History of The Reign of Philip The Second King of Spain History of the Reign of Philip the Second, King of Spain Part 63

[444] Llorente, Inquisition d'Espagne, tom. II. p. 236.

[445] The anecdote is well attested. (Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. V.

cap. 3.) Father Agustin Davila notices what he styles this _sentencia famosa_ in his funeral discourse on Philip, delivered at Valladolid soon after that monarch's death. (Sermones Funerales, en las Honras del Rey Don Felipe II., fol. 77.) Colmenares still more emphatically eulogizes the words thus uttered in the cause of the true faith, as worthy of such a prince. "El primer sentenciado al fuego en este Auto fue Don Carlos de Seso de sangre n.o.ble, que oso dezir al Rey, como consentia que le quemasen, y severo respondio, Yo trahere la lena para quemar a mi hijo, si fuere tan malo como vos. Accion y palabras dignas de tal Rey en causa de la suprema religion." Historia de Segovia, cap. XLII. sec. 3.

[446] Llorente, Inquisition d'Espagne, tom. II. p. 237.

[447] Monta.n.u.s, Discovery of sundry subtill Practises of the Inquisition, p. 52.--Llorente, Inquisition d'Espagne, tom. II. p.

239.--Sepulveda, Opera, tom. III. p. 58.

[448] Puigblanch, The Inquisition Unmasked, (London, 1816,) vol. I. p.

336.

[449] "Hallose por esto presente a ver llevar i entregar al fuego muchos delinquentes aconpanados de sus guardas de a pie i de a cavallo, que ayudaron a la execucion." Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. V. cap. 3.

It may be doubted whether the historian means anything more than that Philip saw the unfortunate man led to execution, at which his own guards a.s.sisted. Davila, the friar who, as I have noticed, p.r.o.nounced a funeral oration on the king, speaks of him simply as having a.s.sisted at this act of faith,--"a.s.sistir a los actos de Fe, como se vio en esta Ciudad."

(Sermones Funerales, fol. 77.) Could the worthy father have ventured to give Philip credit for being present at the death, he would not have failed to do so. Leti, less scrupulous, tells us that Philip saw the execution from the windows of his palace, heard the cries of the dying martyrs, and enjoyed the spectacle! The picture he gives of the scene loses nothing for want of coloring. Vita di Filippo II., tom. I. p. 342.

[450] How little sympathy, may be inferred from the savage satisfaction with which a wise and temperate historian at the time dismisses to everlasting punishment one of the martyrs at the first _auto_ at Valladolid. "Jureque vivus flammis corpore cruciatus miserrimam animam efflavit ad supplicia sempiterna." Sepulveda, Opera, tom. III. p. 58.

[451] Balmes, one of the most successful champions of the Romish faith in our time, finds in the terrible apathy thus shown to the sufferings of the martyrs a proof of a more vital religious sentiment than exists at the present day! "We feel our hair grow stiff on our heads at the mere idea of burning a man alive. Placed in society where the religious sentiment is considerably diminished; accustomed to live among men who have a different religion, and sometimes none at all; we cannot bring ourselves to believe that it could be, at that time, quite an ordinary thing to see heretics or the impious led to punishment." Protestantism and Catholicity compared in their Effects on the Civilization of Europe, Eng. trans., (Baltimore, 1851,) p. 217.

According to this view of the matter, the more religion there is among men, the harder will be their hearts.

[452] The zeal of the king and the Inquisition together in the work of persecution had wellnigh got the nation into more than one difficulty with foreign countries. Mann, the English minister, was obliged to remonstrate against the manner in which the independence of his own household was violated by the agents of the Holy Office. The complaints of St. Sulpice, the French amba.s.sador, notwithstanding the gravity of the subject, are told in a vein of caustic humor that may provoke a smile in the reader: "I have complained to the king of the manner in which the Ma.r.s.eillese, and other Frenchmen, are maltreated by the Inquisition. He excused himself by saying that he had little power or authority in matters which depended on that body; he could do nothing further than recommend the grand-inquisitor to cause good and speedy justice to be done to the parties. The grand-inquisitor promised that they should be treated no worse than born Castilians, and the 'good and speedy justice'came to this, that they were burnt alive in the king's presence." Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I. p. 111.

