Volume I Part 8 (1/2)

[87] Velazquez, Origenes de la Poesia Castellana, (Malaga, 1797,) pp. 20- 22.--Andres, Letteratura, part. 1, cap. 11.--Alfonso II., Peter II., Peter III, James I., Peter IV., have all left compositions in the Limousin tongue behind them; the three former in verse; the two latter in prose, setting forth the history of their own time. For a particular account of their respective productions, see Lata.s.sa, (Escritores Aragoneses, tom. i.

pp. 175-179, 185-189, 222, 224, 242-248; tom. ii. p. 28,) also Lanuza, (Historias Eclesiasticas y Seculares de Aragon, (Zaragoza, 1622,) tom. i.

p. 553.) The Chronicle of James I. is particularly esteemed for its fidelity.

[88] Whether Jordi stole from Petrarch, or Petrarch from Jordi, has been matter of hot debate between the Spanish and French _litterateurs_.

Sanchez, after a careful examination of the evidence, candidly decides against his countryman, (Poesias Castellanas, tom. i. pp. 81-84.) A competent critic in the Retrospective Review, (No. 7, art. 2,) who enjoyed the advantage over Sanchez of perusing a MS. copy of Jordi's original poem, makes out a very plausible argument in favor of the originality of the Valencian poet. After all, as the amount stolen, or, to speak more reverently, borrowed, does not exceed half a dozen lines, it is not of vital importance to the reputation of either poet.

[89] The abate Andres lamented fifty years ago, that the worms and moths should be allowed to revel among the precious relics of ancient Castilian literature. (Letteratura, tom. ii. p. 306.) Have their revels been disturbed yet?

[90] Mayans y Siscar, Origenes de la Lengua Espanola, (Madrid, 1737,) tom.

ii. pp. 323, 324.--Crescimbeni, Istoria della Volgar Poesia, (Venezia, 1731,) tom. ii. p. 170.--Mariana, Hist. de Espana, tom. i. p. 183.-- Velazquez, Poesia Castellana, pp. 23, 24.

[91] Mayans y Siscar, Origenes, tom. ii. pp. 325-327.

[92] Andres, Letteratura, tom. iv. pp. 85, 86.--Capmany, Mem. de Barcelona, tom. ii. Apend. no. 16.--There were thirty-two chairs, or professors.h.i.+ps, founded and maintained at the expense of the city; six of theology; six of jurisprudence; five of medicine; six of philosophy; four of grammar; one of rhetoric; one of surgery; one of anatomy; one of Hebrew, and another of Greek. It is singular, that none should have existed for the Latin, so much more currently studied at that time, and of so much more practical application always, than either of the other ancient languages.

[93] The Valencian, ”the sweetest and most graceful of the Limousin dialects,” says Mayans y Siscar, Origenes, tom. i. p. 58.

[94] Nicolas Antonio, Bibliotheca, Hispana Vetus, (Matriti, 1788,) tom.

ii. p. 146.--Andres, Letteratura, tom. iv. p. 87.

[95] Cervantes, Don Quixote, (ed. de Pellicer, Madrid, 1787,) tom. i, p.

62.--Mendez, Typographia Espanola, (Madrid, 1796,) pp. 72-75.--Andres, Letteratura, ubi supra.--Pellicer seems to take Martorell's word in good earnest, that his book is only a version from the Castilian.

The _names_ of some of the most noted troubadours are collected by Velazquez, Poesia Castellana, (pp. 20-24.--Capmany, Mem. de Barcelona, tom. ii. Apend. no. 5.) Some extracts and pertinent criticisms on their productions may be found by the English reader in the Retrospective Review. (No. 7, art. 2.) It is to be regretted that the author has not redeemed his pledge of continuing his notices to the Castilian era of Spanish poetry.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GENEALOGY OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.]

PART FIRST.

1406-1492.

THE PERIOD WHEN THE DIFFERENT KINGDOMS OF SPAIN WERE FIRST UNITED UNDER ONE MONARCHY, AND A THOROUGH REFORM WAS INTRODUCED INTO THEIR INTERNAL ADMINISTRATION; OR THE PERIOD EXHIBITING MOST FULLY THE DOMESTIC POLICY OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.

CHAPTER I.

STATE OF CASTILE AT THE BIRTH OF ISABELLA.--REIGN OF JOHN II., OF CASTILE.

1406-1454.

Revolution of Trastamara.--Accession of John II.--Rise of Alvaro de Luna.

--Jealousy of the n.o.bles.--Oppression of the Commons.--Its Consequences.-- Early Literature of Castile.--Its Encouragement under John II.--Decline of Alvaro de Luna.--His Fall.--Death of John II.--Birth of Isabella.

The fierce civil feuds, which preceded the accession of the House of Trastamara in 1368, were as fatal to the n.o.bility of Castile, as the wars of the Hoses were to that of England. There was scarcely a family of note, which had not poured out its blood on the field or the scaffold. The influence of the aristocracy was, of course, much diminished with its numbers. The long wars with foreign powers, which a disputed succession entailed on the country, were almost equally prejudicial to the authority of the monarch, who was willing to buoy up his tottering t.i.tle by the most liberal concession of privileges to the people. Thus the commons rose in proportion as the crown and the privileged orders descended in the scale; and, when the claims of the several compet.i.tors for the throne were finally extinguished, and the tranquillity of the kingdom was secured, by the union of Henry the Third with Catharine of Lancaster at the close of the fourteenth century, the third estate may be said to have attained to the highest degree of political consequence which it ever reached in Castile.

The healthful action of the body politic, during the long interval of peace that followed this auspicious union, enabled it to repair the strength, which had been wasted in its murderous civil contests. The ancient channels of commerce were again opened; various new manufactures were introduced, and carried to a considerable perfection; [1] wealth, with its usual concomitants, elegance and comfort, flowed in apace; and the nation promised itself a long career of prosperity under a monarch, who respected the laws in his own person, and administered them with vigor. All these fair hopes were blasted by the premature death of Henry the Third, before he had reached his twenty-eighth year. The crown devolved on his son John the Second, then a minor, whose reign was one of the longest and the most disastrous in the Castilian annals. [2] As it was that, however, which gave birth to Isabella, the ill.u.s.trious subject of our narrative, it will be necessary to pa.s.s its princ.i.p.al features under review, in order to obtain a correct idea of her government.

The wise administration of the regency, during a long minority, postponed the season of calamity; and when it at length arrived, it was concealed for some time from the eyes of the vulgar by the pomp and brilliant festivities, which distinguished the court of the young monarch. His indisposition, if not incapacity for business, however, gradually became manifest; and, while he resigned himself without reserve to pleasures, which it must be confessed were not unfrequently of a refined and intellectual character, he abandoned the government of his kingdom to the control of favorites.