Chapter XXXI: Appendix: (a.) (4)

[6] The church, at Bidart, between Bayonne and the French frontier, is quite worth going into. It has a nave about forty-five feet wide, and three tiers of wooden galleries all round its north, west, and south walls. They are quaint and picturesque in construction, and are supported by timbers jutting out upwards from the walls, not being supported at all from the floor.

[7] Plate I. This (as are all the other plans in this book) is made from my own rapid sketches and measurements. It is necessarily, therefore, only generally correct. But I believe that it, and all the others, will be found to be sufficiently accurate for all the purposes for which they are required. Without ground-plans it is impossible to understand any descriptions of buildings; and they are the more necessary in this case, seeing that, with the exception of very small plans of Burgos and Leon Cathedrals, there is probably no illustration of the plan of any one of the churches visited by me ever yet published in England. I have drawn all the plans to the same scale, viz., fifty feet to an inch. This is double the scale to which the plans in Mr. Fergusson’s ‘History of Architecture’ are drawn; and though it would facilitate a comparison of the Spanish with other ground-plans illustrated by him to have them on the same scale, I found it impossible to show all that I wanted in so very small a compass.

[8] I have not thought it necessary to draw these ruinous additions to the early design. That they are additions is easily proved by the way in which they are tied with bands of iron to the early shafts, as well as by the complete difference in style. The original work is fortunately intact behind the added pinnacles, and there is nothing conjectural in its restoration.

[9] The Chapter entered into a contract with one Jusepe Rodriguez for these books; but Philip II. insisted upon his being set free from this contract in order that he might work for him on the books for the Escorial, where he wrought from A.D. 1577 to A.D. 1585. Cean Bermudez, Dice. Hist. de las Bellas Artes en España. Some illustrations of initial letters in the Burgos books are given by Mr. Waring in his ‘Architectural Studies in Burgos.’

[10] ‘España Sagrada,’ vol. xxvi. p. 301. G. G. Dávila, ‘Teatro Ecclesiastico de las Yglesias de España,’ iii. 65, says that Maurice was a Frenchman; and he mentions the consecration by him of the Premonstratensian Church of Sta. Maria la Real de Aguilar de Campo, on the 2nd Kal. Nov. 1222.

[11] Esp. Sag., xxvii. 306; ‘Memorial in the Archives at Burgos,’ ii. fol. 57. The era 1259 answers to A.D. 1221. The “era” so frequently occurring in Spanish records precedes the year of our Lord by thirty-eight years, and is, in fact, the era of the Emperor Cæsar Augustus. See ‘Cronicas de los Reyes de Castilla,’ vol. i. p. 31, and ‘España Sagrada’ vol. ii. pp. 23 et seq., for an explanation of this computation, which is constantly used as late as the middle of the fourteenth century in all Spanish inscriptions and documents.

[12] Esp. Sag., xxvii. 313.

[13] Esp. Sag., xxvi. 315.

[14] Ponz states that Bishop Pascual de Fuensanta (1497-1512) moved the stalls from the Capilla mayor (_i.e._ choir) to the middle of the church; and Florez, Esp. Sag. xxvi. 315 and 413, makes the same statement.

[15] Ponz, ‘Viage de España,’ xii. 28, says that the sculptures of this Retablo were executed by Rodrigo de la Aya and his brother Martin between A.D. 1577 and 1593 at a cost of 40,000 ducats; and that Juan de Urbina (a native of Madrid), and Gregorio Martinez of Valladolid, painted and gilded it for 11,000 ducats in three years, finishing in A.D. 1593.

[16] Esp. Sag., xxvi. 331.

[17] The chapel of the Visitation was built by Bishop Alonso de Cartagena, 1435-56. The chapel of Sta. Ana was built by Bishop Luis Acuña y Osorio, 1457-95. The chapel of Sta. Catalina in the Cloister is said to have been built in the time of Enrique II.--Caveda, Ensayo Historico, 379-80.

[18] Cod. M., No. 9.

[19] Noticias de los Arquitectos y Arquitectura de España, vol. i., 206-7.

[20] Florez, Esp. Sag. xxvi. 393, says: “A MS. which I have says that Bishop Luis Acuña y Osorio (1457-95) reformed the fabric of the transept in the middle of the church with eight turrets, which became a ruin in the middle of the following century.”

[21] A view of the west front in A.D. 1771 shows the three western doors in their old state; they had statues on the door-jambs, and on the piers between them.--Esp. Sag. xxvi. p. 404.

[22] Cean Bermudez, Arq. de Esp., i. 105, 106.

[23] It was well that I used the word “delighted” when I wrote this page, for this passage no longer delights me as it did. I visited Burgos again last (1863), and found the Cathedral undergoing a sort of restoration; masons cleaning up everything inside, and by way of a beginning outside they had widened the passage to the south door, so as to make it square with and of the same width as the doorway; to do this a slice had been cut off the bishop’s palace, at some inconvenience to the bishop, no doubt, the result of doing it being simply that much of the beauty and picturesqueness of the old approach to the church is utterly lost for ever. Of one thing, such an unsuccessful alteration satisfies me--little indeed as I require to be satisfied on the point,--and this is, that in dealing with old buildings it is absolutely impossible to be too conservative in everything that one does. Often what seems--as doubtless this thing did to the people of Burgos--the most plain improvement is just, as this is, a disastrous change for the worse. And when we find old work, the reason for or meaning of which we do not quite perceive, we cannot be wrong in letting well alone. It is to be hoped that Spain is not now going to undergo what England suffered from James Wyatt and others, and what she is still in many places suffering at the hands of those who follow in their steps!

[24] In A.D. 1257 the king gave a piece of land opposite his palace (now the Episcopal Palace) to the Dean of Burgos. Was not this for the erection of the cloisters?

[25] One of the buttresses of the north transept is seen in the western alley of the cloister. On the face of it still remains one of the original dedication crosses--a cross pattée enclosed in a circle.

[26] On the east side these recessed arches have a very rich foliage in their soffeits.

[27] The coffer of the Cid is that which he filled with sand, and then pledged for a loan from some Jews, who supposed it to be full of valuables; afterwards he honestly repaid the borrowed money, and hence, perhaps, the coffer is preserved, the first part of the transaction being unquestionably not very worthy of record.

[28] Manrique, Anales Cisterciences, iii. 201.

[29] Plate II.

[30] The nuns’ choir in the nave is, according to Florez, “the most capacious of all that are known in cathedrals and monasteries.” Esp. Sag., xxvi. 582.

[31] The organ in All Saints, Margaret Street, has the pipes of one stop similarly placed; but I know no old English example of this arrangement.

