XXVI. laws, eighty-four in number, and designed as sup- CHAPTER plementary to those already existing, are chiefly occupied with the rights of inheritance and marriage. It is here that the ominous term " mayorazgo may be said to have been naturalized in Castilian jurisprudence. 45 The peculiar feature of these laws, aggravated in no slight degree by the glosses of the civilians, 6 is the facility which they give to entails; a fatal facility, which, chiming in with the pride and indolence natural to the Spanish character, ranks them among the most efficient agents of the decay of husbandry and the general impoverishment of the country. 48 46 Besides these codes, there were the "Leyes de la Hermandad," 47 the "Quaderno de Alcavalas," with others of less note for the regulation of trade, made in this reign. But still the great scheme of a uniform digest of the municipal law of Castile, although it occupied the most distinguished jurisconsults of the time, was unattained at the queen's 45 See the sensible memorial of Jovellanos, "Informe al Real y Supremo Consejo en el Expediente de Ley Agraria." Madrid, 1795. There have been several editions of this code, since the first of 1505. (Marina, Ensayo, No. 450.) I have copies of two editions, in black letter, neither of them known to Marina; one, above noticed, printed at Seville, in 1520; and the other at Medina del Campo, in 1555, probably the latest. The laws were subsequently incorporated in the "Nueva Recopilacion." 46"Esta ley," says Jovellanos, "que los jurisconsultos llaman á boca llena injusta y bárbara, lo es mucho mas por la extension que los pragmáticos le dieron en sus coVOL. III. 57 mentarios." (Informe, p. 76, nota.) 47 Ante, Part I. Chapter 6. 48 Leyes del Quaderno Nuevo de las Rentas de las Alcavalas y Franquezas, hecho en la Vega de Granada, (Salamanca, 1550); a little code of 37 folios, containing 147 laws for the regulation of the crown rents. It was made in the Vega of Granada, December 10th, 1491. The greater part of these laws, like so many others of this reign, have been admitted into the "Nueva Recopilacion." PART II. Organization of councils. death. 49 How deeply it engaged her mind in that hour, is evinced by the clause in her codicil, in which she bequeaths the consummation of the work, as an imperative duty, to her successors. 50 It was not completed till the reign of Philip the Second; and the large proportion of Ferdinand and Isabella's laws, admitted into that famous compilation, shows the prospective character of their legislation, and the uncommon discernment with which it was accommodated to the peculiar genius and wants of the nation. 51 The immense increase of empire, and the corresponding developement of the national resources, not only demanded new laws, but a thorough reorganization of every department of the adminis 49 At the head of these, undoubtedly, must be placed Dr. Alfonso Diaz de Montalvo, noticed more than once in the course of this History. He illustrated three successive reigns by his labors, which he continued to the close of a long life, and after he had become blind. The Catholic sovereigns highly appreciated his services, and settled a pension on him of 30,000 maravedies. Besides his celebrated compilation of the "Ordenanças Reales," he wrote commentaries on the ancient code of the "Fuero Real," and on the "Siete Partidas," printed for the first time under his own eye, in 1491. (Mendez, Typographia Española, p. 183.) Marina (Ensayo, p. 405) has bestowed a beautiful eulogium on this venerable lawyer, who first gave to light the principal Spanish codes, and introduced a spirit of criticism into the national jurisprudence. 50 This gigantic work was committed, wholly or in part, to Dr. Lorenzo Galindez de Carbajal. He labored many years on it, but the results of his labors, as elsewhere noticed, have never been communicated to the public. See Asso y Manuel, Instituciones, pp. 50, 99.— Marina, Ensayo, pp. 392, 406, and Clemencin, whose Ilust. 9. exhibits a most clear and satisfactory view of the legal compilations under this reign. 51 Lord Bacon's comment on Henry VII.'s laws, might apply with equal force to these of Ferdinand and Isabella. "Certainly his times for good commonwealth's laws did excel. ***** For his laws, whoso marks them well, are deep, and not vulgar; not made upon the spur of a particular occasion for the present, but out of providence of the future, to make the estate of his people still more and more happy; after the manner of the legislators in ancient and heroical times." Hist. of Henry VII., Works, (ed. 1819,) vol. v. p. 60. XXVI. tration. Laws may be received as indicating the CHAPTER dispositions of the ruler, whether for good or for evil; but it is in the conduct of the tribunals, that we are to read the true character of his government. It was the upright and vigilant administration of these, which constituted the best claim of Ferdinand and Isabella to the gratitude of their country. To facilitate the despatch of business, it was distributed among a number of bureaus or councils, at the head of which stood the "royal council," whose authority and functions I have already noticed. 