mount, arm, and maintain a horseman; and when intelligence of a crime
came, every church bell in the district rang an alarm to summon the
members of the constabulary to pursue the evil-doer, a special prize
being given to the captor. It must be understood that the townships in
Spain extend in every case over a large territory outside the walls,
so that the house tax, although nominally urban because collected by
the municipalities, was really collected also from rural hamlets.
Footnote 29:
The importance of obtaining control of the Orders was seen by Isabel
at the very beginning of her reign. When the Master of Santiago died
in 1476 the Queen was at Valladolid. Without a moment’s delay she
mounted her horse and rode to the town of Huete, where the Chapter to
elect the new Master was to be held. She entered the Chapter and in an
energetic speech urged the knights for the sake of her, their
sovereign, to elect her husband their Master. The Castilian knights
were angry at the idea of an Aragonese heading them, and opposed the
suggestion. Isabel found a way out by pledging Ferdinand to transfer
his powers as Master to a Castilian as soon as he was elected; and
this he did, appointing his faithful follower Cardenas; but when the
latter died Ferdinand became actual Master. Thenceforward the
knighthoods (_encomiendas_) were endowed with pensions derived from
rent charges on portions of the estates, the bulk of the revenue being
absorbed by the King’s treasury. For details of the Orders and their
appropriation, see Ulick Burke’s ‘History of Spain’ to 1515, edited by
Martin Hume.
Footnote 30:
As at Jaen in 1473, where the Constable of Castile was killed whilst
trying to stop the massacre.
Footnote 31:
Galindez and Perez de Pulgar.
Footnote 32:
At the Cortes of Madrigal in 1479, and in those of Toledo in 1480,
Isabel and Ferdinand renewed all the old ferocious edicts against the
use of silk and jewels by Jews in their garments, and ordered them
strictly to confine their residence to the ghettoes, and two years
later all toleration they enjoyed by papal decree was abolished.
Footnote 33:
Father Florez claims for Isabel and Torquemada alone what he considers
the great honour of establishing the Inquisition.
Footnote 34:
In the first eight years of its existence, the Inquisition burnt in
Seville alone 700 people, and sent to perpetual imprisonment in the
dungeons 5000 more, confiscating all their goods.—_Bernaldez._
Footnote 35:
Shortly after her death, the mayor of her own city of Medina del Campo
declared that the soul of Isabel had gone to hell for her cruel
oppression of her subjects, and that all the people around Valladolid
and Medina, where she was best known, were of the same
opinion.—_Spanish State Papers_, Supplement to vols. i. and ii.
Footnote 36:
Florez, ‘Reinas Catolicos.’
Footnote 37:
Pulgar. ‘Cronica de los Reyes Catolicos.’
Footnote 38:
The Moors justified the attack by the accusation that the famous Ponce
de Leon, Marquis of Cadiz, had raided and plundered the town of
Mercadillo, near Ronda.
Footnote 39:
When somewhat later the Queen urgently begged him to accept the
bishopric of Salamanca, and he persistently refused, she reproached
him for not obeying her once when she had obeyed him so many times. ‘I
will not be the bishop,’ he replied, ‘of any place but Granada.’ He
was in effect the first archbishop.
Footnote 40:
Pulgar, ‘Cronica de los Reyes Catolicos.’
Footnote 41:
Lagréze. See also Zurita’s ‘Anales de Aragon.’
Footnote 42:
Florez, ‘Reinas Catolicos.’
Footnote 43:
See Perez de Pulgar, ‘Reyes Catolicos.’
Footnote 44:
Florez, ‘Reinas Catolicos.’
Footnote 45:
Bernaldez, ‘Reyes Catolicos,’ and Bleda’s ‘Cronica.’
Footnote 46:
The chroniclers of the siege dilate much upon the magnificent
appearance of Isabel and her great train of ladies when, on the day of
her arrival before Baza, she reviewed her troops in full view of the
dumbfoundered Moors on the ramparts of the fortress. Her own Castilian
troops, frantic with enthusiasm, no longer cried ‘Long live the
Queen,’ but ‘Long live our _King_ Isabel.’—_Florez_, ‘Reinas
Catolicos,’ and Letters of Peter Martyr, who was present.
Footnote 47:
The professed Christian Jews were much more severely dealt with than
the unbaptised.
Footnote 48:
Perez de Hita (Historia de los Vandos) recounts that the city of Santa
Fe sprang from a marvellous edifice which four grandees caused to be
constructed in a single night. It consisted of four buildings of wood
covered with painted canvas to imitate stone, and surrounded by a
battlemented wall of a similar construction. Roadways in the form of a
cross divided the four blocks with a gate at each of the four
extremities. The Moors, on seeing what they thought was a strong
fortress raised so rapidly, thought that witchcraft had been at work,
and were utterly cast down.
Footnote 49:
The title ‘Catholic’ was formally conferred upon them by the Pope
after the taking of Granada.
Footnote 50:
He promptly sold this to Isabel, and retired to Fez, where he was
murdered. The account of the surrender is mainly taken from Perez de
Hita’s ‘Historia de los Vandos,’ 1610, and Perez de Pulgar’s
‘Cronica.’
Footnote 51:
She is said never to have allowed Ferdinand to wear a shirt except
those that she herself made for him.—_Navarro Rodrigo_, ‘El Cardinal
Cisneros.’
Footnote 52:
The sequence of the movements of Columbus, and several facts and dates
here given, vary from the current accounts. The narrative here set
forth has been carefully compiled from the result of much recent
Spanish research, besides the well-known texts of Navarrete and the
superb anthology of contemporary information reproduced by Mr.
Thatcher in his exhaustive three volumes lately published. I have also
depended much upon Rodriguez Pinilla’s ‘Colon en España,’ Cappa’s
‘Colon y los Españoles,’ and Ibarra y Rodriguez’s ‘Fernando el
Catolico y el Descubrimiento de America,’ etc. etc.
Footnote 53:
See Columbus’s own letter to the nurse of Prince Juan, reproduced by
Mr. Thatcher.
Footnote 54:
As Medina Celi was with Ferdinand during all the campaign of 1485, it
is possible that he may have mentioned it to the King then, and have
been told that when there was time the sovereigns themselves would
examine into the matter.
Footnote 55:
Las Casas and F. Colon.
Footnote 56:
Fernando Colon.
Footnote 57:
Las Casas.
Footnote 58:
Fernando Colon.
Footnote 59:
The speech, which is probably apocryphal, is given at length by Las
Casas.
Footnote 60:
The legend of Queen Isabel and her jewels has been now completely
disproved by my friend, Don Cesareo Fernandez Duro, in his article
‘Las Joyas de la Reina Isabel’ in the ‘Revista Contemporanea,’ vol.
xxxviii.
Footnote 61:
Professor Ibarra y Rodriguez’s interesting study ‘Fernando el Catolico
y el Descubrimiento’ (Madrid, 1892) makes this matter clear for the
first time. The treasury of Castile was empty, but Ferdinand had
plenty of money in Aragon. He was careful, however, not to allow the
Castilians to know this, or they would have clamoured for some of it
for their war against Granada, whilst he was hoarding it for his war
against France. He therefore went through the comedy of causing
Sant’angel to lend the million maravedis, apparently out of his own
pocket, but the money was secretly advanced for the purpose to
Sant’angel from the King’s Aragonese treasury, to which it was
subsequently repaid through Sant’angel.
Footnote 62:
Some of these took the form of generosity at other people’s expense.
The town of Palos was ordered, as punishment for some offence, to
provide two caravels and stores.
Footnote 63:
Quoted by Florez. ‘Reinas Catolicos.’
Footnote 64:
_Ibid._ Both Luis de Sant’angel, who served as accountant general, and
Gabriel Sanchez, the Aragonese treasurer, were of Jewish descent.
Footnote 65:
From Ulick Burke’s ‘History of Spain.’ Edited by Martin Hume. Only
five years after the expulsion from Spain, as many of the Spanish Jews
had fled to Portugal, Isabel, through her daughter, who had married
the King of Portugal, coerced the latter to expel all Jews from his
country.
Footnote 66:
It is said that Ferdinand tried to save the life of his assailant, who
had been condemned to the most cruel and awful tortures as a
punishment. The Catalans, furious at being baulked of their vengeance,
appealed to Isabel, who decided that the sentence should be carried
out, but that the victim should be secretly suffocated first.
Footnote 67:
The Luis de Sant’angel and the Sanchez letter have been published
several times, but the letter to the Sovereigns has been lost, but for
some passages quoted by Las Casas.
