nes,
beams, stalls, and railings as a means to scale the high walls of the
fortress. Their efforts were in vain, for an army came to the relief of
the castle from Valladolid; a general pardon was, nevertheless, granted
to the population by the monarch, who was too far off to care much what
his Spanish subjects did. After the storm was over, the hot-headed
citizens found themselves with a bishop and a chapter, but without a
church or means wherewith to erect a new one.

The struggles between city and fortress were numerous, and were the
cause, in a great measure, of the town's decadence. Upon one occasion,
Isabel the Catholic infringed upon the citizens' rights by making a gift
of some of the feudal villages to a court favourite. The day after the
news of this infringement reached the city, by a common accord the
citizens "dressed in black, did not amuse themselves, nor put on clean
linen; neither did they sweep the house steps, nor light the lamps at
night; neither did they buy nor sell, and what is more, they boxed their
children's ears so that they should for ever remember the day." So great
were the public signs of grief that it has been said that "never did a
republic wear deeper mourning for the loss of its liberties."

The end of the matter was that the queen in her famous testament revoked
her gift and returned the villages to the city.

The old cathedral was torn down in November, 1520, and it was not until
June, 1525, that the bishop, who had made a patriotic appeal to all
Spaniards in behalf of the church funds, laid the first stone of the new
edifice. Thirty years later the building was consecrated.

Nowhere else can a church be found which is a more thorough expression
of a city's fervour and enthusiasm. It was as though the sacrilegious
act of the enraged mob reacted on the penitent minds of the calmed
citizens, for rich and poor alike gave their alms to the cathedral
chapter. Jewels were sold, donations came from abroad, feudal lords gave
whole villages to the church, and the poor men, the workmen, and the
peasants gave their pennies. Daily processions arrived at Santa Clara,
then used as cathedral church, from all parts of the diocese. To-day
they were composed of tradesmen, of _Zuenfte_, who gave their offerings
of a few pounds; to-morrow a village would bring in a cartload of
stone, of mortar, of wood, etc. On holidays and Sundays the repentant
citizens, instead of amusing themselves at the dance or