READING XLVII. EXPULSION OF THE MOORS FROM SPAIN. 1610. NOTWITHSTANDING the example of the bad effects of persecution which Philip III. of Spain had before him, in the expulsion of the Flemish Protestants by his father, he was either too blinded by bigotry, or too ignorant of sound policy to profit by it. Although the final expulsion of the Moors from Spain took place in 1610, the persecutions which they underwent at an earlier period, form so interesting a subject in the history of Spain, that a detail of the leading circumstances will not fail to amuse and instruct the reader. It is well known that when the city of Granada was taken by king Ferdinand of Aragon, and queen Isabel of Castile, in the year 1492, the Moorish government in Spain, which had lasted seven hundred years, terminated; and yet the Moors did not immediately leave the country. The body of the people, not only of the kingdom of Granada, but also of Valencia, though conquered by the Christians in 1236, and of Murcia, conquered by them in 1265, belonged to that race; and besides these, others were dispersed in great numbers overCastile, Estramadura, Aragon, Catalonia, &c. All these Moors maintained their separation from the Spaniards, by an obstinate adherence, not only to the language, habits and customs of their ancestors, but to their religion likewise, which was the Mahometan; few or none of them, in a long series of years, having been converted to the Christian faith, by all the efforts of the Spanish friars for that purpose. The Spanish princes, apprised of the danger that was likely to result from the connection which, in all probability, existed between the Moors of Barbary and those of their own country, so nearly situated with respect to each other, made every attempt to dissolve their natural attachment, cemented (united) by similarity of religious profession; and with this view they employed the ecclesiastics in vigorous measures for converting them to Christianity. The friars, failing in their endeavours for accomplishing the object entrusted to them, represented the Moors as an obstinate and hardened race of people, who were not to be convinced by arguments, nor by any other means, unaccompanied by violence. They accordingly advised the princes either to banish the Moors or to make them all slaves, if they refused to become Christians; or, at least, to take all their children from them, and baptize them, so that the next generation might become Christians. The council of Toledo, however, expressly prohibited (forbade) the compulsion of infidels (unbelievers) to be baptized; and Thomas Aquinas and most of their other divines declared it to be unlawful to baptize the children of infidels without the consent of their parents; and, consequently, the means recommended by the friars, were not adopted; more especially as the Moors, when they possessed the dominion of the country had never forced any of their Christian subjects to change their religion, and king Ferdinand, upon the surrender of Granada, had engaged himself, by oath, if the Moriscoes wished to remain in Spain, not to molest (annoy) them on account of their religion. The Jews, however, not having been protected by any such engagement, were ordered, by a royal edict (decree) within three months after the capture of Granada, if they would not be baptized, to depart with their families, in the course of four months, on pain of death; upon which many of them removed, and those who remained, after the expiration of the stipulated term, were stripped, by the king, of all their property, and sold to his subjects for slaves. It is said, that above 800,000 men, women, and children, were driven out of Spain, at this time. As to the Moors, it was found that, in the year 1499, few of those inhabiting Granada had been converted to Christianity; and therefore Ximenes, archbishop of Toledo, was charged to adopt some course for converting the Moors to the Christian faith. The archbishop, determined to succeed in every measure which he undertook, began by mild treatment to engage in his interest the chief men among the Moors; some of these became converts, but others were found alike invincible by bribes and promises. The prelate changed his plan and had recourse to severe methods of conversion, ordering the irreclaimable to be loaded with chains, thrown into dungeons, and treated as the most notorious malefactors (criminals). Irritated by this cruel treatment the Moors took up arms; but their insurrection being suppressed, 50,000 of them, inhabitants of the city of Granada, purchased their lives by consenting to be baptized; and the archbishop so far triumphed in his success, as, on his departure, not to have left one professed Mahometan in the city. The Moors of the country were alarmed, and fortified themselves among the mountains, resolving to die Mahometans with swords in their hands, rather than submit to be baptized by compulsion, as their countrymen had been in the city; but though many of them, with their wives and children, were put to the sword, others collected together in a formidable body, which called forth the interposition of the king in person, who being joined by a powerful host, very rapidly reduced all the Moorish towns that were in arms; obliging all the inhabitants to purchase their lives by consenting to be baptized. The Moors that were still in arms among the fastnesses of the