that passage of the text to which the present note refers, is
entitled _Suma de todas las cronicas del mundo_. According to some
authorities, its author was Frai Diego de Bérgano, and according
to others, Filipo Jacobo Bérgano. A translation from Latin into
Castilian, by Narcis Viñoles, was printed in Valencia in the year
1510.
To these two old works, the one a sort of Enciclopœdia, and the other
a History of the World from the time of the Creation, there is reason
to believe that Cervantes alludes in that part of the _Buscapié_ in
which the student mentions the two excellent books sent to him “as a
present from Señor Arcediana.”
(E).
“Pedro de Ezinas.” (Page 109).
Father Pedro de Ezinas, a monk of the order of the Predicadores, in
the Convent of St. Domingo at Huete, was preparing to submit several
of his poems to the press when he suddenly died. Some monks of his
order, determined on carrying out the intention of the writer, and
the poems were accordingly printed under the following title, Versos
espirituales que tratan de la convercion del pecador, menosprecio del
mundo, y vida de Nuestro Señor, con unas sucintas declaraciones sobre
algunos pasos del libro, compuestos por el Reverende Padre, Fray
Pedro de Ezinas de la orden de Santo Domingo. En Cuenca en casa de
Miguel Serrano de Vargas, año de, 1597.
(F).
“Greatly as you admire the verses of Ezinas, I must confess that they
are not so pleasing to me, nor do they sound so harmoniously to my ear
as the poetry of Aldana, or that of an Aragonian writer named Alonzo de
la Sierra.” (Page 112).
Francisco de Aldana, the writer here alluded to was honoured by his
contemporaries with the surname of the Divine. He had, however, but
little claim to that distinction, for his versification is frequently
inharmonious and his language harsh. A collection of his poems was
published at Milan, in the year 1589, under the following title, _La
primera parte de las obras que hasta agora se han podido hallar del
Capitan Francisco de Aldana, Alcaide de San Sebastian, el qual murio
peleando en la jornada de Africa. Agora nuevamente puestas en luz por
su hermano Cosme de Aldana gentil hombre del Rey Don Felipe nuestro
Señor, &c._ The first part of the works (hitherto found) of Captain
Francisco de Aldana, Alcalde of San Sebastian, who died in battle in
Africa. Now published by his brother, Cosme de Aldana, Gentleman in
the service of King Don Philip, our Lord, &c.
(G).
“Al buen callar llaman Sago.” (Page 118).
The meaning of this proverb is that it is wise to know when to hold
one’s tongue. As _sabio_, not _sago_, is the Spanish adjective
meaning _wise_, it has been conjectured that _sago_ is a corruption
of some other word. This appears the more probable, as the proverb,
both in speaking and writing is frequently quoted thus, “Al buen
callar llaman _Sancho_,” which literally construed is, _he who knows
when to hold his tongue is called Sancho_, possibly in allusion to
King Don Sancho of Navarre, surnamed _The Wise_. But be this as it
may, the proverb occurs in the poem of the Conde Lucanor, and in
other old Spanish writings with the word _Sago_, as it is given by
Cervantes in the _Buscapié_.
A shrewd French writer has observed that proverbs are the wisdom of a
nation, and with equal truth it may be said that no people possess so
large a share of this sort of national wisdom as the Spaniards. There
is scarcely one of their countless stock of every day proverbs that
is not a wise maxim founded on experience and truth. Two classes
of proverbs with which the Spanish language abounds, viz.: those
embodying philosophic and medical maxims, have furnished materials
for two curious old treatises, the one entitled _La Filosofía
vulgar_, by Juan de Mal Lara, published at Salamanca in 1568, the
other, _La Medecina española contenida en proverbios vulgares de
nuestra lengua_[68] by Doctor Juan Sorapan de Rieros, Granada, 1616.
In the preface to this last mentioned work, the author states that
he has opened a new road, previously unknown to any author, ancient
or modern, Greek, Latin, or Spanish. For though it is true that
many have collected proverbs and made comments on them, yet no
one has written a word on the proverbs of the class to which this
work refers: no one has collected the Spanish proverbs relating to
medicine and formed upon them a system for preserving human health.