[453] The archbishop of Toledo, according to Lucio Marineo Siculo, who wrote a few years before this period, had jurisdiction over more than fifteen large towns, besides smaller places, which of course made the number of his va.s.sals enormous. His revenues also, amounting to eighty thousand ducats, exceeded those of any grandee in the kingdom. The yearly revenues of the subordinate beneficiaries of his church were together not less than a hundred and eighty thousand ducats. Cosas Memorables de Espana, (Alcala de Henares, 1539,) fol. 13.

[454] Salazar, Vida de Carranza, (Madrid, 1788,) cap. 1-11.--Doc.u.mentos Ineditos, tom. V. p. 389 et seq.--Llorente, Inquisition d'Espagne, tom.

II. p. 163; tom. III. p. 183 et seq.

[455] "En que se quemaron mas de 400 casas princ.i.p.ales, y ricas, y algunas en aquel barrio donde el estaba; no solo no lo entendio el Arzobispo, pero ni lo supo hasta muchos anos despues de estar en Roma."

Salazar, Vida de Carranza cap. 15.

[456] Salazar, Vida de Carranza, cap. 12-35.--Doc.u.mentos Ineditos, tom.

V. pp. 453-463.--Llorente, Inquisition d'Espagne, tom. III. p. 218 et seq.

[457] The persecution of Carranza has occupied the pens of several Castilian writers. The most ample biographical notice of him is by the Doctor Salazar de Miranda, who derived his careful and trustworthy narrative from the best original sources. Llorente had the advantage of access to the voluminous records of the Holy Office, of which he was the secretary; and in his third volume he has devoted a large s.p.a.ce to the process of Carranza which, with the whole ma.s.s of legal doc.u.ments growing out of the protracted prosecution, amounted, as he a.s.sures us, to no less than twenty-six thousand leaves of ma.n.u.script. This enormous ma.s.s of testimony leads one to suspect that the object of the Inquisition was not so much to detect the truth as to cover it up. The learned editors of the "Doc.u.mentos Ineditos" have profited by both these works, as well as by some unpublished ma.n.u.scripts of that day, relating to the affair, to exhibit it fully and fairly to the Castilian reader, who in this brief history may learn the value of the inst.i.tutions under which his fathers lived.

[458] So says McCrie, whose volume on the Reformation in Spain presents in a reasonable compa.s.s a very accurate view of that interesting movement. The historian does not appear to have had access to any rare or recondite materials; but he has profited well by those at his command, comprehending the best published works, and has digested them into a narrative distinguished for its temperance and truth.

[459] A full account of this duke of Infantado is to be found in the extremely rare work of Nunez de Castro, Historia Ecclesiastica y Seglar de Guadalajara, (Madrid, 1653,) p. 180 et seq. Oviedo, in his curious volumes on the Castilian aristocracy, which he brings down to 1556, speaks of the dukes of Infantado as having a body-guard of two hundred men, and of being able to muster a force of thirty thousand!

Quincuagenas, MS.

[460] "Avia gualdrapas de dos mil ducados de costa sin conputar valor de piedras." Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. V. cap. 7.

[461] "Elle repondit d'un air riant, et avec des termes pleins tout ensemble de douceur et de majeste." De Thou, tom. III. p. 426.

[462] We have a minute account of this interview from the pens of two of Isabella's train, who accompanied her to Castile, and whose letters to the cardinal of Lorraine are to be found in the valuable collection of historical doc.u.ments, the publication of which was begun under the auspices of Louis Philippe. Doc.u.ments Inedits sur l'Histoire de France, Negociations etc. relatives au Regne de Francois II., p. 171 et seq.

[463] Lucio Marineo, in his curious farrago of notable matters, speaks of the sumptuous residence of the dukes of Infantado in Guadalajara.

