From the preceding survey of the constitutional privileges enjoyed by the different orders of the Castilian monarchy, previous to the fifteenth century, it is evident that the royal authority must have been circumscribed within very narrow limits. The numerous states, into which the great Gothic empire was broken after the conquest, were individually too insignificant to confer on their respective sovereigns the possession of extensive power, or even to authorize their assumption of that state, by which, it is supported in the eyes of the vulgar. When some more fortunate prince, by conquest or alliance, had enlarged the circle of his dominions, and thus in some measure remedied the evil, it was sure to recur upon his death, by the subdivision of his estates among his children. This mischievous practice was even countenanced by public opinion; for the different districts of the country, in their habitual independence of each other, acquired an exclusiveness of feeling, which made it difficult for them ever cordially to coalesce; and traces of this early repugnance to each other are to be discerned in the mutual jealousies and local peculiarities which still distinguish the different sections of the Peninsula, after their consolidation into one monarchy for more than three centuries.
The election to the crown, although no longer vested in the hands of the national assembly, as with the Visigoths, was yet subject to its approbation. The title of the heir apparent was formerly recognized by a cortes convoked for the purpose; and, on the demise of his parent, the new sovereign again convened the estates to receive their oath of allegiance, which they cautiously withheld until he had first sworn to preserve inviolate the liberties of the constitution. Nor was this a merely nominal privilege, as was evinced on more than one memorable occasion. [82]
We have seen, in our review of the popular branch of the government, how closely its authority pressed even on the executive functions of the administration. The monarch was still further controlled, in this department, by his Royal or Privy Council, consisting of the chief nobility and great officers of state, to which, in later times, a deputation of the commons was sometimes added. [83] This body, together with the king, had cognizance of the most important public transactions, whether of a civil, military, or diplomatic nature. It was established by positive enactment, that the prince, without its consent, had no right to alienate the royal demesne, to confer pensions beyond a very limited amount, or to nominate to vacant benefices. [84] His legislative powers were to be exercised in concurrence with the cortes; [85] and, in the judicial department, his authority, during the latter part of the period under review, seems to have been chiefly exercised in the selection of officers for the higher judicatures, from a list of candidates presented to him on a vacancy by their members concurrently with his privy council. [86]
The scantiness of the king's revenue corresponded with that of his constitutional authority. By an ancient law, indeed, of similar tenor with one familiar to the Saracens, the sovereign was entitled to a fifth of the spoils of victory. [87] This, in the course of the long wars with the Moslems, would have secured him more ample possessions than were enjoyed by any prince in Christendom. But several circumstances concurred to prevent it.
The long minorities, with which Castile was afflicted perhaps more than any country in Europe, frequently threw the government into the hands of the principal nobility, who perverted to their own emoluments the high powers intrusted to them. They usurped the possessions of the crown, and invaded some of its most valuable privileges; so that the sovereign's subsequent life was often consumed in fruitless attempts to repair the losses of his minority. He sometimes, indeed, in the impotence of other resources, resorted to such unhappy expedients as treachery and assassination. [88] A pleasant tale is told by the Spanish historians, of the more innocent device of Henry the Third, for the recovery of the estates extorted from the crown by the rapacious nobles during his minority.
Returning home late one evening, fatigued and half famished, from a hunting expedition, he was chagrined to find no refreshment prepared for him, and still more so, to learn from his steward, that he had neither money nor credit to purchase it. The day's sport, however, fortunately furnished the means of appeasing the royal appetite; and, while this was in progress, the steward took occasion to contrast the indigent condition of the king with that of his nobles, who habitually indulged in the most expensive entertainments, and were that very evening feasting with the archbishop of Toledo. The prince, suppressing his indignation, determined, like the far-famed caliph in the "Arabian Nights," to inspect the affair in person, and, assuming a disguise, introduced himself privately into the archbishop's palace, where he witnessed with his own eyes the prodigal magnificence of the banquet, teeming with costly wines and the most luxurious viands.
The next day he caused a rumor to be circulated through the court, that he had fallen suddenly and dangerously ill. The courtiers, at these tidings, thronged to the palace; and, when they had all assembled, the king made his appearance among them, bearing his naked sword in his hand, and, with an aspect of unusual severity, seated himself on his throne at the upper extremity of the apartment.
After an interval of silence in the astonished assembly, the monarch, addressing himself to the primate, inquired of him, "How many sovereigns he had known in Castile?" The prelate answering four, Henry put the same question to the duke of Benevente, and so on to the other courtiers in succession. None of them, however, having answered more than five, "How is this," said the prince, "that you, who are so old, should have known so few, while I, young as I am, have beheld more than twenty! Yes," continued he, raising his voice, to the astonished multitude, "you are the real sovereigns of Castile, enjoying all the rights and revenues of royalty, while I, stripped of my patrimony, have scarcely wherewithal to procure the necessaries of life." Then giving a concerted signal, his guards entered the apartment, followed by the public executioner bearing along with him the implements of death. The dismayed nobles, not relishing the turn the jest appeared likely to take, fell on their knees before the monarch and besought his forgiveness, promising, in requital, complete restitution of the fruits of their rapacity. Henry, content with having so cheaply gained his point, allowed himself to soften at their entreaties, taking care, however, to detain their persons as security for their engagements, until such time as the rents, royal fortresses, and whatever effects had been filched from the crown, were restored. The story, although repeated by the gravest Castilian writers, wears, it must be owned, a marvellous tinge of romance. But, whether fact, or founded on it, it may serve to show the dilapidated condition of the revenues at the beginning of the fourteenth century, and its immediate causes. [89]
Another circumstance, which contributed to impoverish the exchequer, was the occasional political revolutions in Castile, in which the adhesion of a faction was to be purchased only by the most ample concessions of the crown.—Such was the violent revolution, which placed the House of Trastamara on the throne, in the middle of the fourteenth century.
But perhaps a more operative cause, than all these, of the alleged evil, was the conduct of those imbecile princes, who, with heedless prodigality, squandered the public resources on their own personal pleasures and unworthy minions. The disastrous reigns of John the Second and Henry the Fourth, extending over the greater portion of the fifteenth century, furnish pertinent examples of this. It was not unusual, indeed, for the cortes, interposing its paternal authority, by passing an act for the partial resumption of grants thus illegally made, in some degree to repair the broken condition of the finances. Nor was such a resumption unfair to the actual proprietors. The promise to maintain the integrity of the royal demesnes formed an essential part of the coronation oath of every sovereign; and the subject, on whom he afterwards conferred them, knew well by what a precarious, illicit tenure he was to hold them.
From the view which has been presented of the Castilian constitution at the beginning of the fifteenth century, it is apparent, that the sovereign was possessed of less power, and the people of greater, than in other European monarchies at that period. It must be owned, however, as before intimated, that the practical operation did not always correspond with the theory of their respective functions in these rude times; and that the powers of the executive, being susceptible of greater compactness and energy in their movements, than could possibly belong to those of more complex bodies, were sufficiently strong in the hands of a resolute prince, to break down the comparatively feeble barriers of the law. Neither were the relative privileges, assigned to the different orders of the state, equitably adjusted. Those of the aristocracy were indefinite and exorbitant. The license of armed combinations too, so freely assumed both by this order and the commons, although operating as a safety-valve for the escape of the effervescing spirit of the age, was itself obviously repugnant to all principles of civil obedience, and exposed the state to evils scarcely less disastrous than those which it was intended to prevent.
It was apparent, that, notwithstanding the magnitude of the powers conceded to the nobility and the commons, there were important defects, which prevented them from resting on any sound and permanent basis. The representation of the people in cortes, instead of partially emanating, as in England, from an independent body of landed proprietors, constituting the real strength of the nation, proceeded exclusively from the cities, whose elections were much more open to popular caprice and ministerial corruption, and whose numerous local jealousies prevented them from acting in cordial co-operation. The nobles, notwithstanding their occasional coalitions, were often arrayed in feuds against each other. They relied, for the defence of their privileges, solely on their physical strength, and heartily disdained, in any emergency, to support their own cause by identifying it with that of the commons. Hence, it became obvious, that the monarch, who, notwithstanding his limited prerogative, assumed the anomalous privilege of transacting public business with the advice of only one branch of the legislature, and of occasionally dispensing altogether with the attendance of the other, might, by throwing his own influence into the scale, give the preponderance to whichever party he should prefer; and, by thus dexterously availing himself of their opposite forces, erect his own authority on the ruins of the weaker.—How far and how successfully this policy was pursued by Ferdinand and Isabella, will be seen in the course of this History.
