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diff --git a/31965.txt b/31965.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3a8c89b --- /dev/null +++ b/31965.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10007 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Cathedrals of Northern Spain, by Charles Rudy + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Cathedrals of Northern Spain + +Author: Charles Rudy + +Release Date: April 12, 2010 [EBook #31965] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CATHEDRALS OF NORTHERN SPAIN *** + + + + +Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This ebook was +produced from scanned images of public domain material at +Internet Archive.) + + + + + + + + + +_THE_ CATHEDRALS OF NORTHERN SPAIN + +[Illustration: Bookcover] + +[Illustration: inside cover] + +_The Cathedral Series_ + +_The following, each 1 vol., library +12mo, cloth, gilt top, profusely illustrated. +$2.50_ + +_The Cathedrals of Northern +France BY FRANCIS MILTOUN_ + +_The Cathedrals of Southern +France BY FRANCIS MILTOUN_ + +_The Cathedrals of England BY MARY J. TABER_ + +The following, each 1 vol., library +12mo, cloth, gilt top, profusely illustrated. +Net, $2.00 + +_The Cathedrals and Churches +of the Rhine BY FRANCIS MILTOUN_ + +_The Cathedrals of Northern +Spain BY CHARLES RUDY_ + +_L. C. PAGE & COMPANY +New England Building, Boston, Mass._ + +[Illustration: LEON CATHEDRAL + +(_See page 154_)] + + + + +The Cathedrals of +Northern Spain + +THEIR HISTORY AND THEIR +ARCHITECTURE; TOGETHER +WITH MUCH OF INTEREST CONCERNING +THE BISHOPS, RULERS, +AND OTHER PERSONAGES IDENTIFIED +WITH THEM + +BY + +CHARLES RUDY + +Illustrated + +BOSTON L. C. PAGE & +COMPANY MDCCCCVI + +_Copyright, 1905_ +BY L. C. PAGE & COMPANY +(INCORPORATED) + +_All rights reserved_ + +Published October, 1905 + +_COLONIAL PRESS +Electrotyped and Printed by C. H. Simonds & Co. +Boston, U. S. A._ + + +_TO ALL TRUE +LOVERS OF SPAIN, +OTHERWISE CALLED +HISPANOFILOS_ + + + + +PREFACE + + +It is _a la mode_ to write prefaces. Some of us write good ones, others +bad, and most of us write neither good nor bad ones. + +The chapter entitled "General Remarks" is the real introduction to the +book, so in these lines I shall pen a few words of self-introduction to +such readers as belong to the class to whom I have dedicated this +volume. + +My love for Spain is unbounded. As great as is my love for the people, +so great also is my depreciation for those who have wronged her, being +her sons. Who are they? They know that best themselves. + +Spain's architecture is both agreeable and disagreeable, but it is all +of it peculiarly Spanish. A foreigner, dropping as by accident across +the Pyrenees from France, can do nothing better than criticize all +architectural monuments he meets with in a five days' journey across +Spain with a Cook's ticket in his pocketbook. It is natural he should do +so. Everything is so totally different from the pure (_sic_) styles he +has learned to admire in France! + +But we who have lived years in Spain grow to like and admire just such +complex compositions as the cathedrals of Toledo, of Santiago, and La +Seo in Saragosse; we lose our narrow-mindedness, and fail to see why a +pure Gothic or an Italian Renaissance should be better than an Iberian +cathedral. As long as harmony exists between the different parts, all is +well. The moment this harmony does not exist, our sense of the +artistically beautiful is shocked--and the building is a bad one. + +Personality is consequently ever uppermost in all art criticism or +admiration. But it should not be influenced by the words pure, flawless, +etc. Were such to be the case, there would be but one good cathedral in +Spain, namely, that of Leon, a French temple built by foreigners on +Spanish soil. Yet nothing is less Spanish than the cathedral of Leon. + +Under the circumstances, it is necessary, upon visiting Spain, to +discard foreignisms and turn a Spaniard, if but for a few days. +Otherwise the tourist will not understand the country's art monuments, +and will be inclined to leave the peninsula as he entered it, not a +whit the wiser for having come. + +To help the traveller to understand the whys and wherefores of Spanish +architecture, I have written the "Introductory Studies." I hope they +will enable him to become a Spaniard, or, at least, to join the +enthusiastic army of _Hispanofilos_. + +C. RUDY. + +MADRID, _July, 1905_ + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER PAGE + +PART I. INTRODUCTORY STUDIES + +I. General Remarks 11 + +II. Historical Arabesques 18 + +III. Architectural Arabesques 35 + +IV. Conclusion 66 + +PART II. GALICIA + +I. Santiago de Campostela 75 + +II. Corunna 89 + +III. Mondonedo 95 + +IV. Lugo 102 + +V. Orense 110 + +VI. Tuy 120 + +VII. Bayona and Vigo 131 + +PART III. THE NORTH + +I. Oviedo 137 + +II. Covadonga 145 + +III. Leon 150 + +IV. Astorga 167 + +V. Burgos 174 + +VI. Santander 188 + +VII. Vitoria 192 + +VIII. Upper Rioja 196 + +IX. Soria 209 + +PART IV. WESTERN CASTILE + +I. Palencia 219 + +II. Zamora 230 + +III. Toro 244 + +IV. Salamanca 251 + +V. Ciudad Rodrigo 269 + +VI. Coria 278 + +VII. Plasencia 284 + +PART V. EASTERN CASTILE + +I. Valladolid 293 + +II. Avila 302 + +III. Segovia 312 + +IV. Madrid-Alcala 321 + +V. Sigueenza 335 + +VI. Cuenca 342 + +VII. Toledo 349 + +Appendix 369 + +Index 387 + +[Note of Transcriber of the ebook] + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + + PAGE + +Leon Cathedral (_See page 154_) _Frontispiece_ + +Cloister Stalls in a Monastic Church at Leon 48 + +Typical Retablo (Palencia) 50 + +Mudejar Architecture (Sahagun) 64 + +Santiago and Its Cathedral 82 + +Church of Santiago, Corunna 92 + +General View of Mondonedo 96 + +Mondonedo Cathedral 98 + +Northern Portal of Orense Cathedral 116 + +Tuy Cathedral 128 + +Oviedo Cathedral 140 + +Cloister of Oviedo Cathedral 144 + +Apse of San Isidoro, Leon 164 + +Burgos Cathedral 180 + +Crypt of Santander Cathedral 190 + +Cloister of Najera Cathedral 202 + +Santa Maria la Redonda, Logrono 204 + +Western Front of Calahorra Cathedral 207 + +Cloister of Soria Cathedral 212 + +Palencia Cathedral 226 + +Zamora Cathedral 238 + +Toro Cathedral 248 + +Old Salamanca Cathedral 260 + +New Salamanca Cathedral 266 + +Cuidad Rodrigo Cathedral 272 + +Facade of Plasencia Cathedral 288 + +Western Front of Valladolid Cathedral 300 + +Tower of Avila Cathedral 310 + +Segovia Cathedral 316 + +San Isidro, Madrid 326 + +Alcala de Henares Cathedral 332 + +Toledo Cathedral 360 + + + + +_PART I_ + +_Introductory Studies_ + + + + +_The Cathedrals of Northern Spain_ + + + + +I + +GENERAL REMARKS + + +History and architecture go hand in hand; the former is not complete if +it does not mention the latter, and the latter is incomprehensible if +the former is entirely ignored. + +The following chapters are therefore historical and architectural; they +are based on evolutionary principles and seek to demonstrate the motives +of certain artistic phenomena. + +Many of the ideas superficially mentioned in the following essays will +be severely discussed, for they are original; others are based on two +excellent modern historical works, namely, "The History of the Spanish +People," by Major Martin Hume, and "Historia de Espana," by Senor Rafael +Altamira. These two works can be regarded as the _dernier mot_ +concerning the evolution of Spanish history. + +Unluckily, however, the author has been unable to consult any work on +architecture which might have given him a concise idea of the story of +its gradual evolution and development, and of the different art-waves +which flowed across the peninsula during the stormy period of the middle +ages, which, properly speaking, begins with the Arab invasion of the +eighth century and ends with the fall of Granada, in the fifteenth. + +Several works on Spanish architecture have been written (the reader will +find them mentioned elsewhere), but none treats the matter from an +evolutionary standpoint. On the contrary, most of them are limited to +the study of a period, of a style or of a locality; hence they cannot +claim to be a _dernier mot_. Such a work has still to be written. + +Be it understood, nevertheless, that the author does not pretend--_Dios +me libre!_--to have supplied the lack in the following pages. In a +couple of thousand words it would be utterly impossible to do so. No; a +complete, evolutionary study of Spanish architecture would imply years +of labour, of travel, and of study. For so much on the peninsula is +hybrid and exotic, and yet again, so much is peculiar to Spain alone. +Thus it is often most difficult to determine which art phenomena are +natural--that is, which are the logical results of a well-defined art +movement--and which are artificial or the casual product of elements +utterly foreign to Spanish soil. + +Willingly the author leaves to other and wiser heads the solving of the +above riddle. He hopes, nevertheless, that they (those who care to +undertake the mentioned task) will find some remarks or some +observations in the following chapters to help them discover the real +truth concerning the Spaniard's love, or his insensibility for +architectural monuments, as well as his share in the erection of +cathedrals, palaces, and castles. + +Spanish architecture--better still, architecture in Spain--is peculiarly +strange and foreign to us Northerners. We admire many edifices in +Iberia, but are unable to say wherefore; we are overawed at the +magnificence displayed in the interior of cathedral churches and at a +loss to explain the reason. + +As regards the former, it can be attributed to the Oriental spirit still +throbbing in the country; not in vain did the Moor inhabit Iberia for +nearly eight hundred years! + +The powerful influence of the Church on the inhabitants, an influence +that has lasted from the middle ages to the present day, explains the +other phenomenon. Even to-day, in Spain, the Pope is supreme and the +princes of the Church are the rulers. + +Does the country gain thereby? Not at all. Andalusia is in a miserable +state of poverty, so are Extremadura, La Mancha, and Castile. Not a +penny do the rich, or even royalty, give to better the country people's +piteous lot; neither does the Church. + +It is nevertheless necessary to be just. In studying the evolutionary +history of architecture in Spain, we must praise the tyranny of the +Church which spent the millions of dollars of the poor in erecting such +marvels as the cathedral of Toledo, etc., and we must ignore the +sweating farmer, the terror-stricken Jew, the accused heretic, the +disgraced courtier, the seafaring conquistador, who gave up their all to +buy a few months' life, the respite of an hour. + +And the author has striven to be impartial in the following pages. Once +in awhile his bitterness has escaped the pen, but be it plainly +understood that not one of his remarks is aimed against Spain, a country +and a people to be admired,--above all to be pitied, for they, the +people, are slaves to an arrogant Church, to a self-amusing royalty, and +to a grasping horde of second-rate politicians. + + + + +II + +HISTORICAL ARABESQUES + + +The history of Spain is, perhaps, more than that of any other nation, +one long series of thrilling, contradictory, and frequently +incomprehensible events. + +This is not only due to the country's past importance as a powerful +factor in the evolution of our modern civilization, but to the +unforeseen doings of fate. Fate enchained and enslaved its people, +moulded its greatness and wrought its ruin. Of no other country can it +so truthfully be said that it was the unwitting tool of some higher +destiny. Most of the phenomena of its history took place in spite of the +people's wishes or votes; neither did the different art questions, +styles, periods, or movements emanate from the people. This must be +borne in mind. + +The Romans were the first to come to Spain with a view to conquering the +land, and to organizing the half-savage clans or tribes who roamed +through the thickets and across the plains. But nowhere did the great +rulers of the world encounter such fierce resistance. The clans were +extremely warlike and, besides, intensely individual. They did not only +oppose the foreigner's conquest of the land, but also his system of +organization, which consisted in the submission of the individual to the +state. + +The clans or tribes recognized no other law than their own sweet will; +they acted independently of each other, and only on rare occasions did +they fight in groups. They were local patriots who recognized no +fatherland beyond their natal vale or village. + +This primary characteristic of the Spanish people is the clue to many of +the subsequent events of the country's history. Against it the Romans +fought, but fought in vain, for they were not able to overcome it. + +Christianity dawned in the East and was introduced into Spain, some say +by St. James in the north, others by St. Peter or St. Paul in the south. + +The result was astonishing: what Roman swords, laws, and highroads had +been unable to accomplish (as regards the organization of the savage +tribes) Christianity brought about in a comparatively short lapse of +time. + +The reason is twofold. In the first place, the new form of religion +taught that all men were equal; consequently it was more to the taste of +the individualistic Spaniard than the state doctrines of the Roman +Empire. + +Secondly, it permitted him to worship his deity in as many forms +(saints) as there were days in the year; consequently each village or +town could boast of its own saint, prophet, or martyr, who, in the minds +of the citizens, was greater than all other saints, and really the god +of their fervent adoration. + +Hence Christianity was able to introduce into the Roman province of +Hispania a social organization which was to exert a lasting influence on +the country and to acquire an unheard-of degree of wealth and power. + +When the temporal domination of Rome in Spain had dwindled away to +nothing, other foreigners, the Visigoths, usurped the fictitious rule. +Their state was civil in name, military in organization, and +ecclesiastical in reality. + +They formed no nation, however, though they preserved the broken +fragments of the West Roman Empire. The same spirit of individualism +characterized the tribes or people, and they swore allegiance to their +local saint (God) and to the priest who was his representative on earth +(Church)--but to no one else. + +Consequently it can be assumed that the Spanish nation had not as yet +been born; the controlling power had passed from the hands of one +foreigner to those of another: only one institution--the Church--could +claim to possess a national character; around it, or upon its +foundations, the nation was to be built up, stone by stone, and turret +by turret. + + * * * * * + +The third foreigner appeared on the scene. He was doubtless the most +important factor in the formation of the Spanish nation. + +It is probable that the Church called him over the Straits of Gibraltar +as an aid against Rodrigo, the last Visigothic king, who lost his throne +and his life because too deeply in love with his beautiful Tolesian +mistress. + +Legends explain the Moor's landing differently. Sohail, as powerfully +narrated by Mr. Cunninghame-Graham, is one of these legends, beautifully +fatalistic and exceptionally interesting. According to it, the destiny +of the Moors is ruled by a star named Sohail. Whither it goes they must +follow it. + +In the eighth century it happened that Sohail, in her irregular course +across the heavens, was to be seen, a brilliant star, from Gibraltar. +Obeying the stellar call, Tarik landed in Spain and moved northwards at +the head of his irresistible, fanatic hordes. The star continued its +northerly movement, visible one fine night from the Arab tents pitched +on the plains between Poitiers and Tours. The next night, however, it +was no longer visible, and Charles Martel drove the invading Moors back +to the south. + +Centuries went by and Sohail appeared ever lower down on the southern +horizon. One night it was only visible from Granada, and then Spain saw +it no more. That same day--'twas in the fifteenth century--Boabdil el +Chico surrendered the keys of Granada, and the Arabs fled, obeying the +retreating star's call. + +To-day they are waiting in the north of Africa for Sohail to move once +again to the north: when she does so, they will rise again as a single +man, and regain their passionately loved Alhambra, their beautiful +kingdom of Andalusia. + +Tradition is fond of showing us a nucleus of fervent Christian patriots +obliged by the invading Arab hordes to retire to the north-western +corner of the Iberian peninsula. Here they made a stand, a last glorious +stand, and, gradually increasing in strength, they were at last able to +drive back the invader inch by inch until he fled across the straits to +trouble Iberia no more. + +Nothing is, however, less true. The noblemen and monarchs of Galicia, +Leon, and Oviedo--later of Castile, Navarra, and Aragon--were so many +petty lords who, fighting continually among themselves, ruled over +fragments of the defeated Visigothic kingdom. At times they called in +the Arab enemy--to whom in the early centuries they paid a yearly +tribute--to help them against the encroachments of their brother +Christians. Consequently they lacked that spirit of patriotism and of +national ambition which might have justified their claims to be called +monarchs or rulers of Spain. + +The Church was no better. Its bishops were independent princes who ruled +in their dioceses like sovereigns in their palaces; they recognized no +supreme master, not even the Pope, whose advice was ignored, and whose +orders were disobeyed. + +It was not until the twelfth or thirteenth century that the Christian +incursions into Moorish territory took the form of patriotic crusades, +in which fervent Christians burnt with the holy desire of weeding out of +the peninsula the Saracen infidel. + +This holy crusade was due to the coming from France and Italy of the +Cluny monks. Foreigners,--like the Romans, the Church, the Visigoths, +and the Moors,--they created a situation which facilitated the union of +the different monarchs, prelates, and noblemen, by showing them a common +cause to fight for. Besides, anxious to establish the supreme power of +the Pope in a land where his authority was a dead letter, they crossed +the Pyrenees and broke the absolute power of the arrogant prelates. + +The result was obvious: the Church became uniform throughout the +country, and its influence waxed to the detriment of that of the +noblemen. Once again the kings learnt to rely upon the former, thus +putting an end to the power of the latter. Once more the Church grew to +be an ecclesiastical organization in which the role of the prelates +became more important as time went on. + +In short, if the coming of the Moors retarded for nearly six hundred +years the birth of the Spanish nation, this birth was directly brought +about by the political ability of the Cluny monks; the Moors, on the +other hand, exerted a direct and lasting influence on the shaping and +moulding of the future nation. + +Christian Spain, at the time of the death of the pious warrior-king San +Fernando, was roughly divided into an eastern and a western half, into +the kingdom of Castile (and Leon) and that of Aragon. The fusion of +these two halves by the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabel, two hundred +years later, marks the date of the birth of Spain as a nation. + +It is true, nevertheless, that the people had little or no voice in the +arrangement of matters. They were indifferent to what their crowned +rulers were doing, and ignorant of the growing power, wealth, and +learning of the prelates. All they asked for was individual liberty and +permission to pray to the God of their choice. Neither had as yet the +spirit of patriotism burned in their breasts, and they were utterly +insensible to any and all politics which concerned the peninsula as a +unity. + +But the Church-state had successfully evolutionized, and Catholic kings +sat on the only available throne. The last Moor had been driven from the +peninsula, the Jews had been expelled from the Catholic kingdom, and the +Inquisition--now that the Church could no longer direct its energy +against the infidel--strengthened the Pope's hold on the land and +increased the importance and magnificence of the prelates themselves. + + * * * * * + +A word as to heresy (the Reformation) and the Inquisition. The latter +was not directed against the former, for it would have been impossible +for the people to accept the reformed faith in the fifteenth century. +For the Spaniard the charm of the Christian religion was that it placed +him on an equal footing with all men; hence, it flattered his love of +personal liberty and his self-consciousness or pride. The charm of +Catholicism was that it enabled him to adore a local deity in the shape +of a martyred saint; thus, it flattered his vanity as a clansman, and +his spirit of individualism. + +It was not so much the God of Christianity he worshipped as Our Lady of +the Pillar, Our Lady of Sorrows, of the Camino, etc., and he obeyed less +readily the archbishop than the custodian priest of his particular +saint, of whom he declared "that he could humiliate all other saints." + +Consequently Protestantism, which tended to kill this local worship by +upholding that of a collective deity, could never have taken a serious +hold of the country, and it is doubtful if it ever will. + +On the other hand--as previously remarked--the Spanish Inquisition +helped to centralize the Church's power and obliged the people to accept +its decisions as final. The effect of Torquemada's policy is still to be +felt in Spain--could it be otherwise? + + * * * * * + +Had successive events in this stage of Spain's history followed a normal +course, and had the education of the people been fostered by the state +instead of being cursed by the Church, it is more than probable that the +map of Europe would have been different to-day from what it is. For the +Spanish people would have learnt to think as patriots, as a nation; they +would have developed their country's rich soil and thickly populated +the vast _vegas_; they would have taken the offensive against foreign +nations, and would have chased and battled the Moor beyond the Straits +of Gibraltar. + +It was not to be, however. An abnormal event was to take place--and did +take place--which repeated in fair Iberia the retrograde movement +initiated by the Arab invasion 750 years earlier. + +A foreigner was again the cause of this new phenomenon, a harebrained +Genoese navigator whom the world calls a genius because he was +successful, but who was an evil genius for the new-born Spanish nation, +one who was to load his adopted country with unparalleled fame and glory +before causing her rapid and clashing downfall. + +Christopher Columbus came to Spain from the east; he sailed westwards +from Spain and discovered--for Spain!--two vast continents. + +The importance of this event for Spain is apt to be overlooked by those +who are blinded by the unexpected realization of Columbus's daring +dreams. It was as though a volcanic eruption had taken place in a virgin +soil, tossing earth and grass, layers and strata of stone, hither and +thither in utter confusion, impeding the further growth of young +plantlets and forbidding the building up of a solid national edifice. + +Instead of devoting their energies to the interior organization of the +country, Spaniards turned their eyes to the New World. In exchange for +the gold and precious stones which poured into the land, they gave that +which left the country poor and weak indeed: their blood and their +lives. The bravest and most intrepid leaders crossed the seas with their +followers, and behind them sailed thousands upon thousands of hardy +adventurers and soldiers. + +But the Spaniards could not colonize. They lacked those qualities of +collectivity which characterized Rome and England. The individualistic +spirit of the people caused them to go and to come as they chose without +possessing any ambition of establishing in the newly acquired +territories a home and a family; neither did the women folk +emigrate--and hence the failure of Spain as a colonizing power. + +On the other hand, those who had sailed the seas to the Spanish main, +and had hoarded up a significant treasure, invariably returned, not to +Spain exactly, but to their native town or village. Upon arriving home, +their first act was to bequeath a considerable sum to the Church, so as +to ease their conscience and to assure themselves homage, respect, and +unrestrained liberty. + +The effects produced by this phenomenon of individualism were manifold. +They exist even to-day, so lasting were they. + +A new nobility was created--wealthy, powerful, and generally arrogant +and unscrupulous, which replaced the feudal aristocracy of the middle +ages. + +Secondly, oligarchy--or better still, _caciquismo_, an individualistic +form of oligarchy--sprung up into existence, and rapidly became the bane +of modern Spain; that is, ever since the Bourbon dynasty ruled the +country's fate. As can easily be understood, this _caciquismo_ can only +flourish there where individualism is the leading characteristic of the +people. + +Thirdly, all hopes of the country's possessing a well-to-do middle +class--stamina of a wealthy nation, and without which no people can +attain a national standard of wealth--vanished completely away. + +Lastly the Church, which had become wealthy beyond the dreams of the +Cluny monks, retained its iron grip on the country, and retarded the +liberal education of the masses. To repay the fidelity of servile +Catholics, it canonized legions of local prophets and martyrs, and +organized hundreds of gay annual _fiestas_ to honour their memory. The +ignorant people, flattered at the tribute of admiration paid to their +deities, looked no further ahead into the growing chaos of misery and +poverty, and were happy. + +The crash came--could it be otherwise? Beyond the seas an immense +territory, hundreds of times larger than the natal _solar_, or mother +country, stretched from the Atlantic to the Pacific; at home, a +stillborn nation lay in an arid meadow beside a solemn church, a +frivolous, selfish throne, and a mute and gloomy brick-built convent. + +The Spanish Armada sailed to England never to return, and Philip II. +built the Escorial, a melancholy pantheon for the kings of the Iberian +peninsula. + +One by one the colonies dropped off, fragments of an illusory empire, +and at last the mother country stood once more stark naked as in the +days before Columbus left Palos harbour. But the mother's face was no +longer young and fresh like an infant's: wrinkles of age and of +suffering creased the brow and the chin, for not in vain was she, during +centuries, the toy of unmerciful fate. + + * * * * * + +Such is, in gigantic strides, the history of Spain. + +The volcanic eruption in the fifteenth century has left, it is true, +indelible traces in the country's soil. Nevertheless, on the very day +when the treaty of Paris was signed and the last of the Spanish colonies +_de ultramar_ were lost for ever, that day a Spanish nation was born +again on the disturbed foundations of the old. + +There is no denying it: when Ferdinand and Isabel united their kingdoms +a nation was born; it fell to pieces (though apparently not until a +later date) when Columbus landed in America. + +Anarchy, misrule, and oppression, ignorance and poverty, now frivolity +and now austerity at court, fill the succeeding centuries until the +coronation of Alfonso XII. During all those years, but once did +Spain--no longer a nation--shine forth in history with an even greater +brilliancy than when she claimed to be mistress of the world. But, on +this occasion, when she opposed, in brave but disbanded groups, the +invasion of the French legions, she gave another proof of the +individualistic instincts of the race, as opposed to all social and +compact organization of the masses. + +The Carlist wars need but a passing remark. They were not national; they +were caused by the ambitions of rulers and noblemen, and fought out by +the inhabitants of Navarra and the Basque Provinces who upheld their +_fueros_, by paid soldiery, and by _aldeanos_ whose houses and families +were threatened. + + * * * * * + +New Spain was born a few years ago, but so far she has given no proof of +vitality. As it is, she is cumbered by traditions and harassed by +memories. She must fight a sharp battle with existing evil institutions +handed down to her as a questionable legacy from the past. + +If she emerge victorious from the struggle, universal history will hear +her name again, for the country is not _gastado_ or degenerate, as many +would have us believe. + +If she fail to throw overboard the worthless and superfluous ballast, it +is possible that the ship of state will founder--and then, who knows? + +In the meantime, let us not misjudge the Spaniard nor throw stones at +his broken glass mansion. To help us in this, let us remember that +unexpected vicissitudes, entirely foreign to his country, were the cause +of his illusory grandeur in the sixteenth century. Besides, no more +ardent a lover of individual (not social) freedom than the Spaniard +breathes in this wide world of ours--excepting it be the Moor. + +Under the circumstances he is to be admired--even pitied. + + + + +III + +ARCHITECTURAL ARABESQUES + +_Preliminaries_ + + +The different periods mentioned in the preceding chapter are +characterized by a corresponding art-movement. + +The germs of these movements came invariably from abroad. In Spain they +lingered, were localized and grew up, a species of hybrid plants in +which the foreign element was still visible, though it had undergone a +series of changes, due either to the addition of other elements, to the +inventive genius of the artist-architect, or else peculiar to the +locality in which the building was erected. + +Other conclusive remarks arrived at in the foregoing study help to +explain the evolution of church architecture. Five were the conclusions: +(1) The power and wealth of the Church, (2) the influence exerted by +foreigners on the country's fate, (3) the individualistic spirit of the +clanspeople, (4) the short duration of a Spanish nation, nipped in the +bud before it could bloom, and (5) the formation of an oligarchy +(_caciquismo_) which hindered the establishment of an educated +_bourgeoisie_. + +The first of the above conclusive observations needs no further remarks, +considering that we are studying church architecture. It suffices to +indicate the great number of cathedrals, churches, hermitages, +monasteries, convents, cloisters, and episcopal palaces to be convinced +of the Church's influence on the country and on the purses of the +inhabitants. + +The Spaniard, psychologically speaking, is no artist; it is doubtful if +illiterate and uneducated people are, and the average inhabitant of +Spain forms no exception to this rule. His artistic talents are +exclusively limited to music, for which he has an excessively fine ear. +But beauty in the plastic arts and architecture leave him cold and +indifferent; he is influenced by mass, weight, and quantity rather than +by elegance or lightness, and consequently it is the same to him whether +a cathedral be Gothic or Romanesque, as long as it be dedicated to the +deity of his choice. + +The difference between Italian and Iberian is therefore very marked. +Even the landscapes in each country prove it beyond a doubt. In Italy +they are composed of soft rolling lines; the colours are varied,--green, +red, and blue; the soil is damp and fruitful. In Spain, on the contrary, +everything is dry, arid, and savage; blue is the sky, red the brick +houses, and grayish golden the soil; the inhabitants are as savage as +the country, and the proverbial "_ma e piu bello_" of the Italian does +not bother the former in the slightest. + +All of which goes to explain the Spaniard's insensibility to the plastic +arts, as well as (for instance) the universal use of huge _retablos_ or +altar-pieces, in which size and bright colours are all that is required +and the greater the size, the more clashing the colours, the better. + +Neither is it surprising that the Spaniard created no architectural +school of his own. All he possesses is borrowed from abroad. His love of +Byzantine grotesqueness and of Moorish geometrical arabesques is +inherited, the one from the Visigoths, and the other directly from the +Moors. The remaining styles are northern and Italian, and were +introduced into the country by such foreigners--monks and artists--as +crowded to Spain in search of Spanish gold. + +These artists (it is true that some, and perhaps the best of them, were +Spaniards) did not work for the people, for there was no _bourgeoisie_. +They worked for the wealthy prelates, for the aristocracy, and for the +_caciques_. These latter had sumptuous chapels decorated, dedicated an +altar to such and such a deity, and erected a magnificent sepulchre or +series of sepulchres for themselves and their families. + +This peculiar phenomenon explains the wealth of Spanish churches in +lateral chapels. Not a cathedral but has about twenty of them; not a +church but possesses its half a dozen. Moreover, some of the very finest +examples of sepulchral art are not to be found in cathedrals, but in +out-of-the-way village churches, where some _cacique_ or other laid his +bones to rest and had his effigy carved on a gorgeous marble tomb. + +These chapels are built in all possible styles and in all degrees of +splendour and magnificence, according to the generosity of the donor. +Here they bulge out, deforming the regular plan of the church, or else +they take up an important part of the interior of the building. There +they are Renaissance jewels in a Gothic temple, or else ogival marvels +in a Romanesque building. They are, as it were, small churches--or +important annexes like that of the Condestable in Burgos, possessing a +dome of its own--absolutely independent of the cathedral itself, rich in +decorative details, luxurious in the use of polished stone and metal, of +agate and golden accessories, of gilded friezes, low reliefs, and +painted _retablos_. They constitute one of the most characteristic +features of Spanish religious architecture and art in general, and it is +above all due to them that Iberia's cathedrals are museums rather than +solemn places of worship. + +But the Spanish people did not erect them; they were commanded by vain +and death-fearing _caciques_, and erected by artists--generally +foreigners, though often natives. The people did not care nor take any +interest in the matter; so long as the village saint was not insulted, +nor their individual liberty (_fuero_) infringed upon, the world, its +artists and _caciques_, could do as it liked. + +This insensibility helped to hinder the formation of a national style. +Besides, as the duration of the Spanish nation was so exceedingly short, +there was no time at hand to develop a national art school. In certain +localities, as in Galicia, a prevailing type or style was in common use, +and was slowly evolving into something strictly local and excellent. +These types, together with Moorish art, and above all _Mudejar_ work, +might have evolved still further and produced a national style. But the +nation fell to pieces like a dried-up barrel whose hoops are broken, and +the nation's style was never formed. + +Besides, contemporary with the birth of the nation was the advent of the +Renaissance movement. This was the _coup de grace_, the final blow to +any germs of a Spanish style, of a style composed of Christian and Islam +principles and ideals: + + "Es waer zu schoen gewesen, + Es haett' nicht sollen sein!" + +Under the circumstances, the art student in Spain, however enthusiastic +or one-sided he may be, cannot claim to discover a national school. He +must necessarily limit his studies to the analysis of the foreign art +waves which inundated the land; he must observe how they became +localized and were modified, how they were united both wisely and +ridiculously, and he must point out the reasons or causes of these +medleys and transformations. There his task ends. + +One peculiarity will strike him: the peninsula possesses no pure Gothic, +Romanesque, or Renaissance building. The same might almost be stated as +regards Moorish art. The capitals of the pillars in the mezquita of +Cordoba are Latin-Romanesque, torn from a previous building by the +invading Arab to adorn his own temple. The Alhambra, likewise, shows +animal arabesques which are Byzantine and not Moorish. Nevertheless, +Arab art is, on the whole, purer in style than Christian art. + +This transformation of foreign styles proves: (1) That though the +Spanish artist lacked creative genius, he was no base imitator, but +sought to combine; he sought to give the temple he had to construct that +heavy, massive, strong, and sombre aspect so well in harmony with the +religious and warlike spirit of the different clanspeople; and (2) that +the same artist failed completely to understand the ideal of soaring +ogival, of simple Renaissance, or of pure Romanesque (this latter he +understood better than either of the others). For him, they--as well as +Islam art--were but elements to be made use of. Apart from their +constructive use, they were superfluous, and the artist-architect was +blind to their ethical object or aesthetical value. With their aid he +built architectural wonders, but hybrid marvels, complex, grand, +luxurious, and magnificent. + +Be it plainly understood, nevertheless, that in the above paragraphs no +contempt for Spanish cathedrals is either felt or implied. Facts are +stated, but no personal opinion is emitted as to which is better, a pure +Gothic or a complicated Spanish Gothic. In art there is really no +better; besides, comparisons are odious and here they are utterly +superfluous. + +_Cathedral Churches_ + +Before accompanying the art student in his task of determining the +different foreign styles, we will do well to examine certain general +characteristics common to all Spanish cathedrals. We will then be able +to understand with greater ease the causes of the changes introduced +into pure styles. + +The exterior aspect of all cathedrals is severe and massive, even naked +and solemn. Neither windows nor flying buttresses are used in such +profusion as in French cathedrals, and the height of the aisles is +greater. The object is doubtless to impart an idea of strength to the +exterior walls by raising them in a compact mass. An even greater effect +is obtained by square, heavy towers instead of elegant spires. (Compare, +however, chapters on Leon, Oviedo, Burgos, etc.) The use of domes +(_cimborios_, lanterns, and cupolas) is also frequent, most of them +being decidedly Oriental in appearance. The apse is prominent and +generally five-sided, warlike in its severe outline. Stone is invariably +used as the principal constructive element,--granite, _berroquena_ (a +soft white stone turning deep gray with age and exposure), and _sillar_ +or _silleria_ (a red sandstone cut into similar slabs of the size and +aspect of brick). Where red sandstone is used, the weaker parts of the +buildings are very often constructed in brick, and it is these +last-named cathedrals that are most Oriental in appearance, especially +when the brick surface is carved into _Mudejar_ reliefs. + +Taken all in all, the whole building often resembles a castle or +fortress rather than a temple, in harmony with the austere, arid +landscape, and the fierce, passionate, and idolatrous character of the +clanspeople or inhabitants of the different regions. + +The principal entrance is usually small in comparison to the height and +great mass of the building. The pointed arch--or series of arches--which +crowns the portal, is timid in its structure, or, in other words, is but +slightly pointed or not at all. + +The interior aspect of the church is totally different. As bare and +naked as was the outside, so luxurious and magnificent is the inside. +Involuntarily mediaeval Spanish palaces come to our mind: their gloomy +appearance from the outside, and the gay _patio_ or courtyard behind the +heavy, uninviting panels of the doors. The Moors even to this day employ +this system of architecture; its origin, even in the case of Christian +churches, is Oriental. + +Leaving aside all architectural considerations, which will be referred +to in the chapters dedicated to the description of the various +cathedrals, let us examine the general disposition of some of the most +interesting parts of the Spanish church. + +The aisles are, as a rule, high and dark, buried in perpetual shadow. +The lightest and airiest part of the building is beneath the _croisee_ +(intersection of nave and transept), which is often crowned by a +handsome _cimborio_. + +The nave is the most important member of the church, and the most +impressive view is obtained by the visitor standing beneath the +_croisee_. + +To the east of him, the nave terminates in a semicircular chapel, the +farther end of which boasts of an immense _retablo_; to the west, the +choir, with its stalls and organs, interrupts likewise the continuity of +the nave. Both choir and altar are rich in decorative details. + +Behind the high altar runs the ambulatory, joining the aisles and +separating the former from the apse and its chapels. The rear wall of +the high altar (in the ambulatory) is called the _trasaltar_, where a +small altar is generally situated in a recess and dedicated to the +patron saint, that is, if the cathedral itself be dedicated to the +Virgin, as generally happens. + +Sometimes an oval window pierces the wall of the _trasaltar_ and lets +the light from the apsidal windows enter the high altar; this +arrangement is called a _transparente_. + +The choir, as wide as the nave and often as high, is rectangular; an +altar-table generally stands in the western extremity, which is closed +off by a wall. The rear of this wall (facing the western entrance to the +temple) is called the _trascoro_, and contains the altar or a chapel; +the lateral walls are also pierced by low rooms or niches which serve +either as chapels or as altar-frames. + +The placing of the choir in the very centre of the church, its width and +height, and its enclosure on the western end by a wall, render +impossible a view of the whole building such as occurs in Northern +cathedrals, and upon which the impression of architectural grandeur and +majesty largely depends. It was as though Spanish architects were +utterly foreign to the latter impression, or wilfully murdered it by +substituting another more to their taste, namely, that of magnificence +and sumptuousness. Nowhere--to the author's knowledge--is this +impression more acutely felt than in a Spanish cathedral, viewed from +beneath the _croisee_. + +Glittering brilliancy, dazzling gold, silver, or gilt, polished marble, +agate, and jasper, and a luxuriance of vivid colours meet the visitor's +eyes when standing there. The effect is theatrical, doubtless, but it +impresses the humble true believer as Oriental splendour; and what, in +other countries, might be considered as grotesque and unhealthy art, +must in Spain be regarded as the very essence of the country's worship, +the very _raison d'etre_ of the cathedral. Neither can it be considered +as unhealthy: with us in the North, our _religious awe_ is produced by +the solemn majesty of rising shafts and long, high, and narrow aisles; +this fails to impress the Iberian of to-day; and yet, the same sentiment +of _religious awe_, of the terrible unknown, be it saint, Saviour, +Virgin, or God, is imparted to him by this brilliant display of +incalculable wealth. + +To produce this magnificence in choir and high altar, decorative and +industrial art were given a free hand, and together wrought those +wonders of the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries which +placed Spain in a prominent position in the history of art. Goldsmiths +and silversmiths, masters of ironcraft, sculptors in stone and wood, +painters and _estofadores_, together with a legion of other artists and +artisans of all classes and nationalities, worked together in unison to +create both choir and high altar. + +Therefore, from an artistic point of view, the Spanish cathedral is for +the foreigner a museum, a collection of art objects, pertaining, most of +them, to the country's industrial arts, for which Iberia was first among +all nations. + + * * * * * + +CHOIR STALLS.--Space cannot allow us to classify this most important +accessory of Spanish cathedrals. Carved in walnut or oak, now simple and +severe, now rich and florid, this branch of graphic art in low relief +constitutes one of Spain's most legitimate glories. It is strange that +no illustrated work dedicated exclusively to choir stalls should have +been published in any language. The tourist's attention must +nevertheless be drawn to this part of religious buildings; it must +not escape his observation when visiting cathedral and parish churches, +and above all, monastical churches. + +[Illustration: CLOISTER STALLS IN A MONASTIC CHURCH AT LEON] + + * * * * * + +RETABLO.--The above remarks hold good here as well, when speaking about +the huge and imposing altar-pieces so universally characteristic of +Spain. + +The eastern wall of the holy chapel in a cathedral is entirely hidden +from top to bottom by the _retablo_, a painted wooden structure +resembling a huge honeycomb. It consists of niches flanked by gilded +columns. According to the construction of these columns, now Gothic +shafts, now Greek or composite, now simple and severe, the period to +which the _retablo_ belongs is determined. + +Generally pyramidically superimposed, these niches, of the height, +breadth, and depth of an average man, contain life-size statues of +apostle or saint, painted and decorated by the _estofadores_ in +brilliant colours (of course, as they are intended to be seen from a +distance!), in which red and blue are predominant, and which produce a +gorgeous effect _rehausse_ by the gilt columns of the niches. (Compare +with the Oriental taste of _Mudejar_ work in ceilings or +_artesonados_.) + +The whole _retablo_, in the low reliefs which form the base, and in the +statues or groups in the niches, represents graphically the life of the +Saviour or the Virgin, of the patron saint or an apostle; some of them +are of exquisite execution and of great variety and movement; in others, +greater attention has been paid to the decoration of the columns or +shafts by original floral garlands, etc. Foment, Juni, and Berruguete +are among the most noted _retablo_ sculptors, but space will not permit +of a more prolific classification or analysis. + + * * * * * + +GOLD AND SILVERSMITHS.--The vessels used on the altar-table, effigies of +saints, processional crosses, etc., in beaten gold and silver, are well +worth examination. So is also the cathedral treasure, in some cases of +an immense value, both artistic and intrinsic. Cloths, woven in coloured +silks, gold, and precious stones, are beautiful enough to make any art +lover envious. + +The central niche of the _retablo_, immediately above the altar-table, +is generally occupied by a massive beaten silver effigy, the artistic +value of which is unluckily partially concealed beneath a heap of +valuable cloths and jewels. + +[Illustration: TYPICAL RETABLO (PALENCIA)] + +But where the silversmith's art is purest and most lavishly pronounced +is in the _sagrarios_. These are solid silver carved pyramids about two +or three feet high: they represent miniature temples or thrones with +shafts or columns supporting arches, windows, pinnacles, and cupolas. In +the interior, an effigy of the saint, or the Virgin, etc., to whom the +cathedral is dedicated, is to be seen seated on a throne. + +In all cases the workmanship of these miniature temples is exquisite, +and has brought just fame to Spain's fifteenth and sixteenth century +silversmiths. + + * * * * * + +IRONCRAFT.--Last to be mentioned, but not least in importance, are the +artisans who worked in iron. They brought their trade up to the height +of a fine art of universal fame; their artistic window _rejas_, in the +houses and palaces of the rich, are the wonder of all art lovers, and so +also are the immense _rejas_ or grilles which close off the high altar +and the choir from the transept, or the entrance to chapels from the +aisles. Though this art has completely degenerated to-day, nevertheless, +a just remark was made in the author's hearing by an Englishman, who +said: + +"Even to-day, Spaniards are unable to make a bad _reja_." + + * * * * * + +The reader's and tourist's attention has been called to the salient +artistic points of a Spanish cathedral. They must be examined one by +one, and they will be admired; the view of the ensemble will puzzle and +amaze him, yet it will be wise for him not to criticize harshly the lack +of _unity of style_. Frequently the choir stalls are ogival, the +_retablo_ Renaissance, the _rejas_ plateresque, and the general +decoration of columns, etc., of the most lavish grotesque. + +This in itself is no sin, neither artistic nor ethical, as long as the +_religious awe_ comes home to the Spaniard, for whom these cathedrals +are intended. Besides, it is an open question whether the monotony of a +pure style be nobler than a luxurious moulding together of all styles. +The whole question is, do the different parts harmonize, or do they +produce a _criard_ impression. + +The answer in all cases is purely personal. Yet, even if unfavourable, +the utility of the art demonstration must be borne in mind and +considered as well. And as regards the Spaniard, the utility does exist +beyond a doubt. + + +_Architectural Styles_ + +Let us now follow the art student in his task. He will determine the +different styles, and, to make the matter clearer, he will employ a +rhetorical figure: + +There is an island in the sea. Huge breakers roar on the beach and dash +against the rocky cliffs. Second, third, and fourth breakers of varying +strength and energy race with the first, and are in their turn pushed +relentlessly on from behind until they ripple in dying surf on the +golden sands and boil in white spray in hidden clifts and caves. With +the years that roll along the island is shaped according to the will of +the waves. + +Spain, figuratively speaking, is that island, or a peninsula off the +southwestern coast of the Old World, barred from France by the +impassable Pyrenees, and forming the link between Africa and Europe: +the first stepping-stone for the former in its northern march, the last +extremity or the rear-guard of the latter. + +The breakers represent the different art movements which, born in +countries where _compact_ nations were fighting energetically for an +existence and for an ideal, flooded with terrible force the civilized +lands of the middle ages, and sought to outdo and conquer their rivals. + +These breakers were: from the east, early Christian (both Latin-Lombard +and Byzantine); from the north, Gothic; from the south, Arab, or, to be +more accurate, Moorish. The first two were advocates of one +civilization, the Christian or Occidental; the latter was the +propagandist of another, the Neo-Oriental or Mohammedan. + +The Renaissance was but a second or third breaker coming from the east, +which breathed new life into antiquated constructive and decorative +elements by adapting them to a new religion or faith. + +Later architectural forms were but the periodical revival or combination +of one or another of the already existing elements. + +Spain, thanks to her unique position, was the point where all these +contradictory waves met in a final endeavour to crush their opponents. +In Spain, Byzantine pillars fought against Lombard shafts, and Gothic +pinnacles rose haughtily beside the horseshoe arch and the _arc brise_. +In Spain Christianity grappled with the Islam faith and sent it bleeding +back to the wilds of Africa; in Spain the polygon, circle, and square +struggled for supremacy and lost their personality in the complex +blending of the one with the other, and minarets, cupolas, and spires +combined in bizarre fantasy and richness of decoration to serve the +ambitions of mighty prelates, fanatic kings, and death-fearing noblemen. + + * * * * * + +Such is, rhetorically speaking, the history of architecture of Spain. +Cathedrals had a _cachet_ of their own, either national (in certain +characteristics) or else local. But the elements of which they were +composed were foreign. That is, excepting in the case of Spanish-Moorish +art. + +Moorish art! In the second volume (Southern Spain), the author of these +lines will dedicate several paragraphs to the art of the Moors in Spain. +Suffice to assert in the present chapter the following statements. + +(1) Moorish art in Spain is peculiar to the Arabs who inhabited the +peninsula during seven hundred years. Consequently this art, born on +Iberian soil, cannot be regarded as foreign. + +(2) Much of what is called Moorish art owes its existence to the +Christians, to the Muzarabs and Jews who inhabited cities which were +dependent upon or belonged to the Moors. In the same way, much of the +Oriental taste of the Spanish Christians was inherited from the Moors +and received in Spain the generic name of _Mudejar_. + +(3) The art of the Moors, though largely used in Spain, especially in +the south, rarely entered into cathedral structures, though often +noticeable in churches, cloisters, and in decorative motives. + +(4) The Moors learnt more art motives in Spain than they introduced into +the country. + +These and many other points of interest will have to be neglected in the +present chapter. For the cathedrals of the north are (as regards the +ideal which brought about their erection) radically opposed to Moorish +art. + +Prehistoric Roman and Visigothic (?) art are equally unimportant in this +study, as neither the one nor the other constructed any Christian temple +standing to-day. That is to say, cathedral; for Visigothic or early +Latin and Byzantine Romanesque churches do exist in Asturias, and a +notable specimen in Venta de Banos. They are peculiarly strange +edifices, and it is to be regretted that they are not cathedrals, for +their study would be most interesting, not only as regards Iberian art, +but above all as regards the history of art in the middle ages. So far, +they have been completely neglected, and, unfortunately, are but little +known abroad. + + * * * * * + +ROMANESQUE.