'^^^sg -«3S^; A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II Uniform with this Volume THE STORY OF DON JOHN OF AUSTRIA. By Padre Luis Colema, SJ. (of the Real Academia Espanola). Translated from the Spanish by Lady Moreton. With Photo- gravure Frontispiece and 24 other Illustrations. -^t^Tz/Ly^^Ui/t^^'Ky a^ c^ -tMA.eay^L ( Ex Libri3\ 0. K. OGDEN A PL AY M ATE OF PHILIP II BEING THE HISTORY OF DON MARTIN OF ARAGON, DUKE OF VILLAHERMOSA, AND OF DONA LUISA DE BORJA HIS WIFE BY LADY MORETON WITH SEVENTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS LONDON : JOHN LANE, THE BODLFY HEAD NEW YORK: JOHN LANE COMPANY TORONTO : BELL & COCKBURN . • . MCMXV THE BALLANTYNE PRESS TAVISTOCK STREET COVENT GARDEN LONDON p *^ ' , UNIVER.STT^Y OV uiNlA / (5 / SANTA BARBARA V7 Al PREFACE THE works, without which this book could not have been written, came into my hands through the kindness and cour- tesy of the Duke of Luna, who not only gave me permission to make use of them and to reproduce the pictures, but himself made several notes about the little-known painter, Rolam de Mois. Except for a short memoir written as an introduction to the " Discourses," by Don Ramon Melida, who, as librarian to the family, enjoyed unique opportunities of consulting the archives, the life of Don Martin of Aragon, Duke of Villahermosa, has never been told, even in Spanish. On the other hand, the biography of his saintly wife has been exhaustively written three times ; first by Padre Muniesa in 1691, at the instance of Doiia Maria Guzman, wife of the ninth Duke ; then the late Duchess of Villa- hermosa instructed Don Valentin Carduera in 1876, and later Padre Norell in 1897, to write two further memoirs of the holy Duchess. It is from this last work, the " Discourses " and an album of the proceedings of the Cervantes celebrations held in Saragossa in 1905 (which vi PREFACE was also compiled by Sefior Melida by the direc- tion of the Duchess) that the facts narrated are chiefly taken. In truth the story is little more than a patchwork of them, and in the words of one of Cordova's Sultans, "Just as a tailor useth his needle to sew together pieces of cloth, so I " have stitched the shreds one to another with such threads of history as seem to make the sense more clear, striving to keep in view the poet Sou they 's advice and " to omit none of those little circumstances which give life to narration, and bring old manners, old feelings, and old times before your eyes." As references have been as far as possible omitted, it may be well to say that no statement has been made without authority, and that readers can accept the sketch as a slight, but true, account of how the " first of the eight families of Aragon " lived, and loved and died nearly four centuries ago, in a " Chateau en Espagne," not of dreams, but of fabric so solid that it still remains the home of the same ancient race. A recent Portuguese author has said that there are periods which have the gift of attracting the interest of the cultivated, and names which have the power of awakening popular imagination. As instances he quotes the Renaissance, and the daughters of Emanuel the Fortunate, of Portugal. PREFACE vii If such perennial interest can be claimed for the Empress Isabel and her sisters, it may certainly with even greater reason be urged as regards her husband Charles V, and her son Philip II, of Spain. Therefore it may be hoped that the quaint touches respecting them, which peep out here and there in the life history of that kinsman whom Philip dubbed the " Philo- sopher of Aragon," and other members of the Villahermosa family, will not be devoid of interest. My best thanks are due to Mrs. Emery for allowing me to reproduce her beautiful picture of Philip II by Titian, and to Sir Hugh Lane for giving me permission to use his photograph of it, also to my husband for all his help. A. M. M. CONTENTS PREFACE PAGE V MEMOIR I APPENDIX (ROLAM DE MOIS) 215 INDEX 221 IX ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Don Martin de Gurrea y Aragon, Count of RiBAGORZA, Duke of Villahermosa Frontispiece Dona Maria Lopez de Gurrea, Countess of RiBAGORZA 4 Don Juan of Aragon, Duke of Luna io Don Alonso Felipe de Gurrea y Aragc)n, Count OF RiBAGORZA, DUKE OF LUNA l8 Dona Luisa de Borja y Arago'n, Countess of RiBAGORZA, Duchess of Villahermosa 28 Don Martin, aged Thirty 52 Chasuble embroidered for St. Francis de Borja BY his sister Dona Luisa 72 Philip II of Spain 78 Don Martin's Medal 90 " POMPA FuNEBRE " OF ChARLES V IN BRUSSELS Io8 Don Martin carrying the Royal Sword in the Procession iio Villahermosa Palace at Pedrola 134 Dona Ana de Aragon y Borja 150 Staircase of the Villahermosa Palace at Pedrola 167 Don Juan Alonso de Aragon y Borja 178 Dona Ana Sarmiento de Ulloa, Countess of RiBAGORZA 187 Don Alonso de Arago'n, First Duke of Villa- hermosa 216 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 0^ CHAPTER I YOUR friend the philosopher of Aragon is dead," announced PhiHp II of Spain one day to Cardinal Granvelle. *' And your Majesty has lost a great vassal, who for this reason was my friend," was the diplomatic answer of the statesman. To say more would probably have been impolitic, for r Don Martin of Aragon, Duke of Villahermosa, ( who, by his fortitude in braving his many mis- ' fortunes, well merited the name of philosopher, had been the playmate of Philip's childhood, but later the victim of his stern justice. One spring day, nearly four centuries ago and more than fifty years before the above conversa- tion took place, joy reigned in the Castle of Pedrola, for a little son had been born to its lord, Don Alonso Felipe of Aragon, the great Count of Ribagorza. The mother of the baby, Doila Ana de Sarmiento, was the Count's third wife, and had already been married to him for twelve long years. Time after time his great wish for an heir had been disappointed, as it would appear that all his thirteen daughters were older than this " child of the miracle," who was I A 2 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II born on Friday, March 27, 1526 ; therefore the father's deHght can be easily understood. Early in the preceding summer the Count and Countess had made the long, weary pilgrimage on foot from their home at Pedrola, near Sara- gossa, to Osella in the Pyrenees ; there to crave at the shrine of St. Martin the blessing hitherto withheld from them. Hardly had they regained their home than they had hopes that their prayers were to be answered, so it was only natural that the baby should receive the name of Martin, instead of John or Alonzo like his fore- bears. It was possibly also in compliance with some strange vow to the holy Bishop who gave half his cloak to the beggar, that the parents chose as sponsors to this precious child two poor persons, who, as Don Martin's biographer quaintly observes, probably henceforward ceased to be so. Nothing more is known of the first years of the child, who grew up to play a part as a great noble in the splendid days of Spain's prosperity, and from whom it is most probable that Cer- vantes drew the figure of the Duke in Don Quixote ; but it may well be assumed that in spite of a long stiff frock he had already begun to toddle about the wide courtyard of Pedrola, when one June morning, some fifteen months later, his father, Don Alonso Felipe, set out for Valladolid, through the country grey with its A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 3 veil of wild lavender^ to attend the christening of the little kinsman, who was afterwards Philip II, son of the Emperor Charles and his wife Isabel. It will be well to explain at once why the children were relations. Don Alonso Felipe of Aragon was the great grandson of John II, King of Aragon, descended from a son of that monarch who, for his valour, had been created Duke of Villahermosa and given the County of Ribagorza, then the greatest fief a subject could hold, and formerly an in- dependent state. By a noble lady, Dofia Maria Junquers, whom he caused his soldiers to ab- duct, no unwilling victim, from her father's house, he had a son called John, an heroic figure who deserves more than a passing notice, as not only did he serve his country by filling great offices, but was moreover a pioneer of the Renaissance in Spain, his love of antiques having been acquired, no doubt, in Naples during his Viceroyalty, in which he succeeded the " Gran Capitan." He was created Duke of Luna by the Catholic King. Many years earlier King John (to show his approval of the way Ribagorza was defended during the Duke's absence by the aforementioned Dofia Maria) had acknowledged Don John as a grandson, and not only had granted the County to him, but desired by will that he should marry the great heiress, called on that account the " Rica Hembra." Dofia 4 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II Maria Lopez de Gurrea. The wedding took place on St. John's day 1479, the bride being decked out in tawny cloth with green velvet stripes and a golden necklace. This learned lady brought Pedrola and many other possessions into her husband's family, as well as the surname of Gurrea, which legend affirmed had been be- stowed by King Pedro of Aragon on her ancestors for their valiant deeds against the Moors at the battle of Alcoraz, 1094. It is best to tell the curious story about her and the swallow in her grandson Don Martin's own words. " This same have I heard certified by my father, the Count Don Alonso, as having happened to my grand- mother the Duchess of Luna, Dona Maria Lopez de Gurrea, at one of my places called Pedrola. It was this : this lady knew three languages perfectly, having had a very learned master, she studied Greek and Hebrew with a Dutch Rabbi who lived in my town of Luna, where there were rich Jews. Once in a tower to which these birds (swallows) often came, either from curiosity or remembering what Pliny had written, she caught a swallow and in a quill of his wing put a tiny writing in Greek, Latin and Hebrew, with the date, and saying where and by whom it had been caught, and then let it go ; the next year when it came back to its nest she had the curiosity to catch it, and she recognized the quill and found an answer, which said that the COUNTESS OF RIBAi;ORZA, CALLP;i) THE KKA IIEMBKA ; 'illahcriuosa Palace, Madii'd, rcpahitid hv I^olaiu de Mois DONA MAKIA Lcil'EZ DE GUKREA From picture in flu A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 5 swallow had been caught in Jerusalem by a Greek priest in his house, and naming the day and hour." At her death Pedrola passed to her son, to whom later his father also gave the County of Ribagorza, a territory fifteen leagues long, in the province of Huesca, which was separated from France by the Pyrenees, and contained three hundred and fifty villages. The Count must therefore have been well endowed with this world's goods, and no doubt was riding forth in all the state the circumstances demanded, as to quote his own words to his steward, some years later, " There are occasions when a gentleman should make a show." It may also be safely conjectured that the retinue was well mounted, for the breeding of horses was the Count's favourite hobby, and he established a stud of Andalucian horses on his property. His delight was to keep beautiful mares, whose action and swiftness were the joy of all beholders when he rode them himself, which he often did, being a very fine horseman. Fond of playing in cane jousts, he used to direct his lackeys to place a gold piece be- tween his foot and the stirrup. If it were still there on his return it became their property ; but if he had lost it, he gave them two gold pieces. The Count was at this time about forty, a tall, 6 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II handsome, dignified man, with a merry, jovial face. He was, no doubt, dressed as usual and wearing a long coat, wide sleeves with ribbons and gold buttons, a close-fitting hood, shoes and gaiters, the picture of a great Lord of the period on the way to the Court of the Sovereign, who, five years before, had written to him from Ghent, " In truth we are very pleased with you concerning all the foregoing and thank you much. Though it is no new thing, as your ancestors and you have always served the Crown well." ^ Two years after writing this Charles V had chosen him to accompany the Duchess of Alengon " la sage et docte Marguerite " on her journey through Aragon, when she went to visit her captive brother Francis I of France in Madrid,^ and greater compliment still, in the previous year the Count had gone in Charles's company to receive that monarch's wife and cousin, Dona Isabel, daughter of Emanuel the ^ "Anales de Aragon." Zayas and other authorities. * The letter ran thus : " The King. Illustrious Count our Kinsman. Madame de Lanzon, sister of the Very Serene King of France, comes to us for reasons that are very important to our Kingdom, and we wish her to be treated as if she were our own person. We beg you to go as far as Fraga to receive and escort her to the limits of this Kingdom, doing all you can to oblige and entertain her. We assure you this will be rendering us much pleasure and service. Given in Toledo, July 23, 1525. I the King." National Library, Madrid. A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 7 Fortunate, King of Portugal. To attend the baptism of this lady's first born son was the object of Don Alonso Felipe's present journey. As he rode, his thoughts may have turned to the simple christening of his own little heir, or perhaps may have strayed to a more impos- ing ceremony, when Charles's former tutor. Pope Adrian VI, had, during a sojourn at Pedrola, himself baptized the Count's short- lived little daughter Andriana, whose memorial still exists in the parish church of that place. The baptism of the Infante who was after- wards Philip II and husband of Queen Mary Tudor took place in the Convent of St. Paul on June 5, 1527. The name of Philip was, doubt- less, given as being that of Charles's father, Philip of Burgundy, celebrated more for his good looks and white hands than for his merits. Possibly the parents thought by so doing they would gratify poor, mad Queen Joan, who still lingered not very far away in her dreary quasi prison. Few children had ever been born heirs to such a goodly heritage as this grandson of *' Los Reyes Catolicos." His mother " looked with reverential awe upon her own child, so great and important to mankind was held to be the inheritance to which he was heir," ^ even ^ Major Martin Hume. 8 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II fancying before his birth that she was bearing a " mappa mundi." ^ This inheritance comprised not only Spain and part of Italy, Mexico and other countries of the New World, but also Flanders, Burgundy, Artois, and Luxembourg. The imperial crown which Charles was to wear two years later, having been elected King of the Romans in 15 1 9 on the death of his grandfather, did not pass to his son. Spain, it will be remembered, at that date had been one Kingdom for a comparatively short period. First Castille and Aragon had been united in 1479 ^Y ^^^ marriage of Ferdi- nand and Isabel, and when the Moorish strong- hold of Granada fell (1492) and Boabdil, called the " Little King " on account of his want of courage, had fled away by the road still called *' The Last Sigh of the Moor," Los Reyes Catolicos ruled over an united Spain. To Isabel, "the greatest and best queen that ever swayed an independent sceptre," ^ also belongs the glory of having helped Christopher Columbus to realize his dream of finding new lands beyond the western ocean. English readers may like to fancy that her Plantagenet forebears can have endowed her with the spirit of ad- venture as well as with the ruddy hue of her fair hair. ^ Raymond Clauzel. ^ Miss Strickland. A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 9 By the death of her only brother and eldest sister, Joan, the second daughter of Ferdinand and Isabel,^ became their heiress. She had married Philip of Burgundy, son of the Emperor Maximilian, and with her husband was ruling over the Low Countries. Poor Joan did not earn her surname of " the Mad " for nothing, and after her husband's death in Spain, her jealous devotion to him while living was changed to a no less morbid passion for him while dead. This is not the place to tell how, after the death of Isabel, the policy of her widower was a selfish one, nor of the rising of the '' Com- muneros," nor of other events of those stormy days. Suffice it to say that when the Catholic King died, although Joan, '* by the laws of Castille and Aragon, as well as by the testament of Isabella and Ferdinand, was undisputed sovereign,^ Charles ' assumed the title of King.' " His mother lived nearly as long as he did ; for between the cares of his vast empire and wars, in which his arms were directed now against the Most Christian King, now against heretic princes or infidel pirates, the Caesar was a worn-out old man when he put off the purple and retired ^ Catherine of Aragon was their youngest child, the other daughter married the King of Portugal, and was mother of Empress Isabel. 2 Goxe's " House of Austria." 10 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II to peaceful Yuste, dying before he was sixty, gout, no doubt, as well as this strenuous life causing premature decay, gluttony perhaps also assisting; for to quote Mignet, " il etait maitre de son ame dans les diverses extremit^s de la fortune, il n' etait pas de son estomac a table." ^ This was, however, all in the future, and on the day when his blue eyes rested proudly on his first born son, he no doubt appeared as tall, and his limbs as straight and slim as he did to Beatis ten years previously.^ The ceremony of receiving the child into the Church — the child who was to be one of its most devoted sons — was conducted, as was meet, with much pomp. Don Alonso Felipe speaks of it as the " fiesta." At the christening, as the great lords were standing together in the Emperor's presence, one of them, the Count of Olivares, spoke rudely to Don Alonso Felipe, who, not being the man to brook an insult, sent his aggressor the follow- ing challenge, written on parchment : " Don Pedro de Guzman. To-day at the festival you were rude to me before the Emperor, as you know, without reason. And because you are aware that this conduct is discourteous to one ^ Coxe, however, asserts that he was " temperate in his diet " — " House of Austria." 2 " Voyage du Cardinal D'Aragon." 1 )(i N j 1 ■ A > From piy Kolaiii dc Mois A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 29 The Duke and his wife, Dona Juana de Aragon, lived an exemplary life in the Castle of Gandia, surrounded by their numerous children, of whom it is almost certain that she who is known to posterity as the " holy Duchess " and her brother St. Francis de Borja were the eldest. As, during the subsequent troubles, the registers were destroyed it is difficult to fix the exact year of Luisa's birth ; but it is known to have been on St. Luis' s day, August 19, and Padre Norell seems to have absolutely proved that it could not have taken place later than 1512 or 1513. She was there- fore a year or two younger than her celebrated brother, who was born on October 28, 1510. The children were brought up in habits of piety and charity; one of these being that they drew lots on New Year's day for the name of a saint. When the vigil or feast of this said saint came round, the boys of the family gave a dinner to two poor men and the girls to two poor women. The Duke's benevolence was great ; he gave a third part of his fortune in alms, saying that he would sooner that his own household should want rather than Christ's poor. His sister and mother (who had been left with two children, a widow for the second time at eighteen) had withdrawn from the world to the neighbouring convent of St. Clara. These nuns had a great reputation, and 30 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II later, when Francis was Viceroy, Charles V used to tell him to consult them and beg for their advice. '* Ask your nuns to commend this business for me to God and see if they say anything about it, for I have never met persons more reliable than they are for knowing anything that is of importance to me." When Perpignan was besieged by the Dauphin in 1542 the Emperor again consulted the oracle by the same channel, and was told not to let the Germans enter the town, as if they did he would lose it ; but that, if they did not enter, God would free him from his enemies with little loss. This advice was followed with the happiest results. It was to this convent that Dofia Luisa yearned, probably all her life long, to retire. It is not difficult to understand the fascination of the quiet cloister for the childish mystic ; but it is to be hoped that her first biographer. Padre Muniesa, was drawing on his imagination when he states that this little girl of seven or eight, on returning to her father's house, " was annoyed at the ceremony and courtesies of his palace, grieved to see other people wear gay clothes and fine jewels, saddened by music and festivities, made melancholy by pleasures, em- bittered by presents, and wearied by the minis- trations of servants and the compliments of vassals." A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 31 Be this as it may, Luisa was soon to exchange fancied sorrows for real ones. The Duchess, her mother, died in 1520, and next year saw her banished from her beloved convent and home, which most probably she never saw again. All that sun-bathed shore was liable to attacks from the Moors of Algeria, who swooped down, carrying off not only all property on which they could lay their hands, but worse still, cargoes of white flesh, men, women and children, to take back to Algiers as slaves. It was in 1519 that rumours of such an invasion of all the coasts of Valencia reached Spain. Plague raged in the city of Valencia itself, and had caused all the well-to-do people to leave the town. Fer- dinand the Catholic therefore allowed the common folk to have arms that they might defend themselves, should necessity arise. The nobles, knowing themselves to be disliked by the lower orders, went to seek Charles, who was then at Barcelona, to get him to insist on the people being disarmed ; but the League of the Thirteen Artisans, as it was called, also sent representa- tives and Charles listened to them and confirmed them in their privilege to use arms. Encouraged by this, the people rose, and in July 1520 were complete masters of the city of Valencia, from whence the insurrection spread into the surrounding country, proclaiming the Germania, or Brotherhood and League of 32 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II the people, against the nobles. At the same time, in other parts, the Comuneros rose. In Aragon and Andalusia the tumult was speedily repressed; but not so in Valencia. The party of the Germania grew until nearly the whole kingdom was involved, and most of the noble families withdrew to Aragon or Andalusia. The Duke of Gandia sent his mother and sister and children by sea to Pensacola, a town on a rocky promontory only joined to the shore by a low tongue of land. To its castle the anti- Pope Pedro de Luna had retired and had died there in 1423, and Don Juan de Borja rightly thought that his family would be in safety there. He kept his eldest son, Francis, with him at home ; but after the disastrous skirmish of Gandia he was himself forced to seek refuge at Pensacola ; Francis only being saved and taken there by a faithful servant, escaping through the orchard when the mob were entering the front of the palace to sack it. News of these disasters spread through Spain without loss of time, and more fortunate relations hastened to offer asylums to the unlucky family. Old Dofia Marie de Luna, the Duke's grand- mother, who lived at Baza near Granada, wanted them to go and stay with her, while from Saragossa came an invitation from his mother- in-law, Dofia Ana de Gurrea, and her son the Archbishop to take refuge there. A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 33 The Duke at once decided not to leave Gandia himself, and to keep the younger children with him. Possibly the country may by this time have quieted down sufficiently, or, as he was a most kind master, his subjects may have come to their senses, and thus made it safe for him to return. In any case it was only for his mother and sister that he accepted the proffered hospitality of Baza, and settled that Francis and Luisa, as being the best able to bear the long, tedious journey, should go to Sara- gossa. They all had to travel by sea, as the country was still too unsettled for them to do so by land. All arrived safely at their destinations, and Francis and Luisa were joyfully welcomed by their relations in Saragossa, who took every pains, not only to make their lives happy, but to educate them. Luisa, especially, appealed to her grandmother's love by showing so many of the graces and virtues of Dona Ana's daughter, the dead Duchess. This happy time was not to last for very long, and Doiia Ana and her son were both resting in their graves in the cathedral, where their tombs are still to be seen, before Luisa came back to Aragon. As has been already told, the children's other grandmother had gone to stay with her own mother, who had then reached a great age and who never expected to see her remaining c 34 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II daughter again. The old lady's joy can be understood; nor is much imagination required to picture the long talks the two would have^ joined in by their daughter and granddaughter Sor Francisca. After the wont of grandmothers in all ages Sor Gabriela loudly sang the praises of her grandchildren Francis and Luisa, until she fired her mother with such a wish to see them before she died, that nothing would satisfy her but to get the Duke's permission for them to undertake the long journey, in spite of the oppo- sition of relations at Saragossa. It was only intended that the stay should be a short one ; but Francis fell ill and continued so for six months. During this time Baza was visited by a terrible earthquake which forced all to leave their houses and take refuge in the fields. Francis was carried on a litter as he was still ill. He remained in the open country for forty days, a tent being placed over him as a shelter, presumably because he was too ill to be carried back^ as other people had returned to their homes. This earthquake seems to have made the two nuns decide to return to their convent. Doiia Luisa, no doubt, hoped to have gone home with them ; but the Duke had accepted yet another invitation for her to stay with her mother's sister, who had married the head A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 35 of the Guzman family, the Duke of Medina Sidonia.