ws, who did not scruple
occasionally to use their melodies in the synagogue service.

National customs, then, took root in Israel; but that Jewish elements
should have become incorporated into Spanish literature is more
remarkable, may, indeed, be called marvellous. Yet, from one point of
view, it is not astonishing. The whole of mediaeval Spanish literature is
nothing more than the handmaiden of Christianity. Spanish poetry is
completely dominated by Catholicism; it is in reality only an expression
of reverence for Christian institutions. An extreme naturally induces a
counter-current; so here, by the side of rigid orthodoxy, we meet with
latitudinarianism and secular delight in the good things of life. For
instance, that jolly rogue, the archpriest of Hita, by way of relaxation
from the tenseness of church discipline, takes to composing _dansas_ and
_baladas_ for the rich Jewish bankers of his town. He and his
contemporaries have much to say about Jewish generosity--unfortunately,
much, too, about Jewish wealth and pomp. Jewish women, a Jewish
chronicler relates, are tricked out with finery, as "sumptuously as the
pope's mules." It goes without saying that, along with these accounts,
we have frequent wailing about defection from the faith and neglect of
the Law. Old Akiba is right: "History repeats itself!" ("_Es ist alles
schon einmal da gewesen!_").

Such were the times of Santob de Carrion. Our first information about
him comes from the Marquis de Santillana, one of the early patrons and
leaders of Spanish literature. He says, "In my grandfather's time there
was a Jew, Rabbi Santob, who wrote many excellent things, among them
_Proverbios Morales_ (Moral Proverbs), truly commendable in spirit. A
great troubadour, he ranks among the most celebrated poets of Spain."
Despite this high praise, the marquis feels constrained to apologize for
having quoted a passage from Santob's work. His praise is endorsed by
the critics. It is commonly conceded that his _Consejos y Documentos al
Rey Dom Pedro_ ("Counsel and Instruction to King Dom Pedro"), consisting
of six hundred and twenty-eight romances, deserves a place among the
best creations of Castilian poetry, which, in form and substance, owes
not a little to Rabbi Santob. A valuable manuscript at the Escurial in
Madrid contains his _Consejos_ and two other works, _La Doctrina
Christiana_ and _Dansa General_. A careless copyist called the whole
collection "Rabbi Santob's Boo