Footnote 68:
It is related that the Queen concealed from Jimenez her intention to
make him Primate, and handed him unexpectedly the papal bull addressed
to him as: The venerable brother Francisco Jimenez de Cisneros,
Archbishop-elect of Toledo. When the friar saw the superscription he
dropped the document and fled, crying, This bull is not for me. He was
pursued and caught two leagues from Madrid by envoys from Isabel, and
still refused the great preferment on the ground of his unworthiness.
He stood out for six months until Isabel obtained from the Pope a
peremptory command to him to accept the archbishopric, and even then
he insisted that the vast revenues should be used for pious and
charitable purposes.
Footnote 69:
A full account of these complicated intrigues will be found in the
present writer’s ‘Wives of Henry VIII.‘
Footnote 70:
Father Florez quotes a remark of Isabel, on another occasion, warmly
approving of the bullfight, ‘which, though foreigners who have not
seen it condemn as barbarous, she considered it very different, and as
a diversion where valour and dexterity shine.’
Footnote 71:
Florez, ‘Reinas Catolicos.’
Footnote 72:
Montero de los Rios ‘Historia de Madrid.’
Footnote 73:
Oviedo.
Footnote 74:
Ferdinand had wished to appoint an Aragonese commander, but as Castile
was defraying most of the expenses of the war, Isabel insisted upon a
Castilian being appointed.
Footnote 75:
Clemencin. ‘Elogio.’
Footnote 76:
Zurita, ‘Anales,’ and Padilla, ‘Cronica de Felipe I.‘
Footnote 77:
The Spanish chroniclers complain bitterly of Philip’s slowness in
coming to meet his bride. He was in Tyrol when she arrived in
Flanders, and spent nearly a month in joining her at Lille. From the
first the love was all on poor Joan’s side.
Footnote 78:
Ferdinand, it is related, fearing that the sudden news of Juan’s death
would kill Isabel with grief, caused her to be told that it was her
husband, Ferdinand himself, that had died, so that when he presented
himself before her, the—as he supposed—lesser grief of her son’s death
should be mitigated by learning that her husband was alive. The
experiment does not appear to have been very successful, as Isabel was
profoundly affected when she heard the truth. (_Florez_, ‘Reinas
Catolicos’).
Footnote 79:
In fact the Cortes of Aragon obstinately refused to swear allegiance
to the Infanta Isabel as heiress when she went to Saragossa for the
purpose in the autumn; and she was kept there in great distress until
her expected child should be born, which, if it were a male, would
receive the oath of the Cortes. The anxiety and worry consequent upon
this killed the Infanta (Queen of Portugal) in the birth of her child
Miguel in August.
Footnote 80:
Her story is told in ‘The Wives of Henry VIII.,’ by the present
writer.
Footnote 81:
‘Spanish State Papers.’ Calendar, Supplement to vol. i. p. 405.
Footnote 82:
‘Calendar of Spanish State Papers,’ Supplement to vol. i. ‘Reports of
the Sub-Prior of Santa Cruz to Isabel.’
Footnote 83:
Ferdinand sent at once an envoy to remonstrate with Maximilian about
his son’s pretensions, but it was soon seen that Maximilian and his
son were entirely in accord. Maximilian had the effrontery to claim
the crown of Portugal in right of his mother, Doña Leonor of Portugal,
and the crown of Castile for Juana, in preference to any daughter that
might be born to her eldest sister, Isabel of Portugal. Ferdinand’s
enemy, the King of France, naturally supported these pretensions,
which were really put forward at the time to thwart Ferdinand, whose
plans in Italy were now seen to threaten the suzerainty of the empire
over some of the Italian States.
Footnote 84:
As showing how unrelenting was Isabel’s determination to exterminate
infidelity in the whole Peninsula at the time, it may be mentioned
that one of the conditions of the marriage of her eldest widowed
daughter Isabel to the King of Portugal in 1497, was that every Jew
should be expelled from Portugal.
Footnote 85:
Marmol Carbajal, ‘Rebelion of Castigo de los Moros de Granada.’
Footnote 86:
Marmol Carbajal. It will be recollected that Ferdinand had opposed
Jimenez’s appointment, as he wanted the archbishopric and primacy for
his son.
Footnote 87:
Ulick Burke, ‘History of Spain.’ Edited by Martin Hume.
Footnote 88:
Las Casas.
Footnote 89:
Colon’s son, Ferdinand, says that he ordered his fetters to be buried
with him: but this does not appear to have been done. His bitter
indignation is expressed by his son, Fernando, and in Colon’s ‘Letter
to the Nurse.’
Footnote 90:
Zurita: Rodriguez Villa, ‘Juana la Loca,’ and ‘Calendar of Spanish
State Papers,’ Supplement to Vol. i.
Footnote 91:
Especially the Archbishop of Besançon, whose influence over Philip was
great. Philip would not let him go; but he died suddenly directly
afterwards, doubtless of poison. Philip’s hurry to get away from Spain
was attributed to his own fears of poison.
Footnote 92:
A copy of their urgent remonstrance from Toledo is in MS. in the Royal
Academy of History, Madrid.
Footnote 93:
‘Calendar of Spanish State Papers,’ Supplement to vols. i and ii.
Footnote 94:
Sandoval, in his ‘Historia de Carlos V.,’ gives a glowing account of
the festivities that followed, and especially of a ridiculously
fulsome sermon preached by the Bishop of Malaga on the occasion,
laying quite a malicious emphasis upon poor Joan’s devotion to what
was called in Spain ‘Christianity,’ or rather the strict Catholic
ritual.
Footnote 95:
These interesting letters are in MS. in the Royal Academy of History,
Madrid, A 11. Some of them are quoted by Rodriguez Villa in his ‘Dona
Juana la Loca.’
Footnote 96:
Royal Academy of History, Madrid, A 9, and Rodriguez Villa.
Footnote 97:
He even had a letter written, as if by his child Charles of three
years old, to King Ferdinand praying that his mamma might be allowed
to come home to them.
Footnote 98:
When the will was signed Isabel called her husband to her bedside, and
with tears made him swear that, neither by a second marriage nor
otherwise, would he try to deprive Joan of the crown. She fell back
then prostrate and was thought to be dead, but afterwards revived.
Footnote 99:
Zurita, ‘Anales de Aragon.’
Footnote 100:
A full account of the progress of events from day to day at the time
is given in Documents Ineditos, vol 18.
Footnote 101:
Ferdinand, after the Cortes had taken the oath of allegiance,
addressed to them a document (quoted in full by Zurita) saying that
when Queen Isabel provided in her will for the case of Joan’s
incapacity to rule, she had not gone further into particulars out of
consideration for her daughter; although the latter had, whilst she
was in Spain, shown signs of mental disturbance. The time had now
come, said Ferdinand, to inform the Cortes in strict secrecy of the
real state of affairs. Since Joan’s return to Flanders reports from
Ferdinand’s agents, and from Philip himself, which were exhibited to
the Cortes, said that her malady had increased, and that her state was
such that the case foreseen by Queen Isabel in her will had now
arrived. The Cortes, after much deliberation and against the nobles,
led by the Duke of Najera, thereupon decided to acknowledge Ferdinand
as ruler owing to the incapacity of Joan.
Footnote 102:
Zurita, ‘Anales de Aragon.’
Footnote 103:
Discovered in the Alburquerque archives by Sr. Rodriguez Villa, and
published by him in his ‘Doña Juana La Loca.’
Footnote 104:
It has already been mentioned on page 26 that, according to Galindez,
a will of Henry IV. leaving the crown of Castile to the Beltraneja had
come into Ferdinand’s possession on Isabel’s death. The authority for
the statement that Ferdinand offered marriage to the Beltraneja at
this juncture is principally Zurita, ‘Anales de Aragon,’ and it was
adopted by Mariana and later historians. Mr. Prescott scornfully
rejects the whole story, without, as it seems to me, any reason
whatever for doing so, except that it tells against Ferdinand’s
character. It is surely too late in the day to hope to save _that_.
Footnote 105:
‘Collection de Voyages des Souverains des Pays Bas,’ vol. i.
Footnote 106:
From a most entertaining Spanish account in manuscript in the Royal
Academy of History, Madrid, in which the courtiers are mercilessly
chaffed.
Footnote 107:
‘Spanish State Papers Calendar,’ vol. i. Peter Martyr (Epist. 300)
says that Katharine did her best to solace, comfort and entertain her
sister Joan, but that the latter would take pleasure in nothing, and
only loved solitude and darkness. In order to preserve appearances,
the treaty arranged and signed before Joan’s arrival at Windsor was
ostensibly entered into by Philip as ruler of Flanders, not as King of
Castile; but its whole object obviously was to strengthen Philip in
Spain.
