The History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Volume I Part 4

[69] Recop. de las Leyes, lib. 6, t.i.t. 1, leyes 2, 9; t.i.t. 2, leyes 3, 4, 10; t.i.t. 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, t.i.t. 21, which is taken up with defining the obligations of chivalry.

[71] See Fuero Juzgo, lib. 3, which is devoted almost exclusively to the s.e.x. Montesquieu discerns in the jealous surveillance, which the Visigoths maintained over the honor of their women, so close an a.n.a.logy 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 "Pa.s.so Honroso" appended to the Cronica 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 b.l.o.o.d.y 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 Ill.u.s.trium 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 Espana, lib. 9, cap. 18.

[76] Siete Partidas, part. 1, t.i.t. 6.--Florez, Espana 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 Espana, tom. i. p. 177.) See also the Ensayo, (nos. 322-364,) where Marina has a.n.a.lyzed 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 Espana, (Alcala 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. (Itineraire, 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, Teoria, 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 const.i.tuent part of the council, from the time of its first appointment. (Teoria, 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 Cortes, 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. (Teoria, part. 2, cap. 27, 28, 29.) See also Sempere, (Histoire des Cortes, 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.

(Teoria, part. 2, cap. 17, 18.) He borrows a pertinent ill.u.s.tration 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 a.s.sumed by the sovereign of granting _fueros_, or munic.i.p.al charters; a right, indeed, which the great lords, spiritual and temporal, exercised in common with him, subject to his sanction. See a mult.i.tude of these seignorial codes, enumerated by a.s.so and Manuel. (Inst.i.tuciones, Introd., pp. 31 et seq.) The monarch claimed, moreover, though not by any means so freely as in later times, the privilege of issuing _pragmaticas_, 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 const.i.tutional 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, ent.i.tled the royal audience or chancery, was const.i.tuted 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, (Teoria, part. 2, cap. 21-25,) Riol, (Informe, apud Semanario Erudito, tom. iii.

pp. 129 et seq.) and Sempere, (Histoire des Cortes, 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, t.i.t. 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 Espana, lib. 15, cap. 19, 20.

[89] Garibay, Compendio, tom. ii. p. 399.--Mariana, Hist. de Espana, 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 fict.i.tious, 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, Cronica de Castilla, p. 355, note, (ed. de la Acad., 1780.)

SECTION II.

REVIEW OF THE CONSt.i.tUTION 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 Inst.i.tutions.-- Intellectual Culture.

The political inst.i.tutions 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 ma.s.s 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 s.p.a.ce in the map of history, and, instead of a.s.suming 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 inst.i.tutions 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 circ.u.mstances.

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 inst.i.tutions 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 pa.s.sages 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 const.i.tuted 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 const.i.tution of government, and was administered by distinct laws. As it would be fruitless to investigate the peculiarities of their respective inst.i.tutions, 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 ill.u.s.trated by her writers.

The national historians refer the origin of their government to a written const.i.tution of about the middle of the ninth century, fragments of which are still preserved in certain ancient doc.u.ments and chronicles. On occurrence of a vacancy in the throne, at this epoch, a monarch was elected by the twelve princ.i.p.al n.o.bles, who prescribed a code of laws, to the observance of which he was obliged to swear before a.s.suming the sceptre. The import of these laws was to circ.u.mscribe within very narrow limits the authority of the sovereign, distributing the princ.i.p.al 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 subst.i.tute 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 ill.u.s.trious 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 n.o.bles. 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 cla.s.s of their va.s.sals 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 cla.s.s of n.o.bility 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 n.o.bles, 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 n.o.bles, Bernard de Cabrera, in the latter part of the fourteenth century, manning a fleet of king's s.h.i.+ps 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 ent.i.tled, like the n.o.bles 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 circ.u.mstances of peculiar atrocity. An instance is recorded by Zurita of a b.l.o.o.d.y feud between two of these n.o.bles, 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 n.o.bles 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 a.s.sailed. 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 mult.i.tudinous body. Ferdinand the Catholic well discriminated the relative position of the Aragonese and Castilian n.o.bility, 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 ent.i.tled 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 n.o.bility, than of the sovereign; it was organized with difficulty, and, compared with the union of Aragon, was c.u.mbrous 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 n.o.bles and the citizens eagerly rushed to arms. The princ.i.p.al 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]