[32] Mr. Waring and M. Villa Amil have both published drawings of the inner cloister. The drawing of the latter is evidently not to be trusted; but from Mr. Waring’s view I gather that the arches are round, resting on coupled shafts, with large carved capitals. Mr. Waring calls them Romanesque, but in his drawing they look more like very late Transitional work, probably not earlier than A.D. 1200. They appear to be arranged in arcades of six open arches between larger piers, and with such a construction the cloister could hardly have been intended for groining. The famous cloister at Elne, near Perpignan, with those of Verona Cathedral, S. Trophine at Arles, Montmajeur, and Moissac, are examples of the class from which the design of such a cloister as this must have been derived, and its character is therefore rather more like that of Italian work, or work of the South of France, than that of Northern France or England.

[33] España Sagrada, xxvii. 611-14.

[34] España Sagrada, xxvi. 350, 359.

[35] An interesting account of this meeting is given in Cronicas de los Reyes de Castillos, i. p. 481-3.

[36] That it was “of no diocese” was expressly recorded among the titles borne by the Abbess, and given by Ponz, Viage de España, xii. 65.

[37] See the account at length in Esp. Sag., xxvii. 393 and 558.

[38] These stalls are like late Flemish work, but wrought by a Spaniard, Martin Sanchez, circa A.D. 1480, who received 125,000 maravedis for his labour.

[39] See Cean Bermudez, Dicc. Hist., vi. 171.

[40] A decidedly hyperbolical inscription is quoted by Ponz, in which the Chapel of Miraflores is called a Temple, “second to none in the world for monuments, beauty and curiousness.”--Ponz, Viage de Esp., xii. 61. The remark might fairly have been made if had referred only to the monuments.

[41] Quoted by Cean Bermudez, Dicc. Hist., iv. 378.

[42] There is an illustration of this monument in Mr. Waring’s book.

[43] See España Sagrada, xxvii. 559. Cean Bermudez, Dicc. Hist. iv. 324, vi. 285, and Arq. de España, i. 106 and 121.

[44] “Nobilis Vir Gonsalvus Polauco, atque ejus conjux Eleonora Miranda hujus sacri altaris auctores hoc tumulo conquiescunt:” “Obiit ille anno 1505 hæc vero 1503.”

[45] I fear I must add that Roman Catholics still seem to be fond of western galleries; for one of the most recent, and I hope the most hideous of their works, the new Italian church in Hatton Garden, has, in addition to all its other faults, the glaring one of a western gallery fitted up like an orchestra, whilst the part of the floor which, according to all old usage, was given to the choir to sing praises to God, seems from the aspect of the chairs with which it is filled to be reserved for the more “respectable” part of the congregation! Extremes meet, and this Italian church would be easily convertible, as it would be most suitable, to the use of the baldest form of Dissent!

[46] Ponz, Viage de Esp., xii. 21, gives an inscription on one of the towers of the castle, which states that Pedro Sanchez, “Criado y Ballistero,” servant and archer to the King (Enrique II.), was its Mayordomo during its construction in the year 1295.

[47] In Braun and Hohenburgius’ Théâtre des Villes, A.D. 1574, there is a view of Burgos, which must have been drawn somewhat earlier as the Chapel of the Constable is not shown in the cathedral: San Esteban is represented with a spire on its tower.

[48] I particularly refer here to our colonial cathedrals, in which I wish that the founders would from the first contemplate the erection of all the proper subordinate buildings, as well as that of the church itself; and also to those large town churches which we may hope to see built before long, and served by a staff of clergy working together and encouraging each other.

[49] _i.e._ the north side, which would be the side of the Gospel ambon if it faced in the right direction. As I never saw these galleries used, I do not know how the ambons were really appropriated.

[50] The work of Berruguete and his school is so called in Spain from its plate-like delicacy of work in flat relief. For Renaissance work it has a certain air of rich beauty, not often attained in other lands; and, indeed, it is only a debt of justice due to the architects of Spain from the time of Berruguete in 1500 to that of the ponderously Pagan Herrera towards the end of the same century, to say, that whatever faults may be found with their overgreat exuberance and lavish display of decoration, they nevertheless possessed rare powers of execution, and a fertility of conception (generally, it must be owned, of very ugly things), for which they may well be envied by their school now, as they were in their own day. Indeed, if the revivers of Renaissance in these days ever think of such a thing as importing a new idea, I wish heartily that they would go to Spain and study some of her 16th century buildings.

[51] The similar but rather earlier iron lectern preserved in the Hôtel Cluny, at Paris, is well known. See an illustration of it from a drawing of mine in the second volume of ‘Instrumenta Ecclesiastica’ of the Ecclesiological Society.

[52] The curious cemetery at Montmajeur, near Arles, is full of graves excavated in the rock, and cut out just so as to receive the body; so too are all our own old stone coffins. See also the illuminations illustrating the burial office so constantly introduced in books of “Hours.”

[53] Vol. xxvii. p. 675.

[54] This is a very common Flemish custom; but whether the Flemings borrowed it from Spain, or _vice versâ_, I cannot say.

[55] Iron pulpits were not unknown in England in the middle ages. There was one in Durham Cathedral. See ‘Ancient Rites of Durham,’ p. 40.

[56] A drawing of this door is given by Mr. Waring, ‘Architectural Studies in Burgos,’ pl. 39.

[57] España Sagrada, vol. xxvi. p. 382-387, and vol. xxvii. p. 540.

[58] “Qui venerandus Pontifex hanc ecclesiam cum sacristia et capitulo suis sumptibus ædificavit.”--España Sagrada, xxvi. p. 387. The cloister was rebuilt by Alonso de Burgos, Bishop of Palencia, cir. 1480-99.--G. G. Dávila, Teatro Eccl. ii. 174.

[59] The inscription on the monument of Gonsalvo, Bishop of Sigüenza, contained the following passage: “Hic venerandus Pontifex fuit filius, _ex legitimo matrimonio_ natus, Reverendi Pontificis Dñi Pauli,” &c.

[60] Ceau Bermudez, Arq. y Arquos. de España, i. 103.

[61] In ‘L’Univers Pittoresque, Espagne,’ vol. xxxi. pl. 54, is a view of the ruin of the west end (apparently) of the convent of Carmelites at Burgos; it is a very richly sculptured and panelled front of the most florid kind of latest Pointed, and in a ruinous state.

[62] The first stone of the cathedral was laid on the 1st of June, 1321, by Cardinal Arnoldo, legate of Juan XXII., assisted by Juan II., Bishop of Palencia, and six other bishops, among whom was the Bishop of Bayonne; “and the first prebendary who had charge of the works (‘obrero’) in this holy church was Juan Perez de Aceves, Canon and Prior of Usillos, who assisted in laying the first stone with the legate and the bishops.”--G. G. Dávila, Teatro Eccl. ii. 159.

