The Picturesque Antiquities of Spain

Оглавление

Wells Nathaniel Armstrong. The Picturesque Antiquities of Spain

PREFACE

PART I

LETTER I. TO MRS. C—R

LETTER II. ROUTE TO SPAIN THROUGH FRANCE

LETTER III. THE BASQUE PROVINCES

LETTER IV. ARRIVAL AT BURGOS. CATHEDRAL

LETTER V. TOMB OF THE CID. CITADEL

LETTER VI. CARTUJA DE MIRAFLORES. CONVENT OF LAS HUELGAS

LETTER VII. ROUTE TO MADRID. MUSEO

LETTER VIII. PICTURESQUE POSITION OF TOLEDO. FLORINDA

LETTER IX. CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO

LETTER X. CAFÉS. WEDDING CEREMONY. CATHEDRAL CONTINUED. ALCAZAR HOSPITAL OF SANTA CRUZ. CONVENT OF LA CONCEPTION. MYSTERIOUS CAVERN. CONVENT OF SANTA FE, OR OF SANTIAGO. SONS-IN-LAW OF THE CID

LETTER XI. STREETS OF TOLEDO. EL AMA DE CASA. MONASTERY OF SAN JUAN DE LOS REYES. PALACE OF DON HURTADO DE MENDOZA

LETTER XII. ARAB MONUMENTS. PICTURES. THE PRINCESS GALIANA. ENVIRONS

LETTER XIII. CASTLES OF ALMONACID, GUADAMUR, MONTALBAN, AND ESCALONA. TORRIJOS

LETTER XIV. VALLADOLID. SAN PABLO. COLLEGE OF SAN GREGORIO. ROUTE BY SARAGOZA

PART II

SEVILLE. LETTER XV. JOURNEY TO SEVILLE. CHARACTER OF THE SPANIARDS. VALLEY OF THE RHONE

LETTER XVI. VOYAGE TO GIBRALTAR

LETTER XVII. CADIZ. ARRIVAL AT SEVILLE

LETTER XVIII. THE ARABS IN SPAIN. ALCAZAR OF SEVILLE

LETTER XIX. CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE

LETTER XX. SPANISH BEGGARS. HAIRDRESSING. THE GIRALDA. CASA DE PILATOS. MONASTERIES. ITALICA

LETTER XXI. PRIVATE HOUSES, AND LOCAL CUSTOMS IN SEVILLE

LETTER XXII. INQUISITION. COLLEGE OF SAN TELMO. CIGAR MANUFACTORY. BULL CIRCUS. EXCHANGE. AYUNTAMIENTO

Отрывок из книги

The author of the following letters is aware that his publication would have possessed greater utility, had the architectural descriptions been more minute. He ventures to hope, however, that this imperfection may be in some measure balanced by the more extended sphere opened to whatever information it may contain.

The absence of many technical expressions, especially those which enter into a detailed description of almost all Gothic buildings, and the employment of which was forbidden by the occasion, may tend to facilitate the satisfaction of popular curiosity respecting Spanish art: the more so from the circumstance that the most intelligent in such subjects are scarcely sufficiently agreed on the application of technical terms, to allow of the compilation of a standard vocabulary. His ambition will be more than satisfied, should his past, and perhaps future researches, succeed, in some degree, in pioneering the path for a more scientific pen.

.....

Mariana relates, that an Arab expedition, headed by five kings (as he terms them) of the adjoining states, being signalized as having passed the mountains of Oca, and being occupied in committing depredations on the Christian territory, Rodrigo suddenly took the field, recovered all the booty, and made all five kings prisoners. All this being done by himself and his own retainers. The kings he released after signing a treaty, according to which they agreed to pay him an annual tribute. It happened, that on the occasion of the first payment of this, Rodrigo was at Zamora, whither he had accompanied the King of Castile; and he took an opportunity of receiving the Arab messengers in presence of the court. This was at least uncommon. The messengers addressed him by the appellation of Syd (sir) as they handed over the money. Ferdinand, delighted with the prowess of his courtier, expressed on this occasion the desire that he should retain the title of Syd.

This anecdote undergoes, in the hands of the Arab writers, a curious metamorphosis. According to them, the expression Syd was employed, not by tributary kings, but by certain chiefs of that creed whose pay the Catholic hero was receiving in return for aid lent against the Christians of Aragon.

.....