History of Civilization in England, Vol. 2 of 3

1201

It had been introduced into Aragon in 1242; but, according to M. Tapia, ‘sin embargo la persecucion se limitó entónces á la secta de los albigenses; y como de ellos hubo tan pocos en Castilla, no se consideró sin duda necesario en ella el establecimiento de aquel tribunal.’ Tapia, Historia de la Civilizacion Española, Madrid, 1840, vol. ii. p. 302. Indeed, Llorente says (Histoire de l'Inquisition d'Espagne, Paris, 1817, vol. i. p. 88), ‘Il est incertain si au commencement du 15e siècle l'Inquisition existait en Castille.’ In the recent work by M. Lafuente, 1232 is given as its earliest date; but, ‘á fines del siglos xiv. y principios del xv. apenas puede saberse si existia tribunal de Inquisicion en Castilla.’ Lafuente, Historia de España, vol. ix. pp. 204–206, Madrid, 1852. It seems therefore with good reason that Mariana (Historia, vol. vi. p. 171) terms the Inquisition of Ferdinand and Isabella ‘un nuevo y santo tribunal.’ See also Florez, Memorias de las Reynas Catholicas, vol. ii. p. 799.

1202

Prescott's History of Philip II., vol. i. p. 23, London, 1857. Davies' History of Holland, vol. i. p. 447, London, 1841. On the religious character of his German policy, compare Mariana, Historia de España, vol. vii. p. 330; Ortiz, Compendio, vol. vi. pp. 195, 196.

1203

Prescott's Philip II., vol. i. p. 3; and the continuation of Fleury, Histoire Ecclésiastique, vol. xxvii. p. 280. Robertson, though praising Charles V. for this achievement, seems rather inclined to underrate its magnitude; History of Charles V., p. 246.

1204

In the speech he made at his abdication, he said that ‘he had been ever mindful of the interests of the dear land of his birth, but above all of the great interests of Christianity. His first object had been to maintain these inviolate against the infidel.’ Prescott's Philip II., vol. i. p. 8. Miñana boasts that ‘el César con piadoso y noble ánimo exponia su vida á los peligros para extender los limites del Imperio Christiano.’ Continuación de Mariana, vol. viii. p. 352. Compare the continuation of Fleury, Histoire Ecclésiastique, vol. xxxi. p. 19.

1205

Grotius says, 100,000; Bor, Meteren, and Paul say 50,000. Watson's History of Philip II., London, 1839, pp. 45, 51. Davies' History of Holland, London, 1841, vol. i. pp. 498, 499. Motley's Dutch Republic, London, 1858, vol. i. pp. 103, 104.

1206

It is doubted, if I rightly remember, by Mr. Prescott. But the opinion of that able historian is entitled to less weight from his want of acquaintance with Dutch literature, where the principal evidence must be sought for. On this, as on many other matters, the valuable work of Mr. Motley leaves little to desire.

1207

Prescott's Philip II., vol. i. pp. 196, 197. In 1523, the first persons were burned. Motley's Dutch Republic, vol. i. p. 69. The mode of burying alive is described in Davies' History of Holland, vol. i. p. 383, vol. ii. pp. 311, 312.

1208

He died on the 21st September; and on the 9th he signed a codicil, in which he ‘enjoined upon his son to follow up and bring to justice every heretic in his dominions, and this without exception, and without favour or mercy to any one. He conjured Philip to cherish the holy inquisition as the best means of accomplishing this good work.’ Prescott's Additions to Robertson's Charles V., p. 576. See also his instructions to Philip in Raumer's History of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. i. p. 91; and on his opinion of the Inquisition, see his conversation with Sir Thomas Wyatt, printed from the State Papers in Froude's History of England, vol. iii. p. 456, London, 1858. This may have been mere declamation; but in Tapia's Civilizacion Española, Madrid, 1840, vol. iii. pp. 76, 77, will be found a deliberate and official letter, in which Charles does not hesitate to say, ‘La santa inquisicion como oficio santo y puesto por los reyes católicos, nuestros señores y abuelos á honra de Dios nuestro señor y de nuestra santa fé católica, tengo firme é entrañablemente asentado y fijado en mi corazon, para la mandar favorecer y honrar, como principe justo y temeroso de Dios es obligado y debe hacer.’