--The origin of Romanesque is greatly discussed. Some +attribute it to Italy, others to France; others again are of the +conviction that all Christian (religious) art previous to the birth of +Gothic is Romanesque, etc., etc. The most plausible theory is that the +style in question evolved out of the early Latin-Christian (basilique) +style, at the same time borrowing many decorative details from the +Byzantine-Christian style. + +In Spain, pre-Romanesque Christian architecture (or Visigothic) shows +decided Byzantine influence, more so, probably, than in any other +European country. This peculiarity influences also Romanesque, both +early and late. It is not strange, either, considering that an important +colony of _Bizantinos_ (Christians) settled in Eastern Andalusia during +the Visigothic period. + +In the tenth century churches, and in the eleventh cathedrals, commenced +to be erected in Northern Spain. Byzantine influence was very marked in +the earlier monuments. + +Was Romanesque a foreign style? Was it introduced from Italy or France, +or was it a natural outcome or evolutionary product of decadent early +Christian architecture? In the latter case there is no saying where it +evolved, possibly to the north or to the south of the Pyrenees, possibly +to the east or to the west of the Alps. What is more, the Pyrenees in +those days did not serve as a strict frontier line like to-day; on the +contrary, both Navarra and Aragon extended beyond the mountainous wall, +and the dukes of Southern France occasionally possessed immense +territories and cities to the south of the Pyrenees. + +Be that as it may, Romanesque, as a style, first dawned in Spain in the +tenth and eleventh centuries. Its birth coincided with that of the +popular religious crusade against the Moor who had inhabited the +peninsula during four centuries; it coincided also with the great +church-erecting period of Northern Spanish history, when the Alfonsos of +Castile created bishoprics (to aid them in their political ambitions) as +easily as they broke inconvenient treaties and savagely murdered +friends, relatives, and foes alike. Consequently, many were the +Romanesque cathedrals erected, and though the greater part were +destroyed later and replaced by Gothic structures, several fine +specimens of the former style are still to be seen. + +Needless to say, Romanesque became localized; in other words, it +acquired certain characteristics restricted to determined regions. +Galician Romanesque and that of Western Castile, for instance, are +almost totally different in aspect: the former is exceedingly poetical +and possesses carved wall decorations both rich and excellent; the +latter is intensely strong and warlike, and the decorations, if +employed at all, are Byzantine, or at least Oriental in taste. + + * * * * * + +TRANSITION.--Many of the cathedrals of Galicia belong, according to +several authors, to this period in which Romanesque strength evolved +into primitive Gothic or ogival airiness. In another chapter a personal +opinion has been emitted denying the accuracy of the above remark. + +There is no typical example of Transition in Spain. Ogival changes +introduced at a later date into Romanesque churches, a very common +occurrence, cannot justify the classification of the buildings as +Transition monuments. + +Nor is it surprising that such buildings should be lacking in Spain. For +Gothic did not evolve from Romanesque in the peninsula, but was +introduced from France. A short time after its first appearance it swept +all before it, thanks to the Cluny monks, and was exclusively used in +church-building. In a strict sense it stands, moreover, to reason that +the former (Transition) can only exist there where a new style emerges +from an old without being introduced from abroad. + + * * * * * + +OGIVAL ART.--The thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries are, +properly speaking, those of the great northern art wave which spread +rapidly through the peninsula, bending all before its irresistible will. +Romanesque churches were destroyed or modified (the introduction of an +ambulatory in almost all Romanesque buildings), and new cathedrals +sprung up, called into existence by the needs and requirements of a new +people, a conquering, Christian people, driving the infidel out of the +land, and raising the Holy Cross on the sacred monuments of the Islam +religion. + +The changements introduced into the new style tended to give it a more +severe and defiant exterior appearance than in northern churches,--a +scarcity of windows and flying buttresses, timidly pointed arches, and +solid towers. Besides, round-headed arches (vaultings and horizontal +lines) were indiscriminately used to break the vertical tendency of pure +ogival; so also were Byzantine cupolas and domes. + +The solemn, cold, and naked cathedral church of Alcala de Henares is a +fine example of the above. Few people would consider it to belong to the +same class as the eloquent cathedral of Leon and the no less imposing +see of Burgos. Nevertheless, it is, every inch of it, as pure Gothic as +the last named, only, it is essentially Spanish, the other two being +French; it bears the sombre _cachet_ of the age of Spanish Inquisition, +of the fanatic intolerant age of the Catholic kings. + + * * * * * + +LATER STYLES.--Toward the end of the fifteenth and the beginning of the +sixteenth centuries, Italian Renaissance entered the country and drove +Gothic architecture out of the minds of artists and patronizing +prelates. + +But Italian Renaissance failed to impress the Spaniard, whose character +was opposed to that of his Mediterranean cousin; so also was the general +aspect of his country different from that of Italy. Consequently, it is +not surprising that we should find very few pure Renaissance monuments +on the peninsula. On the other hand, Spanish Renaissance--a florid form +of the Italian--is frequently to be met with; in its severest form it is +called _plateresco_. + +In the times of Philip II., Juan Herrero created his style (Escorial), +of which symmetry, grandeur in size, and poverty in decoration were the +leading characteristics. The reaction came, however, quickly, and +Churriguera introduced the most astounding and theatrical grotesque +imaginable. + +The later history of Spanish architecture is similar to that of the rest +of Europe. As it is, the period which above all interests us here is +that reaching from the eleventh to the sixteenth centuries, embracing +Romanesque, ogival, and plateresque styles. Of the cathedrals treated of +in this volume, all belong to either of the two first named +architectural schools, excepting those of Valladolid, Madrid, and, to a +certain extent, the new cathedral of Salamanca and that of Segovia. + + * * * * * + +MUDEJAR ART.--Previous to the advent of Italian Renaissance in Spain, a +new art had been created which was purely national, having been born on +the peninsula as the complex product of Christian and Islam elements. +This art, known by the generic name of _Mudejar_, received a mortal blow +at the hands of the new Italian art movement. Consequently, the only +school which might have been regarded as Spanish, degenerated sadly, +sharing the fate of the new-born nation. + +Rather than a constructive style, the _Mudejar_ or Spanish style is +decorative. With admirable variety and profusion it ornamented brick +surfaces by covering them with reliefs, either geometrical (Moorish) or +Gothic, either sunk into the wall or else the latter cut around the +former. + +The aspect of these _Mudejar_ buildings is peculiar. In a ruddy plain +beneath a dazzling blue sky, these red brick churches gleam thirstily +from afar. Shadows play among the reliefs, lending them strength and +vigour; the _alminar_ tower stands forth prominently against the sky and +contrasts delightfully with the cupola raised on the apse or on the +_croisee_. + +Among the finest examples of _Mudejar_ art, must be counted the +brilliantly coloured ceilings, such as are to be seen in Alcala, Toledo, +and elsewhere. These _artesonados_, without being Moorish, are, +nevertheless, of a pronounced Oriental taste. A geometrical pattern is +carved on the wood of the ceiling and brilliantly painted. Prominent +surfaces are preferably golden in hue, and such as are sunk beneath the +level are red or blue. The effect is dazzling. + +[Illustration: MUDEJAR ARCHITECTURE (SAHAGUN)] + +Unluckily, but little attention has been paid out of Spain to +_Mudejar_ art, and it is but little known. Even Spanish critics do not +agree as to the national significance of this art, and it is a great +pity, as unfortunately the country can point to no other art phenomena +and claim them to be Spanish. How can it, when the nation had not as yet +been born, and, once born, was to die almost simultaneously, like a moth +that flies blindly and headlong into an intense flame? + + + + +IV + +CONCLUSION + + +Spain geographically can be roughly divided into two parts, a northern +and southern, separated by a mountain chain, composed of the Sierras de +Guaderrama, Gredos, and Gata to the north of Madrid. + +Such a division does not, however, explain the historical development of +the Christian kingdoms from the eighth to the fifteenth centuries, nor +is it advisable to adopt it for an architectural study. + +During the great period of church-building, the nine kingdoms of Spain +formed four distinct groups: Galicia, Asturias, Leon, and Castile; +Navarra and Aragon; Barcelona and Valencia; Andalusia. + +The first group gradually evolved until Castile absorbed the remaining +three kingdoms, and later Andalusia as well; the second and third groups +succumbed to the royal house of Aragon. + +From an architectural point of view, there are three groups, or even +four: Castile, Aragon, the Mediterranean coast-line, and Andalusia. In +the last three the Oriental influence is far more pronounced than in the +first named. + +Further, Spain is divided into nine archbishoprics: four corresponding +to Castile (Santiago, Burgos, Valladolid, and Toledo); one to Aragon +(Zaragoza); two to the Mediterranean coast (Tarragon and Valencia); and +two to Andalusia (Sevilla and Granada). + +It was the author's object to preserve as far as possible in the +following chapters and in the general subdivision of his work, not only +the geographical, but the historical, architectural, and ecclesiastical +divisions as well. Better still, he sacrificed the first when +incompatible with the latter three. + +But--and here the difficulty arose--what title should be chosen for each +of the two volumes which were to be dedicated to Spain? Because two +volumes were necessary, considering the eighty odd cathedrals to be +described. + +"Cathedrals of Northern Spain" as opposed to "Cathedrals of Southern +Spain"--was one of the titles. "Gothic cathedrals of Spain"--as opposed +to "Moorish Cathedrals of Spain"--was another; the latter had to be +discarded, as only one Moorish mezquita converted into a Christian +temple exists to-day, namely, that of Cordoba. + +There remained, therefore, the first title. + +The first volume, discarding Navarra and Aragon (in the north), is +dedicated to Castile, as well as its four archbishoprics. + +The narrow belt of land, running from east to west, from Cuenca to +Coria, to the south of the Sierra de Guaderrama, and constituting the +archbishopric of Toledo, has been added to the region lying to the north +and to the northwest of Madrid. + +Moreover, to aid the reader, the present volume has been divided into +parts, namely: Galicia, the North, and Castile; the latter has been +subdivided into western and eastern, making in all four divisions. + +(1) _Galicia._ Santiago de Campostela is, from an ecclesiastical point +of view, all Galicia. Thanks to this spirit, the entire region shows a +decided uniformity in the style of its churches, for that of Santiago +(Romanesque) served as a pattern or model to be adopted in the remaining +sees. The character of the people is no less uniform, and the Celtic +inheritance of poetry has drifted into the monuments of the Christian +religion. + +The episcopal see of Oviedo falls under the jurisdiction of Santiago; +the Gothic cathedral shows no Romanesque motives excepting the Camara +Sagrada, and has therefore been included in-- + +(2) _The North._ With the exception of Oviedo, all the bishoprics in +this group fall under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Burgos. The +two finest Gothic temples in Northern Spain pertain to this group: +Burgos and Leon. + +There is, however, but little uniformity in this northern region, for +Santander and Vitoria have but little in common with the remaining sees. + +(3) _Western Castile._ A certain degree of uniformity is seen to exist +among the sees of Western Castile, namely, the warlike appearance of the +Byzantine Romanesque edifices. Besides, the use of sandstone and brick +is here universal, and the immense plain of Old Castile to the north of +the Sierra de Gata, and of Northern Extremadura to the south of the same +range, have a peculiar ruddy aspect, dry and Oriental (African?), that +is perfectly delightful. + +The sees to the north of the mentioned mountain chain belong to +Valladolid; those of the south to Toledo. + +(4) _Eastern Castile_ extends from Valladolid in the north +(archbishopric) to Toledo in the south (archbishopric), from Avila in +the west to Sigueenza in the east, and to Cuenca in the extreme southeast +of New Castile. + + * * * * * + +In the middle ages the Christian kings of Asturias (Galicia?) grew more +and more powerful, and their territory stretched out to the south and to +the east. + +On the Mino River, Tuy and Orense were frontier towns, to populate +which, bishoprics were erected. To the south of Oviedo, and almost on a +line with the two Galician towns, Astorga, Leon and Burgos were strongly +fortified, and formed an imaginary line to the north of which ruled +Christian monarchs, and to the south Arab emirs. + +Burgos at the same time served as fortress-town against the rival kings +of Navarra to the north and east; the latter, on the other hand, +fortified the Rioja against Castile until at last it fell into the +hands of the latter. Then Burgos, no longer a frontier town, grew to be +capital of the new-formed kingdom of Castile. + +Slowly, but surely, the Arabs moved southwards, followed by the +implacable line of Christian fortresses. At one time Valladolid, +Palencia, Toro, and Zamora formed this line. When Toledo was conquered +it was substituted by Coria, Plasencia, Sigueenza, and, slightly to the +north, by Madrid, Avila, Segovia, and Salamanca. At the same time +Sigueenza, Segovia, Soria, and Logrono formed another strategic line of +fortifications against Aragon, whilst in the west Plasencia, Coria, Toro +and Zamora, Tuy, Orense, and Astorga kept the Portuguese from Castilian +soil. In the extreme southwest Cuenca, impregnable and highly +strategical, looked eastwards and southwards against the Moor, and +northwards against the Aragonese. + +In all these links of the immense strategical chain which protected +Castile from her enemies, the monarchs were cunning enough to erect sees +and appoint warrior-bishops. They even donated the new fortress-cities +with special privileges or _fueros_, in virtue of which settlers came +from all parts of the country to inhabit and constitute the new +municipality. + +Such--in gigantic strides--is the story of most of Castile's world-famed +cities. In each chapter, dates, anecdotes, and more details are given, +with a view to enable the reader to become acquainted not only with the +ecclesiastical history of cities like Burgos and Valladolid, but also +with the causes which produced the growing importance of each see, as +well as its decadence within the last few centuries. + + + + +_PART II_ + +_Galicia_ + + + + +I + +SANTIAGO DE CAMPOSTELA + + +When the Christian religion was still young, St. James the Apostle--he +whom Christ called his brother--landed in Galicia and roamed across the +northern half of the Iberian peninsula dressed in a pilgrim's modest +garb and leaning upon a pilgrim's humble staff. After years of wandering +from place to place, he returned to Galicia and was beheaded by the +Romans, his enemies. + +This legend--or truth--has been poetically interwoven with other legends +of Celtic origin, until the whole story forms what Brunetiere would call +a _cycle chevaleresque_ with St. James--or Santiago--as the central +hero. + +According to one of these legends, it would appear that the apostle was +persecuted by his great enemy Lupa, a woman of singular beauty whom the +ascetic pilgrim had mortally offended. Thanks to certain accessory +details, it is possible to assume that Lupa is the symbol of the "God +without a name" of Celtic mythology, and it is she who finally venges +herself by decapitating the pilgrim saint. + +The disciples of St. James laid his corpse in a cart, together with the +executioner's axe and the pilgrim's staff. Two wild bulls were then +harnessed to the vehicle, and away went cart and saint. As night fell +and the moon rose over the vales of Galicia, the weary animals stopped +on the summit of a wooded hill in an unknown vale, surrounded by other +hillocks likewise covered with foliage and verdure. + +The disciples buried the saint, together with axe and staff, and there +they left him with the secret of his burial-ground. + +This must have happened in the first or second century of the Christian +era. Six hundred years later, and one hundred years after the Moors had +landed in Andalusia, one Theodosio, Bishop of Iria (Galicia), took a +walk one day in his wide domains accompanied by a monk. Together they +lost their way and roamed about till night-fall, when they found +themselves far from home. + +Stars twinkled in the heavens as they do to this day. Being tired, the +bishop and his companion dreamt as they walked along--at least it +appears so from what followed--and the stars were so many miraculous +lights which led the wanderers on and on. At last the stars remained +motionless above a wooded hill standing isolated in a beautiful vale. +The prelate stopped also, and it occurred to him to dig, for he +attributed his dreams to a supernatural miracle. Digging, a coffin was +revealed to him, and therein the saintly remains of St. James or +Santiago. + +Giving thanks to Him who guides all steps, Theodosio returned to Iria, +and, by his orders, a primitive basilica was erected some years later on +the very spot where the saint had been buried, and in such a manner as +to place the high altar just above the coffin. A crypt was then dug out +and lined with mosaic, and the coffin, either repaired or renewed, was +laid therein,--some say it was visible to the hordes of pilgrims in the +tenth and eleventh centuries. + +The shrine was then called Santiago de Campostela.--Santiago, which +means St. James, and Campostela, field of stars, in memory of the +miraculous lights the Bishop of Iria and his companion had perceived +whilst sweetly dreaming. + +The news of the discovery spread abroad with wonderful rapidity. +Monasteries, churches, and inns soon surrounded the basilica, and within +a few years a village and then a city (the bishop's see was created +previous to 842 A. D.) filled the vale, which barely fifty years earlier +had been an undiscovered and savage region. + +Throughout the middle ages, from the eleventh to the fifteenth +centuries, Santiago de Campostela was the scene of pilgrimages--not to +say crusades--to the tomb of St. James. From France, Italy, Germany, and +England hundreds and thousands of men, women, and children wandered to +the Galician valley, then one of the foci of ecclesiastical significance +and industrial activity. The city, despite its local character, wore an +international garb, much to the benefit of Galician, even Spanish, arts +and literature. It is a pity that so little research has been made +concerning these pilgrimages and the influences they brought to bear on +the history of the country. A book treating of this subject would be a +highly interesting account of one of the most important movements of the +middle ages. + +The Moors under Almanzor pillaged the city of Santiago in 999; then they +retreated southwards, as was their wont. The Norman vikings also visited +the sacred vale, attracted thither by the reports of its wealth; but +they also retreated, like the waves of the sea when the tide goes out. + +After the last Arab invasion, an extemporaneous edifice was erected in +place of the shrine which had been demolished. It did not stand long, +however, for the Christian kings of Spain, whose dominions were limited +to Asturias, Leon, and Galicia, ordered the construction of a building +worthy of St. James, who was looked upon as the god of battles, much +like St. George in England. + +So in 1078 the new cathedral, the present building, was commenced, and, +as the story runs, it was built around the then existing basilica, which +was left standing until after the vault of the new edifice had been +closed. + +The history of Spain at this moment helped to increase the religious +importance of Santiago. The kingdom of Asturias (Oviedo) had stretched +out beyond its limits and died; the Christian nuclei were Galicia, Leon, +and Navarra. In these three the power of the noblemen, and consequently +of the bishops and archbishops, was greater than it had ever been +before. Each was lord or sovereign in his own domains, and fought +against his enemies with or without the aid of the infidel Arab armies, +which he had no compunction in inviting to help him against his +Christian brothers. Now and again a king managed to subdue these +aristocratic lords and ecclesiastical prelates, but only for a short +time. Besides, nowhere was the independent spirit of the noblemen more +accentuated than in Galicia; nowhere were the prelates so rebellious as +in Santiago, the Sacred City, and none attained a greater height of +personal power and wealth than Diego Galmirez, the first archbishop of +Santiago, and one of the most striking and interesting personalities of +Spanish history in the twelfth century, to whom Santiago owes much of +her glory, and Spain not little of her future history. + +The twelfth and thirteenth centuries were thus the period of Santiago's +greatest fame and renown. Little by little the central power of the +monarchs went southwards to Castile and Andalusia, and little by little +Santiago declined and dwindled in importance, until to-day it is one +city more of those that have been and are no longer. + +For the city's history is that of its cathedral, of its shrine. With the +birth of Protestantism and the death of feudal power, both city and +cathedral lost their previous importance: they had sprung into life +together, and the existence of the one was intricately interwoven with +that of the other. + + * * * * * + +The stranger who visits Santiago to-day does not approach it fervently +by the Mount of Joys as did the footsore pilgrims in the middle ages. On +the contrary, he steps out of the train and hurries to the cathedral +church, which sadly seems to repeat the thoughts of the city itself, or +the words of Senor Muguira: + +"To-day, what am I? An echo of the joys and pains of hundreds of +generations; a distant rumour both confused and undefinable, a last +sunbeam fading at evening and dying on the glassy surface of sleeping +waters. Never will man learn my secrets, never will he be able to open +my granite lips and oblige them to reveal the mysterious past." + +As is generally known, the cathedral is a Romanesque building of the +eleventh and twelfth centuries mutilated by posterior additions and +recent ameliorations (_sic_). It was begun in 1078, and, though finished +about 150 years later, no ogival elements drifted into the construction +until long after its completion. As will be seen later on, it served as +the model for most of Galicia's cathedrals. On the other hand, it is +generally believed to be an imitation--as regards the general +disposition--of St. Saturnin in Toulouse: a combatable theory, however, +as the churches were contemporaneous. + +Seen from the outside, the Cathedral of Santiago lacks harmony; few +remains of the primitive structure are to be discovered among the many +later-date additions and reforms. The base of the towers and some fine +blinded windows, with naive low reliefs in the semicircular tympanum, +will have to be excepted. + +The Holy Door--a peculiarly placed apsidal portal on the eastern +front--is built up of decorative elements saved from the northern and +western facades when they were torn down. + +[Illustration: SANTIAGO AND ITS CATHEDRAL] + +The best portal is the Puerta de la Plateria, opening into the southern +arm of the transept. It is, unluckily, depressed and thrown into the +background by the cloister walls on the left, and by the Trinity Tower +on the right. Nevertheless, both handsome and sober, it can be counted +among the finest examples of its kind--pure Romanesque--in Spain, and is +rendered even more attractive by the peculiar Galician poetry which +inspired its sculptors. + +Immediately above the panels of the door, which are covered with +twelfth-century metal reliefs, there is a stone plaque or low relief, +representing the Passion scene; to the left of it is to be seen a +kneeling woman holding a skull in her hand. Evidently it is a weeping, +penitent Magdalene. The popular tongue has invented a legend--perhaps a +true one--concerning this woman, who is believed to symbolize the +adulteress. It appears that a certain hidalgo, discovering his wife's +sins, killed her lover by cutting off his head; he then obliged her to +kiss and adore the skull twice daily throughout her life,--a rather +cruel punishment and a slow torture, quite in accordance with the +mystic spirit of the Celts. + +The apse of the church, circular in the interior, is squared off on the +outside by the addition of chapels. As regards the plateresque northern +and western facades, they are out of place, though the former might have +passed off elsewhere as a fairly good example of the severe +sixteenth-century style. + +The general plan of the building is Roman cruciform; the principal nave +is high, and contains both choir and high altar; the two aisles are much +lower and darker, and terminate behind the high altar in an ambulatory +walk. The width of the transept is enormous, and is composed of a nave +and two aisles similar in size to those of the body of the church. The +_croisee_ is surmounted by a dome, which, though not Romanesque, is +certainly an advantageous addition. + +Excepting the high altar with its _retablo_, the choir with its none too +beautiful stalls, and the various chapels of little interest and less +taste, the general view of the interior is impressively beautiful. The +height of the central nave, rendered more elegant by the addition of a +handsome Romanesque triforium of round-headed arches, contrasts +harmoniously with the sombre aisles, whereas the bareness of the +walls--for all mural paintings were washed away by a bigoted prelate +somewhere in the fifteenth century--helps to show off to better +advantage the rich sculptural decorations, leaf and floral designs on +capitals and friezes. + +The real wonder of the cathedral is the far-famed Portico de la Gloria, +the vestibule or narthex behind the western entrance of the church, and +as renowned as its sculptural value is meritorious. + +So much has already been written concerning this work of art that really +little need be mentioned here. Street, who persuaded the British +Government to send a body of artists to take a plaster copy of this +strange work, could not help declaring that: "I pronounce this effort of +Master Mathews at Santiago to be one of the greatest glories of +Christian art." + +And so it is. Executed in the true Romanesque period, each column and +square inch of surface covered with exquisite decorative designs, +elaborated with care and not hastily, as was the habit of later-day +artists, the three-vaulted rectangular vestibule between the body of the +church and the western extremity where the light streams in through the +rose window, is an immense allegory of the Christian religion, of human +life, and above all of the mystic, melancholy poetry of Celtic Galicia. +Buried in half-lights, this song of stone with the statue of the Trinity +and St. James, with the angels blowing their trumpets from the walls, +and the virtues and vices of this world symbolized by groups and by +persons, is of a sincere poetry that leaves a lasting impression upon +the spectator. Life, Faith, and Death, Judgment and Purgatory, Hell and +Paradise or Glory, are the motives carved out in stone in this unique +narthex, so masterful in the execution, and so vivid in the tale it +tells, that we can compare its author to Dante, and call the Portico de +la Gloria the "Divina Commedia" of architecture. + +At one end there is the figure of a kneeling man, the head almost +touching the ground in the body's fervent prostration in front of the +group representing Glory, Trinity, and St. James. Is it a +twelfth-century pilgrim whom the artist in a moment of realistic +enthusiasm has portrayed here, in the act of praying to his Creator and +invoking his mercy? Or is it the portrait of the artist, who, even after +death, wished to live in the midst of the wonders of his creation? It is +not positively known, though it is generally supposed to be Maestro +Mateo himself, kneeling in front of his Glory, admiring it as do all +visitors, and watching over it as would a mother over her son. + +If the chapels which surround the building have been omitted on account +of their artistic worthlessness, not the same fate awaits the cloister. + +Of a much later date than the cathedral itself, having been constructed +in the sixteenth century, it is a late Gothic monument betraying +Renaissance additions and mixtures; consequently it is entirely out of +place and time here, and does not harmonize with the cathedral. Examined +as a detached edifice, it impresses favourably as regards the height and +length of the galleries, which show it to be one of the largest +cloisters in Spain. + +The cathedral's crypt is one of its most peculiar features, and +certainly well worth examining better than has been heretofore done. It +is reached by a small door behind the high altar (evidently used when +the saint's coffin was placed on grand occasions on the altar-table) or +by a subterranean gallery leading down from the Portico de la Gloria, a +gallery as rich in sculptural decorations as the vestibule itself. + +The popular belief in Galicia is that in this crypt the cathedral +reflects itself, towers and all, as it would in the limpid surface of a +lake. Hardly; and yet the crypt is a nude copy of the ground floor +above, with the corresponding naves and aisles and apsidal chapels. The +height of the crypt is surprising, the architectural construction is +pure Romanesque,--more so than that of the building itself,--and just +beneath the high altar the shrine of St. James is situated where it was +found in the ninth century. + + + + +II + +CORUNNA + + +Corunna, seated on her beautiful bay, the waters of which are ever +warmed by the Gulf Stream, gazes out westwards across the turbulent +waves of the ocean as she has done for nearly two thousand years. + +Brigandtia was her first known name, a centre of the Celtic druid +religion. The inhabitants of the town, it is to-day believed, +communicated by sea with their brethren in Ireland long before the +coming of the Phoenicians and Greeks who established a trading post +and a tin factory, and built the Tower of Hercules. + +The Roman conquest saved Brigandtium from being great before her time. +For the Latin people were miserable sailors, and gazed with awe into the +waves of the Atlantic. For them Brigandtia was the last spot in the +world, a dangerous spot, to be shunned. So they left her seated on her +beautiful bay beside the Torre de Hercules, and made Lugo their capital. + +In the shuffling of bishops and sees in the fifth and sixth centuries, +Corunna was forgotten. Unimportant, known only for its castle and its +tower, it passed a useless existence, patiently waiting for a change in +its favour. + +This change came in the fifteenth century as a result of the discovery +of America. Since then, and with varying success, the city has grown in +importance, until to-day it is the most wealthy and active of Galicia's +towns, and one of the largest seaports on Spain's Atlantic coast. + +Its history since the sixteenth century is well known, especially to +Englishmen, who, whenever their country had a rupture with Spain, were +quick in entering Corunna's bay. From here part of the Invincible Armada +sailed one day to fight the Saxons and to be destroyed by a tempest; ten +years later England returned the challenge with better luck, and her +fleets entered the historical bay and burned the town. During the war +with Napoleon, General Moore fought the French in the vicinity and lost +his life, whereas a few years earlier an English fleet defeated, just +outside the bay, a united French and Spanish squadron. + +To-day, the old city on the hill looks down upon the new one below; the +former is poetic and artistic, the latter is straight-lined, industrial, +and modern. Nevertheless, the aspect of the city denies its age, for it +is more modern than many cities that are younger. What is more, +tradition does not weigh heavily on its brow, and depress its +inhabitants, as is the case in Lugo and Tuy and Santiago. The movement +on the wharves, the continual coming and going of vessels of all sizes, +commerce, industry, and other delights of modern civilization do not +give the citizens leisure to ponder over the city's two thousand years, +nor to preoccupy themselves about art problems. Moreover, the tourist +who has come to Spain to visit Toledo and Sevilla hurries off inland, +gladly leaving Corunna's streets to sailors and to merchants. + +There are, nevertheless, two churches well worth a visit; one is the +Colegiata (supposed to have been a bishopric for a short time in the +thirteenth century) or suffragan church, and the other the Church of +Santiago. The latter has a fine Romanesque portal of the twelfth +century, reminding one in certain decorative details of the Portico de +la Gloria in Santiago. The interior of the building consists of one nave +or aisle spanned by a daring vault, executed in the early ogival style; +doubtless it was originally Romanesque, as is evidently shown by the +capitals of the pillars, and was most likely rebuilt after the terrible +fire which broke out early in the sixteenth century. + +Santa Maria del Campo is the name of the suffragan church dedicated to +the Virgin. The church itself was erected to a suffragan of Santiago in +1441. The date of its erection is doubtful, some authors placing it in +the twelfth and others in the thirteenth century. Street, whom we can +take as an intelligent guide in these matters, calls it a +twelfth-century church, contemporaneous with and perhaps even built by +the same architect who built that of Santiago de Campostela. Moreover, +the mentioned critic affirms this in spite of a doubtful inscription +placed in the vault above the choir, which accuses the building of +having been completed in 1307. + +[Illustration: CHURCH OF SANTIAGO, CORUNNA] + +The primitive plan of the church was doubtless Romanesque, of one nave +and two aisles. As in Mondonedo and Lugo, the former is surmounted by +an ogival vault, and the aisles, lower in height, are somewhat depressed +by the use of Romanesque _plein-cintre_ vaultings. The form of the +building is that of a Roman cross with rather short arms; the apse +consists of but one chapel, the lady-chapel. As regards the light, it is +horrible, for the window in the west is insignificant and, what is more, +has recently been blinded, though only Heaven knows why. The towers +emerging from the western front are unmeaning, and not similar, which +detracts from the harmony of the whole. As regards the different +facades, the western has been spoilt quite recently; the northern and +southern are, however, Romanesque, though not pure, as ogival arches are +used in the decoration of the tympanum. + +In other words, the Church of Santiago at Corunna is more important, +from an archaeological point of view, than the Colegiata. The fishing +folk do not think so, however; they care but little for such secondary +details, and their veneration is entirely centred in the suffragan +church--"one of the three Virgins," as they call her to whom it is +dedicated. To them this particular Mary is the _estrella del mar_ (sea +star), and she is the principal object of their devotion. It is +strange--be it said in parenthesis--how frequently in Galicia mention is +made of stars: they form a most important feature of the country's +superstitions. Blood will out--and Celtic mythology peeps through the +Christian surface in spite of centuries of true belief. + + + + +III + +MONDONEDO + + +A Village grown to be a city, and yet a village. A city without history +or tradition, and a cathedral that has been spoilt by the hand of time, +and above all by the hands of luckless artists called upon to rebuild +deteriorated parts. + +To the north of Lugo, at a respectable distance from the railway which +runs from the latter to Corunna, and reached either by means of a stage +or on horseback, Mondonedo passes a sleeping existence in a picturesque +vale surrounded by the greenest of hills. Rarely bothered by the tourist +who prefers the train to the stage, it procures for the art lover many +moments of delight--that is, if he will but take the trouble to visit +the cathedral, the two towers of which loom up in the vale, and though +rather too stumpy to be able to lend elegance to the ensemble, add a +poetic charm to the valley and to the village itself. + +How on earth did it ever occur to any one to raise the church at +Mondonedo to a bishopric? Surely the sees in Galicia were badly +shuffled; and yet, where can a quieter spot be found in this wide world +of ours for the contemplation of a cathedral--and a Romanesque one, to +boot! + +It is to the Norman vikings that is due the establishment of a see in +this lonely valley. Until the sixth century it had been situated in +Mindunietum of the Romans, when it was removed to Ribadeo, remaining +there until late in the twelfth century. Both these towns were seaports, +and both suffered from the cruel incursions and piratical expeditions of +the vikings, and so after the total pillage of the church in Ribadeo, +the see was removed inland out of harm's way, to a village known by the +name of Villamayor or Mondonedo. There it has remained till the present +day, ignored by the tourist who "has no time," and who follows the +beaten track established by Messrs. Cook and Company, in London. + +[Illustration: GENERAL VIEW OF MONDONEDO] + +As will have been seen, Mondonedo is a city without history, and without +a past; doubtless it will for ever remain a village without a future. +Its doings, its _raison d'etre_, are summed up in the cathedral that +stands in its centre, just as in Santiago, though from different +motives. + +It is, perhaps, the most picturesque spot in Galicia, a gently sloping +landscape buried in a violet haze, reminding one of Swiss valleys in the +quiet Jura. Besides, the streets are silent and often deserted, the +village inn or _fonda_ is neither excellent nor very bad, and as for the +villagers, they are happy, simple, and hospitable dawdlers along the +paths of this life. + +According to a popular belief, the life of one man, a bishop named Don +Martin (1219-48), is wrapped up in Mondonedo's cathedral, so much so, in +fact, that both their lives are one and the same. He began building his +see; he saw it finished and consecrated it--_construxit, consumavit et +consacravit_; then he died, but the church and his name lived on. + +Modern art critics disagree with the above belief; the older or +primitive part of the church dates from the twelfth and not from the +thirteenth century. Originally, as can easily be seen upon examining the +older part of the building, it was a pure Romanesque basilica, the nave +and the two aisles running up to the transept, where they were cut off, +and immediately to the east of the latter came the apse with three +chapels, the lady-chapel being slightly larger than the lateral ones. + +In the primitive construction of the building--and excepting all +later-date additions, of which there are more than enough--early Gothic +and Romanesque elements are so closely intermingled that one is perforce +obliged to consider the monument as belonging to the period of +Transition, as being, perhaps, a unique example of this period to be met +with in Galicia or even in Spain. Of course, as in the case of the other +Galician cathedrals, the original character of the interior, which if it +had remained unaltered would be both majestic and imposing, has been +greatly deformed by the addition of posterior reforms. The form of the +apse has been completely changed by the introduction of an ambulatory or +circular apsidal aisle dating at least from the fifteenth century, as +shown by the presence of the late Gothic and Renaissance elements. + +[Illustration: MONDONEDO CATHEDRAL] + +The general plan is rectangular, 120 feet long by seventy-one wide, and +seen from the outside is solid rather than elegant, a fortress rather +than a temple. The height of the nave, crowned by a Gothic vaulting, is +about forty-five feet; a triforium (ogival) runs around the top. The +lateral aisles are slightly more than half as high and covered by a +Romanesque vaulting reposing on capitals and shafts of the finest +twelfth century execution. + +The original basilica form of the church has, unluckily, been altered by +the additional length given to the arms of the transept, and, as +mentioned already, by the ambulatory walk characteristic of Spanish +cathedrals; the workmanship of the latter, though lamentably out of tune +in this old cathedral, is, taken by itself, better than many similar +additions in other churches. + +The western facade, which is the only one worthy of contemplation, is as +good an example of Romanesque, spoilt by the addition at a recent date +of grotesque and bizarre figures and monsters, as can be seen anywhere. + +The buttresses are more developed than in either Lugo or Santiago, and +though these bodies, from a decorative point of view, were evidently +intended to give a certain seal of elegance to the ensemble, the +stunted towers and the few windows in the body of the church only help +to heighten its fortress-like aspect. + +In a previous paragraph it has been stated that this cathedral is +perhaps a unique example of the period of Transition (Romanesque and +early Gothic). It is an opinion shared by many art critics, but +personally the author of these lines is inclined to consider it as an +example of the Galician conservative spirit, and of the fight that was +made in cathedral chapters _against_ the introduction of early Gothic. +For the temple at Santiago was Romanesque; therefore, according to the +narrow reasoning peculiar to Galicia, that style was the _best_ and +consequently _good enough_ for any other church. As a result, we have in +this region of Spain a series of cathedrals which are practically +Romanesque, but into the structure of which ogival elements have +filtered. Further, as there is no existing example of a finished Gothic +church in Galicia, it is rather difficult to speak of a period of +Transition, by which is meant the period of passing from one style to +another. In Galicia, there was no passing: the conservative spirit of +the country, the poetry of the Celtic inhabitants, and above all of +their artists, found greater pleasure in Romanesque than in Gothic, and +consequently the cathedrals are Romanesque, with slight Gothic +additions, when these could combine or submit in arrangement to the +heavier Romanesque principles of architecture. + +Later, in other centuries, the spirit of architecture had completely +died out in Spain, and the additions made in these days are so many +lamentable signs of decadence. Not so the ogival introduction in +Romanesque churches, which in many cases improved the Romanesque +appearance. + + + + +IV + +LUGO + + +What Santiago was as regards ecclesiastical politics, Lugo, one of the +three cities on the Mino River, was as regards civil power. It was the +nominal capital of Galicia, and at one time, in the reign of Alfonso the +Chaste, it was intended to make it the capital of the nascent Spanish +kingdom, but for some reason or other Oviedo was chosen instead as being +more suitable. Since then the city of Lugo has completely fallen into +ruins and insignificance. + +It first appears in history when the Romans conquered it from the Celts. +It was their capital and their Holy City; in its centre was Lupa's +Bower, where the Romans built a magnificent temple to Diana. Some +mosaics of this edifice have been discovered recently, and the peculiar +designs prove beyond a doubt that the mythological attributions of the +Celts were made use of and intermingled with those of the Latin +race--not at all a strange occurrence, as Lupa and Diana seem to have +enjoyed many common qualities. + +Under the Roman rule, the city walls, remains of which are still +standing in many places, were erected, and Locus Augusti became the +capital of the northern provinces. + +All through the middle ages, when really Oviedo had usurped its civil, +and Santiago its religious significance, Lugo was still considered as +being the capital of Galicia, a stronghold against Arab incursions, and +a hotbed of unruly noblemen who lost no opportunity in striking a blow +for liberty against the encroaching power of the neighbouring kingdom of +Asturias, and later on of Leon. When at last the central power of the +Christian kings was firmly established in Leon and Castile, in Lugo the +famous message of adhesion to the dynasty of the Alfonsos was voted, and +the kingdom of Galicia, like that of Asturias, faded away, the shadow of +a name without even the right to have its coat of arms placed on the +national escutcheon. + +The ecclesiastical history of the city of Lugo is neither interesting +nor does it differ from that of other Galician towns. Erected to a see +in the fifth century, its cathedral was a primitive basilica destroyed +by the Moors in one of their powerful northern raids in the eighth +century. The legendary bishop Odoario lost no time in building a second +basilica, which met the same fate about two hundred years later, in the +tenth century. Alfonso the Chaste, one of the few kings of Asturias to +take a lively interest in Galician politics, ordered either the +reconstruction of the old basilica or the erection of a new temple. + +Those were stormy times for the city: between the rise and stand of +ambitious noblemen, who, pretending to fight for Galicia's freedom, +fought for their own interests, and the continual encroachments of the +proud prelates on the rights and privileges of the people, barely a year +passed without Lugo being the scene of street fights or sieges. As in +Santiago, one prince of the Church lost his life, murdered by the +faithful (_sic_) flocks, and many, upon coming to take possession of +their see, found the city gates locked in their faces, and were obliged +to conquer the cathedral before entering their palace. + +The new basilica suffered in consequence, and had to be entirely rebuilt +in the twelfth century. The new edifice is the one standing to-day, but +how changed from the primitive building! Thanks to graceless additions +in all possible styles and combinations of styles, the Romanesque origin +is hardly recognizable. Consequently, the cathedral church of Lugo, +which otherwise might have been an architectural jewel, does not inspire +the visitor with any of those sentiments that ought to be the very +essence of time-worn religious edifices of all kinds. + +The general disposition of the church is Roman cruciform; the arms of +the cross are exceedingly short, however, in comparison to their height; +the _croisee_ is surmounted by a semicircular vaulting (Spanish +Romanesque). + +The nave shows decided affinity to early Gothic, as shown by the ogival +arches and vaulting. The presence of the ogival arches (as well as those +of the handsome triforium, perhaps the most elegant in Galicia) shows +this church to be the first in Galicia to have submitted to the +infiltration of Gothic elements. This peculiarity is explained by the +fact that, in 1129, the erection of the cathedral was entrusted to one +Maestro Raimundo, who stipulated that, in the case of his death before +the completion of the church, his son should be commissioned to carry on +the work. He died, and his son, a generation younger and imbued with the +newer architectural theories, even went so far as to alter his father's +plans; he built the nave higher than was customary in Romanesque +churches, and gave elegance to the whole structure by employing the +pointed arch even in the triforium, otherwise a copy of that of +Santiago. + +The most curious and impressive part of the building is that constructed +by Maestro Raimundo, father, namely the aisles, especially that part of +them to the right and left of the choir; they are, with the _croisee_, +the best interior remains of the primitive Romanesque plans: short, even +stumpy, rather dark it is true, for the light that comes in by the +narrow windows is but poor at its best, they are, nevertheless, rich in +decorative designs. The wealth of sculptural ornaments of pure +Romanesque in these aisles is perhaps the cathedral's best claim to the +tourist's admiration, and puts it in a prominent place among the +Romanesque cathedrals of Spain. + +Not the same favourable opinion can be emitted when it is a question of +the exterior. The towers are comparatively new; the apse--with the +peculiar and salient addition of an octagonal body revealing Renaissance +influence--is picturesque, it is true, but at the same time it has +spoilt the architectural value of the cathedral as a Romanesque edifice. + +The northern facade, preceded by an ogival porch so common in Galicia, +contains a portal of greater beauty than the Puerta de la Plateria in +Santiago, and stands forth in greater prominence than the other named +example of twelfth-century art, by not being lost among or depressed by +flanking bodies of greater height and mass. As regards the sculptural +ornamentation of the door itself, it is felt and not only portrayed: the +Christ standing