* * * * *
Notwithstanding the general diligence of the Spanish historians, they have done little towards the investigation of the constitutional antiquities of Castile, until the present century. Dr. Geddes's meagre notice of the cortes preceded probably, by a long interval, any native work upon that subject. Robertson frequently complains of the total deficiency of authentic sources of information respecting the laws and government of Castile; a circumstance, that suggests to a candid mind an obvious explanation of several errors, into which he has fallen. Capmany, in the preface to a work, compiled by order of the central junta in Seville, in 1809, on the ancient organization of the cortes in the different states of the Peninsula, remarks, that "no author has appeared, down to the present day, to instruct us in regard to the origin, constitution, and celebration of the Castilian cortes, on all which topics there remains the most profound ignorance." The melancholy results to which such an investigation must necessarily lead, from the contrast it suggests of existing institutions to the freer forms of antiquity, might well have deterred the modern Spaniard from these inquiries; which, moreover, it can hardly be supposed, would have received the countenance of government. The brief interval, however, in the early part of the present century, when the nation so ineffectually struggled to resume its ancient liberties, gave birth to two productions, which have gone far to supply the desiderata in this department. I allude to the valuable works of Marina, on the early legislation, and on the cortes, of Castile, to which repeated reference has been made in this section. The latter, especially, presents us with a full exposition of the appropriate functions assigned to the several departments of government, and with the parliamentary history of Castile deduced from original unpublished records.
It is unfortunate that his copious illustrations are arranged in so unskilful a manner as to give a dry and repulsive air to the whole work. The original documents, on which it is established, instead of being reserved for an appendix, and their import only conveyed in the text, stare at the reader in every page, arrayed in all the technicalities, periphrases, and repetitions incident to legal enactments. The course of the investigation is, moreover, frequently interrupted by impertinent dissertations on the constitution of 1812, in which the author has fallen into abundance of crudities, which he would have escaped, had he but witnessed the practical operation of those liberal forms of government, which he so justly admires. The sanguine temper of Marina has also betrayed him into the error of putting, too uniformly, a favorable construction on the proceedings of the commons, and of frequently deriving a constitutional precedent from what can only be regarded as an accidental and transient exertion of power in a season of popular excitement.
The student of this department of Spanish history may consult, in conjunction with Marina, Sempere's little treatise, often quoted, on the History of the Castilian Cortes. It is, indeed, too limited and desultory in its plan to afford anything like a complete view of the subject. But, as a sensible commentary, by one well skilled in the topics that he discusses, it is of undoubted value. Since the political principles and bias of the author were of an opposite character to Marina's, they frequently lead him to opposite conclusions in the investigation of the same facts. Making all allowance for obvious prejudices, Sempere's work, therefore, may be of much use in correcting the erroneous impressions made by the former writer, whose fabric of liberty too often rests, as exemplified more than once in the preceding pages, on an ideal basis.
But, with every deduction, Marina's publications must be considered an important contribution to political science. They exhibit an able analysis of a constitution, which becomes singularly interesting, from its having furnished, together with that of the sister kingdom of Aragon, the earliest example of representative government, as well as from the liberal principles on which that government was long administered.
FOOTNOTES
[1] Aragon was formally released from this homage in 1177, and Portugal in 1264. (Mariana, Historia General de España, (Madrid, 1780,) lib. 11, cap. 14; lib. 13, cap. 20.) The king of Granada, Aben Alahmar, swore fealty to St. Ferdinand, in 1245, binding himself to the payment of an annual rent, to serve under him with a stipulated number of his knights in war, and personally attend cortes when summoned;—a whimsical stipulation this for a Mahometan prince. Conde, Historia de la Dominacion de los Arabes en España, (Madrid, 1820, 1821,) tom. iii. cap. 30.
[2] Navarre was too inconsiderable, and bore too near a resemblance in its government to the other Peninsular kingdoms, to require a separate notice; for which, indeed, the national writers afford but very scanty materials. The Moorish empire of Granada, so interesting in itself, and so dissimilar, in all respects, to Christian Spain, merits particular attention. I have deferred the consideration of it, however, to that period of the history which is occupied with its subversion. See Part I., Chapter 8.
[3] See the Canons of the fifth Council of Toledo. Florez, España Sagrada, (Madrid, 1747-1776,) tom. vi. p. 168.
[4] Recesvinto, in order more effectually to bring about the consolidation of his Gothic and Roman subjects into one nation, abrogated the law prohibiting their intermarriage. The terms in which his enactment is conceived disclose a far more enlightened policy than that pursued either by the Franks or Lombards. (See the Fuero Juzgo, (ed. de la Acad., Madrid, 1815,) lib. 3, tit. 1, ley 1.)—The Visigothic code, Fuero Juzgo, (Forum Judicum,) originally compiled in Latin, was translated into Spanish under St. Ferdinand; a copy of which version was first printed in 1600, at Madrid. (Los Doctores Asso y Manuel, Instituciones del Derecho Civil de Castilla, (Madrid, 1792,) pp. 6, 7.) A second edition, under the supervision of the Royal Spanish Academy, was published in 1815. This compilation, notwithstanding the apparent rudeness and even ferocity of some of its features, may be said to have formed the basis of all the subsequent legislation of Castile. It was, doubtless, the exclusive contemplation of these features, which brought upon these laws the sweeping condemnation of Montesquieu, as "puériles, gauches, idiotes,— frivoles dans le fond et gigantesques dans le style." Espirit des Loix, liv. 28, chap. 1.
[5] Some of the local usages, afterwards incorporated in the fueros, or charters, of the Castilian communities, may probably be derived from the time of the Visigoths. The English reader may form a good idea of the tenor of the legal institutions of this people and their immediate descendants, from an article in the sixty-first Number of the Edinburgh Review, written with equal learning and vivacity.
[6] The Christians, in all matters exclusively relating to themselves, were governed by their own laws, (See the Fuero Juzgo, Introd. p. 40,) administered by their own judges, subject only in capital cases to an appeal to the Moorish tribunals. Their churches and monasteries (rosae inter spinas, says the historian) were scattered over the principal towns, Cordova retaining seven, Toledo six, etc.; and their clergy were allowed to display the costume, and celebrate the pompous ceremonial, of the Romish communion. Florez, España Sagrada, tom. x. trat. 33, cap, 7.— Morales, Corónica General de España, (Obras, Madrid, 1791-1793,) lib. 12, cap. 78.—Conde, Domination de los Arabes, part 1, cap. 15, 22.
[7] Morales, Corónica, lib. 12, cap. 77.—Yet the names of several nobles resident among the Moors appear in the record of those times. (See Salazar de Mendoza, Monarquía de España, (Madrid, 1770,) tom. i. p. 34, note.) If we could rely on a singular fact, quoted by Zurita, we might infer that a large proportion of the Goths were content to reside among their Saracen conquerors. The intermarriages among the two nations had been so frequent, that, in 1311, the ambassador of James II., of Aragon, stated to his Holiness, Pope Clement V., that of 200.000 persons composing the population of Granada, not more than 500 were of pure Moorish descent! (Anales de la Corona de Aragon, (Zaragoza, 1610,) lib. 5, cap. 93.) As the object of the statement was to obtain certain ecclesiastical aids from the pontiff, in the prosecution of the Moorish war, it appears very suspicious, notwithstanding the emphasis laid on it by the historian.
[8] Bleda, Corónica de los Moros de España, (Valencia, 1618,) p. 171.— This author states, that in his time there were several families in Ireland, whose patronymics bore testimony to their descent from these Spanish exiles. That careful antiquarian, Morales, considers the regions of the Pyrenees lying betwixt Aragon and Navarre, together with the Asturias, Biscay, Guipuscoa, the northern portion of Galicia and the Alpuxarras, (the last retreat, too, of the Moors, under the Christian domination,) to have been untouched by the Saracen invaders. See lib. 12, cap. 76.
