a flight of twenty-two steps, built in the sixteenth century. We reach
first the chapel, or ante-cámara, restored if not entirely constructed
in the reign of Alfonso VI. (1072-1109), and representing the highest
pitch of development reached at that time by Romanesque art in Spain.
The roof is groined, and supported on each side by six columns built
into the wall. Each column consists of two pilasters, rising from high
pedestal bases, and supporting the statues of two Apostles. These
figures are expressive, though rude, and the draperies are graceful and
natural. At their feet are fantastic animals. The capitals of the
columns are richly and beautifully carved with foliage, and with
compositions representing scenes from the life of the Saviour and
combats between men and lions. The capitals of the small pillars at the
corners of the pedestals are also curious and delicately carved. Over
the door are three heads in relief, of Christ, the Virgin, and St. John,
early Romanesque work once painted and then disfigured by whitewash. The
pavement of hard _argamasa_, or tessellated work, resembles, as Ford
remarks, Norman-Byzantine works in Sicily. Beneath is a crypt, or lower
chapel, dedicated to St. Leocadia.
At the far end of the Ante-cámara is the Relicario, the sanctuary
actually constructed by Alfonso the Chaste. It measures about 19½ by 17
feet, and consists of a single low vault with traces of paintings, and
lighted by a little window in the arch spanning the entrance.
Enclosed within a railing is the _Arca_, a chest of oak, 7½ feet long by
3¾ broad, and thinly plated with silver. A Latin inscription of four
lines on the lid goes to prove that this was the work, not of Alfonso
the Chaste, but of Alfonso VI., a conclusion warranted also by the
Arabic inscription in Kufic characters, in praise of the Most High,
running round the chest--a form of decoration not introduced into
Christian work till after the fall of Toledo. On one face of the ark are
reliefs of the Twelve Apostles within niches, with the Four Evangelists
at the angles, and the figure of Christ, supported by angels, in the
middle. On one side are reliefs of the Nativity, Adoration of the
Shepherds, and the Flight into Egypt; on the other the Revolt of Satan,
the Ascension, and the Apostles. The subject of the reliefs on the cover
is the Crucifixion.
What this ark contains is a matter for pious speculation. It is reckoned
rash and impious to attempt to solve the mystery; and it is related that
when Bishop Sandoval y Rojas, after much prayer and fasting, placed the
key in the lock, he experienced such horror that his hair rose erect and
knocked off his mitre! It is extraordinary that Bonnet’s soldiers did
not attempt to solve the mystery.
On the cover of the Arca are placed smaller reliquaries, beautiful
specimens of silversmith’s work, which some may think of more interest
than their contents. These, according to tradition, are the following:
two thorns from Christ’s crown, and one of the deniers for which he was
sold; a piece of St. Bartholomew’s skin; some drops of blood which
exuded from a crucifix profaned by the Jews; a fragment of the rod of
Moses; one of St. Peter’s sandals; a fragment of the True Cross; and
certain ivory tablets dated 1162.
Other precious relics are exhibited in the chamber, among them the
winding-sheet of the Saviour, in a superb box of gold and blue enamel.
The Cruz de la Victoria was carved of plain oak and carried as a
standard by Pelayo at Covadonga; it is now encrusted with gold and
brilliant enamels--work executed, as the inscription records, at Gauzon,
near Oviedo, in the year 908. Another cross, styled the Cruz de los
Angeles, dates from the times of Alfonso the Chaste, for whom it was
made, it is said, by two angels disguised as goldsmiths. This precious
relic is in the shape of a Maltese cross, is set with gems _en
cabochon_, and encrusted with gilt filigree-work. In the centre is set a
precious ruby. On the arms is inscribed the date of the making (808
A.D.) and an anathema on whomsoever should steal it. It is certainly
remarkable that this inscription should contain nothing about the
supernatural workmanship of the cross!
* * * * *
The cathedral built by Tioda by order of Alfonso the Chaste was pulled
down in the twelfth century. The foundation of the existing edifice may
be attributed to Bishop Gutierre de Toledo, who flourished about 1390.
