Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

BOOK

XI.

full differently from where it was. The which that city, as well because it toucheth us as for her honor, doth greatly resent; and albeit that as soon as it was known the Corregidor and three of the Regidores thereof went there to prevail with ye that ye should restore the said bodies to the place where they were wont to be, ye would not be persuaded; whereof the said city holdeth itself greatly aggrieved; and moreover it is a thing of bad example for Monasteries and Religioners, who, seeing how lightly the tomb of so famous a person hath been removed, may venture to remove and change any monuments and memorials, whereby great evil would accrue to our kingdoms. And the said City supplicateth and beseeching us of our grace, that we would be pleased to give command that ye should restore the bodies of the Cid and of his wife to the same place and form as heretofore. And the Cid having been so signal a person, and one from whom the Royal Crown of Castille hath received such great and notable services, we marvel that ye should have made this alteration in their tombs, and we command you if it be so that their bodies or their tombs have been indeed removed, as soon as ye receive this, to restore them to the same place, and in the same form and manner as they were before; and in case they have not yet been removed, that ye do not move nor touch them, neither now nor at any time to come. And having first complied with this order, if ye have any cause or reason for making this removal, ye are to send us an account thereof, and also how ye have restored the said bodies and tombs to their former place within forty days, to the end that we may give order to have this matter inspected, and provide as shall be most convenient. Done at Madrid, the 8th day of the month of Berganza. July, in the year 1541. Johannes Cardinalis, by command of his Majesty, Governor in his name.

5. 33. § 390. 391.

How the

XXVIII. This provision having been notified unto them, tombs were the Abbot and Monks made answer that they were ready to translated obey it, and that he would go and give account to the Lord dle of the

to the mid

Great Chapel.

BOOK Governor of what had been done. And the Abbot went acXI. cordingly to Court, and informed the Cardinal Governor of the translation which had been made; and that the tomb of the Cid had been removed to a place more decorous, and nearer the high Altar, and answering the site where King Don Alfonso VI. had commanded him to be placed in his ivory chair before he was first interred; and where the vault had been made wherein he had lain many years. And that the reason why the tomb had been moved was, that the passage from the Sacristy to the choir and to the High Altar might be cleared; and that the reason why it had not been placed in the middle of the Great Chapel, was, that if that place were occupied, it seemed due to Queen Doña Sancha the foundress of that House, or to King Don Ramiro, who had held that place in the old Church. But notwithstanding all these reasons which the Abbot alleged, the Cardinal or dered him to obey the King's command. Hereupon the Abbot returned to the Monastery and determined to place the tombs of the Cid and of Doña Ximena in the middle of the Great Chapel, before it should be known in Burgos that the translation was to take place; and accordingly Berganza. when those persons who would fain have been present made inquiry, they were told that the thing was done.

5. 33. § 392.

393.

of those

present time.

Cf the state XXIX. Now there have not been wanting over-curious tombs atthe persons who, because the Monastery of Cardeña is the first under the royal patronage, by reason that it is a foundation of Queen Doña Sancha, who is the first royal personage that ever founded a Monastery in Spain, and because King Don Alfonso the Great re-edified it, and Garcia Ferrandez the Count of Castille restored it, have said, that the Cid hath taken the place of these patrons. And when King Carlos II. was in this Monastery in the year 1679, he asked whose the tomb was which occupied the middle of the Great Chapel and Fray Joseph del Hoyo, who was at that time Abbot, made answer, Sir, it is the tomb of Rodrigo Diaz, the Cid Campeador. Why then, said one of the Grandees,

[ocr errors]

XI.