“I have,” he says, “been the first to enter upon this new path, in
which, short and crooked though it be, the reader will find all the
essential knowledge transmitted to us by the Arab and Greek masters
of rational medicine; the superfluous knowledge being left to those
who are disposed to travel by the broad and even path which learning
has opened.”
“Inasmuch as it has been my wish to exempt mankind from the
prescription of the physician, the spatula of the apothecary, and
the tape of the barber, I have deemed it expedient to write this
book in my mother tongue, to render it more useful to my nation,
in which though there are many latinists, yet there are many more
romancistas;[69] and there is no reason why the latter should not
enjoy the benefit of those old Spanish aphorisms on which I have
commented. These maxims coming as they do from our forefathers ought
to be venerated instead of being despised; and to show that this
book is derived therefrom, I have given it the title of _Medecina
Española_. If among my readers there should be any who despise their
genuine native language, they will find on the margin in Latin, the
substance of what is written in the text, together with references to
the works of learned authors who have written on the subject.”
(H).
“He presented himself after the victory to the illustrious emperor,
who was at that moment engaged in dictating to his _Maestre de Campo_,
Alonzo Vivas, the three notable words of Julius Cæsar, altering the
third as became a Christian prince, &c.” (Page 120).
In the commentary on the war in Flanders, by Luis de Ávila y
Zuñiga,[70] the following passage occurs:--
“This great victory (which terminated the battle fought on the river
Albis, on the 24th of August, 1547), his Majesty attributed to God,
as a thing wrought by God’s hand, and therefore he repeated those
three words of Cæsar, changing the third as became a Christian
prince, acknowledging the favour which God conferred on him, _Vine,
vi y Dios venció_.”
This and other allusions to Charles V., would seem to have given rise
to the idea that the _Buscapié_ contained the avowal of Cervantes
that his principal object in writing _Don Quixote_, had been to
satirize certain acts of the renowned emperor, no less extravagant
than those which are recorded of the knights-errant of old. This
idea, though wholly unfounded, received some degree of confirmation
from a letter of Don Antonio Ruidiaz, published by Vicente de los
Ríos, in his Life of Cervantes. In that letter Ruidiaz mentions
having had an opportunity of perusing a copy of the Buscapié,[71] and
that it appeared to him to be merely a satire on several celebrated
individuals, among whom were the Emperor Charles V., and the Duke de
Lerma. Cervantes, doubtless means to censure the taste cherished by
those personages for chivalrous entertainments, when, in allusion to
the famous festivities at Binche, he says in the _Buscapié_:--“The
knights actually performed these feats or rather these fooleries,
and they were approved by the Emperor and the Prince Don Philip, who
derived therefrom much entertainment. And will it be said that there
are not other madmen in the world besides the ingenious Knight of La
Mancha, when such madness finds favour in the eyes of emperors and
kings?”
But because Cervantes has here censured Charles V.’s taste for
chivalrous diversions, by what process of reasoning is it to be
inferred that he intended _Don Quixote_ as a satire on that monarch?
It may also be asked what acts in the life of Charles V. bear any
resemblance to the achievements of the Knight of La Mancha? Certainly
none! yet, nevertheless, some able critics have racked their
ingenuity in endeavouring to discover allusions where none exist.
On the other hand, it must be admitted that in _Don Quixote_ there
is no lack of ridicule and censure on many customs and abuses
which prevailed in the time of Cervantes. An amusing satire on
the Inquisition occurs in vol. iv., where Don Quixote and Sancho
are overtaken and made prisoners by the duke’s servants, who ever
and anon address them thus:--“Go on, ye Troglodytes! peace, ye
barbarians! pay, ye Anthropophagi! complain not, ye Scythians! open
not your eyes, ye muttering Polyphemuses! ye carnivorous lions!”
&c. Thereby imitating the language which the ministers of the holy
tribunal were wont to address to criminals, or presumed criminals.
Then follows the description of the _auto de fe_ which takes place
when Don Quixote and Sancho are conducted to the court-yard of the
castle, “around which about a hundred torches were placed in sockets,
and in the galleries of the court there were more than five hundred
lights, insomuch that in spite of the night, which was somewhat dark,
there seemed to be no want of the day.”
