Patrañas; or, Spanish Stories, Legendary and Traditional Read online

  THE BLOOD-STAIN OF THE ALCAZAR OF SEVILLE.

  Of all the beautiful things which are to be seen at Seville, there isperhaps none which engrosses the attention as the alcazar--so calledbecause built after the fashion of a Moorish palace. To the travellerunacquainted with the East it affords a practical realization of thefamed elaboration of Moorish magnificence. It is not very certainwhether in it Pedro the Cruel erected a new foundation, or restoredan old one remaining from the time of the Moorish occupation; but hecertainly left nothing wanting to make it the worthy habitation of oneof the most powerful monarchs of the time [10]. The present century hasnot been wanting to the example thus set; and by dint of the artisticcare bestowed upon it, its beauties shine now as brilliantly as atthe moment of their first completion. The gardens, with their grovesof plantains, datunas, tunales, myrtles, box-trees, and oranges, mayappear stiff to an English eye; but be there in the summer, and youreadily realize the luxury of paths so contrived as to be always inthe shade, and which, when this even is too hot, can be cooled downby turning on a flow of icy water over the tiles which pave them.

  It is in the interior, however, that the greatest luxuriance ofimagination has been displayed. It is all one blaze of dazzling tints,such as, one would think, no one but some of Aladdin's genii couldhave produced. The walls are panelled with a delicate embroidery-likefretwork of every gorgeous hue; the roofs cieled with seeming liquidgold, suspended in burnished drops. It is the dazzling image of allone has dreamt of Byzantine or Persian colouring; it is like beingin the fairy palace which was all one large prism. It might have beenimagined by mad genii, and executed by frantic fairies. It might be thelaboratory where tints are prepared for rainbows and tropical sunsets,or where the painting of peacocks and butterflies, humming-birds,and exotic flowers is devised. Or it might be the jewel-storehouse ofsome thrice-rich monarch, to whom emeralds and rubies are plentifulas figs and peaches, and all in cabinets of wrought gold.

  Amid all this splendour there is one sad, dark spot, which has outlivedthe wear of five centuries, to stand a witness of the judgment ofHeaven overtaking the tyrant and the oppressor. Pedro the Cruel wasthe only Christian monarch who ever indulged himself with such a nest;and I fear the life he led within it was not what that of a Christianmonarch ought to be. Not to speak of his other faults, his thirst forblood was so great as to be surpassed only by the atrocities ascribedto Nero. Whoever displeased him in any way was summarily put to death,and that sometimes amid cruel tortures, without form of trial.

  An old ballad has lately been found, which arranges in rhyming orderthe whole catalogue of names and qualities of the distinguished peoplewhose lives were forfeited by his hand, or at his behest, which servedthe people to perpetuate their detestation of his character. Therewas Don Garcilaso, and his little brothers Don Juan and Don Diego; theInfante of Aragon, his cousin; Don Fernando, a knight of high renown;the noble youth Don Luis de Albuquerque; and Peralvarez Osorio,who had injured him in nothing. Then the Queen of Aragon, to whomhis father was brother; and Dona Blanca, his own wife; Dona Juanaand Dona Isabel, high ladies both, of the Asturias; and Gutierrezof Toledo, and the Archbishop his brother; Don Inigo d'Orozco, whofought him in the field; and Don Suero, the good prelate, Archbishopof Santiago, and also Bermejo de Granada. And besides these many more,both hidalgos and caballeros.

  Thus at last his wickedness outgrew the people's patience; and whenthe good Henry of Trastamare rose up against him, and provoked him tofight, and slew him, they all hailed the act as the execution of thesentence of Divine Justice, and acclaimed Henry as their delivererand their ruler in his stead; for Alonso, the son of his unblessedunion with Maria Padilla, whom he had forced the people to acknowledgefor his successor, had been carried off by sudden death soon after;and though the daughter of his lawful marriage had married our ownJohn of Gaunt, all his reputation, and that of the Black Prince hisfather, could not outweigh their disinclination for a foreign king.

  With regard to the mode of Pedro the Cruel's death, the more creditedaccount is that his end was an episode of the siege of Montiel,where he had sought to hide himself from the victorious pursuit ofHenry de Trastamare. Local tradition loves to think it found him outwith poetical justice, and left its stain in the very hall which hadbeen the scene of his wanton excesses; where others had fallen athis command, and whence the decree had gone forth for the relentlessexecution of his victims.