Los Amantes de Teruel | Page 2

Marsilla and Isabel de Segura. They had loved each other from childhood, but when it became a question of marriage, Isabel's father opposed the union because of the young man's lack of material resources and because a wealthy suitor, Rodrigo de Azagra, had presented himself for the hand of his daughter. All that the entreaties of the lovers could gain from him was the promise that if Marsilla went to the wars, gained fame and riches, and returned before a certain day, he would receive Isabel in marriage. This Marsilla did; but unfortunately he was unable to return until just after the expiration of the time set. When he reached Teruel, he found Isabel married to the wealthy rival. Disappointed in their hopes after so many years of constant love and continual struggle against adversity, Marsilla died of grief, and Isabel soon followed him; separated in life by cruel fate, they were united in death. Buried in the same tomb, they were later disinterred, and their mummified remains may now be seen in the old church of San Pedro in Teruel.
#II. Authenticity of the Legend#. The earliest references that have yet been found to the legend belong to the middle of the sixteenth century, that is, more than three centuries after the supposed death of the lovers. In 1555, when the church of San Pedro in Teruel was undergoing some repairs, two bodies, supposedly those of Marsilla and Isabel, were discovered in one tomb in a remarkably good state of preservation. They were reburied at the foot of the altar in the chapel of Saints Cosme and Damian, and the story of the unfortunate lovers began to spread far and wide. By the end of the century it was apparently widely known and attracted considerable attention to the old city of Teruel. When Philip III of Spain was journeying to Valencia in 1599 he was induced to turn aside to visit the church of San Pedro. In the official account of his journey, "Jornada de Su Majestad Felipe III y Alteza la Infanta Do?a Isabel, desde Madrid, a casarse el Rey con la Reyna Do?a Margarita, y su Alteza con el Archiduque Alberto," the story of the legend as then generally accepted is related so succinctly that it may well be quoted here: "En la iglesia de San Pedro, en la capilla de San Cosme y San Damián, de la dicha ciudad, está la sepultura de los Amantes que llaman de Teruel; y dicen eran un mancebo y una doncella que se querían mucho, ella rica y él al contrario; y como él pidiese por mujer la doncella y por ser pobre no se la diesen, se determinó a ir por el mundo a adquerir hacienda y ella aguardarle ciertos a?os, al cabo de los cuales y dos o tres días más, volvió rico y halló que aquella noche se casaba la doncella. Tuvo trazas de meterse debajo de su cama y a media noche le pidió un abrazo, dándose a conocer; ella le dijo que no podía por no ser ya suya, y él murió luego al punto. Lleváronle a enterrar, y ella fué al entierro, y cuando le querían echar en la sepultura, se arrimó a la ataúd y quedó allí muerta; y así los enterraron juntos en una sepultura, sabido el caso."
Seventeen years later a long epic poem by the secretary of the city council of Teruel, Juan Yagüe de Salas, aroused much discussion as to the authenticity of the legend. In 1619 the bodies were again exhumed and in the coffin of one of them were found written the words "éste es Don Diego Juan Martínez de Marsilla"; also a document, "papel de letra muy antigua," giving the story in detail. This document disappeared, but the copy that Juan Yagüe claimed to have made may be seen in the archives of the church of San Pedro or in the transcription published in the Semanario Pintoresco for the week ending Feb. 5, 1837 (Vol. II, pages 45-47). The genuineness of the document and its copy is very doubtful. The first paragraph shows some linguistic peculiarities of old Aragonese; but these gradually disappear, until there is little left in the language to differentiate it from that of the good notary public and poet, Juan Yagüe, who was so anxious to prove authenticity for the legend treated in his poem. Although there is no reliable evidence that the bodies exhumed in 1555 and again in 1619 were those of Marsilla and Isabel, the church of San Pedro has held them in special reverence. They attract many admirers to the old city on the Guadalaviar and the tourist who expresses incredulity when shown the remains of the lovers becomes thereby persona non grata in Teruel.
For three centuries the controversy has