Footnote 108:
None of Ferdinand’s envoys were allowed to see Joan at Corunna, but
when the great Castilian nobles, Count Benavente and Marquis de
Villena, came to pay homage, Joan was seated by the side of her
husband, and the reception hall was thrown open to the public. This
was necessary in consequence of the jealousy of Castilians against
foreigners, and their insistence upon Joan’s sovereignty; but it was
the only occasion on which Philip openly associated her with his
government.
Footnote 109:
See the draft summons to nobles and gentry, kept ready for the
eventuality, reproduced by Rodriguez Villa, ‘Doña Juana la Loca.’
Footnote 110:
Her grand-daughter, another Joan, sister of Philip II. and Princess of
Portugal, had also after her widowhood this curious fancy to keep her
face hidden.
Footnote 111:
The part played by Jimenez at this period has always been a puzzling
problem. He was apparently in the full confidence of Philip, but it is
impossible to believe that he was not really acting in concert with
Ferdinand at the time. He probably knew that one way or the other
Philip was bound to disappear very soon, and his presence at the
crisis would enable him, as it actually did, to keep firm hold upon
the government until Ferdinand returned. His anxiety to get the
custody of Joan seems to point to this also, as the person who held
the Queen was the master of the situation.
Footnote 112:
Estanques’ ‘Cronica’ in Documentos Ineditos, vol. viii.
Footnote 113:
Although, as was usual, Philip’s Italian physician vehemently denied
that there were any indications of poison on the remains, there can be
but little doubt that Philip was murdered by agents of Ferdinand. The
statement to that effect was freely and publicly made at the time, but
the authorities were always afraid to prosecute those who made them.
See ‘Calendar of Spanish State Papers,’ Supplement to Vol. i., p.
xxxvii. There were many persons who attributed Philip’s death, not to
Ferdinand, but to the Inquisition, which Philip had offended by
softening its rigour, and suspending the chief Inquisitors, Deza and
Lucero; but this is very improbable.
Footnote 114:
‘Collection de Voyages des Souverains des Pays Bas,’ vol. i. It is
here stated that foreign officers of the household broke up all the
gold and silver plate they could lay hands on to turn into money, and
pay their way back to Flanders.
Footnote 115:
‘Collection de Voyages des Souverains des Pays Bas.’
Footnote 116:
On the very day that Philip died, an attempt was made by a faction of
nobles to obtain possession of the young Prince. The keeper of the
Castle of Simancas was on his guard, as he knew of the King’s illness,
and refused admittance to any but the two gentlemen who bore Philip’s
signed order for the child to be delivered to them. When the morrow
brought news of the King’s death, the Seneschal refused to obey the
order, and defied the forces sent to capture the fortress.
Footnote 117:
The monks at first flatly refused to have the corpse moved, and the
Bishop of Burgos reproved the Queen. Joan, however, fell into such a
fury, that they were forced to obey.
Footnote 118:
An interesting letter from Ferdinand’s secretary, Conchillos, who was
at Burgos, to Almazan, who accompanied Ferdinand in Italy (Royal
Academy of History, Salazar A 12, reproduced by Sr. Rodriguez Villa),
dated 23rd December, gives a vivid picture of the confusion and
scandal caused by this sudden caprice of the Queen. He says that
though they had all done their best to prevent any one speaking to her
but her father’s partisans, the Marquis of Villena, his opponent, is
the person she welcomes most. ‘With this last caprice of the Queen
there is no one, big or little, who any longer denies that she is out
of her mind, except Juan Lopez, who says that she is as sane as her
mother was, and lends her money for all this nonsense.’
Footnote 119:
Jimenez also raised a force of one thousand picked soldiers under an
Italian commander to enable him to keep the upper hand.
Footnote 120:
Puebla to Ferdinand, Spanish Calendar, vol. i. 409.
Footnote 121:
Peter Martyr, Epistolæ.
Footnote 122:
Villena was against Ferdinand, though Joan liked him. She probably
meant that it was he who had inspired the protest.
Footnote 123:
The Castilian jealousy of Aragonese government, which was really at
the bottom of the adherence of the nobility to Philip, was not by any
means dead; and, but for the firmness of Jimenez and the diplomacy of
Ferdinand, it is quite probable that a league of nobles would have
seized Joan at this time and have governed in her name. Most of the
greater Castilian nobles appear to have made mutual protests against
the assumption of rule in Castile by Ferdinand; and in the archives of
the Duke of Frias there is one dated 19th June 1507, just before
Ferdinand landed at Valencia, and signed by the Marquis Pacheco,
solemnly repudiating Ferdinand as King, swearing to be loyal to Joan,
and attributing anything that he may subsequently do to the contrary
effect, to intimidation and force. As these protests were kept secret
the nobles made themselves safe either way.
Footnote 124:
The Marquis of Villena had just been brought to his side, and somewhat
later Juan Manuel was bribed to give up his fortresses, though he
himself retired to Flanders, for he would never trust Ferdinand. The
only great noble who continued to hold out was the Duke of Najera.
Footnote 125:
Copied by Rodriguez Villa.
Footnote 126:
It is in the immediate neighbourhood of Burgos, and one of the coldest
places in Spain.
Footnote 127:
And at a later period, when that danger was at an end, the fear of
scandal being caused in a court so slavishly Catholic by Joan’s
violent hatred of the religious services.
Footnote 128:
This strangely privileged corps has always had the duty to guard the
sovereigns of Castile personally inside their apartments. The men are
all drawn by right from the inhabitants of the town of Espinosa only.
Footnote 129:
Calendar, Spanish State Papers, Supplement to vol. i. All the
documents quoted in narrating this period of Joan’s life are from the
same source, and from the collection of the Royal Academy of History
(Rodriguez Villa).
Footnote 130:
By a long series of intrigues Chièvres had forced the hands of Jimenez
to have Charles and Joan proclaimed joint sovereigns even before the
arrival of the former. The Pope and the Emperor had been persuaded to
address Charles as Catholic King upon Ferdinand’s death; but in the
face of the discontent of the Castilian nobles it was necessary for
Charles at last to make all manner of promises as to his future
residence in Spain, respect for Spanish traditions, and avoidance of
using Spanish money for foreign purposes, as well as that to which
reference is made in the text with regard to Joan, before he could be
fully acknowledged. He broke most of his pledges at once, and so
precipitated the great rising of the _Comuneros_. See ‘Vie de
Chièvres’ by Varilla.
Footnote 131:
Denia told the rebels that he had appealed to the Queen for a
certificate of his dismissal, but what he really asked for was her
written order to stay. In reply, she told him to go about his business
and talk to her no more. He was, however, successful in getting a
letter from the young Infanta to the revolutionary Junta praying them
not to send the marchioness away, but it had no effect. The Infanta
got into sad disgrace with her brother for her alleged kindness and
sympathy with the rebels, but she spiritedly defended herself, and
appealed to this letter of hers in favour of the Denias as proof that
she did what she could in very difficult and dangerous circumstances.
(Letters from Simancas copied by Señor Rodriguez Villa.)
Footnote 132:
It was one of the principal allegations of the government, that,
although Joan never signed anything for the rebels, her verbal orders
were at once taken down in notarial form and acted upon as royal
decrees.
Footnote 133:
One of her demands was that all her women should be sent away, as they
were. Her hatred of her own sex was remarkable.
Footnote 134:
The Admiral of Castile and other nobles at the time endeavoured to
prevail upon Joan to take the direction of affairs under _their_
guidance; but she refused just as obstinately to give her signature to
them as she had to the rebels. Denia writes to the Emperor that the
Admiral is very anxious to cure the Queen; but in no case will it be
allowed without the Emperor’s permission. ‘Besides, it would be
another resurrection of Lazarus.’ The bitterest complaints of Denia
and his methods were sent by the great nobles to Charles, whilst Denia
could say no good word for them.
Footnote 135:
Mr. Bergenroth translated ‘_hacerle premia_,’ ‘applying torture,’ and
it may be so translated. I prefer, however, the wider interpretation;
though, no doubt, Denia meant to recommend physical coercion.
Footnote 136:
The Emperor ordered her to be taken to Toro in 1527, but Denia was
afraid of forcing her to go.