The codicil to the will of Charles still exists, or did very recently, among the archives at Simancas. Ford's Spain, 1847, p. 334. In M. Lafuente's great work, Historia de España, vol. xii. pp. 494, 495, Madrid, 1853, it is referred to in language which, in more senses than one, is perfectly Spanish: ‘Su testamento y codicilo respiran las ideas cristianas y religiosas en que habia vivido y la piedad que señaló su muerte.’ … ‘Es muy de notar en primera cláusula [i.e.] of the codicilpor la cual deja muy encarecidamente recomendado al rey Don Felipe que use de todo rigor en el castigo de los hereges luteranos que habian sido presos y se hubieren de prender en España.’ … ‘“Sin escepcion de persona alguna, ni admitir ruegos, ni tener respeto á persona alguna; porque para el efecto de ello favorezca y mande favorecer al Santo Oficio de la Inquisición,”’ &c.]

1209

Native testimony may perhaps be accused of being partial; but, on the other hand, Raumer, in his valuable History of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. i. p. 22, justly observes, that his character has been misrepresented ‘by reason that historians have availed themselves by preference of the inimical narratives of French and Protestant writers.’ To steer between these extremes, I will transcribe the summing up of Charles's reign as it is given by a learned and singularly unprejudiced writer. ‘Tortuous as was sometimes the policy of the emperor, he never, like Francis, acted with treachery; his mind had too much of native grandeur for such baseness. Sincere in religion and friendship, faithful to his word, clement beyond example, liberal towards his servants, indefatigable in his regal duties, anxious for the welfare of his subjects, and generally blameless in private life, his character will not suffer by a comparison with that of any monarch of his times.’ Dunham's History of Spain, vol. v. p. 41. ‘Clemency was the basis of his character.’ p. 30.

1210

‘The Spaniards, as he grew in years, beheld, with pride and satisfaction, in their future sovereign, the most perfect type of the national character.’ Prescott's History of Philip II. vol. i. p. 39. So, too, in Motley's Dutch Republic, vol. i. p. 128, ‘he was entirely a Spaniard;’ and in Lafuente, Historia de España, vol. i. p. 155, ‘pero el reinado de Felipe fué todo Español.’

1211

Prescott's Philip II. vol. i. pp. 68, 210, vol. ii. p. 26. Watson's Philip II. p. 55. Compare Fleury, Histoire Ecclésiastique, vol. xxxiv. p. 273.

1212

‘Como era tan zeloso en la extirpación de la heregía, uno de sus primeros cuidados fué el castigo de los Luteranos; y á presencia suya, se executó en Valladolid el dia ocho de Octubre el suplicio de muchos reos de este delito.’ Miñana, Continuacion de Mariana, vol. ix. p. 212.

1213

‘The contest with Protestantism in Spain, under such auspices, was short. It began in earnest and in blood about 1559, and was substantially ended in 1570.’ Ticknor's History of Spanish Literature, vol. i. p. 425. See also M'Crie's History of the Reformation in Spain, pp. 336, 346. Thus it was that ‘España se preservó del contagio. Hizolo con las armas Carlos V., y con las hogueras los inquisidores. España se aisló del movimiento europeo.’ Lafuente, Historia de España, vol. i. p. 144, Madrid, 1850. M. Lafuente adds, that, in his opinion, all Christendom is about to follow the good example set by Spain of rejecting Protestantism. ‘Si no nos equivocamos, en nuestra misma edad se notan sintomas de ir marchando este problema hácia su resolucion. El catolicismo gana prosélitos; los protestantes de hoy no son lo que antes fueron, y creemos que la unidad católica se realizará.’

