Münzer on the Road: Lisbon to Santiago de Compostela: Dec. 4-13, 1494

Münzer:
The 2nd of December, leaving the illustrious and glorious Lisbon after eating, then to proceed five leagues along the sea, we arrived at the town of Alberca, very late at night. Rising in the morning and traveling without rest for nine leagues, we arrived at the city of Santarem. Oh, how truly fertile and green is this entire place, in wine of the best class, oil, and other produce!
On December 4, leaving Santarém and passing through some delightful places, we arrived after eight leagues at the city of Tomar, famous for its gigantic olives and its extensive olive groves, and by a river—an insignificant one—that consists mostly of a spring with cold water that nourishes trout. It has an attractive castle, richly adorned by the Prince don Enrique, discoverer of the Islands, who passed most of his life here.
On the 5th, after our meal, leaving Tomar, traveling on the road for twelve leagues, riding hard by moonlight, we arrived at Coimbra, situated on a beautiful mountain and on a plain, crossed by the Mondego river, with its famous bridge and abundant olive trees.
On the 6th, when we finished dining, leaving Coimbra through fertile places and countryside, in two days we arrived at the famous and very old city of Oporto, which is situated in the foothills of a very high mountain. Its territory is watered by the very famous Duero River; as abundant there as the Rhine by Basle. It is a bishopric that is fertile and very ancient. It is a league from the sea, and in times of rising tides, the great ships arrive at the city walls, which are of very old, square-cut stone. Oporto is older than Lisbon., a great city constructed on a mountain and its surroundings, adorned with very old houses in the lowest part. It belongs to the bishopric of Coimbra. There would be a great deal to write about this place, but I omit it thanks to brevity. After Lisbon, it is the most eminent city in Portugal. It is eighteen leagues from Coimbra.
On the 9th, we left Oporto and arrived at the little town called Barcelos, which is situated on a mountain. Its walls are skirted by a very famous river, which comes from Braga, in olden times called Augusta, a very ancient city. It is eight leagues from Oporto.
On the 10th, after eating, we left Barcelos and after five long leagues we arrived at the town of Ponto do Lima, by which flows the Lima River, with a handsome bridge of eighteen arches. After eating in an inn, after three miles, we arrived at Coserado.
On the 11th [of November] after traveling three leagues, we arrived at Valença do Minho, the last town in Portugal on the northern route. Crossing the river Miño, which is as powerful as the Rhine near Basel, we arrived at the city of Tuy, which is situated on a mountain above the river, across from Valença, and is the first city of Galicia. It is a bishopric, with a nice church.
The same day, after our meal, we left Tuy, and very late at night arrived at Redondela, a little town situated on an inlet, where they fish for the very abundant sardines. And if a certain German, born in Frankfurt, who lived there, hadn't given us lodging, we would have passed a very bad night, because the weather was rough; but in exchange for our money, he gave us much largesse.
On the 13th, leaving Caldas before sunrise, we arrived at the very old city of Padrón, formerly called Iria. The first place we entered was the extremely old church of Santiago, and we saw under the high altar a stone column with a certain concavity, where they said the body of Santiago rested…..All of this seen rapidly, after four leagues, we arrived at the very holy city of Compostela, in which, they assured us, the whole body of Saint James the great lies, son of Zebedee and brother of John the Evangelist.

What Münzer Saw:
The rich and varied landscape of the Portuguese Atlantic zone remains as it was in the 15th century, with many more houses scattered over the countryside, and not confined to walled cities. Tomar still has its great castle, which was founded by the successors to the Knights Templar, and was a favorite dwelling place of Prince Henry the Navigator.

And Oporto is still a major port, with old houses along its waterfront, but not as old as the ones Münzer encountered.
Ponto de Lima still has its long bridge, though it is somewhat modified (now 15 arches instead of 18), but we were told that it was probably where the travelers crossed the Lima river in the 15th century.

And Tuy (or Tui, as it’s now called) has its Romanesque Cathedral, though again modified out of necessity after Münzer came calling: it has bracing arches over its nave and reinforced arches over its side aisles because of its earthquake-weakened structure, as well as heavy reinforcing buttresses around its squat Gothic cloister. The church of Santiago at Padron is still extant, though very much modified.

