Kingdome of all Spaine There are carried hither out of divers parts of Spaine downe the River Anas all sorts of Wines Sacks Bastards Roman Wine and others of the like sorts which being shipped are transported into France the Low-Countries and other parts It hath in it the Townes of Balsa so called by Ptolemie Plinie Antoninus and Pomponius Mela but now Tavila as Coquus supposeth and Ossonoba so called by Plinie Antoninus it is called also by Pliny Lusturia by Ptolemy Ossonaba by Pinetus Gibraleon by Clusius Exuba by Varrerius Estombar as also by Moralis and it is thought to bee the same which is now called Silvis or Selves There was also in the same place neere the Holy Promontory the Citie which Pomponius calleth Lacobriga the ruines whereof are yet to be seene neere the Sea-Towne Lagos at a Village which is called in the Portugall language Lagoa as Vasaeus writeth Algarbia at the first was given in dowry by Alphonsus the 10 King of Legio or Leon as ancient Annals doe report unto Alphonsus the third King of Portugall when hee married his daughter Beatrice which hee begate on a whore Dionysius was derived from this marriage who first of all began to usurpe the title of King of Algarbia But thus much shall suffice concerning Portugall Algarbia I passe to the other parts of Spaine GALLICIA LEON AND ASTVRIA DE OVIEDO GALLICIA which is also written Galecia or Gallaecia and taketh its name from an ancient people called Callaâ—â—i hath on the North and West the Ocean on the South Portugall with the River Durius flowing betweene them and on the East Asturia This Countrie in regard it hath many rugged mountaines and wanteth water is but thinly inhabited It aboundeth so with Horses that they are supposed to be begotten by the winde Pliny noteth that here are rich mines of Gold Niger writeth that the rivers hereof do bring downe earth mingled with gold silver and tinne and that the soyle it selfe is full of gold brasse and lead so that golden clods are oftentimes ploughed up The mountaines afford great store of wood for building of ships Gallicia doth exceedingly abound with fish especially with Salmons Congers a kinde of fish which they call Pescades and many other daintie fishes which being salted are carried into divers parts of Spaine In the moneth of November and December a great number of those fish are taken which they commonly call Vesugos being two or three pound weight they are carried fresh and sweete into Castile and are sold there for the cold doth easily preserve them they have an excellent taste yet those are best tasted which are taken in the Ocean and not in the Meditterranean Sea For the coldnes of the Ocean doth fatten the fish and therefore those which are taken most Northward are the best The most part of the Inhabitants doe live in mountaines on which they build convenient houses Concerning the name and originall of the Callaicians let the Reader have recourse to Iohannes Bishop of Gerunda Lib. 2 Paralipomenorum Hispaniae Roderieus Toletanus Lib. 10. de rebus Hispanicis cap. 4. and others The Metropolis of Gallicia is Compostella where is worshipped S. Iames the Apostle who together with the Universitie making the Citie famous giveth unto it the name of S. Iago it was heretofore called Briantia as Franciscus â—arapha Ambrosius Moralis and Villanovanus do thinke Orosius calleth it Brigantia who saith that there is in it a very high watch-towre Ptolemie calleth it Flavium Brigantum Beuterus Câ—qâ—us and Iohannes Mariana do call it Betancos Florianus and Gomectus call it Coruna and Iohannes Bishop of Gerunda Lib. 1. calleth it Compostella saying it was so called quasi Compos Stella for so the evening starre was called which maketh these countries wholsome There is extant at Salamantica in the Library of the Colledge of our Saviour the Historie of Compostella the growth and increase of the Church of Compostella described in two volumes written by the command of Didacus the first Archbishop thereof concerning which you may also read Lucius Marineus Siculus in his fift Booke and in GALLICIA LEGIO GALLICIA Chapter concerning religious houses in Spaine and the wonderfull miracles done therein The Lesser Townes are Orensium a Citie neare the River Minius and called by Ptolemie Thermae Calidae as Gomecius thinketh in the life of Franciscus Zimenius where hee addeth that the Swedish people of Germany who heretofore did subdue these parts in their native language did call it Warense though Ortelius saith it should rather be written Warmsee which signifies the Warme Lake Also a Town called in Latine Lucus and by the Inhabitants Lugo Pomponius calleth it Turris Augusti Pliny Aresti and Arae Sextianae and Ptolemie Promontonum Arae Sestii neare to the Cantabricke Ocean in Artabria Also Pons vetus Ponte Vedra and Ribalaeum commonly called Ribadeo Other towns Marinaeus Siculus mentions in the beginning of his third Booke Gallicia got the title of a Kingdome a thousand and sixtie yeares after Christ For that yeare Ferdinand the sonne of Sanctius Major King of Navarre being King of Castile when hee had married Sanctia the daughter of Alphonsus the fift and so united the Kingdome of Castile and Legio having three sonnes hee made by his will Sanctius King of Castile Alphonsus King of Legion and Asturia and Garcia King of Gallicia which hee enjoying in the right of his wife was till then but an Earledome and Portugall Sanctius being not content with this division which his father made thrust his brother Alphonsus out of his Kingdome and slew Garcia his other brother Now when Sanctius had ruled about sixe yeares and was at last beheaded by Vellidus through trecherie Alphonsus who lived as a banisht man with the King of the Moores at Toledo did not onely recover the Kingdome of Legio which his father gave him by Will but also got the Kingdome of Castile Gallicia and Portugall Alphonsus had three children lawfully begot on three wives by Isabell Queen of France hee had Sanctia who was married to the Earle Rodoricke who brought new Colonies into the Citie which is commonly called Ciudad-Rodrigo by Zaida a Moore daughter to the King of Sevill he had Sanctius who was slaine in a battell against the Saracens and lastly by Constantia he had Vrraca who out living Sanctius and Sanctia who dyed without issue after shee had beene wife to Raimundus Berengarius Earle of Tolosa married Alphonsus King of Aragon and had an heire by him who was afterward Alphonsus the seventh the most powerfull King of all his predecessours and one that deserved to be called Emperour of Spaine From that time Gallicia Castile and Legio have alwaies but one King Neare to Legio bounding thereon on the North is Asturia on the West Gallicia and on the South and East old Castile It taketh its name from the seventh German Legion which was seated and placed here under the command of the Emperour Nerva as some
