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DANTE THE WAYFARER
CHRISTOPHER HARE
Author of " The Most Illustrious Ladies of the
Italian Renaissance."
los. 6d. Profusely Illustrated. Demy 8vo, cloth
extra, gilt tops.
The author has followed, step by step, the poet's
many wanderings and presents to the reader scenes
and incidents which inspired some of Dante's finest
descriptive passages.
" No better way to gain an insight into the life and
genius of Dante than under the guidance of Mr. Hare."
— Daily Telegraph.
" Illustrated copiously with most beautiful and
romantic pictures of the fair land of Italy, through
which the poet's tragic footsteps pressed." — Liverpool
Courier.
THE MOST ILLUSTRIOUS
LADIES OF THE
ITALIAN RENAISSANCE
CHRISTOPHER HARE
I OS. 6d. Profusely Illustrated. Demy 8vo, cloth
extra, gilt tops.
" Profound knowledge is here united to considerable
literary gifts. These great ladies (Lucrezia and Clarice
dei Medici, Lucrezia Borgia, Vittoria Colonna, Beatrice
and Isabella d'Este, &c.) of past ages seem very real.
The volume is handsomely bound, and there are in-
teresting and beautiful illustrations, including por-
traits by Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Titian, and
Sandro Botticelli." — The Scotsman.
A QUEEN OF QUEENS
^ THE MAKING OF SPAIN
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A QUEEN OF QUEENS
THE MAKING OF SPAIN
By CHRISTOPHER HARE author
OF "DANTE THE WAYFARER," "THE MOST
ILLUSTRIOUS LADIES OF THE ITALIAN
RENAISSANCE," "FELICITA: A ROMANCE OF
OLD SIENA," ETC. ^ ^ ^ ^
ILLUSTRATED
LONDON AND NEW YORK
HARPER & BROTHERS
45 ALBEMARLE STREET, W. 1906
CONTENTS
Introduction
I. The Making of Spain
The Moors in Spain ....
II. Rise of THE Christian Kingdoms
The Kingdom of Asturias and Leon .
The Kingdom of Castile
The Kingdom of Navarre
The Story of the Cid ....
The Kingdom of Aragon
The Realm of Catalonia and the City of
Barcelona
III. The United Kingdoms
Aragon and Catalonia ....
Castile and Leon
IV. The Story of Isabel of Castile
Her Birth and Early Life .
V. The Suitors of the Infanta Isabel .
VI. The Marriage of Isabel ....
She Succeeds to the Crown of Castile
Vll. Fernando and Isabel
Allied Sovereigns of Aragon and Castile
VIII. The Moorish War
Siege of Alhama
V
PACE
I
7
8
26
26
29
30
33
36
39
41
41
46
54
54
70
80
84
97
113
116
CONTENTS
CHAP.
IX. Civil War IN Granada .
The Capture of Boabdil
X. " Remember the Mountains of Malaga'
Success of the Spanish Artillery
XI. Queen Isabel takes the Field .
A War of Sieges .
XII. The Besieging of Malaga .
XIII. Isabel: Her Court and Home Life
XIV. The Inquisition in Spain
XV. The Fall of Granada .
The Great Surrender .
XVI. Christopher Columbus
XVII. Diplomacy of Fernando
Wars in Italy
XVIII. Literature in Spain
XIX. Art and Architecture
XX. Royal Marriages ....
Juan and Margaret
Philip and Juana .
XXI. Isabel and Maria, Queens of Portugal
Katharine, Queen of England
XXII. Conquest of Naples .
Rising in the Alpujarras
XXIII. The Latter Days and Death of the G
Queen
XXIV. Conclusion
Policy of Fernando
His Death ....
Death of Philip I.
Death of Juana
PAGE
128
141
161
166
206
221
227
236
252
256
263
277
289
289
289
303
307
317
328
331
345
345
355
360
360
ILLUSTRATIONS
Queen Isabel of Castile
King Fernando of Aragon
Queen J nana. La Loca .
Statue of King Fernando of Ar agon .
Queen Katharine of England
King Charles VIII. of France
King Henry VII. of England .
Altar-piece, ivith portraits of Fernando
Isabel .....
Christopher Columbus
Emperor Maximilian
Pope A lexander VI. Rodrigo Borgia
Statue of Queen Isabel of Castile
Tomb of Margaret of Austria .
Pope fulius II. ....
Emperor Charles V. ...
Empress Isabel, Wife of Charles V.
King Henry VIII. of England
Maps of Spain
and
Frontispiece
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CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE
1451. Birth of Isabel of Castile.
1452. Birth of Fernando of Aragon.
1454. Juan II. of Castile succeeded by Enrique IV.
1455. Enrique divorces Blanche of Navarre and marries Juana
of Portugal.
1461. Louis XI. succeeds Charles VII. as King of France.
1463. Juana (known as la Beltraneja) born.
1467. Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy.
1469. Marriage of Fernando of Aragon and Isabel of Castile.
1470. Their daughter, the Infanta Isabel born.
1474. Isabel succeeds Enrique IV. on throne of Castile.
1476. Battle of Toro gained by Fernando.
1477. Defeat and death of Charles the Bold at Nancy.
Marriage of Maximilian and Mary of Burgundy.
1478. Prince Juan born, son of Isabel and Fernando.
Philip, son of Maximilian, born.
Council of Seville.
1479. Juana, daughter of Fernando and Isabel, born,
Fernando inherits Aragon.
1480. Margaret, daughter of Maximilian, born.
148 1. The Inquisition established in Castile.
The King of Granada takes Zahara. Beginning of Moorish
war.
1482. Maria, daughter of Fernando and Isabel, born.
Torquemada Grand Inquisitor of Spain.
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE
1482. Alhama taken from the Moors.
Death of Mary of Burgundy, wife of Maximilian.
1483. Charles VIII. succeeds Louis XI. — Anne de Beaujeu regent.
Edward IV. of England succeeded by Richard III.
Mendoza, Archbishop of Toledo.
Rout of the Christians in the Axarquia. Defeat and capture
of Boabdil.
1484. Pope Innocent VIII.
Peace of Bagnolo.
1485. Capture of Ronda from the Moors,
Birth of Katharine, daughter of Fernando and Isabel.
Battle of Eosworth. Henry VII. succeeds to the throne.
Marries Elizabeth of York.
i486. Birth of Arthur, son of Henry VII.
1487. Siege and conquest of Malaga by the Christians.
Treaty of marriage between Arthur, Prince of Wales, and
Katharine.
1489. Siege and capture of Baza by the Christians.
1490. Marriage of Infanta Isabel to Prince Affonso of Portugal.
1491. Charles VIII. marries Anne of Brittany.
Birth of Henry VIII. of England.
1492. Spanish expedition under Christopher Columbus discovers
America.
Fall of Granada and end of the Moorish kingdom.
Pope Alexander VI. (Rodrigo Borgia).
1493. Death of Emperor Frederick III. and Maximilian succeeds.
Marriage of Maximilian and Bianca Sforza.
Margaret of Austria sent back to the Netherlands from
France.
1494. Charles VIII. invades Italy.
1495. Charles VIII. takes Naples. Battle of Fornova.
The Great Captain in Italy.
Juan II. of Portugal succeeded by his cousin Emanuel the
Fortunate.
1496. The French turned out of Naples.
X
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE
1496. Marriage of Juana, daughter of Isabel, with the Archduke
Philip.
1497. Prince Juan of Spain marries Margaret, daughter of
Maximilian.
Third voyage of Cristopher Columbus.
Synod of Alcala.
1498. Louis XII. succeeds Charles VIII.
Death of Isabel of, Portugal daughter of Fernando and
Isabel.
Death of Torquemada.
1499. Louis XII. marries Anne of Brittany, widow of Charles
VIII.
1500. Birth of Charles V. (Emperor) son of Philip and Juana.
Second Treaty between Spain and France for the partition
of Naples.
Death of Isabel of Portugal. Her sister Maria marries
Emanuel, King of Portugal.
1 50 1. Granada declared Christian. Rebellion in the Alpujarras.
Katharine of Aragon marries Arthur Prince of Wales.
1502. War between Aragon and France.
Death of Arthur Prince of Wales.
1503. The Great Captain defeats the French at Cerignola. Takes
Naples for the King of Aragon.
Death of Alexander VI., Pius III., Julius II.
1504. Death of Queen Isabel of Castile. Philip and Juana
proclaimed — Fernando regent.
1505. Treaty of Salamanca.
1506. Death of Archduke Philip. Fernando goes to Naples.
Death of Chri.stopher Columbus.
1507. Jimenez Grand Inquisitor. Cordova rebels against
against Inquisition.
Fernando assumes government of Castile.
Margaret of Austria regent in the Netherlands.
1508. League of Cambray — Julius II., Louis XII., Fernando of
Spain, and Maximilian — against Venice,
xi
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE
1509. Venice defeated by Louis XII. and the Chevalier Bayard
at Agnadello.
Oran captured by Cardinal Jimenez.
Accession of Henry VIII. He marries Katharine of Aragon.
1511. The Holy League — Pope Julius, Fernando, Henry VIII.
Maximilian, Venice and Switzerland — against France.
1512. Battle of Ravenna.
Fernando invades Navarre.
1513. Death of Pope Julius II. Leo X. succeeds.
1515. Death of Louis XII. ; is succeeded by Francis I. Italian
expedition.
Fernando annexes Navarre to his kingdom.
1516. Death of Fernando of Aragon.
1555. Death of Juana— " la Loca " — Queen of Castile.
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II
INTRODUCTION
ISABEL OF CASTILE
The very name is an " Open Sesame " to the world of
romance, of legend and of story ; and as we gaze upon
it, our minds are flooded with dim enthralling memories
of a long-vanished past.
The magic spell is upon us. Once more we are in
the unforgotten land of Spanish chivalry and Moorish
enchantment, where every tale of prince and paladin,
of feast and foray ; every vision of stately rock-girt
castle, of fairy palace, of dome and minaret — set in a
fair garden land of exquisite beauty passing a poet's
dream — all combine to form the emblazoned tapestry
on which stands forth the gracious figure of our peer-
less lady : Isabel the Queen.
Never was woman raised upon such a pedestal of
worship. It was her rare good fortune to rise up at
the very crisis of a nation's history, and, with the
splendid skill and heroism of a strong mind and a brave
heart, to turn the tide of fortune and wrest salvation
for her people. Friend and foe alike proclaim her
fame ; it was sung in every language and rang out to
the ends of the earth. Her people adored her, and to
this day the mere mention of that familiar name, Isabel
I A
ISABEL OF CASTILE
La Catolica, strikes a responsive chord in the land of
her birth.
One who knew her best spoke of her as : " This
incomparable woman who far transcends all human
excellence, the mirror of every virtue, the shield
of the innocent and an avenging sword to the
wicked." *
Lord Bacon said of her : " In all her revelations of
Queen or Woman she was an honour to her sex, and
a Corner-stone of the Greatness of Spain."
King Henry VII. declared that he would gladly have
given the half of his kingdom if Katharine of Aragon
had been like her mother.
The ambassador from Venice, Novagiero, delights to
praise the singular genius, masculine strength of mind
and other noble qualities of "this most rare and
virtuous lady."
" Isabelle la Catholique, cette noble reine qui crut
le genie sur parole et dota I'univers d'un nouveau
monde." t
She rose supreme in every relation of life, as a
tender daughter, a perfect wife and a devoted mother.
In many a critical moment of her reign, the Queen's
untiring energy and dauntless courage conquered
every danger, while her political wisdom was so striking
that her rare insight almost seemed like intuition.
Absolutely forgetful of herself, she only thought of
others : was magnanimous in forgiveness of all personal
injuries, and full of passionate earnestness in her
religion. In dealing, later on, with the dark shadow of
the Inquisition which rests upon the fair record of her
life, we shall have occasion to point out that the
''- Peter Martyr. f Theophile Gautier.
2
ISABEL OF CASTILE
virtues of Isabel were her own, while her faults were
those of her time.
We may be proud to remember that the blood of the
Plantagenets flowed in her veins, for she was descended
through both father and mother from John of Gaunt,
Duke of Lancaster. The full titles of this illustrious
lady are thus given, in her last will and testament :
" Dona ysabel por la graciade dios Reina de Castilla
de Leon de Aragon de Secilia de granada de Toledo
de Valencia de galisia de Mallorcas de Sevilla de Cer-
dena de Cordova de Corcega de Murcia de Jahen de los
Algarves de Algecira de gibraltar e de las yslas de Cana;
Condesade barcelona e Senora de Viscaya e deMolina,
duquesa de Athenas e de Neopatria, Condesa de
Rosellon e de Cerdagna, Marquesa de Oristan e di
gociano."
(The Lady Isabel, Queen of Castile, Leon, Aragon,
Sicily, Granada, Toledo, Valencia, Galicia, the Mal-
lorcas, Seville, Sardinia, Cordova, Corsica, Murcia,
Jaen, the Algarves, Alguyias, Gibraltar, the Canary
Islands — Countess of Barcelona ; Sovereign Lady
of Biscay and Molina ; Duchess of Athens and
Neopatria ; Countess of Roussillon and Cerdagne ;
Marchioness of Ovistan and Goziana.") Even this
long list is incomplete, as it takes no account of Queen
Isabel's possessions in the New World.
It would be a fascinating task fully to tell once more
how all this was won, step by step, at the point of the
sword, by treaty and alliance — and lost again and again
— from the wild rugged mountains of Asturias to the
entrancing shores of Southern Andalusia ; from the
3
ISABEL OF CASTILE
confines of Portugal to the islands of the Mediterra-
nean ; the whole splendid rule of land and sea. As the
old ballad of the eleventh century reminds us :
" Harto era Castilla,
Pequeno rincon ;
Amaya era su cabaza
Y Fitero el moyon."
(Castile was only a little corner ; Amaya was her head
and Fitero her limit.)
On the history of the past we may not tarry too long,
yet it is absolutely necessary to realise how truly Isabel
of Castile was a daughter of the land which she so
passionately loved, and which was indissolubly bound
up with every fibre of her being. She cannot stand
alone as an isolated solitary figure ; for she was the
flower of a long line of ancestors who all had a share
in her, and she herself was part and parcel of the im-
memorial past. We may not take the jewel away from
its setting ; and if we are to understand Isabel aright,
we must call up the vision of those who ruled the land
before her, who fought and prayed and married and
died, and who were the makers of her realm.
In dim fleeting procession they shall pass before us,
through the mist of bygone ages, ** come like shadows,
so depart " ; those dead kings with their silent foot-
steps— little more to us than a chronicle of names —
and yet with their individual significance, each one
leaving behind a mark for good or evil on his day.
As the solemn company of kings passed before the
doom-stricken eyes of Macbeth, so would I seek to
call up before you in stately succession the marvellous
panorama of Moorish conquest, the heroic stand of
4
ISABEL OF CASTILE
Gothic patriots in the mountains of Asturias, the
gradual growth of Christian independence, with clash
of arms and the ever-changing fortune of war, in the
rise of the Kingdoms of Leon and Castile, of Navarre,
of Aragon, and of Catalonia ; until by the gradual
union of the divided states, we reach by slow degrees
the final accomplishment of the Making of Spain.
This will bring us to the story of Isabel the Queen,
and we hope so far to recreate the atmosphere of her
day as to study the real living, breathing woman ; to
see her in her habit as she lived, to seek out the springs
of her conduct, to read her thoughts and watch her
actions, so as to build up the intensely interesting
character of one of the great makers of European
history.
CHAPTER I
THE MOORS IN SPAIN
Spain has ever been the land of romance and legend,
yet the simple facts of her story are more enthralling
than the wildest dreams of fiction. On the decline of
the Roman Empire, this province, which they named
Iberia, had been overrun by the barbarians, and in the
fifth century the Visigoths had made the fair land their
home, from the sunny provinces of Andalusia to the
rocky heights of the Asturias and the Pyrenees. But
after two hundred years of peaceful possession this
warlike race became enervated by prosperity, and was
ill-prepared to defend the land from the conquering
hordes of the Saracens, who had already extended
their empire from the mountains of India to the Pillars
of Hercules.
For many generations these mysterious tribes of the
wilderness had dwelt undisturbed in their pastoral
simplicity, while great empires rose and fell around
them. Alexander the Great had been about to invade
their barren wastes when the hand of death checked
his victorious career, and the sons of the desert re-
mained unvanquished in their wild solitude. But of
late a mighty change had come over them. Mohammed
7
THE MOORS IN SPAIN
the dreamer had arisen in their midst ; he had preached
a new rehgion and awakened the warHke instincts of
his race, which became invincible with a mihtant
creed, whose fanatic warriors held the key of Paradise,
and hungered alike for conquest and for death in battle.
Thus it was that the hosts of Islam swept like a
deluge over the Northern shores of Africa, until only
the fortress of Ceuta held out against them. As they
looked across the blue sea, from one Pillar of Hercules
to the other, they were told that beyond that narrow
strait they would find a land flowing with milk and
honey, with a climate more delicious than that of
Syria, with pastures more fertile than those of Yemen,
with treasures beyond the wealth of India or Kathay,
and blossoms rich and rare, surpassing those of Eden
in colour and scent.
Eager for possession, their opportunity was at
hand. The governor of this African citadel, the
rocky Ceuta, was Count Julian, whose oft-told
wrongs may be legendary but whose treachery is
beyond question. He betrayed his trust and made
common cause against his nation and his king, with
the Moslem general. One summer day of the year
711 A.D. Tarik and his Moorish army landed on the
Lion's Rock, called after him Gebal-Tarik (Gibraltar),
and, advancing westward, took possession of the ancient
Carthaginian town of Carteya. On the plains of Xeres
south of the Guadelete, they were met by King Roderick
and his army, and we arc told that when the followers
of Tarik, chiefly composed of Berbers a mountain
tribe, saw outspread before them the mighty ranks of
the armoured Goths, far exceeding them in number,
for one moment they were dismayed.
8
THE MOORS IN SPAIN
" Then their leader cried aloud : * Before you, O men
is the enemy, and the sea behind. By Allah, there is
no escape for you save in valour ! '
" As one man they shouted in reply : * We will follow
thee, O Tarik ! ' and rushed forward to the fray."
Thus runs the legend, which tells us that for seven
days the battle raged from morn till night on that fatal
plain where Roderick, the last of the Goths, was de-
prived of his kingdom and his life. There followed
upon that defeat, eight hundred years of Moorish
rule.
" The hosts of Don Rodrigo were scattered in dismay,
When lost was the eighth battle, nor heart nor hope
had they;
He, when he saw that field was lost, and all his hope
was flown,
He turned him from his flying host, and took his way
alone.
" He saw his royal banners, where they lay drenched and
torn,
He heard the cry of victory, the Arab's shout of scorn.
He looked for the brave captains that had led the hosts
of Spain ;
But all were fled except the dead, and who could count
the slain !"....
Never was there so complete and triumphant a
success, and the victorious Tarik lost no time in
carrying out the conquest of Spain. He pushed on
into the very heart of the country with his Berber
warriors, and city after city fell before his arms until
even Toledo, the royal city, the capital of the Gothic
kingdom, was delivered into his hands. Cordova,
Malaga and Elvira had been taken possession of by
9
THE MOORS IN SPAIN
his officers with scarcely a struggle, for everywhere
the persecuted Jews were on their side, and the down-
trodden slaves made no resistance to the invaders.
Meantime Musa, the African governor, who had
vainly tried to check his general's too victorious
career, hastened to share the glory and the spoils ;
and having captured Merida, Seville and Carmona,
reached the mountains of the north. Thus in so brief
a space had Spain become a province of the great
Saracen empire spreading from the Oxus to the Atlantic,
and ruled by the Khalif of Damascus. As Musa wrote
to his lord : " O Commander of the faithful, these are
no common conquests ; they are like the meeting of
the nations on the Day of Judgment."
Gibbon tells us in his flowing periods how, from the
heights of the Pyrenees, Musa had indulged in a mag-
nificent dream of conquest from the West to the East
of Europe, bringing all the ancient world of his day
under the banner of Islam. But it was not to be ; for,
with tortuous Oriental policy, the Khalif recalled the
victorious Musa, laden with captives and spoil, to
disgrace and ruin, while the brave Tarik fared but
little better. Still, under other leaders, the Moslems
continued to advance, and for awhile it seemed as
though they would sweep like an overwhelming flood
over the whole of Western Europe. An Arab governor
had seized the southern part of Gaul, occupied Car-
cassonne, Narbonne, Avignon and Bordeaux ; and in
732 boldly marched on towards Tours, but here his
triumphant course was destined to meet with a decisive
and final check.
Charles Martel, son of Pepin the great Mayor of the
Palace, advanced to meet the Saracens, who were
THE MOORS IN SPAIN
flushed with victory and looked for an easy success.
Once more the struggle lasted many days, but the
issue was not doubtful. The lightly-armed Moors
could not resist in close onset the strength and stature
of their foes ; " their stout hearts and iron hands."
The invaders, crushed by the irresistible blows of the
Franks and their teader, were utterly routed and put
to flight ; and the disaster was so crushing that hence-
forth in the centuries to come, the Saracens never
more invaded France. The scattered remnant of the
Numidian forces, which had been sent from Africa
were recalled thither by a rising amongst the tributary
peoples, while the Moorish fugitives retreated to the
fertile provinces of Spain. It was in the southern
portion, the ancient Andalusia, which extended from
the Mediterranean to the Sierra de Guadarrama,
watered by the great rivers — the Tagus, the Guadiana,
and the Guadalquivir — that they formed their most
prosperous settlements, and delighted to enrich and
beautify those famous cities where, under Moorish
sway, the arts and sciences flourished in the midst
of a splendid civilisation unknown to the rest of
Europe.
This attained to its highest perfection during the
rule of the Omeyyad Sultans in Spain, and the story of
their coming is too striking and picturesque to omit.
The religion of Islam needed a career of world-wide
conquest for its highest success, as whenever this was
followed by peaceful possession, endless party feuds
were certain to arise.
Thus, in 750, the dynasty of the Omeyyad Khalifs
at Damascus was supplanted by the founder of the
Abassides, Es-Seffah (the Butcher), so-called from his
THE MOORS IN SPAIN
ruthless massacre of the deposed family. Only one
escaped, the young prince Abd-er-Rahman (Servant
of the Merciful God), of whom great things had been
predicted, and the belief in his " star " doubtless added
to his spirit and dauntless courage. He first turned to
the coast of Barbary but, after five years of wandering
and disappointment, he sailed to Spain, and was there
received by loyal followers of his race with acclama-
tion and joy. The last scion of his royal house, his
coming was welcomed like that of Charles Stuart in
Scotland, and before the end of the next year he had
entered Cordova in triumph. But long and bitter was
the struggle for entire mastery of the kingdom, and
he did not come unscathed from the ordeal, for the
victor's triumph was stained by treachery and cruelty,
and long ere he had subdued all his enemies, the
gallant young Pretender had become the hated tyrant,
alone and friendless in his cold elevation.
It is during this period — the reign of the first Abd-
er-Rahman — that we meet with the oft-told tale of
that famous invasion of Charlemagne, which has filled
all Europe with legend and romance. In the year 777
the conqueror was at Paderborn, triumphant in his
victory over the Saxons, when there came to him an
embassy from Spain, praying for his help against the
conquering usurper who had made himself master of
all the Moorish provinces and taken the sacred title of
Khalif. Some monkish chroniclers assert that the
appeal came from the Christians, who would not
submit to the rule of the infidel, and had found a
refuge in the mountains of Asturias, where they
formed the germ of the Spanish nation. But there
is every reason to believe that the French king was
12
THE MOORS IN SPAIN
invited by the Sheikh Suleiman-el-Arabi, a firm ad-
herent of the Khahf of Bagdad, where the seat of
government had been removed from Damascus.
This was Charlemagne's opportunity, for he had
never forgotten the great victory of his grandfather,
Charles Martel, and was eager to extend his kingdom
beyond the Pyrenees. With a great army he invaded
Spain in 778, seized Pampeluna, a Christian city, and
had been successful in the siege of Zaragoza, when
he was recalled northward by news of a fresh revolt
by Wittekind and his Saxons. It was during his
hurried retreat across the mountain pass of Ronces-
valles that the rear-guard of the Franks, under the
command of his nephew Roland, met with the terrible
disaster of which the memory is fresh to this
day.
Encumbered by a long train of baggage mules,
laden with rich spoils, the men-at-arms were slowly
climbing the steep rocky defiles, when they were sud-
denly attacked from an ambuscade by their enemies,
who smote them hip and thigh till scarce a man sur-
vived to tell the doleful tale. We are all familiar with
the legend of Roland's mighty prowess in that cruel
hour, and of his good sword Durenda, which at the
last, when all hope was at an end, he broke upon a
rock severed at its touch, and which is pointed out to
this day as "La Breche de Roland" — a mighty chasm,
cut straight and sharp in the mountain ridge as you
look upon it from the near slopes of the " Pic de
Bourgogne." We have heard in fancy the
"blast of that dread horn,
On Fontarabian echoes borne,
That to King Charles did come ....
13
THE MOORS IN SPAIN
When Roland brave and Olivier,
And every paladin and peer,
On Roncesvalles died."
The heroic theme has ever had a strange glamour
and fascination for all the Latin race, and it was a
Spanish minstrel who wrote the dolorous ballad :*
" The day of Roncesvalles was a dismal day for you,
Ye men of France, for there the lance of King Charles
was broke in two :
Ye well may curse that rueful field, for many a noble
peer
In fray or fight the dust did bite beneath Bernardo's
spear.
There captured was Guarinos, King Charles's Admiral ;
Seven Moorish kings surrounded him, and seized him
for their thrall."
This legendary allusion to a Christian leader
Bernardo, fighting with Moorish kings, is extremely
interesting as showing the birth of a national feeling,
stronger than all difference of faith, which thus vehe-
mently resented the invasion of a foreigner. We
have no reason to believe that Abd-el-Rahman himself
took any part in the conflict, but after this fruitless
expedition of the Franks, he was left at peace to lay
the foundation of that marvellous Khalifate of Cor-
dova, whose splendid story, during his reign and
those of his successors for three hundred years, is like
a chapter from the Arabian Nights.
So far removed is that shining city of dreams from
our everyday life, that only the language of Oriental
imagery seems appropriate to it. An Arab historian
tells us that : " Cordova is the bride of Andalusia.
=•'■ Heard by Don Quixote and Sancho Panza at Toboso.
14
THE MOORS IN SPAIN
To her belongs all the beauty and the ornaments that
delight the eye or dazzle the sight. Her long line of
Sultans forms her crown of glory ; her necklace is
strung with the pearls which her poets have gathered
from the ocean of language ; her dress is of the
banners of learning, well knit together by her men
of science ; and the masters of every art and industry
are the hem of her garments."*
With regard to that long line of Sultans who brought
their priceless spoils to adorn the beloved city, we can
but touch upon a few of the most notable. On the
death of Abd-er-Rahman the first Omeyyad, his pious
son Hisham succeeded, whose brief reign of eight
years, of which the limit was said to have been foretold
by an astrologer, was a pattern of righteousness and
watchful devotion to his people, such as we are familiar
with in the legends of " Good King Wenceslaus." But
this very piety in a ruler became a strange new source
of danger, for the theological students of Cordova, the
most devout or fanatical sons of Islam, obtained so
much authority that, when the new Sultan Hakam I.
proved to be no stern ascetic but a man of gay dis-
position, eager to enjoy life, he was publicly preached
at and prayed for by the bigots, who at length aroused
the people to conspire against him. But the rebels had
mistaken their man and were put down again and
again with an iron hand, so that when Hakam died in
822, he left a peaceful heritage to his son Abd-er-
Rahman II.
This prince was chiefly distinguished by his luxury
and prodigality, which rivalled that of the famous
Harun-er-Rashid of Bagdad, who had but recently
■= Quoted by Lane Poole.
15
THE MOORS IN SPAIN
departed from his earthly paradise. Abd-er-Rahman II.
built magnificent palaces, and mosques, and bridges,
he laid out more wonderful gardens and, himself a poet
and musician, he gave encouragement to all the arts and
sciences. He was ruled by the theologian Yahya and
the Persian poet Ziryab, whose strange fascination
made him the arbiter of taste and fashion. Under this
prince, whose rule was one of tolerance and protection
of all creeds, began those fierce outbursts of fanatical
zeal in which the Christian subjects of Cordova seem to
have eagerly sought martyrdom at the hands of the
infidels.
During the weak and disastrous reigns of Mohammed,
Mundhir, and Abdallah, troubles of every sort increased
and the Moorish power sank to its lowest ebb, amidst
general anarchy and bloodshed. The Christian States
gained ground on all sides, and but for their own
internal feuds they might easily have reconquered the
whole land. Then in that dark hour when all seemed
lost, a new Omeyyad Sultan arose and the kingdom of
Cordova was saved. Abd-er-Rahman II I. the grandson
of Abdallah, deserves more than a passing mention.
This lad of twenty-one, who found that his dominion
scarcely extended beyond the walls of Cordova, with
dauntless courage at once proclaimed his purpose of
reconquering the whole of the lost provinces, and
summoned all the rebel chieftains to surrender their
spoils.
Such boldness met with its due reward, for he
inspired his soldiers with his own enthusiasm, and led
them forth on a career of conquest. The desolate land
was weary of anarchy and the tyranny of lawless
brigands, and in the end his arms were everywhere
i6
THE MOORS IN SPAIN
successful ; in many cases the gates of great cities were
opened to the gallant young prince with scarcely a
show of resistance. So indomitable was his purpose
that when the city of Toledo alone remained uncon-
quered, Abd-er-Rahman built a town on the opposite
hill and calmly sat down to await the surrender.
With the Christians protected by their mountain
fastnesses, he had many a hard struggle, but step by
step he won his way against foes divided amongst
themselves, and at the end of eighteen years he found
himself in the proud position of having recovered
all that his predecessors had lost. Henceforth he
governed Moslem and Christian alike with justice
tempered by mercy, and the land had peace and pros-
perity. He kept the supreme authority in his own
hands, employed men under him chosen by himself
alone, and was supported by a great army of mer-
cenaries, " Slavs," in his sole pay (a plan to be
followed in later years by the Emperor Charles V.
and his son Philip). Then in 929 he assumed the
proud title of Kkalif of the West, En-Nasir li-dim-llah,
" the Defender of the Faith of God." He spread his
empire to the African coasts of the Mediterranean,
conquered the fleets of Egypt and Tunis, and opened
his ports for a world-wide commerce, while his chosen
home at Cordova became the splendid centre of Euro-
pean culture and civilisation.
After a glorious reign of nearly fifty years the great
Khalif died full of years and honours, leaving behind
him a pathetic record that in all the days of his long
life he had counted but fourteen without sorrow.
" O man, put not thy trust in the present world."
It was during this period that Cordova rose to the
17 B
THE MOORS IN SPAIN
highest summit of beauty and magnificence. The
world-famed city, once beloved of Pompey, destroyed
by Caesar, the birthplace of Seneca, conquered by the
Gothic arms, and at length the proud capital of Moorish
Spain. We may look to-day unmoved upon the narrow
streets of white houses, the ruined palaces, the great
bridge which still spans the rushing Guadalquivir ;
but as we stand within the magnificent mosque of
Abd-er-Rahman, with its forest of porphyry and jasper
columns, its exquisite tracery and peerless mosaics, the
image of a splendid past rises before us. It was the
first Omeyyad sovereign who began this amazing,
unrivalled shrine of worship, built upon the site of a
temple of Janus, devoting to it the immense spoils of
the Goths, while each of his successors in turn added
some fresh beauty : clustered pillars inlaid with gold
and lapis-lazuli, countless doors of polished brass, a
silver pavement to the sanctuary, gold and precious
stones for the ivory pulpit, and myriad lanterns of
priceless filigree work.
The Arab chroniclers are never weary of dwelling
upon the bygone glories of Cordova. We read of
many other stately mosques with minarets of bur-
nished gold, of bridges and aqueducts, and marble
palaces, whose vaulted chambers were inlaid with ex-
quisite mosaic, covered with arabesque and corniced
with beaten gold, while their furnishing was of sandal-
wood inlaid with malachite and silver, with ivory and
mother-of-pearl. In the spacious courtyards, shaded
with palms and rare exotics, fountains and cascades
of water tempered the heat of summer, while in
winter, rich tapestries, Persian carpets, embroidered
pillows and couches, and a warm and perfumed
i8
THE MOORS IN SPAIN
air made the inner courts a dream of luxury and
delight.
As to the extent of this marvellous city, we are
gravely assured that after sunset a man might walk
ten miles in a straight line, by the light of its lamps.
But the crowning joy and glory of Cordova was not in
the " shrines of fretted gold " but in the " high-walled
gardens, green and old." The first Omeyyad had
sent a date-palm from Syria to plant in the garden
which he had laid out in the land of his splendid exile,
to remind him of his old home in Damascus. The
Arabs ever loved to surround themselves with gardens
and trees and fountains — the primitive ideal-dream
of happiness in the tents of the desert whence they
sprang.
Each marvellous palace of the Sultan stood in the
midst of gardens filled with " the most delicious fruits
and sweet-smelling flowers, beautiful prospects, and
limpid-running waters." All the world was searched
for rare exotics — seeds, plants, and trees were brought
from afar to enrich this favoured land. In describing,
later on, the gardens and orchards of Andalusia, we
shall yet find traces of that splendid heritage from the
Moorish Sultans of Cordova, surviving still to make
this earth beautiful, when their kingdom has passed
away like a shadow.
The magic of the East is upon us as we touch upon
the story of that marvellous " City of the Fairest,"
Medinat-Ez-Zahra, built by the great Khalif to gratify
the whim of his Sultana. If we are to believe the
chroniclers, it far surpassed the wildest dreams of the
poet, " fed on honey-dew," who sang of the " stately
pleasure-dome of Kubla Khan." The glittering minarets
19
THE MOORS IN SPAIN
the marble and ivory palaces, shining with gold and
precious stones — the spoils of empires — the doors of
ivory and polished brass, the fairy fountains, the
menageries of strange animals and aviaries of strange
birds, amid bowers of roses and groves of almonds
and pomegranate. . . . Like a dream all has vanished,
for of this earthly paradise not a trace remains.
Much was possible to a prince w^ho could employ
ten thousand skilled workmen for more than a quarter
of a century ; whose treasury at one time, in 951,
contained twenty million golden pieces, and whose
yearly income is supposed to have been equal to that
of all the other sovereigns of Europe together. In his
time, the Khalifate of Cordova was supreme in the
arts and sciences, in commerce and manufactures.
The land was fertilised by irrigation, and thus the
sugar-cane, the mulberry, saffron, flax, and all the
choice fruits and flowers of the earth were successfully
cultivated.
We are told of thirteen thousand silk-looms in
Cordova alone, mining, enamelling, glass-blowing,
the making of linen and cotton fabrics, the embossing
of fine leather, all forms of rare metal work — these
industries flourished on every side. The produce of
so much skill and labour was carried from the ports
of Southern Andalusia to the Levant and Constanti-
nople, whence it was spread by the caravans over the
whole known world.
But not alone did Moorish Spain excel in material
prosperity,for theOmeyyads,likethe Medici of Florence
in a later age, were distinguished by their magnificent
patronage of literature and science. Cordova was the
European centre of knowledge, and students came
20
THE MOORS IN SPAIN
from all countries to learn from the famous doctors
and wise philosophers, mathematicians, and astro-
nomers. The Moorish surgeons were famous above
all others ; indeed, they are supposed to have fore-
stalled some modern practice, and it was the custom
for Christian princes and men of wealth to seek their
help.
While Rome and Constantinople still asserted that
the earth was flat, geography was taught from globes
in the schools of the Spanish Moors. They were the
first to determine the length of the year, the obliquity
of the ecliptic ; to discover the spots on the sun, and
to build the first observatory, the Giralda of Seville,
which in later years was turned into a belfry by their
Christian successors, who did not know how to use it.
They invented the mariner's compass, and were the
first to apply the pendulum to a clock ; indeed it would
be hard to enumerate all their valuable additions to
the world's knowledge.
Of their many learned writers, their philosophers,
and the poets whose graceful ballads forestalled the
minstrels and troubadours of later days, we shall speak
hereafter in a chapter on Spanish literature.
The splendid library of Abd-er-Rahman was largely
added to by his son Hakam II., a scholar prince who
is said to have possessed 400,000 manuscript volumes,
and not only to have read them, but to have written
learned notes on their margin. He found a refuge in
his library from the cares of State, and as a natural
consequence, there were others ready to seize the reins
of government. When he died in 976, leaving a young
son of twelve, Hisham II., as his successor, the Prime
Minister Almanzor, with the help of the widowed
21
THE MOORS IN SPAIN
Sultana Aurora, before long assumed supreme power
in the state. He had risen from the lowly position of
a letter-writer at the palace gate, but his genius and
unscrupulous ambition overcame all obstacles, and
not satisfied with absolute political rule, he aspired to
military fame. With splendid assurance he led his
army against the Christians on the northern marches,
and so won the proud title of " the Victorious," for
none could withstand him. The great Vesir spread
the Moorish dominion to its farthest bounds, both
along the broad seacoast of Africa and in Spain,
where he raided all the Christian provinces with fire
and sword, taking possession of all their chief cities —
Leon, Barcelona, Pamplona, and even the sacred church
of Santiago de Compostella in Galicia (built, according
to tradition, where the body of St. James, the fighting
saint, was discovered). While Hisham II. remained
Khalif only in name, his formidable Prime Minister
was the real despotic lord of the realm ; he gave his
enemies no respite, and when at length death put an
end to his career after a final victory over Castile, his
end is thus chronicled by a monkish historian : " In
1002 died Almanzor and was buried in hell."
However that may be, it was a hell upon earth which
followed when the master spirit was gone ; the flood-
gates were broken down, and hapless Andalusia was
overwhelmed by relentless civil war, pillage, massacre
and anarchy. One puppet after another was set up as
ruler by the Slav mercenaries, the Berbers or the
people of Cordova, only to be cruelly driven forth or
treacherously murdered. The Moors' extremity was
the Christians' opportunity. Alfonso VI., who had
come to the throne of Leon in 1065, and of Castile in
22
THE MOORS IN SPAIN
1072, set himself to the conquest of the whole land,
and succeeded so well, as much through the divisions
of his foes as his own energy, that before long most of
the Moslem states had become his tributaries. The
famous Cid Rodrigo Diaz de Bivar is a most striking
figure of this period, but his marvellous adventures
while fighting on either side must be told in the
history of the Christian provinces.
Roused at length to a sense of the danger before
them, the Moors called in the help of their race in
Africa, and the conquering sect of the Almoravides
responded to their appeal. Led by Yusuf, the great
Puritan warrior, they defeated Alfonso of Castile with
terrible loss at Zallaka near Badajos, in 1086. After
the victory they returned to Africa, leaving only a small
force behind and retaining the harbour of Algeciras ;
but a few years later, Yusuf the Almoravide was again
implored to help the King of Seville against the Chris-
tians, and this time he came to stay. Shocked at the
laxness in doctrine and practice of the Spanish Moors,
and their open neglect of the Koran, the Puritan leader
set forth on a holy war and turned his arms alike
against them and their foes, never resting until the
whole of Andalusia owned the sway of the Almoravides.
Under these half barbarian fanatics, there followed a
time of religious intolerance and cruel persecution, not
only of Christian and Jew but of all art, literature and
philosophy which was not included in the Koran.
But the wealth and luxury of the beautiful land
which they had conquered, soon began to have a
demoralising effect upon these rude Berber warriors ;
their simple habits and stern fanaticism gave way before
this easy life, and within fifty years the Castilians, under
23
THE MOORS IN SPAIN
Alfonso the Battler, were ravaging Andalusia almost
as far as the coast of the Mediterranean. But a more
terrible enemy awaited them, nothing less than an
overwhelming invasion from Africa of other Atlas
tribes more fanatical still than themselves. These
were the Almohades or Unitarians, whose resistless
hordes carried all before them : the cities of Algeciras,
Malaga, Cordova, Seville, Valencia and Almeria sur-
rendered to their might, and before the middle of the
twelfth century all Moorish Spain was in their hands,
and became a province of the African empire of the
Mahdi.
For a while they triumphed also over the Christians
who, after a great defeat at Alarcos, were roused to
fresh efforts, and induced the Pope to proclaim a
crusade against the infidels. Alfonso of Castile and
Pedro of Aragon were joined by a gallant company of
knights from all Europe, and on the fateful field of
Las Navas de Tolosa, a splendid victory was gained
under the banner of the Cross, and the might of Islam
was crushed. This was in 121 2, and in the next gene-
ration the Christians advanced with steady persistence,
conquering city after city, until at length nothing
remained to the Moors but the kingdom of Granada,
including the seacoast from Gibraltar to Almeria, and
the country bounded by the Sierra Nevada. Even this
was tributary to the crown of Castile, and so it con-
tinued with but little change for more than two centuries
longer.
Granada now succeeded Cordova as a centre of
culture, the arts and sciences flourished in days of
comparative peace, for the Christian monarchs were
too much engaged with internal struggles to interfere
24
THE MOORS IN SPAIN
with neighbours who were no longer formidable. They
were left to the enjoyment of the exquisite garden of
Spain, they built the wonderful Alhambra, the red
palace one of the wonders of the world, and the Moors
driven from the other conquered cities fled to Granada
in their thousands, adding to the wealth and prosperity
of this last remaining province.
But as the fifteenth century drew near its close, and
the Christian states were combined under the one strong
government of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabel of
Castile, the day of doom was at hand for the last
stronghold of Moslem rule in Spain. The story of the
final conquest of Granada will take its place in the
history of Queen Isabel.
25
CHAPTER II
RISE OF THE CHRISTIAN KINGDOMS
The Kingdom of Asturias and Leon — The Kingdom
OF Castile — The Kingdom of Navarre — The Story
OF THE CiD — The Kingdom of Aragon — The Realm
OF Catalonia and the City of Barcelona.
The Kingdom of Asturias and Leon.
When the Moors conquered Spain and spread over the
land like a resistless flood, the Christian survivors of
that fatal field by the river Guadalete on the plains of
Xeres, fled before the conquering hordes in two dis-
tinct companies. On one of these vje need not dwell,
as it was led by Theodomir, an astute time-server who
escaped once more from the slaughter of his com-
panions, and paid tribute to the infidels for Murcia and
part of Valencia and Granada — for he left no lasting
trace, and was in no sense a maker of Spain. But the
noblest and most patriotic amongst the scattered rem-
nant of the Goths, sought a refuge far away to the
north in the rugged mountains of Asturias. To this
time-honoured asylum of invincible patriotism, the little
band of faithful men had brought from Toledo the
most sacred relics of their faith ; and here in the
midst of hardy mountaineers, descendants of an earlier
26
THE CHRISTIAN KINGDOMS
race, was raised the true foundation of the Spanish
kingdom.
A certain Pelayo of the royal Gothic lineage was
chosen as their leader, and Canga de Onis, a little
mountain village, was the seat of his dominion, which
reached to the sea on the north and to the mountains
on the south, with an uncertain boundary east and
west. Tidings of this little colony having spread to the
Moslem leader, he sent against it an army which was
led by a renegade towards the mountain nest, but
Pelayo and his gallant comrades attacked the infidels in
a narrow pass by the primitive method of hurling down
masses of rock and stones upon them, and then fol-
lowing up this disconcerting reception by a sudden and
bold attack. The Moslems were unprepared and fell
an easy prey ; many were slain by the sword, others
were thrown into the mountain torrent below, and the
remainder fled ignominiously. The monkish chronicles
of later days aver that in this famous battle of Cova-
donga 124,000 were killed in hand-to-hand fight, 63,000
were drowned, and 375,000 made their escape over the
frontier ! But this stupendous exaggeration is note-
worthy as showing the great importance attached by
the Christians to their first victory in the long struggle
for independence.
In any case the Moors had learnt a lesson, and inter-
fered no more with the hardy mountaineers of Asturias.
Pelayo was the founder of a dynasty ; his son Favila,
killed by a bear,* was succeeded in 739 by Alfonso the
Catholic, a man of great courage and energy, who
extended his rule on all sides, conquering to the east
Biscay and part of Navarre, to the west almost the
* See " Don Quixote," 2nd part, ch. xxxiv.
27
RISE OF THE
whole of Galicia as far as the Douro, and reaching even
to Castile on the south by the surrender of Segovia and
Avila, while Salamanca, Astorga, Leon, and other im-
portant places fell before his arms. At the time of his
death in 757, he had reconquered for the Christians
nearly one quarter of the whole land. But much of
this remained debatable ground for several centuries,
won first by one side and then by the other, ever laid
waste and desolate by the horrors of never-ceasing
warfare.
The story of Alfonso's successors for several gene-
rations is little more than a dim chronicle of names,
and more or less legendary battles of varying loss and
gain. The invasion of Charlemagne and the defeat of
Roncesvalles has been already alluded to in the history
of the Moorish kingdom, but it is merely a passing
episode, rich in romantic lore, yet of little historical
importance.
Time passed on and the city of Oviedo, where
Alfonso II. established his Court, grew in importance
and became the capital of this king, who had at least the
merit of reigning for fifty years. At this period, we
hear of frequent intermarriages between Moors and
Christians, who appear to have been on friendly terms
during the intervals of fighting. When Alfonso III.
the son of Ordono I. came to the throne in 866, he
found himself firmly established in the north of
Portugal, and in one quarter as far as the river
Guadiana, besides a stronger position in Biscay and
Navarre, and carried his victorious arms into Castile,
then a wild desolate land with scattered fortresses. He
was a wise and tolerant ruler, distinguished in peace as
in war, but the fruit of his conquests was lost in a great
28
CHRISTIAN KINGDOMS
measure by the fatal policy of dividing his territory
amongst his sons. He gave the kingdom of Leon to
his eldest son Garcia, who removed the seat of his
government from Oviedo to the city of Leon, situated
in the midst of the broad plain between the river Douro
and the sea. Ordono, the second son, received Galicia
and northern Portugal, and Fruela, the youngest, had
Asturias as his portion. But within a few years the
various provinces were again shuffled up, while an
intermittent warfare was for ever going on against the
Moors.
A succession of rulers followed, who played their
part in feud and feast and foray, and yet for us are little
more than shadowy names, until in 930 we come to the
reign of Ramiro II. who defeated the great Khalif Abd-
er-Rahman III. at the battle of Simancas.
Rise of the Kingdom of Castile.
It was in the time of Ramiro II. that the province of
Castile first rose to an independent position, having
hitherto been under the rule of Leon. The first Count of
Castile who threw off the yoke was Fernan Gonzalez,
whose daughter Uraca was married in succession to two
kings of Leon ; divorced from the first, dethroned and
driven into exile with the second. Those were
troublous times when the Christian states were rent
asunder by civil war, and ever and again resorted to
the fatal expedient of calling in the help of the infidel.
Still greater calamity was in store for them when the
invincible Moorish general Almanzor proclaimed a
jihad, or holy war, and invaded their territory with fire
and sword. Everything gave way before him : Leon
and its splendid cathedral built in honour of Santiago
29
RISE OF THE
was utterly destroyed, although we are told that the
shrine itself was miraculously preserved. He raided
Catalonia and Castile, and took city after city, Simancas,
Zamora, Barcelona, Astorga, and advanced even to
Corutia, everywhere carrying away immense spoils
and captives in their thousands. The Christians must
have been brought very low, for not only were they
compelled to pay tribute, but we read with surprise
that Bermudo II. of Leon gave his daughter in
marriage to this Moslem conqueror, who later on
married a princess of Castile. So complete was the
ascendancy of the great Almanzor that but for his
opportune death in 1002 the Christian states would
have been blotted out from the map of the peninsula.
In the story of the Moorish kingdom we have
already traced the sudden downfall of its power,
when the commanding genius of the mighty Vesir no
longer rules its counsels and its armies. Still, even at
this period, when the glory of Cordova had departed
for ever, we find Alfonso V. of Leon giving his sister
in marriage to Mahommed, king of Seville, and after-
wards dying in battle against the Moors of Portugal.
Rise of the Kingdom of Navarre.
It is extremely difficult to follow out any separate
history of the various Christian states, as they were
constantly being united by conquest or marriage
alliance, and then, after a few years, all the gain of
such union would be scattered to the winds by sub-
division of the land, on a sovereign's death, amongst
his sons and daughters.
A new kingdom had sprung up in the mountains of
Navarre, which, from its position as a saddle across
30'
CHRISTIAN KINGDOMS
the Pyrenees, between Spain and France, was con-
stantly shifting its allegiance from one to the other.
The earliest inhabitants appear to have been of
Prankish origin, and about the year 873 a certain
Sancho Inigo became the ruling noble, and his
successors maintained a certain independence. A
somewhat doubtful tradition gives them a code of
laws, the " fueros de Sobrarbe," afterwards the proud
boast of Aragon and the foundation of its freedom.
One right which the nobles seem to have possessed
was that of making war upon each other, of which
they freely availed themselves.
The little kingdom of Navarre first rises to historical
prominence under the rule of Sancho the great, who
was lord of Sobrarbe and of that part of Aragon not
included in the Moorish province of Zaragoza, He
had married Elvira, the daughter of Count Garcia of
Castile, and through her right he succeeded to Cas-
tile in 1026. This deserves notice as apparently the
first occasion when female succession was admitted.
Fernando, the eldest son of Sancho, had married the
heiress of Leon, and the whole of the Christian
dominion would have been united under him but for
the fatal policy of his father, who divided his territory
amongst his sons, giving Navarre to Garcias and Aragon
to Ramiro.
After much successful fighting against the Moors
and his own brothers, before the death, in 1065, of
Fernando I., he made the same unwise partition of
his provinces amongst all his children. To his eldest
son Sancho he left Castile ; to Alfonso, his favourite,
Leon and Asturias ; and to Garcias, Galicia and
Portugal as far as the Douro ; while his daughter Uraca
RISE OF THE
received Zamora as her portion, and Elvira had Toro.
The usual result followed, bitter rivalry and civil war,
in which the palm of treachery must be given to
Sancho, who, after having been defeated in battle by
the men of Leon, set upon them unawares and mas-
sacred the most part, Alfonso escaping by flight from
his prison. Sancho then drove his younger brother
Garcia from his kingdom of Galicia, and turned out
his sister Elvira from Toro. But he had more trouble
with Uraca, who fought with desperate courage for
her fortress of Zamora, and the siege was so prolonged
that it gave rise to the proverb, " No se tomo
Zamora en una hora." (Zamora was not taken in
an hour.)
In the attack on this city, Sancho v^^as stabbed by
the hand of an assassin, and Rodrigo Diaz de Bivar,
the Cid, is reputed to have beheld the deed from afar,
unable to avenge his master. Alfonso of Leon now
returned in haste from his exile, and claimed the
throne as his brother's heir. According to the ballads,
the Cid came forward and made him swear that he
had no part in his brother's murder.
"'Alfonso, and ye Leonese,
I charge ye here to swear,
That in Don Sancho's death ye had
By word or deed no share. ..."
Three times the Cid has given the oath,
Three times the King hath sworn ;
With every oath his anger burned,
And thus he cried in scorn :
' Thou swearest me where doubt is none
Rodrigo to thy sorrow ;
The hand that takes the oath to-day
Thou hast to kiss to-morrow ! '
32
CHRISTIAN KINGDOMS
'Agreed, senor!' replied the Cid,
' If thou will give me pay,
As other kings in other lands
Do give their knights this day . . . ' "
The Story of the Cid.
No account of the making of Spain would be com-
plete without a few words about this hero of mediaeval
legend, the idol of the people to the present day.
The Cid of romance is a perfect warrior, a type of all
that is heroic and chivalrous, above all, a splendid
fighter — " myo Cid el Campeador " — ready to challenge
any foe and fight at any odds. But the Cid of history
IS not quite the Cid of the ballads— the great Christian
champion — for he was as ready to fight on the side of
the Moors as the Christians, and would sack a mosque
or a church, whichever came in his way.
A great freebooter, or "condottiere," Rodrigo Diez
de Bivar was a free lance, fighting, with his own tried
army of desperadoes, for whoever would give him the
highest pay. We first hear of his defending the cause
of Sancho of Castile, then somewhat unwillingly serv-
ing his brother, King Alfonso VI. He next marries
Ximena, the daughter of the Count of Oviedo whom
he has slain, a lady almost as famous in the ballads
as himself.
The Cid is sent by Alfonso to collect tribute from
the Emir of Seville, who happens to be at war with
the King of Granada, and naturally the Campeador
cannot see fighting go on without taking part in it, so
he gives his valuable assistance to the Emir, and is
victorious as usual. On hearing of this. King Alfonso,
who has never forgiven the affront mentioned in the
33 c
RISE OF THE
ballad, banishes him from the kingdom. Thereupon
Rodrigo leaves his wife and daughter in a convent
and goes forth to seek adventure. He takes service
v^ith the Emir of Zaragoza, and carries devastation
before him even as far as Valencia, scattering before
him the enemies of his Moorish lord.
" Their shields before their breasts, forth at once they go,
Their lances in the rest, levelled fair and low,
Their banners and their crests waving in a row,
Their heads all stooping down toward the saddle bow ;
The Cid was in their midst ; his shout was heard afar,
' I am Ruy Diez, the champion of Bivar ..,'"*
Seven years he fought for the Emir, gaining large
dominions and much wealth, which placed him in a
position to make his own terms with the King of
Castile. But he was an unruly vassal, for when the
Almoravides swept down with overwhelming force, he
arrived too late to save the day for Alfonso, who
turned upon him in wrath, seized his patrimony, and
secretly sent help to his enemy, Raymond Berenger,
the Count of Barcelona.
It was during this feud that a characteristic story is
told of the Cid's chivalry. He was victorious in his
encounter with Berenger, who was brought captive
to his tent, and was prepared for the worst. But
Rodrigo caused a feast to be set forth, and offered
freedom to his prisoner if he would sit at table with
him. The poem tells us that for a while Raymond
refused, but was at length persuaded to eat and drink,
with the two knights who were to be set free with
him. Then rising without delay, he exclaimed : " If
* Translated by Hookham Frere.
34
CHRISTIAN KINGDOMS
you will allow it, my Cid, we are ready to depart at
once. Bid them bring our horses. Never have I
dined with so much appetite."
So the Count of Barcelona has liberty bestowed
upon him without ransom, and is provided with all
that he needs for the journey, while the immense
booty and rich spoils of war remain in the hands of
the victor.
After much and varied fighting against the King of
Castile and others, the doughty warrior achieved his
greatest conquest — nothing less than the rich and luxu-
rious Arab city of Valencia which, after a long and
desperate struggle, surrendered to him in June 1094.
In vain the conquering Almoravides hurled themselves
against the walls ; they were driven away with terrible
loss. But at the very summit of his power, an inde-
pendent sovereign at last, the Cid was stricken with
illness and began to prepare for his latter end. He
turned the splendid mosque of Valencia into a Christian
church and richly endowed it as the seat of a bishopric.
Of a sudden, news came that his army, the pride of his
heart, had been cut to pieces almost within sight of his
walls, and it was the deathblow of the gallant Cam-
peador.
Tradition tells us that for two years the brave
Ximena, his widow, held Valencia against her foes, and
then being compelled to yield, the Cid's old followers
placed the body of their lord on his war-horse, Bavieco,
with his good sword Tixona in his hand, and led him
out of the city gate, while the Moors fled in panic at
the mere sight of their great enemy. He was carried
to Burgos and there rested in honour within the
Monastery of Cardenas. The legend says that he who
35
RISE OF THE
defied alike Christian and Moor, Pope and King, re-
mained for long years proudly seated on his ivory
throne at the right hand of the altar of St. Peter.
His other marvellous adventures in life and death,
are they not written in the " Chronicle of the Cid" ?
The Rise of the Kingdom of Aragon.
This province, at first only consisting of one or two
valleys at the foot of the Pyrenees, was a fief of the
Kings of Asturias. It did not rise to any position of
independence until Sancho the Great of Navarre left it
in 1035 to his son Ramiro, the first king. He enlarged
his domain along the south of the Pyrenees, exacting
tribute from the Moors of Tudela, Lerida and Zaragoza.
With regard to this last city, strife arose between Cas-
tile and Aragon, in which King Ramiro was slain in
battle. The same fate befell his son, Sancho I., at
the siege of Huesca, but he was avenged by his heir
Pedro, who in 1096 won a great victory over the com-
bined armies of the Castilians and the Moors. On this
occasion the warriors of Aragon claimed to have had
supernatural help from St. George, who henceforth be-
came their patron saint, and his cross, on a silver field,
their banner. Santiago on his white horse was already
a familiar champion of the Christian armies.
The King of Castile and Leon against whom Pedro
fought was Alfonso VI., the nominal suzerain of the
Cid. This king's life appears to have been spent in
constant fighting. He extended his possessions from
the valley of the Tagus to the Bay of Biscay ; he fought
with the Moors of one city and against others, passing
from victory to victory until he met with that crushing
reverse at the hands of Yusuf, the conquering leader of
36
CHRISTIAN KINGDOMS
the Almoravides at Zalaca, when the Cid did not arrive
in time. The most important event of Alfonso's life
was the establishment of Toledo as the Christian
capital. The Moors of this city had been promised
that their religion should be protected and that they
should keep their splendid mosque. But the Bishop
of Toledo — the French confessor of Constance of Bur-
gundy, Alfonso's wife — did not scruple to take posses-
sion of it as a Christian church during the King's
absence, greatly to his indignation. Yet against his
better judgment he was persuaded to condone this
breach of faith, and also to make submission to the
papacy by adopting the Roman ritual, a concession
which had most important results during the centuries
which followed.
Alfonso VI. was a diplomatic prince who sought to
strengthen himself by various alliances. He was mar-
ried six times ; his second wife, Constance of Burgundy,
being the daughter of Philip I. of France. One of his
wives, the daughter of the Moorish King of Seville, was
the mother of his only son Sancho, who was killed in
a last fatal battle with the Almoravides at Ucles in
1108, and Alfonso is said to have died of a broken
heart the following year. His eldest daughter Urraca,
widow of Raymond of Burgundy, inherited the com-
bined kingdoms of Castile and Leon. His daughter
Teresa had already married the Count of Besan9on,
with all the land won from the Moors in Portugal as her
dowry, while Andrea, another daughter, had received
Galicia on her marriage with the Count of Burgundy.
Queen Uraca married Alfonso of Aragon, called EI
Batallador, the great-grandson of Sancho the Great.
He was brave and ambitious, but does not seem to have
37
RISE OF THE
been an amiable husband, and her conduct left much
to be desired, so that after violent discord he and his
wife parted company at the end of a year, and as he
still intended to keep possession of her broad lands,
war ensued, for Castile and Leon rose in defence of
their Queen. The King of Aragon won the first battle,
and then the great towns, strong in their charters which
had been granted them long before, insisted on having
a voice in the matter. They did not approve of
Uraca's notoriously flighty conduct, and proclaimed
her little son by her first husband as their king. To
this the nobles refused to agree, while the clergy ob-
tained a divorce from the Pope, in order that Alfonso
of Aragon might no longer have any pretext for inter-
fering with the territory of Uraca. The civil war
lasted until the death of the Queen in 1126, when her
son, who was now twenty-one, became the undoubted
King of Castile, under the title of Alfonso VII. the
Emperor, as he called himself later.
Meantime his step-father, Alfonso el Batallador, had
carried his victorious arms against the Moors, extend-
ing his conquests on all sides and richly deserving his
warlike name. He spread his dominion as far as Anda-
lusia, gaining several great battles over the formidable
Almoravides, and annexing Zaragoza, Tudela, and other
frontier towns, Tarragona and other places on the
coast, until his kingdom of Aragon and Navarre almost
rivalled the might of Castile and Leon. Alfonso I. was
killed in battle at Fraga, 1134, and having no son to
succeed him, he had bequeathed Aragon to the
Knights Templars and Navarre to the Knights of St.
John, probably by the advice of his confessor, for the
good of his own soul.
3«
CHRISTIAN KINGDOMS
But it was not likely that the people would submit to
this arrangement, and a king was chosen by Navarre,
while Aragon induced the monk Ramiro, a brother of
El Batallador, to leave his monastery and accept a
wife and a throne. But within three years he abdi-
cated in favour of his infant daughter Petronilla, and
went back to his cloister. The little princess was
betrothed to Ramon, Count of Barcelona, who was
appointed Regent of Aragon, with which Catalonia was
thus united.
The Realm of Catalonia and the City of
Barcelona.
This north-eastern division of Spain, with its long
line of coast and splendid natural seaports, had been
inhabited from days of old by a restless warlike people,
fiercely proud of their practical independence and in
constant rebellion against their Prankish neighbours,
the Dukes of Aquitaine, who were their feudal lords,
while more than once they had been conquered by the
Moors. In 858 we find records of a certain Wifredo
who was Count of Barcelona and paid tribute to the
King of France. For several generations the city grew
in importance and strength, and began to be noted for
its commerce, but in 984, the all-conquering Almanzor
swept down with his Moors, defeated Count Borello,
and laid waste Barcelona with fire and sword. Yet
when Almanzor had passed on to other conquests, the
people of Catalonia rallied again, drove out the Moorish
garrisons, and returned to their peaceful occupa-
tions.
The successors of Count Borello extended their
dominion and married heiresses of lands across the
59
CHRISTIAN KINGDOMS
French frontier. Catalonia became somewhat of a
maritime power, and in the reign of Ramon IV. the
Moslem pirates of the Balearic Islands were attacked in
their headquarters, and Majorca was taken by a com-
bined attack in which Genoa and Pisa joined. It was
the next Count, Ramon V., who was made Regent of
Aragon and ultimately married Petronilla, the heiress
of the monkish king, a most fortunate event, as all the
scattered lordships of eastern Spain were now united
in one strong kingdom, from whence first rose the
naval power of Spain. Barcelona was increasing in
wealth and importance, and became a rival in com-
merce with the Italian Republics. Her ships traded
with Alexandria for spices, drugs, perfumes and other
Eastern products ; and she claims to have compiled
the first code of maritime law which held good during
the Middle Ages.
40
CHAPTER III
THE UNITED KINGDOMS
Aragon and Catalonia — Castile and Leon.
The Story of United Aragon and Catalonia.
The grandson of Petronilla, Pedro II., was the King
of Aragon who, with his kinsman Alfonso of Castile,
helped to check the advance of the Moors in the
famous victory of Las Navas de Tolosa, in 12 12. After
this he took the side of the Albigenses in Gascony
against Simon de Montfort, and was slain at the siege
of Toulouse, leaving his little son Jayme in the hands
of his mortal enemy, " Thus died my father, for such
has ever been the fate of my race, to conquer or die in
battle," writes Jayme, in his chronicle.
By the help of the Pope, de Montfort was induced
to give up the little prince to his subjects, and he
received from them the oath of allegiance, seated on
the knees of the Archbishop of Tarragona. But the
nobles and priests soon quarrelled over him, and the
precocious boy made his escape from them all to his
royal city of Zaragoza. His life was one long battle
and he well deserved the proud title of Jayme the
Conqueror. With the help of his Catalonian subjects,
41
THE UNITED KINGDOMS
he recovered from the Moslems the whole of the Balearic
Islands, and put an end to the piratical attacks upon
his commerce. Then he turned towards the conquest
of the Moorish kingdom of Valencia, the city of the
Cid, and with wonderful patience and skill gradually
drew a cordon round it, blocking up all approach by
sea, until the inhabitants were driven by famine to
surrender.
He extended his dominion as far as Ativa and even
to Alicante, and would have taken Murcia, but that
he was induced to help the King of Castile, who had
married his daughter Yolande, and who was in great
danger from the Moors.
Not satisfied with all this fighting, Jayme had
ambitious designs upon the south of France, but was
forestalled by Saint Louis, and was glad to make a
valuable alliance by marrying his daughter Isabel to
the Dauphin Philip. The latter part of his reign was
spent in contests with his nobles, and in laying down
a code of laws which extended the rights and liberties
of the people and the trading class. He died in 1276,
after a futile attempt to join in a crusade to atone for
his sins, the wind and waves being so contrary that
after tossing about for two months, it was decided
" not to be the pleasure of Heaven that he should
reach the Holy Land." His eldest son Pedro, who
succeeded him in Aragon and Catalonia, had married
Constance, daughter of Manfred, King of Sicily ;
while to his younger son Jayme he left his territory in
France and the Balearic Islands.
Pedro III. had no easy task in quelling his rebellious
nobles, and a revolt of the Moors in Valencia ; then
he openly defied the Pope, and set himself to assert
4«
THE UNITED KINGDOMS
his claim to Sicily, in the name of his wife. At this
time, in 1282, occurred the massacre of the French,
known as the " Sicilian Vespers," and this prepared
the way for Pedro, who soon made himself master of
the island. The Pope, Martin IV., now proclaimed a
crusade against the King of Aragon, and gave his
throne to the Dauphin of France, who lost no time in
invading Spain, where he obtained some success.
