Plasencia in Guipúzcoa. In that year the government factory, where
hand-labour alone continued to be used till 1855, was removed to Oviedo.
To-day this factory employs about five hundred workmen. In 1809 Laborde
wrote that "firearms, such as fusees, musquets, carbines, and pistols
are manufactured at Helgoivar, Eybor, and Plasencia; at Oviedo,
Barcelona, Igualada, and at Ripoll; the arms made at the latter city
have long had a distinguished reputation. Seven hundred and sixty-five
gunsmiths, it is estimated, find employment in the factories of
Guipúzcoa."
Both Townsend and the foregoing writer give a good account of Spanish
cannon at this time. According to Laborde, "two excellent founderies for
brass cannon are royal establishments at Barcelona and Seville; in the
latter city copper cannon are cast, following the method recommended by
M. Maritz. Iron ordnance are made at Lierganez and Cavada." Townsend
wrote of Barcelona, in 1786; "The foundery for brass cannon is
magnificent, and worthy of inspection. It is impossible anywhere to see
either finer metal, or work executed in a neater and more perfect
manner. Their method of boring was, in the present reign, introduced by
Maritz, a Swiss. Near two hundred twenty-four pounders are finished
every year, besides mortars and field-pieces."
SADDLERY AND COACHES
Probably no relic of the former of these crafts in Spain is older or
more curious than the iron bit (Plate lvii., No. 8), inlaid with silver
dragons' heads and crosses, and attributed, from cruciform monograms
which also decorate it, to the Visigothic King Witiza (who died in 711),
or sometimes to the conqueror of Toledo, Alfonso the Sixth (eleventh
century). The spurs or _acicates_ (Plate lvii., No. 9) of Ferdinand the
Third of Castile, who conquered Seville from the Moors, are also
treasured in the Royal Armoury, and bear upon an iron ground remains of
gold and silver decoration representing castles. The Count of Valencia
de Don Juan believed these spurs to be authentic, because they are
identical with the ones which Ferdinand wears in his equestrian seal,
preserved among the National Archives of France, and dating from the
year 1237.
Saddles of various kinds were used in Spain throughout the Middle Ages.
Among them were the ordinary travelling-saddle or _silla de barda_
(Arabic _al-bardá_); saddles _de palafrén_,[143] the _silla de la
guisa_, or _de la brida_ or _bridona_, for riding with long stirrups,
and consequently the antithesis of the _gineta_ saddle;[144] or saddles
made for use exclusively in war, on which the rider was accustomed to
make the sign of the cross before or after mounting, such as the
_lidona_, _gallega_ ("_siellas gallegas_" are mentioned in the _Poem of
the Cid_), and _corsera_ or _cocera_ (Arabic _al-corsi_), or else the
_silla de conteras_, "whose hindmost bow," according to the Count of
Valencia de Don Juan, "terminated in converging pieces to protect the
wearer's thighs."
[143] An old account copied into a book (see p. 89, _note_) in the
National Library at Madrid, and dating from the reign of Sancho
the Fourth, states that Pedro Ferrández, saddler, received a
certain sum for making various saddles, including two "_de
palafrés_, wrought in silk with the devices of the king."
[144] "In mediæval Spain, good riders were often designated as 'Ginete
en ambas sillas,' that is, accustomed to either saddle, _i.e._
the Moorish and the Christian, and I now understand why
chroniclers have taken the trouble to record the fact. Strangely
enough, the high-peaked and short-stirruped saddle does not cross
the Nile, the Arabs of Arabia riding rather flat saddles with an
ordinary length of leg. The Arab saddle of Morocco, in itself, is
perhaps the worst that man has yet designed; but, curiously
enough, from it was made the Mexican saddle, perhaps the most
useful for all kinds of horses and of countries that the world has
seen." Cunninghame Graham: _Mogreb-El-Acksa_, p. 66. The same
writer naïvely adds the following footnote to the words _Ginete en
ambas sillas_. "This phrase often occurs in Spanish chronicles,
after along description of a man's virtues, his charity, love of
the church, and kindness to the poor, and it is apparently
inserted as at least as important a statement as any of the
others. In point of fact, chronicles being written for posterity,
it is the most important."
