V.—RELICS
Relics, which played an exceedingly important part in the life of the medieval Church, might consist of anything which formerly belonged to a saint or to Jesus, or anything which might serve as evidence in establishing a miracle. Every altar, upon being consecrated, should have some relics placed within it,[125] and these usually were of miracle-working power themselves. At Chartres there was a certain dress that had belonged to the Virgin, on which it was the custom to place cloth which was made up into garments for warriors, because it was believed that after being thus treated garments made from it would be invulnerable. In fact a knight wearing one of these was attacked while unarmed, and altho his enemies thought they had pierced him thru and thru he was in reality unharmed (No. 148). The bones of St. Thomas, together with a letter purporting to have been written by Jesus, were so powerful that when placed over the gate of Edessa no enemy could enter without first making peace with the city.[126] Very interesting is the case of the humble woman who went to confession and after doing penance asked for a written certificate of pardon, which after some hesitation was given. Misfortune overtook her and she was forced to beg. In one city she came upon a moneychanger and asked the loan of a small sum but he would not let her have it without security. The only security she could offer was this certificate of pardon. The moneychanger laughed at the idea, but finally promised to let her have the equivalent of its weight in gold, and putting it on his scales was astonished to find that all his gold would not balance it. This convinced him, and becoming converted he told the woman to take whatever amount she needed. (No. 305).
Such relics not only had the power to work miracles but were themselves divinely protected. One man, a peasant, laughed at the idea that a certain shoe on the altar in the church had ever belonged to the Virgin, because, he said, a shoe as old as that would not be in so good a state of preservation. To cure him of such flagrant unbelief she afflicted him in the mouth in such a manner that he could be cured only upon the application of the shoe in question (No. 61). At another time some priests, by the exhibition of relics, were collecting money to rebuild a church. In the course of their travels they entered a ship with some merchantmen. After a short while they were attacked by pirates, and in the face of danger the merchants, to secure immunity, offered gifts of money for the building of the church. When the danger was safely passed they repented of their extravagance and took back their donations, buying wool for their own use with the money. Shortly afterward a stroke of lightning set fire to their purchases, thus avenging both God and the Virgin (No. 35).
Naturally, some relics were more powerful and more sacred than others, and they varied in these respects according to the importance of the saint to whom they belonged; and seemingly were protected in a like measure. When Alfonso el Sabio left Seville for Castile he ordered the relics of the Virgin, along with those of the other saints, to be carefully put away, but when he returned ten years later he found only those of the Virgin in perfect condition; those of the other saints had decayed (No. 257).
CONCLUSION
After the foregoing investigation the fact is impressed on us more vividly than ever that the Spain of the Middle Ages was truly the mother of the Spain of today. Hers were a people with a lively imagination, but this was dominated by the two elements which have always been most marked in her history—religion and realism. And wherever these two elements enter into the development of the supernatural in the mind of man, the Spanish contribution has to be taken seriously into the account.
It is impossible, as stated previously, to affirm which of the medieval traditions are Spanish and which are not. The most that we can hope to do is to note what type of legend appealed to this people; of all the host of supernatural stories common through the Europe of the Middle Ages, to determine what classes or types found their way into Spain and there were welcomed, being repeated from generation to generation (becoming thus a part of the national tradition); and what kind or kinds were rejected because they did not have this appeal.
In Spain the beliefs and superstitions we have been passing in review, having as their starting point the actual observation of objective nature and of human nature, were amazingly multifarious. The study in particular of omens and of auguries, based on the real experiences of life, made a peculiar appeal to the Spaniards, as is witnessed by the abundance of material concerning such found at every turn in the early literature. Contrasted with this is the notable lack of the fantastic and purely imaginary, so popular among the nations of the north, as well as among the Mohammedans.
The effect of this realistic spirit on the religion of the people, the other dominating element of their national life, must also be noted. The unreal ghost has given place to the more naturalistic saint or angel, for their religion permitted no denial of the existence of these two orders of beings. Moreover, soothsayers, diviners, and other similar characters were recognized by the Church as a real force, as is evidenced by the Church’s constant warfare against them. And the Devil! What good medieval Christian,—above all, what Spaniard,—could refuse to believe in him?
To summarize: We are impressed first by the commanding prominence accorded to the personalities of the saints, especially Saint Mary, then of Santiago (St. James) and the others; next, of the predominating importance of the rôle of the Child Jesus, with the relegation to a comparatively unimportant place of the adult Saviour; and finally of the enemies of God, headed by Diabolus. The works and influences of all the above are manifested in dreams and visions, miracles and portents, in almost every conceivable form, conjuring, fortune-telling, etc. The ritual of the church service, especially of the sacraments, becomes intertwined and adorned with what many faithful churchmen of the present time would doubtless be willing to class as downright superstitions. Omens and the like, because of their realistic appeal, continue in spite of the constant opposition of the Church.
In contrast to this, however, we find no unquestionable ghosts. The “magic ring”, moreover, is entirely lacking, as is nearly all that type of Arabian magic. King Oberon, with his fairy band, has not yet made his appearance, and the sage Merlin is only alluded to occasionally by the learned. Subterranean cities still remain limited to their northern abode. The well-known mal de ojo is absent, and enchantment is little heard of. The Werewolf, mentioned, it is said, by Pomponius Mela, Herodotus, and Ovid, is entirely neglected and omitted either thru simple ignorance of it or because it does not conform to their realistic thought. The search for the elixir of life is only faintly hinted at in the restoration of youth to the aged priest who seeks help from the Virgin (No. 141). The myth of supernatural prolongation of life is to be found only in its primitive stages, in such legends as that of María Egipciaca and in some of the miracles contained in Las Cantigas, and yet we are told that,
“The first appearance of the Wandering Jew in England is in the chronicles of Roger of Wendover, who reports the legend as being told at the monastery of St. Albans by an Armenian bishop, in 1228, but to hearers already familiar with it.”[127]
Arabian influence does appear, however, quite frequently, especially in certain types of visions such as those in which a person is transported from one point to another to witness various scenes; as well also as in those in which the subject sleeps many years while experiencing the joys of Paradise. French religious traditions dealing with various shrines were common property. Many of the miracles related in Las Cantigas are said to have been performed in France, especially at Soissons.
The general impression gained from the study is that we are standing at the beginning of a new period; that soon there is going to unfold before us a magnificent spectacle, so far as the supernatural is concerned, in which these elements, whose beginnings we can even now discern, will present themselves in all their fullness, but at the same time those which have already reached their culmination will survive, and, being the product of the real life and soul of the nation, will still be the determining factors in shaping its beliefs and practices, as it continues its course among the hosts of outside influences it is soon to encounter.
As we close the study we can not, if we would, resist the pervasive charm cast over us by the simplicity of the primitive age with its childlike faith. From time to time the canvas has been reversed, the customary medieval picture has been changed, the sound of the bugle, the glitter of burnished arms, the noise of battle, have now receded into the background, and altho we are still faintly conscious of them we become almost unaware of their presence. In the foreground have arisen, we scarcely know how or whence, the common people, with their sheep and their goats, their games of chance and their wine, their joys and their sorrows, their loves and their hates, their marriages, births, deaths—all these—along with their interesting superstitions and ardent devotion to their local saints, as well as their fidelity to their lord, who moves about among them as their guardian and protector.