Meantime the feudal nobles of Aragon made very
hard terms with their King before they would come to
his help, extorting from him the famous " Privilege of
Union," which limited the royal power and gave un-
heard-of rights to subjects.
The great towns stood by their king, and the invaders
were driven back, the French fleet being also destroyed
by the Admiral Roger de Lauria. Pedro died soon
after, in 1285, leaving Aragon and Catalonia to his
eldest son Alfonso III. and the kingdom of Sicily to
the second son Jayme, who in the course of a few
years inherited the whole dominion on the death of
his brother. It is worthy of note that during the
contest with regard to Sicily and Aragon, Edward I.
of England had been chosen to arbitrate. But now
Pope Boniface VIII. took the matter in hand and
induced Jayme to give up his claim to Sicily, by the
promise of making him King of Sardinia and Corsica,
which he raided from Genoa and Pisa, but was in
effect ruler only in name. The Pope did not carry out
his plan, for the youngest son of King Pedro, Fadrique,
clung to Sicily, which had become his fief, and fought
so well that he kept it on condition of marrying the
daughter of Charles of Anjou, the rival claimant
It is interesting to remember in connection with
43
THE UNITED KINGDOMS
this prince, that a company of adventurers from Cata-
lonia set forth on a warlike expedition to the East in
1302, and when they had overcome Macedonia, they
offered the Dukedom of Athens to Don Fadrique.
This accounts for the title being proudly flaunted for
generations by the kings of Spain.
King Jayme II. of Aragon was succeeded in 1327 by
his son Alfonso IV., whose time was absorbed for nearly
forty years in naval contests with Genoa. The reign
of his son Pedro IV. the Ceremonious, was one long
dispute with his nobles, in which he was on the whole
successful, and the liberties of the people were estab-
lished. He also distinguished himself by conquering
the French dominions of his cousin Jayme of Majorca,
and by much fighting with his namesake Pedro the
Cruel of Castile. His successor, Juan I., married a
French princess, Violante, who gave much scandal to
the grave Spaniards with her Courts of Love held by
Provenfal troubadours, and the King was compelled
to yield, and dismiss them. He died out hunting, and
was succeeded by his brother Martin the Humane, who
found his chief occupation in fighting for Sicily and
Sardinia. This contest was complicated by the enmity
of Pope Boniface IX., for Spain had acknowledged the
Cardinal of Aragon, Pedro de Luna, in his claim to the
chair of St. Peter, at Avignon.
Martin died of fever in 1410, after the death of his
only son, Martin of Sicily, and thus ended the male
line of Aragon. After two years of conflict and
anarchy, Fernando, the son of the late king's sister
Leonora, was chosen King of Aragon.* He had already
"^ This was a second instance of succession through the
female line.
44
THE UNITED KINGDOMS
greatly distinguished himself for six years as the
" Good" Regent of Castile, and during his all too short
reign of four years, he justified the devotion of his
people by his wisdom and justice. He died at Igualada
in 1416, leaving to his son, Alfonso V., the kingdom of
Aragon, Barcelona and Valencia, and the lordship of
Majorca, Sardinia and Sicily. He was a man of rest-
less ambition who carried on the Catalonian tradition
of empire in the Mediterranean and spent most of his
time in Italy, while his Castilian wife remained as
Regent in Aragon.
The affairs of Spain now become complicated with
the intrigues of Giovanna II., Queen of Naples, after
whose death Alfonso defeated the other claimant, R^ne
of Anjou, and became King of Naples and Sicily, in
14.35. ^^^ softer climate appears to have had a special
charm for him, as he spent the rest of his life at Naples,
which he left in 1458 to his illegitimate son Fernando,
who became the founder of a new dynasty. His
brother Juan, who inherited the forsaken kingdom of
Aragon, was already in possession of Navarre through
his wife Blanche, who died in 1441, and whose right-
ful heir was her son the young Prince of Viana.
We have now at length reached the period of our
"Queen Isabel of Castile," for this Juan II. married a
second wife, Juana Henriquez, daughter of the Admiral
of Castile, and their son Fernando was destined by his
alliance with Isabel finally to unite the crowns of
Castile and Aragon into one great realm — the King-
dom of Spain.
45
THE UNITED KINGDOMS
The United Kingdom of Castile and Leon.
Alfonso II. of Castile and VII. of Leon, who came
to his twofold inheritance in 1 126, gave help both to
Navarre and Aragon against their Moslem foes, and,
claiming their homage, aspired to the title of " Imperator
totius Hispaniae." But this assumption of dignity was
in no way justified, and it was as much as he could do
to keep the warlike Almoravades from his gates. He
unwisely divided his possessions between his sons, and
during his time the Kingdom of Portugal, with the
help of the Pope, became another distinct realm. In
1 158 the grandson of the "Emperor" came to the
throne of Castile under the name of Alfonso III. ; he
was most fortunate in his marriage with Eleanor
Plantagenet, daughter of Henry II. of England, and
his reign was distinguished by wisdom and energy.
In the story of Aragon we have already mentioned the
great victory won by the Christians over the Moors at
Navas de Tolosa, which broke the might of Islam.
Alfonso died two years after the battle, leaving his
little son Enrique I. King of Castile, but he was killed by
a falling tile, and his sister Berenguela, who was married
to the King of Leon, was at once chosen to succeed him.
Berenguela appears to have been a woman of much
character -and ability, worthy of her Plantagenet
ancestors. She abdicated in favour of her son
Fernando, guarded his interests in every wa)', and
thirteen years later, on the death of his father, Alfonso
IX. of Leon, she convoked the Cortes, and by her
promptness and wise diplomacy secured for her son
the undisputed sovereignty of the two realms of Leon
and Castile, which were never more divided. 1230.
46
THE UNITED KINGDOMS
Fernando III. the Saint, was now able to devote
himself entirely to his Moorish conquests, and he led
his army southward through the plains, reconquering
the frontier cities of Ubeda and Baesa. In 1235, ^^e
splendid capital of the Omeyyad Khalifs, the sacred
city of Cordova, fell before the banner of the Cross, to
the dismay of the Mohammedan world. Then King
Fernando carried his triumphant arms still farther
south, and with the help of the tributary king of
Granada, Seville the great; centre of Moorish com-
merce was taken, and when Fernando III. died here
four years later, only the kingdom of Granada remained
of the once magnificent dominion of the Moors in
Spain.
His son, Alfonsoi X. El Sabio, succeeded him, but
he was learned rather than wise, for he devoted his
life to wild and fruitless schemes of conquest. He
tried to take possession of Gascony, under the plea
that it had been promised as a dowry to his great-
grandmother, Eleanor Plantagenet. He besieged
Bayonne, but was persuaded to make a treaty by
which he gave his sister Eleanor as wife to Prince
Edward of England, with the disputed province for
her dowry. There was a splendid wedding at Burgos,
and we know how beloved in after years was that dear
Queen of Edward I., to whose memory so many stately
crosses were raised on her funeral journey.
Alfonso's next ambition was to be elected Emperor,
claiming through his mother, who was grand-daughter
of the Emperor Frederick. He wasted much time and
money on this futile scheme, which was always opposed
by Rome, and the matter was finally settled by the
election of Rudolph of Hapsburg. His was a troublous
47
THE UNITED KINGDOMS
reign, as he contrived to offend everybody connected
with him. His subjects rebelled, led by his son Sancho,
and the weak sovereign applied at the same time for help
from the Emperor of Morocco, and for the excom-
munication of the rebel by the Pope. To complete
the story, he is said to have died of anxiety and grief,
because his son Sancho, this new Absalom, had a
serious illness. He left behind him the reputation of
being a man of letters and a minor poet.
In 1284, Sancho IV. succeeded to the throne, ignor-
ing the legacies of the late King to his other sons and
to his two grandchildren, the La Cerdas, and found
that he had to face a long civil war The King of
Aragon took part against him, and the Moors from
Africa were also brought into the conflict, which lasted
until the death of Sancho El Bravo, after eleven years
of fighting. His little son, Fernando IV., was the luck-
less ruler of a divided realm with rebels on every side.
In this dark hour, the situation was saved by the
wisdom and courage of his mother, Maria de Molina,
who had been appointed Regent. The young King
grew up unworthy and ungrateful ; but he had a
short and tempestuous life. Having unjustly con-
demned to death two knights of his Court, Ben Al
Harib,* writing fifty years later, says that they sum-
moned him to meet them before the Throne of the
Great Judge, within thirty days ; which he appears to
have done, and is known as " The Summoned."
His successor, the infant King Alfonso XL, came
into nominal possession of his troubled heritage in
13 1 2, and a fierce contest ensued for the Regency. A
time of anarchy was the natural consequence, of which
='■■ Quoted by Martin Hume.
48
THE UNITED KINGDOMS
the Moors took advantage to invade and ravage Castile.
For a while, after much contest, the capable Maria de
Molina was the sole Regent, and she continued her
wise policy of encouraging the confederations of
towns to balance the power of the nobles. But she
died soon after, and her grandson assumed the royal
prerogative at the age of fourteen. He carried on her
policy, and while confirming the rights of the citizens
endeavoured to secure the right of appointing their
Alcaldes. During the whole of his reign he was greatly
interested in social legislation, and many useful edicts
were added to the statutes. But the chief fame of
Alfonso XI. rests upon his successful wars against
the Moors of Spain. The important stronghold of
Gibraltar had been taken by the King of Granada,
and Algeciras in the bay opposite being also in his
possession, the Emperor of Morocco had no difficulty
in landing a large army on Spanish ground. This was
a defiance to all Christendom, and Alfonso summoned
his Cortes at Seville, and " with his crown on one side
and his sword on the other," told them of the peril.
His brave words carried the day ; with the help of the
Pope, peace was made with Portugal and Aragon, a
number of Genoese galleys were hired and a kind of
crusade was set on foot. It is interesting to us to
know that " el Conde de Arbi et el Conde de Solusber "
(the Earls of Derby and Salisbury) "joined for the
salvation of their souls and to see and know King
Alfonso.'' On a previous occasion Lord James
Douglas, on his journey to the Holy Land with the
heart of Robert Bruce, had paused on the way to
help Alfonso in fighting the Moors. Also Chaucer's
" verray perfight gentil knight."
" In Gornade atte siege hadde he be of Algesir."
49 D
THE UNITED KINGDOMS
After some losses, Castilian galleys being destroyed,
and the Genoese hired vSailors giving much trouble, a
great victory was gained by the Christians at Salado
near Tarifa, 1 340. News of this success — with Moorish
captives, banners, and the King's own war-horse — were
sent to the Spanish Pope Benedict XIII. at Avignon. It
had now become a matter of vital importance to obtain
command of Algeciras, the key of the Straits, by which
the Moors of Africa could always come to the help of
those in Spain. But it was not until 1344 that the
coveted fortress at length fell into the hands of Alfonso
after a gallant defence of more than a year and a half.
Still Gibraltar remained unconquered, audit was at the
siege of this place that the brave Alfonso XL fell a
victim to the plague in 1350.
He was the last of the fighting Kings of Castile, and
his successor, Pedro I., had his time fully occupied in
constant struggles with his own kin and with his nobles.
He showed himself so fierce and violent that he received
the unenviable title of El Cruel. The cities which
rebelled against him were treated with unrelenting
ferocity ; his half-brothers, the sons of Maria de
Gusman, fell victims to his vengeance, and she herself
is believed to have died by violence. Pedro was induced
to marry a French princess, Blanche de Bourbon, but
the hapless lady was forsaken and imprisoned, while
her place was taken by one Maria da Padilla, whose
daughter Costanza married John of Gaunt in later
days.
As time passed on, Pedro had made himself so hated
that when his eldest half-brother Enrique of Trasta-
mara invaded the kingdom, his followers deserted him,
and he escaped for his life to Aquitaine, where he
50
THE UNITED KINGDOMS
sought the aid of Edward the Black Prince. A long
struggle ensued, in which Bertrand du Guesclin, with
his " White Companies " of Bretons, took the side of
Enrique ; victories were won on either side, until the
brothers met in the castle of Montiel, and this time
Pedro the Cruel fell by the dagger of Enrique, who was
made King by the nobles of Castile.
This placed the new sovereign in a difficult position,
as it was absolutely necessary for him to gain the good-
will of the towns. He set himself to make new laws
on their behalf, and one strange concession for those
days was, that representatives chosen by the burgesses
should sit in his council with the nobles and prelates.
He next turned his attention to Portugal, which opposed
his claim, and advanced as far as Lisbon before a treaty
was made.
A new competitor for the throne now arose, being
none other than John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster,
who had married Costanza, daughter of Pedro the
Cruel. This was not pressed seriously until later, when,
after much fighting with Portugal, Navarre and Aragon,
Enrique II. died and was succeeded by his son Juan I.
in 1379. This prince married the heiress of Portugal,
but when he endeavoured to enter into possession of
that province he met with a terrible defeat on the
field of Aljubarrota.
This was John of Gaunt's opportunity ; he landed at
Corufia with his English army, and at Santiago he and
his wife were crowned King and Queen of Castile with
great pomp. He was carrying on the war when, as so
often happened, the plague broke out, and he was com-
pelled to retreat into Portugal. Ever astute in the
making of alliances, he married his eldest daughter to
51
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the King of Portugal, and made peace with Castile by
arranging that his daughter Catherine should marry
Enrique, the young son of King Juan I. of Castile, thus
ensuring the succession for his race. Upon this he
resigned all pretensions for himself and his wife,
receiving a large sum of money in gold for the expenses
of the war.
In the internal rule of his kingdom, Juan gave more
and more power to the towns, while the nobles lost
influence until the death of the King — leaving his suc-
cessor Enrique, a child of eleven — gave them a chance
of obtaining the Regency. When he ruled in his own
name, the policy was changed at once, but while the
citizens were protected, slowly and surely the chief
power was placed in the hands of the King himself.
Enrique III. had a prosperous reign : the Canary Isles
became a fief of Castile, the first possession beyond the
sea, and he took so much interest in distant politics as
to send an ambassador to congratulate the conquering
Tamerlane at Samarcand.
He died young, in 1407, leaving once more the
anxieties of a long minority, for his heir Juan II. was
but two years old. Fortunately his mother, Catherine
of Lancaster, and his uncle Fernando, the Regents, were
wise and prudent, and for six years the land had peace,
until Fernando accepted the throne of Aragon, when
troubles began, and reached their climax on the death
of Catherine of Lancaster. Juan was declared of age
by the Cortes at the age of fourteen, but he was unfit
to rule with capacity ; the nobles of his Court fought
for supremacy until one, Alvaro de Luna, became prime
favourite and carried all before him.
The young King had married his cousin Maria of
52
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Aragon, by whom he had one son, Enrique, but at the
age of forty, being a widower, he was persuaded by
Alvaro to marry the Infanta Isabel of Portugal.
We have now brought down the story of Castile and
Leon to the time of our heroine Isabel of Castile, for
she was the eldest child of this marriage, and every-
thing connected with her life will be more fully dwelt
upon than is possible in this brief survey of the making
of her Castile.
We have seen Spain rise out of the dim legendary
past; we have watched the great wave of Moorish
invasion sweep over the land with new and powerful
influence upon its making. We have traced, one by
one, the rise of the Christian kingdoms of Asturias and
Leon, of Castile and Aragon, through storm and
stress — ever strengthening and moulding the race, by
battle and alliance, by peace and war, by the slow
growth of laws and institutions. Every upward step
has been reached with sacrifice, and pain, and labour
of earnest men, fighting for their rights to the death —
as must ever be in the making of a great nation.
53
CHAPTER IV
THE STORY OF ISABEL
Her Birth and Early Life.
In the ancient castle of Madrigal, on one long past
spring day — April 22, 145 1 — there came into the
world a little girl-child, who was destined to play a
great part therein. Infanta of Castile as she was, of
royal lineage, no great expectations hung upon her
birth ; she was hailed with no great welcome of an
expectant people as her kingdom's hope, for there was
already an heir to the throne : her half-brother Enrique,
many years older than herself.
The little walled town of Madrigal, famous asthebirth-
place of the great Queen, stands on the high and bleak
table-land of the province of Avila, in Castile. The names
of the four ancient gates in the city wall point out its
exact position ; that on the eastern rampart points
the way to Arevalo, on the south to Penaranda, on the
west to Cantalapiedra, and on the north to Medina del
Campo. The magnificent tower of the fortress stands
up defiantly, and from the chambers within there is a
splendid view over the vast tawny plain flecked with
cloud shadows, bare and treeless, lonely and wind-
blown. Here and there a river winds like an azure
riband across the land, while, far apart, little umber-
54
THE STORY OF ISABEL
coloured villages spread out in dim perspective until
they are lost in the silver-grey mist of the far horizon.
In the old church of San Nicholas — with its exquisite
arches and arabesques, and octagonal cupola dazzling
with gold and jewels of light — there is still pointed out
the ancient font in which the Infanta Isabel was
baptized. The little town of Madrigal may be dull
and poor to-day but, with such proud memories, it is
royal still.
At the time of her birth, the father of Isabel — King
Juan II. — was drawing near the end of his long and
troubled reign, which had begun in his infancy. As
we have already seen, the realm was fortunate in
having two wise and capable Regents during most of
his minority — his English grandmother, Catherine
Plantagenet, and Don Fernando, afterwards the
" Good " King of Aragon. After their death the struggle
for the Regency was ended by declaring the young
Prince Juan to be of age at fourteen years old, and
then began the long contest with his nobles, which
lasted all his life. He was of a weak and yielding
disposition, and had early found his master in a certain
Alvaro de Luna, a lad of his own age, a nephew of the
Spanish anti-Pope Benedict XIII., who had once been
Archbishop of Toledo. As a page of Queen Catherine,
Alvaro had been the chosen friend and companion of
her grandson, and as time passed on, by his mar-
vellous personal influence, his skill and ability, he
became the true ruler of Castile. In vain were the
prelates and great nobles bitterly opposed to him ;
again and again did they compass his exile, only to
see him return more insolent and triumphant than
ever, with still greater wealth and dignity awaiting him.
55
THE STORY OF ISABEL
We are told that he was lord of more than seventy
towns and fortresses, that he was richer than the King
himself and that, besides other titles, he was Constable
of Castile and Grand Master of Santiago, the first of
the military orders.
Juan II. had married in his boyhood the Princess
Maria, daughter of Fernando of Aragon, and had one
son Enrique, who as he grew up joined the side of
the disaffected courtiers against his father and Alvaro
de Luna. Even Queen Maria took part against the
favourite, who on her death actually had the arrogance
to choose her successor. He selected as the King's
second wife the Dona Isabel of Portugal, grand-
daughter of Philippa Plantagenet. But the despotic
Minister had cause to rue his choice, for this very lady,
who owed her position to him, was no sooner Queen
of Castile than she joined the ranks of his foes.
Possibly through her influence, the King began to
look with jealous eyes upon the great Constable who
was sovereign in all but name, and within a few years
Alvaro was taken prisoner by treachery, tried by a
court hastily called together, and sentenced to death.
We have a most striking and pathetic picture of the
last fatal scene in this tragedy, when the fallen states-
man was led on a mule through the streets of Valladolid
with the King's herald riding before him to proclaim
his crime and its punishment. On the scaffold, robed
in his long mantle of blue camlet lined with fox fur,
he protested that he had ever been loyal to his King,
and met his fate like a brave man, amid the lamenta-
tions of the common people, to whom he had ever
been a good friend.
This tragic end to a great career happened in 1453,
56
THE STORY OF ISABEL
and King Juan, overcome with sorrow and remorse,
died within the year, when his daughter had scarcely
reached the age of three. Had he Hved in happier
days, Juan II. might have left only a pleasing memory
of one distinguished in arts and letters, for he was a
great patron of learning, and himself no mean poet
and musician. He had a love for all the pastimes
of chivalry, " he was free and gracious, he loved paint-
ing, he played, sang, and made verses, and he danced
well," we are told. But as a sovereign he was a failure,
and there is truth in the somewhat unkind remark that
" King Juan did one thing and one thing only for
posterity, and that was to leave behind him a daughter
who in no way resembled her father."
Just a year before his death a second son had been
born to him in 1453, and received the name of Alfonso.
To this infant Juan II. left by will, with other property,
the Grand Mastership of the Order of Santiago, and
recommended the care of his wife and family to
Enrique IV., his rebellious eldest son, now his suc-
cessor to the throne of Castile. To his daughter
Isabel, Juan left the town of Cuellar with its territory
to the east of Medina del Campo, and a certain sum in
gold pieces. This city must have been a place of
some importance, as we hear of a Cortes being held
there by the new King shortly afterwards. The widowed
Queen appears to have kept on good terms with her
stepson, and her dowry was punctually paid. It was
chiefly derived from the towns of Madrigal, Arevalo,
and Soria on the borders of Aragon, which had been
surrendered to Castile in 11 36. Pedro the Cruel had
promised it to Lord Talbot in 1360 in reward for his ser-
vices, but the English knight never received his reward.
57
THE STORY OF ISABEL
On the death of her husband, Isabel of Portugal
removed with her two young children to the palace of
Ar6valo, where she dwelt in peaceful seclusion with
them for the next eight years ; happy for her, in so far
as she has left no record in history. The palace appears
to have been a favourite dwelling-place for the Queens
of Castile ; Maria of Aragon, the mother of King
Enrique, had spent her last days here, and the same
fate awaited his stepmother in the future. The posi-
tion of the little town was less isolated than that of
Madrigal, being on the great highway to Madrid from
Medina del Campo, the city of the plain, a great centre
of the corn-growing district, where three crowded fairs
were held every year.
Arevalo also had the advantage of being situated on
a river, the Adaja, a broad rushing stream with its
border of rich green foliage, which gave an added
charm to the wide stretch of open corn land, and
fields of purple saffron. In this quiet country home,
the widowed mother devoted herself to the educa-
tion of the little boy and girl and, in so far as their
character was concerned, the result gives us a very
high idea of her own personal merit.
But the passionate desire for learning which at that
time was so remarkable a feature of the Renaissance
in Italy, had as yet little influence on the teaching
of the young in Spain. More than thirty years before,
Cecilia Gonzaga was taught by the great Vittorino da
Feltre to recite Latin verse and read Chrysostom at
eight years old, and at twelve to write Greek " with
singular purity," and we are all familiar with the
wonderful erudition of the princesses of the House
of Este. Isabel of Castile may have had quite as
58
THE STORY OF ISABEL
much intelligence, but she had not the same advan-
tages ; a loss which she strove to atone for in later
years by diligent study. She appears to have had
a strongly religious education, and learnt to write
and speak well in her own tongue, but she knew no
Latin, and it is doubtful whether she even understood
enough French to enjoy the Proven9al romances
which were so popular at that day. A prayer-book
of hers still exists, on the margin of which she painted
Scripture subjects, and there is no doubt that she
was taught all the mysteries of fine needlework and
of delicate embroidery on gold and silver — a soothing
employment which beguiled her cares all through life,
as the wonderful altar-cloths and emblazoned banners
presented to many a church and city bear witness.
This was assuredly a taste acquired in childhood, for
it is rarely commenced with zeal in later life.
We can picture to ourselves the little fair-haired
girl bending over her embroidery frame while she
listened to the enchanting legendary tales of her own
land ; the heroic deeds of Bernardo del Carpio, or of
the splendid and well-beloved Cid ; or maybe even an
early version of the story of Amadis of Gaul, with all
the gallant knights and fair ladies of distant Britain,
which had been recently translated into Castilian, and
was handed on in manuscript from one reader to
another. From such tales the listener may have
unconsciously been inspired with the idea of "per-
'sonal exaltatiun through sacrifice" ; the true note of
this early romantic literature — of which the rank
overgrowth in later years was so remorselessly ridi-
culed by Cervantes.
In one point at least Isabel would rival the princesses
59
THE STORY OF ISABEL
of Italy, for outdoor sports were quite as much culti-
vated in Spanish Courts, She and her brother, we may
be sure, were accustomed to ride boldly from their
earliest childhood, for this was a necessity of life
in the days when every journey had to be performed
on horseback. They would also learn to go hunting
and hawking with a train of attendants, in the princely
style demanded by Castilian etiquette, and would
enjoy many a long day's excursion in that wild open
country, facing the bleak wind of the uplands and
laying up a store of energy and courage for the years
to come.
Their royal father had been an ardent collector
of learned works, and probably the palace of Arevalo
was well stored with manuscripts. Isabel may thus
have had access to the chronicles of her nation's
history, and we may wonder whether she laid to
heart the lesson taught by the disastrous life of her
ancestress. Queen of Castile and Leon — Uraca, name
of evil omen to her land. But at this time she was
too far removed from all prospect of succession to the
throne for such warnings to trouble her much, as her
two brothers intervened. Still we may imagine that
ambitious hopes passed through the mind of the
Queen Mother, for her boy Alfonso was next heir to
his brother King Enrique, who had no children,
although he had been twice married.
It will be needful to give some account of Enrique
IV. of Castile and Leon, to prepare the way for the
great change which took place in the life of the Infanta
Isabel in 1462. While he was still Prince of Asturias
in 1440 he married the Lady Blanche, eldest daughter
of Juan of Portugal and the Queen of Navarre. We
60
THE STORY OF ISABEL
have a very picturesque account of the meeting be-
tween Enrique and his bride, who came with her
mother to the town of Briviesca, above Burgos, to
be the guests of Don Pedro Fernandez de Velasco, the
" Good " Count de Haro. There a great reception
awaited them, with feasting and tournament after
the fashion of the time ; dances of knights and
gentlemen in the palace, and mummers and bull-
fights, and cane tourneys (in which canes were used
instead of lances).
King Enrique himself is described to us as being
" large of stature and stout of limb, with an aspect
ferocious and like unto a lion, whose gaze struck terror
into those on whom he looked." He had a fair skin
and big blue eyes set far apart ; a mass of red hair and
a long untrimmed beard. But this shaggy giant was
by no means so formidable as he appeared, for though
he was always in rebellion during his father's Hfe, he
did not distinguish himself in any successful war of
his own. He made a great show of invading the
territory of the Moors, but during three successive
campaigns he did little more than ravage and lay
waste the fertile Vega of the kingdom of Granada,
beating a retreat whenever the Moors advanced in
force against him. In his domestic affairs he exposed
himself to the contempt of his people. After twelve
years of marriage he obtained a divorce from his wife
Blanche on the ground that there were no children.
We shall return later to the story of that hapless lady,
whose foes were always those of her own household.
In 1455, a year after his accession, he married a
second time, choosing this time the Princess Juana,
sister of Alfonso V., King of Portugal. She was a
61
THE STORY OF ISABEL
ladv of gay and light manners, caring only for amuse-
ment, and her Court became a scene of such wild
extravagance and frivolity that it was a by-word to
the whole of Castile. Even in the previous reign the
taste for reckless expenditure in dress had reached
such a pitch that Juan himself wrote in his Chronicle
that " silks, gold tissue and brocades are now common
wear, and bullion trimmings, marten fur and ermine
lining are worn even by those of low estate. Working
women now wear garments that are only fit for fine
ladies, and persons of all ranks sell everything they
possess in order to adorn their person."
But worse than mere extravagance was soon laid to
the charge of the young Queen, and her shameless
intimacy with the king's chief favourite, Beltran de la
Cueva, was the scandal of the Court. Troubles arose on
all sides, the royal authority was treated with contempt,
and the disorders were at their worst when in 1462 a
daughter was born to Queen J nana, and the Cortes
were summoned to acknowledge the infant Juana as
heir to the throne. At the same time the King sent to
Arevalo to secure the persons of his half-brother
Alfonso, now a boy of nine, and his sister the Infanta
Isabel, that by having them under his care at the Court
of Madrid, he might prevent any rival claims being set
up on their behalf.
Their unhappy mother was powerless to resist, but
we may imagine her grief and anxiety at having her
tenderly loved and guarded children henceforth
exposed to the temptations of the most corrupt Court
in Europe.
We have no reason to believe that she was as
^'et touched with that sad mental trouble which was,
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THE STORY OF ISABEL
to overshadow so deeply the later years of her life,
cherished and protected to the end by the passionate
devotion of her daughter. Yet, with any tendency to
gloom and melancholy, the years which followed of
brooding solitude in her lonely palace of Arevalo, can
only have had an evil influence on the poor Queen .
The parting may have seemed a less serious matter to
the children, for they could not realise the dangers
before them, and the change to an unknown world has
always the elements of hope and adventure to the
young. It was indeed a gay, brilliant life to which they
were welcomed in the splendid Moorish Alcazar of
Madrid, which had recently been greatly enlarged and
rebuilt by King Enrique, and in the palace of Segovia,
which was also a favourite abode of the Court. We
are told of splendid tournaments, in which the knights
glittered with sparkling jewels, of great feasts enlivened
with jugglers and mimes, of musical entertainments,
strange dances and " comic actions."
Yet we are assured that in the midst of all these
dazzling shows the Infanta Isabel, now eleven years
old in 1462, retained the simplicity of her country life,
and that her " mien and behaviour were sedate and
cheerful." She had already been betrothed to the
young Prince Carlos of Viana, heir of Navarre, whose
tragic death in 146 1 left her open to fresh offers of
marriage from all sides, but the story of her various
suitors is so interesting that it will be dwelt upon fully
in another chapter.
Meantime the infant daughter of Queen J nana was
the unconscious cause of a terrible convulsion in the
kingdom, and it was freely asserted that she was
illegitimate and had no right to the succession. Open
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THE STORY OF ISABEL
f rebellion soon broke out, and the nobles met at Burgos
I to protest against swearing allegiance to the hapless
little Juana, who henceforth is usually spoken of as
" La Beltraneja " ; they demanded that the King should
name his brother Alfonso as his heir, and that he should
redress the grievances of his people. Beltran de la
Cueva was also to return at once to Prince Alfonso the
Grand Mastership of Santiago, which had been taken
from him.
At this crisis of his history King Enrique refused to
listen to the advice of his old tutor, the warlike Bishop
of Cuenca, who counselled a determined resistance to
the rebels. " You priests vi^ho are not called upon to
fight are very ready to shed the blood of others ! " was
his taunting reply. He preferred diplomacy to war,
and sent various deputies to meet the nobles and
discuss the terms of peace. The two sides met at the
town of Cigales in December 1464, and the King was
compelled to yield in every particular. The boy
Alfonso was given into the hands of Enrique's
opponents to be declared heir of Castile, with the futile
condition that he should promise to marry his infant
niece Juana. Beltran de la Cueva was to be deprived
of all his dignities, and his supporters were to be
banished. One clause even ran that " the King should
employ a proper confessor and confess and receive
absolution at least once a year." Also that he should
"make no new tax on the people without the consent
of the three estates."
The King weakly consented to everything, with the
result that the people's contempt took the curious form
of dethroning him in effigy, with trumpet blast and
challenging heralds, while the crown, the sword, and
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THE STORY OF ISABEL
the sceptre, were torn from him with cries and curses
of the assembled populace, and the image was dragged
to the ground and trodden under foot. The young
Alfonso was then placed on the vacant throne, pro-
claimed King in his brother's place, and civil war raged
through the land. This was in July, 1465. The
great cities of the south, Toledo, Seville, and Cordova,
with much of Andalusia, took the side of the rebels,
but in the northern provinces, the Count of Haro, the
Marquis of Santillana and other powerful lords
remained faithful to Enrique. It was a terrible time,
for the whole land was torn asunder by rival claims ;
even the churches were fortified and used as strong-
holds by the unfortunate citizens who happened to be
in a minority, for not only city fought against city, but
street against street.
We cannot unravel the tangled politics of the King,
the nobles and the prelates, but Pacheco, Marquis of
Villena, a former favourite of Enrique, who had joined
the rebels, turned again to the other side after the
undecisive battle of Olmedo, where the turbulent
Archbishop of Toledo was wounded by a lance. We
have a most picturesque description of this warlike
prelate as he rode to battle at the head of his forces,
clad in polished mail, under a gorgeous scarlet mantle
embroidered with a white cross. By his side rode the
boy prince Alfonso, a gallant figure in his splendid suit
of armour ; the two were ever in the thick of the fight
and were the last to remain on the field of battle.
A curious incident is mentioned, which gives us an
insight into the chivalrous ideal of that day. Before
the fight began, the Archbishop of Toledo sent a squire
to Beltran de la Cueva to warn hirri that forty brave
65 ¥.
THE STORY OF ISABEL
knights had sworn to take his life before sunset. The
courtly noble sent back in proud defiance a full
description of the armour and crest he was about to
wear, which would point him out to his foes.
The King, who was in a condition of wretched
despair, was only too glad to accept any offer of
mediation from Pacheco, but matters had gone beyond
the control of the rulers. The state of Castile is
described as deplorable beyond all words. No man
dared move abroad beyond the walls of his city
without an armed escort ; for the nobles came down
from their castles like beasts of prey, and the defence-
less traveller was forced to redeem his liberty by a
shameful ransom. At length the people attempted to
take the matter into their own hands, and revived
the ancient confederacy of the " Hermandad de
Castilla," which had been originally formed as long
back as 1295 in a similar time of trouble, to protect the
land from pillage and oppression. Some measure of
relief was obtained by this, but the contest between
nobles and citizens became only more bitter.
During this time of anarchy and distress, the Infanta
Isabel remained at Court with King Enrique and his
wife, and appears to have behaved with tact and dis-
cretion in the difficult situation in which she found
herself, " showing great respect and gentleness " to
Queen Juana, while all the time her heart was with
her young brother, whose career she watched with
anxious hopes and misgivings. But after the battle of
Olmeda in 1467, when there appears to have been a
temporary truce for negotiations, she took advantage
of it to seek a refuge with Alfonso and his adherents,
when they came into possession of Segovia. This
66
THE STORY OF ISABEL
ancient city — with its magnificent Roman aqueduct,
and the fortress palace of the Alcazar, on which
Enrique lavished so much expense — is full of memories
of Isabel, and we shall have occasion to return here
again and again. The young girl was probably driven
to escape from her brother's Court, in order to protect
herself from an attempt to force upon her a hateful
marriage with one of his favourites.
An event now happened which changed the aspect
of affairs and brought dismay to the rebels. The
young Prince Alfonso, nominal King of Castile, who
for the last three years had been a puppet in their
hands, was suddenly stricken with mortal sickness,
and died on July 5, 1468, in the little village of
Cardeiiosa, near Avila.
We are told that his sister received news of his
illness, and, riding to Cardeiiosa in desperate haste,
she was with him at the end, and he breathed his last
in her arms. There were strong suspicions of poison,
the common and often true explanation, when the
death of a prince occurred at so opportune a moment
for his enemies. This young lad, who was only
fifteen, had won golden opinions from all who knew
him, and gave promise of a noble character, with a
keen sense of right and justice.
On his death, Isabel, in her grief and loneliness,
sought shelter in the Cistercian convent of Saint Ana,
within the strongly fortified hill-city of Avila. But
this congenial life with the white-robed nuns in the
peaceful seclusion of the cloister, was soon disturbed
by an invasion from the outside world. It took the
form of a stately embassy headed by the Archbishop
of Toledo, who came complacently to offer her the
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THE STORY OF ISABEL
splendid title of Queen of Castile, as successor to her
brother Alfonso. As the burly prelate paid his homage
to the fair young princess, in her simple mourning
robe of white serge, he can have expected nothing but
a modest acceptance of so great an honour.
But with a clear insight and wise policy far beyond
her years, Isabel calmly declined the tempting offer of
a crown, to which she asserted that no one else had
a right during the life of King Enrique. So great
was her desire for the good of her country, and for
peace between her over-zealous partisans and her
brother, that she earnestly proffered her services as
mediator. We can imagine the surprise and dismay
of the wily churchman at finding himself thus baffled
by a frail girl. In vain he exerted all his influence,
and the priestly eloquence which few women could
resist, to overcome her objections ; the princess
remained unmoved, and with rage in his heart the
proud archbishop was at length forced to retire from
her presence, beaten and humiliated. Even at this
distance of time, when we can calmly survey the
situation, we marvel at the exceeding strength of will
and purpose in a girl of sixteen, who could thus refuse
a dazzling position, and carve out her own line of
action entirely opposed to the wishes of all those
around her, the ardent supporters of her dead brother
and his claims.
The Infanta Isabel had her way. Enrique IV. was
willing to make any concessions if his throne were
secured to him for his life, and a great meeting was
held at a monastery some miles south of Avila, at a
village called Toros de Guisando. The ancient granite
bulls in the courtyard saw a goodly company that
68
THE STORY OF ISABEL
day, September 9, 1468, when the great nobles and
prelates of Castile assembled in their splendid gala
dresses of brocade, glittering 'with gold and embossed
with jewels. They first took the oath of allegiance to
the King, who embraced his young sister and pre-
sented her, as the heiress of Castile and Leon, to all
the great vassals, who kissed her hand in token of
homage. This was afterwards confirmed within forty
days, by the Cortes in solemn conclave at Ocana, and
thus Isabel was proclaimed to the world as the lawful
successor.
The terms of this peace were so humiliating to King
Enrique, that we can quite believe the report that he
never meant to abide by them. He was to divorce
his wife Juana and send her back to Portugal, her
unfortunate daughter, the " Beltraneja," was branded
as illegitimate, and Isabel was made Princess of
Asturias ; she was not to be married against her will,
and might choose her own husband with the King's
consent. As to the poor little Princess Juana, who was
thus set aside, and who was for many years the
unhappy victim of political intrigues, there has always
been considerable doubt as to her rightful claim ; but
in any case, we cannot blame Isabel for accepting the
general assurance that she was the rightful heir to the
crown. As such, her marriage now became a matter
of great importance, and it will be interesting to
follow in succession the history of the various wooers
who competed for the honour of her hand.
69
CHAPTER V
THE SUITORS OF THE
INFANTA ISABEL
We must now leave for a time the troubles of the
realm of Castile under her weak and incapable
monarch and return to the story of Isabel. In those
days, a sister or daughter was always a most useful
counter in the game of politics, and Enrique IV.
was not likely to forget her importance. An alliance
with the great maritime power of Aragon was one
much to be desired, and at the age of nine years the
young Infanta was betrothed to Carlos, Prince of
Viana, eldest son of King Juan II. of Aragon and
rightful King of Navarre, which he inherited from
his mother, Queen Blanche on her death in 1441.
His elder sister Blanche, who had married King
Enrique and, as we have seen, had been ^divorced by
him, and his younger sister Eleanor, who was the wife
of Gaston de Foix, would be the successive heirs of
Navarre in the event of his death without children.
Juan of Aragon had taken as his second wife
Juana Henriquez, daughter of the Admiral of Castile,
and a son, Fernando, was born to her in 1452, whose
splendid destiny in the future as joint sovereign of
70
THE INFANTA ISABEL
Aragon and Castile was little dreamt of. As a jealous
stepmother, anxious for the advancement of her own
child, she appears to have encouraged the ill-feeling
which already existed between her husband and his
eldest son. This hapless Prince Carlos has always
been an interesting figure in history, both from his
own virtues and talents and from his unmerited mis-
fortunes. We are told of him that : " Such were his
temperance and moderation, such the excellence of
his breeding, the purity of his life, his liberality and
munificence, and such the sweetness of his demeanour,
that no one thing seemed to be wanting in him which
belongs to a true and perfect prince."* He was dis-
tinguished in music, painting and poetry, and wrote a
Chronicle of Navarre, partly to beguile the sad hours
of imprisonment, for the cruel persecution of his
father knew no bounds. At length, when fortune
seemed to smile on him, and he was received at Barce-
lona with the acclamations of an enthusiastic populace,
he died suddenly, with suspicion of poison, in the
autumn of 1461, at the age of forty.
Thus was the first betrothal of Isabel severed by
death, shortly before she was removed from Arevalo to
the royal Court. Her brother next tried to arrange a
marriage for her with Alfonso V., King of Portugal
and elder brother of his own wife Juana. This prince
paid her a state visit in 1464, but the girl of thirteen
strongly objected to a bridegroom so very much older
than herself, and positively refused to yield, notwith-
standing all the pressure put upon her. She pleaded
that " an Infanta of Castile could not be given in
marriage without the formal consent of the Cortes."
• '• Lucio Marin eo " (quoted by Prescott).
71
THE SUITORS OF
Two years later another scheme occurred to King
Enrique, at a time when he was in the lowest depths
of despair after the ignominy of his dethronement in
effigy, and the proclaiming of his young brother
Alfonso as King. It was suggested to him that he
might win over some of the rebellious nobles, the
Archbishop of Toledo and the Pacheco family, by
giving his sister in marriage to Don Pedro Giron,
Grand Master of the Order of Calatrava, who was one
of his most serious opponents. This time, driven to
distraction by his personal fears, Enrique was resolved
to carry out his plan, and with the narrow obstinacy
of a weak man, he would suffer no prayers or remon-
strances to turn him aside. An envoy was sent to the
Pope to obtain a dispensation for the Grand Master
from his vow of celibacy, and great preparations were
made in Madrid for the approaching ceremony.
Isabel was in despair, for never had danger come
so near, and she saw no way of escape from this
bridegroom of inferior birth, a man of fierce temper
and evil reputation. Her faithful friend and maid of
honour, Beatriz de Bobadilla, in an outburst of
passionate loyalty, vowed that the rash suitor should
die by her hand rather than wed her royal lady. This
Dona Beatriz is spoken of by a contemporary writer
as " wise, virtuous, and valiant " ; and Prescott adds,
in a note characteristic of his day : "The last epithet
is singular for a female character."
But the lady's dagger was not needed. Don Pedro
Giron, while riding triumphantly in splendid state to
his wedding at Madrid, was stricken by sudden illness
at a village on the road, and died in a few days, cursing
his untoward fate. The Infanta Isabel was saved, for
72
THE INFANTA ISABEL
the hollow truce between the contending factions now
came to an abrupt end, and, as we have already seen,
after the battle of Olmedo the young princess was
able to escape from the Court, and seek the protection
of her brother Alfonso and his adherents. The sub-
sequent death of Alfonso, and the public acknowledg-
ment of the Infanta Isabel as heiress to the crown of
Castile and Leon, made a great change in her position
and awoke a keen interest in foreign Courts.
A brother of Edward IV. of England, Richard,
Duke of Gloucester, afterwards Richard III., was
tempted to make an application for her hand, and
even went so far as to promise that he would leave
his native land and take up his abode in Castile, if the
alliance should be carried out. From what we know
of his character, in the light of subsequent events,
the Spanish princess had a fortunate escape.
Another suitor who appears to have been seriously
considered was a brother of King Louis XI. of France,
the Duke of Guienne, who was at this time heir pre-
sumptive to the French throne, for the future Charles
VIII. was not yet born. France and Castile were on
friendly terms, and their closer connection might have
been useful to both countries, but there was this diffi-
culty : If the Duke failed to inherit the crown he
would not be a good match, while if he did become
King of France, there was every reason to fear that
Castile would be absorbed in the greater kingdom
and be treated as a mere appanage.
Last, but not least; there was one more prince who
longed to put his fortune to the touch, and win the
favour of the much-desired fair lady. This was the
younger brother of Isabel's betrothed, the unfortunate
73
THE SUITORS OF
Don Carlos, by whose death Fernando had become
heir to the kingdom of Aragon, at the age of ten
years. (He had no claim upon Navarre, of which the
rights passed first to his half-sister Blanche, the
divorced wife of Enrique IV., and after her cruel death
to her sister Eleanor Countess of Foix, and her son.
But in the end, nearly half a century later, it came to
this Fernando, fortune's favourite.) All the ambitious
designs of crafty old King Juan of Aragon, were
centred upon this young son who resembled him so
much in character.
There was every reason why an alliance between
Castile and Aragon should be desired by both pro-
vinces. The great maritime power of Aragon would
be indispensable to Castile in any designs on the con-
quest of the kingdom of Granada, so as to cut off all
assistance from the Moorish hordes of Morocco. On
the other hand, Aragon was engaged in exhausting
conflicts with the navies of Genoa and Venice, and
constantly opposed by France, so that the wealth of
Castile held out enticing hopes of extension to the east
beyond Sicily. These two great provinces of Spain
once united might prove invincible. No one under-
stood this more clearly than Juan II. of Aragon, and he
spared no effort to carry out his ambitious designs for
his son, while at the same time it is highly probable
that Isabel fully understood the value of such an
alliance to her country. No doubt other motives
helped to this decision, for the young girl would have
been attracted by all that she heard of the Prince of
Aragon, who was in the flower of his youth, and about
her own age.
We are told by Prescott that she had the careful
74
THE INFANTA ISABEL
foresight to send her own chaplain on a private mission
to the Courts of France and Aragon, that he might bring
her back a true and particular description of her two
suitors. It was a delicate inquiry, but the good priest
seems to have given his advice in favour of Fernando,
whom he praised as " a very proper man, with a comely
visage and figure, and a brave spirit," while the Duke
of Guienne was " a poor feeble creature, almost
deformed, with rheumy eyes, unfit for knightly pur-
suits." In any case the heiress of Castile deliberately
chose the Prince of Aragon, who had now received
from his father the title of King of Sicily, and the
marriage contract was finally signed by Fernando on
January 7, 1469, at Cervera, near Barcelona, after
some private negotiation about the conditions im-
posed.
He undertook to respect the laws and customs of
Castile, to take up his abode in his wife's kingdom and
not leave it without her consent ; to make no appoint-
ments to civil or military posts without her approbation,
and to leave her patron of all benefices. From these
and other clauses, we see clearly that the rights of
Isabel were carefully guarded ; she was to be sovereign
Queen of Castile, which represented the "Corona,"
while the smaller kingdom of Aragon was only the
"Coronilla," or smaller crown. It reads rather like a
treaty of alliance between two reigning princes than a
marriage contract. A magnificent dower was promised
to the young princess, greater than had been settled on
any Queen of Aragon. One article of the contract
shows very strongly Isabel's devotion to her mother,
and the wise forethought which would leave nothing
to chance : " Fernando is earnestly enjoined to cherish
75
THE SUITORS OF
and treat her mother with all reverence, and to provide
suitably for her royal maintenance."
In the light of subsequent events, may we not read
in this a pathetic misgiving with regard to the mental
trouble which clouded the later years of the royal
lady ?
These negotiations for the marriage appear to have
been carried on secretly, while King Enrique and his
ruling minister the Marquis of Villena were suppressing
the rebels of the south. Isabel had taken advantage of
their absence to join her mother in the palace of
Madrigal, but here she found a dangerous foe in the
Bishop of Burgos, a nephew of Pacheco. The match
with Aragon was violently opposed by the Court party,
and the Infanta Isabel was now in real danger, for
orders were sent to the Archbishop of Seville to proceed
in force to Madrigal and take her prisoner. She could
obtain no help from the inhabitants, who were tho-
roughly overawed, and even her own servants and
some of the ladies of her household fled in alarm. In
this moment of peril, she turned to another of those
warlike prelates who did their full share of lighting in
those days, the Archbishop of Toledo who, with the
Admiral of Castile, Fernando's grandfather, hastily
collected a company of horsemen, rode to Madrigal at
full speed, and gallantly carried off the princess to the
loyal city of Valladolid, where she was received with
triumphant rejoicing.
The next step of the baffled confederates was to keep
watch and ward on the frontier of Aragon, to prevent
the coming of the bridegroom ; but a hero of romance
will always find a way, and it was in this guise that the
young Prince of Aragon set forth on his adventurous
76
THE INFANTA ISABEL
journey. Disguised as a muleteer, he started at night
from the frontier town of Tarazona with his retinue,
which to outward appearance was a company of
merchants, and followed the valley of the Duero as far
as Soria, then found their way by mountain paths to
the little friendly town of Burgo de Osma, which they
reached late on the second night. Wearied out with
incessant travelling, the wayfarers thought all danger
was at an end, and knocked abruptly at the great gate
of the fortress, only to be received with a shower of
stones from the battlements, which narrowly escaped
putting an end to the whole adventure. Fortunately
the new-comers were able to make themselves known,
and were warmly welcomed by the commander who,
with a strong escort of men-at-arms, conducted Fer-
nando on his way the next morning, and guarded him
as far as the little town of Duenas of Leon to the north
of Valladolid, where he arrived on October 9. Here
he was safe in the midst of the adherents of Isabel,
who on hearing of his coming at once sent a messenger
to her brother King Enrique, announcing the arrival
of the prince and her approaching marriage, and
assuring him of their dutiful submission.
The next scene in this drama, which had such mighty
results for the future of all Europe, was the arrival of
Fernando at Valladolid and the first meeting between
the young betrothed. " Ese es, ese es ! " (" This is he ! ")
exclaimed one of the courtiers, who ever after had the
right to emblazon the device SS on his escutcheon. It
will be interesting to picture to ourselves the young
man and maiden, as when they looked upon each other
that day.
The chroniclers of Spain usually describe the beloved
77
THE SUITORS OF
Queen Isabel with such passionate admiration, that it is
needful for us to make some allowance for their loyal
enthusiasm. " The handsomest lady whom I ever be-
held," as one of her household writes, may be a slight
exaggeration, but the remark " and the most gracious
in her manners " is very probably true. The portraits
which exist of her are not very good paintings, and do
not greatly resemble each other ; but we gather that
she was very pleasing in appearance, above middle
height, with a good figure and dignified carriage. She
was one of a fair race, and probably owed her rich
auburn hair and blue eyes — " entre verdes y azules " —
to her Plantagenet descent ; she had regular features
and a delicate white and pink complexion, and with
her bright intelligence and cheerful temper, we can well
believe that the young princess was most attractive.
She was now eighteen and a half, about eleven months
older than her bridegroom.
As for Fernando, he is described to us as of middle
stature — not quite so tall as Isabel — well-proportioned,
hardy and active from out-of-door pursuits, with an
erect manly carriage. He had a good forehead, which
gained in height from his being somewhat bald ; his
hair and massive eyebrows were of a bright chestnut hue
and his eyes were piercing and animated. His mouth
was well formed, showing small white irregular teeth,
and he had a somewhat ruddy sunburnt complexion.
We are also told that he had simple tastes in dress and
food, that his temper was well under control, and that
he was devout in his religious observances. It is an
open question how much a man's character is formed
before he is eighteen, but a great observer of men
said of this prince that " he had more of bigotry than
78
THE INFANTA ISABEL
of religion, that he was intensely ambitious and made
war less like a paladin than a prince, less for glory than
for mere dominion ; and that his policy was ever cold,
selfish and artful." As we follow his career we shall
have reason to see how far this judgment was justified.
In the days to come, he was to be called the " wise and
prudent" in Spain; in Italy, "the pious"; in England
and France, "the ambitious and perfidious" ; "one of
the most thorough egoists who ever sat on a throne."*
But much of this was hidden in the mists of time,
and the two young people, who had that eventful inter-
view one long-past autumn day in the palace of
Valladolid , were a goodly pair ; a gallant handsome
prince and a fair princess, with a splendid future
awaiting them.
■■' Voltaire.
CHAPTER VI
THE MARRIAGE OF ISABEL AND HER
SUCCESSION TO THE CROWN
OF CASTILE
In the ancient city of Vallodolid, by its green water-
side in the midst of a treeless wind-blown plain, took
place the great event of Isabel's life, her marriage with
Fernando of Aragon, on October 19, 1469. The
modest ceremony was performed in the grand old
palace of Don Juan de Vivero, now known as " La
Audiencia," by the Archbishop of Toledo, and there
was no display of show or magnificence, as the royal
personages were so poor that they had to borrow money
for the needful expenses. Yet in its very simplicity it
was a stately function where such mighty interests were
concerned, and the palace chambers were thronged
with enthusiastic supporters of the young heiress of
Castile. One incident of the wedding was so charac-
teristic of those concerned, that we cannot omit it.
The bride and bridegroom were within the forbidden
degrees of relationship for they were second cousins,
and a papal bull of dispensation was necessary. To
meet this difficulty, the godless old King of Aragon,
his son Fernando and the time-serving Archbishop of
80
/. Lacoste, phot.
Miiseo lie Marina, Madrid
KING FERNAXDO OF ARAGON
THE MARRIAGE OF ISABEL
Toledo agreed to forge the necessary document in
order to satisfy the reHgious scruples of the pious
Isabel. It may be added that when this came to her
knowledge some years later she was much distressed,
and lost no time in obtaining a genuine dispensation
from Pope Sixtus IV. But this gives us an insight into
the atmosphere of subterfuge and duplicity, which
would pervade through life the secret counsels of
Fernando the diplomatic.
Yet we have every reason to believe that there was
a deep and strong affection between this husband and
wife, who were so young when they began life together.
The fierce light which beats upon a throne does not
reveal any breach in the abiding love and tenderness
which Isabel, to the close of her, life bestowed upon
Fernando, and to which she alludes with touching
simplicity in her last testament when she left him her
jewels that " he may be reminded of the singular love
I always bore him while living, and that I am now
waiting for him in a better world."
The husband of this noble woman always treated
her with the greatest consideration and respect, although
his character was on a far lower plane than hers, and
he was not free from the infidelities so common among
the princes of his day. But all this was hidden in the
dim shadows of the coming years, and the joyful
acclamations of the loyal citizens of Valladolid on that
auspicious wedding morning, are still ringing in our
ears.
News of the wedding filled the Court of King
Enrique with dismay, and his only reply to the con-
ciliatory message from his sister was the curt remark
that " he would take counsel with his Ministers." This
8i F
THE MARRIAGE OF ISABEL
was really equivalent to an open declaration of war,
for his next step was to announce that Isabel having
broken her pledge not to marry without his permission,
she had forfeited her claim to the throne, and the
Beltraneja was proclaimed heir to the realm of Castile.
He summoned the Cortes to take an oath of allegiance
to Juana, but the towns sent no deputies, and only the
nobles of his own Court were present. However, the
result of this was that the poor child was betrothed to
the Duke of Guienne, brother of Louis XL, Isabel's
rejected suitor, who in the same year 1470 lost his
position as heir to the throne of France, by the birth
of the Dauphin afterwards Charles VIII. of France.
Meanwhile the Infanta Isabel had a time of dark
anxiety and suspense to endure, and for many months
the issue was doubtful. Her young husband, at the
head of a company of Castilian horse, had joined his
father the King of Aragon in his war with France for
the possession of Roussillon and Cerdagne, while
anarchy reigned through all the land which owned the
sway of King Enrique. The nobles fought against
each other from their walled fortresses, and one town
was at feud with another, while the land lay desolate.
For a while the adherents of the child Juana appear to
have gained ground, and Isabel held her simple Court
in the quiet town of Dueiias, where her eldest daughter,
who received her name of Isabel, was born on October i,
1470. At this period, she and her husband were so
poor that they scarcely knew where to turn for the
needful expenses of their household, while the disorder
of the state had gone far to produce a famine in the
land.
But the young princess kept a brave heart through
8«
THE MARRIAGE OF ISABEL
all her difficulties, and the dignity and wisdom of her
personal character won golden opinions even in those
early days. The great province of Andalusia, led by
the Duke of Medina Sidonia, and the provinces of
Biscay and Guipuscoa still remained loyal to her, and
the influence of the papacy, now represented by
Sixtus IV., supported her claims. The French Duke
to whom the Beltraneja was betrothed died of poison
in 1472, probably a victim to the treacherous jealousy
of his brother. " Le roi Louis XI. ne fit peut-etre pas
mourir son frere, mais personne ne pensa qu'il en fut
incapable." *
Some time after this, there was a brief truce between
Enrique IV. and his sister, who had a friendly inter-
view at Segovia, where Fernando also arrived to join
in the festivities held on the occasion. We are told
that Isabel rode through the crowded streets of the
city while the King walked by her side holding the
bridle of her palfrey. This meeting appears to have
been arranged by Andres de Cabrera, afterwards
Marquis of Moya, Alcayde of the citadel, who had
married Dona Beatriz de Bobadilla, the Infanta's faith-
ful friend, and if the incident had no other result, the
loyal support of the Alcayde was most valuable on a
future occasion.
On the night of December 11, 1474, Enrique IV.
died from a lingering disease, unhonoured and un-
lamented, after a disastrous reign of twenty-three years.
His end was hastened by the loss of his Minister, the
Marquis of Villena, Grand Master of Santiago, who for
so long had guided all his actions. Isabel was at the
time in the city of Segovia, and a few days later she
'■' M. de Barante,
«3
THE MARRIAGE OF ISABEL
was there proclaimed Queen of Castile and Leon
amidst the enthusiasm of the people. Fortunately for
her, the royal treasure was under the control of
her friend the Alcayde, or her position would have
been almost hopeless. A splendid company of nobles
and prelates and gallant knights and civic authorities
in their robes of state met her at the gateway of the
great keep of the Alcazar, which rears its massive walls
with commanding majesty above the rock-built city.
Beneath a canopy of rich brocade, the Queen, clad in
royal garments of white brocade and ermine, rode
her Spanish jennet, whose bridle was held on each
side by two of the chief officers of the province, through
the narrow winding streets, while a gorgeous herald
on a war-charger in front of her, uplifted a naked
sword in token of her sovereign state. In the broad
Plaza of Segovia a throne was placed on a raised dais,
and here Isabel took her seat and received the homage
of her subjects, swearing to maintain the liberties of
Castile and to keep inviolate the rights of her people.
Then the royal banners were unfurled and floated in
the air, amid the blasts of trumpets and ringing of bells,
and a salute of cannons from the castle battlements.
After this, the solemn procession moved slowly on to
the ancient cathedral (long since destroyed and rebuilt),
where the Te Deum was sung, and the new Queen
knelt before the high altar to return thanks for the
past and implore help for the future, that she might
rule her people according to the will of God, and " dis-
charge her high duties with equity and wisdom."
Her husband, the Prince of Aragon, was not pre-
sent on this occasion, as he had again been summoned
to help his father in the war with France. On his
THE MARRIAGE OF ISABEL
arrival, he somewhat ungraciously set up his own
claim to the throne of Castile, as heir of Fernando
the Good ; but Isabel maintained her rights with
unyielding decision, and the question was referred to
the Archbishops of Seville and Toledo. They found
that, according to the law of Castile, Isabel was sole
heir to the crown, and that she was " Reina proprie-
taria," of which there had been one instance before,
in the case of Queen Uraca of unhappy memory.
It was finally agreed that all royal grants, charters,
and coins were to bear the names of both Fernando
and Isabel, but the Queen was to be supreme in
Church matters and to keep the finances in her own
hands, while the governors of all the castles and
strongholds of her kingdom were to be responsible
only to her. The Cortes were summoned, and pro-
claimed their solemn recognition of Isabel as Queen
of Castile.
But her troubles were not yet over, for the adhe-
rents of the Beltraneja now urged her claims more
strongly than ever, and her cause was strengthened
by the support of the Archbishop of Toledo, who was
jealous of the rising influence of the Cardinal Mendoza
with Queen Isabel. As he could no longer be
supreme with his young mistress, he haughtily turned
away to join her rival, boasting that " he had raised
Isabel from the distaff and would send her back to it
again."
Alfonso V. of Portugal saw an opening for his
ambition at this critical moment, invaded the realm
of Castile with a strong' army, was betrothed to his
niece Juana, and claimed thei crown on her behalf.
[ His ally, the King of France, invaded Biscay at the
85
THE MARRIAGE OF ISABEL
same time, and the situation became most threaten-
ing. But Isabel never lost heart, and danger seemed
only to stimulate her to fresh exertion. She sum-
moned another Cortes at Medina del Campo, and
roused her subjects to enthusiasm, until men and
money poured in from all sides. She herself was
indefatigable ; after dictating despatches to her secre-
tary all night, she would be on horseback all day,
riding from one stronghold to another, encouraging
the garrison everywhere by her presence, and making
herself idolised for her spirit and dauntless courage.
Fernando seconded her well, and by their united
efforts they gathered together an army sufficient to
encounter the King of Portugal, who had already taken
possession of the strongholds of Toro and Zamora.
The great battle which decided the fate of the
campaign was fought about five miles from the strong
fortress of Toro, on a wide open plain, closed in by
the Douro on one side and a ridge of precipitous
hills on the other, on February i8, 1476. King
Alfonso himself was at the head of his army, with
his son, Prince Juan, on the left wing composed
of the arquebusiers and the main body of cavalry,
while the men-at-arms on the right were under the
command of the warrior Archbishop of Toledo. The
Prince of Aragon, supported by Admiral Henriquez
and the Duke of Alva, advanced upon the enemy with
his Castilians in order of battle, raising the stirring
war-cry, "Santiago y San Lazaro !" and the engage-
ment became general. Fiercely the battle raged as
the day declined, and when their lances were shivered
at the first encounter, the men fought hand to hand
with swords, possessed by the wild fury of hereditary
86
THE MARRIAGE OF ISABEL
foes. After some hours of deadly conflict, the Portu-
guese gave way on all sides, and as dusk closed in,
their retreat became a rout. In the darkness of a
stormy night some were drowned in the river Douro
and, washed down by the tide, thus bore the tidings
of their fatal defeat to the citizens of Zamora. Here
Prince Fernando arrived in the early dawn, followed
by his grandfather the warlike old admiral, and
Cardinal Mendoza at the head of the victorious army.
Amongst the banners taken was the royal standard of
Portugal, after a heroic defence by the gallant knight
who bore it, for, after losing first one arm and then
the other, he held it to the last with his teeth.
This decisive and final victory set Queen Isabel
firmly on the throne of Castile and crushed for ever
all the hopes of the Beltraneja. The rebel nobles
now openly proclaimed their allegiance to the sove-
reigns, and France sought an alliance with them. To
celebrate this great victory, Fernando and Isabel made
a vow to build a splendid collegiate church, San Juan
de los Reyes, at Toledo, in which city they made a
solemn thanksgiving procession, of which we have a
minute and interesting account.*
Outside the Puerta de Visagra, or northern Moorish
gate, on the open Vega, the citizens crowded to wel-
come their conquering rulers, with a gala company of
musicdans, dancers, and singers, who welcomed
Fernando with the ballad :
" Flores de Aragon
Dentro en Castilla son,
Pendon de Aragon !
Pendon de Aragon ! "
Divina Retribucion, el Bachiller Palma.
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THE MARRIAGE OF ISABEL
After this warm reception outside the gate, near the
hermitage of Sant Eugenio, the royal company
entered the city, the Prince of Aragon in full armour
on his warhorse, and Isabel by his side, riding a
beautiful mule, splendidly caparisoned, the bridle
being held by two noble pages. Followed by their
gorgeous retinue, they rode slowly towards the
cathedral by the famous three-cornered Moorish Zoco-
dover and the Calle Real, while the highest dignitaries of
the Church, the archbishop — himself a mitred king —
the canons and the clergy in their pontifical garments,
preceded by the Cross, came forth from the Puerta
del Perdon to receive them. On each side of the
arch above the doorway were two angels, and in the
centre a young maiden richly clothed, with a golden
crown on her head, to represent the image of " la
bendita madre de Dios, nuestra Seiiora." When
Fernando and Isabella and all the company had
gathered round, the angels began to sing :
" Tua est potentia, tuum est regnum Domine; tu es
super omnes gentes : da pacem Domine in diebus
nostris."
On the following day, while the rejoicings continued,
there was another great procession at nine o'clock to
present the trophies of war to the cathedral. Queen
Isabel wore a rich skirt of white brocade flowered with
castles and lions of gold, while round her neck was a
collar of rubies, " balais," of rare beauty, the largest in
the centre being said to have belonged to King Solomon.
A golden crown set with precious stones rested upon
her brow, and from her shoulders fell a magnificent
ermine mantle of which the train was held by two
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THE MARRIAGE OF ISABEL
pages, bearing on their breasts a scutcheon of the
arms of Castile. With great pomp and the blare of
trumpets, royal banners floating around them, they
passed beneath the splendid arched and carved portal
of St. Ferdinand, and taking their places before the
high altar, they heard mass within that shadowy temple,
whose vast interior is like a mysterious grove of marble
and granite.
As they passed on to the beautiful Capella de los
Reyes Nuevos, Isabel and her husband paused before
the tomb of their ancestor Juan I. of Castile, who nearly
a hundred years before had been so terribly defeated on
the fatal field of Aljubarrota. With a touch of romantic
loyalty, they offered him the spoils of their late victory,
and hung the torn standard of Portugal above his
lonely resting-place. Surely here was a blotting out
of defeat, and a pathetic atonement for past mis-
fortunes with which to pay homage before the silent
dust.
"Ferdinandus et Elisabet C.C. principes Hispa-
niorum," as the inscription runs, next laid the founda-
tion-stone of the votive church of San Juan de los
Reyes, dedicated to St. John the Evangelist, under
whose special protection the Queen had placed herself.
The chosen architect was the famous Juan Guaz,
"maestro major," and the church took years to build,
for it was during a long absence of Fernando that his
wife hurried on the completion of this exquisitely
beautiful building, as a surprise to him. The church is
one great nave divided into four harmonious vaults,
carved with the most delicate stone lace-work. No two
arches are alike ; everywhere we find the arms of Cas-
tile and Aragon with the wedded cyphers of the King
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THE MARRIAGE OF ISABEL
and Queen, interlaced amid garlands of flower, fruit,
and leaves, and marvellous grotesque images of every
bird and beast which the eye of man has seen. It was
the delight of Isabel's heart, and she could never enrich
it enough with chalices and crosses and jewels.
