little moment, because a long chain of other and still more influential events became interwoven with those just mentioned, and, tending in precisely the same direction, produced a combination which nothing could resist, and from which we may trace with unerring certainty the steps by which the nation subsequently declined. The history of the causes of the degradation of Spain will indeed become too clear to be mistaken, if studied in reference to those general principles which I have enunciated, and which will themselves be confirmed by the light they throw on this instructive though melancholy subject.

After the subversion of the Roman Empire, the first leading fact in the history of Spain is the settlement of the Visigoths, and the establishment of their opinions in the Peninsula. They, as well as the Suevi, who immediately preceded them, were Arians, and Spain during a hundred and fifty years became the rallying point of that famous heresy,10 to which indeed most of the Gothic tribes then adhered. But, at the end of the fifth century, the Franks, on their conversion from Paganism, adopted the opposite and orthodox creed, and were encouraged by their clergy to make war upon their heretical neighbours. Clovis, who was then king of the Franks, was regarded by the church as the champion of the faith, in whose behalf he attacked the unbelieving Visigoths."1 His successors, moved by the same motives, pursued the

10 The unsettled chronology of the early history of Spain appears from the different statements of various writers respecting the duration of Arianism, a point of much more importance than the death and accession of kings. Antequera (Historia de la Legislacion Española, Madrid, 1849, p. 37) says, "La secta arriana, pues, segun las epocas fijadas, permaneció en España 125 años;" Fleury (Histoire Ecclésiastique, vol. vii. p. 586, Paris, 1758) says "environ 180 ans ;" and M'Crie, generally well informed, says in his History of the Reformation in Spain, Edinburgh, 1829, p. 7, "Arianism was the prevailing and established creed of the country for nearly two centuries:" for this, he refers to Gregory of Tours. With good reason, therefore, does M. Fauriel term it une question qui souffre des difficultés." See his able work, Histoire de la Gaule Méridionale, Paris, 1836, vol. i. p. 10.

66

66

"In 496, the orthodox clergy looked on Clovis as un champion qu'il peut opposer aux hérétiques visigoths et burgondes." Fauriel, Histoire de la Gaule Méridionale, vol. ii. p. 41. They also likened him to Gideon, p. 66.

same policy;12 and, during nearly a century, there was a war of opinions between France and Spain, by which the Visigothic empire was seriously endangered, and was more than once on the verge of dissolution. Hence, in Spain, a war for national independence became also a war for national religion,13 and an intimate alliance was formed between the Arian kings and the Arian clergy. The latter class were, in those ages of ignorance, sure to gain by such a compact,14 and they received considerable temporal advantages in return for the prayers which they offered up against the enemy, as also for the miracles which they occasionally performed. Thus early, a foundation was laid for the immense influence which the Spanish priesthood have possessed ever since, and which was strengthened by subsequent events. For, late in the sixth century, the Latin clergy converted their Visigothic masters, and the Spanish government, becoming orthodox, naturally conferred upon its teachers an authority equal Compare Fleury, Histoire Ecclésiastique, vol. vii. pp. 89, 90. Ortiz is so enthusiastic that he forgets his patriotism, and warmly praises the ferocious barbarian who made war, indeed, on his country, but still whose speculative opinions were supposed to be sound. "Mientras Alarico desfogaba su encono contra los Católicos, tuvo la Iglesia Galicana el consuelo de ver Católico á su gran Rey Clodoveo. Era el único Monarca del mundo que á la sazon profesaba la Religion verdadera." Ortiz, Compendio de la Historia de España, vol. ii. p. 96, Madrid, 1796.

12 Thus, in 531, Childebert marched against the Visigoths, because they were Arians. Fauriel, Histoire de la Gaule Méridionale, vol. ii. p. 131; and in 542, Childebert and Clotaire made another attack, and laid siege to Saragossa, p. 142. "No advertian los Godos lo que su falsa creencia les perjudicaba, y si lo advertian, su obcecacion les hacia no poner remedio. Los reyes francos, que eran católicos, les movian guerras en las Galias por arrianos, y los obispos católicos de la misma Galia gótica deseaban la dominacion de los francos." Lafuente, Historia de España, vol. ii. p. 380, Madrid,

1850.

13 "Los Francos por el amor que tenian á la Religion Cathólica, que poco ántes abrazaran, aborrecian á los Visigodos como gente inficionada de la secta Arriana." Mariana, Historia de España, vol. ii. p. 43. And of one of their great battles he says, p. 46, "vulgarmente se llamó el campo Arriano por causa de la religion que los Godos seguian."

