Affricke out of Asia and America are constrayned to passe that way as to the principal But of their nauigation The I le is situated in 39. degrees and some minutes betweene the Septentrion and the Meridian The certainty of this insurrection is not yet to this day made fully knowne Some say that the Portugals did rise against the Catholike King a Noble man of Spayne being a party with them Others that the Gouernour of the I le being by nation a Castilian did mightily bastenado a Captaine of his regiment who weighing with himself that he could not challenge his superior the field that he remained in an I le inuironed round about with the sea 300. leagues from Lisborne he resolued to take some other course to satisfie his vengeance vpon him For effecting of which reuenge he discouered his intention to his souldiours and especially to the Portugals of the said Ile whome hee finding propitious and fully bent to yeeld him their best assistance for to make himselfe satisfaction for the wrong he was offred hee determined to kill the Gouernour and to rise with the whole I le in fauour of the Portugals which was effected after the same maner as it was resolued on This reuolt was the cause that his Catholike Maiestie caused his Galleyes to come from Naples into the Ocean Yet for all this will I not deliuer neither the one nor the other cause for currāt for they are but fables framed out of the forge of the enemy whose custome it is to sow such false tales to see how the world will stand affected with it and to discouer the heartes as well of the nobler as the vulgar sort It is rather to be thought that his Maiestie commaunded the sayd Galleyes to come out of Naples into the Ocean vpon the rumour of those forces that were raysed in England being designed as some say to enter Portugall But whatsoeuer they say so it was that his Galleyes came downe thither and it shall suffice vs for our purpose to knowe for certayne that the Royall Galley of Naples in which Don Sebastian King of Portugall was put rides at Saint Lucar de Barrameda and that the said Don Sebastian is within her in the maner aforesaid On the twelfth or thirteenth day of the said moneth there arriued in Fraunce in a Shippe of the Rochelers two French marchants well knowne to bee men of credit and of trueth who did assure as well by word of mouth as by letters written to persons of Honour in Paris That they haue seene the foresayd prisoner at Saint Lucar de Barrameda within the Royall Galley of Naples And that they spake vnto him And that they sawe him in chaynes poore and miserable And that they offered him Lynnen and Siluer and other commodities which hee would by no meanes take but refused their kindnesse and returned them thankes And that hee brooked his affliction with wonderfull patience And that all they of the Galleyes did acknowledge him to bee the same that himselfe had sayd he was and did generally call him King And that he is serued by two Galley-slaues that are Turkes That hee labours not at the Oare But in all things else is vsed like the rest of the slaues And that the Duke of Medina Sidonia and his wife had a desire to see him who hauing talked a long time with him the King demaunded of him if hee had that sword still which hee gaue him when he embarked himselfe for Barbarie The Duke made answere that indeed Don Sebastian King of Portugall presented him with a sword which he bestowed vpon him before his imbarking which he had caused to be kept in his Armory amongst the rest Since that you haue it then replied the King I pray you let mee intreate that it may bee brought hither for although it be now foure and twenty yeres since I gaue it you I doubt not but I shall know it full well The Duke had commanded some douzen to be brought the which the King hauing seuerally viewed told him Mine is not amongst any of these Then the Duke willed they should bring all the rest And the King espying it in the hands of him that brought them Loe Duke sayd he behold the sword which I gaue you when I past into Affricke There was in the company of the Duchesse a Negro whom the King knew said that he had serued him for the washing of his lynnen being one of his Launderers when hee raigned in Portugall The Duke seeing these things to bee so apparant and so probably true that they seemed miraculous vnto him blest himselfe with many a crosse and was seene to goe from him with a heauy and a sorrowfull countenance and weeping as it were through compassion and meere pitty to see so miserable a Prince in so wretched and vnhappy an estate And the most part of the Castilians themselues subiects to King Philip amazed with these so many signes and testimonies of trueth howbeit they dare not speake it openly yet notwithstanding in their priuate discourses they wil not stick to say That it is impossible that this man should be any other thē the