[9] The lot of the Visigothic slave was sufficiently hard. The oppressions, which this unhappy race endured, were such as to lead Mr. Southey, in his excellent Introduction to the "Chronicle of the Cid," to impute to their co-operation, in part, the easy conquest of the country by the Arabs. But, although the laws, in relation to them, seem to be taken up with determining their incapacities rather than their privileges, it is probable that they secured to them, on the whole, quite as great a degree of civil consequence, as was enjoyed by similar classes in the rest of Europe. By the Fuero Juzgo, the slave was allowed to acquire property for himself, and with it to purchase his own redemption. (Lib. 5, tit. 4, ley 16.) A certain proportion of every man's slaves were also required to bear arms, and to accompany their master to the field. (Lib. 9, tit 2, ley 8.) But their relative rank is better ascertained by the amount of composition (that accurate measurement of civil rights with all the barbarians of the north) prescribed for any personal violence inflicted on them. Thus, by the Salic law, the life of a free Roman was estimated at only one-fifth of that of a Frank, (Lex Salica, tit. 43, sec. 1, 8;) while, by the law of the Visigoths, the life of a slave was valued at half of that of a freeman, (lib. 6, tit. 4, ley 1.) In the latter code, moreover, the master was prohibited, under the severe penalties of banishment and sequestration of property, from either maiming or murdering his own slave, (lib. 6, tit. 5, leyes 12, 13;) while, in other codes of the barbarians, the penalty was confined to similar trespasses on the slaves of another; and, by the Salic law, no higher mulct was imposed for killing, than for kidnapping a slave. (Lex Salica, tit. 11, sec. 1, 3.) The legislation of the Visigoths, in those particulars, seems to have regarded this unhappy race as not merely a distinct species of property. It provided for their personal security, instead of limiting itself to the indemnification of their masters.
[10] Corónica General, part. 3, fol. 54.
[11] According to Morales, (Corónica, lib. 13, cap. 57,) this took place about 850.
[12] Toledo was not reconquered until 1085; Lisbon, in 1147.
[13] The archbishops of Toledo, whose revenues and retinues far exceeded those of the other ecclesiastics, were particularly conspicuous in these holy wars. Mariana, speaking of one of these belligerent prelates, considers it worthy of encomium, that "it is not easy to decide whether he was most conspicuous for his good government in peace, or his conduct and valor in war." Hist. de España, tom. ii. p. 14.
[14] The first occasion, on which the military apostle condescended to reveal himself to the Leonese, was the memorable day of Clavijo, A. D. 844, when 70,000 infidels fell on the field. From that time, the name of St. Jago became the battle-cry of the Spaniards. The truth of the story is attested by a contemporary charter of Ramiro I. to the church of the saint, granting it an annual tribute of corn and wine from the towns in his dominions, and a knight's portion of the spoils of every victory over the Mussulmans. The privilegio del voto, as it is called, is given at length by Florez in his Collection, (España Sagrada, tom. xix. p. 329,) and is unhesitatingly cited by most of the Spanish historians, as Garibay, Mariana, Morales, and others.—More sharp-sighted critics discover, in its anachronisms, and other palpable blunders, ample evidence of its forgery. (Mondejar, Advertencies &, la Historia de Mariana (Valencia, 1746,) no. 157,—Masdeu, Historia Crítica de España, y de la Cultura Española, (Madrid, 1783-1805,) tom. xvi. supl. 18.) The canons of Compostella, however, seem to have found their account in it, as the tribute of good cheer, which it imposed, continued to be paid by some of the Castilian towns, according to Mariana, in his day. Hist. de España, tom. i. p. 416.
[15] French, Flemish, Italian, and English volunteers, led by men of distinguished rank, are recorded by the Spanish writers to have been present at the sieges of Toledo, Lisbon, Algeziras, and various others. More than sixty, or, as some accounts state, a hundred thousand, joined the army before the battle of Navas de Tolosa; a round exaggeration, which, however, implies the great number of such auxiliaries. (Garibay, Compendio Historial de las Chrónicas de España, (Barcelona, 1628,) lib. 12, cap. 33.) The crusades in Spain were as rational enterprises, as those in the East were vain and chimerical. Pope Pascal II. acted like a man of sense, when he sent back certain Spanish adventurers, who had embarked in the wars of Palestine, telling them that "the cause of religion could be much better served by them at home."
[16] See Heeren, Politics of Ancient Greece, translated by Bancroft, chap. 7.
[17] The oldest manuscript extant of this poem, (still preserved at Bivar, the hero's birth-place,) bears the date of 1207, or at latest 1307, for there is some obscurity in the writing. Its learned editor, Sanchez, has been led by the peculiarities of its orthography, metre, and idiom, to refer its composition to as early a date as 1153. (Coleccion de Poesías Castellanas anteriores al Siglo XV. (Madrid 1779-90,) tom. i. p. 223.)
Some of the late Spanish antiquaries have manifested a skepticism in relation to the "Cid," truly alarming. A volume was published at Madrid, in 1792, by Risco, under the title of "Castilla, o Historia de Rodrigo Diaz," etc., which the worthy father ushered into the world with much solemnity, as a transcript of an original manuscript coeval with the time of the "Cid," and fortunately discovered by him in an obscure corner of some Leonese monastery. (Prólogo). Masdeu, in an analysis of this precious document, has been led to scrutinize the grounds on which the reputed achievements of the "Cid" have rested from time immemorial, and concludes with the startling assertion, that "of Rodrigo Diaz, el Campeador, we absolutely know nothing with any degree of probability, not even his existence!" (Hist. Crítica, tom. xx. p. 370.) There are probably few of his countrymen, that will thus coolly acquiesce in the annihilation of their favorite hero, whose exploits have been the burden of chronicle, as well as romance, from the twelfth century down to the present day.
They may find a warrant for their fond credulity, in the dispassionate judgment of one of the greatest of modern historians, John Muller, who, so far from doubting the existence of the Campeador, has succeeded, in his own opinion at least, in clearing from his history the "mists of fable and extravagance," in which it has been shrouded. See his Life of the Cid, appended to Escobar's "Romancero," edited by the learned and estimable Dr. Julius, of Berlin. Frankfort, 1828.
[18] A modern minstrel inveighs loudly against this charity of his ancestors, who devoted their "cantos de cigarra," to the glorification of this "Moorish rabble," instead of celebrating the prowess of the Cid, Bernardo, and other worthies of their own nation. His discourtesy, however, is well rebuked by a more generous brother of the craft.
"No es culpa si de los Moros los valientes hechos cantan, pues tanto mas resplandecen nuestras celebres hazañas; que el encarecer los hechos del vencido en la batalla, engrandece al vencedor, aunque no hablen de el palabra."
Duran, Romancero de Romances Moriscos, (Madrid, 1828.) p. 227.
[19] When the empress queen of Alfonso VII. was besieged in the castle of Azeca, in 1139, she reproached the Moslem cavaliers for their want of courtesy and courage in attacking a fortress defended by a female. They acknowledged the justice of the rebuke, and only requested that she would condescend to show herself to them from her palace; when the Moorish chivalry, after paying their obeisance to her in the most respectful manner, instantly raised the siege, and departed. (Ferreras, Histoire Générale d'Espagne, traduite par d'Hermilly, (Paris, 1742-51.) tom. in. p. 410.) It was a frequent occurrence to restore a noble captive to liberty without ransom, and even with costly presents. Thus Alfonso XI. sent back to their father two daughters of a Moorish prince, who formed part of the spoils of the battle of Tarifa. (Mariana, Hist. die España, tom. ii. p. 32.) When this same Castilian sovereign, after a career of almost uninterrupted victory over the Moslems, died of the plague before Gibraltar, in 1350, the knights of Granada put on mourning for him, saying, that "he was a noble prince, and one that knew how to honor his enemies as well as his friends." Conde, Domination de los Arabes, tom. iii. p. 149.