suppose The Metropolis hereof is that famous Citie which taketh its name from the Countrie and is called by Ptolemie Legio septima Germanica Antoninus calleth it Legio Gemina but it is now commonly called Leon which name I cannot see why Franciscus Tarapha should rather derive from Leonigildus King of the Gothes than from the Legion it selfe Moralis doth deliver also that it was heretofore called Sublantia and writeth that some evidences of that name are extant in a place but a little distant from Legio called Sollanco L. Marinaeus Siculus writeth thus concerning the Church of Legio in his third Booke of Spaine Although the Church which the Citie of Hispalis hath built in our age doth exceed all the rest for greatnesse although the Church of Toledo surpasse the rest for treasure ornaments and glasse windowes and the Church of Compostella for strong building for the miracles of Saint Iames other things yet the Church of Legio in my judgement is to be preferred before them all for admirable structure and building which hath a Chappell joyning to it in which lye buried seven and thirtie Kings and one Emperour of Spaine It is worthy of memorie that this Citie was the first from which about the yeare 716. the recoverie of Spaine which formerly the Moores and Saracens almost wholly possessed was begun For as also Rodericus Toletanus in his sixt Booke of Spanish matters for many Chapters together and Roderick Sanctius in the first part of his Spanish Historie cap. 11. do relate Pelagius the sonne of Fafila Duke of Cantabria and descended of the royall blood of the Gothes being made King by the remainder of the Christians who fled into the mountaines made a great slaughter on the Moores and being scarcely entred into his Kingdome tooke Legio from the enemies This man afterwards making it the Seate of his Principalitie built a new Castle there as a Fort and defence against the violence of their incursions And laying aside the armes of the Kings of the Gothes gave the Lion Rampant Gules in a field Argent which the Kings of Legio do use at this day Fafila the sonne of Pelagius succeeded him in the Kingdome and he dying issuelesse there succeeded him Alphonsus Catholicus the sonne of Peter Duke of Cantabria being descended from the stocke of Ricaredus Catholick King of the Gothes who married Ormisenda the onely sister and heire of Fafila The government of Legion remained in the hands of Alphonsus his familie even to Veremundus the 24 King of Legio who dying in the yeare 1020. without a Successour his sister Sanctia married Ferdinando of Navarre King of Castile and brought the Kingdome of Legio to be joyned and united to his kingdome Asturia hath on the North the Ocean on the East Biscay on the South old Castile and on the West Gallicia It produceth and bringeth forth gold divers sorts of colours otherwise it is but little tilled and thinly inhabited except it be in those places which are next to the Sea Here was the Seat of the ancient Astures who were so called as Isidore writeth lib. 9. Etymolog cap. 2. from the River Asturia whereof Florus maketh mention in the fourth Book of his Roman Histories and others From whom Ptolemie calls the Countrie it selfe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Latines Asturia as also Astyria as is evident by what I have read in ancient marbles At Rome in the pavement of the Chappell which is in the Temple of Saint Gregorie in the mountaine Caelius there is a broken marble-table engraved with these words Acontit L. Ranio Optato V. C. Cos Curatori Reip. Mediolanensium Curat Reip. Nolanorum Procos Provincia Narbonensium Legato Aug. Et Iuridico Astyriae Et. Galaecia Curatori Viae Salariae c. Moreover I see it called Asturica in a marble-Table which is at Rome beyond Tiber in a private Roman-citizens house I will set downe the words in the Description of Italie where I shall speake of the Alpes joyning to the Sea And it is called at this day Asturias Pliny lib. 3. cap. 3. doth divide the Astures into the Augustini and Transmontani The one being on the hither side of the mountaines toward the South and the other beyond the mountaines Northward neare the Ocean Concerning the Astures Silius the Italian Poet writeth thus lib. 1. Astur avarus Visceribus lacerae Telluris mergitur imis Et redit infelix effosso concolor Auro The covetous Asturian will goe Into the bowels of the earth below Whence he returnes in colour like gold Oare Which hee unhappily digg'd up before The Metropolis of the Province is Oviedo of which Rodericus Toletanus writeth much lib. 4. de rebus Hisp cap. 14. where among other things he giveth the reason wherefore it was called the Bishops Citie Here is also Astorga called anciently Asturica Augusta and some other small Townes BISCAY GVIPVSCOA NAVARRE and Asturia de Santillana BISCAY as Iohannes Bishop of Gerunda affirmeth taketh its name from the Bastuli the ancient Inhabitants of Baetica for they comming from Lybia into that part of Spaine which is called Baetica and being beaten and expulsed thence by the Moores they fled into the Mountaines of Galaecia and so building themselves houses the whole Countrie was called from that time Bastulia which is now called