true Don Sebastian And that it is to be feared that God will swallow them all in hell if the Catholike King restore not all that vnto him which of right appertayneth vnto him But those who doe not looke on these great miracles with the eyes of pitty say that he is possessed with a deuill This Duke if I am not deceyued was called D. Alphonse de Guzman le Bon the tenth County of Niebla and the seuenth Duke of Medina Sidonia who in the yeere 1578. the King Don Sebastian arriuing at Cales for to goe into Affricke receyued him with great royaltie magnificent feastings vvith Tilting Tourning vvith Bul-bayting and other sportes and pastimes such as the I le could afford The sayd King continued eight dayes with the Duke who they say tooke much trauaile with him to disswade him from passing into Barbary in his owne person This considered men need not to think it strange if the Duke had a desire to see him and also to speake with him Nor that likewise which the Rochelers report touching the sword and the Negro since that the wife and Ladie of the sayd Duke is Dame Anne de Silua daughter to K. Gomes de Silua a Portugall and Prince of Eboli who gouerned the kingdome of Castile for many yeres who might verie well retaine the sayd Negro in her service by reason he had beene brought vp in the Princes house of Portugail Wee haue diuers letters written from Cales into many places round about which wee finde to be as followeth There arriued out of Spaine sixe or seuen Marchants Inhabitants of this towne men of the most credit wealth amongst them who reported they had seene Don Sebastian King of Portugall in the Kings Galley of Naples at Saint Lucar de Barrameda and that they saw him chayned as a
prisoner and intreated as the rest of the slaues but serued with more respect and free from the oare which fauour it is thought was obtayned for him by the Popes fauour They added moreouer that many old men Portugals of diuers sorts in great abundance came thither to see him and that all of them did confesse and maintayne that this was the true Don Sebastian King of Portugall and that the Castilians cryed with alowd voyce in these termes which we haue here aboue mentioned touching the wrath of God hanging ouer Spayne And if wee shall but weigh all the successes of this King his peregrinations thorow the world his imprisonments his deliuerance out of Venice the maner of his comming from Florence vnto Naples his sentence and execution vpon it it makes the case appeare in our sight miraculous and full of wonder But aboue all his imbarking and arriuall at Saint Lucar de Barrameda And yet beside all these this is a rare and extraordinary thing that the Gallies comming downe from Naples into the Ocean sea did sute in such conformity and correspondencie with the ancient old prophecies which touch these aduentures The reuer end father Dvctor Eampayo a religious holy man of the order of Preachers being at Paris the last yeere hath assured many men that hee had seene in the Library of S. Victor in a certayne booke a prophecy which we wil openly deliuer vnto you to wit That the King Don Sebastian should come out of Naples vpon a horse of wood which out of the Mediterranean sea should enter into the Ocean and that his horse should rest at Saint Lucar de Barrameda See what father Sampayo hath trucly recounted to these persons touching this Prophecie the same is confessed and confirmed anew by the religious men of that Monastery For it hath bene communicated and declared to diuers of them Also they haue writ the verie same to some of his friends And within the selfe same Library they haue shewed the prophecy to some such secular Gentlemen as stand well affected to the liberty of this vnfortunate King And for as much as the said father Sampayo is far frō hence we cannot cite the very words of the prophecy nor the Author of it Yet notwithstanding it shall make very well for that we haue in hand if wee shall but know that which is found written touching the aduerse prosperous haps of this vnhappy Prince by men of great learning holines of life which if we do we may the more easily be excused Saint Isioore a very wise and learned man and of the bloud royall as being the sonne of Thtodora and of Seuerian sonne to Thierry King of the Ostrogothes and of Italy who flourished about the yeere 580. hath left vnto vs in writing Occultus Rex bis piè datus in Hispaniam veniet in equo ligneo quem multi videntes illum esse non credent c. Which is as much to say A secret and vnknowne King exceeding deuoutly giuen shall come into Spayne vpon a woodden horse which many men seeing shall not beleeue it is he c. This here is found to be published in a strange aduenture lately imprinted A Shooe-maker of Portugall named Bandarra borne in the towne of Trancoso who liued heere about some 300. yeeres since hath left vnto vs in writing in