1214

Before the arrival of Alva, ‘Philip's commands to Margaret were imperative, to use her utmost efforts to extirpate the heretics.’ Davies' History of Holland, vol. i. p. 551; and in 1563 he wrote, ‘The example and calamities of France prove how wholesome it is to punish heretics with rigour.’ Raumer's History of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. i. p. 171. The Spaniards deemed the Dutch guilty of a double crime; being rebels against God and the king: ‘Rebeldes á Dios por la heregía, y á su Principe á quien debian obedecer.’ Mariana, Historia de España, vol. vii. p. 410. ‘Tratauan de secreto de quitar la obediencia á Dios y á su Principe.’ Vanderhammen's Don Filipe el Prudente Segundo deste Nombre, Madrid, 1632, p. 44 rev. Or, as Miñana phrases it, Philip ‘tenia los mismos enemigos que Dios.’ Continuacion de Mariana, vol. x. p. 139.

1215

Motley's Dutch Republic, vol. i. p. 229. Watson's Philip II. pp. 51, 52, 177.

1216

Mr. Motley, under the year 1566, says, ‘The Prince of Orange estimated that up to this period fifty thousand persons in the provinces had been put to death in obedience to the edicts. He was a moderate man, and accustomed to weigh his words.’ Motley's Dutch Republic, vol. i. pp. 424, 425.

1217

Watson's Philip II. pp. 248, 249. Tapia (Civilizacion Española, vol. iii. p. 95) says, ‘quitó la vida á mas de diez y ocho mil protestantes con diversos géneros de suplicios.’ Compare Motley's Dutch Republic, vol. ii. p. 423, and Davies' History of Holland, vol. i. p. 608.

1218

Davies' History of Holland, vol. i. p. 567. Vanderhammen (Don Filipe el Prudente, Madrid, 1632, p. 52 rev.), with tranquil pleasure, assures us that ‘muriessen mil y setecientas personas en pocos dias con fuego, cordel y cuchillo en diuersos lugares.’

1219

‘El duque de Alba, obrando en conformidad á las instrucciones de su soberano, y apoyado en la aprobacion que merecian al rey todas sus medidas.’ Lafuente, Historia de España, vol. xiii. p. 221.

1220

‘It was to restore the Catholic Church that he desired to obtain the empire of Europe.’ Davies' History of Holland, vol. ii. p. 329. ‘El protestó siempre “que sus desinios en la guerra, y sus exercitos no se encaminauan á otra cosa, que el ensalçamiento de la Religion Christiana.”’ Vanderhammen's Don Filipe el Prudente, p. 125. ‘El que aspiraba á someter todas las naciones de la tierra á su credo religioso.’ Lafuente, Historia de España, vol. xv. p. 203. The bishop of Salamanca in 1563 openly boasted ‘que son roi ne s'étoit marié avec la reine d'Angleterre que pour ramener cette isle à l'obéissance de l'église.’ Continuation de Fleury, Histoire Ecclésiastique, vol. xxxiii. p. 331. Compare Ortiz, Compendio, vol. vi. p. 204. ‘Este casamiento no debió de tener otras miras que el de la religion.’

1221

On this treaty, the only humiliating one which he ever concluded, see Prescott's Philip II. vol. i. p. 104. His dying advice to his son was, ‘Siempre estareis en la obediencia de la Santa Iglesia Romana, y del Sumo Pontifice, teniendole por vuestro Padre espiritual.’ Davila, Historia de la Vida de Felipe Tercero, Madrid, 1771, folio, lib. i. p. 29. According to another writer, ‘La ultima palabra que le salió con el espiritu, fue: “Yo muero como Catolico Christiano en la Fe y obediencia de la Iglesia Romana, y respeto al Papa, como á quien trae en sus manos las llaues del Cielo, como á Principe de la Iglesia, y Teniente de Dios sobre el imperio de las almas.”’ Vanderhammen, Don Filipe el Prudente, p. 124.

1222

Elizabeth, uniting the three terrible qualities of heresy, power, and ability, was obnoxious to the Spaniards to an almost incredible degree, and there never was a more thoroughly national enterprise than the fitting out of the Armada against her. One or two passages from a grave historian, will illustrate the feelings with which she was regarded even after her death, and will assist the reader in forming an opinion respecting the state of the Spanish mind. ‘Isabel, ó Jezabel, Reyna de Inglaterra, heretica Calvinista, y la mayor perseguidora que ha tenido la sangre de Jesu-Christo y los hijos de la Iglesia.’ Davila, Historia de Felipe Tercero, p. 74. ‘Los sucesos de fuera causaron admiracion; y el mayor y muy esperado de toda la Christiandad fue la muerte de Isabela, Reyna de Inglaterra, heretica Calvinista, que hizo su nombre famoso con la infamia de su vida, y perseguir á la Iglesia, derramando la sangre de los Santos, que defendian la verdadera Religion Catolica, dexando registradas sus maldades en las historias públicas del mundo, pasando su alma á coger el desdichado fruto de su obstinada soberbia en las penas del Infierno, donde conoce con el castigo perpetuo el engaño de su vida.’ pp. 83, 84.