between the immense valves of the _vesica piscis_ which +crowns the portal is an example of twelfth-century sculpture. The +iron-studded panels of the doors have already been praised by Street, +who placed their execution likewise in the twelfth century. + +Excepting this portal--a marvel in its class with its rounded tympanum +richly ornamented--the portion of the building doubtless more strongly +imbued than any other with the general spirit of the edifice is that +part of the apse independent of the octagonal addition previously +mentioned, and which is dedicated to "_La Virgen de los Ojos +Grandes_"--the Virgin of the Large Eyes. (She must have been +Andalusian!) Of the true apse, the lower part has ogival arched windows +of singular elegance; the upper body, also semicircular in form, but +slightly smaller, has round-headed windows. Both the ogival windows of +the first and the Romanesque windows of the second harmonize +wonderfully, thanks to the lesser height and width of the upper row. The +buttresses, simple, and yet alive with a gently curving line, are well +worth noticing. It is strange, nevertheless, that they should not reach +the ground, but only support the upper body, and unite it with the +lower, forming thus a sort of crown for the latter's benefit. + +Personally--and the author must be excused if he emit his opinion--he +considers the old apse of the cathedral in Lugo to be one of the finest +pieces of architecture to be met with in Galicia. It belongs to what has +been called the period of Transition (compare previous remarks in +another chapter concerning this style), and yet it has a character of +its own not to be found elsewhere, and the harmony of ogival and +Romanesque has been so artfully revealed that it cannot fail to appeal +to the tourist who contemplates it carefully. + + + + +V + +ORENSE + + +Coming by rail from Lugo or Monforte toward Tuy and Vigo, the train +suddenly escapes from the savage canon where the picturesque Mino rushes +and boils beside the road, and emerges into a broad and fertile valley +where figs, grapes, and olives grow in profusion. This valley is broad, +its soil is of golden hue, and the sky above it is as brilliantly blue +as a sapphire. In its centre Orense, heavy Orense, which claims as its +founder a Greek hero fresh from the pages of the Iliad, basks in the sun +beside the beautiful Mino; the while its cathedral looms up above the +roofs of the surrounding houses. + +The history of the town is as agitated as any in Galicia and shows the +same general happenings. The Romans appreciated it for its sulphur baths +and called it Auria (golden) from the colour of the soil, of the water, +and perhaps also on account of certain grains of gold discovered in the +sands of the Mino. + +The Suevos, who dominated Galicia and proved so beneficial to Tuy, did +not ignore the importance of Orense: one of the first bishoprics, if not +_the_ first historical one in Galicia, was that of Orense, dating from +before the fourth century, at least such is the opinion of to-day. + +More than any other Galician city, excepting Tuy, it suffered from the +Arab invasions. Entirely destroyed, razed to the ground upon two +occasions, it was ever being rebuilt by the returning inhabitants who +had fled. Previous to these Arab incursions the cathedral had been +dedicated to St. Martin de Tours (France), and yearly pilgrimages took +place to the Galician shrine, where some relics belonging to the saint +were revered. But with the infidels these relics, or whatever they were, +were dispersed, and the next century (the eleventh) saw the new +cathedral dedicated to the Virgin Mother (?). Besides, the inhabitants +seemed to have forgotten the patronage of St. Martin, he who protects +the vine-grower's _metier_--and this in spite of the fact that the +valley of Orense is and was famous above all Galician regions for the +cultivation of vines. Even Froissart, the French historian, could not +speak of the town without mentioning its wine. He passed a season in the +valley, accompanying, I believe, the Duke of Lancaster and his English +soldiers. The wine was so good and strong, wrote the historian, that the +soldiers clamoured for it; after they had drunk a little they toppled +over like ninepins. + +The Arabs defeated and thrown out of the peninsula, the vikings' last +business trip to Galicia over, and the Portuguese arms driven to the +valley of Braga beyond the Mino, Orense settled down to a peaceful life, +the monotony of which was broken now and again--as it usually was in +this part of the country--by squabbles between noblemen, prelates, and +the _bons bourgeois_. If no prince of the Church was killed here, as +happened in Lugo, one at least died mysteriously in the hands of his +enemies. Not that it seemed to have mattered much, for said bishop +appears to have been a peculiar sort of spiritual shepherd, full of +vice, and devoid of virtue, some of whose doings have been +caricatured--according to the popular belief--in the cornices and +friezes of the convent of San Francisco. + +Otherwise, peace reigned in the land, and Orense passed a quiet +existence, a circumstance that did not in the slightest add to its +importance, either as an art, commercial, or industrial centre. To-day, +full of strangers in summer, who visit the sulphurous baths as did the +Romans, and empty in winter, it exists without living, as does so many a +Spanish town. + +Nevertheless, with Vigo and Corunna, it is one of the cities with a +future still before it. At least, its situation is bound to call +attention as soon as ever the country is opened up to progress and +commerce. + +The cathedral of Orense, like those of Tuy, Santiago, and Lugo, was +erected in a _castro_. These _castros_ were circular dips in the ground, +surrounded by a low wall, which served the druids as their place of +worship. The erection of Christian churches in these sacred spots proves +beyond a doubt that the new religion became amalgamated with the old, +and even laid its foundations on the latter's most hallowed _castros_. + +Perhaps the question presents itself as to why a cathedral was erected +in Orense previous to any other city. From a legend it would appear +that the king of the Suevos, Carrarick, had a son who was dying; thanks +to the advice of a Christian monk, a disciple of St. Martin, and, one is +inclined to think, fresh from Tours, the king dipped his son in the +baths of Orense, invoking at the same time the help of St. Martin. Upon +pulling his offspring out of the water, he discovered that he had been +miraculously cured. The grateful monarch immediately became a stout +Christian, and erected a basilica--destroyed and rebuilt many a time +during the dark ages of feudalism and Arab invasion--in honour of his +son's saviour. What is more wonderful still is that, soon afterward, the +relics of the French saint were cherished in Orense without its being +positively known whence they came! + +The present cathedral, the date of the erection of which is a point of +discussion to-day, is generally believed to have been built on the spot +occupied by the primitive basilica. It is dedicated to Santa Maria la +Madre according to the official (doubtful?) statement, and to St. Martin +of Tours, Apostle of Gaul, according to the popular version. + +The general appearance of the cathedral proclaims it to have been begun, +or at least planned, in the twelfth century, and not, as Baedeker +states, in 1220. As a twelfth-century church we are not obliged to +consider it for more reasons than one, and especially because, as we +have seen, the twelfth century was the great period of Galician +church-building. It was in this century that the northwest shone forth +in the history of Spain as it had not done before, nor has done since. + +The church is another Romanesque specimen, but less pure in its style +than any of the others mentioned so far: the ogival arch is prevalent, +but rather as a decorative than as an essentially constructive element. +As it is, it was commenced at least fifty years after the cathedral of +Lugo, and though both are twelfth-century churches, the one is an early +and the other presumably a late one; the employment of the ogival arch +to a greater degree in Orense than in Lugo is thus easily explained. + +In short, the cathedral of Orense is another example of the peculiar +Romanesque of Galicia, which, withstanding the invasion of Gothic, +created a school of its own, pretty in details, bold in harmony, though +it be a hybrid school after all. + +The influence of the cathedral of Santiago is self-evident in the +cathedral of Orense. How could it be otherwise, when the bishop Don +Diego, who sat on the chair, was a great friend and a continual visitor +of that other Don Diego in Santiago who erected the primate cathedral of +Galicia? + +This influence is above all to be seen in the Portico del Paraiso, an +interior narthex leading from the western front to the body of the +church. It is a handsome area of Romanesque sculpture covered by an +ogival vaulting, and would be an important monument if its rival and +prototype in Santiago were not greater, both as regards its perfection +of design, and the grand idea which inspired it. + +Of the three doors which lead into the cathedral, the western is crowned +by three rounded arches reposing on simple columns. The tympanum as a +decorative element is lacking, as is also the low relief, which is +usually superimposed above the upper arches. The latter are, however, +carved in the most elaborate manner. As regards the other two portals, +the northern and southern, their composition, as far as generalities are +concerned, is the same as the western, excepting that they are +surrounded by a depressed semicircular arch in relief, the whole of a +primitive design. + +[Illustration: NORTHERN PORTAL OF ORENSE CATHEDRAL] + +The towers of the cathedral are not old. The general impression of the +building from the outside--unluckily it cannot be contemplated from any +distance, as the surrounding houses impede it--is agreeable. To be +especially observed are some fine fourteenth-century (?) windows which +show ogival pattern, but either of timid execution or else of a bold +endeavour on the artist's part to subdue solemn Gothic to the Romanesque +traditions of the country. + +The interior has been restored and changed many a time. In its original +plan it consisted of two aisles and a nave with a one-aisled transept, +and, just as in Lugo, an apse formed by three semicircles, of which the +central was the largest, and contained the high altar. To-day, though +the general appearance or disposition of the church (Roman cruciform +with exceedingly short lateral arms) is the same, an ambulatory walk +surrounds the high altar, which has been moved nearer the transept in +the principal nave. The vaulting is ogival, reposing on solid and +severe shafts; the aisles are slightly lower than the central nave, and +the _croisee_ is surmounted, as in Santiago, by a handsome cupola +similar in construction to that of Valencia, though more reduced in +size, and of a less elegant pattern. + +The lack of triforium is to be noted, and its want is felt. + +The northern aisle has no chapels let into its exterior wall, but a long +row of sepulchres and sepulchral reliefs to replace them. Some of them +are severe and beautiful. The choir has finely carved stalls, and the +Gothic _retablo_ is the only one of its kind in Galicia, and one of the +best in Spain. + +Many more details could be given concerning the worthy cathedral of +Orense, second only in richness of certain elements to that of Santiago. +The additions, both in Romanesque and ogival styles, are better than in +most other cathedrals in Galicia, though, as far as Renaissance is +concerned, Galicia showed but little love for Italia's art. This was due +to the regional Celtic taste of the inhabitants, or else to the marked +signs of art decadence in this part of Spain, when the Renaissance was +introduced into the country. + +As regards the cloister,--small and rather compact in its +composition,--it is held by many to be a jewel of the fifteenth century +in the ogival style, handsome in its general outlines, and beautiful in +its wealth of sculptural decoration. + + + + +VI + +TUY + + +The last Spanish city on the Mino, the Rhine of Galicia, as beautiful as +its German rival, and as rich in architectural remains, both military +and ecclesiastical, is Tuy, the Castellum Tude of the Romans, lying +half-way on the main road from Braga (Portugal) to Lugo and Astorga in +Spain. + +The approach to the city by rail from Orense is simply superb. The +valley of the Mino is broad and luxuriant, with ruins of castles to the +right and to the left, ahead and behind; in the distance, time-old Tuy, +the city of a hundred misfortunes, is seated on an isolated hill, the +summit of which is crowned by a fortress-cathedral of the twelfth +century. + +Tuy sits on her hill, and gazes across the river at Valenca do Minho, +the rival fortress opposite, and the first town in Portugal. A handsome +bridge unites the enemies--friends to-day. Nevertheless, the cannons' +mouths of the glaring strongholds are for ever pointed toward each +other, as though wishing to recall those days of the middle ages when +Tuy was the goal of Portuguese ambitions and the last Spanish town in +Galicia. + +Before the Romans conquered Iberia, Tuy, which is evidently a Celtic +name, was a most important town. This is easily explained by its +position, a sort of inland Gibraltar, backed by the Sierra to the rear, +and crowning the river which brought ships from the ocean to its +wharves. The city's future was brilliant. + +Matters changed soon, however. The Romans drew away much of its power to +cities further inland, as was their wont. The castle remained standing, +as did the walls, which reached on the northern shores of the river down +to Guardia, situated in the delta about thirty miles away. Remains of +the cyclopean walls which crown the mountain chain on the Spanish side +of the Mino are still to be seen to-day, yet they give but a feeble idea +of the city's former strength. + +After the Romans had been defeated by the invasion of savage tribes from +the north, Tuy became the capital of the Suevos, a tribe opposed to the +Visigoths, who settled in the rest of Spain, and for centuries waged a +cruel war against the kings whose subjects had settled principally in +Galicia and in the north of Portugal. + +The power of the Suevos, who were seated firmly in Tuy, was at last +completely broken, and the capital, its inhabitants fighting +energetically to the end, was at length conquered. It was the last +stronghold to fall into the hands of the conquerors. A century later +Witiza, the sovereign of the Visigoths, made Tuy his capital for some +length of time, and the district round about is full of the traditions +of the doings of this monarch. Most of these legends denigrate his +character, and make him appear cruel, wilful, and false. One of them, +concerning Duke Favila and Dona Luz, is perhaps the most popular. +According to it, Witiza fell in love with the former's wife, Dona Luz, +and, to remove the husband, he heartlessly had his eyes put out, on the +charge of being ambitious, and of having conspired against the throne. +The fate that awaited Dona Luz, who defended her honour, was no better, +according to this legend. + +After the return of Witiza to Toledo, the city slowly lost its +importance, and since then she has never recovered her ancient fame. + +Like the remaining seaports of Galicia,--or such cities as were situated +near the ocean,--Tuy was sacked and pillaged by Arabs and vikings alike. +The times were extremely warlike, and Galicia, from her position, and on +account of the independent spirit of the noblemen, was called upon to +suffer more than any other region, and Tuy, near the ocean, and a +frontier town to boot, underwent greater hardships than any other +Galician city. Of an admirable natural position, it would have been able +to resist the attacks of Gudroed and Olaf, of the Portuguese noblemen +and of Arab armies, had it been but decently fortified. The lack of such +fortifications, however, and the neglect and indifference with which it +was, as a rule, regarded by the kings of Asturias, easily account for +its having fallen into the hands of enemies, of having been razed more +than once to the ground, of having been the seat of ambitious and +conspiring noblemen who were only bent on thrashing their neighbours, +Christians and infidels alike. + +In the sixth century Tuy had already been raised to the dignity of a +city, but until after the eleventh century the prelates of the church, +tyrants when the times were propitious, but cowardly when danger was at +hand, were continually removing their see to the neighbouring villages +and mountains to the rear. They left their church with surprising +alacrity and ease to the mercy of warriors and enemies, to such an +extent, in fact, that neither are documents at hand to tell us what +happened exactly in the darker ages of mediaeval history, nor are the +existing monuments in themselves sufficient to convince us of the +vicissitudes which befell the city, its see, and the latter's flocks. + +Since the last Arab and Norseman raid, matters seemed to have gone +better with fair Tuy, for, excepting the continual strife between +Portuguese and Galician noblemen, who were for ever gaining and losing +the city on the Mino, neither infidels nor pirates visited its wharves. +It was then that the foundations of the present cathedral were laid, but +not without disputes between the prelates (one of whom was taken +prisoner, and had to give a handsome ransom to be released) and the +noblemen who called themselves seigneurs of the city. Between the +claims and struggles of these two factions, those who suffered most were +the citizens themselves, who had nothing to gain and everything to lose. +Between the bishops who pretended to possess the whole city, and the +noblemen who endeavoured to leave the prelates without a groat, the +ignored inhabitants of the poorer quarters of the town passed a +miserable life. + +Since the middle ages, or better still, since the time when the Mino +became definitely the frontier line between Spain and Portugal, the city +of Tuy has been heard of but little. Few art students visit it to-day, +and yet it is one of the most picturesquely situated cities in Galicia, +or even in Spain. Its cathedral, as well as the Pre-Roman, Roman, +Gothic, and middle age remains,--most of them covered over with heaps of +dust and earth,--are well worth a visit, being highly interesting both +to artists and to archaeological students. + +In short, Tuy on her hill beside the Mino, glaring across an iron bridge +at Portugal, is a city rich in traditions and legends of faded hopes and +past glories. Unluckily for her, cities of less historical fame are +better known and more admired. + +As has already been mentioned, the cathedral crowns the hill, upon the +slopes of which the city descends to the river; moreover, the edifice +occupies the summit only,--a _castro_, as explained in a previous +chapter. Therefore, for proofs are lacking both ways, it is probable +that the present building was erected on the same spot where the many +basilicas which we know existed and were destroyed in one or another of +the many sieges, stood in bygone days. + +The present cathedral dedicated to the Virgin Mary, like that in Orense, +was most likely begun in the first half of the twelfth century; +successive earthquakes suffered by the city, especially that felt in +Lisbon in 1755, obliged the edifice to be repaired more than once, which +accounts for many of the base additions which spoil the ensemble. + +From the general disposition of the building, which is similar in many +details to the cathedral at Lugo, it has been thought probable that +Maestro Raimundo (father?) was the builder of the church; definite +proofs are, however, lacking. + +The ground-plan is rectangular, with a square apse; the interior is +Roman cruciform, consisting of a nave and two aisles; the transept, like +that of Santiago, is also composed of a nave and two aisles; the four +arms of the cross are all of them very short, and almost all are of the +same length. Were it not for the height of the nave, crowned by a +Romanesque triforium of blinded arches, the interior would be decidedly +ugly. However, the height attained gives a noble aspect to the whole, +and what is more, renders the ensemble curious rather than beautiful. + +The large and ungainly choir spoils the general view of the nave, +whereas the continuation of the aisles, broad and light to the very +apse, where, facing each aisle, there is a handsome rose window which +throws a flood of coloured light into the building, cannot be too highly +praised. + +The walls are devoid of all decoration, and if it were not for the +chapels, some of which in default of pure workmanship are richly +ornamented, this see of Tuy would have to pass as a very poor one +indeed. + +The roof of the building has been added lately, doubtless after one of +the many earthquakes. It is of a simple execution, neither good nor bad, +composed of a series of slightly rounded arches with pronounced ribs. + +It is outside, however, that the tourist will pass the greater part of +his time. Unluckily, the houses which closely surround the building +forbid a general view from being obtained of any but the western front, +yet this is perhaps a blessing, for none of the other sides are worthy +of special notice. + +As mentioned, the appearance of the church is that of a fortress rather +than of a temple, or better still, is that of a feudal castle. The +crenelated square tower on the western front is heavy, and no higher +than the peaked and simple crowning of the handsome Romanesque window +above the narthex; the general impression is that of resistance rather +than of faith, and the lack of all decoration has caused the temple to +be called sombre. + +The handsome narthex, the summit of which is crenelated like the tower, +is the simplest and noblest to be found in Galicia, and is really +beautiful in its original severity. Though dating from a time when +florid ogival had taken possession of Spain, the artist who erected it +(it is posterior to the rest of the building--early fifteenth +century) had the good taste to complete it simply, without +decoration, so as to render it homogeneous with the rest of the +building. It is also possible that there were no funds at hand for him +to erect it otherwise! + +[Illustration: TUY CATHEDRAL] + +The doors stand immediately behind this narthex. The portal is carved or +decorated in an elaborate late Romanesque style, one of the most richly +ornamented porticos belonging to this school in Spain, and a handsome +page in the history of Galician art in the twelfth century. The low +reliefs above the door and in the tympanum of the richly carved arcade, +are _felt_ and are admirably executed. + +The northern entrance to the building is another fine example of +twelfth-century Spanish, or Galician Romanesque. Though simpler in +execution than the western front, it nevertheless is by some critics +considered purer in style (earlier?) than the first mentioned. + +The tower which stands to the left of the northern entrance is one of +the few in the Romanesque style to be seen in northern Spain; it is +severe in its structure and pierced by a series of round-headed windows. + +The cloister dating from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries is +another of Galicia's monuments well worth a visit, which proves the +local mixture of Romanesque and ogival, and is, perhaps, the last +example on record, as toward the fifteenth century Renaissance elements +had completely captured all art monuments. + +Such is the cathedral of Tuy, a unique example of Galician Romanesque in +certain details, an edifice that really ought to be better known than it +is. + + + + +VII + +BAYONA AND VIGO + + +The prettiest bay in Galicia is that of Vigo, which reaches inland to +Redondela--a village seated, as it were, on a Swiss lake, with two +immense viaducts passing over its head where the train speeds to Tuy and +Santiago. There is no lovelier spot in all Spain. + +The city of Vigo, with its suffragan church on the hillside, is a modern +town dedicated to commerce; its wharves are important, and the water in +the bay is deep enough to permit the largest vessels afloat to enter and +anchor. The art student will not linger here, however, but will go by +boat to Bayona outside the bay and to the south near the Portuguese +frontier. + +Here, until quite recently, stood for an unknown length of time the +suffragan church which has now been removed to Vigo. But Bayona, once +upon a time the most important seaport in Galicia, is a ruin to-day, a +delightful ruin, and one of the prettiest in its ensemble, thanks to the +beautiful and weird surroundings. + +Its history extends from the times of the Phoenicians, Greeks, and +Romans,--even earlier, as remains of lake-dwellers have been found. This +statement is not an exaggeration, though it may appear to be one, for +the bay is as quiet as a lake. + +After the defeat of the Armada, Bayona was left a prey to Drake and his +worthy companions. They dealt the city a death-blow from which it has +never recovered, and Vigo, the new, the commercial, has usurped its +importance, as it did its church, which once upon a time, as is +generally believed, was a bishopric. + +The present ruinous edifice of Bayona is peculiarly Galician and shows +the same characteristics as the remaining cathedrals we have spoken +about so far. It was ordained in 1482 by the Bishop of Tuy. The windows +of the nave (clerestory) are decidedly pointed or ogival; those of the +aisles are pure Romanesque. The peculiar feature is the use of animal +designs in the decorative elements of the capitals,--a unique example +in Galicia, where only floral or leaf motives were used in the best +period of Romanesque. The design to be noticed here on one of the +capitals is a bird devouring a toad, and it is so crudely and rustically +carved that one is almost inclined to believe that a native of the +country conceived and executed it. + + + + +_PART III_ + +_The North_ + + + + +I + +OVIEDO + + +"Oviedo was born of a religious inspiration; its first building was a +temple (monastery?), and monks were its first inhabitants." + +In the valley adjoining Cangas, in the eighth century, the most +important village in Asturias, a religious sect erected a monastery. +Froila or Froela, one of the early noblemen (now called a king, though +he was no king in those days) who fought against the Moors, erected in +the same century a church in the vicinity of Cangas (in Oviedo?), +dedicating it to the Saviour; he also built a palace near the same spot. +His son, Alfonso the Chaste, born in this palace, was brought up in a +convent near Lugo in Galicia. Upon becoming king he hesitated whether to +establish his court in Lugo, or in the new village which had been his +birthplace, namely Oviedo. At length, remembering perhaps his father's +love for the country near Cangas, he established it in the latter place +in the ninth century, and formed the kingdom of Asturias as opposed to +that of Galicia; the capital of the new kingdom was Oviedo. + +"The king gave the city to the Saviour and to the venerable church built +by his father, and which, like a sun surrounded by its planets, he +placed within a circle of other temples. + +"He convocated an ecclesiastical council with a view to establish a +primate see in Oviedo; he maintained an assembly of prelates who lent +lustre to the church, and he gave each a particular residence; the +spiritual splendour of Oviedo eclipsed even the brilliancy of the +throne." + +This was in 812, and the first bishop consecrated was one Adulfo. + +The subsequent reign of Alfonso was signalized by the discovery in +Galicia of the corpse of St. James the Apostle. The sovereign, it +appears, showed great interest in the discovery, established a church on +the sacred spot, and generously donated the nascent town. Not without +reason did posterity celebrate his many Christian virtues by calling +him the Chaste, _el Casto_. + +Two hundred years only did Oviedo play an important part in the history +of Spain as capital of the Christian Kingdom. In 1020 its civil +dignities were removed by Alfonso V. to Leon in the south. From then on +the city remained important only as the alleged cradle of the new +dynasty, and its church--that of the Salvador--was used as the pantheon +of the kings. + +In the twelfth century the basilica was in a ruinous state, and almost +completely destroyed. The fate of the Romanesque edifice which was then +built was as short as the city's glory had been ephemeral, for in 1380 +it was destroyed by flames, and in its place the first stone of the +present building was laid by one Bishop Gutierre. One hundred and +seventy years later the then reigning prelate placed his coat of arms on +the spire, and the Gothic monument which is to-day admired by all who +visit it was completed. + +The history of the city--an ecclesiastical and civil metropolis--is +devoid of interest since the tenth century. It was as though the streets +were too crowded with the legends of the fictitious kingdom of Asturias, +to be enabled to shake off the depression which little by little spread +over the whole town. + +Apart from its cathedral, Oviedo and the surrounding country possesses +many of the earliest religious monuments in Spain, dating from the +eighth century. These, on account of their primary Romanesque and +basilica style, form a chapter apart in the history of ecclesiastical +architecture, and ought to be thoroughly studied. This is not the place, +however, to speak about them, in spite of their extreme age and the +great interest they awaken. + +Nothing could be more graceful than the famous tower of the cathedral of +Oviedo, which is a superb Gothic _fleche_ of well-proportioned elements, +and literally covered over and encrusted with tiny pinnacles. Slender +and tapering, it rises to a height of about 280 feet. It is composed of +five distinct bodies, of which the penultimate betrays certain +Renaissance influences in the triangular cornices of the windows, etc.; +this passes, however, entirely unperceived from a certain distance. The +angles formed by the sides of the tower are flanked by a pair of slender +shafts in high relief, which tend to give it an even more majestic +impression than would be the case without them. + +[Illustration: OVIEDO CATHEDRAL] + +The cathedral itself is a late ogival building belonging to the +fifteenth century; though it cannot compare in fairy-like beauty with +that of Leon, nor in majesty with that of Burgos, it is nevertheless one +of the richest Gothic structures in Spain, especially as regards the +decoration of the interior. + +The western front is entirely taken up by the triple portal, surmounted +by arches that prove a certain reluctance on the builder's part to make +them pointed; the northern extremity of the front is devoid of a tower, +though the base be standing. It was originally intended to erect a +second _fleche_ similar to the one described, but for some reason or +other--without a doubt purely financial--it was never built. + +Of the three portals, that which corresponds to the central nave is the +larger; it is flanked by the only two statuettes in the whole front, +namely, by those of Alfonso the Chaste and Froela, and is surmounted by +a bold low relief. The arches of the three doors are richly carved with +ogival arabesques, and the panels, though more modern, have been wrought +by the hand of a master. + +Taken all in all, this western front can be counted among the most +sombre and naked in Spain, so naked, in fact, that it appears rather as +though money had been lacking to give it a richer aspect than that the +artist's genius should have been so completely devoid of decorative +taste or imagination. + +The interior of the Roman cruciform building, though by no means one of +the largest, is, as regards its architectural disposition, one of the +most imposing Gothic interiors in Spain. High, long, and narrow, the +central nave is rendered lighter and more elegant by the bold triforium +and the lancet windows of the upper clerestory wall. The wider aisles, +on the other hand, are dark in comparison to the nave, and tend to give +the latter greater importance. + +This was doubtless the intention of the primitive master who terminated +the aisles at the transept by constructing chapels to the right and to +the left of the high altar and on a line with it. The sixteenth-century +builders thought differently, however, and so the aisles were prolonged +into an apsidal ambulatory behind the high altar. This part of the +building is far less pure in style than the primitive structure, and the +chapels which open to the right and to the left are of a more recent +date, and consequently even more out of harmony than the plateresque +ambulatory. The three rose windows in the semicircular apse are richly +decorated with ogival nervures, and correspond, one to the nave and one +to each of the aisles; they belong to the primitive structure, having +illuminated the afore-mentioned chapels. + +Standing beneath the _croisee_, under a simple ogival vaulting, the ribs +of which are supported by richly carved capitals and elegant shafts, the +tourist is almost as favourably impressed by the view of the high altar +to the east and of the choir to the west, as is the case in Toledo. For +in Oviedo begins that series of Gothic churches in which the aesthetic +impression is not restricted to architectural or sculptural details +alone, but is also produced by the blinding display of metal, wood, and +other decorative accessories. + +The _retablo_--a fine Gothic specimen--stands boldly forth against the +light coming from the apse in the rear, while on the opposite side of +the transept handsome, deep brown choir stalls peep out from behind a +magnificent iron _reja_. So beautiful is the view of the choir's +ensemble that the spectator almost forgives it for breaking in upon the +grandeur of the nave. + +The chapels buried in the walls of the north aisle have most of them +been built in too extravagant a manner; the south aisle, on the other +hand, is devoid of such characteristic rooms, but contains some highly +interesting tomb slabs. + +The cloister to the south of the church is a rich and florid example of +late ogival; it is, above all, conspicuous for the marvellous variety of +its decorative motives, both as regards the sculptural scenes of the +capitals (which portray scenes in the lives of saints and Asturian +kings, and are almost grotesque, though by no means carved without fire +and spirit) and the fretwork of the arches which look out upon the +garth. + +The Camara Santa, or treasure-room, is an annex to the north of the +cathedral, and dates from the ninth or tenth century; it is small, and +was formerly used as a chapel in the old Romanesque building torn down +in 1380. Beside it, in the eleventh century, was constructed another and +larger room in the same style, with the characteristic Romanesque +vaulting, the rounded windows, and the decorative motives of the massive +pillars and capitals. + +[Illustration: CLOISTER OF OVIEDO CATHEDRAL] + + + + +II + +COVADONGA + + +To the battle of Covadonga modern Spain owes her existence, that is, if +we are to believe the legends which have been handed down to us, and +which rightfully or wrongfully belong to history. Under the +circumstances, it is not surprising that the gratitude of later monarchs +should have erected a church on the site of the famous battle, and +should have raised it to a collegiate church. + +Covadonga lies in the vicinity of Oviedo, in a ravine lost in the heart +of the Picos de Europa; it is at once the Morgarten and Sempach of +Spanish history, and though no art monuments, excepting the above named +monastic church and two Byzantine-Romanesque tombs, are to be seen, +there is hardly a visitor who, having come as far north as Oviedo, does +not pay a visit to the cradle of Spanish history. + +Nor is the time lost. For the tourist who leaves the capital of +Asturias with the intention of going, as would a pilgrim, to Covadonga +(by stage and not by rail!) will be delightfully surprised by the weird +and savage wildness of the country through which he is driven. + +Following the bed of a river, he enters a ravine; up and up climbs the +road bordered by steep declivities until at last it reaches a wall--a +_cul-de-sac_ the French would call it--rising perpendicularly ahead of +him. Half-way up, and on a platform, stands a solitary church; near by a +small cave, with an authentic (?) image of the Virgin of Battles and two +old sepulchres, is at first hidden from sight behind a protruding mass +of rock. + +The guide or cicerone then explains to the tourist the origin of Spanish +history in the middle ages, buried in the legends, of which the +following is a short extract. + +Pelayo, the son of Dona Luz and Duke Favila, who, as we have seen, was +killed by Witiza in Tuy, fled from Toledo to the north of Spain, living +among the savage inhabitants of Asturias. + +A few years later, when Rodrigo, who was king at the time, and by some +strange coincidence Pelayo's cousin as well, lost the battle of +Guadalete and his life to boot, the Arabs conquered the whole peninsula +and placed in Gijon, a seaport town of Asturias, a garrison under the +command of one Munuza. The latter fell desperately in love with Pelayo's +sister Hermesinda, whom he had met in the village of Cangas. Wishing to +get the brother out of the way, he sent him on an errand to Cordoba, +expecting him to be assassinated on the road. But Pelayo escaped and +returned in time to save his sister; mad with wrath and swearing eternal +revenge, he retreated to the mountainous vales of Asturias, bearing +Hermesinda away with him. He was joined by many refugee Christians +dissatisfied with the Arab yoke, and aided by them, made many a bold +incursion into the plains below, and grew so daring that at length +Munuza mustered an army two hundred thousand (!) strong and set out to +punish the rebel. + +Up a narrow pass between two high ridges went the pagan army, paying +little heed to the growing asperity and savageness of the path it was +treading. + +Suddenly ahead of the two hundred thousand a high sheet of rock rose +perpendicularly skywards; on a platform Pelayo and his three hundred +warriors, who somehow or other had managed to emerge from a miraculous +cave where they had found an effigy of the Virgin of Battles, made a +last stand for their lives and liberties. + +Immediately a shower of stones, beams, trunks, and what not was hurled +down into the midst of the heathen army by the three hundred warriors. +Confusion arose, and, like frightened deer, the Arabs turned and fled +down the path to the vale, pushing each other, in their fear, into the +precipice below. + +Then the Virgin of Battles arose, and wishing to make the defeat still +more glorious, she caused the whole mountain to slide; an avalanche of +stones and earth dragged the remnants of Munuza's army into the ravine +beneath. So great was the slaughter and the loss of lives caused by this +defeat, that "for centuries afterward bones and weapons were to be seen +in the bed of the river when autumn's heat left the sands bare." + +This Pelayo was the first king of Asturias, the first king of Spain, +from whom all later-date monarchs descended, though neither in a direct +nor a legitimate line, be it remarked in parenthesis. The tourist will +be told that it is Pelayo's tomb, and that of his sister, that are still +to be seen in the cave at Covadonga. Perhaps, though no documents or +other signs exist to bear out the statement. At any rate, the sepulchres +are old, which is their chief merit. The monastical church which stands +hard by cannot claim this latter quality; neither is it important as an +art monument. + + + + +III + +LEON + + +The civil power enjoyed by Oviedo previous to the eleventh century moved +southwards in the wake of Asturias's conquering army. For about a +century it stopped on its way to Toledo in a fortress-town situated in a +wind-swept plain, at the juncture of two important rivers. + +Leon was the name of this fortress, one of the strategical points, not +only of the early Romans, but of the Arabs who conquered the country, +and later of the nascent Christian kingdom of Asturias. In the tenth +century, or, better still, toward the beginning of the eleventh, and +after the final retreat of the Moors and their terrible general +Almanzor, Leon became the recognized capital of Asturias. + +When the Christian wave first spread over the Iberian peninsula in the +time of the Romans, the fortress Legio Septima, established by +Trajanus's soldiers, had already grown in importance, and was considered +one of the promising North Spanish towns. + +The inhabitants were among the most fearless adherents of the new faith, +and it is said that the first persecution of the martyrs took place in +Leon; consequently, it is not to be wondered at that, as soon as +Christianity was established in Iberia, a see should be erected on the +blood-soaked soil of the Roman fortress. (First known bishop, Basilides, +252 A. D.) + +Marcelo seems to have been the most stoically brave of the many Leonese +martyrs. A soldier or subaltern in the Roman legion, he was daring +enough to throw his sword at the feet of his commander, who stood in +front of the regiment, saying: + +"I obey the eternal King and scorn your silent gods of stone and wood. +If to obey Caesar is to revere him as an idol, I refuse to obey him." + +Stoic, with a grain of sad grandeur about them, were his last words when +Agricolanus condemned him to death. + +"May God bless you, Agricolano." + +And his head was severed from his body. + +The next religious war to be waged in and around Leon took place +between Christians and the invading Visigoths, who professed a doctrine +called Arrianism. Persecutions were, of course, ripe again, and the +story is told of how the prior of San Vicente, after having been +beheaded, appeared in a dream to his cloister brethren trembling behind +their monastic walls, and advised them to flee, as otherwise they would +all be killed,--an advice the timid monks thought was an explicit order +to be immediately obeyed. + +The conversion of Recaredo to Christianity--for political reasons +only!--stopped all further persecution; during the following centuries +Leon's inhabitants strove to keep away the Arab hordes who swept +northwards; now the Christians were overcome and Allah was worshipped in +the basilica; now the Asturian kings captured the town from Moorish +hands, and the holy cross crowned the altar. Finally the dreaded infidel +Almanzor burnt the city to the ground, and retreated to Cordoba. Ordono +I., following in his wake, rebuilt the walls and the basilica, and from +thenceforward Leon was never again to see an Arab army within its gates. + +Prosperity then smiled on the city soon to become the capital of the +kingdom of Asturias. The cathedral church was built on the spot where +Ordono had erected a palace; the first stone was laid in 1199. + +The traditions, legends, and historical events which took place in the +kingdom's capital until late in the thirteenth century belong to Spanish +history, or what is known as such. Ordono II. was mysteriously put to +death, by the Counts of Castile, some say; Alfonso IV.--a monk rather +than a king--renounced his right to the throne, and retired to a convent +to pray for his soul. After awhile he tired of mumbling prayers and, +coming out from his retreat, endeavoured to wrest the sceptre from the +hands of his brother Ramiro. But alas, had he never left the cloister +cell! He was taken prisoner by his humane brother, had his eyes burnt +out for the pains he had taken, and died a few years later. + +Not long after, Alfonso VII. was crowned Emperor of Spain in the church +of San Isidoro, an event which marks the climax of Leon's fame and +wealth. Gradually the kings moved southwards in pursuit of the +retreating Moors, and with them went their court and their patronage, +until finally the political centre of Castile and Leon was established +in Burgos, and the fate that had befallen Oviedo and Lugo visited also +the one-time powerful fortress of the Roman Legio Septima. + +To-day? A dormant city on a baking plain and an immense cathedral +pointing back to centuries of desperate wars between Christians and +Moors; a collegiate church, far older still, which served as cathedral +when Alfonso VII. was crowned Emperor of Spain. + +_Pulchra Leonina_ is the epithet applied to the beautiful cathedral of +Leon, dedicated to the Ascension of Our Lady and to Nuestra Senora de la +Blanca. + +The first stone was laid in 1199, presumably on the spot where Ordono I. +had erected his palace; the construction of the edifice did not really +take place, however, until toward 1250, so that it can be considered as +belonging to the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries. + +"Two hundred years only did the temple enjoy a quiet life. In the +sixteenth century, restorations and additions were begun; in 1631 the +simple vault of the _croisee_ fell in and was replaced by an absurd +dome; in 1694 Manuel Conde destroyed and rebuilt the southern front +according to the style then in vogue, and in 1743 a great number of the +arches of the aisles fell in. Different parts of the building were +continually tumbling down, having become too weak to support the heavier +materials used in the construction of additions and renovations." + +The cathedral was closed to the public by the government in 1850 and +handed over to a body of architects, who were to restore it in +accordance with the thirteenth-century design; in 1901 the interior of +the building had been definitely finished, and was opened once more to +the religious cult. + +The general plan of the building is Roman cruciform, with a semicircular +apse composed of five chapels and an ambulatory behind the high altar. + +As peculiarities, the following may be mentioned: the two towers of the +western front do not head the aisles, but flank them; the transept is +exceptionally wide (in Spanish cathedrals the distance between the high +altar and the choir must be regarded as the transept, properly speaking) +and is composed of a broad nave and two aisles to the east and one to +the west; the width also of the church at the transept is greater by +two aisles than that of the body itself,--a modification which produces +a double Roman cross and lends exceptional beauty to the ensemble, as it +permits of an unobstructed view from the western porch to the very apse. + +Attention must also be drawn to the row of two chapels and a vestibule +which separate the church from the cloister (one of the most celebrated +in Spain as a Gothic structure, though mixed with Renaissance motives +and spoilt by fresco paintings). Thanks to this arrangement, the +cathedral possesses a northern portal similar to the southern one. As +regards the exterior of the building, it is a pity that the two towers +which flank the aisles are heavy in comparison to the general +construction of the church; had light and slender towers like those of +Burgos or that of Oviedo been placed here, how grand would have been the +effect! Besides, they are not similar, but date from different periods, +which is another circumstance to be regretted. + +The second bodies of the western and southern facades also clash on +account of the Renaissance elements, with their simple horizontal lines +opposed to the vertical tendency of pure Gothic. But then, they also +were erected at a later date. + +Excepting these remarks, however, nothing is more airily beautiful and +elegant than the superb expression of the _razonadas locuras_ (logical +nonsense) of the ogival style in all its phases, both early and late, or +even decadent. For examples of each period are to be found here, +corresponding to the century in which they were erected. + +The ensemble is an astonishing profusion of high and narrow windows, of +which there are three rows: the clerestory, the triforium, and the +aisles. Each window is divided into two by a column so fragile that it +resembles a spider's thread. These windows peep forth from a forest of +flying buttresses, and nowhere does the mixture of pinnacles and painted +panes attain a more perfect eloquence than in the eastern extremity of +the polygonal apse. + +The western and southern facades--the northern being replaced by the +cloister--are alike in their general design, and are composed of three +portals surmounted by a decidedly pointed arch which, in the case of the +central portals, adorns a richly sculptured tympanum. The artistic +merit of the statuary in the niches of both central portals is devoid of +exceptional praise, that of the southern facade being perhaps of a +better taste. As regards the stone pillar which divides the central door +into two wings, that on the south represents Our Lady of the Blanca, and +that on the west San Froilan, one of the early martyr bishops of Leon. + +Excepting the Renaissance impurities already referred to, each portal is +surmounted by a row of five lancet windows, which give birth, as it +were, to one immense window of delicate design. + +Penetrating into the interior of the building, preferably by the lateral +doors of the western front, the tourist is overcome by a feeling of awe +and amazement at the bold construction of aisles and nave, as slender as +is the frost pattern on a spotless pane. The full value of the windows, +which are gorgeous from the outside, is only obtained from the interior +of the temple; those of the clerestory reach from the sharp ogival +vaulting to the height of the triforium, which in its turn is backed by +another row of painted windows; in the aisles, another series of panes +rose in the sixteenth century from the very ground (!), though in +recent times the bases have unluckily been blinded to about the height +of a man. + +The pillars and columns are of the simplest and most sober construction, +so simple that they do not draw the spectator's attention, but leave him +to be impressed by the great height of nave and aisles as compared with +their insignificant width, and above all by the profuse perforation of +the walls by hundreds upon hundreds of windows. + +Unluckily, the original pattern of the painted glass does not exist but +in an insignificant quantity: the northern window, the windows of the +high altar, and those of the Chapel of St. James are about the only ones +dating from the fifteenth century that are left standing to-day; they +are easily recognizable by the rich, mellow tints unattained in modern +stained glass. + +As accessories, foremost to be mentioned are the choir stalls, which are +of an elegant and severe workmanship totally different from the florid +carving of those in Toledo. The high altar, on the other hand, is devoid +of interest excepting for the fine ogival sepulchre of King Ordono II; +the remaining chapels, some of which contain art objects of value, need +not claim the tourist's special attention. + +By way of conclusion: the cathedral of Leon, restored to-day after years +of ruin and neglect, stands forth as one of the master examples of +Gothic workmanship, unrivalled in fairy-like beauty and, from an +architectural point of view, the very best example of French ogival to +be met with in Spain. + +Moreover, those who wrought it, felt the real principles of all Gothic +architecture. Many are the cathedrals in Spain pertaining to this great +school, but not one of them can compare with that of Leon in the way the +essential principle was _felt_ and _expressed_. They are all beautiful +in their complex and hybrid style, but none of them can claim to be +Gothic in the way they are built. For wealth, power, and luxury in +details is generally the lesson Spanish cathedrals teach, but they do +not give their lancets and shafts, their vertical lines and pointed +arches, the chance to impress the visitor or true believer with those +sentiments so peculiar to the great ogival style. + +The cathedral of Leon is, in Spain, the unique exception to this rule. +Save only those constructive errors or dissonances previously referred +to, and which tend to counteract the soaring characteristic, it could be +considered as being pure in style. Nevertheless, it is not only the +truest Gothic cathedral on the peninsula, but one of the finest in the +world. + +At the same time, it is no less true that