Biscay Some doe call Biscay Viscaia which word hath some affinity with the name of the Vascones Biscay is a Countrie of Spaine lying neere the Ocean and very full of hils out of which arise 150 Rivers It hath a more temperate Climate than other parts of Spaine For being environ'd with great Mountaines it is not troubled with too much cold nor burnt with too much heate The Countrie is full of trees fit for the building of Ships which not onely Spaine doth acknowledge but other Countries whither whole ship-loades are often transported Heere are abundance of Chesse-Nuts Hasel-Nuts Oranges Raizins and all kind of Mettals especially Iron and Black-lead besides other commodities Where they want wine they have a kinde of drinke made of prest Apples which hath an excellent taste Heere are also store of beasts fish fowle and all things which are convenient and necessarie for the sustaining of mans life The Cantabrians did heretofore inhabite that Countrie which wee now call Biscay but it was larger than Biscay is now and contained Guipuscoa and Navarre These Cantabrians were a famous people and much celebrated by many Writers They thought that was no life which was without warres and when all the people of Spaine were subjected and reduced to the obedience of Rome they alone with the Asturians and some others who joyned with them could not be overcome untill at last C. Caesar Octavianus Augustus did subdue this stout Nation being broken wearied by a warre of almost five yeares continuance hee himselfe going against them and the rest that were not obedient to the Romans by the industrie and valour of Vispanius
to the Romans When Caius Iulius the Dictator being kill'd at Rome Octavianus Augustus succeeded him For Augustus sent foure Legions against them who entring the Province did waste it with fire and sword When therefore they saw that they were unable to resist the Roman forces the most of them fled to the mountaines which were very steepe and inaccessible and are now called Navaia lying length-wayes betweene Mescua and Eulates Heere when they had dwelt a long time they were called from those Mountains Navinii and afterwards the Moores possessing Spaine did corruptly call them Navarri But being opprest by the Tyrannie of the Moores and compelled to forsake their owne habitations they betooke themselves to the Pyrenaean Mountaines where they chose themselves a King and for many successions of Kings lived according to their owne Lawes even till the yeare a thousand five hundred and thirteene when Pope Iulius the second did by the sentence of Excommunication deprive Iohannes Albretus King of Navarre of his Kingdome as a Schismatick adhering to Lewis the 12 King of France and gave a faire pretext occasion to Ferdinand the Catholick K. to invade Navarre which hee long gaped for he therefore sending Duke Alban did drive King Iohn out of his Kingdome and left it to his Successours The chiefe Citie of Navarre is now commonly called Pampelona some call it Pompeiopolis as if it were built by Pompeius Magnus It is situated under the sixteenth Degree and eleven Minutes of Longitude and the 44 Degree and 43 Minutes of Latitude There are besides these chiefe Cities Sanctus Iohannes Pedis Portus Mons Regalis Amaya Estella Olyta Taffala and Tudela THE OLD AND NEW CASTILE CASTILIA or Castella which taketh its name from the Castle that King Pelagius having recovered Legion from the Moores did build was heretofore called Bardulia The describers of Spaine doe make it twofold the Old and the New Asturia and Biscay doe compasse the Old Castile on the North on the West Portugall on the South New Castile the Mountaines which runne through the length of Spaine lying betweene them and on the East Aragon and Navarre The Country is very fertile full of wine and all kinde of Fruits Saffron and all kinde of living Creatures and this was the beginning of the Kingdome Pelagius having taken againe Legio from the Moores built a Castle as a defence against the violence of the Barbarians the Governours wherof were called Earles of Castile and did acknowledge the King of Legio a long time as their Prince even to Ordonius the second the fourteenth King of Asturia and Legio who having called the Earles and Nobles of Castile unto him under the colour of parley beheaded them This wicked act the Castilians stomacking and having cast off their obedience to the Kings of Legio they choose two Judges out of themselves Nunius Rasura and Lainus Calvus one to give Judgement and the other to oversee matters of warre whose children and posteritie were afterward called Earles of Castile even to Sanctius Major King of Navarre who when by his warlike valour hee had taken Corduba and Toledo from the Saracens and had thrust out all the Moores out of Navarre Aragon Castile 〈◊〉 Portugall and other parts of Spaine restored all Spaine to the Christians and having married Eluira the daughter of Sanctius Earle of Caâ— and sister to the last Earle of Garsia writ himselfe in the right of her dâ—â—y not Earle but King of Castile and left the Kingdome to his Son 〈◊〉 who was enriched with the Kingdome of Legio by his wife 〈◊〉 Sanctius the sonne did succeed Ferdinand and after him his brother 〈◊〉 whose daughter Vâ—raca for the heire male died when after the decease of Raâ—mundus Berengarius Earle of Tolosa her former husband shee had married Alphonsus King of Aragon the Kingdomes of â—â—raâ—on Castile and Legio came to be united The Metropolis of 〈◊〉 Castile is the Citie of Burges commonly called Burgos Ptolemie thinketh it should bee called Bravum It is an ancient Citie famous for many things and deserveth to be accounted one of the chiefe Cities of Spaine for it hath an hundred and fiftie lesser Townes under it every where beautified with great faire and convenient houses adorned with market places streetes bridges Temples Friaries and Rivers and is very notable for the incredible diligence of the Inhabitants of whatsoever age sexe or condition Round about the Metropolis divers Towns are pleasantly and