lics of the

doth the Cid occupy the best place, seeing that this Monas- BOOK tery is a royal foundation? Upon this the Abbot made answer that the Emperor Charles V. had ordered the Abbot and Monks to place him in that place; and King Carlos II. said, The Cid was not a King, but he was one who made Kings. And from that time till the present day the tomb of the Cid hath remained in the same place, and that of Doña Ximena beside it; and with such veneration and respect are they preserved, that they are alway covered and adorned with two cloths, whereof the upper one is of silk, and on Berganza. great festivals they are adorned with one still more precious. 5. 33. § 393. XXX. Many are the things which belonged to Ruydiez of the rethe Cid Campeador, which are still preserved with that Cid. reverence which is due to the memory of such a man. First, there are those good swords Colada and Tizona, which the Cid won with his own hand. Colada is a sword of full ancient make it hath only a cross for its hilt, and on one side are graven the words Si, Si . . . that is to say, Yea, Yea and on the other, No, No. And this sword is in the Royal Armory at Madrid. That good sword Tizona is in length three quarters and a half, some little more, and three full fingers wide by the hilt, lessening down to the point; and in the hollow of the sword, by the hilt, is this writing in Roman letters, Ave Maria gratia plena Dominus, and on the other side, in the same letters, I am Tizona, which was made in the era 1040, that is to say, in the year 1002. This good sword is an heir-loom in the family of the Marquises of Falces. The Infante Don Ramiro, who was the Cid's son-in-law, inherited it, and from him it descended to them. Moreover the two coffers which were given in pledge to the Jews Rachel and Vidas are kept, the one in the Church of St. Agueda at Burgos, where it is placed over the principal door, in the inside, and the other is in the Monastery of St. Pedro de Cardeña, where it is hung up by two chains on the left of the dome; on the right, and opposite to this coffer, is the banner of the Cid, but the color

XI.

BOOK thereof cannot now be known, for length of time and the dampness of the Church have clean consumed it. In the middle is his shield hanging against the wall, covered with skin, but now so changed that no blazonry or device is to be seen. In the Sacristy there are the keys of the coffer, a great round chest of satin wood, the setting of the amethyst cup which he used at table, and one of the caskets which the Soldan of Persia sent with the myrrh and balsam; this is of silver, and gilt in the inside, and it is in two parts, the lid closing over the other part; its fashion is like that of the vessels in which the three Kings of the East are represented bringing their offerings to Christ when he was newly born. On the upper part is graven the image of our Redeemer, holding the world in his hand, and on the other the figure of a serpent marvellously contorted, peradventure in token of the victory which Jesus achieved over the enemy of the human race. That noble chess-board, the men whereof were of gold and silver, was also in the Monastery in the days of King Don Alfonso the Wise, but it hath long since been lost, no man knoweth how. Moreover there is in this Sacristy a precious stone of great size, black and sparkling; no lapidary hath yet known its name. The Convent have had an infant Jesus graven thereon, with the emblem of the Passion, that it might he worthily employed. It is thought also that the great cross of crystal which is set so well and wrought with such great cunning, is made of different pieces of crystal which belonged to the Cid. But the most precious relic of the Cid Ruydiez which is preserved and venerated in this Monastery, is the cross which he wore upon his breast when he went to battle; it is of plain silver, in four equal parts, and each part covered with three plates of gold, and in the flat part of each five sockets set with precious stones of some size, and with other white ones which are smaller; of these little ones, some are still left, fastened in with filigrane. In the middle of the cross is a raised part, after the manner of an artichoke, ending in white and

day be dis

** PORTO.

XI.

5. 40. § 441.

Do.

360.

Cid should

And have been

canonized.

green enamel; and it is said that in the hollow thereof are BOOK certain relics, with a piece of the holy wood of the true cross. Verily, that part of the writing which can still be read implieth this, for thus much may at this cerned,.. CRUCIS SALVATOR ** SANCTI PETRI Of the four limbs of this cross, the upper one is wanting. King Don Alfonso, the last of that name, asked for it, and had it made into a cross to wear himself, when he went to battle, because of the faith which he had, that through it he should obtain the victory of the lower limb little more is Berganza. left than that to which the plates of silver and gold were 442. 443. fastened on. From point to point this cross is little more 5. 29. s. than a quarter. XXXI. There is no doubt that the soul of the blessed How the Cid resteth and reigneth with the blessed in Heaven. men of all nations and at all times have come from all parts to see and reverence his holy body and tomb, being led by the odor of his fame, especially knights and soldiers, who when they have fallen upon their knees to kiss his tomb, and scraped a little of the stone thereof to bear away with them as a relick, and commended themselves to him, have felt their hearts strengthened, and gone away in full trust that they should speed the better in all battles into which they should enter from that time with a good cause. By reason of this great devotion, and the great virtues of my Cid, and the miracles which were wrought by him, King Philip the Second gave to his ambassador Don Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, to deal with the Court of Rome concerning the canonization of this venerable knight Rodrigo Diaz. Now Don Diego was a person of great learning, and moreover, one of the descendants of the Cid; and being greatly desirous that this thing should be effected, he sent to the monastery of St. Pedro de Cardeña, and had papers and depositions sent from thence, and made a memorial of the virtues and miracles of the Campeador, showing cause why this blessed knight should be canonized. But before the matter

« AnteriorContinuar »