What Münzer Could Have Seen:
Tomar boasts the oldest surviving synagogue in Portugal. But it is quite small, the interior being sustained by four columns and twelve vaults surround them (for the four Matriarchs and the twelve tribes respectively). It was in use in the 15th century, but for Münzer, probably not worth seeing after the grand one in Lisbon.

In Coimbra, through which the German party passed, there was already a great University, but it is not mentioned at all. Likewise, Porto has a Cathedral that existed in Münzer’s time, but it must have been one of those things he decided not to mention “for the sake of brevity.” He could have seen ladies anywhere along the route doing laundry the old fashioned way.

What Münzer Never Would Have Seen:(June 18-20, 2011)
Cable cars, funiculars and motorboat tours in Oporto, a vast and luxurious hotel/spa in Coimbra within an 18th century mansion, and outdoor cafes and a wide river promenade, as well as old city walls incorporated into 20th century buildings in Ponto de Lima are certainly beyond Münzer’s imagination! Wine was certainly being produced. But Port?

The Art Historian Speaks:
Outside of Ponte de Lima, we stayed in a guesthouse that was as close to Münzer’s better accommodations on the Itinerario as could be found. It was called Paço de Calheiros, and it was owned and run by Count Francisco de Calheiros; it was an estate that had been within his family since the 12th century. Most of it was his personal residence, but some ground-floor rooms had been turned into a Bed and Breakfast.
Like Münzer, the Count gave us a tour, including the family chapel and heir personal archive. We had breakfast in the estate’s dining room, replete with weapons on the walls. This seems to be the sort of hospitality that Münzer and his companions enjoyed en route when they were lodged at assorted castles. However, our guesthouse did not have a collection of exotic animals. Instead it had a swimming pool and electricity and modern plumbing. The breathtaking views would have been the sort that Münzer loved.

Münzer in Lisbon: Nov. 26-Dec. 1, 1494

Münzer:
"On the 26th of November, leaving Évora by Montemor, a beautiful castle surrounded by olive trees, through the countryside for sixteen leagues and along the sea for three leagues, we arrived finally at the famous city of Lisbon. It is on a very high mountain, on whose peak are two royal fortresses. And below them, the whole mountainside is inhabited, full of houses, monasteries and other churches. It has another mountain to the west, whose eastern part is totally inhabited, and in the middle a very populated large level area that extends to the sea. It is bigger than Nüremberg and much more heavily populated, because in each individual house there are, in general three, four, or five inhabitants. It is more three cities than two. The Jews have three neighborhoods to themselves, below the castle, at the foot of the mountain; the gates to these are closed every night. Saturday (vigil of St. Andrew), I entered their synagogue, and I never have seen its equal. In front of the synagogue there is a large structure, that is covered by a great vine, whose trunk was four palmos in circumference. Oh, what a beautiful place and seat from which to preach, like those in mosques! In the synagogue, ten great chandeliers blazed, and in each one, fifty or seventy lamps, without counting other smaller lamps. The women had their own synagogue, in which there were also many lamps burning. The Jews of Lisbon are very rich, and they receive so much royal tribute that they have bought the king. They are very insolent to Christians and they have a profound fear of exile, because the King of Spain ordered Portugal to exterminate their marranos, as well as their Jews, or he will go to war against him. The King of Portugal, following in the conduct of the King of Spain, proclaimed that before the festival of the Nativity of Our Lord, all the marranos must leave; the latter have hired a beautiful ship, the Regina, and they will depart for Naples in the middle of December. As for the Jews, the King has conceded them a treaty of two entire years for them to leave Portugal at their leisure. Taking this into consideration, the Jews are continually departing and looking for new places to live. The Saracens also have their own houses and a mosque next to the city walls, below the castle; where we went….
On the mountain facing the castle there is a monastery of Carmelites, superbly constructed by the Prince Enrique, that you would think it was a fortress. I climbed the tower and looked at the surroundings of that part of the city, and it was very pleasing. On the same mountain are the Monasteries of Santa Trinidad and that of the minor brothers, where we saw an enormous crocodile hanging in the choir, and a big tree called a Dragon Tree, which produces a red sap like dragon's blood. In the monastery of Saint Augustine, which is located above the castle, there are also three other dragon trees.
We went up to the castle and saw two savage lions, more beautiful than any I've seen, and a well-painted map of the world, and a very large gilded table, whose diameter measured fourteen palmos. It is a truly regal castle, with its pavilions, rooms and other things…
In the port, they were selling all sorts of victuals in great abundance and produce, like hazelnuts, walnuts, lemons, almonds, figs, etc., and apples that you can't imagine. I have never seen wholesaled so many apples, not even in Nüremberg in the autumn and the beginning of the winter, which is when they are customarily sold. Oh, and such a variety of fish, of herrings, that they call sardines. And this is not even mentioning tuna, dolphin, and other fish.
We had our lodging in a grand and significant house of the King, in the bedroom of the son-in-law of don Martín Behaim, called don Jodocus of Hurder, of Bruges, noblemen and Captain of the islands of Fayal and Pico. The house is on the main plaza, and on a very wide plot of land near the monastery of Saint Dominic. We were treated exquisitely.
[The Port of Lisbon]: Half a mile below Lisbon are two mountains, each a quarter mile distant from the other, through whose gap the sea enters towards the north east for fifteen leagues, its width being in some places three leagues and in others, less. In the suburbs of Lisbon, even in the wildest storms, the ships find complete security."