[20] One of the most extraordinary achievements, in this way, was that of the grand master of Alcantara, in 1394, who, after ineffectually challenging the king of Granada to meet him in single combat, or with a force double that of his own, marched boldly up to the gates of his capital, where he was assailed by such an overwhelming host, that he with all his little band perished on the field. (Mariana, Hist. de España, lib. 19, cap. 3.) It was over this worthy compeer of Don Quixote that the epitaph was inscribed, "Here lies one who never knew fear," which led Charles V. to remark to one of his courtiers, that "the good knight could never have tried to snuff a candle with his fingers."
[21] This singular fact, of the existence of an Arabic military order, is recorded by Conde. (Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. i. p. 619, note.) The brethren were distinguished for the simplicity of their attire, and their austere and frugal habits. They were stationed on the Moorish marches, and were bound by a vow of perpetual war against the Christian infidel. As their existence is traced as far back as 1030, they may possibly have suggested the organization of similar institutions in Christendom, which they preceded by a century at least. The loyal historians of the Spanish military orders, it is true, would carry that of St. Jago as far back as the time of Ramiro I., in the ninth century; (Caro de Torres, Historia de las Ordenes Militares de Santiago, Calatrava, y Alcantara, (Madrid, 1629,) fol. 2.—Rades y Andrada, Chrónica de las Tres Ordenes y Cavallerías, (Toledo, 1572,) fol. 4,) but less prejudiced critics, as Zurita and Mariana, are content with dating it from the papal bull of Alexander III., 1175.
[22] In one of the Paston letters, we find the notice of a Spanish knight appearing at the court of Henry VI., "wyth a Kercheff of Plesaunce iwrapped aboute hys arme, the gwych Knight," says the writer, "wyl renne a cours wyth a sharpe spere for his sou'eyn lady sake." (Fenn, Original Letters, (1787,) vol. i. p. 6.) The practice of using sharp spears, instead of the guarded and blunted weapons usual in the tournament, seems to have been affected by the chivalrous nobles of Castile; many of whom, says the chronicle of Juan II., lost their lives from this circumstance, in the splendid tourney given in honor of the nuptials of Blanche of Navarre and Henry, son of John II. (Crónica de D. Juan II., (Valencia, 1779,) p. 411.) Monstrelet records the adventures of a Spanish cavalier, who "travelled all the way to the court of Burgundy to seek honor and reverence" by his feats of arms. His antagonist was the Lord of Chargny; on the second day they fought with battle-axes, and "the Castilian attracted general admiration, by his uncommon daring in fighting with his visor up." Chroniques, (Paris, 1595,) tom. ii. p. 109.
[23] The Venetian ambassador, Navagiero, speaking of the manners of the Castilian nobles, in Charles V.'s time, remarks somewhat bluntly, that, "if their power were equal to their pride, the whole world would not be able to withstand them." Viaggio fatto in Spagna et in Francia, (Vinegia, 1563,) fol. 10.
[24] The most ancient of these regular charters of incorporation, now extant, was granted by Alfonso V., in 1020, to the city of Leon and its territory. (Mariana rejects those of an earlier date, adduced by Asso and Manuel and other writers. Ensayo Histórico-Crítico, sobre la Antigua Legislation de Castilla, (Madrid, 1808,) pp. 80-82.) It preceded, by a long interval, those granted to the burgesses in other parts of Europe, with the exception, perhaps, of Italy; where several of the cities, as Milan, Pavia, and Pisa, seem early in the eleventh century to have exercised some of the functions of independent states. But the extent of municipal immunities conceded to, or rather assumed by, the Italian cities at this early period, is very equivocal; for their indefatigable antiquarian confesses that all, or nearly all their archives, previous to the time of Frederick I., (the latter part of the twelfth century,) had perished amid their frequent civil convulsions. (See the subject in detail, in Muratori, Dissertazioni sopra le Antichità Italiane, (Napoli, 1752,) dissert. 45.) Acts of enfranchisement became frequent in Spain during the eleventh century; several of which are preserved, and exhibit, with sufficient precision, the nature of the privileges accorded to the inhabitants.—Robertson, who wrote when the constitutional antiquities of Castile had been but slightly investigated, would seem to have little authority, therefore, for deriving the establishment of communities from Italy, and still less for tracing their progress through France and Germany to Spain. See his History of the Reign of the Emperor Charles V, (London, 1796,) vol. i. pp. 29, 30.
[25] For this account of the ancient polity of the Castilian cities, the reader is referred to Sempere, Histoire des Cortès d'Espagne, (Bordeaux, 1815,) and Marina's valuable works, Ensayo Histórico-Crítico sobre la Antigua Legislacion de Camilla, (Nos. 160-196,) and Teoría de las Cortes, (Madrid, 1813, part. 2, cap. 21-23,) where the meagre outline given above is filled up with copious illustration.
[26] The independence of the Lombard cities had been sacrificed, according to the admission of their enthusiastic historian, about the middle of the thirteenth century. Sismondi, Histoire des Républiques Italiennes du Moyen-Age, (Paris, 1818,) ch. 20.
[27] Or in 1160, according to the Corónica General, (part. 4, fol. 344, 345,) where the fact is mentioned; Mariana refers this celebration of cortes to 1170, (Hist. de España, lib. 11, cap. 2;) but Ferreras, who often rectifies the chronological inaccuracies of his predecessor, fixes it in 1169. (Hist. d'Espagne, tom. iii. p. 484) Neither of these authors notices the presence of the commons in this assembly; although the phrase used by the Chronicle, los cibdadanos, is perfectly unequivocal.
[28] Capmany, Práctica y Estilo de Celebrar Cortes en Aragon, Cataluña, y Valencia, (Madrid, 1821,) pp. 230, 231.—Whether the convocation of the third estate to the national councils proceeded from politic calculation in the sovereign, or was in a manner forced on him by the growing power and importance of the cities, it is now too late to inquire. It is nearly as difficult to settle on what principles the selection of cities to be represented depended. Marina asserts, that every great town and community was entitled to a seat in the legislature, from the time of receiving its municipal charter from the sovereign, (Teoría, tom. i. p. 138;) and Sempere agrees, that this right became general, from the first, to all who chose to avail themselves of it. (Histoire des Cortès, p. 56.) The right, probably, was not much insisted on by the smaller and poorer places, which, from the charges it involved, felt it often, no doubt, less of a boon than a burden. This, we know, was the case in England.
[29] It was an evil of scarcely less magnitude, that contested elections were settled by the crown. (Capmany, Práctica y Estilo, p. 231.) The latter of these practices, and, indeed, the former to a certain extent, are to be met with in English history.
[30] Marina leaves this point in some obscurity. (Teoría, tom. i. cap. 28.) Indeed, there seems to have been some irregularity in the parliamentary usages themselves. From minutes of a meeting of cortes at Toledo, in 1538, too soon for any material innovation on the ancient practice, we find the three estates sitting in separate chambers, from the very commencement to the close of the session. See the account drawn up by the count of Coruña, apud Capmany, Práctica y Estilo, pp. 240 et seq.
[31] This, however, so contrary to the analogy of other European governments, is expressly contradicted by the declaration of the nobles, at the cortes of Toledo, in 1538. "Oida esta respuesta se dijo, que pues S. M. habia dicho que no eran Córtes ni habia Brazos, no podian tratar cosa alguna, que ellos sin procuradores, y los procuradores sin ellos, no seria válido lo que hicieren." Relacion del Conde de Coruña, apud Capmany, Práctica y Estilo, p. 247.
[32] This omission of the privileged orders was almost uniform under Charles V. and his successors. But it would be unfair to seek for constitutional precedent in the usages of a government, whose avowed policy was altogether subversive of the constitution.
[33] During the famous war of the Comunidades, under Charles V. For the preceding paragraph consult Marina, (Teoría, part. 1, cap. 10, 20, 26, 29,) and Capmany. (Práctica y Estilo, pp. 220-250.) The municipalities of Castile seem to have reposed but a very limited confidence in their delegates, whom they furnished with instructions, to which they were bound to conform themselves literally. See Marina, Teoría, part. 1, cap. 23.
