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[Illustration: DON JOHN OF AUSTRIA.
FROM THE ORIGINAL IN THE ROYAL MUSEUM AT MADRID.
London: George Routledge & Sons, Broadway, Ludgate Hill.]
HISTORY OF THE REIGN
OF
PHILIP THE SECOND
_KING OF SPAIN_
VOLUME THE THIRD
AND
BIOGRAPHICAL & CRITICAL MISCELLANIES
BY
WILLIAM H. PRESCOTT
LONDON
GEORGE ROUTLEDGE AND SONS
BROADWAY, LUDGATE HILL
NEW YORK: 416, BROOME STREET
PRESCOTT'S WORKS.
_One-Volume Edition._
FERDINAND AND ISABELLA, 5s.
CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 5s.
CONQUEST OF PERU. 5s.
PHILIP THE SECOND. Vols. I. and II. in One Vol., 5s.
PHILIP THE SECOND. Vol. III., and ESSAYS, in One Vol., 5s.
CHARLES THE FIFTH. 5s.
CONTENTS
OF
THE THIRD VOLUME.
BOOK V.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
THE MOORS OF SPAIN 1
Conquest of Spain by the Arabs 1
Hostility between the Two Races 2
The Country recovered by the Spaniards 2
Effect of the Struggle on the National Character 2
Religious Intolerance of the Spaniards 3
Attempts to convert the Moslems 3
Policy of Ximenes 3
Suppression of the Mahometan Worship 4
Outward Conformity to Christianity 4
Moors abandon their National Habits 4
Their Condition under Philip the Second 5
Their Industry and Commerce 5
Treatment by the Government 6
Ordinance of 1563 8
Stringent Measures called for by the Clergy 9
Prepared by the Government 9
Severity of the Enactments 10
Approval of them by Philip 11
Proclamation at Granada 12
Indignation of the Moriscoes 12
Representations to Deza 12
Appeal to the Throne 13
Rejection of their Prayers 14
CHAPTER II.
REBELLION OF THE MORISCOES 14
The Edict enforced 14
Plans for Resistance by the Moriscoes 15
Their Descent on Granada 16
Failure of the Attempt 16
General Insurrection 17
Election of a King 17
Character of Aben-Humeya 18
His Coronation 18
His Preparations for Defence 19
The Christian Population 19
Unsuspicious of their Danger 19
Attacked by the Moors--Panic 20
General Massacre 21
Horrible Cruelties 21
Fate of the Women and Children 22
Fierceness of Aben-Farax 23
Deposed from his Command 23
CHAPTER III.
REBELLION OF THE MORISCOES 24
Consternation in the Capital 24
Mutual Fears of the Two Races 24
Garrison of the Alhambra strengthened 25
Troops mustered by Mondejar 25
Civic Militia--Feudal Levies 25
Warlike Ecclesiastics 26
March of the Army 26
Pass of Tablate 27
Bridge crossed by a Friar 27
The Army follows 28
The Moriscoes withdraw 28
Entrance into the Alpujarras 28
Night Encampment at Lanjaron 29
Relief of Orgiba 29
Mondejar pursues his March 30
Gloom of the Mountain Scenery 30
Defile of Alfajarali 30
Sudden Attack 30
Bravery of the Andalusian Knights 31
Precipitate Retreat of the Moriscoes 31
Capture of Bubion 31
Humanity of Mondejar 31
Sufferings of the Army 32
Capture of Jubiles 33
Prisoners protected by Mondejar 33
Massacred by the Soldiers 33
Christian Women sent to Granada 34
Welcomed by the Inhabitants 34
CHAPTER IV.
REBELLION OF THE MORISCOES 35
Mondejar's Policy 35
Aben-Humeya at Paterna 35
Offers to Surrender 36
Flight to the Sierra Nevada 36
Disposition of the Moorish Prisoners 37
Attack on Las Guajaras 38
Evacuated by the Garrison 38
Massacre ordered by Mondejar 38
Cruelty of the Count of Tendilla 39
Attempt to capture Aben-Humeya 39
His Escape 40
Heroism of Aben-Aboo 40
The Marquis of Los Velez 40
His Campaign in the Alpujarras 41
Cruelties committed by the Troops 41
Celebration of a religious _Fete_ 42
Licentiousness of the Soldiery 42
Contrast between Mondejar and Los Velez 43
Accusations against the former 44
Decision arrived at in Madrid 44
Effect on the Army 45
Moorish Prisoners in Granada 45
Rumours circulated in the Capital 45
Night Attack on the Prisoners 46
Fearful Struggle and Massacre 46
Apathy of the Government 47
Renewal of the Insurrection 47
CHAPTER V.
REBELLION OF THE MORISCOES 48
Don John of Austria 48
Birth and Early History 49
Placed under the Care of Quixada 49
Secresy in regard to his Origin 50
The young Geronimo at Yuste 50
Testamentary Depositions of the Emperor 51
The Boy presented to the Regent 51
Curious Scene 52
Meeting appointed with the King 53
Philip acknowledges his Brother 53
Assigns him an Establishment 54
Royal Triumvirate at Alcala 54
Chivalrous Character of Don John 55
His adventurous Disposition 55
He is entrusted with the Command of a Fleet 56
His Cruise in the Mediterranean 56
He is selected for the Command in Granada 57
Restrictions on his Authority 57
His Reception at Granada 57
Answers to Petitioners 58
Discussions in the Council of War 59
New Levies summoned 59
Increased Power of Aben-Humeya 60
Forays into the Christian Territory 60
Movements of Los Velez 61
Extension of the Rebellion 61
Successful Expedition of Requesens 61
Moriscoes lay Siege to Seron 62
Surrender and Massacre of the Garrison 62
Decree for removing the Moriscoes from Granada 63
Their Consternation and Grief 63
Expulsion from the City 64
Farewell to their ancient Home 64
Distribution through the Country 64
Ruinous Effects on Granada 65
Character of the Transaction 66
CHAPTER VI.
REBELLION OF THE MORISCOES 66
State of the Troops under Los Velez 66
Encounter with Aben-Humeya 67
Flight of the Morisco Prince 67
Desertions from the Spanish Camp 68
Mondejar recalled to Court 68
His Character 68
Exterminating Policy of the Government 69
Sensual Tyranny of Aben-Humeya 69
Treachery towards Diego Alguazil 70
Plan of Revenge formed by Alguazil 71
Conspiracy against Aben-Humeya 71
His Assassination 72
He is succeeded by Aben-Aboo 72
Energy of the new Chief 73
Repulse at Orgiba 73
The Place evacuated by the Garrison 74
Continual Forays 74
Conflicts in the _Vega_ 75
Don John's desire for Action 75
Philip yields to his Entreaties 76
Preparations for the Campaign 76
Surprise of Guejar 76
Mortification of Don John 77
Mendoza the Historian 77
CHAPTER VII.