The work was continued zealously by his successors, but was not
altogether completed till the sixteenth century was half gone. The west
front is flanked by towers, only one of which, as so often happens in
Spain, has been raised above the general roof-level. The southern tower
is of singular dignity and beauty. It rises to the height of 224 feet,
and is divided into five stages, of which three are above the level of
the aisles. The massive piers on which the structure rests are continued
upwards in the form of buttresses along the corners, and are fluted,
moulded, and enriched with canopies, crockets, and ornaments of the most
elaborate and at the same time tasteful character. The windows are of
three lights, with good traceries, above the archivolts appearing a kind
of trefoil ornament. The third stage is girt by a beautiful parapet. The
fourth stage is rather Renaissance than Gothic in treatment. It is
flanked by tapering finials, and constitutes the belfry. Here is hung
the bell named after King Vamba, which dates from 1219. On the topmost
stage rises the graceful steeple, thickly encrusted with crockets, and
flanked by pinnacles which seem to be a reproduction of it in miniature.
No more beautiful church steeple than this is to be seen in Spain, or
indeed in Europe. Repeated restorations, notably in 1521 and 1728, have
fortunately left its fairy-like symmetry unimpaired.
The tower, however, unquestionably dwarfs the rest of the front, which
is composed of a fine portico of three arches, the middle one being the
highest. This central porch is flanked by statues of Alfonso the Chaste
and King Froila. Despite these, and the canopied niches in the
buttresses, the whole front presents a bare and forbidding aspect, not
devoid, it must be conceded, of majesty. The portico was evidently only
intended to be the base of the towers, of which, as we have seen, one
only has been erected.
The interior is harmonious and pleasing. The nave is about twice the
height of the aisles, with which it communicates through pointed arches.
The piers are lightly fluted and encircled by simple fillets of foliage.
Above the arches runs a gallery with a graceful balustrade, and pointed
openings divided by mullions and containing good traceries. The
clerestory windows are tall and of six lights, the mullions being bent
so as to form tracery. On the south side they are filled with good
stained glass; the northern windows are filled up. The transepts are
spacious and lighted by wheel windows. There is no lantern over the
crossing.
The chancel occupies a pentagonal apse at the east end of the nave, lit
with five stained-glass windows. The retablo, dating from 1440, but
since restored, is indifferent. The subjects of the reliefs are taken
from the life of Christ. Near the High Altar are the tombs of various
bishops, and a fine kneeling effigy of Bishop del Villar, who is buried
at Segovia. The pulpits are of gilt iron. In the Renaissance chapels
behind the chancel is the tomb of Bishop Gutierre.
In the transept is a rudely sculptured figure of Christ, believed to
date from the twelfth century. The shells sculptured on the capital of
the pillar, against which it stands, refer to the pilgrims who
frequented this famous shrine.
The choir stalls are richly carved with caprices and scenes, ‘ill
according,’ remarks a Spanish writer, ‘with the sanctity of the place.’
But the backs of the lower seats bear representations of Biblical
characters, which, like the canopies above, are exquisitely carved. The
organs are Churrigueresque, and the gorgeous Gothic trascoro is in
hardly better taste. The chapels date mostly from the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries, and contain nothing of interest, except the
alleged body of St. Eulalia of Merida.
Communicating with the north transept is the Capilla del Rey Casto. This
chapel, founded by Alfonso the Chaste, was entirely rebuilt in the
eighteenth century by a bishop named Melaz in the worst baroque style.
This was the pantheon of the early kings of Asturias, and some tombs,
probably containing their remains, are certainly here; but the
inscriptions are merely the result of guess-work. Only one sarcophagus
can be identified, and that, it appears from the inscription, is the
resting-place of one Ithacus. Who this personage was, and what he had
done to merit sepulture in the royal vault, are riddles to which history
supplies no answer.
The cloister, begun in the fourteenth and finished in the fifteenth
century, is in good Gothic style. The pointed arches looking on the
court are divided by four or five slender shafts, which support elegant
tracery. Among the statues that of Alfonso XI. Is the best preserved.
