Part 9

Nicolás Antonio makes no mention of this edition of _Palmerin of England_. After a time the two publications above-mentioned became scarce, and a Portuguese translation of the work, also published in the sixteenth century, got into general circulation. This circumstance caused the authorship of _Palmerin_ to be by some assigned to Don John II., King of Portugal, and by others to the Infante Don Luis, who claimed the right of succession to the Portuguese crown in opposition to King Philip II.

Neither Pellicer nor Clemencin, in their Commentaries on _Don Quixote_, mention or allude to the above-cited editions of _Palmerin de Inglaterra_, which were the first that were printed. Neither do one or the other mention the name of Ferrer, the presumed author of that celebrated book of knight-errantry. Cervantes, when speaking of _Palmerin de Inglaterra_, says:--“This palm of England should be kept and preserved as a thing unique. A case should be made expressly to contain it, like that which Alexander found among the spoil of Darius, and which the latter monarch had appropriated to the preservation of the works of the poet Homer.”

(K).

“Moreover, you must know that I am a philosopher, and that I have studied in the new school of Doña Oliva.” (Page 123).

The Doña Oliva, here alluded to, was a woman of extraordinary talent and learning. Her name was Doña Oliva de Nantes Sabuca Barrera, and she was a native of the town of Alcaraz. This extraordinary woman wrote a curious work, entitled, _Nueva filosofía de la naturaleza del hombre, no conocida ni alcanzada de los grandes filósofos antiguos, la cual mejora la vida y salud humana_.[75]

“This book,” says Doña Oliva, in her dedicatory epistle to King Philip II. was “wanting in the world, though of many others there are more than enough. The facts contained in this book, are not touched upon by Galen, Plato or Hippocrates in their treatises on human nature;--nor by Aristotle when he treats of the soul and of life and death. Neither are they mentioned by Pliny, Ælian, or other naturalists of antiquity. It is as clear and as obvious as the light of the sun that the old system of medicine is erroneous in its fundamental principles, inasmuch as the philosophers and physicians of ancient times did not comprehend the nature of the human frame, on the right understanding of which medicine is founded and has its origin. My petition is that my system be tried only for the space of one year: those of Hippocrates and Galen have been tried for two thousand years, and they have proved ineffectual and uncertain in their results. This is evident every day in cases of catarrh, fever, small pox, plague and divers other diseases, against which the old system furnishes no remedies; for out of a thousand individuals who come into the world, not more than three go out of it by natural death. The rest die prematurely, being carried off by diseases, for which medicine, as practised on the old system, supplies no remedies.”

Notwithstanding the bombastic and conceited tone in which the _Nueva Filosofía_ is written, the work contains much useful information, and medical science is indebted to the authoress for some anatomical discoveries, especially in relation to the nervous fluid.

(L).

“Without looking back to remoter times, I may mention the recently deceased Countess de Tendillo, the mother of the three Mendozas.” (Page 124).

Cervantes here refers to the three celebrated brothers Mendoza--Don Diego, Don Antonio, and Don Bernardino.

The name of Diego de Mendoza is one of the most illustrious in Spanish literature. Bouterwek pronounces him to be the third classic poet and the first prose writer of Spain. Diego Hurtado de Mendoza was a native of Granada, and was born about the beginning of the sixteenth century. He was descended from one of the most ancient families in Spain. His parents destined him for the clerical profession, and with that object he studied at the University of Salamanca. Besides the classical languages of antiquity, he made himself master of Hebrew and Arabic, and he became well versed in scholastic philosophy, theology and ecclesiastical law. Whilst a student at Salamanca, he wrote his celebrated romance of Lazarillo de Tormes. The Emperor Charles V., perceiving that his talents might be advantageously employed in public business, drew him from his university studies and appointed him imperial envoy to Venice. Whilst filling this high post, Mendoza cultivated acquaintance with the learned Italians of the age, and acquired an extensive knowledge of Italian literature. But greatly as he admired the Italian poets, he preferred the ancients, and his especial favourite was Horace.

