MATERIAL AND INTELLECTUAL PROGRESS, 1479-1517
[Sidenote: Economic medievalism.]
[Sidenote: Privileges of the _Mesta_.]
The Catholic Kings attacked the economic problems of their era with much
the same zeal they had displayed in social and political reforms, but
without equal success, for medievalism in material affairs was more
persistent than in social, political, and intellectual institutions. The
same false economic ideas of the past were still operative. Especially
was this manifest in the belief that legislation and state intervention
in business provided a panacea for all evils, when the real needs were
the development of the wealth at hand and the modification of
geographical conditions in such a way as to permit of additional
productivity. Protection and excessive regulation were the keynote of
the laws. As a result manufactures were stimulated on the one hand, and
various cities of the two kingdoms became notable industrial centres,
but on the other hand, these same industries were hindered by
inspections, by laws regulating the fashion and style of goods and
fixing prices, wages, and the hours of labor, and by a host of other
measures which killed initiative and hindered rapidity of work. In part
to promote this artificial industrial life, so that raw wool might be
readily procured, the Catholic Kings recognized and even extended the
privileges of the great corporation of the _Mesta_. Starting from La
Mancha and Extremadura in April, flocks of sheep annually ravaged
Castile, returning in September to the place whence they had come. The
_cañada real_, or royal sheepwalk, was set aside for their exclusive
use, and a prohibition was placed on clearing, working, or enclosing any
part of that strip. In fact the sheepmen ventured beyond the legal
limits, and although required by law to pay damages in such cases were
so powerful that they rarely did so. Withal, the stimulus to
manufacturing was almost purely artificial, and the Spanish cities, even
Barcelona, found competition with foreign cloths and other goods too
keen. In the main, Spain continued to be a raw material land, exporting
primary articles to foreign countries, in return for manufactures.
[Sidenote: Lack of progress in agriculture.]
Attempts were made to encourage agriculture, but the spirit of
legislative interference and the superior importance accorded the
grazing industry were not conducive to progress. The menace of the
_Mesta_ was responsible for the almost complete destruction of forestry
and agriculture in many regions which were suitable to development in
those respects, while the irrigation ditches of Andalusia and other
former Moslem lands were too often allowed to decay.
[Sidenote: Vicissitudes of commerce.]
The same royal solicitude appeared, to assist and to retard commerce.
Interior customs lines were to some extent done away with, notably on
the frontier of Castile and Aragon proper. Shipbuilding was encouraged,
but favors were shown to owners of large ships, wherefore the smaller
ship traffic was damaged, at the same time that the larger boats were
too big for the needs of the trade. A flourishing foreign commerce
developed, nevertheless, but it was in the hands of the Jews and, after
their expulsion, of foreigners of Italian, Germanic, and French
extraction. Many laws were passed subjecting foreigners to annoyances,
lest they export precious metal or in other ways act contrary to the
economic interests of the peninsula as they were then understood. It was
in this period that the commerce of the Mediterranean cities of the
kingdom of Aragon sank into a hopeless decline. Other factors than those
of the false economic principles of the day were primarily responsible,
such as the conquests of the Turks, which ended the eastern
Mediterranean trade, and the Portuguese discovery of the sea-route to
India, along with the Castilian voyages to America, which made the
Atlantic Ocean the chief centre of sea-going traffic and closed the era
of Mediterranean supremacy.
[Sidenote: Advance in wealth.]
Nevertheless, the net result of the period was a marked advance in
material wealth,--in part, perhaps, because the false economic ideas of
the Catholic Kings were shared by them with the other rulers of Europe,
wherefore they did not prove so great a handicap to Spain, and, in part,
because some of their measures were well calculated to prove beneficial.
At this time, too, the wealth of the Americas began to pour in, although
the future was to hold far more in store.
[Sidenote: Extension of intellectual culture and the triumph of
Humanism.]
Brief as was the span of years embraced by the reign of the Catholic
Kings it was as notable a period in intellectual progress as in other
respects, bringing Spain into the current of modern life. This was due
primarily to the rapid extension of printing, which had appeared in the
peninsula in the closing years of the preceding period, and which now
came into such general use that the works of Spanish and classical
writers became available to all. Through private initiative many schools
were founded which later became universities, although this activity was
limited to Castile. Most notable of these institutions was that of
Alcalá founded by Ximénez. This undertaking was due to the great
cardinal’s desire to establish a Humanist centre of learning, where
Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and philology could be studied to the best
advantage. The most learned Spanish Humanists assembled there, together
with many foreigners, and works of note were produced, such as the
famous polyglot Bible in Hebrew, Greek, Chaldean, and Latin, with
accompanying grammars and vocabularies. Not a little of the advancement
in intellectual manifestations was due to the encouragement of the
Catholic Kings, especially Isabella. Books coming into Spain were
exempted from duty; ordinances were made regulating university life, and
ridding it of much of its turbulence and abuses; and the court set an
example in showing favor to distinguished scholars, who were engaged as
teachers of the royal children. The great nobles imitated royalty, and
invited foreign savants to Spain, among whom was the Italian, Peter
Martyr of Anghiera, celebrated as the author of the first history of the
Americas, the _De orbe novo_ (Concerning the new world). The most marked
impulse to the spread of Humanist ideals came through Spaniards studying
abroad, and these men returned to give Spain her leading names in
intellectual production for the period. The greatest of them was
Antonio de Nebrija, educated in Italy, a man of such encyclopedic
attainments that he left works on theology, law, archæology, history,
natural science, geography, and geodesy, although particularly
noteworthy as a Latin scholar. Cardinal Ximénez is deserving of a high
place in the achievements of the era for his patronage of letters, for
it was through his aid that some of the most valuable work of the period
was accomplished. Education was a matter for the higher classes only;
people had not even begun to think, yet, of popular education.
