THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES HISTORY OF THE REIGN OK FERDINAND AND ISABELLA THE CATHOLIC, OF SPAIN BY WILLIAM H. PRESCOTT Qua: surgere regna Conjugio tali ! VIRGIL, /Eneid, iv. 17 Crevre vires, famaque et imperl ? 1'orrecta majestas ab Euro , ad Occiduum cubile. HORAT. Carm. iv. 15 IN ONE VOLUME AUTHOR'S AUTHORIZED EDITION LONDON GEORGE ROUTLEDGE AND SONS BROADWAY, LUDGATE HILL PRESCOTT'S WORKS. One-Volume Edition. FERDINAND AND ISABELLA. 55. CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 53. CONQUEST OF PERU. 55. PHILIP THE SECOND. Vols. I. and II. in One Vol., 5 s. PHILIP THE SECOND. Vol. III., and ESSAYS, in One Vol., 55. CHARLES THE FIFTH. 53. DP to THE HONOURABLE WILLIAM PRESCOTT, LL.D., TUB GUIDE OF MY YOUTH, I!? BEST FRIEND IN RIPER YEA1. ', JCijts Volume, WITH TUB WARMEST FEEI.ING9 OF FILIAL AFFEOTIOM, IS RESPECTFULLY INSORIEKD. PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. ENGLISH writers have done more for the illustration of Spanish history than for that of any other, except their own. To say nothing of the recent general compendium, executed for the " Cabinet Cyclo- paedia," a work of singular acuteness and information, we have particular narratives of the several reigns, in an unbroken series, from the Emperor Charles the Fifth (the First of Spain) to Charles the Third, at the close of the last century, by authors whose names are a sufficient guarantee for the excellence of their productions. It is singular, that, with this attention to the modern history of the Penin- sula, there should be no particular account of the period which may be considered as the proper basis of it, the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella. In this reign, the several States, into which the country had been broken up for ages, were brought under a common rule ; the kingdom of Naples was conquered ; America discovered and colonised ; the ancient empire of the Spanish Arabs subverted ; the dread tribunal of the Modern Inquisition established ; the Jews, who contributed so sensibly to the wealth and civilisation of the country, were banished ; and, in fine, such changes were introduced into the interior adminis- tration of the monarchy, as have left a permanent impression on the character and condition of the nation. The actors in these events were every way suited to their impor- tance. Besides the reigning sovereigns, Ferdinand and Isabella, the latter, certainly, one of the most interesting personages in history, we have, in political affairs, that consummate statesman, Cardinal Ximenes ; in military, the " Great Captain," Gonsalvo de Cordova; and in maritime, the most successful navigator of any age, Christo- pher Columbus ; whose entire biographies fall within the limits of this period. Even such portions of it as have been incidentally touched by English writers, as the Italian wars^for example, have been drawn VI PKEFACE TO THE FIEST EDITION'. so exclusively from French and Italian sources, that they may oe said to be untrodden ground for the historian of Spain.* It must be admitted, however, that an account of this reign could not have been undertaken at any preceding period with anything like the advantages at present afforded, owing to the light which recent researches of Spanish scholars, in the greater freedom of inquiry now enjoyed, have shed on some of its most interesting and least familiar features. The most important of the works to which I allude are, the History of the Inquisition, from official documents, by its secre- tary, Llorente; the analysis of the political institutions of the kingdom, by such writers as Marina, Sempere, and Capmany ; the literal version, now made for the first time, of the Spanish-Arab chronicles, by Conde ; the collection of original and unpublished documents, illustrating the history of Columbus and the early Castilian nau.jators, by Xavarrete ; and lastly, the copious illustrations of Isabella's reign by Clemencin, the late lamented secretary of the Royal Academy of History, forming the sixth volume of its valuable Memoirs. It was the knowledge of these facilities for doing justice to this subject, as well as its intrinsic merits, which led me, ten years since, to select it ; and surely no subject could be found more suitable for the pen of an American, than a history of that reign, under the aus- pices of which the existence of his own favoured quarter of the globe was first revealed. As I was conscious that the value of the history must depend mainly on that of its materials, I have spared neither pains nor expense, from the first, in collecting the most authentic. In accomplishing this, I must acknowledge the services of my friends, Mr. Alexander H. Everett, then minister plenipotentiary from the United States to the court of Madrid ; Mr. Arthur Middleton, secre- tary of the American legation ; and, above all, Mr. O. Rich, now American consul for the Balearic Islands, a gentleman whose extensive bibliographical knowledge and unwearied researches during a long residence in the Peninsula, have been liberally employed for the benefit both of his own country and of England. With such assistance, I flatter * The only histories of this reign by Continental writers, with which I am acquainted, are the "Histoire des Rois Catholiques Ferdinand et Isabelle, per I'AbbS Mignot, Paris, 1766," and the "Geschichte der Regierung Ferdinand dea Katholischen, von Rupert Becker, Prag und Leipzig, 1790." Their authors have employed the most accessible materials only in the compilation ; and, indeed, they lay claim to no great research, which would seem to be precluded by the extent of their works, in neither instance exceeding two volumes duodecimo. They have the merit of exhibiting, in a simple perspicuous form, those events which, lying on the surface, may be found more or less expanded in most general histories. PREFACE TO THE FIRST EPITIOX. Vll myself that I have been enabled to secure whatever can materially conduce to the illustration of the period in question, whether in the form of chronicle, memoir, private correspondence, legal codes, or official documents. Among these are various contemporary manu- scripts, covering the whole ground of the narrative, none of which have been printed, and some of them but little known to Spanish scholars. In obtaining copies of these from the public libraries, I must add, that I have found facilities under the present liberal govern- ment which were denied me under the preceding. In addition to these sources of information, I have availed myself, in the part of the work occupied with literary criticism and history, of the library of my friend Mr. George Ticknor, who, during a visit to Spain, some years since, collected whatever was rare and valuable in the literature of the Peninsula. I must further acknowledge my obligations to the library of Harvard University, in Cambridge, from whose rich repository of books relating to our own country I have derived material aid : and, lastly, I must not omit to notice the favours of another kind, for which I am indebted to my friend Mr. William H. Gardiner, whose judicious counsels have been of essential benefit to me in the revision of my labours. In the plan of the work, I have not limited myself to a strict chronological narrative of passing events ; but have occasionally paused, at the expense, perhaps, of some interest in the story, to seek such collateral information as might bring these events into a clearer vfew. I have devoted a liberal portion of the work to the literary progress of the nation, conceiving this quite as essential a part of its history as civil and military details. I have occasionally introduced, at the close of the chapters, a critical notice of the authorities used, that the reader may form some estimate of their comparative value and credibility. Finally, I have endeavoured to present him with such an account of the state of affairs, both before the accession and at the demise of the Catholic sovereigns, as might afford him the best points of view for surveying the entire results of their reign. How far I have succeeded in the execution of this plan must be left to the reader's candid judgment. Many errors he may be able to detect. Sure I am, there can be no one more sensible of my defi- ciencies than myself ; although it was not till after practical experience that I could fully estimate the difficulty of obtaining anything like a faithful portraiture of a distant age, amidst the shifting hues and perplexing cross-lights of historic testimony. From one class of errors my subject necessarily exempts me, those founded ou national Vlll PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. or party feeling. I may have been more open to another fault, that of too strong a bias in favour of my principal actors; for characteis, noble and interesting in themselves, naturally beget a sort of partiality, akin to friendship, in the historian's mind, accustomed to the daily contemplation of them. Whatever defects may be charged on the work, I can at least assure myself, that it is an honest record of a reign important in itself, new to the reader in an English dress, and resting on a solid basis of authentic materials, such as probably could not be met with out of Spain, nor in it without much difficulty. I hope I shall be acquitted of egotism, although I add a few words respecting the peculiar embarrassments I have encountered in com- posing this History. Soon after my arrangements were made, early in 1826, for obtaining the necessary materials from Madrid, I was deprived of the use of my eyes for all purposes of reading and writing, and had no prospect of again recovering it. This was a serious obstacle to the prosecution of a work requiring the perusal of a large mass of authorities, in various languages, the contents of which were to be carefully collated, and transferred to my own pages, verified by minute reference.* Thus shut out from one sense, I was driven to rely exclusively on another, and to make the ear do the work of the eye. With the assistance of a reader, uninitiated, it may be added, in any modern language but his own, I worked my way through several venerable Castilian quartos, until I was satisfied of the prac- ticability of the undertaking. I next procured the services of one more competent to aid me in pursuing my historical inquiries. The process was slow and irksome enough, doubtless, to both parties, at least till my ear was accommodated to foreign sounds, and an anti- quated, oftentimes barbarous phraseology, when my progress became more sensible, and I was cheered with the prospect of success. It certainly would have been a far more serious misfortune to be led thus blindfold through the pleasant paths of literature ; but my track stretched, for the most part, across dreary wastes, where no beauty lurked to arrest the traveller's eye and charm his senses. After persevering in this course for some years, my eyes, by the blessing of * "To compile a history from various authors when they can only be consulted by other eyes, is not easy, nor possible, but with more skilful and attentive help than can be commonly obtained." (Johnson's Life of Milton.) This remark of the great critic, which first engaged my attention in the midst of my embarrassments, although discouraging at first, in the end stimulated the desire to overcome them. PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. IX Providence, recovered sufficient strength to allow me to use them, with tolerable freedom, in the prosecution of my labours, and in the revision of all previously written. I hope I shall not be misunderstood, as stating these circumstances to deprecate the severity of criticism, since I am inclined to think the greater circumspection I have been compelled to use has left me, on the whole, less exposed to inaccu- racies than I should have been in the ordinary mode of composition. But, as I reflect on the many sober hours I have passed in wading through black-letter tomes, and through manuscripts whose doubtful orthography and defiance of all punctuation were so many stumbling- blocks to my amanuensis, it calls up a scene of whimsical distresses, not usually encountered, on which the good-natured reader may, perhaps, allow I have some right, now that I have got the better of them, to dwell with satisfaction. I will only remark, in conclusion of this too prolix discussion about myself, that, while making my tortoise-like progess, I saw what I had fondly looked upon as my own ground, (having lain unmolested by any other invader for so many ages,) suddenly entered, and in part occupied, by one of my countrymen. I allude to Mr. Irving's " History of Columbus," and " Chronicle of Granada ; " the subjects of which, although covering but a small part of my whole plan, form certainly two of its most brilliant portions. Now, alas ! if not devoid of interest, they are at least stripped of the charm of novelty : for what eye has not been attracted to the spot on which the light of that writer's genius has fallen ? I cannot quit the subject which has so long occupied me, without one glance at the present unhappy condition of Spain ; who, shorn of her ancient splendour, humbled by the loss of empire abroad, and credit at home, is abandoned to all the evils of anarchy. Yet deplor- able as this condition is, it is not so bad as the lethargy in which she has been sunk for ages. Better be hurried forward for a season on the wings of the tempest, than stagnate in a death-like calm, fatal alike to intellectual and moral progress. The crisis of a revolution, when old things are passing away, and new ones are not yet esta- blished, is, indeed, fearful. Even the immediate consequences of its achievement are scarcely less so to a people who have yet to learn by experiment the precise form of institutions best suited to their wants, and to accommodate their character to these institutions. Such results must come with time, however, if the nation but be true to itself. And that they will come, sooner or later, to the Spaniards, surely no on can distrust who is at all conversant with their earlier history, X PREFACE TO THE FIIIST EDITION. and has witnessed the examples it affords of heroic virtue, devoted patriotism, and generous love of freedom. " die 1'antico valore non e ancor morto." Clouds and darkness have, indeed, settled thick around the throne of the youthful Isabella ; but not a deeper darkness than that which covered the land in the first years of her illustrious namesake ; and we may humbly trust, that the same Providence which guided her reign to so prosperous a termination, may carry the nation safe through its present perils, and secure to it the greatest of earthly blessings, civil and religious liberty. NOVEMBER, 1837. PEEFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION. SINCE the publication of the First Edition of this work it has undergone a careful revision ; and this, aided by the communications of several intelligent friends, who have taken an interest in its success, has enabled me to correct several verbal inaccuracies, and a few typographical errors, which had been previously overlooked. While the Second Edition was passing through the press, I received, also, copies of two valuable Spanish works having relation to the reign of the Catholic sovereigns, but which, as they appeared during the recent troubles of the Peninsula, had not before come to my knowledge. For these I am indebted to the politeness of Don Angel Calderon de la Barca, late Spanish Minister at Washington ; a gentleman whose frank and liberal manners, personal accomplishments, and inde- pendent conduct in public life, have secured for him deservedly high consideration in the United States, as well as in his own country. I must still further acknowledge my obligations to Don Pascual de Gayangos, the learned author of the " Mahommedan Dynasties in Spain," recently published in London, a work, which from its thorough investigation of original sources, and its fine spirit of criticism, must supply, what has been so long felt to be a desideratum with the student, the means of forming a perfect acquaintance with the Arabian portion of the Peninsular annals. There fell into the bands of this gentleman, on the breaking up of the convents of Saragossa, in 1835, a rich collection of original documents, compre- hending, among other things, the autograph correspondence of Ferdinand and Isabella, and of the principal persons of their court. It formed, probably, part of the library of Geronimo Zurita, historio- grapher of Aragon, under Philip II., who, by virtue of his office, was intrusted with whatever documents would illustrate the history of the country. This rare collection was left at his death to a monastery in his native city. Although Zurita is one of the principal authorities Xll PEEFACE 10 THE TIIIED EDITIOX. for the present work, there are many details of interest in this corre- spondence, which have passed unnoticed by him, even when forming the basis of his conclusions. And I have gladly availed myself of the liberality and great kindness of Senor de Gayangos, who has placed these MSS. at my disposal, transcribing such as I have selected, for the corroboration and further illustration of my work. The difficulties attending this labour of love will be better appreciated when it is understood that the original writing is in an antiquated character, which few Spanish scholars of the present day could comprehend, and often in cypher, which requires much patience and ingenuity to explain. With these various emendations, it is hoped that the present Edition may be found more deserving of that favour from the English public, which has been so courteously accorded to the preceding. MARCH, 1841. CONTENTS. INTRODUCTION. SECTION L VIEW OF THE CASTILIAN MONARCHY BEFORE THE FIFTEENTH CENTURT. Early History and Constitution of Castile Invasion of the Arabs Slow Reconquest of the Country Religious Enthusiasm of the Spaniards Influence of their Min- strelsyTheir Chivalry Castilian Town Cortes Its Powers Its Boldness Wealth of the Cities -The Nobility Their Privileges and Wealth Knights Clergy Pov?rty of the Crown Limited Extent of the Prerogative . . 1 SECTION II. REVIEW OF THE CONSTITUTION OF ARAGON TO THE MIDDLE OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. Rise of Aragon Ricos Hombres Their Immunities Their Turbulence Privileges of Union The Legislature Its Forms Its Powers General Privilege Judicial Functions of Cortes The Justice His great Authority Rise and Opulence of Barcelona Her free Institutions Intellectual Culture 2J PART THE FIRST. THE PERIOD WHEN THE DIFFERENT KINGDOMS OF SPAIN WERE FIRST UNITED UNDER ONE MONARCHY, AND A THOROUGH REFORM WAS INTRODUCED INTO THEIR INTERNAL ADMINISTRATION ; OR, THE PERIOD EXHIBITING MOST FULLY THE DOMESTIC POLICY OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA. CHAPTER L STATE OF CASTILE AT THE BIRTH OF ISABELLA REIGN OF JOHN II. OF CAST1LK. Revolution of Trastamara Accession of John II. Rise of Alvaro de Luna Jealousy of the Nobles Oppression of the Commons Its consequences Early Literature of Castile Its Encouragement under John II. Decline of Alvaro de Luna His Fall Death of John II. Birth of Isabella 39 CHAPTER IL CONDITION OF ARAGON DURING THE MINORITY OF FERDINAND REIGN OF JOHN II OF ARAGON. John of Aragon Difficulties with his son Carlos Birth of Ferdinand Insurrection of Catalonia Death of Carlos His Character Tragical Story of Blanche Young Ferdinand besieged by the Catalans Treaty between France and Aragon Distress and Embarrassments of John Siege and Surrender of Barcelona . . . 48 CHAPTER III. REIGN OF HENRY IV. OF CASTILE CIVIL WAR MARRIAGE OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA. Henry IV. disappoints Expectations Oppression of the People League of the Noblea Extraordinary Scene at Avila Early Education of Isabella Death of her Brother XIV CONTEXT?. Pag* Alfonso Intestine Anarchy The Crown offered to Isabella She declines it Her Suitors She accepts Ferdinand of Aragon Marriage Articles Critical Situation of Isabella Ferdinand enters Castile Their Marriage . ... OS CHAPTER IV. FACTIONS IK CASTILE WAB BETWEEN FRANCE AND ARAGCN DEATH OF HENP.Y IT. OF CASTILE. Factions in Castile Ferdinand and Isabella Gallant defence of Perpigiian against the French Ferdinand raises the siege Isabella's party gains strength Interview between king Henry IV. and Isabella The French invade Roussillon Ferdinand's summary justice Death of Henry IV. of Castile Influence of his reign . . 83 CHAPTER V. ACCESSION OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA WAB OF THE SUCCESSION BATTLE OF TORO. Isabella proclaimed Queen Settlement of the Crown Alfonso of Portugal supports Joanna Invades Castile Retreat of the Castilians Appropriation of the Church Plate. Reorganisation of the Army Battle of Toro Submission of the whole Kingdom. Peace with France and" Portugal Joanna takes the Veil Death of John II. of Aragon 93 CHAPTER VI. INTERNAL ADMINISTRATION OF CASTILE. Schemes of Reform Holy Brotherhood Tumult at Segovia The Queen's Presence of mind Severe execution of Justice Royal Progress through Andalusia Reorgan- isation of the Tribunals Castilian Jurisprudence Plans for reducing the Nobles Revocation of Grants Military Orders of Castile Masterships annexed to the Crown Ecclesiastical Usurpations resisted Restoration of Trade Prosperity of the Kingdom 10 CHAPTER VII. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MODERN INQUISITION. Origin of the ancient Inquisition Retrospective view of the Jews in Spain Their wealth and civilisation Bigotry of the age Its influence on Isabella Her con- fessor, Torquemada Bull authorising the Inquisition Tribunal at Seville Forms of trial Torture Autos da Fe Number of Convictions Perfidious policy of Rome ISO CHAPTER VIII. RCYIXW Or THE POLITICAL AND INTELLECTUAL CONDITION OF THE SPANISH ARAM PREVIOUS TO THE WAB OF GRANADA. Conquest of Spain by the Arabs Cordovan Empire High Civilisation and Prosperity Its dismemberment Kingdom of Granada Luxurious and chivalrous character Literature of the Spanish Arabs Progress in Science Historical Merits Useful Discoveries Poetry and Romance Influence on the Spaniards .... 148 CHAPTER IX. WAR OF GRANADA SURPRISE OF ZARARA CAPTURE OF ALHAMA. Zahara surprised by the Moors Marquis of Cadiz His expedition aeainst Alhama Valour of the Citizens Desperate Struggle Fall of Alhama Consternation of the Moors Vigorous measures of the Queen 167 CHAPTER X. WAB OF GRANADA UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT ON LOJA DEFEAT IN THE AXARQUIA. Unsuccessful attempt on Loja Revolution in Granada Expedition to the Axarquia Military Array Moorish preparations Bloody Conflict among the Mountains The Spunwrds force a passage The Marquis of Cadiz escapes 17T CONTEXTS. XV CHAPTER XI. WAR OF GRANADA GENERAL VIEW OF THE POLICY PURSUED IN THE CONDUCT OF THIS WAR. Page Defeat and Capture of Abdallah Policy of the Sovereigns Large Trains of Artillery Description of the Pieces Stupendous Roads Isabella's care of the Troops Her Perseverance Discipline of the Army Swiss Mercenaries English Lord Scales Magnificence of the Nobles Isabella visits the Camp Ceremonies on the Occupation of a City 194 CHAPTER XII. INTERNAL AFFAIRS OF THE KINGDOM INQUISITION IN A P. A CON. Isabella enforces the Laws Punishment of Ecclesiastics Inquisition in Aragon Remonstrance of the Cortes Conspiracy Assassination of the Inquisitor Arbues Cruel Persecutions Inquisition throughout Ferdinand's Dominions . . . 207 CHAPTER XIII. WAE OF GRANADA SURRENDER OF VELEZ MALAGA 8IEOE AND CONQUEST OF MALAUA. Narrow escape of Ferdinand before Velez Malaga invested by Sea and Land Brilliant Spectacle The Queen visits the Camp Attempt to assassinate the Sovereigns Distress and Resolution of the Besieged Enthusiasm of the Christians Outworks carried by them Proposals for Surrender Haughty Demeanour of Ferdinand Malaga surrenders at Discretion Cruel Policy of the Victors . . 811 CHAPTER XIV. WAR OF GRANADA CONQUEST OF BAZA SUBMISSION OF XL IAOAL. The Sovereigns visit Aragon The King lays siege to Baza Its great Strength Gardens cleared of their Timber The Queen raises the spirits of her Troops Her patriotic Sacrifices Suspension of Arms Baza surrenders Treaty with Zagal Difficulties of the Campaign Isabella's Popularity and Influence .... 224 CHAPTER XV. WA OF ORANADA SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF THE CITT OF GRANADA. The Infanta Isabella affianced to the Prince of Portugal Isabella deposes Judges at Valladolid Encampment before Granada The Queen surveys the City Moslem and Christian Chivalry Conflagration of the Christian Camp Erection of Santa Fe Capitulation of Granada Results of the War Its Moral Influence Its Military Influence Fate of the Moors Death and Character of the Marquis of Cadiz . . 380 CHAPTER XVI. APPLICATION OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBT78 AT THB SPANISH COURT. Early discoveries of the Portuguese Of the Spaniards Columbus His application at the Castilian Court Rejected Negotiations resumed Favourable disposition of the Queen Arrangement with Columbus He sails on his first Voyage Indiffer- ence to the Enterprise Acknowledgments due to Isabella 251 CHAPTER XVII. EXPULSION OF THE JEWS FROM SPAIN. Excitement against the Jews Edict of Expulsion Dreadful Sufferings of the Emi- grantsWhole number of Exiles Disastrous Results True Motives of the Edict Contemporary Judgments 261 CHAPTER XVIII. ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF FERDINAND RETURN AND SECOND VOTAGE OF COLUMBUS. At'empt on Ferdinand's life Consternation ana Loyalty of the People Return of Columbus His Progress to Barcelona Interviews with the Sovereigns r XVI CONTEXTS. Pate Sensations caused by the discovery Regulations of Trade Con version of the Natives Famous Bulls of Alexander VI. Jealousy of Portugal Second Voyage of Columbus Treaty of Tordesillaa 269 CHAPTER XIX. CASTILIAN LITERATURE CULTIVATION OF THE COURT CLASSICAL LEARNING SCIENCE, Early Education of Ferdinand Of Isabella Her Library Early Promise of Prince John Scholarship of the Nobles Accomplished Women Classical Learning Universities Printing introduced Encouraged by the Queen Actual progress of Science 23* CHAPTER XX. CAST1L1AK LITERATURE ROMANCES OF CHIVALRY LYRICAL POETRY THE DRAMA. This Reign an Epoch in Polite Letters Romances of Chivalry Ballads or Romances Moorish Minstrelsy "Cancionero General" Its Literary Value Rise of the Spanish Drama Criticism on "Celestina" Enema Naharro Low Condition of the Stage National Spirit of the Literature of this Epoch ..... 200 PART THE SECOND. THE PERIOD WHEN, THE INTERIOR ORGANISATION OF THE MONARCHY HAVING BEEN COMPLETED, THE SPANISH NATION ENTERED ON ITS SCHEMES OF DISCOVERY AND CONQUEST J OR THE PERIOD ILLUSTRATING MORE PARTICULARLY THE FOREIGN POLICY OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA. CHAPTER I. ITALIA* WARS GENERAL VIEW OF EUROPE INVASION OF ITALY BV CHARLES Vm. OF FRVNCE. Europe at the close of the Fifteenth Century More intimate n lations between States Italy the School of Politics Pretensions of Charles VIII. to Xap'.es Treaty of Barcelona The French invade Naples Ferdinand's Diss:itisfa:tiou Tactics and Arms of the different Nations Preparations of Spain Mission to Charles VI II. Bold conduct of the Envoys The French enter Naples 303 CHAPTER IL ITALIAK WARS RETREAT OF CHARLES VHI. CAMPAIGNS OF OONSALVO DE CORDOVA FINAL EXPULSION OF THE FRENCH. Impolitic conduct of Charles He plunders the Works of Art Gonsalvo de Cordova His brilliant Qualities Raised to the Italian Command Battle of Serniiiara Gonsalvo's Successes Decline of the French He receives the title of Givat Captain Expulsion of the French from Italy 319 CHAPTER IIL ITALIAN WARS GONSALVO SUCCOURS THE POPE TREATY WITH FRANC! ORGANISATION OF THE SPANISH MILITIA. Gonsalvo succours the Pope Storms Ostia Reception in Rome Peace with France Ferdinand's Reputation advanced by his Conduct in the War Organisation of the Militia 3^2 CHAPTER IV. ALLIANCES OF TUB ROYAL FAMILY DEATH OF PRINCE JOHN AND PRINCESS ISABELLA. Royal Family of Castile Matrimonial Alliances tvith Portugal With Austria " Marriage of John and Margaret Death of Prince John The Queen's Resignation Independence of the Cortes of Aragon Death of the Princess Isabella Recog- nition of her infant son Miguel 307 CONTENTS. xv u CHAPTER V. DEATH Of CARDINAL MENDOZA RISE OF XIMENES ECCLESIASTICAL REFORM. Pp.se Death of Mendoza His Early Life, and Character The Queen his Executor Origin ofXimenes He enters the Franciscan Order His Ascetic Li fo Confessor to the Queen Made Archbishop of Toledo Austerity of his Life Reform of the Monastic Orders Insults oflered to the Queen She consents to the Reform . . . .346 CHAPTER VI. XIMENTS IN ORANADA PERSECUTION, INSURRECTION, AND CONVERSION OF THE MOORS. Tranquil State of Granada Mild Policy of Talavera Clergy dissatisfied with it Violent Measures of Ximenes His Fanaticism Its mischievous Effects Insur- rection in Granada Tranquillity restored Baptism of the Inhabitants . . . 35J CHAPTER VII. RISINO IN THE ALPUXARRA8 DEATH OF ALONSO DE AOUILAR EDICT AGAINST THE MOORS. Riaing in the Alpuxarras Expedition to the Sierra Vermeja Alonso de Aguilar His noble Character, and Death Bloody Rout of the Spaniards Final Submission to Ferdinand Cruel Policy of the Victors Commemorative Ballads Edict against the Moors Causes of Intolerance Last notice of the Moors uudcr the present Reign , 367 CHAPTER VIII. COLUMBUS PROSECUTION OF DISCOVERT HIS TREATMENT BY THE COURT. Progress of Discovery Reaction of Public Feeling The Queen's Confidence in Colum- bus He discovers Terra Firma Isabella sends back the Indian Slaves Com- plaints against Columbus Superseded in the Government Vindication of the Sovereigns H.s fourth and last Voyage 378 CHAPTER IX. SPANISH COLONIAL POLICY. Careful Provision for the Colonies Licence for Private Voyages Important Papal Concessions The Queen's Zeal for Conversion Immediate Profits from, the Dis- coveries Their Moral Consequences Their Geographical Extent . . . .391 CHAPTER X. ITALIAN WARS PARTITION OF NAPLES GONSALVO OVERRUNS CALABRIA. Louis XII. "s Designs on Italy Alarm of the Spanish Court Bold Conduct of its Minister at Rome Celebrated Partition of Naples Gonsalvo sails against the Turks Success and Cruelties of the French Gonsalvo invades Calabria He punishes a Mutiny His munificent Spirit He captures Tarento Seizes the Duke of Calabria 399 CHAFFER XI. ITALIAN WARS RUPTURE WITH FRANCE OONSALVO BESIEGED IN BARLETTA. Rupture between the French and Spaniards Gonsalvo retires to Barletta Chivalrous Character of the War Tourney near Trani Duel between Bayard and Sotomavor Distress of Barletta Constancy of the Spaniards Gonsalvo storms and takes Ruvo Prepares to leave Barletta 418 CHAPTER XII. ITALIAN WARS NEGOTIATIONS WITH FRANCE VICTORY OF CERIGNOLA SURRENDER OF NAPLES. Birth of Charles V. Philip and Joanna visit Spain Treaty of Lyons The Great Captain refuses to comply with it Encamps before Cerignola Battle, and Rout of the French Triumphant entry of Gonsalvo Into Naples 422 b CONTENTS. CHAPTER XHI. 1TEGOTIATION3 WITH FRANCE UNSUCCESSFUL INVASION OF SPA rN TRUCE. ft* Ferdinand's Policy examined First Symptoms of Joanna's Insanity Isabella's Dis- tress and Fortitude Efforts of France Siege of Salsas Isabella's Levies Ferdi- nand's Successes Reflections on the Campaign .._,,.. 433 CHAPTER XIV. ITALIAH WARS CONDITION OF ITALY FRENCH AND SPANISH ARMIES ON TH GAKIGLIANO. Melancholy State of Italy Great Preparations of Louis Gonsalvo repulsed before Gaeta Armies on the Garisrliano Bloody Passage of the Bridge Anxious Expec- tation of Italy Critical Situation of the Spaniards Gonsalvo's Resolution Heroism of Paredes and Bayard ..... . . . . . 440 CHAPTER XV. ITALIAN WARS BOUT OF THE GARIGLIANO TREATY WITH FRANCE GONSALYO'8 MILITARY CONDUCT. Gonsalvo crosses the River Consternation of the French Action near Gaeta Hotly contested The French defeated Gaeta surrenders Public Enthusiasm Treaty with France Review of Gonsalvo's Military Conduct Results ol the Campaign . 458 CHAPTER XVL ILLNESS AND DEATH OF ISABELLA HER CHARACTER, Decline of the Queen's Health Alarm of the Nation Her Testament and Codicil Her Resignation and Death Her Remains transported to Granada Isabella's Person Her Manners Her Character Parallel with Queen Elizabeth . . . 463 CHAPTER XVII. TERDDfAWD REGENT HIS SECOND MARRIAGE DISSENSIONS WITH PHILIP RESIG- NATION OF THE REGENCY. Ferdinand Regent Philip's Pretensions Ferdinand's Perplexities Impolitic treaty with France The King's Second Marriage Landing of Philip and Joanna Unpopularity of Ferdinand His Interview with his Son-in-law He resigns the Regracy ............. ... 477 CHAPTER XVIII. COLUMBUS HIS RETURN TO SPAIN HIS DEATH. Return of Columbus from his Fourth Voyage His Illness Neglected by Ferdinand His Death His Person and Character ......... 4SS CHAPTER XIX. REIGW AMD DEATH OF PHILIP I. PROCEEDINGS IN CASTILE FERDINAND TISITt NAPLES. Philip and Joanna Their reckless Administration Ferdinand distrusts Gonsalvo He sails for Naples Philip's Death and Character The Provisional Government- Joanna's Condition Ferdinand's Entry into Naples Discontent caused by hi* Measures there .............. 42 CHAPTER XX. FERDINAND'S RETURN AND AGENCY GONSALVO'S HONOURS AND RETIREMENT. Joanna's mad Conduct She changes her Ministers Disorders in Castile Ferdinand's Politic Behaviour He leaves Naples His Brilliant Reception by Louis XII. Honours to Gonsalvo Ferdinand's return to Castile His excessive Severity Neglect of the Great Captain His honourable Retirement ..... 500 COKTKM'S. CHAPTER XXL XIMFNES CONQUESTS nr AFRICA UNIVERSITY or ALCAIC POLYGLOT BIBL*. Page Enthusiasm of Xinienes His warlike Preparations He sends an Army to Africa Storms Oran His triumphant Entry The King's Distrust of him He returns to Spain Navarre's African Conquests Magnificent Endowments of Xiinenes University of AlcaLi Complutensian Polyglot- .... t ... 511 CHAPTER XXII. WABS AM) POLITICS OF ITALY. League of Cambray Alarm of Ferdinand Holy League Battle of Ravenna Death of Gaston de Foix Retreat of the French The Spaniards victorious .... 52* CHAPTER XXIII. CONQUEST OF NAVARRE. Sovereigns of Navarre Ferdinand demands a Passage Invasion and Conquest of Navarre Treaty of Orthes Ferdinand settles his Conquests His Conduct examined Gross abuse of the Victory . 530 CHAPTER XXIV. DEATH OF GONSALVO DE CORDOVA ILLNESS AND DEATH OT FERDINAND HIS CHARACTER. Oonsalvo ordered to Italy General Enthusiasm The King's Distrust Gonsalvo In Retirement Decline of his ITealth His Death, and noble Character Ferdinand's Illness It Increases He dies His Character A Contrast to Isabella The Judgment of his Contemporaries . , 53f CHAPTER XXV. ADMINISTRATION, DEATH, AND CHARACTER OF CARDINAL XIMESES. Xiinenes Governor of Castile Charles proclaimed King Ximenes' Domestic Policy He intimidates the Nobles Public Discontents Charles lands in Spain His Ingratitude to Ximenes The Cardinal's Illness and Death His extraordinary Character 550 CHAPTER XXVI. GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF FERDINAND AHD ISABELLA. Policy of the Crown towards the Nobles the Clergy Consideration of the Commons Advancement of Prerogative Legal Compilations The Legal Profession Trade Manufactures Agriculture Restrictive Policy Revenues Progress of Discovery Colonial Administration General Prosperity Increase of Population Chivalrous Spirit The Period of National Glory . , ... M9 HISTOIIY OF THE REIGN OT FERDINAND AND ISABELLA. INTRODUCTION. SECTION I. TTEW OF THK CASTILIAN MONARCHY BEFORE THE nFTEKTTTH CFNTtTRT. Enr'y History and Constitution of Castile Invasion of the Arabs Slow Reconquest at the Country Religious Enthusiasm of the Spaniards Influence of their Minstrelsy Their Chivalry Castilian Town Cortes Its Powers Its Boldness Wealth of the Cities The Nobility Their Privileges and Wealth Knights Clergy Poverty of the Crown Limited Extent of the Prerogative. several hundred years after the great Saracen invasion in the beginning of the eighth century, Spain was broken up into a number of small but independent states, divided in their interests, and often in deadly hostility with one another. It was inhabited by races the most dissimilar in their origin, religion, and government, the least important of which has exerted a sensible influence on the character and institutions of its present inhabitants. At the close of the fifteenth century these various races were blended into one great nation, under one common rule. Its territorial limits were widely extended by discovery and conquest. Its domestic institutions, and even its literature, were moulded into the form, which, to a considerable extent, they have maintained to the present day. It is the object of the present narrative to exhibit the period in which these momentous results were effected, the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella. By the middle of the fifteenth century, the number of states into which the country had been divided was reduced to four : Castile, Aragon, Xavarre, and the Moorish kingdom of Granada. The last, com- prised within nearly the same limits as the modern province of that name, was all that remained to the Moslems of their once vast possessions in the Peninsula. Its concentrated population gave it a degree of strength altogether disproportioned to the extent of its territory ; and the profuse 2 UTTRODITCTIOK. magnificence of its court, which rivalled that of tke ancient caliphs, was supported by the labours of a sober, industrious people, under whom agriculture and several of the mechanic arts had reached a degree of excellence probably unequalled in any other part of Europe during tho middle ages. The little kingdom of Navarre, embosomed within the Pyrenees, had often attracted the avarice of neighbouring and more powerful states. But since their selfish schemes operated as a mutual check upon each other, Navarre still continued to maintain her independence when all the 1 smaller states in the Peninsula had been absorbed in the gradually increasing dominion of Castile and Aragon. This latter kingdom comprehended the province of that name, together , with Catalonia and Valencia. UMer its auspicious climate and free < political institutions, its inhabitants displayed an uncommon share of intellectual and moral energy. Its long line of coast opened the way to an extensive and flourishing commerce ; and its enterprising navy indemnified the nation for the scantiness of its territory at home, by the important foreign conquests of Sardinia, Sicily, Naples, and the Balearic Isles. The remaining provinces of Leon, Biscay, the Asturias, Galicia, Old and New Castile, Estremadura, Murcia, and Andalusia, fell to the crown of Castile, which, thus extending its sway over an unbroken line of country from the Bay of Biscay to the Mediterranean, seemed by the magnitude of its territory, as well as by its antiquity (for it was there that the old Gothic monarchy may be said to have first revived after the great Saracen invasion), to be entitled to a preeminence over the other states of the Peninsula. This claim, indeed, appears to have been recognised at an early period of her history. Aragon did homage to Castile for her territory en the western bank of the Ebro until the twelfth century ; as did Navarre, Portugal, and, at a later period, the Moorish kingdom of Granada.* And, when at length the various states of Spain were consolidated into one monarchy, the capital of Castile became the capital of the new empire, and her language the language of the court and of literature. It will facilitate our inquiry into the circumstances which immediately led to these results, if we briefly glance at the prominent features in the early history and constitution of the two principal Christian states, Castile and Aragon, previous to the fifteenth century, f The Visigoths, who overran the Peninsula in the fifth century, brought with them the same liberal principles of government which distinguished their Teutonic brethren. Their crown was declared elective by a formal legislative act. Laws were enacted in the great national councils, com- vosed of prelates and nobility, and not unfrequently ratified in an Aragon was formally released from this homage in 1177, and Portugal in 1264. The King of Granada, Aben Alahrnar, swore fealty to St. Ferdinand in 1245, binding himself to Uie payment of an annual rent, to serve under him with a stipulated number of his knights in war, and personally attend Carles tchen summoned, a whimsical stipulation this for a Mahometan prince. t Navarre \v;us too inconsiderable, and bore too near a resemblance in its government to tin; other Peninsular kingdoms, to require a separate notice; for which, indeed, tho national writers afford but very scanty materials. The Moorish empire of Granada, so inti resting in itself, and MI dissimilar, in all respects, to Christian Spain, merits particular attention. I liavu deferred the consideration of it, however, to that period of the Hiiitorw TI\~"\I is occupied with its subversion. See Part I. chap. 8. CASTILE. 3 assembly of the people. Their code of jurisprudence, although abound- ing in frivolous detail, contained many admirable provisions for the security of justice ; and, in the degree of civil liberty which it accorded to the Roman inhabitants of the country, far transcended those of most of the other barbarians of the Xorth.* In short, their simple polity exhibited the germ of some of those institutions which, with other nations, and under happier auspices, have formed the basis of a well- regulated constitutional liberty. But while in other countries the principles of a free government were slowly and gradually unfolded, their development was much accelerated iu Spain by an event, which, at the time, seemed to threaten their total extinction, the great Saracen invasion at the beginning of the eighth century. The religious, as well as the political institutions of the Arabs, were too dissimilar to those of the conquered nation, to allow the former to exercise any very sensible influence over the latter in these particulars. In the spirit of toleration which distinguished the early followers of Mahomet, they conceded to such of the Goths as were willing to continue among them after the conquest, the freo enjoyment of their religious, as well as many of the civil privileges which they possessed under the ancient monarchy. t Under this liberal dispensation it cannot be doubted that n^'iny preferred remaining in the pleasant regions of their ancestors, to quitting them for a life of poverty and toil. These, however, appear to have been chiefly of the lower order ;J and the men of higher rank, or of more generous sentiments, who refused to accept a nominal and precarious independence at the hands of their oppressors, escaped from the overwhelming inundation into the neighbouring countries of France, Italy, and Britain, or retreated behind those natural fortresses of the north, the Asturian hills and the Pyrenees, whither the victorious Saracen disdained to pursue them. Here the broken remnant of the nation endeavoured to revive the forms at least of the ancient government. But it may well be conceived how imperfect these must have been under a calamity which, breaking up all the artificial distinctions of society, seemed to resolve it at once into its primitive equality. The monarch, once master of the whole Peninsula, now beheld his empire contracted to a few barren in- hospitable rocks. The noble, instead of the broad lands and thronged * Recesvinto, in order more effectually to bring about the consolidation of his Gothic and Roman subjects into one nation, abrogated the law prohibiting their intermarriage. The terms iu which his enactment is conceived disclose a far more enlightened policy than that pursued either by the Franks or Lombards. The Visigothic code, Fuero Juzgo, originally compiled in Latin, was translated into Spanisli under St. Ferdinand ; a copy of which version was first printed in ItiOO, at Madrid. A second edition, under the super- vision of the Royal Spanish Academy, was published in 1815. This compilation, no: apparent rudeness and even ferocity of some of its features, may be said to ormed the baaia of all the subsequent legislation of Castile. It was, doubtless, the exclusive contemplation of these features which brought upon these laws the SWL condemnation of Montesquieu, as "pueriles, gauches, idiotes, frivoles dans le fond et ..ins le style." Esprit de.s Loix, liv. 'JS, chap. 1. t The Christians, in all matters exclusively relating to themselves, were governed by their own laws, administered by their own judges, subject only in capital cases to au appeal to the Moorish tribunals. Their churches and monasteries were scattered over the principal towns, Cordova retaining seven, Toledo six, &c. ; and their clergy were allowed to display the costume, and celebrate the pompous ceremonial, of the Romish communion, J Yet the names of several nobles resident among the Moors appear in the record of those times. If we could rely on a singular fact, quoted by Zurita. we might infer that targe proportion of the Goths were content to reside among their 8a - raeen conqueror*. halls of his ancestors, saw himself at best but the chief of some wandering horde, seeking a doubtful subsistence, like himself, by rapine. The peasantry, indeed, may be said to have gained by the exchange ; and in a situation in which all factitious distinctions were of les& worth than individual prowess and efficiencv, they rose in political consequence. Even slavery, a sore evil among the Visigoths, as indeed among all the barbarians of German origin, though not effaced, lost many of its most revolting features under the more generous legislation of later times.* A sensible and salutary influence, at the same time, was exerted on le moral energies of the nation, which had been corrupted in the long enjoyment of uninterrupted prosperity. Indeed, so relaxed were che moruis of the court, as well as of the clergy, and so enervated had all classes become in the general diffusion of luxury, that some authors have not scrupled to refer to these causes principally the perdition of the Gothic monarchy. An entire reformation in these habits was necessarily effected in a situation where a scanty subsistence could, only be earned by a life of extreme temperance and toil, and where it was often to be sought sword in hand, from an enemy far superior in numbers. Whatever may have been the vices of the Spaniards, they cannot have been those of effeminate sloth. Thus, a sober, hardy, and independent race was gradually formed, prepared to assert their ancient inheritance, and to lay the foundations of far more liberal and equitable forms of government than wexe known to their ancestors. At first their progress was slow and almost imperceptible. The Saracens, indeed, reposing under the sunny skies of Andalusia, so congenial with their own, seemed willing to relinquish the sterile regions of the north to an enemy whom they despised. But, when the Spaniards, quitting the shelter of their mountains, descended into the open plains of Leon and Castile, they found themselves exposed to the predatory incursions of the Arab cavalry, who, sweeping over the face of the country, carried off in a single foray the hard-earned produce of a summer's toil. It was not until they had reached some natural boundary, as the river Douro, or the chain of the Guadarrama, that they were enabled, by constructing a line of fortifications along these primitive bul\\ arks, to secure their conquests, and oppose an effectual resistance to the destructive inroads of their enemies. Their own dissensions were another cause of their tardy progress. The numerous petty states which rose from the ruins of the ancient monarchy, seemed to regard each other with even a fiercer hatred than that with which thry viewed the enemies of their faith ; a circumstance that more than once brought the nation to the verge of ruin. More Christian blood uas wasted in these national feuds, than in all their encounters with the infidel. The soldiers of Fernan Goncalez, a chieftain of the tenth century, complained that their master made them lead the life of very devils, keeping them in the harness day and night, in wars, not against the Saracens, but one another. * Th lot of the Visigothic slave was sufficiently hard. The oppressions which thi unhappy race endured were such as to lead Mr. Southey, in his excellent introduction to the " Chronicle of the Cid," to impute to their co-operation, in part, the easy conquest of the country by the Arab*. But, although the laws in relation to them, seem to he taken up with determining their incapacities rather than their privileges, it is probable that they secured to them, ou the whole, quite as great a degree of civil consequence as wa* enjoyed by similar clusse tie rest of Europe. CASTILE. 6 These circumstances so far palsied the arm of the Christians, that a century and a half elapsed after the invasion before they had penetrated to the Douro,* and nearly thrice that period before they had advanced the line of conquest to the Tagus,t notwithstanding this portion of the country had been comparatively deserted by the Mahometans. But it M MS easy to foresee that a people living as they did, under circumstances so well adapted to the development of both physical and moral energy, must ultimately prevail over a nation oppressed by despotism, and the effeminate indulgence to which it was naturally 'disposed by a sensual religion and a voluptuous climate. In truth, the early Spaniard was urged by every motive that can give efficacy to human purpose. Pent up in his barren mountains, he beheld the pleasant valleys and fruitful vineyards of his ancestors delivered over to the spoiler, the holy places polluted by his abominable rites, and the Crescent glittering on the domes which were once consecrated by the venerated symbol of his faith. His cause became the cause of Heaven. The church published her bulls of crusade, offering liberal indulgencies to those who served, and Paradise to those who fell in battle against the infidel. The ancient Castilian was remarkable for his independent resistance of papal en- croachment; but the peculiarity of his situation subjected him in ax uncommon degree to ecclesiastical influence at home. Priests mingled in the council and the camp, and arrayed in their sacerdotal robes, not unfrequently led the armies to* battle. + They interpreted the will of Heaven as mysteriously revealed in dreams and visions. Miracles were a familiar occurrence. The violated tombs of the saints sent forth thunders and lightenings to consume the invaders ; and, when the Christians fainted in the fight, the apparition of their patron, St. James, mounted on a milk-white steed, and bearing aloft the banner of the Cross, was seen hovering in the air to rally their broken squadrons, and lead them on to victory. Thus the Spaniard looked upon himself as in a peculiar manner the care of Providence. For him the laws of nature were suspended. He was a soldier of the Cross, fighting not only for his country but for Christendom. Indeed volunteers from the remotest parts of Christendom eagerly thronged to serve under his banner ; and the cause of religion was debated with the same ardour in Spain, as on the plains of Palestine. || Hence the national character became exalted by a religious fervour, which in later days, alas ! settled into a fierce According to Morales, this took place about 850. f Toledo -s-as not reconquered until 1085 ; Lisbon, in 1147. J The Archbishops of Toledo, whose revenues and retinues far exceeded those of the other ecclesiastics, were particularly conspicuous in these holy wars. Mariana, speaking of one of these belligerent prelates, considers it.worchy of encomium, that "it is not easy to decide whether he was most conspicuous for his good government in peace, or his conduct and Talour in war." The first occasion on which the military apostle condescended to reveal himself to the Lcouese, was the memorable day of Clavijo, AD. 844, when 70,000 infidels fell on the field. From that time the name of St. Jago became the battla-cry of the Spaniards. || French, Flemish, Italian, and English volunteers, led by men of distinguished rank, are recorded by the Spanish writers to have been preseat at the sieges of Toledo, Lisbon. Alfjcziras, and various others. More than sixty, or, as some accounts state, a hundred thousand, joined the array before the battle of Navas de Tolosa ; a round exaggeration. which, however, implies the great number of such auxiliaries. The crusades in Spain were as rational enterprises as those in the East were vain and chimerical. Pope Pascal II. acted like a man of sense, when he sent back certain Spanish adventurers who had embarked in the wars of Palestine, telling them, that "the cause of religion could bfl much better served b^ them at home." 8 TXTRODTTCTIOy. fanaticism. Hence that solicitude for the purity of the faith, the peculiar boast of the Spaniards, and that deep tinge of superstition for which they have ever been distinguished above the other nations of Europe. The long wars with the Mahometans served to keep alive in their bosoms the ardent glow of patriotism; and this was still further heightened by the body of traditional minstrelsy, which commemorated in these wars the heroic deeds of their ancestors. The influence of such popular compositions on a simple people is undeniable. A sagacious critic ventures to pronounce the poems of Homer the principal bond which united the Grecian states. Such an opinion may be deemed some- what extravagant. It cannot be doubted, however, that a poem like that of the " Cid," which appeared as early as the twelfth century, by calling up the most inspiring national recollections in connexion with their favourite hero, must have operated powerfully on the moral sensi- bilities of the people. It is pleasing to observe, in the cordial spirit of these early effusions, little of the ferocious bigotry which sullied the character of the nation in after ages. The Mahometans of this period far excelled their enemies in general refinement, and had carried some branches of intellectual culture to a height scarcely surprassed by Europeans in later times. The Christians, therefore, notwithstanding their political aversion to the Saracens, conceded to them a degree of respect, which subsided into feelings of a very different complexion as they themselves rose in the scale of civilisation. This sentiment of respect tempered the ferocity of a warfare, which, although sufficiently disastrous in its details, affords examples of a generous courtesy that would do honour to the politest ages of Europe.* The Spanish Arabs were accomplished in all knightly exercises; and their natural fondness for magnificence, which shed a lustre over the rugged features of chivalry, easily communicated itself to the Christian cavaliers. In the intervals of peace, these latter frequented the courts of the Moorish princes, and mingled with their adversaries in the comparatively peaceful pleasures of the tourney, as in war they vied with them in feats of Quixotic gallantry.t The nature of this warfare between two nations, inhabitants of the same country, yet so dissimilar in their religious and social institutions as to be almost the natural enemies of each other, was extremely favour- * When the empress queen of Alfonso VII. was besieged in the castle of Azeca, in 1139, he reproached the Moslem cavaliers for their want of courtesy and courage in attacking a fortress defended by a female They acknowledged the justice of the rebuke, and only requested that she would condescend to show herself to them from her palace : when the Moorish chivalry, after paying their obeisance to her in the most respectful manner, instantly raised the siege and departed. It was a frequent occurrence to restore a noble captive to liberty without ransom, and even with costly presents. Thus Alfonso XI. sent back to their father two daughters of a Moorish prince, who formed part of the spoils of the battle of Tarifa. When this same Castilian sovereign, after a career of almost un- interrupted victory over the Moslems, died of the plague before Gibraltar in 1350, the knights of Granada put on mourning for him, saying, that "he was a noble prince, and one that knew how to honour his enemies as well as his friends." t One of the most extraordinary achievements in this way, was that of the Grand Master of Alcantara in 1394, who, after ineffectually challenging the King of Granada to meet him in single combat, or with a force double that of his own, marched boldly up to the gates of his capital, where he was assailed by such an overwhelming host, that he with all his little band perished on the field. It was over this worthy compeer of Don Quixote that the epitaph was inscribed, " Here lies one who never knew fear," which led Charles V. to remark to one of his courtiers, that "the good knight could never have tried to sauff a caudle with his fingers." CASTIT/E. 7 able to the exhibition of the characteristic virtues of chivalry. The contiguity of the hostile parties afforded abundant opportunities "for per- sonal rencounter and bold romantic enterprise. Each nation had its regular military associations, who swore to devote their lives to the ser- vice of God and their country in perpetual war against the infidel.* The Spanish knight became the true hero of romance, wandering over his own laud, and even into the remotest climes, in quest of adventures ; and as late as the fifteenth century, we find him in the courts of England and Burgundy, doing battle in honour of his mistress, and challenging general admiration by his uncommon personal intrepidity, f This romantic spirit lingered in Castile long after the age of chivalry had become extinct in other parts of Europe, continuing to nourish itself on those illusions of fancy which were at length dispelled by the caustic satire of Cervantes. Thus patriotism, religious loyalty, and a proud sense of independence, founded on the consciousness of owing their possessions to their personal valour, became characteristic traits of the Castilians previously to the sixteenth century, when the oppressive policy and fanaticism of the Austrian dynasty contrived to throw into the shade these generous virtues. Glimpses of them, however, might long be discerned in the haughty bearing of the Castilian noble, and in that erect high- minded peasantry, whom oppression has not yet been able wholly to subdue. J To the extraordinary position in which the nation was placed, may also be referred the liberal forms of its political institutions, as well as a more early development of them than took place in other countries of Europe. From the exposure of the Castilian towns to the predatory incursions of the Arabs, it became necessary not only that they should be strongly fortified, but that every citizen should be trained to bear arms in their defence. An immense increase of consequence was given to the burgesses, who thus constituted the most effective part of the national militia. To this circumstance, as well as to the policy of inviting the settlement of frontier places by the grant of extraordinary privileges to the inhabitants, is to be imputed the early date, as well as liberal character, of the charters of community in Castile and Leon.$ This singular fact, of tha existence of an Arabic military order, is recorded by Conde. Tiie brethren wore distinguished for the simplicity of their attire, aud their austere and frugal habits. They \ve-e stationed on the Moorish marches, and were bound by a vow of perpetual war against Ihe Christian infidel. As their existence is traced as far back as 1030, they may p.issiMy have suggested the organisation of similar institutions in Christendom, which they preceded by a century at least. t In one of the Paston letters, we find the notice of a Spanish knight appearing at the court of Henry VI. "\vytha Kercheff of Pleasaunce iwrapped aboute hysarme, thegwych Knight," says the writer, " wyl renne a cours wyth a sharpe spere for his sou'eyii lady sake." The practice of using sharp spears, instead of the guarded and blunted weapons usual in the tournament, seems to have been affected by the chivalrous nobles of Castile ; many of whom, says the Chronicle of Juan II., lost their lives from this circumstance, in the splendid tourney given in honour of the nuptials of Blanche of Navarre and Henry, on of John II. Monstrelet records the adventures of a Spanish c ivulier, who " travelled ail the way to the Court of Burgundy to seek honour and reverence " by his feats of aims. His antagonist was the Lord of Chargny ; on the sec-end day they fought with b:ittl3-axes. and "the Castilian attracted general admiration by his uncommon daring in fighting with his visor up." J The Venetian Ambassador, Navagiero, speaking of the manners of the Castilian nobles In Charles V.'s time, remarks somewhat bluntly, that "if their power wer equal to Iheir pride, the whole world would not be able to withstand them." The most ancient of these i-egular charters of incorporation now extant, was granted fcy \lfoasoV., in 10-20, 13 the city ot Leon and its territory. It preceded, by a long These, although varying a good deal in their details, generally conceded to the citizens the right of electing their own magistrates for the regulation of municipal affairs. Judges were appointed by this hody for the administration of civil and criminal law, subject to an appeal to the royal tribunal. No person could be affected in life or property, except by a decision of this municipal court ; and no cause, while pending before it, could be evoked thence into the superior tribunal. In order to secure the barriers of justice more effectually against the violence of power, so often superior to law in an imperfect state of society, it was provided in many of the charters that no nobles should be permitted to acquire real property within the limits of the community ; that no fortress or palace should be erected by them there ; that such as might reside within its territory should be subject to its jurisdiction ; and that any violence offered by them to its inhabitants might be forcibly resisted with impunity. Ample and inalienable funds were provided for the main- tenance of the municipal functionaries, and for other public expenses. A large extent of circumjacent country, embracing frequently many towns and villages, Avas annexed to each city, with the right of juris- diction over it. All arbitrary tallages were commuted for a certain fixed and moderate rent. An officer was appointed by the crown to reside within each community, whose province it was to superintend the collection of this tribute, to maintain public order, and to be associated with the magistrates of each city in the command of the forces it was bound to contribute towards the national defence. Thus, while the inhabitants of the great towns in other parts of Europe were languishing in feudal servitude, the members of the Castilian corporations, living under the protection of their own laws and magistrates in time of peace, and commanded by their own officers in war, were in full enjoyment of all the essential rights and privileges of freemen. It is true, that they were often convulsed by intestine feuds ; that the laws were often loosely administered by incompetent judges ; and that the exercise of so many important prerogatives of independent states inspired them with feelings of independence, which led to mutual rivalry, and sometimes to open collision. But with all this, long after similar immunities in the free cities of other countries, as Italy for example,* had been sacrificed to the violence of faction or the lust of power, those of the Castilian cities not only remained unimpaired, but seemed to acquire additional stability with age. This circumstance is chiefly imputable to the constancy of the national legislature, which, until the voice of liberty was stifled by a military despotism, was ever ready to interpose its protecting arm in defence of constitutional rights. The earliest instance on record of popular representation in Castile occurred at Burgos, in 1169 ; nearly a century antecedent to the interval, those granted to the burgesses in other parts of Europe, with the exception, perhaps, of Italy ; where several of the cities, as Milan, Pavia, and Pisa, seem early in the eleventh century to have exercised some of the functions of independent states. But the extent of municipal immunities conceded to, or rather assumed by, the Italian cities at this early peri, .d, is very equivocal ; for all, or nearly all their archives, previous to the time of Frederic I. (the latter part of the twelfth century), had perished amid their frequent civil convulsions. Acts of enfranchisement became frequent in Spain during the eleventh century ; several of which are preserved, and exhibit, with sufficient pre- cision, the nature of the privileges accorded to the inhabitants. * The independence of the Lombard cities had been sacrificed, according to the admission of their enthusiastic historian, Sismondi, about the middle of tie thirteenth century. CASTILE. 9 celebrated Leicester parliament. Each city had but one vote, whatever might be the number of its representatives. A much greater irregularity in regard to the number of cities required to send deputies to cortes on. different occasions, prevailed iu Castile, than ever existed in England ; though, previously to the fifteenth century, this does not seem to have proceeded from any design of in fringing on the liberties of the people. The nomination of these was originally vested in the householders at large, but was afterwards confined to the municipalities ; a most mis- chuvous alteration, which subjected their election eventually to the corrupt influence of the crown. They assembled in the same chamber with the higher orders of the nobility and clergy ; but, on questions of moment, retired to deliberate by themselves. After the transaction of other business, their own petitions were presented to the sovereign, and iiis assent gave them the validity of laws. The Castilian commons, by neglecting to make their money grants depend on corresponding con- cessions from the crown, relinquished that powerful check on its operations so beneficially exerted in the British parliament, but in vain contended for even there, till a much later period than that now under consideration. Whatever may have been the right of the nobility and clergy to attend in cortes, their sanction was not deemed essential to the validity of legislative acts; for their presence was not even required in many assemblies of the nation which occurred in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.* The extraordinary power thus committed to the commons was, on the whole, unfavourable to their liberties. It deprived them of the sympathy and co-operation of the great orders of the state, whose authority alone could have enabled them to withstand the en- croachments of arbitrary power, and who, in fact, did eventually desert them in their utmost need.f But notwithstanding these defects, the popular branch of the Castilian cortes, very soon after its admission into that body, assumed functions and exercised a degree of power on the whole superior to that enjoyed by it in other European legislatures. It was soon recognised as a funda- nieutal principle of the constitution, that no tax could be imposed without its consent ; f and an express enactment to this effect was suffered to remain on the statute book, after it had become a dead letter, as if to remind the nation of the liberties it had lost. The commons showed a wise solicitude in regard to the mode of collecting the public revenue, oftentimes more onerous to the subject than the tax itself. They watched carefullv over its appropriation to its destined uses. They restrained a too prodigal expenditure, and ventured more than once to regulate the economy of the royal household. || They kept a vigilant * This omission of the privileged orders wa almost uniform under Charles V., aad hi ucccssors. But it would be unfair to seek for constitutional precedent in the usages of a government whose avowed policy was altogether subversive of the constitution. t During the famous war of the Comunidadtt, under Charles V. J The term, " fundamental principle " is fully authorised by the existence of repeated enactments to this effect. This law, passed under Alfonso XL, was confirmed by John II., Henry III., and Churl: In 1258, they presented a variety of petitions to the king, in relation to his own personal expenditure, as well as that of his courtiers; requiring him to diminish the charges of his table, attire, &c., and, bluntly, to "bring his appetite within a more reasonable compass : " to all which he readily gave his assent. The English reader u reminded of a very different result which attended a similar interposition of the common* in the time of Richard II., more than a century later. 10 eye on the conduct of public officers, as well as on the right administra- tion of justice, and commissions were appointed at their suggestion for inquiring into its abuses. They entered into negotiation for alliances with foreign powers, and, by determining the amount of supplies for the maintenance of troops in time of war, preserved a salutary check over military operations. The nomination of regencies was subject to their approbation, and they defined the nature of the authority to be entrusted to them. Their consent was esteemed indispensable to the validity of a title to the crown ; and this prerogative, or at least the image of it, has continued to survive the Avreckof their ancient liberties.* Finally, they more than once set aside the testamentary provisions of the sovereigns in regard to the succession. "Without going further into detail, enough has been said to show the high powers claimed by the commons previously to the fifteenth century, which, instead of be" ig confined to ordinary subjects of legislation, seem, in some instances, tj have reached to the executive duties of the admi- nistration. It would, indeed, show but little acquaintance with the social condition of the middle ages, to suppose that the practical exercise of these powers always corresponded with their theory. We trace repeated instances, it is true, in which they were claimed and successfully exerted ; while, on the other hand, the multiplicity of remedial statutes proves too plainly how often the rights of the people were invaded by the violence of the privileged orders, or the more artful arid systematic usur- pations of the crown. But, far from being intimidated by such acts, the representatives in cortes were ever ready to stand forward as the intrepid advocates of constitutional freedom ; and the unqualified boldness o^ their language on such occasions, and the consequent concessions of the sovereign, are satisfactory evidence of the real extent of their power, and show how cordially they must have been supported by public opinion. It would be improper to pass by without notice an anomalous institu- tion peculiar to Castile, which sought to secure the public tranquillity by means scarcely compatible themselves with civil subordination. 1 refer to the celebrated Hermandad, or Holy Brotherhood, as the associa- .tion was sometimes called, a name familiar to most readers in the lively fictions of Le Sage, though conveying there no very adequate idea of the extraordinary functions which it assumed at the period under review. Instead of a regular organised police, it then consisted of a confederation of the principal cities bound together by a solemn league and covenant for the defence of their liberties in seasons of civil anarchy. Its affairs were conducted by deputies, who assembled at stated intervals for this purpose, transacting their business under a common seal, enacting laws which they were careful to transmit to the nobles and even the sovereign himself, and enforcing their measures by an armed force. This wild kind of justice, so characteristic of an unsettled state of society, repeatedly received the legislative sanction ; and, however formidable such a popular engine may have appeared to the eye of the monarch, he was often led to countenance it by a sense of his own impotence, as well as of the overweening power of the nobles, against whom it was prin- cipally directed. Hence these associations, although the epithet may * The recognition of the title of the heir apparent, by a cortes convoked for that purpo has continued to be observed e was so richly iucrusted with the precious metals, says Masdeu, is to receive the name of Spanoclitta. { The historian of Seville describes that city, about the middle of the fifteenth century, as possessing a flourishing commerce, and a degree of opulence unexampled since the conquest. It was filled with an active population, employed in the various mechanic arts. Its domestic fabrics, as well as natural products of oil, wine, wool, &c., supplied a trade with France, Flanders, Italy, and England. The ports of Biscay, which belonged to the Castilian crown, were the marts of an extensive trade with the North during the thirteenth and fourteeut > centuries. This province entered into repeated treaties of commerce with France and England ; and her factories were established at Bruges, the great emporium of commercial intercourse during this period between the North and South, before those of any other people in Europe except the Germans. The institution of the mesta, is referred, says Laborde, to the middle of the fourteenth century, when the great plague, which devastated the country so sorely, left large depopu- lated tracts open to pasturage. This popular opinion is erroneous, since it engaged the attention of government, and became the subject of legislation as anciently as 1'273, under Alfonso the Wise. Capmuny, however, dates the great improvement in the breed of Spanish sheep from the year 13!H, when Catherine of Lancaster brought with her, as :i part of her dowry to the heir apparent of Castile, a flock of English merinos distinguished at that time, above those of every other country, for the beauty and delicacy of their fleece. This acute writer, after a very careful examination of the subject, differing from those already quoted, considers the raw material for manufacture, and the natural produc- tions of the soil, to have constituted almost the only articles of export from Spain, until after the fifteenth century. The term merinos is derived, by C'onde, from moediitot, signifying "wandering;" the name of an Arabian tribe, who shifted their place of residence with the season. 12 INTRODUCTION. was preparing the way for those dismal scenes of faction which convulsed the little commonwealths to their centre during the latter half of the fifteenth century. The flourishing condition of the communities gave their representatives a proportional increase of importance in the national assembly. The liberties of the people seemed to take deeper root in the midst of those political convulsions, so frequent in Castile, which unsettled the ancient prerogatives of the crown. Every new revolution was followed by new concessions on the part of the sovereign, and the popular authority con- tinued to advance with a steady progress until the accession of Henry the Third, of Trastamara, in 1393, when it may be said to have reached its zenith. A disputed title and a disastrous war compelled the father of this prince, John the First, to treat the commons with a deference unknown to his predecessors. We find four of their number admitted into his privy council, and six associated in the regency, to which he confided the government of the kingdom during his son's minority.* A remarkable fact, which occurred in this reign, showing the important advances made by the commons in political estimation, was the substi- tution of the sons of burgesses for an equal number of those of the nobility, who were stipulated to be delivered as hostages for the fulfil- ment of a treaty with Portugal in 1393. There will be occasion to notice, in the first chapter of this History, some of the circumstances which, contributing to undermine the power of the commons, prepared the way for the eventual subversion of the constitution. The peculiar situation of Castile, which had been so favourable to popular rights, was eminently so to those of the aristocracy. The nobles, embarked with their sovereign in the same common enterprise of rescuing their ancient patrimony from its invaders, felt entitled to divide with him the spoils of victory. Issuing forth at the head of their own retainers, from their strongholds or castles, (the great number of which was originally implied in the name of the country, ) f they were continually enlarging the circuit of their territories, with no other assistance than that of their own good swords. This independent mode of effecting their conquests would appear unfavourable to the introduction of the feudal system, which, although its existence in Castile is clearly ascertained by positive law as well as usage, never prevailed to any thing like the same extent as it did in the sister kingdom of Aragon, and other parts of Europe. The higher nobility, or ricos hombres, were exempted from general taxation ; and the occasional attempt to infringe on this privilege in seasons of great public emergency, was uniformly repelled by this jealous body. J They could not be imprisoned for debt ; nor be subjected to torture, so repeatedly sanctioned in other cases by the municipal law of Castile. They had the right of deciding their private feuds by an appeal to arms ; a right of which they liberally availed themselves. They * The admission of citizens into the king's council would have fornied a most important epoch for the commons, had they not soon been replaced by jurisconsults, whose studies mnd sentiments inclined them less to the popular side than to that of prerogative. f Cast'lla. I.ivy mentions the great number of these towers in Spain in his day, " Multas et locis altis positas turres Hispania habet." A castle was emblazoned on the escutcheon of Castile, as far back as the reign of Urraca, in the beginning of the twelfth century, according to Salazar de Mendoza. t The incensed nobles quitted the cortes in disgust, and threatened to vindicate their rights by arms, on one such occasion, 1176. CASTTT'E. 13 also claimed the privilege, when aggrieved, of denaturalising themselves, or, in other words, of publicly renouncing their allegiance to their sovereign, and of enlisting under the banners of his enemy.* The number of petty stutrs. which swarmed over the Peninsula, afforded ample opportunity for the exercise of this disorganising prerogative. The Laras are particularly noticed by Mariana as having a " great relish for rebellion," and the Castros as being much in the habit of going over to the Moors. They assumed the licence of arraying themselves in armed confederacy against the monarch on any oecasion of popular disgust, and they solemnised the act by the most imposing ceremonials of religion. Their rights of jurisdiction, derived to them, it would si-cm, originally from royal grant, were in a great measure defeated by the liberal charters of incorporation, which, in imitation of the sovereign, they conceded to their vassals, as well as by the gradual encroachment of the royal judicatures. In virtue of their birth they monopolised all the hig 1 er offices of state, as those of constable and admiral of Castile, adclunfadct. or governors of the provinces, cities, &c. They secured to themselves the grand-masterships of the military orders, which placed at their disposal an immense amount of revenue and of patronage. Finally, they enteivu into the royal or privy council, and formed a constituent portion o'. the national legislature. These important prerogatives were of course favourable to the accumulation of great wealth. Their estates were scattered over every part of the kingdom, and, unlike the grandees of Spain at the present day, they resided on them in person, maintaining the state of petty sovereigns, and surrounded by a numerous retinue, who served the purposes of a pageant in time of peace, and an efficient military force in war. The demesnes of John, lord of Biscay, confiscated by Alfonso the Eleventh to the use of the crown, in 1327, amounted to more than eighty towns and castles. The "good constable" Davalos, in the time of Henry the Third, could ride through his own estates all the way from Seville to Compostella, almost the two extremities of the kingdom. Alvaro de Luna, the powerful favourite of John the Second, could muster twenty thousand vassals, f A contemporary, who gives a catalogue of the annual rents of the principal Castilian nobility at the close of the fifteenth or beginning of the following century, computes several at fifty and sixty thousand ducats a year,J an immense income, if we take into consideration the value of money in that age. The same writer estimates their united revenues as equal to one-third of those in the whole kingdom. These ambitious nobles did not consume their fortunes or their energies in a life of effeminate luxury. From their earliest boyhood, they were accustomed to serve in the ranks against the infidel,|| and * On such occasions they sent him a formal defiance by their king at arms. t His annual revenue ia computed by Perez de Guzman at 100,000 dublas of gold; a sum Iquivalent t" S~>ti,000 dollars at the present day. { The former of these two sums is equivalent to 91,4742., sterling; and the latter to JOy.Tliii. nearly. S The ample revenues of the Spanish grandee of the present time, instead of being lavished on a band uf military retainers, as of yore, are sometimes dispensed in the more peaceful hospitality of supporting au almost equally !': ^ of needy relation! and dependents. According to Bourgoauue, no ] ess t 'hau 3000 of these gentry were main- tained m the eitat.a of the Duke of Arcos, who died in ITbO. II Meudoza records the circumstance of the head of the family of Ponce de Leon ( 14 rNTBODTJCTIOX. their whole subsequent lives were occupied either -with war or with thos martial exercises which reflect the image of it. Looking hack with pride to their ancient Gothic descent, and to those times when they had stood forward as the peers, the electors of their sovereign, they could ill brook the slightest indignity at his hand.* With these haughty feelings and martial habits, and this enormous assumption of power, it may readily be conceived that they would not suffer the anarchical provisions of the constitution, which seemed to concede an almost unlimited licence of rebellion, to remain a dead letter. Accordingly, we find them per- petually convulsing the king." mi wife the^r schemes of selfish aggran- disement. The petitions of the commons are filled with remonstrances en their various oppressions, and the evils resulting from their long desolating feuds. So that, notwithstanding the liberal forms of its 01 ustitution, there was probably no country in Europe, during the titddle ages, so sorely afflicted with the vices of intestine anarchy as O'Utile. These were still further aggravated by the improvident donations of the monarch to the aristocracy in the vain hope of con- <'i Anting their attachment, but which swelled their already overgrown po.vor to such a height, that, by the middle of the fifteenth century, it nl only overshadowed that of the throne, bat threatened to subvert the Vil-i'tties of the state. I'hair self-confidence, however, proved eventually their ruin. They disdained a co-operation with the lower orders in defence of their privi- leges, and relied too unhesitatingly on their power as a body to feel jealous of their exclusion from the national legislature, where alone they could have made an effectual stand against the usurpations of the crown. The course of this work will bring under review the dexterous policy by which the crown contrived to strip the aristocracy of its substantial privileges, and prepared the way for the period when it should retain possession only of a few barren, though ostentatious dignities. The inferior orders of nobility, the hidalgos (whose dignity like that of the ricos hombres, would seem, as their name imports, to have been originally founded on wealth), and the cavalleros, or knights, enjoyed many of the immunities of the higher class, especially that of exemption from taxation.t Knighthood appears to have been regarded with especial favour by the law of Castile. Its ample privileges and its duties are defined with a precision, and in a spirit of romance, that might have served for the court of King Arthur, t Spain was indeed the land of descendant of the celebrated marquis of Cadiz,) carrying his son, then thirteen years old, with him into battle ; "an ancient usage," he says, "in that noble house." The only sov of Alfonso VI. was slain, fighting manfully in the ranks, at the battle of Ucles, in 1109, when only eleven years of age. Mariana, Hist, de Espaila, torn. i. p. 565. * The northern provinces, the theatre of this primitive independence, have always been consecrated by this very circumstance, in the eyes of a Spaniard. " The proudest lord," ays Navagiero, "feels it an honour to trace his pedigree to this quarter." The same feel- ing has continued, and the meanest native of Biscay, or the Asturias, at the present day, claims to be noble ; a pretension which often contrasts ridiculously enough with the humble character of his occupation, and has furnished many a pleasant anecdote to travellers. t They were" obliged to contribute to the repair of fortifications and public works. t The knight was to array himself in light and cheerful vestments, ?nd. in the cities and public places, his person was to be enveloped in a long and flowing mantle, in order to impose greater reverence on the people. His good steed was to be distinguished by the beauty and richness of his caparisons. He was to live abstemiously, indulging himself in none of the effeminate delights of couch or banquet. During his repast, his mind was to be refreshed with the recital, from history, of deeds of ancient heroism ; and in the fight he was commanded to invoke the name of his mistress, that it might infuse new ardour into his soul, and preserve him from the commission of unknightly actions. CASTILE. 13 chivalry. The respect for the sex, which had descended from the Visi- goths, was mingled with the religious enthusiasm which had been kindled in the long wars with the infidel. The apotheosis of chivalry, in the person of their apostle and patron, St. James, contributed still further to this exaltation of sentiment, which was maintained by the various military orders who devoted themselves, in the bold language of the age, to the service " of God and the ladies." So that the Spaniard may be said to have put in action what, in other countries, passed for the extravagances of the minstrel. An example of this occurs in the fifteenth century, when a passage of arms was defended at Orbigo, not far from the shrine of Compostella, by a Castilian knight named Suero de (inhumes, and his nine companions, against all comers, in the presence ' of John the Second and his court. Its object was to release the knight from the obligation, imposed on him by his mistress, of publicly wearing an iron collar round his neck every Thursday. The jousts continued for thirty days, and the doughty champions fought without shield or target with weapons bearing points of Milan steel. Six hundred and twenty- seven encounters took place, and one hundred and sixty -six lances were broken, when the emprise was declared to be fairly achieved. The whole affair is narrated with becoming gravity by an eye-witness, and the reader may fancy himself perusing the adventures of a Launcelot or an Amadis. The influence of the ecclesiastics in Spain may be traced back to the age of the Visigoths, when they controlled the affairs of the state in the great national councils of Toledo. This influence was maintained by the extraordinary position of the nation after the conquest. The holy war- fare, in which it was embarked, seemed to require the co-operation of the clergy, to propitiate Heaven in its behalf, to interpret its mysterious omens, and to move all the machinery of miracles, by which the imagi- nation is so powerfully affected in a rude and superstitious age. They even condescended, in imitation of their patron saint to mingle in the ranks, and with the crucifix in their hands, to lead the soldiers on to battle. Examples of these militant prelates are to be found in Spain BO late as the sixteenth century.* But while the native ecclesiastics obtained such complete ascendancy over the popular mind, the Roman See could boast of less influence in Spain than in any other country in Europe. The Gothic liturgy was alone received as canonical until the eleventh century ; and, until the twelfth, the sovereign held the right of jurisdiction over all ecclesiastical 9, of collating to benefices, or at least of confirming or annulling the election of the chapters. The code of Alfonso the Tenth, however, whioh borrowed its principles of jurisprudence from the civil and canon law, completed a revolution already begun, and transferred these importa t prerogatives to the pope, who now succeeded in establishing a usurpation over ecclesiastical rights in Castile, similar to that which had been before eli'evU'd in other parts of Christendom. Some of these abuses, as that of the nomination of foreigners to benefices, were carried to such an ue.\i uiu papacy, me practice, inaeea. was laminar in otner countries, !V3 wen as optko, at this late period. In the bloody battle of Ravenna, in 1512, two cardinal legates, one of them the future Leo. X., fought ou opposite sides. 16 impudent height, as repeatedly provoked the indignant remonstrances of th cortes. The ecclesiastics, eager to indemnify themselves for what they had sacrificed to Rome, were more than ever solicitous to assert their independence of the royal jurisdiction. They particularly insisted on their immunity from taxation, and were even reluctant to divide with the laity the necessary burdens of a war, which, from its sacred character would seem to have imperative claims on them. Notwithstanding the immediate dependence thus established on the head of the church by the legislation of Alfonso the Tenth, the general immunities secured by it to the ecclesiastics operated as a powerful bounty on their increase ; and the mendicant orders in particular, that spiritual militia of the popes, were multiplied over the country to an alarming extent. Many of their members were not only incompetent to the duties of their profession, being without the least tincture of liberal culture, but fixed a deep stain on it by the careless laxity of their morals. Open concubinage was familarly practised by the clergy, as well as laity, of the period ; and, so far from being reprobated by the law of the land, seems anciently to have been countenanced by it. This moral insensi- bility may probably be referred to the contagious example of their Mahometan neighbours ; but, from whatever source derived, the practice was indulged to such a shameless extent, that, as the nation advanced in. refinement, in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, it became the sub- ject of frequent legislative enactments, in which the concubines of the clergy are described as causing general scandal by their lawless effrontery and ostentatious magnificence of apparel. Notwithstanding this prevalent licentiousness of the Spanish eccle- siastics, their influence became every day more widely extended ; while this ascendancy, for which they were particularly' indebted in that rude age to their superior learning and capacity, was perpetuated by their enormous acquisitions of wealth. Scarcely a town was reconquered from the Moors, without a considerable portion of its territory being appro- priated to the support of some ancient, or the foundation of some new, religious establishment. These were the common reservoir into which flowed the copious streams of private as well as royal bounty ; and, when the consequences of these alienations in mortmain came to be visible in the impoverishment of the public revenue, every attempt at legislative interference was in a great measure defeated by the piety or superstition of the age. The abbess of the monastery of Huelgas, which was situated within the precincts of Burgos, and contained within its walls one hundred and fifty nuns of the noblest families in Castile, exercised jurisdiction over fourteen capital towns, and more than fifty smaller places ; and she was accounted inferior to the queen only in dignity. The archbishop of Toledo, by virtue of his office as primate of Spain and grand chancellor of Castile, was esteemed, after the pope, the highest ecclesiastical dignitary in Christendom. His revenues, at the close of the fifteenth century, exceeded eighty thousand ducats ; while the gross amount of those of the subordinate beneficiaries of his church rose to one hundred and eighty thousand. He could muster a greater number of vassals than any other subject in the kingdom, and held jurisdiction over fifteen large and populous towns, besides a great number ot inferior places.* Laborde reckons the revenues of this prelate, in his tables, at 12,000,000 reals. Th CASTILE. 17 These princely funds, when intrusted to pious prelates, were muni- ficently dispensed in useful public works, and especially in the foundation of eleemosynary institutions, with which every great city in Castile was liberally supplied. But, in the hands of worldly men, they were perverted from these noble uses to the gratification of personal vanity, or the dis- organising schemes of faction . The moral perceptions of the people, in the meantime, were confused by the visible demeanour of a hierarchy BO repugnant to the natural conceptions of religious duty. They learned to attach an exclusive value to external rites, to the forms rather than the spirit of Christianity ; estimating the piety of men by their specu- lative opinions, rather than their practical conduct. The ancient Spaniards, notwithstanding their prevalent superstition, were un- tinctured with the fiercer religious bigotry of later times ; and the uncharitable temper of their priests, occasionally disclosed in the heats of religious war, was controlled by public opinion, which accorded a high degree of respect to the intellectual as well as political superiority jf the Arabs. But the time was now coming when these ancient barriers were to be broken down ; when a difference of religious sentiment was to dissolve all the ties of human brotherhood ; when uniformity of faith was to be purchased by the sacrifice of any rights, even those of intel- lectual freedom ; when, in fine, the Christian and the Mussulman, the oppressor and the oppressed, were to be alike bowed down under the strong arm of ecclesiastical tyranny. The means by which a revolution so disastrous to Spain was effected, as well as the incipient stages of its progress, are topics that fall within the scope of the present history. r'rom the preceding survey of the constitutional privileges enjoyed by the different orders of the Castilian monarchy previous to the fifteenth century, it is evident that the royal authority must have been circum- scribed within very narrow limits. The numerous states into which the great Gothic empire was broken after the conquest were individually too insignificant to confer on their respective sovereigns the possession of extensive power, or even to authorise their assumption of that state by which it is supported in the eyes of the vulgar. When some more fortunate prince, by conquest or alliance, had enlarged the circle of his dominions, and thus in some measure remedied the evil, it was sure to recur upon his death, by the subdivision of his estates among his children. This mischievous practice was even countenanced by public opinion ; for the different districts of the country, in their habitual independence of each other, acquired an exclusiveness of feeling which made it difficult for them ever cordially to coalescfe ; and traces of this early repugnance to each other are to be discerned in the mutual jealousies and local peculiarities which still distinguish the different sections of the Peninsula, after their consolidation into one monarchy for more than three centuries. The election to the crown, although no longer vested in the hands of the national assembly, as with the Visigoths, was yet subject to its approbation. The title of the heir apparent was formally recognised by estimate is grossly exaggerated for the present day. The rents of this see, like those ot every other in tne kingdom, have been grievously clipped in the late political troubles. They are stated by the intelligent author of a " Year in Spain," on the authority of the clergy of the diocese, at one-third of the above sum, only ; an estimate confirmed by Mr. Inglis, who computes them at 40,000. Spain in 1.-, u. a cortcs convoked for the purpose ; and, on the demise of nis parent, (he new sovereign again convened the estates to receive their oath of alle- giance, which they cautiously withheld until he had first sworn to preserve inviolate the liberties of the constitution. Nor was this a merely nominal privilege, as was evinced on more than one memorable occasion. We have seen, in our review of the popular branch of the govern- ment, how closely its authority pressed even on the executive functions of the administration. The monarch was still further controlled, in this department, by his Royal or Privy Council, consisting of the chief Vbility and great officers of state, to which, in later times, a deputation of the commons was sometimes added. This body, together with the king, had cognisance of the most important public transactions, whether of a civil, military, or diplomatic nature. It was established by positive enactment, that the prince, without its consent, had no right to alienate the royal demesne, to confer pensions beyond a very limited amount, or to nominate to vacant benefices. His legislative powers were to be exercised in concurrence with the eortes ; and, in the judicial depart- ment, his authority, during the latter part of the period under review, seems to have been chiefly exercised in the selection of officers for the higher judicatures, from a list of candidates presented to him on a vacancy by their members concurrently with his privy council. The scantiness of the king's revenue corresponded with that of his constitutional authority. By an ancient law, indeed, of similar tenor with one familiar to the Saracens, the sovereign was entitled to a fifth of the spoils of victory. This, in the course of the long wars with the Moslems, would have secured him more ample possessions than were enjoyed by any prince in Christendom. But several circumstances con- curred to prevent it. The long minorities, with which Castile was afflicted perhaps more than any country in Europe, frequently threw the government into the hands of the principal nobility, who perverted to their own emoluments the high powers intrusted to them. They usurped the possessions of the crown, and invaded some of its most valuable privileges ; so that the sovereign's subsequent life was often consumed in fruitless attempts to repair the losses of his minority. He sometimes, indeed, in the impo- tence of other resources, resorted to such unhappy expedients as treachery and assassination. A pleasant tale is told by the (Spanish historians, of the more innocent device of Henry the Third, for the recovery of the estates extorted from the crown by the rapacious nobles during his minority. Returning home late one evening, fatigued and half famished, from a hunting expedition, he was chagrined to find no refreshment prepared for him, and still more so to learn from his steward that he had neither mor.ey nor credit to purchase it. The day's sport, however, fortunately furnished the means of appeasing the loyal appetite ; and, while thig was in progress, the steward took occasion to contrast the indigent con- dition of the king with that of his nobles, who habitually indulged in the most expensive entertainments, and were that very evening feasting with the archbishop of Toledo. The prince, suppressing his indignation, determined, like the far-famed Caliph in the "Arabian Nights, M to inspect the affair in person, and assuming a disguise, introduced himself CASTILE. 19 privately into the archbishop's palace, where he witnessed with his o\vn eyes the prodigal magnificence of the banquet, teeming with costly wines and the most luxurious viands. The next day he caused a rumour to be circulated through the court, that he had fallen suddenly and dangerously ill. The courtiers, at these tidings, thronged to the palace ; and, when they had all assembled, tht king made hi- appearance among them, bearing his naked sword in his hand, and, with an aspect of unusual severity, seated himself on hii throne at the upper extremity of the apartment. Alter an interval of silence in the astonished assembly, the monarch, addressing himself to the primate, inquired of him, " How many sovereigns he had known in Castile ? " The prelate answering four, Henry | nit the same question to the Duke of Beneveute, and so on to the other courtiers in succession. None of them, however, having ai i stvered more than five, " How is this," said the prince, "that you, who are so old should have known so few, while I, young as I am, have beheld more than twenty ! Yes," continued he, raising his voice, to the astonished multitude, " you are the real sovereigns of Castile, enjoying all the rights and revenues of royalty, while I, stripped of mv patrimony, have scarcely wherewithal to procure the necessaries of life." Then giving a concerted signal his guards entered the apartment, followed by the public executioner, bearing along with him the implements of death. The dismayed nobles, not relishing the turn the jest appeared likely to take, fell on their knees before the monarch, and besought his forgiveness, promising, in requital, complete restitution of the fruits of their rapacity. Henry ; content with having so cheaply gained his point, allowed himself to soften at their entreaties, taking care, however, to detain their persons as security for their engagements, until the rents, royal fortresses, and whatever effects had been niched from the crown, were ivstor. ,1. The story, although repeated by the gravest Castilian writers, wears, it must be owned, a marvellous tinge of romance. But, whether fact, or founded on it, it may serve to show the dilapidated condition of the revenues at the beginning of the fourteenth century, and its immediate causes. Another circumstance, which contributed to impoverish the exchequer, was the occasional political revolutions in Castile, in which the adhesion of a faction was to be purchased only by the most ample concessions of the crown. Such was the violent revolution which placed the house of Trastamara on the throne, in the middle of the fourteenth century. But perhaps, a more operative cause than all these of the alleged evil, was the conduct of those imbecile princes, who, with heedless prodigality, squandered the public resources on their own personal pleasures and unworthy minions. The disastrous reigns of John the Second and Henry the l-'ourth, extending over the givater portion of the fifteenth century, furnish pertinent examples of this. It was not unusual, indeed, for the fortes, interposing its paternal authority by passing an act for the partial resumption of grants thus illegally made, in some degree to repair the broken condition of the finances. .Xor was such a resumption unfair to the actual proprietors. The promise to maintain the integrity of the royal demesnes formed an essential part of the coronation oath of every sovereign; and the subject on whom he afterwards conferred Uieni, knew well by what a precarious illicit tenure lie was to hold them. C2 From the view which has been presented of the Castilian constitution at the beginning of the fifteenth century, it is apparent that the sovereign was possessed of less power, and the people of greater than in other European monarchies at that period. It must be owned, however, as before intimated, that the practical operation did not always correspond with the theory of their respective functions in these rude times ; and that the powers of the executive, being susceptible of greater compactness and energy in their movements than could possibly belong to those of more complex bodies, were sufficiently strong, in the hands of a resolute prince, to break down the comparatively feeble barriers of the law. Neither were the relative privileges assigned to the different orders of the state equitably adjusted. Those of the aristocracy were indefinite and exorbitant. The licence of armed combinations too, so freely assumed both by this order and the commons, although operating as a safety-valve for the escape of the effervescing spirit of the age, was itself obviously repugnant to all principles of civil obedience, and exposed the state to evils scarcely less disastrous than those which it was intended to prevent. It was apparent that, notwithstanding the magnitude of the powers conceded to the nobility and the commons, there were important defects, which prevented them from resting on any sound and permanent basis. The representation of the people in cortes, instead of partially emanating, as in England, from an independent body of landed proprietors, con- stituting the real strength of the nation, proceeded exclusively from the cities, whose elections were much more open to popular caprice and ministerial corruption, and whose numerous local jealousies prevented them from acting in cordial co-operation. The nobles, notwithstanding their occasional coalitions, were often arrayed in feuds against each other. They relied, for the defence of their privileges, solely on their physical strength ; and heartily disdained, in any emergency, to support their own cause by identifying* it with that of the commons. Hence it became obvious that the monarch, who, notwithstanding his limited prerogative, assumed the anomalous privilege of transacting public business with the advice of only one branch of the legislature, and of occasionally dispensing altogether with the attendance of the other, might, by throwing his own influence into the scale, give the prepon- derance to whichever party he should prefer ; and, by thus dexterously availing himself of their opposite forces, erect his own authority on the ruins of the weaker. How far and how successfully this policy was pursued by Ferdinand and Isabella, will be seen in the course of thi History. The brief interval, however, in the early part of the present century, when the nation o ineffectually struggled to resume its ancient liberties, gave birth to two productions, which have gone tar to supply the desiderata, in this department. I allude to the valuable works of Marina, on the early legislation, and on the cortes of Castile. The latter especially, presents us with a full exposition of the appropriate functions assigned to the several de]>artmcut of government, and with the parliamentary history of Castile deduced from original, unpublished records. The student of this department of Spanish history may consult, in conjunction with Marina, Sempere's little treatise on the History of the Castilian cortes. It is, indeed, too limited and desultory in its plan to afford anything lik a complete view of the subject. But, as a sensible commentary, by one well skilled i topics that he discusses, it a of undoubted value. SECTIOX IT. EKTirw or TWP oov'riTUTiow OF ARAGOX TO THE MIDDLE OF THE riFTEnrm CETTUY. Rise of Aragon Ricos Hombres Their Immunities Their Turbulence Privileges at Union The Legislature Its Forms Its Powers General Privilege Judicial Functions of Cortes The Justice His great Authority Rise and Opulence of Bar- celona Her free Institutions Intellectual Culture. THE political institutions of Aragon, although bearing a general resemblance to those of Castile, were sufficiently dissimilar to stamp a peculiar physiognomy on the character of the nation, which still con- tinued after it had been incorporated with the great mass of the Spanish monarchy. It was not until the expiration of nearly five centuries after the Saracen invasion, that the little district of Aragon, growing up under the shelter of the Pyrenees, was expanded into the dimensions of the province which now bears that name. During this period it was painfully struggling into being, like the other states of the Peninsula, by dint of fierce, unintermitted warfare with the infidel. Even after this period, it would probably have filled but an insig- nificant space in the map of history, and, instead of assuming an independent station, have been compelled, like Xavarre, to accommodate itself to the politics of the potent monarchies by which it was surrounded, had it not extended its empire by a fortunate union with Catalonia in the twelfth, and the conquest ot Valencia in the thirteenth century.* These new territories were not only far more productive than its own, but, by their long line of coast and commodious ports, enabled the Aragonese, hitherto pent up within their barren mountains, to open a communication with distant regions. The ancient county of Barcelona had reached a higher degree of civilisation than Aragon, and was distinguished by institutions quite as liberal. The sea-board would seem to be the natural seat of liberty. There is something in the very presence, in the atmosphere of the ocean, Avhich invigorates not onlv the physical, but the moral energies of man. The adventurous life of the mariner familiarises him with dangers, and early accustoms him to independence. Intercourse with various climes opens new and more copious sources of knowledge ; and increased wealth brings with it an augmentation of power and consequence. It was in the maritime cities scattered along the Mediterranean that the seeds of liberty, both in ancient and modern times, were implanted and brought to maturity. During the middle ages, when the people of * Catalonia was united with Aragon by the marriage of queen Petronilla with Raymond Berengere, count of Barcelona, in 1150. Valencia was conquered from the Moors by James I., in 1228. 22 Europe generally maintained a toilsome and infreqxient intercourse with eacli other, those situated on the margin of this inland ocean found an easy mode of communication across the high road of its waters. They mingled in war too as in peace, and this long period is filled with their inter- national contests, while the other free cities of Christendom were wasting themselves in civil feuds and degrading domestic broils. In this wide and various collision their moral powers were quickened by constant activity ; and more enlarged views were formed, with a deeper consciousness of their own strength, than could be obtained by those inhabitants of the interior who were conversant only with a limited range of objects, and subjected to the influence of the same dull, monotonous circum- stances. Among these maritime republics, those of Catalonia were eminently conspicuous. By the incorporation of this country with the kingdom of Aragon, therefore, the strength of the latter was greatly augmented. The Aragonese princes, well aware of this, liberally fostered institutions to which the country owed its prosperity, and skilfully availed themselves of its resources for the aggrandisement of their own dominions. They paid particular attention to the navy, for the more perfect discipline of which a body of laws was prepared by Peter the Fourth, in 1354, that was designed to render it invincible. No allusion whatever is made in this stern code to the mode of surrendering to, or retreating from the enemy. The commander, who declined attacking any force not exceed- ing liis own by more than one vessel, was punished with death.* The Catalan navy successfully disputed the empire of the Mediterranean with the fleets of Pisa, and still more of Genoa. With its aid, the Aragonese monarchs achieved the conquest successively of Sicily, Sardinia, and the Balearic Isles, and annexed them to the empire.! It penetrated into the farthest regions of the Levant ; and the expedition of -the Catalans into Asia, which terminated with the more splendid than useful acquisition of Athens, forms one of the most romantic passages in this stirring and adventurous era 4 But while the princes of Aragon were thus enlarging the bounds of their dominion abroad, there was probably not a sovereign in Europe possessed of such limited authority at home. The three great states, with their dependencies, which constituted the Aragonese monarchy, had been declared by a statute of James the Second, in 1319, inalienable and indivisible. Each of them, however, maintained a separate constitu- tion of government, and was administered by distinct laws. As it would be fruitless to investigate the peculiarities of their respective institutions, which bear a very close affinity to one another, we mav confine ourselves to those of Aragon, which exhibit a more perfect model than those either of Catalonia or Valencia, and have been far more copiously illustrated by her writers. The national historians refer the origin of their government to a Th Catalans were much celebrated during the middle agea for their skill with the crow-bow; for a more perfect instruction in which, the municipality of Barcelona established game* and gymnasiums. t Sicily revolted to Peter III., in 1'2S2. Sardinia was conquered by James II., in 1324. and the Balearic Isles by Peter IV., in 1343-*. t Hence the title of Duke of Athens, assumed by the Spanish sovereign*. The brilliant fortunes of Roger de Flor are related by Count Moncada in a style much commended by Spanish critics for its elegance. ARAGOX. 23 written constitution of about the middle of the ninth century, fragments of which tire still preserved in certain ancient documents and chronicles. On occurrence of a vacancy in the throne, at this epoch, a monarch was elected by the twelve principal nobles, who prescribed a code of laws, to the observance of which he was obliged to swear before assuming the sceptre. The import of these laws was to circumscribe w r ithin very narrow limits the authority of the sovereign, distributing the principal functions to a Justicia, or Justice, and these same peers, who, in case of a violation of the compact by the monarch, were authorised to withdraw their allegiance, and, in the bold language of the ordinance, " to substi- tute any other ruler in his stead, even a pagan, if they listed." * The whole of this wears much of a fabulous aspect, and may remind the reader of the government which Ulysses met with in Phteacia ; w r here King Alcinous is surrounded by his " twelve illustrious peers, or archons," subordinate to himselt, " who," says he, " rule over the people, I myself being the thirteenth."! But, whether true or not, this venerable tradition must be admitted to have been Avell calculated to repress the arrogance of the Aragonese monarchs, and to exalt the minds oi their subjects by the image of ancient liberty which it presented. The great barons of Ara?on were few in number. They affected to derive their descent from the twelve peers above mentioned, and were g'yled ricos hombres de natura, implying by this epithet that they were not indebted for their creation to the will of the sovereign. No estate could be legally conferred by the crown, as an honour (the denomination of fiefs in Aragon), on any but one of these high nobles. This, however, was in time evaded by the monarchs, who advanced certain of their own retainers to a level with the ancient peers of the land ; a measure which proved a fruitful source of disquietude. J Xo baron could be divested of his fief, unless by public sentence of the Justice and the cortes. The proprietor, however, was required, as usual, to attend the king in council, and to perform military service, when summoned, during two months in the year, at his own charge. The privileges, both honorary and substantial, enjoyed by the ricot hombres were very considerable. They filled the highest posts in the state. They originally appointed judges in their domains for the cognisance of certain civil caiises, and over a class of their vassals exercised an unlimited criminal jurisdiction. They were excused from taxation, except in specified cases; were exempted from all corporal and capital punishment ; nor could they be imprisoned, although their estates might be sequestrated for debt. A lower class of nobility, styled * The well-known oath of the Aragonese to their sovereign on his accession, " Xos que Talemos tanto como vos," &c. frequently quoted by historians, rests on the authority of Antonio Perez, the unfortunate minister of Philip II., who however good a voucher for the usages of his own time, has made a blunder in the very sentence preceding this, by confounding the Privilege of Union with one of the laws of Soprarbe, which shows him to be insufficient, especially as he is the only authority for this ancient ceremony. t In like manner Alfonso III. alludes to "the "ancient times in Aragon, when there were as many kings as ricos hombres." t The ricos homhret, thus created by the monarch, were styled demtsnada, signifying "of the household." It was lawful for a rico hmntrre to bequeath his honours to whichsoever of his legitimate children he might prefer, and, in default of issue, to his nearest of kin. Ha was bound to distribute the bulk of his estates in fiefs among his knights, so that a com- plete system of sub-iufeudation was established. The knights, on restoring their fiefc, u been said to represent, more than any other, the liberties of the nation. In some other particulars the Aragonese com- mons possessed an advantage over those of Castile. 1. By postponing their money grants to the conclusion of the session, and regulating them in some degree by the previous dispositions of the crown, they availed themselves of an important lever relinquished by the Castilian cortes.* 2. The kingdom of Aragon proper was circumscribed within too narrow limits to allow of such local jealousies and estrangements, growing out of an apparent diversity of interests, as existed in the neighbouring monarchy. Their representatives, therefore, were enabled to move with a more hearty concert, and on a more consistent line of policy. 3. Lastly, the acknowledged right to a seat in cortes, possessed by every city which had once been represented there, and this equally whether sum- moned or not, if we may credit Capmany, must have gone far to preserve the popular branch from the melancholy state of dilapidation to which it was reduced in Castile by the arts of despotic princes. Indeed, the kin _ ."11, notwithstanding occasional excesses, seem never to have attempted any systematic invasion of the constitutional rights of their subjects. They well knew that the spirit of liberty was too high among them to endure it. When the queen of Alfonso the Fourth urged her husband, by quoting the example of her brother the king of Castile, to punish certain refractory citizens of Valencia, he prudently replied, " My people are free, and not so submissive as the * Not. however, it must be allowed, without a manly struggle in its defence, and which to the early part of Charles V.'s reign, in 10i5. wrenched a promise from the crown ui answer all petitions definitely before the rising of the cortes. The law still remains -n tea statute-book, a sad commentary on the faith of princes. 30 INTRODUCTION. Castilians. They respect me as their prince, and I hold them for good vassals and comrades." KO part of the constitution of Aragon has excited more interest, or more deservedly, than the office of the Justicia, or Justice ; whose extraordinary functions were far from being limited to judicial matters, although in these his authority was supreme. The origin of this insti- tution is affirmed to have been coeval with that of the constitution or frame of government itself. If it were so, his authority may be said, in the language of Blancas, " to have slept in the scabbard" until the dissolution of the Union ; when the control of a tumultuous aristocracy was exchanged for the mild and uniform operation of the law, adminis- tered by this, its supreme interpreter. His most important duties may be briefly enumerated. He was authorised to pronounce on the validity of all royal letters and ordi- nances. He possessed, as has been said, concurrent jurisdiction with the cortes over all suits against the crown and its officers. Inferior judges were bound to consult him in all doubtful cases, and to abide by his opinion, as of " equal authority," in the words of an ancient jurist, " with the law itself." An appeal lay to his tribunal from those of the territorial and royal judges. He could even evoke a cause, while pending before them, into his own court, and secure the defendant from molestation on his giving surety for his appearance. By another process, he might remove a person under arrest from the place in which he had been confined by order of an inferior court, to the public prison appropriated to this purpose, there to abide his own examination of the legality of his detention. These two provisions, by which the precipitate and perhaps intemperate proceedings of subordinate judicatures were subjected to the revision of a dignified and dispassionate tribunal, might seem to afford sufficient security for personal liberty and property. In addition to these official functions, the Justice of Aragon was constituted a permanent counsellor of the sovereign, and, as such, was required to accompany him wherever he might reside. He was to advise the king on all constitutional questions of a doubtful complexion ; and finally, on a new accession to the throne, it was his province to administer the coronation oath ; this he performed witli his head covered, and sitting, while the monarch, kneeling before him bare-headed, solemnly promised to maintain the liberties of the kingdom ; a ceremony euiiuently symbolical of that superiority of law over prerogative, which was so constantly asserted in Aragon. It was the avowed purpose of the institution of the Justicia to inter- pose such an authority between the crown and the people as might suffice for the entire protection of the latter. This is the express import of one of the laws of Soprarbe, which, whatever be thought of their authenticity, are undeniably of very high antiquity.* This part of his * duties is particularly insisted on by the most eminent judicial writers of the nation. "\Vhat ever estimate, therefore, may be formed of the real extent of his powers, as compared with those of similar functionaries in other states of Europe, there can be no doubt that this ostensible object of their creation, thus openly asserted, must have had a great tendency The law alluded to runs thus, " Ne quid autem darnni detrimeutive legea aut liber tates nostrum patiautur, judex quidam medius adesto, ad quern a Rege provocare, si aliquoa Leserit, iujuriasque arcere si quas fursati Keipub. iutulerit, jus fasque esto." AKAUON. .51 to enforce their practical operation. Accoidingly we find repeated examples, in the history of Aragon, of snceessfid interposition on the part of the Justice for the protection of individuals persecuted by the crown, and in defiance of every attempt at intimidation.* The kiugs of Aragon, chafed by this opposition, procured the resignation or deposition, on more than one occasion, of the obnoxious magistrate. But, as such an exercise of prerogative must have been altogether subversive of an independent discharge of the duties of this office, it was provided by a statute of Alfonso the Fifth, in 1442, that the Justice should continue iu office during life, removable only, on sufficient cause, by the king and the cortes united. Several provisions were enacted, in order to secure the nation more effectually against the abuse of the high trust reposed in this officer. He was to be taken from the equestrian order, which, as intermediate between the high nobility and the people, was less likely to be influenced by undue partiality to either. He could not bo selected from the ricos hombres, since this class was exempted from corporal punishment, while the Justice was made responsible to the cortes lor the faithful discharge of his duties, under penalty of death. As this supervision of the whole legislature was found unwieldy in practice, it was superseded, ai'ter various modifications, by a commission of members elected from each one of the four estates, empowered to sit every year in Saragossa, with authority to investigate the charges preferred against the Justice, and to pronounce sentence upon hini.f The Aragonese writers are prodigal of their encomiums on the pre-eminence and dignity of this functionary, whose office might seem, indeed, but a doubtful expedient for balancing the authority of the sovereign ; depending for its success less on any legal powers confided to it, than on the efficient and steady support of public opinion. Fortunately the Justice of Aragon received such support, and was thus tfliabled to earn- the original design of the institution into effect, to check the usurpations of the crown, as well as to control the licence of the nobility and the ]>eople. A series of learned and independent magistrates, by the weight of their own character, gave additional dignitv to the office. The people, familiarised with the benignant operation of the law, referred, to peaceful arbitration, those great political iiiestions which in other countries at this period must have been settled by a sanguinary revolution. $ While, in the rest of Europe, the law * Whe^i Xirnenes Cerdan, the independent Justice of John I., removed certain citizens from the prison in which they had been unlawfully confined by the king, in defiance equally of that officer's importunities and menaces, the inhabitants of Saragossa, says Abarca, came out in a body to receive him on his return to the city, and greeted him as the defender of their ancient and natural liberties. So openly did the Aragouese support their magistrate in the boldest exercise of his authority. 1 The examination was conducted in the first instance before a court of four iiiquisirors. as they were termed ; who, after a patient hearing of both sides, reported the result at their examination to a council of seventeen, chosen like them from the cortes, from wuoee :i there was no appeal. Xo lawyer was admitted into this council, lest the LPT might be distorted by verbal quibbles, says Blancas. The council, however, was allowed ' :\vo of the profession. They voted by ballot, and the majority decided. } Probably no nation of the period would have displayed a temperance similar to that exhibited by the Aragonese at the beginning of the fifteenth century, iu 1412 ; when the I'Ci'i'le. having been split into factions by a contested succession, agreed to refer the dispute to a committee of judges, elected equally from the three great provinces of the kingdom ; who, after an examination, conducted with all the forms of law, and on the same equitable principles as would have irui led the determination of a private suit, delivered an opinion, which was recei-j-i as obligatory on the '.vhole nation. 32 seemed only the web to ensnare the weak, the Aragonese historians could exult in the reflection, that the fearless administration of justice in their land " protected the weak equally with the strong, the foreigner with the native." "Well might their legislature assert, that the value of their liberties more than counterbalanced "the poverty of the nation, and the sterility of their soil."* The governments of Valencia and Catalonia, which, as has been already remarked, were administered independently of each other after their consolidation into one monarchy, bore a very near resemblance to that of Aragou.f No institution, however, corresponding in its functions with that of the Justicia, seems to have obtained in either. Valencia, which had derived a large portion of its primitive population, after the conquest, from Aragon, preserved the most intimate relations with the parent kingdom, and was constantly at its side during the tempestuous season of the Union. The Catalans were peculiarly jealous of their exclu- sive privileges, and their civil institutions wore a more democratical aspect than those of any other of the confederated states ; circumstances which led to important results that fall within the compass of our narrative. The city of Barcelona, which originally gave its name to the county of which it was the capital, was distinguished from a very early period by ample munificent privileges. After the union with Aragon, in the twelfth century, the monarchs of the latter kingdom extended towards it the same liberal legislation ; so that, by the thirteenth, Barcelona had reached a degree of commercial prosperity rivalling that of any of the Italian republics. She divided with them the lucrative commerce with Alexandria ; and her port, thronged with foreigners from every nation, became a principal emporium in the Mediterranean for the spices, drugs, perfumes, and other rich commodities of the east, whence they were diffused over the interior of Spain and the European continent. Her consuls, and her commercial factories, were established in every considerable port in the Mediterranean and in the north of Europe. The natural products of her soil, and her various domestic fabrics, supplied her with abundant articles of export. Fine wool was imported by her in considerable quantities from England in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and returned there manufactured into cloth ; an exchange of commodities the reverse of that existing between the two nations at the present day. Barcelona claims the merit of having established the first bank of exchange and deposit in Europe, in 1401 ; it was devoted to the accommodation of foreigners as well as of her own citizens. She claims the glory, too, of having compiled the most ancient written code, amr.rg the moderns, of maritime law now extant, digested from the usages of commercial nations, and which formed the basis of the mercantile jurisprudence of Europe during the middle ages. * From this independent position must be excepted, indeed, the lower classes of the peasantry, who seem to have been in a more abject state in Aragon thau in most other feudal countries. These serfs extorted, in an insurrection, the recognition of certain rights from their masters, on condition of paying a specific tax ; whence the name villanot de parada. t Although the legislatures of the different states of the crown of Aragon were never united in one body when convened in the same town, yet they were so averse to all appearance of incorporation, that the monarch frequently appointed for the places of meeting three distinct towns, within their respective territories and contiguous, ifl order uiat he might pass the more expeditiously from one to the other. ARAGOX. 3.1 The wealth which flowed in upon Barcelona as the result of her activity and enterprise, was evinced by her numerous public works, her docks, arsenal, warehouses, exchange, hospitals, and other construc- tions of general utility. Strangers, who visited Spain in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, expatiate on the magnificence of this city, its commodious private edifices, the cleanliness of its streets and public squares (a virtue by no means usual in that day), and on the amenity of its gardens and cultivated environs. But the peculiar glory of Barcelona was the freedom of her municipal institutions. Her government consisted of a senate or council of ono hundred, and a body of regidores or counsellors, as they were styled, varying at times from four to six in number ; the former entrusted with the legislative, the latter with the executive functions of administration. A large proportion of these bodies were selected from the merchants, tradesmen, and mechanics of the city. They were invested, not merely with municipal authority, but with many of the rights of sovereignty. They entered into commercial treaties with foreign powers ; superin- tended the defence of the city in time of war ; provided for the security of trade ; granted letters of reprisal against any nation who might violate it; and raised and appropriated the public moneys for the construction of useful works, or the encouragement of such commercial adventures as were too hazardous or expensive for individual enterprise. The counsellors, who presided over the municipality, were compli- mented with certain honorary privileges, not even accorded to the nobility. They were addressed by the title of magnificoes ; were seated, with their heads covered, in the presence of royalty ; were preceded by mace- bearers, or lictors, in their progress through the country ; and deputies from their body to the court were admitted on the footing, and received the honours, of foreign ambassadors. These, it will be recollected, were plebeians, merchants and mechanics. Trade never was esteemed a degradation in Catalonia, as it came to be in Castile. The professors of the different arts, as they were called, organised into guilds or companies, constituted so many independent associations, whose members were eligible to the highest municipal offices. And such was the importance attached to these offices, that the nobility, in many instances, resigning the privileges of their rank, a necessary preliminary, were desirous of being enrolled among the candidates for them.* One cannot but observe in the peculiar organisation of this little common- wealth, and in the equality assumed by every class of its citizens, a close analogy to the constitutions of the Italian republics ; which the Catalans, having become familiar with in their intimate commercial intercourse with Italy, may have adopted as the model of their own. Under the influence of these democratic institutions, the burghers of Barcelona, and indeed of Catalonia in general, which enjoyed more or less of a siniilaa- freedom, assumed a haughty independence of character beyond what existed among the same class in other parts of Spain ; and this, combined with the martial daring fostered by a life of maritime The great barons of Catalonia, fortified with extensive immunities and wealth, lived on their estates in the country, probably little relishing the levelling spirit of the burgheH of Barcelona. 94 INTRODUCTION. adventure and warfare, made them impatient, not merely of oppression, but of contradiction, on the part of their sovereigns, who have experienced more frequent and more sturdy resistance from this quarter of their dominions than from every other.* Navagiero, the Venetian ambassador to Spain, early in the sixteenth century, although a republican himself, was so struck with what he deemed the insubordi- nation of the Barcelonians, that he asserts, " The inhabitants have so many privileges, that the king scarcely retains any authority over them: their liberty," he adds, "should rather go by the name of licence." One example, among many, may be given of the tenacity with which they adhered to their most inconsiderable immunities. Ferdinand the First, in 1416, being desirous, in consequence of the exhausted state of the finances on his coming to the throne, to evade the payment of a certain tax or subsidy customarily paid by the kings of Aragon to the city of Barcelona, sent for the president of the council, John Fiveller, to require the consent of that body to this measure. The magistrate, having previously advised with his colleagues, determined to encounter any hazard, says Zurita, rather than compromise the rights of the city. He reminded the king of his coronation oath, expressed his regret that he was willing so soon to deviate from the good usages of his predecessors, and plainly told him that he and his comrades would never betray the liberties intrusted to them. Ferdinand, indignant at this language, ordered the patriot to withdraw into another apartment, where he remained in much uncertainty as to the conse- quences of his temerity. But the king was dissuaded from violent measures, if he ever contemplated them, by the representation of his courtiers, who warned him not to reckon too much on the patience of the people, who bore small affection to his person, from the little familiarity with which he had treated them in comparison with their preceding monarchs, and who were already in arms to protect their magistrate. In consequence of these suggestions, Ferdinand deemed it prudent to release the counsellor, and withdrew abruptly from the city on the ensuing day, disgusted at the ill success of his enterprise.t The Aragonese monarchs well understood the value of their Catalan dominions, which sustained a proportion of the public burdens equal in amount to that of both the other states of the kingdom. J Notwith- standing the mortifications which they occasionally experienced from this quarter, therefore, they uniformly extended towards it the most liberal protection. A register of the various customs paid in the ports of Catalonia, compiled in 1413, under the above-mentioned Ferdinand, exhibits a discriminating legislation, extraordinary in an age when the true principles of financial policy were so little understood. Under James the First, in 1227, a navigation act, limited in its application, * Barcelona revolted and was twice besieged by the royal arms under John II. ; once under Philip IV., twice under Charles II., and twice under Philip V. This las>t siege, 1713-14, in which it held out against the combined forces of France and Spui.'i under Marshal Berwick, is one of the most memorable events in the eighteenth century. t The king turned his back on the magistrates who came to pay their respects to him, on learning his intention of quitting the city. He seems, however, to have had the ii nimity to forgive, perhaps to admire, the independent conduct of Fiveller ; for, at his death, which occurred very soon after, we find this citizen mentioned as one af his executors. t The taxes were assessed in the ratio of one-sixth on Valencia, two-sixths on Aragon, and three-sixths on Catalonia. AttAGOX. 