[63] In 1504 the conclusion of the cathedral of Palencia was undertaken by Martin de Solórzano, an inhabitant of Sta. Maria de Haces, under the condition that he should finish his work in six years, with stone from the quarries of Paredes del Monte and Fuentes de Valdepero. Salórzano, however, died in 1506, and Juan de Ruesga, a native of Segovia, finished it.--Cean Bermudez, Arq. de España, vol. i. p. 142.

[64] Gil Gonzalez Dávila, ‘Iglesia de Palencia,’ fol. 164, gives a letter from the Chapter to the Bishop D. Sancho de Rojas, begging for money for the work. The Chapter state that the stalls are to cost 76,000 maravedis, and that they are the work of “Maestro Centellas,” and that they propose to adorn the Bishop’s seat with four achievements of arms. The bishop at the time this letter was written was at Valencia, assisting at the wedding of Alonso, Prince of Gerona, and the daughter of King D. Enrique III.--G. G. Dávila, Teatro Eccl. ii. 164.

[65] Cean Bermudez, Dicc. Hist., vol. ii. p. 236.

[66] Ibid., vol. v. p. 121.

[67] Also in his (D. Sancho de Rojas, A.D. 1397 to A.D. 1411) time was built the Capilla mayor, which is now the “Parroquia” of the church.--G. G. Dávila, Teatro Eccl., ii. 164.

[68] Cristóbal Andino made the Reja of the Capilla mayor in A.D. 1520 for 1500 ducats, and in 1530 the screen for 430 ducats, and Gaspar Rodriguez made that of the Coro in 1555 for the sum of 3600 gold ducats, paid by the bequest of Bishop D. Luis Cabeza de Vaca.

[69] Cean Bermudez, ‘Arq. Esp.’ i. 60, says the date 1535 exists on the door from the church to the cloister: and G. G. Dávila, Teatro Ecc., ii. p. 171, says that in the time of D. Juan Rodriguez de Fonseca (translated to Burgos in A.D. 1514) the greater part of the chapels from the crossing downwards were built, as also the cloister and Chapter-house. The same bishop gave the stairs leading to the well of S. Antholin, repaired the dormitories, and gave to the sacristy a rich set of altar vestments (terno) of brocade, four tapestries of ecclesiastical history, and four others of “Salve Regina.”

[70] The stained glass which once adorned the church was executed by Diego de Salcedo in 1542, at the price of 100 maravedis each palm (cada palmo).--Cean Bermudez, Dicc. Hist., vol. iv. p. 304.

[71] This rare arrangement is seen in the church of the Frari at Venice, and in the church of the Capuchins at Lugo.

[72] Madoz, Dicc. de España.

[73] It should be compared, for instance, with the church of the Eremitani at Padua, and the church of San Fermo Maggiore at Verona.

[74] We put up at the Fonda de Paris, in the Plaza Sta. Ana--a good inn, kept by some natives of Belliuzona, who took a good deal of trouble for me, and whose hotel may safely be recommended.

[75] ‘Viage de España,’ vol. xi. p. 38.

[76] Plate III.

[77] The Retablo of the high altar is (except the figure of the Blessed Virgin) a work of Juan de Juni (circa A.D. 1556-1583). He had studied under Michael Angelo, and was either an Italian or a Fleming. I am sorry to differ from Mr. Ford as to the merits of this artist; but I must say that I never saw figures so violently twisted and distorted, so affected and unnatural, or coloured decorations so gaudy and contemptible as those in which he indulged. At the same time, his works are so characteristic of his period and school as to deserve examination, even if they provoke contempt.

[78] Historia de Valladolid, vol. ii. p. 181.

[79] Sagrador y Vitores, Hist. de Valladolid, vol. ii. p. 186.

[80] Cean Bermudez, Arq. de Esp. i. 109.

[81] Sagrador y Vitores, Hist. de Valladolid, ii. 263-268.

[82] Cean Bermudez, Arq. de Esp. i. 128.

[83] Enrique de Egas built the Hospital of Sta. Cruz, at Toledo, between 1504 and 1514. His work at Valladolid is still half Gothic; a few years later, at Toledo, it is completely Renaissance in style. It is seldom that we can trace this radical change of style in the work of the same man.

[84] Little meets the eye, but still I have had several new establishments of regular clergy pointed out to me, and the Church in Spain is already, no doubt, regaining something of what she has lost in revolutions and wars.

[85] Handbook of Spain, vol. ii. p. 572.

[86] Berruguete was not dissatisfied with his work. In a letter from him to Andrés de Nágera (given by Sagrador y Vitores in his History of Valladolid, vol. ii. p. 257) he expresses his own extreme satisfaction in the most unreserved way.

[87] The remarkable brick buildings of Toulouse and its neighbourhood are similarly constructed; so, too, are those not less remarkable works at Lübeck and elsewhere in the north of Germany.

[88] Plate IV.

[89] It is doubtful whether this surname is correct, and whether it is not old Spanish for “Vixit” in the inscription on his tomb.--Ford, Handbook, p. 521.

[90] Teatro Eccl., iii. 236-8.

[91] Cean Bermudez, Arq. de Esp., i. 21.

[92] G. G. Dávila, Teat. Eccl., iii. 344.

[93] Plate IV.

[94] The statues at the angles of the lantern are of our Lord, the B. V. M., an angel, and a bishop.

[95] Don Miguel, priest of San Juan, Medina del Campo, made a donation to the church in A.D. 1178, to complete the work of the cathedral. The Chapter-house is probably of about this date or a little later.--Cean Bermudez, Arq. de Esp., i. 23.

[96] I use the modern terms, which seem to express their offices. The original words are J. G. de Hontañon, “maestro de canteria para maestro principal, y en Juan Campero, cautero, para aparejador.”

[97] Two inscriptions on stones on the church give the dates of its commencement and first use.

“+ Hoc Templum inceptum est anno a nativitate Domini millesimo quingentesimo tercio decimo die Jovis duodecima mensis Maii.”

“+ Pio. IV. Papa, Philippo II. Rege. Francisco Manrique de Lara, Episcopo, ex vetere ad hoc templum facta translatio xxv. Martii anno a Cristo nato 1560.”--G. G. Dávila, Teat. Ecc., iii. 320, 344.

[98] It will be seen presently that in the somewhat similar cathedral at Zamora the Romanesque steeple occupies precisely the same position as this. It is possible that when the Junta sat the steeple they spoke of was of the same age as the old church, and that it has been subsequently recast in Renaissance.