Footnote 137:
Denia’s account of the interview with Borgia (confirmed by the latter)
is extremely curious. The priestly Duke said, as she would do nothing
else, she might recite the ‘General Confession,’ and he would absolve
her. ‘Can you absolve?’ she asked. ‘Yes!’ he replied, ‘with the
exception of certain cases.’ ‘Then,’ said the Queen, ‘you recite the
General Confession.’ This Borgia did, and asked her whether she said
the same. ‘Yes,’ she replied; and ‘she then permitted him to absolve
her.’ It will be seen that there was not much submission in this. Only
a day or so afterwards she appears to have flown into a terrible
passion because some new hangings and gold ornaments had been placed
on the corridor altar; and she refused to eat until they had been
removed, and the altar left plain as before.
Footnote 138:
For particulars of this portrait, hitherto unknown, see ‘Calendars of
Spanish State Papers,’ vol. viii., edited by Martin Hume.
Footnote 139:
Ambassades de Noailles, vol. ii. p. 99.
Footnote 140:
Antonio de Guaras to the Duke of Alburquerque. ‘Antonio de Guaras,’ by
Dr. R. Garnett. For particulars of this personage, Antonio de Guaras,
see ‘Españoles é Ingleses,’ por Martin Hume. Madrid y Londres, 1903.
Footnote 141:
Correspondance de Cardinal de Granvelle.
Footnote 142:
These were all councillors in the interest and pay of the Emperor, and
were pledged in any case to favour the match.
Footnote 143:
Record Office. Record Commission Transcripts, Brussels, vol. i.
Footnote 144:
Chronicle of Queen Jane and Queen Mary. Camden Society.
Footnote 145:
Chronicle of Queen Jane and Queen Mary. Camden Society.
Footnote 146:
On the 21st January 1554 the Emperor wrote to Philip sending him the
treaty for ratification, and asked him to send powers for the formal
betrothal, since the English insist that when, by the blessing of God,
the marriage takes place you shall take an oath to respect the laws
and privileges of England: ‘_but the Queen confidently assures us that
secretly everything shall be done to our liking, and we believe
this_.’ MSS. Simancas. Estado, 808.
Footnote 147:
‘The Coming of Philip the Prudent’ in ‘The Year after the Armada,’ by
Martin Hume.
Footnote 148:
Renard to the Emperor, 27th March 1554. Record Commission Transcripts,
also printed by Tytler.
Footnote 149:
Full details of Philip’s voyage and arrival in England will be found
in ‘The Coming of Philip the Prudent’ in ‘The Year after the Armada,’
by Martin Hume.
Footnote 150:
Renard to the Emperor, 9th June 1554, Brussels Transcripts, Record
Office.
Footnote 151:
‘The Coming of Philip the Prudent,’ in ‘The Year After the Armada,’ by
Martin Hume. Philip himself brought 600 Andalusian jennets to improve
the English breed of horses.
Footnote 152:
Though the palace is a crumbling ruin, the door in the garden wall
remains.
Footnote 153:
This, I am aware, is contrary to the statements of most English
historians, and especially of Mr. Froude. The evidence in favour of my
view of the King’s attitude is stated in my essay called ‘The Coming
of Philip the Prudent,’ in ‘The Year After the Armada’ and other
historical essays. Mr. Froude and his predecessors depended too
implicitly upon the entirely untrustworthy and biassed accounts sent
by Noailles to France, and the similarly inimical Venetian agent’s
version.
Footnote 154:
‘The Coming of Philip the Prudent.’
Footnote 155:
Ruy Gomez wrote from Richmond, 24th August 1554, to Eraso. ‘The King
entertains the Queen excellently, and knows very well how to pass over
what is not good in her for the sensibility of the flesh. He keeps her
so contented that truly the other day, when they were alone together,
she almost made love to him, and he answered in the same fashion. As
for these gentlemen (_i.e._, the English councillors), his behaviour
towards them is such that they themselves confess that they have never
yet had a King in England who so soon won the hearts of all men.’ MSS.
Simancas Estado, 808. In November 1554 Gonzalo Perez wrote to Vasquez:
‘The English are now so civil you would hardly believe it. The
kindness and gifts they have received, and are receiving every day,
from the King would soften the very stones. The Queen is a saint, and
I feel sure that God will help us for her sake.’—MSS. Simancas Estado,
808.
Footnote 156:
Ambassades de Noailles, vol. iii. Leyden, 1763.
Footnote 157:
It had been announced and was generally believed that Mary was dead,
and the citizens were overjoyed to see her in an open litter with
Philip and Pole riding by her side.
Footnote 158:
Badoero to the Doge. Venetian State Papers. 15th December 1558.
Footnote 159:
Michaeli, the Venetian Envoy (‘Calendar of Venetian State Papers’),
mentions one extraordinary journey of a courier at this time from
Paris to London in twenty-five hours.
Footnote 160:
It is related by the Flemish envoy Courteville that on his way through
Canterbury he entered the Cathedral with his spurs on, against the
rule; and on being charged with this by a student, he paid the fine by
emptying his purse of gold in the student’s cap.
Footnote 161:
Feria to the King. MSS., ‘Simancas Estado,’ 811.
Footnote 162:
This English fleet was mainly instrumental in gaining for the Flemings
a great victory over the French under Termes in July 1558.
Footnote 163:
MSS., ‘Simancas Estado,’ 811.
Footnote 164:
MSS., ‘Simancas Estado,’ 811.
Footnote 165:
This account of Mary’s last hours is from the Life of Jane Dormer,
Duchess of Feria, by her confessor and secretary, Father Clifford.
Footnote 166:
A curious account of the splendid festival, which celebrated at the
same time the signature of the peace with England and Isabel’s
baptism, is given by the Spanish ambassador. (Spanish Calendar, vol.
viii., edited by Martin Hume.)
Footnote 167:
The Bishop of Limoges, writing to Cardinal Lorraine soon after the
betrothal (8th August 1559), says: ‘Never was a prince so delighted
with any creature as he (_i.e._, Philip) is with the Catholic Queen,
his wife. It is impossible to put his joy in a letter.’—L. Paris,
‘Negociations sous François II.‘
Footnote 168:
Miss Freer’s ‘Elizabeth de Valois,’ quoted from Godefroi.
Footnote 169:
‘Documentos Ineditos,’ vol. iii. Philip to Francis II. from
Valladolid.
Footnote 170:
Bibliothèque Nationale, ‘Fonds François,’ No. 7237, where there is a
considerable collection of the poems of both mother and daughter
unprinted. Miss Frere quotes some of Catharine’s lines to Isabel, but
not the above.
Footnote 171:
‘Documentos Ineditos,’ vol. iii.
Footnote 172:
The account of Isabel’s voyage and reception is drawn mainly from the
narratives of eyewitnesses in the correspondence published by M. L.
Paris in ‘Negociations sous François II.‘
Footnote 173:
‘Négociations sous François II.,’ p. 173.
Footnote 174:
Even more comforted, we are told, were the poor maids of honour, whose
own beds and baggage had gone astray.
Footnote 175:
Brantome, ‘Dames Illustres.’
Footnote 176:
Brantome says he had this story from one of Isabel’s ladies in waiting
who was present.
Footnote 177:
_i.e._ Anne of Bourbon Montpensier.
Footnote 178:
‘Negociations sous Francois II.,’ p. 706.
Footnote 179:
Brantome, ‘Dames Illustres.’
Footnote 180:
‘Negociations sous François II.‘
Footnote 181:
_i.e._ Margaret of Valois, La Reine Margot, who afterwards married
Henry IV., the Bearnais on the evil day of St. Bartholomew, and was
subsequently put aside by him.
Footnote 182:
Particulars of these intrigues will be found in ‘The Love Affairs of
Mary Queen of Scots’ by Martin Hume.
Footnote 183:
She afterwards married Philip himself as his fourth wife.
Footnote 184:
Négociations sous François II.
Footnote 185:
_Ibid._
Footnote 186:
Letter from the French ambassador in Spain to Catharine de’ Medici,
quoted in ‘Vie d’Elisabeth de Valois,’ par le Marquis du Prat.
Footnote 187:
Speaking of this illness Brantôme says quaintly, ‘Elle tomba malade en
telle extrémité qu’elle fut abandonnée des medecins. Sur quoy il y eut
un certain petit medecin Italien qui pourtant n’avoit grande vogue à
la cour, qui se presentant au roy, dit que, si on le vouloit laisser
faire, il la gueriroit, ce que le roy permit: aussi estoit elle morte.
