[36] Usually the “royal thirds” amounted to two-ninths. At a later time, both in Spain and the colonies, this tax was specifically called the dos novenas (two-ninths).
[37] The customs of the clergy will be taken up more fully in chapter XIV.
[38] It was still the practice to farm out the revenues for a fixed sum, leaving the contractor to collect them as a private venture.
[39] Despite the existence of bull-fighting in much earlier times,—for example, in the Visigothic period,—there is no clear documentary reference to that game for centuries prior to the reign of Alfonso X.
[40] The earliest recorded petition in their favor in the popular branch of the Cortes was in 1626!
[41] An estimate of 1359 states that there were 25,731 dwellings on royal lands, and 57,278 on those of the lords. As late as the seventeenth century it is said that 1800 cities and towns out of 2400 belonged to the nobles or the church, or three-fourths of the total.
[42] Thus Queen María felt it incumbent upon her to enact, in 1454, that naked men should not take part in processions of masqueraders.
[43] See page 90, note 1.
[44] Literally “audience,” or “hearing.” Originally, the king gave “audience” for the decision of cases. Later, he was relieved of this duty by other officials, or bodies, and the name was applied finally to the courts referred to in this volume.
[45] The most famous of these leagues was the Santa Real Hermandad (Royal Holy Brotherhood) of Toledo, Talavera, and Villarreal which lasted until the nineteenth century, although with modifications of its jurisdiction and activities. The members of the league might pursue an offender as far as the borders of Portugal or Aragon. When they caught him they had a banquet, after which the criminal was tied to a post to serve as a target, and a prize was given to the one who first shot him through the heart. When the accused was already dead, a trial was held and he was sentenced. This procedure helps one to visualize the real insecurity of the times,—for the same summary methods were employed which men have used both before and since when the central authority was not strong enough to guarantee public security. The California Vigilance Committees in the days of the gold rush are an instance in point.