1223

One of the most eminent of living historians well says, ‘It was Philip's enthusiasm to embody the wrath of God against heretics.’ Motley's Dutch Republic, vol. ii. p. 155. ‘Philip lived but to enforce what he chose to consider the will of God.’ p. 285.

1224

‘Personne vivante ne parloit à lui qu'à genoux, et disoit pour son excuse à cela qu'estant petit de corps, chacun eust paru plus eslevé que lui, outre qu'il sçavoit que les Espagnols estoient d'humeur si altiere et hautaine, qu'il estoit besoin qu'il les traittast de cette façon; et pour ce mesme ne se laissoit voir que peu souvent du peuple, n'y mesme des grands, sinon aux jours solemnels, et action necessaire, en cette façon? il faisoit ses commandemens à demy mot, et falloit que l'on devinast le reste, et que l'on ne manquast à bien accomplir toutes ses intentions; mesmes les gentilshommes de sa chambre, et autres qui approchoient plus près de sa personne, n'eussent osé parler devant luy s'il ne leur eust commandé, se tenant un tout seul à la fois près de la porte du lieu où il estoit, et demeurant nud teste incessamment, et appuyé contra une tapisserie, pour attendre et recevoir ses commandemens.’ Mémoires de Cheverny, pp. 352, 353, in Petitot's Collection des Mémoires, vol. xxxvi. Paris, 1823.

1225

These are the words of Contarini, as given in Ranke's Ottoman and Spanish Empires, London, 1843, p. 33. Sismondi, though unacquainted with this passage, observes in his Literature of the South of Europe, vol. ii. p. 273, London, 1846, that Philip, though ‘little entitled to praise, has yet been always regarded with enthusiasm by the Spaniards.’ About half a century after his death, Sommerdyck visited Spain, and in his curious account of that country he tells us that Philip was called ‘le Salomon de son siècle.’ Aarsens de Sommerdyck, Voyage d'Espagne, Paris, 1665, 4to, pp. 63, 95. See also Yañez, Memorias para la Historia de Felipe III., Madrid, 1723, p. 294. ‘El gran Felipe, aquel Sabio Salomon.’ Another writer likens him to Numa. ‘Hacia grandes progresos la piedad, á la qual se dedicaba tanto el Rey Don Felipe, que parecia su reynado en España lo que en Roma el de Numa, despues de Rómulo.’ Miñana Continuacion de Mariana, vol. ix. p. 241. When he died, ‘celebradas sus exêquias entre lágrimas y gemidos.’ vol. x. pp. 259, 260. We further learn from Vanderhammen's Filipe Segundo, Madrid, 1632, p. 120 rev., that the people ascribed to him ‘una grandeza adorable, y alguna cosa mas que las ordinarias á los demas hombres.’

1226

‘Habits of reverence, which, if carried into religion, cause superstition, and if carried into politics, cause despotism.’ Buckle's Hist. of Civilization, vol. ii. p. 117.

1227

‘More ballads are connected with Spanish history than with any other, and, in general, they are better. The most striking peculiarity of the whole mass is, perhaps, to be found in the degree in which it expresses the national character. Loyalty is constantly prominent. The Lord of Butrago sacrifices his own life to save that of his sovereign,’ &c. Ticknor's History of Spanish Literature, vol. i. p. 133. ‘In the implicit obedience of the old Spanish knight, the order of the king was paramount to every consideration, even in the case of friendship and love. This code of obedience has passed into a proverb – “mas pesa el Rey que la sangre,”’ Ford's Spain, p. 183. Compare the admirable little work of Mr. Lewes, The Spanish Drama, London, 1846, p. 120, ‘ballads full of war, loyalty, and love.’