^ Descended from Guzman el Bueno, perhaps the most heroic father in history, there is no reason to imagine that Dona Luisa's uncle was a less important personage than his predecessor, who had refused to listen to the appeal of Christopher Columbus, and of whom Major Hume writes that he " was a great magnate, who was himself almost a sovereign," who con- trolled the port of Seville and the coasts of the South, and had ships in plenty besides 40,000 armed retainers. This visit was to take her still farther away from her beloved Gandia, and part her from Francis, who, being by this time thirteen, was, according to the custom of the day, to serve his apprenticeship at the Court, where he was to be page to Doiia Catalina, the youngest sister of the Emperor, who lived with her crazy mother in the gloomy castle of Toradillas, away in the north. As the Duchess of Medina Sidonia lived at San Lucar de Barrameda, a port near Cadiz granted to the Duke's ancestors when captured from the Moors (in the same way that, for a short time, they held Gibraltar), the whole length of Spain separated this brother and ^ This family were ancestors of Catherine of Braganza, her mother being a daughter of the eighth Duke. 36 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II sister, who, it is almost certain, never met again. On Luisa's side, at any rate, the affection she felt never altered. " As your ladyship is earthly sister to Brother Francis so are you even in a greater degree in Spirit and in the wish for divine glory," wrote St. Ignatius Loyola to her many years later from Rome. Dona Luisa then sadly set out on her journey, at the end of which she was received by her aunt with much kindness. The Duchess seems to have taken the greatest care of her, and gave her as companions two noble ladies, not like the daughters of the Cid " Dona Sol y Dofia Elvira," but the sisters Juana and Elvira de Medinilla, who were adepts at all kinds of needle work, and who grew so fond of their pupil that they never left her during the remainder of her life. Her time, according to her biographer, was spent thus. On rising she retired to her oratory, and there spent a long while in prayer and meditation, afterwards attending Mass. After this "she devoted the indispensable time to her body ; but this time was as short as was her breakfast." Then came the master of reading and writing with whom she " conversed of Christian doctrine " and after further devotions, sewed until dinner. The remainder of the day was spent in working and talking with those who helped her, or in reading either books of devo- tion or romances. Those which contained jokes A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 37 or jests or idle news she hated with all her soul as a waste of time. She ended the day by telling her beads. Luisa's hopes of returning home were finally frustrated by the decision of the family that, as her father had married as a second wife the daughter of the Count of Evol (a lady by whom he subsequently had twenty more children, though several, probably, died young, as the names of only ten have come down to posterity), it was better for her to remain with her uncle and aunt as their adopted child ; indeed it seems that it was her aunt's wish to make her in truth a daughter, by wedding her to their son, the Count of Niebla. The girl's whole mind, however, was bent on returning to the convent at Gandia, and she resolved to live in her relation's palace as if she had already taken the veil. This drew the following very human document from her aunt at San Lucar to the Duke of Gandia. " Of Luisica I do not know what more to say to your lordship, than that she leaves nothing to be desired, she is no child in mind. The only consolation I have for my very good sister's death (May she rest in peace) is having Luisa here. She annoys me over one thing which I scold her for, and I wish that your lordship would scold her too with your authority as a father and help me a little, for here we cannot keep her within bounds. As she well knows, she 38 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II is ruining her health with too much austerity and mortifications which are greater than are neces- sary or than she can bear. I have told her that I am responsible for her as she is placed in my charge and that I cannot allow it. For this and other reasons I am certain that she still thinks of becoming a nun at Gandia ; but I tell her that for the present your lordship and my brother, the Archbishop, are not of this mind, nor am I, so that she must not yet think of leading a nun's life, or weaken her health, with other things that occur to me, placing scruples before her. As she is timid and gentle she improves ; but then falls back to follow her inclination and we continue to importune her. God's will be done. We all love her dearly because she deserves it. Your lordship need not feel any anxiety about the child, as you have other cares, and this one is to me as my own daughter." After Luisa's death many prayers were found in her own writing, prayers which might well, from their deep devotion and penitence, have been written by a St. Theresa, prayers in which this saintly girl in the ecstasy of her worship compares herself to Mary Magdalen or the woman of Canaan, her favourite maxim being **a quien nada se le debe, honra se le hace." (Everything is an honour to him who deserves nothing.) 1 ^ Thus Padre Norell explains this sentence. A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 39 But if her religion may appear somewhat hysterical, it was also very real and true, and enabled her cheerfully to give up the desire of her life, at the bidding of what she conceived to be her duty, and accept the youthful bride- groom chosen for her by her relations, in place of the Heavenly One on whom her whole heart was set. CHAPTER IV MEANWHILE Don Francis had been leading a far more eventful life. His career as a page ended with the marriage of Dona Catalina to King John III of Portugal, as, although she was anxious to take him in her train, the Duke of Gandia absolutely forbade this, not wishing Francis to leave Spain. So he returned for about two years to Saragossa to study with his uncle the Archbishop, who died shortly afterwards in 1530 and was succeeded as archbishop by his brother Don Ferdinand, Doha Luisa's match-making uncle. Don John of Aragon, Archbishop of Sara- gossa, died in Madrid ; he may have gone there on a visit to his nephew, as prior to this date Francis had been ordered by his father to return to the Court, which was at that time unusually brilliant owing to the fact that Charles was not away on any campaign, and also to the festivities due to the welcome arrival of Prince Philip. The Emperor and Empress made much of this youth of seventeen, who had no friends but those of good report, and who was so wonderful 40 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 41 a horseman that of the two modes of riding in vogue in Spain at that time, if the palm of the " brida " was given to Charles himself, the " jinete " was adjudged to Francis, who fre- quently won the prizes at the various games on horseback which were then so much in fashion, and which were played to amuse the Emperor. No doubt Francis was at Valladolid on the summer's day when the Count of Ribagorza rode in to attend the royal christening, and it is almost certain that he would have seen and talked to his relative ; but there is no reason to think that there was any idea of the marriage of the year-old Don Martin to Doha Luisa, who then must have been a girl in her teens ; in- deed it is more natural to imagine that Francis was taken up with his own matrimonial arrange- ments, particularly as these did not at first meet with his father's approval. His bride, Dofia Leonor de Castro, was chosen for him by Empress Isabel herself, who thought she could do her favourite lady no greater kindness than wed her to the gifted, steady and virtuous young man. Apparently Doiia Leonor was of the same mind, as it is recorded of her that she was "humble, discreet, and devout and a great admirer of her husband whom she tried to imitate in everything." Perhaps as a wedding present the Emperor 42 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II created Francis Marquis of Lombay ; by which name it will be recalled he is mentioned as having attended Prince Philip during the child's first ride. When Empress Isabel died at Toledo on May i, 1539, her end was, as her husband wrote some months later, " so sudden and precipitate that it gave her no opportunity of being able to satisfy individual claims." She did, however, it appears, find time to express a wish that Don Francis and his wife should accompany her coffin on the last journey to Granada, there to be buried in the Chapel of " los Reyes Catolicos " ; a wish which the bereaved Emperor also shared. The cortege arrived at its destination on May 7 ; but on the 6th at noon Francis, it is told, had a strange experience. He thought that his grandmother Sor Gabriela appeared to him robed in glory, and that coming near to him she said lovingly, "It is time, my son, to begin to climb the road God has prepared in which you may serve Him," and then ascended into space. Probably it was not until after he had been some days at Granada that he would have heard from his aunt Sor Francisca, now Abbess of the convent at Gandia, that his grandmother had died at the very hour he had seen the vision. The story is given without comment as it is written in the life of the " Santa Duquesa " ; A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 43 but, if there is any foundation for it, it would make what passed the next day at Granada the more easy to understand. It was late in the afternoon when the end of the journey was reached, and the Marquis of Lombay had to fulfil the last duty of giving over the royal corpse. To do this he had to unlock and open the coffin. What wonder is it that to this high-strung man, his nerves unhinged by the long, sad pilgrimage, and possibly by the experience of the previous day, the contrast of the intense vitality of a southern spring with the havoc death had wrought, should have made him fix his eyes on those of the dead Empress, which had " but lately been so bright " as if he could not remove his gaze, and then exclaim in the well-known words, " Never more, never more will I serve a lord who can die," An oft told tale, still always a dramatic one. There is no need to give the least credence to the legend, which Isabel's latest Portugese biographer ^ says will always hang like golden dust round her memory, that a romantic attach- ment had existed between her and Francis. Isabel is often spoken of as if she had been beautiful ; but, judging from her pictures, this does not appear to have been the case. There are several portraits of her in existence. Many will remember the one of her in the Prado ^ Count de Sabugosa. 44 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II Gallery, painted by Titian after her death from descriptions and sketches. It shows a fair, fragile looking woman, whose " sad, sweet smile, vague, lymphatic eyes and high forehead give to the face a character of far-away ideality, such as marked so many members of her race." ^ Just two months after her death the Emperor wrote the already quoted letter, confirming Don Martin's appointment as page to Prince Philip, and it was in the autumn of the same year that the former set out with his father for San Lucar to meet his appointed bride and to sign the articles of the alliance which was to unite the scions of the Royal House of Aragon. This fact was, possibly, the reason why the strange marriage met with so much approval, even from saintly persons like Sor Francisca and the Marquis of Lombay ; only of poor Luisa it is told that she was " somewhat perturbed " ; but that she kept her feelings to herself, not to distress her uncle and aunt. With all possible courtesy the Duke and Duchess of Medina Sidonia welcomed the travel- lers when they arrived in the last days of 1539 or early in the New Year. Don Alonso Felipe, it is related, was simply enchanted with his pro- spective daughter-in-law for her " majesty and modesty, dignified simplicity and honourable reserve," which made her appear rather "a 1 Major Martin Hume. A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 45 dignified matron and mother of a family than a spinster" who was about to give her hand to so young a boy. Under the circumstances these appear strange reasons for congratulation. The marriage articles were signed on January 12, 1540, at four o'clock in the afternoon in the presence of the Duke and Duchess of Medina Sidonia, their son the Conde of Niebla, the Count of Ribagorza and the two most interested par- ties, Don Martin and Dofia Luisa. In quaint old Spanish the Duke tells Don Martin that because **the Duchess my wife and I have brought her up and because we love her as much as a real daughter, I have stipulated with the Lord Count your father to give you with her as dower and marriage portion twelve cuentos of maravedis, to be paid in instal- ments under the usual conditions, as shall be declared, and, as you desire that this said marriage shall take place, I promise to give you as dower and marriage portion with the said lady Dofia Luisa de Aragon and as her dower, twelve cuentos of maravedis paid in the following manner ; four cuentos to be in jewels of gold, precious stones, pearls and silver and in clothes, brocades and silk, valued as in the form that is agreed on and stipulated for between the said Lord Count your father and me, all of which I will give and make over to the said lady Dofia 46 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II Luisa de Aragon as her property^ as soon as you are pledged to her by word, and two other cuentos I will give at the end of three months from the day you are wedded and receive the blessing of the Church and take the said lady Dona Luisa to your house ; and in regard to your marriage to the said lady Doha Luisa de Aragon it is to take place two years hence from this day and not before. The other six cuentos I will pay in four years counting from the date of the payment of the two cuentos." There are various papers existing in the family archives to prove that this dower was not finally obtained without difficulty. Don Alonso Felipe, on his part, promised the Barony of Torrellas which brought in about 1000 " Castilian gold pieces " a year, which was to be Don Martin's when he reached the age of 22. He also promised his son, after his own death, the County of Ribagorza with all its appurtenances, and the inheritance of the Countess his mother which had comprised Luna, Erla and Sora, with their seven villages including Pedrola and, after the death of Don Martin's own mother, two more places, Alcala and Granent at that time forming part of her jointure. To all this was to be added after Don Alonso Felipe's demise ** and not before" the new house in Saragossa and all the fortresses and castles in the County of Ribagorza, its A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 47 vassals, men and women, its civil and criminal jurisdiction and all woods, pastures, granges, crops, rents and emoluments. Don Martin was to settle 6000 golden ducats on his wife. The list of Dona Luisa's jewels is given with great minuteness ; each item being appraised at its value, which is given in ducats and mara- vedis, and the number of gems in each article exactly stated. The most precious of these was a large emerald set in a golden rose enamelled white, valued at 3000 ducats or 1,125,000 mara- vedis ; a gold cross set with emeralds and pearls following at 1500 ducats ; besides these there was another cross set with diamonds, two bracelets with rubies, diamonds and pearls ; a gold necklace and a collar with rubies, diamonds and pearls. Two " cintas " (head dresses), one with pearls and diamonds, the other of gold " without strings." A golden book cover enam- elled outside with deeds of St. John the Baptist and St. James, inside with the Descent from the Cross and the Entombment of Christ. A silver and black velvet saddle and mule trap- pings to match, and a grey mule. Her wardrobe comprised 148 J yards of yellow cloth of gold in four pieces at ten ducats the yard, io5|- of crimson satin at three and a half ducats, twenty- five yards of crimson at six ducats, twenty-three yards of grey velvet, and nine and a half yards of 48 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II grey satin ; a gown of white brocade which was valued at 300 ducats. Four bodices, one cut low of crimson velvet, and two more of crimson, and one of striped tawny satin, a front of bro- caded velvet and two black velvet gowns. A pale pink gown of silk or cloth, trimmed with pink velvet and cloth of silver. (Could this be the pink underdress trimmed with silver in which she was painted by Rolam de Mois some twenty years later ?) A dress of black damask and a "saboyana," or full dress, of black satin which only cost 30 ducats, so the white brocade must have been very gorgeous to be worth ten times as much. On Dofia Luisa was also bestowed a black embroidered garment with the baffling name of " slaura," which cost the same price as two black velvet gowns, namely eighty ducats, and a black velvet " mongil," probably a loose robe with open sleeves. Besides all these stipulated goods with which it is said that ** don martin y dofia luysa de aragon " declared themselves satisfied, the bride was further given by her munificent uncle and aunt, a rosary of jet set in gold, a gold pomander, two and a half dozen of gold hair pins and more gowns of damask and cloth, a ** marlota," probably a sort of dressing-gown of black velvet ; a hoop of tawny velvet, and a half hoop of black velvet. The long list ends with two " martas " A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 49 — no doubt the highly ornamented skins which ladies then used to take with them to Church and elsewhere, in the hopes that vermin would be enticed away from attacking them. Mary Queen of Scots possessed no less than five of these skins. In the recently exhibited picture of Queen Isabel de la Paz she is holding one of these " martas," which were called in German " Flohwedel " and in Itahan " Pellecini." ' To avoid future lawsuits and difficulties it was agreed as both Don Martin and Dofia Luisa were Aragonese and were to live in Aragon, that two lawyers should see the articles to make certain they were in conformity with the " fueros " of that kingdom. This plan was carried out during the following autumn, one *' micer " being chosen by the Archbishop of Saragossa to repesent Dofia Luisa and one for Don Martin, appointed by his father. All these important matters being settled, the two guests left San Lucar ; Don Martin, it is thought, returning to complete his studies at Compostella, leaving Dofia Luisa to enjoy what she, no doubt, considered her respite of two years before the final sacrifice of all her hopes was to be accomplished. 1 I am indebted to Mrs. Nuttall for this information. — A. M. M. CHAPTER V IT has already been stated more than once that Don Martin and Dona Luisa were cousins in the third degree. A dispensa- tion for their marriage was therefore necessary ; this was conceded by Paul III from Rome in 1541, and the bull still exists in the family archives. The exact date of the wedding is not known, though it must have taken place in 1542. Authorities differ even as to where it was celebrated, Sefior Melida saying that two writers affirm that it was in San Lucar, while, to quote Padre Norell, " for greater solemnity Luisa's uncle and aunt settled that such a notable event should take place in their palace at Medina Sidonia." One fact, however, is certain, which is that the wedding was made the opportunity for much pomp and ceremony. *' Let the liveries be rich, costly and magnificent," Don Alonso Felipe instructs his steward, *^as there are occasions on which a gentleman should make a display." It may be taken for granted that the dresses 50 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 51 of the bridal pair were no less gorgeous, but no account of them is preserved, though the following word pictures of their persons and appearance are given ; " Don Martin at the time of his marriage, although too young, was of a charming disposition, plucky, intelligent, brave and clever in all the exercises suited to a great gentleman, enjoying robust health ; he had black hair, a long white face and somewhat weak eyesight." '' Naturally strong though somewhat worn by her austerities ; of heavy build, though not out of proportion and above the ordinary height, elegant without offence to modesty, with long hands, pale complexion and dull fair hair, a quiet dignified face, commanding bright blue eyes, arched eyebrows, a rather aquiline nose and a well-shaped mouth. Such is the picture," concludes Luisa's biographer, " which is preserved in her portraits, and which can be almost recognized in her uncorrupted corpse." The wedding festivities over, the time came for this ill-assorted couple to begin their home- ward journey. Was this the first journey Doha Luisa had taken since she came from Baza, nearly twenty years earlier, or had she returned meanwhile to Gandia on a short visit ? Padre Muniesa, her first biographer, says not, but at the same time gives a story which could only 52 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II apply to her step-mother's children and which is too characteristic of the period not to be told here. One of the youngest girls, quarrelling over a toy, slapped her little brother Thomas, who already wore an ecclesiastical habit. Dofia Luisa reproved the child with such grave words, that for life, as she afterwards averred, she was imbued with the veneration and respect due to priests. Two of these brothers received cardinal's hats successively, at the ages of eighteen and nineteen ; but neither survived the honour many months. These dignities were conferred by the Pope Paul III, who wished thereby to show his gratitude to the family of his benefactor Alexander VI, who was a Borgia. In his " Discourses " Don Martin treats very learnedly of cardinal's hats, which he considered the lineal descendants of those the pontiffs of old Rome wore as a mark of their high office. All this has little to do with the farewells which had to be said to the uncle and aunt who had so well replaced her parents for Luisa. One last favour she begged, which was that the Medinillas might accompany her. To this wish her aunt acceded, and the two sisters not only went with her, but never again left their former pupil, and it was to one of them that Dofia Luisa confided her children when she died. This arranged, the brave company set out. History does not relate whether Doiia Luisa 1H).\ MARTIN I)E C.URREA Y ARAGc')N, COUNT OF RIBAGORZA, DUKE OK VILI.AHERMOSA I'vom hnpo7-t>-a!t hy Rolam ,h- Mo/s in t/u llUa/uymosa Palace. MacMd A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 53 rode the grey mule on the silver and black velvet saddle or went in a litter ; but it was most likely that she chose the latter mode of conveyance, for it is related that the " expedition was made with great splendour and magnifi- cence/' as was decorous for such exalted person- ages. Saragossa was reached at the end of the long journey, and here not only Don Martin's father and mother but also the Archbishop extended a warm welcome to the newly married couple, who lodged in the palace of the Count of Ribagorza — it may be presumed " the new house " which was to be theirs one day. Doha Luisa must have missed the kind grand- mother and uncle who had made her former visit to Saragossa so pleasant, and the place must have evoked thoughts of the brother from whom fate had parted her for so many years ; but she had not much time for such natural reflections, as they only stayed in the city long enough for the necessary visits of ceremony, and then retired with the Count and Countess to Pedrola, which was a day's journey from Saragossa, about twenty miles. It was between Saragossa and Pedrola that the remainder of Luisa's life was passed, the young people always living with Don Martin's family, so, as the marriage articles provided that they should live in the Barony of Torellas, it 54 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II would seem that the Count and Countess really loved their daughter-in-law. Very few of the Count of Ribagorza's numer- ous family remained at home at the time of Doiia Luisa's marriage. Two or three daughters had died young, one was already a nun, and the others had married. The eldest. Dona Aldonza, must have been at the Court at the same time as Don Martin, as she was lady-in-waiting to the Empress at the time of her death ; and her father made a claim that more than the five hundred ducats given to the other ladies had been promised to her. She was allowed fifteen hundred ducats. It is curious that the claim should have been made by her father Don Alonso Felipe, as Doha Aldonza had been married since 1533 to the Viscount of Evol. The Count's second wife, Doha Isabel de Espes, had died soon after marriage in giving birth to a son who did not survive. Of the present Countess's daughters two only were living at Pedrola, Dona Francisca, who did not marry till much later, and Doha Marina, whose beauty caused poets to write sonnets in her honour, and who had been lady to the Empress ; but owing to illness had had to return home; she was betrothed to the Duke of Alcala, but died young, not, however, for some years after this date or until she had been god- mother to Dofia Luisa's first daughter. The A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 55 remaining two daughters, Dona Catalina and Dona Angela, were at school at Bonavia, a place adjoining Pedrola where Don Martin's grand- father spent the last days of his life. To-day an olive grove, Bonavia was then a pleasant country house with great gardens and avenues, woods for hunting, olive yards, and very fine pine trees. At the old Duke of Luna's death the Count of Ribagorza gave this country house for a convent and school for noble maidens, placing it under the rule of St. Bernard ; and there Don Martin's two sisters were being educated ; the youngest Dofia Angela dying there later. Dofia Catalina, like her sister Marina, was famed for her good looks, and later was lady-in-waiting to Doila Juana, sister to Philip II, in Valladolid ; she too appears to have died young. Doha Luisa was very kind to her sisters-in- law and used to visit them at their school and see that they were provided with all they wanted. In fact the family life at this time seems to have been very happy ; Dofia Luisa leading much the same existence that she did at San Lucar. As was only natural, considering his age, Don Martin sometimes caused the exercise of tact to be necessary. For instance, when, as frequently was the case, neighbouring worthies came to Pedrola to call, instead of remaining politely to 56 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II entertain them as their importance demanded, he went to amuse himself with other boys of his own age. This caused vexation to poor Luisa, who was really mortified, although she tried to make all possible excuses to the guests. It is also more than hinted at that she had besides a real cause for jealousy, and that for this she took him to task, praying over what she was to say, so as not to let natural feelings run away with her tongue. The birth of a little son on January 26, 1543, made the " flames of his love and respect " burn cheerfully again on the domestic hearth. This the Count de Gimera declares to be the meaning of the motto and device he assumed at his marriage : " Lucemque metumque" and the ''lightning of Jupiter"; probably evolved during his period of study at Compost ela. Devices were apt to be oracular ; that of his grandfather, the Duke of Luna, was not less so. It was assumed at the time of his unmerited disgrace, and was supposed to put