35 was published, and another under Alfonso the Fifth, in 1454, embracing all the dominions of Aragon ; thus preceding by some centuries the celebrated ordinance to which England owes so much of her commercial grandeur. The brisk concussion given to the minds of the Catalans in the busy career in which they were engaged, seems to have been favourable to the development of poetical talent, in the same manner as it was in Italy. Catalonia may divide with Provence the glory of being the region where the voice of song was first awakened in modern Europe. Whatever may be the relative claims of the two countries to precedence in this respect, it is certain that under the family of Barcelona, the Provenal of the south of France reached its highest perfection ; and, when the tempest of persecution in the beginning of the thirteenth century fell on the lovely valleys of that unhappy country, its minstrels found a hospitable asylum in the court of the kings of Aragon ; many of whom not only protected, but cultivated the gay science with considerable success.* Their names have descended to us, as well as those of less illustrious troubadours, whom Petrarch and his contemporaries did not disdain to imitate ; but their compositions, for the most part, lie still buried in those cemeteries of the intellect so numerous in Spain, and call loudly for the diligence of some Sainte Palaye or Raynouard to disinter them. The languishing condition of the poetic art, at the close of the fourteenth century, induced John the First, who mingled somewhat of the ridiculous even with his most respectable tastes, to depute a solemn embassy to the king of France, requesting that a commission might be detached from the Floral Academy of Toulouse, into Spain, to erect there a similar institution. This was accordingly done, and the consistory of Barcelona was organised in 1390. The kings of Aragon endowed it with funds, and with a library valuable for that day, presiding over its meetings in person, and distributing the poetical premiums with their own hands. During the troubles copsequent on the death of Martin, this establishment fell into decay, until it was again revived, on the accession of Ferdinand the First, by the celebrated Henry, marquis of Villena, who transplanted it to Tortosa. The marquis, in his treatise on the gaya sciencia, details with becom- ing gravity the pompous ceremonial observed in his academy on the event of a public celebration. The topics of discussion were "the praises of the Virgin, love, arms, and other good usages." The per- formances of the candidates, " inscribed on parchment of various colours, richly enamelled with gold and silver, and beautifully illuminated," were publicly recited, and then referred to a committee, who made solemn oath to decide impartially and according to the rules of the art. On the delivery of the verdict, a wreath of gold was deposited on the victorious poem, which was registered in the academic arcliives ; and the fortunate troubadour, greeted with a magnificent prize, was escorted to the royal palace amid a cortege of minstrelsy and chivalry; "thua manifesting to the world," says the marquis, "the superiority which God and nature have assigned to genius over dulness." * Peter ill., James I., Peter IV., have all left compositions in the Limousin tongue behind them ; the three former ia verse ; the two latter in prose, setting forth the history of tLeir own time. D2 36 The influence of such an institution in awakening a poetic spirit is at best very questionable. Whatever effect an academy may have in stimulating the researches of science, the inspirations of genius must come unbidden. ; " Adflata est numine quando Jam propiore deL" The Catalans, indeed, seem to have been of this opinion ; for they suffered the consistory of Tortosa to expire with its founder. Somewhat later, in 1430, was established the university of Barcelona, placed under ,the direction of the municipality, and endowed by the city with ample funds for instruction in the various departments of law, theology, medicine, and the belles-lettres. This institution survived until the commencement of the last century.* During the first half of the fifteenth century, long after the genuine race of the troubadours had passed away, the Provenal or Limousin verse was carried to its highest excellence by the poets of Valencia. It would be presumptuous for any one, who has not made the romance dialects his particular studv, to attempt a discriminating criticism of these compositions, so much of the merit of which necessarily consists in the almost impalpable beauties of style and expression. The Spaniards however applaud, in the verses of Ausias March, the same musical combinations of sound, and the same tone of moral melancholy which pervade the productions of Petrarch. In prose, too, thev have (to borrow the words of Andres) their Boccacio in Martorell ; whose fiction of " Tirante el Blanco " is honoured by the commendation of the curate in Don Quixote, as " the best book in the world of the kind, since the knights-errant in it eat, drink, sleep, and die quietly in their beds, like other folk, and very unlike most heroes of romance." The productions of these, and some other of their distinguished contemporaries, obtained a general circulation very early by means of the recently invented art of printing, and subsequently passed into repeated editions. But their language has long since ceased to be the language of literature. On the union of the two crowns of Castile and Aragon, the dialect of the former became that of the court and of the Muses. The beautiful Pro- venc.al, once more rich and melodious than any other idiom in the Peninsula, was abandoned as a patois to the lower orders of the Catalans, who, with the language, may boast that they also have inherited the noble principles of freedom which distinguished their ancestors. There were thirty-two chairs or professorships, founded and maintained at the expense of the city ; six of theology ; six of j urispnidence ; five of medicine ; six of philo- Bophy ; four of grammar ; one of rhetoric ; one of surgery ; one of anatomy ; one of Hebrew, and another of Greek. It is singular that none should have existed for the L a in, so much more currently studied at that time, and of so much more practical application always than either of the other ancient languages. The influence of free institutions in Aragon is perceptible in the familiarity displayed by Its writers with public affairs, and in the freedom with which they have discussed the organisation and general economy of its government. The creation of the office of national chronicler, under Charles V., gave wider scope to the development of historic talent. Among the nict conspicuous of these historiographers was Jerome Blaucas, several of whose productions, as the " Coronaciones de los Reyes," '' Modo de Proceder en Cortes," and "Ci'inniciitarii Rerum Aragonensium," especially the last, have been repeatedly quoted In the preceding section. This work presents a view of the different orders of the state, aud pa; ticuUiriy of the office of the Justicia, with their peculiar functions and privilegea. GENEALOGY OF FERDIXAXD A2S T D ISABELLA. 37 The author, omitting the usual details of history, has devoted himself to the illustration of the constitutional antiquities of his country, in the execution of which he has shown a sagacity and erudition equally profound. His sentiments breathe a generous love of freedom, which one would scarcely suppose to have existed, and still less to have been promulgated, under Philip II. His style is distinguished by the purity and even elegance of its Latir.ity. Blancas, after having held his office for ten years, died in his native city of Saragossa, in 1590. Jerome Martel, from whose little treatise " Formar de Celebrar Cortes," I have also liberally cited, was appointed public historiographer in 1597. His continuation of Zurita's Annals, which he left unpublished at his decease, was never admitted to the honours of the press, because, says his biographer Uztarroz, verdaJes lastiman; a reason as creditable to the author as disgraceful to the government. A third writer, and the one chiefly relied on for the account of Catalonia, is Don Antonio Capmauy. His "Memorias Historicas dc Barcelona," may be thought somewhat too discursive and circumstantial for his subject ; but it is hardly right to quarrel with infor- mation so rare and painfully collected ; the sin of exuberance at any rate is much less frequent, and more easily corrected, than that of sterility. His work is a vast repertory of tacts relating to the commerce, manufactures, general policy, and public prosperity, not only of Barcelona, but of Catalonia. It is written with an independent and liberal spirit, which may be regarded as affording the best commentary on the genius of the institutions which he celebrates. Capmany closed his useful labours at Madrid in 1S10, at the age of fifty-six. Notwithstanding the interesting character of tlis Aragonese constitution, and the ampli- tude of materials for its history, the subject has been hitherto neglected, as far as I am aware, by continental writers. Robertson and Hallam, more especially the latter, havo given such a view of its prominent features to the English reader, as must, I fear, deprive the sketch which I have attempted, in a great degree, of novelty. To these names must now be added that of the author of the " History of Spain and Portugal," (Cabinet Cyclo- paedia,) whose work, published since the preceding pages were written, contains much curious and learned disquisition on the early jurisprudence and municipal institutions of both Castile and Aragon. GENEALOGY OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA. Henry II. of Trastamara ; d. 1379. John I. of Castile; d. 1390 .^Leonora of Aragon. Catherine of ^Henry III. of Castile ; Lancaster. I d. 140t">. ^Johnll of ^Isabella of Castile ; d. 1-154. Portugal. (2nd wife.) Henry IV. of Caa- Alphonso ; ISABELLA tile ; d. 1474. d. 1468. THE CATHOLIC. Ferdinand I. of Aragon : d. 1416. j r-Leonora of I Albuquerque. Caros ; d. 1461. Blanche. Leonora. FERDIKAHB TUB CATHOLIC* PART THE FIEST. 14061492. ras PERIOD wnra THE DIFFERENT KINGDOMS OF SPAIN WERE FIRST UNITED CTTDER mn. MONARCHY, AND A THOROUGH REFORM WAS INTRODUCED INTO THEIK INTERNAL ADMINISTRATION ; OR, THE PERIOD EXHIBITING MOST FULLY THE DOMESTIC POLIC1T Or FERDINAND AND ISABELLA. CHAPTEE I. STATE Or CASTILE AT THE BIRTH OF ISABELLA REIGK OF JOHN n. OF CAST1LK. 14061454. Revolution of Trastamara Accession of John II. Rise of Alvaro de Luna Jealousy ol the Nobles Oppression of the Commons Its consequences Early Literature of Castile I^s Encouragement under John II. Decline of Alvaro de Luna His Fall Death of John II. Birth of Isabella. THE fierce civil feuds, which preceded the accession of the House of Trastamara in 1368, were as fatal to the nobility of Castile, as the wars of the Roses were to that of England. There was scarcely a family oi note which had not poured out its blood on the field or the scaffold. The influence of the aristocracy was, of course, much diminished with its numbers. The long wars with foreign powers, which a disputed succes- sion entailed on the country, were almost equally prejudicial to the authority of the monarch, wno was willing to buoy up his tottering title by the most liberal concession of privileges to the people. Thus the commons rose in proportion as the crown and the privileged orders descended in the scale ; and, when the claims of the several competitors for the throne were finally extinguished, and the tranquillity of the kingdom was secured, by the union of Henry the Third with Catherine of Lancaster, at the close of the fourteenth century, the third estate may be said to have attained to the highest degree of political consequence which it ever reached in Castile. The healthful action of the body politic, during the long interval of peace that followed this auspicious union, enabled it to repair the strength which had been wasted in its murderous civil contests. The ancient channels of commerce were again opened; various new manu- factures were introduced, and carried to a considerable perfection ; wealth, with its usual concomitants, elegance and comfort, flowed in apace ; and the nation promised itself a long career of prosperity under BIRTH OF ISABELLA, 39 a monarch who respected the laws in hLs own person, and administered them with vigour. All these fair hopts Wen- blasted by the premature death of Henry the Third, before he had reached his twenty-eighth year. Tli-' crown devolved on his son John the Second, then a minor, whose reign was one of the longest and the most disastrous in the Castilian annals. As it was that, however, which gave birth to Isabella, the illustrious subject of our narrative, it will be necessary to pass its prin- cipal features under review, in order to obtain a correct idea of her government. The wise administration of the regency, during a long minority, postponed the season of calamity ; and, when it at length arrived, it was concealed for some time from the eyes of the vulgar by the pomp and brilliant festivities which distinguished the court of the young monarch. His indisposition, if not incapacity for business, however, gradually became manifest ; and, while he resigned himself without reserve to pleasures, which it must be confessed were not unfrequently of a refined and intellectual character, he abandoned the government of his kingdom, to the control of favourites. The most conspicuous of these was Alvaro de Luna, grand master of St. James, and Constable of Castile. . '_.as remarkable person, the ille- gitimate descendant of a noble house in Aragon, was introduced very early as a page into the royal household, where he soon distinguished himself by his amiable manners and personal accomplishments. He could ride, fence, dance, sing, if we may credit his loyal biographer, better than any other cavalier in the court ; while his proficiency in music and poetry recommended him most effectually to the favour of the monarch, who professed to be a connoisseur in both. "With these showy qualities, Alvaro de Luna united others of a more dangerous complexion. His insinuating address easily conciliated confidence, and enabled him to master the motives of others, while his own were masked by consummate dissimulation. He was as fearless in executing his ambitious schemes as he was cautious in devising them. He was indefatigable in his appli- cation to business, so that John, whose aversion to it we have noticed, willingly reposed on him the whole burden of government. The king, it was said, only signed, while the constable dictated and executed. He was the only channel of promotion to public office, whether secular or ecclesiastical. As his cupidity was insatiable, he perverted the great trust confided to him to the acquisition of the principal posts in the government for himself or his kindred, and at his death is said to have left a larger amount of treasure than was possessed by the whole nobility of the kingdom. He affected a magnificence of state corresponding with his elevated rank. The most considerable grandees in Castile contended for the honour of having their sons, after the fashion of the time, educated in his family. When he rode abroad, he was accompanied by a numerous retinue of knights and nobles, which left his sovereign's court comparatively deserted ; so that royalty might be said on all occa- sions, whether of business or pleasure, to be eclipsed by the superior splendours of its satellite. 4 The history of this man may remind the English reader of that of Cardinal Wolsey, whom he somewhat resembled in character, and still more in his extraordinary fortunes. He possessed sixty towns and fortresses, and kept three thousand lancea constantly 40 REIGN OF JOHN II. OF CASTILE. It may easily be believed, that the haughty aristocracy of Castile would ill brook' this exaltation of an individual so inferior to then? iu birth, and who withal did not wear his honours with exemplary meek- ness. John's blind partiality for his favourite is the key to all the troubles which agitated the kingdom during the last thirty years of his reign. The disgusted nobles organised confederacies for the purpose of deposing the minister. The whole nation took sides in this unhappy struggle. The heats of civil discord were still further heightened by the interference of the royal house of Aragon, which, descended from a common stock with that of Castile, was proprietor of large estates in the latter country. The wretched monarch beheld even his own sou Henry, the heir to the crown, enlisted in the opposite faction, and saw himself reduced to the extremity of shedding the blood of his subjects in. the fatal battle of Olmedo. Still the address, or the good fortune, of the constable enabled him to triumph over his enemies ; and, although he was obliged occasionally to yield to the violence of the storm and with- draw awhile from the court, he was soon recalled and reinstated in all his former dignities. This melancholy infatuation of the king is imputed by the writers of that age to sorcery on the part of the favourite. But the only witchcraft which he used was the ascendancy of a strong mind over a weak one. During this long-protracted anarchy, the people lost whatever they had gained in the two preceding reigns. By the advice of his minister, who seems to have possessed a full measure of the insolence so usual with persons suddenly advanced from low to elevated station, the king not only abandoned the constitutional policy of his predecessors, in regard to the commons, but entered on the most arbitrary and systematic violation of their rights. Their deputies were excluded from the privy council, or lost all influence in it. Attempts were made to impose taxes without the legislative sanction. The municipal territories were alien- ated, and lavished on the royal minions. The freedom of elections was invaded, and delegates to cortes were frequently nominated by the crown ; and, to complete the iniquitous scheme of oppression, pray- maticas, or royal proclamations, were issued, containing provisions repugnant to the acknowledged law of the land, and affirming in the most unqualified terms the right of the sovereign to legislate for his subjects. The commons indeed, when assembled in cortes, stoutly resisted the assumption of such unconstitutional powers by the crown, and compelled the prince not only to revoke his pretensions, but to accompany his revocation with the most humiliating concessions.* They even ventured so far, during this reign, as to regulate the exp?nses of the royal household ; and their language to the throne on all thesn occasions, though temperate and loyal, breathed a generous spirit of patriotism, evincing a perfect consciousness of their own rights, and a steady determination to maintain them. Alas ! what could such resolution avail, in this season of misrule, against the intrigues of a cunning and profligate minister, unsupported, too, as the commons were, by any sympathy or co-operation on the part of the higher orders of the state ! A scheme was devised for bringing the popular branch of the legislature more effectually within the control of the crown, by diminishing the number of its constituents. It has 1 It was much easier to extort (food laws from this monarch than to enforce them. BIRTH OF ISABELLA. 41 been already remarked, in the Introduction, that a great irregularity prevailed in' Castile as to the number of cities which, at different times, exercised the right of representation. During the fourteenth century, the deputation from this order had been uncommonly full. The king, however, availing himself of this indeterminateness, caused writs to be issued to a very small proportion of the towns which had usually enjoyed the privilege. Some of those that were excluded, indignantly, though ineffectually, remonstrated against this abuse. Others, previously despoiled of their possessions by the rapacity of the crown, or impover- ished by the disastrous feuds into which the country had been thrown, acquiesced in the measure, from motives of economy. From the same mistaken policy several cities, again, as Burgos, Toledo, and others, petitioned the sovereign to defray the charges of their representatives from the royal treasury ; a most ill-advised parsimony, which suggested to the crown a plausible pretext for the new system of exclusion. In. this manner the Castilian cortes, which, notwithstanding its occasional fluctuations, had exhibited during the preceding century what might be regarded as a representation of the whole commonwealth, was gradually reduced, during the reigns of John the Second and his son Henry the Fourth, to the deputations of some seventeen or eighteen cities. And to this number, with slight variation, it has been restricted until the occurrence of the recent revolutionary movements in that kingdom.* The non-represented were required to transmit their instructions to the deputies of the privileged cities. Thus Salamanca appeared in behalf of five hundred towns and fourteen hundred villages ; and the populous province of Galicia was represented by the little town of Zamora, which is not even included within its geographical limits. The privilege of a voice in cortes, as it was called, came at length to be prized so highly by the favoured citiea, that when, in 1506, some of those which were excluded solicited the restitution of their ancient rights, their petition was opposed by the former, on the impudent pretence that " the right of deputation had been reserved by ancient law and usage to only eighteen cities of the realm." In this short-sighted and most unhappy policy, we see the operation of those local jealousies and estrangements to which we have alluded in the Introduction. But, although the cortes, thus reduced in numbers, necessarily lost much of its weight, it still main- tained a bold front against the usurpations of the crown. It does not appear, indeed, that any attempt was made under John the Second, or his successor, to corrupt its members, or to control the freedom of debate; although such a proceeding is not improbable, as altogether conformable to their ordinary policy, and as the natural result of their preliminary measures. But, however true the deputies continued to themselves and to those who sent them, it is evident that so limited and partial a selec- tion no longer afforded a, representation of the interests of the whole country. Their necessarily imperfect acquaintance with the principles or even wishes of their widely scattered constituents, in an age when knowledge was not circulated on the thousand wings of the press, as in our day, must have left them oftentimes in painful uncertainty, and deprived them of the cheering support of public opinion. The voice * In 1636 the city of Palcncia was content to repurchase its ancient right of represent* tion from the crown at an expense of 80.000 ducats. 42 EEIGX OP JOHX H. OF CASTILE. of remonstrance, which derives such confidence from numbers, would hardly now be raised in their deserted halls with the same frequency or energy as before ; and however the representatives of that day might maintain their integrity uncorrupted, yet, as every facility was afforded to the undue influence of the crown, th'e time might come when venality would prove stronger than principle, and the unworthy patriot be tempted to sacrifice his birth-right for a mess of pottage. Thus early was the fair dawn of freedom overcast, which opened in Castile under more brilliant auspices, perhaps, than in any other country in Europe. While the reign of John the Second is so deservedly odious in a political view, in a literary it may be inscribed with wha't Giovio calls, " the golden pen of history." It was an epoch in the Castilian, corresponding with that of the reign of Francis the First in French literature, distinguished not so much by any production of extraordinary genius, as by the effort made for the introduction of an elegant culture, by conducting it on more scientific principles than had been hitherto known. The early literature of Castile could boast of the "Poem of the Cid," in some respects the most remarkable performance of the middle ages. It was enriched, moreover, with other elaborate com- positions, displaying occasional glimpses of a buoyant fancy, or of sensibility to external beauty ; to say nothing of those delightful romantic ballads which seemed to spring up spontaneously in every quarter of the country, like the natural wild flowers of the soil. But the unaffected beauties of sentiment, which seem rather the result of accident than design, were dearly purchased, in the more extended pieces, at the expense of such a crude mass of grotesque and undigested verse, as shows an entire ignorance of the principles of the art. The profession of letters itself was held in little repute by the higher orders of the nation, who were altogether untinctured with liberal learning. While the nobles of the sister kingdom of Aragon, assembled in their poetic courts, in imitation of their Proven9al neighbours, vied with each other in lays of love and chivalry, those of Castile disdained these effeminate pleasures as unworthy of the profession of arms, the only one of any estimation in their eyes. The benignant influence of John was perceptible in softening this ferocious temper. He was himself sufficiently accomplished for a king; and, notwithstanding his aversion to business, manifested, as has been noticed, a lively relish for intellectual enjoyment. He was fond of books, wrote and spoke Latin with facility, composed verses, and condescended occasionally to correct those of hfs loving subjects. Whatever might be the value of his criticisms, that of his example cannot be doubted. The courtiers, with the quick scent of their own interest which distinguishes the tribe in every country, soon turned their attention to the same polite studies ; and thus Castilian poetry received, very early, the courtly stamp which continued its prominent characteristic down to the age of its meridian glory. Among the most eminent of these noble savans, was Henry, marquis of Villena, descended from the royal houses of Castile and Aragon,* but more illustrious, as one of his countrymen has observed, by his talents * He was the grandson of Alonso de Villena, the first marquis as well as constable created in Castile, descended from James II. of Aragon. His mother was an illegitimate daughter of Henry II. of Castile. BIBTH OP ISABELLA. 43 and attainments, than by his birth. His whole life was consecrated to letters, and especially to the study of natural science. I am not aware that any specimen of his poetry, although much lauded by his contem- poraries, has come down to us. He translated Dante's " Commedia," into prose, and is said to have given the first example of a version of the ^Eneid into a modern language. He laboured assiduously to introduce a more cultivated taste among his countrymen, and his little treatise on the gayn sciencia, as the divine art was then called, in which he gives an historical and critical view of the poetical Consistory of Barcelona, is the first approximation, however faint, to an Art of Poetry in the Castilian tongue. The exclusiveness with which he devoted himself to science, and especially astronomy, to the utter neglect of his temporal concerns, led the wits of that day to remark, that " he knew much of heaven and nothing of earth." He paid the usual penalty of such indifference to worldly weal, by seeing himself eventually stripped of his lordly possessions, and reduced at the close of life to extreme poverty. His secluded habits brought on him the appalling imputation, of necromancy. A scene took place at his death, in 1434, which is sufficiently characteristic of the age, and may possibly have suggested a similar adventure to Cervantes. The king commissioned his son's preceptor, Brother Lope de Barrientos, afterwards bishop of Cuena, to examine the valuable library of the deceased ; and the worthy ecclesiastic consigned more than a hundred volumes of it to the flames, as savouring too strongly of the black art. The Bachelor Cibdareal, the confidential physician of John the Second, in a lively letter on this occurrence to the poet John de Mena, remarks, that " some would fain get the repute "Hon of saints, by making others necromancers ;" and requests his friend " to allow him to solicit, in his behalf, some of the surviving volumes from the king, that in this way the soul of Brother Lope might be saved from further sin, and the spirit of the defunct marquis consoled by the con- sciousness that his books no longer rested on the shelves of the man who had converted him into a conjurer." * John de Mena denounces this auto dafe of science in a similar, but graver tone of sarcasm, in his " Laberinto." These liberal sentiments in the Spanish writers of the fifteenth century may put to shame the more bigoted criticism of the seventeenth. Another of the illustrious wits of this reign was Inigo Lopez de Mendoza, marquis of Santillana, "the glory and delight of the Castilian nobility," whose celebrity was such, that foreigners, it was said, journeyed to Spain from distant parts of Europe to see him. Although passionately devoted to letters, he did not, like his friend the marquis of Villena, neglect his public or domestic duties for them. On the contrary, he discharged the most important civil and military functions. He made his house an academy, in which the young cavaliers of the court might practise the martial exercises of the age ; and he assembled around him at the same time men eminent for genius and science, whom * The bishop endeavoured to transfer the blame of the conflagration to the king. There can be little doubt, however, that the good father infused the suspicions of necromancy into his master's bosoni. "The angels," he says, in one of his works, "who guarded Paradise, presented a treatise on mngic to one of the posterity of Adam, from a copy of trhich Villeua derived his science." Oue would think that such an orthodox source might have justified Villena in the use of it 44 EEIGN OF JOHN H. OF CASTILE. he munificently recompensed, and encouraged by his example. His own taste led him to poetry, of -which he has left some elaborate specimens. They are chiefly of a moral and perceptive character ; but, although replete with noble sentiment, and finished in a style of literary excellence far more correct than that of the preceding age, they are too much infected with mythology and metaphorical affectations to suit the palate of the present day. He possessed, however, the soul of a poet ; and when he abandons himself to his native redondillas, delivers his sentiments with a sweetness and grace inimitable. To him is to be ascribed the glory, such as it is, of having naturalised the Italian sonnet in Castile, which Boscan, many years later, claimed for himself with no small degree of self-congratulation. His epistle on the primitive history of Spanish verse, although containing notices sufficiently curious, from the age and the source whence they proceed, has perhaps done more service to letters by the valuable illustrations it has called forth from its learned editor. This great man, who found so much leisure for the cultivation of letters amidst the busy strife of politics, closed his career at the age of sixty, in 1458. Though a conspicuous actor in the revolutionary scenes of the period, he maintained a character for honour and purity of motive, unimpeached even by his enemies. The king, notwithstanding his devotion to the faction of his son Henry, conferred on him the dignities of count of Real de Manzanares and marquis of Santillana ; this being the oldest creation of a marquis in Castile, with the exception of Villena.* His eldest son was subsequently made duke of Infantado, by which title his descendants have continued to be distinguished to the pre- sent day. But the most conspicuous for his poetical talents, of the brilliant circle which graced the court of John the Second, was John de Mena, a native of fair Cordova, " the flower of science and of chivalry," as he fondly styles her. Although born in a middling condition of life, with humble prospects, he was early smitten with a love of letters ; and, after passing through the usual course of discipline at Salamanca, he repaired to Rome, where in the study of those immortal masters, whose writings had but recently revealed the full capacities of a modern idiom, he imbibed principles of taste, which gave a direction to his own genius, and in some degree to that of his countrymen. On his return to Spain, his literary merit soon attracted general admiration, and intro- duced him to the patronage of the great, and, above all, to the friendship of the marquis of Santillana. He was admitted into the private circle of the monarch, who, as his gossiping physician informs us, " used to have Mena's verses lying on his table, as constantly as his prayer-book." The poet repaid the debt of gratitude by administering a due quantity of honeyed rhyme, for which the royal palate seems to have possessed a more than ordinary relish. He continued faithful to his master amidst all the fluctuations of faction, and survived him less than two years. He died in 1456 ; and his friend, the marquis of Santillana, raised a sumptuous monument over his remains, in commemoration of his virtues and of their mutual affection. John de Mena is affirmed by some of the national critics to have given ' He left, besides daughters, six sons, -who all became the founders of noble and powerful houses. BIETH OF ISABELLA. 45 a now aspect to Castilian poetry. His great work was his " Laberinto," the outlines of whose plan may faintly remind us of that portion of the " Livina Commedia " where Dante resigns himself to the guidance of Beatrice. In like manner, the Spanish poet, under the escort of a beautiful personification of Providence, witnesses the apparition of the most eminent individuals, whether of history or fable ; and, as they revolve on the wheel of destiny, they give occasion to some animated portraiture, and much dull, pedantic disquisition. In these delineations we now and then meet with a touch of his pencil, which, from its simplicity and vigour, may be called truly Dantesque. Indeed the Castilian muse never before ventured on so bold a flight ; and, notwith- standing the deformity of the general plan, the obsolete barbarisms of the phraseology, its quaintness and pedantry ; notwithstanding the cantering dactylic measure in which it is composed, and which to the ear of a foreigner can scarcely be made tolerable ; the work abounds in conceptions, nay, in whole episodes, of such mingled energy and beauty, as indicate genius of the highest order. In some of his smaller pieces his style assumes a graceful flexibility, too generally denied to his more strained and elaborate efforts. It will not be necessary to bring under review the minor luminaries of this period. Alfonso de Baena, a converted Jew, secretary of John the Second, compiled the fugitive pieces of more than fifty of these ancien troubadours into a cancionero, " for the disport and divertisement of his highness the king, when he should find himself too sorely oppressed with cares of state," a case we may imagine of no rare occurrence. The original manuscript of Baena, transcribed in beautiful characters of the fifteenth century, lies, or did lie until very lately, unheeded in the cemetery of the Escurial, with the dust of many a better worthy. The extracts selected from it by Castro, although occasionally exhibiting some fluent graces, with considerable variety of versification, convey, on the whole, no very high idea of taste or poetic talent.* Indeed, this epoch, as before remarked, was not so much distinguished by uncommon displays of genius, as by its general intellectual move- ment, and the enthusiasm kindled for liberal studies. Thus we find the corporation of Seville granting a hundred doblas of gold as the guerdon of a poet who had celebrated in some score of verses the glories of their native city ; and appropriating the same sum as an annual premium for a similar performance. It is not often that the productions of a poet laureat have been more liberally recompensed even by royal bounty. But the gifted spirits of that day mistook the road to immortality. Disdaining the untutored simplicity of their predecessors, they sought to rise above them by an ostentation of learning, as well as by a more classical idiom. In the latter particular they succeeded. They much improved the external forms of poetry, and their compositions exhibit a high degree of literary finish, compared with all that preceded them. But their happiest sentiments are frequently involved in such a cloud of The veneration entertained for the poetic art in that day may be conceived from Baena's whimsical prologue. "Poetry," he says, "or the gay science, is a very subtile and delightsome composition. It demands in him who would hope to excel in it, a curioua invention, a sane judgment, a various scholarship, familiarity with courts and public afiairs, high birth and breeding, a temperate, courteous, and liberal disposition, and, in flue, honey, sugar, salt, freedom, and hilarity in his discourse." 46 KEIGN OF JOHN II. OF CASTILE. metaphor as to become nearly unintelligible, while they invoke the pagan deities with a shameless prodigality that would scandalise even a French lyric. This cheap display of school-boy erudition, however it may have appalled their own age, has been a principal cause of their comparative oblivion with posterity. How far superior is one touch of nature, as the " Finojossa," or " Querella de Amor," for example, of the marquis of Santillana, to all this farrago of metaphor and mythology ! The impulse given to Castilian poetry extended to other departments of elegant literature. Epistolary and historical compositions were culti- vated with considerable success. The latter, especially, might admit of advantageous comparison with that of any other country in Europe at the same period ; * and it is remarkable that after such early promise, the modern Spaniards have not been more successful in perfecting a classical prose style. Enough has been said to give an idea of the state of mental improve ment in Castile under John the Second. The Muses, who had found a shelter in his court from the anarchy which reigned abroad, soon fled from its polluted precincts under the reign of his successor Henry the Fourth, whose sordid appetites were incapable of being elevated above the objects of the senses. If we have dwelt somewhat long on a more pleasing picture, it is because our road is now to lead us across a dreary waste exhibiting scarcely a vestige of civilisation. While a small portion of the higher orders of the nation was thus endeavouring to forget the public calamities in the tranquillising pursuit of letters, and a much larger portion in the indulgence of pleasure, f the popular aversion for the minister Luna had been gradually infusing itself into the royal bosom. His too obvious assumption of superiority, even over the monarch who had raised him from the dust, was probably the real though secret cause of this disgust. But the habitual ascendancy of the favourite over his master prevented the latter from disclosing this feeling until it was heightened by an occurrence which sets in a strong light the imbecility of the one and the presumption of the other. John, on the death of his wife, Maria of Aragon, had formed the design of connecting himself with a daughter of the King of France. But the constable in the meantime, without even the privity of his master, entered into negotiations for his marriage with the princess Isabella, . grand-daughter of John the First of Portugal : and the monarch, with an unprecedented degree of complaisance, acquiesced in an arrangement professedly repugnant to his own inclinations. By one of those dispen- sations of Providence, however, which often confound the plans of the wisest, as of the weakest, the column, which the minister had so artfully raised for Ms support, served only to crush him. The new queen, disgusted with his haughty bearing, and probably not much gratified with the subordinate situation to which he had reduced * Perhaps the most conspicuous of these historical compositions for mere literary execution is the Chronicle of Alvaro de Luna. The loyalty of the chronicler seduces him sometimes into a swell of panegyric, which may be thought to favour too strongly of the current defect of Castilian prose; but it more frequently imj. arts to his nurr.-itive a generous glow of sentiment, raising it f;ir above the lifeless details of ordinary history, and occasion- ally even to positive eloquence. t Sempere has published an extract from an uuprinted manuscript of the celebrated marquis of Villeua, entitled Tnimfo de las Donas, in which, adverting to the pttits-maitres of his time, he recapitulates the fashionable arts employed by them for the embellishment of the person, with a degree of minuteness which might edify a modem dandy. BIRTH OF ISABELLA. 47 her husband, entered heartily into the feelings of the latter, and indeed contrived to extinguish whatever spark of latent affection for his ancient favourite lurked within his breast. John, yet fearing the overgrown power of the constable too much to encounter him openly, condescended to adopt the dastardly policy of Tiberius on a similar occasion, by caressing the man whom he designed to ruin ; and he eventually obtained possession of his person, only by a violation of the royal safe-conduct. The constable's trial was referred to a commission of jurists and privy counsellors, who, after a summary and informal investigation, pro- nounced on him the sentence of death, on a specification of charges either general and indeterminate, or of the most triviaLimport. " If the king," says Garibay, " had dispensed similar justice to all his nobles who equally deserved it in those turbulent times, he would have had but few to reign over." The constable had supported his disgrace, from the first, with an equanimity not to have been expected from his elation in prosperity ; and he now received the tidings of his fate with a similar fortitude. As he rode along the streets to the place of execution, clad : n the sable livery of an ordinary criminal, and deserted by those who had been reared by his bounty, the populace, who before called so loudly for his disgrace, struck with this astonishing reverse of his brilliant fortunes, were melted into tears. They called to mind the numerous instances of his magnanimity. They reflected that the ambitious schemes of his rivals had been not a whit less selfish, though less successful, than his own ; and that, if his cupidity appeared insatiable, he had dispensed the fruits of it in acts of princely munificence. He himself maintained a serene and even cheerful- aspect. Meeting one of the domestics of Prince Henry, he bade him request the prince " to reward the attachment of his servants with a different guerdon from what his master had assigned to him." As he ascended the scaffold, he surveyed the apparatus of death with composure, and calmly submitted himself to the stroke of the executioner, who, in the savage style of the executions of that day, plunged his knife into the throat of his victim, and deliberately severed his head from his body. A basin for the reception of alms to defray the expenses of his interment, was placed at one extremity of the scaffold ; and his mutilated remains, after having been exposed for several days to the gaze of the populace, were removed by the brethren of a charitable order to a place called the Hermitage of St. Andrew, appropriated as the cemetery for malefactors. (1453.) Such was the tragical end of Alvaro de Luna ; a man who, for more than thirty years, controlled the counsels of the sovereign, or, to speak more properly, was himself the sovereign of Castile. His fate furnishes one of the most memorable lessons in history. It was not lost on his contemporaries; and the marquis of Santillana has made use of it to point the moral of perhaps the most pleasing of his didactic compositions John did not long survive his favourite's death, which he was seen after- wards to lament, even with tears. Indeed, during the whole of the triaJ he had exhibited the most pitiable agitation, having twice issued and recalled his orders countermanding the constable's execution ; and, had it not been for the superior constancy or vindictive temper of thf* queen, he would probably have yielded to these impulses of returning affection. 48 REIGN OF JOHN II. OF CASTILE. So far from deriving a wholesome warning from experience, John confided the entire direction of his kingdom to individuals not less interested, hut possessed of far less enlarged capacities, than the former minister. Penetrated with remorse at the retrospect of his unprofitable life, and filled with melancholy presages of the future, the unhappy prince lamented to his faithful attendant Cibdareal, on his deathbed, that " he had not been born the son of a mechanic, instead of king of Castile." He died July 21st, 1454, after a reign of eight and forty years, if reign it may be called, which was more properly one protracted minority. John left one child by his first wife, Henry, who succeeded him on the throne ; and by his second wife two others, Alfonso, then an infant, and Isabella, afterwards queen of Castile, the subject of the present narrative. She had scarcely reached her fourth year at the time of her father's decease, having been born on the 22ud of April, 1451, at Madrigal. The king recommended his younger children to the especial care and protection of their brother Henry ; and assigned the town of Cuellar, with its territory and a considerable sum of money, for the maintenance of the infanta Isabella,* CHAPTER II. OOKDITIOH OT ARAGOW DURING THK MINORITY Of FERDINAND REIGlt OT JOHH II. OT ARAGON. 14521472. John of Aragon Difficulties with his son Carlos Birth of Ferdinand Insurrection of Catalonia Death of Carlos His Character Tragical Story of Blanche Young Ferdi- nand besieged by the Catalans Treaty between France and Aragou Distress and Embarrassments of John Siege and Surrender of Barcelona. WE must now transport the reader to Aragon, in order to take a view of the extraordinary circumstances which opened the way for Ferdinand's succession in that kingdom. The throne, which had become vacant by the death of Martin, in 1410, was awarded by the committee of judges to whom the nation had referred the great question of the succession, to Ferdinand, regent of Castile, during the minority of his nephew, John the Second; and thus the sceptre, after having for more than two centuries descended in the family of Barcelona, was transferred to the same bastard branch of Trastamara that ruled over the Castiliaa monarchy, f Ferdinand the First was succeeded after a brief reign by his son, Alfonso the Fifth, whose personal history belongs less to Aragon than to Naples, which kingdom he acquired by his own prowess, and where he established his residence, attracted, no doubt, by the superior amenity of the climate and the higher intellectual culture, as well as the . mother's side from the famous John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster. t The reader who may be curious in this matter will find the pedigree, exhibiting the MINORITY OF FEfiDIXAND. 49 pliant temper of the people, far more grateful to the monarch than the sturdy independence of his own countrymen. During his long absence, the government of his hereditary domains devolved on his brother John, as his lieutenant-general in Arugon. This prince had married Blanche, widow of Martin, king of Sicily, and daughter of Charles the Third, of Xavarre. By her he had three children ; Carlos, prince of Yiana ; * Blanche, married to and afterwards repudiated by Henry the Fourth, of Castile ; and Eleanor, who espoused a French noble, Gaston, count of Foix. On the demise of the elder Blanche, the crown of Xavarre rightfully belonged to her son, the prince of Viana, conformably to a stipulation in her marriage contract, that, on the event of her death, the eldest heir male, and, in default of sons, female, should inherit the kingdom to the exclusion of her husband. (1442.) This provision, which had been confirmed by her father, Charles the Third, in his testament, was also recognised in her own, accompanied, however, with a request that her son Carlos, then twenty-one years of age, would, before assuming the sovereignty, solicit " the good-will and approbation of his father." f Whether this approbation was withheld, or whether it was ever solicited, does not appear. It seems probable, however, that Carlos, perceiving no disposition in his father to relinquish the rank and nominal title of king of Navarre, was willing he should retain them, so long as he himself should be allowed to exercise the actual rights of sovereignty ; which indeed he did, ao lieutenant-general or governor of the kingdom, at the time of his mother's decease, and for some years after. In 1447, John of Aragon contracted a second alliance with Joan Henriquez, of the blood-royal of Castile, and daughter of Don Frederic Heuriquez, admiral of that kingdom; a woman considerably younger than himself, of consummate address,, intrepid spirit, and unprincipled ambition. Some years after this union, John sent his wife into Xavarre, with authority to divide with his son Carlos the administration of the government there. This encroachment on his rights, for such Carlos reasonably deemed it, was not mitigated by the deportment of the young queen, who displayed all the insolence of sudden elevation, ana who from the first seems to have regarded the prince with the malevolent eye of a stepmother. Xavarre was at that time divided by two potent factions, styled, from their ancient leaders, Beaumonts and Agramonts ; whose hostility, originating in a personal feud, had continued long after its original cause had become extinct. The prince of Yiana was intimately con- nected with some of the principal partisans of the Beaumont faction, who heightened by their suggestions the indignation to which his naturally gentle temper had been roused by the usurpation of Joan, and who even called on him to assume openly, and in defiance of his father, the sovereignty which of right belonged to him. The emissaries of Castile, too, eagerly seized this occasion of retaliating on John his titles of the several competitors to the crown, given by Mr. H.illam. The claims o< Ferdinand were certainly not derived from the usual laws of descent * His gramlfat ill., ore ite 1 this title ill favour of Carlos, appropriating it ad the designation henceforth of the heir apparent. t That industrious writer, Aleson, has established the title of Prince Carlos to Navarrm, :ontly raisv. uisr.'preseuted by the national historians, on an incon- testable basis. 50 BEIGX OF JOHX n. OF CASTIIE. interference in the domestic concerns of that monarchy, by fanning tae spark of discord into a flame. The Agramonts, on the other hand, induced rather by hostility to their political adversaries than to the prince of Yiana, vehemently espoused the cause of the queen/ In this revival of half-bnried animosities, fresh causes of disgust were luultiplied, and matters soon came to the worst extremity. The queen, who had retired to Estella, was besieged there by the forces of the prince. The king, her husband, on receiving intelligence of this, instantly marched to her relief ; and the father and son confronted each other at the head ' of their respective armies near the town of Aybar. The unnatural position in which they thus found themselves seems to have sobered their minds, and to have opened the way to an accom- modation, the terms of which were actually arranged, when the long- smothered rancour of the ancient factions of Navarre thus brought in martial array against each other, refusing all control, precipitated them into an engagement. The royal forces were inferior in number, but superior in discipline, to those of the prince, who, after a \\ ell-contested action, saw his own partv entirely discomfited, and himself a prisoner. (1452.) Some months before this event, Queen Joan had been delivered of a son, afterwards so famous as Ferdinand the Catholic; whose humble prospects, at the time of his birth, as a younger brother, afforded a striking contrast with the splendid destiny which eventually awaited him. This auspicious event occurred in the little town of Sos, in Aragon, on the 10th of March, 1452 ; and as it was nearly contemporary with the capture of Constantinople, is regarded by Garibay to have been providentally assigned to this period, as affording, in a religious view, an ample counterpoise to the loss of the capital of Christendom.* The demonstrations of satisfaction, exhibited by John and his court on this occasion, contrasted strangely with the stern severity with which he continued to visit the offences of his elder offspring. It was not till after many months of captivity that the king, in deference to public opinion rather than the movements of his own heart, was induced to release his son, on conditions, however, so illiberal (his indisputable claim to Navarre not being even touched upon) as to afford no reasonable basis of reconciliation. The young prince accordingly, on his return to Navarre, became again involved in the factions which desolated that unhappy kingdom, and, after an ineffectual struggle against his enemies, resolved to seek an asylum at the court of his uncle Alfonso the Fifth, of Naples, and to refer to him the final arbitration of his differences with his father. On his passage through France and the various courts of Italy, he was received with the attentions due to his rank, and still more to his personal character and misfortunes. Nor was he disappointed in the * L. Marineo describes the heavens as uncommonly serene at the moment of Ferdinand's birth. " The sun, which had been obscured with clouds during the whole day, suddenly broke forth with unwonted splendour. A crown was also beheld in the sky, comp various brilliant colours like those of a rainbow. All which appearances were interpreted by the spectators as an omen, that the child then born would be the most illustrious among men." Garibny postpones the nativity of Ferdinand to the year 14J3 ; arid L. Muriueo, who ascertains with curious precision even the date of his conception, fixes his birth in 1450. But Alonso de Palencia in his History, and Andre's Benialdez, Cura do loa Palacios, both of them contemporaries, refer this event to the period assigned in the u-xt ; and, as the same epoch ia adopted by the accurate Zurita, I have given it the preferuUd*. MINORITY OF FEKDINAND. Ot sympathy and favourable reception which he had anticipated from his uncle. Assured of protection from so high a quarter, Carlos might now reasonably ilatter himself with the restitution of his legitimate rights, when these bright prospects were suddenly overcast by the death of Alfonso, who expired at Naples of a fever in the month of May, 1458, bequeathing his hereditary dominions of Spain, Sicily, and Sardinia to his brother John, and his kingdom of Naples to his illegitimate son Ferdinand. The frank and courteous manners of Carlos had won so powerfully on the affections of the Neapolitans, who distrusted the dark, ambiguous character of Ferdinand, Alfonso's heir, that a large party eagerly pressed the prince to assert his title to the vacant throne, assuring him of a general support from the people. But Carlos, from motives of prudence or magnanimity, declined engaging in this new contest, and passed over to Sicily, whence he resolved to solicit a final reconciliation with his fatter. He was received with much kindness by the Sicilians, who, preserving a grateful recollection of the beneficent sway of his mother Blanche, when queen of that island, readily transferred to the son their ancient attachment to the parent. An assembly of the states voted a liberal supply for his present exigencies ; and even urged him, if we are to credit the Catalan ambassador at the court of Castile, to assume the sovereignty of the island. Carlos, however, far from entertaining so rash an ambition, seems to have been willing to seclude himself from public observation. He passed the greater portion of his time at a convent of Benedictine friars not far from Messina, where, in the society of learned men, and with the facilities of an extensive library, he endeavoured to recall the happier hours of youth in the pursuit of his favourite studies of philosophy and history.* In the meanwhile, John, now King of Aragon and its dependencies, alarmed by the rcpoits of his sou's popularity in Sicily, became as solicitous for the security of his authority there, as he had before been for it in Navarre. He accordingly sought to soothe the mind of the prince by the fairest professions, and to allure him back to Spain by the prospect of an effectual reconciliation. Carlos, believing what he most earnestly wished, in opposition to the advice of his Sicilian counsellors, embarked for Majorca, and, after some preliminary negotiations, crossed over to the coast of Barcelona. Postponing, for fear of giving offence to his father, his entrance into that city, which, indignant at his perse- cution, had made the most brilliant preparations for his reception, he proceeded to Igualada, where an interview took place between him and the king and queen, in which he conducted himself with unfeigned humility and penitence, reciprocated on their part by the most consum- mate dissimulation. All parties now confided in the stability of a pacification so anxiously desired, and effected with such apparent cordiality. It was expected that John would hasten to acknowledge his son's title as heir apparent to the crown of Aragon, and convene an assembly of the states to * Carlos bargained with Pope Pius II. for a transfer of this library, particularly rich In the ancient classics, to Spain, which was eventually defeated by his death. Zurita, who visited the monastery continuing it, nearly a century after this period, found its inmates ~ed of many traditionary anecdotes respecting the prince during his seclusion imuug them. K 2 52 "REIGN OF JOHN II. OF CASTILE. tender him tlie customary oath, of allegiance. But nothing was further from the monarch's intention. He, indeed, summoned the Aragonese cortes at Fraga, for the purpose of receiving their homage to himself; but he expressly refused their request touching a similar ceremony to the prince of Yiaua ; and he openly relwked the Catalans for presuming to address him as the successor to the crown. (1460.) In this unnatural procedure it was easy to discern the influence of the queen. In addition to her original causes of aversion to Carlos, she regarded him with hatred as the insuperable obstacle to her own child Ferdinand's advancement. Even the affection of John seemed to be now wholly transferred from the offspring of his first to that of his second marriage ; and as the queen's influence over him was unbounded, she found it easy by artful suggestions to put a dark construction on every action of Carlos, and to close up every avenue of returning affection within his bosom. Convinced at length of the hopeless alienation of his father, the prince of Viana turned his attention to other quarters, whence he might obtain support, and eagerly entered into a negotiation which had been opened with him on the part of Henry the Fourth, of Castile, for a union with his sister, the Princess Isabella. This was coming in direct collision with the favourite scheme of his parents. The marriage of Isabella with the young Ferdinand, which, indeed, from the parity of their ages, was a much more suitable connexion than that with Carlos, had long been the darling object of their policy, and they resolved to effect it in the face of every obstacle. In conformity with this purpose, John invited the prince of Viaua to attend him at Lerida, where h then holding the cortes of Catalonia. The latter fondly, and, indeed, foolishly, after his manifold experience to the contrary, confiding in the relenting disposition of his father, hastened to obey the summons, in expectation of being publicly acknowledged as his heir in the assembly of the states. After a brief interview, he was arrested, and his person placed in strict confinement. The intelligence of this perfidious procedure diffused general conster- nation among all classes. They understood too well the artifices of the queen and the vindictive temper of the king, not to feel the most serious apprehensions, not only for the liberty, but for the life of their prisoner, The cortes of Lerida, which, though dissolved on that very day, had not yet separate'', sent an embassy to John, requesting to know the naturo of the crimes imputed to his son. The permanent deputation of Arairon, and a delegation from the council of Barcelona, waited on him for a similar purpose, remonstrating at the same time against any violent and unconstitutional proceeding. To all these John returned a cold, cva^ivo answer, darkly intimating a suspicion of conspiracy by his son against his life, and reserving to himself the punishment of the offence. No sooner was the result of their mission communicated, than the whole kingdom was thrown into a ferment. The high-spirited Catalans rose in arms, almost to a man. The royal governor, after a fruitless attempt to escape, was seized and imprisoned in Barcelona. Troops Avero levied, and placed under the command of experienced officers of the highest rank. The heated populace, outstripping the tardy movement of military operations, marched forward to Lerida in order to get possession of the royal person. The king, who had seasonable notice MINORITY OF FERDINAND. 53 of this, displayed his wonted presence of mind. He ordered supper to be prepared for him at the usual hour, but, on the approach of night, made his escape on horseback with one or two attendants only, on the road to Fraga, a town within the territory ot Aragon ; while the mob, traversing the streets of Lerida, and finding little resistance at the gate, burst into the palace, and ransacked every corner of it, piercing, in their fury, even the curtains and beds with their swords and lances. The Catalan army, ascertaining the route of the royal fugitive, marched directly on Fraga, and arrived so promptly, that John, with his wife, and the deputies of the Aragonese cortes assembled there, had barely time to make their escape on the road to Saragossa, while the insurgents poured into the city from the opposite quarter. The person of Carlos, in the mean time, was secured in the inaccessible fortress of ila, situated in a mountainous district on the conh'nes of Valencia. John, on halting at Saragossa, endeavoured to assemble an Aragonese force capable of resisting the Catalan rebels. But the flame of insur- rection had spread throughout Aragou, Valencia, and Xavarre, and was speedily communicated to his transmarine possessions of Sardinia and Sicily. The King of Castile supported Carlos at the same time by an irruption into Xavarre ; and his partisans, the Beaumonts, co-operated with these movements by a descent on Aragon. John, alarmed at the tempest which his precipitate conduct had aroused, at length saw the necessity of releasing his prisoner; and as the queen had incurred general odium as the chief instigator of his 'ution, he affected to do this in consequence of her interposition. As Carlos with his mother-in-law traversed the country on their way to r>aiveloiia, he was everywhere greeted, by the inhabitants of the villages thronging out to meet him, with the most touching enthusiasm. The queen, however, having been informed by the magistrates that her :ice would not be permitted in the capital, deemed it prudent to remain at Villa Franca, about twenty miles distant ; while the prince, entering Barcelona, was welcomed with the triumphant acclamations due to a conqueror returning from a campaign of victories.* The conditions on which the Catalans proposed to resume their allegiance to th"ir sovereign were sufficiently humiliating. They insisted Rot only on his public acknowledgment of Carlos as his rightful heir and successor, v. ith the office conferred on him for life, of lieutenant-general of Catalonia, but on an obligation on his own part that he would never enter the province without their express permission. Such was John's ( \tremity, that he not only accepted these unpalatable conditions, but dM it with aftected cheerfulness. Fortune seemed now weary of persecution, and Carlos, happy in the atta< ': v.ent of a brave and powerful people, appeared at length to have reaehel a haven of permanent security. But at this crisis he fell ill of a fever, or, as some historians insinuate, of a disorder occasioned bv poison administered during his imprisonment : a fact which, although unsupported by positive evidence, seems, notwithstanding its atrocity, to be nowise improbable, considering the character of the parties implicated He expired on the 23rd of September, 1461, in the forty-first year of his The inhabitants of Tarraca closed their gates upon the queen, and nrig the bells on her approach, the signal of alarm on the appearance of ai. enemy, or fc-r tiio pursuit of a malefactor. 64 REIGX OP JOHX n. OF CASTILE. age, bequeathing Hs title to the Crown of Xavarre, in conformity with, the original marriage contract of his parents, to his sister Blanche and her posterity. Thus in the prime of life, and at the moment when he seemed to have triumphed over the malice of his enemies, died the Prince of Tiana, whose character, conspicuous for many virtues, has become still more so for his misfortunes. His first act of rebellion, if such, con- sidering his legitimate pretensions to the crown, it can be called, r.'as severely requited by his subsequent calamities ; while the vin- iictive and persecuting temper of his parents excited a very general commiseration in his behalf, and brought him more effectual support than could have been derived from his own merits or the justice of his cause. The character of Don Carlos has been portrayed by Lucio Marineo, )rho, as he wrote an account of these transactions by the command oj Ferdinand the Catholic, cannot be suspected of any undue partiality ii favour of the prince of Yiana. " Such," says he, "were his temperance and moderation, such the excellence of his breeding, the purity of hi > life, his liberality and munificence, and such the sweetness of his demeanour, that no one thing seemed to be wanting in him which belongs to a true and perfect prince." He is described by another contemporary as "in person somewhat above the middle stature, havii.g a thin visage, with a serene and modest expression of countenance, and withal somewhat inclined to melancholy." He was a consideral le proficient in music, painting, and several mechanic arts, He frequen". ly amused himself with poetical composition, and was the intimate frit ad of some of the most eminent bards of his time. But he was above all devoted to the studv of philosophy and history. He made a version of Aristotle's Ethics into the vernacular, which was first printed, nearly fifty years after his death, at Saragossa, in 1509. He compiled als:> a Chronicle of Xavarre from the earliest period to his own times, wh'.oli, although suffered to remain in manuscript, has been liberally used and cited by the Spanish antiquaries, Garibay, Blancas, and others. His natural tastes and his habits fitted him much better for the quiet enjoy- ment of letters than for the tumultuous scenes in which it was his misfortune to be involved, and in which he was no match for en- grown grey in the field and in the intrigues of the cabinet. But if his devotion to learning, so rare in his own age, and so very rare among princes in any age, was unpropitious to his success on the busy theatre on which he was engaged, it must surely elevate his character in the estimation of an enlightened posterity. The tragedy did not terminate with the death of Carlos. His sister Blanche, notwithstanding the inoffensive gentleness of her demeanour, had long been involved, by her adhesion to her unfortunate brother, in, a similar proscription with him. The succession to Xavarre having now devolved on her, she became tenfold an object of jealousy both to her father, the present possessor of that kingdom, and to her si>t<-r EL nnor, countess of Foix, to whom the reversion of it had been promised by John, on his own decease. The son of this lady, Gaston de Foix, had lately married a sister of Louis the Eleventh of France ; and, in a treaty subsequently contracted between that monarch and the king of Aragon, it was stipiilated that Blanche should be delivered into the custody of MINORITY OF FERDINAND. W the countess of Foix, as s.irety for the succession of the latter, and of her posterity, to the crown of Navarre.* Conformably to this provision, John endeavoured to persuade the princess Blanche to accompany him into France, under the pretext of forming: an alliance for her with Louis's brother, the duke of Berri. The unfortunate lady, comprehending too well her father's real purpose, besought him with the most piteous entreaties not to deliver her into the hands of her enemies : but, closing his heart against all natural affection, he caused her to be torn from her residence at Olit, in the heart of her own dominions, and forcibly transported across the mountains into those of the count of Foix. On arriving at St. Jean Pied de Port, a little town on the French side of the Pyrenees, being convinced that she had nothing further to hope from human succour, she made a formal renunciation of her right to Navam in favour of her cousin and former husband, llenry the Fourth, of Castile, who had uniformly supported tin- cause of her brother Carlos. Henry, though debased by sensual indulgence, was naturally of a gentle disposition, and had ii3ver treated her personally with unkindness. In a letter which she now addressed to him, and which, says a Spanish historian, cannot be read after the lapse of so many years, without affecting the most insensible heart, she reminded him of the dawn of happiness which she had enjoyed under his protection, of his early engagements to her, and of her subsequent calamities ; and, anticipating the gloomy destiny which awaited her, she settled on him her inheritance of Navarre, to the entire exclusion of her intended assassins, the count and countess of Foix. On the same day, the last of April (1462), she was delivered over to one of their emissaries, who conducted her to the castle of Ortes in Bearue, where, after languishing in dreadful suspense for nearly two years, she was poisoned by command of her sister, t The retribution of Providence not unfrequently overtakes the guilty even in this world. The countess survived her father to reign in Navarre only three short ! : while the crown was ravished from her posterity for ever by that very Ferdinand whose elevation had been the object to his parents of so much solicitude and so many crimes. "\Vithin a fortnight after the decease of Carlos (Oct. 6, 1461), the cuMomary oaths of allegiance, so pertinaciously withheld from that 1111 1'ovtunate prince, were tendered by the Aragonese deputation, at Calalayud, to his brother Ferdinand, then only ten years of age, as heir apparent of the monarchy; after which he was conducted by his mother into Catalonia, in order to receive the more doubtful homage of that province. The extremities of Catalonia at this time seemed to be in pevft ot, repose, but the capital was still agitated by secret discontent. 'I'lir ghost of Carlos was seen stalking by night through the streets of ]>avtv1ona, bewailing in piteous accents his untimely end, and invoking vengeance on his unnatural murderers. The manifold miracles wrought at his tomb soon gained him the reputation of a saint, and his image * This treaty was signed at Olit in Navarre, April 12th, 1-462. f The Spanish historians are not agreed as to the time or even the -mode of Blanche's death. All concur, however, in attributing it to assassination, nnd most of them in imputing it to poison. The fact of he 1 " death, which Aleson, on I know not what authority, refers to the 2nd of December, H(!J, was not publicly disclosed till some months after its occurrence, when disclosure became necessary in consequence of the proposed Interposition of the Xavarr*se cortea. 56 EETGN OF JOHN H. OF AKAGON. received the devotional honours reserved for such as have been duly canonised by the church.* The revolutionary spirit of the Barcelonians, kept alive by the recollection of past injury, as well as by the apprehensions of future vengeance, should John succeed in re-establishing his authority over them, soon became so alarming, that the queen, whose consummate address, however, had first accomplished the object of her visit, found it advisable to withdraw from the capital ; and she sought refuge with her son and such few adherents as still remained faithful to them, in the for- tified city of Gerona, about fifty miles north of Barcelona. Hither, however, she was speedily pursued by the Catalan militia, embodied under the command of their ancient leader Roger, count of Pallas, and eager to regain the prize which they had so inadvertently lost. The city was quickly entered ; but the queen, with her handful of followers, had retreated to a tower belonging to the principal church in the place, which, as was very frequent in Spain, in those wild times, was so strongly fortified as to be capable of maintaining a formidable resistance. To oppose this, a wooden fortress of the same height was constructed by the assailants, and planted with lombards and other pieces of artillery then in use, which kept up an unintermitting dis- charge of stone bullets on the little garrison, f The Catalans also succeeded in runnisg a mine beneath the fortress, through which a considerable body of troops penetrated into it, when, their premature cries of exultation having discovered them to the besieged, they were repulsed, after a desperate struggle, with great slaughter. The queen displayed the most intrepid spirit in the midst of these alarming scenes ; unappalled by the sense of her own danger and that of her child, and by the dismal lamentations of the females by whom she was surrounded, she visited every part of the works in person, cheering her defenders by her presence and dauntless resolution. Such were the stormy and disastrous scenes in which the youthful Ferdinand commenced a career, whose subsequent prosperity was destined to be chequered by scarcely a reverse of fortune. In the meanwhile, John, having in vain attempted to penetrate through Catalonia to the relief of his wife, effected this by the co-opera- tion of his French ally, Louis the Eleventh. That monarch, with his usual insidious policy, had covertly despatched an envoy to Barcelona on the death of Carlos, assuring the Catalans of his protection, should they still continue averse to a reconciliation with their own sovereign. These offers were but coldly received ; and Louis found it more for his interest to accept the propositions made to him by the king of Aragon himself, which subsequently led to most important consequences. By three several treaties, of the 3rd, 21st, and 23rd of May, 1462, it was * According to Lanuza, who wrote nearly two centimes after the death of Carlos, the flesh upon his right arm, which h:id been amputated for the purpose of a more convenient application to the diseased members of the pilgrims who visited his shrine, remained in his day in a perfectly sound and healthful state ! t The Spaniards, deriving the knowledge of artillery from the Arabs, had become familiar with it before the other nations of Christendom. The affirmation of Zurita, however, that .0000 balls were fired from the battery of the besiegers at Gerona in one day, Is perfectly absurd. So little was the science of gunnery advanced in other parts of Europe at this period, and indeed later, that it was usual for a field-piece not to be di- charged more than twice in the course of an action, if we may credit Machiavelli, wh<^ Indeed, recommends dispensing with the use of artillery altogether. MINORITY OF FEEDI.S-AKD. 57 Btipulated that Louis should furnish his ally with seven hundred lances and a proportionate number of archers and artillery during: the war with Barcelona, to be indemnified by the payment of two hundred thousand gold crowns within one year after the reduction of that city ; as security lor which, the counties of Rousillon and Cerdagne were pledged by- John, with the cession of their revenues to the French king, Tintil such time as the original debt should be redeemed. In this transaction both monarchs manifested their usual policy : Louis believing that this temporary mortgage would become a permanent alienation, from John's inability "to discharge it: while the latter anticipated, as the event showed, with more justice, that the aversion of the inhabitants to the dismemberment of their country from the Aragonese monarchy would baffle every attempt on the part of the French to occupy it per- manently.* In pursuance of these arrangements, seven hundred French lances, with a considerable body of archers and artillery, f crossed the moun- tains, and, rapidly advancing on Gerona, compelled the insurgent army to raise the siige, and to decamp with such precipitation as to leave their cannon in the hands of the rovalists. The Catalans now threw aside the thin veil with which they had hitherto covered their proceedings. The authorities of the principality, established in Barcelona, publicly renounced their allegiance to King John and his son Ferdinand, and proclaimed them enemies of the republic. Writings at the same time were circulated, denouncing from Scriptural authority, as well as natural reason, the doctrine of legitimacy in the broadest terms, and insisting that the Aragonese monarchs, far from being absolute, might be lawfully deposed for an infringement of the liberties of the nation. " The good of the commonwealth,'' it was said, " must always be considered paramount to that of the prince." Extraordinary doctrines these for the age in which they were pronmlged, affording a still more extra- ordinary contrast with those which have been since familiar in that unhappy country ! The government then enforced levies of all such as were above the age of fourteen ; and distrusting the sufficiency of its own resources, ottered the sovereignty of the principality to Henry the Fourth, of Castile. The court of Aragon, however, had so successfully insinuated its influence into the council of this imbecile monarch, that he was not permitted to afford the Catalans any effectual support ; and, as he abandoned their cause altogether before the expiration of the year, | the crown was offered to Don Pedro, constable of Portugal, a : ulant of the ancient house of Barcelona. In the meanwhile, the old king of Aragon, attended by his youthful son, had made himself master, with his characteristic activity, of considerable acquisitions in the revolted territory, successively reducing Lerida, Cervera, * Another 100,000 crowns were to be paid in case further assistance should be required from the French monarch after the reduction of Barcelona. t A French lance, it may be stated, according to L. Marineo, was accompanied by two horsemen : so that the whole contingent of cavalry to be furnished on this occasion amounted to 2100. Nothing c< >ukl be more indeterminate than the complement of a lance in the middle ages. It is not unusual to find it reckoned at five or six horsemen. t In conformity with the famous verdict givea by Louis XI. at l!ayonue, April 23rd, 14 . previously to the interview between him and Henry IV. oa the shores of the Bid..- This was the battle-ground of Julius Crcsar in his wars with Pompey. See hi 58 EEIfiN OF JOHX II. OF ARA.GOy. Amposta,* Tortosa, and the most important places in the south of Cata- lonia (1464). Many of these places were strongly fortified, and most of them defended -with a resolution which cost the conqueror a prodigious sacrifice of time and money. John, like Philip of Macedon, made use of Eold even more than arms, for the reduction of his enemies ; and, though e indulged in occasional acts of resentment, his general treatment of those who submitted was as liberal as it was politic. His competitor, Don Pedro, had brought little foreign aid to the support of his enterprise ; he had failed altogether in conciliating the attachment of his m-w subjects ; and, as the operations of the war had been conducted on his part in the most languid manner, the whole of the princi- pality seemed destined soon to relapse under the dominion of its ancient master. At this juncture the Portuguese prince fell ill of a fever, of which he died on the 29th of June, 1466. This event, which seemed likely to lead to a termination of the war, proved ulti- mately the cause of its protraction. It appeared, however, to present a favourable opportunity to John for opening a negotiation with the insurgents. But, so resolute were they in maintaining their independence, that the council of Barcelona con- demned two of the principal citizens, suspected of defection from the cause, to be publicly executed ; it refused, moreover, to admit an envoy from the Aragonese cortes within the city, and caused the despatches with which he was intrusted by that body to be torn in pieces before his face. The Catalans then proceeded to elect Rene le Bon, as he was styled, of Anjou, to the vacant throne, brother of one of the original competitors for the crown of Aragon on the demise of Martin ; whose cognomen of " Good " is indicative of a sway far more salutary to his subjects than the more coveted and imposing title of Great. f This titular sovereign of half a dozen empires, in which he did not actually possess a rood of land, was too far advanced in years to assume this perilous enterprise himself ; and he accordingly intrusted it to his son John, duke of Cala- bria and Lorraine, who, in his romantic expeditions in southern Italy, had acquired a reputation for courtesy and knightly prowess inferior to none other of his time. Crowds of adventurers fiocked to the standard of a leader whose ample inheritance of pretensions had made him familiar with war from his earliest boyhood ; and he soon found himself at the head of eight thousand effective troops. Louis the Eleventh, although not directly aiding Ms enterprise with supplies of men or money, wn-* willing so far to countenance it as to open a passage for him through the mountain fastnesses of Roussillon, then in his keeping, and thus enable ingenious military manoeuvre as simply narrated in his own OosHUdutnrlafV -ind hy Lucan (Pharsalia, lib. 4), with his usual swell of hypp.rh-'i vniiT-i wove fiv.iuontly heard during the nights. Indeed the superstition of the soldier? sMnxsvn to 'mvo lx-eii SO lively as to have prepared them for seeing aud hearing any \ Sir Walter Scott, in his "Anne of Geierstein." has brought into full relief the ridi- culous side of Hone's character. The good king's fondos< for poetry n"H th? tn-n. however, although showing itself occasionally in pnenlo eccentricities, iny conipivo advantageously with the coarse appetites and mischievous activity of mopl. of the eon- temporary princes. Aft*/ all, the best tribute to IMS wjrth was the earnest attachmen; of hiti people. OF FEEDI>'AXD. 59 him to descend with his whole army at once on the northern borders of Catalonia. (1467.)* The king of Aragon could oppose no force capable of resisting this formidable army. Ilis exchequer, always low, was completely exhausted by the extraordinary eftbrts which he had made in the late campaigns ; and as the king of France, either disgusted with the long protraction of the war, or from secret good-will to the enterprise of his feudal subject, withheld from king John the stipulated subsidies, the latter monarch found himself unable, with every expedient of loan and exaction, to raise sufficient money to pay his troops, or to supply his magazines. In addition to this' he was now involved in a dispute with the count and countess of Foix, who, eager to anticipate the possession of Navarre, which had been guaranteed to them on their father's decease, threatened a similar rebellion, though on much less justifiable pretences to that which he had just experienced from Don Carlos. To crown the whole of John's calamities, his eye-sight, which had been impaired by exposure, and protracted sufferings, during the winter siege of Amposta, now failed him altogether. In this extremity, his intrepid wife, putting herself at the head of such forces as she could collect, passed by water to the eastern shores of Catalonia, besieging Rosas in person , and checking the operations of the enemy by the capture of several inferior places ; while prince Ferdinand, effecting a junction with her before Gerona, compelled the duke of Lorraine to abandon the siege of that important city. Ferdinand's ardour, however, had nearly proved fatal to him ; as 'in an accidental encounter with a more numerous party of the enemy, his jaded horse would infallibly have betrayed him into their hands, had it not been for the devotion of his officers, several of whom, throwing themselves between him and his pursuers, enabled him to escape by the sacrifice of their own liberty. These ineffectual struggles could not turn the tide of fortune. The duke of Lorraine succeeded in this and the two following campaigns in making himself master of all the rich district of Ampurden, north-east of Barcelona. In the capital itself, his truly princely qualities and his popular address secured him the most unbounded influence. Such was the enthusiasm for his person, that when he rode abroad the people thronged around him, embracing his knees, the trappings of his steed, and even the animal himself, in their extravagance ; while the ladies, it id, pawned their rings, necklaces, and other ornaments of their attire, in order to defray the expenses of the war. King John, in the meanwhile, was draining the cup of bitterness to the dregs. In the winter of 1468, his queen, Joan Henriquez, fell victim to a painful disorder, which had been secretly corroding hor con- stitution for a number of years. In many respects, she was the most remarkable woman of her time. She took an active part in the politics of her husband, and may be even said to have given them a direction. She conducted several important diplomatic negotiations to a happy issue, and, what was more uncommon in her sex, displayed considerable capacity for military affairs. Her persecution of her step-son, Carlos, * Tulcncia swells the numbers of the French in the service of the Duke of Lorraine to 80,000. 60 EEIGX OF JOHX H. OF AKAGOX. has left a deep stain on her memory. It was the cause of all her husband's subsequent misfortunes. Her invincible spirit, however, and the resources of her genius supplied him with the best means of sur- mounting many of the difficulties in which she had involved him. and her loss at this crisis seemed to leave him at once without solace or support.* At this period he was further embarrassed, as will appear in the ensuing chapter, by negotiations for Ferdinand's marriage, which was to deprive him, in a great measure, of his son's co-operation in the struggle with his subjects, and which, as he lamented, while he had scarcely three hundred enriqties in his coffers, called on him for addi- tional disbursements. As the darkest hour, however, is commonly said to precede the dawning, so light now seemed to break upon the affairs of John. A physician in Lerida. of the Hebrew race, which monopolised at that time almost all the medical science in Spain, persuaded the king to submit to the then unusual operation of couching, and succeeded in restoring sight to one of his eyes. As the Jew, after the fashion of the Arabs, debased his real science with astrology, he refused to operate on the other eye, since the planets, he said, wore a malignant aspect. But John's rugged nature was insensible to the timorous superstitions of his age, and he compelled the physician to repeat his experiment, which in the end proved perfectly successful. Thus restored to his natural faculties, the octogenarian chief, for such he might now almost be called, regained his wonted elasticity, and prepared to resume offensive opera- tions against the enemy with all his accustomed energy. Heaven, too, as if taking compassion on his accumulated misfortune, now removed the principal obstacle to his success by the death of the duke of Lorraine, who was summoned from the theatre of his short-lived triumphs on the 16th of December, 1469. The Barcelonians were thrown into the greatest consternation by his death, imputed, as xisual, though without apparent foundation, to poison ; and their respect for his memory was attested by the honours, no less than royal, which they paid to his remains. His body sumptuously attired, with his victorious sword by his side, was paraded in solemn procession through the illuminated streets of the city, and, after lying nine days in state, was deposited amid the lamentations of the people in the sepulchre of the sovereigns of Catalonia, f As the father of the deceased prince was too old and his children too young, to give effectual aid to their cause, the Catalans might be now said to be again without a leader. But their spirit was unbroken, and with the same resolution in which they refused submission more than two centuries after, in 1714, when the combined forces of France and The queen's death was said to have been caused by a cancer. According to Aleson and some other Spanish writers, Joan was heard several times, in her last ill: exclaim, in allusion, as was supposed, to her assassination of Carlos, " Alas '. Ferdinand, how dear thou hast cost thy mother ! I find no notice of this improbable confession in any contein: orary author. t According to M. de Villeneuve Bargemont, the princess Isabella's hand had been offered to the duke of Lorraine ; and the envoy despatched to notify his acceptance of it, on arriving at the court of Castile, received from the lips of Henry IV. the first tidings of his master's death. He must have learned too, with no less surprise, that Isabella had already been married at that time more than a year ! See the date of the official marriage recorded in Mem. de la Acad. de Hist MINORITY OF FEEDIXA.XD. 61 Spain were at the gates of the capital, they rejected the conciliatory advances made them anew by John. That monarch, however, having succeeded by extraordinary efforts in assembling a competent force, was proceeding with alacrity in the reduction of such places in the eastern quarter of Catalonia as had revolted to the enemy, while at tho same time he instituted a rigorous blockade of Barcelona by sea and land. The fortifications were strong, and the king was unwilling to expose so fair a city to the devastating horrors of a storm. The inhabitants made one vigorous effort in a sally against the royal forces ; but the civic militia were soon broken, and the loss of four thousand men, killed and prisoners, admonished them of their inability to cope with the veterans of Aragon. At length reduced to the last extremity, they consented to enter into negotiations, which were concluded by a treaty, equally honourable to both parties. It was stipulated that Barcelona should retain all its ancient privileges and rights of jurisdiction, and, with some exceptions, its large territorial possessions. A general amnesty was to be granted for offences. The foreign mercenaries were to be allowed to depart in safety ; and such of the natives as should refuse to renew their alle- giance to their ancient sovereign within a year, might have the liberty of removing Avith their effects wherever they would. One provision may be thought somewhat singular, after what had occurred ; it was agreed that the king should cause the Barcelonians to be publicly pro- claimed, throughout all his dominions, good, faithful, and loyal subjects ; which was accordingly done ! The Icing, after the adjustment of the preliminaries, "declining,'* says a contemporary, ' ' the triumphal car which had been prepared for him, made his entrance into the city by the gate of St. Anthony, mounted on a white charger ; and, as ne rode along the principal streets, the sight of so many pallid countenances and emaciated figures, bespeaking the extremity of famine, smote his heart with sorrow." He then proceeded to the nail of the great palace, and on the 22nd of December, 1472, solemnly swore there to respect the constitution and laws of Catalonia. Thus ended this long disastrous civil war, the fruit of parental injus- tice and oppi-ession, which had nearly cost the king of Aragon the fairest portion of his dominions ; which devoted to disquietude and disappoint- ment more than ten years of life, at a period when repose is most grateful : and which opened the way to foreign wars, that continued to hang like a dark cloud over the evening of his days. It was attended, however, with one important result ; that of establishing Ferdinand'* accession over the whole of the domains of his ancestors. CHAPTER III. E3SOX OF HENBT IV. GT CASTILE CIVIL WAR MARRIAGE OF FERDINAND A'XT) ISABELLA 14541469. Henry IV. disappoints Est'ectations Oppression of the People League of the Nobles > Extraordinary Scene at Avila Early Education of Isabella Death of her Bror'uer Alfonso Intestine Anarchy The Crown offered to Isabella She declines it Her Suitors She accepts Ferdinand of Aragon Marriage Articles Critical Situation of Isabella Ferdinand enters Castile. Their Marriage. WHILE these stormy events were occurring in Aragon, the Infanta Isabella, whose birth was mentioned at the close of the first chapter, was passing her youth amidst scenes scarcely less tumultuous. At the date of her birth, her prospect of succeeding to the throne of her ances- tors was even more remote than Ferdinand's prospect of inheriting that of his : and it is interesting to observe through what trials, and by what a series of remarkable events, Providence was pleased to bring about this result, and through it the union, so long deferred, of the great Spanish monarchies. The accession of her elder brother, Henry the Fourth, was welcomed with an enthusiasm proportioned to the disgust which had been excited by the long-protracted and imbecile reign of his predecessor. Some few, indeed, who looked back to the time when he was arrayed in arms against his father, distrusted the soundness either of his principles or of his judgment. But far the larger portion of the nation was disposed t refer this to inexperience, or the ebullition of youthful spirit, r.;.d indulged the cheering anticipations which are usually entertained of a new reign and a young monarch. Henry was distinguished by a benign temper, and by a condescension, which might be called fami- liarity, in his intercourse with his inferiors, virtues peculiarly engaging in persons of his elevated station ; and as vices which wear the gloss of youth, are not only pardoned, but are oftentimes popular with the vulgar, the reckless extravagance in which he indulged himself v,\is favourably contrasted with the severe parsimony of his father in his latter yours, and gained him the surname of "the Liberal." His treasurer Laving remonstrated with him on the prodigality of his expenditure, he replied, " Kings, instead of hoarding treasure like private persons, are bound to dispense it for the happiness of their subjects. We must give to our enemies to make them friends, and to our friends to keep thorn so." He suited the action so well to the word, that, in a few years, there \vas scarcely a maravedi remaining in the royal coffors.* He maintained greater state than was usual with the monarchs of Castile, keeping in pay a body-guard of thirty-six hundred lances, splendidly equipped, and officered by the sons of the nobility. He Although Henry's lavish expenditure, particularly on works of architecture, gained him in early life the appellation of "the Liberal," he is better known on the roll of Castiiian ovcreigns by a less flattering title. CA-TILE TTXDEB HEXBT IT. 63 proclaimed a crusade against the Moors, a measure always popular in Castile ; assuming the pomegranate branch, the device of Granada, on his escutcheon, in token of his intention to extirpate the Moslems from the Peninsula. He assembled the chivalry of the remote provinces ; and in the early part of his reign, scarce a year elapsed without one or more incursions into the hostile territory with armies of thirty or forty thousand men. The results did not correspond -with the magnificence of the apparatus ; and these brilliant expeditious too often evaporated in a mere border foray, or in an empty gasconade under the walls of Granada. Orchards were cut down, harvests plundered, A - illages burnt to the ground, and all the other modes of annoyance peculiar to this barbarous warfare put in practice by the invading armies, as they swept over the face of the country : individual feats of prowess, too, commemorated in the romantic ballads of the time, were achieved ; but no victory was gained, no important post acquired. The king in vain excused his hasty retreats and abortive enterprises, by saying, " that he prized the life of one of his soldiers more than those of a thousand Mussulmans." His troops murmured at this timorous policy : and the people of the south, on whom the charges of the expeditious fell with peculiar heavi- ness, from their neighbourhood to the scene of operations, complained that " the war was carried on against them, not against the infidel." On one occasion an attempt was made to detain the king's person, and thus prevent him from disbanding his forces. So soon had the royal authority fallen into contempt ! The king of Granada himself, when summoned to pay tribute after a series of these ineffectual operations, replied, " that, in the first year of Henry's reign, he would have offered any thing, even his children, to preserve peace to his dominions ; but now he would give nothing." * The contempt, to which the king exposed himself by his public conduct, was still further heightened by his domestic. With even a greater indisposition to business than was manifested by his father, t he -sed none of the cultivated tastes which were the redeeming quali- ties of the latter. Having been addicted from his earliest youth tft debauchery, when he had lost the powers, he retained all the ivlish, for the brutis'h pleasures of a voluptuary. He had repudiated his wife Blanche of Aragou, after a union of twelve years, on grounds sufficiently ridiculous and humiliating.^ In 1455, he espoused Joanna, a Por- tuguese princess, sister of Alfonso the Fifth, the reigning monarch. This lady, then in the bloom of youth, was possessed of personal graces and a lively wit, which, say the historians, made her the delight of the court of Portugal. She was accompanied by a brilliant train of maidens, and her entrance into Castile v. { by the festivities and military pageants which belong to an age of chivalry. The light and lively manners of the youn<* queen, however, which seemed to defy the formal etiquette of the Castilian court, gave occasion to the grossest suspicions. The tongue of scandal indicated Belfzan de la Cueva, one of the haud= * The surprise of Gibraltar, the unhappy source of feud between the families of Guzman and Ponce de Leon, did not occur till a later period, 1-io.. t Such was his apathy, says Mariana, that he would subscribe his nams to public ordr nances, without taking the trouble to acquaint himself with the'. J The marriage between Blanche and Henry was puUicly declared Uhop via, confirmed by the archbishop of Toledo, '* i>or impottitcia rerpectira, owiug to K.'Uie malign influence ! " 64 MARRIAGE OF FEBDIXAND AND ISABELLA. somest cavaliers in the kingdom, and then newly risen in the royal graces, as the person to whom she most liberally dispensed her favours. This knight defended a passage of arms, in presence of the court, near Madrid, in which he maintained the superior beauty of his mistress against all comers. The king was so much delighted with his prowess, that he commemorated the event by the erection of a monastery dedi- cated to St. Jerome ; a whimsical origin for a religious institution. * The queen's levity might have sought some j ustitication in the unveiled licentiousness of her husband. One of the maids of honour, whom she brought in her train, acquired an ascendancy over Henry, which he did not attempt to disguise ; and the palace, after the exhibition of the most disgraceful scenes, became divided by the factions of the hostilr fair ones. The archbishop of Seville did not blush to espouse the cause of the paramour, who maintained a magnificence of state which rivalled that of royalty itself. The public were still more scandalised by Henry's sacrilegious intrusion of another of his mistresses into the post of abbess of a convent in Toledo, after the expulsion of her predecessor, a lady of noble rank and irreproachable character. The stream of corruption soon finds its way from the higher to the more humble walks of life. The middling classes, imitating their superiors, indulged in an excess of luxury equally demoralising, and ruinous to their fortunes. The contagion of example infected even the higher ecclesiastics ; and we find the archbishop of St. Jame? hunted from his see by the indignant populace, in consequence of an outrage attempted on a youthful bride, as she was returning from church, after the performance of the nuptial ceremony. The rights of the people could be but little consulted, or cared for, in a court thus abandoned to unbounded licence. Accordingly we find a repetition of most of the unconstitutional and oppressive acts which occurred under John the Second, of Castile ; attempts at arbitrary taxation, interference in the freedom of elections, and in the right exercised by the cities of nomi- nating the commanders of such contingents of troops as they might contribute to the public defence. Their territories were repeatedly alien- ated, and, as well as the immense sums raised by the sale of papal indulgences for the prosecution of the Moorish war, were lavished on the royal satellites.! But perhaps the most crying evil of this period was the shameless adulteration of the coin. Instead of five royal mints, which formerly existed, there were now one hundred and fifty in the hands of authorised * It does not appear, however, whom Beltran de la Cueva indicated as the lady of his love on this occasion. Two anecdotes may be mentioned as characteristic of the gallantry of the times. The archbishop of Seville concluded a superb fete, given in honour of the royal nuptials, by introducing on the table two vases filled with rings garnished with precious stones, to be distributed among his female guests. At a ball given on another occasion, the young queen having condescended to dance with the French ambassador, the latter made a solemn vow, in commemoration of so distinguished an honour, never to dance with any other woman. . \ The papal bulls of crusade issued on those occasions, says Palencia, contained, among other indulgences, an exemption from the pains and penalties of purgatory, assuring to the soul of the purchaser, after death, an immediate translation into a state of glory. Some of the more orthodox casuists doubted the validity of such a bull. But it was decided, after due examination, that, as the holy father possessed plenary power of absolution of all offences committed upon earth, and as purgatory is situated upon earth, it properly fell within ids jurisdiction. Bulls of crusade were sold at the rate of 200 maravedis each ; and 1*. is computed l.>y the same historian, that no less than 4,000,000 maravedis were amassed by this trrffic in Castile in the space of four years 1 OF FEBDLN'AND AITD ISABELLA. 65 individuals, who debased the coin to such a deplorable extent, that the most common, articles of life were enhanced in value three, four, and even six fold. Those who owed debts eagerly anticipated the season of payment ; and, as the creditors refused to accept it in the depreciated currency, it became a fruitful source of litigation and tumult, xmtil the whole nation seemed on the verge of bankruptcy. In this general licence, the right of the strongest was the only one which could make itself heard. The nobles, converting their castles into dens of robbers, plundered the property of the traveller, which was afterwards sold publicly in the cities. One of these robber chieftains, who held an important command on the frontiers of Murcia, was in the habit of carrying on an infamous traffic with the Moors by selling to them as slaves the Christian prisoners of either sex, whom he had captured in his marauding expeditions. When subdued by Henry, after a sturdy resistance, he was asiaiu received into favour, and reinstated in his possessions. The pusillanimous monarch knew neither when to pardon nor when to punish. But no part of Henry's conduct gave such umbrage to his nobles as the facility with which he resigned himself to the control of favourites, whom he had created as it were from nothing, and whom he advanced over the heads of the ancient aristocracy of the land. Among those especially disgusted by this proceeding, were Juan Pacheco, marquis of Villena, and Alfonso Carillo, archbishop of Toledo. These two per- sonages exercised so important an influence over the destinies of Henry, as to deserve inoiv particular notice. The former was of noble Portu- guese extraction, and originally a page in the service of the constable Alvaro de Luna, by whom he had been introduced into the household of Prince Henry, during the lifetime of John the Second. His polished and plausible address soon acquired him a complete ascendancy over the feeble mind of his master, who was guided bv his pernicious counsels in his frequent dissensions with his father. His invention was ever busy in' devising intrigues, which he recommended by his subtile, insinuating eloquence ; and he seemed to prefer the attainment of his purposes by a crooked rather than by a direct policy, even when the latter might equally well have answered. He sustained reverses with imperturbable composure : and, when his schemes were most successful, he was willing to risk all for the excitement of a new revolution. Although naturally humane, and without violent or revengeful passions, his restless spirit was perpetually involving his country in all the disasters of civil war. He was created marquis of Villena by John the Second ; and his ample domains, lying on the confines of Toledo, Murcia, and Valencia, and embracing an immense extent of populous and well-fortified territory, made him the most powerful vassal in the kingdom. * His uncle, the archbishop of Toledo, was of a sterner character. He was one of those turbulent prelates, not unfrequent in a rude age, who seem intended by nature for the camp rather than the church. He was * The ancient marquisate of Villena, having been incorporated into the crown of Castile, devolved to Prince Henry of Aragon, on his marriage with the daughter of John II. It was subsequently confiscated by that monarch, in consequence of the repeated rebellions of Prince Henry ; and the title, together with a largo proportion of the domains originally attached to it, was conferred on Don Juan Pacheco, by whom it was transmitted to his sou, afterwards raised to the rank of duke of Escaloua, iu'the rci^u of Isabella. 66 CASTILE TTNDES HENET IV. fierce, haughty, intractable ; and he was supported in the execution of his ambitious enterprises, no less by his undaunted resolution, than by the extraordinary resources which he enjoyed as primate of Spain. He was capable of warm attachments, and of making great personal sacri- fices for his friends, from whom, in return, he exacted the most implicit deference ; and, as he was both easily offended and implacable in his resentments, he seems to have been almost equally formidable as a friend and as an enemy. These early adherents of Henry, little satisfied with seeing their own consequence eclipsed by the rising glories of the newly created favourites, began secretly to stir up cabals and confederacies among the nobles, until the occurrence of other circumstances obviated the necessity, and indeed the possibility, of further dissimulation. Henry had been persuaded to take part in the internal dissensions which then agitated the kingdom of Aragon, and had supported the Catalans in their opposi- tion to their sovereign by seasonable supplies of men and money. He had even made some considerable conquests for himself, when he was induced by the advice of the marquis of Villena and the archbishop of Toledo, to refer the arbitration of his differences with the king of Aragon to Louis the Eleventh of France ; a monarch whose habitual policy allowed him to refuse no opportunity of interference in the concerns of his neighbours. The conferences were conducted at Bayonne, and an interview was subsequently agreed on between the kings of France and Castile, to be held near that city, on the banks of the Bidassoa, which divides thp dominions of the respective monarchs. The contrast exhibited by the two princes at this interview, in their style of dress and equipage, was sufficiently striking to deserve notice. Louis, who was even worse attired than usual, according to Comines, wore a coat of coarse woollen cloth, cut short, a fashion then deemed very unsuitable to persons of rank, with a doublet of fustian, and a weather-beaten hat, surmounted by a little leaden image of the Virgin. His imitative courtiers adopted a similar costume. The Castilians, on the other hand, displayed uncommon magnificence. The barge of the royal favourite, Beltran do la Cueva, was resplendent with sails of cloth of gold, and his apparel glittered with a profusion of costly jewels. Henry was escorted by his Moorish guard, gorgeously equipped, and the cavaliers of his train vied with each other in the sumptuous decorations of dress and equipage. The two nations appear to have been mutually disgusted with the contrast exhibited by their opposite affectations. The French sneered at the ostentation of the Spaniards, and the latter, in their turn, derided the sordid parsimony of their neighbours ; and thus the seeds of a national aversion were implanted, which, under the influence of more important circumstances, ripened into open hostility.* The monarchs seem to have separated with as little esteem for each other as did their respective courtiers ; and Comines profits by the occasion to inculcate the inexpediency of such interviews between princes, who have exchanged the careless jollity of youth for the cold and calculating policy of riper years. The award of Louis dissatisfied * At least these are the important crowwieuces imputed U> this interview by the French writers. MAKRIAGE OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA. 67 all parties ; a tolerable proof of its impartiality. The Castilians, ii particular, complained that the marquis of Villena and the archbishop of Toledo had compromised the honour of the nation, by allowing theii sovereign to cross over to the French shore of the Bidassoa ; and its interests, by the cession of the conquered territory to Aragon. They loudly accused them of being pensioners of Lotus ; a fact which does not appear improbable, considering the usual policy of this prince, who, as is well known, maintained an espionage over the councils of most of his neighbours. Henry was so far convinced of the truth of these imputations, that he dismissed the obnoxious ministers from their employments.* The disgraced nobles instantly set about the organisation of one of those formidable confederacies which had so often shaken the monarchs of Castile upon their throne, and which, although not authorised by positive law, as in Aragon, seem to have derived somewhat of a constitu- tional sanction from ancient usage. Some of the members of this coalition were doubtless influenced exclusively by personal jealousies ; but many others entered into it from disgust at the imbecile and arbitrary proceedings of the crown. In 1462, the queen had been delivered of a daughter, who was named like herself, Joanna, but who, from her reputed father, Beltran de la Cueva, was better known in the progress of her unfortunate history by the cognomen of Beltraneja. Henry, however, had required the usual oath of allegiance to be tendered to her as presumptive heir to the crown. The confederates assembled at Burgos, declared this oath of fealty a compulsory act, and that many of them had privately protested against it at the time, from, the conviction of the illegitimacy of Joanna. In the bill of grievances, which they now presented to the monarch, they required that he should deliver his brother Alfonso into their hands, to be publicly acknowledged as his successor ; they enumerated the mani- fold abuses which pervaded every department of government, which they freely imputed to the unwholesome influence exercised by the favourite, Beltran de la Cueva, over the royal councils, doubtless the true key to much of their patriotic sensibility ; and they entered into a covenant sanctioned by all the solemnities of religion usual on these occa- sions, not to re-enter the service of their sovereign, or accept any favour from him, until he had redressed their wrongs. The king, who by an efficient policy might, perhaps, have crushed these revolutionary movements in their birth, was naturally averse to violent, or even vigorous measures. He replied to the bishop of Cuen9a, his ancient preceptor, who recommended these measures, ' ' You priests, who are not called to engage in the fight, are very liberal of the blood of others." To which the prelate rejoined, with more warmth than breeding, " Since you are not true to your own honour at a time like this, I shall live to see you the most degraded monarch in Spain ; when you will repent too late this unseasonable pusillanimity." Henry, unmoved either by the entreaties or remonstrances of his adherents, resorted to the milder method of negotiation. He consented * The queen of Aragon, who was as skilful a diplomatist as her husband John I., assailed the vanity of Villena quite as much as his interest. On ono of his missions to her court, she invited him to dine with her tete-d-tfte at her own table, while during the repast tiey were served by the ladies of the palace. r a 68 CASl'ILE UNDER HENRY iV. to an interview with the confederates, in which he was induced, by the plausible arguments of the marquis of Villena, to comply with most of their demands. He delivered his brother Alfonso into their hands, to be recognised as the lawful heir to the crown, on condition of his sub- sequent union with Joanna ; and he agreed to nominate, in conjunction with his opponents, a commission of five, Avho should deliberate on the state of the kingdom, and provide an effectual reform of abuses. The result of this deliberation, however, proved so prejudicial to the royal aiithority, that the feeble monarch was easily persuaded to disavow tho proceedings of the commissioners, on the ground of their secret collusion with his enemies, and even to attempt the seizure of their persons. The confederates, disgusted with this breach of faith, and in pursuance, perhaps, of their original design, instantly decided on the execution of that bold measure, which some writers denounce as a flagrant act of rebellion, and others vindicate as a just and constitutional proceeding. In an open plain, not far from the city of Avila, they caused a scaffold to be erected, of sufficient elevation to be easily seen from the surrounding country. A chair of state was placed on it, and in this was seated an effigy of King Henry, clad in sable robes and adorned with all the insignia of royalty, a sword at its side, a sceptre in its hand, and a crown upon its head. A manifesto was then read, exhibit- ing in glowing colours the tyrannical conduct of the king, and the consequent determination to depose him ; and vindicating the proceeding \)y several precedents drawn from the history of the monarchy. The archbishop of Toledo, then ascending the platform, tore the diadem from the head of the statue ; the marquis of Villena removed the sceptre, the count of Placencia the sword, the grand master of Alcantara and the counts of Benavente and Paredes the rest of the regal insignia; when. the image thus despoiled of its honours, was rolled in the dust, amid the mingled groans and clamours of the spectators. The young prince Alfonso, at that time only eleven years of age, was seated on the vacant throne, and the assembled grandees severally kissed his hand in token of their homage ; the trumpets announced the completion of the ceremony, and the populace greeted with joyful acclamations the acces- sion of their new sovereign. (1465.) Such are the details of this extraordinary transaction, as recorded by the two contemporary historians of the rival factions. The tidings were borne, Avith the usual celerity of evil news, to the remotest parts of the kingdom. The pulpit and the forum resounded with the debates of disputants, who denied, or defended, the right of the subject to sit in judgment on the conduct of his sovereign. Every man was compelled to choose his side in this strange division of the kingdom. Henry received intelligence of the defection, successively, of the capital cities of Burgos, Toledo, Cordova, Seville, together with a large part of the southern provinces, where lay the estates of some of the most powerful partisans of the opposite faction. The unfortunate monarch, thus deserted by his subjects, abandoned himself to despair, and expressed the extremity of his anguish in the strong language of Job: "Naked came 1 from my mother's womb, and naked must I go down to the earth." A large, probably the larger part of the nation, however, disapproved of the tumultuous proceedings of the confederates. However much they contemned the person of the monarch, they were not prepared to see the MARRIAGE OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA. 69 royal authority thus openly degraded. They indulged, too, some com- passion for a prince, whose political vices, at least, were imputable to mental incapacity, and to evil counsellors, rather than to any natural turpitude of heart. Among the nobles who adhered to him, the most conspicuous were " the good count of Haro," and the powerful family of Mencloza, the worthy scions of an illustrious stock. The estates of the marquis of Santillana, the head of this house, lay chiefly in the Asturias, and gave him a considerable influence in the northern pro- vinces,* the majority of whose inhabitants remained constant in their attachment to the royal cause. When Henry's summons, therefore, was issued for the attendance of all his loyal subjects capable of bearing arms, it was answered by a formidable array of numbers, that must have greatly exceeded that of his rival, and which is swelled by his biographer to seventy thousand foot and fourteen thousand horse ; a much smaller force, under the direction of an efficient leader, would doubtless have sufficed to extinguish the rising spirit of revolt. But Henry's temper led him to adopt a more conciliatory policy, and to try what could be effected by negotiation, before resorting to arms. In the former, however, he was no match for the confederates, or rather the marquis of Villena, their representative on these occasions. This nobleman, who had so zealously co-operated with his party in conferring the title of king on Alfonso, had intended to reserve the authority to himself. He probably found more difficulty in controlling the ope rations of the jealous and aspiring aristocracy, with whom he was associated, than he had imagined ; and he was willing to aid the opposite party in maintaining a sufficient degree of strength, to form a counterpoise to that of the confederates, and thus, while he made his own services the more necessary to the latter, to provide a safe retreat for himself, in case of the shipwreck of their fortunes. - In conformity with this dubious policy, he had, soon after the occur- rence at Avila, opened a secret correspondence with his former master, and suggested to him the idea of terminating their differences by some amicable adjustment. In consequence of these intimations, Henry con- sented to enter into a negotiation with the confederates ; and it was agreed that the forces on both sides should be disbanded, and that a suspension of hostilities for six months should take place, during which some definitive and permanent scheme of reconciliation might be devised. Henry, in compliance with this arrangement, instantly disbanded his levies; they retired overwhelmed with indignation at the conduct of their sovereign, who so readily relinquished the only means of redress that he possessed, and whom they now saw it would be unavailing 10 us^t, since he was so ready to desert himself. It would be an unprofitable task to attempt to unravel all the fine- spun intrigues, by which the marquis of Villena contrived to defeat * The celebrated marquis of Santillana died in 1458, at the age of sixty. The title descended to his eldest son, Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, who is represented by his con- temporaries to have been worthy of Ids sire. Like him he was imbued with a love of letters; he was conspicuous for his magnanimity and chivalrous honour, his moderation, constancy, and uniform loyalty to his soveieign virtues of rare worth in t! and tuibulcut times. Ferdinand and Isabella created him duke del IntUntad... I i,is domain derives its name from its baving been once the patrimony of t!>- mj'aniet ot Castile. 70 CASTILE TJNDEB, HENRY IV. every attempt at an ultimate accommodation between the parties, until he was very generally execrated as the real source of the disturbances in the kingdom. In the meanwhile, the singular spectacle was exhibited of two monarchs presiding over one nation, surrounded by their respec- tive courts, administering the laws, convoking cortes, and in fine assuming the state and exercising all the functions of sovereignty. It >vas apparent that this state of things could not last long, and that the political ferment which now agitated the minds of men from one ex- tremity of the kingdom to the other, and which occasionally displayed itself in tumults and acts of violence, would soon burst forth with all the horrors of a civil war. At this juncture, a proposition was made to Henry for detaching the powerful family of Pacheco from the interests of the confederates, by the marriage of his sister Isabella with the brother of the marquis of Tillena, Don Pedro Giron, grand master of the order of Calatrava, a nobleman of aspiring views, and one of the most active partisans of his faction. The archbishop of Toledo would naturally follow the fortunes of his nepheAV ; and thus the league, deprived of its principal supports, must soon crumble to pieces. Inatead of resenting this proposal as an affront upon his honour, the abject mind of Henry was content to pur- chase repose even by the most humiliating sacrifice. He acceded to the conditions ; application was made to Rome for a dispensation from the vows of celibacy imposed on the grand master as the companion of a religious order ; and splendid preparations were instantly commenced for the approaching nuptials. Isabella was then in her sixteenth year. On her father's death, she retired with her mother to the little town of Arevalo, where, in seclu- sion, and far from the voice of flattery and falsehood, she had been permitted to unfold the natural graces of mind and person, which might have been blighted in the pestilent atmosphere of a court. Here, under the maternal eye, she was carefully instructed in those lessons of practical piety, and in the deep reverence for religion which distinguished her maturer years. On the birth of the Princess Joanna, she was removed, together with her brother Alfonso, by Henry to the royal palace, in order the more effectually to discourage the formation of any i'action adverse to the interests of his supposed daughter. In this abode of pleasure, surrounded by all the seductions most dazzling to youth, she did not forget the early lessons that she had imbibed ; and the blameless purity of her conduct shone with additional lustre amid the scenes of levity and licentiousness by which she was surrounded. The near connection of Isabella with the crown, as well as her per- sonal character, invited the application of numerous suitors. Her hand was first solicited for that very Ferdinand who was destined to be her future husband, though not till after the intervention of many inauspicious circumstances. She was next betrothed to his elder brother, Carlos ; and some years after his decease, when thirteen years of age f was promised by fienry to Alfonso of Portugal. Isabella was present with her brother at a personal interview with that monarch in 1464, but neither threats nor intreaties could induce her to accede to a union so unsuitable from the disparity of their years ; and with her characteristic discretion, even at this early age, she rested her refusal on the ground, 3IAREIAGK OF FEEDIXAND AND ISABELLA. 71 that " the infantas of Castile coxild not he disposed of in marriage with- out the consent of the nohles of the realm." When Isabella understood in what manner she was now to he sacrificed to the selfish policy of her brother, in the prosecution of which com- pulsory measures if necessary were to be employed, she was filled with the liveliest emotions of grief and resentment. The master of Calatrava was well known as a fierce and turbulent leader of faction, and his private life was stained with most of the licentious vices of the age. He was even accused of having invaded the privacy of the queen dowager, Isabella's mother, by proposals of the most degrading nature ; an out- rage which the king had either not the power, or the inclination, to resent. With this person, then, so inferior to her in birth, and so much more unworthy of her in every other point of view, Isabella was now to be united. On receiving the intelligence, she confined herself to her apartment, abstaining from all nourishment and sleep for a day and night, says a contemporary writer, and imploring Heaven in the most piteous manner to save her from this dishonour by her own death or that of her enemy. As she was bewailing her hard fate to her faithful friend Beatrix de Bobadilla, " God will not permit it," exclaimed the high- spirited lady, "neither will I : " then drawing forth a dagger from her bosom, which she kept there for the purpose, she solemnly vowed to plunge it in the heart of the master of Calatrava as soon as he appeared ! * Happily her loyalty was not put to so severe a test. Xo sooner had the grand master received the bull of dispensation from the pope, than, resigning his dignities in his military order, he set about such sumptuous preparations for his wedding as were due to the rank of his intended bride. When these were completed, he began his journey from his residence at Alniagro to Madrid, were the nuptial ceremony was to be performed, attended by a splendid retinue of friends and followers. But, on the very first evening after his departure, he was attacked by an acute disorder while at Villarubia, a village not far from Ciudad lieal, which terminated his life in four days. He died, says Palencia, with imprecations on his lips, because his life had not been spared some few weeks louger.f His death was attributed by many to poison, administered to him by some of the nobles, who were envious of his fortune. But, notwithstanding the seasonableness of the event, and the familiarity of the crime in that age, no shadow of imputation was ever cast on the pure fame of Isabella.:); (1466.) The death of the grand master dissipated, at a blow, all the fine schemes of the marquis of Villena, as well as every hope of reconciliation * This lady, Dolia Beatriz Fernandez de Bobadilla, the most intimate personal friend of Isabella, will appear often in the course of our narrative. Gonzalo de Oviedo, who knew her well, describes her as ''illustrating her generous lineage by her conduct, which was virtuous and valiant." The last epithet, rather singular for a female character, was not unmerited. t Palencia imputes his death to an attack of the quinsy. J Gaillard remarks on this event, "Chacun crnt sur cette mort ce qu'il voulut." And again, in a few pages after, speaking of Isabella, he says, " On remarqua quo tous ceux qui pouvoient faire obstacle ii la satisfaction on a la fortune d'Isabella, mouroient toujours ;i propos pour elle." This ingenious writer is fond of seasoning his style with those piquant sarcasms in which oftentimes more is meant than meets the ear, and which Voltairo rendered fashionable in history. I doubt, however, if amid all the bests of controversy and faction, there is a single Spanish writer of that age, or iijileed of any subsequent one, who has ventured to impute to the contrivance of Isabella any one of the fortunate oincidences to which the author alludes. 72 CASTILE try DEE HENRY iv. between the parties. The passions which had been only smothered, now burst forth into open hostility ; and it was resolved to rei'er the decision of the question to the issue of a battle. The two armies met on the plains of Olmedo, where, two and twenty years before, John, the father of Henry, had been in like manner confronted by his insurgent subjects. The royal army was considerably the larger; but the deficiency of numbers in the other was amply supplied by the intrepid spirit of its leaders. The archbishop of Toledo appeared at the head of its squadrons, conspicuous by a rich scarlet mantle, embroidered with a white cross, thrown over his armour. The young prince Alfonso, scarcely fourteen years of age, rode by his side, clad like him in com- plete mail. Before the action commenced, the archbishop sent a message to Beltran do la Cueva, then raised to the title of duke of Albuquerque, cautioning him not to venture in the field, as no less than forty cavaliers had sworn his death. The gallant nobleman, who on this, as on some other occasions, displayed a magnanimity which in some degree excused the partiality of his master, returned by the envoy a particular descrip- tion of the dress he intended to wear ; a chivalrous defiance which well nigh cost him his life. Henry did not care to expose his person in the engagement, and, on receiving erroneous intelligence of the discomfiture of his party, retreated precipitately with some thirty or forty horsemen to the shelter of a neighbouring village. The action lasted three hours, until the combatants were separated by the shades of evening, without either party having decidedly the advantage, although that of Henry retained possession of the field of battle. The archbishop of Toledo and prince Alfonso were the last to retire ; and the former was seen repeatedly to rally his broken squadrons, notwithstanding his arm had been pierced through with a lance early in the engagement. The king and the prelate may be thought to have exchanged characters in this tragedy. (1467.) The battle was attended with no result, except that of inspiring appetites, which had tasted of blood, with a relish for more unlicensed carnage. The most frightful anarchy now prevailed throughout the kingdom, dismembered by factions, which the extreme youth of one monarch and the imbecility of the other made it impossible to control. In vain did the papal legate, who had received a commission to that effect from his master, interpose his mediation, and even fulminate sentence of excommunication against the confederates. The independent barons plainly told him, that "those who advised the pope that he had a right to interfere in the temporal concerns of Castile deceived him ; and that they had a perfect right to depose their monarch on sufficient grounds, and should exercise it." Every city, nay, almost every family, became now divided within itself. In Seville and in Cordova, the inhabitants of one street carried on open war against those in another. The churches, which were fortified, and occupied with bodies of tinned men, were many of them sacked and burnt to the ground. In Toledo no less than four thousand dwellings were consumed in one general conflagration. The ancient family lends, as those between the great houses of Guzman and Ponce de Leon in Andalusia, being revived, carried new division into the cities, whose streets literally ran with blood. In the country, the nobles and gentry, issuing from their castles, captured the defenceless HAHRIAGI5 OF FEKDINANn AND TSACELIA. 