1228

See some interesting remarks in M. Tapia's Civilizacion Española, vol. i. He observes that, though cruelly persecuted by Alfonso, the first thing done by the Cid, after gaining a great victory, was to order one of his captains ‘para que lleve al rey Alfonso treinta caballos árabes bien ensillados, con sendas espadas pendientes de los arzones en señal de homenage, á pesar del agravio que habia recibido.’ p. 274. And at p. 280, ‘comedido y obediente súbdito á un rey que tan mal le habia tratado.’ Southey (Chronicle of the Cid, p. 268) notices with surprise that the Cid is represented in the old chronicles as ‘offering to kiss the feet of the king.’

1229

‘Le xvie Concile de Tolède appelait les rois “vicaires de Dieu et du Christ;” et rien n'est plus fréquent dans les conciles de cette époque que leurs exhortations aux peuples pour l'observation du serment de fidélité á leur roi, et leurs anathêmes contre les séditieux.’ Sempere, Monarchie Espagnole, vol. i. p. 41. ‘Aparte de los asuntos de derecho civil y canonico y de otros varios que dicen relacion al gobierno de la iglesia, sobre los cuales se contienen en todos ellos disposiciones muy útiles y acertadas, la mayor parte de las leyes dictadas en estas asambleas tuvieron por objeto dar fuerza y estabilidad al poder real, proclamando su inviolabilidad y estableciendo graves penas contra los infractores; condenar las heregías,’ &c. Antequera, Historia de la Legislacion Española, p. 47.

1230

‘Loyalty to a superior is carried to a more atrocious length by the Spanish law than I have seen it elsewhere.’ … ‘The Partidas (P. 2, T. 13, L. 1) speaks of an old law whereby any man who openly wished to see the King dead, was condemned to death, and the loss of all that he had. The utmost mercy to be shown him was to spare his life and pluck out his eyes, that he might never see with them what he had desired. To defame the King is declared as great a crime as to kill him, and in like manner to be punished. The utmost mercy that could be allowed was to cut out the offender's tongue. P. 2, T. 13, L. 4.’ Southey's Chronicle of the Cid, p. 442. Compare Johnston's Civil Law of Spain, London, 1825, p. 269, on ‘Blasphemers of the King.’

1231

Thus, Montalvan, the eminent poet and dramatist, who was born in 1602, ‘avoided, we are told, representing rebellion on the stage, lest he should seem to encourage it.’ Ticknor's History of Spanish Literature, vol. ii. p. 283. A similar spirit is exhibited in the plays of Calderon and of Lope de Vega. On the ‘Castilian loyalty’ evinced in one of Calderon's comedies, see Hallam's Literature of Europe, 2d edit. London, 1843, vol. iii. p. 63; and as to Lope, see Lewes on the Spanish Drama, p. 78.

1232

‘His Majesty's horses could never be used by any other person. One day, while Philip IV. was going in procession to the church of Our Lady of Atocha, the Duke of Medina-de-las-Torres offered to present him with a beautiful steed which belonged to him, and which was accounted the finest in Madrid; but the King declined the gift, because he should regret to render so noble an animal ever after useless.’' Dunlop's Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 372. Madame d'Aulnoy, who travelled in Spain in 1679, and who, from her position, had access to the best sources of information, was told of this piece of etiquette. ‘L'on m'a dit que lors que le Roy s'est servy d'un cheval, personne par respect ne le monte jamais.’ D'Aulnoy, Relation du Voyage d'Espagne, Lyon, 1693, vol. ii. p. 40. In the middle of the eighteenth century, I find another notice of this loyal custom, which, likely enough, is still a tradition in the Spanish stables. ‘If the king has once honoured a Pad so much as to cross his back, it is never to be used again by anybody else.’ A Tour through Spain, by Udal ap Rhys, 2d edit. London, 1760, p. 15.