Il entreprend et luy donne une medecine, qu’apres l’avoir prise on luy
vit tout a coup monter miraculeusement la couleur au visage et
reprendre son parler et puis après sa convalescence. Et cependant
toute la cour et tout le peuple d’Espagne rompaient les chemins de
processions, d’allées et venues qu’ils fasoient aux eglises et aux
hospitaux pour sa Santé, les uns en chemise les autres nuds pieds,
nues testes, offrans offrandes, prieres, oraisons et intercessions à
Dieu par jeusnes, macerations de corps et autres telles sainctes et
bonnes dévotions pour sa Santé.’
Brantôme arrived in Spain soon after her recovery, and vividly
describes the joy and gratitude of the people at her convalescence. He
saw her, he says, go out in her carriage for the first time after her
recovery to give thanks to the Virgin of Guadalupe, and asserts that
she looked more lovely than ever as she sat at the door of the
carriage for the people to see her. She was dressed in white satin
covered with silver trimming, her face being uncovered. ‘Mais je crois
que jamais rien ne fut veu si beau que cette reine, comme je pris
l’hardiesse de luy dire.’ (Dames Illustres.)
Footnote 188:
L’Aubépine to Catharine. ‘Bibliothèque Nationale,’ printed in an
appendix to Du Prat’s ‘Elizabeth de Valois.’
Footnote 189:
Isabel to Catharine. Bibliothèque Nationale, No. 39, printed in the
appendix of Du Prat’s ‘Elizabeth de Valois.’
Footnote 190:
Archives Nationales, Paris C. K., 1393, quoted in the Introduction of
the Spanish Calendar of Elizabeth, edited by Martin Hume.
Footnote 191:
Bibliothèque Nationale, Colbert, vol. 140. ‘Bref discours de l’arrivée
de la Reine d’Espagne à St. Jehan de Luz.’
Footnote 192:
It is usually assumed (and amongst others by Father Florez in ‘Reinas
Catolicas’) that the massacre of St. Bartholomew seven years later
(1572) in Paris was arranged at this meeting. There is, however, no
proof that such was the case. Philip and the Spanish party, it is
true, were loud in their praises of this enormity, but much happened
between Bayonne and Bartholomew.
Footnote 193:
Isabel herself ascribed the blessing to her prayers to the body of St.
Eugène, which she had with great difficulty persuaded the French to
surrender to Spain. It was carried with great pomp from St. Denis to
Toledo, and Isabel was constant in her adoration of it.
Footnote 194:
French ambassador Fourquevault to Catharine, June 1567. Bibliothèque
Nationale, No. 220 (Du Prat).
Footnote 195:
_Ibid._, No. 8.
Footnote 196:
Fourquevault to Catharine, 3rd October 1568. Du Prat.
Footnote 197:
Fourquevault to Catharine, 3rd October 1568. Du Prat.
Footnote 198:
Father Florez tells of her that on one occasion she was brought to
death’s door by her loathing her food; and as all mundane remedies had
been tried in vain, the King sent for the blessed friar Orozco. The
friar told the Queen he had a remedy recommended by his grandmother
which would cure her if she would take it. The Queen consented, and
the friar cooked a partridge and bacon before her, reciting verses of
the Magnificat at each turn of the spit. When the dish was ready he
took it to the Queen and said, ‘Eat, my lady, in the name of God, for
the mere smell of this would make a dead man hungry.’ Needless to say,
Anna ate and was cured.
Footnote 199:
She was much beloved, especially in Madrid, and died in childbed at
the Escorial in 1611.
Footnote 200:
An interminable account of the splendours of the occasion, for which
the favourite Duke of Lerma was mainly responsible, will be found in
‘Documentos Ineditos,’ lxi.
Footnote 201:
To show how uncertain were still the relations between the people of
the two countries, it may be mentioned that an eyewitness of the
ceremonies of the exchange, etc., mentions as a marvellous thing that
there was no fighting between Spaniards and Frenchmen.
Footnote 202:
The only portion of this building now standing is the ancient Gothic
church where King Alfonso and Queen Victoria Eugénie were recently
married. It stands close to the famous picture gallery in the Prado.
Footnote 203:
From an unpublished MS. in the British Museum. Add. 10,236.
Footnote 204:
From MSS. of Diego de Soto, de Aguilar Royal Academy of History,
Madrid, G. 32, and another in British Museum, Add. 10,236.
Footnote 205:
Father Florez and other ecclesiastical writers give many instances of
her liberality in contributing to pious works, and in Reinas Catolicas
there is an account of Isabel’s action at the time (in 1624), that a
‘heretic had outraged the Most Holy Sacrament in this my convent of
St. Philip.’ In addition to the services of atonement for the outrage
in all the churches, ‘the royal family made such an atonement as never
was seen, as befitted an insult to the greatest of the mysteries. The
corridors of the palace were adorned with all the valuable and
beautiful possessions of the crown, and a separate altar was erected
in the name of each royal personage. That of the Queen attracted the
attention of all beholders for the taste it exhibited, and the immense
value of the jewels that adorned it belonging to her Majesty. The
value of these jewels was computed at three million and a half’ (of
reals).
Footnote 206:
‘Voyage d’Espagne.’ Aersens van Sommerdyk, and many other visitors to
Spain at the time testify to this. See also ‘Relatione dell’
Ambasciatore di Venetia.’ British Museum MSS., Add. 8,701.
Footnote 207:
Historia del Arte Dramatico en España (translated from the German of
A. F. Schack).
Footnote 208:
Howell’s ‘Familiar Letters.’
Footnote 209:
The steps of the Church of St. Philip in the Calle Mayor was so called
_El Mentidero_.
Footnote 210:
Speech (published) by Don Eugenio Hartzenbusch to the Royal Academy of
History, Madrid, 1861, where the whole question is discussed.
Footnote 211:
The house now belonging to Count Oñate, just out of the Puerta del
Sol.
Footnote 212:
It is certain that Olivares urged Philip most fervently to attend to
business in the early years of his reign. See my chapter on Philip IV.
in ‘The Cambridge Modern History,’ vol. iv., for a letter on the
subject from Philip.
Footnote 213:
On the site of the present Teatro español in the Plaza de Sant Ana.
Footnote 214:
Philip had had a son by another lady high at Court three years before
this, in 1626, of whom an account from unpublished sources will be
found in ‘The Year after the Armada,’ etc., by Martin Hume.
Footnote 215:
From an unpublished contemporary account in Italian. B. M. Add. 8,703.
Footnote 216:
Ashburton Collection.
Footnote 217:
Soto de Aguilar, one of Philip’s gentlemen of the wardrobe, wrote an
interminable account of all the festivities of his time (MS. Royal
Academy of History. Copy in the writer’s possession), from which have
been derived many details.
Footnote 218:
The garden was that of Monterey, and with the two adjoining gardens,
which for this occasion were thrown into one, occupied the whole space
from the Calle de Alcala to the Carrera de San Geronimo, called the
Salon del Prado.
Footnote 219:
Amongst other trifles offered to the ladies at this feast were some of
the small jars (_bucaros_) made of fine scented white clay, which it
was at the time a feminine vice to eat. Madame D’Aulnoy gives a
curious account of the evil effects produced by this strange eatable.
She also mentions the curious craze in Madrid at the time amongst
people of fashion to throw eggshells filled with scent at each other
in the theatres, parties, and even whilst promenading in carriages.
Philip himself was much addicted to this pastime.
Footnote 220:
This was the garden on the corner of the Carrera de San Geronimo and
the Prado, now occupied by the Villahermosa palace and grounds.
Footnote 221:
Philip is represented as wearing such a collar in his portrait by
Velazquez at Dulwich College.
Footnote 222:
Although he confesses that when most of the great folks had retired,
and daylight lit up the scene of revelry, great numbers of people were
found hidden in the shrubberies.
Footnote 223:
On the spot where the Bank of Spain now stands, until a few years ago
the site of the palace and grounds of the Marquis of Alcañices.
Footnote 224:
Appendix to Mesonero Romanos’ ‘El Antiguo Madrid.’ An account of this
feast, though much less full, is also given in the newsletters of the
date published by Sr. Rodriguez Villa in ‘La Corte de España en 1636 y
1637.’
Footnote 225:
The policy and aims of Olivares are fully set forth in ‘Spain, Its
Greatness and Decay,’ Cambridge Historical Series, by Martin Hume.
Footnote 226:
Olivares was notoriously offensive to ladies. On one occasion when
Isabel gave an opinion on State affairs he told Philip that monks must
be kept for praying and women for child-bearing.
Footnote 227:
One hundred and fifty persons in Madrid alone were cast into dungeons
for not being liberal enough with their contributions on this
occasion.
Footnote 228:
Relatione dell’ Ambasciatore di Venetia (MS. British Museum, Add.
