Part 13

“As the open country, during the wars with the Moors, was perpetually exposed to the excursions of the enemy, with whom no peace or truce was so permanent as to prove any lasting security, self-preservation obliged persons of all ranks to fix their residence in places of strength. The castles of the barons, which in other countries afforded a commodious retreat from the depredations of banditti, or from the transient violence of any interior commotion, were unable to resist an enemy whose operations were conducted with regular and persevering vigour. Cities, in which great numbers united for their mutual defence, were the only places in which people could reside with any prospect of safety. To this was owing the rapid growth of those cities in Spain of which the Christians recovered possession. All who fled from the Moorish yoke resorted to them, as to an asylum; and in them the greater part of those who took the field against the Mahomedans established their families.

“Several of these cities, during a longer or shorter course of years, were the capitals of little states, and enjoyed all the advantages which accelerate the increase of the inhabitants in every place that is the seat of government.

“From these concurring causes, the number of cities in Spain at the beginning of the fifteenth century had become considerable, and they were peopled far beyond the proportion which was common in other parts of Europe, except in Italy and the Low Countries. The Moors had introduced manufactures into those cities while under their dominion. The Christians who, by intermixture with them, had learned their arts, continued to cultivate them.

“Trade, in several of the Spanish towns, appears to have been carried on with vigour; and the spirit of commerce continued to preserve the number of their inhabitants, as the sense of danger had first induced them to crowd together. As the Spanish cities were populous, many of the inhabitants were of a rank superior to those who resided in towns in other countries in Europe.

“That cause, which contributed chiefly to their population, affected equally persons of every condition, who flocked thither promiscuously, in order to find shelter there, or in hopes of making a stand against the enemy, with greater advantage than in any other station. The persons elected as their representatives in the Cortes by the cities, or promoted to offices of trust and dignity in the government of the community, were often of such considerable rank in the kingdom, as reflected lustre on their constituents, and on the stations wherein they were placed.

“As it was impossible to carry on a continual war against the Moors without some other military force than that which the barons were obliged to bring into the field, in consequence of the feudal tenures, it became necessary to have some troops, particularly a body of light cavalry, in constant pay. It was one of the privileges of the nobles, that their lands were exempt from the burden of taxes. The charge of supporting the troops requisite for the public safety fell wholly on the cities; and their kings being frequently obliged to call upon them for aid, found it necessary to gain their favour by concessions, which not only extended their immunities, but added to their wealth and power.

“When the influence of all these circumstances, peculiar to Spain, is added to the general and common causes which contributed to aggrandize cities in other countries of Europe, this will fully account for the extensive privileges which they acquired, as well as for the extraordinary consideration to which they attained, in all the Spanish kingdoms.

“By these exorbitant privileges of the nobility, and this unusual power of the cities in Spain, the royal prerogative was hemmed in on every side, and reduced within very narrow bounds. Sensible of this, and impatient of such restraint, several monarchs endeavoured, at various junctures, and by different means, to enlarge their own jurisdiction. Their power, however, or their abilities, were so unequal to the undertaking, that their efforts were attended with little success.”

But when Ferdinand and Isabella found themselves at the head of the united kingdoms of Spain, and delivered from the danger and interruption of domestic wars, they were not only in a condition to resume, but were able to prosecute with advantage, the schemes of extending the prerogative, which their ancestors had attempted in vain. Ferdinand’s profound sagacity in concerting his measures, his persevering industry in conducting them, and his uncommon address in carrying them into execution, fitted him admirably for an undertaking which required all these talents. He undertook to extend the royal prerogative, by abridging the privileges and power of the nobility, and circumscribing their jurisdiction. He also annexed the grandmasterships of the three religious orders to the crown.