[99] Yet I think a more careful search would be rewarded, for we know of the consecration of several churches at an early date, and Mr. Ford speaks of them as still existing.

Church of San Nicholas, consecrated 11 Kal. Nov. 1192.
Do. San Pedro, do. Nov. 1202.
Church of Sta. Maria de los Caballeros, consecrated Nov. 1214.
Do. San Emilian, do. Nov. 1226.
Do. S. Michael, do. Nov. 1238.
--G. G. Dávila, Teatro Eccl., iii. pp. 272-4.

[100] Plate IV.

[101] G. G. Dávila, Teatro Eccl., ii. 397. Dávila’s statement, supported by the inscription on his tomb, is that Bernardo was the first Bishop of Zamora; but this does not appear to accord exactly with the result at which Florez arrives. His statement is that Gerónimo was the first Bishop of Zamora after a long hiatus, that he was succeeded by Bernardo, and that both these bishops were appointed by Bernard of Toledo, and both were natives of Périgord. The fact seems to be that Gerónimo was Bishop of Valencia, and had to fly thence when the Moors regained possession after the Cid’s death, and that he was then made Bishop of Salamanca. It is certainly not a little curious that two of the eleventh-century bishops of Zamora should have come from a district where all the vaulting is more or less domical, and that we should have in their cathedral one of the most remarkable examples of a domed church. It will be recollected that nearly the same facts have been mentioned in regard to Salamanca. See Esp. Sag., vol. xiv. pp. 362-368, and p. 79 _ante_.

[102]

Fit domus hista quidem, veluti Salomonica capridem
Huc adhibite fidem: domus hæc successit eidem.
Sumptibus, et magnis viginti fit tribus annis.
A quo fundatur, Domino faciente sacratur.
Anno millessimo, centessimo, septuagesimo.
Quarto completur, Stephanus, qui fecit habetur.
Alfonsus imperator, Rex Septimus fundavit.

G. G. Dávila, Teat. Eccl., ii. 397-8.

The same historian says that King Fernando I. rebuilt the city of Zamora with very strong walls in 1055.--ii. 395.

[103] This I suppose is the chapel of San Ildefonso, founded in 1466 by the Cardinal D. Juan de Mella, Bishop of Zamora.

[104] M. Villa-Amil, who gives a view of this transept, has converted this arcade into a row of windows, presented the doorway with a sculptured tympanum, and entirely altered the character of the archivolt enrichment.

[105] On the north side, the figures and inscriptions are as follow:--

1. Abel. _Vox sanguinis._
2. Abraam. _Tres vidit; unum adoravit._
3. Joseph. _Melius est ut venundetur._
4. Melchisedec. _Rex Salem proferens panem et vinum._
5. Job. _De terra surrecturus sum._
6. Aaron. _Invenit germinans._
7. Samson. _De (comedente exivit cibus)._
8. Samuel. _Loquere Domine._
9. David. _Dominus dixit ad me, Filius._
10. Jeremias. _Dominus._
11. Ezekiel. _Porta hæc._
12. Oseas (with cross botonnée on breast). _Addam ultra._
13. Amos. _Super tribus._
14. Micheas. _Percutient maxillam._
15. Abacuc. _Exultabo in Deo Jesu meo._
16. Sophonias. _Juxta est dies._
17. Zacharias. _Jesus erat_.
18. Nabuchodonosor. _Quartus similis Filio Dei._
19. Virgilius Bucol. _Progenies._

On the south side:--

1. Moyses. _Prophetam excitabit._
2. Isaac. _Vox quidem vox._
3. Jacob. _Non auferetur Sceptrum de Juda._
4. Balaam. _Orietur stella ex._
5. Gedeon. _Si ros solo._
6. Helias. _Ambulavit in fortitudine._
7. Helisæus. _Vade, et lavare septies._
8. Salomon. _Levent servi mei._
9. Tobias. _Jherusalem._
10. Isayas. _Ecce Virgo concipiet._
11. Baruch. _Statuam Testamentum illis._
12. Daniel. _Septuaginta hebdomades._
13. Johel. _Magnus enim dies Domini._
14. Jonas. _De ventre._
15. Naum. _Ecce super._
16. Ageus. _Veniet desideratus._
17. Malachias. _A solis ortu usque ad._
18. Caiaphas. _Expedit vobis._
19. Centurio. _Vere Filius._

[106] See plan, Plate VIII.

[107] The western doorways of Salisbury Cathedral are emphatically mere “holes in the wall,” and very characteristic, too.

[108] I add Dr. Neale’s notes of two churches here which I did not discover.

“San Juan de la Puerta Nueva. Principally of Flamboyant date, has a square east end. The whole breadth of the church is here under one vault, the span somewhere about sixty feet. The north porch, separated by a parclose from the chapel of the Cross, has an excellent Transitional door. The western façade has a middle-pointed window of five lights.

“San Pedro. Has had its originally-distinct nave and aisles thrown into one in Flamboyant times, and vaulted with an immense span.”

[109] Nevertheless, Dr. Neale describes it as existing, and so, no doubt, it does.--‘An Ecclesiological Tour,’ Ecclesiologist, vol. xiv. p. 361.

[110] See plan, Plate VIII.

[111] There is an inscription on the south-east buttress of the transept which, I believe, refers to the date of the church; but, unfortunately, though I noticed it, I forgot to write it down.

[112] See Catologo de los Obispos de Leon. Cixila II. Esp. Sag., xxxiv. 211.

[113] In a deed of the 20th March, A.D. 1175, mention is made of Pedro Cebrian, “Maestro de la Obra de la Catedral,” and of Pedro Gallego, “Gobernador de las Torres.” It is possible, of course, that Cebrian may have been the architect of the new cathedral if it was commenced between 1181 and 1205, but I do not believe that this was the case; and the real architect was, more probably one who is thus mentioned in the book of Obits of the cathedral: “Eodem die VII. idus Julii, sub era MCCCXV. obiit Henricus, magister operis,” and who, dying in the year 1277, may well have designed the greater portion of the work. At a later date, in 1513, Juan de Badajoz was architect of the cathedral, and may probably have finished one of the steeples.--Cean Bermudez, Arq. de España, i. 37, 38.

[114] “Hoc tempore,” he says, “ampliata est fides Catholica in Hispania, et licet multi Regnum Legionense bellis impeterent, tamen Ecclesiæ regalibus muneribus ditatæ sunt in tantum, ut antiquæ destruerentur Ecclesiæ, quæ magnis sumptibus fuerant fabricatæ, et multo nobiliores et pulchriores in toto Regno Legionensi fuudarentur. Tunc reverendus Episcopus Legionensis Manricus ejusdem Sedis Ecclesiam fundavit opere magno, sed eam ad perfectionem non duxit.”