commodiously seated as Palentia situated THE OLD AND NEW CASTILE CASTILIA VETUS et Nova on the banke of Carion Pliny calls it Palantia as also Mela Ptolemy and Appianus Strabo calls it Pallantia and Antoninus corruptly Peralantia Also the Towne Valdoletum heretofore a Royall Seate and one of the seven Ancient Universities of Spaine It is the fairest and most delightfull place not onely in Spaine but also in all Europe as being seated on the most pleasant banke of Pesuerga neither is there any Citie which can be preferr'd before it for the fertilenesse of the soyle round about it It hath a faire and large market-place the circuit wereof is seven hundred paces and whereas this Towne is very famous for many respects yet it is especially honoured by the birth of Philip the second King of Spaine It is commonly called Valladolid which some doe interpret the Vale of Oletus Ptolemie calls it Pintia and Antoninus Pinâ—â—a as Cusius thinketh Also Simanca called by Antoninus Septimanca and Camora which Ptolemy calls Sarabris as Clusius thinketh but Antoninus corruptly Sabaria Yet Florianus del Campo and Gomerâ—us doe thinke that Sarabris was that Town which is commonly called Tora and in Latine Taurus neare to the River Durius Salmantica is not the last in account which Pylaenus calls Salmatis but is commonly called Salamanca Not farre from hence neare the River which is commonly called Gada is the Citie of Count Rodoricke called anciently Ciudad Rodrigo which as Vasaeus and Clusius thinke Ptolemy would have to bee Myrobriga From hence Southward is Coria heretofore called Caurita as Clusius writeth Andraeas Schottus doth affirme that by the Moderne Latine Writers it was called Cauria About nine leagues on the East from Cauria is Placentia a faire Citie whose Cittrons and other Fruites as also their white bread are chiefly commended and desired it is commoâ—â—â— called Plazentia Placentia hath many pleasant Townes undâ— jurisdiction among which is Xavahicium proud of her woods and lying in a Valley like an Altar as Marinaeus noteth in the innermost part of a Church The Mountaines adjacent and lying neare to Placentia are named from the Citie Verade Placentiae Also Avila called by Ptolemie Olbula as Clusius would have it Not farre from the Fountaines of Areva lyeth Segobia which Pliny and Antoninus call Segovia and Ptolemie Segubia it is a Citie famous for Cloath-making and wherein as Vasaeus writeth this is memorable that no man is seene idle neither are there any beggars unlesse it
hither Spaine and M. Helvetius Blasio into the farther Two yeares being scarcely past so great a warre began in Spaine that it was necessarie that a Consul should be sent out with an Army Marcus Portius Cato Consul being allotted to goe into the hither part did so appease and quiet rebellion that the Proconsul in regard thereof triumphed This is that Cato who as Livie writeth and others by a wonderfull stratagem did throw downe the wals of many Spanish Cities in one day After Cato's victorie Spaine was diversly possessed and many times lost and regained againe so that there were above 30 triumphs for victories obtained heere They did not begin to pay any taxe before the time of Augustus Caesar who having by long continuance of warres tamed all Spaine and overthrowne the Cantabrians and Asturians that had longest of all made resistance divided the whole Countrie into three Provinces Baetica so called from the River Batis Lusitania and Tarraconensis so called from its citie Tarracon and every one of these have their Diocesses or Circles of jurisdiction In Baetica there are foure Diocesses Gaditana Cordubensis Astigitana and Hispalensis Lusitania hath three Diocesses Emeritensis Pacensis and Scalibitana Lastly Tarraconensis hath seven Carthaginensis Tarraconensis Caesar Augustana Cluniensis Astura Lucensis and Bracarensis See Pliny lib. 3. Strab. lib. 3. and others Thus things by degrees being changed the chiefest Provinces were under the Romans command even untill the Consulship of Honorius the third and Theodosius the third At which time the Vandals Suevi and Alani being called into France by Stilico when once having passed the Rhene they had set foote in France being in a barbarous manner spoyled by the Gothes and the Kings Adolphus and Vallia whom the Emperour Honorius had sent to ayde and set France at libertie they passed at last over the Pyrenaean Hils Afterward the Gothes inhabiting France for many yeares possessed Spaine having taken it from the Romans for being assailed by the Frankes they againe made warre upon the Vandals The Frankes drove the Gothes out of France and the Gothes drove the Vandals and Alani out of Spaine At which time the Vandals and Alani being called by Boniface into Africk which hee governed for the Emperour left Spaine to the possession of the Gothes When the Gothes having driven out the Roman Garrisons had made Spaine their owne and had a long time Kings of their owne who ruled in it at length they were overthrowne in a great battell by the Arabian Saracens and King Roderick being kill'd they lost almost all Spaine Those that survived after the battell when they had fortified themselves in the Mountaines of the Astures Cantabrians and Galicians by litle and litle they began to recover the Countries Cities and Castles which they had lost At last the Saracens partie growing weake in Baetica Hispania and the Gothes having recovered all Spaine they againe were overcome by Ferdinand Catholick King of Aragon and thrust out of Spaine so that the whole Countrie returned and came againe into the hands of the ancient Lords thereof But whereas in the times of the Moores five Kings namely of Castile of Aragon of Portugall of Granada Navarre did possesse Spaine at this day Philip the fourth sonne unto Philip the third who was Nephew unto the Emperour Charles the fifth is sole King thereof It was heretofore diversly divided The Romans first divided it into the Hither and Farther Spaine They called that the Hither part which was neerest unto the