vol. i. p. 419. 'Incapaz de tener hijos.' _Ortiz_, _Compendio_,
vol. vi. p. 560. See also _Mémoires de Louville_, vol. i. p. 82;
and the allusions in _Lettres de Madame de Villars_, edit.
Amsterdam, 1759, pp. 53, 120, 164. She was ambassadress in Spain
in the reign of Charles II. M. Lafuente, who, if I rightly
remember, never quotes these interesting letters, and who
indeed, with very few exceptions, has used none but Spanish
authorities, ventures nevertheless to observe that 'La
circunstancia de no haber tenido sucesion, falta que en general
se achabaca mas al rey que á la reina,' &c. _Historia de
España_, vol. xvii. pp. 198, 199, Madrid, 1856. According to the
biographer of the Spanish Queens, some persons imputed this to
sorcery, 'y aun se dijo si intervenia maleficio.' _Florez_,
_Memorias de las Reynas Catholicas_, vol. ii. p. 973, Madrid,
1761, 4to.
[1245] In 1696, Stanhope, the English minister at Madrid, writes: 'He
has a ravenous stomach, and swallows all he eats whole, for his
nether jaw stands so much out that his two rows of teeth cannot
meet; to compensate which, he has a prodigious wide throat, so
that a gizzard or liver of a hen passes down whole, and his weak
stomach not being able to digest it, he voids it in the same
manner.' _Mahon's Spain under Charles II._, London, 1840, p. 79;
a very valuable collection of original documents, utterly
unknown to any Spanish historian I have met with. Some curious
notices of the appearance of Charles II. in his childhood may be
seen published for the first time in _Mignet's Négociations
relatives à la Succession d'Espagne_, Paris, 1835-1842, 4to.
vol. i. pp. 294, 295, 310, 396, 404, 410, vol. ii. p. 130, vol.
iii. pp. 418, 419, 423. See also vol. iv. p. 636, for an
instance of his taciturnity, which was almost the only mark of
sense he ever gave, 'Le roi l'écouta, et ne lui répondit rien.'
[1246] 'Le Roy demeuroit dans une profonde ignorance et de ses affaires
et même des Etats de sa couronne; à peine connoissoit-il quelles
étoient les places qui lui appartenoient hors du continent
d'Espagne.' ... 'La perte de Barcelone lui fut plus sensible
qu'aucune autre, parce que cette ville, capitale de la
Catalogne, et située dans le continent de l'Espagne, lui étoit
plus connue que les villes de Flandre, dont il ignoroit
l'importance au point de croire que Mons appartenoit au roi
d'Angleterre, et de le plaindre lorsque le Roi fit la conquête
de cette province.' _Mémoires du Marquis de Torcy_, vol. i. pp.
19, 23, edit. Petitot, Paris, 1828.
[1247] 'Fancying everything that is said or done to be a temptation of
the devil, and never thinking himself safe but with his
confessor, and two friars by his side, whom he makes lie in his
chamber every night.' _Mahon's Spain under Charles II._, p. 102.
On account, no doubt, of this affection for monks, he is
declared by a Spanish historian to have possessed a 'corazon pio
y religioso.' _Bacallar_, _Comentarios de la Guerra de España_,
vol. i. p. 20. The best notice of the exorcism will be found in
_Lafuente's Historia de España_, vol. xvii. pp. 294-309, where
there is an entire chapter, headed 'Los Hechizos del Rey.'
Now it was that men might clearly see on how sandy a foundation the
grandeur of Spain was built. When there were able sovereigns, the
country prospered; when there were weak ones, it declined. Nearly
everything that had been done by the great princes of the sixteenth
century, was undone by the little princes of the seventeenth. So rapid
was the fall of Spain, that in only three reigns after the death of
Philip II., the most powerful monarchy existing in the world was
depressed to the lowest point of debasement, was insulted with impunity
by foreign nations, was reduced more than once to bankruptcy, was
stripped of her fairest possessions, was held up to public opprobrium,
was made a theme on which school-boys and moralists loved to declaim
respecting the uncertainty of human affairs, and, at length, was exposed
to the bitter humiliation of seeing her territories mapped out and
divided by a treaty in which she took no share, but the provisions of
which she was unable to resent.[1248] Then, truly, did she drink to the
dregs the cup of her own shame. Her glory had departed from her, she was
smitten down and humbled. Well might a Spaniard of that time who
compared the present with the past, mourn over his country, the chosen
abode of chivalry and romance, of valour and of loyalty. The mistress of
the world, the queen of the ocean, the terror of nations, was gone; her
power was gone, no more to return. To her might be applied that bitter
lamentation, which, on a much slighter occasion, the greatest of the
sons of men has put into the mouth of a dying statesman. Good reason,
indeed, had the sorrowing patriot to weep, as one who refused to be
comforted, for the fate of his earth, his realm, his land of dear souls,
his dear, dear land, long dear for her reputation through the world, but
now leased out like to a tenement or pelting farm.[1249]
[1248] 'La foiblesse de l'Espagne ne permettoit pas à son roi de se
ressentir du traitement dont il croyoit à propos de se
plaindre.' _Mémoires de Torcy_, vol. i. p. 81. Or, as an eminent
native writer bitterly says, 'Las naciones estrangeras
disponiendo de la monarquia española como de bienes sin dueño.'
_Tapia_, _Civilizacion Española_, vol. iii. p. 187.
[1249] 'This royal throne of kings, this scepter'd isle,
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise;
This fortress, built by nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war;
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall,
Or as a moat defensive to a house,
Against the envy of less happier lands;
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England,
This nurse, this teeming womb of royal kings,
Fear'd by their breed and famous by their birth,
Renowned for their deeds as far from home,
For Christian service and true chivalry,
As is the sepulchre in stubborn Jewry
Of the world's ransom, blessed Mary's son:
This land of such dear souls, this dear, dear land,
Dear for her reputation through the world,
Is now leas'd out, I die pronouncing it,
Like to a tenement or pelting farm.'
It would be a weary and unprofitable task to relate the losses and
disasters of Spain during the seventeenth century. The immediate cause
of them was undoubtedly bad government and unskilful rulers; but the
real and overriding cause, which determined the whole march and tone of
affairs, was the existence of that loyal and reverential spirit which
made the people submit to what any other country would have spurned,
and, by accustoming them to place extreme confidence in individual men
reduced the nation to that precarious position in which a succession of
incompetent princes was sure to overthrow the edifice which competent
ones had built up.[1250]
[1250] The Spanish theory of government is well stated in the following
passage in Davila's Life of Philip III. The remarks apply to
Philip II. 'Que solo havia gobernado sin Validos ni Privados,
tomando para sí solo, como primera causa de su gobierno, el
mandar, prohibir, premiar, castigar, hacer mercedes, conocer
sugetos, elegir Ministros, dar oficios, y tener como espiritu
que andaba sobre las aguas, ciencia y providencia de todo, para
que nada se hiciese sin su saber y querer: no serviendo los
Ministros mas que de poner por obra (obedeciendo) lo que su
Señor mandaba, velando sobre cada uno, como pastor de sus
ovejas, para ver la verdad con que executan sus mandamientos y
acuerdos.' _Davila_, _Historia de Felipe Tercero_, lib. i.
pp. 22, 23.
The increasing influence of the Spanish Church was the first and most
conspicuous consequence of the declining energy of the Spanish
government. For, loyalty and superstition being the main ingredients of
the national character, and both of them being the result of habits of
reverence, it was to be expected that, unless the reverence could be
weakened, what was taken from one ingredient would be given to the
other. As, therefore, the Spanish government, during the seventeenth
century, did, owing to its extreme imbecility, undoubtedly lose some
part of the hold it possessed over the affections of the people, it
naturally happened that the Church stepped in, and occupying the vacant
place, received what the crown had forfeited. Besides this, the weakness
of the executive government encouraged the pretensions of the
priesthood, and emboldened the clergy to acts of usurpation, which the
Spanish sovereigns of the sixteenth century, superstitious though they
were, would not have allowed for a single moment.[1251] Hence the very
striking fact, that, while in every other great country, Scotland alone
excepted, the power of the Church diminished during the seventeenth
century, it, in Spain, actually increased. The results of this are well
worth the attention, not only of philosophic students of history, but
also of every one who cares for the welfare of his own country, or feels
an interest in the practical management of public affairs.
[1251] Even Philip II. always retained a certain ascendency over the
ecclesiastical hierarchy, though he was completely subjugated by
ecclesiastical prejudices. 'While Philip was thus willing to
exalt the religious order, already far too powerful, he was
careful that it should never gain such a height as would enable
it to overtop the royal authority.' _Prescott's History of
Philip II._, vol. iii. p. 235. 'Pero este monarca tan afecto á
la Inquisicion mientras le servia para sus fines, sabia bien
tener á raya al Santo Oficio cuando intentaba invadir ó usurpar
las preeminencias de la autoridad real, ó arrogarse un poder
desmedido.' _Lafuente_, _Historia de España_, vol. xv. p. 114.
For twenty-three years after the death of Philip II., the throne was
occupied by Philip III., a prince as distinguished by his weakness as
his predecessors had been by their ability. During more than a century
the Spaniards had been accustomed to be entirely ruled by their kings,
who, with indefatigable industry, personally superintended the most
important transactions, and in other matters exercised the strictest
supervision over their ministers. But Philip III., whose listlessness
almost amounted to fatuity, was unequal to such labour, and delegated
the powers of government to Lerma, who wielded supreme authority for
twenty years.[1252] Among a people so loyal as the Spaniards, this
unusual proceeding could not fail to weaken the executive; since, in
their eyes, the immediate and irresistible interference of the sovereign
was essential to the management of affairs, and to the well-being of the
nation. Lerma, well aware of this feeling, and conscious that his own
position was very precarious, naturally desired to strengthen himself by
additional support, so that he might not entirely depend on the favour
of the king. He therefore formed a strict alliance with the clergy, and,
from the beginning to the end of his long administration did everything
in his power to increase their authority.[1253] Thus the influence lost
by the crown was gained by the Church, to whose advice a deference was
paid even greater than had been accorded by the superstitious princes of
the sixteenth century. In this arrangement, the interests of the people
were of course unheeded. Their welfare formed no part of the general
scheme. On the contrary, the clergy, grateful to a government so
sensible of their merits, and so religiously disposed, used all their
influence in its favour; and the yoke of a double despotism was riveted
more firmly than ever upon the neck of that miserable nation, which was
now about to reap the bitter fruit of a long and ignominious
submission.[1254]
[1252] 'Por cuyo absoluto poderío se executaba todo.' _Yañez_, _Memorias
para la Historia de Felipe III._, Prologo, p. 150. 'An
absoluteness in power over king and kingdom.' Letter from Sir
Charles Cornwallis to the Lords of the Council in England, dated
Valladolid, May 31, 1605, in _Winwood's Memorials_, vol. ii. p.
73, London, 1725, folio. 'Porque no era fácil imaginar entónces,
ni por fortuna se ha repetido el ejemplo después, que hubiera un
monarca tan pródigo de autoridad, y al propio tiempo tan
indolente, que por no tomarse siquiera el trabajo de firmar los
documentos de Estado, quisiera dar á la firma de un vasalla suyo
la misma autoridad que á la suya propia, y que advirtiera y
ordenára, como ordenó Felipe III. á todos sus consejos,
tribunales, y súbditos, que dieran á los despachos firmados por
el duque de Lerma el mismo cumplimiento y obediencia, y los
ejecutáran y guardáran con el mismo respeto que si fueran
firmados por él.' _Lafuente_, _Historia de España_, vol. xv. pp.
449, 450. 'El duque de Lerma, su valído, era el que gobernaba el
reino solo.' vol. xvii. p. 332. His power lasted from 1598 to
1618. _Ortiz_, _Compendio_, vol. vi. pp. 290, 325.
[1253] Davila (_Historia de Felipe Tercero_, lib. ii. p. 41), after
eulogizing the personal qualities of Lerma, adds, 'Y sin estas
grandes partes tuvo demostraciones christianas, manifestandolo
en los conventos, iglesias, colegiatas, hospitales, ermitas y
catedras, que dejó fundadas, en que gastó, como me consta de los
libros de su Contaduría, un millon ciento cincuenta y dos mil
doscientos ochenta y tres ducados.' After such monstrous
prodigality, Watson might well say, in his rather superficial,
but, on the whole, well-executed History, that Lerma showed 'the
most devoted attachment to the church,' and 'conciliated the
favour of ecclesiastics.' _Watson's History of Philip III._,
London, 1839, pp. 4, 8, 46, 224.
[1254] The only energy Philip III. ever displayed, was in seconding the
efforts of his minister to extend the influence of the Church;
and hence, according to a Spanish historian, he was 'monarque le
plus pieux parmi tous ceux qui out occupé le trône d'Espagne
depuis saint Ferdinand.' _Sempère_, _Monarchie Espagnole_, vol.
i. p. 245. 'El principal cuidado de nuestro Rey era tener á Dios
por amigo, grangear y beneficiar su gracia, para que le
asistiese propicio en quanto obrase y dixese. De aqui tuvieron
principio tantos dones ofrecidos á Dios, tanta fundacion de
Conventos, y favores hechos á Iglesias y Religiones.' _Davila_,
_Historia de Felipe Tercero_, lib. ii. p. 170. His wife,
Margaret, was equally active. See _Florez_, _Reynas Catholicas_,
vol. ii. pp. 915, 916. 'Demas de los frutos que dió para el
Cielo y para la tierra nuestra Reyna, tuvo otros de ambas lineas
en fundaciones de Templos y obras de piedad para bien del Reyno
y de la Iglesia. En Valladolid fundó el Convento de las
Franciscas Descalzas. En Madrid trasladó á las Agustinas
Recoletas de Santa Isabel desde la calle del Principe al sitio
en que hoy estan. Protegió con sus limosnas la fundacion de la
Iglesia de Carmelitas Descalzas de Santa Ana; y empezó á fundar
el Real Convento de las Agustinas Recoletas con titulo de la
Encarnacion en este misma Corte, cuya primera piedra se puso á
10 de Junio del 1611. En la parroquia de S. Gil junto al Palacio
introdujo los Religiosos Franciscos, cuyo Convento persevera hoy
con la misma advocacion.' How the country fared, while all this
was going on, we shall presently see.