But in 1476 sterner work was before her, for the land
was full of unrest and disturbance, with rumours of war
on every side. Fernando at the head of a large force
hastened to protect the frontier of Aragon on the side
of Navarre, to show himself a match for the crafty
Louis XL, while Isabel took an active part in besieging
the fortresses of the rebellious nobles and strengthening
her authority. She had left her little Isabel at Segovia
under the protection of the Alcayde, Andres de Cabrera
and his wife Beatriz, who had been her favourite maid
of honour. A feud broke out between the bishop of
the city and the Alcayde, and during the absence of the
latter the citadel was blockaded and the citizens rose
in revolt, while the governor's deputy, with the young
princess and her ladies, took refuge in the inner defences
of the stronghold.
Isabel was at Tordesillas when the news arrived, and
with her usual energy she set forth at once on horse-
back, accompanied by Cardinal Mendoza, the Count
Benavente, Dona Beatriz, who happened to be with her
at the time, and a few followers hastily summoned.
They rode the long journey across the dreary wastes
of sand, past Olmedo and the pine groves of Ville-
guillo, resting a few hours at the palace fortress of Coca
before taking the last stage of more than twenty miles
to Segovia. At length the cavalcade arrived within
sight of the stern, wall-girt city on its rocky height,
with its superb towers shining like polished blades in
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THE MARRIAGE OF ISABEL
the sunshine, and as they slackened their pace to ascend
the steep road, they were met by an embassy from the
citizens refusing admittance to the wife of their Alcayde
and his friend the Count of Benavente.
The Queen's spirit was roused at once by this insolent
message, and she replied haughtily : " I am Queen of
Castile, and this city is also mine by inheritance ; I
accept no orders from my rebellious subjects."
She rode on boldly at the head of her retinue, and
the people, taken by surprise, suffered her to pass within
the gate of the citadel, which her followers hastened to
close behind her. At this act of defiance, the angry
mob surged against the massive doorway of the great
keep, while furious cries rent the air : " Down with the
Alcayde ! Attack the Alcazar ! "
At this critical moment a fiash of genius inspired
Isabel. With prompt decision she commanded that
the heavy gate should be thrown open, and, dismissing
her attendants, alone — a royal and stately figure on her
tired war-horse — she awaited the excited crowd which
poured noisily into the courtyard. *' Tell me your
grievances, my good people," she cried in a clear ringing
voice, " and I will do my best to redress them. What
is for your good is also for mine and for the welfare of
your city."
The cool courage and presence of mind of a born
ruler has often a magnetic power in the hour of danger,
and it was so on this occasion. A sudden hush suc-
ceeded the fierce tumult, and the rebel leaders contented
themselves with meekly asking that Cabrera should be
removed from his position as governor. " He is deposed
already," was the immediate reply, "and I will give the
citadel in charge to one of my own people." Where-
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THE MARRIAGE OF ISABEL
upon the fickle populace, now quite won back to their
loyalty, shouted " Viva la Reyna," and returned to their
homes at the Queen's request, on her promise to make
strict inquiries and so render justice to all. The ulti-
mate result was that the Alcayde was found to be in the
right and the bishop of Segovia and his other enemies
in the wrong, and Cabrera was restored to his office.
This is only one instance of the courage and energy
with which Queen Isabel set about her task of making
peace throughout her realm, and putting down abuses
wherever she met with them. She paid no regard to
her own ease or comfort ; she was ever ready to set
forth on a long journey on horse-back through a wild
country and in all weathers, taking no account of her
health. So it happened that for nearly eight years
after the birth of her daughter Isabel she had no living
child, until her only son Juan was born at Seville on
June 30, 1478. There were great rejoicings throughout
the realm at the coming of an heir to Castile, for by
right of his sex, the little Prince of Asturias at once took
the place which his sister had held, of acknowledged
successor to the crown. Of all her children this long-
hoped-for son held the tenderest place in his mother's
heart ; his education was the subject of her most
earnest care, and during his short life, the gallant and
richly gifted young prince showed himself worthy of
her passionate devotion.
We cannot wonder that Isabel often took up her
abode at Seville, that beloved city of the Moor — whose
streets had echoed with their tramp for so many
years — far different in its sunny radiance and beauty
from the stern cold northern cities in which her child-
hood had been passed. Here in a delicious climate,
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THE MARRIAGE OF ISABEL
on the lovely banks of the Guadalquivir fringed with
Eastern vegetation, were gardens like unto those of
the fabled Hesperides, closed in by the shelter of blue
mountains to the north and south. Here the royal
lady might take her pleasure amid orange groves with
golden fruit shining midst the deep emerald leaves and
delicate waxen flowers, beneath the shade of huge
mulberry trees and date-palms, with the glow of
scarlet cactus and blue-green aloes and flowers
unnumbered, in whose perfumed bowers the nightin-
gales sang.
The magnificent Alcazar, the royal palace, still retains
much of its Moorish charm, and when it was partly
rebuilt by Pedro the Cruel, he had recourse to the
Moorish artificers who had just finished the Alhambra.
On the grand portal by the delicate arabesques we can
still read the Gothic inscription : " El muy alto, y muy
noble, y muy poderoso, y conquistador Don Pedro, por
la gracia de Dios, Key de Castilla y de Leon, mando
facer estos alcazares y estas fapadas que fue hecho en la
era mil quatro cientos y dos." (1364.)
A beautiful little chapel in the palace was built later
by Isabel, and the interesting Aztilejo* ornaments are
some of the finest of their kind in Andalusia. Every-
where we see the arms of Isabel bound by a yoke to
those of Fernan4o, with the motto " Tanto monta "
(One is as good as the other), a record either of their
mutual love or of the husband's jealousy. In all the
palaces where the two sovereigns dwelt we find the
symbols repeated in the decorations, the furniture, the
books, &c. Fernando has a yoke, " jugo," in which he
takes his wife's initials ; Isabel has a sheaf of arrows
* Varnished tiles, often of sapphire and bhie.
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THE MARRIAGE OF ISABEL
"flechas," in which she takes his. We must also
allude to the magnificent Sala de Justicia, which is part
of the original Alcazar, in which the alcaydes adminis-
istered justice, for here we are told that Queen Isabel
held her tribunal, when she revived the ancient custom
of Castilian princes, to administer justice in person.
She sat in her throne of state every Friday at a certain
hour, on a raised dais covered with cloth of gold, her
council around her, and dispensed justice to all who
came to ask for it.
This return to simple methods had one rather curious
result, for so many evil-doers escaped from the city
that the chief men made an appeal to the Queen, and
she granted an amnesty for all past offences except
heresy, if restitution were made. Perhaps her most
important piece of diplomacy was the way in which she
made peace between the two great nobles, the Duke of
Medina Sidonia and the Marquis of Cadiz, by exacting
restitution from them both, and then dismissing them
from Seville to their own castles in the province. This
course Fernando and Isabel carried out on a much
larger scale in other parts of the country, and caused
not only the powerful feudal lords, but also the smaller
robber knights, to give up their ill-gotten gains and
retire to their country estates. Fifty fortresses, centres
of oppression, were razed to the ground in Galicia
alone. A more complete account of these reforms will
be given in a later chapter, where the growth of the
Spanish Constitution is more fully dwelt upon.
A most important event, which had been long
expected, occurred on January 20, 1479, the death of the
crafty and tyrannical old King Juan II. of Aragon, who
ended his long and eventful reign in the city of
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THE MARRIAGE OF ISABEL
Barcelona, at the advanced age of eighty-three, full of
vigour and pugnacity to the last. He was a master of
that diplomacy of his time, in which no paths were too
tortuous, no devices too treacherous to meet with his
ready acceptance. His life was one long battle in
which he received many hard blows, but he knew what
he wanted and usually managed to obtain it. Let us
take for instance the story of his dealings with Navarre.
This kingdom came under his sway on his marriage
with Blanche, widow of Martin King of Sicily, and
daughter of Charles of Navarre. On her death the
inheritance of the mountain kingdom passed by
inheritance to her eldest son Prince Carlos, to whose
unfortunate fate we have already alluded, for his cruel
persecution by his father and suspicious death was the
scandal of Europe. The next heir to Navarre was then
his sister Blanche, the divorced wife of Enrique IV. of
Castile, but she too was pursued by her father's mer-
ciless jealousy, for the unhappy lady was delivered into
the hands of her younger sister Eleanor, wife of the
Count de Foix, confined for two wretched years in the
Castle of Ortez, and is then said to have died of poison,
1462. The guilty Eleanor only enjoyed an independent
position as Queen of Navarre for three weeks after the
death of her father, which was so quickly followed by
her own, and after all her scheming, the sovereignty was
ultimately taken from her children by that very half-
brother of whom she had been so jealous.
It was a splendid inheritance which came to Fernando
on the death of his father ; a great territory extending
from the Pyrenees to beyond Valencia, with a sturdy
independent people inured to constant warfare ; while
all along that eastern coast of the Mediterranean were
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THE MARRIAGE OF ISABEL
safe and roomy harbours, which could hold at one
time twenty-five large galleys secure and under shelter.
On this coast of Catalonia were great merchant cities
carrying on commerce with all the known world, of
which the most famous was the splendid Barcelona,
the pride of all Spanish writers. Cervantes calls it
"the archive of courtesy, the shelter of strangers, the
hospital of the poor, the chastiser of offenders, the
native place of the brave." It was a city of commerce
even beyond the dream of the merchant princes of
Venice, of conquest, and courtiers, of taste, of learning,
and of luxury, and to become " Countess of Barcelona "
was another jewel in the crown of the great Isabel.
Such were the home possessions of Aragon, while
those abroad were of no mean value, when we name
the Balearic Islands, Sardinia, and Sicily, that lovely
island of romantic charm whose strange eventful history
would need a volume to itself.
96
CHAPTER VII
FERNANDO AND ISABEL— UNITED
SOVEREIGNS OF CASTILE
AND ARAGON
Voltaire remarks that " Fernando and Isabel lived
together, not like man and wife whose estates are
common under the orders of the husband, but like two
monarchs closely allied."
There is much truth in this statement, for we have
seen at the time of the Queen's coronation how jealous
the Castilian nobles were of any interference on the
part of her husband. There had even been a question
of his paying homage to the ruler of the more important
state, but this she at once rejected, and after her first
calm assertion of her rights, Isabel was always most
courteous and conciliatory, and ever showed herself
willing to take the advice of Fernando. Strongly
attached to her husband and studious of his fame, yet
she always maintained her distinct rights as an allied
prince. She exceeded him in personal dignity, acute-
ness of genius, and in grandeur of soul."* " She sur-
passed Fernando in firmness and courage, and, inspired
* Washington Irving.
97 G
FERNANDO AND ISABEL
with a truer idea of glory, she brought a more lofty and
generous temper into his subtle calculating policy."
Even in the very year when Aragon was theirs, the
sugcession of Isabel to the throne of Castile was still
disputed by the adherents of Juana, and by the old King
of Portugal to whom she was betrothed. But recent
events had changed the situation, and a final settlement
was near at hand.
In 1478, a definite treaty of peace had been made
between Castile and France, and signed at St. Jean de
Luz, in which Louis XL promised that he would break
off his alliance with Portugal, and give no further
assistance to the adherents of the Beltraneja. But the
war with Alfonso of Portugal still continued in a
spasmodic and destructive matter, until at length Dona
Beatriz of Portugal, the sister of Isabel's mother, offered
to meet the Queen of Castile as a mediator, at the frontier
town of Alcantara, which crowns a wooded height
above the Tagus. After a week's discussion they drew
up a treat)^ but it was not until six months afterwards
that it was reluctantly agreed to at the Court of Lisbon,
in September 1479. The terms of the contract were that
the King of Portugal was to give up his claim to the
hand of Juana, and all pretensions on her part or his,
to the throne of Castile ; and that she should agree to
marry the year old son of Fernando and Isabel or
retire into a convent. Also that Alfonso, the young
heir of Portugal, should marry the princess Isabel of
Castile who was now nine years old, and a general
amnesty was to be granted to all the Castilians who had
supported the Beltraneja.
This unfortunate girl, who was now seventeen years
of age, had been tossed about as a political counter
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FERNANDO AND ISABEL
ever since her birth ; nine matches having been
proposed for her already. She might well have been
weary of a world which had brought her nothing but
disappointment and trouble, not to mention the
shameful suspicion which hung over her birth. Sick
of her tempestuous life, she was quite willing to seek
the quiet shelter of the cloister, and before many
months had passed, she took the veil in the splendid
convent of the Order of Christ at Coimbra. She was
ever afterwards known as Juana the Nun, but notwith-
standing this, she retained the hollow satisfaction of
signing herself " I the Queen " ; and several times she
left the convent and held a kind of royal state under the
protection of the kings of Portugal, thus keeping alive
a constant threat to the rulers of Castile. She outlived
most of her suitors and rivals, dying in the palace of
Lisbon in 1530, at the age of sixty-nine.
Shortly after Juana became a nun, the King of
Portugal, disappointed at losing his young bride,
the " Senora muy excelente," resolved to follow her
example, and put off his royal robes to become a Fran'-
ciscan friar. He had made his plans for entering the
monastery of Varatojo, on a rugged wind-blown height
overlooking the Atlantic, when the hand of death pro-
vided for him a still more peaceful refuge, and his son
Juan reigned in his stead.
As we look upon the map of Spain, we realise with
amazement the long journeys on horseback which
constantly fell to the lot of Queen Isabel. We find her
engaged on a treaty at Alcantara, on the frontier of
Portugal, and next hear of her established with her
court at Toledo, nearly 200 miles away. Here in the
Alcazar of this city on the seven hills, was born on
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FERNANDO AND ISABEL
November 7, 1479, her second daughter Juana, who
grew up to become a great queen, and perhaps one
of the most unhappy women who ever trod this earth.
Isabel appears to have remained for some time in
this grand historic town, in the ancient palace high
above the rocky banks of the Tagus, whose peaceful
waters now turn the picturesque old water-mills, where
in bygone days :
" Whilom upon his banks did legions throng
Of Moor and knight in mailed armour drest,
The paynim turban and the Christian crest
Mixed on the bleeding stream by floating hosts
oppressed." *
The image of the great Queen still rises before us in
this walled city, with its many gateways and steep
narrow streets crowded with churches and convents
and hospitals ; and above all in the magnificent cathe-
dral inlaid with gold and porphyry and jasper, whose
carved exterior has that " belle teinte orange qui dis-
tingue les anciens monuments dans les climats ou il ne
pleut presque jamais."t She is ever in our mind as we
pace the cloistered avenues and courts around, where
the orange trees are mingled with cypress and laurel.
In the following year, 1480, there was held in Toledo,
by Isabel's command, that celebrated meeting of the
Cortes which did so much to reform the whole judicial
system, revising the laws of Castile, and compiling a
new code. This had become absolutely necessary, as
in the course of time the ancient jurisprudence, made
up of the Visigothic code, the fncros or charters wrung
from the necessities of the sovereign, and the Siete
* Southey. f Theophile Gautier.
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FERNANDO AND ISABEL
Partidas, or Seven Sections of Alfonso X., drawn greatly
from the Roman code, had grown so overladen with
statutes and ordinances as to be often contradictory.
The committee for carrying out this great work, at the
head of which was the learned Alfonso Diaz de Mon-
talva, laboured for over four years, and the new code,
which bore the name of "Ordenangas Reales," was one
of the first works printed in Spain : " excrito de letra
de molde," at Huete in 1485.
Meantime councils were established to deal with
foreign affairs, with the administration of justice and
all questions of finance. The ancient custon was re-
vived for the sovereign to sit in court and judge supreme
appeals every Friday, as we have seen thctt Isabel did
in Seville three years earlier. Assisted by Cardinal
Mendoza, who began to be called " Tertius Rex," the
Queen — who took the chief share in the task of internal
reform — set about her work with splendid energy and
courage, and the law acquired such authority that it
was remarked with surprise : ** A decree signed by two
or three judges was more to be respected in those
days than an army before ! " One of Isabel's most
diplomatic acts was the re-establishment of the "Santa
Hermandad " or Holy Brotherhood, originally a league
of the chief cities, which had been hitherto a powerful
instrument in the hands of the enemies of the Crown.
By a stroke of genius, this vigilance committee of
citizens, paid for and managed by them, which had
hitherto interfered with the course of justice, was now
made a powerful weapon for the use of the Crown.
The Santa Hermandad became a strong military police
with summary judicial courts, whose business it was to
clear the roads of robbers high and low ; there was no
lOI
FERNANDO AND ISABEL
appeal from their tribunal, and without mercy they
swept the land clear of malefactors.*
The nobles were dismayed at this curtailment of
their powers and indignantly protested, but in vain,
for one by one all their special privileges were taken
from them ; thus they were forbidden to coin money,
which some had done with impunity, to quarter the
royal arms on their escutcheons, to fight duels or to
build new castles. At the same time, they were ruth-
lessly stripped by the Cortes of the " lavish grants of
Crown lands and rent-charges " f which had been
obtained from weaker sovereigns, and they were com-
pelled to submit lest worse should befall them.
New laws were made for securing personal liberty,
for the punishment of unjust judges and for the en-
suring of prompt decisions at small cost, an immense
boon to the poor; "the knight and the squire no
longer oppressed the labourer for fear of certain justice ;
the roads were swept of banditti, and no man dared to
lift his hand against another." Thus the highway be-
came safe for travellers, and peace and prosperity
reigned to such an extent that it seemed as if the
Golden Age had come again.
One instance of the dauntless spirit with which
Isabel insisted on the supreme majesty of the law is
worth recording. Two young nobles had quarrelled
in the ante-chamber of the palace at Valladolid, and
the Queen hearing of it, gave a safe-conduct to the
least powerful until the dispute could be arranged. But
his enemy, Federigo Henriquez, the son of the Admiral
of Castile, King Fernando's uncle, took no heed to the
Queen's wish, and caused the young Lord of Toral to be
* Martin Hume. f Ibid.
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FERNANDO AND ISABEL
waylaid by night and cruelly beaten in the streets of
Valladolid. When Isabel heard of this outrage she
rose up in her wrath, and set out at once on horseback
in a storm of rain, for the castle of Simancas, seven
miles away, and arrived there before her attendants
could overtake her. Here she summoned the Admiral
to yield up his son to justice, and on his reply, " Don
Federigo is not here, and I know not where he is," she
demanded the keys of the castle and caused search to
be made. The youth was not found, and Isabel, re-
fusing all offers of hospitality from her relative, returned
at once to Valladolid, where she fell ill from fatigue
and exposure after her unsuccessful journey.
This anecdote gives us the very heart of the woman.
We see the heroic impetuous figure hurrying forth
through the drifting tempest at a pace which outstripped
her attendants, in a very passion of avenging justice.
Should a deed so dastardly be suffered to go un-
punished and her authority set at naught, all her
labours in the cause of peace and order would be in
vain, andj this the patriot Queen could not endure.
Her will was keen and enduring as tempered steel ;
but the outward form which held this unconquerable
spirit was but that of a frail woman. There is a note of
pathos which rings through the centuries in the cry from
her sick-bed : " My body is lame with the blows given
by Don Federigo in contempt of my safe-conduct."
In the cause of justice, she made it ever clear to friend
and foe that she was ruled by no consideration of
policy, no claims of her nearest kin ; but that she
would carry her guiding principle that "right is right"
to the bitter end, if it should cost her life and her
crown. The Admiral with his knowledge of her
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FERNANDO AND ISABEL
character understood this, and Federigo was surren-
dered to the Queen, with a humble appeal for mercy
on account of his age ; he was barely twenty. But
the young culprit had cause to repent his insolence,
for although he was nearly related to the King and a
member of a powerful house, he was publicly led in
disgrace through the city, imprisoned in the fortress of
Arevalo, and then banished to Sicily until he should
receive the royal pardon.*
It was soon after the Cortes of Toledo that the policy
of the sovereigns of Castile towards ihe great military
Orders was first decided upon, although it was not
completely carried out until much later. The most
important was the Order of Santiago, originally founded
in the twelfth century to protect the pilgrims going to
the sacred shrine of Compostella in Galicia. The knights
of the brotherhood wore a white mantle embroidered
with a red cross and escallop shell. They vowed to re-
lieve the poor, to defend the traveller, and perpetual war
on the Moslem. In this Order marriage was permited.
The foundation of the monkish military Order of
Calatrava had a curious origin. The border fortress
of Calatrava commanded the passes between Castile
and the Moorish province of Andalusia, and the
Knights Templars, after holding it for ten years, gave
it up as untenable in 1157. King Sancho III. then
offered the castle and surrounding territory to any one
who could win and keep it. Two Cistercian monks
came forward in those crusading days, and with a band
of devoted followers they overcame the Moors and
held the stronghold. This fraternity received the
Papal Bull in 1164, and adopted the rule of St. Benedict,
* W. H. Prescott.
104
/. Lacosie, phot.
QUEEN JUANA, "LA LOCA'
DAUGHTER OF QUEEN ISABEL
In the Prado, Madrid
FERNANDO AND ISABEL
with a most austere discipline. The knights were
sworn to perpetual celibacy, and their food was of the
simplest. They were to keep silence at the table, in
the chapel and in the dormitory ; and it was their cus-
tom to sleep and worship with the sword girt on their
side as a token that they were ready for action. Their
help was so often needed to win castles and cities from
the infidels that their wealth and possessions became
very great, and the Grand Master possessed almost
sovereign power. It was this in fact which constituted
the danger to the kingdom, as we shall see.
The third important Order was that of the Knights of
Alcantara, which followed much the same principle as
that of Calatrava, but the brethren wore a white mantle
embroidered with a green cross. A romantic incident
is recorded in the earlier history of this Order, which
explains better than any dissertation the spirit of the
time. About the year 1390, the Master of Alcantara,
"out of his love for jesus Christ," sent two of his
squires to the Moorish King of Granada to tell him
that the Christian faith was good and holy, and the
doctrine of Mahommed but a false lie. To prove this
he, the Master, with two hundred Christian knights,
would fight with three hundred of the Moslem chivalry.
The King of Granada was discourteous enough not to
accept this simple way of settling the religious question,
but he cast the messengers into prison and ill-treated
them. On hearing these tidings, the fiery Master could
not be restrained by the King of Castile, who was under
a treaty with the Moors, but declared that he must go
forward for the honour of the Cross. In vain did the
King's officers try to check him at the bridge of Cor-
dova, for the people rose to the help of these holy
105
FERNANDO AND ISABEL
men " going on the service of God and for the Faith of
Jesus." So the Master of Alcantara, dreamer and fanatic,
passed on with his whole company of three hundred
knights and a few hundred footmen, who had barely
crossed the frontier when they met their doom of self-
chosen martyrdom. Hemmed in by an overwhelming
army of Moslems, they were all slain or madciprisoners ;
while it was the King of Granada who complained of
the breach of treaty, and the King of Castile who
apologised, explaining that his orders' had been dis-
obeyed ; and " so the matter ended."
But time had brought many changes, and the vast
estates of these Military Orders were spread over all the
land, which was covered with their castles, their monas-
teries, and their towns, over which they had acquired
boundless rights, and could defy the sovereign himself.
The Master of Santiago could summon to the field
" four hundred belted knights and one thousand lances,"
which, with the usual complement of a lance at that
time, means quite a large force. His rents came to
sixty thousand ducats, and those of Calatrava and Al-
cantara were nearly as much. The position of Grand
Master to one of these Orders of religious chivalry
became one which men of the highest rank contested
with intrigue and violence. This became a cause of so
much internal discord that Isabel appears, early in her
reign, to have decided on a course of future policy. In
1476 the Grand Master of Santiago died, and a Chapter
of the Order was held in the magnificent convent
which stands on a hill above the little town of Ucles
between Madrid and Cuen^a. We are told that Isabel
took this long journey on horseback from her palace
at Valladolid, and presenting herself before the as-
106
FERNANDO AND ISABEL
tonished knights, she persuaded them, in the interests
of pubhc order, to elect her husband the King to the
vacant post. On this occasion, indeed, Fernando gave
up the position of Grand Master to Alfonso de Cardenas,
who was one of the candidates, and a man of proved
honour and loyalty ; but at his death, in 1499, a Papal
Bull assured the succession to the King, who had
already acquired that of Calatrava in 1487, and of
Alcantara in 1494. He thus became the supreme head
of all the chivalry of Spain. We may so far forestall
the future as to mention that this scheme proved a
complete success, for the former scandals of the ad-
ministration were put an end to, the knights were paid
by fixed pensions, and the immense number of bene-
fices in the gift of the Orders, were filled up with men
of good repute and pious character. This did more to
improve the character of the Spanish priests than any
other measure.
The sovereigns of Castile had to hold their own in
another and still more difficult matter. They had to
protect themselves against the encroaching power of
Rome. Spain had always kept its independence longer
than any other Christian kingdom. In olden days the
Goths had been mostly Arians, and when they became
Catholic they used for centuries their own ritual, the
Mozarabic, with its simple and beautiful prayers, and
which has no mention of auricular confession. It was
not until after the middle of the eleventh century that
Alfonso VI. of Castile was persuaded by his French
wife, Constance of Burgundy, to compel the use of the
Roman missal in all the churches. The Castilian clergy
were greatly opposed to this innovation, and tradition
says that three separate attempts were made to obtain
FERNANDO AND ISABEL
" the judgment of God " in the matter. The first was
trial by battle, and the duel was fought with the utmost
formality before the King and his Court, and the
champion of the Mozarabic ritual defeated his Roman
opponent amid the triumphant shouts of the people.
The King insisted upon another test ; a bull-fight was
arranged, in which one"toro" was called " Toledo "
and the other " Rome," and the victory remained again
with the popular side, for the bull Toledo killed the
representative of Rome. Once more, the "judgment
of God" being against him, the King refused to submit,
and demanded the ordeal by fire, into which the two
missals were to be cast. For the third time the de-
cision was against the Roman missal, which was
scorched by the flames while the other was untouched ;
but King Alfonso angrily threw it back into the fire, and
vowed that he would have his way.*
Thus, the legend tells us, he set himself up against
the "judgment of God," and ever since, the Roman
ritual has prevailed in Spain, except in the Capilla
Mozarabe in the Cathedral of Toledo, where to this day
the ancient custom is carried on.
The code of the Siete Partidas had enlarged the
Roman sway by giving superior power to the eccle-
siastical tribunals over the lay courts, and in the course
of time, the Pope had gradually passed on from the right
of confirming elections to that of appointment in the
highest episcopal dignities. Against this the Cortes had
made constant complaint, especially in the matter of
placing foreigners in the highest offices of the Church ;
for as the bishop was also a temporal prince, and often
a great fighter, it was most important that, above all,
* H. E. Watts.
io§
FERNANDO AND ISABEL
the border towns should always have a staunch native
Castilian for the bishopric. The great contest between
Isabel and the Pope came about in this way.
There was a vacancy in the See of Cuen9a, that
beautiful city which lies like a hill-encircled shell, with
forests and woods and rocks around, such as Salvator
Rosa loved and painted. Sixtus IV. hastened to
bestow the bishopric upon his nephew, Cardinal
San Giorgio, a native of Genoa, for this Pope
made nepotism an essential feature of Papal policy.
As Machiavelli remarked of him : " He was the first
Pope who began to show the extent of the Papal
power, and how things that before were called errors
could be hidden behind the Papal authority." But Sixtus
(della Rovere) certainly made a grave error on this
occasion, for he did not know with whom he had to deal.
Isabel had already decided to give the bishopric to
her chaplain, Alfonso de Burgos, in exchange for the
See of Cordova, and she at once sent an embassy to
Rome to remonstrate against the appointment of San
Giorgio. But Sixtus haughtily replied : " I would
have you know that I am Supreme Head of the Church,
and as such have unlimited power in the appointment
to benefices, and I am not bound to consult the
desires of any potentate on earth, beyond that which
will conduce to the interests of religion." On receiving
this reply, the sovereigns of Spain took the decided
step of ordering all their subjects, alike priests and
laymen, to leave the dominions of the Pope forthwith ;
and this command was at once obeyed by the Spaniards,
who feared that their estates might be confiscated if
they remained abroad. Fernando and Isabel also
announced their intention of calling a General Council
log
FERNANDO AND ISABEL
of Christian princes to reform the abuses of the
Papacy.
This was a splendid stroke of diplomacy, for nothing
could have been less pleasing to the Pope than the
threat of a General Council to inquire into the corrup-
tion of ecclesiastical affairs. This must be put a stop
to at any price, and a Legate was immediately sent to
Spain with full powers to negotiate an arrangement.
But the Castilian sovereigns ordered the unlucky
ambassador to leave the realm without delivering his
message, which " might be derogatory to the dignity
of their Crown." In fact, had not Cardinal Mendoza
interposed at this point, the Legate would have been
ignominiously dismissed, but the poor man behaved
with such deep humility that Isabel was conciliated,
and consented to listen to his meek suggestions. In
the end Pope Sixtus gave way entirely, and published
a Bull, in which he promised " that natives of Castile
nominated by the sovereign to the higher dignities of
the Church should be confirmed in their offices by
His Holiness the Pope," and without more ado,
Alfonso de Burgos became Bishop of Cuenca.
By the Act of Settlement when she came to the
throne, all preferment rested with the Queen Isabel, a
woman of rare piety and discretion, and she made it
her most earnest care to choose good religious men,
wise and learned, to fill the various Sees as they became
vacant. Merit was the only recommendation to her
favour, and from this fixed decision, no personal
advantage or even the wishes of her husband could
move her.
In the home government of the Catholic kings —
" Reyes Catolicos " as they were called — there is one
no
FERNANDO AND ISABEL
more point which must be considered. When once
the kingdom was brought into a condition of law and
order, everything was done to promote trade and
domestic industry. P'or this end, the first need was
to fix the value of money and put an end to the
adulteration of the coin. Under the previous king,
Enrique IV., there had been one hundred and fifty
mints licensed by the Crown, and many others set up
by great lords and unauthorised people. Things had
come to such a pass that the debased coin was refused
in payment, and the small amount of trade carried on
in Castile was really managed by means of barter.
Fernando and Isabel, with infinite trouble, set them-
selves to the task of fixing the standard and legal value
of money ; they set up five royal mints and made a
new coinage ; a reform which did wonders for the
commerce of the country. New roads and bridges
were made, to throw open the more isolated places,
the industry of cloth-weaving was encouraged, the
working of silver and the making of arms ; while ship-
building was promoted to a great extent in the coast
towns of Andalusia. One regulation which sounds
quite in advance of the time was to free the importa-
tion of foreign books from all duties, as the statute
says : " Because they both bring honour and profit
to the kingdom, by the facilities which they afford for
making men learned." We are told that so successful
were these efforts, and so prosperous did the country
become, that between the years 1477 and 1482 the
revenue was increased nearly six-fold. *' The hills and
valleys again rejoiced in the labour of the husbandman ;
and the cities were embellished with stately edifices,
which attracted the gaze and admiration of foreigners."
Ill
FERNANDO AND ISABEL
In the midst of this period of outward prosperity
and success, the first note of discord and intolerance
was struck in the Cortes of Toledo in 1480, where
certain harassing and unfair laws were inserted against
the Jewish subjects, probably following the precedent
of Aragon, where the Inquisition had long held some
sway. The great aim and object of Isabel's life w-as
the creation of a strong and united Spain, but in her
passionate desire for the extension of the Catholic
Faith at any cost lay a hidden danger, which in the
far-off days to come would bring ruin and destruction
in its train. But of the dread Inquisition, and the
Queen's part therein, we shall speak more fully in due
time.
112
CHAPTER VIII
THE MOORISH WAR— SIEGE OF
ALHAMA
The story of the kingdom of Granada, that last bul-
wark of the Moors in Spain, has already been brought
down in an introductory chapter, through the turbulent
ages of constant siege and battle, of the undying feuds
of paladin and paynim, to the fifteenth century, the
era of Isabel. For now two hundred years, the de-
generate descendants of a great fighting race had been
thankful to enjoy an ignoble peace and remain for-
gotten or undisturbed in their earthly paradise. For
such, indeed, was that exquisite Garden Land with
groves of orange and mulberry and pomegranate, with
olive-clad slopes, and orchards, and vineyards, made
fertile and luxuriant by silvery streams, and protected
from the outer world by the snowy mountains of the
moon, the mighty Sierra Nevada.
Beautiful in her surroundings beyond a poet's
dream, the fair city of the Moorish kings was, indeed,
a "pearl of price," crowned by her palace of the
Alhambra, that stately pleasure-house whose very
name is enough to make us see visions, and whose
unapproachable charm is beyond the power of words
113 H
THE MOORISH WAR
to tell. But the massive embattled towers and solid
walls of her strong castles hint at another tale than
one of soft dalliance in bowers of bliss, and strike a
note of stern defiance to the foe. The Moslems had
been suffered to remain undisturbed in their last
refuge, this sunny corner of Andalusia, on condition
of acknowledging the sovereignty of Castile and
paying a yearly tribute, stated to have been two
thousand pistoles of gold beside a certain number of
Christian captives. But in the reign of the weak king,
Enrique IV. of Castile, there came to the throne of
Granada a certain Muley-Abu-1-Hasan, a fierce and
warlike man of the ancient warrior breed of Islam,
who looked with pride on his strong position and
counted up his fourteen cities, his ninety-seven forti-
fied towns, and his castles and watch-towers which
studded the broad Vega. He knew that his Granada
was richer than any town in Spain, and that he could
equip and call out an army of fifty thousand men
trained in war, with archers and light horsemen
unmatched elsewhere. In the foolish conceit of his
heart he thought himself a match for the young
sovereigns of Castile, and when their ambassador
came, in 1476, to demand the customary tribute, the
Moorish king returned a haughty and defiant refusal.
" Tell your monarch that the Kings of Granada
who paid tribute are dead ; our mint now coins only
blades of scimetars and heads of lances."
For a while this defiant attitude was suffered to pass
unheeded ; Fernando had not yet succeeded to the
throne of Aragon and the Catholic sovereigns were
engaged in reforming abuses and putting their own
kingdom in order. But in a few years time, ^'with a
114
THE MOORISH WAR
disciplined infantry, a guileful diplomacy, and a puri-
fied Churcfi, Spain was fully equipped for the con-
quest of territory or the control of opinion."* This
inopportune moment was chosen by the King of
Granada to make his unprovoked declaration of war
by a sudden raid across the frontier.
There had been no forays for so long that the
Christian gaiTisons of the outlying fortresses had
grown careless, and no longer kept the strict watch and
sleepless vigil which had been needful in more warlike
days. So it was with the little mountain town of
Zahara, perched on a rugged, precipitous height
which Nature had fortified with steep rocks for walls
of defence, and the rushing Guadalite as a moat
around its base. Taking advantage of a dark stormy
night, in the dead of winter, Muley-Abu-1-Hasan,
with a strong force, arrived unobserved beneath the
battlements, scaled the walls and took the garrison by
surprise. All who resisted were put to the sword, and
the defenceless inhabitants, men, women, and children,
were driven as slaves to Granada. We are told that
his subjects did not join in the exultation of their
king, they were full of pity for the wretched captives
and of alarm at the consequences of this outrage for
themselves. Evil omens were reported on every side,
and the words of foreboding spoken by a Moslem
anchorite were echoed through the city.
" Woe ! woe ! woe ! to Granada ! The hour of its
desolation is at hand. The ruins of Zaraha will fall
upon our heads 1 "
Fernando and Isabel received the news of the fall
of Zahara with indignation, for it would have suited
■ Martin Hume.
"5
THE MOORISH WAR
their policy better to strike the first blow themselves.
They gave orders to strengthen the whole line of
frontier castles, and began to make serious prepara-
tion for the invasion of the Moorish province. But it
is interesting to notice here that the first reprisal was
a matter of private enterprise. One of the great Cas-
tilian nobles, Don Rodrigo Ponce de Leon, Marquess
of Cadiz, who had large possessions in Andalusia, was
informed by a spy in his pay, a noted captain of
" escaladors," or scalers of walls, that the fortress of
Alhama was carelessly guarded, and that he believed
it would be possible to carry it by assault.
Now the city of Alhama was only eight leagues from
Granada, in the heart of the Moorish territory, and
was so strongly situated on the crest of a mountain
ridge that it was believed to be impregnable. It could
only be approached by crossing the foaming river
Marchan or climbing a ravine. It was famous for its
sulphur baths and had a royal palace, and was also
the centre of a prosperous silk industry. Don Rodrigo
was strongly impressed by the bold suggestion of thus
bearding the lion in his den, and with the help of several
friends he collected a sufficient force and set forth
across the mountain passes, travelling only by night.
On February 28, 1482, they reached the sleeping city
two hours before dawn, and were fortunate in having
the dark stormy weather which had favoured the
captors of Zahara. On this occasion, also, the scaling
ladders were placed against the walls and silently
mounted by the " escaladors," who killed the sentinels
and took the citadel before the garrison were roused.
The city gates were thrown open, and the Marquess of
Cadiz entered at the head of his army with trumpets
116
THE MOORISH WAR
and banners, and the fortress was taken. But while
the triumphant hidalgoes exulted in their victory, the
citizens in the town had risen to arms and mustered in
force to fight for their homes. They thronged up the
narrow street to the gateway of the castle, which
they commanded with arquebuses and crossbows,
keeping up a constant fire so that none could sally
forth.
When some of the most valiant of their number had
been slain in a vain attempt to force a way out, the
Christian leaders held a council of war, in which it was
actually suggested that the stronghold should be dis-
mantled and abandoned, that they should carry off all
the booty they could seize and make good their escape.
But the fiery Marquess of Cadiz would not hear of
such an ignominious retreat ; and by his advice it was
resolved to break down part of the fortifications and
make a desperate sally through the breach into the
town. With the stirring war cry of " Santiago ! " he
led the way, followed by his men-at-arms, and cast
himself into the midst of the furious populace. Driven
back at first by the violence of the attack, the Moors
soon rallied and received the enemy with volleys of
shot and arrows, building up hasty barricades of
timber across the streets and contesting every inch
of the ground with the frantic courage of despair.
Meantime, the women and children crowded to the
roofs and balconies of their houses, and threw down
boiling water, oil, and every kind of missile on the
heads of the assailants. The awful struggle lasted for
many hours, but towards the evening the remnant
of the inhabitants took refuge in the great mosque
by the city wall, whence they could still continue to
117
THE MOORISH WAR
shoot their arrows with deadly effect. At last the
Castilians succeeded in approaching under cover of
their shields, held so as to form a protecting canopy,
and set fire to the doors of the beautiful mosque.
This was the end of the struggle, for the hapless
Moslems who did not perish of suffocation were
massacred or taken prisoners as they sought to escape
from the flames.
The rich city of Alhama was now given up to
plunder, and the booty was immense, consisting of
costly works of art, of gold and silver plate, of
precious jewels and rich silks and brocades. Some
Christian captives are said to have been found in
the dungeons and set at liberty with great rejoicing,
for the victory was now complete, Alhama had fallen !
How the news came to Granada the ancient ballad
describes :
" Letters to the monarch tell
How Alhama' s city fell ;
In the fire the scroll he threw,
And the messenger he slew." (Byron's translation.)
Ay de mi Alhama !
It was indeed a cruel and terrible blow to the people
of Granada, for in the fate of this fair mountain city,
always deemed impregnable, the key of their proud
capital, in the very heart of their kingdom — they read
with dire foreboding the doom which awaited them.
But old Muley-Abu-1-Hasan was not one to content
himself with useless lamentation, or sit down calmly
under so great a disaster. When he had aroused
himself from his first passionate grief and rage, he
at once sent a thousand cavalry in advance, while he
made ready to follow with all the levies he could
ii8
THE MOORISH WAR
collect. He lost no time, and on March 5 arrived
with a great army before the rocky walls of Alhama,
which he found repaired and well defended by the
Christian garrison. In his haste, the king had neglected
to bring any of the primitive artillery which was then
coming into use, and finding that he could not take
the fortress by assault, he made up his mind to reduce
it by a blockade. This appeared the more promising
as the town had but one well, and was supplied from
the river below with water, which could now only be
obtained under the enemy's fire.
The tidings of the fall of Alhama reached Fernando
and Isabel when they were attending mass in the chapel
of their palace at Medina del Campo, that " City of the
Plain " far away to the north of Castile, between Valla-
dolid and Avila. The despatch of the Marquess of
Cadiz brought welcome news, but at the same time it
must have been rather disturbing to the cautious
Fernando to find that his eager nobles had so much
more zeal than discretion. " During all the time he
sat at dinner," says a precise chronicler of the period,
" the prudent king was revolving in his mind the course
best to be adopted."*
We can understand Fernando's perplexity, for the
war against the Moors was being forced upon him in
a measure. In his aims and desires he was King of
Aragon rather than of Castile, and was far more drawn
towards the recovering of his counties of Roussillon
and Cerdagne from the French than the conquest of
the Moorish kingdom. Fernando urged that it was the
first duty to recover one's own rather than to conquer
that which belonged to others." " If," he said, ** the
- W. Prescott.
119
THE MOORISH WAR
Queen's war against the Moors was a holy one, his
against the French would be a just one."* Indeed at
this time it is doubtful whether conquest was Isabel's
real object, as she was probably less moved by motives
of policy than of piety, and wishing for national unity
by means of the Faith, desired rather to save souls than
to extend her dominion. But this brilliant success of
Don Rodrigo had changed the position of aiifairs ; and
if he had been rash in his enterprise, at least there was
no turning back possible at this moment.
Both the sovereigns realised that Alhama was only
held by a small force, that it was close to Granada, and
that the warlike old king would lose no time in attack-
ing the Castilians with all the concentrated strength of
his powerful army. Only one course was possible to
Fernando : he must instantly collect all the cavalry
and men-at-arms which he or his nobles could obtain,
and set forth at once for the seat of war. The Queen
was in delicate health at the time, and it was arranged
that she should follow more slowly with all the supplies
and additional troops she could bring.
But King Fernando was not destined to be the hero
of this adventure, for once more he was forestalled by
one of the great Castilian nobles. The Marquess of
Cadiz had sent despatches to the nearest cities of
Andalusia as soon as he was established in Alhama,
asking for their support in his isolated position. Yet in
this critical moment of peril, it was not from his friends
that supreme assistance came, but from his deadly
hereditary foe the Duke of Medina Sidonia. Once
before, this great chief had shown his gallant nature
by hurrying to the relief of Don Rodrigo's wife when
- Martin Hume.
THE MOORISH WAR
she was besieged in her castle of Arcos during her
husband's absence. But now he was to give an heroic
instance of nobility and patriotism and prove himself
indeed the very flower of Castilian chivalry. On hear-
ing that Don Rodrigo was beleaguered in Alhama by
a formidable army of Moors, the Duke summoned all
his feudal retainers, called together his household
cavalry, his men-at-arms and his archers, and strained
every nerve to enlist his powerful Andalusian neigh-
bours in the cause. At the head of a powerful force
he hastened through the wild country, with forced
marches, without waiting for King Fernando, who was
anxious to join him. With all his haste the gallant
leader arrived none too soon, for the besieged garrison
was in evil case, being threatened not only by assault
but famine, as in the first flush of victory there had
been much waste of provisions.
Old Muley-Abu-1- Hasan was far too experienced a
general to await the peril of being hemmed in between
the citadel and the relieving army, on the news of
whose approach he broke up his camp and returned
to Granada, after a fruitless siege of three weeks, to
prepare for more strenuous efforts at carrying on the
war. Washington Irving thus describes the relief of
the city :
"When the Christians in Alhama beheld their
enemies retreating on one side, and their friends
advancing on the other, they uttered shouts of joy
and hymns of thanksgiving ; for it was a sudden
relief from present death. Harassed by several weeks
of incessant vigil and fighting, suffering from scarcity
of provisions and almost continual thirst, they re-
121
THE MOORISH WAR
sembled skeletons rather than living men. It was a
noble and gracious sight to behold the meeting of
those two ancient foes, the Duke of Medina Sidonia
and the Marquis of Cadiz. When the Marquis beheld
his magnanimous deliverer approaching, he melted
into tears : all past animosities only gave the greater
poignancy to present feelings of gratitude and admira-
tion ; they clasped each other in their arms and, from
that time forward, were true and cordial friends."*
When the first rejoicing was over, difficulties appear
to have arisen between the two armies with regard to
the division of the booty, and it required all the tact
of the leaders, and much generosity on the part of the
Duke, before the matter was amicably settled. A
strong garrison of troops from the Hermandad, under
the command of Don Diego Merlo, was left to defend
the stronghold ; the two armies were withdrawn, and
the brave leaders were loaded with honours by the
King and Queen, who in April took up their abode at
Cordova. In this splendid city of the Omeyyad Khalifs,
once the peerless capital of Moorish Spain, a little
daughter was born at this time, 1482, to Queen Isabel,
Doiia Maria, afterwards Queen of Portugal, the fourth
child of the Catholic sovereigns. W^e shall have occa-
sion at a later time to dwell upon the care bestowed
on the education of these royal children, but at present
the eldest daughter Isabel was the only one of an age
to require it.
The sovereigns were not suffered to rest long, before
news arrived that the old warrior King of Granada
had again led an army against Alhama, the beloved
''■'■ Washington Irving.
THE MOORISH WAR
city which was "as the apple of his eye"; and this
time, with more forethought and wisdom, he had
brought a large train of artillery, which in his haste he
had left behind at the first siege. The Castilians can
hardly have expected anything else, considering how
near Alhama was to the capital, but they appear to
have been greatly troubled, and it was even suggested
that the place should be given up, for being in the
centre of the enemy's country " it must be perpetually
exposed to sudden and dangerous attacks, while from
the difficulty of reaching it through the mountain
defiles, it would cost Castile a terrible waste of blood
and treasures in its defence. For this very cause it
had been abandoned in olden days when the men
of Castile had taken it by force of arms from the
infidel."*
This argument was strongly urged and even Fernando
hesitated, but Isabel was firm and would listen to no
hint of surrender. "Glory is not to be won without
danger," she exclaimed, and insisted that the strong
and central position of Alhama as the key of the
enemy's country made it of the last importance to
them, and that it must be retained at any cost. The
enterprise was of peculiar difficulty and danger, as
they had well known when they entered upon it.
This was the first blow struck in the campaign,
and honour and policy alike forbade them to draw
back, and so cast a chill over the enthusiasm of the
nation.
Her ardour and warlike spirit were infectious, and
won the day. It was decided to hold Alhama against
the whole force of Islam, and to carry on hostilities
'■'■'■ Washington Irving.
123
THE MOORISH WAR
with the utmost vigour. This was to be no mere
foray for plunder, no invasion only for the enlarge-
ment of their dominion, but a Holy Crusade against
the infidel, which could never cease until the kingdom
of the Moors was at an end, and the banner of the
Cross waved where now the Crescent flaunted in the
breeze.
This time King Fernando himself rode at the head
of his forces, and hastened to the relief of the be-
leagured city with so strong a force that once more
Muley-Abu-1-Hasan had to retreat to his capital. A
solemn entry of the city was made on May 14, when
the King rode through the streets with a splendid com-
pany of nobles and prelates, to dedicate this first-fruit
of conquest from the Moors, to the Christian service.
The three great mosques of Alhama were purified from
infidel use by a formal service, and then consecrated
to the Faith of the Cross by Cardinal de Mendoza.
Queen Isabel sent gilt crosses, costly chalices, and other
rich offerings, amongst them a sumptuous embroidered
altar-cloth for the church of Santa Maria de la Encar-
nacion, as one of the mosques was now called. In the
tower where for centuries the mueddin had wailed out
his summons to prayer, were now hung Christian bells,
duly baptized and named after saints, 'per cacciare il
diabolo," to drive away the evil spirit. After all these
ceremonies had been performed, Fernando strengthened
the garrison with fresh soldiers and a supply of provi-
sions, and set forth to enjoy himself in a foray through
the beautiful Vega, destroying everything before him,
burning the villages, cutting down the trees, rooting up
the vines, and trampling down the unripe corn. Leaving
desolation behind him, without having had a touch of
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THE MOORISH WAR
real warfare, he returned with complete satisfaction to
Cordova.
Meantime the Queen had been engaged in making
ready for a serious campaign. She sent messengers to
all the towns and cities of Andalusia, to Salamanca,
Toro and Valladolid, and to the Grand Masters of
Santiago, Calatrava and Alcantara, to send their " re-
partimiento," or allotment of provisions, their quota of
horsemen and men-at-arms, supplied with weapons and
artillery. As she had heard that the Moors were seeking
aid from the Barbary princes of Africa, she caused an
armada of ships and galleys to sweep the Mediterranean
as far as the Straits of Gibraltar, under the command
of her admirals.
It had been decided in a council of war that the city
of Loja, not far to the north of Alhama, and looked
upon as another key to the Moorish kingdom, should
be the next point of attack. Loja stands on the banks
of the Xenil, in a valley of oliveyards and vines, deeply
entrenched amid rugged hills and ravines, and defended
by a massive fortress with a strong garrison ; while the
river is only fordable in one place, and the solitary
bridge is commanded from the battlements. Slow pro-
gress had been made in collecting the necessary army,
but Fernando was impatient to have an opportunity of
distinguishing himself, and set out on July i with
an insufficient force largely composed of raw levies.
He was not a good general, and on this occasion com-
mitted the fatal mistake of despising his Moorish foes,
while trusting with arrogant conceit to the superior
vigour and courage of his own troops. Neglecting the
advice given him to throw bridges across the stream
lower down, and to attack from the other side, he sent
125
THE MOORISH WAR
a number of his most trusted leaders to seize the
Heights of Albohacen near the city, and place pieces
of ordnance there.
Now, the Alcayde of Loja was a certain old Moor, by
name Ali Atar, who " had grown grey in border war-
fare, was an implacable enemy of the Christians, and
his name had long been the terror of the frontier."
When he beheld the flower of Spanish chivalry
glittering on the height opposite, " By the aid of
Allah," said he, " I will give these pranking cavaliers
a rouse."
By means of an ambush and a feigned attack, the
wily old Alcayde took possession of the height and the
artillery, and defeated the Christians with great loss,
amongst the slain being the young Grand Master of
Calatrava. The next day a false alarm created a panic
in the Castilian camp, and a great number of the un-
trained soldiers fled in dismay ; whereupon the keen-
eyed Ali Atar swooped down with such vehemence as to
drive back the remnant of the King's army, cutting it
to pieces with his fiery charge, so that Fernando himself
was in great danger, and narrowly escaped with his
life. We are told that his personal courage and cool-
ness did much to save the defeat from becoming a total
rout. Still, the bitter fact remained that the flower of
Spanish chivalry was compelled to retreat before the
sword of the infidel, leaving behind great stores of
artillery and baggage. With a heavy heart King
Fernando returned to the palace of Cordova, his pride
humbled by the cruel humiliation of defeat by a foe
whom he had been disposed to treat with contempt. It
was a lesson which he never forgot, and the name of
Loja was one of evil memory until, after another and
126
THE MOORISH WAR
still more desperate siege, it fell into the hands of the
Christians in the spring of i486.
But in this darkest hour for the hopes of Castile,
when the Moors appeared to gain ground on every side,
and even the brave soul of Isabel could scarcely over-
come the rising gloom, events took place in Granada
itself which changed the whole outlook of the war.
l^^
CHAPTER IX
CIVIL WAR IN GRANADA— THE
CAPTURE OF BOABDIL
L' IRREMEDIABLE faiblesse de la race Arabe est dans
son manque absolu d'esprit politique, et dans son
incapacite de toute organisation. Anarchique ^par
nature I'Arabe est invincible dans la conquete, mais
impuissant le jour ou il s'agit de fonder une societe
durable." *
These words of Renan find a vivid illustration in the
internal condition of Granada, at the critical time when
all the strength of united Castile and Aragon arrayed
against her. In the introductory chapter on the Moors
in Spain, we have already traced the same story again
and again, in the rise and fall of a great house and a
splendid dynasty, which attained to supreme command
by the genius and valour of one man, and then fell to
pieces in ruin and bloodshed through the jealous feuds
of his successors. The undying curse which rests upon
despotic rule, combined with the inherent jealousies
arising from polygamy, is the fatal source of weakness
in all Eastern government. For the despot dare not
suffer a rival near the throne and where " Amurath an
- " M61anges," p. 283 (ed. 1878),
128
CIVIL WAR IN GRANADA
Amurath succeeds," the successful general who has
conquered kingdoms for his lord, the great statesman,
nay, his own next-of-kin if beloved of the people —
all become at once his dreaded foes to be trampled in
the dust.
The kingdom of Granada was torn asunder by
domestic discord. Muley-Abu-1-Hasan had taken as
his wife many years before, a Christian captive, Isabel
de Solis, daughter of the governor of Martos. Her
Moorish name,* Zoraya, " morning star," is said to have
been given her on account of her surpassing beauty.
She had a son Abu Abdallah, better known by the
name of Bo^dil, just grown up to splendid manhood,
who had always been looked upon as his father's heir
to the throne. But of late the old King appears to
have taken another beauty of the harem, Ayesha, as
his favourite v;^ife, and Zoraya, in her jealous fear that
her son might be ousted from his rightful position,
stirred up a revolt in the city with the help of her
powerful faction the Zegries (Thegrim, the people who
came from the province of Aragon). Her rival is said
to have been supported by the clan of the Abencerrages
(the Beni Cerraj, " children of the saddle "), between
whom and the Zegries there raged a deadly feud.
Tradition says that the Sultana was closely im-
prisoned within the walls of the Alhambra with her
son Boabdil, but that they contrived to make their
escape from the window of a tower overlooking the
Darro, and that the insurrection spread amongst the
fickle populace, who chose Boabdil as their king when
'•' Some writers — amongst others WashingtoH Irving and Lane
Poole — call Ayesha the mother of Boabdil, but we follow Martin
Hume as the latest and best authority.
129 I
CIVIL WAR IN GRANADA
his father was defeated at Alhama. " Allah Achbar ! "
"God is great!" exclaimed old Muley-Abu-1-Hasan ;
" it is vain to contend against what is written in the
Book of Fate. It was predestined that my son should
sit upon the throne. Allah forefend the rest of the
prediction ! " * alluding to the prophecy that under
his rule the kingdom of Granada should come to
an end.
But the sturdy old warrior was not one to give up his
throne without a desperate struggle. He retreated for
a time to Malaga, which with other important cities
was still faithful to him, while for a brief time Granada
and the larger part of the realm paid their uncertain
allegiance to his son, and they were both more keenly
in earnest about fighting each other than in making
common cause against their Christian foes. On one
occasion we are told that the fiery Abu-1-Hasan arrived
late one night at the gate of Granada with a company
of picked horsemen, who contrived to obtain entrance
within the city walls, scaled the fortress of the Alhambra
and without mercy slew all they came across. Then
he turned his rage against the defenceless inhabitants
and the streets ran with blood until, maddened with
despair, the people turned at bay and the old King
scarcely escaped with a remnant of his followers.
During the eventful summer of 1482 the Court of
Isabel remained at Cordova, but there were no more
serious military expeditions than constant forays on
the part of Christians and Moors, in which the fair
land on both sides of the frontier was devastated and
laid waste, and many thousand head of cattle were
carried off from their hapless owners. In July the
* Washington Irving.
130
\
/. Lacosle, phot.
Calhedral, Malaga
KING FERNANDO OK ARAGON
Carved Wcoden Statue
CIVIL WAR IN GRANADA
sovereigns heard of the death at Alcala de Henares of
theturbulent Archbishop of Toledo, Alfonso de Carillo ;
the man who had taken the chief part in raising Isabel
to the throne, and had then turned against her and
ended his days in sullen disgrace. The Cardinal of
Spain, Don Pedro Gonzalez de Mendoza, who suc-
ceeded him to the splendid archbishopric, was already
the trusted counsellor of Isabel, who had the greatest
confidence in his wisdom and justice. Well had it
been for Spain if his influence had continued to pre-
dominate rather than that of the zealot Torquemada.
It was not until late in October that the Spanish
Court moved from Cordova to Madrid and settled in
residence for the winter in the royal palace, the out-
post Alcazar of the Moors, to which King Enrique IV.
had made large additions. It stands to the west of
the city on a low sandy wind-blown hill overlooking
the river Manzanares, while to the north there rise
the snow^ peaks of the Sierras — a bleak inhospitable
spot whose chief attraction was probably the excellent
hunting of boars, wolves and bears within reach. Queen
Isabel had a great love for riding and hunting, and in
her days the country around Madrid was covered with
immense forests which gave cover to many wild
animals. We are told that once when she was hunt-
ing in the hills which overlook the Manzanares, she
killed a bear of great size and ferocity, and the first
impulse of her pious mind was to give San Isidro, the
patron saint of Madrid, all the credit for the fortunate
adventure, and in thanksgiving for it she built him a
new chapel near the church of San Andres.
We can hardly appreciate what the fierce wild joy
of the chase was in those bygone times when the
131
CIVIL WAR IN GRANADA
rough country often came close up to the walls of the
towns. As Michelet writes : "Toute la joiedu monde,
tout le sel de la vie, c'etait la chasse ; au matin lereveil
du cor, le jour la course au bois et la fatigue ; au soir,
le retour, le triomphe, quand le vainquer siegeait a la
longue table avec sa bande joyeuse."
Save for the opportunities of sport with such big
game, the palaces elsewhere, such as Valladolid,
Medina del Campo, and Segovia appear to have been
more popular as royal residences at this period.
During the brief respite from the Moorish war,
Fernando, as King of Sicily, had taken a keen interest
in the affairs of Italy, and his ambassador at the Papal
Court took part in the negotiations which Sixtus IV.
carried on so successfully. The practice of sending
an envoy in a dignified position to reside at a foreign
Court is said to have originated with this wily King,and
the old English " embassador " is derived by some
writers from the Spanish enibiar, to send. But the
attentions of the Catholic sovereigns were specially
directed towards Navarre, which was always a cause of
contention between France and Spain.
We have already seen how the unfortunate Blanche
of Navarre was done to death by her sister Leonore,
who herself died in 1479, leaving the kingdom to her
grandson Frangois Phoebus, whose mother Madeleine,
the sister of Louis XI., was Regent during his minority.
Gaston de Foix had been killed at a tournament in
1469, and must not be confused with the more famous
Gaston Phoebus de Foix, his ancestor, who lived a
hundred years before, and being called Phcebus,
either from his personal beauty or his love for the
chase (concerning which he wrote the great mediaeval
132
CIVIL WAR IN GRANADA
handbook), he took the sun for his device. Young
Francois is said to have inherited his personal beauty
and golden hair, as well as his flamboyant name.
Louis XI. is credited with having set on foot a dark
intrigue to marry this young nephew of his to the
Beltraneja, who had taken the veil some years before ;
but probably this crooked policy was merely a threat
to the Castailin rulers. When Fernando heard the
rumour, he immediately set to work at checkmaking
his rival, by offering the hand of his little daughter
Juana, who was scarcely more than three years old, to
the young King of Navarre. In these matrimonial
alliances, the age of the children in question was of
no account whatever. We cannot tell who would
have won the day, for both the arch-schemers were
defeated by the sudden death of the beautiful youth,
and poor Francois Phcebus was succeeded on the
throne of Navarre by his sister Catherine. Nothing
daunted, Fernando now suggested that the young
princess, who was just thirteen, should mari-y his son
Juan, the heir of Castile, aged four. The Regent Queen
Madeleine had certainly a good excuse for her refusal,
when she pleaded how unsuitable they were in point
of age.
Meantime Louis XL, who never trusted any one,
even his sister, was taking steps to secure a hold over
various strongholds in Navarre, and Fernando and
Isabel, ever on the alert, at once moved their Court to
the frontier town of Logroiio, on the river Ebro,
standing in the midst of a fertile plain enclosed by
hills, on the confines of Castile and Navarre. Here
they could keep watch over the contested province and
endeavour to counteract by force of arms any aggres-
133
CIVIL WAR IN GRANADA
sion on the part of the untrustworthy and perfidious
King of France. It was not until his death in August,
1483, that all fear with regard to the mountain king-
dom, which served as a shield between Spain and
France — and held the key of the Pyrenean passes — was
set at rest.
In the interval much had happened. The Moorish
war had been carried on fitfully with forays and skir-
mishings, until in the spring of 1483 a serious disaster
befell the chivalry of Andalusia. The Marquess of
Cadiz, the Grand Master of Santiago, and other great
warlike lords, wishing to retaliate on old Muley-
Abu-1-Hasan for a more audacious inroad than usual
into Christian territory, assembled in the ancient fron-
tier town of Antequera, once an important Roman
station. They held a council of war to decide upon
their point of attack, and on information received
from certain Moorish scouts, they resolved to invade
the mountainous region near Malaga, called the Axar-
quia. Here there were fertile valleys full of fiocks and
herds, many villages and outlying hamlets totally un-
protected, and if Malaga itself were unprepared for
their approach, it was even possible that they might
take it by assault. They would thus have the supreme
satisfaction of bearding the fierce old King Muley in
his den, for the Moors in their folly had now split up
their province under two sovereigns, Boabdil ruling
in Granada and the surrounding district, while his
father and his warrior brother — "El Zagal,"the Valiant
at Malaga.
It was a goodly sight to behold the gallant company
which set forth on that March day from the gates of
the old Moorish city. " Never was the pomp of war
134
CIVIL WAR IN GRANADA
carried to a higher pitch than among the proud
chivalry of Spain. Cased in armour, richly inlaid and
embossed, decked with rich surcoats and waving
plumes, and superbly mounted on Andalusian steeds,
they pranced out of Antequera, with banners flying,
their devices and armorial bearings ostentatiously dis-
played." ... So sure were they of victory that the
army was actually followed by traders, who proposed
to buy up the rich spoils of the enemy !
"They marched all day and night, making their way
secretly, as they supposed, through the passes of the
mountains. . . . Their path was often along the
bottom of a barranco, or deep rocky valley, with a
scanty stream dashing along it, among the loose rocks
and stones which it had broken and rolled down in
the time of its autumnal violence. Sometimes their
road was a mere rambla, or dry bed of a torrent, cut
deep into the mountains and filled with their shattered
fragments. These barrancas and ramblas were over-
hung by immense cliffs and precipices, forming lurking
places of ambuscades. . . .
" As the sun went down, the cavaliers came to a
lofty part of the mountains, commanding to their right
a distant glimpse of a part of the fair Vega of Malaga,
with the blue Mediterranean beyond, and they hailed
it with exultation as a glimpse of the promised land.
As the night closed in they reached the chain of little
valleys and hamlets, locked up among these rocky
heights, and known among the Moors by the name of
the Azarquia. Here their vaunting hopes were destined
to meet with the first disappointment. The inhabitants
had heard of their approach; they had conveyed away
their cattle and effects, and, with their wives and
135
CIVIL WAR IN GRANADA
children, had taken refuge in the towers and fortresses
of the mountains."
In their rage the soldiers set fire to the deserted
villages, and this was their undoing, as it showed their
position to the Moorish peasants, who had found
shelter in the watchtowers above. From the cliffs
which overhung the ravine, darts and stones were
hurled down upon them, amid the shouts of their
invisible foes, and in their ignorance of the wild
country, the unfortunate Christians plunged deeper
and deeper into still more dangerous glens and
defiles.
"The surrounding precipices were lit up by a
thousand alarm fires. . . . the mountaineers assem-
bled from every direction : they swarmed at every
pass. . . . garrisoning the cliffs like so many towers
and battlements. . . . Suddenly a new cry was
heard resounding along the valley, * El Zazal ! ' * El
Zazal !' echoed from cliff to cliff." It was indeed the
fierce old Moorish general, whose name alone was a
host in itself. The Master of Santiago made a desperate
effort to collect his scattered followers, and at least
die fighting. " Horse and foot followed his example,
eager, if they could not escape, to have a dying blow
at the enemy. As they struggled up the height, a
tremendous storm of darts and stones was showered
upon them by the Moors. Sometimes a fragment of
rock came bounding and thundering down, ploughing
its way through the centre of their host. . . . the horses
losing their footing among the loose stones, or re-
ceiving some sudden wound, tumbled down the steep
declivity, steed and rider rolling from crag to crag,
until they were dashed to pieces in the valley. In this
136
CIVIL WAR IN GRANADA
desperate struggle, the alferez or standard-bearer of
the Master, with his standard, was lost, as were many
of his relations and dearest friends, having neither
banner nor trumpet by which to rally his troops."*
. . . The Grand Master was at last induced to see
that hope was at an end, and with bitter reluctance
was persuaded to save his life by flight.