The capitals and corbels are curiously and richly carved with such
subjects as King Favila hunting the bear, the duel of Froila, and what
Mr. O’Shea very rightly calls ‘a series of comical pictorial reviews of
the times.’ There are many tombs in the cloister, belonging to various
epochs, mostly earlier than the fourteenth century. They are of all
styles, but Don J. M. Quadrado points out that the epitaphs are almost
uniform in style. The famous Bishop Pelayo’s tomb (died 1153) is here.
The chapter-house is a fine specimen of thirteenth-century architecture.
The archives adjoining contain some documents and codices of the
greatest value. Here is preserved the _Libro Gotico_ of the twelfth
century, a beautifully illuminated manuscript, throwing light on the
costumes and customs of that day.
The other churches founded by Alfonso the Chaste and his predecessors in
the town itself have either been demolished or so often restored,
rebuilt, and renovated, that they cannot be considered worth a visit.
The earliest foundation of all, San Vicente, was modernised in 1592, and
is interesting as containing the bones of the Abbot Feijoo, a man
greatly esteemed by his contemporaries for his learning and sanctity
(died 1764).
The Gothic church of San Francisco, now attached to a hospital, was
founded by Fray Pedro, a companion of the great Francis of Assisi
himself. This is the burying-place of the great family of Quirós, which
claimed, in a not very reverent distich, to rank in point of dignity and
antiquity next to the Divinity (‘Después de Dios, la casa de Quirós’).
In the chancel lies Gonzalo Bernaldo de Quirós the Older, the youthful
friend of Enrique of Trastamara, who died, wearing the religious habit,
in 1575. Within a sepulchre upheld by lions which bear escutcheons
crossed by the bar sinister, are the ashes of another Gonzalo Bernaldo,
a distinguished illegitimate scion of the house. He is shown clad in
armour, and at his feet a dog--symbolical, possibly, of the fidelity and
tenacity with which he watched over the interests of his family during
the minority of its chiefs. Close by is the vault of the house of
Valdecarzana; a modern inscription informs us that during the interment
of one of that family, a live cow must be present in the church--why or
wherefore not being stated.
The church of Santa Maria de la Vega, outside the town, was the chapel
of a Benedictine nunnery founded by Gontroda, mistress of Alfonso VII.,
who took the veil here in 1154. She was joined in her retirement, it is
believed, by her daughter Urraca, sometime Queen of Navarre, and
afterwards of Asturias. A century later another interesting penitent
sought an asylum here: Doña Sancha Alvarez, mistress of the greatest
noble in Spain, Rodrigo Alvarez de Asturias. The two ladies’ tombs lie
close together. The sarcophagus of Gontroda is adorned with Romanesque
reliefs of birds, and of hounds chasing deer, in curiously crude and
conventional attitudes; Sancha’s tomb shows Gothic influence, and is
sculptured in low relief. The epitaphs extol the virtues and amiability
of the departed ladies.
* * * * *
The two most interesting monuments in the district are the ancient
churches of Santa Maria de Naranco and San Miguel de Lino, both outside
the walls. The former was rebuilt by Ramiro I., and is, therefore, well
over a thousand years old. Attached to it were a palace and baths, every
trace of which has long since disappeared. The architecture presents
curious local peculiarities. The church is situated on a slope, and is
composed of a single nave resting on a crypt or substructure. The only
entrance is by a porch on the north side, which is on the level of the
nave and approached by steps. The whole exterior is severe and simple,
strong buttresses running up the walls to the sloping roof. In the west
front three stages may be distinguished: the lowest is formed by the
substructure entered in the middle by a round arch; above this the nave
terminates in a portico of three round arches, which spring from four
palm-like pillars with Corinthian capitals; in the middle of the third
stage is a window of three lights, also round arched. The interior has
remained practically unchanged since Ramiro’s day. The chancel and choir
occupy opposite ends of the nave, and are raised by one and three steps
respectively above the level of the flooring. Both are shut off by three
round arches, the middle one being higher than the others; and an arcade
of closed arches runs along the side-walls of the nave. These arches are
rudely constructed, and rest upon, rather than spring from, octagonal
capitals, quaintly carved with figures of priests and lions. The columns
are composed each of four engaged shafts, of the same pattern as those
of the western portico. The ribs of the waggon-vaulted ceiling spring
from corbels, beneath which are reliefs representing the two orders of
society in Asturias in the ninth century--knights engaged in combat, and
toilers carrying loads. Under these again are circular medallions,
filled with conventional foliage, and having in the centre reliefs of
lions and birds. The church was probably intended to be open at both
ends, as it is now, that the congregation assembled on the hillside
might be able to assist in divine worship. It is one of the most
valuable architectural monuments of Spain.