The increasing power of the Spanish Church during the seventeenth
century, may be proved by nearly every description of evidence. The
convents and churches multiplied with such alarming speed, and their
wealth became so prodigious, that even the Cortes, broken and humbled
though they were, ventured on a public remonstrance. In 1626, only five
years after the death of Philip III., they requested that some means
might be taken to prevent what they described as a constant invasion on
the part of the Church. In this remarkable document, the Cortes,
assembled at Madrid, declared that never a day passed in which laymen
were not deprived of their property to enrich ecclesiastics; and the
evil, they said, had grown to such a height, that there were then in
Spain upwards of nine thousand monasteries, besides nunneries.[1255]
This extraordinary statement has, I believe, never been contradicted,
and its probability is enhanced by several other circumstances. Davila,
who lived in the reign of Philip III., affirms that in 1623, the two
orders of Dominicans and Franciscans alone amounted to thirty-two
thousand.[1256] The other clergy increased in proportion. Before the
death of Philip III., the number of ministers performing in the
Cathedral of Seville had swelled to one hundred; and in the diocese of
Seville, there were fourteen thousand chaplains; in the diocese of
Calahorra, eighteen thousand.[1257] Nor did there seem any prospect of
remedying this frightful condition. The richer the Church became, the
greater was the inducement for laymen to enter it; so that there
appeared to be no limit to the extent to which the sacrifice of temporal
interests might be carried.[1258] Indeed, the movement, notwithstanding
its suddenness, was perfectly regular, and was facilitated by a long
train of preceding circumstances. Since the fifth century, the course
of events, as we have already seen, invariably tended in this direction,
and insured to the clergy a dominion which no other nation would have
tolerated. The minds of the people being thus prepared, the people
themselves looked on in silence at what it would have been impious to
oppose; for, as a Spanish historian observes, every proposition was
deemed heretical which tended to lessen the amount, or even to check the
growth of that enormous wealth which was now possessed by the Spanish
Church.[1259]
[1255] The burden of the petition was, 'Que se tratasse con mas veras de
poner limite á los bienes, que se sacauan cada dia del braço
Seglar al Eclesiastico, enflaqueciendo no tan solo el patrimonio
Real, mas el comun, pues siendo aquel libre de pechos,
contribuciones, y gauelas, alojamientos, huespedes, y otros
grauamenes mayores, presidios, guerras, y soldados.' ... 'Que
las Religiones eran muchas, las Mendicantes en excesso, y el
Clero en grande multitud. Que auia en España 9088 monasterios,
aun no cõtando los de Monjas. Que yuan meti[~e]do poco á poco,
con dotaciones, cofradias, capellanias, o con cõpras, á todo el
Reyno en su poder. Que se atajasse tanto mal. Que huuiesse
numero en los frayles, moderacion en los Cõuentos, y aun en los
Clerigos seglares.' _Cespedes_, _Historia de Don Felipe IV._,
Barcelona, 1634, fol. lib. vii. cap. 9, p. 272 rev. This is the
only noticeable passage in an unusually dull chronicle, which,
though professing to be a history of Philip IV., is confined to
the first few years of his reign.
[1256] 'En este año, que iba escribiendo esta Historia, tenian las
Ordenes de Santo Domingo, y S. Francisco en España, treinta y
dos mil Religiosos, y los Obispados de Calahorra y Pamplona
veinte y quatro mil clerigos; pues qué tendran las demas
Religiones, y los demas Obispados?' _Davila_, _Historia de
Felipe Tercere_, lib. ii. p. 215. See also cap. xcvii. pp. 248,
249; and, on the increase of convents, see _Yañez_, _Memorias
para la Historia de Felipe III._, pp. 240, 268, 304, 305.
[1257] 'The reign of Philip III., surnamed from his piety the Good, was
the golden age of Churchmen. Though religious foundations were
already too numerous, great additions were made to them; and in
those which already existed, new altars or chancels were
erected. Thus, the duke of Lerma founded seven monasteries and
two collegiate churches; thus, also, the diocese of Calahorra
numbered 18,000 chaplains, Seville 14,000. How uselessly the
ministers of religion were multiplied, will appear still more
clearly from the fact that the cathedral of Seville alone had a
hundred, when half-a-dozen would assuredly have been sufficient
for the public offices of devotion.' _Dunham's History of
Spain_, vol. v. p. 274. According to the passage quoted in note
93, from Davila, there were twenty-four thousand 'clerigos' in
the two dioceses of Calahorra and Pamplona.
[1258] 'Entre tanto crecia por instantes y se aumentaba prodigiosamente
el poder y la autoridad de la Iglesia. Sus pingües riquezas
desmembraban de una manera considerable las rentas de la corona;
y el estado eclesiástico, que muchos abrazaron en un principio á
consecuencia de las desgracias y calamidades de la época, fué
despues el mas solicitado por las inmensas ventajas que ofrecia
su condicion comparada con la de las clases restantes.'
_Antequera_, _Historia de la Legislacion_, pp. 223, 224. See
also in _Campomanes_, _Apendice á la Educacion_, Madrid,
1775-1777, vol. i. p. 465, and vol. iv. p. 219, a statement made
by the University of Toledo in 1619, or 1620, that 'hay doblados
religiosos, clerigos y estudiantes; porque ya _no hallan otro
modo de vivir_, _ni de poder sustentarse_.' If the eye of M.
Lafuente had lighted upon this and other passages, which I shall
shortly quote from contemporary observers, he would, I think,
have expressed himself much more strongly than he has done
respecting this period, in his recent brilliant, but
unsatisfactory, History of Spain. On the great wealth of the
convents in 1679, when the rest of the country was steeped in
poverty, see a letter dated Madrid, July 25, 1679, in
_D'Aulnoy_, _Relation du Voyage d'Espagne_, Lyon, 1693, vol. ii.
p. 251. But the earliest evidence I have met with is in a
letter, written in 1609, to Prince Henry of England, by Sir
Charles Cornwallis, the English ambassador at Madrid. 'The
furniture of their churches here, and the riches and lustre of
their sepulchres made in every monasterie (the general povertye
of this kingdome considered), are almost incredible. The laity
of this nation may say with Davyde (though in another sense),
"Zelus domus tuæ comedit me:" for, assuredly, the riches of the
Temporall hath in a manner all fallen into the mouthes and
devouring throates of the Spiritual.' _Winwood's Memorials of
Affairs of State_, vol. iii. p. 10, London, 1725, folio.
[1259] 'Deux millions de ducats, que le clergé possédait sous le règne
de Charles V, étaient réputés comme un revenu exorbitant; et, un
demi-siècle plus tard, lorsque ces revenus s'élevaient à huit
millions, on qualifiat d'hérétique, toute proposition tendant à
opérer quelque modification dans leur accroissement.' _Sempère_,
_Monarchie Espagnole_, vol. ii. p. 16.
How natural all this was, appears also from another fact of considerable
interest. In Europe generally, the seventeenth century was distinguished
by the rise of a secular literature in which ecclesiastical theories
were disregarded; the most influential writers, such as Bacon and
Descartes, being laymen, rather hostile to the Church than friendly to
it, and composing their works with views purely temporal. But in Spain,
no change of this sort occurred.[1260] In that country, the Church
retained her hold over the highest as well as over the lowest
intellects. Such was the pressure of public opinion, that authors of
every grade were proud to count themselves members of the ecclesiastical
profession, the interests of which they advocated with a zeal worthy of
the Dark Ages. Cervantes, three years before his death, became a
Franciscan monk.[1261] Lope de Vega was a priest; he was an officer of
the Inquisition; and in 1623 he assisted at an auto da fé, in which,
amid an immense concourse of people, a heretic was burned outside the
gate of Alcalá at Madrid.[1262] Moreto, one of the three greatest
dramatists Spain has produced, assumed the monastic habit during the
last twelve years of his life.[1263] Montalvan, whose plays are still
remembered, was a priest, and held office in the Inquisition.[1264]
Tarrega, Mira de Mescua, and Tirso de Molina, were all successful
writers for the stage, and were all clergymen.[1265] Solis, the
celebrated historian of Mexico, was also a clergyman.[1266] Sandoval,
whom Philip III. appointed historiographer, and who is the principal
authority for the reign of Charles V., was at first a Benedictine monk,
afterwards became bishop of Tuy, and later still, was raised to the see
of Pampeluna.[1267] Davila, the biographer of Philip III., was a
priest.[1268] Mariana was a Jesuit;[1269] and Miñana, who continued his
History, was superior of a convent in Valencia.[1270] Martin Carrillo
was a jurisconsult as well as an historian, but, not satisfied with his
double employment, he too entered the Church, and became canon of
Saragossa.[1271] Antonio, the most learned bibliographer Spain ever
possessed, was a canon of Seville.[1272] Gracian, whose prose works have
been much read, and who was formerly deemed a great writer, was a
Jesuit.[1273] Among the poets, the same tendency was exhibited.
Paravicino was for sixteen years a popular preacher at the courts of
Philip III. and Philip IV.[1274] Zamora was a monk.[1275] Argensola was
a canon of Saragossa.[1276] Gongora was a priest;[1277] and Rioja
received a high post[1278] in the Inquisition. Calderon was chaplain to
Philip IV.;[1279] and so fanatical are the sentiments which tarnish his
brilliant genius, that he has been termed the poet of the
Inquisition.[1280] His love for the Church was a passion, and he
scrupled at nothing which could advance its interests. In Spain, such
feelings were natural; though to other nations they seem so strange,
that an eminent critic has declared that it is hardly possible to read
his works without indignation.[1281] If this be so, the indignation
should be extended to nearly all his contemporary countrymen, great or
small. There was hardly a Spaniard of that period who did not entertain
similar sentiments. Even Villaviciosa, author of one of the very best
mock-heroic poems Spain has produced, was not only an officer in the
Inquisition, but, in his last will, he strongly urged upon his family
and all his descendants, that they too should, if possible, enter the
service of that noble institution, taking whatever place in it they
could obtain, since all its offices were, he said, worthy of
veneration.[1282] In such a state of society, anything approaching to a
secular or scientific spirit was, of course, impossible. Every one
believed; no one inquired. Among the better classes, all were engaged in
war or theology, and most were occupied with both. Those who made
literature a profession, ministered, as professional men too often do,
to the prevailing prejudice. Whatever concerned the Church was treated
not only with respect, but with timid veneration. Skill and industry
worthy of a far better cause, were expended in eulogizing every folly
which superstition had invented. The more cruel and preposterous a
custom was, the greater the number of persons who wrote in its favour,
albeit no one had ventured to assail it. The quantity of Spanish works
to prove the necessity of religious persecution is incalculable; and
this took place in a country where not one man in a thousand doubted the
propriety of burning heretics. As to miracles, which form the other
capital resource of theologians, they, in the seventeenth century, were
constantly happening, and as constantly being recorded. All literary men
were anxious to say something on that important subject. Saints, too,
being in great repute, their biographies were written in profusion, and
with an indifference to truth which usually characterizes that species
of composition. With these and kindred topics, the mind of Spain was
chiefly busied. Monasteries, nunneries, religious orders, and cathedrals
received equal attention, and huge books were written about them, in
order that every particular might be preserved. Indeed, it often
happened that a single convent, or a single cathedral, would have more
than one historian; each seeking to distance his immediate competitor,
and all striving which could do most to honour the Church and to uphold
the interests of which the Church was the guardian.[1283]
[1260] In a work on Spanish literature which was published about seventy
years ago, and which, at the time of its appearance, made
considerable noise, this peculiarity is frankly admitted, but is
deemed rather an honour to Spain than otherwise, inasmuch as
that country, we are told, has produced philosophers who have
gone much deeper into things than Bacon, Descartes, and Newton,
who, no doubt, were clever men, but were nowise comparable to
the great thinkers of the Peninsula. Such assertions,
proceeding, not from some ignorant despiser of physical science,
who contemns what he has never been at the pains to study, but
from a really able and, in some respects, competent judge, are
important for the history of opinion; and as the book is not
very common, I will give two or three extracts. 'Confiesan los
Franceses con ingenuidad que Descartes fué un novelista: y con
todo eso quieren hacerle pasar por el promotor de la filosofía
en Europa, como si su filosofía se desemejase mucho de la que
dominaba en las sectas de la antigüedad. Su tratádo "Del Metodo"
es nada en comparacion de los libros "De la Corrupcion de las
Artes" de Juan Luis Vives, que le antecedió buen número de
años.' _Oracion Apologética por la España y su Mérito Literario
por D. J. P. Forner_, Madrid, 1786, p. xi. 'No hemos tenido en
los efectos un Cartesio, no un Neuton: démoslo de barato: pero
hemos tenido justísimos legisladores y excelentes filósofos
prácticos, que han preferido el inefable gusto de trabajar en
beneficio de la humanidad á la ociosa ocupacion de edificar
mundos imaginarios en la soledad y silencio de un gabinete.' p.