" The moment the Master put his horse to speed, his
troops scattered in all directions, some endeavoured to
follow in his traces but were confounded by the intri-
cacies of the mountains. They fied hither and thither,
many perishing amidst the precipices, others being
slain by the Moors, and others made prisoners." The
gallant Marquess of Cadiz and Don Alonzo de Aguilar,
with the other divisions of the ill-fated army, met with
no better success. They too were overwhelmed by
their foes from the vantage-ground of the steep cliffs,
and only a forlorn and scattered remnant ever reached
the gates of Antequera. Of the remainder " some were
thrown into the dungeons of frontier towns ; others led
captive to Granada, but by far the greater number were
conducted to Malaga, the city they had threatened to
attack. Two hundred and fifty principal cavaliers,
alcaydes, commanders and hidalgoes,of generous blood,
were confined in the Alcazaba or citadel of Malaga,
to await their ransom ; and . . . the common soldiery
were crowded in the courtyard to be sold as slaves."*
" Great spoils were collected of splendid armour and
weapons taken from the slain or thrown away by the
cavaliers in their flight ; and many horses richly capa-
risoned, together with numerous standards ; all which
were paraded in triumph into the Moorish towns. The
' Washington Irving.
137
CIVIL WAR IN GRANADA
merchants also who had come with the army, intend-
ing to traffic in the spoils of the Moors, were themselves
made objects of traffic," and had to purchase their
freedom at a grievous cost.
This terrible disaster is still recorded in Spanish
calendars as "The Defeat of the Mountains of Malaga,"
and the place where the greatest slaughter took place is
pointed out as " La cuesta de lamatanza."
This was the tidings which reached the Catholic
sovereigns far away in the north, and filled all Andalusia
with horror and consternation, and a burning desire for
vengeance. Meantime Abu Abdallah, " Boabdil," at
Granada, heard with secret envy of the triumphant
success of his father and El Zagal, whose praises filled
the city, while his subjects looked with discontented
eyes at his peaceful pomp and luxury. He saw that
immediate stirring action was absolutely necessary if
he wished to remain King of Granada ; even a brief
delay might find Muley-Abu-1-Hassan recalled, and
prison or a dagger for himself. He was not wanting in
courage, and his ambition now was to do some great
deed of arms which would win glory and renown far
beyond that of El Zagal.
All the chivalry of Granada was eager to follow him,
and welcomed his summons with enthusiasm, while
Boabdil was wise enough to strengthen his army with
the veteran soldiers who served old Ali Atar, the brave
defender of Loja, who was specially bound to him as
being the father of his young wife. This fiery warrior,
to whom fighting was the very salt of life, was keenly
eager to invade the Christian frontier, and he pointed
out that the town of Lucena had no strong garrison
and was in the midst of fertile pasturage, rich in cattle,
138
CIVIL WAR IN GRANADA
with fair vineyards and olive gardens, and within easy
reach of the capital.
" Boabdil el Chico listened to. . . . this veteran of
the borders. He assembled a force of nine thousand
foot and seven hundred horse. . . . the most illustrious
and valiant of the Moorish nobility gathered round his
standard, magnificently arrayed in sumptuous armour
and rich embroidery. ... As the royal cavalcade
issued from the palace and descended through the
streets of Granada, the populace greeted him with
shouts. . . . but in passing through the gate of Elvira,
the King accidentally broke his lance against the arch.
At this certain of his nobles turned pale and entreated
of him not to proceed, as they regarded it as an evil
omen. Boabdil scoffed at their fears. . . . but another
evil omen was sent. ... At the rambla of Beyro,
scarcely a bowshot from the city, a fox ran through the
whole army. . . . and escaped to the mountains. . . .
The King, however, was not to be dismayed, and con-
tinued to march forward."*
Cautious as was the advance of the Moorish army,
news had reached the governor of Lucena, Don Diego
Fernandez de Cordova, " alcayde de los donzeles,"
captain of the royal pages. In all haste he caused
alarm fires to be lighted, and sent word to his uncle,
the Conde de Cabra, alcayde of the castle-crowned
city of Baena, which was not far distant, although a
rude mountain region lies between. Don Diego also
lost no time in waiting for help, but set to work at his
fortifications which needed repair, laid up provisions
and made ready for defence, first gathering within his
walls the women and children from the near hamlets.
'■'■^Washington Irving.
139
CIVIL WAR IN GRANADA
At dawn the next morning Don Diego saw from afar
the approach of the Moorish army, devastating the
country, but it was evidently bent on a marauding foray
in the rich lands towards Cordova, before the alarm
should be given to the peasants and the flocks and herds
driven into safety.
The Conde de Cabra on receiving his nephew's
urgent message had lost no time, but set forth with
all the retainers and men-at-arms he could muster,
having sent couriers to the neighbouring towns and
caused signal fires to be lighted in all directions. By
the time he arrived within sight of Lucena, the Moors,
laden with spoil, were preparing to lay siege to the
city, and taken by surprise, supposed the relieving army
to be come in great force, as it was partly hidden by the
hilly ground and the misty atmosphere. At the same
time Don Diego made a sortie from the city, and the
rank and file of the soldiers from Granada, only intent
on saving their precious booty, hastily began a cowardly
retreat, leaving the brunt of the battle to the horsemen.
All this had taken time, for the Conde de Cabra, ex-
pecting reinforcements, had played a waiting game and
drawn back to the higher ground as if in retreat, only
to rush forward with tremendous impetus shouting the
battle-cry of " Santiago ! "
At this moment an Italian trumpet sounded on the
opposite side from a copse of oak trees, and old Ali
Atar exclaimed : " The whole world seems in arms
against us ! " It was in fact only the alcayde of Luque
with a small force, but it seemed to the enemy that they
were closed in between two armies. Gallantly as the
Moorish knights had fought, this was too mnch for
them, and they began to give way with the feeling of
140
CIVIL WAR IN GRANADA
such immense odds against them, and retreated fighting
with desperate courage. Many times they turned upon
their pursuers, but the Christian leader kept his battahon
in splendid order with a body of picked lances always
in front ; skirmishing was in vain against the solid
phalanx of steel which faced them, and again the
Moors fled.
The way was strewn with the flower of the King's
guard, until at length they were driven back as far as
the little river Mingozalez, swollen by rain and now a
rushing torrent. Here Boabdil made a bold stand with a
few of his most devoted cavaliers, fighting hand to
hand with the Castilian knights, scorning to yield or
ask for quarter, and soon the ground was covered with
wounded and dead. The King's faithful guard closed
in around him to cover his retreat, and, having dis-
mounted from his horse, he tried to hide amongst the
willows and tamarisk on the bank. But here he was
discovered by a soldier who attacked him with a pike ;
and, as he sought to defend himself, others joined in,
when to save his life, Boabdil offered a large ransom and
expressed himself willing to surrender to their general.
Don Diego behaved with knightly courtesy and sent
him under a guard of soldiers to the castle of Lucena,
but the accounts differ as to whether the alcayde
merely took him at the time for a man of high rank.
All that day the Castilian army continued the fierce
pursuit, which was a constant danger, for if the enemy
had turned to bay they might easily have overmastered
their pursuers. The retreat was along the valley of the
Xenil, opening through the mountains towards Loja,
and the alarm fires had so roused the country that
armed men kept pouring in from the towns and villages,
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CIVIL WAR IN GRANADA
and this kept up the panic. Don Alonzo de Aguilar,
with a band of companions who had been in the rout
of the Axarquia, were amongst those who joined
in the pm'suit and their war-cry was " Remember the
mountains of Malaga ! " as they made a desperate
charge on the retreating Moors. Old Ali Atar heard
the cry and spurred his horse to meet the new foe ; he
rushed at him hurling his lance, but missed his aim,
and in the fierce struggle which followed, the veteran
warrior was killed and his body washed away by the
waters of the Xenil.
Well for him that he escaped the knowledge of his
country's shame that day.
The fall of Ali Atarwas the last and most crushing blow
to the Moors, who lost all heart and struggled no more
against the decree of fate. Nearly the whole of that
gallant army, which had sallied from thewalls of Granada
full of hope and valour, had perished by the waters of
the Xenil or fallen captives in the hands of the enemy.
The Christians were full of triumph and exultation,
for within one brief month the humiliation of their
rout in the mountains of Malaga had been blotted out.
Once more the chivalry of Andalusia could face the
world with pride and honour. But this battle of Lucena
had other and more far-reaching consequences. When
the Conde de Cabra found that his prisoner was no
other than the King of Granada, he realised the im-
portance of his prize, and at once sent urgent messages
to his sovereigns, who were still in the north at Vitoria,
a mediaeval city on the frontier of Navarre.
Fernando at once hastened southward to secure the
greatest fruit from the important capture of Boabdil, a
matter of diplomacy such as his soul loved. A council
142
CIVIL WAR IN GRANADA
of war was held at Cordova, and there was much
difference of opinion ; some counsellors suggesting
that the Moorish prince should be kept in captivity.
as his loss would be so great to his party that the final
conquest of the kingdom would be rendered easy.
On the other hand, both Cardinal Mendoza and the
Marquess of Cadiz strongly advised that he should
not only be released and become a vassal of Castile,
but that he should be supplied with men and money to
promote the civil war in Granada, as this would do
more for the interest of the Christians than all their
conquests. "A kingdom divided against itself cannot
stand."
The astute King had probably made up his own mind
on the subject, but he sent an envoy to state all the
arguments to Queen Isabel, and ask her opinion on
the weighty question. Her answer was prompt and
decisive ; she advised that the King of Granada be set
at liberty without delay. Naturally of a generous dis-
position, she always inclined to the magnanimous view
of a subject, while at the same time her judgment was
shrewd and far-reaching. Thus the matter was de-
cided, but there were many preliminaries to be
arranged. Boabdil was ready to promise anything
to regain his freedom, and the following humiliating
terms were at length agreed upon : The Moorish
King was to pay all arrears of the tribute, which was
fixed at twelve thousand doblas of gold annually, and
he was to surrender four hundred Christian captives
without ransom. He was to become a faithful vassal
of the Christian sovereigns, to suffer their troops to
pass through his land and furnish them with pro-
visions ; he was to attend the Cortes when summoned,
143
CIVIL WAR IN GRANADA
and to give his only son as hostage with several other
noble youths.
There was to be a truce for two years, during which
time the Christian sovereigns would help Boabdil to
recover the rest of his kingdom, now in the possession
of his father Muley-Abu-1-Hasan.
Having thus sold his country and his honour as the
price of his liberty, the wretched Abu Abdallah el
Chico was received with great ceremony at Cordova
by King Fernando, loaded with costly presents and
conducted in state to the frontier by a guard of
Andalusian cavalry.
144
CHAPTER X
"REMEMBER THE MOUNTAINS OF
MALAGA." SUCCESS OF THE
SPANISH ARTILLERY
On the watch-towers of Granada anxious vigil was
kept on the night of that 21st day of April, in the year
1483. The city was full of restless eagerness and a
hungry longing for news of battle, as there was
scarcely a household from which one or more mem-
bers had not gone forth to the attack on Lucena.
"The people looked to behold the King returning in
triumph, at the head of his shining host, laden with
the spoil of the unbeliever." * But on the morrow,
when the messenger entered the gate of Granada,
their hearts were filled with foreboding. " Cavalier,"
said they, " how fares it with the King and the
army ? " He cast his hand mournfully towards the
land of the Christians. "There they lie !" exclaimed
he, "the heavens have fallen upon them ! All are
lost ! All are lost ! "
The voice of horror and lamentation went through
the city. From the highest to the lowest all mourned
some dearly-loved one. In the towers of the Alhambra
-^ Washington Irving.
145 K
"REMEMBER THE
the Sultana Zoraya learnt that her hopes were crushed
and her son had fallen in battle, while Boabdil's young
wife Morayma bewailed in that dark hour the loss of
her gallant father Ali Atar and her husband.
" All Granada," say the Arabian chroniclers, " gave
itself up to lamentations ; there was nothing but the
voice of wailing from the palace to the cottage. All
joined to deplore their youthful monarch, cut down
in the freshness and promise of his youth. Many
feared that the prediction of the astrologer was about
to be fulfilled, and that the downfall of the kingdom
would follow the death of Boabdil, while all declared
that, had he survived, he was the very sovereign calcu-
lated to restore the realm to its ancient prosperity and
glory."
As the fugitives made their way home, a downcast,
scattered remnant, the truth became known. The
young King, whose untimely loss was thus mourned
had not fallen in battle but had surrendered to the
Christian foe, and the feelings of his subjects entirely
changed. "They decried his talents as a commander,
his courage as a soldier. They railed at his expedi-
tion, as rash and ill-conducted, and they reviled him
for not having dared to die on the field of battle."
In a moment old Muley-Abu-1-Hasan became the
hero ; he alone should be their King, and the fickle
populace threw open their gates to receive him. He
took triumphant possession of the Alhambra, for the
Sultana Zoraya and the partisans of her son had
retreated to the other citadel, the Alcazaba, in the
Albaycin quarter of the city. As the captivity of
Boabdil still lasted, so the power of his father grew,
for one town after another returned to his allegiance.
146
MOUNTAINS OF MALAGA"
WTien the unfortunate King was set at liberty by the
Christian sovereigns, his troubles were only beginning,
for he had to creep back to his capital in secret and
enter its walls by stealth. With two kings in the dis-
tracted city a time of horror and anarchy followed,
until the people could endure it no longer, and
Boabdil was compelled to retreat to Almeria, on the
sea coast, the " Portus Magnus " of the Romans, but
under the Moorish rule a pirate port of evil repute.
Yet, as the Arab poet sung, " It was a city where, if
thou walkest, the stones are pearls, the dust gold, and
the gardens a paradise,'' as they still continue in their
luxuriant growth of the fig-tree, the orange, the lemon
and even fields of maize and sugar-canes.
The fiery old king, Muley-Abu-1-Hasan, was thus left
in sole possession of Granada, but long experience
had taught him not to put much trust in his present
popularity. He knew well that a successful foray into
the land of the unbeliever would do more to strengthen
his cause than anything else, and that, in his position,
constant fighting was an absolute necessity. With the
keen eye of a warrior veteran he looked around for a
promising foray and a leader.
His choice fell upon a certain Bexir, the alcayde of
Malaga, who had grown grey in border warfare. This
grim old Moor welcomed with enthusiasm the call to
arms, and sent a summons round to the commanders
of the neighbouring frontier towns to meet him with
their picked troops at the city of Ronda, on the very
edge of the frontier. This mountain stronghold was
a very nest of organised brigands, the most fierce and
daring of the hill people, to whom a plundering
inroad into Christian territory had ever been the aim
147
"REMEMBER THE
and joy of life from their childhood. The alcayde of
this impregnable rock-girt city was worthy of his post
Hamet el Zegri, a great fighter who kept in his own
service a legion of African Moors of the tribe of the
Gomeres, who formed a band of mountain cavalry
perhaps unmatched in the world for strength and
speed. " Rapid on the march, fierce in the attack, it
would sweep down upon the Andalusian plains like a
sudden blast from the mountains and pass away as
suddenly, before there was time for pursuit."
The gallant Bexir looked with pride on the splendid
war material so quickly and secretly gathered together
from all the neighbourhood, and " the infidel host
sallied forth full of spirits, anticipating an easy ravage
and abundant booty." Some of the Moorish knights
even wore, in mockery and defiance, the splendid
armour of the Christian cavaliers slain not long since
on those fatal mountains of Malaga.
But history has a way of repeating itself when men
commit the same mistakes and are vain-glorious and
over-confident. They trusted to secrecy, but the most
wary leader is never safe from discovery ; some vaga-
bond scouts got wind of the expedition and the
Christian governors of the neighbourhood were all
warned. Meantime the Moorish chief crossed the
rugged mountains, the Serrania de Ronda, guided by
Hamet el Zegri, who was familiar with every pass and
defile, and when they reached the rocky height from
whence the smiling plains of Andalusia were out-
spread before them, Bexir made his usual crafty
manoeuvre. He divided his host into three parts,
leaving the foot soldiers to guard the pass, placing a
strong ambush on the wooded banks of the river
MOUNTAINS OF MALAGA"
Lopera, while the main body of hardy cavalry dashed
forward to ravage the great plain, full of flocks and
herds.
They little knew that the alarm had already spread
through all the country round, and that the border
captains of the Santa Hermandad, knights of Alcantara,
Puerto Carrero of Ecija, and above all the formidable
Marquess of Cadiz, were already out on the warpath.
" Remember the mountains of Malaga " should
have been their watchword on that fatal day ! Again
it was the old story of invaders scattered over the plain,
of well-laid ambush, of fierce and sudden attack, and
headlong flight through the steep narrow mountain
defiles, where a few soldiers well placed were a match
for an army in disorder. This time the fortune of war
was on the side of the Christians, for they had know-
ledge of the enemy's position and were masters of the
situation. The unfortunate Moors, though taken by
surprise in every way, fought with desperate fury and
sold their lives dearly ; while a scattered remnant
reached the pass guarded by their own men, who
" seeing them come galloping wildly up the defile with
Christian banners in pursuit, thought all Andalusia
was upon them and fled without awaiting an attack."
The pursuit was terrible, for a fresh storm of war
seemed to break upon them every side, and lasted until
night fell.
The Moorish army had sallied forth from Ronda
full of hope and exultation, but it was a sad and
heart-broken band which crept back, bringing tidings
of death and disaster. The flower of Moorish chivalry
had fallen that day, the garrisons of all the neighbour-
ing towns were half-destroyed, and the pride of Islam
149
"REMEMBER THE
was laid low in the dust. This battle of Lopera was
fought on September 17, 1483. The news reached the
Christian sovereigns in the north at Vitoria, whence
they were on the point of removing their Court, as
they had just heard of the death of their old enemy
Louis XI. on August 30, 1483, and it was no longer
necessary for them to keep watch and ward over the
frontier of Navarre.
We next hear of Fernando and Isabel in the Alcazar,
the Moorish palace of Cordova, where they had the
pleasing task of heaping honours and rewards on the
gallant cavaliers who had fought so well against the
Moors. The Marquess of Cadiz received from the
King the royal robes which he had worn on the day
of rejoicing over the battle of Lopera, with the privilege
for him and his heirs of wearing them on our Lady's
day in September, to commemorate the victory. Queen
Isabel did the same with regard to the wife of Puerto
Carrero, sending her the brocaded robe which she had
worn that day.
But the highest honours were reserved for the Conde
de Cabra, and his nephew Don Diego, the Alcayde de
los Donzeles, who had taken captive the King of
Granada. The count was met at the gate of the city
by a company of prelates and grandees of the realm,
and he rode through the streets at the right hand of
the Cardinal Mendoza, in stately procession with
martial music and the blast of trumpets, and the
acclamations of the people. He was received by the
sovereigns in the Hall of Audience, and they came
forward to meet him with cordial greetings, and bid
him be seated in their presence. " The conqueror
of kings should sit with kings." After this there
ISO
MOUNTAINS OF MALAGA"
was festive music and a stately dance, and the Conde
de Cabra was dismissed with many expressions of
regard.
A few days later, the young Alcayde de los Donzeles
was also received with great honours but somewhat
less in degree. A great feast was held at the Court
when there was a stately and ceremonious dance. On
this occasion, we are told, " the King led forth the
Queen in grave and graceful measure : the Conde de
Cabra was honoured with the hand of the Infanta
Isabel, and the Alcayde de los Donzeles danced with a
lady of high rank.- The dance being concluded, the
royal party repaired to the supper table . . . here in
full view of the Court, the Conde de Cabra and his
nephew supped at the same table with the King, the
Queen, and the Infanta . . ."
When we consider the stately etiquette of the Spanish
Court, we see in these gracious marks of royal favour
the winning condescension of Queen Isabel, who with
her marvellous instinct seemed to know exactly how
best to win the hearts of her subjects. She next
bestowed on these fortunate nobles as armorial
bearings, a Moor's head crowned with a gold chain
round the neck, in a sanguine field, and twenty-two
banners round the margin of the escutcheon. They
also received the more substantial reward of a large
revenue for life.
During the next few years no very decisive event
occurred in the Moorish war, although in effect the
Christians were gradually narrowing the circle which
they had drawn round the doomed province. One
fortress after another was taken, but the war was chiefly
carried on by a series of destructive forays, in which
151
^'REMEMBER THE
the unfortunate land was ravaged and laid desolate.
We read of the invading host " sweeping away the
flocks and herds from the pasture, the labourer from
the field, and the convoy from the road . . . leaving
the rich land of the infidel in smoking desolation
behind them. . . . destroying all the cornfields, vine-
yards and orchards, and plantations of olives . . .
laying waste the growth of almonds, and the fields of
grain, and destroying every green thing. It pursued
its slow and destructive course, like the stream of lava
from a volcano . . . leaving all these fertile regions a
smoking and frightful desert."
The farmhouses, the granaries, and all the Httle mills
by the riverside were ruthlessly demolished, and when
we remember that beside this merciless devastation, the
fleet on the Mediterranean cut off all supplies from
the coast of Barbary, we can only wonder how any
remnant of the wretched peasantry survived.
The strength of the Moors lay chiefly in the number
of their fortified places which stood on the crest of
some precipice or mountain height, for it had ever
been their custom to build on high places. These
strongholds were in many cases absolutely impregnable
to any form of assault which could be brought to bear
upon them before the fifteenth century, and thus a
small determined garrison could defy an army, until
reduced by the slow process of famine. In this early
stage of the war, Fernando and Isabel clearly saw that
the war would be chiefly one of sieges, and that for this
purpose it was needful for them to obtain a supply of
the best artillery which the world could produce. It
will be interesting to consider what this amounted to in
the fifteenth century.
152
MOUNTAINS OF MALAGA"
Cannon balls propelled by gunpowder had been
known in the East from very early times, and the Moors,
always in advance of Europe, had certainly made use
of artillery during their early wars in Spain. But they
appear to have made no great progress since the twelfth
century. We are told that Edward I. at the siege of
Stirling used an "engine-a-virge " which threw stones
of three hundred pounds weight, and Edward III. seems
to have surprised the French by using cannon at the
Battle of Cregy. In Italy, Petrarch, writing in 1358,
describes cannon as " no longer rare or viewed with
astonishment and admiration."
Gibbon gives a minute description of the great cannon
used at the siege of Constantinople in 1453 — a year after
the birth of Fernando of Aragon, which event in the
eyes of monkish chroniclers, almost redeemed that
great disaster to the Christian world.
Mohammed II. asked his foreign artisan : "Am I able
to cast a cannon capable of throwing a ball of sufficient
size to batter the walls of Constantinople ? " "I am
ignorant of their strength ; but were they more solid
than those of Babylon I could oppose an engine of
superior power." On this assurance a foundry was
established at Adrianople ; the metal was prepared, and
at the end of three months Urban produced a piece of
brass ordnance of stupendous and almost incredible
magnitude ; a measure of twelve palms is assigned to
the bore, and the stone bullet weighed above six hundred
pounds. . . . For the conveyance of this destructive
engine, a carriage of thirty waggons was linked together,
and drawn along by a team of thirty oxen ; two hundred
men on both sides were stationed to poise and support
the rolling weight ; two hundred and fifty workmen
153
''REMEMBER THE
walked before to smooth the way and repair the
bridges, and near two months were employed in a labo-
rious journey of one hundred and fifty miles." "The
great cannon could be loaded and fired no more than
seven times in one day. The heated metal unfortunately
burst. . . ." as was so often the case with these engines
of destruction, making them quite as much a terror to
the attackers as the attacked.
We have a formidable list of " bum.bardos, canones,
culverynes, fowelers, serpentynes et alios canones quos-
cumque. . . ." The "bombards" were made of iron
bars fitted together lengthways and hooped with iron
bars, and usually cast stone balls ; they were firmly
fixed on their carriage, and had neither horizontal nor
vertical movement. We cannot wonder that Machia-
velli some years later doubts their use in battle, and
advises that the enemy's fire should be avoided by
"intervals in the ranks being left open opposite to his
cannon."
Queen Isabel appears to have taken the lead in the
important matter of providing the best artillery with
the help of a great expert, Francisco Ramirez. She sent
agents to collect skilled artisans from Flanders, Italy
and France ; she obtained all the requisite material
and set up forges to carry out everything that the
highest military science of her day could suggest. But
when these clumsy cannons were ready for use, there
remained the extraordinary difficulty of transport, often
through rugged passes hard to climb on foot. " An
immense body of pioneers was constantly employed in
constructing roads for the artillery across the sierras,
by levelling the mountains, filling up the intervening
valleys with rocks or with cork-trees and other timber
^54
MOUNTAINS OF MALAGA"
. . . and throwing bridges across the torrents and pre-
cipitous ' barrancos.' "
The same minute and diHgent care which was be-
stowed upon the artillery was turned to the other
branches of military science. It was an immense work,
for the army assembled at Cordova we find stated at
the lowest estimate to be often ten thousand horse and
twenty thousand foot. Then we have to consider the
needful supplies for this host, the beasts of burden for
carrying provisions through a country laid waste and
desolate, and for providing food to the conquered cities
and fortresses. We are told that the Queen took a
great share of this burden upon herself, that she moved
from one frontier town to another, receiving constant
intelligence from the seat of war, and sending well
protected convoys wherever they were needed. To her
womanly compassion for the sick and wounded we owe
the first recognised camp hospital, for she had a certain
number of tents set apart for their use and supplied with
all necessary attendance and materials.
The whole heart of Isabel was in this war for the
Faith, and she succeeded in infusing somewhat of her
own spirit into her people, but the hopes and aims of
Fernando were for a long time only those of Aragon ;
and even in 1484, when the sovereigns were so deeply
committed to the war with the Moors, the King's
strongest desire was to take advantage of the death of
Louis XI. and turn his forces to the conquest of Rous-
sillon. It was only the unswerving determination and
energy of Isabel which at last overcame his wavering
desires, and induced him to postpone his ambitious
designs in France and Italy.
We cannot dwell upon all the changing fortunes of
155
"REMEMBER THE
that long guerilla warfare, but a few more striking
events stand out in prominence. Before the end of
1483, the gallant Marquess of Cadiz, who had already
so greatly distinguished himself in the war, was for-
tunate enough to take by surprise the famous mountain
stronghold of Zahara ; the first town which the Moors
had defiantly taken at the very opening of the cam-
paign. The Marquess had no means of carrying on a
long siege, and was glad to offer the brave defenders
most favourable terms. They were allowed to march
out of the city with all the goods they could carry, and
were permitted to cross over in safety to Barbary. The
Catholic sovereigns heard of this conquest with great
satisfaction, and bestowed upon the brave cavalier the
title of the Duke of Cadiz and Marquess of Zahara ;
but he preferred to be known as Marquess Duke of
Cadiz.
King Fernando himself took the field in June 1483,
and with his new lombards and heavy artillery gained
by assault the fortresses of Aloraand Setenil, which had
been considered impregnable ; he also spread ravage
and destruction through the southern chain of valleys,
even burning villages and destroying the riverside mills
close to the very city of Granada. After visiting the
various garrisons of the cities taken from the Moors,
and seeing that they were well supplied with provi-
sions, he returned in triumph to Cordova, with his
splendid bodyguard of cavaliers whose equipment
looked rather like that of knights bound for a tourney
than engaged in serious warfare.
Meantime, of the two Kings of Granada, old Muley-
Abu-1-Hasan remained in the capital, his fierce spirit
broken by the infirmities of age and increasing blind-
156
MOUNTAINS OF MALAGA"
ness, while the real sovereignty was in the hands of his
brother Abdallah el Zagal, "the Valiant," who had
shown his mettle in the unforgotten defeat of the
Christian chivalry in the mountains of Malaga.
Boabdil, the renegade King who was in the pay of
Fernando, kept up a poor pretence of state in the
sea-coast town of Almeria, hoping against hope that
the fickle citizens of Granada would summon him
back to reign in 'lovely courts of the Alhambra. But
one day in February in the year 1485 he was startled
from his dream of security and empire ; a hurried
warning reached him that his uncle, the fierce old El
Zagal, his deadly foe, was at the gates, and he had
barely time to escape the massacre which fell upon his
followers and his kinsmen. The wretched fugitive was
friendless and homeless ; his subjects had been taught
to look upon him as an apostate and a traitor, and in
his mad despair he turned towards Cordova and sought
a refuge with the enemies of his country and his faith.
It was a fatal step, as it alienated from him the last
sympathy of his race, and made El Zagal henceforth
the real King of Granada.
The most important event of the campaign in this
year, 1485, was the siege of Ronda, which was led up
to by the taking of various strong towns and fortresses
in the valleys of Santa Maria and Cartama. Bene-
maquex. Coin and Cartama were taken by means of
the new and powerful artillery of King Fernando, and
the inhabitants were put to the sword or carried into
captivity ; where the fortifications could not be de-
fended by a small garrison, they were demolished, and
these successes so terrified the Moors that in many
157
** REMEMBER THE
cases they abandoned the neighbouring towns and
fled with their goods to the capital.
Ronda, which had for its alcayde the indomitable
Hamet el Zegri, had always hitherto been looked upon
as impregnable. " It was situate in the heart of the
wild and rugged mountains, and perched upon an
isolated rock, crested by a strong citadel, with triple
walls and towers. A deep ravine, or rather a perpen-
dicular chasm of rocks of frightful depth, surrounded
three parts of the city ; through this flowed the Rio
Verde, or Green River. There were two suburbs to
the city fortified by walls and towers, and almost
inaccessible from the natural asperity of the rocks.
Around this rugged city were deep rich valleys,
sheltered by the mountains, refreshed by constant
streams, abounding with grain and the most delicious
fruits and yielding verdant meadows ; in which was
reared a renowned breed of horses, the best in the
whole kingdom for a foray."* It was known that the
Christians had been bent on the attack of Malaga, and
the Alcayde of Ronda, deeming his city secure, had
gone forth on a foray. He was returning laden with
spoil when he saw that the unexpected had happened;
that the besiegers had brought their batteries in posi-
tion against the walls, and that the King himself, with
his royal standard floating in the wind, was encamped
before the beleaguered city. Mad with rage, Hamet
el Zegri poured down with his Gomeres upon the
enemy's camp, only to be driven back with terrible
slaughter, and he was driven to watch from the cliffs
above the downfall of his beloved stronghold. "He
smote his breast and gnashed his teeth in impotent
* Washington Irving.
158
MOUNTAINS OF MALAGA"
fury .... every thunder of the Christian ordnance
seemed to batter against his heart. He saw tower
after tower tumbling by day, and at night the city
blazed Hke a volcano. 'They fire not merely stones
from their cannon, but likewise great balls of iron,
cast in moulds which demolished everything they
struck.' They threw also balls of tow, steeped in
pitch and oil and gunpowder, which .... set the
houses in flames."
When all hope of help was given up, the inhabitants
were driven to yield ; but they received very merciful
terms, for they were allowed to depart with their
property, and those who wished to remain in Spain
had lands given them, and were suffered to enjoy the
free use of their religion. All the captives in the
dungeons were released and sent to Queen Isabel at
Cordova, where she received them with great kindness.
She caused their chains to be hung outside her beauti-
ful votive church of San Juan de los Reyes at Toledo,
where they may be seen to this day.
The news of the fall of Ronda was received with
dismay at Granada, and there was an outrry through
the city that nothing could save them from the Chris-
tians unless the valiant El Zagal were their sole King,
and old Muley-Abu-1-Hasan and Boabdil were both
deposed. A message was sent to the old warrior at
Malaga, and he set out at once for his capital with
a company of three hundred cavaliers. On his way
across the rugged hill country he had the supreme
satisfaction of taking by surprise a company of knights
of Calatrava, who were carelessly resting after a foray.
" He entered Granada in a sort of triumph. The
eleven knights of Calatrava walked in front. Next
159
"THE MOUNTAINS OF MALAGA"
were paraded the ninety captured steeds bearing the
armour and weapons of their late owners, and mounted
by as many Moors. Then came seventy Moorish
horsemen, with as many Christian heads hanging at
their saddle-bows. Muley Abdallah el Zagel followed,
surrounded by a number of distinguished cavaliers,
richly attired ; and the pageant was closed by a long
cavalcade of the flocks and herds and other booty
recovered from the Christians."
Thus did El Zagal make his triumphant entry into
Granada, and was proclaimed King amid the rejoicings
of the populace, who saw in his late success an omen
of coming good fortune.
1 60
CHAPTER XI
QUEEN ISABEL TAKES THE FIELD,
A WAR OF SIEGES
It was late in the month of August 1485, when Queen
Isabel, in her desire to be in close touch with the seat
of war, set forth from Cordova with her daughter the
Infanta Isabel, who was now fifteen, of an age to be a
companion to her, her son Juan, a boy of seven, and
his little sisters Maria and Juana, with a stately retinue
and her special adviser the Cardinal Mendoza. Their
road lay through wild scenery ; villages perched on
high like eagles' nests, and mountains studded with
watch-towers, while at the end of the day's journey
they reached the ancient town of Baena on a lofty hill
girdled by massive walls and ramparts. In this strong-
hold Isabel would be near at hand to give help and
counsel, for the next attack was to be on the fortress of
Moclin, at no very great distance. The coming of the
Queen always put new life and vigour into the war,
and her host, the Conde de Cabra, was burning to
distinguish himself again, and before her very eyes.
With full instructions from the King, who was at
Alcala la Real, he set out at midnight with his troops,
when a scout brought word that El Zagal had
161 L
ISABEL TAKES THE FIELD
sallied forth from Granada, and had encamped near
Modin.
A sudden wild idea took possession of De Cabra ; he
had already taken one king of Granada prisoner, when
Boabdil fell into his hands ; why should he not take
another ? What a prize to offer his royal lady ! The
King's commands and all else were forgotten ; in eager
haste he pushed forward to swoop down on his prey,
and had reached the bottom of a deep glen when the
war-cry of the Moors rose above him ; his troops were
soon hemmed in and a scattered remnant barely escaped
by flight with terrible loss ; indeed only the arrival of
the Bishop of Jaen and the Master of Calatrava with
an armed force saved his men from complete
destruction.
Instead of a royal gift, the unfortunate Conde de
Cabra had brought the Queen only dismay and trouble ;
but with her usual generosity she would not hear a
word against him, " The Conde may have been rash,
but had his rashness succeeded as in the case of
Boabdil, it would have been praised as the highest
heroism."
Fernando heard of the disaster when he was within
a few leagues of Moclin and held a council of war to
decide on the next move. But the wily old Bishop of
Jaen had plans of his own for the good of his diocese,
and he hurried on to Baena to win the Queen's assent.
He pointed out to her that his domain had long been
harassed by two Moorish castles Cambil and Albahar
— built on lofty precipitous rocks on each side of a
river, the Rio Frio — commanding the road, and the
scourge and terror of the country round. From
thence there were constant forays, driving oflF the
162
ISABEL TAKES THE FIELD
cattle and sheep ; and the good bishop was thus
continually robbed. Why not postpone Moclin and
take these brigand castles ? The Queen was quite
willing to follow his advice, and sent a letter to
Fernando to suggest the plan, which was at once
adopted. Isabel certainly had her full share of per-
sonal courage, for her next move was to establish her-
self in the castle of Jaen, which stands like a sentinel
commanding the mountain road, and where the warrior
bishop was joyfully preparing to fight for his diocese.
The Alcayde of these giant fortresses, which guarded
the pass and commanded the surrounding region,
watched the approach of the royal army and scoffed
at the threatened attack, for he knew that the dreaded
artillery of the Christians could never ascend the rugged
path up the crags and precipices. But he little knew
with whom he had to deal. Isabel had understood the
difficulty, and taking counsel with her great engineer,
Francisco Ramirez, the result was the making of a new
road constructed on the most daring plan. " Six
thousand men with pickaxes, crowbars and every other
necessary implement were set to work day and night,
to break a way through the very centre of the moun-
tains. . . . The Bishop of Jaen acted as pioneer to
mark the route and superintend the workmen . . .
valleys were filled up, trees hewed down, rocks broken
and overturned . . . and in little more than ten days
this gigantic work was accomplished and the ordnance
dragged to the camp. No sooner was the heavy
artillery arrived than it was disposed in all haste upon
the neighbouring heights; Francisco Ramirez super-
intended the batteries and soon opened a destructive
fire upon the castles."
163
ISABEL TAKES THE FIELD
The result was a triumphant success, for the large
stones discharged by the lombards demolished some
of the towers and the battlements which guarded the
portal. Driven to extremity, the brave garrison was
compelled to yield, but with all the honours of war,
and the gallant alcayde exclaimed : *' Of what avail is
all the prowess of knighthood against these cowardly
engines that murder from afar ?"
It is satisfactory to learn that after the destruction
of these ever-threatening castles, the Bishop of Jaen
was able to enjoy his fat bishopric in quiet and
security ; " the husbandmen tilled their fields in peace,
the herds and flocks fattened unmolested in the pas-
tures and the vineyards yielded their increase . . . and
in the approbation of his conscience, the increase of
his revenues, and the abundance of his table, the good
man found a reward for all his toils and perils."*
Meanwhile there were changes in the kingdom of
Granada. After El Zagal had been proclaimed King,
old Muley Abu-1-Hasan retired with his treasure and
his last wife to the little town of Almunecar on the
Mediterranean coast, where he remained blind and
bedridden, until his brother caused him to be taken to
the castle of Salabrena, in which he soon died. If El
Zagal had deserved the suspicion caused by this event,
he soon had reason to repent of it, for when they heard
the old King was dead, the people began to think of
his ancient deeds of prowess and to lament for him.
They even turned their thoughts to his son Boabdil,
who was still in ignominious safety at Cordova, under
the careless protection of the Christian sovereigns.
But no sooner did Fernando see that he might be of
•• Washington Irving.
164
ISABEL TAKES THE FIELD
any political importance, than his interest revived, and
he supplied men and money to enable his renegade
vassal to raise once more conflicting interests amongst
the Moors. With this assistance Boabdil set up the
semblance of a Court at Velez el Blanco, a fortified
town on the frontier of Murcia, where he could en-
courage his faction in the Albaycin quarter of the
capital, amongst the poorer class ; while all the
chivalry and wealth of Granada rallied under the
standard of El Zagal.
An important event in the history of Europe occurred
before the close of the year. Fernando and Isabel
had taken up their winter quarters in the neighbour-
hood of Madrid, at the ancient town of Alcala de
Henares, fortified by massive walls, with square towers
and flanking bastions, standing on a green river bank
in the midst of a vast plain. It is a cold wind-blown
place, although lofty sand-hills — "drab in sunlight,
purple in shadow " — screen it to the north, and the
broad landscape has its dreamy charm as it glows be-
neath the sunset light. It was a city beloved by the
great Archbishops of Toledo, who had a stately palace
here surrounded by many churches and monasteries.
Here, in the Moorish castle, girt round by gardens
and courtyards, was born on December 5, 1485, the
Infanta Catalina, known in after years as Katharine of
Aragon, the wife of King Henry VIII. of England.
She was the fifth and youngest child of Isabel, and was
destined by her gallant courage and eventful life to
become a striking and pathetic figure in our history.
In the busy life of this many-sided Queen of Spain,
her children may appear to us somewhat of an episode.
But she took the duties of a mother as seriously as
165
ISABEL TAKES THE FIELD
her other occupations, and, as we shall see at a later
period, she neglected nothing which concerned their
welfare or their education. It is, of course, possible
that had she been less engaged in the cares of State,
and had devoted her strong energy and splendid in-
telligence only to her children, she might have so
moulded their character as to escape pitfalls in the
high estate which awaited them. The " little more
and how much it is " might have changed the fate of
her daughters and the destiny of nations. But for her
and for us the future rests ever shrouded in the mists
of time.
The campaign against the Moors began with renewed
vigour in the spring of i486, and partook more of the
nature of a general crusade, for the Spanish troops
were joined by volunteers from other parts of Europe,
amongst whom the Earl of Rivers, "Condede Escalas,"
is specially mentioned.
The King had never forgotten his defeat before Loja,
and this important town, called the key of Granada,
was the first object of attack. It stands on a high hill
between two mountains on the banks of the river
Xenil, and was only about twenty-eight miles from
the Moorish capital, although very difficult of
approach from Cordova. At the time of this siege
it was held by Boabdil, who had made a kind of treaty
with his uncle and sent a messenger to Fernando,
offering to hold it as his vassal, but this was indignantly
refused and the siege was commenced in earnest. Lord
Rivers and his company of three hundred retainers^
armed with long-bow and battle-axe, distinguished
themselves very much on this occasion, and astonished
the Moors by their vigorous style of warfare. The
166
ISABEL TAKES THE FIELD
English knight had a narrow escape of his life as he
fell from a scaling-ladder, struck by a stone ; but he
recovered, received splendid gifts from the Queen, and
lived to fight another day, for he was slain two years
later, fighting in France for the Duke of Brittany.
The siege of Loja lasted for thirty-four days, and
again it was the heavy fire of the improved artillery
which shattered the walls and brought down the towers,
and at length compelled the surrender, after a gallant
defence in which Boabdil had greatly distinguished
himself and been seriously wounded. The garrison
received favourable terms, and the people were allowed
to take aw^ay their portable property, and retire to
Granada, while the unfortunate Boabdil did homage
once more as a vassal to Fernando.
The next capture was that of the strong town of
Illora, whose castle, on a high isolated rock, was called
the right eye of Granada, which was about four leagues
distant. The alcayde fought with desperate courage
to the last extremity, but the fortifications once more
fell before the powerful engines of destruction, which
they had not been built to withstand. One interesting
incident is related of this siege, when the Duke del
Infantado pleaded for permission to lead the storming
party. He was one of the young nobles who had been
remonstrated with by the King for his gorgeous attire
and the splendour of his retainers, and now in the
sternest hour of danger this dandy duke was eager to
prove that velvet and brocade may cover hearts as
brave as those of men who wore fustian, and that
swords inlaid with gold and silver may be as deadly as
those of mere iron. In the forefront of the assault the
gallant young warrior and his gay company carried the
167
ISABEL TAKES THE FIELD
day by their splendid valour, and when they came out
of the conquered city — victorious, though thinned in
number, wounded and bloodstained — there was never
after a taunt at their emblazoned finery.
It is interesting to note that when the fortress of
Illora was repaired and strengthened, King Fernando
appointed as alcayde, the younger brother of Don
Alonzo di Aguilar, Gonzalvo de Cordova, afterwards
known to fame as the Great Captain.
The Spanish sovereigns might rebuke the magnifi-
cence and ostentation of their great nobles, but at the
same time they perfectly understood the value of royal
state and magnificence. Queen Isabel was guided by
a marvellous instinct, almost amounting to genius,
which taught her when the hour had arrived for her
to be all glorious in her raiment and lavish in her
expenditure. As De Maulde remarks : " Une seule
femme peut-ctre, repandit dans les camps un vrai en-
thusiasme chevaleresque ; mais c'etait en Espagne, et
il s'agissait defoi et de patrie. . . . Elle etait rude pour
elle-meme dans son particulier, et fasteuse en public. . . .
Jamais un roi n'aurait exerc6 le meme ascendant,"
We have a very minute account of the coming of
the Queen in state to an interview with the King in the
camp before Moclin in June i486, when her advice
and encouragement was thought desirable. She set
out from Cordova with the Infanta Isabel and the
ladies of her Court, attended by a numerous retinue of
cavaliers and guards. As the splendid cavalcade reached
the banks of the river Yeguas, the Queen was met by
the Marquess Duke of Cadiz and a train of knights,
and as she drew near the camp, the Duke del Infan-
tado with other nobles magnificently accoutred, came
168
W. A. Mansell &Co.
In the National Portrait Gallery, London
QUEEN KATHARINE OF ENGLAND
ISABEL TAKES THE FIELD
forward to receive her. With them came the standard
of Seville, to which she made her obeisance. " The
Queen rode a chestnut mule, seated in a saddle-chair
embossed with gold and silver. The housings were of
crimson cloth embroidered with gold, the reins and
bridle were of satin, curiously wrought with letters of
gold. The Queen wore a royal skirt of velvet, under
which were others of brocade, a scarlet mantle orna-
mented in the Moorish fashion, and a black hat em-
broidered round the crown and brim.
" The Infanta was also mounted on a chestnut mule
richly caparisoned. She wore a skirt of black brocade,
and a black mantle ornamented like the Queen's. . . .
All the battalions sallied forth in military array, bearing
the various standards and banners of the camp, which
were lowered in salutation. The King now appeared
in royal state, mounted on a superb; chestnut horse,
and attended by many grandees of Castile. He wore
a jubon or close vest of crimson cloth, with " chausses "
or breeches of yellow satin : a loose cassock of brocade
over his cuirass, a hat with plumes, and a rich Moorish
scimetar girt by his side. . . . The King and Queen
approached each other with three formal reverences ;
the Queen taking off her hat and remaining in a silk
net or caul, with her face uncovered. The King then
approached and embraced her and kissed her respect-
fully on the cheek. He also embraced his daughter
the princess, and making the sign of the Cross, he
blessed her and kissed her on the lips." * The English
Lord Scales appears to have been present, and the
chronicler dwells at length on his gorgeous array.
In a War of the Faith, a holy crusade such as the
"-■= " Cura de los Palacios " (quoted by Prescott).
169
ISABEL TAKES THE FIELD
conquest of the Moorish kingdom was considered, we
can well understand that no means were omitted to
emphasise the pious nature of the work. Isabel herself
was deeply religious, and full of the most fervent
thanksgiving for every success gained over the infidel,
probably attributing it to the special interposition of
God on her behalf. But at the same time she was a
great stateswoman, and cannot have failed to see the
policy of enlisting the mighty forces of religion on
her behalf. News of every triumph was at once for-
warded to the Pope, who sent back his benediction,
with more substantial help in the way of Bulls of
Crusade and taxes on ecclesiastical rents. In the early
days of her reign, when success trembled in the balance,
we are told that the clergy of the realm actually de-
livered into the royal treasury half the amount of plate
belonging to the churches throughout the kingdom, to
be redeemed in the term of three years, for the sum of
30 " cuentas," or millions of maravedis. This, we may
mention, Isabel punctually repaid.
During the whole of the Moorish War we learn that
" The Queen at Cordova and elsewhere celebrated the
tidings of every new success, by solemn procession
and thanksgiving with her whole household, as well as
the nobility, foreign ambassadors and municipal func-
tionaries. In like manner Fernando, on his return
from his campaigns, was received at the gate of the
city and escorted in solemn pomp beneath a rich
canopy of state to the cathedral church, where he
prostrated himself in grateful adoration to the Lord of
hosts." Whenever a city was conquered, there was a
great religious ceremonial to purify the place from the
infidel, and dedicate it to the Christian Faith. " The
170
ISABEL TAKES THE FIELD
royal alferez " raised the standard of the Cross, the
sign of our salvation, on the summit of the principal
fortresses, and all who beheld it prostrated themselves
on their knees in silent worship of the Almighty, while
the priests chanted the glorious anthem, " Te Deum
laudamus." The ensign of Santiago, the chivalric
patron of Spain, was then unfolded, and all invoked
his blessed name. Lastly was displayed the banner of
the sovereigns enblazoned with the royal arms ; at
which the whole army shouted forth, as with one
voice, " Castile ! Castile ! " After these solemnities, a
bishop led the way to the principal mosque, which,
after the rites of purification, he consecrated to the
service of the true Faith.
The standard of the Cross, of massive silver, was a
present from Pope Sixtus IV. to Fernando, in whose
tent it was always carried throughout these campaigns.
An ample supply of bells, vases, missals, plate and
sacred furniture, was also borne along with the camp,
being provided by the Queen for the purified
mosques." *
Moclin, the shield of Granada, which stood in defiant
majesty on the frontier of Jaen, could not hold out long
against the artillery of the Spaniards, which was con-
stantly being improved by Francisco Ramirez, and
was worked chiefly by a band of trained German
engineers. But the fierce old King El Zagal kept
constant watch on the invaders and was ever at hand
when least expected ; cutting off means of communi-
cation, surprising foraging parties, and constantly
making desperate inroads across the borders. At the
siege of Moclin he surprised and defeated the Conde
••= Prescott.
171
ISABEL TAKES THE FIELD
de Cabra one night, and nearly made him pay dear for
his capture of Boabdil.
Before the end of the year many other strong places
had fallen into the hands of the Christians, and they
had advanced the border of their kingdom more than
20 leagues within the frontier of the Moorish dominion.
Still their progress was very slow, for the country
bristled with fortresses, every one of which was
defended with heroic patriotism until the garrison was
well-nigh buried beneath the ruins of tower and walls.
Of the strong places still remaining, the most important
was the coast city of Malaga, which from its position
enabled the Moors of Barbary to help their race in
Spain. To the taking of this strong place, the second
city of the realm, all the energies of the Christian
sovereigns were devoted in the campaign of 1487.
At this time El Zagal had become unpopular with
the people of Granada, who bitterly resented the
success of their enemies and the loss of so many strong
places, and they once more recalled Boabdil to be
their King. With the help of Spanish troops, he
fortified himself in the Albaycin, while his uncle
remained master of the Alhambra, and the hapless
city was torn asunder by the constant fighting between
the two factions. Of a sudden, tidings reached the
capital that the whole forces of Spain were investing
Velez Malaga, which was looked upon as an outpost
of Malaga, and El Zagal seized the opportunity of
redeeming the past by setting forth at once with all
his army to relieve the beleaguered city, leaving his
nephew in possession of Granada.
Velez Malaga is built on the slope of a rocky isolated
hill, of which the crest above is crowned by a strong
172
ISABEL TAKES THE FIELD
castle, which commands the beautiful valley below,
stretching down to the sea, covered with vineyards
and olive-trees, with groves of oranges and pomegra-
nates. After a long and toilsome journey through the
rugged mountains, following in the track of an army
of pioneers sent in advance to make the road passable
for artillery, Fernando had at length arrived within
sight of the city on April 17, 1487. While he was
encamped on a height overlooking the fortress, a
sudden attack was made by the enemy, and the King
rushing out with his usual courage, found himself
surrounded by the Moors, and was in perilous case,
for having discarded his lance he could not draw his
sword from the scabbard. In this Jmoment of peril,
the Marquis of Cadiz and other cavaliers galloped to
the spot and succeeded in rescuing him. In memory
of this narrow escape, Isabel granted to the city for
its escutcheon the figure of Fernando on horseback,
piercing a Moor with his javelin.
El Zagal had lost no time in making his way through
unfrequented mountain roads until he reached the
heights above Velez Malaga and formed a well-laid
plan to combine in a night attack upon the garrison.
But the message was intercepted, and the midnight
assault on the camp was met with so fierce and un-
looked-for reception that the relieving army was driven
to flight with terrible loss. It is said that a strange
panic seized them. " They were terrified, they knew
not why or at what. They threw away swords, lances,
breast-plates, cross-bows, everything that could burden
or impede their flight, and speading themselves wildly
over the mountains fled headlong down the defiles.
They fled without pursuers, from the glimpse of each
173
ISABEL TAKES THE FIELD
others arms, from the sound of each others foot-
steps." ... * In vain did El Zagal try to rally them,
he had no choice but to consult his own safety by
flight ; and when at length he reached Granada, the
story of his disaster had preceded him, and he found
the gates closed against him.
It was a cruel blow, but the brave warrior knew of
old that with his fickle subjects success was the only
key to empire, and as he saw the banner of Boabdil
flaunting on the tower of the Alhambra he turned
away with despair in his heart.
The people of Velez had watched the mountain
watch-fires on the heights around them with eager
hope, for their scouts had brought word of the coming
rescue, but when the morning dawned the relieving
army had melted aw^ay like a cloud. Evil tidings con-
tinued to pour upon the devoted garrison ; they learnt
that the heavy ordnance of the Christians had at
length made its laborious w^ay through the defiles,
that the blockade by sea and land w^as now complete,
and, worse news of all, that Boabdil now reigned in
the capital, and there was no help for them. They
were driven to capitulate, and Fernando, eager to
commence the siege of Malaga, granted them favour-
able terms. They were free to depart with their goods,
and live under secure protection for themselves and
their religion at any place distant from the sea. The
surrender of Velez Malaga was followed by that of all
the neighbouring towns and fortresses in the Axarquia,
so that Fernando now found all the approaches open
to Malaga itself, the special object of the campaign.
* Washington Irving.
174
CHAPTER XII
THE BESIEGING OF MALAGA
The city of Malaga was one of the most valuable and
important in the Moorish kingdom. It was splendidly
fortified with massive walls and strong towers, pro-
tected on the land side by a natural barrier, an amphi-
theatre of mountains, while on the other, open to the sea,
the citadel fortress rose defiant and hitherto impreg-
nable. On the craggy height above was the great castle
of Gibralfaro, once an ancient lighthouse, which com-
manded alike the city and the alcabaza and could
stand a siege alone if they should surrender. This
ancient city of immemorial antiquity, which had made
terms with Carthage and Rome, was an important
seaport, whose ships traded to every port of the
Levant and thence to the far Indies. The spacious
harbour, in a deep-water bay with sheltering pro-
montories, could be entered with any wind, and was
the chief centre of Moorish shipping and of com-
munication with Barbary.
With its hanging gardens, its groves of orange and
pomegranate, its palms and aloes, and a peerless
climate where every exotic flower and shrub grew in
luxuriance, it had ever been the delight of that southern
175
THE BESIEGING OF MALAGA
race who called it the " paradise of earth." El Zagal
had placed here as Alcayde the dauntless Hamet el
Zegri, who so gallantly fought for his stronghold of
Ronda, and the citadel was garrisoned by his band of
African Gomeres. But within the city there were
many wealthy merchants, who thought so much of
their own safety and prosperity that to ensure
them they would gladly submit to the Christian
sovereigns.
Fernando was not slow in hearing of this, and,
through the Marquess of Cadiz, he tried to enter
into negotiation with Hamet el Zegri, offering him
an immense bribe on condition of immediate sur-
render. But the gallant Alcayde dismissed the envoy
with scornful courtesy, and the reply, " I was set
here not to surrender but to defend." His deeds
were on a par with his words, for never was a
besieged city defended with more desperate and
persistent valour. The heights around and the rising
ground near the sea were first taken by assault, and
a line of defence with deep trenches and embank-
ments was made all round the city, while the blockade
was completed by a fleet of armed vessels, caravels,
and galleys, which took possession of the harbour.
The forces under the command of Fernando are
said to have numbered twelve thousand horse and
forty thousand foot, while his artillery was infinitely
superior to anything which the defenders of Malaga
could oppose to him. His most formidable cannon,
called the " Seven Sisters of Jimenez," was placed in
position with immense labour and concentrated its
fire upon the Gibralfaro, smothering the fortress in
smoke and flame ; but when a breach was made, and
176
THE BESIEGING OF MALAGA
the Spaniards sought to scale the walls and take the
tower by assault, the alcayde and his men poured
down boiling pitch and hurled huge stones on the
storming party till they were compelled to retreat
with terrible loss.
Never before had such powerful engines of de-
struction been brought together, and the camp was
filled with armourers and smiths, carpenters and
engineers, who constructed new and strange machines
under the supervision of the famous Francisco
Ramirez. We hear of moving wooden towers which
were brought forward to attack the battlements, of
a " testudo " of shields used as a protection for the
men as they crept close to undermine the walls ; as in
this siege, for the first time in Spanish warfare, mines
were dug under the fortifications, which were blown
up with gunpowder.
Yet still the garrison held out, and even inflicted
severe loss upon the Christians with their daring and
vigorous sallies under the brave Hamet el Zegri, who
was the very soul of the defence. Time wore on, and
the report spread that the attacking army was growing
weary of the slow work and would not keep the field
much longer. On this reaching the ear of Fernando,
he resolved to dispel such an illusion by inviting the
Queen to join him in the camp. She gladly set forth
without delay from Cordova with the Infanta Isabel
and a courtly retinue of ladies and cavaliers, accom-
panied, as usual, by the Cardinal Mendoza and other
prelates, amongst whom we may notice Hernando de
Talavera, Isabel's confessor. She was greeted with
enthusiasm on her arrival in sight of Malaga ; the
soldiers of Castile had quite a superstitious belief in
177 M
THE BESIEGING OF MALAGA
the value of her presence, and all combined to look
upon her coming as an omen of victory.
At her request the firing ceased for a time, and the
King took advantage of this pause to summon once
more the city to surrender. He offered the most
generous terms ; but in case of refusal he vowed that,
" with the blessing of God, he would make them all
slaves." He also informed the inhabitants of the
Queen's coming, and of their resolution to encamp
in front of the city until it should be taken. Unfor-
tunately the silence of the batteries made the garrison
believe that there was a scarcity of powder, and the
fierce Hamet el Zegri, declaring that any one who
should speak of capitulation would be put to death,
dismissed the Christian messenger without a reply.
After this final decision the siege continued with
more terrible energy than ever. Furious sallies were
made from the city, at every hour of the day and
night, and more than once the camp was in serious
danger ; mine and countermine went on beneath the
walls and the soldiers fought hand to hand under-
ground, while all the time the besieging army kept up
the fearful cannonade which battered down walls and
towers. There was great loss of life, and the Queen's
hospital tents were always full of sick and wounded.
Fresh supplies of powder and ammunition reached
the camp by sea from Germany and the ports of
Valencia, Barcelona, Sicily and Portugal. All the
resources of the kingdom were concentrated against
the devoted city, which had still more deadly foes
within—disease and famine. Even in his exile the
brave El Zagal collected troops, and was about to
make a last despairing effort to raise the siege, when
178
THE BESIEGING OF MALAGA
the wretched Boabdil, in his mad insensate jealousy,
actually sent his soldiers from Granada to intercept
and disperse the relieving force and set the seal on
his ignominy by sending presents to the Christian
sovereigns and assuring them of his fidelity.
All hope was now at an end, and no words can
describe the sufferings of the unfortunate people
within the walls, who, driven to the deepest extremity
by famine, dared to rebel against their grim defenders
and insisted on surrender. The last desperate sally
of Hamet el Zegri had been repulsed with ; terrible
slaughter, and he was at length forced by his fierce
soldiers to thrown open the gates of the citadel — and
meet the reward of his heroism in chains and captivity.
The long siege was over ; it had lasted from the
middle of May to August i8, and King Fernando was
so indignant with the obstinacy of the patriotic
defenders that he refused to listen to their passionate
appeals for mercy, and declared that he would keep
his cruel vow. This was carried out with the full
consent of his advisers, who decided that an example
must be made, and that such wholesome severity would
cause the other Moorish cities and strongholds to
surrender without a blow. These were the conditions
granted to the proud city of Malaga, " the beautiful
and renowned." The African garrison were condemned
to immediate slavery, and the rest of the inhabitants
were allowed to ransom themselves, on these deceptive
terms ; that they should at once deliver up all their
property to the King as part payment of the vast sum
demanded, and if the rest were not paid within eight
months, they should all, men, women and children
to the number of fifteen thousand, be sold as slaves.
179
THE BESIEGING OF MALAGA
In the end this was what befell them, after remaining
captives at Seville for those long weary months of
anxious waiting, and thus the crafty device of the King
was successful.
There were a few exceptions made ; some rich
merchants had succeeded in obtaining better terms,
and were suffered to remain as vassals, and a wealthy
Jew of Castile was able to ransom 450 Moorish Jews
with 20,000 doblas of gold. A noble Moor by name
Abraham Zenete, in the latest sortie from Malaga, had
come upon a number of Spanish children who had
strayed from the camp. He touched them lightly
with the handle of his lance, exclaiming, "Get ye
gone, varlets, to your mothers," and this kindly chivalry
saved his life and household when the place was taken.
The capture of Malaga was celebrated as usual by a
solemn procession through the streets, of the King and
Queen, the great nobles and prelates of the Church,
the ladies of the Court and cavaliers, all in magnificent
array, with crosses and banners, followed by a haggard
company of released Christian captives with their
chains. In the great mosque, which had been purified
for Christian worship and named Santa Maria de la
Encarnacion, a thanksgiving service was held, and
Malaga was made into a bishopric.
We are tempted to wonder how far the pious Isabel,
as she knelt in prayer before the high altar, realised
the awful cruelty with which the wretched citizens
had been treated ? Did she in any measure appreciate
how the verdict of posterity would condemn such ruin
of a whole people ? It is possible that we do not
clearly see and judge that which passes before our
eyes, and that the deeds which appear to us so mon-
180
THE BESIEGING OF MALAGA
strous in the clear perspective of history, may have
been to her less terrible, and in a way inevitable.
The fall of Malaga may be said to have sounded the
death-knell of Moorish dominion in Spain, for Granada
was foredoomed to follow. She was now deprived
of most of the great ports from whence she could hope
for supplies and foreign help ; all the western part of
her realm was in the hands of the Christians, and what
was left was torn asunder by the rival Kings, for
Boabdil reigned in Granada, while El Zagal had col-
lected under his standard all that remained of courage
and patriotism amongst his people. From his special
city of Almeria with its port and harbour on the
Mediterranean, to Jaen in the north, he was master
still ; the strong cities of Guadix and Baesa remained
loyal to him, and the mountain race of the Alpuxarras
owned him as their lord.
After the tremendous energy expended on the con-
quest of Malaga, the Spanish sovereigns had need of
breathing space to recruit their strength and collect
fresh levies. They had also much important work
in the way of internal administration. Late in the
autumn of 1487, Fernando and Isabel, with their chil-
dren, travelled in state to Zaragoza, the time-honoured
capital of Aragon, in order that their only son Prince
Juan, now nine years old, might obtain formal recog-
nition of his right to the throne in succession, and
receive the homage of the Cortes. Zaragoza stands
on the banks of the broad, rapid Ebro, in the midst of
a fertile plain, and the Kings of Aragon always took
up their abode in the ancient palace of the Moorish
Khalifs, a massive irregular citadel outside the Portillo
or north-west gate of the city. The Archbishop of
THE BESIEGING OF MALAGA
Zaragoza was one of the most important prelates of
the realm and there are two splendid cathedrals, one
of which, " Del Pilar," is so called from its proud boast
of enclosing the identical jasper pillar on which the
Virgin came down from heaven.
The Cortes assembled in the beautiful Casa de
Deputacion, or Parliament House, and loyally carried
out all the requests of the sovereign. Juan, Prince of
Asturias, was acknowledged with acclamation, and a
large sum of money was voted for the continuation of
the Moorish war. The King also gave his sanction to
the Santa Hermandad of Aragon, which had been
recently organised on the plan of that which had long
been so useful in Castile. This was a democratic
measure, popular with the city burghers, but a serious
grievance to the great feudal nobles, whose power was
much diminished. From the capital, Fernando and
Isabel travelled across the province of Aragon to
Valencia on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean,
the splendid city of the Cid. Here they took measures
to strengthen the authority of the law, and to make
some changes in the ruling of the city, and the Court
then continued its progress to Murcia, and remained
there until, in the month of June 1488, Fernando set
forth again on his annual campaign against the Moors.
But this time he had a much smaller army than usual,
for nothing could ever restrain him from interfering
in the affairs of France when an opportunity occurred.
He had recently sent forces from Biscay which he
could ill spare, to help the Duke of Brittany in his
opposition to Charles VIII., or rather his sister Anne
of Beaujeu, the Regent. In the disastrous defeat of the
rebels at St. Aubin du Cormier on July 27, 1488, we
182
THE BESIEGING OF MALAGA
find that over a thousand Spaniards were killed or taken
prisoners.
In this battle was slain the Earl of Rivers who had
distinguished himself at the siege of Loja. During
this year there was no great success to record, although
some outlying fortresses fell into the hands of the
Christians ; they met with a decisive check when
approaching the walls of Baza, being drawn into an
ambuscade by the crafty old warrior King El Zagal,
and they only made their escape with much loss from
the surrounding gardens and water-courses. El Zagal,
encouraged by his success, laid waste all the country
recently conquered by the Spaniards, sweeping away
the cattle and sheep, and harassing the land with his
forays. There was no triumphant procession that
autumn when King Fernando returned from his cam-
paign and joined the Queen at Valladolid.
It is at this period that we first hear of the alliance,
afterwards so important for Spain, with the Emperor
Maximilian, son of Frederick IV. This prince had
married Mary the heiress of Burgundy, and for her
broaddominions there had been a constant strugglewith
Louis XI. On her death in 1482, at the age of twenty-
five, fresh troubles had arisen, and although by the
Treaty of Arras in December 1482, it had been arranged
that Margaret the young daughter of Maximilian should
marry the Dauphin Charles, now King of France, the
Emperor, with well-justified mistrust, was anxious to
make a secret alliance-treaty with Fernando, engaging
to assist him in recovering the provinces of Roussillon
and Cerdagne. The Flemish ambassadors were re-
ceived with great honour, and splendid entertainments
were given for them, as the politic King gladly welcomed
183
THE BESIEGING OF MALAGA
any political alliance which might help him against
France, the hereditary enemy of Aragon, although
he could not take any important action while all his
energies were needed by the Moorish war. All that
winter fresh levies were made, and great care was
given to the artillery which had proved so valuable
already in capturing the strongholds and fortified cities
of the South. It was a most disastrous season, long
remembered in all Andalusia, where disease and famine
had spread, after a stormy season with heavy rains and
inundations which washed away the crops and almost
destroyed whole fertile valleys.