[115] “Cum igitur,” they say, “ad fabricam Ecclesiæ Sauctæ Mariæ Legionensis quæ de novo construitur, et magnis indiget sumptibus, propriæ non suppetant facultates, universitatem vestram rogamus,”--“quatenus de bonis vobis a Deo collatis eidem fabricæ pias eleemosynas de vestris facultatibus tribuatis, ut per hæc, et alia bona opera, quæ inspirante Deo feceritis, ad eterna possitis gaudia pervenire.” This indulgence is preserved in the archives of the cathedral.--España Sagrada, xxxv. p. 269.

[116] “Cum igitur Ecclesia Beatæ Mariæ Legion. Sedis ædificetur de novo opere quamplurimum sumptuoso, et absque fidelium adminiculo non possit feliciter consummari, universitatem vestram monemus et exhortamur in Domino,” &c. &c.; “ut per subventionem vestram, quod ibidem inceptum est, ad effectum optatum valeat pervenire,” &c., given in the general Council of Leon, 10 Kal. Aug. A.D. 1273.--España Sagrada, xxxv. p. 270.

[117] Plate V.

[118] So, at least, I was assured by the superintendent of the works at the cathedral. Some of the material I saw was no doubt tufa; but some of it seemed to me to be an exceedingly light kind of concrete. The vaulting of Salisbury Cathedral is similarly constructed. I do not know whether at Beauvais the same expedient was adopted to lessen the weight.

[119] The three crucifixes at the entrance to the cemetery at Nuremberg will be remembered by all who have ever seen them; and such a group would have made a fitting centre for such a cloister as this at Leon.

[120] This conceit is illustrated more elaborately than I have elsewhere seen it in a palace near San Isidoro, where the angle windows are designed and executed in a sort of perspective, which is inexpressibly bad in effect.

[121] _Not_ a crucifix.

[122] Witness Mr. E. Burne Jones’s beautiful picture over the altar of S. Paul, Brighton, and Mr. D. G. Rossetti’s at Llandaff.

[123] Teatro Ecclesiastico, i. p. 365.

[124] “Hic requiescit Petrus de Deo, qui superædificavit Ecclesiam hanc. Iste fundavit pontem, qui dicitur de Deus tamben: et quia erat vir miræ abstinentiæ et multis florebat miraculis, omnes eum laudibus prædicabant. Sepultus est hic ab Imperatore Adefonso et Sancia Regina.” Esp. Sag., xxxv. p. 356. G. G. Dávila, Teatro Eccles., i. p. 340. Dávila adds the words “servus Dei” before the name of the architect.

[125] See Cean Bermudez, Arq. de Esp., i. p. 14.

[126] The whole of this deed of endowment is interesting. I quote a few lines only, which have some interest, as bearing, among other things, on the Gothic crowns found at Guarrazar, and mentioned at p. 212. “Offerimus igitur” “ornamenta altariorum: id est, frontale ex auro puro opere digno cum lapidibus smaragdis, safiris, et omnia genere pretiosis et olovitreis: alios similiter tres frontales argenteos singulis altaribus: Coronas tres aureas: una ex his cum sex alfas in gyro, et corona de Alaules intus in ea pendens: alia est de anemnates cum olivitreo, aurea. Tertia vero est diadema capitis mei,” &c. &c.--Esp. Sag., xxxvi., Appendix, p. clxxxix.

[127] “Sub era millesima centesima octuagesima septima, pridie nonas Martii, facta est Ecclesia Sancti Isidori consecrata per manus Raymundi Toletanæ Sedis Archiepiscopi, et Joannis Legionensis episcopi,” &c. &c.--Teatro Eccl., vol. ii., p. 243. See also the similar inscription on a stone in San Isidoro.--Esp. Sag., vol. xxxv. p. 207.

[128] Ponz, Viage de España, xi. p. 234.

[129] Plate VI.

[130] _E.g._ Segovia, Avila, Salamanca, Benavente, Lérida.

[131] So, at least, says Cean Bermudez, but without giving his authority.

[132] Pallares Gayoso, Hist. de Lugo, from the black book in the archives.

[133] Cean Bermudez, Arq. de España, i. 25.

[134] Plate VII.

[135] A.D. 1577.--Madoz, Dicc.

[136] Teatro Eccl., iii. 182, 183.

[137] Plate VIII.

[138] The following inscription remains on one of the columns on the north side of the nave:--

SANTA : MARIA : RECE
AB : ESTE : PIAR : DE : FON
DO : A TE : CIMA : CON : LA
METADE : DOS : AR
COS : CA : QUELQUE : O :
PAGON : EN : VIII. : IDUS
JULII : ERA : MCCC : XL.

From which it appears that this column, with the halves of the two arches springing from it, was built in A.D. 1302. On another column on the same side is an inscription recording the erection of the Chapel of the Visitation in A.D. 1374.

[139] Plate VIII.

[140] España Sagrada, xix. p. 91.

[141] Historia del Apostol Sanctiago, by Mauro Castella Ferrer, p. 463.

[142] The latter document in particular has much architectural interest, and is worth transcribing in part, on account of its reference to these early buildings, and their materials and furniture. It commences as follows:--

“In nomine Domini nostri Jesu Christi, edificatum est Templum Sancti Salvatoris, et Sancti Jacobi Apostoli in locum Arcis Marmoricis territorio Galleciæ per institutionem gloriosissimi Principis Adefonsi III. cum conjuge Scemena sub Pontifice loci ejusdem Sisnando Episcopo.” (877-903.) “Supplex egregii eximii Principis Ordonii proles ego Adefonsus Principi cum prædicto antistite statuimus ædificare domum Domini et restaurare Templum ad tumulum sepulchri Apostoli, quod antiquitus construxerat divæ memoriæ Dominus Adefonsus Magnus ex petra et luto opere parvo. Nos quidem inspiratione divina adlati cum subditis ac familia nostra adduximus in sanctum locum ex Hispania inter agmina Maurorum, quæ eligimus de Civitate Eabecæ petras marmoreas quas avi nostri ratibus per Pontum transvexerunt, et ex eis pulchras domos ædificaverunt, quæ ab inimicis destructæ manebant. Unde quoque ostium principale Occidentalis partis ex ipsis marmoribus est appositum: supercilia vero liminaris Sedis invenimus sicut antiqua sessio fuerat miro opere sculpta. Ostium de sinistro juxta Oraculum Baptistæ et Martyris Joannis quem simili modo fundavimus, et de puris lapidibus construximus columnas sex cum basibus todidem posuimus, ubi abbobuta tribunalis est constructa, vel alias columnas sculptas supra quas portius imminet de oppido Portucalense ratibus deportatas adduximus quadras, et calcem unde sunt ædificatæ columnæ decem et VIII. cum aliis columnelis marmoreis simili modo navigio.”--España Sagrada, xix. p. 344, Appendix.