1H traveller, who was obliged to redeem his liberty by the payment of a heavier rahsom than was exacted even by the Mahometans. All com- munication on the high roads was suspended, and no man, says a con- temporary, dared move abroad beyond the walls of his city, unless attended by an armed escort. The organisation of one of those popular confederacies, known under the name of Hermandad, in 1465, which continued in operation -during the remainder of this gloomy period, brought some mitigation to these evils, by the fearlessness with which it exercised its functions even against offenders of the highest rank, some of whose castles were razed to the ground by its orders. But this relief was only partial ; and the successful opposition which the Her- mandad sometimes encountered on these occasions, served to aggravate; the horrors of the scene. Meanwhile, fearful omens, the usual accom- paniments of such troubled times, were witnessed ; the heated imagina- tion interpreted the ordinary operations of nature as signs of celestial wrath ; and the minds of men were filled with dismal bodings of some inevitable evil, like that which overwhelmed the monarchy in the days of their Gothic ancestors. At this crisis, a circumstance occurred, which gave a new face to affairs, and totally disconcerted the operations of the confederates. This was the loss of their young leader, Alfonso, who was found dead in his bed, on the 5th of July, 1468, at the village of Cardefiosa, about two leagues from Avila, which had so recently been the theatre of his glory. His sudden death was imputed in the usual suspicious temper of that corrupt age, to poison, supposed to have been conveyed to him in a trout, on which he dined the day preceding. Others attributed it to the plague r which had followed in the train, of evils that desolated this unhappy country. Thus, at the age of fifteen, and after a brief reign, if reign it may be called, of three years, perished this young prince, who, under hnppier auspices and in maturer life, might have ruled over his country with a wisdom equal to that of any of its monarchs. Even in the disadvantageous position in which he had been placed, he gave clear indications of future excellence. A short time before his death, he was heard to remark, on witnessing the oppressive acts of some of the nobles, "I must endure this patiently until I am a little older." On another occasion, being solicited, by the citizens of Toledo, to approve of some act of extortion which they had committed, he replied, " God forbid I should countenance such injustice ! " And on being told that the city r in that case, would probably transfer its allegiance to Henry, he added, "Much as I love power, I am not willing to purchase it at such a price." Noble sentiments, but not at all palatable to the grandees of bis party who saw with alarm that the young lion, when he had inched his stn-ngth, would be likely to burst the bonds with which they had enthralled him. It is not easy to consider the reign of Alfonso in any other light than that of a usurpation, although some Spanish writers, and among the rest Marina, a competent critic when not blinded by prejudice, regard him as a rightful sovereign, and as such to be enrolled among the monarchg of Castile. Marina, indeed, admits the ceremony at Avila to have been originally the work of a faction, and in itself informal and unconstitutional; but he considers it to have received a legitimate sanction from its sub- equent recognition by the people. But I do not find that the deposition 74 CASTILE trXDER HEXEY IV. of Henry the Fourth, was ever confirmed hy an act of cortes. He still continued to reign with the consent of a large portion, probably the majority, of his subjects : and it is evident that proceedings so irregular as those at Avila could have no pretence to constitutional validity, without a very general expression of approbation on the part of the nation. The leaders of the confederates were thrown into consternation hy an event which threatened to dissolve their league, and to leave them exposed to the resentment of an offended sovereign. In this conjuncture, they naturally turned their eyes on Isabella, whose dignified and com- manding character might counterbalance the disadvantages arising from the unsuitableness of her sex for so perilous a situation, and justify her election in the eyes of the people. She had continued in the family of Henry during the greater part of the civil war ; until the occupation of Segovia by the insurgents, after the battle of Olmedo, enabled her to seek the protection of her younger brother Alfonso, to which she was the more inclined by her disgust with the licence of a court, where the love of pleasure scorned even the veil of hypocrisy. On the death of her brother, she withdreAV to a monastery at Avila, where she was visited by the archbishop of Toledo, who, in behalf of the confederates, requested her to occupy the station lately filled by Alfonso, and allow herself to be proclaimed queen of Castile. Isabella discerned too clearly, however, the path of duty, and probably of interest. She unhesitatingly refused the seductive proffer, and replied^ that, "while her brother Henry lived, none other had aright to the crown ; that the country had been divided long enough under the rule of two contending monarchs ; and that the death of Alfonso might perhaps be interpreted into an indication from Heaven of its disappro- bation of their cause." She expressed herself desirous of establishing a reconciliation between the parties, and offered heartily to co-operate with her brother in the reformation of existing abuses. Neither the eloquence nor entreaties of the primate could move her from her purpose ; and when a deputation from Seville announced to her that that city, in common with the rest of Andalusia, had unfurled its standards in her name and proclaimed her sovereign of Castile, she still persisted in the same wise and temperate policy. The confederates were not prepared for this magnanimous act from one so young, and in opposition to the advice of her most venerated counsellors. No alternative remained, however, but that of negotiating an accommodation on the best terms possible with Henry, whose facility of temper and love of repose naturally disposed him to an amicable adjustment of his differences. With these dispositions, a reconciliation was effected between the parties on the following conditions : namely, that a general amnesty should be granted by the king for all past offences ; that the queen, whose dissolute conduct was admitted to be matter of notoriety, should be divorced from her husband, and sent back to Portugal ; that Isabella should have the principality of the Asturias (the usual demesne of the heir apparent to the crown) settled on her, together with a specific provision suitable to her rank ; that she should be immediately recognised heir to the crowns of Castile and Leon ; that a cortes should be convoked within forty days, for the purpose of Bestowing a legal sanction on her title, as well as of reforming the MAKEIAGE OF FEEDIXA2TD AND ISABELLA. 75 various abuses of government ; and finally, that Isabella should not be constrained to marry in opposition to her own wishes, nor should she do so "without the consent of her brother. In pursuance of these arrangements, an interview took place between Henry and Isabella, each attended by a brilliant cortege of cava- liers and nobles, at a place called Toros de Guisando, in new Castile (Sept. 9, 1468).* The monarch embraced his sister with the tenderest marks of affection, and then proceeded solemnly to recognise her as his future and rightful heir. An oath of allegiance was repeated by the attendant nobles, who concluded the ceremony by kissing the hand of the princess in token of their homage. In due time the repre- sentatives of the nation, convened in cortes at Ocafia, unanimously con- curred in their approbation of these preliminary proceedings, and thus Isabella was announced to the world as the lawful successor to the crowns of Castile and Leon. It can hardly be believed that Henry was sincere in subscribing con- ditions so humiliating ; nor can his easy and lethargic temper account for his so readily relinquishing the pretensions of the princess Joanna, whom, notwithstanding the popular imputations on her birth, he seems always to have cherished as his own offspring. He was accused, even while actually signing the treaty, of a secret collusion with the marquis of Yillena, for the purpose of evading it ; an accusation which derives a plausible colouring from subsequent events. The new. and legitimate basis on which the pretensions of Isabella to the throne now rested, drew the attention of neighbouring princes, who contended with each other for the honour of her hand. Among these suitors was a brother of Edward the Fourth, of England, not improbably Richard, duke of Gloucester, since Clarence was then engaged in his intrigues with the earl of Warwick, which led a few months later to his marriage with the daughter of that nobleman. Had she listened to his proposals, the duke would in all likelihood liave exchanged his residence in England for Castile, where his ambition, satisfied with the certain reversion of a crown, might have been spared the commission of the catalogue of crimes which blacken his memory, t Another suitor was the duke of Guienne, the unfortunate brother of Louis the Eleventh, and at that time the presumptive heir of the French monarchy. Although the ancient intimacy which subsisted between the royal families of France and Castile in some measure favoured his pretensions, the disadvantages resulting from such a union were too obvious to escape attention. The two countries were too remote from each other, J and their inhabitants too dissimilar in character and insti< tutions, to permit the idea of their ever cordially coalescing as one peoplv, under a common sovereign. Should the duke of Guienne fail in the inheri- tance of the crown, it was argued he would be every way an unequal * So called from four bulls, sculptured in stone, discovered there, with Latin inscrip- tions thereon, indicating it to have been the site of one of Julius Caesar's victories during the civil war. . does not specify which of the brothers of Edward IV. was intended, t The territories of Franco and Castile touched, indeed, on one point (Guipuscoa), but '.I along the whole remaining line of frontier by the kingdoms of Aragoa and Navarre. 76 CASTILE TJXDER HfcXKY iv. match for the heiress of Castile ; should he succeed to it, it might be feared, that, in case of a union, the smaller kingdom would be considered only as an appendage, and sacrificed to the interests of the larger. The person on whom Isabella turned the most favourable eye was her kinsman Ferdinand of Aragon. The superior advantages of a connexion which should be the means of uniting the people of Aragon and Castile into one nation were indeed manifest. They were the descendants of one common stock, speaking one language, and living under the influence of similar institutions, which had moulded them into a common resem- blance of character and manners. From their geographical position, too, they seemed destined by nature to be one nation ; and, while separately they were condemned to the rank of petty and subordinate states, they might hope, when consolidated into one monarchy, to rise at once to the first class of European powers. While arguments of this public nature pressed on the mind of Isabella, she was not insensible to those which most powerfully affect the female heart. Ferdinand was then in the bloom of life, and distinguished for the comeliness of his person. In the busy scenes in which he had been engaged from his boyhood, he had displayed a chivalrous valour, combined with maturity of judgment far above his years. Indeed, he was decidedly superior to his rivals in personal merit and attractions.* But, while private inclinations thus happily coincided with considerations of expediency for inclining her to prefer the Aragonese match, a scheme was devised in another quarter for the express purpose of defeating it. A fraction of the royal party, with the family of Mendoza at their head, had retired in disgust with the convention of Tores de Guisando, and openly espoused the cause of the princess Joanna. They even instructed her to institute an appeal before the tribunal of the supreme pontiff ; and caused a placard, exhibiting a protest against the validity of the late proceedings, to be nailed secretly in the night to the gate of Isabella's mansion. Thus were sown the seeds of new dissensions, before the old were completely eradicated. With this disaffected party the marquis of Villena, who, since his reconciliation, had resumed his ancient ascen- dancy over Henry, now associated himself. Nothing, in the opinion of this nobleman, could be more repugnant to his interests than the projected union between the houses of Castile and Aragon ; to the latter of which, as already noticed, once belonged the ample domains of his own marquisate, which lie imagined would be held by a very precarious tenure should any of this family obtain a footing in Castile. In the hope of counteracting this project, he endeavoured to revive the obsolete pretensions of Alfonso, king of Portugal; and the more effectually to secure the co-operation of Henry, he connected with his scheme a proposition for marrying his daughter Joanna with the son and * Isabella, in order to acquaint herself more intimately with the personal qualities of her respective suitors, had privately despatched her confidential chaplain. A! to the courts of France and of Aragon, and his report on his return was altogether favour- able to Ferdinand. The duke of Guienne he represented as "a feeble, etruminatc prince, with lirr.bs so emaciated as to bo almost deformed, and with rye* BO \\ivik and \v:i- to incapacitate him for the ordinary exercises of chivalry. While Ferdinand, on tin hand, was possessed of a comely, symmetrical figure, a graceful demeanour, and a spirit that was up to any thing." It is not improbable that the imeen of Aragon' c-< iid^reiided to practise some of those agreeable- arts on the worthy chaiii.-nn wiiu-ii matin .-.> ..y.isililo an impression on the murauis of Villeua. JU.DR1AGE OF FERDIXAXD AND 1SABKZIA. 77 lioir of the Portuguese monarch ; and thus this unfortunate princess ;iight be enabled to assume at once a station suitable to her birth, and nt some future opportunity assert with success her claim to the Castilian (.TOWII. In furtherance of this complicated intrigue, Alfonso Avas invited new his addresses to Isabella in a more public manner than he had hitherto done ; and a pompous embassy, with the archbishop of Lisbon ; hf-:id, appeared at Ocana, where Isabella was then residing, hi-aring the proposals of their master. The princess returned, as before-, ided, though temperate refusal. Henry, or rather the marquis of Yillona, piqued at this opposition to his wishes, resolved to intimidate her into compliance ; and menaced her with imprisonment in the royal fortress at Madrid. Neither her tears nor entreaties would have availed against this tyrannical proceeding; and the marquis was only deterred from putting it into execution by his fear of the inhabitants of Ocaiia, who openly espoused the cause of Isabella. Indeed, the common people of Castile very generally supported her in her preference of the Aragonese match. Boys paraded the streets, bearing banners emblazoned with the arms of Aragon, and singing verses prophetic of the glories of the auspicious union. They even assembled round the palace gates, and insulted the ears of Henry and his minister by the repetition of satirical stanzas, which contrasted Alfonso's years with the youthful graces of Ferdinand. Notwithstanding this popular expression of opinion, how- ever, the constancy of Isabella might at length have yielded to the importunity of her persecutors, had she not been encouraged by her friend, the archbishop of Toledo, who had warmly entered into the inte- rests of Aragon, and who promised, should matters come to extremity, to march in person to her relief at the head of a sufficient force to insure it, (H69.) Isabella, indignant at the oppressive treatment which she experienced from her brother, as well as at his notorious infraction of almost every article in the treaty of Toros de Guisando, felt herself released from her corresponding engagements, and determined to conclude the negotiations relative to her marriage without any further deference to his opinion. Before taking any decisive step, however, she was desirous of obtaining the concurrence of* the leading nobles of her party. This was effected without difficulty, through the intervention of the archbishop of Toledo, and of Don Frederic Henriquez, admiral of Castile, and the maternal grandfather of Ferdinand ; a person of high consideration, both from his rank and character, and connected by blood with the principal families in the kingdom. Fortified by their approbation, Isabella dismissed tlv Aragonese envoy with a favourable answer to his master's suit. Her reply was received with almost as much satisfaction by the old king of Aragon, John the Second, as by his son. This monarch, who was one of the shrewdest princes of his time, had always been deeply sensible of the importance of consolidating the scattered monarchies of Spain under one head. He had solicited the hand of Isabella for his son, when she possessed only a contingent reversion of the crown. But, when her succession had been settled on a more secure basis, he lost no time iu effecting this favourite object of his policy. With the consent of the states he had transferred to his son the title of king of Sicily, and associated him with himself in the government at home, in order to give him greater consequence in the eyes of his mistress. He then 78 CASTILE THfDEB HE>*ET IT. despatched a confidential agent into Castile, with instructions to gain over to his interests all \vho exercised any influence on the mind of the princess ; furnishing him for this purpose with cartes blanches, signed by himself and Ferdinand, which he was empowered to fill at his discretion. Between parties thus favourahly disposed there was no unnecessary delay. The marriage articles were signed, and sworn to hy Ferdinand at Cervera, on the 7th of January, 1469. He promised 'faithfully to respect the laws and usages of Castile ; to fix his residence in that kingdom, and not to quit it without the consent of Isabella ; to alienate no properly belonging to the crown ; to prefer no foreigners to municipal offices, and indeed to make no appointments of a civil or military nature without her consent and approbation ; and to resign to her exclusively the right of nomination to ecclesiastical benefices. All ordinances of a public nature were to be subscribed equally .by both. Ferdinand, engaged, moreover, to prosecute the war against the Moors : to respect King Henry ; to suffer every noble to remain unmolested in the posses- sion of his dignities, and not to demand restitution of the domains formerly owned by his father in Castile. The treaty concluded with a specification of a magnificent dower to be settled on Isabella, far more ample than that usually assigned to the queens of Aragon. The circum- spection of the framers of this instrument is apparent from the various provisions introduced into it solely to calm the apprehensions and to conciliate the good- will of the party disaffected to the marriage ; while the national partialities of the Castilians in general were gratified by the jealous restrictions imposed on Ferdinand, and the relinquishment of all the essential rights of sovereignty to his consort. AVhile these aflairs were in progress, Isabella's situation was becoming exceedingly critical. She had availed herself of the absence of her brother and the marquis of Tillena in the south, whither they had gone for the purpose of suppressing the still lingering spark of insurrection, to transfer her residence from Ocafia to Madrigal, where, under the protection of her mother, she intended to abide the issue of the pending negotiations with Aragon. Far, however, from escaping the vigilant eye of the marquis of Villena by this movement, she laid herself more open to it. She found the bishop of Burgos, the nephew of the marquis, stationed at Madrigal, who now served as an effectual spy upon her actions. Her most confidential servants were corrupted, and conveyed intelligence of her proceedings to her enemy. Alarmed at the actual progress made in the negotiations for her marriage, the marquis was now convinced that he could only hope to defeat them by resorting to the coercive system which he had before abandoned. He accordingly instructed the arch- bishop of Seville to march at once to Madrigal with a sufficient force to secure Isabella's person ; and letters were at the same time addressed by Henry to the citizens of that place, menacing them with his resent- ment, if they should presume to interpose in her behalf. The timid inhabitants disclosed the purport of the mandate to Isabella, and besought her to provide for her own safety. This was perhaps the most critical period in her life. Betrayed by her own domestics, deserted even by those friends of her own sex who might have afforded her sympathy and counsel, but who fled affrighted from the scene of danger, and on the eve of falling into the snares of her enemies, she beheld the MARRIAGE OF IXRDIXAXD AND ISABELLA. 79 sudden extinction of those hopes which she had so long and BO fondly cherished.* In this exigency, she contrived to convey a knowledge of her situation to admiral Henriquez, and the archbishop of Toledo. The active prelate, on receiving the summons, collected a body of horse, and, rein- forced by the admiral's troops, advanced with such expedition to Madrigal, that he succeeded in anticipating the arrival of the enemy. Isabella received her friends with unfeigned satisfaction ; and, bidding adieu to her dismayed guardian, the bishop of Burgos, and his attendants, she was borne off by her little army in a sort of military triumph to the friendly city of Yalladolid, where she was welcomed by the citizens with a general burst of enthusiasm. In the mean time, Gutierre de Cardenas, one of the household of tho princess, t and Alonso de Palencia, the faithful chronicler of these events, were despatched into Aragou in order to quicken Ferdinand's operations, during the auspicious interval afforded by the absence of Henry in Andalusia. On arriving at the frontier town of Osma, they were dismayed to find that the bishop of that place, together with the duke of Medina Celi, on whose active co-operation they had relied for the safe introduction of Ferdinand into Castile, had been gained over to the interests of the marquis of Yillcna. { The envoys, however, adroitly concealing the real object of their mission, were permitted to pass unmolested to Saragossa, where Ferdinand was then residing. They could not have arrived at a more inopportune season. The old king of Aragon was in the very heat of the war against the insurgent Catalans, headed by the victorious John of Anjou. Although so sorely pressed, his forces were on the eve of disbanding for want of the requisite funds to maintain them. His exhausted treasury did not contain more than three hundred enriques. In this exigency he was agitated by the most distressing doubts. As he could spare neither the funds nor the force necessary for covering his son's entrance into Castile, he must either send him unprotected into a hostile country, already aware of his intended enterprise and in arms to defeat it, or abandon the long- cherished object of his policy, at the moment when his plans were ripe for execution. Unable to extricate himself from this dilemma, he referred the whole matter to Ferdinand and his council. It was at length determined that the prince should undertake the journey, accompanied by half a dozen attendants only, in the disguise of merchants, l>y the direct route from Saragossa; while another party, in order to divert the attention of the Castilians, should proceed in a different direction, with all the ostentation of a public embassy from the king of Aragon to Henry the Fourth. The distance was not great which Ferdinand and his suite were to travel before reaching a place of safety; but this intervening country was patrolled by squadrons of * Beatrix de Bobadilla and Mcncia de la Torre, the two ladies most it her confidence, had escaped to the neighbouring town of Coca. t This cavalier, who was of an ancient and honourable family in Castile, was introduco-l to the princess's service by the archbishop of Toledo. He is represented by Gonzalo de Obicdo as a man of much sagacity and knowledge of the world, qualities with which h united a steady devotion to the interests of his mistress. { The bishop told Palencia, that "if his own servants deserted him, he would optxie the ou'.rauca of Ferdinand into the kingdom." { The enrique was a jjcld coin, so denominated from Henry IL 80 CASTILE TTXDER HEKKT IT. cavalry for the purpose of intercepting their progress ; and the whole extent of the frontier, from Almazan to Guadalajara, was defended hy a line of fortified castles in the hands of the family of iXIendoza. The greatest circumspection therefore was necessary. The party journeyed chiefly in the night ; Ferdinand assumed the disguise of a servant, and, when they halted on the road, took care of the mules, and served hia companions at table. In this guise, with no other disaster except that of leaving at an inn the purse which contained the funds for the expedi- tion, they arrived late on the second night, at a little place called the Burgo, or Borough, of Osma, which the count of Trevifio, one of the partisans of Isabella, had occupied with a considerable body of men-at- arms. On knocking at the gate, cold and faint with travelling, during which the prince had allowed himself to take no repose, they were saluted by a large stone discharged by a sentinel from the battlements, which, glancing near Ferdinand's head, had well-nigh brought his romantic enterprise to a tragical conclusion ; when his voice was recognised by his friends within, and the trumpets proclaiming his arrival, he was received with great joy and festivity by the count and his followers. The remainder of his journey, which he commenced before dawn, was per- formed under the convoy of a numerous and well-armed escort ; ana on the 9th of October he reached Duenas in the kingdom of Leon, where the Castilian nobles and cavaliers of his party eagerly thronged to render him the homage due to his rank. The intelligence of Ferdinand's arrival diffused universal joy in the little court of Isabella at Valladolid. Her first step was to transmit a letter to her brother Henry, in which she informed him of the presence of the prince in his dominions, and of their intended marriage. She excused the course she had taken, by the embarrassments in which she had been involved by the malice of her enemies. She represented the political advantages of the connection, and the sanction it had received from the Castilian nobles ; and she concluded with soliciting his approba- tion of it, giving him at the same time affectionate assurance of the most dutiful submission both on the part of Ferdinand and of herself. Arrangements were then made for an interview between the royal pair, in which some courtly parasites would fain have persuaded their mistress to require some act of homage from Ferdinand, in token of the inferiority of the crown of Aragon to that of Castile : a proposition which she rejected with her usual discretion. Agreeably to these arrangements, Ferdinand, on the evening of the loth of October, passed privately from Duenas, accompanied only by four attendants, to the neighbouring city of Valladolid, where he was received by the archbishop of Toledo, and conducted to the apartment of his mistress.* Ferdinand was at this time in the eighteenth year of his age. His complexion was fair, though somewhat bronzed by constant exposure to the sun ; his eye quick and cheerful ; his forehead ample, and approaching to baldness. His muscular and well-proportioned frame was invigorated by the toils of war, and by the chivalrous exercises in which he delighted. He was one of the best horsemen in his court, and * Qutierre de Cardenas was the first who pointed him out to the princess, exclaiming at *.he same time, ' ' Sue et, eft es ! " '' This is he ! " in commemoration of which he was per- miuud to place on his escutcheon the letters S3, whose pronunciation iu Spanish resemble* that of the exclamation which he uttered. MAKKIAGE OF FERDLN'AXD AXD ISABELLA. 81 excelled in field sports of every kind. His voice was somewhat sharp, but he possessed a fluent eloquence ; and when he had a point to carry, his address was courteous and even insinuating. He seciuvd his health by extreme temperance in his diet, and by such habits of activity, that it was said he seemed to find repose in business. Isabella was a year older than her lover. In stature she was somewhat above the middle size. Her complexion was fair ; her hair of a bright chestnut colour, inclining to red ; and her mild blue eye beamed with intelligence and sensibility. She was exceedingly beautiful; "the handsomest lady," says one of her household, " whom I ever beheld, and the most gracious in her manners." The portrait still existing of her in the royal palace, is conspicuous for an open symmetry of features indicative of the natural serenity of temper, and that beautiful harmony of intellectual and moral qualities, which most distinguished her. She was dignified in her anour, and modest even to a degree of reserve. She spoke the Custilian language with more than usual elegance ; and early imbibed a relish for letters, in which she was superior to Ferdinand, whose educa- tion in this particular seems to have been neglected. It is not easy to obtain a dispassionate portrait of Isabella. The Spaniards, who revert to her glorious reign, are so smitten with her moral perfections, that, even in depicting her personal, they borrow somewhat of the exaggerated colouring of romance. The interview lasted more than two hours, when Ferdinand retired to his quarters at Diufias as privately as he came. The preliminaries of the marriage, however, were first adjusted ; but so great was the poverty of the parties, that it was found necessary to borrow money to defray the expenses of the ceremony. Such were the humiliating circumstances attending the commencement of a union destined to open the way to the highest prosperity and grandeur of the Spanish monarchy ! The marriage between Ferdinand and Isabella was publicly celebrated, on the morning of the 19th of October, 1469, in the palace of John de Vivero, the temporary residence of the princess, and subsequently appropriated to the chancery of Valladolid. The nuptials were solemnised in the presence of Ferdinand's grandfather, the admiral of Castile, of the archbishop of Toledo, and a multitude of persons of rank as well as of inferior condition, amounting in all to no less than two thousand. A papal bull of dispensation was produced by the archbishop, relieving the parties from the impediment incurred by their falling within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity. This spurious docu- ment was afterwards discovered to have been devised by the old king of Aragon, Ferdinand, and the archbishop, who were deterred from applying to the court of Rome by the zeal with which it openly espoused the interest of Henry, and who knew that Isabella would never consent to a union repugnant to the canons of the established church, and ouw which involved such heavy ecclesiastical censures. A genuine bull of dispensation was obtained, some years later, from Sixtus the Fourth ; but Isabella, whose honest mind abhorred every thing like artifice, was filled with no little uneasiness and mortification at the discovery of the imposition.* The ensuing week was consumed in the usual festivities of The intricacies of this aflair, at once the scandal and the stumbling-block of the Spanish hb'.-.riaus, have been unravelled by Seiior Clemcncin vrtfh hi; ucual perspicuity. a 82 CASTILE UXDEE HEJTRY IT. this joyous season ; at the expiration of which the new-married paii attende'd publicly the celebration of mass, agreeably to the usage of the time, in ths collegiate church of Santa Maria. An embassy was despatched by Ferdinand and Isabella to Henry, to acquaint him with their proceedings, and again request his approbation of them. They repeated their assurances of loyal submission, and accompanied the message with a copious extract from such of the articles of marriage as, by their import, would be most likely to conciliate his favourable disposition. Henry coldly replied, "that he must advise with his ministers." Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdgs, author of the " Quincuagenas " frequently cited in this History, was born at Madrid, in 14 78. He was of noble Asturian descent. Indeed, every peasant in the Asturias claims nobility as his birthright. At the age of twelve he was introduced into the royal palace, as one of the pages of prince John. He continued with the court several years, and was present, though a boy, in the closing campaigns of the Moorish war. In 1514, according to bis own statement, he embarked for the Indies, where, although he revisited his native country several times, he continued during the remainder of his long life. The time of his death is uncertain. Oviedo occupied several important posts under the government, and he was appointed to one of a literary nature, for which he was well qualified by his long residence abroad ; that of historiographer of the Indies. It was in this capacity that he produced his prin- cipal work, " Historia General de las Indias,"in fifty books. Las Casas deuounc book as a wholesale fabrication, "as full of lies, almost, as pages." But Las Casas enter- tained too hearty an aversion for the man, whom he publicly accused of rapacir cruelty, and was too decidedly opposed to his ideas on the government of the Indies, to be a fair critic. Oviedo, though somewhat loose and rambling, possessed extensive stores of information, by which those who have had occasion to follow in his track have liberally profited. The work with which we are concerned, is his " Las Quincuagenas de los generosos 6 ilustres 6 no menos famosos Reyes, Priucipes, Duques, Marqueses y Condes et Caballeros, et Personas notables de Espaiia." This very curious work is in the form of dialogues, in which thje author is the chief interlocutor. It contains a very full, and, indeed notice of the principal persons in Spain, then- lineage, revenues, and arms, with an inex- haustible fund of private anecdote. The author, who was well acquainted with most of the individuals of note in his time, amused himself, during his absence in the Xew World, with keeping alive the images of home by this minute record of early reminiscences. In this mass of gossip, there is a good deal, indeed, of very little value. It contains, how- ever, much for the illustration of domestic manners, and copious particulars, as I hava intimated, respecting the characters and habits of eminent personages, which could have been known only to one familiar with them. On all topics of descent and heraldry, he is uncommonly full ; and one would think his services in this department alone might have secured him, in a land where these are so much respected, the honours of the press. Hu book, however, still remain* in manuscript, appatt-^uly tittle known, and less use--;, by (jMtiliiitn scholars. CHAPTEE IV. FACTIOUS IK CASTILE WAR BETWEEN FRANCE AND ARAQON DEATH OF HRJRY IT. 07 CASTILE. 14691474. Factions in Castile- -Ferdinand and Isabella Gallant defence of Pcrpignan ajninst the . Ferdinand raises the siege Isabella's party gains sir . ;i_tii Interview between king Henry IV. and Isabella The French iuvade Roussiilou Ferdinand's summary justice Death of Henry IV. of Castile Influence of his reign. THE marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella disconcerted the operations of the marquis of Villena, or, as he should be styled, the grand master of St. James, since he had resigned his marquisate to his elder son, on Ids appointment to the command of the military order above mentioned, a dignity inferior only to the primacy in importance. It \vas determined, however, in the councils of Henry to oppose at once the pretensions of the princess Joanna to those of Isabella; and an embassy was gladly received from the king of France, offering to the former lady the hand of his brother the duke of Guienne, the rejected suitor of Isabella. Louis the Eleventh was willing to engage his relative in the unsettled politics of a distant state, in order to relieve himself from his pretensions at home. An interview took place between Henry the Fourth and the French ambassadors in a little village in the vale of Lozoya, in October, 1470. A proclamation was read, in which Henry declared his sister to have forfeited whatever claims she had derived from the treaty of Toros de Ouisando, by marrying contrary to his approbation. He then with his queen swore to the legitimacy of the princess Joanna, and announced her as his true and lawful successor. The attendant nobles took the usual oaths of allegiance ; and the ceremony was concluded by affiancing the princess, then in the ninth year of her age, with the formalities ordinarily practised on such occasions, to the count of Boulogne, the representative of the duke of Guienne.* The farce, in which many of the actors were the same persons who performed the principal parts at the convention of Toros de Guisando, had on the whole an unfavourable influence on Isabella's cause. It exhibited her rival to the world as one whose claims were to be sup- ported by the whole authority of the court of Castile, with the probable co-operation of France. Many of the most considerable families in the kingdom, as the Pachecos, f the Mendozas in all their extensive Henry, well knowing how little all this would avail without the constitutional nanction of the cortes, twice issued his summons in 1470, for the convocation of the deputies, .in a recognition of the title of Joanna. But without effect. In the letters of con- vocation issued lor a third assembly of the states, in 1471, this purpose was prudently omitted, and thus the claims of Joanna failed to receive the countenance of the only body which could give them validity. t The grand master of St. James, and his son, the marquis ofVillena, afterwards duka of Esculoua. The rents of the former nobleman, whose avarice was as insatiable as bis influence over the feeble mind oi' Ileiiry IV. was unlimited, exceeded those of any - LOIL.. o 2 84 TROUBLES IX CASTILE AST) ARAG01C. ramifications,* the Zuuigns, the Yelascos,f the Pimentels,} unmindful of the homage so recently rendered to Isabella, now openly testified their adhesion to her niece. Ferdinand and his consort, who held their little court at Duenas, were so poor as to be scarcely capable of defraying the ordinary charp .- of their table. The northern provinces of Biscay and Guipuscoa had, however, loudly declared against the French match; and the populous province of Andalusia, with the house of Medina Sidonia at its head, still maintained its loyalty to Isabella unshaken. But her principal reliance was on the archbishop of Toledo, whose elevated station in. the cnurch and ample revenues gave him perhaps less real influence than his commanding and resolute character, which had enabled him to triumph over every obstacle devised by his more crafty adversary, the grand master of St. James. The prelate, however, with all his generous self- devotion, was far from being a comfortable ally. He would willingly have raised Isabella to the throne, but he would have her indebted for her elevation exclusively to himself. He looked with a jealous eye on her most intimate friends, and complained that neither she nor her husband deferred sufficiently to his counsel. The princess could not always conceal her disgust at these humours ; and Ferdinand, on one occasion plainly told him that " he was not to be put in leading-strings, like so many of the sovereigns of Castile." The old king of Aragon, alarmed at the consequences of a rupture with so indispensable an ally, wrote in the most earnest manner to his son, representing the necessity of propitiating the offended prelate. But Ferdinand, although educated in the school of dissimulation, had not yet acquired that self-command which enabled him in after-life to sacrifice his passions, and sometimes, indeed, his principles, to his interests. The most frightful anarchy at this period prevailed throughout Castile. While the court was abandoned to corrupt or frivolous pleasure, the administration of justice was neglected, until crimes were committed with a frequency and on a scale which menaced the very foundation of society. The nobles conducted their personal feuds with an array of numbers which might compete with those of powerful princes. The duke of Infantado, the head of the house of Mendoza, could bring into the tield at four and twenty hours' notice, one thousand lances and ten thousand foot. The battles, far from assuming the character of those waged by the Italian condottieri at this period, were of the most sanguinary and destructive kind. Andalusia was in particular the theatre of this savage warfare. The whole of that extensive district was divided by the factions of the Guzmans and Ponces de Leon. The * The marquis of Santillaut, first duke of Infantado, and his brothers, the counts of ' ruiia and of Tendilla, and above all Pedro Gonzalez de Mendoza, afterwards cardinal of -;i,iLn and archbishop of Toledo, who was indebted for the highest dignities in the church less to his birth than his abilities. * Alvaro do Zuniga, count of Palencia, and created by Henry IV. duke of Arevalo. Pedro Fernandez de Velasco, count of Haro, was raised to the post of constable of Castlie in 1473, and the office continued to be hereditary hi the family from that period. J The Pimentels, counts of Benavente, had estates which gave them 60,000 ducats a year : a very large income for that period, and far exceeding that of any other grandee of similar rank in the kingdom. This nobleman, Diego Hurtado, was at this time only marquis of Santillana, and wa not raised to the title of duke of Infautado till the reign of Isabella. To avoid confusion, however, I nave givtu him the title by which he is usually recognised by Castilian wviten. DEATH OF HEXET IT. 84 chiefs of these ancient houses having recently died, the inheritance de- scended to young men, whose hot blood soon revived the feuds which had been permitted to cool under the temperate sway of their fathers. One of these fiery cavaliers was llodrigo Ponce de Leon, so deservedly celebrated afterwards in the wars of Granada as the marquis of Cadiz. He was an illegitimate and younger son of the count of Arcos, but was 1 preferred by his father to his other children in consequence of the extra- ordinary qualities which he evinced at a very early period. He served his apprenticeship to the art of war in the campaigns against the Moors, displaying on several occasions an uncommon degree of enterprise and personal heroism. On succeeding to his paternal honours, his haughty spirit, impatient of a rival, led him to revive the old feud with the duke of Medina Sidonia, the head of the Guzmans, who, though the most powerful nobleman in Andalusia, was far his inferior in capacity and military science. On one occasion the duke of Medina Sidonia mustered an army of twenty thousand men against his antagonist ; on another, no less than fifteen hundred houses of the Ponce faction were burnt to the ground in Seville. Such were the potent engines employed by these petty sovereigns in their conflicts with one another, and such the havoc whicn they brought on the fairest portion of the Peninsula. The husbandman, stripped of his harvest and driven from his fields, abandoned himself to idleness, or sought subsistence by plunder. A scarcity ensued in the years 1472 and 1473, in which the prices of the most necessary com- modities rose to such an exorbitant height as put them beyond the reach of any but the affluent. But it would be wearisome to go into all the loathsome details of wretchedness and crime brought on this unhappv country by an imbecile government and a disputed succession, and which, are portrayed with lively fidelity in the chronicles, the letters, and the satires of the time.* While Ferdinand's presence was more than ever necessary to support the drooping spirits of his party in Castile, he was unexpectedly sum- moned into Aragon to the assistance of his father. No sooner had Barcelona submitted to king John, as mentioned in a preceeding chapter, than the inhabitants of Roussillon and Cerdagne, which provinces it will be remembered were placed in the custody of France as a guarantee for the king of Aragon's engagements, oppressed by the grievous exactions of their new rulers, determined to break the yoke, and to put themselves again under the protection of their ancient master, provided they could obtain his support. The opportunity was favourable. A large part of the garrisons in the principal cities had been withdrawn by Louis the Eleventh to cover the frontier on the side of Burgundy and Brittany. John, therefore, gladly embraced the proposal ; and on a concerted day a simultaneous insurrection took place throughout the provinces, when sucb of the French in the principal towns as had not the good fortune to escapo into the citadels, were indiscriminately massacred. Of all the country Salces, Collioure, and the castle of Perpignan alone remained in the * Pulgar adverts to several circumstances which set in a strong light the anarchical tate of the kingdom and the total deficiency of police. The celebrated satirical eclogue, lso, entitled " Mingo Revulgo," exposes, with coarse but cutting sarcasm, the license of the court, the corruption of the clergy, and the prevalent depravity of the people. In on of its sti-azas it boldly ventures to promise another and a better sovereign to the country. 86 TROUBLES rS CASTILE AXD AKAGOX. hands of the French. John then threw himself into the last-named city with a small body of forces, and instantly set about the construction of works to protect the inhabitants against the fire of the French garrison in the castle, as well as from, the army which might soon be expected to besiege them from without. Louis the Eleventh, deeply incensed at the defection of his new sub- jects, ordered the most formidable preparations for the siege of their capital. John's officers, alarmed at these preparations, besought him not to expose his person at his advanced age to the perils of a siege and of captivity. But the lion-hearted monarch saw the necessity of animating the spirits of the besieged by his own presence ; and, assembling: the inhabitants in one of the churches of the city, he exhorted them resolutely to stand to their defence, and made a solemn oath to abide the issue with them to the last. Louis, in the meanwhile, had convoked the ban and arriere-ban of the contiguous French provinces, and mustered an array of chivalry and feudal militia, amounting, according to the Spanish historians, to thirty thousand men. With these ample forces, his lieutenant-general, the duke of Savoy, closely invested Perpignan; and, as he was provided with a numerous train of battering artillery, instantly opened a heavy fire on the inhabitants. John, thus exposed to the double fire of the fortress and besiegers, was in a very critical situation. Far from being disheartened, however, he was seen armed cap-a-pie, on horseback from dawn till evening, rallying the spirits of his troops, and always present at the point of danger. He succeeded perfectly in communicating his own enthusiasm to the soldiers. The French garrison were defeated in several sorties, and their governor taken prisoner ; while supplies were introduced into the city in the very face of the blockading army. Ferdinand, on receiving intelligence of his father's perilous situation, instantly resolved, by Isabella's advice, to march to his relief. Putting himself at the head of a body of Castilian horse, generously furnished him by the archbishop of Toledo and his friends, he passed into Aragon, where he was speedily joined by the principal nobility of the kingdom, and an army amounting in all to thirteen hundred lances, and seven thousand infantry. With this corps he rapidly descended the Pyrenees, by the way of Mancanara, in the face of a driving tempest which con- cealed him for some time from the view of the enemy. The latter, during their protracted operations, for nearly three months, had sustained a serious diminution of numbers in their repeated skirmishes with the besieged, and still more from an epidemic which broke out in their camp. They also began to suffer not a little from want of provisions. At this crisis, the apparition of this new army, thus unexpectedly descending on their rear, filled them with such consternation, that they raised the siege at once, setting fire to their tents, and retreating with such precipitation as to leave most of the sick and wounded a prey to the devouring element. John marched out, with colours flying and music playing, at the head of his little band, to greet his deliverers ; and after an afl'ecting interview in the presence of the two armies, the father and son returned in triumph into Perpignan. The French army, reinforced by command of Louis, made a second ineffectual attempt (their own writers call it only a feint) upon the city ; and the campaign was finally concluded by a treaty between the two DEATH OF HENEY IV. 87 monarch?, in which it was arranged that the king of Aragon should dis- burse within the year the sum originally stipulated for the services rendered him by Louis in his late war with his Catalan subjects ; and that, in case of failure, the provinces of Roussillon and Cerdagne should be permanently ceded to the French crown. The commanders of the fortified places in the contested territory, selected by one monarch from the nominations of the other, were excused during the interim from obedience to the mandates of either, at least, so far as they might contra- vene their reciprocal engagements. (Sept. 1473.) There is little reason to believe that this singular compact was sub~ scribed in good faith by either party. John, notwithstanding the temporary succour which he had received from Louis at the commence- ment of his difficulties with the Catalans, might justly complain of the infraction of his engagements, at a subsequent period of the war ; when he not only withheld the stipulated aid, but indirectly gave every facility in his power to the invasion of the duke of Lorraine. Neither was the king ot Aragon in a situation, had he been disposed, to make the requisite disbursements. Louis, on the other hand, as the event soon proved, had no other object in view but to gain time to reorganise his army, and to lull his adversary into security, while he took effectual measures for recovering the prize which had so unexpectedly eluded him. During these occurrences, Isabella's prospects were daily brightening in Castile. The duke of Guienne, the destined spouse of her rival Joanna, had died in France; but not until he had testified his contempt of his engagements with the Castilian princess by openly soliciting the hand of the heiress of Burgundy.* Subsequent negotiations for her marriage with two other princes had entirely failed. The doubts which hung over her birth, and which the public protestations of Henry and his queen, far from dispelling, served only to augment, by the necessity which they implied for such an extraordinary proceeding, were sufficient to deter any one from a connection which must involve the party in all the disasters of a civil war.f Isabella's own character, moreover, contributed essentially to strengthen her cause. Her sedate conduct, and the decorum maintained in her court, formed a strong contrast with the frivolity and license which dis- graced that of Henry and his consort. Thinking men were led to conclude that the sagacious administration of Isabella must eventually secure to her the ascendany over her rival ; while all who sincerely loved their country could not but prognosticate for it, under h~r beneficent sway, a degree of prosperity which it could never reach under the rapacious and profligate ministers who directed the councils of Henry, and most probably would continue to direct those of his daughter. Among the persons whose opinions experienced a decided revolution from these considerations, was Pedro Gonzales de Mendoza, archbishop of Seville and cardinal of Spain ; a prelate whose lofty station in the * Louis XI. is supposed with much probability to have assassinated his brother. M. de Bavautc sums up his examination of the evidence with this remark. " Le roi Louis XI. lie fit peutdtre pas mourir son frerc, mais persorme no peusa qu'il en fut incapable." t The two prmccs alluded to were the Duke of Segorbc, a cousin of Ferdinand, and the king of Portugal. The former, on his entrance into Castile, assumed such sovereign state (giving his hand, for instance, to the grandees to kiss), as disgusted these haughty nobles, and was eventually the occasion of breaking ofl' his match. 88 TEOTTBLES IIT CASTILE ANT) ARAGON. church was supported by talents of the highest order, asd whose restless ambition led him, like many of the churchmen of the time, to take an active interest in politics, for which he was admirably adapted by his knowledge of aflairs and discernment of character. Without deserting his former master, he privately entered into a correspondence with Isabella ; and a service, which Ferdinand, on his return from Aragon, had an opportunity of rendering the duke of Infantado, the head of the Mendozas,* secured the attachment of the other members of this powerful family ; f A circumstance occurred at this time, which seemed to promise an accommodation between the adverse factions, or at least between Henry and his sister. The government of Segovia, whose impregnable citadel had been made the depositary of the royal treasure, was intrusted to Andres de Cabrera, an officer of the king's household. This cavalier, influenced in part by personal pique to the grand master of St. James, and still more perhaps by the importunities of his wife, Beatrice de Bobadilla, the early friend and companion of Isabella, entered into a correspondence with the princess, and sought to open the way for her permanent reconciliation with her brother. He accordingly invited her to Segovia, where Henry occasionally resided, and, to dispel any suspicions which she might entertain of his sincerity, despatched his wife secretly by night, disguised in the garb of a peasant, to Aranda, where Isabella than held her court. The latter, confirmed by the assurances of her friend, did not hesitate to comply with the invitation, and accompanied by the archbishop of Toledo, proceeded to Segovia where an interview took place between her and Henry the Fourth, in which she vindicated her past conduct, and endeavoured to obtain her brother's sanction to her union with Ferdinand. (Dec. 1473.) Henry, who was naturally of a placable temper, received her communication with complacency, and, in order to give public demonstration of the good understanding now subsisting between him and his sister, conde- scended to walk by her side, holding the bridle of her palfrey, as she rode along the streets of the city. Ferdinand, on his return into Castile, hastened to Segovia, where he was welcomed by the monarch with every appearance of satisfaction. A succession of fetes and splendid entertain- ments, at which both parties assisted, seemed to announce an entire oblivion of all past animosities, and the nation welcomed with satisfaction these symptoms of repose after the vexatious struggle by which it had been so long agitated. The repose, however, was of no great duration. The slavish mind of Henry gradually relapsed under its ancient bondage ; and the grand master of St. James succeeded, in consequence of an illness with which the monarch was suddenly seized after an entertainment given by Cabrera, in infusing into his mind suspicions of an attempt at assassi- nation. Henry was so far incensed or alarmed by the suggestion, that he concerted a scheme for privately seizing the person of his sister, which was defeated by her own. prudence and the vigilance of her * Oviedo assigns another reason for this change ; tho disgust occasioned by Henry IV.'m transferring tho custody of his daughter from the family of Mendoza to the Pachecos. f The influence of these new allies, especially of the cardinal, over Isabella's councils, was f Palencia's. The sentiments exhibit a moral sensibility scarcely to- nave been expected, even from a minister of religion in the corrupt court of Henry IV. ; and the. honest indignation of the writer, at the abuses which he witnessed, sometimes breaks forth iii a strain of considerable eloquence. The spirit of his work, notwithstanding its abundant loyalty, may be also commended for its candour in relation to the partisans of Isabella ; which has led some critics to suppose that it underwent a r(facim*nto after the accession of that princess to the throne. Castillo's Chronicle, more fortunate than that of his rival, has been published in a hand- some form under the care of Don Jose Miguel de Flores, Secretary of the Spanish Academy of History, to whose learned labours in this way Castiliau literature is so much indebted. CHAPTEE V. ACCESSION OF FKRDIKAND AND ISABELLA WAR OF THE SUCCESSION BATTLE OF TO3OV 14741476. Iteorgamsauoii 01 mu .a-riii^ I.KIILIC: 01 4.010 OUOLUISSIOII ui une wuoie tvi.^ Peace with France and Portugal Joanna takes the Veil Death of John II. of Aragon. MOST of the contemporary writers are content to derive Isabella's title to the crown of Castile from the illegitimacy of her rival Joanna. But, as this fact, whatever probability it may receive from the avowed licen- tiousness of the queen, and some other collateral circumstances, was never established by legal evidence, or even made the subject of legal inquiry, it cannot reasonably be adduced as affording in itself a satisfac- tory basis for the pretensions of Isabella.* These are to be derived from the will of the nation as expressed by its representatives in cortes. The power of this body to interpret the laws. * The popular belief of Joanna's illegitimacy was founded on the following circumstances : 1. King Henry's first marriage wich Blanche of Navarre was dissolved, after it ha may hope that the successful assertion of her lawful rights by Isabella II. will put this much vexed question at rest for ever. J See part I. chap. 1IT. Ferdinand's powers are not so narrowly limited, at h-tst not so earefuily defined, in this settlement as iu the marriage articles, "indeed, the instrument is much moru concise and general in its whole import. 96 ACCESSION OF FEBDINAND AITD ISABELLA. and letters patent were to be subscribed with the signatures of both; their images were to be stamped on the public coin, and the united arms of Castile and Aragon emblazoned on a common seal.* Ferdinand, it is said, was so much dissatisfied with an arrangement which vested the essential rights of sovereignty in his consort, that he threatened to return to Aragon ; but Isabella reminded him, that this distribution of power was rather nominal than real ; that their interests were indivisible ; that his will would be hers ; and that the principle of the exclusion of females from the succession, if now established, would operate to the disqualification of their only child, who was a daughter. By these and similar arguments the queen succeeded in soothing her offended husband, without compromising the prerogatives of her crown. Although the principal body of the nobility, as has been stated, supported Isabella's cause, there were a few families, and some of them the most potent in Castile, who seemed determined to abide the fortunes of her rival. Among these was the marquis of Yillcna, who, inferior to his father in talent for intrigue, was of an intrepid spirit, and is com- mended by one of the Spanish historians as " the best lance in the kingdom. His immense estates, stretching from Toledo to Murcia, gave him an extensive influence over the southern regions of New Castile. The duke of Arevalo possessed a similar interest in the frontier province of Estramadura. With these were combined the grand master of Calatrava, and his brother, together with the young marquis of Cadiz, and, as it soon appeared, the archbishop of Toledo. This latter dignitary, whose heart had long swelled with secret jealousy at the rising fortune* of the Cardinal Mendoza, could no longer brook the ascendancy which that prelate's consummate sagacity and insinuating address had given him over the councils of his young sovereigns. After some awkward excuses, he abruptly withdrew to his own estates ; nor could the most conciliatory advances on the part of the queen, nor the deprecatory letters of the old king of Aragon, soften his inflexible temper, or induce him to resume his station at the court ; until it soon became apparent, from his correspondence with Isabella's enemies, that he was busy in undermining the fortunes of the very individual whom he had so zealously laboured to elevate.f Under the auspices of this coalition, propositions were made to Alfouso the Fifth, king of Portugal, to vindicate the title of his niece Joanna to the throne of Castile, and by espousing her, to secure to himself the same rich inheritance. An exaggerated estimate was, at the same time, exhibited of the resources of the confederates, which, when combined with those of Portugal, would readily enable them to crush the usurpers, un- supported as the latter must be by the co-operation of Aragoii, whose arms already found sufficient occupation with the French. * It does not appear that the settlement was e^ver confirmed by, or indeed presented to, the cortes. Marina speaks of it, however, as emanating from that body. From I'ulgar's statement, as well as from the instrument itself, it seems to have been made under no othei auspices or sanction than that of the great nobility and cavaliers. Marina's eagerness to find a precedent for the interference of the popular branch, in all the great concerns of government, has usually quickened, but sometimes clouded, his optics. In the present instance he has undoubtedly confounded the irregular proceedings of the aristocracy exclusively, with the deliberate acts of the legislature. t The archbishop's jealousy of Cardinal Mundoza is uniformly reported by the Spw.ijb Writers a3 the trae cause of his defection from the queen. WAR OF THE SUCCESSIOy. 97 Alfonsc, whose victories over the Barbary Moors had given him the cognomen f "the African," was precisely of a character to be dazzled by the nature of this enterprise. The protection of an injured princess, his near relative, was congenial with the spirit of chivalry ; while the conquest of an opulent territory, adjacent to his own, would not only satisfy his dreams of glory, but the more solid cravings of avarice. In this disposition he was confirmed by his son, prince John, whose hot and enterprising temper found a nobler scope for ambition in such a war, than in the conquest of a horde of African savages. Still there were a few among Alfonso's counsellors possessed of sufficient coolness to discern the difficulties of the undertaking. They reminded him, that the Castilian nobles on whom he principally relied were the very persons who had formerly been most instrumental in defeating the claims of Joanna, and securing the succession to her rival ; that Ferdinand was connected by blood with the most powerful families of Castile ; that the great body of the people, the middle, as well as the lower classes, were fully penetrated, not only with a conviction of the legality of Isabella's title, but with a deep attachment to her person; while, on the other hand, their proverbial hatred of Portugal would make them too impatient of interference from that quarter to admit the pros- pect of permanent success.* These objections, sound as they were, were overruled by John's impetuosity, and the ambition or avarice of his father, war was accordingly resolved on ; and Alfonso, after a vaunting, and, as may be supposed, ineffectual summons to the Castilian sovereigns to resign their crown in favour 01 Joanna, prepared for the immediate invasion of the kingdom at the head of an army, amounting, according to the Portuguese historians, to five thousand six hundred horse and fourteen thousand foot. This force, though numerically not so formidable as might have been expected, comprised the flower of the Portuguese chivalry, burning with the hope of reaping similar laurels to those won of old by their fathers on the plains of Aljubarrotta ; while its deficiency in numbers was to be amply compensated by recruits from the disaffected party in Castile, who would eagerly flock to its banners on its advance across the borders. At the same time negotiations were entered into with the king of France, who was invited to make a descent upon Biscay, by a promise somewhat premature, of a cession of the conquered territory. Early in May, (1475,) the king of Portugal put his army in motion, and, entering Castile by the way ofEstrarnadura, held a northerly course towards Placencia, where he was met by the duke of Arevalo and the marquis of Villena, and by the latter nobleman presented to the princess Joanna, his destined bride. On the 12th of the month he was affianced with all becoming pomp to this lady, then scarcely thirteen years of age ; and a messenger was despatched to the court of Rome, to solicit a dispensation for their marriage, rendered necessary by the consanguinity of the parties. The royal pair were then proclaimed, * The ancient rivalry between the two nations was exasperated into the most deadly rancour by the fatal defeat at Aljubarrotta, iu 1235, in which fell the flower of the Castiliau nobility. King John I. wore mourning, it is said, to the day of his death, in commemora- tion of this disaster. Pulgar, the secretary of Ferdinand and Isabella, addressed, by their order, a letter of remonstrance to the King of Portugal, in which he endeavours by nume- rous arguments founded on expediency and justice, to dissuade him from his meditated enterprise. H 98 ACCESSION OF FEUDIXJLN'D JLN'D ISABELLA. with the usual solemnities, sovereigns of Castile ; and circulars were transmitted to the different cities, setting forth Joanna's title and requiring their allegiance.* After some days given to festivity, the army resumed its march, still in a northerly direction, upon Arevalo, where Alfonso determined to await the arrival of the reinforcements which he expected from his Castilian allies. Had he struck at once into the southern districts of Castile, where most of those friendly to his cause were to be found, and immediately commenced active operations with the aid of the m&rquis of Cadiz, who, it was understood, was prepared to support him in that quarter, it is difficult to say what might have heen the result. Ferdinand and Isabella were so wholly unprepared at the time of Alfonso's invasion, that it is said they could scarcely bring five hundred horse to oppose it. By this opportune delay at Arevalo, they obtained space for preparation. Both of them were indefatigable in their efforts. Isabella, we are told, was frequently engaged through the whole night in dictating despatches to her secretaries. She visited in person such of the garrison towns as required to be confirmed in their allegiance, performing long and painful journeys on horseback with surprising celerity, and enduring fatigues which, as she was at that time in delicate health, wellnigh proved fatal to her constitution, t On an excursion to Toledo, she determined to make one effort more to regain the confidence of her ancient minister, the archbishop. She accordingly sent an envoy to inform him of her intention to wait on him in person at his residence in Alcala de Henares. But as the surly prelate, far from being moved by this condescension, returned for answer, that, " if the queen entered by one door, he would go out at the other," she did not choose to compromise her dignity by any further advances. By Isabella's extraordinary exertions, as well as those of her husband, the latter found himself, in the beginning of July, at the head of a force amounting in all to four thousand men-at-arms, eight thousand light horse, and thirty thousand foot an ill-disciplined militia, chieliy drawn from the mountainous districts of the north, which manifested peculiar devotion to his cause ; his partisans in the south being pre-occupied with suppressing domestic revolt, and with incursions on the frontiers of Portugal. Meanwhile Alfonso, after an unprofitable detention of nearly two months at Arevalo, marched on Toro, which, by a preconcerted agreement, was delivered into his hands by the governor of the city, although the fortress, under the conduct of a woman, continued to maintain a gallant defence. While occupied with its redaction, Alfonso was invited to receive the submission of the adjacent city and castle of Zamora. The defection of these places, two of the most considerable in the province of Leon, and peculiarly important to the king of Portugal from their vicinity to his dominions, was severely felt by Ferdinand, who determined to advance at once against his rival, and bring their quarrel to the issue of a battle ; in this, acting in opposition to the more * Beraaldez states, that Alfonso, previously to his invasion, caused largesses of plate mud money to be distributed among the Castilian nobles, whom he imagined to be well aflected towards him. Some of them, the duke of Alva in particular, received his prescnu and used them in the cause of Isabella. t The queen, who was at that time in a state of pregnancy, brought cs t r.iacarriage by her incessant personal exposure. WAR OF THE SUCCESSION. 99 cautious counsel of his father, who recommended the policy, usually judged most prudent for an invaded country, of acting on the defensive, instead of risking all on the chances of a single action. Ferdinand arrived before Toro on the 19th of July, and immediately drew up his army before its walls in order of battle. As the king of Portugal, however, still kept within his defences, Ferdinand sent a herald into his camp, to defy him to a fair field of fight with his whole army, or, if he declined this, to invite him to decide their differences by personal combat. Alfonso accepted the latter alternative ; but, a dispute arising respecting the guarantee for the performance of the engagements on either side, the whole affair evaporated, as usual, in an empty vaunt of chivalry. The Castilian army, from the haste with which it had been mustered, was wholly deficient in battering artillery and in other means for annoying a fortified city ; and, as its communications were cut off", in consequence of the neighbouring fortresses being in possession of the enemy, it soon became straitened for provisions. It was accordingly decided in a council of war to retreat without further delay. No sooner was this determination known, than it excited general dissatisfaction throughout the earnp. The soldiers loudly complained that the king was betrayed by his nobles ; and a party of over-loyal Biscayans, infiained by the suspicious of a conspiracy against his person, actually broke into the church where Ferdinand was conferring with his officers, and bore him off in their arms from the midst of them to his own tent, notwithstanding his reiterated explanations and remonstrances. The ensuing retreat was conducted in so disorderly a manner by the mutinous soldiery, that Alfonso, says a contemporary, had he but sallied with two thousand horse, might have routed and perhaps annihilated the whole army. Some of the troops were detached to reinforce the garrisons of the loyal cities, but most of them dispersed again among their native mountains. The citadel of Toro soon afterwards capitulated. The archbishop of Toledo, considering these events as decisive of the fortunes of the war, now openly joined the king of Portugal at the head of five hundred lances, boasting, at the same time, that "he had raised Isabella from the distalf, and would soon send her back to it again." So disastrous an introduction to the campaign might indeed well fill Isabella's bosom with anxiety. The revolutionary movements, which had so long agitated Castile, had so far unsettled every man's political principles, and the allegiance of even the most loyal hung so loosely about them, that it was difficult to estimate how far it might be shaken by such a blow occurring at this crisis. Fortunately, Alfonso was in no- condition to profit by his success. His Castilian allies had experienced the greatest difficulty in enlisting their vassals in the Portuguese cause ; and, far from furnishing him with the contingents which he had ex- pected, found sufficient occupation in the defence of their own territories against the loyal partisans of Isabella. At the same time, numerous squadrons of light cavalry from Estramadura and Andalusia, penetrating into Portugal, carried the most terrible desolation over the whole extent of its unprotected borders. The Portuguese knights loudly murmured at being cooped up in Toro, while their own country was made tho theatre of w i r ; and A It'onso saw himself under the necessity of detaching 'D ISABKLLA. entirely to cripple his future operations. So deeply, indeed, was he impressed, by these circumstances, with the difficulty of his enterprise, that, in a negotiation with the Castilian sovereigns at this time, he expressed a willingness to resign his claims to their crown, in con- sideration of the cession of Galicia, together with the cities of Toro and Zamora, and a considerable sum of money. Ferdinand and his ministers, it is reported, would have accepted the proposal ; but Isabella, although acquiescing in the stipulated money payment, would not consent to tiia dismemberment of a single inch of the Castilian territory. In the meantime both the queen and her husband, undismayed by past reverses, were making every exertion for the re-organisation of au army on a more efficient footing. To accomplish this object, an additional supply of funds became necessary, since the treasure of king Henry, delivered into their hands by Andres de Cabrera, at Segovia, had been exhausted by the preceding operations.* The old king of Aragon advised them to imitate their ancestor Henry the Second, of glorious memory, by making liberal grants and alienations in favour of their subjects, which they might, when more firmly seated on the throne, resume at pleasure. Isabella, however, chose rather to trust to the patriotism of her people, than have recourse to so unworthy a stratagem. he accordingly convened an assembly of the states, in the month of August, (1475,) at Medina del Campo. As the nation had been too far impoverished under the late reign to admit of fresh exactions, a most extraordinary expedient was devised for meeting the stipulated requi- sitions. It was proposed to deliver into the royal treasury ha;: amount of plate belonging to the churches throughout the kingdom, to be redeemed in the term of three years, for the sum of thirty cuentos, or millions, of maravedis. The clergy, who were very generally attached to Isabella's interest, far from discouraging this startling proposal, en- deavoured to vanquish the queen's repugnance to it, by arguments and pertinent illustrations drawn from Scripture. This transaction certainly exhibits a degree of disinterestedness, on the part of this body, most unusual in that age and country, as well as a generous confidence in the good faith of Isabella, of which she proved herself worthy by the punctuality with which she redeemed it. \ Thus provided with the necessary funds, the sovereigns set about enforcing new levies and bringing them under better discipline, as well as providing for their equipment in a manner more suitable to the exigencies of the service, than was done for the preceding army. The remainder of the summer and the ensuing autumn were consumed in these preparatioLs, as well as in placing their fortified towns in a proper posture of defence, and in the reduction of such places as held out against them. The king of Portugal, all this while, lay with his dimi- nished forces in Toro, making a sally on one occasion only, for the relief of his friends, which was frustrated by the sleepless vigilance of Isabella. The royal coffers were found to contain about 10,000 marks of silver. Isabella presented Cabrera with a golden goblet from her table, engaging that a similar ; should be regularly made to him and his successors on the anniversary of his surrender of church's money, which he avers "no necessity whatever could justiiy. This worthy canon flourished in the 17th century. OF THE SUCCESSION. [01 Early in December, Ferdinand passed from the siege of Burgos, in old Castile, to Zamora, Avhose inhabitants expressed a desire to retnrn to their ancient allegiance ; and, with the co-operation of the citizens, supported by a large detachment from his main army, he prepared to invest its citadel. As the possession of this post would effectually intercept Alfonso's communications with his own country, he determined to relieve it at every hazard ; and for this purpose despatched a messi . into Portugal, requiring his son, prince John, to reinforce him with such levies as he could speedily raise. All parties now looked forward with eagerness to a general battle, as to a termination of the evils of this long-protracted war. The Portuguese prince, having with difficulty assembled a corps amounting to two thousand lances and eight thousand infantry, took a northerly circuit round Galicia, and effected a junction with his father in Toro, on the 14th of February, 1476. Alfonso, thus reinforced, transmitted a pompous circular to the pope, the king of France, his own dominions, and those well affected to him in Castile, proclaiming his immediate intention of taking the usurper, or of driving him from the kingdom. On the night of the 17th, having first provided for the security of the city, by leaving in it a powerful reserve, Alfonso drew off the residue of his army, probably not much exceeding three thousand five hundred horse and five thousand foot, well provided with artillery and with arquebuses, which latter engine was still of so clumsy and unwieldy construction as not to have entirely superseded the ancient weapons of European warfare. The Portuguese army, traversing the bridge of Toro, pursued their march along the southern side of the Douro, and reached Zamora, distant only a few leagues, before the dawn.* At break of day, the Castilians were surprised by the array of floating banners, and martial panoply glittering in the sun from the opposite side of the river, while the discharges of artillery still more unequivocally announced the presence of the enemy. Ferdinand could scarcely believe that the Portuguese monarch, whose avowed object had been the relief of the castle of Zamora, should have selected a position so obviously unsuitable for this purpose. The intervention of the river between him and the fortress situated at the northern extremity of the town, pre- vented him from relieving it, either by throwing succours into it, or by a n IK iving the Castilian troops, who, intrenched in comparative security within the walls and houses of the city, were enabled by means of certain elevated positions, well garnished with artillery, to inflict much heavier injury on their opponents than they could possibly receive from them. Still Ferdinand's men, exposed to the double fire of the fortress and the besiegers, would willingly have come to an engagement with the hitter; but the river, swollen by winter torrents, was not fordable ; and ridge, the only direct avenue to the city, was enfiladed by the vueiuy's cannon, so as to render a sally in that direction altogether impracticable. During this time Isabella's squadrons of light cavalry, hovering on the skirts of the Portuguese camp, effectually cut off its supplies, and soon. reduced it to great straits for subsistence. This circumstance, together with the tidings of the rapid advance of Several of the contemporary Castilian historians compute the Portuguese army *t double the amount ipven in the text 102 A.CC::?SIOX OF FERDTNASD ANO ISABELLA. additional forces to the support of Ferdinand, determined Alfonso, contrary to all expectation, on an imn-i-Jiate retreat ; and accordingly on the morning of the 1st of March, being little less than a fortnight from the time in -which he commenc d this empty gasconade, tin Portuguese army quitted its position before Zamora, with the same silence and celerity with which it had occupied it. Ferdinand's troops would instantly have pushed after the fugitives, but the latter had demolished the southern extremity of the bridge before their departure, so that although some few effected an immediate passage in boats, the great body of the army was necessarily detained until the repairs were completed, which occupied more than three hours. With all the expedition they could use, therefore, and leaving their artillery behind them, they did not succeed in coming up with the enemy until nearly four o clock in the afternoon, ::s the latter was defiling through a narrow pass formed by a crest of precipitous hills on the one side, and the Douro on the other, at the distance of about five miles from the city of Toro. A council of war was then called to decide on the expediency of an immediate assault. It was objected that the strong position of Toro would effectually cover the retreat of the Portuguese in case of their discomfiture ; that they would speedily be reinforced by fresh recruits from that city, which would make them more than a match for Ferdinand's army, exhausted by a toilsome march, as well as by its long fast, which it had not broken since the morning ; and that the celerity with which it had moved had compelled it, not only to abandon its artillery, but to leave a considerable portion of the heavy-armed infantry in the rear. Notwithstanding the weight of these objections, such were the high spirit of the troops and their eagerness to come to action, sharpened by the view of the quarry, which after a wearisome chase seemed ready to fall into their hands, that they were thought more than sufficient to counterbalance every physical disadvantage, and the question of battle was decided in the affirmative. As the Castilian army emerged from the defile into a wide and open plain, they found that the enemy had halted and was already forming in order of battle. The king of Portugal led the centre, with the archbishop of Toledo on the right wing, its extremity resting on the Douro ; while the left, comprehending the arquebusiers and the strength of the cavalry, was placed under the command of his son, prince John. The numerical force of the two armies, although in favour of the Portuguese, was nearly equal, amounting probably in each to less than ten thousand men, about one-third being cavalry. Ferdinand took his station in the centre, opposite his rival, having the admiral and the duke of Alva on his left ; while his right wing, distributed into six battles or divisions, under their several commanders, was supported by a detachment of men-at-arms from the provinces of Leon and Galicia. Trie action commenced in this quarter. The Castilians, raising the war-cry of " St. James and St. Lazarus," advanced on the enemy's left under prince John, but were saluted with such a brisk and well-directed fire from his arquebusiers, that their ranks were disconcerted. The Portuguese men-at-arms charging them at the same time, augmented their confusion, and compelled them to fall back precipitately on the Harrow pass in their rear, where, being supported by some fresh detach- WAR OF THE SUCCESSION* 1 D. r i ments from the reserve, they were with difficulty rallied by their c.: ' and again brought into the field. In the meanwhile, Ferdinand closed with the enemy's centre, and the action soon became general along the whole line. The battle raged with redoubled fierceness in the quarter where the presence of the two monarchs infused new ardour into their soldiers, who fought as if conscious that this struggle was to decide the fate of their masters. The lances were slavered at the first encounter, and, as the ranks of the two armies mingled with each other, the men fought hand to hand with their swords, with a fury sharpened by the ancient rivalry of the two nations, making the whole a contest of physical strength rather than skill. The royal standard of Portugal was torn to shreds in the attempt to seize it on the one side and to preserve it on the other ; while its gallant r, Kdward de Almeyda, after losing first his right arm, and then his left, in its defence, held' it firmly with his teeth until he was cut down by the assailants. The armour of this knight was to be seL'ii as late as Mariana's time in the cathedral church of Toledo, where it was preserved as a trophy of this desperate act of heroism, which brings to mind a similar feat recorded in Grecian story. The old archbishop of Toledo and the cardinal Mendoza, who, like his jvv,-ivnd rival, had exchanged the crosier for the corslet, were to be seen on that day in the thickest of the meUc. The holy wars with the infidels perpetuated the unbecoming spectacle of military ecclesiastics among the Spaniards to a still later period, and long after it had disappeared from the rest of civilised Europe. At length, after an obstinate struggle of more than three hours, the valour of the Castilian troops prevailed, and the Portuguese were seen to give way in all directions. The duke of Alva, by succeeding in turning their ila'uk, while they were thus vigorously pressed in front, completed their disorder, and soon converted their retreat into a rout. Some, .attempting to cross the Douro, were drowned : and many, who endea- voured to effect an entrance into Toro, were entangled in the narrow defile of the bridge, and fell by the sword of their pursuers, or miserably perished in the river, which, bearing along their mutilated corpses, brought tidings of the fatal victory to Xamora. Such were the heat and fury of the pursuit, that the intervening night, rendered darker than usual by a driving rain-storm, alone saved the scattered remains of the arrnv from destruction. Several Portuguese companies, Tinder favour of tins' obscurity, contrived to elude their foes by shouting the Castilian battle -cry. Prince John, retiring with a fragment of his broken squad- rons to "a neighbouring eminence, succeeded, by lighting fires and sounding his trumpets, in rallying round him a number of fugitives ; and, as the position he occupied was too strong to be readily forced, and the Castilian troops were too weary and well satisfied with their victory to attempt it, he retained possession of it till morning, when he made good his retreat into Toro. The king of Portugal, who was missing, \vas supposed to have perished in the battle, until, by advices received from him late on the following day, it was ascertained that he had escaped without personal injury, and with three or four attendants only, to the fortified castle of Caatro-Nuflo, some leagues distant from the field of action. Numbers of his troops, attempting to escape across the neigh- bouring frontiers into their own country, were maimed or massacred by 1U1 ACCESSION OF FERDINAND AXD ISABELLA. the Spanish peasants, in retaliation of the excesses -wantonly committed by them in their invasion of Castile. Ferdinand, shocked at this bar- barity, issued orders for the protection of their persons, and freely gave safe-conducts to such as desired to return into Portugal. He even, with a degree of humanity more honourable, as well as more rare, than military success, distributed clothes and money to several prisoners brought into Zamora in a state of utter destitution, and enabled them to return in safety to their own country.* The Castilian monarch remained on the field of battle till after mid- night, when he returned to Zamora, being followed in the morning by the cardinal of Spain and the admiral Henriquez, at the head of the victorious legions. Eight standards, with the greater part of the bag- gage, were taken in the engagement, and more than two thousand of the enemy slain or made prisoners. Queen Isabella, on receiving tidings of the event at Tordesillas, where she then was, ordered a procession to the church of St. Paul in the siiburbs, in which she herself joined, walking barefoot with all humility, and offered up a devout thanks- giving to the God of battles for the victory with which he had crowned her arms.t It was indeed a most auspicious victory, not so much from the imme- diate loss inflicted on the enemy, as from its moral influence on the Castilian nation. Such as had before vacillated in their faith, who, in the expressive language of Bernaldez, " estaban aviva quien vence," who were prepared to take sides with the strongest, now openly pro- claimed their allegiance to Ferdinand and Isabella ; while most 01 those who had been arrayed in arms, or had manifested by any other overt act their hostility to the government, vied with each other in demon- strations of the most loyal submission, and sought to make the best terms for themselves which they could. Among the latter, the duke of Art-vale , who indeed had made overtures to this eflect some time previous tlirough the agency of his son, together with the grand master of Calatrava, and the count of Uruena, his brother, experienced the lenity of government, and were continued in the entire possession of their estates. The two- principal delinquents, the marquis of Tillena and the archbishop of Toledo, made a show of resistance for some time longer; but, after witnessing the demolition of their castles, the capture of their towns, th& desertion of their vassals, and the sequestration of their revenues, were fain to purchase a pardon at the price of the most humble concessions, and the forfeiture of an ample portion of domain. The castle of Zamora, expecting no further succours from Portugal, speedily surrendered, and this event was soon followed by the reduction of Madrid, Baeza, Toro, and other principal cities : so that in little more than six months from the date of the battle, the whole kingdom, with the exception of a few insignificant posts still garrisoned by the enemy, had acknowledged the supremacy of Ferdinand and Isabella. WAR OF THE SUCCL'SSIOX. 106 Soon after the victory of Toro, Ferdinand was enabled to concentrate a force amounting to fifty thousand men, for the purpose of' repelling the French from Guipuscua, from which they had already twice been driven by the intrepid netives, and whence they again retired with precipitation on receiving news of the king's approach. Alfonso, finding his authority in Castile thus rapidly melting away before the rising influence of Ferdinand and Isabella, withdrew with his virgin bride into Portugal, where he formed the resolution of visiting- France in person, and soliciting succour from his ancient ally, Louis the Eleventh. In spite of every remonstrance, he put this extraordinary scheme into execution. He reached France, with a retinue of two hundred followers, in the month of September. He experienced every- where the honours due to his exalted rank, and to the signal mark of confidence which he thus exhibited towards the French king. The keys. of the cities were delivered into his hands, the prisoners were released from their dungeons, and his progress was attended by a general jubilee. His brother monarch, however, excused himself from aflbrding more substantial proofs of his regard, until he should have closed the war then pending between him and Burgundy, and until Alfonso should have fortified his title to the Castilian crown by obtaining from the pope a dispensation for his marriage with Joanna. The defeat and death of the duke of Burgundy, whose camp, before Ifanci, Alfonso visited in the depth of winter, with the chimerical purpose of effecting a reconciliation between him and Louis, removed the former of these impediments ; as, in good time, the compliance of the pope did the latter. But the king of Portugal found himself no nearer the object of his negotiations ; and, after waiting a whole year a needy suppliant at the court of Louis, he at length ascertained that his insidious host was concerting an arrangement with his mortal foes, Ferdinand and Isabella. Alfonso, whose character always had a spice of Quixotism in it, seems to have completely lost his wits at this last reverse of fortune. Over- whelmed with shame at his own credulity, he felt himself unable to encounter the ridicule which awaited his return to Portugal, and secretly withdrew, with two or three domestics only, to an obscure village in. Normandy ; whence he transmitted an epistle to Prince John, his son, declaring, "that, as all earthly vanities were dead within his bosom, he resolved to lay up an imperishable crown by performing a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and devoting himself to the service of God ia some retired monastery;" and he concluded with requesting his son "to assume the sovereignty at once in the same manner as if he had heard of his father's death." Fortunately Alfonso's retreat was detected before he had time to put his extravagant project into execution, and his trusty followers succeeded, though with considerable difficulty, in diverting him from it ; while the king of France, willing to be rid of his importunate guest, and unwilling perhaps to incur the odium of having driven him to so desperate an extremity as that of his projected pilgrimage, provided a fleet of ships to transport him back to his own dominions, where, to complete the farce, he arrived just five days after the ceremony of his son's coronation as King of Portugal (Xuv! 15, 1478). Xor was' it destined that the luckless monarch should solace himself, as he had hoped, in the arms of his yout'iful bride; since the pliant pontiff', Sixius the Fourth, was ultimately 108 ACCESSION OP FEKDI^AND AtfD ISABELLA. persuaded "by the ccrart of Castile to issue a new bull overruling the dispensation formerly conceded, on the ground that it had been obtained by a misrepresentation of facts. Prince John, whether infiucnced by filial piety or prudence, resigned the crown of Portugal to his father soon after his return ; * and the old monarch was no sooner reinstated in his authority, than, burning with a thirst for vengeance, which made him insensible to every remonstrance, he again prepared to throw his country into combustion by reviving his enterprise against Castile. While these hostile movements were in progress, (1478,) Ferdinand, leaving his consort in possession of a sufficient force for the protection of the frontiers, made a journey into Biscay for the purpose of an interview with his father, the king of Aragon, to concert measures for the pacifica- tion of Navarre, which still continued to be rent with those sanguinary feuds that were bequeathed like a precious legacy from one generation to another, f In the autumn of the same year a treaty of ]>eace was definitively adjusted between the plenipotentiaries of Castile ani( France, at St. Jean de Luz, in which it was stipulated, as a principal article, that Louis the Eleventh should disconnect himself from his alliance with Portugal and give no further support to the pretensions of Joanna. Thus released from apprehension in this quarter, the sovereigns were enabled to give their undivided attention to the defence of the western borders. Isabella, accordingly, early in the ensuing winter, passed into Estramadura for the purpose of repelling the Portuguese, and still more of suppressing the insurrectionary movements of certain of her own subjects, who, encouraged by the vicinity of Portugal, carried on from their private fortresses a most desolating and predatory warfare over the circumjacent territory. Private mansions and farm-houses were pillaged and burnt to the ground, the cattle and crops swept away in their forays, the highways beset, so that all travelling was at an end, all communication cut off, and a rich and populous district converted at once into a desert. Isabella, supported by a body of regular troops and a detachment of the Holy Brotherhood, took her station at Truxillo, as a central position, whence she might operate on the various points with the greatest facility. Her counsellors remonstrated against this exposure of her person in the very heart of the disaffected country ; but she replied that "it was not for her to calculate perils or fatigues in her own cause, nor by an unseasonable timidity to dishearten her friends, with whom she was now resolved to remain until she had brought the war to * According to Faria y Sousa, John was walking along the shores of the Tagus, with the Duke of Bragauza, and the cardinal archbishop of Lisbon, when he received the unexpected tidings of his father's return to Portugal. On his inquiring of his attendants how lie should receive him, "How but as your king and father?" was the reply; at which John, knitting his brows together, skimmed a stone which he held in his hand, with much violence across the water. The cardinal, observing this, whispered to the duke of Braganza, " I will take good care that that stone docs not rebound on me." Soon after, he left Portugal for Rome, where he fixed his residence. The duke lost hi life on the scaffold for imputed treason, soon after John's accession. t Tni was the first meeting between father and son since the elevation of the latter to the Castiliau throne. King John would not allow Ferdinand to kiss his hand ; he chose to walk on his left ; he attended him to his quarters, and, in short, during the whole twenty days of their conference, manifested towards his son all the deference which, as a parent, ho was entitled to receive from him. This he did on the ground that Ferdinand, as kincr of Castile, represented the elder branch of Trastamara, while he represented only the younger. It will not be easy to meet with an instance of more punctilious etiquette ven in Spanish history. WAE OF THE SUCCESSION. 107 a conclusion." She then gave immediate orders for Isyicg dege et the same time to the fortified towns of Medellin, Merida, and Deleyto&a. At this juncture the infanta Dona Beatriz of Portugal, sistei -in-law of king Alfonso, and maternal aunt of Isabella, touched with grief at the calamities in which she saw her country involved by the chimerical ambition of her brother, offered herself as the meditator of peace between the belligerent nations. Agreeably to her proposal, an interview took place between her and queen Isabella at the frontier town of Alcantara. As the conferences of the fair negotiators experienced none of the embarrasments usually incident to such deliberations, growing out of jealousy, distrust, and a mutual design to overreach, but were conducted in perfect good faith, and a sincere desire, on both sides, of ( stnblishing a cordial reconciliation, they resulted, after eight days' dis- cussion, in a treaty of peace, with which the Portuguese infanta returned into her own country, in order to obtain the sanction of her royal brother. The articles contained in it, however, were too un- palatable to receive an immediate assent ; and it was not until the expiration of six months, during which Isabella, far from relaxing, persevered with increased energy in her original plan of operations, that the treaty was formally ratified by the court of Lisbon. (Sept. 24, 1479.) It was stipulated in this compact, that Alfonso should relinquish the title and armorial bearings ^viiich he had assumed as king of Castile ; that he should resign his claims to the hand of Joanna, and no longer maintain her pretensions to the Castilian throne ; that that lady should make the election within six months, either to quit Portugal for ever, or to remain there on the condition of wedding Don John, the infant son of Ferdinand and Isabella, so soon as he should attain a marriageable age, or to retire into a convent, and take the veil ; that a general amnesty should be granted to all such Castilians as had, supported Joanna's cause ; and, finally, that the concord between the two nations should be cemented by the union of Alonso, son of the prince of Portugal, with the infanta Isabella, of Castile. Thus terminated, after a duration of four years and a half, the "War of the Succession. It had fallen with peculiar fury on the border provinces of Leon and Estramadura, which, from their local position, had necessarily been kept in constant collision with the enemy. Its baneful effects were long visible there, not only in the general" devas- tation and distress of the country, but in the moral disorganisation which the licentious and predatory habits of soldiers necessarily intro- duced among a simple peasantry. In a personal view, however, the war had terminated most triumphantly for Isabella, whose wise and vigorous administration, seconded by her "husband's vigilance, had dispelled the storm which threatened to overwhelm her from abroad, and established her in undisturbed possession of the throne of her ancestors. Joanna's interests were alone compromised, or rather sacrificed by the treaty. She readily discerned in the provision for her marriage with an infant still in the cradle, only a flimsy veil intended to disguise the king of Portugal's desertion of her cause. Disgusted with a world in which she had hitherto experienced nothing but misfortune herself, and been the innocent cause of so much to others, she determined to renounce it for ever, and seek a shelter in the peaceful shades of the cloister. She accordingly entered the convent of Santa Clara at Coimbra, where 108 ACCESSION OF FKR1U.VAM) AXD ISABELLA. in the following year, she pronounced the irrevocable vows which divorce the unhappy subject of them for ever from her species. Two envoys from Castile, Ferdinand de Talavera, Isabella's confessor, and Dr. Diaz de Madrigal, one of her council, assisted at this affecting ceremony : and the reverend father, in a copious exhortation addressed to the youthful novice, assured her " that she had chosen the better part approved in the Evangelists ; that, as spouse of the church, her chastity would be prolific of all spiritual delights ; her subjection, liberty, the only true liberty, partaking more of Heaven than of earth. No kinsman," continued the disinterested preacher, "no true friend or faithful counsellor, would divert you from so holy a purpose." * Not long after this event, king Alfonso, penetrated with grief at the loss of his destined bride, the "excellent lady," as the Portuguese continued to call her, resolved to imitate her example, and exchange his royal robes for the humble habit of a Franciscan friar. He conse- quently made preparations for resigning his crown anew, and retiring to the monastery of Varatojo, on a bleak eminence near the Atlantic ocean, when he suddenly fell ill, at Cintra, of a disorder which terminated his existence on the 28th of August, 1481. Alfonso's fiery character, in which all the elements of love, chivalry, and religion were blended together, resembled that of some paladin of romance : as the chimerical enterprises, in which he was perpetually engaged, seem rather to belong to the age of knight-errantry than to the fifteenth century. In the beginning of the same year in which the pacification with Portugal secured to the sovereigns the undisputed possession of Castile, another crown devolved on Ferdinand by the death of his father, the king of Aragon, who expired at Barcelona, on the 20th of January, 1479, in the eighty-third year of his age. Such was his admirable constitution, that he retained not only his intellectual, but his bodily vigour unimpaired to the last. His long life was consumed in civil faction or foreign wars ; and his restless spirit seemed to tnlca delight in these tumultuous scenes, as best fitted to develope its various energies. He combined, however, with this intrepid and even ferocious temper, an address in the management of affairs, which led him to rely, for the accomplishment of his purposes, much more on negotiation than on positive force. He may be said to have been one of the first monarch s who brought into vogue that refined science of the cabinet, which was BO profoundly studied by statesmen at the close of the fifteenth century, and on which his own son Ferdinand furnished the most practical commentary. The crown of Navarre, which he, had so shamelessly usurped, devolved, * L. Marineo speaks of the Seiiora muy excelente as an inmate of the cloister at the period In xvhich he was writing, 1522. Notwithstanding her "irrevocable vows," however, Joanna several times quitted the monastery, and maintained a royal state under the protection of the Portuguese monarchs, who occasionally threatened to revive her dormant claims to the prejudice of the Castilian sovereigns. She may be said, consequently, to have formed the pivot on which turned, during her whole life, the diplomatic relations oetween the courts of Castile and Portugal, and to have been a principal cause of those frequent intermarriages between the royal families of the two countries, by which Ferdi- nand and Isabella hoped to detach the Portuguese crown from her interests. Joanna affected a royal style and magnificence, and subscribed herself, "I, the Queen," to the last. She died in the palace at Lisbon, in 1530, in the 69th year of her age, buying survived most of her ancient friends, suitors, and competitors. -Joanna's history, subsequent to her taking the veil, has been collected, with his usual precision, by Sefior Clemeuciu. ADMINISTRATION OF CASTILE. 109 on his decease, on his guilty daughter Leonora, countess of Foix, who, as we have before noticed, survived to enjoy it only three short weeks. Aragon, with its extensive dependencies, descended to Ferdinand. Thus the two crowns of Aragon and Castile, after a separation of more than four centuries, became indissolubly united, and the foundations were laid of the magnificent empire which was destined to overshadow every other European monarchy. CHAPTER VI. DTTERNAI. ADMINISTRATION OF CASTIL8, 14751482. Schemes of Koform Holy Brotherhood Tumult at Segovia The Queen's Presence of mind Severe execution of Justice Royal Progress through Andalusia Reorganisa- tion of the Tribunals Castilian Jurisprudence Plans for reducing the Nobles Revocation of Grants Military Orders of Castile Masterships annexed to the Crown Ecclesiastical Usurpations resisted Restoration of Trade Prosperity of the Kingdom. I HAVE deferred to the present chapter a consideration of the important changes introduced into the interior administration of Castile after the accession of Isabella, in order to present a connected and comprehensive view of them to the reader, without interrupting the progress of the military narrative. The subject may afford an agreeable relief to the dreary details of blood and battle with which we have been so long occupied, and which were rapidly converting the garden of Europe into a wilderness. Such details indeed seem to have the deepest interest for contemporary writers ; but the eye of posterity, unclouded .by personal interest or passion, turns with satisfaction from them to tliosy cultivated arts which can make the wilderness to blossom as the rose. If there be any being on earth that may be permitted to remind us of the Deity himself, it is the ruler of a mighty empire who employs the high powers intrusted to him exclusively for the benefit of his people ; who, endowed with intellectual gifts corresponding with his station, in an age of comparative barbarism, endeavours to impart to his land the light of civilisation which illumines his own bosom, and to create from the elements of discord the beautiful fabric of social order. Such was Isabella; and such the age in which she lived. And fortunate was it for Spain that her sceptre, at this crisis, was swayed by a sovereign possessed of sufficient wisdom to devise, and energy to execute, the most salutary schemes of reform, and thus to infuse a new principle of vitality into a government fast sinking into premature decrepitude. The whole plan of reform introduced into the government by Ferdinand and Isabella, or more properly by the latter, to whom the internal administration of Castile was principally referred, was not fully unfolded until the completion of her reign. But the most important modifications were adopted previously to the war of Granada in 1482. These may be embraced under the following heads. I. The efficient adnuaistr&tioa al IIC) ADJIIIflSTHATrOX OP CASTILE. jas'dce. II. Tha codification of the laws. III. The depression of tin nobles. IV. The vindication of ecclesiastical rights belonging to the crown from the usurpation, of the papal see. V. The regulation of trad.3. VI. T is prs-eniinsnce of royal authority. I. The administration of j ustiee. In the dismal anarchy which prevailed in Hanry the Fourth's reign, the authority of the monarch and of ths royal judges had fallan into such contempt that the law was entirsly without force. The cities afforded no better protection than the open country. Every man's hand seemed to be lifted against his neighbour. Property was plundered ; persons were violated ; the most holy sanctuaries profaned; and the numerous fortresses scattered throughout tha country, instead of sheltering the weak, converted into dsns of robbers.* Isabella saw no better way of checking this unbounded licence, than to direct against it that popular engine, the Santa Her- manJad, or Holy Brotherhood, which had more than once shaken the CastiLian monarshs on their throne. The project for the reorganisation of this institution was introduce, into tha cortes held, the year after Isabella's accession, at Madrigal; in 1476. It was carried into effect by the junta of deputies from the different cities of the kingdom, convened at Duenas in the same year. The nsw institution differed essentially from the ancient herman- dades, since, instead of being partial in its extent, it was designed to embrace the whole kingdom ; and instead of being directed, as had often been ths case, against the crown itself, it was set in motion at the 8ag38tk>n of the latter, and limited in its operation to the maintenance of public order. The crimes reserved for its jurisdiction were all violence or theft committed on the highways or in the open country, aud ia. cities by such offenders as escaped into the country ; house- breaking ; rape ; and resistance of justice. The specification of these rrimss shows their frequency ; and the reasons for designating the open country as the particular theatre for the operations of the hermandad, was the facility which criminals possessed there for eluding the pursuit of justice, especially under shelter of the strongholds or fortresses with which it was plentifully studded. An annual contribution of eighteen thousand maravedis was assessed on every hundred vecinos or householders, for the equipment and main- tenance of a horseman, whose duty it was to arrest offenders, and enforce the sentence of the law. On the flight of a criminal, the tocsins of the villages through which he was supposed to have passed were sounded ; and the quadriUen.* or officers of the brotherhood, stationed on the (iiilVrent poisl.-, ivott up the pursuit with such promptness as left little chance of escape. A court of two alcaldes was established in every town containing thirty families, for the trial of all crimes within the jurisdic- tion of the hcrmandad ; and an appeal lay from them in specified cases to a supreme council. A general junta, composed of deputies from the aties throughout the kingdom, was annually convened for the regulation of affairs ; and their instructions were transmitted to provincial juntas, * Among other examples, Pulgar mentions that of the alcayde of Castro-Nuiio, Pedro de IMsii'lana, who, from the strongholds in his possession, committed such grievous devastations throughout the country, that the cities of Burgos, Avila, Salamanca, Segovia, Yallailolid, Medina, and others in that quarter, were fain to pay him a tribute, (black mail,) to protect their territories from his rapacity. His successful example was imitated by many other knightly freebooters of the period. ADMIXISTEATKCS OF CASTILE. Ill who superintended the execution of them. The laws, enacted at differ3nS times in these assemblies, were compiled into a code under the saactioa of the junta general at Tordelaguna, in 1485. The penalties for theft, which are literally written in hlood, are specified in this code with singular precision. The most petty larceny was punished with stripes, the loss of a member, or of life itself ; and the law was administered with an unsparing rigour, which nothing but the extreme necessity of the case could justify. Capital executions were conducted by shooting' the criminal with arrows. The enactment relating to this provides that " the convict shall receive the sacrament like a Catholic Christian, and. after that be executed as speedily as possible, in order that bis soul may pass the more securely." Notwithstanding the popular constitution of the hermandad, and the obvious advantages attending its introduction at this juncture, it expe- rienced so decided an opposition from the nobility, who discerned the check it was likely to impose on their authority, that it required all the quoen's address and perseverance to effect its general adoption. The constable de Haro, however, a nobleman of great weight from his personal character, and the most extensive landed proprietor in the north, was at length prevailed on to introduce it among his vassals. His example was gradually followed by others of the same rank ; and whea the city of Seville, and the great lords of Andalusia, had consented to receive it, it speedily became established throughout the kingdom. Thus a >t: r.iding body of troops, two thousand in number, thoroughly equipped and mounted, was placed at the disposal of the crown, to enforce the law, and suppress domestic insurrection. The supreme junta, which regulated the councils of the hermaudad, constituted moreover a sort of inferior cortes, relieving the exigencies of government, as we shall see hereafter, on more than one occasion, by important supplies of men and money. By the activity of this new military police, the country was, in the course of a few years, cleared of its swarms of banditti, as well as of the robber chieftains, whose strength had enabled them to defy the law. The ministers of justice found a sure protection in the independent discharge of their duties ; aud the blessings of personal security and social order, so long estranged from the nation, were again restored to it. The important benefits resulting from the institution of the her- mandad, secured its confirmation by successive cortes, for the period of twenty -two years, in spite of the repeated opposition of the aristocracy. At length, in 1498, the objects for which it was established having been completely obtained, it was deemed advisable to relieve the nation from the heavy charges which its maintenance imposed. The great salaried officers were dismissed ; a few subordinate functionaries were retained i'or the administration of justice, over whom the regular courts of criminal law possessed appellate jurisdiction ; and the magnificent apparatus of the Santa Hermandad, stripped of all but the terrors of its name, dwindled into an ordinary police, such as it has existed, with various modifications of form, down to the present century. Isabella was so intent on the prosecution of her schemes of reform, that, even in the minuter details, she frequently superintended the execution of them herself. For this she was admirably fitted by her persoual address, and presence of mind 'in danger ; and by the inlluecce 112 ADMINISTRATION OF CASTILE. \vhich a conviction of her integrity gave her over the minds of tha people. A remarkable exemplification of this occurred, the year but one after her coronation, at Segovia. The inhabitants, secretly instigated by the bishop of that place, and some of the principal citizens, rose against Cabrera, marquis of Moya, to whom the government of the city had been, intrusted, and who had made himself generally unpopular by his strict discipline. They even proceeded so far as to obtain possession of the outworks of the citadel, and to compel the deputy of the alcayde, who was hinisetf absent, to take shelter, together with the princess Isabella, then the only daughter of the sovereigns, in the interior defences, where they were rigorously blockaded. The queen, on receiving tidings of the event at Tordesillas, mounted her horse, and proceeded with all possible despatch towards Segovia, attended by cardinal Mendoza, the count of Benavente, and a few others of her court. At some distance from the city she was met by a deputa- tion of the inhabitants, requesting her to leave behind the count of Benavente and the marchioness of Moya (the former of whom as the intimate friend, and the latter as the wife of the alcayde, were peculiarly obnoxious to the citizens), or they could not answer for the consequences". Isabella haughtily replied, that " she was queen of Castile ; that the city was hers, moreover, by right of inheritance ; and that she was not usecl to receive conditions from rebellious subjects." Then pressing forward with her little retinue through one of the gates, which remained in the hands of her friends, she effected her entrance into the citadel. The populace, in the meanwhile, assembling in greater numbers than before, continued to show the most hostile dispositions, calling out, " Death to the alcayde ! Attack the castle ! " Isabella's attendants, terrified at the tumult, and at the preparations which the peoplo were making to put their menaces into execution, besought their mistress to cause the gates to be secured more strongly, as the only mode of defence against the infuriated mob. But, instead of listening to their counsel, she bade them remain quietly in the apartment, and descended herself into the court- yard, where she ordered the portals to be thrown open for the admission of the people. She stationed herself at the further extre- mity of the area, and, as the populace poured in, calmly demanded the cause of the insurrection. " Tell me," said she, "what are your griev- ances, and I will do all in my power to redress them ; for I am sure that what is for your interest, must be also for mine, and for that of the whole city." The insurgents, abashed by the unexpected presence of their sovereign, as well as by her cool and dignified demeanour, replied, that all they desired was the removal of Cabrera from the government of the city. " He is deposed already," answered the queen, " and you have my authority to turn out such of his officers as are still in the castle, which I shall intrust to one of my own servants, on whom I can rely." The people, pacified by these assurances, shouted " Long live the queen ! " and eagerly hastened to obey her mandates. After thus turning aside the edge of popular fury, Isabella proceeded witli her retinue to the royal residence in the city, attended bv the fickle multitude, whom she again addressed on arriving there, admonishing them to return to their vocations, as this was no time for calm inquiry ; and promising that, if they would send three or four of their numb her on the morrow to report the extent of their grievances, she would AiUUKISTKAXrOV OP CASTILE. 113 examine into tlie affair, and render justice to all parties. The mob fi'joordiugly dispersed ; and the queen, after a candid examination, having ascertained the groundlessness or gross exaggeration of the misdemeanours imputed to Cabrera, and traced the source of the con- spiracy to the jealousy of the bishop of Segovia and his associates, reinstated the deposed alcayde in the full possession of his dignities, which his enemies, either convinced of the altered dispositions of the people, or believing that the favourable moment for resistance had escaped, made no further attempts to disturb. Thus, by a happy pre- sence of mind, an afiair, which threatened at its outset disastrous consequences, was settled without bloodshed, or compromise of the royal dignity.* In the summer of the following year, 1477, Isabella resolved to pay a visit to Estramadura and Andalusia, for the purpose of composing the dissensions, and introducing a more efficient police, in these unhappy provinces ; which from their proximity to the stormy frontier of Portugal, as well as from the feuds between the great houses of Guzman and Ponce de Leon, were plunged in. the most frightful anarchy. Cardinal Mendoza and her other ministers remonstrated against this imprudent exposure of her person, where it was so little likely to be respected. But she replied, " It was true there were dangers and inconveniences to be encountered ; but her fate was in God's hands, and she felt a confidence that he would guide to a prosperous issue such designs as were righteous in themselves and resolutely conducted." Isabella experienced the most loyal and magnificent reception from the inhabitants of Senile, "where she established her head-quarters. The first days of her residence there were consumed in fetes, tourneys, tilts of reeds, and other exercises of the Castilian chivalry. After this she devoted her whole time to the great purpose of her visit, the refor- mation of abuses. She held her court in the saloon of the alcazar, or royal castle, where she revived the ancient practice of the Castilian sovereigns, of presiding in person over the administration of justice. Every Friday she took her seat in her chair of state, on an elevated platform covered with cloth of gold, and surrounded by her council, together with the subordinate functionaries, and the insignia of a court of justice. The members of her privy council and of the high court of oriniinal law sat in their official capacity every day in the week ; and the queen herself received such suits as were referred to her adjudi- cation, saving the parties the usual expense and procrastination of justice. By the extraordinary despatch of the queen and her ministers, during ihe two months that she resided in the city, a vast number of civil and criminal causes were disposed of, a large amount of plundered property was restored to its lawful owners, and so many offenders were brought to condign punishment, that no less than four tnousand suspected persons, it is computed, terrified by the prospect of speedy retribution for their crimes, escaped into the neighbouring kingdoms of Portugal and Granada. The worthy burghers of Seville, alarmed at this rapid depopulation of the * Gonzalo de Oviedo lavishes many encomiums on Cabrera for "his generous qualities, his singular prudence in governineut, and his solicitude for his vassals, whom he inspired with the deepe.st attachment." The best panegyric on his character is the unshakeu con- fidence which his royal mistress reposed in him to the day of her death. Z 114 ADMINISTRATION OF CASTILE. city, sent a deputation to the queen, to deprecate her anger, and to represent that faction had been so busy of late years in their unhappy town, that there was scarcely a family to be found in it, some of whose members were not more or less involved in the guilt. Isabella, who was naturally of a benign disposition, considering that enough had probably been done to strike a salutary terror into the remaining delinquents, was willing to temper justice with mercy, and accordingly granted an amnesty for all past offences, save heresy, on the condition, however, of a general restitution of such property as had been unlawfully seized and retained during the period of anarchy.* But Isabella became convinced that all arrangements for establishing permanent tranquillity in Seville would be ineffectual, so long as the feud continued between the great families of Guzman and Ponce de Leon. The duke of Medina Sidonia and the marquis of Cadiz, the heads of these Aouses, had possessed themselves of the royal towns and fortresses, as well as of those which, belonging to the city, were scattered over its circumjacent territory, where, as has been previously stated, they carried on war against each other like independent potentates. The former of these grandees had been the loyal supporter of Isabella in the War of the Succession. The marquis of Cadiz, on the other hand, connected by marriage with the house of Pacheco, had cautiously withheld his allegiance, although he had not testified his hostility by any overt act. While the queen was hesitating as to the course she should pursue in reference to the marquis, who still kept himself aloof in his fortified castle of Xerez, he suddenly presented himself by night at her residence in Seville, accompanied only by two or three attendants. He took this step, doubtless, from the conviction that the Portuguese faction had nothing further to hope in a kingdom where Isabella reigned not only by the fortune of war, out by the affections of the people ; and he now eagerly profferred his allegiance to her, excusing his previous conduct as he best could. The queen was too well satisfied with the submission, however tardy, of this formidable vassal, to call him to severe account for past delinquencies. She exacted from him, however, the full resti- tution of such domains and fortresses as he had niched from the crown Mid from the city of Seville, on condition of similar concessions by his rival, the duke ot Medina Sidonia. She next attempted to establish a reconciliation between these belligerent grandees ; but aware that, how- ever pacific might be their demonstrations for the present, there could be little hope of permanently allaying the inherited feuds of a century, whilst the neighbourhood of the parties to each other must necessarily multiply fresh causes of disgust, she caused them to withdraw from Seville to their estates in the country, and by this expedient succeeded in extinguishing the flame of discord. In the following year, 1478, Isabella accompanied her husband in a tour through Andalusia, for the immediate purpose of reconnoitring the coast. In the course of this progress, they were splendidly entertained by the duke and marquis at their patrimonial estates. They afterwards proceeded to Cordova, where they adopted a similar policy with that pursued at Seville ; compelling the count de Cabra, connected with the blood royal, and Alonso de Aguilar, lord of Montilla, whose factions had long desolated this fair city, to withdraw into the country, and restore L. Mariueo says, no less than 8,000 jfuilty fled from Seville and Cordoya. OF CASTILE. 113 the immense possessions which they had usurped bota from the munici- pality arid the crown. One example among others may be mentioned, of the rectitude and severe impartiality with which Isabella administered justice, that occurred in the case of a wealthy Galician knight, named Alvaro Yanez de Lugo. This person, being convicted of a capital offence, attended ~ith the most aggravating circumstances, sought to obtain a commuta- tion of his punishment by the payment of forty thousand doblas of gold to the queen, a sum exceeding, at that time, the annual rents of the crown. Some of Isabella's counsellors would have persuaded her to accept the donative, and appropriate it to the pious purposes of the Moorish war. But, far from being blinded by their sophistry, she sulllred the law to take its course, and, in order to place her conduct above every suspicion of a mercenary motive, allowed his estates, which might legally have been confiscated to the crown, to descend to his natural heirs. Nothing contributed more to re-establish the supremacy of law in this reign, than the certainty of its execution, without respect to wealth or rank ; for the insubordination prevalent throughout Castile was chiefly imputable to persons of this description, who, if they failed to defeat justice by force, were sure of doing so by the corruption of its ministers. Ferdinand and Isabella employed the same vigorous measures in the other parts of their dominions, which had proved so successful in Andalusia, for the extirpation of the hordes of banditti, and of the robber-knights, who differed in no respect from the former but in their superior power. In Galicia alone, fifty fortresses, the strongholds of tyranny, were razed to the ground ; and fifteen hundred malefactors, it was computed, were compelled to fly the kingdom. " The wretched inhabitants of the mountains," says a writer of that age, " who had long since despaired of j ustice, blessed God for their deliverance, as it were, from a deplorable captivity." While the sovereigns were thus personally occupied with the suppres- sion of domestic discord, and the establishment of an efficient police, they were not inattentive to the higher tribunals, to whose keeping, chiefly, were entrusted the personal rights and property of the subject. They re-organised the royal or privy council, whose powers, although, as has been noticed in the Introduction, principally of an administrative nature, had been gradually encroaching on those of the superior courts of law. During the last century, this body had consisted of prelates, knights, and lawyers, whose numbers and relative proportions had varied in different times. The right of the great ecclesiastics and nobles to a seat in it was, indeed, recognised, but the transaction of business was reserved for the counsellors specially appointed. Much the larger pro- portion of these, by the new arrangement, was made up of jurists, whose professional education and experience eminently qualified them for the station. The specific duties and interior management of the council were prescribed with sufficient accuracy. Its authority, as a court of justice, was carefully limited ; but, as it was charged with the principal executive duties of government, it was consulted in all important trans- actions by the sovereigns, who paid great deference to its opinions, and very frequently assisted at its deliberations.* * Th number of the members of the royal council was limited to one prelate as provident* I 2 116 ADMUTISTRATIOy OF CASTILE. Eo change was made in the high criminal couit of alcaldes de corte y except in its forms of proceeding. But the royal audience, or clia: the supreme and final court of appeal in civil causes, was entirely remodelled. The place of its sittings, before indeterminate, and conse- quently occasioning much trouble and cost to the litigants, was fixed at Valladolid. Laws were passed to protect the tribunal from the inter- ference of the crown, and the queen was careful to fill the bench with magistrates whose wisdom and integrity would afford the best guarantee for a faithful interpretation of the law.* In. the cortes of Madrigal (1476), and still more in the celebrated one of Toledo (1480), many excellent provisions were made for the equitable administration of justice, as well as for regulating the tribunals. The judges were to ascertain every week, either by personal inspection or report, the condition of the prisons, the number of the prisoners, and the nature of the offences for which they were confined. They were required to bring them to a speedy trial, and afford every facility for their defence. An attorney was provided at the public expense, under the title of " advocate for the poor," whose duty it was to defend the suits of such as were unable to maintain them at their own cost. Severe penalties were enacted against venality in the judges, a gross evil under the preceding reigns, as well as against such counsel as took exorbitant fees, or even maintained actions that were manifestly unjust. Finally, commissioners were appointed to inspect and make report of the pro- ceedings of municipal and other inferior courts throughout the kingdom. The sovereigns testified their respect for the law by reviving the ancient but obsolete practice of presiding personally in the tribun: least once a week. " I well remember," says one of their court, " to have seen the queen, together with the Catholic king,- her husband, sitting in judgment in the alcazar of Madrid, every Friday, dispensing justice to all such, great and small, as came to demand it. This was indeed the golden age of justice," continues the enthusiastic writer ; '* and since our sainted mistress has been taken from us, it has been more difficult, and far more costly, to transact business with a stripling of a secretary, than it was with the queen and all her ministers."f By the modifications then introduced, the basis was laid of the judiciary system, such as it has been perpetuated to the present age. The law acquired an authority which, in the language of a Spanish three knights, and eight or nine jurists. The sessions were to be held every day in the palace. They were instructed to refer to the other tribunals all matters not strictly coming within their own j urisdic tioa. Their acts, in all cases except those specially reserved, were to have the force of law without the royal signature. Marina denies that the council could constitutionally exercise any judicial authority, at least in suits between private parties ; and quotes a passage from Pulgnr, showing that its usurpations in this way were restrained by Ferdinand and Isabella. Powers of this nature, however, to a considerable extent, appear to hav been conceded to it by more than one statute under this reign. * By one of the statutes, the commission of the judges, which before extended to life, or a long period, was abridged to one year. This important innovation was made at the earnest and repeated remonstrance of cortes, who traced the rcmissness and corruption, too frequeat of late in the court, to the circumstance that its decisions were not liable to be reviewed during life. The legislature probably mistook the true cause of the evil. Few will doubt, at ary rate, that the remedy proposed must have been fraught with far tTr it.r. By one of the statutes of the cortes of Toledo, in 14SO, the king vras required to tak r.is seat in the council every Friday. It was not o new for the Castilians to have good laws, a tat their monarchs to observe them. ADIIIXISTKATIOX OF CASTILE. IT, writer, " caused a decree, signed by two or three jiulgos, to be more respected since that time, than an army before." But perhaps the results of this improved administration cannot be better conveyed than in the words of an eyewitness. " AVhereas," says Pulgar, " the'kingdom was previously filled with banditti and malefactors of every description, who committed the most diabolical excesses, in open contempt of law, there was now such terror impressed on the hearts of all, that no one dared to lift his arm against another, or even to assail him with con- tumelious or discourteous language. The knight and the squire, who had before oppressed the labourer, were intimidated by the fear of that justice which was sure to be executed on them; the roads were swept of the banditti ; the fortresses, the strong-holds of violence, were thrown open ; and the whole nation, restored to tranquillity and order, sought no other redress than that afforded by the operation of the law." II. Coditication of the laws. Whatever reforms might have been intro- duced into the Castilian judicatures, they would have been of little avail without a corresponding improvement in the system of jurisprudence by which their decisions were to be regulated. This was made up of the Tisigothic code, as the basis ; the fueros of the Castilian princes, as far back as the eleventh century; and the " Siete Partidas," the famous compilation of Alfonso the Tenth, digested chiefly from maxims of the civil law. The deficiencies of these ancient codes had been gradually supplied by such an accumulation of statutes and ordinances, as rendered the legislation of Castile in the highest degree complex, and often con- tradictory. The embarrassment resulting from this occasioned, as may be imagined, much tardiness, as well as uncertainty, in the decisions of the courts, who, despairing of reconciling the discrepancies in their own law, governed themselves almost exclusively by the Roman, so much less accommodated, as it was, than their own, to the genius of the national institutions, as well as to the principles of freedom. The nation had long felt the pressure of fhese evils, and made attempts to redress them in repeated cortes. But every effort proved unavailing during the stormy or imbecile reigns of the princes of Trastamara. At length, the subject having been resumed in the cortes of Toledo, in 1480, Dr. Alfuuso Diaz de Montalvo, whose professional science had been matured under the reigns of tbree successive sovereigns, was charged with the commission of revising the laws of Castile, and of compiling a code which should be of general application throughout the kingdom. This laborious undertaking was accomplished in little more than four years ; and his work, which subsequently bore the title of Ordenanpas Juries, was published, or, as the privilege expresses it, " written with types," excrito de letra de molde, at Huete, in the beginning of 1485. It was one of the first works, therefore, which received the honours o' the press in Spain ; and surely none could have been found, at that period, more deserving of them. It went through repeated editions in the course of that, and the commencement of the following century. It was admitted as paramount authority throughout Castile ; and although the many innovations, which were introduced in that age of reform, required the additio of two subsidiary codes in the latter years of Isabella, the " Ordenancas " of Montalvo continued to be the "guide of the tribunals down to the time of Philip the Second ; and may be said to have suggested the idea, aa indeed it was the basis, of the comprehensive 118 ADMINISTRATION OF CASTILE. compilation " N"ueva Recopilacion," which has since formed the law ot the Spanish monarchy. III. Depression of the nobles. In the course of the preceding chapters, Tfe have seen the extent of the privileges constitutionally enjoyed by the aristocracy, as well as the enormous height to which they had swollen under the profuse reigns of John the Second and Henry the Fourth This was such, at the accession of Ferdinand and Isabella, as to disturb the balance of the constitution, and to give serious cause of apprehension both to the monarch and the people, They had introduced themselves into every great post of profit or authority. They had ravished from the crown the estates on which it depended for its maintenance as well as dignity. They coined money in their own mints, like sovereign princes; and they covered the country with their fortified castles, whence they defied the law, and desolated the unhappy land with interminable feuds. It was obviously necessary for the new sovereigns to proceed with the greatest caution against this powerful and jealous body, and, above all, to attempt no measure of importance, in which they would not be sup- ported by the hearty co-operation of the nation. The first measure, which may be said to have clearly developed their policy, was the organisation of the hermandad, which, although ostensibly directed against offenders of a more humble description, was made to bear indirectly upon the nobility, whom it kept in awe by the number and discipline of its forces, and the promptness with which it could assemble them on the most remote points of the kingdom ; while its rights of jurisdiction tended materially to abridge those of the seignorial tribunals. It was accordingly resisted with the greatest pertinacity by the aristocracy ; although, as we have seen, the resolution of the queen, supported by the constancy of the commons, enabled her to triumph over all opposition, until the great objects of the institution were accomplished. Another measure, which insensibly operated to the depression of the nobility, was making official preferment depend less exclusively on rank, and much more on personal merit than before. " Since the hope of guerdon," says one of the statutes enacted at Toledo, "is the spur to- just and honourable actions, when men perceive that offices of trust are not to descend by inheritance, but to be conferred on merit, they will strive to excel in virtue, that they may attain its reward." The sovereigns, instead of confining themselves to the grandees, frequently advanced persons of humble origin, and especially those learned is. the law, to the most responsible stations ; consulting them, and paying great deference to their opinions, on all matters of importance. The nobles, finding that rank was no longer the sole, or indeed the necessary avemxe to promotion, sought to secure it by attention to more liberal studies, in which they were greatly encouraged by Isabella, who admitted their children into her palace, where they were reared under her own eye. But the boldest assaults on the power of the aristocracy were made in the famous cortes of Toledo, in 1480, which Carbajal enthusiastically styles " cosa divina para reformacion y remedio de las desordenea pasadas." The first object of its attention was the condition of the exchequer, which Henry the Fourth had so exhausted by his reckless prodigality, that the clear annual revenue amounted to no more than thirty thousand ducats, a sum much inferior to that enjoyed by many ADMINISTRATION OF CASTILE. 