofpenance and mortification, there were other impediments, arising from thecircumstance that the conventuals had been countenanced in their laxinterpretation of the rules of their order by many of their own superiors, and even the popes themselves. They were besides sustained in theiropposition by many of the great lords, who were apprehensive that the richchapels and masses, which they or their ancestors had founded in thevarious monasteries, would be neglected by the observantines, whosescrupulous adherence to the vow of poverty excluded them from what, inchurch as well as state, is too often found the most cogent incentive tothe performance of duty. [22]

From these various causes, the work of reform went on slowly; but theuntiring exertions of Ximenes gradually effected its adoption in manyestablishments; and, where fair means could not prevail, he sometimesresorted to force. The monks of one of the convents in Toledo, beingejected from their dwelling, in consequence of their pertinaciousresistance, marched out in solemn procession, with the crucifix beforethem, chanting, at the same time, the psalm _De exitu Israel_, intoken of their persecution. Isabella resorted to milder methods. Shevisited many of the nunneries in person, taking her needle or distaff withher, and endeavoring by her conversation and example to withdraw theirinmates from the low and frivolous pleasures to which they were addicted. [23]

While the reformation was thus silently going forward, the vacancy in thearchbishopric of Toledo already noticed occurred by the death of the grandcardinal. Isabella deeply felt the responsibility of providing a suitableperson to this dignity, the most considerable not merely in Spain, butprobably in Christendom, after the papacy; and which, moreover, raised itspossessor to eminent political rank, as high chancellor of Castile. [24]The right of nomination to benefices was vested in the queen by theoriginal settlement of the crown. She had uniformly discharged this trustwith the most conscientious impartiality, conferring the honors of thechurch on none but persons of approved piety and learning. [25] In thepresent instance, she was strongly solicited by Ferdinand, in favor of hisnatural son Alfonso, archbishop of Saragossa. But this prelate, althoughnot devoid of talent, had neither the age nor experience, and still lessthe exemplary morals, demanded for this important station; and the queenmildly, but unhesitatingly, resisted all entreaty and expostulation of herhusband on his behalf. [26]

The post had always been filled by men of high family. The queen, loath todepart from this usage, notwithstanding the dying admonition of Mendoza, turned her eyes on various candidates before she determined in favor ofher own confessor, whose character presented so rare a combination oftalent and virtue, as amply compensated any deficiency of birth. 

As soon as the papal bull reached Castile, confirming the royalnomination, Isabella summoned Ximenes to her presence, and, delivering tohim the parcel, requested him to open it before her. The confessor, whohad no suspicion of their real purport, took the letters and devoutlypressed them to his lips; when his eye falling on the superscription, "Toour venerable brother Francisco Ximenez de Cisneros, archbishop elect ofToledo, " he changed color, and involuntarily dropped the packet from hishands, exclaiming, "There is some mistake in this; it cannot be intendedfor me;" and abruptly quitted the apartment. 

The queen, far from taking umbrage at this unceremonious proceeding, waited a while, until the first emotions of surprise should have subsided. Finding that he did not return, however, she despatched two of thegrandees, who she thought would have the most influence with him, to seekhim out and persuade him to accept the office. The nobles instantlyrepaired to his convent in Madrid, in which city the queen then kept hercourt. They found, however, that he had already left the place. Havingascertained his route, they mounted their horses, and, following as fastas possible, succeeded in overtaking him at three leagues' distance fromthe city, as he was travelling on foot at a rapid rate, though in thenoontide heat, on his way to the Franciscan monastery at Ocana. 

After a brief expostulation with Ximenes on his abrupt departure, theyprevailed on him to retrace his steps to Madrid; but, upon his arrivalthere, neither the arguments nor entreaties of his friends, backed as theywere 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 quietpractice of his monastic duties; and it was too late now to call him intopublic life, and impose a charge of such heavy responsibility on him, forwhich he had neither capacity nor inclination. " In this resolution hepertinaciously persisted for more than six months, until a second bull wasobtained from the pope, commanding him no longer to decline an appointmentwhich the church had seen fit to sanction. This left no further room foropposition, and Ximenes acquiesced, though with evident reluctance, in hisadvancement to the first dignity in the kingdom. [27]

There seems to be no good ground for charging Ximenes with hypocrisy inthis singular display of humility. The _nolo episcopal_, indeed, haspassed into a proverb; but his refusal was too long and sturdilymaintained to be reconciled with affectation or insincerity. He was, moreover, at this time, in the sixtieth year of his age, when ambition, though not extinguished, is usually chilled in the human heart. His habitshad been long accommodated to the ascetic duties of the cloister, and histhoughts turned from the business of this world to that beyond the grave. However gratifying the distinguished honor conferred on him might be tohis personal feelings, he might naturally hesitate to exchange the calm, sequestered way of life, to which he had voluntarily devoted himself, forthe turmoil and vexations of the world. 

But, although Ximenes showed no craving for power, it must be confessed hewas by no means diffident in the use of it. One of the very first acts ofhis administration is too characteristic to be omitted. The government ofCazorla, the most considerable place in the gift of the archbishop ofToledo, had been intrusted by the grand cardinal to his younger brotherDon Pedro Hurtado de Mendoza. The friends of this nobleman applied toXimenes to confirm the appointment, reminding him at the same time of hisown obligations to the cardinal, and enforcing their petition by therecommendation which they had obtained from the queen. This was not theway to approach Ximenes, who was jealous of any improper influence overhis own judgment, and, above all, of the too easy abuse of the royalfavor. He was determined, in the outset, effectually to discourage allsuch applications; and he declared, that "the sovereigns might send himback to the cloister again, but that no personal considerations shouldever operate with him in distributing the honors of the church. " Theapplicants, nettled at this response, returned to the queen, complainingin the bitterest terms of the arrogance and ingratitude of the newprimate. Isabella, however, evinced no symptoms of disapprobation, notaltogether displeased, perhaps, with the honest independence of herminister; at any rate, she took no further notice of the affair. [28]

Some time after, the archbishop encountered Mendoza in one of the avenuesof the palace, and, as the latter was turning off to avoid the meeting, hesaluted him with the title of adelantado of Cazorla. Mendoza stared withastonishment at the prelate, who repeated the salutation, assuring him, "that, now he was at full liberty to consult his own judgment, without thesuspicion of any sinister influence, he was happy to restore him to astation, for which he had shown himself well qualified. " It is scarcelynecessary to say, that Ximenes was not importuned after this withsolicitations for office. Indeed, all personal application he affected toregard as of itself sufficient ground for a denial, since it indicated"the want either of merit or of humility in the applicant. " [29]

After his elevation to the primacy, he retained the same simple andaustere manners as before, dispensing his large revenues in public andprivate charities, but regulating his domestic expenditure with theseverest economy, [30] until he was admonished by the Holy See to adopt astate more consonant with the dignity of his office, if he would notdisparage it in popular estimation. In obedience to this, he so farchanged his habits, as to display the usual magnificence of hispredecessors, in all that met the public eye, --his general style ofliving, equipage, and the number and pomp of his retainers; but he relaxednothing of his own personal mortifications. He maintained the sameabstemious diet, amidst all the luxuries of his table. Under his robes ofsilk or costly furs he wore the coarse frock of St. Francis, which he usedto mend with his own hands. He used no linen about his person or bed; andhe slept on a miserable pallet like that used by the monks of hisfraternity, and so contrived as to be concealed from observation under theluxurious couch in which he affected to repose. [31]

As soon as Ximenes entered on the duties of his office, he bent all theenergies of his mind to the consummation of the schemes of reform whichhis royal mistress, as well as himself, had so much at heart. Hisattention was particularly directed to the clergy of his diocese, who hadwidely departed from the rule of St. Augustine, by which they were bound. His attempts at reform, however, excited such a lively dissatisfaction inthis reverend body, that they determined to send one of their own numberto Rome, to prefer their complaints against the archbishop at the papalcourt. [32]

The person selected for this delicate mission was a shrewd and intelligentcanon by the name of Albornoz. It could not be conducted so privately asto escape the knowledge of Ximenes. He was no sooner acquainted with it, than he despatched an officer to the coast, with orders to arrest theemissary. In case he had already embarked, the officer was authorized tofit out a fast sailing vessel, so as to reach Italy, if possible, beforehim. He was at the same time fortified with despatches from the sovereignsto the Spanish minister, Garcilasso de la Vega, to be deliveredimmediately on his arrival. 

The affair turned out as had been foreseen. On arriving at the port, theofficer found the bird had flown. He followed, however, without delay, andhad the good fortune to reach Ostia several days before him. He forwardedhis instructions at once to the Spanish minister, who in pursuance of themcaused Albornoz to be arrested the moment he set foot on shore, and senthim back as a prisoner of state to Spain; where a close confinement fortwo and twenty mouths admonished the worthy canon of the inexpediency ofthwarting the plans of Ximenes. [33]

His attempts at innovation among the regular clergy of his own order wereencountered with more serious opposition. The reform fell most heavily onthe Franciscans, who were interdicted by their rules from holdingproperty, whether as a community, or as individuals; while the members ofother fraternities found some compensation for the surrender of theirprivate fortunes, in the consequent augmentation of those of theirfraternity. There was no one of the religious orders, therefore, in whichthe archbishop experienced such a dogged resistance to his plans, as inhis own. More than a thousand friars, according to some accounts, quittedthe country and passed over to Barbary, preferring rather to live with theinfidel, than conform to the strict letter of their founder's rules. [34]

One account represents the migration as being to Italy and other Christiancountries, where the conventual order was protected; which would seem themost probable, though not the best authenticated, statement of the two. 

The difficulties of the reform were perhaps augmented by the mode in whichit was conducted. Isabella, indeed, used all gentleness and persuasion;[35] but Ximenes carried measures with a high and inexorable hand. He wasnaturally of an austere and arbitrary temper, and the severe trainingwhich he had undergone made him less charitable for the lapses of others;especially of those, who, like himself, had voluntarily incurred theobligations of monastic rule. He was conscious of the rectitude of hisintentions; and, as he identified his own interests with those of thechurch, he regarded all opposition to himself as an offence againstreligion, warranting the most peremptory exertion of power. 

The clamor raised against his proceedings became at length so alarming, that the general of the Franciscans, who resided at Rome, determined toanticipate the regular period of his visit to Castile for inspecting theaffairs of the order. As he was himself a conventual, his prejudices wereof course all enlisted against the measures of reform; and he came overfully resolved to compel Ximenes to abandon it altogether, or toundermine, if possible, his credit and influence at court. But thisfunctionary had neither the talent nor temper requisite for so arduous anundertaking. 

He had not been long in Castile before he was convinced that all his ownpower, as head of the order, would be incompetent to protect it againstthe bold innovations of his provincial, while supported by royalauthority. He demanded, therefore, an audience of the queen, in which hedeclared his sentiments with very little reserve. He expressed hisastonishment that she should have selected an individual for the highestdignity 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 theelegances, but the common courtesies of life; and whose rude manners werenot compensated by any tincture of liberal learning. He deplored themagnitude of the evil, which his intemperate measures had brought on thechurch, but which it was, perhaps, not yet too late to rectify; and heconcluded by admonishing her, that, if she valued her own fame, or theinterests of her soul, she would compel this man of yesterday to abdicatethe office, for which he had proved himself so incompetent, and return tohis original obscurity!

The queen, who listened to this violent harangue with an indignation, thatprompted her more than once to order the speaker from her presence, put arestraint on her feelings, and patiently waited to the end. When he hadfinished, she calmly asked him, "If he was in his senses, and knew whom hewas thus addressing?" "Yes, " replied the enraged friar, "I am in mysenses, and know very well whom I am speaking to;--the queen of Castile, amere handful of dust, like myself!" With these words, he rushed out of theapartment, shutting the door after him with furious violence. [36]

Such impotent bursts of passion could, of course, have no power to turnthe queen from her purpose. The general, however, on his return to Italy, had sufficient address to obtain authority from His Holiness to send acommission of conventuals to Castile, who should be associated withXimenes in the management of the reform. These individuals soon foundthemselves mere ciphers; and, highly offended at the little account whichthe archbishop made of their authority, they preferred such complaints ofhis proceedings to the pontifical court, that Alexander the Sixth wasinduced, with the advice of the college of cardinals, to issue a brief, November 9th, 1496, peremptorily inhibiting the sovereigns from proceedingfurther in the affair, until it had been regularly submitted forexamination to the head of the church. [37]

Isabella, on receiving this unwelcome mandate, instantly sent it toXimenes. The spirit of the latter, however, rose in proportion to theobstacles it had to encounter. He sought only to rally the queen'scourage, beseeching her not to faint in the good work, now that it was sofar advanced, and assuring her that it was already attended with suchbeneficent fruits, as could not fail to secure the protection of Heaven. Isabella, every act of whose administration may be said to have hadreference, more or less remote, to the interests of religion, was aslittle likely as himself to falter in a matter which proposed theseinterests as its direct and only object. She assured her minister that shewould support him in all that was practicable; and she lost no time inpresenting the affair, through her agents, in such a light to the court ofRome, as might work a more favorable disposition in it. In this shesucceeded, though not till after multiplied delays and embarrassments; andsuch ample powers were conceded to Ximenes, in conjunction with theapostolic nuncio, as enabled him to consummate his grand scheme of reform, in defiance of all the efforts of his enemies. [38]

The reformation thus introduced extended to the religious institutions ofvery order equally with his own. It was most searching in its operation, reaching eventually to the moral conduct of the subjects of it, no lessthan the mere points of monastic discipline. As regards the latter; it maybe thought of doubtful benefit to have enforced the rigid interpretationof a rule, founded on the melancholy principle, that the amount ofhappiness in the next world is to be regulated by that of self-inflictedsuffering in this. But it should be remembered, that, howeverobjectionable such a rule may be in itself, yet, where it is voluntarilyassumed as an imperative moral obligation, it cannot be disregardedwithout throwing down the barrier to unbounded license; and that thereassertion of it, under these circumstances, must be a necessarypreliminary to any effectual reform of morals. 

The beneficial changes wrought in this latter particular, which Isabellahad far more at heart than any exterior forms of discipline, are the themeof unqualified panegyric with her contemporaries. [39] The Spanish clergy, as I have before had occasion to remark, were early noted for theirdissolute way of life, which, to a certain extent, seemed to becountenanced by the law itself. [40] This laxity of morals was carried toa most lamentable extent under the last reign, when all orders ofecclesiastics, whether regular or secular, infected probably by thecorrupt example of the court, are represented (we may hope it is anexaggeration) as wallowing in all the excesses of sloth and sensuality. Sodeplorable a pollution of the very sanctuaries of religion could not failto occasion sincere regret to a pure and virtuous mind like Isabella's. The stain had sunk too deep, however, to be readily purged away. Herpersonal example, indeed, and the scrupulous integrity with which shereserved all ecclesiastical preferment for persons of unblemished piety, contributed greatly to bring about an amelioration in the morals of thesecular clergy. But the secluded inmates of the cloister were less open tothese influences; and the work of reform could only be accomplished there, by bringing them back to a reverence for their own institutions, and bythe slow operation of public opinion. 

Notwithstanding the queen's most earnest wishes, it may be doubted whetherthis would have ever been achieved without the co-operation of a man likeXimenes, whose character combined in itself all the essential elements ofa reformer. Happily, Isabella was permitted to see before her death, ifnot the completion, at least the commencement, of a decided amendment inthe morals of the religious orders; an amendment, which, so far from beingtransitory in its character calls forth the most emphatic eulogium from aCastilian writer far in the following century; who, while he laments theirancient laxity, boldly challenges comparison for the religious communitiesof his own country, with those of any other, in temperance, chastity, andexemplary purity of life and conversation. [41]

 * * * * *

The authority on whom the life of Cardinal Ximenes mainly rests, is AlvaroGomez de Castro. He was born in the village of St. Eulalia, near Toledo, in 1515, and received his education at Alcalá, where he obtained greatrepute for his critical acquaintance with the ancient classics. He wasafterwards made professor of the humanities in the university; a situationwhich he filled with credit, but subsequently exchanged for the rhetoricalchair in a school recently founded at Toledo. While thus occupied, he waschosen by the university of Alcalá to pay the most distinguished honor, which could be rendered to the memory of its illustrious founder, by afaithful record of his extraordinary life. The most authentic sources ofinformation were thrown open to him. He obtained an intimate acquaintancewith the private life of the cardinal, from three of his principaldomestics, who furnished abundance of reminiscences from personalobservation, while the archives of the university supplied a mass ofdocuments relating to the public services of its patron. From these andsimilar materials, Gomez prepared his biography, after many years ofpatient labor. The work fully answered public expectation; and its meritsare such as to lead the learned Nic. Antonio to express a doubt, whetheranything more excellent or perfect in its way could be achieved; "quoopere in eo genere an praestantius quidquam aut perfectius, esse possit, non immerito saepe dubitavi. " (Bibliotheca Nova, tom. I. P. 59. ) Theencomium may be thought somewhat excessive; but it cannot be denied, thatthe narrative is written in an easy and natural manner, with fidelity andaccuracy, with commendable liberality of opinion, though with a judgmentsometimes warped into an undue estimate of the qualities of his hero. Itis distinguished, moreover, by such beauty and correctness of Latinity, ashave made it a text-book in many of the schools and colleges of thePeninsula. The first edition, being that used in the present work, waspublished at Alcalá, in 1569. It has since been reprinted twice inGermany, and perhaps elsewhere. Gomez was busily occupied with otherliterary lucubrations during the remainder of his life, and publishedseveral works in Latin prose and verse, both of which he wrote with easeand elegance. He died of a catarrh, in 1580, in the sixty-sixth year ofhis age, leaving behind him a reputation for disinterestedness and virtue, which is sufficiently commemorated in two lines of his epitaph;

 "Nemini unquam sciens nocui, Prodesse quam pluribus curavi. "

The work of Gomez has furnished the basis for all those biographies ofXimenes which have since appeared in Spain. The most important of these, probably, is Quintanilla's; which, with little merit of selection orarrangement, presents a copious mass of details, drawn from every quarterwhence his patient industry could glean them. Its author was a Franciscan, and employed in procuring the beatification of Cardinal Ximenes by thecourt of Rome; a circumstance which probably disposed him to easier faithin the _marvellous_ of his story, than most of his readers will be readyto give. The work was published at Palermo in 1653. 

In addition to these authorities I have availed myself of a curious oldmanuscript, presented to me by Mr. O. Rich, entitled "Suma de la Vida delR. S. Cardenal Don Fr. Francisco Ximenez de Cisneros. " It was writtenwithin half a century after the cardinal's death, by "un criado de la casade Coruña. " The original, in "very ancient letter, " was extant in thearchives of that noble house in Quintanilla's time, and is often cited byhim. (Archetypo, apend. , p. 77. ) Its author evidently had access to thosecontemporary notices, some of which furnished the basis of Castro'snarrative, from which, indeed, it exhibits no material discrepancy. 

The extraordinary character of Ximenes has naturally attracted theattention of foreign writers, and especially the French, who have producedrepeated biographies of him. The most eminent of these is by Fléchier, theeloquent bishop of Nismes. It is written with the simple elegance andperspicuity, which characterize his other compositions; and in the generaltone of its sentiments, on all matters both of church and state, is quiteas orthodox as the most bigoted admirer of the cardinal could desire. Another life, by Marsollier, has obtained a very undeserved repute. Theauthor, not content with the extraordinary qualities really appertainingto his hero, makes him out a sort of universal genius, quite ridiculous, rivalling Molière's Dr. Pancrace himself. One may form some idea of thehistorian's accuracy from the fact, that he refers the commencement andconduct of the war of Granada chiefly to the counsels of Ximenes, who, aswe have seen, was not even introduced at court till after the close of thewar. Marsollier reckoned largely on the ignorance and _gullibility_of his readers. The event proved he was not mistaken. 

FOOTNOTES

[1] Carbajal, Anales, MS. , año 1495. --Salazar de Mendoza, Crón. Del GranCardenal, lib. 2, cap. 45, 46. --Zurita, Anales, tom. V. Fol. 61. --Pulgar, Claros Varones, tit. 4. 

His disorder was an abscess on the kidneys, which confined him to thehouse nearly a year before his death. When this event happened, a whitecross of extraordinary magnitude and splendor, shaped precisely like thaton his arms, was seen in the heavens directly over his house, by a crowdof spectators, for more than two hours; a full account of which was dulytransmitted to Rome by the Spanish court, and has obtained easy creditwith the principal Spanish historians. 

[2] Alvaro Gomez says of him, "Nam praeter clarissimum tum natalium, tumfortunae, tum dignitatis splendorem, quae in ilio ornamenta summa erant, incredibilem animi sublimitatem cum pari morum facilitate, elegantiâqueconjunxerat; ut merito locum in republicâ summo proximum ad supremum usquediem tenuerit. " (De Rebus Gestis, fol. 9. ) Martyr, noticing the cardinal'sdeath, bestows the following brief but comprehensive panegyric on him. "Periit Gonsalus Mendotiae, domûs splendor et lucida fax; periit quemuniversa colebat Hispania, quem exteri etiam principes venerabantur, quemordo cardineus collegam sibi esse gloriabatur. " Opus Epist. , epist. 158. 

[3] Salazar de Mendoza, Crón. Del Gran Cardenal, pp. 263-273, 381-410. 

[4] "Gran varon, y muy experimentado y prudente en negocios, " says Oviedoof the cardinal, "_pero a vueltas de las negociaciones desta vida_, tuvo trés hijos varones, " etc. Then follows a full notice of thisgraceless progeny. Quincuagenas, MS. , bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 8. 

[5] Salazar de Mendoza, Crón. Del Gran Cardenal, lib. 2, cap. 66. 

The doctor Pedro Salazar de Mendoza's biography of his illustriousrelative is a very fair specimen of the Spanish style of book-making inancient times. One event seems to suggest another with about as muchcohesion as the rhymes of "The House that Jack built. " There is scarcely aplace or personage of note, that the grand cardinal was brought in contactwith in the course of his life, whose history is not made the theme ofprofuse dissertation. Nearly fifty chapters are taken up, for example, with the distinguished men, who graduated at the college of Santa Cruz. 

[6] "Non hoc, " says Tacitus with truth, "praecipuum amicorum munus est, prosequi defunctum ignavo questu; sed quae voluerit meminisse, quaemandaverit exsequi. " Annales, lib. 2, sect. 71. 

[7] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist. , epist. 143. --Carbajal, Anales, MS. , año1494. --Salazar de Mendoza, Crón. 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 theiroffspring by casting them into wells and pits, or exposing them in desertplaces to die of famine. "_The more compassionate_, " he observes, "laidthem at the doors of churches, where they were too often worried todeath by dogs and other animals. " The grand cardinal's nephew, who foundeda similar institution, is said to have furnished an asylum in the courseof his life to no less than 13, 000 of these little victims! Ibid. , cap. 61. 

[8] Salazar de Mendoza, Crón, del Gran Cardenal, lib. 2, cap. 46. --Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 8. 

The dying cardinal is said to have recommended, among other things, thatthe queen should repair any wrong done to Joanna Beltraneja, by marryingher with the young prince of the Asturias; which suggestion was so littleto Isabella's taste that she broke off the conversation, saying, "the goodman wandered and talked nonsense. "

[9] It is singular, that Fiddlier should have blundered some twenty yearsin the date of Ximenes's birth, which he makes 1457. (Hist. De Ximenés, liv. 1, p. 3. ) It is not singular, that Marsollier should. Histoire duMinistère du Cardinal Ximenez, (Toulouse, 1694, ) liv. 1, p. 3. 

[10] The honorable extraction of Ximenes is intimated in Juan Vergara'sverses at the end of the Complutensian Polyglot:

 "Nomine Cisnerius clarâ de stirpe parentum, Et meritis factus clarior ipse suis. "

Fray Pedro de Quintanilla y Mendoza makes a goodly genealogical tree forhis hero, of which King Pelayo, King Pepin, Charlemagne, and other royalworthies are the respectable roots. (Proemia Dedicatoria, pp. 5-35. )According to Gonzalo de Oviedo, his father was a poor hidalgo, who, havingspent his little substance on the education of his children, was obligedto take up the profession of an advocate. Quincuagenas, MS. 

[11] Quintanilla, Archetypo, p. 6. --Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, Ximen. , fol. 2. --Idem, Miscellanear. , MS. , ex Bibliothecâ, Regiâ Matritensi, tom. Ii. Fol. 189. 

[12] Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 2. --Idem, Miscellanear. , MS. , ubisupra. --Eugenio de Robles, Compendio de la Vida y Hazañas del Cardenal DonFray Francisco Ximenez de Cisneros, (Toledo, 1604, ) cap. 11. 

