We find this spice of _the Wonderful_ in the _Cabinet Cyclopaedia_,
History of Spain and Portugal.
"The character of Alfonso must be sufficiently apparent from his
actions. It may be added, that his acquirements were of a very superior
order. The Astronomical Tables which he composed, and which are called
by his name, have been often adduced as proofs of his science. It is,
however, certain, that in their construction he was greatly indebted to
the Moorish astronomers of Granada, some of whom visited his court for
the express purpose of superintending, if not of calculating them. That
he had a hand in the composition of the Chronicle which also bears his
name, is no less undoubted; but we should vainly attempt to ascertain
the portion issuing from his own pen. In the compilation of the Laws of
the Partidas from the Justinian and Wisigothic Codes, he had also a
share,--how large a one must in like manner remain for ever unknown. On
the whole, it may be said of him, that, like our James I., he was an
extraordinary instance of weakness and learning. Of his vanity, the well
known saying has been often adduced,--that if he had been consulted at
the creation of the world, he could have advised some things for the
better. If this saying were really uttered--which there are strong
reasons to doubt--it is probable that the king had no blasphemous
intention in view, but that he was merely ridiculing the then received
system of Ptolemy."
The following curious account of Alfonso's punishment for his alleged
blasphemy has never been noticed by any writer in this country. It is a
translation of an extract made by Ortiz (Compendio Cronologica de la
Historia de Espana, tom. iv. p. 184. Madrid, 1797), from a MS. in the
Royal Library of Madrid:--
"On Saturday, April 2, aera 1332 (A.D. 1294), king don Alfonso having
heard mass at the hour of tierce in the city of Seville, entered into
his chamber, as he had long been wont, to pray before an image of St.
Mary; and while he was praying, a sudden shining light filled the room,
like unto the light of fire; and in this light appeared an angel's face
exceedingly beautiful. And when the king saw it he was much afraid, and
he said, 'I conjure thee, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to tell
me what thou art,--whether thou art a good or evil spirit!' And the
angel answered, 'Fear not; a messenger am I unto thee, as thou wilt soon
perceive. Well, thou knowest how, on such a day, being at table in this
city, thou didst blaspheme, and say, that if thou hadst been with God
the Father when he made the world and all things in it, thou couldst
have mended many of them; and that many others would have been done
which were not done. And God the Father was much offended with thy
saying (supposing it possible for Him to be offended), and he was very
wroth with thee; wherefore the Highest gave sentence against thee, to
the effect that, since thou didst despise Him who made thee and gave
thee honour among men, so shouldest thou be despised by thine own
offspring, and shouldest be degraded from thine high estate, and in
lowliness end thy days! Which sentence was revealed to an Augustine
friar, while in his cell at Molina studying a sermon that he was to
preach the following day. This friar told it in confession to his
superior, and the superior to the infante don Manuel, who loves thee
like his own soul. And in a week don Manuel came to this city of
Seville, and said to thee, "Tell me, I pray thee, whether thou didst
ever speak so and so?" and thou repliedst, "that thou didst speak thus,
and wouldst speak so again." Wherefore don Manuel was sore grieved, and
exhorted thee to amend, and ask pardon of God; yet thou heardest him
not. And for that thou mayest know how all power is from God the Father,
and not from any other, the sentence is perfected and fulfilled. And
moreover, in as much as thou hast cursed don Sancho thy son, because of
the dishonour and rebellion and despite which he hath done thee, know
thou for a surety that the Highest hath heard thy curse;--that all who
spring from him shall sink lower and lower, with all their lordship, in
such wise that some of them may wish the earth to open and swallow them
up: and this shall last until the fourth generation from don Sancho thy
son, when thy male heirs shall fail, and none shall remain to inherit
this lordship; and the people shall be in grief and trouble, not knowing
what counsel to follow. And all this dole shall be for thy sins and
others, especially for the sin which thy son and those of the realm have
committed in rising against thee. But the Highest shall send them
salvation from the East,--a right noble king, and a good and a perfect
one, and one endued with justice, and with all the great and noble
things becoming a king. And he shall be fatherly to the people, in such
wise that the living, and those even whose bones lie in the grave, shall
bless God for his coming and for his goodness. And he shall be aided by
the High God, as he shall well merit; so his people shall forget their
past sufferings, how great ones soever may befall them before that
joyful day. Moreover, know thou for a surety, that by reason of thy
continual prayers to the Glorious Mother of God, from seventeen years of
age until now, she hath obtained from the Highest, that in thirty days
hence thy soul depart from the world and enter purgatory, which is good
hope; and in time, when the Highest shall see fit, it shall enter into
glory everlasting!'
"And these words being said, the angel vanished: and the king was long
afraid. Then he arose quickly, and opened the door of his cabinet, and
he found in the room his four chaplains, who never forsook him; and he
had great comfort with them in his sufferings, and in reckoning his
hours with them: and he made them bring ink and paper, and he made them
write down all which the angel had told him. And during the thirty days
he confessed and communicated every third day; and except on Sundays,
during the whole thirty days, he ate only three mouthfuls of bread in
the week, and drank water only, and that no more than once a day. And he
confirmed his last testament, and promoted his servants. And at the end
of the thirty days, his soul departed according to the angel's warning,
which he knew through the intercession of Our Lady the Virgin St. Mary."
Ortiz thinks it necessary to enter into a formal and lengthened
refutation of the angel's visit, and to prove, from the style, the
anachronisms, and other circumstances, that it must be a forgery.
Don Rodrigo Sanchez de Arevalo, bishop of Valencia (in his Historia
Hispana, lib. iv. cap. 5.), was the first to publish the apparition, but
with many varying circumstances. He says that the angel appeared in a
dream to one Pedro Martinez of Pampliega, of the household of the
infante don Manuel; and that, by order of the celestial messenger, Pedro
waited on the king at Burgos, who ridiculed the whole matter. Some days
having passed, Alfonso went to Segovia, where he was troubled by another
visit from a holy hermit, who exhorted him to repentance. The king
having caused the messenger to be kicked out of the palace, there arose
a furious storm, attended with thunder and lightning, which the night
season rendered still more awful; the liquid element fell into the royal
apartment, and consumed the queen's wardrobe. The terrified king
immediately sent in search of the hermit, begged pardon of God, and
confessed his impiety.
* * * * *