119 private individuals ; so that, stripped of his patrimony, it at last came to be said, he was "king only of the highways." Such had heen the royal necessities, that blank certificates of annuities assigned on tie public rents were hawked about the market, and sold at such a depre- ciated rate, that the price of an annuity did not exceed the amount of one year's income. The commons saw with alarm the weight of the burdens which must devolve on them for the maintenance of the crown thus impoverished in its resources ; and they resolved to meet the difficulty by advising at once a resumption of the grants unconstitu- tionally made during the latter half of Henry the Fourth's reign, and the commencement of the present.* This measure, however violent and repugnant to good faith it may appear at the present time, seems then to have admitted of justification as far as the nation was concerned ; since such alienation of the public revenue was in itself illegal, and contrary to the coronation oath of the sovereign ; and those who accepted his obligations, held them subject to the liability of their revocation which had frequently occurred under the preceding reigns. As the intended measure involved the interests of most of the considerable proprietors in the kingdom, who had thriven on the necessities of the crown, it was deemed proper to require the attendance of the nobility and great ecclesiastics in cortes by a special summons, which it seems had been previously omitted. Thus convened, the legislature appears, with great unanimity, and much to the credit of those most deeply affected by it, to have acquiesced in the proposed resumption of the grants, as a measure of absolute necessity. The only difficulty was to settle the principles on which the retrenchment might be most equitably made with reference to creditors, whose claims rested on a great variety of grounds. The plan suggested by cardinal Mendoza seems to have been partially adopted. It was decided that all, whose pensions had been conferred without any corresponding services on their part, should forfeit them entirely ; that those who had purchased annuities should return their certificates on a reimbursement of the price paid for them ; and that the remaining creditors, who composed the largest class, should retain such a proportion only of their pensions, as might be judged commensurate with their services to the state. By this important reduction, the final adjustment and execution ot which were intrusted to Fernando de Talavera, the queen's confessor, a man of austere probity, the gross amount of thirty millions of maravedis, a sum equal to three-fourths of the whole revenue on. Isabella's accession, was annually saved to the crown. The retrench- ment was conducted with such strict impartiality, that the most confidential servants of the queen, and the relatives of her husband, were among those who suffered the most severely, f It is worthy of remark, that no diminution whatever was made of the stipends settled on literary and charitable establishments. It may be also added, that * The commons had pressed the measure, as one of the last necessity to the crown, ai early as the cortes of Madrigal, in 1476. t Admiral Enriquez, for instance, resigned 240,000 maravedis of his annual income ; the duke of Alva, 575,000 ; the duke of Medina Sidonia, 180,000. The loyal family of the Mendozas were also great losers; but none forfeited so much as the overgrown favourite of Henry IV., Beltran de la Cueva, duke of Albuquerque, who had uniformly supported the royal cause, and whose retrenchment amounted to 1,400,000 maravedii of yearly 120 ADMINISTRATION OF CASTILE. Isabella appropriated the first fruits of this measure, by distributing the sum of twenty millions of maravedis among the widows and orphans of those loyalists who had fallen in the War of the Succession.* This resumption of the grants may be considered as the basis of those economical reforms which, without oppression to the subject, augmented the public revenue more than twelvefold during this auspicious reign. Several other acts were passed by the same cortes, which had a more exclusive bearing on the nobility. They were prohibited from quartering the royal arms on their escutcheons, "from being attended by a mac-- bearer and a body-guard, from imitating the regal style of address in their written correspondence, and other insignia of royalty which thvy had arrogantly assumed. They were forbidden to erect new fortr and we have already seen the activity of the queen in procuring the demolition or restitution of the old. They were expressly restrained from duels, an inveterate source of mischief; for engaging in which, the parties, both principals and seconds, were subjected to the penalties f treason. Isabella evinced her determination of enforcing this law on the highest offenders, by imprisoning, soon after its enactment, the counts of Luna and Valencia for exchanging a cartel of defiance, until the point at issue should be settled by the regular course of justice, f It is true the haughty nobility of Castile winced more than once at finding themselves so tightly curbed by their new masters. On one occasion a number of the principal grandees, with the duke of Infantado at their head, addressed a letter of remonstrance to the king and queen, requiring them to abolish the hermandad, as an institution burdensome on the nation, deprecating the slight degree of confidence which their highnesses reposed in their order, and requesting that four of their number might be selected to form a council for the general direction of affairs of state, by whose advice the king and queen should be governed in all matters of importance, as in the time of Henry the Fourth. Ferdinand and Isabella received this unseasonable remonstrance with great indignation, and returned an answer couched in the haughtiest terms. "The hermandad," they said, "is an institution most salutary to the nation, and is approved by it as such. It is our province to determine who are best entitled to preferment, and to make merit the standard of it. You may follow the court, or retire to your estates, as you think best ; but, so long as Heaven permits us to retain the rank with which we have been intrusted, we shall take care not to imitate the example of Henry the Fourth, in becoming a tool in the hands of our nobility." The discontented lords, who had carried so high a hand under the preceding imbecile reign, feeling the weight of an authority which rested on the affections of the people, were so disconcerted by the rebuke, that they made no attempt to rally, but condescended to make their peace separately as they could, by the most ample acknow- ledgments. * "No monarch," said the high-minded queen, "should consent to alienate his demesnes ; since the loss of revenue necessarily deprives him of the best means of rewarding the attachment of his friends, and of making him feared by his enemies." t These affairs were conducted in the true spirit of knight-errantry. Oviedo mentions one, in which two young men of the noble houses of Velasco and Ponce de Leon agreed to fight on horseback, with sharp spears in doublet and hose, without defensive armour of any kind. The place appointed for the combat was a narrow bridge across the Xarama, three leagues from Madnu. ADMi3fisiBA.iioir OF CASTILE. 121 An example of tlie impartiality as well as spirit with which Isabella asserted the dignity of the cru\vu is worth recording. During her husband's absence in Aragon, in the spring of 1481, a quarrel occurred in tlie ante-chamber of the palace at Valladolid, between two young noble- men, Ramiro Xunez de Guzman, lord of Toral, and Frederic Heuriquez, son of the admiral of Castile, king Ferdinand's uncle. The queen, on receiving intelligence of it, granted a safe-conduct to the lord of Toral, as the weaker party, until the affair should be adjusted between them. Don Frederic, however, disregarding this protection, caused his enemy to be waylaid by three of his followers, armed with bludgeons, ani soivly beaten one evening in the streets of Valladolid. Isabella was no sooner informed of this outrage on one whom she had taken under the royal protection, than burning with indignation, she immediately mounted her horse, though in the midst of a heavy storm of rain, and proceeded alone towards the castle of Simancas, then in the possession of the admiral, the father of the offender, where she supposed him to have taken refuge, travelling all the while with such rapidity, that she was not overtaken by the officers of the guard until she had gained the fortress. She instantly summoned the admiral to deliver up his son to justice; and on his replying that "Don Frederic was not there, and that he was ignorant where he was," she commanded him to surrender the keys of the castle, and, after a fruitless search, again returned to Yalladolid. The next day Isabella was confined to her bed by an illness occasioned as much by chagrin as by the excessive fatigue which she had undergone. " My body is lame, said she, "with the blows given by Don Frederic in contempt of my safe-conduct." The admiral, perceiving how deeply he and his family had incurred the displeasure of the queen, took counsel with his friends, who were led by their knowledge of Isabella's character to believe that he would have more to hope from the surrender of his son than from further attempts at concealment. The young man was accordingly conducted to the palace, by his uncle, the constable de Haro, who deprecated the queen's resentment by representing the age of his nephew, scarcely amounting to twenty years. Isabella, however, thought proper to punish the youthful delinquent, by ordering him to be publicly conducted as a prisoner, by one of the alcaldes of her court, through the great square of Yalladolid to the fortress of Arevalo, where he was detained in strict confinement, all privilege of access being denied to him ; and when at length, moved by the consideration of his consanguinity with the king, she consented to his release, she banished him to Sicily, until he should receive the royal permission to return to his own country. Notwithstanding the strict impartiality as well as vigour of the administration, it could never have maintained itsulf by its own resources alone, in its offensive operations against the high-spirited aristocracy of Castile. Its most direct approaches, however, were made, as we have seen, under cover of the cortes. The sovereigns showed great deference, especially in the early period of their reign, to the popular branch of this body : and, so far from pursuing the odious policy of preceding princes in diminishing the amount of represented cities, they never failed to direct their writs to all those which, at their accession, retained the right of representation, and subsequently enlarged the number by the conquest of Granada ; while they exercised the 122 ADMINISTRATION OF CASTILE. anomalous privilege, noticed in the Introduction to this history, of omitting altogether, or issuing only a partial summons to, the nobility.* By making merit the standard of preferment, they opened the path of honour to every class of the community. They uniformly manifested the greatest tenderness for the rights of the commons in reference to taxation ; and, as their patriotic policy was obviously directed to secure the personal rights and general prosperity of the people, it insured the co-operation of an ally, whose weight, combined with that of the crown, enabled them eventually to restore the equilibrium _which had been disturbed by the undue preponderance of the aristocracy. It may be well to state here the policy pursued by Ferdinand and Isabella in reference to the Military Orders of Castile, since, although not fully developed until a much later period, it was first conceived, and indeed partly executed, in that now under discussion. The uninterrupted warfare which the Spaniards were compelled to maintain for the recovery of their native land from the infidel, nourished in their bosoms a flame of enthusiasm similar to that kindled by the crusades for the recovery of Palestine, partaking in an almost equal degree of a religious and a military character. This similarity of sentiment gave birth also to similar institutions of chivalry. Whether the military orders of Castile were suggested by those of Palestine, or whether they go back to a remoter period, as is contended by their chroniclers, or whether, in fine, as Conde intimates, they were imitated from corresponding associations known to have existed among the Spanish Arabs, f there can be no doubt that the forms under which they were permanently organised were derived, in the latter part of the twelfth century, from the monastic orders established for the protection of the Holy Land. The Hospitallers, and especially the Templars, obtained more extensive acquisitions in Spain than in any, perhaps every, other country in Christendom ; and it was partly from the ruins of their empire that were constructed the magnificent fortunes of the Spanish orders.^ The most eminent of these was the order of St. Jago, or St. James, of Compostella. The miraculous revelation of the body of the Apostle, after the lapse of eight centuries from the date of his interment, and his frequent apparition in the ranks of the Christian armies in their desperate struggles with the infidel, had given so wide a celehiity to the obscure town of Compostella in Galicia, which contained the sainted For example, at the great cortes of Toledo, in 14SO, it does not appear that any of the nobility were summoned, except those in immediate attendance on the court, until the measure for the resumption of the grants, which so nearly affected that body, was brought before the legislature. t G'jnde gives the following account of these chivalric associations among the Spanish Arabs, which, as far as I know, has hitherto escaped the notice of European historians. * The Moslem fronteros professed great austerity in their lives, which they consecrated to perpetual war, and bound themselves by a solemn vow to defend the frontier against the incursions of the Christians. They were choice cavaliers, possessed of consummate patience, and enduring fatigue, and always prepared to die rather than desert their posts. It appears highly probable that the Moorish fraternities suggested the idea of those military orders so renowned for their valour in Spain and in Palestine, which rendered such essential services to Christendom ; for both the institutions were established on rimilar principles." J The knights of the Temple and the Hospitallers seem to have acquired still greater power in Aragon, where one of the monarchs was so infatuated as to bequeath then) his whole dominions, a bequest, which it may well be believed was set aside by his high* spirited subjects. ADIIIXISTKATIOX OF CASTILE 123 relics,* that it became the resort of pilgrims from every part of encloin during the middle ages ; and the escalop-shell, the device of .St. James, was adopted as the universal badge of the palmer. Inns for the refreshment and security of the pious itinerants were scattered along the whole line of the route from France ; but, as they were exposed to perpetual annoyance from the predatory incursions of the Arabs, a number of knights and gentlemen associated themselves for their protection, with the monks of St. Lojo or Eloy, adopting the rule of St. Auirustine, and thus laid the foundation of the chivaLrie order of St. James, about the middle of the twelfth century. The cavaliers of the fraternity, which received its papal bull of approbation five years later, in 11 To, were distinguished by a white mantle embroidered with a red cross, in fashion of a sword, with the escalop-sbell below the guard, in imitation of the device which glittered on the banner of their tutelar saint when he condescended to take part in their engagements with the Moors. The red colour denoted, according to an ancient commentator, " that it was stained with the blood of the infidel." The rules of the new order imposed on its members the usual obligations of obedience, community of property, and of conjugal chastity, instead of celibacy. They were, moreover, required to relieve the poor, defend the traveller, and maintain perpetual war upon the Mussulman. The institution of the Knights of Calatrava was somewhat more romantic in its origin. That town, from its situation on the frontiers of the Moorish territory of Andalusia, where it commanded the passes into Castile, became of vital importance to the latter kingdom. Its defence had accordingly been intrusted to the valiant order of the Templars, who, unable to keep their ground against the pertinacious assaults of the Moskms, abandoned it, at the expiration of eight years, as untenable. This occurred about the middle of the twelfth century ; and the Castilian monarch, Saucho the Beloved, as the last resort, offered it to whatever good knights would undertake its defence. ' The empire was eagerly sought by a monk of a distant convent in Navarre, who had once been a soldier, and whose military ardour seems to have been exalted, instead of being extinguished, in the solitude of the cloister. The monk, supported by his conventual brethren, and a throng of cavaliers and more humble followers, who sought redemption under the banner of the church, was enabled to make good his word. From the confederation of these knights and ecclesiastics, sprung the military fraternity of Calatrava, which received the confirmation of the pontiff, Alexander the Third, in 1164. The rules which it adopted were of St. Benedict, and its discipline was in the highest degree austere. The cavaliers were sworn to perpetual celibacy, from which they were The apparition of certain preternatural lights in a forest, discovered to a Galician peasant, in the beginning of the ninth century, the spot in which was deposited a marble sepulchre containing the ashes of St. James. The miracle is reported with sufficient circumstantiality by Florez, who establishes, to his own satisfaction, the advent of St. James into Spain. Mariana, with more scepticism than his brethren, doubts the genuineness of the body, as well us the visit of the Apostle, but like a good Jesuit concludes, " It is not expedient to disturb with such disputes the devotion of the people, o firmly settled as it is. The tutelar saint of Spain continued to support his people" by taking part with them in battle against the infidel down to a very Lite period. Giro de Torres mentions two engagements in which he cneered on the squadrons of Cortes and Piiarro, " with his sword Hashing lightning in tie eyes of the Indians." 12i ADMIX ISTttATlOj OF CASTILE. not released till so late as the sixteenth century. Their diet was of the plainest kind. They were allowed meat only thrice a week, and then only one dish. They were to maintain unbroken silence at the table, in the chapel, and the dormitory ; and they were enjoined both to sleep and to worship with the sword girt on their side, in token of readiness for action. In the earliest days of the institution, the spiritual as well as the military brethren were allowed to make part of the martial array against the infidel, until this was prohibited as indecorous by the Holy See. From this order branched oif that of Montesa in Valencia, which was instituted at the commencement of the fourteenth century, and continued dependent on the parent stock. The third great order of religious chivalry in Castile was that of Alcantara, which also received its confirmation from Pope Alexander the Third, in 1177. It was long held in nominal subordination to the knights of Calatrava, from which it was relieved by Julius the Secon d, and eventually rose to an importance little inferior to that of its rival. * The internal economy of these three fraternities was regulated by the same general principles. The direction of aftairs was intrusted to a council consisting of the grand master and a number of the commanders (comendadores), among whom the extensive territories of the order were distributed. This council, conjointly with the grand master, or the latter exclusively, as in the fraternity of Calatrava, supplied the vacancies. The master himself was elected by a general chapter of these military functionaries alone, or combined with the conventual clergy, as in the order of Calatrava, which seems to have recognised the supremacy of the military over the spiritual division of the community more unreservedly than that of St. James. These institutions appear to have completely answered the objects of their creation. In the early history of the Peninsula, we find the Christian chivalry always ready to bear the brunt of battle against the Moors. Set apart for this peculiar duty, their services in the sanctuary only tended to prepare them for their sterner duties in the field of battle, where the zeal of the Christian soldier may be supposed to have been somewhat sharpened by the prospect of the rich temporal acquisitions which the success of his arms was sure to secure to his fraternity ; for the superstitious princes of those times, in addition to the wealth lavished o liberally on all monastic institutions, granted the military orders Almost unlimited rights over the conquests achieved by their own valour. In the sixteenth century, we find the order of St. James, which had shot up to a pre-eminence above the rest, possessed of eighty-four com- manderies, and two hundred inferior benefices. The same order could bring into the field, according to Garibay, four hundred belted knights, and one thousand lances, which, with the usual complement of a lance in that day, formed a very considerable force. The rents of the master- ship of St. James amounted, in the time of Ferdinand and Isabella, to sixty thousand ducats, those of Alcantara to forty-five thousand, and those of Calatrava to forty thousand. There was scarcely a district of the Peninsula which was not covered with their castles, towns, and com ents. Their rich commanderies gradually became objects of cupidity to D". en of the highest rank, and more especially the grand-masterships, Fbe knijzhU of Alcantara wore ft white mantle, embroidered with a jpraa crotf. ADMINISTRATION OF CASTILE. 125 which, from their extensive patronage, and the authority they conferred over an organised militia pledged to implicit obedience, and knit together by the strong tie of common interest, raised their possessors almost to the level of royalty itself. Hence the elections to these important dignitiea came to be a fruitful source of intrigue, and frequently of violent collision. The monarchs, who had anciently reserved the right of testifying their approbation of an election, by presenting the standard of the order to the new dignitary, began personally to interfere in the deliberations of the chapter. While the Pope, to whom a contested point was not unfre- quently referred, assumed at length the prerogative of granting the masterships in administration on a vacancy, and even that of nomination, itself, which, if disputed, he enforced by his spiritual thunders. Owing to these circumstances, there was probably no one cause, among the many which occurred in Castile during the fifteenth century, more prolific of intestine discord, than the election to these posts, far too important to be intrusted to any subject, and the succession to which was sure to be contested by a host of competitors. Isabella seems to have settled in her mind the course of policy to be adopted in this matter, at a very early period of her reign. On occasion of a vacancy ia tlir grand-mastership of St. James, by the death of the incumbent, in 1476, she made a rapid journey on horseback, her usual mode of travelling, from Yalladolid to the town of Ucles, where a chapter of the order was deliberating on the election of a new principal. The queen, prui-enting herself before this body, represented with so much energy the inconvenience of devolving powers of such magnitude on any private individual, and its titter incompatibility with public order, that she pre- vailed on them, smarting, as they were, under the evils of a disputed succession, to solicit the administration for the king, her husband. That monarch, indeed, consented to waive this privilege in favour of Alonso de Cardenas, one of the competitors for the office, and a loyal servant of the crown ; but at his decease, in 1499, the sovereigns retained the possession of the vacant mastership, conformably to a papal decree, which granted them its administration for life, in the same manner as had been done with that of Calatrava in 1487, and of Alcantara in 1494.* The sovereigns were no sooner vested with the control of the military orders, than they began with their characteristic promptness to reform the various corruptions which had impaired their ancient discipline. They erected a council for the general superintendence of affairs relating to the orders, and invested it with extensive powers both of civil and criminal jurisdiction. They supplied the vacant benefices with persons of acknowledged worth, exercising an impartiality which could never be maintained by any private individual, necessarily exposed to the influence of personal interests and affections. By this harmonious distribution, the honours which had before been held up to the highest bidder, or made the subject of a furious canvass, became the incentive and sure recompense of desert. In the following reign, the grand-masterships of these fraternities were annexed in perpetuity to the crown of Castile by a bull of Pope Adrian the Sixth ; while their subordinate dignities, having survived the object of 126 ADMINISTRATION OF CASTILE. their original creation, the subjugation of the Moors, degenerated into the empty decorations, the stars and garters, of an order of nobility. IV. Vindication of ecclesiastical rights belonging to the crown from papal usurpation. In the earlier stages of the Castilian monarchy the sovereigns appear to have held a supremacy in spiritual, very similar to that exercised by them in temporal matters. It was comparatively late that the nation submitted its neck to the papal yoke, so closely riveted at a subsequent period ; and even the Romish ritual was not admitted into its churches till long after it had been adopted in the rest of Europe. * But, when the code of the Partidas was promulgated in the thirteenth century, the maxims of the canon law came to be permanently established. The ecclesiastical encroached on the lay tribunals. Appeals were per- petually carried up to the Roman court ; and the Popes, pretending to regulate the minutest details of church economy, not only disposed of inferior benefices, but gradually converted the right of confirming elections to the episcopal and higher ecclesiastical dignities, into that of appointment. These usurpations of the church had been repeatedly the subject of grave remonstrance in cortes. Several remedial enactments had passed that body during the present reign, especially in relation to the papal provision of foreigners to benefices ; an evil of much greater magnitude in Spain than in other countries of Europe, since the episcopal demesnes, frequently covering the Moorish frontier, became an important line of national defence, obviously improper to be intrusted to the keeping of foreigners and absentees. Notwithstanding the efforts of cortes, no effectual remedy was devised for this latter grievance, until it became the subject of actual collision between the crown and the pontiff, in reference to the see of Taragona, and afterwards of Cuen9a.f Sixtus the Fourth had conferred the latter benefice, on its becoming vacant in 1482, on his nephew, cardinal San Giorgio, a Genoese, iu direct opposition to the wishes of the queen, who would have bestowed .'t on her chaplain, Alfonso de Burgos, in exchange for the bishopric of Cordova. An ambassador was accordingly despatched by the Castilian sovereigns to Rome, to remonstrate on the papal appointment ; but with- out effect, as Sixtus replied, with a degree of presumption which might 'better have become his predecessors of the twelfth century, that ' he was head of the church, and, as such, possessed of unlimited power in the distribution of benefices, and that he was not bound to consult the inclination of any potentate on earth, any farther than might subserve the interests of religion." The sovereigns, highly dissatisfied with this response, ordered their subjects, ecclesiastical as well as lay, to quit the papal dominions ; an injunction which the former, fearful of the sequestration of their tem- poralities in Castile, obeyed with as much promptness as the latter. At * Most readers are acquainted with the curious story, related by Robertson, of the ordeal to which the Romish and Muzarabic rituals were subjected in the reign of Alfonso VI., and the ascendancy which the combination of kingcraft and priestcraft succeeded in securing to the former in opposition to the will of the nation. Cardinal Ximenes after- wards established a magnificent chapel iu the cathedtal church of Toledo for the }>er- formai.ce of the Muzarabic services, which hare continued to be retained there to th present time. t In the lattei part of Henry IV. 's reign, a papal bull had been granted against th provision of foreigners to benefice*. ADMINISTRATION OF CASTILE. 127 the same time, Ferdinand and Isabella proclaimed their intention of inviting the princes of Christendom to unite with them in convoking a general council for the reformation of the manifold abuses which dis- honoured the church. No sound could have grated more unpleasantly on the pontifical ear than the menace of a general council, particularly at this period, when ecclesiastical corruptions had reached a height which could but ill endure its scrutiny. The pope became convinced that he had ventured too far, and that Henry the Fourth was no longer monarch of Castile. He accordingly despatched a legate to Spain, fully empowered to arrange the matter on an amicable basis. The legate, who was a layman, by name Domingo Centurion, no sooner arrived in Castile, than he caused the sovereigns to be informed of his presence there, and the purpose of his mission ; but he received orders instantly to quit the kingdom, without attempting so much as to disclose the nature of his instructions, since they could not but be dero- gatory to the dignity of the crown. A safe-conduct was granted for himself and his suite ; but, at the same time, great surprise was expressed that any one should venture to appear, as envoy from his Holiness, at the court of Castile, after it had been treated by him. with such unmerited indignity. Far from resenting this ungracious reception, the legate affected the deepest humility ; professing himself willing to waive whatever immu- nities he might claim as papal ambassador, and to submit to the jurisdiction of the sovereigns as one of their own subjects, so that he might obtain an audience. Cardinal Mendoza, whose influence in the cabinet had gained him the title of " third king of Spain," apprehensive of the consequences of a protracted rupture with the church, interposed in behalf of the envoy, whose conciliatory deportment at length so far mitigated the resentment of the sovereigns, that they consented to open negotiations with the court of Home. The result was the publication of a I mil by Sixtus the Fourth,* in which his Holiness engaged to provide such natives to the higher dignities of the church in Castile as should be nominated by the monarchs of that kingdom ; and Alfonso de Burgos was accordingly translated to the see of Cuena. Isabella, on whom, the duties of ecclesiastical preferment devolved by the act of settlement, availed herself of the rights, thus wrested from the grasp of Home, to exalt to the vacant sees persons of exemplary piety and learning : hold- ing light, in comparison with the faithful discharge of this duty, every minor consideration of interest, and even the solicitations of her husband", a> we shall see hereafter. And the chronicler of her reign dwells with complacency on those good old times when churchmen were to be found of such singular modesty as to require to be uiged to accept the dignities to which their merits entitled them. V. The regulation of trade. It will be readily conceived that trade, agriculture, and every branch of industry must have languished under the misrule of preceding reigns. For what purpose, indeed, strive to accumulate wealth, when it would only serve to sharpen the appetite of the spoiler ? For what purpose cultivate the earth when the fruits *vere sure to be swept away, even before the harvest time, in some * Riol, in his account of this celebrated concordat, refers to the original instrument Mi exit tins; in his time in the archives ul Siiuanca. 128 ADMIiaSTKATION OF CASTILE. ruthless foray P The frequent famines and pestilences which occurred in the latter part of Henry's reign and the commencement of his successor's, show too plainly the squalid condition of the people, and their utter destitution of all useful arts. We are assured by the curate of Los Palacios, that the plague broke out in. the southern districts of the kingdom, carrying off eight, or nine, or even fifteen thousand inhabi- tants from the various cities ; while the prices of the ordinary aliments of life rose to a height which put them above the reach of the poorei classes of the community. In addition to these physical evils a fatal shock was given to commercial credit by the adulteration of the coin. Under Henry the Fourth, it was computed that there were no less than one hundred and fifty mints openly licensed by the crown, in addition to many others erectea by individuals without any legal authority. The abuse came to such a height, that people at length refused to receive in payment of their debts the debased coin, whose value depreciated more and more every day ; and the little trade that remained in Castile was carried on by barter, as in the primitive stages of society. The magnitude of the evil was such as to claim the earliest attention of the cortes under the new monarchs. Acts were passed fixing the standard and legal value of the different denominations of coin. A new coinage was subsequently made. Five royal mints were alone authorised, afterwards augmented to seven, and severe penalties denounced against the fabrication of money elsewhere. The reform of the currency gradually infused new life into commerce, as the return of the circula- tions, which have been interrupted for a while, quickens the animal body. This was furthered by salutary laws for the encouragement oi domestic industry. Internal communication was facilitated by the construction of roads and bridges. Absurd restrictions on change of residence, as well as the onerous duties which had been imposed on commercial intercourse between Castile and Aragon, were repealed. Several judicious laws were enacted for the protection of foreign trade ; and the nourishing condition of the mercantile marine may be inferred from that of the military, which enabled the sovereigns to fit out an 'armament of seventy sail in 1482, from, the ports of Biscay and Anda- lusia, for the defence of Naples against the Turks. Some of their regulations, indeed, as those prohibiting the exportations of the precious metals, savour too strongly of the ignorance of the true principles of commercial legislation, which has distinguished the Spaniards to the present day. But others, again, as that for relieving the importation of foreign books from all duties, "because," says the statute, "they bring both honour and profit to the kingdom, "by the facilities which they afford for making men learned," are not only in advance of that age, but may sustain an advantageous comparison with provisions on corresponding subjects in Spain at the present time. Public credit was re-established by the punctuality with which the government redeemed the debt contracted during the Portuguese war ; and, notwithstanding the repeal of various arbitrary imposts, which enriched the exchequer under Henry the Fourth, such was the advance of the country under the wise economy of the present reign, that the revenue was augmented nearly six fold between the years 1477 and 1482.* Xbe revenue it appears, in 1477, amounted to 27,415,228 maravedis ; and in the yrs.r ADMIXISTEATION 07 CASTILE. 129 Thus released from the heavy burdens imposed on it, the spring of enterprise recovered its former elasticity. The productive capital of the country was made to flow through the various channels of domestic industry. The hills and the valleys again rejoiced in the labour of the husbandman ; and the cities were embellished with stately edifices, both public and private, which attracted the gaze and commendation of foreigners.* The writers of that day are unbounded in their plaudits of Isabella, to whom they principally ascribe this auspicious revolution in the condition of the country and its inhabitants, which seems almost as magical as one of those transformations in romance wrought by the hands of some benevolent fairy. VI. The pre-eminence of the royal authority. This, which, as we have seen, appears to have been the natural result of the policy of Ferdinand and Isabella, was derived quite as much from the influence of their private characters, as from their public measures. Their acknowledged talents were supported by a dignified demeanour, which formed a striking contrast with the meanness in mind and manners that had distinguished their predecessor. They both exhibited a practical wisdom in their own personal relations, which always commands respect, and which, however it may have savoured of worldly policy in Ferdinand, was, in his consort, founded on the purest and most exalted principle. Under such a sovereign, the court, which had been little better than a brothel under the preceding reign, became the nursery of virtue and generous ambition. Isabella watched assiduously over the nurture of the high-born damsels of her court, whom she received into the royal palace, causing them to be educated under her own eye, and endowing them with liberal portions on their marriage, f By these and similar acts of affectionate solicitude, she endeared herself to the higher classes of her subjects, while the patriotic tendency of her public conduct established her in the hearts of the people. She possessed in combina- tion with the feminine qualities which beget love, a masculine energy of character, which struck terror into the guilty. She enforced the execu- tion of her own plans, oftentimes even at great personal hazard, with a resolution surpassing that of her husband. Both were singularly tem- perate, indeed frugal in their dress, equipage, and general style of living ; seeking to affect others less by external pomp than by the silent though more potent influence of personal qualities. On all such occasions as demanded it, however, they displayed a princely magnificence, which dazzled the multitude, and is blazoned with great solemnity in the garrulous chronicles of the day. 1482, we find it increased to 150,095,288 maravedis. A survey of the kingdom was made between the years 1 177 and 147'.), for the purpose of ascertaining the value of the royal rents, which formed the basis of the economical regulations adopted by the cortes of Toledo. Although this survey was conducted on no uniform plan, yet, according to Sorior Clemenciu, it exliibits such a variety of important details respecting the resources and population of the country, that it must materially contribute towards an exact history of this period. The compilation, which consists of twelve folio volumes in manuscript, is deposited in the archives of Simaucas. * One of the statutes passed at Toledo expressly provides for the erection of spacious and handsome edifices for the transaction of municipal aflairs in all the principal towns and cities in the kingdom. t As one example of the moral discipline introduced by Isabella in her court, we may cite the enactments against gaming, which had been carried to great excess under the preceding reigns. L. Marineo, according to whom " hell is full of gamblers," highly commends the sovereign* for theii efforts to discountenance this vice. 130 THE INQUISITION. The tendencies of the present administration were undoubtedly to strengthen the power of the crown. This was the point to which most of the feudal governments of Europe at this epoch were tending. But Isabella was far from being actuated by the selfish aim or unscrupulous policy of many contemporary princes, who, like Louis the Eleventh, sought to govern by the arts of dissimulation, and to establish their own authority by fomenting the divisions of their powerful vassals. On the contrary, she endeavoured to bind together the disjointed fragments of the state, to assign to each of its great divisions its constitutional limits, and, by depressing the aristocracy to its proper level and elevating the commons, to consolidate the whole under the lawful supremacy of the crown. At least, such was the tendency of her administration up to the present period of our history. These laudable objects were gradually achieved without fraud or violence, by a course of measures equally laudable ; and the various orders of the monarchy, brought into harmo- nious action with each other, were enabled to turn the forces, which had before been wasted in civil conflict, to the glorious career of discovery nd conquest which it was destined to run during the remainder of the century. The sixth volume of the Memoirs of the Royal Spanish Academy of History, published in 1821, is devoted altogether to the reign of Isabella. It is distributed into Illustrations, as they are termed, of the various branches of the administrative policy of the queen, of her personal character, and of the condition of science under her government. These- essays exhibit much curious research, being derived from unquestionable contemporary documents, printed and manuscript, and from the public archives. They are compiled with much discernment ; and as they throw light on some of the most recondite trans- actions of this reign, are of inestimable service to the historian. The author of the volume is the late lamented secretary of the Academy, Don Diego Clemencin ; one of the few who survived the wreck of scholarship in Spain, and who, with the erudition which has fre- quently distinguished his countrymen, combined the liberal and enlarged opinions which would do honour to any country. CHAPTEK VII. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MODERN INQUISITIOH. Origin of the ancient Inquisition Retrospective view of the Jews in Spain Their wealth and civilisation Bigotry of the age Its influence on Isabella Her confessor, Torque- mada Bull authorising the Inquisition Tribunal at Seville Forms of trial Torture Autos da Fe Number of Convictions Perfidious policy of Rome. IT is painful, after having dwelt so long on the important benefits resulting to Castile from the comprehensive policy of Isabella, to be compelled to turn to the darker side of the picture, and to exhibit her as accommodating herself to the illiberal spirit of the age in which she lived, so far as to sanction one of the grossest abuses that ever disgraced humanity. The present chapter will be devoted to the establishment and early progress of the Modern Inquisition ; an institution which has probably contributed more than any other cause to depress the lofty character of the ancient Spaniard, and which has thrown the gloom of fanaticism over those lovely regions, which seem to be the natural abode of festivity and pleasure. In the present liberal state of knowl dge, we look with disgust at th inr INQUISITION. 131 pretensions of any human bein^ r , however exalted, to invade the sacred rights of conscience, inalienably possessed by every man. We feel that the spiritual concerns of an individual may be safely left to himself, as most interested in them, except so far as they can be affected by argu- ment or friendly monition ; that the idea of compelling belief in particular doctrines is a solecism, as absurd as wicked : and, so far from condemning to the stake, or the gibbet, men who pertinaciously adhere to their conscientious opinions in contempt of personal interests and in the face of danger, we should rather feel disposed to imitate the spirit of antiquity in raising altars and statues to their memory, as having displayed the highest efforts of human virtue. But, although these truths are now so obvious as rather to deserve the name of truisms, the world has been slow, very slow, in arriving at them, after many centuries of unspeakable oppression and misery. Acts of intolerance are to be discerned from the earliest period in which Christianity became the established religion of the Roman empire. But they do not seem to have flowed from any systematised plan of persecution, until the papal authority had swollen to a considerable height. The popes, who claimed the spiritual allegiance of all Christen- dom, regarded heresy as treason against themselves, and, as such, deserving all the penalties which sovereigns have uniformly visited on this in their eyes, unpardonable offence. The crusades, which, in the early part of the thirteenth century, swept so fiercely over the southern provinces of France, exterminating their inhabitants, and blasting the fair buds of civilisation which had put forth after the long feudal winter, opened the way to the Inquisition ; and it was on the ruins of this once happy land that were first erected the bloody altars of that tribunal.* After various modifications, the province of detecting and punishing heresy was exclusively committed to the hands of the Dominican friars ; and in 1233, in the reign of St. Louis, and under the pontificate of Gregory the Ninth, a code for the regulation of their proceedings was finally digested. The tribunal, after having been successively adopted in Italy and Germany, was introduced into Aragon, where, in 1242, additional provisions were framed by the council of Tarragona, on the basis of those of 1233, which may properly be considered as the primi- tive instructions of the Holy Office in Spain, f This Ancient Inquisition, as it is termed, bore the same odious * Some Catholic writers would fain excuse St. Dominic from the imputation of having founded the Inquisition. It is true he died some years before the perfect organisation of that tribunal ; but, as lie established the principles on which, and the monkish militia by whom, it was administered, it is doing him no injustice to regard him as its real author. The Sicilian Paramo, indeed, in his heavy quarto, traces it up to a much more n nnti< mity, which, U> a Protestant ear, at least, savours not a little of blasphemy. According to him, God was tlio first inquisitor, and his condemnation of Adam and Eve furnished the model of the judicial forms observed in the trials of the Holy Office. The sentence of A. lam was the type of the inquisitorial reconciliation ; his subsequent raiment of the skins of animals was thu model of the fan brnito ; and his expulsion from Paradise the precedent for the confiscation ot the goods of heretics. This learned personage deduces a succ of inquisitors through the patriarchs, Moses, Nebuchadnezzar, and king David, down to John the Baptist, and even our Saviour, in whose precepts and conduct he finds abundant ;y for tiie tribunal! .'re tliis time we find a constitution of Peter I., of Aragon against Heretics, pre- ecriluiig in cert.ua cases the burning of heretics and the confiscation of their estate*, la 1197. E 2 132 THE peculiarities in its leading features as the Modern ; the same impene- trable secresy in its proceedings, the same insidious modes of accusation, a similar use of torture, and similar penalties for the offender. A sort of manual, drawn up by Eymerich, an Aragonese inquisitor of the fourteenth century, for the instruction of the judges of the Holy Office, prescribes all those ambiguous forms of interrogation, by which the unwary and perhaps innocent victim might be circumvented.* The principles on which the ancient Inquisition was established are no less repugnant to justice than those which regulated the modern ; although the former, it is true, was much less extensive in its operation. The arm of persecution, however, fell with sufficient heaviness, especially during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, on the unfortunate Albigenses, who from the proximity and political relations of Aragon and Provence, had become numerous in the former kingdom. The persecution appears, however, to have been chiefly confined to this unfortunate sect, and there is no evidence that the Holy Office, notwith- standing papal briefs to that effect, was fully organised in Castile before the reign of Isabella. This is perhaps imputable to the paucity of heretics in that kingdom. It cannot, at any rate, be charged to any lukewarmness in. its sovereigns ; since they, from the time of St. Ferdinand, who heaped the faggots on the blazing pile with his own hands, down to that of John the Second, Isabella's father, who hunted the unhappy heretics of Biscay like so many wild beasts among the mountains, had ever evinced a lively zeal for the orthodox faith, t By the middle of the fifteenth century, the Albigensian heresy had become nearly extirpated by the Inquisition of Aragon ; so that this infernal engine might have been suffered to sleep undisturbed from want of sufficient fuel to keep it in motion, when new and ample materials were discovered in the unfortunate race of Israel, on whom the sins of their fathers have been so unsparingly visited by every nation in Christendom among whom they have sojourned almost to the present century. As this remarkable people, who seem to have preserved their unity of character unbroken amid the thousand fragments into * PuigWanch cites some of the instructions from Eyroerich's work, whose authority in the courts of the Inquisition he compares to that of Gratian's Decretals in other ecc'.e- siastical judicatures. One of these may suffice to show the spirit of the whole : " ' the inquisitor has an opportunity, he shall manage so as to introduce to the conve: of the prisoner some one of his accomplices, or any other converted heretic, who shall feign that he still persists in his heresy, telling him that he had abjured for the sole purpose of pretext of its being hall then urge the prisoner to tell him all the particulars of his past life, having first told him the whole of his own ; and in the mean time spies shall be kept in hearing at the door, M well as a notary, in order to certify what may be said within." T The nature of the penance imposed on reconciled heretics by the ancient Inquisition was much more severe than that of later times. LJorente cites an act of St. Dominic respecting a person of this description, named Ponce Roger. The penitent was com- manded to be "ttripptd of hit clothet and btataiiritk rods by a priat, three Sundays in *uc- tession, fi-om the gate of the city to the door of the church ; not to eat any kind of animal food during his whole life , M keep three Lenta a year, without even eating fish ; to abstain from fish, oil. and wine tnree days in the week, during life, except in case of sickness or excessive labour ; to wear a religious dress with a small cross embroidered on each side of the breast ; to attend mass every day if he had the means of doing so, and vespers on Sundays and festivals ; to recite the service for the day and night, and to re[>eat the i-ai.tr Hwrr seven times in the day, ten times in the evening, and tvxnty time* at midnight .' " If ?he said Roger failed in any of the above requisitions, he was to be burnt as a relapsed Uwxtic ! This was the encouragement held out by St Dominic to penitence. THE INQUISITION. 133 which they have been scattered, attained perhaps to greater consideration in Spain than in any other part of Europe, and as the efforts of the Inquisition were directed principally against them during the present reign, it may be well to take a brief review of their preceding history in the Peninsula. Under the Visigothic empire the Jews multiplied exceedingly in the country, and were permitted to acquire considerable power and wealth. But no sooner had their Arian masters embraced the orthodox faith, than they began to testify their zeal by pouring on the Jews the most pitiless storm of persecution. One of their laws alone condemned the whole race to slavery ; and Montesquieu re- marks, without much exaggeration, that to the Gothic code may be traced all the maxims of the modern, inquisition, the monks of the fifteenth century only copying, in reference to the Israelites, the bishops of the seventh.* After the Saracenic invasion, which the Jews, perhaps with reason, are accused of having facilitated, they resided in the conquered cities, and were permitted to mingle with the Arabs on nearly equal terms. Their common Oriental origin produced a similarity of tastes, to a certain extent, not unfavourable to such a coalition. At any rate, the early Spanish Arabs were characterised by a spirit of toleration towards both Jews and Christians, "the people of the book," as they were called, which has scarcely been found among later Moslems. t The Jews, accordingly, under these favourable auspices, not only accu- mulated wealth with their iisual diligence, but gradually rose to the highest civil dignities, and made great advances in various depart- ments of letters. The schools of Cordova, Toledo, Barcelona, and Granada, were crowded with numerous disciples, who emulated the Arabians in keeping alive the iiarne of learning during the deep darkness of the middle ages.J Whatever may be thought of their success in speculative philosophy, they cannot reasonably be denied to have contributed largely to practical and experimental science. They were diligent travellers in all parts of the known world, compiling itineraries which have proved of extensive use in later times, and bringing home hoards of foreign specimens and Oriental drugs, that furnished important contributions to the domestic pharmacopoeias. || In the practice of medicine, indeed, they became so expert, as in a manner to monopolise that profession. They made great proficiency in mathematics, and particularly in astronomy ; while, in the cultivation of elegant letters, * See the cauon of the 17th council of Toledo, condemning the Israelitish race to bondage. Fuero Juzgo is composed of the most inhuman ordinances against this unfor- tunate people. \ The Koran grants protection to the Jews on payment of tribute. Still there is ground enough (though less among the Spanish Arabs than the other Moslems) for the following mine piaiea ; car, en nit ae rengi Montesqr.iL-u, I.ettrc-s IVrsanes, let. w. t The f.rst ae.idemy founded by the learned Jews in Spain was that of Cordova, A.D. 948. lu addition to their Talmudic lore and Cabalistic mysteries, the Spanish Jews were 134 THE INQUISITION. they revived the ancient glories of the Hebrew muse.* This was indeed the golden age of modern Jewish literature, which, under the Spanish caliphs, experienced a protection so benign, although occasionally chequered by the caprices of despotism, that it was enabled to attain higher beauty and a more perfect development in the tenth, eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries, than it has reached in any other part of Christendom.! The ancient Castilians of the same period, very different from their Gothic ancestors, seem to have conceded to the Israelites somewhat of the feelings of respect which were extorted from them by the superior civilisation of the Spanish Arabs. We find eminent Jews residing in the courts of the Christian princes, directing their studies, attending them as physicians, or more frequently administering their finances. For this last vocation they seem to have had a natural aptitude ; and, indeed, the correspondence which they maintained with the different countries of Europe by means of their own countrymen, who acted as the brokers of almost every people among whom they were scattered during the middle ages, afforded them peculiar facilities both in polities and commerce. We meet with Jewish scholars and statesmen attached to the courts of Alfonso the Tenth, Alfonso the Eleventh, Peter the Cruel, Henry the Second, and other princes. Their astronomical science recommended them in a special manner to Alfonso the Wise, who employed them in the construction of his celebrated Tables. James the First of Aragou condescended to receive instruction from them in ethics ; and, in the fifteenth century, we notice John the Second of Castile, employing a Jewish secretary in the compilation of a national C'arv ionero.J 15 ut all this royal patronage proved incompetent to protect the Jews when their flourishing fortunes had risen to a sufficient height to excite popular envy, augmented, as it w r as, by that profuse ostentation of equipage and apparel for which this singular people, notwithstanding their avarice, have usually shown a predilection. Stories were cir- culated of their contempt for the Catholic worship, their desecration of * The beautiful lament which the royal psalmist has put into the mouths of his country- men when commanded to sing the songs of Sinn in a strange land, cannot be applied to the Spanish Jews, who, far from hanging their harps upon the willows, poured forth their lays with a freedom and vivacity which may be thought to savour more of the modern troubadour than of the ancient Hebrew minstrel. Castro has collected, under Si ; ;!o XV., a few gleanings of such as, by their incorporation into a Christian Cancionero, escaped the fury of the Inquisition. t Castro has done for the Hebrew what Casiri a few years before did for the Arabic literature of Spain, by giving notices of such works as have survived the ravages of time and superstition. The first volume of his Bibliotcca Espafiola contains an analysis accom- panied with extracts from more than seven hundred different works, with biographical sketches of their authors ; the whole bearing most honourable testimony to the talent and various erudition of the Spanish Jews. I Samuel Levi, treasurer of Peter the Cruel, who was sacrificed to the cupidity of his , i s reported by Mariana to have left behind him the incredible sum of 400, 000 ducats to swell the royal coffers. Sir Walter Scott, with his usual discernment, has availed himself of those opposite traits in his portraits of Rebecca and Isaac inlvaiihoe, in which lie seems to have. cn- i the lights and shadows of the Jewish character. The humiliating state of tha .lews, however, exhibited in this romance, affords no analogy to their social condition in Spain : as is evinced not merely by their wealth, which was also conspicuous in the Kn'.'iish Jews, but by the high degree of civilisation, and even political consequence, wiiidi, notwithstanding the- occasional ebullitions of popular prejudice, they were pel* 'lilted to reach there. THE IXQ.UISITIOX. 100 its most holy symbols, and of their crucifixion, or other sacrifice, of Christian children at the celebration of their own passover.* With these foolish calumnies, the more probable charge of usury and extortion was industriously preferred against them ; till at length, towards the close of the ftnirteenth century, the fanatical populace, stimulated in many instances by the no less fanatical clergy, and perhaps encouraged by the numerous class of debtors to the Jews, who found this a con- venient mode of settling their accounts, made a fierce assault on this unfortunate people in Castile and Aragon, breaking into their houses, violating their most private sanctuaries, scattering their costly collections and furniture, and consigning the wretched proprietors to indiscriminate massacre, without regard to sex or age.t In this crisis, the only remedy left to the Jews was a real or feigned conversion to Christianity. St. Vincent Ferrier, a Dominican of Valencia, performed such a quantity of miracles, in furtherance of this purpose, as might have excited the envy of any saint in the Calendar ; and these, aided by his eloquence, are said to have changed the hearts of no less than thirty-five thousand of the race of Israel, which doubtless must be reckoned the greatest miracle of all. J The legislative enactments of this period, and still more under John the Second, during the first half of the fifteenth century, were uncom- monly severe upon the Jews. "NVhile tluy wiro prohibited from mingling freely with the Christians, and from exercising the professions for which they were best qualified, their residence was restricted within certain prescribed limits of the cities which they inhabited ; and they were not only debarred from their usual luxury of ornament in dress, but were held up to public scorn, as it were, by some peculiar badge or emblem embroidered on their garments. || Sueh was the condition of the Spanish Jews at the accession of Ferdinand and Isabella. The new Christians, or converts, as those who had renounced the faith of their fathers were denominated, were occa- sionally preferred to high ecclesiastical dignities, which they illustrated * Calumnies of this land were current all over Europe. The English reader will call to mind the monkish fiction of the little Christian, "Slain with cursed Jewes, as it is notable," singing most devoutly after his throat was cut from ear to ear, in Chaucer's Prioresse's Tale. See another instance in the old Scottish ballad of the "Jew's Daughter," in Percy's " Reliques of Ancient Poetry." t In 13'.'!, 5.000 Ji ws were sacrificed to the popular fury, and, according to Mariana, no less than 10,000 perished from the same cause in Navarre about sixty years before. t According to Mariana, the restoration of sight to the blind, feet to the lame, even life to the dead, were miracles of ordinary occurrence with St. Vincent. The age of miracles had probably ceased by Isabella's time, or the Inquisition might have been spared. N'ic. Antonio in his notice ot the life and labours of this Dominican, states that he preached his inspired sermons in his vernacular Valcncian dialect to audiences of French, Englvsh, and Italians indiscriminately, who all understood him jjerfcctly well; "a circumstance," says l)r. McCrie, in his valuable "History of the Progress and Suppression of the Reformation in Spain," "which if it prove anything', proves that the hearers of St. Vincent possessed more miraculous powers than himself, and that they should have been canonised, rather than the preacher." They were interdicted from the tilings of vintners, grocers, taverners, especially of apothecaries, and of physicans and nurses. Xo law was more frequently reiterated than that prohibiting the Jews from acting as towards of the nobility, or farmers and collectors of the public rents. The repttr.ion of this law shows to what extent that peopl had engrossed what little was known of nuaucial cier -" "\ that day. r36 THE INQUISITION. by their integrity and learning. They were intrusted with, municipal offices in the various cities of Castile ; and, as their wealth furnished an obvious resource for repairing, by way of marriage, the decayed fortunes of the nobility, there was scarcely a family of rank in the land whose blood had not beeen contaminated at some period or other by mixture with the mala sangre, as it came afterwards to be termed, of the house of Judah ; an ignominious stain, which no time has been deemed sufficient wholly to purge away.* Notwithstanding the show of prosperity enjoyed by the converted Jews, their situation was far from secure. Their proselytism had been too sudden to be generally sincere ; and, as the task of dissimulation was too irksome to be permanently endured, they gradually became less circumspect, and exhibited the scandalous spectacle of apostates returning to wallow in the ancient mire of Judaism. The clergy, especially the Dominicans, who seem to have inherited the quick scent for heresy which distinguished their frantic founder, were not slow in sounding the alarm ; and the superstitious populace, easily roused to acts of violence in the name of religion, began to exhibit the most tumultuous move- ments, and actually massacred the constable of Castile in an attempt to suppress them at Jaen, the year preceding the accession of Isabella. After this period, the complaints against the Jewish heresy became still more clamorous, and the throne was repeatedly beset with petitions to devise some effectual means for its extirpation (1478). A chapter of the Chronicle of the curate of Los Palacios, who lived at this time in Andalusia, where the Jews seem to have most abounded, throws considerable light on the real as well as pretended motives of the subsequent persecution. " This accursed race," he says, speaking of the Israelites, " were either unwilling to bring their children to be baptised, or, if they did, they washed away the stain on returning home. They dressed their stews and other dishes with oil instead of lard ; abstained from pork ; kept the passover ; eat meat in Lent ; and sent oil to re- plenish the lamps of their synagogues ; with many other abominable ceremonies of their religion. They entertained no respect for monastic life, and frequently profaned the sanctity of religious houses by the violation or seduction of their inmates. They were an exceedingly politic and ambitious people, engrossing the most lucrative municipal offices ; and preferred to gain their livelihood by traffic, in which they made exorbitant gains, rather than by manual labour or mechanical arts. They considered themselves in the hands of the Egyptians, whom it was a merit to deceive and pilfer. By their wicked contrivances they amassed great wealth, and thus were often able to ally themselves by marriage with noble Christian families." It is easy to discern, in this medley of credulity and superstition, the secret envy entertained by the Castihans of the superior skill and in- dustry of their Hebrew brethren, and of the superior riches which these qualities secured to them ; and it is impossible not to suspect that the zeal of the most orthodox was considerably sharpened by worldly motives. THE INQUISITION. 137 Be that as it may, the cry against the Jewish abominations now became general. Among those most active in raising it were Alfonso de Ojeda, a Dominican, prior of the monastery of St. Paul in Seville, and Diego de Merlo, assistant of that city, who should not be defrauded of the meed of glory to which they are justly entitled by their exertions for the establishment of the modern Inquisition. These persons, after urging on the sovereigns the alarming extent to which the Jewish leprosy pre- vailed in Andalusia, loudly called for the introduction of the Holy Office, as the only effectual means of healing it. In this they were vigorously supported by Niccol6 Franco, the papal nuncio then residing at the court of Castile. Ferdinand listened with complacency to a scheme which promised an ample source of revenue in the confiscations it involved. But it was not so easy to vanquish Isabella's aversion to measures so repugnant to the natural benevolence and magnanimity of her character. Her scruples, indeed, were rather founded on sentiment than reason, the exercise of which was little countenanced in matters of faith in that day, when the dangerous maxim, that the end justifies the means, was universally received, and learned theologians seriously dis- ptited whether it were permitted to make peace with the infidel, and even whether promises made to them were obligatory on Christians.* The policy of the Roman church, at that time, was not only shown in its perversion of some of the most obvious principles of morality, but in the discouragement of all free inqxiiry in its disciples, whom it instructed to rely implicitly in matters of conscience on their spiritual advisers. The artful institution of the tribunal of confession, established with this view, brought, as it were, the whole Christian world at the feet of the clergy, who, far from being always animated by the meek spirit of the Gospel, almost justified the reproach of Voltaire, that confessors have been the source of most of the violent measures pursued by princes of the Catholic faith. Isabella's serious temper, as well as early education, naturally disposed her to religious influences. Notwithstanding the independence exhibited by her in all secular affairs, in her own spiritual concerns she uniformly testified the deepest humility, and deferred too implicitly to what she deemed the superior sagacity, or sanctity, of her ghostly counsellors. An instance of this humility may be worth recording. When Fray Fernando de Talavera, afterwards archbishop of Granada, who had been appointed confessor to the queen, attended her for the first time in that capacity, he continued seated after she had knelt down to make her confession, which drew from her the remark, "that it was usual for both parties to kneel." "No," replied the priest, "this is God's tribunal ; I act here as his minister, and it is fitting that I should keep my seat, while your Highness kneels before me." Isabella, far from taking umbrage at the ecclesiastic's arrogant demeanour, complied with all * Some writers are inclined to view the Spanish Inquisition, in its origin, as little els than a political engine. Guizot remarks of the tribunal, in one of his lectures, "Kile contenait en germe ce <|u'elle est deveuue ; mais elle no 1'etait pas en coinmeucant : elle fut d'abord plus politique que religieuse, et destiuee a mamtenir 1'ordre plutut qu*i defendre la foi." This statement is inaccurate in reference to Castile, where the facts do not warrant us in imputing any other motive for its adoption than religious zeal. Th funeral character of Ferdinand, ae well as the circumstancLS under which it was intro- uccd into Aragoii, may justify the inference of a more worldly policy in its establishment there. 138 THE r humility, and was afterwards heard to say, "This w the confessor that I wanted."* Well had it heen for the land, if the queen's conscience had always been entrusted to the keeping of persons of such exemplary piety ag Talavera. Unfortunately, in her early days, during the life-time of her brother Henry, that charge was committed to a Dominican monk, Thomas de Torquemada, a native of old Castile, subsequently raised to the rank of prior of Santa Cruz in Segovia, and condemned to infamous immortality by the signal part which he performed in the tragedy of the Inquisition. This man, who concealed more pride under his monastic weeds than might have furnished forth a convent of his order, was one of that class with whom zeal passes for religion, and who testify their zeal by a fiery persecution of those whose creed differs from their own ; who compensate for their abstinence from sensual indulgence, by giving scope to those deadlier vices of the heart, pride, bigotry, and intolerance, which are no less opposed to virtue, and are far more extensively mischievous to society. This personage had earnestly laboured to infuse into Isabella's young mind, to which his situation as her confessor gave him such ready access, the same spirit of fanaticism that glowed in his own. Fortunately this was greatly counteracted by her sound under- standing and natural kindness of heart. Torquemada urged her, or indeed, as is stated by some, extorted a promise, that, " should she ever come to the throne, she would devote herself to the extirpation of li- fer the glory of God, and the exaltation of the Catholic faith." The time was now arrived when this fatal promise was to be discharged. It is due to Isabella's fame to state thus much in palliation of the unfortunate error into which she was led by her misguided zeal ; an rror so grave, that, like a vein in some noble piece of statuary, it gives a. sinister expression to her otherwise unblemished character, f It was not until the queen had endured the repeated importunities of the c \ particularly of those reverend persons in whom she most confided, seconded by the arguments of Ferdinand, that she consented to solicit from the pope a bull for the introduction of the Holy Office into Castile. Sixtus the Fourth, who at that time filled the pontifical chair, easily discerning the sources of wealth and influence which this measure opened to the court of Rome, readily complied with the petition of the sove- reigns, and expedited a bull bearing date November 1st, 1478, authoris- ing them to appoint two or three ecclesiastics inquisitors for the detection and suppression of heresy throughout their dominions. J The queen, however, still averse to violent measures, suspended the operation of the ordinance until a more lenient policy had been first tried. By her command, accordingly, the archbishop of Seville, cardinal * This anecdote is more characteristic of the order than the individual. Oviedo ha ren a brief notice of this prelate, \vhoso virtues raised him from the humblest condition th<> highest post in the church, and gained him, to quote that writer's words, the PJH.-H it.OL. of " El sancto, 6 el buen arzobispo en toda K- T The uniform tenderness with which the most liberal Spanish writers of the present comparatively enlightened age, as Marina, Uorente, Ck-mcuciu, Ac., regard the memory of Isabella, affords an honourable testimony to the unsuspected integrity of her motives. Even in relation to the Inquisition, her countrymen would seem willing to draw a veil over her errors, or to excuse her by charging them on the age in which she lived. t Much discrepancy exists in the narratives of Pulgar, Bernaldez, and other contem- porary writers, in reference to the era of the establishment of the modern Inquisition. I have followed LJorentc. whose chronological accuracy, here and elsewhere, rests on tin moot authentic documents. 139 Y.t ndoza, drew up a catechism exhibiting the different points of the catholic faith, and instructed the clergy throughout his diocese to spare no pains in illuminating the benighted Israelities, by means of friendly exhortation and a candid exposition of the true principles of Christianity. * How far the spirit of these injunctions was complied with, amid the excitement then prevailing, may be reasonably doubted. There could be little doubt, however, that a report, made two years later, by a com- mission of ecclesiastics, with Alfonso de Ojeda at its head, respecting the ivss of the reformation, would be necessarily unfavourable to the J< \vs.f In consequence of this report, the papal provisions were enforced 1'V the nomination, on the 17th of September, 1480, of two Dominican ri.mks as inquisitors, with two other ecclesiastics, the one as assessor, he other as procurator fiscal, with instructions to proceed at once to ;- ville, and enter on the duties of their office. Orders were also issued to the authorities of the city to support the inquisitors by all the aid in power. But the new institution, which has since become the ruble boast of the Castilians, proved so distasteful to them in its origin, that they refused any co-operation with its ministers, and indeed opposed such delays and embarrassments, that, during the first years, it can scarcely be said to have obtained a footing in any other places in Andalusia than those belonging to the crown. J On the 2nd of January, 1481, the court commenced operations by the publication of an edict, followed byseveral others, requiring all persons to aid in apprehending and accusing all such as they might know or suspect to be guilty of heresy, and holding out the illusory promise of absolution to such as should confess their errors within a limited period. As every mode of accusation, even anonymous, was invited, the number of victims multiplied so fast that the tribunal found it convenient to remove its sittings from the convent of St. Paul, within the city, to the spacious fortress of Triana, in the suburbs. || The presumptive proofs Ly which the charge of Judaism was established 'against the accused ars to curious, that a few of them may deserve * I find no contemporary authority for imputing to cardinal Mendoza an active agency In the establishment of the Inquisition, as is claimed for him by later writers, and esi>ecmlly his kinsman and biographer, the canon Salazar de Mendoza. The conduct of this eminent minister in this affair seems, on the contrary, to have been equally politic and humane. The imputation of bigotry was not cast upon it uutil the age when bigotry was esteemed a virtue. t In the interim, a caustic publication by a Jew appeared, containing strictures on the conduct of the administration, and even on the Christian religion, wliich was contro- verted at length by Talavera, afterwards archbishop of Granada. The scandal occasioned I y this ill-timed production undoubtedly contributed to exacerbate the popular odium ugamst the Israelites. J It is worthy of remark, that the famous cortes of Toledo, 'assembled but a short time previous to the above-mentioned ordinances, and which enacted several oppressive l:i we in relation to the Jews, made no allusion whatever to the proposed establishment of a tribunal which was to be armed with such territic powers. This ordinance, in wliich Llorcnte discerns the first regular encroachment of tlio new tribunal on the civil jurisdiction, was aimed partly at the Andalusian nobility, who afforded a shelter to the Jewish fugitives. Lloreute has fallen into the error, more than once, of speaking of the count of Arcos, and marquis of Cadiz, as separate persons. The -:ins .1 before this o urt were determined by the principles of the canon law, of which the grand inqmaitor v is to be sole interpreter, the others having only, as it was termed, a ''consultative Toice." 142 THE religion -were instructed to refuse absolution to such, as hesitated to comply with this, although the suspected person might stand in the relation of parent, child, husband, or wife. All accusations, anonymous, as well as signed, were admitted ; it being only necessary to specify the names of the witnesses, whose testimony was taken down in writing by a secretary, and afterwards read to them, which, unless the inaccuracies were so gross as to force themselves upon tluir attention, they seldom failed to confirm.* The accused, in the meantime, whose mysterious disappearance was perhaps the only public evidence of his arrest, was conveyed to the secret chambers of the Inquisition, where he was jealously excluded from intercourse with all, save a priest of the Romish Church and his jailer, both of whom might be regarded as the spies of the tribunal. In this desolate condition, the unfortunate man, cut off from external communi- cation ana ail cheering sympathy or support, was kept for some time in ignorance even of the nature of the charges preferred against him ; and at length, instead of the original process, was favoured only with extracts from the depositions of the witnesses, so garbled as to conceal every possible clue to their name and quality. With still greater unfair- ness, no mention whatever was made of such testimony as had arisen, ia the course of the examination, in his own favour. Counsel was indeed allowed from a list presented by his judges. But this privilege availed little, since the parties were not permitted to confer together, and the advocate was furnished with no other sources of information than what had been granted to his client. To add to the injustice of these proceed- ings, every discrepancy in the statements of the witnesses was converted into a separate charge against the prisoner, who thus, instead of one crime, stood accused of several. This, taken in connexion with the concealment of time, place, and circumstance in the accusations, created such, embarrassment, that, unless the accused was possessed of unusual acuteness and presence of mind, it was sure to involve him, in his attempts to explain, in inextricable contradiction. If the prisoner refused to confess his guilt, or, as was usual, was suspected of evasion, or an attempt to conceal the truth, he was sub- jected to the torture. This, which was administered in the deepest vaults of the Inquisition, where the cries of the victim could fall on no ear save that of his tormentors, is admitted by the secretary of the Holy Office, who has furnished the most authentic report of its transactions, not to have been exaggerated in any of the numerous narratives which have dragged these subterranean horrors into light. If the intensity of pain extorted a confession from the sufferer, he was expected, if he survived, which did not always happen, to confirm it on the next day. Should he refuse to do this, his mutilated members were condemned to a repetition of the same sufferings, until his obstinacy (it should rather have been termed his heroism) might be vanquished, -f Should the rack, The witnesses were questioned in such general terms, that they were even kept in ignorance of the particular matter respecting which they were expected to testify. Thus, they were asked, "if they knew anything which had been said or done contrary to the Catholic faith, and the interests of the tribunal" Their answers often opened a new cent to the ju-lges, and thus, in the language of Montanus, " brought more fishes into the inquisitors holy angle. " t By a subsequent regulation of Philip II., the repetition of torture in the same process rras sincUy prohibited to the iuouisirors. But they, making use of a sophism worthy THE IXQT7ISITIOK. 143 however, prove ineffectual to force a confession of his guilt, he was so far from being considered as having established his innocence, that, with a barbarity unknown to any tribunal where the torture has been admitted, and which of itself proves its litter incompetency to the ends it proposes, he was not unfrequently convicted on the depositions of the witnesses. At the conclusion of this mock trial, the prisoner was again returned to his dungeon, where, without the blaze of a single faggot to dispel the cold, or illuminate the darkness of the long winter night, he was left in. unbroken silence to await the doom which was to consign him to an ignominious death, or a life scarcely less ignominious.* The proceedings of the tribunal, as I have stated them, were plainly characterised throughout by the most flagrant injustice and inhumanity to the accused. Instead of presuming his innocence until his guilt had been established, it acted on exactly the opposite principle. Instead of affording him the protection accorded by every other judicature, and especially demanded in his forlorn situation, it used the most insidious arts to circumvent and to crush him. He had no remedy against malice or misapprehension on the part of his accusers, or the witnesses against him, who might be his bitterest enemies ; since they were never revealed to, nor confronted with, the prisoner, nor subjected to a cross-examina- tion, which can best expose error or wilful collusion in the evidence, f Even the poor forms of justice recognised in this court might be readily dispensed with, as its proceedings were impenetrably shrouded from th'e public eye by the appalling oath of secresy imposed on all, whether functionaries, witnesses, or prisoners, who entered within its precincts. The last, and not the least odious feature of the whole, was the con- nexion established between the condemnation of the accused and the- interests of his judges ; since the confiscations, which were the uniform penalties of heresy, J were not permitted to How into the royal exchequer, until they had first discharged the expenses, whether in the shape of salaries or otherwise, incident to the Holy Office. of the arch-fiend himself contrived to evade this law, by pretending, after each new infliction of punishment, that they had only suspended, and not terminated, the torture. * I shall spare the reader the description of the various modes of torture, the rack, fire, and pulley, practised by the inquisitors, which have been *o often detailed in the doleful narratives of such as have had the fortune to escape with life from the fangs of the tribunal. If we are to believe Llorente, these barbarities have not been decreed for a long time. Yet some recent .-taternents are at variance with this assertion. t The prisoner had indeed the right of challenging any witness on the ground of per- sonal enmity. But as lie was kept in ignorance of the names of the witnesses employed against him, and as even, if he conjectured right, the degree of enmity competent to set aside testimony was to be determined by his judges, it is evident that his privilege o* challenge was wholly nugatory. t Confiscation had long been decreed as the punishment of convicted heretics by the statutes of Castile. The avarice of the present system, however, is exemplified by the fact, that those who confessed and sought absolution within the brief term of grace allowed by the inquisitors from the publication of their edict, were liable to arbitrary fines ; and those who confessed after that period, escaped with nothing short of con- fiscation. $ It is easy to discern, in every part of the odious scheme of the Inquisition, the contrivance of the monks, a class of men cut off by their profession from the usual sympathies of social life, and who, accustomed to the tyranny of the confessional, aimed at establishing the same jurisdiction over thoughts which secular tribunals have wisely confined to actions. Time, instead of softening, gave increased harshness to the feature* of the new system. The most humane provisions were constantly evaded in practice ; and the toils lor ensnaring the victim were so ingeniously multiplied, that few, very few, were permitted to escape without some censure. Xot more than one person, s.iya Llorente, in one or perhaps two thousand processes, previous to the time of Philip 111, 144 THE INQUISITION. The last scene in this dismal tragedy was the act of faith (auto da fe), the most imposing spectacle, probably, which has been witnessed since the ancient Roman triumph, and which, as intimated by a Spanish writer, was intended, somewhat profanely, to represent the terrors of the Day of Judgment.* The proudest grandees of the land, on this occasion, pxitting on the sable livery of familiars of the Holy Office, and bearing aloft its banners, condescended to act as the escort of its ministers ; while the ceremony was not unfrequently countenanced by the royal presence. It should be stated, however, that neither of these acts of condescension, or, more properly, humiliation, were witnessed until a period posterior to the present reign. The effect was further heightened by the concourse of ecclesiastics in their sacerdotal robes, and the pompous ceremonial which the church of Rome knows so well how to display on fitting occasions, and which was intended to conse- crate, as it were, this bloody sacrifice by the authority of a religion which has expressly declared that it desires mercy and not sacrifice. f The most important actors in the scene were the unfortunate convicts, who were now disgorged for the first time from the dungeons of the tribunal. They were clad in coarse woollen garments, styled san-benitos, brought close round the neck, and descending like a frock down to the knees. J These were of a yellow colour, embroidered with a scarlet cross, and well garnished with figures of devils and flames of fire, which, typical of the heretic's destiny hereafter, served to make him more odious in the eyes of the superstitious multitude. The greater part of the sufferers were condemned to be reconciled, the manifold meanings of which soft phrase have been already explained. Those who were to be relaxed, as it was called, were delivered over, as impenitent heretics, to the secular arm, in order to expiate their offence by the most painful of deaths, with the consciousness still more painful, that they were to leave received entire absolution. So that it came to be proverbial that all who were not roasted, were at least singed. " Devant 1'Inquisition, quand on vient a jub^, Si Ton ne sort roti, 1'ou sort au moins flambd." * Every reader of Tacitus and Juvenal will remember how early the Christians were condemned to endure the penalty of fire. Per.iHjwi the earliest instance of burning to death for heresy hi modem times occurred under the reign of Hobert of France, in the early part of the eleventh century. Paramo, as usual, finds authority for inquisitorial autos da fe, where one would least expect it, in the New Testament. Among other examples, he quotes the remark of James and John, who, when the village of Samaria refused to admit Christ within its walls, would have called down fire from heaven to consume the inhabitants. "Ix>!"says Paramo, ''fire, the punishment of heretics, for the Samaritans were the heretics of thosi; times." The worthy father omits to add the impressive rebuke of our Saviour to his over-zealous disciples : " Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. The Son of Man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them." t The inquisitors, after the celebration of an auto da fe at Guadaloupe in 14S5, wishing Crobably to justify these bloody executions in the eyes of the people, who had not yet ecome t'amiliar with them, solicited a sign from the Virgin (whose shrine in that place is noted all over Spain) in testimony of her approbation of the Holy Office. Their petition was answered by such a profusion of miracles, that Dr. Francis Sanctius de la Fnente, who acted as scribe on the occasion, became out of breath, and after recording sixty, gave up in despair, unable to keep pace with their marvellous rapidity. t San benito, according to Llorente, is a corruption of saco berulito, being the name given to the dresses worn by penitents previously to the thirteenth century. Voltaire remarks that " An Asiatic, arriving at Madrid on the d:iy of an auto da fe, would doubt whether it were a festival, religious celebration, sacrifice, or massacre ; it is all of them. They reproacli Moutex.uni i with sai-rificing human captives to the gods. What would he have said had he witnessed an auto da fe ? " THE IXQUISITION. 145 behind them names branded with iui'umy, and families involved in irre trie v able niiu.* It is remarkable, that a scheme so monstrous as that of the Inquisition, presenting the most effectual barrier, probably, that was ever opposed to the progress of knowledge, should have been revived at the close of the fifteenth century, when the light of civilisation was rapidly advancing over every part of Europe. It is more remarkable, that it should have occurred in Spain, at this time under a government which had displayed great religious independence on more than one occasion, and which had paid uniform regard to the rights of its subjects, and pursued a generous policy in reference to their intellectual culture. Where, we are tempted to ask, when we behold the persecution of an innocent industrious people for the crime of adhesion to the faith of their ancestors, where was the charity which led the old Castilian to reverence valour and virtue in an infidel, though an enemy ? Where the chivalrous self- devotion which led an Aragonese monarch, three centuries before, to give away his life in defence of the persecuted sectaries of Provence ? Where the independent spirit which prompted the Castilian nobles, during the very last reign, to reject with scorn the purposed interference of the pope himself in their concerns, that they were now reduced to bow their necks to a few frantic priests, the members of an order which, in Spain at least, was quite as conspicuous for ignorance as intolerance ? True indeed the Castilians, and the Aragonese subsequently still more, gave such evidence of their aversion to the institution, that it can hardly be believed the clergy would have succeeded in fastening it upon them, had they not availed themselves of the popular prejudices against the Jcws.f Providence, however, permitted that the sufferings, thus heaped on the heads of this unfortunate people, should be requited in full measure to the nation that inflicted them. The fires of the Inquisition, which were lighted exclusively for the Jews, were destined eventually to consume their oppressors. They were still more deeply avenged in the moral influence of this tribunal, which, eating like a pestilent canker into the heart of the monarchy, at the very time when it was exhibiting a most goodly promise, left it at length a bare and sapless trunk. Notwithstanding the persecutions under Torquemada wore confined almost wholly to the Jews, his activity was such as to furnish abundant precedent, in regard to forms of proceeding for his successors ; if, indeed, the forms may be applied to the conduct of trials so summary, that the * The government, at least, cannot be charged with remissness in promoting this. I fiixl two ordinances in the royal collection of pragmd'icas, dated in September, liOl (tliera must be some error in the date of one of them), inhibiting, under pain of confiscation of property, such as had been reconciled, and their children by the mother's side, and gr.ud- children by the father's, from holding any office in the privy council, courts of justice, or iu the municipalities, or any other place of trust or honour. They were also excluded from the vocations of notaries, suru'mns, and apothecaries. This was visiting the sius of the " poll memoriam hominum, supplicia in post futuros "couiposuit ; quit prius i, late. Ii 146 THE INQTJISITIOX. tribunal of Toledo alone, imder the superintendence of two inquisitors, disposed of three thousand three hundred and twenty-seven processes in little more than a year.* The number of convicts was greatly swelled by the blunders of* the Dominican monks, who acted as qualificatois, or interpreters of what constituted heresy, and whose ignorance led them frequently to condemn, as heterodox, propositions actually derived from the fathers of the church. The prisoners for life, alone, became so numerous, that it was necessary to assign them their own houses as the places of their incarceration. The data for an accurate calculation of the number of victims sacri- ficed by the Inquisition during this reign are not very satisfactory. From such as exist, however, Llorente has been led to the most frightful results. He computes that, during the eighteen years of Torquemada's ministry, there were no less than 10,220 burnt, 6,860 condemned, and burnt in effigy as absent or dead, and 97,321 reconciled by various other penances ; affording an average of more than 6,000 convicted persons annually.t In this enormous sum of human misery is not included the multitxide of orphans, who, from the confiscation of their paternal in- heritance, were turned over to indigence and vice.} Many of the reconciled were afterwards sentenced as relapsed ; and the curate of Los Palacios expresses the charitable wish, that "the whole accursed race of Jews, male and female, of twenty years of age and upwards, might be purified with fire and faggot ! " The vast apparatus of the Inquisition involved so heavy an expen- diture, that a very small sum, comparatively, found its way into the exchequer, to counterbalance the great detriment resulting to the state from the sacrifice of the most active and skilful part of its population. All temporal interests, however, were held light in comparison with the purgation of the land from heresy ; and such augmentations as the revenue did receive, we are assured, were conscientiously devoted to pious purposes, and the Moorish war !|| The Koman see, during all this time, conducting itself with its usual duplicity, contrived to make a gainful traffic by the sale of dispensations * In Seville, with probably no greater apparatus, in 1482, 21,000 processes were dis- posed of. These were the first fruits of the Jewish heresy, when Torquemada, although an inquisitor, had not the supreme control of the tribunal. f Llorente afterwards reduces this estimate to 8,800 burnt, 96,504 otherwise punished; the tiiocese of Cuenca being comprehended hi that of Murcia. Zurita says, that, by 1520, the Inquisition of Seville had sentenced more than 4,000 persons to be burnt, and 30,000 to other punishments. Another author, whom he quotes, carries up the estimate of the total condemned by this single tribunal, within the same term of time, to 100,000. J By an article of the primitive instructions, the inquisitors were required to set apart a small portion of the confiscated estates for the education and Christian nurture of minors, children of the condemned. Llorente says, that, in the immense number of pv which he had occasion to consult* he met with no instance ot their attention to the fato of these unfortunate orphans ! Torquemada wared *?ar upon freedom of thought in every form. In 1 100 lie caused several Hebrew bibles to be publicly burnt, and, some time after, more than O.OuO volumes of Oriental learning, on the imputation of Judaism, sorcery, or heresy, at the autos da fe of Salamanca, the very nursery of science. This may remind one of the similar sentence passed by Lope de Barrientos, another Dominican, about fifty years before, upon the books of the Marquis of Villcna. Fortunately for the dawning literature of Spain. Isabella did not, as was done by her successors, commit the censorship of the press to the judges of the Holy Office, notwithstanding such occasional assumption of power by the grand inquisitor. !! The prodigious desolation of the land may be inferred from the estimates, although omewhat discordant, of deserted houses in Andalusia, tiaribay puts these at three, Vulgar at four, L. Marineo as high as five thousand. THE INQUISITION. 141 from the penalties incurred by such as fell under the ban of the In- quisition, provided they were rich enough to pay for them, and afterwards revoking them, at the instance of the Castilian court. Meanwhile, the odium excited by the unsparing rigour of Torquemada raised up so many accusations against him, that he was thrice compelled to send an agent to Rome to defend his cause before the pontiff; until, at length, Alexander the Sixth, in 1494, moved by these reiterated complaints, appointed four coadjutors, out of a pretended regard to the infirmities of his age, to share with him the burdens of his office. This personage, who is entitled to so high a rank among those who have been the authors of unmixed evil to their species, was permitted to reach a very old age, and to die quietly in his bed. Yet he lived iii such constant apprehension of assassination, that he is said to have kept a reputed unicorn's horn always on his table, which was imagined to have the power of detecting and neutralising poisons ; while, for the more complete protection of his person, he was allowed an escort of lit'ty horse and two hundred foot in his progresses through the kingdom. This man's zeal was of such an extravagant character, that it may almost shelter itself under the name of insanity. His history may be thought to prove, that, of all human infirmities, or rather vices, there is none productive of more extensive mischief to society than fanaticism. The opposite principle of atheism, which refuses to recognise the most important sanctions to virtue, does not necessarily imply any destitution of j ust moral perceptions, that is, of a power of discriminating between right and wrong, in its disciples. But fanaticism is so far subversive of the most established principles of morality, that, under the dangerous maxim, "For the advancement of the faith, all means are lawful," which Tasso has rightly, though perhaps undesignedly, derived from the spirits of hell, it not only excuses, but enjoins the commission of the most revolting crimes, as a sacred duty. The more repugnant, indeed, such crimes may be to natural feeling, or public sentiment, the greater their merit from the sacrifice which the commission of them involves. Mauy a bloody page of history attests the fact, that fanaticism, armed with power, is the sorest evil which can bofall a nation. Don Juan Antonio Llorente is the only writer who has succeeded in completely lifting the veil from the dread mysteries of the Inquisition. It is obvious how very few could be competent to this task, since the proceedings of the Holy Office were shrouded in such. impenetrable secrecy, that even the prisoners who were arraigned before it, as has been already stated, were kept in ignorance of their own processes. Even such of its function- aries as have at different times pretended to give its transactions to the world, have con- ;,no 1 themselves to an historical outline, with meagre notices of such parts of its internal discipline as might bo safely disclosed to the public. Llorente was secretary to the tribunal of Madrid from 1790 to 1702. His official station ueutly afforded him every facility for an acquaintance with the most recondite nfliiirs of the Inquisition ; and, on its suppression at the close of 1SOS, he devoted several years to a careful investigation of the roisters of the tribunals both of the capital and the provinces, as well as of such other original documents contained within their archives as had not hitherto been opened to the : r ; - ess of his work he has anatomised the most odious features of the institution with unsparing severity ; and his renucrions are warmed with a generous and enlightened spirit, certainly not to have been, expected in an ex-inquisitor. The arrangement of his immense mass of materials is indeed somewhat faulty, and the work mi^'lit be re-cast in a more popularform, especially by means of a copious retrenchment. With all its subordinate detects, however, it ia entitled to the credit ot' being the most, indeed the only, authentic history of the Modern Inquisition ; exhibiting its minutest forms of practice, and the insidious policy by which they were directed, from the origin of the institution down to its temporary abolition. L 2 148 THE SPANISH ARABS. It well deserves to be studied, as the record of the most humiliating triumph which fanaticism has ever been able to obtain over human reason, and that too during the most civilised periods, and in the most civilised portion of the world. The persecutions endured by the unfortunate author of the work, prove that the embers of this fanaticism may be rekindled too easily, even in the present century. CHAPTEE VIII. MCVIZTW OF THE POLITICAL AND INTELLECTUAL CONDITION OF THE SPANISH ARA H8 FREVIOCS TO THE WAR OF GBANADA. Conquest of Spain by the Arabs Cordovan Empire High Civilisation and Prosperity Its dismemberment Kingdom of Granada Luxurious and chivalrous character Literature of the Spanish Arabs Progress in Science Historical Merits Useful Discoveries Poetry and Romance Influence on the Spaniards. WE have now arrived at the commencement of the famous war of Granada, which terminated in the subversion of the Arabian empire in Spain, after it had subsisted for nearly eight centuries, and with the consequent restoration to the Castilian crown of the fairest portion of its ancient domain. In order to a better understanding of the character of the Spanish Arabs, or Moors, who exercised an important influence on that of their Christian neighbours, the present chapter will be devoted to a consideration of their previous history in the Peninsula, where they probably reached a higher degree of civilisation than in t any other part of the world. It is not necessary to dwell upon the causes of the brilliant successes of Mahometanism at its outset, the dexterity with which, unlike all other religions, it was raised upon, not against, the principles and pre- judices of preceding sects ; the military spirit and discipline which it established among all classes, so that the multifarious nations who em- braced it assumed the appearance of one vast well-ordered camp ; * the union of ecclesiastical with civil authority intrusted to the caliphs, which enabled them to control opinions as absolutely as the Roman pontiffs, m their despotic hour ; f or/ lastly, the peculiar adaptation of * The Koran, in addition to the repeated assurances of Paradise to the martyr who falls in battle, contains the regulations of a precise military code. Military service in some shape or other is exacted from all. The terms to bo prescribed to the enemy and the vanquished, the division of the spoil, the seasons of lawful truce, the conditions on which the comparatively small number of exempts are permitted to remain at home, are accurately defined. When the algihtd, or Mahometan Crusade, which in its general design and immunities bore a close resemblance to the Christian, was preached in the mosque, every true believer was bound to repair to the standard of his chief. " The holy war, says one of the early Saracen generals, "is the ladder of Paradise. The Apostle of God styled himself the son of the sword. He loved the repose in the shadow of oamiers and on the field of battle." f The successors, caliphs or vicars, as they were styled, of Mahomet, represented both his spiritual and temporal authority. Their office involved almost equally ecclesiastical and military functions. It was their duty to lead the army in battle, and on the pilgrim- age to Mecca. They were to preach a sermon, and offer up public prayers in the mosques every Friday. Many of their prerogatives resemble those assumed anciently by the popes. They conferred investitures on the Moslem princes by the symbol of a ring, a sword, or a standard. They complimented them with the titles of "defender of the faith," "column of religion," and the like. The proudest potentate held the bridle of their mules, and paid his homage by touching their threshold with his forehead. The authority of the caliphs was in this manner founded on opinion no less than on power ; and their ordinances Lowever frivolous or iniquitous in themselves, being enforced, as it were, by a diviuo sanction, became laws which it was sacrilege to disobey. THE SPANISH AIIABS. i i9 the doctrines of Mahomet to the character of the wild tribes among whom they \veiv preached.* It is sufficient to say, that these latter, within a century after the coming of their apostle, having succeeded in establishing their religion over vast regions in Asia, and on the northern shores of Africa, arrived before the Straits of Gibraltar, which, though a, temporary, were destined to prove an ineffectual bulwark for Christendom. The causes which have been currently assigned for the invasion and conquest of Spain, even by the most credible modern historians, have scarcely any foundation in contemporary records. The true causes are to be found in the rich spoils offered by the Gothic monarchy, and in the thirst of enterprise in the Saracens, which their long uninterrupted career of victory seems to have sharpened rather than satisfied.! The fatal battle which terminated with the slaughter of King lloderic and the flower of his nobility, was fought in the summer of 711, on a plain washed by the Guadalete near Xerez, about two leagues distant from Cadiz. J The Goths appear never to have afterwards rallied under one head, but their broken detachments made many a gallant stand in such strong positions as were afforded throughout the kingdom ; so that nearly three years elapsed before the final achievement of the conquest. The policy of the conquerors, after making the requisite allowance for the evils necessarily attending such an invasion, may be considered * The character of the Arabs before the introduction of Islam, like that of most ruda nations, is to be gathered from their national songij i.:ive IK i ,!>i..:icd the destruction of only forty indi- viduals. Most of these unhappy fount; i!ie crown of martyrdom by an opea D of the Mahometan laws and usages. The details are given by Florcz in" the tenth volume of his collection. THE SPANISH ASABS. 151 electing liis successor from among his numerous progeny; and this adoption was immediately ratiiu d by an oath of alliance to the heir apparent from the principal officers of state. The princes of the blood, instead of being condemned, as in Turk< ; waste their youth in the seclusion of the harem, were intrusted to the care of learned men, to be instructed in the duties berittiug their station. They were encouraged to visit the academies, which were particularly celebrated in Cordova, where they mingled in disputation, and frequently carried away the prizes of poetry aud eloquence. Their riper years exhibited such fruits as were to be exvcot< d ironi their early education. The race of the Onieyades need not shrink from a comparison with any other dynasty of equal length in modern Europe. Many of them amused their leisure with poetical composition, of which numerous examples are preserved in Conde's History ; and some left elaborate works of learning, which have maintained a permanent reputation with Arabian sch Their long reigns, the first ten of which embrace a period of two centimes aud a halt', their peaceful deaths, and unbroken line of succession in the same family for so many years, show that their authority must have been founded in the affections of their subjects. Indeed, they seem, with one or two exceptions, to have ruled over them with a truly patriarchal sway ; and, on the event of their deaths, the people, bathed iu tears, are described as accompanying their relics to the tomb, where the ceremony was concluded with a public eulogy on the virtues of the deceased, by his son and successor. This pleasing moral picture affords a strong contrast to the sanguinary scenes which so olten attend the transmission, of the sceptre from one generation to another among the nations of the East. The Spanish caliphs supported a large military force,. frequently keep- ing two or three armies iu the field at the same time. The flower ot .is a body-guard, gradually raised to twelve thousand -men, one third of them Christians, superbly equipped, and officered by members of the royal family. Their feuds with the eastern caliphs and the I'.arbary pirates required them also to maintain a respectable navy, which was litted out from the numerous dock-yards that lined the coast from Cadiz to Tarragona. The munificence of the Omeyadcs was most ostentatiously displayed in their public edifices, palaces, mosques, hospitals, and in the construc- tion of commodious quays, fountains, bridges, and aqueducts, which, penetrating the sides of the mountains, or sweeping on lofty arches a the valleys, rivalled in their proportions the monuments of ancient Home. These w.a-ks, which were scattered more or less over all the provinces, contributed especially to the embellishment of Cordova, the capital of the empire. The delightful situation of this city in the i of a cultivated plain washed by the waters of the Guadalquivir, made if. very early the favourite residence of the Arabs, who loved to sun their houses, even in the cities, with groves and re freshing fountains, so delightful to the imagination of a wanderer of tli. The public squares and private court-yards sparkled with jets d'cati, fed by copious streams Ironi the Sierra Mi'ivna, which, besides supplying nine hundred public baths, were conducted into the interior of the edifices, wher> difiiis d a grateful coolness over the sleeping apartments of th-.-ir luxurious inhabitants. 1J2 THE SPANISH AE.AES. Without adverting to that magnificent freak of the caliphs, the con- struction of the palace of Azahra, of which not a vestige now remains, we may form a sufficient notion of the taste and magnificence of this era from the remains of the far-famed mosque, now the cathedral of Cordova. This building, which still covers more ground than any other church in Christendom, was esteemed the third in sanctity by the Mahometan world, being inferior only to the Alaksa of Jerusalem and the temple of Mecca. Most of its ancient glories have indeed long since departed. The rich bronze which embossed its gates, the myriads of lamps which illuminated its aisles, have disappeared ; and its interior roof of odoriferous and curiously carved wood has been cut up into guitars and snuff-boxes. But its thousand columns of variegated marble still remain ; and its general dimensions, notwithstanding some loose assertions to the contrary, seem to be much the same as they were in the time of the Saracens. European critics, however, condemn its most elaborate beauties as " heavy and barbarous." Its celebrated portals are pronounced "diminutive, and in very bad taste." Its throng of pillars gives it the air of "a park rather than a temple," and the whole is made still more incongruous by the unequal length of their shafts, being grotesquely compensated by a proportionate variation of size in their bases and capitals, rudely fashioned after the Corinthian order. But if all this gives a contemptible idea of the taste of the Saracens at this period, which indeed, in architecture, seems to have been far inferior to that of the later princes of Granada, we cannot but be astonished at the adequacy of their resources to carry such magnificent designs into execution. Their revenue, we are told in explanation, amounted to eight millions of mitcales of gold, or nearly six millions sterling : a sum fifteen-fold greater than that which William the Conqueror, in the subsequent century, was able to extort from his subjects with all the ingenuity of feudal exaction. The tone of exaggeration which dis- tinguishes the Asiatic writers, entitles them, perhaps, to little confidence in their numerical estimates. This immense wealth, however, is predicated of other Mahometan princes of that age ; and their vast superiority over the Christian states of the north, in arts and effective industry, may well account for a corresponding superiority in their resources. The revenue of the Cordovan sovereigns was derived from the fifth of the spoil taken in battle, an important item in an age of unintermitting war and rapine ; from the enormous exaction of one-tenth of the produce of commerce, husbandry, flocks, and mines ; from a capitation tax on Jews and Christians ; and from certain tolls on the transportation of goods. They engaged in commerce on their own account, and drew from mines, which belonged to the crown, a conspicuous part of their incomes. Before the discovery of America, Spain was to the rest of Europe what her colonies have since become, the great source of mineral wealth. The Carthaginians, and the Romans afterwards, regularly drew from her large masses of the precious metals. Pliny, who resided some time ia the country, relates that three of her provinces were said to have annually yielded the incredible quantity of sixty thousand pounds of gold. The Arabs, with their usual activity, penetrated into these arcana of wealth. Abundant traces of their labours are still to be met with THE SPANISH AJ5AB9. Iii3 along the barren ridge of mountains that covers the north of Andalusia ; and the diligent Bowles has enumerated no less than five thousand of their excavations in the kingdom or district of Jaen. But the best mine of the caliphs was in the industry and sobriety of their subjects. The Arabian colonies have been properly classed among the agricultural. Their acquaintance with the science of husbandry is shown in their voluminous treatises on the subject, and in the monu- ments which they have everywhere left of their peculiar culture. The system of irrigation which has so long fertilised the south of Spain was derived from them. They introduced into the Peninsula various tropical plants and vegetables, whose cultivation has departed with them. Sugar, which the modern Spaniards have been obliged to import from foreign nations in large quantities annually for their domestic consumption, until within the last half century that they have been supplied by their island of Cuba, constituted one of the principal exports of the Spanish Arabs. The silk manufacture was carried on by them extensively. The Nubian geographer, in the beginning of the twelfth century, enumerates six hundred villages in Jaen as engaged in it, at a time when it was known to the Europeans only from their circuitous traffic with the Greek empire. This, together with fine fabrics of cotton and woollen, formed the staple of an active commerce with the Levant, and especially with Constanti- nople, whence they were again diffused, by means of the caravans of the North, over the comparatively barbarous countries of Christendom. The population kept pace with this general prosperity of the country. It would appear from a census instituted at Cordova, at the close of the tenth centurv, that there were at that time in it six hundred temples and two hundred thousand dwelling-houses : many of these latter being, probably, mere huts or cabins, and occupied by separate families. Without placing too much reliance on any numerical statements, how- ever, we may give due weight to the inference of an intelligent writer, ..who remarks that their minute cultivation of the soil, the cheapness of their labour, their particular attention to the most nutritious esculents, many of tbem such as would be rejected by Europeans at this day, are indicative of a crowded population, like that perhaps, which swarms over Japan or China, where the same economy is necessarily resorted to for the mere sustenance of life. Whatever consequence a nation may derive, in its own age, from physical resources, its intellectual development will form the subject of deepest interest to posterity. The most fiourishing periods of both not un frequently coincide. Thus the reigns of Abderrahman the Third, Alhakem the Second, and the regency of Almanzor, embracing the latter half of the tenth century, during which the Spanish Arabs reached their highest political importance, may be regarded as the period of their highest civilisation under the Omeyades ; although the impulse then given carried them forward to still further advances in the turbulent times which followed. This beneficent impulse is, above all, imputable to Alhakem. He was one of those rare beings who have employed the awful engine of despotism in promoting the happiness and intelligence of his species. In his elegant tastes, appetite for knowledge, and munificent patronage, he may be compared with the best of the Medici. He assembled the eminent scholars of his time, both natives and foreigners, at his court, where he employed them in the most confidential offices. 154 THE SPANISH ARABS. He converted his palace into an academy, making it the familiar resort of men of letters, at whose conferences he personally assisted in his intervals of leisure from public duty. He selected the most suitable persons for the composition of works on civil and natural history, requiring the prefects of his provinces and cities to furnish, as far as possible, the necessary intelligence. He was a diligent student, and K-i't many of the volumes which he read enriched with his commentaries. Above all, he was intent upon the acquisition of an extensive library. He invited illustrious foreigners to send him their works, and muni- ficently recompensed them. No donative was so grateful to him as a book. He employed agents in Egypt, Syria, Irak, and Persia, for collecting and transcribing the rarest manuscripts ; and his vessels returned freighted with cargoes more precious than the spices of the East. In this way he amassed a magnificent collection, which was distributed, according to the subjects, in various apartments of his palace ; and which, if we may credit the Arabian historians, amounted to six hundred thousand volumes.* If all this be thought to savour too much of eastern hyperbole, still it cannot be doubted that an amazing number of writers swarmed over the Peninsula at this period. Casiri's multifarious catalogue bears ample testimony to the emulation with which not only men, but even women of the highest rank, devoted themselves to letters ; the latter contending publicly for the prizes, not merely in eloquence and poetry, but in recondite studies which have usually been reserved for the other sex. The prefects of the provinces, emulating their master, converted their courts into academies, and dispensed premiums to poets and philosophers. The stream of royal bounty awakened life in the remotest districts. But its effects were especially visible in the capital. Eighty free schools were opened in Cordova. The circle of letters and science was publicly expounded by professors, whose reputation for wisdom attracted not only the scholars of Christian Spain, but of France, Italy, Germany, and the British Isles. For this period of brilliant illumination with the Saracens corresponds precisely with that of the deepest barbarism of Europe ; when a library of three or four hundred volumes was a magnificent endowment for the richest monastery; when scarcely a " priest south of the Thames," in the words of Alfred, " could translate Latin into his mother tongue ; " when not a single philosopher, according to Tiraboschi, was to be met with in Italy, save only the French Pope, Syl \vstr : Second, who drew his knowledge from the schools of the Spanish Arabs, and was esteemed a necromancer for his pains. Such is the glowing picture presented to us of Arabian scholarship, in the tenth and succeeding centuries, under a despotic government and a sensual religion ; and, whatever judgment may be passed on the real value of all their boasted literature, it cannot be denied that the nation * This number will appear less startling if we consider that it was the ancient usage to make a separate volume of each book into which a work was divided ; that only one side of the leaf was usually written on, and that writing always covers much greater space than printing. t Among the accomplished women of this period, Valadata, the daughter of the caliph Mahomet, is celebrated as having frequently carried away the palm of eloquence in lior discussions with the most learned academicians. Others again, with an intrepidity tliai night shame the degeneracy of a modern blue, plunged boldly into the studies of pliiiaaw pay, history, and jurisprudence. THE SPANISH AEAliS. 155 exhibited a wonderful activity of intellect, and an apparatus for learning (if we are to admit their own statements) unrivalled in the best ages of antiquity. The Mahometan governments of that period rested on so unsound a basis, that the season of their greatest prosperity was often followed by precipitate decay. This had been the case with the eastern caliphate, and was now so with the western. During the life of Alhakem's suc- , the empire of the Omeyades was broken up into a hundred petty principalities ; and their magnilicent capital of Cordova, dwindling into a second-rate city, retained no other distinction than that of being the Mecca of Spain. These little states soon became a prey to all the evils arising out of a vicious constitution of government and religion. Almost every accession to the throne was contested by numerous competitors of the same family ; and a succession of sovereigns, wearing on their brows but the semblance of a crown, came and departed, like the shadows of Macbeth. The motley tribes of Asiatics, of whom the Spanish Arabian population was composed, regarded each other with ill-disguised jealousy. The lawless, predatory habits, which no discipline could clled ually control in an Arab, made them ever ready for revolt. The Moslem states, thus reduced in size and crippled by faction, were unable t" r-ist the Christian forces which were pressing on them from the North. By the middle of the ninth century, the Spaniards had reached the Douro and the Ebro. By the close of the eleventh, they had advanced their line of conquest, under the victorious banner of the Cid, to the Tagus. The swarms of Africans who invaded the Peninsula, during the two following centuries, gave substantial support to their Mahometan brethren ; and the cause of Christian Spain trembled in the balance for a moment on the memorable day of Navas deTolosa. (1212.) But the fortunate issue of that battle, in which, according to the lying letter of Alfonso the Ninth, " one hundred and eighty-hve thousand iniidels perished, and only nve-and-twenty Spaniards," gave a permanent ascendancy to the Christian arms. The vigorous campaigns of James the First of Aragon, and of St. Ferdinand of Castile, gradually stripped away the remaining territories of Valencia, Murcia, and Andalusia ; so that by the middle of the thirteenth century, the const antlv contracting circle of the Moorish dominion had shrunk into the narrow limits of the province of Granada. Yet on this comparatively small point of the ancient domain, the Saracens erected a new kingdom of sufficient strength to resist, for more than two centuries, the united forces of the Spanish monarchies. The Moorish territory of Granada, contained, within a circuit of about one hundred and eighty leagues, all the physical resources of a great empire. Its broad valleys were intersected by mountains rich in mineral wealth, whose hardy population supplied the state with husbandmen and soldiers. Its pastures were fed by abundant fountains, and its coasts studded with commodious ports, the principal marts in the Mediterranean. In the midst, and crowning the whole as with a diadem, rose the beautiful city of Granada. In the days of the Moors it was encompassed by a wall, flanked by a thousand and thirty towers, \ seven portals. Its population, according to a contemporary, at the beginning of the fourteenth century amounted to two hundred thousand souls ; aul various authors aarce rn attesting, that, at a later ueriod, it 156 THE SPANISH ABAHS. could send forth fifty thousand warriors from its gates. This statement will not appear exaggerated, if we consider that the native population of the city was greatly swelled by the influx of the ancient inhabitants of the districts lately conquered by the Spaniards. On the summit of one of the hills of the city was erected the royal fortress or palace of the Alharnbra, which was capable of containing within its circuit forty thousand men. The light and elegant architecture of this edifice, whose magnificent ruins still form the most interesting monument in Spain, for the contemplation of the traveller, shows the great advancement of the art since the construction of the celebrated mosque of Cordova. Its graceful porticos and colonnades, its domes and ceilings glowing with tints which in that transparent atmosphere have lost nothing of their original brilliancy, its airy halls so constructed as to admit the perfume of surrounding gardens and agreeable ventilations of the air, and its fountains which still shed their coolness over its deserted courts, manifest at once the taste, opulence, and Sybarite luxury of its proprietors. The streets are represented to have been narrow, many of the houses lofty, with turrets of curiously-wrought larch or marble, and with cornices of shining metal, ' ' that glittered like stars through the dark foliage of the orange groves ;" and the whole is compared to " an enamelled vase, sparkling with hyacinths, and emeralds." * Such are the florid strains in which the Arabic writers fondly descant on the glories of Granada. At the foot of this fabric of the genii lay the cultivated vega, or plain, so celebrated as the arena, for more than two centuries, of Moorish and Christian chivalry, every inch of whose soil may be said to have been fertilised with human blood. The Arabs exhausted on it all their powers of elaborate cultivation. They distributed the waters of the Xenil, which flowered through it, into a thousand channels for its more perfect irrigation. A constant succession of fruits and crops was obtained throughout the year. The products of the most opposite latitudes were transplanted there with success : and the hemp of the North grew luxuriant under the shadow of the vine and the olive. Silk furnished the principal staple of a traffic that was carried on through the ports of Almeria and Malaga. The Italian cities, then rising into opulence, derived their principal skill in this elegant manufacture from the Spanish Arabs. Florence, in particular, imported large quantities of the raw material from them as late as the fifteenth century. The Genoese are mentioned as having mercantile establishments in Granada ; and treaties of commerce were entered into with this nation, as well as with the erown of Aragon. Their ports swarmed with a motley contribution from "Europe, Africa, and the Levant;" so that " Granada," in the words of the historian, " became the common city of all nations." " The reputation of the citizens for trustworthiness," says a Spanish writer, " was such, that their bare word was more relied on than a written contract is now among us ;" and he quotes the saying of a Catholic * PcJmxa has collected the various etymologies of the term Granada, which some writers have traced to the fact of the city having been the spot where the pomegranate was first intr. "luced from Africa ; others to the large quantity of grain in which its vega abounded ; others again to the resemblance which the city, divided into two hills thickly sprinkled with houses, bore to a half opened pomegr.uiut'c. The arms of the city^ which were in part composed of a pomegranate, would seem to favour the derivation of its name from that at the fruit l-KJi SPANISH AKAB3- 157 bishop, that " Moorish works and Spanish faith were all that were necessary to make a good Christian."* The revenue, which was computed at twelve hundred thousand ducats, was derived from similar, but in some respects heavier imposi- tions than those of the caliphs of Cordova. The crown, besides being possessed of valuable plantations in the vega, imposed the onerous tax of one-seventh on all the agricultural produce of the kingdom. The precious metals were also obtained in considerable quantities, and the royal mint was noted for the purity and elegance of its coin. The sovereigns of Granada were for the most part distinguished by liberal tastes. They freely dispensed their revenues in the protection of letters, the construction of sumptuous public works, and above all, in the display of a courtly pomp, unrivalled by any of the princes of that period. Each day presented a succession of fetes and tourneys, in which the knight seemed less ambitious of the hardy prowess of Christian chivalry, than of displaying his inimitable horsemanship, and his dexterity in the elegant pastimes peculiar to his nation. The people of Granada, like those of ancient Rome, seem to have demanded a perpetual spectacle. Life was with them one long carnival, and the season of revelry was prolonged until the enemy was at the gate. During the interval, which had elapsed since the decay of the Omeyades, the Spaniards had been gradually rising in civilisation to the level of their Saracen enemies ; and, Avhile their increased consequence secured them from the contempt with which they had formerly been regarded by the Mussulmans, the latter, in their turn, had not so far sunk in the scale as to have become the objects of the bigoted aversion which was, in after days, so heartily visited on them by the Spaniards. At this period, therefore, the two nations viewed each other with more liberality, probably, than at any previous or succeeding time. Their respective monarchs conducted their mutual negotiations on a footing of perfect equality. We find several examples of Arabian sovereigns visiting in person the court of Castile. These civilities were reciprocated by the Christian princes. As late as 1463, Henry the Fourth had a personal interview with the king of Granada, in the dominions of the latter. The two monarchs held their conference under a splendid pavilion erected in the vega, before the gates of the city ; and, after an exchange of presents, the Spanish sovereign was escorted to the frontiers by a body of Moorish cavaliers. These acts of courtesy relieve in some measure the ruder features of an almost uninterrupted warfare, that was necessarily kept up between the rival nations.^ * The ambassador of the emperor Frederic III., on his passage to the court of Lisbon, in the middle of the fifteenth century, contrasts the superior cultivation as well as general civilisation of Granada at this period with that of the other countries of Europe through, which he had travelled. t A specification of a royal donative in that day may serve to show the martial spirit of thf :i;,'e. In one of these, made by the king of Granada to the Castilian sovereign, we find twenty noble steeds of the royal stud reared on the banks of the Xcnil, with superb caparisons, and the same number of scimitars richly garnished with gold and jewels ; and in another mixed up with perfumes and cloth of gold, we meet with a litter of tame lions. This latter symbol of royalty appears to have been deemed jteculiarly appropriate to the kings of Leon. Ferreras informs us that the ambassadors from France at the Castilian, court in 1434 were received by John II. with a full-grown domesticated lion crouching at his teet. The same taste appears still to exist in Turkey. Dr. Clarke, in his visit to Constantinople, met with one of these terrific pets, who used to follow his master, liassan Pacha, about l;5cc z dt-j;. 158 THE SrAXISII AKAB3. The Moorish and Christian knights were also in the hat it of exchanging visits at the courts of their respective masters. The Litter were wont to repair to Granada to settle their affairs of honour by personal rencounter, in the presence of its sovereign. The disaffected nobles of Castile, among whom Mariana especially notices the Velas and the Castros, often sought an asylum there, and served under the Moslem banner. With this interchange of social cotirtesy between the two nations, it could not but happen that each should contract somewhat of the peculiarities natural to the other. The Spaniard acquired something of the gravity and mag- nificence of demeanour proper to the Arabian ; and the latter relaxed his habitual reserve, and, above all, the jealousy and gross sensuality which characterise the nations of the East.* Indeed, if we were to rely on the pictures presented to us in the Spanish ballads or romances, we should admit as unreserved an inter- course between the sexes to have existed among the Spanish Arabs, as with any other people of Europe. The Moorish lady is represented there as an undisguised spectator of the public festivals ; while her knight bearing an embroidered mantle or scarf, or some other token of her favour, contends openly in her presence for the prize of valour, mingles with her in the graceful dance of the Zambra, or sighs away his soul in moonlight serenades under her balcony, f Other circumstances, especially the frescos still extant on the walls of the Alhambra, may be cited as corroborative of the conclusions afforded by the romances, implying a latitude in the privileges accorded to the sex, similar to that in Christian countries, and altogether alien from the genius of Mahometanism.J The chivalrous character ascribed to the * Henriquez del Castillo gives an account of an intended duel between two Castilian nobles, in the presence of the king of Granada, as late as 1470. One of the parties, Dou Alfonso de Aguilar, failing to keep his engagement, the other rode round tiie lists in triumph, with his adversary's portrait contemptuously fastened to the tail of his horse. t It must be admitted, that these ballads, as far as facts are concerned, are too inexact to furnish other than a very slippery foundation for history. The most beautiful portion, perhaps of the Moorish ballads, for example, is taken up with the feuds of the Ab,-n- cerrages, in the latter days of Granada. Yet this family, whose romantic story is still repeated to the traveller amid the ruins of the Alhambra, is scarcely noticed, ;is tar a.