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Europe its possessions included the Netherlands and important regions in

Italy, while its king, Charles I., ruled as Charles V. over the German

empire, possessing a dominion in Europe only surpassed by that of

Charlemagne. Under Philip II. Portugal became a part of the Spanish realm,

and with it its colony of Brazil, so that Spain was the unquestioned owner

of the whole continent of South America, while much of North America lay

under its flag.



Wealth flowed into the coffers of this broad kingdom in steady streams,

the riches of America over-flowing its treasury; its fleet was the

greatest, its army the best trained and most irresistible in Europe; it

stood as the bulwark against that mighty Ottoman power before which the

other nations trembled, and checked its career of victory at Lepanto; in

short, as above said, it was for a brief period the leading power in

Europe, and appeared to have in it the promise of a glorious career.



Such was the status of Spain during the reigns of the monarchs named. This

was followed by a long period of decline, which reduced that kingdom from

its position of supremacy into that of one of the minor powers of Europe.

Various causes contributed to this change, the chief being the accession

of a series of weak monarchs and the false ideas of the principles of

political economy which then prevailed. The great treasure which flowed

into Spain from her American colonies rather hastened than retarded her

decline. The restrictions and monopolies of her colonial policy gave rise

to an active contraband trade, which reaped the harvest of her commerce.

The over-abundant supply of gold and silver had the effect of increasing

the price of other commodities and discouraging her rising industries, the

result being that she was obliged to purchase abroad the things she ceased

to produce at home and the wealth of America flowed from her coffers into

those of the adjoining nations. Her policy towards the Moriscos banished

the most active agriculturists from the land, and large districts became

desert, population declined, and the resources of the kingdom diminished

yearly. In a century after the death of Philip II. Spain, from being the

arbiter of the destinies of Europe, had grown so weak that the other

nations ceased to regard her otherwise than as a prey for their ambition,

her population had fallen from eight to six millions, her revenue from two

hundred and eighty to thirty millions, her navy had vanished, her army had

weakened, and her able soldiers and statesmen had disappeared.



In addition to the causes of decline named, others of importance were her

treatment of the Jews and the Moriscos, though the banishment of the

former took place at an earlier date. Despite their activity in trade and

finance and the value to the nations of their genius for business, the

Jews of Europe were everywhere persecuted, often exposed to robbery and

massacre, and expelled from some kingdoms. In Spain their expulsion was

conducted with cruel severity.



Many of the unfortunate Jews, seeking to escape persecution, embraced

Christianity. But their conversion was doubted, they were subjected to

constant espionage, and the least suspicion of indulging in their old

worship exposed them to the dangerous charge of heresy, a word of

frightful omen in Spain. It was to punish these delinquent Jews that in

1480 the Inquisition was introduced, and at once began its frightful work,

no less than two thousand "heretics" being burned alive in 1481, while

seventeen thousand were "reconciled," a word of mild meaning elsewhere,

but which in Spain signified torture, confiscation of property, loss of

citizenship, and frequently imprisonment for life in the dungeons of the

Inquisition. Severe as was the treatment of the Jews throughout

Christendom, nowhere were they treated more pitilessly than in Spain.



The year 1492, in which Spain gained glory by the conquest of Granada and

the discovery of America, was one of the deepest misfortune to this

people, who were cruelly driven from the kingdom. The edict for this was

signed by Ferdinand and Isabella at Granada, March 30, 1492, and decreed

that all unbaptized Jews, without regard to sex, age, or condition, should

leave Spain before the end of the next July, and never return thither

under penalty of death and confiscation of property. Every Spaniard was

forbidden to give aid in any form to a Jew after the date named. The Jews

might sell their property and carry the proceeds with them in bills of

exchange or merchandise, but not in gold or silver.



This edict came like a thunderbolt to the Israelites. At a tyrant's word

they must go forth as exiles from the land in which they and their

forefathers had dwelt for ages, break all their old ties of habit and

association, and be cast out helpless and defenceless, marked with a brand

of infamy, among nations who held them in hatred and contempt.



