Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/301

 VEGA VEHMIO COURTS 281 degree at Alcala, became secretary to the duke Antonio of Alva, and married Isabel de Ur- bino, daughter of the king-at-arms. He was imprisoned on account of a duel and then ex- iled from Madrid, spent several years in the celebrated literary circles of Valencia, and be- came a widower in less than a year after his return. In 1588 he joined Philip II.'s armada against England. Shortly before his second marriage in 1597 with Juana de Guardio, he held for the last time a secretaryship, under the same marquis of Sarria who as count de Lemos became known as Calderon's munifi- cent patron. His domestic happiness was after several years interrupted by the death of a son, and of his wife in giving birth to a daughter. After an illicit alliance with Maria de Luxan, who bore him a son who died early and a daughter who became a nun, he joined a lay religious body, and in 1609 be- came a priest; in 1610 he joined the same brotherhood to which Cervantes afterward be- longed, and in 1625 entered a congregation at Madrid, which in 1628 elected him chief chap- lain. As early as 1609 he had styled himself a servant of the inquisition (familiar del santo oficio), and he produced most of his pieces du- ring his connection with the church. Hypo- chondria imparted to his last religious poems a melancholy degree of fanaticism, and on his deathbed he deplored that he had ever been engaged in other than religious occupations. He left his manuscripts to his especial patron the duke of Sessa, who provided for his fu- neral, which lasted nine days. His fertility and rapidity of execution were fabulous. He wrote about 1,800 plays, besides hundreds of autos. About 300 of the former are contained in 28 volumes (1604-'47), and 112 in Comedias escogidas, edited by Hartzenbusch in the Bibli- oteca de autores espafioles. His intense pa- triotism, faithful delineation of popular life, and admirable versification made him exceed- ingly popular, although he disregarded all sense of propriety and of chronological accu- racy in his effort to produce an interesting plot. His dramatic genius embraced the whole range of the art. He first divided the secular from the religious drama, and introduced other modifications and improvements in the stage. Among his best known pieces are Los tres diamantes, La fuerza lastimosa, La discreta enamorada, La dama melindrosa, and El padre engaftado, the last adapted to the English stage byHolcroft ("The Father Outwitted"). His epic poems were soon forgotten, but among his innumerable minor poems are several of superior merit. A select edition of his prose and poetry appeared at Madrid in 1776-'9 (21 vols.), and Hartzenbusch has edited his Obras no dramdticas in the above mentioned collec- tion (1856). Among the Spanish authorities on Lope de Vega are his friend Montalvan and Navarrete ; in English, Southey, Lord Holland, and especially Ticknor in his "History of Spanish Literature." VEGETABLE IVORT TREE. See PHYTELEPHAS. VEHMIC COURTS (Ger. Vehmgerichte or FemgericJite, from old Ger. Fern, punishment, and Gericht, tribunal), secret tribunals which flourished chiefly in Westphalia during the mid- dle ages. They are not mentioned by name before the 13th century, but there are some traces of their existence in the 12th, and as some historians believe even in the 9th century. Westphalia was the home of these courts, and only upon the " red earth," as its soil was called in Vehmic phraseology, could their members be initiated or their sittings be held. The tri- bunals were at first a protest against the arbi- trary decisions of the lawless barons and no- bles. The emperor and the nobles of his court, and with them men of all ranks, associated themselves together for the formation of free tribunals (FreigericMe), composed of elected "free judges" (Fre-uchoffen, or Freischopperi), to try persons accused of crimes against per- sons or property. They were bound by sol- emn oaths not to reveal the circumstances of the trial or the sentence passed on the of- fender if found guilty ; and in order to be one of the brotherhood, the applicant must be of good reputation, and must have two sureties who were already free judges. The initiated recognized each other by signs. The courts mighjt be summoned at any time and in any place in Westphalia, in public or private build- ings, in the forests or caves, or in the open fields ; they were sometimes held publicly, in the presence of the people, but usually they were closed against all but the initiated and the ac- cused person. The emperor, or in his absence the count or noble of highest dignity, presided, though in some instances men of common birth sat as chief judges, even when those of higher rank were present. If any uninitiated person intruded, he was immediately put to death. Before the chief judge lay the emblems of his authority, the sword and the cord. In the early history of the organization, the accused could be absolved by taking a solemn oath of purification upon the handle of the judge's sword ; but when at a later period it was found that criminals did not hesitate to perjure them- selves, the accuser, always a free judge, could substantiate his charge even against the oath of the accused by three or more witnesses. If the accused could rebut these by a number one half greater, he was still discharged; but if condemned, sentence was passed upon him, and he was forthwith hanged. If the person accused had not been arrested, he was sum- moned to appear by fastening upon his door or gateway the summons of the Vehmic court, enclosing in it a small coin. If he had no known or certain residence, then these written summonses were posted at the crossing of four roads nearest his haunts. If he failed to ap- pear or to send a messenger, he was condemned as despising the jurisdiction of the holy Vehm, and once condemned there was little chance of his life while he remained in Germany. In