-. I am aware, by contemporary writers, foreign or domestic, and would seem to owe its chief celebrity to the apocryphal version of Glue's Perez de Hyta, whose ' Milesian according to the severe sentence of Nic. Antonio, "are fit only to amuse the lazy and the listless." But, although the Spanish ballads are not entitled to the credit of st: a social relations of the age ; a remark indeed predicable of most, works of fiction written by authors contemporary with the events they describe, and more especially so ot' that popular minstrelsy, which, emanating from a simple, uucorrupted c! ; .ely to swerve from truth than more ostentatious works of art. The long cohabitation ot the ttaracens with the Christians (full evidence of which is afforded by Capmauy, who quotes i document from the public archives of Catalonia, showing the great number of Saracens residing in Aragon even in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the most flourishing j>eriod of the Granadian empire), had enabled many of them confessedly to speak anc write the Spanish language with purity and elegance. Some of the graceful little - \vhicharestillchantedby the peasantry of Spain in their dances to the accompaniment of the Castanet, are referred by a competent critic (C'oude, de la I'oe.-ia Oriental, MS.) to au Arabian origin. There can bo little hazard, therefore, in imputing much of this peculiar minstrelsy to the Arabians themselves, the contemporaries, and perhaps the eyewitnesses of the events they celebrate. I ( \isiri has transcribed a passage from an Arabian author of the fourteenth century, iiug bitterly against the luxury of the Moorish ladies, their gorgeous apparel and habits of expense, "amounting almost to insanity," in a tone which may remind one ot tho similar philippic by his contemporary Dante, against his faircountry women of Florence. Two ordinances of a king of Granada, cited by Conde in his History, prescribe tho M{ u ration of the women from the men in the mosques, and prohibit their attendance OB THE SPAXISII ARABS. 15& Spanish Moslems appears, moreover, in perfect conformity to this. Thus, some of their soveivi^ns wo are told, after the fatigues of the tournament, were wout to recreate their spirits with "elegant poetry, and florid discourses of amorous and knightly history." The ten qualities, enumerated as essential to a true knight, were " piety, valour, courtesy, prowess, the gifts of poetry and eloquence, and dexterity in the management of the horse, the sword, lance, and bow."* The history of the Spanish Arabs, especially in the latter wars of Granada, furnishes repeated examples, not merely of the heroism which distinguishes the European chivalry of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, but occasionally of a polished courtesy that might have graced a Bayard or a Sidney. This combination of oriental magnificence and knightly prowess shed a ray of glory over the closing days of the Arabian empire in Spain, and served to conceal, though it could not correct, the vices which it possessed in common with all Mahometan institutions. The government of Granada was not administered with the same tranquillity as that of Cordova. Revolutions were perpetually occurring, which may be traced sometimes to the tyranny of the prince, but more frequently to the factions of the seraglio, the soldiery, or the licentious populace of the capital. The latter, indeed, more volatile than the sands of the deserts from which they originally sprung, were driven by every gust of passion into the most frightful excesses, deposing and even -mating their monarchs, violating their palaces, and scattering abroad their beautiful collections and libraries ; while the kingdom, unlike that of Cordova, was so contracted in its extent, that every convulsion of the capital was felt to its farthest extremities. Still, however, it held out, almost miraculously, against the Christian arms ; and the storms that beat upon it incessantly, tor more than two centuries, scarcely wore away anything from its original limits. . era! circumstances may be pointed out as enabling Granada to maintain this protracted resistance. Its concentrated population furnished such abundant supplies of soldiers, that its sovereigns could bring into the field an army of a hundred thousand men. Many of these were drawn from the regions of Alpuxarras, whose rugged inhabitants had not been corrupted by the soft effeminacy of the plains. The ranks were occasionally recruited, moreover, from the warlike tribes of Africa. The Moors of Granada are praised by their enemies for their skill with the cross-bow, to the use of which they were trained from childhood. But their strength lay chiefly in th'eir cavalry. Their spacious vegas afforded an ample field for the display of their matchless horsemanship ; while the face of the country intersected by mountains and intricate defiles, gave a manifest advantage to the Arabian light- iiorse over the steel-clad cavalry of the Christians, and was particularly uited to the wild guerilla warfare in which the Moors so much excelled* .Is, without the protection of their husbands or some near relative. Their ., as we have so.-n, were in the habit of conferring freely with men of letters, and of assisting in person at 1 :iical ttuncts. And kistly, the frescos alluded to In ..os at the tournament*,', and the fortunate knight ,- the palm of victory :r,>m their hands. * The reader may compare these essentials of ft good Moslem cavalier with those enumerated ; - .it of a good a-id true (.' Jit of his own day : "I* guatil chevalier a toutes < :tus que uii .: avoir: il fut lie, loyal, auoureux, sage, secret, large, pieux, hardi, eutreprenont, et chevaleureux." 160 THE SPANISH AEA.E8. During the long hostilities of the country, almost every city had been converted into a fortress. The numher of these fortified places in the territory of Granada was ten times as great as is now to be found throughout the whole Peninsula.* Lastly, in addition to these means of defence, may he mentioned their early acquaintance with gunpowder, which, like the Greek fire of Constantinople, contributed, perhaps in some degree to prolong their precarious existence beyond its natural term. But, after all, the strength of Granada, like that of Constantinople, lay less in its own resources than in the weakness of its enemies, who, distracted by the feuds of a turbulent aristocracy, especially during the long minorities with which Castile was afflicted, perhaps more than any other nation in Europe, seemed to be more remote from the conquest of Granada at the death of Henry the Fourth than at that of St. Ferdinand in the thirteenth century. Before entering'on the achieve- ment of this conquest by Ferdinand and Isabella, it may not be amiss to notice the probable influence exerted by the Spanish Arabs on European civilisation. Notwithstanding the high advances made by the Arabians in almost every branch of learning, and the liberal import of certain sayings ascribed to Mahomet, the spirit of his religion was eminently unfavour- able to letters. The Koran, whatever be the merit of its literary execution, does not, we believe, contain a single precept in favour of general science. t Indeed, during the first century after its promulgation, almost as little attention was bestowed upon this by the Saracens, as in their " days of ignorance," as the period is stigmatised which preceded the advent of their apostle. J But, after the nation had Deposed from its tumultuous military career, the taste for elegant pleasures, which naturally results from opulence and leisure, began to flow in upon it. It entered upon this new field with all its characteristic enthusiasm, and seemed ambitious of attaining the same pre-eminence in science that it had already reached in arms. It was at the commencement of this period of intellectual fermentation, that the last of the Omeyades, escaping into Spain, established there the kingdom of Cordova, and imported along with him the fondness for luxury and letters that had begun to display itself in the capitals of the East. His munificent spirit descended upon his successors ; and, on the breaking up of the empire, the various capitals, Seville, Murcia, Malaga, Granada, and others which rose upon its ruins, became the centres of so many intellectual systems, that continued to emit a steady lustre through the clouds and darkness of succeeding centuries. The period of this * Those ruined fortifications still thickly stud the border territories of Grauada ; and many an Andalusian mill, along the banks of the Guadayra and Guadalquivir, retains its battlemented tower, which served for the defence of its inmates against the forays of the enemy. t D'Herbelot, among other authentic traditions of Mahomet, quotes one as indicating his encouragement of letters, viz : " That the ink of the doctors and the blood of the martyrs are of equal price." M. (Eisner has cited several others of the same liberal import. But such traditions cannot be received in evidence of the original doctrine of the prophet. They are rejected as apocryphal by the Persians and the whole sect of tho Bhiites, and are entitled to little weight with a European. * When the caliph Al Mamon encouraged, by his example as well as patronage, a more enlightened policy, he was accused by the more orthodox Mussulmans of attempting to ubvert the principles of their religion. THE SPAX1SU AKAES. 161 literary civilisation readied far into the fourteenth centurj, and thus, embracing an interval of six hundred years, may be said to have exceeded in duration that of any other literature ancient or modern. There were several auspicious circumstances in the condition of the Spanish Arabs, which distinguished them from their Mahometan brethren. The temperate climate of Spain was far more propitious to robustness and elasticity of intellect than the sultry regions of Arabia and Africa. Its long line of coast and convenient havens opened to it an enlarged commerce. Its number of rival states encouraged a generous emulation, like that which glowed in ancient Greece and modern Italy ; and was infinitely more favourable to the development of the mental powers than the far-extended and sluggish empires of Asia. Lastly, a familiar intercourse with the Europeans served to mitigate in the Spanish Ar.ibs some of the more degrading superstitions incident to their religion, and to impart to them nobler ideas of the independence and moral dignitr of man than are to be found in the slaves of eastern despotism. Under these favourable circumstances, provisions for education were liberally multiplied ; colleges, academies, and gymnasiums springing up spontaneously, as it were, not merely in the principal cities, but in the most obscure villages of the country. Xo less than fifty of these colleges or schools could be discerned scattered over the suburbs and populous plain of Granada. Every place of note seems to have furnished materials for a literary history. The copious catalogues of writers, still extant in the Escurial, show how extensively the cultivation of science was pur- sued, even through its minutest subdivisions ; while a biographical notice of blind men, eminent for their scholarship in Spain, proves how f r the general avidity for knowledge triumphed orer the most dis- couraging obstacles of nature. The Spanish Arabs emulated their countrymen of the East in their devotion to natural and mathematical science. They penetrated into the remotest regions of Africa and Asia, transmitting an exact account of their proceedings to the national academies. They contributed to astro- nomical knowledge by the number and acciiracy of their observations, and by the improvement of instruments and the erection of observatories, of which the noble tower of Seville is one of the earliest examples. They furnished their full proportion in the deportment of history, which, according to an Arabian author cited by D'Herbelot, could boast of thirteen hundred writers. The treatises on logic and metaphysics amount to one-ninth of the surviving treasures of the Escurial ; and, to conclude this summary of naked details, some of their scholars appeared to have entered upon as various a field of philosophical inquiry as would be crowded into a modern encyclopaedia.* The results, it must be confessed, do not appear to have corresponded with this magnificent apparatus and unrivalled activity of research. The mind of the Arabians was distinguished by the most opposite charac- teristics, which sometimes, indeed, served to neutralise each other. An acute and subtile perception was often clouded by mysticism and abstrac- tion. They combined a habit of classification and generalisation, with a marvellous fondness for detail ; a vivacious fancy with a patience of Caairi mentions one of these universal geniuses, who published no le.s than a thoo- fMid and fifty treatises on the various topics of Ethics, History, Lw, Medicine. /;c. 102 THE spAiasH. AEABS. application tha; a Gennan of our day might envy ; and, while in fiction they launched boldly into originality, indeed extravagance, they were- content in philosophy to tread servilely in the track of their ancient masters. They derived their science from versions of the Greek philoso- phers ; but as their previous discipline had not prepared them for its reception, they were oppressed rather than stimulated by the weight of the inheritance. They possessed an indefinite power of accumulation, but they raroiy ascended to general principles, or struck out new and important truths ; at least, this is certain in regard to their metaphysical labours. Hence Aristotle, who taught them to arrange what they had already acquired, rather than to advance to new discoveries, became the god of their idolatry. They piled commentary on commentary, and, in theii blind admiration of his system, may be almost said to have been more oJ Peripatetics than the Stagirite himself. The Cordovan Averroes was the most eminent of his Arabian commentators, and undoubtedly contributed more than any other individual to establish the authority of Aristotle over the reason of mankind for so many ages. Yet his various illustra- tions have served, in the opinion of European critics, to darken rather than dissipate the ambiguities of his original, and have even led to the confident assertion that he was wholly unacquainted with the Greek language. The Saracens gave an entirely new face to pharmacy and chemistry. They introduced a great variety of salutary medicaments into Europe. The Spanish Arabs, in particular, are commended by Sprengel above their brethren for their observations on the practice of medicine. But whatever real knowledge they possessed was corrupted by their inveterate propensity for mystical and occult science. They too often exhausted both health and fortune in fruitless researches after the elixir of life and the philosopher's stone. Their medical prescriptions were regulated by the aspect of the stars. Their physics were debased by magic, their chemistry degenerated into alchemy, their astronomy into astrology. In the fruitful field of history, their success was even more equivocal. They seem to have been wholly destitute of the philosophical spirit which gives life to this kind of composition. They were the disciples of fatalism and the subjects of a despotic government. Man appeared to them only in the contrasted aspects of slave and master. What could they know of the finer moral relations, or of the higher energies of the soul, which are developed under free and beneficient institutions ? Even could they have formed conceptions of these, how would they have dared to express them? Hence their histories are too often mere barren chronological details, or fulsome panegyrics on their princes, unenlivened by a single spark of philosophy or criticism. Although the Spanish Arabs are not entitled to the credit of having wrought any important revolution in intellectual or moral science, they are commended by a severe critic, as exhibiting in their writings "the germs of many theories which have been reproduced as discoveries in later ages," and they silently perfected several of those useful arts which have had a sensible influence on the happiness and improvement of man- kind. Algebra, and the higher mathematics, were taught in their schools, and theiioe diffused over Europe. The manufacture of paper, which, since the invention of printing, has contributed so essentially to tbe THE SPANISH AEABS. 103 rapid circulation of knowledge, was derived through them. M. Casiri has discovered several manuscripts of cotton paper in the Escurial as early as 1009, and of linen paper of the date of 1106; the origin of which latter fabric Tiraboschi has ascribed to an Italian of Trevigi, in the middle of the fourteenth century. Lastly, the application of gun- powder to military science, which has wrought an equally important revolution, though of a more doubtful complexion, in the condition of society, was derived through the same channel.* The influence of the Spanish Arabs, however, is discernible, not so much in the amount of knowledge, as in the impulse which they com- municated to the long dormant energies of Europe. Their invasion was coeval with the commencement of that night of darkness which divides the modern from the ancient world. The soil had been impoverished by long assiduous cultivation. The Arabians came like a torrent sweeping down and obliterating even the landmarks of former civilisation, but bringing with it a fertilising principle, w r hich, as the waters receded, gave new life and loveliness to the landscape. The writings of the Saracens were translated and diffused throughout Europe. Their schools were visited by disciples, who, roused from their lethargy, caught somewhat of the generous enthusiasm of their masters ; and a healthful action was given to the European intellect, which, however ill directed at first, was thus prepared for the more judicious and successful efforts of later times. It is comparatively easy to determine the value of the scientific labours of a people, for truth is the same in all languages; but the laws of taste differ so widely in different nations, that it requires a nicer dis- crimination to pronounce fairly upon such works as are regulated by them. Nothing is more common than to see the poetry of the East con- demned as tumid, over-refined, infected with meretricious ornaments and conceits, and, in short, as every way contravening the principles of good taste. Few of the critics, who thus peremptorily condemn, are capable of reading a line of the original. The merit of poetry, how- ever, consists so much in its literary execution, that a person, to pro- nounce xipon it, should be intimately acquainted with the whole import of the idiom in which it is written. The style of poetry, indeed of all ornamental writing, whether prose or verse, in order to produce a proper effect, must be raised, or relieved, as it were, upon the prevailing style of social intercourse. Even where this is highly figurative and impas- sioned, as with the Arabians, whose ordinary language is made up of metaphor, that of the poet must be still more so. Hence the tone of elegant literature varies so widely in different countries, even in those of Europe, which approach the nearest to each other in their principles of taste, that it would be found difficult, if not impossible, to effect a translation of the most admired specimens of eloquence from the * The battle of Crecy furnishes the earliest Instance on record of the use of artillery by the European Christians ; although Du Gauge, among several examples which he enu- merates, has traced a distinct notice of its existence as far back as 133S. The history of the Spanish Arabs carries it to a much earlier period. It was employed by the Moorish king of Granada at the siego of Baza, in 1.-J12, and 1325. It is distinctly noticed iu an Arabian treatise as ancient as 1249 ; and finally Casiri quotes a passage from a Spanish author at the close of the eleventh century (whose JIS. according to Nic. Antonio, though familiar to scholars, lies still entombed in the dust of libraries), which describes the use of artillery in a naval engagement of that period between the Moors of Tunis and of Seville. I 161 THE SPANISH ARABS. language of one nation into that of any other. A page of Boccaccio eiu the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries from the Arabians. Whatever be thought of the jealousy of the sex, it might hnre been supposed that the p.-mciplcs of honour anf th nation." The opinion of the queen, thus decisively expressed, determined the question, and kindled a spark of her own enthusiasm, in the breasts of the most desponding.* * Pulgar states that Ferdinand took the oioro scsitnern route of Antequera, where Ire received the tidings of the Moorish king's retreat. The discrepancy is of no great conse- quence ; but as Bernaldez, whom I have t'< illiyivju, lived in Andalusia, the theatre of sctiou, he may be supposed to have had more accurate means of information. 178 "WAR OF GEAJfADA. It was settled that the king should march to the relief of the besieged, taking with him the most ample supplies of forage and provisions at the head of a force strong enough to compel the retreat of the Moorish monarch. This was effected without delay ; and Abul Hacen once more breaking up his camp on the rumour of Ferdinand's approach, the latter took possession of the city without opposition, on the 14th of May. The king was attended by a splendid train of his prelates and principal nobility ; and he prepared, with their aid, to dedicate his new conquest to the service of the cross, with all the formalities of the llomish church. After the ceremony of purification, the three principal mosques of the city were consecrated by the cardinal of Spain as temples of Christian worship. Bells, crosses, a sumptuous service of plate, arid other sacred utensils, were liberally furnished by the queen ; and the principal church, of Santa Maria de la Encarnacion long exhibited a covering of the altar, richly embroidered by her own hands. Isabella lost no opportunity of manifesting that she had entered into the war, less from motives of ambition, than of zeal for the exaltation of the true faith. After the completion of these ceremonies, Ferdinand, having strengthened the garrison with new recruits under the command of Portocarrero, lord of Palma, and victualled it with three months' provisions, prepared for a foray into the vega of Granada. This he executed in the true spirit of that merciless warfare, so repugnant to the more civilised usage of later times, not only by sweeping away the green, unripened crops, but by cutting down the trees, and eradicating the vines ; and then, without so much as having broken a lance in the expedition, returned in triumph to Cordova.* Isabella in the meanwhile was engaged in active measures for prose- cuting the war. She issued orders to the various cities of Castile and Leon, as far as the borders of Biscay and Guipuscoa, prescribing the repartimiento, or subsidy of provisions, and the quota of troops, to be furnished by each district respectively, together with an adequate supply of ammunition and artillery. The whole were to be in readiness before Lqja by the 1st of July ; when Ferdinand was to take the field in person at the head of his chivalry, and besiege that strong post. As advices were received, that the Moors of Granada were making efforts to obtain the co-operation of their African brethren in support of the Mahometan empire in Spain, the queen caused a fleet to be manned under the com- mand of her two best admirals, with instructions to sweep the Mediter- ranean as far as the Straits of Gibraltar, and thus effectually cut off all communication with the Barbary coast. CHAPTER X ORANADA rXSrCCESSFCL ATTEMPT OX' LOJA DEFEAT Hf TH* AXARQCT*. 14821483. 0at:ec&3sful attempt on Loja Revolution in Granada Expedition to the Axarquia Military Array Moorish preparations Bloody Conflict among the Mountains Th Spaniards force a passage The Marquis of Cadiz escapes. LOJA stands not many leagues from Albania, on the banks of the Xenil, which rolls its clear current through a valley luxuriant with ards and olive gardens ; but the city is deeply intrenched among hills of so rugged an aspect, that it has been led not inappropriately to aors, it was defended by a strong fortress, while the Xenil, circumscribing it like a deep moat upon the south, formed an excellent protection against the approaches of a besieging army ; since the river was fordable only in one place, and traversed by a single bridge, which might be easily com- manded by the city. In addition to these advantages, the kin of Granada, taking warning from the fate of Alhama, had strengthened its garrison with three thousand of his choicest troops, under the command of a skilful and experienced warrior, named Ali Atar. In the meanwhile, the efforts of the Spanish sovereigns to procure supplies adequate to the undertaking against Loja, had not been crowned witli success. The cities and districts, of which the requisitions had been made, had discovered the tardiness usual in such unwieldy bodies ; and th ir interest, moreover, was considerably impaired by their distance from the theatre of action. Ferdinand, on mustering his army towards the latter part of June, found that it did not exceed four thousand horse and twelve thousand, or indeed, according to some accounts, eight thousand foot; most of them raw militia, who, poorly provided with military stores and artillery, formed a force obviously inadequate to the magnitude of his enterprise. Some of his counsellors would have per- suaded him, from these considerations, to turn his arms against some weaker and mor^ assailable point than Loja. But Ferdinand burned with a desire for distinction in the new war, and suffered his ardour for once to get the better of his prudence. The distrust felt by the leaders seems to have infected the lower ranks, who drew the most unfavourable prognostics from the dejected mien of those who bore the royal standard to the cathedral of Cordova, in order to receive the benediction of the church before entering on the expedition. VYrdinand, crossing the Xenil at Ecija, arrived again on its banks before Loja, on the 1st of July. The army encamped among the hills, whose deep ravines obstructed communication between its different ^uarttirs ; while the level plains below were intersected by numerous canals, equally unfavourable to the manoeuvres of the men-at-arms. The duke of Vil'a Hermosa, the king's brother, and captain-general of the ITS WAS OF GEAXADA hermandad, an officer of large experience, would have persuaded Ferdinand to attempt, by throwing bridges across the river lower down the stream, to approach the city on the other side. But his counsel was overruled by the Castilian officers, to whom the location of the camp had been intrusted, and who neglected, according to Zurita, to advise with the Andalusian chiefs, although far better instructed than themselves in Moorish warfare. A large detachment of the army was ordered to occupy a lofty eminence, at some distance, called the Heights of Albohacen, and to fortify it with such few pieces of ordnance as they had, with the view of annoying the city. This commission was intrusted to the marquises of Cadi^ and Tillena, and the grand master of Calutrava ; which last nobleman had brought to the field about four hundred horse and a large body of infantry from the places belonging to his order in Andalusia. Before the entrenchment could be fully completed, Ali Atar, discerning the importance of this commanding station, made a sortie from the town for the purpose of dislodging his enemies. The latter poured out from their works to encounter him ; bnt the Moslem general, scarcely waiting to receive the shock, wheeled his squadrons round, and began a precipitate retreat. The Spaniards eagerly pursued ; but, when they had been drawn to a sufficient distance from the redoubt, a party of Moorish ginetes, or light cavalry, who had crossed the river unobserved during the night and lain in ambush, after the wily fashion of Arabian tactics, darted from their place of concealment, and galloping into the deserted camp, plundered it of its contents, including the lombards, or small pieces of artillery, with which it was garnished. The Castilians, too late perceiving their error, halted from the pursuit, and returned with as much speed as possible to the defence of their camp. Ali Atar, turning also, hung close on their rear, so that, when the Christians arrived at the summit of the hill, they found themselves hemmed in between the two divisions of the Moorish army. A brisk action now ensued and lasted nearly an hour ; when the advance of reinforcements from the main body of the Spanish army, which had been delayed by distance and impediments on the road, compelled the Moors to a prompt but orderly retreat into their own city. The Christians sustained a heavy loss, particularly in the death of Rodrigo Tellez Giron, grand master of Calatrava. He was hit by two arrows, the last of which, penetrating the joints of his harness beneath his sword-arm, as he was in the act of raising it, inflicted on him a mortal wound, of which he expired in a few hours, says an old chronicler, after having confessed, and performed the last duties of a good and faithful Christian. Although scarcely twenty-four years of age, this cavalier had given proofs of such signal prowess, that he was esteemed one of the best knights of Castile ; and his death threw a general gloom over the whole army. Ferdinand now became convinced of the unsuitableness of a position, which neither admitted of easy communication between the different quarters of his own camp, nor enabled him to intercept the suj daily passing into that of his enemy. Other inconveniences also pr upon him. His men were so badly provided with the necessary ut' for dressing their food, that they were obliged either to devour it or only half cooked. Most of them being new recruits, unaccu BOUT IX THE AXABQrTA. 17d Hie privations of war, and many exhausted by a -wearisome length of march before joining the army, they began openly to murmur, and even to desert in great numbers. Ferdinand therefore resolved to fall back as far as Rio Frio, and await there patiently the arrival of such fresh reinforce- ments as might put him in condition to enforce a more rigorous blockade. Orders were accordingly issued to the cavali-Ts occupying the Heights of Albohacen to break up their camp, and fall back on the main b< the army. This was executed on the following morning before dawn, being the 4th of July. No sooner did the Moors of Loja perceive their enemy abandoning his strong position, than they sallied forth in con- siderable force to take possession of it. Ferdinand's men, who had not been advised of the proposed manoeuvre, no sooner beheld the Moorish array brightening the crest of the mountain, and their own countrymen rapidly descending, than they imagined that these latter had been sur- prised in their intrenchments during the night, and were now flying before the enemy. An alarm instantly spread through the whole camp. Instead of standing to their defence, each one thought only of saving himself by as speedy a flight as possible. In vain did Ferdinand, riding along their broken tiles, endeavour to reanimate their spirits and restore order. He might as easily have calmed the winds, as the disorder of a panic-struck mob, unschooled by discipline or experience. All Atar's practised eye speedily discerned the confusion which prevailed through the Christian camp. Without delay, he rushed forth impetuously at the head of his whole array from the gates of Loja, and converted into a real danger what had before been only an imaginary one. At this perilous moment, nothing but Ferdinand's coolness could have saved the army from total destruction. Putting himself at the head of the royal guard, and accompanied by a gallant band of cavaliers, who held honour dearer than life, he made such a determined stand against the Moorish advance, that AH Atar was compelled to pause in his career. A furious struggle ensued betwixt this devoted Httle band and the whole strength of the Modern army. Ferdinand was repeatedly exposed to imminent peril. On one occasion he was indebted for his safety to the marquis of Cadiz, who, charging at the head of about sixty lances, broke the deep ranks of the Moorish column, and, compelling it to recoil, succeeded in rescuing his sovereign. In this adventure he narrowly escaped with his own life, his horse being shot under him at the very moment when he had lost his lance in the body of a Moor. Xever did the Spanish chivalry shed its blood more freely. The constable, count de Haro, received three wounds in the face. The duke of Medina Celi was unhorsed and brought to the ground, and saved with difficulty by , his own men ; and the count of Tendilla, whose encampment lay nearest the city, received several severe blows, and would have fallen into the. hands of the enemy, had it not been for the timely aid of his friend, the young count of Zufiiga. The Moors, finding it so difficult to make an impression on this iron baud of warriors, began at length to slacken their efforts, and finally allowed Ferdinand to draw off the remnant of his forces without further opposition. The king continued his retreat without halting, a:; as the romantic site of the Peiia de los Enamorados, about seven, leagues distant from Loja ; and, abandoning all thoughts of offensive operations tor : ;it, soon after returned to Cordon 180 \VAR OF GRANADA. Abul Hacen arrived the following day with a powerful reinforce- ment from Granada, and swept the country as far as Rio 1'rio. Had he come but a few hours sooner, there "would have been few Spaniards left to tell the tale of the route of Loja.* The loss of the Christians must have been very considerable, including the greater part of the baggage and the artillery. It occasioned deep mortification to the queen ; but, though a severe, it proved a salutary lesson. It showed the importance of more extensive preparations for a war which must of necessity be a war of posts ; and it taught the nation to entertain greater respect for an enemy, who, whatever might be his natural strength, must become formidable when armed with the energy of despair. At this juncture, a division among the Moors themselves did more for the Christians than any successes of their own. This division grew out of the vicious system of polygamy, which sows the seeds of discord among those whom nature and our own happier institutions unite most closely. The old king of Granada had become so deeply enamoured of a Greek slave, that the sultana Zoraya, jealous lest the offspring of her rival should supplant her own in the succession, secretly contrived to- stir up a spirit of discontent with her husband's government. The kin r becoming acquainted with her intrigues, caused her to be imprisoned in. the fortress of the Alhambra. But the sultana, binding together the- scarfs and veils belonging to herself and attendants, succeeded, by means of this perilous conveyance, in making her escape, together with her children, from the upper apartments of the tower in which she was lodged. She was received with joy by her own faction. The insurrection, soon spread among the populace, who, yielding to the impulses of nature, are readily roused by a tale of oppression ; and the number was still further swelled by many of higher rank, who had various causes of disgust with the oppressive government of Abul Hacenf. The strong; fortress of the Alhambra, however, remained faithful to him. A war now burst forth in the capital, which deluged its streets with the blood of its citizens. At length the sultana triumphed ; Abul Hacen was expelled from Granada, and sought a refuge in Malaga, which, with Baza, Guadix, and some other places of importance, still adhered to him ; while Granada, and by far the larger portion of the kingdom, pro- claimed the authority of his elder son, Abu Abdallah, or Boabdil, as he * The Pefia de lot Snamorados received its name from a tragical incident its Moorisfe ! io ol y. \ Christian slave succeeded in inspiring the daughter of his IP. tster, a wealthy ]..,.ssulman of Granada, with a passion for himself. The two lovers, after some time, fearful of the detection of their intrigue, resolved to make their eecape into the Spanish ten-Story. Before they could effect their purpose, however, they were hotly pursued by the damsel's father at the head of a party of Moorish horsemen, and overtaken near a precipice which rises between Archidona and Antequcra. The unfortunate fugitives, who had scrambled to the summit of the rocks, finding all further escape impracticable, at'tcr tenderly embracing each other, threw themselves headlong from the dizzy heights, pre- ferring this dreadful death to falling into the hands of their vindictive pursuers. The sjKit nonsecrated as the scene of this tragic incident has received the name of Rock of the Lorerg. The legend is prettily told by Mariana, who concludes with the pithy reflection, that "such constancy would have been truly admirable, had it been shown in defence of the true faith, rather than in the gratification of lawless appetite." t Bernaldez states that great uir-brage was taken at the influence which the ki:v_r of Granada allowed a person of Christian lineage, named Yinegas. to exercise over him. Pulgar hints at the bloxly massacre of the Abencerrages, which, without any better authority that I know of, forms the burden of many an ancient ballad, and has l-?t not hint' of its romantic colouring under the hand of Gini.% Perez de Ilyta. ROUT IN THE AXABQUIA. 181 fa usually called by the Castilian writers. The Spanish sovereigns viewed with no small interest these proceedings of the Moors, who were thus wantonly fighting the battles of their enemies. All proffers of assistance on their part, however, being warily rejected by both factions, not withstanding the mutual hatred of each other, they could only awai* with patience the termination of a struggle, which, whatever might be its results in other respects, could not fail to open the way for the success of their own arms.* Xo military operations worthy of notice occurred during the remainder of the campaign, except occasional cavalyadas or inroads on both sides, which after the usual unsparing devastation, swept away whole herds of cattle, and human beings, the wretched cultivators of the soil. The quantity of booty frequently carried off on such occasions, amounting, according to the testimony of both Christian and Moorish writers, to twenty, thirty, and even fifty thousand head of cattle, shows the fruitfulness and abundant pasturage in the southern regions of the Peninsula. The loss afflicted by these terrible forays fell, eventually, most heavily on Granada, in consequence of her scanty territory and insulated position, which cut her oft' from all foreign resources. Towards the latter end of October, the court passed from Cordova to Madrid, with the intention of remaining there the ensuing winter. Madrid, it may be observed, however, was so far from being recognised as the capital of the monarchy at this time, that it was inferior to several other cities in wealth and population, and was even less frequented than some others, as Valladolid, for example, as a royal residence. On the first of July, while the court was at Cordova, died Alfonso do Carillo, the factious archbishop of Toledo, who contributed more than auy other to raise Isabella to the throne, and who, with the same arm, hud well nigh hurled her from it. He passed the close of his life in retirement and disgrace at his town of Alcala de Henares, where he devoted himself to science, especially to alchymy ; in which illusory pursuit he is said to have squandered his princely revenues with such prodigality as to leave them encumbered with a heavy debt. He was succeeded in the primacy by his ancient rival Don Pedro Gonzalez de Mendoza, cardinal of Spain ; a prelate whose enlarged and sagacious views gained him deserved ascendancy in the councils of his sovereigns. The importance of their domestic concerns did not prevent Ferdinand and Isabella from giving a vigilant attention to what was passing abroad. The conflicting relations growing out of the feudal system occupied most princes, till the close of the fifteenth century, too closely at home to allow them often to turn their eyes beyond the borders of their own * ISoabdil was surnamed " el Chico," the Little, by the Spanish writers, to distinguish him from uu uncle of the same name : and ''el Zogoybi," the Unfortunate, by the Moors, indi- cating that he was the last of his race destined to wear the diadem of Granada. The Aral's, with great felicity, frequently select names significant of some quality in the objects they represent. Examples of tins may be readily found in the southern regions of the Peninsula, where the Moors lingered the longest. The etymology of Gibraltar, Gebal Tank, Mount of Tank, is well known. Thus, Algcziras conu-s iVcin an Arabic word which signifies an island; Alpuxarros comes from a term signifying li-i-bage or pasturage; Anxvife from another, signifying causeway or ),'ink ,./i\at )/( /, Guadiana, narrow or little river, Guadelete, &c. In the siune maunei th-j term Medina, Arabict, "city," has been retained as a prc3x to the names of many of the Spanish towns, Medina Celi, Medina del Campo, &c. 182 WAE. Of GHAXADA. territories. This system was, indeed, now rapidly melting away. But Louis the Eleventh may perhaps be regarded as the first monarch who showed anything like an extended interest in European politics. He informed himself of the interior proceedings of most of the neighbouring courts, by means of secret agents whom he pensioned there. Ferdinand < obtained a similar result by the more honourable expedient of resident embassies; a practice which he is said to have introduced,* and which, while it has greatly facilitated commercial intercourse, has served to perpetuate friendly relations between different countries, by accustoming them to settle their differences by negotiation rather than the sword. The position of the Italian states at this period, whose petty feuds seemed to blind them to the invasion which menaced them from the Ottoman empire, was such as to excite a lively interest throughout Christendom, and especially in Ferdinand, as sovereign of Sicily. He succeeded, by means of his ambassadors at the papal court, in opening a negotiation between the belligerents, and in finally adjusting the terms- of a general pacification, signed December 12th, 1482. The Spanish court, in consequence of its friendly mediation on this occasion, received three several embassies with suitable acknowledgments, on the part of pope Sixtus the Fourth, the college of cardinals, and the city of Rome ; and certain marks of distinction were conferred by his Holiness on the Castilian envoys, not enjoyed by those of any other potentate. This event is worthy of notice as the first instance of Ferdinand's interference in the politics of Italy, in which, at a later period, he was destined to act so prominent a part. The affairs of Navarre at this time were such as to engage still more deeply the attention of the Spanish sovereigns. The crown of that kingdom had devolved, on the death of Leonora, the guilty sister of Ferdinand, on her grandchild, Francis Phoebus, whose mother Magdeleine of France held the reigns of government during her son's minority.! The near relationship of this princess to Louis the Eleventh gave that monarch an absolute influence in the councils of Navarre. He made use of this to bring about a marriage between the young king, Francis Phoebus, and Joanna Beltraneja, Isabella's former competitor for the crown of Castile, notwithstanding this princess had long since taken the veil in the convent of Santa Clara at Coimbra. It is not easy to unravel the tortuous politics of King Louis. The Spanish writers impute to him the design of enabling Joanna by this alliance to establish her pretensions to the Castilian throne, or at least to give such employ- ment to its present proprietors as should effectually pi-event them from disturbing him in the possession of Roussillon. However this may be, his intrigues with Portugal were disclosed to Ferdinand by certain nobles of that court, with whom he was in secret correspondence. The * M. de Wicquefort derives the word anibossadeur (anciently in English embassador) from the Spanish word embiar, " to send." f Leonora's son, Gaston de Foix, prince of Viana, was slain by an accidental wound from a lance, at a tourney at Lisbon, in 1469. By the princess Magdeleine, his wife, sister of Louis XL, he left two children, a son and daughter, eacli of whom in turn succeeded to the crown of Navarre. Francis Phcebus ascended the throne on the demise of his grand- mother Leonora, in 1479. lie was distinguished by his personal graces and beauty, and especially by the golden lustre of his hair, from which, according to Aleson. he derived hi cognomen of Phcebus. As it was an ancestral name, however, such an etymplogy may b thought somewhat fanciful. EOtT IX THE A.XAEQTTIA. 183 Spanish sovereigns, in order to counteract this scheme, offered the hand of their own daughter Joanna, afterwards mother of Charles the Fifth, to the king of Xavarre. But all negotiations relative to this matter were eventually defeated by the sudden death of this young prince, not without strong suspicions of poison. He was succeeded on the throne by his sister Catharine. Propositions were then made by Ferdinand and ] sabella for the marriage of this princess, then thirteen years of age, with their infant son John, heir apparent of their united monarchies.* iSuch an alliance, which would bring under one government nations corresponding in origin, language, general habits, and local interests, presented great and obvious advantages. It was however evaded by the queen dowager, who still acted as regent, on the pretext of disparity of au r e in the parties. Information being; soon after received that Louis Eleventh was taking measures to make himself master of the strong ! in Xavarre, Isabella transferred her residence to the frontier town of Logrono, prepared to resist by arms, if necessary, the occupation of that country by her insidious and powerful neighbour. The death of the of France, which occurred not long after, fortunately relieved the sovereigns from apprehensions of any immediate annoyance on that quarter. Amid their manifold concerns, Ferdinand and Isabella kept their thoughts anxiously bent on their great enterprise, the conquest of > la. At a congress-general of the deputies of the hermandad, hi id at Pinto at the commencement of the present year, 1483, with the of reforming certain abuses in that institution, a liberal grant was made of eight thousand men, and sixteen thousand beasts of burden, for the purpose of conveying supplies to the garrison in Alhama. But the sovereigns experienced great embarrassment from the want of funds. There is probably no period in which the princes of Europe felt so sensibly their own penury, as at the close of the fifteenth century ; when, the demesnes of the crown having been very generally wasted by the lavish- ness or imbecility of its proprietors, no substitute had as yet been found in that searching and well-arranged system of taxation which prevails at the present day. The Spanish sovereigns, notwithstanding the economy which they had introduced into the finances, felt the pressure of these embarrassments, peculiarly, at the present juncture. The maintenance of the royal guard and of the vast national police of the hermandad, the ant military operations of the late campaign, together with the equipment of a navy, not merely for war, but for maritime discovery, wore so many copious drains of the exchequer. f Under these circum- stances, they obtained from the pope a grant of one hundred thousand ducats, to be rais-jd out of the ecclesiastical revenues in Castile and Aragon. A bull of crusade was also published by his Holiness, con- taining numerous indulgences for such as should bear arms against the infidel, as well as those who should prefer to commute their military service for the payment of a sum of money. In addition to these resources, the government was enabled on its own credit, justified by the Ferdinand and Isabella had at this time four children ; the infant Don John, four year* and a half old, but who did not live to come to the succession, and the iufautas Isabella, Joanna, and Maria ; the last, born at Cordova during the summer of 14S2. t Besides the armada in the Mediterranean, a fleet uuder Pedro de Veni was prosecuting a voyage of discovery and conquest to the Canaries, which will be the subject of more Darticula: notice hcv 184 WAB OF punctuality with, which it had redeemed its past engagements, to negotiate considerable loans with several wealthy individuals. With these funds the sovereigns entered into extensive arrangements for the ensuing campaign ; causing cannon, after the rude construction of that age, to be fabricated at Huesca, and a large quantity of stone balls, then principally used, to be manufactured in the Sierra de Con- stantina ; while the magazines were carefully provided with ammunition and military stores. An event not unworthy of notice is recorded by Pulgar as happening about this time. A common soldier, named John de Corral, contrived, under fake pretences, to obtain from the king of Granada a number of Christian captives, together with a large sum of money, with which he escaped into Andalusia. The man was apprehended by the warden of the frontier of Jaen ; and the transaction being reported to the sovereigns, they compelled an entire restitution of the money, and consented to such a ransom for the liberated Christians as the king of Granada should demand. This act of justice, it should be remembered, occurred in an age when the church itself stood ready to sanction any breach of faith, however glaring, towards heretics and infidels.* While the court was detained in the north, tidings were received of a reverse sustained by the Spanish arms, which plunged the nation in sorrow far deeper than that occasioned by the rout at Loja. Don Alonso de Cardenas, grand master of St. James, an old and confidential servant of the crown, had been intrusted with the defence of the frontier of Ecija. While on this station, he was strongly urged to make a descent on the environs of Malaga, by his adalides or scouts, men who, being for the most part, Moorish deserters or renegadoes, were employed by the border chiefs to reconnoitre the enemy's country, or to guide them in their marauding expeditions, f The district around Malaga was famous under the Saracens for its silk manufactures, of which it annually made large exports to other parts of Europe. It was to be approached by traversing a savage sierra, or chain of mountains, called the Axarquia, whose margin occasionally afforded good pasturage, and was sprinkled over with Moorish villages. After threading its denies, it was proposed * Juan do Corral imposed on the king of Granada by msans of certain credentials, which he had obtained from the Spanish sovereigns without any privity on their part of his fraudulent intentions. The story is told in a very blind manner by Pulgar. It may not bo amiss to mention here a doughty feat performed by another Castilian envoy, of much higher rank, Don Juan de Vera. This knijrht, while conversing with certain Moorish cavaliers in the Alhambra, was so much scandalised by the freedom with which one of them treated the immaculate conception, that he gave the circumci:- the lie, and smote him a sharp blow 011 the head with his sword. Ferdinand, says Ucrnaldez, who tells the story, was much gratified with the exploit, and recompensed the good knight with many honours. \ The adalid was a guide, or scout, whose business it was to make himself acquainted with the enemy's country, and to guide the invaders into it. Much dispute ha.-: respecting the authority and functions of this officer. Some writers regard him ns. an independent leader, or commander ; and the Dictionary of the Academy defines the term ailaUd by these very words. The Sicte Partidas, however, explains at length the peculiar duties of this officer, conformably to the account I have given. Bernaldez, Pulgar, auii the other chroniclers of the Granadiue war, repeatedly notice him in this connexion. When lie is spoken of as a captain, or leader as he sometimes is in these and other ancient records, his authority, I suspect, is intended to be limited to the persons w ho aided him in the execution of his peculiar office. It was common for the gre.it chiefs, whn lived on the borders, to maintain in their pay a number of these a'.luli:lt*, to inform them o. tl.c fitting time and place for making a foray. The post, as may well be beheved, wa.-. trust and pers .i^al hazard. ROUT IX THE AXAEQTJTA. 183 to return by an open road that turned the southern extremity of the friirra along the sca-vhore. There was little to be apprehended, it wa-j stated, from pursuit, since Malaga was almost wholly unprovided with cavalry. The grand master, falling in with the proposition, communicated it to the principal chiefs on the borders ; among others, to Don Pedro llenriquez, adelantado of Andalusia, Don Juan de Silva, count of Cifuentes, Don Alouso de Aguilar, and the marquis of Cadiz. These noblemen, collecting tluir retainers, repaired to Autcquera, where the ranks were quickly swelhd by recruits from Cordova, Seville, Xerez, and other cities of Andalusia, whose chivalry always readily answered the summons to an expedition over the border.* In the meanwhile, however, the marquis of Cadiz had received such intelligence from his own udulidea as led him to doubt the expediency of a march through intricate denies, inhabited by a poor and hardy peasantry ; and he strongly advised to direct the expedition against the neighbouring town of Almojia. But in this he was overruled by the grand master and the other partners of his enterprise ; many of whom, with the rash confidence of youth, were excited rather than intimidated by the prospect of danger. On Wednesday, the 19th of March, this gallant little army marched forth from the gates of Antequera. The van was intrusted to the adelantado Henriquez and Don Alonso de Aguilar. The centre divisions were led by the marquis of Cadiz and the count of Cifuentes, and the rear-guard by the grand master of St. James. The number of foot, which is uncertain, appears to have been considerably less than that of the horse, which amounted to about three thousand, contaiuiug the liower of Andalusian knighthood, together with the array of St. James, the most opulent and powerful of the Spanish military orders. Xever, says an Aragonese historian, had there been seen in these times a more splendid body of chivalry ; and such was their confidence, he adds, that they deemed themselves invincible by any force which the Moslems could bring again>t them. The leaders took care not to encumber the movements of the army with artillery, camp equipage, or even much forage and provisions, for which they trusted to the invaded territory. A number of persons, however, followed in the train, who, influenced by desire rather of gain than of glory, had come provided with money, as well as commissions from their friends, for the purchase of rich spoil, whether of slaves, st nil's, or jewels, which they expected would be won by the good swords of their comrades, as in Alliama. After travelling with little intermission through the night, the arnrv entered the winding defiles of the Axarquia, where their progress was necessarily so much impeded by the character of the ground, that most of the inhabitants of the villages through which they passed had oppor- tunity to escape with the greater part of their eft'ects to the inaccessible * The title of addantndv implies in its etymology, cue preferred or placed before others. The office is of great antiquity ; some have derived it from the reign of St. Ferdinand in the thirteenth century, but Mendoza proves its existence at a far earlier period. Tho udclantado was possessed of very extensive judicial authority in the province or district in which he presided, and in war was invested with supreme military command. Hi* us, however, as well as the territories over which lie ruled, have varied at different An aUeiantado seems to have beeu generally established over a liorder province. M Andalusia for example. 186 -WAK OF GXAXADA. fastnesses of the mountains. The Spaniards, after plundering the deserted hamlets of whatever remained, as well as of the lew stragglers, whether men or cattle, found still lingering about them, set them on fire. In this way they advanced, marking their line of march with the usual devastation that accompanied these ferocious forays, until the column? of smoke and fire which rose above the hill- tops announced to the people of Malaga the near approach of an enemy. The old king Muley Abul Hacen, who lay at this time in the city with a numerous and well-appointed body of horse, contrary to the reports of the adalides, would have rushed forth at once at their head, had he not been dissuaded from it by his younger brother Abdallah, who is better known in history by the name of El Zagal, or "the Valiant;" an Arabic epithet, given him by his countrymen to distinguish him from his nephew, the ruling king of Granada. To this prince Abul Hacen intrusted the command of the corps of picked cavalry, with instructions to penetrate at once into the lower level of the sierra, and encounter the Christians entangled in its passes ; while another division, consisting chiefly of arquebusiers and archers, should turn the enemy's iiank by gaining the heights under which he was defiling. This last corps he placed under the direction of Reduan Benegas, a chief of Christian lineage, according to Bernaldez, and who mfly perhaps be identified with the Reduan that, in the later Moorish ballads, seems to be shadowed forth as the personification of love and heroism. The Castilian army in the meantime went forward with a buoyant and reckless confidence, and with very little subordination. The divisions occupying the advance and centre, disappointed in their expec- tations of booty, had qiiitted the line of march, and dispersed in small parties in search of plunder over the adjacent country; and some of the high-mettled young cavaliers had the audacity to ride up in defiance to the very walls of Malaga. The grand master of St. James was the only leader who kept his columns unbroken, and marched forward in order of battle. Things were in this state, when the Moorish cavalry under El Zagal, suddenly emerging from one of the mountain passes, appeared before the astonished rear-guard of the Christians. The Moors spurred on to the assault, but the well-disciplined chivalry of St. James remained unshaken. In the fierce struggle which ensued, the Andalusians became embarrassed by the narrowness of the ground on which they were engaged, which afforded no scope for the manoeuvres of cavalry ; while tli" .Moors, trained to the wild tactics of mountain warfare, went through their usual evolutions, retreating and returning to the charge with a celerity that sorely distressed their opponents, and at length threw them into some disorder. The grand master in consequence despatched a message to the marquis of Cadiz, requesting his support. The latter, putting himself at the head of sucli of his scattered forces as he could hastily muster, readily obeyed the summons. Discerning, on his approach, the real source of the grand master's embarrassment, he succeeded in changing the field of action by drawing off the Moors to an open reach of the valley, which allowed free play to the movements of the Andalusian horse, when the combined squadrons pressed so hard on the Moslems, that they were soon compelled to take refuge within the depths of their own mountains. In the meanwhile the scattered troops of the advance, alarmed by the !>' THE AXAEQT7IA. 187 report of the action, gradually assembled under their respective banners, and fell back upon the rear. A council of war was then called. All further progress seemed to be effectually intercepted. The country was everywhere in arms. The most that could now be hoped was, that they might be suffered to retire unmolested with such plunder as they ha'd already acquired. Two routes lay open for this purpose. The one winding along the sea-shore, wide and level, but circuitous, and swept through the whole range of its narrow entrance by the fortress of Malaga. This determined them unhappily to prefer tne other route, being that by which they had penetrated the Axarquia, or rather a shorter cut, by which the adalides undertook to conduct them through its mazes. The little army commenced its retrograde movement with undimi- nished spirit. But it was now embarrassed with the transportation of its plunder, and by the increasing difficulties of the sierra, which, as they ascended its "sides, was matted over with impenetrable thicket*, and broken up by formidable ravines or channels, cut deep into the soil by the mountain torrents. The Moors were now mustering in con- siderable numbers along the heights, and, as they were expert marks- men, being trained by early and assiduous practice, the shots from their arquebuses and cross-bows frequently found some assailable point in the harness of the Spanish men-at-arms. At length, the army, through the treachery or ignorance of the guides, was suddenly brought to a halt by arriving in a deep glen or enclosure, whose rocky sides rose with euch boldness as to be scarcely practicable for infantry, much less for horse. To add to their distresses, daylight, without which they could scarcely hope to extricate themselves, was fast fading away. In this extremity no other alternative seemed to remain than to attempt to regain the route from which they had departed. As all other considerations were now subordinate to those of personal safety, it was agreed to abandon the spoil acquired at so much hazard, which greatly retarded their movements. As they painfully retraced their steps, the darkness of the night was partially dispelled by numerous fires which blazed along the hill tops, and which showed the figures of their enemies flitting to and fro like so manv spectres. It seemed, said Bernaldez, as if ten thousand torches were glancing along the mountains. At length, the whole body, faint with fatigue and hunger, reached the borders of a little stream, which flowed through a valley, whose avenues, as well as the rugged heights by which it was commanded, were already occu- pied by the enemy, who poured down mingled volleys of shots, stones, and arrows on the heads of the Christians. The compact mass presented by the latter afforded a sure mark to the artillery of the Moors ; while they, from their scattered position, as well as from the defences afforded by the nature of the ground, were exposed to little annoyance in return. In addition to lighter missiles, the Moors occasionally dislodged large fragments of rock, which, rolling with tremendous violence down the declivities of the hills, spread frightful desolation through the Christian, ranks. The dismay occasioned by these scenes, occurring amidst the darkness of night, and heightened by the shrill war-cries of the Moors, which rose round them on every quarter, seems to have completely bewildered the Spaniards, even their leaders. It was the misfortune of the expe- dition, that there was but little concert between the several commanders, 188 WAR OF GRAXADA. or, at least, that there was no one so pre-eminent above the rest as to assume authority at this awful moment. So far, it would seem, from attempting escape, they continued in their perilous position, uncertain what course to take, until midnight ; when at length, after having seen their best and bravest followers fall thick around them, they determined at all hazards to force a passage across the sierra in the face of the enemy. "Better lose our lives," said the grand master of St. James, addressing his men, " in cutting a way through the foe, than be butchered without resistance, like cattle in the shambles." The marquis of Cadiz, guided by a trusty adalid, and accompanied by sixty or seventy lances, Avas fortunate enough to gain a circuitous route less vigilantly guarded by the enemy, whose attention was drawn to the movements of the main body of the Castilian army. By means of this path, the marquis with his little band succeeded, after a painful march, in which his good steed sunk under him oppressed with wounds and fatigue, in reaching a valley at some distance from the scene of action, where he determined to wait the coming up of his friends, Avho he con- fidently expected would follow on his track. But the grand master and his associates, missing this track in the darkness of the night, or perhaps preferring another, breasted the sierra in a part where it proved extremely difficult of ascent. At every step the loosened earth gave way under the pressure of the foot ; and the infantry, endeavouring to support themselves by clinging to the tails and manes of the horses, the jaded animals, borne down with the weight, rolled headlong, with their riders, on the ranks below, or were precipi- tated down the sides of the numerous ravines. The Moors, all the while avoiding a close encounter, contented themselves with, discharging on the heads of their opponents an uninteruiitted shower of missiles of very description.* It was not until the following morning that the Castilians, having surmounted the crest of the eminence, began the descent into the oppo- site valley, which they had the mortification to observe was commanded on every point by their vigilant adversary, who seemed now in their eyes to possess the powers of ubiquity. As the light broke upon the troops, it revealed the whole extent of their melancholy condition. How different from the magnificent array, which, but two days previous, inarched forth with such high and confident hopes from the gates of Antequera ! their ranks thinned, their bright arms defaced and broken, their banners rent in pieces, or lost, as had been that of St. James, together with its gallant alferez, Diego Becerra, in the terrible passage of the preceding night, their countenances aghast with terror, fatigue, and famine ! Despair now was in every eye ; all subordination was at an end. No one, says Pulgar, heeded any longer the call of the trumpet, or the wave of the banner. Each sought only his own safety, without regard to his comrade. Some threw away their arms ; hoping by this means to facilitate their escape, while in fact it only left them more defenceless against the shafts of their enemies. Some, oppressed with iatigue and terror, fell down and died without so much as receiving a wound. The panic was such, that, in more than one instance, two or * Mr. Irving, in his "Conquest of Granada," states that the scene of the greatest slaughter in this rout ia still known to the inhabitants of the Axarquia by the name of Lu Viutta dc lu Matanza, or "The Hill of tlio Massacre." ROUT m THE AXARQCIA. 189 threr Moorish soldiers were known to capture thrice their own number of Spaniards. Some, losing their way, strayed back to Malaga, and were made prisoners by females of the city, who overtook them in the fields. Others escaped to Albania, or other distant places, after wandering seven or eight days among the mountains, sustaining life on such wild herbs and berries as they could find, and lying close during the day. A greater number succeeded in reaching Antequera, and, among these, most of the leaders of the expedition. The grand master of St. James, the adelantado Henrique/, and Don Alonso de Aguiiar, effected their escape by scaling so perilous a part of the sierra that their pursuers cared not to follow. The count de Ciluentes, was less fortunate. That nobleman's division was said to have suffered more severely than any other. On the morning after the bloody passage of the mountain, he found himself suddenly cut off from his followers, and surrounded by six Moorish cavaliers, against whom he was defending himself with despe- rate courage, when their leader, Reduan Benegas, struck with the inequality of the combat, broke in, exclaiming " Hold ! this is unworthy of good knights." The assailants sunk back abashed by the rebuke, and left the count to their commander. A close encounter then took place between the two chiefs ; but the strength of the Spaniard was no longer equal to his spirit, and, after a brief resistance, he was forced to surrender to his generous enemy.* The marquis of Cadiz had better fortune. After waiting till dawn for the coming up of his friends, he concluded that they had extricated themselves by a different route. He resolved to provide for his own safety and that of his followers ; and, being supplied with a fresh horse, accomplished his escape, after traversing the wildest passages of the Axarquia for the distance of four leagues, and got into Antequera with but little interruption from the enemy. But although he secured his personal safety, the misfortunes of the day fell heavily on his house ; for two of his brothers were cut down by his side, and a third brother, with a nephew, fell into the hands of the enemy. The amount .of slain in the two days' action is admitted by the Spanish writers to have exceeded eight hundred, with double that number of prisoners. The Moorish force is said to have been small, and its loss comparatively trifling. The numerical estimates of the Spanish his- torians, as usual, appear extremely loose : and the narrative of their enemies is too meagre in this portion of their annals to allow any oppor- tunity of verification. There is no reason, however, to believe them in any degree exaggerated. The best blood of Andalusia was shed on this occasion. Among the slain Bernaldez reckons two hundred and fifty, and Pulgar four hundred persons of quality, with thirty commanders of the military fraternity of St. James. There was scarcely a family in the south but had to mourn the loss of some one of its members by death or captivity ; and the distress was not a little aggravated by the uncertainty which hung over the fate of the absent, as to whether they had fallen in the field, or were Btill wandering in the wilderness, or were pining away existence in the dungeons of Malaga and Granada. * The count, according to Oviedo, remained a long while a prisoner in Granada, tmtil ho was raasomed by the payment of sevenv thousand doblas of gold. 190 WAK OP GEAITADA. Some imputed the failure of the expedition to treachery in tlia adalides, some to want of concert among the commanders. The worthy curate of Los Palacios concludes his narrative of the disaster in the folio wing manner: " The number of the Moors was small who inflicted this grievous defeat on the Christians. It was, indeed, clearly miracu- lous, and we may discern in it the special interposition of Providence, justly offended with the greater part of those that engaged in the expedition ; who, instead of confessing, partaking the sacrament, and making their testaments, as becomes gooa Christians, and men that are to bear arms in defence of the Holy Catholic Faith, acknowledged that they did not bring with them suitable dispositions, but, with little regard to God's service, were influenced by covetousness and love of ungodly gain."* CHAPTER XI. WAR OF GBA.NADA. GENERAL VIEW OF THE POLICY PURSUED IN THE CONDUCT OF THIS WAR. 14831487. Defeat and Capture of Abdallah- Policy of the Sovereigns Large Trains of Artillery Description ot the Pieces Stupendous Eoads Isabella's care of the Troops Her Perseverance Discipline of the Army Swiss Mercenaries English Lord Scales Magnificence of the Nobles Isabella visits the Camp Ceremonies on the Occupation of a City. THE young monarch Abu Abdallah, was probably the only person in Granada who did not receive with unmingled satisfaction the tidings of the rout in the Axarquia. He beheld with secret uneasiness the laurels thus acquired by the old king his father, or rather by his ambitious uncle El Zagal, whose name now resounded from every quarter as the successful champion of the Moslems. He saw the necessity of some dazzling enterprise, if he would maintain an ascendancy even over the faction which had seated him on the throne. He accordingly projected an excursion, which instead of terminating in a mere border foray, should lead to the achievement of some permanent conquest. He found no difficulty, while the spirits of his people were roused, in raising a force of nine thousand foot, and seven hundred horse, the flower of Granada's chivalry. He strengthened his army still further by the presence of All Atar, the defender of Loja, the veteran of a hundred * Pulgar has devoted a large space to the unfortunate expedition to the Axari |uia. His intimacy with the principal persons of the court enabled him, no doubt, to verify most of the particulars which he records. The curateof Los Palacios, from the proximity ufhis resi- dence to the theatre of action, 'may be supposed also to have had ample means fur obtaining the requisite information. Yet their several accounts, although not strictly contradictory, it is not always easy to reconcile with one another. The narrative of complex military operations are not likely to be simplified undor the hands of monkish bookmen. I have endeavoured to make out a connected tissue from a comparison of the Moslem with tho Castilian authorities. But here the mcagreness of tho Moslem annals compels us to lament the premature death of Coude. It can hardly be expected, indeed, that the Moors should have dwelt with much amplification on this humiliating period. But there can be littio doubt, that far more copious memorials of theirs than any now published, exist in tho Spanish libraries ; and it were much to be wished, that some oriental scholar would supply Cbade's deficiency by exploring these authentic records of what may be deemed, as far a* Christian Spain is concerned, the most glorious portion of har history. MIL1TAET POLICY OF TIIE SOVEKEIG3S. 191 battles, whose military prowess had raised him from the common file up to the highest post in the army ; arid whose plebeian blood had been per- mitted to mingle with that of royalty by the marriage of his daughter with the young king Abdallah. With this gallant array, the Moorish monarch sallied forth from Granada. As he led the way through the avenue which still bears the name of the gate of Elvira, the point of his lance came in contact with the arch, and was broken. This sinister omen was followed by another more alarming. A fox, which crossed the path of the army, was seen to run through the ranks, and, notwithstanding the showers of missiles discharged at him, to make his escape unhurt. Abdallah's counsellors would have persuaded him to abandon, or at least postpone, an enterprise of such ill augury. But the king, less superstitious, or from, the obsti- nacy with which feeble minds, when once resolved, frequently persist in their projects, rejected their advice, and pressed forward on his march. The advance of the party was not conducted so cautiously but that it reached the ear of Don Diego Fernandez de Cordova, alcayde de los doiizeles,* or captain of the royal pages, who commanded in the town of Lucena, which he rightly j \idged was to be the principal object of attack. He transmitted the intelligence to his uncle the count of Cabra, a noble- man of the same name with himself, who was posted at his own town of Baena, requesting his support. He used all diligence in repairing the fortifications of the city, which, although extensive and originally strong, had fallen somewhat into decay ; and, having caused such of the population as were rendered helpless by age or iniirmity to withdraw into the interior defences of the place, he coolly waited the approach of the enemv. The Moorish army, after crossing the borders, began to mark its career through the Christian territory with the usual traces of devas- tation, and sweeping across the environs of Lucena, poured a marauding - foray into the rich campiiia of Cordova, as far as the walls of Aguiiar ; whence it returned, glutted with spoil, to lay siege to Lucena about the 21st of April. The count of Cabra, in the meanwhile, who had lost no time in mustering his levies, set forward at the head of a small but well- appointed force, consisting of both horse and foot, to the relief of his nephew. He advanced with such celerity that he had well-nigh sur- prised the beleaguering army. As he traversed the sierra, which covered the Moorish llank, his numbers were partially concealed by the in- equalities of the ground : while the clash of arms and the shrill music, reverberating among the hills, exaggerated their real magnitude in the apprehension of the enemy. At the same time the alcayde de los don- ~cles supported his uncle's advance by a vigorous sally from the city. The Granadine infantry, anxious only for the preservation of their valuable booty, scarcelv awaited for the encounter, before they began a dastardly retreat, and left the battle to the cavalry. The latter, com- posed, as has been said, of the strength of the Moorish cavalry, men nceustomed in many a border foray to cross lances with the best knighta of Andalusia, kept their ground with their wonted gallantry. The * The don:ek*, of which Diego de Cordova was alcayde, or captain, were a body of 03 valicrs, originally brought up as pages in the royal household, and -rjai.ised as ft icjvu ate :orps of the militia. 192 WAR OF GRANADA. conflict, so well disputed, remained doubtful for some time, until it was determined by the death of the veteran chieftain AH Atar, "the best lance," as a CastiHan writer has styled him, "of all Morisma," who was brought to the ground after receiving two wounds, and thus escaped by an honourable death the melancholy spectacle of his country's humiliation. The enemy, disheartened by this loss, soon began to give ground. But, though hard pressed by the Spaniards, they retreated in some order, until they reached the borders of the Xenil, which were thronged with the infantry, vainly attempting a passage across the stream, swollen by excessive rains to a height much above its ordinary level. The confusion now became universal, horse and foot mingling together ; each one, heedful only of Hfe, no longer thought of his booty. Many attempting to swim the stream, were borne down, steed and rider, promiscuously in its waters. Many more, scarcely making show of resistance, were cut down on the banks by the pitiless Spaniards. The young king Abdallah, who had been conspicuous during that day in the hottest of the fight, mounted on a milk-white charger richly caparisoned, saw fifty of his royal guard fall around him. Finding his steed too much jaded to stem the current of the river, he quietly dismounted and sought a shelter among the reedy thickets that fringed its margin, until the storm of battle should have passed over. In this lurking-place, however, he was discovered by a common soldier named Martin Hurtado, who, without recognising his person, instantly attacked him. The prince defended himself with his scimitar, until llurtado, being joined by two of his countrymen, suc- ceeded in making him prisoner. The men, overjoyed at their prize (for Abdallah had revealed his rank, in order to secure his person from violence,) conducted him to their general, the count of Cabra. The latter received the royal captive with a generous courtesy, the best sign of noble breeding ; and which, recognised as a feature of chivalry, affords a pleasing contrast to the ferocious spirit of ancient warfare. The good count administered to the unfortunate prince all the con- solations which his state would admit ; and subsequently lodged him in his castle of Baena, where he was entertained with the most deHcate and courtly hospitality. Nearly the whole of the Moslem cavalry were cut up, or captured, in this fatal action. Many of them were persons of rank, commanding high ransoms. The loss inflicted on the infantry was also severe, including the whole of their dear-bought plunder. Xine, or indeed, according to some accounts, two-and-twenty banners feU into the hands of the Christians in this action ; in commemoration of which the Spanish sovereigns granted to the count of Cabra, and his nephew, the alcayde de los donzeles, the privilege of bearing the same number of banners on their escutcheon, together with the head of a Moorish king, encircled by a golden coronet, with a chain of the same metal around the neck. Great was the consternation occasioned by the return of the Moorish fugitives to Granada, and loud was the lament through its populous streets ; for the pride of many a noble house was laid low on that day, and their king (a thing unprecedented in the annuls of the monarchy) was a prisoner in the land of the Christians. " The hostile star of Islam," exclaims an Arabian writer, "now scattered its malignant influence! over Spain, and the downfall of ^e Mussulman empire was decreed/' 1IIIJTAET POLICY OF THE SOVEREIGNS. ll3 The sultana Zoraya, however, was not of a temper to waste time in useless lamentation. She was aware that a captive king, who held his title by so precarious a tenure os did her son Abdallah, must soon cease to he a king even in name. She accordingly despatched a numerous embassy to Cordova, with proffers of such a ransom for the prince's liberation as a despot only could offer, and few despots only could have the authority to enforce. King Ferdinand, who was at Yitoria with the queen, when he received tidings of the victory of Lucena, hastened to the south to determine on the destination of his royal captive. "With some show of magnanimity, he declined an interview with Abdallah, until he should have consented to his liberation. A debate of some warmth occurred in the royal council at Cordova respecting the policy to he pursued; some contending that the Moorish monarch was too valuable a prize to be so readily relin- quished, and that the enemy, broken by the loss of their natural leader, would find it difficult to rally under one common head, or to concert any effective movement. Others, and especially the marquis of Cadiz, urged his release, and even the support of his pretensions against his com- petitor, the old king of Granada ; insisting that the Moorish empire would be more effectually shaken by internal divisions than hy any pressure of its enemies from without. The various arguments were sub- mitted to the queen, who still held her court in the north, and who decided for the release of Abdallah, as a measure best reconciling sound policy with generosity to the vanquished. * The terms of the treaty, although sufficiently humiliating to the Moslem prince, were not materially different from those proposed by the sultana Zoraya. It was agreed that a truce of two years should be extended to Abdallah, and to such places in Granada as acknowledged his authority. In consideration of which, he stipulated to surrender four hundred Christian captives without ransom, to pay twelve thousand dohlas of gold annually to the Spanish sovereigns, and to permit a free passage, as well as furnish supplies to their troops passing through his territories, for the purpose of carrying on the war against that portion of the kingdom which still adhered to his father. Abdallah moreover bound himself to appear when summoned by Ferdinand, and to surrender his own son, with the children of his principal nobility, as sureties for his fulfilment of the treaty. Thus did the unhappy prince barter away his honour and his country's freedom for the possession of immediate, but most precarious sovereignty ; a sovereignty which could scarcely be expected to survive the period when he could be useful to the master whose breath had made him. The terms of the treaty being thus definitively settled, an interview was arranged to take place between the two monarchs at Cordova. The f astilian courtiers would have persuaded their master to offer his hand for Abdallah to salute, in token of his feudal supremacy ; but Ferdinand replied, " "Were the king of Granada in his own dominions, I might do this ; hut not while he is a prisoner in mine." The Moorish prince en- tered Cordova with an escort of his own knights, and a splendid throng of Spanish chivalry, who had marched out of the city to receive him. * Charles V. docs not seem to have partaken of his grandfather's delicacy in regard to an tatorview with hia royal captive, or indeed to any part of his deportment towards him. 194 WAR OF GBAXADA.. When Abdallah entered the royal presence, he would ha\e prostrated himself on his knees ; but Ferdinand, hastening to prevent him, embraced him with every demonstration of respect. An Arabic interpreter, who acted as orator, then expatiated, in florid hyperbole, on the magnanimity and princely qualities of the Spanish king, and the loyalty and good faith of his" own master. But Ferdinand interrupted his eloquence with the assurance that "his panegyric was superfluous, and that he had perfect confidence that the sovereign of Granada would keep his faith as became a true knight and a king." After ceremonies so humiliating to the Moorish prince, notwithstanding the veil of decorum studiously thrown over them, he set out with his attendants for his capital, escorted by a body of Andalusian horse to the frontier, and loaded with costly presents by the Spanish king, and the general contempt of his court. Notwithstanding the importance of the results in the war of Granada, a detail of the successive steps by which they were achieved would be most tedious and trifling. Xo siege or single military achievement of great moment occurred until nearly four years from this period, iu 1487 ; although, in the intervening time, a large number of fortresses and pttty towns, together with a very extensive tract of territory, were recovered from the enemy. Without pursuing the chronological order of events, it is probable that the end of history will be best attained by presenting a concise view of the general policy pursued by the sovereigns in the conduct of the war. The Moorish wars under preceding monarchs had consisted of little eke than cavaigadas,oT inroads into the enemy's territory,* which, pouring like a torrent over the land, swept away whatever was upon the surface, but left it in its essential resources wholly unimpaired. The bounty of nature soon repaired the ravages of man, and the ensuing harvest seemed to shoot up more abundantly from the soil, enriched by the blood of the husbandman. A more vigorous system of spoliation was now introduced. Instead of one campaign, the army took the field in spring and autumn, intermitting its efforts only during the intolerable heats of summer, so that the green crop had no time to ripen, ere it was trodden down under the iron heel of war. The apparatus for devastation was also on a much greater scale than had ever before been witnessed. From the second year of the war, thirty thousand foragers were reserved for this service, which they effected by demolishing farm-houses, granaries, and mills (which last were exceed- ingly numerous in a land watered by manv small streams), by eradicating the vines, and laying waste the olive-gardens and plantations of oranges, almonds, mulberries, and all the rich varieties that grew luxuriant in this highly favoured region. This merciless devastation extended for more than two leagues on either side of the line of march. At the same time, the Mediterranean fleet cut off all supplies from the Barbary coast, so that the whole kingdom might be said to be in a state of perpetual blockade. Such and so general was the scarcity occasioned by this system, that the Moors were glad to exchange their Christian captives for provi- sions, until such ransom was interdicted by the sovereigns, as tending to defeat their own measures. The term caralpada seems to be used indifferently by the ancient Spanish writers t* present a marauding party, the foray itsMf or the booty taken in i:. MILITARY POLICY OF THE SOVEREIGNS. 1'Jj Still there was many a green and sheltered valley in Granada, which yielded its ivturns unmolested to the Moorish husbandman ; while big granaries were occasionally enriched with the produce of a border foray. The Moors, too, although naturally a luxurious people, were patient of suffering, and capable of enduring great privation. Other measures, therefore, of a still more formidable character, became necessary, in conjunction with this rigorous system of blockade. The Moorish towns were for the most part strongly defended, presenting within the limits of Granada, as has been said, more than, ten times the number of fortified places that are now scattered over the whole extent of the Peninsula. They stood along the crest of some precipice, or bold sierra, whose natural strength was augmented by the solid masonry with which they were surrounded, and which, however insufficient to hold out against modern, artillery, bade defiance to all the enginery of battering warfare known previously to the fifteenth century. It was this strength of fortification, combined with that of their local position, which frequently enabled a slender garrison in these places to laugh to scorn all the efforts of the proudest Castilian armies. The Spanish sovereigns were convinced that they must look to their artillery as the only effectual means for the reduction of these strong- holds. In this they as well as the Moors were extremely deficient, although Spain appears to have furnished earlier examples of its use than any other country in Europe. Isabella, who seems to have had the particular control ut' this department, caused the most skilful engineers and artisans to u :;ivited into the kingdom from 1'rance, Germany, and Italy. Forges wvre constructed in the camp, and all the requisite materials prepared for the manufacture of cannon, balls, and powder. Large quantities of the last were also imported from Sicilv, Flanders, and Portugal. Commissaries were established over the various depart- ments, with instructions to provide whatever might be necessary for the operatives ; and the whole was entrusted to the supervision of Don t rancisco Ramirez, an hidalgo of Madrid, a person of much experience, and extensive military science, for the day. By these efforts, unremit- tingly pursued during the whole of the war, Isabella assembled a train of artillery such as was probably not possessed at that time by any other European potentate. Still the clumsy construction of the ordnance betrayed the infancy of the art. More than twenty pieces of artillery used at the siege of Baza dining this war are still to be seen in that city, where they long served as columns in the public market-place. The largest of the lombards, as the heavy ordnance was called, are about twelve feet in length, consisting of iron bars two inches in breadth, held together by bolts and rings of the same metal. These were firmly attached to their carriages, incapable either of horizontal or vertical movement. It was this clumsiness of construction which hd Maehiavelli, some thirty years after, to doubt the expediency of bringing eannon into field engagements ; and he particularly recommends, in his tr -atise on the Art of War, that the enemy's tire should be evaded, by intervals in the ranks being left open opposite to nis camion The balls thrown from these engines were sometimes of iron, but more usually of marble. Several hundred of the latter have been picked up in the fields around Baj$a, many of which are fourteen inches in diameter, 196 ^AR Or GRAXADA. and weigh a hundred and seventy-five pounds. Yet this hulk, enormou* as it appears, shows a considerable advance in the art since the beginning of the century, when the stone balls discharged, according to Zurita, at the siege of Balaguer, weighed not less than five hundred and fifty pounds. It was verv long before the exact proportions requisite for obtaining the greatest effective force could be ascertained.* The awkwardness with which their artillery was served corresponded with the rudeness of its manufacture. It is noticed as a remarkable circumstance by the chronicler, that two batteries, at the siege of Albahar, discharged one hundred and forty balls in the course of a day.f Besides this more usual kind of ammunition, the Spaniards threw from their engines large globular masses, composed of certain inflammable ingre- dients mixed with gunpowder, " which, scattering long trains of light," says an eye-witness, " in their passage through the air, tilled the beholders with dismay, and, descending on the roofs of the edifices, frequently occasioned extensive conflagration." J The transportation of their bulky engines was not the least of the difficulties which the Spaniards had to encounter in this war. The Moorish fortresses were frequently intrenched in the depths of some mountain labyrinth, whose rugged passes were scarcely accessible to cavalry. An immense body of pioneers, therefore, was constantly em- ployed in constructing roads for the artillery across these sierras, by levelling the mountains, filling up the intervening valleys with rocks, or with cork-trees and other timber, that grew prolific in the wilderness, and throwing bridges across the torrents and precipitous barrancos. Pulgar had the curiosity to examine one of the causeways thus constructed preparatory to the siege of Cambil, which, although six thousand pioneers were constantly employed in the work, was attended with such difficulty, that it advanced only three leagues in twelve days. It required, says the historian, the entire demolition of one of the most rugged parts of the sierra, which no one could have believed practicable by human industry. The Moorish garrisons, perched on their mountain fastnesses, which, like the eyry of some bird of prey, seemed almost inaccessible to man, beheld with astonishment the heavy trains of artillery emerging from the passes where the foot of the hunter had scarcely been known to venture. The walls which encompassed their cities, although lofty, were not of sufficient thickness to withstand long the assaults of these formidable engines. The Moors were deficient in heavy ordnance. The weapons 011 which they chiefly relied for annoying the enemy at a distance were the arquebus and crossbow, with the last of which they were unerring marksmen, being trained to it from infancy. They ad'opted a custom, rarely met with in civilised nations of any age, of poisoning their arrows ; * According to Gibbon, the cannon used by Mahomet in the siege of Constantinople, about thirty years before this time, threw stono balls which weighed above GOO pound* The measure of the bore was twelve palms Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, ch:ip. ''> t We get a more precise notion of the awkwardness with which the artillery was served in the infancy of the science, from a fact recorded in the chronicle of John II., that, at the siege of Setenil, in 1407, five lombards were aH~ *" ^;o,,>,,. ,-,.IT- r,.f-r. =v.* ,-r, *v, ,.,.,!,<, of a day. We have witnessed an invention ii Jacob Perkins, by which a gun, with the aid throw a thousand bullets iu a single minute. : Some writers, as the Abbd Mignot, have referred the invention of bombs to the siegtj of Ronda. I find no authority for this. Pulgar's words are, " They made many iron balls, large and small, some of which they cast in a mould, having reduced the is. _;. to a Rtafe of fusion so that it would run like any other metal." MTLITAEY POLICY OP THE SOVEREIGNS. 197 distilling for this purpose the juice of aconite, or wolfsbane, which grew rife in the Sierra Nevada, or Snowy Mountains, near Granada. A piece of linen or cotton cloth, steeped in this decoction, was wrapped round the point of the weapon, and the wound inflicted by it, however trivial its appearance, was sure to be mortal. Indeed, a Spanish writer, not content with this, imputes such malignity to the virus, that a drop of it, as he asserts, mingling with the blood oozing from a wound, would ascend the stream into the vein, and diffuse its fatal influence over the whole system.* Ferdinand, who appeared at the head of his armies throughout the whole of this war, pursued a sagacious policy in reference to the belea- guered cities. He was ever ready to meet the first overtures to surrender, in the most liberal spirit : granting protection of persons, and such pro- perty as the besieged could transport with them, and assigning them a residence, if they preferred it, in his own dominions. Many, in conse- quence of this, migrated to Seville and other cities of Andalusia, where they were settled on estates which had been confiscated by the inquisitors ; who looked forward, no doubt, with satisfaction to the time when they should be permitted to thrust their sickle into the new crop of heresy, whose seeds were thus sown amid the ashes of the old one. Those who preferred to remain in the conquered Moorish territory as Castilian subjects, were permitted the free enjoyment of personal rights and pro- perty, as well as of their religion ; and such was the fidelity with which Ferdinand redeemed his engagements during the war, by the punishment of the least infraction of them by his own people, that many, particularly of the Moorish peasantry, preferred abiding in their early homes to removing to Granada, or other places of the Moslem dominion. It was, perhaps, a counterpart of the same policy which led Ferdinand to chastise any attempt at revolt, on the part of his new Moorish subjects, the Mudcjares, as they were called, with an unsparing rigour which merits the reproach of cruelty. Such was the military execution inflicted on the rebellious town of Benemaquez, where he commanded one hundred and ten of the principal inhabitants to be hung over the walls, and after consigning the rest of the population, men, women, and children, to slavery, caused the place to be razed to ( the ground. The humane policy usually pursued by Ferdinand seems to have had a more favourable effect on his enemies, who were exasperated rather than intimidated, by this ferocious act of vengeance.t The magnitude of the other preparations corresponded with those for the ordnance department. The amount of forces assembled at Cordova we find variously stated at ten or twelve thousand horse, and twenty and even forty thousand foot, exclusive of foragers. On one occasion the whole number, including men for the artillery service and the followers of the camp, is reckoned at eighty thousand. The same number of beasts of burden were employed in transporting the supplies required for this immense host, as well as for provisioning the conquered cities standing in the midst of a desolated country. The queen, who took this depart- ment under her special cognisance, moved along the frontier, stationing * Accoi ding to Mendoza, a decoction of the quince furnished the most effectual antidote known ng;imst this jxrison. f Pulpir. who is by no means bigoted for the age, seems to think the liberal terms granted by Ferdinand to the enemies of the faith stand in need of perpetual apology. 195 "WA!: OF GEAXADA. herself at points most contiguous to the scene of operations. There, by means of posts regularly established, she received hourly intelligence of the war. At the same time she transmitted the requisite munitions to the troops, by means of convoys sufficiently strong to secure them against the irruptions of the wily enemy. Isabella, solicitous for everything that concerned the welfare of her people, sometimes visited the camp in person, encouraging the soldiers to endure the hardships of war, and relieving their necessities by liberal donations of clothes and money. She caused also a number of large tents, known as "the queen's hospitals," to be always reserved for the sick and wounded, and furnished them with the requisite attendants and medicine, at her own charge. This is considered the earliest attempt at the formation of a regular camp hospital on record. Isabella may be regarded as the soul of this war. She engaged in it with the most exalted views, less to acquire territory, than to re- establish the empire of the Cross over the ancient domain of Christendom. On this point she concentrated all the energies of her powerful mind, never suffering herself to be diverted by any subordinate interest from this one great and glorious object. When the king, in 1484, would have paused a while from the Granadine war in order to prosecute his claims to Roussillon against the French on the demise of Louis the Eleventh, Isabella strongly objected to it ; but, finding her remonstrance ineffectual, she left her husband in Aragon, and repaired to Cordova, where she placed the cardinal of Spain at the head of the army, and prepared to open the campaign in the usual vigorous manner. Here, however, she was soon joined by Ferdinand, who, on a cooler revision of the subject, deemed it prudent to postpone his projected enterprise. On another occasion, in the same year, when the nobles, fatigued with the service, had persuaded the king to retire earlier than usual, the queen, dissatisfied with the proceedings, addressed a letter to her husband, in which, after representing the disproportion of the results to the preparations, she besought him to keep the field as long as the season should serve. "The grandees," says Lebrija, "mortified at being surpassed in zeal for the holy war by a woman, eagerly collected their forces, which had been partly disbanded, and returned across the borders to renew hostilities." A circumstance, which had frequently frustrated the most magnificent military enterprises under former reigns, was the factions of these potent vassals, who, independent of each other, and almost of the crown, could rarely be brought to act in efficient concert for a length of time, and broke up the camp on the slightest personal jealousy. Ferdinand experienced something of this temper in the duke of Medina Celi, who, when he had received orders to detach a corps of his troops to the support of the count of Lenavcnte, refused ; replying to the messenger, " Tell your master, that 1 came here to serve him at the head of my household troops, and they go nowhere without me as their leader. 5 ' The sovereigns managed this fiery spirit with the greatest address, and, instead of curbing it, endeavoured to direct it in the path of honourable emulation. The queen, who, as their hereditary sovereign, received a more deferential homage from her Castilian subjects than Ferdinand, frequently wrote to her flobles in the camp, complimenting some on their achievements, and others less fortunate on their intentions ; thus MILITARY POLICY OF THE SOVEREIGNS. 199 cheering the hearts of all, says the chronicler, and stimulating- them tc deeds of heroism. On the most deserving she freely lavished those honours which cost little to the sovereign, but are most grateful to the subject. The marquis of Cadiz, who was pre-eminent above every other captain in this war for sagacity and conduct, was rewarded after his brilliant surprise of Zahara, with the gift of that city, and the titles of marquis of Zahara and duke of Cadiz. The warrior, however, was unwilling to resign the ancient title under which he had won his laurels, and ever after subscribed himself Marquis Duke of Cadiz.* Still more emphatic honours were conferred on the count de Cabra, after the capture of the king of Granada. "When he presented himself before the sovereigns, who were at Vitoria, the clergy and cavaliers of the city marched out to receive him, and he entered in solemn procession on the right hand of the grand cardinal of Spain. As he advanced up the hall of audience in the royal palace, the king and queen came forward to welcome him, and then seated him by themselves at table, declaring that " the conqueror of kings should sit with kings." These honours were followed by the more substantial gratuity of a hundred thousand maravedis annual rent ; "a fat donative," says an old chronicler, " for so lean a treasury." The young alcayde de los donzeles experienced a similar reception on the ensuing day. Such acts of royal condescension were especially grateful to the nobility of a court, circumscribed beyond every other in Europe by stately and ceremonious etiquette. The duration of the war with Granada was such as to raise the militia throughout the kingdom nearly to a level with regular troops. Many of these levies, indeed, at the breaking out of the war, might pretend to this character. Such were those furnished by the Andalusian cities, which had been long accustomed to skirmishes with their Moslem neighbours. Such, too, was the well-appointed chivalry of the military orders, and the organised militia of the hermandad, which we find sometimes supplying a body of ten thousand men for the service. To these may be added the splendid throng of cavaliers and hidalgos who swelled the retinues of the sovereigns and the great nobility. The king was attended in battle bv a body-guard of a thousand knights, one half light, and the other half heavy armed, all superbly equipped and mounted, and trained to arms from childhood under the royal eye. Although the burden of the war bore most heavily on Andalusia, from its contiguity to the scene of action, yet recruits were drawn in abundance from the most remote provinces, as Galicia, Biscay, and the Asturias, from Aragon, and even the transmarine dominions of Sicily. The sovereigns did not disdain to swell their ranks with levies of a humbler description, by promising an entire amnesty to those malefactors who had left the country in great numbers of late years to escape justice, on condition of their serving in the Moorish war. Throughout this motley host the strictest discipline and decorum were maintained. The Spaniards have never been disposed to intemperance ; but the passion for gaming, especially with dice, to which they seem to have been immoderately addicted at that day, was restrained by the severest penalties. * After another daring achievement, the sovereigns granted him end his heirs the royal euit worn by the monarchs of Castile on Lady-Day ; a present, says Aborca, not fo h estimated by its cost. 200 WAH OF GRANADA. The brilliant successes of the Spanish sovereigns diffused general satisfaction throughout Christendom, and volunteers flocked to the camp from France, England, and other parts of Europe, eager to participate in the glorious triumphs of the Cross. Among these was a corps of Swiss mercenaries, who are thus simply described by Pulgar. " There joined the royal standard a body of men from Switzerland, a country in upper Germany. These men were bold of heart, and fought on foot. As they were resolved never to turn their backs upon the enemy, they wore no defensive armour, except in front ; by which means they were lesa encumbered in fight. They made a trade of war, letting themselves out as mercenaries ; but they espoused only a just quarrel, lor they wera devout and loyal Christians, and above all abhorred rapine as a great sin." The Swiss had recentlv established their military renown by the discomfiture of Charles the Bold, when they first proved the superiority of infantry over the best appointed chivalrv of Europe. Their example, no- doubt, contributed to the formation of that invincible Spanish infantry, which under the Great Captain and his successors, may be said to have decided the fate of Christendom for more than half a century. Among the foreigners was one from the distant isle of Britain, the Earl of Rivera, or coude de Escalas, as he is called from his patronymic, Scales, by the Spanish writers. " There came from Britain," says Peter Martyr, " a cavalier, young, wealthy, and high-born. He was allied to the blood royal of England. He was attended by a beautiful train of household troops, three hundred in number, armed after the fashion of theirland, with long-bow and batt]e-axe." This nobleman particularly distinguished him- self by his gallantry in the second siege of Loja, in I486. After having asked leave to fight after the manner of his country, says the Andalusian clironicler, he dismounted from his good steed, and putting himself at the head of his followers, armed like himself en bianco, with their swords at their thighs, and battle-axes in their hands, lie dealt such terrible blows around him as filled even the hardy mountaineers of the north, with astonishment. Unfortunately, just as the suburbs were carried, the good knight, as he was mounting a scaling-ladder, received a blow from a stone, which dashed out two of his teeth, and stretched him senseless, on the ground. He was removed to his tent, where he lay some time xmder medical treatment; and, when he had sufficiently recovered, he received a visit from the king and queen, who complimented him on his prowess, and testified their sympathy for his misfortune. " It is little replied he, " to lose a few teeth in the service of Him who has given me all. Our Lord," he added, " who reared this fabric, has only opened a window, in order to discern the more readily what passes within." A facetious response, says Peter Martyr, which gave uncommon satist'iictioa to the sovereigns. The queen, not long after, testified her sense of the earl's services by a magnificent largess, consisting, among other things, of twelve Andalu- sian horses, two couches witli richly wrought hangings and coverings of cloth of gold, with a quantity of fine linen, and sumptuous pavilions for himself and suite. The brave knight seems to have been satisfied with this taste of the Moorish wars ; for he soon after returned to England, and in 1488 passed over to France, where his hot spirit prompted him to take part in the feudal factions of that country, in which he lost hia lile, fighting for the duke of Brittany. MILITABY POLICY OF THE SOVEREIGNS. 201 The pomp with which the military movements were conducted in these campaigns, gave the scene rather the air of a court pageant than that of the stern array of war. The war was one which, appealing both to principles of religion and patriotism, was well calculated to inflame the imaginations of the young Spanish cavaliers ; and they poured into the field, eager to display themselves under the eye of their illustrious queen, ',vho, as she rode through the ranks mounted on her war-horse, and clad in complete mail, afforded no bad personification of the genius of chivalry. The potent and wealthy barons exhibited in the camp all the magnifi- cence of princes. The pavilions decorated with various-coloured pennons, and emblazoned with the armorial bearings of their ancient no ises, shone with a splendour which a Castilian writer likens to that of the city of Seville.* They always appeared surrounded by a throng of pages in gorgeous liveries, and at night were preceded by a multitude of torches, which shed a radiance like that of day. They vied with each other in the costliness of their apparel, equipage, and plate, and in the variety and delicacy of the dainties with which their tables were covered. Ferdinand and Isabella saw with regret this lavish ostentation, and privately remonstrated with some of the principal grandees on its evil tendency, especially in seducing the inferior and poorer nobility into expenditures beyond their means. This Sybarite indulgence, however, does not seem to have impaired the martial spirit of the nobles. On all occasions they contended with each other for the post of danger. The duke del Infantado, the head of the powerful house of Mendoza, was conspicuous above all for the magnificence of his train. At the siege of lllora, 148G, he obtained permission to lead the storming party. As his followers pressed onwards to the breach, they were received with such a shower of missiles as made them falter for a moment. " What, my men," cried he, "do you fail me at this hour ? Shall we be taunted with bearing more finery on our backs than courage in our heart ? Let us not, in God's name, be laughed at as mere holiday soldiers ! " His Is, stung by this rebuke, rallied, and, penetrating the breach, carried the place by the fury of their assault, f Notwithstanding the remonstrances of the sovereigns against this ostentation of luxury, they were not wanting in the display of royal state and magnificence on all suitable occasions. The curate of Los Pulacios lias expatiated with elaborate minuteness on the circumstances of an interview between Ferdinand and Isabella in the camp before This city, even before the New World had poured its treasures into its lap, wa conspicuous for its magnificence, as the ancient proverb testifies ;it a lord. He displayed all the luxuries which belong to a time of peace; and hia accou:)' rs and musicians ; his falcons, huuuds, and his whole hunting es>tab~ U*hn.ent, including a magnificent stud of horses, not to be matched by any other noble- man ill the kingdom. Ol the truth of all which, "concludes Oviedo, "I myself have been in;*u 111 uie Kinguoin. \ji Liie iruiu 01 ail wuicn, cuuiuuutm wiuuo, A mysuii uuvo ueuu AII uyu- witness, and enough othen c;m testify." Oviedo has piven the genealogy t f the Mcudozne and llendozinos, in all its endless ramification* 202 WAB OF GKASADA. Moclin, in I486, when the queen's presence was solicited for the purpose of devising a plan of futiire operations. A few of the particulars may be transcribed, though at the hazard of appearing trivial to readers who take little interest in such details. On the borders of the Yeguas, the queen was met by an advanced corps, under the command of the marquis duke of Cadiz, and, at the distance of a league and a half from Moclin, by the duke del Infantado, with the principal nobility and their vassals, splendidly accoutred. On the left of the road was d'rawn up in battle array the militia of Seville ; and the queen, making her obeisance to the banner of that illustrious city, ordered it to pass to her right. The successive battalions saluted the queen as she advanced, by lowering their standards ; and the joyous multitude announced with tumultuous acclamations her approach to the conquered city. The queen was accompanied by her daughter, the infanta Isabella, and a courtly train of damsels, mounted on mules richly caparisoned. The queen herself rode a chestnut mule, seated on a saddle-chair embossed with gold and silver. The housings were of a crimson colour ; and the bridle was of satin, curiously wrought with letters of gold. The infanta wore a skirt of fine velvet, over others of brocade ; a scarlet mantilla of the Moorish fashion ; and a black hat trimmed with gold embroidery. The king rode forward at the head of his nobles to receive her. He was dressed in a crimson doublet, with chausses, or breeches, of yellow satin. Over his shoulders was thrown a cassock or mantle of rich bro- cade, and a sopravest of the same materials concealed his cuirass. By his side, close girt, he wore a Moorish scimitar ; and beneath his bonnet his hair was confined by a cap or head-dress of the finest stuff. Ferdinand was mounted on a noble war-horse of a bright chestnut colour. In the splendid train of chivalry which attended him, Bernaldez dwells with much satisfaction on the* English lord Scales. He was followed by a retinue of five pages arrayed in costly liveries. He was sheathed in complete mail, over which was thrown a French surcoat of dark silk brocade. A buckler was attached by golden clasps to his arm, and on his head he wore a white French hat with plumes. The caparisons of his steed were azure silk, lined with violet and sprinkled over with stars of gold, and swept the ground as he managed his fiery courser with an easy horsemanship that excited general admiration. The king and queen, as they drew near, bowed thrice with formal reverence to each other. The queen, at the same time raising her ha I,, remained in her coif or head-dress, with her face uncovered ; Ferdinand, riding up, kissed her affectionately on the cheek, and then, according to the precise chronicler, bestowed a similar mark of tenderness on his daughter Isabella, after giving her his paternal benediction. The royal parly was then escorted to the camp, where suitable accommodations had been provided for the queen and her fair retinue.* * The lively author of "A Year in Spain " describes, among other suits of armour tni to be seen in the museum of tho armoury at Madrid, those vroi-n by Ferdinand and lik illustrious consort. " In one of the most conspicuous stations is the suit of armour usually worn by Ferdinand the Catholic. He seoms snugly seated upon his war-horse, with a pal f red velvet breeches, after the manner of the Moors, with lifted laucc and closed viso* There are several suits of Ferdinand and of his queen Isabella, who was no stranger to th dangers of a battle. By the comparative heights of the armour, Isabella would seem to b tie bigger of the two. as she certainly was tho better. 3IILITAET IOLICY OF THE SOVEREIGNS. -0'6 It may rcaaily be believed, that the sovereigns did not neglect, in a war like the present, an appeal to the religious principle so deeply seated in the Spanish character. All their public acts ostentatiously proclaimed the pious nature of the -work in -which they were engaged. They were attended in their expeditions by churchmen of the highest rank, who not only mingled in the councils of the camp, but like the bold bishop of Jacu, or the grand cardinal Mendoza, buckled on harness over rochet and hood, and led their squadrons to the field.* The queen at Cordova celebrated the tidings of every new success over the infidel, by solemn ssion and thanksgiving with her whole household, as well as the nobility, foreign ambassadors, and municipal functionaries. In like manner, Ferdinand, on the return from his campaigns, was received at the gates of the city, and escorted in solemn pomp beneath a rich canopy of state to the cathedral church, where he prostrated himself in grateful adoration to the Lord of hosts. Intelligence of their triumphant pro- gress in the war was constantly transmitted to the pope, who returned his benediction, accompanied by more substantial marks of favour, in bulls of crusade, and taxes' on ecclesiastical rents, f The ceremonials observed on the occupation of a new conquest, were such as to affect the heart no less than the imagination. ' ' The royal fr'/tri-:," says Marineo, "raised the standard of the Cross, the sign of our salvation, on the summit of the principal fortresses ; and all who beheld it prostrated themselves on their knees in silent worship of the Almighty, while the priests chaunted the glorious anthem, Te Deum laudaimis. The ensign or pennon of St. James, the chivalric patron of . was then unfolded, and all invoked his blessed name. Lastly, was disjiLiyi-d the banner of the sovereigns, emblazoned with the royal arms ; at which the whole army shouted forth, as if with one voice, 4 Castile, Castile '. ' Alter these solemnities, a bishop led the way to the principal mosque, which, after the rites of purification, he consecrated to the service of the true faith." The standard of the Cross, above referred to, was of massive silver, and was a present from pope Sixtus the Fourth to Ferdinand, in whose it was always carried throughout these campaigns. An ample supply of bells, vases, missals, plate, and other sacred furniture, was also borne along with the camp, being provided by the queen for the purified mosques. The most touching part of the incidents usually occurring at the surrender of a Moorish city, was the liberation of the Christian captives immured in its dungeons. On the capture of Honda, in 1485, more than four hundred of these unfortunate persons, several of them cavaliers ot rank, some of whom had been taken in the fatal expedition of the A.xarquia, were restored to the light of heaven. On being brought before Ferdinand, they prostrated themselves on the ground, bathing his : while their wan and wasted figures, their dishevelled -. their beards reaching down to their girdles, and their limbs loaded with heavy manacles, brought tears into the eye of every * - . v I :za, in the campaign of 14S5, offered the queen to raise a body of 3000 .1 its head to the relief of Alhama, and at the same time to supply her vi sums of money :is might be necessary in the present exigency. t In 14 SO, we find Ferdinand and Isabella performing a pilgrimage to the shrine of St. J allies of Compos tell*. 204 WAR OF GRANADA. spectator. They were then commanded to present themselves before the queen at Cordova, who liberally relieved their necessities, and, after the celebration of public thanksgiving, caused them to be conveyed to their own homes. The fetters of the liberated captives were suspended in the churches, where they continued to be revered by succeeding genera- tions as the trophies of Christian warfare. Ever since the victory of Lucena, the sovereigns had made it a capital point of their policy to foment the dissensions of their enemies. The young king Abdallah, after his humiliating treaty with Ferdinand, lost whatever consideration he had previously possessed. Although the sultana Zoraya, by her personal address and the lavish distribution of the royal treasures, contrived to maintain a faction for her son, the better classes of his countrymen despised him as a renegade, and a vassal of the Christian king. As their old monarch had become incom- petent, from increasing age and blindness, to the duties of his station in those perilous times, they turned their eyes on his brother Abdallah, surnamed El Zagal, or " The Valiant," who had borne so conspicuous a part in the rout of the Axarquia. The Castilians depict this chief in the darkest colours of ambition and cruelty ; but the Moslem writers afford no such intimation, and his advancement to the throne at that crisis seems to be in some measure justified by his eminent talents as a military leader. On his way to Granada, he encountered and cut to pieces a body of Calatrava knights from Alhama, and signalised his entrance into his new capital by bearing along the bloody trophies of heads dangling from his saddlebow, after the barbarous fashion long practised in these wars.* It was observed that the old king Abul Hacen did not long survive his brother's accession. f The young king Abdallah sought the protection of the Castilian sovereigns in Seville, who, true to their policy, sent him back into his dominions with the means of making headway against his rival. The alfakies and other considerable persons of Granada, scandalised at these fatal feuds, effected a reconciliation, on the basis of a division of the kingdom between the parties. But wounds so deep could not be so permanently healed. The site of the Moorish capital was most propitious to the purposes of faction. It covered two swelling eminences, divided from each other by the deep waters of the Darro. The two factions possessed themselves respectively of these opposite quarters. Abdallah was not ashamed to strengthen himself by the aid of Christian mercenaries ; and a dreadful conflict was carried on for fifty days and nights within the city, which swam with the blood that should have been shed only in its defence. Notwithstanding these auxiliary circumstances, the progress of tht Christians was comparatively slow. Every cliff seemed to be crowned with a fortress ; and every fortress was defended with the desperation of men willing to bury themselves under its ruins. The old men, women, ami children, on occasion of a siege, were frequently despatched to Granada. Such was the resolution, or rather ferocity of the Moors, that * A garland of Christian heads seems to have been deemed no unsuitable present from a Mo&lciu knight to his lady love. This sort of trophy was also borne by the Christian cavaliers. Examples of this may be found even as lato as the siege of Grauada. t The Arabic historian alludes to the vulgar report of the old king's assassination by hia brother, but leaves us in the dark in regard to his own opinion of its credibility. MILITARY POLICY OF THE SOVF.REIGXS. 203 Malaga closed its gates against the fugitives from Alora, after its sur- render, and even massacred some of them in cold Wood. The eagle eye of El Zagal seemed to take in at a glance the whole extent of his little territory, and to detect every vulnerable point in his antagonist, whom he encountered where he least expected it ; cutting off his envoys, sur- prising his foraging parties, and retaliating by a devastating inroad on the borders.* No effectual and permanent resistance, however, could be opposed to the tremendoxis enginery of the Christians. Tower and town fell before it. Besides the principal towns of Cartama, Coin, Setenil, Ronda, Marbella, Illora, termed by the Moors "the right eye," Moclin, "the shield" of Granada, and Loja, after a second and desperate siege in the spring of 1486, Bernaldez enumerates more than seventy subordinate S'aces in the Val de Cartama, and thirteen others after the fall of arbella. Thus the Spaniards advanced their line of conquest more than twenty leagnes beyond the western frontier of Granada. This extensive tract they strongly fortified and peopled, partly with Christian subjects and partly with Moorish, the original occupants of the soil, who were secured in the possession of their ancient lands under their own law. Thus the strong posts which may be regarded as the exterior defences of the city of Granada, were successively carried. A few positions alone remained of sufficient strength to keep the enemy at bay. The most considerable of these was Malaga, which from its maritime situation afforded facilities for a communication with the Barbary Moors, that the vigilance of the Castilian cruisers could not entirely intercept. On this point, therefore, it was determined to concentrate all the strength of the monarchy, by sea and land, in the ensuing campaign of 1487. Two of the most important authorities for the war of Granada are Fernando del Pulgar and Autonio de Lebrija, or Nebrissensis, as he is called from the Latin Xtbrissa. Few particulars have been preserved respecting the biography of the former. He wa probably a native of Pulgar, near Toledo. The Castilian writers recognise certain pro- vincialisms in his style belonging to that district He was secretary to Henry IV., and was charged with various confidential functions by him. He seems to have retained his place on the accession of Isabella, by whom he was appointed national historiographer in 14S2, when, from certain remarks in his letters, it would appear he was already advanced in years. This office, in the fifteenth century, comprehended in addition to the more obvious duties of an historian, the intimate and confidential relations of a private secretary. ' It was the business of the chronicler," says Bernaldez, " to carry on foreign correspondence in the service of his master, acquainting himself with wliatever was passing in other courts and countries, and, by the discreet and conciliatory tenor of his epistles, to allay such feuds as might arise between the king and his nobility, and establish harmony between them." From this period Pulgar remained near the royal person, accompanying the queen in her various progresses through the kingdom, as well as in her military expe- ditions into the Moorish territory. He was consequently an eye-witness of many of the warlike scenes which he describes, and from his situation at the court, had access to the most ample and accredited sources of information. It is probable he did not survive the capture of Granada, as his history falls somewhat short of that event. Pulgar's Chronicle, in the portion containing a retrospective survey of events previous to 1482. may be charged with gross inaccuracy ; but, in all the subsequent period, it may be received as perfectly authentic, and has all the air of impartiality. Every circumstance relating to the conduct of the war is developed with equal fulness and precision. His manner of narration, though prolix, is perspicuous, and may compare favourably with that of Among other achievements, Zagal surprised and beat the count of Cabra in a night attack upon Moclin, and well-nigh retaliated on that nobleman his capture of the Moorish king Abdallah. 2''6 WAR OF GllANADA. contemporary writers. His sentiments may com pa' -j still more advantageously, ill poir* of liberality, with those of the Castilian historians of a later age. Pulgar lef c some other works, of which his commentary cm the ancient satire of " Min^n Bevulgo," his " Letters," and his "Glares Varones," or sketches of illustrious men, h-jvo alone been published. The last contains notices of the most distinguished individuals of the court of Henry IV., which, although too indiscriminately encomiastic, are valuable subsidiaries to an accurate acquaintance with the prominent actors of the period. The last and most elegant edition of Pu'gar's Chronicle was published at Valencia in 1780, from the press of Benito Montfort, in large folio. Antonio de Lebrija was one of the most active and erudite scholars of this period. He was born in the prui-iucc of Andalusia, in 1444. After the usual discipline at Salamanca, he went at the age of nineteen to Italy, where he completed his education in the university of Bologna. He returned to Spain ten years after, richly stored with classical learning and t'.ie liberalarts that were then taught in the nourishing schools of Italy. He lost no time in dispensing to his countrymen his various acquisitions. He was appointed to the two chairs of grammar and poetry (a thing unprecedented) in the university of Salamanca, and lectured at the same time in these distinct departments. He was subsequently pre- ferred by Cardinal Ximcues to a professorship in his university of AlcaliS de Heiiares, where his services were liberally requited, and where he enjoyed the entire confidence oil nis distinguished patron, who consulted him on all matters affecting the interests of the institution. Here he continued delivering his lectures and expounding the ancient c' to crowded audiences, to the advanced age of seventy-eight, when he was carried off by an attack of apoplexy. Lebrija, besides his oral tuition, composed works on a great variety of subjects, philo- logical, historical, theological, &c. His emendation of the sacred text was visited with the censure of the Inquisition, a circumstance which will not operate to his prejudice with posterity. Lebrija was far from being circumscribed by the narrow sentiments of his age. He was warmed with a generous enthusiasm lor letters, which kindled a corresponding flame in the bosoms of his disciples, among whom may be reckoned some of the brightest names in the literary annals of the period. His instruction effected for classical literature in Spain, what the labours of tlie great Italian scholars of the fifteenth century did for it in their own country ; and he was rewarded with the substantial gratitude of his own age, and such empty honours as could be rendered by posterity. For very many years, the anniversary of his death was commemorated by public services, and a funeral panegyric, in the university of AlcaH. The circumstances attending the composition of his Latin Chronicle, so often quoted in this history, are very curious. Carbajal says that he delivered Pulgar's Chronicle, after that writer's death, into Lebrija's hands far the purpose of being translated into Latin. The latter proceeded in his task as far as the year 1486. His history, however, can scarcely be termed a translation ; since, although it takes up the same thread of incident, it is diversified by many new and particular facts. This unfinished performance was found among Lebrija's papers, after his decease, with a preface containing not a word of acknowledgment to Pulgar. It was accordingly published for the first time, in 1545, (the edition referred to in this history,) by his son Sancho, as an original production of his father. Twenty years after, the first edition of Pulgar's original Chronicle was published at Valladolid, from the copy which belonged to Lebrija. by his grandson Antonio. work appeared also as Lebrija's. Copies, however, of Pulgar's Chronicle were preserved in several private libraries; and two years later, 15C7, his just claims were vindicated by an edition at Saragossa. inscribed with his name as its author. Lubrija's reputation has sustained some injury from this transaction, though most undeservedly. It seems probable that he adopted Pulgar's text as the basis of his own, intending to continue tho narrative to a later period. His unfinished manuscript being found among his papers after his death, without reference to any authority, was naturally enough given to the world as entirely his production. It is more strange, that Pulgar's own Chronicle, subsequently printed as Lcbrija's, should have contained no allusion to its real author. The history, although composed as far as it goes with sufficient elaboration and pomp of style, i< "lie that adds, on the w' "._. but little to the fame of I/ubrija. It was at best but' addir.;; * luul tu the 'uural on ius bruw, and waa certainly not worth a unao. T, AFFAIRS OF THE KINGDOM. INQUISITIOIT IK 1483 US'. Isabella enforces tho Laws Punishment of Ecclesiastics Inquisition in Aragon Remon- stnmce of the Cortss Conspiracy Assassination of the Inquisitor Arbues Cruel Persecutions Inquisition throughout Ferdinand's Dominions. IN such intervals of leisure as occurred amid their military operations, Ferdinand and Isabella were diligently occupied with the interior government of the kingdom, and especially with the rigid adminis- tration of justice, the most difficult of all duties in an imperfectly civilised state of society. The queen found especial demand for this in the northern provinces, whose rude inhabitants were little used to subordination. She compelled the great nobles to lay aside their arms, and refer their disputes to legal arbitration. She caused a number of the fortresses which were still garrisoned by the baronial battditti, to be razed to the ground ; and she enforced the utmost severity of the law against such inferior criminals as violated the public peace. Even ecclesiastical immunities, which proved so effectual a protection in most countries at this period, were not permitted to screen the offender. A remarkable instance of this occurred at the city of Truxillo, in 1486. An inhabitant of that place had been committed to prison for some offence by order of the civil magistrate. Certain priests, relations of the offender, alleged that his religious profession exempted him from all but ecclesiastical jurisdiction; and, as the authorities refused to deliver him up, they inflamed the populace to such a degree by their representations of the insult offered to the church, that they *\)se in a body, and, forcing the prison, set at liberty not only the malefactor in question, but all those confined there. The queen no sooner heard of this outrage on the royal authority, than she sent a detachment of her guard to Truxillo, which secured the persons of the principal rioters, some of whom were capitally punished, while the ecclesiastics, who had stirred up the sedition, were banished the realm. Isabella, while by her example she inculcated the deepest reverence for the sacred profession, uniformly resisted every attempt from that quarter to encroach on the royal prerogative. The tendency of her administration was decidedly, as there will be occasion more particularly to notice, to abridge the authority which that body had exercised in civil matters under preceding reigns.* * A pertinent example of tliis occur-;:'., December, 1485, at Alcala 1 no llcnarcs. where the court w.