all gossiping tongues to silence. It consisted of a gimlet (taladro) and the words " que no mordio " which made the rebus '* Tal ladro que no mordio," " Thus he bored as he did not bite." It will be remembered that the Duke of Buckingham's motto " Doresnavant " was supposed to have caused Henry VIII to think that he aspired to A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 57 to the throne of England and to have hastened his downfall. Don Alonso Felipe was overjoyed at the arrival of this heir, who was called John Alonso, after his two grandfathers, and who was suc- ceeded by another boy named Ferdinand, and in 1547 t>y a sister called Ana. It was in this latter year that Don Martin went to the Cortes which were held in Saragossa by Prince Philip, representing his father. This was the first time the two had met since child- hood. These Cortes were the occasion of much public rejoicing. The Prince entered the city on June 15, and on the 19th the Archbishop, after a solemn mass in the Cathedral, gave a great banquet in his palace to Philip and other great personages ; according to the etiquette of the time, he first waited on the Prince, saying grace at the end of the repast ; then, descending to another chamber, he himself dined with the Admiral of Castille and other magnates, includ- ing Don Martin, while the rest of the company, to the number of nine hundred, were regaled meanwhile in other rooms. The day ended with a bull fight and a review and illuminations in the grounds where the festival was held, round which Prince Philip rode twice " saluting the ladies." Don Alonso Felipe spent much of his time 58 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II now at the Monastery of Veruela, and in 1549 he made a pilgrimage to Rome to " gain the Jubilee." Clement VII received him with much honour, making him lodge in his palace and granting him many indulgences for his family to the fourth generation, as well as to those who accompanied him. The Pope also presented him with a thorn from the Crown of Thorns, which was preserved with great reverence at Pedrola until the place was sacked during the Peninsular war. The next year (1550) the Count died at Saragossa on November 13, in his house in the Street of the Preachers. His wife and Don Martin and also Doiia Luisa were present when he passed peacefully away, his last moments soothed by the devotion and piety of his daughter-in-law. In his will he left very precise instructions for his funeral, which was to be conducted with the greatest simplicity, and to take place on the day after his demise. Thirteen poor persons in white were to accompany the cortege and only three candles, more he did not wish for, and these only as a token " of respect to the Cross." He desired to be buried in the ground, without pomp or coffin, near the High Altar of the Church at Bonavia, so that as quickly as possible he should become dust. These wishes, however, were not carried out, and his obsequies " were the most solemn and A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 59 sumptuous that were seen up till then for a private lord in Saragossa," the Chapter of the Cathedral accompanying the coffin to the ** Portillo " gate of the city, and his son and a crowd of gentlemen, monks, and clergy following it to Pedrola, where the funeral took place ; the Church at Bonavia not being built ; in fact it was destined never to be. There is a quaint little story told about Don Alonso Felipe, which shows that if, at times, he could be violent, he could also control himself under great provocation. Walking one day through the streets of Benabarre, the capital of his county, a man appeared at the window of one of the houses and carelessly threw sweepings down over the Count. Those walking with him wanted to go and punish the man, but Don Alonso Felipe, quite unperturbed, checked them, saying " Let him alone, he will be very repentant before you can reach him." This side of his character is shown in his will, where he directs, " Item, if I have, through anger and annoyance, exiled persons from my lands, or made prisoners and done other things without reason which I do not remember, and about which my conscience has some scruples, I beg all that have blamed me for this to for- give me to please God. This may be said from the pulpits." Among its more mundane items he leaves as a 6o A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II " special favour " to his wife " all his furniture, jewels, gold and silver, tapestry, artillery, animals, horses, mules, bulls, mares, foals and beasts of burden," and all salary and debts due to him from the Emperor. In the same way he left a silver gilt dish to Don Martin, and ordered that a special canopy should be given to one of his daughters, as a pledge until Don Martin should pay her a certain sum. To the son of his eldest daughter he left a dagger with a gold and ivory handle which had been given him by his first wife, and to other grand- daughters medals, one of which it is noted was among those pledged to Pedro Moreo, but if it was not redeemed she was to be given some other one to the value of ten or fifteen ducats. He left Bonavia to his wife, asking her to finish the Convent School and to build the Church of St. Ana there, and he also wished two daughters to be sisters of this community ; to these he left a gold watch which had belonged to the Archbishop John, a prayer book with silver clasps which had been his father's, a psalter with gold, which at Dona Francisca's death was to be used for saying the Offices in the said school ; which appears to have been given up at his death. After making provision for his daughters he left everything to his son Don Martin Gurrea y de Aragon, who was to put the arms of A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 6i Gurrea ^ on the right and the name before that of Aragon, and who therefore became Count of Ribagorza, lord of nearly a dozen more baronies and a grandee of Spain of the highest rank and representative for the Kingdom of Aragon. Even before his father's death he had at times acted as his deputy, and there are orders of his of that date still existing among the family papers ; the oldest commands some of the townsfolk to finish some houses that had been begun in the " Campo de Toro " and which besides being disagreeable to their neighbours, made the street ugly. Here is another, '* The very illustrious Don Martin of Aragon, as governor for the very illustrious lord Count of Ribagorza, orders that no one of whatever condition in this town of Pedrola or its confines shall dare to play cards or with dice, on pain of five * sueldos ' to be taken, without mercy, from each of the players and from the master of the house where they played, from both of these as they must have given cards or dice to play with, and for this there should be a search in such a wise that even should they not be playing, if they have information on the oath of at least one person, even a woman, that they have played, the same penalty shall take effect, which shall be divided into three parts, ^ On this name he had written a poem much too long to quote. 62 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II the first for the said lord Martin, the second for the oihcial who executes the order and the third for the informer and he who points out the games or players, and he who has not five sueldos to pay with, being found guilty, shall suffer two days' imprisonment in the dungeon ; but, if anyone asks leave to play of the Mayor, his lordship can give it if he chooses, if the game is in public, where the said Mayor directs; and so that no one should feign ignorance it is ordered to be cried at the usual places in this town. I, Don Martin." It may be that there was good cause for such severity ; but Don Martin had a great dislike to gaming, and severely censured and even dis- missed servants who were addicted to it. He was not tempted to err in this way himself, as cards bored him so much that if he were forced to play, he fell asleep with the cards in his hands. It would appear that Doiia Luisa also helped with his business, as in one of her letters, written to her brother-in-law, the Viscount of Evol, asking for a post for one Alverez, she concludes by saying, " Don Martin, my lord, kisses your honour's hand and begs that this arrangement may be made, as I do. Your Grace's servant, Doha Luisa." CHAPTER VI RIBAGORZA was a thorny inheritance. When during the summer that his father was in Rome Don Martin made " an universal visitation " of its chief places, accompanied by a lawyer, one Micer Bernardino de Bordalva, an account of which still exists, the object of the journey being to collect bad debts and also do justice to " many poor persons who had long demanded it," he found much to redress and many abuses to suppress. Possibly Don Alonso Felipe had allowed matters to go on with too much laxity during his long retreats in the Monastery of Veruela ; any- how, the visitation had given much offence to the vassals of the county, which contained about four thousand inhabitants, and they began to agitate that it might revert to the Crown ; from which they said King John had only separated it as a gift to his son, to the fourth generation ; adding also that when this took place the charter conferred on them the right of choosing their overlord. Old historians, however, deny that it contained this clause. All this exactly suited the centralizing policy 63 64 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II then being pursued, and the Crown ordered that lawyers should examine the title by which the Counts of Ribagorza held the estate. Since his father's death the Emperor had appointed Don Martin Alcalde of the town of Daroca, on January 25, 1552, and two months later the new Count writes to the *' Sacred Caesarian Majesty " from Saragossa, giving an account of his stewardship as a loyal vassal, and of a fortress in Val de Aran, which apparently he had maintained with his own money, and now found that his means would not allow him to continue to do so. When the news of the investigation into his title to Ribagorza reached Don Martin, he naturally wished to make the most he could, not only of his rights, but also of his interest and power at Court. So he not only sent Caspar de Bardaji as his attorney but also wrote to Antonio Perez, secretary to Prince Philip, at this time acting as Regent of Spain for the Emperor, absent in Flanders. Antonio Perez was himself an Aragonese. The legitimatized son of a former royal secretary, he was, at this time, high in the Prince's favour. Clever and unscrupulous, he no doubt possessed great fascination, and for many years was one of the most important personages at the Court of Philip II, where he exercised a lavish hospi- tality. Although married to a devoted wife he, A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 65 for years, carried on an intrigue with the widow of Ruy Gomez, the Princess of Evoli ; to whose charms it was whispered Phihp himself was not indifferent. It is probably this fact which sealed the fate of the luckless Escovedo, who had discovered the liaison, and who, as a retainer of Ruy Gomez, was furious at the insult to his master's memory. Perez was especially false to his former friend Don John of Austria, and as there is a great similarity between the letters he wrote to beguile the unfortunate Prince, and those he addressed to the family at Pedrola, probably he was not more sincere in his friendly wishes to them than he was to the hero of Lepanto. From his answer it would appear that Don Martin's letter had been accompanied by a pre- sent, a gift which the crafty secretary evidently thought it more prudent to refuse, although, if scandal speaks truly, this was not his wont. However, he declares that if he had been offered all Don Martin's property he could not feel more obliged, and as a true servant he begs Don Martin to have a little more patience ; that he received the letters and talked over the matter with Don Sanchode Castilla, to whom also it had been commended ; that no one could have better shown the excess committed by the inhabitants of Ribagorza than Gaspar de Bar- daji, when he talked to Prince Philip, who had £ 66 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II forbidden them to have meetings; that the Prince wished Don Martin to do the same and desire Gaspar Bardaji to act with the prudence and moderation the occasion demanded, so that nothing untoward or scandalous should happen, which would be against Don Martin's own inter- ests and that the Prince would be pleased if he would do this ; that as regarded a certain Don Guillen and others who had taken shelter in Benabarre and in the country, Bardaji would say what happened with the Prince, through Antonio Perez, and what he replied and how delighted Antonio Perez was about this. He then continues, " As regards the other business of the water of Saragossa, his Highness gave me the letter and memorial you had written, and ordered me to let the Council see it, being the correct course : up to now they have come to no decision. I will try to hasten the matter, although in affairs of this kind how can it be done ? If what is asked is right (although perhaps not so much the right thing as that I wished to serve your lordship) when something is resolved Don Sancho will take care to let you know." As he has talked at length to Don Sancho, who would see Don Martin shortly, he would write no more. This long letter was written from Valladolid on November 26, 1553.^ While the Council are deliberating it will 1 National Library, Madrid. A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 6^ be well to turn back two years and tell of an event which to Dona Luisa must have seemed of almost more importance than the destinies of Ribagorza. On January 15, 1551, her brother Don Francis, now Duke of Gandia through the death of their father eight years previously, wrote from Rome to ask. the Emperor's leave to resign his estates in favour of his eldest son Charles, in order that he might enter the Company of Jesus ; and then went to Ohate and Loyola to await the permission, which arrived in less than a month. From the moment when, standing by the bier of the dead Empress, her altered features had so startled him, Francis had had but one wish or thought — to enter religion. In fact his aunt writes of this time as " the period of his conversion." One insuperable objection, however, stood in the way, namely that he was married ; so he outwardly went on with the old life, first as Viceroy of Catalonia, then as lord of Gandia after his father's death ; but to quote the naive statement in the life of Dofia Luisa, " Heaven freed him from his wife by calling her to Itself " on March 27, 1546. It is to be hoped that the poor woman never knew that in an ecstasy of self abnegation the Duke had prayed that she might die, if it were for the good of his own soul. 68 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II A history of the Jesuits is far beyond the scope of this book ; but at the same time it may not be amiss to recall that the Society was then quite in its infancy. It was only a few years earlier that the young soldier, tossing about on his sick bed, had been driven to read the " Lives of the Saints " for want of other literature, and who, once more restored to health, found himself a cripple for life. After a period of contemplation at Montserrat he had gone to Paris, where he had gathered a little band around him, a few young men who wished to lead the higher life, and who had chosen Ignatius de Loyola as their Captain. It was exactly the brotherhood to appeal most strongly to a nature like that of the Duke of Gandia : the more the contrast to his present life, the greater would be the attraction, and he gladly welcomed first one member and then another of the Company at Gandia, and made his profession on February i, 1548, and three years later gave up his estates. Not content with this he used his influence to persuade his relations to establish houses for the Order, or Colleges as they were called, on their properties, writing to the Duke and Duchess of Medina Sidonia and to Dofia Luisa, and giving a house that he owned in Saragossa for the purpose. Doiia Luisa, it need hardly be said, joyfully A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 69 welcomed the idea. That it was her brother's wish was enough for her, and she did her utmost to estabHsh the Society in the Kingdom of Aragon, especially in Pedrola, which was largely inhabited by Moors, ** new Christians " as they were called, who were so in little but the name. To instruct these she hoped to induce two " persons of this Company " (so its founder names them at this time) to come. The paucity of numbers of the new Society did not, however, admit of this plan being carried out ; though two members, at least, visited the Countess. The founding of a college at Saragossa seems to have met with opposition from the Archbishop and his Vicar General ; but Luisa secured them a home at last in the Convent of St. Agnes, and adorned the Chapel for them, having the furni- ture made in the house of Pedrola. It was not merely the spiritual welfare of her lord's vassals that Dofia Luisa cared for, and memories of her charity still linger in the country-side. There is a pretty legend told about her ; that during a year of scarcity she did all she could to relieve the suffering of the people in Pedrola first, and, as the news of her almsgiving spread, also of those attracted from the neighbourhood, until her house would no longer afford room for them all. Helped by her servants and others she not only gave the hungry folks dinner and 70 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II money to buy supper, with her own hands, at times kissing their feet as a sign of devotion and humihty, but she accompanied the gifts with kind words, and began by praying with them and giving them rehgious instruction. Prudent busy- bodies were not lacking who warned Don Martin that if this lavish charity continued his garners would become empty. On this Doiia Luisa invited him to come with her and visit the barns, and all saw with amazement that these contained more grain than they did before. The Duke of Gandia had gone to Rome about six months earlier in order to confer with Ignatius Loyola, who had wished to call together the new Society in order to inform the members of its laws. This journey appears to have been a source of much vexation to Dofia Luisa ; in the first place she seems to have thought that he would never return to Spain, and moreover she fancied that she had been purposely left ignorant that it was to take place. The affection of the Borja family for each other is really remarkable when it is remembered that the brother and sister had not met for thirty years, nor had the aunt Sor Francisca, now Lady Abbess of St. Clare's Convent, probably seen Doha Luisa more recently. Their bond of union was letters, and these seem always to have been sent by a faithful old retainer called Rolando Monzon, who was nicknamed Samson. A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 71 " I did not know of Samson's departure," writes the Lady Abbess to her niece in September 1549, " until I read it in your letter ; I neither heard of his coming or going, because your brother the Duke is so taken up with his good works that I seldom see him." She now writes to scold and cheer poor Luisa. " There seem many reasons, my child," she says, " not to take this so much to heart ; you do not lose his presence, as you did not enjoy it ; you can converse with him in Rome by letter ; there is no peril of the sea as he goes by land. He has not deprived us of the hope of his return to Spain, please God. Therefore, if your affection murmurs about not being informed, do not give way to it, because he did think of you and his children, and sent good Father John Tejade to tell you and reassure you about his departure, knowing him to be the person who would do so best." She then goes on to explain that the messenger had, while on his way to Pedrola and Gandia, fainted while saying mass, and had been taken so ill that two days later, without any pain, saying his prayers as quietly as if in his own cell, he had "expired like a little chick." Doiia Luisa's fears had been groundless ; the Duke was now back in Spain, having left Rome secretly, as he feared that the Pope would make him a cardinal ; so, like Don John of Austria, 72 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II but for very different reasons, to avoid the honour, he ran away, and at the College of Ohate, after reading the Emperor's letter, he publicly, by writing, resigned his estates, titles, revenues, and vassals in favour of his eldest son, keeping nothing for himself. This done, he cut off his beard, donned the cassock of the Society, and took Orders. He did not, however, officiate until the following August, and Dofia Luis a meantime had leisure to embroider, with the help of the Medinilla sisters, a chasuble in which he might say his first mass. Many loving thoughts must have been sewed into the flowers and arabesques as they grew under her long fingers. When finished it was dispatched by a servant, and duly arrived at its destination, as a letter from Padre Araoz, written on June 25, 1551, informed the donor " The Count's servant has just arrived : I was reading your ladyship's letter, when Father Don Francis, who wishes only to be called Francis, without even Don, came in and he read it before me " ; it goes on to say that since Francis had been a priest " and since he renounced his position, he is so happy and contented that it makes one praise the Lord to see him," and further on " The vestment well represents the sender. Oh if your ladyship could have heard the father and son (Don Juan de Borja) when they saw it, and all the father said about its being too grand for a poor man ! " CIIASUHI.K K.MliKOlDKRED I'OR SI'. l-KAiNClS DK liOKJA HV ins SISTER DONA LUISA Nii-iv in the Jesuit College nt Loyola, Spain A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 73 He did, however, use it when he celebrated his first mass the following August i at Loyola, and as happily silks were then made to last and stitches firmly set, the vestment still exists and is preserved in the Jesuits' College there. Later on his aunt, the Lady Abbess, sent Father Francis a present through Luisa, a little broom for him to use daily for sweeping his cell. The good aunt seems to have been very certain of her nephew's affection for her, as she writes later to Dofia Luisa, " I am an enemy of cere- mony especially with my child. Be certain that I am the more pleased, as I take it for a greater sign of love when he does not write to me than when he does ; I know he is busy, and that he does not the less cease to be my child than I his mother. I have seen a very good likeness of your brother ; but it does not console me, rather the opposite, to see this figure without his soul, which is what I most love and which is of the greatest value." As was only natural the conversion of a great personage like the Duke of Gandia into humble Father Francis produced no small sensation, and so many people crowded to see him, that his wish for retirement was frustrated. Among others who came was Don Martin. Brother Francis was to have gone to Saragossa; 74 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II but the heat of the weather, and the fever from which he suffered seems to have prevented this, and he wrote to say that the doctor had ordered him to the seaside, only a very short journey from Ofiate. It is time to tell of the far longer journey his brother-in-law was to take in the summer of 1554 which kept him away from home for five long years. Don Martin probably feared, though he cannot have known the result of the investigations into his title to Ribagorza when he settled to accompany Prince Philip on his journey to England. Doubtless he went to gain the Prince's ear, though possibly it was thought advisable that he should not stay at Pedrola to be tempted to do anything hasty or rash to his vassals of Ribagorza. He left the lawsuit in the hands of his mother Dona Ana, and everything else, including the administration of the county, in the care of Doha Luisa. It is thought that he took his eldest son with him as far as Valladolid, as the child was made *' menino " that summer to Dona Juana, Prince Philip's sister, who was to be Governess of Spain during his absence. Two little daughters and three sons remained at Pedrola with their mother, and it is one of these sons who wrote the history from which much of the information in this book is derived. A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 75 Not many days after the Count's departure another child was added to the family^ a girl, for whom the three eldest children were sponsors and who was called Inez, Long years after- wards Philip II was to meet her accidentally, as will be told in its proper place. CHAPTER VII "'W'T is easy to meet with something one I wishes to find, so the Court lawyers M discovered if not rights, at any rate pretexts, by which they decided that the fief had terminated and that Don Martin of Aragon held it unlawfully." These words written by the Marquis de Pidal in his history of the dis- turbances of Aragon in the time of Philip II are quoted by Sefior Melida, and put the whole case in a nutshell. The result of this finding was that Prince Philip, who had got as far as Zamora on his journey to the coast, wrote, on June 6, 1554, the following communication to Don Martin, which must have reached Pedrola after he had started. ** That the fief of the County of Ribagorza was the direct possession and allodium of his Majesty, who, as the exalted Don Martin de Gurrea y Aragon pretended that it belonged to him, had ordered that it should be placed in royal sequestration, according to the usages, constitutions, and customs of Catalonia, and also had ordered the usual letters of requisition to be written to the effect that the said Don 76 A PLAYMATE OF jPHILIP II -j^ Martin was not to interfere in the said fief, nor enter it, and that the vassals of the said county must not pay rents to him, either in money or kind ; but take them to the Royal court." The bailiff general of Aragon was ordered to take possession of the county in person, in the name of the Emperor ; this he did at the capital, Benabarre, and having assembled the Council General of the county, he told them of the royal commands, to which all present agreed, and the matter was thus settled on June 25, 1554. This information must have missed Don Martin at Pedrola ; but when it did reach him he resolved to appeal to the Aragonese law courts and to oppose the intention of the Crown. It is not known where Don Martin offered his services to his old master, whether he went direct to Corunna, or, as is more probable, first to Valladolid. The object of the Prince's journey was his marriage to Queen Mary Tudor of England. He set out from Valladolid on May 14, and went to receive Dofia Juana, his widowed sister, who was returning from Portugal to act as regent. He met her at Alcantara, and then went to Zamora, from whence he wrote the peremptory notice to Don Martin, pursuing his journey to Benavente, where the Count of that place held 78 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II high festival. Leaving this on June 9, he entered Santiago on the 22nd beneath triumphal arches, through streets hung with tapestry and amid salvos of artillery. Here in the Royal Hospital, where the English ambassadors were lodged, he next day held a reception, and two days later left for Corunna, which he took three days to reach, where he was received with great state and rejoicing under a canopy, which was held by the '' regidores " ; a naval review being held in his honour. There is a very minute account of this journey written by a certain Andres Mufioz who went as far as Corunna as a servant in the train of Prince Carlos, and who printed his account in Saragossa that same year. He tells of all the preparations for the journey made by the gentlemen and servants of the Court, and of the device and livery the Prince gave to five hundred of them. The Spanish Guard with crimson sashes and cords of the Prince's colours, white, pink and yellow ; the hundred silk clad Germans ; the German Archers of the Guard, of whom there were a hundred on horseback, with the same badge and livery, except that they had yellow velvet hoods and tunics ; and three hundred more servants dressed to match them. He also gives a list of the grandees and their clothes, and those of their servants and of the stewards and grooms, a list of the clergy, ^ ^■^f>" gj m ■ *'?