[13] Quintanilla, Archetype, pp. 8, 10. --Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 2. --Fléchier, Hist. De Ximenés, pp. 8-10. --Suma de la Vida del R. S. CardenalDon Fr. Francisco Ximenez de Cisneros, sacada de los Memoriales de Juan deVallejo, Paje de CEamara, è de algunas Personas que en su Tiempo lovieron: para la Ilustrisima Señora Doña Catalina de la Zerda, Condesa deCoruña, a quien Dios guarde, y de su Gracia, por un Criado de su Casa, MS. 

[14] Suma de la Vida de Cisneros, MS. --Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 3. --Robles, Vida de Ximenez, cap. 11. --Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS. , dial, deXimeni. 

[15] Quintanilla, Archetypo, p. Ll. --Gomez, Miscellanear. , MS. , ubisupra. --Idem, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 4. 

This edifice, says Salazar de Mendoza, in respect to its sacristy, choir, cloisters, library, etc. , was the most sumptuous and noted of its time. Itwas originally destined by the Catholic sovereigns for their place ofsepulture; an honor afterwards reserved for Granada, on its recovery fromthe infidels. The great chapel was garnished with the fetters taken fromthe dungeons of Malaga, in which the Moors confined their Christiancaptives. Monarquía, tom. I. P. 410. 

[16] Fléchier, Hist. De Ximenés, p. 14. --Quintanilla, Archetype, pp. 13, 14. --Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 4. --Suma de la Vida de Cisneros, MS. --Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS. 

[17] Salazar de Mendoza, Crón. Del Gran Cardenal, lib. 2, cap. 63. --Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 4. --Suma de la Vida de Cisneros, MS. --Robles, Vidade Ximenez, cap. 12. 

[18] Fléchier, Hist. De Ximenés, pp. 18, 19. --Peter Martyr, Opus Epist. , epist. 108. --Robles, Vida de Ximenez, ubi supra. --Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS. 

[19] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist. , epist. 108. 

"Praeterea, " says Martyr, in a letter to Don Fernando Alvarez, one of theroyal secretaries, "nonne tu sanotissimum quendam virum à, solitudineabstrusisque silvis, macie ob abstinentiam confectum, relicti Granatensisloco fuisse suffactum, scriptitasti? In istius facie obdnctâ, nonneHilarionis te imaginem aut primi Pauli vultum conspexisse fateris?" OpusEpist. , epist. 105. 

[20] "Todos hablaban, " says Oviedo, "de la sanctimonia é vida de estereligioso. " The same writer says, that he saw him at Medina del Campo, in1494, in a solemn procession, on the day of Corpus Christi, his body muchemaciated, and walking barefooted in his coarse friar's dress. In the sameprocession was the magnificent cardinal of Spain, little dreaming how soonhis proud honors were to descend on the head of his more humble companion. Quincuagenas, MS. 

[21] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 201. --Suma de la Vida deCisneros, MS. --Mosheim, Ecclesiastical History, vol. Iii. Cent. 14, p. 2. --Peter Martyr, Opus Epist. , epist. 163. --L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 165. --Oviedo, Epilogo Real, Imperial y Pontifical, MS. , apud Mem. Dela Acad. De Hist. , tom. Vi. Ilust. 8. --Zurita, Hist. Del Rey Hernando, lib. 3, cap. 15. 

[22] Fléchier, Hist. De Ximenés, pp. 25, 26. --Quintanilla, Archetypo, pp. 21, 22. --Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 6, 7. --Robles, Vida de Ximenez, cap. 12. 

[23] Fléchier, Hist. De Ximenes, p. 25. --Quintanilla, Archetypo, lib. 1, cap. Ll. --Mem. De la Acad. De Hist. , tom. Vi. Ilust. 8--Robles, Vida deXimenez, ubi supra. 

[24] Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS. , bat. 1, quinc. 2, dial. 1. --Ferdinand andIsabella annexed the dignity of high chancellor in perpetuity to that ofarchbishop of Toledo. It seems, however, at least in later times, to havebeen a mere honorary title. (Mendoza, Dignidades, lib. 2, cap. 8. ) Therevenues of the archbishopric at the beginning of the sixteenth centuryamounted to 80, 000 ducats, (Navagiero, Viaggio, fol. 9. --L. Marineo, CosasMemorables, fol. 23, ) equivalent to about 702, 200 dollars at the presentday. See Introd. , Sect. I. Note 63, of this History. 

[25] "De mas desto, " says Lucio Marineo, "tenia por costumbre que quandoavia de dar alguna dignidad, o obispado, mas mirava en virtud, honestidad, y sciencia de las personas, que las riquezas, y generosidad, aun quefuessen sus deudos. Lo qual fue causa que muchos de los que hablavan poco, y tenian los cabellos mas cortos que las cejas; comenparon a traer losojos baxos mirando la tierra, y andar con mas gravedad, y hazer mejorvida, zimulando por venture algunos mas la virtud, que exercitando la. "(Cosas Memorables, fol. 182. ) "L'hypocrisie est l'hommage que le vice rendà la vertu. " The maxim is now somewhat stale, like most others of itsprofound author. 

[26] Quintanilla, Archetype, lib. 1, cap. 16. --Salazar de Mendoza, Crón. Del Gran Cardenal, lib. 2, cap. 65. This prelate was at this time onlytwenty-four years of age. He had been raised to the see of Saragossa whenonly six. This strange abuse of preferring infants to the highestdignities of the church seems to have prevailed in Castile as well asAragon; for the tombs of five archdeacons might be seen in the church ofMadre de Dios at Toledo, in Salazar's time, whose united ages amountedonly to thirty years. See Crón. Del Gran Cardenal, ubi supra. 

[27] Garibay, Compendio, tom. Ii. Lib. 19, cap. 4. --Mariana, Hist. DeEspaña, tom. Ii. Lib. 26, cap. 7. --Suma de la Vida de Cisneros, MS. --Quintanilla, Archetype, lib. 1, cap. 16. --Gomez, De rebus Gestis, fol. 11. --Carbajal, Anales, MS. , año 1495. --Robles, Vida de Ximenez, cap. 13. --Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS. 

[28] Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 11. 

[29] Ibid. , ubi supra. --Robles, Vida de Ximenez, cap. 13, 14. 

[30] "He kept five or six friars of his order, " says Gonzalo de Oviedo, "in his palace with him, and as many asses in his stables; but the latterall grew sleek and fat, for the archbishop would not ride himself, norallow his brethren to ride either. " Quincuagenas, MS. 

[31] Suma de la Vida de Cisneros, MS. --Quintanilla, Archetype, lib. 2, cap. 8, 9. --Gomez, de Rebus Gestis, fol. 12. --Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS. --Robles, Vida de Ximenez, cap. 13. 

[32] Gomez de Rebus Gestis, fol. 16. The Venetian 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, beingespecial favorites with the ladies, dwelling in stately mansions, passing, in short, the most agreeable lives in the world, without any one totrouble them. " Viaggio, fol. 9. 

[33] Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 17. 

[34] Quintanilla, Archetype, pp. 22, 23. --Mem. De la Acad. De Hist. , tom. Vi. P. 201. --Zurita, Hist. Del Rey Hernando, lib. 3, cap. 15. 

[35] "Trataba las monjas, " say Riol, "con un agrado y amor tan cariñoso, que las robaba los corazones, y hecha dueña de ellas, las persuadia nonsuavidad y eficacia á que votasen clausura. Y es cosa admirable, que rarofue el conventu donde entró esta celebre heroina, donde no lograse en elpropio dia el efecto de su santo deseo. " Informe, apud Semanario Erudito, tom. Iii. P. 110. 

[36] Fléchier, Hist. De Ximenes, pp. 56, 58. --Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 14. --Zurita, Hist. Del Rey Hernando, lib. 3, cap. 15. --Robles, Vida deXimenez, cap. 13. 

[37] Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 23. --Quintanilla, Archetypo, lib. 1, cap. 11. 

[38] Quintanilla, Archetypo, lib. 1, cap. 13-14. --Riol discusses thevarious monastic reforms effected by Ximenes, in his Memorial to PhilipV. , apud Semanario Erudito, tom. Iii. Pp. 102-110. 

[39] L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 165. --Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 201. --et al. 

[40] The practice of concubinage by the clergy was fully recognized, andthe ancient _fueros_ of Castile permitted their issue to inherit theestates of such parents as died intestate. (See Marina, Ensayo Histórico-Crítico sobre la Antigua Legislacion de Castilla, (Madrid, 1808, ) p. 154. )The effrontery of these legalized strumpets, _barraganas_, as theywere called, was at length so intolerable as to call for repeated laws, regulating their apparel, and prescribing a badge for distinguishing themfrom honest women. (Sempere, Hist. Del Luxo, tom. I. Pp. 165-169. ) Spainis probably the only country in Christendom, where concubinage was eversanctioned by law; a circumstance doubtless imputable, in some measure, tothe influence of the Mahometans. 

[41] Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 23. 

CHAPTER VI. 

XIMENES IN GRANADA--PERSECUTION, INSURRECTION, AND CONVERSION OF THEMOORS. 

1499-1500. 

Tranquil State of Granada. --Mild Policy of Talavera. --Clergy Dissatisfiedwith it. --Violent Measures of Ximenes. --His Fanaticism. --Its MischievousEffects. --Insurrection in Granada. --Tranquillity Restored. --Baptism of theInhabitants. 

Moral energy, or constancy of purpose, seems to be less properly anindependent power of the mind than a mode of action, by which its variouspowers operate with effect. But, however this may be, it enters morelargely, perhaps, than mere talent, as commonly understood, into theformation of what is called character, and is often confounded by thevulgar with talent of the highest order. In the ordinary concerns of life, indeed, it is more serviceable than brilliant parts; while, in the moreimportant, these latter are of little weight without it, evaporating onlyin brief and barren flashes, which may dazzle the eye by their splendor, but pass away and are forgotten. 

The importance of moral energy is felt not only, where it would beexpected, in the concerns of active life, but in those more exclusively ofan intellectual character, in deliberative assemblies, for example, wheretalent, as usually understood, might be supposed to assert an absolutesupremacy, but where it is invariably made to bend to the controllinginfluence of this principle. No man destitute of it can be the leader of aparty; while there are few leaders, probably, who do not number in theirranks minds from which they would be compelled to shrink in a contest forpurely intellectual pre-eminence. 

This energy of purpose presents itself in a yet more imposing form whenstimulated by some intense passion, as ambition, or the nobler principleof patriotism or religion; when the soul, spurning vulgar considerationsof 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 loosensitself from the gross ties which bind it to earth, and, however humble itspowers 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 thepotent principles above mentioned, that this moral energy conveys an imageof power, which approaches, nearer than anything else on earth, to that ofa divine intelligence. It is, indeed, such agents that Providence selectsfor the accomplishment of those great revolutions, by which the world isshaken to its foundations, new and more beautiful systems created, and thehuman mind carried forward at a single stride, in the career ofimprovement, further than it had advanced for centuries. It must, indeed, be confessed, that this powerful agency is sometimes for evil, as well asfor good. It is this same impulse, which spurs guilty Ambition along hisbloody track, and which arms the hand of the patriot sternly to resisthim; which glows with holy fervor in the bosom of the martyr, and whichlights up the fires of persecution, by which he is to win his crown ofglory. The direction of the impulse, differing in the same individualunder different circumstances, can alone determine whether he shall be thescourge or the benefactor of his species. 

These reflections have been suggested by the character of theextraordinary person brought forward in the preceding chapter, Ximenes deCisneros, and the new and less advantageous aspect, in which he must nowappear to the reader. Inflexible constancy of purpose formed, perhaps, themost prominent trait of his remarkable character. What direction it mighthave received under other circumstances it is impossible to say. It wouldbe no great stretch of fancy to imagine, that the unyielding spirit, whichin its early days could voluntarily endure years of imprisonment, ratherthan submit to an act of ecclesiastical oppression, might under similarinfluences have been aroused, like Luther's, to shake down the ancientpillars of Catholicism, instead of lending all its strength to upholdthem. The latter position, however, would seem better assimilated to theconstitution of his mind, whose sombre enthusiasm naturally prepared himfor the vague and mysterious in the Romish faith, as his inflexible temperdid for its bold and arrogant dogmas. At any rate, it was to this cause hedevoted the whole strength of his talents and commanding energies. 

We have seen, in the preceding chapter, with what promptness he entered onthe reform of religious discipline, as soon as he came into office, andwith what pertinacity he pursued it, in contempt of all personal interestand popularity. We are now to see him with similar zeal devoting himselfto the extirpation of heresy; with contempt not merely of personalconsequences, but also of the most obvious principles of good faith andnational honor. 

Nearly eight years had elapsed since the conquest of Granada, and thesubjugated kingdom continued to repose in peaceful security under theshadow of the treaty, which guaranteed the unmolested enjoyment of itsancient laws and religion. This unbroken continuance of publictranquillity, especially difficult to be maintained among the jarringelements of the capital, whose motley population of Moors, renegades, andChristians suggested perpetual points of collision, must be chieflyreferred to the discreet and temperate conduct of the two individuals whomIsabella had charged with the civil and ecclesiastical government. Thesewere Mendoza, count of Tendilla, and Talavera, archbishop of Granada. 

The former, the brightest ornament of his illustrious house, has beenbefore made known to the reader by his various important services, bothmilitary and diplomatic. Immediately after the conquest of Granada he wasmade alcayde and captain general of the kingdom, a post for which he wasevery way qualified by his prudence, firmness, enlightened views, and longexperience. [1]

The latter personage, of more humble extraction, [2] was Fray Fernando deTalavera, a Hieronymite monk, who, having been twenty years prior of themonastery of Santa Maria del Prado, near Valladolid, was made confessor ofQueen Isabella, and afterwards of the king. This situation necessarilygave him considerable influence in all public measures. If the keeping ofthe royal conscience could be safely intrusted to any one, it mightcertainly be to this estimable prelate, equally distinguished for hislearning, amiable manners, and unblemished piety; and, if his characterwas somewhat tainted with bigotry, it was in so mild a form, so fartempered by the natural benevolence of his disposition, as to make afavorable contrast to the dominant spirit of the time. [3]

After the conquest, he exchanged the bishopric of Avila for thearchiepiscopal see of Granada. Notwithstanding the wishes of thesovereigns, he refused to accept any increase of emolument in this new andmore exalted station. His revenues, indeed, which amounted to two millionsof maravedies annually, were somewhat less than he before enjoyed. [4] Thegreater part of this sum he liberally expended on public improvements andworks of charity; objects, which, to their credit be it spoken, haverarely failed to engage a large share of the attention and resources ofthe higher Spanish clergy. [5]

The subject which pressed most seriously on the mind of the goodarchbishop, was the conversion of the Moors, whose spiritual blindness heregarded with feelings of tenderness and charity, very different fromthose entertained by most of his reverend brethren. He proposed toaccomplish this by the most rational method possible. Though late in life, he set about learning Arabic, that he might communicate with the Moors intheir own language, and commanded his clergy to do the same. [6] He causedan Arabic vocabulary, grammar, and catechism to be compiled; and a versionin the same tongue to be made of the liturgy, comprehending the selectionsfrom the Gospels; and proposed to extend this at some future time to thewhole body of the Scriptures. [7] Thus unsealing the sacred oracles whichhad been hitherto shut out from their sight, he opened to them the onlytrue sources of Christian knowledge; and, by endeavoring to effect theirconversion through the medium of their understandings, instead of seducingtheir imaginations with a vain show of ostentatious ceremonies, proposedthe only method by which conversion could be sincere and permanent. 

These wise and benevolent measures of the good prelate, recommended, asthey were, by the most exemplary purity of life, acquired him greatauthority among the Moors, who, estimating the value of the doctrine byits fruits, were well inclined to listen to it, and numbers were dailyadded to the church. [8]

The progress of proselytism, however, was necessarily slow and painfulamong a people reared from the cradle, not merely in antipathy to, butabhorrence of, Christianity; who were severed from the Christian communityby strong dissimilarity of language, habits, and institutions; and nowindissolubly knit together by a common sense of national misfortune. Manyof the more zealous clergy and religious persons, conceiving, indeed, thisbarrier altogether insurmountable, were desirous of seeing it swept awayat once by the strong arm of power. They represented to the sovereigns, that it seemed like insensibility to the goodness of Providence, which haddelivered the infidels into their hands, to allow them any longer to usurpthe fair inheritance of the Christians, and that the whole of the stiff-necked race of Mahomet might justly be required to submit withoutexception to instant baptism, or to sell their estates and remove toAfrica. This, they maintained, could be scarcely regarded as aninfringement of the treaty, since the Moors would be so great gainers onthe score of their eternal salvation; to say nothing of theindispensableness of such a measure to the permanent tranquillity andsecurity of the kingdom. [9]

But these considerations, "just and holy as they were, " to borrow thewords of a devout Spaniard, [10] failed to convince the sovereigns, whoresolved to abide by their royal word, and to trust to the conciliatorymeasures now in progress, and a longer and more intimate intercourse withthe Christians, as the only legitimate means for accomplishing theirobject. Accordingly, we find the various public ordinances, as low down as1499, recognizing this principle, by the respect which they show for themost trivial usages of the Moors, [11] and by their sanctioning no otherstimulant to conversion than the amelioration of their condition. [12]Among those in favor of more active measures was Ximenes, archbishop ofToledo. Having followed the court to Granada in the autumn of 1499, hetook the occasion to communicate his views to Talavera, the archbishop, requesting leave at the same time to participate with him in his labor oflove; to which the latter, willing to strengthen himself by so efficientan ally, modestly assented. Ferdinand and Isabella soon after removed toSeville; but, before their departure, enjoined on the prelates to observethe temperate policy hitherto pursued, and to beware of giving anyoccasion for discontent to the Moors. [13]

No sooner had the sovereigns left the city, than Ximenes invited some ofthe leading _alfaquies_, or Mussulman doctors, to a conference, inwhich he expounded, with all the eloquence at his command, the truefoundations of the Christian faith, and the errors of their own; and, thathis teaching might be the more palatable, enforced it by liberal presents, consisting mostly of rich and costly articles of dress, of which the Moorswere at all times exceedingly fond. This policy he pursued for some time, till the effect became visible. Whether the preaching or presents of thearchbishop had most weight, does not appear. [14] It is probable, however, that the Moorish doctors found conversion a much more pleasant andprofitable business than they had anticipated; for they one after anotherdeclared their conviction of their errors, and their willingness toreceive baptism. The example of these learned persons was soon followed bygreat numbers of their illiterate disciples, insomuch that no less thanfour thousand are said to have presented themselves in one day forbaptism; 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 consecrateddrops from a mop, or hyssop, as it was called, which he twirled over theheads of the multitude. [15]

So far all went on prosperously; and the eloquence and largesses of thearchbishop, which latter he lavished so freely as to encumber his revenuesfor several years to come, brought crowds of proselytes to the Christianfold. [16] There were some, indeed, among the Mahometans, who regardedthese proceedings as repugnant, if not to the letter, at least to thespirit of the original treaty of capitulation; which seemed intended toprovide, not only against the employment of force, but of any undueincentive to conversion. [17] Several of the more sturdy, including someof the principal citizens, exerted their efforts to stay the tide ofdefection, which threatened soon to swallow up the whole population of thecity. But Ximenes, whose zeal had mounted up to fever heat in theexcitement of success, was not to be cooled by any opposition, howeverformidable; and if he had hitherto respected the letter of the treaty, henow showed himself to be prepared to trample on letter and spiritindifferently, 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 greatconsideration. Ximenes having exhausted all his usual artillery ofarguments and presents on this obdurate infidel, had him taken intocustody by one of his officers named Leon, "a lion, " says a punninghistorian, "by nature as well as by name, " [18] and commanded the latterto take such measures with his prisoner, as would clear the film from hiseyes. This faithful functionary executed his orders so effectually, that, after a few days of fasting, fetters, and imprisonment, he was able topresent his charge to his employer, penitent to all outward appearance, and with an humble mien strongly contreating with his former proud andlofty bearing. After the most respectful obeisance to the archbishop, Zegri informed him, that "on the preceding night he had had a revelationfrom Allah, who had condescended to show him the error of his ways, andcommanded him to receive instant baptism;" at the same time, pointing tohis jailer, he "jocularly" remarked, "Your reverence has only to turn thislion of yours loose among the people, and my word for it, there will notbe a Mussulman left many days within the walls of Granada. " [19] "Thus, "exclaims the devout Ferreras, "did Providence avail itself of the darknessof the dungeon to pour on the benighted minds of the infidel the light ofthe true faith!" [20]

The work of proselytism now went on apace; for terror was added to theother stimulants. The zealous propagandist, in the mean while, flushedwith success, resolved not only to exterminate infidelity, but the verycharacters in which its teachings were recorded. He accordingly caused allthe Arabic manuscripts which he could procure to be heaped together in acommon pile in one of the great squares of the city. The largest part werecopies of the Koran, or works in some way or other connected withtheology; with many others, however, on various scientific subjects. Theywere beautifully executed, for the most part, as to their chirography, andsumptuously bound and decorated; for, in all relating to the mechanicalfinishing, the Spanish Arabs excelled every people in Europe. But neithersplendor of outward garniture, nor intrinsic merit of composition, couldatone for the taint of heresy in the eye of the stern inquisitor; hereserved for his university of Alcalá three hundred works, indeed, relating to medical science, in which the Moors were as pre-eminent inthat day as the Europeans were deficient; but all the rest, amounting tomany thousands, [21] he consigned to indiscriminate conflagration. [22]

This melancholy _auto da fe_, it will be recollected, was celebrated, not by an unlettered barbarian, but by a cultivated prelate, who was atthat very time actively employing his large revenues in the publication ofthe most stupendous literary work of the age, and in the endowment of themost learned university in Spain. [23] It took place, not in the darknessof the Middle Ages, but in the dawn of the sixteenth century, and in themidst of an enlightened nation, deeply indebted for its own progress tothese very stores of Arabian wisdom. It forms a counterpart to the imputedsacrilege of Omar, [24] eight centuries before, and shows that bigotry isthe same in every faith and every age. 

The mischief occasioned by this act, far from being limited to theimmediate loss, continued to be felt still more severely in itsconsequences. Such as could, secreted the manuscripts in their possessiontill an opportunity occurred for conveying them out of the country; andmany thousands in this way were privately shipped over to Barbary. [25]Thus Arabian literature became rare in the libraries of the very countryto which it was indigenous; the Arabic scholarship, once so flourishing inSpain, and that too in far less polished ages, gradually fell into decayfrom want of aliment to sustain it. Such were the melancholy results ofthis literary persecution; more mischievous, in one view, than even thatdirected against life; for the loss of an individual will scarcely be feltbeyond 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 toall future time. 

The high hand with which Ximenes now carried measures, excited seriousalarm in many of the more discreet and temperate Castilians in the city. They besought him to use greater forbearance, remonstrating against hisobvious violations of the treaty, as well as against the expediency offorced 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 thesoul were at stake; that the unbeliever, if he could not be drawn, shouldbe driven, into the way of salvation; and that it was no time to stay thehand, when the ruins of Mahometanism were tottering to their foundations. "He accordingly went on with unflinching resolution. [26]

But the patience of the Moors themselves, which had held out somarvellously under this system of oppression, began now to be exhausted. Many signs of this might be discerned by much less acute optics than thoseof the archbishop; but his were blinded by the arrogance of success. Atlength, in this inflammable state of public feeling, an incident occurredwhich led to a general explosion. 

Three of Ximenes's servants were sent on some business to the Albayein, aquarter inhabited exclusively by Moors, and encompassed by walls whichseparated it from the rest of the city. [27] These men had made themselvespeculiarly odious to the people by their activity in their master'sservice. A dispute, having arisen between them and some inhabitants of thequarter, came at last to blows, when two of the servants were massacred onthe spot, and their comrade escaped with difficulty from the infuriatedmob. [28] The affair operated as the signal for insurrection. Theinhabitants of the district ran to arms, got possession of the gates, barricaded the streets, and in a few hours the whole Albayein was inrebellion. [29]

In the course of the following night, a large number of the enragedpopulace made their way into the city to the quarters of Ximenes, with thepurpose of taking summary vengeance on his head for all his persecutions. Fortunately, his palace was strong, and defended by numerous resolute andwell-armed attendants. The latter, at the approach of the rioters, implored their master to make his escape, if possible, to the fortress ofthe Alhambra, where the count of Tendilla was established. But theintrepid prelate, who held life too cheap to be a coward, exclaimed, "Godforbid I should think of my own safety, when so many of the faithful areperilling theirs! No, I will stand to my post and wait there, if Heavenwills it, the crown of martyrdom. " [30] It must be confessed he welldeserved it. 

