unreserved in his language, the Pope felt offended at the freedom
and boldness of his manner. Fancying that sufficient respect was
not rendered to his presence, the Holy Father petulantly observed
to Mendoza,--“You forget where you are, you speak as if you were
at home in your own house!” To this rebuke the Spanish Ambassador
returned for answer, “that he was a Knight, and that his father had
been one before him, and as such he felt himself entitled to repeat
literally what his sovereign had commanded him to say without fear of
His Holiness, though always desirous of observing the reverence due
to the Vicar of Christ; but that, as the Emperor’s minister, he felt
himself at home and in safety wheresoever he chose to go.”
About this time the Pope had several interviews with the Emperor,
and though it was currently reported that these interviews had for
their object to bring about peace between the King of France (Francis
I.) and Charles V., yet it was well understood that the sole object
Paul had in view was that of gratifying his desire of purchasing the
State of Milan. The Emperor urged immediate payment of the money,
which however the Holy Father would not venture to disburse for fear
of being cheated. Charles, moreover, wished to retain possession of
the fortresses of Milan and Cremona, but the Pope insisted that the
purchase should include both fortresses and territories. However,
the negotiations having proceeded very far, and the Pope’s money
coming very opportunely to aid the Emperor in his difficulties, it
was found desirable to bring the matter to a close, and the bargain
was on the point of being ratified. But Diego de Mendoza, who had
the Emperor’s real interests at heart, and who was adverse to this
bargain, addressed to Charles V. an eloquent letter, full of forcible
reasoning against the sale of Milan, and in consequence, Charles was
induced to break off the negotiations.
This letter, which is quoted by Sandoval, in his History of Charles
V., bears evidence of Mendoza’s thorough acquaintance with the Papal
Court, and his accurate perception of the character of Paul III. The
following extract will afford a good specimen of the style of this
curious epistle:--
“What prince, or man,” says Mendoza, “ever offered greater offence to
your Majesty? Certainly none:--for a little reflection on past events
will enable even the blind to see that all the injury that you have
sustained from the French was through his (the Pope’s) instigation
and scheming; and that all the mischief you may expect from the Turks
will have its origin in the same source. And finally, what good
service did he ever render you willingly, and not on compulsion,
or for his own interest? Your Majesty may rest assured that if the
King of France has three _fleurs de lis_ in his ’scutcheon, the Pope
has six in his--and, what is more, he has six thousand in his heart.
Besides, he will never see a safe opportunity of gratifying his
enmity, but that he will take advantage of it. Much more reasonably
may your Majesty trust to the King of France in these affairs; for
he was born a Prince, and he will act like a Prince, but the other
is a man of low origin, and though raised to the greatness which he
now holds, he will never cease to be what he is. Does your Majesty
require proof of this? Behold his insolent effrontery; for after
having offended you as he has done, he is not ashamed to appear in
your presence--and he even moreover makes demands, which he would
have no right to make, if he had ransomed your Majesty from the Turk.
The cowardly fear which possesses him on seeing you approach with an
army, does not diminish his evil and perverse feeling, or change his
mischievous designs. But he fears and suspects every one; and since
your Majesty has him thus far in your power, I once more implore you
not to let the opportunity slip. Pay little attention to him. Treat
him as a man whose safety and greatness depend on your will.”
Mendoza seized every opportunity that presented itself to endeavour
to open the eyes of the Emperor to the schemes of Paul III. In the
year 1547, Peter Lewis Farnesio, Duke of Placentia, was assassinated
by some noblemen who had joined a conspiracy which his tyranny
provoked. Farnesio was a natural son of Paul III., who conferred
on him the dignities of Duke of Parma and Placentia, Marquess of
Novarra, Captain-General, and Standard-Bearer to the Church. On the
occasion of Farnesio’s death, Mendoza wrote a clever little work,
entitled, _Diálogo entre Caronte y el ánima de Pedro Luis Farnesio,
hijo del Papa Paulo III_.[76] Fenelon and Fontenelle were not
therefore, as is generally supposed, the first who wrote dialogues of
the dead in one of the modern languages.
The two brothers of Diego de Mendoza, were both eminent statesmen and
writers. Don Antonio succeeded Hernán Cortés, and the Licentiate Luis
Ponce in the Government of Mexico; and he was the first Governor
who had the titles of Viceroy and Captain-General of New Spain. From
Mexico he proceeded to Peru, where he also exercised the vice-regal
authority. Antonio de Mendoza is the author of a work entitled, _De
las cosas maravillosas de Nueva España_. (On the Wonders of New
Spain.)