12. 'Nada se disputaba en España.' p. 61. At p. 143 a comparison
between Bacon and Vives; and the final decision, p. 146, that
Vives enjoys 'una gloriosa superioridad sobre todos los sabios
de todos los siglos.'
[1261] The final profession was not made till 1616; but he began to wear
the clothes in 1613. 'Tal era su situacion el sábado santo 2 de
abril' [1616] 'que por no poder salir de su casa hubieron de
darle en ella la profesion de la venerable órden tercera de San
Francisco, cuyo hábito habia tomado en Alcalá, el dia 2 de julio
de 1613.' _Navarrete_, _Vida de Cervantes_, p. cii. prefixed to
_Don Quijote_, Barcelona, 1839. Even in 1609, says Navarrete,
(p. lxii.), 'Se ha creido que entónces se incorporó tambien
Cervantes, como lo hizo Lope de Vega, en la congregacion del
oratorio del Caballero de Gracia, mientras que su muger y su
hermana doña Andrea se dedicaban á semejantes ejercicios de
piedad en la venerable órden tercera de San Francisco, cuyo
hábito recibieron en 8 de junio del mismo año.'
[1262] _Ticknor's History of Spanish Literature_, vol. ii. pp. 125, 126,
137, 147, 148.
[1263] _Ibid._ vol. ii. p. 374. _Biographie Universelle_, vol. xxx.
pp. 149, 150.
[1264] _Ticknor's History of Spanish Literature_, vol. ii. pp. 276, 327.
[1265] _Ticknor_, vol. ii. p. 327.
[1266] _Bouterwek's History of Spanish Literature_, vol. i. p. 525. But
the best account is that given by his biographer, who assures us
of two facts; that he received 'todas las órdenes sagradas,' and
that he was 'devotísimo de María santísima.' _Vida de Solis_, p.
15, prefixed to _Solis_, _Historia de la Conquista de Mejico_,
edit. Paris, 1844.
[1267] _Biographie Universelle_, vol. xl. p. 319.
[1268] 'Sacerdote soy.' _Davila_, _Historia de la Vida de Felipe
Tercero_, lib. ii. p. 215.
[1269] _Biographie Universelle_, vol. xxvii. p. 42.
[1270] _Ibid._ vol. xxix. p. 80.
[1271] _Ibid._ vol. vii. p. 219.
[1272] _Ibid._ vol. ii. p. 293.
[1273] _Ticknor's History of Spanish Literature_, vol. iii. p. 177.
[1274] _Ibid._ vol. ii. p. 491, vol. iii. pp. 117, 118.
[1275] _Sismondi's Literature of the South of Europe_, vol. ii. p. 348,
London, 1846.
[1276] 'Pero en fin murio Don Andres Martinez, y sucediole en la
Canongia nuestro Bartholome.' _Pellicer_, _Ensayo de una
Bibliotheca_, Madrid, 1778, 4to. p. 94. This was the younger
Argensola.
[1277] _Ticknor's History of Spanish Literature_, vol. ii. p. 486.
[1278] 'Occupied a high place in the Inquisition.' _Ticknor_, vol. ii.
p. 507. 'Prit les ordres, et obtint un canonicat.' _Biographie
Univ._ vol. xxxviii. p. 120.
[1279] In 1663 Philip IV. 'le honró con otra Capellanía de honor en su
real Capilla.' _Vida de Calderon_, p. iv., prefixed to _Las
Comedias de Calderon_, edit. Keil, Leipsique, 1827.
[1280] 'Calderon is, in fact, the true poet of the Inquisition. Animated
by a religious feeling, which is too visible in all his pieces,
he inspires me only with horror for the faith which he
professes.' _Sismondi's Literature of the South of Europe_, vol.
ii. p. 379. Compare _Lewes on the Spanish Drama_, pp. 176-179.
[1281] Salfi says, 'Calderon de la Barca excite encore plus une sorte
d'indignation, malgré son génie dramatique, qui le mit audessus
de Vega, son prédécesseur. En lisant ses drames sans prévention,
vous diriez qu'il a voulu faire servir son talent uniquement à
confirmer les préjugés et les superstitions les plus ridicules
de sa nation.' _Ginguenè_, _Histoire Littéraire d'Italie_, vol.
xii. p. 499, Paris, 1834.
[1282] 'Entró en el año de 1622 á ser _Relator del Consejo de la General
Inquisicion_, cuyo empleo servió y desempeñó con todo honor
muchos años.' And he declared, 'en esta clausula de su
Testamento: "Y por quanto yo y mis hermanos y toda nuestra
familia nos hemos sustentado, autorizado y puesto en estado con
las honras y mercedes, que nos ha hecho el santo Oficio de la
Inquisicion, á quien hemos servido como nuestros antepassados;
encargo afectuosissimamente á todos mis successores le sean para
siempre los mas respetuosos servidores y criados, viviendo en
ocupacion de su santo servido, procurando adelantarse y
señalarse en él, quanto les fuere possible, en qualquiera de sus
ministerios; pues todos son tan dignos de estimacion y
veneracion."' _La Mosquea, por Villaviciosa_, Prologo,
pp. x.-xii., edit. Madrid, 1777.
[1283] 'Hardly a convent or a saint of any note in Spain, during the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, failed of especial
commemoration; and each of the religious orders and great
cathedrals had at least one historian, and most of them several.
The number of books on Spanish ecclesiastical history, is,
therefore, one that may well be called enormous.' _Ticknor's
History of Spanish Literature_, vol. iii. p. 132. Forner assures
us, somewhat needlessly, of what no one ever doubted, that 'los
estudios sagrados jamas decayéron en España.' _Forner_, _Oracion
Apologética_, Madrid, 1786, p. 141.
Such, was the preponderance of the ecclesiastical profession, and such
was the homage paid to ecclesiastical interests by the Spaniards during
the seventeenth century.[1284] They did everything to strengthen the
Church in that very age when other nations first set themselves in
earnest to weaken it. This unhappy peculiarity was undoubtedly the
effect of preceding events; but it was the immediate cause of the
decline of Spain, since, whatever may have been the case in former
periods, it is certain that, in modern times, the prosperity of nations
depends on principles to which the clergy, as a body, are invariably
opposed. Under Philip III. they gained an immense accession of strength;
and in that very reign they signalized this new epoch of their power by
obtaining, with circumstances of horrible barbarity, the expulsion of
the whole Moorish nation. This was an act so atrocious in itself,[1285]
and so terrible in its consequences, that some writers have ascribed to
it alone, the subsequent ruin of Spain; forgetting that other causes,
far more potent, were also at work, and that this stupendous crime could
never have been perpetrated, except in a country which, being long
accustomed to regard heresy as the most heinous of all offences, was
ready, at any cost, to purge the land and to free itself from men whose
mere presence was regarded as an insult to the Christian faith.
[1284] In 1623, Howell writes from Madrid: 'Such is the reverence they
bear to the church here, and so holy a conceit they have of all
ecclesiastics, that the greatest Don in Spain will tremble to
offer the meanest of them any outrage or affront.' _Howell's
Letters_, edit. London, 1754, p. 138. 'The reverence they show
to the holy function of the church is wonderful; Princes and
Queens will not disdain to kiss a Capuchin's sleeve, or the
surplice of a priest.' ... 'There are no such sceptics and
cavillers there, as in other places.' p. 496. In 1669, another
observer writes: 'En Espagne les Religieux sont les maîtres, et
l'emportent partout où ils se trouvent.' _Voyages faits en
divers Temps en Espagne_, Amsterdam, 1700, p. 35. And, to quote
one more authority, the following picture is given of Spanish
society in the reign of Philip IV.: 'No habia familia con quien
no estuvieran entroncados los frailes por amistad ó parentesco;
ni casa que les cerrara sus puertas; ni conversacion en que no
se les cediera la palabra; ni mesa en que no se les obligara á
ocupar la primera silla; ni resolucion grave entre ricos ó
pobres que se adoptara sin su consejo; y si no tomaban parte en
ellas, las satisfacciones domésticas no eran cabales.' _Rio_,
_Historia del Reinado de Carlos III._, vol. i. p. 94.
[1285] 'Le cardinal de Richelieu, qui n'étoit pas très-susceptible de
pitié, l'appelle "le plus hardi et le plus barbare conseil dont
l'histoire de tous les siècles précédens fasse mention."'
_Sismondi_, _Histoire des Français_, vol. xxii. p. 163, Paris,
1839.
After the reduction, late in the fifteenth century, of the last
Mohammedan kingdom in Spain, the great object of the Spaniards became to
convert those whom they had conquered.[1286] They believed that the
future welfare of a whole people was at stake; and finding that the
exhortations of their clergy had no effect, they had recourse to other
means, and persecuted the men they were unable to persuade. By torturing
some, by burning others, and by threatening all, they at length
succeeded; and we are assured that, after the year 1526, there was no
Mohammedan in Spain, who had not been converted to Christianity.[1287]
Immense numbers of them were baptized by force; but being baptized, it
was held that they belonged to the Church, and were amenable to her
discipline.[1288] That discipline was administered by the Inquisition,
which, during the rest of the sixteenth century, subjected these new
Christians, or Moriscoes, as they were now called,[1289] to the most
barbarous treatment. The genuineness of their forced conversion was
doubted; it therefore became the business of the Church to inquire into
their sincerity.[1290] The civil government lent its aid; and among
other enactments, an edict was issued by Philip II. in 1566, ordering
the Moriscoes to abandon everything which by the slightest possibility
could remind them of their former religion. They were commanded, under
severe penalties, to learn Spanish, and to give up all their Arabic
books. They were forbidden to read their native language, or to write
it, or even to speak it in their own houses. Their ceremonies and their
very games were strictly prohibited. They were to indulge in no
amusements which had been practised by their fathers; neither were they
to wear such clothes as they had been accustomed to. Their women were to
go unveiled; and as bathing was a heathenish custom, all public baths
were to be destroyed, and even all baths in private houses.[1291]
[1286] 'Porque los Reyes queriendo, que en todo el Reino fuesen
Christianos, embiaron á Frai Francisco Ximenez, que fue
Arzobispo de Toledo i Cardenal, para que los persuadiese. Mas
ellos, gente dura, pertinaz, nuevamente conquistada, estuvieron
recios,' _Mendoza_, _Guerra de Granada que hizo Felipe II.
contra los Moriscos_, Valencia, 1776, 4to. p. 10. The author of
this book was born early in the sixteenth century, at Granada,
where he lived for a considerable period.
[1287] 'L'année 1526 vit donc disparaître dans toutes les parties de
l'Espagne les signes extérieurs de l'islamisme.' _Circourt_,
_Hist. des Arabes d'Espagne_, Paris, 1846, vol. ii. p. 220. M.
Lafuente (_Historia de España_, vol. x. p. 132) says of 1502,
that 'desde entónces, por primera vez al cabo de ocho siglos, no
quedo un solo habitante en España que esteriormente diera culto
á Mahoma:' but in vol. xi. p. 447, he says that, in 1524,
'volvieron inmediatamente á sus ritos y ceremonias muslímicas.'
As M. de Circourt was well acquainted with all the materials
used by M. Lafuente, and is, moreover, a much more critical
writer, it seems likely that his statement is the correct one.
[1288] 'Ces malheureux auraient tous été exterminés, s'ils n'avaient
consenti à recevoir le baptême. Au milieu des décombres de leurs
maisons, sur les cadavres fumans de leurs femmes, ils
s'agenouillèrent. Les germanos, ivres de sang, firent l'office
de prêtres; l'un d'eux prit un balai, aspergea la foule des
musulmans, en prononçant les paroles sacramentelles, et crut
avoir fait des chrétiens. L'armée des germanos se répandit
ensuite dans le pays environnant, saccageant d'abord, baptisant
après.' _Circourt_, _Histoire des Arabes d'Espagne_, vol. ii.
p. 175. See also p. 202.
[1289] That was their general name; but, in Aragon, they were termed
'"tornadizos," en lenguage insultante.' _Janer_, _Condición de
los Moriscos de España_, Madrid, 1857, p. 26.
[1290] 'Recibieron el Sacramento por comodidad, no de voluntad, y asi
encubrian todo lo possible el viuir y morir en la secta de
Mahoma, siendo infieles apostatas.' _Vanderhammen's Filipe
Segundo_, p. 12. 'Porque la Inquisicion los comenzó á apretar
mas de lo ordinario.' _Mendoza_, _Guerra de Granada_, p. 20.
'Poner nuevo cuidado i diligencia en descubrir los motivos
destos hombres,' p. 26. And yet this very writer has the
impudence to declaim against Mohammedanism as a cruel religion.
'Cruel i abominable religion aplacar á Dios con vida i sangre
innocente!' pp. 107, 108.