The building, however, proved too strong for the utmost efforts of themob; and, at length, after some hours of awful suspense and agitation tothe beleaguered inmates, the count of Tendilla arrived in person at thehead of his guards, and succeeded in dispersing the insurgents, anddriving them back to their own quarters. But no exertions could restoreorder to the tumultuous populace, or induce them to listen to terms; andthey even stoned the messenger charged with pacific proposals from thecount of Tendilla. They organized themselves under leaders, provided arms, and took every possible means for maintaining their defence. It seemed asif, smitten with the recollections of ancient liberty, they were resolvedto recover it again at all hazards. [31] At length, after this disorderlystate of things had lasted for several days, Talavera, the archbishop ofGranada, resolved to try the effect of his personal influence, hitherto sogreat with the Moors, by visiting himself the disaffected quarter. Thisnoble purpose he put in execution, in spite of the most earnestremonstrances of his friends. He was attended only by his chaplain, bearing the crucifix before him, and a few of his domestics, on foot andunarmed like himself. At the site of their venerable pastor, with hiscountenance beaming with the same serene and benign expression with whichthey were familiar when listening to his exhortations from the pulpit, thepassions of the multitude were stilled. Every one seemed willing toabandon himself to the tender recollections of the past; and the simplepeople crowded around the good man, kneeling down and kissing the hem ofhis robe, as if to implore his benediction. The count of Tendilla nosooner learned the issue, than he followed into the Albayein, attended bya handful of soldiers. When he had reached the place where the mob wasgathered, he threw his bonnet into the midst of them, in token of hispacific intentions. The action was received with acclamations, and thepeople, whose feelings had now taken another direction, recalled by hispresence to the recollection of his uniformly mild and equitable rule, treated him with similar respect to that shown the archbishop of Granada. [32]

These two individuals took advantage of this favorable change of feelingto expostulate with the Moors on the folly and desperation of theirconduct, which must involve them in a struggle with such overwhelming oddsas that of the whole Spanish monarchy. They implored them to lay downtheir arms and return to their duty, in which event they pledgedthemselves, as far as in their power, to allow no further repetition ofthe grievances complained of, and to intercede for their pardon with thesovereigns. The count testified his sincerity, by leaving his wife and twochildren as hostages in the heart of the Albayein; an act which must beadmitted to imply unbounded confidence in the integrity of the Moors. [33]These various measures, backed, moreover, by the counsels and authority ofsome of the chief alfaquis, had the effect to restore tranquillity amongthe people, who, laying aside their hostile preparations, returned oncemore to their regular employments. [34]

The rumor of the insurrection, in the mean while, with the usualexaggeration, reached Seville, where the court was then residing. In onerespect rumor did justice, by imputing the whole blame of the affair tothe intemperate zeal of Ximenes. That personage, with his usualpromptness, had sent early notice of the affair to the queen by a negroslave uncommonly fleet of foot. But the fellow had become intoxicated bythe way, and the court were several days without any more authentictidings than general report. The king, who always regarded Ximenes'selevation to the primacy, to the prejudice, as the reader may remember, ofhis own son, with dissatisfaction, could not now restrain his indignation, but was heard to exclaim tauntingly to the queen, "So we are like to paydear for your archbishop, whose rashness has lost us in a few hours whatwe have been years in acquiring. " [35]

The queen, confounded at the tidings, and unable to comprehend the silenceof Ximenes, instantly wrote to him in the severest terms, demanding anexplanation of the whole proceeding. The archbishop saw his error incommitting affairs of moment to such hands as those of his sablemessenger; and the lesson stood him in good stead, according to hismoralizing biographer, for the remainder of his life. [36] He hastened torepair his fault by proceeding to Seville in person, and presentinghimself before the sovereigns. He detailed to them the history of all thepast transactions; recapitulated his manifold services, the arguments andexhortations he had used, the large sums he had expended, and his variousexpedients, in short, for effecting conversion, before resorting toseverity. He boldly assumed the responsibility of the whole proceeding, acknowledging that he had purposely avoided communicating his plans to thesovereigns for fear of opposition. If he had erred, he said, it could beimputed to no other motive, at worst, than too great zeal for theinterests of religion; but he concluded with assuring them, that thepresent position of affairs was the best possible for their purposes, since the late conduct of the Moors involved them in the guilt, andconsequently all the penalties of treason, and that it would be an act ofclemency to offer pardon on the alternatives of conversion or exile! [37]

The archbishop's discourse, if we are to credit his enthusiasticbiographer, not only dispelled the clouds of royal indignation, but drewforth the most emphatic expressions of approbation. [38] How far Ferdinandand Isabella were moved to this by his final recommendation, or what, inclerical language, may be called the "improvement of his discourse, " doesnot appear. They did not at any rate adopt it in its literal extent. Indue time, however, commissioners were sent to Granada, fully authorized toinquire into the late disturbances and punish their guilty authors. In thecourse of the investigation, many, including some of the principalcitizens, were imprisoned on suspicion. The greater part made their peaceby embracing Christianity. Many others sold their estates and migrated toBarbary; and the remainder of the population, whether from fear ofpunishment, or contagion of example, abjured their ancient superstitionand consented to receive baptism. The whole number of converts wasestimated at about fifty thousand, whose future relapses promised analmost inexhaustible supply for the fiery labors of the Inquisition. Fromthis period the name of Moors, which had gradually superseded theprimitive one of Spanish Arabs, gave way to the title of Moriscoes, bywhich this unfortunate people continued to be known through the remainderof their protracted existence in the Peninsula. [39]

The circumstances, under which this important revolution in religion waseffected in the whole population of this great city, will excite onlyfeelings of disgust at the present day, mingled, indeed, with compassionfor the unhappy beings, who so heedlessly incurred the heavy liabilitiesattached to their new faith. Every Spaniard, doubtless, anticipated thepolitical advantages likely to result from a measure, which divested theMoors 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 mereshow of conversion, placing implicit confidence in the purifying influenceof the waters of baptism, to whomever and under whatever circumstancesadministered. Even the philosophic Martyr, as little tinctured withbigotry as any of the time, testifies his joy at the conversion, on theground, that, although it might not penetrate beneath the crust ofinfidelity, which had formed over the mind of the older and of courseinveterate Mussulman, yet it would have full effect on his posterity, subjected from the cradle to the searching operation of Christiandiscipline. [40]

With regard to Ximenes, the real author of the work, whatever doubts wereentertained of his discretion, in the outset, they were completelydispelled by the results. All concurred in admiring the invincible energyof the man, who, in the face of such mighty obstacles, had so speedilyeffected this momentous revolution in the faith of a people, bred fromchildhood in the deadliest hostility to Christianity; [41] and the goodarchbishop 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 ofGranada!" [42]

FOOTNOTES

[1] "Hombre, " says his son, the historian, of him, "de prudencia ennegocios graves, de animo firme, asegurado con luenga experiencia derencuentros i battallas ganadas. " (Guerra de Granada, lib. 1, p. 9. )Oviedo dwells with sufficient amplification on the personal history andmerits 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 ofAdam. "Quanto á su linage él fué del linage de todos los humanos ó deaquel barro y subcesion de Adan. " (Quincuagenas, MS. Dial. De Talavera. )It is a very hard case, when a Castilian cannot make out a bettergenealogy for his hero. 

[3] Pedraza, Antiguedad de Granada, lib. 3, cap. 10. --Marmol, Rebelion deMoriscos, lib. 1, cap. 21. Talavera's correspondence with the queen, published in various works, but most correctly, probably, in the sixthvolume of the Mem. De la Acad. De Hist. , (Ilust. 13, ) is not calculated toraise his reputation. His letters are little else than homilies on thelove of company, dancing, and the like heinous offences. The whole savorsmore of the sharp twang of Puritanism than that of the Roman Catholicschool. But bigotry is neutral ground, on which the most opposite sectsmay 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 makesdo quite as hard duty, according to its magnitude, as the 500 pounds ofPope'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 anextraordinary character. "Pidiendole limosna, " says Pedraza, "Una mugerque no tenia camisa, se entró en una casa, y se desnudó la suya y se ladio; diziendo con san Pedro, No tengo oro ni plata que darte, doyte lo quetengo. " Antiguedad de Granada, lib. 3, cap. 10. 

[6] Marmol, Rebelion de Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 21. --Pedraza, Antiguedad deGranada, ubi supra. 

[7] Fléchier, Hist. De Ximenes, p. 17. --Quintanilla, Archetypo, lib. 2, cap. 2. --Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 32. --Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS. 

These tracts were published at Granada, in 1505, in the Europeancharacter, being the first books ever printed in the Arabic language, according to Dr. M'Crie, (Reformation in Spain, p. 70, ) who citesSchnurrer, Bibl. Arabica, pp. 16-18. 

[8] Bleda, Corónica, lib. 5, cap. 23. --Pedraza, Antiguedad de Granada, lib. 3, cap. 10. --Marmol, Rebelion de Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 21. --Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 29. --"Hacia lo que predicaba, é predicó lo quehizo, " says Oviedo of the archbishop, briefly, "é así fué mucho provechosoé util en aquella ciudad para la conversion de los Moros. " Quincuagenas, MS. 

[9] Marmol, Rebelion de Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 23. 

[10] Ibid. , ubi supra. 

[11] In the _pragmática_ dated Granada, October 30th, 1499, prohibitingsilk apparel of any description, an exception was made in favor of theMoors, whose robes were usually of that material, among the wealthierclasses. Pragmáticas del Reyno, fol. 120. 

[12] Another law, October 31st, 1499, provided against the disinheritanceof Moorish children who had embraced Christianity, and secured, moreover, to the female converts a portion of the property which had fallen to thestate on the conquest of Granada. (Pragmáticas del Reyno, fol. 5. )--Llorente has reported this pragmatic with some inaccuracy. Hist. Del'Inquisition, tom. I. P. 334. 

[13] Bleda, Corónica, lib. 5, cap. 23. --Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 29. --Quintanilla, Archetypo, lib. 2, p. 54. --Suma de la Vida de Cisneros, MS. Ferdinand and Isabella, according to Ferreras, took counsel of sundrylearned theologians and jurists, whether they could lawfully compel theMahometans to become Christians, notwithstanding the treaty, whichguaranteed to them the exercise of their religion. After repeatedconferences of this erudite body, "il fut decidé, " says the historian, "qu'on solliciteroit la conversion des Mahometans de la Ville et duRoyaume de Grenade, en ordonnant à ceux qui ne voudroient pas embrasser lareligion Chrétienne, de vendre leurs biens et de sortir du royaume. "(Hist. D'Espagne, tom. Viii. P. 194. ) Such was the idea of solicitationentertained by these reverend casuists! The story, however, wants a bettervoucher than Ferreras. 

[14] The honest Robles appears to be of the latter opinion. "Alfin, " sayshe, with _naïveté_, "con halagos, dadivas, y caricias, los truxo aconocimiento del verdadero Dios. " Vida de Ximenez, p. 100. 

[15] Robles, Vida de Ximenez, cap. 14. --Marmol, Rebelion de Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 24. --Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 29. --Suma de la Vida deCisneros, MS. 

[16] Robles, Vida de Ximenez, cap. 14. --Quintanilla, Archetypo, fol. 55. --The sound of bells, so unusual to Mahometan ears, pealing day and nightfrom the newly consecrated mosques, gained Ximenes the appellation of_alfaqui campanero_ from the Granadines. Suma de la Vida de Cisneros, MS. 

[17] Marmol, Rebelion de Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 25. 

Take for example the following provisions in the treaty. "Que si algunMoro tuviere alguna renegada por muger, no será apremiada á ser Christianacontra su voluntad, sino que será interrogada, en presencia de Christianosy de Moros, y se siguirá su voluntad; y lo mesmo se entenderá con losniños y niñas nacidos de Christiana y Moro. Que ningun Moro ni Mora seránapremiados á ser Christianos contra su voluntad; y que si alguna doncella, ó casada, ó viuda, por razon de algunos amores se quisiere tornarChristiana, tampoco será recebida, hasta ser interrogada. " The wholetreaty is given in _extenso_ by Marmol, and by no other author that Ihave seen. 

[18] Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, lib. 1, fol. 29. 

[19] Robles, Rebelion de Moriscos, cap. 14. --Suma de la Vida de Cisneros, MS. --Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 30. --Marmol, Rebelion de Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 25. 

Zegri assumed the baptismal name of the Great Captain, Gonzalo Hernandez, whose prowess he had experienced in a personal rencontre in the vega ofGranada. Marmol, Rebelion de Moriscos, ubi supra. --Suma de la Vida deCisneros, MS. 

[20] Hist. D'Espagne, tom. Viii. P. 195. 

[21] According to Robles, (Rebelion de Moriscos, p. 104, ) and the Suma dela Vida de Cisneros, 1, 005, 000; to Conde, (El Nubiense, Descripciond'España, p. 4, note, ) 80, 000; to Gomez and others, 5000. There arescarcely any data for arriving at probability in this monstrousdiscrepancy. The famous library of the Ommeyades at Cordova was said tocontain 600, 000 volumes. It had long since been dissipated; and no similarcollection had been attempted in Granada, where learning was never in thatpalmy state which it reached under the Cordovan dynasty. Still, however, learned men were to be found there, and the Moorish metropolis wouldnaturally be the depository of such literary treasures as had escaped thegeneral shipwreck of time and accident. On the whole, the estimate ofGomez would appear much too small, and that of Robles asdisproportionately exaggerated. Conde, better instructed in Arabic lorethan any of his predecessors, may be found, perhaps, here, as elsewhere, the best authority. 

[22] Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, lib. 2, fol. 30. --Marmol, Rebelion deMoriscos, lib. 1, cap. 25. --Robles, Vida de Ximenez, cap. 14. --Suma de laVida de Cisneros, MS. --Quintanilla, Archetypo, p. 58. 

[23] Yet the archbishop might find some countenance for his fanaticism inthe most polite capital of Europe. The faculty of Theology in Paris, somefew years later, declared "que c'en était fait de la religion, si onpermettait l'etude du Grec et de l'Hebreu!" Villers, Essai sur l'Esprit etl'Influence de la Réformation de Luther, (Paris, 1820, ) p. 64, note. 

[24] Gibbon's argument, if it does not shake the foundations of the wholestory of the Alexandrian conflagration, may at least raise a naturalskepticism as to the pretended amount and value of the works destroyed. 

[25] The learned Granadine, Leo Africanus, who emigrated to Fez after thefall of the capital, notices a single collection of 3000 manuscriptsbelonging to an individual, which he saw in Algiers, whither they had beensecretly brought by the Moriscoes from Spain. --Conde, Dominacion de losArabes, prólogo. --Casiri, Bibliotheca Escurialensis, tom. I. P. 172. 

[26] Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 30. --Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, rey 30, cap. 10. 

[27] Casiri, Bibliotheca Escurialensis, tom. Ii. P. 281. --Pedraza, Antiguedad de Granada, lib. 3, cap. 10. 

[28] Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 31. There are some discrepancies, notimportant, however, between the narrative of Gomez and the otherauthorities. Gomez, considering his uncommon opportunities of information, is worth them all. 

[29] Suma de la Vida de Cisneros, MS. --Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, lib. 2, fol. 31. --Marmol, Rebelion de Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 26. 

[30] Robles, Vida de Ximenez, cap. 14. --Mariana, Hist. De España, tom. Ii. Lib. 27, cap. 5. --Quintanilla, Archetype, p. 56. --Peter Martyr, OpusEpist. , epist. 212. 

[31] Mariana, Hist. De España, ubi supra. --Bleda, Corónica, lib. 5, cap. 23. --Mendoza, Guerra de Granada, p. 11. 

[32] Marmol, Rebelion de Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 25. --Peter Martyr, OpusEpist. , epist. 212. --Quintanilla, Archetype, p. 56. --Bleda, Corónica, ubisupra. 

[33] Marmol, Rebelion de Moriscos, loc cit. --Mendoza, Guerra de Granada, lib. 1, p. 11. That such confidence was justified, may be inferred from acommon saying of Archbishop Talavera, "That Moorish works and Spanishfaith were all that were wanting to make a good Christian. " A bittersarcasm this on his own countrymen! Pedraza, Antiguedad de Granada, lib. 3, cap. 10. 

[34] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist. , epist. 212. --Bleda, Corónica, loc. Cit. --Marmol, Rebelion de Moriscos, ubi supra. 

[35] Mariana, Hist. De España, tom. Ii. Lib. 27, cap. 5. --Robles, Vida deXimenez, 14. --Suma de la Vida de Cisneros, MS. 

[36] Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 32. --Robles, Vida de Ximenez, cap. 14. 

[37] Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, ubi supra. 

[38] Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 33. --Suma de la Vida de Cisneros, MS. 

[39] Bleda, Corónica, lib. 5, cap. 23. --Mariana, Hist. De España, tom. Ii. Lib. 27, cap. 5. --Peter Martyr, Opus Epist. , epist. 215. --Marmol, Rebelionde Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 27. --Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, lib. 2, fol. 32. --Lanuza, Historias, tom. I. Lib. 1, cap. 11. --Carbajal, Anales, MS. , año1500. --Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 159. --The last author carriesthe number of converts in Granada and its _environs_ to 70, 000. 

[40] "Tu vero inquies, " he says, in a letter to the cardinal of SantaCruz, "hisdem in snum Mahometem vivent animis, atque id jure meritosuspicandum est. Durum namque majorum institute relinquere; attamen egoexistimo, consultum optime fuisse ipsorum admittere postulata: paulatimnamque nova superveniente disciplina, juvenun saltem et infantum atque eotutius nepotum, inanibus illis superstitionibus abrasis, novis imbuenturritibus. De senescentibus, qui callosis animis induruerunt, haud egoquidem id futurum inficior. " Opus Epist. , epist. 215. --Also, Carta deGonzalo, MS. 

[41] "Magnae deinceps, " says Gomez, "apud omnes veneration! Ximenius essecospit. --Porro plus mentis acie videre quam solent homines credebatur, qufid re ancipiti, neque plane confirmata, barbara civitate adhoc suumMahumetum spirante, tanza animi contentione, ut Christi doctrinamamplecterentur, laboraverat et effecerat. " (De Rebus Gestis, fol. 33. ) Thepanegyric of the Spaniard is endorsed by Fléchier, (Histoire de Ximenes, p. 119, ) who, in the age of Louis XIV. , displays all the bigotry of thatof Ferdinand and Isabella. 

[42] Talavera, as I have already noticed, had caused the offices, catechisms, and other religious exercises to be translated into Arabic forthe use of the converts; proposing to extend the translation at somefuture time to the great body of the Scriptures. That time had nowarrived, but Ximenes vehemently remonstrated against the measure. "Itwould be throwing pearls before swine, " said he, "to open the Scripturesto persons in their low state of ignorance, who could not fail, as St. Paul says, to wrest them to their own destruction. The word of God shouldbe wrapped in discreet mystery from the vulgar, who feel little reverencefor what is plain and obvious. It was for this reason, that our Saviourhimself clothed his doctrines in parables, when he addressed the people. The Scriptures should be confined to the three ancient languages, whichGod with mystic import permitted to be inscribed over the head of hiscrucified Son; and the vernacular should be reserved for such devotionaland moral treatises, as holy men indite, in order to quicken the soul, andturn 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 hiswise and benevolent purpose. The sagacious arguments of the primate leadhis biographer, Gomez, to conclude, that he had a prophetic knowledge ofthe coming heresy of Luther, which owed so much of its success to thevernacular versions of the Scriptures; in which probable opinion he isfaithfully echoed, as usual, by the good bishop of Nismes. Fléchier, Hist. De Ximenés, pp. 117-119. 

CHAPTER VII. 

RISING IN THE ALPUXARRAS. --DEATH OF ALONSO DE AGUILAR. --EDICT AGAINST THEMOORS. 

1500-1502. 

Rising in the Alpuxarras. --Expedition to the Sierra Vermeja. --Alonso deAguilar. --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, theyexcited general discontent in other parts of that kingdom, especially thewild regions of the Alpuxarras. This range of maritime Alps, whichstretches to the distance of seventeen leagues in a southeasterlydirection from the Moorish capital, sending out its sierras like so manybroad arms towards the Mediterranean, was thickly sprinkled with Moorishvillages, cresting the bald summits of the mountains, or checkering thegreen slopes and valleys which lay between them. Its simple inhabitants, locked up within the lonely recesses of their hills, and accustomed to alife of penury and toil, had escaped the corruptions as well asrefinements of civilization. In ancient times they had afforded a hardymilitia for the princes of Granada; and they now exhibited an unshakenattachment to their ancient institutions and religion, which had beensomewhat effaced in the great cities by more intimate intercourse with theEuropeans. [1]

These warlike mountaineers beheld with gathering resentment the faithlessconduct pursued towards their countrymen, which, they had good reason tofear, would soon be extended to themselves; and their fiery passions wereinflamed to an ungovernable height by the public apostasy of Granada. Theyat length resolved to anticipate any similar attempt on themselves by ageneral insurrection. They accordingly seized on the fortresses and strongpasses throughout the country, and began as usual with forays into thelands of the Christians. 

These bold acts excited much alarm in the capital, and the count ofTendilla took vigorous measures for quenching the rebellion in its birth. Gonsalvo de Cordova, his early pupil, but who might now well be his masterin the art of war, was at that time residing in Granada; and Tendillaavailed himself of his assistance to enforce a hasty muster of levies, andmarch at once against the enemy. 

His first movement was against Huejar, a fortified town situated in one ofthe eastern ranges of the Alpuxarras, whose inhabitants had taken the leadin the insurrection. The enterprise was attended with more difficulty thanwas expected. "God's enemies, " to borrow the charitable epithet of theCastilian chroniclers, had ploughed up the lands in the neighborhood; and, as the light cavalry of the Spaniards was working its way through the deepfurrows, the Moors opened the canals which intersected the fields, and ina moment the horses were floundering up to their girths in the mire andwater. Thus embarrassed in their progress, the Spaniards presented a fatalmark to the Moorish missiles, which rained on them with pitiless fury; andit was not without great efforts and considerable loss, that they gained afirm landing on the opposite side. Undismayed, however, they then chargedthe enemy with such vivacity, as compelled him to give way and take refugewithin the defences of the town. 

No impediment could now check the ardor of the assailants. They threwthemselves from their horses, and, bringing forward the scaling-ladders, planted them against the walls. Gonsalvo was the first to gain the summit;and, as a powerful Moor endeavored to thrust him from the topmost round ofthe ladder, he grasped the battlements firmly with his left hand and dealtthe infidel such a blow with the sword in his right, as brought himheadlong to the ground. He then leapt into the place, and was speedilyfollowed by his troops. The enemy made a brief and ineffectual resistance. The greater part were put to the sword; the remainder, including the womenand children, were made slaves, and the town was delivered up to pillage. [2]

The severity of this military execution had not the effect of intimidatingthe insurgents; and the revolt wore so serious an aspect, that KingFerdinand found it necessary to take the field in person, which he did atthe head of as complete and beautiful a body of Castilian chivalry as evergraced the campaigns of Granada. [3] Quitting Alhendin, the place ofrendezvous, in the latter end of February, 1500, he directed his march onLanjaron, one of the towns most active in the revolt, and perched highamong the inaccessible fastnesses of the sierra, southeast of Granada. 

The inhabitants, trusting to the natural strength of a situation, whichhad once baffled the arms of the bold Moorish chief El Zagal, took noprecautions to secure the passes. Ferdinand, relying on this, avoided themore direct avenue to the place; and, bringing his men by a circuitousroute over dangerous ravines and dark and dizzy precipices, where the footof the hunter had seldom ventured, succeeded at length, after incredibletoil and hazard, in reaching an elevated point, which entirely commandedthe Moorish fortress. 

Great was the dismay of the insurgents at the apparition of the Christianbanners, streaming in triumph in the upper air, from the very pinnacles ofthe sierra. They stoutly persisted, however, in the refusal to surrender. But their works were too feeble to stand the assault of men, who hadvanquished the more formidable obstacles of nature; and, after a shortstruggle, the place was carried by storm, and its wretched inmatesexperienced the same dreadful fate with those of Huejar. [4]

At nearly the same time, the count of Lerin took several other fortifiedplaces in the Alpuxarras, in one of which he blew up a mosque filled withwomen and children. Hostilities were carried on with all the ferocity of acivil, or rather servile war; and the Spaniards, repudiating all thefeelings of courtesy and generosity, which they had once shown to the samemen, when dealing with them as honorable enemies, now regarded them onlyas rebellious vassals, or indeed slaves, whom the public safety requiredto be not merely chastised, but exterminated. 