“By address, by promises, and by threats, he prevailed on the knights of each order to place Isabella and himself at their head. Innocent VIII. and Alexander VI. gave this election the sanction of papal authority, and subsequent pontiffs rendered the annexation of these masterships to the crown perpetual.” But Ferdinand also did something of a very opposite nature, in order to abridge, and at length be able to annihilate the territorial jurisdiction of the nobility. He countenanced and supported the association of the cities of Aragon and Castile, called the Holy Brotherhood, and which dated as far back as 1260.

“This brotherhood exacted a certain contribution from each of the associated towns; they levied a considerable body of troops, in order to protect travellers and to pursue criminals; they appointed judges, who opened their courts in various parts of the kingdom.

“Whoever was guilty of murder, robbery, or of any act that violated the public peace, and was seized by the troops of the Brotherhood, was carried before judges of their nomination, who, without paying any regard to the exclusive and sovereign jurisdiction which the lord of the place might claim, tried and condemned the criminal. By the establishment of this fraternity, the prompt and impartial administration of justice was restored, and, together with it, internal tranquillity and order began to return. The nobles alone murmured at this salutary institution. They complained of it as an encroachment on one of their most valuable privileges. They remonstrated against it in a high tone; and, on some occasions, refused to grant any aid to the crown, unless it were abolished.

“Ferdinand, however, not only saw the good effects of the Holy Brotherhood, with respect to the police of his kingdoms, but perceived its tendency to abridge, and at length to annihilate, the territorial jurisdiction of the nobility. He countenanced it on every occasion. He supported it with the whole force of royal authority; and, besides the expedients employed by him in common with the other monarchs of Europe, he availed himself of this institution, which was peculiar to his kingdom, in order to limit and abolish that independent jurisdiction of the nobility, which was no less inconsistent with the authority of the prince than with the order of society.

“But though Ferdinand by these measures considerably enlarged the boundaries of the prerogative, and acquired a degree of influence and power far beyond what any of his predecessors had enjoyed, yet the limitations of the royal authority, as well as the barriers against its encroachments, continued to be many and strong. The spirit of liberty was vigorous among the people of Spain; the spirit of independence was high among the nobility; and though the love of glory, peculiar to the Spaniards in every period of their history, prompted them to support Ferdinand with zeal in his foreign operations, and to afford him such aid as enabled him not only to undertake, but to execute great enterprises, he reigned over his subjects with a jurisdiction less extensive than that of any of the great monarchs of Europe.

“During a considerable part of the reign of his successor, Charles V., the prerogative of the Spanish Crown was equally circumscribed.”

The Cortes of Castile were indeed prevailed on to proclaim him king, on condition that his mother should resume her authority, if she ever recovered her reason, and at the same time they voted him a free gift of 600,000 ducats, to be paid in three years; a sum more considerable than had ever been granted to any former monarch.

But the Castilians speedily became discontented with Charles, on account of the favour he bestowed exclusively upon the Flemings, who engrossed all honours, offices, and benefices, and who remitted into the Low Countries, in the course of ten months, no less a sum than a million one hundred thousand ducats.

The opposition Charles had to struggle with in the Cortes of Aragon was more violent and obstinate than that which he had overcome in Castile; after long delays, however, and with much difficulty, he persuaded the members to confer on him the title of king in conjunction with his mother. At the same time he bound himself by that solemn oath, which the Aragonese exacted of their kings, never to violate any of their rights or liberties. When a donation was demanded they were still more intractable. Many months elapsed before they would agree to grant Charles 200,000 ducats.

From Aragon Charles proceeded to Catalonia, where he wasted as much time, encountered more difficulties, and gained less money.

Meanwhile the oppressive schemes of the Flemings provoked a confederacy of Segovia, Toledo, Seville, and several other cities of the first rank, for the defence of their rights and privileges; “and notwithstanding the silence of the nobility who, on this occasion,” says Robertson, “testified neither the public spirit nor the resolution which became their order, the confederates laid before the king a full view of the kingdom and of the mal-administration of his favourites. The confederacy of these cities, at this juncture, was the beginning of that famous union among the commons of Castile, which not long after threw the kingdom into such violent convulsions as shook the throne, and almost overturned the constitution.

