CHAPTER IX.
Effects of the Example of Alfonso the Tenth. — Chronicles of his own Reign, and of the Reigns of Sancho the Brave and Ferdinand the Fourth. — Chronicle of Alfonso the Eleventh, by Villaizan. — Chronicles of Peter the Cruel, Henry the Second, John the First, and Henry the Third, by Ayala. — Chronicle of John the Second. — Two Chronicles of Henry the Fourth, and two of Ferdinand and Isabella.
The idea of Alfonso the Wise, simply and nobly expressed in the opening of his Chronicle, that he was desirous to leave for posterity a record of what Spain had been and had done in all past time,[256] was not without influence upon the nation, even in the state in which it then was, and in which, for above a century afterwards, it continued. But, as in the case of that great king’s project for a uniform administration of justice by a settled code, his example was too much in advance of his age to be immediately followed; though, as in that memorable case, when it was once adopted, its fruits became abundant. The two next kings, Sancho the Brave and Ferdinand the Fourth, took no measures, so far as we know, to keep up and publish the history of their reigns. But Alfonso the Eleventh, the same monarch, it should be remembered, under whom the “Partidas” became the law of the land, recurred to the example of his wise ancestor, and ordered the annals of the kingdom to be continued, from the time when those of the General Chronicle ceased down to his own; embracing, of course, the reigns of Alfonso the Wise, Sancho the Brave, and Ferdinand the Fourth, or the period from 1252 to 1312.[257] This is the first instance of the appointment of a royal chronicler, and may, therefore, be regarded as the creation of an office of consequence in all that regards the history of the country, and which, however much it may have been neglected in later times, furnished important documents down to the reign of Charles the Fifth, and was continued, in form at least, till the establishment of the Academy of History in the beginning of the eighteenth century.
By whom this office was first filled does not appear; but the Chronicle itself seems to have been prepared about the year 1320. Formerly it was attributed to Fernan Sanchez de Tovar; but Fernan Sanchez was a personage of great consideration and power in the state, practised in public affairs, and familiar with their history, so that we can hardly attribute to him the mistakes with which this Chronicle abounds, especially in the part relating to Alfonso the Wise.[258] But, whoever may have been its author, the Chronicle, which, it may be noticed, is so distinctly divided into the three reigns, that it is rather three chronicles than one, has little value as a composition. Its narrative is given with a rude and dry formality, and whatever interest it awakens depends, not upon its style and manner, but upon the character of the events recorded, which sometimes have an air of adventure about them belonging to the elder times, and, like them, are picturesque.
The example of regular chronicling, having now been fairly set at the court of Castile, was followed by Henry the Second, who commanded his Chancellor and Chief-Justiciary, Juan Nuñez de Villaizan, to prepare, as we are told in the Preface, in imitation of the ancients, an account of his father’s reign. In this way, the series goes on unbroken, and now gives us the “Chronicle of Alfonso the Eleventh,”[259] beginning with his birth and education, of which the notices are slight, but relating amply the events from the time he came to the throne, in 1312, till his death in 1350. How much of it was actually written by the chancellor of the kingdom cannot be ascertained.[260] From different passages, it seems that an older chronicle was used freely in its composition;[261] and the whole should, therefore, probably be regarded as a compilation made under the responsibility of the highest personages of the realm. Its opening will show at once the grave and measured tone it takes, and the accuracy it claims for its dates and statements.
“God is the beginning and the means and the end of all things; and without him they cannot subsist. For by his power they are made, and by his wisdom ordered, and by his goodness maintained. And he is the Lord; and, in all things, almighty, and conqueror in all battles. Wherefore, whosoever would begin any good work should first name the name of God, and place him before all things, asking and beseeching of his mercy to give him knowledge and will and power, whereby he may bring it to a good end. Therefore will this pious chronicle henceforward relate whatsoever happened to the noble King, Don Alfonso, of Castile and Leon, and the battles and conquests and victories that he had and did in his life against Moors and against Christians. And it will begin in the fifteenth year of the reign of the most noble King, Don Fernando, his father.”[262]
The reign of the father, however, occupies only three short chapters; after which, the rest of the Chronicle, containing in all three hundred and forty-two chapters, comes down to the death of Alfonso, who perished of the plague before Gibraltar, and then abruptly closes. Its general tone is grave and decisive, like that of a person speaking with authority upon matters of importance, and it is rare that we find in it a sketch of manners like the following account of the young king at the age of fourteen or fifteen.
“And as long as he remained in the city of Valladolid, there were with him knights and esquires, and his tutor, Martin Fernandez de Toledo, that brought him up, and that had been with him a long time, even before the queen died, and other men, who had long been used to palaces, and to the courts of kings; and all these gave him an ensample of good manners. And, moreover, he had been brought up with the children of men of note, and with noble knights. But the king, of his own condition, was well-mannered in eating, and drank little, and was clad as became his estate; and in all other his customs he was well conditioned, for his speech was true Castilian, and he hesitated not in what he had to say. And so long as he was in Valladolid, he sat three days in the week to hear the complaints and suits that came before him; and he was shrewd in understanding the facts thereof, and he was faithful in secret matters, and loved them that served him, each after his place, and trusted truly and entirely those whom he ought to trust. And he began to be much given to horsemanship, and pleased himself with arms, and loved to have in his household strong men, that were bold and of good conditions. And he loved much all his own people, and was sore grieved at the great mischief and great harm there were in the land through failure of justice, and he had indignation against evil-doers.”[263]
But though there are few sketches in the Chronicle of Alfonso the Eleventh like the preceding, we find in general a well-ordered account of the affairs of that monarch’s long and active reign, given with a simplicity and apparent sincerity which, in spite of the formal plainness of its style, make it almost always interesting, and sometimes amusing.