These severities, added to the conviction of their own impotence, atlength broke the spirit of the Moors, who were reduced to the most humbleconcessions; and the Catholic king, "unwilling out of his great clemency, "says Abarca, "to stain his sword with the blood of all these wild beastsof the Alpuxarras, " consented to terms, which may be deemed reasonable, atleast in comparison with his previous policy. These were, the surrender oftheir arms and fortresses and the payment of the round sum of fiftythousand ducats. [5]

As soon as tranquillity was re-established, measures were taken forsecuring it permanently, by introducing Christianity among the natives, without which they never could remain well affected to their presentgovernment. Holy men were therefore sent as missionaries, to admonishthem, calmly and without violence, of their errors, and to instruct themin the great truths of revelation. [6] Various immunities were alsoproposed, as an additional incentive to conversion, including an entireexemption to the party from the payment of his share of the heavy mulctlately imposed. [7] The wisdom of these temperate measures became everyday more visible in the conversion, not merely of the simple mountaineers, but of nearly all the population of the great cities of Baza, Guadix, andAlmeria, who consented before the end of the year to abjure their ancientreligion, and receive baptism. [8]

This defection, however, caused great scandal among the more sturdy oftheir countrymen, and a new insurrection broke out on the eastern confinesof the Alpuxarras, which was suppressed with similar circumstances ofstern severity, . And a similar exaction of a heavy sum of money;--money, whose doubtful efficacy may be discerned, sometimes in staying, but morefrequently in stimulating, the arm of persecution. [9]

But while the murmurs of rebellion died away in the east, they were heardin thunders from the distant hills on the western borders of Granada. Thisdistrict, comprehending the sierras Vermeja and Villa Luenga, in theneighborhood of Ronda, was peopled by a warlike race, among whom was theAfrican tribe of Gandules, whose blood boiled with the same tropicalfervor as that which glowed in the veins of their ancestors. They hadearly shown symptoms of discontent at the late proceedings in the capital. The duchess of Arcos, widow of the great marquis duke of Cadiz, whoseestates lay in that quarter, [10] used her personal exertions to appeasethem; and the government made the most earnest assurances of its intentionto respect whatever had been guaranteed by the treaty of capitulation. [11] But they had learned to place little trust in princes; and therapidly extending apostasy of their countrymen exasperated them to such adegree, that they at length broke out in the most atrocious acts ofviolence; murdering the Christian missionaries, and kidnapping, if reportbe true, many Spaniards of both sexes, whom they sold as slaves in Africa. They were accused, with far more probability, of entering into a secretcorrespondence with their brethren on the opposite shore, in order tosecure their support in the meditated revolt. [12]

The government displayed its usual promptness and energy on this occasion. Orders were issued to the principal chiefs and cities of Andalusia, tomuster their forces with all possible despatch, and concentrate them onRonda. 

The summons was obeyed with such alacrity, that, in the course of a veryfew weeks, the streets of that busy city were thronged with a shiningarray of warriors drawn from all the principal towns of Andalusia. Sevillesent three hundred horse and two thousand foot. The principal leaders ofthe expedition were the count of Cifuentes, who, as assistant of Seville, commanded the troops of that city; the count of Ureña, and Alonso deAguilar, elder brother of the Great Captain, and distinguished like himfor the highest qualities of mind and person. 

It was determined by the chiefs to strike at once into the heart of theSierra Vermeja, or Red Sierra, as it was called from the color of itsrocks, rising to the east of Ronda, and the principal theatre ofinsurrection. On the 18th of March, 1501, the little army encamped beforeMonarda, on the skirts of a mountain, where the Moors were understood tohave assembled in considerable force. They had not been long in thesequarters before parties of the enemy were seen hovering along the slopesof the mountain, from which the Christian camp was divided by a narrowriver, --the Rio Verde, probably, which has gained such mournful celebrityin Spanish song. [13] Aguilar's troops, who occupied the van, were so muchroused by the sight of the enemy, that a small party, seizing a banner, rushed across the stream without orders, in pursuit of them. 

The odds, however, were so great, that they would have been severelyhandled, had not Aguilar, while he bitterly condemned their temerity, advanced promptly to their support with the remainder of his corps. Thecount of Ureña followed with the central division, leaving the count ofCifuentes with the troops of Seville to protect the camp. [14]

The Moors fell back as the Christians advanced, and, retreating nimblyfrom point to point, led them up the rugged steeps far into the recessesof the mountains. At length they reached an open level, encompassed on allsides by a natural rampart of rocks, where they had deposited theirvaluable effects, together with their wives and children. The latter, atsight of the invaders, uttered dismal cries, and fled into the remoterdepths of the sierra. 

The Christians were too much attracted by the rich spoil before them tothink of following, and dispersed in every direction in quest of plunder, with all the heedlessness and insubordination of raw, inexperiencedlevies. It was in vain, that Alonso de Aguilar reminded them, that theirwily enemy was still unconquered; or that he endeavored to force them intothe ranks again, and restore order. No one heeded his call, or thought ofanything beyond the present moment, and of securing as much booty tohimself as he could carry. 

The Moors, in the mean while, finding themselves no longer pursued, wereaware of the occupation of the Christians, whom they not improbably hadpurposely decoyed into the snare. They resolved to return to the scene ofaction, and surprise their incautious enemy. Stealthily advancing, therefore, under the shadows of night, now falling thick around, theypoured through the rocky defiles of the inclosure upon the astonishedSpaniards. An unlucky explosion, at this crisis, of a cask of powder, intowhich a spark had accidentally fallen, threw a broad glare over the scene, and revealed for a moment the situation of the hostile parties;--theSpaniards in the utmost disorder, many of them without arms, andstaggering under the weight of their fatal booty; while their enemies wereseen gliding like so many demons of darkness through every crevice andavenue of the inclosure, in the act of springing on their devoted victims. This appalling spectacle, vanishing almost as soon as seen, and followedby the hideous yells and war-cries of the assailants, struck a panic intothe hearts of the soldiers, who fled, scarcely offering any resistance. The darkness of the night was as favorable to the Moors, familiar with allthe intricacies of the ground, as it was fatal to the Christians, who, bewildered in the mazes of the sierra, and losing their footing at everystep, fell under the swords of their pursuers, or went down the dark gulfsand precipices which yawned all around. [15]

Amidst this dreadful confusion, the count of Ureña succeeded in gaining alower level of the sierra, where he halted and endeavored to rally hispanic-struck followers. His noble comrade, Alonso de Aguilar, stillmaintained his position on the heights above, refusing all entreaties ofhis followers to attempt a retreat. "When, " said he proudly, "was thebanner of Aguilar ever known to fly from the field?" His eldest son, theheir of his house and honors, Don Pedro de Cordova, a youth of greatpromise, fought at his side. He had received a severe wound on the headfrom a stone, and a javelin had pierced quite through his leg. With oneknee resting on the ground, however, he still made a brave defence withhis sword. The sight was too much for the father, and he implored him tosuffer himself to be removed from the field. "Let not the hopes of ourhouse be crushed at a single blow, " said he; "go, my son, live as becomesa Christian knight, --live, and cherish your desolate mother. " All hisentreaties were fruitless, however; and the gallant boy refused to leavehis father's side, till he was forcibly borne away by the attendants, whofortunately succeeded in bringing him in safety to the station occupied bythe count of Ureña. [16]

Meantime the brave little band of cavaliers, who remained true to Aguilar, had fallen one after another; and the chief, left almost alone, retreatedto a huge rock which rose in the middle of the plain, and, placing hisback against it, still made fight, though weakened by loss of blood, likea lion at bay, against his enemies. [17] In this situation he was pressedso hard by a Moor of uncommon size and strength, that he was compelled toturn and close with him in single combat. The strife was long anddesperate, till Don Alonso, whose corselet had become unlaced in theprevious struggle, having--received a severe wound in the breast, followedby another on the head, grappled closely with his adversary, and they camerolling on the ground together. The Moor remained uppermost; but thespirit of the Spanish cavalier had not sunk with his strength, and heproudly exclaimed, as if to intimidate his enemy, "I am Don Alonso deAguilar;" to which the other rejoined, "And I am the Feri de Ben Estepar, "a well-known name of terror to the Christians. The sound of this detestedname roused all the vengeance of the dying hero; and, grasping his foe inmortal agony, he rallied his strength for a final blow; but it was toolate, -his hand failed, and he was soon despatched by the dagger of hismore vigorous rival. [18]

Thus fell Alonso Hernandez de Cordova, or Alonso de Aguilar, as he iscommonly called from the land where his family estates lay. [19] "He wasof the greatest authority among the grandees of his time, " says FatherAbarca, "for his lineage, personal character, large domains, and the highposts which he filled, both in peace and war. More than forty years of hislife he served against the infidel, under the banner of his house inboyhood, and as leader of that same banner in later life, or as viceroy ofAndalusia and commander of the royal armies. He was the fifth lord of hiswarlike and pious house who had fallen fighting for their country andreligion against the accursed sect of Mahomet. And there is good reason tobelieve, " continues the same orthodox authority, "that his soul hasreceived the glorious reward of the Christian soldier; since he was armedon that very morning with the blessed sacraments of confession andcommunion. " [20]

The victorious Moors, all this time, were driving the unresistingSpaniards, like so many terrified deer, down the dark steeps of thesierra. The count of Ureña, who had seen his son stretched by his side, and received a severe wound himself, made the most desperate efforts torally the fugitives, but was at length swept away by the torrent. Trustinghimself to a faithful adalid, who knew the passes, he succeeded with muchdifficulty in reaching the foot of the mountain, with such a small remnantof his followers as could keep in his track. [21] Fortunately, he therefound the count of Cifuentes, who had crossed the river with therearguard, and encamped on a rising ground in the neighborhood. Underfavor of this strong position, the latter commander and his braveSevillians, all fresh for action, were enabled to cover the shatteredremains of the Spaniards, and beat off the assaults of their enemies tillthe break of morn, when they vanished like so many foul birds of nightinto the recesses of the mountains. 

The rising day, which dispersed their foes, now revealed to the Christiansthe dreadful extent of their own losses. Few were to be seen of all thatproud array, which had marched up the heights so confidently under thebanners of their ill-fated chiefs the preceding evening. The bloody rollof slaughter, besides the common file, was graced with the names of thebest and bravest of the Christian knighthood, Among the number wasFrancisco Ramirez de Madrid, the distinguished engineer, who hadcontributed so essentially to the success of the Granadine war. [22]

The sad tidings of the defeat soon spread throughout the country, occasioning a sensation such as had not been felt since the tragic affairof the Axarquia. Men could scarcely credit that so much mischief could beinflicted by an outcast race, who, whatever terror they once inspired, hadlong since been regarded with indifference or contempt. Every Spaniardseemed 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. Bythe beginning of April, King Ferdinand found himself at Ronda, at the headof a strong body of troops, which he determined to lead in person, notwithstanding the remonstrances of his courtiers, into the heart of theSierra, and take bloody vengeance on the rebels. 

These latter, however, far from being encouraged, were appalled by theextent of their own success; and, as the note of warlike preparationreached them in their fastnesses, they felt their temerity in thusbringing the whole weight of the Castilian monarchy on their heads. Theyaccordingly abandoned all thoughts of further resistance, and lost no timein sending deputies to the king's camp, to deprecate his anger, and sue inthe most submissive terms for pardon. 

Ferdinand, though far from vindictive, was less open to pity than thequeen; and in the present instance he indulged in a full measure of theindignation, with which sovereigns, naturally identifying themselves withthe state, are wont to regard rebellion, by viewing it in the aggravatedlight of a personal offence. After some hesitation, however, his prudencegot the better of his passions, as he reflected that he was in a situationto dictate the terms of victory, without paying the usual price for it. His past experience seems to have convinced him of the hopelessness ofinfusing sentiments of loyalty in a Mussulman towards a Christian prince;for, while he granted a general amnesty to those concerned in theinsurrection, it was only on the alternative of baptism or exile, engagingat the same time to provide conveyance for such as chose to leave thecountry, on the payment of ten doblas of gold a head. [23. ]

These engagements were punctually fulfilled. The Moorish emigrants weretransported in public galleys from Estepona to the Barbary coast. Thenumber, however, was probably small; by far the greater part beingobliged, however reluctantly, from want of funds, to remain and bebaptized. "They would never have stayed, " says Bleda, "if they could havemustered the ten doblas of gold; a circumstance, " continues thatcharitable writer, "which shows with what levity they received baptism, and for what paltry considerations they could be guilty of suchsacrilegious hypocrisy!" [24]

But, although every spark of insurrection was thus effectuallyextinguished, it was long, very long, before the Spanish nation couldrecover from the blow, or forget the sad story of its disaster in the RedSierra. It became the theme, not only of chronicle, but of song; the noteof sorrow was prolonged in many a plaintive _romance_, and the namesof Aguilar and his unfortunate companions were embalmed in that beautifulminstrelsy, scarcely less imperishable, and far more touching, than thestately and elaborate records of history. [25] The popular feeling wasdisplayed after another fashion in regard to the count of Ureña and hisfollowers, who were accused of deserting their posts in the hour of peril;and more than one ballad of the time reproachfully demanded an accountfrom him of the brave companions in arms whom he had left in the Sierra. [26]

The imputation on this gallant nobleman appears wholly undeserved; forcertainly he was not called on to throw away his own life and those of hisbrave followers, in a cause perfectly desperate, for a chimerical point ofhonor. And, so far from forfeiting the favor of his sovereigns by hisconduct on this occasion, he was maintained by them in the same highstations, which he before held, and which he continued to fill withdignity to a good old age. [27]

It was about seventy years after this event, in 1570, that the duke ofArcos, descended from the great marquis of Cadiz, and from this same countof Ureña, led an expedition into the Sierra Vermeja, in order to suppressa similar insurrection of the Moriscoes. Among the party were many of thedescendants and kinsmen of those who had fought under Aguilar. It was thefirst time since that these rude passes had been trodden by Christianfeet; but the traditions of early childhood had made every inch of groundfamiliar to the soldiers. Some way up the eminence, they recognized thepoint at which the count of Ureña had made his stand; and further still, the fatal plain, belted round with its dark rampart of rocks, where thestrife had been hottest. Scattered fragments of arms and harness still layrusting 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 thesun. [28] Here was the spot on which the brave son of Aguilar had foughtso sturdily by his father's side; and there the huge rock, at whose footthe chieftain had fallen, throwing its dark shadow over the remains of thenoble dead, who lay sleeping around. The strongly marked features of theground called up all the circumstances, which the soldiers had gatheredfrom tradition; their hearts beat high, as they recapitulated them one toanother; and the tears, says the eloquent historian who tells the story, fell fast down their iron cheeks, as they gazed on the sad relics, andoffered up a soldier's prayer for the heroic souls which once animatedthem. [29]

Tranquillity was now restored throughout the wide borders of Granada. Thebanner of the Cross floated triumphantly over the whole extent of its wildsierras, its broad valleys, and populous cities. Every Moor, in exteriorat least, had become a Christian. Every mosque had been converted into aChristian church. Still the country was not entirely purified from thestain of Islamism, since many professing their ancient faith werescattered over different parts of the kingdom of Castile, where they hadbeen long resident before the surrender of their capital. The late eventsseemed to have no other effect than to harden them in error; and theSpanish government saw with alarm the pernicious influence of theirexample 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 kingdomof Granada. [30] At length, however, convinced that there was no other wayto save the precious seed from being choked by the thorns of infidelitythan to eradicate them altogether, the sovereigns came to theextraordinary resolution of offering them the alternative of baptism orexile. They issued a pragmática to that effect from Seville, February12th, 1502. After a preamble, duly setting forth the obligations ofgratitude on the Castilians to drive God's enemies from the land, which hein his good time had delivered into their hands, and the numerousbackslidings occasioned among the new converts by their intercourse withtheir unbaptized brethren, the act goes on to state, in much the sameterms with the famous ordinance against the Jews, that all the unbaptizedMoors in the kingdoms of Castile and Leon, above fourteen years of age ifmales, and twelve if females, must leave the country by the end of Aprilfollowing; that they might sell their property in the mean time, and takethe proceeds in anything save gold and silver and merchandise regularlyprohibited; and, finally, that they might emigrate to any foreign country, except the dominions of the Grand Turk, and such parts of Africa as Spainwas then at war with. Obedience to these severe provisions was enforced bythe penalties of death and confiscation of property. [31]

This stern edict, so closely modelled on that against the Jews, must havebeen even more grievous in its application. [32] For the Jews may be saidto have been denizens almost equally of every country; while the Moors, excluded from a retreat among their countrymen on the African shore, weresent into the lands of enemies or strangers. The former, moreover, werefar better qualified by their natural shrewdness and commercial habits fordisposing of their property advantageously, than the simple, inexperiencedMoors, skilled in little else than husbandry or rude mechanic arts. Wehave nowhere met with any estimate of the number who migrated on thisoccasion. The Castilian writers pass over the whole affair in a very fewwords; not, indeed, as is too evident, from any feelings ofdisapprobation, but from its insignificance in a political view. Theirsilence implies a very inconsiderable amount of emigrants; a circumstancenot to-be wondered at, as there were very few, probably, who would notsooner imitate their Granadine brethren, in assuming the mask ofChristianity, than encounter exile under all the aggravated miseries withwhich it was accompanied. [33]

Castile might now boast, the first time for eight centuries, that everyoutward stain, at least, of infidelity, was purified from her bosom. Buthow had this been accomplished? By the most detestable expedients whichsophistry could devise, and oppression execute; and that, too, under anenlightened government, proposing to be guided solely by a conscientiousregard for duty. To comprehend this more fully, it will be necessary totake a brief view of public sentiment in matters of religion at that time. 

It is a singular paradox, that Christianity, whose doctrines inculcateunbounded charity, should have been made so often an engine ofpersecution; while Mahometanism, whose principles are those of avowedintolerance, should have exhibited, at least till later times, a trulyphilosophical spirit of toleration. [34] Even the first victoriousdisciples 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 ofGod. With these latter denominations they had obvious sympathy, since itwas their creed which formed the basis of their own. [35] In Spain, wherethe fiery temperament of the Arab was gradually softened under theinfluence of a temperate climate and higher mental culture, the tolerationof the Jews and Christians, as we have already had occasion to notice, wasso remarkable, that, within a few years after the conquest, we find themnot only protected in the enjoyment of civil and religious freedom, butmingling on terms almost of equality with their conquerors. 

It is not necessary to inquire here, how far the different policy of theChristians 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 nointerests but its own; which availed itself of the superior science andreputed sanctity, that were supposed to have given it the key to the dreadmysteries of a future life, not to enlighten but to enslave the minds of acredulous world; and which, making its own tenets the only standard offaith, its own rites and ceremonial the only evidence of virtue, obliterated the great laws of morality, written by the divine hand onevery heart, and gradually built up a system of exclusiveness andintolerance most repugnant to the mild and charitable religion of JesusChrist. 

Before the close of the fifteenth century, several circumstances operatedto sharpen the edge of intolerance, especially against the Arabs. TheTurks, whose political consideration of late years had made them thepeculiar representatives and champions of Mahometanism, had shown aferocity and cruelty in their treatment of the Christians, which broughtgeneral odium on all the professors of their faith, and on the Moors, ofcourse, though most undeservedly, in common with the rest. The bold, heterodox doctrines, also, which had occasionally broken forth indifferent parts of Europe in the fifteenth century, like so many faintstreaks of light ushering in the glorious morn of the Reformation, hadroused the alarm of the champions of the church, and kindled on more thanone occasion the fires of persecution; and, before the close of theperiod, the Inquisition was introduced into Spain. 

From that disastrous hour, religion wore a new aspect in this unhappycountry. The spirit of intolerance, no longer hooded in the darkness ofthe cloister, now stalked abroad in all his terrors. Zeal was exalted intofanaticism, and a rational spirit of proselytism, into one of fiendishpersecution. It was not enough now, as formerly, to conform passively tothe doctrines of the church, but it was enjoined to make war on all whorefused them. The natural feelings of compunction in the discharge of thissad duty was a crime; and the tear of sympathy, wrung out by the sight ofmortal agonies, was an offence to be expiated by humiliating penance. Themost frightful maxims were deliberately engrafted into the code of morals. Any one, it was said, might conscientiously kill an apostate wherever hecould meet him. There was some doubt whether a man might slay his ownfather, if a heretic or infidel, but none whatever as to his right, inthat event, to take away the life of his son or of his brother. [36] Thesemaxims were not a dead letter, but of most active operation, as the sadrecords of the dread tribunal too well prove. The character of the nationunderwent a melancholy change. The milk of charity, nay of human feeling, was soured in every bosom. The liberality of the old Spanish cavalier gaveway to the fiery fanaticism of the monk. The taste for blood, oncegratified, begat a cannibal appetite in the people, who, cheered on by thefrantic clergy, seemed to vie with one another in the eagerness with whichthey ran down the miserable game of the Inquisition. 

It was at this very time, when the infernal monster, gorged but not satedwith human sacrifice, was crying aloud for fresh victims, that Granadasurrendered to the Spaniards, under the solemn guaranty of the fullenjoyment of civil and religious liberty. The treaty of capitulationgranted too much, or too little, --too little for an independent state, toomuch for one whose existence was now merged in that of a greater; for itsecured to the Moors privileges in some respects superior to those of theCastilians, and to the prejudice of the latter. Such, for example, was thepermission to trade with the Barbary coast, and with the various places inCastile and Andalusia, without paying the duties imposed on the Spaniardsthemselves; [37] and that article, again, by which runaway Moorish slavesfrom other parts of the kingdom were made free and incapable of beingreclaimed by their masters, if they could reach Granada. [38] The formerof these provisions struck at the commercial profits of the Spaniards, thelatter directly at their property. 

It is not too much to say, that such a treaty, depending for itsobservance on the good faith and forbearance of the stronger party, wouldnot hold together a year in any country of Christendom, even at thepresent day, before some flaw or pretext would be devised to evade it. Howmuch greater was the probability of this in the present case, where theweaker party was viewed with all the accumulated odium of long hereditaryhostility and religious rancor!

The work of conversion, on which the Christians, no doubt, much relied, was attended with greater difficulties than had been anticipated by theconquerors. It was now found, that, while the Moors retained their presentfaith, they would be much better affected towards their countrymen inAfrica, than to the nation with which they were incorporated. In short, Spain still had enemies in her bosom; and reports were rife in everyquarter, of their secret intelligence with the Barbary states, and ofChristians kidnapped to be sold as slaves to Algerine corsairs. Suchtales, greedily circulated and swallowed, soon begat general alarm; andmen are not apt to be over-scrupulous as to measures which they deemessential to their personal safety. 

The zealous attempt to bring about conversion by preaching andexpostulation was fair and commendable. The intervention of bribes andpromises, if it violated the spirit, did not, at least, the letter of thetreaty. The application of force to a few of the most refractory, who bytheir blind obstinacy were excluding a whole nation from the benefits ofredemption, was to be defended on other grounds; and these were notwanting to cunning theologians, who considered that the sanctity of theend justified extraordinary means, and that, where the eternal interestsof the soul were at stake, the force of promises and the faith of treatieswere equally nugatory. [39]

But the _chef-d'oeuvre_ of monkish casuistry was the argument imputedto Ximenes for depriving the Moors of the benefits of the treaty, as alegitimate consequence of the rebellion, into which they had been drivenby his own malpractices. This proposition, however, far from outraging thefeelings of the nation, well drilled by this time in the metaphysics ofthe cloister, fell short of them, if we are to judge from recommendationsof a still more questionable import, urged, though ineffectually, on thesovereigns at this very time, from the highest quarter. [40]

Such are the frightful results to which the fairest mind may be led, whenit introduces the refinements of logic into the discussions of duty; when, proposing to achieve some great good, whether in politics or religion, itconceives that the importance of the object authorizes a departure fromthe plain principles of morality, which regulate the ordinary affairs oflife; and when, blending these higher interests with those of a personalnature, it becomes incapable of discriminating between them, and is ledinsensibly to act from selfish motives, while it fondly imagines itselfobeying only the conscientious dictates of duty. [41]

With these events may be said to terminate the history of the Moors, orthe Moriscoes, as henceforth called, under the present reign. Eightcenturies had elapsed since their first occupation of the country; duringwhich period they had exhibited all the various phases of civilization, from its dawn to its decline. Ten years had sufficed to overturn thesplendid remains of this powerful empire; and ten more, for its nominalconversion to Christianity. A long century of persecution, of unmitigatedand unmerited suffering, was to follow, before the whole was to beconsummated by the expulsion of this unhappy race from the Peninsula. Their story, in this latter period, furnishes one of the most memorableexamples in history, of the impotence of persecution, even in support of agood cause against a bad one. It is a lesson that cannot be too deeplypondered through every succeeding age. The fires of the Inquisition are, indeed, extinguished, probably to be lighted no more. But where is theland which can boast that the spirit of intolerance, which forms the verybreath of persecution, is altogether extinct in its bosom?

