[46] Literally “corrector.” While the royal agent of this name might originally have been considered a “corrector” rather than an administrator, he later came to rule over areas ranging from that of a city to a province, with wide judicial and executive functions.
[47] In 1283 the General Privilege was added as book eight, for there had been the usual seven parts in the code of Jaime I; in 1300 the reforms of Jaime II; in 1348 those of Pedro IV; and finally those of Juan I and Martín I.
[48] In medieval schools grammar, rhetoric, and logic (comprising the trivium) were the principal studies, supplemented by arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music (or the quadrivium). These subjects were almost unrecognizably unlike those of the same names today.
[49] See page 110.
[50] The Basque game, with which the people of Navarre were equally familiar. This game bears no resemblance to American base-ball; rather it is more like a combination of tennis and hand-ball. At the present time the players, three on a side, use a kind of bat, or racket, and a leather-covered, solid rubber ball. The ball is served against a side wall, and must be made to bound back over a net. The ball is thus kept in play until one side misses a return, which scores a point for the opponents. The side first making a required number of points wins the match.
[51] After referring to the wealth of jewelry worn by the women of his time a Moslem writer goes on to say, “The women of Granada are beautiful, being distinguished for the symmetry of their figures, the gracefulness of their bodies, the length and waviness of their hair, the whiteness and brilliance of their teeth, the perfume of their breath, the pleasing lightness of their movements, the cleverness of their speech, and the charm of their conversation.”
[52] See p. 159.
[53] Cf. p. 155, n. 3.
[54] The real was a former Spanish coin of elusive value. Prior to the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella it was worth slightly more than ninety maravedís and after that reign slightly less than eighty-nine. Today the real of copper (a theoretical coin) is worth thirty-four maravedís and the real of silver sixty-eight. As the maravedí (which is no longer coined) was worth about a sixth of a cent in present-day United States money, it will be seen that the real has ranged from about fifteen to five cents in value. These amounts do not, of course, represent the actual value, or purchasing power, of the real. That cannot be determined, but it was certainly many times greater than it would be today.
[55] The two most important, those of Valladolid and Granada, were distinguished from the others by being called chancillerías.