In order to be near the seat of war, where her
presence was now looked upon as indispensable,
Queen Isabel moved with her children and her Court
to the mountain city of Jaen, where she once more
took up her abode in the grim old castle which stands
like a. sentinel commanding the mountain gorges. It
was here that her ancestor the young King Fernando
IV., El Emplazado, had died, summoned to meet those
he had wronged, before the Judgment-seat of God ;
and even setting aside this and other stern associations,
it cannot have had many attractions in the way of
luxury and entertainment. But the household ol
Isabel had learnt by this time what a serious view she
took of life, and were thankful when they did not find
themselves in actual danger.
It was in the spring of 1489, late in the month of
May, that Fernando set forth with a large army and
all the flower of the chivalry of Castile and Aragon to
undertake, in serious earnest this time, the siege of
Baza. On the way, after a short but desperate resist-
ance, the stronghold of Cuxar had been taken, and
184
Alinari, phot.
In the Uffizi Gallery, Florence
KING CHARLES VIII. OF FRANCE
THE BESIEGING OF MALAGA
several outlying fortresses, which left the road open for
the invaders. The old King, El Zagal, was at Guadix,
a few leagues away, and had taken every measure for
the defence of Baza, which he entrusted to the care
of Cidi Yahye, the Alcayde of Almeria, who brought
ten thousand of his own picked warriors to add to
the strong garrison. The town was provided with
food calculated to last for fifteen months ; it was well
equipped with cannons and gunpowder, and the forti-
fications were of enormous strength. "The old
monarch was battling like a warrior on the last step
of his throne," and here he was about to make his
final stand for empire and all that life could offer
him.
Of this siege of Baza we have very full and circum-
stantial accounts from two eye-witnesses, for both
Hernando del Pulgar and Peter Martyr, of whom
we shall soon have more to say, were present in the
King's camp. The city stands in a great valley where
two rivers meet, whose waters are spread about to
fertilise the whole surface of the Vega, then a great
tangled wilderness of groves and gardens, making all
approach difficult. On one side Baza was protected
by the precipitous mountain heights and a strong
fortress, and on the other by fortified walls and massive
towers. A low earth-wall and trench protected the
suburbs of the City of Gardens, as it was called. It
was towards the " garden " that the first attempt was
made as soon as the Christians had encamped before
the walls, for until this was in their hands it would be
impossible to enforce a complete blockade. It was
nearly a league across and studded with small towers,
which could provide excellent cover to the defenders.
185
THE BESIEGING OF MALAGA
The assault was made by the King in person and the
Grand Master of Santiago with a charge of cavalry,
but the broken surface of the ground and the thick
growth of the orchards gave such an advantage to the
Moors, who were on foot and knew the ground, that
the Spaniards had to dismount and light at a great
disadvantage. It was not so much a general engage-
ment as a series of petty fights amid the dense foliage,
the pavilions, and the towers. Hand to hand they
fought with desperate courage on both sides all that
spring day, until when the evening closed in, the
defenders were driven back within their entrench-
ments. The Spanish army tried to make good their
position within the gardens, but they were harassed
by constant alarms all through the night, and the next
morning Fernando reluctantly gave orders that the
camp should be pitched farther up the valley.
A council of war was held to consider the next
move, and there was a general feeling of dismay at the
ditBculties presented by the peculiar position of a place
which could not readily be either taken by assault nor
blockaded. On the other hand, it was even suggested
that, with El Zagal at Guadix, within twenty miles, they
might themselves be besieged ; and also that if heavy
rains came on, the whole valley might be flooded and
their communications cut off. There was so much
general despondency even among the bravest cavaliers
that Fernando resolved to consult the Queen, to whom
he was sending constant messengers. Her reply came
at once : she had full confidence in the Providence of
God, who had led them already so far, and if they
decided to continue the siege, she pledged herself to
send all needful supplies of men, money, and pro-
i86
THE BESIEGING OF MALAGA
visions. This hopeful message turned the scale, and
the army welcomed it with enthusiasm.
The obvious thing was to destroy and level this
labyrinth of garden, and within a short time we are
told that four thousand " taladores," or pioneers, were
set to work at cutting down the trees and clearing the
ground. But the task was so difficult, and the constant
sallies from the city were so fierce and bloodthirsty,
that it was more than forty days before the devastation
was complete, and the people of Baza made bitter
lamentation for the loss of their beautiful groves and
gardens — the joy and protection of their homes. When
this was once accomplished, the besiegers set them-
selves with dogged perseverance to invest and isolate
the devoted city ; digging deep trenches, fortified by
palisadoes and strong towers all across the valley,
draining the waters into one channel and closing in
the line of defence on the slopes of the mountain
behind the fortress. This immense work was continued
for two months, and it is said that ten thousand work-
men were employed, with large bodies of troops to
defend them from the attacks of the garrison. The
feud between the rival Kings of Granada and of Guadix
was the salvation of the Christian camp, for a strong
combined assault from the rear of the valley might
have had most serious consequences. But neither
El Zagal nor Boabdil dared to leave his territory open
to a rival, and thus the last hope of the Moorish kingdom
was destined to end in destruction.
A strange embassy reached King Fernando in the
camp before Baza ; the Soldan of Babylon sent two
Franciscan friars from Jerusalem to protest against the
injury done to the Moors of Spain, who were of his
187
THE BESIEGING OF MALAGA
faith and race, and to threaten that he would retahate
on the Christians of Palestine. A diplomatic and
courteous reply was returned, with costly presents,
and Isabel presented rich needlework, of her own
embroidery, for the Church of the Holy Sepulchre ;
and later, Peter Martyr was sent on a diplomatic
mission to the Soldan, which was quite successful, and
of which he wrote a most interesting account, entitled
" De Legatione Babilonica."
Meanwhile, the siege continued with fierce energy on
both sides, and as time passed on, the autumnal storms
threatened to sweep away the camp of the besiegers
and destroy the roads by which their supplies arrived.
But Isabel, with her usual energy, caused new roads
and bridges to be made at immense cost, for which
she pawned her jewels and mortgaged her private
estates, so that her daily supplies were resumed, and
long convoys of baggage-mules continued to cross the
Sierra, laden with corn and other provisions for the
camp. Still the beleaguered city gave no sign of
distress ; while the investing army was wasted with
sickness and the wear of constant fighting. They are
said to have lost twenty thousand men during the six
months' siege. The time had come when, as usual, the
presence of the Queen was ardently desired, and on
November 7 she arrived with great state at the camp,
accompanied by her usual retinue, with banners float-
ing in the air and a flare of trumpets, as though it
were a festal tournament, and she had not just accom-
plished a very dangerous and wearisome journey across
the hills from Jaen. " Her presence seemed at once
to gladden and re-animate our spirits, drooping under
long vigils, dangers, and fatigue," says Peter Martyr.
188
THE BESIEGING OF MALAGA
But the coming of Isabel always sounded a knell of
despair to the enemy, who knew that she would take
up her abode in the camp until the day of surrender.
In this crusading war, where Isabel ascribed her
inspiration and her triumph to the direct guidance
of the Almighty, the intensity of her earnest faith was
irresistible, and she inspired the whole army with her
supreme courage and tenacity of purpose. The gallant
Cidi Yahye and the alcayde of Baza had the wisdom to
appreciate this and to bow before the inevitable. The
fate of Malaga rose before their minds as an awful
warning, and, with a more difficult heroism than the
mere lust for fighting, they thought of the helpless
multitude whose fate hung upon their decision, and at
length sought parley with the foe. An armistice was
arranged in order to obtain final instructions from the
old King El Zagal, who held a grim council of war at
Guadix, and as he fully realised the dark outlook
before him, could only take refuge in the fatalism of
his race : "Allah achbar !" ("God is great. To his
will I bow.")
There was no difficulty about the terms of surrender,
for the Christian sovereigns were only too anxious to
meet the besieged half way. Most favourable terms
were readily granted ; the foreign mercenaries were
to march forth with the honours of war, and the
inhabitants might remain in the suburbs as vassals of
Castile, or choose any other place of abode, paying
the same tribute as of old, and secure in the enjoyment
of their goods, their faith, their laws, and their
customs.
It was on December 4, 1489, that Fernando and
Isabel made their solemn entry into Baza at the head
189
THE BESIEGING OF MALAGA
of a splendid procession, with the customary banners
and trumpets, and ringing of bells and roar of artillery,
while the standard of the Cross was planted on the
topmost height of the conquered citadel. Interesting
traces of this period may still be seen in the fifteenth
century cannon which stand, stern relics of the past,
on the rose-planted Alameda, girdled with its imme-
morial poplars. Cidi Yahye and the alcayde were
loaded with honours and gifts, and, as the Moorish
chronicler remarks, " Isabel's compliments were repaid
in more substantial coin," for these former comrades
of El Zagal were won to the Queen's service, and had
so much influence on their old master that they
persuaded him of the hopelessness of his position,
and induced him to make terms with the victorious
Christians.
The brave old warrior saw plainly that all chance of
success was at an end, and that nothing remained for
him but the long-drawn-out misery of seeing one
strong place after another fall into the hands of the
Christians. He yielded to his unlucky fate, and pro-
mised to surrender all the cities and territory remaining
to him into the hands of the Spanish sovereigns, who
were at once to take possession of them. With the
extraordinary energy which distinguished her, we see
Isabel on December 7 leaving Baza in charge of the
rear-guard of the army, the King being in the centre.
" Their route lay across the most savage districts of
the long Sierra, which stretches towards Almeria,
leading through many a narrow pass. . . . over moun-
tains whose peaks were lost in clouds, and valleys
whose depths were never warmed by the sun. The
winds were exceedingly bleak and the weather in-
190
THE BESIEGING OF MALAGA
clement ; so that men as well as horses, exhausted by
the fatigues of previous service, were benumbed by
the intense cold, and many of them frozen to death."*
As they drew near to Almeria, El Zagal came forward
to meet them, with an escort of Moorish cavaliers, and
would have done homage, but Fernando induced the
fallen prince to ride by his side. Peter Martyr says :
" His appearance touched my soul with compassion ;
for although a lawless barbarian, he was a King, and
had given signal proofs of heroism." The beautiful
city of Almeria, that " garden of the Hesperides," as it
seemed to the weary travellers in its sunny luxuriance,
passed into the power of the Christians, and soon after,
Guadix and all the other places on the fertile slopes of
the mountain chain, which extends from Granada to
the Mediterranean, on the same favourable terms to
the people as Baza. As for the deposed King, El
Zagal, he received the district of Andarez, and the
shadowy title of its king, the valley of Alhaurin, and
half the salt-pits of Maleha, with a large sum of money.
But he found life unbearable in the land of his past
glory, and after a while he sold his possessions and
went over to Africa, only to be robbed and cruelly
treated, and to end his days a wretched outcast.
Well had it been for him had he never listened to
the tempting offer of his hereditary foes, but had fallen
on the field of battle — fighting for his crown, his
country, and his faith.
"•= Prescott.
191
CHAPTER XIII
ISABEL— HER COURT AND
HOME LIFE
After the submission of the Moorish King El Zagal,
there was a kill in the war, while strenuous efforts were
made to collect an overwhelming force for the closing
campaign against Granada. We will take advantage
of this brief interval to dwell awhile upon the personal
life and influence of Queen Isabel. With her keen
insight and broad grasp of intellect, her rare discretion
and political wisdom which almost amounted to genius,
she was so great a stateswoman that her decision was
final in every council and camp. Her husband had
the highest appreciation of her judgment and did
nothing without asking her opinion.
If her own education had been somewhat incomplete
in the seclusion of her widowed mother's palace at
Arevalo, that of Fernando had been almost entirely
neglected, as before he was ten years old he began to
take part in the wars of Catalonia, and his boyhood was
spent in a camp and not in a school. If he did not
owe much to book-learning, his natural intelligence
enabled him to attain a very high position in the
science of diplomacy. Machiavelli says of him :
192
ISABEL'S COURT AND HOME LIFE
*' Nothing causes a prince to be so much esteemed
as great enterprises and setting a rare example. We
have in our own day Fernando King of Aragon, at
present King of Spain. He may almost be termed
a new Prince, because from a weak King he has
become for fame and glory the first King in
Christendom, and if you regard his actions you will
find them all very great and some of them extra
ordinary. At the beginning of his reign he assailed
Granada, and that enterprise was the foundation of
his State. ..." So much for his reputation in other
lands, and if he was no scholar and understood no
other language, at least he wrote and spoke Spanish
well.
With regard to Isabel, her marriage at the age of
eighteen, and the high position to which she was raised,
called forth all the hidden strength of her character,
and she played her part with supreme distinction in
the school of real life. Her strong mind was ever
eager for knowledge, and we are told how, when the
wars with Portugal for her succession were at an end,
she resolved to learn Latin, which at that time was a
most important medium of communication not only
for learned men, but for foreigners at Court, and above
all for ambassadors. To this task she devoted herself
with so much diligence and talent that " in less than
a year her admirable genius enabled her to attain a
good knowledge of the Latin language, so that she
could understand without much difficulty whatever
was written or spoken in it." There is also a letter
from Pulgar to the Queen inquiring about her pro-
gress, wondering that she can find time for study
amidst all her absorbing occupations, and assuring
193 N
ISABEL'S COURT AND HOME LIFE
her that she will learn Latin as easily as the other
languages which she had mastered.
Isabel inherited from her father a love for collecting
books, or rather manuscripts, and when she founded
the convent of San Juan de los Reyes at Toledo, she
endowed it with a library. Some beautifully bound
volumes of hers which have seen much service are
amongst the treasures of the Escurial.
We can understand that the education of her children
would be to her a matter of the utmost importance,
and that she neglected no learning which might pre-
pare them for the part they would have to play in the
world. We see this especially in the case of her only
son. Prince Juan, a lad of infinite promise on whom
the most ardent hopes of his parents and the nation
were fixed. To counteract somewhat the dangerous
isolation of an heir to the throne with no brothers,
Isabel adopted the wise plan of giving him companions
chosen from the sons of nobles at the Court. Five
of these boys were about his age and five were some-
what older, and they all lived together in the palace as
equals. The most learned professors were engaged in
their teaching, amongst whom we find especially men-
tioned several great scholars from Italy, where the
revival of classical learning had made such splendid
progress. Two brothers, Antonio and Alessandro
Geraldino were early chosen as tutors to the royal
children, and later we find Lucio Marineo Siculo, a
distinguished Sicilian who came to Spain in i486, and
was afterwards appointed professor of Poetry and
Grammar at the University of Salamanca.
But the most important and interesting amongst the
learned men on whom Queen Isabel relied, was the
194
ISABEL'S COURT AND HOME LIFE
Pietro Martire, or Peter Martyr as he is often called,
whom we have already quoted. She alludes to him in
one of her letters as : " Noster fidelis dilecte : el
protonotarjo mycer Pedro martir, mio capellan y
orador . . . ." He was of a noble family of Milan,
and was born at Arona on the Lago Maggiore, in
1455, and at the age of twenty-two he went to Rome,
where he continued his studies for ten years, when in
1487 he travelled with his friend the Castilian ambassa-
dor, Conde de Tendilla, to Spain. Here the romantic
attraction of the Moorish wars attracted the student to
" exchange the Muses for Mars," as he explains in his
letters, but after the taking of Granada he returned to
his proper duties, and was at once engaged by the Queen
not only to teach her son and his ten companions,
but also to found a school for the young nobility, as
her zeal and energy were not limited to the training of
her own family. If we may judge from a remark of
his, the professor began with some distrust of his new
pupils: "They hold the pursuit of letters in light
estimation like their ancestors, considering them an
obstacle to success in the profession of arms, which
alone they esteem of honour." But after awhile, when
Prince Juan has distinguished himself by his love of
study and his progress in Latin scholarship, Pietro
becomes more hopeful and dwells upon "the good
effects likely to result from the literary ambition shown
by the heir apparent, on whom the eyes of the nation
are naturally turned."
In a letter written in September 1492, at Zaragoza,
he gives this interesting account of his work: "The
whole day my house is filled with noble youths
who, won from unworthy pursuits to that of letters,
195
ISABEL'S COURT AND HOME LIFE
are convinced that this is no hindrance to the pro-
fession of arms but rather a help.
I earnestly persuade them that true excellence,
whether in war or peace, cannot be attained without
science. It has pleased our royal mistress, the pattern
of every exalted virtue, that her own near kinsman
the Duke of Guimareans, as well as the young Duke
of Villahermosa, the King's nephew, should remain
under my roof the whole day ; an example which has
been followed by the chief cavaliers of the Court, who,
after attending my lectures in company with their
private tutors, retire in the evening to study them in
their own quarters."
In short, we see that at the Queen's word learning
became the fashion. The Spaniards, a people of
literary instinct, were quick to receive the wave of
Renaissance learning which had already swept over
Italy and France. The Universities of Salamanca and
others had already famously gained new glory, while
fresh colleges were endowed, and all the chivalry of
Spain turned to study. The son of the Duke of Alva
taught in the University of Salamanca, where the future
Grand Constable of Castile read lectures on Ovid and
Pliny, and another great noble was professor of Greek
at Alcala. No age was safe from the infection of learn-
ing, for the Marquess of Denia, who was past sixty,
sat down eagerly to study the Latin grammar. The
Queen's own special teacher of Latin was a learned lady,
Dona Beatriz de Galindo, who became a widow while
still young, was childless and immensely rich, and of
whom we are told that in later years she " consecrated
her many gifts to the religious life and to the building
of convents and hospitals, one of which still bears her
196
ISABEL'S COURT AND HOME LIFE
name in Madrid." There were other distinguished
women, some of high rank, who pubHcly lectured
on the Latin classics, rhetoric and other subjects. A
learned scholar, Antonio de Lebrija, wrote a special
Castilian grammar for the use of the Court ladies. As
Giovio said : ** No Spaniard was accounted noble who
held science in indifference." Peter Martyr gives an
amusing account of the enthusiasm on one occasion
at Salamanca, the " New Athens," when he was to give
an introductory lecture on one of the Satires of Juvenal,
for the hall was so crowded that he had to be carried
in on the shoulders of the students.
Theology naturally flourished under the powerful
patronage of Cardinal Mendoza, of Talavera and of
Jimenez, who were all men of wide learning, while
mathematics resumed their ancient importance, as well
as astronomy and geography. History had always
been a favourite study in Castile, but it now rose beyond
mere chronicles, " charters and diplomas were con-
sulted, manuscripts collated, coins and inscriptions
deciphered . . . ." and the public archives were col-
lected and stored at Burgos.
The invention of printing, which reached Spain in
the very first year of Isabel's reign, was of supreme
help in the dispersion of knowledge. There is a
royal ordinance of 1477, in which a German named
Theodoric is mentioned as " being of the chief persons
in the discovery and practice of the art of printing
books, which he had brought with him into Spain
at great risk and expense, with the design of ennobling
the libraries of the kingdom." When we consider the
extreme cost of manuscripts and the small number
which it was possible for any ordinary scholar to
197
ISABEL'S COURT AND HOME LIFE
obtain, we can dimly realise the splendid boon which
printing was to the world of learning. Valencia claims
the honour of the first printing press, which is disputed
by Barcelona and other cities. The first book set up
in type was a collection of songs in the Valencian
dialect to the praise of the Virgin, followed the next
year by the works of Sallust. That popular romance
of chivalry, " Amadis de Gaula," went through various
editions, as did also translations of Dante and Boc-
caccio, and native lyrics and dramatic eclogues of
Juan de Encina amongst others.
To all this marvellous progress Isabel gave her
warmest encouragement by the most liberal help,
by bestowing special privileges on the printers and
sellers of books, and she even caused literary works
to be printed at her own expense. De Maulde de-
scribes her with a light touch : " Elle resumait ^tonnam-
ment les divers heroismes ; brave et ferme sans rien
d'un virago ; apres une nuit passee a dieter des ordres,
elle se remettait tranquillement a une broderie d'Eglise
ou bien, comme Anne de France, a I'education pratique
de ses filles .... c'etait une causeuse de premier ordre,
elle aimait aborder les hautes questions philosophiques ;
9a et la elle jetait en travers de la discussion un mot
original, quelque trait franc et net, en meme temps que
ses yeux bleu fonce s'animaient et langaient a ses
interlocuteurs un certain regard chaud et loyal qui
est reste celebre."
A stately Court was kept up by the King and Queen,
and although in her private life she was abstemious
and simple in her dress, yet on great occasions we are
told that her magnificence was beyond belief, and that
a single toilette cost 200,000 scudos, probably of the
198
ISABEL'S COURT AND HOME LIFE
splendid gold brocade of Valencia, which was famous
throughout Europe. There was a general taste for
extravagance in dress at the time, and we find the
Cortes constantly complaining that even the lower
class dress like people of rank, " whereby they not
only squander their own estate but bring poverty and
want to all." With the Queen it was not wasteful
ostentation, but a calculated expenditure to appeal
to the imagination of her people and exalt her royal
position. She possessed magnificent and costly jewel-
lery, one collar of rubies was worth a king's ransom,
but she had so little personal avarice with regard to
her jewels that she was ever ready to pawn them for
the expenses of the realm, or, with lavish generosity,
give them away for the dowries of her daughters.
The marriage negotiations in respect to the four
princesses of Spain form a most interesting and
instructive study. Fernando was first and above all
things a diplomatist before he had time to consider
that he was a father. All the alliances arranged for
his children were a matter of deliberate policy. Thus,
in i486, we find him secretly offering his eldest
daughter Isabel, who was then sixteen, to Charles
VII. of France, who was the same age, quite ignoring
the young King's betrothal to Margaret of Austria.
But in this the King of Spain did not succeed,
although he offered a dowry of 400,000 francs, and
lavished flattery in vain on Madame de Beaujeu, who
had other and more subtle plans which culminated in
her brother's marriage with Anne of Brittany in 1491.
Failing in this, Fernando returned to his original
scheme of strengthening his alliance with Portugal,
which had always proved so difficult a neighbour by
199
ISABEL'S COURT AND HOME LIFE
encouraging the claims of the Beltraneja to the crown
of Castile and by constant rivalry. As far back as
September 1479, the Infant Isabel had been betrothed
to the young Affonso,the only legitimate son of Juan II.,
King of Portugal, who, after breaking the power
of his feudal nobility, became such a benevolent
despot that his people called him " the Perfect King."
This marriage, or formal betrothal, was carried out
with great pomp and magnificence in the spring of
1490, at Seville, where Don Fernando de Silveira
acted as proxy for Prince Affonso. A succession of
gorgeous festivals and tournaments were held outside
the city, on the banks of the Guadalquivir, in an
enclosed space shaded from the sun by canopies
embroidered with armorial bearings, with galleries for
the ladies hung with silk brocade and cloth of gold.
All the chivalry of Spain was gathered there in splendid
array, with emblazoned banners and sumptuous re-
tinues, glad to enjoy a respite from the stern realities
of war. The King himself broke several lances, and
made a goodly show with his fine appearance and
horsemanship. The Queen and her ladies were pre-
sent, and the young Princess Isabel was the cynosure
of all eyes, with her train of seventy fair maids of
honour and a hundred pages in glittering livery.
The Portuguese ambassadors were much impressed
by the stately banquets and great entertainments with
music and courtly dances.
It was not until some months afterwards that the
Infanta travelled to Lisbon, already a city of great
wealth and commerce, with the Cardinal Mendoza,
the Master of Santiago, and a magnificent retinue.
She was received with a splendid welcome, and the
200
W. A. Manse!! & Co.
In the Xaticmnl Portrait GuHery, Lonclmi
KING HENRY \'II. OF ENGLAND
ISABEL'S COURT AND HOME LIFE
marriage ceremony took place with great state, on
November 22, 1490. Her dresses and jewels were
valued at 120,000 gold florins, and her dowry was far
greater than any princess of Castile had received
before. She was the Queen's favourite daughter ; she
had also, for so long, been the only child and loving
companion, while her sweetness and docility had
made her very dear to the mother who, tender as she
was, could not brook rebellion.
Poor Princess Isabel ! Her bright hopes of happiness
were never destined to be realised, for within a few
short months she was overwhelmed with sorrow by the
loss of her young husband. In those days of political
alliances, a daughter, even in the cradle, might be a
useful counter in the game of diplomacy, which King
Fernando was not one to neglect. It was of the
utmost importance for him to cultivate the friendship
of England, with whom he could combine to defend
Brittany against France, their hereditary foe. The
youngest Infanta, Catalina, born at the end of 1485,
was only a few months older than Arthur, Prince of
Wales, and early in 1487 the King of Spain began to
enter into negotiation with Henry VII. for the mar-
riage of these two babies. This suggestion being
favourably received, at the beginning of 1488, a cer-
tain Doctor de Puebla was sent to England as a kind
of permanent agent at the Court of Henry VII. His
special business was to arrange this marriage and
obtain the best terms he could, while he kept a watch
over all that happened and sent constant information
to Spain. On his arrival at Windsor De Puebla was
very well received by Henry VII., who flattered him
by friendly attentions, and even received him at the
20I
ISABEL'S COURT AND HOME LIFE
royal table, where he saw thirty-two ladies " of angelic
beauty" in attendance upon the English Queen.
Much of the correspondence between the Spanish
sovereigns and their representative in England is now
preserved amongst the royal archives at Simancas and
elsewhere, and it throws a most interesting sidelight
upon many subjects. We dimly realise the delays
and dangers of travel in those days, when we hear
that two copies of any important letter were sent by
different routes in the care of special messengers. It
is recorded that, in the case of twelve of these in the
service of one ambassador, only three had escaped
death or mutilation.
The letters are usually dictated by Fernando and
Isabel to the Secretary of State, who, in the earher
part of their reign, was Ferdnan Alvarez, " whose
rough drafts are incoherent and confused, with por-
tions blotted out and marginal additions written in
such small characters as to be scarcely discernible.*
There is a letter of April 30, 1488, from the Spanish
sovereigns to De Puebla, impressing upon him that he
must conclude the treaty of marriage between the
Princess Catalina and Arthur, Prince of Wales, and
see to the amount of marriage portion. . . . and the
question of repayment in case of the dissolution of
the marriage. This is in Latin, for the King and
Queen of England send a message that they cannot
understand Spanish and desire Latin letters. The
next letter, without a date, is on the amount and con-
ditions of the jointure King Henry is to pay the
Princess Catalina, and this is in Spanish, probably
intended only for the eyes of De Puebla. In answer
* Bergenroth. Calendar of State Papers.
202
ISABEL'S COURT AND HOME LIFE
to this we learn that the Princess is to receive the
third part of the revenue of Wales, Cornwall, and
Chester, also 80,000 gold crowns a year, 30,000 vassals,
hundreds of villages and castles, some towns, and
many sea-ports.
In the haggling which followed, the two parsimonious
kings, Henry and Fernando, are well matched. The
former asks " Why the King and Queen of Spain
should not be more liberal, as the money came not
out of their strong boxes but out of the pockets of
their subjects?" Then De Puebla adds, on his own
account, "That England is a very dear place, for the
smallest coin there is worth eight Spanish maravedis ! "
Next we are told that the Spanish ambassadors are
invited to see little Prince Arthur asleep, and they find
him to be " fat and fair, but small for his age," twenty
months. King Henry sends a certain Doctor Saloage,
as one of his ambassadors, to Spain, and he makes a
long oration in Latin, to which the Bishop of Ciudad
Rodrigo replies ; but Roger Machado, Richmond
King-at-Arms, says : " le bon evesque estoit si viel et
avoyt perd tous ses dens, que a grant payne on peult
entendre ce qu'il dissoit."
At length we have the satisfaction of hearing that
the marriage treaty is signed on March 8, 1489, before
the two children are five years old, the dowry of the
Spanish princess to be 200,000 gold crowns, "of
which half (or a third) is to be accepted in ornament
and apparel for the Infanta and her household." But
all this will have to be fought over again, for we are
told that when " Fernando and Isabel concluded and
ratified the second marriage treaty it was on less
favourable terms than had been already agreed upon,
203
ISABEL'S COURT AND HOME LIFE
for no other reason than because they had not the
eadier correspondence at hand ! " *
We are not surprised at this when we learn that
" many documents were placed in ' areas,' wooden
chests of exquisite work, enriched with carving and
gilding," and there was an area in each of the many
palaces where the Court resided for a time. There is
a very interesting letter from Fernando to the Queen
of England, Elizabeth of York, written some months
after the first treaty was signed, in Latin. It is dated
December 4, 1489, from Baca (Baza), in which the
King informs her that he has conquered the town of
Baca, in the kingdom of Granada, and made great pro-
gress in the war against the Moors. As his victories
interest all the Christian world, he thinks it his duty to
inform the Queen of England." f
Another letter of De Puebla, of January 1490, repeats
what he has heard, that the King of France tells Henry
the Spanish alliance is of little value. . . . but the war
against the Moors is almost finished, and Spain is
very well situated for war with France by sea and
land. ..." We shall hear a great deal more about
De Puebla at a later period, but meantime we will
leave him to his distinctly uncomfortable life in
England, where he is a kind of " souffre-douleur " to
both crafty Kings. He does not appear to have been
a very estimable or dignified person, and was either
poor or miserly, for in town he lodged at some doubt-
ful tavern, and in the country he dined every day at
Court, where he was not especially welcome. The
Queen and the King's mother inquired of him " if
his masters did not provide him with food ? " and
* Bergenroth. f //>iii.
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ISABEL'S COURT AND HOME LIFE
Henry VII. asked his courtiers why De Puebla came ?
laughing with good-natured contempt at their reply :
" To eat ! " " Here comes the old Doctor a-begging ! "
he exclaimed, when the Spaniard applied for wine and
bread for his servants' supper. Fernando and Isabel
did not thoroughly trust De Puebla, yet they had to
keep him in their service, for he seems to have under-
stood the wily Henry VII.
With regard to other alliances, Fernando had made
an effort, some years before, to secure Catherine, the
heiress of Navarre, for his son Don Juan, but this
move was checkmated by her mother, Queen Made-
leine, whose interest was all for France, and who
married her to Jean d'Albret. It is interesting to
remember that Caesar Borgia married his sister.
Later on Fernando achieved his great and fatal
success in the double marriage between his second
daughter, Juana, and Philip, the son of the Emperor
Maximilian, whose daughter Margaret married the
Infante Juan. But this was not until the League of
Venice against France had given a fresh stimulus to
the restless ambition of the King of Spain.
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CHAPTER XIV
THE INQUISITION IN SPAIN
The Holy War against the infidels which had lasted
through so many centuries, had intensified in Spain
the passionate flame of devotion to the Faith, and it
was with somewhat of crusading zeal that the terrible
Inquisition first gained ground under Fernando and
Isabel.
It is difficult to give an exact account of its origin,
but v/e would hardly go so far back as the learned
Parama, who declares "that God was the first Inquisitor,
and that His condemnation of Adam and Eve was the
model of the judicial forms observed in the trials of
the Holy Office. The sentence of Adam was the type
of the Inquisitorial "reconciliation; his subsequent
raiment of skins was the model of the ' san benito ' ;
and his expulsion from Paradise the precedent for
the confiscation of the goods of heretics." We
find intolerance in the early days when Christianity
became the religion of the Roman Empire, and the
Popes looked upon heresy as treason against them-
selves, but it appears first to have become an organised
system in the hands of the Dominican friars, and we
see the Inquisition definitely established at Toulouse
206
THE INQUISITION IN SPAIN
by St. Louis in 1233. Soon afterwards adopted by
Italy and Germany, it was introduced into Aragon,
where fresh rules were added by the Council of
Tarragona in 1242, and it became the most formidable
tribunal which the world had ever seen.
This engine of persecution fell heavily during the
thirteenth and fourteenth centuries on the unfortunate
Albigenses, a sect which first started in Provence and
passed on thence to Aragon, with which it was closely
connected. But the Inquisition does not appear to have
been fully organised in Castile before the days of Isabel,
although her own father, Juan II., "had hunted the
heretics of Biscay as if they had been wild beasts
among the mountains," and in an earlier day St.
Ferdinand "had heaped the faggots on the blazing
pile with his own hands."
Probably the strong desire for national unity by
means of the strict religious bond of faith, gave the
first impulse towards the Inquisition in the days of
Fernando and Isabel,[after whose accession a Bull was
obtained from the Pope to organise it afresh in Aragon
and to establish it on a permanent basis in Castile. In
the mixed population of Spain there was no uniformity
of doctrine ; there had been much intermarriage with
Jews, and Judaism was the special heresy of the land.
In the Cortes of Toledo in 1480, strong intolerance
was shown and oppressive laws were passed against
them ; and it was only after this, in the next year, that
the Pope's Bull was taken advantage of to establish
the Inquisition at Seville in 1481, in the Dominican
monastery of San Pedro and San Pablo. We are told
that Isabel was strongly opposed to this measure and
long resisted the arguments and eloquence of her
207
THE INQUISITION IN SPAIN
confessor, Father Torquemada, a violent and bigoted
Dominican ; but she was a deeply religious woman,
and when she was at length persuaded that this was
the will of God, and that it was her duty to sacrifice
her merely human feelings of tenderness and com-
passion, she gave way after a bitter struggle.
No thought of self ever swayed the actions of Isabel ;
she was a warm-hearted friend and a loving daughter,
who during the long years of her mother's sad mental
disease, watched over her with unceasing patient devo-
tion. We have seen with what wise charity she cared
for the sick and wounded on the battlefield, and so
full of tender pity was she, that she would not be pre-
sent at a bull-fight unless the horns of the bull were
so protected as to prevent dangerous wounds. She
was a passionate lover of justice, and magnanimous in
forgiving personal injuries. Yet this was the Queen
who was induced to sign the dread charter to extirpate
heresy '' for the Glory of God and the exaltation of the
Catholic Faith" — the death warrant of thousands of
her innocent subjects.
This is so interesting a psychological question that
I may be pardoned for dwelling upon it at some length,
as we must first seek to recreate the atmosphere of that
bygone time. " There can be no greater injustice than
to condemn one century by the standard to which a
later has arrived, through long ages of trial and a slow
process of development."* We must remember that
in this period the spirit of intolerance was shared by
most of the greatest thinkers, the men of noblest
character and purest motives, and with scarcely an
exception, all the theologians, for the time had not yet
* Watt's " Story of the Nations."
208
THE INQUISITION IN SPAIN
come when toleration was thought of, or perhaps even
possible. Take the instance of Reginald Pecock, the
good Bishop of Chichester, a man of strong intellect
and with a keen love of justice, who sought to win
over heretics to the Faith by reason rather than by
persecution. His fellow prelates looked askance at
him, his people did not understand him ; he was him-
self accused of heresy for his gentleness, forced to
recant, and deprived of his bishopric in 1457. Thus
did he pay the penalty of being before his times.
Bossuet, in much later days, clearly states the axiom
that "the holy severity of the Church of Rome will
not tolerate error." All the ancient chroniclers of
Spain look upon the persecution of heretics as the
most glorious work of kings and heroes, and the
following quotation from Senor Menendez Pelayo
is a clear and condensed statement of their views :
** Never since the time of Judas Maccabaeus has there
existed a people which might with so much reason
consider itself as chosen to be the sword and the arm
of God. In Spain, even amid the wildest dreams of
medieval aggrandisement and of universal Monarchy,
every earthly consideration was constantly subordinated
to the supreme object of bringing all mankind into one
fold, and under one Shepherd."*
That we may not look upon the persecuting spirit
as characterising only the Church of Rome, it may be
well to select a few instances of the same intolerance
in the very stronghold of Protestantism. "John Knox
regarded the extermination of idolaters as a counsel of
perfection. . . . He relied on texts about massacring
Amalekites, and Elijah's slaughter of the prophets of
* " Heterodoxus Espanoles," torn. ii. p. 679.
209 o
THE INQUISITION IN SPAIN
Baal. The Mass was idolatry, was Baal worship ; and
Baal worshippers if recalcitrant must die . . . Knox's
opinion being accepted, Reformers must either con-
vert or persecute the Catholics even to extermina-
tion. . . . Thus in Deuteronomy, cities which serve
other gods or welcome missionaries of other religions
are ito be burned, and everything in them is to be
destroyed. God wills that * all creatures stoop, cover
their faces, and desist from reasoning when command-
ment is given to execute His judgment.' Knox was
wont to cite the massacre of Agag as an example to the
backward brethren." * This may recall to our minds
a passage in Dr. Arnold's sermon on the " Wars of the
Israelites" :
"It is better that the wicked should be destroyed
from the world a hundred times over, than that they
should tempt those who are as yet innocent to join
their company. Let us but think what might have
been our fate, and the fate of every other nation under
heaven at this hour, had the sword of the Israelites
done its work more sparingly."
Might not these words have been spoken by Isabel
the Catholic ? In the curious irony of fate which
history so often records, in her day it was chiefly
against the Israelites that the sword was turned ! In
Carlyle's " Cromwell " we find a sentiment akin to those
above. Speaking of the storming of Drogheda, where
Oliver Cromwell ordered an almost promiscuous mas-
sacre of the Irish inhabitants, he adds : "Terrible
surgery this ; but is it surgery and judgment, or atro-
cious murder merely ? That is a question which should
be asked, and answered. Oliver Cromwell did believe
* " Life of Knox." Andrew Lang.
2IO
THE INQUISITION IN SPAIN
in God's judgments; and did not believe in the rose-
water plan of surgery ; which, in fact, is this editor's
case too ! "
The "^rose-water " methods are far more to our taste
at the present day, still we can scarcely deny that when
men are in desperate earnest, toleration seems only
another name for indifference.
There is another point to consider. In those stormy
times of constant feud and bloodshed, human life was
of no account — as with silver in the days of Solomon
— only the fine gold of the priceless undying soul was
to be considered. Who would reck of a few fleeting
hours on the burning pile for the earthly body, when
the eternal, unspeakable torments of Hell were sus-
pended in the balance and might be so redeemed ? The
gate of salvation stood open to the last fatal moment,
and fear of the stake might drive thousands to baptism.
So the true believer would look upon an auto de fe.
In the days of Queen Isabel, life had not the apparent
stability with which we are wont to credit it in these
piping times of peace, when we go forth to our daily
labour with the comfortable assurance that we shall
return home at night. Then, perils waylaid alike the
noble and the peasant on every side. A chance meet-
ing with a secret foe, an angry word, and a stab in the
dark ; or a touch of ever-lurking fever in the pestilen-
tial byway, in the street or palace ; and a man's place
would know him no more. When our own existence
hangs ever by a thread, we are not disposed to place a
very high value upon human life, and this may have
been a strong element in the readiness of any tribunal
to sign a death-warrant.
As the Inquisition was chiefly directed against the
211
THE INQUISITION IN SPAIN
Jews at this time, it will be interesting to give a brief
glance at their history in Spain. They are said to have
flocked hither originally in great numbers after the
destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, and under the
Empire and the first Gothic kings they dwelt in peace
and prosperity. But after the fourth Council of Toledo,
633, they were cruelly persecuted by the Spanish
bishops ; their baptism was made compulsory, and
many fled from torture and death to the shores of
Morocco or to France. When the Moors conquered
Spain, the Jews are accused of being on their side, and
if so they were fully justified, for then followed a palmy
time of toleration and equal rights under the Moslem
rule. "While the Arab fought, the Jew trafficked,"
and when the fighting was over, joined in the study of
the arts and sciences and flourished amazingly. The
Jews of Cordova especially distinguished themselves
in reviving the philosophy of the Greeks, and in the
darker days which followed the fall of the Omeyyad
kings, they kept alight the lamp of learning.
Banished and persecuted in many lands, accused of
poisoning the wells in France, and set upon by the
people, there was yet a Jewish physician in every Court
in Europe, and everywhere we find most of the com-
merce and banking in their hands. For their wealth
they were protected and made use of by kings and
nobles, while they were hooted at and ill-treated by the
ignorant populace. All through Europe this has ever
been the case, for they excited envy by their ostentation
in dress, and hatred by their sharpness in bargaining,
called usury and extortion, their mysterious religious
observances, and the fact that they remained a caste
apart. Endless calumnies were believed ; they were
212
THE INQUISITION IN SPAIN
accused of desecrating all that Christians held most
dear, and of sacrificing a Christian child at their Pass-
over.
" Slain with cursed Jewes, as it is notable." *
When the Holy Office was established at Seville it
was received with jealousy and suspicion by the higher
classes, who had to a considerable extent intermarried
with wealthy Jewesses, but the populace applauded and
rejoiced, for their hatred had been freshly roused by the
preaching of fanatical priests. Then the Queen made
one last effort at a compromise ; and by her command
a simple catechism of the Catholic Faith was drawn up
to teach the Jews and win them over to conversion.
But there cannot have been much result, for in that
year we are told that more than two thousand people
were burned for heresy in Andalusia alone. After
Torquemada was appointed chief Inquisitor in 1483, an
immense number of unfortunate men and women
many of whom had been apparently converted and
were under suspicion of having relapsed, were convicted
by the Dominican tribunal and suffered a cruel death
on the flat plain outside the walls of Seville, called the
Quemadero, or burning-place of the terrible Inqui-
sition.
This was the method of procedure under the rule of
Torquemada. On the first two Sundays of Lent an
edict was published in every church, calling upon the
people who knew or suspected any one to be guilty of
heresy to lodge information against him before the
Holy Office, even in the case of his nearest and dearest.
Should he neglect to do so, he was refused absolution
"•• Chaucer's " Prioress's Tale."
213
THE INQUISITION IN SPAIN
by his confessor. Every accusation, even anonymous,
was received, and the accused was at once taken to the
secret chambers of the Inquisition, where he saw no one
but his gaoler and a priest specially appointed, both of
whom may be looked upon as spies. He was not fully
told the charges against him, and he was not allowed
to meet the advocate who with a show of fairness was
appointed to defend him.
When his trial came under these embarrassing cir-
cumstances, if he was suspected of evasion or refused
to confess his guilt, the unfortunate prisoner was put to
the torture. Instead of presuming his innocence until
his guilt was proved, the sin of heresy was taken for
granted unless he could clear himself. It is true that
he had the right of challenging any witness whom he
knew to be his enemy, but as he did not know the
names of his accusers until he met them on the day
of judgment, this privilege was of little avail, and the
whole proceedings were shrouded by absolute secrecy.
Confiscation of goods was the invariable penalty of
heresy, and the profits went first to pay the expenses of
the Holy Office. The final sentence was death by
burning, but it was not until after the days of Isabel
that the awful ceremony of the auto de f6 was
countenanced by the presence of royalty. The dread
tribunal is thus spoken of by a pious and learned
writer of the time.
" The Church, who is the mother of mercy, and the
fountain of charity, content with the imposition of
penance, accords life to many who do not deserve it.
While those who persist obstinately in their errors,
after being imprisoned on the testimony of trustworthy
witnesses, she causes to be put to the torture, and con-
214
THE INQUISITION IN SPAIN
demned to the flames : some miserably perish, bewailing
their errors, and invoking the name of Christ, while
others call upon that of Moses. Many again who
sincerely repent, she, notwithstanding the heinousness
of their transgressions, merely sentences to perpetual
imprisonment." * So profound was the belief of the
oppressors that the Almighty was on their side, that
they inscribed above their portal at Seville : " Exurge
Domine ; judica causam tuam ; capite nobis vulpes."
It must be remembered that the original victims of
the Inquisition were nominal Christians, probably
converted Moslems or Jews, who were suspected of
falling from the Faith. But we cannot leave this short
sketch of the course of persecution in Spain without
touching on that culminating disastrous measure, the
fatal crime of the expulsion of the Jews after the
conquest of Granada. The popular feeling against
them had become envenomed, and no scandalous
rumour was too outrageous for the credulity of the
masses. Nameless crimes and dark mysterious orgies
were hinted at, and the Jews were accused of bringing
strong pressure to bear on any of their race who had
become converts to Christianity. The Inquisitors
declared that they had tried all gentle means, but the
Israelites were an obstinate and stiff-necked people,
whose hearts were hardened like that of Pharaoh, and
the only way to extirpate the heresy of Judaism,
and to ensure not only the orthoxdoy of Spain but the
union of the nation, was to get rid of these aliens at
once and for ever.
The Jews were not long in hearing of their danger,
and they hastened to make an appeal to the sovereigns,
* " Marineo" (quoted by Prescott).
215
THE INQUISITION IN SPAIN
with the munificent offer of 30,000 ducats towards the
expenses of the war with the Moors. We are told that
the Jewish envoy had obtained an audience with
Fernando and Isabel within the palace at Granada
when the Dominican Torquemada boldly entered
unannounced into the council chamber, and " drawing
a crucifix from beneath his mantle, held it up, exclaim-
ing : ' Judas Iscariot sold his Master for thirty
pieces of silver. Your Highnesses would sell Him
anew for 30,000 ; here He is, take Him and barter
Him away." So saying the frantic priest threw the
crucifix on the table and departed.
We see here the kind of influence which was
brought to bear on the acutely sensitive religious
feeling of the Queen. It had always been impressed
upon her that gentleness and compassion were elements
of treachery to the stern will of the Most High, which
was made known to her by the voice of her confessor ;
the habits of a lifetime asserted themselves, and at
any cost to herself she was ready to do what she
believed to be her duty. She overcame her scruples
and at length agreed to sign the irrevocable proscription.
We can easily believe that the motives of Fernando
were more mixed, for with the end of the war with the
Moors all his hereditary ambitions for Aragon resumed
their full sway over him, and to carry them out, money
was an absolute necessityfor him. If he was to become
the dictator of southern Europe, his treasury must be
filled, and there was no simpler way of doing so than
to confiscate with a semblance of legality most of the
immense property of this ancient people, ever per-
secuted, but ever saving and wealthy. We know what
a master of diplomacy the King of Spain proved himself
216
/. Lacosle, phot.
Ill tilt- Piado, Madrid
ALTAR-PIECE
Castilian School, about 1491
FERNANDO AND ISABEL KNEELING
INIANTE JL'AN INFANTA JLANA
TORQLEMADA
THE INQUISITION IN SPAIN
to be, as Machiavelli says of him ; " There is a certain
prince of the present time who never preaches aught
but peace and good faith, and yet of both he is the
greatest foe."
It was on March 30, 1492, in the palace of conquered
Granada,that the fatal edict was signed for the expulsion
of the Jews. The original is still in existence, and
begins in stately form :
"Nos Ferdinandus et Elisabeth dei gratia, Rex et
Regina Castelle, Leononis . . . . "
The document then sets forth the danger of allowing
further intercourse between their Christian subjects
and the Jews, who obstinately continued to try and
convert them to Judaism in defiance of commands and
penalties. When a college or corporation is con-
victed of any great and terrible crime, it is right that
it should be disfranchised, the less suffering with the
greater, the innocent with the guilty. If this be the
case with temporal concerns, it is much more so in
those which affect the general welfare of the soul ..."
At length follows the decree that all unbaptized Jews,
of whatever age, sex, or condition, should depart from
the realm by the end of July next ensuing; forbidding
them to return on any pretext whatever, under penalty
of death and confiscation of property. No subject was
to give shelter or help to any Jew after those four
months had expired. The condemned people were
allowed to sell their property but not to take away the
value in gold or silver.
This last was a very important clause, for under the
existing condition of commerce it was impossible for
bills of exchange to be obtained to any great amount ;
217
THE INQUISITION IN SPAIN
In the limited time, moreover, which was granted, a
whole people could not sell their goods as the market
was over-stocked at once, and in this forced sale we
hear of a house being given in exchange for an ass,
and a vineyard for a garment. The cruel doom of
exile fell with crushing, overwhelming force upon the
hapless race, but in that darkest hour of despair
they remained true to the faith of their fathers. In
vain the Spanish priests preached to them in the
synagogues and the public squares, and used every
argument and inducement for their conversion ;
very few were found ready to sacrifice their reli-
gion even for the sake of their country — the land
of their inheritance, of their birth : the home of
their ancestors, where all their loved ones had lived
and died.
When the day of doom arrived, to the number of
nearly a quarter of a million they were driven forth,
men and women and little children, all mingled
together as they thronged the chief roads, mostly
on foot and often destitute. Tenderly nurtured
women, accustomed to every luxury, men distin-
guished in art and science, rich and poor, joined
together in that terrible pilgrimage, encouraged by
their rabbis, who compared this persecution to that
which the chosen people had suffered in the days of
Pharaoh. Many fell by the way, dying at the road-
side with none to help or pity, while of the survivors
a large number passed through Portugal, paying a tax
to King Juan II., and of the remainder some travelled
to Italy, and even as far as France and England. The
seaports on the Mediterranean were crowded with the
218
THE INQUISITION IN SPAIN
unfortunate exiles who crossed over to Barbary, where
they were robbed and illtreated by lawless tribes, and
many of them were murdered.
As we read with horror the story of this cruel
exodus, we cannot forget that the same religious
bigotry has expelled the Jews from other countries —
England, France, Portugal, Russia, and from Vienna
— in 1669. When the Jews were banished from Eng-
land in 1290, Holinshed relates how the captain who
took away the richest of them drowned them all in
the Thames, and he implies that this act was approved
by many Englishmen, even in the time of Elizabeth,
when he wrote his chronicle. The famous historian
of the Inquisition thus enumerates the motives which
led to this disastrous step in Spain. " The measure
may be referred to the fanaticism of Torquemada, to
the avarice and superstition of Fernando, to the false
ideas and inconsiderate zeal with which they had
inspired Isabel, to whom history cannot refuse the
praise of great sweetness of disposition and an
enlightened mind."*
With regard to her fatal acceptance of the Inquisi-
tion, we have seen that she was not alone in that
infirmity of noble minds — the passionate desire to
vindicate the cause of her faith by stern intolerance
— to grasp the avenging sword of the High and
Mighty One, as though He needed the puny hand
of man to assert His Majesty !
No words of mine can express the horrors of that
dread tribunal of the Inquisition, more cruel and
vindictive in Spain than in any other land ; behind
* Llorente.
219
THE INQUISITION IN SPAIN
whose hateful portals all hope was left behind. Like
a poisonous upas-tree, as it grew in power under the
successors of Queen Isabel, it became more terrible
and deadly, until the very name has become almost
a synonym for hell itself.
230
CHAPTER XV
THE FALL OF GRANADA. THE
GREAT SURRENDER
When tidings of the brave El Zagal's defeat reached
Boabdil in Granada, he is said to have cried aloud in
his exultation : " Henceforth let no man call me El
Zogoybi (the Unlucky) ; the stars have ceased their
persecution !" But his triumph was short-lived. The
next messengers who reached the city gates were from
King Fernando to remind him of his promise made
when a captive — that when Baza, Guadix and Almeria
should have fallen, he would surrender Granada to the
Catholic sovereigns — who now called upon him to
fulfil his treaty.
It was a bitter reminder, and if the hapless King of
Granada had wished to comply with the stern sum-
mons, it was not in his power to do so. The city was
full of tumult and rage at the Christian conquests,
crowded with refugees from the conquered cities, who
all reviled Boabdil as the cause of their misfortunes,
and he dared not leave the sheltering walls of the
Alhambra. He sent humble messages of submission,
imploring for time, but Fernando's haughty reply cast
him off as of no account, and called upon the com-
221
THE FALL OF GRANADA
manders of the citadel to surrender at once with all
their artillery and arms. If the inhabitants complied,
they would receive the same favourable terms as Baza
and Almeria ; but if they refused the fate of Malaga
would be theirs. It was a terrible alternative, and the
city council was torn asunder by hot disputes, for the
wealthy merchants and the older citizens dreaded the
horrors of war and possible slavery, and were ready to
secure peace on such easy terms. But Granada was
full of ruined and desperate men, who lived by the
sword, and were eager only for revenge ; while the
gallant chivalry of Granada had inherited a fierce hatred
of the Christians from a long line of fighting ancestors,
and for them to yield this last stronghold of the Moorish
faith would be infamy worse than death.
One of these brave cavaliers, a certain Musa ben
Abil Gazan, took the lead at this critical moment and
roused the enthusiasm of the people, so winning them
over that a defiant reply was sent to King Fernando :
they would choose death rather than surrender, and
if he wished for their arms he must come and take
them.
It was a bold challenge and the people roused them-
selves to make it good. Through the gates of Granada
once more there poured forth companies of light
cavalry which harassed the country round, sweeping off
flocks and herds, and carrying their depredations to
the very gates of the fortresses which the Christians
had conquered. They even took some strong places,
such as Alhendin, by surprise, and awoke the spirit of
rebellion in Guadix and elsewhere. When Musa re-
turned with his cavalry from a victorious foray, the
people of Granada forgot all their past troubles and
THE FALL OF GRANADA
thought the Golden Age had come again. But Fernando
bided his time ; he waited till the Vega was restored to
all its "luxuriance and beauty ; the green pastures on
the borders of the Xenil were rich with sheep and
cattle ; the blooming orchards gave promise of abun-
dant fruit, and the open plain was waving with ripening
corn. The time was at hand to put in the sickle and
reap the golden harvest, when suddenly a torrent of
war came sweeping down from the mountains, and
Fernando, with an army of five thousand horse and
twenty thousand foot, appeared before the walls of
Granada. He left the Queen and Princess at the fort-
ress of Moclin, and came attended by . . . renowned
cavaliers. For the first time he led his son Prince Juan
into the field, and bestowed upon him the honour of
knighthood . . . high above them rose the resplendent
red towers of the Alhambra, rising from amidst deli-
cious groves ; with the standard of Mahomet waving
defiance to the Christian arms." *
This was the beginning of a series of devastating forays
over the fertile land of the Moors; villages were sacked
and burnt and the whole country was laid desolate.
The King's theory was that before besieging the city
he would carry on his desolating plan and his enemies
would be starved into submission. But the Moors
under their brave leader, now joined by Boabdil, who
saw that he had nothing more to hope for, made in-
cessant coiinter-sallies and obtained several minor suc-
cesses in their attacks on the Christians, yet all this
was but a last glimmer of light before the final eclipse.
The winter of 1490 was entirely occupied by the Spanish
sovereigns in preparation for one great and overwhelm-
=i= " Chronicles of Granada." Washington Irving.
223
THE FALL OF GRANADA
ing campaign against the devoted city. In the month
of April 1491, Fernando and Isabel set forth at the
head of an immense army, resolved to lay siege to the
Moorish capital and never leave until the final sur-
render.
Robbed of all her strongholds and defences, Granada
was still formidable from her natural position and her
host of eager defenders within the walls. The Sierra
Nevada, with its snow-clad heights, formed a mountain
barrier to the east, and the side facing the Vega was
defended by massive walls and embattled towers. The
Christian army encamped on the banks of the Xenil
in full view of the city, from which they were only
divided by an open plain. Hither the young Moorish
cavaliers would sally forth and challenge the Spaniards
to meet them in equal encounter, performing feats
of valour as if it were a tilting-ground, until King
Fernando had to forbid these duels, as he lost some of
his bravest knights. His tactics were those he usually
adopted — he laid waste the Vega again, closely invested
the city, and resolved to wait until the inhabitants
were compelled by famine to surrender.
Queen Isabel and her daughters, with a train of
Court ladies, had also established themselves in the
camp, where her encouragement, and the eager interest
which she took in all the military preparations, filled
the army with enthusiasm. Some historians speak of
her as riding on the field in complete armour, and a
suit of armour is still shown at Madrid in the Armeria
Real, with the monogram " Isabel" worked on the vizor.
But when we consider the extreme decorum and over-
scrupulous etiquette of Spanish ladies, it appears
extremely improbable that she ever wore that for-
224
THE FALL OF GRANADA
bidding costume. It has been suggested that it more
probably belonged to the husband of Isabel, daughter
of Philip II., Regent of Flanders, who used his wife's
cypher from gallantry.
It was not necessary for the Queen to wear a man's
armour to show her splendid courage and indomitable
spirit. On one occasion she wished to have a nearer
view of the Alhambra, and she rode with the King
across the little rivulet Dilar to the village of Zubia,
whence she could have a fine prospect of the beautiful
palace. The Marquess of Cadiz with a company of
soldiers was stationed beyond for the protection of the
sovereigns, when an unexpected sortie took place
from Granada, and for a short time Isabel was in
much danger. A thicket of bay is shown in which it
is said that she hid as the enemy went by. After the
conquest she built a hermitage in honour of the
Virgin to commemorate her escape, and it still stands
amid tall cypresses with faded portraits of Fernando
and Isabel on the walls. In this desperate sally, Musa
and Boabdil fought with heroic courage at the head
of their cavalry, but the foot soldiers, partly composed
of the lower class, were thrown into confusion, and
beaten back to the gates with great slaughter.
Late in the summer, the Queen had another narrow
escape. She had taken up her abode in a magnificent
tent belonging to the Marquess of Cadiz, when by
some accident this caught fire, and the flames spread
through the camp until it was threatened with destruc-
tion. With much difficulty the Queen and the royal
children were saved, and there appears to have been
no loss of life, although much valuable property was
burnt. To avoid such danger in future, it was resolved
225 p
THE FALL OF GRANADA
to build a besieging city on the site of the encamp-
ment, and the work was started at once. The soldiers
were turned into artisans, and within eighty days the
whole stupendous task was achieved. The new town
was crossed by two broad streets, meeting each other
at right angles in the middle, in the form of a cross,
with great gates at each of the four entrances, and was
solidly built of stone and mortar. Isabel gave it the
name of Santa Fe, and it stands to this day — a
monument of the Spanish sovereigns' constancy and
resolution.
As we may well imagine, the building of this city
over against them, did more to shake the confidence
of the unfortunate people of Granada than any victory
could have done. In such terrible persistence as this,
they saw themselves confronted by inexorable fate,
and their hearts failed them. They were threatened
with famine, for the blockade was so strict that no
provisions could enter — all communication with the
outside world was cut off, and there was no relief from
their old allies in Africa. A council of war v/as
held, and Boabdil was convinced by his advisers that
the city could not be defended much longer. The
first secret negotiation was begun in October, and the
Moorish vizier met Fernando's secretary and Gonzalvo
di Cordova, afterwards known as the Great Captain
from his supreme knowledge of military science gained
in these wars with the Moors. The discussion took place
at night in the most private manner, either in Granada
or in the little village of Churriana, outside the walls,
and these were the terms at length agreed upon :
" The inhabitants of Granada were to retain posses-
sion of their mosques, with the free exercise of their
226
THE FALL OF GRANADA
religion and all its peculiar rights and ceremonies ;
they were to be judged by their own laws, under their
own cadis or magistrates, subject to the control of the
Castilian governor ; they were to be unmolested in
their ancient usages, manners, language, and dress ; to
be protected in the full enjoyment of their property,
with the right of disposing of it on their own account,
and of migrating when and where they would ; and to
be furnished with vessels for the conveyance of such
as chose, within three years, to pass into Africa. No
heavier taxes were to be imposed than those customarily
paid to their Arabian sovereigns, and none whatever
before the expiration of three years.
** King Abdallah was to reign over a specified terri-
tory in the Alpujarras, for which he was to do homage
to the Castilian crown. The artillery and the fortifica-
lionsweretobe delivered into the hands of the Christians,
and the city was to be surrendered in sixty days
from the date of capitulation. Such were the principal
terms of the surrender of Granada, as authenticated by
the most accredited Castilian and Arabian authorities."*
The original deed is to be seen in the archives of
Simancas.
This treaty is given at full length, as it is most
important to understand thoroughly the favourable
conditions which induced the Moors to surrender the
last stronghold of their ancient kingdom. The act
of capitulation was signed by the sovereigns on
November 25, 1491, and the sixty days of truce would
not have expired until near the end of January, but in
the troubled state of the inhabitants it was thought
well to shorten the time of misery and suspense.
* W. H. Prescott.
227
THE FALL OF GRANADA
January 2, 1492, beheld the last sad scene in the
drama which the whole Christian world was watching
from afar. Fernando and Isabel, surrounded by their
retinues in magnificent attire, set forth in stately pro-
cession from Santa Fe and rode slowly across the
Vega, while Cardinal Mendoza and his household
troops had passed on in advance to take possession of
the Alhambra, where they placed the great silver cross
on the Torre de la Vela, and reared the banner of
Santiago and the standard of Castile and Aragon by
its side. At this triumphant sight, which set the seal
upon their conquest, the King and Queen fell upon
their knees in thanksgiving to God, and the whole army
joined in a solemn Te Deum, for this supreme and
glorious triumph of the Cross. The march toward
the city continued : " the King and Queen moving in
the midst, emblazoned with royal magnificence ; and
as they were in the prime of life, and had now achieved
the completion of this glorious conquest, they seemed
to represent even more than their wonted majesty.
Equal with each other, they were raised far above the
rest of the world. They appeared, indeed, more than
mortal, and as if sent by Heaven for the salvation of
Spain."*
At the foot of the hill of Los Martires, outside the
Puerta de los Molinos — where a chapel to San Sebastian
still marks the spot — Boabdil the ill-fated, with a small
band of cavaliers, met the royal procession, and
delivered up the keys of the city to Fernando, making
humble obeisance to his conqueror. Thence he rode
on across the plain and joined the sad company of
his wife and mother, who climbed together the moun-
* Quoted by Prescott.
228
THE FALL OF GRANADA
tain height, where Boabdil paused to look once more
on the fair kingdom which he had lost. ** Allah
Akbar ! " he cried as he burst into tears. He was
spared no last touch of bitterness, for his mother's
words must have stung him to the quick.
" You do well to weep like a woman for what you
could not defend like a man ! " Tradition still points
out the hill as " la Cuesta de las Lagrimas," and the
rocky point whence the last view of the Alhambra's
towers meets the eye is called " el ultimo sospiro del
Moro" (The last sigh of the Moor). The unfortunate
King soon wearied of his petty domain in the barren
Alpujarras, and having sold it to the Spanish sove-
reigns, he crossed over to Africa, and there, unlucky
to the last, he fell in battle fighting for the cause of
another, whom death had passed by when he fought
for his own. Well for him had he followed the example
of the gallant Musa, of whom the legend tells us that
he would not consent to the surrender, but that he
rode forth in his armour from the gate of his beloved
city, challenged the foe and died a hero's death.
" 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 they with Castile display ;
One king comes in with triumph — one weeping goes
away.
229
THE FALL OF GRANADA
" Thus cried the weeper, while his hands his old white
beard did tear,
Farewell, farewell, Granada ! thou city without peer !
Woe, woe, thou pride of heathendom ! seven hundred
years and more
Have gone since first the faithful thy royal sceptre bore !
" Thou wert the happy mother of a high-renowned race ;
Within thee dwelt a haughty line that now go from their
place ;
Within thee fearless knights did dwell, who fought with
mickle glee.
The enemies of proud Castile, the bane of Christentie.
" Here gallants held it little thing for ladies' sake to die,
Or for the Prophet's honour, and pride of Soldanry ;
For here did valour flourish and deed of warlike might
Ennobled lordly palaces in which was our delight.
" The gardens of the Vega, its fields and blooming bowers —
Woe, woe ! I see their beauty gone and scattered all
their flowers !
No reverence can he claim — the king that such a land
hath lost —
On charger never can he ride, nor be heard among the
host;
But in some dark and dismal place, where none his face
may see.
There weeping and lamenting alone that king shall be.-^^
Granada is still haunted with the memories of the
Moors, who had ruled in that beautiful land for more
than seven centuries, since Roderick, the last of the
Goths, had been vanquished on the banks of the Guada-
lete. The gateway of the Alhambra is still pointed
* Lockhart " Spanish Ballads,"
230
THE FALL OF GRANADA
out through which Boabdil left his home for ever, and
which, the legend tells us, he prayed no man might
ever pass through again. It is in the centre of an
immense tower, " la Torre de los Siete Suelos," great
masses of wall lie scattered about, buried in the
luxuriant herbage or overshadowed by vines and fig-
trees. The arch still remains, . . . but the portal has
been closed by loose stones . . . and remains impass-
able.* "In the palace of the Generalife hangs the
portrait of Boabdil ; the face is mild, handsome and
somewhat melancholy, with a fair complexion and
yellow hair." *
Everywhere the enchanted past meets us face to
face in the peerless Alhambra with its noble halls and
exquisite courts, and on all sides the motto of the
founder : " Wa la ghaliba ilia Allah " (" There is no con-
queror but Allah"). As we look upon the glorious
palace, even in the day of its decay, we cannot wonder
at the words of Peter Martyr when he first saw it, in
the train of Isabel in the hour of victory, " Alhambram
pro ! dii immortales ! qualem Regiam ! unicam in orbe
terrarum crede ! "
The war of Granada has often been compared by
the writers of Castile, for its length, to the siege of
Troy, and its gallant story may take a place with that
of old, in adventures of romance and valour. The
fall of the Moorish kingdom was a triumph of the
Cross which rang out through all the Christian world,
whose present gain was deemed to atone for the loss
of Constantinople, half a century before. On receiving
the news, the Pope, Innocent VIII., and Cardinals
* Irving.