[34] The term "fundamental principle" is fully authorized by the existence of repeated enactments to this effect. Sempere, who admits the "usage," objects to the phrase "fundamental law," on the ground that these acts were specific, not general, in their character. Histoire des Cortès, p. 254.
[35] "Los Reyes en nuestros Reynos progenitores establecieron por leyes, y ordenanças fechas en Cortes, que no se echassen, ni repartiessen ningunos pechos, seruicios, pedidos, ni monedas, ni otros tributes nueuos, especial, ni generalmente en todos nuestros Reynos, sin que primeramente sean llamados à Cortes los procuradores de todas las Ciudades, y villas de nuestros Reynos, y sean otorgados por los dichos procuradores que á las Cortes vinieren." (Recopilacion de las Leyes, (Madrid, 1640,) tom. ii. fol. 124.) This law, passed under Alfonso XI., was confirmed by John II., Henry III., and Charles V.
[36] In 1258, they presented a variety of petitions to the king, in relation to his own personal expenditure, as well as that of his courtiers; requiring him to diminish the charges of his table, attire, etc., and, bluntly, to "bring his appetite within a more reasonable compass;" to all which he readily gave his assent. (Sempere y Guarinos, Historia del Luxo, y de las Leyes Suntuarias de España, (Madrid, 1788,) tom. i. pp. 91, 92.) The English reader is reminded of a very different result, which attended a similar interposition of the commons in the time of Richard II., more than a century later.
[37] Marina claims also the right of the cortes to be consulted on questions of war and peace, of which he adduces several precedents. (Teoría, part. 2, cap. 19, 20.) Their interference in what is so generally held the peculiar province of the executive, was perhaps encouraged by the sovereign, with the politic design of relieving himself of the responsibility of measures whose success must depend eventually on their support. Hallam notices a similar policy of the crown, under Edward III., in his view of the English constitution during the Middle Ages. View of the State of Europe during the Middle Ages, (London, 1819,) vol. iii. chap. 8.
[38] The recognition of the title of the heir apparent, by a cortes convoked for that purpose, has continued to be observed in Castile down to the present time. Práctica y Estilo, p. 229.
[39] For the preceding notice of the cortes, see Marina, Teoría, part. 2, cap. 13, 19, 20, 21, 31, 35, 37, 38.
[40] So at least they are styled by Marina. See his account of these institutions; (Teoría, part. 2, cap. 39;) also Salazar de Mendoza, (Monarquía, lib. 3, cap. 15, 16,) and Sempere, (Histoire des Cortès, chap. 12, 13.) One hundred cities associated in the Hermandad of 1315. In that of 1295, were thirty-four. The knights and inferior nobility frequently made part of the association. The articles of confederation are given by Risco, in his continuation of Florez. (España Sagrada, (Madrid, 1775- 1826,) tom. xxxvi. p. 162.) In one of these articles it is declared, that, if any noble shall deprive a member of the association of his property, and refuse restitution, his house shall be razed to the ground. (Art. 4.) In another, that if any one, by command of the king, shall attempt to collect an unlawful tax, he shall be put to death on the spot. Art. 9.
[41] See Sempere, Historia del Luxo, tom. i. p. 97.—Masdeu, Hist. Crítica, tom. xiii. nos. 90, 91.—Gold and silver, curiously wrought into plate, were exported in considerable quantities from Spain, the tenth and eleventh centuries. They were much used in the churches. The tiara of the pope was so richly encrusted with the precious metals, says Masdeu, as to receive the name of Spanodista. The familiar use of these metals as ornaments of dress is attested by the ancient poem of the "Cid." See, in particular, the costume of the Campeador; vv. 3099 et seq.
[42] Zuñiga, Annales Eclesiasticos y Seculares de Sevilla, (Madrid, 1677,) pp. 74, 75.—Sempere, Historia del Luxo, tom. i. p. 80.
[43] The historian of Seville describes that city, about the middle of the fifteenth century, as possessing a flourishing commerce and a degree of opulence unexampled since the conquest. It was filled with an active population, employed in the various mechanic arts. Its domestic fabrics, as well as natural products, of oil, wine, wool, etc., supplied a trade with Prance, Flanders, Italy, and England. (Zuñiga, Annales de Sevilla, p. 341.—See also Sempere, Historia del Luxo, p. 81, nota 2.) The ports of Biscay, which belonged to the Castilian crown, were the marts of an extensive trade with the north, during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. This province entered into repeated treaties of commerce with France and England; and her factories were established at Bruges, the great emporium of commercial intercourse during this period between the north and south, before those of any other people in Europe, except the Germans. (Diccionario Geográfico-Histórico de España, por la Real Academia de la Historia, (Madrid, 1802,) tom. i. p. 333.)
The institution of the mesta is referred, says Laborde, (Itinéraire Descriptif de l'Espagne, (Paris, 1827-1830,) tom. iv. p. 47,) to the middle of the fourteenth century, when the great plague, which devastated the country so sorely, left large depopulated tracts open to pasturage. This popular opinion is erroneous, since it engaged the attention of government, and became the subject of legislation as anciently as 1273, under Alfonso the Wise. (See Asso y Manuel, Instituciones, Introd. p. 56.) Capmany, however, dates the great improvement in the breed of Spanish sheep from the year 1394, when Catharine of Lancaster brought with her, as a part of her dowry to the heir apparent of Castile, a flock of English merinos, distinguished, at that time, above those of every other country, for the beauty and delicacy of their fleece. (Memorias Históricas sobre la Marina, Comercio, y Artes de Barcelona, (Madrid, 1779-1792,) tom. iii. pp. 336, 337.) This acute writer, after a very careful examination of the subject, differing from those already quoted, considers the raw material for manufacture, and the natural productions of the soil, to have constituted almost the only articles of export from Spain, until after the fifteenth century. (Ibid., p. 338.) We will remark, in conclusion of this desultory note, that the term merinos is derived, by Conde, from moedinos, signifying "wandering;" the name of an Arabian tribe, who shifted their place of residence with the season. (Hist. de los Arabes en España, tom. i. p. 488, nota.) The derivation might startle any but a professed etymologist.
[44] See the original acts, cited by Sempere. (Historia del Luxo, passim.) The archpriest of Hita indulges his vein freely against the luxury, cupidity, and other fashionable sins of his age. (See Sanchez, Poesias Castellanas, tom. iv.)—The influence of Mammon appears to have been as supreme in the fourteenth century as at any later period.
"Sea un ome nescio, et rudo labrador,
Los dineros le fasen fidalgo e sabidor,
Quanto mas algo tiene, tanto es mas de valor,
El que no ba dineros, non es de si señor."
Vv. 465 et seq.
[45] Marina, Ensayo, nos. 199, 297.—Zuñiga, Annales de Sevilla, p. 341.
[46] Marina, Teoría, part. 2, cap. 28.—Mariana, Hist. de España, lib. 18, cap. 15.—The admission of citizens into the king's council would have formed a most important epoch for the commons, had they not soon been replaced by jurisconsults, whose studies and sentiments inclined them less to the popular side than to that of prerogative.
[47] Ibid., lib. 18, cap. 17.
[48] Castilla. See Salazar de Mendoza, Monarquía, tom. i. p. 108.— Livy mentions the great number of these towers in Spain in his day. "Multas et locis altis positas turres Hispania habet." (Lib. 22, cap. 19.)—A castle was emblazoned on the escutcheon of Castile, as far back as the reign of Urraca, in the beginning of the twelfth century, according to Salazar de Mendoza, (Monarquía, tom. i. p. 142,) although Garibay discerns no vestige of these arms on any instrument of a much older date than the beginning of the thirteenth century. Compendio, lib. 12, cap. 32.
[49]
"Hizo guerra a los Moros,
Ganando sus fortalezas
Y sus villas.
Y en las lides que Venció
Caballeros y Caballos
Se perdiéron,
Y en este ofloio ganó
Las rentas y los vasallos
Que le dieron." Coplas de Manrique, copla 31.