REBELLION OF THE MORISCOES 79
Philip's Instructions to his Brother 80
Don John takes the Field 80
Discontent of Los Velez 80
His Meeting with Don John 81
He retires from the War 81
Investment of Galera 82
Description of the Place 82
Munitions and Garrison 83
Establishment of Batteries 84
The Siege opened 84
First Assault 84
Spaniards repulsed 85
Mines opened in the Rock 86
Second Assault 86
Explosion of the Mine 87
Troops rash to the Attack 87
Struggle at the Ravelin 87
Bravery of the Morisco Women 87
Ill Success of Padilla 87
Failure of the Attack 88
Insubordination of the Troops 88
Severe Loss of the Spaniards 88
Bloody Determination of Don John 89
Prudent Advice of Philip 89
Condition of the Besieged 89
Preparations for a last Attack 90
Cannonade and Explosions 91
Third Assault 91
Irresistible Fury of the Spaniards 91
Struggle in the Streets and Houses 92
Desperation of the Inhabitants 92
Inhumanity of the Conqueror 92
Wholesale Massacre 92
The Town demolished 94
Tidings communicated to Philip 94
Reputation gained by Don John 94
CHAPTER VIII.
REBELLION OF THE MORISCOES 95
Seron reconnoitred 95
Sudden Attack by the Moriscoes 95
Army thrown into Confusion 96
Indignation of Don John 96
Death of Quixada 97
His Character 98
Dona Magdalena de Ulloa 98
Rapid Successes of Don John 98
Negotiations opened with El Habaqui 99
Merciless Pursuit of the Rebels 99
Guerilla Warfare 99
Conferences at Fondon 100
Aben-Aboo consents to treat 100
Arrangement concluded 100
Submission tendered by El Habaqui 101
Dissatisfaction with the Treaty 102
Vacillation of Aben-Aboo 102
El Habaqui engages to arrest him 103
Fate of El Habaqui 103
Mission of Palacios 104
His Interview with Aben-Aboo 104
Spirited Declaration of that Chief 104
Stern Resolve of the Government 104
War of Extermination 105
Expedition of the Duke of Arcos 105
March across the Plain of Calaluz 106
Engagement with the Moriscoes 106
The Rebellion crushed 106
Edict of Expulsion 106
Removal of the Moriscoes 107
Don John's Impatience to Resign 108
His Final Dispositions 108
Hiding-place of Aben-Aboo 109
Plot formed for his Capture 109
His Interview with El Senix 109
His Murder 110
His Body brought to Granada 110
His Head placed in a Cage 110
Remarks on his Career 111
Wasted Condition of the Country 112
The scattered Moriscoes 112
Cruelly treated by the Government 112
Their Industry and Cheerfulness 113
Increase of their Numbers 113
They preserve their National Feeling 114
Mutual Hatred of the Two Races 114
Expulsion of the Moriscoes from Spain 114
Works of Marmol and Circourt 114
CHAPTER IX.
WAR WITH THE TURKS 116
Sultan Selim the Second 116
Determines on the Conquest of Cyprus 116
Spirit of Pius the Fifth 117
His Appeal to Philip 117
King's Entrance into Seville 117
Determines to join the League 118
Capture of Nicosia 118
Vacillating Conduct of Venice 118
Meeting of Deputies at Rome 119
Treaty of Confederation 119
Ratified and proclaimed 120
Turkish Fleet in the Adriatic 120
Papal Legate at Madrid 120
Concessions to the Crown 121
Fleets of Venice and Rome 121
Preparations in Spain 121
Enthusiasm of the Nation 122
Don John's Departure 122
His Reception at Naples 128
His noble Appearance 123
Accomplishments and Popularity 123
Presentation of the Consecrated Standard 124
Arrival at Messina 124
Grand Naval Spectacle 124
Strength and Condition of the Fleets 125
Discretion of the Generalissimo 125
Communications from the Pope 126
Departure from Messina 126
CHAPTER X.
WAR WITH THE TURKS 126
Arrival at Corfu 127
Council of War 127
Resolution to give Battle 127
Arbitrary Conduct of Veniero 128
Passage across the Sea of Iona 128
Fall of Famagosta 128
The Enemy in Sight 129
Preparations for Combat 129
Final Instructions of Don John 129
Approach of the Turkish Fleet 130
Its Form and Disposition 130
Change in the order of Battle 131
Last Preparation of the Christians 131
Battle of Lepanto 132
Left Wing of the Allies turned 132
Right Wing, under Doria, broken 132
Don John and Ali Pasha engaged 133
Superior Fire of the Spaniards 133
Bird's-eye View of the Scene 134
Venetians victorious on the Left 134
Continued Struggle in the Centre 135
Turkish Admiral boarded 135
Death of Ali Pasha 135
Victory of the Christians 136
Flight of Uluch Ali 137
Chase and Escape 137
Allies take Shelter in Petala 137
CHAPTER XI.
WAR WITH THE TURKS 137
Losses of the Combatants 137
Turkish Armada annihilated 138
Roll of Slaughter and Fame 138
Exploits of Farnese 138
Noble Spirit of Cervantes 139
Sons of Ali Pasha Prisoners 139
Generously treated by Don John 139
His Conduct towards Veniero 140
Operations suspended 141
Triumphant Return to Messina 141
Celebrations in Honour of the Victory 141
Tidings despatched to Spain 142
Philip's reception of them 142
Acknowledgments to his Brother 143
Don John's Conduct criticised 144
Real Fruits of the Victory 145
Delay in resuming Operations 145
Death of Pius the Fifth 145
Philip's Distrust 146
Permits his Brother to Sail 146
Turks decline to accept Battle 147
Anniversary of Lepanto 147
Allies disband their Forces 147
Perfidy of Venice 147
The League dissolved 148
Tunis taken by Don John 148
He provides for its Security 149
Returns to Naples 149
His Mode of Life there 150
His Schemes of Dominion 150
Tunis retaken by the Moslems 150
Don John's Mission to Genoa 151
He prepares a fresh Armament 151
His Disappointment and Return to Madrid 151
BOOK VI.
CHAPTER I.