Few poets have divided themselves between literature and politics with so much ability and success as Diego de Mendoza. Charles V. selected him as the fittest person he could make choice of to go to the Council of Trent. This commission Mendoza executed in a manner perfectly satisfactory to the Emperor. In the year 1547, Mendoza appeared at the Papal Court as Imperial Ambassador, and he was at the same time appointed Captain-General and Governor of Sienna and other strong places in Tuscany. The repeated insurrections in that part of Italy called for severe measures of repression. These measures Mendoza adopted, and consequently the Italians, who were not reconciled to the introduction of Spanish garrisons, regarded him as a tyrant, and repeated attempts were made to assassinate him. But his intrepidity continued unshaken, and he steadily governed Italy for the space of six years, occupying himself, at intervals, with his literary labours. At length, the complaints raised against Mendoza induced the Emperor to recall him to Spain, whither he returned in 1554. He died at Valladolid, in the year 1575.

Some very curious particulars, relating to Diego de Mendoza, have been collected by Don Adolfo de Castro from unpublished documents in his possession. These documents throw considerable light on the conduct and policy pursued by that extraordinary man in the discharge of his important functions in Italy.

It is well known how zealously Mendoza exerted himself in the early sittings of the Council of Trent. The Emperor Charles V. had solicited the Pope to assemble that Council with the view of effecting certain reforms in the Church, and thereby preventing the dissatisfaction of many of the Princes of Germany, who, with their subjects, were beginning to dissent from the Catholics on some points of faith. Whilst, on the one hand, Charles waged a war of fire and sword against the rebels of the empire, he exerted, on the other hand, his most strenuous efforts to prevail on the Pope to allow the Church to meet in Council. But so little inclination was manifested by the Court of Rome to entertain the question of reform, that the Council was not assembled till the year 1545, and even then not without great reluctance on the part of the Papal Government. After a time the sittings of the Council were transferred from Trent to Bologna; the alleged reasons for this removal being that the plague was reported to have broken out in Trent, and that by reason of the war in Germany the Council could assemble with greater security in Bologna. But Mendoza, who by this time filled the post of Ambassador from Spain to the See of Rome, acted with great sagacity and firmness. Before entering on his appointment he shewed that he knew perfectly well how to deal with the churchmen of that age. In a conversation between him and his friend, Juan de Vega, (his predecessor in the ambassadorial post) de Vega said--“I warn your Excellency that you must not expect to find truth where you are going; for the principal personages in that Court abjure it.” “Then,” replied Mendoza, “they will meet with their match, and for every falsehood they tell me I will pay them back with two dozen.”

Many were the discussions and arguments maintained between Mendoza and Paul III.; for that Prelate was not on friendly terms with the Emperor, Charles V., and he sought by all possible means to interrupt the meetings of the Council. Diego de Mendoza incessantly remonstrated against this mode of proceeding, and importuned his Holiness to desist from it.

One day, when he was more than usually emphatic in his arguments, and unreserved in his language, the Pope felt offended at the freedom and boldness of his manner. Fancying that sufficient respect was not rendered to his presence, the Holy Father petulantly observed to Mendoza,--“You forget where you are, you speak as if you were at home in your own house!” To this rebuke the Spanish Ambassador returned for answer, “that he was a Knight, and that his father had been one before him, and as such he felt himself entitled to repeat literally what his sovereign had commanded him to say without fear of His Holiness, though always desirous of observing the reverence due to the Vicar of Christ; but that, as the Emperor’s minister, he felt himself at home and in safety wheresoever he chose to go.”

