B8H H H H *K H ■ STO ■>* V- :*\i* v ^°c»r'>/" s >Vi^,"°o v * tf * v * ^ o " C c ^ ^ V* 0k^ ^ ^ \ . •#' "V -o v\ „ \ ' » # ^ x°°- > ^ o. ■ •%.. c c ^ f is" M "V ^ 4 S -7*. V \ v . v l t 4 *P> ° * s O i -V, o* /"'•A' •^ « i #> -«* <$>' a>' ^ ^ ANDORRA THE HIDDEN REPUBLIC THE VALLEY OF ANDORRA ANDORRA THE HIDDEN REPUBLIC ITS ORIGIN AND INSTITUTIONS, AND THE RECORD OF A JOURNEY THITHER ^wsmEw* BY LEWIS GASTON LEARY AUTHOR OF "THE REAL PALESTINE OF TO-DAY." ETC. NEW YORK : 19 12 MCBRIDE, NAST & COMPANY Copyright, 1912, by McBride, Nast & Co. 1* Published, May, 1919 £c:.A3I49i)8 ^ ^ TO MY FIRST AND BEST TRAVELING COMPANION MY FATHER "Separated from the rest of the world by impenetrable rocks; a stranger to science, art, commerce and industry ; viewing no spectacle but Nature, know- ing no lord and master but God." Victorin Vidal PREFACE Andorra is surrounded by some of the most magnificent mountain scenery in all Europe, yet the strange little valley is almost un- visited; and although the ancient republic possesses a unique historic and political inter- est, hardly any reliable information concern- ing this last lonely survival of mediaeval days has hitherto been accessible to the English reader. What little has been written about Andorra in English is, almost without exception, super- ficial and inaccurate. This might be excusable in a brief chapter of some light description of summer travel in the Pyrenees; but most of the larger encyclopaedias, to which the general reader naturally first turns for information about this out-of-the-way corner of Europe, are also confused and self -contradictory. For instance, one well-known work, under the three captions Charlemagne, Catalonia and Spain, actually gives no fewer than three different dates for the same event in the early history of the Republic. vii PREFACE I have been able to find only two English works bearing the marks of conscientious scholarship: The Valley of Andorra, a brief monograph of sixty-six small pages, careful and exact and intentionally devoid of literary qualities, which was privately printed in 1882 by the late W. A. Tucker; and Through the High Pyrenees, by Harold Spender and H. Llewellyn Smith (London, 1898). The lat- ter very readable book contains three chapters on Andorra, besides a bibliography which is especially valuable for its references to articles in French periodicals. For those who read French, there is con- siderable material on the subject scattered through the files of the Revue des Pyrenees, the Annual of the French Alpine Club, and the Bulletins of the Societe Archeologique du Midi de la France, and the Societe de Geo- graphic de Toulouse, besides such specific works on Andorra as those by Blade, Vilar and Vidal, and Ch. Baudon de Mony's Rela- tions Politiques des Comtes de Foix avec la Catalogne, in whose second volume of Pieces Justicatives are collected the ancient docu- ments which form the basis for any first-hand investigation of early Andorran history. viii PREFACE On the border between France and Spain, where within the area of an American county are spoken French, Spanish and half a dozen dialects of Provencal and Catalan, and where a large proportion of the mountaineers are illiterate, it is not surprising that there is no unanimity of opinion regarding the pronuncia- tion of geographical names. As for their spelling, hardly any two authorities agree. I have found the name of the capital, "Andorra the Old," written with and without the article, and with the adjective spelled Telia, Viella, Vieilla, V telle, Vieja and Viega. For the sake of attaining some degree of uniformity, I have, as a rule, followed the spelling of the French government map, though even this carefully prepared publication has not escaped the criti- cism of local authorities. In the case of proper names other than those of places, I have preferred the Catalan, rather than the French form. The translation of the difficult mediaeval Latin of the Concordat of 1278 has been made by my brother, Russel W. Leary, M.A., LL.B. I believe that this is the first publica- tion in English of the oldest international agreement whose provisions are still in force. ix PREFACE The only other translation which I have seen is in a French doctorate thesis by Andre Vilar, and this is hardly more than a free paraphrase, which glosses over many of the obscure terms of feudal law. With few exceptions, the accompanying illustrations are from photographs taken last summer by my traveling companion, Rev. Benjamin T. Marshall, and myself. In the rapid discussion of conflicting feudal claims concerning which the most learned mod- ern French scholars differ, and which in cen- turies gone by were not settled without strife and bloodshed, I have not attempted to qualify statements and amplify arguments so as en- tirely to forestall possible criticism. I hold no brief for either side in the thousand-vear- mi long debate between Church and State. My one hope is that this story of the little Republic of the Pyrenees may not be without interest to the readers who dwell in the great, new Re- public of the western world, and may perhaps inspire in them something of the same respect and affection which I myself feel toward the sturdy citizens of Andorra. Lewis Gaston Leary. Pelham Manor, N. Y., March 4, 1912. x CONTENTS PAGE Preface i I The Vale of Endor ........ 1 II Counts and Bishop9 11 III The Rock of Foix 32 IV In the Shadow of the Pyrenees . . 45 V Following the Ariege . . . . . .58 VI The Hidden Valley 75 VII The Silent People ...... 95 VIII The House of the Valley . . . .108 IX Twentieth Century Feudalism . . .119 X A Miniature Republic 145 XI Feasting and Gladness 157 XII The New Road . 167 APPENDICES I The Counts of Foix . . . . ^. .173 II The Concordat of 1278 . . . . .176 Index , : . M m ... 189 ILLUSTRATIONS The Coat-of-arms of Andorra . . . Cover design The Valley of Andorra Frontispiece FACING PAGE In the Parish of Encamp 8 The City and Castle of Foix 32 ^ A Street in Foix . . 38 " The Concierge of the Castle of Foix .... 42 Ax-les-Thermes — the Church of St. Vincent . . 48 Ax-les-Thermes — the Oriege River 52 Ax-les-Thermes — General View 54 Spanish Laborers .... . . . . . . 58 Diligence at Merens . . . ...... 60 L'Hospitalet 64 The Ariege River above L'Hospitalet ... 66 The Mountain Bulwarks of Andorra . . . .70 The Source of the Ariege 74 The Summit of the Embalire Pass 78 " W An old Bridge over the Valira ...... 80 A Typical Andorran Village 84 The Church of San Juan de Canillo .... 86 ■ A Cascade near Soldeu 90 ILLUSTRATIONS FACING PAGE Las Escaldas 92 Dr. Pla and his key 98 Patriarchs of the Valley . 98 Citizens of Las Escaldas 100 Andorran Peasants . . 104 * Andorra la Vella — General view 108 Andorra la Vella — the Public Square . . . .110 J The House of the Valley . . . . 4 . .112 The Council Chamber 114 Entrance to the Capitol 116 Andorra la Vella from the south 118 The Bishop and General Council 122 San Julia de Loria 128 Andorran Women 160 Dancing at Las Escaldas 164 SKETCH MAPS PAGE The Border between France and Spain ... 7 The Republic of Andorra 76 Railways of the Eastern Pyrenees 170 ANDORRA THE HIDDEN REPUBLIC THE VALE OF ENDOR JUST as we reached the summit of the pass, the intense summer heat was tempered by a cool, damp breeze which blew down from the snow-drifts on the Peak of the Black Foun- tain, and a soft, mistlike rain fell, while we bared our heads, the better to feel the grateful drops. But soon black, angry clouds settled down over all the mountains around us, and low but incessant thunder growled back and forth between the precipices. Then, suddenly the storm burst upon us. This was no gentle dripping of pleasant cool- ness, but beating, roaring, heart-chilling sheets of almost solid water. In a moment we were drenched to the skin. In five minutes the bridle-path was a veritable torrent, and we had to dismount, and lead our horses down the [i] ANDORRA, THE HIDDEN REPUBLIC pass. Mountain-bred as they were, they stum- bled dangerously over the slippery stones and still more treacherous grass. We too slipped and stumbled, ankle-deep in ice-water and greasy mud. Our teeth chattered, and the cold penetrated to our very bones. That hour of the Pyrenean tempest : shall I ever forget it? So wet and weary and freez- ing cold it was, and yet so happy; for all the while, deep down thousands of feet below us, I could see the bright, warm sunlight shining into one of the most beautiful valleys in the world. After years of planning and disappointment, the moment to which I had so long looked for- ward had at last arrived. Yonder, in the golden glory that broke between the black storm-clouds which shrouded her mountain ramparts, lay sheltered the strangest, least- known country in Europe — the hidden Re- public of Andorra! The story of the Pyrenean valley begins just twelve hundred years ago, in the early days of that fearful