14"En religion et en croyance, comme en toute chose, les Visigoths se montrèrent plus sérieux, plus profonds, plus tenaces que les Burgondes. J'ai dit ailleurs comment ils étaient devenus presque en même temps chrétiens et ariens. Transplantés en Gaule et en Espagne, non-seulement ils avaient persévéré dans leur hérésie; ils s'y étaient affermis, affectionnés, et dans le peu que l'histoire laisse apercevoir de leur clergé, on s'assure qu'il était austère, zélé, et qu'il exerçait un grand empire sur les chefs comme sur la masse de

to that wielded by the Arian hierarchy.15 Indeed, the rulers of Spain, grateful to those who had shown them the error of their ways, were willing rather to increase the power of the church than to diminish it. The clergy took advantage of this disposition; and the result was, that before the middle of the seventh century the spiritual classes possessed more influence in Spain than in any other part of Europe.16 The ecclesiastical synods became not only councils of the church, but also parliaments of the realm.1 At Toledo, which was then the capital of Spain, the power of the clergy was immense, and was so ostentatiously displayed, that in a council they held there in the year 633, we find the king literally prostrating himself on the ground before the bishops;18 and half a

la nation visigothe." "Les rois visigoths se croyaient obligés à de grandes démonstrations de respect pour leur clergé arien." Fauriel, Histoire de la Gaule Méridionale, vol. i. pp. 577, 578.

15 The abjuration of Recared took place between the years 586 and 589. Dunham's History of Spain and Portugal, London, 1832, vol. i. pp. 126128. Mariana, Historia de España, vol. ii. pp. 99-101. Ortiz, Compendio de la Historia de España, vol. ii. p. 120. Lafuente, Historia de España, vol. ii. pp. 360-363; and says Lafuente, p. 334, "Recaredo fué el primero que con todo el ardor de un néofito, comenzó en el tercer concilio toledano á dar á estas asambleas conocimiento y decision en negocios pertenecientes al gobierno temporal de los pueblos." Similarly, Antequera (Historia de la Legislacion, p. 31) is happy to observe that "Recaredo abjuró la heregia arriana, abrazó decididamente la religion de Jesu-Cristo, y concedió á los ministros de la iglesia una influencia en el gobierno del Estado, que vino á ser en adelante, ilimitada y absoluta."

16 "As for the councils held under the Visigoth kings of Spain during the seventh century, it is not easy to determine whether they are to be considered as ecclesiastical or temporal assemblies. No kingdom was so thoroughly under the bondage of the hierarchy as Spain." Hallam's Middle Ages, edit. 1846, vol. i. p. 511. "Les prêtres étaient les seuls qui avaient conservé et même augmenté leur influence dans la monarchie goth-espagnole.' Sempere, Histoire des Cortès d'Espagne, Bordeaux, 1815, p. 19. Compare Lafuente, Historia de España, vol. ii. p. 368, on "la influencia y preponderancia del clero, no ya solo en los negocios eclesiásticos, sino tambien en los políticos y de estado."

17" But it is in Spain, after the Visigoths had cast off their Arianism, that the bishops more manifestly influence the whole character of the legislation. The synods of Toledo were not merely national councils, but parliaments of the realm." Milman's History of Latin Christianity, London, 1854, vol. i. p. 380. See also Antequera, Historia de la Legislacion Española, pp. 41, 42.

18 In 633, at a council of Toledo, the king "s'étant prosterné à terre devant les évêques." Fleury, Histoire Ecclésiastique, vol. viii. p. 308, Paris,

1758.

century later, the ecclesiastical historian mentions that this humiliating practice was repeated by another king, having become, he says, an established custom. 19 That this was not a mere meaningless ceremony, is moreover evident from other and analogous facts. Exactly the same tendency is seen in their jurisprudence; since, by the Visigothic code, any layman, whether plaintiff or defendant, might insist on his cause being tried not by the temporal magistrate, but by the bishop of the diocese. Nay, even if both parties to the suit were agreed in preferring the civil tribunal, the bishop still retained the power of revoking the decision, if in his opinion it was incorrect; and it was his especial business to watch over the administration of justice, and to instruct the magistrates how to perform their duty.20 Another, and more painful proof of the ascendency of the clergy is that the laws against heretics were harsher in Spain than in any other country; the Jews in particular being persecuted with unrelenting rigour.21 Indeed, the desire of up

19 In 688, at a council of Toledo, "le roi Egica y étoit en personne ; et après s'être prosterné devant les évêques, suivant la coutume, il fit lire un mémoire où il leur demandoit conseil," &c. Fleury, Histoire Ecclésiastique, vol. ix. p. 89, Paris, 1758.