~'*hSj k* 9 ri ■ *-«■ p fg |H 1 ^ 1 r ■S I 1 H M R 1 W H L y^^B ■f ■ HL^^n^^fil^l m 1 s iLr' ■ ^Kt ^Bb^ ^'9 F% ^2jt^ i^^l ^Hk>' ^ r J .1^ ^ i y .JW & ^ ^g B I'll II IP II ol' STAIN F)0)u his porti-ait In' I'itian, noiv in Aiiwrica. I' lie property of Mrs. Kmcrv A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 79 at the head of whom was the Bishop of Sala- manca. "The salaried theologians" for "counsel of consciences," the chamberlains, andf other necessary officials, including an apothecary and a cook. Poor Queen Mary had written to beg Prince Philip to bring one, as she feared he would be poisoned ; so he may have judged it prudent also to bring an apothecary. The account also relates how the Prince received the English ambassadors, who came to inform him that the Count de Agamon (a Fleming, a chamberlain of his Majesty and a member of the Order of the Golden Fleece) had given his hand to Queen Mary as proxy for the Prince, according to the powers which his High- ness had dispatched to the " sacred Majesty of the Emperor " and tells of the jewels the Queen sent to her bridegroom ; besides all the bravery he was taking with him, as well as the names of the nobles who accompanied him — men whose stories " are written in the annals of both worlds, some in letters of glorious light, some in letters of blood." ^ It is curious that it is vain to seek among them for the name of the first grandee of Aragon. Another notable omission from the Spanish list is Sir Thomas Gresham, though perhaps being only a merchant, Mufioz might have thought him not worthy of mention. ^ " History of England," J. A. Froude. 8o A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II In his charge was half a miUion in buUion from the New World, which, on the security of the London Merchants, Charles V was lend- ing to the Queen, for the restoration of the currency. The Prince first visited the ship of Martin de Bretandona,^ the Espiritu Santo, which was to convey him, and then passed to the one on which the ambassadors had come ; " where he was given a royal and splendid collation, at which H.H. enjoyed himself with them and the grandees." The fleet of a hundred ships and fifty " zabras" (Biscay an vessels) left about the middle of July, the actual day does not seem certain, and made rapid way before a favourable wind which filled the sails, on which were painted historical scenes, and which made the bright flags float out. No wonder that Spaniards were annoyed by Lord Admiral Howard comparing this fleet to mussel shells.2 Probably most unjustly. Prince Philip was a very bad sailor; but though it was rather rough the first day out, as the journey was prosperous and only lasted for' four days and fourteen hours, perhaps he did not, on this occasion, suffer so much from 1 The ship was very magnificent. The crew of 300 dressed in crimson. It all appeared " an earthly paradise " to the enthusiastic Muhoz. 2 Miss Strickland. A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 8i sea-sickness as some have averred; but "from duty Philip never shrank, whatever the suffering it entailed."! They anchored in Southampton water on July 19- As all the world knows the Prince was received with much ceremony, and was married to the Queen at Winchester on the day of "Santiago" 1554; as she wished, "with a plain hoop of gold like any other maiden. "2 It is to be hoped that dancing bored Don Martin less than card playing, for in the Palace ladies talked and danced all the afternoon and night as was " necessary to amuse so many English and Spanish youths." Possibly Don Martin considered himself at 28, and a married man of thirteen years' standing, as too old for such frivolities, anyhow he makes no mention of them ; but he does tell that during his time in England, true to his love for the classics, he was reading Pliny's Natural History, and that what he read there, in the 36th book, caused him to make inquiries of " all those lords and other private persons " about the quantity of pearls obtained in English waters. He does not say in what language he asked these questions, possibly in Latin, though he could talk French, 1 Major Martin Hume. 2 Miss Strickland. F 82 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II which was more than Phihp could do,^ and a few of the Enghsh courtiers, no doubt, spoke Spanish.2 Apparently he obtained answers which satisfied him. It would seem that he made friends with Titian at this time, as writing about the Rape of Europa he says, ''The great Titian, the very celebrated painter of our times, gave me in England a picture of this fable, which for the excellence of the painting and as a recollection of the artist I value very much." Don Martin appears to have shown his cherished possession to Philip, who was so pleased with it that he ordered a replica from Titian, which was delivered by the artist six years later in Madrid.' Philip had come to England " a second Isaac ready to sacrifice himself to his father's will and for the good of the Church." * This spirit is shown by the story told by Mufioz about the wife of one of the Prince's gentlemen, who asked ^ J. A. Froude. 2 Philip was taught to say " God ni hit " (Good night) a few days after his arrival by the Queen, who could under- stand Spanish but not speak it. Mufioz and anonymous letter (1554)- ^ This was copied by Rubens for the Prince of Wales, afterwards Charles I. One of the pictures by Titian is now in America, the property of Mrs. Gardner. Senor Melida thinks it is most probably Don Martin's and that the King's copy was burnt in the fire at the Alcazar of Madrid in 1734 ; but this is not certain. * Sandoval. A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 83 his permission to sell her property to take with them on the expedition. "I order you/' was the answer, *' neither to sell your property nor to allow it to be sold ; because I am not going to a wedding party but to fight." His faded bride, with her homely face, cannot have done much to alter his sentiments, or make him forget the beloved Isabel de Osorio left behind in Spain ; and the way his servants were treated, being robbed and insulted by the people, must have been very galling to the Emperor's son ; the sentence in a letter written in the November of this year from one secretary to the other—" The English are so civil that you would hardly believe it," ^ throws much light on what their conduct had been at first, and though Philip behaved as his chivalry demanded towards his wife, yet it was in truth only six weeks after his arrival that he began to pull at his chain and long to be gone.^ This, however, he could not do so soon, much as the Emperor might want him in Flanders. Philip had been sent by his father to play the part of a " most clement prince." In this role he managed for six months to quench the 1 Major Martin Hume. 2 If Miss Strickland is to be believed Philip tried to be- guile this time by flirting with his wife's ladies, specially the tall and beautiful Lady Magdalen Dacre, but in this he met with no success, the Queen's ladies being austerely virtuous. 84 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II fires of Smithfield, which had broken out with the return of a Catholic queen and her ministers to power, though not until the flames had claimed some victims. This is Don Martin's version of the matter. "It is very sad in these unhappy times to see Henry VIII, the schismatic King of England, and other misguided princes who followed him, from ambition and covetousness lay hands on the ecclesiastical property in his Kingdom, occupying it, profaning it and converting it to dishonest uses, daring to deny the power of our High Pontiff, the Vicar of Jesus Christ, legiti- mate successor of St. Peter, unique Prince, Head of the universal and militant Church. From this error, and I do not say it without tears, I saw this great Kingdom converted, the deed of majesty of Mary, the very holy Queen of this Kingdom, like a rose born among thorns, daughter of the same Henry and of Catherine, Infanta of Spain, a brave and learned queen repudiated by the bad Henry. This conversion took place when Philip II, King of Spain, our lord, married the said Mary and reclaimed this Kingdom, though it only lasted a short time, for the sins of the world and by the hidden judgments of God. The greatest pity. With my own eyes I saw the conversion and the whole ecclesiastical state change, and divine service restored, and fourteen heretics burned in A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 85 London. All this was undone, as God did not give these princes children." It was on November 30, 1554 that the cere- mony took place to which Don Martin alludes, when in the presence of the Papal Legate Reginald Pole, and of Philip and Mary, England " formally returned to the pale of the Church," to quote Major Martin Hume's words. It is probable that very soon after this event Don Martin left the country ; he had evidently gone before May, and there are good reasons for thinking that he was not in England in February, 1555. Philip dispatched several of his courtiers to serve the Emperor in the war he was waging against Henry II, King of France, the seat of which was then in Italy. Don Martin, no doubt, gladly seized the opportunity. Life at Court, for one thing, must have been costly and, for another, it is likely that he had ground his axe, as it is most improbable that a Court painter like Titian would have given a very large picture to a courtier who was out of favour, unless in return for some great service, about which not a word is whispered; be this as it may, Don Martin went off to the wars to join the general- issimo, the Duke of Alba, who had taken up his command in Milan in the June of that year. This was the 3rd Duke, Don Fernando Alvarez de Toledo, who is called the " Gran Duque " 86 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II and is better known to history as the Governor of Flanders and the general who won Portugal for Spain. What makes it evident that Don Martin was not in England in May 1555 is the letter of Antonio Perez written on the 27th from Hampton Court, which he spells " Hantoncuy/' to Dona Ana, mother of Don Martin.^ " Very illustrious Lady ; I have received your ladyship's letter of the 6th April, and by it learn of the Lord Count's trouble respecting the lawsuits, which his vassals of Ribagorza have brought on him. God knows how grieved I have been for the anxiety it has given your ladyship and my Lady the Countess, and I wish I could help to remedy it as I would try to do if the King were where the affairs of Aragon are settled, but, as your ladyship must know, he has nothing to do with them, only the Emperor and the Council, and the rest is sent to Spain. All the same, I will do my utmost that the King should make his father understand how just it is that the Count should not be molested ; and if I cannot do this by letter, I will when we meet, which will be when the Queen is confined ; I will speak to him then, and will not forget, as it is necessary for these matters to be sent to the Princess and the Supreme Council, and as they do not know 1 National Library, Madrid. A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 87 the circumstances or the reasons for remedying them^ I fear they will not do as I should wish ; at least, if they act as I fear, your ladyship may believe that the Lord Count will have cause for annoyance. If your ladyship could only know how much I have done in the Count's service in this business, and how much I have tried to insure the preservation of his authority and estate, and how suspicious people have been of me, not only those of Ribagorza, but even the Treasurer, and those of the Council, so that what you say about having neglected to re- mind the King of the Count's affairs, and that if anything has been done it was not thanks to me, did not please me. I say this to ex- culpate myself from the blame you seem to cast on me, which the Lady Countess showed still more that she felt I merited, when the judgment was given in Saragossa, which was no more my fault than that of St. Francis ; as I neither saw, nor ordered, nor knew what it contained until I was instructed to read it. So I have reason to think that I have been very unlucky ; where I wished to please I have been least appreciated and my aims least recognized ; but for all this I assure your ladyship that I will not give up my good habit of doing right and helping every one I can, especially those who deserve it like the Lord Count, to whom I have always been very devoted, of which I could 88 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II bring good evidence ; but as the wrong comes from many^ I must see that I am not charged with the fault, they being Councillors and I only secretary and, as your ladyship knows, I can do little in these cases of law. " I do not write to the Lord Count, as your ladyship will tell him what I say, and I end with the prayer etc." This letter proves that judgment had been already given about the County of Ribagorza, in the Saragossa law courts. It was, however, not the final one, as will be seen. The letter tells its own story. Dona Luisa's vexation is easily understood, particularly if she thought that Antonio Perez might have been a better friend to the cause. Perhaps she was shrewd enough to discern the double dealing of the secretary, and too honest not to let him know she had done so. CHAPTER VIII DON MARTIN joutneyed by Antwerp and Cologne, at which latter place he was presented with the heads of "two holy virgins," relics he faithfully brought home four years later, which are mentioned in his will. Not only had he ordered the armour of his ancestors to be repaired ; but it is thought that it was at this time, when he joined the Duke of Alba in Milan, that he caused two very fine suits to be made, adorned with his own arms and those of Dofia Luisa. Milanese armour was justly celebrated, so that it is not surprising that Don Martin should have seized the op- portunity of acquiring these suits ; a very modest provision when Charles V's hundred sets, like that in which he rides for ever in Titian's famous Mtihlberg picture '* something more than an emperor, a man with an imperial soul," ^ are remembered. It was in one of these suits that Don Martin is portrayed on the medals which he had made three or four years later in Italy, thus following ^ " A Little Journey in Spain." J. C. Crawford Fitch, 89 90 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II not only the example of his grandfather, the Duke of Luna, but also of most of the great ones of his day. There are seven of these medals still existing. A small one bears the legend '' D. Martin de Aragon Comes Ribagorciae " ; the others are large, and one is made of lead, the bust being surrounded by an identical inscription. The two belonging to the family are similar, except that Don Martin is Dux Villahermosae instead of Count of Ribagorza. The reverse is the same in all ; his own device of Jupiter hurling lightning, with other mytho- logical figures and the motto " Lucemque metumque." A recollection of his grand- father's medal evidently guided the design. The object of the campaign at that moment was to drive the French out of Piedmont ; but little seems to have been done that year, and in the early part of 1556 a truce was made be- tween the Kings of France and Spain. Philip had left Gravesend for Flanders the previous August, and in October the Emperor had re- signed to him the crown of the Low Countries, adding that of Spain in the succeeding January. " In the summer of 1556 the war with France broke out again, and Philip found himself face to face with a powerful coalition of the Papacy, France, and the Turk. It meant a war over half Europe." ^ " The Pope Paul IV. declared Philip ^ " Queens of Old Spain." Major Hume. I /? ..-V-' -MARTIN OF ARAllOX, COUM DUKE OF VII.I.AHERMOSA OF KiBAOOKZA, A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 91 to be deprived of the Kingdom of Naples, and himself attempted to put in force his sentence against the Duke of Alba who was acting there as Philip's Viceroy." ^ No other course but war was therefore open, and the Duke of Alba with 12,000 men, taking all the towns on the way, advanced to the very gates of Rome, at which juncture the Pope was forced to sue for an armistice. This was, no doubt, most gladly granted b}^ the " Gran Duque " for the war must have been a distasteful one to him as a devout Catholic, and no less so to Don Martin, who it is thought took advantage of the truce to visit Rome ; as it is very evident that the description of the Eternal City in the *' Discourses " is the work of one who had trodden its streets. For instance when he writes of " the door, which to-day is behind the Church of St. Celso, where maj^ be seen the remains of a marble arch and a statue much spoiled by time." Or by the simple remark, '' all those who have seen Rome will understand." He was, no doubt, with the Duke of Alba in Naples, where even the church bells were melted for cannon, and the French army under the Duke of Guise was successfully repulsed in the beginning of 1557. Philip, meanwhile, was collecting an army of Germans, Spaniards and English. This Don ^ J. A. Froude. 92 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II Martin joined, and he must have gone with the Constable of Castelnueve, whom the King had summoned with troops from Naples ; Philip had also sent his favourite Ruy Gomez to Spain to recruit, the Ruy Gomez to whom Father Francis had begged Dona Luisa to write about a hospital in Burgos, as he was a patron of the Company of Jesus. Father Francis was, at the time of Ruy Gomez' journey, in Avila, founding a college in that ancient city, which still sits within her walls among the hills, like one portrayed in the background of some mediaeval picture. For the first and last time the erstwhile Duke of Gandia summoned his brothers and sons there, and when they, having obeyed his command, were assembled, he thus addressed them — " The King, Don Philip our Lord, is almost surrounded by his enemies in Flanders. I have called you together to tell you that I shall not consider him as one of my blood who does not offer himself and shed his in the King's service." This, more than Don Martin's letters, con- vinced Dofia Luisa of the gravity of the situation, and made her pray very fervently that he might return from the war not only with his life but with renown. Three at least of the Borja family obeyed the wish of the head of their house, not altogether sorry, perhaps, to be able to leave Spain with A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 93 honour for a while, as one of them, if not all three, had been in hiding under Doha Louisa's wing at Pedrola until the search for them was over. The reason of their pursuit was the following, and the whole business must have given much anxiety to Doha Luisa, though she welcomed them kindly. A feud had sprung up at Valencia between the noble families of Figuerolas and Pardo de la Casta in which not only her half brother Don Pedro de Borja, who was Master of Montesa, and later Viceroy of Catalonia, but also her nephew the Duke of Gandia became involved. Two of the Pardos compassed the death of a Figuerola, and his relations and friends, in revenge, caused three men-at-arms, one of whom was a servant of Don Pedro's, to wound severely one of the Pardos on a January night. The Governor of Segovia arrested the men and had them garotted, as the Duke of Segovia took the Pardo side in the quarrel. Angered by this, three of the Borjas joined with the Figuerolas and fired an arquebus at the Duke of Segovia's son, near the new bridge in Valencia, on January 27 ; the victim dying a week later. The Duke of Maqueda, who was the Viceroy, sent troops everywhere in search of the aggressors, and the Borjas, realizing their danger, were forced to flee. To return to the war in Flanders. King 94 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II Philip placed the troops under the command of his first cousin the Duke of Savoy, and declared war against the French King, laying siege to St. Quentin, a fortress situated between France and the Low Countries, at which siege Don Martin was present. The Duke of Savoy had 50,000 men under him with which he entered France and, after taking Hesdin, fell back on the ungarrisoned fortress of St. Quentin, to whose assistance Coligny hastened. Here on August 10, the celebrated battle was fought, which resulted in a great victory for Spain. Don Martin, under the command of the Count of Egmont, followed the red banner of the Duke of Savoy, taking three out of the total of fifty colours gained in the engagement, which cost France all her artillery and one thousand men, of whom half were killed ; the Constable of France being one of the prisoners. Philip was at Cambrai, and the Duke of Savoy lost no time in sending him the welcome news ; this he dispatched in a letter borne by "a gentleman." A tradition, which there is not the slightest reason to discredit, asserts that this '' gentleman " was Don Martin, and also affirms that it was he who first suggested to the King the idea of building a convent monas- tery to be dedicated to St. Lawrence, whose feast falls on August 10. This Spanish martyr A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 95 was a Roman soldier, and a native of Lauret near Huesca, and the first intention was to build the memorial there. A site, however, was finally chosen on the side of the Guadarama mountains, behind which Philip could see the sun setting or at times their white peaks rising against the blue sky from the windows of his castle at Madrid ; and there in time rose the world-famous Escorial, which comprised not only the monastery, but also a palace and the royal mausoleum, which the Emperor had instructed his son to build for his own place of sepulture, whenever his end should come to the Csesar, then quietly awaiting it in the cloister of Yuste. The popular idea that the Escorial was built like a gridiron in memory of the one on which St. Lawrence was martyred hardly seems borne out by fact, although an examination of the ground plan shows that, being square, with interior courts and a small wing, there is some reason for the legend. A church and monastery were also built by the King at Lauret, towards the expense of which Don Martin offered his barony of Graiien, " although it was unnecessary " adds a bio- grapher of Dofia Luisa. As soon as Philip received the news of the victory, he at once rejoined his army and ihoisted the royal standard before St. Quentin 96 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II on August 13, having decided to continue the campaign. A Hst exists of the names of fifty-three "gentlemen" who served the King in this war, and among the most distinguished of them is to be found that of the " Conde de Ribagorza," the name by which Don Martin was known to his contemporaries, although to avoid confusion he is not so called in these pages. These " gentlemen " formed part of the " King's Squadron," a very brilliant one, who, whenever the King went armed, "were so too, splendidly equipped, in a manner as magnificent as it was costly," says the writer of a contemporary document. No doubt Don Martin made a brave show in his Milanese armour, and he is cited as one of " those lords who main- tained the campaign." A five years' war, during which " kinsmen and other gentlemen were maintained," must have been no light matter. The Duke of Savoy, it would appear, desired to march straight on Paris, but to this the more prudent monarch objected, and determined to take the fortress, which was bravely defended by Admiral Coligny. The siege began on August 14, and it was not till the 27th that the Spaniards succeeded in entering the place, which was given over to the horrors of a sack ; the same anonymous chronicler says that " no A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 97 man, woman, or child remained alive in any house entered by Germans or English," and that *' his Majesty could not prevent the Germans burning the place, which was the greatest pity in the world." The King did all he could to avert the carnage, taking women for safety to his own tents and those of the Bishop of Arras, as well as to churches. The nuns were given shelter in the tents of the Duke of Savoy and the Count of Feria, because '' if they had spent the night in their convents they would all have been killed by the Germans." Some of these were just beginning to assault a convent, when Don Martin came to the rescue, making those soldiers who had entered the building leave it, and guarding and defending it as long as there was any necessity for doing so. He must have had his hands full, as the King had entrusted some important matters to him, and it is probably due to him that the ammunition and artillery were pre- served. The gratitude of the nuns knew no bounds. They had good cause, as it was to Don Martin that they owed not only their possessions, but most probably their lives, and as a thank offering they presented their deliverer with a reliquary containing a piece of the True Cross which still is in existence at Pedrola. In this convent there was a picture of the Virgin which very much took Don Martin's fancy, and G 98 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II he asked the nuns to allow him to have it for his wife, in order that he might fulfii a promise he had made to Dofia Luisa. Like the merchant in the old fairy story, Don Martin had asked his wife what present he should bring her from his travels, and she, even less grasping than Beauty, at first said that if he would come back himself, it was all she wanted ; but, as he pressed her to name some present, she had asked him for a picture of Our Lady, making a condition that it was not only to be pretty but dignified and " honesta." The nuns gladly gave the picture, and later on when it came into Dofia Luisa's possession, she was enchanted with it ; but no trace of it remains to-day ; unless it be the one brought by Don Martin from Flanders, now in the Saragossa Museum. After the King had entered the town on the third day, the places in the immediate neigh- bourhood had to be dealt with. Don Martin was sent with the Count of Aremburg to take the strongly fortified castle of Castelet, whose garrison had to surrender their lives, effects, and arms to the attacking party who had demolished the walls of the fortress. The King next decided to attack Ham, a fortified town on the banks of the Somme. The army was divided for this purpose into two wings, one under the Duke of Savoy, the King himself leading the other, with which it is A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 99 believed Don Martin went ; but this is uncertain. Very soon after this, PhiHp, frightened by the autumnal rains which the Bishop of Arras said would place the army and his reputation in jeopardy if they continued, decided to disband his force, instead of following up the victory as he might have done. The following letter shows that Don Martin's distinguished service was not passed over un- rewarded. It is from Doiia Juana, who was Regent of Spain in the absence of her brother. ** Governor, we have heard from the Countess Doiia Ana, mother of the Count of Ribagorza, Don Martin of Aragon, that since the Count is absent from the Kingdom on the service of the King my brother, certain private persons have brought many lawsuits against him, which, as the Count is away, are an anxiety to him for various reasons, seeing there is no one to look after them except the Countess his wife, who, being alone, and not possessing the necessary information to reply to these suits, the Count might easily suffer considerable injustice. We therefore beg you that, as he is serving his Majesty with his person and estate in peace and in war, you will not allow him to be molested with unnecessary charges, but that justice to himjmay be done that he should experience no trouble or loss by these means. Given in ValladoHd, December 21, 1557. The Princess." 