eighth century, when the dread crescent of Moslem conquest touched Persia on the east and swung its western tip far across the fair land of Spain. [2] THE VALE OF ENDOR The Visigoths had ruled Iberia for nearly three hundred years; and their rude, hard barbarism, before which the outposts of a decadent empire had once gone down like breastworks of straw, was now, in its turn, corrupted and enervated by luxury, until the Gothic barons were as weak as had been the Roman nobles whom they supplanted. Then it was that their own governor of Ceuta, Count Julian, moved it is said by the memory of a cruel wrong done to his family, turned traitor to the Christian cause and, with craftily woven tales of the wealth and unpreparedness of the provinces of Spain, tempted the Moorish lead- ers who were already waiting so eagerly on the African shores just across the strait. It was a recent convert to Mohammedan- ism, the Berber chief Ibn Ziad Tarik, who led the main invading force. On the fateful thirtieth day of April, in the year 711, he crossed from Morocco to Spain and landed at the strongest natural fortress in the world, which has ever since been called after him, "the Mountain of Tarik" — Jebel Tarik or, as we pronounce it, "Gibraltar." Three months later, Visigoths and Moors met in decisive battle at Jerez de la Frontera, m ANDORRA, THE HIDDEN REPUBLIC by the river Guadalete, fourteen miles north- east of Cadiz. The army of King Roderic is said to have outnumbered that of Tarik four to one; but the Spanish soldiers were ill- treated, half-hearted serfs, commanded by of- ficers the best of whom were dissolute and the worst, treacherous ; while their adversaries were seasoned warriors, inspirited by a long succes- sion of easy victories, and led by a general of rare ability and heroic character. There could be only one outcome. Yet the battle waged fiercely during seven long days; for the Goths performed many deeds of valor, and Roderic, with all his faults, proved a wise and coura- geous commander. Then shameful desertions drained the strength of the Christian army, and at last the broken-hearted king " — looked for the brave captains that led the hosts of Spain, But all were fled except the dead, and who could count the slain?" * What became of Roderic himself has ever since remained a fascinating mystery to the credulous Spanish peasantry. He was prob- i Lockhart, Spanish Ballads, "The Lamentation of Don Roderic." [4] THE VALE OF ENDOR ably drowned in the Guadalete; for, after the battle, his horse and sandals were found on the edge of the river ; but pious and loyal tra- dition refused to end thus ignominiously the career of the last Visigothic king. During the Middle Ages, he was popularly supposed to have spent long years in solemn penance for his sins — which, in truth, were many — and then to have been transported to a mysterious isle in the Atlantic, from which he would some day return, purified and invincible, once more to lead his people against their Moslem foes. But Christian Spain waited long years for her deliverance. During nearly eight cen- turies, the richest provinces in the peninsula were held by the Moors. After the Battle of Jerez, the victors swept northward with the quick devastation of a for- est fire. The rest of Spain was theirs, almost for the asking. Cadiz, Cordova, Toledo, Se- ville, capitulated in rapid succession. A horde of serfs turned wearily to the service of new masters. Spain became as thoroughly a Moslem empire as Egypt or Morocco. Then, turning past the low eastern slope of the Pvrenees, the conquerors advanced into south- [5] ANDORRA, THE HIDDEN REPUBLIC ern France. As early as 719, Narbonne and Carcassonne were occupied by Moslem garrisons. In twenty years from the day that Tarik landed on Spanish soil, the sway of Islam reached from Gibraltar to Bordeaux, and Abd-er-Rahman dreamed of the speedy conquest of all France. In 732, Charles Martel finally checked the invasion at the memorable Battle of Tours, and western Europe was saved; but not even his valiant Franks dared follow the defeated Moors southward into the mountains. For nearly two generations longer, the Moslems ruled the Pyrenees, and as far beyond them as the city of Narbonne. It was during these troublous years when the Christian civilization of southwestern Eu- rope seemed doomed to speedy annihilation at the hands of the unconquerable Moslem armies, that some terror-stricken Catalan peas- ants left their fertile fields among the foothills of the County of Urgel, and fled up the Segre River and its tributary, the Valira, into the most remote and inaccessible valleys of the Pyrenees. Here, by the highest sources of their mountain torrent, the refugees settled in [6] THE VALE OF ENDOR barren niches of the great rock wall which guards the northern border of Spain, and hoped that the very poverty of their new home would insure them against further molestation. But beyond the Pyrenees lay France and a continent of "Infidels" which seemed ripe for conquest; so, hardly had the exiled Catalans had time to clear their little homesteads by the Valira River, before the Moslem raiders were again upon them. In desperation, the hard-pressed colonists appealed for help to the invincible Charlemagne, who gladly came to their assistance, and drove the Moors, not only from the Pyrenees, but from the adjacent parts of Spain. The relief, however, proved to be only tern- [7] ANDORRA, THE HIDDEN REPUBLIC poraiy. On the withdrawal of the Christian army, the tide of Moslem invasion again swept up the mountains, and again the fright- ened peasants besought aid from the mighty kingdom to the north. This time it was Char- lemagne's son, Louis le Debonnaire — or, as the Andorrans prefer to call him, "Louis the Pious" — who invaded Catalonia with such good success that now it was the Moors who were forced to flee for refuge to the high val- leys of the Pyrenees. There, in the little plain by the fork of the Valira, where to-day stands the tiny capital, Andorra la Vella, Louis inflicted upon the Moslems such a crushing defeat that henceforth the Pyrenees were free from them forever. The debonair prince knew his Bible; and when he looked upon the scene of the victory — the valley and the hamlet lying at the foot of the mountain — he was reminded of Endor and Mount Tabor, 1 and the Scriptural battle- field where also the army of true religion fought against the forces of heathendom. So i Louis was a little confused in his Scriptural geography; for Endor really lies at the foot of the hill Moreh (Little Hermon). Mount Tabor is close by, however; and the Plain of Esdraelon, which he had in mind, is the greatest battle- field in all the Holy Land. [8] THE VALE OF ENDOR he called the place "Endor," or, as it is now pronounced, "Andorra." * Louis did more for Andorra than merely drive out its enemies. It was he, it is said, who first formally recognized the locality as a self-governing political unit, and fixed upon the natural barriers of gorge and river and mountain which, to this day, form the boundaries of the country. In the ruined and half-depopulated villages he settled a number of his own soldiers; and, in order to reconcile them to living in this out-of-the-way and un- fertile region, he made its inhabitants free from every kind of tax or impost. Best of all, from the viewpoint of the continued existence and integrity of the new state, he placed it under the protection of one of his most valiant knights, whom he created Count of Urgel, the district from which the Andorrans had origi- nally emigrated. As a token of his own ulti- mate sovereignty, Louis demanded only an annual tribute of a couple of the trout for which the Valira has always been famous. Such is the tradition, held proudly and stubbornly by every patriotic Andorran, con- i Another and more probable etymology derives "Andorra" from the Moorish Al-darra, "The thickly wooded place." [9] ANDORRA, THE HIDDEN REPUBLIC' cerning the origin of the oldest, highest, poorest and, in population, smallest republic in the world. [10] II COUNTS AND BISHOPS STORIES about Charlemagne and Louis naturally abound in the "Valley," * as Andorra is popularly called. Travelers are shown the houses where the conquerors lodged, the exact localities of the famous victories, the footprint of Charlemagne in the rock, a large stone which he cleft with his sword, so that the hollow in it might serve as a manger for his steed, and the marks on the mountainside where Louis fixed a great iron ring in com- memoration of his campaign against the Moors. i The plural form of the word seems to be more commonly met with in Andorra itself, and to have the sanction of mod- ern official usage; but there is apparently no fixed rule in the matter and, both in French and Spanish writings, the singular is freely used in the interests of variety and euphony. In the (Latin) Concordat of 1278, the invariable designation is "the Valley or Valleys of Andorra." The singular, "Valley," is not only a somewhat more convenient form for English writ- ing, but it also gives a better idea of the littleness and essen- tial geographical unity of the country, and, therefore, will be uniformly employed in this book. En] ANDORRA, THE HIDDEN REPUBLIC When we come to examine more closely into the alleged Carlovingian origin of the An- dorran state, however, we find it difficult to substantiate the local traditions; and, indeed, these traditions themselves offer a number of confusing and irreconcilable variations. For instance, there seems to be a consider- able doubt as to whether it was Louis or his father who granted the first franchise to the inhabitants of the Valley; and if the latter, there is another and more plausible explana- tion than that already given, to the effect that Charlemagne did not come to the Pyrenees for the express purpose of succoring the An- dorrans, but merely passed over the mountains on his way to war against the Moors of Cata- lonia, and granted the freedom of the Valley as a reward for the aid its residents gave in guiding his army across the difficult pass from France into Spain. 