chiefe Citie and the principall Countries of the Empire being situated betweene the River Iberus and the Pyrenaean Mountaines they called that the Farther part which lay more remote being stretched out beyond Iberus even to the Ocean In following times wee reade that Spaine was divided into sixe parts Tarraconensis Carthaginensis Lusitania Galicia Baetica and Tingitana beyond the narrow Sea in Africk In the time of the Moores there were many Kingdomes in Spaine which were afterward divided into five as the Kingdome of Castile of Aragon of Portugall of Granada and Navarre But now by a new distribution the whole Empire is divided into three Kingdomes namely of Aragon Castile and Portugall Under the Kingdome of Aragon is contained besides Aragon Catalonia Valentia Majorica Under the Kingdome of Castile are comprehended Biscay Leon Asturia Galicia Estremadura Andalusia Granada Murcia and both the Castiles with the Canarie-Ilands Under the Kingdome of Portugall is comprehended besides Portugall Algarbia The Cities which are in the whole Kingdome are almost innumerable The chiefe of them are Hispalis Madrid Tarraco Lisbon Granada Pampilona Valentia Barcino commonly called Barzelona The seventh German Legion now called Leon S. Lucar Corduba Nebrissa Compostella Toledo Salamanca Complutum Pintia Caesar-Augusta now Saragossa Asturica Augusta and many others Heere are admirable Lakes neere the towne Beiara is a commodious and wonderfull Lake which breedeth Turtles being a black kinde of Fish but excellent in taste and as Marineus Siculus witnesseth prognosticating and foretelling of raine and stormes to come by the great noyse which they make so that the sound thereof is heard like the roaring of a Bull eighteene miles thence There is a certaine Lake on the very top of the Mountain Stella as Vasaeus writeth in which fragments and pieces of Ships are found when notwithstanding it is more than 12 leagues distant from the Sea and the same Author noteth that the Inhabitants doe affirme that it boyleth and is tempestuous as often as the Sea is rough or unquiet The most diligent Writer Suetonius saith in his Description of the life of Galba that thunder fell downe into the Lake of Cantabria and that afterward twelve axes were found therein There is also the pleasant Lake which Pliny mentioneth lib. 3. Natur. histor cap. 3. not farre from Valentia at this day it is called Albuâ—era The Rivers follow Spaine is watered every where with many Rivers there are some who reckon an hundred and fiftie and over them 700 Bridges the chiefe whereof is the Bridge of Segovia and Alcantara There is in this Kingdome the River which Ptolemie cals Iberus and now is called Ebro it breaketh forth in Cantabria out of the Mountaine Idubeda with two fountaines or spring-heads that on the right hand in the Aucensian wood called Monte d'Oca the other on the left hand neere a Towne which the Inhabitants call Fuentibre and so increasing with the receit of great Rivers being first entertained in the fields of Calaguris it runneth unto and visiteth Iuliobriga and Tudella two Townes of Navarre and then it watereth Iulia Bolsa and Caesar-Augusta Departing thence it glideth Southward and by and by Northeastward by the people of Laletania now called Galetani and the rich Citie Toriosa At last being enlarged with many Rivers flowing into it and having runne almost foure hundred miles forward in length it entreth so violently with two mouthes into the Mediterranean Sea that having thrust it selfe 50 paces thereinto yet the
government of the Common-wealth doth excell all the Cities in Spaine The Countrey wherein this Citie is seated is inhabited for the most part by a Nation which are descended from the Moores and therefore they doe yet retaine their Ancestours speech and manner of life That is not to bee omitted which M. Tully doth speake in his last Oration against Verres in the praise of Valentia Valentinorum saith hee hominum honestissimorum testimonio that is by the testimonie of the Valentians who are most honest men Much silke is made in this Kingdome Valentia as Olivarius Valentinus writeth hath great store of traffique and trading for divers sorts of wares are exported from thence as silke-thread of all colours and raw silke as it comes from the Silke-worme the best cloth also is carried from thence into the Isles called Baleares and into Sicilie and Sardinia Besides there is exported from thence Rice Wheate Sugar Raizins Figges and preserv'd fruites into many Countries in Europe ARAGON AND CATALONIA ARAGON tooke its name either from the Autrigonians a people of Spaine as Laurentius Valla witnesseth or from Tarracone an ancient Citie as it pleaseth Antonius Nebrissensis and Vasaeus Some suppose it was so called from the River Aragon which rising there doth flow into Iberus Some doe derive it from the the Altar of Hercules called in Latine Ara and his sports called Agonalia which if it be true it is a wonder that Ancient Writers are so silent concerning Aragon Navarre cleaveth to this Kingdome on the Northwest Calatrava toward the Southeast On the Southwest it looketh towards Castile and on the North it hath the Pyrenaean Mountaines The Country is for the most part rugged drie towards the Pyraenean hills so that you shall not meete with a house for many dayes journeys yet here are some fruitfull Valleyes abounding with the best corne and other fruits and it is refreshed with sweet Rivers All Writers do report that Ranimirus was the first King of this Kingdome He was made King of Aragon in the yeare 1016. But concerning the Kingdome and the Kings of Aragon as also Valentia and Catalonia how and from whom they had their beginnings and of their union you may reade Rodericus Sanctius in the first part of his Spanish Historie cap. 13. Also Lucius Marinaeus Siculus de Regibus Hispaniae lib. 8. and others The Metropolis and head Citie of the Kingdome Pliny and others doe call Caesar-Augusta Ptolemy Caesarea-Augusta It is now called Sarragosa and is a famous Universitie They report that