Portugall verse very many Prophecies vpon diuers and sundry subiects Amongst the which there are found some which intreat Del Incubierto videlicet Of the concealed and hidden Prince in one part whereof we haue obserued the accomplishment in the person of King Don Sebastian And if those which remaine behinde shall proue but so true as those that are past doubtlesse wee shall see this King seated in his Royall throne The poore labouring people of Portugall retaine this as an old tradition That a time shall come wherein a King whose name shall be as it were De Bestia shall disappeare for a time and that after that hee and his Realme shall haue suffred many afflictions and calamities the verie selfe same King whom all the world holdeth for dead shall rise againe and gayne his throne with incredible happinesse In which tradition we are to note one thing concerning the name of Bestia For the Pesants of Portugall in stead of saying Sebastian pronounce Bestiam so that taking away the last letter of the word there remaines Bestia Moreouer we may also perswade ourselues that this tradition of those base rusticke and barbarous men shall haue his full accomplishment in the person of this Prince hitherto so vnfortunate It is no such strange vnvsuall thing to see God permit that we behold his secrets in the mouth of ignorant persons since that his Sonne hath taught vs Abscondisti ea a sapientibus reuelasti ea parvulis And we may as well by the permission of God see this rusticke prophecie fulfilled as they did that which runneth thorough the mouthes of the laborers of Beaulse in these latter yeeres of the King that was which was by tradition deliuered still from the father to the sonne The yeere one thousand fiue hundred eightie nine Anew King vnto the throne of Portugall shall clime The yeere one thousand fiue hundred and ninety Farre more hares then sheepe shall you see We haue also elsewhere an other old fellow who hath composed a booke in Castilian verse which serues as an explication of those prophecies of Saint Isidore and of some other who haue writ of the Incubierto In which booke I haue read some 45. yeres since many curious things which if I could remember them would at this time stand me in good stead But because I read them in my youth without any notice of things to come or imagining of any changes or reuolutions to happen in the world these 24. yeeres past and besides being then vncapable of vnderstanding them made me the more negligent in the apprehension of them onely my memory hath in a confused maner furnished me with a Poeme of seuen lines very fit for our present purpose And not long since a Gentleman of Portugall a faithfull seruant to his King and very desirous of his countries liberty gaue it me in writing Vendra Incubierto Vendra cierto Entrera en el huerto Por el puerto Qu'esta mas a ca del muro Y lo que paresce escuro Se vra claro yabierto Which is as much to say The vnknowne shall come He shall come for certaine and shall enter at the garden By the gate which is neerest to the wall And that which seemeth darke and obseure Shall appeare full cleare and be discouered For the better vnderstanding of these verses wee are to vnderstand what this garden and what this wall is for the exposition and vnderstanding of these two words shall giue vs light to the rest and shall lay open to our view those admirable things which a simple Poeme prophecieth vnto vs. We are then to vnderstand
that this garden may bee taken for the countrey which extends it selfe beyond the Mount Calpe which is in Spaine at the mouth of the Streight of Gibraltar fronting on Mount Abyla which is situated on the other side of the sayd Streight in Affricke which are the two Mountaynes which are named by the Ancient Hercules Pillers as farre as the riuer which the Latines call Baetis and is named now at this day by the Inhabitants Guadal quiber a name imposed by the Moores after they had made themselues Lords of Spaine which signisieth in our language Great-water for Guad in the Arabian tongue is as much as water and Quiber signifieth great The I le of Cales is in that countrey and was once farre greater then now it is All this countrey is very sertill plentifull and delightsome Ancient Authors doe report of it that if their sheepe should goe but thirty dayes without letting of bloud they would die with fatnesse In this countrey did Homer dwell before he grew blind which was in the yeere 1 07. after the flood and 255. before the foundation of Rome and a thousand before the incarnatiou of Christ In those daies they called it Melesegines They that haue seene the fruitfulnesse and good temperature thereof affirme that these were the Elisian fieldes whither the gods sent the soules of the blessed Whence we see clearely that this countrey is the garden of Spatne and so we likewise call it Yet there are some Authors