1 From other and reliable sources, we know that Charlemagne did actually cross the Pyr- enees and invade northern Spain in the year 777 ; but it seems that this was done at the sug- gestion of some discontented Moslem emirs, i This version of the tradition is given, without question as to its correctness, in the Grand Dictionnaire Universell [12] COUNTS AND BISHOPS who had offered to transfer their allegiance from Cordova to the Prankish monarchy. The Moorish rebels, however, soon began to quarrel among themselves, and Charlemagne, after an ineffectual attempt to capture the city of Sara- gossa, returned to France by way of the Pass of Roncesvalles, where his army was overtaken with the disaster made memorable through the Song of Roland. A few years later, Louis w r as sent by his father into Catalonia, where his arms were so successful that northeastern Spain was recon- quered from the Moors as far as the Ebro River, and the scattered states along the bor- der were thereupon organized by Charlemagne as the Spanish March, which was ruled by Frankish counts who rendered allegiance to the Holy Roman Empire. There is no documentary evidence, however, that either Charlemagne or Louis granted charter rights to Andorra, 1 and, while it is dif- i There is, indeed, among the archives of the Cathedral of Urgel a charter which claims to have been given by Louis to Andorra in the year 805; but this is now generally conceded to be a forgery of two or three hundred years later, which was presumably fabricated as evidence in the controversy between the bishops and counts concerning their respective rights in the Valley. [13] ANDORRA, THE HIDDEN REPUBLIC ficult to prove a universal negative, it is at least very unlikely that either of them ever passed through the Valley. But this does not mean that there is no basis of fact underlying the popular beliefs concern- ing the origin of the nation. On the contrary, all that we know of the contemporary history of neighboring localities points to the essential truth of the Andorran tradition, though here, as always, tradition expresses truth in its own peculiarly vivid and personified manner. After the Moors had been driven from the Pyrenees at the beginning of the ninth cen- tury, there was a drift northward of the Chris- tian population of Spain. Some were return- ing to the devastated homes from which they had fled at the approach of the African in- vaders, and many others left richer farm-lands in the war-scourged plains for less fertile and hitherto unsettled mountain valleys, where at least they could dwell secure from Moslem oppression. Charlemagne encouraged these mountain pioneers, actuated apparently by three motives: a kindly desire to help his suf- fering co-religionists, a natural willingness to increase the value of his possessions through settlement and cultivation, and, in particular, a [14] COUNTS AND BISHOPS shrewd appreciation of the opportunity which was thus offered for organizing along the northern border of Spain a line of local militia which could meet the first shock of any new Moslem advance. So these little colonies among the mountains of the Spanish March were granted an un- usually generous form of land tenure known as jus aprisioniSj which we may roughly trans- late, "squatters' rights." They were, of course, required to render the customary feudal military service in case of need; but they were freed from the payment of a quit- rent to the seigneur, and sometimes were re- leased even from the ecclesiastical tithe. They were also given an exceptional degree of free- dom in their local government, and were al- lowed to dispense justice according to their own peculiar customs, except in the case of the most serious crimes, such as murder, arson and rape, the punishment for which was re- served to the count. Now, in view of the unquestioned fact that this form of tenure under the jus aprisionis was quite common in the Pyrenees, and is known to have applied to several other dis- tricts within the bounds of the Seigneury of [15] ANDORRA, THE HIDDEN REPUBLIC Urgel, the mere absence of documentary evi- dence in the case of Andorra is of little weight, as against the ancient tradition that the special privileges which the district still enjoys had their origin in aprisionis rights which were granted by the early Prankish kings. It thus seems more than probable that Charlemagne and Louis, through their campaigns against the Moors of Catalonia and their subsequent reorganization of privileged border states, did really have a large part, though possibly an indirect one, in providing for the safety and autonomy of Andorra. The imperial franchises of the other Pyr- enean settlements were little by little en- croached upon by the powerful feudal lords. Soon the jures aprisionis were denied, and the once free mountain districts became ordinary fiefs of the counts. Andorra alone retained its measure of independence, apparently because its very poverty made it hardly worth the while to oppress, and also because it lay on the ex- treme northern border of the County of Urgel, whose seigneurs were engaged in almost con- tinuous warfare with the Moorish enemies along their southern frontier. These early lords of Urgel seem to have [16] COUNTS AND BISHOPS been valiant fellows. It should be remem- bered that they were not Spanish but Prankish nobles. Later on, upon the rise of the King- dom of Aragon, Urgel, like the rest of Cata- lonia, allied itself with the southern power with which it was in closer geographical union. But when the seigneuiy was established by Louis, the natural rulers of the land were ex- iled or disinherited, powerful Moorish states lay just to the south of them, and the new counts were separated from the forces of Frankish Christian civilization by the almost impassible Pyrenees. Like the other lords of the Spanish March, the seigneurs of Urgel lived, as it were, on a little cape, with the cliffs at their backs, and the great sea of Moslem enmity dashing its storm waves into their very faces. So they were not long-lived, these Counts of Urgel ; but we do not read that any of them died of ennui. Their biographies nearly all end with the same brave epitaph — Died fight- ing the Moslems. Count Ermengol I. fell in battle with the Moors, in 1010. His son, Er- mengol II., died thirty years later in the Holy Land. Ermengol III. was killed by the Moors at Barbastro, in 1065. Ermengol V. [17] ANDORRA, THE HIDDEN REPUBLIC fought the Moors all his life, and perished in an attempt to retake from them the Balearic Islands. Ermengol VII. died in 1183, fight- ing the Moors in Valencia. So the rulers of the little Christian seigneury, crowded up in northeastern Spain between the mountains and the Moors, stubbornly held their own, in face of the continued assaults of Islam. Theirs was a rude, hard type of Christianity, usually too busy fighting the enemies of the Faith to leave much time for growth in personal right- eousness ; but no invading army ever passed by them into France, and through all the cen- turies of bitter conflict between Spaniard and Moor, the Valley of Andorra never again knew the horror of Moslem occupation. It is only five years after the death of Charlemagne that the story of Andorra passes from the dimness of tradition into the light of authentic history. The Cathedral of Urgel had been destroyed at the time of the Moorish invasion of Catalonia; but after the victorious campaign of Louis the Pious, it was rebuilt by Bishop Posidinius. On November 1, 81 9, 1 the iThe genuineness of the Act of Consecration is unques- tioned; but there is some doubt as to its date, which a few [18] COUNTS AND BISHOPS new