“Charles’s election to the imperial crown increased the dissatisfaction. To be deprived of the presence of their sovereign, and to be subjected to the government of a viceroy and his council, were the immediate consequences of this new dignity. To see the blood of their countrymen shed in quarrels wherein the nation had no concern, to behold its treasures wasted in supporting the splendor of a foreign title; to be plunged into the chaos of Italian and German politics, were effects of this event almost as unavoidable.”

An insurrection in Valencia, directed against the oppression of the grandees, which was great in that kingdom, gave rise to an association that laid their grievances before Charles, who, irritated at the moment against the nobles who had opposed his going to Germany, authorized them to continue in arms. Upon which they expelled all the nobles from the city, and committed the government to magistrates of their own election, and distinguished their conviction by the name of Germanada.

The cities of Castile also associated to crave redress of wrongs from Charles, but he artfully avoided admitting their deputation, and summoned the Cortes of Castile to meet at Compostella, in Galicia. He called this assembly only to obtain another donative, in order to appear in Germany with splendour suited to the Imperial dignity. To appoint a meeting of the Cortes in so remote a province, and to demand a new subsidy before the time for paying the former was expired, were innovations of a most dangerous tendency; and among a people not only jealous of their liberties, but accustomed to supply the wants of their sovereigns with a very frugal hand, excited an universal alarm. The magistrates of Toledo remonstrated against both these measures in a very high tone; the inhabitants of Valladolid, who expected that the Cortes would have been held in that city, were so enraged, that they took arms in a tumultuary manner; and if Charles, with his foreign counsellors, had not fortunately made their escape during a violent tempest, they would have massacred all the Flemings, and have prevented him from continuing his journey towards Compostella.

“Every city through which he passed petitioned against holding a Cortes in Galicia, a point with regard to which Charles was inflexible. But though the utmost influence had been exerted by the ministers, in order to procure a choice of representatives favourable to their designs, such was the danger, that, at the opening of the assembly, there appeared among many of the members unusual symptoms of ill-humour which threatened a fierce opposition to all the measures of the court. No representatives were sent by Toledo; for the lot, according to which, by ancient custom, the election was determined in that city, having fallen upon two persons devoted to the Flemish ministers, their fellow-citizens refused to grant them a commission in the usual form, and in their stead made choice of two deputies, whom they empowered to repair to Compostella, and to protest against the lawfulness of the Cortes assembled there. The representatives of Salamanca refused to take the usual oath of fidelity, unless Charles consented to change the place of meeting. Those of Toro, Madrid, Cordova, and several other places, declared the demand of another donative to be unprecedented, unconstitutional, and unnecessary. All the arts, however, which influence popular assemblies, bribes, promises, threats, and even force, were employed, in order to gain members. The nobles, soothed by the respectful assiduity with which Chievres and the other Flemings paid court to them, or instigated by a mean jealousy of that spirit of independence which they saw rising among the commons, openly favoured the pretensions of the court, or at the utmost did not oppose them; and at last, in contempt not only of the sentiments of the nation, but of the ancient forms of the constitution, a majority voted to grant the donative for which the emperor had applied. Together with this grant, the Cortes laid before Charles a representation of those grievances whereof his people complained, and in their name craved redress; but he, having obtained from them all that he could expect, paid no attention to this ill-timed petition, which it was no longer dangerous to disregard.”