What Münzer Saw:
Lisbon had already become a major Atlantic trading center. Portuguese explorers had already rounded the Cape of Good Hope, and would soon reach India by sea. The great overseas Portuguese trading enterprise was just taking off, and Münzer was amazed by the harbor of Lisbon, and was able not only to board some German trading vessels, but to see the King’s warehouse of imported goods. With the exception of the Castle, now known as the Castle of St. George, virtually all the buildings that Münzer visited, though they may survive in name, do not survive in their original construction. This is not only because of later construction in the boom years of the 16th and 17th centuries, but because Lisbon suffered the Mother Of All European Earthquakes in 1755 that destroyed virtually everything, except for very strong stone structures.
He had the chance to visit the Jewish community, though is somewhat confused between Spanish refugees and the local Jews, who were protected by the King, and were only expelled after King João’s death from Spanish pressure. There are presently two Jewish synagogues in the city, and we present the portrait of a Portuguese Rabbi in Nuno Gonçalves’ mid-15th century depiction.

What Münzer Could Have Seen:
Münzer’s interests in Portugal seemed to be commercial reporting and an interest in mapmaking and navigation. Models of some of the ships he might have seen are in Lisbon’s Maritime Museum. Lisbon is still an important port, but like Málaga it’s mostly container ships now, also ferries and pleasure craft.
Münzer may or may not have visited Lisbon’s Cathedral, which is mostly Romanesque—it was probably too old to pique his interest.

What Münzer Never Would Have Seen:
Lisbon is a major European city with a population of over half a million. It was a major port in Münzer’s day, but of much smaller dimensions, of course. In the Saint George Castle, the only lions are now stone ones.
Our lodgings weren’t so grand, either, but it was a pretty good hotel. And there are still sardines: I ate some.

Münzer in Évora - Nov.16-26

Münzer:
[The Road to Lisbon]: Passing the border of the Kingdom of Castile and entering into that of Portugal, we arrived at the stronghold of Serpa.
From there, twelve long leagues away, was the city of Évora. From Seville to Évora the distance is forty-two very long leagues, which we traversed with much effort, riding from three or four hours before dawn until very late at night, so that we arrived at Évora—where the King of Portugal was residing—on November 16th.
There, outside the walls, in the church of Saint Blaise, we saw part of a snakeskin, brought from Guinea of Ethiopia, which was thirty palmos long and the thickness of a man, which was killed by fire-arrows. They unrolled it from its neck to its tail, and this part of the skin was painted of such varied and handsome colors sprinkled like stars and gilded spots, and it caused much admiration. That skin measured twenty-two palmos and they assured us that it devoured men grasping them with spirals of its tail, and that it fought with elephants.
In Évora there is also a beautiful royal palace and a very lovely vaulted church, that is the Episcopal seat, and which has a magnificent cloister, in which we walked as on a highway, checking out the situation of this city, that is bigger than Ulm. We also saw a young and handsome camel in the King's patio, which he had had brought from Africa, where they are abundant.