Don Bernardino de Mendoza was at once a soldier, a statesman, and a
poet. He also wrote a history of the Spanish campaigns in Flanders.
(_Historia de las guerras de Flandes._)
(M).
“There is a book of letters by Madama Passier, full of erudition and
sound morality, which I would recommend to the attention of the author
of _Don Quixote_.” (Page 124).
The volume here alluded to is entitled: _Cartas Morales del Señor
Narveza traducidas de lengua francesa en la española por Madama
Francisca de Passier, dirigidas al excelentísimo Señor Don Pedro
Enríquez de Acevedo, Conde de Fuentes_.[77]
The name of Francisca de Passier, is not recorded as it deserves
to be in the annals of Spanish literature. The celebrated Nicolás
Antonio, makes no mention of her in the _Biblioteca hispana nova_.
Some few particulars of her life are given by Doctor Francisco Garci
López, who published an edition of the _Cartas Morales_. She was a
native of Savoy, in which country her father, a man distinguished
for his literary attainments, filled a government appointment. She
was a great linguist, and she spoke and wrote several languages
with perfect fluency and correctness. “She spoke Castilian,” says
her biographer, Dr. López, “so correctly and with such purity of
accent, that to hear her no one could have imagined she had been born
among the snowy mountains of Savoy, but rather would have supposed
her to have been a native of Spain, and all her life accustomed to
the courteous conversation of noble ladies and knights in royal
palaces.” She died before she had completed her nineteenth year. Her
husband, who was a Counsellor of State to the Prince of Savoy, was
inconsolable for her loss, and a singular manifestation of his grief
was shown in the destruction, instead of the preservation, of his
wife’s papers, most of which, after her death, he consigned to the
flames. At the urgent solicitation of Dr. Garci López, he was however
induced to spare the manuscript of the _Cartas Morales_. The funeral
obsequies of Madama Passier which are alluded to in the _Buscapié_,
lasted nine days. Several eloquent orations in Latin and French were
delivered at her interment, and many elegies to her memory were
composed in Latin, French, and Spanish.
(N).
“The Battle of the Paso Honroso is narrated in a book written by a
Friar, named Pineda, who abridged it from an old manuscript work.”
(Page 126.)
In Salamanca, in the year 1588, was published, a curious old book
of Knight-errantry, entitled _El Libro del Paso Honroso, defendido
por el excelente caballero Suero de Quiñones, copilado de un libro
antiguo de mano, por fray Juan de Pineda, religioso del orden de San
Francisco_.[78]
The petition addressed by Suero de Quiñones to King John of Castile
ran thus--“It is just and reasonable that prisoners and bondsmen
should wish to recover their liberty. Even so it is with me, your
Majesty’s vassal and subject, who have long been the captive of a
lady, in token of which captivity I wear every Thursday round my neck
a collar of iron. This fact is notorious in your Majesty’s court and
throughout all this kingdom, as well as in foreign parts, where my
heralds have proclaimed it. But now, most powerful Prince, I have
in the name of the Apostle St. James, devised a plan for effecting
my deliverance, in this present year, of which this is the first
day. My proposal is to break three hundred lances, with such knights
and gentlemen as may accept my challenge--breaking three with
every and each knight or gentleman who enters the lists;--the first
blood drawn to be counted as one lance broken. The combats to be
maintained during fifteen days prior to the festival of the Apostle
St. James, (the guide and defender of your Majesty’s subjects) and
during fifteen days after the said festival, unless my ransom be
accomplished before the expiration of that period. The lists to be
planted on the high road, along which most persons pass on their
way to the city wherein is the Saint’s sacred sepulchre,[79] and
that it be certified to all the foreign knights and gentlemen who
may there assemble that they will find at the place of encounter,
armour, horses, and above all lances with points of such good Milan
steel, that it will require no light stroke to shiver them. And I
pray that it be notified to every virtuous lady of rank, who may
be in the vicinity of the scene of combat, that she must summon a
knight to perform a passage of arms in her behalf, under pain of
forfeiting her right hand glove. All these propositions I pray may be
agreed to;--saving two conditions, which are--that neither your Royal
Majesty nor the most noble Señor Constable, Don Álvaro de Luna, take
part in these encounters.”
