BRIDONA SADDLE
(15th Century. Royal Armoury, Madrid)

Swinburne wrote from Cataluña in 1775; “the gun-barrels of Barcelona are much esteemed, and cost from four to twenty guineas, but about five is the real value; all above is paid for fancy and ornament; they are made out of the old shoes of mules.”

Until 1793, the smaller firearms of the Spanish army were made at Plasencia in Guipúzcoa. In that year the government factory, where hand-labour alone continued to be used till 1855, was removed to Oviedo. To-day this factory employs about five hundred workmen. In 1809 Laborde wrote that “firearms, such as fusees, musquets, carbines, and pistols are manufactured at Helgoivar, Eybor, and Plasencia; at Oviedo, Barcelona, Igualada, and at Ripoll; the arms made at the latter city have long had a distinguished reputation. Seven hundred and sixty-five gunsmiths, it is estimated, find employment in the factories of Guipúzcoa.”

Both Townsend and the foregoing writer give a good account of Spanish cannon at this time. According to Laborde, “two excellent founderies for brass cannon are royal establishments at Barcelona and Seville; in the latter city copper cannon are cast, following the method recommended by M. Maritz. Iron ordnance are made at Lierganez and Cavada.” Townsend wrote of Barcelona, in 1786; “The foundery for brass cannon is magnificent, and worthy of inspection. It is impossible anywhere to see either finer metal, or work executed in a neater and more perfect manner. Their method of boring was, in the present reign, introduced by Maritz, a Swiss. Near two hundred twenty-four pounders are finished every year, besides mortars and field-pieces.”

SADDLERY AND COACHES

Probably no relic of the former of these crafts in Spain is older or more curious than the iron bit (Plate [lvii]., No. 8), inlaid with silver dragons' heads and crosses, and attributed, from cruciform monograms which also decorate it, to the Visigothic King Witiza (who died in 711), or sometimes to the conqueror of Toledo, Alfonso the Sixth (eleventh century). The spurs or acicates (Plate [lvii]., No. 9) of Ferdinand the Third of Castile, who conquered Seville from the Moors, are also treasured in the Royal Armoury, and bear upon an iron ground remains of gold and silver decoration representing castles. The Count of Valencia de Don Juan believed these spurs to be authentic, because they are identical with the ones which Ferdinand wears in his equestrian seal, preserved among the National Archives of France, and dating from the year 1237.

Saddles of various kinds were used in Spain throughout the Middle Ages. Among them were the ordinary travelling-saddle or silla de barda (Arabic al-bardá); saddles de palafrén,[143] the silla de la guisa, or de la brida or bridona, for riding with long stirrups, and consequently the antithesis of the gineta saddle;[144] or saddles made for use exclusively in war, on which the rider was accustomed to make the sign of the cross before or after mounting, such as the lidona, gallega (“siellas gallegas” are mentioned in the Poem of the Cid), and corsera or cocera (Arabic al-corsi), or else the silla de conteras, “whose hindmost bow,” according to the Count of Valencia de Don Juan, “terminated in converging pieces to protect the wearer's thighs.”

A saddle known as the silla de rua, or “street saddle,” was generally used in Spain throughout the sixteenth and the seventeenth centuries. It was intended, not for war, but promenade and show, and therefore richly decorated. The Royal Armoury has nineteen of these saddles, all of which are Spanish-made. In the same collection is a plain bridona saddle (Plate [lix].), with iron stirrups and two gilt-metal bells, such as were commonly used in tournaments or other festivals. This saddle has been erroneously ascribed to the thirteenth century. It dates from the beginning of the fifteenth century, and proceeds from Majorca.