Talavera, (called de la Reyna, because it was for some time the
_appanage_ of the Queens of Spain,) is one of the most ancient cities
of the monarchy. Though situated nearly in the centre of the Peninsula,
it has had the peculiar ill fortune of suffering in all ages, and from
all parties, the calamities of war. Christians and Moors stormed and
plundered it by turns, and not an instance occurs of an hostile force
failing before it, till that one which I now attempt to describe. The
ramparts were very strong, constructed of immense blocks of free-stone,
and flanked, as it is said, with eighteen square towers; but the most
ancient ramparts and towers have fallen into a state of dilapidation.
The inhabitants themselves, indeed, have been more destructive even than
Time, and, to procure stones for the erection of dwelling-houses, ‘have
industriously pillaged the dismantled walls, and reduced to an
insignificant heap of stones all those stately fragments of majesty and
strength, which had so long been preserved in Talavera as venerable
monuments of its eventful history[1].’
The gate of the western suburb has been rendered memorable by a
flagitious act of cruelty, committed in 1289, at the instigation of
Sancho the Brave. On that spot were exposed to view the dissected limbs
of 400 nobles of Talavera, who had been put to death for their adherence
to the cause of the unfortunate family of La Cerda, against a successful
usurper. This action is yet commemorated in the name of Puerto de
Quartos. Talavera is now a considerable and opulent city, and must have
been very populous even in 1289, since it could furnish 400 noble
victims of one party.