DOMESTIC AFFAIRS OF SPAIN 153
Internal Administration 153
Revolutions under Isabella and Charles V. 153
Absolute Power of the Crown 154
Contrast between Charles and Philip 154
The latter wholly a Spaniard 154
The Royal Councils 155
Principal Advisers of the Crown 155
Character of Ruy Gomez de Silva 155
Figueroa, Count of Feria 157
Cardinal Espinosa 157
Two Parties in the Council 159
Balance held by Philip 159
His Manner of transacting Business 159
His Assiduity 160
His Mode of dividing the Day 161
His Love of Solitude 161
Extent of his Information 161
Partial Confidence in his Ministers 162
His Frugality 162
His magnificent Establishment 162
His fatal Habit of Procrastination 163
Remonstrances of his Almoner 164
Habits of the great Nobles 164
Manners of the Court 165
Degeneracy of the Nobles 165
Splendour of their Households 165
Loss of Political Power 166
Depressed Condition of the Commons 166
Petitions of the Cortes 166
Their Remonstrance against Arbitrary Government 167
Their Regard for the National Interests 167
Erroneous Notions respecting Commerce 168
Sumptuary Laws 168
Encouragement of Bull-Fights 169
Various Subjects of Legislation 169
Schools and Universities 170
Royal Pragmatics 170
Philip's Replies to the Cortes 170
Freedom of Discussion 171
Standing Army 171
Guards of Castile 171
CHAPTER II.
DOMESTIC AFFAIRS OF SPAIN 172
Philip the Champion of the Faith 172
Endowments of the Church 172
Alienations in Mortmain 172
Disputed Prerogatives 173
Appointments to Benefices 173
The Clergy dependent on the Crown 174
The Escorial 174
Motives for its Erection 174
Site selected 175
Convent founded 175
Royal Humility 176
Building commenced 176
Philip's Interest in it 177
His Architectural Taste 177
His Oversight of the Work 177
He governs the World from the Escorial 178
The Edifice endangered by Fire 178
Materials used in its Construction 179
Artists employed 179
Philip's Fondness for Art 180
Completion of the Escorial 180
The Architects 180
Character of the Structure 181
Its Whimsical Design 181
Its Magnitude 181
Interior Decorations 182
Ravages it has undergone 182
Its present Condition 182
Anne of Austria 183
Her Reception in Spain 183
Her Marriage with Philip 184
Her Residence at the Escorial 185
Her Character and Habits 185
Her Death 185
HISTORY
OF
PHILIP THE SECOND.
BOOK V
CHAPTER I.
THE MOORS OF SPAIN.
Conquest of Spain by the Arabs.--Slow Recovery by the
Spaniards.--Efforts to convert the Moslems.--Their Homes in the
Alpujarras.--Their Treatment by the Government.--The Minister
Espinosa.--Edict against the Moriscoes.--Their ineffectual Remonstrance.
1566, 1567.
It was in the beginning of the eighth century, in the year 711, that the
Arabs, filled with the spirit of conquest which had been breathed into
them by their warlike apostle, after traversing the southern shores of
the Mediterranean, reached the borders of those straits that separate
Africa from Europe. Here they paused for a moment, before carrying their
banners into a strange and unknown quarter of the globe. It was but for
a moment, however, when, with accumulated strength, they descended on
the sunny fields of Andalusia, met the whole Gothic array on the banks
of the Guadalete, and, after that fatal battle, in which King Roderick
fell with the flower of his nobility, spread themselves, like an army of
locusts, over every part of the Peninsula. Three years sufficed for the
conquest of the country,--except that small corner in the north, where a
remnant of the Goths contrived to maintain a savage independence, and
where the rudeness of the soil held out to the Saracens no temptation to
follow them.
It was much the same story that was repeated, more than three centuries
later, by the Norman conquerors in England. The battle of Hastings was
to that kingdom what the battle of the Guadalete was to Spain; though
the Norman barons, as they rode over the prostrate land, dictated terms
to the vanquished of a sterner character than those granted by the
Saracens.
But whatever resemblance there may be in the general outlines of the two
conquests, there is none in the results that followed. In England the
Norman and the Saxon, sprung from a common stock, could not permanently
be kept asunder by the barrier which at first was naturally interposed
between the conqueror and the conquered; and in less, probably, than
three centuries after the invasion, the two nations had imperceptibly
melted into one; so that the Englishman of that day might trace the
current that flowed through his veins to both a Norman and a Saxon
origin.
It was far otherwise in Spain, where difference of race, of religion, of
national tradition, of moral and physical organization, placed a gulf
between the victors and the vanquished too wide to be overleaped. It is
true, indeed, that very many of the natives, accepting the liberal terms
offered by the Saracens, preferred remaining in the genial clime of the
south to sharing the rude independence of their brethren in the
Asturias, and that, in the course of time, intermarriages, to some
extent, took place between them and their Moslem conquerors. To what
extent cannot now be known. The intercourse was certainly far greater
than that between our New-England ancestors and the Indian race which
they found in possession of the soil,--that ill-fated race, which seems
to have shrunk from the touch of civilization, and to have passed away
before it like the leaves of the forest before the breath of winter. The
union was probably not so intimate as that which existed between the old
Spaniards and the semi-civilized tribes that occupied the plateau of
Mexico, whose descendants, at this day, are to be there seen filling the
highest places, both social and political, and whose especial boast it
is to have sprung from the countrymen of Montezuma.
The very anxiety shown by the modern Spaniard to prove that only the
_sangre azul_--"blue blood"--flows through his veins, uncontaminated by
any Moorish or Jewish taint, may be thought to afford some evidence of
the intimacy which once existed between his forefathers and the tribes
of Eastern origin. However this may be, it is certain that no length of
time ever served, in the eye of the Spaniard, to give the Moslem invader
a title to the soil; and after the lapse of nearly eight centuries,--as
long a period as that which has passed since the Norman conquest,--the
Arabs were still looked upon as intruders, whom it was the sacred duty
of the Spaniards to exterminate or to expel from the land.