The petition having been assented to by the King, Suero de Quiñones,
accompanied by nine knights his followers, set out on his romantic
enterprise. He proclaimed himself the defender of the Honroso Paso
of the Bridge of Orbigo. Sixty-eight adventurers, and not seventy
as stated in the _Buscapié_, combated for the conquest of the
Honroso Paso, and Suero, on being declared the victor, presented to
the Umpires of the Field a petition, which was responded to in the
following manner:--
“Virtuous Knight and Señor, we have heard your proposition and
appeal, and it appears to us to be just. Considering that we ought no
longer to delay pronouncing our judgment, we hereby declare that your
arms have been triumphant and that your deliverance has been bravely
purchased. And moreover, we hereby notify to you, as well as to all
others here present, that of the three hundred lances specified in
your petition to the king there remain only a few unbroken, and that
there would not be even those few, but that on several days there
could not be any passage of arms by reason of no knights having
presented themselves to oppose the challenger. We accordingly decree
that you be released from the iron collar, which we forthwith order
the King-at-Arms, and the Herald to remove from your neck; and we
declare that you have duly accomplished your emprise, and that you
are henceforth delivered from bondage.”
In obedience to the command of the Umpires, the King-at-Arms and
the Heralds descended from the platform and before the eyes of all
present, took from the neck of Suero de Quiñones the iron ring which
he wore as the sign and token of his bondage.
The records of Spanish chivalry mention numerous adventures, no less
whimsical and extravagant than that of the doughty knight who was
the hero of the Honroso Paso.--Several instances of the same kind
are narrated by Hernán Pérez del Pulgar in his _Claros Varones de
Castilla_. (Illustrious men of Castile).
(O).
“Have you not heard of the adventure of the Canon Almela who was at the
conquest of Grenada, with two horsemen and seven followers on foot. He
wore girded at his side a sword which he affirmed had belonged to the
Cid Ruy Díaz.” (Page 126).
The individual referred to in the above passage is Diego Rodríguez
de Almela, who ultimately attained the ecclesiastical dignity of
Arcipreste (Archpriest). He was a native of the city of Murcia,
and the author of some learned historical works, one of which
is entitled: _El Valerio de las estorias escolásticas é de
España_.--(The Valerius of the Scholastic History and of Spain). The
first edition of this work is exceedingly rare, and at its close
appears the following note.
“To the glory and honour of our Blessed Savior and Redeemer,
the printing of this book, called _El Valerio de las estorias
escolásticas é de España_ was finished in the noble city of Murcia,
by maestre Lope de la Roca, a German and a printer of books, on
Thursday the sixth day of November, in the year one thousand four
hundred and eighty-seven.”
In the certificate of the King-at-Arms attached to the royal letters
patent conferring the rank of nobility on Don Francisco Xavier de
Almela i Peñafiel, there is a paragraph relating to the lineage of
the Almela family. It is there set forth that “Diego Rodríguez de
Almela, Canon of the Holy Cathedral Church of Carthegena, Chaplain
to the Catholic Queen, and Her Majesty’s Chronicler, who served
personally with two esquires and six men on foot at the conquest of
Grenada, presented to the Catholic King[80] the sword of the Cid Ruy
Díaz.”
(P).
“The Great Emperor finding himself challenged with all the solemnity of
the laws of the duelo, took counsel of his cousin, Don Diego, Duke del
Infantado, as to the course he ought to pursue.” (Page 128).
The letter addressed on this occasion by the Emperor to the Duke del
Infantado, and the Duke’s reply to it, are mentioned but not given by
Sandoval, in his History of Charles V. These two letters are printed
in an exceedingly scarce work, entitled, _Diálogos de contención
entre la milicia y la ciencia_.[81] by Francisco Núñez de Velasco.
The following extract from the Duke’s letter, precisely verifies that
passage of the _Buscapié_ to which this note has reference.
“Truly, Señor, it would be a fine example, if the great debt which
all the world knows is due to you from the King of France, were to be
paid by a challenge to your imperial person. Such a proceeding, if
sanctioned by your Majesty, would go far to establish throughout your
dominions a law to the effect that all debts may be paid by recourse
to arms; which would tend more to the shedding of blood than to the
vindication of justice and mercy. All this I write to your Majesty
that you may deliberate on my opinion, and I beg you will be assured
that if, on more mature reflection I see reason to alter my opinion,
I will forthwith advise your Majesty thereof, with all the fidelity
I owe you. For this is a matter which concerns my honour, together
with that of all the grandees of these realms.”