the builder thereof was Iuba King of Mauritania who called it Saldyba that is the house of Iuba but afterward the former name being left off it was called Caesar-Augusta It is seated on the banke of Iberus in a plaine place and hath a long stone bridge which serveth the Inhabitants to passe over the River as Strabo speakes in his third booke The Citie lyeth in the forme and shape of a shoo-soale It hath foure gates looking to the foure quarters of the world It is encompassed with strong walls and well fortified with many Towres In this Citie the Kings of Aragon were wont to be crowned by the Archbishop Primate of the whole Kingdome The other Cities are these first that which Ptolemy and Plutarch doe call in Latine Osca and is now called Huesca but Velleius Paterculus fabulously calleth it Eteosca where he writeth that Sertorius was slaine Secondly the Citie Tyriassona neere the Mountaine Cacus which some doe suppose was built by the Tyrians and Ausonians Thirdly Iacca lying in a valley heretofore the Seate of the Iaccetani Fourthly Calatajut standing in a Plaine and built out of the ruines of Bilbilis which together with many other Monuments of Antiquitie are to be seene a mile and an halfe from the Towne on a Hill which is commonly called Bambola or Banbola This Mountaine is enriched almost on every side with the River Salon or Xalon where Valerius Martialis lib. 10. Epigram 103. doth place Bilbilis being borne a Citizen of it Paulinus calleth it Bilbilis hanging on the rock Ptolemie corruptly calleth it Bilbis and Martiall calleth it Augusta Bilbilis as also doe the Inscriptions of ancient coyne Fifthly Barbastrum famous for Iron Crosse-bowes which Ptolemie cals Burtina and Antoninus Bortina as some thinke Sixthly Monsonium seated in the midle or navell of the Kingdome not farre from the Banke of the River Cinga neere which there is a hill from whence the Towne taketh its name It is a Towne that is famous by reason of the meeting and convention of the Kingdomes of Aragon and Valentia and the Principality of Catalonia where it standeth It is commonly called Moncon and hath not onely a fruitfull Soyle but a sweete and open Ayre Seventhly Fraga between Ilerda and Caesar-Augusta Ptolemie cals it Gallica Flavia and Antoninus Gallicum as Varronius thinketh though some doe place Gallicum there where now stands Zuera Eigthly Gurrea heretofore called Forum Gallorum which Antoninus placeth betweene Caesar-Augusta and the Pyrenaean Hils Ninthly Ajerbium where it is thought that Ebellinum sometime stood which Antoninus and others doe mention 10ly Vrgella which Aimonius calleth Orgellum and Ptolemie Orgia It is a Towne not farre from the Fountaines of Sicoris or Segre There were also other Townes which are now so ruinated that there remaines nothing of them among which was the Towne Calagurris Nassica being an other besides that in Navarre The Citizens thereof are called Calagurritani by Caesar in his first Booke of Commentaries and Suetonius noteth that Augustus had a Guarde of them in the life of Augustus cap. 49. Pliny nameth them Nassici The Rivers heere are Iberus or Ebro and Gallego or Gallicum with others ARAGON AND CATALONIA Arragonia et Catalonia Aut fugies Vticam aut unctus mitteris Ilerdam From Utica thou either now shalt flee Or else sent to Ilerda thou shalt bee Heere Pope Calixtus the third taught publickly the knowledge of the Law as Platina witnesseth These things may suffice which have beene spoken hitherto concerning Spaine But yet I thinke it fit to adde by way of conclusion the excellent testimonie of a French-man concerning this Kingdome wherein whatsoever wee have hitherto said in praise and commendation thereof is briefly and pithily repeated by way of recapitulation This French-man whom I mentioned was called in Latine Pacatus who writ a most learned Panegyrick to Theodosius the Emperour being a Spaniard in which hee speaketh to this purpose Now it will appeare that hee is declared Prince who ought to bee chosen of all men and out of all men For first Spaine is thy Mother a Land more happie than all other Countries the great Fabricator and Maker of all things hath beene more favourable in enriching and adorning this Countrie than the Countries of others Nations for it is neither obnoxious to the Summers heate nor subject to the Northerne cold but is seated in the temperate Climate and by the witty diligence of
Agrippa and of the other Generals which hee brought with him There is in Biscay besides other Townes one speciall Towne of note called Bilbao which is as some doe suppose by changing of the letters which is frequent with the Spaniards as much to say as Beluao that is Bellum vadum Didacus Lopeus de Hazo Prince of the Cantabrians built it in the yeare of Christ 1300 or thereabouts This Towne is especially commended for three things the convenient Situation the plenty of Corne and the wonderfull great traffique and merchandizing which is heere for whatsoever comes or is brought from England France or the Low-Countries is transported and carried through this Towne into other parts of Spaine and whatsoever Spaine doth communicate by way of traffique unto other Countries it is exported and carried through it Heere are Citizens who at their owne proper charge doe yearly build three or foure ships On the side of the Citie there is a litle towne on the Sea-coast commonly called Portugallete from whence a certaine River or rather a great arme of the Sea doth flow into it even unto the houses of the Inhabitants By reason of which divers kindes of wares are daily for a small matter imported and exported There are also faire Havens in Biscay There is no kinde of fish but you may have it heere and that good and new The Sea-shell-fish here have pearles in them but of a meane sort The people of the Countrie are curteous merry and eloquent It is a custome and fashion that the Virgins in Biscay as long as they are unmarried doe never let their haire grow neither doe they cover themselves with any veile but presently when they are