[143] Handbook of Spain, pp. 600-605.

[144] The authors of the ‘Manual del Viagero en la Catedral de Santiago’ are, however, not quite of this opinion. They say of it, “The monument which we examine belongs not to Santiago, to Galicia, to Spain, but is the patrimony of the Christian religion, of the Catholic world; since in all fervent souls something remains of the ancient and fervent faith of our forefathers.” This guide-book, by the way, is one of the worst I ever met with.

[145] The twentieth volume of ‘España Sagrada’ is entirely occupied with the reprint of this chronicle.

[146] Histor. Compost, lib. iii. cap. 1.

[147] “Postquam supradictus Episcopus,” “ad Ecclesiam Patroni sui B. Jacobi Apostoli rediens, circa eam indefessam solicitudinem exhibuit.” “Reversus itaque a supradicta expeditione, vetustissimam Ecclesiolam obrui præcepit, quæ intra immensam novæ ecclesiæ capacitatem imminente ruina lapsum minabatur. Hæc in longitudinem ad altare B. Jacobi protendebatur ab illo pilari qui juxta principalem ecclesiæ parietem, et secus unum de quatuor principalibus pilaribus existit, in sinistra parte superiorem partem chori ingredientibus pone relinquitur, et juxta fores pontificalis Palatii Ecclesiam introeuntibus, recta fronte opponitur, et in alia parte, id est in dextera, a pilari opposito supradicto pilari usque ad idem altare: latitudo vero illius eadem quæ modo et chori est. Destructa illa Ecclesia in era I.C.L.” (A.D. 1112.) “quæ quasi obumbraculum totius Ecclesiæ esse videbatur, Chorum satis competentem ibidem composuit, qui usque in hodiernum diem Dei gratia et B. Jacobi per industriam ejusdem Episcopi optimi Cleri excellentia egregie decoratur. Ipse quoque Episcopus, utpote sapiens architectus, in ejusdem chori dextro capite fecit supereminens pulpitum, in quo Cantores, atque Subdiacones officii sui ordinem peragunt. In sinistro vero aliud, ubi lectiones et Evangelia leguntur. Est autem B. Jacobi specialis et præclara nova ecclesia incæpta Era I. C. XVI.--V. idus Jul.” (A.D. 1078.) Histor. Compost., lib. i. cap. 78.

[148] The Archbishop’s words were as follows:--“Fratres, nostra ecclesia non nostris sed Dei gratia et nostri Patroni Beatissimi Apostoli Jacobi meritis maximi et celeberrimi est nominis, et ultra portus et citra portus pro ditissima et nobilissima reputatur.” “Quælibet Sedes ultra portus pulchriora et valentiora ædificia habet quam nostra,” &c. &c.--Hist. Compost., lib. iii. cap. 1.

[149] Histor. Compost., lib. ii. cap. 64.

[150] Ibid., lib. iii. cap. 36.

[151] See Appendix.

[152] Before this time, in 1161, Master Matthew had built the bridge of Cesures in Gallicia.--Cean Bermudez, Arq. de España, i. 33.

[153] “Era: millena: nova: vicies: duodena.”

[154] By a strange coincidence, S. Sernin boasts of having, among the bones of several of the apostles, those of S. James; though, of course, this would be strongly denied at Compostella.

[155] The church from which the cathedral at Santiago was copied is one of a considerable number in France, all of which have the same general characteristics. I have already given some description of them in a paper read before the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1861, and published in their Transactions. The following list of some of the more remarkable examples will show both their date and locale:--Conques, completed in A.D. 1060; S. Etienne, Nevers, commenced in A.D. 1063, consecrated A.D. 1097; S. Eutrope, Saintes, consecrated in A.D. 1096; S. Genes, A.D. 1016-1120; S. Hilary, Poitiers, A.D. 1049; Montierneuf, Poitiers, A.D. 1069-1096; S. Radigonde, Poitiers, A.D. 1099; S. Amable, Riom, A.D. 1077-1120; S. Sernin, Toulouse, A.D. 1060-1096; Cluny, A.D. 1089-1131; Dorat (Haute Vienne) and Bénévente (Creuse), A.D. 1150-1200; S. Saturnin; Volvic; Issoire; S. Nectaire; N. D. du Port, Clermont Ferrand, circa A.D. 1080-1160; Brioude, A.D. 1200. There is a church of similar construction at Granson, on the lake of Neufchâtel. These churches agree generally in their plans, but especially in those of their chevets (which almost invariably have chapels in the alternate bays only). Their sections are also alike, the triforia galleries being always vaulted with a continuous half-barrel or quadrant vault, and they have no clerestories. No doubt they were always intended to receive stone roofs, without any use of timber; and this mode of covering has been carefully restored recently at N. D. du Port, Clermont Ferrand.

[156] This façade was designed by D. Ventura Rodriguez, in 1764.

[157] The ground-plan of this chapel is shown on Plate IX., above the plan of the cathedral.

[158] The sacristan will not trouble himself to show this chapel, and it was by a mere accident that I discovered its existence. The keys are kept by the carpenter of the chapter, whose shop is below the chapter-house.

[159] The seminario on the west, the hospital on the north, and the College of San Jerónimo on the south side.

[160] This is the Puerta Santa, and is only opened by the archbishop in years of jubilee.

[161] It is just open to doubt whether the small circular window over the other is original, but I think the similarity to S. Sernin is in favour of its being so, in spite of some awkwardness in the mode of its introduction, which would otherwise have inclined me to doubt it.

[162] See the illustration of this doorway in the frontispiece.

[163] I could not discern the meaning of a rite the people perform here. They kneel down and put the thumb and three fingers of one hand into some cavities just fitted for them in the sculpture of the central shaft, and then with the other hand throw sand down the throats of the monsters. Some people evidently did this much to their own satisfaction, whilst an acolyte called my attention to the practice as being curious and unintelligible.

[164] España Sag., vol. xix.

[165] This practice illustrates the intention of the singular pilgrimage chapel at the west end of Lapworth church, Warwickshire, which has two newel staircases to its small upper chamber, evidently intended to facilitate the passage of a crowd of people.

[166] Cean Bermudez, Arq. de España, i. p. 105.

[167] “Don Juan of Medina, Bishop of Segovia, Abbat of Medina, President of the Cortes, Chancellor of Valladolid, ordered this chapel to be made in the year 1503. Laus Deo.”

