Cardinal Ximénez, who founded the celebrated University of Alcalá,
was desirous to spread the knowledge of these commentaries, which were
falling into oblivion; and he thought to render a service to religion
by having a new edition of them published. As the art of printing was
at that time more developed in the Republic of Venice than in Spain,
he found he could bring it out more advantageously there; accordingly
the manuscripts were packed and sent thither.
It happened, however, that crossing the Mediterranean, the ship in
which they were was overtaken by a tremendous gale; and to save the
lives of the passengers, the captain ordered all the merchandize to
be thrown overboard, so as to lighten the ship. The chest containing
Alfonso Tostato's works was cast into the sea with the rest.
Next morning, when the danger was past, the person who had been
entrusted by Ximénez with the care of the manuscripts was in great
distress at the irreparable loss: not daring to return to Spain,
he wandered along the shore, hardly knowing what he did, when,
lo and behold! to his intense delight, there appeared suddenly,
floating in the sea, the identical chest, the loss of which was
the cause of his mortification. A boat was quickly despatched to
haul it in with great joy, and the event was commonly regarded as a
marvellous interposition. But it would seem that the sagacious Ximénez,
foreseeing the possible calamity, had ordered that the chest should
be constructed of the lightest wood; and all who have ever had a swim
in the Mediterranean know the peculiar buoyancy of its waters. Perhaps
we may now account for the chest floating.