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has given a register of the consuls and of the numerous stations, at which they were established throughout Africa and Europe, in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, (tom. ii. Apend. no. 23.) These officers during the Middle Ages discharged much more important duties than at the present day, if we except those few residing with the Barbary powers. They settled the disputes arising between their countrymen, in the ports where they were established; they protected the trade of their own nation with these ports; and were employed in adjusting commercial relations, treaties, etc. In short, they filled in some sort the post of a modern ambassador, or resident minister, at a period when this functionary was only employed on extraordinary occasions.

      [73] Macpherson, Annals of Commerce, (London, 1825,) vol. i. p. 655.—The woollen manufacture constituted the principal staple of Barcelona. (Capmany, Mem. de Barcelona, tom. i. p. 241.) The English sovereigns encouraged the Catalan traders by considerable immunities to frequent their ports during the fourteenth century. Macpherson, ubi supra, pp. 502, 551, 588.

      [74] Heeren, Essai sur l'Influence des Croisades, traduit par Villers, (Paris, 1808,) p. 376.—Capmany, Mem. de Barcelona, tom. i. p. 213, also pp. 170–180.—Capmany fixes the date of the publication of the Consulado del Mar at the middle of the thirteenth century, under James I. He discusses and refutes the claims of the Pisans to precedence in this codification. See his Preliminary Discourse to the Costumbres Maritimas de Barcelona.

      [75] Navagiero, Viaggio, fol. 3.—L. Marineo styles it "the most beautiful city he had ever seen, or, to speak more correctly, in the whole world." (Cosas Memorables, fol. 18.) Alfonso V., in one of his ordinances, in 1438, calls it "urbs venerabilis in egregiis templis, tuta ut in optimis, pulchra in caeteris aedificiis," etc. Capmany, Mem. de Barcelona, tom. ii. Apend. no. 13.

      [76] Capmany, Mem. de Barcelona, Apend. no. 24.—The senate or great council, though styled the "one hundred," seems to have fluctuated at different times between that number and double its amount.

      [77] Corbera, Cataluña Illustrada, p. 84.—Capmany, Mem. de Barcelona, tom. ii. Apend. no. 29.

      [78] Capmany, Mem. de Barcelona, tom. i. part. 3, p. 40, tom. iii. part. 2, pp. 317, 318.

      [79] Capmany, Mem. de Barcelona, tom. i. part. 2, p. 187.—tom. ii. Apend. 30.—Capmany says principal nobleza; yet it may be presumed that much the larger proportion of these noble candidates for office was drawn from the inferior class of the privileged orders, the knights and hidalgos. The great barons of Catalonia, fortified with extensive immunities and wealth, lived on their estates in the country, probably little relishing the levelling spirit of the burghers of Barcelona.

      [80] Barcelona revolted and was twice besieged by the royal arms under John II., once under Philip IV., twice under Charles II., and twice under Philip V. This last siege, 1713–14, in which it held out against the combined forces of France and Spain under Marshal Berwick, is one of the most memorable events in the eighteenth century. An interesting account of the siege may be found in Coxe's Memoirs of the Kings of Spain of the House of Bourbon, (London, 1815,) vol. ii. chap. 21.—The late monarch, Ferdinand VII., also had occasion to feel, that the independent spirit of the Catalans did not become extinct with their ancient constitution.

      [81] Viaggio, fol. 3.

      [82] Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. fol. 183.—Zurita, Anales, tom. iii. lib. 12, cap. 59.—The king turned his back on the magistrates, who came to pay their respects to him, on learning his intention of quitting the city. He seems, however, to have had the magnanimity to forgive, perhaps to admire, the independent conduct of Fiveller; for at his death, which occurred very soon after, we find this citizen mentioned as one of his executors. See Capmany, Mem. de Barcelona, tom. ii. Apend. 29.

      [83] The taxes were assessed in the ratio of one-sixth on Valencia, two- sixths on Aragon, and three-sixths on Catalonia. See Martel, Forma de Celebrar Cortes, cap. 71.

      [84] See the items specified by Capmany, Mem. de Barcelona, tom. i. pp. 231, 232.

      [85] Idem, tom. i. pp. 221, 234.—Capmany states, that the statute of Alfonso V. prohibited "all foreign ships from taking cargoes in the ports of his dominions." (See also Colec. Dipl., tom. ii. no. 187.) The object of this law, like that of the British Navigation Act, was the encouragement of the national marine. It deviated far, however, from the sagacious policy of the latter, which imposed no restriction on the exportation of domestic produce to foreign countries, except, indeed, its own colonies.