About this time the Pope had several interviews with the Emperor, and though it was currently reported that these interviews had for their object to bring about peace between the King of France (Francis I.) and Charles V., yet it was well understood that the sole object Paul had in view was that of gratifying his desire of purchasing the State of Milan. The Emperor urged immediate payment of the money, which however the Holy Father would not venture to disburse for fear of being cheated. Charles, moreover, wished to retain possession of the fortresses of Milan and Cremona, but the Pope insisted that the purchase should include both fortresses and territories. However, the negotiations having proceeded very far, and the Pope’s money coming very opportunely to aid the Emperor in his difficulties, it was found desirable to bring the matter to a close, and the bargain was on the point of being ratified. But Diego de Mendoza, who had the Emperor’s real interests at heart, and who was adverse to this bargain, addressed to Charles V. an eloquent letter, full of forcible reasoning against the sale of Milan, and in consequence, Charles was induced to break off the negotiations.

This letter, which is quoted by Sandoval, in his History of Charles V., bears evidence of Mendoza’s thorough acquaintance with the Papal Court, and his accurate perception of the character of Paul III. The following extract will afford a good specimen of the style of this curious epistle:--

“What prince, or man,” says Mendoza, “ever offered greater offence to your Majesty? Certainly none:--for a little reflection on past events will enable even the blind to see that all the injury that you have sustained from the French was through his (the Pope’s) instigation and scheming; and that all the mischief you may expect from the Turks will have its origin in the same source. And finally, what good service did he ever render you willingly, and not on compulsion, or for his own interest? Your Majesty may rest assured that if the King of France has three _fleurs de lis_ in his ’scutcheon, the Pope has six in his--and, what is more, he has six thousand in his heart. Besides, he will never see a safe opportunity of gratifying his enmity, but that he will take advantage of it. Much more reasonably may your Majesty trust to the King of France in these affairs; for he was born a Prince, and he will act like a Prince, but the other is a man of low origin, and though raised to the greatness which he now holds, he will never cease to be what he is. Does your Majesty require proof of this? Behold his insolent effrontery; for after having offended you as he has done, he is not ashamed to appear in your presence--and he even moreover makes demands, which he would have no right to make, if he had ransomed your Majesty from the Turk. The cowardly fear which possesses him on seeing you approach with an army, does not diminish his evil and perverse feeling, or change his mischievous designs. But he fears and suspects every one; and since your Majesty has him thus far in your power, I once more implore you not to let the opportunity slip. Pay little attention to him. Treat him as a man whose safety and greatness depend on your will.”

Mendoza seized every opportunity that presented itself to endeavour to open the eyes of the Emperor to the schemes of Paul III. In the year 1547, Peter Lewis Farnesio, Duke of Placentia, was assassinated by some noblemen who had joined a conspiracy which his tyranny provoked. Farnesio was a natural son of Paul III., who conferred on him the dignities of Duke of Parma and Placentia, Marquess of Novarra, Captain-General, and Standard-Bearer to the Church. On the occasion of Farnesio’s death, Mendoza wrote a clever little work, entitled, _Diálogo entre Caronte y el ánima de Pedro Luis Farnesio, hijo del Papa Paulo III_.[76] Fenelon and Fontenelle were not therefore, as is generally supposed, the first who wrote dialogues of the dead in one of the modern languages.

The two brothers of Diego de Mendoza, were both eminent statesmen and writers. Don Antonio succeeded Hernán Cortés, and the Licentiate Luis Ponce in the Government of Mexico; and he was the first Governor who had the titles of Viceroy and Captain-General of New Spain. From Mexico he proceeded to Peru, where he also exercised the vice-regal authority. Antonio de Mendoza is the author of a work entitled, _De las cosas maravillosas de Nueva España_. (On the Wonders of New Spain.)

Don Bernardino de Mendoza was at once a soldier, a statesman, and a poet. He also wrote a history of the Spanish campaigns in Flanders. (_Historia de las guerras de Flandes._)

(M).

“There is a book of letters by Madama Passier, full of erudition and sound morality, which I would recommend to the attention of the author of _Don Quixote_.” (Page 124).