-is detained during the queen's illness, wno there gave birth to her youngest child. Dona Ciitalina, afterwards so celebrated in English history as Catharine of Aragon. A collision took place in this city between the royal judges and those of the archbishop of Toledo, to whose diocese it belonged. The latter stoutly maintained the pretensions of tho church. The queen with equal pertinacity asserted the supremacy of the royal jurisdic- tion over every other in the kingdom, secular or ecclesiastical The affair was ulihuat.,'.;' 20S INTERNAL AFFAIRS. Nothing of interest occurred in the foreign relations of the kingdoia. during the period embraced by the preceding chapter, except, perhaps, the marriage of Catharine, the young queen of Navarre, with Jean d'Albret, a French nobleman, whose extensive hereditary domains in the south-west corner of France lay adjacent to her kingdom (1484). This connection was extremely distasteful to the Spanish sovereigns, and indeed to many of the Navarrese, who were desirous of the alliance with Castile. This was ultimately defeated by the queen mother, an artful woman, who, being of the blood-royal of France, was naturally disposed to a union with that kingdom. Ferdinand did not neglect to maintain such an understanding with the malcontents of Navarre, aa should enable him to counteract any undue advantage which the French monarch might derive from the possession of this key as it were to the Castilian territory. In Aragon, two circumstances took place in the period under review, deserving historical notice. The first relates to an order of the Catalan peasantry, denominated vassals de remenza. These persons \vere subjected to a feudal bondage, which had its origin in very remote ages, but which had become in no degree mitigated, while the peasantry of every other part of Europe had been gradually rising to the rank of freemen. The grievous nature of the impositions had led to repeated rebellions in preceding reigns. At length, Ferdinand, after many fruitless attempts at a mediation between these unfortunate people and their arrogant masters, prevailed on the latter, rather by force of authority than argument, to relinquish the extraordinary seignorial rights which they had enjoyed, in consideration of a stipulated annual payment from their vassals. (1486.) The other circumstance worthy of record, but not in like manner creditable to the character of the sovereign, is the introduction of the modern inquisition into Aragon. The ancient tribunal had existed there, as has been stated in a previous chapter, since the middle of the thirteenth century, but seems to have lost all its venom in the atmos- phere of that free country ; scarcely assuming a jurisdiction beyond that of an ordinary ecclesiastical court. No sooner, however, was the institution organised on its new basis in Castile, than Ferdinand resolved on its introduction, in a similar form, in his own dominions. Measures were accordingly taken to that effect, in a meeting of a privy council convened by the king at Tarac.ona, during the session of the cortes in that place, in April 1484 ; and a royal order was issued requiring all the constituted authorities throughout the kingdom to support the new tribunal in the exercise of its functions. A Dominican monk, Fray Gaspard Juglar, and Pedro Arbucs de Epila, a canon of the metropolitan church, were appointed by the general, Torquemada, inquisitors over the diocese of Saragossa ; and, in the month of September following, the chief justiciary and the other great officers of the realm took the prescribed oaths.* referred to the arbitration of certain learned men, named conjointly by the adverse parties. It was tot then determined, however, and Pulgar has neglected to acquaint U9 with tho award. * At this cortes, convened at Taracona, Ferdinand and Isabella experienced an instance of the haughty spirit of their Catalan subjects, who refused to attend, alleging it to be a violation of their liberties to be summoned to a place without the limits of their princi- jvality. The Valencians also protested that their attendance should not operate aa IXQUISIT10X OF ARAGOX. 209 The new institution, opposed to the ideas of independence common to all the Aragonese, was particularly offensive to the higher orders, many of whose members, including persons filling the most considerable official stations, were of Jewish descent, and of course precisely the class exposed to the scrutiny of the Inquisition. Without difficulty, therefore, the cortes was persuaded in the following year to send a deputation to the court of Home, and another to Ferdinand, representing the repugnance of the new tribunal to the liberties of the nation, as well as to their settled opinions and habits, and praying that ite operation might be suspended for the present, so far at least as concerned the confiscation of property, which it rightly regarded as the moving power of the whole terrible machinery. Both the pope and the king, as may be imagined, turned a deaf ear to these remonstrances. In the meanwhile the Inquisition commenced operations, and autos da fe were celebrated at Saragossa, with all their usual horrors, in the months of May and June in 148o. The discontented Aragonese, despairing of redress in any regular way, resolved to intimidate their oppressors by some appalling act of violence. They formed a conspiracy for the assassination of Arbues, the most odious of the inquisitors established over the diocese of Saragossa. The conspiracy, set on foot by some of the principal nobility, was entered into by most of the new Christians, or persons of Jewish extraction, in the district. A sum of ten thousand reals was subscribed to defray the necessary expenses for the execution of their project. This was not easy however ; since Arbues, conscious of the popular odium that he had incurred, protected his person by wearing under his monastic robes a suit of mail, complete even to the helmet beneath his hood. With similar vigilance he defended, also, every avenue to his sleeping apartment. At length, however, the conspirators found an opportunity of surprising him while at his devotions. Arbues was on his knees before tin- irivat altar of the cathedral, near midnight, when his enemies, who had entered the church in two separate bodies, suddenly surrounded him, and one of them wounded him in the arm with a dagger, while another dealt him a fatal blow in the back of his neck. The priests, who were preparing to celebrate matins in the choir of the church, hastened to the spot ; but not before the assassins had effected their escape. They transported the 'bleeding body of the inquisitor to his apartment, where he survived only two days, blessing the Lord that he had been permitted to seal so good a cause with his blood. The whole K-ene will readily remind the English reader of the assassination of Thomas a Becket. The event did not correspond with the expectations of the conspirators. Sectarian jealousy proved stronger than hatred of the Inquisition. The populace, ignorant of the extent or ultimate object of the conspiracy, were filled with vague apprehensions of an insurrection of the new Christians, who had so often been the objects of outrage ; and they could only be appeased by the archbishop of Saragossa, riding through the precedent to their prejudice. It was usual to convene a central or geueral cortes at Frapa, or Monzon, or some town which the Catalans, who were peculiarly jealous of their privileges, claimed to be within their territory. It was still more usual to hold separate cortes of the three kingdoms simultaneously, in such contiguous places in each at would permit the royal presence in all during their session. f 210 INTERNAL AFFAIKS. streets, and proclaiming that no time should be lost in detecting and punishing the assassins. This promise was abundantly fulfilled ; and wide was the ruin occa - sioned by the indefatigable zeal with which the bloodhounds of the tribunal followed up the scent. In the course of this persecution, two hundred individuals perished at the stake, and a still greater number in the dungeons of the Inquisition ; and there was scarcely a noble family in Aragon but witnessed one or more of its members condemned to humiliating penance in the autos da fe. The immediate perpetrators of the murder were all hanged, after suffering the amputation of their right hands. One, who had appeared as evidence against the rest, under assurance of pardon, had his sentence so far commuted, that his hand was not cut oft' till after he had been hanged. It was thus that the Holy Office interpreted its promises of grace.* Arbues received all the honours of a martyr. His ashes were interred on the spot where he had been assassinated, f A superb mausoleum was erected over them, and, beneath his effigy, a bas-relief was sculptured representing his tragical death, with an inscription containing a suitable denunciation of the race of Israel. And at length, when the lapse of nearly two centuries had supplied the requisite amount of miracles, the Spanish Inquisition had the glory of adding a new saint to the calendar, by the canonisation of the martyr under Pope Alexander the Seventh, in 1664.1 The failure of the attempt to shake off the tribunal served only, a3 usual in such cases, to establish it more firmly than before. Efforts at resistance were subsequently, but ineffectually, made in other parts of Aragon, and in Valencia and Catalonia. It was not established in the latter province till 1487, and some years later in Sicily, Sardinia, and the Balearic Isles. Thus Ferdinand had the melancholy satisfaction of riveting the most galling yoke ever devised by fanaticism round the necks f a people, who till that period had enjoyed probably the greatest degree of constitutional freedom which the world had witnessed. * Among those who, after a tedious imprisonment, were condemned to do penance in an auto da fe, was a nephew of king Ferdinand, Don James of Navarre. t According to Paramo, when the corpse of the inquisitor was brought to the place where he had been assassinated, the blood, which had been coagulated on the pavement, smoked up and boiled with most miraculous fervomr ! ; France and Italy, also, according to Llorente, could each boast a saint inquisitor. Their renown, however, has been eclipsed by the superior splendours of their great masUft St. Dominic ; " Fils kicouuua d'un si gloricux uera." CHAPTER XltL WA OF GRANADA SURRENDER OF YELEZ MALAGA. SIEGE AND CONQUEST OF MALAGA. 1487. Harrow escape of Ferdinand before Velez Malaga invested by Sea and Land Brilliant Spectacle The Queen visits the Camp Attempt to assassinate the Sovereigns Distress and Resolution of the Besieged Enthusiasm of the Christians Outworks carried by them Proposals for Surrender Haughty Demeanour of Ferdinand- Malaga surrenders at Discretion Cruel Policy of the Victors. BEFORE commencing operations against Malaga, it was thought expe- dient by the Spanish council of war to obtain possession of Velez Malaga, situated about five leagues distant from the former. This strong town stood along the southern extremity of a range of mountains that extend to Granada. Its position afforded an easy communication with that capital, and obvious means of annoyance to an enemy inter- posed between itself and the adjacent city of Malaga. The reduction of this place, therefore, became the first object of the campaign. The forces assembled at Cordova, consisting of the levies of the Andalusian cities principally, of the retainers of the great nobility, and of the well-appointed chivalry which thronged from all quarters of the kingdom, amounted on this occasion to twelve thousand horse and forty thousand foot, a number which sufficiently attests the unslackened ardour of the nation in the prosecution of the war. On the 7th of April 1487, Ferdinand, putting himself at the head of this formidable host, quitted the fair city of Cordova amid the cheering acclamations of its inhabitants, although these were somewhat damped by the ominous occurrence of an earthquake, which demolished a part of the royal residence, among other edifices, during the preceding night. The route, after traversing the Yeguas and the old town of Antequera, struck into a wild, hilly country that stretches towards Velez. The rivers were so much swollen by excessive rains, and the passes so rough and difficult, that the army in part of its march advanced only a league a day ; and on one occasion, when no suitable place occurred for encampment for the space of five leagues, the men fainted with exhaustion, and the beasts dropped down dead in the harness. At length, on the 17th of April, the Spanish army sat down before Velez Malaga, where in a few days they were joined by the lighter pieces of their battering ordnance ; the roads, notwithstanding the immense labour expended on them, being found impracticable for the heavier.* The Moors were aware of the importance of Velez to the security of Malaga. The sensation excited in Granada, by the tidings of its danger, was so strong, that the old chief, El Zagal, found it necessary to make * In the general summons to Alava for the campaign of this year, wa find a particular call on the cavalierot and /./aV;o., with the assurance to pay during the time of service, and the menace of forfeiting their privileges as exempts trom taxation, in case of noil- compliance. p 2 212 WAR OF GRANADA. an effort to relieve the beleaguered city, notwithstanding the critical posture in which his absence would leave his affairs in the capital. Dark clouds of the enemy were seen throughout the day mustering along the heights, which by night were illumined with a hundred fires. Ferdinand's utmost vigilance was required for the protection of his camp against the ambuscades and nocturnal sallies of his wily foe. At length, however, El Zagal, having been foiled in a well-concerted attempt to surprise the Christian quarters by night, was driven across the mountains by the marquis of Cadiz, and compelled to retreat on his capital, completely baffled in his enterprise. There the tidings of his disaster had preceded him. The fickle populace, with whom misfortune passes for misconduct, unmindful of his former successes, now hastened to transfer their allegiance to his rival, Abdallah, and closed the gates against him ; and the unfortunate chief withdrew to Guadix, which, with Almeria, liaza, and some less considerable places, still remained faithful. Ferdinand conducted the siege all the while with his usual A igour,. and spared no exposure of his person to peril or fatigue. On one occasion, seeing a party of Christians retreating in disorder before a squadron of the enemy who had surprised them while fortifying an eminence near the city, the king, who was at dinner in his tent, rushed out with no other defensive armour than his cuirass, and, leaping on his horse, charged briskly into the midst of the enemy, and succeeded in rallying his own men. In the midst of the rencontre, however, when he had discharged his lance, he found himself unable to extricate his sword from the scabbard which hung from the saddle-bow. At this moment he was assaulted by several Moors, and must have been either slain or taken, but for the timely rescue of the marquis of Cadiz, and a brave cavalier, Garcilasso de la Vega, who, galloping up to the spot with their attendants, succeeded after a sharp skirmish in beating off the enemy. Ferdinand's nobles remonstrated with him on this wanton exposure of his person, representing that he could serve them more effectually with his head than his hand. But he answered, that u he could not stop to calculate chances when his subjects were perilling their lives for his sake ; " a reply, says Pulgar, which endeared him to the whole army.* At length, the inhabitants of Velez, seeing the ruin impending from the bombardment of the Christians, whose rigorous blockade both by sea and land excluded all hopes of relief from without, consented to capitulate on the usual conditions of security to persons, propertv, and religion. The capitulation of this place, April 27th, 1487, was followed by that of more than twenty places of inferior note lying between it and ilalaga, so that the approaches to this latter city were now left open to the victorious Spaniards. This ancient city, which, under the Spanish Arabs in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, formed the capital of an independent principality, was second only to the metropolis itself, in the kingdom of Granada. Its fruitful environs furnished abundant articles of export, while its commodious port on the Mediterranean opened a traffic with the various * In commemoration of this event, the city incorporated into its escutcheon the Cg-.ir* tfa kin^ on horseback, in the act of piercing a Moor with his javelin. CONQUEST OF MALAGA, 213 countries washed by that inland sea, and with the remoter regions of India. Owing to these advantages, the inhabitants acquired unbounded opulence, which showed itself in the embellishments of their city, whoso light forms of architecture, mingling after the eastern fashion with odoriferous gardens and fountains of sparkling water, presented an appearance most refreshing to the senses in this sultry climate.* The city was encompassed by fortifications of great strength, and in perfect repair. It was commanded by a citadel, connected by a covered way with a second fortress impregnable from its position, denominated Gebalfaxo, which stood along^ the declivities of the bold sierra of the Axarquia, whose defiles had proved so disastrous to the Christians. The city lay between two spacious suburbs, the one on the land side being also encircled by a formidable wall ; and the other declining towards the sea, showing an expanse of olive, orange, and pomegranate gardens, intermingled with the rich vineyards that furnished the celebrated staple for its export. Malaga was well prepared for a siege by supplies of artillery and ammunition. Its ordinary garrison was reinforced by volunteers from the neighbouring towns, and by a corps of African mercenaries, Gomeres, as they were called, men of ferocious temper, but of tried valour and military discipline. The command of this important post had been intrusted by El /agal to a noble Moor, named Hamet Zeli, whose MI in the present war had been established by his resolute defence of Honda. Ferdinand, while lying before Velez, received intelligence that many of the wealthy burghers of Malaga were inclined to capitulate at once, rather than hazard the demolition of their city by an obstinate resist- ance. He instructed the marquis of Cadiz, therefore, to open a iation with Hamet Zeli, authorising him to make the most liberal otters to the alcayde himself, as well as his garrison, and the principal citizens of the place, on condition of immediate surrender. The sturdy . however, rejected the proposal with disdain, replying that he had been commissioned by his master to defend the place to tne last extremity, and that the Christian king could not offer a bribe large enough to make him betray his trust. Ferdinand, finding little prospect of operating on this .-\ :irta:i temper, broke up his camp before Velez, on the 7th of May. -and advam-ed with his whole army as tar as Bezmillana, a place on the sea-:-'H..rd about two leagues distant from Mai . The line of march now lay through a valley commanded at the extremity nearest the city by two eminences ; the one on the sea-coast, ther facing the fortress of the Gebalfaro, and forming part of the wild sierra which overshadowed Malaga on the north. The eiiemy occupied both these important positions. A corps of Galicians were sent forward to dislodge them from the eminence towards the sea. But it tailed in the as?ault, and, notwithstanding it was led up a second time by the eommander of Leon and the brave Garcilasso de la Vega, I was again repulsed by the intrepid foe. * Conde doubts whether the name of Malaga is derived from the Greek u*>.*xr., signi- 1 agreeable," or the Arabic nioUo, meaning "royal." Either etymology is sufficiently jiertinent. * This cavalier, who took a conspicuous part both in the military and civil transaction* M~ this -cigii, waa descended from one of the most ancient and honourable houses in Cs tile. 214 WAR OF GRANADA. A similar fate attended the assault on the sierra, which was conducted by the troops of the royal household. They were driven back on the vanguard, which had halted in the valley under command of the grand master of St. James, prepared to support the attack on either side. Being reinforced, the Spaniards returned to the charge with the most determined resolution. They were encountered by the enemy with equal spirit. The latter throwing away their lances, precipitated them- selves on the ranks of the assailants, making use only of their daggers, grappling closely man to man, till both rolled promiscuously together down the steep sides of the ravine. No mercy was asked or shown. None thought of sparing or of spoiling ; for hatred, says the chronicler, was stronger than avarice. The main body of the army, in the mean. while, pent up in the valley, were compelled to witness the mortal conflict, and listen to the exulting cries of the enemy, which, after the Moorish custom, rose high and shrill above the din of battle, without being able to advance a step in support of their companions, who were again forced to give way before their impetuous adversaries, and fall back on the vanguard under the grand master of St. James. Here, however, they speedily rallied ; and, being reinforced, advanced to the charge a third time, with such inflexible courage as bore down all opposition, and compelled the enemy, exhausted, or rather overpowered by superior numbers, to abandon his position. At the same time the rising ground on the sea-side was carried by the Spaniards under the commander of Leon and Garcilasso de la Vega, who, dividing their forces, charged the Moors so briskly in front and rear, that they were compelled to retreat on the neighbouring fortress of Gebalfaro. As it Avas evening before these advantages were obtained, the army did not defile into the plains around Malaga before the following morn- ing, when dispositions were made for its encampment. The eminence on the sierra, so bravely contested, was assigned as the post of greatest danger to the marquis duke of Cadiz. It was protected by strong works lined with artillery, and a corps of two thousand five hundred horse and fourteen thousand foot was placed under the immediate command of that nobleman. A line of defence was constructed along the declivity from this redoubt to the sea- shore. Similar works, consisting of a deep trench and palisades, or where the soil was too rocky to admit of them,, of an embankment, or mound of earth, were formed in front of the- encampment, which embraced the whole circuit of the city ; and t lie- blockade was completed by a fleet of armed vessels, galleys and caravels,. which rode in the harbour under the command of the Catalan admiral,. Requesens, and effectually cut oft' all communication by water. The old chronicler, Bernaldez, warms at the aspect of the fair city ot Malaga, thus encompassed by Christian legions, whose deep lines, stretching far over hill and valley, reached quite round from one arm oi the sea to the other. In the midst of this brilliant encampment wa seen the royal pavilion, proudly displaying the united banners of Castile and Aragon, and forming so conspicuous a mark for the enemy's artillery, that Ferdinand, after imminent hazard, was at length compelled to shift his quarters. The Christians were not slow in erecting counter batteries ; but the work was obliged to be carried on at night, in order to screen them from the fire of the besieged. The first operations of the Spaniards were directed against the suburb, CONQUEST OF MALAGA. 215 on the land side of the city. The attack was entrusted to the count of Cifuentes, the nohleman who had been made prisoner in the affair of the Axarquia, and subsequently ransomed. The Spanish ordnance was served with such effect, that a practicable breach was soon made in the wall. The combatants now poured their murderous volleys on each other through the opening, and at length met on the ruins of the breach. After a desperate struggle, the Moors gave way. The Christians rushed into the enclosure, at the same time effecting a lodgment on the rampart; and although a part of it, undermined by the enemy, gave way with a terrible crash, they still kept possession of the remainder, and at length drove their antagonists, who sullenly retreated step by step, within the fortifications of the city. The lines were then drawn close around the place. Every avenue of communication was strictly guarded, and every preparation was made for reducing the town by regular blockade. In addition to the cannon brought round by water from Velez, the heavier lombards, which from the difficulty of transportation had been left during the late siege at Antequera, were now conducted across roads, levelled for the purpose, to the camp. Supplies of marble bullets were also brought from the ancient and depopulated city of Algezira, where they had lain ever since its capture in the preceding century by Alfonso the Eleventh. The camp was filled with operatives, employed in the manufacture of balls and powder, which were stored in subterranean magazines, and in the fabrication of those various kinds of battering enginery which continued in use long after the introduction of gun- powder. During the early part of the siege, the camp experienced some temporary inconvenience from the occasional interruption of the supplies transported by water. Rumours of the appearance of the plague in some of the adjacent villages caused additional uneasiness ; and deserters, v.ho passed into Malaga, reported these particulars with the usual exaggeration, and encouraged the besieged to persevere, by the assurance that Ferdinand could not much longer keep the field, and that the queen had actually written to advise his breaking up the camp. Under these circumstances, Ferdinand saw at once the importance of the queen's presence, in order to dispel the delusion of the enemy, and to give new heart to his soldiers. He accordingly sent a message to Cordova, where she was holding her court, requesting her appearance in the camp. Isabella had proposed to join her husband before Velez, on receiving tidings of El Zagal's march from Granada, and had actually enforced levies of all persons capable of bearing arms, between twenty and seventy years of age, throughout Andalusia, but subsequently disbanded them, oil learning the discomfiture of the Moorish army. Without hesitation, she now set forward, accompanied by the cardinal of Span and other dignitaries of the church, together with the Infanta Isabella, and a courtly train of ladies and cavaliers in attendance on her person. She was received at a short distance from the camp by the marquis of Cadiz and the grand master of St. James, and escorted to her quarters, amidst the enthusiastic greetings of the soldiery. Hope now brightened every countenance. A grace seemed to be shea over the rugged features of war ; and the young gallants thronged from all quarters to the camp, eager to win the guerdon of valour from tb* hands of those from whom it is most grateful to receive it. 216 TVAR OF GRANADA. Ferdinand, who had hitherto hrought into action only the lighter pieces of ordnance, from a willingness to spare the noble edifices of the city, now pointed his heaviest guns against its walls. Before opening his fire, however, he again summoned the place, offering the usual liberal terms in case of immediate compliance, and engaging otherwise, " with the blessing of God, to make them all slaves." But the heart of the alcayde was hardened like that of Pharaoh, says the Andalusian chro- nicler, and the people were swelled with vain hopes, so that their eara were closed against the proposal ; orders were even issued to punish with death any attempt at a parley. On the contrary, they made answer by a more lively cannonade than before, along the whole line of ramparts and fortresses which overhung the city. Sallies were also made at almost every hour of the day and night on every assailable point of the Christian linos, so that the camp was kept in perpetual alarm. In one of the nocturnal sallies, a body of two thousand men from the castle of Gebal- faro succeeded in surprising the quarters of the marquis of Cadiz, who, with his followers, was exhausted by fatigue and watching during the two preceding nights. The Christians, bewildered with the sudden tumult which broke their slumber, were thrown into the greatest confusion ; and the marquis, who rushed half armed from his tent, found no little difficulty in bringing them to order, and beating off the assailants, after receiving a wound in the arm from an arrow ; while he had a still narrower escape from the ball of an arquebus, that penetrated his buckler and hit him below the cuirass, but fortunately so much spent as to do him no injury. The Moors were not unmindful of the importance of Malaga, or the gallantry with which it was defended. They made several attempts to relieve it, whose failure was less owing to the Christians than to treachery and their own miserable feuds. A body of cavalry, which El Zagal despatched from Guadix to throw succours into the beleaguered city, was encountered and cut to pieces by a superior force of the young king Abdallah, who consummated his baseness by sending an embassy to the Christian camp, charged with a present of Arabian horses sumptuously caparisoned to Ferdinand, and of costly silks and oriental perfumes to the queen : at the same time complimenting them on their successes, and soliciting the continuance of their friendly dispositions towards himself. Ferdinand and Isabella requited this act of humiliation by securing to Abdallah's subjects the right of cultivating their fields in quiet, and of trafficking with the Spaniards in every commodity, save military stores. At this paltry price did the dastard prince consent to stay his arm, at the only moment when it could be used effectually for his country.* More serious consequences were like to have resulted from an attempt made by another party of Moors from Guadix to penetrate the Christian lines. Part of them succeeded, and threw themselves into the besieged city ; the remainder were cut in pieces. There was one, however, who, making no show of resistance, was made prisoner without harm to his person. Being brought before the marquis of Cadiz, he informed that * During the siege, ambassadors arrived from an African potentate, the king of Tremecen, bearing a magnificent present to the Castilian sovereigns, interceding for tho Malagans, and at the same time asking protection for his subjects from the Spanish cruisers in the Mediterranean. The sovereigns graciously complied with the latter request, and com- plimented the African monarch with a plate of gold, on which the royal am* were curiously embossed. OF MALAGA. 217 nobltaian that he could make some important disclosures to the sovereigns. He was accordingly conducted to the royal tent ; but as Ferdinand was taking his siesta, in the sultry hour of the day, the queen, moved by divine inspiration, according to the Castilian historian, deferred the audience till her husband should awake, and commanded the prisoner to be detained in the adjoining tent. This was occupied by Dona Beatrix dc liobadilla, marchioness of Moya, Isul> 'la's early friend, who happened at that time engaged in discourse with a Portuguese nobleman, Mvaro, son of the duke of ISraganza.* The Moor did not understand the Castilian language, and, deceived by the rich attire and courtly bearing of these personages, he mistook them for the king and queen. While in the act of refreshing himself with a glass of water, he suddenly drew a dagger from beneath the broad folds of his albornoz, or Moorish mantle, which he had been incautiously suffered to retain, and, darting on the Portuguese prince, gave him a deep wound on the head; and then, turning like lightning on the marchioness, aimed a stroke at her, which fortunately glanced without injury, the point of the weapon being turned by the heavy embroidery of her robes, I5di>re he could repeat his blow, the Moorish Scarvola, with a late very different from that of his lloman prototype, was pierced with a hundred wounds by the attendants, who rushed to the spot, alarmed by tli. cries of the mareliioness, and his mangled remains were soon after discharged from a catapult into the city : a foolish bravado, which the : ([uited by slaying a Galician gentleman, and sending his C'>rpso astride upon a mule through the gates of the town into the Christian camp. This daring attempt on the lives of the king and queen spread general mat ion. throughout the army. Precautions were taken for the future, by ordinances prohibiting the introduction of any unknown : i armed, or any Moor whatever, into the royal quarters ; and the body-guard was augmented by the addition of two hundred hidalgos of Castile and Aragon, who, with their retainers, were to keep constant watch over the persons of the sovereigns. Meanwhile, the city of Malaira, whose natural population was greatly swelled by the inllux of its foreign auxiliaries, began to be straitened for supplies, while its distress was aggravated by the spectacle of abundance which reigned throughout the Spanish camp. Still, however, the people, overawed by the soldiery, did not break out into murmurs, nor did they relax in any degree the pertinacity of their resistance. Their drooping spirits were cheered by the predictions of a fanatic, who promised that they should eat the grain which they saw in the Christian camp : a prediction which came to be verified, like most others that are verified at all, in a very different sense from that intended or understood. The incessant cannonade kept up by the besieging army, in the mean time, so far exhausted their ammunition, that they were constrained to seek supplies from the most distant parts of the kingdom and livm foreign countries. The arrival of two Flemish transports at this juncture, from * This nobleman, Don Alvaro de Portugal, had fled his native country, and sought an asylum iu Castile from the vindictive enmity of John II., who had put to death the Juke of Brnganz.i. his elder brother. He was kindly received by Isabella, to whom he waa nearly related, and subsequently preferred to several important offices of state. Hi sen, the count of Gelves, married a grand-daughter of Christopher Columbus. 218 WAB OF G BAN AD A. the emperor of Germany, whose interest had been roused in the crusade, afforded, a seasonable reinforcement of military stores and munitions. The obstinate defence of Malaga had given the siege such celebrity, that volunteers, eager to share in it, nocked from all parts of the Peninsula to the royal standard. Among others, the duke of Medina Sidonia, who had furnished his quota of troops at the opening of the campaign, now arrived in person with a reinforcement, together with a hundred galleys freighted with supplies, and a loan of twenty thousand doblas of gold to the sovereigns for the axpenses of the war. Such was the deep interest in it excited throughout the nation, and the alacrity which every order of men exhibited in supporting its enormous burdens. The Castilian army, swelled by these daily augmentations, varied in its amount, according to different estimates, from sixty to ninety thousand men. Throughout this immense host the most perfect discipline wa? maintained. Gaming was restrained by ordinances interdicting the ust of dice and cards, of v/hich the lower orders were passionately fond. Blasphemy was severely punished. Prostitutes, the common pest of a camp, were excluded ; and so entire was the subordination, that not a knife was drawn, and scarcely a brawl occurred, says the historian, among the motley multitude. Besides the higher ecclesiastics who attended the court, the camp was well supplied with holy men, priests, friars, and the chaplains of the great nobility, who performed the exercises of religion in their respective quarters with all the pomp and splendour of the Roman Catholic worship ; exalting the imaginations of the soldiers into the high devotional feeling which became those who were fighting the battles of the Cross. Hitherto, Ferdinand relying on the blockade, and yielding to the queen's desire to spare the lives of her soldiers, had formed no regular plan of assault upon the town. But as the season rolled on without the least demonstration of submission on the part of the besieged, he resolved to storm the works, which, if attended by no other consequences, might at least serve to distress the enemy, and hasten the hour of surrender. Large wooden towers on rollers were accordingly constructed, and pro- vided with an apparatus of drawbridges and ladders, which, when brought near to the ramparts, would open a descent into the city. Galleries were also wrought, some for the purpose of penetrating into the place, and others to sap the foundations of the walls. The whole of these operations was placed under the direction of Francisco Ramirez, the celebrated engineer of Madrid. But the Moors anticipated the completion of these formidable prepa- rations by a brisk, well- concerted attack on all points of the Spanish, lines. They countermined the assailants, and, encountering them in the subterraneous passages, drove them back, and demolished the frame- work of the galleries. At the same time, a little squadron of armed vessels, which had been riding in safety under the guns of the city, pushed out and engaged the Spanish fieet. Thus the battle raged with tire and sword, above and under ground, along the ramparts, the ocean and the land at the same time. Even Pulgar cannot withhold his tribute of admiration to this unconquerable spirit in an enemy, wasted by all the extremities of famine and fatigue. " Who does not marvel," he says, " at the bold heart of these infidels in battle, their promjpt obedience to CONQUEST OF MALAGA. '219 their chiefs, their dexterity in the wiles of war, their patience uudei privation, and undaunted perseverance in their purposes ?" A circumstance occurred in a sortie from the city, indicating a trait of character worth recording. A noble Moor, named Abrahen Zenete, fell in with a number of Spanish children who had wandered from their quarters. Without injuring them, he touched them gently with the handle of his lance, saying, " Get ye gone, varlets, to your mothers." On being rebuked by his comrades, who inquired why he had let them escape so easily, he replied, " Because I saw no beard upon their chins." " An example of magnanimity," says the curate of Los Palacios, " truly wonderful in a heathen, and which might have reflected credit on a Christian hidalgo." But no virtue nor valour could avail the unfortunate Malagans against the overwhelming force of their enemies, who, driving them back from every point, compelled them, after a desperate struggle of six hours, to shelter themselves within the defences of the town. The Christians followed up their success. A mine was sprung near a tower, connected by a bridge of four arches with the main works of the place. The Moors, scattered and intimidated by the explosion retreated across the bridge ; and the Spaniards, carrying the tower, whose guns completely enfiladed it, obtained possession of this important pass into the beleaguered city. For these and other signal services during the siege, Francisco Ramirez, the master of the ordnance, received the honours of knighthood from the hand of King Ferdinand. * The citizens of Malaga, dismayed at beholding the enemy established in their defences, and fainting under exhaustion from a siege which had already lasted more than three months, now began to murmur at the obstinacy of the garrison, and to demand a capitulation. Their maga- zines of grain were emptied, and for some weeks they had been compelled to devour the flesh of horses, dogs, cats, and even the boiled hides of these animals, or, in default of other nutriment, vine leaves dressed with oil, and leaves of the palm-tree, pounded fine, and baked into a sort of cake. In consequence of this loathsome and unwholesome diet, diseases, were engendered. Multitudes were seen dying about the streets. Many deserted to the Spanish camp, eager to barter their liberty for bread ; and the city exhibited all the extremes of squalid and disgusting wretchedness, bred by pestilence and famine among an over-crowded population. The sufferings of the citizens softened the stern heart of the alcayde, Hamet Zeli, who at length yielded to their importunities, and, withdrawing his forces into the Gebalfaro, consented that the Malagana should make the best terms they could with their conqueror. * There is no older well-authenticated account of the employment of gunpowder to mining in European warfare, so far as I am aware, than this by Ramirez. Tiraboschi, indeed, refers, on the authority of another writer, to a work in the library of the Academy of Siena, composed by one Francisco Giorgio, architect to the duke of Urbino, about 148i>, in which that person claims the merit of the invention. The whole statement is obviously too loose to warrant any such conclusion. The Italian historians notice the use of gun- powder mines at the siego of the little town of Serezauello in Tuscany, by the Genoese, in 1487, precisely contemporaneous with the siege of Malaga. This singular coincidence, in nations having then but little intercourse, would seem to infer some common origin of greater antiquity. However this may be, the writers of both nations are agreed in, ascribing the first successful use of such mines on any extended scale to the celebrated Spanish engineer, Pedro Navarro, when serving under Gonsalvo of Cordova, in his Italiaa camjiajgns at the beginning of th sixteenth century. 320 WAE OF GEAXADA. A deputation of the principal inhabitants, with an eminent merchant named All Dordux at their head, was then despatched to the Christian quarters, with the oft'er of the city to capitulate on the same liberal con- ditions which had been uniformly granted by the Spaniards. The king refused to admit the embassy into his presence, and haughtily answered through the commander of Leon, ' ' that these terms had been twice offered to the people of Malaga, and rejected ; that it was too late for them to stipulate conditions, and nothing now remained but to abide by those which he, as their conqueror, should vouchsafe to them." Ferdinand's answer spread general consternation throughout Malaga. The inhabitants saw too plainly that nothing was . to be hoped from an appeal to sentiments of humanity. After a tumultuous debate, the deputies were despatched a second time to the Christian camp, charged with propositions in which concession was mingled with menace. Th v represented that the severe response of King Ferdinand to the citizens had rendered them desperate. That, however, they were willing to resign to him their fortifications, their city, in short, their property of every description, on his assurance of their personal security and freedom. If he refused this, they would take their Christian captives, amounting to five or six hundred, from the dungeons in which they lay, and hang them like dogs over the battlements ; and then, placing their old men, women, and children in the fortress, they would set fire to the town, and cut a way for themselves through their enemies, or fall in the attempt. " So," they continued, " if you gain a victory, it shall be such a one as hall make the name of Malaga ring throughout the world, and to ages yet unborn ! " Ferdinand, unmoved by these menaces, coolly replied, that he saw no occasion to change his former determination ; but they might rest assured, if they harmed a single hair of a Christian, he would put every soul in the place, man, woman, and child, to the sword. The anxious people, who thronged forth to meet the embassy on its return to the city, were overwhelmed with the deepest gloom at its ominous tidings. Their fate was now sealed. Every avenue to hope seemed closed by the stern response of the victor, let hope will still linger ; and, although there were some frantic enough to urge the execution of their desperate menaces, the greater number of the inhabitants, and among them those most considerable for wealth and influence, preferred the chance of Ferdinand's clemency to certain, irretrievable ruin. For the last time, therefore, the deputies issued from the gates of the city, charged with an epistle to the sovereigns from their unfortunate countrymen ; in which, after deprecating their anger, and lamenting their own blind obstinacy, they reminded their highnesses of the liberal terms which their ancestors had granted to Cordova, Antequera, and other cities, after a defence as pertinacious as their own. They expatiated on the fame which the sovereigns had established by the generous policy of their past conquests, and, appealing to their magna- nimity, concluded with submitting themselves, their families, and their fortunes, to their disposal. Twenty of the principal citizens were then delivered up as hostages for the peaceable demeanour of the cit y until its occupation by the Spaniards. " Thus," says the curate of Los Palucios, "did the Almighty harden the hearts of these heathen, like to those of the Egyptians, in order that they might receive the full coxarEsi OF MALAGA. 221 wages of the manifold oppressions which they had -wrought on Ilia people from the days of King Roderie to the present time ! " * On the appointed day, the commander of Leon rode through the gates of Malaga, at the head of his well-appointed chivalry, and took possession of the alcazaba, or lower citadel. The troops were then posted on their respective stations along the fortifications, and the banners of Christian Spain triumphantly unfurled from the towers of the city, where the crescent had been displayed for an uninterrupted period of 'nearly eight centuries. The first act was to purify the town from the numerous dead bodies, and other offensive matter, which had accumulated during this long siege, and lay festering in the streets, poisoning the atmosphere. The principal mosque was next consecrated with due solemnity to the service of Santa Maria de la Encarnacion. Crosses and bells, the symbols of Christian worship, were distributed in profusion among the sacred edifices; where, says the Catholic chronicler last quoted, "the celestial music of their chimes, sounding at every hour of the day and night, caused perpetual torment to the ears of the infidel."t On the eighteenth day of August, being somewhat more than three months from the dat- of opening trenches, Ferdinand and Isabella made their entrance into the conquered city, attended by the court, the clergy,, and the whole of their military array. The procession moved in solemn, state up the principal streets, now deserted, and hushed in ominous silence, to the new cathedral of St. Mary, where mass was performed ; and, as the glorious anthem of the Te Deum rose for the first time- within its ancient walls, the sovereigns, together with the whole army, prostrated themselves in grateful adoration of the Lord of hosts, who had thus reinstated them in the domains of their ancestors. The most affecting incident was afforded by the multitude of Christian captives, who were rescued from the Moorish dungeons. They were brought before the sovereigns, with their limbs heavily manacled, their beards descending to their waists, and their sallow visages emaciated by captivity and famine. Every eye was suffused with tears at the spectacle. Many recognised their ancient friends, of whose fate they had long been ignorant. Some had lingered in captivity ten or fifteen years ; and among them were several belonging to the best families in Spain. On entering the presence, they would have testified their gratitude by throwing themselves at the feet of the sovereigns; but the latter, raising them up, and mingling their tears with those of the liberated captives, caused their tetters to be removed, and, after administering to their necessities, dismissed them with liberal presents. The fortress of Gebalfaro surrendered on the day after the occupation of Malaga by the Spaniards. The gallant Zegri chieftain, Hamet Zeli, was loaded with chains ; and being asked why he had persisted so * The Arabic historians state, that Malaga was betrayed by Ali Dordux, who admitted the S] >aniards in to the castle while the citizens were debating on Ferdinand's terms. The letter of the inhabitants, quoted at length by Pulgar, would seem to be a refutation ol this. And yet there are giibd grounds lor suspecting false play ou the part of the ambas- sador Dordux, since the Castiliau writers admit that he was exempted, with forty of hi friends, from the doom of slavery and forfeiture of property passed upon his fellow- utizens. t The reader may remember Don Quixote's rebuke of Master Peter, the unlucky puppet- man, for violating historical accur.icv by introducing boils into his Moorish pantomime. Part 1 cao. 26. 222 WAR OF GRANADA. obstinately in his rebellion, boldly answered, "Because I was cummis- eioned to defend the place to the last extremity : and, if I had beea properly supported, I vrould have died sooner than surrender now ! " The doom of the vanquished was now to be pronounced. On entering the city, orders had been issued to the Spanish soldiery, prohibiting them under the severest penalties from molesting either the persons or property of the inhabitants. These latter were directed to remain in their respective mansions with a guard set over them, while the cravings of appetite were supplied by a liberal distribution of food. At length, the whole population of the city, comprehending every age and sex, was commanded to repair to the great court-yard of the alcazaba, which was overlooked on all sides by lofty ramparts, garrisoned by the Spanish soldiery. To this place, the scene of many a Moorish triumph, where the spoil of the border foray had been often displayed, and which still might be emblazoned with the trophy of many a Christian banner, the people of Malaga now directed their steps. As the multitude swarmed through the streets, filled with boding apprehensions of their fate, they wrung their hands, and, raising their eyes to heaven, uttered the most piteous lamentations. " Oh Malaga," they cried, " renowned and beautiful city, how are thy sons about to forsake thee ! Could not thy soil, on which they first drew breath, be suffered to cover them it. death ? "Where is now the strength of thy towers, where the beauty of thy edifices ? The strength of thy walls, alas, could not avail thy children, for they had sorely displeased their Creator. "What shall become of thy old men and thv matrons, or of thy young maidens delicately nurtured within thy halls, when they shall feel the iron yoke of bondage ? Can thy barbarous conquerors without remorse thus tear asunder the dearest ties of life ? " Such are the melancholy strains in which the Castilian chronicler has given utterance to the sorrows of the captive city.* The dreadful doom of slavery was denounced on the assembled multi- tude. One third was to be transported into Africa in exchange for an equal number of Christian captives detained there ; and all, who had relatives or friends in this predicament, were required to furnish a specification of them. Another third was appropriated to reimburse the state for the expenses of the war. The remainder were to be distributed as presents at home and abroad. Thus, one hundred of the flower of the African warriors were sent to the pope, who incorporated them into his guard, and converted them all in the course of the year, says the curate of Los Palacios, into very good Christians. Fifty of the most beautiful Moorish girls were presented by Isabella to the queen of Naples, thirty to the queen of Portugal, others to the ladies of her court ; and thn residue of both sexes were portioned among the nobles, cavaliers, and inferior members of the army, according to their respective rank and services. As it was apprehended that the Malagans, rendered desperate by the prospect of a hopeless, interminable captivity, might destroy or secrete A were inflic , he expired under repeated wounds. rondemned to the names. ounds. A number of relapsed Jews were at the same time "These," says Father Abarca, "were the fettt and ilium*' Catholic piety of our sovereigns ! " . , , nations most grateful to the Catholic piety of our sovereigns ! COXQITEST OF MALAGA. 223 their jewels, plate, and other precious effects, in -which this wealthy city abounded, rather than suffer them to fall into the hands of their enemies, Ferdinand devised a politic expedient for preventing it. He proclaimed, that he would receive a certain sum, if paid within nine months, as the ransom of the whole population, and that their personal effects should be admitted in part payment. This sum averaged about thirty doblas a head, including in the estimate all those who might die before the determination of the period assigned. The ransom, thus stipulated, proved more than the unhappy people could raise, either by themselves, or agents employed to solicit contributions among their brethren of Granada and Africa ; at the same time it so far deluded their hopes, that they gave in a full inventory of their effects to the treasury. By this shrewd device, Ferdinand obtained complete posses- sion both of the persons and property of his victims.* Malaga was computed to contain from eleven to fifteen thousand inhabitants, exclusive of several thousand foreign auxiliaries, within its gates at the time of surrender. One cannot, at this day, read the melancholy details of its story without feelings of horror and indigna- tion. It is impossible to vindicate the dreadful sentence passed on this unfortunate people for a display of heroism which should have excited admiration in every generous bosom. It was obviously most repugnant to Isabella's natural disposition, and must be admitted to leave a stain on her memory which no colouring of history can conceal. It may find some palliation, however, in the bigotry of the age, the more excusable in a woman, whom education, general example, and natural distrust of herself, accustomed to rely in matters of conscience on the spiritual guides, whose piety and professional learning seemed to qualify ftiem for the trust. Even in this very transaction she fell far short of the suggestions of some of her counsellors, who urged her to put every inhabitant without exception to the sword ; which, they affirmed, would be a just requital of their obstinate rebellion, and would prove a whole- some warning to others ! We are not told who the advisers of this precious nit asure were ; but the whole experience of this reign shows that we shall scarcely wrong the clergy much by imputing it to them. That their arguments could warp so enlightened a mind as that of Isabella from the natural principles of justice and humanity, furnishes a remarkable proof of the ascendancy which the priesthood usurped over the most gifted intellects, and of their gross abuse of it, before the Reformation, by breaking the seals set on the sacred volume, opened to mankind the uncorrupted channel of divine truth, f The fate of Malaga may be said to have decided that of Granada. The latter was now shut out from the most important ports along her coast ; and she was environed on every point of her territory by her warlike foe, Not a word of comment escapes the Castilian historians on this merciless rigour of thf conqueror towards the vanquished. It is evident that Ferdinand did no violence to the feelings of hia orthodox subjects. Taciido clamant. t About four hundred and fifty Moorish Jews were ransomed by a wealthy Israelite of Castile for iT.OOO doblas of gold. A proof that the Jewish stock was one which thrived amidst persecution. It is scarcely possible that the circumstantial Pulgar should have omitted to notice so important a fact as the scheme of the Moorish ransom, had it occurred. It is still more improbable that the honest curate of Los Palacis should have fab: it. Any one who attempts to reconcile the discrepancies of contemporary historians even, will have Lord Orford's exclamation to his son Horace brought to his mind ten time* a lay : " Oh ! read me not history, for that I know to be false. 224 "WAR OF GRANADA. so tliat she could hardly hope more from subsequent eftorts, however strenuous and united, than to postpone the inevitable hour of dissolution. The cruel treatment of Malaga was the prelude to the long series of per- secutions which awaited the wretched Moslems in the land of their ancestors; in that land, over which the "star of Islamism," to borrow their own metaphor, had shone in full brightness for nearly eight cen- turies, but where it was now fast descending amid clouds and tempests to the horizon. The first care of the sovereigns was directed towards repeopling the depopulated city with their own subjects. Houses and lands were freely granted to such as would settle there. Numerous towns and villages, with a wide circuit of territory, were placed under its civil jurisdiction, and it was made the head of a diocese embracing most of the recent conquests in the south and west of Granada. These inducements, com- bined with the natural advantages of position and climate, soon caused the tide of Christian population to flow into the deserted city ; but it was very long before it again reached the degree of commercial conse- quence to which it had been raised by the Moors.* After these salutary arrangements, the Spanish sovereigns led back their victorious legions in triumph to Cordova ; whence dispersing to their various homes, they prepared, by a winter's repose, for new campaigns and more brilliant conquests. CHAPTEE XIV. WAR OF GRANADA CONQUEST OF BAZA SUBMISSION OF ML BAGAL. 14871489. The Sovereigns visit Aragon The King lays siege to Baza Its great Strength Gnrdem cleared of their Timber The Queen raises the spirits of her Troops Her patriotic Sacrifices Suspension of Arms Baza surrenders Treaty with Zagal Difficulties of the Campaign Isabella's Popularity and Influence. IN the autumn of 1487, Ferdinand and Isabella, accompanied by the younger branches of the royal family, visited Aragon, to obtain the recognition from the cortes of Prince John's succession, now in his tenth year, as well as to repress the disorders into which the countrv hud fallen during the long absence of its sovereigns. To this end", the principal cities and communities of Aragon had reccntlv adopted the institution of the hermandad, organised on similar principles to that of Castile. Ferdinand on his arrival at Saragossa in the month of Novem- ber, gave his royal sanction to the association, extending the term of its duration to five years ; a measure extremely unpalatable to the great feudal nobility, whose power, or rather abuse of power, was considerably abridged by this popular military force. The sovereigns, after accomplishing the objects of their visit, and obtaining an appropriation from the cortes for the Moorish war, passed * In July, 1501, we find a royal ordinance authorising an immunity from various taxes, and other important privileges, to Malaga and its territory, for the further encouragement of population in the conquered city. 8IEGE OF BAZA. 225 ato YViciii'ia, when measures of like efficiency were adorned for restoring the authority of the law, which was exposed to such perpetual lapses in this turbulent age, even in the best constituted governments, at required for its protection the utmost vigilance on the part of those intrusted with the supreme executive power. From Valencia the court proceeded to Murcia, where Ferdinand, in the month of June, 1488, assumed the command of an army amounting to less than twenty thousand men, a small force compared with those usually levied on these occasions ; it being thought advisable to suffer the nation to breathe awhile, after the exhausting efforts in which it had been uninteruiittingly engaged for so many years. Ferdinand, crossing the eastern borders of Granada, at no great distance from Vera, which speedily opened its gates, kept along the southern slant of the coast as far as Almeria; whence, after experiencing some rough treatment from a sortie of the garrison, he marched by a northerly circuit on Baza, for the purpose of reconnoitring its position, as his numbers were altogether inadequate to its siege. A division of the army under the marquis duke of Cadiz suffered itself to be drawn here into an ambuscade by the wily old monarch El Zagal, who lay in Baza with a strong force. After extricating his troops with some difficulty and loss from this perilous predicament, Ferdinand retreated on his own dominions by way of Huescar, where he disbanded his army, and withdrew to offer up his devotions at the cross of Caravaca. The campaign, though signalised by no brilliant achievement, and indeed clouded with some slight reverses, secured the surrender of a considerable number of fortresses and towns of inferior note. The Moorish chief, El Zagal, elated by his recent success, made frequent forays into the Christian territories, sweeping off the flocks, herds, and growing crops of the husbandman ; while the garrisons of Almeria and Salobrena, and the bold inhabitants of the valley of Purchena, poured a similar devastating warfare over the eastern borders of Granada into Murcia. To meet this pressure, the Spanish sovereigns reinforced the frontier with additional levies under Juan de Benavides and Gurcilasso de la Vega ; while Christian knights, whose prowess is attested in many a Moorish lay, flocked there from all quarters, as to the theatre of war. During the following winter, of 1488, Ferdinand and Isabella occupied themselves with the interior government of Castile, and particularly the administration of justice. A commission was specially appointed to supervise the conduct of the corregidors and subordinate magistrates, * l so that every one," says Pulgar, "was most careful to discharge his duty faithfully, in order to escape the penalty which was otherwise sure to overtake him." * * During the preceding year, while the court was at Murcia. we find one of the examples cf vuiu wj LK; iu iiuusitiuu iixiiu a BWMIO uv MU uunsui tu Luut ui uiviuguuuii, nuc HWU > UUMU^ effect in proving to the people that uo rank was elevated enough to raise the offeiidei 226 WAE OF GRANADA. "WTiile at Yalladolid, the sovereigns received an embassy from Maximilian, son of the emperor Frederic the Fourth, of Germany, soliciting their co-operation in his designs against France for the restitution of his late wife's rightful inheritance, the duchy of Bur- gundy, and engaging in turn to support them in their claims on Rous- sillon and Cerdagne. The Spanish monarchs had long entertained many causes of discontent with the French court, both with regard to tha mortgaged territory of Roussillon and the kingdom of Xavarre: and they watched with jealous eye the daily increasing authority of their formidable neignbour on their own frontier. They had been induced, in the preceding summer, to equip an armament at Biscay and Gui- puscoa, to support the duke of Brittany in his wars with the French regent, the celebrated Anne de Beaujeu. This expedition, which proved disastrous, was followed by another in the spring of the succeeding- year.* But notwithstanding these occasional episodes to the great work in which they were engaged, they had little leisure for extended operations ; and, although they entered into the proposed treaty of alliance with Maximilian, they do not seem to have contemplated any movement of importance before the termination of the Moorish war. The Flemish ambassadors, after being entertained for forty days in a style suited to impress them with high ideas of the magnificence of the Spanish court, and of its friendly disposition towards their master, were dismissed with costly presents, and returned to their own country. These negotiations show the increasing intimacy growing up between the European states, who, as they settled their domestic feuds, had leisure to turn their eyes abroad, and enter into the more extended field of international politics. The tenor of this treaty indicates also the direction which affairs were to take when the great powers should be brought into collision with each other on a common theatre of action. All thoughts were now concentrated on the prosecution of the war with Granada, which, it was determined, should be conducted on a more enlarged scale than, it had yet been ; notwithstanding the fearful pest which had desolated the country during the past year, and the extreme scarcity of grain, owing to the inundations caused by excessive rains in the fruitful provinces of the south. The great object proposed in this campaign wao the reduction of Baza, the capital of that division of the empire which belonged to El Zagal. Besides this important city, that monarch's dominions embraced the wealthy seaport of Almeria, Guadix, aud numerous other towns and villages of less consequence, together with the mountain region of the Alpuxarras,' rich in mineral wealth ; whose inhabitants, famous for the perfection to which they had carrie d the silk manufacture, were equally known for their enterprise an d courage in war, so that El Zagal' s division comprehended the most poten t and opulent portion of the empire, f * In the first of these expeditions, more than a thousand Spaniards were slain or taken t the disastrous battle of St. Aubin, in 1488 ; being the same in which Lord Rivers, the English noble who made such a gallant figure at the siege of Loja, lost his life. In the spring of 1489, the levies sent into France amounted to two thousand in number. These efiorts abroad, simultaneous with the great operations of the Moorish war, show the resources as well as energy of the sovereigns. t Such was the scarcity of grain, that the prices in 14S9, quoted by Bernaldez, aro double those of the preceding year. Both Aburca aud Zurita mention the report, Uu; SIEGE OF BAZA. 227 In the spring of 1489 the Castilian court passed to Jaen, at which place the queen was to establish her residence, as presenting the most favourable point of communication with the invading army. Ferdinand advanced as far as Sotogordo, where, on the 27th of May, he put himself at the head of a numerous force, amounting to about fifteen thousand horse and eighty thousand i'oot, including persons of every description ; among whom was gathered, as usual, that chivalrous array of nobility and knighthood, who, with stately and well-appointed retinueu, were accustomed to follow the royal standard in these crusades.* The first point against which operations were directed was the strong post of Cuxar, two leagues only from Baza, which surrendered after a brief but desperate resistance. The occupation of this place, and some adjacent fortresses, left the approaches open to El Zagal's capital. As the Spanish army toiled up the heights of the mountain barrier which towers above Baza on the west, their advance was menaced by clouds of Moorish light troops, who poured down a tempest of musket-balls and arrows on their heads. These, however, were quickly dispersed by the advancing vanguard ; and the Spaniards, as they gained the summits of the hills, beheld the lordly city of Baza, reposing in the shadows of the bold sierra that stretches towards the coast, and lying in the bosom of a fruitful valley, extending eight leagues in length, and three in breadth. Through this valley flowed the waters of the Guadalentin and the Guadalquiton, whose streams were conducted by a thousand canals over the surface of the vega. In the midst of the plain, adjoining the suburbs, ini^ht be descried the orchard or garden, as it was termed, of Baza, a league in length, covered with a thick growth of wood, and with four-fifths of the whole population were swept away by tho pestilence of 14SS. Zurita finds more difficulty in swallowing this monstrous statement than Father Abarca, whoso appetite for the marvellous appears to have boon fully equal to that of most of his calling in Spain. * It may uot bo amiss to specify the names of tho most distinguished cavaliers who vitally attended the king in these Moorish wars ; the heroic ancestors of many a noble house still extant in fpaiu. ALONSO DE CARDENAS, master of Saint Ja^'o. JUAN DE ZuSiOA, master of Alcantara. JUAN GARCIA DE PADILLA, master of Calutrava. RODRIGO PONCE DE LKON. marquis duke of Ca Hz. ENRIQUE DE GUZMAN, duke of Medina Sidoniu. PEDRO MANRIQUE, duke of Najera. JUAN PACIIECO, duke of Escaloua, marquis of Villena. JUAN PIMENTEI, count of Benaventc. FADRIQUE DE TOLEDO, son of the duke of Alva. DIEGO FERNANDEZ DK CORDOVA, count of Cabra, GOMEZ ALVAREZ DE FIOUEROA, count of Feri:u ALVABO TKLLEZ GIRON, count of Urefio. JUAN DE SILVA, count of Cifucntes. FADRIQUE ENRIQUEZ, adelantado of Andalusia. ALONSO FERNANDEZ DE CORDOVA, lord of Aguilar. GONSALVO DE CORDOVA, brother of the last, known afterwards aa the Great Captain. Luis PORTO-CARRERO, lord of Palma. GUTIERRE DE CARDENAS, first commander of Leon. PEDRO FERNANDEZ DE VELASCO, count of Haro, constable of Castile. BELTRAN HE LA CUEVA, duke of Albuquerque. DIECO FERNANDEZ DE CORDOVA, alcayde of the royal pages, afterwards marquU of Comaras. ALVARO DE ZUNIOA, duko of Bejai. Ijfioo Lori z DE MENDOZA, count of Tendilla, afterwards marquis of MondeJMT. Luis DE CF.RDA, duke of Medina CelL INIOO LOVEZ DE MENDOZA. marquis of Santillana, second duke of Infantado. GARCIT.ASSO DE LA VEGA, lord of, iuuao. ft WAE OF GKAXADA. numerous villas and pleasure-houses of the wealthy citizens, now converted into garrison fortresses. The suburbs were encompassed oy a low mud wall ; but the fortifications of the city were of uncommon strength. The place, in addition to ten thousand troops of its own, waa garrisoned by an equal number from Almeria ; picked men, under the command of the Moorish prince Cidi Yahye, a relative of El Zagal, who lay at this time in Guadix, prepared to cover his own dominions against any hostile movement of his rival in Granada. These veterans were commissioned to defend the place to the last extremity :' and, as due time had been given for preparation, the town was victualled with fifteen months' provisions, and even the crops growing in the vega had been garnered before their prime, to save them from the hands of the enemy. The first operation, after the Christian army had encamped before the walls of Baza, was to get possession of the garden, without which it would be impossible to enforce a thorough blockade, since its labyrinth of avenues afforded the inhabitants abundant facilities of communication with the surrounding country. The assault was intrusted to the grand master of St. James, supported by the principal cavaliers, and the king in person. Their reception by the enemy was such as gave them a foretaste of the perils and desperate daring they were to encounter in the present siege. The broken surface of the ground, bewildered with intricate passes, and thickly studded with trees and edifices, was peculiarly favourable to the desultory and illusory tactics of the Moors. The Spanish cavalry was brought at once to a stand ; the ground proving impracticable for it, it was dismounted, and led to the charge by its officers on foot. The men, however, were soon scattered far asunder from their banners and their leaders. Ferdinand, who from a central position endeavoured to overlook the field, with the design of supporting the attack on the points most requiring it, soon lost sight of his columns amid the precipitous ravines, and the dense masses of foliage which everywhere intercepted the view. The combat was carried on, hand to hand, in the utmost confusion. Still the Spaniards pressed forward, and, after a desperate struggle for twelve hours, in which many of the bravest on both sides fell, and the Moslem chief Reduan Zafarga had four horses successively killed under him, the enemy were beaten back behind the intrenchments that covered the suburbs, and the Spaniards, hastily constructing a defence of palisades, pitched their tents on the field of battle./ The following morning Ferdinand had the mortification to observe that the ground was too much broken, and obstructed with wood, to afford a suitable place for a general encampment. To evacuate his position, however, in the face of the enemy, was a delicate manoauvre, and must necessarily expose him to severe loss. This he obviated, in a great measure, by a fortunate stratagem. He commanded the tents nearest the town to be left standing, and thus succeeded in drawing off the greater part of his forces before the enemy was aware of his intention. After regaining his former position, a council of war was summoned * Pulgar relates these particulars with a perspicuity very different from his eutangled narrative of some of the preceding operations iii this war. Both he and Marty/ wert cut during the whole siege of Baza. STEGE OF BAZA. 229 to deliberate on the course next to be pursued. The chiefs were filled with despondency as they revolved the difficulties of their situation. They almost despaired of enforcing the blockade of a place whose peculiar situation gave it such advantages. Even could this be effected, the camp would be exposed, they argued, to the assaults of a desperate garrison on the one hand, and of the populous city of Guadix, hardly twenly miles distant, on the other; while the good faith of Granada could scarcely be expected to outlive a single reverse of fortune ; so that instead of besieging, they might be more properly regarded as themselves besieged. In addition to these evils, the winter frequently set in with much rigour in this quarter ; and the torrents, descending from the mountains, and mingling with the waters of the valley, might overwhelm the camp with an inundation, which, if it did not sweep it away at once, would expose it to the perils of famine, by cutting off all external communication. Under these gloomy impressions, many of the council urged Ferdinand to break up his position at once, and postpone all operations on Baza until the reduction of the surrounding country should make it comparatively easy. Even the marquis of Cadiz gave in to this opinion ; and Gutierre de Cardenas, commander of Leon, a cavalier deservedly high in the confidence of the king, was almost the only person of consideration decidedly opposed to it.* In this perplexity, Ferdinand, as usual in similar exigencies, resolved to take counsel of the queen. Isabella received her husband's despatches a few hours after they were written, by means of the regular line of posts maintained between the camp and her station at Jaen. She was filled with chagrin at their import, from which she plainly saw that all her mighty preparations were about to vanish into air. Without assuming the responsibility of deciding the proposed question, however, she besought her husband not to distrust the providence of God, which had conducted them through so many perils towards the consummation of their wishes. She reminded him that the Moorish fortunes were never at so low an ebb as at present, and that their own operations could probably never be resumed on such a formidable scale or under so favourable auspices as now, when their arms had not been stained with a single important reverse. She con- cluded with the assurance, that, if his soldiers would be true to their duty, they might rely on her for the faithful discharge of hers, in furnishing them with all the requisite supplies. The exhilarating tone of this letter nad an instantaneous effect, encing the scruples of the most timid and confirming the confidence the others. The soldiers in particular who had received with dis- tisfaction some intimation of what was passing in the council, welcomed with general enthusiasm ; and every heart seemed now intent on * Don Gutierre de Cardenas, who possessed so high a place in the confidence of the sovereigns, occupied a station in the queen's household, as we have seen, at the time of her marriage with Ferdinand. His discretion and general ability enabled him to retain the influence which he had early acquired. Fray Mortero was Don Alonso de Burgos, bishop of Palencia, confessor of the sovereigns. Don Juan Chacon was the son of Gonsalvo, who had the care of Don Alfonso and the queen during her minority, when h was induced by the liberal largesses of John II. of Aragon to promote her marriage with his son Ferdinand. The elder Chacon was treated by the sovereigns with the greatest deference and respect, being usually called by them " Father." After his death, they con- tinued to manifest a sin> ili y regard fcwrai Don Juan, his eldest son, .and neir of hi ample honours and 230 WAB OF GEAXADA. furthering the wishes of their heroic queen hy prosecuting the siege with the utmost vigour. The army was accordingly distributed into two encampments ; one under the marquis duke of Cadiz, supported by the artillery, the other under King Ferdinand on the opposite side of the city. Between the two lay the par den or orchard before mentioned, extending a league in length ; so that, in order to connect the works of the two camps, it became necessary to get possession of this contested ground, and to clear it of the heavy timber with which it was covered. This laborious operation was intrusted to the commander of Leon, and the work was covered by a detachment of seven thousand troops, posted in such a manner as to check the sallies of the garrison. Notwithstanding four thousand taladores or pioneers, were employed in the task, the forest was so dense, and the sorties from the city so annoying, that the work of devastation did not advance more than ten paces a day, and was not completed before the expiration of seven weeks. When the ancient groves, so long the ornament and protection of the city, were levelled to the ground, preparations were made for connecting the two camps by a deep trench, through which the mountain waters were made to flow ; while the borders were fortified with palisades, constructed of the timber lately hewn, together with strong towers of mud or clay, arranged at regular intervals. In this manner the investment of the city was com- plete on the side of the vega. As means of communication still remained open, however, by the opposite sierra, defences of similar strength, consisting of two stone walls separated by a deep trench, were made to run along the rocky heights and ravines of the mountains until they touched the extremities of the fortifications on the plain ; and thus Baza was encompassed by an unbroken line of circumvallation. In the progress of the laborious work, which occupied ten thousand men, under the indefatigable commander of Leon, for the space of two months, it would have been easy for the people of Guadix, or of Granada, by co-operation with the sallies of the besieged, to place the Christian army in great peril. Some feeble demonstration of such a movement was made at Guadix, but it was easily disconcerted. Indeed, El Zagal was kept in check by the fear of leaving his own territory open to his rival, should he march against the Christians. Abdallah, in the mean while, lay inactive in Granada, incurring the odium and contempt of his people, who stigmatised him as a Christian in heart, and a pensioner of the Spanish sovereigns. Their discontent gradually swelled into a rebellion, which was suppressed by him with a severity that at length induced a sullen acquiescence in a rule which, however inglorious, was at least attended with temporary security. While the camp lay before Baza, a singular mission was received from the sultan of Egypt, who had been solicited by the Moors of Granada to interpose in their behalf with the Spanish sovereigns. Two Franciscan friars, members of a religious community in Palestine, were bearers of despatches, which after remonstrating with the sovereigns on their per- secution of the Moors, contrasted it with the protection uniformly extended by the sultan to the Christians in his dominions. The communi- cation concluded with menacing a retaliation of similar severities on thcsa latter, unless the sovereigns desisted for their hostilities towards Granada. SIEGE OF BAZA. 231 From the camp, the two ambassadors proceeded to Jaen, where they were received by the queen with all the deference due to their holy pro- fession, which seemed to derive additional sanctity from the spot in which it was exercised. The menacing import of the sultan's com- munication, however, had no power to shake the purposes of Ferdinand and Isabella, who made answer, that they had uniformly observed the same policy in regard to their Mahometan as to their Christian subjects ; but that they could no longer submit to see their ancient and rightful inheritance in the hands of strangers ; and that, if these latter would consent to live under their rule as true and loyal subjects, they should experience the same paternal indulgence which had been shown to their brethren. With this answer the reverend emissaries returned to the Holy Laud, accompanied by substantial marks of the royal favour, in a yearly pension of one thousand ducats, which the queen settled in perpetuity on their monastery, together with a richly embroidered veil, the work of her own fair hands, to be suspended over the Holy Sepulchre. The sovereigns subsequently dispatched the learned Peter Martyr as their envoy to the Moslem court., in order to explain their proceedings more at length, and avert any disastrous consequences from the Christian residents. In the meanwhile the siege went forward with spirit ; skirmishes anc 1 single rencontres taking place every day between the high-mettled cavaliers on both sides. These chivalrous combats, however, were discouraged by Ferdinand, who would have confined his operations to strict blockade, and avoided the unnecessary effusion of blood ; especially as the advantage was most commonly on the side of the enemy, from the peculiar adaptation of their tactics to this desultory warfare. Although some months had elapsed, the besieged rejected with scorn every summons to surrender ; relying on their own resources, and still more on the tempestuous season of autumn, now fast advancing, which, if it did not break up the encampment at once, would at least, by demolishing the roads, cut off all external communication. In order to guard against these impending evils, Ferdinand caused more than a thousand houses, or rather huts, to be erected, with walls of earth or clay, and roofs made of timber and tiles ; while the common soldiers constructed cabins by means of palisades loosely thatched with the branches of trees. The whole work was accomplished in four days : and the inhabitants of Baza beheld with amazement a city of solid edifices, with all its streets and squares in regular order, springing as it were by magic out of the ground, which had before been covered with the light and airy pavilions of the camp. The new city was well supplied, owing to the providence of the queen, not merely with the necessaries but the luxuries of life. Traders nocked there as to a fair, from Aragon, Valencia, Catalonia, and even Sicily, freighted with costly merchandise, and with jewelry and other articles of luxury ; such as, in the indignant lament of an old chronicler, " too often corrupt the souls of the soldiery, and bring waste and dissipation into a camp." That this was not the result, however, in the present instance, is attested by more than one historian. Among others, Peter Martyr, the Italian scholar before mentioned, who was present at this siege, dwells with astonishment on the severe decorum and military discipline which everywhere obtained among this motley congregation of soldiers " AN ho 232 WAR OF GKA>*ADA. would have believed," says he, " that the Galician, the fierce Asturfan, and the rude inhabitants of the Pyrenees, men accustomed to deeds of atrocious violence, and to brawl and battle on the lightest occasion at home, should mingle amicably, not only with one another but with the Toledans, La-Manchans, and. the wily and jealous Andalusian ; all living together in harmonious subordination to authority, like members of one family, speaking one tongue, and nurtured under a common dis- cipline ; so that the camp seemed like a community modelled on the principles of Plato's republic ! " In another part of this letter, which was addressed to a Milanese prelate, he panegyrises the camp hospital of the queen, then a novelty in war: which, he says, "is so profusely supplied with medical attendants, apparatus, and whatever may con- tribute to the restoration or solace of the sick, that it is scarcely surpassed in these respects by the magnificent establishments of Milan." * During the five months which the siege had now lasted, the weather had proved uncommonly propitious to the Spaniards, being for the most part of a bland and equal temperature, while the sultry heats of mid- summer were mitigated by cool and moderate showers. As the autumnal season advanced, however, the clouds began to settle heavily around the mountains ; and at length one of those storms, predicted by the people of Baza, burst forth with incredible fury, pouring a volume of waters down the rocky sides of the sierra, which, mingling with those of the vega, inundated the camp of the besiegers, and swept away most of the frail edifices constructed for the use of the common soldiery. A still greater calamity befel them in the dilapidation of the roads, wliich, broken up or worn into deep galleys by the force of the waters, were rendered perfectly impassable. All communication was of course sus- pended with Jaen, and a temporary interruption of the convoys filled the camp with consternation. This disaster, however, was speedily repaired by the queen, who with an energy always equal to the occasion, caused six thousand pioneers to be at once employed in reconstructing the roads ; the rivers were bridged over, causeways new-laid, and two separate passes opened through the mountains, by which the convoys might visit the camp, and return without interrupting each other. At the same time, the queen bought up immense quantities of grain from all parts of Andalusia, which she caused to be ground in her own mills ; and when the roads, which extended more than seven leagues in length, were completed, fourteen thousand mules might be seen daily traversing the sierra, laden with supplies, which from that time forward were poured abundantly, and with the most perfect regularity, into the camp. Isabella's next care was to assemble new levies of troops, to relieve or reinforce those now in the camp ; and the alacrity with which all orders of men from every quarter of the kingdom answered her summons ia worthy of remark. But her chief solicitude was to devise expedients for meeting the enormous expenditures incurred by the protracted operations of the year. For this purpose she had recourse to loans from The plague, which fell heavily this year on some parts of Andalusia, does not appear to have attacked the camp, which Bleda imputes to the healing influence of the Sj>;mi.s\i sovereigns, "whose good faith, religion, and virtue banished the contagion from their army, where it must otherwise have prevailed." Personal comfort and cleanliness of the soldiers, though not quite BO miraculous a cause, may be considered perhaps 1'uU a* SIEGE OF 'BAZA. 23S individuals and religious corporations, which -were obtained without much difficulty, from the general confidence in her good faith. As the sum thus raised, although exceedingly large for that period, proved inadequate to the expenses, further supplies were obtained from wealthy individuals, whose loans were secured by mortgage of the royal demesne r and, as a deficiency still remained in the treasury, the queen, as a last resource, pawned the crown jewels and her own personal ornaments to the merchants of Barcelona and Valencia, for such sums as they were willing to advance on them.* Such were the efforts made by this high- spirited woman for the furtherance of her patriotic enterprise. The extraordinary results which she was enabled to effect, are less to be ascribed to the authority of her station, than to that perfect confidence in her wisdom and virtue with which she had inspired the whole nation, and which secured their earnest co-operation in all her undertakings. The empire which she thus exercised, indeed, was far more extended than any station however exalted, or any authority however despotic, can confer ; for it was over the hearts of her people. Notwithstanding the vigour with which the siege was pressed, Baza made no demonstration of submission. The garrison was, indeed, greatly reduced in number ; the ammunition was nearly expended ; yet there still remained abundant supplies of provisions in the town, and no signs of despondency appeared among the people. Even the women of the place, with a spirit emulating that of the dames of ancient Carthage, freely gave up their jewels, bracelets, necklaces, and other personal ornaments, of which the Moorish ladies were exceedingly fond, in order to defray the charges of the mercenaries. The camp of the besiegers, in the meanwhile, was also greatly wasted both by sickness and the sword. Many, desponding under perils and fatigues, which seemed to have no end, would even at this late hour have abandoned the siege ; and they earnestly solicited the queen's- appearance in the camp, in the hope that she would herself countenance this measure, on witnessing their sufferings. Others, and by far the larger part, anxiously desired the queen's visit, as likely to quicken the operations of the siege, and bring it to a favourable issue. There seemed to be a virtue in her presence, which, on some account or other, made it earnestly desired by all. Isabella yielded to the general wish, and on the 7th of November arrived before the camp, attended by the infanta Isabella, the cardinal of Spain, her friend the marchioness of Moya, and other ladies of the royal household. The inhabitants of Baza, says Bernaldez, lined the battle- ments and housetops to gaze at the glittering cavalcade as it emerged from the depths of the mountains amidst Haunting banners and strain* of martial music ; while the Spanish cavaliers thronged forth in a body from the camp to receive their beloved mistress, and gave her the most animated welcome. "She came," says Martyr, "surrounded by a choir of nymphs, as if to celebrate the nuptials of her child ; and her The city of Valencia lent 35,000 florins on the crown, and 20,000 on a collar of rubies^ They were not wholly redeemed till 1495. Seiior Clemencin has given a catalo^ie of tl o, royal jewels, which appear to have been extremely rich and numerous, for a period ante- rior to the discovery of those countries, \\U se mines have since furnished Euroi>e with it* / -it. Isabella so little value on them, that she divested herself of most of them in favour ol her ..laughters. 234 WAS. OF GRANADA. presence seemed at once to gladden and re-animate our spirits, drooping under long vigils, dangers, and fatigue." Another writer, also present, remarks, that, from the moment of her appearance, a change seemed to come over the scene. No more of the cruel skirmishes which had before occurred every day, no report of artillery, or clashing of arms, or any of the rude sounds of war was to he heard, but all seemed disposed" to reconciliation and peace. The Moors probably interpreted Isabella's visit into an assurance that the Christian army would never rise from before the place until its sur- render. Whatever hopes they had once entertained of wearying out the besiegers, were therefore now dispelled. Accordingly, a few days after the queen's arrival, we find them proposing a parley for arranging terms of capitulation. On the third day after her arrival, Isabella reviewed her army, stretched out in order of battle along the slope of the western hills ; after which she proceeded to reconnoitre the beleaguered city, accom- panied by the king and the cardinal of Spain, together with a brilliant escort of the Spanish chivalry. On the same day a conference was opened with the enemy through the comendador of Leon ; and an armistice arranged, to continue until the old monarch, El Zagal, who then lay at Guadix, could be informed of the real condition of the besieged, and his instructions be received, determining the course to be adopted. The alcayde of Baza represented to his master the low state to which the garrison was reduced by the loss of lives and the failure of ammuni- tion. Still, he expressed such confidence in the spirit of his people, that he undertook to make good his defence some time longer, provided any reasonable expectation of succour could be afforded ; otherwise, it would be a mere waste of life, and must deprive him of such vantage ground as he now possessed, for enforcing an honourable capitulation. The Moslem prince acquiesced in the reasonableness of these representa- tions. He paid a just tribute to his brave kinsman Cidi Yahye's loyalty, and the gallantry of his defence ; but, confessing at the same time, his own inability to relieve him, authorised him to negotiate the best terms of surrender which he could for himself and garrison. A mutual desire of terminating the protracted hostilities infused a spirit of moderation into both parties, which greatly facilitated the adjustment of the articles. Ferdinand showed none of the arrogant bearing which marked his conduct towards the unfortunate people of Malaga, whether from a conviction of its impolicy, or, as is more probable, because the city of Baza was itself in a condition to assume a more imposing attitude. The principal stipulations of the treaty were, that the foreign mercenaries employed in the defence of the place should be allowed to march out with the honours of war ; that the city should be delivered up to the Christians ; but that the natives might have the choice of retiring with their personal effects where they listed, or of occupying the suburbs, as subjects of the Castilian crown, liable only to the same tribute which they paid to their Moslem rulers, and secured in the enjoyment of their property, religion, laws, and usages. On the fourth day of December, 1489, Ferdinand and Isabella took possession of Baza, at the head of their legions, amid the ringing of bells, the peals of artillery, and all the other usual accompaniments of this SIEGE OF BAZA. 235 triumphant ceremony ; while the standard of the Cross, floating from the ancient battlements of the city, proclaimed the triumph of the Christian arms. The hrave alcayde, Cidi Yahye, experienced a recep- tion from the sovereigns very different from that of the bold defender of Malaga. He was loaded -with civilities and presents ; and these acts of courtesy so won upon his heart, that he expressed a willingness to enter into their service. "Isabella's compliments," says the Arabian historian drily, "were repaid in more substantial coin." Cidi Yahye was soon prevailed on to visit his royal kinsman El Zagal, at GuadLx, for the purpose of urging his submission to the Christian sovereigns. In his interview with that prince, he represented the fruit- lossness of any attempt to withstand the accumulated forces of the :-h monarchies ; that he would only see town after town pared away from his territory, until no ground was left for him to stand on, and make terms with the victor. He reminded him, that the baleful horoscope of Abdallah had predicted the downfall of Granada, and that experience had abundantly shown how vain it was to struggle against the tide of destiny. The unfortunate monarch listened, says the Arabian annalist, without so much as moving an eyelid ; and, after a long and deep medi- tation, replied with the resignation characteristic of the Moslems, " AVhat Allah wills, he brings to pass in his own way. Had he not decreed the fall of Granada, this good sword might have saved it ; but his will be done ! " It was then arranged that the principal cities of Almeria, Guadix, and their dependencies, constituting the domain of El Zagal, should be formally surrendered by that prince to Ferdinand and Isabella, who should instantly proceed at the head of their army to take possession of them. On the seventh day of December, therefore, the Spanish sovereigns, without allowing themselves or their jaded troops any time for repose, marched out of the gates of Baza, King Ferdinand occupying the centre, and the queen the rear of the army. Their route lay across the most .re districts of the long sierra which stretches towards Almeria ; leading through many a narrow pass, which a handful of resolute Moors, . might have made good against the whole Christian army, over mountains whose peaks were lost in clouds, and valleys whose depths were never warmed by a sun. The winds were exceedingly bleak, and the weather inclement ; so that men, as well as horses, exhausted by the fatigues of previous service, were benumbed by the intense cold, and many of them frozen to death. Many more, losing their way in the intricacies of the sierra, would have experienced the same miserable fate f had it not been for the marquis of Cadiz, whose tent was pitched on one of the loftiest lulls, and who caused beacon fires to be lighted around it ; in order to guide the stragglers back to their quarters. At no great distance from Almeria, Ferdinand was met, conformably to the previous arrangement, by El Zagal, escorted by a numerous body of Moslem cavaliers. Ferdinand commanded his nobles to ride forward and receive the Moorish prince. " His appearance," says Martyr, who was in the roval retinue, " touched my soul with compassion ; for, although a lawless barbarian, he was a king, and had given signal proofs of heroism." El Zagal, without waiting to receive the courtesies of the Spanish nobles, threw himself from his horse, and advanced towards Ferdinand with the design of kissing his hand : but the latter, rebuking 236 WAK OF GRAXADA. his followers for their "rusticity" in allowing such an act of humilia- tion in the unfortunate monarch, prevailed on him to remount, and then rode by his side towards Almeria. This city was one of the most precious jewels in the diadem of Granada. It had amassed great wealth by its extensive commerce with Syria, Egypt, and Africa ; and its corsairs had for ages been the terror of the Catalan and Pisan marine. It might have stood a siege as long as that of Baza, but it was now surrendered without a blow, on condi- tions similar to those granted to the former city. After allowing some days for the refreshment of their wearied forces in this pleasant region, which, sheltered from the bleak winds of the north by the sierra they had lately traversed, and fanned by the gentle breezes of the Mediter- ranean, is compared by Martyr to the gardens of the Hesperides, the sovereigns established a strong garrison there, under the command of Leon, and then, striking again into the recesses of the mountains, marched on Guadix, which, after some opposition on the part of the populace, threw open its gates to them. The surrender of these prin- cipal cities was followed by that of all the subordinate dependencies belonging to El Zagal's territory, comprehending a multitude of hamlets scattered along the green sides of the mountain chain that stretched from Granada to the coast. To all these places the same liberal terms, in regard to personal rights and property, were secured, as to Baza. As an equivalent for these broad domains, the Moorish cliief was placed in possession of the taha, or district, of Andaraz, the vale of Alhaurin, and half the salt-pits of Maleha, together with a considerable revenue in money. He was, moreover, to receive the title of king of Andaraz, and to render homage for his estates to the crown of Castile. This shadow of royalty could not long amuse the mind of the unfor- tunate prince. He pined away amid the scenes of his ancient empire ; and, after experiencing some insubordination on the part of his new vassals, he determined to relinquish his petty principality, and with- draw for ever from his native land. Having received a large sum of money as an indemnification for the entire cession of his territorial rights and possessions to the Castilian crown, he passed over to Africa, where, it is reported, he was plundered of his property by the barbarians, and condemned to starve out the remainder of his days in miserable indigence. The suspicious circumstances attending this prince's accession to the throne throw a dark cloud over his fame, which would otherwise seem, at least as far as his public life is concerned, to be unstained by any oppro- brious act. He possessed such energy, talent, and military science as, had he been fortunate enough to unite the Moorish nation under him by an undisputed title, might have postponed the fall of Granada for many years. As it was, these very talents, by dividing the state in his favour, served only to precipitate its ruin. The Spanish sovereigns having accomplished the object of the cam- paign, after stationing part of their forces on such points as would secure the permanence of their conquests, returned with the remainder to Jaon, where they disbanded the army on the 4th of January, 1490. The losses sustained by the troops during the whole period of their prolonged service, greatly exceeded those of any former year, amounting to nat SIEGE OF BAZA. 237 less than twenty thousand men, hy far the larger portion of whom are said to have fallen victims to diseasef incident to severe and long-con- tinued hardships and exposure. Thus terminated the eighth year of the war of Granada ; a year more glorious to the Christian arms, and more important in its results, than any of the preceding. During this period, an army of eighty thousanqf men had kept the field, amid all the inclemencies of winter, for more than seven months ; an effort scarcely paralleled in these times, when both the amount of levies, and period, of service, were on the limited scale adapted to the exigencies of feudal warfare.* Supplies for this immense host, notwithstanding the severe famine of the preceding year, were punctually furnished, in spite of every embarrassment presented by the want of navigable rivers, and the interposition of a precipitous and pathless sierra. The history of this campaign is, indeed, most honourable to the courage, constancy, and thorough discipline of the Spanish soldier, and to the patriotism and general resources of the nation ; but most of all to Isabella. She it was who fortified the timid councils of the leaders after the disasters of the garden, and encouraged them to persevere in the siege. She procured all the supplies, constructed the roads, took charge of the sick, and furnished, at no little personal sacrifice, the immense sums demanded for carrying on the war ; and, when at last the hearts of the soldiers were fainting under long-protracted sufferings, she appeared among them, like some celestial visitant, to cheer their faltering spirits, and inspire them with her own energy. The attachment to Isabella seemed to be a pervading principle, which animated the whole nation by one common impulse, impressing a unity of design on all its movements. This attachment was imputed to her sex as well as character. The sympathy and tender care with which she regarded her people, naturally raised a reciprocal sentiment in their bosoms ; but, when they beheld her directing their councils, sharing their fatigues and dangers, and display- ing all the comprehensive intellectual powers of the other sex, they looked up to her as to some superior being, with feelings far more exalte ll r by sending him on the following day a magnificent present, together with his owu sword superbly mov. t Isabella afterwards caused a Franciscan monastery to be built in commemoration of (bia event at Zubia, where, according to Mr. Irving, -the house from which she witnessed tiio actiou is to be e.-u at t'.ie }> rescue day. * a 244 WAR OF GRAXADA. light, combustible materials, and the camp was menaced vdtli general conflagration. This occurred at the dead of night, when all but the sentinels were buried in sleep. The queen, and her children, whose apartments were near hers, were in great peril, and escaped with difficulty, though fortunately without injury. The alarm soon spread. The trumpets sounded to arms, for it was supposed to be some night attack of the enemj . Ferdinand, snatching up his arms hastily, put himself at the head of his troops ; but, soon ascertaining the nature of the disaster, contented himself with posting the marquis of Cadiz, witii a strong body of horse, over against the city, in order to repel any sally from that quarter. None, however, was attempted ; and the fire was at length extinguished without personal injury, though not without loss of much valuable property, in jewels, plate, brocade, and other costly decorations of the tents of the nobility. In order to guard against a similar disaster, as well as to provide comfortable winter quarters for the army, should the siege be so long protracted as to require it, it was resolved to build a town of substantial edifices on the place of the present encampment. The plan was immedi- ately put in execution. The work Avas distributed in due proportions among the troops of the several cities and of the great nobility ; the soldier was on a sudden converted into an artisan, and, instead of war, the camp echoed with the sounds of peaceful labour. In less than three months this stupendous task was accomplished. The spot so recently occupied by light, fluttering pavilions, was thickly covered with solid structures of stone and mortar, comprehending, besides dwelling-houses, stables for a thousand horses. The town was thrown into a quadrangular form, traversed by two spacious avenues, intersecting each other at right angles in the centre, in the form of a cross, with stately portals at each of the four extremities. Inscriptions on blocks of marble in the various quarters recorded the respective shares of the several cities in the execution of the work. When it was com- pleted, the whole army was desirous that the new city should bear the name of their illustrious queen ; but Isabella modestly declined this tribute, and bestowed on the place the title of Santa Fe, in token of the unshaken trust manifested by her people, throughout this war in Divine Providence. With this name it still stands as it was erected, in 1491, a monument of the constancy and enduring patience of the Spaniards, " the only city in Spain," in the words of a Castilian writer, " that has never been contaminated by the Moslem heresy." The erection of Santa Fe by the Spaniards struck a greater damp into the people of Granada than the most successful military achievement could have done. They beheld the enemy setting foot on their soil, with. a resolution never more to resign it. They already began to suffer fro in the rigorous blockade, which effectually excluded supplies from their own territories, while all communication with Africa was jealously intercepted. Symptoms of insubordination had begun to show them- selves among the overgrown population of the city, as it felt more and more the pressure of famine. In this crisis the unfortunate Abdullah and his principal counsellors became convinced that the place could not be maintained much longer; and at length, in the month of October, propositions were made, through the vizier Abul Cazim Abdelmalic, to open a negotiation for the surrender of the place. The afl'air was to be STTEUEXDEK. OF THE CAPITAL. 215 conducted with the utmost caution ; since the people of Granada, notwithstanding their precarious condition, and their disquietude, were buoyed up by indefinite expectations of relief from Africa, or some other quarter. The Spanish sovereigns intrusted the negotiation to their secretary, Fernando de Zafra, and to Gonsalvo de Cordova, the latter of whom was selected for this delicate business, from his uncommon address and his familiarity with the Moorish habits and language. Thus, the capitula- tion of Granada was referred to the man who acquired in her long wars the military science which enabled him, at a later period, to foil the most distinguished generals of Europe. The conferences were conducted by night, with the utmost secresy, sometimes within the walls of Granada, and at others in the little hamlet of Churriana, about a league distant from it. At length, after large discussion on both sides, the terms of capitulation were definitively settled, and ratified by the respective monarchs on the 25th of Novem- ber, 1491. The conditions were of similar, though somewhat more liberal import, than those granted to Baza. The inhabitants of Granada were to retain possession of their mosques, with the free exercise of their religion, with all its peculiar rites and ceremonies ; they were to be judged by their own laws, under their own cadis, or magistrates, subject to the general control of the Castilian governor: they were to be unmolested in their ancient usages, manners, language, and dress ; to be protected in the full enjoyment of their property, with the right of disposing of it on their own account, and of migrating when and where they Avould ; and to be furnished with vessels for the conveyance of such as chose within three years to pass into Africa. No heavier taxes were to be imposed than those customarily paid to their Arabian sovereigns, and none what- ever before the expiration of three years. King Abdallah was to reign (v;.T a specified territory in the Alpuxarras, for which he was to do homage to the Castilian crown. The artillery and the fortifications were to be delivered into the hands of the Christians, and the city was to be surrendered in rixty days from the date of the capitulation. Such were the principal terms of the surrender of Granada, as authenticated by the most accredited Castilian and Arabian authorities ; which I have stated the more precisely, as affording the best data for estimating the extent of Spanish perfidy in later times.* The conferences could not be conducted so secretly but that some report of them got air among the populace of the city, who now regarded Abdallah with an evil eye for his connexion with the Christians. When the fact of the capitulation became known, the agitation speedily mounted into an open insurrection, which menaced the safety of the city, as well as of Abdallah' a person. In this alarming state of things, it was thought best by that monarch's counsellors to anticipate the appointed day of surrender ; and the 2nd of January, 1492, was accordingly fixed on for that purpose. * Martyr adds, that the principal Moorish nobility were to remove from the city Pedraza, who has devoted :i volume to the history of Granada, does not seem to thiak t)u capituhit i< 'iis w. nth specifying-. Most of the modem Castilians pass very lightly over them. They furnish too bitter ;v comment on the conduct of subsequent Spanish mouarchs. Maniii'l and the judicious* Zurita agree in every substantial particular with Coude, and thu ooiuck'eii-.e may be considered as establishing the actual terms of the treaiy. 24fi AVAll OF GKANABA. Every preparation was made by the Spaniards for performing this last act of the drama with suitable pomp and effect. The mourning which the court had put on for the death of Prince Alonso of Portugal, occasioned by a fall from his horse a few months after his marriage with the infanta Isabella, was exchanged for gay and magnificent apparel, On the morning of the 2nd, the whole Christian camp exhibited a scene of the most animating bustle. The grand cardinal Mendoza was sent forward at the head of a large detachment, comprehending his household troops, and the veteran infantry, grown gray in the Moorish wars, to occupy the Alhanibra preparatory to the entrance of the sovereigns.* Ferdinand stationed himself at some distance in the rear, near an Arabian mosque, since consecrated as the hermitage of St. Sebastian. He was surrounded by his courtiers, with their stately retinues, glittering in gorgeous panoply, and proudly displaying the armorial bearings of their ancient houses. The queen halted still farther in the rear, at the village of Armilla. As the column under the grand cardinal advanced up the Hill of Martyrs, over which a road had been constructed for the passage of the artillery, he was met by the Moorish prince Abdallah, attended by fifty cavaliers, who, descending the hill, rode up to the position occupied by Ferdinand on the banks of the Xenil. As the Moor approached the Spanish king, he would have thrown himself from his horse, and saluted his hand in token of homage ; but Ferdinand hastily prevented him, embracing him with every mark of sympathy and regard. Abdallah then delivered up the keys of the Alhanibra to his conqueror, saying, " They are thine, Dicing, since Allah so decrees it; use thy success with clemency and moderation." Ferdinand would have uttered some words of consolation to the unfortunate prince, but he moved forward with a dejected air to the spot occupied by Isabella, and, after similar acts of obeisance, passed on to join his family, who had preceded him with his most valuable effects on the route to the Alpuxarras. The sovereigns during this time waited with impatience the signal of the occupation of the city by the cardinal's troops, which, winding slowly along the outer circuit of the walls, as previously arranged, in vrder to spare the feelings of the citizens as far as possible, entered by vhat is now called the gate of Los Molinos. In a short time, the large silver cross, borne by Ferdinand throughout the crusade, was seen sparkling in the sun-beams, while the standards of Castile and St. Jago .vaved triumphantly from the red towers of the Alhanibra. At this glorious spectacle, the choir of the royal chapel broke forth into the solemn anthem of the Te Deum ; and the whole army, penetrated with deep emotion, prostrated themselves on their knees in adoration of the Lord of hosts, who had at length granted the consummation of their wishes, in this last and glorious triumph of the Cross. The grandees who surrounded Ferdinand then advanced towards the queen, and, kneeling down, saluted her hand in token of homage to her as sovereign of Granada. The procession took up its march towards the city, ' ' the * Oviedo, whose narrative exhibits many discrepancies with those of other contempo- raries, assigns tliis part to the count of Tcndilla, the first captain-general of Granada. But as this writer, though an eye-witness, was lint thirteen or fourteen years of age at the time of the capture, and wrote some sixty years later from his early recollections, his authority cannot be considered of equal weight with that of persons who, like Martyr, described events us they were passing be fere them. . ::XDEK OF TUT: CAPITAL 217 .1 moving in the midst," says an historian, " emblazoned with royal magnificence ; and, as they were in the prime of life, and had now achieved the completion of this glorious conquest, they seemed to represent even more than their wonted majesty. Equal with each other, they were raised far above the rest of the world. They appeared, indeed, more than mortal, and as if sent by Heaven for the salvation of Spain." * In the meanwhile the Moorish king, traversing the route of the Alpuxarras, reached a rocky eminence which commanded a last view of Granada. He checked his horse, and, as his eye for the last time wandered over the scenes of his departed greatness, his heart swelled, and he burst into tears. " You do well," said his more masculine mother, " to weep like a woman for what you could not defend like a vi:i:i!" "Alas!" exclaimed the unhappy exile, "when were woes t!v<-r equal to mine!" The scene of this event is still pointed out to the traveller by the people of the district ; and the rocky height from which the Moorish chief took his sad farewell of the princely abodes of his vouth, is commemorated by the poetical title of El Ultimo Sospiro del J/oro, " The last Sigh of the Moor." The sequel of AbdaUah's history is soon told. Like his uncle, El Zagal, he pined away in his barren domain of the Alpuxarras, under the shadow, as it were, of his ancient palaces. In the following year he passed over to Fez with his family, having commuted his petty sovereignty for a considerable sum of money paid him by Ferdinand and Isabella, and soon after fell in battle in the service of an African prince, his kinsman. " Wretched man ! " exclaims a caustic chronicler of his nation, "who could lose his life in another's cause, though he did not dare to die in his own. Such," continues the Arabian, with characteristic resignation, "was the immutable decree of destiny. Blessed be Allah, who exalteth and debaseth the kings of the earth according to his divine will, in whose fulfilment consists that eternal justice which regulates all human affairs." The portal through which Xing Abdallah for the last time issued from his capital was at his request walled up, that none other might again pass through it. In this condition it remains to this day, a memorial of the sad destiny of the last of the kings of Granada, -f * L. Marineo, and indeed most of the Spanish authorities, represent the sovereigns as having postponed their entrance into the city until the 5th or 6th of January. In Mr Lockhart's picturesque version of the Moorish ballads, the reader may find an aiiimatec description of the triumphant entry of the Christian army into Granada. " There was crying in Granada when the sun was going dowrn, 16 calling on the Trinity, some calling on Mahoun ; Here passed away the Koran, there in the Cross was borne, And here was heard the Christian boll, and there the Moorish horn ; Te Deiim law/amitr was up the Aleala sung, I>own from the Alhambra's minarets were all the crescents flung; The arms thereon of Aragon and Castile they display ; One king comes in iu triumph, one weeping goes away." f Mr. Irving, in his beautiful Spanish Sketch-book, "The Alhambra," devotes a chapter to mementos of Boabdil, in which ho traces minutely the route of the deposed monarch .uitting the gates of his capital. The same author, in the Appendix to his Chrwaclo ot (u-anada. concludes a notice of Abiallah's tUto, with the following description ofhii . : "A portrait of Boabdil el Chico is to be seen in the picture gallery of the Gene- ralife. He is represente I with a mild, handsome face, a fair complexion, and yellow hair His dress is of yellow brocade, relieved with black velvet ; and he lias a black velret ?48 WAR OF GEANADA. The fall of Granada excited general sensation throughout Cnristen- i1<>m, where it was received as counterbalancing, in a manner, the loss of Constantinople, nearly half a century before. At Rome the event was commemorated by a solemn procession of the pope and cardinals to St. Peter's, where high mass was celebrated, and the public rejoicing continued for several days.* The intelligence was welcomed with no less satisfaction in England, where Henry the Seventh was seated on the throne. The circumstances attending it, as related by Lord Bacon, v, ill not be devoid of interest for the reader.t Thus ended the war of Granada, which is often compared by the Castilian chroniclers to that of Troy in its duration, and which certainly fully equalled the latter in variety of picturesque and romantic incidents, and in circumstances of poetical interest. With the surrender of its capital, terminated the Arabian empire in the Peninsula, after an existence of seven hundred and forty-one years from the date of the cap, surmounted with a crown. In the armoury of Madrid are two suits of armour said to have belonged to him, one of solid steel, with very little ornament ; the morion closed. From the proportions of these suits of armour, he must have been of full stature arid vigorous form." * It formed the subject of a theatrical representation before the court at Naples, in the same year. This drama, or Parsa, as it is called by its distinguished author, Sannazaro, is an allegorical medley, in which Faith, Joy, and the false prophet Mahomet play the principal parts. The difficulty of a precise classification of this piece has given rise to warmer discussion among Italian critics than the subject may be thought to warrant. + " Somewhat aboutthis time came letters from Ferdinando and Isabella, kingand qxieen of Spain, signifying the final conquest of Granada from the Moors ; which action, in itself so worthy, King Ferdinaudo, whose manner was never to lose any virtue for the showing, had expressed and displayed in his letters at large, with all the particularities and religious punctos and ceremonies that were observed in the reception of that city and kin showing, amongst other things, that the king would not by any means in person outer the city until he had first aloof seen the Cross set up upon the greater tower of Gi whereby it became Christian ground. That likewise, before he would cuter, he did homage to God above, pronouncing by an herald from the height of that tower, that he did acknowledge to have recovered that kingdom by the help of God Almighty, and the glorious Virgin, and the viituous apostle St. James, and the holy father Innocent VIII., together with the aids and services of his prelates, nobles, and commons. That yet he stirred not from his camp till he had seen a little army of martyrs, to the number of seven hundred and more Christians, that had lived in bonds and servitude as slaves to the Mrs, pass before his eyes, singing a psalm for their redemption ; and thot he h:;ipon the infidels, nor enlarged and set farther the bounds of the Christian world. L'uS vhis is now done by the prowess and devotion of Ferdiuando and Isabella, kings of Spain ; who have, to their immortal honour, recovered the great and rich kingdom of Granada, and the populous and mighty city of the same name, from the Moors, having been iii possession thereof by the space of seven hundred years, and more ; for which this assembly and all Christians are to render laud and thanks to God, and to celebrate this noble act of the king of Spain, who in this U not only victorious but apostolical, in the gaining of new provinces to the Christian faith. And the rather for that this victory and c< )! most is obtained without much effusion of blood. Whereby it is to be hoped that "there shall Vie gained not only new territory, but infinite souls to the Church of Christ, whom the Almighty, as it seems, would have live to be converted. Herewithal he did relate ome of the most memorable particulars of the war and victory. And, after his speech i. the whole assembly went solemnly in procession, and Te Dcum was suu/j." Lord Bacon, History of the lleign oi King Ilem-y Vii. i- i.^ f .vo:ka. SUEltLXDEli OF THE CAPITAL. 249 original conquest. The consequences of this closing war were of tho highest moment to Spain. The most obvious was tiie recovery of an extensive territory, hitherto held by a people whose difference of religion, language, and general habits made them not only incapable of assimi- lating with their Christian neighbours, but almost their natural enemies; while their local position was a matter of just concern, as interposed between the great divisions of the Spanish monarchy, and opening an obvious avenue to invasion from Africa. By the new conquest, more- over, the Spaniards gained a large extent of country, possessing the highest capacities for production, in its natural fruitfulness of soil, temperature of climate, and in the state of cultivation to which it had been brought by its ancient occupants ; whilst its shores were lined with commodious havens, that afforded every facility for commerce. The scattered fragments of the ancient Visigothic empire were now again, with the exception of the little state of Navarre, combined into one great monarchy, as originally destined by nature ; and Christian Spain gradually rose, by means of her new acquisitions, from a subordinate situation to the level of a lirst-rate European power. The moral influence of the Moorish war, its influence on the Spanish character, was highly important. The inhabitants of the great divisions of the country, as in most countries during the feudal ages, had been brought too frequently into collision with each other to allow the existence of a pervading national feeling. This was particularly the case in Spain, where independent states insensibly grew out of the detached fragments of territory recovered at different times from the Moorish monarchy. The war of Granada subjected all the various sections of the country to one common action, under the influence of common motives of the most exciting" interest ; while it brought them in conflict with a race, the extreme repugnance of whose institutions and character to their own served greatly to nourish the nationality of sentiment. In this way the spark of patriotism was kindled throughout the whole nation, and the most distant provinces of the Peninsula were knit, together by a bond of union which has remained indissoluble. The consequences of these wars in a military aspect are also worthy of notice. Up to this period, war had been carried on by irregular levies, extremely limited in numerical amount and in period of service ; under little subordination, except to their own immediate chiefs, and wholly unprovided with the apparatus required for extended operations. The .Spaniards were even lower than most of the European nations in military science, as is apparent from the infinite pains of Isabella to avail her- self of all foreign resources for their improvement. In the war of Granada, masses of men were brought together, far greater than had hitherto been known in modern warfare. They were kept in the field not only through long campaigns, but far into the winter a thing altogether unprecedented. They were made to act in concert, and the numerous petty chiefs brought in complete subjection to one common, head, whose personal character enforced the authority of station. Lastly, they were supplied with all the requisite munitions, through the pro- vidence of Isabella, who introduced into the service the most skilful engineers from other countries, and kept in pay bodies of mercenaries as the Swiss, for example, reputed the best disciplined troops of that day. In this admirable school the Spanish soldier was gradually trained 250 WAK OF GKAXADA. to patient endurance, fortitude, and thorough subordination ; and those celebrated captains were formed, with that invincible infantry, which in the beginning of the sixteenth century spread the military fame of their country over all Christendom. But with all our sympathy for the conquerors, it is impossible, with- out a deep feeling of regret, to contemplate the decay and final extinc- tion of a race who had made such high advances in civilisation as the Spanish Arabs ; to see them driven from the stately palaces reared by their own hands, wandering as exiles over the lands which still blossomed with the fruits of their industry, and wasting away under persecution, until their very name as a nation was blotted out from the map of history.* It must be admitted, however, that they had long since reached their utmost limit of advancement as a people. The light shed over their history hines from distant ages ; for, during the later Eeriod of their existence, they appear to have reposed in a state of torpid, ixurious indulgence, which would seem to argue, that, when causes of external excitement were withdrawn, the inherent vices of their social institutions had incapacitated them for the further production of excellence. In this impotent condition, it was wisely ordered that their territory should be occupied by a people whose religion and more liberal form of government, however frequently misunderstood or perverted, qualified them for advancing still higher the interests of humanity. It will not be amiss to terminate the narrative of the war of Granada with some notice of the fate of Rodrigo Ponce de Leon, marquis duke of Cadiz ; for he may be regarded in a peculiar manner as the hero of it, having struck the first stroke by the surprise of Albania, and witnessed every campaign till the surrender of Granada. A circumstantial account of his last moments is afforded by the pen of his worthy aountrvman, the Andalusian curate of Los Palacios. The gallant marquis survived the close of the war only a short time, terminating his days at his mansion in Seville, on the 28th of August, 1492, with a disorder brought oii by fatigue and incessant exposure. He had reached the forty-ninth year of his age, and, although twice married, left no legitimate issue. In his person he was of about the middle stature, of a compact, symmetrical frame, a fair complexion, with light hair inclining to red. He was an excellent horseman, and well skilled in most of the exercises of chivalry. He had the rare merit of combining sagacity with intrepidity in action. Though somewhat impatient, and slow to forgive, ne was frank and generous, a warm friend, and a kind master to his vassals. f He was strict in his observance of the Catholic worship, punctilious in keeping all the church festivals, and in enforcing their observance throughout his domains ; and, in war, he was a most devout champion of the Virgin. He was ambitious of acquisitions, but lavish of expen- diture, especially in the embellishment and fortification of his towns and castles ; spending on Alcal& de Guadaira, Xerez, and Alanis, the enormous sum of seventeen million maravedis. To the ladies he was The African descendants of the Spanish Moors, unable wholly to relinquish the hope of restoration to the delicious abodes of their ancestors, continued for mauy generations, and perhaps still continue, to put upa petition to thatcflect in their mosques every Friday. t Don Henrique de Guzman, duke of Medina Sidmiia, the ancient enemy, and. since uinenccmcnt of the Moorish war, the firm friend of the marquis of Cadiz, died the 26th o. August, on the same day with the latter. APPLICATION' AT THE COURT. 2^1 courteous, as became a true knight. At his death, the king and queen with the whole court went into mourning ; ''for he was a much-loved cavalier," says the curate, "and was esteemed, like the Cid, both by friend and foe ; and no Moor durst abide in that quarter of the field where his banner was displayed." His body, after lying in state for several days in his palace at Seville, with his trusty sword by his side, with which he fought all his battles, was borne in solemn procession by night through the streets of the city, which was everywhere filled with the deepest lamentation ; and was finally deposited in the great chapel of the Augustine church, in the tomb of his ancestors. Ten Moorish banners, which he had taken in battle with the infidel before the war of Granada, were borne alonjr al his funeral, "and still wave over his sepulchre," says I5ernaldez, " keeping alive the memory of his exploits, as undying as his soul." The banners have long since mouldered into dust ; the very tomb which contained his ashes has been sacrilegiously demolished ; but the fame of the hero will survive as long as any thing like respect for valour, courtesy, unblemished honour, or any other attribute of chivalry, shall be found in Spain.* CHAPTER XVI. APPLICATION OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS AT THE SPANISH COTTBT. 1492. Early discoveries of the Portuguese Of the Spaniards Columbus His application at the Castilian Court llejei'teil Negotiations resumed Favourable disposition of the Queen -Arrangement with Columbus He sails on his first Voyage Indifference to the Enterprise Acknowledgments due to Isabella. WHILE Ferdinand and Isabella were at Santa Fe, the capitulation was signed that opened the way to an extent of empire, compared with which their recent conquests, and indeed all their present dominions, were insignificant. The extraordinary intellectual activity of the Europeans in the fifteenth century, after the torpor of ages, carried them forward to high advancement in almost every department of science, but especially nautical, whose surprising results have acquired for the ase the glory of being designated as peculiarly that of maritime discovery. This was eminently favoured by the political condition of modern Europe. Under the Roman empire, the traffic with the East naturally centred in Rome, the commercial capital of the West. .After the dismemberment of the empire, it continued to be conducted principallv through the channel of the Italian ports, whence it was diffused over the remoter regions of Christendom. But these countries, which had now * The marquis left three illegitimate daughters by a noble Spanish lady, who all formed 1 high connections. He was succeeded in his titles and estates, by the i>ermission of Ferdinand and Isabella, by Don Rodrigo Ponce de Leon, the son of'lii.s eldest daughter, who had married with one of her kinsmen Cadiz was subsequently annexed by the Spanish sovereigns to the cruwn, from which it had been detached in Henry IV.' time ; and considerable estates were given as an equivalent, together with the title of duk* of Arcos. to the r'aiuilv of Ponce de Leon. 232 CHKISTOPHEE COLUMBUS. risen from the rank of subordinate provinces to that of separate, ir de- pendent states, viewed with jealousy this monopoly of the Italian cities, by means of which these latter were rapidly advancing- beyond them in power and opulence. This was especially the case with "Portugal and Castile,* which, placed on the remote frontiers of the European continent, were far removed from the great routes of Asiatic intercourse ; while this disadvantage was not compensated by such an extent of territory as secured consideration to some other of the European states, equally unfavourably situated for commercial purposes with themselves. Thus circumstanced, the two nations of Castile and Portugal were naturally led to turn their eyes on the great ocean which washed their western borders, and to seek in its hitherto unexplored recesses for new domains, and, if possible, strike out some undiscovered track towards the opulent regions of the East. The spirit of maritime enterprise was fomented, and greatly facilitated in its operation, by the invention of the astrolabe, and the important discovery of the polarity of the magnet, whose first application to the purposes of navigation on an extended scale may be referred to the fifteenth century. f The Portuguese were the first to enter on the brilliant path of nautical discovery, which they pursued under the infant Don Henry with such activity, that, before the middle of the fifteenth century, they had penetrated as far as Cape de Verd, doubling many a fearful headland which had shut in the timid navigator of former days ; until at length, in 1486, they descried the lofty promontory which terminates Africa on the south, and which, hailed by King John the Second, under whom it was discovered, as the harbinger of the long- sought passage to the East, received the cheering appellation of the Cape of Good Hope. The Spaniards, in the meanwhile, did not languish in the career of maritime enterprise. Certain adventurers from the northern provinces of Biscay and Guipuscoa, in 1393, had made themselves masters of one of the smallest of the group of islands, supposed to be the Fortunate Isles of the ancients, since known as the Canaries. Other private adventurers from Seville extended their conquests over these islands in the beginning of the following century. These were completed in behalf of the crown under Ferdinand and Isabella, who equipped several fleets for their reduction, which at length terminated in 1495 with that of Tenerift'e.f From the commencement of their reign, Ferdinand and * Aragon, or rather Catalonia, maintained an extensive commerce with the Levant, and the remote regions of the East, during the middle ages, through the flourishing po t of Barcelona. t A council of mathematicians in the court of John II. of Portugal first devised the application of the ancient astrolabe to navigation, thus affording to tho mariner t' e 'essential advantages appertaining to the modem quadrant. The discovery of the polari ,' of the needle, which vulgar tradition assigned to the Amalfite Flavio Gioja, and \vh;< i Robertson has sanctioned without scruple, is clearly proved to have occurred more th.-.-i a century earlier. Tiraboschi, who investigates the matter wilh his usual erudition, pass-Tig by the doubtful reference of Guiot de Proving, whose nge and personal identity even a e contested, traces the familiar use cf tho magnetic needle ?is far back as the first half <>f the thirteenth century, by a pertinent passage from (.'ardinal Vitri. who died 1'_'44 ; and sustains this by several similar references to other authors of the s-imo century. Capmany finds no notice of its use by the Castilian navigators earlier than l-10:i. It was not until considerably later in the fifteenth century, that the Portuguese voyagers, trusting to Ha 4fuidance, ventured to quit the Mediterranean and African coasts, aiid extend thuir nan- gatii'ii t.< Madeira :unl the Azores. t Foui o:' the islands were conquered on behalf of private adventurers, cniofly fix m HIS APPLICAi/O^ AT THE COl-RT. 253 Isabella had shown an earnest solicitude for the encouragement of com- merce and nautical science, as is evinced by a variety of regulations Mhieh. however imperfect, from the misconception of the true principles of trade in that day, are sufficiently indicative of the dispositions of the government.