The little basilica of San Miguel de Lino was built near Santa Maria by
King Ramiro about the year 850. The name was originally _de ligno_,
_i.e._ of the wood, and was derived quite possibly from a fragment of
the True Cross preserved here. Here we have a cruciform church in
miniature, with transepts, lantern, and apsidal chapels, of a height
which seems out of proportion to their other reduced dimensions. The
apsidal chapels formed a semicircle at the foundation, but have been
squared off since. The roofs are tiled and pitched. The buttresses
resemble those of the Naranco church. The walls are pierced, here and
there, with windows of three lights, with round arches, columns spirally
fluted, and columns cut into leaves; above these is an elaborate
geometrical tracery, suggestive of Moorish influence. The jambs of the
round-arched western porch are rudely carved with curious groups. One of
these is irresistibly grotesque. A man is shown balancing himself with
his hands on the top of a pole and his legs in the air, exactly like the
familiar monkey on a stick of our childhood; with head downwards, he
grins into the jaws of a lion, which stands on its hind legs agape with
surprise or indignation. Behind the gymnast another man appears to be
indulging in some sort of dumb-bell exercise. This amazing composition
is averred by some authorities to represent the martyrdom of a saint!
The floral designs which border it are skilfully, even delicately,
executed.
The chancel is on a lower level than the nave, which is reached on each
side by a flight of steps, in a chapel projecting from the transept. The
lantern has one of the earliest attempts at a domed roof, now
unfortunately concealed by a later flat ceiling. The columns and arches
are Byzantine in style, and the capitals carved with rosettes in
medallions and strapwork. The nave is waggon vaulted and lower than the
transept.
* * * * *
The modern buildings of Oviedo present few features of interest. The old
walls have almost entirely disappeared, and few of the palaces or
noblemen’s houses date further back than the seventeenth century. The
University, founded in 1608 by the executors of Archbishop de Valdés, is
a dignified building in the classical style--such as one might see in
any fair-sized town in southern Europe. The Ayuntamiento, uninteresting
in itself, contains a charter granted by the sixth and confirmed by the
seventh Alfonso. Those who have had the opportunity of studying it say
that it illustrates the transition from Latin to Spanish--just as the
history of Oviedo illustrates the development of the Goth into the
Spaniard.
III
SEGOVIA
The ancient and beautiful city of Segovia occupies one of those sites
which men would have chosen for the building of towns as soon as towns
ever came to be built. We may therefore be sure that the roots of the
city’s life lie very far back in the past--an assurance confirmed by the
name, which bespeaks an Iberian origin. Mediæval writers mentioned this
as among the towns built by the fabulous King Hispan, whose name, with
those of his relatives, Iberia and Pyrrhus, is always introduced to
explain a mystery or to adorn a tale. To the Romans the place was known
as Segobriga; and that it was a flourishing and important colony the
great aqueduct, the most famous of its monuments, remains to this day to
attest. We may assume the town under the Roman yoke was happy, for it
had no history--at least, nothing of it has reached us. There were
bishops on these barren heights in early times, for they are referred to
by name as attending councils at Toledo in the sixth and seventh
centuries. At the time of the Mohammedan conquest, a hermit called Fruto
rallied the Christians in the fastnesses of the mountains and kept alive
in them the Christian faith and traditions. This holy person was the
brother of the martyrs Valentin and Engracia, whom the Moors put to
death. This the hardened infidels did, the chroniclers assure us, in
spite of miracles which might have converted Mohammed himself; for the
Segovian saints cleft mountains asunder with the stroke of a knife, and
produced fountains from the solid rock with the touch of a wand; while a
mare, to whom the Eucharist had been offered as food, dropped on her
knees in adoration. It is clear that in after years the Christians of
Segovia enjoyed the liberty of worship that the Muslims of Spain
everywhere conceded to their subjects; for we hear of a bishop, Ildered,
governing his flock here in the year 940. In the following century it
was included within the dominions of the Amir of Toledo, and on the
downfall of that monarchy was annexed to the growing kingdom of Castile.