231
THE FALL OF GRANADA
made a solemn procession of thanksgiving to St. Peter's,
where high mass was celebrated, and there was much
rejoicing in Rome. Great satisfaction was also felt
in England, for Henry VII. was proposing to enter
into close alliance with the Spanish sovereigns by
the marriage of Prince Arthur with the Princess
Catalina.
In his life of Henry VII. Lord Bacon gives an in-
teresting account of the reception of these'good tidings.
" Somewhat about this time came letters from Fernando
and Isabel, King and Queen of Spain, signifying the
final conquestof Granada from the Moors, which action,
in itself so worthy. King Fernando, whose manner
was never to lose any virtue for the showing, had
expressed and displayed in his letters at large, with all
the particularities and religious punctos and ceremonies
that were observed in the reception of that city and
kingdom, showing amongst other things that the King
would not by any means in person enter the city, until
he had at first aloof seen the cross set up 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 a herald from
the height of that tower that he did acknowledge to
have recovered that kingdom by the help of God
Almighty, and the glorious Virgin, and the virtuous
Apostle St. James, and the Holy Father Innocent VIII.,
together with the aids and services of his prelates,
nobles and commons.
" That yet he stirred not from his camp till he had
seen a little army of martyrs, to the number of seven
hundred and more Christians, that had lived in bonds
and servitude as slaves to the Moors, pass before his
232
THE FALL OF GRANADA
eyes, singing a psalm for their redemption, and that
he had given tribute unto God by alms and relief
extended to them all for his admission into the city.
These things were in the letters, with many more cere-
monies of a kind of holy ostentation.
"The King, ever willing to put himself into the con-
sort or choir of all religious actions, and naturally affect-
ing much the King of Spain, as far as one king can
affect another, partly for his virtues and partly for a
counterpoise to France, upon the receipt of these letters
sent all his nobles and prelates that were about the
Court, together with the mayor and aldermen of London,
in great solemnity to the church of Paul, there to hear
a declaration from the Lord Chancellor, now Cardinal.
When they were assembled, the Cardinal, standing
upon the uppermost step, or half-pace between the
choir, and all the nobles, prelates, and governors of
the city at the foot of the stairs, made a speech to
them, letting them know that they 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 new ground or territory upon the
infidels, nor enlarged and set farther the bounds of
the Christian world. But this is now done by the
prowess and devotion of Fernando and Isabel, sove-
reigns of Spain, who have to their immortal honour
recovered the great and rich kingdom of Granada and
the populous and mighty city of the same name from
the Moors, having been in possession thereof by the
space of seven hundred years and more ; for which this
assembly and all Christians are to render laud and
thanks unto God, and to celebrate this noble act of the
233
THE FALL OF GRANADA
King of Spain, who in this is not only victorious but
apostolical, in the gaining of new provinces to the
Christian faith. And the rather for that this victory
and conquest is obtained without much effusion of
blood : whereby it is to be hoped that there shall be
gained not only new territory, but infinite souls to the
Church of Christ, whom the Almighty as it seems would
have live to be converted. Herewithal he did relate
some of the most memorable particulars of the war
and victory. And after his speech ended, the whole
assembly went solemnly in procession, and Te Deum
was sung."
It is curious to notice the keen appreciation of
Fernando's character which Bacon shows in that dry
remark : " whose manner was never to lose any virtue
for the showing." We see how naturally he assumed
his proud position as Champion of Christendom; indeed
the conquest of this last corner of the Moorish king-
dom made a profound impression upon the whole of
Europe, and Christian Spain rose from a secondary
state to a first-rate power. One great result of the
war against Granada had been to make all the different
provinces of Spain forget their mutual jealousy and to
knit them together by a bond of union which made
them indeed, and for the first time in their history,
one strong and united people.
From a military point of view the progress of Spain
during this constant warfare was very great, for here
masses of soldiers had been collected and kept in the
held, not only for irregular service, or through definite
campaigns, but from one year to another. Thus the
men-at-arms had been trained to that endurance and
splendid discipline which in the foreign wars of Spain
234
THE FALL OF GRANADA
were to make them invincible under their famous
captains. We have already seen the immense improve-
ments in the artillery and munitions of war, in which
Spain was now on a level with or indeed superior to
any other European country.
King Fernando could now see before him an open
road for carrying out his old ambitions.
235
CHAPTER XVI
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS
While all Europe was ringing with the fame of Chris-
tian triumph in Spain, there passed almost unnoticed
another incident which was destined to have far greater
influence not merely on Castile and Aragon, but on the
history of the world.
Near the little seaport of Palos in Andalusia stands
the Franciscan Convent of Santa Maria de Rabida,
and here one autumn day a traveller paused at the gate
to beg a little bread and water for his child. It was
Christopher Columbus, who, wearied out with waiting
and vain hopes of attention from the Court of Portugal,
was on his way to France, and had been driven by a
storm into the harbour of Palos. " Lo dicho Almirante
Colon venendo a la Rabida, que es un monasterio de
frailes en esta villa, el qual demando a la porteria que
le diesen para aquel ninico, que era nino, pan i agua
que bebiese."*
So runs the familiar legend, and there is reason to
believe that the good prior, Juan Perez, who had been
confessor to the Queen, did much to smooth the way
for making Columbus and his projects known to her.
* Garcia Fernandez.
236
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS
We can picture to ourselves the eager meetings in that
quiet monastery when the prior and his friend Garcia
Fernandez, the village doctor, who seems to have had
some knowledge of physical science, and Martin
Alonzo Pinzen, the shipowner from Palos — all listened
to the Genoese mariner who was so full of enthusiasm
about his enterprise, and who pointed out on his charts
the way to reach Asia by sailing due west. This was
the great scheme which Columbus had proposed to
Juan II. of Portugal, who thought it was most unlikely
to meet with success, and refused to agree to the terms
which this foreign adventurer demanded.
Still there were possibilities in the air, and the Por-
tuguese had already done much in the way of dis-
covery, having sailed round Africa and arrived by sea
at various ports in Asia. The King listened to the
crafty suggestion of the Bishop of Ceuta that a caravel
should be secretly got ready and sent out to see if this
theory had any good foundation ; but the sailors,
"alarmed at the mysterious sea of Sargasso" (that
great track of sea-weed), were soon disheartened and
turned back. When Columbus heard of this treachery,
he left Portugal in disgust, although it had been his
home for many years. He had married Donna Felipa
Perestrela, the daughter of a captain of Prince Henry
the Navigator : and he appears to have earned his
living by making maps and charts for sale. His wife
was dead, and now the last link was severed with the
land of his adoption when he set sail with his little boy
Diego from Lisbon.
The future discoverer was a man well equipped with
all the knowledge of his day on the subject of geo-
graphy, and in his native Genoa he would have learnt
237
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS
to look with longing eyes upon the sea, as the great
field of enterprise and adventure. He appears to have
taken part in many voyages, to have sailed southward
as far as the Gulf of Guinea, while in a cruise to the
North he had visited Iceland, and there may have
heard vague rumours of discoveries in the Northern
Atlantic. As he himself says : " I have been seeking
out the secrets of nature for forty years, and wherever
ship has sailed, there have I voyaged."
From the time he decided to make his application
to the Spanish Court, a long and dreary while of wait-
ing and hope deferred was in store for him. He was
looked upon as a dreamer or an adventurer by most
of the courtiers, while the sovereigns themselves were
too much occupied with the War of Granada to take
much notice of this scheme of maritime exploration,
but they referred it to a committee of learned men.
The doctors of the University of Salamanca pro-
nounced that the plan of Columbus to " make a voyage
to the East by a westward passage across the Atlantic,"
was '' vain, impracticable, and resting on grounds too
weak to merit the support of government " ; and they
also called him an atheist and refuted him with texts
from St. Augustine. Some one gravely asserted that,
" even if he should depart from Spain, the rotundity
of the earth would present a kind of mountain up
which it was impossible for him to sail, even with the
fairest wind, and so he could never get back." Still
even then, in the darkest hour, there must have been a
kind of magnetism in the man's passionate enthusiasm,
for we find the friars of the Dominican convent, where
he dwelt with Deza the Inquisitor, were won over to
his views and upheld him. In gratitude for their
238
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS
support, Columbus made use of the first virgin gold
brought from the New World, to gild the retablo of
their church, San Esteban of Salamanca, where it still
shines in gorgeous reminder, seen under the dark
elliptical arch of the coro.
Time passed on, and the suppliant grew weary of
seeking in vain to win the ear of princes whom he
followed from city to city, scoffed at by the common
herd of courtiers, while pleading and argument seemed
of no avail. " Eight years was I torn with disputes,
and in a word, my proposition was a mockery," is his
pathetic cry. But in true greatness there is an invin-
cible fibre which outlives disappointment and failure,
and which from defeat itself can wrest a final victory.
As in his dream by the tower of Belem, so an unknown
voice ever whispered to the Great Adventurer :
" God will cause thy name to be wonderfully
resounded through the earth, and will give thee the
keys of the gates of the ocean which are closed with
strong chains."*
With regard to the apparent apathy of the Spanish
sovereigns, we must remember that the aims and hopes
of Aragon were turned to the Mediterranean and not
to the Atlantic. But the mind of Isabel was moved to
wider issues, and she could not forget the mighty future
which success in this adventure might open out for
Castile. She was encouraged in these thoughts by
some of her most trusted counsellors, among whom
were Cardinal Mendoza, Juan Cabrero, the King's
chamberlain, and his treasurer, Luis de Santangel, of
Jewish descent ; besides her former confessor Juan
* Columbus quotes it in a letter to the Spanish sovereigns,
July 9, 1503.
239
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS
Perez and others. Wearied out at length, Columbus
was on the point of carrying his offer to the Court of
France, when he was summoned to meet the sove-
reigns once more, and he travelled in all haste to Santa
Fe. This was at the end of 1491, when the army was
encamped before Granada, which was on the point of
capitulation. Again the ardent enthusiast repeated all
his arguments for this western route, and pictured in
glowing colours the realm of Cathay with all itsAvealth
and splendour, which he might reach by the way. So
far his audience was with him, and he had almost won
the day, when there arose a fresh stumbling-block in
the princely terms which he demanded with all the
proud assurance of genius.
We can imagine the dismay of King Fernando when
this Genoese mariner calmly made claim for himself
and his heirs after him to be Grand Admirals and
Viceroys of the unknown lands for ever, to have a tenth
part of all the profits, pearls, jewels, minerals and all
other things found or bought there, and also an eighth
share in all the ships which might traffic thither. All
protest was vain for — possibly with some exalted vision
of providing funds for a new crusade to redeem the
Holy Sepulchre — the foreign adventurer would consent
to nothing less. The thing was impossible, and he was
dismissed, " this pauper pilot promising rich realms."
But the last word was not yet spoken. Columbus
had scarcely departed when Santangel and others
pleaded so vehemently on his behalf that Queen Isabel
insisted upon his recall. Her messenger overtook him
at the bridge of Pinos, four miles from Santa Fe, and
brought him back to the ro)'al presence. " I will
assume the undertaking," said Isabel, "for my own
240
Alinari phot.
In the Uffizi Gallery, Florence
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS
crown of Castile, and am ready to pawn my jewels to
defray the expenses of it, if the gold in the treasury be
not sufficient." These words were worthy of " Isabelle
la Catholique, cette noble reine qui crut le genie sur
parole et dota I'univers d'un nouveau monde." All the
terms of Columbus were accepted, and the agreement,
in the careful style and writing of Miguel Perez
Almazan, the new secretary, is still in existence. It
was signed at Santa F^e, in the Vega of Granada, April
17, 1492, and we have no doubt that Fernando did so
with a mental reservation, for he was wont to keep
only that half of a bargain which was to his own
advantage.
A very curious kind of passport, in Latin, was also
given to Columbus, that he might present it to any
Eastern prince, such as Prester John, whom he should
come across. " Fernando and Isabel to King. . . .
"The sovereigns have heard that he and his subjects
feel great love for them and for Spain. They are also
informed that he and his subjects very much wish to
hear news from Spain ; and send therefore their
Admiral, Ch. Colombo, who will tell them that they are
in good health and perfect prosperity. Granada, April
30, 1492."
The quiet assumption that the unknown potentate
is dying to hear about Spain and its rulers is a
delightful touch.
Santangel advanced the necessary sum of money,
about ;^3o8. Three vessels were provided, manned
with ninety sailors and provisioned for a year. The
Santa Maria was commanded by Columbus, and
the two others, called caravels, with decks only fore
and aft, were the Pinia, with Martin Alonzo Pinzen
241 Q
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS
captain, and the Nina, under Vicente Yanez Pinzen. It
was difficult to collect the crews, which, as Peter
Martyr tells us, " had to be soothed and encouraged,"
before they plunged downhill into a sea without
a shore. It was on a Friday, August 3, 1492,
after they had all made confession and received the
Sacrament, that they set sail from Palos, under
Columbus, who is henceforth always known as " El
Almirante." They delayed awhile at the Canary
Islands to refit the Pinta, and on September 6 they
left the roadstead of Gomera, and after three days
there sprang up a breeze which swept the three
caravels across the Atlantic. As we understand the
theory of the admiral, he believed the world to
be a sphere, but he greatly under-estimated its size,
while he thought that Asia extended far beyond its
real limits. It is interesting to remember that he
never corrected this impression, and that to the day of
his death he always believed that he had only arrived
at the eastern part of Asia. Not until thirty-two years
later — when Magalhaes fell a martyr to science — was
the general outline of the New World made out. Cape
Horn rounded, the Pacific Ocean crossed, and the
first journey round the world accomplished in three
years less fourteen days.
Yet nothing can dim the fame of that five weeks'
voyage, in which the great dreamer made his dream
come true, and flooded the ancient world with know-
ledge when he " unbarred the gates of ocean." The
whole story of Columbus is of the most absorbing
interest, but it is so well known that we need but
lightly touch upon the most striking points.
A few entries in the log-book of that first voyage are
242
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS
worth quoting. On September 6 they set forth from
Gomera, one of the Canary Isles.
14th. The sailors of the Nhia see two tropical birds.
15th. All saw a meteor fall from heaven, which made
them very sad.
i6th. Came upon those immense plains of seaweed,
the Mar de Sargasso.
17th. The needle decHnes a whole point to W. ;
sailors begin to murmur.
i8th. They see many birds, and a cloud in the dis-
tance.
19th. They see a pelican in morning; another in
evening ; drizzling rain without wind, a certain sign of
land.
The days pass, but the land does not come ; the men
lose hope, and in their grim despair El Almirante
knows his own deadly peril.
October nth. A table board and carved stick are
found ; a branch of haw tree with fruit drifts by.
Columbus sees a light on shore.
Friday, 12th. Land seen from the Pinta.
Columbus went ashore in his ship's boat, wearing
the costume of Admiral of Castile, and holding aloft
the Castilian banner : then he knelt down and returned
thanks to God, and with tears of joy, he kissed the
earth. He called the small island San Salvador ; it
was one of the Bahamas, of which he formally took
possession. He thus mentions it in the first of the
only two letters of his in the original Spanish which
are known to exist :
" Ala primera q yo falle puse nobre sant Salvador a
coemo racion de su alta magestad el qual marauillosa
mete todo esto andado los jndios la llama guanaham."
243
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS
(To the first island I discovered I gave the name of
San Salvador, in commemoration of his Divine Majesty,
who has wonderfully granted all this) ..." Esto es
harto y eterno dios m~o senor el ql da a todos aqllos
que andan su camino victoria de cosas que parecenin
posibles y esta serialada mente fue la vna por que a vn
•quel destas tierras ayan fallado o escripto todo va
colectu ra sin allegar devista saluo comprendiendo a
tanto quelos oyentes los mas escuchauan & juzgauan
mas por fabla q por poca cosa." (The' eternal and
almighty God our Lord it is Who gives to all who walk
in His way victory over things apparently impossible,
and in this case signally so, because although these
lands had been imagined and talked of before they were
seen, most listened incredulously to what was thought
to be but an idle tale.) .... "Esto segun el fecho asi
en breue fecha enla ca la uera sobre las ystade canaria
a. XV. de febrero. Mille. & quatrocientos & nouenta
y tres anos.
Fara lo que mandareys. El almirante."
(Thus I record what has happened in a brief Epistle
written on board the Caravel, above the Canary Isles,
on February 15, 1493.
Yours to command. The Admiral.)
Space will not allow us to give the whole of this
most interesting letter, written by Columbus to Luis de
Sant Angel after the first eventful voyage, a precious
relic. He tells of the other islands which he discovered
in the West Indian Archipelago, and greatly admires
the beauty of the tropical scenery, with frequent
exclamation of " Es maravilla ! " As we see above, in
244
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS
his strong religious feeling he ascribes all honour and
glory to the Divine help which he had received.
It is pathetic, in the light of future events, to be told
that the poor natives with boundless confidence
exclaimed : "Come ! Come ! and see the men come
from heaven ! " The admiral continued his voyage on
October 24, more eager than ever to pierce the great
mystery of the ocean, and to discover those spicy
groves and splendid cities of Cipango (Japan), the
constant object of his golden fancies. He next found
an island which he named Santa Maria de Concepcion,
then " Fernandino," "Ysabella," and "Juana." The
beautiful land of Cuba was surely the elysium he sought,
and for awhile he believed that it was indeed " his
Cipango." Full of the teaching of his oracle Marco
Polo, he thought he must be near the land of Kublai
Khan, and when he reached Hayti, to which he gave
the name of Hispaniola, he took it for the ancient
Ophir, from whence came all the riches of Solomon.
This he describes in his letter as : '* larger in circum-
ference than all Spain from Catalonia on the sea-coast
to Fuenterabia in Biscay." " In Hispaniola, in the
most convenient place, most accessible for the gold-
mines and all commerce with the mainland, on this
side and on the other, that of the great Khan, with
which there would be great trade and profit, I have
taken possession of a large town, which I named the
city of Navidad, and made fortifications there . . . with
arms and artillery and provisions for more than a
year . . ."
He believed Cuba to be part of the mainland of
India, and it was owing to this mistake that all the
natives of America have been called Indians.
245
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS
On his return, after many troubles and adventures,
the admiral was welcomed with the greatest enthusiasm
by the people of Spain, and the sovereigns prepared a
solemn reception for him at Barcelona, in April 1493.
He was met at the city gates by the magnates and great
nobles, and in his procession through the streets there
were natives of the New World in their barbaric
costume and ornaments, and strange unknown birds
and beasts. Fernando and Isabel, with their son Prince
Juan, rose from their thrones on his approach, gave
him their hands and bade him be seated before them.
He told his story of travel and adventure, and the
sovereigns with all present, prostrated themselves on
their knees in thanks to God, while the choir sang the
Te Deum to commemorate this victory over the
mysterious unknown.
Application was made to Pope Alexander VI. to
confer upon Castile all lands discovered in the " Indies,"
as the new discoveries were called, under the belief
that they were on the eastern coast of Asia. A Papal
Bull was issued limiting the area of Spanish possession
by a meridian line to be drawn from pole to pole, 100
leagues west of the Azores and Cape Verde Islands.
This was followed by a later decree of September 25,
1493, declaring the whole globe to be open to Spain by
the westward passage and to Portugal by the eastward
route. This assumption of authority by the Pope has
been ridiculed, but in fact both nations were at first
willing to accept an umpire for the new game of dis-
covery. The whole world was roused by the success
of this first voyage to the Far West, and all the chief
Powers of Christendom were seized with the craving
for adventure, and the greed of do minion and gold.
246
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS
England as we know had barely missed the prize which
fell to Spain, for Columbus had sent his brother to
negotiate with Henry VII. Fernando's Ambassador
writes to him on July 25, 1498, that : " Merchants of
Bristol have for the last seven years sent out annually
some ships in search of the island of Brazil and
the Seven Cities."
" O what a great thing had been then,
If that they that be EngUshmen
Might have been the first of all
That there should have taken possession,
And made first building and habitation
A memory perpetual ! " *
The Portuguese were full of eagerness to continue the
work of enterprise they had so well begun, but it is with
Spain we have chiefly to deal. Now that Granada had
fallen and " the task of centuries was complete, a nation
which for generations had lived to fight could not lie
down to sleep. The blood of the people boiling with
excitement, turned to adventure rather than to war, to
the sea rather than to land . . ." Here were wild
dreams to be realised "before which those told in the
books of chivalry faded to nothingness. Here was the
glittering mirage of boundless wealth, to be had for the
grasping . . . What wonder that Spaniards lost their
mental balance, and that rapine, lust, and cruelty,
marked their way with a broad red track whither-
soever they went ? "t
On September 25, 1493, Columbus set forth from
Cadiz on a second expedition, with seventeen
ships and 1500 men, and he had so singularly pros-
* Old Play, "The Four Elements," 151 5.
f Martin Hume.
247
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS
perous a voyage, that on November 3, being Sunday,
he came in sight of an island which he called
Dominica. Sailing northward, he came to a small
island which he called Maria Galante from his own
flagship, and another larger one received the name of
Guadeloupe, from a monastery in Estremadura. Here
there were cannibals, and his exploring party had a
narrow escape in the jungle. Sorrow and disappoint-
ment were in store for the admiral, who, after dis-
covering Porto Rico and other islands, found that his
little colony in Hispaniola, La Navidad,had been com-
pletely destroyed, probably through the evil conduct
of the settlers. It was unfortunate that Columbus
could not give sufficient time to the careful establish-
ment of his colonies on a firm basis, for the Spanish
sovereigns, in their jealousy of the advance of Portugal,
were constantly urging him to push onward for more
discoveries. In the course of the voyage which fol-
lowed, he gained important knowledge and came upon
Jamaica, and the cluster of small islands called the
" Garden of the Queen," where the sailing was so
intricate that he took no sleep for thirty-two nights.
Then he was attacked by illness, and after many
troubles, he returned against the trade winds to Cadiz
on June 11, 1496, with his vessels laden with slaves,
prisoners of war.
It was nearly two years later when the admiral
started out for his third voyage, which had the impor-
tant result of his actually landing on the American
continent. We may notice that one of the special
instructions he received this time from the Catholic
sovereigns was that "the Indians of the islands are to
be brought into peace and quietude, being reduced
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS
into subjection benignantly, and also, as the chief end
of conquest, they are to be converted to the sacred
CathoHc faith, and have the Sacraments administered
to them." He set sail from the port of San Lucar on
May 30, 1498, with six vessels and two hundred men,
in addition to the needful sailors. He had to avoid a
French squadron as France and Spain were at war,
and then he made for the Cape Verde islands ; when a
favourable breeze sprung up and he took a westerly
course. He had resolved to call the first land he
should discover " Trinidad," and the story goes that
three lofty hills first met the view from the maintop-
sail of the admiral's ship, on July 31. He passed on
in a westerly direction in search of a port, the next
day the low lands of the Orinoco were visible, and for
the first time the great explorer looked upon the
continent of America.
He sailed into the Gulf of Paria, and when he saw
the land before him, he came to the conclusion that he
was now at the base of the Earthly Paradise, and that
the waters of the Orinoco formed one of the great
rivers which proceeded from the Tree of Life in the
midst of Paradise. This celestial approach the admiral
at once claimed, as he had done with all the islands,
for the Catholic sovereigns of Spain, and erected a
great cross upon the shore. " I found some lands the
most beautiful in the world and very populous," he
says, and he had previously compared the appearance
of the island of Trinidad, to Valencia in Spain during
the month of March. Many valuable pearls were found
in this neighbourhood. But Columbus was broken in
health, and was obliged to return to Hispaniola, where
he appears to have busied himself in sending home a
?A9
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS
number of Indians as slaves. On their arrival in Spain,
Queen Isabel was very indignant, and commanded
proclamation to be made at Seville, Granada, and
other places, that all persons who were in possession
of Indians, sent to them by the admiral, should under
pam of death send those Indians back to Hispaniola.
The colonial policy of the Spanish sovereigns is an
intricate subject, which had most disastrous results for
the unfortunate natives, and cannot be fully dealt with
here, as it would need a volume to itself.
Meantime the unfortunate admiral was overwhelmed
by a very sea of troubles ; he had enemies on every
side, and envy and calumny did their worst against
him. He was not successful as Viceroy, but the position
was extremely difficult. He was urgently required to
send home gold, but the supply was scanty, and slaves
were the only products readily available ; although in
fact these islanders proved too feeble to be of much
value as labourers. When an envoy was sent out to
make inquiry, Columbus was sent home in chains, a
disgrace from which his proud spirit never rallied,
although the action was disclaimed by the sovereigns,
who received him with outward marks of favour. But
he was no longer the idol of his country, and although
his invincible enthusiasm induced him to make a fourth
voyage in 1502, he did not add much to the sum of
his discoveries, and at length came home, through
mutiny and disaster, to end his days with ruined hopes
and shattered fortune. On May 20, 1506, his tempest-
tossed bark reached at last the haven of peace.
Through the overshadowing clouds, we fix our eyes
only on the heroic figure of the great seaman who — in
seeking to justify his enthusiastic belief in the existence
250
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS
of a new and shorter ocean-path westward across the
Atlantic to the Indian Empire — came unawares upon
a New World ; the great continent which barred his
way to those fabled glories of the East.
The immortal fame of Christopher Columbus
scarcely needs the proud motto on his coat-of-arms :
'" A Castilla y a Leon
Nuevo Mundo dio Colon."
CHAPTER XVII
DIPLOMACY OF FERNANDO.
WARS IN ITALY
When the long Moorish war was at an end, and the
Spanish sovereigns had accomplished the final con-
quest of Granada, when Christopher Columbus had
set forth on his first voyage of discovery, then Fer-
nando and Isabel were at leisure to attend once
more to the internal affairs of their kingdom. At the
end of May 1492 they left Granada and spent two
months in visiting various cities of Castile before
travelling to Catalonia, where they proposed to take
up their abode for the winter.
Fernando had a strong reason for remaining near
the frontier of France, as with strange pertinacity his
aims and desires were ever set upon regaining those
ancient provinces of Aragon, — Roussillon and Cer-
dagne — which had been mortgaged by his father to
the French King. The moment was favourable, for
Charles VIII. was bent on asserting his claim to the
crown of Naples, and was willing to bribe Fernando
not to interfere on behalf of his kinsman King Fer-
rante. Charles VIII. had recently achieved a great
diplomatic success by his marriage with Anne, the
252
DIPLOMACY OF FERNANDO
heiress of Brittany, on December i6, 1491, with the
help of his clever sister Madame de Beaujeu. He
was twenty-one at the time, and his bride not quite
fifteen ; but their youth can scarcely excuse a double
breach of faith, for Anne was already betrothed to
Maximilian of Austria, whose young daughter Margaret
had been sent to France and educated in Touraine as
the future wife of Charles VIII,
Maximilian, thus doubly insulted by the loss of his
promised wife and the sending back of his daughter,
would prove a deadly foe to the French king, who
now had urgent need for an alliance with Spain. A
treaty was therefore concluded at Barcelona (also at
Narbonne) in January 1493, by which the counties of
Roussillon and Cerdagne, on the northward slope of
the Pyrenees, were returned to Aragon without pay-
ment of the 300,000 crowns for which they had been
mortgaged. Fernando promised that he would not
oppose the invasion of Naples, and also undertook
not to make any marriage alliance with Austria or
England.
Now we know that at this very time his daughter
Catalina was betrothed to the son of Henry VII., and
he was considering a marriage for his elder daughter
Juana with the son of Maximilian. Truly Fernando
deserves the character of " a master of pretence." " He
was probably the most dishonest and unscrupulous
politician of a peculiarly unscrupulous age. . . .
with an affectation of frankness his ingratiating falsity
deceived again and again those whom he had cheated
before." *
Only a month before that treaty of Barcelona was
- Martin Hume.
253
DIPLOMACY OF FERNANDO
signed, the King of Spain had a narrow escape of his
life. According to ancient custom he had presided in
person at the tribunal of justice held one day a week,
and as he left the palace at noon was suddenly
attacked from behind and stabbed in the neck. The
point of the weapon was fortunately arrested by the
gold collar he wore, but the injury was serious, and
for a time his life was in peril. The Queen, who ever
faced personal danger for herself with undaunted
courage, was deeply affected and nursed him with
tender devotion. It was at first feared that the attack
was part of a conspiracy, but the people of Barcelona
showed so much concern and indignation that there
could be no doubt about their loyalty. An interest-
ing letter of Isabel to her confessor, Talavera, which
was written at this time, reveals the strong affection
for the husband, who, at any rate, had the merit of
appreciating her value. On one occasion he writes to
her in playful loving style :
" Mi Senora,
Now, at least, it is clear which of us two loves
best. Judging by what you have ordered should be
written to me, I see that you can be happy while I
lose my sleep. . . . You are in Toledo and I am in
many villages. . . . Write to me and let me know
how you are. . . . The affairs of the Princess must
not be forgotten. For God's sake remember her as
well as her father, who kisses your hands and is your
servant." El Rey. *
If Fernando, " one of the most thorough egoists
* Bergenroth Calendar of Spanish State Papers.
254
DIPLOMACY OF FERNANDO
who ever sat upon a throne,"* had a tender place in
his heart, it was for his wife, as from the cold-blooded
manner in which he carried out diplomatic marriages
for his daughters we cannot credit him with any
real love for them ; indeed, his conduct towards both
Juana and Catalina in after years, often appears to us
heartless in the extreme.
After the treaty of Barcelona and the recovery of
his longed-for provinces on the slopes of the Eastern
Pyrenees, Fernando turned his undivided attention to
the political affairs of Italy. Charles VIII. was first
roused from his youthful inexperience when, early in
1494, he claimed the help of the King of Spain
against Naples, and was met with well-feigned dismay
and surprise. But Charles had set his heart on world-
wide dominions ; he had already assumed the title of
King of Sicily and Jerusalem, and was obstinately
resolved on the conquest of Naples. He started in
August with " 3600 lances, 6000 Breton archers, the
same number of cross-bow men, 800 Gascons, 8000
Swiss pikemen, and a number of volunteers. His
artillery was the finest in Europe, 40 siege and field
pieces, 1000 smaller ones, worked by 12,000 men and
drawn by 8000 horses." With this formidable array
he marched in triumph through Italy and took posses-
sion of Naples.
Then Fernando of Aragon entered the lists with
his guileful diplomacy ; he induced the Borgia Pope
to form a " holy league " with himself, the Emperor,
the Venetians, and Ludovico, Duke of Milan, arming
against the Turk, they said, but in reality against the
French, in February 1495. It was about this time
=■'• Voltaire.
255
DIPLOMACY OF FERNANDO
that Alexander VI. bestowed upon Fernando and
Isabel the proud title of " Los Reyes Catolicos," as
champions of the Church.
Gonzalvo di Cordova, better known as " the Great
Captain," a title gained in Calabria, was the general
chosen by Isabel to command the army of 5000 picked
men for taking part in the Italian wars, where they
proved themselves the finest infantry in Europe.
Charles VIII. left the Duke of Montpensier with less
than 10,000 men to hold Naples while he began his
retreat across Italy, meeting with no serious resist-
ance until he came to the duchy of Parma, where he
found the army of the Italian league drawn up in
battle array, near the village of Fornova, July 1495.
With stubborn valour the French fought their way
through forces three times their own number, and
thus " obtained the fruits of victory although the
enemy claimed the honour of the day," and rejoiced
in the splendid spoils of the French camp and
baggage.
We cannot dwell upon all the details of the dis-
astrous and futile French expedition, or all the vicissi-
tudes of the tangled politics and warfare of the
Italian States. But the French fleet was defeated at
Rapallo by the Genoese, all the booty brought from
Naples being lost, and Charles, having been compelled
to yield Novaro, was willing to sign a treaty with
the Duke of Milan before he crossed the Alps on
October 15.
Meanwhile Gonzalvo had landed at Reggio and was
fighting his way through Southern Calabria, a rude
mountainous country something like the Alpujarras,
studded with fortified places. The wily tactics of the
256
,v.
«v^'-
■''\-<j . '^ /^
'^i:-^\w^
Oerlach & Wu-d!,,,^, phot. a ciruwiHK of Albrcdtt Durer
EMPEROR MAXIMILIAN
DIPLOMACY OF FERNANDO
war of Granada here made up for want of real strength;
and his night surprises, ambuscades and forays greatly
disconcerted the French troops, who were quite unused
to anything of the kind. Placing small reliance on
Calabrian recruits, the Spanish general garrisoned some
strong places with his own soldiers, and as an instance
of the mutual suspicion with which the allies looked
upon each other, we are told that this excited the
Pope's jealousy. King Fernando thereupon sent
instructions that Gonzalvo was only to keep places of
importance ; as " he was unwilling to give cause of
complaint to any one unless he were greatly a gainer
by it." The Great Captain only lost one battle, and
that was near the beginning of his long and prosperous
career, when he was over-ruled by the impatience of
the young King Ferrante into meeting the enemy with-
out sufficient preparation. The French army was
strengthened by a formidable company of Swiss
veterans armed with pikes twenty feet long, far
outnumbering the Spanish infantry, who trusted to short
swords and bucklers ; and unfortunately at a critical
moment of the engagement, the Calabrian levies
mistook a rapid tactical movement of the light Spanish
calvalry for retreat, and thinking the battle was lost,
they fled in wild panic before they were even attacked.
In his effort to rally the fugitives, Ferrante had a
narrow escape with his life, but Gonzalvo succeeded in
bringing most of his cavalry safely across the plain to
the little town of Seminara near the sea-coast. Nothing
daunted by his defeat, the King of Naples at once set
sail from Messma, in the fleet of the Spanish admiral
Requesens, with a small number of men, and boldly
attacked Naples itself, where the people sounded the
257 R
DIPLOMACY OF FERNANDO
tocsin, rose to arms and joined him, while the French
under Montpensier, after retreating to the citadel, were
at length compelled to capitulate. Thus by a coup-de-
main the young prince, when his fortunes were at
the lowest ebb, once more found himself in possession
of his capital.
So the shifting fortune of war continued, but
Gonzalvo steadily continued his course of victory
through Calabria, taking stronghold after stronghold,
although always short of men and money. The
French army was in still worse case. Charles VIII.
appeared to have forgotten them and sent no supplies,
the Swiss mercenaries deserted in large numbers for
want of pay, and Montpensier found himself obliged to
retreat to the more fertile district of Apulia, where he
still held some fortresses. He was overtaken by
Ferrante at the town of Atella, which stands in a
broad valley surrounded by hills, and finding his
forces insufhcient for the siege, the King of Naples
sent a summons to Gonzalvo to join him. The Great
Captain resolved to strike a decisive blow before
leaving the scene of his conquests, and set forth across
the mountains to surprise Laino, where a company of
Angevin nobles were awaiting the coming of
d'Aubigny. In this he was as usual completely
successful, and not only took most valuable spoils but
had the satisfaction of sending as prisoners to Naples
twenty Barons who would command a princely
ransom. He then hastened by forced marches to
Atella, which he reached early in July, and was
welcomed with all honour by the King of Naples, the
Marquis of Mantua and the Papal Legate, C^sar
Borgia.
258
DIPLOMACY OF FERNANDO
On the very day of his arrival, he discovered a flaw
in the blockade of Atella. A small river supplied the
town with water and also turned some water-mills
which ground the flour of the besieged ; these were
strongly defended, but on the approach of the dreaded
Gonzalvo and his men, the Gascon archers fled before
him ; the Swiss pikemen were soon defeated, and the
mills were quickly destroyed. The French held out
gallantly until reduced to the last extremity by famine,
when they were compelled to capitulate on these
terms :
"That if no help arrived within thirty days the French
leader would surrender Atella and every other fortified
place he had taken in the kingdom of Naples, with its
artillery, on condition that his foreign mercenaries
should be allowed to return home, and that his soldiers
should be provided with vessels to take them back to
France." . . . This was signed on July 21, 1496, and
Comines at the Court of France thus describes the
treaty as " most disgraceful, without parallel, save in
that made by the Roman consuls at the Caudine
Forks. . . ."
Before the conditions were carried out, a fever broke
out at Pozzuolo amongst the soldiers, and the brave
Gilbert de Montpensier fell a victim to it. He had re-
fused to leave his men and find safety for himself, as
he was urged by his brother-in-law, the Marquess of
Mantua, whose sister, Chiara Gonzaga, he had married.
During much of this disastrous campaign she had been
living with Isabella d' Este at Mantua. It was but a
very small remnant of King Charles's gallant army
which ever reached France again, after a terrible
journey across Italy in destitution and suffering.
259
DIPLOMACY OF FERNANDO
Only a few months after this triumphant end of the
campaign, the young King Ferrante died suddenly, and
was succeeded by his uncle Federigo. Within the
course of a brief three years, this was the fifth king who
had reigned over Naples.
With the defeat of the French in Calabria, the work
of Gonzalvo di Cordova appeared to have come to an
end. But he did not leave Italy without another bril-
liant adventure. An application came to him from
Pope Alexander VI. that he would deliver Ostia, the
sea-port of Rome, from a nest of brigands, who had
been left there in possession by the French King, under
the command of an adventurer from Biscay, Menaldo
Guerri. Gonzalvo was not likely to refuse so congenial
an invitation, and he lost no time in arriving before
Ostia with his force of about sixteen thousand men-at-
arms and three hundred horsemen. Guerri was sum-
moned to surrender, and on his refusal, the place was
attacked by artillery for five days before a breach
could be made in the walls. The Castilian Ambassador,
Garcilossa de la Vega, with a few of his own men,
attacked Ostia on the other side, and thus surrounded,
Guerri and his companions yielded themselves
prisoners of war. A few days later they graced the
procession of the victor into Rome, which had all the
pomp of an ancient Imperial triumph. W^ith banners
flying and martial music, the Great Captain rode in
front greeted by tumultuous cries from the people,
who hailed him as the " Deliverer of Rome ! " At the
Vatican the Pope received him under a canopy of state,
with cardinals and nobles around him ; and when the
Spanish General knelt to ask his blessing, Alexander VI.
260
DIPLOMACY OF FERNANDO
raised him up, gave him the kiss of peace, and rewarded
him with the Golden Rose. .
This reception in Rome was only a foretaste of the
honours which he received on his return to Spain,
where the Queen congratulated herself on her wise
choice of a Castilian general, and the King declared
that the war in Calabria had brought more glory to
his throne than even the conquest of Granada.
There was now peace for a time between Spain
and France, for a treaty had been concluded with
Charles VIII. shortly before the death, by an accident,
of that young King, at the age of twenty-seven, on
April 7, 1498. He was succeded by Louis XII., the
grand-nephew of Charles V., who on coming to the
throne assumed the title of Duke of Milan, as inherit-
ing from his grandmother, Valentina Visconti, thus
throwing down the gauntlet to the Italian state and
showing whither his ambition pointed. But his first
aim was to secure the rich province of Brittany, and
he at once made an appeal to the Pope for a divorce
from his wife, Jeanne, on the plea that he had been
forced to marry her. This was granted by Alexander VI.,
and his son Caisar Borgia who brought the Bull to
Louis, was made Duke of Valentinois, with a large
income, and received Charlotte d'Albret, sister of the
Lord of Navarre, as his bride. Such was the fine
paid for the French King's shameful divorce.
Louis XII. was then at liberty to marry the young
widowof his predecessor, Anne of Brittany,all obstacles,
including poor Queen Jeanne, having been removed ;
and he was now free to carry out his other ambitious
schemes, in which Spain was closely concerned. As
261
DIPLOMACi^ OF FERNANDO
we shall see more clearly later, all Fernando's cam-
paigns in Naples and Calabria had his own personal
profit in view, and he was intoxicated with gorgeous
plans of aggrandisement and universal dominion, by
conquest and alliance. If Aragon could but extend
its grasp " from Sicily, along North Africa, to Syria,
and along the Adriatic and^gean toward Constanti-
nople, until the [ancient claim to the Empire of the
East became a practical and solid one. The Genoese
and Venetians, overawed by the dominant Mediter-
ranean power, would decay, and Fernando's descendants
might rule unquestioned from the Pillars of Hercules
to the Golden Horn. The plan was a splendid one,
and Fernando's crafty brain through his long life
laboured for its partial fulfilment ; but death and dis-
aster stepped in, and it brought a curse instead of a
blessing to the posterity of the plotter." *
He little dreamed that in the very success which he
attained lay the seeds of ruin for that small province
of Aragon so fondly idolised.
* Martin Hume.
262
CHAPTER XVIII
LITERATURE IN SPAIN
It will be interesting to take a brief survey of the
literature for which Spain has so splendid a record,
and to trace the influence of the past on learning in
the days of Queen Isabel.
As a province of the Roman Empire, the Iberian
kingdom produced writers who were distinguished
amongst the greatest scholars of their day. The
oratory of the elder Seneca, the over-florid declama-
tions of the younger Seneca of Cordova, the Pharsalia
of Lucan, and the writings of Martial and Quintillian
added a lustre to classical Rome, and the Spanish
poets of Cordova received the praise of Cicero. A
strong taste for theology had always distinguished this
country, and in the fourth century we find the Christian
writer Juvencus turning the Gospels into a kind of
Virgilian hexameters, and Prudentius of Tarragona
writing Christian poems strongly flavoured with Pagan
sentiment. Sant Isidore, Bishop of Seville in the
seventh century, was a most distinguished scholar, a
Platonic philosopher who brought classical eloquence
to adorn his Christian homilies. Many other learned
ecclesiastics followed in his steps, amongst whom was
263
LITERATURE IN SPAIN
St. Martin, Bishop of Braga, who converted a whole
Pagan nation to the faith, and founded an academy of
learning in Galicia.
After the Moslem conquest of Spain in the eighth
century, all the culture and learning of the East found
its way to the great cities of the Peninsula, where
knowledge was cultivated as it had never been before.
The rule of the Omeyyad dynasty in Cordova has
been compared to that of the Medici in Florence.
Abd-er-Rahman's successor Alkamen was himself a
diligent student ; he is said to have collected a library
of 600,000 volumes, and to have read most of them
and even enriched them with his marginal notes. He
encouraged learned men from all parts, and eighty free
schools were opened in Cordova alone ; and this at a
time when " scarcely a priest south of the Thames
could translate Latin into his mother tongue."
It is noteworthy that with this Eastern race, women
devoted themselves to letters, and Valadata, daughter
of the Khalif Mohammed, was foremost in eloquence
amongst the professors, while other women studied
history, philosophy and even jurisprudence. The
young Moslem knight too was wont to refresh his
mind after the fatigue of the tournament with " elegant
poetry and florid discourses of amorous and knightly
history." Indeed, to deserve a place amid the flower
of chivalry, ten qualities were essential : " Piety,
valour, courtesy, prowess, the gifts of poetry and
eloquence, and dexterity in the management of the
horse, the sword, lance and bow."*
It was during the twelfth century that the Jews of
Cordova studied the philosophy of the Greeks, and
* Prescott.
264
AUnari, phot.
Vatican, Rome
POPE ALEXANDER VI. (RODRIGO BORGIA)
Pinturicchio e scolari
LITERATURE IN SPAIN
" became the schoolmasters of the * schoolmen/ pour-
ing a flood of ancient learning into Europe." The
great Ibn-Raschid (1120--1190) whose name was
latinised to Averroes, was the most distinguished
commentator of Aristotle and spread far and wide his
doctrine of " Monopsychism" with its famous dictum
that " individuality consists only in bodily sensations,
which are perishable, so that nothing which is indi-
vidual can be immortal, and nothing which is immortal
can be individual." Averroes knew no Greek, and
his commentaries were made on Arabic versions of
Aristotle which he brought to the notice of Europe,
and had hundreds of disciples in Oxford, Paris and
Padua.
In the Arab treatises on logic and metaphysics we
find a wonderful love of detail, subtle perception
rather than breadth of thought, while in philosophy
they were often almost servile in following authority.
Yet in fiction their extravagance was unbridled, and
the Moorish romances and ballads are flowery and
allegorical beyond anything the world has ever seen.
Meantime, the Christian States were steadily grow-
ing, and with the gradual formation of the language,
learning and literature flourished under the sovereigns
of Aragon and Castile. One immense work was accom-
plished, the compilation of a code of laws, the basis
of Spanish jurisprudence, derived from the " Lex Visi-
gothorum," of very early times. This was revised and
extended by San Fernando into the " Fuero Juzgo " con-
sisting of six hundred laws, comprised in twelve books.
Every deed and condition of life, every bond between
man and man, every right and every duty is provided
for to the minutest detail. It begins quite at the
265
LITERATURE IN SPAIN
beginning, and dwells upon the heavenly system, and
the obedience of the angels to God, and so the code
continues by degrees to describe the whole duty of
man and the punishment awaiting him if he fails to do
it. It is curious to notice that there is no such prin-
ciple as equality, and that every offence is measured by
the position of the man who commits it, and also that
of the person offended, as for instance between freeman
and slave.
This Fuero Juzgo was supplemented in the reign
of Alfonso X. by the " Siete Partidas," a whole code
of morality and religion, which deals with the entire
condition of society, if possible in a still more com-
prehensive manner, and is imbued with the spirit of
the Latin Code. Thus it was that Spain carried down
the law of Ancient Rome to Modern Europe.
We have already alluded to that Moorish poetry,
bold and impassioned, with gorgeous imagery, spark-
ling with metaphors, Oriental tales of fancy and
enchantment brought by the Saracens into Spain.
These were probably the first germ of the lays of the
"trouveres," and of Italian romances, but above all
they were the earliest inspiration of Provencal and
Castilian poetry. Of the Spanish ballads handed down
from mouth to mouth for generations until some were
collected when printing was invented more than two
thousand are extant ; * they would require a volume in
itself to do them justice, for " They are not merely
ballads, but historical and national poems ; they record
events and popular notions ; they speak out for the
whole nation what lies in every man's heart : they are
the means of expression to those who want words, not
* See Lockhart's " Spanish Ballads."
266
LITERATURE IN SPAIN
feelings." * One of the most famous of these is the
Poem of the Cid, an epic in Castilian verse, in imitation
of the French " Chansons de Geste." All these ballads
are, indeed, the basis of history, and, as we shall see
later, are probably more trustworthy than much other
so-called historical writing.
On the subject of poetry, the Castilian priest and
poet, Berceo, was the creator of a new school at the
beginning of the thirteenth century ; he wrote of
miracles and martyrs, and Dante appears to have
adopted his metre. A nephew of Alfonso the Learned,
Don Juan Manuel, wrote a series of forty-nine didactic
apologues, the " Tales of Count Lucanor," which
were the forerunners of Boccaccio and Chaucer.
Spain, too, had her Rabelais : the gay reckless priest
Juan Ruiz of Hita. Culture became the fashion when
a King was the leader like Alfonso the Learned, and
by the end of the thirteenth century the University of
Salamanca vied with that of Paris and Bologna.
Philosophy in rhyme, didactic verse and moral tales
had a certain vogue until in the fifteenth century they
were supplanted by the literature of Italy, translations
of Dante, Petrarch and others, which made their way
in Spain. Jorge de Manrique wrote a beautiful poem
on the death of his father Coplas de Manrique, 1476,
which is familiar to us in Longfellow's translation.
Juan II., the father of Isabel, far more successful as
a scholar than a King, wrote poetry himself and
encouraged the most artificial and fantastic methods
of which the " cancioneros " of his reign and the
dramatic attempts of Enrique de Villena are examples.
Lopez de Mendoza, also a great noble, appears to us
* Richard Ford,
267
LITERATURE IN SPAIN
more striking as a poet, but the work on which he
chiefly prided himself was a long poem called " El
doctrinal de Privados," in which he makes the ghost of
Alvaro de Luna relate his mistakes and lament his
folly as a statesman.
We have seen how Isabel devoted herself to her own
education and to that of her children and sent for
learned men from all parts, until every one dabbled
in literature, and there were writers of verse and prose
in abundance, when culture became the fashion. She
was ably seconded by the Cardinal Jimenez, who was
an ardent scholar and founded the University of
Alcala, although this cannot atone for his priestly
bigotry and vandalism in burning the priceless collec-
tion of Arab manuscripts at Granada. Another name
is w^orthy of note, than of Juan de Encina, who led
the way with his dramatic eclogues to a branch of art
in which Spain has since so greatly excelled. There
was much more of drama in his idea than in the
earlier dialogues without action, like that in which
Isabel herself as a girl had taken the part of a Muse,
on a certain birthday of her young brother Alfonso.
These sacred and profane little dramas of Encina's
were sometimes performed in the Palace of the Duke
of Alva before Prince Juan and other distinguished
spectators. Play-acting did not become popular until
later. "La Celestina" was published in 1499, with
twenty-two acts, all in dialogue ; it was probably
written by Fernando de Rojas, and had a great
success.
Then came the era of discovery, when a new and
magnificent field was opened out, and the Spaniards
availed themselves to the utmost of that glamour cast
268
LITERATURE IN SPAIN
by unknown distant lands, strange new men and
beasts and birds, and marvellous adventures which
cast into the shade all moral tales and romances of
heroes. " Where you know nothing, place terrors "
was the traveller's motto, and :
" Geographers on pathless downs
Put elephants in place of towns."
It was quite at the end of Isabel's reign that a
fantastic tale, Amadis de Gaul, of a far-off land with
impossible fair ladies and love-lorn knights, written by
a Portuguese, was spread far and wide with the help of
the printing press, although it had been translated
much earlier, and handed about in MS. It took the
nation by storm, and its success produced many
imitations and " continuations, dealing with exploits of
the innumerable lineage of Amadis," which became
more and more unreal and absurd, until the author of
Don Quixote held these wild romances up to pitiless
scorn and they withered away. But, indeed, " a
Cervantes was hardly needed to dispel this dream of
a debased chivalry."
We have touched upon other branches of literature,
but in truth the earliest and strongest tendency of a
nation is to dwell upon its own chronicle and story.
In those vivid and striking ballads to which allusion
has been made, Spain perhaps even more than any
other country found her best inspiration in her own
history. Sung alike by Moor and Christian, in village
and town, these ancient " redondilleras " gave voice to
the patriotism of the people and roused enthusiasm for
deeds of chivalry and heroic achievements, until the
names of Bernardo del Carpio, of King Ramiro, of
269
LITERATURE IN SPAIN
the Seven Infantes of Lara, and many others, above all
of " El Mio Cid Campeador " himself, became house-
hold words and called forth almost idolatrous worship.
Even in later days of the wars with the Moors, when
was sung the woeful ditty of Alhama and many
another, until Granada the beautiful had fallen, the
ballad was still the key to the hearts of men.
In this form were preserved those legends and
traditions which give a more true insight into the
history of a people than any amount of dry and
doubtful facts.
History is also almost the earliest form of prose
writing ; monks in the seclusion of their quiet cells
wrote out in laborious Latin the chronicle of events
which came to their ears, bald and scanty indeed,
retailing the gossip of passing travellers, the messages
of some imperious prelate, and the miracles of a
neighbouring shrine. Of these monkish chroniclers,
we find mention of Isidorus Pacensis in the eighth
century, and of Sebastian of Salamanca, and the
monks of Silos and Albelda in the ninth century.
During the following two hundred years, the chief
information is obtained from the fuller and more
embroidered language of Arabic writers. In the
twelfth century we come to the story of the Cid, told
in a fragmentary Latin chronicle, and in the annals of
Toledo ; also in the " Gesta Roderici Campidocti "
found in the convent of St. Isidore at Leon, and in the
" Chronica del Cid," which is really only part of the
"Chronica General" of Alfonso X. "revised and
corrected by some ignorant monk." * The most im-
portant attempt at historical work was that written by
- H. E. Watts.
270
LITERATURE IN SPAIN
the great fighting Archbishop of Toledo in the thir-
teenth century, who was as bold in writing history as
in the day of battle, for if events did not appear to him
to proclaim enough the glory of his faith and nation,
well, so much the worse for the facts !
In the famous engagement of " Las Navasde Tolosa,
July i6, I2I2," the Christians were almost overcome
by the vast force of the infidels, and brave King
Alfonso VIII. cried to Archbishop Rodrigo Jimenez by
his side, "Let us die here, prelate !" But the valiant
Churchman was of sterner mettle, for he rallied the
broken troops and saved the day ; a glorious victory
which drove the " Commander of the Faithful " and
his Almohades back to Morocco. This was the man
who stuck at nothing in his chronicles, and coolly
invented the "great victory of Clavijo, where 70,000
of the misbelievers fell and Santiago appeared in person
on a white horse, bearing aloft a white standard with
a red cross." ... " This battle was fought in the year
846, being the second of King Ramiro. The victorious
army vowed to Santiago that every acre of ploughed
and vine land in Spain should pay each year a bushel
of corn or wine to the church of Compostella " (not
built until 11 20 !). No such battle was ever fought ; *
but we see the prelate's desire to endow the church by
a pious falsehood.
Another apocryphal victory, that of Calataiiazor, was
long a subject of contest between Spanish historians.
The great Moorish Governor Almanzor had invaded
the Christian kingdom, taken Leon and utterly
destroyed the cathedral of Santiago at Compostella.
Such sacrilege imperatively demanded the defeat of
^■- H. E. Watts.
271
LITERATURE IN SPAIN
Almanzor, who was reported to have died of grief after
losing the battle of Calataiiazor with terrible slaughter
of his host, in looi. No Moorish chronicler mentions
it, nor any Christian writer before the thirteenth
century, and the story is entirely discredited.
The first great collection of stories and traditions of
the past was in the " Chronica General " compiled by
order of Alfonso X. with the help of many learned
men, both Christian and Moorish. In such an under-
taking there was a praiseworthy desire for complete-
ness, and the chronicle begins with the creation of the
world, and is carried down through the ages to the
King's own accession in 1252. With princely hos-
pitality, he takes in everything ; history, legend,
tradition, all that people said and did, and even
includes as many ballads as he can collect, so that it
becomes a most valuable and universal storehouse.
His example was followed by his successors, and
almost every king had someone at his Court who wrote
the annals of his time. In the case of King Jayme of
Aragon, El Conquistador, he adopted the still wiser plan
of writing his own memoir. " A brutal, strong, crafty
man, rough and dissolute, but one of the great leaders
of the world," he tells his story in the Catalan lan-
guage, in a bold simple way, touching lightly on his
own immoral behaviour, for which he probably felt no
particular compunction ; and telling of his own gallant
deeds and success in war without vain-glory or boast-
ing. As a piece of history his writing gives a vivid
picture of an exciting period. On the death of his
father he writes : " Thus he died, for it has ever been
the fate of my race to conquer or die in battle."
Well had it been for Pedro the Cruel, who lived more
272
1
LITERATURE IN SPAIN
than a hundred years later, in the middle of the four-
teenth century, had he written his own annals and been
his own apologist. With all his faults he was no worse
than many of his race, but he had the misfortune to be
chronicled after his death by a faithless servant, a former
favourite, Pedro Lopez de Ayala, who "has handed
him down to eternal infamy." As Chancellor to his
half-brother Enrique, his enemy and successor, it was
to the interest of Lopez to take the darkest view of
every action of his former master. He also wrote a
long poem which brands his age with vice and folly.
There are many ways of writing history, but we
should certainly look for more flattery than truth in
the memoirs of a Court historian. The official chronicler
of Fernando and Isabel was Hernando del Pulgar,
down to 1492, and is somewhat heavy and dry. Andres
Bernaldez, curate of Los Palacios, enlarged his annals
into a history of his times, and is interesting when he
gossips about what he saw. Peter Martyr, the Italian
scholar who lived much at the Court of Isabel after
the war of Granada, left a number of letters, which a
modern historian describes as "a. rich but untrust-
worthy and puzzling mine of information." "These
books are Latin exercises upon historical subjects." It
is not until the middle of the sixteenth century that we
begin to see the change from chronicle to history.
Mariana the Jesuit, who wrote his famous history at the
beginning of the seventeenth century, in Latin and after-
wards in stately Castilian, has been called the Spanish
Livy. He cared for style more than for truth, and of
him it is said that " Except that he is not to be trusted
for any single fact or date, he is one of the best of
historians." He says naively : " I never undertook to
273 s
LITERATURE IN SPAIN
make a history of Spain in which I should verify
every particular fact ; for if I had I should never have
finished."
But at least in the days of Queen Isabel, letters and
archives were preserved which are the material of true
history. Still they ran many risks. In the fifteenth
century the Secretary of State often kept the public
documents in his own house. But when a minister
died or retired from office, an inventory was made in
the presence of a commissioner and two notaries, and
every public document was carefully noted and de-
livered to the government, to be put in places set apart.
Yet we find that when King Fernando was travelling,
he deposited State papers in foreign countries. In a
letter written on September 14, 1509, he told King
Louis XII. of France that on his return from Naples he
had left a box of papers in charge of Juan Fabro, a
Catalonian merchant at Genoa, and as he wanted these
documents, he begged Louis to send them.
Many important archives and public records were
destroyed soon after the death of Fernando, when the
peasants rose in rebellion, as they thought that they
would thus be free from rents and taxes 1 A great
many papers were lost, while others were saved in
convents and private houses. Fortunately, the royal
"areas" (chests) containing the correspondence with
England were conveyed to the convent at Zaragoza.
The ancient castle of Simancas, near Valladolid in Old
Castile, is a great storehouse for historical papers,
chiefly of Castile. Those of Aragon, such as relate
chiefly to Spanish discoveries and colonies, are mostly
at Barcelona and Seville.
The Catholic sovereigns, especially Isabel, rarely did
274
I
LITERATURE IN SPAIN
more than sign their names to the letters written by
their secretaries. The rough drafts of Ferdnan Alvarez
are incoherent and confused, with portions blotted out
and marginal additions written in such small characters
as to be scarcely discernible. When he was succeeded
by Miguel Perez Almazan, there was a great improve-
ment in style and writing, but this was the secretary
who first introduced cypher into the royal correspond-
ence, and a cypher of 2400 signs in one complete key !
By so doing the unfortunate Almazan must have laid a
very heavy burden upon himself, for henceforth he not
only had to confer with the King and Queen and take
orders from them, but he was obliged to compose and
write with his own hand the great mass of despatches
to be signed by the sovereigns. The treaties were
inscribed on immense sheets of parchment. When
letters and despatches had to be put in cypher, Almazan
had to do it — if letters came from diplomatic agents
Almazan had to interpret them ! He kept his docu-
ments in chronological order and endorsed them, but
they were not all deposited in one place.
A short specimen of the "cypher" used may help to
explain the difficulties which drive students to despair.
Here is a fragment of a letter sent by Isabel to Doctor de
Puebla in England, with regard to affairs in Brittany
and the recall of the Spanish troops. It was written
in 1491, from the camp before Granada. Spanish and
Arabic numbers were both used.
" Considering question whether the town of 102
(Granada) be 90 {conquered) or 39 {not) 90 {conquered)
they are constructing a 188 {fortress) there (Santa Fe)
in which they intend to have good 97 (troops) and all
275
LITERATURE IN SPAIN
that is necessary to 94 {besiege) 102 (Granada) or at
least to watch her so closely that it shall 39 (not) be
necessary to 94 (besiege) her now.*
Sometimes two cyphers are used in the same
document, and for further security two copies of an
important despatch were usually sent, by different
routes.
Splendid material for the future historians of this
period in Spain lies buried in the "Colleccion de
Documentos Ineditos para la Historia de Espana," of
which ninety volumes have already been published,
and the stupendous work is still going on. When we
consider the combination of qualities and of studies
needful for the writing of history, far beyond those
enumerated by Imlac for his poet, we feel disposed to
paraphrase the words of Rasselas, and exclaim :
" Enough ! Thou hast convinced me that no human
being can ever be an ' historian ' "!
* Bergenroth, Calendar of State Papers.
276
CHAPTER XIX
ART AND ARCHITECTURE
The splendid architecture and sculpture, the exquisite
gems of mosaic and enamel, of azulejos and lustred
pottery, of damascened metal, and silken fabrics
embroidered with gold and silver ; in short, all the
architecture and art of Spain, and its material pros-
perity in the days of Isabel, were deeply rooted in
the past.
Since those far-off days when to Solomon there came
"the navy of Tarshish (Andalusia ?), bringing gold
and silver, ivory, and apes and peacocks/' when " silver
spread into plates is brought from Tarshish," and
Spain was the Peru of the Phoenicians and the Romans;
it has been a land of ancient wealth and rich natural
endowment. The marvellous treasure of the Gothic
kings found near Toledo shows to what perfection the
art of working in precious metals was carried as early
as the seventh century,* and long before this the
broad double-edged swords of Toledo were famous
throughout the known world. They were used by
Rome and Carthage, and the manufacture was con-
tinued by the Goths, while the Moors introduced their
* Much of it is preserved in the Musee de Cluny, Paris.
277
ART AND ARCHITECTURE
Damascene ornament and tempering, and the large
double-handled, doubled-edged sword became the
model of the mediaeval " montante." Othello's " sword
of Spain, the ice-brook's temper." Splendid specimens
of these weapons were given by King Fernando to
Henry VIII. on his marriage with Katharine of Aragon,
combining beauty, strength and elasticity.
As with the making of Toledan swords, so in most
other arts and manufactures, we can trace the direct
line of descent to the period of our present history of
Queen Isabel. In gold, silver, and iron-work, Spain
never improved upon the skill of the Saracens, of
which most exquisite specimens remain to this day.
The damascened armour, the helmets inlaid with gold
and silver, the beautiful mosque lamp of chased bronze
made for Mohammed III. of Granada and many others,
the marvellous keys and locks, the open filigree work,
the processional crosses and priceless church plate,
the brass doors of the palace of Cordova, and the
delicate bronze plates of the " Puerta del Perdon " in
the cathedrals of Toledo, Cordova and Seville, are
amongst the most interesting.
Then what a wonderful record there is in all forms
of pottery and glass, beginning with those azulejos or
Moorish tiles of the most exquisite colouring in
mosaic, highly glazed and enamelled. Their use is of
Oriental antiquity, and then, as in the days of the
Moors, the favourite tints were sapphire and other
shades of blue. " Paved work of a sapphire stone," is
mentioned in the Book of Exodus, and Isaiah says,
"lay thy foundations with sapphires." The pottery of
Spain was noted from the earliest antiquity, and in
later times Valencia and Malaga produced the most
278
ART AND ARCHITECTURE
marvellous lustred surface, of which there is a fine
specimen in the South Kensington Museum, painted
with the arms of Leon, Castile and Aragon.
As for the woollen materials and cloths of Andalusia,
they were famous throughout the world before the
Christian era, and were specially valued when they
were dyed with the scarlet kermes from the woods on
the Southern coast. Wool has always been a staple
product in this country, but it is curious that in the
fourteenth century, when large quantities were ex-
ported for the looms of Flanders and France, the
home manufacture was chiefly a kind of coarse duffel,
and when the King of Aragon wished to give a present
to the Soldan, he sent for red and green cloths from
Chalons and Rheims, while for his Court foreign stuffs
were in use. However, when Enrique III. married
Catherine, daughter of John of Gaunt, she brought as
part of her dowry some herds of English sheep, and
the mixture of the wools greatly improved the cloth.
This Plantagenet Queen was the grandmother of
Queen Isabel.
The cultivation of the silkworm and the weaving of
silk was a most important industry, and we are told
that in the thirteenth century there were six thousand
silk-looms in Seville alone ; the most beautiful fancy
brocades were made in Almeria, and priceless tissues
of gold and silver at Toledo and Cordova. Of the
embossed leather of Cordova, the carved woodwork
and ivory, and the church embroidery which surpasses
in beauty that of any other land, we have no space to
tell, but Spain set her mark upon all works of decora-
tive art.
Yet, above all, it is when we touch upon the subject
279
ART AND ARCHITECTURE
of architecture that the reahn of Isabel stands out
supreme. The various races who followed each other
in succession were all builders and all artists, and to
this favoured land they gave of their best. Of Roman
remains we find chiefly splendid bridges, like that of
Alcantara and Merida, aqueducts as of Segovia,
Tarragona and others, and the walls and towers of
Coria, Luga, Tarragona and Seville, not to mention
triumphal arches, hippodromes, and many other
stately traces of Latin occupation. Then we have
early Gothic churches with circular arches and
windows, a single nave of the basilica form, low and
heavy crypts, and often a pointed roof ; of these there
are instances in Asturias, Leon and Galicia — chiefly in
the province of Oviedo.
The Moors brought with them from Arabia a form
of the Byzantine style, which we see in its noble
simplicity at the great mosque of Cordova, with its
forests of columns, opening out into endless vistas on
every side, its crossed arches, where jasper and
porphyry mix with the marbles, and gorgeous mosaics
sparkle like gems on the walls.
Gradually becoming more splendid, the style acquires
greater elegance and lightness, as in the Giralda of
Seville, the mosque and a great hall of Seville, and a
mosque in Toledo, now the church of Santa Maria la
Blanca. At length the Mudehar style finds the
culminating point of its graceful airy beauty in the
Alhambra, the Generalife, and the Cuarto Real of
lovely Granada and the Alcazar of Seville.