The arrangement of the place is minutely described, and the seats
allotted to the different personages present at the _auto_ are
specified thus: “On one side of the court a sort of stage or platform
was erected, and on it were two chairs. On these chairs were seated
two personages (Minos and Rhadamanthus, the presiding judges in
Pandemonium), whose crowns on their heads and sceptres in their
hands denoted them to be kings, either real or feigned. And now, two
great persons ascended the platform with a numerous attendance whom
Don Quixote presently knew to be the Duke and Duchess whose guest
he had been:”--The following passage is intended as a parody on the
cruel threats which the inquisitors held out to criminals. “At this
juncture an officer crossed the place, and coming to Sancho, threw
over him a robe of black buckram, all painted over with flames, and
taking off his cap, put on his head a pasteboard mitre three feet
high, like those used by penitents, and whispering in his ear bade
him not to open his lips because if he did they would put a gag in
his mouth or kill him.” A little further on is depicted the refinement
of cruelty with which the Inquisition excited the merriment as well as
the terror of the populace, by showing the criminals dressed up in
masquerade, and covered with fantastic emblems and devices. “Sancho
viewed himself from top to toe, and saw himself all covered with
flames, but finding that they did not burn him he cared not two
_ardites_. He took off his mitre and saw it all painted over with
devils; he then put it on again saying within himself, well these
flames do not burn me, nor do these demons carry me away. Don Quixote
also surveyed him, and though dismay suspended his senses, he could
not but smile to behold Sancho’s figure.” And in the conclusion of
the chapter, the scene descriptive of the resurrection of Altisidora,
Cervantes evidently ridicules the fatuity of the inquisitorial
judges, who after having tormented a prisoner into the confession
of a crime of which he was innocent, would gravely congratulate
themselves on having effected a conversion.
Those who wish to verify the truthfulness of the satire dealt out
by Cervantes on the _Autos de fe_, may be referred to a work by
a learned Spanish writer, better known to foreigners than to the
author’s own countrymen. It is entitled _La Inquisicion sin Mascara_,
by the late Don Antonio Puigblanch, published at Cádiz, in the year
1811; the author screening himself under the fictitious name of
Natanael Jomtob.[72]
Clemencin doubts whether, in painting the burlesque scene in the
duke’s court-yard, Cervantes had any intention of ridiculing the
Inquisition; but his doubt is grounded merely on the fact that
Cervantes, in several of his other works, eulogizes this barbarous
tribunal. However, in the chapter of _Don Quixote_, above commented
on, Cervantes pays himself the compliment of saying that all the
arrangements for the pretended resurrection of Altisidora were made
“so to the life, that there was but little difference between them
and reality.” His avowed aim was to exhibit the inquisitors in no
less ridiculous a light than Don Quixote and Sancho, for he makes the
grave historian, Cid Hamet Benengeli, observe, that “to his thinking
the mockers were as mad as the mocked.”--(_Afirmando que tiene para
si ser tan locos los burladores como los burlados._)
(I).
“Hereupon the bachelor ran into a string of questions worthy of that
most indefatigable questioner, the lately defunct Almirante.” (Page
122).
Our author no doubt here alludes to the questions addressed by Don
Fadrique Enríquez, who filled the high post of Admiral of Castile, to
Luis de Escobar, a Franciscan Monk. Escobar published, at Saragossa,
in the year 1543, the first volume of a work, entitled _Preguntas
del Almirante_, (Queries of the Admiral.) The favour with which this
volume was received by some of the most learned men of the age,
encouraged the author to submit to the press a second part, which
terminates with a curious paragraph, of which the following is a
translation:--
“To the honour and glory of Our Lord and Saviour, and of his blessed
Mother Our Lady, here ends the second part of the four hundred
replies to the Admiral of Castile, Don Fadrique Enriques, and other
persons answered but not named by the author. To these are added two
hundred answers, which, with the four hundred of the first part, and
the four hundred of this second part, complete one thousand. This
work was printed in the most noble city of Valladolid (anciently
called Pincia.) Finished on the second of January of this present
year, MDLII.”
This work is a collection of replies, some in verse, some in prose,
written in answer to questions addressed to the Padre Escobar by
various individuals. One of the principal interrogators is Dr.