This, then, was their mission. And it is interesting to see how
faithfully they fulfilled it; and during the long period of the Middle
Ages, when other nations were occupied with base feudal quarrels or
border warfare, it is curious to observe the Spaniard intent on the one
great object of reclaiming his country from the possession of the
infidel. It was a work of time; and his progress, at first almost
imperceptible, was to be measured by centuries. By the end of the ninth
century it had reached as far as the Ebro and the Douro. By the middle
of the eleventh, the victorious banner of the Cid had penetrated to the
Tagus. The fortunes of Christian Spain trembled in the balance on the
great day of Navas de Tolosa, which gave a permanent ascendancy to the
Castilian arms; and by the middle of the thirteenth century the
campaigns of James the First of Aragon, and of St. Ferdinand of Castile,
stripping the Moslems of the other southern provinces, had reduced them
to the petty kingdom of Granada. Yet on this narrow spot they still
continued to maintain a national existence, and to bid defiance for more
than two centuries longer to all the efforts of the Christians. The
final triumph of the latter was reserved for the glorious reign of
Ferdinand and Isabella. It was on the second of January, 1492, that,
after a war which rivalled that of Troy in its duration, and surpassed
it in the romantic character of its incidents, the august pair made
their solemn entry into Granada; while the large silver cross which had
served as their banner through the war, sparkling in the sunbeams on the
red towers of the Alhambra, announced to the Christian world that the
last rood of territory in the Peninsula had passed away for ever from
the Moslem.
[Sidenote: EFFORTS TO CONVERT THEM.]
The peculiar nature of the war in which the Spaniard for eight centuries
had thus been engaged, exercised an important influence on the national
character. Generation after generation had passed their lives in one
long uninterrupted crusade. It had something of the same effect on the
character of the nation that the wars for the recovery of Palestine had
on the Crusaders of the Middle Ages. Every man learned to regard himself
as in an especial manner the soldier of Heaven,--for ever fighting the
great battle of the Faith. With a mind exalted by this sublime
conviction, what wonder that he should have been ever ready to discern
the immediate interposition of Heaven in his behalf--that he should have
seen again and again the patron saint of his country, charging on his
milk-white steed at the head of his celestial chivalry, and restoring
the wavering fortunes of the fight? In this exalted state of feeling,
institutions that assumed elsewhere only a political or military aspect
wore here the garb of religion. Thus the orders of chivalry, of which
there were several in the Peninsula, were founded on the same principles
as those of Palestine, where the members were pledged to perpetual war
against the infidel.
As a consequence of these wars with the Moslems, the patriotic principle
became identified with the religious. In the enemies of his country the
Spaniard beheld also the enemies of God; and feelings of national
hostility were still further embittered by those of religious hatred. In
the palmy days of the Arabian empire, these feelings, it is true, were
tempered by those of respect for an enemy who, in the various forms of
civilization, surpassed not merely the Spaniards, but every nation in
Christendom. Nor was this respect wholly abated under the princes who
afterwards ruled with imperial sway over Granada, and who displayed, in
their little courts, such a union of the courtesies of Christian
chivalry with the magnificence of the East, as shed a ray of glory on
the declining days of the Moslem empire in the Peninsula.
But as the Arabs, shorn of their ancient opulence and power, descended
in the scale, the Spaniards became more arrogant. The feelings of
aversion with which they had hitherto regarded their enemies, were now
mingled with those of contempt. The latent fire of intolerance was
fanned into a blaze by the breath of the fanatical clergy, who naturally
possessed unbounded influence in a country where religious
considerations entered so largely into the motives of action as they did
in Spain. To crown the whole, the date of the fall of Granada coincided
with that of the establishment of the Inquisition,--as if the hideous
monster had waited the time when an inexhaustible supply of victims
might be afforded for its insatiable maw.
By the terms of the treaty of capitulation, the people of Granada were
allowed to remain in possession of their religion and to exercise its
rights; and it was especially stipulated that no inducements or menaces
should be held out to effect their conversion to Christianity.[1] For a
few years the conquerors respected these provisions. Under the good
Talavera, the first archbishop of Granada, no attempt was made to
convert the Moslems, except by the legitimate means of preaching to the
people and of expounding to them the truths of revelation. Under such a
course of instruction the work of proselytism, though steadily, went on
too slowly to satisfy the impatience of some of the clergy. Among
others, that extraordinary man, Cardinal Ximenes, archbishop of Toledo,
was eager to try his own hand in the labour of conversion. Having
received the royal assent, he set about the affair with characteristic
ardour, and with as little scruple as to the means to be employed as the
most zealous propagandist could have desired. When reasoning and
expostulation failed, he did not hesitate to resort to bribes, and, if
need were, to force. Under these combined influences the work of
proselytism went on apace. Thousands were added daily to the Christian
fold; and the more orthodox Mussulmans trembled, at the prospect of a
general defection of their countrymen. Exasperated by the unscrupulous
measures of the prelate, and the gross violation they involved of the
treaty, they broke out into an insurrection, which soon extended along
the mountain ranges in the neighbourhood of Granada.
Ferdinand and Isabella, alarmed at the consequences, were filled with
indignation at the high-handed conduct of Ximenes. But he replied, that
the state of things was precisely that which was most to be desired. By
placing themselves in an attitude of rebellion, the Moors had renounced
all the advantages secured by the treaty, and had, moreover, incurred
the penalties of death and confiscation of property! It would be an act
of grace in the sovereigns to overlook their offence, and grant an
amnesty for the past, on condition that every Moor should at once
receive baptism or leave the country.[2] This precious piece of
casuistry, hardly surpassed by anything in ecclesiastical annals, found
favour in the eyes of the sovereigns, who, after the insurrection had
been quelled, lost no time in proposing the terms suggested by their
minister as the only terms of reconciliation open to the Moors. And, as
but few of that unhappy people were prepared to renounce their country
and their worldly prospects for the sake of their faith, the result was,
that in a very short space of time, with but comparatively few
exceptions, every Moslem in the dominions of Castile consented to abjure
his own faith and receive that of his enemies.[3]
A similar course of proceeding was attended with similar results in
Valencia and other dominions of the crown of Aragon, in the earlier part
of Charles the Fifth's reign; and before that young monarch had been ten
years upon the throne, the whole Moorish population--_Moriscoes_, as
they were henceforth to be called--were brought within the pale of
Christianity,--or, to speak more correctly, within that of the
Inquisition.[4]
Such conversions, it may well be believed, had taken too little root in
the heart to bear fruit. It was not long before the agents of the Holy
Office detected, under the parade of outward conformity, as rank a
growth of infidelity as had existed before the conquest. The blame might
in part, indeed, be fairly imputed to the lukewarmness of the Christian
labourers employed in the work of conversion. To render this more
effectual, the government had caused churches to be built in the
principal towns and villages occupied by the Moriscoes, and sent
missionaries among them to wean them from their errors and unfold the
great truths of revelation. But an act of divine grace could alone work
an instantaneous change in the convictions of a nation. The difficulties
of the preachers were increased by their imperfect acquaintance with the
language of their hearers; and they had still further to overcome the
feelings of jealousy and aversion with which the Spaniard was naturally
regarded by the Mussulman. Discouraged by these obstacles, the
missionary became indifferent to the results. Instead of appealing to
the understanding, or touching the heart, of his hearer, he was willing
to accept his conformity to outward ceremony as the evidence of his
conversion. Even in his own performance of the sacred rites, the
ecclesiastic showed a careless indifference, that proved his heart was
little in the work; and he scattered the purifying waters of baptism in
so heedless a way over the multitude, that it was not uncommon for a
Morisco to assert that none of the consecrated drops had fallen upon
him.[5]
[Sidenote: THEIR HOMES IN THE ALPUJARRAS.]
