The Story of Seville. Gallichan Walter Matthew

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СКАЧАТЬ curious, Pedro came to the place of execution. And there, upon the gibbet, he saw a dummy of himself dangling from the rope. Struck with the humour and ingenuity of the Mayor's device, the King said: 'Justice has been done. I am satisfied.' The street where Pedro fought with the hidalgo is called the Calle della Cabeza del Rey Don Pedro, and the alley where the old woman lived is known as the Calle del Candilejo, or 'street of the candlestick.'

      In visiting the Alcázar we shall have more to recall of the career of Pedro the Cruel. The palace is haunted with memories of the King and of Maria de Padilla. Pedro was fond of Seville and preferred the Alcázar to any other residence. He made many alterations in the palace, built the rooms around the Patio de la Monteria, and brought material for their construction from the remains of Moorish edifices in Seville, Córdova, and other places.

      When Pedro caused his unfortunate wife, Blanche, to die in prison, from the dagger, or by poison, his subjects were at length aroused to indignation. The insensate ruler was bringing the nation to the verge of ruin by his misdeeds. France resented the dastardly murder of Blanche of Bourbon, and the King vowed revenge on Pedro. Enrique, brother of Pedro, was fighting for the crown, and had been proclaimed Sovereign at Toledo; while the Sevillians, who had long endured their King's severities and condoned his cruelties, were up in arms and threatening the royal palace. Pedro fled from Seville, and came eventually into Aquitaine, to the court of the English Black Prince at Bordeaux. The chivalrous Black Prince espoused the cause of Pedro against Enrique, pitying the fugitive King who had been forced to leave his country. In return for his support, Pedro offered his English ally a large sum of gold, and the great ruby stolen from Abu Said in the Alcázar of Seville.

      The campaign was decided in favour of the King of Spain, but its hardships cost the Black Prince his life. Pedro was again acknowledged King. His downfall was, however, fast approaching. Enrique conquered his brother, soon after the departure of the English army, and came to see him at Montiel in La Mancha. It is said that Pedro was treacherously drawn into a trap. In any case, he fell by the dagger of his brother Enrique; and so ended violently the life of one who had lived in violence and bloodshed.

      As our story is more concerned with the city of Seville than with the fortunes of the rulers of Spain, we may resume the narration at the time of Isabella and Fernando. No incidents of signal importance occurred in Seville between the death of Pedro I. and the accession of the famous Catholic Queen. With the reign of Isabella, the city became the theatre of events that influenced the whole of the nation, and indeed the whole of Christendom.

      It was at this time that the arts and letters of Spain began to revive. In Seville the year 1477 is the date of the first setting up of a printing press, by one Theodoricus el Aleman (the German). Konrad Haebler, in his work on The Early Printers of Spain and Portugal, says that for fifteen years the only printers in the city were German immigrants. One of the early important books printed in Seville was Diego de Valera's Cronica de España. In 1490 a firm of printers, under the title of Four German Companions, opened business, and in three years published nine volumes, while two years later there was a rival press owned by another German.

      It was in 1493 that the city saw the return of the great Columbus from his first voyage. For a long time the blue-eyed, dreamy Genoese, Christoforo Colombo, had mused upon the scientific works of the cultivated Moors, and speculated upon the existence of other lands far away across the restless ocean. Sceptics laughed at the dreamer; the clergy frowned at his impudent theories; but a few bold adventurers were inspired by his enthusiasm.