edifice was dedicated with impressive cere- monies, and was endowed with lands given in the name of the emperor and of his vassal, Sunifred of UrgeL Among the parishes which are enumerated in the Act of Consecra- tion as belonging to the diocese, are six lying "in the Valley of Andorra, in the land of Urgel." » The Bishops of Urgel were no upstart priests of a petty diocese. The see is said to have been established in the early days when Spain was a province of the Roman Empire; and we know the names of its prelates as far back as the beginning of the sixth century. Toward the end of the eighth century, Cata- lonia had been overrun by the Moors ; but even then, when Urgel was sacked and the church destroyed, it is not certain that there was any break in the line of bishops. When Catalonia again came under Christian rule, Charlemagne enlarged the See of Urgel, so that it became authorities would fix as 839, instead of 819. Even this later year would, of course, fall within the reign of Louis. i Namely Lauretia (now San Julia de Loria), Andorra (i.e., Andorra la Vella), Santa Colomba (now replaced by Canillo), La Massana, Ordino and Encamp. It will thus be seen that there has been little change in the internal administration of Andorra during the last eleven centuries. [19] ANDORRA, THE HIDDEN REPUBLIC one of the most extensive and powerful dio- ceses in Spain ; and it was he also — so it is said — who first gave to it the right of tithing the Valley of Andorra. Now in those old days when the princes of the Church also enjoyed many of the preroga- tives of feudal lords, it can be imagined that misunderstandings might easily arise as to the exercise of suzerain rights over this valley which lay at once within the Diocese and the Seigneury of Urgel. Indeed, at the present time, French scholars who have made a special study of the early history of the Pyrenees are sometimes amusingly acrimonious in their dis- cussion of the extent to which the Church ex- ercised secular rule over Andorra. Some say that it was originally a diocesan possession, pure and simple, within whose bounds the bishops later granted the counts certain rights, in return for the protection which their arms could give. Others claim that the original proprietorship was vested in the counts, who granted to the Church only the customary ecclesiastical jurisdiction, reserving to them- selves all other seigneurial rights. And there are various possible modifications of each of [20] COUNTS AND BISHOPS these two hypotheses, involving grants and re- grants and exceptions and reservations, with all the numerous and bewildering variations known to feudal law. The latter of the above theories seems on its face the more probable, though it must be qualified by the fact that the Counts of Urgel were too busy fighting the Moors to bother much about little Andorra, and, as a matter of practice, were apparently quite willing to let the Church exercise for them at second hand their seigneurial authority over this inaccessible and unprofitable portion of their estates. From the tenth to the twelfth centuries the lords of Urgel made various grants to the Church which, according to one's original hy- pothesis, will be interpreted as mere confirma- tions of ancient and inalienable diocesan rights, or as the entire transference of a feudal pos- session, or as grants of spiritual jurisdiction with the customary ecclesiastical tithes, which were not intended to affect in any way the ex- isting or future exercise of the secular rule on the part of the counts or their vassal lords. But, whatever the strict theory of the case may have been, there is little doubt that, as a matter [21] ANDORRA, THE HIDDEN REPUBLIC of fact, the Bishops of Urgel, by the beginning of the twelfth century, did actually exercise secular jurisdiction over Andorra. We are not so much interested, however, in the abstract rights of this ancient contention as we are in its effects upon the future of An- dorra. If the matter seems confused now, it was doubly so during the Middle Ages, when the question was argued, not with mere wordy debate, but with fire and sword. But before the final struggle came between the counts and bishops, the secular lordship over the Valley had passed north of the Pyrenees into France. In the twelfth century, through various grants from the bishops or the counts, or pos- sibly from both, Andorra became included within the domains of the Viscount of Cas- tellbo, a vassal of the Count of Urgel; and in 1202 Ermesinde, the heiress of Castellbo, mar- ried Roger Bernard II. of Foix, who there- fore, upon the death of his father-in-law, became possessed of the debated seigneurial rights in Andorra. Meanwhile the original Seigneury of Urgel, through the marriage of its heiress with a member of the royal family, had passed into the direct possession of the Kings of Aragon, by whom it was [22] COUNTS AND BISHOPS finally annexed to the estates of the Viscounts of Cabrera. According to the Bishops of Urgel, any in- herited authority of the Counts of Foix over Andorra was merely held in fief from the Church, as had been the original concessions. According to the counts, their alliance with Castellbo had invested them with the secular rule over the Valley, which had never been transferred to the bishops by the Seigneury of Urgel. The rivalry between the two claimants be- came doubly bitter during the Albigensian Wars, when the Counts of Foix identified themselves with the cause of the schismatics. In 1236, Bishop Ponce de Vilamur was for- bidden by Roger Bernard II. to search out heretics in the estates of Castellbo, and the count was thereupon promptly excommuni- cated. It was under his grandson, Roger Bernard III., however, that the conflict reached its climax. This Count of Foix was not a man to sit down quietly and settle dif- ferences of opinion by calm discussion. With equal zest he defied the pope and made war against the kings of France and Aragon. Finally his quarrel with Bishop Pedro of [23] ANDORRA, THE HIDDEN REPUBLIC Urgel (which involved other possessions in Castellbo besides Andorra) brought him into Catalonia with an invading army. Pedro III. of Aragon was far away in the south of his domains fighting the Moors; and Roger Ber- nard's path through the episcopal estates was marked by what the final treaty of peace de- scribes as "the slaughter of men, both soldiers, ecclesiastics and villeins, and the destruction of castles and houses . . . the mutilation of men's bodies, and many other atrocities and al- most unspeakable evils." Arriving at Seo de Urgel, he hanged his prisoners of war within sight of the city walls, and promised a like fate to all its inhabitants, unless the place at once offered an unconditional surrender. Four years later, in 1277, as the terms of the surrender had not been fulfilled to his sat- isfaction, Roger Bernard again prepared to ravage the estates of Urgel. This time, how- ever, Bishop Jathbert of Valencia, filled with sorrow at the useless shedding of blood in the neighboring diocese, used his influence with the contending parties to such good purpose that they were persuaded to declare an armis- tice, and submit their differences to arbitra- tion. [24] COUNTS AND BISHOPS Six "friendly intermediaries" offered their assistance in arranging a satisfactory settle- ment of the conflicting claims. These were Bishop Jathbert himself ; Raymond de Besaln, archdeacon of Tarragona; Bonat de Lavayna, canon of Narbonne and papal tithe-collector for the Kingdom of Aragon ; and three nobles, Raymond d'Urg, Isarn de Fajaus, and Wil- liam Raymond de Josa. Their conciliatory efforts met with such good success that the con- tending parties agreed upon a concordat usually known as the Acte de Par cage, 1 or simply the Pareages, which was signed on Sep- tember 7, 1278 by the count, the bishop, and King Pedro of Aragon, and was witnessed by forty-six others, archdeacons, priors, abbots, canons, precentors, clerks, knights and law- yers. 2 On October 7, 1282, the concordat was formally approved by Pope Martin IV. ; and, as Roger Bernard nevertheless did not cease his intrigues in Andorra, was supplemented by a second treaty which, through the influence of two of the former arbiters, was signed Decem- i Pariage (Latin pariagium, Catalan pariatge) was a terra of continental feudal law which denoted the sharing of the jurisdiction over a certain fief between two seigneurs, such as was not uncommon during the Middle Ages. 2 See Appendix II. [25] ANDORRA, THE HIDDEN REPUBLIC ber 6, 1288. The Acte de Pareage was des- tined to settle permanently the political status of the Valley, and is rightly viewed as the Magna Charta of Andorra. Stripped of the repetitious legal phraseol- ogy of the Middle Ages, its provisions are as follows : The count and the bishop were each to be represented in the Valley by a "bayle " * (Latin bajulus), and these should jointly ad- minister justice. If either were absent, how- ever, the other might serve alone, provided that whenever the absent bayle returned, he should be consulted with regard to the disposi- tion of any unfinished cases. The count was also, if he desired, to be rep- resented in the Valley by a "viguier," 2 or deputy (vicarius). The deputy of the bishop is not mentioned, but was doubtless taken for granted, as the Church had already for some i This is the spelling adopted by the French courts ; and I shall use it throughout in preference to the Catalan battle, which the reader might find difficult to pronounce, or the Eng- lish bailiff, which might lead to a confusion with our modern court officer who bears the same title. 