No sooner was it known that the Cortes in Galicia had granted Charles a free gift without obtaining the redress of any one grievance, than it produced a civil war. There was an insurrection at Toledo, Segovia, Burgos, and other cities, which Adrian, whom Charles had left regent in Spain, failed to put down, and after having been defeated at Segovia, disbanded his troops. Robertson says:

“Nor were the proceedings of the commons the effects merely of popular and tumultuary rage; they aimed at obtaining redress of their political grievances, and an establishment of public liberty on a secure basis, objects worthy of all the zeal which they discovered in contending for them. The feudal government in Spain was at that time in a state more favourable to liberty than in any other of the great European kingdoms. This was owing chiefly to the number of great cities in that country, a circumstance I have already taken notice of, and which contributes more than any other to mitigate the rigour of the feudal institutions, and to introduce a more liberal and equal form of government. The inhabitants of every city formed a great corporation, with valuable immunities and privileges; they were delivered from a state of subjection and vassalage; they were admitted to a considerable share in the legislature; they had acquired the arts of industry, without which cities cannot subsist; they had accumulated wealth, by engaging in commerce; and being free and independent themselves, were ever ready to act as the guardians of the public freedom and independence. The genius of the internal government established among the inhabitants of cities, which, even in countries where despotic power prevails most, is democratical and republican, rendered the idea of liberty familiar and dear to them. Their representatives in the Cortes were accustomed, with equal spirit, to check the encroachments of the king and the oppression of the nobles. They endeavoured to extend the privileges of their own order; they laboured to shake off the remaining incumbrances with which the spirit of feudal policy, favourable only to the nobles, had burdened them; and conscious of being the most considerable orders in the state, were ambitious of becoming the most powerful.”

Hence a general convention was held for a new association, that assumed the name of the Holy Junta; which, through the resolution of their leader Padilla, obtained possession of the person of Joanna, and carried on the government in her name; “as the Castilians,” says Robertson, “who idolized the memory of Isabella, retained a wonderful attachment to her daughter, no sooner was it known that she had consented to assume the reins of government, than the people expressed the most universal and immoderate joy; and believing her recovery to be complete, ascribed it to a miraculous interposition of Heaven, in order to rescue their country from the oppression of foreigners. The Junta, conscious of the reputation and power which they had acquired by seeming to act under the royal authority, were no longer satisfied with requiring Adrian to resign the office of regent; they detached Padilla to Valladolid with a considerable body of troops, ordering him to seize such members of the council as were still in that city, to conduct them to Tordesillas, and to bring away the seals of the kingdom, the public archives and treasury books. Padilla, who was received by the citizens as the deliverer of his country, executed his commission with great exactness; permitting Adrian, however, still to reside in Valladolid, though only as a private person, and without any shadow of power.

“The emperor, to whom frequent accounts of these transactions were transmitted while he was still in Flanders, was sensible of his own imprudence and that of his ministers, in having despised too long the murmurs and remonstrances of the Castilians. He beheld, with deep concern, a kingdom, the most valuable of any he possessed, and in which lay the strength and sinews of his power, just ready to disown his authority, and on the point of being plunged in to all the miseries of civil war. But though his presence might have averted this calamity, he could not, at that time, visit Spain without endangering the Imperial crown, and allowing the French king full leisure to execute his ambitious schemes. The only point now to be deliberated upon, was, whether he should attempt to gain the malcontents by indulgence and concessions, or prepare directly to suppress them by force; and he resolved to make trial of the former, while, at the same time, if that should fail of success, he prepared for the latter. For this purpose, he issued circular letters to all the cities of Castile, exhorting them in most gentle terms, and with assurance of full pardon, to lay down their arms; he promised such cities as had continued faithful, not to exact from them the subsidy granted in the late Cortes, and offered the same favour to such as returned to their duty; he engaged that no office should be conferred for the future upon any but native Castilians. On the other hand, he wrote to the nobles, exciting them to appear with vigour in defence of their own rights, and those of the crown, against the exorbitant claims of the commons; he appointed the high admiral Don Fadrique Enriquez, and the high constable of Castile, Don Inigo de Velasco, two noblemen of great abilities as well as influence, regents of the kingdom in conjunction with Adrian; and he gave them full power and instructions, if the obstinacy of the malcontents should render it necessary, to vindicate the royal authority by force of arms.