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De Orbe Novo, The Eight Decades of Peter Martyr d'Anghera Vol. 1 (of 2)

by Francis Augustus MacNutt

by Francis Augustus MacNutt

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2<br />

Introduction 17<br />

eyes. He portrays his impressions upon entering with the<br />

victorious Christian host into the stately city. Alhambriim,<br />

proh dii immortales! Qualem regiam, romane purpurate,<br />

unicam in orbe terrarum, crede, he exclaims in his<br />

letter to Cardinal Arcimboldo <strong>of</strong> Milan.<br />

Divers are the appreciations <strong>of</strong> the precise part played<br />

by <strong>Peter</strong> <strong>Martyr</strong> in the course <strong>of</strong> this war. He spent<br />

quite as much time with the Queen's court as he did at the<br />

front, and he himself advances but modest claims to war's<br />

laurels, writing rather as one who had missed his vocation<br />

amongst men whose pr<strong>of</strong>ession was fighting. <strong>The</strong> career<br />

he sought did not lie in that direction. In later years<br />

writing to his friend Marliano, he observed : <strong>De</strong> bello autem<br />

si consilium amici vis, bella gerant bellatores. Philosophis<br />

inhcereat lectionis et contemplationis studium.<br />

Glorious as the date <strong>of</strong> Granada's capture might have<br />

been in Spanish history, it acquired world-wide significance<br />

from the decision given in favour <strong>of</strong> the project <strong>of</strong> Christopher<br />

Columbus which followed as a consequence <strong>of</strong> the<br />

Christian victory. Though he nowhere states the fact,<br />

<strong>Martyr</strong> must at this time' have known the Genoese<br />

suppliant for royal patronage.<br />

Talavera, confessor to the<br />

Queen, was the friend and protector <strong>of</strong> both Italians.<br />

Fascinated by the novelties and charms <strong>of</strong> Granada,<br />

<strong>Martyr</strong> remained in the conquered city when the Court<br />

withdrew. His friend Tendilla was appointed first governor<br />

<strong>of</strong> the province and Talavera became its first archbishop.<br />

Comparing the city with others, famous and<br />

beautiful in Italy, he declared Granada to be the loveliest<br />

<strong>of</strong> them all ; for Venice was devoid <strong>of</strong> landscape and surrounded<br />

only by sea; Milan lay in a fiat stretch <strong>of</strong> monotonous<br />

plain; Florence might boast her hills, but they<br />

made her winter climate frigid, while Rome was afflicted<br />

'<br />

Navarrete states that the two Italians had known one another intimately<br />

prior to the siege <strong>of</strong> Granada. Coleccion de documentos ineditos,<br />

torn, i., p. 68.<br />

VOL. I.—

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