A saddle known as the _silla de rua_, or "street saddle," was generally
used in Spain throughout the sixteenth and the seventeenth centuries. It
was intended, not for war, but promenade and show, and therefore richly
decorated. The Royal Armoury has nineteen of these saddles, all of which
are Spanish-made. In the same collection is a plain _bridona_ saddle
(Plate lix.), with iron stirrups and two gilt-metal bells, such as were
commonly used in tournaments or other festivals. This saddle has been
erroneously ascribed to the thirteenth century. It dates from the
beginning of the fifteenth century, and proceeds from Majorca.
[Illustration: LX
HANGING _JAECES_ FOR HORSES]
The old belief that one of the saddles in this armoury, whose bows are
chased with a design in black and gilt of leaves and pilgrim's shells,
was once upon a time the Cid Campeador's, has been exploded recently.
The saddle in question is known to be Italian, dates from the sixteenth
century, and bears the arms of a town in the duchy of Montferrato.
The inventory (1560) of the dukes of Alburquerque mentions some curious
saddles, including one "_de la brida_, of blue velvet, with the bows
painted gold, and on the front bow a cannon with its carriage, and on
the hind bow another cannon with flames of fire." Among the rest were "a
_gineta_ saddle of red leather, used by my lord the duke," together with
saddles of bay leather, of dark brown leather, of "smooth leather with
trappings of blue cloth," of Cordova leather, and "a date-coloured
_gineta_-saddle, complete."
The same inventory specifies innumerable smaller articles of harness,
such as stirrups, spurs, reins, headstalls, and poitrals or
breast-leathers. Many of these pieces were richly ornamented; _e.g._,
"some silver headstalls of small size, enamelled in blue, with gilt
supports of iron,"[145] as well as "some silver headstalls, gilded and
enamelled green and rose, with shields upon the temples." Others of
these headstalls were made of copper, and nearly all were
colour-enamelled.
[145] As I have stated in another chapter, the precious stones and
metals were continually employed in arms and harness, both of
Spanish Moors and Spanish Christians. In 1062 Pedro Ruderiz
bequeathed to the Monastery of Arlanza all his battle harness,
together with his silver bit (_frenum argenteum_). Thousands of
such bequests have been recorded. The Chronicle of Alfonso the
Eleventh says that after the victory of the Rio Salado, this
monarch found among his spoil "many swords with gold and silver
fittings, and many spurs, all of enamelled gold and silver....
And all this spoil was gathered by the king into his palaces
of Seville (_i.e._ the Alcázar), the doubloons in one part, and
the swords in another part." The testament (sometimes considered
to be a forgery) of Pedro the Cruel mentions "my sword in the
Castilian manner, that I caused to be made here in Seville with
gems and with _aljofar_." In 1409 Yusuf, King of Granada,
presented Juan the Second and the Infante Don Enrique with
silver-fitted swords. Referring to a later age, Davillier
discovered at Simancas a detailed list of weapons sumptuously
decorated with gold and coloured enamels, made for Philip the
Second by Juan de Soto, "_orfebrero de su Alteza_." _Recherches_,
pp. 149-151.
The stirrups included "two Moorish stirrups of gilded tin, for a woman's
use";[146] "some large Moorish stirrups, gilt, with two silver plates
upon their faces, enamelled gold, green, and blue, and eight nails on
either face"; "some other Moorish stirrups, wrought inside with
_ataujía_-work in gold, and outside with plates of copper enamelled in
green, blue, and white; the handles gilt, with coverings of red
leather"; and "some silver stirrups with three bars upon the floor
thereof, round-shaped in the manner of an urinal, with open sides
consisting of two bars, a flower within a small shield on top, and, over
this, the small face of a man."
[146] The women of mediæval Spain had few amusements besides riding.
