RAGUEL; OR, THE JEWESS OF TOLEDO.
Alfonso VIII., King of Castille, succeeded to his throne in troubloustimes. His native country was overrun and subjugated by a peoplealien in nationality and religion, and his own particular dominionswere a prey to civil dissensions, which had gathered strength duringhis minority. The Pope, Innocent III., seeing how he was beset,had called on other Christian nations to assist him in resisting theencroachments of the Moors; and these auxiliaries had unhappily shownthemselves disorderly and rapacious, wasting the territory they hadcome to protect. By his prudence, Alfonso found the means to remedyall these disorders in turn. His French, German, and English allies hedismissed to their own homes without involving himself in any quarrelwith them. He established tolerable order and harmony among the rivalfamilies of the nobility, and he struck a blow against the Moors whichthey never recovered, and which deserves to be remembered as one ofthe noblest achievements in the history of Christendom. After drivingtheir hordes before him across the Sierra Morena, he gave them battleat a place called Las Navas de Tolosa, undismayed by their overpoweringnumbers. During the early part of the day, it had seemed impossible toresist their countless hordes. "Father," said Alfonso, turning to theArchbishop of Toledo, "here are we called upon to lay down our lifefor the Faith." "Nay," answered the prelate, with almost propheticinstinct, "say, rather, here are we called to establish the triumphof the Faith." The cross-bearer, filled with ardour at the words,rushed into the thickest of the fray; the Christian soldiery hastenedto protect the venerated sign, and so great was the enthusiasm whichAlfonso's bravery kindled, that the infidel host was entirely routed,and its commander ran away into Africa.
Yet, notwithstanding his bravery and his wisdom, Alfonso, like KingSolomon of old, found it a harder matter to govern himself than togovern his kingdom; and though he had vanquished his adversaries,he suffered himself to be led away by his passions.
At Toledo, now a splendid ruin, then the magnificent capital ofhis kingdom, was a beautiful Jewish maiden, named Raguel or Rachel,for whom he conceived a strong attachment. Now the precepts alikeof his religion and of his high position precluded his union with aJewess and an obscure person, yet for all this he refused to part fromher. The voice of the Archbishop, which had so notably animated hisdrooping spirits on the field of battle, was powerless with him now;and he warned him in vain for seven years.
Mindful of the services he had rendered them, and for which theyhad awarded him the appellation of "the Noble," the people bore withthe scandal all these years in silence, though with averted faces;but at last, when they found him gradually more and more unmindfulof his former virtues, and all his prowess forgotten that he mightsquander his time and his revenues on the fancies of the Jewish maiden,murmurs began to arise, and they determined to deliver their nobleking from her enchantments.
Hernan Garcia de Castro and Alvar Fanez, two of the highest noblesof Castille, were foremost in leading the resolve of the people,and urging it on the king. They had never failed his summons in thehour of danger, they had fought bravely by his side against theircountry's enemies, and their virtue and valour gave weight to theirwords. Yet the king was so tardy in attending to them that the peoplelost all patience.
The king was keeping his court in the sumptuous Alcazar, thepalatial fortress whose ruins even yet strike the traveller withadmiration. Abandoning himself to the enjoyments of the delightfulspot, Raguel and he sat one day, surrounded by their favourites andflatterers. "May divine Raguel's surpassing beauty ever continue tobe the aurora of Toledo, ever enamel its brilliant sunlight!" saidone of their minstrels, to the accompaniment of his joyous instrument.
"May she rejoice in her surpassing beauty as many ages as thereare sands of gold [94] under the limpid torrent of crystalTagus!" responded another.
Suddenly there burst on their affrighted ears the noise of a tumultuousgathering of people. The venal minions fled. The king, still worthyof himself, rose to show himself to his people, and Raguel was leftalone to hear her sentence pronounced in ominous shouts from without:--
"Muera Raguel, para que Alfonso viva!" "Rachel must die, that Alfonso may live!"
Garcia de Castro stood between the king and his angry people. The kingcalled him a traitor; and he knelt and laid his sword at his feet,offering willingly to receive sentence of death if he could be proveda traitor, but insisting on being heard first. He then exposed to theking the wrongs of which his people complained. He asked him of whatuse were all the laurels he had gathered in the earlier part of hisreign, if they were to be hung up to wither out of sight.
"Corn cannot ripen if the sun withhold its rays, flowers will notflourish if the gardener neglect to water them, neither can theCastilian people prosper if their king hide himself from them." Sowell did the intrepid Garcia plead the right cause, that the king,overcome by his righteous arguments, promised to be himself again,to dismiss Raguel, and live once more for his subjects.
Delighted with his promise, the people returned peaceably to theirhomes.
The king, however, was not so strong as he thought. He imagined hehad conquered himself, and went to take leave of Raguel. But thebeautiful Jewess had no idea of letting him off so easily. Decked inher most captivating attire, she came out to meet him, and with hergraces and tears succeeded so well in undermining his determination,that his promise was forgotten; and, like the phoenix from its ashes,Raguel rose more powerful than ever, and more dangerous too, for nowa struggle had begun between her and the people--one or the othermust be vanquished.
Infatuated by her entreaties, the king went so far as to placeher on the throne. The indignation of the Castilians at seeing alow-born Jewess on the ancient seat of their monarchs, can scarcelybe conceived; but it overflowed all bounds, when decree after decreewent forth, heaping taxes on the Christian population and exemptionson the Jews--when proscriptions and executions of the highest in theland were threatened, and the noble Garcia himself was sent into exile.
In this last step Raguel had outwitted herself. Garcia gone, therewas no one to act as moderator of the people. They rose in massand stormed the palace; assembling in the basilica, they solemnlypronounced her worthy of death as an enemy of their king and country,and with desperate resolve drew their swords and turned to executetheir award on the spot.
The king was absent on a hunting expedition; but Garcia, who hadheard of the new rising of the people, risked his life by infringingthe sentence of banishment in order to save the life of his persecutor.
He succeeded in reaching her before the people had made their way intoher apartment, and telling her of her danger, urged her to fly. But,loth to lose her high position, she refused, calling on her guards todefend her. The Castilian guards, however, refused to draw on theircountrymen in defence of a Jewess. Meantime the people streamed in,and rushed upon her.
"Stay," said Garcia, "stain not the bright steel of your Toledanblades with blood which belongs only to the sword of the executioner."
And his voice acted for a moment like the spell upon them.
But they were determined not again to leave it in her power to trampleon their ancient institutions, and once more turned to slay her.
Then Alvar Fanez drew from his hiding-place behind the throne,a trembling Jew, who had been Raguel's minister in her elevation,but had not the courage to defend her now, and compelled him to beher executioner.
The king, hastily recalled from the chase, arrived but in time tosee her expire. In the first burst of grief and fury he would havesteeped his sword deep in the blood of his subjects; but once morethe good Garcia interposed, and by his temperate counsels recalledhim to reason. When the violent throbbing of his agony had subsided,he acknowledged that his people had acted as a wise surgeon, that healone had been in fault, that his punishment was deserved, and oncemore he was hailed as
Alfonso el Noble.