8,701), and also an account attributed (doubtfully) to Quevedo,
printed in vol. iii. of the Semanario Erudito.
Footnote 229:
News letter of 11th October in Semanario Erudito, vol. xxxiii.
Footnote 230:
Matias de Novoa, ‘Memorias.’ He was one of Philip’s chamberlains.
Footnote 231:
Life of Sor Maria de Agreda, quoted by Father Florez.
Footnote 232:
Cartas de la Venerable Madre Sor Maria de Agreda, edited by F.
Silvela. For two years after Isabel’s death all comedies and
theatrical representations were forbidden at the instance of Sor
Maria, but in 1648 Philip consented to their resumption.
Footnote 233:
‘Cartas de la Venerable Madre Sor Maria de Agreda y Felipe IV.’ Edited
by Silvela.
Footnote 234:
Marie Anne de Montpensier, the daughter of Gaston, Duke of Orleans (La
Grande Demoiselle), was suggested, but rejected at once as impossible,
both from the French and Spanish point of view! It would, indeed, have
further alienated, rather than have drawn together, the French regency
and Spain.
Footnote 235:
‘Cartas de la Venerable Madre Sor Maria de Agreda y Felipe IV.‘
Footnote 236:
The progress and events from day to day are related by Mascarenhas,
Bishop of Leyria, who accompanied the Queen, in ‘Viage de la
Serenisima Reina Doña Margarita de Austria.’ Madrid, 1650.
Footnote 237:
It has puzzled many inquirers why the marriages of the kings of Spain
should usually have taken place in poverty-stricken little villages
like Navalcarnero and Quintanapalla, where no adequate accommodation
existed, or could be created. The real reason appears to be that when
a royal marriage took place in a town the latter was freed for ever
after from paying tribute. The poorer the place, therefore, the
smaller the sacrifice of public revenue.
Footnote 238:
It is all described in Amador de los Rios Historia de Madrid, and the
prodigious sums spent are given.
Footnote 239:
Cartas de Sor Maria.
Footnote 240:
_Ibid._
Footnote 241:
In course of time she married her cousin the Emperor Leopold.
Footnote 242:
‘Reinas Catolicas.’ Florez.
Footnote 243:
Even thus early she began to introduce Austrian etiquette in her
receptions; such, for instance, as causing the ladies presented to her
to pass before her, in by one door and out by an opposite door (Avisos
de Barrionuevo).
Footnote 244:
Avisos de Barrionuevo, vol. ii. p. 303 (February 1656).
Footnote 245:
_Ibid._ vol. i.
Footnote 246:
Barrionuevo, vol. ii.
Footnote 247:
The comedy of San Gaetano had been represented at the special desire
of the Queen shortly before, not without some difficulty from the
Inquisition, and the crush to see it was so great that several people
were killed.
Footnote 248:
Barrionuevo, vol. ii. 308.
Footnote 249:
Cartas de la Venerable Sor Maria de Agreda.
Footnote 250:
Barrionuevo, vol. iii. 63.
Footnote 251:
One day (8th November 1657) she suddenly asked for some _Buñuelos_
(hot fritters), and men were sent out hurrying to the Plaza where they
were sold. A great cauldron of 8 lbs. of them were brought smoking hot
covered with honey, and Mariana ate greedily of them, to her great
contentment.
Footnote 252:
Barrionuevo.
Footnote 253:
Cartas de la Venerable Sor Maria de Agreda. The King’s prayer came
true, for the child died at the age of four.
Footnote 254:
The extravagance of these rejoicings produced a remonstrance from the
nun to the King. ‘It is good and politic for your Majesty to receive
the congratulations of your subjects ... but I do beseech you
earnestly not to allow excessive sums to be spent on these festivities
when there is a lack of money needful even for the defence of your
crown. Let there be in them no offence to God.... It is good to
rejoice for the birth of the prince, but let us do it with a clear
conscience.’—_Cartas._
Footnote 255:
Barrionuevo. A curious circumstance is related by the same journalist
as having taken place at the christening. The lady-in-waiting, as
usual, handed the child to the little Infanta Margaret, aged six, who
was the godmother; and the only clothing the babe wore was an
extremely short tunic, the lower limbs being entirely bare. The little
Infanta, shocked at what she considered disrespectful neglect, asked
angrily why the prince was not properly dressed; and had to be told
that it was done purposely in order that all might see that he was
really a male.
Footnote 256:
Barrionuevo relates (vol. iv. p. 166), that a saintly Franciscan
friar, upon being appealed to by Philip to pray for the health of his
child, replied that he would do so, but a better prayer still would be
for the King to give up his constant comedies and rejoicings and pray
to God himself. This was in June 1658; and the nun was for ever giving
to Philip the same advice.
Footnote 257:
‘Recueil des Instructions données aux ambassadeurs de France en
Espagne,’ vol. i. (Morel Fatio.)
Footnote 258:
‘Journal du Voyage d’Espagne.’ Paris, 1669.
Footnote 259:
Luis de Haro alone took a household of 200 persons, whilst the King’s
medical staff alone consisted of ten doctors and four barbers.
Footnote 260:
‘Viage del Rey N. S. a la Frontera de Francia.’ Castillo. Madrid,
1667.
Footnote 261:
The golilla, so characteristic of Philip’s reign, was a stiff
cardboard projecting collar, the under surface of which was covered
with cloth to match the doublet, and the upper surface lined with
light silk.
Footnote 262:
Palamino. Life of Velazquez. All the sumptuary decrees were suspended.
From this date the Spanish fashion in dress changed.
Footnote 263:
Cartas de Sor Maria.
Footnote 264:
Original Letters of Sir R. Fanshawe. January 1664.
Footnote 265:
An interesting account of this ceremony is given by Lady Fanshawe in
her Memoirs.
Footnote 266:
This was Mariana’s daughter, the Infanta Margaret, so well recollected
by Velazquez’s portraits of her. She was at this time thirteen years
old, and had just been betrothed to the Emperor Leopold, her cousin.
She was married two years later, and died in 1673, at the age of
twenty-two.
Footnote 267:
Memoirs of Lady Fanshawe.
Footnote 268:
It is related that when Philip was asked if the bodies of the saints
should be brought into his room he said, ‘No, they can intercede in my
favour just as well in the chapel as here.’
Footnote 269:
As soon as Philip breathed his last the Marquis of Malpica, who was on
duty as principal gentleman-in-waiting and captain of the guard, went
to the outer guardroom, and said to the assembled officers:
‘Companions, there is no more for us to do here. Go up and guard our
King, Charles II.’ Philip had died in one of the lower ground-floor
rooms of the palace. The above account is condensed from a
contemporary unpublished MS. journal of a courtier in the ‘Biblioteca
National,’ c. xxiv. 4. Lady Fanshawe also gives a very precise account
of the lying-in-state, varying in some few details from the MS.
narrative above referred to.
Footnote 270:
My diarist gives another instance of the heartless conduct of the
nobles after the King’s death. When the body was to be transferred to
the Escorial each of the chamberlains and officials insisted that it
was not his duty to make the formal surrender, or to help to carry the
corpse. The squabble was only ended by the Duke of Medina ordering his
cousin Montealegre, to do it.
Footnote 271:
Fanshawe died in Spain soon after his recall, Lord Sandwich replacing
him to conclude the treaty. See ‘Letters of Earl of Sandwich’ and
‘Fanshawe’s Letters.’ London.
Footnote 272:
An extremely detailed account of the events that accompanied the feud
between Mariana and Don Juan will be found in a rare book called
‘Relation of the Differences that happened in the Court of Spain.’
London, 1678.
Footnote 273:
Montero de los Rios, ‘Historia de Madrid.’
Footnote 274:
‘Diario de los Sucesos de la Corte.’ MS. in the Royal Academy of
History, Madrid.
Footnote 275:
A full description of the condition of Spain at the period, drawn from
many contemporary sources, is given in ‘Spain, Its Greatness and
Decay,’ by Martin Hume (Cambridge University Press).
Footnote 276:
The nobles and leaders were all excommunicated, and not even the
King’s intercession could mollify the Pope until full reparation was
made at tremendous cost, and penance done in most humiliating fashion.
Footnote 277:
The contemptible instability of the King is seen in a conversation he
had with the prior of the Escorial the day after Valenzuela’s capture.
The prior had been formerly urged most earnestly by Charles to shelter
and defend the favourite, and a written warrant to that effect was
given. As no written order for his capture was exhibited the Prior
presented himself before the King to explain what had been done.