Another--though owing to the temperate climate it must have been
on few occasions--was skating, since this inventory mentions
"two pairs of skates, for a man, for travelling over ice. Two
pairs of skates, for the same purpose, for a woman." This entry
almost matches in its quaintness with the "irons for mustaches,"
or the "triggers for extracting teeth," set forth in Spanish
documents such as the _Tassa General_ of 1627.
The many sets of reins included several of Granada make, coloured in
white, red, and bay; while one of the most elaborate of the poitrals was
of "red leather, embroidered with gold thread, with fringes of
rose-coloured silk, buckles, ends, and rounded knobs; the whole of
copper enamelled green, and blue, and white."
Small but attractive accessories to these handsome sets of mediæval
Spanish harness were the decorative medals (Plate lx.) hung from the
horse's breast in tourneying or in war. In France these medals were
known as _annelets volants_, _branlants_, or _pendants_; although in
Spain, where it is probable that they were used more widely than in
other countries, they have no definite name. The term _jaeces_ is
sometimes applied to them; but _jaez_ properly means the entire harness
for a horse, and the word is thus employed by classic Spanish authors,
such as Tirso de Molina. A recent term, invented by a living writer, is
_jaeces colgantes_, or "hanging _jaeces_."
These ornaments, which had their origin among the Romans and Byzantines,
are figured in certain of the older Spanish codices such as the
_Cántigas de Santa Maria_. In Christian Spain, however, their vogue was
greatest in the thirteenth and the fourteenth centuries. They
disappeared altogether in the sixteenth century; and among the Spanish
Moors their use, though not unknown, was always quite exceptional.
The mottoes and devices on these little plates are very varied.
Sometimes the motto has an amorous, sometimes a religious import.
Sometimes the vehicle of the motto is Latin, sometimes Spanish,
sometimes French. Sometimes the device contains, or is composed of, a
blazon, and commonly there is floral or other ornament. A collection of
nearly three hundred of these medals belonged to the late Count of
Valencia de Don Juan, all of which were probably made in Spain. The
material as a rule is copper, adorned with _champlevé_ enamelling, and
the colours often used to decorate and relieve the interspaces of the
gilded metal are red, blue, black, white, and green.
[Illustration: LXI
TRAVELLING LITTER
(_Attributed to Charles the Fifth. Royal Armoury, Madrid_)]
According to Florencio Janer, coaches were not known in Spain until the
middle of the sixteenth century. Before that time the usual conveyance
was the litter. The Madrid Armoury contains an object which is thought
to have been the campaigning-litter of Charles the Fifth (Plate lxi.).
The Count of Valencia de Don Juan also inclined to this belief from the
circumstance that an engraving exists in the British Museum which
represents a German litter of the sixteenth century, identical in all
respects with this one. Probably, however, these litters were the same
all over Europe. The inventory of the Dukes of Alburquerque includes, in
1560, a "cowhide litter, black, lined with black serge; also poles
stained black, and harness for mules." This, together with other
travelling gear, belonged to "my lady the duchess"; and it is worth
noting that the litter attributed to Charles, though cased with a
protective covering of whitish canvas, is also of black leather and
lined with black serge, besides being evidently built for carriage by
two mules. The interior contains a small armchair rising some inches
only from the floor, and which, requiring him to keep his legs
continually outstretched, could hardly fail to prove excruciatingly
uncomfortable to the traveller.
Mendez Silva says that the precise date of the introduction of coaches
into Spain was 1546, and other writers do not greatly differ from him.
The Alburquerque inventory includes "two four-wheeled coaches," as well
as "a triumphal car with four wheels, its body painted with red and gold
stripes." Vanderhamen, who says that the first coach ever seen in Spain
was brought here by a servant of Charles the Fifth in 1554, adds that
within a little time their use became "a hellish vice that wrought
incalculable havoc to Castile." Certainly this vehicle for many years
was far from popular among the Spaniards, and was assailed with special
vehemence by all who lacked the income to support one. The Duke of
Berganza is said to have remarked that "God had fashioned horses for the
use of men, and men had fashioned coaches for the use of women"; while a
priest, Tomás Ramón, declared that it was "a vast disgrace to see
bearded men, with rapiers at their side, promenading in a coach." Even
the governing powers thought fit to interfere. In 1550, 1563, and 1573
the Cortes demanded the total prohibition of these modish yet detested
vehicles, while the Cortes of 1578 decreed four horses as the statutory
and invariable number for a private carriage. A further law enacted in
1611 that coaches must be strictly private property, and not, on pain of
rigorous chastisement, be lent or hired by their owner;[147] while the
owner, to own or use a coach at all, required a special licence from the
Crown.