notwithstanding who maintaine approue with very strong and euident reasons that Lisborne is the garden of Spaine with the appurtenances thereunto belonging For as much as it is a very pleasant Territorie large fertill plentifull fayre and delectable wherein grow great abundance of all fruits the most excellent and the most perfit that Europe affordeth Your elder writers affirme that the mares that liue thereabout will be impregned by the wind and that the coltes which come of them seeme rather to flye then runne so swift they are of foot Vlisses whom writers allot vnto vs as sounder of the sayd Citie and his companions arriued after his shipwracke in these quarters and entring into the Ocean sea by Tagus moued by the fertilnesse of the Territorie with the waters the abundance of fish that were bred in the sayd riuer being so deepe and so marueilous fit for all kind of commodities besides the great store of Gold which seemed to be in those sands he named it Theodora which in the Greeke tongue signifieth Gods gift So that the garden of Spaine is that countrey which we affirme to bee betweene the mount Calpe and the riuer of Guadiana Or else the towne of Lisborne with her Territories The King Don Sebastian hauing entred some of these parts with prosperity it importeth vs a little for the verification of this Prophecie whether the one or the other be the garden of Spaine Touching the wall all they that are well seene and practised in the ancient Histories of Spayne confesse that it is the I le of Cales which they call Gades and by reason of the affinity of the G. with the C. is conuerted into the name of Cades And for the better declaring from whence this name came it is necessarie that wee heere alleage some ancient Histories who teach vs that there are sixe men that beare the name of Hercules whereof two of them haue stifled eche others reputation One was sonne vnto Iupiter Alcmena the other sonne of the same father and of Asteria sister to Latona And this Hercules is adored with great reuereÌ„ce at Tyr. The Histories doe report that hee commaunded the Gaditanes by a dreame who were the Inhabitants of that Citie that they should passe into Spayne and build a Temple vnto him in Cales where his name should be held in veneration For to accomplish this commaundement the Gaditanes imbarked themselues in the yeere two hundred thirty fiue after the foundation of Rome and sayling by the Mediterranean sea they entred the Ocean and not farre from the mouth of the Streight they landed at Cales There beganne they to build a towne obseruing the customes and Ceremonies of the Hetruscians who did as M. Varro mentioneth couple a Bull and a Cowe vnder one yoke and so made a deepe furrowe with their plovv-share in a circular or round figure whose circuit they drew as large as the City should bee which they intended to build The plowe share made the furrow and the earth they threw vp formed their vvalles So did Romulus when he vndertooke the foundation of Rome as it is storied by Dionisius Halicarnesseus So did Aeneas also according to the testimony of Virgil. Interea Aeneas orbem designat aratro And thus in this maner was the sayd place held afterwards for a thing holy and religious As soone as the building of this towne and temple was bruted in the world great multitudes out of Europe Affricke and Asia came to see it And in after yeeres the Garthaginians considering that the inhabitants thereof as being all of one countrie for they and the Gaditanes came both out of Tyr would continue still friends vnto them determined to vndertake the conquest of Spaine And for the better effecting their designe they cloaked their ambition with pietie and religion as I shall shew you giuing the Spaniards to vnderstand that it was not fit since so many out of all parts of the world came to visit this Citie and the temple belonging vnto it and to doe sacrifice vnto the God thereof of whom they had receiued such exceeding benefits that the said God should bee worshipped in so poore a temple and of so base a structure the walles thereof being no better then durt and earth And therefore would intreat them that they might haue leaue to build a greater a richer and more sumptuous temple The Spaniards not suspecting any ill that might succeed nor any way being ielous of the Carthaginians at that time did easily condescend to their request suffering them to obtaine whatsoeuer they desired Presently hereupon the Carthaginians began with incredible haste to build a mightie huge temple of squared stone and so strong that it might serue them in stead of a castle for the effecting of this their intention There were also all along the temple some strong buildings saying they were to scrue for the Priests the officers and the seruants of the sayd temple Not content with this acquainting the Spaniards with the bad entertainment