The representations of the clergy at length drew the attention of the
government. It was decided that the best mode of effecting the
conversion of the Moslems was by breaking up those associations which
connected them with the past,--by compelling them, in short, to renounce
their ancient usages, their national dress, and even their language. An
extraordinary edict to that effect, designed for Granada, was
accordingly published by Charles in the summer of 1526; and all who did
not conform to it were to be arraigned before the Inquisition. The law
was at once met, as might have been expected, by remonstrances from the
men of most consideration among the Moriscoes, who, to give efficacy to
their petition, promised the round sum of eighty thousand gold ducats to
the emperor in case their prayers should be granted. Charles, who in his
early days did not always allow considerations of religion to supersede
those of a worldly policy, lent a favourable ear to the petitioners; and
the monstrous edict, notwithstanding some efforts to the contrary, was
never suffered to go into operation during his reign.[6]
Such was the state of things on the accession of Philip the Second.
Granada, Malaga, and the other principal cities of the south, were
filled with a mingled population of Spaniards and Moriscoes, the latter
of whom,--including many persons of wealth and consideration,--under the
influence of a more intimate contact with the Christians, gave evidence,
from time to time, of conversion to the faith of their conquerors. But
by far the larger part of the Moorish population was scattered over the
mountain-range of the Alpujarras, south-east of Granada, and among the
bold sierras that stretch along the southern shores of Spain. Here,
amidst those frosty peaks, rising to the height of near twelve thousand
feet above the level of the sea, and readily descried, from their great
elevation, by the distant voyager on the Mediterranean, was many a
green, sequestered valley, on which the Moorish peasant had exhausted
that elaborate culture which, in the palmy days of his nation, was
unrivalled in any part of Europe.[7] His patient toil had constructed
terraces from the rocky soil, and, planting them with vines, had clothed
the bald sides of the sierra with a delicious verdure. With the like
industry he had contrived a network of canals along the valleys and
lower levels, which, fed by the streams from the mountains, nourished
the land with perpetual moisture. The different elevations afforded so
many different latitudes for agricultural production; and the fig, the
pomegranate, and the orange grew almost side by side with the hemp of
the north and the grain of more temperate climates. The lower slopes of
the sierra afforded extensive pastures for flocks of merino sheep;[8]
and the mulberry-tree was raised in great abundance for the manufacture
of silk, which formed an important article of export from the kingdom of
Granada.
Thus, gathered in their little hamlets among the mountains, the people
of the Alpujarras maintained the same sort of rugged independence which
belonged to the ancient Goth when he had taken shelter from the Saracen
invader in the fastnesses of the Asturias. Here the Moriscoes, formed
into communities which preserved their national associations, still
cherished the traditions of their fathers, and perpetuated those usages
and domestic institutions that kept alive the memory of ancient days. It
was from the Alpujarras that, in former times, the kings of Granada had
drawn the brave soldiery who enabled them for so many years to bid
defiance to their enemies. The trade of war was now at an end. But the
hardy life of the mountaineer gave robustness to his frame, and saved
him from the effeminacy and sloth which corrupted the inhabitants of the
capital. Secluded among his native hills, he cherished those sentiments
of independence which ill suited a conquered race; and, in default of a
country which he could call his own, he had that strong attachment to
the soil which is akin to patriotism, and which is most powerful among
the inhabitants of a mountain region.
The products of the husbandman furnished the staples of a gainful
commerce with the nations on the Mediterranean, and especially with the
kindred people on the Barbary shores. The treaty of Granada secured
certain commercial advantages to the Moors, beyond what were enjoyed by
the Spaniards.[9] This, it may be well believed, was looked upon with no
friendly eye by the latter, who had some ground, moreover, for
distrusting the policy of an intercourse between the Moslems of Spain
and those of Africa, bound together as they were by so many ties--above
all, by a common hatred of the Christians. With the feelings of
political distrust were mingled those of cupidity and envy, as the
Spaniard saw the fairest provinces of the south still in the hands of
the accursed race of Ishmael, while he was condemned to earn a scanty
subsistence from the comparatively ungenial soil of the north.
In this state of things, with the two races not merely dissimilar, but
essentially hostile to one another, it will readily be understood how
difficult it must have been to devise any system of legislation by which
they could be brought to act in harmony as members of the same political
body. That the endeavours of the Spanish government were not crowned
with success would hardly surprise us, even had its measures been more
uniformly wise and considerate.
[Sidenote: THEIR TREATMENT BY THE GOVERNMENT.]
The government caused the Alpujarras to be divided into districts, and
placed under the control of magistrates, who, with their families,
resided in the places assigned as the seats of their jurisdiction. There
seem to have been few other Christians who dwelt among the Moorish
settlements in the sierra, except, indeed, the priests who had charge of
the spiritual concerns of the natives. As the conversion of these
latter was the leading object of the government, they caused churches to
be erected in all the towns and hamlets; and the curates were instructed
to use every effort to enlighten the minds of their flocks, and to see
that they were punctual in attendance on the rites and ceremonies of the
Church. But it was soon too evident that attention to forms and
ceremonies was the only approach made to the conversion of the heathen;
and that below this icy crust of conformity the waters of infidelity lay
as dark and deep as ever. The result, no doubt, was to be partly charged
on the clergy themselves, many of whom grew languid in the execution of
a task which seemed to them to be hopeless.[10] And what task, in truth,
could be more hopeless than that of persuading a whole nation at once to
renounce their long-established convictions, to abjure the faith of
their fathers, associated in their minds with many a glorious
recollection, and to embrace the faith of the very men whom they
regarded with unmeasured hatred? It would be an act of humiliation not
to be expected even in a conquered race.