[147] This prohibition was not inopportune. Swinburne wrote towards the
end of the eighteenth century; "Having occasion one day for a
coach to carry us about, the stable-boy of our inn offered his
services, and in a quarter of an hour brought to the door a coach
and four fine mules, with two postillions and a lacquey, all in
flaming liveries; we found they belonged to a countess, who, like
the rest of the nobility, allows her coachman to let out her
equipage when she has no occasion for it; it cost us about nine
shillings, which no doubt was the perquisite of the servants."
Some curious facts relating to these vehicles in older Spain are
instanced by Janer. In the seventeenth century a Spanish provincial town
would normally contain a couple of hundred coaches. Among such boroughs
was Granada. Here, in 1615, the authorities, backed by nearly all the
citizens, protested that the coaches ploughed the highway into muddy
pits and channels, and gave occasion, after nightfall, to disgraceful
and immoral scenes.[148] After a while the protest grew so loud that the
use of coaches in this capital was totally suppressed. One of the first
persons to employ a coach in Granada had been the Marquis of Mondejar;
and yet, in spite of his extensive influence, this nobleman, each time
he wished to drive abroad, required to sue for licence from the town
authorities, and these, in making out the written permit, took care to
specify the streets through which he was allowed to pass.
[148] Towns still exist in Spain where vehicles are not allowed to
proceed at more than a walking-pace through any of the streets.
One of such towns is Argamasilla de Alba (of _Don Quixote_ fame),
where I remember to have read a notice to this effect, painted,
by order of the mayor, on a house-wall of the principal
thoroughfare.
Assailed by numerous pragmatics,[149] chiefly of a sumptuary tenor and
repeated at spasmodic intervals until as late as 1785, the private coach
became at last an undisputed adjunct to the national life of Spain.
Doubtless the use by royalty of gala-coaches or _carrozas_ went far to
sanction and extend their vogue. However, I will not describe these
lumbering, uncouth, and over-ornamented gala-carriages (some of which
were made in Spain) belonging to the Spanish Crown, but quote the
following pragmatic, dated 1723, as aptly illustrative of the progress
of this industry, and other industries akin to it, in the Peninsula:--
"In order to restrain the immoderate use of coaches, state-coaches,
_estufas_, litters, _furlones_,[150] and calashes, we order that from
this time forth no one of these be decorated with gold embroidery or any
kind of silk containing gold, nor yet with bands or fringes that have
gold or silver points; but only with velvets, damasks, and other simple
silken fabrics made within this realm and its dependencies, or else in
foreign countries that have friendly commerce with us. Also, the fringes
and galloons shall be of silk alone; and none, of whatsoever dignity and
degree, shall cause his coach, state-coach, etc., to be decorated with
the fringes that are known as net-work, tassel-pointed, or bell-pointed;
but only with undecorated, simple fringes, or with those of Santa
Isabel; nor shall the breadth of either kind of these exceed four
fingers. Also, he shall not cause his coach, state-coach, etc., to be
overlaid with any gilt or silvered work, or painted with any manner of
design--meaning by such, historic scenes, marines, landscapes, flowers,
masks, knots of the pattern known as coulicoles, coats of arms, war
devices, perspectives, or any other painting, except it imitate marble,
or be marbled over of one single colour chosen at the owner's fancy; and
further, we allow in every coach, state-coach, etc., only a certain
moderate quantity of carving. And this our order and pragmatic shall
begin to rule upon the day it is made public; from which day forth no
person shall construct, or buy, or bring from other countries, coaches
or _estufas_ that infringe our law herein expressed; wherefore we order
the _alcaldes_ of this town, our court and capital, to make a register
of all such vehicles that each house contains, without excepting any.