Before he could speak Charles giggled and said, ‘So they caught him!’
‘Yes, sire, they caught him,’ replied the prior. ‘And his wife too?’
asked the King. ‘His wife is now in Madrid, sire, and I come now to
crave mercy and protection for both of them.’ ‘For his wife but not
for him,’ said Charles. ‘But surely your Majesty will not abandon your
unhappy minister in this sad strait.’ ‘You may take it from me,’
replied Charles, ‘that a holy woman has had a revelation from God that
Valenzuela was to be captured at the Escorial.’ ‘A revelation of the
devil more likely,’ blurted out the disgusted prior. ‘And pray do not
think, sire, that I am interceding for Valenzuela for interests of my
own: I never got anything from him in the world but this benzoin
lozenge.’ With this Charles jumped back in a fright. ‘Put it away! put
it away!’ he cried. ‘Perhaps it is witchcraft or poison.’
(The narrative is from an MS. relation written by one of the monks at
the time, and now in the Escorial Library. Portions of it have been
quoted by Don Modesto Lafuente, ‘Historia de Espana,’ vol. xii.)
Footnote 278:
‘Memoires touchans le mariage de Charles II. avec Marie Louise,’ from
which many of details related in the text concerning the marriage in
France and the journey to the frontier are taken.
Footnote 279:
On the return of the Duke of Pastrana to Spain after the marriage at
Fontainebleau, Marie Louise sent by him her first letter to her
husband. I have had the good fortune to come across this hitherto
unpublished letter in the Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid. It is badly
written, in a great smeared school hand, evidently copied from a
draft. I transcribe it here in full: ‘Monseigneur. Je ne puis laisser
partir le duc de Pastrana sans tesmoigner à votre Majesté l’impatience
que j’ai d’avoir l’honneur de la voir. Je suplie en mesme temps votre
Majesté d’estre bien persuadée du respect que j’ai pour elle et de
l’attachement inviolable avec lequel je serai toute ma vie,
Monseigneur, de votre Majesté la tres humble et tres observante, Marie
Louise.’
Footnote 280:
They are described with the minuteness of a milliner’s bill in
‘Descripcion de las circunstancias esenciales ... en la funcion de los
desposorios del Rey N. S. Don Carlos II.’ Madrid, 1679.
Footnote 281:
Mme. D’Aulnoy’s celebrated ‘Voyage D’Espagne’ is usually quoted
largely for local colour in the histories and romances of this period.
I am, however, of opinion that very little credit can be given to it,
so far as the authoress’s own adventures are concerned. I have grave
doubts indeed, whether Mme. D’Aulnoy went to Spain at all. Much of her
information is easily traceable to other books, and the rest, apart
from the love romances that occupy so many of her pages, may well have
been gathered from her cousin, who was married to a Spanish nobleman.
The cousin is represented as a friend of Don Juan, and the
conversation very likely did take place with her, as Mme. D’Aulnoy
represents, though perhaps the latter was not present.
Footnote 282:
‘Voyage d’Espagne.’ La Haye, 1692.
Footnote 283:
When he consented to the return of some of Mariana’s friends to Court
he was told that Don Juan would object. ‘What does that matter?’ he
replied. ‘I wish it, and that is enough.’
Footnote 284:
‘Recueil des Instructions aux Ambassadeurs de France (Espagne).’
Paris, 1894.
Footnote 285:
The leather or damask curtains of the coaches were usually kept closed
except by confessedly immodest women; but on such occasions as these,
they were sometimes opened to satisfy the crowd, who wished to welcome
royal persons.
Footnote 286:
‘Descripcion de las circunstancias,’ etc. Madrid, 1679.
Footnote 287:
_Ibid._
Footnote 288:
‘Semanario Erudito,’ vol. ii., where a pamphlet of the period is
reproduced accusing her of complicity in the murder of her cousin, Don
Diego de Aragon.
Footnote 289:
The lively Mme. D’Aulnoy gives a description of a scene previous to
the departure of the young Queen’s household from Madrid. The ladies
had been privately mustered in the Retiro Gardens for the King to see
how they would look mounted when they entered the capital in state
with the Queen. ‘The young ladies of the palace were quite pretty,
but, good God! what figures the Duchess of Terranova and Doña Maria de
Aragon cut. They were both mounted on mules, all bristling and
clanking with silver, and with a great saddle cloth of black velvet,
like those used by physicians on their horses in Paris. They were both
dressed in widows’ weeds, which I have already described to you, both
very ugly and very old, with an air of severity and imperiousness, and
they wore great hats tied on by strings under their chins. There were
twenty gentlemen around them holding them up, for fear they should
fall, though they would never have allowed one to touch them thus
unless they had been in fear of breaking their necks.—‘Voyage
d’Espagne.’ The same authority says that the Duchess of Terranova
alone took with her on the journey, ‘six litters of different coloured
embroidered velvet, and forty mules caparisoned as richly as ever I
have seen.’
Footnote 290:
‘Letters de Mme. de Villars.’ Paris, 1823.
Footnote 291:
Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid, MSS. C., 1–5, transcribed by the present
writer.
Footnote 292:
‘Mémoires de la Cour d’Espagne,’ par M. de Villars.
Footnote 293:
‘Mémoires.’ Villars.
Footnote 294:
Lettres de Mme. Villars.
Footnote 295:
Mme. D’Aulnoy thus describes the King’s appearance at this first
interview with his bride: ‘I have heard that the Queen was extremely
surprised at his appearance. He had a very short, wide jacket (_just
au corps_) of grey barracan; his breeches were of velvet, and his
stockings of very loose spun silk. He wore a very beautiful cravat
which the Queen had sent him, but it was fastened rather too loosely.
His hair was put behind his ears, and he wore a light grey
hat.’—‘Voyage d’Espagne.’ La Haye, 1692.
Footnote 296:
A note on a previous page explains the reason why these small villages
were chosen for the marriage ceremonies of the Kings of Spain.
Footnote 297:
‘Mémoires.’ Villars.
Footnote 298:
It will be seen that the sprightly letter-writer indulges here in an
untranslatable pun. The carriage was without glass = glace, and she
hoped the occupants would be without ice = glace.
Footnote 299:
Writing of this period, Mme. D’Aulnoy, who professes to have been in
Madrid at the time, says that the Marchioness de la Fuente told her
that: ‘the Queen had been much upset at the roughness of the Mistress
of the Robes, who, seeing that her Majesty’s hair did not lie flat on
the forehead, spat into her hand and approached for the purpose of
sticking the straying lock down with saliva. The Queen resented this
warmly, and rubbed hard with her pocket handkerchief upon the spot
where this old woman had so dirtily wetted her forehead.... It is
really quite pitiable the way this old Mistress of the Robes treats
the Queen. I know for a fact that she will not allow her to have a
single hair curled, and forbids her to go near a window or speak to a
soul.’—‘Voyage d’Espagne.’
Footnote 300:
It was a hooped skirt of peculiar shape, fashionable in Spain, called
a _guardainfante_, of which a specimen may be seen in the portrait of
Mariana in the present volume.
Footnote 301:
‘Lettre de Mme. Villars à Mme. Coulange,’ 15th December 1679.
Footnote 302:
Nouvelle relation de la magnifique et royale entrée ... à Madrid par
Marie Louise,’ etc. Paris, 1680.
Footnote 303:
‘Mémoires de la Cour d’Espagne.’ Villars.
Footnote 304:
Lettres de Mme. Villars à Mme. Coulange.
Footnote 305:
‘Voyage d’Espagne,’ Mme. D’Aulnoy. For the amount of credit to be
given to Mme. D’Aulnoy, see note on a previous page.
Footnote 306:
_Gabacho_ is an opprobrious term applied to Frenchmen in Spain.
Footnote 307:
‘Mémoires de la Cour d’Espagne.’ Villars.
Footnote 308:
Mme. D’Aulnoy in her own Mémoires tells a curious though doubtful
story of these perroquets of which Marie Louise was so fond. They had
been brought from Paris, and the few sentences they had been taught
were in French, so that the Duchess of Terranova thought herself
justified in having them killed. When the Queen asked for them and
learnt their fate she said nothing: but when next the Mistress of the
Robes came to kiss her hand Marie Louise gave her two good sound slaps
on the face instead. When the indignant Duchess with all her followers
went in a rage to demand redress of the King, Marie Louise excused
herself by saying that she gave the slaps overcome by the irresistible
influence of a pregnant woman. This flattered the King and she was
absolved.
Footnote 309:
‘Mémoires de la Cour d’Espagne.’ Villars.