* Under them, and indeed under their predecessors as far back as Henry the Third, a considerable traffic had been carried on with the western coast of Africa, from which gold dust and slaves were imported into the city of Seville. The annalist of that city notices the repeated interference of Isabella in behalf of these unfortunate beings, by ordinances tending to secure them a more equal protection of the laws, or opening such social indulgences as might mitigate the hardship* of their condition. A misunderstanding gradually arose between the subjects of Castile and Portugal, in relation to their respective rights of discovery and commerce on the African coast, which promised a fruitful source of collision between the two crowns ; but which was happily adjusted by an article in the treaty of 1479, that terminated the war of the succession. By this it was settled that the right of traffic and of discovery on the western coast of Africa should be exclusively reserved to the Portuguese, who in their turn should resign all claims on the Canaries to the crown of Castile. The Spaniards, thus excluded from, further progress to the south, seemed to have no other opening left for naval adventure than the hitherto untravelled regions of the great western ocean. Fortunately, at this juncture, an individual appeared among them, in the person of Christopher Columbus, endowed with capacity for stimulating them to this heroic enterprise, and conducting it to a glorious issue. This extraordinary man was a native of Genoa, of humble parentage, though perhaps honourable descent.f He was instructed in his early youth at Pavia, where he acquired a strong relish for the mathematical sciences, in which he subsequently excelled. At the age of fourteen he engaged in a sea-faring life, which he followed with little intermission till 1470 ; when, probably little more than thirty years of age, he landed in Portugal, the country to which adventurous spirits from all parts of the world then resorted, as the great theatre of maritime enterprise. After his arrival, he continued to make voyages to the then known parts of the world, and, when on shore, occupied himself with the construction Andalusia, before the accession of Ferdinand and IsaHeUa, and under their reign were held as the property of a noble Castilian family, named Peraza, The sovereigns sent a con- siderable armament from Seville in 1480, which subdued the great island of Canary oa Viehalf of the crown, and another in 1493, which effected the reduction of Palma and Teneriffe, after a sturdy resistance from the natives. Berualdez postpones the 'ist ( onquest to 1495. * Among the provisions of the sovereigns, enacted previous to the present date, may b j.'Ted those for regulating the coin and weights ; for opening a free tnde between Castile and Aragon ; for security to Genoese and Venetian trading vessels ; 'or safe conduct t > mariners an3& profession embodied most of the science of that day. Such was the apathy exhibited by this learned conclave, and so numerous the impedi- ments suggested by dulness, prejudice, or scepticism, that years glided away before it came to a decision. During this time, Columbus appears to have remained in attendance on the court, bearing arms occasionally in the campaigns, and experiencing from the sovereigns an unusual degree of deference and personal attention ; an evidence of which is afforded in the disbursements repeatedly made by the royal order for his private expenses, and in the instructions issued to the municipalities of the different towns in Andalusia, to supply him gratuitously with lodg- ing and other personal accommodations. At length, however, Columbus, wearied out by this painful procras- tination, pressed the court for a definite answer to his propositions ; when he was informed that the council of Salamanca pronounced his scheme to be "vain, impracticable, and resting on grounds too weak to merit the support of the government." Many in the council, however, were too enlightened to acquiesce in this sentence of the majority. Some of the most considerable persons of the court, indeed, moved by the cogency of Columbus' s arguments, and affected by the elevation and grandeur of his views, not only cordially embraced his scheme, but extended their personal intimacy and friendship to him. Such, among others, were the grand cardinal Mendo/a. a man whose enlarged capacity and acquaintance Avith affairs raised him above many of the narrow pre- judices of his order; and Deza, archbishop of Seville, a Dominican friar, whose commanding talents were afterwards unhappily perverted in the service of the Holy Office, over which he presided as successor to Torquemada.* The authority of these individuals had undoubtedly trreat weight with the sovereigns, who softened the verdict of the j unto by an assurance to Columbus, that, "although they were too much occupied at present to embark in his undertaking, yet, at the conclusion of the war, they should iind both time and inclination to treat with him." Such was the ineffectual result of Columbus's long and painful solicitation; and, far from receiving the qualified assurance of the sovereigns in mitigation of their refusal, he seems to have considered it as peremptory and final. In great dejection of mind, therefore, but without further delay, he quitted the court, and bent his way to the fioitth, with the apparently almost desperate intent of seeking out -tfne other patron to his undertaking. Columbus had already visited his native city of Genoa, for the purpose of interesting it in his scheme of discovery ; but the attempt proved unsuccessful. He now made application, it would seem, to the dukes of Medina Sidonia and Medina Celi successively, from the latter of whom he experienced much kindness and hospitality ; but neither of these nobles, whose large estates lying along the sea-shore had often invit-d them to maritime adventure, was disposed to assume one which seemed * This prelate, Diego de Deza, was born of poor but respectable parents, at Toro. He early entered the Dominican order, where his learning and exemplary life recommended him to the notice of the sovereigns, who called him to court to take charge of Princ* John ' education. He was afterwards raised, through the usual course of episcopal preferment, to the metropolitan see of Seville. His situation, as confess. >r of Ferdinand, gave him Teat influence over that monarch, with whom he appears to li:ive maintained au muiuiu/s rospoudence to the day of his duitii. 1113 A1TLICATIOX AT THE COURT. 2-jl too hazardous for the resources of the crown. Without wasting time in further solicitation, Columbus prepared, with a heavy heart, to bid adieu to Spain (1-191), and carry his proposals to the king of France, from whom he had received a letter of encouragement while detained in Andalusia. His progress, however, was arrested at the convent of La Rabida, which he visited previous to his departure, by his friend the guardian, who prevailed on him to postpone his journey till another effort had been made to move the Spanish court in his favour. For this purpose the worthy ecclesiastic undertook an expedition in person to the newly- erected city of Santa Fo, where the sovereigns lay encamped before Granada. Juan Perez had formerly been confessor of Isabella, and was held in great consideration by her for his excellent qualities. On arriving at the camp, he was readily admitted to an audience, when he pressed the suit of Columbus with all the earnestness and reasoning of which he was capable. The friar's eloquence was supported by that of several eminent persons whom Columbus during his long residence in the country had interested in his project, and who viewed with sincere regret the prospect of its abandonment. Among these individuals are particularly mentioned Alonso de Quintanilla, comptroller-general of Castile, Louis de St. Angel, a fiscal officer of the crown of Aragon, and the marchioness of Moya, the personal friend of Isabella, all of whom exercised considerable influence over her counsels. Their repre- sentations, combined with the opportune season of the application, occurring at the moment when the approaching termination of the Moorish war allowed room for interest in other objects, wrought so favourable a change in the dispositions of the sovereigns, that they consented to resume the negotiation with Columbus. An invitation was accordingly sent to him to repair to Santa Fe, and a con- siderable sum provided for his suitable equipment, and his expenses on the road. - Columbus, who lost no time in availing himself of this welcome intelligence, arrived at the camp in season to witness the surrender of Granada, when every heart, swelling with exultation at the triumphant termination of the war, -svas natxirally disposed to enter with greater confidence on a new career of adventure. At his interview with the king and queen, he once mure exhibited the arguments on which his hypothesis was founded. He then endeavoured to stimulate the cupidity of his audience, by picturing the realms of Mangi and Cathay, which he confidently expected to reach by this western route, in all the barbaric splendours which had been shed over them by the lively fancy of Marco Polo and other travellers of the middle ages : and he concluded with appealing to a higher principle, by holding out the prospect of extending the empire of the Cross over nations of benighted heathen, while he proposed to devote the profits of his enterprise to the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre. This last ebullition, which might well have passed for fanaticism in a later day, and given a visionary tinge to his whole project, was not quite so preposterous in an age in which the spirit of the crusades might be said still to linger, and the romance of religion had not yet been dispelled by sober reason. The more temperate u of the diffusion of the Gospel was well suited to affect Isabella, in whose heart the principle of devotion was deeply 258 CHEISTOPHEB COLUMBUS. seated, and who, in all her undertakings, se^ms to have been far less sensible to the vulgar impulses of avarice or ambition, than to any argument connected, however remotely, with the interests of religion. Amidst all these propitious demonstrations towards Columbus, an obstacle unexpectedlv arose in the nature of his demands, which stipulated for himself and heirs the title and authority of Admiral and Viceroy over all lands discovered by him, with one-tenth of the profits. This was deenn.d wholly inadmissible. Ferdinand, who had looked with cold distrust on the expedition from the first, was supported by the remonstrances of Talavera, the new archbishop of Granada, who declared that "such demands savoured of the highest degree of arrogance, and would be unbecoming in their Highnesses to grant to a needy foreign adventurer." Columbus, however, steadily resisted every attempt to induce him to modify his propositions. On this ground the conferences were abruptly broken off, and he once more turned his back upon the Spanish court, resolved rather to forego his splendid anticipations of discovery at the very moment when the career so long sought was thrown open to him, than surrender one of the honourable distinctions due to his services. This last act, is, perhaps, the most remarkable exhibition in his whole life, of that proud, unyielding spirit which sustained him through so many years of trial, and enabled him at length to achieve his great enterprise, in the face of every obstacle which man and nature had opposed to it. The misunderstanding was not suffered to be of long duration. Columbus's friends, and especially Louis de St. Angel, remonstrated with the queen on these proceedings in the most earnest manner. He frankly told her that Columbus's demands, if high, were at least contingent on success, when they would be well deserved ; that, if he failed, he required nothing. He expatiated on his qualifications for the undertaking, so signal as to ensure in all probability the patronage of some other monarch, who would reap the fruits of his discoveries ; and he ventured to remind the queen, that her present policy was not in accordance with the magnanimous spirit which had hitherto made her the ready patron of great and heroic enterprise. Far from being displeased, Isabella was moved by his honest eloquence. She contem- plated the proposals of Columbus in their true light ; and, refusing to hearken any longer to the suggestions of cold and timid counsellors, she gave way to the natural impulses of her own noble and generous heart : " I will assume the undertaking," said she, " for my own crown of Castile, and am ready to pawn my jewels to defray the expenses of it, if the funds in the treasury shall be found inadequate." The treasur had been reduced to the lowest ebb by the late war ; but the receiver St. Angel, advanced the sums required, from the Aragonese revenue deposited in his hands. Aragon, however, was not considered as adventuring in the expedition, the charges and emoluments of which were reserved exclusively for Castile. Columbus, who was overtaken by the royal messenger at a few leagues' distance only from Granada, experienced the most courteous rot-option on his return to Santa Fe, where a definitive arrangement was concluded with the Spanish sovereigns, April 17th, 1492. By the terms of the capitulation, Ferdinand and Isabella, as lords of the ocean- HIS APPLICATION AT THE COURT. 259 Bea-, coustitiitcd Christopher Columbus their admiral, viceroy, and governor-general of all such islands and continents as lie should discover in the -western ocean ; with the privilege of nominating three candidates, for the selection of one by the crown, for the govern- ment of each of these territories. He was to be vested with exclusive right of jurisdiction over all commercial transactions within his admiralty. He was to be entitled to one-tenth of all the products and profits within the limits of his discoveries, and an additional eighth, provided he should contribute one-eighth part of the expense. By a subsequent ordinance, the official dignities above enumerated were settled on him and his heirs for ever, with the privilege of prefixing the title of Don to their names, which had not then degenerated into an appellation of mere courtesy. No sooner were the arrangements completed, than Isabella prepared with her characteristic promptness to forward the expedition by the most efficient measures. Orders were sent to Seville and the other ports of Andalusia, to furnish stores and other articles requisite for the voyage, free of duty, and at as low rates as possible. The fleet, consisting of three vessels, was to sail from the little port of Palos, in Andalusia, which had been condemned for some delinquency to maintain two caravels for a twelvemonth for the public service. The third vessel was furnished by the admiral, aided, as it would seem, in defraying the charges, by his friend the guardian of La Rabida, and the Pinzons, a family in Palos long distinguished for its enterprise among the mariners of that active community. "\Vith their assistance, Columbus was enabled to surmount the disinclination, and indeed open opposition, manifested by the Audalusian mariners to his perilous voyage ; so that in less than three months his little squadron was equipped for sea. A sufficient evidence of the extreme unpopularity of the expedition is afforded by a royal ordinance of the 30th of April, promising protection to all persons who should embark in it from criminal prosecution of whatever kind, until two months after their return. The armament consisted of two caravels, or light vessels without decks, and a third of larger burden. The total number of persons who embarked, amounted to one hundred and twenty ; and the whole charges of the crown for the expedition, did not exceed seventeen thousand florins. The fleet was instructed to keep clear of the African coast, and other maritime possessions of Portugal. At length, all things being in readiness Columbus and his whole crew partook of the sacrament, and confessed themselves, after the devout manner of the ancient Spanish voyagers, when engaged in any important enterprise ; and on the morning of the 3rd of August, 1492, the intrepid navigator, bidding adieu to the Old World, launched forth on that unfathomed waste of waters where no sail had been ever spread before.* * The expression in the text will not seem too strong, even admitting the previous dis- coveries of the Northmen, which wore made in so much higher latitudes. Humboldt h:is well shown the i>r inability. i'i jirinri, of such discoveries, made in a narrow part. of the Atlantic, where the Oreades, the Feroe Islands. Iceland, and Greenland, aflbi-.l.id the voyai/cr so many internvjdiate stations, at moderate distances from each other. The publication of the original Scandinavian J1*S. (of which imperfect notices and selections only have hitherto found their way into the world), by the Hoyal Society of Northern Antiquaries at Copenhagen, is a matter of the deepest interest; and it is fortunate that it is to be conduct .vhich must insure its execution in tho> most faithful and able manner. It may be doubted, however, whether the declaration of s 260 CHKISTOPHER COLT7MBTJS. It is impossible to peruse the story of Columbus without assigning to him almost exclusively the glory of his great discovery ; for, from the first moment of its conception, to that of its final execution, he was encountered by every species of mortification and embarrassment, with scarcely a heart to cheer, or a hand to help him. Those more enlightened persons, whom, during his long residence in Spain, he succeeded in interesting in his expedition, looked to it probably as the means of solving a dubious problem, with the same sort of vague and sceptical curiosity as to its successful result with which we contemplate, in our day, an attempt to arrive at the Northwest passage. How feeble was the interest excited, even among those who from their science and situation would seem to have their attention most naturally drawn towards it, may be inferred from the infrequency of allusion to it in the correspondence and other writings of that time, previous to the actual discovery. Peter Martyr, one of the most accomplished scholars of the period, whose residence at the Castilian court must have fully instructed him in the designs of Columbus, and whose inquisitive mind led him subsequently to take the deepest interest in the results of his discoveries, does not, so far as I am aware, allude to him in any part of his voluminous correspondence with the learned men of his time, previous to the first expedition. The common people regarded, not merely with apathy, but with terror, the prospect of a voyage that was to take the mariner from the safe and pleasant seas which he was accustomed to navigate, and send him roving on the boundless wilderness of waters, which tradition and superstitious fancy had peopled with innumerable forms of horror. It is true that Columbus experienced a most honourable reception at the Castilian court, such as naturally flowed from the benevolent spirit of Isabella, and her just appreciation of his pure and elevated character. But the queen was too little of a proficient in science, to be able to estimate the merits of his hypothesis : and, as many of those on whose judgment she leaned, deemed it chimerical, it is probable that she never entertained a deep conviction of its truth ; at least, not enough to warrant the liberal expenditure which she never refused to schemes of real importance. This is certainly inferred by the paltry amount actually expended on the armament, far inferior to that appropriated to the equipment of two several fleets in the course of the late war for a foreign expedition, as well as to that with which in the ensuing year she followed up Columbus's discoveries. But while, on a review of the circumstances, we are led more and more to admire the constancy and unconquerable spirit which carried Columbus victorious through all the difficulties of his undertaking, we must remember, in justice to Isabella, that, although tardily, she did in fact furnish the resources essential to its execution ; that she undertook the enterprise when it had been explicitly declined by other powers, and when probably none other of that age would have been found to countenance it ; and that, after once plighting her faith to Columbus, she became his steady friend, shielding him against the calumnies oi his enemies, reposing in him the most generous confidence, and serving him the Prospectus, that " it was the knowledge of the Scandinavian voyages, in all probability, which prompted the expedition of Columbus," can ever be established. His personal history furnishes strong internal evidence to the contrary. EXPULSION OF THE JEWS. 261 in the most acceptable manner, by supplying ample resources for the prosecution of his glorious discoveries.* CHAPTER XVII. UPCLSION OF THE JEWS FKOM SPAIN. 1492. Excitement against the Jews Edict of Expulsion Dreadful Sufferings of the Emigrants Whole number of Exiles Disastrous Results True Motives of the Edict Contempo- rary Judgments. WHILE the Spanish sovereigns were detained before Granada, they pub- lished their memorable and most disastrous edict against the Jews ; inscribing it, as it were, with the same pen which drew up the glorious capitulation of Granada, and the treaty with Columbus. The reader has been made acquainted in a preceding chapter with the prosperous condi- tion of the Jews in the Peninsula, and the pre-eminent consideration which they attained there beyond any other part of Christendom. The envy raised by their prosperity, combined with the high religious excite- ment kindled in the long war with the infidel, directed the terrible arm. of the Inquisition, as has been already stated, against this unfortunate people ; but the result showed the failure of the experiment, since com- paratively few conversions, and those frequently of a suspicious character, were effected, while the great mass still maintained a pertinacious attach- ment to ancient errors, f Under these circumstances, the popular odium, inflamed by the dis- content of the clergy at the resistance which they encountered in the work of proselytism, gradually grew stronger and stronger against the unhappy Israelites. Old traditions, as old indeed as the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, were revived and charged on the present generation, with all the details of place and action. Christian children were said to be kidnapped, in order to be crucified in derision of the Saviour ; the hst, it was rumoured, was exposed to the grossest indignities; and physicians and apothecaries, whose science was particularly cultivated by the Jews in the middle ages, were accused of poisoning their Christian patients. Xo rumour was too absurd for the easy credulity of the people. The Israelites were charged with the more probable offence of attempting to convert to their own faith the ancient Christians, as well as to reclaim such of their own race as had recently embraced Christianity. A great scandal was occasioned also by the intermarriages, wliich still occasionally took place between Jews and Christians ; the latter condescending to * Columhus, in a letter written on his third voyage, pays an honest, heartfelt tribute to the effectual patronage which he experienced from the queen. " In the midst of the general incredulity," says he, "the Almighty infused into the queen, my lady, the spirit of intelligence and energy ; and, whilst every one else in his ignorance was expatiating only on the inconvenience and cost, her highness approved it, on the contrary, and gave it all the support in her power." t It is a proof of the high consideration in which such Israelites as were willing to embrace Christianity were held, that three of that number, Alvarez, Avila, and Pulgar, Were private secretaries of the queeu. 262 EXPULSION OF THE JEWS. repair their dilapidated fortunes by those wealthy alliances, though at the expense of their vaunted purity of blood. These various offences were urged against the Jews with great perti- nacity by their enemies, and the sovereigns were importuned to adopt a more rigorous policy. The inquisitors, in particular, to whom the work of conversion had been specially intrusted, represented the incompetence of all lenient measures to the end proposed. They asserted that the only mode left for the extirpation of the Jewish heresy was to eradicate the seed ; and they boldly demanded the immediate and total banishment of every unbaptised Israelite from the land. The Jews, who had obtained an intimation of these proceedings, resorted to their usual crafty policy for propitiating the sovereigns. They commissioned one of their body to tender a donative of thirty thousand ducats towards defraying the expenses of the Moorish war. The negotiation, however, was suddenly interrupted by the inquisitor- general, Torquemada, who burst into the apartment of the palace, where the sovereigns were giving audience to the Jewish deputy, and drawing forth a crucifix from beneath his mantle, held it up, exclaiming, " Judas Iscariot sold his master for thirty pieces of silver. Your Highnesses would sell him anew for thirty thousand ; here he is, take him and barter him away." So saying, the frantic priest threw the crucifix on the table, and left the apartment. The sovereigns, instead of chastising this presumption, or despising it as a mere freak of insanity, were over- awed by it. Neither Ferdinand nor Isabella, had they been left to the unbiassed dictates of their own reason, could have sanctioned for a moment so impolitic a measure, which involved the loss of the most industrious and skilful portion of their subjects. Its extreme injustice and cruelty rendered it especially repugnant to the naturally humane disposition of the Queen. But she had been early schooled to distrust her own reason, and indeed the natural suggestions of humanity, in cases of conscience. Among the reverend counsellors on whom she most relied in these matters was the Dominican Torquemada. The situation which this man enjoyed, as the queen's confessor during the tender years of her youth, gave him an ascendancy over her mind, which must have been denied to a person of his savage, fanatical temper, even with the advantages of this spiritual connexion, had it been formed at a riper period of her life. Without opposing further resistance to the representations, so emphatically expressed, of the holy persons in whom she most confided, Isabella at length silenced her own scruples, and con- sented to the fatal measure of proscription. The edict for the expulsion of the Jews was signed by the Spanish sovereigns at Granada, March 30th, 1492. The preamble alleges, in vindication of the measure, the danger of allowing further intercourse between the Jews and their Christian subjects, in consequence of the incorrigible obstinacy with which the former persisted in their attempts to make converts of the latter to their own faith, and to instruct them in their heretical rites, in open defiance of every legal prohibition and penalty. When a college or corporation of any kind the instrument goes on to state is convicted of any great or detestable crime, it is right that it should be disfranchised, the less suffering with the greater, the innocent witli the guilty. If this be the case in temporal concerns, it is much more so in those which affect the eternal welfare of the soul. It EXPULSION OF THE JEWS. 2&7 finally decrees, that all unbaptised Jews, of whatever sex, age, or condi* tion, should depart from the realm by the end of July next ensuing ; prohibiting them from revisiting it, on any pretext whatever, under penalty of death and confiscation of property. It was, moreover, inter- dicted to every subject, to harbour, succour, or minister to the necessities of any Jew, after the expiration of the term limited for his departure. The persons and property of the Jews, in the mean time, were taken under the royal protection. They were allowed to dispose of their effects of every kind on their own account, and to carry the proceeds along with them, in bills of exchange, or merchandise not prohibited, but neither ID gold nor silver. The doom of exile fell like a thunderbolt on the heads of the Israelites. A large proportion of them had hitherto succeeded in shielding them- selves from the searching eye of the Inquisition by an affectation of reverence for the forms of Catholic worship, and a discreet forbearance of whatever might offend the prejudices of their Christian brethren. They had even hoped that their steady loyalty, and a quiet and orderly discharge of their social duties, would in due time secure them higher immunities. Many had risen to a degree of opulence by means of the thrift and dexterity peculiar to the race, which gave them a still deeper interest in the land of their residence. Their families were reared in all the elegant refinements of life ; and their wealth and education often disposed them to turn their attention to liberal pursuits, which ennobld the character indeed, but rendered them personally more sensible to physical annoyance, and less fitted to encounter the perils and privations of their dreary pilgrimage. Even the mass of the common people possessed a dexterity in various handicrafts which afforded a comfortable livelihood, raising them far above similar classes in most other nations, sened to be These ties They were to go forth as exiles from the land of their birth ; the land where all whom they ever loved had lived or died ; the land, not so much of their adoption, as of inheritance ; which had been the home of their ancestors for centuries, and with whose prosperity and glory they were of course as intimately associated as was any ancient Spaniard. They were to be cast out helpless and defenceless, with a brand of infamy set on them, among nations who had always held them in derision and hatred. Those provisions of the edict which affected a show of kindness to the Jews, were contrived so artfully as to be nearly nugatory. As they were excluded from the use of gold and silver, the only medium for representing their property was bills of exchange ; but commerce was too limited and imperfect to allow of these being promptly obtained to any very considerable, much less to the enormous amount required in the present instance. It was impossible, moreover, to negotiate a sale of their effects under existing circumstances, since the market was soon glutted with commodities ; and few would be found willing to give any- thing like an equivalent for what, if not disposed of within the prescribed term, the proprietors must relinquish at any rate. So deplorable, indeed, was the sacrifice of property, that a chronicler of the day mentions, that he had SLVII a house- exchanged for an ass, and a vineyard for a suit of clothes! In Arogon, matters were still worse. The government there 2G4 EXPULSION OF in:: JL-.VS. discovered that the Jews \vere largely indebted to individuals, and to certain corporations. It accordingly caused their property to be seques- trated for the benefit of their creditors, until their debts should be liquidated. Strange, indeed, that the balance should be found against a people who had been everywhere conspicuous for their commercial sagacity and resources, and who, as factors of the great nobility and farmers of the revenue, enjoyed at least equal advantages in Spain with those possessed in other countries for the accumulation of wealth.* While the gloomy aspect of their fortunes pressed heavilv on the hearts of the Israelites, the Spanish clergy were indefatigable in tho ivork of conversion. They lectured in the synagogues and public squares, expounding the doctrines of Christianity, and thundering forth both argument ana invective against the Hebrew heresy. But their laudable endeavours were in a great measure counteracted by the more authoritative rhetoric of the Jewish Kabbins, who compared the perse- cutions of their brethren to those which their ancestors had sull'ired under Pharaoh. They encouraged them to persevere, representing that the present afflictions were intended as a trial of their faith by the Almighty, who designed in this way to guide them to the promised land, by opening a path through the waters, as He had done to their fathers of old. The more wealthy Israelites enforced their exhortations by liberal contributions for the relief of their indigent brethren. Thus strengthened, there were found but very few, when the day of departure arrived, who were not prepared to abandon their country rather than, their religion. This extraordinary act of self-devotion by a whole people for conscience' sake may be thought, in the nineteenth century, to merit other epithets than those of "perfidy, incredulity, and stitf- necked obstinacy," with which the worthy curate of Los Palacios, in the charitable feeling of that day, has seen tit to stigmatise it. When the period of departure arrived, all the principal routes through the country might be seen swarming with emigrants, old and young, the sick and the helpless, men, women, and children, mingled pro- miscuously together, some mounted on horses or nniles, but far the greater part undertaking their painful pilgrimage on foot. The sight of so much misery touched even the Spaniards with pity, though none might succour them ; for the grand inquisitor, Torquemada, enforced the ordinance to that effect, by denouncing heavy ecclesiastical censures on all who should presume to violate it. The fugitives were distributed along various routes, being determined in their destination by accidental circumstances, much more than any knowledge of the respective countries to which they were bound. Much the largest division, amounting ac- cording to some estimates to eighty thousand souls, passed into Portugal ; whose monarch, John the Second, dispensed with his scruples of con- ecience so far as to give them a free passage through his dominions on their way to Africa, in consideration of a tax of a cruzado a head. He is even said to have silenced his scruples so far as to allow certain ingenious artisans to establish themselves permanently in the kingdom. A considerable number found their way to the ports of Santa Maria and Cadiz, where, after lingering some time in the vain hope of seeing * Capmany notices the number of synagogues existing in Aragon, in 1428, as amounting to nineteen. ID Galicia, at the same time there were but three, and ia Catalonia but or e. EXPULSION OF THE JEWS. 265 the v.\ tere op.u for their egress, according to the promises of the Rabbins, they embarked on board a Spanish fleet for the Barbary coast. Having crossed over to Ercilla, a Christian settlement in Africa, whence they proceeded by land towards Fez, where a considerable body of their countrymen resided, they were assaulted on their route by the roving tribes of the desert, in quest of plunder. Notwithstanding the interdict, the Jews had contrived to secrete small sums of money, sewed up in, their garments or the linings of their saddles. These did not escape the avaricious eyes of their spoilers, who are even said to have ripped open the bodies of their victims in search of gold, which they were supposed to have swallowed. The lawless barbarians, mingling lust with avarice, abandoned themselves to still more frightful excesses, violating the wives and daughters of the unresisting Jews, or massacring in cold blood such as offered resistance. But, without pursuing these loathsome details further, it need only be added, that the miserable exiles endured such extremity of famine, that they were glad to force a nourishment from the grass which grew scantily among the sands of the desert, until at length great numbers of them, wasted by disease, and broken in spirit, retraced their steps to Ercilla, and consented to be baptised, in the hope of being permitted to revisit their native land. The number, indeed, was so considerable, that the priest who officiated was obliged to make use of the mop, or hyssop, with which the Roman Catholic missionaries were wont to scatter the holy drops, whose mystic virtue could cleanse the soul in a moment from the foulest stains of infidelity. " Thus," says a Castilian historian, "the calamities of these poor blind creatures proved in the end an excellent remedy, that God made use of to unseal their eyes, which they now opened to the vain promises of the Rabbins so that, renouncing their ancient heresies, they became faithful followers of the Cross ! " Many of the emigrants took the direction of Italy. Those who landed at Naples brought with them an infectious disorder, contracted by long confinement in small, crowded, and ill-provided vessels. The disorder was so malignant, and spread with such frightful celerity, as to sweep off more than twenty thousand inhabitants of the city in the course of the year, whence it extended its devastation over the whole Italian peninsula. A graphic picture of these horrors is thus given by a Genoese historian, an eye-witness of the scenes he describes. "No one," he says, "could behold the sufferings of the Jewish exiles unmoved. A great many perished of hunger, especially those of tender years. Mothers, with scarcely strength to support themselves, carried their famished infants in their arms, and died with them. Many fell victims to the cold, others to intense thirst, while the unaccustomed distresses incident to a sea voyage aggravated their maladies. I will not enlarge on the cruelty ' and the avarice which they frequently experienced from the masters of the ships which transported them from Spain. Some were murdered to gratify their cupidity, others forced to sell their children for the expenses of the passage. They arrived in Genoa in crowds, but were not suffered to tarry there long, by reason of the ancient law which interdicted the Jewish traveller from a longer residence than three days. They were allowed, however, to refit their vessels, and to recruit themselves for some days from the fatigues of their voyage. One might have taken them for 266 EXPCLSIOX OF THE JEWS. spectres, so emaciated were they, so cadaverous in their aspect, and -with, eves so sunken : they differed in nothing from the dead, except in the power of motion, which indeed they scarcely retained. Many fainted and expired on the mole, which, being completely surrounded by the sea, was the only quarter vouchsafed to the wretched emigrants. The infection bred by such a swarm of dead and dying persons was not at once perceived ; but, when the winter broke up, ulcers began to make their appearance ; and the malady, which lurked for a long time in the city, broke out into the plague in the following year." Many of the exiles passed into Turkey, and to different parts of the Levant, where their descendants continued to speak the Castilian language far into the following century. Others found their way to France, and even England. Part of their religious services is recited to this day in Spanish, in one or more of the London synagogues ; and the modern Jew still reverts with fond partiality to Spain, as the cherished land of his fathers, illustrated by the most glorious recollections in their eventful history.* The whole number of Jews expelled from Spain by Ferdinand and Isabella, is variously computed from one hundred and sixty thousand to eight hundred thousand souls ; a discrepancy sufficiently indicating the paucity of authentic data. Most modern writers, with the usual pre- dilection for startling results, have assumed the latter estimate ; and Llorente has made it the basis of some important calculations, in his History of the Inquisition. A view of all the circumstances will lead us without much hesitation to adopt the more moderate computation.! This, moreover, is placed beyond reasonable doubt by the direct testimony of the curate of Los Palacios. He reports, that a Jewish Rabbin, one of the exiles, subsequently returned to Spain, where he was baptised by him. This person, whom Bernaldez commends for his intelligence, estimated the whole number of his unbaptised countrymen in the dominions of Ferdinand and Isabella, at the publication of the edict, at thirty-six thousand families. Another Jewish authority, quoted by the curate, reckoned them at thirty-five thousand. This, assuming an average of four and a half to a family, gives the sum total of about one hundred and sixty thousand individuals, agreeably to the computation of Bernaldez. There is little reason for supposing that * Not a few of the learned exiles attained to eminence in those countries of Europe where they transferred their residence. One is mentioned by Castro as a leading prac- titioner of medicine in Genoa ; another, as filling the posts of astronomer and chronicler under King Emanuel of Portugal. Many of them published works in various departments of science, which were translated into the Sjianish and other European languages. t From a curious document in the Archive* of Simancas, consisting of a report made to the Spanish sovereigns by their accountant-general, Quintauilla, in 1492, it would appear that the population of the kingdom of Castile, exclusive of Granada, was then estimated at 1,600,000 vrcinoi, or householders. This, allowing four and a half to a family, would make the whole population 6,750,000. It appears from the statement of Bernaldez, that the kingdom of Castile contained five-sixths of the whole amount of Jews in the Spanish monarchy. This proportion, if 800,000 be received as the total, would amount in round numbers to 670,000, or ten per cent, of the whole population of the kingdom. Now it is manifestly improbable that so large a portion of the whole nation, conspicuous moreover iltli and intelligence, could have been held so light in a political aspect, as the Jews certainly were, or have tamely submitted for so many years to the most wanton indig- nities without resistance; or finally, that the Spanish government would have ventured on so bold a measure as the banishment of so numerous and powerful a class, and that too with as few precautions apparently as would bo required ibr driving out of the country a rovii\g gang o: gipsies. X OF THE JEWS. 267 the actual amount would suffer diminution in the hands of either the Jewish or Castilian authority ; hinco the one might naturally be led to exaggerate, in order to heighten sympathy with the calamities of his nation, and the other, to magnify as far as possible the glorious triumphs of the Cross. The detriment incurred by the state, however, is not founded so much on any numerical estimate, as on the subtraction of the mechanical skill, intelligence, and general resources of an orderly, industrious population. In this view, the mischief was incalculablv greater than that interred by the mere number of the exiled ; and, although even this might have been gradually repaired in a country allowed the free and healthful development of its energies, yet in Spain this was so effectually coun- teracted by the Inquisition, and ot'her causes in the following century, that the loss may be deemed irretrievable. The expulsion of so numerous a class of subjects by an independent act of the sovereign might well be regarded as an enormous stretch of prerogative, altogether incompatible with anything like a free govern- ment. But, to judge the matter rightly, we must take into view the ai-tual position of the Jews at that time. Far from forming a.n integral part of the commonwealth, they were regarded as alien to it,- -as a mere excrescence, which, so far from contributing to the healthful action of the body politic, was nourished by its vicious humours, and might be lopped off at any time when the health of the system demanded it. Far from being protected by the laws, the only aim of the laws, in reference them, was to define more precisely their civil incapacities, and to n its results ; which he contemplated with the eye of a philosi having far less reference to considerations of profit or policy, than to the prospect which they unfolded of enlarging the boundaries uf knowledge. Most of the scholars of the day, however, adopted the erroneous hypothesis of Columbus, who considered the lands he had discovered as bordering on the eastern shores of Asia, and lying adjacent to the vast and opulent regions depicted in such golden colours by Mandeville and the Poli. This conjecture, which was conformable tb~ the admiral's opinions before undertaking the voyage, was corroborated by the apparent similarity between various natural productions of these islands and of the East. From, this misapprehension, the new dominions soon came to be distinguished as the West Indies, an appellation by which they are still recognised in the titles of the Spanish crown. Columbus, during his residence at Barcelona, continued to receive from the Spanish sovereigns the most honourable distinctions which royal bounty could confer. When Ferdinand rode abroad, he was accompanied by the admiral at his side. The courtiers, in emulation of their master, made frequent entertainments, at which he was treated with the punctilious deference paid to a noble of the highest class.* But the attentions most grateful to his lofty spirit were the preparations of the Spanish court for prosecuting his discoveries on a scale commensurate with their importance. A board was established for the direction of Indian affairs, consisting of a superintendent and two subordinate functionaries. The first of these officers was Juan de Fonseca, arch- deacon of Seville, an active, ambitious prelate, subsequently raised to high episcopal preferment, whose shrewdness and capacity for business enabled him to maintain the control of the Indian department during the whole of the present reign. An office for the transaction of business was instituted at Seville, and a custom-house placed under its direction at Cadiz. This was the origin of the important establishment of the Casa de la Contratacion de las Indias, or India House. The commercial regulations adopted exhibit a narrow policy in some of their features, for which a justification may be found in the spirit of the age, and in the practice of the Portuguese particularly, but -\\ entered still more largely into the colonial legislation of Spain under later princes. The new territories, far from being permitted free inter- course with foreign nations, were opened only under strict limitations to Spanish subjects, and were reserved as forming, in some sort, part of the exclusive revenue of the crown. All persons of whatever description, were interdicted, under the severest penalties from trading with or even visiting the Indies, without licence from the constituted authorities. It was impossible to evade this, as a minute specification of the ships, cargoes, crews, with the property appertaining to each individual, was required to be taken at the office in Cadiz, and a corresponding registra- tion in a similar office established at Hispaniola. A more sagacious * He was permitted to quarter the royal arms with his own, which consisted of a group of golden islands amid azure billows. To these were afterwards added five anchors, with the celebrated motto, well known as being carved on his sepulchre (See part II. chap. XVIII.) He received besides, soon alter his return, the substantial gratuity of thousand doblas of gold from the royal treasury, and the premium of 10,000 uiaravedi*, promised to the person who first descried bind. SECOND VOYAGE. 275 gpirit wat t in the ample provision made of whatever could contribute ' -port or permanent prosperity of the infant colony. Grain, plants, the .>eed of numerous vegetable products, which in the genial climate of the Indies might be made valuable articles for domestic consumption or export, were liberally furnished. Commodities of every description for the supply of the fleet were exempted from duty. The owners of all vessels throughout the ports of Andalusia were required by an ordinance, somewhat arbitrary, to hold them in readiness for the expedition. Still further authority was given to impress hoth officers and men, if necessary, into the service. Artisans of every sort, provided with the implements of their various crafts, including a great number of miners for exploring the subterraneous treasures of the new regions, were enrolled in the expedition ; in order to defray the heavy charges of which, the government, in addition to the regular resources, had recourse to a loan and to the sequestrated property of the exiled Jews. Amid their own temporal concerns, the Spanish sovereigns did not forget the spiritual interests of their new subjects. The Indians who accompanied Columbus to Barcelona had been all of them baptised, being offered up, in the language of a Castilian writer, as the first-fruits of the Gentiles. King Ferdinand and his son, Prince John, stood as sponsors to two of them, who were permitted to take their names. One of the Indians remained attached to the prince's establishment ; the residue were sent to Seville, whence, after suitable religious instruction, they were to be returned as missionaries for the propagation of the faith among their own countrymen. Twelve Spanish ecclesiastics were also destined to this service ; among whom was the celebrated Las Casas, so conspicuous afterwards for his benevolent exertions in behalf of the unfortunate natives. The most explicit directions were given to the admiral to use every effort for the illumination of the poor heathen, which was set forth as the primary object of the expedition. He particularly enjoined " to abstain from all means of annoyance, and to treat tlu ;ni well and lovingly, maintaining a familiar intercourse with them, rendering them all the kind offices in his power, distributing presents of the merchandise and various commodities which their Highnesses had caused to be embarked on board the fleet for that purpose ; and, finally, to chastise in the most exemplary manner all who should offer the natives the slightest molestation." Such were the instructions emphatically urged on Columbus for the regulation of his intercourse with the savages ; and their indulgent tenor sufficiently attests the benevolent and rational views of Isabella in religious matters, when not warped by any foreign influence. Towards the last of May, Columbus quitted Barcelona for the purpose of superintending and expediting the preparations for departure on hia second voyage. He was accompanied to the gates of the city by all the nobility and cavaliers of the court. Orders were issued to the different towns to provide Mm and his suite with lodgings free of expense. His former commission was not only confirmed in its full extent, but con- siderably enlarged. For the sake of dispatch, he was authorise nominate to all offices, without application to government ; and ordinances and letters patent bearing the royal seal were to be issued by him, subscribed by himself or his deputy. He was intrusted in fine, with uch unlimited jurisdiction, as showed that however tardy the sovereigns T 2 276 RETURX OF COLUMBUS. may have been in granting him their confidence, they were not disposed to stiut the measure of it when his deserts were once established.* Soon after Columbus's return to Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella applied to the court of Home to confirm them in the possession of their recent discoveries, and invest them with similar extent of jurisdiction with that formerly conferred on the kings of Portugal. It was an opinion, as ancient perhaps as the crusades, that the pope, as vicar of Christ, had competent authority to dispose of all countries inhabited by heathen nations, in favour of Christian potentates. Although Ferdinand and Isabella do not seem to have been fully satisfied of this right, yet they were willing to acquiesce in its assumption in the present instance, from the conviction that the papal sanction would most effectually exclude the pretensions of all others and especially their Portuguese rivals. In their application to the Holy See, they were careful to represent their own discoveries as in no way interfering with the rights formerly conceded by it to their neighbours. They enlarged on their services in the propa- gation of the faith, which they affirmed to be a principal motive of their present operations. They intimated, finally, that, although many competent persons deemed their application to the court of Home, for a title to territories already in their possession, to be unnecessary, yet as pious princes, and dutiful children of the church, they were unwilling to proceed further without the sanction of him to whose keeping its highest interests were entrusted. The pontifical throne was at that time filled by Alexander the Sixth ; a man who, although degraded by unrestrained indulgence of the most sordid appetites, was endowed by nature with singular acuteness as well as energy of character. He lent a willing ear to the application of the Spanish government, and made no hesitation in granting what cost him nothing, while it recognised the assumption of powers which had already begun to totter in the opinion of mankind. On the 3rd of May, 1493, he published a bull, in which, taking into consideration the eminent services of the Spanish monarchs in the cause of the church, especially in the subversion of the Mahometan empire in Spain, and willing to afford still wider scope for the prosecution of their pious labours, he, "out of his pure liberality, infallible knowledge, and }>lenitude of apostolic power," confirmed them in the possession of all ands discovered, or hereafter to be discovered, by them in the western ocean, comprehending the same extensive rights of jurisdiction with those formerly conceded to the kings of Portugal. This bull he supported by another, dated on the following day, in * Considering the importance of Columbus's discoveries, and the distinguished reception given to him at Barcelona, one might have expected to find some notice of him in tho records of the city. An intelligent friend of mine, Mr. George Sumner, on a visit to that capital, examined these records, as well as the archives of the crown of Arngon, in the hope of meeting with some such account, but in vain. The dietaria, or "day book "of Barcelona records the entrance of the Catholic sovereigns and the heir-apparent into the city, on the fourteenth of November, 1492, in tl e following terms : "The king, queen, and the prince entered to-day, the city, and took up their abode in the palace of the Bishop of Urgil, in the Calle Aucha ." Then follows a description of the shows and rejoicings which took place on the occasion. After this come two other entries : "1493, February 4. The King, queen, and the prince went to Monserrat. " "Feb. 14. The king, queen, and the prince returned to Barcelona." But not a word is given to the discoverer of a world ! And we can only conjecture that the haughty Catalan felt no desire to communicate an uvccfc u-hii-h reflected no glory on him, and the advantages of which wure jealously reserved for his Castiliaii rivals. SECOND VOYAGB. 271 which the pope, in order to obviate any misunderstanding with the Por- tuguese, and acting no doubt on the suggestion of the .Spanish sovereigns, defined with greater precision the intention of his original grant to the latter, by bestowing on them all such lands as they should discover to the west and south of an imaginary line, to be drawn from pole to pole, at the distance of one hundred leagues to the west of the Azores and Cape do Ycrd Islands. It seems to have escaped his Holiness, that the Spaniards, by pursuing a western route, might in time reach the eastern limits of countries previously granted to the Portuguese. At least this would appear from the import of a third bull, issued September 25th of the same year, which invested the sovereigns with plenary authority over all countries discovered by them, whether in the East, or within the boundaries of India, all previous concessions to the contrary notwith- standing. With the title derived from actual possession thus fortified by the highest ecclesiastical sanction, the Spaniards might have promised themselves an uninterrupted career of discovery, but for the jealousy of their rivals the Portuguese. The court of Lisbon viewed with secret disquietude the increasing maritime enterprise of its neighbours. While the Portuguese were timidly creeping along the barren shores of Africa, the Spaniards had boldly launched into the deep, and rescued unknown realms from its embraces, which teemed in their fancies with treasures of inestimable wealth. Their mortification was greatly enhanced by the reflection that all this might have been achieved for themselves, had they but known how to profit by the proposals of Columbus.* From the first moment in which the success of the admiral's enterprise was established, John the Second, a politic and ambitious prince, had sought some pretence to check the career of discovery, or at least to share in the spoils of it. In his interview with Columbus at Lisbon, he suggested that the dis- coveries of the Spaniards might interfere with the rights secured to the Portuguese by repeated papal sanction since the beginning of the present century, and guaranteed by the treaty with Spain in 1479. Columbus, without entering into the discussion, contented himself with declaring that he had been instructed by his own government to steer clear of all Portuguese settlements on the African coast, and that his course indeed had led him iu an entirely different direction. Although John professed himself satisfied with the explanation, he soon after despatched an am- bassador to Barcelona, who, after dwelling on some irrelevant topics, touched, as it were, incidentally on the real object of his mission, the late voyage of discovery. He congratulated the Spanish sovereigns on its success ; expatiated on the civilities shown by the court of Lisbon to Columbus on his late arrival there ; and acknowledged the satisfaction felt by his master at the orders given to the admiral to hold a western course from the Canaries, expressing a hope that the same course would be pursued in future, without interfering with the rights of Portugal by deviation to the south. This was the first occasion on which the existence of such claims had been intimated by the Portuguese. In the meanwhile, Ferdinand and Isabella received intelligence that * Padre Abarca considers "that the discovery of a new world, first offered to the kings of Portugal and England, was reserved by Heaven for Spain, being forced in a manner on Fedinaud, in recompense for the subjugation of the Moors, and the expulsion of the Jew* ! " 2.8 EEIURX OF COLtniBTTU. King John vas equipping a considerable armament, in order to anticipate or defeat their discoveries in the west. They instantly sent one of their household, Don Lope de Herrera, as ambassador to Lisbon, with instruc- tions to make their acknowledgments to the king for his hospitable recep tion of Columbus, accompanied with a request that he would prohibit his subjects from interference with the discoveries of the Spaniards in the West, in the same manner as these latter had been excluded from the Portuguese possessions in Africa. The ambassador was furnished with orders of a different import, provided he should find the reports correct respecting the equipment and probable destination of a Portuguese armada. Instead of a conciliatory deportment, he was, in that case, to assume a tone of remonstrance, and to demand a full explanation from King John of his designs. The cautious prince, who had received, through his secret agents in Castile, intelligence of these latter instruc- tions, managed matters so discreetly as to give no occasion for their exercise. He abandoned, or at least postponed, his meditated expedition, in the hope of adjusting the dispute by negotiation, in which he excelled. In order to quiet the apprehensions f the Spanish court, he engaged to lit out no fleet from his dominions within sixty days; at the same time he sent a fresh mission to Barcelona, with directions to propose an amicable adjustment of the conflicting claims of the two nations, by making the parallel of the Canaries a line of partition between them ; the right of discovery to the north being reserved to the Spaniards, and that to the south to the Portuguese. "While this game of diplomacy was going on, the Castilian court availed itself of the interval afforded by its rival to expedite preparations for the second voyage of discovery ; which, through the personal activity of the admiral, and the facilities everywhere afforded him, were fully completed before the close of September.- Instead of the reluctance, and indeed avowed disgust, which had been manifested by all classes to his former voyage, the only embarrassment now arose from the difficulty of selection among the multitude of competitors who pressed to be enrolled in the present expedition. The reports and sanguine speculations of the first adventurers had inflamed the cupidity of many, which was still further heightened by the exhibition of the rich and curious products which Columbus had brought back with him, and by the popular belief that the new discoveries formed part of that gorgeous East, "whose caverns teem With diamond flaming, and with seeds of gold,' 1 and which tradition and romance had alike invested with the supernatural eylendours of enchantment. Many others were stimulated by the wild love of adventure, kindled in the long Moorish war, lut which, now excluded from that career, sought other objects in the vast, untravelled regions of the New World. The complement of the fleet was originally fixed at twelve hundred souls, which, through importunity or various pretences of the applicants, was eventually swelled to fifteen hundred. Among these were many who enlisted without compensation, including several persons of rank, hidalgos, and members of the royal household. The whole squadron amounted to seventeen vessels, three of them of one hundred tons' burthen each. With this gallant navy, Columbus, dr<;;>- ping down the Guadalquivir, took his departure from the bay of C.uiii: OYAGE. 27U on the 23th of September, 1493; presenting a striking contrast to the melancholy plight in which, but the year previous, he sallied forth like some forlorn knight-errant on a desperate and chimerical enterprise. Xo sooner had the fleet weighed anchor, than Ferdinand and Isabella dispatched an embassy in solemn state to advise the king of Portugal of it. This embassy was composed of two persons of distinguished rank, Don Pedro de Ayala, and Don Garci Lopez de Carbajal. Agreeably to their instructions, they represented to the Portuguese monarch the in- admissibilityof his propositions respecting the boundary line of navigation ; they argued" that the grants of the Holy See, and the treaty with Spain in 1479, had reference merely to the actual possessions of Portugal, and the right of discovery by an eastern route along the coast of Africa to the Indies ; that these rights had been invariably respected by Spain ; that the late voyage of Columbus struck into a directly opposite track ; and that the several bulls of Pope Alexander the Sixth, prescribing the line of partition, not from east to west, but from the north to the south pole, were intended to secure to the Spaniards the exclusive right of discovery in the western ocean. The ambassadors concluded with offering, in the name of their sovereigns, to refer the whole matter in dispute to the arbitration of the court of Rome, or of anv common umpire. King John was deeply chagrined at learning the departure of the Spanish expedition. He saw that his rivals had been acting, while he had been amused with negotiation. He at first threw out hints of an immediate rupture ; and endeavoured, it is said, to intimidate the Cas- tilian ambassadors, by bringing them accidentally, as it were, in presence of a splendid array of cavalry, mounted and ready for immediate service. He vented his spleen on the embassy, by declaring that " it was a mere abortion, having neither head nor feet ; " alluding to the personal in- firmity of Ayala, who was lame, and to the light, frivolous character of the otlier envoy. These symptoms of discontent were duly notified to the Spanish government, who commanded the superintendent, Fonscca, 10 keep a vigilant eye on the movements of the Portuguese, and, in case any hostile armament should quit their ports, to be in readiness to act against it with one double its force. King John, however, was too shrewd a prince to be drawn into so impolitic a measure as war with a powerful adversary, quite as likely to baffle him in the field as in the council. Neither did he relish the 'suggestion of deciding the dispute by arbitration, since he well knew that his claim rested on too unsound a basis to authorise the expectation of a favourable award from any impartial umpire. He had already failed in an application for redress to the court of Rome, which answered him by ivt'rivnce to its bulls, recently published. In this emergency, he came to the resolution at last, which should have been first adopted, of deciding the matter by a fair and open conference. It was not until the following year, however, that his discontent so far subsided as to allow his acquiescence in this measure. At length, commissioners named by the two crowns convened at Tor dosillas, and, on the 7th of June, 1494, subscribed articles of agreement, which were ratified in the course of the same year by the res]!. powers. In this tivaty the Spaniards were secured, in the exclusive right t>t' navigation and discovery in the western ocean. At the urgent ruin a- strance of the Portuguese," however, who complained that the papal line 280 CASTILIAX LITEKATUTIE. of demarcation cooped up their enterprises within too narrow limits, thej consented that, instead of one hundred, it should be removed three hun- dred and seventy leagues west of the Cape de Verd islands, beyond which all discoveries should appertain to the Spanish nation. It was agreed that one or two caravels should be provided by each nation, to meet at the Grand Canary, and proceed due west the appointed distance, with a number of scientific men on board, for the purpose of accurately deter- mining the longitude ; and, if any land should fall under the meridian, the direction of the line should be ascertained by the erection of beacons at suitable distances. The proposed meeting never took place. But the removal of the partition line was followed by important consequences to the Portuguese, who derived from it their pretensions to the noble empire ot Brazil. Thus this singular misunderstanding, which menaced an open rupture at one time, was happily adjusted. Fortunately, the accomplishment of the passage round the Cape of Good Hope, which occurred soon after- wards, led the Portuguese in an opposite direction to their Spanish rivals , their Brazilian possessions having too little attractions, at first, to turn them from the splendid path of discovery thrown open in the East. It was not many years, however, before the two nations, by pursuing oppo site routes of circumnavigation, were brought into collision on the othe* side of the globe ; a circumstance never contemplated, apparently, by the treaty of Tordesillas. Their mutual pretensions were founded, however, on the provisions of that treaty, which, as the reader is aware, was itself only supplementary to the original bull of demarcation of Alexander the Sixth.* Thus this bold stretch of papal authority, so often ridiculed as chimerical and absurd, was in a measure justified by the event, since it did, in fact, determine the principles on which the vast extent of unap- propriated empire, in the eastern and western hemispheres, was ultimately divided between two petty states of Europe CHAPTER XIX. CASTILIAK LITERATURE CULTIVATION OF THE COURT CLASSICAL LE A RNT1TO SCIENCE. Early Education of Ferdinand Of Isabella Her Library Early Promise of Prince John Scholarship of the Nobles Accomplished Women Classical Learning Universities Printing introduced Encouraged by the Queen Actual progress of Science. WE have now arrived at the period when the history of Spain becomes incorporated with that of the other states of Europe. Before embarking on the wide sea of European politics, however, and bidding adieu for a season to the shores of Spain, it will be necessary, in order to complete the view of the internal administration of Ferdinand and Isabella, to show its operation on the intellectual culture of the nation. This, as it constitutes, when taken in its broadest sense, a principal cud of all government, should never be altogether divorced from any history. It * The contested territory was the Molucca islands, which each party claimed for itself by drtue of the treaty of Tordesillas. After more than one congress, in which all the cosmographical science of the day was put in requisition, the affair was terminated d I'amiable by the Spanish government's relinquishing its pretensions, in consideration of 850,000 dricats paid by the court of Lisbon. CLASSICAL LEABNING. SCIENCE. 281 is particularly deserving of note in the present reign, which stimulated the active development of the national energies in every department of science, and which forms a leading epoch in the ornamental literature of the country. The present and the following chapter will embrace the mental progress of the kingdom, not merely down to the period at which we have arrived, but through the whole of Isabella's reign, in order to exhibit as far as possible its entire results, at a single glance, to the eye of the reader. We have beheld, in a preceding chapter, the auspicious literary promise afforded by the reign of Isabella's father, John the Second, of Castile. Under the anarchical sway of his son, Henry the Fourth, the court, as we have seen, was abandoned to unbounded licence, and the whole nation sunk into a mental torpor, from which it was roused only by the tumults of civil war. In this deplorable state of things, the few blossoms of literature, which had begun to open under the benign influence of the preceding reign, were speedily trampled under foot, and every vestige of civilisation seemed in a fair way to be effaced from the land. The first years of Ferdinand and Isabella's government were too much, clouded by civil dissensions to afford a much more cheering prospect. Ferdinand's early education, moreover, had been greatly neglected. Before the age of ten, he was called to take part in the Catalan wars. His boyhood was spent among soldiers, in camps instead of schools ; and the wisdom which he so eminently displayed in later life was drawn far more from his own resources than from books. Isabella was reared under more favourable auspices ; at least more favourable to mental culture. She was allowed to pass her youth in retirement, and indeed oblivion, as far as the world was concerned, under her mother's care, at ArevaK In this modest seclusion, free from the engrossing vanities and vexations of court life, she had full leisure to indulge the habits of study and reflection to which her temper naturally disposed her. She was acquainted with several modern languages, and both wrote and discoursed in her own with great precision and elegance. No great expense or solicitude, however, appears to have been lavished on her education. She was uninstructed in the Latin, which in that day was of greater importance than at present ; since it was not only the common medium of communication between learned men, and the language in which the most familiar treatises were often composed, but was frequently used by well-educated foreigners at court, and especially employed in diplomatic intercourse and negotiation. Isabella resolved to repair the defects of education by devoting herself to the acquisition of the Latin tongue, so soon as the distracting wars with Portugal, which attended her accession, were terminated. We have a letter from Pulgar, addressed to the queen soon after that event, in which he inquires concerning her progress ; intimating his surprise that she can find time for study amidst her multitude of engrossing occupations, and expressing his confidence that she will acquire the Latin with the same facility with which she had already mastered other languages. The result justified his prediction ; for " in less than a year," observes another contemporary, "her admirable genius enabled her to obtain a good knowledge of the Latin language, so that she could 232 CASTILIAN 1ITEKATUKE. understand without much difficulty whatever was written or spoken in it," * Isabella inherited the taste of her father, John the Second, for the collecting of books. She endowed the convent of San Juan yed in the instruction of the in' finally embraced tnc .u state and died bishop of St Tinm;iur. in . CLASSICAL LEAHXIXG. SCIEXCK. 285 - to deliberate on, and to discuss, topics connected with government ililio policy. Ovc-r this body the prince presided, and here he was .'.(.-d into a* practical acquaintance with the important duties which to devolve on him at a future period of life. The pages in attendance on his person were also selected with great care from the rs and young nobility of the court, many of whom afterwards : tiled with credit the most considerable posts in the state. The severe* discipline of the prince was relieved by attention to more light and it accomplishments. He devoted many of his leisure hours to . for which he had a fine natural taste, and in which he attained sufficient proficiency to perform with skill on a variety of instruments. In short, !.i< c duration was happily designed to produce that combination of mental and moral excellence which should tit him for reigning over his subjects with benevolence and wisdom. How well the scheme succeeded is abundantly attested by the commendations of contemporary is, both at home and abroad, who enlarge on his fondness for laters, and for the society of learned men, on his various attainments, and more especially his Latin scholarship, and, above all, on his dispo- sition, so amiable, as to give promise of the highest excellence in maturer life, a promise, alas ! most unfortunately for his own nation, dt stined never to be realised. ^\xt to her family, there was no object which the queen had so much at heart as the improvement of the voung nobility. 1 >uring the troubled of her predecessor, they had abandoned themselves to frivolous -lire, or to a sullen apathy, from which nothing was potent enough to arouse them but the voice of war. She was obliged to relinquish her plans of amelioration, during the all-engrossing struggle with Granada, when it would have been esteemed a reproach for a Spanish knight to have exe:;;n._vd the post of danger in the field for the effeminate pursuit of letters. But no sooner was the war brought to a close, than Isabella resumed her purpose. She requested the learned Peter Martyr, who had come into Spain with the count of Tendilla a few years previous, to repair to the court, and open a school there for the instruction of the young nobility. In an epistle addressed by Martyr to Cardinal Xcudoza, dated at Granada, April, 1492, he alludes to the promis*- oi a liberal recompense from the queen, if he would assist in recbiuing the young cavaliers of the court from the idle and unprofitable pursuits in which, to her great mortification, they consumed their hours. The prejudices to be encountered seem to have filled him with natural distrust of his success ; for Le remarks, " Like their ancestors, they hold the pursuit of letters in light estimation, considering them an obstacle to success in the profession of anus, which alone they esteem worthy of honour." He however expresses his confidence that the generous nature of thp Spaniards will make it easy to infuse into them a more liberal taste , and, in a subsequent letter, he enlarges on " the good effects likely to result from the lit vary ambition exhibited by the heir apparent, oil whom the eyes of the nation were naturally turned." Martyr, in obedience to the royal summons, instantly repaired to court, and, in the month of September ibllowinir. we have a letter dated from Snragossa, in which he thus speaks of his success. " My housj, all day long, swarms with nob!' -.vho, reclaimed from ignoble i\. .-, are now convinced that these, ao 284 CASTILIAX LITERATURE. far from being a hindrance, are rather a help in the profession of arms. I earnestly inculcate on them, that consummate excellence in any department, whether of war or peace, is tmattainable without science. It has pleased our royal mistress, the pattern of every exalted virtue, that her own near kinsman, the duke of Guimaraens, as well as the young duke of Yillahermosa, the king's nephew, should remain under my roof during the whole day ; an example which has been imitated by the principal cavaliers of the court, who, after attending my lectures in company with their private tutors, retire at evening to review them with these latter in their own qiiarters." Another Italian scholar, often cited as authority in the preceding portion of this work, Lucio Marineo Siculo, co-operated with Martyr in the introduction of a more liberal scholarship among the Castiliap nobles. He was born at Bedino in Sicily, and, after completing his studies at Rome under the celebrated Pomponio Leto, opened a school in his native island, where he continued to teach for five years. He was then induced to visit Spain, in 1486, with the admiral Henriquez, and soon took his place among the professors of Salamanca, where he filled the chairs of poetry and grammar with great applause for twelve years. He was subsequently transferred to the court, which he helped to illumine by his exposition of the ancient classics, particularly the Latin. Under the auspices of these and other eminent scholars, both native and foreign, the young nobility of Castile shook off the indolence in which they had so long rusted, and applied with generous ardour to the cultivation of science ; so that in the language of a contemporary, " while it was a most rare occurrence to meet with a person of illus- trious birth, before the present reign, who had even studied Latin in his youth, there were now to be seen numbers every day who sought to shed the lustre of letters over the martial glory inherited from their ancestors." The extent of this generous emulation may be gathered from the large correspondence both of Martyr and Marineo with their disciples, including the most considerable persons of the Castilian court : it may be still further inferred from the numerous dedications to these persons of contemporary publications, attesting their munificent patronage of literary enterprise ; and, still more unequivocally, from the zeal with which many of the highest rank entered on such severe literary labour as few, from the mere love of letters, are found willing to encounter. Don Gutierre de Toledo, son of the duke of Alva, and a cousin of tho king, taught in the university of Salamanca. At the same place, Don Pedro Fernandez de Velasco, son of the count of Haro, who subsequently succeeded his father in the hereditary dignity of grand constable of Castile, read lectures on Pliny and Ovid. Don Alfonso de Manrique, son of the count of Paredes, was professor of Greek in the university of Alcala. All ages seemed to catch the generous enthusiasm ; and the marquis of Denia, although turned of sixty, made amends for the sins of his youth, by learning the elements of the Latin tongue at this late period. In short, as Giovio remarks in his eulogium on Lebrija, " Xo Spaniard was accounted noble who held science in indifference." From a very early period, a courtly stamp was impressed on the poetic literature of Spain. A similar character was now imparted to its erudition and men of the most illustrious birth seemed eager to lead CLASSICAL LEAEXIXG. SCILXC^. 285 fTie way in the difficult career of science, -which was thrown open to the nation. In this brilliant exhibition, those of the other sex must not be omitted who contributed by their intellectual endowments to the general illumi- nation of the period. Among them, the writers of that day lavish their panegyrics on the marchioness of Monteagudo, and Dcfia Maria Pacheco, of the" ancient house of M-^ndoza, sisters of the historian, Don Diego- Hurtado,* and daughters of the accomplished count of Teudilla, who, while ambassador at Rome, induced Martyr to Visit Spain, and who was grandson of the famous marquis of Santillana, and nephew of the grand cardinal. This illustrious familr, rendered yet more illustrious by its merits than its birth is wortny of specification, as affording aitn L r in..- ( to use his own language, " like a victor 13 '.he Olympic games," after the conclusion of the exercise. CASTILIAN LITKIi.VTUHE. spread more or less over every department of knowledge. Theological science, in particular, received a large share of attention. It had always formed a principal object of academic instruction, though suffered to languish under the universal corruption of the preceding reign. It was so common for the clergy to be ignorant of the most elementary know- ledge, that the council of Aranda found it necessary to pass an ordinance, the year before Isabella's accession, that no person should be admitted to orders who was ignorant of Latin. The queen took the most effectual means for correcting this abuse, by raising only com- petent persons to ecclesiastical dignities. The highest stations in the church were reserved for those who combined the highest intellectual endowments with unblemished piety. Cardinal Mendoza, whose acute and comprehensive mind entered with interest into every scheme for the promotion of science, was archbishop of Toledo ; Talavera, whose hospitable mansion was itself an academy for men of letters, and whose princely revenues were liberally dispensed for their support, was raised to the see of Granada ; and Ximenes, whose splendid literary projects will require more particular notice hereafter, succeeded Mendoza in the primacy of Spain. Under the protection of these enlightened patrons, theological studies were pursued with ardour, the Scriptures copiously illustrated, and sacred eloquence cultivated with success. A similar impulse was felt in the other walks of science. Jurispru- dence assumed a new aspect, under the learned labours of Montalvo. The mathematics formed a principal branch of education, and were successfully applied to astronomy and geography. Valuable treatises were produced on medicine, and on the more familiar practical arts, as husbandry, for example. History, which since the time of Alfonso the Tenth, had been held in higher honour and more widely cultivated in Castile than in any other European state, began to lay aside the garb of chronicle, and to be studied on more scientific principles. Charters and diplomas were consulted, manuscripts collated, coins and lapidary inscriptions deciphered, and collections made of these materials, the true basis of authentic history ; and an office of public archives, like that now existing at Simancas, was established at Burgos, and placed under the care of Alonso de Mota, as keeper, with a liberal salary.* Nothing could have been more opportune for the enlightened purposes of Isabella, than the introduction of the art of printing into Spain, at the commencement, indeed in the very first year, of her reign. She saw, from the first moment, all the advantages which it promised for diffusing and perpetuating the discoveries of science. She encouraged its esta- blishment by large privileges to those who exercised it, whether natives or foreigners, and by causing many of the works composed by her subjects to be printed at her own charge. Among the earlier printers we frequently find the names of Germans ; a people who, to the original merits of the discovery, may justly add that of its propagation among every nation of Europe. "We meet with a praymaticA, or royal ordinance, dated in 1477, exempting a German, named Theodoric, from taxation, on the ground of being " one of the principal persons in the discovery and practice of the art of printing * This collection, with the ill luck which has too often befallen such repositories io Spain, was burnt in the war of the Communities, in the time of Charles V. CLASSICAL LEABNtX-G. SCIENCE. 289 books, which he had brought with him into Spain at great risk and expense, with the design of ennobling the libraries of the kingdom." Monopolies for printing and selling books for a limited period, answering to the modern cop}'right, were granted to certain persons, in considera- tion of their doing so at a reasonable rate. It seems to have been usual for the printers to be also the publishers and vendors of books. These exclusive privileges, however, do not appear to have been carried to a mischievous extent. Foreign books, of every description, by a law of 1480, were allowed to be imported into the kingdom free of all duty whatever; an enlightened provision, which might furnish a useful hint to legislators of the nineteenth century. The first press appears to have been erected at Valencia in 1474 ; although the glory of precedence is stoutly contested by several p. and especially by Barcelona. The first work printed was a collection of songs, composed for a poetical contest in honour of the Virgin, for the most part in the Limousin or Valencian dialect. In the following year the first ancient classic, being the works of Sallust, was printed ; and in 1478 there appeared from the same press a translation of the Scriptures, in the Limousin, by Father Boniface Ferrer, brother of the famous Domi- nican, St. Vincent Ferrer. Through the liberal patronage of the govern- ment, the art was widely diffused; and, before the end of the fifteenth century, presses were established and in active operation in the principal cities of the united kingdom ; in Toledo, Seville, Ciudad Real, Granada, A'alladolid, Burgos, Salamanca, Zamora, Saragossa, Valencia, Barcelona, Monte Rey, Lerida, Murcia, Tolosa, Tarragona, Alcali de Henares, and Madrid. It is painful to notice amidst the judicious provisions for the encouragement of science, one so entirely repugnant to their spirit as the establishment of the censorship. By an ordinance, dated at Toledo, July 8th, 1502, it was decreed that, " as many of the books sold in the kingdom were defective, or false, or apocryphal, or pregnant with vain and superstitious novelties, it was therefore ordered that no book should hereafter be printed without special licence from the king, or some person r-irularly commissioned by him for the purpose." The names of the com- missioners then follow, consisting mostly of ecclesiastics, archbishops and bishops, with authority respectively over their several dioceses. This authority was devolved in later times, under Charles the Fifth and his successors, on the Council of the Supreme, over which the inquisitor-general presided ex officio. The immediate agents employed in the examination were also dra\vn from the Inquisition, who exercised this important trust, as is well known, in a manner most fatal to the interests of letters and humanity. Thus a provision, destined in its origin for the advancement of science, by purifying it from the cruditiea and corruptions which naturally infect it in a primitive age, contributed more effectually to its discouragement thin iny other which could have been devised, by interdicting the freedom of expression, so indispensable to freedom of inquiry. While endeavouring to do justice to the progress of civilisation in this reign, I should regret to present to the reader an ever-coloured picture of its results. Indeed, less emphasis should be laid on any actual results than on the spirit of improvement which they imply in the nation, and the liberal dispositions of the government. The fifteenth 290 CASTILIAN LITP.RATrRE. century was distinguished by a zeal for research, and laborious acquisi- tion, especially in ancient literature, throughout Europe, which showed itself in Italy in the beginning of the age, and in Spain and some other countries towards the close. It was natural that men shoiild explore the long buried treasures descended from their ancestors before venturing on anything of their own creation. Their efforts were eminently suc- cessful ; and, by opening an acquaintance with the immortal productions of ancient literature, they laid the best foundation for the cultivation of the modern. In the sciences, their success was more equivocal. A blind reverence for authority ; a habit of speculation, instead of experiment, so perni- cious in physics ; in short, an ignorance of the true principles of philosophy, often led the scholars of that day in a wrong direction. Even when they took a right one, their attainments, under all these impediments, were necessarily so small as to be scarcely perceptible, when viewed from the brilliant heights to which science has arrived in our own age. Unfortunately for Spain, its subsequent advancement has been so retarded, that a comparison of the fifteenth century with those which succeeded it is by no means so humiliating to the former as in some other countries of Europe ; and it is certain that, in general intellectual fermentation, no period has surpassed, if it can be said to have rivalled, the age of Isabella. CHAPTEE XX. CASTILIAH IJTEBATURK ROMANCES OF CHIVALRY LYRICAL POETRY THE DRAMA. This Reign an Epoch in Polite Letters Romances of Chivalry Ballads or Romance.* Moorish Minstrelsy "Cancionero General" Its Literary Value Rise of the Spanish. Drama Criticism on "Celestina" Encina Naharro Low Condition of the Stage National Spirit of the Literature of this Epoch. OBHAMEXTAL or polite literature, which, emanating from the taste and sensibility of a nation, readily exhibits its various fluctuations of fashion and feeling, was stamped in Spain with the distinguishing characteristics of this revolutionary age. The Provenale, which peached such high perfection in Catalonia, and subsequently in Aragon, as noticed in an introductory chapter,* expired with the union of thia monarchy with Castile, and the dialect ceased to be applied to literary purposes altogether, after the Castilian became the language of thf court in the united kingdoms. The poetry of Castile, which throughou, the present reign continued to breathe the same patriotic spirit, and to exhibit the same national peculiarities that had distinguished it from the time of the Cid, submitted soon after Ferdinand's death to the influence of the more polished Tuscan, and henceforth, losing somewhat of its distinctive physiognomy, assumed many of the prevalent features of continental literature. Thus the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella becomes an epoch as memorable in literary as in civil history. The most copious vein of fancy, in that day, was turned in the direction See the conclusion of the Introduction, gee. 2, of this History iioir.vxTic ricTiox AXD roEiinr. 291 of the prose romance of chivalry ; now seldom disturbed, even in its own country, except by the antiquary. The circumstances of the age naturally led to its production. The romantic Moorish Avars, teeming with adventurous exploit and picturesque incident, carried on with the natural enemies of the Christian knight, and opening moreover all tne legendary stores of oriental fable, the stirring adventures by sea as well as land, above all, the discovery of a world beyond the waters, whose unknown regions gave full scope to the play of the imagination, all contributed to stimulate the appetite for the incredible chimeras, the moijuanime menzogne, of chivalry. The publication of " Amadis de Gaula " gave a decided impulse to this popular feeling. This romance, which seems now well ascertained to be the production of a Portuguese in the latter half of the fourteenth century, was first printed i:i a Spanish version, probably not far from 1490. Its editor, Garci Ordonez de Montalvo, states, in his prologue, that "he corrected it from the ancient originals, pruning it of all superfluous phrases, and substituting others of a more polished and elegant style." How far its character was benefited by this Avork of purification may be doubted ; although it is probable it did not suffer so much by such a process as it would have done in a later and more cultivated period. The simple beauties of this fine old romance, its bustling incidents, relieved by the delicate play of oriental machinery, its general truth of portraiture, above all, the knightly character of the hero, who graced the prowess of chivalry with a courtesy, modesty, and fidelity unrivallea in the creations of romance, soon recommended it to popular faA^our and imitation. A con- tinuation, Waring the title of " Las Sergas de Esplandian," was given to the world by Montalvo himself, and grafted on the original stock, as the fifth book of the Amadis, before 1510. A sixth, containing the adventures of his nephew, Avas printed at Salamanca in the course of the last-mentioned year ; and thus the idle writers of the day continued to propagate dulness through a series of heavy tomes, amounting in all to lour and twenty books, until the much abused public would no longer suffer the name of Amadis to cloak the manifold sins of his posterity. Other knights-errant Avere sent roving about the world at the same time, Avhose exploits would fill a library ; but fortunately they have been permitted to pass into oblivion, from which a few of their names only have been rescued by the caustic criticism of the curate in Don Quixote ; Avho, it will be remembered, after declaring that the virtues of the parent shall not avail his posterity, condemns them and their companions, with one or two exceptions only, to the fatal funeral pile. These romances of chivalry must have undoubtedly contributed t:- In this example, the two e have the assonance ; although this is not mvuii able, it somutluies failing on tlic tutepeuultima and the final syllable. 294 CASTILIAX UTEKATrEE. ascertain the authors of these venerable lyrics, nor can the exact time of their production be now determined ; although, as their subjects are chieny taken from the last days of the Spanish Arabian empire, the larger part of them was probably posterior, and, as they \vere printed in collections at the beginning of the sixteenth century, could not have been long posterior to the capture of Granada. How far they may be referred to the conquered Moors, is uncertain. Many of these wrote and spoke the Castilian with elegance, and there is nothing improbable in the supposition that they should seek some solace under present evils in the splendid visions of the past. The bulk of this poetry, however, was in all probability the creation of the Spaniards themselves, naturally attracted by the picturesque circumstances in the character and condi- tion of the conquered nation to invest them with poetic inter The Moorish romances fortunately appeared after the introduction of printing into the Peninsula, so that they were secured a permanent existence, instead of perishine: with the breath that made them, like so many of their predecessors. This misfortune, which attaches to so much of popular poetry in all nations, is not imputable to any insensibility in the Spaniards to the excellence of their own. Men of more erudition than taste may have held them light, in comparison with more osten- tatious and learned productions. This fate has befallen them in other countries than Spain. But persons of finer poetic feeling, and more enlarged spirit of criticism, have estimated them as a most essential and characteristic portion of Castilian literature. Such was the judgment of the great Lope de Vega, who, after expatiating on the extraordinary compass and sweetness of the romance, and its adaptation to the highest subjects, commends it as worthy of all estimation for its peculiar national character. The modern Spanish writers have adopted a similar tone of criticism, insisting on its study as essential to a correct appre- ciation and comprehension of the genius of the language. The Castilian ballads were first printed in the " Cancionero General" of Fernando del Castillo, in 1511. They were first incorporated into a separate work, by Sepulveda, under the name of "Romances sacados de Historias Antiguas," printed at Antwerp in 1551. Since that period, they have passed into repeated editions at home and abroad, especially in Germany, where they have been illustrated by able critics. Igno- rance of their authors, and of the era of their production, has prevented any attempt at exact chronological arrangement ; a circumstance ren- dered, moreover, nearly impossible, by the perpetual modification which the original style of the more ancient ballads has experienced in th> ir transition through successive generations ; so that, with one or two exceptions, no earlier date should probably be assigned to the ol> them, in their present form, than the fifteenth century. Another > of classification has been adopted, of distributing them accordi: their subjects; and independent collections also of the separate depart- ments, as ballad s of the Cid, of the twelve Peers, the Morisco ballad- the like, have been repeatedly published both at home and abroad. The higher, and educated classes of the nation, were not insensible to the poetic spirit which drew forth such excellent minstrelsy from the body of the people. Ind Han poetry bore the same patrician stamp through the whole of the present reign, which had been irti} : on it iu its infancy. Fortunately the new art of printing was employed K03IJ-VTIC FICTION AUD POETET. 295 lure, as in the case of the romances, to arrest those fugitive sallies of imagination, which in other countries were permitted, from want of this care, to pass into oblivion ; and cancioneros, or collections of lyrics, were published, embodying the productions of this reign and that o"f John the Second, thus bringing under one view the poetic culture of the fifteenth century. The earliest cancionero printed was at Saragossa, in 1492. It com- prehended the works of Mena, Manrique, and six or seven other bards of note. A far more copious collection was made by Fernando del Castillo, and first published at Valencia, in 1511, under the title of " Cancionero General ;" since which period it has passed into repeated editions. This compilation is certainly more creditable to Castillo's industry than to his discrimination or power of arrangement. Indeed, in this latter respect it is so defective, that it would almost seem to have been put together fortuitously as the pieces came to hand. A large portion of the authors appear to have been persons of rank ; a circum- stance to which perhaps they were indebted, more than to any poetic merit, for a place in the miscellany, which might have been decidedly increased in value by being diminished in bulk. The tcorks of devotion, with which the collection opens, are on the whole the feeblest portion of it. We discern none of the inspiration and lyric glow which were to have been anticipated from the devout, enthusiastic Spaniard. We meet with anagrams on the Virgin, glosses on the Creed and Pater noster, condones on original sin and the like unpromising topics, all discussed in the most bald, prosaic manner with abundance of Latin phrase, scriptural allusion, and common-place precept, unenlivened by a single spark of true poetic fire, and presenting altogether a farrago of the most fantastic pedantry. The lighter, especially the amatory poems, are much more successfully executed, and the primitive forms of the old Castilian versification are developed with considerable variety and beauty. Among the -most agreeable effusions in this way, may be noticed those of Diego Lopez de llaro, who, to borrow the encomium of a contemporary, was " the mirror of gallantry for the young cavaliers of the time.'' There are - in the collection composed with more facility and grace. Among the more elaborate pieces, Diego de San Pedro's "Desprecio de la Fortuna" maybe distinguished, not so much for any poetic talent which it exhibits, as fur its mercurial and somewhat sarcastic tone of sentiment. The similarity of subject may suggest a parallel between it and the Italian poet Guidi s celebrated ode on Fortune ; and the different styles of execution may perhaps be taken as indicating pretty fairly the distinctive peculiarities of the Tuscan and the old Spanish school of poetry. The Italian, introducing the fickle goddess in person on the scene, describes her triumphant march over the ruins of empires and dynasties, from the earliest time, in a now of lofty dithyrambic eloquence, adorned with all the brilliant colouring of a stimulated fancy and a highly finished language. The Castilian, on the other hand, instead of this splendid personification, deepens his verse into a moral tone, and, dwelling on the vicissitudes and vanities of human life, points his reflections with some caustic warning, often conveyed with enchanting simplicity, but without the least approach to lyric exaltation, or indeed the affectation of it. 296 CASTILIAN LITERATURE. This paoneness to moralise the song is in truth a characteristic of the old Spanish bard. He rarely abandons himself, without reserve, to the frolic puerilities so common with the sister Muse of Italy. " Scritta cosl come la penna getta, Per fuggir 1' ozio, e non per cercar gloria." It is true, he is occasionally betrayed by verbal subtilities and other affectations of the age ; but even his liveliest sallies are apt to be seasoned with a moral, or sharpened by a satiric sentiment. His defects, indeed, are of the kind most opposed to those of the Italian poet, showing themselves, especially in the more elaborate pieces, in a certain Jumid stateliness and overstrained energy of diction. On the whole, one cannot survey the "Cancionero General" without some disappointment at the little progress of the poetic art since the reign of John the Second, at the beginning of the century. The best pieces in the collection are of that date ; and no rival subsequently arose to compete with the masculine strength of Mena, or the delicacy and fascinating graces of Santillana. One cause of this tardy progress may have been the direction to \itility manifested in this active reign, which led such as had leisure for intellectual pursuits to cultivate science, rather than abandon themselves to the mere revels of the imagination. Another cause may be found in the rudeness of the language, whose delicate finish is so essential to the purposes of the poet, but which was so imperfect at this period, that Juan de la Encina, a popular writer of the time, complained that he was obliged, in his version of Virgil's Eclogues, to coin, as it were, a new vocabulary, from the want of terms corresponding with the original, in the old one. It was not until the close of the present reign, when the nation began to breathe awhile from its tumultuous career, that the fruits of the patient cultivation which it had 'been steadily, though silently experiencing, began to manifest themselves in the improved condition of the language, and its adap- tation to the highest poetical uses. The intercourse with Italy, moreover, by naturalising new and more finished forms of versification, afforded a scope for the nobler efforts of the poet, to which the old Castilian measures, however well suited to the wild and artless move- ments of the popiilar minstrelsy, were altogether inadequate. We must not dismiss the miscellaneous poetry of this period, without some notice of the " Coplas" of Don Jorge Manrique,* on the death of his father, the count of Paredes, in 1474. The elegy is of considerable length, and is sustained throughout in a tone of the highest moral dignity ; while the poet leads us up from the transitory objects of this Vower world to the contemplation of that imperishable existence which Christianity has opened beyond the grave. A tenderness pervades the piece, which, may remind us of the best manner of Petrarch ; while, with the exception of a slight taint of pedantry, it is exempt from the meretricious vices that belong to the poetry of the age. The effect of the sentiment is heightened by the simple turns and broken melody of the old Castilian verse, of which perhaps this may be accounted tlm most finished specimen; such would seem to be the judgment of his own * He unfortunately fell in a skirmish, five years after his father's death, ROMANTIC FICTION AND POETRY. 297 countrymen, -whose glosses and commentaries on it have swelled into a separate volume. I shall close this fturvey with a "brief notice of the drama, whose foundations may be said to have been laid during this reign. Tha sacred plays, or mysteries, so popular throughout Europe in the middle ages, may be traced in Spain to an ancient date. Their familiar performance in the churches, by the clergy, is recognised in the middle of the thirteenth century, by a law of Alfonso the Tenth, which, while it interdicted certain profane mummeries that had come into vogue, pre- scribed the legitimate topics for exhibition.* The transition from these rude spectacles to more regular dramatic efforts was very slow and gradual. In 1414, an allegorical comedy, composed by the celebrated Henry, marquis of Villena, was performed at Saragossa in the presence of the court. In 1469, a dramatic eclogue by an anonymous author was exhibited in the palace of the count of Urefia, in. the presence of Ferdinand, on his coming into Castile to- espouse the infanta Isabella. These pieces may be regarded as the- earliest theatrical attempts, after the religious dramas and popular pantomimes already noticed ; but unfortunately they have not come down to us. The next production deserving attention is a " Dialogue between Love and an Old Man," imputed to Ilodrigo Cota, a poet of whose history nothing seems to be known, and little conjectured, but that he flourished during the reigns of John the Second and Henry the Fourth. The dialogue is written with much vivacity and grace, and with as much dramatic movement as is compatible with only two interlocutors. A much more memorable production is referred to the same author, the tragi-comedy of " Celestina," or "Calisto and Melibea," as it is frequently called. The first act, indeed, constituting nearly one-third of the piece, is all that is ascribed to Cota. The remaining twenty, which however should rather be denominated scenes, were continued by another hand, some though, to judge from the internal evidence afforded by the style, not many years later. The second author was Fernando- de Koxas, bachelor of law, as he informs us, who composed ti is work a a sort of intellectual relaxation during one of his vacations. The time was certainly not mis-spent. The continuation, however, is not esteemed by the C'astilian critics to have risen quite to the level of the original act. The story turns on a love intrigue. A Spanish youth of rank is enamoured of a lady, whose affections he gains with some difficulty, but whom he finally seduces, through the arts of an accomplished courtesan, whom the author has introduced under the romantic name of Celestina.. . The piece, although comic, or rather sentimental in its progress, terminates in the most tragical catastrophe, in which all the principal actors are involved. The general texture of the plot is exceedingly clumsy, yet it affords many situations of deep and varied interest in its progress. The principal characters are delineated in the piece with considerable skill. The part of Celestina, in particular, in wliich a veil After proscribing certain profane mummeries, the law confines the clergy to the ntation of such subjects ;is " the birth of our S:iviour, in wliich is shown how the angels appeared, announcing his nativity ; : f the three -'iip him ; and his ix-Mirivctimi. simwii: -'.-Msion tiurd day ; and oil. . mid live constant iu U. faith." itfS CASTILLO* of plausible hypocrisy is thrown over the deepest profligacy of conduct, is managed with much address. The subordinate parts are brought into brisk comic action, with natural dialogue, though sufficiently obscene ; and an interest of a graver complexion is raised by the passion of the lovers, the timid, confiding tenderness of the lady, and the sorrows of the broken-hearted parent. The execution of the play reminds us on the whole less of the Spanish than of the old English theatre, in many of its defects, as well as beauties ; in the contrasted strength and im- becility of various passages ; its intermixture of broad farce and deep tragedy ; the unseasonable introduction of frigid metaphor and pedantic allusion in the midst of the most passionate discourses ; in the unveiled voluptuousness of its colouring, occasionally too gross for any public exhibition ; but, above all, in the general strength and fidelity of its portraiture. The tragi-comedy, as it is styled, of Celestina, was obviously never intended for representation ; to which, not merely the grossness of some of the details, but the length and arrangement of the piece, are unsuitable. But, notwithstanding this, and its approximation to the character of romance, it must be admitted to contain within itself the essential elements of dramatic composition; and, as such, is extolled by the Spanish critics as openiug the theatrical career of Europe. A similar claim has been maintained for nearly contemporaneous productions in other countries, and especiallv for Politian's "Orfeo," which, there is little doubt, was publicly acted before 1483. Notwithstanding its repre- sentation, however, the " Orfeo," presenting a combination of the eclogue and the ode, without any proper theatrical movement, or attempt at development of character, cannot fairly come within the limits of dramatic writing. A more ancient example than either, at least as far as the exterior forms are concerned, may be probably found in the celebrated French farce of Pierre Pathelin, printed as early as 1474, having been repeatedlv played during the preceding century, and which, with the requisite modifications, still keeps possession of the stage. The pretensions of this piece, however, as a work of art, are comparatively humble ; and it seems fair to admit, that in the higher and more important elements of dramatic composition, and especially in the delicate, and at the same time powerful delineation of character and passion, the Spanish critics may be justified in regarding the "Celestina" as having led the way in modern Europe. Without deciding on its proper classification as a work of art, however, its real merits are settled by its wide popularity, both at home and abroad. It has been translated into most of the European languages ; and the preface to the last edition published in Madrid, so recently as 1S22, enumerates thirty editions of it in Spain alone in the course of the sixteenth century. Impressions were multiplied in Italy, and at the very time when it was interdicted at home on the score of its immoral tendency. A popularity thus extending through distant ages and nations, shows how faithfully it is built on the principles of human nature. The drama assumed the pastoral form, in its early stages, in Spain, as in Italy. The oldest specimens in this way, which have come down to us, are the productions of Juan de la Eneina, a contemporary of Roxas. lie was born in 1469, and, after completing his education at'Salamanca, UOMANTIC FICTION AND POETEY. 299 was received into the family of the duke of Alva. He continued there several years, employed in the composition of various poetical works ; among others, a version of Virgil's Kclogues, which he so altered as to accommodate them to the principal events in the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella. He visited Italy in the beginning of the following century, and was attracted by the munificent patronage of Leo the Tenth to fix his residence at the papal court. AVliile there, he continued his literary labours. He embraced the ecclesiastical profession; and his skill in music recommended him to the office of principal director of the pontifical chapel. He was subsequently presented with the priory of Leon, and returned to Spain, where he died in 1534. Enema's works first appeared at Salamanca, in 1496, collected into one vohime, folio. Besides other poetry, they comprehend a number of dramatic eclogues, sacred and profane : the former, suggested by topics drawn from Scripture, .like the ancient mysteries; the latter chiefly amatory. They were performed in the palace of his patron, the duke of Alva, in the presence of Prince John, the duke of Infantado, and other eminent persons of the court ; and the poet himself occasionally assisted at the representation. Encina's eclogues are simple compositions, with litttle pretence to dramatic artifice. The story is too meagre to admit of much ingenuity or contrivance, or to excite any depth of interest. There are few inter- locutors, seldom more than three or four, although on one occasion rising to as many as seven; "of course there is little scope for theatrical action. The characters are of the humble class belonging to pastoral life, and the dialogue, which is extremely appropriate, is conducted with facility ; but the rustic condition of the speakers precludes anything like literary elegance or finish, in which respect they are doxibtless surpassed by some of his more ambitious compositions. There is a comic air imparted to them, however, and a lively colloquial turn, which renders them very agreeable. Still, whatever be their merits as pastorals, they are entitled to little consideration as specimens of dramatic art ; and, in the vital spirit of dramatic composition, must be regarded as far inferior to the "Celestiua." The simplicity of these productions, and the facility of their exhibition, which required little theatrical decoration or costume, recommended them to popular imitation, which continued long after the regular forms of the drama were introduced into Spain. The credit of this introduction belongs to Bartholonieo Torres de Naharro, often confounded by the Castilian writers themselves with a player of the same name, who flourished half a century later. Few particulars have been ascertained of his personal history. He was born at Torre, in the province of Estremadura. In the early part of his life he fell into the hands of the Algerines, and was finally released from captivity by the exertions of certain benevolent Italians, who generously paid his ransom. He then established his residence in Italy, at the court of Leo the Tenth. Under the genial influence of that patronage, which quickened so many of the seeds of genius to production in department, he composed' his " Propaladia," a work embracing a variety of lyrical and dramatic poetry, first published at Rome in 1517. Un- fortunately, the caustic satire, levelled in some of the higher pieces of this collection at the licence of the pontifical court, brought suchobliquy on the head of the author as compelled him to take refuge in Xaples, SOO CASTILIAX- LITZRATUEL where he remained under the protection of the noble family of Colonna. Ko further particulars are recorded of him, except that he embraced the ecclesiastical profession ; and the time and place of his death are alike uncertain. In person he is said to have been comely, \vith an amiable disposition, and sedate and dignified demeanour. His " Propaladia," first published at Rome, passed through several editions subsequently in Spain, where it was alternately prohibited, or permitted, according to the caprice of the Holv Office. It contains, among other things, eight comedies, written in the native redondillas ; which continued to be regarded as the suitable measure for the drama. They afford the earliest example of the division into jornadas, or days, and of the introito, or prologue, in which the author, after propitiating the audience by suitable compliment, and witticisms not over delicate, gives a view of the length and general scope of his play. The scenes of Naharro's comedies, with a single exception, are laid in Spain and Italy ; those in the latter country probably being selected with reference to the audiences before whom they were acted. The diction is easy and correct, without much affectation of refinement or rhetorical ornament. The dialogue, especially in the lower parts, is sustained with much comic vivacity ; indeed Naharro seems to have had a nicer per- ception of character as it is found in lower life, than as it exists in the higher ; and more than one of his plays are devoted exclusively to its illustration. On some occasions, however, the author assumes a more elevated tone, and his verse rises to a degree of poetic beauty, deepened by the moral reflection so characteristic of the Spaniards.", At other times, his pieces are disfigured by such a Babel -like confusion of tongues, as makes it doubtful which may be the poet's vernacular. Trench, Spanish, Italian, with a variety of barbarous patois, and mongrel Latin, are all brought into play at the same time, and all comprehended, apparently with equal facilitv, by each one of the dramatis personee. But it is difficult to conceive now such a jargon could have been com- prehended, far more relished, by an Italian audience. Xaharro's comedies are not much to be commended for the intrigue, which generally excites but a languid interest, and shows little power or adroitness in the contrivance. With every defect, however, they must be allowed to have given the first forms to Spanish comedy, and to exhibit many of the features which continued to be characteristic of it in a state of more perfect development under Lope de Vega and Calderon. Such, for instance, is the amorous jealousy, and especially the point of honour, so conspicuous on the Spanish theatre ; and such, too, the moral confusion too often produced by blending the foulest crimes with zeal for religion. These comedies, moreover, far from blind conformity with the ancients, discovered much of the spirit of independence, and deviated into many of the eccentricities which distinguish the national theatre in later times ; and which the criticism of our own day has so successfully explained and defended on philosophical principles. Naharro's plays were represented, as appears from his prologue, in Italy, probably not at Rome, which he quitted soon after their pub- lication, but at Naples, which, then forming a part of the Spanish dominions, might more easily furnish an audience capable of com- prehending them. It is remarkable that, notwithstanding their repeated editions in Spain, they do not appear to have ever been performed th'-re. ROMANTIC FICTION A.ND POETE1". 301 The cause of this, j.robably, was the low state of the histrionic art, and the total deficiency iu theatrical costume and decoration ; yet it -was not eaean courts, may be regarded as the most complete manual of diplomacy as It existed at the beginning of the sixteenth century. It afim-.ls ni'Tu copious and curious information respecting the interior workings of the governments with whom he resided, than i- i',:ir history : and it shows the variety and extent of duties Ittached to the office of resident minister, from the first moment of its creation. X 306 ITALIAN WAKS. taught. That country was hroken up into a number of small states, too nearly equal to allow the absolute supremacy of any one ; while, at the same time, it demanded the most restless vigilance on the part of each to maintain its independence against its neighbours. Hence such a com- plexity of intrigues and combinations as the world had never before witnessed. A subtile, refined policy was conformable to the genius of the Italians. It was partly the result, moreover, of their higher culti- vation, which naturally led them to trust the settlement of their disputes to superior intellectual dexterity, rather than to brute force, like the barbarians beyond the Alps. From these and other causes, maxims were gradually established, so monstrous in their nature as to give the work, which first embodied them in a regular system, the air of a satire rather than a serious performance, while the name of its author has been converted into a by -word of political knavery.* At the period before us, the principal states of Italy were the repub- lics of Venice and Florence, the duchy of Milan, the papal see, and the kingdom of Naples. The others may be regarded merely as satellites, revolving round some one or other of these superior powers, by whom their respective movements were regulated and controlled. Venice may be considered as the most formidable of the great powers, taking into consideration her wealth, her powerful navy, her territory in the north, and princely colonial domain. There was no government in that age which attracted such general admiration, both from natives and foreign- ers, who seemed to have looked upon it as affording the very best model of political wisdom. Yet there was no country where the citizen enjoyed less positive freedom ; none whose foreign relations were conducted with more absolute selfishness, and with a more narrow, bargaining spirit, savouring rather of a company of traders than of a great and powerful state. But all this was compensated in the eyes of her contemporaries, by the stability of her institutions, which still remained unshaken amidst revolutions, which had convulsed or overturned every other social fabric in Italy. The government of Milan was at this time under the direction of Ludovico Sforza, or Ludovico the Moor, as he is commonly called ; aii epithet suggested by his complexion, but which he willingly retained, as indicating the superior craftiness on which he valued himself. He held the reins in the name of his nephew, then a minor, until a convenient season should arrive for assuming them in his own. His cool, perfidious character was stained with the worst vices of the most profligate class of Italian statesmen of that period. The central parts of Italy were occupied by the republic of Florence, which had ever been the rallying point of the friends of freedom, too often of faction ; but which had now resigned itself to the dominion of the Medici, whose cultivated tastes and munificent patronage shed a splendid illusion over their administration, which has blinded the eyes of contemporaries, and even of posterity. Machiavelli's political treatises, his "Principe" and "Discorsi sopra Tito Livio," which apixsared after his death, excited no scandal at the time of their publication, c.-une into the world, indeed, from the pontifical press, under the privilege of the reigniujf !>o|>e, Clement VII. It was not until thirty years later that they were placed on the Inil'-x ; and this not from any exceptions taken at the immorality of their doctrine-, as tJiiuiHiiii; has well proved, but tVom the imputations they contained on the cyort cl Home. EXPEDITION OF CHAKLES Till. 307 The papal chair was filled by Alexander the Sixth, a pontiff whose licentiousness, avarice, and unblushing effrontery have been the theme of unmingled reproach with Catholic as well as Protestant writers. His preferment was effected by lavish bribery, and by his consummate address, as well as energy of character. Although a native Spaniard, his election was extremely unpalatable to Ferdinand and Isabella, who deprecated the scandal it must bring upon the church, and who had little to hope for themselves, in a political view, from the elevation of one of their own subjects even, whose mercenary spirit placed him at the control of the highest bidder. The Neapolitan sceptre was swayed by Ferdinand the First, whose father Alfonso the Fifth, the uncle of Ferdinand of Aragon, had obtained the crown by the adoption of Joanna of Naples, or rather by his own good sword. Alfonso settled his conquest on his illegitimate son Ferdinand, to the prejudice of the rights of Aragon, by whose blood and treasure he had achieved it. Ferdinand's character, the very opposite of his noble father's, was dark, wily, and ferocious. His life was spent in conflict with his great feudal nobility, many of whom supported the pretensions of the Angevin family. But Ms superior craft enabled him to foil every attempt of his enemies. In effecting this, indeed, he shrunk from no deed of treachery or violence, however atrocious ; and in the end had the satis- faction of establishing his authority, undisputed, on the fears of his subjects. He was about seventy years of age at the period of which we are treating, 1493. The heir apparent, Alfonso, was equally sanguinary in his temper, though possessing less talent for dissimulation than his father. Such was the character of the principal Italian courts at the close of the fifteenth century. The politics of the country were necessarily rcgulated by the temper and views of the leading powers. They were essentially selfish and personal. The ancient republican forms had been gradually effaced during this century, and more arbitrary ones intro- duced. The name of freedom, indeed, was still inscribed on their banners, but the spirit had disappeared. In almost every state, great or small, some military adventurer, or crafty statesman, had succeeded in raising his own authority on the liberties of his country ; and his sole aim seemed to be to enlarge it still further, and to secure it against the conspiracies and revolutions which the reminiscence of ancient indepen- dence naturally called forth. Such was the case with Tuscany, Milan, Naples, and the numerous subordinate states. In Rome, the pontiff proposed no higher object than the concentration of wealth and public honours in the hands of his own family. In short, the administration of wi'i-y state seemed to be managed with exclusive reference to the per- sonal interests of its chief. Venice was the only power of sufficient strength and stability to engage in more extended schemes of policy, . and even these were conducted, as has been already noticed, in the narrow and calculating spirit of a trading corporation. ]>ut, while no spark of generous patriotism seemed to warm the bosoms of the Italians ; while no sense of public good, or even menace of foreign invasion, could bring them to act in concert with one another,* the * A remarkable example of this occurred hi the middle of the 15th century, when the inundation of the Turks, which seemed ready to burst upon them, after overwhelming the Arabian and Qreek empires, had no power to still the voice of faction, or to conceutratg the attention of the Italian states, even for a m'.ment. x 2 308 ITALIAN WARS. internal condition of the country was eminently prosperous. Italy had far outstripped the rest of Europe in the various arts of civilised life ; and she everywhere afforded the evidence of facilities developed by unceasing intellectual action. The face of the country itself was like a garden ; " cultivated through all its plains to the very tops of the mountains ; teeming with population, with riches, and an unlimited commerce ; illustrated by many munificent princes, by the splendour of many noble and beautiful cities, and by the majesty of religion ; and adorned with all those rare and precious gifts which render a name glorious among the nations." Such are the glowing strains in which the Tuscan historian celebrates the prosperity of his country, ere yet the storm of war had descended on her beautiful valleys. This scene of domestic tranquillity was destined to be changed by that terrible invasion which the ambition of Lodovico Sforza brought upon his country. He had already organised a coalition of the northern powers of Italy, to defeat the interference of the king of Naples in behalf of his grandson, the rightful duke of Milan, whom his uncle held in subjection during a protracted minority, while he exercised all the real functions of sovereignty in his name, l&ot feeling sufficiently secure from his Italian confederacy, Sforza invited the king of France to revive the hereditary claims of the house of Anjou to the crown of Naples, promising to aid him in the enterprise with all his resources. In this way, this wily politician proposed to divert the storm from his own head, by giving Ferdinand sufficient occupation at home. The throne of France was at that time filled by Charles the Eighth, a monarch scarcely twenty-two years of age. Mis father, Louis the Eleventh, had given him an education unbecoming not only a great prince, but even a private gentleman. He would allow him to learn no other Latin, says Brantome, than his favourite maxim, " Qui nescit dissimulare, nescit regnare." Charles made some amends for this, though with little judgment, in later life, when left to his own disposal. His favourite studies were the exploits of celebrated conquerors, of Caesar and Charlemagne particularly, which filled his young mind witli vague and visionary ideas of glory. These dreams were still further nourished by the tourneys and other chivalrous spectacles of the age, in which he delighted, until he seems to have imagined himself some doughty paladin of romance, destined to the achievement of a grand and perilous enterprise. It affords some proof of this exalted state of his imagination, that he gave his only son the name of Orlando, after the celebrated hero of lloncesvalles. With a mind thus excited by chimerical visions of military glory, he lent a willing ear to the artful propositions of Sforza. In the extrava- gance of vanity, fed by the adiilation of interested parasites, he affect. tle of St. Angelo, and, .on the 31st of December 1494, Charles defiled into the city at the head of his victorious chivalry ; if victorious they could be called, when, as an Italian historian remarks, they had scarcely broken a lance, or spread a tent, in the whole of their progress. The Italians were panic- struck at the aspect of troops so different from their own, and so superior to them in organisation, science, and military equipment ; and still more in a remorseless ferocity of temper, which had rarely been witnessed in their own feuds. Warfare was con- ducted on peculiar principles in Italy, adapted to the character and circumstances of the people. The business of fighting, in her thriving communities, instead of forming part of the regular profession of a gentleman, as in other countries at this period, was intrusted to the hands of a few soldiers of fortune, condottieri, as they were called, who hired themselves out, with the forces under their command, consisting exclusively of heavy-armed cavalry, to whatever state would pay them best. These forces constituted the capital, as it were, of the military chief, whose obvious interest it was to economise as far as possible all unnecessary expenditure of his resources. Hence the science of defence was almost exclusively studied. The object seemed to be, not so much the annoyance of the enemy, as self-preservation. The common interests of the condottieri being paramount to every obligation towards the state which they served, they easily came to an understanding with one another to spare their troops as much as possible ; until at length battles were fought with little more personal hazard than would be incurred in an ordinary tourney. The man-at-arms was riveted into plates of steel of sufficient thickness to turn a musket-ball. The ease of the soldier was so far consulted, that the artillery, in a siege, was not allowed to be fired on either side from sun-set to sun-rise, for fear of disturbing hia repose. Prisoners were made for the sake of their ransom, and but little blood was spilled in an action. Machiavelli records two engagements, at Anghiari and Castracaro, among the most noted of the time for their important consequences. The one lasted four hours, and the other half a day. The reader is hurried along through all the bustle of a well- contested fight, in the course of which the field is won and lost several times ; but when he comes to the close, and looks for the list of killed and wounded, he finds to his surprise not a single man slain, in the first of these actions ; and in the second, only one, who, having tumbled from The French army consisted of 3,600 pens d'annes. 20,000 French infantry, and 8,000 Swiss, without including the regular camp followers. The splendour and novelty of their appearance excited a deijree of admiration which disarmed in some measure the terror of the Italians. Peter Martyr, whose distance from the theatre of action enabled him to contemplate more calmly the operation of events, beheld with a prophetic eye tiie magui- tude of the calamities impending over his country. 314 ITALIAN WAES. his horse, and heing unable to rise, from the weight of his armour, was suffocated in the mud ! Thus war became disarmed of its terrors. Courage was no longer essential in a soldier ; and the Italian, made effeminate, if not timid, was incapable of encountering the advanturous daring and severe discipline of the northern warrior. The astonishing success of the French was still more imputable to the free use and admirable organisation of their infantry, whose strength lay in the Swiss mercenaries. Machiavelli ascribes the misfortunes of his nation chiefly to its exclusive reliance en cavalry. This servicf, during the whole of the middle ages, was considered among the European nations the most important ; the horse being styled by way of eminence "the battle." The memorable conflict of Charles the Bold with the Swiss mountaineers, however, in which the latter broke in pieces the celebrated Burgundian ordonnance, constituting the finest body of chivalry of the age, demonstrated the capacity of infantry ; and the Italian wars, in which we are now engaged, at length fully re- established its ancient superiority. The Swiss were formed into battalions varying from three to eight thousand men each. They wore little defensive armour, and their principal weapon was the pike, eighteen feet long. Formed into these solid bat- talions, which, bristling with spears all around, received the technical appellation of the hedgehog, they presented an invulnerable front on every quarter. In the level field, with free scope allowed for action, they bore down all opposition, and received unshaken the most desperate charges of the steel-clad cavalry on their terrible array of pikes. They were too unwieldy, however, for rapid or complicated manoeuvres ; they were easily disconcerted by an unforeseen impediment, or irregularity of the ground; and the event proved, that c^e Spanish foot, armed wit \\ its short swords, and bucklers, by breaking 'n under the long pikes of its enemy, could succeed in bringing him to close action, where his for- midable weapon was of no avail. It was repeating the ancient lesson of the Roman legion and the Macedonian phalanx. In artillery, the French were at this time in advance of the Italians, perhaps of every nation in Europe. The Italians, indeed, were so exceedingly defective in this department, that their best field-pieces consisted of small copper tubes, covered with wood and hides. They were mounted on unwieldy carriages drawn by oxen, and followed by cars or waggons loaded with stone balls. These guns were worked so awkwardly, that the besieged, says Gruicciardini, had time between the discharges to repair the mischief inflicted by them. From these circum- stances, artillery was held in so little repute, that some of the most competent Italian writers thought it might be dispensed with altogether in field engagements. The French, on the other hand, were provided with a beautiful train of ordnance, consisting of bronze cannon about eight feet in length, and many smaller pieces.* They were lightly mounted, drawn by horses, and easily kept pace with the rapid movements of the army. Thev dis- charged iron balls, and were served with admirable skill, intimidating their enemies by the rapidity and accuracy of their fire, and easily * Guiccumliui speaks of tlie name of " caunon," which the French gave to their pioce% is a novelty at, that time iu Italy. EXPEDITION OF CHAKI.ES Till. 315 demolishing their fortifications, which, before this invasion, were con- structed \vith little strength or science. The rapid successes of the French spread consternation among the Italian states, who now for the first time seemed to feel the existence of a common interest, and the necessity of efficient concert. Ferdinand was active in promoting these dispositions, through his ministers, Garcilasso de la Vega and Alonso de Silva, The latter had quitted the French court on its entrance into Italy, and withdrawn to Genoa. From thia point he opened a correspondence with Lodovico Sforza, who now began to understand that he had brought a terrible engine into play, the move- nuuts of which, however mischievous to himself, were beyond his strength to control. Silva endeavoured to inflame still further his jealousy of the French, who had already given him many serious causes of disgust ; and, in order to detach him more effectually from Charles's interests, encouraged him with the hopes of forming a matrimonial alliance for his son with one of the infantas of Spain. At the same time he used every effort to bring about a co-operation between the duke and the republic of Venice, thus opening the way to the celebrated league which was concluded in the following year.* The Roman pontiff had lost no time, after the appearance of the French army in Italy, in pressing the Spanish court to fulfil its engagements. He endeavoured to propitiate the good-will of the sovereigns by several important concessions. He granted to them and their successors the tercins, or two-ninths of the tithes, throughout the dominions of Castile ; an impost still forming part of the regular revenue of the crown, t He caused bulls of crusade to be promulgated throughout Spain granting at the same time a tenth of the ecclesiastical rents, with the understanding that the proceeds should be devoted to the protection of the Holy See. Towards the close of this year, 1494, or the beginning of the following, he conferred the title of Catholic on the Spanish sovereigns, in considera- tion, as is stated, of their eminent virtues, their zeal in defence of the true faith and the apostolic see, their reformation of conventual discipline, their subjugation of the Moors of Granada, and the purification of their dominions from the Jewish heresy. This orthodox title, which still continues to be the jewel most prized in the Spanish crown, has been appropriated in a peculiar manner to Ferdinand and Isabella, who are universally recognised in history as Los Reyes Cat6Ucos. J Ferdinand was too sensible of the peril to which the occupation of Naples by the French would expose his own interests, to require any stimulant to action from the Roman pontiff. Xaval preparations had. been going forward, during the summer, in the ports of Galicia and * Alonso do Silva acquitted himself to the entire satisfaction of the sovereigns in his difficult mission. He was subsequently sent on various others to the different It.ili:in . and uniformly sustained his reputation for ability and prudence. He did not live to be old. t This branch of the revemie yields at the present day, according to Laborde, about 6, 000. (TO reals, or 1,500.000 francs. ; The pope, according to Comines, designed to compliment Ferdinand and Isabella fo their conquest of Gran.id.