100 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II Six months later through the same channel came another favour from the King, creating Don Martin Duke of Villahermosa. The patent is signed by the Princess on behalf of the Emperor, who in his retreat at Yuste still kept Spanish affairs in his own hands, and is dated July 29, 1558. Dofia Juana further writes to the Bailiff General of Aragon as follows. " We have granted the favour to Don Martin de Gurrea and of Aragon of all the rights in respect of the Duchy of Villa Hermosa and the Baronies of Artana and Arenco appertaining to his Majesty through the rebellion and treason of Don Fernando de Santo Serverino, for which we have ordered him to be deprived of them according to our Royal Privileges. As it is the will of his Majesty and ours that this should take effect and that our favour should be fruitful, we say and order you not to impede Don Martin of Aragon or his procurator in the matter, but to give him freely possession of the said Duchy of Villa Hermosa and the Baronies of Artana and Arenco, according to the tenure and all necessary help and favour. Such is his Majesty's will and ours."^ Don Martin considered that he had a good claim to these estates, for reasons which will be stated presently ; nevertheless he was over- ^ Academy of History, Madrid. A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II loi joyed at obtaining them, and at once sent the glad news to Doiia Luisa, who rewarded the messenger with 500 ducats for his return journey. On September 11 in Saragossa she signed a paper empowering the Lord of Torres Torres and Castellmonte, who hved at Villahermosa, to take possession in the name of the new Duke, which he did on October 2, 1558. It will be remembered that King John of Aragon was the father of the first duke, who had a son named John to whom was given the County of Ribagorza and the dukedom of Luna, and who was Don Martin's grandfather. The Duke of Villahermosa besides left a legitimate daughter and a son, who in due course became the second duke ; but as neither of his projected marriages, one with the Countess of Messina, the other with the celebrated Lucretia Borgia, came to anything, he died childless and his estates passed to Don Fernando de Santo Serverino, Prince of Salerno, son of his dead sister Marina, with the provision that in the event of there being no heirs the inheritance was to pass to the Count of Ribagorza. The Prince of Salerno, therefore, became fourth duke when he was only six years old. He was afterwards celebrated for the pomp and state in which he lived at Naples ; the splendour of his Court vying with that of a monarch. He was also distinguished for his warlike deeds. LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CATJFORNTA' SANTA BARBARA 102 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II maintaining twelve hundred men at arms, with whom he fought in the Emperor's service. Owing to a quarrel with the Toledos, father and son, then Viceroys of Naples (giving their name to the well-known street), he was obliged to leave the country ; and, finding himself involved in a lawsuit and fallen from the Emperor's favour, he fled to France to offer his services to Henry II, and there became naturalized ; dying in 1568, '* in much affliction and poverty," says de Beltencourt. Hence the confiscation and sequestration of the Villahermosa estates, for which sentence was given in Valencia on June 30, 1554, a date which coincided with Don Martin's departure from Pedrola to offer his services to Philip ; so to make this claim may have been an additional motive for his journey. It must have been a legitimate subject for self- congratulation that he had won these honours by his bravery and loyalty to his King, and, apart from the titles bestowed, a secure revenue could have seemed no small advantage, taking Ribagorza and its lawsuits into consideration. It must not be forgotten, however, that Don Martin inherited at any rate the larger part of the property of his grandmother the *' Rica Hembra," so that funds cannot have been lacking to flow into the beautifully worked money-chest which is thought to have been his, and which remains in the possession of his descendants. CHAPTER IX DON MARTIN spent the greater part of the year 1558 at Brussels. In a very long, kindly letter written on July i to one whom he calls " Our most excellent friend," probably an old retainer, as he says it would grieve him to see his correspondent " aged and tired," and that he wished him " all the rest in the world, and all I can do to give it you I will," he states that he was then well, but had been ill of a tertian fever, and that they were all of them " ready for this war." " You will have heard," he proceeds, " of the favour his Majesty has done me in giving me possession of Villahermosa, and so I will not repeat it." The remainder of this epistle relates to various businesses under the care of this " magnifico amado," how pleased he was at the punishment meted out to some evildoers who apparently had tried wrongly to persuade the Viceroy of Catalonia that a certain captain was changed every three years, and how, as he could get no help in restoring the fortress of Villahermosa, he was endeavouring to get rid of it. The pith of the letter, however, is that as he thought the 103 104 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II lawsuit would end in his favour, he begged the correspondent to use his best efforts to get certain persons to withdraw from it, so that the matter might end peaceably, a solution he (Don Martin) would much prefer to its being terminated by the King's orders. The letter is signed, probably in jest, " Yo el ge Duque." Preparations for the war, for which he says " they were all ready," were made with good reason, as the battle of Gravelines was fought on July 13, less than a fortnight after this missive was written ; whether he was present at this engagement is not known. It was a crushing defeat for the French troops, and after it both Kings, weary of the long struggle, agreed to an armistice. This armistice gave Don Martin another oppor- tunity of serving his sovereign, by accompanying a niece of the Emperor's, the widowed Christina of Denmark, Duchess of Milan and subsequently of Lorraine, who was going to France to visit her son Charles, whom Henry II had taken prisoner, and had had educated with the Dauphin. Henry had acted thus, and given the government of Lorraine to the boy's uncle, as he mistrusted Christina, who was much devoted to her uncle the Csesar. Her black- robed figure is familiar to most people as her celebrated portrait by Holbein hangs in the A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 105 National Gallery ; perhaps fewer people are aware that she nearly became Queen of England as Henry VIIFs fourth wife. True she was not very solicitous of this hazardous honour, but it was less her feelings than the fact that Henry would not ask for the Papal dispensation necessary to allow him to espouse the great-niece of Catherine of Aragon, which caused the project to fall through. A life of Christina has lately been written for the first time^ and tells the story of a noble woman, gentle and sympathetic, richly endowed with *' the rare and indefinite quality that we call charm," casting her spell over all who came within the sphere of her influence, men and women alike, which was felt by many, including Prince Philip himself, during the winter they met at Augsburg. At this date she was a widow for the second time after a few years of perfect happiness as the wife of Francis, Duke of Lorraine, and after his death never would consent to marry again. Her son was at Peronne near Amiens, and, taking advantage of the suspension of hostilities, she desired to visit him. Philip wished her to travel with all the grandeur befitting his father's niece, which must have suited Christina well, as she always journeyed in great state. ^ " Christina of Denmark." Julia Cartwright. io6 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II This expedition was undertaken at Don Martin's own expense at a cost of not less than 70,000 crowns, being conducted with the magnificence suitable to a person of his rank, while " vying with other princes in a foreign country," and in a way which much pleased the King. Among the Spaniards in Don Martin's train was one of Doiia Luisa's brothers and two of her nephews, sons of the Duke of Gandia. The bishop of Arras, Antonio Perrenot, better known as Cardinal Granvelle, also accompanied the party, and he and Don Martin remained friends for life ; not only were some of the coins in the latter' s celebrated cabinet gifts from the magnificent prelate, but in later days he went to stay at Pedrola. Don Martin says of him that he had a real knowledge of antiquities and a true love of them, and calls him " a father of learning and good discoveries." Soon after the conference he was left as Primate of the Netherlands to assist the Duchess of Parma as Governess of the Low Countries. He made himself so unpopular that Philip II was forced to make him retire ; but this by no means ended his prosperous career. His gentle face as portrayed by Gaetano does not suggest the intriguing politician he in fact was. The object of the Duchess's journey was not only to visit her son and arrange for his ransom, A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 107 but she also had to take part in the negotiations for peace between the two monarchs. The Spanish delegates were the Duke of Alba, the Prince of Orange, the Bishop of Arras, Ruy Gomez, Philip's dearest friend, afterwards Prince of Evoli, and the President of the Privy Council of Flanders. The French ones were the Cardinal of Lorraine, the Bishop of Orange, Marshal de Saint Andre, the Secretary of State and the Constable Montmorency ; besides three English representatives. Lord Arundel, Dr. Wotton and Bishop Thirl by. The conference took place at the Abbey of Cercamps, within the territory of Calais, which had been lost by the English to France on the preceding January 6. The question of its restitution seems to have been one of the chief points under discussion, Philip, or rather the Duke of Alba, at first taking sides with the English, so that the negotiations were nearly broken off, as Calais and Metz were the only spoils France clung to. It is to be presumed, taking Don Martin's expenditure into consideration, that he remained in Cercamps during these deliberations, in which tradition says that he took part, though, in view of his usual abstention from politics, it seems more likely that he merely acted as escort to the Princess. Meanwhile the Emperor passed away after a io8 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II very few days' illness at Yuste. The fact was notified to Don Martin by Princess Juana herself, in a letter sent from Valladolid on September 29, saying that the event had taken place eight days earlier. This may have caused him to return to Brussels, but at any rate December found him there, as he took part in the " pompe funebre " which Philip II celebrated in memory of his late father. The Caesar had, in fact, been already buried at Yuste for more than three months, his obsequies directed by his faithful servant Luis Quijada, with all the ceremony that poor place could provide ; therefore the cortege which wound its way through the wintry streets at Brussels partook more of the nature of a Roman triumph than of a funeral. With such processions the children of the Renaissance delighted to honour their great dead, and though, to modern ears, a ship drawn by griffins bearing the three Virtues, the Pillars of Hercules, the Emperor's own device, drawn by sea monsters and the '* lifelike dolphins," may suggest rather a Lord Mayor's show than a funeral, the display must have been picturesque and imposing in the extreme. According to the manuscript account ^ it was '* as sumptuous as it was right that it should be for so great and notable a Prince, and shows at his death how much he had been loved 1 Archives Sinmaneas. :.-.-« ^M i O «, ; a •- « X — '■« y. < mi o ~ 4-1 te :;; A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 109 in his lifetime ; it was worthy of him and of so good a son." The route had been boarded off, and was lined by members of the municipahty carrying hghted torches, and by the Guilds. All those who were to take part in the funeral met in the Palace, the lords " great and small," the justices and all the important people of the States as well as the servants and pensioners of the King and the late Emperor ; also the clergy and all the abbots and bishops, the orders, the brothers of which were arrayed in their richest vestments, likewise the parochial clergy and chaplains and canons of the cathedral, the King's choristers, two hundred poor men dressed in mourning each carrying a lighted torch, the deputies, doctors, and many others. There is no need to jot down all the long list. When the procession set out from the black hung palace at a little before two o'clock, it was preceded by the crosses of the cathedral accompanied by acolytes, to each of whom was given a wax candle. After the gentlemen came the trumpeters and halberdiers carrying their unfurled colours re- versed, then three kings-at-arms, the middle one bearing the Emperor's coat-of-arms. Then came the aforesaid ship, '' which signi- fied the conquest of the Indies, in which were three Virtues and many standards and flags. no A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II drawn by two marine griffins." It was followed by the Pillars of Hercules, which were drawn by two sea monsters and a dolphin " all very natural." " The ship went so near the Pillars that it seemed joined to them ; all so lifelike that it was worth seeing. Around the ship were painted all the labours and triumphs of the Caesarian Majesty ; also there was much writing on it and two flags." This emblematical vessel stood for the New World in the pageant, and most, if not all, of the other possessions of the great Emperor were represented by a banner and a horse, which each had its special colours, arms and badge, and was led by black cords by two gentlemen, whose names are all faithfully recorded, as are those of the standard bearers. There were twenty-seven banners and flags and twenty- four horses. The horses which followed the standards of the armies had cloths of brocade bearing the royal arms, which reached to the ground. The Emperor's shield, his helmet with its vizor, his sword and coat of mail were all carried by great personages. Then went two mace bearers and three kings-at-arms bearing the royal arms. Then came the collar of the Order, the Imperial Sceptre, the Imperial Sword which was borne by the Duke of Villahermosa (Don Martin), the iLl dutjdf IpiStrmosa liDN -MAR'lIN OF ARA(;ON, UUKp: OF VII.I.AHERMOSA, CARRYING THK ROYAL SWORD, "THE NOKI.KST OF THK ATTRIBUTES OF ROYALTY," IN THE "IMIMI-A FUNEHKE" OF CHARLES V A portion of print I'V Hoglicinlierg in National I,il->ii Iier Jtoi trnit hy Kolaiu rholofiraflifdhy l.auirnt AKA(;('i\ V ]ic1R|\. ACEl) I4 li,- Mois in the I 'ilialu-riiiosa Palace, Afadr/ii A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 151 out by a blow, and who came "simply to God and said * Lord ! What shall I a shepherd do if I cannot eat a bit of hard, dry bread ? and I have no other means of livelihood,' " and by the inter- cession of the Duchess it is told that his " teeth grew again at that age." So her grandson the Count of Guimera, who from an accident used to see motes swimming before his eyes, found himself cured when he began to write that history of his ancestress, to which most of the details about her are due. Those who saw the remains from time to time in the succeeding ages testify to their wonderful preservation, so that her features could be recognized more than a hundred years after her death. The faithful Elvira de Medinilla, who wished to satisfy herself that what was said of her beloved mistress was true, noted that when the tomb was opened there was a sweet smell which clung all day to the duenna's clothes " like a perfume," which would seem as if the holy Duchess had been embalmed, possibl}^ without her servant's knowledge. The remains have been moved twice ; and when they were last visited in 1890 were still curiously well preserved, even the skin of the face being slightly coloured. There is a grizzly story that at the time of the Peninsular war, some French soldiers, hearing the tale of the incorruptible Duchess, disinterred the body and placed it on 152 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II its feet, saying " If you are a saint, stand up," and that when the corpse fell it remained intact. Little remains of the Church of Pedrola as Dofia Luisa knew it, as it was much altered in the eighteenth century ; ^ nevertheless, some of the work arranged by Don Alonso Felipe and com- pleted by his son survives, though the statues of the Count and his three wives, which he had destined for a monument, are now in the gardens of the Villahermosa palace. The crucifix said to have been brought by him from Flanders still remains, and the narrow pew with its rough iron bars, through which the holy Duchess must so often have gazed at it. It is, however, perhaps, says Seiior Mehda, in pacing the long gallery, with its whitewashed walls and floor and tiny win- dows, which scarcely light it, that her shade seems most to linger. As Father Francis, who in his lifetime became Captain General of the Jesuits, and was canonized as St. Francis de Borgia, is recollected at Gandia as the holy Duke, so his sister is still remembered at Pedrola as the holy Duchess. 1 In the diary of Duke Juan Pablo is the following entry under August i, 1788 : " The body of the Venerable Luisa de Borja, Duchess of Villahermosa, wife of Duke Don Martin and sister of St. Francis de Borja, who died in the odour of sanctity and is incorrupted, was translated to the place prepared for it, near the pulpit in the chancel." CHAPTER XIII THUS at the age of thirty-three Don Martin was left a widower with six children, whose ages varied from six to seventeen. Besides the care of a family, about which, no doubt, his mother and the devoted Dona Elvira^ helped him much, he had other anxieties and fears resulting from the lawsuit. His troubles came rather from the spirit of the age and the policy of Philip II than from any fault of his own ; but he remained calm through his worries, seeking consolation and distraction in reading history and his lifelong friends the classics; also in adding to and arranging his collections, and in corresponding about them with antiquarians of his day, such as the Arch- bishop of Lerida and Cardinal Granvelle. Inscribing letters and reading, however, were not his only occupations. He also found time to write several works, which were none of them printed ; and at his death the manuscripts, after remaining a while with his collections at Pedrola, passed into the hands of strangers, so that only two intact and a part of another are in the 1 Dona Juana had married. 153 154 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II National Library at Madrid. His writings appear originally to have numbered about ten, counting a volume of poetry and one or two of correspondence. One letter, written in 1563, was a " very instructive and pious epistle," exhorting the parish priests of his estates where there were newly converted Moors to teach them and ground them in the Christian doctrine. The rest treat chiefly of either coins, or his own family history ; one volume principally devoted to papers on antiquities his chronicler Andres of Saragossa notes as being " a manuscript of great merit and very curious." On the ist of September succeeding his wife's death, the deputies of the Kingdom wrote to him to return those annals of Zurita which he had seen, to add to the others which were to be given to Doiia Luisa's aged uncle, Don Fernando, who was still Archbishop of Saragossa, for him to look through, so that there should be no difference in his copy. Of the two works still extant, Don Martin's " Discourses," which have already been quoted several times, are undoubtedly the better. The copy is made from the original by the Count de Guimera, who swears that it is a true one of his grandfather's papers. " He wrote," continues the Count, " of Roman coins and antiquities which he had in his cabinet at Pedrola in a bureau and cupboard he kept on purpose for A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 155 them. The copy-book contains drawings of the statues and coins, for which purpose the blanks and spaces have been left, and by this is shown that his talent was even greater than his work, which was no small one; he could, without neglecting his business, employ his time in this way, which is of so much merit and which re- quired so much labour and study and a great variety of reading." On the back is painted Don Martin's device. Another work of his, " Conversations of the virtues and statues with the gods," was more or less a work of the imagination. It is copied by the same hand as the *' Discourses," and its wrapper of parchment bears a quaint notice.^ The " Discourses " have been arranged with the greatest care by Seiior de Melida ; and though the original collection of coins no longer exists, he has been at the pains of verifying those men- tioned, and has placed a drawing of nearly every one at the top of each Discourse, according to the original intention of its author. The Discourses are in fact a " catalogue raisonne " of the antiquities possessed by the Duke of Villahermosa, who thus began to justify his ^ " This book was given to me by John de Louvera, gilder and quilter, principal Alguacil of the estates of the Count of Aranda ; he graciously gave it to me on May 15, 1551 ; in return I gave him, to the value of 100 reals, in pearl coloured silk stockings, a purse of silk and gold, two books of prints and some loose papers." 