2 Again I shall use the French name, which formerly was applied to the provosts of Languedoc and Provence. The full Catalan title is veguer de las vails. [26] COUNTS AND BISHOPS ?> time previous exercised its authority over An- dorra through such an officer. The two suzerains were to levy a "quistia, or tribute, in alternate years. In the bishop's year, the amount which might be collected was limited to 4,000 "Malgorian sous," but the count was to be allowed to take as much as he wished. In the course of time, however, this levy was also made a fixed sum, which before the French Revolution had been set at 1,920 francs. The count was also favored above the bishop in that he was to receive three- fourths of all the fines or other moneys col- lected by the bayles, but the expenses of ad- ministration were to be deducted before this division was made. The distinctively ecclesi- astical fines and taxes were to be received by the Church as formerly. In regard to the theoretical basis of the orig- inal controversy, the arbiters approved the bishop's claim to be the rightful suzerain of the Valley; and decided that the count was to hold his share of the divided sovereignty over Andorra as a fief from the bishop, to whom he was to do homage, according to the "Barcelona rite." Since 1278, the relations of Andorra with [27] ANDORRA, THE HIDDEN REPUBLIC its Spanish suzerain have remained unchanged ; but, through various inter-marriages of the counts with other and more powerful families, the Seigneury of Foix became assimilated with Beam and later with Navarre, and its feudal rights over Andorra eventually rested in Henry of Navarre, who became King of France in 1589. Thus the authority over the Valley which was given to Roger Bernard III. in 1278, was exercised successively by the Houses of Foix, Brailly, d'Albret and Bourbon, and since the accession of Henry IV., has been vested in the head of the French government, King, First Consul, Emperor or President, as the case might be. The only break in this relationship came in 1793, when the representatives of the new Na- tional Assembly refused to receive the tribute from Andorra, on the ground that its accept- ance would savor of a feudalism incompatible with republican institutions. But the An- dorrans themselves urged incessantly the re- sumption of the previous relations with their powerful northern neighbor; and finally, in March, 1806, Napoleon, who was then First Consul, signed a decree "in regard to the peti- [28] COUNTS AND BISHOPS tion of the inhabitants of the Valley of An- dorra to be reinstated in their former police and commercial relations with France," which put in force again the ancient pro- tectorate. It is commendable to all parties concerned that the then Bishop of Urgel unexpectedly and heartily seconded the efforts of the Andor- ran government to procure the resumption of the joint sovereignty. We must remember that the various and somewhat complicated readjustments in feudal relationships which have just been described were spread out over a period of more than a thousand years. Also, with hardly an excep- tion, they were quite external to Andorra itself. Even when angry Roger Bernard was bent on chastising the Bishop of Urgel, he avoided passing through the mountain district over which the contention had arisen. Few of the great changes taking place around them were known, and fewer were felt, bj^ the inhabitants of Andorra. During all the troublous cen- turies when Europe was shaken to its founda- tions by incessant wars and savage revolutions, that the overthrow of mediaeval feudalism might prepare the way for the coming of mod- [29] ANDORRA, THE HIDDEN REPUBLIC ern civilization, the life of the Valley was quite untouched. The boundaries of the country, its internal divisions, the number of its inhabitants, are all the same now as they were at the dawn of Andorran history. Nearly everything about the Valley is literally "immemorial" — its peculiar exemptions and privileges, its reliance upon foreign powers to protect its borders, its strange immunity from outside interference with its local affairs. The best that we can do is to fix approximately the century when these originated. The same is true of the gov- ernment of the Republic. Hardly anything is known about its workings before the time of the French Revolution. The General Council is said to have been established through the good offices of Ponce de Vilamur, who was Bishop of Urgel during the early part of the thirteenth century; but this is little more than a blind guess. The country is a protected republic now, and so far as any evi- dence to the contrary is concerned, its inhabi- tants have made their own laws ever since they first fled from the Moors to their mountain val- ley. That is the most that can be said upon the subject. [so] COUNTS AND BISHOPS If the proverb is true, Andorra is the hap- piest of nations; for a thousand years it has had no history. Over the entrance to the Capitol at Andorra la Vella is carved the coat-of-arms of the Re- public, which perpetuates the memory of the strange dual protectorate, for its quarterings are the miter and crozier of the See of Urgel, the bars of Foix and the cows of Beam. 1 Above the escutcheon is a Latin quatrain which breathes the imperturbable satisfaction with which the Andorran views his country's history and destiny. We might roughly translate the lines: "You here behold a Neutral Valley's arms, Whose quarterings nobler nations have rejoiced to bear. Each singly has some alien people blessed: Andorra's Golden Age shall from their union spring." i See the cover design, which is based upon Tucker's The Valley of Andorra and the Nouveau Larousse. I unfortunately neglected to make a drawing of the coat-of-arms, and the pho- tograph which I took was poorly focused. Mr. Spender, fol- lowing Vilar, who apparently quotes from Vidal, gives a slightly different quartering, according to which the miter and crozier are in the same section of the shield, thus allowing room for the bars of Catalonia in the fourth quarter. It is hard to reconcile such an arrangement, however, with what can be made out on my photograph. [31] Ill THE ROCK OF FOIX THE natural entrance into Andorra is from the south, the way the first settlers came, following the Segre River through Catalonia to Seo de Urgel, and thence up the valley of the Valira. But the modern traveler will find this route a wearisome one; for there are few stretches of good road, and the Spanish rail- ways run south of the foothills of the Pyr- enees, far from even the beginning of the central range. The nearest station to Seo de Urgel and the Valira is Calaf, which is eighty miles away. The French passes are high, difficult at all seasons, and during half the year are blocked with snow. On the other hand, the railway from the north runs to the very edge of the Pyrenees; and most travelers will consider it worth while to endure the one day's long, ex- hausting climb over the pass, for the sake of the great saving in time, as well as for the more imposing mountain scenery which this route affords. [32] / THE ROCK OF FOIX The northern approach to Andorra is also interesting historically ; for it takes us through the ancient County of Foix. Fifty-two miles below Toulouse we reach the stronghold of the feudal lords who were the suzerains of the young republic. The little city of Foix lies along a curve of the Ariege River, and it needs only one glance at the place to understand its strategic impor- tance as an armed gate across the long, nar- row valley which pierces far south through the Pyrenees to the very border of Spain. In these piping days of peace, however, Foix has a population of only 7,000, and bears the repu- tation of being the dullest county-seat in France. The lower town by the railway lies down in the old river bed, and, owing to the bend of the stream, is enclosed on all sides by close, steep, wooded hills, which frame the sheltered vale with a quaint and restful beauty, but which, on a hot July afternoon, as we soon discovered, shut out every breath of air. The whole place seemed asleep, except for a few indifferent