mountains petitioned the king to allow them to transport themselves to Barbary, offering to pay ten dollars per head for every one that embarked; the king's want of money permitted those who could pay their ransom to depart, and those who were under the necessity of remaining were compelled to be baptized. In a few months above 200,000 men, women, and children, were converted by the king and the archbishop of Toledo from the Mahometan to the Christian profession, though it is said that scarcely one in that large number was a sincere convert. The inquisition, regarding these forced baptisms as good and valid, exercised its usual cruelties on those Moors who were convicted of having afterwards returned to Mahometanism. Not fewer than 100,000, living and dead, had been condemned for apostasy (the falling off from one's religion) by the inquisition of Seville in less than forty years; of which number 400 were burned, and 30,000 were reconciled, the rest having made their escape into Barbary. During the remaining part of the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, and the whole reign of Charles V., we hear little more of the Granada Moriscoes, than that they universally continued to be Mahometans and manifested an extraordinary aversion to Christianity, which aversion was increased by the fiery zeal of the inquisition. Thus the friars went on preaching and the inquisitors went on burning the Moriscoes until the year 1568; when Philip II., by advice of his council and ecclesiastics, published certain laws, which were framed with a view of extinguishing in the Moriscoes, the memory of their being descended of the Moors; the remembrance of which was thought to contribute not a little to their obstinacy in the matter of religion. These laws were as follows: - 1. That it should not be lawful for any person in the kingdom of Granada to wear the Moorish habit. 2. That it should not be lawful for any person in the kingdom of Granada to observe any Moorish customs. 3. That it should not be lawful for any one in that kingdom to speak Arabic, or to teach that language to their children. The rigorous execution of these laws induced the Moriscoes to seek relief from the grand seignior and the Moors in Barbary, who sent eight hundred Turks, with a great quantity of arms and ammunition into the kingdom of Granada, who were joined by the Moors from all parts, taking up arms and renouncing the profession of the Christian religion. Against these the king ordered his troops to march; but in the course of eighteen months, he was able neither to conquer them nor to starve them among the mountains. At length, however, they were totally subdued and compelled to leave the kingdom of Granada. From this time they were dispersed over the kingdom of Castile, and some other inland provinces, in which they and their posterity continued until the time of their general expulsion in the year 1610. Notwithstanding all the diligence and cruelties which were used to reconcile these Moriscoes to Christianity, they and their posterity still continued as much Mahometans in their hearts as ever they had been. This was also the case with regard to the Moriscoes of the kingdom of Valencia and Aragon, who continued professed Mahometans for three hundred years after they were conquered by the Christians. The Spanish historians are not agreed as to the number of the Moriscoes that were driven from Spain in 1610. Some say they were a million, others that they were 900,000, but the greater number of writers concur in asserting that there were 600,000 men, women, and children, besides those that were slain or detained. The expulsion of them was a blow which Spain has not, to this day, recovered. Soon after that disastrous event, the bad effects of it began to be felt, so much so that the duke of Lerma, the chief adviser of the measure was exiled from court and deprived of all his offices; his chief confident and counsellor, don Rodrigo Calderon, was committed to prison, and afterwards put to death. Philip III. himself, who died soon after, is said to have had his conscience, when on his death-bed, overwhelmed with horrors, at the recollection of having, in violation of all the laws of religion and humanity, plunged more than 100,000 families into distress and misery. READING XLVIII. JOURNEY OF PRINCE CHARLES, AFTERWARDS 1623. WITH a view of restoring the Palatinate, James I. was anxious to marry his son Charles to the infanta (princess) of Spain, not doubting but that through the powerful assistance of the Spanish monarch he should succeed in his wish. The prince, on the other hand, at the recommendation of the duke of Buckingham, was anxious to throw an air of romance over his courtship by making his personal suit to the princess, and at length, after much difficulty, both he and the duke obtained James's consent to their journey. The prince and Buckingham, attended by Sir Francis Cottington, Endymion Porter, and Sir Richard Graham, accordingly set off. They passed disguised and undiscovered through France, and even ventured into a court ball at Paris, where Charles saw the princess Henrietta, whom he afterwards espoused, and who was at that time in the bloom of youth and beauty. In eleven days after their departure from London, they arrived at Madrid. Philip IV. was at this time seated upon the Spanish throne, and the infanta was his sister. This princess, |