It was in the reign of Alfonso VI., in the latter half
of the eleventh century, that the Romanesque from
France came into rivalry with the architecture of the
280
/. Lacoste, phot.
QUEEN ISABEL OF CASTILE
Carved Wooden Statue
Cathedral, Granada
ART AND ARCHITECTURE
Moors. In the train of his French wife, Queen
Constance, came Bernard, a monk from Cluny, who
was made Archbishop of Toledo, who brought into
Spain all the passion for building which filled the
Churchmen of his day. Of his work little remains, but
it led the way for that pointed Gothic of which one
of the most perfect examples is Leon Cathedral, which
was begun in 1181 and was more than a hundred
years in building. The influence of Byzantine art adds
a richer beauty to this Northern style, " the songs and
shrines being equally tinged with the colouring of
Northern piety and Oriental fancy." Of this mixed
architecture, the most magnificent results are to be
found in the cathedral of Burgos, probably the finest
in Europe, a "giant Gothic fantasy," with its glorious
west front and rose window and mighty steeples of the
most fragile and delicate lace-work in stone. Toledo
Cathedral, in whose exquisite interior of cloistered
avenues there are marvellous painted windows,
jewelled with coloured light, which streams across the
marble pavement. Here, too, enshrined within the
massive portals of bronze, is the very cross which
Cardinal Mendoza upreared before Fernando and
Isabel on the conquered Alhambra. We must not
omit the beautiful fane of Lerida, whose cloisters are
unique in their loveliness, and the stately cathedral of
Gerona, with its magnificent proportions. Yet we
have but enumerated a few of the Gothic treasures in
this land of splendid churches. One exquisite relic of
the period is the Portico de la Gloria on the west front
of the cathedral of Santiago.* It is interesting to
remember that in all this Christian building the
* A copy in South Kensington Museum.
281
ART AND ARCHITECTURE
subject Moors were the most skilled and valuable
workmen.
We have already alluded to the church of San Juan
de los Reyes, built to commemorate a victory over the
Portuguese, and which Isabel finished, to surprise
Fernando during a long absence of his. It is one of
the finest and richest examples of florid Gothic, and is
beautiful still in decay, with its cloister garden, where
the dark green foliage contrasts with the " fretted
fringes of the niches, capitals and canopies."
Queen Isabel built another votive and memorial
church in connection with the Carthusian Convent of
Miraflores, near Burgos. It has been so delicately
described by Theophile Gautier, that I cannot do better
than quote his words :
"La Cartuja est situ6e sur le haut d'une coUine ;
I'exterieur en est austere et simple : murailles de pierre
grise, toit de tuiles ; tout pour la pensee, rien pour
les yeux. A I'interieur, ce sont de longs cloitres frais
et silencieux, blanchis a la chaux vive, des portes de
cellules, des fenetres a maillesde plomb danslesquelles
sont enchasses quelques sujets pieux en verre de
couleur. . . . Une petite cour au milieu de laquelle
s'elcve une fontaine, renferme le jardin du prieur.
Quelques brindilles de vigne 6gaient un peu la tristesse
des murailles, quelques bouquets de flleurs, quelques
gerbes de plantes poussent 9a et la un peu au hasard
et dans un desordre pittoresque.
" Le cimetiere est ombrage par deux ou trois grands
cypres, comme il y en a dans les cimeti^res turcs ;
cet enclos fun^bre coniient, quatre cent dix-neuf
Chartreux morts depuis la construction du couvent ;
282
ART AND ARCHITECTURE
une herbe epaisse et touffue couvre ce terrain, ou
Ton ne voit ni tombe, ni croix, ni inscription ; ils
gisent la confusement, humbles dans la mort comme
ils r ont 6te dans la vie. Ce cimetiere anonyme a
quelque chose de calme et de silencieux qui repose
I'ame. . . .
" Mais si la demeure des hommes est pauvre, celle
de Dieu est riche. Dans le milieu de la nef sont
places les tombeaux de Don Juan II. et de la reine
Isabelle sa femme. (Father and mother of Queen
Isabel.) On s'etonne que la patience humaine soit
venue a bout d'un pareil ceuvre: seize lions, deux a
chaque angle, soutenant huit ecussons aux armes
royales, leur servent de base. Ajoutez un nombre
proportionne de vertus, de figures allegoriques,
d'apotres et d'evangelistes ; faites serpenter a travers
tout 9a des rameaux, des feuillages, des oiseaux, des
animaux, des lacs d'arabesques, et vous n'aurez qu'une
bien faible idee de ce prodigieux travail.
" Les statues couronnees du roi et de la reine sont
couchees sur le couvercle. Le roi tient son sceptre
a la main, et porte une robe longue guillochee et
ramagee avec une delicatesse inconcevable. Le
tombeau de I'lnfante Alonzo est du cote de I'evangile.
L' Infante y est represents a genoux devant un prie-
Dieu. Une vigne decoupee a jours, ou des petits
enfants se suspendent et cueillent des raisins, festonne
avec un intarissable caprice Tare gothique qui encadre
la composition a demi engagee dans le mur. Ces
merveilleux monuments sont en albatre et de la
main de Gil de Silve, qui fit aussi les sculptures du
maitre autel ; a droite et a gauche de cet autel qui est
d'une rare beaut6, sont ouvertes deux portes par ou Ton
283
ART AND AiRCHITECTURE
apergoit deux chartreux immobiles dans le suaire
blanc de leur froc : ces deux figures qui sont de
Diego de Lieva, font illusion au premier coup
d'oeil. Des stalles de Berruguete completent cet
ensemble, qu'on s'etonne de recontrer dans une
campagne deserte."
These splendid monuments were erected by the
Queen in 1488 to the memory of her father King Juan,
and her young brother Alfonso, and the dearly-beloved
mother, Isabel of Portugal, whose later years were
over-shadowed by mental disease ; but she was always
tended with the most loving care and devotion by her
daughter to the day of her death.
This beautiful tomb in the convent of Miraflores
brings us to the subject of sculpture in Spain. It has a
character of its own, as we see in the marvels of wood-
carving and marble, chiefly in altar-pieces and memorials
of the departed. Many of these are evidently striking
portraits, chiselled out in bold relief, and with more
vivid and intense expression than we find in any other
land. One of the most beautiful specimens is the
exquisitely sculptured white marble tomb of Prince
Juan, the hope of Spain, the only son of Fernando
and Isabel. It stands before the high altar of
the Dominican church of Santo Tomas at Avila — a
pathetic monument of love and undying grief, in
full view of the two stately carved stalls overlooking
it, which were reserved ever after for the sorrowing
parents.
In domestic architecture, the Spanish Saracens
attained a high degree of excellence, combining great
beauty with a style suitable to the climate, as we see
284
ART AND ARCHITECTURE
in the narrow streets, where the paved footway and
the white walls have echoed for centuries with the
tramp of Moorish feet. " Here, in Andalusia, there is
no need to guard against the weight of snow, no cold
to be kept out, no smoke to blacken ; so the roof
becomes a terrace, the arch is reared in fairy lightness,
the glaze and colour of brilliant tiles replace the heavy
wainscot and arras. . . . The 'Lonja,' or Silk Exchange,
at Valencia (1482), is an example of the successful
wedding of late Gothic design to Saracen detail of
window 'ajimez ' and decoration." We must not omit
the splendid palaces at Barcelona and elsewhere, with
tower and minaret, whose shimmering tiles are seen
through groves of palm and pomegranate.
The subject of castle and stronghold in architecture
would deserve a study by itself. We look upon those
great watch-towers on the heights, eloquent of Iberian
and Roman, of Goth and Moor, the rock-built alcazars
of many a stately city, rising stern and rugged on river
bank, or steep hill-side, on massive feudal towers which
break the line of the great tawny plains of Castile, and
on ruined walls, like those of Tarragona, which have
stood undismayed the surging tide of war, and yielded
only to the decay of time. In no other land has a
fortress been at once the ideal of strength and beauty
as in the far-famed Alhambra.
I cannot close this chapter without a few words on
a subject which has a close connection with archi-
tecture, those wonderful gardens which are the glory
of Spain, where the rarest flowers seem to grow wild,
and the exotic trees and shrubs of distant countries
flourish in marvellous profusion. In a sun-steeped
land like Andalusia, the chief necessity for success in
285
ART AND ARCHITECTURE
the garden and the field is water in abundance, and
the Saracens carried the science of irrigation to a
degree of perfection which has never been surpassed.
Their aqueducts and canals and water-wheels
" norias," brought fertility to the arid plain and made
of it a paradise. Horticulture as well as agriculture
was encouraged under the rule of the Moors in a way
that Europe, had never seen before, but "the pure
Spaniard continued, as he had always been, an agri-
culturist only by necessity and a shepherd by choice
when he was not a soldier."* Learned men devoted
themselves to the scientific study of gardening, and
Ibn Zacaria of Seville wrote a famous work on the
subject, which is full of wise teaching.
The first Omeyyad Sultan, when he was established
in his palace at Cordova, sent for a date-palm from
Damascus to recall to him the story of his childhood,
and wrote in its honour a pathetic little poem
beginning
" Tu tambien, insigne palma,
Eres aqui forastera . . . . "
He sent out messengers all over the Eastern world
to collect for his garden rare plants and seeds and
trees, which were tended with such loving care that
these choice exotics soon became acclimatised and
spread through the land. It would be most interesting
to have a complete record of the treasures brought to
Europe, but in the roll-call of service and beauty may
be named — of trees and shrubs : the acacia, the myrtle,
the ilex, the tamarisk, the Guelder rose and dark green
algarrobas. Of fruits : the mulberry, brought in with the
* Martin Hume.
286
ART AND ARCHITECTURE
cultivation of the silkworm, the pomegranate, with its
blood-red flowers, the plum, peach and apricot, the
fig, the almond, the melon, the orange and lemon,
while the vine and olive, if not first introduced, were
cultivated as they had never been before. Amongst
the flowers we find the wisteria, the scarlet cactus,
the rose of Sharon with its delicate pink and creamy
petals, the iris, the hepatica, the red blaze of oleander,
the blue-green aloes, and the single-flowered Arabian
jasmine, white and fragrant. Of the fruits of the earth we
have the artichoke, spinach, cucumber and tarragon ;
the fields of pale golden sugar-cane, of the coffee plant,
of flax, of melo-coton, with its divine fire of pink and
rose, and meadows of saffron (crocus safivus), the
ancient " Kacom " of the Canticles.
In the days when Isabel dwelt in Granada, and came
into the splendid heritage of the Moorish kings, the
gardens of the Generalife were probably the most
beautiful in all the world. Reached through the
ravine of Los Molinos, bordered with " figs and pista-
chios, laurels and roses. . . . the charm of the garden
and waters still remains. Here are jets and fountains,
arcades and leafy screens, while cypresses and orange-
trees cast their cool shadows upon the waters."
" Here is everything to delight. . . . fruits, flowers,
fragrance, green arbours and myrtle hedges, delicate
air and gushing waters."* Yet no words can call
up to our northern minds the vision of that scene,
exquisite as the fabled garden of the Hesperides,
in the midst of its perfect setting. The white
walls, the orange groves, the gardens, hemmed in
with cypresses, the rugged hills, covered with prickly
* Lane Poole.
287
ART AND ARCHITECTURE
pear, the far distance of the Sierra Nevada, with its
snowy ranges.
" The old rain-fretted mountains in their robes
Of shadow-broken gray ; the rounded hills
Reddened with blood of Titans, whose huge limbs,
Entombed within, feed full the hardy flesh
Of cactus green and blue-sworded aloes ;
The cypress soaring black above the lines
Of white court-walls ; the pointed sugar-canes,
Pale golden, with their feathers motionless
In the warm quiet ; all thought-teaching form
Utters itself in firm unshivering lines."
Spanish Gypsy.
288
CHAPTER XX
ROYAL MARRIAGES
Juan and Margaret — Philip and Juana
As we have seen, King Fernando of Aragon appeared
to value his daughters chiefly as assets in the world of
politics. The Infanta Isabel had been married to the
heir of Portugal when it was needful to sever that
country from the cause of La Beltraneja, but when
Prince Affonso died from a fall out hunting a few
months later, the widowed bride returned to Spain
and lived a secluded life of piety and ascetism, under
the control of bigoted priests, whose influence was to
bear a deadly fruit hereafter.
The next event in the family history was when the
strong desire of Fernando to secure the Emperor for
the League of Venice against France caused him to
arrange the double marriage of Maximilian's heir
Philip with his second daughter Juana, and that of
his only son, the Infante Juan, with Philip's sister
Margaret of Austria. In order to understand the full
importance of this alliance it will be necessary to trace
the early history of Philip and Margaret. Their father
Maximilian had married, at the age of eighteen, in 1477,
Mary of Burgundy, orphan heiress of the broad Bur-
289 T
ROYAL MARRIAGES
gundian dominions, the Netherlands, Namur, Brabant,
Hainault, Holland, Zeeland, Friesland, the Duchy of
Luxemburg, and the County of Artois with the whole
of Flanders, some of which were considered fiefs of
France. Philip was born in June 1478, and Margaret
in February 1480, while their mother died from the
results of a neglected fall from her horse only two years
later. The turbulent burghers of Flanders quarrelled
over the guardianship of the young heirs, in their
jealousy of Maximilian, but on the Peace of Arras, in
March 1483, the States appear to have arranged that
the baby Margaret should be sent to France as the
future bride of Charles, the young son of Louis XL
She was betrothed to him in June of the same year, and
was called Madame La Dauphine ; while two months
later Louis XI. died and her betrothed became Charles
VI IL of France, a boy of thirteen, under the regency
of his sister, Anne de Beaujeu.
It would be extremely interesting to know the whole
story of little Margaret's life during the ten years she
remained under the guardianship of that great lady of
the French Renaissance, who was greatly interested in
education, and had a sort of " fashionable boarding
school " of young maidens of high birth on whom she
tried her theories of morals and manners, with a some-
what " cloistral authority." The vigorous intellect of
Anne of France was not satisfied with ruling the
kingdom of France for her brother ; she read a great
deal : early fathers, philosophers, moralists and poetry,
and she carefully selected romances which she thought
appropriate for her bevy of young girls. She had a
frank and remorselessly sincere disposition, but her
biographer says the one thing Anne lacked was love ;
290
ROYAL MARRIAGES
she was " grand and severe as a cathedral." Anne de
Beaujeu was a passionate huntress, and she hunted as
she did everything else, " coldly and methodically,
she with her own eyes examined the trail, gave the
word to hark forward, set off with her dogs, and
smartly handled her hunting spear." She probably
encouraged these outdoor sports for her pupils, as we
learn in after years that Margaret was a great huntress
and was very proud of her stuffed wolves' heads.
Amongst her companions at the palace of Amboise
we find Louise de Savoie, who was seven years old
when Margaret was a baby of three, but no one could
have foretold that one day these girls would be sisters-
in-law. This Louise (the mother of Francis I.) was
the child of the Sieur de Bresse and Marguerite de
Bourbon, and sister of Philibert II. le Beau Duke of
Savoy (later the husband of Margaret). Susanne, the
sickly little daughter of Anne de Beaujeu must also
have been a younger playfellow of Margaret's. Louise
de Savoie was a niece of Anne's and appears to have
been treated rather as a poor relation, " only receiving
eighty francs at the New Year with which to buy her-
self a crimson satin dress for state occasions,"* until
at twelve years of age she made her great marriage
with the Comte d'Angouleme. But Margaret should
have been in a very different position, for she was to
bring as her dowry Artois and the County of Burgundy,
and was to receive from the French Court an annuity
of 50,000 livres.
We cannot enter into the tangled game of politics in
which this young Princess was only a counter, tossed
lightly from one country to another, at the will of
- E. Sichel.
291
ROYAL MARRIAGES
Flemish burghers, of a faithless bridegroom, of father
and brother ; but Anne de Beaujeu has the credit of
having broken off her brother Charles's engagement
with Margaret after she had been educated in France
to be his wife, and of marrying him to Anne, the heiress
of Bretagne, in i49i,when the young King was twenty-
one and Anne de Bretagne was fifteen. For two years
after this marriage Margaret was kept in Touraine as a
kind of hostage, until at length in May 1493, after the
Peace of Senlis with France, when all obligations were
cancelled, she was sent home, and we hear of her
joyously crying " Vive Bourgogne " to the people who
flocked round her at St. Ouentin, while she received
an enthusiastic welcome at Valenciennes. Having
escaped the Landsknecht, who wanted to seize her in
pledge, the little girl of thirteen, who already gave
promise of a fine character and remarkable talents,
settled down for a short time at Namur, while negotia-
tions were begun for her marriage with Prince Juan
of Spain.
This time there was to be no question of dowry, as
one princess was to be exchanged for another. The
Princess Juana was the second daughter of Fernando
and Isabel, and was born in the Alcazar of Toledo, on
Sunday, November 7, 1479. Of her early life we
know very little, but she appears to have borne a
strong resemblance to Fernando's mother, and the
Queen often called her " suegra," mother-in-law. She
and her sisters must have had an interesting amount
of travel and variety in their lives, as they constantly
moved from city to city with the Court, according to
the political need of the moment. We gather from
later documents and letters that Juana, educated as she
292
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was in the most pious and priestly atmosphere, was not
so readily influenced as her sisters, and in fact that
" her life was a series of attempts at rebellion." Of
course it is impossible to say whether the dark shadow
of mental disease, which certainly saddened some
period of her future life, may have had anything to do
with her childish wilfulness and obstinacy, or as
one historian puts it, that " Juana's better nature re-
belled from such religious doctrine, and that her
mother forced her by severe punishment to comply
outwardly."
The only authority for such a statement appears to
be a letter written by the Marquis of Denia (Juana's
gaoler) to Charles V. on January 25, 1522, in which he
apparently tries to excuse himself for cruel treatment
of the unfortunate Queen Juana, by making an un-
corroborated statement of harsh discipline which she
had received from her own mother so many years ago :
" ya la Reyna su ahnela asy le servio y trato la Reyna
Nuestra Seiiora su hija."*
Juana received an excellent education,'and, we are
told, was able to make impromptu speeches in Latin
when required. She was seventeen in 1496, and
Philip of Austria, lord of the Netherlands in right of
his mother, was a year older, having been born in the
palace of Bruges on June 22, 1478. It was in August
1496 that the Infanta Juana arrived with her mother
and a splendid suite at the port of Laredo on the Bay
* This document and others relating to England were kept
back by the chief officer at Simancas as late as i860, when he
was " authorised to refuse to show anything which /le thought
might reflect dishonour on reigning families or other great
personages 1 " — Bergenroth.
293
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of Biscay, to set s?.il for her new home. A powerful
fleet was waiting for hgr of 130 vessels, well manned
and armed, under the command of the Admiral of
Castile, Don Fadrique Enriquez. This was a neces-
sary precaution, as Spain was then at war with France.
Queen Isabel went on board the royal ship to remain
with her daughter until the last moment, and after the
final farewell, returned in her boat to the shore, but the
waves were so rough that it was impossible to land on
the dry beach. Seeing this, the gallant Gonzalvo di
Cordova, the Great Captain, who was with the Court at
the time, waded into the water, in his magnificent suit
of brocade and crimson velvet, and carried his royal
mistress safely ashore in his arms, amid the applause of
the lookers-on — the feat of another Raleigh.
From this picturesque sheltered port of Laredo,
Isabel wrote to King Henry VII. on August 19, 1496,
to bespeak his friendly interest. '' She informs him
that the Infanta Doiia Juana is on her way to Flanders
to join her husband the Archduke Philip, and in a
stately way, as from one sovereign to another, she asks
him to treat the princess and her armada well, if she
should be compelled by stress of weather to enter an
English port. Isabel also announces that ' her
daughter the Infanta' (Margaret of Austria) is to be
brought back by the same armada." Royal personages
in those days were very fond of writing letters to each
other, but this particular request was no mere matter
of courtesy, for both the princesses were driven by
storms to take refuge in British harbours.
We are really amazed at the courage with which
these royal ladies would set forth on a perilous sea
voyage in the " caravel," a light vessel with four
294
ROYAL MARRIAGES
masts, narrow at the poop, wide at the bows, and
carrying a long double tower at the stern, and
another smaller one at the bows. A ship of war would
not be much better, as it was high, unwieldy, and
narrow, with guns close to the water, and would
roll terribly, besides being liable to " overset " like
the Mary Rose of which Sir Walter Raleigh speaks ;
" a goodly ship of the largest size, by a little sway
of the ship in casting about, her ports being w'ithin
sixteen inches of the water, was overset and sunk,
in presence of the King at Spithead." To cross the
stormy Bay of Biscay in such vessels was indeed a
bold enterprise. The Infanta Juana had scarcely left
the Spanish shore when the weather became very
rough and stormy, and her mother, waiting anxiously
for tidings, consulted all the best navigators as to
what was likely to have befallen the armada. As
Spain was at war with France, no letters could be sent
by land, and it was only after many weeks of sus-
pense that news at length arrived of the safe landing
of the Infanta in Flanders, on a Sunday in September.
It had indeed been a fearful voyage 1 When the
fleet was driven for shelter into Portland harbour, it
was found that two caravels were missing, and
Juana was obliged to accept the hospitality of the
Portland w^atch-tower for a few days, while some of
the vessels were repaired and refitted. She appears to
have been very silent and self-contained during all the
dangers she went through, but she would not be per-
suaded to write any letters to her mother. King
Henry VII., or anyone else. Several of her atten-
dants died from the hardships of that disastrous
voyage, and amongst them the gallant old Bishop of
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Jaen, who had accompanied her to give state and
dignity to her suite.
After all the hardships which she had endured, it
was rather distressing for the young bride to meet with
no " empressement " from the bridegroom, who was
away in the Tyrol and did not even send her a message
of welcome, as she waited day after day for him in the
old castle of Lille. It is curious to notice how family
traits assert themselves, for this was exactly the way in
which his father Maximilian had behaved to his
promised bride Bianca Sforza (his second wife) when
he kept her waiting for two months at Innsbruck, in
the beginning of 1494. However, at length the Arch-
duke Philip found time to fulfil his engagement, and
he arrived at Lille on October 18, 1496, the ill-fated
marriage taking place the next day ; Don Diego de
Villaescusa being the officiating chaplain. Philip, " the
handsomest young man in Europe," is said to have had
something of his mother's docility in council and of
his father's high spirit in the field, but he was unreliable
and cold in disposition, and he certainly never
bestowed upon his unfortunate wife any of the
passionate devotion which she lavished upon him.
They took up their abode in Brussels, where we hear of
great festivities and of solemn Masses in the Cathedral
of Ste. Gudule.
Meantime, all arrangements had been made for the
marriage of the Princess Margaret, who about mid-
winter set sail for Spain, attended by the ladies of
Juana's suite, who, poor creatures, were once more
exposed to the stormy waves. On the return voyage
the armada met with even worse weather than on first
crossing, for some of the ships were lost and the state
296
Netirdein, phol. In the Church of Brou
TOMI'. OF MARGARET OF AUSTRLA
ROYAL MARRIAGES
vessel of the Princess was almost wrecked. There is
a singular charm of light-hearted spirit and gay courage
about this young girl, for when all hope was given up,
she wrote a ** pleasant distich " to be rolled in wax and
fastened to her wrist for identification, as was the way
of sailors.
*' Ci-gist Margot, la gente demoiselle,
Qu'eut deux maris, et si mourut pucelle."
Amongst the " Dialogues des Morts " of Fontenelle
(1657-1757) is one on this subject, and he compares
the fortitude of this young girl, in the hour of deadly
peril, to the philosophic calm of the dying Hadrian or
the heroism of Cato of Utica.
But fortunately for the world, which could ill have
spared so charming a personality, this epitaph was not
required. Margaret did, however, have to take refuge
in the harbour of Southampton, for we find that on
February 3, 1497, Henry VII. writes her a friendly
little note, in which he remarks : " We believe that
the movement and roaring of the sea is disagreeable
to your highness and the ladies who accompany you."
He then courteously begs her to stay at Southampton,
and even offers to pay her a visit there.
After these various adventures, the Princess at
length arrived safely at the port of Santander, in the
Asturias, at the beginning of March 1497. Here she
was met and welcomed by Prince Juan and the King
his father, who escorted her to Burgos, where Queen
Isabel first met her daughter-in-law, to whom she be-
came much attached. The marriage took place on
Palm Sunday, April 3, and was a most stately cere-
mony, performed by the Archbishop of Toledo, in the
297
ROYAL MARRIAGES
magnificent cathedral. A succession of splendid en-
tertainments followed, and at these it was remarked
how gay and lively Margaret and the Flemish members
of her suite were in comparison with the grave and
solemn Castilian nobles.
As for Don Juan, the bridegroom, never has any
prince been so universally beloved and praised ; he
seems to have been another Marcellus, amiable and
accomplished alike in art and literature ; the idol of
his parents and of his country. The greatest hopes
were built upon the future reign over all the broad
dominions alike of Castile and Aragon, of this only
son of Fernando and Isabel, the heir to so much
greatness. Nothing seemed wanting to the happiness
of the young bride and bridegroom as they made a
kind of triumphal procession through the great cities
of the land during that summer.
Meantime another marriage had been arranged
in the royal family. The new King of Portugal, Dom
Emanuel, the Fortunate, had for some years made
proposals for the hand of his cousin's widow, the
Princess Isabel, but her own wishes were in favour of
convent life, and it was only in the summer of 1496 that
she was at length persuaded to listen to him. But she
demanded a terrible price for her consent — nothing
less than the compulsory conversion of all the Jews in
Portugal, or, failing that, their expulsion from the
kingdom. We cannot help seeing in this the influence
of the priestly bigots in whose company she had lived
since her widowhood. The Jews of Portugal belonged
mostly to the Sephardim, and were in intellect and
position superior to the Ash-Kenazim — German or
Polish Jews ; and they had hitherto been always pro-
298
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tected by Moor and Christian alike. There were also
a great number in the kingdom who had escaped from
Spain and paid heavy bribes for a new home. We can
only suppose that Emanuel was willing to concede
this demand, because he was beyond all things eager
for the alliance with Spain, but it has also been sug-
gested that it would serve his personal interests, as he
would thus be able to absorb the whole of the rapidly-
increasing trade with the East, which was largely in
the hands of the Jews. In any case it was a fatal
error in judgment thus to lose the most skilful and
industrious of his subjects.
The ill-omened marriage was celebrated without the
usual pomp and ceremony, at the picturesque fortified
town of Alcantara on the frontier of Portugal, in
September 1497, and while Fernando and Isabel were
still there, a messenger arrived with evil tidings of the
serious illness of Prince Juan. He had been taken
ill with fever at Salamanca, in the midst of the festivi-
ties which greeted himself and his young wife. The
illness made such rapid progress that when Fernando
reached him, there was no hope that his life would be
spared. We have a pathetic account of that last meet-
ing, when the father tried to express hopes of recovery,
but he could not dim the clear-eyed vision of one who
had reached the threshold of the Unseen. With calm
heroism, the dying boy spoke of his readiness to depart
from a world which to him had been so rich in bless-
ings, and of his perfect resignation to the Will of
God. With words of loving farewell came the close of
this beautiful young life — which had been so full of
promise for Spain and for the world. This was on
299
ROYAL MARRIAGES
October 3, 1497, when the Prince was but nineteen
years of age.
Fearing the effect of the shock upon his wife, who
was not in strong health, Fernando sought to break
the news by frequent letters of increasing anxiety ;
yet, when the sad truth had to be told, Isabel bore it
with splendid fortitude, and only made reply in those
words of immemorial submission : *' The Lord hath
given, and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be His
Name." But the iron had entered into her soul, and
all the mother's brightest hopes and happiness were
buried in her son's stately tomb at Avila.
The mourning was universal throughout the land ;
"never was there a death which occasioned such
lamentation," for "the hope of all Spain was laid low."
Black banners floated over every tower and gateway,
and all public offices were closed for forty days, while
the Court mourning was of sackcloth instead of the
usual white garments. We have already described the
magnificent monument which was erected to the
memory of Prince Juan in the great Dominican
monastery of Santo Tomas, " the most perfectly
glorious tomb in all the world."
Of Margaret, the young widow of seventeen whose
dream of happiness had thus suddenly come to an end,
it will be interesting to trace briefly the story of her
after life. She was treated with the utmost kindness
and generosity by the Spanish sovereigns, but her
child, the expected heir of Castile and Aragon, born a
few months later, did not live to see the light of day.
After this she began to hunger for her native land,
and her Flemish attendants who could never become
reconciled to the constraint of the Castilian Court,
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ROYAL MARRIAGES
persuaded her to return home in 1499. But apparently
during the interval, this young girl, who had just missed
first the proud position of Queen of France, and then
that of Queen of Spain, was expected to turn to account
her perfect knowledge of the French language by
teaching her little sister-in-law, Catalina, who was
betrothed to Prince Arthur of England. We find his
mother, Elizabeth of York, writing a friendly letter to
Queen Isabel on December 3, 1497, and again, on
July 17, 1498, De Puebla is instructed to write to the
Spanish Queen that :
"Queen Elizabeth and the mother of King Henry VII.
wish that the Princess of Wales (as she was already
called) should always speak French with the Princess
Margaret who is now in Spain, to learn the language
and be able to talk it, as they (the English Queens) do
not understand Latin and much less Spanish. The
Princess Katharine should accustom herself to drink
wine as the water in England is not drinkable, and
even if it were, the climate would not allow the drink-
ing of it." * It is refreshing to find so much human
nature beneath the stiff brocades of these York and
Lancaster Princesses !
Margaret arrived at her brother Philip's Court in
Ghent soon after the birth of her nephew Charles V.,
of whose interests she was so devoted a guardian in
the long minority to come. In the year 1501 she went
bravely forth again to face the great unknown, and,
for the sake of Imperial interests, became the bride of
Duke Philibert le Beau of Savoy. After three years
of married happiness, poor Margaret was once more
left a widow, at the age of twenty-four ; the handsome
"■ Bergenroth, Calendar of State Papers.
301
ROYAL MARRIAGES
Duke having been killed one day out hunting. She
devoted herself to his memory and caused a splendid
marble church to be built at Brou in the forest of
Bourg-en-Bresse, with a magnificent tomb on which
his sculptured figure rests in state. The widowed
Duchess chose her own resting-place by his side,
where we may still see the " queenly figure in robe
and diadem . . . and below, her figure covered from
head to foot by the glory of her hair " * with atten-
dant saints around, and the motto which she chose
herself to commemorate her many sorrows ; " Fortune,
Infortune ! "
But her life's work was still before this able, wise
princess, who was appointed Governor-General of the
Netherlands in 1507, and filled the difficult post with
honour and credit until 15 15, when her nephew
Charles V. took the government into his own
hands. Henry VII. of England wooed her in vain ;
Margaret would have no more to do with marrying !
She was a patroness of learned men and herself a
lyric poet of some fame and the writer of several
works in prose. She died in 1530, honoured and
lamented by the realm which she had served so well.
* Edith Sichel.
302
CHAPTER XXI
ISABEL AND MARIA, QUEENS OF
PORTUGAL. KATHARINE, QUEEN
OF ENGLAND
After the death of Prince Juan, his eldest sister the
Princess Isabella, then Queen of Portugal, was heiress
to the crown of Castile and Aragon, and it was thought
desirable to obtain a recognition of her rights by the
Cortes. The King and Queen of Portugal therefore
came to Spain in the spring of 1498, and made a kind
of royal progress through the kingdom. The Cas-
tilian lords and burgesses were assembled at Toledo
to receive them and took the oaths of allegiance
willingly, as the right of female succession was
acknowledged without question in Castile. But in
the kingdom of Aragon this appears to have been still
a doubtful question, for when the royal company
arrived at Zaragoza, and the subject was laid before
the Cortes, they declared that the succession to the
crown of Aragon was limited to male heirs, who might,
however, inherit through the female line. The case
was argued with much vehemence on both sides, and
Isabel, who was unused to having her authority dis-
puted, is said to have exclaimed, " It would be better
303
ISABEL OF PORTUGAL
to reduce the country by arms at once than endure
this insolence of the Cortes."
To this the gallant Antonio de Fonseca fearlessly
replied, that, " the men of Aragon had only acted as
good and loyal subjects, who,ias they kept their oaths,
considered well before they took them."
It is linteresting to know that the Queen bore no
grudge to Antonio for his brave words, as he is
specially |;mentioned in Isabel's will for true and loyal
service.
The question was still under discussion, when the
hand of fate intervened by the unfortunate death of the
princess for whom the claim was made. On August 23,
1498, the Queen of Portugal, who had always been of
a delicate constitution with a tendency to consumption,
gave birth to a son at Toledo and died soon afterwards.
Now, indeed, was the great Queen cast down from her
high estate and overwhelmed with sorrows, she whose
reign had been so splendid and so prosperous, far
removed as it -would seem from the shafts of mortal
fate. Triumphant and successful alike in peace and
war, happy in her family, with splendid alliances made
or in prospect for them, beloved and respected wher-
ever her fame had reached, with the glories of a new
world added on to her "Corona" of Castile, she
seemed to have reached the very summit of earthly
prosperity.
Isabel was smitten in her tenderest feelings ; first
the beloved and only son, then her favourite daughter,
who had been her dear companion throughout all
the journeys of the Moorish war, always loving and
gentle. The Queen made no outward show of
lamentation, she look her part in all the duties of
304
MARIA OF PORTUGAL
her high position, but she never rallied from the
loss of her children, and from this time her health
began to fail.
The infant son of the Queen of Portugal was
called Miguel, was carried in state through the streets
of the city, and was solemnly acknowledged heir to
the thrones of Aragon, Castile and Portugal. But
the poor baby did not live to enjoy all these honours,
and his death before he was two years old put an
end to the chance of uniting the three kingdoms,
and left the succession to the second daughter of
Queen Isabel, the Princess Juana, wife of the Arch-
duke Philip, of whom there will be much to tell
hereafter.
Her next sister Maria was now sought in mar-
riage by Emanuel King of Portugal, the widower of
Isabel, who, in his grievous disappointment at the
death of his heir Miguel, resolved to make another
effort at alliance with Spain. There does not seem
to have been any difficulty about his wooing ; a dis-
pensation was obtained from the Pope, and Maria
became Queen of Portugal in the year 1500.
She appears to have enjoyed a happier life than fell
to the fate of any of her sisters, and for this reason,
perhaps, she is not a prominent figure in history. We
hear of her chiefly as being the happy mother of six
sons and two daughters : Dom Juan, who married his
cousin Catherine, the youngest sister of Charles V. ;
Dom Luis Duke of Bejar ; Dom Fernando Duke of
Guarda ; Dom Eduardo Duke of Guimarens ; and two
other sons who became cardinals. Of the daughters,
the beautiful Isabel married her cousin the Emperor
Charles V. and Beatrice married Charles III. Duke of
305 V
MARIA OF PORTUGAL
Savoy. She was the " divinity to whom the poet Ber-
nardin Ribeiro addressed his poems."
Excepting with regard to his fatal error in the
enforced conversion or expulsion of the Jews, Dom
Emanuel, " the Fortunate," was an energetic and
capable ruler. He gave the warmest encourage-
ment to discovery, and under Vasco da Gama
completed the " work of sixty years by carrying the
Portuguese flag round the newly-discovered southern
Cape " of Good Hope, and thus accomplished the
long-looked-for junction of the West with the East. It
was in September 1499 that Vasco da Gama returned
in triumph to Lisbon, with a rich cargo of spices
and precious stones, the fabled vc'ealth of the Indies.
After this success the Portuguese King renewed his
efforts on a larger scale, and in the following years
his armed navy took possession of Goa, Malacca,
Hormuz on the Persian Gulf and other important
places, till he had well-nigh secured the complete
control of the Eastern seas. Indeed the Sultan was
so alarmed that he sent a messenger to the Pope,
threatening to destroy the holy places of Jerusalem, if
this conquest of the Indies by Portugal were not
discontinued.
But these vast aims and enterprises only concern us
in so far as they add distinction and honour to the
life of Queen Maria of Portugal, who did not live to
see the decline in Eastern power, for she died in her
beautiful palace at Belem in 1517, at the early age of
thirty-five.
After the marriage of the Infanta Maria in 1500, only
one daughter remained at home with her mother,
Catalina, the youngest, who was born in December
306
KATHARINE OF ENGLAND
1485, in "the castle of the rivers," Alcala de Henares.
As we have seen, she had been betrothed almost from
infancy to Arthur Prince of Wales, and the time was
now drawing near for the fulfilment of the engagement.
Her father, the most cautious of men, had delayed the
marriage until he felt quite convinced of the security
of King Henry VII.'s throne. He was aware that
there had been various conspiracies and pretenders,
chiefly encouraged by the strong-minded Margaret
Duchess of Burgundy, the sister of Edward IV., whose
persistent hatred gave Henry much trouble. There is
a letter in existence which Perkin Warbeck, who signs
himself " Richard Duke of York," wrote to Queen
Isabel, in which he " hopes that her Majesty, who is
not only his relative but the most just and pious of
princes, will have pity upon him. . . ." We are glad
to know that the Queen was wise enough to send no
answer to this appeal. Perkin was more fortunate
with Maximilian of Austria, for we actually find that at
the funeral of the Emperor Frederic in 1493 he had a
place assigned him according to his pretended rank.
But in 1501 Henry VII. was much more strongly
established in his relation with foreign powers, and
Fernando was now anxious to hurry on the long-
talked-of marriage.
There had already been endless correspondence and
chicanery on the subject, and the dowry had been
settled at 200,000 crowns, as we have seen at the time
when the betrothal took place. The letters, of which
a number are still in existence, may be divided into
two classes ; first those which passed between the
sovereigns and their agent, De Puebla, always written
in cypher, which are straightforward business letters j
307
KATHARINE OF ENGLAND
and secondly those from one royal person to another,
which are often artificial in their conventional polite-
ness. We may select a few. Queen Isabel mentions
in one letter to De Puebla, who was possibly despondent
about the result of the negotiations : " It appears that
there is not at present any king in the world who has
a daughter to whom he (Henry VII.) can marry his son
except ours."
Fernando writes to De Puebla on April 26, 1496,
" We must not deprive the King of Scots of his hope
of having our daughter . . . although King Henry
is to be told that there is no daughter for the King of
Scots."
On October 5, 1499, Arthur Prince of Wales writes
a little formal love letter in Latin to Katharine Princess
of Wales, from Ludlow Castle. " I have read the
sweet letters your Highness lately sent, from which I
learn your most complete love for me. Indeed those
letters written by your own hand have made me so
joyful . . . that in fancy I beheld your Highness, and
held converse with and embraced my dear wife. I
cannot tell you what an earnest desire I have to see
you, and the delay respecting your coming is very
grievous to me. I pray that it may be hastened.
Write oft and speedily." He subscribes himself :
"Your loving spouse."
We can imagine this to have been written from the
dictation of his learned tutor. Then we have a letter
written by Queen Isabel from Granada on March 23,
1 501, expressing her desire that the expenses of her
daughter's reception in England may be moderate.
"We do not wish our daughter to be the cause of
any loss to England either in money ... on the
308
KATHARINE OF ENGLAND
contrary we desire that she should be the source of all
kinds of happiness, as we hope she will be, with the
help of God. We therefore pray the King our brother
to moderate the expenses . . ."
It was on May 21, 1501, that, in the palace of
Granada, the Infanta Catalina (henceforth called
Katharine of Aragon) took leave of the mother whom
she was never to see again. It had been urged by
various ambassadors that she should have been sent
to England earlier, before she became too much
attached to Spanish life and institutions, and possibly
there is something to be said for the frequent custom
of sending a princess at a very early age to the land of
her adoption.
The latest historian of Spain remarks that " most of
Katharine's mistakes in England were the natural
result of the uncompromising rigidity of principle
arising from the conviction of divine appointment
which formed her mother's system. She had been
brought up in the midst of a crusading war in which
the victors drew their inspiration, and ascribed their
triumph, to the special intervention of the Almighty in
their favour ; and already Katharine's house had
assumed as a basis of its family faith that the cause of
God was indissolubly linked with that of the Sovereigns
of Castile and Leon. It was impossible that a woman
brought up in such a school should be an opportunist,
or would bend to the petty subterfuges and small
complaisances by which men are successfully managed ;
and Katharine suffered through life from the inflexi-
bility born of self-conscious rectitude." *
We can picture to ourselves the last sigh of regret
* Martin Hume.
309
KATHARINE OF ENGLAND
and longing with which the young girl at the impres-
sionable age of fifteen, would look back upon the
lovely towers of the Alhambra, before she set forth on
her long journey through the sunny meadows of
Andalusia and the desolate plains of La Mancha and
arid Castile. She had left her mother the Queen
weak with fever and overcome with grief at the parting.
It was two months before Katharine reached the
seaport of Coruna on the coast of Galicia. " There
went with her the Conde de Cabra, and the countess
his wife, the Commander-mayor Cardenas and Donna
Elvira Manuel, chief lady of honour, and three bishops.
The Princess Infanta had likewise four young ladies
as attendants." * From other sources we learn that
she had been promised permission to take with her a
suite of one hundred and fifty persons, who were to
remain in England. Amongst those who actually went
with her ten ladies of good family are mentioned —
Henry VII. had specially asked that they might be
beautiful — there were slaves to attend upon the ladies
of honour, also a cup-bearer, a cook, a baker, a purser,
a sweeper . . . and others.
The royal party set sail from Coruna on August 17,
but the weather was very stormy, and contrary winds
drove them back to the little port of Laredo in a
terrible thunder-storm ("vendabal") on September 12.
The heat was also very great and the poor Princess
was suffering from a low fever, but she had to embark
again on Monday the 29th, when a perfect hurricane
arose, a south wind (" viento de abajo ") and the vessel
was nearly wrecked. It was the Vera Cruz, of 300 tons,
the "best ship they had," and after a fair passage it
* Bernaldez.
KATHARINE OF ENGLAND
entered Plymouth harbour on October 2. Directly
on leaving the ship the Spanish Princess went to hear
Mass. She met with a very warm reception in the town,
for the alliance was most popular amongst the people ;
indeed we may remember that throughout the changing
fortunes of her life, " all England loved her to the
end," In the midst of a drenching rain Katharine
rode across the Hampshire Downs, and at Dogmers-
field, King Henry insisted upon an interview with her
that night, somewhat against the etiquette of Castile.
They could not really understand each other, although
" there were the most goodly words uttered to each
other in the language of both parties," but when
Prince Arthur arrived "through the interpretation of
the bishops, the speeches of both countries, by the
means of Latin, were understood."
It was not until November 12 that the Infanta made
her formal entry into the City of London, where great
pageants were prepared to receive her, and we can
only wonder what she thought of the place and
climate after the sunny courts of the Alhambra. We
have a striking account of her appearance on this
occasion. She rode on a large mule, with the hand-
some boy Henry Duke of York on her right hand
and the Legate of Rome on her left. Her pale
statuesque features were set off by a broad round hat,
like a cardinal's, tied on with a lace of gold, a coif of
carnation colour under the hat, and her hair, of a
ruddy auburn, streamed down her back. Donna
Elvira rode near her, in nun-like black garments.
Her ladies and the procession followed.
The wedding took place in St. Paul's two days
later ; and the bride wore on her head a " coif of
3x1
KATHARINE OF ENGLAND
white silk, with a scarf bordered with gold and pearl
and precious stones, five inches broad, which veiled
great part of her face and person. . . . Her gown was
very large, both the sleeves and also the body, with
many plaits ; and beneath the waist certain round
hoops, bearing out the gown from the body, after
their country manner." In fact, this was the intro-
duction of the farthingale !
At the time of their marriage Prince Arthur was
fifteen and one month, while Katharine was ten months
older. Various festivities, entertainments, dances and
pageants followed ; Lord Bacon tells us that " the
lady was resembled to Hesperus and the prince to
Arcturus . . . while King Arthur the Briton, and the
descent of the Lady Katharine from the house of
Lancaster, was in no wise forgotten. But, as it should
seem, it is not good to fetch fortunes from the stars ;
for this young prince, that drew upon him at that
time, not only the hope and affections of his country,
but the eyes and expectations of foreigners, after a
few months, in the beginning of April, deceased at
Ludlow Castle, where he was sent to keep his residence
and Court as Prince of Wales."*
Yes, this was indeed the next stroke of misfortune
which befell the unfortunate children of Isabel the
Catholic. First, young Prince Affonso of Portugal,
who married the Infanta Isabel, then this Princess
herself and her infant son ; then Prince Juan, the heir
of Spain ; and now the boy bridegroom of Katharine —
for them all the " boast of heraldry, the pomp of
power," had led but to the grave. We could scarcely
wonder if, by an alien race, in the far-off land of their
* " Life of Henry VII."
312
Anderson, phot.
In the Uffizi G:iUery, Florence
POPE JULIUS II.
Raphael
KATHARINE OF ENGLAND
exile, the ominous words were whispered : " The curse
of the Jews."
" Prince Arthur died of the plague a little while after
his nuptials, being in the principality of Wales, in a
place they call 'Pudro' (Ludlow). In this house was
Donna Catalina left a widow when she had been
married scarcely six months." *
We can scarcely imagine any position more desolate
than that of the widowed Katharine, still a mere child,
thus left forlorn in a strange land, of which she could
not even speak the language. Queen Elizabeth of York,
in the midst of her own distress at the loss of her son,
was kind to the poor girl, and sent a " hearse-like black
litter, borne between two horses," to fetch her to Croy-
don Palace. But the Queen of Henry VII. only lived
until the following February, when she gave birth to a
child and closed her brief eventful life of thirty-seven
years. We can hardly believe that the same letter
which brought news to Spain of Queen Elizabeth's
death actually insinuated that " King Henry wa,s not
disinclined to marry the Princess Katharine," which
De Puebla must, of course, have written by special
command.
The answer of Queen Isabel, written to Ferdinand
Duke of Estrada, the Spanish Ambassador in England,
rings out with no uncertain note, for she was horrified
at the wickedness of the suggestion. The whole
despatch is written in two keys of cypher, and is dated
" Alcala de Henares, April 12th, 1503."
" The Dr. has written to us concerning the marriage
of the King of England with the Princess of Wales,
* Bernaldez.
313
KATHARINE OF ENGLAND
our daughter, saying that it is spoken of in England.
But as this would be an evil thing, one never before
seen, and the mere mention of which offends the ears,
we would not for anything in the world that it should
take place." . . . Signed, " Y la Reyna."
Isabel would gladly have sent for her daughter to
return home at once, but there were serious difficulties
in the way. Of the marriage portion only half had
been paid to King Henry, but he strongly desired to
have the remainder, and was most unwilling to pay
back any of it. He therefore suggested that the Prin-
cess should marry his second son Henry, born on June
28, 1491 ; and to this the Spanish sovereigns finally
agreed, on condition of a dispensation being obtained
from the Pope; "there being nothing to hinder such
marriage." Poor Katharine was very unhappy at
this time, and hungered for her home and her own
people. She wrote to her father that " she had no
desire for a second marriage in England," but added
dutifully that she would act in all things as suited
him best.
Fernando was quite determined to carry out the
alliance with England, as politically it was of great
importance for the furtherance of his ambitious
designs in Europe. Moreover, Katharine was of great
use to him in England as an accredited diplomatic
agent whom he could thoroughly trust ; and we find
that her letters to him were not only of private interest
but were really official documents. When she became
familiar with the language of her adopted country, she
soon had a very clear insight into all that was going on,
and she expresses her views in a somewhat heavy but
314
KATHARINE OF ENGLAND
lucid and decided style. The want of money, placed
as she was between two misers, her father and her
father-in-law, was a great distress to her at this time.
She writes a pitiful letter to Fernando : "Your High-
ness shall know, as I have often written to you, that
since I came to London I have not had a single
'maravedi,' except a certain sum which^was given me
for food . . . which did not suffice without having
many debts in London, and that which troubles me
more is to see my servants and maidens so at a loss
that they have not wherewithal to get clothes. . . ."
Fernando and Isabel write earnest letters praying
Katharine not to borrow money ; she is told to accept
anything she can obtain from Henry VII., and urged
to take care of her jewels and plate. There is constant
discussion as to whether these are to form part of her
dowry, and meantime the Princess is almost destitute,
and complains bitterly that she has no clothes to wear
and no money for the maintenance of her household.
A treaty of marriage between the young Henry, who
is only twelve years old, and the girl of seventeen
is signed in June 1503, but there is much delay in
obtaining the dispensation, as two Popes had died in
one year, and Julius II. thought it necessary to make
special inquiry into the case. Henry VII. felt himself
in a position to make his own terms with the King of
Spain, since the marriage of his daughter Margaret to
James IV. of Scotland in 1502, although the success
of the Spanish army in Italy made him unwilling to
come to an open dispute with him. Meantime, in the
midst of her own personal troubles, the Spanish
Princess was receiving sad news from home of the
health of her mother, who was very anxious and
315
KATHARINE OF ENGLAND
unhappy with regard to her youngest daughter's unsatis-
factory position in England. Indeed, so greatly was
she troubled, that a Papal brief legalising the marriage
of Katharine with Prince Henry was procured ante-
dated, and brought to her death-bed to give her final
satisfaction on the subject.
When the news of the great Queen's death in
November 1504 reached the Princess Katharine, she
was ill with ague, in debt and destitution ; and now
this great sorrow had fallen upon her, the irreparable
loss of the one dear friend of her young life, which
left her lonely indeed.
We are all familiar with the changeful fortunes
which befell her in the coming years ; her marriage
with the young King of England, Henry VIII., imme-
diately after his father's death in June 1509 ; her stately
life as Queen of England, the troubles and sorrows
which overwhelmed her later years, the austere
courage and dignity with which they were borne, and
the pathetic end of all her greatness — so dearly bought.
"The Queen of Earthly Queens," as Shakespeare calls
her in that splendid eulogy which he puts into the
mouth of King Henry VIII. in the great trial-scene.
In this history we are only concerned with Katharine
as the daughter of Isabel of Castile, and must now
turn once more to the events which touch upon the
closing years of the Great Queen of Spain.
316
CHAPTER XXII
CONQUEST OF NAPLES. RISING IN
THE ALPUJARRAS
We must return to the history of King Fernando's
ambitious schemes in Italy, at the point where
we left off, after the death of Charles VIII. of
France, and the homecoming of the Great Captain
at the close of the first Calabrian campaign in August
1498.
After the accession of Louis XII. there was a brief
interval of peace which was spent in diplomacy and
preparing for war. A treaty was concluded between
France and Spain in July 1498 ; the Archduke Philip
was won by concessions in Artois, the Swiss by the
payment of money, Venice by the bribe of Cremona
and land east of the Alda, and Pope Alexander VI.
by rich gifts to Caesar Borgia. Louis XII. had so
managed his finances as to have money to spare on
his army, which was immensely improved in every
branch — cavalry, infantry, and especially the artillery.
The chief command was given to Trivulzio, and
the French troops reached Asti on August 10, 1499.
Annone, Valenza and Tortona were taken, and when
Alessandria also fell into their hands the war was
317
CONQUEST OF NAPLES
practically at an end. Ludovico escaped from Milan
with his treasure, and the citadel was sold to the
French, after which they took possession of the
whole duchy.
Trivulzio was left in command of the city, but he
made himself so unpopular to the people of Milan
that they took up arms for Ludovico, who brought a
mixed force of 20,000 men from the Tyrol with the
help of Maximilian. In February the Duke entered
Milan in triumph, amid cries of " Moro ! Moro ! "
but his success was of short duration, for in
April he was defeated and taken prisoner, sent to
France and died at Loches in the year 1508. With
Milan in his possession Louis was resolved to conquer
Naples, but Fernando of Aragon was a dangerous
rival, and a secret treaty was signed at Granada,
November 1500, by which these two conspirators
arranged for a joint conquest and division of the
kingdom of Naples.
Federigo King of Naples had most unwisely asked
for help from the Turkish Sultan Bajazid when his own
kindred and neighbours failed him ; but this desperate
step only gave Fernando an opportunity of posing as
the Champion of Christendom. The Great Captain,
Gonzalvo, with all the noblest chivalry of Spain, set
out on his expedition against the Turks, and after
some delay in Sicily joined the Venetian fleet and
attacked the citadel of St. George in Cephalonia,
which had lately been taken from V^enice. Standing
high on a rock, and defended by a splendid garrison,
the place was considered impregnable ; indeed, the
siege lasted two months, and the fortifications were
only taken after a fierce contest, when the banners of
3i8
CONQUEST OF NAPLES
Santiago and St. Marco were planted side by side on
the towers.
This was the first check given to the victorious
Turks, and the King of Aragon gained throughout
Europe the proud fame of Defender of the Faith.
Gonzalvo received from grateful Venice splendid
presents which, with his usual generosity, he dis-
tributed amongst his soldiers, and his name was also
enrolled in the Golden Book as a nobleman of
Venice.
After this victory and a truce concluded later
between the Porte and most of the European states,
the Christian world had rest from the Eastern ques-
tion for nearly twenty years. " There was incessant
fear of what the Turk might do next, incessant talk
of resisting him, incessant negotiations against him ;
but there was no actual war. . . . The attention of
the Sultan was drawn eastward, where he had to
reckon with a new power," * that of Persia.
Meantime the French army, under the command
the Sire d'Aubigny, crossed the Alps, and at the same
time a powerful fleet left Genoa for Naples, under
Admiral Ravenstein. Federigo knew nothing of the
secret compact between France and Spain, and
expected Gonzalvo, who was in Sicily, to come to his
help ; the first news reached him from Rome, in the
form of a Bull issued by Pope Alexander VI., deposing
King Federigo from the throne of Naples for his
treachery to the Christian cause in seeking help from
the Turk and dividing the kingdom of Naples between
the Kings of France and Aragon. This unlooked-for
blow overwhelmed the unfortunate Federigo, who
* J. B. Bury, LL.D.
319
CONQUEST OF NAPLES
hastily collected his troops and advanced to St.
Germano, but he was compelled to retreat before the
superior force of the French and take refuge in his
capital. The invaders next marched on Capua, which
they seized while terms of surrender were being dis-
cussed, and treated the defenceless inhabitants with
unexampled cruelty and outrage. This occurred on
July 7, 1501, and Italy never forgave the French for
their treachery and barbarity. The King of Naples, in
despair at being powerless to protect his people, made
no further resistance, gave up his city and retired
to Ischia, where he was induced to accept a safe con-
duct to France. Louis received him with all honour,
bestowing on him the duchy of Anjou with a rich
endowment, and this gentle and accomplished prince
spent his few remaining years in peaceful seclusion.
In the partition of the spoils, the provinces of Apulia
and Calabria had been allotted to Spain ; and the
Great Captain, with his disciplined troops, his know-
ledge of the country, and the important fortresses
which Fernando already held, found no great difficulty
in occupying the whole of the two Calabrias in less
than a month, with the exception of the important city
of Taranto. It occupied the site of the ancient citadel
which withstood Hannibal in days of old, and was a
position of great natural strength, being only connected
by the main land by two bridges commanded by for-
midable towers ; having the sea on one side, and the
Mare Piccolo, or inland sea, about twelve miles in
circumference, on the other. With infinite labour
Gonzalvo succeeded in blockading the port, while he
threw up embankments on the land side to cut off
communication with the country.
320
CONQUEST OF NAPLES
During the long, weary siege, an incident occurred
which shows the chivalric nature of the Great Captain.
The French fleet had failed in an attack on Mitylene,
and had been partly destroyed in a tempest ; while
Ravenstein, whose own ship was wrecked, found his
way in a destitute condition to the shore of Calabria.
Gonzalvo, with princely generosity, at once supplied
abundant provisions, sent his own service of plate,
apparel, and all that the French admiral and his fol-
lowers could require. This munificence was not
approved of by his own soldiers, and provoked a
mutiny, which only the leader's fearless courage was
able to check. Seeing the danger of this tedious siege,
Gonzalvo resolved upon a bold plan, of which he may
have taken the idea from a strategem of Hannibal's.
He contrived means of transporting about twenty of
his smaller vessels across the narrow isthmus from the
outer bay into the Mare Piccolo, where no defence
had been thought necessary. The commander, in
whose care King Federigo had placed his eldest son
Ferrante, seeing no hope of holding out now, came to
terms, in which the safety and freedom of the young
Duke of Calabria was the first condition. This
Gonzalvo promised on oath, and on March i, 1502, he
took possession of the city of Taranto. But it will ever
remain a blot upon the fair fame of the Great Captain,
that he suffered King Fernando to break this promise :
and Ferrante, a lad of fourteen, was taken prisoner to
Spain.
The treaty between France and Spain being itself a
breach of faith, we cannot be surprised if they fell out
over the division of their spoils. It had been settled
that Spain should have Calabria and Apulia, and France
^21 X
CONQUEST OF NAPLES
the Terra di Lavoro, the Abruzzi, Naples and Gaeta ;
but no mention had been made of the considerable
province on the northern coast, Capitanata, between
the Abruzzi and Apulia; nor of the Basilicata, lying
between Apulia and Calabria ; nor of the two Princi-
pati, the Ultra, and the Citra. It was the custom for
the shepherds to drive their flocks to the mountain
pastures of the Southern Apennines and the Abruzzi,
after they had wintered in Apulia and the Capitanata,
and a toll was exacted from them on the way for the
King of Sicily. The treaty of Granada had settled
that this " dogana " should be divided between France
and Spain, with the result that both countries claimed
the disputed provinces. After constant quarrels war
at length broke out, and the Spaniards were driven
back to Barletta on the northern coast. But the French
delayed, and missed their opportunity ; while the Great
Captain received reinforcements, and, after various
other expeditions to Ruvo and elsewhere, he retook
Cerignola, an ancient city on rising ground, well forti-
fied and commanding the surrounding country. He
placed his army and artillery in a favourable position,
and here the Due de Nemours decided to attack him,
the battle beginning not long before sunset. Never
was there a more complete defeat, for in little more
than an hour the French army was utterly routed, with
a loss of more than three thousand of their number,
amongst whom was Nemours himself. This famous
engagement, which decided the campaign, was fought
on April 28, 1503. Gonzalvo entered Naples in triumph
a few weeks later, and although Gaeta and Venosa held
out for France, before the end of the year the whole
kingdom of Naples had become a Spanish province.
322
CONQUEST OF NAPLES'^ X
Louis XII. was not one patiently to endure defeat.
He raised three large armies — one to recover Naples,
another to attack the Spanish frontier of Navarre, and
the third to cross into Roussillon and seize the key of
the mountain passes. The Italian expedition, under
the Marechal de la Tremouille, set forth with the
highest hopes and confidence, but on reaching Parma
was checked by news of the death of Pope Alexander
VI. on August i8, 1503. It now became extremely
important to control, if possible, the election of his
successor, and the French moved on to Nepi, while
Gonzalvo kept watch at Castiglione. The result of this
was that a compromise was made, and the conclave
elected Pius III. (Francesco Piccolomini, Cardinal of
Siena), of whom the General of the Camoldolese wrote :
" God be thanked that the government of the Church
has been entrusted to such a man, who is so manifestly
a storehouse of all virtues. ..." Queen Isabel appears
to have been of the same opinion, for she caused " Te
Deum" to be sung in all the churches of Spain.
But, alas ! for the peace of Europe ! This good
prelate only enjoyed his dignities for one brief month,
and was succeeded by the great fighting Pope,
Julius II., "who made his tiara a helmet and his
crosier a sword." In consequence of the illness of
La Tremouille, the French army and the levies from
Northern Italy were now commanded by the Marquis
of Mantua, who found himself opposed and beaten
back at every pomt by the Great Captain, whose mar-
vellous genius and magnetic influence over his men
seemed to make them invincible, in spite of being half-
fed, without pay, and in the midst of a hostile and
desolated country. At length the two armies came to
323
CONQUEST OF NAPLES
a stand on either bank of the Garigliano, one of the
most important rivers of Southern Italy, which falls
into the Gulf of Gaeta. It was the ancient Liris, of
which Horace writes :
" Non rura, quae Liris quieta
Mordet aqua, taciturnus amnis." ^'■
The French had possession of the right bank of
the river close to the rising ground, and had therefore
a more favourable position than the marshy swamp
on the lower side in which the Spanish forces remained
encamped for fifty days, watched by the whole of Italy,
which awaited the next move in anxiety and suspense.
It was a fearful time, in the dead of winter, with
excessive rains which had begun earlier than usual,
and the soldiers in both camps were driven to the
last verge of endurance, while numbers sickened and
died. In vain was Gonzalvo implored to move back
to Capua ; he only made reply : " I would sooner
march forward two steps, though to my death, than
fall back one to gain a hundred years." Various minor
incidents occurred ; the Marquis of Mantua was in-
solently abused by the French and threw up his com-
mand, whereupon many Italians took the opportunity
of deserting ; several French leaders retreated from
the unhealthy bank of the river to neighbouring towns,
while as a feat of chivalry we are told that the ** preux
chevalier " Bayard held the bridge thrown across the
Garigliano, against two hundred Spaniards for more
than an hour.
Christmas came at length, and the Great Captain,
taking advantage of a more careless watch at that time
* Horace, Od. i., 31.
324
CONQUEST OF NAPLES
of festivity, carried out the bold plan which he had
been long in maturing. He caused a bridge to be
thrown across the river at Suzio a village four miles
higher up, and on the dark and stormy night of
December 28, the vanguard of the army crossed with
such secrecy that they came unawares upon the sleep-
ing garrison, and before the alarm had reached the
French camp, the whole of the Spanish troops had
crossed the river with the exception of the rearguard,
which was left to force a passage later at the lower
bridge. The chivalry of France, Bayard, Sandricourt
and others, made a gallant fight at every bridge and
narrow pass, but they were terribly hampered by the
disabled carriages of the artillery, which blocked up
the way, and at length, after a fierce fight of two hours,
when the Spanish rearguard had collected the scattered
boats and pushed across the lower bridge, the defeat
of the French turned into a rout. The fugitives were
pursued by the victorious army, but some reached
Gaeta, and for days afterwards others in wretched
plight sought shelter in neighbouring towns.
The French left all their baggage, their standards and
their artillery, on the fatal field where three to four
thousand of their bravest men lay slain, and the
garrison of Gaeta soon capitulated, January 3, 1504.
Thus Gonzalvo held undisputed rule over the kingdom
of Naples ; and Louis XII. was defeated at every
point.
As for his second army, sent by way of Fuentarrabia,
it never reached its destination, for it was led by the
Sire d'Albret, the father of the King of Navarre, who was
most unwilling to oppose Spain, and whose daughter
Margaret was then at the Court of Isabel, as a pledge
325
CONQUEST OF NAPLES
of his friendship. In pursuance of his son's negative
policy, the Sire d'Albret kept his men so long amongst
the rugged, desolate mountain passes, that from famine
or other causes the force gradually melted away.
The attack on Roussillon was far more serious, as
this army, consisting of more than 20,000 men, entered
Spanish territory and encamped before the strong
Castle of Salsas, near Perpignan, while a strong fleet
was equipped at Marseilles to make an attack on the
Spanish coast., Fernando lost no time in raising
levies from every part of the kingdom, to combine
with the forces of Aragon, and set forth at once for
Perpignan, while the Queen, who at the time was at
Segovia in ill-health, passed her days in prayer and
fasting, and public petitions were put up for Divine
help against the foreign invasion. But in the end it
came to nothing, for on the arrival of King Fernando,
the French Marshal considered discretion to be the
better part of valour, and retreated to Narbonne with-
out awaiting an engagement.
Thus the fortune of war was against Louis XII. in
all his three expeditions, and he was glad to make
peace with Spain on any terms.
While Fernando tasted the joys of satisfied ambition
in the conquest of Naples and the fame of his Great
Captain, dark shadows had been gathering around the
realm of Castile, and Isabel, ever full of keen sympathy
with her people, had many troubles awaiting her. For,
as we have seen, the King and Queen were in the
position of allied sovereigns ; the New World and the
fair land conquered from the Moors belonged to
Castile — while the acquisitions to the North of the
Pyrenees, the islands of the Mediterranean and all
326
CONQUEST OF NAPLES
domains in Italy, were looked upon as fiefs of
Aragon.
After the fall of Granada, the conquered city had
dwelt at peace for almost eight years under the wise
rule of the Count of Tendilla and the Archbishop of
the See, Fernando Talavera, who learnt Arabic that
he might be in touch with the Moors. The terms
granted to the people had been adhered to, and they
were ruled by their ancient laws and lived in the
faith of their ancestors. The Archbishop devoted
himself to their conversion by mild and patient
persuasion, with a very fair measure of success. But
unfortunately this did not appeal to more fanatical
natures, and Jimenez de Cisneros, who through the
influence of Cardinal Mendoza had succeeded Tala-
vera as Confessor to the Queen, was fiercely eager to
obtain greater results. He was with the Court in
Granada during the autumn of 1499, and obtained
permission to remain in the city and help in the work
of conversion.