The volume here alluded to is entitled: _Cartas Morales del Señor Narveza traducidas de lengua francesa en la española por Madama Francisca de Passier, dirigidas al excelentísimo Señor Don Pedro Enríquez de Acevedo, Conde de Fuentes_.[77]

The name of Francisca de Passier, is not recorded as it deserves to be in the annals of Spanish literature. The celebrated Nicolás Antonio, makes no mention of her in the _Biblioteca hispana nova_. Some few particulars of her life are given by Doctor Francisco Garci López, who published an edition of the _Cartas Morales_. She was a native of Savoy, in which country her father, a man distinguished for his literary attainments, filled a government appointment. She was a great linguist, and she spoke and wrote several languages with perfect fluency and correctness. “She spoke Castilian,” says her biographer, Dr. López, “so correctly and with such purity of accent, that to hear her no one could have imagined she had been born among the snowy mountains of Savoy, but rather would have supposed her to have been a native of Spain, and all her life accustomed to the courteous conversation of noble ladies and knights in royal palaces.” She died before she had completed her nineteenth year. Her husband, who was a Counsellor of State to the Prince of Savoy, was inconsolable for her loss, and a singular manifestation of his grief was shown in the destruction, instead of the preservation, of his wife’s papers, most of which, after her death, he consigned to the flames. At the urgent solicitation of Dr. Garci López, he was however induced to spare the manuscript of the _Cartas Morales_. The funeral obsequies of Madama Passier which are alluded to in the _Buscapié_, lasted nine days. Several eloquent orations in Latin and French were delivered at her interment, and many elegies to her memory were composed in Latin, French, and Spanish.

(N).

“The Battle of the Paso Honroso is narrated in a book written by a Friar, named Pineda, who abridged it from an old manuscript work.” (Page 126.)

In Salamanca, in the year 1588, was published, a curious old book of Knight-errantry, entitled _El Libro del Paso Honroso, defendido por el excelente caballero Suero de Quiñones, copilado de un libro antiguo de mano, por fray Juan de Pineda, religioso del orden de San Francisco_.[78]

The petition addressed by Suero de Quiñones to King John of Castile ran thus--“It is just and reasonable that prisoners and bondsmen should wish to recover their liberty. Even so it is with me, your Majesty’s vassal and subject, who have long been the captive of a lady, in token of which captivity I wear every Thursday round my neck a collar of iron. This fact is notorious in your Majesty’s court and throughout all this kingdom, as well as in foreign parts, where my heralds have proclaimed it. But now, most powerful Prince, I have in the name of the Apostle St. James, devised a plan for effecting my deliverance, in this present year, of which this is the first day. My proposal is to break three hundred lances, with such knights and gentlemen as may accept my challenge--breaking three with every and each knight or gentleman who enters the lists;--the first blood drawn to be counted as one lance broken. The combats to be maintained during fifteen days prior to the festival of the Apostle St. James, (the guide and defender of your Majesty’s subjects) and during fifteen days after the said festival, unless my ransom be accomplished before the expiration of that period. The lists to be planted on the high road, along which most persons pass on their way to the city wherein is the Saint’s sacred sepulchre,[79] and that it be certified to all the foreign knights and gentlemen who may there assemble that they will find at the place of encounter, armour, horses, and above all lances with points of such good Milan steel, that it will require no light stroke to shiver them. And I pray that it be notified to every virtuous lady of rank, who may be in the vicinity of the scene of combat, that she must summon a knight to perform a passage of arms in her behalf, under pain of forfeiting her right hand glove. All these propositions I pray may be agreed to;--saving two conditions, which are--that neither your Royal Majesty nor the most noble Señor Constable, Don Álvaro de Luna, take part in these encounters.”