married they cover their heads with a Quoife made like a Helmet of linnen cloth of a golden colour which they wrap up in such a manner that it standeth forth a pretty way like an horne upon their foreheads The Spaniards heere have great store of trading with the French the Germans the English and other people It especially affordeth wooll so that all Market-places are full of buyers and sellers GVIPVSCOA was heretofore the Countrie of the Cantabrians some doe call it Lipuscoa and Lipuisca yet corruptly as Stephanus Garybayus an inhabitant thereof noteth But whence it hath this appellation I cannot easily determine unlesse perhaps it taketh it from the ancient Citie Opuscua It is enclosed and bounded on the East with the River Vidosone which is also called Vidorso Alduida Huria and Beoyvia being in the middle betweene France and Spaine and the Pyrenaean Hils on the South with the Kingdome of Navarre on the West with Biscay of which I spake before and on the North with the Cantabrick Sea This Countrey is very temperate neither feeling too much cold nor too much heate of the Sunne It hath a moist and variable Climate It is very rugged and mountainous and therefore it is not every where tilled but yet those places which are tilled are very fruitfull It hath but few Vineyards except it be on that side which is next to the Sea But it hath every where great store of Iron and Steele so that no Countrey hath better or greater abundance for so much of it is digged here as is sufficient for many Countries Moreover not onely Vulcans shop but Mars his Armory seeme to be placed heere by Nature for there is here so great plenty and store not onely of Iron and Steele but also of wrought Armour that in some writings belonging to the Countrie it is deservedly called the Wall or defence of the Kingdomes of Castile and Legio Navigierus writeth that in this Countrey so much Iron Steele is digged that every yeare they make 80000 Duckats gaine thereof Therefore not without cause doth Pliny write lib. 34. cap. 45. that there is a whole mountaine there of Iron There is saith hee a very high BISCAIA AND GVIPVSCOA BISCAIA ET LEGIO mountaine of Cantabria on the Sea side a thing incredible to be spoken which is all of Iron Ptolemie Pomponius and Plinie doe place here the Orogeviones the Autrigones and the Varduli The Metropolis is Tolosa seated at the confluence and meeting of Araxis and Orta There are also other Townes as Placentia where there is an incredible company of Iron-smiths Motrico or as others thinke it should be written Monte de Trico from the Rocke which hangeth over the Towne Fuentarabia which Ptolemie cals Phlasiobriga the Fane or Temple of Saint Sebastian heretofore called Hisuru afterward Don Bastia and now corruptly Donastien signifying the same with Saint Sebastian for Don signifieth that among the Cantabrians which Sanctus doth with the Latines and Sancto with the Castellanes and many places in Cantabria have for the most part divers names in regard of the difference of speech the Cantabrians call them by one name the other Spaniards by an other and the French-men by an other name and yet they commonly signifie one thing This Towne is situated at the mouth of the River which is called by Pomponius Mela Menascus by Ptolemie Menosca but now is called Rio Gurumea or Vramea The River Chalybs doth rise up hereabout the water whereof is very good to temper Iron withall so that the Spaniards doe approve of no other Armour but that which hath beene tempered therewith Iustine lib. 44. saith that the bordering people were called Chalybes from this River The Fane of Saint Sebastian hath a very large Haven not made by humane Art but by Natures providence where ships doe ride securely and safely being defended from the violence of winde or Seas The entrance into it is betweene two Castles the one whereof standing towards the East is built on a high Mountaine higher than that which is on the West side which is onely placed on a rock The Inhabitants are like in manners to the Inhabitants of Biscay and speake the same language They are by nature ingenious politick well accomplished neate easie to be allured but hard to be compelled desirous of honour stoute defenders of their owne priviledges nimble couragious ready and quick in handling their Armes and apt for war The women also are very strong and of a warlike spirit well bodied well favoured although they accustome and use themselves to labour which is a cause why they are lesse proud Those that dwell by the Sea side doe get much by fishing and especially by taking those kinde of fish called Baccali The Kingdome of Navarre which was also anciently called the Kingdome of Sobabre in all parts is as fertile and abounding with all things necessary for mans life as any other Kingdome of Spaine And though commonly it bee thought to be very small yet it hath sixe and fiftie walled Cities The Inhabitants of this Countrie were heretofore very stout and warlike and such as oftentimes shooke off the yoake of the Roman subjection yet at the last they were wholly subdued and brought into obedience
Contentaina at the head of that River at the mouth whereof the Town Oliva is seated over against the Pityusian Ilands Fiftly the Lusones whom Appianus placeth by the River Iberus in Iberia neere to the Numantines but Strabo at the Fountaines of Tagus Sixthly the Lobitani whose Metropolis Ptolemie cals Lobetum and which Beuterus writeth was first called Turia afterward Avarazin and last of all as at this day Albarazin Seventhly The Torboletae in Iberia neere to the Saguntines from whom Ptolemie calleth the Citie Turbula now perhaps called Torres Lastly the Celtiberi so called by Plinie lib. 3. cap. 3. Pomponius Mela lib. 3. cap. 13. and other Latines but by Ptolemie Celtiberes for though some doe place them in Old Castile yet the most in Valentia Among the Cities of this Kingdome Valentia commonly called Valencia is the Metropolis and a Bishops Seate It was built by King Romus as Vasaeus and others write and from him called