Céspedes, who is distinguished by the titles of _medico famoso,
clérigo i catedrátigo in Valladolid_. The names of several monks
and Spanish grandees are attached to many of the queries, of which,
however, the majority emanates from the Almirante de Castilla, and
for that reason the book is called, _Preguntas del Almirante_. These
questions relate chiefly to points of religion and history, and
some refer to matters connected with medicine and the phenomena of
nature. The task of replying to many of them must have put Escobar’s
ingenuity and learning to a severe test.
(J).
“Can any one persuade himself into the belief that Palmerius of
England, Florindos, and Floriandos are to be seen going about armed
_cap-à-pie_, like the figures in old tapestry on tavern walls?” (Page
123).
The “History of Palmerin of England” is one of the curious old books
of chivalry once popular in Spain. It is entitled, _Libro del muy
esforzado caballero Palmerin de Inglaterra, hijo del Rey Don Duardos,
y de sus grandes provezas; y de Floriano del Desierto su hermano;
con algunos del Príncipe Florendos hijo de Primaleon. Toledo, año de
MDXLVII_.[73]
In the year following, a second part, entitled, _Libro segundo de
Palmerin de Inglaterra; en el cual se prosiguen y han fin los muy
dulces amores que tuvo con la Infanta Polinarda, dando cima à muchas
aventuras y ganando immortal con sus muchos fechos, y de Floriano del
Desierto, con algunos del Príncipe Florendos. Toledo, MDXLVIII_.[74]
Nicolás Antonio makes no mention of this edition of _Palmerin
of England_. After a time the two publications above-mentioned
became scarce, and a Portuguese translation of the work, also
published in the sixteenth century, got into general circulation.
This circumstance caused the authorship of _Palmerin_ to be by
some assigned to Don John II., King of Portugal, and by others to
the Infante Don Luis, who claimed the right of succession to the
Portuguese crown in opposition to King Philip II.
Neither Pellicer nor Clemencin, in their Commentaries on _Don
Quixote_, mention or allude to the above-cited editions of _Palmerin
de Inglaterra_, which were the first that were printed. Neither do
one or the other mention the name of Ferrer, the presumed author of
that celebrated book of knight-errantry. Cervantes, when speaking
of _Palmerin de Inglaterra_, says:--“This palm of England should
be kept and preserved as a thing unique. A case should be made
expressly to contain it, like that which Alexander found among the
spoil of Darius, and which the latter monarch had appropriated to the
preservation of the works of the poet Homer.”
(K).
“Moreover, you must know that I am a philosopher, and that I have
studied in the new school of Doña Oliva.” (Page 123).
The Doña Oliva, here alluded to, was a woman of extraordinary talent
and learning. Her name was Doña Oliva de Nantes Sabuca Barrera, and
she was a native of the town of Alcaraz. This extraordinary woman
wrote a curious work, entitled, _Nueva filosofía de la naturaleza del
hombre, no conocida ni alcanzada de los grandes filósofos antiguos,
la cual mejora la vida y salud humana_.[75]
“This book,” says Doña Oliva, in her dedicatory epistle to King
Philip II. was “wanting in the world, though of many others there
are more than enough. The facts contained in this book, are not
touched upon by Galen, Plato or Hippocrates in their treatises
on human nature;--nor by Aristotle when he treats of the soul and
of life and death. Neither are they mentioned by Pliny, Ælian, or
other naturalists of antiquity. It is as clear and as obvious as the
light of the sun that the old system of medicine is erroneous in its
fundamental principles, inasmuch as the philosophers and physicians
of ancient times did not comprehend the nature of the human frame,
on the right understanding of which medicine is founded and has its
origin. My petition is that my system be tried only for the space
of one year: those of Hippocrates and Galen have been tried for two
thousand years, and they have proved ineffectual and uncertain in
their results. This is evident every day in cases of catarrh, fever,
small pox, plague and divers other diseases, against which the old
system furnishes no remedies; for out of a thousand individuals who
come into the world, not more than three go out of it by natural
death. The rest die prematurely, being carried off by diseases, for
which medicine, as practised on the old system, supplies no remedies.”
Notwithstanding the bombastic and conceited tone in which the _Nueva
Filosofía_ is written, the work contains much useful information,
and medical science is indebted to the authoress for some anatomical
discoveries, especially in relation to the nervous fluid.
(L).