[168] The walls near San Vicente are 42 feet high by 14 feet thick, and the towers of the gateway upwards of 60 feet in height.

[169] Ariz, Historia de Avila, part ii. p. 13. Ponz, Viage de España, xii. 308-9.

[170] Cean Bermudez, Arq. de España, vol. i. p. 18.

[171] España Sagrada, xxxviii. p. 134.

[172] See ground-plan, Plate X.

[173] See ground-plan, Plate XXIII.

[174] Teatro Eccl. ii. 258. Dávila, among the celebrities of Avila, includes himself, “the least of all, Pulvis et umbra.” One is surprised to find in his account of his own town so little really original matter as to the history or the date of its buildings.

[175] Juan de Borgoña contracted on March 23, 1508, to paint five pictures which were lacking in this Retablo, receiving 15,000 maravedis for each, and binding himself to finish them by All Saints’ Day of the same year.

[176] Plate XI.

[177] See the illustration of San Esteban, Segovia.

[178] Teatro Eccl. ii. 230.

[179] Teatro Eccl. ii. 229.

[180] Teatro Eccl. ii. 230.

[181] “In 1465 the sepulchre of the martyrs was made by donations from the Catholic kings, prelates,” &c. D. Andres H. Gallejo, ‘Memoria sobre la Basilica de San Vicente,’ p. 13. This date can only refer to the canopy.

[182] The following inscriptions on churches in Avila are given by G. G. Dávila. On a stone in San Nicolas, “In honorem B. Nicolai dedicavit hanc ecclesiam Jacobus Abulensis Episcopus, &c. &c., vi. Kal. Novembris, era MCC.XXXVI.” On a stone in San Bartolomeo, “In honorem S. Bartholomei Apost. dedicavit hanc ecclesiam Petrus Episcopus, &c. &c., vii. idus Decembris, MCCXLVIII.” The same bishop consecrated San Domingo in 1240.

[183] Cean Bermudez, Arq. de España, vol. i. p. 113. This convent is said to have been founded by the Catholic monarchs entirely with the confiscated goods of Jews.

[184] Cean Bermudez, Dicc., &c., de los Bellas Artes en España, vol. ii. p. 125.

[185] Cean Bermudez, Arq. de España, i. p. 214.

[186] Here lies Rodrigo Gil de Hontañon, Master of the Works of this Holy Church. He died the 31st of May, 1577. He set the first stone, which the Bishop D. Diego de Ribera laid on the 8th of June, 1525.

[187] Plate XII.

[188] See ground-plan, Plate VIII.

[189] Colmenares (Historia de la insigne Ciudad de Segovia; Segovia. 1637) gives the date of the first foundation 1447, but the buildings do not seem to have been begun before 1474, and the vaulting was finished in 1485.--Cean Bermudez, Arq. de España, i. p. 111.

[190] These particulars are all given in Cean Bermudez, Arq. de España, i. pp. 111, 120, 146.

[191] See Plate VIII.

[192] See ground-plan, Plate VIII.

[193] San Millan is said to have been founded in A.D. 923, and similar early dates are given for Sta. Columba and San Esteban: none of them, I believe, retain any features of so great an antiquity.

[194] I did not see the church of San Lorenzo. It has three eastern apses, and an arcaded cloister on the western and southern sides, some of the arches being round and some pointed. The detail is all of the same kind as in other examples here, with much delicate imitation of natural foliage.--See Illustration in Monos. Arqos. de España.

[195] The illustration of this courtyard is engraved from a photograph.

[196] See ground-plan, Plate XIII.

[197] Teatro Eccl., vol. i. pp. 131-148.

[198] See an illustration of this window on the ground-plan of Sigüenza Cathedral, Plate XIII.

[199] Hoc. claustrum. a. fundamentis, fieri, maudavit. Reverendissimus. Dominus. B. Carvaial. Car. S. +. in. Jerusalem. patriarcha. Ierosolimitan. episcopus. Tusculan. Antistes. hujus. alme. basilice. quod. cempletum. fuit. de. mense. Novembris. anno. Salutis. M.C.C.C.C.C.V.II. procurante. D. Serrano. Abbate. S. Columbe. ejusdem. ecclesiæ. operario.

[200] B: Carvaial: Car: S: +: eps: Saguntin:

[201] Teatro Eccl., i 161.

[202] Señor Cabezas, a commissionaire, to be heard of at the Fonda de Lino, may be recommended. He knows all the most interesting churches, as well as the Moorish remains; and to see these last it is indispensable to have some conductor who knows both them and their owners.

[203] This castle is said by Ponz to have been built by Archbishop Tenorio, circa 1340.--Viage de España, i. 163.

[204] It seems that the bridge of Alcantara fell down in the year 1211, and when it was repaired Enrique I. built a tower for the better defence of the city, as is recorded in an inscription given by Estevan de Garibay as follows: “Henrrik, son of the king Alfonso, ordered this tower and gate to be made, to the honour of God, by the hand of Matheo Paradiso in the _era_ 1255” (A.D. 1217). In A.D. 1258 the king D. Alonso “el Sabio” rebuilt the bridge, and put the following inscription on a piece of marble over the point of the arch: “In the year 1258 from the incarnation of Lord Jesus Christ, was the grand deluge of water, which commenced before the month of August, and lasted until Thursday the 26th of December; and the fall of rain was very great in most lands, and did great damage in many places, and especially in Spain, where most of the bridges fell; and among all the others was demolished a great part of that bridge of Toledo, which Halaf, son of Mahomet Alameri, Alcalde of Toledo, had made by command of Almansor Aboaamir Mahomet, son of Abihamir, Alquazil of Amir Almomenin Hixem; and it was finished in the time of the Moors, 387 years before this time; and the king, D. Alonso, son of the noble king D. Fernando, and of the queen Doña Beatriz, who reigned in Castile, had it repaired and renovated; and it was finished in the eighth year of his reign, in the year of the Incarnation 1258.” Cean Bermudez, Arq. de Esp., i. p. 254-255. The bridge was restored again by Archbishop Tenorio in 1380, and fortified in 1484 by Andres Manrique.--Ford, Handbook of Spain, p. 783.