[50] Asso and Manuel derive the introduction of fiefs into Castile, from Catalonia. (Instituciones, p. 96.) The twenty-sixth title, part. 4, of Alfonso X.'s code, (Siete Partidas,) treats exclusively of them. (De los Feudos.) The laws 2, 4, 5, are expressly devoted to a brief exposition of the nature of a fief, the ceremonies of investiture, and the reciprocal obligations of lord and vassal. Those of the latter consisted in keeping his lord's counsel, maintaining his interest, and aiding him in war. With all this, there are anomalies in this code, and still more in the usages of the country, not easy to explain on the usual principles of the feudal relation; a circumstance, which has led to much discrepancy of opinion on the subject, in political writers, as well as to some inconsistency. Sempere, who entertains no doubt of the establishment of feudal institutions in Castile, tells us, that "the nobles, after the Conquest, succeeded in obtaining an exemption from military service,"—one of the most conspicuous and essential of all the feudal relations. Histoire des Cortès, pp. 30, 72, 249.
[51] Asso y Manuel, Instituciones, p. 26.—Sempere, Histoire des Cortès, chap. 4.—The incensed nobles quitted the cortes in disgust, and threatened to vindicate their rights by arms, on one such occasion, 1176. Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. i. p. 644. See also tom. ii. p. 176.
[52] Idem auctores, ubi supra.—Prieto y Sotelo, Historia del Derecho Real de España, (Madrid, 1738,) lib. 2, cap. 23; lib. 3, cap. 8.
[53] Siete Partidas, (ed. de la Real Acad., Madrid, 1807,) part. 4, tit. 25, ley 11. On such occasions they sent him a formal defiance by their king at arms. Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. i. pp. 768, 912.
[54] Ibid., tom. i. pp. 707, 713.
[55] The forms of this solemnity may be found in Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. i. p. 907.
[56] Marina, Ensayo, p. 128.
[57] John I., in 1390, authorized appeals from the seignorial tribunals to those of the crown. Ibid., tom. ii. p. 179.
[58] The nature of these dignities is explained in Salazar de Mendoza, Monarquía, tom. i. pp. 155, 166, 203.
[59] From the scarcity of these baronial residences, some fanciful etymologists have derived the familiar saying of "Châteaux en Espagne." See Bourgoanne, Travels in Spain, tom. ii. chap. 12.
[60] Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. i. p. 910.
[61] Crónica de Don Alvaro de Luna, (ed. de la Acad. Madrid, 1784,) App. p. 465.
[62] Guzman, Generaciones y Semblanzas, (Madrid, 1775,) cap. 84.—His annual revenue is computed by Perez de Guzman, at 100,000 doblas of gold; a sum equivalent to 856,000 dollars at the present day.
[63] The former of these two sums is equivalent to $438,875, or £91,474 sterling; and the latter to $526,650, or £109,716, nearly. I have been guided by a dissertation of Clemencin, in the sixth volume of the Memorias de la Real Academia de la Historia, (Madrid, 1821, pp. 507-566,) in the reduction of sums in this History. That treatise is very elaborate and ample, and brings under view all the different coins of Ferdinand and Isabella's time, settling their specific value with great accuracy. The calculation is attended with considerable difficulty, owing to the depreciation of the value of the precious metals, and the repeated adulteration of the real. In his tables, at the end, he exhibits the commercial value of the different denominations, ascertained by the quantity of wheat (as sure a standard as any), which they would buy at that day. Taking the average of values, which varied considerably in different years of Ferdinand and Isabella, it appears that the ducat, reduced to our own currency, will be equal to about eight dollars and seventy-seven cents, and the dobla to eight dollars and fifty-six cents.
[64] The ample revenues of the Spanish grandee of the present time, instead of being lavished on a band of military retainers, as of yore, are sometimes dispensed in the more peaceful hospitality of supporting an almost equally formidable host of needy relations and dependants. According to Bourgoanne (Travels in Spain, vol. 1. chap. 4), no less than 3000 of these gentry were maintained on the estates of the duke of Arcos, who died in 1780.
[65] Mendoza records the circumstance of the head of the family of Ponce de Leon, (a descendant of the celebrated marquis of Cadiz,) carrying his son, then thirteen years old, with him into battle; "an ancient usage," he says, "in that noble house." (Guerra de Granada, (Valencia, 1776,) p. 318.) The only son of Alfonso VI. was slain, fighting manfully in the ranks, at the battle of Ucles, in 1109, when only eleven years of age. Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. i. p. 565.
[66] The northern provinces, the theatre of this primitive independence, have always been consecrated by this very circumstance, in the eyes of a Spaniard. "The proudest lord," says Navagiero, "feels it an honor to trace his pedigree to this quarter." (Viaggio, fol. 44.) The same feeling has continued, and the meanest native of Biscay, or the Asturias, at the present day, claims to be noble; a pretension, which often contrasts ridiculously enough with the humble character of his occupation, and has furnished many a pleasant anecdote to travellers.
[67] An elaborate dissertation, by the advocate Don Alonso Carillo, on the pre-eminence and privileges of the Castilian grandee, is appended to Salazar de Mendoza's Origen de las Dignidades Seglares de Castilla, (Madrid, 1794.) The most prized of these appears to be that of keeping the head covered in the presence of the sovereign; "prerogativa tan ilustre," says the writer, "que ella sola imprime el principal caracter de la Grandeza. Y considerada por sus efectos admirables, ocupa dignamente el primero lugar." (Discurso 3.) The sentimental citizen Bourgoanne, finds it necessary to apologize to his republican brethren, for noticing these "important trifles." Travels in Spain, vol. i. chap. 4.
[68] "Los llamaron fijosdalgo, que muestra a tanto como fijos de bien." (Siete Partidas, part. 2, tit. 21.) "Por hidalgos se entienden los hombres escogidos de buenos lugares é con algo." Asso y Manuel, Instituciones, pp. 33, 34.
[69] Recop. de las Leyes, lib. 6, tit. 1, leyes 2, 9; tit. 2, leyes 3, 4, 10; tit. 14, leyes 14, 19.—They were obliged to contribute to the repair of fortifications and public works, although, as the statute expresses it, "tengan privilegios para que sean essentos de todos pechos."
[70] The knight was to array himself in light and cheerful vestments, and, in the cities and public places his person was to be enveloped in a long and flowing mantle, in order to impose greater reverence on the people. His good steed was to be distinguished by the beauty and richness of his caparisons. He was to live abstemiously, indulging himself in none of the effeminate delights of couch or banquet. During his repast, his mind was to be refreshed with the recital, from history, of deeds of ancient heroism; and in the fight he was commanded to invoke the name of his mistress, that it might infuse new ardor into his soul, and preserve him from the commission of unknightly actions. See Siete Partidas, part, 2, tit. 21, which is taken up with defining the obligations of chivalry.
[71] See Fuero Juzgo, lib. 3, which is devoted almost exclusively to the sex. Montesquieu discerns in the jealous surveillance, which the Visigoths maintained over the honor of their women, so close an analogy with oriental usages, as must have greatly facilitated the conquest of the country by the Arabians. Esprit des Loix, liv. 14, chap. 14.
[72] Warton's expression. See vol. i. p. 245, of the late learned edition of his History of English Poetry, (London, 1824.)
[73] See the "Passo Honroso" appended to the Crónica de Alvaro de Luna.
[74] The present narrative will introduce the reader to more than one belligerent prelate, who filled the very highest post in the Spanish, and, I may say, the Christian Church, next the papacy. (See Alvaro Gomez, De Rebus Gestis a Francisco Ximenio Cisnerio, (Compluti, 1569,) fol. 110 et seq.) The practice, indeed, was familiar in other countries, as well as Spain, at this late period. In the bloody battle of Ravenna, in 1512, two cardinal legates, one of them the future Leo X., fought on opposite sides. Paolo Giovo, Vita Leonis X., apud "Vitae Illustrium Virorum," (Basiliae, 1578,) lib. 2.
[75] The contest for supremacy, between the Mozarabic ritual and the Roman, is familiar to the reader, in the curious narrative extracted by Robertson from Mariana, Hist. de España, lib. 9, cap. 18.
