KING VAMBA.
During the time that the Goths governed Spain, there was once aninterregnum. The stock of the last dynasty was extinct, and every onewho could collect a few supporters set himself up to rule over therest, so that there were several calling themselves kings at once,and fighting with each other for the mastery. Of course this led tothe greatest confusion, for there was no one to keep order.
At last, as they found they could not agree among themselves, they sentto Rome to ask the Pope to decide for them. So the Pope went into hisoratory, and prayed God to tell him which of all the candidates shouldbe King of Spain. But when he came out again to the envoys, he toldthem that none of the pretenders were worthy to wear the crown; thathe who was to be King of Spain would be found ploughing his land witha grey and white ox, and a priest walking by his side; that he wouldbe found somewhere in Andalusia, and that his name would be Vamba.
The envoys came back to Spain in no very cheerful mood; for they said,"How shall we find this man?" And then they searched Andalusia over,and could find no one whose name was Vamba. Just as they were goingto give up the search in despair, as they were passing through abank planted with canes they heard a woman with a basket on hershoulder call out, "Come and dine, Vamba! You seem to forget it istwelve o'clock!"
When the envoys heard that, they turned round again, and saw a manploughing in a field with a grey and white ox. So they went back, andthrew themselves on their knees before him, and spoke in this manner,
"Give us your hands to kiss, your majesty!"
But Vamba, full of astonishment, and at a loss to understand them,thought they must want to kill him; and exclaimed, trembling, "Sparemy life, Senores! Why do you seek to take it?"
But they answered, "We have no such thought, Vamba. Far from it. ThePope who now reigns in Rome told us that you were to be our king;and our king you must therefore be."
But Vamba, who could not believe they were serious, stuck the vara [76]he held in his hand for a goad, into the ground; and said, laughing,"When my vara shall take root, and bring forth flowers, then will Ibelieve that I am King of Spain!"
Then, behold! before he had finished speaking, the vara became coveredwith leaves, and from its branches sprang beautiful flowers.
When Vamba saw that, he hesitated no longer; but called his wifeSancha, and his children, and went along with the envoys to Toledo,which was the capital of the kingdom of the Goths.
The envoys sent messengers on before, to tell the Council of thekingdom that the king was coming. The Council rose in a body, andwent out to meet him; and all the people followed behind, and thejoy-bells were set ringing.
Thus King Vamba made his entrance by the Gate of Cambron, the noblestgate adorning great Toledo; but when he saw the Alcaide of his palacebearing the sword before him according to custom, he begged, in hishumility, that he would not bear a sword, but that his children mightgo before him to show that he loved peace and love, rather than warand strife; and so he went on into the city.
And all the people looked out of their balconies, and cried,--
"Toledo and Spain for Vamba! And also for Queen Sancha!"
But as the cry swept over the bosom of old father Tagus, the goldenTagus who reflects the glories of all Spain, he bore the cry alonggladly and soft, but yet inverting the order,--
"All Spain hails thee first, And then her chief city Toledo!"
Thus they conducted the good king to the palace, and there they led himto the bath; and then they trimmed his red melena [77], and arrangedit so that it might not fall into his eyes; and they combed out thehair of his beard, but left it long and noble; and they put on hima royal robe with gold embroidery and an ermine collar, though hewould have it sober in colour, and on his breast a blood-red cross.
Queen Sancha, too, they arrayed in a robe of green velvet, withgold and jewels round the border, her beautiful golden hair unbound,falling loose over her shoulders and reaching down to her palfrey.
The ladies went before, and strewed the ground with flowers, andfilled the air with benedictions.
And thus they went forth to the cathedral to be crowned. And all thepeople ran to their balconies as they passed along, and cried,--
"Toledo and Spain for Vamba! And also for Queen Sancha!"
But as the cry swept over the bosom of old father Tagus, the goldenTagus, who reflects the glories of all Spain, he bore the cry along,gladly and soft, but inverting the order,--
"All Spain hails thee first! And then her chief city Toledo!"
Like King David, taken from the sheep-fold to be ruler of the people,Vamba made a very good king. His reign is spoken of in history as"the era of wisdom and justice." He had not, like later sovereignsof Spain, to fight the Saracen intruder on his own soil; but he didmore, he crossed the sea to check his advancing power on the Africancoast, and returned towing two hundred and seventy vessels which hisprowess had taken from the enemy. If equal determination had beenshown in succeeding reigns, the Moslem had never obtained a footingon Christian soil.
Nevertheless, though respected and beloved by his subjects, Vambawas destined not long to enjoy the peace he so ardently loved. Theambitious men who had been contending for the crown before hisaccession, continued unyielding and restless. Pretenders rose up inNavarre and the Asturias, and Ilderic, Count of Nimes, at the sametime set up the standard of revolt in the Gaulish provinces. Vambamarched in person against Navarre, and sent Paulo his general toNimes. But Paulo, instead of going to chastise the rebel, procured,on his own behalf, the assistance of Remismundo, Duke of Cantabria,and proclaimed himself king. Vamba, though he had been made kingwithout his own seeking, determined that the sceptre entrusted to himshould lose none of its authority by his remissness, and had no soonerrestored peace within the kingdom, than he set out against the moredistant insurgents, whom he soon reduced to obedience also. Paulo wastaken prisoner at Narbonne, together with the bulk of his adherents;at the intercession of the Archbishop they were all pardoned, exceptPaulo himself, who was found hidden in a cave.
When brought before him, Vamba said to him, "I conjure you now beforeGod to tell me, have you any complaint against me, have I ever doneany thing to justify your revolt?"
"Since you ask me in God's Name," replied Paulo, "I cannot but speakthe truth. And I must therefore say, that never have I received evilat your hands, but on the contrary signal favours. I was always highlyhonoured by you, and it was the devil who led me astray."
Then the king forgave him the penalty of death, but he had his eyesput out, and took him captive to Toledo with a rope round his neck.
You might think that Vamba would have had peace, now that he hadsubdued all his enemies, but it was not so; another noble, Erviga,rose up against him and usurped his authority. By this time Vambawas old and worn down with care. Sancha was dead, and his race seemedwell-nigh run. Erviga, though unjust in seeking to take the crown byforce, was a brave leader and had the qualities necessary for a goodruler, therefore the good Vamba, instead of spending the blood of hissubjects in fighting for a position which he had so little strengthleft to maintain, settled the question by retiring into a monasteryand recommending the people to accept the rule of Erviga.