Rome And the Romans having afterward amplified and enlarged it did call it Valentia a name signifying the same which 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Greeke doth But this seemes a fable to Resendius who reporteth that it was built and so named by the Portugals and other Souldiers It is seated in the innermost part of the Bay of Sucronia on the right-hand Banke of the River Turia It is famous for its manners institutions and profession of all Arts both Liberall and Mechanick It is happie in great wits and desirous to preserve peace and concord within it selfe It hath many Gentle-men in it and is very rich in Merchandize Wee will not passe by that which L. Marinaeus Siculus noteth concerning the Valentians They have saith hee a custome every yeare on the Feast of Saint Matthew that having made many supplications and prayers they repaire to the place of execution and there they take up the bodies of those who have suffered death whether they be hanged up or lye on the ground gathering also together their scattered bones if any be and by and by having laid all things on a Beere they carrie them to the common burying-place of the Citie and there with sacrifices and prayers doe bury them Petrus Medinensis relates that there are in this Citie ten thousand springs of water Heretofore on the left-hand banke of Turia not farre from Valentia stood Saguntum which Ptolemie affirmeth to be a Citie of the Heditani Strabo and Plinie doe place it a mile off from the Sea Strabo calleth it Saguntus Stephanus Zacynthus and Antoninus corruptly Secundum and Secunthum The most doe thinke it now to be the same with Morvedere being so called as some suppose from the ancient wals thereof Appianus maketh it the Colonie of the Zacynthi some doe suppose that Saguntis the Sonne of Hercules was the builder of it and some would have it named from the Iberian Sagi Silius the Italian Poet describeth the situation of it in his first Booke Livie in his 30 Book saith that the wals of Saguntum were cemented with Lime and dirt mingled together which was an ancient kinde of building It seemeth by Plinie that the Saguntini did heretofore reverence Diana being brought thither by the Zacynthians their Progenitors two hundred yeares before the destruction of Troy Pomponius Mela saith that the Saguntians are faithfull in the midst of troubles and adversitie Concerning the overthrow and devastation of this noble Citie which through their admirable constancie and great fidelitie towards the Romans happened in the yeare from the building of the Citie 535 M. Lucius Salinator and L. Aemilius Paulus being Consuls you may reade and have recourse to Livie lib. 21. Polybius lib. 3. Orosius lib. 4. cap. 14. Eutropius lib. 3. Florus lib. 2. cap. 6. Silius the Italian lib. 1. Valerius Maximus lib. 6. cap. 6. Augustine lib. 3. de Civit. Dei cap. 20. Aemilius Probus in Hannibal Cicero in his Philippicks and many others There are also at this day these famous places in Valentia First Segorbia which Ptolemie and Strabo as also Vasaeus Clusius Tarapha Emanuel Henricus and Augustus his coyne doe call Segobriga Plinie also calleth the Inhabitants Segobricenses placing them in the chiefe part of Celtiberia But Moralis thinketh that Segobriga should be called Injesta or Cabeca el Griego and Ioannes Mariana is of the same opinion Hieronimus Surita professeth that hee knew not where this Segorbia was Secondly there is Denia called by Cicero and Plinie as Florianus Morialis and Clusius will have it Dianium and Dianium Stipendarium Thirdly Incibilis so called by Livie and by Frontinus Indibilis where Scipio put Hanno Captaine of the Carthaginians to flight It is thought by Florianus to bee Chelva Fourthly that Towne which Plinie cals Illici Ptolemie Ilicias Pomponius Illice and in the Inscription of coyne Ilce Colonia Ptolemie also cals it Illicitani whence commeth the appellation of the Illicitane Bay and now some call it Alicanta and others Elche which commeth somewhat neerer to truth Fifthly Belgida a Citie of Celtiberia which still keepeth its old name Sixthly Leria which Ptolemie cals Hedeta whence the Heditani have their name Clusius and Moralis Oliete and later Writers Liria Seventhly the Towne which Florianus cals Orcelis and Gomecius and Clusius Horivela and Oriola but Nebrissensis Zamora Eightly the Towne which Livie and Ptolemie call Bigerra Beuterus and Vasaus Bejar and Clusius Villena Ninthly the Towne which Strabo cals Setabis Ancient Stones Satabis as Clusius witnesseth and is now called according to Florianus his opinion Xativa This Countrie hath many Rivers and especially Turia which Pomponius calleth Duria and Ptolemie Dorium The Inhabitants doe keepe the Arabick word calling it Guetalabiar which signifies pure Water This River bringeth great commodities to those places by which it floweth There is also the River Xucar called of old Sucron and Surus which riseth out of the Mountaines of Orespeda Valentia hath two Mountaines which are called Mariola and Pennagolosa which being full of divers sorts of rare hearbs and plants doe cause a great number of Physicians and Herbalists to resort unto them out of divers parts of Spaine in regard of the rarities which are found there The Citie of Valentia being venerable for antiquity hath many ancient Marbles which remaine to posteritie engraven with Roman inscriptions some of which may be seene in Beuterus Ambrosius Moralis Hottomannus and others In the Citie of Saguntum now called Morvedre there was a Theater a Scene and many other Reliques of antiquitie as the Sepulchres of the Sergii of L. Galba and Sergius Galba and other Romans with the stones whereof a Monasterie was built for the Friars of the Order of the Trinitie Valentia hath a famous Universitie in the Citie so called and also an other Universitie at Gandia which was not long since erected and founded by the Duke of Gandia that the Fathers of the Society of Iesus of which Society hee became one himselfe might studie there The Citie of Valentia in regard of its