What Münzer Saw:
At Évora, Münzer fulfilled one of the primary purposes of his journey: to meet with the Portuguese King João II (probably on behalf of the Emperor Maximilian) to discuss matters of cartography and exploration. These were apparently secret talks. Münzer spent a week in the town, meeting with the King on diverse occasions. But he is silent about the subject of these talks.
The church of Saint Blaise, just outside the extensive city walls that exist to the present, also is still there, but we were unable to find out if there was still a big snakeskin inside.
The Cathedral he saw is still there; it has undergone a thoughtful restoration, and the interior, exterior and cloister are still essentially the same. The view from the top, however, is somewhat different. The residence where Münzer met the King and saw the camel are long gone.

What Münzer Could Have Seen: (June 15-16, 2011)
Not too much pre 16th-century material remains. Portugal, like Seville, boomed with its African, Asian and American explorations after Münzer left; though the snakeskin was probably an early trophy of Portuguese explorations along the African coasts.
The Franciscan church was already in existence, as was the ivory French Virgin, whose whole front opens up to reveal scenes from her life, now in the Cathedral museum.

What Münzer Never Would Have Seen:
Portuguese trade with China began in the mid 16th Century. Now it’s everywhere, and the Chinese have the advantage.

Münzer in Seville II

Münzer:
“Outside Seville, on the other side of the Bétis river, and near its western bank, there exists a very noble Carthusian monastery, called Santa María de las Cuevas. It is a very superb construction, with a beautiful refectory and white marble tables on which the monks eat; there are none better. How beautiful is the chapter chapel! It has excellent cells, and above them the dormitories, beautiful gardens and preciously constructed cloisters in front of the cells. In the central part, such a lovely garden, with various designs of myrtle, wax myrtle and jasmine, that it is almost unimaginable. I also saw in their cemetery a bush with huge leaves, whose width was of two feet, and in length four. They said that it was a banana tree, but it isn't because its leaves do not point upwards, and I don't think it had fruit or seeds. Its leaves, however, are very green and of a type very similar to those of a marsh mallow.
Outside the monastery and its cells there are two gardens that are watered from the Bétis river, transported there by two mules. The most agreeable gardens, I repeat, with cedar, orange trees, pomegranate trees, fig trees, almond trees, vines and pear trees, whose fruits were still hanging on the trees. I have never seen in truth such beautiful gardens! The canals that water them are perfectly placed. The secular or converse brothers also have their own cloister, with marble columns and little gardens dispersed gracefully among them, and their rooms constructed with fine workmanship. When I was there, there were thirty monks and forty secular brothers. The father prior was a venerable man, ancient and of sane learning, who lived in a special apartment with a lovely cloister. We also saw its spacious cellar, in which there are ninety three large vessels brimming with wine. I believe with certainly that three of those vessels were enough to fill two wagons of Nüremberg. They contained a wine as delicious as Malvasía. We also contemplated the tabernacle behind the high altar, so adorned with gold, silver and ivory, that it is impossible to describe. They honored us in admirable fashion. They gave permission for us to enter the garden with them, and assured us that they were very interested in our customs, religious practices, clothing, hairstyles and other things.
I believe in truth, that after the Carthusian monastery of Pavia, there is none better than this one. It is also very rich. They have four thousand ducats in annual revenues. Provisions there are also very cheap because of the fertility of all of Andalusia.
On the outside of the city, on the other side of the bridge of boats over the Betis, there is a very extensive neighborhood called Triana, where they make the great clay vessels for oil, wine, etc. Many of them could contain twelve or thirteen amphorae of wine. If I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't have believed it.”

What Münzer Saw:

A wealthy working Monastery, Münzer was able to see most of this very large complex, which continued to function until the 1835 dissolution of Spain’s convents. The monastery was originally Franciscan, but was taken over by the Cistercians in 1400. The refectory, church cells. cloister and garden spaces are still there, though only a small Mudéjar cloister retains something of its original character. Over the years the refectory was expanded, and other, later decoration and expansion took place in the 16th and 17th centuries. In 1835, all of the furnishings (including the marble tables, if they survived) vanished, and earlier, before the Guadalquivir silted up, the watery location of the convent endured several floods.