In accomplishing a work so much to be desired, the Spaniards, if they
cannot be acquitted of the charge of persecution, must be allowed not to
have urged persecution to anything like the extent which they had done
in the case of the Protestant Reformers. Whether from policy or from
some natural regard to the helplessness of these benighted heathen, the
bloodhounds of the Inquisition were not as yet allowed to run down their
game at will; and, if they did terrify the natives by displaying their
formidable fangs, the time had not yet come when they were to slip the
leash and spring upon their miserable victims. It is true there were
some exceptions to this more discreet policy. The Holy Office had its
agents abroad, who kept watch upon the Moriscoes; and occasionally the
more flagrant offenders were delivered up to its tender mercies.[11] But
a more frequent source of annoyance arose from the teasing ordinances
from time to time issued by the government, which could have answered no
other purpose than to irritate the temper and sharpen the animosity of
the Moriscoes. If the government had failed in the important work of
conversion, it was the more incumbent on it, by every show of confidence
and kindness, to conciliate the good-will of the conquered people, and
enable them to live in harmony with their conquerors, as members of the
same community. Such was not the policy of Philip, any more than it had
been that of his predecessors.
During the earlier years of his reign, the king's attention was too
closely occupied with foreign affairs to leave him much leisure for
those of the Moriscoes. It was certain, however, that they would not
long escape the notice of a prince who regarded uniformity of faith as
the corner-stone of his government. The first important act of
legislation bearing on these people was in 1560, when the Cortes of
Castile presented a remonstrance to the throne against the use of negro
slaves by the Moriscoes, who were sure to instruct them in their
Mahometan tenets, and thus to multiply the number of infidels in the
land.[12] A royal _pragmatic_ was accordingly passed, interdicting the
use of African slaves by the Moslems of Granada. The prohibition caused
the greatest annoyance; for the wealthier classes were in the habit of
employing these slaves for domestic purposes, while in the country they
were extensively used for agricultural labour.
In 1563 another ordinance was published, reviving a law which had fallen
into disuse, and which prohibited the Moriscoes from having any arms in
their possession, but such as were duly licensed by the captain-general
and were stamped with his escutcheon.[13] The office of captain-general
of Granada was filled at this time by Don Inigo Lopez de Mendoza, count
of Tendilla, who soon after, on his father's death, succeeded to the
title of marquis of Mondejar. The important post which he held had been
hereditary in his family ever since the conquest of Granada. The present
nobleman was a worthy scion of the illustrious house from which he
sprung.[14] His manners were blunt, and not such as win popularity; but
he was a man of integrity, with a nice sense of humour and a humane
heart,--the last of not too common occurrence in the iron days of
chivalry. Though bred a soldier, he was inclined to peace. His life had
been passed much among the Moriscoes, so that he perfectly understood
their humours; and, as he was a person of prudence and moderation, it is
not improbable, had affairs been left to his direction, that the country
would have escaped many of those troubles which afterwards befell it.
It was singular, considering the character of Mendoza, that he should
have recommended so ill-advised a measure as that relating to the arms
of the Moriscoes. The ordinance excited a general indignation in
Granada. The people were offended by the distrust which such a law
implied of their loyalty. They felt it an indignity to be obliged to sue
for permission to do what they considered it was theirs of right to do.
Those of higher condition disdained to wear weapons displaying the
heraldic bearings of the Mendozas instead of their own. But the great
number, without regard to the edict provided themselves secretly with
arms, which, as it reached the ears of the authorities, led to frequent
prosecutions. Thus a fruitful source of irritation was opened; and many,
to escape punishment, fled to the mountains, and there too often joined
the brigands who haunted the passes of Alpujarras, and bade defiance to
the feeble police of the Spaniards.[15]
[Sidenote: THE MINISTER ESPINOSA.]
These impolitic edicts, as they were irritating to the Moriscoes, were
but preludes to an ordinance of so astounding a character as to throw
the whole country into a state of revolution. The apostasy of the
Moriscoes,--or, so to speak more correctly, the constancy with which
they adhered to the faith of their fathers,--gave great scandal to the
old Christians, especially to the clergy, and above all to its head, Don
Pedro Guerrero, archbishop of Granada. This prelate seems to have been a
man of an uneasy, meddlesome spirit, and possessed of a full share of
the bigotry of his time. While in Rome, shortly before this period, he
had made such a representation to Pope Pius the Fourth as drew from
that pontiff a remonstrance, addressed to the Spanish government, on the
spiritual condition of the Moriscoes. Soon after, in the year 1567, a
memorial was presented to the government, by Guerrero and the clergy of
his diocese, in which, after insisting on the manifold back-slidings of
the "New Christians," as the Moriscoes were termed, they loudly called
for some efficacious measures to arrest the evil. These people, they
said, whatever show of conformity they might make to the requisitions of
the Church, were infidels at heart. When their children were baptized,
they were careful, on returning home, to wash away the traces of
baptism, and, after circumcising them, to give them Moorish names. In
like manner, when their marriages had been solemnized with Christian
rites, they were sure to confirm them afterwards by their own
ceremonies, accompanied with the national songs and dances. They
continued to observe Friday as a holy day; and what was of graver
moment, they were known to kidnap the children of the Christians, and
sell them to their brethren on the coast of Barbary, where they were
circumcised, and nurtured in the Mahometan religion. This last
accusation, however improbable, found credit with the Spaniards, and
sharpened the feelings of jealousy and hatred with which they regarded
the unhappy race of Ishmael.[16]
The memorial of the clergy received prompt attention from the
government, at whose suggestion, very possibly, it had been prepared. A
commission was at once appointed to examine into the matter; and their
report was laid before a junta, consisting of both ecclesiastics and
laymen, and embracing names of the highest consideration for talent and
learning in the kingdom. Among its members we find the Duke of Alva, who
had not yet set out on his ominous mission to the Netherlands. At its
head was Diego de Espinosa, at that time the favourite minister of
Philip, or at least the one who had the largest share in the direction
of affairs. He was a man after the king's own heart, and, from the
humble station of _colegial mayor_ of the college of Cuenca in
Salamanca, had been advanced by successive steps to the high post of
president of the Council of Castile and of the Council of the Indies. He
was now also bishop of Siguenza, one of the richest sees in the kingdom.
He held an important office in the Inquisition, and was soon to succeed
Valdes in the unenviable post of grand inquisitor. To conclude the
catalogue of his honours, no long time was to elapse before, at his
master's suggestion, he was to receive from Rome a cardinal's hat. The
deference shown by Philip to his minister, increased as it was by this
new accession of spiritual dignity, far exceeded what he had ever shown
to any other of his subjects.