it is not so Spanish as either +the Gothic of Burgos or of Toledo. + + * * * * * + +In 1063 the King of Leon, Fernando I., signed a treaty with the Arab +governor of Sevilla, obliging the latter to hand over to the Catholic +monarch, in exchange for some other privileges, the corpse of San +Isidoro. It was conveyed to Leon, where a church was built to contain +the remains of the saint; the same building was to serve as a royal +pantheon. + +About a century later Alfonso VII. was battling against the pagans in +Andalusia when, in the field of Baeza, the "warlike apparition of San +Isidoro appeared in the heavens and encouraged the Christian soldiers." + +Thanks to this divine aid, the Moors were beaten, and Alfonso VII., +returning to Leon, enriched the saint's shrine, enlarged it, and raised +it to a suffragan church, destined later to serve as the temporary see +while the building of the real cathedral was going on. + +In 1135 Alfonso VII. was crowned Emperor of the West Roman Empire with +extraordinary pomp and splendour in the Church of San Isidoro. The +apogee of Leon's importance and power coincides with this memorable +event. + +The emperor's sister, Sancha, a pious infanta, bequeathed her vast +fortune as well as her palace to San Isidoro, her favourite saint; the +church in Leon became, consequently, one of the richest in Spain, a +privilege it was, however, unable to retain for any length of time. + +In 1029, shortly after the erection of the primitive building, its front +was sullied, according to the tradition, by the blood of one Count +Garcia of Castile. The following is the story: + +The King of Asturias at the time was Bermudo II., married to Urraca, the +daughter of Count Sancho of Castile. Political motives had produced this +union, for the Condes de Castile had grown to be the most important and +powerful feudal lords of the kingdom. + +To assure the count's assistance and friendship, the king went even +further: he promised his sister Sancha to the count's son Garcia, who +lost no time in visiting Leon so as to become acquainted with his future +spouse. + +Three sons of the defeated Count of Vela, a Basque nobleman whom the +Counts of Castile had put to death, were in the city at the time. +Pretending to be very friendly with the young _fiance_, they conspired +against his life, and, knowing that he paid matinal visits to San +Isidoro, they hid in the portal one day, and slew the youth as he +entered. + +The promised bride arrived in haste and fell weeping on the body of the +murdered man; she wept bitterly and prayed to be allowed to be buried +with her sweetheart. Her prayer was, of course, not granted: so she +swore she would never marry. She was not long in breaking this oath, +however, for a few months later she wedded a prince of the house of +Navarra. + +The present state of the building of San Isidoro is ruinous, thanks to a +stroke of lightning in 1811, and to the harsh treatment bestowed upon +the building by Napoleon's soldiers during the War for Independence +(1808). + +Seen from the outside, the edifice is as uninteresting as possible; the +lower part is constructed in the early Latin Romanesque style; the +upper, of a posterior construction, shows a decided tendency to early +Gothic. + +The apse was originally three-lobed, composed of three identical chapels +corresponding to the nave and aisles; in the sixteenth century the +central lobe was prolonged and squared off; the same century saw the +erection of the statue of San Isidoro in the southern front, which +spoiled the otherwise excellently simple Romanesque portal. + +In the interior of the ruin--for such it is to-day--the only peculiarity +to be noted is the use of the horseshoe arches in the arcades which +separate the aisles from the nave, as well as the Arab dentated arches +of the transept. It is the first case on record where, in a Christian +temple of the importance of San Isidoro, Arab or pagan architectural +elements were made use of in the decoration; that is to say, after the +invasion, for previous examples were known, having most likely +penetrated into the country by means of Byzantine workmen in the fifth +and sixth centuries. (In San Juan de Banos.) + +[Illustration: APSE OF SAN ISIDORO, LEON] + +Instead of being lined with chapels the aisles are covered with mural +paintings. These frescoes are of great archaeological value on account of +their great age and the evident Byzantine influence which characterizes +them; artistically they are unimportant. + +The chief attraction of the building is the pantheon, a low, square +chapel of six arches, supported in the centre by two gigantic pillars +which are crowned by huge cylindrical capitals. Nothing more depressing +or gloomy can be seen in the peninsula excepting the pantheon in the +Escorial; it is doubtful which of the two is more melancholy. The pure +Oriental origin (almost Indian!) of this pantheon is unmistakable and +highly interesting. + +The fresco paintings which cover the ceiling and the massive ribs of the +vaulting are equally morbid, representing hell-scenes from the +Apocalypse, the massacre of the babes, etc. + +Only one or two of the Romanesque marble tombs which lined the walls +are remaining to-day; the others were used by the French soldiers as +drinking-troughs for their cavalry horses! + + + + +IV + +ASTORGA + + +The Asturica Augusta of the Romans was the capital of the northern +provinces of Asturias and the central point of four military roads which +led to Braga, Aquitania, Saragosse, and Tarragon. + +During the Visigothic domination, and especially under the reign of +Witiza, Astorga as well as Leon, Toledo, and Tuy were the only four +cities allowed to retain their walls. + +According to some accounts, Astorga was the seat of the earliest +bishopric in the peninsula, having been consecrated in the first century +by Santiago or his immediate followers; historically, however, the first +known bishop was Dominiciano, who lived about 347 A. D. + +In the fourth and fifth centuries several heresies or false doctrines +were ripe in Spain. Of one of these, _Libelatism_, Astorga was the +centre; the other, _Priscilianism_, originally Galician, found many +adherents in the fortress-town, more so than elsewhere, excepting only +Tuy, Orense, and Palencia. + +_Libelatism._--Its great defender was Basilides, Bishop of Astorga. +Strictly speaking, this faith was no heresy, but a sham or fraud which +spread out beyond the Pyrenees to France. It consisted in denying the +new faith; those who proclaimed it, or, in other words, the Christians, +who were severely persecuted in those days, pretended to worship the +Latin gods so as to save their skins. With this object in view, and to +be able to prove their sincerity, they were obliged to obtain a +certificate, _libelum_ (libel?), from the Roman governor, stating their +belief in Jupiter, Venus, etc. Doubtless they had to pay a tax for this +certificate, and thus the Roman state showed its practical wisdom: it +was paid by cowards for being tyrannical. But then, not all Christians +are born martyrs. + +_Priscilianism._--Of quite a different character was the other heresy +previously mentioned. It was a doctrine opposed to the Christian +religion, proud of many adherents, and at one time threatening danger to +the Holy Roman Catholic Church. Considering that it is but little known +to-day (for after a lingering life of about three or four centuries in +Galicia it was quite ignored by philosophers and Christians alike), it +may be of some use to transcribe the salient points of this doctrine, in +case some one be inclined to baptize him or herself as prophet of the +new religion. It was preached by one Prisciliano in the fourth century, +and was a mixture of Celtic mythology and Christian faith. + +"Prisciliano did not believe in the mystery of the Holy Trinity; he +believed that the world had been created by the devil (perhaps he was +not wrong!) and that the devil held it beneath his sway; further, that +the soul is part of the Divine Essence and the body dependent upon the +stars; that this life is a punishment, as only sinful souls descend on +earth to be incarnated in organic bodies. He denied the resurrection of +the flesh and the authenticity of the Old Testament. He defended the +transmigration of souls, the invocation of the dead, and other ideas, +doubtless taken from native Galician mythology. To conclude, he +celebrated the Holy Communion with grape and milk instead of with wine, +and admitted that all true believers (his true believers, I suppose, +for we are all of us true believers of some sort) could celebrate +religious ceremonies without being ordained curates." + +Sinfosio, Bishop of Astorga in 400, was converted to the new religion. +But, upon intimation that he might be deprived of his see, he hurriedly +turned Christian again, putting thus a full stop to the spread of +heresy, by his brave and unselfish act. + +Toribio in 447 was, however, the bishop who wrought the greatest harm to +Priscilianism. He seems to have been the divine instrument called upon +to prove by marvellous happenings the true religion: he converted the +King of the Suevos in Orense by miraculously curing his son; when +surrounded by flames he emerged unharmed; when he left his diocese, and +until his return, the crops were all lost; upon his return the +church-bells rang without human help, etc., etc. All of which doings +proved the authenticity of the true religion beyond a doubt, and that +Toribio was a saint; the Pope canonized him. + +During the Arab invasion, Astorga, being a frontier town, suffered more +than most cities farther north; it was continually being taken and +lost, built up and torn down by the Christians and Moors. + +Terrible Almanzor conquered it in his raid in the tenth century, and +utterly destroyed it. It was rebuilt by Veremundo or Bermudo III., but +never regained its lost importance, which reverted to Leon. + +When the Christian armies had conquered the peninsula as far south as +Toledo, Astorga was no longer a frontier town, and rapidly fell asleep, +and has slept ever since. It remained a see, however, but only one of +secondary importance. + +It would be difficult to state how many cathedral churches the city +possessed previous to the eleventh century. In 1069 the first on record +was built; in 1120 another; a third in the thirteenth century, and +finally the fourth and present building in 1471. + +It was the evident intention of the architect to imitate the _Pulchra +Leonina_, but other tastes and other styles had swept across the +peninsula and the result of the unknown master's plans resembles rather +a heavy, awkward caricature than anything else, and a bastard mixture of +Gothic, plateresque, and grotesque styles. + +The northern front is by far the best of the two, boasting of a rather +good relief in the tympanum of the ogival arch; some of the painted +windows are also of good workmanship, though the greater part are modern +glass, and unluckily unstained. + +Its peculiarities can be signalized; the windows of the southern aisle +are situated above the lateral chapels, while those of the northern are +lower and situated in the chapels. The height and width of the aisles +are also remarkable--a circumstance that does not lend either beauty or +effect to the building. There is no ambulatory behind the high altar, +which stands in the lady-chapel; the apse is rounded. This peculiarity +reminds one dimly of what the primitive plan of the Oviedo cathedral +must have resembled. + +By far the most meritorious piece of work in the cathedral is the +sixteenth-century _retablo_ of the high altar, which alone is worth a +visit to Astorga. It is one of Becerra's masterpieces in the late +plateresque style, as well as being one of the master's last known works +(1569). + +It is composed of five vertical and three horizontal bodies; the niches +in the lower are flanked by Doric, those of the second by Corinthian, +and those of the upper by composite columns and capitals. The polychrome +statues which fill the niches are life-size and among the best in Spain; +together they are intended to give a graphic description of the life of +the Virgin and of her Son. + +In some of the decorative details, however, this _retablo_ shows evident +signs of plateresque decadence, and the birth of the florid grotesque +style, which is but the natural reaction against the severity of early +sixteenth-century art. + + + + +V + +BURGOS + + +Burgos is the old capital of Castile. + +Castile--or properly Castilla--owed its name to the great number of +castles which stood on solitary hills in the midst of the plains lying +to the north of the Sierra de Guaderrama; one of these castles was +called Burgos. + +Unlike Leon and Astorga, Burgos was not known to the Romans, but was +founded by feudal noblemen in the middle ages, most likely by the Count +of Castilla prior to 884 A. D., when its name first appears in history. + +Situated almost in the same line and to the west of Astorga and Leon, it +entered the chain of fortresses which formed the frontier between the +Christian kingdoms and the Moorish dominion. At the same time it looked +westwards toward the kingdom of Navarra, and managed to keep the +ambitious sovereigns of Pamplona from Castilian soil. + +During the first centuries which followed upon the foundation of the +village of Burgos at the foot of a prominent castle, both belonged to +the feudal lords of Castile, the celebrated counts of the same name. +This family of intrepid noblemen grew to be the most important in +Northern Spain; vassals of the kings of Asturias, they broke out in +frequent rebellion, and their doings alone fill nine of every ten pages +of mediaeval history. + +Orduno III.--he who lost the battle of Valdejunquera against the Moors +because the noblemen he had ordered to assist refrained from doing +so--enticed the Count of Castile, together with other conspirators, to +his palace, and had them foully murdered. So, at least, saith history. + +The successor to the title was no fool. On the contrary, he was one of +the greatest characters in Spanish history, hero of a hundred legends +and traditions. Fernan Gonzalez was his name, and he freed Castile from +owing vassalage to Asturias, for he threw off the yoke which bound him +to Leon, and lived as an independent sovereign in his castle of Burgos. +This is the date of Castile's first appearance in history as one of the +nuclei of Christian resistance (in the tenth century). + +Nevertheless, against the military genius of Almanzor (the victorious), +Fernan Gonzalez could do no more than the kings of Leon. The fate that +befell Santiago, Leon, and Astorga awaited Burgos, which was utterly +destroyed with the exception of the impregnable castle. After the Arab's +death, hailed by the Christians with shouts of joy, and from the pulpits +with the grim remark: _"Almanzor mortuus est et sepultus et in +inferno_," the strength of Castile grew year by year, until one Conde +Garcia de Castilla married one of his daughters to the King of Navarra +and the other to Bermudo III. of Leon. His son, as has already been seen +in a previous chapter, was killed in Leon when he went to marry +Bermudo's sister Sancha. But his grandson, the recognized heir to the +throne of Navarra, Fernando by name, inherited his grandfather's title +and estates, even his murdered uncle's promised bride, the sister of +Bermudo. At the latter's death some years later, without an heir, he +inherited--or conquered--Leon and Asturias, and for the first time in +history, all the Christian kingdoms of the peninsula were united +beneath one sceptre. + +Castile was now the most powerful state in the peninsula, and its +capital, Burgos, the most important city north of Toledo. + +Two hundred years later the centralization of power in Burgos was an +accomplished fact, as well as the death in all but name of the ancient +kingdom of Leon, Asturias, and Galicia. Castile was Spain, and Burgos +its splendid capital (1230, in the reign of San Fernando). + +The above events are closely connected with the ecclesiastical history, +which depends entirely upon the civil importance of the city. + +A few years after Fernando I. had inaugurated the title of King of +Castile, he raised the parish church of Burgos to a bishopric (1075) by +removing to his new capital the see that from time immemorial had +existed in Oca. He also laid the first stone of the cathedral church in +the same spot where Fernan Gonzalez had erected a summer palace, +previous to the Arab raid under Almanzor. Ten years later the same king +had the bishopric raised to an archiepiscopal see. + +San Fernando, being unable to do more than had already been done by his +forefather Fernando I., had the ruined church pulled down, and in its +place he erected the cathedral still standing to-day. This was in 1221. + +So rapidly was the main edifice constructed, that as early as 1230 the +first holy mass was celebrated in the altar-chapel. The erection of the +remaining parts took longer, however, for the building was not completed +until about three hundred years later. + +Burgos did not remain the sole capital of Northern Spain for any great +length of time. Before the close of the thirteenth century, Valladolid +had destroyed the former's monopoly, and from then on, and during the +next three hundred years, these two and Toledo were obliged to take +turns in the honour of being considered capital, an honour that depended +entirely upon the caprices of the rulers of the land, until it was +definitely conferred upon Madrid in the seventeenth century. + +As regards legends and traditions of feudal romance and tragedy, hardly +a city excepting Toledo and Salamanca can compete with Burgos. +Historical events, produced by throne usurpers and defenders, by +continual strife, by the obstinacy of the noblemen and the perfidy of +the monarchs,--all interwoven with beautiful dames and cruel +warriors--are sufficiently numerous to enable every house in and around +Burgos to possess some secret or other, generally gruesome and +licentious, which means chivalrous. The reign of Peter the Cruel and of +his predecessor Alfonso, the father of four or five bastards, and the +lover of Dona Leonor; the heroic deeds of Fernan Gonzalez and of the Cid +Campeador (Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar); the splendour of the court of Isabel +I., and the peculiar constitution of the land with its Cortes, its +convents, and monasteries,--all tend to make Burgos the centre of a +chivalrous literature still recited by the people and firmly believed in +by them. Unluckily their recital cannot find a place here, and we pass +on to examine the grand cathedral, object of the present chapter. + + * * * * * + +The train, coming from the north, approaches the city of Burgos. A low +horizon line and undulating plains stretch as far as the eye can reach; +in the distance ahead are two church spires and a castle looming up +against a blue sky. + +The train reaches the station; a mass of houses and, overtopping the +roofs of all buildings, the same spires as seen before, lost as it were +in a forest of pinnacles, emerging from two octagonal lanterns or +cimborios. In the background, on a sandy hill, are the ruins of the +castle which once upon a time was the stronghold of the Counts of +Castile. + +Burgos! Passing beneath a four-hundred-year-old gateway--Arco de Santa +Maria--raised by trembling bourgeois to appease a monarch's wrath, the +visitor arrives after many a turn in a square situated in front of the +cathedral. + +A poor architectural element is this western front of the cathedral as +regards the first body or the portals. Devoid of all ornamentation, and +consequently naked, three doors or portals, surmounted by a peculiar +egg-shaped ogival arch, open into the nave and aisles. Originally they +were richly decorated by means of sculptural reliefs and statuary, but +in the plateresque period of the sixteenth century they were demolished. +The two lateral doors leading into the aisles are situated beneath the +275 feet high towers of excellent workmanship. + +[Illustration: BURGOS CATHEDRAL] + +The central door is surmounted by a plateresque-Renaissance pediment +imbedded in an ogival arch (of all things!); the side doors are crowned +by a simple window. + +Vastly superior in all respects to the lower body are the upper stories, +of which the first is begun by a pinnacled balustrade running from tower +to tower; in the centre, between the two towers, there is an immense +rosace of a magnificent design and embellished by means of an ogival +arch in delicate relief; the windows of the tower, as well as in the +superior bodies, are pure ogival. + +The next story can be considered as the basement of the towers, properly +speaking. The central part begins with a prominent balustrade of statues +thrown against a background formed by twin ogival windows of exceptional +size. The third story is composed, as regards the towers, of the last of +the square bodies upon which the fleche reposes; these square bases are +united by a light frieze or perforated balustrade which crowns the +central part of the facade and is decorated with ogival designs. + +Last to be mentioned, but not least in importance, are the _fleches_. +Though short in comparison to the bold structure at Oviedo, they are, +nevertheless, of surprising dignity and elegance, and richly ornamented, +being covered over with an innumerable amount of tiny pinnacles +encrusted, as it were, on the stone network of a perforated pyramid. + +The northern facade is richer in sculptural details than the western, +though the portal possesses but one row of statues. The rosace is +substituted by a three-lobed window, the central pane of which is larger +than the lateral two. + +As this northern facade is almost fifteen feet higher than the +ground-plan of the temple,--on account of the street being much +higher,--a flight of steps leads down into the transept. As a +Renaissance work, this golden staircase is one of Spain's marvels, but +it looks rather out of place in an essentially Gothic cathedral. + +To avoid the danger of falling down these stairs and with a view to +their preservation, the transept was pierced by another door in the +sixteenth century, on a level with the floor of the building, and +leading into a street lower than the previous one; it is situated on the +east of the prolonged transept, or better still, of the prolonged +northern transept arm. + +On the south side a cloister door corresponds to this last-named portal. +Though the latter is plateresque, cold and severe, the former is the +richest of all the portals as regards sculptural details; the carving of +the panels is also of the finest workmanship. Beside it, the southern +front of the cathedral coincides perfectly with the northern; like the +Puerta de la Plateria in Santiago, it is rendered somewhat insignificant +by the cloister to the right and by the archbishop's palace to the left, +between which it is reached by a paved series of terraces, for on this +side the street is lower than the floor of the cathedral. The impression +produced by this alley is grand and imposing, unique in Spain. + +Neither is the situation of the temple exactly east and west, a rare +circumstance in such a highly Catholic country like Spain. It is Roman +cruciform in shape; the central nave contains both choir and high altar; +the aisles are prolonged behind the latter in an ambulatory. + +The lateral walls of the church, enlarged here and there to make room +for chapels of different dimensions, give an irregular outline to the +building which has been partly remedied by the free use of buttresses, +flying buttresses, and pinnacles. + +The first impression produced on the visitor standing in either of the +aisles is that of size rather than beauty; a close examination, however, +of the wealth of statues and tombs, and of the sculptural excellence of +stone decoration, will draw from the tourist many an exclamation of +wonder and delight. Further, the distribution of light is such as to +render the interior of the temple gay rather than sombre; it is a pity, +nevertheless, that the stained glasses of the sixteenth century see were +all destroyed by a powder explosion in 1813, when the French soldiers +demolished the castle. + +The unusual height of the choir mars the ensemble of the interior; the +stalls are lavishly carved, but do not inspire the same feeling of +wonderful beauty as do those of Leon and Toledo, for instance; the +_reja_ or grille which separates the choir from the transept is one of +the finest pieces of work in the cathedral, and, though massive, it is +simple and elegant. + +The _retablo_ of the high altar, richly gilt, is of the Renaissance +period; the statues and groups which fill the niches are marvellously +drawn and full of life. In the ambulatory, imbedded in the wall of the +_trascoro_, there are six plaques in low relief; as sculptural work in +stone they are unrivalled in the cathedral, and were carved, beyond a +doubt, by the hand of a master. The _croisee_ and the Chapel of the +Condestable are the two chief attractions of the cathedral church. + +The last named chapel is an octagonal addition to the apse. Its walls +from the exterior are seen to be richly sculptured and surmounted by a +lantern, or windowed dome, surrounded by high pinnacles and spires +placed on the angles of the polygon base. The _croisee_ is similar in +structure, but, due to its greater height, appears even more slender and +aerial. The towers with their _fleches_, together with these original +octagonal lanterns with their pinnacles, lend an undescribable grace, +elegance, and majesty to what would otherwise have been a rather +unwieldy edifice. + +The Chapel of the Condestable is separated from the ambulatory (in the +interior of the temple) by a good grille of the sixteenth century, and +by a profusely sculptured door. The windows above the altar are the only +ones that retain painted panes of the sixteenth century. Among the other +objects contained in this chapel--which is really a connoisseur's +collection of art objects of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries--can +be mentioned the two marvellously carved tombs of the Condestable and of +his wife. + +The _croisee_, on the other hand, has been called the "cathedral's +cathedral." Gazing skyward from the centre of the transept into the high +_cimborio_, and admiring the harmony of its details, the wealth of +decorative elements, and the no less original structure of the dome, +whose vault is formed by an immense star, one can understand the epithet +applied to this majestic piece of work, a marvel of its kind. + +Strange to say, the primitive cupola which crowned the _croisee_ fell +down in the sixteenth century, the date also of Burgos's growing +insignificance in political questions. Consequently, it was believed by +many that the same fate produced both accidents, and that the downfall +of the one necessarily involved the decadence of the other. + +To conclude: The Gothic cathedral of Burgos is, with that of Leon and +perhaps that of Sevilla, the one which expresses in a greater measure +than any other on the peninsula the true ideal of ogival architecture. +Less airy, light, and graceful than that of Leon, it is, nevertheless, +more Spanish, or in other words, more majestic, heavier, and more +imposing as regards size and weight. From a sculptural point of +view--stone sculpture--it is the first of all Spanish Gothic cathedrals, +and ranks among the most elaborate and perfect in Europe. + + + + +VI + +SANTANDER + + +The foundation of Santander is attributed to the Romans who baptized it +Harbour of Victory. Its decadence after the Roman dominion seems to have +been complete, and its name does not appear in the annals of Spanish +history until in 1187, when Alfonso, eighth of that name and King of +Castile, induced the repopulation of the deserted hamlet by giving it a +special _fuero_ or privilege. At that time a monastery surrounded by a +few miserable huts seems to have been all that was left of the Roman +seaport; this monastery was dedicated to the martyr saints Emeterio and +Celedonio, for it was, and still is, believed that they perished here, +and not in Calahorra, as will be seen later on. + +The name of the nascent city in the times of Alfonso VIII. was Sancti +Emetrii, from that of the monastery or of the old town, but within a +few years the new town eclipsed the former in importance and, being +dedicated to St. Andrew, gave its name to the present city +(San-t-Andres, Santander). + +As a maritime town, Santander became connected with all the naval events +undertaken by young Castile, and later by Philip II., against England. +Kings, princes, princess-consorts, and ambassadors from foreign lands +came by sea to Santander, and went from thence to Burgos and Valladolid; +from Santander and the immediate seaports the fleet sailed which was to +travel up the Guadalquivir and conquer Sevilla; in 1574 the Invincible +Armada left the Bay of Biscay never to return, and from thence on until +now, Santander has ever remained the most important Spanish seaport on +the Cantabric Sea. + +Its ecclesiastical history is uninteresting--or, rather, the city +possesses no ecclesiastical past; perhaps that is one of the causes of +its flourishing state to-day. In the thirteenth century the monastical +Church of San Emeterio was raised to a collegiate and in 1775 to a +bishopric. + +The same unimportance, from an art point of view, attaches itself to the +cathedral church. No one visits the city for the sake of the heavy, +clumsy, and exceedingly irregularly built temple which stands on the +highest part of the town. On the contrary, the great attraction is the +fine beach of the Sardinero which lies to the west of the industrial +town, and is, in summer, the Brighton of Spain. The coast-line, deeply +dentated and backed by the Cantabric Mountains, is far more delightful +and attractive than the Gothic cathedral structure of the thirteenth +century. + +Consequently, little need be said about it. In the interior, the height +of the nave and aisles, rendered more pronounced by the pointed ogival +arches, gives the building a somewhat aerial appearance that is belied +by the view from without. + +[Illustration: CRYPT OF SANTANDER CATHEDRAL] + +The square tower on the western end is undermined by a gallery or tunnel +through which the Calle de Puente passes. To the right of the same, and +reached by a flight of steps, stands the entrance to the crypt, which is +used to-day as a most unhealthy parish church. This crypt of the late +twelfth century or early thirteenth shows a decided Romanesque tendency +in its general appearance: it is low, massive, strong, and crowned by +a semicircular vaulting reposing on gigantic pillars whose capitals are +roughly sculptured. The windows which let in the little light that +enters are ogival, proving the Transition period to which the crypt +belongs; it was originally intended as the pantheon for the abbots of +the monastery. But unlike the Galician Romanesque, it lacks an +individual _cachet_; if it resembles anything it is the pantheon of the +kings in San Isidoro in Leon, though in point of view of beauty, the two +cannot be compared. + +The form of the crypt is that of a perfect Romanesque basilica, a nave +and two aisles terminating a three-lobed apse. + +In the cathedral, properly speaking, there is a baptismal font of +marble, bearing an Arabic inscription by way of upper frieze; it is +square, and of Moorish workmanship, and doubtless was brought from +Cordoba after the reconquest. Its primitive use had been practical, for +in Andalusia it stood at the entrance to some mezquita, and in its +limpid waters the disciples of Mahomet performed their hygienic and +religious ablutions. + + + + +VII + +VITORIA + + +If the foreigner enter Spain by Irun, the first cathedral town on his +way south is Vitoria. + +Gazteiz seems to have been its Basque name prior to 1181, when it was +enlarged by Don Sancho of Navarra and was given a _fuero_ or privilege, +together with its new name, chosen to commemorate a victory obtained by +the king over his rival, Alfonso of Castile. + +Fortune did not smile for any length of time on Don Sancho, for +seventeen years later Alfonso VIII. incorporated the city in his kingdom +of Castile, and it was lost for ever to Navarra. + +As regards the celebrated _fueros_ given by the last named monarch to +the inhabitants of the city, a curious custom was in vogue in the city +until a few years ago, when the Basque Provinces finally lost the +privileges they had fought for during centuries. + +When Alfonso VIII. granted these privileges, he told the citizens they +were to conserve them "as long as the waters of the Zadorria flowed into +the Ebro." + +The Zadorria is the river upon which Vitoria is situated; about two +miles up the river there is a historical village, Arriago, and a no less +historical bridge. Hither, then, every year on St. John's Day, the +inhabitants of Vitoria came in procession, headed by the municipal +authorities, the bishop and clergy, the clerk of the town hall, and the +sheriff. The latter on his steed waded into the waters of the Zadorria, +and threw a letter into the stream; it flowed with the current toward +the Ebro River. An act was then drawn up by the clerk, signed by the +mayor and the sheriff, testifying that the "waters of the Zadorria +flowed into the Ebro." + +To-day the waters still flow into the Ebro, but the procession does not +take place, and the city's _fueros_ are no more. + +In the reign of Isabel the Catholic, the Church of St. Mary was raised +to a Colegiata, and it is only quite recently, according to the latest +treaty between Spain and Rome, that an episcopal see has been +established in the city of Vitoria. + +Documents that have been discovered state that in 1281--a hundred years +after the city had been newly baptized--the principal temple was a +church and castle combined; in the fourteenth century this was +completely torn down to make room for the new building, a modest ogival +church of little or no merit. + +The tower is of a later date than the body of the cathedral, as is +easily seen by the triangular pediments which crown the square windows: +it is composed of three bodies, as is generally the case in Spain, the +first of which is square in its cross-section, possessing four turrets +which crown the angles; the second body is octagonal and the third is in +the form of a pyramid terminating in a spire. + +The portal is cut into the base of the tower. It is the handsomest front +of the building, though in a rather dilapidated state; the sculptural +decorations of the three arches, as well as the aerial reliefs of the +tympanum, are true to the period in which they were conceived. + +The sacristy encloses a primitive wooden effigy of the Virgin; it is of +greater historic than artistic value. There is also a famous picture +attributed now to Van Dyck, now to Murillo; it represents Christ in the +arms of his mother, and Mary Magdalene weeping on her knees beside the +principal group. The picture is known by the name of Piety or La Piedad. + +The high altar, instead of being placed to the east of the transept, as +is generally the case, is set beneath the _croisee_, in the circular +area formed by the intersection of nave and transept. The view of the +interior is therefore completely obstructed, no matter where the +spectator stands. + + + + +VIII + +UPPER RIOJA + + +To the south of Navarra and about a hundred miles to the west of Burgos, +the Ebro River flows through a fertile vale called the Rioja, famous for +its claret. It is little frequented by strangers or tourists, and yet it +is well worth a visit. The train runs down the Ebro valley from Miranda +to Saragosse. A hilly country to the north and south, well wooded and +gently sloping like the Jura; nearer, and along the banks of the stream, +_huertas_ or orchards, gardens, and vineyards offer a pleasant contrast +to the distant landscape, and produce a favourable impression, +especially when a village or town with its square, massive church-tower +peeps forth from out of the foliage of fruit-trees and elms. + +Such is Upper Rioja--one of the prettiest spots in Spain, the Touraine, +one might almost say, of Iberia, a circular region of about twenty-five +miles in radius, containing four cities, Logrono, Santo Domingo de la +Calzada, Najera, and Calahorra. + +The Roman military road from Tarragon to Astorga passed through the +Rioja, and Calahorra, a Celtiberian stronghold slightly to the south, +was conquered by the invaders after as sturdy a resistance as that of +Numantia itself. It was not totally destroyed by the conquering Romans +as happened in the last named town; on the contrary, it grew to be the +most important fortress between Leon and Saragosse. + +When the Christian religion dawned in the West, two youths, inseparable +brothers, and soldiers in the seventh legion stationed in Leon, embraced +the true religion and migrated to Calahorra. They were beheaded after +being submitted to a series of the most frightful tortures, and their +tunics, leaving the bodies from which life had escaped, soared skywards +with the saintly souls, to the great astonishment of the Roman +spectators. The names of these two martyr saints were Emeterio and +Celedonio, who, as we have seen, are worshipped in Santander; besides, +they are also the patron saints of Calahorra. + +The first Bishop of Calahorra took possession of his see toward the +middle of the fifth century; his name was Silvano. Unluckily, he was the +only one whose name is known to-day, and yet it has been proven that +when the Moors invaded the country two or three hundred years later, the +see was removed to Oviedo, later to Alava (near Vitoria, where no +remains of a cathedral church are to be seen to-day), and in the tenth +century to Najera. One hundred years later, when the King of Navarra, +Don Garcia, conquered the Arab fortress at Calahorra, the wandering see +was once more firmly chained down to the original spot of its creation +(1030; the first bishop _de modernis_ being Don Sancho). + +Near by, and in a vale leading to the south from the Ebro, the Moors +built a fortress and called it Najera. Conquered by the early kings of +Navarra, it was raised to the dignity of one of the cathedral towns of +the country; from 950 (first bishop, Theodomio) to 1030 ten bishops held +their court here, that is, until the see was removed to Calahorra. Since +then, and especially after the conquest of Rioja by Alfonso VI. of +Castile, the city's significance died out completely, and to-day it is +but a shadow of what it previously had been, or better still, it is an +ignored village among ruins. + +Still further west, and likewise situated in a vale to the south of the +Ebro, Santo Domingo de la Calzada ranks as the third city. Originally +its parish was but a suffragan church of Calahorra, but in 1227 it was +raised to an episcopal see. Quite recently, in the beginning of the +nineteenth century, when church funds were no longer what they had been, +only one bishop was appointed to both sees, with an alternative +residence in either of the two, that is to say, one prelate resided in +Calahorra, his successor in Santo Domingo, and so forth and so on. Since +1850, however, both villages--for they are cities in name only--have +lost all right to a bishop, the see having been definitely removed to +Logrono, or it will be removed there as soon as the present bishop dies. +But he has a long life, the present bishop! + +The origin of Santo Domingo is purely religious. In the eleventh and +twelfth centuries a pious individual lived in the neighbourhood whose +life-work and ambition it was to facilitate the travelling pilgrims to +Santiago in Galicia. He served as guide, kept a road open in winter and +summer, and even built bridges across the streams, one of which is still +existing to-day, and leads into the town which bears his name. + +He had even gone so far as to establish a rustic sort of an inn where +the pilgrims could pass the night and eat (without paying?). He also +constructed a church beside his inn. Upon dying, he was canonized Santo +Domingo de la Calzada (Domingo was his name, and _calzada_ is old +Spanish for highroad). The Alfonsos of Castile were grateful to the +humble saint for having saved them the expense and trouble of looking +after their roads, and ordained that a handsome church should be erected +on the spot where previously the humble inn and chapel had stood. Houses +grew up around it rapidly and the dignity of the new temple was raised +in consequence. + +Of the four cities of Upper Rioja, the only one worthy of the name of +city is Logrono, with its historical bridge across the Ebro, a bridge +that was held, according to the tradition, by the hero, Ruy Diaz Gaona, +and three valiant companions against a whole army of invading Navarrese. + +The name Lucronio or Logrono is first mentioned in a document toward +the middle of the eleventh century. The date of its foundation is +absolutely unknown, and all that can be said is that, once it had fallen +into the hands of the monarchs of Castile (1076), it grew rapidly in +importance, out-shining the other three Rioja cities. It is seated on +the southern banks of the Ebro in the most fertile part of the whole +region, and enjoys a delightful climate. Since 1850 it has been raised +to the dignity of an episcopal see. + +As regards the architectural remains of the four cities in the Upper +Rioja valley, they are similar to those of Navarra, properly speaking, +though not so pure in their general lines. In other words, they belong +to the decadent period of Gothic art. Moreover, they have one and all +been spoiled by ingenious, though dreadful mixtures of plateresque, +Renaissance, and grotesque decorative details, and consequently the real +remains of the old twelfth and thirteenth century Gothic and Romanesque +constructions are difficult to trace. + +_Najera._--Absolutely nothing remains of the old Romanesque church built +by the king Don Garcia. A new edifice of decadent Gothic, mixed with +Renaissance details, and dating from the fifteenth century, stands +to-day; it contains a magnificent series of choir stalls of excellent +workmanship, and similar to those of Burgos. The cloister, in spite of +the Arab-looking geometrical tracery of the ogival arches, is both light +and elegant. + +This cathedral was at one time used as the pantheon of the kings of +Navarra. About ten elaborate marble tombs still lie at the foot of the +building. + +_Santo Domingo de la Calzada._--The primitive ground-plan of the +cathedral has been preserved, a nave and two aisles showing Romanesque +strength in the lower and ogival lightness in the upper tiers. But +otherwise nothing reminds one of a twelfth or thirteenth century church. + +The cloister, of the sixteenth century, is a handsome +plateresque-Renaissance edifice, rather small, severe, and cold. The +great merit of this church lies in the sepulchral tombs in the different +chapels, all of which were executed toward the end of the fifteenth and +during the first years of the seventeenth centuries, and any one wishing +to form for himself an idea of this particular branch of Spanish +monumental art must not fail to examine such sepulchres as those of +Carranza, Fernando Alfonso, etc. + +[Illustration: CLOISTER OF NAJERA CATHEDRAL] + +The effigy of the patron saint (Santo Domingo) is of painted wood +clothed in rich silver robes, which form a striking antithesis to the +saint's humble and modest life. The chapel where the latter lies is +closed by a gilded iron _reja_ of plateresque workmanship. The saint's +body lies in a simple marble sepulchre, said to have been carved by +Santo Domingo himself, who was both an architect and a sculptor. The +truth of this version is, however, doubtful. + +Of the square tower and the principal entrance no remarks need be made, +for both are insignificant. The _retablo_ of the high altar has been +attributed to Foment, who constructed those of Saragosse and Huesca. The +attribution is, however, most doubtful, as shown by the completely +different styles employed by the artist of each. Not that the _retablo_ +in the Church of Santo Domingo is inferior to Foment's masterworks in +Aragon, but the decorative motives of the flanking columns and low +reliefs would prove--in case they had been executed by the Aragonese +Foment--a departure from the latter's classic style. + +In one of the niches of the cloister, in a simple urn, lies the heart of +Don Enrique, second King of Castile of that name, the half-brother (one +of the bastards mentioned in a previous chapter and from whom all later +Spanish monarchs are descended) of Peter the Cruel. The latter was +murdered by his fond relative, who usurped the throne. + +_Logrono._--In 1435 Santa Maria la Redonda was raised to a suffragan +church of Santo Domingo de la Calzada; about this date the old building +must have been almost entirely torn down, as the ogival arches of the +nave are of the fifteenth century; so also are the lower windows which, +on the west, flank the southern door. + +Excepting these few remains, nothing can bring to the tourist's mind the +fifteenth-century edifice, and not a single stone can recall the +twelfth-century church. For the remaining parts of the building are of +the sixteenth, seventeenth, and successive centuries, and to-day the +interior is being enlarged so as to make room for the see which is to be +removed here from Santo Domingo and Calahorra. + +[Illustration: SANTA MARIA LA REDONDA, LOGRONO] + +The interior is Roman cruciform with a high and airy central nave, in +which stands the choir, and on each hand a rather dark aisle of much +smaller dimensions. + +The _trascoro_ is the only peculiarity possessed by this church. It is +large and circular, closed by an immense vaulting which turns it into a +chapel separated from the rest of the church (compare with the Church of +the Pillar of Saragosse). + +True to the grotesque style to which it belongs, the whole surface of +walls and vault is covered with paintings, the former apparently in oil, +the latter frescoes. Vixes painted them in the theatrical style of the +eighteenth century. + +From the outside, the regular features of the church please the eye in +spite of the evident signs of artistic decadence. The two towers, high +and slender, are among the best produced by the period of decadence in +Spain which followed upon Herrero's severe style, if only the uppermost +body lacked the circular linterna which makes the spire top-heavy. + +Between the two towers, which, when seen from a distance, gain in beauty +and lend to the city a noble and picturesque aspect, the facade, +properly speaking, reaches to their second body. It is a hollow, crowned +by half a dome in the shape of a shell which in its turn is surmounted +by a plateresque cornice in the shape of a long and narrow scroll. + +The hollow is a peculiar and daring medley of architectural elegance and +sculptural bizarrerie and vice versa. From Madrazo it drew the +exclamation that, since he had seen it, he was convinced that not all +monuments belonging to the grotesque style were devoid of beauty. + +The date of the erection of the western front is doubtless the same as +that of the _trascoro_; both are contemporaneous--the author is inclined +to believe--with the erection of the Pillar in Saragosse; at least, they +resemble each other in certain unmistakable details. + +_Calahorra._--The fourth of the cathedral churches of Upper Rioja is +that of Calahorra. After the repopulation of the town by Alfonso VI. of +Castile in the eleventh century, the bodies of the two martyr saints +Emeterio and Celedonio were pulled up out of a well (to be seen to-day +in the cloister) where they had been hidden by the Christians, when +the Moors conquered the fortress, and a church was built near the same +spot. Of this eleventh-century church nothing remains to-day. + +[Illustration: WESTERN FRONT OF CALAHORRA CATHEDRAL] + +In the twelfth century, a new building was begun, but the process of +construction continued slowly, and it was not until two hundred years +later that the apse was finally finished. The body of the church, from +the western front (this latter hideously modern and uninteresting) to +the transept, is the oldest part,--simple Gothic of the thirteenth +century. + +The numerous chapels which form a ring around the church have all been +decorated in the grotesque style of the eighteenth century, and with +their lively colours, their polychrome statues, and overdone +ornamentation, they offer but little interest to the visitor. The +_retablo_ of the high altar is one of the largest to be seen anywhere; +but the Renaissance elegance of the lower body is completely drowned by +the grotesque decoration of the upper half, which was constructed at a +later date. + +The choir stalls are fine specimens of that style in which the artist +preferred an intricate composition to simple beauty. Biblical scenes, +surrounded and separated by allegorical personages and symbolical lines +in great profusion, show the carver's talent rather than his artistic +genius. + + + + +IX + +SORIA + + +The Duero River, upon leaving its source at the foot of the Pico de +Urbion (near Vinuesa), flows eastward for about fifty miles, then +southward for another fifty miles, when it turns abruptly westward on +its lengthy journey across the Iberian peninsula. + +The circular region, limited on three sides by the river's course, is +the historical field of Soria--part of the province of the same name, +Numantia, Rome's great enemy and almost the cause of her ruin, lay +somewhere in this part of the country, though where is not exactly +known, as the great Scipio took care to destroy it so thoroughly that +not even a stone remains to-day to indicate where the heroic fortress +stood. + +In the present day, two cities and two cathedrals are seated on the +banks of the Duero within this circle; the one is Soria, the other Osma. +The latter was a Roman town, an early episcopal see, and later an Arab +fortress; the former was founded by one of the Alfonsos toward the end +of the eleventh century, as a frontier fortress against Aragon to the +east, the Moors to the south, and Navarra to the north. + +The town grew apace, thanks to the remarkable _fueros_ granted to the +citizens, who lived as in a republic of their own making--an almost +unique case of self-government to be recorded in the middle ages. + +The principal parish church was raised to a suffragan of Osma in the +twelfth century. Since then, there has been a continual spirit of +rivalry between the two cities, for the former, more important as a town +and as the capital of a province, could not bend its head to the +ecclesiastical authority of a village like Osma. Throughout the middle +ages the jealousy between the two was food for incessant strife. Pope +Clement IV., at Alfonso VIII.'s instigation, raised the Collegiate at +Soria to an episcopal see independent of Osma, but the hard-headed +chapter of the last named city refused to acknowledge the Pope's order, +and no bishop was elected or appointed. + +This bitter hatred between the two rivals was the origin of many an +amusing incident. Upon one occasion the Bishop of Osma, visiting his +suffragan church in Soria, had the house in which he was stopping for +the night burnt about his ears. He moved off to another house, and on +the second night this was also mysteriously set on fire. His lordship +did not await the third night, afraid of what might happen, but bolted +back to his episcopal palace at Osma. + +In 1520 the chapter of the Collegiate in Soria sent a petition to the +country's sovereign asking him to order the erection of a new church in +place of the old twelfth-century building, and in another part of the +town. The request was not granted, however, so what did the wily chapter +do? It ordered an architect to construct a chapel in the very centre of +the church, and when it was completed, admired the work with great +enthusiasm, excepting only the pillar in front of it which obstructed +the uninterrupted view. This pillar was the real support of the church, +and though the chapter was told as much (as though it did not know it!) +the architect was ordered to pull it down. After hesitating to do so, +the latter acceded: the pillar was pulled down, and with it the whole +church tumbled down as well! But the chapter's game was discovered, and +it was obliged to rebuild the cathedral on the same spot and with the +same materials. + +Consequently, the church at Soria is a sixteenth-century building of +little or no