What Münzer Would Never Have Seen:

After 1835, the monastery complex fell into private hands and became a ceramics factory – a sort of extension on an industrial scale of the pottery makers of nearby Triana. In 1992, the entire area was taken over for the Seville Expo, and now it is a sort of theme park, though the monastery buildings themselves were remodeled into Seville’s Contemporary Art Museum, which it still is today. There are still gardens around it, mainly of cypress and citrus trees, and also an enormous very unusual tree-like plant called an Ombú, with great trunk-like roots, supposedly planted by Hernán Columbus, the explorer’s brother. Whether Münzer saw this plant in its baby form is anyone’s guess.
Many bridges (some liberally adorned with graffiti) connect the Museum to the main part of the city—not just a bridge of boats, including some very contemporary ones, and there are bike paths and roads around its periphery.

Münzer in Seville (Hispalis) Nov. 4, 1494

Munzer:
“On the 4th of November, leaving Mairena in the morning, traveling 4 leagues, we arrived at the most prestigious city of the realm of Andalusia, now called Seville and in Latin Híspalis. This city rests on a very excellent and beautiful plain, better than any other I've seen in Spain, very fertile in oil, incomparable wine, and all varieties of produce. Ascending to the top of the highest tower of the church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, that was formerly the principal mosque, I gazed at the city, and estimated that it was twice as big as Nüremberg. It is completely circular, and located on the flattest ground. The river Bétis, very famous, powerful and navigable, bathes it on its western side, at the foot of its walls, that in times of high water, rises during the whole day to the height of three or four codos, and then it carries somewhat salty water, but when the tide goes out and it recedes, and then the water becomes very good and sweet…It also has many outstanding monasteries of Franciscans, Augustinians, Dominicans, nun's convents and others.

[The Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary]: The city of Hispalis was seized from the hands of the Saracens and made Christian a hundred and seventy years ago. There are still many Saracen monuments and antiquities.…
It had, among other things, a grandiose mosque, whose gardens and three dependencies still exist. The length of the whole mosque was of two hundred and fifty paces and its width a hundred and ninety. The length of the garden today measures one hundred and forty paces more. There is a beautiful fountain in the center, in which the Mohammadans washed. When the old fountain was destroyed, another larger one was built in its place. Over the water pipes these verses are written:

"His royal majesty, after defeating the Moors, graced me with this water, even when it was already destroyed"

With this water, the entire garden is presently watered, for it has many citron trees, cypresses, palms, lemon and orange trees.
The half—which formerly was the mosque—has been torn down now, and in its place they are building a magnificent church in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is such a stupendous work in that there are not many temples in Spain to surpass it. The church is finished, but not yet its choir. The whole structure is two hundred paces in length and a hundred and seventeen in width, seven aisles in width, of which two comprise magnificent chapels, forty-five free-standing columns and very rich seats in the choir stalls. It also has forty canons and other beneficiaries, and twenty more dignitaries and ministers. There are substantial benefices, of two and three hundred ducats and a very pious clergy. There are very high octagonal columns, which are twenty-five paces in circumference, and very high and wide vaults. I think that in six years it will be completely finished. It is all of very hard dressed stone, brought from the hills of the coast of the kingdom of Granada by the Bétis River. …
We saw many other things…. We went up to an elevated chapel in the Cathedral. There, after mass, we visited the sumptuous tombs of the Kings of Castile.
King Fernando I of Castile was very devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and was firmly convinced that with her aid would conquer Seville. For this reason, he had a wooden image made, with moveable limbs, and as well, Christ in a cradle, also moveable. From ancient times, there had been in the Moorish mosque an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which had been captured from the Christians. There was no one who dared to destroy it, because they would become deaf, crippled or blind. Finally, the King had a dream that he should make a special cult of this image, and shortly afterwards, he would conquer Seville. He did this, and a few days later, Seville surrendered. From that moment, he professed an extreme devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and there is nothing else to say….He always took it with him into battle, and he held it in great veneration, and adorned its head with a crown of the purest gold, emeralds, pearls and other precious stones. We held it in our hands, and felt its weight. The majority of times he [the King] defeated the Moors by virtue of the Blessed Virgin. We saw there many other things that should be described, but I am omitting them for the sake of brevity.”