FOOTNOTES

[1] Alpuxarras, --an Arabic word, signifying "land of warriors, " accordingto Salazar de Mendoza. (Monarquía, tom. Ii. P. 138. )

According to the more accurate and learned Conde, it is derived from anArabic term for "pasturage. " (El Nubiense, Descripcion de España, p. 187. )

 "La Alpuxarra, aquessa sierra que al Sol la cervis lavanta y que poblada de Villas, es Mar de peñas, y plantas, adonde sus poblaciones ondas navegan de plata. "

Calderon, (Comedias, (Madrid, 1760, ) tom. I. P. 353, ) whose gorgeous musesheds a blaze of glory over the rudest scenes. 

[2] Marmol, Rebelion de Moriscos, tom. I. Lib. 1, cap. 28. --Quintana, Españoles Célebres, tom. I. P. 239. --Bleda, Corónica, lib. 5, cap. 23. --Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 159. --Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. Ii. Fol. 338. --Mendoza, Guerra de Granada, p. 12. 

[3] If we are to believe Martyr, the royal force amounted to 80, 000 footand 15, 000 horse; so large an army, so promptly brought into the field, would suggest high ideas of the resources of the nation; too high indeedto gain credit, even from Martyr, without confirmation. 

[4] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist. , epist. 215. --Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. Ii. Fol. 338. --Zurita, Anales, tom. V. Lib. 3, cap. 45. --Carbajal, Anales, MS. , año 1500. 

[5] Footnote: Marmol, Rebelion de Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 28. --Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. Ii. Fol. 338. --Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 159. --Bleda, Corónica, lib. 5, cap. 24. 

[6] Bleda, Corónica, lib. 5, cap. 24. --Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 165. 

[7] Privilegios á los Moros de Valdelecrin y las Alpuxarras que seconvirtieren, á 30 de Julio de 1500. Archive de Simancas, apud Mem. De laAcad. De Hist. , tom. Vi. Apend. 14. 

[8] Carbajal, Anales, MS. , año 1500. --Garibay, Compendio, tom. Ii. Lib. 19, cap. 10. 

[9] Footnote: Carbajal, Anales, MS. , año 1501. --Zurita, Anales, tom. V. Lib. 4, cap. 27, 31. 

[10] The great marquis of Cadiz was third count of Arcos, from which hisdescendants took their title on the resumption of Cadiz by the crown afterhis death. Mendoza, Dignidades, lib. 3, cap. 8, 17. 

[11] See two letters dated Seville, January and February, 1500, addressedby Ferdinand and Isabella to the inhabitants of the Serrania de Ronda, preserved in the archives of Simancas, apud Mem. De la Acad. De Hist. , tom. Vi. Ilust. 15. 

[12] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 165. --Bleda, Corónica, lib. 5, cap. 25. --Peter Martyr, Opus Epist. , epist. 221. 

The complaints of the Spanish and African Moors to the Sultan of Egypt, orof Babylon, as he was then usually styled, had drawn from that princesharp remonstrances to the Catholic sovereigns against their persecutionsof the Moslems, accompanied by menaces of strict retaliation on theChristians in his dominions. In order to avert such calamitousconsequences, Peter Martyr was sent as ambassador to Egypt. He leftGranada in August, 1501, proceeded to Venice, and embarked there forAlexandria, which place he reached in December. Though cautioned on hisarrival, that his mission, in the present exasperated state of feeling atthe court, might cost him his head, the dauntless envoy sailed up the Nileunder a Mameluke guard to Grand Cairo. Far from experiencing any outrage, however, he was courteously received by the Sultan; although theambassador declined compromising the dignity of the court he represented, by paying the usual humiliating mark of obeisance, in prostrating himselfon the ground in the royal presence; an independent bearing highlysatisfactory to the Castilian historians. (See Garibay, Compendio, tom. Ii. Lib. 19, cap. 12. ) He had three audiences, in which he succeeded socompletely in effacing the unfavorable impressions of the Moslem prince, that the latter not only dismissed him with liberal presents, but granted, at his request, several important privileges to the Christian residents, and the pilgrims to the Holy Land, which lay within his dominions. Martyr's account of this interesting visit, which gave him ampleopportunity for studying the manners of a nation, and seeing thestupendous monuments of ancient art, then little familiar to Europeans, was published in Latin, under the title of "De Legatione Babylonica, " inthree books, appended to his more celebrated "Decades de Rebus Oceaniciset Novo Orbe. " Mazzuchelli, (Sorittori d'ltalia, race Anghiera, ) noticesan edition which he had seen published separately, without date or name ofthe printer. 

[13] "Rio Verde, Rio Verde, Tinto va en sangre viva;"--

Percy, in his well-known version of one of these agreeable_romances_, adopts the tame epithet of "gentle river, " from theawkwardness, he says, of the literal translation of "verdant river. " Hewas not aware, it appears, that the Spanish was a proper name. (SeeReliques of Ancient English Poetry, (London, 1812, ) vol. I. P. 357. ) Themore faithful version of "green river, " however, would have nothing veryunpoetical in it; though our gifted countryman, Bryant seems to intimate, by his omission, somewhat of a similar difficulty, in his agreeablestanzas on the beautiful stream of that name in New England. 

[14] Zuñiga, Annales de Sevilla, año 1501. --Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. Ii. P. 340. --Bleda, Corónica, lib. 5, cap. 26. --Bernaldez, ReyesCatólicos, MS. , cap. 165. 

"Fue muy gentil capitan, " says Oviedo, speaking of this latter nobleman, "y valiente lanza; y rauchas vezes dio testimonio grande de su animosoesfuerzo. " Quincuagenas, MS. , bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 36. 

[15] Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. Ii. Fol. 340. --Zurita, Anales, tom. V. Lib. 4, cap. 33. --Garibay, Compendio, tom. Ii. Lib. 19, cap. 10. --Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 165. --Marmol, Rebelion de Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 28. 

[16] Mendoza, Guerra de Granada, p. 13. --Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. 2, fol. 340. --Marmol, Rebelion de Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 28. --Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS. , bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 36. 

The boy, who lived to man's estate, was afterwards created marquis ofPriego by the Catholic sovereigns. Salazar de Mendoza, Dignidades, lib. 2, cap. 13. 

[17] It is the simile of the fine old ballad:

 "Solo queda Don Alonso Su campaña es acabada Pelea como un Leon Pero poco aprovechaba. "

[18] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , ubi supra. --Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. Ii. Ubi supra. --Garibay, Compendio, tom. Ii. Lib. 19, cap. 10. --Mendoza, Guerra de Granada, p. 13. --Sandoval, Hist. Del Emp. Carlos V. , tom. I. P. 5. 

According to Hyta's prose, Aguilar had first despatched more than thirtyMoors with his own hand. (Guerras de Granada, part. I. P. 568. ) Theballad, with more discretion, does not vouch for any particular number. 

 "Don Alonso en este tiempo Muy gran batalla hacia, El cavallo le havian muerto, Por muralla le tenia. Y arrimado a un gran peñon Con valor se defendia:

 Muchos Moros tiene muertos, Pero poco le valia. Porque sobre el cargan muchos, Y le dan grandes heridas, Tantas que cayó allí muerto Entre la gente enemiga. "

The warrior's death is summed up with an artless brevity, that would beaffectation in more studied composition. 

 "Muerto queda Don Alonso, Y eterna fama ganada. "

[19] Paolo Giovio finds an etymology for the name in the eagle (aguila), assumed as the device of the warlike ancestors of Don Alonso. St. Ferdinand of Castile, in consideration of the services of this illustrioushouse at the taking of Cordova, in 1236, allowed it to bear as a cognomenthe name of that city. This branch, however, still continued to bedistinguished by their territorial epithet of Aguilar, although DonAlonso's brother, the Great Captain, as we have seen, was more generallyknown by that of Cordova. Vita Magni Gonsalvi, fol. 204. 

[20] Reyes de Aragon, tom. Ii. Fol 340, 341. 

The hero's body, left on the field of battle, was treated with decentrespect by the Moors, who restored it to King Ferdinand; and thesovereigns caused it to be interred with all suitable pomp in the churchof St. Hypolito at Cordova. Many years afterwards the marchioness ofPriego, his descendant, had the tomb opened; and, on examining themouldering remains, the iron head of a lance, received in his last mortalstruggle, was found buried in the bones. Bleda, Corónica, lib. 5, cap. 26. 

[21] "Tambien el Conde de Urena, Mal 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 le 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 quegalope por la multitud de los Infieles. " Quincuagenas, MS. , bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 36. 

[22] Zuñiga, Annales de Sevilla, año 1501. --Carbajal, Anales, MS. , año1501. --Bleda, Corónica, lib. 5, cap. 26. --Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS. , bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 36. 

For a more particular notice of Ramirez, see Part I. Chapter 13, of thisHistory. 

[23] Bleda, Corónica, lib. 5, cap. 26, 27. --Robles, Vida de Ximenez, cap. 16. --Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 165. --Mariana, Hist. De España, lib. 27, cap. 5. --Marmol, Rebelion de Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 28. 

[24] Corónica, lib. 5, cap. 27. 

The Curate of Los Palacios disposes of the Moors rather summarily; "TheChristians stripped them, gave them a free passage, and sent them to thedevil!" Reyes Católicos, cap. 165. 

[25] According to one of the _romances_, cited by Hyta, the expedition ofAguilar was a piece of romantic Quixotism, occasioned by KingFerdinand's challenging the bravest of his knights to plant his banner onthe summits of the Alpuxarras. 

 "Qual de vosotros, amigos, Ira a la Sierra mañana, A poner mi Real pendon Encima de la Alpuxarra?"

All shrunk from the perilous emprise, till Alonso de Aguilar steppedforward and boldly assumed it for himself. 

 "A todos tiembla la barba, Sino fuera don Alonso, Que de Aguilar se llamaba. Levantose en pie ante el Rey De esta manera le habla. 

 "Aquesa empresa, Señor, Para mi estaba guardada, Que mi senora la reyna Ya me la tiene mandada. 

 "Alegrose mucho el Rey Por la oferta que le daba, Au no era amanecido Don Alonso ya cavalga. "

These popular ditties, it cannot be denied, are slippery authorities forany important fact, unless supported by more direct historic testimony. When composed, however, by contemporaries, or those who lived near thetime, they may very naturally record many true details, too insignificantin their consequences to attract the notice of history. The balladtranslated with so much elaborate simplicity by Percy, is chiefly takenup, as the English reader may remember, with the exploits of a Sevillianhero named Saavedra. No such personage is noticed, as far as I am aware, by the Spanish chroniclers. The name of Saavedra, however, appears to havebeen a familiar one in Seville, and occurs two or three times in themuster-roll of nobles and cavaliers of that city, who joined KingFerdinand's army in the preceding year, 1500. Zuñiga, Annales de Sevilla, eodem anno. 

[26] Mendoza notices these splenetic effusions (Guerra de Granada, p. 13);and Bleda (Corónica, p. 636) cites the following couplet from one of them. 

 "Decid, conde de Ureña, Don Alonso donde queda. "

[27] The Venetian ambassador, Navagiero, saw the count of Ureña at Ossuna, in 1526. He was enjoying a green old age, or, as the minister expressesit, "molto vecchio e gentil corteggiano però. " "Diseases, " said theveteran good-humoredly, "sometimes visit me, but seldom tarry long; for mybody is like a crazy old inn, where travellers find such poor fare, thatthey merely touch and go. " Viaggio, fol. 17. 

[28] Guerra de Granada, p. 301. --Compare the similar painting of Tacitus, in the scene where Germanicus pays the last sad offices to the remains ofVarus and his legions. "Dein semiruto vallo, humili fossa, accisae jamreliquiae consedisse intelligebantur: medio campi albentia ossa, utfugerant, ut restiterant, disjecta vel aggerata; adjacebant fragminatelorum, equorumque artus, simul truncis arborum antefixa ora. "(Annales, lib. 1, sect. 61. ) Mendoza falls nothing short of this celebrateddescription of the Roman historian;

 "Pan etiam Arcadiâ dicat se judice victum. "

[29] Mendoza, Guerra de Granada, pp. 300-302. 

The Moorish insurrection of 1570 was attended with at least one goodresult, in calling forth this historic masterpiece, the work of theaccomplished Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, accomplished alike as a statesman, warrior, and historian. His "Guerra de Granada, " confined as it is to abarren fragment of Moorish history, displays such liberal sentiments, (too liberal, indeed, to permit its publication till long after itsauthor's death, ) profound reflection, and classic elegance of style, aswell entitled him to the appellation of the Spanish Sallust. 

[30] Pragmáticas del Reyno, fol. 6. 

[31] Pragmáticas del Reyno, fol. 7. 

[32] Bleda anxiously claims the credit of the act of expulsion for FrayThomas de Torquemada, of inquisitorial memory. (Corónica, p. 640. ) Thateminent personage had, indeed, been dead some years; but this edict was soobviously suggested by that against the Jews, that it may be considered asthe result of his principles, if not directly taught by him. Thus it is, "the evil that men do lives after them. "

[33] The Castilian writers, especially the dramatic, have not beeninsensible to the poetical situations afforded by the distresses of thebanished Moriscoes. Their sympathy for the exiles, however, is whimsicallyenough contrasted by an orthodox anxiety to justify the conduct of theirown government. The reader may recollect a pertinent example in the storyof Sancho's Moorish friend, Ricote. Don Quixote, part. 2, cap. 54. 

[34] The _spirit of toleration_ professed by the Moors, indeed, wasmade a principal argument against them in the archbishop of Valencia'smemorial to Philip III. The Mahometans would seem the better Christians ofthe two. See Geddes, Miscellaneous Tracts, (London, 1702-6, ) vol. I. P. 94. 

[35] Heeren seems willing to countenance the learned Pluquet in regardingIslamism, in its ancient form, as one of the modifications ofChristianity; placing the principal difference between that andSocinianism, for example, in the mere rites of circumcision and baptism. (Essai sur l'Influence des Croisades, traduit par Villers, (Paris, 1808, )p. 175, not. ) "The Mussulmans, " says Sir William Jones, "are a sort ofheterodox Christians, if Locke reasons justly, because they firmly believethe immaculate conception, divine character, and miracles of the Messiah;heterodox in denying vehemently his character of Son, and his equality, asGod, with the Father, of whose unity and attributes they entertain andexpress the most awful ideas. " See his Dissertation on the Gods of Greece, Italy, and India; Works, (London, 1799, ) vol. I. P. 279. 

[36] See the bishop of Orihuela's treatise, "De Bello Sacro, " etc. , citedby the industrious Clemencin. (Mem. De la Acad. De Hist. , tom. Vi. Ilust. 15. ) The Moors and Jews, of course, stood no chance in this code; thereverend father expresses an opinion, with which Bleda heartily coincides, that the government would be perfectly justified in taking away the lifeof every Moor in the kingdom, for their shameless infidelity. Ubi supra;--and Bleda, Corónica, p. 995. 

[37] The articles of the treaty are detailed at length by Marmol, Rebelionde Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 19. 

[38] Idem, ubi supra. 

[39] See the arguments of Ximenes, or of his enthusiastic biographerFléchier, for it is not always easy to discriminate between them. Hist. DeXimenés, pp. 108, 109. 

[40] The duke of Medina Sidonia proposed to Ferdinand and Isabella to beavenged on the Moors, in some way not explained, after theirdisembarkation in Africa, on the ground that, the term of the royal safe-conduct having elapsed, they might lawfully be treated as enemies. To thisproposal, which would have done honor to a college of Jesuits in thesixteenth century, the sovereigns made a reply too creditable not to betranscribed. "El Rei é la Réina. Fernando de Zafra, nuestro secretário. Vimos vuestra letra, en que nos fecistes saber lo que el duque deMedinasidónia tenia pensado que se podia facer contra los Moros deVillaluenga después de desembarcados allende. Decide que le agradecemos ytenemos en servício el buen deseo que tiene de nos servir: _pero porquénuestra, palabra y seguro real así se debe guardar á los infieles como álos Oristianos_, y faciéndose lo que él dice pareceria cautela y engañoarmado sobre nuestro seguro para no le guardar, que en ninguna, manera sehaga eso, ni otra cosa de que pueda parecer que se quebranta nuestroseguro. De Granada véinte y nueve de mayo de quiniéntos y un años. --Yo elRei. --Yo la Réina--Por mandado del Rei é del Réina, Miguel Perez Almazan. "Would that the suggestions of Isabella's own heart, instead of the clergy, had always been the guide of her conduct in these matters! Mem. De laAcad. De Hist. , tom. Vi. Ilust. 15, from the original in the archives ofthe family of Medina Sidonia. 

[41] A memorial of the archbishop of Valencia to Philip III. Affords anexample of this moral obliquity, that may make one laugh, or weep, according to the temper of his philosophy. In this precious document hesays, "Your Majesty may, without any scruple of conscience, make slaves ofall the Moriscoes, and may put them into your own galleys or mines, orsell them to strangers. And as to their children, they may be all sold atgood rates here in Spain; which will be so far from being a punishment, that it will be a mercy to them; since by that means they will all becomeChristians; which they would never have been, had they continued withtheir parents. By the holy execution of which piece of justice, _a greatsum of money will flow into your Majesty's treasury_. " (Geddes, Miscellaneous Tracts, vol. I. P. 71. ) "Il n'est point d'hostilitéexcellente comme la Chrestienne, " says old Montaigne; "nostre zele faictmerveilles, quand il va secondant nostre pente vers la haine, la cruanté, l'ambition, l'avarice, la detraction, la rebellion. Nostre religion estfaicte pour extirper les vices; elle les couvre, les nourrit, les incite. "Essais, liv. 2, chap. 12. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

COLUMBUS. --PROSECUTION OF DISCOVERY. --HIS TREATMENT BY THE COURT. 

1494-1503. 

Progress of Discovery. --Reaction of Public Feeling. --The Queen'sConfidence in Columbus. --He Discovers Terra Firma. --Isabella Sends Backthe Indian Slaves. --Complaints against Columbus. --Superseded in theGovernment. --Vindication of the Sovereigns. --His Fourth and Last Voyage. 

The reader will turn with satisfaction from the melancholy and mortifyingdetails of superstition, to the generous efforts, which the Spanishgovernment was making to enlarge the limits of science and dominion in thewest. "Amidst the storms and troubles of Italy, Spain was every daystretching her wings over a wider sweep of empire, and extending the gloryof her name to the far Antipodes. " Such is the swell of exultation withwhich the enthusiastic Italian, Martyr, notices the brilliant progress ofdiscovery under his illustrious countryman Columbus. [1] The Spanishsovereigns had never lost sight of the new domain, so unexpectedly openedto them, as it were, from the depths of the ocean. The first accountstransmitted by the great navigator and his companions, on his secondvoyage, while their imaginations were warm with the beauty and novelty ofthe scenes which met their eyes in the New World, served to keep alive thetone of excitement, which their unexpected successes had kindled in thenation. [2] The various specimens sent home in the return ships, of theproducts of these unknown regions, confirmed the agreeable belief thatthey formed part of the great Asiatic continent, which had so long excitedthe cupidity of Europeans. The Spanish court, sharing in the generalenthusiasm, endeavored to promote the spirit of discovery andcolonization, by forwarding the requisite supplies, and complying promptlywith the most minute suggestions of Columbus. But, in less than two yearsfrom the commencement of his second voyage, the face of things experienceda melancholy change. Accounts were received at home of the most alarmingdiscontent and disaffection in the colony; while the actual returns fromthese vaunted regions were so scanty, as to bear no proportion to theexpenses of the expedition. 

This unfortunate result was in a great measure imputable to the misconductof the colonists themselves. Most of them were adventurers, who hadembarked with no other expectation than that of getting together a fortuneas speedily as possible in the golden Indies. They were withoutsubordination, patience, industry, or any of the regular habits demandedfor success in such an enterprise. As soon as they had launched from theirnative shore, they seemed to feel themselves released from the constraintsof all law. They harbored jealousy and distrust of the admiral as aforeigner. The cavaliers and hidalgos, of whom there were too many in theexpedition, contemned him as an upstart, whom it was derogatory to obey. From the first moment of their landing in Hispaniola, they indulged themost wanton license in regard to the unoffending natives, who, in thesimplicity of their hearts, had received the white men as messengers fromHeaven. Their outrages, however, soon provoked a general resistance, whichled to such a war of extermination, that, in less than four years afterthe Spaniards had set foot on the island, one-third of its population, amounting, probably, to several hundred thousands, were sacrificed! Suchwere the melancholy auspices, under which the intercourse was openedbetween the civilized white man and the simple natives of the westernworld. [3]

These excesses, and a total neglect of agriculture, --for none wouldcondescend to turn up the earth for any other object than the gold theycould find in it, --at length occasioned an alarming scarcity ofprovisions; while the poor Indians neglected their usual husbandry, beingwilling to starve themselves, so that they could starve out theiroppressors. [4] In order to avoid the famine which menaced his littlecolony, Columbus was obliged to resort to coercive measures, shorteningthe allowance of food, and compelling all to work, without distinction ofrank. These unpalatable regulations soon bred general discontent. Thehigh-mettled hidalgos, especially, complained loudly of the indignity ofsuch mechanical drudgery, while Father Boil and his brethren were equallyoutraged by the diminution of their regular rations. [5]

The Spanish sovereigns were now daily assailed with complaints of the mal-administration of Columbus, and of his impolitic and unjust severities toboth Spaniards and natives. They lent, however, an unwilling ear to thesevague accusations; they fully appreciated the difficulties of hissituation; and, although they sent out an agent to inquire into the natureof the troubles which threatened the existence of the colony, they werecareful to select an individual who they thought would be most grateful tothe admiral; and when the latter in the following year, 1496, returned toSpain, they received him with the most ample acknowledgments of regard. "Come to us, " they said, in a kind letter of congratulation, addressed tohim soon after his arrival, "when you can do it without inconvenience toyourself, for you have endured too many vexations already. " [6]

The admiral brought with him, as before, such samples of the productionsof the western hemisphere, as would strike the public eye, and keep alivethe feeling of curiosity. On his journey through Andalusia, he passed somedays under the hospitable roof of the good curate, Bernaldez, who dwellswith much satisfaction on the remarkable appearance of the Indian chiefs, following in the admiral's train, gorgeously decorated with golden collarsand coronets and various barbaric ornaments. Among these he particularlynotices certain "belts and masks of cotton and of wood, with figures ofthe Devil embroidered and carved thereon, sometimes in his own properlikeness, and at others in that _of a cat or an owl_. There is muchreason, " he infers, "to believe that he appears to the islanders in thisguise, and that they are all idolaters, having Satan for their lord!" [7]

But neither the attractions of the spectacle, nor the glowingrepresentations of Columbus, who fancied he had discovered in the mines ofHispaniola the golden quarries of Ophir, from which King Solomon hadenriched the temple of Jerusalem, could rekindle the dormant enthusiasm ofthe nation. The novelty of the thing had passed. They heard a differenttale, moreover, from the other voyagers, whose wan and sallow visagesprovoked the bitter jest, that they had returned with more gold in theirfaces than in their pockets. In short, the skepticism of the public seemednow quite in proportion to its former overweening confidence; and thereturns were so meagre, says Bernaldez, "that it was very generallybelieved there was little or no gold in the island. " [8]

Isabella was far from participating in this unreasonable distrust. She hadespoused the theory of Columbus, when others looked coldly orcontemptuously on it. [9] She firmly relied on his repeated assurances, that the track of discovery would lead to other and more importantregions. She formed a higher estimate, moreover, of the value of the newacquisitions than any founded on the actual proceeds in gold and silver;keeping ever in view, as her letters and instructions abundantly show, theglorious purpose of introducing the blessings of Christian civilizationamong the heathen. [10] She entertained a deep sense of the merits ofColumbus, to whose serious and elevated character her own bore muchresemblance; although the enthusiasm, which distinguished each, wasnaturally tempered in hers with somewhat more of benignity and discretion. 

