Section 1
was mingled with the religious enthusiasm, which
had been kindled in the long wars with the infidel.
The apotheosis of chivalry, in the person of their
apostle and patron, St. James,[1] contributed still
further to this exaltation of sentiment, which was
maintained by the various military orders, who
devoted themselves, in the bold language of the
age, to the service " of God and the ladies," So
that the Spaniard may be said to have put in action
what, in other countries, passed for the extravagancies of the minstrel. An example of this occurs in the fifteenth century, when a passage of
arms was defended at Orbigo. not far from the
shrine of Compostella, by a Castilian knight, named Sueno de Quenones, and his nine companions,
against all comers, in the presence of John the
Second and his court. Its object was to release
the knight from the obligation, imposed on him by
his mistress, of publicly wearing an iron collar
round his neck every Thursday. The jousts continued for thirty days, and the doughty champions
fought without shield or target, with weapons bearing points of Milan steel. Six hundred and twenty-seven encounters took place, and one hundred
and sixty-six lances were broken, when the emprise
was declared to be fairly achieved. The whole
affair is narrated with becoming gravity by an eye-
- ↑ Warton's expression. See vol. i. p. 245, of the late learned edition of his History of English Poetry, (London, 1824.)
of their women, so close an analogy with oriental usages, as must have greatly facilitated the conquest of the country by the Arabians. Esprit des Loix, liv. 14, chap. 14.