20 See a short but admirable summary of this part of the Visigothic code in Dunham's History of Spain, vol. iv. pp. 77-78; perhaps the best history in the English language of a foreign modern country. "In Spain, the bishops had a special charge to keep continual watch over the administration of justice, and were summoned on all great occasions to instruct the judges to act with piety and justice." Milman's History of Latin Christianity, 1854, vol. i. p. 386. The council of Toledo, in 633, directs bishops to admonish judges. Fleury, Histoire Ecclésiastique, vol. viii. p. 313; and a learned Spanish lawyer, Sempere, says of the bishops, "Le code du Fuero Juzgo fut leur ouvrage; les juges étaient sujets à leur juridiction; les plaideurs, grevés par la sentence des juges, pouvaient se plaindre aux évêques, et ceux-ci évoquer ainsi leurs arrêts, les réformer, et châtier les magistrats. Les procureurs du roi, comme les juges, étaient obligés de se présenter aux synodes diocésains annuels, pour apprendre des ecclésiastiques l'administration de la justice; enfin le governement des Goths n'était qu'une monarchie théocratique." Sempere, Monarchie Espagnole, Paris, 1826, vol. i. p. 6, vol. ii. pp. 212-214.

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"The terrible laws against heresy, and the atrocious juridical persecutions of the Jews, already designate Spain as the throne and centre of merciless bigotry." Milman's History of Latin Christianity, vol. i. p. 381. "Tan luego como la religion católica se halló dominando en el trono y en el pueblo, comenzaron los concilianos toledanos á dictar disposiciones canónicas y á prescribir castigos contra los idolatras, contra los judíos, y contra los hereges.' Lafuente, Historia de España, vol. ix. pp. 199-200. See also p. 214, and

-holding the faith was strong enough to produce a formal declaration that no sovereign should be acknowledged, unless he promised to preserve its purity; the judges of the purity being of course the bishops themselves, to whose suffrage the king owed his throne.22

Such were the circumstances which, in and before the seventh century, secured to the Spanish Church an influence unequalled in any other part of Europe.23 Early in the eighth century, an event occurred which apparently broke up and dispersed the hierarchy, but which, in reality, was extremely favourable to them. In 711 the Mohammedans sailed from Africa, landed in the south of Spain, and in the space of three years conquered the whole country, except the almost inaccessible regions. of the north-west. The Spaniards, secure in their native mountains, 24 soon recovered heart, rallied their forces, and began in their turn to assail the invaders. A desperate struggle ensued, which lasted nearly eight centuries, and in which, a second time in the history of

vol. ii. pp. 406, 407, 451. Prescott's History of Ferdinand and Isabella, vol. i. pp. 235, 236. Johnston's Institutes of the Civil Law of Spain, p. 262. Circourt, Histoire des Arabes d'Espagne, vol. i. pp. 260, 261; and Southey's Chronicle of the Cid, p. 18. I particularly indicate these passages, on account of the extraordinary assertion of Dr. M'Crie, that "on a review of criminal proceedings in Spain anterior to the establishment of the court of Inquisition, it appears in general that heretics were more mildly treated there than in other countries." M'Crie's History of the Reformation in Spain, p. 83, the best book on the Spanish Protestants.

22 A council of Toledo in 638 orders "qu'à l'avenir aucun roi ne montera sur le trône qu'il ne promette de conserver la foi catholique ;" and at another council in 681, "le roi y présenta un écrit par lequel il prioit les évêques de lui assurer le royaume, qu'il tenoit de leurs suffrages." Fleury, Histoire Ecclésiastique, vol. viii. p. 339, vol. ix. p. 70.

23 Those happy times have received the warm applause of a modern theologian, because in them the church "ha opuesto un muro de bronce al error;" and because there existed "la mas estrecha concordia entre el imperio y el sacerdocio, por cuyo inestimable beneficio debemos hacer incesantes votos." Observaciones sobre El Presente y El Porvenir de la Iglesia en España, por Domingo Costa y Borras, Obispo de Barcelona, Barcelona, 1857, pp. 73, 75.

24 To which they fled with a speed which caused their great enemy, Muza, to pass upon them a somewhat ambiguous eulogy. “Dijo, son leones en sus castillos, aguilas en sus caballos, y mugeres en sus escuadrones de á pié; pero si ven la ocasion la saben aprovechar, y cuando quedan vencidos son cabras en escapar á los montes, que no ven la tierra que pisan." Conde, Historia de la Dominacion de los Arabes, p. 30.