The power of the monarch was as nothing before this formidable array. The Union appointed a council to control all his movements, and, in fact, during the whole period of its existence, the reigns of four successive monarchs, it may be said to have dictated law to the land. At length Peter the Fourth, a despot in heart, and naturally enough impatient of this eclipse of regal prerogative, brought the matter to an issue, by defeating the army of the Union, at the memorable battle of Epila, in 1348, "the last," says Zurita, "in which it was permitted to the subject to take up arms against the sovereign for the cause of liberty." Then, convoking an a.s.sembly of the states at Saragossa, he produced before them the instrument containing the two Privileges, and cut it in pieces with his dagger. In doing this, having wounded himself in the hand, he suffered the blood to trickle upon the parchment, exclaiming, that "a law which had been the occasion of so much blood, should be blotted out by the blood of a king." [25] All copies of it, whether in the public archives, or in the possession of private individuals, were ordered, under a heavy penalty, to be destroyed. The statute pa.s.sed to that effect carefully omits the date of the detested instrument, that all evidence of its existence might perish with it. [26]

Instead of abusing his victory, as might have been antic.i.p.ated from his character, Peter adopted a far more magnanimous policy. He confirmed the ancient privileges of the realm, and made in addition other wise and salutary concessions. From this period, therefore, is to be dated the possession of const.i.tutional liberty in Aragon; (for surely the reign of unbridled license, above described, is not deserving that name;) and this not so much from the acquisition of new immunities, as from the more perfect security afforded for the enjoyment of the old. The court of the _Justicia_, that great barrier interposed by the const.i.tution between despotism on the one hand and popular license on the other, was more strongly protected, and causes. .h.i.therto decided by arms were referred for adjudication to this tribunal. [27] From this period, too, the cortes, whose voice was scarcely heard amid the wild uproar of preceding times, was allowed to extend a beneficial and protecting sway over the land. And, although the social history of Aragon, like that of other countries in this rude age, is too often stained with deeds of violence and personal feuds, yet the state at large, under the steady operation of its laws, probably enjoyed a more uninterrupted tranquillity than fell to the lot of any other nation in Europe.

The Aragonese cortes was composed of four branches, or arms; [28] the ricos hombres, or great barons; the lesser n.o.bles, comprehending the knights; the clergy, and the commons. The n.o.bility of every denomination were ent.i.tled to a seat in the legislature. The ricos hombres were allowed to appear by proxy, and a similar privilege was enjoyed by baronial heiresses. The number of this body was very limited, twelve of them const.i.tuting a quorum. [29]

The arm of the ecclesiastics embraced an ample delegation from the inferior as well as higher clergy. [30] It is affirmed not to have been a component of the national legislature until more than a century and a half after the admission of the commons. [31] Indeed, the influence of the church was much less sensible in Aragon, than in the other kingdoms of the peninsula. Notwithstanding the humiliating concessions of certain of their princes to the papal see, they were never recognized by the nation, who uniformly a.s.serted their independence of the temporal supremacy of Rome; and who, as we shall see hereafter, resisted the introduction of the Inquisition, that last stretch of ecclesiastical usurpation, even to blood. [32]

The commons enjoyed higher consideration and civil privileges than in Castile. For this they were perhaps somewhat indebted to the example of their Catalan neighbors, the influence of whose democratic inst.i.tutions naturally extended to other parts of the Aragonese monarchy. The charters of certain cities accorded to the inhabitants privileges of n.o.bility, particularly that of immunity from taxation; while the magistrates of others were permitted to take their seats in the order of hidalgos. [33]

From a very early period we find them employed in offices of public trust, and on important missions. [34] The epoch of their admission into the national a.s.sembly is traced as far back as 1133, several years earlier than the commencement of popular representation in Castile. [35] Each city had the right of sending two or more deputies selected from persons eligible to its magistracy; but with the privilege of only one vote, whatever might be the number of its deputies. Any place, which had been once represented in cortes, might always claim to be so. [36]