The petition having been assented to by the King, Suero de Quiñones, accompanied by nine knights his followers, set out on his romantic enterprise. He proclaimed himself the defender of the Honroso Paso of the Bridge of Orbigo. Sixty-eight adventurers, and not seventy as stated in the _Buscapié_, combated for the conquest of the Honroso Paso, and Suero, on being declared the victor, presented to the Umpires of the Field a petition, which was responded to in the following manner:--

“Virtuous Knight and Señor, we have heard your proposition and appeal, and it appears to us to be just. Considering that we ought no longer to delay pronouncing our judgment, we hereby declare that your arms have been triumphant and that your deliverance has been bravely purchased. And moreover, we hereby notify to you, as well as to all others here present, that of the three hundred lances specified in your petition to the king there remain only a few unbroken, and that there would not be even those few, but that on several days there could not be any passage of arms by reason of no knights having presented themselves to oppose the challenger. We accordingly decree that you be released from the iron collar, which we forthwith order the King-at-Arms, and the Herald to remove from your neck; and we declare that you have duly accomplished your emprise, and that you are henceforth delivered from bondage.”

In obedience to the command of the Umpires, the King-at-Arms and the Heralds descended from the platform and before the eyes of all present, took from the neck of Suero de Quiñones the iron ring which he wore as the sign and token of his bondage.

The records of Spanish chivalry mention numerous adventures, no less whimsical and extravagant than that of the doughty knight who was the hero of the Honroso Paso.--Several instances of the same kind are narrated by Hernán Pérez del Pulgar in his _Claros Varones de Castilla_. (Illustrious men of Castile).

(O).

“Have you not heard of the adventure of the Canon Almela who was at the conquest of Grenada, with two horsemen and seven followers on foot. He wore girded at his side a sword which he affirmed had belonged to the Cid Ruy Díaz.” (Page 126).

The individual referred to in the above passage is Diego Rodríguez de Almela, who ultimately attained the ecclesiastical dignity of Arcipreste (Archpriest). He was a native of the city of Murcia, and the author of some learned historical works, one of which is entitled: _El Valerio de las estorias escolásticas é de España_.--(The Valerius of the Scholastic History and of Spain). The first edition of this work is exceedingly rare, and at its close appears the following note.

“To the glory and honour of our Blessed Savior and Redeemer, the printing of this book, called _El Valerio de las estorias escolásticas é de España_ was finished in the noble city of Murcia, by maestre Lope de la Roca, a German and a printer of books, on Thursday the sixth day of November, in the year one thousand four hundred and eighty-seven.”

In the certificate of the King-at-Arms attached to the royal letters patent conferring the rank of nobility on Don Francisco Xavier de Almela i Peñafiel, there is a paragraph relating to the lineage of the Almela family. It is there set forth that “Diego Rodríguez de Almela, Canon of the Holy Cathedral Church of Carthegena, Chaplain to the Catholic Queen, and Her Majesty’s Chronicler, who served personally with two esquires and six men on foot at the conquest of Grenada, presented to the Catholic King[80] the sword of the Cid Ruy Díaz.”

(P).

“The Great Emperor finding himself challenged with all the solemnity of the laws of the duelo, took counsel of his cousin, Don Diego, Duke del Infantado, as to the course he ought to pursue.” (Page 128).

The letter addressed on this occasion by the Emperor to the Duke del Infantado, and the Duke’s reply to it, are mentioned but not given by Sandoval, in his History of Charles V. These two letters are printed in an exceedingly scarce work, entitled, _Diálogos de contención entre la milicia y la ciencia_.[81] by Francisco Núñez de Velasco. The following extract from the Duke’s letter, precisely verifies that passage of the _Buscapié_ to which this note has reference.

“Truly, Señor, it would be a fine example, if the great debt which all the world knows is due to you from the King of France, were to be paid by a challenge to your imperial person. Such a proceeding, if sanctioned by your Majesty, would go far to establish throughout your dominions a law to the effect that all debts may be paid by recourse to arms; which would tend more to the shedding of blood than to the vindication of justice and mercy. All this I write to your Majesty that you may deliberate on my opinion, and I beg you will be assured that if, on more mature reflection I see reason to alter my opinion, I will forthwith advise your Majesty thereof, with all the fidelity I owe you. For this is a matter which concerns my honour, together with that of all the grandees of these realms.”

(Q).