merit, excepting the western front, which is the only part +of the old building that did not fall down, and is a fine specimen of +Castilian Romanesque, as well as the cloister, one of the handsomest, +besides being one of the few twelfth-century cloisters in Spain, with a +double row of slender columns supporting the round-headed arches. This +modification of the conventional type lends an aspect of peculiar +lightness to the otherwise heavy Romanesque. + +As regards the settlement of the strife between Soria and Osma, the see +is to-day a double one, like that of Madrid and Alcala. Upon the death +of the present bishop, however, it will be transported definitely to +Soria, and consequently the inhabitants of the last named city will at +last be able to give thanks for the great mercies Allah or the True God +has bestowed upon them. + +[Illustration: CLOISTER OF SORIA CATHEDRAL] + +_Osma._--From an historical and architectural point of view, Osma, +the rival city on the Duero River, is much more important than Soria. + +According to the tradition, St. James preached the Holy Gospel, and +after him St. Peter (or St. Paul?), who left his disciple St. Astorgio +behind as bishop (91 A. D.). Twenty-two bishops succeeded him, the +twenty-third on the list being John I., really the first of whose +existence we have any positive proof, for he signed the third council in +Toledo in the sixth century. In the eighth century, the Saracens drove +the shepherd of the Christian flock northward to Asturias, and it was +not until 1100 that the first bishop _de modernis_ was appointed by +Archbishop Bernardo of Toledo. The latter's choice fell on Peter, a +virtuous French monastic monk, who was canonized by the Pope after his +death, and figures in the calendar as St. Peter of Osma. + +When the first bishop took possession of his see, he started to build +his cathedral. Instead of choosing Osma itself as the seat, however, he +selected the site of a convent on the opposite banks of the Duero (to +the north), where the Virgin had appeared to a shepherd. Houses soon +grew up around the temple and, to distinguish it from Osma, the new +city was called Burgo de Osma, a name it still retains. + +In 1232, not a hundred years after the erection of the cathedral, it was +totally destroyed, excepting one or two chapels still to be seen in the +cloister, by Juan Dominguez, who was bishop at the time, and who wished +to possess a see more important in appearance than that left to him by +his predecessor, St. Peter. + +The building as it stands to-day is small, but highly interesting. The +original plan was that of a Romanesque basilica with a three-lobed apse, +but in 1781 the ambulatory walk behind the altar joined the two lateral +aisles. + +Two of the best pieces of sculptural work in the cathedral are the +_retablo_ of the high altar, and the relief imbedded in the wall of the +_trascoro_--both of them carved in wood by Juan de Juni, one of the best +Castilian sculptors of the sixteenth century. The plastic beauty of the +figures and their lifelike postures harmonize well with the simple +Renaissance columns ornamented here and there with finely wrought +flowers and garlands. + +The chapel where St. Peter of Osma's body lies is an original rather +than a beautiful annex of the church. For, given the small dimensions of +the cathedral, it was difficult to find sufficient room for the chapels, +sacristy, vestuary, etc. In the case of the above chapel, therefore, it +was necessary to build it above the vestuary; it is reached by a flight +of stairs, beneath which two three-lobed arches lead to the sombre room +below. The result is highly original. + +The same remarks as regard lack of space can be made when speaking about +the principal entrance. Previously the portal had been situated in the +western front; the erection of the tower on one side, and of a chapel on +the other, had rendered this entrance insignificant and half blinded by +the prominent tower. So a new one had to be erected, considered by many +art critics to be a beautiful addition to the cathedral properly +speaking, but which strikes the author as excessively ugly, especially +the upper half, with its balcony, and a hollow arch above it, in the +shadows of which the rose window loses both its artistic and its useful +object. So, being round, it is placed within a semicircular sort of +_avant-porche_ or recess, the strong _contours_ of which deform the +immense circle of the window. + +To conclude: in the cathedral of Osma, bad architecture is only too +evident. The tower is perhaps the most elegant part, and yet the second +body, which was to give it a gradually sloping elegance, was omitted, +and the third placed directly upon the first. This is no improvement. + +Perhaps the real reason for these architectural mishaps is not so much +the fault of the architects and artists as that of the chapter, and of +the flock which could not help satisfactorily toward the erection of a +worthy cathedral. Luckily, however, there are other cathedrals in Spain, +where, in spite of reduced funds, a decent and homogeneous building was +erected. + +The cloister, bare on the inner side, is nevertheless a modest Gothic +structure with acceptable lobulated ogival windows. + + + + +_PART IV_ + +_Western Castile_ + + + + +I + +PALENCIA + + +The history of Palencia can be divided into two distinct parts, +separated from each other by a lapse of about five hundred years, during +which the city was entirely blotted out from the map of Spain. + +The first period reaches from before the Roman Conquest to the +Visigothic domination. + +Originally inhabited by the Vacceos, a Celtiberian tribe, it was one of +the last fortresses to succumb to Roman arms, having joined Numantia in +the terrible war waged by Spaniards and which has become both legendary +and universal. + +Under Roman rule the broad belt of land, of which Palencia, a military +town on the road from Astorga to Tarragon, was the capital, flourished +as it had never done before. Consequently it is but natural that one of +the first sees should have been established there as soon as +Christianity invaded the peninsula. No records are, however, at hand as +regards the names of the first bishops and of the martyr saints, as +thick here as elsewhere and as numerous in Spain as in Rome itself. At +any rate, contemporary documents mention a Bishop Toribio, not the first +to occupy the see nor the same prelate who worked miracles in Orense and +Astorga. The Palencian Toribio fought also against the Priscilian +heresy, and was one of the impediments which stopped its spread further +southward. Of this man it is said that, disgusted with the heresy +practised at large in his Pallantia, he mounted on a hill, and, +stretching his arms heavenwards, caused the waters of the river to leave +their bed and inundate the city, a most efficacious means of bringing +loitering sheep to the fold. + +Nowhere did the Visigoths wreak greater vengeance or harm on the +Iberians who had hindered their entry into the peninsula than in +Palencia. It was entirely wrecked and ruined, not one stone remaining to +tell the tale of the city that had been. Slowly it emerged from the +wreck, a village rather than a town; once in awhile its bishops are +mentioned, living rather in Toledo than in their humble see. + +The Arab invasion devastated a second time the growing town; perhaps it +was Alfonso I. himself who completely wrecked it, for the Moorish +frontier was to the north of the city, and it was the sovereign's +tactics to raze to the ground all cities he could not keep, when he made +a risky incursion into hostile country. + +So Palencia was forgotten until the eleventh century, when Sancho el +Mayor, King of Navarra, who had conquered this part of Castile, +reestablished the long-ignored see. He was hunting among the weeds that +covered the ruins of what had once been a Roman fortress, when a boar +sprang out of cover in front of him and escaped. Being light of foot, +the king followed the animal until it disappeared in a cave, or what +appeared to be such, though it really was a subterranean chapel +dedicated to the martyrs, or to the patron saint of old Pallantia, +namely, San Antolin. + +The hunted beast cowered down in front of the altar; the king lifted his +arm to spear it, when lo, his arm was detained in mid-air by an +invisible hand! Immediately the monarch prostrated himself before the +miraculous effigy of the saint; he acknowledged his sacrilegious sin, +and prayed for forgiveness; the boar escaped, the monarch's arm fell to +his side, and a few days later the see was reestablished, a church was +erected above the subterranean chapel, and Bernardo was appointed the +first bishop (1035). After Sancho's death, his son Ferdinand, who, as we +have seen, managed to unite for the first time all Northern Spain +beneath his sceptre, made it a point of honour to favour the see his +father had erected a few months before his death, an example followed by +all later monarchs until the times of Isabel the Catholic. + +A surprising number of houses were soon built around the cathedral, and +the city's future was most promising. Its bishops were among the +noble-blooded of the land, and enjoyed such exceptional privileges as +gave them power and wealth rarely equalled in the history of the middle +ages. But then, the city had been built for the church and not the +church for the city, and it is not to be marvelled at that the prelates +bore the title of "_hecho un rey y un papa_"--king and pope. The greater +part of these princes, it is true, lived at court rather than in their +episcopal see, which is, perhaps, one of the reasons why Palencia failed +to emulate with Burgos and Valladolid, though at one time it was the +residence of some of the kings of Castile. + +Moreover, being only second in importance to the two last named cities, +Palencia was continually the seat of dissident noblemen and thwarted +heirs to the throne; because these latter, being unable to conquer the +capital, or Valladolid, invariably sought to establish themselves in +Palencia, sometimes successfully, at others being obliged to retreat +from the city walls. The story of the town is consequently one of the +most adventurous and varied to be read in Spanish history, and it is due +to the side it took in the rebellion against Charles-Quint, in the time +of the Comuneros, that it was finally obliged to cede its place +definitely to Valladolid, and lost its importance as one of the three +cities of Castilla la Vieja. + +It remains to be mentioned that Palencia was the seat of the first +Spanish university (Christian, not Moorish), previous to either that of +Salamanca or Alcala. In 1208 this educational institution was founded by +Alfonso VIII.; professors were procured from Italy and France, and a +building was erected beside the cathedral and under its protecting wing. +It did not survive the monarch's death, however, for the reign of the +latter's son left but little spare time for science and letters, and in +1248 it was closed, though twenty years later Pope Urbano IV. futilely +endeavoured to reestablish it. According to a popular tradition, it owed +its definite death to the inhabitants of the town, who, bent upon +venging an outrage committed by one of the students upon a daughter of +the city, fell upon them one night at a given signal and killed them to +the last man. + +In the fourteenth century, the cathedral, which had suffered enormously +from sieges and from the hands of enemies, was entirely pulled down and +a new one built on the same spot (June, 1321). The subterranean chapel, +which had been the cause of the city's resurrection, was still the +central attraction and relic of the cathedral, and, according to another +legend, no less marvellous than that of Toribio, its genuineness has +been placed definitely (?) without the pale of skeptic doubts. It +appears that one Pedro, Bishop of Osma (St. Peter of Osma?), was praying +before the effigy of San Antolin when the lights went out. The pious +yet doubting prelate prayed to God to give him a proof of the relic's +authenticity by lighting the candles. To his surprise (?) and glee, the +candles lit by themselves! + + * * * * * + +Let us approach the city by rail. The train leaves Venta de Banos, a +junction station with a village about two miles away possessing a +seventh-century Visigothic church which offers the great peculiarity of +horseshoe arches in its structure, dating from before the Arab invasion. + +Immediately upon emerging from the station, the train enters an immense +rolling plain of a ruddy, sandy appearance, with here and there an +isolated sand-hill crowned by the forgotten ruins of a mediaeval castle. + +The capital of this region is Palencia. + +The erection of the cathedral church of the town was begun in 1321; it +was dedicated to the Mother and Child, and to San Antolin, whose chapel, +devoid of all artistic merit, is still to be seen beneath the choir. + +This edifice was finished toward 1550. The same division as has been +observed in the history of the city can be applied to the temple: at +first it was intended to construct a modest Gothic church of red +sandstone; the apse with its five chapels and traditional ambulatory was +erected, as well as the transept and the high altar terminating the +central nave. Then, after about a hundred years had passed away, the +original plan was altered by lengthening the body of the building. +Consequently the chapel of the high altar was too small in comparison +with the enlarged proportions, and it was transformed into a parish +chapel. Opposite it, and to the west of the old transept, another high +altar was constructed in the central nave, and a second transept +separated it from the choir which followed. + +In other words, and looking at this curious monument as it stands +to-day, the central nave is surmounted by an ogival vaulting of a series +of ten vaults. The first transept cuts the nave beneath the sixth, and +the second beneath the ninth vault. (Vault No. 1 is at the western end +of the church.) Both transepts protrude literally beyond the general +width of the building. The choir stands beneath the fourth and fifth +vaults, and the high altar between the two transepts, occupying the +seventh and eighth space. Beneath the tenth stands the parish chapel or +ex-high altar, behind which runs the ambulatory, on the off-side of +which are situated the five apsidal chapels. Consequently the second +transept separates the old from the new high altar. + +[Illustration: PALENCIA CATHEDRAL] + +In spite of the low aisles and nave, and the absence of sculptural +motives so pronounced in Burgos, the effect produced on the spectator by +the double cross and the unusual length as compared with the width is +agreeable. The evident lack of unity in the Gothic structure is +recompensed by the original and pleasing plan. + +The final judgment that can be emitted concerning this cathedral church, +when seen from the outside, is that it shows the typical Spanish-Gothic +characteristic, namely, heaviness as contrasted to pure ogival +lightness. There is poverty in the decorative details, and solemnity in +the interior; the appearance from the outside is of a fortress rather +than a temple, with slightly pointed Gothic windows, and a heavy and +solid, rather than an elegant and light, general structure. Only the +cathedral church of Palencia outgrew the original model and took the +strange and exotic form it possesses to-day, without losing its +fortress-like aspect. + +Though really built in stone (see the columns and pillars in the +interior), brick has been largely used in the exterior; hence also the +impossibility of erecting a pure Gothic building, and this is a remark +that can be applied to most churches in Spain. The buttresses are heavy, +the square tower (unfinished) is Romanesque or _Mudejar_ in form rather +than Gothic, though the windows be ogival. There is no western facade or +portal; the tower is situated on the southern side between the true +transepts. + +Of the four doorways, two to the north and two to the south, which give +access to the transepts, the largest and richest in sculptural +decoration is the Bishop's Door (south). Observe the geometrical designs +in the panels of the otherwise ogival and slightly pointed doorway. The +other portal on the south is far simpler, and the arch which surmounts +it is of a purer Gothic style; not so the geometrically decorated panels +and the almost Arabian frieze which runs above the arches. This frieze +is Moorish or Mudejar-Byzantine, and though really it does not belong in +an ogival building, it harmonizes strangely with it. + +In the interior of the cathedral the nakedness of the columns is +partially recompensed by the richness in sculptural design of some +sepulchres, as well as by several sixteenth-century grilles. The huge +_retablo_ of the high altar shows Gothic luxuriousness in its details, +and at the same time (in the capitals of the flanking columns) nascent +plateresque severity. + +Perhaps the most interesting corner of the interior is the _trascoro_, +or the exterior side of the wall which closes the choir on the west. +Here the patronizing genius of Bishop Fonseca, a scion of the celebrated +Castilian family, excelled itself. The wall itself is richly sculptured, +and possesses two fine lateral reliefs. In the centre there is a Flemish +canvas of the sixteenth century, of excellent colour, and an elegantly +carved pulpit. + +In the chapter-room are to be seen some well-preserved Flemish +tapestries, and in an apsidal chapel is one of Zurbaran's mystic +subjects: a praying nun. (This portrait, I believe, has been sold or +donated by the chapter, for, if I am not mistaken, it is to be seen +to-day in the art collection of the Spanish royal family.) + + + + +II + +ZAMORA + + +Whatever may have been the origin of Zamora, erroneously confounded with +that of Numantia, it is not until the ninth century that the city, or +frontier fortress, appears in history as an Arab stronghold, taken from +the Moors and fortified anew by Alfonso I. or by his son Froila, and +necessarily lost and regained by Christians and Moors a hundred times +over in such terrible battles as the celebrated and much sung _dia de +Zamora_ in 901. In 939 another famous siege of the town was undertaken +by infidel hordes, but the strength of the citadel and the numerous +moats, six it appears they were in number, separated by high walls +surrounding the town, were invincible, and the Arab warriors had to +retreat. Nevertheless, between 900 and 980 the fortress was lost five +times by the Christians. The last Moor to take it was Almanzor, who +razed it to the ground and then repopulated it with Arabs from +Andalusia. + +Previously, in 905, the parish church had been raised to an episcopal +see; the first to occupy it being one Atilano, canonized later by Pope +Urbano II. + +Ten years after this bishop had taken possession of his spiritual +throne, he was troubled by certain religious scruples, and, putting on a +pilgrim's robe, he distributed his revenues among the parish poor and +left the city. Crossing the bridge,--still standing to-day and leading +from the town to Portugal,--he threw his pastoral ring into the river, +swearing he would only reoccupy the lost see when the ring should have +been given back into his hands; should this happen, it would prove that +the Almighty had pardoned his sins. + +For two years he roamed about visiting shrines and succouring the poor; +at last one day he dreamed that his Master ordered him to repair +immediately to his see, where he was sorely needed. Returning to Zamora, +he passed the night in a neighbouring hermitage, and while supping--it +must have been Friday!--in the belly of the fish he was eating he +discovered his pastoral ring. + +The following day the church-bells were rung by an invisible hand, and +the pilgrim, entering the city, was hailed as a saint by the +inhabitants; the same invisible hands took off his pilgrim's clothes and +dressed him in rich episcopal garments. He took possession of his see, +dying in the seventh year of his second reign. + +Almanzor _el terrible_, on the last powerful raid the Moors were to +make, buried the Christian see beneath the ruins of the cathedral, and +erected a mezquita to glorify Allah; fifteen years later the city fell +into the hands of the Christians again, and saw no more an Arab army +beneath its walls. + +It was not, however, until 125 years later that the ruined episcopal see +was reestablished _de modernis_, the first bishop being Bernardo (1124). + +But previous to the above date, an event took place in and around Zamora +that has given national fame to the city, and has made it the centre of +a Spanish Iliad hardly less poetic or dramatic than the Homerian legend, +and therefore well worth narrating as perhaps unique in the peninsula, +not to say in the history of the middle ages. + +When Fernando I. of Castile died in 1065, he left his vast territories +to his five children, bequeathing Castile to his eldest son Sancho, +Galicia to Garcia, Leon to Alfonso, Toro to Elvira, and Zamora to +Urraca, who was the eldest daughter, and, with Sancho, the bravest and +most intrepid of the five children. + +According to the romance of Zamora, she, Dona Urraca, worried her +father's last moments by trying to wheedle more than Zamora out of him; +but the king was firm, adding only the following curse: + + _"'Quien os la tomara, hija,_ + _iLa mi maldicion le caiga!'--_ + _Todos dicen amen, amen,_ + _Sino Don Sancho que calla."_ + +Which in other words means: "Let my curse fall on whomsoever endeavours +to take Zamora from you.... Those who were present agreed by saying +amen; only the eldest son, Don Sancho, remained silent." + +The latter, being ambitious, dethroned his brothers and sent them flying +across the frontier to Andalusia, then Moorish territory. Toro also +submitted to him, but not so Zamora, held by the dauntless Urraca and +the governor of the citadel, Arias Gonzalo. So it was besieged by the +royal troops and asked to surrender, the message being taken by the +great Cid from Don Sancho to his sister. She, of course, refused to give +up the town. Wherefore is not known, but the fact is that the Cid, the +ablest warrior in the hostile army, after having carried the embassy to +the Infanta, left the king's army; the many romances which treat of this +siege accuse him of having fallen in love with Dona Urraca's lovely +eyes,--a love that was perhaps reciprocated,--who knows? + +In short, the city was besieged during nine months. Hunger, starvation, +and illness glared at the besieged. On the point of surrendering, they +were beseeched by the Infanta to hold out nine days longer; in the +meantime one Vellido Dolfo, famous in song, emerged by the city's +postern gate and went to King Sancho's camp, saying that he was tired of +serving Dona Urraca, with whom he had had a dispute, and that he would +show the king how to enter the city by a secret path. + +According to the romances, it would appear that the king was warned by +the inhabitants themselves against the traitorous intentions of Vellido. +"Take care, King Sancho," they shouted from the walls, "and remember +that we warn you; a traitor has left the city gates who has already +committed treason four times, and is about to commit the fifth." + +The king did not hearken, as is generally the case, and went out walking +with the knight who was to show him the secret gate; he never returned, +being killed by a spear-thrust under almost similar circumstances to +Siegfried's. + +The father's curse had thus been fulfilled. + +The traitor returned to the city, and, strange to say, was not punished, +or only insufficiently so; consequently, it is to-day believed that the +sister of the murdered monarch had a hand in the crime. Upon Vellido's +return to the besieged town, the governor wished to imprison him--which +in those days meant more than confinement--but the Infanta objected; it +is even stated that the traitor spoke with his heartless mistress, +saying: "It was time the promise should be fulfilled." + +In the meanwhile, from the besieging army a solitary knight, Diego +Ordonez, rode up to the city walls, and accusing the inhabitants of +felony and treason, both men and women, young and old, living and dead, +born and to be born, he challenged them to a duel. It had to be +accepted, and, according to the laws of chivalry, the challenger had to +meet in single combat five champions, one after another, for he had +insulted, not a single man, but a community. + +The gray-haired governor of the fortress reserved for himself and his +four sons the duty of accepting the challenge; the Infanta beseeched him +in vain to desist from his enterprise, but he was firm: his mistress's +honour was at stake. At last, persuaded by royal tears, according to the +romance, he agreed to let his sons precede him, and, only in case it +should be necessary, would he take the last turn. + +The eldest son left the city gates, blessed by the weeping father; his +helmet and head were cleft in twain by Diego Ordonez's terrible sword, +and the latter's ironical shout was heard addressing the governor: + +"Don Arias, send me hither another of your charming sons, because this +one cannot bear you the message." + +A second and third son went forth, meeting the same fate: but the +latter's wounded horse, in throwing its rider, ran blindly into Ordonez +and knocked him out of the ring; the duel was therefore judged to be a +draw. + +Several days afterward Alfonso, the dead king's younger brother, hurried +up from Toledo, and after swearing in Burgos that he had had nothing to +do with the felonious murder, was anointed King of Castile, Leon, and +Galicia. His brave sister Urraca lived with him at court, giving him +useful advice, until she retired to a convent, and at her death left her +palace and her fortune to the Collegiate Church at Leon. + +The remaining history of Zamora is one interminable list of revolts, +sieges, massacres, and duels. As frontier fortress against Portugal in +the west, its importance as the last garrison town on the Duero was +exceptional, and consequently, though it never became important as a +metropolis, as a stronghold it was one of Castile's most strategical +points. + + * * * * * + +The best view of the city is obtained from the southern shore of the +Duero; on a low hill opposite the spectator, the city walls run east and +west; behind them, to the left, the castle towers loom up, square and +Byzantine in appearance; immediately to the right the cathedral nave +forms a horizontal line to where the _cimborio_ practically terminates +the church. Thus from afar it seems as though the castle tower were part +of the religious edifice, and the general appearance of the whole city +surrounded by massive walls cannot be more warlike. The colour also of +the ruddy sandstone and brick, brilliant beneath a bright blue sky, is +characteristic of this part of Castile, and certainly constitutes one of +its charms. What is more, the landscape is rendered more exotic or +African by the Oriental appearance of the whole town, its castle, and +its cathedral. + +The latter was begun and ended in the twelfth century; the first stone +was laid in 1151, and the vaults were closed twenty-three years later, +in 1174; consequently it is one of the unique twelfth-century churches +in Spain completed before the year 1200. It is true that the original +edifice has been deformed by posterior additions and changes dating from +the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. + +Excepting these abominable additions, the primitive building is +Romanesque; not Romanesque as are the cathedrals we have seen in +Galicia, but Byzantine, or military Romanesque, showing decided +Oriental influences. Would to Heaven the cathedral of Zamora were to-day +as it stood in the twelfth century! + +[Illustration: ZAMORA CATHEDRAL] + +The form of the church is that of a basilica. Like the cathedral of +Palencia, it lacks a western front; the apse is semicircular, +strengthened by heavy leaning buttresses; the upper, towerless rim of +this same body is decorated with an ogival festoon set off by means of +the primitive pinnacles of the top of the buttresses. The northern +(Renaissance or plateresque) front is, though beautiful and severe in +itself, a calamity when compared with the Romanesque edifice, as is also +the new and horrid clock-tower. + +The view of the southern end of the transept, as seen from the left, is +the most imposing to be obtained of the building. Two flights of steps +lead up to the Romanesque portal, flanked by three simple pillars, which +support three rounded arches deeply dentated(!). Blind windows, similar +in structure to the portal, occupy the second body of the facade, and +are surmounted in their turn by a simple row of inverted crenelated +teeth, showing in their rounded edges the timid use of the horseshoe +arc. The superior body is formed by two concentric and slightly ogival +arches embedded in the wall. + +The greatest attraction, and that which above all gives a warlike aspect +to the whole building, is the _cimborio_, or lantern of the _croisee_. +Flanked by four circular turrets, which are pierced by round-topped +windows and surmounted by Oriental domes that add a stunted, solid +appearance to the whole, the principal cupola rises to the same height +as the previously mentioned turrets. The whole is a marvel of simple +architectural resource within the narrow limits of the round-arched +style. What is more, though this cupola and that of Santiago belong to +the same period, what a world of difference between the two! Seen as +indicated above, the _factura_ of the whole is intensely Oriental +(excepting the addition of the triangular cornices emerging from beneath +the cupola), and, it may be said in parenthesis, exceptionally fine. +Besides, the high walls of the aisles, as compared with the stunted +growth of the _cimborio_, and with the compact and slightly angular form +of the entire building, lend an unrivalled aspect of solidity, strength, +and resistance to the twelfth-century cathedral church, so +intrinsically different from that of Santiago. + +The interior is no less peculiar, and particularly so beneath the +lantern of the _croisee_. The latter is composed of more than a dozen +windows, slightly ogival in shape, though from the outside the pillars +of the flanking turrets support round-headed arches; these windows are +separated from each other by simple columns or shafts. Again, what a +difference between this solid and simple _cimborio_ and the marvellous +lantern of the cathedral at Burgos! Two ages, two generations, even two +ideals, are represented in both; the earlier, the stronger, in Zamora; +the later, the more aerial and elaborate, in Burgos. + +Another Romanesque characteristic is the approximate height of nave and +aisles. This circumstance examined from within or from without is one of +the causes of the solid appearance of the church; the windows of the +aisles--unimportant, it is true, from an artistic point of view--are +slightly ogival; those of the nave are far more primitive and +round-headed. + +The transept, originally of the same length as the width of the church, +was prolonged in the fifteenth century. (On the south side also?... It +is extremely doubtful, as the southern facade previously described is +hardly a fifteenth-century construction; on the other hand, that on the +north side is easily classified as posterior to the general construction +of the building.) + +Further, the western end, lacking a facade, is terminated by an apse, +that is, each aisle and the central nave run into a chapel. The effect +of this _double apse_ is highly peculiar, especially as seen from +within, with chapels to the east and chapels to the west. + +The _retablo_ is of indifferent workmanship; the choir stalls, on the +other hand, are among the most exquisitely wrought--simple, sober, and +natural--to be seen in Spain, especially those of the lower row. + +The chapels are as usual in Spanish cathedrals, as different in style as +they are in size; none of those in Zamora can be considered as artistic +jewels. The best is doubtless that which terminates the southern aisles +on the western end of the church, where the principal facade ought to +have been placed. It is Gothic, rich in its decoration, but showing here +and there the decadence of the northern style. + +The cloister--well, anywhere else it might have been praised for its +plateresque simplicity and severity, but here!--it is out of date and +place. + +To conclude, the general characteristics of the cathedral of Zamora are +such as justify the opinion that the edifice, especially as its +Byzantine-Oriental and severe primitive structure is concerned, is one +of the great churches that can still be admired in Spain, in spite of +the reduced size and of the additions which have been introduced. + + NOTE.--To the traveller interested in church architecture, the + author wishes to draw attention to the parish church of La Magdalen + in Zamora. The northern portal of the same is one of the most + perfect--if not the most perfect--specimen of Byzantine-Romanesque + decoration to be met with in Spain. It is perhaps unique in the + world. At the same time, the severe Oriental appearance of the + church, both from the outside and as seen from within, cannot fail + to draw the attention of the most casual observer. + + + + +III + +TORO + + +To the west of Valladolid, on the river Duero, Toro, the second of the +two great fortress cities, uplifts its Alcazar to the blue sky; like +Zamora, it owed its fame to its strategic position: first, as one of the +Christian outposts to the north of the Duero against the Arab +possessions to the south, and, secondly, as a link between Valladolid +and Zamora, the latter being the bulwark of Christian opposition against +the ever encroaching Portuguese. + +Twin cities the fortresses have been called, and no better expression is +at hand to denote at once the similarity of their history, their +necessary origin, and their necessary decadence. + +Nevertheless, Toro appears in history somewhat later than Zamora, having +been erected either on virgin soil, or upon the ruins of a destroyed +Arab fortress as late as in the tenth century, by Garcia, son of +Alfonso III. At any rate, it was not until a century later, in 1065, +that the city attained any importance, when Fernando I. bequeathed it to +his daughter Elvira, who, seeing her elder brother's impetuous +ambitions, handed over the town and the citadel to him. + +Throughout the middle ages the name of Toro is foremost among the +important fortresses of Castile, and many an event--generally tragic and +bloody--took place behind its walls. Here Alfonso XI. murdered his uncle +in cold blood, and Don Pedro el Cruel, after besieging the town and the +citadel held in opposition to him by his mother, allowed her a free exit +with the gentlemen defenders of the place, but broke his word when they +were on the bridge, and murdered all excepting his widowed mother! + +In the days of Isabel the Catholic, Toro was taken by the kings of +Portugal, who upheld the claims of Enrique IV's illegitimate daughter, +Juana la Beltranaja. In the vicinity of the town, the great battle of +Pelea Gonzalo was fought, which gave the western part of Castile to the +rightful sovereigns. This battle is famous for the many prelates and +curates who, armed,--and wearing trousers and not frocks!--fought like +Christians (!) in the ranks. + +In Toro, Cortes was assembled in 1505 to open Queen Isabel's testament, +and to promulgate those laws which have gone down in Spanish history as +the Leyes de Toro; this was the last spark of Toro's fame, for since +then its fate has been identical with that of Zamora, forty miles away. + +Strictly speaking, it is doubtful if Toro ever was a city; at one time +it seems to have possessed an ephemeral bishop,--at least such is the +popular belief,--who must have reigned in his see but a short time, as +at an early date the city was submitted to the ecclesiastical +jurisdiction of Astorga. Later, when the see was reestablished in +Zamora, the latter's twin sister, Toro, was definitely included in the +new episcopal diocese. + +Be that as it may, the Catholic kings raised the church at Toro to a +collegiate in the sixteenth century (1500?) because they were anxious to +gain the good-will of the inhabitants after the Portuguese invasion. + +Built either toward the end of the twelfth or the beginning of the +thirteenth century, Santa Maria la Mayor, popularly called _la +catedral_, closely resembles the cathedral church at Zamora. The style +is the same (Byzantine-Romanesque), and the impression of strength and +solidity produced by the warlike aspect of the building is even more +pronounced than in the case of the sister church. + +The general plan is that of a basilica, rectangular in shape, with a +three-lobed apse, the central lobe being by far the largest in size, and +a transept which protrudes slightly beyond the width of the church. This +transept is situated immediately in front of the apse; the _croisee_ is +surmounted by the handsome _cimborio_, larger than that at Zamora, +pierced by twice as many round-topped windows, but lacking a cupola, as +do also the flanking towers, which are flat-topped. Above and between +these latter, the cone-shaped roof of the _cimborio_, properly speaking, +is sloping and triangular in its cross-section. + +This body, less Oriental in appearance than the one in Zamora, impresses +one with a feeling of greater awe, thanks to the great diameter as +compared with the foreshortened height. Crowning as it does the apse +(from the proximity of the transept to the head of the church), the +_croisee_, and the two wings of the transept, the cupola in question +produces a weird and incomprehensible effect on the spectator viewing it +from the southeast. The more modern tower, which backs the _cimborio_, +lends, it is true, a certain elegance to the edifice that the early +builders were not willing to impart. The ensemble is, nevertheless, +peculiarly Byzantine, and, with the mother-church in Zamora, which it +resembles without copying, it stands almost unique in the history of +art. + +The lateral doors, not situated in the transept, are located near the +foot of the church. The southern portal is the larger, but the most +simple; the arch which crowns it shows a decided ogival tendency, a +circumstance which need not necessarily be attributed to Gothic +influence, as in many churches prior to the introduction of the ogival +arch the pointed top was known, and in isolated cases it was made use +of, though purely by accident, and not as a constructive element. + +The northern door is smaller, but a hundred times richer in sculptural +design. It shows Byzantine influence in the decoration, and as a +Byzantine-Romanesque portal can figure among the best in Spain. + +[Illustration: TORO CATHEDRAL] + +It has been supposed that the western front of the building possessed at +one time a narthex, like the cathedral Tuy, for instance. Nothing +remains of it, however, as the portal which used to be here was done +away with, and in its place a modern chapel with a fine Gothic _retablo_ +was consecrated. + +Seen from the interior, the almost similar height of the nave and +aisles, leaves, as in Zamora, a somewhat stern and depressing impression +on the visitor; the light which enters is also feeble, excepting beneath +the _linterna_, where "the difficulty of placing a circular body on a +square without the aid of supports (_pechinas_) has been so naturally +and perfectly overcome that we are obliged to doubt of its ever having +existed." + +Gothic elements, more so than in Zamora, mix with the Romanesque +traditions in the decoration of the nave and aisles; nevertheless, the +elements of construction are purely Romanesque, excepting the central +apsidal chapel which contains the high altar. Restored by the Fonseca +family in the sixteenth century, it is ogival in conception and +execution, and contains some fine tombs of the above named aristocratic +family. But the chapel passes unnoticed in this peculiarly exotic +building, where solidity and not grace was the object sought and +obtained. + + + + +IV + +SALAMANCA + + +The very position of Salamanca, immediately to the north of the chain of +mountains which served for many a century as a rough frontier wall +between Christians and Moors, was bound to ensure the city's importance +and fame. Its history is consequently unique, grander and more exciting +than that of any other city; the universal name it acquired in the +fourteenth century, thanks to its university, can only be compared with +that of Bologna, Paris, and Oxford. + +Consequently its fall from past renown to present insignificance was +tremendous, and to-day, a heap of ruins, boasting of traditions like +Toledo and Burgos, of two cathedrals and twenty-four parish churches, of +twice as many convents and palaces, of a one-time glorious university +and half a hundred colleges,--Salamanca sleeps away a useless existence +from which it will never awaken. + +Its history has still to be penned. What an exciting and stirring +account of middle age life in Spain it would be! + +The Romans knew Salamantia, and the first notice handed down to us of +the city reads like a fairy story, as though predicting future events. + +According to Plutarch, the town was besieged by Hannibal, and had to +surrender. The inhabitants were allowed to leave, unarmed, and taking +away with them only their clothes; the men were searched as they passed +out, but not so the women. + +Together men and women left the town. A mile away they halted, and the +women drew forth from beneath their robes concealed weapons. Together +the men and the women returned to their town and stealthily fell upon +their foes, slaughtering them in considerable numbers. Hannibal was so +"enchanted" (!) with the bravery displayed by the women, that he drew +away his army from the town, leaving the patriotic inhabitants to settle +again their beloved Salamanca. + +The Western Goths, upon their arrival in Spain, found Salamanca in a +flourishing state, and respected its episcopal see, the origin of which +is ignored. The first bishop we have any record of is Eleuterio, who +signed the third Council of Toledo in 589. + +The Arabs treated the city more harshly; it was in turn taken and +destroyed by infidels and Christians; the former sacking frontier towns, +the latter destroying all fortresses they could not hold. + +In the eighth century no bishop seems to have existed in Salamanca; in +the tenth, date of a partial reestablishment of the see, seven prelates +are mentioned; these did not, however, risk their skins by taking +possession of their chair, but lived quietly in the north, either in +Santiago--farther north they could not go!--or else in Leon and Burgos. +The eleventh century is again devoid of any ecclesiastical news +connected with the see of Salamanca; what is more, the very name of the +city is forgotten until Alfonso VI. crossed the Guaderrama and fixed his +court in Toledo. This bold step, taken in a hostile country far from the +centre of the kingdom and from his base of operations, obliged the +monarch to erect with all speed a series of fortresses to the north; as +a result, Salamanca, Segovia, and Avila, beyond the Guaderrama +Mountains, and Madrid to the south, were quickly populated by +Christians. + +This occurred in 1102; the first bishop _de modernis_ was Jeronimo, a +French warrior-monk, who had accompanied his bosom friend el Cid to +Valencia, had fought beside him, and had been appointed bishop of the +conquered see. Not for any length of time, however, for as soon as el +Cid died, the Moors drove the Christians out of the new kingdom, and the +bishop came to Leon with the Cristo de las Batallas,--a miraculous cross +of old Byzantine workmanship, supposed to have aided the Cid in many a +battle,--as the only _souvenir_ of his stay in the Valencian see. + +The next four or five bishops fought among themselves. At one time the +city had no fewer than two, a usurper, and another who was not much +better; the Pope deprived one of his dignity, the king another, the +influential Archbishop of Santiago chose a third, who was also +deposed--the good old times!--until at last one Berengario was +appointed, and the ignominious conflict was peacefully settled. + +The inhabitants of the city at the beginning were a strong, warlike +medley of Jews (these were doubtless the least warlike!), Arabs, +Aragonese, Castilian, French, and Leonese. Bands of these without a +commander invaded Moorish territory, sacking and pillaging where they +could. On one occasion they were pursued by an Arab army, whose general +asked to speak with the captain of the Salamantinos. The answer was, +"Each of us is his own captain!" words that can be considered typical of +the anarchy which reigned in Spain until the advent of Isabel and +Ferdinand in the fifteenth century. + +If the bishops fought among themselves, and if the low class people +lived in a state of utter anarchy, the same spirit spread to--or +emanated from--the nobility, of whom Salamanca had more than its share, +especially as soon as the university was founded. The annals of no other +city are so replete with family traditions and feuds, which were not +only restricted to the original disputers, to their families and +acquaintances, but became generalized among the inhabitants themselves, +who took part in the feud. Thus it often happened that the city was +divided into two camps, separated by an imaginary line, and woe betide +the daring or careless individual who crossed it! + +One of the most dramatic of these feuds--a savage species of +vendetta--was the following: + +Dona Maria Perez, a Plasencian dame of noble birth, had married one of +the most powerful noblemen in Salamanca, Monroy by name, and upon the +latter's death remained a widowed mother of two sons. One of them asked +and obtained in marriage the hand of a noble lady who had refused a +similar proposition made by one Enriquez, son of a Sevillan aristocrat. +The youth's jealousy and anger was therefore bitterly aroused, and he +and his brother waited for a suitable opportunity in which to avenge +themselves. It soon came: they were playing Spanish ball, _pelota_, one +day with the accepted suitor, when a dispute arose as to who was the +better player; the two brothers fell upon their victim and foully +murdered him. But afraid lest his brother should venge the latter's +death, they lay in wait for him behind a street corner, and as he came +along they rapidly killed him as they had his brother. Then they fled +across the frontier to Portugal. + +The two corpses had in the meantime been carried on a bier by the crowds +and laid down in front of Dona Maria's house; the latter stepped out on +the balcony, with dishevelled hair; an angry murmur went from one end of +the crowd to the other, and a universal clamour arose: vengeance was on +every one's lips. But Dona Maria commanded silence. + +"Be calm," she said, "and take these bodies to the cathedral. Vengeance? +Fear not, I shall venge myself." + +An hour later she left the town with an escort, apparently with a view +to retire to her estates near Plasencia. Once well away from the city, +she divulged her plan to the escort and asked if they were willing to +follow her. Receiving an affirmative reply, she tore off her woman's +clothes and appeared dressed in full armour; placing a helmet on her +head, she took the lead of her troops again, and set out for the +Portuguese frontier. + +The strange company arrived on the third day at a Portuguese frontier +town, where they were told that two foreigners had arrived the night +before. By the description of the two Spaniards, Dona Maria felt sure +they were her sons' murderers, and consequently she and her escort +approached the house where the fugitives were passing the night. Placing +the escort beneath the window, she stealthily entered the house and +stole to the brothers' room; then she slew them whilst they were +sleeping, and, rushing to the window, threw it open, and, spearing the +heads of her enemies on her lance, she showed them to her retinue, with +the words: + +"I'm venged! Back to Salamanca." + +Silently, at the head of her troops, and bearing the two heads on her +lance, Dona Maria returned to Salamanca. Entering the cathedral, she +threw them on the newly raised slabs which covered her sons' remains. + +Ever after she was known as Dona Maria _la brava_, and is as celebrated +to-day as she was in the fifteenth century, during the abominable reign +of Henry IV. And so great was the feud which divided the city into two +camps, that it lasted many years, and many were the victims of the +gigantic vendetta. + +The city's greatest fame lay in its university, founded toward 1215, by +Alfonso IX. of Leon, who was jealous of his cousin Alfonso VIII. of +Castile, the founder of the luckless university of Palencia. + +The fate of the last named university has been duly mentioned elsewhere; +that of Salamanca was far different. In 1255 the Pope called it one of +the four lamps of the world; strangers--students from all corners of +Europe--flocked to the city to study. Perhaps its greatest merit was the +study of Arabic and Arabian letters, and it has been said that the study +of the Orient penetrated into Europe through Salamanca alone. + +What a glorious life must have been the university city's during the +apogee of her fame! Students from all European lands, dressed in the +picturesque costume worn by those who attended the university, wended +their way through the streets, singing and playing the guitar or the +mandolin; they mingled with dusky noblemen, richly dressed in satins and +silks, and wearing the rapier hanging by their sides; they flirted with +the beautiful daughters of Spain, and gravely saluted the bishop when he +was carried along in his chair, or rode a quiet palfrey. At one time the +court was established in the university city, lending a still more +brilliant lustre to the every-day life of the inhabitants, and to the +sombre streets lined with palaces, churches, colleges, convents, and +monasteries. + +Gone! To-day the city lies beneath an immense weight of ruins of all +kinds, that chain her down to the past which was her glory, and impede +her from looking ahead into her future with ambitions and hopes. + +The cathedrals Salamanca can boast of to-day are two, an old one and a +comparatively new one; the latter was built beside the former, a +praiseworthy and exceptional proceeding, for, instead of pulling down +the old to make room for the new, as happens throughout the world, the +cathedral chapter convocated an assembly of architects, and was +intelligent enough--another wonder!