Under the unjust terms of the edict they were forced to abandon most of

the property which they had spent their lives in gaining. It was

impossible to sell their effects in the brief time given, in a market

glutted with similar commodities, for more than a tithe of their value. As

a result their hard-won wealth was frightfully sacrificed. One chronicler

relates that he saw a house exchanged for an ass and a vineyard for a suit

of clothes. In Aragon the property of the Jews was confiscated for the

benefit of their creditors, with little regard to its value. As for the

bills of exchange which they were to take instead of gold and silver, it

was impossible to obtain them to the amount required in that age of

limited commerce, and here again they were mercilessly robbed.



The migration was one of the most pitiable known in history. As the time

fixed for their departure approached the roads of the country swarmed with

emigrants, young and old, strong and feeble, sick and well, some on horses

or mules, but the great multitude on foot. The largest division, some

eighty thousand in number, passed through Portugal, whose monarch taxed

them for a free passage through his dominions, but, wiser than Ferdinand,

permitted certain skilful artisans among them to settle in his kingdom.



Those who reached Africa and marched towards Fez, where many of their race

resided, were attacked by the desert tribes, robbed, slain, and treated

with the most shameful barbarity. Many of them, half-dead with famine and

in utter despair, returned to the coast, where they consented to be

baptized with the hope that they might be permitted to return to their

native land.



Those who sought Italy contracted an infectious disease in the crowded and

filthy vessels which they were obliged to take; a disorder so malignant

that it carried off twenty thousand of the people of Naples during the

year, and spread far over the remainder of Italy. As for the Jews, hosts

of them perished of hunger and disease, and of the whole number expelled,

estimated at one hundred and sixty thousand, only a miserable fragment

found homes at length in foreign lands, some seeking Turkey, others

gaining refuge and protection in France and England. As for the effect of

the migration on Spain it must suffice here to quote the remark of a

monarch of that day: "Do they call this Ferdinand a politic prince, who

can thus impoverish his own kingdom and enrich ours?"



Spain was in this barbarous manner freed of her Jewish population. There

remained the Moors, who had capitulated, under favorable terms, to

Ferdinand in 1492. These terms were violated a few years later by Cardinal

Ximenes, his severity driving them into insurrection in 1500. This was

suppressed, and then punishment began. So rigid was the inquiry that it

seemed as if all the people of Granada would be condemned as guilty, and

in mortal dread many of them made peace by embracing Christianity, while

others sold their estates and migrated to Barbary. In the end, all who

remained escaped persecution only by consenting to be baptized, the total

number of converts being estimated at fifty thousand. The name of Moors,

which had superseded that of Arabs, was now changed to that of Moriscos,

by which these unfortunate people were afterwards known.



The ill-faith shown to the Moors of the plain gave rise to an insurrection

in the mountains, in which the Spaniards suffered a severe defeat. The

insurgents, however, were soon subdued, and most of them, to prevent being

driven from their homes, professed the Christian faith. By the free use of

torture and the sword the kings of Spain had succeeded in adding largely

to their Christian subjects.



The Moriscos became the most skilful and industrious agriculturists of

Spain, but they were an alien element of the population and from time to

time irritating edicts were issued for their control. In 1560 the Moriscos

were forbidden to employ African slaves, for fear that they might make

infidels of them. This was a severe annoyance, for the wealthy farmers

depended on the labor of these slaves. In 1563 they were forbidden to

possess arms except under license. In 1566 still more oppressive edicts

were passed. They were no longer to use the Arabic language or wear the

Moorish dress, and the women were required to go about with their faces

unveiled,--a scandalous thing among Mohammedans. Their weddings were to be

conducted in public, after the Christian forms, their national songs and

dances were interdicted, and they were even forbidden to indulge in warm

baths, bathing being a custom of which the Spaniard of that day appears to

have disapproved.



The result of these oppressive edicts was a violent and dangerous

insurrection, which involved nearly all the Moriscos of Spain, and

continued for more than two years, requiring all the power of Spain for

its suppression. Don John of Austria, the victor at Lepanto, led the

Spanish troops, but he had a difficult task, the Moriscos, sheltered in

their mountain fastnesses, making a desperate and protracted resistance,

and showing a warlike energy equal to that which had been displayed in the

defence of Granada.