[1291] Vanderhammen (_Filipe Segundo_, p. 12, Madrid, 1632) merely tells
us that 'Por cedula el año sesenta y seis les mandó dexassen el
habito, lengua y costumbres de Moros, y fuessen Christianos y lo
pareciessen.' But the exact provisions were, 'Que dentro de tres
años aprendiesen los moriscos á hablar la lengua castellana, y
de allí adelante ninguno pudiese hablar, leer ni escriber
arábigo en publico ni en secreto: que todos los contratos que se
hiciesen en arábigo fuesen nulos: que todos los libros así
escritos los llevasen en término de treinta dias al presidente
de la audiencia de Granada para que los mandase examinar,
devolviendoseles aquellos que no ofrecieran inconveniente para
que los pudiesen guardar solo durante los tres años: que no se
hicieran de nuevo marlotas, almalafas, calzas ni otra suerte de
vestidos de los que se usaban en tiempos de moros; que durante
este tiempo, las mujeres vestidas á la morisca llevarian la cara
descubierta; que no usasen de las ceremonias ni de los regocijos
moros en las bodas, sino conforme al uso de la Santa Madre
Iglesia, abriendo las puertas de sus casas en tales dias, y
tambien en los de fiesta, no haciendo zambras ni leylas con
instrumentos ni cantares moriscos, aunque no dijesen en ellos
cosas contraria á la religion cristiana,' &c. _Janer_,
_Condicion de los Moriscos_, pp. 31, 32, where other particulars
will be found, which should be compared with _Circourt_,
_Histoire des Arabes d'Espagne_, vol. ii. pp. 278, 283, 459-463.
By these and similar measures,[1292] these unhappy people were at length
goaded into rebellion; and in 1568 they took the desperate step of
measuring their force against that of the whole Spanish monarchy. The
result could hardly be doubted; but the Moriscoes maddened by their
sufferings, and fighting for their all, protracted the contest till
1571, when the insurrection was finally put down.[1293] By this
unsuccessful effort, they were greatly reduced in numbers and in
strength; and, during the remaining twenty-seven years of the reign of
Philip II. we hear comparatively little of them. Notwithstanding an
occasional outbreak, the old animosities were subsiding, and in the
course of time would probably have disappeared. At all events, there was
no pretence for violence on the part of the Spaniards, since it was
absurd to suppose that the Moriscoes, weakened in every way, humbled,
broken, and scattered through the kingdom, could, even if they desired
it, effect any thing against the resources of the executive government.
[1292] Some of the other steps which were taken, before 1566, to affront
the Moriscoes are enumerated in _Prescott's History of Philip
II._, vol. iii. p. 10, and elsewhere. In the reign of Charles
V., there were many acts of local tyranny which escape the
general historian. One of them, on the part of the Bishop of
Guadix, is worth quoting. 'On le vit pousser l'intolérance
jusqu'à faire raser les femmes et les obliger à racler leurs
ongles pour en faire disparaître les traces du henné, cosmétique
inoffensif dont il abhorrait l'usage, en raison de ce que les
Arabes l'avaient introduit.' _Circourt_, _Histoire des Arabes
d'Espagne_, vol. ii. p. 226.
[1293] Its concluding scene, in March, 1571, is skilfully depicted in
_Prescott's History of Philip III._, vol. iii. pp. 148-151. The
splendid courage of the Moriscoes is attested by Mendoza in his
contemporary history of the war; but, in narrating the horrible
outrages which they undoubtedly committed, he makes no allowance
for the long-continued and insufferable provocations which they
had received from the Spanish Christians. What he mentions of
one of the battles is curious, and I do not remember to have
seen it elsewhere recorded. 'Fue porfiado por ambas partes el
combate hasta venir á las espadas, de que los Moros se
aprovechan menos que nosotros, por tener las suyas un filo i no
herir ellos de punta.' _Mendoza_, _Guerra de Granada_, edit.
4to. Valencia, 1776, p. 168.
But, after the death of Philip II., that movement began which I have
just described, and which, contrary to the course of affairs in other
nations, secured to the Spanish clergy in the seventeenth century, more
power than they had possessed in the sixteenth. The consequences of this
were immediately apparent. The clergy did not think that the steps taken
by Philip II. against the Moriscoes were sufficiently decisive; and even
during his lifetime they looked forward to a new reign, in which these
Christians of doubtful sincerity should be either destroyed or driven
from Spain.[1294] While he was on the throne, the prudence of the
government restrained in some degree the eagerness of the Church; and
the king, following the advice of his ablest ministers, refused to adopt
the measures to which he was urged, and to which his own disposition
prompted him.[1295] But, under his successor, the clergy, as we have
already seen, gained fresh strength, and they soon felt themselves
sufficiently powerful to begin another and final crusade against the
miserable remains of the Moorish nation.[1296]
[1294] An instance of this was exhibited in 1578, on the very day in
which Philip III. was born. 'Predicando en un lugar de Aragon,
todo de Moriscos, llamado Ricla, ó Torrellas, un religioso,
llamado Vargas, el mismo dia que nació su Magestad, viendo el
poco fruto que hacia con sus sermones, dixo, como en Profecia, á
aquella gente rebelde: Pues no quereis despedir de vuestros
pechos esta infernal secta, sabed, que ha nacido en Castilla vn
Principe que os ha de echar de España.' _Porreño_, _Dichos y
Hechos de Phelipe III._, in _Yañez_, _Memorias_, Madrid, 1723,
p. 224; and nearly the same words in _Janer_, _Condicion de los
Moriscos_, p. 60. Mr. Prescott, in his _History of Philip II._,
vol. iii. p. 139, quotes a Ms. letter from Don John of Austria
to Philip II., written in 1570, and stating that the Spanish
monks were openly preaching against the leniency with which the
king treated the Moriscoes. 'Predicando en los púlpitos
publicamente contra la benignidad y clemencia que V. M. ha
mandado usar con esta gente.'
[1295] In a recent work of considerable authority, it is denied that
Philip II. entertained the desire of expelling the Moriscoes.
'El carácter austero y la severidad de Felipe II. redundaban en
favor de los moriscos, porque no daba oidos á las instigaciones
de algunos personajes que señalaban la expulsion general como
unico remedio eficaz para los males que ofrecia al pais aquella
desventurada raza. Acababa el monarca de tocar los tristes
resultados de una emigracion por las funestas consecuencias de
la despoblacion del reino granadino, y preferia continuar en la
_senda de la conciliacion_, procurando de nuevo la enseñanza de
los conversos.' _Janer_, _Condicion de los Moriscos_, Madrid,
1857, p. 59. But to say nothing of the fact that this is
contrary to all we know of the character of Philip, we have, on
the other side of the question, the testimony of Archbishop
Ribera, who had often communicated with the King on the subject,
and who distinctly states that Philip desired the expulsion of
the Moors from Spain, 'El hechar los Moros deste Reyno, ha sido
cosa muy desseada, y procurada por los Reyes Predecessores del
Rey nuestro Señor, aunque no executada.' ... 'El Rey Don Felipe
Segundo, nuestro Señor, despues de suceder en estos Reynos,
_tuvo el mismo desseo_; y assi mandó, que se juntassen los
Prelados deste Reyno para buscar remedio el año de 1568; siendo
Arçobispo desta Metropoli el Reverendissimo Don Hernando de
Lloazes. Hizieronse en aquella Junta algunas Constituciones de
consideracion. Visto que no aprovechaban, mandó el año 1587 que
se hiziesse otra Junta, _en la qual me hallé yo_: añadimos
tambien algunas nuevas Constituciones. Y constando á su Magestad
que no eran bastantes las diligencias passadas, y que siempre
perseveraban en su heregia, se resolvio de mandarlos hechar del
Reyno, ó por lo menos meterlos dentro de la tierra.' _Ximenez_,
_Vida de Ribera_, Roma, 1734, 4to. pp. 419, 420. This important
passage is decisive as to the real feelings of Philip, unless we
assume that Ribera has stated a deliberate falsehood. But,
strange to say, even the book in which so remarkable a passage
is contained, appears to be unknown either to M. Janer or to M.
Lafuente.
[1296] 'El rey Felipe III., hombre de rudo ingenio, se dejaba gobernar
con facilidad por aquellos que sabiendo los temores de su
conciencia, se aprovechaban de su imbecilidad para conseguir
cuanto querian. Muchos eclesiásticos, recordando las espulsiones
de judios y moros ejecutadas de órden de Fernando é Isabel, y
conociendo que á Felipe III. seria agradable imitar á estos
monarcas, le aconsejaron que condenase al destierro á todos los
moriscos que vivian en sus reynos; pues no solo se obstinaban en
seguir la ley mahometana, sino que tenían tratos con los turcos
y entre sí para buscar sus libertades por medio del rigor de las
armas.' _Castro_, _Decadencia de España_, Cadiz, 1852,
pp. 101, 102.
The Archbishop of Valencia was the first to take the field. In 1602,
this eminent prelate presented a memorial to Philip III. against the
Moriscoes; and finding that his views were cordially supported by the
clergy, and not discouraged by the crown, he followed up the blow by
another memorial having the same object.[1297] The Archbishop, who spoke
as one having authority, and who from his rank and position was a
natural representative of the Spanish Church, assured the king that all
the disasters which had befallen the monarchy, had been caused by the
presence of these unbelievers, whom it was now necessary to root out,
even as David had done to the Philistines, and Saul to the
Amalekites.[1298] He declared that the Armada, which Philip II. sent
against England in 1588, had been destroyed, because God would not allow
even that pious enterprise to succeed, while those who undertook it,
left heretics undisturbed at home. For the same reason, the late
expedition to Algiers had failed; it being evidently the will of Heaven
that nothing should prosper while Spain was inhabited by
apostates.[1299] He, therefore, exhorted the king to exile all the
Moriscoes, except some whom he might condemn to work in the galleys, and
others who could become slaves, and labour in the mines of
America.[1300] This, he added, would make the reign of Philip glorious
to all posterity, and would raise his fame far above that of his
predecessors, who in this matter had neglected their obvious duty.[1301]
[1297] These memorials are printed in the Appendix to his Life by
Ximenez. See the very curious book, entitled _Vida y Virtudes
del Venerable Siervo de Dios D. Juan de Ribera_, _por el R. P.
Fr. Juan Ximenez_, Roma, 1734, 4to. pp. 367-374, 376-393. This
work is, I believe, extremely rare; at all events, I endeavoured
in vain to obtain a copy from Spain or Italy, and, after some
years' unsuccessful search, I met with the one I now have, on a
London book-stall. M. de Circourt, in his learned History of the
Spanish Arabs, does not appear to have been aware of its
existence, and he complains that he could not procure the works
of Ribera, whose Memorials he consequently quotes second-hand.
_Circourt_, _Histoire des Arabes d'Espagne_, Paris, 1846, vol.
iii. pp. 168, 351. Nor does Watson seem to have known it; though
both he and M. de Circourt refer to Escriva's Life of Ribera.
_Watson's Philip III._, London, 1839, pp. 214-221. An abstract
of these Memorials is given by Geddes, who, though a learned and
accurate writer, had the mischievous habit of not indicating the
sources of his information. _Geddes' Tracts_, London, 1730,
vol. i. pp. 60-71.
[1298] 'Por lo qual se puede creer, que nuestro Señor ha querido
reservar esta obra tan digna de pecho Real para Vuestra
Magestad, como reservó la libertad e su pueblo para Moyses, la
entrada de la Tierra de Promission para Josue, la vengança de la
injuria antigua de los Amalequitas para Saul, y la victoria de
los Filisteos para David.' _Ximenez_, _Vida de Ribera_, p. 370.
Again, p. 377: 'Y al primer Rey que tuvo el Mundo, en siendo
elegido por Dios, y confirmado en su Reyno, le embia á mandar
por un Propheta que destruya á los Amalequitas, sin dexar
hombres, ni mugeres, ni niños, aunque sean de leche, en fin que
no quede rastro de ellos, ni des sus haziendas. Y porque no
cumplió exactamente su mandamiento, cayó en indignacion de Dios,
y fue privado del Reyno. Al segundo Rey, que fue David, le mandó
Dios en siendo jurado, que destruyesse los Philisteos, como lo
hizo.'
[1299] 'El año quando se perdio la poderosa Armada, que iba á
Inglaterra, confiado de la benignidad del Rey nuestro Señor, que
está en el Cielo, me atreví con el zelo de fiel vassallo y
Capellán, á dezir á Su Magestad; que aviendo gastado mucho
tiempo en discurrir, que causa podia aver para que Dios, nuestro
Señor, permitiesse aquel mal sucesso se me havia ofrecido una
cosa de mucha consideracion, y era, querer dezir la Magestad
Divina á Su Magestad Catolica; que mientras no ponia remedio en
estas Heregias de España, cuyos Reynos le avia encomendado, no
se debía ocupar en remediar las de los Beynos agenos. Y ahora
confiando en la misma benignidad, y clemencia de Vuestra
Magestad, me atrevo tambien á dezir, que aviendo considerado la
causa, porque Dios nos ha quitado de las manos la toma de Argel,
aviendose dispuesto todas las prevenciones para ella con la
mayor prudencia, y sagacidad, que hemos visto en nuestros
tiempos, y sirviendonos el mar, y los ayres, y las ocasiones, de
la manera, que podiamos dessear, tengo por sin duda, que ha
sido, querer nuestro Señor dar á Vuestra Magestad el ultimo
recuerdo de la obligacion, que tiene, de resolver esta platica.'
_Ximenez_, _Vida de Ribera_, p. 373. It would be a pity if such
admirable specimens of theological reasoning were to remain
buried in an old Roman quarto. I congratulate myself and the
reader on my acquisition of this volume, which is a vast
repertory of powerful, though obsolete, weapons.