“Without looking back to remoter times, I may mention the recently
deceased Countess de Tendillo, the mother of the three Mendozas.” (Page
124).
Cervantes here refers to the three celebrated brothers Mendoza--Don
Diego, Don Antonio, and Don Bernardino.
The name of Diego de Mendoza is one of the most illustrious in
Spanish literature. Bouterwek pronounces him to be the third classic
poet and the first prose writer of Spain. Diego Hurtado de Mendoza
was a native of Granada, and was born about the beginning of the
sixteenth century. He was descended from one of the most ancient
families in Spain. His parents destined him for the clerical
profession, and with that object he studied at the University of
Salamanca. Besides the classical languages of antiquity, he made
himself master of Hebrew and Arabic, and he became well versed in
scholastic philosophy, theology and ecclesiastical law. Whilst a
student at Salamanca, he wrote his celebrated romance of Lazarillo
de Tormes. The Emperor Charles V., perceiving that his talents might
be advantageously employed in public business, drew him from his
university studies and appointed him imperial envoy to Venice. Whilst
filling this high post, Mendoza cultivated acquaintance with the
learned Italians of the age, and acquired an extensive knowledge of
Italian literature. But greatly as he admired the Italian poets, he
preferred the ancients, and his especial favourite was Horace.
Few poets have divided themselves between literature and politics
with so much ability and success as Diego de Mendoza. Charles V.
selected him as the fittest person he could make choice of to go to
the Council of Trent. This commission Mendoza executed in a manner
perfectly satisfactory to the Emperor. In the year 1547, Mendoza
appeared at the Papal Court as Imperial Ambassador, and he was at
the same time appointed Captain-General and Governor of Sienna
and other strong places in Tuscany. The repeated insurrections in
that part of Italy called for severe measures of repression. These
measures Mendoza adopted, and consequently the Italians, who were not
reconciled to the introduction of Spanish garrisons, regarded him as
a tyrant, and repeated attempts were made to assassinate him. But his
intrepidity continued unshaken, and he steadily governed Italy for
the space of six years, occupying himself, at intervals, with his
literary labours. At length, the complaints raised against Mendoza
induced the Emperor to recall him to Spain, whither he returned in
1554. He died at Valladolid, in the year 1575.
Some very curious particulars, relating to Diego de Mendoza, have
been collected by Don Adolfo de Castro from unpublished documents
in his possession. These documents throw considerable light on the
conduct and policy pursued by that extraordinary man in the discharge
of his important functions in Italy.
It is well known how zealously Mendoza exerted himself in the
early sittings of the Council of Trent. The Emperor Charles V.
had solicited the Pope to assemble that Council with the view of
effecting certain reforms in the Church, and thereby preventing
the dissatisfaction of many of the Princes of Germany, who, with
their subjects, were beginning to dissent from the Catholics on
some points of faith. Whilst, on the one hand, Charles waged a war
of fire and sword against the rebels of the empire, he exerted, on
the other hand, his most strenuous efforts to prevail on the Pope
to allow the Church to meet in Council. But so little inclination
was manifested by the Court of Rome to entertain the question of
reform, that the Council was not assembled till the year 1545, and
even then not without great reluctance on the part of the Papal
Government. After a time the sittings of the Council were transferred
from Trent to Bologna; the alleged reasons for this removal being
that the plague was reported to have broken out in Trent, and that
by reason of the war in Germany the Council could assemble with
greater security in Bologna. But Mendoza, who by this time filled the
post of Ambassador from Spain to the See of Rome, acted with great
sagacity and firmness. Before entering on his appointment he shewed
that he knew perfectly well how to deal with the churchmen of that
age. In a conversation between him and his friend, Juan de Vega,
(his predecessor in the ambassadorial post) de Vega said--“I warn
your Excellency that you must not expect to find truth where you are
going; for the principal personages in that Court abjure it.” “Then,”
replied Mendoza, “they will meet with their match, and for every
falsehood they tell me I will pay them back with two dozen.”
Many were the discussions and arguments maintained between Mendoza
and Paul III.; for that Prelate was not on friendly terms with
the Emperor, Charles V., and he sought by all possible means to
interrupt the meetings of the Council. Diego de Mendoza incessantly
remonstrated against this mode of proceeding, and importuned his
Holiness to desist from it.