[205] I must mention in this place one very curious collection of relics of the age of the Gothic kings of Spain. This is the marvellous group of votive crowns discovered in 1858 in a place called La Fuente de Guarrazar, in the environs of Toledo, and which were immediately purchased by the Emperor of the French for the Museum of the Hôtel de Cluny. They consist of five or six crowns, with crosses suspended from them, and three smaller crowns without crosses. They are of gold, and made with thin plates of gold stamped with a pattern, and they have gold chains for hanging them up by, and are adorned with an infinity of stones. They have been illustrated in a volume published by M. F. de Lasteyrie, with explanatory text. I cannot do better than quote the conclusions at which he arrives: “(1) The crowns found at Guarrazar are eminently votive crowns. (2) They have never been worn. (3) Their construction belongs probably to the age of Reccesvinthus and the episcopate of S. Ildefonso, who excited so great a devotion to the Blessed Virgin in Spain. (4) One of the crowns was offered by Reccesvinthus (whose name, formed in letters suspended from its edge, occurs on it); possibly the next in size may have been given by the queen, and the rest by their officers. (5) The place from which they came was a chapel called N. Dame des Cormiers. (6) All of the crowns, though found in Spain, appear to belong to an art of the same northern origin as the conquering dynasty which then occupied the throne. They certainly give the idea of an extraordinary skill in the gold-smiths’ art at this early period (circa 650-672), and it is probable that they had been buried where they were found at the time that the Moors entered Toledo as conquerors in A.D. 711.”--See Description du Trésor de Guarrazar, &c., par Ferdinand de Lasteyrie, Paris, 1860. Since this discovery some other crowns have been found in the same neighbourhood, and these are, I believe, preserved at Madrid. They have been described in a short paper in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, to which I must refer my readers. The crowns preserved at the Hôtel Cluny certainly form one of the greatest attractions in that attractive collection. They are in a singularly perfect state of preservation. Their workmanship is rather rude, and they all appear to be of as nearly as possible the same age and manufacture. There can be no question that M. F. de Lasteyrie is right in saying that they were never worn as crowns; they were designed for suspension before an altar, and most of them have crosses hanging from them. The largest crown--that of Reccesvinthus, is formed of two plates of gold, the inner plate plain, the outer pierced, beaten up, and set with very large stones. The plates of gold in many cases are stamped with a pattern. At the top and bottom of the plate which forms the coronet is a narrow band of cloisonnée gold, the spaces in which seem to have been filled with glass or red-coloured enamel. The largest crown is eight-and-a-half inches in diameter, and has a splendid jewelled cross suspended from its centre, and the name of the king in large Roman letters hung by chains from its lower edge, and formed of cloisonnée gold. When I see such work done in the seventh century, and then look at modern jeweller’s work, I am tempted to think that the much vaunted progress of the world is not always in the right direction. Gold and silver ornaments were exported from Spain to so considerable an extent, that the tiara of the Pope, being richly wrought with precious metal, was called _Spanoclista_.--Masdeu, Hist. Critica.

[206] “The Christians, in all matters exclusively relating to themselves, were governed by their own laws, administered by their own judges. Their churches and monasteries (rosæ inter spinas) were scattered over the principal towns, and their clergy were allowed to display the costume and celebrate the pompous ceremonial of the Romish religion.”--Prescott, Hist. of Ferdinand and Isabella, vol. i. p. 5.

[207] Sta. Justa (founded in 554), Sta. Eulalia (559), San Sebastian (601), San Marcos (634), San Lucas (641), San Torcuato (700), and Nuestra Señora del Arribal were the churches so granted for the use of the Mozarabic Liturgy. See D. Manuel de Assas, ‘Album Art. de Toledo,’ Art. II., and D. Sisto Ramon Parro, ‘Toledo en la Mano,’ p. 167 et seq.

[208] “The most remarkable buildings which illustrate the Mahomedan architecture in Toledo are the following:--The Mosque, now church of Cristo de la Luz, the Synagogues Sta. Maria la Blanca and El Transito, the church of San Roman--probably once a Mosque or Synagogue--the gateways De Visagra and Del Sol, and one on the Bridge of Alcantara, the Alcazar, the Palace of D. Diego, the Casa de Mesa, the Taller del Moro, the Temple (No. 10, Calle de San Miguel), the College of Saint Catherine, the house No. 17, Calle de las Tornerias, the ruins of the Palace of Villena, those of St. Augustine, of San Ginés, the Baths de la Cava, the Castle of San Servando (or Cervantes), the Palace of Galiena, and finally the Churches of SS. Ursula, Torcuato, Isabel, Marcos, Justo, Juan de la Penitencia, Miguel, Magdalena, Concepcion, Sta. Fé, Santiago, Cristo de la Vega (or Sta. Leocadia), SS. Tomé and Bartolomé.”--D. Manuel de Assas, Album Artist. de Toledo, and Toledo Pintoresca, Don J. Amador de los Rios. There are other remains, and among them a very fine room behind the house, No. 6, Calle la Plata.

[209] Ponz, Viage de España, vol. i. p. 210, gives a view of the considerable remains of a Roman aqueduct. I believe these have now entirely disappeared.

[210] There is a view in Villa Amil’s work of this interior, but the scale of the figures introduced is so much too small as to increase largely the apparent size of the building; otherwise the drawing is fairly correct. The illustration which I give is borrowed from Mr. Fergusson’s ‘Handbook of Architecture,’ and is from a drawing by M. Girault de Prangey.

[211] I find that Archbishop Rodrigo consecrated the church of San Roman on the 20th of June, 1221. See his Historia de Rebus Hispaniæ, in España Sagrada, vol. ii. p. 23.

[212] San Vicente Ferrer is said to have converted more than 4000 Toledan Jews in one day in the year 1407; and in 1413 a vast number were converted in Zaragoza, Calatayud, and elsewhere in the north of Spain. One cannot but fear that coming events in this case cast their shadows before them, and that the Jews had a shrewd suspicion of the coming of the edict of 1492, by which 170,000 Jewish families were ordered to leave the kingdom if they would not be baptized. The establishment of the Inquisition was the necessary consequence of such an edict. See Don J. Amador de los Rios, Estudios sobre los Judios de España, pp. 84, 106, 156.

The illustration which I give of the interior of this synagogue is borrowed from Mr. Fergusson’s ‘Handbook of Architecture.’ The original view is in M. Villa-Amil’s work, and gives a fairly correct representation of the general effect of the building.

[213] Said to have been so called on account of the passing-bell rung at the death of any of the Knights of Calatrava, to which it belonged after A.D. 1492; but more probably owing to its possession of a picture of the Assumption, the church having sometimes been called Nuestra Señora del Transito. It is also called San Benito. See D. Man. de Assas, Alb. Art. de Toledo.

[214] For some notice of Samuel Levi, and the inscriptions in the Synagogue, see Don José Amador de los Rios, Estudios sobre los Judios de España, pp. 52-7. Translations of these long and curious Hebrew inscriptions are given by D. F. de Rades y Andrada in his Chronicle of Calatrava, pp. 24, 25.