--to accept the verdict that the old +building, a Romanesque-Byzantine edifice of exceptional value, should +not be demolished. The new temple was therefore erected beside the +former, and, obeying the art impulses of the centuries which witnessed +its construction, is an ogival church spoilt--or bettered--by +Renaissance, plateresque, and grotesque decorative elements. + + * * * * * + +_The Old Cathedral._--The exact date of the erection of the old see is +not known; toward 1152 it was already in construction, and 150 years +later, in 1299, it was not concluded. Consequently, and more than in the +case of Zamora and Toro, the upper part of the building shows decided +ogival tendencies; yet in spite of these evident signs of transition, +the ensemble, the spirit of the building, is, beyond a doubt, +Romanesque-Byzantine, and not Gothic. + +[Illustration: OLD SALAMANCA CATHEDRAL] + +The plan of the church is the same as those of Zamora, Toro, and Coria: +a nave and two aisles cut short at the transept, which is slightly +prolonged beyond the width of the body of the church; there is no +ambulatory walk, but to the east of the transept are three chapels in a +three-lobed apse, the central lobe larger than the others and containing +the high altar; the choir was placed (originally) in the centre of the +nave, and a _cimborio_ crowns the _croisee_, this latter being a +peculiarity of the three cathedral churches of Zamora, Toro, and +Salamanca. + +Unluckily, the erection of the new building as an annex of the old one +required (as in Plasencia, though from different reasons) the demolition +of certain parts of the latter; as, for instance, the two towers of the +western front, the northern portal as well as the northern half of the +apse, and the corresponding part of the transept. Parts of these have +either been surrounded or replaced by the new building. + +The narthex and the western end are still preserved. They are of the +same width as the nave, for, beneath the towers, of which one seems to +have been far higher than the other, each of the aisles terminates in a +chapel. Byzantine in appearance, the two western doors are, +nevertheless, crowned by an ogival arch, and flanked by statuettes of +the same style. The facade, repaired and spoilt, is of Renaissance +severity. + +The interior of the building is more impressive than that of either +Zamora or Toro; this is due to the absence of the choir,--removed to the +new cathedral,--which permits an uninterrupted view of the whole church, +which does not occur in any other temple throughout Spain. Romanesque +strength and gloominess is clearly discernible, whereas the height of +the central nave (sixty feet) is rendered stumpy in appearance by the +almost equal height of the aisles. The strength and solidity of the +pillars and columns, supporting capitals and friezes of a peculiar and +decided Byzantine taste (animals, dragons, etc.), show more keenly than +in Galicia the Oriental influence which helped so thoroughly to shape +Central Spanish Romanesque. + +Of the chapels, but one deserves special mention, both as seen from +without and from within, namely, the high altar, or central apsidal +chapel. Seen from without, it is of perfect Romanesque construction, +excepting the upper row of rose windows, which are ogival in their +traceries; inside, it contains a mural painting of an exceedingly +primitive design, and a _retablo_ in low reliefs enchased in ogival +arches; it is of Italian workmanship. + +Of the remaining chapels, that of San Bartolome contains an alabaster +sepulchre of the Bishop Diego de Anaya--one of the many prelates of +those times who was the possessor of illegitimate sons; the bodies of +most of the latter lie within this chapel, which can be regarded not +only as a family pantheon, but as a symbol of ecclesiastical greatness +and human weakness. + +The windows which light up the nave are round-headed, and yet they are +delicately decorated, as is rarely to be seen in the Romanesque type. +The aisles, on the contrary, are not lit up by any windows. + +Like the churches of Zamora and Toro, the whole cathedral resembles a +fortress rather than a place of worship. The simplicity of the general +structure, the rounded turrets buried in the walls, serving as leaning +buttresses, the narrow slits in the walls instead of windows, lend an +indisputable aspect of strength. The beautiful, the really beautiful +lantern, situated above the _croisee_, with its turrets, its niches, its +thirty odd windows, and its elegant cupola, is an architectural body +that wins the admiration of all who behold it, either from within the +church or from without, and which, strictly Byzantine in conception +(though rendered peculiarly Spanish by the addition of certain elements +which pertain rather to Gothic military art than to church +architecture), is unique--to the author's knowledge--in all Europe. Less +pure in style, and less Oriental in appearance than that of Zamora, it +was nevertheless, created more perfect by the artistic conception of the +architect, and consequently more finished or developed than those of +Toro and Zamora. Without hesitation, it can claim to be one of +Salamanca's chief attractions. + +The thickness of the walls (ten feet!), the admirable simpleness of the +vaulting, and the general aspect from the exterior, have won for the +church the name of _fortis Salamantini_. + + * * * * * + +_The New Cathedral._--It was begun in 1513, the old temple having been +judged too small, and above all too narrow for a city of the importance +of Salamanca. + +Over two hundred years did the building of the present edifice last; at +times all work was stopped for years, no funds being at hand to pay +either artists or masons. + +The primitive plan of the church, as proposed by the congress of +architects, was Gothic of the second period, with an octagonal apse; the +lower part of the church, from the foot to the transept, was the first +to be constructed. + +The upper part of the apse was not begun until the year 1588, and the +artist, imbued with the beauty of Herrero's Escorial, squared the apse +with the evident intention of constructing turrets on the exterior +angles, which would have rendered the building symmetrical: two towers +on the western front, a cupola on the _croisee_, and two smaller turrets +on the eastern end. + +The building as it stands to-day is a perfect rectangle cut in its +length by a nave (containing the choir and the high altar), and by two +aisles, lower than the nave and continued in an ambulatory walk behind +the high altar. + +The same symmetry is visible in the lateral chapels: eight square +_huecos_ on the exterior walls of the aisles, five to the west, and +three to the east of the transept, and three in the extreme eastern wall +of the apse. + +Magnificence rather than beauty is the characteristic note of the new +cathedral. The primitive part--pure ogival with but little +mixture--contrasts with the eastern end, which is covered over with the +most glaring grotesque decoration; most of the chapels are spoiled by +the same shocking profusion of super-ornamentation; the otherwise +majestic cupola, the high altar, and the choir--all suffer from the same +defect. + +The double triforium--one higher than the other--in the clerestory +produces a most favourable impression; this is heightened by the wealth +of light, which, entering by two rows of windows and by the _cimborio_, +falls upon the rich decoration of friezes and capitals. The general view +of the whole building is also freer than in most Spanish cathedrals, +and this harmony existing in the proportions of the different parts +strikes the visitor more favourably, perhaps, than in the severer +cathedral at Burgos. + +[Illustration: NEW SALAMANCA CATHEDRAL] + +The exterior of the building reflects more truthfully than the interior +the different art waves which spread over Spain during the centuries of +the temple's erection. In the western front, the rich Gothic portal of +the third period, the richest perhaps in sculptural variety of any on +the peninsula, contrasts with the high mongrel tower, a true example of +the composite towers so frequently met with in certain Spanish regions. +The second body of the same facade (western) is highly interesting, not +on account of its ornamentation, which is simple, but because of the +solid, frank structure, and the curious fortress-like turrets embedded +in the angles. + +The flank of the building, seen from the north--for on the south side +stand the ruins of the old cathedral--is none too homogeneous, thanks to +the different styles in which the three piers of windows--of chapels, +aisles, and clerestory--have been constructed. The ensemble is +picturesque, nevertheless: the three rows of windows, surmounted by the +huge cupola and half-lost among the buttresses, certainly contribute +toward the general elegance of the granite structure. + + + + +V + +CIUDAD RODRIGO + + +In the times of the Romans, the country to the west of Salamanca seems +to have been thickly populated. Calabria, situated between the Agueda +and Coa Rivers, was an episcopal see; in its vicinity Augustabriga and +Mirobriga were two other important towns. + +Of these three Roman fortresses, and perhaps native towns, before the +invasion, not as much as a stone or a legend remains to relate the tale +of their existence and death. + +Toward 1150, Fernando II. of Castile, obeying the military requirements +of the Reconquest, and at the same time wishing to erect a +fortress-town, which, together with Zamora to the north, Salamanca to +the west, and Coria to the south, could resist the invasion of Spain by +Portuguese armies, founded Ciudad Rodrigo, and twenty years later raised +the church to an episcopal see, a practical means of attracting +God-fearing settlers. Consequently, the twelfth-century town, inheriting +the ecclesiastical dignity of Calabria, if the latter ever possessed it, +besides being situated in the same region as the three Roman cities +previously mentioned, can claim to have been born a city. + +One of the early bishops (the first was a certain Domingo) was the +famous Pedro Diaz, about whom a legend has been handed down to us. This +legend has also been graphically illustrated by an artist of the +sixteenth century; his painting is to be seen to the right of the +northern transept door in the cathedral. + +Pedro Diaz seems to have been a worldly priest, "fond of the sins of the +flesh and of good eating," who fell ill in the third year of his reign. +His secretary, a pious servant of the Lord, dreamt he saw his master's +soul devoured by demons, and persuaded him to confess his sins. It was +too late, for a few days later he died; his death was, however, kept a +secret by his menials, who wished to have plenty of time to make a +generous division of his fortune. When all had been settled to their +liking, the funeral procession moved through the streets of the city, +and, to the surprise of all, the dead bishop, resurrected by St. +Francis of Assisi, at the time in Ciudad Rodrigo, opened the coffin and +stood upon the hearse. He accused his servants of their greed, and at +the same time made certain revelations concerning the life hereafter. +His experiences must have been rather pessimistic, to judge by the +bishop's later deeds, for, having been granted a respite of twenty days +upon this earth, he "fasted and made penitence," doubtless eager to +escape a second time the tortures of the other world. + +Other traditions concerning the lives and doings of the noblemen who +disputed the feudal right or _senorio_ over the town, are as numerous as +in Plasencia, with which city Ciudad Rodrigo has certain historical +affinities. The story of the Virgen Coronada, who, though poor, did not +hesitate in killing a powerful and wealthy libertine nobleman whom she +was serving; the no less stirring account of Dona Maria Adan's vow that +she would give her fair daughter's hand to whomsoever venged her wrongs +on the five sons of her husband's murderer, are among the most tragic +and thrilling. There are many other traditions beside, which constitute +the past's legacy to the solitary city near the Portuguese frontier. + +It was in the nineteenth century that Ciudad Rodrigo earned fame as a +brave city. The Spanish war for independence had broken out against the +French, who overran the country, and passed from Bayonne in the Gascogne +to Lisbon in Portugal. Ciudad Rodrigo lay on the shortest route for the +French army, and had to suffer two sieges, one in 1810 and the second in +1812. In the latter, Wellington was the commander of the English forces +who had come to help the Spanish chase the French out of the peninsula; +the siege of the town and the battle which ensued were long and +terrible, but at last the allied English and Spanish won, with the loss +of two English generals. The Iron Duke was rewarded by Spanish Cortes, +with the title of Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo, together with the honours of +grandee of Spain, which are still retained by Wellington's descendants. + +[Illustration: CUIDAD RODRIGO CATHEDRAL] + +The cathedral church of Ciudad Rodrigo is a twelfth-century building, in +which the Romanesque style, similar to those of Zamora and Toro, fights +with the nascent ogival style. Notwithstanding these remarks, +however, the building does not pertain to the Transition period, but +rather to the second or last period of Spanish Romanesque. This is +easily seen by the basilica form of the church, the three-lobed apse, +the lack of an ambulatory walk, and the apparently similar height of +nave and aisles. + +The square tower, surmounted by a cupola, at the foot of the church, as +well as the entire western front, dates from the eighteenth century; it +is cold, anti-artistic, utterly unable to appeal to the poetic instincts +of the spectator. + +Behind the western front, and leading directly into the body of the +church, is a delightful Romanesque narthex which doubtlessly served as +the western facade prior to the eighteenth-century additions. It is +separated from the principal nave by a door divided into two by a solid +pediment, upon which is encrusted a statue of the Virgin with Child in +her arms. The semicircular arches which surmount the door are finely +executed, and the columns which support them are decorated with handsome +twelfth-century statuettes. There is a great similarity between this +portal and the principal one (del Obispo) in Toro: it almost seems as +though the same hand had chiselled both, or at least traced the plan of +their decoration. + +Of the two doors which lead, one on the south and the other on the +north, into the transept, the former is perhaps the more perfect +specimen of the primitive style. Both are richly decorated; unluckily, +in both portals, the rounded arches have been crowned in more recent +times by an ogival arch, which certainly mars the pureness of the style, +though not the harmony of the ensemble. + +To the left of these doors, a niche has been carved into the wall to +contain a full-length statue of the Virgin; this is an unusual +arrangement in Spanish churches. + +The exterior of the apse retains its primitive _cachet_; the central +chapel, where the high altar is placed, was, however, rebuilt in the +sixteenth century by Tavera, the Cardinal-Archbishop of Toledo, who had +at one time occupied the see of Ciudad Rodrigo. It is a peculiar mixture +of Gothic and Romanesque, of pointed windows and heavy buttresses; the +flat roof is decorated by means of a low stone railing or balustrade +composed of elegantly carved pinnacles. + +To conclude: excepting the western front and the central lobe of the +apse, the tower and the ogival arch surmounting the northern and +southern portals, the cathedral of Ciudad Rodrigo is one of the most +perfectly preserved Romanesque buildings to the south of Zamora and +Toro. It is less grim and warlike than the two last-named edifices, and +yet it is also a fair example of severe and gloomy (though not less +artistic!) Castilian Romanesque. Its _croisee_ is not surmounted by the +heavy cupola as in Salamanca and elsewhere, and it is perhaps just this +suppression or omission which gives the whole building a far less +Oriental appearance than the others mentioned heretofore. + +In the inside, the choir occupies its usual place. Its stalls, it is +believed, were carved by Aleman, the same who probably wrought those +superb seats at Plasencia. It is doubtful if the same master carved +both, however, but were it so, the stalls at Ciudad Rodrigo would have +to be classified as older, executed before those we shall examine in a +future chapter. + +The nave and two aisles, pierced by ogival windows in the clerestory and +round-headed windows in the aisles, constitute the church; the +_croisee_ is covered by means of a simple ogival vaulting; the arches +separating the nave from the aisles are Romanesque, as is the vaulting +of the former. It was originally the intention of the chapter to +beautify the solemn appearance of the interior by means of a triforium +or running gallery. Unluckily, perhaps because of lack of funds, the +triforium was never begun excepting that here and there are seen +remnants of the primitive tracing. + +With the lady-chapel profusely and lavishly ornamented, and quite out of +place in this solemn building, there are five chapels, one at the foot +of each aisle and two in the apse, to the right and left of the +lady-chapel. They all lack art interest, however, as does the actual +_retablo_, which replaces the one destroyed by the French; remnants of +the latter are to be seen patched up on the cloister walls. + +This cloister to the north of the church is a historical monument, for +each of the four sides of the square edifice is an architectural page +differing from its companions. Studying first the western, then the +southern, and lastly the two remaining sides, the student can obtain an +idea of how Romanesque principles struggled with Gothic before dying +completely out, and how the latter, having reached its apogee, +deteriorated into the most lamentable superdecoration before fading away +into the naked, straight-lined features of the Renaissance so little +compatible with Christian ideals. + + + + +VI + +CORIA + + +To the west of Toledo and to the south of the Sierra de Gata, which, +with the mountains of Gredo and the Guaderrama, formed in the middle +ages a natural frontier between Christians and Moors, lies, in a +picturesque and fertile vale about twenty miles distant from the nearest +railway station, the little known cathedral town of Coria. It is +situated on the northern shores of the Alagon, a river flowing about ten +miles farther west into the Tago, near where the latter leaves Spanish +territory and enters that of Portugal. + +Caurium, or Curia Vetona, was its name when the Romans held Extremadura, +and it was in this town, or in its vicinity, that Viriato, the Spanish +hero, destroyed four Roman armies sent to conquer his wild hordes. He +never lost a single battle or skirmish, and might possibly have dealt a +death-blow to Roman plans of domination in the peninsula, had not the +traitor's knife ended his noble career. + +Their enemy dead, the Romans entered the city of Coria, which they +immediately surrounded by a circular wall half a mile in length, and +twenty-six feet thick (!). This Roman wall, considered by many to be the +most perfectly preserved in Europe, is severely simple in structure, and +flanked by square towers; it constitutes the city's one great +attraction. + +The episcopal see was erected in 338. The names of the first bishops +have long been forgotten, the first mentioned being one Laquinto, who +signed the third Toledo Council in 589. + +Two centuries later the Moors raised Al-Karica to one of their capitals; +in 854 Zeth, an ambitious Saracen warrior, freed it from the yoke of +Cordoba, and reigned in the city as an independent sovereign. + +Like Zamora and Toro, Coria was continually being lost and won by +Christians and Moors, with this difference, that whereas the first two +can be looked upon as the last Christian outposts to the north of the +Duero, Coria was the last Arab stronghold to the north of the Tago. + +Toward the beginning of the thirteenth century, the strong fortress on +the Alagon was definitely torn from the hands of its independent +sovereign by Alfonso VIII., after the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa. A +bishop was immediately reinstated in the see, and after five centuries +of Mussulman domination, Coria saw the standard of Castile waving from +its citadel. + +As happened with so many other provincial towns in Spain, the +centralization of power to the north of Toledo shoved Coria into the +background; to-day it is a cathedral village forgotten or completely +ignored by the rest of Spain. Really, it might perhaps have been better +for the Arabs to have preserved it, for under their rule it flourished. + +It is picturesque, this village on the banks of the Alagon: a heap or +bundle of red bricks surrounded by grim stone walls, over-topped by a +cathedral tower and citadel,--the whole picture emerging from a prairie +and thrown against a background formed by the mountains to the north and +the bright blue sky in the distance. + +Arab influence is only too evident in the buildings and houses, in the +Alcazar, and in the streets; unluckily, these remembrances of a happy +past depress the dreamy visitor obliged to recognize the infinite +sadness which accompanied the expulsion of the Moors by intolerant +tyrants from the land they had inhabited, formed, and moulded to their +taste. Nowhere is this so evident as in Coria, a forgotten bit of +mediaeval Moor-land. The poet's exclamation is full of bitterness and +resignation when he exclaims: + +"Is it possible that this heap of ruins should have been in other times +the splendid court of Zeth and Mondhir!" + + * * * * * + +As an architectural building, the cathedral of Coria is a parish church, +which, removed to any other town, would be devoid of any and all beauty. +In other words, the impressions it produces are entirely dependent upon +its local surroundings; eliminate these, and the temple is worthless +from an artistic or poetical point of view. + +It was begun in 1120, most likely by Arab workmen; it was finished +toward the beginning of the sixteenth century. Honestly speaking, it is +a puzzle what the artisans did in all those long years; doubtless they +slept at their task, or else decades passed away without work of any +kind being done, or again, perhaps only one mason was employed at a +time. + +The interior is that of a simple Gothic church of one aisle, 150 feet +long by fifty-two wide and eighty-four high; the high altar is situated +in the rounded apse; in the centre of the church the choir stalls of the +fifteenth century obstruct the view of the walls, decorated only by +means of pilasters which pretend to support the Gothic vaulting. + +To the right, in the altar chapel, is a fine marble sepulchre of the +sixteenth century, in which the chasuble of the kneeling bishop +portrayed is among the best pieces of imitative sculpture to be seen in +Spain. + +To the right of the high altar, and buried in the cathedral wall, a door +leads out into the _paseo_,--a walk on the broad walls of the city, with +a delightful view southwards across the river to the prairie in the +distance. Where can a prettier and more natural cloister be found? + +The western facade is never used, and is surrounded by the old +cemetery,--a rather peculiar place for a cemetery in a cathedral church; +the northern facade is anti-artistic, but the tower to the right has +one great virtue, that of comparative height. Though evidently intended +to be Gothic, the Arab taste, so pronounced throughout this region, got +the better of the architect, and he erected a square steeple crowned by +a cupola. + +Yet, and in spite of criticism which can hardly find an element worthy +of praise in the whole cathedral building, the tourist should not +hesitate in visiting the city. Besides, the whole region of Northern +Extremadura, in which Coria and Plasencia lie, is historically most +interesting: Yuste, where Charles-Quint spent the last years of his +life, is not far off; neither is the Convent of Guadalupe, famous for +its pictures by the great Zurbaran. + +As for Coria itself, it is a forgotten corner of Moor-land. + + + + +VII + +PLASENCIA + + +The foundation of Plasencia by King Alfonso VIII. in 1178, and the +erection of a new episcopal see twelve years later, can be regarded as +the _coup de grace_ given to the importance of Coria, the twin sister +forty miles away. Nevertheless, the Royal City, as Plasencia was called, +which ended by burying its older rival in the most shocking oblivion, +was not able to acquire a name in history. Founded by a king, and handed +over to a bishop and to favourite courtiers, who ruled it indifferently +well, not to say badly, it grew up to be an aristocratic town without a +_bourgeoisie_. Its history in the middle ages is consequently one long +series of family feuds, duels, and tragedies, the record of bloody +happenings, and acts of heroic brutality and bravery. + +In 1233 a Moorish army conquered it, shortly after the battle of Alarcos +was lost to Alfonso VIII., at that time blindly in love with his +beautiful Jewish mistress, Rachel of Toledo. But the infidels did not +remain master of the situation, far less of the city, for any length of +time, as within the next year or so it fell again into the hands of its +founder, who strengthened the walls still standing to-day, and completed +the citadel. + +The population of the city, like that of Toledo, was mixed. Christians, +Jews, and Moors lived together, each in their quarter, and together they +used the fertile _vegas_, which surround the town. The Jews and Moors +were, in the fifteenth century, about ten thousand in number; in 1492 +the former were expelled by the Catholic kings, and in 1609 Philip III. +signed a decree expelling the Moors. Since then Plasencia has lost its +municipal wealth and importance, and the see, from being one of the +richest in Spain, rapidly sank until to-day it drags along a weary life, +impoverished and unimportant. + +The Jewish cemetery is still to be seen in the outskirts of the town; +Arab remains, both architectural and irrigatory, are everywhere present, +and the quarter inhabited by them, the most picturesque in Plasencia, +is a Moorish village. + +The city itself, crowning a hill beside the rushing Ierte, is a small +Toledo; its streets are narrow and winding; its church towers are +numerous, and the red brick houses warmly reflect the brilliancy of the +southern atmosphere. The same death, however, the same inactivity and +lack of movement, which characterize Toledo and other cities, hover in +the alleys and in the public squares, in the fertile _vegas_ and silent +_patios_ of Plasencia. + +The history of the feuds between the great Castilian families who lived +here is tragically interesting: Hernan Perez killed by Diego Alvarez, +the son of one of the former's victims; the family of Monroye pitched +against the Zunigas and other noblemen,--these and many other traditions +are among the most stirring of the events that happened in Spain in the +middle ages. + +Even the bishops called upon to occupy the see seem to have been slaves +to the warlike spirit that hovered, as it were, in the very atmosphere +of the town. The first prelate, Don Domingo, won the battle of Navas de +Tolosa for his protector, Alfonso VIII. When the Christian army was +wavering, he rushed to the front (with his naked sword, the cross having +been left at home), at the head of his soldiers, and drove the already +triumphant Moors back until they broke their ranks and fled. The same +bishop carried the Christian sword to the very heart of the Moorish +dominions, to Granada, and conquered neighbouring Loja. The next +prelate, Don Adan, was one of the leaders of the army that conquered +Cordoba in 1236, and, entering the celebrated _mezquita_, sanctified its +use as a Christian church. + +The history of the cathedral church is no less interesting. The +primitive see was temporarily placed in a church on a hill near the +fortress; this building was pulled down in the fifteenth century, and +replaced by a Jesuit college. + +Toward the beginning of the fourteenth century a cathedral church was +inaugurated. Its life was short, however, for in 1498 it was partially +pulled down to make way for a newer and larger edifice, which is to-day +the unfinished Renaissance cathedral visited by the tourist. + +Parts of the old cathedral are, however, still standing. Between the +tower of the new temple and the episcopal palace, but unluckily +weighted down by modern superstructures, stands the old facade, almost +intact. The grossness of the structural work, the timid use of the +ogival arch, the primitive rose window, and the general heaviness of the +structure, show it to belong to the decadent period of the Romanesque +style, when the artists were attempting something new and forgetting the +lessons of the past. + +The new cathedral is a complicated Gothic-Renaissance building of a nave +and two aisles, with an ambulatory behind the high altar. Not a square +inch but what has been hollowed out into a niche or covered over with +sculptural designs; the Gothic plan is anything but pure Gothic, and the +Renaissance style has been so overwrought that it is anything but +Italian Renaissance. + +The facade of the building is imposing, if not artistic; it is composed +of four bodies, each supported laterally by pillars and columns of +different shapes and orders, and possessing a _hueco_ or hollow in the +centre, the lowest being the door, the highest a stained glass window, +and the two central ones blind windows, which spoil the whole. The +floral and Byzantine (Arab?) decoration of pillars and friezes is of +a great wealth of varied designs; statuettes are missing in the niches, +proving the unfinished state of the church. + +[Illustration: FACADE OF PLASENCIA CATHEDRAL] + +Three arches and four pillars, sumptuously decorated, uphold each of the +clerestory walls, which are pierced at the top by a handsome triforium +running completely around the church. The _retablo_ of the high altar is +richly decorated, perhaps too richly; the _reja_, which closes off the +sacred area, is of fine seventeenth-century workmanship. + +The choir stalls are of a surprising richness, carved scenes covering +the backs and seats. They are famous throughout the country, and the +genius, above all the imagination, of the artist who executed them (his +name is unluckily not known, though it is believed to be Aleman) must +have been notable. Pious when carving the upper and visible seats, he +seems to have been exceedingly ironical and profane when sculpturing the +inside of the same, where the reverse or the caustic observation +produced in the carver's mind has been artfully drawn, though sometimes +with an undignified grain of indecency and obscenity not quite in +harmony with our Puritanic spirit of to-day. + + + + +_PART V_ + +_Eastern Castile_ + + + + +I + +VALLADOLID + + +The origin of Valladolid is lost in the shadows of the distant past. As +it was the capital of a vast kingdom, it was thought necessary, as in +the case of Madrid, to place its foundation prior to the Roman invasion; +the attempt failed, however, and though Roman ruins have been found in +the vicinity, nothing is positively known about the city's history prior +to the eleventh century. + +When Sancho II. fought against his sister locked up in Zamora, he +offered her Vallisoletum in exchange for the powerful fortress she had +inherited from her father. In vain, and the town seated on the Pisuerga +is not mentioned again in historical documents until 1074, when Alfonso +VI. handed it over, with several other villages, to Pedro Ansurez, who +made it his capital, raised the church (Santa Maria la Mayor) to a +suffragan of Palencia, and laid the first foundations of its future +greatness. In 1208 the family of Ansurez died out, and the _villa_ +reverted to the crown; from then until the reign of Philip IV. +Valladolid was doubtless one of the most important cities in Castile, +and the capital of all the Spains, from the reign of Ferdinand and +Isabel to that of Philip III. + +Consequently, the history of Valladolid from the thirteenth to the +sixteenth century is that of Spain. + +In Valladolid, Peter the Cruel, after three days' marriage, forsook his +bride, Dona Blanca de Bourbon, and returned to the arms of his mistress +Maria; several years later he committed most of his terrible crimes +within the limits of the town. Here Maria de Molina upheld her son's +right to the throne during his minority, and in Valladolid also, after +her son's death, the same widow fought for her grandson against the +intrigues of uncles and cousins. + +Isabel and Alfonso fought in Valladolid against the proclamation of +their niece, Juana, the illegitimate daughter of Henry IV., as heiress +to the throne; the citizens upheld the Catholic princess's claims, and +it is not surprising that when the princess became queen--the greatest +Spain ever had--she made Valladolid her capital, in gratitude to the +loyalty of its inhabitants. + +In Valladolid, Columbus obtained the royal permission to sail westwards +in 1492, and, upon his last return from America, he died in the selfsame +city in 1506; here also Berruguete, the sculptor, created many of his +_chefs-d'oeuvres_ and the immortal Cervantes appeared before the law +courts and wrote the second part of his "Quixote." + +Unlucky Juana _la Loca_ (Jane the Mad) and her husband Felipe _el +Hermoso_ (Philip the Handsome) reigned here after the death of Isabel +the Catholic, and fifty years later, when Philip II. returned from +England to ascend the Spanish throne, he settled in Valladolid, until +his religious fanaticism or craze obliged him to move to a city nearer +the Escorial. Then he fixed upon Madrid as his court. Being a religious +man, nevertheless, and conscious of a certain love for Valladolid, his +natal town, he had the suffragan church erected to a cathedral in 1595, +appointing Don Bartolome de la Plaza to be its first bishop. At the same +time, he ordered Juan de Herrero, the severe architect of the Escorial, +to draw the plans and commence the building of the new edifice. + +The growing importance of Madrid, and the final establishment in the +last named city of all the honours which belonged to Valladolid, threw +the city seated on the Pisuerga into the shade, and its star of fortune +slowly waned. But not to such a degree as that of Salamanca or Burgos, +for to-day, of all the old cities of Castile, the only one which has a +life of its own, and a commercial and industrial personality, is +Valladolid, the one-time capital of all the Spains, and now the seat of +an archbishopric. It began by usurping the dignity of Burgos; then it +rose to greater heights of fame than its rival, thanks to the discovery +of America, and finally it lost its _prestige_ when Madrid was crowned +the _unica villa_. + +The general appearance of the city is peculiarly Spanish, especially as +regards the prolific use of brick in the construction of churches and +edifices in general. It is presumable that the Arabs were possessors of +the town before the Christian conquest, though no documental proofs are +at hand. The etymology of the city's name, Medinat-el-Walid, is purely +Arabic, Walid being the name of a Moorish general. + +If the cathedral church was erected as late as the sixteenth century, it +must not be supposed that the town lacked parish churches. On the +contrary, there is barely a city in Spain with more religious edifices +of all kinds, and the greater part of them of far more architectural +merit than the cathedral itself. The astonishing number of convents is +remarkable; many of them date from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, +and are, consequently, Romanesque with a good deal of Byzantine taste +about them, or else they belong to the period of Transition. Taken all +in all, they are really the only architectural attractions to be +discovered in the city to-day. The traditions which explain the +foundation of some of these are among the most characteristic in +Valladolid, and a thread of Oriental romance is more predominant among +them than elsewhere. A good example of one of these explains the +foundation of the large convent of the Mercedes. + +Dona Leonor was the wife of one Acuna, a fearless (?) knight. The King +of Portugal unluckily fell in love with Dona Leonor, and, wishing to +marry her, had her previous marriage annulled and placed her on his +throne. Acuna fled from Portugal and came to Valladolid, where, with +unparalleled sarcasm, he wore a badge on his hat proclaiming his +dishonour. + +Both Acuna and the King of Portugal died, and Dona Leonor, whose morals +were none too edifying, fell in love with a certain Zuniguez; the +daughter of these two was handed over to the care of a knight, Fernan by +name, and Dona Leonor ordered him to found a convent, upon her death, +and lock up her daughter within its walls; the mother was doubtless only +too anxious to have her daughter escape the ills of this life. Unluckily +she counted without the person principally concerned, namely, the +daughter, for the latter fell secretly in love with her keeper's nephew. +She thought he was her cousin, however, for it appears she was passed +off as Fernan's daughter. Upon her mother's death she learnt her real +origin, and wedded her lover. In gratitude for her non-relationship with +her husband, she founded the convent her mother had ordered, but she +herself remained without its walls! + +The least that can be said about the cathedral of Valladolid, the +better. Doubtless there are many people who consider the building a +marvel of beauty. As a specimen of Juan de Herrero's severe and majestic +style, it is second to no other building excepting only that great +masterwork, the Escorial, and perhaps parts of the Pillar at Saragosse. +But as an art monument, where beauty and not Greco-Roman effects are +sought, it is a failure. + +The original plan of the building was a rectangle, 411 feet long by 204 +wide, divided in its length by a nave and two aisles, and in its width +by a broad transept situated exactly half-way between the apse and the +foot of the church. The form was thus that of a Greek cross; each angle +of the building was to be surmounted by a tower, and the _croisee_ by an +immense cupola or dome. (Compare with the new cathedral in Salamanca.) +The lateral walls of the aisles were to contain symmetrical chapels, as +was also the apse. + +From the foregoing it will be seen that symmetry and the Greco-Roman +straight horizontal line were to replace the ogival arch and the +generally vertical, soaring effect of Gothic buildings. + +The architect died before his monument was completed, and Churriguera, +the most anti-artistic artist that ever breathed,--according to the +author's personal opinion,--was called upon to finish the edifice: his +trade-mark covers almost the entire western front, where the second body +shows the defects into which Herrero's severe style degenerated soon +after his death. + +Of the four towers and the cupola which were to render the capitol of +Valladolid "second in grandeur to none excepting St. Peter's at Rome," +only one tower was erected: it fell down in 1841, and is being reerected +at the present time. + +In the interior the same disparity is everywhere visible, as well as in +the unfinished state of the temple. Greek columns are prevalent, and, +contrasting with their simplicity, the high altar, as grotesque a body +as ever was placed in a holy cathedral, attracts the eye of the vulgar +with something of the same feeling as a blood-and-thunder melodrama. +Needless to say, the art connoisseur flees therefrom. + +[Illustration: WESTERN FRONT OF VALLADOLID CATHEDRAL] + +To the rear of the building the remains of the Romanesque Church of +Santa Maria la Mayor are still to be seen; what a difference between +the rigid, anti-artistic conception of Herrero, ridiculized by +Churriguera, and left but half-completed by successive generations of +moneyless believers, and the simple but elegant features of the old +collegiate church, with its tower still standing, a Byzantine _recuerdo_ +of the thirteenth century. + + + + +II + +AVILA + + +To the west of Madrid, in the very heart of the Sierra de Gredos, lies +Avila, another of the interesting cities of Castile, whose time-old +mansions and palaces, built of a gray granite, lend a solemn and almost +repulsively melancholic air to the city. + +Perhaps more than any other town, Avila is characteristic of the middle +ages, of the continual strife between the noblemen, the Church, and the +common people. The houses of the aristocrats are castles rather than +palaces, with no artistic decoration to hide their bare nakedness; the +cathedral is really a fortress, and not only apparently so, as in +Salamanca and Toro, for its very apse is embedded in the city walls, of +which it forms a part, a battlemented, turreted, and warlike projection, +sure of having to bear the brunt of an attack in case of a siege. + +Like the general aspect of the city is also the character of the +inhabitant, and it is but drawing it mildly to state that Avila's sons +were ever foremost in battle and strife. Kings in their minority were +brought hither by prudent mothers who relied more upon the city's walls +than upon the promises of noblemen in Valladolid and Burgos; this trust +was never misplaced. In the conquest of Extremadura and of Andalusia, +also, the Avilese troops, headed by daring warrior-prelates, played a +most important part, and, as a frontier fortress, together with Segovia, +against Aragon to the east, it managed to keep away from Castilian +territory the ambitions of the monarchs of the rival kingdom. + +Avela of the Romans was a garrison town, the walls of which were partly +thrown down by the Western Goths upon their arrival in the peninsula. +Previously, San Segundo, one of the disciples of the Apostles who had +visited Betica (Andalusia), preached the True Word in Avila, and was +created its first bishop--in the first century. During the terrible +persecution of the Christians under the reign of Trajanus, one San +Vicente and his two sisters, Sabina and Cristeta, escaped from Portugal +and came to Avila, hoping to be hospitably received. All in vain; their +heads were smashed between stones, and their bodies left to rot in the +streets. An immense serpent emerged from the city walls and kept guard +over the three saintly corpses. The first to approach was a Jew, drawn +hither by curiosity; he was immediately enveloped by the reptile's body. +On the point of being strangled, he pronounced the word, "Jesus"--and +the serpent released him. So grateful was the Jew at being delivered +from death that he turned Christian and erected a church in honour of +San Vicente, Sabina, and Cristeta, and had them buried within its walls. + +This church subsisted throughout the dark ages of the Moorish invasion +until at last Fernando I. removed the saintly remains to Leon in the +eleventh century. The church was then destroyed, and, it is believed, +the present cathedral was built on the same spot. + +The Moors, calling the city Abila, used it as one of the fortresses +defending Toledo on the north against the continual Christian raids; +with varying success they held it until the end of the eleventh century, +when it finally fell into the hands of the Christians, and was +repopulated a short time before Salamanca toward the end of the same +century. + +During the centuries of Moorish dominion the see had fallen into the +completest oblivion, no mention being made of any bishops of Avila; the +ecclesiastical dignity was reestablished immediately after the final +conquest of the region to the north of the Sierra of Guaderrama, and +though documents are lacking as to who was the first prelate _de +modernis_, it is generally believed to have been one Jeronimo, toward +the end of the eleventh century. + +The city grew rapidly in strength; settlers came from the north--from +Castile and Leon--and from the east, from Aragon; they travelled to +their new home in bullock-carts containing household furniture, +agricultural and war implements, wives, and children. + +In the subsequent history of Spain Avila played an important part, and +many a stirring event took place within its walls. It was besieged by +the Aragonese Alfonso el Batallador, whose army advanced to the attack +behind its prisoners, sons of Avila. Brothers, fathers, and relatives +were thus obliged to fire upon their own kin if they wished to save +their city. The same king, it is said, killed his hostages by having +their heads cut off and boiled in oil, as though severed heads were +capable of feeling the delightful sensation of seething oil! + +Of all the traditions as numerous here as elsewhere, the prettiest and +most improbable is doubtless that of Nalvillos, a typical chevalier of +romance, who fell desperately in love with a beautiful Moorish princess +and wedded her. She pined, however, for a lover whom in her youth she +had promised to wed, and though her husband erected palaces and bought +slaves for her, she escaped with her sweetheart. Nalvillos followed the +couple to where they lay retired in a castle, and it was surrounded by +him and his trusty followers. The hero himself, disguised as a seller of +curative herbs, entered the apartment where his wife was waiting for her +lover's return, and made himself known. The former's return, however, +cut matters short, and Nalvillos was obliged to hide himself. The +Moorish girl was true to her love, and told her sweetheart where the +Christian was hiding; brought out of his retreat, he was on the point of +being killed when he asked permission to blow a last blast on his +bugle--a wish that was readily conceded by the magnanimous lover. The +result? The princess and her sweetheart were burnt to death by the +flames ignited by Nalvillos's soldiers. The Christian warrior was, of +course, able to escape. + +In 1455 the effigy of Henry IV. was dethroned in Avila by the prelates +of Toledo and other cities, and by an assembly of noblemen who felt that +feudalism was dying out, and were anxious to strike a last blow at the +weak king whom they considered was their enemy. + +The effigy was placed on a throne; the Archbishop of Toledo harangued +the multitude which, silent and scowling, was kept away from the throne +by a goodly number of obedient mercenary soldiers. Then the prelate tore +off the mock crown, another of the conspirators the sceptre, another the +royal garments, and so on, each accompanying his act by an ignominious +curse. At last the effigy was torn from the throne and trampled under +the feet of the soldiers. Alfonso, a boy of eleven, stepped on the dais +and was proclaimed king. His hand was kissed by the humble (!) prelates +and noblemen, who swore allegiance, an oath they had not the slightest +intention of keeping, and did not keep, either. + +Philip III.'s decree expelling Moors from Spain, was, as in the case of +Plasencia, the _coup de grace_ given to the city's importance; half the +population was obliged to leave, and Avila never recovered her lost +importance and influence. To-day, with only about ten thousand +inhabitants, thrown in the background by Madrid, it manages to keep +alive and nothing more. + +The date when the erection of the cathedral church of Avila was begun is +utterly unknown. According to a pious legend, it was founded by the +third bishop, Don Pedro, who, being anxious to erect a temple worthy of +his dignity, undertook a long pilgrimage to foreign countries in search +of arms, and returned to his see in 1091. Sixteen years later, according +to the same tradition, the present cathedral was essentially completed, +a bold statement that cannot be accepted because in manifest +contradiction with the build of the church. + +According to Senor Quadrado, the oldest part of the building, the apse, +was probably erected toward the end of the twelfth century. It is a +massive, almost windowless, semicircular body, its bare walls +unsupported by buttresses, and every inch of it like the corner-tower of +a castle wall, crenelated and flat-topped. + +The same author opines that the transept, a handsome, broad, and airy +ogival nave, dates from the fourteenth century, whereas the western +front of the church is of a much more recent date. + +Be that as it may, the fact is that the cathedral of Avila, seen from +the east, west, or north, is a fortress building, a huge, unwieldy and +anti-artistic composition of Romanesque, Gothic, and other elements. The +western front, with its heavy tower to the north, and the lack of such +to the south, appears more gloomy than ever on account of the obscure +colour of the stone; the facade above the portal is of one of the most +peculiar of artistic conceptions ever imagined; above the first body or +the pointed arch which crowns the portal comes the second body, divided +from the former by a straight line, which supports eight columns +flanking seven niches; on the top of this unlucky part comes an ogival +window. The whole facade is narrow--one door--and high. The effect is +disastrous: an unnecessary contortion or misplacement of vertical, +horizontal, slanting, and circular lines. + +The tower is flanked at the angles by two rims of stone, the edges of +which are cut into _bolas_ (balls). If this shows certain _Mudejar_ +taste, so, also, do the geometrical designs carved in relief against a +background, as seen in the arabesques above the upper windows. + +The northern portal, excepting the upper arch, which is but slightly +curved and almost horizontal, and weighs down the ogival arches, is far +better as regards the artist's conception of beauty; the stone carving +is also of a better class. + +Returning to the interior of the building, preferably by the transept, +the handsomest part of the church, the spectator perceives a double +ambulatory behind the high altar; the latter, as well as the choir, is +low, and a fine view is obtained of the ensemble. The central nave, +almost twice as high and little broader than the aisles, is crowned by a +double triforium of Gothic elegance. + +Seen from the transept, it would appear as though there were four aisles +on the west side instead of two, a peculiar deception produced by the +lateral opening of the last chapels, exactly similar in construction +to the arch which crowns the intersection of the aisles and transept. + +[Illustration: TOWER OF AVILA CATHEDRAL] + +In the northern and southern extremity of the transept two handsome +rosaces, above a row of lancet windows, let in the outside light through +stained panes. + +The impression produced by the interior of the cathedral is greatly +superior to that received from without. In the latter case curiosity is +about the only sentiment felt by the spectator, whereas within the +temple does not lack a simple beauty and mystery. + +As regards sculptural details, the best are doubtless the low reliefs to +be seen to the rear of the choir, as well as several sepulchres, of +which the best--and one of the best Renaissance monuments of its kind in +Spain--is that of the Bishop Alfonso Tostado in the ambulatory. The +_retablo_ of the high altar is also a magnificent piece of work of the +second half of the fifteenth century and the beginning of the +sixteenth. + + + + +III + +SEGOVIA + + +Avila's twin sister, Segovia, retains its old Celtiberian name; it +retains, also, the undeniable proofs of Roman domination in its +far-famed aqueduct and in its amphitheatre. + +According to the popular tradition, San Hierateo, the disciple of St. +Paul, was the first bishop in the first century, but probably the see +was not erected until about 527, when it is first mentioned in a +Tolesian document; the name of the first bishop (historical) is Peter, +who was present at the third Council in Toledo (589). + +The local saint is one San Fruto, who, upon the approach of the Saracen +hosts, gathered together a handful of fugitives and retired to the +mountains; his brother Valentine and his sister Engracia (of Aragonese +fame?) died martyrs to their belief. San Fruto, on the other hand, lived +the life of a hermit in the mountains and wrought many miracles, such +as splitting open a rock with his jack-knife, etc. The most miraculous +of his deeds was the proof he gave to the Moors of the genuineness of +the Catholic religion: on a tray of oats he placed the host and offered +it to a mule, which, instead of munching oats and host, fell on its +knees, and perhaps even crossed itself! + +Disputed by Arabs and Christians, like all Castilian towns, Segovia +lagged along until it fell definitely into the hands of the latter. A +Christian colony seems, nevertheless, to have lived in the town during +the Arab dominion, because the documents of the time speak of a Bishop +Ilderedo in 940. + +The exact year of the repopulation of Segovia is not known, but +doubtless it was a decade or so prior to either that of Salamanca or +Avila. + +Neither was the warlike spirit of the inhabitants inferior to that of +their brethren in the last named cities. It was due to their bravery +that Madrid fell into the hands of the Christians toward 1110, for, +arriving late at the besieging camp, the king, who was present, told +them that if they wished to pass the night comfortably, there was but +one place, namely, the city itself. Without a moment's hesitation the +daring warriors dashed at the walls of Madrid, and, scaling them, took a +tower, where they passed the night at their ease, and to their monarch's +great astonishment. + +In 1115, the first bishop _de modernis_, Don Pedro, was consecrated, and +the cathedral was begun at about the same time. Several of the +successive prelates were battling warriors rather than spiritual +shepherds, and fought with energy and success against the infidel in +Andalusia. One, Don Gutierre Giron, even found his death in the terrible +defeat of the Christian arms at Alarcon. + +The event which brought the greatest fame to Segovia was the erection of +its celebrated Alcazar, or castle, the finest specimen of military +architecture in Spain. Every city had its citadel, it is true, but none +were so strong and invulnerable as that of Segovia, and in the stormy +days of Castilian history the