Espinosa was at this time in the morning, or rather, the meridian of his
power. His qualifications for business would have been extraordinary,
even in a layman. He was patient of toil, cheerfully doing the work of
others as well as his own. This was so far fortunate that it helped to
give him that control in the direction of affairs which was coveted by
his aspiring nature. He had a dignified and commanding presence, with
but few traces of that humility which would have been graceful in one
who had risen so high by his master's favour as much as by his own
deserts. His haughty bearing gave offence to the old nobility of
Castile, who scornfully looked from the minister's present elevation to
the humble level from which he had risen. It was regarded with less
displeasure, it is said, by the king, who was not unwilling to see the
pride of the ancient aristocracy rebuked by one whom he had himself
raised from the dust.[17] Their mortification, however, was to be
appeased ere long by the fall of the favourite--an event as signal and
unexpected by the world, and as tragical to the subject of it, as the
fall of Wolsey.
The man who was qualified for the place of grand inquisitor was not
likely to feel much sympathy for the race of unbelievers. It was
unfortunate for the Moriscoes that their destinies should be placed in
the hands of such a minister as Espinosa. After due deliberation, the
junta came to the decision that the only remedy for the present evil was
to lay the axe to the root of it; to cut off all those associations
which connected the Moriscoes with their earlier history, and which were
so many obstacles in the way of their present conversion. It was
recommended that they should be interdicted from employing the Arabic
either in speaking or writing, for which they were to use only the
Castilian. They were not even to be allowed to retain their family
names; but were to exchange them for Spanish ones. All written
instruments and legal documents, of whatever kind, were declared to be
void and of no effect unless in the Castilian. As time must be allowed
for a whole people to change its language, three years were assigned as
the period at the end of which this provision should take effect.
They were to be required to exchange their national dress for that of
the Spaniards; and, as the Oriental costume was highly ornamented, and
often very expensive, they were to be allowed to wear their present
clothes one year longer if of silk, and two years if of cotton, the
latter being the usual apparel of the poorer classes. The women,
moreover, both old and young, were to be required, from the passage of
the law, to go abroad with their faces uncovered,--a scandalous thing
among Mahometans.
Their weddings were to be conducted in public, after the Christian
forms; and the doors of their houses were to be left open during the day
of the ceremony, that any one might enter and see that they did not have
recourse to unhallowed rites. They were further to be interdicted from
the national songs and dances with which they were wont to celebrate
their domestic festivities. Finally, as rumours--most absurd ones--had
got abroad that the warm baths which the natives were in the habit of
using in their houses were perverted to licentious indulgences, they
were to be required to destroy the vessels in which they bathed, and to
use nothing of the kind thereafter.
These several provisions were to be enforced by penalties of the
sternest kind. For the first offence the convicted party was to be
punished with imprisonment for a month, with banishment from the country
for two years, and with a fine varying from six hundred to ten thousand
maravedis. For a second offence the penalties were to be doubled; and
for a third, the culprit, in addition to former penalties, was to be
banished for life. The ordinance was closely modelled on that of Charles
the Fifth, which, as we have seen, he was too politic to carry into
execution.[18]
[Sidenote: EDICT AGAINST THE MORISCOES.]
Such were the principal provisions of a law which, for cruelty and
absurdity, has scarcely a parallel in history. For what could be more
absurd than the attempt by an act of legislation to work such a change
in the long-established habits of a nation--to efface those
recollections of the past, to which men ever cling most closely under
the pressure of misfortune--to blot out by a single stroke of the pen,
as it were, not only the creed, but the nationality of a people--to
convert the Moslem, at once, both into a Christian and into a Castilian?
It would be difficult to imagine any greater outrage offered to a people
than the provision compelling women to lay aside their veils--associated
as these were in every Eastern mind with the obligations of modesty; or
that in regard to opening the doors of the houses, and exposing those
within to the insolent gaze of every passer; or that in relation to the
baths--so indispensable to cleanliness and comfort, especially in the
warm climate of the South.
But the masterpiece of absurdity, undoubtedly, is the stipulation in
regard to the Arabic language; as if by any human art a whole
population, in the space of three years, could be made to substitute a
foreign tongue for its own; and that, too, under circumstances of
peculiar difficulty, partly arising from the total want of affinity
between the Semitic and the European languages, and partly from the
insulated position of the Moriscoes, who, in the cities, had separate
quarters assigned to them, in the same manner as the Jews, which cut
them off from intimate intercourse with the Christians. We may well
doubt, from the character of this provision, whether the Government had
so much at heart the conversion of the Moslems as the desire to entangle
them in such violations of the law as should afford a plausible pretext
for driving them from the country altogether. One is strengthened in
this view of the subject by the significant reply of Otadin, professor
of theology at Alcala, who, when consulted by Philip on the expediency
of the ordinance, gave his hearty approbation of it, by quoting the
appalling Spanish proverb, "The fewer enemies, the better."[19] It was
reserved for the imbecile Philip the Third to crown the disasters of his
reign by the expulsion of the Moriscoes. Yet no one can doubt that it
was a consummation earnestly desired by the great body of the Spaniards,
who looked, as we have seen, with longing eyes to the fair territory
which they possessed, and who regarded them with the feelings of
distrust and aversion with which men regard those on whom they have
inflicted injuries too great to be forgiven.
Yet there were some in the junta with whom the proposed ordinance found
no favour. Among these, one who calls to mind his conduct in the
Netherlands may be surprised to find the duke of Alva. Here, as in that
country, his course was doubtless dictated less by considerations of
humanity than of policy. Whatever may have been his reasons, they had
little weight with Espinosa, who probably felt a secret satisfaction in
thwarting the man whom he regarded with all the jealousy of a rival.[20]
What was Philip's own opinion on the matter, we can but conjecture from
our general knowledge of his character. He professed to be guided by the
decision of the "wise and learned men" to whom he had committed the
subject. That this decision did no great violence to his own feelings,
we may infer from the promptness with which he signed the ordinance.
This he did on the 17th of November, 1566, when the pragmatic became a
law.
It was resolved, however, not to give publicity to it at once. It was
committed to the particular charge of one of the members of the junta,
Diego Deza, auditor of the Holy Office, and lately raised by Espinosa to
the important post of president of the chancery of Granada. This put him
at once at the head of the civil administration of the province, as the
Marquis of Mondejar was at the head of the military. The different views
of policy entertained by the two men led to a conflict of authority
which proved highly prejudicial to affairs. Deza, who afterwards rose to
the dignity of cardinal, was a man whose plausible manners covered an
inflexible will. He showed, notwithstanding, an entire subserviency to
the wishes of his patron, Espinosa, who committed to him the execution
of his plans.
