Que de mejor galardon
A quien sirve a su señoria,
Que no el, que el Rey mi Señor
Me ha mandado dar este dia.”
So near do the old Spanish chronicles often come to being poetry, and so near do the old Spanish ballads often come to being history. But the Chronicle of John II. is, I think, the last to which this remark can be applied.
If I felt sure of the genuineness of the “Centon Epistolario” of Gomez de Cibdareal, I should here cite the one hundred and third Letter as the material from which the Chronicle’s account was constructed.
[286] When the first edition of Castillo’s Chronicle was published I do not know. It is treated as if still only in manuscript by Mondejar in 1746 (Advertencias, p. 112); by Bayer, in his notes to Nic. Antonio, (Bib. Vetus, Vol. II. p. 349,) which, though written a little earlier, were published in 1788; and by Ochoa, in the notes to the inedited poems of the Marquis of Santillana, (Paris, 1844, 8vo, p. 397,) and in his “Manuscritos Españoles” (1844, p. 92, etc.). The very good edition, however, prepared by Josef Miguel de Flores, published in Madrid, by Sancha, (1787, 4to,) as a part of the Academy’s collection, is announced, on its title-page, as the second. If these learned men have all been mistaken on such a point, it is very strange.
[287] For the use of a manuscript copy of Palencia’s Chronicle I am indebted to my friend, W. H. Prescott, Esq., who notices it among the materials for his “Ferdinand and Isabella,” (Vol. I. p. 136, Amer. ed.,) with his accustomed acuteness. A full life of Palencia is to be found in Juan Pellicer, Bib. de Traductores, (Madrid, 1778, 4to,) Second Part, pp. 7-12.
[288] I owe my knowledge of this manuscript, also, to my friend Mr. Prescott, whose copy I have used. It consists of one hundred and forty-four chapters, and the credulity and bigotry of its author, as well as his better qualities, may be seen in his accounts of the Sicilian Vespers, (Cap. 193,) of the Canary Islands, (Cap. 64,) of the earthquake of 1504, (Cap. 200,) and of the election of Leo X. (Cap. 239). Of his prejudice and partiality, his version of the bold visit of the great Marquis of Cadiz to Isabella, (Cap. 29,) when compared with Mr. Prescott’s notice of it, (Part I. Chap. 6,) will give an idea; and of his intolerance, the chapters (110-114) about the Jews afford proof even beyond what might be expected from his age. There is an imperfect article about Bernaldez in N. Antonio, Bib. Nov., but the best materials for his life are in the egotism of his own Chronicle.
[289] The chapters about Columbus are 118-131. The account of Columbus’s visit to him is in Cap. 131, and that of the manuscripts intrusted to him is in Cap. 123. He says, that, when Columbus came to court in 1496, he was dressed as a Franciscan monk, and wore the cord por devocion. He cites Sir John Mandeville’s Travels, and seems to have read them (Cap. 123); a fact of some significance, when we bear in mind his connection with Columbus.