[1300] 'Todas estas cosas, y otras muchas, que dexo de dezir, por no ser
prolixo, me hazen evidencia, de que conviene para el servicio de
Dios nuestro Señor, y que Vuestra Magestad está obligado en
conciencia, como Rey, y Supremo Señor, á quien toca de justicia
defender, y conservar sus Reynos, mandar desterrar de España
todos estos Moriscos, sin que quede hombre, ni muger grande, ni
pequeño; reservando tan solamente los niños, y niñas, que no
llegaren á siete años, para que se guarden entre nosotros,
repartien dolos por las casas particulares de Christianos
viejos. Y aun hay opinion de personas doctas, que estos tales
niños y niñas, los puede Vuestra Magestad dar por esclavos, y lo
fundan con razones probables.' _Ximenez_, _Vida de Ribera_, pp.
379, 380. 'Destos que se han de desterrar, podra Vuestra
Magestad tomarlos que fuere servido por esclavos, para proveer
sus Galeras, ó para embiar á las minas de las Indias, sin
escrupulo alguno de conciencia, lo que tambien será de no poca
utilidad.' p. 384. To do this, was to be merciful; for they all
deserved capital punishment, 'merecian pena capital.' p. 381.
[1301] 'Aora, Catolica Magestad, vemos que Dios nuestro Señor ha
reservado para Vuestra Magestad, y para su Real Corona, el
nombre, y hechos de Rey Catholico: permitiendo por sus secretos
juizios, que los que han sido siempre enemigos de su Iglesia se
conserven, y que los que antes eran Catholicos, ayan degenerado,
y apostatado de su santa ley y assi va la honra de Dios nuestro
Señor, y el exemplo, y confusion de los otros Reyes, en que
Vuestra Magestad tenga sus Reynos limpios de Hereges, y
principalmente á España. Y quando esto huviesse de costar
grandes trabajos, y todo el oro, y plata, que hay en las Indias,
estaria muy bien empleado: pues se atraviessa la honra de Dios,
la de su Santa Iglesia, el antiguo renombre desta Corona,' &c.
_Ximenez_, _Vida de Ribera_, p. 382. And on the neglect of duty
by Charles V. and Philip II., see p. 370.
These remonstrances, besides being in accordance with the known views of
the Spanish Church, were warmly supported by the personal influence of
the Archbishop of Toledo, the primate of Spain. In only one respect did
he differ from the views advocated by the Archbishop of Valencia. The
Archbishop of Valencia thought that children under seven years of age
need not share in the general banishment, but might, without danger to
the faith, be separated from their parents, and kept in Spain. To this,
the Archbishop of Toledo strongly objected. He was unwilling, he said,
to run the risk of pure Christian blood being polluted by infidels; and
he declared that sooner than leave one of these unbelievers to corrupt
the land, he would have the whole of them, men, women, and children, at
once put to the sword.[1302]
[1302] 'The most powerful promoter of their expulsion was Don Bernardo
de Roias y Sandoval, Cardinal Archbishop of Toledo, and
Inquisitor-General and Chancellor of Spain. This great prelate,
who was brother to the Duke of Lerma, by whom the king for some
years before, and for some years after the expulsion was
absolutely governed, was so zealous to have the whole race of
the Moriscoes extinguished, that he opposed the detaining of
their children who were under seven years of age, affirming that
of the two he judged it more advisable to cut the throats of all
the Moriscoes, men, women, and children, than to have any of
their children left in Spain, to defile the true Spanish blood
with a mixture of the Moorish.' _Geddes' Tracts_, vol. i. pp.
85, 86. Navarrete has pronounced a glowing eulogy upon the piety
and other noble qualities of this prelate; and says that
'llenando de esplendor con su virtud tres sillas episcopales,
mereció que Clemente VIII. le honrase con el capelo, y fué
elevado á la primada de Toledo y al empleo de inquisidor
general.' _Vida de Cervantes_, pp. xcvii., xcviii., Barcelona,
1839.
That they should all be slain, instead of being banished, was the desire
of a powerful party in the Church, who thought that such signal
punishment would work good by striking terror into the heretics of every
nation. Bleda, the celebrated Dominican, one of the most influential men
of his time, wished this to be done, and to be done thoroughly. He
said, that, for the sake of example, every Morisco in Spain should have
his throat cut, because it was impossible to tell which of them were
Christians at heart, and it was enough to leave the matter to God, who
knew his own, and who would reward in the next world those who were
really Catholics.[1303]
[1303] 'He did assure all the old Christian laity, that whenever the
king should give the word, they might, without any scruple of
conscience, cut the throats of all the Moriscoes, and not spare
any of them upon their professing themselves Christians; but to
follow the holy and laudable example of the Croisado that was
raised against the Albigenses, who, upon their having made
themselves masters of the city of Bezeir; wherein were two
hundred thousand Catholics and hereticks, did ask Father Arnold,
a Cistercian monk, who was their chief preacher, "Whether they
should put any to the sword that pretended to be Catholics;" and
were answered by the holy Abbot, "That they should kill all
without distinction, and leave it to God, who knew his own, to
reward them for being true Catholics in the next world;" which
was accordingly executed.' _Geddes_, vol. i. p. 84.
It was evident that the fate of the wretched remnant of a once splendid
nation was now sealed. The religious scruples of Philip III. forbade him
to struggle with the Church; and his minister Lerma would not risk his
own authority by even the show of opposition. In 1609, he announced to
the king, that the expulsion of the Moriscoes had become necessary. 'The
resolution,' replied Philip, 'is a great one; let it be executed.'[1304]
And executed it was, with unflinching barbarity. About one million of
the most industrious inhabitants of Spain were hunted out like wild
beasts, because the sincerity of their religious opinions was
doubtful.[1305] Many were slain, as they approached the coast; others
were beaten and plundered; and the majority, in the most wretched
plight, sailed for Africa. During the passage, the crew, in many of the
ships, rose upon them, butchered the men, ravished the women, and threw
the children into the sea. Those who escaped this fate, landed on the
coast of Barbary, where they were attacked by the Bedouins, and many of
them put to the sword. Others made their way into the desert, and
perished from famine. Of the number of lives actually sacrificed, we
have no authentic account; but it is said, on very good authority, that
in one expedition, in which 140,000 were carried to Africa, upwards of
100,000 suffered death in its most frightful forms within a few months
after their expulsion from Spain.[1306]
[1304] '"Grande resolucion!" contestó el débil monarca al ministro
favorito: "hacedlo vos, duque."' _Lafuente_, _Historia de
España_, vol. xv. p. 375. But this reply, so far from being a
mark of weakness on the part of Philip, was a strictly logical
application of the principles which he entertained, and which,
indeed, were almost universal in Spain. We know from his
contemporary biographer, that 'Determinó el Rey en los
principios de su Reynado, como Rey tan poderoso y Catolico, de
consagrar y dedicar à Dios la potencia de sus Consejos y Armas
para extinguir y acabar los enemigos de la Iglesia Santa.'
_Davila_, _Historia de la Vida de Felipe Tercero_, lib. i.
p. 44.
[1305] This is the average estimate. Some authors make it less, and some
more; while one writer says, 'The numbers expelled have been
estimated at four hundred thousand families, or two millions of
souls.' _Clarke's Internal State of Spain_, London, 1818, p. 33.
But this is incredible. M. Castro (_Decadencia de España_,
Cadiz, 1852, p. 105) says, 'España perdió en los moriscos un
millon de habitantes;' and M. Janer (_Condicion de los
Moriscos_, Madrid, 1857, p. 93), 'Sin entrar en cálculos sobre
los que habia cuando se expidio el edicto de Valencia en 1609,
ni sobre los que fenecieron en las rebeliones, de mano armada,
de sed, de hambre ó ahogados, creemos poder fijar,
aproximadamente, en novecientos mil los que llegaron á poner el
pie fuera de la península, despidiéndose para siempre de las
costas y fronteras de España, cuya cifra deducimos del exámen y
contexto de unos y otros escritores, de las listas que nos han
quedado de los expulsos, de los datos de diversas relaciones,
estados y documentos examinados con este solo intento;' and
further on, p. 105, 'la expulsion de un millon, ó novecientos
mil de sus habitantes.' Llorente (_Histoire de l'Inquisition_,
vol. iii. p. 430, Paris, 1818) says, 'un million d'habitans
utiles et laborieux;' Ximenez (_Vida de Ribera_, Roma, 1734,
4to. p. 70), 'novecientos mil;' and Boisel, who was in Spain,
fifty years after the expulsion, and collected the traditionary
evidence, says, 'Il sortit neuf cens tant de mille hommes de
compte fait, de Valence, d'Andalousie, et de Castille.'
_Boisel_, _Journal du Voyage d'Espagne_, Paris, 1669, 4to. p.
275.
[1306] _Watson's Philip III._, pp. 234-235. _Davila_, _Vida de Felipe
III._, p. 146. _Yañez_, _Memorias para la Historia de Felipe
III._, pp. 281, 290. _Janer_, _Condicion de los Moriscos_, pp.
83, 84, 90. Some particulars respecting their expulsion may also
be seen in Cottington's Letters from Madrid, which were written
in 1609, but are of very little value. _Winwood's Memorials of
Affairs of State_, vol. iii. pp. 73, 91, 103, 118, London,
folio, 1725.
Now, for the first time, the Church was really triumphant.[1307] For the
first time, there was not a heretic to be seen between the Pyrenees and
the Straits of Gibraltar. All were orthodox, and all were loyal. Every
inhabitant of that great country obeyed the Church, and feared the king.
And from this happy combination, it was believed that the prosperity and
grandeur of Spain were sure to follow. The name of Philip III. was to be
immortal, and posterity would never weary of admiring that heroic act by
which the last remains of an infidel race were cast out from the land.
Those who had even remotely participated in the glorious consummation,
were to be rewarded by the choicest blessings. Themselves, and their
families, were under the immediate protection of Heaven. The earth
should bear more fruit, and the trees should clap their hands. Instead
of the thorn should come up the fir-tree, and instead of the brier, the
myrtle. A new era was now inaugurated, in which Spain, purged of her
heresy, was to be at ease, and men, living in safety, were to sleep
under the shade of their own vineyards, sow their gardens in peace, and
eat of the fruit of the trees they had planted.[1308]
[1307] In a contemporary sermon in commemoration of their expulsion, the
preacher joyfully exclaims, 'Pues, que mayor honra podemos tener
en este Reyno, que ser todos los que vivimos en el, fieles á
Dios, y al Rey, sin compañia de estos Hereges y traydores?'
_Ximenez_, _Vida de Ribera_, p. 423. Another clergyman cries
out, 'Al fin salieron estos, y quedó la tierra libre de la
infamia de este gente.' _Davila_, _Vida de Felipe Tercero_, p.
149. See also p. 151. 'Y es digno de poner en consideracion el
zelo que los Reyes de España tuvieron en todo tiempo de
sustentar la Fé Catolica; pues en diferentes expulsiones que han
hecho, han sacado de sus Reynos tres millones de Moros, y dos
millones de Judios, enemigos de nuestra Iglesia.'
[1308] See the sermon by the Archbishop of Valencia, printed at length
in the Appendix to _Ximenez_, _Vida de Ribera_, pp. 411-428. I
would fain quote it all, but the reader must be content with
part of the peroration, pp. 426, 427. 'Entre las felizidades,
que cuenta el Espiritu Santo que tuvieron los hijos de Israel en
el govierno del Rey Salomon, es una; que vivian los hombres
seguros, durmiendo á la sombra de su parra, y de su higuera, sin
tener de quien temer. _Assi estaremos en este Reyno de aqui
adelante_, por la misericordia de nuestro Señor, y paternal
providencia de Su Magestad, todo nos sobrará, y la misma tierra
se fertilizará y dará fruto de bendicion. Brocardico es, de que
todos usabades, diziendo que despues, que estos se bautizaron,
no se avia visto un año fertil; _aora todos lo seran_, porque
las heregias y blasfemias de estos tenian esterilizada,
abrasada, y inficionada la tierra, como dixo el Real Propheta
David, con tantos pecados y abominaciones.' ... 'Y edificarán en
las tierras, que antes eran desiertas, plantando viñas, y
bebiendo el vino de ellas, y sembrarán huertas, y comeran del
fruto de los arboles, que han plantado, y nunca seran hechados
de sus casas, dize Dios. Todo esto promete nuestro Señor por dos
Prophetas suyos. _Todo (digo otra vez) nos sobrará._' All this
was to happen to the people; while, as to the king, he, in the
same sermon, p. 416, is likened to David; and it was declared by
another high authority, that his expulsion of the Moriscoes was
so great an exploit ('hazaña'), that 'durára su memoria por los
venideros siglos.' _Porreño_, in _Yañez_, _Memorias para Felipe
III._, p. 281.
