The Story of Seville

der the Ca

people-the tolerably numerous descendants of the former lords and conquerors of the country who still adhered to the Ar

ith costly store, and opened a vast foreign trade. In every quarter of the town the hum of industry was heard. The Morisco artisans, who had become 'reconciled' to the Christian creed, laboured in st

ilatos, the beautiful mansion of the Dukes of Alcalá, were open to all the lovers of learning and the students of art. Sculptors and painters were constantly employed upon works of art for the royal palace, the cathedral, and the churches. The Mudéjar architects and builders were engaged by rich dons, who had prospered by the discovery of the New World, to des

mired in the city; but at a later date even the loyal Sevillians showed their displeasure with the Emperor. Certain of the merchants of the town disregarded the royal command that all the bullion brought in by the India fleet should be stored in the warehouse of the Board of Trade, and kept there in case the Government required to raise funds quickly for war expenses. The owners of the gold naturally preferred their shipments to the Government bonds promising repayment. They therefore secretly removed the bulli

ace during the reign of the Emperor, who also laid out the garde

hooting with the gun and crossbow. Prescott says: 'It was a matter of complaint in the Cortes that he thus withdrew himself from the eyes of his subjects.' Even in his visits to Madrid, Segovia and Seville, Philip avoided society, and shut h

Taking his oath to respect the privileges of the city, the Sovereign rode through the crowded streets in pomp, accompanied by knights and guards. A splendid canopy was held by the chief justices over the King's head as he proceeded to the Cathedral to take part in a solemn service. The monarch then took up quarters in the Alc

seize the cargoes of gold and silver that had just arrived in the port. This action aroused much indignation in the city, and the people grew incensed when the command was again given to confiscate the bullion consigned to merchants of Seville. When a number of

milies of rank and position crowded into the profession of priest, and that the number of persons in holy orders soon swelled enormously. Arts and handicrafts were not considered gentlemanlike pursuits; the industry of the city was relegated to Spaniards of low birth, to the Mudéja

IN BATH

eir mode of dress, and to speak in Spanish. The public baths, built by the cleanly Moriscoes, were destroyed in every city, and the Mudéjares were even forbidden to bathe in their own houses. These mandates exasperated the Moriscoes throughout Andalusia. They rebelled a

ere in a state of neglect, and fields once fertile became wastes. Trade declined rapidly with the extirpation of heresy. The industrial population was deprived of its most skilful and industrious members when the last band of Moriscoes quitted the city. In the sev

ovember 25, 1598, the mourning multitude flocked to the dim Cathedral. While the people knelt upon the stones, and the solemn music floated through the long aisles, there was a disturbance among a part of the congregation. A man was charged with deriding the imposing monument, and creating a disorder in the holy edifice. He was a tax-gatherer and ex-soldier of the city, named Don Miguel de Servantes Saavedra. Some of the citizens took his side, for the

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dom of thought, were likely to benefit Spain, either in the material or spiritual sense. The gold fever seized like a frenzy upon the avaricious, and the early colonisers turned their backs upon any country that lacked precious minerals. Nothing save gold and silver was considered valuable. As a conseq

n farming produce and manufactured articles hastened the decline of agriculture and of crafts in Andalusia. Finally, under the Bourbons, Cadiz became the rival of Seville, and the Council of the Two Indies was remo

. Doblado is the pseudonym of Blanco White, son of the British Vice-Consul at Seville in those days. White was born in the city in 1775, brought up as a Spaniard, and sent to the University. H

lodgings and the cast-off clothes of his master, was glad in that humble capacity to go through the course of studies necessary for the profession-Divinity, Law or Medicine-which he intended to follow.' The custom of the caravanas was a trying ordeal for the student. He was compelled to run the gauntlet of the gibes of a mob of spectato

set. One of the choicest relics of the Cathedral, a piece of the True Cross, or Lignum Crucis, was exhibited as a charm on the Giralda Tower. Many persons advised that a wooden crucifix, in one of the chapels of the suburbs, should be also employed. It had been of great service in the plague of 1649, staying the epidemic after half of the inhabitants had been destroyed. A day was fixed for the solemn ceremony of blessing the four winds of heaven with the True Cross from the Cathedr

s a time of revolt in the city; mobs went through the streets, calling for the deposition of the Junta, and vowing violence against the members. Seville was besieged for the last time in 1843, at the time of Espartero's regency. An account of the siege is given in Revelations of Spain, by an English Resident, who writes: 'I saw full twenty houses in different parts of the city-this was about the entire number-which Van Halen's shells had entirely gutted. The balls did limited damage-a mere crack against the wall, for the most part a few stones dashed out, and there an end. But the bombs-that was indeed

Wales, paid a visit to Seville, and s

history of the city and noted incidents in the lives of eminent