Jimenez was a Franciscan friar of the most rigid
austerity of life, full of the sternest bigotry and crusad-
ing zeal and passionately in earnest to compass the
salvation of the Moors at any price. He began by
calling together the "alfaquis" or Moslem doctors,
to whom he preached with so much vehemence, giving
costly bribes at the same time, that many were per-
suaded to be baptized. It is said that so many con-
verts followed this example that : " In one day no less
than 3000 persons received baptism at the hands of
the Primate, who sprinkled them with the hyssop of
collective regeneration." * But these crowds of prose-
"■ Sir W. Stirling Maxwell.
327
RISING IN THE ALPUJARRAS
lytes did not continue, and Jimenez adopted more
stringent measures. He resolved not only to clear
the land of heretics but to exterminate as far as he
could their language and the books of their religion,
causing all the manuscripts of the Koran and other
works to be publicly burnt by thousands, though he
reserved several hundred works on medical science
for his University of Alcala. He tried to compel the
people to conversion by the harshest means, until a
fierce revolt broke out amongst the Moors, and it was
only quelled by the personal influence of the beloved
Talavera, when the fanatic Franciscan had narrowly
escaped the martyrdom which he gladly awaited. So
absolutely convinced was he of his own Divine
mission, that when recalled by the Queen, and taken
to task, he succeeded in impressing his own convictions
upon her. The unfortunate Moors were deprived of
the rights guaranteed to them, and were given the
choice of baptism or exile. Many yielded through
fear, but thousands left their native land for Barbary
and Morocco. From this time the Spanish Arabs bore
the name of Moriscoes.
But if the city of Granada was driven to outward
submission, it was far otherwise with the hardy moun-
taineers of the Alpujarras. " This range of maritime
Alps, which stretches to the distance of seventeen
leagues in a south-easterly direction from the Moorish
capital, sending out its sierras like so many broad arms
towards the Mediterranean, was thickly sprinkled with
Moorish villages, cresting the bald summits of the
mountains, or chequering the green slopes and valleys
which lay between them."*
■•= Prescott.
328
RISING IN THE ALPUJARRAS
The brave hill people revolted, seizing the fortresses
and mountain passes, and making forays as of old in
the land of the Christians. Early in the spring of 1500
a powerful army was sent against them, and one after
another each hill town was stormed and the garrison
put to the sword, while peaceful inhabitants were
offered the bitter choice of exile or baptism.
When this rebellion had been quelled, another more
serious rising took place in the rugged sierras about
the neighbourhood of Ronda, and Alonso de Aguilar,
elder brother of the Great Captain, was one of the
commanders sent to subdue it. The centre of the revolt
was in the Sierra Bermeja, or Red Sierra, thus named
from its colour, and hither came the Christian cavalry
in pursuit of the retreating Moors, until they found
themselves in a valley surrounded by rocks, where the
mountaineers had brought their families and treasures
for security. Possibly the enemy had been decoyed
here ; in any case, while the men were scattered about
in search of plunder the night closed in, and they found
themselves attacked on every side by the Moors, to
whom every inch of the ground was familiar. A sudden
flash of light revealed the position, and, overcome with
panic, the soldiers fled. But the brave knight, Alonso
de Aguilar, refused to retreat, and fought bravely to
the last, being the fifth of his gallant race who fell
fighting the infidel.
This was called the battle of Rio Verde, and the
terrible loss of that night was long remembered ;
amongst those who fell was the famous engineer,
Francisco Ramirez de Madrid. This was in March
1 501, and the rebels had to pay dearly for their suc-
cess. King Fernando himself headed the expedition
329
RISING IN THE ALPUJARRAS
against them, and took possession of the key to the
passes, the fortress of Lanjaron, while the Count of
Tendilla took Guejar by storm, and a mosque was
blown up in which a number of helpless women and
children had taken refuge. Of the vanquished moun-
taineers, thousands forsook their country rather than
give up their faith, and made their way to Egypt,
Morocco and Turkey. Thus ended the great revolt in
the Alpuj arras, of which the story long lived in the
ballads of the people.
Some historians urge that " the harsh treatment of
the Saracens seemed justified by fear of their numbers
and of their intrigues with the African corsairs." But
the policy of expulsion was a blot on civilisation, and
well nigh brought ruin and disaster on the fertile land
which the Moors had cultivated with success for so
many centuries.
330
CHAPTER XXIII
THE DEATH OF THE GREAT
QUEEN
Amidst the sorrows which gathered round the closing
years of Queen Isabel, perhaps the most bitter was that
which came to her from her own daughter. We have
already followed the story of Fernando's ambitious
schemes of alliance, and their success in the double
marriage of his son Juan and his daughter Juana with
the children of the Emperor Maximilian. After the
death of Prince Juan the only son, Princess Isabel the
eldest daughter and her infant son, the next heir to
the Spanish sovereigns was their second daughter
Juana, married to the Archduke Philip, Duke of
Burgundy, Count of Flanders, and heir to the empire.
The marriage had not been a happy one from the
first .• Juana never appears in a very attractive light,
for she was wilful and obstinate and could not control
her passionate jealousy, for which her husband cer-
tainly gave her good cause. Strange rumours had
reached the Spanish Court that Juana did not main-
tain the strict orthodoxy to which she was accustomed
in her home ; the Bible had been translated and printed
in Flanders, where a keen interest was taken in theo-
331
DEATH OF THE GREAT QUEEN
logical study and speculation. Isabel became uneasy
about her daughter, and wrote offering to send her a
confessor, but received no reply, for J nana never
answered letters.
Fray Andreas, who had been her tutor, proposed to
leave his convent and go to her in Flanders, in spite of
his great age, but this suggestion only alarmed the
Princess, and a message appears to have been sent
that she would have no confessor from Spain ! Did
her parents consider her a heretic ? Philip was con-
sidered by the Dominicans to be unsound in his views,
and they looked with dismay at the prospect of his
succession in Spain.
The first child born to J nana was a daughter, but on
February 24, 1500, in the palace of Ghent, she gave
birth to a son, known to history as the Emperor
Charles V. On the death of his infant cousin Miguel
soon after, he became heir to the Spanish kingdom as
well as the vast domains of his father and his grand-
father Maximilian. On hearing of the birth of Charles,
Queen Isabel had remarked, " Sors cecidit super
Mathiam,"* and she always believed that he would
inherit Spain. An urgent summons was sent to Philip
and Juana that they should visit Castile and Aragon
and receive from the Cortes the usual oaths of
allegiance.
But the Archduke did not expect much pleasure
from this expedition, and delayed as long as possible.
It was not until September 15, 1501, some time
after the birth of a second daughter, that he and
Juana started on their journey, of which Antoine
de Lailand gives a very full account in his chronicle.
■•' February 24 being the Feast of St, Matthias.
332
DEATH OF THE GREAT QUEEN
They passed through the provinces of Brabant
and Hainault, resting at Mons and Cambrai, and
passing into France at St. Quentin, where they had
a great reception. At Compiegne they were welcomed
in the castle built by Philip's grandfather Charles the
Bold, and travelled on the next day through thick
forests. At St. Denis they were received by the Abbot,
and on November 25 entered Paris in state, and were
entertained by the civic authorities. But it was not
before December 7 that they met the King and Queen
of France, who were holding their Court at Blois, and
here endless entertainments were prepared for them.
It so happened that Spain and France were allies at
this time, having divided between them the kingdom of
Naples, whose unfortunate King, Federigo, was then the
guest of Louis XII. We hear of Philip being on the
most friendly terms with the King, playing the jeu de
paunie, hunting and hawking with him, and before the
two diplomatists parted the "Treaty of Trient " had
been confirmed between them, and the Archduke's
son Charles had been betrothed to the infant Princess
Claude of France.
Louis XII. rode with his favoured guests as far as
Amboise on their way south, and then they continued
their journey to Navarre, where they arrived in bitterly
cold weather, in January, and were received by Jean
dAlbret, the King. From thence they travelled on
to Bayonne through heavy snowstorms. Here their
baggage had to be packed on to Biscayen mules to
cross the mountain district, where the snow lay deep
as they reached Vitoria, and passed on into Castile.
At Burgos, Philip and Juana were entertained by the
Constable of Castile, and rested eleven days before
333
DEATH OF THE GREAT QUEEN
continuing their journey to Valladolid, Medina del
Campo and Segovia ; it being everywhere Hke a royal
progress, with the most enthusiastic welcome from
the people. They reached Madrid on March 25, just
six months since they had started from Ghent ; for
a journey in those days was a very serious matter.
There was still further delay, as Philip had an attack
of measles, and it was not until May 7 that Juana and
her husband at length met Queen Isabel at Toledo,
Fernando having joined their procession outside the
city gates.
Their meeting was overshadowed by the sad news
which reached them next day of the death of Arthur
Prince of Wales, the boy husband of Juana's youngest
sister Katharine, and a solemn Mass for the repose of
his soul was sung in the splendid church of San Juan
de los Reyes. All the festivities arranged in honour of
Philip and Juana had to be put off, as the Court went
into the deepest mourning for nine days. After this,
the Cortes were convoked at Toledo, and the oaths of
allegiance were taken to the new Princes of Castile.
The Archduke and his Flemish suite soon began to
find life very dull, and their efforts to obtain amuse-
ment did not create at all a good impression upon the
Spanish sovereigns. He made no attempt to hide his
indifference to his wife and gave the heat as an excuse
for leaving Toledo in the summer. When Philip and
Juana had to set out for Aragon together at the end of
August, we find him writing, "'Thank God I have left
Toledo and am on my way to Zaragoza, where we
hope to be admitted to the sovereignty of Aragon and
its lands. That done, we will not cease till we get our
conge to return from thence to Flanders."
334
DEATH OF THE GREAT QUEEN
The Archduke and his wife made a triumphal
journey across northern Spain, and when they reached
Zaragoza they found that Fernando had so well
prepared the way that, for the first time in the history
of Aragon, the Cortes swore allegiance to a future
" Queen proprietor," and Philip as her husband, and
homage was paid to them before the steps of the
high altar in the cathedral.
As soon as this was accomplished, Philip announced
his intention of returning home at once through France,
and it was in vain that Fernando pointed out to him the
danger of doing so, as now Spain and France were
at open war. Juana was in delicate health, but he
was quite willing to leave her behind, and in December
he set out on his journey with the whole of his Flemish
retinue. He had persuaded his father-in-law to let him
enter into negotiations for peace with Louis XII., but
his powers were very limited, and he had the strictest
instructions. His wife was in despair at being left
behind, " laquele menoit grand dueil du partement de
monsieur son mary," but he would listen to no
entreaties. He found the King of France holding his
splendid Court at Lyons, and was received with the
utmost cordiality ; he took very little notice of the
orders which Fernando had given him, and signed a
treaty on April 5, 1502, which again ratified the
betrothal of little Charles and Claude, and settled that
they were to have the title of Duke and Duchess of
Calabria, that all places unlawfully taken in the king-
dom of Naples were to be given up, and that with
regard to the disputed province of the Capitanata, the
French half should be governed by an agent of Louis,
and the Spanish half by the Archduke Philip. We may
335
DEATH OF THE GREAT QUEEN
add that these terms were at once repudiated by
Fernando, and the Great Captain continued his con-
quests in utter disregard of them.
Meanwhile the unfortunate Juana remained with her
mother in a condition of the deepest gloom and
depression varied by petulant outbreaks of temper,
for already the dark shadow of mental disease was
upon her. In March 1503, at the old palace of
Alcala de Henares, her second son Fernando was born,
and in honour of this event. Cardinal Jimenez obtained
from the Queen an exemption from taxes for the city,
afterwards so famous for his great university. From
this time the Archduchess set her heart passionately
on returning to the husband, and Peter Martyr tells
us that " she raged like a lioness at being kept in
Spain." But she was certainly not in a fit state for the
long, wearisome journey, for now, open war being
declared with France, she would have had to face
the stormy sea passage by the Bay of Biscay and
through the Channel to any of the ports of Flanders.
Juana had moved with the Court to Medina delGampo,
where the Castello de la Mota was a favourite residence
of Queen Isabel, whose childhood had been spent
at Madrigal and Arevalo, in the neighbourhood.
Here a terrible fit of frenzy betrayed the sad
mental condition of the Princess to the world.
Taking advantage of her mother's absence at Segovia,
Juana escaped from her apartments in the castle one
wild November evening, and hurried only half dressed
to the city gate. It was closed against her, and the
Bishop of Burgos was sent for in haste that he
might induce her to return home. But she abso-
lutely refused to listen to him, and imperiously
336
II ■. A- Mansel! & Co.
EMI'EkOR CHARLES W
DEATH OF THE GREAT QUEEN
commanded the guard to open the gate, threatening
and imploring by turns while she clung to the iron
bars in frenzied despair. An express was forwarded
to the Queen with the pitiful tidings, and she imme-
diately sent Admiral Henri e|uez and the Archbishop
of Toledo to use their utmost endeavours to detain
the Archduchess "as gently and as graciously as
possible," while she prepared to follow as quickly as
her weak health would permit her to ride those forty
miles.
The archbishop and the admiral only succeeded
so far as to induce poor J nana to take shelter close
by for the night, and the morning found her once
more standing by the closed gate. When the Queen
reached Medina at the end of this second day it
needed all her persuasion, and the influence which
had always claimed instinctive obedience, to lead
her unhappy daughter back to the castle. Isabel
herself never recovered from the terrible shock, and
from this time her strength rapidly failed. Mingled
with her present sorrow were dark forebodings for
the future, when the welfare of her beloved country
might depend upon a mind so darkened as this, or
be left to the uncertain fate of a prolonged regency.
In the spring of 1504, the Archduchess embarked
for Flanders, much improved in health and spirits by
the prospect of rejoining her husband. She appears
to have had a favourable voyage and was received at
Ghent by Philip, where at first all promised well until,
in an ungovernable fit of jealousy, she actually as-
saulted a lady of the Court to whom he was paying
attentions, and caused her rival's beautiful hair to be
cut off. This outrage, which nothing could excuse,
337 Y
DEATH OF THE GREAT QUEEN
occurred one evening when the Court was at
Brussels, and the Archduke, whose temper was none
of the mildest, used the most violent language to his
wife, and swore that he would have no more to do
with her.
News of this deplorable outbreak reached Castile in
June, and both Fernando and Isabel were overwhelmed
with distress and shame, to which the serious illness
which followed with them both is attributed. The
King soon rallied, but the Great Queen's heart was
broken, and from that time there was no hope of her
recovery. She had long been subject to a nervous
complaint aggravated by other symptoms ; in fact she
had worn out her frail body with incessant toil and
labour such as few strong men could have endured.
Eager to respond to every claim on her time and
strength, she had never spared herself ; travelling in-
cessantly about the kingdom on horseback in all
weathers, to hold Cortes here and there, to put down
revolt by her mere presence, to join in the arduous
campaigns against the Moors, and to support and
encourage all who served her.
But beyond the power of all physical causes, the
tender heart of the brave woman had broken down
beneath her great sorrows — the long affliction and death
of her mother, the loss of her only son the joy of her
life, in the hour of supreme hope and happiness, of
her dearly loved eldest daughter Isabel and her babe
born to so rich a heritage, and the misfortunes of her
two youngest daughters, the distraught Juana and the
widowed Katharine of England.
All this bitter grief and disappointment in her most
cherished aims, was enough to crush the ardent spirit
338
DEATH OF THE GREAT QUEEN
of Isabel, " tout coeur pour ses amis, si chaude mere
qu'elle mourut d' avoir perdu ses enfants." It is
possible that her very fortitude in the hour of sudden
adversity did but make the blow more deadly. Ever
full of loving consideration for others, she gave no
thought to her own health, and her temperance
amounted to ascetism. Deeply religious, she had
welcomed every mortification of the flesh, in fasting
and long hours of devotion, when she was already
wearied out with the cares of state entailed by a great
dominion.
Even in her last illness she retained her keen interest
in all that concerned her subjects and " ruled the
world from her sick-bed," as the distinguished Italian
Prospero Colonna said when he came to visit her.
From him she would have heard much of the war in
Naples, where he had borne a brave part. She en-
dured pain and sickness with marvellous fortitude, and
when she felt that her end was drawing near, she set
herself to the writing of her last wishes. The cele-
brated will begins by her desire that her body may be
taken to Granada and there laid to rest in the Franciscan
monastery of Santa Isabella in the Alhambra, with a
simple tomb and inscription. " But should the King
my lord prefer a sepulchre in some other place then
my will is that my body be there transported, and laid
where he can be placed by my side ; that the union
we have enjoyed in this world, and which through the
mercy of God may be hoped for again when our souls
are in heaven, may be symbolised by our bodies being
side by side on earth."
She next provides for many charities, and amongst
other matters impresses upon her successors never to
339
DEATH OF THE GREAT QUEEN
divest themselves of the important fortress of Gibraltar.
She leaves the succession of the crown to Juana as
" reyna proprietaria" and Philip, her husband, adding
this clause : " I herewith very lovingly order the said
Princess my daughter, and the said Prince her
husband, in order to merit and obtain the benediction
of God, of the King her father and of me — to be
always obedient servants to the King my lord, to serve
him, treat and revere him with the greatest respect and
obedience . . . giving him all honour. ..." She
withdraws and annuls all grants made by her to the
nobles and others in compliance with importunity,
she calls upon her successor to put an end to the
oppressive tax of the Alcabala (a toll of ten per cent,
on transactions) . . . and she also prays that the con-
version of the Indians be carried out mercifully and
with all kindness. Then she leaves the King, besides
a large revenue, all her jewels in these words :
" I beseech the King my lord that he will accept all my
jewels ... so that seeing them, he may be reminded
of the singular love I always bore him while living,
and that I am now waiting for him in a better world ;
by which remembrance he may be encouraged to
live the more justly and holily in this." After other
bequests to her friends, amongst them Beatrix de
Bobadilla, Marchioness of Moya, the dear friend of
her youth, the document ends : " dada en la villa de
Medina del Campo a veynte y tres dias del mes de
Noviembre del ano del nascimiento de nuestro Salvador
Jcsu Christo de mil e quinientos e quatro aiios."
YO LA REYNA.
340
DEATH OF THE GREAT QUEEN
This will, signed three days before her death, had
been made ready on October 12, when her illness was
rapidly gaining ground, for on the 15th her old friend
and servant Peter Martyr writes : " You ask me
respecting the state of the Queen's health.
" We sit sorrowful in the palace all day long, trem-
blingly waiting the hour when religion and virtue shall
quit the earth with her. Let us pray that we may be
permitted to follow hereafter where she is soon to go.
She so far transcends all human excellence that there
is scarcely anything of mortality about her. She can
hardly be said to die, but to pass into a nobler exist-
ence, which should rather excite our envy than our
sorrow. She leaves the world filled with her renown,
and she goes to enjoy life eternal with her God in
heaven. I write this between hope and fear while the
breath is still fluttering within her."
Prayer and intercession was made throughout the
length and breadth of the land for the beloved Queen;
processions and pilgrimages to sacred places were
numerous in petition for her recovery, but all was of
no avail.
To the friends around her bedside, calm while they
lamented, she said : " Do not weep for me, nor waste
prayers for my recovery, but rather pray for the salva-
tion of my soul." Fortified by the last offices of her
Church, she passed away on November 26, 1504, at
the age of fifty-three. In a well-known letter written
that very day to the Archbishop of Granada, Peter
Martyr speaks her elegy : " The world has lost its
noblest ornament ; a loss to be lamented not alone by
Spain, which she has so long set forward on the high-
way of glory, but by every nation in Christendom. She
341
DEATH OF THE GREAT QUEEN
was the mirror of every virtue, the shield of the inno-
cent, and an avenging sword to the evil-doer. I know
none of her sex, in times past or present, who is worthy
to be named with this peerless woman."
Isabel was familiar with the thought of death, who
did not come to her as a stranger. Long years before
she had written to Talavera :
" Diciembre 30, 1492. Barcelona. Pues vernos
que los reyes pueden morir de cualquier desastre, como
los otros, razon es de aperajar a bien morir." " Since
we see that kings may die of some disaster, like others,
it is a reason for preparing to die well."
The body of the Great Queen was carried in stately
procession through Arevalo, Toledo and Jaen, in the
midst of so fearful a tempest that the way was almost
impassable, with bridges washed away and roads under
water. Not until December 18 was Granada reached
at length, and, according to her desire, Isabel was laid
to rest with simple rites in the Franciscan burial
ground beneath the shadow of the Alhambra. " Isabelle
la Catholique a voulu se faire enterrer sur son champ
de bataille a Grenade, largement drapee dans son
manteau royal, comme pour precher la vaillance meme
apres sa mort, et aujourd'hui encore on dirait que sa
grande ame regente I'Espagne."*
In theCapilla de los Reyes, the gem of the Cathedral
of Granada, her memory still lives triumphant in the
superb royal monument, where her eftigy, carved in
delicate alabaster, rests by the side of King Fernando.
Other sovereigns may come and go, and the centuries
pass away, but here Isabel the Great Queen yet reigns
supreme.
* De Maulde.
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DEATH OF THE GREAT QUEEN
In her life and actions we read her character, but a
fewquotations from writers of her day will showthe light
in which she was regarded. The Venetian Minister,
Navagiero says of her : " Queen Isabel by her singular
genius, masculine strength of mind, and other virtues
most unusual in our own sex as well as hers, was not
merely of great assistance in, but the chief cause of the
conquest of Granada. She was indeed a most rare
and virtuous lady . . ." Guicciardini writes that she was
"a great lover of justice, most modest in her person,
she made herself much loved and feared by her sub-
jects. She was greedy of glory, generous, and by
nature very frank." Lord Bacon asserts that in all her
relations of Queen and woman she was "an honour to
her sex and the corner-stone of the greatness of Spain."
Later on. Las Casas, the apostle of the Indians, bears
this testimony to her, that as long as Isabel lived she
was their friend and protector, " but her death was the
signal for their destruction."
Yet all these echoes of bygone praise but dimly help
us to realise the finely tempered character of the Great
Queen. Raised to her high position at the crisis of
her nation's history, with turbulent citizens, a rebellious
aristocracy, a divided land and a debased clergy,
Isabel, with clear-eyed vision and single-hearted devo-
tion, set herself to the redemption of her country.
She found it torn asunder by factions, she left it strong
and united, with a learned and purified Church, with
the work of centuries completed by the conquest of the
Moors, and the whole of Spain from the Pyrenees to
the Mediterranean under one rule.
Her end was achieved — but at what a terrible cost ! —
and all her personal virtues, high and noble as they
343
DEATH OF THE GREAT QUEEN
were, cannot be weighed in the balance against the
evils of persecution and the dread Inquisition, which
the good Queen had been induced to sanction from
the deepest religious conviction. F'riends and foes
alike agree that there was nothing of personal ambition
or self-seeking in her fanatical desire to bring the
whole world within the fold of the Church, the one
true faith to her, in which alone was salvation. She
too, like the Psalmist of old, was consumed by the zeal
of the Lord.
Tender-hearted and valiant, self-sacrificing and mag-
nanimous, a gallant noble spirit, the Great Queen
inspired so strong an affection amongst her people
that the tradition of it survives even to this day.
344
11', A. Maitieli & Co. Titian In the Pnuio. Madrid
EMPRESS ISABEL, WIFE OF CHARLIES V.
(GKAND-DAUGHTER of queen ISABEL)
CHAPTER XXIV
CONCLUSION
Policy of Fernando — His Death — Death of Philip
AND JUANA
We cannot close the story of Isabel of Castile without
touching upon the events which followed immediately
after her death, when Spain was no longer ruled by her
guiding hand. During her life Fernando had " screened
his grasping policy behind her religious enthusiasms,
and had used her haughty and upright spirit as an
instrument for attaining his selfish ends. He had never
sought to be loved, and after her death his character
stood revealed in its native harshness.* Guicciardini
says : " No reproach attaches to him save his lack of
generosity and his faithlessness to his word."
His wily policy never failed him. He knew that with
the Great Queen's death his right to the dominion of
Castile had passed away, but he had already laid his
plans for retaining command of those vast revenues
which were so essential to the carrying out of his
ambition in Italy. He lost no time, but on the very
evening after Isabel had breathed her last, he took
* Butler Clarke.
345
CONCLUSION
measures to set at rest all jealous fears of the Castilian
nobles. In the great square of Toledo, the Duke of
Alva raised aloft the royal standard in honour of the
accession of J nana and her husband Philip to the crown
of Castile,and the tidings were loudly proclaimed by the
heralds with flare of trumpets. Messengers were de
spatched to Flanders with a summons to the new King
and Queen that they should at once proceed to Spain
to receive the allegiance of their subjects. But this was
only the first move in the game, for when writs were
sent out to call an assembly of the Cortes, they were
only issued in the name of Juana, " reyna proprietaria."
When the national assembly met in the ancient and
important city of Toro, the late Queen's will was read
aloud to them with the codicil : " that Don Fernando
should govern the realm during the absence of Queen
Juana, and that if on her arrival she should be unwilling
or unable to govern, Don Fernando should govern."
Juana was nominally proclaimed Queen, but the oaths
of allegiance were taken to Fernando, as Regent ; and
the governing power remained in his hands.
At the same time many of the Castilian nobles, and
amongst them Don Juan Manuel, Fernando's ambas-
sador to the Emperor Maximilian, entered into secret
intrigues with Philip, who was determined to assert his
right to his wife's inheritance and sent an imperious
message to King Fernando that he should retire to
Aragon. The crafty old King retaliated by endeavouring
to obtain privately Juana's consent to his regency, by
means of Conchillos, a Spanish gentleman in her house-
hold. However, the plot was discovered by Philip ;
the unfortunate agent died in prison, and the Arch-
duchess was closely confined to her rooms.
346
CONCLUSION
It is difficult to believe that Fernando's next attempt
was actually to marry Juana the Nun, La Beltraneja,
and revive her claim to the throne of Castile against
his own daughter — thus casting a deadly insult upon
the memory of Queen Isabel. But the Beltraneja, who
was now forty-three years of age, had seen too much of
the changes and chances of life, and would not hear of
leaving her cloister to risk a marriage with her ancient
enemy. In his vindictive rage against his son-in-law
Fernando next sought an alliance with the King of
France, whom he had just cheated out of his share of
Naples, and proposed to marry his young niece
Germaine de Foix, paying a large sum of money and
making other concessions. This marriage, which took
place in March 1506, broke up the alliance between
Louis XII., Philip and Maximilian, but it created much
estrangement in Castile, where Isabel had been so
deeply loved and respected. As soon as Philip heard
of this proposed arrangement, he at length set off with
Juana on the long deferred visit to Spain, in January,
1506, but he was so much delayed on the way by
storms, which drove him on the English coast and into
the power of Henry VII., that he did not arrive in
Spain until a month after the ill-advised wedding. In
the Cotton MS. there is a very full and picturesque
account of the reception of Philip and his party at
Windsor, and of the meeting later between Juana and
her widowed sister Katharine. Amongst all the
gorgeous state details, it is amusing to read that when
" the King of Casteele played with the racquet, he gave
the Lord Marquis (of Dorset) fifteen." He had to give
far more than that in his game of politics with the wily
King of England.
347
CONCLUSION
All these princes appear to have been past masters
on the art of diplomacy and perfidy, for Ithe private
treaty which Henry VII. extorted from his guest
included the marriage of Henry Prince of Wales
(already promised to Katherine), with Philip's sister
Margaret, and that of Philip's heir Charles (already
betrothed to Claude of France) to the Princess Mary
of England. But the most serious part of the treaty
was that called the " Malus Intercursus" to the great
advantage of English trade which it freed from tolls in
Flanders, leaving the sale of English cloth free.
The same perfidious making of treaties which neither
side intended to keep, was continued in Spain between
Fernando and his son-in-law, when poor J nana was
coolly sacrificed by both of them. It has always been
a much disputed question to what extent the Princess
was really mad at that time, but both her husband and
her father agreed to treat her as incapable of governing
and to keep the power in their own hands. Fernando
indeed surpassed himself on this occasion, for while
publicly proclaiming his resignation of dominion in
Castile, and signing a treaty with Philip, he was at the
same time secretly taking a solemn oath in the presence
of witnesses that his signature had been obtained by
force, and that he protested against his daughter being
set aside. Having thus hedged all round, the old
schemer, supremely satisfied with himself, set off in
great state for Naples with his gay young wife.
Fernando knew that intrigues had been set on foot
there by Louis XII. and the Archduke Philip, and, ever
suspicious of others,hewas resolved to find out whether
Gonz alvodi Cordovaremained faithful to him. Hesailed
from Barcelona with an imposing retinue on September
348
CONCLUSION
4, 150^), and was met at Genoa by the Great Captain,
who hastened to set at rest all doubts of his loyalty.
But the wary King of Aragon never really trusted any
one ; he knew what splendid offers, beyond the dream
of ambition, his successful general had received from
the Pope, the Emperor, the king of France and Philip,
and when he returned to Spain the next year, he
took in his train Gonzalvo, who, after being the hero of
the festal meeting with Louis XII. at Savona, was
dismissed from active service to enjoy his wealth in
seclusion and disappointment.
Meantime great events had happened in Castile,
where Philip ruled in the name of his wife, as he
could not induce the Cortes to pronounce her in-
capable. The oaths of allegiance were taken to Juana
and her son Charles, as her successor, at Valladolid ; but
Philip practically assumed absolute power, turning
out the loyal friends of the late Queen from offices of
State and wardenship of important fortresses, which
he gave to his own followers. In order to supply
funds for the wasteful extravagance of his Court, he
sold dignities to the highest bidder, and tried to lay
hands on Fernando's pension from the silk factories,
but Cardinal Jimenez tore up the order and strongly
remonstrated with him.
The Archduke then turned his attention to a more
useful object, and set himself to check the cruel
persecution which was going on in the name of the
Inquisition at Granada and at Cordova. The Grand
Inquisitor Deza, Archbishop of Seville, whose only
merit was that he had encouraged Columbus, and the
cruel Lucero, were deposed from their ofiice, and
henceforth there was no doubt in Spain as to the
349
CONCLUSION
unorthodoxy of the new Flemish ruler. A conspiracy
was formed by the malcontents in Castile to liberate
Queen Juana, who was believed to be sane and a
prisoner of her husband, when a sudden and terrible
event happened. The Court was at Burgos, and
Philip, who was devoted to games, was taken ill after
becoming overheated at the Jen de Paume and drink-
ing immediately of cold water. He suffered from
fever, but his Flemish physican was not alarmed until
serious symptoms set in, and on September 25, 1506,
he died at the age of twenty-eight years and three
months. As usual in the case of sudden illness in
those days, poison has been suggested ; but when we
consider that of those who had most interest in his
death, Fernando was away in Italy, and Cardinal
Jimenez, though a fanatic in his religious intolerance,
was yet a man of high character, we cannot believe
in this crime for which no evidence is offered.
To poor Juana the shock was overwhelming, for in
spite of all his infidelity and unkind treatment she
had the most passionate attachment for her husband.
Felipe el Hermoso appears to have had a fine figure,
regular features, a fair ruddy complexion, and long
flowing curls ; he had attractive manners, and was
genial and popular with his own people. After his
death there could be no doubt about his unfortunate
wife's mental condition. She sat for hours in dead
silence by his side without shedding a tear ; she
obstinately refused to sign any papers ; and when she
set forth in sad and slow procession to Granada for
the burial, she only travelled by night, and had
funeral services performed at every church and
monastery by the way. On one occasion, near
350
CONCLUSION
Torquemada, she found that the coffin had been
placed in a nunnery, and she immediately ordered it
to be carried out into the open fields, where she
encamped with her whole retinue for the night, in
the middle of winter. With all this she would occa-
sionally have the most extraordinary lucid intervals,
as when, before her departure from Burgos, she
suddenly insisted upon revoking all grants which had
been made by the Crown since her mother's death,
and replaced in her Council those members who had
formerly been appointed by Isabel. Five months
after Philip's death a little daughter was born to his
widow, the Princess Catalina, the story of whose
young life spent in her mother's prison house is most
pathetic.
It was not until late that summer, in July 1507, that
Fernando arrived in Castile, and his position had
entirely changed since the death of Philip, for he was
universally accepted as Regent for his grandson
Charles, although the formal recognition by the
Cortes was not until some time later. He was
shocked at the wild and wretched appearance of his
daughter ; but she appears to have yielded readily to
his authority, and was placed by him in the palace of
Tordesillas, about twenty miles from Valladolid.
Within sight of her windows was the monastery of
Santa Clara, where she placed the coffin of her
husband, when she was at length induced to part
from it.
Once more the poor creature was made the subject
of her father's intrigues, for Henry VII. actually
proposed to marry her, probably not believing the
report of her madness, and only desiring to obtain
351
CONCLUSION
her inheritance. We find from letters of Katharine
of Aragon that she was an unwilHng agent in the
negotiation ; but Juana vehemently refused to listen to
the suggestion, and the death of Henry, in April,
1509, put an end to the unseemly transaction. As we
know, Katharine herself was married to young Henry
VIII. almost immediately afterwards, and rose to her
long-delayed rank as Queen of England.
Fernando proclaimed that his daughter Juana had
resigned the government to him, as Regent for her son
Charles, born in 1500, and the only rival he now had
to fear was the Emperor Maximilian, the father of
Philip, who also claimed the regency on behalf of his
grandson, whose interests were guarded in the Nether-
lands by his aunt the Princess Margaret. But Fer-
nando's influence in Spain was too strong to be
successfully opposed, and the Flemish party was
defeated and compelled to yield the last strongholds,
Burgos and Jaen. Henceforth the King of Aragon
was undisputed master of the whole realm. His
infant son by Germaine de Foix was dead, but his
ambition still centred upon a kingdom of Italy and
empire in the Tyrol, which he deeply longed to
bestow upon his younger grandson Fernando, born
in Spain in 1503. Only Jimenez remained true to
the Castilian policy of African conquest, to which
attention was turned by the need of putting down
the Barbary pirates, who were constantly making
descents on the Spanish coast.
A war against the infidel was a sure way of rousing
the crusading spirit, and Jimenez, lavish with his vast
revenue, had already sent out expeditions and con-
quered many strongholds on the north coast of Africa ;
352
W. A. Mansell & Co.
the National Portrait Gillerv. London
KING HENRY VIII. OF ENGLAND
CONCLUSION
but in May 1509 he himself accompanied an army of
14,000 men, commanded by Pedro Navarro, who had
distinguished himself in the war of Naples. Gran
was captured, and a number of Christian captives
were set free ; but the great Cardinal cannot have
been easy to work with, for he soon quarrelled with
his general and returned in less than a month to
Castile where intrigues were set on foot against him.
Navarro at first met with brilliant success, taking
Bugia, Algiers, Tremecen and Tripoli ; but he became
over confident, and a great part of his army perished
in an ambuscade among the sandhills of Gelves in
August 15 10. Progress in African conquest was thus
for a while delayed. The greatest work of Cardinal
Ximenes de Cisneros, and that by which he will be
longest remembered, is the foundation of the splendid
University of Alcala de Henares, to which he devoted
immense wealth and eager devotion. We have not
space to dwell upon this interesting topic, but may
mention that one of his wise provisions was that "the
salary of a professor should be regulated by the
number of his disciples." His fame also lives in
the famous Polyglot Bible, a work of magnificent
scholarship for those days.
We can do little more than allude to the ever-guile-
ful diplomacy of Fernando, and the part he played in
the tangled politics which decided the fate of Italy. He
joined with the Emperor, Louis XII., and the warrior
Pope Julius, in the League of Cambray, which was
really a combination to grasp and divide the various
provinces which Venice had acquired.
This was signed in December 1508, and Fernando's
share in the spoil was to be the five cities of Trani,
353 2
CONCLUSION
Brindisi, Gallipoli, Pulignano and Otranto, all of
which he subsequently obtained and re-united with
the kingdom of Naples. When he and Pope Julius
had gained all that they expected, they turned round
and formed a coalition with Venice against France,
known as the "Holy League," October 1511. But
they were not prepared for the overwhelming force
which Louis XII. brought into the field under the
command of young Gaston de Foix, the brother of
Fernando's second wife. A great battle was fought
at Ravenna, April 11, 1512, where the splendid charge
of the Spanish infantry almost saved the day, although
in the end it was a decisive victory for the French.
Still they paid a heavy price for it in the death of their
leader Gaston de Foix, and the King of Aragon's
diplomacy enlisted both Henry VIII. and Maximilian
against them, so that by the end of the campaign the
French had abandoned all their conquests in Italy
and were driven back across the Alps.
Of all Fernando's dreams of conquest, that of
Navarre, which held the keys of Spain on the western
shores of the Pyrenees, was the most persistent. At
length his opportuity came when, in one of the many
alliances against France, Jean d'Albret King of
Navarre took the side of Louis XII., and they were
both excommunicated by the Pope. The Duke of
Alva was sent to invade the kingdom in July 15 12, and
Pamplona surrendered, followed by other cities on
their liberty being guaranteed. The Marquis of Dorset
(to whom Philip had once given fifteen at racquets)
was at St. Sebastian, but he declined to help Alva in
conquering Navarre as the English only wanted
Guienne. However, after some show of resistance
354
CONCLUSION
Navarre was conquered and annexed to the Crown of
Castile, in 1515, although the district north of the
Pyrenees, Ultrapuertos, was abandoned later to avoid
keeping up costly outposts beyond the mountains
(1530)-
Fernando was now at last King of Navarre in
addition to all his other titles. He had attained all
his desires, but in the hour of his success he was a
miserable man, hated and distrusted by all the world.
So deeply perfidious was his nature that he had
rewarded all who served him with suspicion and in-
gratitude ; his own daughters, the sovereigns with
whom he was allied. Cardinal Ximenes, the Great
Captain, he had been ready to desert and betray them
all. He had sold his soul for the sake of Aragon,
" plotted, cheated, lied for it," and now his beloved
ancestral kingdom would be no more than an uncon-
sidered atom of a great empire, for he knew that all
must come to his Flemish grandson, a child of an
alien land and training whom he was not far from
hating. He fell ill (1513), found it difficult to breathe
in crowded cities, and restlessly wandered through
the mountain villages of Castile, following, as far as
his strength allowed, his favourite amusement of hunt-
ing. He had reached the little hamlet of Madrigalejo
near Truxillo when the end came on January 22,
15 16, after he had received the Sacraments of the
Church and expressed his last wishes to his followers.
" In so wretched a tenement did this lord of so many
lands close his eyes," says Peter Martyr, who remained
with him to the end. According to his desire his body
was borne by a few faithful attendants to Granada,
and there laid in the stately shadows of the Alhambra
355
CONCLUSION
by the side of the Great Queen, for whose sake we
have followed the record of his life after he had lost
the guiding influence of her lofty and generous
temper.
It only remains to add a few words with regard to
Juana, her daughter and successor. From the day
when this unfortunate Princess was shut up in the
Palace of Tordesillas, after her father's return from
Italy, she was dead tothe world, although her wretched
life was prolonged in captivity within those gloomy
walls for nearly half a century. The story of Juana
is the more pathetic as the later study of Spanish
archives leaves it somewhat doubtful whether she was
really so much bereft of sense as her nearest relations
made out.
There was always a strong party amongst her sub-
jects in Castile who held that their Queen was not
mad ; and they were persuaded that she was kept in
prison by a cruel conspiracy. When the oaths of
allegiance were taken to Juana as " reynaproprietaria "
and to her son Charles as heir, by the Cortes at Vallado-
lid on July 12, 1506, we are assured that she was careful
to examine the signatures of all the deputies to make
sure that they were properly authenticated. This
gives us an impression of full intelligence on her part.
After her husband's death, the fact that she refused
to sign any papers at first, and that she is reported to
have said : ** My father will attend to all this when he
returns ; he is much more used to business than I
am," might almost be taken as a proof of sanity. And
when a little later she startled her followers by revok-
ing all grants made in the name of the Crown since
her mother's death ; and when she replaced in her
356
CONCLUSION
Council those who had been the advisers of Queen
Isabel, we can see no special sign of folly here.
In the autumn of 1517 Juana had a visit from her
son Charles, to whom she was little more than a
name. He had been brought up in the Netherlands
under the care of his aunt the Princess Margaret, and
could not even speak Spanish, so that he and his
mother must have met almost as strangers. There
could have been no sympathy between them, and the
lad of seventeen was in no position to judge of the
sanity of this haggard, uncared-for woman, embittered
by sorrow, neglect, and possibly even cruelty. At
Valladolid the following spring, the Castilian Cortes
would only acknowledge him as "sovereign in con-
junction with his mother," and refused him the right
to rule alone. In the Cortes of Aragon, at Zaragoza,
the same thing occurred. The deputies asked for
proof of the Queen's incapacity, and when they agreed
to join his name with hers, it was only on condition
that if she recovered she should reign alone. He
found the same difficulty at Barcelona in obtaining
the oaths of allegiance during Juana's lifetime. All
this shows how her subjects believed in her sanity, or
at least trusted that her mental weakness was of a
passing nature.
During the absence of Charles in the autumn of
1520, there was a rebellion of the "Comuneros"
headed by Juan de Padilla, a nobleman of Toledo,
who declared Queen Juana sane, and sought to place
her again on the throne. The "Santa Junta" seized
the Great Seal and the State papers, and when the
members invaded the seclusion of the palace of
Tordesillas, Juana oppears to have received them with
357
CONCLUSION
calm and dignity, but her obstinate refusal to sign
any documents was fatal to their plans. Yet about
this time, in a letter written on September 4, 1520, we
have distinct evidence that her own servants declared
Juana to be as " prudente " as when she was married.
She had been wilfully kept in ignorance of all that was
going on in the world, was not even told of her father's
death, and was persuaded to write letters to dead
people ! Indeed there is a letter extant from her
gaoler, the Marquess of Denia, to Charles, "his
Majesty," writen on January 25, 1522, which gives
the darkest hints: "In truth if your Majesty would
apply the torture (premia) it would in many respects
be a service and a good thing rendered to God and
her Highness. Persons who are in her frame of mind
require it. . . ."
Putting aside the question of actual cruelty, we can-
not conceive anything more depressing and miserable
than the poor Queen's condition ; absolutely uncared
for and neglected in her personal surroundings, she
was usually confined in a small, dark, inner room, for
fear that through the windows of the larger chamber
adjoining, she might attract attention from the outside
world.
Can we wonder that under these circumstances,
Juana, the daughter of a proud race of kings, should
*' find it painful to receive a visit (at most rare inter-
vals) from any member of her family, and that she did
not wish to be disturbed by religious ceremonies" ? *
Perhaps the most pathetic picture in this sad story
is that of the little daughter Catalina, born some
months after her father's death, who shared her
* Bergenroth. Calendar of Stale Papers.
358
CONCLUSION
mother's prison and spent all the years of her child-
hood in the awful gloom of that palace of Tordesillas.
With what longing eyes must Catalina have looked
out, when the chance ever came, towards the hills
which bounded the horizon towards Medina del
Campo — the utmost limit of her world — and have
longed for the day of release. She used to write letters
to that great and splendid brother of hers, Charles
King of Spain and Emperor of Germany, whom she can
scarcely ever have seen, and yet whom she naively
protests that she " loved dearly." If she could manage
to write by stealth without the knowledge of her
gaolers, the Marquess and Marchioness of Denia, the
poor little girl would tell him how " they wanted to
tear her eyes out," and how "their daughters took
away her dresses from her and wore them " ! *
Yet even in this grim, undignified captivity, the
young Princess was a centre of intrigue ; for was she
not the sister of the great Emperor, whose alliance
was so coveted an honour? The State documents
reveal attempts to entangle Catalina in various matri-
monial engagements, and to induce her to sign papers
which she could not understand, for " she knew of
marriage as much as is done in Persia." f Still it is
with a sense of relief that we hear of Catalina, at the
age of seventeen, in 1524, becoming the bride of her
cousin, Dom Joam, King of Portugal . . . although it
was but to meet with sorrow and bereavement ; the
sad fate which befell so many princesses of her royal
house.
There still remains, for more than thirty years, the
sombre tragedy of the lonely discrowned Queen,
* Bergenroth. Calendar of State Papers. f Ibid.
359
CONCLUSION
betrayed by all who should have shielded her infirmities
and held her dear ; a mother of emperors and queens,
yet childless indeed when forsaken by the sweet young
presence of her daughter Catalina. In a letter of the
period, there is a doubt expressed as to whether she
would survive so great a loss. Was ever so pathetic
a figure in the world's story, forgotten even by death
in that desolate abode, while the long dreary years
crept away and the shadows closed in around ? Her
release came at length ; on a spring morning in April,
Good Friday of the year 1555, she was set free from
her living tomb : "Thanking our Lord that her life
was at an end, and recommending her soul to Him."
Queen Juana had so long outlived her own genera-
tion, that her son, the Emperor Charles V., weary and
worn out, was only awaiting her death to resign his
crown, and seek the cloistered solitude for which he
craved in his hereditary gloom, and to obtain which
he was willing to barter his world-wide dominion, the
mighty empire on which the sun never set.
360
INDEX
Abassides, II
Abd-er- Rahman I., 12, 14, 15
Abd-er-Rahman II., 15, 16, 17
Abd-er-Rahman III., 21, 29
Abencerrages, 129
Abu Abdallah el Chico {sec Boabdil)
Adaja, River, 58
Affonso of Portugal, 200, 20^1, 289
Alarcos, 24
Albigenses, 41, 207
Alcala de Henares, 131, 165, 307, 313, 328,336
Alcala la Real, 161
Alcantara, 98, 99, 280, 299
Alexander VI., Pope, 255, 256, 257, 260, 261, 317, 323
Alfonso I., the Catholic (Asturias and Leon), 27
II. (Asturias and Leon), 28
III. (Asturias and Leon), 28
(VI. of Leon) I. of Castile, 22, 23, 24, 32, ss, 36, 107
(VII. of Leon) II. of Castile, Emperor, 46
(VIII. of Leon) III. of Castile, 46
X. (El Sabio) of Castile and Leon, 47, 266, 267, 270, 272
XI. (Castile and Leon), 48, 49, 50
I. (of Aragon), El Batallador, 24, 3J, 38, 39
V. of Portugal, 71, 85, 86, 98, 99
Infante of Castile (brother of Isabel), 60, 62, 65, 66, 67, 72,
283, 284
de Burgos, 109, no
de Carillo, 131
Algeciras, 24, 49, 50
Alhama, 116, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 130
Alhambra, 25, 113, 127, 146, 223, 280, 281, 285, 339, 342, 355
All Atar, 126, 138, 140, 142, 146
361
INDEX
Alicante, 42
Aljubarrota, 51, 8g
Almanzor, 21, 29, 30, 271, 272
Almazan (Miguel Perez), 241, 275
Almeria, 24, 147, 157, 181, 221, 279
Almohades, 24, 271
Almoravides, 23, 37, 46
Alonzo de Aguilar, 137, 168, 329
Alpujarras, 181, 227, 256, 328, 330
Alva, Duke of, 86, 354
Alvaro de Luna, 52, 53, 55, 56
Amadis de Gaula, ig8, 269
Andalusia, 65, 83, 114, 125, 134, 285
Andres de Cabrera, 83, 90, 91, 92
Anne de Beaujeu, 182, 199, 253, 290, 291
de Bretagne, 199, 252, 261, 292
Antequera, 134, 135, 137
Apulia, 258, 320, 321, 322
Aquitaine, 50
Aragon, 36-39, 40, 42, 43, 45, 53, 70, 75, 207, 239, 252, 253, 303,
334, 335, 355
Arevalo, 57, 58, 62, 63, 71, 104
Aristotle, 265
Arras (Treaty of), 183, 290
Arthur, Prince of Wales, 201, 202, 203,301, 307, 308, 311, 312, 313,
334
Astorga, 28, 30
Asturias, 12, 26-29, 36, 53. 280
Atella, 258, 259
Ativa, 42
Aubin de Cormier, St., 182
Averroes, 265
Avignon, 44, 50
Avila, 28, 54, 67, 68, 284
Axarquia, 134, 142
Ayesha, 129
Azores, 246
Bacon, Lord, 2, 232, 233, 234, 312, 343
Badajos, 23
Baena, 139, 161, 162
363
INDEX
Baesa, 47, 181
Balearic Isles, 40, 42, 46
Barcelona, 22, 30, 39, 43, 45, 71, 75, 96, 178, 246, 253, 254, 250,
274, 348, 357
Bayard, 324, 325
Baza, 183, 184, 185, 187, 189, 190, 191, 204,221
Beatriz de Bobadilla, 72, 83, go, 340
de Galindo, 196
Beltran de la Cueva, 62, 64, 65, 66
Benedict XIII., 50, 55
Berbers, 8, 22, 23
Berceo, 267
Berenguela, 46
Bernardo del Carpio, 59, 269
Bertrand du Guesclin, 51
Bexir, 147, 148
Biscay, 83, 182, 207
Blanche de Bourbon, 50
Blanche of Navarre, 45, 60, 70, 75, 132
Boabdil (Abu Abdallah el Chico), 129, 134, 138-147, 157, 159, 164,
165, 166, 172, 174, 179, 181, 221, 227, 228, 229, 231
Boniface IX., 44
Borello, Count, 39
Borgia, Cassar, 205, 258, 261
Briviesca, 61
Brou, Church of, 302
Burgo de Osma, 77
Burgos, 47, 61, 197, 281, 282, 283, 333, 350, 351, 352
Cadiz, Marquess of {see Rodrigo Ponce de Leon)
Cadiz, 247
Calabria, 256, 257, 258, 260, 261, 262, 320, 321, 322
Calatrava, 104, 105, 192
Cambray, League of, 353
Canary Isles, 53, 242, 243
Canga de Onis, 27
Cape Horn, 242
Cape Verde Islands, 246, 249
Carcassonne, 10
Cardenosa, 67
Carlos of Viana, 63, 70, 71, 95
363
INDEX
Castile, 29, 30, 45. 46-53i 303, 304, 346, 347
Catalina, Infante {see Katharine of Aragon).
(daughter of Juana), 351, 358, 359, 360
Catalonia, 30, 39, 42, 96, 252
Cathay, 240
Catherine of Lancaster, 51, 55, 279
of Navarre, 133, 205
Cerdagne, 82, 119, 184, 252, 253
Cervantes, 59, 96, 269
Cervera, 75
Ceuta, 8
Charlemagne, 12, 13
Charles V., Emperor, 293, 302, 332, a^, 335, 348, 352, 356, 357,
358, 359. 360
VIII., 82, 182, 183, 199, 252, 253, 255, 256, 290, 292
Martel, 13
Charlotte d'Albret, 261
Chaucer, 49, 213
Christopher Columbus, 236-251
Cid, The, 25, 32, 33, 36, 270
Cidi Yahaye, 185, 189, 190
Cigales, 64
Coimbra, 99
Compostella, 104, 271
Conde de Cabra, 139, 140, 150, 151, 161, 162, 310
Constantinople, 20, 153
Constance of Burgundy, 37, 107, 281
of Sicily, 42
Cordova, g, 14, 16, 17, i8, 19, 20, 47, 65, 108, 122, 125, 130, 131,
143, 144, 150, 155, 156, 157, 159, 161, 164, 166, 168, 170, 177,
264, 278, 279, 286
Coruiia, 30, 51, 310
Costanza (m. John of Gaunt), 50, 51
Covadonga, 27
Cuba, 245
Cuellar, 57
Cuenca, 106, 108
Cuxar, 184
Damascus, 10, 286
Darro, River, 129
364
INDEX
Deza, Inquisitor, 238, 349
Diego de Fernandez de Cordova, 139 140, 141, 150, 151
Dominica, 248
Douglas, Lord, 49
Douro, River, 29, 86
Duefias, 77, 82
Ebro, River, 133
Edward IV., 47, 307
the Black Prince, 47, 51
Eleanor, Countess of Foix, 70, 74, 95
Plantagenet, 47
Elizabeth of York, 204, 301, 313
Elvira, Manuel, 310, 311
El Zagal, 134, 136, 138, 157, 159, 160, 161, 164, 165, 171, 172, 173,
174, 176, 178, 181, 183, 185, 186, 187, 189, 190, 191, 192,221
Emanuel, King of Portugal, The Fortunate, 298, 299, 303, 305, 306
Enrique of Trastamara, 50, 51, 273
n., 51, 52
III., 52, 279
IV., 53. 56. 57, 58, 60, 61, 63, 64, 68, 69, 70, 72, 74, 77, 81, 82,
83, 95, 114-
of Villena, 267
Ez-Zahra, 19
Fadrique, 43, 44
Favila, 27
Federigo, King of Naples, 318, 319, 320, 333
Henriquez, 102, 103, 104
Ferdnan Alvarez, 202
Fernan Gonzalez, 29
Fernando III., the Saint, of Castile, 47, 207
IV., the Summoned, of Castile, 48, 184
I. of Aragon (the Good), 44, 52, 55
Fernando of Aragon, husband of Isabel, 74-81, 86-98, 107, 109,
III, 114-117, 123-126, 132, 133, 142, 143. i44> 150, 15I1
i55> 156, 157, 164-169, 171-189, 193, 198, 199, 201-205,
216, 217, 221-228, 232-235, 240, 241, 246, 247, 252-263,
273,274, 275, 278,281, 282,289, 298, 299, 300,307, 308,
314, 315, 317-321, 326, 329, 331, 334, 335. 338, 340. 345-355
365
INDEX
Fernando, son of Queen Jnana, 336, 352
Ferrante I. of Naples, 45
II., of Naples, 252, 257, 258, 260
son of Federigo, of Naples, 321
Fraga, 38
Francisco Ramirez, 154, 163, 171, 177, 329
Francois PhcEbus, 132, 133
Frederick IV., 183
"Fuero Juzgo," 265, 266
Gaeta, 324, 325
Galicia, 22, 31, 32, 94, 280
Garcilossa de la Vega, 260
Gascony, 47
Gaston de Foix, 70, 354
Gaul, 10
Genoa, 237, 349
Germaine de Foix, 347, 348, 352
Ghent, 301, 334, 337
Gibraltar, 8, 49, 50
Giovanna II. of Naples, 45
Gomera, 242, 243
Gomeres, 148, 158
Gonzaga, Chiara, Duchess of Monpensier, 259
Gonzalvo de Cordova, the Great Captain, 168, 226, 256-261, 294
320-326, 336, 348, 349
Granada, 26, 49, 113-121, 127, 145, 146, 147, 156, 157, 159, 160,
167, 172, 174,179, 181, 215,217, 221-235, 241, 280, 287,
308, 309, 318, 327, 328, 339, 342, 355
Guadalite, River, 26, 115
Guadaloupe, 248
Guadalquiver, River, 11, 93, 200
Guadarrama, 11
Guadiana, River, 11, 28
Guadix, 181, 185, 186, 187, 189, 221
Guienne, Duke of, 73, 75, 82, 354
Guinea, Gulf of, 238
Guispuscoa, 83
Hakam I., 15
II., 21
366
INDEX
Hamet-el-Zegri, 148, 158, 176, 177, 178, 179,253
Harun-el-Rashid, 15
Henry VII. of England, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 247, 294, 295, 297,
301, 302, 307, 308, 310, 311, 313, 314, 315, 347, 348, 351, 352,
VIII. of England, 165, 278, 311, 314, 315, 316, 348, 352, 354
the Navigator, of Portugal, 237
Henriquez, Admiral, 86, 102, 103, 337
Hisham I., 15
II., 21, 22
Hispaniola, 245, 246
Illora, 167, 168
Infantado, Duke of, 167, 168
Inquisition, 206-220
Innocent VIII., 231, 232
Isabel, Infanta, 82, 161, 169, 177, 199, 200, 201, 303, 304
of Portugal, 56, 57, 58, 59
de Solis {see Zoraya)
Isidore, Sant, 263
Jaen, 162, 163, 352
Jayme of Aragon, El Conquistador, 41, 43, 44, 272
of Majorca, 44
Jamaica, 248
Jean d'Albret, King of Navarre, 205, 333, 354
Jeanne of France, 261
Jimenez de Cisneros, Cardinal, 197,268, 271, 272,327,336,337,
349, 352, 353, 355
Joam, King of Portugal, 359
John of Gaunt, 3, 50, 51, 279
Jorge de Manrique, 267
Juan I. of Castile, 51, 89
II. of Castile, 52, 55, 56, 57,207, 267
II. of Aragon, 45, 70, 74, 81, 94, 95, 98
II. of Portugal, 218, 237
Infanta, son of Isabel, 92, 161, 181, 182, 194, 195, 205, 223,
268, 284, 289, 292, 297, 298, 299, 300,303, 3Zi
de Encina, 198, 268
Henriquez, 70
Juan Manuel, 267, 346
Perez, 236
367
INDEX
Jnana of Portugal, 6i, 63, 66
La Beltraneja, 63, 64, 6g, 82, 85, 87, 98, gg, 289, 347
Infanta daughter of Isabel, 100, 161, 205, 253, 255, 289, 292,
293, 294, 295, 296, 331-337, 346-352, 356-360
Julian, Count, 8
Julius II., Pope, 315, 323, 353
Juvencus, 263
Katharine of Aragon (daughter of Isabel), 165, 201, 202, 203, 253,
301, 306-316, 334, 352
Knox, John, 209, 210
Laredo, 293, 294, 310
Lerida, 36, 281
Leon, 22, 28, 29, 46-53, 280
Levant, 20
Lisbon, 237, 306
Logrono, 133
Loja, 125, 126, 138, 166, 167
London, 311.
Lopera, 150
Lopez de Mendoza, 267
de Ayala, 273
Louis XL, 73, 82, 83, 90, 133, 150, 155, 183, 290
XII., 261,274, 317, 31^.320,333.325, 326, 333. 335, 347> 348,
349.353. 354
Louise de Savoie, 291
Lucan, 263
Lucena, 139, 140, 142
Ludovico il Moro, 255, 256, 318
Luis de Santangel, 239, 240
Madeleine of Navarre, 132, 133, 205
Madrid, 63, 106, 165, 224, 334
Madrigal, 54, 55, 56, 58
Magalhaes, 242
Majorca, 40, 45
Malaga, g, 130, 134, 135, 137, 13S, 142, 172, 174, 175-191, 222, 278
Manfred, King of Sicily, 42
Mantua, Marquess of, 258, 259, 323, 324
Manzanares, River, 131
Marco Polo, 245
368
INDEX
Margaret of Austria, 183, 199, 205, 253, 2S9, 290, 292, 294, 296, 297,
298, 300, 301, 302, 352, 357
Maria of Aragon, 52, 53, 56, 58
Infanta (daughter of Isabel), 122, 161, 305, 306
of Portugal, 56
de Molina, 48, 49
de Gusman, 50
de Padilla, 50
Mariana, 273
Martel, Charles, 10
Martial, 263
Martin, the Humane, of Aragon, 44
King of Sicily, 44, 94
IV., Pope, 42
Mary of Burgundy, 183, 289, 290
Maximilian, Emperor, 183, 205, 253, 289, 290,296, 307, 331, 332,
346. 347. 352, 354
Medina del Campo, 54, 58, 86, 132, 336, 337, 340, 359
Mediterranean, 218, 239, 326, 328, 343
Mendoza, Cardinal, 85, 87, 90, loi, no, 124, 131, 143, 161, 197,
200, 228, 239, 281,327
Merida, 10, 280
Messina, 257
Miguel, Prince, 304, 305, 332
Mingozalez, River, 141
Moclin, 161, 162, 163, 168, 171, 223
Mohammed, 7
Montpensier, Gibert de, 256, 258, 259
Moors, 113, 121, 172, 327, 328, 330
Muley-Abu-1- Hasan, 114, 115, 118, 121, 124, 129, 130, 144, 146,
147, 156, 159, 160, 164
Murcia, 26, 165
Musa, 222, 229
Namuk, 292
Naples, 45, 252, 253, 255, 256, 257, 258, 259, 260, 261, 317-326, 333,
348
Narbonne, 10, 253, 326
Navarre, 27, 30, 31,32, 70, 71, 95, 132, 133, 142, 323, 354, 355
Navas de Tolosa, 24, 41, 46
Novaro, 256
OCANA, 69
Olmedo, 65, 66, 73, 90
369 2 A
INDEX
Omeyyad, ii, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 264, 286
Oran, 353
Ordono I., 28, 29
Orinoco, 249
OstJa, 260
Oviedo, 28, 29
Pacheco, Marquess of Villena, 65, 66
Paderborn, 12
Palos, 236, 237
Pamplona, 22, 354
Pedro I. of Aragon, 24
II. of Aragon, 41
III. of Aragon, 42, 43
IV. of Aragon, The Ceremonious, 44
I. of Castile, El Cruel, 50, 51, 57, 92, 272
Giron, 72
Pelayo, 20
Perkin Warbeck, 307
Peter Martyr, 2, 185,188, 191, 195, 196, 197, 231, 242, 273, 336,
341
Petronilla, 39, 40, 41
Philibert II., Le Beau, of Savoy, 301, 302
Philip, Dauphin, son of St. Louis, 42
I., Archduke of Austria, 205, 289, 290, 293, 294, 295, 301,
317, 331, 332, 333, 334» 335, 337, 338, 346-351
Philippa Plantagenet, 51, 56
Pinzon, Alonzo, 237, 241
Portland, 295
Porto Rico, 48
Portugal, 28, 29, 31, 51, 52, 87, 193, 199, 21S, 237, 246, 289
Pueblo, Doctor de, 201, 202,^203, 204, 205, 275, 301,307, 308, 313
Pulgar, 185, 193, 273
Raymond Berenger, Count of Barcelona, 34, 35
Ramiro I. of Aragon, 36
II. of Asturias and Leon, 29
Reggio, 256
R6n6 of Anjou, 45
Rio Frio, 162
Verde, 158, 329
Roderick, King of the Goths, 8, 9
370
INDEX
Rodrigo, Biaz de Bivar, see the Cid.
Ponce de Leon (Marquess of Cadiz ii6, 117, 122, 149,
150, 156, 168, 173, 176, 225
Roland, 13, 14
Roncesvalles, 13, 14
Ronda, 147, 157, 158, 159, 176, 329
Roussillon, 82, 119, 183, 323, 326
Rivers, Earl of, 166, 167, 183
Rudolph of Hapsburg, 47
Saint Louis, 207
Salamanca, 2, 8, 125, 196, 197, 238, 239, 267
Sancho L. The Great, of Navarre, 31, 36
IL of Castile, 31, 32
in. of Castile, 104
IV. of Castile and Leon, 48
Santa Fe, 226, 228, 240, 241
Santangel, Luis de, 239, 240, 241, 244
Santiago, 29, 51, 57, 134
Sardinia, 45, 94
Sargasso, sea of, 237, 243
Segovia, 28, 66, 83, 84, 90, 132, 326, 336
Seneca, 263
Senlis, Peace of, 292
Seville, 21, 49, 65, 92, 200, 207, 213, 274, 280
Sicily, 42, 45, 93, 94
Sierra Nevada, 113, 2S6
" Siete Partidas," 266
Simancas, 103, 202, 227, 274
Sixtus IV., 81, S3, 109, 132, 171
Soria, 57
Southampton, 297
Tagus, 98, 100
Talavera, Hernandez de, 177, 197, 327, 328, 342
Talbot, Lord, 57
Tamerlane, 52
Taranto, 320, 321
Tar i fa, 50
Tarik, 8, 9, 10
Tarragona, 38, 207, 280, 285
Teresa, daughter of Alfonso VI., 37
Theodomir, 26
371
INDEX
Toledo, Q, 26, 37, 65, 87, 99, 100, loS, 112, 207,277, 27S, 279, 281,
303. 304, 334, 346, 357 ■
Tordesillas, 90, 351, 356, 357, 359
Toro, 32, 86, 125, 346
Torquemada, 213, 216 -
Toulouse, 41, 207
Trinidad, 249
Trivulzio, 317, 318
Tudela, 36, 38
UcLEs, 37
Urraca, daughter of Fernan Gonzalez, 29
daughter of Alfonso VI. of Castile, 37, 38, 60, 85
Valadata, 264
Valencia, 26, 34, 35, 45, 182, 278, 285
Valentina Visconti, 261
Valladolid, 56, 77, 79, So, 102, 103, 106, 125, 132, 183, 274, 351
356, 357
Vasco de Gama, 306
Velez el Blanco, 165
Malaga, 172, 173, 174
Venice, 317, 318, 319, 353
League of, 205, 289
Villena, Enrique de, 83
Visigoths, 7
Xenil, 125, 141, 142, 166, 223, 224
Xeres, 8, 26
Ximena, wife of the Cid, 33, 35
Yeguas, River, 168
Yolande, daughter of Jayme el Conquistador, 42
Yusuf, the Almoradive, 23, 36
Zahara, 115, 116, 156
Zamora, 32, 86, 87
Zaragoza, 13, 36, 38, 41, 181, 195, 275, 303, 334, 335, 337
Zegries, 129
Zoraya, 129, 146
Zubia, 225
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