(Q).
“Such absurd encounters have no existence save in silly books of
chivalry and in plays which in our time have been taken from them; but
which in the time of Lope de Rueda, Gil Vicente and Alonzo de Cisneros,
would not have been tolerated on the stage.” (Page 128).
Cervantes highly appreciated the genius of Lope de Rueda, who was
a celebrated actor as well as a dramatic writer. He styles him _el
gran Lope de Rueda, insigne varón, &c._ Some curious particulars
respecting Lope de Rueda and the state of the Spanish stage in his
time are related by Cervantes in the _Prólogo_ or Preface to his
_Ocho comedias y ocho entremeses nunca representadas_,[82] from
which the following extract is translated--
“A short time ago, when I was in company with some friends, our
conversation turned on play-writing, acting, and other matters
connected with dramatic representation. These subjects were so ably
discussed and criticised that in my opinion it would have been
difficult to meet with more clever remarks. One of the questions
under consideration was to ascertain who first stripped Spanish
comedy of its swaddling clothes, dressed it up, and arrayed it with
ornament. I, who was the oldest person in the company, observed that
I had a perfect recollection of having seen Lope de Rueda act, and
that that extraordinary man was remarkable not only for his talent
as a writer, but also for his power as an actor. He was a native
of Seville, and was by trade a gold-beater, that is to say, his
employment was making gold leaf for gilding. He was an admirable
writer of pastoral poetry, and in that style of composition no one
either before his time, or unto the present day, has surpassed him.
When I knew him, I was a mere boy, and therefore I could form no
well grounded judgment respecting the merit of his writing; yet in
my present mature age, when I reflect on some of his verses which my
memory retains, I think the opinion I have expressed is correct. Were
it not for the fear of going beyond the limits of this preface, I
would cite some of Lope de Rueda’s verses in support of my opinion.
“In the time of that celebrated man, all the apparatus of a
theatrical manager could be packed up in a sack. It consisted of
four shepherd’s dresses of white skin trimmed with gilt leather,
four beards and wigs, and four shepherd’s staffs. The comedies
were composed of dialogues (after the manner of eclogues), between
two or three shepherds and a shepherdess. The entertainment was
augmented, or rather spun out, by two or three interludes in which
sometimes a negro, sometimes a _rufián_,[83] a fool, or a Biscayan
were introduced. All these four characters, and many others, Lope de
Rueda, acted in most excellent style, and with the utmost truth to
nature. At that period there was no such thing as stage machinery; no
combats between Moors and Christians either on foot or on horseback,
no figures rising up from trap doors, and seeming as though they rose
from the bowels of the earth; no descending clouds in which spirits
and angels came down from Heaven. The stage was constructed of four
benches ranged square-wise, and over them were laid a few planks, by
which means the stage was raised about four spans above the ground.
There were no scenes, but an old curtain was hung across the back
part of the stage, and was drawn by two cords from one side to the
other. A space behind the curtain served as a dressing-room for the
actors. The musicians also stood there. They sang old romances, but
without guitar accompaniment. Lope de Rueda died at Cordova, and out
of respect for his excellent character and great talent he was buried
in the cathedral of that city, between the two choirs.”
Further particulars of the life of Lope de Rueda may be found in
Moratin’s _Orígenes del Teatro Español_, and in _El Teatro Español
Anterior a Lope de Vega_, by Nicolás Böhl de Faber.
Of the life of Gil Vicente, the Hispano-Portuguese dramatist and
comedian, who has not inaptly been styled the Portuguese Plautus,
but little is known. No biographical accounts of him furnish any
authentic record either of the date or the place of his birth. Some
describe him to have been a native of Guimaräes, others assign
Barcellos, and others Lisbon, as his birth-place. Don Adolfo
de Castro, notices a fact which would appear to have escaped
the observation of Gil Vicente’s biographers, both Spanish and
Portuguese, viz.: that he himself mentions his birth-place in one of
his Portuguese autos.[84] In that piece, one of the characters steps
forward and delivers a sort of address commencing thus:--
Gil Vicente o autor
Me fez seu embaixador.[85]
Then follows a description of the condition and calling of the
author’s grandfather and parents, and Alemtejo is mentioned as the
place of his nativity.