monarchs found a safe retreat from the +attacks of unscrupulous noblemen behind its walls. + +Until 1530 the old cathedral stood at the back of the Alcazar, but in a +revolution of the Comuneros against Charles-Quint, the infuriated mob, +anxious to seize the castle, tore down the temple and used its stones, +beams, stalls, and railings as a means to scale the high walls of the +fortress. Their efforts were in vain, for an army came to the relief of +the castle from Valladolid; a general pardon was, nevertheless, granted +to the population by the monarch, who was too far off to care much what +his Spanish subjects did. After the storm was over, the hot-headed +citizens found themselves with a bishop and a chapter, but without a +church or means wherewith to erect a new one. + +The struggles between city and fortress were numerous, and were the +cause, in a great measure, of the town's decadence. Upon one occasion, +Isabel the Catholic infringed upon the citizens' rights by making a gift +of some of the feudal villages to a court favourite. The day after the +news of this infringement reached the city, by a common accord the +citizens "dressed in black, did not amuse themselves, nor put on clean +linen; neither did they sweep the house steps, nor light the lamps at +night; neither did they buy nor sell, and what is more, they boxed their +children's ears so that they should for ever remember the day." So great +were the public signs of grief that it has been said that "never did a +republic wear deeper mourning for the loss of its liberties." + +The end of the matter was that the queen in her famous testament revoked +her gift and returned the villages to the city. + +The old cathedral was torn down in November, 1520, and it was not until +June, 1525, that the bishop, who had made a patriotic appeal to all +Spaniards in behalf of the church funds, laid the first stone of the new +edifice. Thirty years later the building was consecrated. + +Nowhere else can a church be found which is a more thorough expression +of a city's fervour and enthusiasm. It was as though the sacrilegious +act of the enraged mob reacted on the penitent minds of the calmed +citizens, for rich and poor alike gave their alms to the cathedral +chapter. Jewels were sold, donations came from abroad, feudal lords gave +whole villages to the church, and the poor men, the workmen, and the +peasants gave their pennies. Daily processions arrived at Santa Clara, +then used as cathedral church, from all parts of the diocese. To-day +they were composed of tradesmen, of _Zuenfte_, who gave their offerings +of a few pounds; to-morrow a village would bring in a cartload of +stone, of mortar, of wood, etc. On holidays and Sundays the repentant +citizens, instead of amusing themselves at the dance or bull-fight, +carted materials for their new cathedral's erection, and all this they +did of their own free will. + +[Illustration: SEGOVIA CATHEDRAL] + +The act of consecrating the finished building constituted a grand +holiday. The long aqueduct was illuminated from top to bottom, as was +also the cathedral tower, and every house in the city. During a week the +holiday-making lasted with open-air amusements for the poor and banquets +for the rich. + +The date of the construction of the new building was contemporaneous +with that of Salamanca, and the architect was, to a certain extent, the +same. It is not strange, therefore, that both should resemble each other +in their general disposition. What is more, the construction in both +churches was begun at the foot (west), and not in the east, as is +generally the case. The oldest part of the building is consequently the +western front, classic in its outline, but showing among its ogival +details both the symmetry and triangular pediment of Renaissance art. +The tower, higher than that of Sevilla, and broader than that of Toledo, +is simple in its structure; it is Byzantine, and does not lack a +certain _cachet_ of elegance; the first body is surmounted by a dome, +upon which rises the second,--smaller, and also crowned by a cupola. The +tower was twice struck by lightning and partly ruined in 1620; it was +rebuilt in 1825, and a lightning conductor replaced the cross of the +spire. + +Though consecrated, as has been said, in 1558, the new temple was by no +means finished: the transept and the eastern end were still to be built. +The latter was finished prior to 1580, and in 1615 the Renaissance dome +which surmounts the _croisee_ was erected by an artist-architect, who +evidently was incapable of giving it a true Gothic appearance. + +The apse, with its three harmonizing _etages_ corresponding to the +chapels, aisles, and nave, and flanked by leaning buttresses ornamented +with delicate pinnacles, is Gothic in its details; the ensemble is, +nevertheless, Renaissance, thanks to a perfect symmetry painfully +pronounced by naked horizontal lines--so contradictory to the spirit of +true ogival. Less regularity and a greater profusion of buttresses, and +above all of flying buttresses, would have been more agreeable, but the +times had changed and new tastes had entered the country. + +Neither does the broad transept, its facade,--either southern or +northern,--and the cupola join, as it were, the eastern and the western +half of the building; on the contrary, it distinctly separates them, not +to the building's advantage. + +The interior is gay rather than solemn: the general disposition of the +parts is as customary in a Gothic church of the Transition +(Renaissance). The nave and transept are of the same width; the lateral +chapels, running along the exterior walls of the aisles, are +symmetrical, as in Salamanca; the ambulatory separates the high altar +from the apse and its seven chapels. + +The pavement of the church is of black and white marble slabs, like that +of Toledo, for instance; as for the stained windows, they are numerous, +and those in the older part of the building of good (Flemish?) +workmanship and of a rich colour, which heightens the happy expression +of the whole building. + +The cloister is the oldest part of the building, having pertained to the +previous cathedral. After the latter's destruction, and the successful +erection of the new temple, the cloister was transported stone by stone +from its old emplacement to where it now stands. It is a handsome and +richly decorated Gothic building, containing many tombs, among them +those of the architects of the cathedral and of Maria del Salto. This +Mary was a certain Jewess, who, condemned to death, and thrown over the +Pena Grajera, invoked the aid of the Virgin, and was saved. + +Another tomb is that of Prince Don Pedro, son of Enrique II., who fell +out of a window of the Alcazar. His nurse, according to the tradition, +threw herself out of the window after her charge, and together they were +picked up, one locked in the arms of the other. + + + + +IV + +MADRID-ALCALA + + +Though Madrid was proclaimed the capital of Spain in the sixteenth +century, it was not until 1850 that its collegiate church of San Isidro +was raised to an episcopal see. + +The appointment met with a storm of disapproval in the neighbouring town +of Alcala de Henares, the citizens claiming the erection of the +ecclesiastical throne in their own collegiate, instead of in Madrid. +Their reasons were purely historical, as will be seen later on, whereas +the capital lacked both history and ecclesiastical significance. + +To pacify the inhabitants of Alcala, and at the same time to raise +Madrid to the rank of a city, the following arrangement was made: the +newly created see was to be called Madrid-Alcala; the bishop was to +possess two cathedral churches, and both towns were to be cities. + +Such is the state of affairs at present. The recent governmental +closure of the old cathedral in Alcala has deprived the partisans of the +double see of one of their chief arguments, namely, the possession of a +worthy temple, unique in the world as regards its organization. +Consequently, it is generally stated that the title of Madrid-Alcala +will die out with the present bishop, and that the next will simply be +the Bishop of Madrid. + + +_Madrid_ + +The city of Madrid is new and uninteresting; it is an overgrown village, +with no buildings worthy of the capital of a kingdom. From an +architectural point of view, the royal palace, majestic and imposing, +though decidedly poor in style, is about the only edifice that can be +admired. + +In history, Madrid plays a most unimportant part until the times of +Philip II., the black-browed monarch who, intent upon erecting his +mausoleum in the Escorial, proclaimed Madrid to be the only capital. +That was in 1560; previously Magerit had been an Arab fortress to the +north of Toledo, and the first in the region now called Castilla la +Nueva (New Castile), to distinguish it from Old Castile, which lies to +the north of the mountain chain. + +Most likely Magerit had been founded by the Moors, though, as soon as it +had become the capital of Spain, its inhabitants, who were only too +eager to lend their town a history it did not possess, invented a series +of traditions and legends more ridiculous than veracious. + +On the slopes of the last hill, descending to the Manzanares, and beside +the present royal palace, the Christian conquerors of the Arab fortress +in the twelfth century discovered an effigy of the Virgin, in an +_almudena_ or storehouse. This was the starting-point for the traditions +of the twelfth-century monks who discovered (?) that this effigy had +been placed where it was found by St. James, according to some, and by +the Virgin herself, according to others; what is more, they even +established a series of bishops in Magerit previous to the Arab +invasion. + +No foundations are of course at hand for such fabulous inventions, and +if the effigy really were found in the _almudena_, it must have been +placed there by the Moors themselves, who most likely had taken it as +their booty when sacking a church or convent to the north. + +The patron saint of Madrid is one Isidro, not to be confounded with San +Isidoro of Leon. The former was a farmer or labourer, who, with his +wife, lived a quiet and unpretentious life in the vicinity of Madrid, on +the opposite banks of the Manzanares, where a chapel was erected to his +memory sometime in the seventeenth century. Of the many miracles this +saint is supposed to have wrought, not one differs from the usual deeds +attributed to holy individuals. Being a farmer, his voice called forth +water from the parched land, and angels helped his oxen to plough the +fields. + +Save the effigy of the Virgin de la Almudena, and the life of San +Isidro, Madrid has no ecclesiastical history,--the Virgin de la Atocha +has been forgotten, but she is only a duplicate of her sister virgin. +Convents and monasteries are of course as numerous as elsewhere in +Spain; brick parish churches of a decided Spanish-Oriental appearance +rear their cupolas skyward in almost every street, the largest among +them being San Francisco el Grande, which, with San Antonio de la +Florida (containing several handsome paintings by Goya), is the only +temple worth visiting. + +As regards a cathedral building, there is, in the lower part of the +city, a large stone church dedicated to San Isidro; it serves the stead +of a cathedral church until a new building, begun about 1885, will have +been completed. + +This new building, the cathedral properly speaking, is to be a tenth +wonder; it is to be constructed in granite, and its foundations stand +beside the royal palace in the very spot where the Virgin de la Almudena +was found, and where, until 1869, a church enclosed the sacred effigy; +the new building is to be dedicated to the same deity. + +Unluckily, the erection of the new cathedral proceeds but slowly; so far +only the basement stones have been laid and the crypt finished. The +funds for its erection are entirely dependent upon alms, but, as the +religious fervour which incited the inhabitants of Segovia in the +sixteenth century is almost dead to-day, it is an open question whether +the cathedral of Madrid will ever be finished. + +The temporary cathedral of San Isidro was erected in the seventeenth +century; its two clumsy towers are unfinished, its western front, +between the towers, is severe; four columns support the balcony, behind +which the cupola, which crowns the _croisee_, peeps forth. + +Inside there is nothing worthy of interest to be admired except some +pictures, one of them painted by the Divino Morales. The nave is light, +but the chapels are so dark that almost nothing can be seen in their +interior. + +This church, until the expulsion of the Jesuits, was the temple of their +order, dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul; adjoining it a Jesuit school +was erected, which has been incorporated in the government colleges. + + +_Alcala de Henares_ + +About twenty miles to the east of Madrid lies the one-time glorious +university city of Alcala, famous above all things for having been the +cradle of Cervantes, and the hearth, if not the home, of Cardinal +Cisneros. + +Its history and its decadence are of the saddest; the latter serves in +many respects as an adequate symbol of Spain's own tremendous downfall. + +[Illustration: SAN ISIDRO, MADRID] + +The Romans founded Alcala; it was their Complutum, of which some few +remains have been discovered in the vicinity of the modern city. Yet, +notwithstanding this lack of substantial evidence, the inhabitants of +the region still proudly call themselves Complutenses. + +When the West Goths were rulers of the peninsula, the Roman monuments +must have been completely destroyed, for all traces of the strategic +stronghold were effaced from the map of Spain. The invading Arabs, +possessing to a certain degree both Roman military instinct and +foresight, built a fortress on the spot where the State Archives +Building stands to-day. This castle was used by them as one of Toledo's +northern defences against the warlike Christian kings. + +In the twelfth century the fortress fell into the hands of the +Christians; in the succeeding centuries it was strongly rebuilt by the +cardinal-archbishops of Toledo, who used it both as their palace and as +their stronghold. + +Outside the bastioned and turreted walls of the castle, the new-born +city grew up under its protecting shadows. Known by the Arabic name of +its fortress (Al-Kala), it was successively baptized Alcala de San +Justo, Alcala de Fenares, and since the sixteenth century, Alcala de +Henares (_heno_, old Spanish _feno_, meaning hay). Protected by such +powerful arms as those of the princes of the Church, it grew up to be a +second Toledo, a city of church spires and convent walls, but of which +only a reduced number stand to-day to point back to the religious +fervour of the middle ages. + +The world-spread fame acquired by Alcala in the fifteenth century was +due to the patronage of Cardinal Cisneros, who built the university, at +one time one of the most celebrated in Europe, and to-day a mere +skeleton of architectural beauty. + +The same prelate raised San Justo to a suffragan church; its chapter was +composed only of learned professors of the university, as were also its +canons; Leon X. gave it the enviable title of La Magistral, the Learned, +which points it out as unique in the Christian world. The Polyglot +Bible, published in the sixteenth century, and famous in all Europe, was +worked out by these scholars under Cisneros's direction, and the +favoured city outshone the newly built Madrid twenty miles away, and +rivalled Salamanca in learning, and Toledo in worldly and religious +splendour. + +Madrid grew greater and greater as years went by, and consequently +Alcala de Henares dwindled away to the shadow of a name. The university, +the just pride of the Complutenses, was removed to the capital; the +cathedral, for lack of proper care, became an untimely ruin; the +episcopal palace was confiscated by the state, which, besides repairing +it, filled its seventy odd halls with rows upon rows of dusty documents +and governmental papers. + +To-day the city drags along a weary, inactive existence: soldiers from +the barracks and long-robed priests from the church fill the streets, +and are as numerous as the civil inhabitants, if not more so; convents +and cloisters of nuns, either grass-grown ruins or else sombre grated +and barred edifices, are to be met with at every step. + +Strangers visit the place hurriedly in the morning and return to Madrid +in the afternoon; they buy a tin box of sugar almonds (the city's +specialty), carelessly examine the university and the archiepiscopal +palace, gaze unmoved at some Cervantes relics, and at the facade of the +cathedral. Besides, they are told that in such and such a house the +immortal author of Don Quixote was born, which is a base, though +comprehensible, invention, because no such house exists to-day. + +That is all; perchance in crossing the city's only square, the traveller +notices that it can boast of no fewer than three names, doubtless with a +view to hide its glaring nakedness. These three names are Plaza de +Cervantes, Plaza Mayor, and Plaza de la Constitucion, of which the +latter is spread out boldly across the town hall and seems to invoke the +remembrance of the ephemeral efforts of the republic in 1869. + +In the third century after the birth of Christ, two infants, Justo and +Pastor, preached the True Word to the unbelieving Roman rulers of +Complutum. The result was not in the least surprising: the two infants +lost their baby heads for the trouble they had taken in trying to +trouble warriors. + +But the Vatican remembered them, and canonized Pastor and Justo. +Hundreds of churches, sown by the blood of martyrs, grew up in all +corners of the peninsula to commemorate pagan cruelty, and to induce all +men to follow the examples set by the two babes. + +No one knew, however, where the mortal remains of Justo and Pastor were +lying. In the fourth century their resting-place was miraculously +revealed to one Austurio, Archbishop of Toledo, who had them removed to +his cathedral. They did not stay long in the primate city, for the +invasion of the Moors obliged all True Believers to hide Church relics. +Thus, Justo and Pastor wandered forth again from village to village, +running away from the infidels until they reposed temporarily in the +cathedral of Huesca in the north of Aragon. + +In Alcala their memory was kept alive in the parish church dedicated to +them. But as the city grew, it was deemed preferable to build a solid +temple worthy of the saintly pair, and Carillo, Archbishop of Toledo, +had the old church pulled down and began the erection of a larger +edifice. This took place in the middle of the fifteenth century, when +Ximenez de Cisneros, who ruled the fate of Spain and its church, gave it +the ecclesiastical constitution previously mentioned. + +Fifty years later the weary bodies of the two infants were brought back +in triumph to their native town amid the rejoicings and admiration of +the people, and were placed in the cathedral of San Justo, then a +collegiate church of Toledo. + +A few years ago the cathedral church of San Justo was denounced by the +state architect and closed. To-day it is a dreary ruin, with tufts of +grass growing among the battlements. The chapter, depriving the hoary +building of its high altar, its precious relics and paintings, its +stalls and other accessories, installed the cathedral in the Jesuit +temple, an insignificant building in the other extremity of the town. +Recently the abandoned ruin has been declared a national monument, which +means that the state is obliged to undertake its restoration. + +La Magistral is a brick building of imposing simplicity and severity in +its general outlines. Its decorative elements are ogival, but of true +Spanish nakedness and lack of elegance. Though Renaissance principles +have not entered into the composition, as might have been supposed, +considering the date of the erection, nevertheless, the lack of flying +buttresses, the scarcity of windows, the undecorated angles of the +western front, the barren walls, and flat-topped, though slightly +sloping, roofs prove that the "simple and severe style" is latent in the +minds of artists. + +[Illustration: ALCALA DE HENARES CATHEDRAL] + +The apse is well developed, and the _croisee_ surmounted by a cupola; +the tower which flanks the western front is massive; it is decorated +with blind arches and ogival arabesques. + +The ground plan of the building is Latin Cruciform; the aisles are but +slightly lower than the nave and join in the apse behind the high altar +in an ambulatory walk. The crypt, reached by two Renaissance doors in +the _trasaltar_, is spacious, and contains the bodies of San Justo and +San Pastor. + +The general impression produced on the mind of the tourist is sadness. +The severity of the structure is heightened by the absence of any +distracting decorative elements, excepting the fine _Mudejar_ ceiling to +the left upon entering. + +In the reigning shadows of this deserted temple, two magnificent tombs +stand in solitude and silence. They are those of Carillo and Cardinal +Cisneros, the latter one of the greatest sons of Spain and one of her +most contradictory geniuses. His sepulchre is a gorgeous marble monument +of Renaissance style, surrounded by a massive bronze grille of excellent +workmanship, a marvel of Spanish metal art of the sixteenth century. +The other sepulchre is simple in its ogival decorations, and the +prostrate effigy of Carillo is among the best to be admired by the +tourist in Iberia. + +Carillo's life was that of a restless, ambitious, and worldly man. When +he died, he was buried in the Convent of San Juan de Dios, where his +illegitimate son had been buried before him, "for," said the +archbishop-father, "if in life my robes separated me from my son, in +death we shall be united." + +But he reckoned without his host, or rather his successor, the man whose +remains now lie beside his own in the shadows of the great ruin. "For," +said Cisneros, "the Church must separate man from his sin even in +death." So he ordered the son to be left in the convent, and the father +to be brought to the temple he had begun to erect. + + + + +V + +SIGUeENZA + + +The origin of the fortress admirably situated to the north of +Guadalajara was doubtless Moorish, though in the vicinity is Villavieja, +where the Romans had established a town on the transverse road from +Cadiz to Tarragon, and called by them Seguncia, or Segoncia. + +When the Christian religion first appeared in Spain, it is believed that +Sigueenza, or Segoncia, possessed an episcopal see; nothing is positively +known, however, of the early bishops, until Protogenes signed the third +Council of Toledo in 589. + +It is believed that in the reign of Alfonso VI., he who conquered Toledo +and the region to the south of Valladolid and as far east as Aragon, +Sigueenza was repopulated, though no mention is made of the place in the +earlier chronicles of the time. All that is known is that a bishop was +immediately appointed by Alfonso VII. to the vacancy which had lasted +for over two hundred years, during which Sigueenza had been one of the +provincial capitals of the Kingdom of Toledo. The first known bishop was +Don Bernardo. + +The history of the town was never of the most brilliant. In the times of +Alfonso VII. and his immediate successors it gained certain importance +as a frontier stronghold, as a check to the growing ambitions of the +royal house of Aragon. But after the union of Castile and Aragon, its +importance gradually dwindled; to-day, if it were not for the bishopric, +it would be one historic village more on the map of Spain. + +In the reign of Peter the Cruel, its castle--considered with that of +Segovia to be the strongest in Castile--was used for some time as the +prison palace for that most unhappy princess, Dona Blanca, who, married +to his Catholic Majesty, had been deposed on the third day of the +wedding by the heartless and passionate lover of the Padilla. She was at +first shut up in Toledo, but the king did not consider the Alcazar +strong enough. So she was sent off to Sigueenza, where it is popularly +believed, though documents deny it, that she died, or was put to death. + +The city belonged to the bishop; it was his feudal property, and passed +down to his successors in the see. Of the doings of these +prelate-warriors, the first, Don Bernardo, was doubtless the most +striking personality, lord of a thousand armed vassals and of three +hundred horse, who fought with the emperor in almost all the great +battles in Andalusia. It is even believed he died wielding the naked +sword, and that his remains were brought back to the town of which he +had been the first and undisputed lord. + +The strong castle which crowns the city did not possess, as was +generally the case, an _alcalde_, or governor; it was the episcopal +palace or residence, a circumstance which proves beyond a doubt the +double significance of the bishop: a spiritual leader and military +personage, more influential and wealthy than any prelate in Spain, +excepting the Archbishops of Toledo and Santiago. + +During the French invasion in the beginning of the nineteenth century, +Sigueenza had already lost its political significance. The invaders +occupied the castle, and, as was their custom, threw documents and +archives into the fire, to make room for themselves, and to spend the +winter comfortably. + +Consequently, the notices we have of the cathedral church are but +scarce. The fourth bishop was Jocelyn, an Englishman who had come over +with Eleanor, Henry II.'s daughter, and married to the King of Castile. +He (the bishop) was not a whit less warlike than his predecessors had +been; he helped the king to win the town of Cuenca, and when he died on +the battle-field, only his right arm was carried back to the see, to the +chapel of St. Thomas of Canterbury, which the dead prelate had founded +in the new cathedral, and it was buried beneath a stone which bears the +following inscription: + + "_Hic est inclusa Jocelini praesulis ulna._" + +From the above we can conclude that the cathedral must have been begun +previous to the Englishman's coming to Spain, that is, in the beginning +of the twelfth century. Doubtless the vaulting was not closed until at +least one hundred years later; nevertheless, it is one of the unique and +at the same time one of the handsomest Spanish monuments of the +Transition period. + +The city of Sigueenza, situated on the slopes of a hill crowned by the +castle, is a village rather than a town; there are, however, fewer spots +in Spain that are more picturesque in their old age, and there is a +certain uniformity in the architecture that reminds one of German towns; +this is not at all characteristic of Spain, where so many styles mix and +mingle until hardly distinguishable from each other. + +The Transition style--between the strong Romanesque and the airy +ogival--is the city's _cachet_, printed with particular care on the +handsome cathedral which stands on the slope of the hill to the north of +the castle. + +Two massive square towers, crenelated at the top and pierced by a few +round-headed windows, flank the western front. The three portals are +massive Romanesque without floral or sculptural decoration of any kind; +the central door is larger and surmounted by a large though primitive +rosace. The height of the aisles and nave is indicated by three ogival +arches cut in relief on the facade; here already the mixture of both +styles, of the round-arched Romanesque and the pointed Gothic, is +clearly visible--as it is also in the windows of the aisles, which are +Romanesque, and of the nave, which are ogival--in the buttresses, which +are leaning on the lower body, and flying in the upper story, uniting +the exterior of the clerestory with that of the aisles. (Compare with +apse of the cathedral of Lugo.) + +The portal of the southern arm of the transept is an ugly addition, more +modern and completely out of harmony with the rest. The rosace above the +door is one of the handsomest of the Transition period in Spain, and the +stained glass is both rich and mellow. + +The interior shows the same harmonious mixture of the stronger and more +solemn old style, and the graceful lightness of the newer. But the +hesitancy in the mind of the architect is also evident, especially in +the vaulting, which is timidly arched. + +The original plan of the church was, doubtless, purely Romanesque: Roman +cruciform with a three-lobed apse, the central one much longer so as to +contain the high altar. + +In the sixteenth century, however, an ambulatory was constructed behind +the high altar, joining the two aisles, and the high altar was removed +to the east of the transept. + +What a pity that the huge choir, placed in the centre of the church, +should so completely obstruct the view of the ensemble of the nave and +aisles, separated by massive Byzantine arches between the solid pillars, +which, in their turn, support the nascent ogival vaulting of the high +nave! Were it, as well as the grotesque _trascoro_--of the unhappiest +artistic taste--anywhere but in the centre of the church, what a +splendid view would be obtained of the long, narrow, and high aisles and +nave in which the old and the new were moulded together in perfect +harmony, instead of fighting each other and clashing together, as +happened in so many Spanish cathedral churches! + +One of the most richly decorated parts of the church is the sacristy, a +small room entirely covered with medallions and sculptural designs of +the greatest variety of subjects. Though of Arabian taste (_Mudejar_), +no Moorish elements have entered into the composition, and consequently +it is one of the very finest, if not the very best specimen, of +Christian Arab decoration. + + + + +VI + +CUENCA + + +To the east of Toledo, and to the north of the plains of La Mancha, +Cuenca sits on its steep hill surrounded by mountains; a high stone +bridge, spanning a green valley and the rushing river, joined the city +to a mountain plateau; to-day the mediaeval bridge has been replaced by +an iron one, which contrasts harshly with the somnolent aspect of the +landscape. + +Never was a city founded in a more picturesque spot. It almost resembles +Goeschenen in Switzerland, with the difference that whereas in the last +named village a white-washed church rears its spire skyward, in Cuenca a +large cathedral, rich in decorative accessories, and yet sombre and +severe in its wealth, occupies the most prominent place in the town. + +Of the origin of the city nothing is known. In the tenth and the +eleventh centuries Conca was an impregnable Arab fortress. In 1176 the +united armies of Castile and Aragon, commanded by two sovereigns, +Alfonso VIII. of Castile and Alfonso II. of Aragon, laid siege to the +fortress, and after nine months' patience, the Alcazar surrendered. +According to the popular tradition, it was won by treachery: one Martin +Alhaxa, a captive and a shepherd by trade, introduced the Christians +disguised with sheepskins into the city through a postern gate. + +As the conquest of Cuenca had cost the King of Castile such trouble (his +Aragonese partner had not waited to see the end of the siege), and as he +was fully conscious of its importance as a strategical outpost against +Aragon to the north and against the Moors to the south and east, he laid +special stress on the city's being strongly fortified; he also gave +special privileges to such Christians as would repopulate, or rather +populate, the nascent town. A few years later Pone Lucio III. raised the +church to an episcopal see, appointing Juan Yanez, a Tolesian Muzarab, +to be its first bishop (1183). + +Unlike Sigueenza, a feudal possession of the bishop, Cuenca belonged +exclusively to the monarch of Castile; the castle was consequently held +in the sovereign's name by a governor,--at one time there were even four +who governed simultaneously. Between these governors and the inhabitants +of the city, fights were numerous, especially during the first half of +the fifteenth century, the darkest and most ignoble period of Castilian +history. + +The story is told of one Dona Inez de Barrientos, granddaughter of a +bishop on her mother's side, and of a governor on that of her father. It +appears that her husband had been murdered by some of the wealthiest +citizens of the town. Feigning joy at her spouse's death, the widow +invited the murderers to her house to a banquet, when, "_despues de +opipara cena_ (after an excellent dinner), they passed from the lethargy +of drunkenness to the sleep of eternity, assassinated by hidden +servants." The following morning their bodies hung from the windows of +the palace, and provoked not anger but silent dread and shivers among +the terror-stricken inhabitants. + +With the Inquisition, the siege by the English in 1706, the invasion of +the French in 1808, Cuenca rapidly lost all importance and even +political significance. To-day it is one of the many picturesque ruins +that offer but little interest to the art traveller, for even its old +age is degenerated, and the monuments of the thirteenth, fourteenth, and +fifteenth centuries have one and all been spoilt by the hand of time, +and by the less grasping hand of _restauradores_--or +architect-repairers. + +The Byzantine character, the Arab taste of the primitive inhabitants, +has also been lost. Who would think, upon examining the cathedral, that +it had served once upon a time as the principal Arab mosque? Entirely +rebuilt, as were most of the primitive Arab houses, it has lost all +traces of the early founders, more so than in other cities where the +Arabs remained but a few years. + +The patron saint of Cuenca is San Julian, one of the cathedral's first +bishops, who led a saintly life, giving all he had and taking nothing +that was not his, and who retired from his see to live the humble life +of a basket-maker, seated with willow branches beneath the arches of the +high bridge, and preaching saintly words to teamsters and mule-drivers +as they approached the city, until his death in 1207. + +In the same century the Arab mosque was torn down and the new cathedral +begun. It is a primitive ogival (Spanish) temple of the thirteenth +century, with smatterings of Romanesque-Byzantine. Unlike the cathedral +of Sigueenza, it is neither elegant, harmonious, nor of great +architectural value; its wealth lies chiefly in the chapels, in the +doors which lead to the cloister, in the sacristy, and in the elegant +high altar. + +The cloister door is perhaps one of the finest details of the cathedral +church: decorated in the plateresque style general in Spain in the +sixteenth century, it offers one of the finest examples of said style to +be found anywhere, and though utterly different in ornamentation to the +sacristy of Sigueenza, it nevertheless resembles it in the general +composition. + +The nave, exceedingly high, is decorated by a blind triforium of ogival +arches; the aisles are sombre and lower than the nave. On the other +hand, the transept, broad and simple, is similar to the nave and as long +as the width of the church, including the lateral chapels. The _croisee_ +is surmounted by a _cimborio_, insignificant in comparison to those of +Salamanca, Zamora, and Toro. + +The northern and southern extremities of the transept differ from each +other as regard style. The southern has an ogival portal surmounted by a +rosace; the northern, one that is plateresque, the rounded arch, +delicately decorated, reposing on Corinthian columns. + +The eastern end of the church has been greatly modified--as is clearly +seen by the mixture of fifteenth-century styles, and not to the +advantage of the ensemble. Byzantine pillars, and even horseshoe arches, +mingle with Gothic elements. + +Of the chapels, the greater number are richly decorated, not only with +sepulchres and sepulchral works, but with paintings, some of them by +well-known masters. + +Taken all in all, the cathedral of Cuenca does not inspire any of the +sentiments peculiar to religious temples. Not the worst cathedral in +Spain, by any means, neither as regards size nor majesty, it +nevertheless lacks conviction, as though the artist who traced the +primitive plan miscalculated its final appearance. The additions, due to +necessity or to the ruinous state of some of the parts, were luckless, +as are generally all those undertaken at a posterior date. + +The decorative wealth of the chapels, which is really astonishing in so +small a town, the luxurious display of grotesque elements, the presence +of a fairly good _transparente_, as well as the rich leaf-decoration of +Byzantine pillars and plateresque arches, give a peculiar _cachet_ to +this church which is not to be found elsewhere. + +The same can be said of the city and of the inhabitant. In the words of +an authority, "Cuenca is national, it is Spanish, it is a typical rural +town." Yet, it is so typical, that no other city resembles it. + + + + +VII + +TOLEDO + + +A forest of spires and _alminar_ towers rising from a roof-covered hill +to pierce the distant azure sky; a ruined cemetery surrounded on three +sides by the rushing Tago as it cuts out a foaming path through +foothills, and stretching away on the fourth toward the snow-capped +Sierra de Gredo in the distance, beyond the fruitful prairies and the +intervening plains of New Castile. + +Such is Toledo, the famous, the wonderful, the legend-spun primate city +of all the Spains, the former wealthy capital of the Spanish Empire! + +Madrid usurped all her civic honours under the reign of Philip II., he +who lost the Armada and built the Escorial. Since then Toledo, like +Alcala de Henares, Segovia, and Burgos, has dragged along a forlorn +existence, frozen in winter and scorched in summer, and visited at all +times of the year by gaping tourists of all nationalities. + +Even the approach to the city from the mile distant station is +peculiarly characteristic. Seated in an old and shaky omnibus, pulled by +four thrashed mules, and followed along the dusty road by racing +beggars, who whine their would-be French, "_Un p'it sou, mouchieur_," +with surprising alacrity and a melancholy smile in their big black eyes, +the visitor is driven sharply around a bluff, when suddenly Toledo, the +mysterious, comes into sight, crowning the opposite hill. + +At a canter the mules cross the bridge of Alcantara and pass beneath the +gateway of the same name, a ponderous structure still guarding the +time-rusty city as it did centuries ago when Toledo was the Gothic +metropolis. Up the winding road, beneath the solemn and fire-devastated +walls of the Alcazar, the visitor is hurriedly driven along; he +disappears from the burning sunlight into a gloomy labyrinth of +ill-paved streets to emerge a few minutes later in the principal square. + +A shoal of yelling, gesticulating interpreters literally grab at the +tourist, and in ten seconds exhaust their vocabulary of foreign words. +At last one walks triumphantly off beside the newcomer, while the +others, with a depreciative shrug of the shoulders and extinguishing +their volcanic outburst of energy, loiter around the square smoking +cigarettes. + +It does not take the visitor long to notice that he is in a great +archaeological museum. The streets are crooked and narrow, so narrow that +the tiny patch of sky above seems more brilliant than ever and farther +away, while on each side are gloomy houses with but few windows, and +monstrous, nail-studded doors. At every turn a church rears its head, +and the cheerless spirit of a palace glares with a sadly vacant stare +from behind wrought-iron _rejas_ and a complicated stone-carved blazon. +Rarely is the door opened; when it is, the passer catches a glimpse of a +sun-bathed courtyard, gorgeously alive with light and many flowers. The +effect produced by the sudden contrast between the joyless street and +the sunny garden, whose existence was never dreamt of, is delightful and +never to be forgotten; from Theophile Gautier, who had been in Northern +Africa, land of Mohammedan harems, it wrung the piquant exclamation: +"The Moors have been here!" + +Every stick, stone, mound, house, lantern, and what not has its legend. +In this humble _posada_, Cervantes, whose ancestral castle is on yonder +bluff overlooking the Tago, wrote his "_Ilustre Fregona_." The family +history of yonder fortress-palace inspired Zorilla's romantic pen, and a +thousand and one other objects recall the past,--the past that is +Toledo's present and doubtless will have to be her future. + +Gone are the days when Tolaitola was a peerless jewel, for which Moors +and Christians fought, until at last the Believers of the True Faith +drove back the Arabs who fled southward from whence they had emerged. +Long closed are also the famous smithies, where swords--Tolesian blades +they were then called--were hammered so supple that they could bend like +a watchspring, so strong they could cleave an anvil, and so sharp they +could cut an eiderdown pillow in twain without displacing a feather. + +Distant, moreover, are the nights of _capa y espada_ and of miracles +wrought by the Virgin; dwindled away to a meagre shadow is the princely +magnificence of the primate prelates of all the Spains, of those +spiritual princes who neither asked the Pope's advice nor received +orders from St. Peter at Rome. Besides, of the two hundred thousand +souls proud to be called sons of Toledo in the days of Charles-Quint, +but seventeen thousand inhabitants remain to-day to guard the nation's +great city-museum, unsullied as yet by progress and modern civilization, +by immense advertisements and those other necessities of daily life in +other climes. + +The city's history explains the mixture of architectural styles and the +bizarre modifications introduced in Gothic, Byzantine, or Arab +structures. + +Legends accuse Toledo of having been mysteriously founded long before +the birth of Rome on her seven hills. To us, however, it first appears +in history as a Roman stronghold, capital of one of Hispania's +provinces. + +St. James, as has been seen, roamed across this peninsula; he came to +Toledo. So delighted was he with the site and the people--saith the +tradition--that he ordained that the city on the Tago should contain the +primate church of all the Spains. + +The vanquished Romans withdrew, leaving to posterity but feeble ruins to +the north of the city; the West Goths built the threatening city walls +which still are standing, and, having turned Christians, their King +Recaredo was baptized in the river's waters, and Toledo became the +flourishing capital of the Visigothic kingdom (512 A.D.). + +The Moors, in their northward march, conquered both the Church and the +state. Legends hover around the sudden apparition of Berber hordes in +Andalusia, and accuse Rodrigo, the last King of the Goths, of having +outraged Florinda, a beautiful girl whom he saw, from his palace window, +bathing herself in a marble bath near the Tago,--the bath is still shown +to this day,--and with whom he fell in love. The father, Count Julian, +Governor of Ceuta, called in the Moors to aid him in his righteous work +of vengeance, and, as often happens in similar cases, the allies lost no +time in becoming the masters and the conquerors. + +Nearly four hundred years did the Arabs remain in their beloved +Tolaitola; the traces of their occupancy are everywhere visible: in the +streets and in the _patios_, in fanciful arabesques, and above all in +Santa Maria la Blanca. + +The Spaniards returned and brought Christianity back with them. They +erected an immense cathedral and turned mosques into chapels without +altering the Oriental form. + +Jews, Arabs, and Christians lived peacefully together during the four +following centuries. Together they created the _Mudejar_ style tower of +San Tomas and the Puerta de Sol. Pure Gothic was transformed, rendered +even more insubstantial and lighter, thanks to Oriental decorative +motives. In San Juan de los Reyes, the _Mudejar_ style left a unique +specimen of what it might have developed into had it not been murdered +by the Renaissance fresh from Italy, where Aragonese troops had +conquered the kingdom of the Two Sicilies. + +With the first Philips--and even earlier--foreign workmen came over to +Toledo in shoals from Germany, France, Flanders, and Italy. They also +had their way, more so than in any other Spanish city, and their tastes +helped to weld together that incongruous mass of architectural styles +which is Toledo's alone of all cities. Granada may have its Alhambra, +and Cordoba its mosque; Leon its cathedral and Segovia its Alcazar, but +none of them is so luxuriously rich in complex grandeur and in the +excellent--and yet frequently grotesque--confusion of all those art +waves which flooded Spain. In this respect Toledo is unique in Spain, +unique in the world. Can we wonder at her being called a museum? + +The Alcazar, which overlooks the rushing Tago, is a symbol of Toledo's +past. It was successively burnt and rebuilt; its four facades, here +stern and forbidding, there grotesque and worthless, differ from each +other as much as the centuries in which they were built. The eastern +facade dates from the eleventh, the western from the fifteenth, and the +other two from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. + +But other arts than those purely architectural are richly represented in +Toledo. For Spain's capital in the days following upon the fall of +Granada was a centre of industrial arts, where both foreign and national +workmen, heathen, Jews, and Christians mixed, wrought such wonders as +have forced their way into museums the world over; besides, Tolesian +sculptors are among Spain's most famous. + +As regards painting, one artist's life is wrapped up in that of the +wonderful city on the Tago; many of his masterworks are to be seen in +Toledo's churches and in the provincial museum. I refer to Domenico +Theotocopuli, he who was considered a madman because he was a genius, +and who has been called _el Greco_ when really he ought to have been +called _el Toledano_. + + * * * * * + +If Toledo is the nation's architectural museum, the city's cathedral, +the huge imposing Gothic structure, is, beyond a doubt, an incomparable +art museum. Centuries of sculptors carved marble and _berroquena_; +armies of artisans wrought marvels in cloths, metals, precious stones, +glass, and wood, and a host of painters, both foreign and national, from +Goya and Ribera to the Greco and Rubens, painted religious compositions +for the sacristy and chapels. + +Consequently, and besides the architectural beauty of the primate church +of Spain, what interests perhaps more keenly than the study of the +cathedral's skeleton, is the study of the ensemble, of that wealth of +decorative designs and of priceless art objects for which the temple is +above all renowned. + +Previous to the coming of the Moors in the eighth century, a humble +cathedral stood where the magnificent church now lifts its +three-hundred-foot tower in the summer sky. It had been built in the +sixth century and dedicated to the Virgin, who had appeared in the +selfsame spot to San Ildefonso, when the latter, ardent and vehement, +had defended her Immaculate Honour before a body of skeptics. + +The Moors tore down or modified the cathedral, and erected their +principal mosque in its stead. When, three hundred years later, they +surrendered their Tolaitola to Alfonso VI. (1085), they stipulated for +the retention of their _mezquita_, a clause the king, who had but little +time to lose squabbling, was only too glad to allow. + +The following year, however, King Alfonso went off on a campaign, +leaving his wife Dona Constanza and the Archbishop Don Bernardo to look +after the city in his absence. No sooner was his back turned, when, one +fine morning, Don Bernardo arrived with a motley crowd of goodly +Christians in front of the mosque. He knocked in the principal door, +and, entering, threw out into the street the sacred objects of the Islam +cult. Then the Christians proceeded to set up an altar, a crucifix, and +an image of the Virgin; the archbishop hallowed his work, and in an hour +was the smiling possessor of his see. Strange to say, Don Bernardo was +no Spaniard, but a worthy Frenchman. + +The news of this outrage upon his honour brought Alfonso rushing back to +Toledo, vowing to revenge himself upon those who had seemingly made him +break his royal word; on the way he was met by a committee of the Arab +inhabitants, who, clever enough to understand that the sovereign would +reinstate the mosque, but would ever after look upon them as the cause +of his rupture with his wife and his friend the prelate, asked the king +to pardon the evil-doers, stating that they renounced voluntarily their +mosque, knowing as they did that the other conditions of the surrender +would be sacredly adhered to by his Majesty. + +Thanks to this noble (cunning) attitude on the part of the outraged +Moors, the latter were able to live at peace within the walls of Toledo +well into the seventeenth century. + +Toward the beginning of the thirteenth century Fernando el Santo was +King of Castile, and his capital was the city on the Tago. The growing +nation was strong and full of ambition, while the coming of the Cluny +monks and Flemish and German artisans had brought Northern Gothic +across the frontiers. So it occurred to the sovereign and his people to +erect a primate cathedral of Christian Spain worthy of its name. In 1227 +the first stone was laid by the pious warrior-king. The cathedral's +outline was traced: a Roman cruciform Gothic structure of five aisles +and a bold transept; two flanking towers,--of which only the northern +has been constructed, the other having been substituted by a cupola of +decided Byzantine or Oriental taste,--and a noble western facade of +three immense doors surmounted by a circular rosace thirty feet wide. + +The size of the building was in itself a guarantee that it would be one +of the largest in the world, being four hundred feet long by two hundred +broad, and one hundred feet high at the intersection of transept and +nave. + +[Illustration: TOLEDO CATHEDRAL] + +It took 250 years for the cathedral to be built, and even then it was +not really completed until toward the middle of the eighteenth century. +In the meantime the nation had risen to its climax of power and wealth, +and showered riches and jewels upon its great cathedral. Columbus +returned from America, and the first gold he brought was handed over to +the archbishop; foreign artisans--especially Flemish and +German--arrived by hundreds, and were employed by Talavera, Cisneros, +and Mendoza, in the decoration of the church. Unluckily, additions were +made: the pointed arches of the facade were surmounted by a rectangular +body which had nothing in common with the principle set down when the +cathedral was to have been purely ogival. + +The interior of the church was also enlarged, especially the high altar, +the base of which was doubled in size. The _retablo_ of painted wood was +erected toward the end of the fifteenth century, as well as many of the +chapels, which are built into the walls of the building, and are as +different in style as the saints to whom they are dedicated. + +As time went on, and the rich continued sending their jewels and relics +to the cathedral, the Treasury Room, with its pictures by Rubens, Duerer, +Titian, etc., and with its _sagrario_,--a carved image of Our Lady, +crowning an admirably chiselled cone of silver and jewels, and covered +over with the richest cloths woven in gold, silver, silk, and precious +stones,--was gradually filled with hoarded wealth. Even to-day, when +Spain has apparently reached the very low ebb of her glory, the +cathedral of Toledo remains almost intact as the only living +representative of the grandeur of the Church and of the arts it fostered +in the sixteenth century. + +Almost up to the beginning of the nineteenth century the building was +continually being enlarged, modified, and repaired. Six hundred years +since the first stone had been laid! What vicissitudes had not the +country seen--and how many art waves had swept over the peninsula! + +Gothic is traceable throughout the building: here it is flamboyant, +there rayonnant. Here the gold and red of _Mudejar_ ceilings are +exquisitely represented, as in the chapter-room; there Moorish influence +in _azulejos_ (multicoloured glazed tiles) and in decorative designs is +to be seen, such as in the horseshoe arches of the triforium in the +chapel of the high altar. Renaissance details are not lacking, nor the +severe plateresque taste (in the grilles of the choir and high altar), +and neither did the grotesque style avoid Spain's great cathedral, for +there is the double ambulatory behind the high altar, that is to say, +the _transparente_, a circular chapel of the most gorgeous +ultra-decoration to be found anywhere in Spain. + +Signs of decadence are unluckily to be observed in the cathedral to-day. +The same care is no longer taken to repair fallen bits of carved stone; +pigeon-lamps that burn little oil replace the huge bronze lamps of other +days, and no new additions are being made. The cathedral's apogee has +been reached; from now on it will either remain intact for centuries, or +else it will gradually crumble away. + +Seen from the exterior, the cathedral does not impress to such an extent +as it might. Houses are built up around it, and the small square to the +south and west is too insignificant to permit a good view of the +ensemble. + +Nevertheless, the spectator who is standing near the western facade, +either craning his neck skyward or else examining the seventy odd +statues which compose the huge portal of the principal entrance, is +overawed at the immensity of the edifice in front of him, as well as +amazed at the amount of work necessary for the decorating of the portal. + +The Puerta de los Leones, or the southern entrance giving access to the +transept, is perhaps of a more careful workmanship as regards the +sculptural decoration. The door itself, studded on the outside with +nails and covered over with a sheet of bronze of the most exquisite +workmanship in relief, is a _chef-d'oeuvre_ of metal-stamping of the +sixteenth century, whilst the wood-carving on the interior is among the +finest in the cathedral. + +The effect produced on the spectator within the building is totally +different. The height and length of the aisles, which are buried in +shadows,--for the light which enters illuminates rather the chapels +which are built into the walls between the flying +buttresses,--astonishes; the _factura_ is severe and beautiful in its +grand simplicity. + +Not so the chapels, which are decorated in all manner of styles, and +ornamented in all degrees of lavishness. The largest is the Muzarab +chapel beneath the dome which substitutes the missing tower; except the +dome, this chapel, where the old Gothic Rite (as opposed to the +Gregorian Rite) is sung every day in the year, is constructed in pure +Gothic; it contains a beautiful Italian mosaic of the Virgin as well as +frescoes illustrating Cardinal Cisneros's African wars, when the +battling prelate thought it was his duty to bear the crucifix and +Spanish rights into Morocco as his royal masters had carried them into +Granada. + +The remaining chapels, some of them of impressive though generally +complex structure, will have to be omitted here. So also the sacristy +with its wonderful picture by the Greco, and the chapter-room with the +portraits of all the archbishops, the elegant carved door, and the +well-preserved _Mudejar_ ceiling, etc. And we pass on to the central +nave, and stand beneath the _croisee_. To the east the high altar, to +the west the choir, claim the greater part of our attention. For it is +here that the people centred their gifts. + +The objects used on the altar-table are of gold, silver, jasper, and +agate; the _monstrance_ in the central niche of the altar-piece is also +of silver, and the garments worn by the effigy are woven in gold, silk, +and precious stones. The two immense grilles which close off the high +altar and the eastern end of the choir are of iron, tin, and copper, +gilded and silvered, having been covered over with black paint in the +nineteenth century so as to escape the greedy eyes--and hands!