William Hickling Prescott - The History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic (Vol. 1-3)

[89] The abate Andres lamented fifty years ago, that the worms and moths should be allowed to revel among the precious relics of ancient Castilian literature. (Letteratura, tom. ii. p. 306.) Have their revels been disturbed yet?

[90] Mayáns y Siscár, Orígenes de la Lengua Española, (Madrid, 1737,) tom. ii. pp. 323, 324.—Crescimbeni, Istoria della Volgar Poesia, (Venezia, 1731,) tom. ii. p. 170.—Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. i. p. 183.— Velazquez, Poesía Castellana, pp. 23, 24.

[91] Mayáns y Siscár, Orígenes, tom. ii. pp. 325–327.

[92] Andres, Letteratura, tom. iv. pp. 85, 86.—Capmany, Mem. de Barcelona, tom. ii. Apend. no. 16.—There were thirty-two chairs, or professorships, founded and maintained at the expense of the city; six of theology; six of jurisprudence; five of medicine; six of philosophy; four of grammar; one of rhetoric; one of surgery; one of anatomy; one of Hebrew, and another of Greek. It is singular, that none should have existed for the Latin, so much more currently studied at that time, and of so much more practical application always, than either of the other ancient languages.

[93] The Valencian, "the sweetest and most graceful of the Limousin dialects," says Mayáns y Siscár, Orígenes, tom. i. p. 58.

[94] Nicolás Antonio, Bibliotheca, Hispana Vetus, (Matriti, 1788,) tom. ii. p. 146.—Andres, Letteratura, tom. iv. p. 87.

[95] Cervantes, Don Quixote, (ed. de Pellicer, Madrid, 1787,) tom. i, p. 62.—Mendez, Typographia Española, (Madrid, 1796,) pp. 72–75.—Andres, Letteratura, ubi supra.—Pellicer seems to take Martorell's word in good earnest, that his book is only a version from the Castilian.

The names of some of the most noted troubadours are collected by Velazquez, Poesía Castellana, (pp. 20–24.—Capmany, Mem. de Barcelona, tom. ii. Apend. no. 5.) Some extracts and pertinent criticisms on their productions may be found by the English reader in the Retrospective Review. (No. 7, art. 2.) It is to be regretted that the author has not redeemed his pledge of continuing his notices to the Castilian era of Spanish poetry.

[Illustration: GENEALOGY OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.]

1406–1492.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

1406–1454.

Revolution of Trastamara.—Accession of John II.—Rise of Alvaro de Luna.—Jealousy of the Nobles.—Oppression of the Commons.—Its Consequences.— Early Literature of Castile.—Its Encouragement under John II.—Decline of Alvaro de Luna.—His Fall.—Death of John II.—Birth of Isabella.

The fierce civil feuds, which preceded the accession of the House of Trastamara in 1368, were as fatal to the nobility of Castile, as the wars of the Hoses were to that of England. There was scarcely a family of note, which had not poured out its blood on the field or the scaffold. The influence of the aristocracy was, of course, much diminished with its numbers. The long wars with foreign powers, which a disputed succession entailed on the country, were almost equally prejudicial to the authority of the monarch, who was willing to buoy up his tottering title by the most liberal concession of privileges to the people. Thus the commons rose in proportion as the crown and the privileged orders descended in the scale; and, when the claims of the several competitors for the throne were finally extinguished, and the tranquillity of the kingdom was secured, by the union of Henry the Third with Catharine of Lancaster at the close of the fourteenth century, the third estate may be said to have attained to the highest degree of political consequence which it ever reached in Castile.

The healthful action of the body politic, during the long interval of peace that followed this auspicious union, enabled it to repair the strength, which had been wasted in its murderous civil contests. The ancient channels of commerce were again opened; various new manufactures were introduced, and carried to a considerable perfection; [1] wealth, with its usual concomitants, elegance and comfort, flowed in apace; and the nation promised itself a long career of prosperity under a monarch, who respected the laws in his own person, and administered them with vigor. All these fair hopes were blasted by the premature death of Henry the Third, before he had reached his twenty-eighth year. The crown devolved on his son John the Second, then a minor, whose reign was one of the longest and the most disastrous in the Castilian annals. [2] As it was that, however, which gave birth to Isabella, the illustrious subject of our narrative, it will be necessary to pass its principal features under review, in order to obtain a correct idea of her government.

The wise administration of the regency, during a long minority, postponed the season of calamity; and when it at length arrived, it was concealed for some time from the eyes of the vulgar by the pomp and brilliant festivities, which distinguished the court of the young monarch. His indisposition, if not incapacity for business, however, gradually became manifest; and, while he resigned himself without reserve to pleasures, which it must be confessed were not unfrequently of a refined and intellectual character, he abandoned the government of his kingdom to the control of favorites.

The most conspicuous of these was Alvaro de Luna, grand master of St. James, and constable of Castile. This remarkable person, the illegitimate descendant of a noble house in Aragon, was introduced very early as a page into the royal household, where he soon distinguished himself by his amiable manners and personal accomplishments. He could ride, fence, dance, sing, if we may credit his loyal biographer, better than any other cavalier in the court; while his proficiency in music and poetry recommended him most effectually to the favor of the monarch, who professed to be a connoisseur in both. With these showy qualities, Alvaro de Luna united others of a more dangerous complexion. His insinuating address easily conciliated confidence, and enabled him to master the motives of others, while his own were masked by consummate dissimulation. He was as fearless in executing his ambitious schemes, as he was cautious in devising them. He was indefatigable in his application to business, so that John, whose aversion to it we have noticed, willingly reposed on him the whole burden of government. The king, it was said, only signed, while the constable dictated and executed. He was the only channel of promotion to public office, whether secular or ecclesiastical. As his cupidity was insatiable, he perverted the great trust confided to him to the acquisition of the principal posts in the government for himself or his kindred, and at his death is said to have left a larger amount of treasure than was possessed by the whole nobility of the kingdom. He affected a magnificence of state corresponding with his elevated rank. The most considerable grandees in Castile contended for the honor of having their sons, after the fashion of the time, educated in his family. When he rode abroad, he was accompanied by a numerous retinue of knights and nobles, which left his sovereign's court comparatively deserted; so that royalty might be said on all occasions, whether of business or pleasure, to be eclipsed by the superior splendors of its satellite. [3] The history of this man may remind the English reader of that of Cardinal Wolsey, whom he somewhat resembled in character, and still more in his extraordinary fortunes.