"Los muy magnificos y sumpticosos palacios que alli estan de los muy ill.u.s.tres duques de la casa muy antigua de los Mendocas." Cosas Memorables, fol. 13.

[464] "J'ay ouy conter a une de ses dames que la premiere fois qu'elle vist son mary, elle se mit a le contempler si fixement, que le Roy, ne le trouvant pas bon, luy demanda: _Que mirais, si tengo canas?_ c'est-a-dire, 'Que regardez-vous, si j'ai les cheveux blancs?'Ces mots luy toucherent si fort au cur que depuis on augura mal pour elle."

Brantome, uvres, tom. V. p. 131.

[465] In this statement I conform to Sismondi's account. In the present instance, however, there is even more uncertainty than is usual in regard to a lady's age. According to Cabrera, Isabella was eighteen at the time of her marriage; while De Thou makes her only eleven when the terms of the alliance were arranged by the commissioners at Cateau-Cambresis. These are the extremes, but within them there is no agreement amongst the authorities I have consulted.

[466] "Elizabeth de France, et vraye fille de France, en tout belle, sage, vertueuse, spirituelle et bonne, s'il en fust oncques." Brantome, uvres, tom. V. p. 126.

[467] "Son visage estoit beau, et ses cheveux et yeux noirs, qui adombroient son teint...... Sa taille estoit tres belle, et plus grande que toutes ses surs, qui la rendoit fort admirable en Espagne, d'autant que les tailles hautes y sont rares, et pour ce fort estimables." Ibid., p. 128.

[468] "Les seigneurs ne l'osoient regarder de peur d'en estre espris, et en causer jalousie au roy son mary, et par consequent eux courir fortune de la vie." Ibid., p. 128.

[469] "La regina istessa parue non so come sorpressa da vn sentimento di malinconica pa.s.sione, nel vedersi abbracciare da vn re di 33 anni, di garbo ordinario alla presenza d'vn giouine prencipe molto ben fatto, e che prima dell'altro l'era stato promesso in sposo." Leti, Vita di Filippo II., tom. I. p. 345.

[470] Brantome, who was certainly one of those who believed in the jealousy of Philip, if not in the pa.s.sion of Isabella, states the circ.u.mstance of the king's supplanting his son in a manner sufficiently _nave_. "Mais le roy d'Espagne son pere, venant a estre veuf par le trespas de la reyne d'Angleterre sa femme et sa cousine germaine, ayant veu le pourtraict de madame Elizabeth, et la trouvant fort belle et fort a son gre, en coupa l'herbe soubs le pied a son fils, et la prit pour luy, commencant cette charite a soy mesme." uvres, tom. V. p. 127.

[471] Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. V. cap. 6.--Florez, Reynas Catolicas, p. 897.

"A la despedida presento el Duque del Ynfantado al Rey, Reyna, Damas, Duenas de honor, y a las de la Camara ricas joyas de oro y plata, telas, guantes, y otras preseas tan ricas, por la prolixidad del arte, como por lo precioso de la materia." De Castro, Hist. de Guadalajara, p. 116.

[472] "Dancas de hermosisimas donzellas de la Sagra, i las de espadas antigua invencion de Espanoles." Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. V. cap.

6.

[473] "Por la mucha hermosura que avia en las damas de la ciudad i Corte, el adorno de los miradores i calles, las libreas costosas i varias i muchas, que todo hazia un florido campo o lienco de Flandres."

Ibid., ubi supra.