Nevertheless, considering that if we should prohibit very shortly those
conveyances that now be lawful, the owners would be put to great
expense, we grant a period of two years wherein they may consume or rid
themselves thereof; upon the expiration of which term our law shall be
again made public, and thenceforward all, regardless of their quality
and rank, shall be compelled to pay obedience to the same. Also we
order that no person make or go abroad in hand-chairs fitted with
brocade, or cloth of gold or silver, or yet with any silk containing
gold and silver; nor shall the lining be embroidered or adorned with any
of the stuffs aforesaid; but the covering of the chair, inside and out,
shall only be of velvet, damask, or other unmixed silk, with a plain
fringe of four fingers' breadth and button-holes of the same silk, and
not of silver, gold, or thread, or any covering other than those
aforesaid; but the columns of such chairs may be adorned with silken
trimmings nailed thereto. And we allow, as in the case of coaches, a
period of two years for wearing out the hand-chairs now in use.... Also,
we order that the coverings of coaches, _estufas_, litters, calashes,
and _furlones_ shall not be made of any kind of silk, or yet the harness
of horses or mules for coaches and travelling litters; and that the said
coaches, gala-coaches, _estufas_, litters, calashes, and _furlones_
shall not be back-stitched (_pespuntados_), even if they should be of
cowhide or of cordwain (goatskin); nor shall they contain any fitting of
embroidered leather."
[149] A royal degree of 1619 disposed that "every one who sows and tills
twenty-five _fanegas_ of land each year, may use a coach."
[150] The _estufa_ (literally _stove_) was a form of family-coach. The
_furlon_ is described in an old dictionary as "a coach with four
seats and hung with leather curtains."
PRINTED BY
NEILL AND COMPANY, LIMITED,
EDINBURGH.
* * * * * *
Transcriber's note:
The original spelling and minor inconsistencies in the spelling and
formatting have been maintained.
Inconsistent hyphenation and accents are as in the original if not marked
as an misprint.
The text decoration above IV DE LA FVETE has been omitted on page 222.
The table below lists all corrections applied to the original text.
p. xii: Old Keys; Seville Cathedral 126 -> 131
p. 11: for securing the cloak; the _torquis_ -> _torques_
p. 12: _Fibulae_ -> _Fibulæ_
p. 17: Amador de los Rios -> Ríos
p. 28: Amador de los Rios -> Ríos
p. 28: de joyaux les plus precieux -> précieux
p. 65: is generally of the fifteeenth -> fifteenth
p. 70: He carried, too, a -> "a
p. 72: The goldsmiths' and the silversmiths -> silversmiths'
p. 82: Mores ont caché leurs tresors -> trésors
p. 90: a friar of Guadelupe -> Guadalupe
p. 91: Juan González -> Gonzalez
p. 93: As soon as Cristobal -> Cristóbal
p. 94: fué deste cuento, Jan -> Juan
p. 102: et cela luy feioit -> fetoit
p. 105: pearls or other stones. -> stones."
p. 123: in the _Museo Español de Antigüedades_ -> Antigüedades_)
p. 140: Museo Español de Antiguedades -> Antigüedades
p. 143: Museo Español de Antiguedades -> Antigüedades
p. 176: the emir of the Mussulmans Abi-Abdillah -> Abu-Abdillah
p. 180: D.C.C.C.C.XIII. -> D.C.C.C.C.XIII."
p. 181: and the Puertas del Perdon -> Perdón
p. 188: consisted of "a -> a !!!
p. 205: among the Germans _panzerbrecher_ -> _Panzerbrecher_
p. 206: frock (the _waffenrock_ -> _Waffenrock_
p. 220: which specifies "a bard -> band
p. 222: It has a _verga_ -> _verja_
p. 229: as well as the chape -> shape
p. 232: button and a black tassel. -> tassel."
p. 244: published in the _Boletin -> _Boletín
p. 262: and the burnisher. -> burnisher.
p. 264: making good files or razors. -> making good files or razors."
p. 273: of Segovia). Cristobal -> Cristóbal