These were the promises held out by the Church, and believed by the
people. It is our business to inquire how far the expectations were
fulfilled, and what the consequences were of an act which was instigated
by the clergy, welcomed by the nation, and eagerly applauded by some of
the greatest men of genius Spain has produced.[1309]
[1309] 'Amidst the devout exultation of the whole kingdom,--Cervantes,
Lope de Vega, and others of the principal men of genius then
alive, joining in the general jubilee.' _Ticknor's History of
Spanish Literature_, vol. i. pp. 428, 429. Compare _Dunlop's
Memoirs_, vol. i. p. 16. Porreño says that it may be placed
among the seven wonders of the world; 'la podemos poner entre
las siete maravillas del mundo.' _Yañez_, _Memorias_, p. 297:
and Davila (_Vida de Felipe Tercero_, lib. ii. cap. 41, p. 139)
pronounces it to be the most glorious achievement which had been
seen since the days of Pelayo. All this is natural enough; but
what is really curious is, to trace the modern remains of this
feeling. Campomanes (_Apendice á la Educacion Popular_, vol. iv.
p. 130, Madrid, 1777), a very able man, and far more liberal
than most of his countrymen, is not ashamed to speak of 'la
justa expulsion de los moriscos desde 1610 á 1613.' Ortiz, in
1801, expresses himself with more hesitation, but is evidently
in favour of a measure which liberated Spain from 'la perniciosa
semilla de Mahoma que restaba en ella.' _Compendio de la
Historia de España_, vol. vi. pp. 304, 305. Nay, even in 1856,
the great modern historian of Spain, while admitting the serious
material injury which this horrible crime inflicted on the
country, assures us that it had the 'immense advantage' of
producing religious unity; unable to perceive that the very
unity of which he boasts, generates an acquiescence and
stagnation of mind fatal to all real improvement, because it
prevents that play and collision of opinions by which the wits
of men are sharpened and made ready for use, 'Con la expulsion
se completó el principio de la unidad religiosa en España, que
fué un bien inmenso, pero se consumó la ruina de la agricultura,
que fué un inmenso mal.' _Lafuente_, _Historia de España_, vol.
xvii. p. 340, Madrid, 1856. And, the year after this sagacious
sentiment had been given to the world, another eminent Spaniard,
in a work crowned by the Royal Academy of History, went still
further, and declared, that not only did the expulsion of the
Moriscoes cause great benefit by securing unity of creed, but
that such unity was 'necessary on the Spanish soil.' 'Y si bajo
el aspecto económico reprobamos semejante medida por la
influencia perniciosa que tuvo desde el momento de dictarse, la
imparcialidad de historiadores nos obliga á respetarla por los
inmensos bienes que produjo en el órden religioso y en el órden
político.' ... 'La unidad religiosa era necesaria en el suelo
español.' _Janer_, _Condicion Social de los Moriscos de España_,
Madrid, 1857, pp. 110, 114. What are we to think of a country in
which these opinions are expressed, not by some obscure fanatic,
from the platform or the pulpit, but by able and learned men,
who promulgate them with all the authority of their position,
being themselves deemed, if anything, rather too bold and too
liberal for the people to whom they address their works?
The effects upon the material prosperity of Spain may be stated in a few
words. From nearly every part of the country, large bodies of
industrious agriculturists and expert artificers were suddenly
withdrawn. The best systems of husbandry then known, were practised by
the Moriscoes, who tilled and irrigated with indefatigable labour.[1310]
The cultivation of rice, cotton, and sugar, and the manufacture of silk
and paper, were almost confined to them.[1311] By their expulsion, all
this was destroyed at a blow, and most of it was destroyed for ever.
For, the Spanish Christians considered such pursuits beneath their
dignity. In their judgment, war and religion were the only two
avocations worthy of being followed. To fight for the king, or to enter
the Church was honourable; but everything else was mean and
sordid.[1312] When, therefore, the Moriscoes were thrust out of Spain,
there was no one to fill their place; arts and manufactures either
degenerated, or were entirely lost, and immense regions of arable land
were left uncultivated. Some of the richest parts of Valencia and
Granada were so neglected, that means were wanting to feed even the
scanty population which remained there.[1313] Whole districts were
suddenly deserted, and down to the present day have never been
repeopled. These solitudes gave refuge to smugglers and brigands, who
succeeded the industrious inhabitants formerly occupying them; and it is
said, that from the expulsion of the Moriscoes is to be dated the
existence of those organized bands of robbers, which, after this period,
became the scourge of Spain, and which no subsequent government has been
able entirely to extirpate.[1314]
[1310] 'Los moros eran muy diestros en todo lo que mira á obras de
agua.' _Campomanes_, _Apendice á la Educacion Popular_, vol.
iii. p. cvii. 'The Moors were the most intelligent
agriculturists Spain ever had.' _Laborde's Spain_, vol. ii. p.
216. Even Jovellanos admits that 'except in the parts occupied
by the Moors, the Spaniards were almost totally unacquainted
with the art of irrigation.' _Clarke's Internal State of Spain_,
p. 116. See also _Circourt_, _Arabes d'Espagne_, vol. i. p. 255,
vol. ii. p. 12, vol. iii. pp. 162, 222; _Bourgoing_, _Tableau de
l'Espagne_, vol. ii. pp. 170, 171; and _Townsend's Spain_, vol.
iii. p. 74. Remains of their splendid aqueducts still exist.
_Hoskins' Spain_, vol. i. pp. 120, 125, 291, 292. Compare _Spain
by an American_, vol. ii. p. 112 with _L'Estat de l'Espagne_,
Genève, 1681, p. 399.
[1311] Compare _Janer_, _Condicion de los Moriscos_, pp. 47, 48, with
_Campomanes_, _Apendice á la Educacion Popular_, vol. iii.
p. xxii., and _Dunlop's Memoirs_, vol. i. p. 13.
[1312] The more sensible among the Spaniards notice, with regret, this
national contempt for every form of useful industry. See
_Campomanes_, _Educacion Popular_, p. 128, and _Sempere_,
_Monarchie Espagnole_, vol. ii. pp. 277, 278. A traveller in
Spain in 1669, says of the people, 'ils méprisent tellement le
travail, que la plûpart des artisans sont étrangers.' _Voyages
faits en divers Temps par M. M****_, Amsterdam, 1700, p. 80.
Another traveller, between 1693 and 1695, says, they 'think it
below the dignity of a Spaniard to labour and provide for the
future.' _Travels by a Gentleman_ (by Bromley?), London, 1702,
p. 35. A third observer, in 1679, assures us that 'ils souffrent
plus aisément la faim et les autres nécessitez de la vie, que de
travailler, disent-ils, comme des mercenaires, ce qui
n'appartient qu'à des esclaves.' _D'Aulnoy_, _Relation du Voyage
d'Espagne_, Lyon, 1693, vol. ii. pp. 369, 370. For further
illustrations of this, see _Labat_, _Voyages en Espagne_, Paris,
1730, vol. i. pp. 285, 286. _Capmany_, _Qüestiones Criticas_,
pp. 43, 49, 50. _Laborde's Spain_, vol. i. p. i. _Ranke's
Spanish Empire_, p. 103. _Townsend's Journey through Spain_,
vol. ii. pp. 240, 241.
[1313] 'Pudo, pues, decirse con razon de nuestra patria, que de Arabia
Feliz se habia convertido en Arabia Desierta, y de Valencia en
particular, que el bello jardin de España se habia convertido en
páramo seco y deslucido. Dejóse en breve sentir en todas partes
el azote del hambre; y al alegre bullicio de las poblaciones
sucedió el melancólico silencio de los despoblados, y al
frecuente cruzar de los labradores y trajineros por los caminos
siguió el peligroso encuentro de los salteadores que los
infestaban, abrigándose en las ruinas de los pueblos desiertos.'
_Janer_, _Condicion de los Moriscos_, p. 100. See also _Dunlop's
Memoirs_, vol. i. p. 16. Campomanes says, 'El gran número de
artesanos, que salieron con la expulsion de los moriscos, causó
un golpe mortal á las manufacturas, y á la labranza.' _Apendice
á la Educacion Popular_, vol. i. p. 13. And p. 268, 'El punto de
decadencia de nuestras manufacturas, puede fixarse desde el año
de 1609, en que tubo principio la expulsion de los Moriscos.'
[1314] 'Sur la carte d'Espagne, en mille endroits est inscrit ce funeste
mot, _despoblado_; en mille endroits la nature sauvage a repris
la place des cultures. Étudiez la direction des despoblados, et
consultez les registres des commissaires de l'expulsion, vous
verrez presque toujours que les familles morisques couvraient
ces solitudes. Leur patrimoine abandonné forma le domaine des
voleurs, qui établirent avec une sorte de sécurité leurs
correspondances effrontées à travers toute l'Espagne. Le
brigandage s'organisa comme une profession ordinaire; et la
contrebande, sa compagne, leva le front avec autant d'audace,
autant de succès.' _Circourt_, _Histoire des Arabes d'Espagne_,
vol. iii. pp. 227, 228.
To these disastrous consequences, others were added, of a different,
and, if possible, of a still more serious kind. The victory gained by
the Church increased both her power and her reputation. During the rest
of the seventeenth century, not only were the interests of the clergy
deemed superior to the interests of laymen, but the interests of laymen
were scarcely thought of. The greatest men, with hardly an exception,
became ecclesiastics, and all temporal considerations, all views of
earthly policy, were despised and set at nought. No one inquired; no one
doubted; no one presumed to ask if all this was right. The minds of men
succumbed and were prostrate. While every other country was advancing,
Spain alone was receding. Every other country was making some addition
to knowledge, creating some art, or enlarging some science. Spain,
numbed into a death-like torpor, spellbound and entranced by the
accursed superstition which preyed on her strength, presented to Europe
a solitary instance of constant decay. For her, no hope remained; and,
before the close of the seventeenth century, the only question was, by
whose hands the blow should be struck, which would dismember that once
mighty empire, whose shadow had covered the world, and whose vast
remains were imposing even in their ruin.
To indicate the different steps which mark the decline of Spain would be
hardly possible, since even the Spaniards, who, when it was too late,
were stung with shame, have abstained from writing what would only be
the history of their own humiliation; so that there is no detailed
account of the wretched reigns of Philip IV. and Charles II., which
together comprise a period of nearly eighty years.[1315] Some facts,
however, I have been able to collect, and they are very significant. At
the beginning of the seventeenth century, the population of Madrid was
estimated to be 400,000; at the beginning of the eighteenth century,
less than 200,000.[1316] Seville, one of the richest cities in Spain,
possessed in the sixteenth century upwards of sixteen thousand looms,
which gave employment to a hundred and thirty thousand persons.[1317] By
the reign of Philip V., these sixteen thousand looms had dwindled away
to less than three hundred;[1318] and, in a report which the Cortes made
to Philip IV., in 1662, it is stated that the city contained only a
quarter of its former number of inhabitants, and that even the vines and
olives cultivated in its neighbourhood, and which comprised a
considerable part of its wealth, were almost entirely neglected.[1319]
Toledo, in the middle of the sixteenth century, had upwards of fifty
woollen manufactories; in 1665, it had only thirteen, almost the whole
of the trade having been carried away by the Moriscoes, and established
at Tunis.[1320] Owing to the same cause, the art of manufacturing silk,
for which Toledo was celebrated, was entirely lost, and nearly forty
thousand persons, who depended on it, were deprived of their means of
support.[1321] Other branches of industry shared the same fate. In the
sixteenth century, and early in the seventeenth, Spain enjoyed great
repute for the manufacture of gloves, which were made in enormous
quantities, and shipped to many parts, being particularly valued in
England and France, and being also exported to the Indies. But Martinez
de Mata, who wrote in the year 1655, assures us that at that time this
source of wealth had disappeared; the manufacture of gloves having quite
ceased, though formerly, he says, it had existed in every city in
Spain.[1322] In the once-flourishing province of Castile, every thing
was going to ruin. Even Segovia lost its manufactures, and retained
nothing but the memory of its former wealth.[1323] The decay of Burgos
was equally rapid; the trade of that famous city perished; and the
deserted streets and empty houses formed such a picture of desolation,
that a contemporary, struck by the havoc, emphatically declared that
Burgos had lost every thing except its name.[1324] In other districts,
the results were equally fatal. The beautiful provinces of the south,
richly endowed by nature, had formerly been so wealthy, that their
contributions alone sufficed, in time of need, to replenish the imperial
treasury; but they now deteriorated with such rapidity, that, by the
year 1640, it was found hardly possible to impose a tax on them which
would be productive.[1325] During the latter half of the seventeenth
century, matters became still worse, and the poverty and wretchedness of
the people surpass all description. In the villages near Madrid, the
inhabitants were literally famishing; and those farmers who had a stock
of food refused to sell it, because, much as they needed money, they
were apprehensive of seeing their families perish around them. The
consequence was, that the capital was in danger of being starved; and
ordinary threats producing no effect, it was found necessary, in 1664,
that the President of Castile, with an armed force, and accompanied by
the public executioner, should visit the adjacent villages, and compel
the inhabitants to bring their supplies to the markets of Madrid.[1326]
All over Spain, the same destitution prevailed. That once rich and
prosperous country was covered with a rabble of monks and clergy, whose
insatiate rapacity absorbed the little wealth yet to be found. Hence it
happened, that the government, though almost penniless, could obtain no
supplies. The tax-gatherers, urged to make up the deficiency, adopted
the most desperate expedients. They not only seized the beds and all the
furniture, but they unroofed the houses, and sold the materials of the
roof, for whatever they would fetch. The inhabitants were forced to fly;
the fields were left uncultivated; vast multitudes died from want and
exposure; entire villages were deserted; and in many of the towns,
upwards of two-thirds of the houses were, by the end of the seventeenth
century, utterly destroyed.[1327]
[1315] 'Declinó pues muy sensiblemente la vasta monarquía, y callaron
atonitos los historiadores, como huyendo la necesidad de traer á
la memoria lo que veian y apenas creian. Enmudeció pues la
historia de España en los dos reynados de Felipe IV. y Carlos
II. viendo continuaba nuestra decadencia, hasta quedar España al
nivel de los menos poderosos Estados de Europa. Este silencio
nos ha privado de saber no solo las causas de nuestra
decadencia, sino tambien de los acontecimientos civiles y
militares del siglo xvii.' _Ortiz_, _Compendio de la Historia de
España_, vol. vi., Prologo, p. i. No attempt was made to supply
the deficiency complained of by Ortiz, until 1856, when M.
