Toledo, the capital of the Visigoth Kings, is the city about which
cluster the richest memories of Spain in her heroic age. When
Leovigild removed his capital there from Seville in the sixth century,
it was already an ancient Jewish city, about which tradition had long
busied itself. To-day, as it sits on the summit of a barren hill, one
looks in vain for traces of its ancient Gothic splendor. But the spot
where now stands a beautiful cathedral is hallowed by a wonderful
legend, which Murillo made the subject of one of his great paintings.
It is said that the Apostle St. James founded on that very spot the
Church of _Santa Maria_; and that the Virgin, in recognition of
the dedication to her, descended from heaven to present its Bishop,
Ildofonso, with a marvelous chasuble. In proof of this miracle,
doubting visitors are still shown the marks of Mary's footprint upon a
stair in the chapel! However this may be, it is on this very spot that
King Recared formally abjured Arianism; and preserved in a cloister of
the cathedral may still be seen the "Consecration Stone" which reads:
that the Church of Santa Maria,--built probably on the foundation of
the older church,--was consecrated under "King Recared the Catholic,
587 A.D." It also tells of the councils of the Spanish Church held
there--at one of which councils was the famous canon which decreed
that all future Kings must swear they would show no mercy to "that
accursed people"--meaning the Jews. It was these very Jews who had
brought commercial success and created the enormous wealth of the
city, from which it was now the duty of the pious Visigoth Kings to
harry and hunt them as if they were frightened deer.
The Visigoth monarchy, although in many cases hereditary, was in fact
elective. And the student of Spanish history will not find an orderly
royal succession as in England and France. Disputes regarding the
succession were not infrequent, and sometimes there will occur an
interval with apparently no king at all, followed by another period
when there are two--one ruling in the north and another in the south.
"The King is dead--long live the King!" might do for France, but not
for Spain.
During one of these periods of uncertainty, in the latter half of the
seventh century, it is said that Leo, a holy man (afterward Pope),
was told in a dream that the man who must wear the crown was then
a laborer, living in the west, and that his name was Wamba. They
traveled in search of this man almost to the borders of Portugal, and
there they found the future candidate for the throne plowing in the
field. The messengers, bowing before the plowman, informed him that he
had been selected as King of Spain.
Wamba laughed, and said, "Yes, I shall be King of Spain when my pole
puts forth leaves."
Instantly the bare pole began to bud, and in a few moments was covered
with verdure!
In vain did Wamba protest. What could a poor man do in the face of
such a miracle, and with a Spanish Duke pressing a poniard against his
breast, and telling him to choose on the instant between a throne and
a tomb!
The unhappy Wamba suffered himself to be borne in triumph to Toledo,
and there to be crowned. And a very wise and excellent King did
he make. He seemed fully equal to the difficult demands of his
new position. A rebellion, fomented by an ambitious Duke Paul,
who gathered about his standard all the banished Jews, was a very
formidable affair. But Wamba put it down with a firm hand, and then,
when it was over, treated the conspirators and rebels with marvelous
clemency. When his reign was concluded he left a record of wisdom and
sagacity rare in those days, in any land.
His taking off the stage was as remarkable as his coming on. He fell
into a trance (October 14, 680), and after long insensibility it was
concluded that the King was dying. According to a custom of the period
Wamba's head was shaved, and he was clothed in the habit of a monk.
The meaning of this was that if he died, he would, as was fitting,
pass into the Divine presence in penitential garb. But if,
peradventure, the patient survived, he was pledged to spend the rest
of his life in that holy vocation, renouncing every worldly advantage.
So when, after a few hours, Wamba, in perfect health, opened his eyes,
he found that instead of a King he was transformed into a Monk!
Whether this was a cunning device of this philosophic King to lay
down the burdens which wearied him, and spend the rest of his days
in tranquility; or whether it was the work of the Royal Prince, who
joyfully assumed the diadem which he had so unwillingly worn, nobody
knows. But Wamba passed the remainder of his days in a monastery near
Burgos, and the ambitious Ervigius reigned as his successor.