      The story of his setting forth has been often told. Let us welcome the sunburnt explorer upon his return to Seville on Palm Sunday 1493. The wondering people are all anxious to catch sight of Cristobal Colon, the Italian, who claims to have discovered a New World. He passes down the streets, a tall, brawny man, bronzed, with red hair, which became white at the age of thirty. To those who question him he replies with dignity and courtesy, becoming eloquent as he describes the marvels of the vast country beyond the sea. The whole city is talking of the great news; the foreign sailor is the hero of the hour. And now those who doubted Colon's sanity are singing his praises in all the public meeting-places of Seville. An office for the administration of this new country is instituted in the city. From the Queen and her Consort to the seller of water in the streets, everyone utters the name of the explorer with admiration. The ecclesiastics, who declared that it was impious to assert that the earth is a globe, are vexed that they have been found wrong in their arrogant statements. They continue to quote from the Pentateuch, and the writings of St. Chrysostom, St. Jerome and St. Augustine to show that pious authority was on their side.

      Queen Isabel had encouraged the Genoese sailor in his project, and the wealthy Pinzon family, of Palos, had assisted him with means, some of them also accompanying the explorer on his first voyage. Columbus was made an admiral, and promised further support in his expeditions. In May 1493 he started again, having with him fifteen hundred men and a fleet of fifty vessels. The crews of these ships were made up of adventurers, gold-seekers, idlers and a sprinkling of scoundrels selected by the Government. In the company there were priests, and it was through the machinations of one of them, Father Boil, that Christopher Columbus incurred the displeasure of Isabel and Fernando. By every ship that was bound for Spain from the New World, Boil sent complaints of Columbus. Unfortunately, Isabel lent her ear to these slanders, and sent Francisco Bobadilla to dismiss Cristobal Colon, and to take his place. Bobadilla took possession of Columbus's charts and papers, put him into chains, and sent him, like a felon, in the hold of a ship to Spain.

      It is pitiful to read of the degradation of this honest and brave man, whose energies built up the prosperity of Spain, and made Seville one of the busiest cities of Europe. He laid his case before the Queen and Fernando, and vowed that he had in no sense neglected his duty towards the country of his adoption. We know that he was 'forgiven,' but the insult offered to him preyed upon the sensitive mind of the explorer. Yet he again resolved to visit the land that he had discovered; and in 1503 he left Spain with four worn-out ships. A year later Columbus returned for the last time. The people of San Lucar, at the mouth of the Guadalquivir, welcomed back a captain in shattered health, and a crew wearied by hardship and exposure.

      Columbus now longed to settle quietly in Seville, and to end his days there. He found that his popularity was waning, and that his rents had not been collected properly during his absence. With the death of Isabel he lost royal patronage. His last voyage had cost him much; but the people of Seville believed him to be immensely rich, whereas his income was now meagre. 'Little have I profited,' writes Columbus, in a letter, 'by twenty years of service, with such toils and perils; since, at present, I do not own a roof in Spain. If I desire to eat or sleep I have no resort but an inn; and for the most times have not wherewithal to pay my bill.'

      In his last days we picture Christopher Columbus bending over the manuscripts, which may be seen in the Biblioteca Columbina, the library at Seville founded by the natural son of Columbus. One of the manuscripts treats upon biblical prophecy. It was written to appease the Inquisitors, who, to the last, suspected the discoverer of heresy. Writing of this Apologia, Washington Irving says that the title and some early pages of the book are by Fernando Columbus; 'the main body of the work is by a strange hand, probably by Friar Gaspar Gorricio, or some other brother of his convent.' There are signs in the hand-writing that Columbus was old and in poor health when he wrote the work. The characters are, however, distinct. There are passages from the Christian Fathers and the Bible, construed by the author into predictions of the discovery of the New World.

      The gallant voyager was now prematurely aged, though he had led an abstemious life. Disappointment at the neglect of the world no doubt preyed upon his spirits in these last days of his career, for it is said that he possessed 'a too lively sensibility.' Upon the whole, Columbus was ill-used by Spain, though his memory is revered. It is the old, sad story of worth and genius. In 1506 Cristobal Colon died in a poor lodging at Valladolid. He left a son, born to him by his mistress, Beatrix Enriquez. In his will Columbus left money to Beatrix.

      Great honour was paid to the body of the famous explorer. Columbus was buried in the parish СКАЧАТЬ