[76] Siete Partidas, part. 1, tit. 6.—Florez, España Sagrada, tom. xx. p. 16.—The Jesuit Mariana appears to grudge this appropriation of the "sacred revenues of the Church" to defray the expenses of the holy war against the Saracen. (Hist. de España, tom. i. p. 177.) See also the Ensayo, (nos. 322-364,) where Marina has analyzed and discussed the general import of the first of the Partidas.
[77] Marina, Ensayo, ubi supra, and nos. 220 et seq.
[78] See the original acts quoted by Sempere, in his Historia del Luxo, tom. i. pp. 166 et seq.
[79] Lucio Marineo Siculo, Cosas Memorables de España, (Alcalá de Henares, 1539,) fol. 16.
[80] Navagiero, Viaggio, fol. 9.—L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 12.— Laborde reckons the revenues of this prelate, in his tables, at 12,000,000 reals, or 600,000 dollars. (Itinéraire, tom. vi. p. 9.) The estimate is grossly exaggerated for the present day. The rents of this see, like those of every other in the kingdom, have been grievously clipped in the late political troubles. They are stated by the intelligent author of "A Year in Spain," on the authority of the clergy of the diocese, at one-third of the above sum, only; (p. 217, Boston ed. 1829;) an estimate confirmed by Mr. Inglis, who computes them at £40,000. Spain in 1830, vol. i. ch. 11.
[81] Modern travellers, who condemn without reserve the corruption of the inferior clergy, bear uniform testimony to the exemplary piety and munificent charities of the higher dignitaries of the church.
[82] Marina, Teoría, part. 2, cap. 2, 5, 6.—A remarkable instance of this occurred as late as the accession of Charles V.
[83] The earliest example of this permanent committee of the commons, residing at court, and entering into the king's council, was in the minority of Ferdinand IV., in 1295. The subject is involved in some obscurity, which Marina has not succeeded in dispelling. He considers the deputation to have formed a necessary and constituent part of the council, from the time of its first appointment. (Teoría, tom. ii. cap. 27, 28.) Sempere, on the other hand, discerns no warrant for this, after its introduction, till the time of the Austrian dynasty. (Histoire des Cortès, chap. 29.) Marina, who too often mistakes anomaly for practice, is certainly not justified, even by his own showing, in the sweeping conclusions to which he arrives. But, if his prejudices lead him to see more than has happened, on the one hand, those of Sempere, on the other, make him sometimes high gravel blind.
[84] The important functions and history of this body are investigated by Marina. (Teoría, part. 2, cap. 27, 28, 29.) See also Sempere, (Histoire des Cortès, cap. 16,) and the Informe de Don Agustin Riol, (apud Semanario Erudito, tom. iii. pp. 113 et seq.) where, however, its subsequent condition is chiefly considered.
[85] Not so exclusively, however, by any means, as Marina pretends. (Teoría, part. 2, cap. 17, 18.) He borrows a pertinent illustration from the famous code of Alfonso X., which was not received as law of the land till it had been formally published in cortes, in 1348, more than seventy years after its original compilation. In his zeal for popular rights, he omits to notice, however, the power so frequently assumed by the sovereign of granting fueros, or municipal charters; a right, indeed, which the great lords, spiritual and temporal, exercised in common with him, subject to his sanction. See a multitude of these seignorial codes, enumerated by Asso and Manuel. (Instituciones, Introd., pp. 31 et seq.) The monarch claimed, moreover, though not by any means so freely as in later times, the privilege of issuing pragmáticas, ordinances of an executive character, or for the redress of grievances submitted to him by the national legislature. Within certain limits, this was undoubtedly a constitutional prerogative; But the history of Castile, like that of most other countries in Europe, shows how easily it was abused in the hands of an arbitrary prince.
[86] The civil and criminal business of the kingdom was committed, in the last resort, to the very ancient tribunal of alcaldes de casa y corte, until, in 1371, a new one, entitled the royal audience or chancery, was constituted under Henry II., with supreme and ultimate jurisdiction in civil causes. These, in the first instance, however, might be brought before the alcaldes de la corte, which continued, and has since continued, the high court in criminal matters.
The audiencia, or chancery, consisted at first of seven judges, whose number varied a good deal afterwards. They were appointed by the crown, in the manner mentioned in the text. Their salaries were such as to secure their independence, as far as possible, of any undue influence; and this was still further done by the supervision of cortes, whose acts show the deep solicitude with which it watched over the concerns and conduct of this important tribunal. For a notice of the original organization and subsequent modifications of the Castilian courts, consult Marina, (Teoría, part. 2, cap. 21-25,) Riol, (Informe, apud Semanario Erudito, tom. iii. pp. 129 et seq.) and Sempere, (Histoire des Cortès, chap. 15,) whose loose and desultory remarks show perfect familiarity with the subject, and presuppose more than is likely to be found in the reader.
[87] Siete Partidas, part. 2, tit. 26, leyes 5, 6, 7.—Mendoza notices this custom as recently as Philip II.'s day. Guerra de Granada, p. 170.
[88] Mariana, Hist. de España, lib. 15, cap. 19, 20.
[89] Garibay, Compendio, tom. ii. p. 399.—Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. pp. 234, 235.—Pedro Lopez de Ayala, chancellor of Castile and chronicler of the reigns of four of its successive monarchs, terminated his labors abruptly with the sixth year of Henry III., the subsequent period of whose administration is singularly barren of authentic materials for history. The editor of Ayala's Chronicle considers the adventure, quoted in the text, as fictitious, and probably suggested by a stratagem employed by Henry for the seizure of the duke of Benevente, and by his subsequent imprisonment at Burgos. See Ayala, Crónica de Castilla, p. 355, note, (ed. de la Acad., 1780.)
SECTION II.
REVIEW OF THE CONSTITUTION OF ARAGON TO THE MIDDLE OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY.
Rise of Aragon.—Ricos Hombres.—Their Immunities.—Their Turbulence.—
Privileges of Union.—The Legislature.—Its Forms.—Its Powers.—General
Privilege.—Judicial Functions of Cortes.—The Justice.—His Great
Authority.—Else and Opulence of Barcelona.—Her Free Institutions.—
Intellectual Culture.
The political institutions of Aragon, although bearing a general resemblance to those of Castile, were sufficiently dissimilar to stamp a peculiar physiognomy on the character of the nation, which still continued after it had been incorporated with the great mass of the Spanish monarchy.—It was not until the expiration of nearly five centuries after the Saracen invasion, that the little district of Aragon, growing up under the shelter of the Pyrenees, was expanded into the dimensions of the province which now bears that name. During this period, it was painfully struggling into being, like the other states of the Peninsula, by dint of fierce, unintermitted warfare with the infidel.
Even after this period, it would probably have filled but an insignificant space in the map of history, and, instead of assuming an independent station, have been compelled, like Navarre, to accommodate itself to the politics of the potent monarchies by which it was surrounded, had it not extended its empire by a fortunate union with Catalonia in the twelfth, and the conquest of Valencia in the thirteenth century. [1] These new territories were not only far more productive than its own, but, by their long line of coast and commodious ports, enabled the Aragonese, hitherto pent up within their barren mountains, to open a communication with distant regions.
The ancient county of Barcelona had reached a higher degree of civilization than Aragon, and was distinguished by institutions quite as liberal. The sea-board would seem to be the natural seat of liberty. There is something in the very presence, in the atmosphere of the ocean, which invigorates not only the physical, but the moral energies of man. The adventurous life of the mariner familiarizes him with dangers, and early accustoms him to independence. Intercourse with various climes opens new and more copious sources of knowledge; and increased wealth brings with it an augmentation of power and consequence. It was in the maritime cities scattered along the Mediterranean that the seeds of liberty, both in ancient and modern times, were implanted and brought to maturity. During the Middle Ages, when the people of Europe generally maintained a toilsome and infrequent intercourse with each other, those situated on the margin of this inland ocean found an easy mode of communication across the high road of its waters. They mingled in war too as in peace, and this long period is filled with their international contests, while the other free cities of Christendom were wasting themselves in civil feuds and degrading domestic broils. In this wide and various collision their moral powers were quickened by constant activity; and more enlarged views were formed, with a deeper consciousness of their own strength, than could be obtained by those inhabitants of the interior, who were conversant only with a limited range of objects, and subjected to the influence of the same dull, monotonous circumstances.