Lafuente published, in Madrid, the sixteenth and seventeenth
volumes of his History of Spain, which contain the reigns of
Philip IV. and Charles II. Of this work, I have no desire to
speak disrespectfully; on the contrary, it is impossible to read
it without interest, on account of the admirable clearness with
which the different topics are arranged, and also on account of
its beautiful style, which reminds us of the best days of
Castilian prose. But I feel constrained to say, that, as a
history, and especially as a history which undertakes to
investigate the causes of the decline of Spain, it is a complete
failure. In the first place, M. Lafuente has not emancipated
himself from those very prejudices to which the decline of his
country is owing. And, in the second place, he has, particularly
in the reigns of Philip IV. and Charles II., not used sufficient
diligence in searching for materials for studying the economical
changes through which Spain has passed. Looking too intently at
the surface, he mistakes symptoms for causes; so that the real
history of the Spanish people every where escapes his grasp. As
the object to which my studies are directed, compels me to
contemplate affairs from a larger and more general point of view
than he has done, it naturally happens that the conclusions at
which we arrive are very different; but I wish to bear my
testimony, whatever it may be worth, to the great merit of his
book as a work of art, though, as a work of science, it appears
to me that he has effected nothing, and has thrown no new light
on the real history of that unfortunate, albeit once splendid,
nation, of which his eloquence, his learning, and his taste,
make him one of the chiefest ornaments.
[1316] See _Dunlop's Memoirs_, vol. ii. p. 320; and the interesting
calculations in _Uztariz_, _Theorica y Practica de Comercio_,
Madrid, 1757, folio, pp. 35, 36. Owing to the ignorance which
formerly prevailed respecting statistics, such estimates are
necessarily imperfect; but, after the desolation of Spain in the
seventeenth century, an extraordinary diminution in the
population of the capital was inevitable. Indeed, a contemporary
of Charles II. states that in 1699, Madrid had only 150,000
inhabitants. _Mémoires de Louville_, Paris, 1818, vol. i. p. 72.
This account is taken from 'un mémoire manuscrit, en langue
espagnole, trouvé dans les papiers du marquis de Louville.'
p. 67.
[1317] Capmany (_Qüestiones Criticas_, p. 30), who seems to have written
his able, but not very accurate, work for the express purpose of
concealing the decline of his country, has given these figures
erroneously. My information is derived from an official report
made in 1701, by the trade-corporations ('gremios') of Seville.
'Fijan la época de la ruina de nuestras fábricas desde el
reynado de Felipe II. y añaden "haber llegado á tener solo en
esta ciudad al arte mayor, y menor de la sede, el número de mas
de diez y seis mil telares, y se ocupaban en los exercicios
adherentes á él, mas de ciento treinta mil personas de ambos
sexos."' _Campomanes_, _Apendice á la Educacion Popular_, vol.
i. p. 473, Madrid, 1775. See also _Uztariz_, _Theorica y
Practica de Comercio_, p. 14, 'diez y seis mil telares;' where,
however, no authority is quoted.
[1318] 'El principal origen y causa de que los 16,000 telares de seda,
lana, oro y plata, que se contaban en Sevilla, se hallen oy
reducidos á menos de 300.' _Uztariz_, _Theorica de Comercio_, p.
243.
[1319] _Sempere_, _Monarchie Espagnole_, vol. ii. p. 52, who refers to
the report of the Cortes published by Alonso Nuñez de Castro.
[1320] _Laborde's Spain_, vol. iv. p. 338, where it is also said, that
Tunis became, in consequence of the expulsion of the Moriscoes,
famous for the manufacture of caps, which 'were subsequently
imitated at Orleans.' Compare, on the cap-manufactories of
Tunis, a note in _Campomanes_, _Apendice, á la Educacion
Popular_, vol. iv. p. 249.
[1321] 'Tolède, où se mettaient en [oe]uvre 435,000 livres de soie,
avait déjà perdu ce travail, qui suffisait autrefois à
l'existence de 38,484 personnes. La population de cette ville
avait éprouvé un tiers de diminution, et vingt-cinq maisons de
ses familles les plus illustres étaient passées dans le domaine
de divers couvens.' _Sempere_, _Monarchie Espagnole_, vol. ii.
p. 50.
[1322] See his interesting essay, reprinted in the appendix to
_Campomanes_, vol. iv. p. 251. He says, 'La fábrica de los
guantes, que tenian pocos años ha todas las ciudades de estos
reynos para el consumo de España y las Indias, era muy
considerable; y se ha destruido, despues que se dió entrada al
consumo de guantes estrangeros.' Such a statement, made by a
contemporary, is unimpeachable; but the reason he assigns is
inadequate.
[1323] Segovia, as it appeared in 1659, is thus described in _Boisel_,
_Journal du Voyage d'Espagne_, Paris, 1669, 4to. p. 186:
'Autresfois, cette ville qui paroist assez grande, estoit fort
riche, tant à cause que les rois de Castille y demeuroient, qu'à
cause du grand commerce des laines et des beaux draps qui s'y
faisoient; mais à présent le trafic n'y est plus, et on n'y fait
plus que fort peu de draps, de sorte que la ville est presque
désert et fort pauvre. Une marque de sa pauvreté, du mauvais
ordre d'Espagne, et du peu de prévoyance des Espagnols (quoy
qu'on dise de leur flegme), c'est que le jour que j'y arrivay
jusques à deux heures après midy il n'y avoit point eu de pain
en toute la ville, et ils ne s'en étonnoient point.' The decline
of the silk and wool manufactures of Segovia is also noticed by
Martinez de la Mata, who wrote in 1650. See his _Dos Discursos_,
edited by Canga, Madrid, 1794, p. 8. Saint Simon, who was there
in 1722, says, 'A l'égard de leurs laines, j'en vis les
manufactures à Ségovie qui me parurent peu de chose et fort
tombées de leur ancienne réputation.' _Mémoires du Duc de Saint
Simon_, vol. xxxvii. p. 230, Paris, 1841. Segovia used to be
famous for the beautiful colour of its cloth, the dye of which
was taken from a shell-fish found in the West Indies, and is
supposed to be the same as the purpura of the ancients. See a
note in _Dillon's Spain_, Dublin, 1781, pp. 19, 20.
[1324] Such is the language of a Spaniard in the middle of the
seventeenth century. 'Porque á la ciudad de Burgos, cabeza de
Castilla, no le ha quedado sino el nombre, ni aun vestigios de
sus ruinas; reducida la grandeza de sus tratos, Prior, y
Cónsules, y ordenanzas para la conservacion de ellos, á 600
vecinos, que conservanel nombre y lustre de aquella antigua y
noble cuidad, que encerró en si mas de seis mil, sin la gente
suelta, natural, y forastera.' _Campomanes_, _Apendice á la
Educacion_, vol. i. p. 453, Madrid, 1765. An intelligent
Dutchman, who visited Spain in 1665, says of Burgos, 'elle a
esté autrefois fort marchande, mais depuis peu, elle a presque
perdu tout son commerce.' _Aarsens de Sommerdyck_, _Voyage
d'Espagne_, Paris, 1665, 4to. p. 16. To me, it certainly appears
that facts of this sort have more to do with the real history of
Spain than the details of kings, and treaties, and battles,
which the Spanish historians love to accumulate.
[1325] 'Could contribute little to the exigencies of the state.'
_Dunlop's Memoirs_, vol. i. p. 285. Compare _Lamentos
Apologéticos_, in _Dos Discursos_, edit. Canga, Madrid, 1794, p.
82, on the state of things in 'lo mas fértil de Andalucia.' The
government first became alive to all this when it found that no
more money could be wrung from the people. In May 1667, a
council of state, convoked by the queen, reported that 'quant
aux ressources qu'on voudrait tirer de l'Espagne, sous forme de
dons volontaires ou autrement, le conseil estime qu'il est bien
difficile d'imposer aux peuples des charges nouvelles;' and in
November of that same year, at another meeting of the council, a
memoir was drawn up, stating that 'depuis le règne de Don
Ferdinand le Catholique jusqu'à ce jour, la monarchie d'Espagne
ne s'est pas encore vue si près de sa ruine, si épuisée, si
dénuée des ressources nécessaires pour faire face à un grand
péril.' See extracts from the proceedings of the Councils,
published, for, I believe, the first time, by M. Mignet, in his
_Négociations relatives à la Succession d'Espagne_, vol. ii. pp.
124, 601, Paris, 1835, 4to. See also, in the same valuable work,
vol. ii. p. 127, a letter to Louis XIV., from his ambassador at
Madrid, dated 2nd June, 1667, and stating that 'l'extrémité est
ici si grande qu'il se fait une contribution volontaire de tous
les particuliers que l'on appelle _donativo_, pour fournir
quelque argent présent pour les nécessitée publiques.'
[1326] In 1664, Sir Richard Fanshawe writes from Madrid to Secretary
Bennet, 'Since my last to you, of yesterday, the President of
Castile, having, by the king's special and angry command, gone
forth to the neighbouring villages, attended with the hangman,
and whatsoever else of terror incident to his place and
derogatory to his person, the markets in this town begin to be
furnished again plentifully enough.' _Memoirs of Lady Fanshawe_,
_written by herself_, edit. London, 1830, p. 291.
[1327] Nothing but the precise and uncontradicted evidence of a
contemporary witness could make such things credible. In 1686,
Alvarez Osorio y Redin wrote his _Discursos_. They were
published in 1687 and 1688; they were reprinted at Madrid in
1775; and from the reprint, pp. 345-348, I extract the following
particulars: 'Es preciso decir con la mayor brevedad, que pide
el asunto, en la forma que los comisionantes continuamente están
saqueando todos los lugares, con capa de servir á V.M. Entran en
ellos, intíman sus comisiones á las justicias, y ellas les
suplican, tengan misericordia de los moradores, que estan con
mucha necesidad. Y luego que toman el uso, dicen: que á ellos no
les toca dispensar en hacer gracias: que traen orden de cobrar
con todo rigor las cantidades, que deben los lugares; y tambien
dicen han de cobrar sus salarios. Y se van entrando por las
casas de los pobres labradores, y demás vecinos; y con mucha
cuenta y razon, les quitan el poco dinero, que tienen: y á los
que no tienen, les sacan prendas: y donde no las hallan, les
quitan las pobres camas, en que duermen: y se detienen en vender
las prendas, todo el tiempo que pueden.' ... 'Los saquéos
referidos van continuando, obligando á los mas vecinos de los
lugares, á que se vayan huyendo de sus casas, dexando baldías
sus haciendas de campo; y los cobradores no tienen lástima de
todas estas miserias, y asolaciones, como si entráran en lugares
de enemigos. Las casas, que hallan vacías, si hay quien se las
compre, las venden: y quando no pueden venderlas, las quitan los
texados; y venden la texa, y madera por qualquier dinero. Con
esta destruicion general, no han quedado en pie en los lugares
la tercera parte de casas, y han muerto de necesidad gran
multitud de personas. Con lo qual los lugares no tienen la mitad
de familias, que antiguamente habia en España. Y si no se pone
remedio á todo referido, será preciso, que la vengan á poblar de
otros Reynos.'
In the midst of these calamities, the spirit and energy of Spain were
extinguished. In every department, all power and life disappeared. The
Spanish troops were defeated at Rocroy in 1643; and several writers
ascribe to that battle the destruction of the military reputation of
Spain.[1328] This, however, was only one of many symptoms.[1329] In
1656, it was proposed to fit out a small fleet; but the fisheries on
the coast had so declined, that it was found impossible to procure
sailors enough to man even the few ships which were required.[1330] The
charts which had been made, were either lost or neglected; and the
ignorance of the Spanish pilots became so notorious, that no one was
willing to trust them.[1331] As to the military service, it is stated,
in an account of Spain, late in the seventeenth century, that most of
the troops had deserted their colours, and that the few who were
faithful were clothed in rags, received no pay, and were dying of
hunger.[1332] Another account describes this once mighty kingdom as
utterly unprotected; the frontier towns ungarrisoned; the fortifications
dilapidated and crumbling away; the magazines without ammunition; the
arsenals empty; the workshops unemployed; and even the art of building
ships entirely lost.[1333]
[1328] 'Allí acabó aquella antigua milicia española que desde el tiempo
de los reyes católicos habia ganado tan gloriosos triunfos,
siendo el terror de sus enemigos.' _Tapia_, _Civilizacion
Española_, vol. iii. p. 150, Madrid, 1840. 'La batalla de
Rocroy, en que el jóven Condé recogió los laureles con que
engalanó la dorado cuna del niño Luis XIV., acabó con la
reputacion que aun habian podido ir conservando los viejos
tercios españoles de Flandres.' _Lafuente_, _Historia de
España_, vol. xvii. p. 368, Madrid, 1856.
[1329] In the _Clarendon State Papers_, vol. i. p. 275, Oxford, 1767,
folio, I find a letter written by Hopton to Secretary Windebank,
dated Madrid, 31st May, 1635. The author of this official
communication gives an account of the Spanish troops just
raised, and says, 'I have observed these levies, and I find the
horses are so weak, as the most of them will never be able to go
to the rendezvous, and those very hardly gotten, the infantry so
unwilling to serve, as they are carried like galley-slaves, in
chains, which serves not the turn, and so far short of the
number that was proposed, as they come not to one of three.'