52 In order to leave this body more leisure for its executive duties, a new audience, or chancery, as it was called, was established at Valladolid, in 1480, whose judges were drawn from the members of the king's council. A similar tribunal was instituted, after the Moorish conquests, in the southern division of the monarchy; and both had supreme jurisdiction over all civil causes, which were carried up to them from the inferior audiences throughout the kingdom. 5 53 The "council of the supreme" was placed over the Inquisition with a special view to the interests of the crown; an end, however, which it very imperfectly answered, as appears from its frequent collision with the royal and secular jurisdictions. 54 The "council of the orders" had charge, as the PART II. Legal profession advanced. name imports, of the great military fraternities. 5 The "council of Aragon" was intrusted with the general administration of that kingdom and its dependencies, including Naples; and had besides extensive jurisdiction as a court of appeal." 56 Lastly, the "council of the Indies" was instituted by Ferdinand, in 1511, for the control of the American department. Its powers, comprehensive as they were in its origin, were so much enlarged under Charles the Fifth and his successors, that it became the depository of all law, the fountain of all nominations, both ecclesiastical and temporal, and the supreme tribunal, where all questions, whether of government or trade in the colonies, were finally adjudicated.57 Such were the forms, which the government assumed under the hands of Ferdinand and Isabella. 55 Ante, Part I., Chapter 6, note 34. 57 See the nature and broad ex- forme, apud Semanario Erudito, tom. iii. pp. 159, 160. The third volume of the Semanario Erudito, pp. 73-233, contains a report, drawn up by command of Philip V., in 1726, by Don Santiago Agustin Riol, on the organization and state of the various tribunals, civil and ecclesiastical, under Ferdinand and Isabella; together with an account of the papers contained in their archives. It is an able memorial, replete with curious information. It is singular that this interesting and authentic document should have been so little consulted, considering the popular character of the collection, in which it is preserved. I do not recollect ever to have met with a reference to it in any author. It was by mere accident, in the absence of a general index, that I stumbled on it in the mare magnum in which it is ingulfed. XXVI. The great concerns of the empire were brought CHAPTER under the control of a few departments, which looked to the crown as their common head. The chief stations were occupied by lawyers, who were alone competent to the duties; and the precincts of the court swarmed with a loyal militia, who, as they owed their elevation to its patronage, were not likely to interpret the law to the disparagement of prerogative. 58 The greater portion of the laws of this reign are directed, in some form or other, as might be expected, to commerce and domestic industry. Their very large number, however, implies an extraordinary expansion of the national energy and resources, as well as a most earnest disposition in the government to foster them. The wisdom of these efforts, at all times, is not equally certain. I will briefly enumerate a few of the most characteristic and important provisions. By a pragmatic of 1500, all persons, whether natives or foreigners, were prohibited from shipping goods in foreign bottoms, from a port where a Spanish ship could be obtained. 59 Another prohibited the sale of vessels to foreigners. 60 Another offered a large premium on all vessels of a certain 58 Pusieron los Reyes Católicos," says the penetrating Mendoza, "el govierno de la justicia, i cosas públicas en manos de Letrados, gente media entre los grandes i pequeños, sin ofensa de los unos ní de los otros. Cuya profesion eran letras legales, comedimiento, secreto, verdad, vida llana, i sin corrupcion de costumbres." Guerra de Granada, p. 15. 59 Granada, September 3d. Pragmáticas del Reyno, fol. 135. — A pragmatic of similar import was issued by Henry III. Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. i. Introd. p. 46. 60 Granada, August 11th, 1501. Pragmáticas del Reyno, fol. 137. Character of the laws. |