156 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II title of " Philosopher of Aragon," by interesting himself in this pursuit, heedless of the storms which were gathering around him. Of Don Martin's works Sefior MeJida writes thus, *' Considered from a scientific point of view we shall see that the propositions and criticisms are absolutely in conformity with the antiquarian studies of the humanists and archaeologists of the time, the coins are not classified, as the study of numismatics was unknown ; he interprets his types rather as a means of showing the religion, customs, and memorable deeds of the Greeks and Romans, which he observes shrewdly, and at times brings subtle arguments to bear. He makes no distinction between medals and coins, declaring his belief that coins were struck in memory of certain deeds," and further on " it would be absurd to expect in Don Martin that which we should seek for in vain among his learned contemporaries, to whom no doubt we owe the study of archaeology. All the same, in the Discourses of Don Martin we see the anti- quarian and the numismatist, in the information that a sure sign of a coin being old is its patine, which he thinks is not the effect of time but a precaution of the ancients for its preservation." And again, " He is very anxious to establish the chronology, or rather the ages, of ancient things. He treats of Roman triumphs, temples, priests, tripods, crowns, and symbols of the ancients • A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 157 and in tracing these as notes for the work which was later to receive a definite shape, he announces his intention of omitting nothing which may interest . . , The figure of Don Martin rises from these pages with all the characteristics of one who was a lover of archae- ology, who, like Cosimo de' Medici, consecrates his power and intelligence to the study of antiques. Don Martin and his greatest friend the Bishop of Lerida, whom he considered cleverer than anyone else in these matters, are the two great figures of Spanish archaeology in the sixteenth century." Don Martin says that, " It will be well to begin with the coins of Augustus, thus, not only keeping the order of the alphabet," but, as ** it is right to commence by the most renowned prince of the empire," so here shall be given the Discourse which seems the best to take as an example, as it is impossible in the limited space of these pages to do more than touch on the rest. "15. The other medal shows on the reverse side the magnificent temple which Augustus consecrated, in memory of his uncle Julius, to Venus Genetrix, under which name the goddess was worshipped by that people ; on it is the unfinished Venus which his uncle Julius caused to be commenced by the great sculptor Ar- quesilao ; but who could not finish it, as Caesar 158 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II was in such a hurry to dedicate the statue which he placed either in the Forum or in his own house. Phny relates in the 26th book of his Natural History that Caesar had the bulk or body of the statue, which was of medium size, made of a single pearl which he had brought from the conquest of England ; the rest of the statue was of ivory ; this then Augustus placed in the temple, which was built square, as our medal shows, with the inscription above, which we do not put, as it is evident. I noted one thing very much ; being in England the year I read this, I inquired of all those lords and other private persons, whether pearls were fished up from the abundant oysters of those seas, and they told me never, except, as in our waters, occasionally some baroque ones, by which we see how nature varies in its effects in different places ; if we are to believe what is written, this big one and Cleopatra's fine one were prodigies. In our day strange pearls have been seen, one for size and beauty and lustre that I saw, the beautiful one called * the orphan ' that King John of Portugal gave to the Very Serene Princess Juana, his daughter-in-law (God rest her soul), which her Highness showed to me : it was very white, very lustrous, and very round, the size of a pigeon's egg ; and for its beauty and rarity, and having no pair, was called * the orphan ' ; the other I saw belonged to the great Hernando A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 159 Cortes, the glory of our Spain, conqueror of the new hemisphere, which was the size of a common powder flask for an arquebus, very white and even, all of one face, and was set in gold in a flask ; this the sea of Algiers swallowed up in the great storm of 1541, with those other remarkable jewels, the little lamp, the little bell, and the little font of emerald ; the chief jewels of Montezuma. I have put this down here because in our time we have seen things that those after us may have reason to doubt, as we doubt the ancients." One curious tradition he mentions in order to disprove it ; namely, that the thirty pieces of silver " with which Christ Our Lord was sold were Rhodian coins, with the face of the sun crowned with rays, and on the reverse a flower, which antiquarians think is a poppy, because it follows the sun, like the flowers we commonly call sun flowers." Don Martin is terribly afraid of boring his readers, and in order to make his writings less dry, as he says, plunges into a long treatise on Roman triumphs, in which he shows his knowledge of the topography of the eternal city. He says that the procession was headed by men to clear the way, who were arrayed in cloth of gold and purple : ** this purple was a wonderful thing to see for the diversity and rare beauty of its texture ; and, from what is told of Baby- i6o A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II Ionian art, it may be supposed that purple was what is to-day called crimson, or violet velvet, worked in various colours, added to a profusion of jewels and pearls." That he was strictly orthodox in religious matters the ensuing lines prove; as he says, writing of the fact that one of the chief duties of the Pontifex Maximus was to see that no innovations or new ceremonials entered Rome, " this the devil desired, to uphold his service and ceremonies, and to-day in this way, as of old, he wished to put new ideas into the hearts of men and thus make them abhor the sacred service and holy ceremonies, full of Divine Spirit." Yet the following is curious from so devout a son of the Church, Roman and Apostolic. Having said that the Pontifex Maximus was also Emperor, he goes on, "this should not be among Christians, as we are told in the Holy Gospel by St. Luke to give God what is His, and Caesar what is his, keeping persons dedicated to the service of God separate from those who are versed in secular and public government." Thus he rambles on of ancient history, coins and cities, from time to time throwing into the brew a spice of his own recollections, as when he states that once on a journey St. Elmo's fire played about his sword and his horse's ears during a great storm ; or that Charles V A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II i6i " Maximo Our Lord " did not like statues to be more than life size. The " Discourses " are the cultivated gossip of a great gentleman who has dabbled in learning, seen the world, and known every one worth know- ing in his day. The idea of writing them was given him by a book on coins printed by a native of Lyons, one Guillaume Choul, in 1556, and subsequently translated into German, Italian and Spanish, as he himself narrates and con- tinues " I have also determined to put all my statues of marble and bronze and their inter- pretations, not as in the book, keeping ABC order, as I think of doing with any coin I add, for greater clearness." The notes on antiquities are moreover much shorter. He states that the statue of Pan was sent him by Cardinal Granvelle from Rome ; that the bronze bull was found on a mountain near Villahermosa by a labourer ploughing his land ; that a Venus had come to him from his grand- father, the Duke of Luna, who, as he had already said, "was a great lover of these things more than was usual in his times." Quite equal to the original, he notes, was the copy made by the " excellent sculptor Juan Baptista (Bonanome) " of the statue of Julius Caesar sent by the Pope Pius IV to Philip II. Don Martin seems to have had the true *' flair " of a collector and triumphantly tells L i62 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II the story of a certain statue of Hadrian. " I found it as I was passing Tarragona, a Vicar General had it, who had found it in a certain ruin, and was keeping it to send to his master the Cardinal of Oria, then Archbishop of that town, who at that time died " ; so Don Martin acquired the treasure, and sent for it ; but " my servant was so barbarous, that to lighten the weight he divided it and, not content with this, he had it re-polished." The same Discourse contains, perhaps, the only bitter words in the books, "This Prince (Hadrian) was so fond of Antinous that he deified him at his death, and consecrated temples in conformity with his vanity. In our time they (favourites) deify themselves, and make the subjects of their princes adore and serve them, as we often see." It would be interesting to know what particular courtier was in the Duke's mind as he wrote. Room must be found for the story of Hadrian's celebrated bridge across the Tagus at Alcantara, built in A.D. 105 and still one of the glories of the peninsula. When his great grandfather the 1st Duke of Villahermosa was commanding his brother Don Hernando's troops against the King of Portugal, who had come with an army to support his claim to the throne of Castille, through his wife Maria (Juana ?) the Excellent, the Duke thought to stop them by A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 163 destroying the bridge, but the King sent to say that he would rather go round than that it should be harmed, as he did not " desire the Kingdom of Castille without this edifice." Only five stones had been taken away, and these cost three million maravedis to replace, so the story goes. " By this it will be known what the edifice is," remarks Don Martin. It was not only on paper that he gossiped about his collection. Cardinal Granvelle came to stay with him on his way to Madrid, and it is easy to imagine how the two worthies must have laid their heads together over their common hobby. The Bishop of Lerida, perhaps, also visited him, as Don Martin says that he would not trust his own opinion about a vase that had been dug up in Corunna, and given him by his uncle, until this connoisseur had confirmed his ideas. Padre Coloma says that Don Martin hoped to entertain Don John of Austria ; but was fore- stalled in this honour by the aged Archbishop of Saragossa, and could only send all the sick prince required, including two doctors. The question whether a still more celebrated guest came to Pedrola must be left to another chapter. Meanwhile it should not be overlooked that Don Martin married again. This step he took only after consulting the opinion of ** grave and spiritual persons," which 1 64 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II does not suggest much romance. The lady's name was Doha Maria de Pomar, eldest daughter of Don Sancho, Lord of Stigues and other baronies, and Doha Catalina Cerdan his wife. The bride brought a fortune in money, jewels, and effects, of 12,000 golden ducats, equal to 74,000 gold pieces of Aragon ; and there is a curious account of her trousseau and belongings in the Villahermosa archives. The Duke settled 136,000 gold pieces of Aragon on her. The wedding took place in Saragossa on July 30, 1568. The only daughter of this marriage was Dofia Juliana, who in 1586 married her third cousin Don John of Aragon, Lord of Ballobar and Casetas ; but left no children. CHAPTER XIV IT cannot be said with certainty that Cer- vantes visited the Duke of Villahermosa at Pedrola, but the probabiHty is too great for the subject to be ignored here, or the reasons for such a surmise not to be mentioned. In 1905 the tercentenary of the writing of Don Quixote was celebrated in Saragossa, under the auspices of the then head of the house of Villahermosa, by whose direction the papers read on that occasion were collected in an " Album Cervantino Aragones/' which has prin- cipally served as the source from which the following statements have been taken. It appears that the study of the itinerary of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza after they left the enchanted boat and journeyed along the western bank of the Ebro, can lead to no other conclusion than that Pedrola, or Bonavia, was (the original of the palace of the Duke and Duchess from which Sancho sallied forth to take possession of his island, which has been identified |with Alcala de Ebro, the village, it will be Iremembered, where the pseudo page was hidden ;by Don Martin. ; 165 1 66 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II In the edition of Don Quixote, published by the French house of Gamier in 1902, according to the latest corrections of the Academy of Spain, will be found in a footnote on page 535, that Seiior Pellicer " conjectures that Cervantes pointed in these events to Don Carlos de Borja and Doha Maria de Aragon, Duke and Duchess of Villahermosa, and that the castle or country house, theatre of so many adventures, was the country house of Bonavia, built by Don John of Aragon, cousin of the Catholic King, which was close to the town of Pedrola, where the Duke and Duchess usually lived, and of which they were lords." The Duchess named was Don Martin's grand- daughter and heiress. Sefior Pellicer no doubt selected them, as they were the owners at the time the second part of Don Quixote was written ; moreover it may be argued that their wedding had taken place in 1610 in Madrid, where Cervantes then lived, and that the Argensolas, who did business for the Villahermosa family, also came to the capital in that year, probably for the marriage, and might easily have gossiped to Cervantes about their patrons, especially as one brother, Bartolome, wrote a sonnet to cele- brate the beauty of the Duchess, and that five years later the second part of Don Quixote was published. Seiior Melida thinks it is absurd to imagine ^I \.IRi \M i>l Mil. \lll MIl.KMii^A I'Al.ACE AT PEDROI.A hroiii a lyatfy-iitUuiy draii'iu!; hv I '■ Caydircin A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 167 that Cervantes, after printing the first part in 1604, should have waited six years before con- tinuing the story ; moreover, evil days had fallen on Aragon, and the family of Villahermosa was shorn of much of its former splendour. He continues that Pellicer's ideas were entertained by Clemencin only as a conjecture, but that Seiior Ochoa and other commentators on Don Quixote accept the theory which, in the minds of the public, has grown into a certainty. Sefior Melida himself calls it a conjecture with aspects of certainty. Was Don Martin the original of the Duke ? Sefior Melida thinks the figure is most probably a mixture of the various lords of Pedrola. Certainly the great love of hunting shown by the Duke of the story suggests the Duke of Luna rather than Don Martin. Very possibly Cervantes may have heard the story of his calm courage at the Catalonian hunt, which has been already alluded to, as " the pen of the author of Don Quixote and the brush of Velas- quez drew from nature," says Seiior Pano, " and all the writers seem to agree that Cervantes must have visited Aragon " ; some of his types could not have been invented, and it will be en- deavoured to show that, almost certainly, he did visit that Kingdom, and very probably Pedrola. The year in which Don Martin married again, 1568, the Pope Pius V sent a Legate to Madrid 1 68 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II ostensibly to offer Philip II condolences on the death of his son, the unfortunate Don Carlos, but also to treat of secret matters connected with some ecclesiastical affairs relating to the Kingdom of Milan. This Legate, a youth of little more than twenty, was the son of the Duke of Atri, Monsignor Guilio Aquaviva and Aragon, who, four years later, was to become a Cardinal, " a virtuous youth of much learning," he is called by Don Juan de Zufiiga, the ambassador in Rome. Monsignor Guilio and Cervantes seem to have made friends, which is not wonderful, as they were about the same age, and the light-hearted author of Don Quixote cannot but have been a delightful com- panion; so on his return to Italy the Legate took him in his train as page or servant, accord- ing to a common custom in those days. In like manner had the well-known Hurtado de Mendoza travelled in the suite of Cardinal Albomoz. The Mendoza who, if he was not the author of Laza- rillo de Tormes, certainly was of a sonnet to one of Don Martin's sisters, the beautiful Dona Marina. The Legate's embassy was not a great success. Philip would suffer no one to offer him condo- lences on the tragic death of his son, and was very tenacious of his rights in Italy, so the Monsignor was ill received, and on December 2 in the same year was given his passport for his return to A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 169 Italy, which still exists in the archives at Simancas, and ran as follows: " To Monsignor de Aquaviva who, in the past days came from Rome on a certain Embassy, returns thither, and takes five dozen pairs of gloves, perfumed with ambergris and flowers, a skin perfumed with ambergris, a dozen silk stockings and white linen, some fruit baskets and towels worked in gold, two candlesticks and a silver salver he brought from Rome, and other clothes and personal goods belonging to himself and his servants, and one thousand ducats of gold and silver, by way of Aragon and Valencia in seventy days." The Legate had entertained much in Madrid, and had formed friendships with some of the courtiers with whom he liked to discuss " various questions of politics, science, learning and litera- ture." Conversations, in short, after Don Mar- tin's own heart, who, it must be remembered, was at that time " the most important lay personage in Aragon, and one of the most in- fluential at the Court." Did they make friends ? And was the Legate's journey to Aragon for the purpose of visiting Pedrola and the Archbishop of Sara- gossa ? It seems highly probable and even before Pellicer wrote at the end of the eighteenth century a book was printed in Alcala in 1788, the work of Pedro Lopez, which says " Monsignor Aquaviva could go to Valencia by Aranguez and I70 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II then to Saragossa by a road for wheels, and then etc. . . . The itinerary by Valencia, Saragossa and Barcelona would be a month's journey." Therefore it is pointed out that two months remained to the cardinal to visit his relations in Aragon and Barcelona, although these places did not lie on the direct route from Madrid to Rome. " Monsignor Aquaviva went to Aragon for a special reason, which we do not know, but which is not hard to guess. Cervantes went with him as a servant or page. Did they visit Pedrola ? It is very probable. Were they at Saragossa ? This is certain," says Sefior de Pano. And he goes on to note that while Cervantes seemed to see Seville and Toledo peopled with water sellers and witches, Aragon, for him, was full of knights and princes, the medium through which it was seen in the author's youth, so that in his old age the name evoked for him nothing but visions of splendour and magnificence. These facts being conceded, it seems highly probable that Don Martin was the original of the Duke, who is never laughed at in the story, and who, with his Duchess, invented the practi- cal jokes which, to modern ears, sound nearly as ponderous as the cart wheels which took part in some of them. The provision in Don Martin's will that Duchess Maria should look after his illegitimate A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 171 daughter, would rather point to her being an easy going woman who might well have entered into the spirit of the revels, but too little is told of her to draw any real conclusions. Sehor Melida thinks that the character may also have been painted from a mixture of all the famous women of the family. It seems difficult, how- ever, to find any traces of Dofia Luisa in the merry, laughter-loving Duchess of the story. Perhaps it is only an accident that Aldonza, the real name of the peerless Dulcinea, was a common one in the Villahermosa family, prob- ably after the Rica Hembra's sister, whose tomb- stone says that she was the most beautiful woman of her day. It is also thought by some that Blasco de Lanuza, who was the friend of Don Francis of Aragon, Duke of Villahermosa, stood as a model for the " pompous ecclesiastic " who figures in the twenty-first chapter of the second part of Don Quixote. Lanuza was " a writer of merit," a theologian by profession, well versed in ecclesiastical studies, as well as in Latin and Spanish poetry and literature. If his writing is somewhat dry, his style is always clear and plain. " In a word," remarks Senor de Embun y Val, " Blasco de Lanuza unites all the qualities and literary aptitude which is revealed by the author who wrote the Quixote Avellaneda," the false 172 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II Quixote^ which was such a source of annoyance to Cervantes. While laughing over the adven- tures of the knight, and the sallies of Sancho Panza, it must not be forgotten that the book was not only a satire on the old romances, but also on the literature of the period, moreover that it was written in a natural, colloquial manner, very different from the stilted and pedantic style then in vogue, and therefore it did not find favour with the " dry-as- dusts " of the time, who revenged themselves with the Don Quixote of Avellaneda ; if this were really Blasco de Lanuza's nom de plume it would be sufficient reason to make him the butt of Cervantes' sarcasm. He had scores to pay off, as even in 1614, before the second part of the book was given to the world, at the rejoicing in Saragossa in connexion with the canonization of St. Theresa, the students of the University organized a cavalcade, and among the figures which attracted attention was a sort of car with a Don Quixote and his servant Sancho, who, among many jokes, presented some doggerel to the judges of the show, bearing the heading " The true second part of the ingenious Don Quixote de la Mancha composed by the Licen- tiate Aquestetes " ; which is thought to prove that the false Quixote was popular in Saragossa. So no wonder Cervantes was angry. He had himself won a first prize there for his A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 173 verses nineteen years earlier, when he sent some from Seville, in praise of St. Jacinto on the occasion of the festival of the canonization of that saint. Seiior Bremon says that the real Quixote was famous before it was printed, as before it was published it was mentioned in a work called *' La Picara Justina," ^ among a list of celebrated books, a fame no one has been able to explain satisfactorily unless the author had read it to people before publication. Accepting that Pedrola and its inhabitants at the time Cervantes probably visited it are photo- graphed on the pages of his immortal work, it is very diffidently suggested that perhaps Doha Elvira de Medinilla may be the prototype of the grumpy duenna. If Cervantes overheard any conversation between her and a servant like that he puts into the mouths of Dona Rodriguez and Sancho Panza, how his merry eyes must have twinkled ! Chateaubriand says, " Lisez, relisez, et si vous trouvez un livre meilleur, que dis-je meilleur ? Seulement egal au Quixote, je consent volontiers a perdre toute mon autorite litteraire." If ^ Mas famo que dona Oli, Que don Quijo y Lazari Que Alfarache y Celeste. " Justina " was written by a Dominican, Andres Perez, whose nom de plume was Licenciado Francisco Lopez de Ubeda. 174 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II anyone will follow this excellent advice and after having glanced over these pages, will read again the book which Lady Holland calls ^ " the most amusing production of human wit/' it is submitted that it will appear to them to be a continuation of the family life at Pedrola. Maybe this is only because the story was so true to life, but it seems equally, if not more, probable that it contains a picture of Don Martin of Aragon and his second wife. ^ " Spanish Journal of Elizabeth." Lady Holland. CHAPTER XV THREE years before Don Martin himself married again the betrothal of his eldest son had taken place. Like his father, he had sought for an alliance which would add both to the lustre and material prosperity of his house, and his choice had fallen on Dofia Luisa Pacheco, an orphan, fifth daughter of the Duke of Escalona, whose wife was a relation of the Count of Chinchon, who as Treasurer of the Crown of Aragon to Philip H was a powerful friend at Court in matters relating to the lawsuit of Ribagorza. The name of Luisa must have seemed a good omen, and the betrothal took place at Toledo on May 6, 1566, Don Martin being present. He undertook to bequeath to his son the Duchy of Villahermosa, the Baronies of Arenco and Val de Artana, besides his rights in the Marquisate of Cortes, and to give him at once the title of Count of Ribagorza. He gave the towns of Luna and Erla and the Barony of Artana to the young people, fixing an income of 5000 ducats and 1500 on the Countess for pin money, to be 175 176 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II increased to 2000 when they succeeded to the Dukedom. The marriage did not take place until five years later. Curiously enough, this Dona Luisa was also older than her betrothed, but this time there were only five years between husband and wife. She was, therefore, thirty and Don John twenty-five when they married at Sara- gossa on May 18, 1569. They had probably waited for the Ribagorza lawsuit to be concluded, and this had been given in Don Martin's favour at the end of 1567, a few months, therefore, before his own second wedding. The young couple lived at Toledo for the first years of their married life. It is curious that the two little boys who played and studied together in their childhood should have suffered their greatest sorrows through their eldest sons. King Philip can never have placed great hopes on poor, deformed, ill-conditioned Don Carlos, and his tragic end must have only been the terrible realization of a dreaded future ; but Don Martin's case was very different. No hint is given that Don John was not everything his father could wish, and, to judge from his picture, he must have almost rivalled Don John of Austria himself in good looks and in the bravery of his attire, yet he was to make his father experience what Padre Coloma A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 177 calls " perhaps the most tragic disaster in all the history of the grandees." The story of this tragedy is best told in Senor Melida's own words. " For about two years the young couple lived in Toledo, where their evil star showed itself, as here began the terrible drama which was to end the peace of both, and their lives ; a drama which in all the details except the sad result is, even to-day, full of mystery, and its true causes unknownable, and it is left doubtful whether it was occasioned by cruel scandal, or by levity. Secret and written memorials furnish facts difficult to believe, such as the evil offices of a bad woman of Maqueda ; secret visits and flirtations through the barred windows and around the walls of a Toledo convent ; the wearing in public of the same colours and devices by gallant and lady ; imprudent conduct at unusual hours of the night ; and, at last, presumption and daring, deeds and words improper for a gentleman, as doubtless was the youthful Don Pedro de Silva, son of the noble Don Hernando de Silva. Certain it is, however, that owing to gossip, whether well founded or not, Don Hernando tried to surprise the suspected lovers without success, and that the Count, Don John, urged by the Marquis de Villena, brother of Dona Luisa, determined to go away and take his wife with him, probably M 178 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II in order that the gossip should be silenced and forgotten." The Count and Countess, therefore, set out on their journey, and it would appear that he was warned that among his pages was Don Pedro de Silva, who, thus disguised, followed the track of what constituted either his dream or his pastime, until, finding himself recognized, he retired. Too late had he brought his levity or folly to an end. The blindest and most vio- lent of passions had been set alight in the soul of the young Count, who, letting himself be carried away by them, took the cruellest revenge on the person of his wife for her presumed wrong, as soon as they arrived at his house of Los Fay OS. With all the formalities of law and of con- science, he condemned her to death. During the night of August 28, 1571, the Countess, finding that it was to be her last, wrote some memorials on a sheet of paper, which she signed, also a few directions as to what was to be done with her goods and for her soul, as if it were a will written before a lawyer and witnesses, giving the document unsealed to her chaplain and confessor Mosen James Ferrer. She signed the seven memorials and sealed them with her arms, but their contents are unknown ; probably they proclaimed her innocence, as it is known that she did so by word with all the vehemence Photographed hy Laurent DON JL'AX ALO.NSO T)E ARAG(')N' Y KORTA Froiii his pot-t7-alt in the I'illahci-iiiosa Palace, Madrid, hv Rolani dc Mois I A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 179 natural to such a supreme moment ; in spite of this, on the following morning the unfortunate Doiia Luisa Pacheco lay dead. *' As perhaps was desired," writes a modern author, the Marquis de Pidal, " the injury was not a secret nor was the vengeance, according to the gory and un-Christian ethics of those '' Physicians of their Honour" which was so celebrated in our old dramas, faithful mirror of the passions and affections which were common to that Society." If the luckless Don John acted on the impulse which inspired Calderon with some of the most realistic verses which have ever seen the light on the Spanish stage, he must, on recovering himself, have feared the vengeance of the relations of the victim, especially that of the Count de Chinchon, who had great influence with Philip II. He, therefore, fled from Spain to Italy desiring to reach Ferrara, whose Duke, Alfonso II, being a grandson of the famous Lucretia Borgia, was a relation. Don John was over confident, and for this fell into the power of his pursuers. The news was broken to Don Martin by one of the holy Duchess's half brothers, Don Tomas de Borja, who in his childhood had served as an object-lesson for her when, in