railway officials, and a couple of dapper little lieutenants who had come to the station to meet visiting friends. We decided to our own [33 ] ANDORRA, THE HIDDEN REPUBLIC satisfaction that the very attractive young woman who had come down in the train with us from Toulouse was the wife of the middle- aged business man who accompanied her, and the sister of the more handsome of the lieu- tenants; and as we afterwards watched the vivacious group at lunch, the eager enjoyment of the two officers seemed to betray almost pathetically the dead monotony of their every- day life in this hot little garrison town. When we came out from the darkened station, the whitish dust on the smooth government road beside the Ariege shone so dazzlingly that we had to half-close our eyes to keep out the glare, and the waves of heat shimmered up from the sidewalks as if Foix had been one great, glowing stove. So we sat for a long time on the hotel porch overhanging the river, and chatted with a homesick waiter from Paris, who could see nothing good in southern France except the trout, which he said were so plentiful that people who lived alongside the Ariege often caught a mess of fish by dropping lines out of their kitchen windows. But with the castle fairly hanging over us, even the sweltering heat of the summer sun [34] THE ROCK OF FOIX could not excuse us from climbing the steep, cobble-stone streets to the "Rock of Foix." This is a small, blocklike hill which rises ab- ruptly at the back of the town to a height of two hundred feet, and bears on its summit the three conspicuous towers of the feudal for- tress. As we walked through the well-built busi- ness district, our noisy footsteps disturbed the quiet of the summer afternoon. Crowds of curious children followed us, and a few shop- keepers wakened from their midday siesta at the back of their darkened stores, and stood in the doorways, drowsily rubbing their eyes as they watched the strangely energetic for- eigners. Off the main streets, however, the houses were sullenly shuttered against the blazing sun, and it was hard even to find any- one to point out our way. But through al- most every narrow alley we could get a glimpse of a tall tower of the fortress; so up and up through the town, and then round and round the castle hill, we toiled along the rough ascent, until we had quite lost our sense of di- rection ; and at last, still a little way below the summit, we came suddenly upon a massive gateway set down into the rock, and before the [35] ANDORRA, THE HIDDEN REPUBLIC gate we found the garrison of the fortress peacefully dozing in the shade of a cherry tree. He was a thin little old man, very wrinkled and sunburned, and cheerfully garrulous in the presence of evidently rare visitors. In the thick walls of the outer fortification was his combined kitchen, bedroom and living-room; a cozy, smoke-begrimed chamber, with the coat-of-arms of the Counts of Foix carved above the great open fireplace, and the table and chairs and floor cluttered with pots and pans and children's toys. The old man took a great deal of pleasure in explaining to us the mechanism of a cardboard aeroplane, which hung by a string from the ceiling. He told us that his daughter-in-law and little grand- child lived with him. Their bedroom was evi- dently over the gate, where we saw a narrow window whose clean panes and tidy white cur- tains showed signs of feminine care. According to the concierge, hardly anybody ever came up to the castle, so he had plenty of time on his hands. Here and there, on nar- row ledges of the rocky hill, he had planted vegetables and flowers. Plum and cherry trees and wild strawberry vines were laden [36] THE ROCK OF FOIX with delicious fruit, ripened to an extraor- dinary sweetness by the hot southern sun. One fat cow browsed placidly on the grass- grown ramparts; a white goat was very much worried because her kid conversed so long in intelligent ba-a-a-s with the strange visitors ; a sleeping cat purred noisily on top of the wall ; and in a broken corner of the fortifications were cooped a few dozing chickens. When I get a little older, I should like nothing better than to become concierge here, and settle down cozily among the trees and flowers and warm quietness of the Rock of Foix, with a real castle all for my own. The first to bear the title of Count of Foix was Bernard Roger, 1 second son of Roger of Carcassonne, who inherited from his father a large territory in the southwestern part of the family estates. The original House of Foix became extinct in 1391 upon the death of Gaston Phcebus, who had killed his only legiti- mate son in a fit of jealous rage. The last ruler of the independent County was Gaston i Bernard Roger is by some writers counted as the first Roger Bernard, which of course throws one number forward the designation of each of the three counts who subsequently bore the latter name. [37] ANDORRA, THE HIDDEN REPUBLIC IV., who married Eleanor, the Crown Princess and, later, Queen of Navarre. Upon the death of Gaston, he was succeeded by his grandson, Francis Phoebus, who became King of Navarre in 1479; and thereafter the im- portance of Foix was overshadowed by that of the larger domains with which it had become united. 1 They were very tenacious of family names, these proud old counts. Nine of the first ten were called Roger; and then, after Roger Bernard the Great married Marguerite, daughter and heiress of Gaston VII. of Beam, four of the next eight rulers of Foix bore the Bearnese name of Gaston. These Rogers and Gastons were bold, arro- gant seigneurs who, in their strong castles on the hilltops of southern France, recked naught of any nominal allegiance to either king or pope, and exercised despotic sway over the snug little realm that was theirs. They went on pious crusades to the Holy Land, and were excommunicated for their contumacious sup- port of heretical uprisings in Catholic France. They won fame for the sweet love songs they wrote, and they murdered their own sons. i See Appendix I, The Counts of Foix. [38] A STREET IN FOIX THE ROCK OF FOIX They married king's daughters, and made war upon their royal relatives. As if independent sovereigns, they entered into formal treaties with the great nations about them; and from their sturdy loins sprang the rulers of Beam and Navarre and, at last, of a united and glorious France. 1 The castle at Foix is identified with the his- tory of the Rogers rather than that of the Gas- tons, who, with their growth in wealth and power, preferred to hold their court in newer and more luxurious residences, such as those at Mazeres, Pau and Orthez. For this was a fort, rather than a chateau, and was older even than the countship to which it gave its name. In its present form — and, owing to the con- figuration of the hill, it can never have been much larger — the castle contains only one or two private chambers, the great salle dfarmes, i At least one Count of Foix not only made history, but helped write it; for the best contemporary chronicle of the Middle Ages tells us that it was at the court of Gaston Phoebus (then not at Foix, however, but at Orthez in Bearn) that Froissart "learned the greater part of those events which hap- pened in the kingdoms of Castille, Portugal, Navarre, Aragon, and even in England, also in the Bourbonnais, and everything concerning Gascony." "The Count himself," continues Frois- sart, "was very communicative and readily answered every question put to him." [39] ANDORRA, THE HIDDEN REPUBLIC and, in the towers, guard-rooms for the gar- rison. The fortress, which is now being ad- mirably restored at the joint expense of the Department and the national government, is a striking example of the Gothic military archi- tecture of the Middle Ages. Of the three yel- lowish sandstone towers, the two square ones were erected in the eleventh or twelfth cen- turies, and the round "donjon" is popularly ascribed to the famous Gaston Phoebus, who partly reconstructed the castle in 1362. It seems more probable, however, that, at least in its present form, this imposing tower dates from the middle of the next century. It con- tains five circular guard-rooms, each with its enormous fireplace, while almost entirely ex- cavated beneath the surface of the hill is a damp, dark prison chamber, lighted only by one tiny slit of a window, set high up in the thick wall. Small as is this castle in compari- son with many other feudal strongholds, it gives an unusual impression of proud, hard strength, and seems a fitting memorial of those redoubtable Counts of Foix, who were the valued allies or dreaded rivals of kings, and whose blood at last flowed in the veins of the rulers of France. [40] THE ROCK OF FOIX Of the many sieges which the castle has un- dergone, the two most famous occurred during the religious wars of the thirteenth century, when the Counts of Foix, like their suzerains