Among these maritime republics, those of Catalonia were eminently conspicuous. By the incorporation of this country with the kingdom of Aragon, therefore, the strength of the latter was greatly augmented. The Aragonese princes, well aware of this, liberally fostered institutions to which the country owed its prosperity, and skilfully availed themselves of its resources for the aggrandizement of their own dominions. They paid particular attention to the navy, for the more perfect discipline of which a body of laws was prepared by Peter the Fourth, in 1354, that was designed to render it invincible. No allusion whatever is made in this stern code to the mode of surrendering to, or retreating from the enemy. The commander, who declined attacking any force not exceeding his own by more than one vessel, was punished with death. [2] The Catalan navy successfully disputed the empire of the Mediterranean with the fleets of Pisa, and still more of Genoa. With its aid, the Aragonese monarchs achieved the conquest successively of Sicily, Sardinia, and the Balearic Isles, and annexed them to the empire. [3] It penetrated into the farthest regions of the Levant; and the expedition of the Catalans into Asia, which terminated with the more splendid than useful acquisition of Athens, forms one of the most romantic passages in this stirring and adventurous era. [4]
But, while the princes of Aragon were thus enlarging the bounds of their dominion abroad, there was probably not a sovereign in Europe possessed of such limited authority at home. The three great states with their dependencies, which constituted the Aragonese monarchy, had been declared by a statute of James the Second, in 1319, inalienable and indivisible. [5] Each of them, however, maintained a separate constitution of government, and was administered by distinct laws. As it would be fruitless to investigate the peculiarities of their respective institutions, which bear a very close affinity to one another, we may confine ourselves to those of Aragon, which exhibit a more perfect model than those either of Catalonia or Valencia, and have been far more copiously illustrated by her writers.
The national historians refer the origin of their government to a written constitution of about the middle of the ninth century, fragments of which are still preserved in certain ancient documents and chronicles. On occurrence of a vacancy in the throne, at this epoch, a monarch was elected by the twelve principal nobles, who prescribed a code of laws, to the observance of which he was obliged to swear before assuming the sceptre. The import of these laws was to circumscribe within very narrow limits the authority of the sovereign, distributing the principal functions to a Justicia, or Justice, and these same peers, who, in case of a violation of the compact by the monarch, were authorized to withdraw their allegiance, and, in the bold language of the ordinance, "to substitute any other ruler in his stead, even a pagan, if they listed." [6] The whole of this wears much of a fabulous aspect, and may remind the reader of the government which Ulysses met with in Phaeacia; where King Alcinous is surrounded by his "twelve illustrious peers or archons," subordinate to himself, "who," says he, "rule over the people, I myself being the thirteenth." [7] But, whether true or not, this venerable tradition must be admitted to have been well calculated to repress the arrogance of the Aragonese monarchs, and to exalt the minds of their subjects by the image of ancient liberty which it presented. [8]
The great barons of Aragon were few in number. They affected to derive their descent from the twelve peers above mentioned, and were styled ricos hombres de natura, implying by this epithet, that they were not indebted for their creation to the will of the sovereign. No estate could be legally conferred by the crown, as an honor (the denomination of fiefs in Aragon), on any but one of these high nobles. This, however, was in time evaded by the monarchs, who advanced certain of their own retainers to a level with the ancient peers of the land; a measure which proved a fruitful source of disquietude. [9] No baron could be divested of his fief, unless by public sentence of the Justice and the cortes. The proprietor, however, was required, as usual, to attend the king in council, and to perform military service, when summoned, during two months in the year, at his own charge. [10]
The privileges, both honorary and substantial, enjoyed by the ricos hombres, were very considerable. They filled the highest posts in the state. They originally appointed judges in their domains for the cognizance of certain civil causes, and over a class of their vassals exercised an unlimited criminal jurisdiction. They were excused from taxation except in specified cases; were exempted from all corporal and capital punishment; nor could they be imprisoned, although their estates might be sequestrated for debt. A lower class of nobility styled infanzones, equivalent to the Castilian hidalgos, together with the caballeros, or knights, were also possessed of important though inferior immunities. [11] The king distributed among the great barons the territory reconquered from the Moors, in proportions determined by the amount of their respective services. We find a stipulation to this effect from James the First to his nobles, previous to his invasion of Majorca. [12] On a similar principle they claimed nearly the whole of Valencia. [13] On occupying a city, it was usual to divide it into barrios, or districts, each of which was granted by way of fief to some one of the ricos hombres, from which he was to derive his revenue. What proportion of the conquered territory was reserved for the royal demesne does not appear. [14] We find one of these nobles, Bernard de Cabrera, in the latter part of the fourteenth century, manning a fleet of king's ships on his own credit; another, of the ancient family of Luna, in the fifteenth century, so wealthy that he could travel through an almost unbroken line of his estates all the way from Castile to France. [15] With all this, their incomes in general, in this comparatively poor country, were very inferior to those of the great Castilian lords. [16]
The laws conceded certain powers to the aristocracy of a most dangerous character. They were entitled, like the nobles of the sister kingdom, to defy, and publicly renounce their allegiance to their sovereign, with the whimsical privilege, in addition, of commending their families and estates to his protection, which he was obliged to accord, until they were again reconciled. [17] The mischievous right of private war was repeatedly recognized by statute. It was claimed and exercised in its full extent, and occasionally with circumstances of peculiar atrocity. An instance is recorded by Zurita of a bloody feud between two of these nobles, prosecuted with such inveteracy that the parties bound themselves by solemn oath never to desist from it during their lives, and to resist every effort, even on the part of the crown itself, to effect a pacification between them. [18] This remnant of barbarism lingered longer in Aragon than in any other country in Christendom.
The Aragonese sovereigns, who were many of them possessed of singular capacity and vigor, [19] made repeated efforts to reduce the authority of their nobles within more temperate limits. Peter the Second, by a bold stretch of prerogative, stripped them of their most important rights of jurisdiction. [20] James the Conqueror artfully endeavored to counterbalance their weight by that of the commons and the ecclesiastics. [21] But they were too formidable when united, and too easily united, to be successfully assailed. The Moorish wars terminated, in Aragon, with the conquest of Valencia, or rather the invasion of Murcia, by the middle of the thirteenth century. The tumultuous spirits of the aristocracy, therefore, instead of finding a vent, as in Castile, in these foreign expeditions, were turned within, and convulsed their own country with perpetual revolution. Haughty from the consciousness of their exclusive privileges and of the limited number who monopolized them, the Aragonese barons regarded themselves rather as the rivals of their sovereign, than as his inferiors. Intrenched within the mountain fastnesses, which the rugged nature of the country everywhere afforded, they easily bade defiance to his authority. Their small number gave a compactness and concert to their operations, which could not have been obtained in a multitudinous body. Ferdinand the Catholic well discriminated the relative position of the Aragonese and Castilian nobility, by saying, "it was as difficult to divide the one, as to unite the other." [22]
These combinations became still more frequent after formally receiving the approbation of King Alfonso the Third, who, in 1287, signed the two celebrated ordinances entitled the "Privileges of Union," by which his subjects were authorized to resort to arms on an infringement of their liberties. [23] The hermandad of Castile had never been countenanced by legislative sanction; it was chiefly resorted to as a measure of police, and was directed more frequently against the disorders of the nobility, than of the sovereign; it was organized with difficulty, and, compared with the union of Aragon, was cumbrous and languid in its operations. While these privileges continued in force, the nation was delivered over to the most frightful anarchy. The least offensive movement on the part of the monarch, the slightest encroachment on personal right or privilege, was the signal for a general revolt. At the cry of Union, that "last voice," says the enthusiastic historian, "of the expiring republic, full of authority and majesty, and an open indication of the insolence of kings," the nobles and the citizens eagerly rushed to arms. The principal castles belonging to the former were pledged as security for their fidelity, and intrusted to conservators, as they were styled, whose duty it was to direct the operations and watch over the interests of the Union. A common seal was prepared, bearing the device of armed men kneeling before their king, intimating at once their loyalty and their resolution, and a similar device was displayed on the standard and the other military insignia of the confederates. [24]