Like Salamanca and Avila, Segovia was repeopled at the instance of Count
Raymond of Burgundy, chiefly by Gallegos from the north-west. It
received its first charter from Alfonso VI. in 1108. Thereafter its
citizens were always to be found in the fighting line. Tradition avers
that Madrid was recovered from the Moors by the Segovians; and their
chiefs on that glorious occasion were Dia Sanz and Fernán Garcia, whose
descendants for many years after divided the government of the city
between them. But the chronicles register a very black stain on the
city’s fame: the assassination by the townsfolk of Alvar Fañez, the
illustrious brother-in-arms of Alfonso VI., at Easter, 1114. Four years
later, the Segovians took the side of Alfonso VII. against his mother,
Queen Urraca, and were rewarded by the reconstitution of their town into
a bishopric.
The history of Segovia differs little from that of other Castilian
towns. Its citizens shared the glories and the hardships of the
ceaseless campaigns against the Moors, and did not hold aloof from the
equally numerous civil wars that distracted the kingdom. In 1295 they
refused submission to the young king, Fernando IV., and his mother,
Maria de Molina. The brave queen forced her way into the town, and found
the gates shut behind her. Undismayed, she harangued the stubborn
townsmen. ‘Open your gates,’ she cried, ‘and I will go with my son to
more grateful and obedient towns; where vassals are less easily deceived
by intriguers, and where mother and son are not separated!’ The people
were moved by her reproaches, and, admitting the king, escorted both in
triumph to the Alcazar.
The minority of Alfonso XI. (1320) was attended by sanguinary disorders
in the streets of Segovia. Every church and house became a fortress, and
the rival factions stormed and laid siege to each other’s strongholds
within the narrow compass of the city walls. In 1368 the nobility held
the Alcazar for Enrique of Trastamara, whilst the commons held the town
for Pedro the Cruel; but the Gracious King, after the death of his
half-brother at Montiel, visited Segovia and won all hearts. A hundred
years later the town was distinguished by its loyalty to the wretched
Enrique IV., who here betrayed his own daughter, Juana, by a
reconciliation with his sister, Isabel. Not content with this, he
appeared in the streets, leading by the bridle the palfrey of the woman
who denied his own child’s legitimacy.
The townsfolk, at the beginning of the reign of Charles V., threw in
their lot with the Comuneros; but the Alcazar throughout the rising was
held by the royal forces. The King-Emperor and his successor, like
their predecessors, frequently sojourned in the old palace-fortress.
Later on, it was often used as a state prison. The famous Ripperdá, the
Dutch adventurer, passed a portion of his captivity here; and the
Marquis of Ayamonte was confined here prior to his execution in 1648.
The establishment of the court permanently at Madrid, and the building
of La Granja by Philip V. in 1721, diminished the importance of Segovia
as a royal residence. In few countries have the larger provincial towns
loomed more conspicuously in the past than in Spain, and in few are they
nowadays more decayed and bloodless. Segovia remains, as Antonio
Gallenga described it, ‘an unmatched picture of the Middle Ages. You
read its history on the old city walls with their eighty-three towers;
in the domes and belfries of its churches; in the bare and blank ruins
of its deserted monasteries; in the battlemented towers of its noble
mansions.’
The town stands high and bravely on the mountains, its flanks washed by
two clear streams, Eresma and Clamores. The towers and domes rise
sharply against the clear sky, high above the surrounding hills; an
island of the air Segovia seems as you catch sight of her from the
dusty plains of Old Castile. Even as clouds in their fantastic
formations take the semblance of far-away cities, so at certain hours
from afar off you might take this to be just such a cloud-town. And when
you draw nearer you find the valleys are cool and green, and that the
tall trees flourish here and do not wither as in the plains round Burgos
and Valladolid.
* * * * *