Bouterwek, who furnishes some particulars relating to the life of
this celebrated man, says:--“There is reason to suppose that Gil
Vicente was born within twenty years of the close of the fifteenth
century. He first studied the law, but speedily relinquished it,
and devoted himself wholly to the dramatic art. It is not recorded
whether he was a regularly pensioned writer for the Court, but he was
most indefatigable in furnishing the royal family and the public with
entertainments suited to the taste of the age. He constantly resided
at Court, where his poetic talents were held in permanent requisition
for the celebration of spiritual as well as of temporal festivals,
and no dramatic writer in Europe was more admired and esteemed than
Gil Vicente. His early productions were performed with approbation
at court in the reign of Emmanuel the Great, but his reputation rose
higher in the reign of John III., and that monarch did not, in his
youthful years, scruple to perform characters in the dramas of this
favourite author. We are not informed whether Vicente was himself
an actor, but he was the tutor of the most celebrated actress of his
age, viz.: his daughter Paula.”[86]
Gil Vicente wrote the following epitaph on his wife, to whom he was
most affectionately attached, and who was interred in the Franciscan
monastery at Evora.
Aqui jaez a muy prudente
Senhora Branca Becerra,
Mulher de Gil Vicente,
Feita terra.
Which may be thus literally construed:--
Here lies the most discreet,
Senhora Branca Becerra,
Wife of Gil Vicente,
Turned to clay.
Gil Vicente died in the year 1577, at Evora, and his remains were
interred beside those of his wife, in the Franciscan monastery. He
wrote for his own tomb the following epitaph:--
O gran juizo esperando
Jazo aqui nesta morada,
Desta vida tao cauçado
Descançando.
(The great Judgment-day awaiting
Here, in this narrow dwelling-place,
After life’s weary course,
I am reposing.)
In an old collection of Gil Vicente’s works, this epitaph is given
with the addition of the following lines:--
Preguntas-me quem fui eu?
Atenta bem pera ti,
Porque tal fui com’ a ti
E tal has de ser com’ eu.
E pois tudo a isto vem,
O lector de meu conselho,
Tomame por teu espelho:--
Olhame e olhate bem.
(Thou askest what I was,
Attend, lend ear to me;
That which thou art, I was,
What I am, thou wilt be.
Since all to this must come,
Reader, then counselled be,
As the mirror of thy doom,
Look! and look well on me!)
Alonso de Cisneros, a native of Toledo, a famous actor of the
sixteenth century, is less known by his proper name than by the
appellation of _el Tamborillo_. He received this nickname because it
was a part of his theatrical duty to beat a drum, which, according
to the old Spanish custom, was sounded in the street, to announce
that the performances were about to commence, and that the public
might assemble in the theatre. It happened that this drum disturbed
the siestas of Cardinal Espinosa, who was then officiating as
President of Castile, and who stood high in the favour of Phillip II.
The Cardinal, irritated by the annoyance, and determined to get rid
of it, devised some unfounded pretext for ordering Cisneros to quit
Madrid.
This circumstance came to the ears of the Infante Don Carlos, who
used to be much diverted by the comedian’s humour and drollery; for
at that time the Prince had withdrawn from the court circle, on
account of the mortification he suffered from the favour shewn by his
father to Rui Gómez de Silva and Cardinal Espinosa.
On hearing of the banishment of Cisneros, and its cause, Carlos
resolved on revenge. He ordered the Captain of his Guard to beat
four drums daily, from two till five in the afternoon, in front of
the Cardinal’s residence. One day when the Prelate went to pay a
visit to the palace, his unlucky star brought him face to face with
the Prince, who seizing him by his rocket, and shaking him angrily,
exclaimed, “How now, priest!--do you dare to face me, after having
sent away Cisneros? By the life of my father, I have a great mind
to kill you!” Espinosa would doubtless have been roughly handled,
but that, luckily for him, Philip II. at that moment entered the
apartment.
(R).
“Micer Oliver de la Marcha was then living, though in a very advanced
old age. He wrote a book entitled, _El Caballero Determinado, &c._”
(Page 135).
_El Caballero Determinado, traducido de lengua francesa en
castellana, par Don Hernando de Acuña, y dirigido al emperador D.
Carlos Quinto, Maximo, Rey de España nuestro Señor.--En Anvers, en
casa de Juan Steelsio.--Año de MDLIII._[87]