--of the +French soldiery. The workmanship of these two _rejas_ is of the most +sober Spanish classic or plateresque period, and though the black has +not as yet been taken off, the silver and gold peep forth here and +there, and show what a brilliancy must have radiated from these +elegantly decorated bars and cross-bars in the eighteenth century. + +The three tiers of choir stalls, carved in walnut, are among the very +finest in Spain, both as regards the accomplished craftsmanship and the +astonishing variety in the composition. The two organs, opposite each +other and attaining the very height of the nave, are the best in the +peninsula, whilst the designs of the marble pavement, red and white in +the high altar, and black and white in the choir, only add to the +luxurious effect produced by statues, pulpits, and other accessories, +either brilliantly coloured, or else wrought in polished metal or stone. + +The altar-piece itself, slightly concave in shape, is the largest, if +not the best, of its kind. It is composed of pyramidically superimposed +niches flanked by gilded columns and occupied by statues of painted and +gilded wood. The effect from a distance is dazzling,--the reds, blues, +and gold mingle together and produce a multicoloured mass reaching to +the height of the nave; on closer examination, the workmanship is seen +to be both coarse and naive,--primitive as compared to the more finished +_retablos_ of Burgos, Astorga, etc. + +To conclude: The visitor who, standing between the choir and the high +altar of the cathedral, looks at both, stands, as it were, in the +presence of an immense riddle. He cannot classify: there is no purity of +one style, but a medley of hundreds of styles, pure in themselves, it is +true, but not in the ensemble. Besides, the personality of each has been +lost or drowned, either by ultra-decoration or by juxtaposition. A +collective value is thus obtained which cannot be pulled to pieces, for +then it would lose all its significance as an art unity--a complex art +unity, in this case peculiar to Spain. + +Neither is repose, meditation, or frank admiration to be gleaned from +such a gigantic _potpourri_ of art wonders, but rather a feeling--as far +as we Northerners are concerned--of amazement, of stupor, and of an +utter impossibility to understand such a luxurious display of idolatry +rather than of faith, of scenic effect rather than of discreet prayer. + +But then, it may just be this idolatry and love of scenic effect which +produces in the Spaniard what we have called _religious awe_. We feel it +in a long-aisled Gothic temple; the Spaniard feels it when standing +beneath the _croisee_ of his cathedral churches. + +The whole matter is a question of race. + + +THE END. + + + + +_Appendices_ + + +I + +[Illustration] + +_Archbishoprics and Bishoprics of Northern Spain_ + + +II + +_Dimensions and Chronology_ + +ASTORGA + +See dedicated to Saviour and San Toribio. + +Legendary (?) erection of see, 1st century (oldest in peninsula). + +First historical bishop, Dominiciano, 347 A. D. + +During Arab invasion see was being continually destroyed and rebuilt. + +1069, first cathedral (on record) was erected. + +1120, second cathedral was erected. + +XIIIth century, third cathedral was erected. + +1471, fourth (present) cathedral was begun; terminated XVIth century. + +XVth and XVIth century ogival; imitation of that of Leon. + +* * * + +Chief attractions: Northern front, plateresque retablo. + + +AVILA + +Dedicated to San Salvador. + +First bishop (legendary?), San Segundo, in Ist century. + +See destroyed during Arab invasion. + +First bishop after Reconquest, Jeronimo in XIth century. + +* * * + +Date of foundation and erection unknown. + +Legendary foundation, 1091; finished in 1105 (?). + +Late XIIth century Spanish Gothic fortress church. + +Apse XIIth century; transept XIVth century. + +Western front XVth century; tower late XIVth century. + +* * * + +Width of transept and of nave, 30 feet. + +Width of aisles, 25 feet. + +* * * + +Chief attractions: Exterior of apse, nave and transept with rose +windows, tomb of Bishop Tostada. + + +BURGOS + +See dedicated to the Holy Mary and Son. + +Bishopric erected, 1075; archbishopric, 1085. + +First bishop, Don Simon; first archbishop, Gomez II. + +* * * + +Present cathedral begun, 1221. + +First holy mass celebrated in altar-chapel, 1230. + +Building terminated 300 years later (1521). + +XIIIth-XIVth century Spanish ogival. + +* * * + +Length (excluding Chapel of Condestable), 273 feet. + +Length of transept, 195 feet; width, 32 feet. + +Height of lantern crowning croisee, 162 feet. + +Height of western front, 47 feet. + +Height of towers, 273 feet; width at base, 19 feet. + +Width of nave, 31 feet; of aisles, 19 feet. + +* * * + +Chief attractions: The ensemble, interior decoration, lantern on +croisee, the Chapel of the Condestable, choir, high altar, etc. (With +that of Toledo, the richest cathedral in Spain.) + + +CALAHORRA + +See dedicated to San Emeterio and San Celedonio, martyrs. + +Bishopric erected Vth century; first bishop, Silvano. + +Daring Arab invasion see removed to Oviedo (750). + +Removed to Alava in IXth century; in Xth century, to Najera. + +In 1030, moved again to Calahorra; first bishop, Don Sancho. + +Since XIXth century, one bishop appointed to double see Calahorra-Santo +Domingo de la Calzada. + +This double see to be removed to Logrono. + +* * * + +Cathedral begun in XIIth century; terminated in XIVth century. + +XIIIth century Gothic (body of church only). + +Western front of a much later date. + +* * * + +Chief attraction: Choir-stalls. + + +CIUDAD RODRIGO + +See dedicated to the Virgin and Child. + +Origin of bishopric in Calabria under Romans (legendary?). + +Foundation of city in 1150; erection of see, 1170. + +First bishop, Domingo, 1170. + +See nominally suppressed in 1870; in reality the suppression has not +taken place as yet. + +* * * + +Cathedral church begun toward 1160. + +XIIth century Romanesque-Gothic edifice. + +Tower and western front date from XVIIIth century. + +Lady-chapel from XVIth century. + +Building suffered considerably from French in 1808. + +* * * + +Chief attractions: Romanesque narthex, cloister, choir-stalls, +Romanesque doors leading into transept. + + +CORIA + +See dedicated to Santa Maria. + +Date of erection, 338. + +First known bishop, Laquinto, in 589. + +During Moorish domination the bishopric entirely destroyed. + +See reestablished toward beginning XIIIth century. + +* * * + +Cathedral church begun in 1120. + +Terminated in XVIth century. + +* * * + +Is an unimportant village church rather than a cathedral. + +One aisle, 150 feet long, 52 feet wide, 84 feet high. + +* * * + +Chief attractions: Paseo, or cloister walk; in lady-chapel, sepulchre of +XVIth century. + + +CUENCA + +See dedicated to the Virgin. + +Erected in 1183. + +First bishop, Juan Yanez. + +* * * + +XIIIth century ogival church greatly deteriorated, in a ruinous state. + +Tower which stood on western end fell down recently. + +* * * + +Length of building, 312 feet; width, 140 feet. + +* * * + +Chief attractions: Cloister door, chapels. + + +LEON + +See dedicated to San Froilan and Santa Maria de la Blanca. + +Date of erection not known. + +First known bishop, Basilides, 252 A.D. + +During Arab invasion, see existed on and off. + +* * * + +First stone of present cathedral laid in 1199. + +The building did not begin until 1250; terminated end of XIVth century. + +XIIth century French ogival. + +Vaulting above croisee fell down in 1631. + +Southern front rebuilt in 1694. + +Whole cathedral partly ruined in 1743. + +Closed to public by government in 1850. + +Reopened in 1901. + +* * * + +Total length, 300 feet; width, 130 feet; height of nave, 100 feet. + +Height of northern tower, 211 feet; of southern, 221 feet. + +Length of each side of cloister, 97 feet. + +* * * + +Chief attractions: The ensemble, windows, choir-stalls, cloister. + + +LOGRONO + +See dedicated to the Holy Virgin. + +Compare Calahorra. + +* * * + +Santa Maria raised to collegiate church in 1435. + +Old building torn down in same year, excepting some few remains. + +Present church begun in 1435; not terminated yet. + +Enlargements being introduced at the present date. + +Belongs to Spanish-Grotesque. + +* * * + +Chief attractions: Western front, trascoro, towers. + + +LUGO + +See dedicated to the Mother and Child. + +Bishopric erected in Vth century; first bishop, Agrestio, in 433. + +* * * + +Cathedral began in 1129; completed in 1177. + +XIIth century Galician Romanesque spoilt by posterior additions. + +Building greatly reformed in XVIth to XVIIIth centuries. + +* * * + +Chief attractions: The ensemble (interior), western portal, exterior of +apse. + + +MADRID-ALCALA + +See erected in 1850. + +MADRID + +Temporary cathedral dedicated to San Isidro. + +Seventeenth century building of no art merit. + +New cathedral dedicated to the Virgen de la Almudena. + +In course of construction; begun in 1885. + +ALCALA + +Dedicated to Santos Justo and Pastor; called la Magistral. + +In a ruinous state; closed, and see temporarily removed to Jesuit +temple. + +Constructed in XVth century, and raised to suffragan in same century. + +Severe and naked (gloomy) Spanish-Gothic. + +Interior of building cannot be visited. + + +MONDONEDO + +See dedicated to the Virgin. + +Bishopric removed here from Ribadeo, late XIIth century. + +First (or second) bishop, Don Martin, about 1219. + +* * * + +Foundation of cathedral dates probably from XIIth century. + +XIIIth century Galician Romanesque structure. + +Greatly spoilt by posterior additions. + +Ambulatory dates from XVth or XVIth century. + +* * * + +Rectangular in form; 120 feet long by 71 wide. + +Height of nave, 45 feet; of aisles, 28 feet. + + +ORENSE + +See dedicated to St. Martin of Tours and St. Mary Mother. + +Bishopric erected previous to IVth century (?). + +* * * + +Erection of present building begun late XIIth century. + +Probably terminated late XIIIth century. + +XIIIth century, Galician Romanesque with pronounced ogival mixture. + +* * * + +Chief attractions: Portico del Paraiso, western portal, decoration of +the interior. + + +OSMA + +See dedicated to San Pedro de Osma. + +Legendary (?) erection of see in 91 A. D. + +First bishop, San Astorgio. + +First historical bishop, Juan I, in 589. + +Destruction of see during Arab invasion. + +See restored, 1100; first bishop, San Pedro de Osma. + +* * * + +XIIth century cathedral destroyed in XIIIth century, excepting a few +chapels. + +Erection of new cathedral begun in 1232; terminated, beginning XIVth +century. + +XIIIth century Romanesque-Gothic (not pure). + +Ambulatory introduced in XVIIth century. + +* * * + +Chief attractions: Retablo, reliefs of trasaltar. + + +OVIEDO + +See dedicated to the Mother and Child. + +Bishopric erected, 812; first bishop, Adulfo. + +* * * + +Until XIIth century cathedral was a basilica; destroyed. + +Romanesque edifice erected in XIIth century; destroyed 1380. + +Present edifice begun 1380; completed 1550. + +XVth century ogival (French?). + +Decoration of the interior terminated XVIIth century. + +Tower and spire, XVIth century. + +Camara Santa dates from XIIth century; a remnant of the early Romanesque +edifice. + +* * * + +Total length, 218 feet; width, 72 feet. + +Height of nave, 65 feet; of aisles, 33 feet. + +Height of tower, 267 feet. + +* * * + +Chief attractions: Fleche, decoration of the interior, rosaces in apse, +Gothic retablo, cloister, Camara Santa. + + +PALENCIA + +See dedicated to Mother and Child and San Antolin, martyr. + +Date of erection unknown; IId or IIId century. + +One of the earliest bishops, San Toribio. + +During the Arab invasion city and see completely destroyed. + +First bishop after Reconquest, Bernardo, in 1035. + +* * * + +XVth century florid Gothic building. + +Erection begun in 1321. + +Eastern end finished prior to 1400. + +Century later western end begun on larger scale. + +Temple completed in 1550. + +* * * + +Total length, 405 feet. + +Width (at transept), 160 feet. + +Height (of nave), 95 feet. + +* * * + +Chief attractions: The ensemble (interior and exterior), Bishop's Door, +choir-stalls, trascoro. + + +PLASENCIA + +Dedicated to the Holy Virgin. + +Erection of see 12 years after foundation city (1190). + +First bishop, Domingo; second, Adam; both were warrior prelates. + +* * * + +Old cathedral (few remains left) commenced in beginning XIVth century. + +Partially destroyed to make room for-- + +New cathedral, commenced in 1498. + +XVIth century Renaissance-Gothic edifice. + +Ultra-decorated and ornamented in later centuries. + +* * * + +Chief attractions: Choir-stalls, western entrance, decorative motives, +sepulchres. + + +SALAMANCA + +Bishopric existed in Vth century. First known bishop, Eleuterio (589). + +VIIIth century, devoid of notices concerning see. + +Xth century, 7 bishops mentioned--living in Leon or Oviedo. + +XIth century, no news, even name of city forgotten. + +First bishop _de modernis_, Jeronimo of Valencia (1102). + +* * * + +Old cathedral still standing; city possesses therefore two cathedrals. + +OLD CATHEDRAL + +Dedicated to St. Mary (Santa Maria de la Sede). + +In 1152 already in construction; not finished in 1299. + +XIIth or XIIIth century, Castilian Romanesque with ogival mixture. + +Nave, 33 feet wide, 190 feet long, 60 feet high. + +Aisles, 20 feet wide, 180 feet long, 40 feet high. + +Thickness of walls, 10 feet. + +Part of cathedral demolished to make room for new in 1513. + +* * * + +Chief attractions: Cimborio, central apsidal chapel, and retablo. + + +NEW CATHEDRAL + +Dedicated to the Mother and Saviour. + +Begun in 1513; not completed until XVIIIth century. + +Originally Late Gothic building. Plateresque, Herrera and grotesque +additions. + +Compare churches of Valladolid and Segovia. + +* * * + +Rectangular in shape; 378 feet long, 181 feet wide. + +Height of nave, 130 feet; that of aisles, 88 feet. + +Width of nave, 50 feet; of aisles, 37 feet. + +Length (and width) of chapels, 28 feet; height, 54 feet. + +Height of tower, 320 feet. + +* * * + +Chief attractions: Western facade, decorative wealth, ensemble. + + +SANTANDER + +See dedicated to San Emeterio, martyr, and to the Virgin. + +Monastical church of San Emeterio raised to collegiate in XIIIth +century. + +Bishopric erected in 1775. + +* * * + +Cathedral church built in XIIIth century. + +* * * + +Chief attraction: Crypt, fount. + + +SANTIAGO + +See dedicated to St. James, patron saint of Spain. + +Bishopric erected previous to 842; first bishop, Sisnando. + +Archbishopric erected XIIth century; first archbishop, Diego Galmirez. + +* * * + +Cathedral church begun, 1078; terminated, 1211. + +XIIth century Romanesque building. + +Exterior suffered grotesque and plateresque repairs, XVIIth century. + +Cloister dates from 1530. + +* * * + +Length, 305 feet; width (at transept), 204 feet. + +Height of nave, 78 feet; of aisles, 23 feet; of cupola, 107 feet; of +tower (de la Trinidad), 260 feet; of western towers, 227 feet. + +Length of each side of cloister, 114 feet; width, 19 feet. + +* * * + +Chief attractions: The ensemble (interior), Portico de la Gloria, crypt, +cloister, southern portal. + + +SANTO DOMINGO DE LA CALZADA + +See dedicated to Santo Domingo de la Calzada. + +Bishopric dates from 1227. + +Compare Calahorra. + +* * * + +Cathedral church begun toward 1150. + +Terminated, 1250. + +XIIth-XIIIth century Romanesque-Gothic structure. + +* * * + +Chief attraction: The retablo, XVth and XVIth sepulchres. + + +SEGOVIA + +See dedicated to San Fruto and the Virgin. + +First bishop (legendary?), San Hierateo, in Ist century. + +See known to have existed in 527. + +First historical bishop, Peter (589). + +During Arab invasion only one bishop mentioned, Ilderedo, 940. + +First bishop after the Reconquest, Don Pedro, in 1115. + +* * * + +First stone of present cathedral laid, 1525. + +Cathedral consecrated, 1558; finished in 1580. + +Cupola erected in 1615. + +Gothic-Renaissance building. + +Tower struck by lightning and partly ruined, 1620. + +Rebuilt (tower) in 1825. + +* * * + +Total length, 341 feet; width, 156 feet. + +Height of dome, 218 feet. + +Width of nave and transept, 44 feet; aisles, 33 feet. + +* * * + +Chief attractions: Old cloister, apse, tower. + + +SIGUeENZA + +See dedicated to Mother and Child. + +First known bishop, Protogenes, in VIth century. + +During Arab invasion no mention is made of see. + +First bishop after Reconquest, Bernardo (1195). + +Fourth bishop an Englishman, Jocelyn. + +* * * + +Date of erection of the cathedral unknown. + +Probably XIIth or XIIIth century Romanesque-Gothic edifice. + +Ambulatory added in XVIth century. + +* * * + +Length of building, 313 feet; width, 112 feet. + +Height of nave, 68 feet; of aisles, 63 feet. + +Circumference of central pillar, 50 feet. + +* * * + +Chief attractions: Western front, sacristy, rose window in southern +transept arm. + + +SORIA + +See to be moved here from Osma. + +Church dedicated to St. Mary. + +Raised to suffragan of Osma in XIIth century. + +* * * + +XVIth century, Gothic-plateresque building. + +XIIth century, western front; Castilian Romanesque. + +XIIth century, Romanesque cloister. + +* * * + +Chief attractions: Western front, cloister. + + +TOLEDO + +See dedicated to the Virgin Mother and her Apparition to San Ildefonso. + +Bishopric erected prior to 513 A. D. + +One of first bishops is San Ildefonso. + +During Arab domination see remains vacant. + +First archbishop, Don Bernardo (1085). + +Primate cathedral of all the Spains since XVth century. + +* * * + +First stone of present building laid in 1227. + +Church completed in 1493. + +Additions, repairs, etc., dating from XVIth-XVIIIth century. + +* * * + +Length, 404 feet; width, 204 feet; height of tower, 298 feet. + +Height of nave, 98 feet. + +Height of principal door, 20 feet; width, 7 feet. + +Diameter of rose window in western front, 30 feet. + +* * * + +Chief attractions: The ensemble, decorative and industrial accessories, +chapter-room, sacristy, paintings, bell-tower, etc. (The richest +cathedral in Spain.) + + +TORO + +Collegiate Church dedicated to St. Mary. + +* * * + +Existence of bishopric cannot be proven, though believed to have been +erected during first decade of Reconquest in Xth century. + +Is definitely made a suffragan of Zamora in XVIth century. + +* * * + +Cathedral--or collegiate--erected end of XIIth or beginning of XIIIth +century. + +Castilian Romanesque building. + +* * * + +Chief attractions: Military aspect of building, height of walls, massive +cimborio. + + +TUY + +See dedicated to the Virgin Mary. + +Bishopric erected in VIth century. + +* * * + +Cathedral erected in first half XIIth century. + +Suffered greatly from earthquakes, especially in 1755. + +XIIth century Galician Romanesque in spoilt conditions. + +Western porch or narthex dates from XVth century. + +* * * + +Chief attractions: Western front, northern portal, cloister. + + +VALLADOLID + +Santa Maria la Antigua raised to suffragan of Palencia, 1074. + +Church built in XIIth century, Castilian Romanesque. + +Ruins still to be seen to rear of-- + +Santa Maria la Mayor. Seat of archbishopric since 1850. + +Bishopric established, 1595; first bishop, Don Bartolome. + +* * * + +Cathedral begun in 1585 by Juan de Herrera. + +Continued XVIIth century by Churriguera. + +Escorial style spoilt by grotesque decoration. + +Tower falls down in 1841; new one being erected. + +* * * + +Rectangular in shape; length, 411 feet; width, 204 feet. + +Transept half-way between apse and western front. + +Croisee surmounted by cupola. + +Only one of four towers was constructed. + + +VITORIA + +See dedicated to Santa Maria. + +St. Mary erected to collegiate, XVth century. + +Bishopric erected in XIXth century. + +* * * + +Cathedral church erected in XIVth century. + +XIVth century Late Gothic structure of no art interest. + +Tower of XVIth and XVIIth centuries. + +* * * + +Chief attraction: In sacristy a canvas called Piety. + + +ZAMORA + +See dedicated to San Atilano and the Holy Mother. + +Bishopric established 905; first bishop, San Atilano. + +Destroyed by Moors in 998; vacancy not filled until 1124. + +First bishop _de modernis_, Bernardo. + +* * * + +Cathedral commenced 1151; vaulting terminated 1174. + +XIIth century Castilian Romanesque. + +* * * + +Chief attractions: The cimborio, southern entrance. + + +III + +_A List of the Provinces of Spain and of the Middle Age States or +Kingdoms from which they have evolved._ + + _Principal Kingdoms_ _Conquered States_ _Present-day Provinces_ + + Castile Galicia La Coruna* + Lugo* + Orense* + Pontevedra* + Asturias* Oviedo* + Leon Leon* + Palencia* + Zamora* + Basque Provinces Guipuzcua* + Vizcaya* + Alava* + Rioja Logrono* + Old Castile Santander* + Burgos* + Soria* + Valladolid* + Avila* + Segovia* + Salamanca* + New Castile Madrid* + Guadalajara* + Toledo* + Cuenca* + Ciudad Real* + Extremadura Caceres* + Badajoz + Andalusia Sevilla + Huelva + Cadiz + Cordoba + Jaen + Granada Granada + Malaga + Almeria + Murcia Murcia + Albacete + Aragon Aragon Zaragoza + Huesca + Teruel + Cataluna Barcelona + Gerona + Lerida + Tarragona + Valencia Valencia + Alicante + Castellon + Navarra Navarra (Pamplona) + + NOTES + + The star (*) indicates the provinces treated of in this volume; the + remainder will be treated of in Volume II. + + Two provinces have not been mentioned: that of the Balearic Isles + (belonged to the old kingdom of Aragon), and that of the Canary + Isles (belonged to the old kingdom of Castile). + + Dates have not been indicated. For so complicated was the evolution + of the different states (regions) throughout the Middle Ages, that + a series of tables would be necessary, as well as a series of + geographical maps. + + The above list, however, shows Spain (minus Portugal) at the death + of Fernando (the husband of Isabel) in 1516, as well as the + component parts of Castile and Aragon. The division of Spain into + provinces dates from 1833. + + A bishopric does not necessarily coincide with a province. Thus, + the Province of Lugo has two sees (Lugo and Mondonedo); on the + other hand, three Basque Provinces have but one see (Vitoria). + + Excepting in the case of Navarra, whose capital is Pamplona, the + different provinces of Spain bear the name of the capital. Thus the + capital of the Province of Madrid is Madrid, and Jaen is the + capital of the province of the same name. + + + + +_Bibliography_ + + +Espana, sus Monumentos y Artes, su Naturaleza e Historia: + + Burgos, by R. Amador de los Rios. + + Santander, by R. Amador de los Rios. + + Navarra y Logrono, Vol. III., by P. de Madrazo. + + Soria, by N. Rabal. + + Galicia, by M. Murguia. + + Alava, etc., by A. Pirala. + + Extremadura, by N. Diaz y Perez. + +Recuerdos y Bellezas de Espana: + + Castilla La Nueva, by J. M. Quadrado. + + Asturias y Leon, by J. M. Quadrado. + + Valladolid, etc., by J. M. Quadrado. + + Salamanca, by J. M. Quadrado. + +Espagne et Portugal, by Baedeker. + +Historia del Pueblo Espanol (Spanish translation), by Major M. Hume. + +Historia de Espana, by R. Altamira. + +Toledo en la Mano, by S. Parro. + +Estudios Historico-Artisticos relativos a Valladolid, by Marti y Monso. + + + + +INDEX + + +Acuna, Don, 297, 298. + +Adan, Maria, 271; + Don, Bishop of Plasencia, 287, 376. + +Adulfo, Bishop of Oviedo, 138, 375. + +African Wars, 364. + +Agrestio, Bishop of Lugo, 373. + +Agricolanus, 151. + +Agueda River, 269. + +Alagon River, 278, 280. + +Alarcos, Battle of, 284, 314. + +Alava, 198, 371. + +Alcala (_See_ Alcala de Henares). + +Alcala de Fenares (_See_ Alcala de Henares). + +Alcala de Henares, 61, 64, 212, 223, 321, 322, 326-334, 349; + Churches of (_See_ under Churches); University of, 328. + +Alcala de San Justo (_See_ Alcala de Henares). + +Alcantara, Bridge of, 350. + +Alcazar (Cuenca), 343, (Segovia) 314, 320, 355, (Toledo) 336, 350, 356. + +Aleman, 275, 289. + +Alfonso, 307. + +Alfonso I., 221, 230. + +Alfonso II., 343. + +Alfonso III., 245. + +Alfonso IV., 153. + +Alfonso V., 139, 294. + +Alfonso VI., 198, 206, 233, 237, 253, 293, 335, 358, 359. + +Alfonso VII., 153, 154, 161, 162, 336. + +Alfonso VIII., 188, 192, 193, 210, 223, 258, 280, 284, 286, 338, 343. + +Alfonso IX., 258. + +Alfonso XI., 179, 245. + +Alfonso the Chaste, 102, 104, 137, 138, 139, 141. + +Alfonsos, Dynasty of, 103, 200. + +Alfonso el Batallador, 305. + +Al-Kala (_See_ Alcala de Henares). + +Alhambra, The, 22, 41, 355. + +Alhaxa, Martin, 343. + +Al-Karica (_See_ Coria). + +Almanzor, 79, 150, 152, 171, 176, 177, 230, 232. + +Alps, The, 58. + +Altamira, Rafael, 14. + +Alvarez, Diego, 286. + +America, 29, 32, 90, 295, 296, 360. + +Anaya, Diego de, Tomb of, 263. + +Andalusia, 16, 22, 66, 67, 76, 81, 161, 191, 303, 314, 337, 354. + +Ansurez, Pedro, 293; + Family of, 294. + +Aquitania, 167. + +Arabs and Arab Invasions, 23, 38, 71, 79, 80, 111, 112, 114, 123, 124, +147, 148, 152, 170, 177, 221, 225, 253, 254, 280, 296, 313, 323, 327, +354, 370, 371, 372, 375, 378, 379. + +Aragon, 23, 25, 58, 66, 67, 68, 71, 203, 210, 303, 305, 331, 335, 336, +342, 343. + +Arco de Santa Marta (Burgos), 180. + +Armada, The, 31, 90, 132, 189, 349. + +Arriago, 193. + +Arrianism, 153. + +Astorga, 70, 71, 120, 167-173, 174, 176, 197, 219, 220, 246, 369; + Bishop of (_See_ under Bishops); + Cathedral of (_See_ under Cathedrals). + +Asturias, 57, 66, 70, 79, 103, 104, 123, 138, 139, 146, 147, 148, 150, +153, 162, 167, 175, 176, 177, 213. + +Asturica Augusta (_See_ Astorga). + +Augustabriga, 269. + +Auria (_See_ Orense). + +Austurio, Archbishop of Toledo, 331. + +Avila, 70, 71, 253, 302-311, 312, 313, 370; + Bishop of (_See_ under Bishop); + Cathedral of (_See_ under Cathedrals). + + +Baeza, 161. + +Baedeker, 115. + +Barcelona, 66. + +Barrientos, Inez de, 344. + +Bartolome, Bishop of Valladolid, 381. + +Basilides, Bishop of Astorga, 168. + +Basilides, Bishop of Leon, 151, 372. + +Basque Provinces, 33, 192. + +Bay of Biscay, 189. + +Bayona, 131, 132; + Church of (_See_ under Churches). + +Bayonne in Gascogne, 272. + +Becerra, 172. + +Berengario, 254. + +Bermudo II., 162. + +Bermudo III., 171, 176. + +Bernardo, Bishop of Palencia, 222, 375. + +Bernardo, Bishop of Sigueenza, 336, 337, 379. + +Bernardo, Archbishop of Toledo, 213, 358, 359, 379. + +Bernardo, Bishop of Zamora, 232. + +Berruguete, 50, 295. + +Betica (_See_ Andalusia). + +Bishops and Archbishops (Basilides), 168; + Astorga (Dominiciano), 167, 369; + Avila (Jeronimo), 370, (Pedro) 308, (San Segundo) 370, (Tostada) 370; + Burgos (Don Simon), 370, (Gomez II.) 370; + Calahorra (Don Sancho), 198, 371, (Silvano) 371; + Cuidad Rodrigo (Domingo), 270, 371, (Pedro Diaz) 270; + Coria (Laquinto), 279, 372; + Cuenca (Juan Yanez), 343, 372; + Iria (Theodosio), 76, 77, 78; + Leon (Basilides), 151, 272; + Lugo (Agrestio), 373, (Odoario) 104; + Mondonedo (Martin), 97, 374; + Osma, 211, (Juan I.) 214, 375, (Pedro) 224, 375, (San Astorgio) 375; + Orense (Diego), 116; + Oviedo (Adulfo), 138, (Gutierre) 139; + Palencia (Bernardo), 222, 375, (San Toribio) 375; + Plasencia (Adan), 287, 376, (Domingo) 286, 376; + Salamanca (Eleuterio), 253, 376, (Jeronimo) 254, 305, 376; + Santiago, 254, 337, (Diego Galmirez) 80, 116, 377, (Sisnando), 377; + Segovia (Don Pedro), 312, 314, 378, (Ilderedo) 313, 378, (San Hierateo), + 312, 378; + Sigueenza (Austurio), 331, (Bernardo) 336, 337, 379, (Jocelyn) 338, 379, + (Protogenes) 335, 379; + Toledo, 307, 331, 337, (Bernardo) 213, 358, 359, 379, (Carillo) 331, 334, + (Ildefonso) 358, 379, (Tavera) 274; Tuy, 132; + Valladolid (Bartolome), 381, (Bernardo) 232; + Zamora (San Atilano), 231, 381. + +"Bishop's Door" (Palencia Cathedral), 228, 376. + +Blanca de Bourbon, 294, 336. + +Boabdil el Chico, 22. + +Bologna, 251. + +Bourbon, Blanca de, 294, 336. + +Bourbon Dynasty, 30. + +Braga, 112, 120, 167. + +Brigandtia (_See_ Corunna). + +Brunetiere, 75. + +Burgos, 39, 43, 67, 69, 70, 71, 154, 174-180, 186, 189, 196, 223, 237, 251, + 253, 296, 303, 349, 370; + Bishop of (_See_ under Bishops); + Cathedral of (_See_ under Cathedrals). + +Burgo de Osma, 214. + + +Cadiz 335. + +Calabria, 269, 270, 371. + +Calahorra, 188, 197, 198, 199, 204, 206, 371; + Bishop of (_See_ under Bishops); + Cathedral of (_See_ under Cathedrals). + +Calle de Puente, 190. + +Camara Sagrada, 69. + +Camara Santa (Oviedo), 144, 375. + +Cangas, 137, 138, 147. + +Cantabric Mountains, 190. + +Cantabric Sea, 189. + +Carillo, Archbishop of Toledo, 331, 334; + Tomb of, 333, 334. + +Carlist Wars, 33. + +Carranza, 203. + +Carrarick, King of the Suevos, 114. + +Castellum Tude (_See_ Tuy). + +Castile, 16, 23, 25, 59, 66-77, 81, 103, 154, 174-177, 189, 192, 198, +200, 201, 206, 221, 233, 245, 280, 294, 296, 302, 305, 336, 343. + +Castile, Counts of, 253, 279, 312, 335. + +Cathedrals, Astorga, 167-173, 367, 369; + Avila, 302-311, 370; + Burgos, 62, 141, 156, 161, 174-187, 202, 227-241, 267, 367-370; + Calahorra, 206-208, 373, 378; + Canterbury (St. Thomas), 338; + Ciudad Rodrigo, 269-277, 371; + Coria, 261, 278, 283, 372; + Huesca, 203, 331; + Leon, 62, 141, 150-166, 171, 372; + Lugo, 99, 102-109, 113, 115, 117, 340, 373; + Madrid, San Isidro and Virgen de la Almudena, 321, 326, 373; + Mondonedo, 95-101, 374; + Najera, 201-202; + Orense, Santa Maria la Madre, 110-119, 126, 374; + Osma, 212-216, 374, 375; + Nuestra Senora de la Blanca (_See_ Leon); + Oviedo, 137-144, 156, 172, 182, 375; + Pulchra Leonina (_See_ Leon); + Palencia, 219-229, 239, 375; + Plasencia, 275, 284-289, 376; + Rome (St. Peter's), 300; + Salamanca, Old and New Cathedrals, 251-268, 275, 299, 317, 346, 376, 377; + Santiago, Santiago de Campostela, 75-88, 92, 99, 100, 106, 107, 113, 116, + 118, 127, 240, 241, 377; + Santander, 188-191, 377; + Segovia, 312-320, 377, 378; + Sevilla, 187; + Santo Domingo de la Calzada, 202-204, 378; + Sigueenza, 335-341, 346, 379; + Tours, St. Martin, 374; + Tuy, Santa Maria la Madre, 113, 120-130, 249, 380; + Valladolid, 293-301, 377, 380; + Vitoria, 192-195, 381; + Zamora, 230-243, 247, 248, 249, 260, 261, 262, 263, 264, 275, 346, 381; + Toledo, 16, 64, 143, 159, 161, 184, 317, 319, 332, 349-368, 371, 379; + Toulouse, St. Saturnin, 82; + Toro, Santa Maria la Mayor, 244-250, 260, 261, 262, 263, 264, 273, + 275, 346, 380. + +Celedonio, 188, 197, 206. + +Celts, The, 84, 102. + +Cervantes, 295, 326, 352. + +Charles-Quinte, 223, 283, 314, 353. + +Choir Stalls, 48, 49. + +Churches: Alcala de Henares, La Magistral, 328, 332, 374; + San Justo, 328, 332; + Burgos, Chapel of the Condestable, 39, 185, 370, 371; + Bayona and Vigo, 131-133; + Corunna (Colegiata), 91, 93, Church of Santiago, 93, 94, + Santa Maria del Campo, 92; + Cordoba, The Mosque, 41, 68; + Cuenca, 342-348, 372; + Leon, San Isidoro, 153, 163, 191, Chapel of St. James, 159, + Santa Maria la Blanca, 372, Santa Maria la Redonda, San Froilan, 372; + Logrono, 204, Santo Domingo de la Calzada, 204; + Madrid, San Antonio de la Florida, 324, San Francisco el Grande, 324, + San Isidro, 321, 325, 373; + Oviedo, Salvador, 139; + Palencia, San Antolin, 375; + Rioja, Santa Maria la Redonda, 204-206, San Juan de Banos, 165; + Santander, San Emeterio, 189, 377; + Saragosse, Church of the Pillar, 205, 206, 299, + Santo Domingo de la Calzada, 202-204, 378; + Soria, 209-212, 379; + Segovia, Santa Clara, 316; + Toledo, San Juan de las Reyes, 355, Santa Maria la Blanca, 354, + San Tomas, 355, Puerta de Sol, 355; + Valladolid, Santa Maria la Mayor, 293, 300, 381, + Santa Maria la Antiqua, 380, Venta de Banos, 57; + Zamora, La Magdalen, 243. + +Churriguera, 63, 300, 301, 381. + +Cid, The Great, 234, 254. + +Cid Campeador (Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar), 179. + +Cisneros, Cardinal, 326, 328, 331, 334, 361, 364; + Tomb of, 333, 334. + +Ciudad Rodrigo, 269-277, 371; + Bishop of (_See_ under Bishops); + Cathedral of (_See_ under Cathedrals). + +Clement IV., 210. + +Cluny Monks, The, 24, 30, 60, 359. + +Coa River, 269. + +Columbus, Christopher, 28, 31, 32, 295, 360. + +Complutum (Alcala), 327, 330. + +Complutenses, 327-329. + +Comuneros, The, 314. + +Conca (_See_ Cuenca). + +Conde, Manuel, 154. + +Condestable, Chapel of the (Burgos), 39, 185, 370, 371; + Tomb of (Burgos), 186. + +Constanza, Dona, 358. + +Convent of Guadalupe, 283. + +Convent of the Mercedes (Valladolid), 297. + +Convent of San Juan de Dios, 334. + +Cordoba, 147, 152, 191, 279, 286; + Mosque of, 41, 68, 355. + +Coria, 68, 71, 269, 278-283, 284, 372; + Bishop of (_See_ under Bishops); + Cathedral of (_See_ under Cathedrals); + Roman Wall of, 279. + +Coronada, 271. + +Cortez, 246, 272. + +Corunna, 89, 90, 91, 113; + +Churches of, 89-94. + +Council of Toledo, 253, 279, 312, 335. + +Counts of Castile, 153, 162, 163, 174, 175, 180. + +Covadonga, 145, 146, 149; + Battle of, 145. + +Cristeta, 303. + +"Cristo de las Batallas" (Salamanca), 254. + +Cuenca, 68, 70, 71, 342-348, 372; + Alcazar, 343; Battle of, 338; + Bishop of (_See_ under Bishops); + Church of (_See_ under Churches). + +Cunninghame-Graham, Mr., 21. + +Curia Vetona, or Caurium (_See_ Coria). + + +Del Obispo (Portal in Toro Cathedral), 273. + +Del Salto, Maria, Tomb of, 320. + +Diana, Temple to, 102, 103. + +Diaz, Pedro, Bishop of Ciudad Rodrigo, 270. + +Dolfo, Vellido, 234, 235. + +Domingo, Bishop of Ciudad Rodrigo, 270, 371. + +Domingo, Bishop of Plasencia, 286, 376. + +Dominguez, Juan, Bishop of Osma, 214, 375. + +Dominiciano, Bishop of Astorga, 167, 369. + +Drake, Sir Francis, 132. + +Duero River, 209, 213, 237, 244, 279. + +Duke of Lancaster, 112. + +Duerer, 361. + + +Eleanor (Daughter of Henry II.), 338. + +Early Christian Art, 54. + +Eastern Castile, 70. + +Ebro River, 193, 196, 198, 199, 200. + +Eleuterio, Bishop of Salamanca, 253, 376. + +Elvira, 233, 245. + +England, 29, 31, 78, 90, 189, 295. + +Engracia (of Aragon), 312. + +Enrique II., King of Castile, 204, 320. + +Enrique IV., 245. + +Enriquez, Don, 256. + +Escorial (Madrid), 31, 62, 165, 265, 295, 299, 322, 349. + +Extremadura, 16, 69, 278, 303. + + +Favila, Duke, 122, 146. + +Felipe el Hermoso (Philip the Handsome), 295. + +Ferdinand, 25, 32, 255. + +Fernan, Knight, 298. + +Fernando I., 161, 176-178, 222, 232, 245, 304. + +Fernando II., 269. + +Fernando Alfonso, 203. + +Fernando el Santo, 359. + +Florinda, 354. + +Flanders, 355. + +Foment, 50, 203, 204. + +Fonseca, Bishop, 229; + Family, 249. + +France, 24, 53, 57, 58, 78, 168, 224, 355. + +Froila (or Froela), 137, 141, 230. + +Froissart, 112. + + +Galicia, 23, 40, 60, 66, 68, 75, 76, 79, 80, 88, 90, 96, 97, 98, 100, +102, 103, 104, 105, 107, 109, 110, 111, 112, 116, 118, 120, 121, 122, +123, 125, 128, 130, 131, 132, 137, 138, 169, 177, 199, 233, 238. + +Galician Romanesque Art, 59. + +Galmirez, Diego, Archbishop of Santiago, 80, 377. + +Garcia, Count of Castile, 162, 163, 176, 233. + +Garcia, Don, King of Navarra, 198, 201. + +Garcia, Son of Alfonso III., 245. + +Gasteiz (_See_ Vitoria). + +Gautier, Theophile, 351. + +Germany, 78, 355. + +Gibraltar, 22; + Straits of, 21, 28. + +Gijon, 147. + +Giron, Don Gutierre, 314. + +Gold and Silversmiths, 50-51. + +Gomez II., Bishop of Burgos, 370. + +Gonzalez, Fernan, 175, 176, 177, 179. + +Gonzalo, Arias, 233. + +Goeschenen in Switzerland, 342. + +Goya, 325, 357. + +Granada, 22, 67, 287, 355, 356, 365. + +Greco, 357, 365. + +Gredo Mountains, 278. + +Greeks, The, 89, 132. + +Guadalajara, 335. + +Guadalete, Battle of, 147. + +Guadalquivir, 189. + +Guaderrama Mountains, 253, 278. + +Guardia, 121. + +Gudroed, 123. + +Gutierre, Bishop of Oviedo, 139. + + +Hannibal, 252. + +Harbour of Victory, 188. + +Henry IV., 258, 294, 307. + +Hermesinda, 147. + +Herrero, 62, 205, 265, 295, 299, 300, 301, 381. + +Huesca, Cathedral of, 203, 331. + +Hume, Martin, 14. + + +Ierte River, 286. + +Ilderedo, Bishop of Segovia, 313, 378. + +Ildefonso, Bishop of Toledo, 379. + +Inquisition, The, 26, 27, 344. + +Ireland, 89. + +Iria, 76, 77. + +Ironcraft, 51, 52. + +Irun, 192. + +Isabella, 25, 32, 255. + +Isabel the Catholic, 193, 222, 245, 246, 294, 295, 315. + +Italy, 24, 37, 57, 58, 62, 78, 224, 355. + + +Jeronimo, Bishop of Avila, 370. + +Jeronimo, Bishop of Salamanca, 254, 305, 376. + +Jesuit School (Madrid), 326. + +Jocelyn, Bishop of Sigueenza, 338, 379. + +John I., 213. + +Juan I., Bishop of Osma, 214, 375. + +Juana, 294. + +Juana la Beltranaja, 245. + +Juana la Loca, 295. + +Julian, Count, 354. + +Juni, Juan de, 50, 214. + +Jura, The, 97, 196. + + +La Magistral, Church of (Alcala de Henares), 328, 332, 374. + +La Mancha, 16, 342. + +Lancaster, Duke of, 112. + +Laquinto, Bishop of Coria, 279, 372. + +Las Navas de Tolosa, 280. + +Leon, 23, 25, 43, 66, 69, 70, 79, 80, 103, 139, 150-166, 167, 171, 174, +175, 176, 177, 197, 233, 253, 254, 304, 305, 355, 372, 376; + Bishop of (_See_ under Bishops); + Cathedral of (_See_ under Cathedrals); + King of, 161. + +Leon X., 328. + +Leonese, The, 254. + +Leonor, Dona, 179, 297, 298. + +"Leyes de Toro," 246. + +Libelatism, 167, 168. + +Lisbon, 126, 272. + +Locus Augusti (_See_ Lugo). + +Logrono, 71, 197, 199, 200, 204, 371, 373; + Church of (_See_ under Churches). + +Loja, 287. + +Lucio III., 343. + +Lugo, 90, 91, 93, 95, 102-109, 110, 112, 120, 137, 154, 373; + Bishop of (_See_ under Bishops); + Cathedral of (_See_ under Cathedrals). + +Lupa, 75, 76, 102, 103. + +Luz, Dona, 122, 146. + + +Madrazo, 206. + +Madrid, 66, 68, 71, 178, 212, 253, 293, 295, 296, 313, 314, 321-326, +328, 329, 349, 373; + Cathedral of (_See_ under Cathedrals); + Churches of (_See_ under Churches). + +Maestro Mateo, 87. + +Maestro Raimundo, 106, 126. + +Magerit, 322, 323. + +Munuza, 147, 148. + +Manzanares River, 323, 324. + +Marcelo, 151. + +Martin, Bishop of Mondonedo, 97, 374. + +Martel, Charles, 22. + +Medinat-el-Walid, 296. + +Mendoza, 361. + +Mindunietum, 96. + +Mino River, 70, 102, 110, 111, 112, 120, 121, 124, 125. + +Miranda, 196. + +Mirobriga, 269. + +Molina, Maria de, 294. + +Mondonedo, 93, 95-101, 374; + Bishop of (_See_ under Bishops); + Cathedral of (_See_ under Cathedrals). + +Monroy Family, 256, 286. + +Monforte, 110. + +Moore, General, 90. + +Moorish Art, 55, 56. + +Moors, The, 22, 24, 25, 26, 28, 34, 38, 55, 56, 59, 71, 76, 79, 104, +137, 153, 154, 161, 171, 175, 198, 207, 210, 230, 232, 251, 254, 279, +281, 285, 287, 304, 305, 308, 313, 323, 331, 343, 352, 354, 357, 358, +359, 381. + +Morales, Divino, 326. + +Morgarten, 145. + +Morocco, 364. + +Mosque of Cordoba, 41, 68, 355. + +Mount of Joys, 81. + +Mudejar Art, 63-65. + +Muguira, 81. + +Murillo, 195. + + +Najera, 197, 198, 201, 202, 371; + Cathedral of (_See_ under Cathedrals). + +Nalvillos, 306, 307. + +Napoleon, 90, 164. + +Navarra, 23, 33, 58, 66, 68, 70, 80, 174, 176, 192, 196, 198, 201, 202, 210. + +Navas de Tolosa, Battle of, 286. + +Neustra Senora de la Blanca (_See_ Cathedral of Leon). + +New World, The (_See_ America). + +Norman Vikings, 79, 96, 112, 123, 124. + +North, The, 69. + +Numantia, 197, 209, 219, 230. + + +Odoario, Bishop of Lugo, 104. + +Ogival Art, 61. + +Olaf, 123. + +Old Castile, Plain of, 69. + +Ordonez, Diego, 235, 236. + +Ordono I., 152, 153, 154. + +Ordono II., 153, 159. + +Orduno III., 175. + +Orense, 70, 71, 110-119, 120, 168, 170, 220, 374; + Bishop of (_See_ under Bishops); + Cathedral of (_See_ under Cathedrals); + Portico del Paraiso, 116, 374. + +Osma, 209, 210, 212-216, 374-379; + Bishops of (_See_ under Bishops); + Cathedral of (_See_ under Cathedrals). + +Oviedo, 23, 43, 69, 70, 80, 102, 103, 137-144, 145, 150, 154, 198, 371, 375; + Bishop of (_See_ under Bishops); + Cathedral of (_See_ under Cathedrals); + Church (_See_ under Churches). + +Oxford, 251. + + +Padilla, Maria de, 294, 336. + +Palencia, 71, 168, 219-229, 258, 293, 375; + Bishop of (_See_ under Bishops); + "Bishop's Door," 228, 376; + Cathedral of (_See_ under Cathedrals); + University of, 223-224, 258. + +Pallantia, 220, 221. + +Palos Harbour, 32. + +Pamplona, 174. + +Paris, 251; + Treaty of, 32. + +Pedro, Prince Don, 320. + +Pedro, Bishop of Avila, 308. + +Pedro, Bishop of Osma, 224, 375. + +Pedro, Bishop of Segovia, 378. + +Pelayo, 146, 147, 148, 149. + +Pelea Gonzalo, Battle of, 245. + +Pena Grajera, 320. + +Perez, Dona Maria, 256, 257, 258. + +Perez, Hernan, 286. + +Peter, Bishop of Segovia, 312, 314, 378. + +Peter the Cruel, 179, 204, 245, 294, 336. + +Philip II., 31, 62, 189, 295, 322, 349. + +Philip III., 285, 308. + +Philip IV., 294. + +Philip the Handsome, 295. + +Phoenicians, The, 89, 132. + +Picos de Europa, 145. + +Pico de Urbion, 209. + +"Piedad" (Pity), 195. + +Pillar at Saragosse, 299. + +Pisuerga, 293, 296. + +Plasencia, 71, 257, 261, 271, 283, 284-289, 308, 376; + Bishop of (_See_ under Bishops); + Cathedral of (_See_ under Cathedrals). + +Plaza, Bartolome de la (Bishop of Valladolid), 295. + +Plaza de Cervantes (Alcala), 330. + +Plaza de la Constitucion (Alcala), 330. + +Plaza Mayor (Alcala), 330. + +Plutarch, 252. + +Poitiers, 22. + +Polyglot Bible, The, 328. + +Portico de la Gloria (Santiago), 85-88, 92, 378. + +Portico del Paraiso (Orense), 116, 374. + +Portugal, 120, 122, 125, 231, 256, 278; + King of, 297, 298. + +Portuguese, The, 112, 123, 124, 244, 246. + +Priscilianism, 167, 168, 169, 170, 220. + +Prisciliano, 169. + +Protogenes, Bishop of Sigueenza, 335, 379. + +Puerta de la Plateria (Santiago), 83, 107, 183. + +Puerta de la Sol (Toledo), 355. + +Puerta de los Leones (Toledo), 363. + +Pulchra Leonina (_See_ Cathedral of Leon). + +Pyrenees, 53, 58, 59, 168. + + +Quadrado, Senor, 308. + +Quixote, Don, 330. + + +Rachel of Toledo, 285. + +Ramiro, 153. + +Recaredo, 152, 354. + +Reconquest, The, 269, 370, 375, 379, 380. + +Redondela, 131. + +Reformation, The, 26. + +Renaissance, 54, 62; + Italian, 63. + +Retablo, 49-50. + +Rhine, The, 120. + +Ribadeo, 96, 374. + +Ribera, 357. + +Rioja, The Upper, 70, 196, 197, 198, 200, 201, 206. + +Rodrigo, 146. + +Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar (Cid Campeador), 179. + +Rodrigo, King of Visigoths, 21, 354. + +Romanesque Art, 57-58, 59. + +Romans, The, 18, 19, 24, 75, 89, 96, 102, 112, 113, 120, 121, 132, 150, +174, 188, 252, 293, 303, 326, 335, 353, 371. + +Rome, 29, 220, 353. + +Rubens, 357, 361. + +Ruy Diaz Gaona, 200. + + +Sabina, 303. + +Salamanca, 71, 178, 223, 251, 268, 269, 296, 302, 305, 313, 376; + Bishop (_See_ under Bishops); + Cathedral (_See_ under Cathedrals); + University of, 258, 259. + +San Antolin, 221, 224, 225, 375. + +San Antonio de la Florida, 324. + +San Astorgio, Bishop of Osma, 375. + +San Atilano, Bishop of Zamora, 231, 381. + +San Bartolome (Salamanca), Chapel of, 263. + +San Celedonio, 371. + +Sancha, 162, 163, 176. + +Sancho, Bishop of Calahorra, 198, 371. + +Sancho, Count of Castile, 162, 233, 234, 293. + +Sancho, Don, of Navarra, 192. + +Sancho el Mayor, King of Navarra, 221, 222. + +Sancti Emetrii, 188. + +San Emeterio, 188, 197, 206, 371, 377. + +San Emeterio, Church of (Santander), 189. + +San Fernando, 25, 177-178. + +San Francisco, Convent of, 113. + +San Francisco el Grande (Madrid), 324. + +San Froilan, 158, 372. + +San Fruto, 312, 378. + +San Hierateo, 312, 378. + +San Ildefonso, Bishop of Toledo, 358, 379. + +San Isidro (of Madrid), 324. + +San Isidro, Church of (Madrid), 321, 325. + +San Isidoro, Church of (Leon), 153, 162, 163, 164, 191, 324. + +San Isidoro, 161, 162, 164. + +San Juan de Banos, 165. + +San Juan de Dios, Convent of, 334. + +San Juan de los Reyes (Toledo), 355. + +San Julian, 345. + +San Justo, 330, 331, 333, 374. + +San Justo, Church of (Alcala de Henares), 328. + +San Pastor, 330, 331, 333, 374. + +San Salvador, 370. + +San Segundo, 303. + +Santa Clara (Segovia), 316. + +Santa Maria de la Blanca (Leon), 372. + +Santa Maria la Blanca (Toledo), 354. + +Santa Maria la Madre (Orense), 114. + +Santa Maria la Madre (Tuy), 120-130. + +Santa Maria la Redonda, 204. + +Santander, 69, 188-191, 197, 277; + Cathedral of (_See_ under Cathedrals). + +Santiago, 75-88, 91, 92, 97, 102, 103, 104, 116, 131, 167, 176, 199, 377; + Archbishop of (_See_ under Bishops); + Cathedral of (_See_ under Cathedrals). + +San Tomas (Toledo), 355. + +Santo Domingo, 203. + +Santo Domingo de la Calzada, 197, 199, 200, 202-204, 371. 378; + Church of (_See_ under Churches). + +San Toribio (Astorga), 369; + (Palencia), 375. + +San Vicente, 152, 303. + +Saracens, The, 213, 312. + +Saragosse, 67, 167, 196, 197, 203; + Church (_See_ under Churches). + +Sardinero, 190. + +Scipio, 209. + +Segovia, 71, 253, 303, 312, 313, 325, 349, 378; + Bishop (_See_ under Bishops); + Cathedral (_See_ under Cathedrals). + +Seguncia (or Segoncia), _See_ Sigueenza. + +Sempach, 145. + +Sevilla, 67, 91, 161, 189, 317; + Cathedral of, 187. + +Sierra de Guaderrama, 66, 68, 174, 305. + +Sierra de Gredos, 66, 302, 349. + +Sierra de Gata, 66, 69, 278. + +Sigueenza, 70, 71, 335-341, 343, 379; + Bishop of (_See_ under Bishops); + Cathedral of (_See_ under Cathedrals). + +Silvano, Bishop of Calahorra, 198, 371. + +Simon, Bishop of Burgos, 370. + +Sinfosio, 170. + +Sisnando, Bishop of Santiago, 377. + +Sohail, 21-22. + +Soria, 71, 209-212, 213, 379; + Church of (_See_ under Churches). + +State Archives Building (Alcala), 327. + +Street, 87, 107. + +St. Astorgio, 213. + +St. Francis of Assisi, 271. + +St. James, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 88, 138, 213, 323, 353; + Chapel of (Leon), 159. + +St. Martin, 111, 114. + +St. Martin of Tours (Cathedral), 374. + +St. Paul, 312. + +St. Peter, 213, 352. + +St. Peter's at Rome, 300. + +St. Thomas of Canterbury, Chapel of, 338. + +St. Saturnin (Toulouse), 82. + +Suevos, 111, 122; + King of, 114, 170. + + +Tago River, 278, 280, 349, 352, 353, 354, 356, 359. + +Talavera, 361. + +Tarik, 22. + +Tarragon, 67, 167, 197, 219, 335. + +Tavera, Bishop of Toledo, 274. + +Theodomio, 198. + +Theodosio, Bishop of Iria, 76, 77, 78. + +Theotocopuli, Domenico, 357. + +Titian, 361. + +Tolaitola (_See_ Toledo). + +Toledo, 67, 68, 70, 71, 91, 123, 146, 150, 167, 171, 178, 237, 251, 278, +280, 285, 286, 304, 307, 322, 327, 328, 329, 335, 342, 349-368, 379; + Alcazar, 336, 350, 356; + Archbishop of (_See_ under Bishops); + Cathedral (_See_ under Cathedrals); + Council of, 213, 253, 279, 312, 335. + +Tomb, Bishop Tostado, 311, 370; + Carillo (Alcala), 333, 334; + Cisneros (Alcala), 333, 334; + Condestable, 186; + Diego de Anaya (Salamanca), 263; + Maria del Salto, 320; + Prince Don Pedro, 320. + +Toribio, 170, 220, 224. + +Toro, 71, 233, 244-250, 279, 302, 380; + Cathedral of (_See_ under Cathedrals). + +Torquemada, 27. + +Tostado, Bishop, Tomb of, 311, 370. + +Tours, 22, 114. + +Tower de la Trinidad (Santiago), 83, 378. + +Tower of Hercules, 89, 90. + +Trajanus, 151, 303. + +Transition Art, 60. + +Tuy, 70, 71, 91, 110, 111, 120-130, 131, 146, 167, 168, 380; + Bishop of (_See_ under Bishops); + Cathedral of (_See_ under Cathedrals). + + +University of Alcala de Henares, 328. + +University of Palencia, 223, 224, 258. + +University of Salamanca, 258, 259. + +Urbano II., 231. + +Urbano IV., 224. + +Urraca, Dona, 162, 233, 234, 235, 236. + + +Vacceos, 219. + +Valdejunquera, Battle of, 175. + +Valencia, 66, 67, 254. + +Valencia Cupola, 118. + +Valenca do Minho, 120. + +Valentine, 312. + +Valladolid, 67, 70, 71, 72, 178, 189, 223, 244, 293-301, 303, 314, 335, 380; + Bishop of (_See_ under Bishops); + Cathedral of (_See_ under Cathedrals). + +Vallisoletum, 293. + +Van Dyck, 195. + +Vela, Count of, 163. + +Venta de Banos, 57, 225. + +Veremundo, 171. + +Vigo, 110, 113, 131-133; + Church of (_See_ under Churches). + +Villamayor, 96. + +Villavieja, 335. + +Vinuesa, 209. + +Virgin de la Atocha, 324. + +Virgin de la Almudena, 324, 325, 374. + +Viriato, 278. + +Visigoths, The, 20, 24, 122, 152, 220, 327, 353. + +Vitoria, 69, 192-195, 381; + Cathedral of (_See_ under Cathedrals). + + +War for Independence, 164. + +Wellington, Duke of, 272. + +Western Castile, 69; Art of, 59. + +Witiza, 122, 123, 146, 167. + + +Yanez, Juan, Bishop of Cuenca, 343, 372. + +Yuste, 283. + + +Zadorria River, 193. + +Zamora, 71, 230-243, 244, 246, 269, 279, 293, 380; + Cathedral of (_See_ under Cathedrals). + +Zaragoza (_See_ Saragosse). + +Zeth, 279. + +Zorilla, 352. + +Zurbaran, 229, 283. + +Zunigas, 286. + +Zuniguez, 298. + + * * * * * + + +[Note of Transcriber of the ebook] + +Changes made: + +SIGUENZA => SIGUeENZA {2} + +Al-Karica => Al-Karica {1} + +Alargon => Alagon + +Bartolome => Bartolome + +Guadalquiver => Guadalquivir + +Isidore => Isidoro {2 page 163} + +Protogones => Protogenes {2} + +Theodosia => Theodosio {1 index} + +dia de Zamora => dia de Zamora {1} + +despues de opipera cena => despues de opipara cena {1} + +Neustra Senora => Nuestra Senora {1 index} + +Del Obisco => Del Obispo {1 index} + +Maria Del Sarto => Maria Del Salto {2} + +Manuza => Munuza {1 index} + +Constitution => Constitucion {1 index} + +Talaitola => Tolaitola {1 index} + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Cathedrals of Northern Spain, by Charles Rudy + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CATHEDRALS OF NORTHERN SPAIN *** + +***** This file should be named 31965.txt or 31965.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/9/6/31965/ + +Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This ebook was +produced from scanned images of public domain material at +Internet Archive.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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