But although the queen was willing to give the most effectual support tohis great enterprise, the situation of the country was such as made delayin its immediate prosecution unavoidable. Large expense was necessarilyincurred for the actual maintenance of the colony; [11] the exchequer wasliberally drained, moreover, by the Italian war, as well as by the profusemagnificence with which the nuptials of the royal family were nowcelebrating. It was, indeed, in the midst of the courtly revelriesattending the marriage of Prince John, that the admiral presented himselfbefore the sovereigns at Burgos, after his second voyage. Such was the lowcondition of the treasury from these causes, that Isabella was obliged todefray the cost of an outfit to the colony, at this time, from fundsoriginally destined for the marriage of her daughter Isabella with theking of Portugal. [12]

This unwelcome delay, however, was softened to Columbus by thedistinguished marks which he daily received of the royal favor; andvarious ordinances were passed, confirming and enlarging his great powersand privileges in the most ample manner, to a greater extent, indeed, thanhis modesty, or his prudence, would allow him to accept. [13] The languagein which these princely gratuities were conferred, rendered them doublygrateful to his noble heart, containing, as they did, the most emphaticacknowledgments of his "many good, loyal, distinguished, and continualservices, " and thus testifying the unabated confidence of his sovereignsin his integrity and prudence. [14]

Among the impediments to the immediate completion of the arrangements forthe admiral's departure on his third voyage, may be also noticed thehostility of Bishop Fonseca, who, at this period, had the control of theIndian department; a man of an irritable, and, as it would seem, mostunforgiving temper, who, from some causes of disgust which he hadconceived with Columbus previous to his second voyage, lost no opportunityof annoying and thwarting him, for which his official stationunfortunately afforded him too many facilities. [15]

From these various circumstances the admiral's fleet was not ready beforethe beginning of 1498. Even then further embarrassment occurred in manningit, as few were found willing to embark in a service which had fallen intosuch general discredit. This led to the ruinous expedient of substitutingconvicts, whose regular punishments were commuted into transportation, fora limited period, to the Indies. No measure could possibly have beendevised more effectual for the ruin of the infant settlement. The seeds ofcorruption, which had been so long festering in the Old World, soon shotup into a plentiful harvest in the New, and Columbus, who suggested themeasure, was the first to reap the fruits of it. 

At length, all being in readiness, the admiral embarked on board hislittle squadron, consisting of six vessels, whose complement of men, notwithstanding every exertion, was still deficient, and took hisdeparture from the port of St. Lucar, May 30th, 1498. He steered in a moresoutherly direction than on his preceding voyages, and on the first ofAugust succeeded in reaching _terra firma_; thus entitling himself tothe glory of being the first to set foot on the great southern continent, to which he had before opened the way. [16]

It is not necessary to pursue the track of the illustrious voyager, whosecareer, forming the most brilliant episode to the history of the presentreign, has been so recently traced by a hand which few will care tofollow. It will suffice briefly to notice his personal relations with theSpanish government, and the principles on which the colonialadministration was conducted. 

On his arrival at Hispaniola, Columbus found the affairs of the colony inthe most deplorable confusion. An insurrection had been raised by the artsof a few factious individuals against his brother Bartholomew, to whom hehad intrusted the government during his absence. In this desperaterebellion 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, invain endeavored to restore order. The very crews he brought with him, whohad 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 aspecious reconciliation by such concessions as essentially impaired hisown authority. Among these was the grant of large tracts of land to therebels, with permission to the proprietor to employ an allotted number ofthe natives in its cultivation. This was the origin of the celebratedsystem of repartimientos, which subsequently led to the foulest abusesthat ever disgraced humanity. [17]

Nearly a year elapsed after the admiral's return to Hispaniola, before hesucceeded in allaying these intestine feuds. In the mean while, rumorswere every day reaching Spain of the distractions of the colony, accompanied with most injurious imputations on the conduct of Columbus andhis brother, who were loudly accused of oppressing both Spaniards andIndians, and of sacrificing the public interests, in the most unscrupulousmanner, to their own. These complaints were rung in the very ears of thesovereigns by numbers of the disaffected colonists, who had returned toSpain, and who surrounded the king, as he rode out on horseback, clamoringloudly for the discharge of the arrears, of which they said the admiralhad defrauded them. [18]

There were not wanting, even, persons of high consideration at the court, to give credence and circulation to these calumnies. The recent discoveryof the pearl fisheries of Paria, as well as of more prolific veins of theprecious metals in Hispaniola, and the prospect of an indefinite extent ofunexplored country, opened by the late voyage of Columbus, made theviceroyalty of the New World a tempting bait for the avarice and ambitionof the most potent grandee. They artfully endeavored, therefore, toundermine the admiral's credit with the sovereigns, by raising in theirminds 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 thedesign of erecting an independent government for himself. [19]

Whatever weight these absurd charges may have had with Ferdinand, they hadno power to shake the queen's confidence in Columbus, or lead her tosuspect his loyalty for a moment. But the long-continued distractions ofthe 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 someinherent deficiency in his own character. These doubts were mingled, it istrue, with sterner feelings towards the admiral, on the arrival, at thisjuncture, of several of the rebels with the Indian slaves assigned to themby his orders. [20]

It was the received opinion among good Catholics of that period, thatheathen and barbarous nations were placed by the circumstance of theirinfidelity without the pale both of spiritual and civil rights. Theirsouls were doomed to eternal perdition. Their bodies were the property ofthe Christian nation who should occupy their soil. [21] Such, in brief, were the profession and the practice of the most enlightened Europeans ofthe fifteenth century; and such the deplorable maxims which regulated theintercourse of the Spanish and Portuguese navigators with the uncivilizednatives of the western world. [22] Columbus, agreeably to these views, had, very soon after the occupation of Hispaniola, recommended a regularexchange of slaves for the commodities required for the support of thecolony; representing, moreover, that in this way their conversion would bemore surely effected, --an object, it must be admitted, which he seems tohave ever had most earnestly at heart. Isabella, however, entertainedviews on this matter far more liberal than those of her age. She had beendeeply interested by the accounts she had received from the admiralhimself of the gentle, unoffending character of the islanders; and sherevolted at the idea of consigning them to the horrors of slavery, withouteven an effort for their conversion. She hesitated, therefore, to sanctionhis proposal; and when a number of Indian captives were advertised to besold in the markets of Andalusia, she commanded the sale to be suspended, till the opinion of a counsel of theologians and doctors, learned in suchmatters, could be obtained, as to its conscientious lawfulness. Sheyielded still further to the benevolent impulses of her nature, causingholy men to be instructed as far as possible in the Indian languages, andsent out as missionaries for the conversion of the natives. [23] Some ofthem, as Father Boil and his brethren, seem, indeed, to have been moreconcerned for the welfare of their own bodies, than for the souls of theirbenighted flock. But others, imbued with a better spirit, wrought in thegood work with disinterested zeal, and, if we may credit their accounts, with some efficacy. [24]

In the same beneficent spirit, the royal letters and ordinances urged overand over again the paramount obligation of the religious instruction ofthe natives, and of observing the utmost gentleness and humanity in alldealings with them. When, therefore, the queen learned the arrival of twovessels from the Indies, with three hundred slaves on board, which theadmiral had granted to the mutineers, she could not repress herindignation, but impatiently asked, "By what authority does Columbusventure thus to dispose of my subjects?" She instantly caused proclamationto be made in the southern provinces, that all who had Indian slaves intheir possession, granted by the admiral, should forthwith provide fortheir return to their own country; while the few, still held by the crown, were to be restored to freedom in like manner. [25]

After a long and visible reluctance, the queen acquiesced in sending out acommissioner to investigate the affairs of the colony. The personappointed to this delicate trust was Don Francisco de Bobadilla, a poorknight of Calatrava. He was invested with supreme powers of civil andcriminal jurisdiction. He was to bring to trial and pass sentence on allsuch as had conspired against the authority of Columbus. He was authorizedto take possession of the fortresses, vessels, public stores, and propertyof every description, to dispose of all offices, and to command whateverpersons he might deem expedient for the tranquillity of the island, without distinction of rank, to return to Spain, and present themselvesbefore the sovereigns. Such, in brief, was the sum of the extraordinarypowers intrusted to Bobadilla. [26]

It is impossible now to determine what motives could have led to theselection of so incompetent an agent, for an office of such highresponsibility. He seems to have been a weak and arrogant man, swelled upwith immeasurable insolence by the brief authority thus undeservedlybestowed on him. From the very first, he regarded Columbus in the light ofa convicted criminal, on whom it was his business to execute the sentenceof the law. Accordingly, on his arrival at the island, after anostentatious parade of his credentials, he commanded the admiral to appearbefore him, and, without affecting the forms of a legal inquiry, at oncecaused him to be manacled, and thrown into prison. Columbus submittedwithout the least show of resistance, displaying in this sad reverse thatmagnanimity of soul, which would have touched the heart of a generousadversary. Bobadilla, however, discovered no such sensibility; and, afterraking together all the foul or frivolous calumnies, which hatred or thehope of favor could extort, he caused the whole loathsome mass ofaccusation to be sent back to Spain with the admiral, whom he commanded tobe kept strictly in irons during the passage; "afraid, " says FerdinandColumbus bitterly, "lest he might by any chance swim back again to theisland. " [27]

This excess of malice served, as usual, however, to defeat itself. Soenormous an outrage shocked the minds of those most prejudiced againstColumbus. All seemed to feel it as a national dishonor, that suchindignities should be heaped on the man, who, whatever might be hisindiscretions, had done so much for Spain, and for the whole civilizedworld; a man, who, in the honest language of an old writer, "had he livedin the days of ancient Greece or Rome, would have had statues raised, andtemples and divine honors dedicated to him, as to a divinity!" [28]

None partook of the general indignation more strongly than Ferdinand andIsabella, who, in addition to their personal feelings of disgust at sogross an act, readily comprehended the whole weight of obloquy, which itsperpetration must necessarily attach to them. They sent to Cadiz withoutan instant's delay, and commanded the admiral to be released from hisignominious fetters. They wrote to him in the most benignant terms, expressing their sincere regret for the unworthy usage which he hadexperienced, and requesting him to appear before them as speedily aspossible, at Granada, where the court was then staying. At the same time, they furnished him a thousand ducats for his expenses, and a handsomeretinue to escort him on his journey. 

Columbus, revived by these assurances of the kind dispositions of hissovereigns, proceeded without delay to Granada, which he reached on the17th of December. Immediately on his arrival he obtained an audience. Thequeen could not repress her tears at the sight of the man, whoseillustrious services had met with such ungenerous requital, as it were, ather own hands. She endeavored to cheer his wounded spirit with the mostearnest assurances of her sympathy and sorrow for his misfortunes. Columbus, from the first moment of his disgrace, had relied on the goodfaith and kindness of Isabella; for, as an ancient Castilian writerremarks, "she had ever favored him beyond the king her husband, protectinghis interests, and showing him especial kindness and good-will. " When hebeheld the emotion of his royal mistress, and listened to her consolatorylanguage, it was too much for his loyal and generous heart; and, throwinghimself on his knees, he gave vent to his feelings, and sobbed aloud. Thesovereigns endeavored to soothe and tranquillize his mind, and, aftertestifying their deep sense of his injuries, promised him, that impartialjustice should be done his enemies, and that he should be reinstated inhis emoluments and honors. [29]

Much censure has attached to the Spanish government for its share in thisunfortunate transaction; both in the appointment of so unsuitable an agentas Bobadilla, and the delegation of such broad and indefinite powers. Withregard to the first, it is now too late, as has already been remarked, toascertain on what grounds such a selection could have been made. There isno evidence of his being indebted for his promotion to intrigue or anyundue influence. Indeed, according to the testimony of one of hiscontemporaries, he was reputed "an extremely honest and religious man, "and the good bishop Las Casas expressly declares that "no imputation ofdishonesty or avarice had ever rested on his character. " [30] It was anerror of judgment; a grave one, indeed, and must pass for as much as it isworth. 

But in regard to the second charge, of delegating unwarrantable powers, itshould be remembered, that the grievances of the colony were representedas of a most pressing nature, demanding a prompt and peremptory remedy;that a more limited and partial authority, dependent for its exercise oninstructions from the government at home, might be attended with ruinousdelays; that this authority must necessarily be paramount to that ofColumbus, who was a party implicated, and that, although unlimitedjurisdiction was given over all offences committed against him, yetneither he nor his friends were to be molested in any other way than bytemporary suspension from office, and a return to their own country, wherethe merits of their case might be submitted to the sovereigns themselves. 

This view of the matter, indeed, is perfectly conformable to that ofFerdinand Columbus, whose solicitude, so apparent in every page, for hisfather's reputation, must have effectually counterbalanced any repugnancehe may have felt at impugning the conduct of his sovereigns. "The onlyground of complaint, " he remarks, in summing up his narrative of thetransaction, "which I can bring against their Catholic Highnesses is, theunfitness of the agent whom they employed, equally malicious and ignorant. Had they sent out a suitable person, the admiral would have been highlygratified; since he had more than once requested the appointment of someone with full powers of jurisdiction in an affair, where he felt somenatural delicacy in moving, in consequence of his own brother having beenoriginally involved in it. " And, as to the vast magnitude of the powersintrusted to Bobadilla, he adds, " It can scarcely be wondered at, considering the manifold complaints against the admiral made to theirHighnesses. " [31]

Although the king and queen determined without hesitation on the completerestoration of the admiral's honors, they thought it better to defer hisreappointment to the government of the colony, until the presentdisturbances should be settled, and he might return there with personalsafety and advantage. In the mean time, they resolved to send out acompetent individual, and to support him with such a force as shouldoverawe faction, and enable him to place the tranquillity of the island ona permanent basis. 

The person selected was Don Nicolas de Ovando, comendador of Lares, of themilitary order of Alcantara. He was a man of acknowledged prudence andsagacity, temperate in his habits, and plausible and politic in hisaddress. It is sufficient evidence of his standing at court, that he hadbeen one of the ten youths selected to be educated in the palace ascompanions for the prince of the Asturias. He was furnished with a fleetof two and thirty sail, carrying twenty-five hundred persons, many of themof the best families in the kingdom, with every variety of article for thenourishment and permanent prosperity of the colony; and the generalequipment was in a style of expense and magnificence, such as had neverbefore been lavished on any armada destined for the western waters. [32]

The new governor was instructed immediately on his arrival to sendBobadilla home for trial. Under his lax administration, abuses of everykind had multiplied to an alarming extent, and the poor natives, inparticular, were rapidly wasting away under the new and most inhumanarrangement of the _repartimientos_, which he established. Isabellanow declared the Indians free; and emphatically enjoined on theauthorities of Hispaniola to respect them as true and faithful vassals ofthe crown. Ovando was especially to ascertain the amount of lossessustained by Columbus and his brothers, to provide for their fullindemnification, and to secure the unmolested enjoyment in future of alltheir lawful rights and pecuniary perquisites. [33]

Fortified with the most ample instructions in regard to these and otherdetails of his administration, the governor embarked on board hismagnificent flotilla, and crossed the bar of St. Lucar, February 15th, 1502. A furious tempest dispersed the fleet, before it had been out aweek, and a report reached Spain that it had entirely perished. Thesovereigns, overwhelmed with sorrow at this fresh disaster, whichconsigned so many of their best and bravest to a watery grave, shutthemselves up in their palace for several days. Fortunately, the reportproved ill-founded. The fleet rode out the storm in safety, one vesselonly having perished, and the remainder reached in due time its place ofdestination. [34]

The Spanish government has been roundly taxed with injustice andingratitude for its delay in restoring Columbus to the full possession ofhis colonial authority; and that too by writers generally distinguishedfor candor and impartiality. No such animadversion, however, as far as Iam aware, is countenanced by contemporary historians; and it appears to bewholly undeserved. Independent of the obvious inexpediency of returninghim immediately to the theatre of disaffection, before the embers ofancient animosity had had time to cool, there were several features in hischaracter, which make it doubtful whether he were the most competentperson, in any event, for an emergency demanding at once the greatestcoolness, consummate address, and acknowledged personal authority. Hissublime enthusiasm, which carried him victorious over every obstacle, involved him also in numerous embarrassments, which men of more phlegmatictemperament would have escaped. It led him to count too readily on asimilar spirit in others, --and to be disappointed. It gave an exaggeratedcoloring to his views and descriptions, that inevitably led to a reactionin the minds of such as embarked their all on the splendid dreams of afairy land, which they were never to realize. [35] Hence a fruitful sourceof discontent and disaffection in his followers. It led him, in hiseagerness for the achievement of his great enterprises, to be lessscrupulous and politic as to the means, than a less ardent spirit wouldhave been. His pertinacious adherence to the scheme of Indian slavery, andhhis impolitic regulation compelling the labor of the hidalgos, arepertinent examples of this. [36] He was, moreover, a foreigner, withoutrank, fortune, or powerful friends; and his high and sudden elevationnaturally raised him up a thousand enemies among a proud, punctilious, andintensely national people. Under these multiplied embarrassments, resulting from peculiarities of character and situation, the sovereignsmight well be excused for not intrusting Columbus, at this delicatecrisis, with disentangling the meshes of intrigue and faction, in whichthe affairs of the colony were so unhappily involved. 

I trust these remarks will not be construed into an insensibility to themerits and exalted services of Columbus. "A world, " to borrow the words, though not the application, of the Greek historian, "is his monument. " Hisvirtues shine With too bright a lustre to be dimmed by a few naturalblemishes; but it becomes necessary to notice these, to vindicate theSpanish government from the imputation of perfidy and ingratitude, whereit has been most freely urged, and apparently with the least foundation. 

It is more difficult to excuse the paltry equipment with which the admiralwas suffered to undertake his fourth and last voyage. The object proposedby this expedition was the discovery of a passage to the great IndianOcean, which, he inferred sagaciously enough from his premises, though, asit turned out, to the great inconvenience of the commercial world, mosterroneously, must open somewhere between Cuba and the coast of Paria. Fourcaravels, only, were furnished for the expedition, the largest of whichdid not exceed seventy tons' burden; a force forming a striking contrastto the magnificent armada lately intrusted to Ovando, and altogether tooinsignificant to be vindicated on the ground of the different objectsproposed by the two expeditions. [37]

Columbus, oppressed with growing infirmities, and a consciousness, perhaps, of the decline of popular favor, manifested unusual despondencypreviously to his embarkation. He talked even of resigning the task offurther discovery to his brother Bartholomew. "I have established, " saidhe, "all that I proposed, --the existence of land in the west. I haveopened the gate, and others may enter at their pleasure; as indeed theydo, arrogating to themselves the title of discoverers, to which they canhave little claim, following as they do in my track. " He little thoughtthe ingratitude of mankind would sanction the claims of these adventurersso far as to confer the name of one of them on that world, which hisgenius had revealed. [38]

The great inclination, however, which the admiral had to serve theCatholic sovereigns, and especially the most serene queen, says FerdinandColumbus, induced him to lay aside his scruples, and encounter the perilsand fatigues of another voyage. A few weeks before his departure, hereceived a gracious letter from Ferdinand and Isabella, the last everaddressed to him by his royal mistress, assuring him of their purpose tomaintain inviolate all their engagements with him, and to perpetuate theinheritance of his honors in his family. [39] Comforted and cheered byassurances, the veteran navigator, quitting the port of Cadiz, on the 9thof March, 1502, once more spread his sails for those golden regions, whichhe had approached so near, but was destined never to reach. 

It will not be necessary to pursue his course further than to notice asingle occurrence of most extraordinary nature. The admiral had receivedinstructions not to touch at Hispaniola on his outward voyage. The leakycondition of one of his ships, however, and the signs of an approachingstorm, induced him to seek a temporary refuge there; at the same time, hecounselled Ovando to delay for a few days the departure of the fleet, thenriding in the harbor, which was destined to carry Bobadilla and the rebelswith their ill-gotten treasures back to Spain. The churlish governor, however, not only refused Columbus admittance, but gave orders for theinstant departure of the vessels. The apprehensions of the experiencedmariner were fully justified by the event. Scarcely had the Spanish fleetquitted its moorings, before one of those tremendous hurricanes came on, which so often desolate these tropical regions, sweeping down everythingbefore it, and fell with such violence on the little navy, that out ofeighteen ships, of which it was composed, not more than three or fourescaped. The rest all foundered, including those which containedBobadilla, and the late enemies of Columbus. Two hundred thousand_castellanos_ of gold, half of which belonged to the government, wentto the bottom with them. The only one of the fleet which made its way backto Spain was a crazy, weather-beaten bark, which contained the admiral'sproperty, amounting to four thousand ounces of gold. To complete thesecurious coincidences, Columbus with his little squadron rode out the stormin safety under the lee of the island, where he had prudently takenshelter, on being so rudely repulsed from the port. This even-handedretribution of justice, so uncommon in human affairs, led many to discernthe immediate interposition of Providence. Others, in a less Christiantemper, referred it all to the necromancy of the admiral. [40]

FOOTNOTES

[1] "Inter has Italiae procellas magis indies ac magis alas protenditHispania, 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 onhis second voyage. It is addressed to the authorities of Seville. Afternoticing the evidences of gold in Hispaniola, he says; "Ansi que de ciertolos Reyes nuestros Señores desde agora se pueden tener por los masprosperos e mas ricos Principes del mundo, porque tal cosa hasta agora nose ha visto ni leido de ningnno en el mundo, porque verdaderamente a otrocamino que los navios vuelvan puedan llevar tanta cantidad de oro que sepueden maravillar cualesquiera que lo supieren. " In another part of theletter, the Doctor is equally sanguine in regard to the fruitfulness ofthe soil and climate. Letra de Dr. Chanca, apud Navarrete, Coleccion deViages, tom. I. Pp. 198-224. 

[3] Fernando Colon, Hist. De Almirante, cap. 60, 62. --Muñoz, Hist. DelNuevo-Mundo, lib. 5, sec. 25. --Herrera, Indias Occidentales, dec. 1, lib. 2, cap. 9. --Benzoni, Novi Orbis Hist. , lib. 1, cap. 9. 

[4] The Indians had some grounds for relying on the efficacy ofstarvation, if, as Las Casas gravely asserts, "one Spaniard consumed in asingle day as much as would suffice three families!" Llorente, Oeuvres deDon Barthélemi de las Casas, precedées de sa Vie, (Paris, 1822, ) tom. I. P. 11. 

[5] Martyr, De Rebus Oceanicis, dec. 1, lib. 4. --Goinara, Hist. De lasIndias, cap. 20, tom. Ii. --Herrera, Indias Occidentales, dec. 1, lib. 2, cap. 12. 

[6] Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. Ii. , Doc. Dipl. , no. 101. --Fernando Colon, Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 64. --Muñoz, Hist. Del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 5, sec. 31. 

[7] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 131. --Herrera expresses the samecharitable opinion. "Muy claramente se conocio que el demonio estava, apoderado de aquella gente, y la traia ciega y engañada, hablandoles, ymostrandoles en diversas figuras. " Indias Occidentales, lib. 3, cap. 4. 

[8] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 131. --Muñoz, Hist. Del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 6, sec. 1. 

[9] Columbus, in his letter to Prince John's nurse, dated 1500, makes thefollowing ample acknowledgment of the queen's early protection of him. "Entodos hobo incredulidad, y a la Reina mi Señora dio Nuestro Señor elespiritu de inteligencia y esfuerzo grande, y la hizo de todo herederacomo a cara y muy amada hija. " "Su Alteza lo aprobaba al contrario, y losostuvo fasta que pudo. " Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. I. P. 266. 

[10] See the letters to Columbus, dated May 14th, 1493, August, 1494, apudNavarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. Ii. Pp. 66, 154, et mult. Al. 

[11] The salaries alone, annually disbursed by the crown to personsresident in the colony, amounted to six million maravedies. Muñoz, Hist. Del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 5, sec. 33. 

[12] Idem, lib. 6, sec. 2. --Fernando Colon, Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 64. --Herrera, Indias Occidentales, lib. 3, cap. 1. 

[13] Such, for example, was the grant of an immense tract of land inHispaniola, with the title of count or duke, as the admiral might prefer. Muñoz, Hist. Del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 6, sec. 17. 

[14] The instrument establishing the _mayorazgo_, or perpetual entailof Columbus's estates, contains an injunction, that "his heirs shall neveruse any other signature than that of 'the Admiral, _el Almirante_, whatever other titles and honors may belong to them. " That title indicatedhis peculiar achievements, and it was an honest pride which led him bythis simple expedient to perpetuate the remembrance of them in hisposterity. See the original document, apud Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. Ii. Pp. 221-235. 

[15] Muñoz, Hist. Del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 6, sec. 20. --Fernando Colon, Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 64. --Zuñiga, Annales de Sevilla, año 1496. 

[16] Peter Martyr, De Rebus Oceanicis, dec. 1, lib. E. --Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. Ii. , Doc. Dipl. , nos. 116, 120. --Tercer Viage deColon, apud Navarrete, tom. I. P. 245. --Benzoni, Novi Orbis Hist. , lib. 1, cap. 10, ll. --Herrera, Indias Occidentales, dec. 1, lib. 3, cap. 10, ll. --Muñoz, Hist. Del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 6, sec. 19. 