the Gandia nursery, she lectured a little sister on the duty of treating the priesthood with respect. Events i8o A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II did not move very quickly in the i6th century, and the letter is dated from Rome nearly a year after the poor young Countess inscribed her last wishes. " I have written so much to your lordship," it said, " and given account of what happens here, that if they all reach you I well may grumble at receiving no answers, there are so many letters lost and those that arrive do so open, which is a great pity. I do not wish to be like the letters from Spain from where no letters come without bringing bad news ; what I can give your lordship to-day is nothing good, as by the inadvertance of the Lord Count, they have taken him in the State of Milan, going to Ferrara, a plan well carried out for these times. The Ambassador of the Duke of Savoy, knowing that he was coming, made great haste to get before him to the river ; thus they took him twenty miles before he reached the estate of the Duke. Blessed be Our Lord who thus ordered it. It is not possible for the guide he had to have been more stupid, as by turning aside for twenty leagues, coming by the heights of Savoy and going through Venetian territory, which borders Ferrara, he would have arrived safely without being caught. ^' Finally, my lord, he was taken to the Castle of Milan, where he is now ; the news arrived here on the 2oth instant. According to what I am told A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II ibi the capture must have been on the i6th or 17th. He sent a post at once to the Knight Commander, and so by the time this arrives your lordship may already know the sad news. God grant us patience to be able to bear such sorrows. I kiss the hands of the Duchess, and those of my Lady Dofia Ana and all those of my lords and ladies. I do not dare to ask your lordship to write me much, because I am fearful of bad news whenever letters come from Spain. God give me patience, and keep the very illustrious person of your lordship, as I, his greatest servant, desire." The missive is signed by Don Martin's " most unfortunate brother." Not a very sympathetic letter, but it seems as if the writer hardly knew how to broach the subject which was to bring such sorrow on his correspondent. It must have taken all Don Martin's philosophy not to be utterly crushed by such news. Worse, however, was to follow ; for a few months later he must have heard that the King's orders, as set out in the ensuing document, had been carried out. " The King " Our Magistrate of Murcia or your lieu- tenant. Know that the Count of Ribagorza has been taken in Italy by our orders and other persons with him, I have commanded that the i82 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II nineteen should be brought to these realms and as it is understood that they come in certain Neapolitan galleys under the command of Don Alonso de Baxan, and as we have ordered that they shall pass Carthagena we send you this writing that they should be given over to you. I order you that when the said galleys arrive at the said city of Carthagena, j^ou should present the writing to the person who has charge of the prisoners, and that he should give over to you the said Count and the other persons with him, and that you should take them with all necessary care and with the necessary guard, to the Marquisate of Villena, where you will make them over to our Governor in this Marquisate, or his lieutenant, who is ordered to receive them and what further he is to do. Given in Madrid — of March, 1573. I the King." To continue Sefior Melida's words, " The Marquisate of Villena, as we already know, belonged to the brother of Dofia Luisa Pacheco. So that the Count, already in the hands of the avengers of his victim, was taken to the village of Torrejon de Velasco, near Madrid, condemned to death, and by the King's orders executed in the public square on November 6, 1573. His brother the Count of Luna gives the sad details. He also says that the unfortunate man declared his wife's innocence before he died. One of A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 183 Dona Luisa's sisters, Dona Maria Pacheco, before making her profession and entering the Royal Dominican Convent at Madrid in 1576, also pro- claimed it. A sad story, in which it is impossible to dis- cover the truth, or how far justice was exceeded. The Marquis de Pidal and other historians have supposed that the enmity of the Count de Chinchon to the Villahermosas was the starting point of those troubles in Aragon which clouded the last years of Philip II. '' Terrible must have been Don Martin's grief when he learned the miserable and ignominious end of his son." Readers cannot fail to be struck by the resemblance of this story to the plot of Othello. The dying speech of the misguided Moor might well voice the last words of Don John. I pray you, in your letters, When you shall these unlucky deeds relate, Speak of me as I am ; nothing extenuate. Nor set down aught in malice : then must you speak Of one that lov'd not wisely but too well ; Of one not easily jealous, but, being wrought. Perplexed in the extreme ; of one whose hand Like the base Indian, threw a pearl away. Othello, Act V, Scene 2. CHAPTER XVI DON MARTIN'S mother, Dona Ana Sar- miento de UUoa, passed away on April 24, 1576. As her will was made on the previous Feb- ruary 4 in Saragossa, where she died, she had probably been ill for some time, and she must have been an old woman, as she had married Don Alonso Felipe in 15 14. It is curious how all the family died in the Saragossa palace and not at Pedrola. Doiia Ana desired that she should be buried by the side of her husband and that many prayers should be said for her soul. She left gifts to various convents, including the one at Valladolid, where one of her daughters was buried, the beautiful Dofia Catalina, who had been one of Dona Juana's ladies. Dona Ana left Don Martin and a grandchild, Doha Ana de Aragon y Valtierra, as her heirs. She bequeathed 2000 golden ducats to her daughter-in-law, Don Martin's second wife. No details are given of her funeral ; but as she evidently set much store on such solemnities being conducted with great pomp, and as it will 184 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 185 be remembered that in spite of his request for a simple burying her husband had the most im- posing funeral seen up to then in Saragossa, and also that she made all arrangements in Pedrola for the obsequies of the holy Duchess, it is to be hoped that she went on her last journey attended by all the ceremony she would have wished. Dofia Ana was clearly a lady of greater parts than her singularly inexpressive countenance, as shown in her portrait, would suggest. It will be recollected that her son left the lawsuit in her hands when he went to England, and she always seems to have busied herself in the matter. There is a letter from her to Don Martin on the subject in the family archives ; but being partly written in cipher it is not possible to read it all. Clearly it was written from the Court, probably from Madrid, as it mentions the Prado. In the first part of the letter there is a reference to Philip's restlessness, and one to the unfortunate grandson, ''from this I have it for certain that they will kill Don John or the Count as he is called here ; Everything is in a nice state ! " This sounds as if Don Martin had dispatched her to work in the interest of the un- happy Don John at the Court, which he would not have done had he not had great respect for 1 86 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II her powers ; but as the letter is only dated June 1 6, it is impossible to say in what year it was written, though as she concludes by saying that she was not writing to Don John, it was probably during the sad summer of 1573. As regards Ribagorza she says, " I am inclined to speak to Chinchon to-morrow and give him a memorial for the King, as I know the persons who advise me to do this do not lie to me, and they may know that the evil intention of those you are aware of will not leave the matter to go to the Ecclesiastical Court." The letter ends, " Make them be on their guard in the house, and let me know if you receive my dispatches and the King's answer. I am out of my wits and sick of this business, which leaves me no peace. God guide it so that you may be satisfied. Those here are well. God keep yours yonder, to whom give my blessing as I do to you." The letter is signed " Your mother." It seems strange that Dofia Ana should have chosen the Count de Chinchon to present a peti- tion to King Philip. The uncle of Doha Luisa Pacheco, whose influence and sympathy were such valuable assets at the time of the marriage to be used in the Ribagorza suit, could, while he naturally took his niece's part, be hardly expected to make matters smooth for the Villahermosas. DONA ANA SAR.MIE.NTO 1)E ULLOA, COUNTESS OF RIBAGORZA Fro]i: her po)-t7-ait in the I 'Ulahcritiosa Palace, Madrid, hy R,dain de Mois A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 187 The lawsuit, which at one time seemed happily settled, soon was renewed owing to the conduct of the inhabitants of Ribagorza ; but before beginning this subject it will be well to glance at an old manuscript still lying on the shelves of the National Library at Madrid, which contains the rules and regulations for an embassy to Rome entrusted to Don Martin, Don Hernando, who had become his heir, accompanying the mission as what now would be called " chief of the staff." As all the minute and curious details of the number of the suite, and how they were to live, is recorded, it is very tantalizing that, bearing no date, it is impossible to say defi- nitely when it took place ; in fact, as there is no mention of it in the Villahermosa archives it seems almost probable that it remained a journey on paper only, scarcely less interesting, however, on this account for those who read about it. If it did take place, it cannot have been until after the death of the luckless Don John in 1573, as until then his next brother would not have become Count of Ribagorza, ''his eldest son and successor," who figures first on the list of the projected household that " the very illustrious Duke of Villahermosa " was to take to Rome. History is silent on the subject ; nevertheless, it can be stated that the negotiations of Don 1 88 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II John of Austria with the Pope in 1575, or those of France with respect to its poHtical and religious difficulties after 1576, or the differences with Rome at the time of the conquest of Portu- gal, rather later, are perhaps the only occasions on which Philip II would be likely to send an Embassy Extraordinary there. At least so thinks Seiior Melida, and Don Martin was never the ambassador accredited to the Holy See. It is surmised that Cardinal Granvelle, his great friend, obtained, or tried to obtain, the honour of representing his sovereign in Rome for Don Martin in order to reinstate him in Philip's good graces. Perhaps the King was willing enough, and Don Martin could not accept a favour from the hand that had wounded him. It is all as hazy as the details of the manuscripts are precise. Besides Don Hernando the suite was to consist of four gentlemen, "two greater in age, authority, and estate, the two others who, although inferior in rank to the above, would be more useful in fulfilling certain duties on unusual occasions, and the two first shall be for the more important ones, and all four for the authority and ornament of the Duke and his embassy, and shall always accompany the Duke," also " a High Steward who might be one of the inferior gentlemen." A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 189 On the journey the Duke was to take a valet and two pages. There was also to be the usual lawyer, doctor, confessor, chaplain, etc. Four pages were to be " from here " and four sumpter mules, two for the litter, one for the bed and two chests, the other for the wine and food ; and if necessary a fifth for the servants' luggage, two muleteers, who were to act as lackeys in the villages on the road. The " ordinary morning table," otherwise dinner, was to cost ten ducats a day ; supper, which the Duke was to eat apart with his son and the lawyer, two ducats, which came to 4320 a year, and counting " some banquets and expenses which will have to be incurred during the year 5000 ducats." The thirteen gentlemen were to be paid forty ducats a year for rations and salary ; the seven lesser officials, with their aids, one hundred and twenty, and the eight pages and six lackeys sixty- five ducats, as the staff was to be increased when Rome was reached. It would be interesting to know the wages of the nine servants ; but unluckily here the paper of the manuscript is torn. The house itself, which was to be " important and in a good part of the city," might cost up to six hundred ducats to hire. The household of the Count of Ribagorza is also specified. The doctor was to use the Duke' s horses and coach . Of the four gentlemen. 190 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II one was to serve the cup, another the dishes, and the other two the towels to the Duke and his son or any important guest. Another quaint item is " two beautiful mares, with an elegant coach for the Duke, and two horses for the other coach of the gentle- men and friends." There were to be six other well bred horses, and a " fine palfrey for the Duke." The canopy in the chapel was to be of coloured velvet with a border of cloth of gold, and every- thing required for divine service was to be taken; also two chasubles, which by an ingenious plan were to be red and green lined with white and crimson, to be turned inside out, in con- formity with the festivals ; there were also to be altar frontals, but it is not said if the same economical arrangement was to be extended to them. The first room of the house, ** which is big, has no tapestry, only a large table, covered with a common cloth ; this will serve for the grooms and lackeys, who are in waiting, who may amuse themselves with a chess board." The descrip- tion of the three adjoining rooms is equally minute. In the dining room the walls were to be hung with good tapestry, and leather in the summer, the dinner table was to be covered with a rich cloth, and be set under the velvet canopy on which was to be embroidered the arms of the A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 191 Duke with a border of cloth of gold. There were to be four gilt chairs covered with velvet, and a dozen or fourteen others covered with leather, besides settles painted with the Duke's arms, as only he and his son and the two principal gentlemen were to use chairs, except guests of mark. The dais was to be in the best room, and was to be mounted by four steps, and to have a railing round it, and to be sheltered by a great canopy of embroidered cloth with the Duke's arms on a velvet shield, and there was to be a table outside the dais for cups and bottles. The third room, which was to be hung in winter with velvet, or damask, and in summer with taffety, was to have a bed and a chair and a bureau covered with cloth to match. On the table was to be a small silver bell and a clock. It does not transpire why the chamber was to be thus furnished, as it was not Don Martin's bedroom ; his bed hangings were only to be of cloth with borders and valances of blue and green velvet, or cloth of gold, and in the summer of taffety or damask. The rest of the room, including the table cloth, was to be decked out to match. On the table there was to be an image. Beyond was a closet where either a page or a valet was to sleep. Not one word is there about any arrangement for washing. Fashions evi- dently had changed much since the days when 192 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II on the arrival of a knight at some castle of mediaeval Spain, the first act of hospitality was to prepare him a hot bath, literally a wooden tub. The hall, where the servants waited when it got dark in winter, was to be lighted by a torch in a candlestick, and in each room two candles set in candlesticks were to burn on the tables, and the wax was to be white ; but the courtyard and the middle of the staircase were to be lighted with lanterns burning tallow candles. " Plate is necessary," says the document, and it goes on to specify, with great exactitude, how much. Sixty small and twenty big plates ; but only four dishes, two of them gilt. Eight candlesticks and six cups, nine jugs and two flasks, three salt-cellars, two pepper pots, two dozen forks, and forks and spoons, a brazier, a salver such as cardinals and princes use, two porringers and " refrigerators of silver in time of snow," probably meaning when snow was obtainable for the purpose. Were they not so in themselves, these details would be interesting as another sidelight on the mind of the sovereign of the two hemispheres, who in the impossible task of centralizing this vast empire in himself led a life of grim drudgery, and who must needs settle at headquarters such epoch-making questions as that his envoy was A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 193 only to burn tallow candles on his staircase, and that the lackeys of the antechamber might relieve the tedium of their calling by a game of chess. N CHAPTER XVII IT would not appear that Dona Ana's efforts at the Court led to any good results. In the maze of intrigue it is only difficult to decide whether Philip allowed himself uncon- sciously to be urged along by pricks from the Count of Chinchon's spur, or whether on the other hand, he played off the naturally sore feelings of his minister to gain his own ends. This, at least, is the opinion of a modern writer, and Sehor Melida himself thinks that the in- habitants of Ribagorza were stimulated from r outside in their hatred of their Count and impatience of his yoke, fresh signs of which they shortly showed, probably in 1578 or 1579, though one contemporary manuscript places it ten years earlier, and says that Don Martin went to Benabarre with his eldest son, who was then Don John. All the letters which have been preserved, however, seem to point to the later date. Complaints having been made about some of his officials to the Duke, he set out for Benabarre to hold a council and, as far as was possible, to redress the wrongs of his lieges. At this con- 194 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 195 ference the inhabitants demanded a reduction of taxation ; the Duke, knowing that this was contrary to the fief and suspecting that it was nothing but a net spread to catch him, refused to give an answer at that time, but promised to return and hold another council, and so went back to Saragossa. He was as good as his word, and sent his son to the county ahead of him. Meanwhile things had gone from bad to worse, and the ringleaders had armed seven hundred men, whom they brought to Benabarre to pre- vent the meeting being held. To show that they were really in earnest they began by laying siege to the house where the Duke was staying with his son and a score or so of servants. For three days the siege lasted, and the rising increased. The rebels then went to parley with their lord, telling him that, as his rights had already expired, they warned him to leave the town and the county as quickly as possible, threatening him with death if he acted otherwise. The Duke, seeing the armed mob and their determined attitude, resolved to quit the town with his son and avoid the danger. So they left the house where they were lodging, and the inhabitants of Ribagorza drew themselves up in two lines the whole length of the street and made the Duke pass down the middle with Mosen Nabalj the Commissioner of the Inquisition, who 196 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II went with his wand raised. The rebels stood with their firelocks pointing to the ground, to show that Don Martin and his party were in no danger. They waited till he had passed, and then betook themselves to a hill near the city, where these unruly lieges let off their arquebuses into the air, in the direction the Duke had gone, to show their independence. After these studied insults it may have been agreeable to receive such an obsequious letter as that which Antonio Perez wrote to Don Martin from Madrid on October 8, 1578, clearly in answer to more than one asking for his support. It bears a strange family likeness to those the secretary employed to lure Don John of Austria to his undoing, and its honied words do not ring very true, as he deplores the Duke's worries and wishes he could offer help to his very illus- trious lordship, who was to regard him as a faithful servant, whose pleasure would be to do everything in his power as long as he hved. He then goes on to say about matters commu- nicated to him, " Nor do I quite understand a paper which came with the first letter, I cannot answer by writing, for this reason I think the best thing will be for Don Martin (the Duke's namesake and third son) to see me, either here or on the road ; if it pleases him to come here it might well be done secretly ; and without harming anyone I could ofier him hospitality A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 197 in my country house* and there we could meet and talk. Your lordship will see to it and order what you please ; meanwhile believe that I am serving you, as I will continue to do as long as I live." Though, as he goes on to protest, he can do more good privately than publicly, still he desires openly to espouse the Duke's cause or be his servant, as he puts it. Don Martin had apparently offered to lend him a house to go for a holiday with his wife and family. This, it would seem, Antonio Perez had once refused, but now he wished to accept the loan. " If I did not accept before," he continues, " it was not because I was not your lordship's friend, but because they told me that it was outside the town, a country house ; but having heard where it is, though it is rather far from the Palace, I accept the favour for my outing and pleasure." Beyond the fact that the house was near St. Dominic's there is no clue to its situation. An- tonio Perez having not only a palatial residence in Madrid, but a beautiful country place just outside, would not require any accommodation there, and if the proffered house was in Sara- gossa, it is very unlikely that he would run the risk of absenting himself for so long from the King's side. At this time Perez was still in ^ No doubt the celebrated Casilla near Madrid, 198 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II royal favour, and it was not until four years later that he was taken and tortured, and that his long trial and exile began. The wife he men- tions was Dofia Juana de Coello Bozmediano, who stands out as one of the heroic spouses of history. Emboldened by the success of their first attempt, the inhabitants of Ribagorza behaved no better when the Duke, being ill himself, and not wishing to fail those of his lieges who were faithful to him, sent his two sons, Don Hernando and Don Martin, to hold a council at Benabarre, escorted by a royal councillor. Once more the rebels invaded the town to prevent the meetings and laid siege to the house where the two young men were staying. As the mob tried to pull down the doors and burn those inside, shouting ''Fire, fire, death to the traitors," the besieged, not unnaturally, became alarmed and resolved to go, accompanied by a priest, the Commissioner of the Inquisition, to a new house of his which was easier to defend. Here they were for some days, as all the houses and windows held arquebuses. In view of this " shame and treason " as the old document calls it, the young men elected to ask the opinion of several monks who had been among the people, and who frankly told them that if they did not leave within a few hours they would be taken and killed. Thinking that the monks knew A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 199 what they were talking about, and reaHzing their great danger, the counts went to " another place near." After this adventure Don Martin lost all hope of getting the better of his subjects and therefore had recourse to the Courts of Justice of Aragon, where he lodged a complaint against them, asking that they might be punished as the law provided. These steps also proved useless. A councillor of the Court, sent to summon witnesses, was not only prevented from executing his duty, but was ill treated and wounded so as to be helpless for life. Then a lieutenant of Justice, a deputy of the Kingdom, and a juryman of Saragossa, were dispatched to Benabarre with an escort of horses and arquebuses ; but they met with no better success. For no sooner had they reached their lodging and hung the mace and other dis- tinguishing marks of their office out of the window, than the people rose, shooting at the house and preventing the officers from carrying out their duties. Though the Court of Justice and the Royal Court of Appeal of Aragon tried and condemned some of the rebels to death, these sentences were not carried out ; " owing to the state of the country and the weakness of justice," to quote the Marquis de Pidal. More and more encouraged by these successes the rebels determined to further organize their 200 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II resistance. The ringleader was a native of Calasanz^ one John de Ager^ a strong and clever man, who, calling himself '* Procurador " of the County, began to raise soldiers and deposed all the Duke's officials. He was also named mayor, together with one of the rich inhabitants of Benabarre named John Giles de Nacian, under whom was a guard of fierce, lawless men, and the two were absolute masters of the county. Naturally the people who remained loyal to Don Martin fared but badly at their hands, and a contemporary manuscript history throws light on a sorry story. " They entered the dwelling of one named Mongai, the archivist, who was in favour of the rights of the Counts, past and future. Not finding him, they so upset his wife that it caused her to have a miscarriage, and both she and the baby died ; then they went to the Archives, which they unlocked, taking out the writings and doing what they pleased with them ; from there they went to the house, I mean the prison, and taking the key from the gaoler, let all the prisoners out. Without authority or justice so they proceed until now, like a mutinous re- public, without any government." Not content with all this, they besieged some men who had taken refuge in the Church, who had displeased the mob by saying that it was tyrannical. The clergy even were not allowed A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 201 to enter the Church, either to say mass or cele- brate the sacraments, for fear lest they might help those shut up whom the besiegers hoped to kill by hunger. Five or six hundred men came with banners raised and beating drums and blowing trumpets, shouting " Death ! Death ! " and hurling insults at those inside, and even trying to pull down a part of the wall. The townsfolk and clergy began to think that the siege had lasted too long, stopping as it did the services in the Church, so they took the matter in hand and promised peace to those inside if they would open the doors ; but behind the clergy came the