The end of the war was followed by a decree from Philip II. that all the

Moors of Granada should be removed into the interior of the country, their

lands and houses being forfeited, and nothing left them but their personal

effects. This act of confiscation was followed by their reduction to a

state of serfdom in their new homes, no one being permitted to change his

abode without permission, under a very severe penalty. If found within ten

leagues of Granada they were condemned, if between the ages of ten and

seventeen, to the galleys for life; if older, to the punishment of death.



The dispersal of the Moriscos of Granada, while cruel to them, proved of

the greatest benefit to Spain. Wherever they went the effects of their

superior skill and industry were soon manifested. They were skilled not

only in husbandry, but in the mechanic arts, and their industry gave a new

aspect of prosperity to the provinces to which they were banished, while

the valleys and hill-sides of Granada, which had flourished under their

cultivation, sank into barrenness under the unskilful hands of their

successors.



Yet this benefit to agriculture did not appeal to the ruling powers in

Spain. The Moriscos were not Spaniards, and could not easily become so

while deprived of all civil rights. While nominally Christian, there was a

suspicion that at heart they were still Moslems. And their relations to

the Moors of Africa and possible league with the corsairs of the

Mediterranean aroused distrust. Under Philip III., a timid and incapable

king, the final act came. He was induced to sign an edict for the

expulsion of the Moriscos, and this quiet and industrious people, a

million in number, were in 1610, like the Jews before them, forced to

leave their homes in Spain.



It is not necessary to repeat the story of the suffering which necessarily

followed so barbarous an act. What has been said of the circumstances

attending the expulsion of the Jews will suffice. That of the Moriscos was

not so inhuman in its consequences, but it was serious enough.

Fortunately, in view of the intense impolicy and deep intolerance

indicated in the act, its evil effects reacted upon its advocates. To the

Moriscos the suffering was personal; to Spain it was national. As France

half-ruined herself by expelling the Huguenots, the most industrious of

her population, Spain did the same in expelling the Moriscos, to whose

skill and industry she owed so much of her prosperity. So it ever must be

when bigotry is allowed to control the policy of states. France recovered

from the evil effects of her mad act. Spain never did. The expulsion of

the Moriscos was one of the most prominent causes of her decline, and no

indications of a recovery have yet been shown.



The expulsion of the Jews and Moriscos was not sufficient to satisfy the

intolerant spirit of Spain. Heresy had made its way even into the minds of

Spaniards. Sons of the Church themselves had begun to think in other lines

than those laid down for them by the priestly guardians of their minds.

Protestant books were introduced into the ever-faithful land, and a

considerable number of converts to Protestantism were made.



Upon these heretics the Inquisition descended with all its frightful

force. Philip, in a monstrous edict, condemned all to be burned alive who

bought, sold, or read books prohibited by the Church. The result was

terrible. The land was filled with spies. Arrests were made on all sides.

The instruments of torture were kept busy. In all the principal cities of

Spain the monstrous spectacle of the auto-de-fe was to be seen,

multitudes being burned at the stake for having dared to read the books or

accept the arguments of Protestant writers.



The total effect of this horrible system of persecution we can only

epitomize. Thousands were burned at the stake, thousands imprisoned for

life after terrible torture, thousands robbed of their property, and their

children condemned to poverty and opprobrium; and the kingdom of Christ,

as the Spanish monarchs of that day estimated it, was established in

Spain.



The Spanish Inquisition proved an instrument of conviction which none

dared question. Heresy was blotted out from Spain,--and Spain was blotted

out from the ranks of enlightened nations. Freedom of thought was at an

end. The mind of the Spaniard was put in fetters. Spain, under the sombre

shadow of this barbarity, was shut out from the light which was breaking

over the remainder of Europe. Literature moved in narrow channels,

philosophy was checked, the domain of science was closed, progress was at

an end. Spain stood still while the rest of the world was sweeping onward;

and she stands still to-day, her mind in the fifteenth century. The

decadence of Spain is due to the various causes named,--the weakness of her

rulers, lack of just and advantageous ideas of political and commercial

economy, suppression of freedom of thought and opinion on topics which

were being freely handled elsewhere in Christendom, and a narrow and

intolerant policy which, wherever shown, is a fatal barrier to the

progress of mankind.