[Sidenote: Progress in the sciences.]
Although the extension of intellectual culture and the triumph of
Humanism were outstanding facts of the period, there were notable
cultivators, too, of the sciences, moral, social, and natural,
especially the last-named. Studies in geography, cosmography, and
cartography received a great impulse through the discovery of America,
and many scientific works along these lines were due to the scholars
connected with the _Casa de Contratación_ (House of Trade), or India
House. Medical works were even more prominent, not a few of them on the
subject of venereal disease. A number of these works were mutilated or
condemned altogether by the Inquisition, in part because of their
doctrines, but also because of the anatomical details which they
contained, for they were considered immoral.
[Sidenote: Polite literature.]
[Sidenote: La Celestina.]
[Sidenote: History.]
[Sidenote: The theatre.]
In polite literature the leading characteristics were the complete
victory of the Italian influence, the predominance of Castilian, the
popularity of the romances, and the beginning of the Castilian theatre.
The Italian influence manifested itself both in the translation of
Classical and Italian Renaissance works and in an imitation of their
models and forms. Castilian was employed, not only in Castile and Aragon
proper, but even in the literary works of Portuguese, Catalans,
Valencians, and not a few individuals (Spaniards in the main) at the
court of Naples, although Catalan and Valencian poetry still had a
vogue. The poetry of the era often exhibited tendencies of a medieval
character,--for example, in its use of allegory. It is curious to note
also the prevalence of two somewhat opposed types of subject-matter,
religious and erotic; in the latter there was a vigorous school which
often went to the extreme of license. The romances of love and chivalry
gained even greater favor than in the preceding period. The _Amadís de
Gaula_ (Amadis of Gaul) of Vasco de Lobeira was translated from the
Portuguese by Garcí Ordóñez de Montalvo, and many other novels on the
same model were written. One of these was _Las sergas de Esplandián_
(The deeds of Esplandián) by Ordóñez de Montalvo himself, references in
which to an “island California” as a land of fabulous wealth were to
result in the naming of the present-day California, once believed to be
just such an island. Much superior to the amatory or chivalric novels
was a remarkable book which stood alone in its time, the _Tragicomedia
de Calixto y Melibea_ (The tragi-comedy of Calixtus and Melibea), better
known as _La Celestina_ (1499), from the name of one of the characters,
believed to have been the work of Fernando de Rojas. In eloquent Spanish
and with intense realism _La Celestina_ dealt with people in what might
be called “the under-world.” This was the first of the picaresque novels
(so-called because they dealt with the life of _pícaros_, or rogues),
out of which was to develop the true Spanish novel. History, too, had a
notable growth. The outstanding name was that of Hernando del Pulgar.
His _Crónica_ (Chronicle) and his _Claros varones de España_
(Illustrious men of Spain), besides being well written, noteworthy for
their characterizations of individuals, and influenced by classical
Latin authors, showed a distinct historical sense. The already mentioned
_De orbe novo_ of Peter Martyr and the letters of Columbus were the
chief contributions to the history of the new world. As to the theatre,
while the religious mysteries continued to be played, popular
representations in dialogue, some of them religious and others profane
in subject-matter, began to be written and staged. The most notable
writer was Juan del Enzina (1468-1534), who has been called the “father
of Spanish comedy.” His compositions were not represented publicly in a
theatre, but only in private houses or on the occasions of royal or
aristocratic feasts.
[Sidenote: Plateresque architecture.]
[Sidenote: Sculpture and the lesser arts.]
The transitional character of the age was nowhere more clear than in the
various forms of art. The principal architectural style was a
combination of late Gothic with early Renaissance features, which,
because of its exuberantly decorative character, was called plateresque,
for many of its forms resembled the work of _plateros_, or makers of
plate. Structurally there was a mingling of the two above-named
elements, with a superimposition of adornment marked by great profusion
and richness,--such, for example, as in the façade of the convent of San
Pablo of Valladolid. At the same time, edifices were still built which
were more properly to be called Gothic, and there were yet others
predominantly representative of the Renaissance, characterized by the
restoration of the later classical structural and decorative elements,
such as the slightly pointed arch, intersecting vaults, columns,
entablatures, pediments, and lavish ornamentation. Sculpture displayed
the same manifestations, and became in a measure independent of
architecture. Noteworthy survivals are the richly carved sepulchres of
the era. Gold and silver work had an extraordinary development not only
in articles of luxury but also in those for popular use, and as regards
luxury the same was true of work in rich embroideries and textures.
[Sidenote: Advance in painting.]
[Sidenote: Music.]
The contest between the Flemish and Italian influences on Spanish
painting resolved itself decidedly in favor of the latter, although a
certain eclecticism, the germ of a national school, made itself apparent
in the works of Spanish artists. Characteristics of a medieval type
still persisted, such as faulty drawing, color lacking in energy and
richness, a sad and sober ambient, and a disregard for everything in a
painting except the human figures. Like sculpture, painting began to be
dissociated from architecture, and was encouraged by the purchases of
the wealthy. It was not yet the custom to hang paintings on the walls;
they were kept in chests or otherwise under lock and key except when
brought out for temporary display. Music, employed principally in song
as the accompaniment of verse, enjoyed a favor comparable with that of
the plastic arts.