[17] Gomara, Hist. De las Indias, cap. 20. --Benzoni, Novi Orbis Hist. , lib. 1, cap. 10, ll. --Garibay, Compendio, tom. Ii. Lib. 19, cap. 7. --Fernando Colon, Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 73-82. --Peter Martyr, De RebusOceanicis, dec. 1, lib. 5. --Herrera, Indias Occidentales, dec. 1, lib. 3, cap. 16. --Muñoz, Hist. Del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 6, sec. 40-42. 

[18] Garibay, Compendio, tom. Ii. Lib. 19, cap. 7. --Peter Martyr, De RebusOceanicis, dec. 1, lib. 7. --Gomara, Hist. De las Indias, cap. 23. --Benzoni, Novi Orbis Hist. , cap. 11. 

Ferdinand Columbus mentions that he and his brother, who were then pagesto the queen, could not stir out into the courtyard of the Alhambra, without being followed by fifty of these vagabonds, who insulted them inthe grossest manner, "as the sons of the adventurer, who had led so manybrave Spanish hidalgos to seek their graves in the land of vanity anddelusion which he had found out. " Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 85. 

[19] Benzoni, Novi Orbis Hist. , lib. 1, cap. 12. --National feelingoperated, no doubt, as well as avarice to sharpen the tooth of slanderagainst the admiral. "Aegre multi patiuntur, " says Columbus's countryman, with honest warmth, "peregrinum hominem, et quidem e nostrâ Italia ortum, tantum honoris ac gloriae consequutum, ut non tantum Hispanicae gentis, sed et cujusvis alterius homines superaverit. " Benzoni, lib. 1, cap. 5. 

[20] Herrera, Indias Occidentales, lib. 4, cap. 7, 10, and more especiallylib. 6, cap. 13. --Las Casas, Oeuvres, ed. De Llorente, tom. I. P. 306. 

[21] "La qualité de Catholique Romain, " says the philosophic Villers, "avait tout-à-fait remplacé celle d'homme, et même de Chrétien. Quin'était pas Catholique Romain, n'était pas homme, était moins qu'homme; eteût-il été un souverain, c'était une bonne action que de lui ôter la vie. "(Essai sur la Réformation, p. 56. Ed. 1820. ) Las Casas rests the title ofthe Spanish crown to its American possessions on the original papal grant, made on condition of converting the natives to Christianity. The pope, asvicar of Jesns Christ, possesses plenary authority over all men for thesafety of their souls. He might, therefore, in furtherance of this, conferon the Spanish sovereigns _imperial supremacy_ over all lands discoveredby them, --not, however, to the prejudice of authorities already existingthere, and over such nations only as voluntarily embraced Christianity. Such is the sum of his thirty propositions, submitted to the council ofthe Indies for the inspection of Charles V. (Oeuvres, ed. De Llorente, tom. I. Pp. 286-311. ) One may see in these arbitrary and whimsicallimitations, the good bishop's desire to reconcile what reason told himwere the natural rights of man, with what faith prescribed as thelegitimate prerogative of the pope. Few Roman Catholics at the present daywill be found sturdy enough to maintain this lofty prerogative, howevercarefully limited. Still fewer in the sixteenth century would havechallenged it. Indeed, it is but just to Las Casas, to admit, that thegeneral scope of his arguments, here and elsewhere, is very far in advanceof his age. 

[22] A Spanish casuist founds the right of his nation to enslave theIndians, among other things, on their smoking tobacco, and not trimmingtheir beards _à l'Espagnole_. At least, this is Montesquieu'sinterpretation of it. (Esprit des Loix, lib. 15, chap. 3. ) The doctors ofthe Inquisition could hardly have found a better reason. 

[23] 23 Muñoz, Hist. Del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 5, sec. 34. --Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. Ii. , Doc. Dipl. , no. 92. --Herrera, IndiasOccidentales, lib. 3, cap. 4. 

[24] "Among other things that the holy fathers carried out, " says Robles, "was a little organ and several bells, which greatly delighted the simplepeople, so that from one to two thousand persons were baptized every day. "(Vida de Ximenez, p. 120. )

Ferdinand Columbus remarks with some _naïveté_, that "the Indians were soobedient from their fear of the admiral, and at the same time so desirousto oblige him, that they voluntarily became Christians!" Hist. DelAlmirante, cap. 84. 

[25] Herrera, Indias Occidentales, lib. 4, cap. 7. --Navarrete, Coleccionde Viages, tom. Ii. , Doc. Dipl. , no. 134. 

Las Casas observes, that "so great was the queen's indignation at theadmiral's misconduct in this particular, that nothing but theconsideration of his great public services saved him from immediatedisgrace. " Oeuvres, ed. De Llorente, tom. I. P. 306. 

[26] Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. 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 thehope, doubtless, of obtaining such tidings from Hispaniola as shouldobviate the necessity of a measure so prejudicial to the admiral. 

[27] Fernando Colon, Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 86. --Garibay, Compendio, tom. Ii. Lib. 19, cap. 7. --Peter Martyr, De Rebus Oceanicis, dec. 1, lib. 7. --Gomara, Hist. De las Indias, cap. 23. --Herrera, Indias Occidentales, lib. 4, cap. 10. --Benzoni, Novi Orbis Hist. , lib. 1, cap. 12. 

[28] Benzoni, Novi Orbis Hist. , lib. 1, cap. 12. --Herrera, IndiasOccidentales, lib. 6, cap. 15. 

Ferdinand Columbus tells us, that his father kept the fetters in which hewas brought home, hanging up in an apartment of his house, as a perpetualmemorial of national ingratitude, and, when he died, ordered them to beburied in the same grave with himself. Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 86. 

[29] Garibay, Compendio, tom. Ii. Lib. 19, cap. 7. --Peter Martyr, De RebusOceanicis, dec. 1, lib. 7. --Fernando Colon, Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 86, 87. --Herrera, Indias Occidentales, dec. I, lib. 4, cap. 8-10. --Benzoni, Novi Orbis Hist. , lib. 1, cap. 12. 

[30] Oviedo, Hist. Gen. De las Ind. , p. 1, lib. 3, cap. 6. --Las Casas, lib. 2, cap. 6, apud Navarrete, tom. I. , introd. , p. 99. 

[31] Fernando Colon, Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 86. 

[32] Herrera, Indias Occidentales, dec. 1, lib. 4, cap. 11. --FernandoColon, Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 87. --Benzoni, Novi Orbis Hist. , lib. 1, cap. 12. --Mem. De la Acad. De Hist. , tom. Vi. P. 385. 

[33] Herrera, Indias Occidentales, lib. 4, cap. 11-13. --Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. Ii. , Doc. Dipl. , nos. 138, 144. --Fernando Colon, Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 87. 

[34] Herrera, Indias Occidentales, lib. 5, cap. 1. 

[35] The high devotional feeling of Columbus led him to trace outallusions in Scripture to the various circumstances and scenes of hisadventurous life. Thus he believed his great discovery announced in theApocalypse, and in Isaiah; he identified, as I have before stated, themines of Hispaniola with those which furnished Solomon with materials forhis temple; he fancied that he had determined the actual locality of thegarden of Eden in the newly discovered region of Paria. But his greatestextravagance was his project of a crusade for the recovery of the HolySepulchre. This he cherished from the first hour of his discovery, pressing it in the most urgent manner on the sovereigns, and making actualprovision for it in his testament. This was a flight, however, beyond thespirit even of this romantic age, and probably received as little seriousattention from the queen, as from her more cool and calculating husband. Peter Martyr, De Rebus Oceanicis, dec. 1, lib. 6. --Tercer, Viage de Colon, apud Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. I. P. 259. --tom. Ii. , Doc. Dipl. , no. 140. --Herrera, Indias Occidentales, lib. 6, cap. 15. 

[36] Another example was the injudicious punishment of delinquents bydiminishing their regular allowance of food, a measure so obnoxious as tocall for the interference of the sovereigns, who prohibited it altogether. (Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. Ii. , Doc. Dipl. , 97. ) Herrera, whomust be admitted to have been in no degree insensible to the merits ofColumbus, closes his account of the various accusations urged against himand his brothers, with the remark, that, "with every allowance forcalumny, they must be confessed not to have governed the Castilians withthe moderation that they ought to have done. " Indias Occidentales, lib. 4, cap. 9. 

[37] Garibay, Compendio, tom. Ii. Lib. 19, cap. 14. --Fernando Colon, Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 88. --Herrera, Indias Occidentales, lib. 5, cap. 1. --Benzoni, Novi Orbis Hist. , cap. 14. 

[38] It would be going out of our way to investigate the pretensions ofAmerigo Vespucci to the honor of first discovering the South Americancontinent. The reader will find them displayed with perspicuity and candorby Mr. Irving, in his "Life of Columbus. " (Appendix, No. 9. ) Few will bedisposed to contest the author's conclusion respecting their fallacy, though all may not have the same charity as he, in tracing its possibleorigin to an editorial blunder, instead of wilful fabrication on the partof Vespucci; in which light, indeed, it seems to have been regarded by thetwo most ancient and honest historians of the event, Las Casas andHerrera. 

Mr. Irving's conclusions, however, have since been confirmed, in thefullest manner, by M. De Humboldt, in the fifth volume of his "Géographiedu Nouveau Continent, " published in 1839, a year after the precedingportion of this note was first printed; in which he has assembled a massof testimony, suggesting the most favorable impressions of Vespucci'sinnocence of the various charges brought against him. 

Since the appearance of Mr. Irving's work, Señor Navarrete has publishedthe third volume of his "Coleccion de Viages y Descubrimientos, " etc. , containing, among other things, the original letters recording Vespucci'sAmerican voyages, illustrated by all the authorities and facts, that couldcome within the scope of his indefatigable researches. The whole weight ofevidence leads irresistibly to the conviction, that Columbus is entitledto the glory of being the original discoverer of the southern continent, as well as islands, of the western hemisphere. (Coleccion de Viages, tom. Iii. Pp. 183-334. )

In addition to the preceding writers, the American reader will find theclaims of Vespucci discussed, with much ingenuity and careful examinationof authorities, by Mr. Cushing, in his "Reminiscences of Spain, " vol. Ii. Pp. 210 et seq. 

[39] Fernando Colon, Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 87. --Herrera notices thisletter, written, he says, "con tanta humanidad, que parecia extraordinariade lo que usavan con otros, y no sin razon, pues jamas nadie les hizo talservicio, " Indias Occidentales, lib. 5, cap. 1. 

Among other instances of the queen's personal regard for Columbus, may benoticed her receiving his two sons, Diego and Fernando, as her own pages, on the death of Prince John, in whose service they had formerly been. (Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. Ii. , Doc. Dipl. , 125. )

By an ordinance of 1593, we find Diego Colon made _contino_ of theroyal household, with an annual salary of 50, 000 maravedies. Ibid. , Doc. Dipl. , no. 150. 

[40] Peter Martyr, De Rebus Oceanicis, dec. 1, lib. 10. --Garibay, Compendio, tom. Ii. Lib. 19, cap. 14. --Fernando Colon, Hist. DelAlmirante, cap. 88. --Benzoni, Novi Orbis Hist. , cap. 12. --Herrera, IndiasOccidentals, lib. 5, cap. 2. 

CHAPTER IX. 

SPANISH COLONIAL POLICY. 

Careful Provision for the Colonies. --License for Private Voyages. --Important Papal Concessions. --The Queen's Zeal for Conversion. --ImmediateProfits from the Discoveries. --Their Moral Consequences. --TheirGeographical Extent. 

A consideration of the colonial policy pursued during Isabella's lifetimehas been hitherto deferred to avoid breaking the narrative of Columbus'spersonal adventures. I shall now endeavor to present the reader with abrief outline of it, as far as can be collected from imperfect and scantymaterials; for, however incomplete in itself, it becomes important ascontaining the germ of the gigantic system developed in later ages. 

Ferdinand and Isabella manifested from the first an eager and enlightenedcuriosity in reference to their new acquisitions, constantly interrogatingthe admiral minutely as to their soil and climate, their various vegetableand mineral products, and especially the character of the uncivilizedraces who inhabited them. They paid the greatest deference to hissuggestions, as before remarked, and liberally supplied the infantsettlement with whatever could contribute to its nourishment and permanentprosperity. [1] Through their provident attention, in a very few yearsafter its discovery, the island of Hispaniola was in possession of themost important domestic animals, as well as fruits and vegetables of theOld World, some of which have since continued to furnish the staple of afar more lucrative commerce than was ever anticipated from its gold mines. [2]

Emigration to the new countries was encouraged by the liberal tenor of theroyal ordinances passed from time to time. The settlers in Hispaniola wereto have their passage free; to be excused from taxes; to have the absoluteproperty of such plantations on the island as they should engage tocultivate for four years; and they were furnished with a gratuitous supplyof grain and stock for their farms. All exports and imports were exemptedfrom duty; a striking contrast to the narrow policy of later ages. Fivehundred persons, including scientific men and artisans of everydescription, were sent out and maintained at the expense of government. Toprovide for the greater security and quiet of the island, Ovando wasauthorized to gather the residents into towns, which were endowed with theprivileges appertaining to similar corporations in the mother country; anda number of married men, with their families, were encouraged to establishthemselves in them, with the view of giving greater solidity andpermanence to the settlement. [3]

With these wise provisions were mingled others savoring too strongly ofthe illiberal spirit of the age. Such were those prohibiting Jews, Moors, or indeed any but Castilians, for whom the discovery was consideredexclusively to have been made, from inhabiting, or even visiting, the NewWorld. The government kept a most jealous eye upon what it regarded as itsown peculiar perquisites, reserving to itself the exclusive possession ofall minerals, dyewoods, and precious stones, that should be discovered;and although private persons were allowed to search for gold, they weresubjected to the exorbitant tax of two-thirds, subsequently reduced toone-fifth, of all they should obtain, for the crown. [4]

The measure which contributed more effectually than any other, at thisperiod, to the progress of discovery and colonization, was the licensegranted, under certain regulations, in 1495, for voyages undertaken byprivate individuals. No use was made of this permission until some yearslater, in 1499. The spirit of enterprise had flagged, and the nation hadexperienced something like disappointment on contrasting the meagreresults of their own discoveries with the dazzling successes of thePortuguese, who had struck at once into the very heart of the jewelledeast. The report of the admiral's third voyage, however, and the beautifulspecimens of pearls which he sent home from the coast of Paria, revivedthe cupidity of the nation. Private adventurers now proposed to availthemselves of the license already granted, and to follow up the track ofdiscovery on their own account. The government, drained by its late heavyexpenditures, and jealous of the spirit of maritime adventure beginning toshow itself in the other nations of Europe, [5] willingly acquiesced in ameasure, which, while it opened a wide field of enterprise for itssubjects, 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 reserveone-tenth of their tonnage for the crown, as well as two-thirds of all thegold, and ten per cent. Of all other commodities which they shouldprocure. The government promoted these expeditions by a bounty on allvessels of six hundred tons and upwards, engaged in them. [6]

With this encouragement the more wealthy merchants of Seville, Cadiz, andPalos, the old theatre of nautical enterprise, freighted and sent outlittle squadrons of three or four vessels each, which they intrusted tothe experienced mariners, who had accompanied Columbus in his firstvoyage, or since followed in his footsteps. They held in general the samecourse pursued by the admiral on his last expedition, exploring the coastsof the great southern continent. Some of the adventurers returned withsuch rich freights of gold, pearls, and other precious commodities, aswell compensated the fatigues and perils of the voyage. But the greaternumber were obliged to content themselves with the more enduring butbarren honors of discovery. [7]

The active spirit of enterprise now awakened, and the more enlargedcommercial relations with the new colonies, required a more perfectorganization of the department for Indian affairs, the earliest vestigesof which have been already noticed in a preceding chapter. [8] By anordinance dated at Alcalá, January 20th, 1503, it was provided that aboard should be established, consisting of three functionaries, with thetitles of treasurer, factor, and comptroller. Their permanent residencewas assigned in the old alcazar of Seville, where they were to meet everyday for the despatch of business. The board was expected to make itselfthoroughly acquainted with whatever concerned the colonies, and to affordthe government all information, that could be obtained, affecting theirinterests and commercial prosperity. It was empowered to grant licensesunder the regular conditions, to provide for the equipment of fleets, todetermine their destination, and furnish them instructions on sailing. Allmerchandise for exportation was to be deposited in the alcazar, where thereturn cargoes were to be received, and contracts made for their sale. Similar authority was given to it over the trade with the Barbary coastand the Canary Islands. Its supervision was to extend in like manner overall vessels which might take their departure from the port of Cadiz, aswell as from Seville. With these powers were combined others of a purelyjudicial character, authorizing them to take cognizance of questionsarising out of particular voyages, and of the colonial trade in general. In this latter capacity they were to be assisted by the advice of twojurists, maintained by a regular salary from the government. [9]

Such were the extensive powers intrusted to the famous _Casa deContratacion_, or House of Trade, on this its first definiteorganization; and, although its authority was subsequently somewhatcircumscribed by the appellate jurisdiction of the Council of the Indies, it has always continued the great organ by which the commercialtransactions with the colonies have been conducted and controlled. 

The Spanish government, while thus securing to itself the more easy andexclusive management of the colonial trade, by confining it within onenarrow channel, discovered the most admirable foresight in providing forits absolute supremacy in ecclesiastical affairs, where alone it could becontested. By a bull of Alexander the Sixth, dated November 16th, 1501, the sovereigns were empowered to receive all the tithes in the colonialdominions. [10] Another bull, of Pope Julius the Second, July 28th, 1508, granted them the right of collating to all benefices, of whateverdescription, in the colonies, subject only to the approbation of the HolySee. By these two concessions, the Spanish crown was placed at once at thehead of the church in its transatlantic dominions, with the absolutedisposal of all its dignities and emoluments. [11]

It has excited the admiration of more than one historian, that Ferdinandand Isabella, with their reverence for the Catholic church, should havehad the courage to assume an attitude of such entire independence of itsspiritual chief. [12] But whoever has studied their reign, will regardthis measure as perfectly conformable to their habitual policy, whichnever suffered a zeal for religion, or a blind deference to the church, tocompromise in any degree the independence of the crown. It is much moreastonishing, that pontiffs could be found content to divest themselves ofsuch important prerogatives. It was deviating widely from the subtle andtenacious spirit of their predecessors; and, as the consequences came tobe more fully disclosed, furnished ample subject of regret to those whosucceeded them. 

Such is a brief summary of the principal regulations adopted by Ferdinandand Isabella for the administration of the colonies. Many of theirpeculiarities, including most of their defects, are to be referred to thepeculiar circumstances under which the discovery of the New World waseffected. Unlike the settlements on the comparatively sterile shores ofNorth America, which were permitted to devise laws accommodated to theirnecessities, and to gather strength in the habitual exercise of politicalfunctions, the Spanish colonies were from the very first checked andcontrolled by the over-legislation of the parent country. The originalproject of discovery had been entered into with indefinite expectations ofgain. The verification of Columbus's theory of the existence of land inthe west gave popular credit to his conjecture, that that land was thefar-famed Indies. The specimens of gold and other precious commoditiesfound there, served to maintain the delusion. The Spanish governmentregarded the expedition as its own private adventure, to whose benefits ithad exclusive pretensions. Hence those jealous regulations for securing toitself a monopoly of the most obvious sources of profit, the dyewoods andprecious metals. 

These impolitic provisions were relieved by others better suited to thepermanent interests of the colony. Such was the bounty offered in variousways on the occupation and culture of land; the erection ofmunicipalities; the right of inter-colonial traffic, and of exporting andimporting merchandise of every description free of duty. [13] These andsimilar laws show that the government, far from regarding the coloniesmerely as a foreign acquisition to be sacrificed to the interests of themother country, as at a later period, was disposed to legislate for themon more generous principles, as an integral portion of the monarchy. 

Some of the measures, even, of a less liberal tenor, may be excused, assufficiently accommodated to existing circumstances. No regulation, forexample, was found eventually more mischievous in its operation than thatwhich confined the colonial trade to the single port of Seville, insteadof permitting it to find a free vent in the thousand avenues naturallyopened in every part of the kingdom; to say nothing of the grievousmonopolies and exactions, for which this concentration of a mighty trafficon so small a point was found, in later times, to afford unboundedfacility. But the colonial trade was too limited in its extent, underFerdinand and Isabella, to involve such consequences. It was chieflyconfined to a few wealthy seaports of Andalusia, from the vicinity ofwhich the first adventurers had sallied forth on their career ofdiscovery. It was no inconvenience to them to have a common port of entry, so central and accessible as Seville, which, moreover, by this arrangementbecame a great mart for European trade, thus affording a convenient marketto the country for effecting its commercial exchanges with every quarterof Christendom. [14] It was only when laws, adapted to the incipientstages of commerce, were perpetuated to a period when that commerce hadswelled to such gigantic dimensions as to embrace every quarter of theempire, that their gross impolicy became manifest. 

It would not be giving a fair view of the great objects proposed by theSpanish sovereigns in their schemes of discovery, to omit one which wasparamount to all the rest, with the queen at least, --the propagation ofChristianity among the heathen. The conversion and civilization of thissimple people form, as has been already said, the burden of most of herofficial communications from the earliest period. [15] She neglected nomeans for the furtherance of this good work, through the agency ofmissionaries exclusively devoted to it, who were to establish theirresidence among the natives, and win them to the true faith by theirinstructions, and the edifying example of their own lives. It was with thedesign of ameliorating the condition of the natives, that she sanctionedthe introduction into the colonies of negro slaves born in Spain. This shedid on the representation that the physical constitution of the Africanwas much better fitted than that of the Indian to endure severe toil undera tropical climate. To this false principle of economizing humansuffering, we are indebted for that foul stain on the New World, which hasgrown deeper and darker with the lapse of years. [16]

Isabella, however, was destined to have her benevolent designs, in regardto the natives, defeated by her own subjects. The popular doctrine of theabsolute rights of the Christian over the heathen seemed to warrant theexaction of labor from these unhappy beings to any degree, which avariceon the one hand could demand, or human endurance concede on the other. Thedevice of the _repartimientos_ systematized and completed the wholescheme of oppression. The queen, it is true, abolished them under Ovando'sadministration, and declared the Indians "as free as her own subjects. "[17] But his representation, that the Indians, when no longer compelled towork, withdrew from all intercourse with the Christians, thus annihilatingat once all hopes of their conversion, subsequently induced her to consentthat they should be required to labor moderately and for a reasonablecompensation. [18] This was construed with their usual latitude by theSpaniards. They soon revived the old system of distribution on so terrifica scale, that a letter of Columbus, written shortly after Isabella'sdeath, represents more than six-sevenths of the whole population ofHispaniola to have melted away under it! [19] The queen was too farremoved to enforce the execution of her own beneficent measures; nor is itprobable, that she ever imagined the extent of their violation, for therewas no intrepid philanthropist, in that day, like Las Casas, to proclaimto the world the wrongs and sorrows of the Indian. [20] A conviction, however, of the unworthy treatment of the natives seems to have pressedheavily on her heart; for in a codicil to her testament, dated a few daysonly before her death, she invokes the kind offices of her successor intheir behalf in such strong and affectionate language, as plainlyindicates how intently her thoughts were occupied with their conditiondown to the last hour of her existence. [21]

The moral grandeur of the maritime discoveries under this reign must notso far dazzle us, as to lead to a very high estimate of their immediateresults in an economical view. Most of those articles which have sinceformed the great staples of South American commerce, as cocoa, indigo, cochineal, tobacco, etc. , were either not known in Isabella's time, or notcultivated for exportation. Small quantities of cotton had been brought toSpain, but it was doubted whether the profit would compensate the expenseof raising it. The sugar-cane had been transplanted into Hispaniola, andthrived luxuriantly in its genial soil. But it required time to grow it toany considerable amount as an article of commerce; and this was stillfurther delayed by the distractions as well as avarice of the colony, which grasped at nothing less substantial than gold itself. The onlyvegetable product extensively used in trade was the brazil-wood, whosebeautiful dye and application to various ornamental purposes made it, fromthe first, one of the most important monopolies of the crown. 