of Toulouse, sided with the Albigenses, and suffered greatly, both in honor and estate, from the failure of the Protestant cause. In 1210, the cruel and fanatical Simon de Mont- fort, father of that other Simon who became the English Earl of Leicester, ravaged the County of Foix, set fire to the town, and shut up Raymond Roger in his little castle. This, however, was so stubbornly defended that the Count of Montfort was at length obliged to withdraw his forces without having captured the fortress. In 1272, the last of the Rogers — the same who signed the Par cages with Bishop Pedro of Urgel — found himself besieged by the army of France, under command of no less distinguished a person than the king himself. Philip the Hardy found that he could not take the hill by assault, but he undermined the Rock of Foix, and then gave Roger Bernard the choice of surrendering or seeing his fortress tumble about his ears. We cannot but re- joice that a sentimental regard for the home of [41] ANDORRA, THE HIDDEN REPUBLIC his fathers, as well as a cold-blooded analysis of the situation, induced the count to adopt the alternative which left the castle intact. During the next three centuries, Foix was never long free from religious strife. Catho- lics and Huguenots held the castle by turns, and fierce battles were fought in the city streets. The sixteenth century, in particular, was a veritable reign of terror for the citizens, who at one time saw the citadel turned into an ecclesiastical prison, behind whose silent walls were enacted the mysterious horrors of the Inquisition. When the Huguenot Wars were finally ended in 1629 by the Peace of Alais, the vic- torious Catholics planned to raze all the Prot- estant strongholds in France; but the Castle of Foix escaped the general destruction, by special orders of Richelieu himself. After we had climbed up and down the one hundred and forty-seven worn, winding steps which lead to the battlements of the donjon tower, we were glad to throw ourselves flat on the little circle of shaded lawn beside the armory, and take a more leisurely survey of the castle and the valley. In spite of the gray old ramparts, it was a scene of such Sabbath [42] THE ROCK OF FOIX quietness and peace that we found it hard to realize the grim history of the ancient capital. The rough stone walls were overgrown here and. there with rich, dark ivy. Hollyhocks and lilacs pushed up between the broken flag- stones of the court. Now and then a puff of breeze blew from over the hills which hemmed in the crowded, stifling town beneath us. While we lay motionless, little white butter- flies fluttered over the grass, pigeons cooed from the turrets, and swallows called to one another as they swept past the battlemented towers. The valley below, along which there marched against the haughty fortress the armies of Simon de Mont fort and Philip the Hardy, lay in absolute stillness, except for the muffled puffing of a distant train. Just be- neath the castle, the old Church of St. Volu- sien, about which once raged the fanatical conflicts of bitter religious warfare, raised its towerless nave above the homely roofs of a slumbering town. The surrounding hills were checkered to their very summits with little squares of ripe, yellow grain. The cloudless sky was of the deepest, clearest blue. Around the whole circle of the horizon there was no break in the picture of bright, warm [43] ANDORRA, THE HIDDEN REPUBLIC contentment, except at the south, where we could see far up the valley of the Ariege to the dark, distant Pyrenees, amid which lay the goal of our journey. [44] IV IN THE SHADOW OF THE PYRENEES FROM the viewpoint of race and language, the Ariege is the last, easternmost valley of the French Pyrenees; for in the Depart- ment of the Pyrenees Orientales (ancient Roussillon) , which lies between the Ariege and the Mediterranean, there are such easy passes over or around the mountains that the history of this district has been more often linked with Spain than with France. Its inhabitants are of Catalan blood, their costumes show Spanish touches, the capital of the Department, Per- pignan, seems almost like a Spanish city, and the language commonly spoken in the Pyrenees Orientales is Provencal, which is not a patois of French, but an elder sister of the Catalan. On the railway trains of southeastern France, I find it advisable to begin a conversation by asking, "Does Monsieur speak French?" The answer is apt to be "Tres pen" — very little in- deed! — perhaps hardly more than "out" and {e non" In one crowded compartment, I was actually the only person who could frame a [45 ] ANDORRA, THE HIDDEN REPUBLIC sentence in intelligible French. And this was in France ■, and on the main line of the railway ! The Ariege country is entirely French- speaking; but as we follow up the river south- ward, we are, as it were, penetrating into the farthest corner of real France. Ten miles below Foix we pass Tarascon — not the Tarascon of the redoubtable Tartarin, which lies near Marseilles; but a self-satisfied and unprogressive little manufacturing town, the smoke of whose iron furnaces rises about the crumbling tower on the castle hill. This slumberous city was once, however, counted among the chief fortresses of the County ; and in its chateau was signed the marriage contract between Roger Bernard II. and Ermesinde of Castellbo, upon which were later based the claims of the Counts of Foix over Andorra. Then comes Ussat-les-Bains, with its lime springs and subterranean lake and prehistoric grotto. Here a large proportion of the pas- sengers leave the train, and make their way to the Etablissement Thermal, whose long, low, white facade is the most prominent feature of the little town. From the next station, Les Cabanes, we might follow up the Ashton River, and then jour- [46] THE SHADOW OF THE PYRENEES ney straight southward over the Fontargente Pass into Andorra ; but though this is the most direct route from France into the mountain republic, it is very difficult and, in bad weather, even dangerous ; so we shall continue to follow the Ariege, and enter the country from the northeast. As the train puffs slowly up the valley, black cave-mouths are seen in the gray cliffs on either side; for these mountains hold innumer- able caverns which, during the fierce religious wars which devastated the County of Foix, often served as places of refuge for the de- feated and persecuted partisans, Catholic or Huguenot, as the case might be. We see more ruined castles on their tiny hillocks, we stop at more colonnaded sanatoriums where our fellow-passengers will bathe away the summer holidays. Back and forth we cross the noisy, foaming Ariege in the effort to find a foothold for the track on the narrow border between the river and the cliffs, until at last, seventy-seven miles below Toulouse, we de- scend from the train at the terminal station, Ax-les-Thermes. Though almost unknown to English-speak- ing tourists, this northern border of the Pyr- [47] ANDORRA, THE HIDDEN REPUBLIC enees is one of the oldest civilized portions of western Europe. "Ax" is the Provencal Acqs j, from the Latin Aquce; and Ax-les- Thermes was famous for its medicinal waters before the days of the Roman Empire. In the fifth century, the heathen Visigoths conquered the Christians of Ax and martyred their brave bishop, Udaut, who, when he was commanded to offer homage to the victorious Attila, ut- tered the splendid words of defiance which are now inscribed over the entrance porch of the little parish church beside the public square : " 'Dieu seule adoras/ Je veux vaincre Attila, je ne l'adore pas!" The Notice Historique sur la Ville d'Ax, by a learned local druggist, M. Marcailhou d'Aymeric (pharmacist of the first class, laureate and medallist of sixteen lines of scien- tific and literary societies) chronicles the sub- sequent history of the little town under such significant heads as Religious Wars, Plagues, Cholera Epidemics, Conflagrations, Earth- quakes and Spanish Invasions. But modern Ax is very dull, even in the summer "season," and is very healthful, in spite of the obtrusive uncleanliness of its poorer quarters. [48] AX-LES-THERMES THE CHURCH OF ST. VINCENT AND STATUE OF BISHOP UDAUT THE SHADOW OF THE PYRENEES Our hotel was the noisiest in which I have ever lodged. The proprietor was a frail little old lady in a crinkly black silk dress, who sat enthroned on a low chair in the bureau be- tween the entrance hall and the dining-room, whence, under ordinary circumstances, she is- sued her commands by shrill, ear-piercing shouts in an incredibly high falsetto. But the slightest difference of opinion with either serv- ants or guests raised her voice to such an apoplectic and unintelligible shriek that several times I was divided between fear that she might die in a fit, and apprehension lest she should or- der me to be thrown out of the