which those receiued which came with such great deuotion and vndertooke such long iournies for to visite the house of this their God that they might haue where to retire themselues and to shelter themselues for all seasons that they would permit them to build a greater nuÌ„ber of houses for to lodge and receiue these poore pilgrimes In a word the Carthaginians obtayned all that they would and ioyning one house to another they made a very strong place by meanes whereof they grew great Lords in Spaine And the same report is now at this day very common also in the mouthes of many When the Earle of Essex tooke the said towne by force the Inhabitants trembled and cried out Is it possible that the walles of Spayne should bee taken by the enemie O God what shall we doe Out of this which hath bin said you may clearely see that this is that wall and that garden which the Author of these Prophecies hath spokeÌ„ of in his verses So that in knowing this wee may easily haue knowledge of the gate which is on the hither side of the wall which must be that of Saint Lucar de Barrameda which is on the other side in the Ocean sea some fiue leagues distant from Cales God graunt that this vertuous and holy Prince Don Sebastian King of Portugall fulfilling all that which is prophecied of him may enter into the possession of his kingdome for the peace and tranquillity of his countries the common good of all Christendome Amen Farewell the last of August 1602. AFter I had ended this present discourse newes came out of diuers places and letters sent by many persons worthy of credit who confirme all this that hath beene spoken of D. Sebastian Adding withall that the Duke of Medina Sidonia sent afterward aboord the Gallies foure men which had both seene knowne spoken and serued the said King all the time hee lay at Cales before hee past into Affrike which were eight dayes for to see and examine whether hee were the verie same or no. These men saw him spake to him and demaunded him many things himselfe not knowing to what end they thus examined him VVhorenurning to the Duke did auouch with many othes That this man was that verie selfe same right and true Don Sebastian King of Portugall whome bee had receiued at Cales with such great ioy and feasting in the yere 1578. Some say that the Duke writ letters of all this that had passed vnto the Catholike King And besides that with these his letters and ratification of what he had seene and heard he sent the said men for to testifie the truâ—th of it God grant for his mercies sake and for our deliuerie out so many troubles and miseries that those Prophecies set downe in the two last lines of those verses in the Castilian tongue before recited may quickly be fulfilled to wit Y lo que paresce escuro Se vra claro y abierto GEntle Reader there are many more proofes and testimonies of this miserable King which shall ere long be published with a declaration of all his time imployed since the battell in Affrike 1578. till the month of September last past 1602. FINIS
for naming himselfe to be Don Sebastian King of Portugall being no other then a Calabrian And still before the Cryer beganne the Trumpets sounded and so continued to the end And when they named King he would cry alowd Why so I am And when they sayd Being no other then a Calabrian hee would answere That is false Yet notwithstanding in the repetition of these wordes all the while that they were pronounced by the Cryer hee no whit hindred the course of iustice nor once moued himselfe against it Now must you note that the Castilians not knowing how to verifie that he was the said Marcus Tullius Cartizzone as they indowed him withall at the first when he was deliuered vnto them they proclaymed him at that howre by the indefinite name of a Calabrian This act bringeth an extreme amazement to al the whole city and ingenders a great sorrow causeth much compunction in the hearts of all men insomuch that they went away stroken with wonder and full of astonishment They looked one vpon another with a silent strangenesse and were vnable to vtter so much as one word one to another the greatnesse of their griefe stopping the passage of their speach And if any amongst them were heretofore perswaded that he was a Calabrian after they had now beheld his owne proper person this so strange a spectacle they were confirmed in this beleefe and did certainely assure themselues that he whom they thus reprochefully led vp and downe vpon an Asse was the very right true Don Sebastian King of Portugall and they were touched with such great compassion and remorsefull fellow-feeling in beholding this his miserable estate and the iniustice wherewith they did intreate him that they were not able to refraine from teares the sighes and lamentations of one inciting the rest to the same who mourned and bewayled his miserie whilest the King