Footnote 310:
‘Mémoires de la Cour d’Espagne.’ Villars. Even so, she was not allowed
to mount her horses from the ground, but had to be driven in her coach
to the place and mount the horse from the step of the carriage. One of
her horses being very high spirited resented on one occasion this
strange performance, and the Queen was thrown to the ground, much to
her husband’s alarm. No one, it appears, dared to touch the Queen,
even to raise her from the ground, until Charles had sufficiently
recovered from the shock to do so himself. (Mme. D’Aulnoy.)
Footnote 311:
‘Mémoires.’ Villars.
Footnote 312:
‘Mémoires de la Cour d’Espagne.’ Villars.
Footnote 313:
‘Recueil des Instructions aux ambassadeurs de France.’ Paris, 1894.
Footnote 314:
In January 1685 the Duke of Montalto in Madrid wrote to Pedro
Ronquillo, the ambassador in London. ‘The King attends to nothing but
his hunting pastimes, and the Queen in tiring horses, as if she were a
skilled horse-breaker. That is a pretty way to become pregnant! In
short, my dear sir, it is quite clear that God determines to punish us
on every side.’ Writing again, a month later (28th February), the same
correspondent, after vilifying the Medina Celi government, says:
‘Neither the things in the palace or anywhere else here improve. It
looks, on the contrary, as if the devil himself had taken them in
hand. Medina Celi is very placid over it, and cares only for himself;
the King has been wolf-hunting for a week thirty miles off, and there
would be no harm in that if he would only despatch business. As for
the Queen, Medina Celi positively encourages her in her pranks so as
to be able to hold on to office by her. He does not care so long as
others have to pay.’ Both the correspondents, it is needless to say,
belonged to Mariana’s party. ‘Doc. Ined.,’ lxxix.
Footnote 315:
There was a document found in Marie Louise’s cabinet after her death,
which purported to be a political guide, written to her at this period
by Louis XIV. In this cynical document the Queen is advised how to
gain advantage from the King’s weakness and ineptitude, and how to
obtain control of him. She is to maintain an attitude between
complaint and friendship with the Queen-Mother, but to be very wary
with regard to her: she is advised to maintain Oropesa in the
ministry, but not to trust him, or to allow him more power than he
had. She is to continue to introduce French fashions, manners, etc.,
in the palace; and advice is given her as to how she should treat all
the principal nobles. The manuscript concludes: ‘Withdraw this paper
into your most secret keeping. Live for yourself and for your beloved
France. In Spain they do not love you, as you know, and they do not
fear you either, for faint hearts easily conceive suspicions, and
strength is not needed to commit a cruelty.’ The original document is
in the Bibliotéca Nacional, Madrid (H. II), and there is a Spanish
translation of it in MSS. Add. 15,193, British Museum. The document
has usually been assumed to be authentic, but I am rather inclined to
regard it as one of the many means employed to blacken the French
cause after Marie Louise’s death.
Footnote 316:
To the French ambassador who was in Spain in 1688, the Count de
Rebenac, she gave the most intimate detailed reasons for her lack of
issue connected with the constitution of the King. Rebenac repeated
these confidences in his letters to Louis.
Footnote 317:
Mme. Quantin was a widow. It has been explained that all the ladies in
the palace had to be maids or widows.
Footnote 318:
‘Doc. Ined.,’ lxxix.
Footnote 319:
‘Doc. Ined.,’ lxxix.
Footnote 320:
_Ibid._
Footnote 321:
MSS. of Father Léonard in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. Quoted by
Morel Fatio in ‘Mémoires de la Cour d’Espagne.’
Footnote 322:
This was Susanne Duperroy, to whom Marie Louise left 3,000 doubloons
in her will. Mme. Quantin herself received a legacy of 4,000 from the
Queen.
Footnote 323:
‘Doc. Ined.,’ lxxix.
Footnote 324:
The letter is in the Archives of the Ministère des Affaires
Étrangères, Paris, vol. 71. It has been transcribed by M. Morel Fatio.
Footnote 325:
‘Recueil des Instructions aux Ambassadeurs Français,’ Paris, 1894, and
‘Correspondance de Rebenac, Archives du Ministère des Affaires
Etrangères.’
Footnote 326:
The tragic end of the Queen so distressed the French ambassador
Rebenac that for a time he lost his reason after attending the funeral
ceremony. In his subsequent correspondence with the King of France he
made no secret of his belief that she had been murdered. The Duchess
of Orleans, the Queen’s stepmother, thus refers to Rebenac’s
statements in her correspondence: ‘Rebenac’s feelings have done no
wrong to our young Queen of Spain. It is the sharp-nosed Count of
Mansfeldt who poisoned her.’ De Torcy, in his ‘Mémoires,’ says: ‘The
Count of Mansfeldt and Count Oropesa are both suspected of having been
the authors of Marie Louise’s death, and take little care to exonerate
themselves. The Marquis de Louville, in his ‘Mémoires,’ also
distinctly states that the Queen was poisoned, and several other
contemporary French authorities are no less certain.
Footnote 327:
The jewels taken by Count Benavente from Charles was valued at 180,000
crowns, and Mariana’s gift to her daughter-in-law 30,000.
Footnote 328:
Stanhope Correspondence in Lord Mahon’s ‘Spain under Charles II.‘
Footnote 329:
‘Reinas Catolicas,’ Father Florez.
Footnote 330:
Stanhope Correspondence.
Footnote 331:
‘Modesto Lafuente Historia de España.’
Footnote 332:
Stanhope Correspondence.
Footnote 333:
Stanhope says: ‘Our new junta, which raised so great expectations, at
first, is now grown almost a jest; especially since, at the time they
took away all pensions from poor widows and orphans, the Duke of
Osuna, one of the richest men in Spain, procured himself a pension of
6000 crowns a year for life, by intercession of the confessor.’
Footnote 334:
‘Recueil des Instructions,’ etc.
Footnote 335:
Stanhope Correspondence, 3rd May 1696.
Footnote 336:
Stanhope reports, ‘There is now great noise of a miracle done by a
piece of a waistcoat she died in, on an old lame nun, who, in great
faith, earnestly desired it, and no sooner applied it to her lips, but
she was perfectly well and threw away her crutches. This, with some
other stories that will not be wanting, may in time grow up to a
canonisation.’ Correspondence in ‘Spain under Charles II.‘
Footnote 337:
His recovery from this attack was attributed to the body of St. Diego,
which was brought to his bed; and when the King got better, amidst the
great rejoicings and bullfights to celebrate the miracle, Charles and
his wife spent some days at Alcalá worshipping the grim
relic.—_Stanhope._
Footnote 338:
Stanhope Correspondence.—_Mahon._
Footnote 339:
The Admiral of Castile, who was the Queen’s most ostentatious
champion, though she often quarrelled with him, was really betraying
her all the time (‘Recueil des Instructions’).
Footnote 340:
The account here given is taken mainly from a contemporary MS.,
written by an officer of the Inquisition and an adherent of
Portocarrero, in the British Museum, Add. 10,241: and from another
account printed in Madrid, 1787.
Footnote 341:
‘Stanhope Correspondence,’ _Mahon_, 11th June 1698.
Footnote 342:
Every detail of the correspondence will be found in the MSS. already
referred to, and, in English, in ‘The Exorcism of Charles the
Bewitched,’ in ‘The Year after the Armada,’ etc., by the present
writer.
Footnote 343:
MSS. account already referred to. British Museum MSS., Add. 10,241.
Footnote 344:
This struggle, which cannot be described here, is fully narrated in
‘The Exorcism of Charles the Bewitched’ (‘Year After the Armada’), by
Martin Hume.
Footnote 345:
Stanhope Correspondence.—_Mahon._
Footnote 346:
Stanhope Correspondence.—_Mahon._
Footnote 347:
There is no doubt whatever that the French claim through Maria Theresa
and Anna of Austria, Queens of France, was the legitimate one, and
that the Emperor had no valid right by Spanish law.
Printed by T. and A. CONSTABLE, Printers to His Majesty at the Edinburgh
University Press.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES
1. P. 171, changed “1906” to “1506”.
2. P. 353, changed “1543” to “1643”.
3. P. 433, changed “amoreux” to “amoureux”.
4. P. 448, changed “1580” to “1680”.
5. Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling.
6. Archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings retained as printed.
7. Footnotes were re-indexed using numbers and collected together at
the end of the last chapter.
8. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.
9. Superscripts are denoted by a caret before a single superscript
character or a series of superscripted characters enclosed in
curly braces, e.g. M^r. or M^{ister}.