hotel. Her bark was worse than her bite, however ; and these at- tacks of apparently murderous rage always ended in her offering me a glass of absinthe. The prime minister of this aged and vocifer- ous autocrat was "inon neveu August e" a strapping youth of fifty, who obeyed her as un- questioningly as a little child. When the shrill " Augu-u-uste !" rang through the corridors and echoed through the street outside the hotel, he instantly dropped whatever he might be doing and hurried meekly to the office. But the mo- ment he left the Presence, Auguste became a roaring lion. Unbrushed, uncollared, unbut- [49] ANDORRA, THE HIDDEN REPUBLIC toned, with long frowzy hair flying into his wild eyes, and his feet clad in immense, loose carpet-slippers, this rheumatic giant shuffled and shouted through the hotel all day and — so far as we knew — all night long. At his tempestuous approach, impertinent waiters be- came tongue-tied, brawny railway porters waxed humble, and chambermaids burst into tears. His hour of greatest triumph was meal- time, when he stood glaring and scolding by the pantry window, and hurried along the courses of the table d'hote with a dizzying rapidity which would have aroused the envy of the proprietor of a Western fifteen-minutes- for-refreshments railway restaurant. His ner- vous eyes took in all the great dining-room at once, and if but a spoon or a salt-cellar proved missing at the farthest table, he broke forth into a perfect torrent of rage. We used to watch for the first outburst of tears from the waitresses. It seldom came later than the entree, and sometimes the poor girls sniffled as they brought the soup. One traveler reports that he took a single look within this mad-house of a hotel, and then ordered his luggage carried across the street. [50] THE SHADOW OF THE PYRENEES But he made a mistake. It is perhaps the only place in Europe where an American can always get what he wants when he wants it. Poor Auguste! — for all his scolding, he works harder than anybody else. I never once saw him sit down. The rooms are large and com- fortable, the service is excellent, the prices are moderate for a summer resort, and the cooking is beyond criticism. The trout, in particular, are worthy of the praises of Lucullus. If you care to try it, anybody in Ax will tell you the name of the hotel which is kept by the noisy little old lady and her blustering nephew Au- guste. We spent several days at Ax-les-Thermes, and were glad of the opportunity to observe one of the few French summer resorts which have not yet been exploited for American and English visitors. As a matter of fact, we did not hear a word of English spoken in the place, though we found out afterwards that one fel- low-countryman, a globe-trotting retired pro- fessor of Semitics, was there at the same time that we were. It was well called Aquce; for there is water everywhere. The whole town is built, so to speak, on the lid of a boiling kettle; a very [51] ANDORRA, THE HIDDEN REPUBLIC worn and leaky lid, through which bubble up more than sixty warm sulphur springs. Above ground, the Ariege is joined here by the Oriege and the Auze, 1 besides two or three smaller brooks. As the entire town of Ax covers an area of only about a sixteenth of a square mile, and these streams are all rapid mountain torrents, it may be imagined that there is everywhere an incessant sound of run- ning water. Perhaps that is why Auguste and his aunt got into the habit of shouting so loud. These rivers are also used as sewer-mains. Notices are posted with the significant order that garbage must not be deposited in the mid- dle of the streets or against the walls of the churches, but must be thrown into the gutters or the brooks. No recklessness of sanitary precautions, however, can seriously contami- nate these rapidly flowing streams, and Ax is i It is characteristic of the unsettled state of the language spoken near the border that this river is called both l'Auze and Lauze. Even at Ax itself, there seems to be a difference of opinion as to whether the I is the article or a part of the proper name; for the two maps in the authoritative Guide of the local Syndicat d'Initiative give different spellings. The same confusion exists with regard to the Arget or Larget at Foix. [52] THE SHADOW OF THE PYRENEES justly famous throughout southern France as a health resort. Its natural surroundings are charming. The town lies on a tongue of fairly level land, which extends only about four hundred yards in either direction. On three sides are the rivers, and on all sides are the mountains, so near that a five-minute walk from our hotel took us high up among the hills. The heart of the resort is the Place du Breilh, a square fully fifty yards long, without a blade of grass growing in the hard-trodden earth, but nevertheless made very attractive by its many plane trees, whose smooth, branchless trunks rise straight up to a height of twenty or thirty feet, like great grayish pillars, and then spread out with a broad, dense foliage which shades the ground below almost as ef- fectually as an awning. Throughout all the extreme south of France, especially along the public promenades and government roads, are found these beautiful trees, which keep out the sun without interfering with the view; and you can ride beneath their shade practically the entire distance from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic. [53] ANDORRA, THE HIDDEN REPUBLIC It was the height of the season, the hotels of Ax were crowded, and the street life was marked by a spirit of careless gayety. But there was really nothing to do! The wildest dissipations of the summer residents seemed to consist in taking a sulphur bath (called in the local dialect a bang), sipping an aperitif at one of the open-air cafes by the Place du Breilh, listening to the Casino band, shopping for post-cards, or riding on the ancient merry-go- round, whose brassy orchestrion (with one note missing) played the same short, maddening tune all day and all night. There are some sounds I shall never forget — the howl of a cyclone, the clatter of an earth- quake, the incessant roar of Niagara, the call of the muezzins of Stamboul, the rumble of the water-wheels of the Orontes, the "Wacht am Rhein" sung by marching German soldiers. And to my dying day I shall remember the unearthly screeching — especially the one note that was never played — of the merry-go- round of Ax-les-Thermes. But that does not mean that I did not like the place. I liked it for its very littleness and lack of distracting amusements, its shaded promenades, its luscious trout, its magnificent [54] THE SHADOW OF THE PYRENEES mountain setting; and I liked its people. In appearance, the townsfolk resemble the Span- iards just across the border. "We Ariegeois," said our chambermaid, "are more than half Spanish." They have the harsh, unlovely pro- nunciation of the Midi: they bang their nasals, and say Bong Matang for "Good Morning." Nevertheless they are very loyal citizens of the Republic, and have all the winning courtesy of the provincial French. Many Americans think that Paris is France, whereas the great capital — at least, that part of it which is seen by the average tourist — is really a kind of perpetual international exposi- tion. The real France lies far away, among the country provinces with their prim little county-seats and quaint farming villages and broad, rolling acres of wheat and vine, where the cure is still beloved and the stranger is given a courteous welcome. There the Frenchman is just as light-hearted — he would not be a Frenchman if he were not — but in- stead of the feverish and sometimes imperti- nent gayety of the capital, he shows a quiet contentment which comes from a capacity to be amused by the simple pleasures of life, and the memory of that little hoard of francs saved [55] ANDORRA, THE HIDDEN REPUBLIC up against a rainy day, and the unshakable conviction that, as one of them who had lived in four continents expressed it to me, "After all, France is the very finest country in the world." It is such honest country folk as the inhabitants of the Ariege, who make the trav- eler feel more sure, each time he revisits them, that the French are the most temperate, thrifty, happy and courteous people in the world. Ax has its ruined fortress on a hilltop, of course. It is known as the Castel Mail, or "Castle of the Moors," from the tradition that it was originally erected during the Moslem occupation of the Pyrenees. But it is very badly ruined indeed, and, from what we could hear, was not worth the trouble of visiting. We did, however, climb another of the nu- merous precipitous hills in the neighborhood, on whose summit stands a tall statue of the Virgin, surrounded by four kneeling angels, and strung with electric wires, so that it can be illuminated on feast-days. In describing what the local Guide calls