1233

Madame d'Aulnoy, who was very inquisitive respecting these matters, says (Relation du Voyage d'Espagne, vol. ii. p. 411), ‘Il y a une autre étiquette, c'est qu'après que le Roi a eu une Maitresse, s'il vient à la quitter, il faut qu'elle se fasse Religieuse, comme je vous l'ai déjà écrit; et l'on m'a conté que le feu Roi s'estant amoureux d'une Dame du Palais, il fut un soir fraper doucement à la porte de sa chambre. Comme elle comprit que c'estoit lui, elle ne voulut pas lui ouvrir, et elle se contenta de lui dire au travers de la porte, Baya, baya, con Dios, no quiero ser monja; c'est à dire, “Allez allez, Dieu vous conduise, je n'ai pas envie d'estre Religieuse.”’ So too Henry IV. of Castile, who came to the throne in the year 1454, made one of his mistresses ‘abbess of a convent in Toledo;’ in this case to the general scandal, because, says Mr. Prescott, he first expelled ‘her predecessor, a lady of noble rank and irreproachable character.’ Prescott's Ferdinand and Isabella, vol. i. p. 68.

1234

There is, however, one very remarkable old law, in the form of a canon enacted by the third Council of Saragossa, which orders that the royal widows ‘seront obligées à prendre l'habit de religieuses, et à s'enfermer dans un monastère pour le reste de leur vie.’ Fleury, Histoire Ecclésiastique, vol. ix. p. 104. In 1065 Ferdinand I. died; and, says the biographer of the Spanish Queens, ‘La Reyna sobrevivió: y parece, que muerto su marido, entró en algun Monasterio; lo que expressamos no tanto por la costumbre antigua, quanto por constar en la Memoria referida de la Iglesia de Leon, el dictado de ‘Consagrada á Dios,’ frasse que denota estado Religioso.’ Florez, Memorias de las Reynas Catholicas, Madrid, 1761, 4to, vol. i. p. 148. In 1667 it was a settled principle that ‘les reines d'Espagne n'en sortent point. Le couvent de las Señoras descalças reales est fondé afin que les reines veuves s'y enferment.’ Discours du Comte de Castrillo à la Reine d'Espagne, in Mignet's Négociations relatives à la Succession d'Espagne, vol. ii. p. 604, Paris, 1835, 4to. This valuable work consists for the most part of documents previously unpublished, many of which are taken from the archives at Simancas. To the critical historian, it would have been more useful if the original Spanish had been given.

1235

See some good remarks on San Phelipe, in Ticknor's History of Spanish Literature, vol. iii. pp. 213, 214, which might easily be corroborated by other testimony; as, for instance, Lafuente under the year 1710: ‘Ni el abandono de la Francia, ni la prolongacion y los azares de la guerra, ni los sacrificios pecuniarios y personales de tantos años, nada bastaba á entibiar el amor de los castellanos á su rey Felipe V.’ (Historia de España, vol. xviii. p. 258); and Berwick (Mémoires, vol. ii. p. 114, edit. Paris, 1778): ‘La fidélité inouie des Espagnols;’ and, nine years earlier, a letter from Louville to Torcy: ‘Le mot révolte, pris dans une acception rigoureuse, n'a pas de sens en Espagne.’ Louville, Mémoires sur l'établissement de la Maison de Bourbon en Espagne, edit. Paris, 1818, vol. i. p. 128. See also Memoirs of Ripperda, London, 1740, p. 58; and Mémoires de Gramont, vol. ii. p. 77, edit. Petitot, Paris, 1827. All these passages illustrate Spanish loyalty in the eighteenth century, except the reference to Gramont, which concerns the seventeenth, and which should be compared with the following observations of Madame D'Aulnoy, who writes from Madrid in 1679: ‘Quelques richesses qu'ayent les grands Seigneurs, quelque grande que soit leur fierté ou leur présomption, ils obéïssent aux moindres ordres du Roy, avec une exactitude et un respect que l'on ne peut assez loüer. Sur le premier ordre ils partent, ils reviennent, ils vont en prison, ou en exil, sans se plaindre. Il ne se peut trouver une soûmission, et une obéïssance plus parfaite, ni un amour plus sincère, que celui des Espagnols pour leur Roi. Ce nom leur est sacré, et pour réduire le peuple à tout ce que l'on souhaite, il suffit de dire, “Le Roi le veut.”’ D'Aulnoy, Voyage, vol. ii. pp. 256, 257.