The accounts are too vague to afford any probable estimate of the preciousmetals obtained from the new territories previous to Ovando's mission. Before the discovery of the mines of Hayna it was certainly veryinconsiderable. The size of some of the specimens of ore found there wouldsuggest magnificent ideas of their opulence. One piece of gold is reportedby the contemporary historians to have weighed three thousand two hundredcastellanos, and to have been so large, that the Spaniards served up aroasted pig on it, boasting that no potentate in Europe could dine off socostly a dish. [22] The admiral's own statement, that the miners obtainedfrom six gold castellanos to one hundred or even two hundred and fifty ina day, allows a latitude too great to lead to any definite conclusion. [23] More tangible evidence of the riches of the island is afforded by thefact that two hundred thousand castellanos of gold went down in the shipswith Bobadilla. But this, it must be remembered, was the fruit of giganticefforts, continued, under a system of unexampled oppression, for more thantwo years. To this testimony might be added that of the well-informedhistorian of Seville, who infers from several royal ordinances that theinflux of the precious metals had been such, before the close of thefifteenth century, as to affect the value of the currency, and the regularprices of commodities. [24] These large estimates, however, are scarcelyreconcilable with the popular discontent at the meagreness of the returnsobtained from the New World, or with the assertion of Bernaldez, of thesame date with Zuñiga's reference, that, "so little gold had been broughthome as to raise a general belief that there was scarcely any in theisland. " [25] This is still further confirmed by the frequentrepresentations of contemporary writers, that the expenses of the coloniesconsiderably exceeded the profits; and may account for the very limitedscale on which the Spanish government, at no time blind to its owninterests, pursued its schemes of discovery, as compared with itsPortuguese neighbors, who followed up theirs with a magnificent apparatusof fleets and armies, that could have been supported only by the teemingtreasures of the Indies. [26]

While the colonial, commerce failed to produce immediately the splendidreturns which were expected, it was generally believed to have introduceda physical evil into Europe, which, in the language of an eminent writer, "more than counterbalanced all the benefits that resulted from thediscovery of the New World. " I allude to the loathsome disease, whichHeaven has sent as the severest scourge of licentious intercourse betweenthe sexes; and which broke out with all the virulence of an epidemic inalmost every quarter of Europe, in a very short time after the discoveryof America. The coincidence of these two events led to the popular beliefof their connection with each other, though it derived little support fromany other circumstance. The expedition of Charles the Eighth, againstNaples, which brought the Spaniards, soon after, in immediate contact withthe various nations of Christendom, suggested a plausible medium for therapid communication of the disorder; and this theory of its origin andtransmission, gaining credit with time, which made it more difficult to berefuted, has passed with little examination from the mouth of onehistorian to another to the present day. 

The extremely brief interval which elapsed, between the return of Columbusand the simultaneous appearance of the disorder at the most distant pointsof Europe, long since suggested a reasonable distrust of the correctnessof the hypothesis; and an American, naturally desirous of relieving hisown country from so melancholy a reproach, may feel satisfaction that themore searching and judicious criticism of our own day has at lengthestablished beyond a doubt that the disease, far from originating in theNew World, was never known there till introduced by Europeans. [27]

Whatever be the amount of physical good or evil, immediately resulting toSpain from her new discoveries, their moral consequences were inestimable. The ancient limits of human thought and action were overleaped; the veilwhich had covered the secrets of the deep for so many centuries wasremoved; another hemisphere was thrown open; and a boundless expansionpromised to science, from the infinite varieties in which nature wasexhibited in these unexplored regions. The success of the Spaniardskindled a generous emulation in their Portuguese rivals, who soon afteraccomplished their long-sought passage into the Indian seas, and thuscompleted the great circle of maritime discovery. [28] It would seem as ifProvidence had postponed this grand event, until the possession ofAmerica, with its stores of precious metals, might supply such materialsfor a commerce with the east, as should bind together the most distantquarters of the globe. The impression made on the enlightened minds ofthat day is evinced by the tone of gratitude and exultation, in which theyindulge, at being permitted to witness the consummation of these gloriousevents, which their fathers had so long, but in vain, desired to see. [29]

The discoveries of Columbus occurred most opportunely for the Spanishnation, at the moment when it was released from the tumultuous struggle inwhich it had been engaged for so many years with the Moslems. The severeschooling of these wars had prepared it for entering on a bolder theatreof action, whose stirring and romantic perils raised still higher thechivalrous spirit of the people. The operation of this spirit was shown inthe alacrity with which private adventurers embarked in expeditions to theNew World, under cover of the general license, during the last two yearsof this century. Their efforts, combined with those of Columbus, extendedthe range of discovery from its original limits, twenty-four degrees ofnorth latitude, to probably more than fifteen south, comprehending some ofthe most important territories in the western hemisphere. Before the endof 1500, the principal groups of the West Indian islands had been visited, and the whole extent of the southern continent coasted, from the Bay ofHonduras to Cape St. Augustine. One adventurous mariner, indeed, namedLepe, penetrated several degrees south of this, to a point not reached byany other voyager for ten or twelve years after. A great part of thekingdom of Brazil was embraced in this extent, and two successiveCastilian navigators landed and took formal possession of it for the crownof Castile, previous to its reputed discovery by the Portuguese Cabral;[30] although the claims to it were subsequently relinquished by theSpanish Government, conformably to the famous line of demarkationestablished by the treaty of Tordesillas. [31]

While the colonial empire of Spain was thus every day enlarging, the manto whom it was all due was never permitted to know the extent or the valueof it. He died in the conviction in which he lived, that the land he hadreached was the long-sought Indies. But it was a country far richer thanthe Indies; and, had he on quitting Cuba struck into a westerly, insteadof southerly direction, it would have carried him into the very depths ofthe golden regions, whose existence he had so long and vainly predicted. As it was, he "only opened the gates, " to use his own language, for othersmore fortunate than himself; and before he quitted Hispaniola for the lasttime, the young adventurer arrived there, who was destined, by theconquest of Mexico, to realize all the magnificent visions, which had beenderided as only visions, in the lifetime of Columbus. 

 * * * * *

The discovery of the New World was fortunately reserved for a period whenthe human race was sufficiently enlightened to form some conception of itsimportance. Public attention was promptly and eagerly directed to thismomentous event, so that few facts worthy of note, during the wholeprogress of discovery from its earliest epoch, escaped contemporaryrecord. Many of these notices have, indeed, perished through neglect, inthe various repositories in which they were scattered. The researches ofNavarrete have rescued many, and will, it is to be hoped, many more, fromtheir progress to oblivion. The first two volumes of his compilation, containing the journals and letters of Columbus, the correspondence of thesovereigns with him, and a vast quantity of public and private documents, form, as I have elsewhere remarked, the most authentic basis for a historyof that great man. Next to these in importance is the "History of theAdmiral, " by his son Ferdinand, whose own experience and opportunities, combined with uncommon literary attainments, eminently qualified him forrecording his father's extraordinary life. It must be allowed, that he hasdone this with a candor and good faith seldom warped by any overweening, though natural, partiality for his subject. His work met with a whimsicalfate. The original was early lost, but happily not before it had beentranslated into the Italian, from which a Spanish version was afterwardsmade; and from this latter, thus reproduced in the same tongue in which itoriginally appeared, are derived the various translations of it into theother languages of Europe. The Spanish version, which is incorporated intoBarcia's collection, is executed in a slovenly manner, and is replete withchronological inaccuracies; a circumstance not very wonderful, consideringthe curious transmigration it has undergone. 

Another contemporary author of great value is Peter Martyr, who took sodeep an interest in the nautical enterprise of his day, as to make it, independently of the abundant notices scattered through hiscorrespondence, the subject of a separate work. His history, "De RebusOceanicis et Novo Orbe, " has all the value which extensive learning, areflecting, philosophical mind, and intimate familiarity with theprincipal actors in the scenes he describes, can give. Indeed, that nosource of information might be wanting to him, the sovereigns authorizedhim to be present at the Council of the Indies, whenever any communicationwas made to that body, respecting the progress of discovery. The principaldefects of his work arise from the precipitate manner in which the greaterpart of it was put together, and the consequently imperfect andoccasionally contradictory statements which appear in it. But the honestintentions of the author, who seems to have been fully sensible of his ownimperfections, and his liberal spirit, are so apparent, as to disarmcriticism in respect to comparatively venial errors. 

But the writer who has furnished the greatest supply of materials for themodern historian is Antonio de Herrera. He did not flourish, indeed, untilnear a century after the discovery of America; but the post which heoccupied of historiographer of the Indies gave him free access to the mostauthentic and reserved sources of information. He has availed himself ofthese with great freedom; transferring whole chapters from the unpublishednarratives of his predecessors, especially of the good bishop Las Casas, whose great work, "Crónica de las Indias Occidentales, " contained too muchthat was offensive to national feeling to be allowed the honors of thepress. The Apostle of the Indians, however, lives in the pages of Herrera, who, while he has omitted the tumid and overheated declamation of theoriginal, is allowed by the Castilian critics to have retained whatever isof most value, and exhibited it in a dress far superior to that of hispredecessor. It must not be omitted, however, that he is also accused ofoccasional inadvertence in stating as fact, what Las Casas only adduced astradition or conjecture. His "Historia General de las IndiasOccidentales, " bringing down the narrative to 1554, was published in fourvolumes, at Madrid, in 1601. Herrera left several other histories of thedifferent states of Europe, and closed his learned labors in 1625, at theage of sixty. 

No Spanish historian had since arisen to contest the palm with Herrera onhis own ground, until, at the close of the last century, Don Juan BautistaMuñoz was commissioned by the government to prepare a history of the NewWorld. The talents and liberal acquisitions of this scholar, the freeadmission opened to him in every place of public and private deposit, andthe immense mass of materials collected by his indefatigable researches, authorized the most favorable auguries of his success. These werejustified by the character of the first volume, which brought thenarrative of early discovery to the period of Bobadilla's mission, writtenin a perspicuous and agreeable style, with such a discriminating selectionof incident and skilful arrangement, as convey the most distinctimpression to the mind of the reader. Unfortunately, the untimely death ofthe author crushed his labors in the bud. Their fruits were not whollylost, however. Señor Navarrete, availing himself of them, in connectionwith those derived from his own extensive investigations, is pursuing inpart the plan of Muñoz, by the publication of original documents; and Mr. Irving has completed this design in regard to the early history of Spanishdiscovery, by the use which he has made of these materials in constructingout of them the noblest monument to the memory of Columbus. 

FOOTNOTES

[1] See, in particular, a letter to Columbus, dated August, 1494; (apudNavarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. Ii. , Doc. Dipl. , no. 79;) also anelaborate memorial presented by the admiral in the same year, settingforth the various necessities of the colony, every item of which isparticularly answered by the sovereigns, in a manner showing howattentively they considered his suggestions. --Ibid. , tom. I. Pp. 226-241. 

[2] Abundant evidence of this is furnished by the long enumeration ofarticles subjected to tithes, contained in an ordinance dated October 5th, 1501, showing with what indiscriminate severity this heavy burden wasimposed from the first on the most important products of human industry. Recopilacion de Leyes de los Reynos de las Indias, (Madrid, 1774, ) tom. I. Lib. 1, tit. 16, ley 2. 

[3] Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. Ii. , Doc. Dipl. , no. 86, April10th, 1495. --Nos. 103, 105-108, April 23d, 1497. --No. 110, May 6th, 1497. --No. 121, July 22d, 1497. --Herrera, Indias Occidentales, dec. 1, lib. 4, cap. 12. 

[4] Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. Ii. , Doc. Dipl. , nos. 86, 121. --Herrera, Indias Occidentales, lib. 3, cap. 2. --Muñoz, Hist. Del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 5, sec. 34. 

The exclusion of foreigners, at least all but "Catholic Christians, " isparticularly recommended by Columbus in his first communication to thecrown. Primer Viage de Colon. 

[5] Among the foreign adventurers were the two Cabots, who sailed in theservice of the English monarch, Henry VII. , in 1497, and ran down thewhole coast of North America, from Newfoundland to within a few degrees ofFlorida, thus encroaching, as it were, on the very field of discoverypreoccupied by the Spaniards. 

[6] Muñoz, Hist. Del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 5, sect. 32. --Navarrete, Coleccionde Viages, Doc. Dipl. , no. 86. 

[7] Columbus seems to have taken exceptions at the license for privatevoyages, as an infringement of his own prerogatives. It is difficult, however, to understand in what way. There is nothing in his originalcapitulations with the government having reference to the matter, (seeNavarrete, Coleccion de Viages, Doc. Dipl. , no. 5, ) while, in the letterspatent made out previously to his second voyage, the right of grantinglicenses is expressly reserved to the crown, and to the superintendent, Fonseca, equally with the admiral. (Doc. Dipl. , no. 35. ) The only legalclaim which he could make in all such expeditions as were not conductedunder him, was to one-eighth of the tonnage, and this was regularlyprovided for in the general license. (Doc. Dipl. , no. 86. ) The sovereigns, indeed, in consequence of his remonstrances, published an ordinance, June2d, 1497, in which, after expressing their unabated respect for all therights and privileges of the admiral, they declared, that whatever shallbe found in their previous license repugnant to these shall be null andvoid. (Doc. Dipl. , 113. ) The hypothetical form in which this is statedshows that the sovereigns, with an honest desire of keeping theirengagements with Columbus, had not a very clear perception in what mannerthey had been violated. 

Peter Martyr, De Rebus Oceanicis, Dec. 1, lib. 9. --Herrera, IndiasOccidentales, lib. 4, cap. 11. --Benzoni, Novi Orbis Hist. , cap. 13. 

[8] Part I. Chap. 18, of this History. 

[9] Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. Ii. , Doc. Dipl. , no. 148. --Solorzano y Pereyra, Política Indiana, (Madrid, 1776, ) lib. 6, cap. 17. --Linage de Veitia, Norte de la Contratacion de las Indias Occidentales, (Sevilla, 1672, ) lib. 1, cap. 1. --Zuñiga, Annales de Sevilla, año 1503. --Herrera, Indias Occidentales, lib. 5, cap. 12. --Navagiero, Viaggio, fol. 15. 

[10] See the original bull, apud Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. Ii. Apend. 14, and a Spanish version of it, in Solorzano, Política Indiana, lib. 4, cap. 1, sec. 7. 

[11] Solorzano, Política Indiana, tom. Ii. Lib. 4, cap. 2, sec. 9--Riol, Informe, apud Semanario Erudite, tom. Iii. Pp. 160, 161. 

[12] Among others see Raynal, History of the East and West Indies, translated by Justamond, (London, 1788, ) vol. Iv. P. 277. --Robertson, History of America, (London, 1796, ) vol. Iii. P. 283. 

[13] Muñoz, Hist. Del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 5, sec. 32, 33. --Herrera, IndiasOccidentales, lib. 4, cap. 11, 12. --Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. Ii. , Doc. Dipl. , no. 86. 

[14] The historian of Seville mentions that it was the resort especiallyof the merchants of Flanders, with whom a more intimate intercourse hadbeen opened by the intermarriages of the royal family with the house ofBurgundy. See Zuñiga, Annales de Sevilla, p. 415. 

[15] Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. Ii. , Doc. Dipl. , no. 45, et loc. Al. --Las Casas, amidst his unsparing condemnation of the guilty, doesample justice to the pure and generous, though, alas! unavailing effortsof the queen. See Oeuvres, ed. De Llorente, tom. I. Pp. 21, 307, 395, etalibi. 

[16] Herrera, Indias Occidentales, lib. 4, cap. 12. --A good account of theintroduction of negro slavery into the New World, comprehending thematerial facts, and some little known, may be found in the fifth chapterof Bancroft's "History of the United States;" a work in which the authorhas shown singular address in creating a unity of interest out of asubject which, in its early stages, would seem to want every other unity. It is the deficiency of this, probably, which has prevented Mr. Grahame'svaluable History from attaining the popularity, to which its solid meritsjustly entitle it. Should the remaining volumes of Mr. Bancroft's work beconducted with the same spirit, scholarship, and impartiality as thevolume before us, it cannot fail to take a permanent rank in Americanliterature. 

[17] Herrera, Indias Occidentales, lib. 4, cap. 11. 

[18] Dec. 20th, 1503. --Ibid. , lib. 5, cap. 11. --See the instructions toOvando in Navarrete, (Coleccion de Viages, tom. Ii. , Doc. Dipl. , no. 153. )"Pay them regular wages, " says the ordinance, "for their labor, " "comopersonas libres como lo son, y no como siervos. " Las Casas, who analyzesthese instructions, which Llorente, by the by, has misdated, exposes theatrocious manner in which they were violated, in every particular, byOvando and his successors. Oeuvres, ed. De Llorente, tom. I. P. 309, etseq. 

[19] Ibid. , ubi supra. --Las Casas, Hist. Ind. , lib. 2, cap. 36, MS. , apudIrving, vol. Iii. P. 412. --The venerable bishop confirms this frightfulpicture of desolation, in its full extent, in his various memorialsprepared for the Council of the Indies. Oeuvres, ed. De Llorente, tom. I. Passim. 

[20] Las Casas made his first voyage to the Indies, it is true, in 1498, or at latest 1502; but there is no trace of his taking an active part indenouncing the oppressions of the Spaniards earlier than 1510, when hecombined his efforts with those of the Dominican missionaries latelyarrived in St. Domingo, in the same good work. It was not until some yearslater, 1515, that he returned to Spain and pleaded the cause of theinjured natives before the throne. Llorente, Oeuvres de Las Casas, tom. I. Pp. 1-23. --Nic. Antonio, Bibliotheca Nova, tom. I. Pp. 191, 192. 

[21] See the will, apud Dormer, Discursos Varios, p. 381. 

[22] Herrera, Indias Occidentales, lib. 5, cap. 1. --Fernando Colon, Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 84. --Oviedo, Relacion Sumaria de la Historia Naturalde las Indias, cap. 84, apud Barcia, Historiadores Primitivos, tom. I. 

[23] Tercer Viage de Colon, apud Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. I. P. 274. 

[24] Zuñiga, Annales de Sevilla, p. 415. The alteration was in the goldcurrency; which continued to rise in value till 1497, when it graduallysunk, in consequence of the importation from the mines of Hispaniola. Clemencin has given its relative value as compared with silver, forseveral different years; and the year he assigns for the commencement ofits depreciation, is precisely the same with that indicated by Zuñiga. (Mem. De la Acad. De Hist. , tom. Vi. Ilust. 20. ) The value of silver wasnot materially affected till the discovery of the great mines of Potosíand Zacatecas. 

[25] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS. , cap. 131. 

[26] The estimates in the text, it will be noticed, apply only to theperiod antecedent to Ovando's administration, in 1502. The operationsunder him were conducted on a far more extensive and efficient plan. Thesystem of _repartimientos_ being revived, the whole physical force ofthe island, aided by the best mechanical apparatus, was employed inextorting from the soil all its hidden stores of wealth. The success wassuch that in 1506, within two years after Isabella's death, the fourfoundries established in the island yielded an annual amount, according toHerrera, of 450, 000 ounces of gold. It must be remarked, however, thatone-fifth only of the gross sum obtained from the mines was at that timepaid to the crown. It is a proof how far these returns exceeded theexpectations at the time of Ovando's appointment, that the person thensent out, as marker of the gold, was to receive, as a reasonablecompensation, 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 arrangement made with his successor. (See Herrera, IndiasOccidentales, dec. 1, lib. 6, cap. 18. ) When Navagiero visited Seville, in1520, the royal fifth of the gold, which passed through the mints, amounted to about 100, 000 ducats annually. Viaggio, fol. 15. 

[27] The curious reader is particularly referred to a late work, entitled_Lettere sutta Storia de' Mali Venerei, di Domenico Thiene, Venezia_, 1823; for the knowledge and loan of which I am indebted to my friend, Dr. Walter Channing. In this work, the author has assembled all the earlynotices of the disease of any authority, and discussed their import withgreat integrity and judgment. The following positions may be considered asestablished by his researches. 1. That neither Columbus nor his son, intheir copious narratives and correspondence, allude in any way to theexistence of such a disease in the New World. I must add, that anexamination of the original documents, published by Navarrete since thedate of Dr. Thiene's work, fully confirms this statement. 2. That amongthe frequent notices of the disease, during the twenty-five yearsimmediately following the discovery of America, there is not a singleintimation of its having been brought from that country; but, on thecontrary, a uniform derivation of it from some other source, generallyFrance. 3. That the disorder was known and circumstantially describedprevious to the expedition of Charles VIII. , and of course could not havebeen introduced by the Spaniards in that way, as vulgarly supposed. 4. That various contemporary authors trace its existence in a variety ofcountries, as far back as 1493, and the beginning of 1494, showing arapidity and extent of diffusion perfectly irreconcilable with itsimportation by Columbus in 1493. 5. Lastly, that it was not till after theclose of Ferdinand and Isabella's reigns, that the first work appearedaffecting 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 Martyr to the learned Portuguese Arias Barbosa, professor of Greek at Salamanca, noticing the symptoms of the disease inthe 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 "morbusGallicus, " given to the disease by Martyr, was not in use till after theFrench invasion, in 1494. 2. That the superscription of Greek professor atSalamanca was premature, as no such professorship existed there till 1508. 

As to the first of these objections, it may be remarked, that there is butone author prior to the French invasion, who notices the disease at all. He derives it from Gaul, though not giving it the technical appellation of_morbus Gallicus_; and Martyr, it may be observed, far from confininghimself to this, alludes to one or two other names, showing that its titlewas then quite undetermined. In regard to the second objection, Dr. Thienedoes not cite his authority for limiting the introduction of Greek atSalamanca to 1508. He may have found a plausible one in the account ofthat university compiled by one of its officers, Pedro Chacon, in 1569, inserted in the eighteenth volume of the Semanario Erudito, (Madrid, 1789. ) The accuracy of the writer's chronology, however, may well bedoubted from a gross anachronism on the same page with the date referredto, where he speaks of Queen Joanna as inheriting the crown in 1512. (Hist. De la Universidad de Salamanca, p. 55. ) Waiving this, however, thefact of Barbosa being Greek professor at Salamanca in 1488 is directlyintimated by his pupil the celebrated Andrew Resendi. "Arias Lusitanus, "says he, "quadraginta, et eo plus annos Salmanticae tum Latinas litteras, tum Graecas, magnâ cum laude professus est. " (Responsio ad Quevedum, apudBarbosa, Bibliotheca Lusitana, tom. I. P. 77. ) Now, as Barbosa, by generalconsent, passed several years in his native country, Portugal, before hisdeath in 1530, this assertion of Resendi necessarily places him atSalamanca in the situation of Greek instructor some time before the dateof Martyr's letter. It may be added, indeed, that Nic. Antonio, than whoma more competent critic could not be found, so far from suspecting thedate of the letter, cites it as settling the period when Barbosa filledthe Greek chair at Salamanca, (See Bibliotheca Nova, tom. I. P. 170. )

Martyr's epistle, if we admit the genuineness of the date, must dispose atonce of the whole question of the American origin of the venereal disease. But as this question is determined quite as conclusively, though not sosummarily, by the accumulated evidence from other sources, the reader willprobably think the matter not worth so much discussion. 

[28] This event occurred in 1497, Vasco de Gama doubling the Cape of GoodHope, November 20th, in that year, and reaching Calicut in the followingMay, 1498. La Clède, Hist. De Portugal, tom. Iii. Pp. 104-109. 

[29] See, among others, Peter Martyr, Opus Epist, epist. 181. 

[30] Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. Iii. Pp. 18-26. --Cabral'spretensions to the discovery of Brazil appear not to have been doubteduntil recently. They are sanctioned both by Robertson and Raynal. 

[31] The Portuguese court formed, probably, no very accurate idea of thegeographical position of Brazil. King Emanuel, in a letter to the Spanishsovereigns acquainting them with Cabral's voyage, speaks of the newlydiscovered region as not only convenient, but _necessary_, for thenavigation to India. (See the letter, apud Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. Iii. No. 13. ) The oldest maps of this country, whether from ignoranceor design, bring it twenty-two degrees east of its proper longitude, sothat the whole of the vast tract now comprehended under the name ofBrazil, would fall on the Portuguese side of the partition line agreed onby the two governments, which, it will be remembered, was removed to 370leagues west of the Cape de Verd Islands. The Spanish court made some showat first of resisting the pretensions of the Portuguese, by preparationsfor establishing a colony on the northern extremity of the Brazilianterritory. (Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. Iii. P. 39. ) It is noteasy to understand how it came finally to admit these pretensions. Anycorrect admeasurement with the Castilian league would only have includedthe fringe, as it were, of the northeastern promontory of Brazil. ThePortuguese league, allowing seventeen to a degree, may have been adopted, which would embrace nearly the whole territory which passed under the nameof Brazil, in the best ancient maps, extending from Para on the north, tothe great river of San Pedro on the south. (See Malte Brun, UniversalGeography, (Boston, 1824-9, ) book 91. ) Mariana seems willing to help thePortuguese, by running the partition line one hundred leagues farther westthan they claimed themselves. Hist. De España, tom. Ii. P. 607. 

END OF VOL. II.