This was eight years before the battle of Rocroy; after it,
matters became rapidly worse. A letter from Sir Edward Hyde to
Secretary Nicholas, dated Madrid, 18th March, 1649-50, states,
that Spanish 'affairs are really in huge disorder, and capable
of being rendered almost desperate;' and another letter, on 14th
April, 1650, 'if some miracle do not preserve them, this crown
must be speedily destroyed,' _Clarendon State Papers_, vol. iii.
pp. 13, 17, Oxford, 1786. An official Report on the Netherlands,
presented to Louis XIV. in 1665, declares that the Dutch
'considered Spain so weakened, as to be out of condition to
renew the war within the next one hundred years.' _Raumer's
History of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries_,
_illustrated by Original Documents_, London, 1835, vol. i. p.
237. See also _Mignet_, _Négociations relatives à la Succession
d'Espagne_, Paris, 1835-1842, 4to. vol. i. pp. 37, 38, 314, 315,
vol. iii. p. 684, vol. iv. p. 218; and _L'Estat de l'Espagne_,
Genève, 1681, pp. 83, 271. 'L'Espagne faisant en nos jours plus
de pitié que de peur à ceux qu'elle a tenus long-tems dans une
crainte perpétuelle, et dans une respectueuse vénération.' ...
'Aussi peut-on dire que les Espagnols qui étoient autrefois des
lions, ou des véritables hommes et incomparables en valeur, sont
maintenant des cerfs, ou des femmes, et enfin des personnes peu
propres à la guerre.' And finally, the Spanish explanation of
all this in _Yañez_, _Memorias_, Prologo, pp. 148, 149, Madrid,
1723. 'La Monarquia de España, cuya decadencia la avia yá Dios
decretado desde el año de 1621,' &c.; blasphemously ascribing to
the Almighty, what was the result of their own folly, and
obstinately shutting their eyes to the real cause of their ruin.
[1330] 'A century ago, Spain had been as supreme at sea as on land; her
ordinary naval force was 140 galleys, which were the terror both
of the Mediterranean and Atlantic. But now' (1656), 'in
consequence of the decline of commerce and fisheries on the
coast, instead of the numerous squadrons of the Dorias and
Mendozas, which were wont to attend the movements of the first
great John of Austria and the Emperor Charles, the present
High-Admiral of Spain, and favourite son of its monarch, put to
sea with three wretched gallies, which, with difficulty, escaped
from some Algerine corsairs, and were afterwards nearly
shipwrecked on the coast of Africa.' _Dunlop's Memoirs_, vol. i.
p. 549. In 1663, 'Il n'y avait à Cadix ni vaisseaux ni galères
en état d'aller en mer. Les Maures insultaient audacieusement
les côtes de l'Andalousie, et prenaient impunément les barques
qui se hasardaient à une lieue de la rade. Le duc d'Albuquerque,
qui commandait les forces navales, se plaignait hautement de la
position humiliante dans laquelle on le laissait. Il avait
demandé avec instance qu'on lui donnât des matelots et des
soldats pour mettre sur les vaisseaux; mais le Comte de
Castrillo, président du Conseil de Finances (de la _hacienda_)
avait déclaré qu'il n'avait ni argent, ni la possibilité d'en
trouver, et conseillait de renoncer à l'armée navale.' _Mignet_,
_Négociations relatives à la Succession d'Espagne_, vol. i. pp.
315, 316, Paris, 1835, 4to. from contemporary manuscripts. Even
in 1648, Spain had 'become so feeble in point of naval affairs
as to be obliged to hire Dutch vessels for carrying on her
American commerce.' _Macpherson's Annals of Commerce_, vol. ii.
p. 435, London, 1805, 4to. And, to complete the chain of
evidence, there is a letter in the _Clarendon State Papers_,
vol. ii. p. 86, Oxford, 1773, folio, written from Madrid in June
1640, stating that, 'For ships they have few, mariners fewer,
landsmen not so many as they need, and, by all signs, money not
at all that can be spared.' The history of Spain during this
period never having been written, I am compelled, in my own
justification, to give these and similar passages with a fulness
which I fear will weary some readers.
[1331] And when they did, it was to their own cost, as Stanhope found,
at the beginning of his career as British minister to the court
of Madrid, in 1690. See his letter to Lord Shrewsbury, in
_Mahon's Spain under Charles II._, London, 1840, p. 3. 'We were
forced into a small port, called Ferrol, three leagues short of
the Groyne, and, by the ignorance of a Spanish pilot, our ships
fell foul one with another, and the admiral's ship was on ground
for some hours, but got off clear without any damage.' Indeed,
the Spanish seamen, once the boldest and most skilful navigators
in the world, so degenerated, that, early in the eighteenth
century, we find it stated as a matter of course, that 'to form
the Spaniard to marine affairs, is transporting them into
unknown countries.' _The History of Cardinal Alberoni_, London,
1719, p. 257.
[1332] 'Le peu de soldats qui résistaient à la désertion, étaient vêtus
de haillons, sans solde, sans pain,' _Mémoires de Louville_,
edit. Paris, 1818, vol. i. p. 72. 'Dans l'état le plus
misérable.' p. 43. Compare Lefuente, in the reign of Philip IV.
(_Historia_, vol. xvi. p. 519), 'los soldados peleaban
andrajosos y medio desnudos;' and D'Aulnoy, in 1679 (_Relation
du Voyage d'Espagne_, vol. i. p. 168), 'Il est rare que dans
tout un régiment, il se trouve deux soldats qui ayent plus d'une
chemise.'
[1333] 'Ruinosos los muros de sus fortalezas, aun tenía Barcelona
abiertas las brechas, que hizo el duque de Vendoma; y desde
Rosas hasta Cadiz, no habia Alcazar, ni Castillo, no solo
presidiado, pero ni montada su artillería. La misma negligencia
se admiraba en los puertos de Vizcaya, y Galicia; no tenian los
almazenes sus provisiones, faltaban fundidores de armas, y las
que habia, eran de ningun uso. Vacios los arsenales y
artilleros, se habia olvidado el arte de construir naves, y no
tenia el Rey mas que las destinadas al comercio de Indias, y
algunos galeones; seis galeras, consumidas del tiempo, y del
ocio, se ancoraban en Cartagena.' _Bacallar_, _Comentarios de la
Guerra de España_, vol. i. p. 43. Another eye-witness describes
'the best fortresses consisting of ruined walls, mounted with
here and there a rusty cannon, and the man thought an able
engineer who knew how to fire them.' _Ripperda's Memoirs_,
second edition, London, 1740, p. 227.
While the country at large was thus languishing, as if it had been
stricken by some mortal distemper, the most horrible scenes were
occurring in the capital, under the eyes of the sovereign. The
inhabitants of Madrid were starving; and the arbitrary measures which
had been adopted to supply them with food, could only produce temporary
relief. Many persons fell down in the streets exhausted, and died where
they fell; others were seen in the public highway evidently dying, but
no one had wherewithal to feed them. At length the people became
desperate, and threw off all control. In 1680, not only the workmen of
Madrid, but large numbers of the tradesmen, organized themselves into
bands, broke open private houses, and robbed and murdered the
inhabitants in the face of day.[1334] During the remaining twenty years
of the seventeenth century, the capital was in a state, not of
insurrection, but of anarchy. Society was loosened, and seemed to be
resolving itself into its elements. To use the emphatic language of a
contemporary, liberty and restraint were equally unknown.[1335] The
ordinary functions of the executive government were suspended. The
police of Madrid, unable to obtain the arrears of their pay, disbanded,
and gave themselves up to rapine. Nor did there seem any means of
remedying these evils. The exchequer was empty, and it was impossible to
replenish it. Such was the poverty of the court, that money was wanting
to pay the wages of the king's private servants, and to meet the daily
expenses of his household.[1336] In 1693, payment was suspended of
every life-pension; and all officers and ministers of the crown were
mulcted of one-third of their salaries.[1337] Nothing, however, could
arrest the mischief. Famine and poverty continued to increase;[1338]
and, in 1699, Stanhope, the British minister then residing in Madrid,
writes, that never a day passed in which people were not killed in the
streets scuffling for bread; that his own secretary had seen five women
stifled to death by the crowd before a bakehouse; and that, to swell the
catalogue of misery, upwards of twenty thousand additional beggars from
the country had recently flocked into the capital.[1339]
[1334] _Dunlop's Memoirs_, vol. ii. pp. 224, 225. In 1680, Madame de
Villars, the wife of the French Ambassador, writes from Madrid,
that such was the state of affairs there, that her husband
thought it advisable that she should return home. _Lettres de
Madame de Villars_, Amsterdam, 1769, p. 169. A letter written by
the Danish ambassador in 1677, describes every house in Madrid
as regularly armed from top to bottom; 'de haut en bas.'
_Mignet_, _Négociations relatives à la Succession_, vol. iv. p.
638, Paris, 1842, 4to. The deaths from starvation are said to
have been particularly numerous in Andalusia. See _Tapia_,
_Civilizacion Española_, vol. iii. p. 167. 'En Andalucia
especialmente moria mucha gente de hambre, y el consulado de
Sevilla envió una diputacion para representar que aquella ciudad
habia quedado reducida á la cuarta parte de la poblacion que
habia tenido cincuenta años antes.' On the state of the people
generally, in 1680, compare _Lettres de Villars_, pp. 145, 152,
161.
[1335] 'Point de libertés et point de frein.' _Mém. de Louville_,
vol. i. p. 68.
[1336] In 1681, the French ambassadress writes from Madrid, 'Je ne vous
parle point de la misère de ce royaume. La faim est jusques dans
le palais. J'étois hier avec huit ou dix camaristes, et La
Moline, qui disoient qu'il y avoit fort long-tems qu'on ne leur
donnoit plus ni pain ni viande. Aux écuries du roi et de la
reine, de même.' _Lettres de Madame la Marquise de Villars_,
Amsterdam, 1759, pp. 216, 217. The year after Charles II. died:
'II n'y avoit pas de fonds pour les choses les plus nécessaires,
pour la cuisine, l'écurie, les valets de pied,' &c. _Millot_,
_Mémoires du Duc de Noailles_, vol. ii. p. 26, ed. Petitot,
Paris, 1828. Among other reckless expedients, the currency was
so depreciated, that, in a letter from Martin to Dr. Frazer,
dated Madrid, March 6th, 1680, we hear of 'the fall of money to
one fourth part of its former value.' _Miscellany of the
Spalding Club_, vol. v. p. 187, Aberdeen, 4to. 1852.
[1337] 'The king has taken away, by a late decree, a third part of all
wages and salaries of all officers and ministers without
exception, and suspended for the ensuing year, 1694, all
pensions for life granted either by himself or his father.'
Letter from the English Ambassador, dated Madrid, November 18th,
1693, in _Mahon's Spain under Charles II._, London, 1840, p. 40.
This is also stated in _Millot_, _Mémoires de Noailles_, vol. i.
p. 359, Paris, 1828; 'retranchant le tiers des dépenses de sa
maison, et des appointemens de ses officiers tant militaires que
civils.' In the preceding reign, the pension had been stopped,
at all events for a time. In 1650, Sir Edward Hyde, writes from
Madrid, 'there is an universal stop of all pensions which have
been granted formerly.' _Clarendon State Papers_, vol. ii. p.
538, Oxford, 1773. The next step which was taken was a proposal,
in 1667, to tax the salaries of the members of the Council of
Castile, Arragon, &c.; but this idea was abandoned, until at
length, they, like all other public servants, came under the
comprehensive edict of 1693. See the letter from the French
Ambassador to Louis XIV., dated Madrid, June 2nd, 1667, in
_Mignet_, _Négociations_, vol. ii. p. 128, Paris, 1835, 4to. The
only chance of recovering the history of Spain in the
seventeenth century, is by collating these and similar documents
with the meagre notices to be found in Spanish writers.
[1338] In 1695, 'the miserable poverty in this country.' _Travels
through Spain_, _performed by a Gentleman_, London, 1702, p. 62.
And, in the same year, 'L'Espagne, manquant de tout d'hommes, et
d'argent.' _Mémoires de Noailles_, vol. i. p. 402. 'L'Espagne,
presque anéantie.' p. 424.
[1339] See the letters in _Mahon's Spain under Charles II._,
pp. 138-140. On the 21st of May, 'We have an addition of above
20,000 beggars, flocked from the country round, to share in that
little here is, who were starving at home, and look like
ghosts.' On the 27th of May, 'The scarcity of bread is growing
on apace towards a famine, which increases, by vast multitudes
of poor that swarm in upon us from the countries round about. I
shifted the best I could till this day, but the difficulty of
getting any without authority, has made me recur to the
Corregidor, as most of the foreign Ministers had done before;
he, very courteously, after inquiring what my family was, gave
me an order for twenty loaves every day: but I must send two
leagues, to Vallejas, to fetch it, as I have done this night,
and my servants with long guns to secure it when they have it,
otherwise it would be taken from them, for several people are
killed every day in the streets, in scuffles for bread, all
being lawful prize that any body can catch.' ... 'My secretary,
Don Francisco, saw yesterday five poor women stifled to death by
the crowd before a bakehouse.'
If this state of things had continued for another generation, the
wildest anarchy must have ensued, and the whole frame of society been
broken up.[1340] The only chance of saving Spain from a relapse into
barbarism, was that it should fall, and fall quickly, under foreign
dominion. Such a change was indispensable; and there was reason to fear
that it might come in a form which would have been inexpressibly odious
to the nation. For, late in the seventeenth century, Ceuta was besieged
by the Mohammedans; and as the Spanish Government had neither troops nor
ships, the greatest apprehensions were entertained respecting the fate
of this important fortress; there being little doubt, that if it fell,
Spain would be again overrun by the infidels, who, this time, at least,
would have found little difficulty in dealing with a people weakened by
suffering, half famished, and almost worn out.[1341]