[The Alcazar of Seville]: The fortress [alcazar] of Seville was built from its foundations by King Alfonso, the author of the "Astronomical Tables," and whose father, Fernando, liberated Seville from the hands of the Moors. This fortress is enormous, and no smaller than the Alhambra of Granada. It is constructed in the same style, with its palaces, rooms, chambers and water pipes, decorated with gold, ivory and marble, although the stones are not as big. Its outside configuration is different from Granada, since it is built on flat land; but it has six or ten gardens, both large and small, with lemon trees, citron trees, orange trees, myrtles and running water. In this fortress, the King's son was born, the future sovereign, and we saw the chamber where his birth took place.
The people of Seville were waiting the arrival of their King, and for this purpose, they tidied up their causeways with stone, and were making many additions. The King is presently having many new rooms built, and is restoring the old ruined ones and having prepared three bedrooms for himself, for his son and for the queen, so exquisitely and properly allocated, that no one will object to them."

What Münzer Saw:
If Barcelona was in decline, Valencia booming and Granada in flux, Seville in 1494 was on the brink of its great moment-but not there yet. Once it was realized that Columbus and his companions had found a previous unknown (to the Europeans) continent the city would become the hub of New World trade (until its river, the Guadalquivir--Münzer’s Betis)--silted up in the late 17th century). Münzer was seeing some of its potential, but at the time of his visit there, Columbus was in the middle of his second voyage, and as far as anybody knew in Spain, he had found the Asian Indies.
Münzer erred, as was so often the case about history: Seville was reconquered in 1248, seventy years earlier than his calculations. The Cathedral, indeed built on the site of the major Mosque, was begun in 1401, and was indeed nearly finished when the Germans got there. The old minaret became the bell tower “La Giralda” (with a later top section and a quantity of bells) and a person can still go up and contemplate the view (though as usual, all but a fragment of the city walls are gone, and the city has expanded).
The original mosque courtyard is still there, though much changed—only orange trees still grow there; there’s still a fountain in the middle, with four small ones among the water channels, and a few of the horseshoe arches still remain as well, including the principal entrance. The King’s verse about the fountain is missing.
Seville Cathedral is vast: five aisles, filling the entire original Mosque interior, and still the second-largest Catholic Church, but with the greatest interior dimensions (this is certified in the Guinness Book of Records).
The “Virgen de las Batallas,” the venerated image that Fernando took into battle with him, still exists; she’s in the sacristy, but she’s of French origin, and made of ivory not wood. Her jeweled crown is lost (stolen in 1873), but other, later ones of precious materials are still on view. On the other hand, the remains of King Fernando and his wife Elizabeth of Swabia, are in 18th-century urns—and, incidentally, Columbus is buried in the Cathedral as well—in a 19th-century tomb.

A good deal of the enormous and complex Alcázar, with its extensive gardens, still exists. It was not built by Alfonso X, however. It began its life as an Almohad palace, beautifully decorated with tile work, stucco and inlaid wooden ceilings. All of this was later adapted by King Pedro I of Castile, who conserved much of the original decorations, and augmented it with additional embellishments, mainly by Nasrid artisans imported from Granada and mudéjares from Toledo starting in 1364. Unlike the Palace of Carlos I at the Alhambra, here the 15th and 16th-century additions by the Catholic Kings and King Carlos I are basically off to one side, and not very obtrusive.

What Münzer Could Have Seen:

Münzer doesn’t mention city walls; they were a given. Only a tiny vestige remains near the Macarena Basilica.
At the Cathedral, if he had managed to visit the workshops, Münzer could have seen the huge high altar retablo under construction (though it was not finished until much later). The center image of the Virgin might have been available for viewing—she was made in the 14th century, as well as two venerable painted icons, the Virgen de los Remedios and the Virgen de la Antigua. And there were also sumptuous tombs of church dignitaries.

What Münzer Never Would Have Seen:

Bullfights! Flamenco! Tapas Bars! The theme park that was Expo 1992; and also the fabulous church in the Hospital of Charity, not built and decorated until the 17th century.
A modern parallel to tidying up the city in Münzer’s time could be seen in the urban changes made for the Expo in 1992. This included dredging 300 years of river silt out of the Guadalquivir.