The president resolved, with more policy than humanity, to defer the
publication of the edict till the ensuing first of January, 1667, the
day preceding that which the Spaniards commemorated as the anniversary
of the surrender of the capital. This humiliating event, brought home at
such a crisis to the Moriscoes, might help to break their spirits, and
dispose them to receive the obnoxious edict with less resistance.
On the appointed day the magistrates of the principal tribunals, with
the corregidor of Granada at their head, went in solemn procession to
the Albaicin, the quarter occupied by the Moriscoes. They marched to the
sound of kettle-drums, trumpets, and other instruments; and the
inhabitants, attracted by the noise, and fond of novelty, came running
from their houses to swell the ranks of the procession on its way to the
great square of _Bab el Bonat_. This was an open space, of large extent,
where the people of Granada, in ancient times, used to assemble to
celebrate the coronation of a new sovereign; and the towers were still
standing from which the Moslem banners waved, on those days, over the
heads of the shouting multitude. As the people now gathered tumultuously
around these ancient buildings, the public crier, from an elevated
place, read, in audible tones and in the Arabic language, the royal
ordinance. One may imagine the emotions of shame, sorrow, and
indignation with which the vast assembly, consisting of both sexes,
listened to the words of an instrument, every sentence of which seemed
to convey a personal indignity to the hearers--an outrage on all those
ideas of decorum and decency in which they had been nurtured from
infancy; which rudely rent asunder all the fond ties of country and
kindred; which violated the privacy of domestic life, deprived them of
the use of their own speech, and reduced them to a state of utter
humiliation unknown to the meanest of their slaves. Some of the weaker
sort gave way to piteous and passionate exclamations, wringing their
hands in an agony of grief. Others, of sterner temper, broke forth into
menaces and fierce invective, accompanied with the most furious
gesticulations. Others, again, listened with that dogged, determined air
which showed that the mood was not the less dangerous that it was a
silent one. The whole multitude was in a state of such agitation that an
accident might have readily produced an explosion which would have
shaken Granada to its foundations. Fortunately there were a few discreet
persons in the assembly, older and more temperate than the rest, who had
sufficient authority over their countrymen to prevent a tumult. They
reminded them that in their fathers' time the emperor Charles the Fifth
had consented to suspend the execution of a similar ordinance. At all
events, it was better to try first what could be done by argument and
persuasion. When these failed, it would be time enough to think of
vengeance.[21]
[Sidenote: THEIR INEFFECTUAL REMONSTRANCE.]
One of the older Moriscoes, a man of much consideration among his
countrymen, was accordingly chosen to wait on the president and explain
their views in regard to the edict. This he did at great length, and in
a manner which must have satisfied any fair mind of the groundlessness
of the charges brought against the Moslems, and the cruelty and
impracticability of the measures proposed by the government. The
president, having granted to the envoy a patient and courteous hearing,
made a short and not very successful attempt to vindicate the course of
the administration. He finally disposed of the whole question by
declaring that "the law was too just and holy, and had been made with
too much consideration, ever to be repealed; and that, in fine, regarded
as a question of interest, his majesty estimated the salvation of a
single soul as of greater price than all the revenues he drew from the
Moriscoes."[22] An answer like this must have effectually dispelled all
thoughts of a composition, such as had formerly been made with the
emperor.
Defeated in this quarter, the Moriscoes determined to lay their
remonstrance before the throne. They were fortunate in obtaining, for
this purpose, the services of Don Juan Henriquez, a nobleman of the
highest rank and consideration, who had large estates at Beza, in the
heart of Granada, and who felt a strong sympathy for the unfortunate
natives. Having consented, though with much reluctance, to undertake the
mission, he repaired to Madrid, obtained an audience of the king, and
presented to him a memorial on behalf of his unfortunate subjects.
Philip received him graciously, and promised to give all attention to
the paper. "What I have done in this matter," said the king, "has been
done by the advice of wise and conscientious men, who have given me to
understand that it was my duty."[23]
Shortly afterwards, Henriquez received an intimation that he was to look
for his answer to the president of Castille. Espinosa, after listening
to the memorial, expressed his surprise that a person of the high
condition of Don Juan Henriquez should have consented to take charge of
such a mission. "It was for that very reason I undertook it," replied
the nobleman, "as affording me a better opportunity to be of service to
the king." "It can be of no use," said the minister; "religious men have
represented to his majesty that at his door lies the salvation of these
Moors; and the ordinance which has been decreed, he has determined shall
be carried into effect."[24]
Baffled in this direction, the persevering envoy laid his memorial
before the councillors of state, and endeavoured to interest them in
behalf of his clients. In this he met with more success; and several of
that body, among whom may be mentioned the duke of Alva and Luis de
Avila, the grand commander of Alcantara, whom Charles the Fifth had
honoured with his friendship, entered heartily into his views. But it
availed little with the minister, who would not even consent to delay
the execution of the ordinance until time should have been given for
further inquiry, or to confine the operation of it, at the outset, to
one or two of the provisions, in order to ascertain what would probably
be the temper of the Moriscoes.[25] Nothing would suit the peremptory
humour of Espinosa but the instant execution of the law in all its
details.
Nor would he abate anything of this haughty tone in favour of the
captain-general, the marquis of Mondejar. That nobleman, with good
reason, had felt himself aggrieved that, in discussions so materially
affecting his own government, he should not have been invited to take a
part. From motives of expediency, as much as of humanity, he was
decidedly opposed to the passage of the ordinance. It was perhaps a
knowledge of this that had excluded him from a seat in the junta. His
representations made no impression on Espinosa; and when he urged that,
if the law were to be carried into effect, he ought to be provided with
such a force as would enable him to quell any attempt at resistance, the
minister made light of the danger, assuring him that three hundred
additional troops were as many as the occasion demanded. Espinosa then
peremptorily adjourned all further discussion, by telling the
captain-general that it would be well for him to return at once to
Granada, where his presence would be needed to enforce the execution of
the law.[26]
It was clear that no door was left open to further discussion, and that,
under the present government, no chance remained to the unfortunate
Moriscoes of buying off the law by the payment of a round sum, as in the
time of Charles the Fifth. All negotiations were at an end. They had
only to choose between implicit obedience and open rebellion. It was not
strange that they chose the latter.