soldiers, and instead of keeping their word they seized those inside, handcuffed them and took them to prison, and placing them before the executioner threatened that they should be garotted ; the priests with all their might protesting against this breach of faith, so that the most that was done to them was capturing them and taking their arms away. One called Martin de la Tenera was dealt many stabs with a knife and left for dead. Dominic Omemalos de Loarre was shot in public without anyone interposing. Peter Vallonga, the tailor of Montanana, was killed, also one Peralta de la Sal, and a son of the Lord of Blancaforte ; and the tailor of Sarrate and his son were shot inside the prison, also the tailor of Benabarre and a " justero " and 202 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II another man ; they also killed the curate of St. Testia ; and in the Square of the Dead Calf they killed a cleric called Mosen Collada and threw him over a cliff after he was dead. The Marquis of Pidal thus writes of the affair, " This state of things lasted for many years, more than ten, and it is incredible that in the reign of Philip II, who was so jealous of his authority and the public peace, such a state of things should have been allowed to exist, unless the explanations of contemporary writers be ac- cepted, and we suppose that the Court, or the Count of Chinchon, tolerated and favoured the rebels, either in revenge towards the house of Villahermosa, or to flatter the King, who desired to extend his authority over the county." Probably Don Martin realized that the situa- tion was hopeless. Was it for this that Philip named his former playmate the " Philosopher of Aragon " ? CHAPTER XVIII IF rebellious vassals and domestic sorrows failed to ruffle the calm temper of the Philosopher of Aragon during these dark days, he was to experience a shock, which not only shook his imperturbability, but affected him so deeply that, according to Padre Muniesa, he was thenceforward a changed man. One day in 1576, while he was staying in Saragossa, his great friend the Bishop of Huesca, Don Diego de Arnedo, came to see him. While in his company, to the Duke's horror, the Bishop was seized with a fit and fell down dead. The news was not long in running through the city, and terror-stricken crowds flocked to gaze on the remains. As the Bishop had died in his house Don Martin would not allow the body to be removed, and resolved to give it burial among his own people. He first had the corpse placed in the Monastery of Preaching Brothers, which was close to his house, and then with all due honours conveyed it to Pedrola. The Monastery of Preaching Brothers was one of those that Don Martin now employed himself 203 204 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II in adorning, together with many other churches, instead of as formerly, says Padre Norell, de- lighting in embellishing his own house with valuable pictures and furniture ; which ap- parently means that he gave up adding to his collections. So the " Discourses " belong to happier times. He began to emulate the life of the holy Duchess while at home, and at intervals with- drew to retreats in the quiet cloister of Veruela ; taking part in the life of the community and singing the offices in the choir of the Chapel, where many years before his father had hung up his banner. All this does not seem to have made him happy, however, and under the weight of his many troubles he became depressed like his father before him. Referring, presumedly, to the sudden death of his friend, the unfortunate Duke exclaimed, " Who can say that the same thing will not soon happen to me ? Vassals, estates, bravery, riches and honour, what good will they do me ? Of what comfort and use can the vanities of the world be to me ? " and much more in the same strain, ending with the reflection that a whole lifetime is short in which to learn how to die. Vanity of vanity, all is vanity — such was the burden of his song, like that of the unknown preacher of old. His infirmity probably added to his melan- A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 205 choly, as it is unlikely that the attack of stone, from which he died, was the first from which he suffered. In April of 1581 he was taken ill, and rapidly grew worse. Feeling himself to be dying he dictated his will. He desired to be buried by the side of the holy Duchess in the Church of Pedrola, and ordered that the grave was only to be opened again to receive the remains of his second wife. He wished that his coffin should be covered with black velvet adorned with a cross of crimson satin, and that coats of arms should ornament the border of the canopy ; he also wanted to be embalmed and arrayed in the habit of a Cistercian, which he wore from devotion. It is probable, however, that he was not em- balmed, as when, on account of some alterations, his remains and those of Dofia Luisa were dis- interred, it was noticed, in contrast to hers, that the Duke's had shared the " fate common to buried bodies." He also willed that his heart and that of Dofia Luisa should be taken to the parish church of Villahermosa and there placed in chests with a little canopy of silk over them and laid near the high altar, as a sign of the affection he had for this town ; his intestines in a leaden case were to be taken to the Monastery of Veruela and interred, as the abbot directed, covered with a stone of white marble with his arms 2o6 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II and an inscription, stating that they were there. He ordered many prayers for his own soul and that of Cardinal Sarmiento, the uncle who had been the mentor of his youth at Compostella, also for the Bishop of Huesca, and for those who had been " accomplices in his sins." He mentions that he had left a book in the Monas- tery of St. Engracia at Saragossa in which would be found stated what he bequeathed to his servants, his debts, and other wishes, disposing of all his property such as jewels and tapestry over which he had power ; but that if his son Don Hernando wished to acquire them, the ruby ring whose value was 500 pounds, the gold bed with spangles or the bed of damask and cloth of gold were not to be sold. He left a legacy with which to enlarge and beautify the church at Pedrola, according to drawings in the aforesaid book. The site of his grave and Doha Luisa's was to be between his father's and the altar. It was to be covered with jasper and black Calatora marble, the lettering filled in with tin, level with the floor, which was to be tiled. Overhead were to hang " two ducal coronets of gilt wood as hats are hung over the tombs of bishops." His widow was to be asked if she desired to be buried there ; in which case there were to be three stones and three coronets. A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 207 His estates he divided among his^children. The town of Cortes in Navarre, over whose possession he was having a lawsuit, was to belong to his eldest son, if the cause was gained. To this son he also bequeathed his suit of gilt armour, and the horse trapping of crimson cloth of gold. Don Martin was to have the suit of black and gilt armour and trappings of red velvet and cloth of silver ; and a black and gold suit was to be Don Francisco's. To the daughter of his second marriage he left a blue damask bed with fringes of gold, besides a blue and yellow silk awning and two diamonds. The house in Saragossa with all its pictures and garden was to be his widow's for life, to- gether with a gold cross and the heads of two of the 11,000 virgins, given him in Cologne long years before. After the demise of Dofia Maria they were to come back to the family. She too was to be one of the six executors. Having thus arranged his affairs Don Martin desired that for the remainder of his span of life he should not be treated as a great lord, but as a " vile worm and miserable sinner." Full of deep contrition he asked for and received the Sacraments. Then calling the Duchess and his children to his bedside he took leave of them ; afterwards receiving Extreme Unction. While a priest was commending his soul, he kissed a crucifix and, imploring the protection 2o8 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II of the Virgin, passed away on April 19, 1581, in his house at Saragossa as his father and mother and wife had done before him. He was buried at Pedrola by the side of Dofia Luisa ; but though his funeral was conducted, doubtless, with no less pomp than hers, no details have come down to posterity. There is a long paper in the family archives of secret notes which Don Martin made con- cerning the money owing by the Crown, and the diminution of his fortune. Seiior Melida says of him that, *'He showed the same even temper in good as in evil fortune ; brave in the one and not downcast in the other, he unceasingly defended the liberties of his Kingdom and the honour of his house, so that he, who could best reward his loyalty and soften the rigour of justice, was certainly right in calling the Duke the * Philosopher of Aragon.' " The misfortunes of the family did not end with Don Martin's life. On the death of the luckless Don John his next brother, Don Hernando, who was destined to be a priest and had even become a Prior, abandoned Orders. The year following his father's death he married Doha Juana de Wernstein. This lady came from Prague in the train of Philip II's sister the Empress Maria, who broke her journey to Madrid at Saragossa and was present at the wedding in the Palace, on A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 209 Saturday, February 19, 1582. The cathedral archives add, ** The same day, after dinner, her Majesty left for Madrid in the same way she had entered Saragossa, taking with her the newly married Duchess." On her Majesty's entry it is told that the Duchess of Villahermosa went behind the royal litter, riding a hackney, on a silver saddle and very richly dressed. No doubt she was one of the ladies who, with the Empress, looked on the swollen river " with much contentment " as they crossed the bridge in the gathering dusk of that spring evening. In a letter she wrote to the ambassador in Vienna, Dofia Juana says she has been very ill for a year ; but that there was another daughter in the ducal house. By virtue of the sentence of the Courts in 1586 the rights of the County of Ribagorza were con- firmed to Don Hernando. The decision caused fresh trouble among the malcontents. Two years later, with the King's consent, this had to be suppressed by an armed force, which succeeded in making itself master of Benabarre and putting the leader John de Ager to death. All this was in vain, as the Duke in his turn had to yield to the royal wish which demanded that the County should pass to the Crown in ex- change for two commanderies in the Kingdom of Valencia. In 1591 the County was taken o 210 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II possession of in the name of the King by Alonso Celdran. Don Hernando, whom his brother describes as being a most even tempered, loyal and straight- forward man, and who had counselled the King and his ministers very wisely, and had even exposed his life in the rising inSaragossa in 1591, was rewarded by being put in prison. When arrested he remained happy and smiling, in contrast to the Count of Aranda, who was most distressed and mortally pale. Don Hernando was taken to the Castle of Burgos, and thence to that of Miranda, where he died of fever rather less than a year later on November 6, 1592. Philip II, on receiving the news, paid a tribute to the man he had ill-used, by saying that the Duke had served him faithfully by word and deed as a true and loyal vassal. He was succeeded by his brother Don Martin, who after serving with distinction in the wars in Sicily was shot in Barcelona, at the instigation of a former servant of the family. The next brother, Don Francis, to whom so much of the information in this book is due, now became the last Count of Ribagorza. On him fell all the brunt of the struggle, which he sustained with every means in his power ; but at last had to yield, and accept from Philip III the title of Count of Luna with the same precedence A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II 211 as that of Ribagorza gave, and in 1600 50,000 pounds of Jaen in lieu of the two Commanderies. Thus ended the long lawsuit. Duke Hernando and Doiia Juana never had a son, therefore he was succeeded in the dukedom by his daughter Dona Maria Luisa, who was very beautiful, and was one of the ladies of Queen Margaret of Austria. She married her second cousin, Don Carlos de Borja, in 1610. Doiia Ana, the eldest daughter of the holy Duchess, who rivalled her mother in piety and charity, married her cousin the Viscount de Evol, and died young of a fever which she caught from a poor person whom she was nursing in the palace of her great uncle, the veteran Archbishop of Saragossa. She left a son, the Count of Guimera, who also has supplied material for this life of his grandparents. At Dona Luisa' s death Don Martin had placed his two younger daughters in the Convent of St. Inez at Saragossa. Here they grew up and eventually took the veil. The elder, Sor Maria, was famous for her almsgiving, and died long before her sister Sor Inez, who became Prioress, and was much beloved for her gentle ways. When Philip II came to Saragossa in 1599 he went to visit the Convent. On reaching the cell of Sor Inez his eye was caught by a picture in it, and, no doubt to confirm what he already 212 A PLAYMATE OF PHILIP II knew, he asked the Marquis de Denia, who was in attendance, whose portrait it was. "It is that," was the reply, "of Don Martin of Aragon, Count of Ribagorza and Duke of Villahermosa." " It is a good likeness," answered the King. **Your Majesty will see a living likeness," continued the Marquis, " in the Duke's daughter whose cell we are now in." Sor Inez who had modestly kept in the background then came forward, and, lifting her veil, knelt and kissed the King's hand, thanking him for the honour he was doing the house by coming there. Doubtless Philip's face showed no emotion ; but who shall say what thoughts came to him as he stood, an old man, before the picture and the daughter of his childhood's playmate the Philosopher of Aragon ? APPENDIX APPENDIX ROLAM DE MOIS As has been already stated, what is told about the little-known master Rolam de Mois has been gleaned from notes, which the Duke of Luna most kindly made, and from the preface of the '* Discourses " by Sefior Melida, who says that he obtained his information from " Dis- cursos practicables del noblissimo Arte de la Pictura " by Jusepe Martinez, Painter to Philip IV, a treatise republished in 1866 by the Royal Academy of San Fernando, with notes by Don Valentin Carderera. There are, however, short notices of this painter in other works. Don Juan Cesar Bermudez mentions him in the ** Diccionario Historico," published in Madrid in 1800 ; so does Nagler in ** Neues AUgemeine Kiinstler Lexicon," published in Munich 1843, and the ** Dictionaire Repertoire de Peintres," by Mademoiselle Errera, published last year by Hachette, also refers to him. All these authorities state that Rolam, or Rolan 215 2i6 APPENDIX Mois as they generally call him^ was taken from Italy about the end of the sixteenth century by the Duke of Villahermosa to adorn his country house. The information is probably as inaccurate as the date (which was 1559), but it bears testimony to the repute in which Rolam de Mois was held as an artist — at any rate in his own day. The fame of obscure painters does not live through the centuries. The pictures, says Senor Carderera, commend themselves by " their Titianesque colouring and the care and fine touch shown in the details." He avers their number to be ten, which now are all at Madrid in the Villahermosa Palace. They form part of a series of thirteen family portraits, beginning with King John II of Aragon, by an unknown painter. All those attributed to Mois are reproduced in this book except the one of Dofia Isabel de Cardona, Don Alonso Felipe's first wife, who does not belong to the story. Senor Melida thinks that the portrait of the first Duke (also Master of the Order of Cala- trava), from its similarity to the others, must be added to the list. The " Granduque " is dressed all in black, his ermine-lined cloak embroidered in gold. The following list, shortened from Seiior Melida's description, may perhaps be of interest. Don Juan de Aragon, Count of Ribagorza, Duke de Luna, wears on his breast the white DON ALONSO DF: AKAC,(5n, FIRST DUKE OF VIDLAHERMOSA Frotn pictiox thought to have been painted hy Rolam de Mot's in the Villahertnosa Palace, Aladfid APPENDIX 217 Cross, insignia of his office, as Castellan de Amposta, and is dressed in black with silver fastenings, with an overcoat of cloth of gold lined with martin. Doiia Maria de Gurrea, Countess of Riba- gorza, his wife, called the Rica Hembra, has a dress of red velvet or plush, her sleeves tied with white ribbons finished with golden tags and undersleeves of pink silk. Her ornaments are of gold enamelled. Don Alonso Felipe de Gurrea Aragon, Count of Ribagorza, their son, is dressed in black trimmed with ermine ; in his hand he carries a Moorish dagger, with a large tassel hanging from its sheath. Doiia Ana Sarmiento de UUoa, Countess of Ribagorza, third wife of the above, in widow's dress of black cloth, with white head-dress and veil. Don Martin de Gurrea y Aragon, Count of Ribagorza, Duke of Villahermosa, their son, wearing armour inlaid with gold, a red sash and white trunk hose, shoes and stockings. His helmet is on a table covered by a red velvet cloth. This picture is thought to have been painted in 1560, when he was 34. Another of Don Martin, aged 30, wearing a black cap with white feather, a black-cloth doublet and sleeves of cloth, yellow to match his stockings and shoes. This picture was 21 8 APPENDIX painted while he was absent from Spain and possibly may have been a present for his wife. Dofia Luisa de Borja y Aragon, Duchess of Villahermosa, called " La Venerable." Her dress is of black velvet, with jewelled buttons and gold loops over a pink under-dress trimmed with silver. Her girdle and head-dress are adorned with jewels and her veil is fastened with a brooch of gold and diamonds, from which hang three baroque pearls. Don John de Aragon y Borja, their eldest son, wears a black cap with jewels and a white feather, a cape of black velvet over his doublet ; his sleeves are gauged and of white and gold, like his trunk hose, his shoes and stockings white. This picture too is thought to belong to 1560. Doiia Ana de Aragon y Borja, afterwards Viscountess de Evol, aged 14, his sister, who is dressed in black velvet opening over an under- dress of white embroidered cloth. Her orna- ments are golden with jewels. Inquiries in Holland have thrown no further light on Rolam de Mois ; but Don Elias Tormo, of the Royal Academy of San Fernando, who is acknowledged to be the best authority on the subject, informs me that the altarpiece in the Convent of Tafalla in Navarre is painted by the same artist, the only sacred picture known to be his work.* Possibly Senor Tormo * Unfortunately this cannot be photographed. APPENDIX 219 may yet make discoveries, as it seems curious that a painter well known when he left Flanders, and who afterwards portrayed " every one of note," should have left so few examples of his art, and it would lead to the conclusion that in the convents and country houses of Spain, if not in those of the Netherlands or even of England, portraits either unnamed or mas- querading under the cloak of some better- known master are really from the brush of Rolam de Mois. INDEX Adrian VI, Pope, 7 Alba, Duke of, 85, 89, 91, 107, 112 Alcoraz, Battle of, 4 Aldonza, Viscountess of Evol, 54 real name of Dulcinea, 171 Alen9on, Duchess of, 6 Alonso Felipe, Don, Count of Ribagorza, i seq., 58 seq. Ana de Aragon, Dona, 57, 129, 149, 211 Ana Sarmiento de UUoa, Dofia (Countess of Ribagorza), 86, 146, 184 seq. Aquaviva y Aragon, Monsignor Guilo, 168 Aranda, Count of, 22 seq., 210 Araoz, Padre, 72, 117 Aremberg, Count, 98 Arras, Bishop of, see Cardinal Granvelle Arundel, Lord, 107 Avila, 92 Baza, earthquake at, 34 Benabarre, rising at, 195 Boabdil, 8 Bonavia, 11,55 Borgia, Lucretia, loi, 179 Borja, House of, 27, 70, 92 Borja, Don Carlos de, 2 1 1 St. Francis de, 29, 34 seq.,^o, 42, 67, 70 seq., 92, 118, 123. 127, 149, 152 Dona Luisa, see de Luisa, Duchess of Villahermosa Don Pedro de, 93 Don Tomas de, 52, 179 Brussels, 103, 108, 114 Bull fight, 57 Calais, 107 Castelet, Castle of, 98 Castelnueve, Constable of, 92 Castro, Dona Leonor de, 41 Cercamps, Conference of, 107 Cervantes, 2, 165, 170 Charles V, Emperor, 3, 6, 12. 18 seq., death of , 107 seq. Chinchon, Count de, 175, 179, 186 Christina of Denmark, 104 seq. Clara, St., Convent of, 29, 70 Clement VII, Pope, 58 Coligny, 94, 96 Cologne, Relics at, 89, 207 Columbus, 8, 35 Communeros, 9, 32 Compostella, 49 Archbishop of, 25, 206 221 222 INDEX Daroca, 64 Diana statue in Louvre, 114 DonQnixote, 2, 165 seq., 171 seq. Emanuel the Fortunate, 6 England's return to Catholicism, 85 Escorial, the, 95 Espes, Dona Isabel de, 54 Esquert, Paul, 1 34 seq. Ferdinand of Aragon,, 8, 12 Archbishop of Saragossa, 26 Fernando de Santo Serverino, Don, 100 Figuerolas, family of, 93 Fontainebleau, 1 1 3 Francis I, 6 Francis of Aragon, last Count of Ribagorza, 210 Francisca, Sor, 34, 44, 70, 116 de Aragon, Dona, 54 Fueros, 20, 49 Gabriela, Sor (Duchess of Gandia), 34, 42 Gandia, Duchess of, 26, 29 Duke of, 28 seq. Gonzalez, Don Pedro, 15, 16 Granada, 8 Granvelle, Cardinal, i, 97, 106, 153, 161, 188 Gravelines, battle of, 104 Guadarama mountains, 95 Guimera, Count de, 56, 151, 154 Guise, Duke of, 91 Gurrea, Dona Ana de, 32 Guzman family, 35 Pedro de, Count of Olivares, 10 Ham, 98 Henry II of France, 85, 102, 104 VIII of England, 84 Hernando de Aragon, Don, 208 seq. Holbein, 104 Huesca, Bishop of, 203, 206 Ignatius Loyola, St., 36, 68, 117 seq. Inez, St., Convent of, 211 daughter of Don Martin, 75, 211 Isabel, Empress, 3, 6, 14, 42 de la Paz, Queen, 1 1 3 Queen, 8 Jaime, King, 28 Jesuits, Society of, 68, 92 Joan, the Mad, 7, 9 John of Aragon, Don, Arch- bishop of Saragossa, 40 II of Aragon, 3 Don, of Aragon, 175, 182 III of Portugal, 40 Don, Duke of Luna, 3 Juana, Sor, 119 J nana. Princess, 55,75, 100, 108 Junquers, Doiia Maria, 3 Lanuza, Blasco de, 171 Lawrence, St., 94 Leonor de Castro, Dona, 41, 67 Lopez, Pedro, 169 Lorraine, Cardinal of, 107 Francis, Duke of, 105 Luisa, Duchess of Villahermosa, Dona ; Parentage, 26 ; saintly life, 36, 116 seq.; marriage, 45, 50 ; dowry, 47 ; her frugality, 123 ; will, 125, 14^ seq.] piety and charity, INDEX 223 127 seq. ; death and obsequies, 145 seq. ; et passim Luna, Duke of, 3, 11, 12, 161 Dona Maria de, 4 Maria de Aragon, 211 Sor, daughter of Don Martin, 211 Marina de Aragon, Doiia, 54, 168 Martin, Don, of Aragon, i ; betrothal, 26 ; marriage, 46, 51 ; attends the Cortes, 57 ; Edict against gambling, 61 ; goes to England, 74 ; in England, 81 ; joins Duke of Alba, 85 ; journey to Rome, 91 ; Duke of Villahermosa, 100 ; his return, 114 ; arrives at Pedrola, 132 ; mysterious page, 1 37 ; his writings and collections, 153; his second marriage, 163 ; embassy to Rome, 187 ; his will, 205 ; his death, 208 ; et passim Martin, Don, of Aragon, the younger, 210 St., shrine of, 2 Mary Queen of Scots, 49, 113 Mascareiia, Dona Leonora, 1 5 Maximilian, Emperor, 9 Medals, 89 Medina Sidonia, Duchess of, 35, 44, 118 Duke of, 35, 44 Medinillas, sisters, 36, 52, 72, 125 Metz, 107 Montmorency, Constable, 107 Monzon, Cortes of, 18 seq. Mosen, Nabal, 195 Muiioz, Andres, 78 NiEBLA, Count, ^y, 117 Olivares, Count, 10 Orange, Bishop of, 107 Prince of, 107 Osorio, Isabel de, 83 Pacheco, Dona Luisa, 175 seq, , Pardo, the, 17 de la Casta family, 93 Paul III, Pope, 50, 52 IV, Pope, 143 Pedro de Luna, antipope, 32 Pedro of Aragon, King, 4 Pedrola, passim Pensacola, 32 Perez, Antonio, 64, 86, ig6 seq. Perpignan, Siege of, 30 Philip of Burgundy, 7, 9 Philip II, I, 3, 7, 14 seq., -j-j seq., 81, 112, 211, et passim Pius IV, Pope, 143 V, Pope, 167 Pole, Reginald, Cardinal and Archbishop of Canterbury, 85 Pomar, Dona Maria de, Duchess of Villahermosa, 164, 170, 207 Pompa funebre of Charles V, 108 Preaching Brothers, monastery of, 203 Relic presented to Don Alonso Felipe, 58 Reliquary at Pedrola, 97 Ribagorza, 3, 5, 46, 63, 76, 96, 120 Rebellion at, 198 seq. Rolam de Mois, 48, 134 seq., appendix Royas, Don John de, 122 Ruy Gomez, 92, 107 St. Andre, Marechal de, 107 224 INDEX St. Quentin, siege and battle of, 94 San Lucarde Barrameda, 35, 50, 150 Santiago, 78 Saragossa, passim Archbishop of, 26 Savoy, Duke of, 94, 96 seq. Smithfield, fires of, 84 Thirlby, Bishop, 107 Titian. 44, 82, 85,89, 134 Tudor, Mary, Queen, 7, yj, 79, 83, 112 Valencia, insurrection at, 31 Veruela, Monastery of, 26, 58, 205 Villahermosa, First Duke of, 3 Winchester, 81 Wotton, Dr., 107 YUSTE, 10, 95, 100, 108 HOTICE Those who possess old letters, documents, corre- spondence, MSS., scraps of autobiography, and also miniatures and portraits, relating to persons and matters historical, literary, political and social, should communicate with Mr. John Lane, The Bodley Head, Vigo Street, London, PV., who will at all times be pleased to give his advice and assistance, either as to their preservation or publication. Mr. Lane also undertakes the planning and printing of family papers, histories and pedigrees. LIVING MASTERS OF MUSIC. An Illustrated Series of Monographs dealing with Contemporary Musical Life, and including Representatives of all Branches of the Art. Edited by ROSA NEWMARCH. Crown 8vo. Cloth. Price 2/6 net. HENRY J. WOOD. By Rosa Newmarch. SIR EDWARD ELGAR. By R. J. Buckley. JOSEPH JOACHIM. By J. A. Fuller Maitland. EDWARD A. MACDOWELL. By Lawrence Oilman. THEODOR LESCHETIZKY. By Annette HULLAH. ALFRED BRUNEAU By Arthur Hervey. GIACOMO PUCCINI. By Wakeling Dry. IGNAZ PADEREWSKI. By E. A. Baughan. CLAUDE DEBUSSY. By Mrs. Franz Liebich. RICHARD STRAUSS. By Ernest Newman. STARS OF THE STAGE. A Series of Illustrated Biographies of the Leading Actors, Actresses, and Dramatists. Edited by J. T. GREIN. Crown 8vo. Price 2/6 each net. ELLEN TERRY. By Christopher St. John. SIR HERBERT BEERBOHM TREE. By Mrs. George Cran. SIR W. S. GILBERT. By Edith A. Browne. SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM. 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When the court was at St. James's the Keeper ot the Robes had opportunities of visiting her own family in St. Martin Street, and also of meeting at the house of her friend Mrs. Ord " evei ything delectable in the blue way." Thither Horace Walpole would come in all haste from Strawberry Hill for the sole pleasure of spending an evening in her society. After such a meeting Fanny writes—" he was in high spirits, polite, ingenious, entertaining, quaint and original." A striking account of the King's illness in the winter of 1788-g is given, followed by the widespread rejoicings for his recovery ; when London was ablaze with illuminations that extended for many miles around, and when "even the humblest dwelling exhibited its rush-light." The author and the illustrator of this work have visited the various places, where King George and 8ueen Charlotte stayed when accompanied by Fanny Burney. Among these are xford, Cheltenham, Worcester. 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