himselfe cryed out in this pitifull maner I am in the hands of mine enemies who worke what themselues will vpon this my body but my soule I recommend vnto God who hath created it and knowes the truth and can witnes for me that I am the same whom I professe and say I am After they had carried him thus throughout the Citie they brought him to the Kings royall Gallies whereinto he was no sooner entred but they presently pulled off his owne apparrell and put vpon him a flauish attire and placed him at the prow of the Galley where hee remained a whole day and the next day following they put him with a gard in a little Barke that was linked to the Galley whither there repaired a great concourse of people of diuers nations Amongst the which were present a great number of noble personages and of very honourable houses who steadily viewing his visage and marking him with an especiall attention and a most searching eye Without doubt said they this is that true D. Sebastian King of Portugall The sift day they rankt him in the Galleyes and shaued off the haires both of his head and beard the which were gathered vp kept by those that stood by as a most precious thing and of great esteeme This being done they fettred him with chaynes signifying vnto him that he should not be bound to rowe Some French Lords were present at most of these proceedings and amongst the rest a sonne of Monsieur de Berault who is now at this day nominated for to be Ambassadour of Castile and a Gentleman who is a follower of his with some others of the same sute In these dayes of so great affliction the King ceased not to continue in his dayly prayers and fastings with such admiration of those that beheld it that they held him for a Saint and by the meanes of his patience modestie and other apparant demonstrations of his vertues he gained so much reputation amongst those with whom he liued that they were inforced to confesse that the truth of this matter was couered and hidden by the inuentions and subtilties of his enemies and maintained that he was the rightfull Don Sebastian King of Portugall Many of verie good qualities haue writ out of Naples into diuers partes of Europe touching the successe of this affayre according to the trueth thereof and in such forcible maner that as many as are either in the Court of Rome or in Italy are perswaded to beleeue doe hold most constantly for true that this miserable Prince is the same person hee professeth himselfe to be But some will happely say that he doth deserue farre more grieuous chastisement because hee escaping aliue from the battell of Affricke so much famoused in the world and comming afterwards vnknowne into his owne kingdome of Portugall hee did not demaund it againe leauing it as a prey to his enemies which hath occasioned so many mens deathes so many and so diuers misaduentures so many mischiefes afflictions and miseries as haue hapned thereby and haue crossed those Christian people these 22. yeeres as one who should haue preferd the publike good before his owne particular imaginations and priuate fantasies But whosoeuer shall take knowledge of his pure vertue pietie feare of God wisdome and vnderstanding will sing another song and onely say this Sic erat in fatis and that God would haue it so to the intent that in the law of grace there should be found another Iob like vnto him in the law of nature These Galleyes passed from Naples into Spayne where some do report that they saw him at Barcelonne in one of the Kings royall Galleyes and that hee sat on the third seat and that they vsed him very wel and serued him with verie much honour and with great respects We beleeue well the former but not the latter as it shall appeare by that we shal manifest hereafter for they are but tales and fables divulged by his enemies who haue publisht it so abroad for to cloake their malicious wickednesse and their treasonable intents and to conserue the good loue and fauour of such as loue him with all their hearts and who with all the arte they can with all their soule and with all their power seeke to regaine him to acknowledge him for their Lord and Master whereas the other preferring their owne particular interest and forgetting wholy the common good haue quite lost both the remembrance of their loyaltie and the Obligation wherein they stand bound to their Countrey From Bercelonne the Gallies entred into the Ocean sea where they remayned till the beginning of the month of August at the port of Saint Lucar de Barrameda A Currier from his Catholike Maiestie recounted to the thrice Christian King the cause why the foresayd vessels past forth of the Mediterranean sea into the Ocean which was a rebellion in Angra a City in the I le of Tergere which is the chiefest of the Iles which they call by the name of Assores which is the key of all the Ocean sea for those that come out of