      [86] Andres, Dell' Origine, de' Progressi, e dello Stato Attuale d' Ogni Letteratura, (Venezia, 1783,) part. 1, cap. 11.—Lampillas, Saggio Storico-Apologetico della Letteratura Spagnuola, (Genova, 1778,) part. 1, dis. 6, sec. 7.—Andres conjectures, and Lampillas decides, in favor of Catalonia. Arcades ambo; and the latter critic, the worst possible authority on all questions of national preference.

      [87] Velazquez, Orígenes de la Poesía Castellana, (Málaga, 1797,) pp. 20- 22.—Andres, Letteratura, part. 1, cap. 11.—Alfonso II., Peter II., Peter III, James I., Peter IV., have all left compositions in the Limousin tongue behind them; the three former in verse; the two latter in prose, setting forth the history of their own time. For a particular account of their respective productions, see Latassa, (Escritores Aragoneses, tom. i. pp. 175–179, 185–189, 222, 224, 242–248; tom. ii. p. 28,) also Lanuza, (Historias Eclesiásticas y Seculares de Aragon, (Zaragoza, 1622,) tom. i. p. 553.) The Chronicle of James I. is particularly esteemed for its fidelity.

      [88] Whether Jordi stole from Petrarch, or Petrarch from Jordi, has been matter of hot debate between the Spanish and French littérateurs. Sanchez, after a careful examination of the evidence, candidly decides against his countryman, (Poesías Castellanas, tom. i. pp. 81–84.) A competent critic in the Retrospective Review, (No. 7, art. 2,) who enjoyed the advantage over Sanchez of perusing a MS. copy of Jordi's original poem, makes out a very plausible argument in favor of the originality of the Valencian poet. After all, as the amount stolen, or, to speak more reverently, borrowed, does not exceed half a dozen lines, it is not of vital importance to the reputation of either poet.

      [89] The abate Andres lamented fifty years ago, that the worms and moths should be allowed to revel among the precious relics of ancient Castilian literature. (Letteratura, tom. ii. p. 306.) Have their revels been disturbed yet?

      [90] Mayáns y Siscár, Orígenes de la Lengua Española, (Madrid, 1737,) tom. ii. pp. 323, 324.—Crescimbeni, Istoria della Volgar Poesia, (Venezia, 1731,) tom. ii. p. 170.—Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. i. p. 183.— Velazquez, Poesía Castellana, pp. 23, 24.

      [91] Mayáns y Siscár, Orígenes, tom. ii. pp. 325–327.

      [92] Andres, Letteratura, tom. iv. pp. 85, 86.—Capmany, Mem. de Barcelona, tom. ii. Apend. no. 16.—There were thirty-two chairs, or professorships, founded and maintained at the expense of the city; six of theology; six of jurisprudence; five of medicine; six of philosophy; four of grammar; one of rhetoric; one of surgery; one of anatomy; one of Hebrew, and another of Greek. It is singular, that none should have existed for the Latin, so much more currently studied at that time, and of so much more practical application always, than either of the other ancient languages.

      [93] The Valencian, "the sweetest and most graceful of the Limousin dialects," says Mayáns y Siscár, Orígenes, tom. i. p. 58.

      [94] Nicolás Antonio, Bibliotheca, Hispana Vetus, (Matriti, 1788,) tom. ii. p. 146.—Andres, Letteratura, tom. iv. p. 87.

      [95] Cervantes, Don Quixote, (ed. de Pellicer, Madrid, 1787,) tom. i, p. 62.—Mendez, Typographia Española, (Madrid, 1796,) pp. 72–75.—Andres, Letteratura, ubi supra.—Pellicer seems to take Martorell's word in good earnest, that his book is only a version from the Castilian.

      The names of some of the most noted troubadours are collected by Velazquez, Poesía Castellana, (pp. 20–24.—Capmany, Mem. de Barcelona, tom. ii. Apend. no. 5.) Some extracts and pertinent criticisms on their productions may be found by the English reader in the Retrospective Review. (No. 7, art. 2.) It is to be regretted that the author has not redeemed his pledge of continuing his notices to the Castilian era of Spanish poetry.

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