[474] The royal nuptials were commemorated in a Latin poem, in two books, "De Pace et Nuptiis Philippi et Isabellae." It was the work of Fernando Ruiz de Villegas, an eminent scholar of that day, whose writings did not make their appearance in print till nearly two centuries later,--and then not in his own land, but in Italy. In this _epithalamium_, if it may be so called, the poet represents Juno as invoking Jupiter to interfere in behalf of the French monarchy, that it may not be crushed by the arms of Spain. Venus, under the form of the duke of Alva,--as effectual a disguise as could be imagined,--takes her seat in the royal council, and implores Philip to admit France to terms, and to accept the hand of Isabella as the pledge of peace between the nations. Philip graciously relents; peace is proclaimed; the marriage between the parties is solemnized, with the proper Christian rites; and Venus appears, in her own proper shape, to bless the nuptials! One might have feared that this jumble of Christian rites and heathen mythology would have scandalized the Holy Office, and exposed its ingenious author to the honors of a _san benito_. But the poet wore his laurels unscathed, and, for aught I know to the contrary, died quietly in his bed. See Opera Ferdinandi Ruizii Villegatis, (Venetiis, 1736,) pp.

30-70.

[475] The sovereign remedy, according to the curious Brantome, was new-laid eggs. It is a pity the prescription should be lost. "On luy secourust son visage si bien par des sueurs d'ufs frais, chose fort propre pour cela, qu'il n'y parut rien; dont j'en vis la Reyne sa mere fort curieuse a luy envoyer par force couriers beaucoup de remedes, mais celui de la sueur d'uf en estoit le souverain." uvres, tom. V. p. 129.

[476] "Aussi l'appelloit-on _la Reyna de la paz y de la bondad_, c'est-a-dire la Reyne de la paix et de la bonte; et nos Francois l'appelloient l'olive de paix." Ibid., ubi supra.

[477] "Et bien heureux et heureuse estoit celuy ou celle qui pouvoit le soir dire 'J'ay veu la Reyne.'" Ibid., ubi supra.

[478] The difficulty began so soon as Isabella had crossed the borders.

The countess of Urena, sister of the duke of Albuquerque, one of the train of the duke of Infantado, claimed precedence of the countess of Rieux and Mademoiselle de Montpensier, kinswomen of the queen. The latter would have averted the discussion by giving the Castilian dame a seat in her carriage; but the haughty countess chose to take the affair into her own hands; and her servants came into collision with those of the French ladies, as they endeavored to secure a place for their mistress's litter near the queen. Isabella, with all her desire to accommodate matters, had the spirit to decide in favor of her own followers, and the aspiring lady was compelled--with an ill grace--to give way to the blood royal of France. It was easier, as Isabella, or rather as her husband, afterwards found, to settle disputes between rival states than between the rival beauties of a court. The affair is told by Lansac, Negociations relatives au Regne de Francois II., p. 171.

[479] "Elle ne porta jamais une robe deux fois, et puis la donnoit a ses femmes et ses filles: et Dieu scait quelles robbes, si riches et si superbes, que la moindre estoit de trois ou quatre cens escus; car le Roy son mary l'entretenoit fort superbement de ces choses la." Brantome, uvres, tom. V. p. 140.

[480] The MS., which is in Italian, is in the Royal Library at Paris.

See the extracts from it in Raumer's Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I. p. 104 et seq.

[481] "Don Felipe Segundo nuestro senor, el cual con muy suntuosas, y exquisitas fabricas dignas de tan grande Principe, de nuevo le il.u.s.tra, de manera que es, consideradas todas sus calidades, la mas rara casa que ningun Principe tiene en el mundo, a dicho de los estrangeros." Juan Lopez, ap. Quintana, Antiguedad, n.o.bleza y Grandeza de la Villa y Corte de Madrid, p. 331.

[482] Ibid., ubi supra.--Sylva, Poblacion de Espana, (Madrid, 1675,) cap. 4.--Estrada, Poblacion de Espana, (Madrid, 1748,) tom. I. p. 123.

[483] I quote the words of a work now become very scarce. "De dos mil y quinientas y veinte casas que tenia Madrid quando su Magestad traxo desde Toledo a ella la Corte, en las quales quando mucho avria de doce mil a catorce mil personas,.... avia el ano de mil y quinientos y noventa y ocho, repartidas en trece Parroquias doce mil casas, y en ellas trescientas mil personas y mas." Quintana, Antiguedad de Madrid, p. 331.