-i, by transferring to them the title of Most Christian, hitherto injoyed by the kings of France. He had even gone so tar as to address them thus in moru than one of his briefs. This produced a remonstrance i'rom a number of the cardinals, which led him to substitute the title of Most Catholic. The epithet of Catholic was in>t new in the royal house of Castile, nor indeed of Aragon ; having been given t'.> prince Alfonso I., about the middle of the eighth, and to Pedro II. of Aragon, at the be^in- uicg of the thirteenth century 816 ITALIAN WJLRS. Guipuscoa, A considerable armament was made ready for sea by the latter part of December at Alieant, and placed under the command of Galceran de Requesens, count of Trevento. The land forces were intrusted to Gonsalvo de Cordova, better known in history as the Great Captain. Instructions were at the same time sent to the viceroy of Sicily, to provide for the security of that island, and to hold himself in readiness to act in concert with the Spanish fleet. Ferdinand, however, determined to send one more embassy to Charles the Eighth, before coming to an open rupture with him. He selected for this mission Juan de Albion and Antonio de Fonseca, brother of the bishop of that name, whom we have already noticed as superintendent of the Indian department. The two envoys reached Rome, January 28th, 1495, the same day on which Charles set out on his march for Xaples. They followed the army, and on arriving at Yeletri, about twenty miles irom the capital, were admitted to an audience by the monarch, who received them in the presence of his oflicers. The ambassadors freely enumerated the various causes of complaint entertained by their master against the French king ; the insult offered to him in the person of his minister, Alonso de Silva ; the contumelious treatment of the pope, and forcible occupation of the fortresses and estates of the church, and, finally, the enterprise against Xaples, the claims to which, as a papal fief, could of right be determined in no other way than by the arbitra- tion of the pontiff himself. Should King Charles consent to accept this arbitration, they tendered the good offices of their master as mediator between the parties ; should he decline it, however, the king of Spain stood absolved from all further obligations of amity with him, by the terms of the treaty of Barcelona, which expressly recognised his right to interfere in defence of the church. Charles, who could not dissemble his indignation during this discourse, retorted with great acrimony, when it was concluded, on the conduct of Ferdinand, which he stigmatised as perfidious ; accusing him, at the same time, of a deliberate design to circumvent him, by introducing into their treaty the clause respecting the pope. As to the expedition against Xaples, he had now gone too far to recede ; and it would be soon enough to canvas the question of right, when he had got possession of it. His courtiers, at the same time, with the impetuosity of their nation, heightened by the insolence of success, told the envoys that they knew well enough how to defend their rights with their arms, and that King Ferdinand would find the French chivalry enemies of quite another sort from the holiday tilters of Granada. These taunts led to mutual recrimination, until at length Fonseca, though naturally a sedate person, was so far transported with anger, that he exclaimed, " The issue then must be left to God, arms must decide it ; " and producing the original treaty, bearing the signatures of the two monarchs, he tore it in pieces before the eyes of Charles and his court. At the same time he commanded two Spanish knights who served in the French army to withdraw from it, under pain of incurring the penalties of treason. The French cavaliers were so much incensed by this audacious action, that they would have seized the envoys, and, in all probability, offered violence to their persons, but for Charles's interposition, who with more coolness caused them to be conducted from his presence, and sent back under a safe escort to Rome. Such are the EXPEDITION OF CHARLES VIII. 317 circumstances reported by the French and Italian writers of this remark- able interview. They were not aware that the dramatic exhibition, aa far as the ambassadors were concerned, was all previously concerted before their departure from Spain. Charles pressed forward on his march without further delay. Alfonzo the Second, losing his confidence and martial courage, the only virtues that he possessed, at the crisis when they were most demanded, had precipitately abandoned his kingdom while the French were at Rome, and taken refuge in Sicily, where he formally abdicated the crown in fin our of his son, Ferdinand the Second. This prince, then twenty-five years of age, whose amiable manners were rendered still more attractive by contrast with the ferocious temper of his father, was possessed of talent and energy competent to the present emergency, had he been sustained by his subjects. But the latter, besides being struck with the same panic which had paralysed the other people of Italy, had too little interest in the government to be willing to hazard much in its defence. A change of dynasty was only a change of masters, by which they had little either to gain or to lose. Though favourably inclined to Ferdinand, they refused to stand by him in his perilous extremity. They gave way in every direction as the French advanced, rendering hopeless every attempt of their spirited young monarch to rally them, till at length no alternative was left, but to abandon his dominions to the enemy without striking a blow in their defence. He withdrew to the neighbouring island of Ischia, whence he soon after passed into Sicily, and occupied himself there in collecting the fragments of his party, until the time should arrive for more decisive action. Charles the Eighth made his entrance into Naples at the head of his legions, February 22nd, 1495, having traversed this whole extent of hostile territory in less time than would be occupied by a fashionable tourist of the present day. The object of his expedition was now achieved. He seemed to have reached the consummation of his wishes ; -and, although he assumed the titles of King of Sicily and of Jerusalem, and affected the state and authority of Emperor, he took no measures for prosecuting his chimerical enterprise further. He even neglected to provide for the security of his present conquest ; and, without bestowing a thought on the government of his new dominions, resigned himself to the licentious and effeminate pleasures so congenial with the soft volup- tuousness of the climate and his own character. While Charles was thus wasting his time and resources in frivolous amusements, a dark storm was gathering in the north. There was not a state through which he had passed, however friendly to his cause, which had not complaints to make of his insolence, his breach of faith, his infringement of their rights, and his exorbitant exactions. His impolitic treatment of Sforza had long since alienated that wily and restless politician, and raised suspicions in his mind of Charles's designs against his own duchy of Milan. The emperor elect, Maximilian, whom the French king thought to have bound to his interests by the treaty of Senlis, took umbrage at his assumption of the imperial title and dignity. The Spanish ambassadors, GarcUasso de la Vega, and his brother, Lorenzo Suarez, the latter of whom resided at Venice, were inde- fatigable in stimulating the spirit of discontent. Suarez, in particular, used every effort to secure the co-operation of Venice ; representing to 318 ITALIAN WAES. the government, in the most urgent terms, the necessity of general concert and instant action among the great powers of Italy, if they would preserve their own liberties. Venice, from its remote position, seemed to afford the best point for coolly contemplating the general interests of Italy. Envoys of the different European powers were assembled there, as if by common con- sent, with the view of concerting some scheme of operation for their mutual good. The conferences were conducted by night, and with such secrecy as to elude for some time the vigilant eye of Comines, the sagacious minister of Charles, then resident at the capital. The result was the celebrated league of Venice. It was signed the last day of March, 1495, on the part of Spain, Austria, Rome, Milan, and the Venetian republic. The ostensible object of the treaty, which was to last twenty-five years, was the preservation of the estates and rights of the confederates, especially of the Roman see. A large force, amounting in all to thirty-four thousand horse and twenty thousand foot, was to be assessed in stipulated proportions on each of the contracting parties. The secret articles of the treaty, however, went much further, providing a formidable plan of offensive operations. It was agreed in these, that King Ferdinand should employ the Spanish armament, now arrived in Sicily, in re-establishing his kinsman on the throne of Naples ; that a Venetian fleet, of forty galleys, should attack the French positions on the Neapolitan coasts ; that the duke of Milan should expel the French from Asti, and blockade the passes of the Alps, so as to intercept the passage of further reinforcements ; and that the emperor and the king of Spain should invade the French frontiers, and their expenses be defrayed by subsidies from the allies. Such were the terms of this treaty, which may be regarded as forming an era in modern political history, since it exhibits the first example of those extensive combina- tions among European princes, for mutual defence, which afterwards became so frequent. It shared the fate of many other coalitions, where the name and authority of the whole have been made subservient to the interests of some one of the parties more powerful or more cunning than the rest. The intelligence of the new treaty diffused general joy throughout Italy. In Venice, in particular, it was greeted -with fetes, illuminations, and the most emphatic public rejoicing, in the very eyes of the French minister, who was compelled to witness this unequivocal testimony of the detestation in which his countrymen were held. The tidings fell heavily on the ears of the French at Naples. It dispelled the dream of idle dissipation in which they were dissolved. They felt little concern, indeed, on the score of their Italian enemies, whom their easy victories taught them to regard with the same insolent contempt that the paladins of romance are made to feel for the unknightly rabble, myriads of whom they could overturn with a single lance. But they felt serious alarm as they beheld the storm of war gathering from other quarters, from Spain. and Germany, in defiance of the treaties by which they had hoped to secure them. Charles saw the necessity of instant action. Two courses presented themselves ; either to strengthen himself in his new conquests, and prepare to maintain them until lie could receive fresh reinforcements from home, or to abandon them altogether and retreat across the Alps, before the allies could muster in sufficient strength to oppose him. With CAMPAIGNS OF GOXSALVO. 319 the indiscretion characteristic of his whole enterprise, he embraced a middle course, and lost the advantages which would have resulted from the exclusive adoption of either. CHAPTEE II, ITALIAN WABS RETREAT OF CHARLES VIII. CAMPAIGNS OF QONSAI.VO DB CORDOVA FIN'AI. EXPULSION OF THE FRENCH. 14951496. Impolitic conduct of Charles He plunders the Works of Art Gonsalvo de Cordova His brilliant Qualities Raised to the Italian Command Battle of Seminara Gonsalvo's Successes Decline of the French He receives the title of Great Captain Expulsion of the French from Italy. CHARLES THE EIGHTH might have found abundant occupation, during his brief residence at Naples, in placing the kingdom in a proper posture of defence, and in conciliating the good will of the inhabitants, without which he could scarcely hope to maintain himself permanently in his conquest. So far from this, however, he showed the utmost aversion to business, wasting his hours, as has been already noticed, in the most frivolous amusements. He treated the great feudal aristocracy of the country with utter neglect ; rendering himself difficult of access, and lavishing all dignities and emoluments with partial prodigality on his French subjects. His followers disgusted the nation still further by their insolence and unbridled licentiousness. The people naturally called to mind the virtues of the exiled Ferdinand, whose temperate rule they contrasted with the rash and rapacious conduct of their new masters. The spirit of discontent spread more widely, as the French were too thinly scattered to enforce subordination. A correspondence was entered into with Ferdinand in Sicily, and in a short time several of the most considerable cities of the kingdom openly avowed their alle- giance to the house of Aragon. In the meantime Charles and his nobles, satiated with a life of inactivity and pleasure, and feeling that they had accomplished the great object of the expedition, began to look with longing eyes towards their own country. Their impatience was converted into anxiety on receiving tidings of the coalition mustering in the north. Charles, how- ever, took care to secure to himself some of the spoils of victory, in a manner which we have seen practised on a much greater scale by his countrymen in our day. He collected the various works of art with which Naples was adorned, precious antiques, sculptured marble and alabaster, gates of bronze curiously wrought, and such architectural ornaments as were capable of transportation, and caused them to be embarked on board his fleet for the south of France, " endeavouring," says the curate of Los Palacios, "to build up his own renown on the ruins of the kings of Naples, of glorious memory." His vessels, how- ever, did not reach their place of destination, but were captured by a Biscayan and Genoese fleet off Pisa. Charles had entirely failed in his application to Pope Alexander the 320 ITALIAN WARS. Sixth for a recognition of his right to Naples by a formal act of investiture. He determined, however, to go through the ceremony of a coronation ; and, on the 12th of May, he made his public entrance into the city, arrayed in splendid robes of scarlet and ermine, with the imperial diadem on his head, a sceptre in one hand, and a globe, the symbol of universal sovereignty, in the other ; while the adulatory populace saluted his royal ear with the august title of Emperor. After the conclusion of this farce, he made preparations for his instant departure from Xaples. On the 20th of May he set out on his homeward march, at the head of one half of his army, amounting in all to not more than nine thousand fighting men. The other half was left for the defence of his new conquest. This arrangement was highly impolitic, since he neither took with him enough to cover his retreat, nor left enough to secure the preservation of Xaples. It is not necessary to follow the French army in its retrograde move- ment through Italy. It is enough to say, that this was not conducted with sufficient dispatch to anticipate the junction of the allied forces, who assembled to dispute its passage on the banks of the Taro, near Fornovo. An action was there fought, in which King Charles, at the head of his loyal chivalry, achieved such deeds of heroism as shed a lustre over his ill-concerted enterprise, and which, if they did not gain, him an undisputed victory, secured the fruits of it, by enabling him to effect his retreat without further molestation. At Turin he entered into negotiation with the calculating duke of Milan, which terminated in the treaty of Vercelli, October 10th, 1495. By this treaty Charles obtained no other advantage than that of detaching his cunning adversary from the coalition. The Venetians, although refusing to accede to it, made no opposition to any arrangement which would expedite the removal of their formidable foe beyond the Alps. This was speedily accomplished ; and Charles, yielding to his own impatience and that of his nobles, recrossed that mountain rampart which nature has so ineffectually provided for the security of Italy, and reached Grenoble with his army on the 27th of the month. Once more restored to his own dominions, the young monarch abandoned himself without reserve to the licentious pleasures to which he was passionately addicted, forgetting alike his dreams of ambition, and the brave companions in arms whom he had deserted in Italy. Thus ended this memorable expedition, which, though crowned with complete success, was attended with no other permanent result to its authors than that of opening the way to those disastrous wars which wasted the resources of their country for a great part of the sixteenth century. Charles the Eighth had left as his viceroy in Xaples Gilbert de Bourbon, duke of Montpensier, a prince of the blood, and a brave and loyal nobleman, but of slender military capacity, and so fond of his bed, says Comines, that he seldom left it before noon. The command of the forces in Calabria was intrusted to M. d'Aubigny, a Scottish cavalkr i>f the house of Stuart, raised by Charles to the dignity of grand constable of France. He was so much esteemed for hia noble and chivalrous qualities, that he was styled by the annalists of that day, says Brantome, " grand chevalier sans reproche." He had large experience in militant matters, and was reputed one of the best officers in the French sc i Besides these principal commanders, there were others of subordinate CAMPAIGNS OF GOXSALVO. 321 rank stationed at the head of small detachments on different points of the kingdom, and especially in the fortified cities along the coasts. Scarcely had Charles the Eighth quitted Naples, when his rival, Ferdinand, who had already completed his preparations in Sicily, made a descent on the southern extremity of Calabria. He was supported in this by the Spanish levies under the admiral llequesens, and Gonsalvo of Cordova, who reached Sicily in the mouth of May. As the latter of these commanders was dcsiincd to act a most conspicuous part in the Italian wars, it may not be amiss to give some account of his early life. Gonzalo Fernandez de Cordova, or Aguilar, as he is sometimes styled from the territorial title assumed by his branch of the family, was born at Montilla, in 1403. His father died early, leaving two sons, Alonso de Aguilar, whose name occurs in some of the most brilliant passages of the Avar of Granada, and Gousalvo, three years younger than his brother. During the troubled reigns of John the Second and Henry the Fourth, the city of Cordova was divided by the fends of the rival families of Cabra and Aguilar ; and it is reported that the citizens of the latter faction, after the loss of their natural leader, Gonsalvo's father, used to testify their loyalty to his house by bearing the infant children along with them in their rencontres : thus Gonsalvo may be said to have been literally nursed amid the din of battle. On the breaking out of the civil wars, the two brothers attached themselves to the fortunes of Alfonso and Isabella. At their court, the young Gonsalvo soon attract -d attention by the uncommon beauty of his person, his polished manners, and proficiency in all knightly exercises. He indulged in a profuse magnificence in his apparel, equipage, and general style of living : a circumstance which, accom- panied with his brilliant qualities, gave him the title at the court of d princijte Jc ls caralleros, the prince of cavaliers. This carelessness of expense, indeed, called forth more than once the affectionate remon- strance of his brother Alonso, who, as the elder son, had inherited the mayorazyo, or family estate, and who provided liberally tor Gousalvo' a support. He served during the Portuguese war under Alouso de Cardenas, grand master of St. James, and wa- honoured with the public commendations of his general for his signal display of valour at the battle of Albuera : where, it is remarked, the young hero incurred an unnecessary de-ive of personal hazard by the ostentatious splendour of his armour. Of this commander, and of the count of Tendilla, Gousalvo always spoke with the greatest deference, acknowledging that he had learned the rudiments of war from them. The Ion.: war of Granada, however, was the great school in which his military discipline was perfected. He did not, it is true, occupy so eminent a position in these campaigns as some other cliiefs of riper years and more enlarged experience ; but on various occasions he dis- played uncommon proofs both of address and valour. He particularly distinguished himself at the capture of Tajara, Illora, and Monte Frio. At the last place he headed the scaling party, and was the first to mount the walls in the face of the enemy. He wellnigh closed his career in a midnight skirmish before Granada, which occurred a short time before the end of the war. In the heat of the struggle his horse was slain ; and Gonsalvo, unable to extricate himself from the mora* I 322 ITAXIAN WARS. in which he was entangled, would have perished, but for a faithful servant of the family, who mounted him on his own horse, briefly commending to his master the care of his wife and children. Goztsalvo escaped, but his brave follower paid for his loyalty with his life. At the conclusion of the war, he was selected, together with Ferdinand's secretary Zafra, in consequence of his plausible address, and his fami- liarity with the Arabic, to conduct the negotiation with the Moorish government. He was secretly introduced for this purpose by night into Granada, and finally succeeded in arranging the terms of capitiu with the unfortunate Abdallah, as has been already stated. In con- sideration of his various services, the Spanish sovereigns granted him a pension, and a large landed estate in the conquered territory. After the war, Gonsalvo remained with the court, and his high reputation and brilliant exterior made him one of the most distinguished ornaments of the royal circle. His manners displayed all the romantic gallantry characteristic of the age, of which the following, among other instances, is recorded. The queen accompanied her daughter Joanna on board the fleet which was to bear her to Flanders, the country of IUT destined husband. After bidding adieu to the infanta, Isabella returned in her boat to the shore ; but the waters were so swollen that it was found difficult to make good a footing for her on the beach. As the sailors were preparing to drag the bark higher up the strand, Gonsalvo, who was present, and dressed, as the Castilian historians are careful to inform us, in a rich suit of brocade and crimson velvet, unwilling that the person of his royal mistress should be profaned by the touch of such rude hands, waded into the water, and bore the queen in his arms to the shore, amid the shouts and plaudits of the spectators. The inci- dent may form a counterpart to the well-known anecdote of Sir Walter Raleigh. fc Isabella's long and intimate acquaintance with Gonsalvo enabled her to form a correct estimate of his great talents. When the Italian expedition was resolved on, she instantly fixed her eyes on him as the most suitable person to conduct it. She knew that he possessed the qualities essential to success in a new and difficult enterprise, courage, constancy, singular prudence, dexterity in negotiation, and inexhaustible fertility of resource. She accordingly recommended him, without hesitation, to her husband, as the commander of the Italian army. He approved her choice, although it seems to have caused no little surprise at the court, which notwithstanding the favour in which Gonsalvo was held by the sovereigns, was not prepared to see him advanced over the heads of veterans of so much riper years and higher military renown than himself. The event proved the sagacity of Isabella. The part of the squadron destined to convey the new general to Sicily was made ready for sea in the spring of 1495. After a tempestuous voyage, he reacbed Messina on the 24th of May. He found that Ferdinand of Naples had already begun operations in Calabria, where he had occupied llcggio with the assistance of the admiral llequesens, * Another example of his gallantry occurred during the Granadine war, when the fire of Santa Fe had consumed the royal tent, with the greater part of the queen's apparel and other valuable effects. Gonsalvo, on learning the disaster, at his castle of Illora, supplied the queen so abundantly from the magnificent wardrobe of his wife, Doiia Maria JIanrique, as led Isabella pleasantly to remark, that " the fire had done more execution in bis quarters than iu her own," CAMPAIGNS OF GOXSALVO. 323 who reached Sicily with a part of the armament a short time previous to Gonsalvo's arrival. The whole effective force of the Spaniards did not exceed six hundred lances and fifteen hundred foot, besides those employed in the Heet, amounting to about three thousand and live hundred more. The finances of Spain had been too freely drained in the late Moorish war to authorise any extraordinary expenditure ; and Ferdinand designed to assist his kinsman rather with his name, than with any great accession of numbers. Preparations, however, were going forward for raising additional levies, especially among the hardy peasantry of the Asturias and Galicia, on which the war of Granada had fallen less heavily than on the south. On the 26th of May, Gonsalvo de Cordova crossed over to Reggio in Calabria, where a plan of operation was concerted between him and the Neapolitan monarch. Before opening the campaign, several strong places in the province, which owed allegiance to the Aragonese family, were placed in the hands of the Spanish general, as security for the reimbursement of expenses incurred by his government in the war. As Gonsalvo placed little reliance on his Calabrian or Sicilian recruits, he was obliged to detach a considerable part of his Spanish forces to garrison these places.* The presence of their monarch revived the dormant loyalty of his Calabrian subjects. They thronged to his standard, till at length he found himself at the head of six thousand men, chiefly composed of the raw militia of the country. He marched at once with Gonsalvo on St. Agatha, which opened its gates without resistance. He then directed his course towards Seminara, a place of some strength, about eight leagues from Reggio. On his way he cut in pieces a detachment of French on its march to reinforce the garrison there. Seminara imitated the example of St. Agatha, and, receiving the Neapolitan army without opposition, unfurled the standard of Aragon on its walls. While this was going forward, Antonio Grimaui, the Venetian admiral, scoured the ra coasts of the kingdom with a fleet of four-and-twenty galleys, and attacking the strong town of Monopoli, in the possession of the French, put the greater part of the garrison to the sword. D'Aubigny, who lay at this time with an inconsiderable body ot French troops in the south of Calabria, saw the necessity of some vigorous movement to check the further progress of the enemy. He determined to concentrate his forces, scattered through the province, and march against Ferdinand, in the hope of bringing him to a decisive action. For this purpose, in addition to the garrisons dispersed among the principal towns, he summoned to his aid the forces, consisting prin- cipally of Swiss infantry, stationed in the Basilicate, under Precy, a brave young cavalier, esteemed one of the best officers in the French service. After the arrival of this reinforcement, aided by the levies of the Angevin barons, D'Aubigny, whose effective strength now greatly surpassed that of his adversary, directed his march towards Seminara. * The occupation of these places by Gonsalvo excited the pope's jealousy as to the designs of the Spanish sovereigns. In consequence of his remonstrances, the Castiliaa envoy, Garcilasso de la Vega, was instructed to direct Gonsalvo, that, " in case any inferior places had been since put into his hands, he should restore them ; if they were "ol importance, however, he was first to confer with his own government." King Fardi- nand, as Abarca assures his readers, " was unwilling to give cause of complaint to any one, Mutau ht wtregreatly a gainer by it." I 2 324 ITALIAN WARS. Ferdinand, who had received no intimation of his adversary's junction with Precy, and who considered him much inferior to himself in numbers, no sooner heard of his approach, than he determined to march out at once before he could reach Seminara, and give him battle. Gonsalvo was of a different opinion. His own troops had too little experience in war with the French and Swiss veterans to make him Avilling to risk all on the chances of a single battle. The Spanish heavy- armed cavalry, indeed, were a match for any in Europe, and were even said to surpass every other in the beauty and excellence of their appoint- ments, at a period when arms were finished to luxury. He had but a handful of these, however ; by far the greatest part of his cavalry, consisting of ginetes, or light-armed troops, .of inestimable service in the wild guerilla warfare to which they had been accustomed in Granada, but obviously incapable of coping with the iron gendarmerie of France. He felt some distrust, too, in bringing his little corps of infantry without further preparation, armed, as they were, only with short swords and bucklers, and much reduced, as has been already stated, in number, to encounter the formidable phalanx of Swiss pikes. As for the Calabriau levies, he did not place the least reliance on them. At all events, lie thought it prudent, before coming to action, to obtain more accurate information than they now possessed of the actual strength of the enemy. In all this, however, he was overruled by .the impatience of Ferdinand and his followers. The principal Spanish cavaliers, indeed, as well as the Italian, among whom may be found names which afterwards rose to high distinction in these wars, urged Gonsalvo to lay aside his scruples ; representing the impolicy of showing any distrust of their own strength at this crisis, and of baulking the ardour of their soldiers now hot for action. The Spanish chief, though far from being convinced, yielded to these earnest remonstrances, and King Ferdinand led out his little armv without further delay against the enemy. After traversing a chain of hills, stretching in an easterly direction from Seminara, at the distance .of about three miles, he arrived before a small stream, on the plains beyond which he discerned the French army in rapid advance against him. He resolved to wait its approach ; and, taking position on the slope of the hills towards the river, he drew up his horse on the right wing, and his infantry on the left. The French generals, D'Aubigny and Preey, putting themselves at the head of their cavalry on the left, consisting of about four hundred heavy-armed and twice as many light horse, da-lu.l into the water without hesitati"ii. Their right was occupied by the bristling phalanx of Swiss spearmen in close array ; behind these were the militia of the country. The Spanish ginetes succeeded in throwing the French gendarmerie into some disorder, before it could form after crossing the stream ; but no sooner was this accomplished, than the Spaniards, incapable of withstanding the charge of their enemy, suddenly wheeled about and precipitately retreated, with the intention of again returning on their assailants, after the fashion of the Moorish tactics. The Cala- brian militia, not comprehending this manoeuvre, interpreted it into a defeat. They thought the battle lost, and, seized with a panic, broke their ranks, and tied to a man, before the Swiss infantry had time w much as to lower its lances against them. CAMPAIGNS OF GOXSALVO. 325 King Ferdinand in vain attempted to rally the dastardly fugitives. The French cavalry was soon upon them, making frightful slaughter in their ranks. The young monarch, whose splendid arms and towering plumes made him a conspicuous mark in the field, was exposed to imminent peril. He had broken his lance in the body of one of the fore- most of the French cavaliers, when his horse fell under him, and as his feet were entangled in th*e stirrups, he would inevitably have perished ill the melte, but for the prompt assistance of a young nobleman, named Juan de Altavilla, who mounted his master on his own horse, and calmly waited the approach of the enemy, by whom he was immediately slain. Instances of this affecting loyalty and self-devotion not unfre- quently occur in these wars, throwing a melancholy grac3 over the darker an/1 more ferocious features of the time. Gonsalvo was seen in the thickest of the tight, long after the king's escape, charging the enemy briskly at the head of his handful of Spaniards, not in the hope of retrieving the day, but of covering the flight of the panic-struck Neapolitans. At length he was borne along by the rushing tide, and succeeded in bringing otf the greater part of his cavalry safe to Semiuara. Had the French followed up the blow, the greater part of the royal army, with probably King Ferdinand and Gonsalvo at its head, would have fallen into their hands ; and thus not only the fate of the campaign, but of Naples itself, would have been permanently decided by this battle. Fortunately the French did not understand so well how to use a victory as to gain it. They made no attempt to pursue. This is imputed to the illness of their general, D'Aubigny, occasioned by the extreme unhealthiness of the climate. He was too feeble to sit long on his horse, and was removed into a litter as soon as the action was decided. Whatever was the cause, the victors, by this inaction, suffered the golden fruits of victory to escape them. Ferdinand made his escape on the same day on board a vessel which conveyed him back to Sicily ; and Gonsalvo, on the following morning before break of day, effected his retreat across the mountains to Reggio, at the head of four hundred Spanish lances. Thus terminated the tirst battle of importance in which Gonsalvo of Cordova held a distinguished command ; the only one which he lost during his long and fortunate career. Its loss, however, attached no discredit to him, since it was entered into in manifest opposition to his j udgment. On the contrary, his conduct throughout this affair tended greatly to establish his repu- tation, by showing him to be no less prudent in council than bold in action. King Ferdinand, far from being disheartened by this defeat, gained new o from his experience of the favourable dispositions existing towards him in Calabria. Relying on a similar feeling of loyalty in his capital, he determined to hazard a bold stroke for its recovery ; and that too, instantly, before his late discomfiture should have time to operate on the spirits of his partisans. He accordingly embarked at Messina, with a handful of troops only, on board the neet of the Spanish admiral, Itequesens. It amounted in all to ei-rhty vessels, most of them of inconsiderable size. With this armament, which, notwithstanding its formidable show, carried little effective force for land operations, the adventurous young monarch appeared off the harbour of Naples before the end of Tune. 326 ITALIAN WAES. Charles's viceroy, the duke of Montpensier, at that time garrisoned Naples with six thousand French troops. On the appearance of the Spanish navy, he marched out to prevent Ferdinand's landing, leaving a few only of his soldiers to keep the city in awe. But he had scarcely quitted it before the inhabitants, who had waited with impatience an opportunity for throwing oft' the yoke, sounded the tocsin, and, rising to arms through every part of the city, and massacring the feeble remains of the garrison, shut the gates against him ; while Ferdinand, who had succeeded in drawing off" the French commander in another direction, no sooner presented himself before the walls, than he was received with transports of joy by the enthusiastic people. The French, however, though excluded from the city, by making a circuit, effected an entrance into the fortresses which commanded it. From these posts Montpensier sorely annoyed the town, making frequent attacks on it, day and night, at the head of his gendarmerie, until they were at length checked in every direction by barricades which the citizens hastily constructed with wagons, casks of stones, bags of sand, and whatever came most readily to hand. At the same time, the windows, balconies, and house-tops were crowded with combatants, who poured down such a deadly shower of missiles on the heads of the French as finally compelled them to take shelter in their defences. Montpensier was now closely besieged, till at length, reduced by famine, he was com- pelled to capitulate. Before the term prescribed for his surrender had arrived, however, he effected his escape at night by water, to Salerno, at the head of twenty-five hundred men. The remaining garrison, with the fortresses, submitted to the victorious Ferdinand the beginning of the following year. And thus, by one of those sudden turns which belong to the game of war, the exiled prince, whose fortunes a few weeks before appeared perfectly desperate, was again established in the palace of his ancestors. Montpensier did not long remain in his new quarters. He saw the necessity of immediate action, to counteract the alarming progress of the enemy. He quitted Salerno before the end of winter, strengthening his army by such reinforcements as he could collect from every quarter of the country. With this body he directed his course towards Apulia, with the intention of bringing Ferdinand, who had already established his head-quarters there, to a decisive engagement. Ferdinand's force, however, was so far inferior to that of his antagonist, as to compel him to act on the defensive, until he had been reinforced by a considerable body of troops from Venice. The two armies were then so eqxially matched that neither cared to hazard all on the fate of a battle ; and the campaign wasted away in languid operations, which led to no important result. In the meantime, Gonsalvo de Cordova was slowly fighting his way up through southern Calabria. The character of the country, rough and mountainous, like the Alpuxarras, and thickly sprinkled with fortified places, enabled him to bring into play the tactics which he had learned in the war of Granada. He made little use of heavy-armed troops, relying on his ffinetes, and still more on his foot ; taking care, however, to avoid any direct encounter with the dreaded Swiss battalions. He made amends for paucity of numbers and want of real strength, by rapidity of movement, and the wily tactics of Moorish warfare ; darting on "the CAMPAIGNS OP GONSALYO. 327 enemy where least expected, surprising his strongholds at dead of i entangling him in ambuscades, and desolating the country with those terrible forays whose effects he had so often witnessed on the lair vegas of Granada. He adopted the policy practised by his master, Ferdinand the Catholic, in the Moorish war, lenient to the submissive foe, but wreaking terrible vengeance on such as resiste J . The French were sorely disconcerted by these irregular operations, so unlike anything to which they were accustomed in European warfare. They were further disheartened by the continued illness of D'Aubigny, and by the growing disaffection of the Calabrians, who in the southern provinces contiguous to Sicily were particularly well inclined to Spain. Gousalvo, availing himself of these friendly dispositions, pushed forward his successes, carrying one stronghold after another, until by the end of the year he had overrun the whole of Lower Calabria. His progress would have been still more rapid but for the serious embarrass- ments which he experienced from want of supplies. He had received some reinforcements from Sicily, but very few from Spain ; while the boasted Galician levies, instead of fifteen hundred, had dwindled to scarcely three hundred men, who arrived in the most miserable plight, destitute of clothing and munitions of every kind. He was compelled to weaken still further his inadequate force by garrisoning the conquered places ; most of which, however, he was obliged to leave without any defence at all. In addition to this, he was so destitute of the necessary funds for the payment of his troops, that lie was detained nearly two months at Xicastro, until February, 1496, when he received a remittance from Spain. After this, he resiimed operations with such vigour, that by the end of the following spring he had reduced all Upper Calabria, with the exception of a small corner of the province, in which D'Aubigny still maintained himself. At this crisis he was summoned from the scene of his conquest to the support of the king of Naples, who lay encamped before Atella, a town intrenched among the Apennines, on the western borders of the Basilicate. The campaign of the preceding winter had terminated without any decisive results, the two armies of Montpensier and King Ferdinand having continued in sight of each other without ever coming to action. These protractsd operations were fatal to the French. Their few supplies were intercepted by the peasantry of the country ; their Swiss and German mercenaries mutinied and deserted for Avant of pay ; and the ^Neapolitans in their service went off in great numbers, disgusted with the insolent and overbearing manners of their new allies. Charles the Eighth, in the meanwhile, was wasting his hours and health in the usual round of profligate pleasures. From the moment of recrossing the Alps, he seemed to have shut out Italy from his thoughts. He was equally insensible to the supplications of the few Italians at his court, and the remonstrances of his French nobles ; many of whom, although opposed to the lirst expedition, would willingly have undertaken a second to support their brave comrades, whom the heedless young monarch now abandoned to their fate. At length Montpensier, finding no prospect of relief from home, and straitened by the want of provisions, determined to draw oft' from the neighbourhood of Benevento, where the two armies lay encamped, and retreat to the fruitful province of Apulia, whose principal places were 328 ITALIAN 'WARS. still garrisoned by the French. He broke Tip his camp secretly at dead of night, and gained a day's march on his enemy, before the latter began his pursuit. This Ferdinand pushed with such vigour, however, that he overtook the retreating army at the town of Atella, and com- pletely intercepted its further progress. This town, which, as already noticed, is situated on the western skirts of the Busilicate, lies in a broad valley encompassed by a lofty amphitheatre of hills, through which flows a little river, tributary to the Ofauto, watering the town, and turning several mills which supplied it with flour. At a few miles distance was the strong place of Ripa Candida, garrisoned by the French, through which Moiitpensier hoped to maintain his communications with the fertile regions of the interior. Ferdinand, desirous if possible to bring the war to a close by the capture of the whole French army, prepared for a vigorous blockade. He disposed his forces so as to intercept supplies, by commanding the avenues to the town in every direction. He soon found, however, that his army, though considerably stronger than his rival's, was incompetent to this without further aid. He accordingly resolved to summon to his support Gonsalvo de Cordova, the fame of whose exploits now resounded through every part of the kingdom. The Spanish general received Ferdinand's summons while encamped with his army at Castrovallari, in the north of Upper Calabria. If he complied with it, he saw himself in danger of losing all the fruits of his long campaign of victories ; for his active enemy would not fail to profit by his absence to repair his losses. If he refused obedience, however, it might defeat the most favourable opportunity which had yet presented itself for bringing the war to a close. He resolved, therefore, at once to quit the field of his triumphs, and march to king Ferdinand's relief. But, before his departure, he prepared to strike such a blow as should, if possible, incapacitate his enemy for any eti'ectual movement during his absence. He received intelligence that a considerable number of Angevin lords, mostly of the powerful house of San Severino, with their vassals and a reinforcement of French troops, were assembled at the little town of Laino, on the north- western borders of Upper Calabria ; where they lay, awaiting a junction with D'Aubigny. Gonsalvo determined to surprise this place, and capture the rich spoils which it contained, before his departure. His road lay through a wild and mountainous country. The passes were occupied by the Calabrian peasantry in the interest of the Angevin party. The Spanish general, however, found no difficulty in forcing a way through this undisciplined rabble, a large body of whom he surrounded and cut to pieces as they lay in ambush ibr him in the valley of Murano. Laino, whose base is washed by the waters of the Lao, was defended by a strong castle built on the opposite side of the river, and connected by a bridge witli the town. All approach to the place by the high road was commanded by this fortress. Gonsalvo obviated this difficulty, however, by a circuitous route across the mountains. He marched all night, and fording the waters of the Lao about two miles above the town, entered it with his little army before break of day, having previously detached a small corps to take possession of the bridge. The inhabitants startled from their slumbers by the unexpected appearance of the enemy in their streets, hastily seized their arms and made for the castle on the CAMPAIGNS OF GOXSALVO. 329 other side of the river. The pass, however, was occupied by the Spaniards ; and the Neapolitans and French, hemmed in on every side, began a desperate resistance, which terminated with the death of their chief, America San Severiuo, and the capture of such of his followers as did not fall in the melee. A rich booty fell into the hands of the victors. The most glorious prize, however, was the Angevin barons, twenty in number, whom Gousalvo after the aetion, sent prisoners to Naples. This decisive blow, whose tidings spread like wildfire throughout the country, settled the fate of Calabria. It struck terror into the hearts of the French, and crippled them so far as to leave Gousalvo little cause for anxiety during his proposed absence. The Spanish general lost no time in pressing forward on his march towards Atella. Before quitting Calabria he had received a reinforce- ment of live hundred soldiers from Spain ; and his whole Spanish forces, according to Giovio, amounted to one hundred men-at-arms, five hundred light cavalry, and two thousand foot, picked men, and well schooled in the hardy service of the late campaign. Although a great part of his march lay through a hostile country, he encountered little opposition; for the terror of his name, says the writer last quoted, had everywhere gone before him. He arrived before Atella at the beginning of July. The king of Naples was no sooner advised of his approach, than he marched out of the camp, attended by the Venetian general, the marquis of Mantua, and the papal legate, Ca>ar Borgia, to receive him. All were t -am r to do honour to the man who had achieved such brilliant exploits ; who, in less than a year, had made himself master of the larger part of the kingdom of Naples, and that with the most limited resources, in defiance of the bravest and best disciplined soldiery in Europe. It was then, according to the Spanish writers, that he was by general consent greeted with the title of the Gi^at Captain ; by which he is much more familiarly known in Spanish, and it maybe added, in most histories of the period, than by his own name. Consalvo found the French sorely distressed by the blockade, which was so strictly maintained as to allow few supplies from abroad to pass into the town. His quick eye discovered at once, however, that, in order to render it perfectly cl'ectual, it would be necessary to destroy the mills in the vicinity, which supplied Atella with flour. He under- took this, on the day of his arrival, at the head of his own corps, Mont- pensier, aware of the importance of these mills, had stationed a strong guard for their defence, consisting of a body of Gascon archers and the Swiss pikemen. Although the Spaniards had never been brought into direct collision with any large masses of this formidable infantrv, yet occasional rencontres with small detachments, and increased familiarity with its tactics, had stripped it of much of its terrors. Gonsalvo had even, so far profited by the example of the Swiss, as to strengthen his infantry by mingling the long pikes with the short swords and bucklers of the Spaniards. He made two divisions of his cavalry, posting his handful of heavy- armed, with some of the light horse, so as to check any sally from the town, while he destined the remainder to support the infantry in the attack upon the enemy. Having made these arrangements, the Spanish chieftain led on his men confidently to the charge. The Gascon archery, however, seized with a panic, scarcely awaited his approach, but tied 330 ITALIAN WAHS. snamefully, before they had time to discharge a second volley of arrows, leaving the battle to the Swiss. These latter, exhausted by the sufferings of the siege, and dispirited by long reverses, and by the presence of a new and victorious foe, did not behave with their wonted intrepidity ; but, after a feeble resistance, abandoned their position, and retreated towards the city. Gonsalvo, having gained his object, did not care to pursue the fugitives, but instantly set about demolishing the mills, every vestige of which, in a few hours, was swept from the ground. Three days after, he supported the Neapolitan troops in an assault on 1( i | >a Candida, and carried that important post, by means of which Atelia maintained a communication with the interior. Thus cut off from all their resources, and no longer cheered by hopes of succour from their own country, the French, after suffering the severest privations, and being reduced to the most loathsome aliment for subsistence, made overtures for a capitulation. The terms were soon arranged with the king of Naples, who had no desire but to rid his country of the invaders. It was agreed that, if the French commander did not receive assistance in thirty days, he should evacute Atelia, and cause every place holding under him in the kingdom of Naples, with all its artillery, to be surrendered to king Ferdinand ; and that, on these conditions, his soldiers should be furnished with vessels to transport them back to France ; that the foreign mercenaries should be permitted to return to their own homes ; and that a general amnesty should be extended to such Neapolitans as returned to their allegiance in fifteen days. Such were the articles of capitulation signed on the 21st of July, 1496, which Comines, who received the tidings at the court of France, does not hesitate to denounce as a "most disgraceful treaty, without parallel, save in that made by the Roman consuls at the Caudine Forks, which was too dishonourable to be sanctioned by their countrymen." The reproach is certainly unmerited, and comes with ill grace from a court which was wasting in riotous indulgence the very resources indispensable to the brave and loyal subjects who were endeavouring to maintain ita honour in a foreign land. Unfortunately Montpensier was unable to enforce the full performance of his own treaty ; as many of the French refused to deliver up the places intrusted to them, under the pretence that their authority was derived, not from the viceroy, but from the king himself. During the discussion of this point, the French troops were removed to Baia and Pozzuolo, and the adjacent places on the coast. The unhealthine.ss of the situation, together with that of the autumnal season, and an intemperate indul- gence in fruits and wine, soon brought on an epidemic among the soldiers, which swept them oft' in great numbers. The gallant Mont- pensier was one of the first victims. He refused the earnest solicitations of his brother-in-law, the marquis of Mantua, to quit his unfortunate companions and retire to a place of safety in the interior. The shore was literally strewed with the bodies of the dying and the dead. Of the whole number of Frenchmen, amounting to not less than five thousand, who marched out of Atelia, not more than five hundred ever reached their native country. The Swiss and other mercenaries were scarcely more fortunate. "They made their way back as they could through Italy," says a writer of the period, "in the most deplorable CAMPAIGNS OF GONSALVO. 331 state of destitution and suffering, the gaze of all, and a sad example of the caprice of fortune." Such was the miserable fate of that brilliant and formidable array, which scarcely two years before had poured down on the fair fields of Italy in all the insolence of expected conquest. Well would it be, if the name of every conqueror, whose successes, though built on human misery, are so dazzling to the imagination, could be made to point a moral for the instruction of his species, as effectually as that of Charles the Eighth. The young king of Naples did not liye long to enjoy his triumphs. On his return from Atella, he contracted an inauspicious marriage with his aunt, a lady nearly of his own age, to whom he had been long attached. A careless and somewhat intemperate indulgence in pleasure, succeeding the hardy life which he had been lately leading, brought on a flux which carried him off in the twenty-eighth year of his age, and second of his reign (Sept. 7th, 1496). He was the fifth monarch who, in the brief compass of three years, had sat on the disastrous throne of Naples. Ferdinand possessed many qualities suited to the turbulent times in which he lived, lie was vigorous and prompt in action, and naturally of a high and generous spirit. Still, however, he exhibited glimpses, even in his last hours, of an obliquity, not to say ferocity of temper, which characterised many of his line, and which led to ominous con- jectures as to what would have been his future policy.* He was suc- ceeded on the throne by his uncle Frederic, a prince of a gentle disposition, endeared to the Neapolitans by repeated acts of benevolence, and by a mag- nanimous regard for justice, of which the remarkable fluctuations of his fortune had elicited more than one example. His amiable virtues, how- ever, required a kindlier soil and season for their expansion ; and, as the event proved, made him no match for the subtile and unscrupulous politicians of the age. His first act was a general amnesty to the disaffected Neapolitans, who felt such confidence in his good faith, that they returned, with scarcely an exception, to their allegiance. His next measure was to request the aid of Gonsalvo de Cordova in suppressing the hostile movements made by the French during his absence from Calabria. At the name of the Great Captain, the Italians flocked from all quarters, to serve without pay under a banner which was sure to lead them to victory. Tower and town, as he advanced, went down before him ; and the French general, D'Aubigny, soon saw himself reduced to the necessity of making the best terms he could with his conqueror, and evacuating the province altogether. The submission of Calabria was speedily followed by that of the few remaining cities, in other quarters, still garrisoned by the French ; comprehending the last rood of territory possessed by Charle* the Eighth in the kingdom of Naples. While stretched on his deathbed, Ferdinand, according to Bembo. caused the head of the prisoner, the Bishop of Te.ino, to be brought to him, and laid at the foot of his couch, that he might be assured with his own eyes of the execution oi the aeuteuo*. CHAPTEE III. WARS OON3ALVO SUCCOURS THE POPE TREATY WITH FRANCE ORGANISATION THE SPANISH MILITIA. 1496-1498. Qjnsalvo succours the Pope Storms Ostia Reception in Rome Peace with France Ferdinand's Reputation advanced by his Conduct in the War Organisation of tha Militia. IT had been arranged by the treaty of Venice, that, while the allies were carrying on the \var in Xaples, the emperor elect and the king of Spain should make a diversion in their favour, by invading the French frontiers. Ferdinand had performed his part of the engagement. Ever since the beginning of the war, he had maintained a large force along the borders from Fontarabia to Perpignau. In 1496, the regular army kept in pay amounted to ten thousand horse and fifteen thousand foot"; which, together with the Sicilian armament, necessarily involved an expenditure exceedingly heavy under the financial pressure occasioned by the Moorish war. The command of the levies in Roussillon was given to Don Enrique Enriquez de Guzman, who, far from acting on the defensive, carried his men repeatedly over the border, sweeping off fifteen or twenty thousand head of cattle, in a single foray, and ravaging the country as far as Carcassona and Xarbonne. The French, who had concentrated a considerable force in the south, retaliated by similar inroads, in one of which they succeeded in surprising the fortified town of Salsas. The works, however, were in so dilapidated a state, that the place was scarcely tenable, and it was abandoned on the approach of the Spanish army. A truce soon followed, which put an end to further operations in that quarter. The submission of Calabria seemed to leave no further occupation for the arms of the Great Captain in Italy. Before quitting that country, however, he engaged in an adventure, which, as narrated by his biographers, forms a brilliant episode to his regular campaigns. Ostia, the seaport of Home, was, among the places in the papal territory, forcibly occupied by Charles the Eighth, and on his retreat had been left to a French garrison under the command of a lUscayan adventurer named Menaldo Guerri. The place was so situated as entirely to com- mand the mouth of the Tiber, enabling the piratical horde who garrisoned it almost wholly to destroy the commerce of Rome, and even to reduce the city to great distress for want of provisions. The imbecile government, incapable of defending itself, implored Gonsalvo's aid in dislodging this nest of formidable freebooters. The Spanish general, who was now at leisure, complied with the pontiff's solicitations, and soon after presented himself before Ostia, with his little coips of troops, amounting in all to three hundred horse and fifteen hundred foot. G uerri, trusting to the strength of his defences, refused to surrender. GOXSALVO StTCCOTJRS THE POPE. 2o3 Gonsalvo, after coolly preparing his batteries, opened a heavy cannonade on the place, which at tlie end of h've days cllceted a practicable breach in the walls. In the meantime, Garcilasso de le Vega, the Castiliau ambassador at the papal court, who could not bear to remain inactive so near the field where laurels were to be won, arrived at Gonsalvo' s support, with a handful of Ills own countrymen resident in Home. This gallant little band, scaling the walls on the opposite side to that assailed by Gonsalvo, effected an entrance into the town, while the garrison was occupied with maintaining the breach against the main body of the Spaniards. Thus surprised, and hemmed in on both sides, Guerri and his associates made no further resistance, but surrendered themselves prisoners of war ; and Gonsalvo, with more clemency than was usually shown on such occasions, stopped the carnage, and reserved his captives to grace his entry into the capital. This was made a few days after, with all the pomp of a llonuvi triumph. The Spanish general entered by the gate of Ostia, at the head of his martial squadrons in battle array, with colours Hying and music playinjr, while the rear was brought up by the captive chief and his confederate*, so long the terror, now the derision of the populace. The balconies and windows were crowded with spectators, and the streets lined with multitudes, who shouted forth the name of Gonsalvo de Cordova, the " deliverer of Home ! " The procession took its way through the principal streets of the city towards the Vatican, where Alexander the Sixth awaited its approach, seated under a canopy of state in the chief saloon of the palace, surrounded by his great eccle- siastics and nobility. On Gunsalvo's entrance, the cardinals rose to receive him. The Spanish general knelt down to receive the benedic- tion of the pope, but the latter, raising him up, kissed him on the fore- head, and complimented him with the golden rose, which the Holy See was accustomed to dispense as the reward of its most devoted champions. In the conversation which ensued, Gonsalvo obtained the pardon of Guerri and his associates, and an exemption from taxes for the oppressed inhabitants of Ostia. In a subsequent part of the discourse, the pope taking occasion most inopportunely to accuse the Spanish sovereigns of unfavourable dispositions towards himself, Gonsalvo replied with much warmth, enumerating the various good offices rendered by them to the church ; and roundly taxing the pope with ingratitude, somewhat bluntly advised him to reform his life and conversation, which brought scandal on all Christendom. His Holiness testified no indignation at this unsavoury rebuke of the Great Captain, though, as the historians with some naicete inform us, he was greatly surprised to find the latter so fluent in discourse, and so well instructed in matters foreign to hia profession. Gonsalvo experienced the most honourable reception from King Frederic on his return to Naples. During his continuance there, he was lodged and sumptuously entertained in one of the royal fortresses ; and the grateful monarch requited his services with the title of Duke of St. Angelo, and an estate, in Abruzzo, containing three thousand vassals. He had before pressed these honours on the victor, who declined accepting them till he had obtained the consent of his own sovereigns, boon after, Gonsalvo, quitting Naples, revisited Sicily, where he adjusted 334 ITALIAN WARS. certain differences which had arisen betwixt the viceroy and the inha- bitants respecting the revenues of the island. Then embarking \\-ith his whole force, he reached the shores of Spain in the month of August, 1498. His return to his native land was greeted with a general enthu- siasm far more grateful to his patrotic heart than any homage or honours conferred by foreign princes. Isabella welcomed him with pride and satisfaction, as having fully vindicated her preference of him to his more experienced rivals for the difficult post of Italy ; and Ferdinand did not hesitate to declare, that the Calabrian campaigns reflected more lustre on his crown, than the conquest of Granada. The tntal expulsion of the French from Naples brought hostilities between that nation and Spain to a close. The latter had gained her point, and the former had little heart to resume so disastrous an enter- prise. Before this event, indeed, overtures had been made by the French court for a separate treaty with Spain. The latter, however, was unwilling to enter into any compact without the participation of her allies. After the total abandonment of the French enterprise, the seemed to exist no further pretext for prolonging the war. The Spanish government, moreover, had little cause for satisfaction with its con- federates. The emperor had not co-operated in the descent on the enemy's frontier, according to agreement ; nor had the allies ever reimbursed Spain for the heavy charges incurred in fulfilling her part of the engagements. The Venetians were taken up with securing to themselves as much of the Neapolitan territory as they could, by way of indemnification for their own expenses. The duke of Milan had already made a separate treaty with King Charles, In short, every member of the league, after the first alarm subsided, had shown itself ready to sacrifice the common weal to its own private ends. With these causes of disgust, the Spanish government consented to a truce with France, to begin for itself on the 5th of March, and for the allies, if they chose to be included in it, seven weeks later, and to continue till the end of October, 1497. This truce was subsequently prolonged, and, after the death of Charles the Eighth, terminated in a definitive treaty of peace, signed at Marcoussi, August 5th, 1498. Jn the discussions to which these arrangements gave rise, the project is said to have been broached for the conquest and division of the king- dom of Naples by the combined powers of France and Spain, which was carried into effect some years later. According to Comines, the proposi- tion originated with the Spanish court, although it saw fit, in a subse- quent period of the negotiations, to disavow the fact. The Spanish writers, on the other hand, impute the first suggestion of it to the French, who, they say, went so far as to specify the details of the partition subsequently adopted ; according to which the two Calabrias were assigned to Spain. However this may be, there is little doubt that Ferdinand had long since entertained the idea of asserting his claim, at some time or other, to the crown of Naples. He, as well as his father, and indeed the whole nation, had beheld with dissatisfaction the transfer of what they deemed their rightful inheritance, purchased by the blood and treasure of Aragon, to an illegitimate branch of the family. The accession of Frederic, in particular, who came to the throne with the support of the Angevin party, the old enemies of Aragon, had given great umbrage to the Spanish monarch. TREATY WITH FRANCE. 335 The Castilian envoy, Garcilasso de la Vega, agreeably to the instruc- tions of his court, urged Alexander the Sixth to withhold the investiture of the kingdom from Frederic, but unavailingly, as the pope's intends were too closely connected by marriage with those of the royal family of Naples. Under these circumst-.imvs, it was somewhat- doubtful what course Gonsalvo should be directed to pursue in the present exigency. That prudent commander, however, found the new monarch too strong in the att'eetious of his people to be disturbed at present. All that now remained for Ferdinand, therefore, was to rest contented with the -sion of the strong posts pledged for the reimbursement of his expenses in the war, and to make such use of the correspondence which the late campaigns had opened to him in Calabria, that, when the time arrived for action, he might act with eifect. Ferdinand's conduct through the whole of the Italian war had greatly enhanced his reputation throughout Europe for sagacity and prml It afforded a most advantageous comparison with that of his rival, ' 'harles the Eighth, whose very rirst act had been the surrender of so important a territory as lloussillon. The construction of the treaty relating to this, indeed, laid the Spanish monarch open to the imputa- tion of artifice. But this, at least, did no violence to the political maxims of the age, and only made him regarded as the more shrewd and subtile diplomatist ; while, on the other hand, lie appeared before the world in the imposing attitude of the defender of the church, and of the rights of his injured kinsman. His influence had been clearly discernible in. every operation of moment, whether civil or military. He had been most active, through his ambassadors at Genoa, Venice, and Home, ill stirring up the great Italian confederacy, which eventually broke the power of King Charles ; and his representations had tended, as much as any other cause, to alarm the jealousy of Sforza, to fix the vacillating ]K)litics of Alexander, and to quicken the cautious and dilatory move- ments of Venice. He had shown equal vigour in action; and contributed mainly to the success of the war by his operations on the side of lumssillon, and still more in Calabria. On the latter, indeed, he had not lavished any extraordinary expenditure ; a circumstance partly attributable to the state of his finances, severely taxed, as already noticed, by the Granadine war, as well as by the operations in Roussillon, but in part, also, to his habitual frugality, which, with a very different spirit from that of his illustrious consort, always stinted the measure of his supplies to the bare exigency of the occasion. Fortunately the genius of the Great Captain was so fruitful in resources as to supply overy deficiency ; enabling him to accomplish such brilliant results as effectually concealed any poverty of preparation on the part of his master. The Italian wars were of signal importance to the Spanish nation. Until that time, they had been cooped up within the narrow limits of the Peninsula, uninstructed and taking little interest in the concerns of the rest of Europe. A new world was now opened to them. They were taught to measure their own strength by collision with other powers on a common scene of action ; and, success inspiring them with greater confidence, seemed to beckon them on towards the field where they were destined to achieve still more splendid triumphs. This war afforded them also a most useful lesson of tactics. The 836 ITALIAN WA.HS. war of Granada had insensibly trained up a hardy militia, patient and capable of every privation and fatigue, and brought under strict sub- ordination. This was a great advance beyond the independent and disorderly habits of the feudal service. A most valuable corps of light troops had been formed, schooled in all the wild, irregular movements of guerilla warfare. But the nation was still defective in that steady, well-disciplined infantry, which, in the improved condition of military science, seemed destined to decide the fate of battles in. Europe thenceforward. The Calabrian campaigns, which were suited in some degree to the display of their own tactics, fortunately gave the Spaniards opportunity for studying at leisure those of their adversaries. The lesson was not lost. Before the end of the -war, important innovations were made in the discipline and arms of the Spanish soldier. The Swiss pike, or lance, which, as has been already noticed, Gonsalvo de Cordova had mingled with the short sword of his own legions, now became the regular weapon of one-third of the infantry. The division of the various corps in the cavalry and infantry services was arranged on more scientific principles, and the whole, in short, completely reorganised. Before the end of the war, preparations were made for embodying a national militia, which should take the place of the ancient hermandad. Laws were passed regulating the equipment of every individual according to his property. A man's arms were declared not liable for debt, even to the crown ; and smiths and other artificers w r ere restricted, under severe penalties, from working them up into other articles. In 1496, a census was taken of all persons capable of bearing arms ; and by an ordi- nance, dated at Valladolid, February 22nd, in the same year, it was provided that one out of every twelve inhabitants, between twenty and forty-five years of age, should be enlisted in the service of the state, whether for foreign war, or the suppression of disorders at home. The remaining eleven were liable to be called on in case of urgent necessity. These recruits were to be paid during actual service, and excused from taxes ; the only legal exempts were the clergy, hidalgos, and paupers. A general review and inspection of arms were to take place every year, in the months of March and September, when prizes were to be awarded to those best accoutred, and most expert in the use of their weapons. Such were the judicious regulations by which every citizen, without being withdrawn from his regular occupation, was gradually trained uj for the national defence ; and which, without the oppressive incumbranco of a numerous standing army, placed the whole effective force of tho country, prompt and fit for action, at the disposal of the goveviuueuU. whenever the public good should call for it. CHAPTER IT. AIJ-IANCES Of THE ROYAL FAMILY DEATH OF PRINCE JOHJT AND PRINCESS T*ABKT,U. Royal Family of Castile Matrimonial Alliances with Portugal With Austria Marriage of John and Margaret Death of Prince John The Queen's Resignation Indepen- dence of the Cortes of Aragon Death of the Princess Isabella Recognition of her infant sou Miguel. Tin: credit and authority which the Castilian sovereigns established by the success of their arms, were greatly raised by the matrimonial con- nexions which they formed for their children. This was too important a spring of their policy to be passed over in silence. Their family consisted of one son and four daughters, whom thev carefully educated in a manner bentting their high rank ; and who repaid their solicitude by exemplary iilial obedience, and the early manifestation of virtues rare even in a private station.* They seem to have inherited many of the qualities which distinguished their illustrious mother ; great decorum and dignity of manners, combined with ardent sensibilities and unaffected piety, which, at least, in the eldest and favourite daughter, Isabella, was unhappily strongly tinctured with bigotry. Thev could not, indeed, pretend to their mother's comprehensive mind and talent for business, although there seems to have been no deficiency in these respects ; or, if any, it was most effectually supplied by their excellent education.! The marriage of the princess Isabella with Alonso, the heir of the Portuguese crown, in 1490, has been already noticed. This had been ly desired by her parents, not only for the possible contingency, which it afforded, of bringing the various monarchies of the Peninsula under one head, (a design, of which they never wholly lost sight,) but from the wish to conciliate a formidable neighbour, who possessed various means of annoyance, which he had shown no reluctance to exert. The reigning monarch, John the Second, a bold and crafty prince, had never 'orgotten his ancient quarrel with the Spanish sovereigns in sup- port of their rival, Joanna Beltraneja, or Joanna the Nun, as she was piu'nillv called in the Castilian court after she had taken the veil. John, in open contempt of the treaty of Alcantara, and indeed of all monastic rule, had not only removed his relative from the convent of Santa Clara, but had permitted her to assume a royal state, and sul/- scribe herself " I the Queen." This empty insult he accompanied -with more serious efforts to form such a foreign alliance for the liberated * The princess Dofia Isabel, the eldest daughter, was born at Duenas, October 1st, 147f . Their second child and only son, Juan, prince of the Asturias, was not born until eight years later, June :.o:h, MYS, at Seville. L>oua Juana, whom the queen used p'.ayfully to call her " mother-in-law," sufgra, from her resemblance to King Ferdinand'* mother, was born at Toledo, November 6th, 1479. Doua Maria was born at Cordova, hi 14S2 ; and Dona Cataliua, the fifth and last child, at Alcala de Henares, December 5th, 14S5. The daughters all lived to reign ; but their brilliant destinies were clouded with domestic afflictions, from which royalty could afford no refuge. t The only exception to these remarks was that afforded by the infanta Joanna, whose unfortunate eccentricities, developed in later life, must be imputed indeed to bodily Infirmity. 338 THE EOTAL FAMITJ. princess as should secure her the support of some arm more powerful than his own, and enable her to renew the struggle for her inheritance with better chance of success.* These flagrant proceedings had provoked the admonitions of the Roman see, and had formed the topic, as may be believed, of repeated, though ineffectual remonstrance from the court of Castile, t It seemed probable that the union of the princess of the Asturias with the heir of Portugal, as originally provided by the treaty of Alcantara, would so far identify the interests of the respective parties as to remove all further cause of disquietude. The new bride was received in Portugal in a spirit which gave cordial assurance of these friendly relations for the future ; and the court of Lisbon celebrated the auspicious nuptials with the gorgeous magnificence for which, at this period of its successful enterprise, it was distinguished above every other court in Christendom. (Nov. 22, 1490.) Alonso's death, a few months after this event, however, blighted the fair hopes which had begun to open of a more friendly feeling between the two countries. His unfortunate widow, unable to endure the scenes of her short-lived happiness, soon withdrew into her own country to seek such consolation as she could find in the bosom of her family. There. abandoning herself to the melancholy regrets to which her serious and pensive temper naturally disposed her, she devoted her hours to works of piety and benevolence, resolved to enter no more into engagements which had thrown so dark a cloud over the morning of her life. On King John's death, in 1495, the crown of Portugal devolved on Emanuel, that enlightened monarch, who had the glory in the very commencement of his reign of solving the grand problem, which had so long perplexed the world, of the existence of an undiscovered passage to the East. This prince had conceived a passion for the yoiing and beauti- ful Isabella during her brief residence in Lisbon ; and, soon after his accession to the throne, he despatched an embassy to the Spanish court inviting her to share it with him. But the princess, wedded to the memory of her early love, declined the proposals, notwithstanding they were strongly seconded by the wishes of her parents, who, however, were unwilling to constrain their daughter's inclinations on so delicate a point, trusting perhaps to the effects of time, and the perseverance of her royal suitor. In the meanwhile, the Catholic sovereigns were occupied with negotia- tions for the settlement of the other members of their family. The am- bitious schemes of Charles the Eighth established a community of interests among the great European states, such as had never before existed, or, at least, been understood ; and the intimate relations thus introduced naturally led to intermarriages between the principal powers, who, until this period, seem to have been severed almost as far asunder as if oceans had rolled between them. The Spanish monarchs, in particular, had rarely gone beyond the limits of the Peninsula for their family alliances. The new confederacy into which Spain had entered now opened the way * Nine different matches were proposed for Joanna in tha course of her life ; but they all vanished into air, and "the excellent lady," as she was usually called by the Portu- guese, died, as she had lived, in single blessedness, at thu ripe age of sixty-eight. f Instructions relating to this matter, written with the queen's own hand, still esiil ALLIANCES AND DEATHS, 335 to more remote connexions, which were destined to exercise a permanent influence on the future politics of Europe. It was while Charles the Eighth was wasting- his time at Naples, that the marriages wan arranged between the royal houses of Spain and Austria, by which the weight of these great powers was thrown into the same scale, and the balance of Europe unsettled for the greater part of the following century. The treaty provided that Prince John, the heir of the Spanish monarchies, then in his eighteenth year, should be united with the princess Margaret, daughter of the emperor Maximilian ; and that the archduke Philip, his son and heir, and sovereign of the Low Countries in his mother's right, should marry Joanna, second daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella. No dowry was to be required with either princess. In the course of the following year, arrangements were also concluded for the marriage of the youngest daughter of the Castilian sovereigns with a prince of the royal house of England, the first example of the kind for more than a century.* Ferdinand had cultivated the good-will of Henry the Seventh, in the hope of drawing him into the confederacy against the French monarch ; and in this had not wholly failed, although the wary king seems to have come into it rather as a silent partner, if we may so say, than with the intention of affording any open or very active co-operation.t The relations of amity between the two courts were still further strengthened by the treaty of marriage above alluded to, finally adjusted October 1st, 1-496, and ratified the following year, between Arthur prince of Wales, and the infanta Dona Catalina, conspicuous in English his- tory, equally for her misfortunes and her virtues, as Catharine of Aragon.J The French viewed with no little jealousy the progress of these various negotiations, which they zealously endeavoured to thwart by all the artifices of diplomacy. But King Ferdinand had sufficient address to secure in his interests persons of the highest credit at the courts of Henry and Maximilian, who promptly acquainted him with the intrigues of the French government, and effectually aided in counteracting them. The English connection was necessarily deferred for some years, on account of the youth of the parties, neither of whom exceeded eleven years of age. No such impediment occurred in regard to the German alliances ; and measures were taken at once for providing a suitable con- veyance for the infanta Joanna into Flanders, which should bring back the princess Margaret on its return. By the end of summer, in H96, a * I believe there is no instance of such a union, save that of John of Gaunt , Duke of Lancaster, with Dona Constanza, daughter of Peter the Cruel, in 1371, from whom Queen Isabella was lineally descended on the father's side. The title of Prince of the A*turuu, uppropriated to the heir apparent of Castile, was first created for the Infant Don Henry, Aerwaxdi Henry III., on occasion of his marriage with John of Gaunt's daughter in 1388. It was professedly in imitation of the English title of Priuce of Wales; and the Asturias were selected, as that portion of the ancient Gothic monarchy which had never bowed beneath the Saracen yoke. t Ferdinand used his good offices to mediate a peace between Henry VII. and the king of Scots ; and it is a proof of the respect entertained for him by both these mouarchs, tiiat they agreed to refer their disputes t<> his arbitration. J The marriage had been arranged between the Spanish and English courts as far back as March 1480, when the elder of the parties had not yet reached the fifth year of her age This was continued by another, more full and definite, in the following year, 1490. By this treaty it was stipulated that Catharine's portion should lie 'JOn.uOO gold crowns, one- half to be paid down at the date of her marriage, and the remainder in two equal pay- ments in the course of the two years ensuing The prince of Wales was to settle on her one-third of the revenues of the principality of Wales, the dukedom of Cornwall, and arldom of Chester. z 2 S40 TKE KOYAL FAMILY. fleet consisting of one hundred and thirty vessels, large and small, strongly manned and thoroughly equipped with all the means of defence against the French cruisers, was got ready for sea in the ports of Gui- puscoa and Biscay. The whole was placed under the direction of Don Fadrique Enriquez, admiral of Castile, who carried with him a splendid show of chivalry, chiefly drawn from the northern provinces of the king- dom. A more gallant and beautiful armada never before quitted the shores of Spain. The infanta Joanna, attended by a numerous suite, arrived on board the fleet towards the end of August, at the port of Loredo, on the eastern borders of the Asturias, where she took a last farewell of the queen her mother, who had postponed the hour of separa- tion as long as possible, by accompanying her daughter to the place of embarkation. The weather, soon after her departure, became extremely rough and tempestuous ; and it was so long before any tidings of the squadron reached the queen, that her affectionate heart was tilled with the most distressing apprehensions. She sent for the oldest and most experienced navigators in these boisterous northern seas, consulting them, says Martyr, day and night on the probable causes of delay, the prevalent courses of the winds at that season, and the various difficulties and dangers of the voyage ; bitterly regretting that the troubles with France prevented any other means of communication than the treacherous element to which she had trusted her daughter. Her spirits were still further depressed at this juncture by the death of her own mother, the dowager Isabella, who, under the mental infirmity with which she had been visited for many years, had always experienced the most devoted attention from her daughter, who ministered to her necessities with her own hands, and watched over her declining years with the most tender solicitude. At length the long-desired intelligence came of the arrival of the Castilian fleet at its place of destination. It had been so grievously shattered, however, by tempests, as to require being refitted in the ports of England. Several of the vessels were lost, and many of Joanna's attendants perished from the inclemency of the weather, and the numerous hardships to which they were exposed. The infanta, however, happily reached Flanders in safety, and, not long after, her nuptials with the archduke Philip were celebrated in the city of Lisle with all suitable pomp and solemnity. The fleet was detained until the ensuing winter, to transport the des- tined bride of the young prince of the Asturias to Spain. This lady, who had been affianced in her cradle to Charles the Eighth of France, had received her education in the court of Paris. On her intended husband's marriage with the heiress of Brittany, she had been returned to her native land under circumstances of indignity never to be forgiven by the house of Austria. She was now in the seventeenth year of her age, and had already given ample promise of those uncommon powers of mind which distinguished her in riper years, and of which she has left abundant evidence in various written compositions. On her passage to Spain, in mid-winter, the fleet encountered such tremendous gales, that part of it was shipwrecked, and Margaret's vessel had well nigh foundered. She retained, however, sufficient com- posure, amidst the perils of her situation, to indite her own epitaph, in the form of a pleasant distich, which Fontenclle has made the subject ALLIANCES AND DEATHS. 341 of one of Ms amusing dialogues, where he affects to consider the fortitude displayed by her at this awful moment as surpassing that of the philoso- phic Adrian in his dying hour, or the vaunted heroism of Cato of Utica. Fortunately, however, Margaret's epitaph was not needed ; she arrived in safety at the port of Santauder in the Asturias early in March 1-197. The young prince of the Asturias, accompanied by the king his father, hastened towards the north to receive his royal mistress, whom they met and escorted to Burgos, where she was received with the highest marks of satisfaction by the queen and the whole court. Preparations were instantly made for solemnising the nuptials of the royal pair, after the expiration of Lent, in a style of magnificence such as had never before been witnessed under the present reign. The marriage ceremony took place on the 3rd of April, and was performed by the archbishop of Toledo in the presence of the grandees and principal nobility of Castile, the foreign ambassadors, and the delegates from Aragon. Among these latter were the magistrates of the principal cities, clothed in their municipal insignia and crimson robes of oftice, who seem to have had quite as important parts assigned them by their democratic communities, in this and all similar pageants, as any of the nobility or gentry. The nuptials were followed by a brilliant succession of fetes, tourneys, tilts of reeds, and other warlike spectacles, in which the matchless chivalry of Spain poured into the lists to display their magnificence and prowess in the presence of their future queen.* The chronicles of the day remark on the striking contrast exhibited at these entertainments, between the gay and lamiliar manners of Margaret and her Flemish nobles, and the pomp and stately ceremonial of the Castilian court, to which, indeed, the Austrian princess, nurtured as she had been in a Parisian atmosphere, could never be wholly reconciled. The marriage of the heir apparent could not have been celebrated at a more auspicious period. It was in the midst of negotiations for a general peace, when the nation might reasonably hope to taste the sweets ui' repose, after so many uninterrupted years of war. Every bosom swelled with exultation in contemplating the glorious destinies of their country under the beneficent sway of a prince, the first heir of the hitherto divided monarchies of Spain. Alas ! at the moment when Ferdinand and Isabella, blessed in the affections of their people, and surrounded by all the trophies of a glorious reign, seemed to have reached the very zenith of human felicity, they were doomed to receive one of those mournful lessons which admonish us that all earthly pros- perity is but a dream. Xot long after Prince John's marriage, the sovereigns had the satis- faction to witness that of their daughter Isabella, who, notwithstanding her repugnance to a second union, had yielded at length to the urgent entreaties of her parents to receive the addresses of her Portuguese lover. She required as the price of this, however, that Emanuel should first banish the Jews from his dominions, where they had bribed a resting place since their expulsion from Spain ; a circumstance to which the superstitious princess imputed the misfortunes which had fallen of late on the royal house of Portugal. Emanuel, whose own liberal mind * That these were not mere holiday sports, was proved by the melancholy death of Alouso de Cardeuas, sou of tho commeudador of Leon, who lost his life u. tourney. 342 THE ROYAL FA5TILT. revolted at this unjust and impolitic measure, was weak enough to allow his passion to got the better of his principles, and passed sentence of exile on every Israelite in his kingdom ; furnishing, perhaps, the only example in which love has been made one of the thousand motives for persecuting this unhappy race. The marriage, ushered in under such ill-omened auspices, was cele- brated at the frontier town of Valencia de Alcantara, in the presence of the Catholic sovereigns, without pomp or parade of any kind. "While they were detained there, an express arrived from Salamanca, bringing tidings of the dangerous illness of their son, the Prince of the Asturias. He had been seized with a fever in the midst of the public rejoicings to which his arrival with his youthful bride in that city had given rise. The symptoms speedily assumed an alarming character. The prince's constitution, naturally delicate, though strengthened by a life of habitual temperance, sunk Tinder ihe violence of the attack ; and when his father, who posted with all possible expedition to Salamanca, arrived there, no hopes were entertained of his recovery. Ferdinand, however, endeavoured to cheer his son with hopes which he did not feel himself ; but the young prince told him that it was too late to be deceived ; that he was "prepared to part with a world which, in its best estate, was filled with vanity and vexation ; and that all he now desired was, that his parents might feel the same sincere resignation to the divine will which he experienced himself. Ferdinand gathered new fortitude from the example of his heroic son, whose presages were unhappily too soon verified. He expired on the 4th of October, 1497, in the twentieth year of his age, in the same spirit of Christian philosophy which he had displayed during his whole illness. Ferdinand, apprehensive of the effect which the abrupt intelligence of this calamity might have on the queen, caused letters to be sent at brief intervals, containing accounts of the gradual decline of the prince's health, so as to prepare her for the inevitable stroke. Isabella, however, who through aU her long career of prosperous fortune may be said to have kept her heart in constant training for the dark hour of adversity, received the fatal tidings in a spirit of meek and humble acquiescence, testifying her resignation in the beautiful language of Scripture, " The I/ord hath given, and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be his name ! " " Thus," says Martyr, who had the melancholy satisfaction of rendering the last sad offices to his royal pupil, " was laid low the hope of all Spain." " Never was there a death," says another chronicler, "which occasioned such deep and general lamentation throughout the land." All the unavailing honours which affection could devise were paid to his memory. His funeral obsequies were celebrated with melancholy splendour, and his lemains deposited in the noble Dominican monastery of St. Thomas at Avila, which had been erected by his parents. The court put on a new and deeper mourning than that hitherto used, as if to testify their unwonted grief.* All offices, public and private, were closed for forty days ; and sable-coloured banners were suspended from the walls and portals of the cities. Such extraordinary tokens of public sorrow bear strong testimony to the interest felt in the young prince, Sackcloth was substituted for the white serge, which till this time had been used ta iLe mourning dicaa. ALLIANCES AND DEATHS. 343 Independently of his exalted station : similar, and perhaps mote unequi- vocal evidence of his worth, is afforded by abundance of contemporary notices, not merely in works designed for the public, but in private correspondence. The learned Martyr, in particular, whose situation, as Prince John's preceptor, afforded him the best opportunities of observa- tion, is unbounded in commendations of his royal pupil, whose extraordi- nary promise of intellectual and moral excellence had furnished him with the happiest, alas! delusive auguries, for the future destiny of his country.* By the death of John without heirs, the succession devolved on his eldest sister, the queen of Portugal, f Intelligence, however, was received soon after that event, that the archduke Philip, with the restless ambition which distinguished him in later life, had assumed for himself and his wife Joanna the title of " princes of Castile." Ferdinand and Isabella, disgusted with this proceeding, sent to request the attendance of the king and queen of Portugal in Castile, in order to secure a recognition of their rights by the national legislature. The royal pair, accordingly, in obedience to the summons, quitted their capital of Lisbon early in the spring of 1498. In their progress through the country thev were magnificently entertained at the castles of the great Castilian lords, and towards the close of April reached the ancient city of Toledo, where the cortes had been convened to receive them. After the usual oaths of recognition had been tendered , without opposi- tion, by the different branches to the Portuguese princes, the court adjourned to Saragossa, where the legislature of Aragon was assembled for a similar purpose. Some apprehensions were entertained, however, of the unfavourable disposition of that body, since the succession of females was not countenanced by the ancient usage of the country ; and the Aragonese, as Martyr remarks in one of his Epistles, " were well known to be a pertinacious race, who would leave no stone unturned in the maintenance of their constitutional rights." These apprehensions were fully realised ; for, no sooner was the object of the present meeting laid before cortes in a speech from the throne, with which parliamentary business in Aragou was always opened, than decided opposition was manifested to a proceeding which it was declared had no precedent in their history. The succession of the crown, it was contended, had been limited by repeated testaments of their princes to male heirs : and practice and public sentiment had so far coincided with this, that the attempted violation of the rule by Peter the Fourth, in . * It must be allowed to furnish no mean proof of the excellence of Prince John's heart, that it was not corrupted by the liberal doses of flattery with which his worthy tutor was in the habit of regaling him from time to time. 1 Hopes were entertained of a male heir at the time of John's death, as his widow was left pregnant ; but these were frustrated by her being delivered of a still-born infant at the end of a few months. Margaret did not continue long in Spain. She experienced the most affectionate treatment from the king and queen, who made her an extremely liberal provision. But her Flemish followers could not reconcile themselves to the reserve and burdensome ceremonial of the Castilian court, so different from the free and jocund life to which they had been accustomed at home ; and they prevailed on their mistress to return to her native land in the course of the year 1499. She was subsequently married f x> the Duke of Savoy, who died without issue in less than three years ; and Margaret passed the remainder of her life in widov.ho.fi, being appointed by her father, the emperor, to the government of the Xuthurkiuds, which she administered with ability. She died in 1530. '644 THE ROYAL FAMILT. favour of his own daughters, had plunged the nation in a civil war. It was further urged that by the will of the very last monarch, John the Second, it was provided that the crown should descend to the male issue of his son Ferdinand, and in default of such, to the male issue of Ferdinand's daughters, to the entire exclusion of the females. At all events, it was better to postpone the consideration of this matter until the result of the queen of Portugal's pregnancy, then far advanced, should he ascertained ; since, should it prove to be a son, all doubts of constitutional validity would be removed. In answer to these objections, it was stated, that no express law existed in Aragon, excluding females from the succession ; that an example had already occurred, as far back indeed as the twelfth century, of a queen who held, the crown in her own right ; that the acknowL power of females to transmit the right of succession necessarily inferred that right existing in themselves ; that the present monarch had doubtless as competent authority as his predecessors to regulate the law of inheritance, and that his act, supported by the supreme authority of cortes, might set aside any former disposition of the crown ; that this interference was called for by the present opportunity of maintaining the permanent union of Castile and Aragon, without which they must otherwise return to their ancient divided state, and comparative insignificance.* These arguments, however cogent, were far from being conclusive with the opposite party ; and the debate was protracted to such length, that Isabella, impatient of an opposition to what the practice in her own dominions had taught her to regard as the inalienable right of her daughter, inconsiderately exclaimed, " It would be better to reduce the country by arms at once, than endure this insolence of the cortes." To which Antonio de Fonseca, the same cavalier who spoke his mind so fearlesslv to king Charles the Eighth on his march to Naples, had the independence to reply, ' ' That the Aragonese had only acted as good and loyal subjects, who, as they were accustomed to mind their oaths, considered well before they took them ; and that they must certainly stand excused if they moved with caution in an affair which they found so difficult to justify by precedent in their history." f This blunt expostulation of the honest courtier, equally creditable to the sovereign who could endure, and the subject who could make it, was received in the frank spirit in which it was given, and probably opened Isabella's eyes to her own precipitancy, as we find no further allusion to coercive measures. Before anything was determined, the discussion was suddenly brought to a close by an unforeseen and most melancholy event, the death of the queen of Portugal, the unfortunate subject of it, That princess had * It is remarkable that the Aragone.se should so readily have acquiesced in the right of females to convey a title to the crown which they could not enjoy themselves. This wa precisely the principle on which Edward III. set up his claim to the throne of France, a principle too repugnant to the commonest rules of inheritance to obtain any countenance. The exclusion of females in Aragon could not pretend to be founded on any express law, as in France ; but the practice, with the exception of a single example three centuries old, was quite as uniform. t It is a proof of the high esteem in which Isaballa held this independent statesman, that we find his name mentioned in her testament among half a dozen others, whom she particularly recommended to her successors for their meritorious and loyal ALLIAXCES AND DEATHS. 345 possessed a feeble constitution from her birth, with a strong tendency to pulmonary complaints. She had early felt a presentiment that she should not survive the birth of her child ; this feeling strengthened as she approached the period of her delivery ; and in less than one hour after that event, which took place on the 23rd of August, 1498, she expired in the arms of her afflicted parents. This blow was almost too much for the unhappy mother, whose spirits had not yet had time to rally since the death of her only son. She, indeed, exhibited the outward marks of composure, testifying the entire resignation of one who had learned to rest her hopes of happiness on a better world. She schooled herself so far as to continue to take an interest in all her public duties, and to watch over the common weal with the same maternal solicitude as before ; but her health gradually sunk under this accumulated load of sorrow, which, threw a deep shade of melancholy over the evening of her life. The infant, whose birth had cost so dear, proved a male, and received the name of Miguel, in honour of the saint on whose day he first saw the light. In order to dissipate, in some degree, the general gloom occasioned by the late catastrophe, it was thought best to exhibit th& young prince before the eyes of his future subjects ; and he was accordingly borne in the arms of his nurse, in a magnificent litter, through the streets of the city, escorted by the principal nobility. Measures were then taken for obtaining the sanction of his legitimate claims to the crown. Whatever doubts had been entertained of the validity of the mother's title, there could be none whatever of tiie child's ; since those who denied the right of females to inherit for themselves, admitted their power of conveying such a right to male issue. As a preliminary step to the public recognition of the prince, it was necessary to name a guardian, who should be empowered to make the requisite engagements, and to act in his behalf. The Justice of Aiagon, in his official capacity, after due examination, appointed the grand-parents, Ferdinand ana Isabella, to the office of guardians during his minority, which would expire by law at the age of fourteen. On Saturday, the 22nd of September, when the queen bad sufficiently recovered from a severe illness, brought on by her late sufferings, the four arms of the cortcs of Aragon assembled in the house of deputation at ^unmuN-a; and Ferdinand and Isabella made oath as guardians of the heir apparent before the Justice, not to exercise any jurisdiction whatever in the name of the young prince during his minority; engaging, moreover, as far as in their power, that, on his coming of age, he should >\veur to ropvvt the laws and liberties of the realm, before entering on any of the rights of sovereignty himself. The four estates then took the oath of fealty to Prince Miguel, as lawful heir and successor to the crown of Aragon : with the protestation that it should not be construed into a precedent for exacting such an oath hereafter during the minority of the heir apparent. With such watchful attention to constitutional i'orms of procedure did the people of Aragon endeavour to secure their liberties ; forms which continued to be observed in later times, long after those liberties had been swept away.* * The reverence of the Aragonese for their institutions is shown in their observance of the most insignificant ceremonies. A remarkable instance of this occurred in the year 1481, at Saragossa, when the queen having been constituted lieutenant-genei-al of the 346 DEATH OP CARDINAL MEXDOZA. In the month of January of the ensuing year, the young prince's succession was duly conrirmed by the cortes of Castile, and, in the following March, by that of Portugal. Thus, for once, the crowns of the three monarchies of Castile, Aragon, and Portugal, were suspended over one head. The Portuguese, retaining the bitterness of ancient rivalry, looked with distrust at the prospect of a union ; fearing, with some reason, that the importance of the lesser state would be wholly merged in that of the greater. But the untimely death of the destined heir of these honours, which took place before he had completed his second year, removed the causes of jealousy, and defeated the only chance, which had ever occurred, of bringing under the same rule three inde- pendent nations, which, from their common origin, their geographical position, and, above all, their resemblance in manners, sentiments, and language, would seem to have originally been intended to form but one. CHAPTEE V. DEATH OF CARDINAL MEXDOZA RISE OF XIMENES ECCLESIASTICAL REFORM. IN the beginning of 1495, the sovereigns lost their old and faithful minister, the grand cardinal of Spain, Don Pedro Gonzalez de Mendoza. He was the fourth son of the celebrated marquis of Santillana, and was placed by his talents at the head of a family, every member of which must be allowed to have exhibited a rare union of public and private virtue. The cardinal reached the age of sixty-six, when his days were terminated, after a long and painful illness, on the llth of January, at his palace of Guadalaxara. In the unhappy feuds between Henry the Fourth and his younger brother Alfonso, the cardinal had remained faithful to the former ; but, on the death of that monarch, he threw his whole weight, with that of his powerful family, into the scale of Isabella, whether influenced by a conviction of her superior claims, or her capacity for government. This was a most important acquisition to the royal cause ; and Mendoza's consummate talents for business, recommended by the most agreeable address, secured him the confidence of both Ferdinand and Isabella, who had long been disgusted with the rash and arrogant bearing of their old minister, Carillo. On the death of that turbulent prelate, Mendoza eucceeded to the archiepiscopal see of Toledo. His new situation naturally led to still more intimate relations with the sovereigns, who uniformly deferred to his experience, consulting him on all important matters, not merely of a public, but of a private nature. In short, he gained such ascendancy in kingdom, and duly qualified to hold a cortes in the absence of the king her husband, who, br the ancient laws of the land, was required to preside over it in person, it wa* deetneH necessary to obtain a formal act of the legislature, for opening the door for her HIS CDTABA.CTEB. 347 the cabinet, during a long ministry of more than twenty years, that he was pleasantly called by the courtiers the "third king of Spain." The minister did not abuse the confidence so generously reposed in him. He called the attention of his royal mistress to objects most deserving it. His views were naturally grand and lofty; and, if he sometimes yielded to the fanatical impulse of the age, he never failed to support her heartily in every generous enterprise for the advancement of her people. When raised to the rank of primate of Spain, he indulged his natural inclination for pomp and magnificence. He tilled his palace with pages, selected from the noblest families in the kingdom, whom he carefully educated. He maintained a numerous body of armed retainers, which, far from being a mere empty pageant, formed a most effective corps for public service on all requisite occasions. He dispensed the immense revenues of his bishopric with the same munificent hand which has so frequently distinguished the Spanish prelacy, encouraging learned men, and endowing public institutions. The most remarkable of these were the college of Santa Cruz at Yalladolid, and the hospital of the same name for foundlings at Toledo, the erection of which, completed at his sole charge, consumed more than ten years each. The cardinal, in his younger days, was occasionally seduced by those amorous propensities in which the Spanish clergy freely indulged, con- taminated, perhaps, by the example of their Mahometan neighbours. lie left several children by his amours with two ladies of rank, from whom some of the best houses in the kingdom are descended. A cha- racteristic anecdote is recorded of him in relation to this matter. An ecclesiastic, who one day delivered a discourse in his presence, took occasion to advert to the laxity of the age, in general terms indeed, but bearing too pertinent an application to the cardinal to be mistaken. The attendants of the latter boiled with indignation at the preacher's freedom, whom they determined to chastise for his presumption. They prudently, however, postponed this until they should see what effect the discourse had on their master. The cardinal, far from betraving any resentment, took no other notice of the preacher than to send him a dish of choice game, which had been served up at his own table, where he was entertaining a party of friends that day, accompanying it at the same time, by way of sauce, with a substantial donative of gold doblas ; an act of Christian charity not at all to the taste of his own servants. It wrought its effects on the worthy divine, who at once saw the error of his ways, and, the next time he mounted the pulpit, took care to frame his discourse in such a manner as to counteract the former unfavourable impressions, to the entire satisfaction, if not edification of his audience. " Xow-a-days," says the honest biographer who reports the incident, himself a lineal descendant of the cardinal, "the preacher would not have escaped so easily. And with good reason ; for the Holy Gospel should be discreetly preached, ' cum grano salis,' that is to say, with the decorum and deference due to majesty and men of high estate." AVheu Cardinal Mendoza's illness assumed an alarming aspect, the coui-t removed t.u the neighbourhood of Guadalaxara, where he was con- fined. The king and queen, especially the latter, with the affectionate concern which she manifested for more than one of her faithful subjects, used to visit him in person, testifying her sympathy for his sxifferings, and benefiting by the lights of the sagacious mind which had so long 348 DEATH OF CAEDrs-AL 1TEXDOZA. helped to guide her. She still further showed her regard for her old minister by condescending to accept the office of his executor, which she punctually discharged, superintending the disposition of his etiVets according to his testament, and particularly the erection of the stately hospital of Santa Cruz, before mentioned, not a stone of which was laid before his death.* In one of her interviews with the dying minister, the queen requested his advice respecting the nomination of his slices. >r. 1 he cardinal, in reply, earnestly cautioned her against raising any one of the principal nobility to this dignity, almost too exalted for any subject, and which, when combined with powerful family connexions, would enable u man of factious disposition to defy the royal authority itself, as they had once bitter experience in the case of Archbishop Carillo. On being pi to name the individual whom he thought best qualified in every point ok view for the office, he is said to have recommended Fray Fra Xiincnez de Cisneros, a friar of the Franciscan order, and coulV- the queen. As this extraordinary personage exercised a more important control over the destinies of his country than any other subject during the remainder of the present reign, it will be necessary to put the reader in possession of his history, t Xiiuenez de Cisneros, or Ximenes, as he is usually called, was born at the little town of Tordelaguna, in the year 1436, of an ancient but decayed family. He was early destined by his parents lor ti.e church, and, after studying grammar at Alcala, was removed at fourteen to the university of Salamanca. Here he went through the regular course of instruction then pursued, devoting himself assiduously to the civil and canon law, and at the end of six rears received the degree of bachelor in each of them, a circumstance at tnat time of rare occurrence. Three years after quitting the university, the young bachelor removed by the advice of his parents to Rome, as affording a better field for ecclesiastical preferment than he could lind at home. Here he seems to have attracted some notice by the diligence with which he devoted himself to his professional studies and employments. But still he was far from reaping the golden fruits presaged by his kindred ; and at the expiration of six years he was suddenly called to his native country by the death of his father, who left his affairs in so embarrassed a condition as to require his immediate presence. Before his return, Ximenes obtained a papal bull, or expectatire, pre- ferring him to the first benefice of a specified value which should become vacant in the see of Toledo. Several years elapsed before such a vacancy offered itself by the death of the archpriest of Uzeda (1473) ; and Ximenes took possession of that living by virtue of the apostolic grant. * A foundling hospital does not seem to have come amiss iu Spiin. where, according to Balatar, the wretched parents frequently destroyed their offspring by casting them into wells and pits, or exposing them in desert places to die of famine. " The more compa*- tiimaU," he observes. " laid them at the doors of churches, were they were too oilea worried to death by dogs and other animals." The grand cardinal's nephew, who founded a similar institution, is said to have furnished an asylum in the coarse of his life to no leas than 13,000 of these littl* nenmi I t The dying cardinal is said to nave recommended, among other things, that the queen should repair any wrong done to Joanna Beltraneja, hy marrying her with the young Prince of the Asturias ; whicn suggestion was so little to Isabella's taste tint she broke on the conversation, saying, " the good man wandered and talked nonaeusc," MONASTIC REFORMS. 349 This assumption of the papal court to dispose of the church livings at its own pleasure, had been long regarded by the Spaniards as a flagrant imposition ; and Carillo, the archbishop of Toledo, in whose diocese the vacancy occurred, was not likely tamely to submit to it. He had, moreover, promised this very place to one of his own followers. He determined, accordingly, to compel Ximenes to surrender his pretensions in favour of the latter ; and, finding argument ineffectual, resorted to force, confining him in the fortress of Uzeda, whence he was subsequently removed to the strong tower of Santorcaz, then used as a prison for contu- macious ecclesiastics. But Carillo understood little of the temper of Ximenes, which was too inflexible to be broken by persecution. The archbishop in time became convinced of this, and was persuaded to release him, but not till after an imprisonment of more than six years. Ximenes, thus restored to freedom, and placed in undisturbed posses- sion of his benefice, was desirous of withdrawing from the jurisdiction of his vindictive superior ; and not long after effected an exchange for the chaplainship of Siguenza, 1480. In this new situation he devoted himself with renewed ardour to his theological studies, occupying himself diligently, moreover, with Hebrew and Chaldee, his know- ledge of which proved of no little use in the concoction of his famous Polyglot. Mendoza was at that time bishop of Siguenza. It was impossible that a man of his pi net ration should come in contact with a character like that of Ximenes, without discerning its extraordinary qualities. It was not long before he appointed him his vicar, with the administration of his diocese ; in which situation he displayed such capacity for business, that the count of Cifuentes, on falling into the hands of the Moors, after the unfortunate afi'air of the Axarquia, confided to him the sole manage- ment of his vast estates during his captivity. But these secular concerns grew more and more distasteful to Ximenes, whose naturally austere and contemplative disposition had been deepened, probably, by the melancholy incidents of his life, into stern religious enthusiasm. He determined, therefore, to break at once from the shackles which bound him to the world, and seek an asylum in some religious establishment, where he might devote himself unreservedly to the sen-ice of Heaven. He selected for this purpose the Observantines of tli e Franciscan order, the most rigid of the monastic societies. He :ied his various employments and benefices, with annual rents to the amount of two thousand ducats, and, in defiance of the arguments and entreaties of his friends, entered on his noviciate in the convent of I uan de los lieyes, at Toledo ; a superb pile then erecting by the Spanish sovereigns, in pursuance of a vow made during the war of Granada.* He distinguished his noviciate by practising every ingenious variety of mortification with which superstition has contrived to swell the inevitable catalogue of human sullerings. He slept on the ground, or on tin hard floor, with a billet of wood for his pillow. He wore haircloth * This edifice, says Salazar de Mendoza, in rsspect to its sacristy, choir, cloisters, library, Ac., was the most sumptuous and noted of its time. It was originally destined by th Catholic sovereigns for the place of sepulture ; an honour afterwards reserved for Granada, on ite recovery from r.he infidels. The great chapel was garnished with the fetters taken from the dungeons of Malaga, in which the Moors confined their Christian captives. 850 RISE OF XIMEXE3. next his skin ; and exercised himself with fasts, vigils, and stripes, to a degree scarcely surpassed by the fanatical founder of his order. At the end of the year he regularly professed, adopting then for the first time the name of Francisco, in compliment to his patron saint, instead of that of Gonzalo, by which he had been baptised. No sooner had this taken place, than his reputation for sanctity, which his late course of life had diffused far and wide, attracted multitudes of all ages and conditions to his confessional ; and lie soon found himself absorbed in the same vortex of worldly passions and interests from which he had been so anxious to escape. At his solicita- tion, therefore, he was permitted to transfer his abode to the convent of Our Lady of CastaSar, so called from a deep forest of chestnuts in which it was embosomed. In the midst of these dark mountain solitudes he built with his own hands a little hermitage or cabin, of dimensions barely sufficient to admit his entrance. Here he passed his days and nights in prayer, and in meditations on the sacred volume ; sustaining life, like the ancient anchorites, on the green herbs and running waters. In this state of self-mortification, with a frame wasted by abstinence, and a mind exalted by spiritual comtemplation, it is no wonder that he should have indulged in ecstacies and visions, until he fancied himself raised into communication with celestial intelligences. It is more wonderful that his understanding was not permanently impaired by these distempered fancies. This period of his life, however, seems to have been always regarded by him with peculiar satisfaction ; for long after, as his biographer assures us, when reposing in lordly palaces, and surrounded by all the appliances of luxury, he looked back with fond regret on the hours which glided so peacefully in the hermitage of Castaiiar. Fortunately, his superiors choosing to change his place of residence according to custom, transferred him at the end of three years to the convent of Salzeda. Here he practised, indeed, similar axisterities, but it was not long before his high reputation raised him to the post of guardian of the convent. This situation necessarily imposed on him the management of the institution ; and thus the powers of his mind, so long wasted in unprofitable reverie, were again called into exercise fur the benefit of others. An event which occurred some years later, in 1492, opened to him a still wider sphere of action. By the elevation of Talavera to the metropolitan see of Granada, the office of queen's confessor became vacant. Cardinal Mendoza, who was consulted on the choice of a successor, well knew the importance of selecting a man of the highest integrity and talent ; since the queen's tenderness of conscience led her to take counsel of her confessor, not merely in regard to her own spiritual concerns, but all the great measures of her administration, He at once fixed his eye on Ximenes, of whom he had never lost sight, indeed, since his first acquaintance with him at Siguenza. He was far from approving his adoption of the monastic life, and had been heard to say that "parts so extraordinary would not long be buried in the shades of a convent." He is said, also, to have predicted that Ximenes would one day succeed him in the chair of Toledo ; a pre- diction which its author contributed more than any other to verify. He recommended Ximenes in such emphatic terms to the queen, as raised a stronjj desire in her to see and converse with him herself. An MONASTIC 11EFORMS. .'5.51 invitation was accordingly scut him from the cardinal to repair to the court at Valladolid, without intimating the real purpose of it. Ximenes obeyed the summons, and, after a short interview with his early patron, was conducted, as if without any previous arrangement, to the queen's apartment. On finding himself so unexpectedly in the royal presence, he betrayed none of the agitation or embarrassment to have been expected from the secluded inmate of a cloister ; but exhibited a natural dignity of manners, with such discretion and fervent piety in his replies to Isabella's various interrogatories, as confirmed the favourable pre- possessions she had derived from the cardinal. Not many days after, Ximenes was invited to take charge of the queen's conscience (1492). Far from appearing elated by this mark of royal favour, and the prospects of advancement which it opened, he seemed to view it with disquietude, as likely to interrupt the peaceful tenor of his religious duties ; and he accepted it only with the under- standing that he should be allowed to conform in every respect to the obligations of his order, and to remain in his own monastery when his official functions did not require attendance at court. Martyr, in more than one of his letters dated at this time, notices the impression made on the courtiers by the remarkable appearance of the new confessor, in whose wasted frame, and pallid care-worn countenance, they seemed to behold one of the primitive anchorites from the deserts of Syria or Egypt. The austerities and the blameless purity of Ximenes' life had given him a reputation for sanctity throughout Spain ; and Martyr indulges the regret, that a virtue, which had stood so many trials, should be exposed to the worst of all, in the seductive blandish- ments of a court. But Ximenes' heart had been steeled by too stern a discipline to be moved by the fascinations of pleasure, however it might be by those of ambition. Two years after this event he was elected provincial of his order in Castile, which placed him at the head of its numerous religious establish- ments. In his frequent journeys for their inspection he travelled on foot, supporting himself by begging alms, conformably to the rules of his order. On his return he made a very unfavourable report to the queen of the condition of the various institutions, most of which he represented to have grievously relaxed in discipline and virtue. Con- temporary accounts corroborate this unfavourable picture, and accuse the religious communities of both sexes throughout Spain, at this period, of wasting their hours, not merely in unprofitable sloth, but in luxury and licentiousness. The Franciscans, in particular, had so far swerved from the obligations of their institute, which interdicted the possession of property of any description, that they owned large estates in town and country, living in stately edifices, and in a style of prodigal expense- not surpassed by any of the monastic orders. Those who indulged in this latitude were called Conventuals, while the comparatively small number who put the strictest construction on the rule of their founder were denominated Obscrrantines, or Brethren of the Observance. Ximenes, it will be remembered, was one of the latter. The Spanish sovereigns had long witnessed with deep regret the scandalous abuses which had crept into these ancient institutions, and had employed commissioners for investigating and reforming them, but UietfectuaJlj. Isabella now gladly availed herself of the assistance of 3^2 RISE OF XIMENE9. her confessor in bringing them into a tetter state of discipline. In thft course of the same year, 1494, she obtained a bull with full authority for this purpose from Alexander the Sixth, the execution of which she intrusted to Xinienes. The work of reform required all the energies of his powerful mind, backed by the royal authority ; for, in addition to the obvious difficulty of persuading men to resign the good things of this world for a life of penance and mortification, there were other impedi- ments, arising from the circumstance that the Conventuals had been countenanced in their lax interpretation of the rules of their order by many of their own superiors, and even the popes themselves. They were besides sustained in their opposition by many of the great lords, who were apprehensive that the rich chapels and masses, which they or their ancestors had founded in the various monasteries, would be neglected by the Observantines, whose scrupulous adherence to the vow of poverty excluded them from what, in church as well as state, is too often found the most cogent incentive to the performance of duty. From these various causes, the work of reform went on slowly ; but the untiring exertions of Ximenes gradually effected its adoption in many establishments; and, where fair means could not prevail, he sometimes resorted to force. The monks of one of the convents in Toledo, being ejected from their dwelling, in consequence of their pertinacious resist- ance, marched out in solemn procession, with the crucifix before them, chaunting, at the same time, the psalm In exitu Israel in token of their persecution. Isabella resorted to milder methods. She visited many of the nunneries in person, taking her needle or distaff with her, and endeavouring by her conversation and example to withdraw their inmates from the low and frivolous pleasures to which they were addicted. While the reformation was thus silently going forward, the vacancy in the archbishopric of Toledo, already noticed, occurred by the death of the grand cardinal (1495). Isabella deeply felt the responsibility of providing a suitable person to this dignity, the most considerable not merely in Spain, but probably in Christendom, after the papacy ; and which, moreover, raised its possessor to eminent political rank, as high chancellor of Castile.* The right of nomination to benefices was vested in the queen by the original settlement of the crown. She had uniformly discharged this trust with the most conscientious impartiality, conferring the honours of the church on none but persons of approved piety and learning. In the present instance, she was strongly solicited by Ferdi- nand in favour of his natural son Alfonso, archbishop of Saragossa. But this prelate, although not devoid of talent, had neither the age nor experience, and still less the exemplary morals, demanded for this important station ; and the queen mildly, but unhesitatingly, resisted all entreaty and expostulation of her husband on his behalf, f The post had always been filled by men of high family. The queen, * Ferdinand and Isabella annexed the dignity of high chancellor in perpetuity to that of archbishop of Toledo. It seems, however, at least in later times, to have been a mere honorary title. The revenues of the archbishopric at the beginning of the sixteenth century amounted to SO.OOii ducats. t This prelate was at this time only twenty-four years of age. He had been raised to the see of Saragossa when only six. This strange abuse of preferring infanta to the highest dignities of the church seems to have prevailed in Castile as well as Arapon ; for tin: tombs of live archdeacons might be seen in the church of Madre de Dios at Toledc, in Salazar's time, whose united ages amounted only to thirty years. MONASTIC KEFOKHS. 353 loth to depart from this usage, notwithstanding the dying admonition of Mendoza, turned her eyes on various candidates before she determined in favour of her own confessor, whose character presented so rare a com- bination of talent and virtue as amply compensated any deiiciency of birth. As soon as the papal bull reached Castile, confirming the royal nomination, Isabella summoned Ximenes to her presence, and delivering to him the parcel, requested him to open it before her. The confessor, who had no suspicion of their real purport, took the letters and devoutly pressed them to his lips ; when his eye tailing on the superscription, " To our venerable brother Francisco Ximenez de Cisneros, archbishop elect of Toledo," he changed colour, and involuntarily dropped the packet from his hands, exclaiming, " There is some mistake in this, it cannot be intended for me ; " and abruptly quitted the apartment. The queen, far from taking umbrage at this unceremonious proceeding, waited awhile, until the lirst emotions of surprise should have subsided. Finding that he did not return, however, she despatched two of the grandees, who she thought would have the most influence with him, to seek him out and persuade him to accept the office. The nobles instantly repaired to his convent in Madrid, in which city the queen then kept her court. They found, however, that he had already left the place. Having ascertained his route, they mounted their horses, and following as fast as possible, succeeded in overtaking him at three leagues' distance from the city, as he was travelling on foot at a rapid rate, though in the noon- tide heat, on his way to the Franciscan monastery at Ocana. After a brief expostulation with Ximenes on his abrupt departure, they prevailed on him to retrace his steps to Madrid ; but, upon his arrival there, neither the arguments nor entreaties of his friends, backed as they were by the avowed wishes of his sovereign, could overcome bis scruples, or induce him to accept an office of which he professed himself unworthy. "He had hoped," he said, "to pass the remainder of his days in the quiet practice of his monastic duties ; and it was too late now to call him into public life, and impose a charge of such heavy responsibility on him, for which he had neither capacity nor inclination. ' In this resolution he pertinaciously persisted for more than six months, until a second bull was obtained from the pope, commanding him no longer to decline an appointment which the church had seen lit to sanction. This left no further room for opposition; and Ximenea acquiesced, though with evident reluctance, in his advancement to the lirst dignity in the kingdom. There seems to be no good ground for charging Ximenes with hypocrisy in this singular display of humility. The tiolo episcopari, indeed, has passed into a proverb ; but his refusal was too long and sturdily main- tained to be reconciled with affectation or insincerity. He was, more- over, at this time, in the sixtieth year of his age, when ambition, though not extinguished, is usually chilled in the human heart. His habits had been long accommodated to the ascetic duties of the cloister, and his thoughts turned from the business of this world to that beyond the grave. However gratifying the distinguished honour conferred on him might be to his persons.1 feelings, he might naturally hesitate to exchange the calm, sequestered way of life, to which he had voluntarily devoted hini- elf, for the turmoil and vexations of the world. A A. 354 K1SE OF XIMEXES. But, although Ximenes showed no craving for power, it must be con- fessed he was by no means diftident in the use of it. One of the very first acts of his administration is too characteristic to be omitted. Th government of Cazorla, the most considerable place in the gift of the archbishop of Toledo, had been intrusted by the grand cardinal to his younger brother, Don Pedro Hurtado de Mendoza. The friends of this nobleman applied to Ximenes to confirm the appointment, reminding him at the same time of his own obligations to the cardinal, and enforcing their petition by the recommendation which they had obtained from the queen. This was not the way to approach Ximenes, who was jealous of any improper influence over his own judgment, and, above all, of the too easy abuse of the royal favour. He was determined, in the outset, effectually to discourage all such applications ; . and he declared that " the sovereigns might send him back to the cloister again, but that no personal considerations should ever operate with him in distributing the honours of the church." The applicants, nettled at this response, returned to the queen, complaining in the bitterest terms of the arrogance and ingratitude of the new primate. Isabella, however, evinced no symptoms of disapprobation, not altogether displeased, perhaps, with the honest independence of her minister ; at any rate, she took no further notice of the affair. Some time after, the archbishop encountered Mendoza in one of the avenues of the palace, and, as the latter was turning off to avoid the meeting, he saluted him with the title of adelantado of Cazorla. Mendoza stared with astonishment at the prelate, who repeated the salutation, assuring him, " that, now he was at full liberty to consult his own judgment, without the suspicion of any sinister influence, he was happy to restore him to a station for which he had shown himself well qualified." It is scarcely necessary to say, that Ximenes was not importuned after this with solicitations for office. Indeed all personal application he affected to regard as of itself sufficient ground for a denial, since it indicated " the want either of merit or of humility in the applicant." After his elevation to the primacy, he retained the same simple and austere manners as before, dispensing his large revenues in public and private charities, but regulating his domestic expenditure witli the severest economy, until he was admonished by the Holy See to adopt a state more consonant with the dignity of his office, if he would not disparage it in popular estimation. In obedience to this, he so far changed his habits as to display the usual magnificence of his predecessors in all that met the public eye, his general style of living, equipage, and the number and pomp of his retainers ; but he relaxed nothing of his own personal mortifications. He maintained the same abstemious diet amidst all the luxuries of his table. Under his robes of silk or costly furs he wore the coarse frock of St. Francis, which he used to mend with his own hands. He used no linen about his person or bed ; and he slept on a miserable pallet like that used by the monks of his fraternity, and so contrived as to be concealed from observation under the luxurious couch in which he affected to repose.* * He commonly slept in his Franciscan habit. