Awaiting Heaven's Justice
This, my friends, is a story of scandal from the late 1400s. In an earlier post, I left you hanging with a teaser reference, and I'm finally getting around to putting the dirt to the pen, as it were.
It's a legend, actually, of family discord. Don Hernando de Zafra was appointed Royal Secretary to King Fernando and Queen Isabella of Spain. He enjoyed his position of power and lived in a fine home in the town of Granada in the shadow of the Alhambra near the river Darro.
This house, called La Casa de Castril, now houses the Provincial Archeological Museum. There is a large open courtyard in the center, and the exterior of the imposing structure is covered with elaborate ornamentation intended to indicate the power and position of its owner.
On one corner of the building there is a balcony outside a window that is sealed shut. Above the sealed window is carved in stone the phrase, "Esperando la del Cielo" or, roughly translated "Awaiting that of Heaven," which is the title of the legend.
Zafra was not known as a gentle man. He was hard-nosed and harsh-spoken, even cruel. He had a daughter who was very beautiful, of course. This is a legend, after all. It was said that his daughter fell in love with a page who served in the house. The page was, of course, handsome and as good a young man as could ever be hoped for, but terribly poor and therefore unacceptable as a suitor. When Zafra learned of his daughter's infatuation, he flew into a rage, denouncing the page as unworthy. Rather than allow his lineage to be thus dishonored, he ordered the page to be hung from the balcony I mentioned earlier, which happened to be outside the window of his daughter's room. She was locked in this very room, and the door and balcony were sealed shut with bricks.
As the bricks were being laid, the heartbroken daughter cried out to her father, "Justice, father, for God's sake, justice!" to which her cold-hearted father answered, "You'll await heaven's justice, because on this earth you'll find none!" And there, apparently, she died, still awaiting heaven's justice. As the legend was told to us, it sounded as though she were actually sandwiched between two closely spaced walls of stone rather than simply sealed up in her room to starve to death. Gruesome, and so Poe-esque.
There are many versions of this story, but all of them end with the death of the page, poor soul. Historically, however, it is believed that the daughter was actually in love with a neighboring nobleman's son, and the page was simply the messenger between the two lovers. When Zafra learned about it, it is said that the daughter ran away with her lover never to return, and the poor page was hung to assuage Zafra's rage.
In any case, the bricked-up window still rests below the enscription calling upon heaven's justice. Interestingly enough, when Zafra finally passed away, his body lay in state in one of the grand rooms in the lower floor of his home when a terrible storm arose. The river Darro, which runs alongside the home, overflowed its banks and flooded the streets and Zafra's house. The water is said to have actually carried away his body, which was never placed in a grave. To this day, when it rains heavily, some natives of Granada will recall the saying, "It's raining harder than when they buried Zafra!"
Sounds like justice to me.
It's a legend, actually, of family discord. Don Hernando de Zafra was appointed Royal Secretary to King Fernando and Queen Isabella of Spain. He enjoyed his position of power and lived in a fine home in the town of Granada in the shadow of the Alhambra near the river Darro.
This house, called La Casa de Castril, now houses the Provincial Archeological Museum. There is a large open courtyard in the center, and the exterior of the imposing structure is covered with elaborate ornamentation intended to indicate the power and position of its owner. 
On one corner of the building there is a balcony outside a window that is sealed shut. Above the sealed window is carved in stone the phrase, "Esperando la del Cielo" or, roughly translated "Awaiting that of Heaven," which is the title of the legend.
Zafra was not known as a gentle man. He was hard-nosed and harsh-spoken, even cruel. He had a daughter who was very beautiful, of course. This is a legend, after all. It was said that his daughter fell in love with a page who served in the house. The page was, of course, handsome and as good a young man as could ever be hoped for, but terribly poor and therefore unacceptable as a suitor. When Zafra learned of his daughter's infatuation, he flew into a rage, denouncing the page as unworthy. Rather than allow his lineage to be thus dishonored, he ordered the page to be hung from the balcony I mentioned earlier, which happened to be outside the window of his daughter's room. She was locked in this very room, and the door and balcony were sealed shut with bricks.
As the bricks were being laid, the heartbroken daughter cried out to her father, "Justice, father, for God's sake, justice!" to which her cold-hearted father answered, "You'll await heaven's justice, because on this earth you'll find none!" And there, apparently, she died, still awaiting heaven's justice. As the legend was told to us, it sounded as though she were actually sandwiched between two closely spaced walls of stone rather than simply sealed up in her room to starve to death. Gruesome, and so Poe-esque.
There are many versions of this story, but all of them end with the death of the page, poor soul. Historically, however, it is believed that the daughter was actually in love with a neighboring nobleman's son, and the page was simply the messenger between the two lovers. When Zafra learned about it, it is said that the daughter ran away with her lover never to return, and the poor page was hung to assuage Zafra's rage.
In any case, the bricked-up window still rests below the enscription calling upon heaven's justice. Interestingly enough, when Zafra finally passed away, his body lay in state in one of the grand rooms in the lower floor of his home when a terrible storm arose. The river Darro, which runs alongside the home, overflowed its banks and flooded the streets and Zafra's house. The water is said to have actually carried away his body, which was never placed in a grave. To this day, when it rains heavily, some natives of Granada will recall the saying, "It's raining harder than when they buried Zafra!"
Sounds like justice to me.
I only wish you had time to write every day!
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