Madrid: an historical description and handbook of the Spanish capital

by Albert Frederick Calvert

Twenty-one miles from Madrid, on a plain two thousand feet above sea-level, is the little town of Alcalá de Henares, whose annals are so intimately associated with the history of Spain that it deserves more than passing mention. In 1510, Alcalá was a famous University town, esteemed equally with Salamanca, and frequented by the most learned professors, doctors, and students of that age. Here, it is claimed, was born the great Miguel Cervantes, and in the church of Santa Maria he was baptised in 1547. Catharine of Aragon, first of the wives of Henry VIII. of England, was a native of the place. But long before the sixteenth century, Alcalá de Henares was a town of importance, for the Romans settled here, and named the centre Complutum, while the Moors, at a later date, fortified the Roman station and called it the “stronghold” or “castle.”

Until the University, founded here by Cardinal Ximenez, was removed to Madrid, Alcalá de Henares was a town of note, populated by over ten thousand students. As early as the thirteenth century the Court frequently sat here to administer the fueros, and Alcalá was one of the first bishoprics founded in Spain. Cervantes speaks of the town of his birth as “the famous Complutum”; and Erasmus, in a letter to Vives, relates that “the cultivation of languages and polite letters has given celebrity to the University of Alcalá, whose principal ornament is that illustrious and truly worthy old man, Anthony de Nebrija, who has outstripped many Nestors.”

The students of the Alcalá University were a very merry community. Many are the tales repeated of their frolics, their escapades, and their Bohemianism. They prided themselves upon the carelessness of their dress, and at holiday time sang to the guitar for chance coppers thrown from the windows. Yet there were many serious students in the colleges, which numbered about twenty, and many youths sat at the feet of the sage teachers and learned lecturers who were retained by Cardinal Ximenez for the instruction of the pupils. Cervantes was among the students of Alcalá before he went to Madrid; but we read that he was not much inclined to follow the academic course, preferring poetry and romance to the dry tomes of theology and philosophy.

The ancient University was first established on the site of the present Colegio de San Ildefonso, which was built in 1583. Two celebrated architects, Gumiel and Gil de Hontañon, designed the building, and showed great taste in planning the front and the patios. The amphitheatre, in which the honours of the college were bestowed upon diligent students, and the chapel, are fairly preserved, and contain some interesting memorials of the days of prosperity and culture at Alcalá. In design the chapel is a curious mixture of the Renaissance and Morisco styles of architecture.

Ximenez, more correctly called Cisneros, is one of the most impressive figures in Spanish history. He was a shrewd politician, a profound pietist, a promoter of learning, an ascetic, and an exemplar in works of charity. He was, however, tainted with fanaticism, and at his direction many hundreds of ancient Arabic books were burned, a step the wisdom of which is still a matter of controversy. From 1516 till his death in 1518, the Cardinal held the regency of Castile, an office which provoked the resentment of many old and noble houses in the kingdom, for, though Ximenez was of high birth, he came of an impoverished family. Upon being challenged by the grandees for his authority, the Cardinal led a deputation to the window of his palace, and pointing to a body of armed men in the courtyard, said: “By these powers I govern Castile until Prince Carlos shall arrive or shall supersede me.”

The worsting of the French invaders in Navarre was due to the militant Cardinal’s tactics. He dismantled the forts, except Pamplona, which he rendered almost unassailable, and having garrisoned the capital of the kingdom, he defied the troops of France. To him also Spain owed the establishment of a militia, or citizen army, though the institution found little favour with the populace. Although Ximenez undoubtedly checked the study of Hebrew and Arabic in Spain, it must be remembered that his energy and his zeal secured the University of Alcalá de Henares, and that he produced here the great Polyglot Bible hence called the Complutensian. The books which this censor permitted to be used were “Catechisms, solid and simple explanations of Christian doctrine, and other writings calculated to enlighten the minds of the people.”

A noteworthy figure connected with the history of Alcalá de Henares was the learned and liberal-minded Nebrija, a reformer of a very different cast of intellect from that of Cardinal Ximenez who proved, however, his generous protector. Antonio de Nebrija was the Erasmus of Spain. He spent ten years of study in Italy, and returned to lecture at the University of Alcalá and to encourage learning among his countrymen. Although Nebrija encountered strong opposition in certain quarters, he strove till his old age to improve education in Spain, and contrived to gain the countenance of many persons of high position. Queen Isabella the Catholic was herself amongst his pupils.

The surroundings of Alcalá de Henares are austere and bleak; and if it were not for the hills that screen the town from the north, it would be considerably colder and more wind-swept than it is. A stream meanders by the town, and elms and poplars grow on this green upland of the sierras; but the environs of Alcalá cannot be called sylvan. Towards Meco, at one time a Moorish settlement, the country is of a softer and more pastoral character, enlivened by numerous mountain rivulets. This village is about four miles from Alcalá.

The Archbishop’s Palace is one of the monuments of the place, and it is now used as a repository for historical archives. Berruguete and other celebrated architects planned the building, which has some interesting patios and a fine staircase, showing the ornate tendency of the age in which the palace was designed.

The Colegiata has been restored. Its chief object of interest is the beautiful monument to Cardinal Ximenez, by Fancelli, an Italian sculptor. Juan Francés executed the reja, or screen, of the chapel in this edifice, and the saints Justo and Pastor, to whom the Colegiata is dedicated, were buried in the vault.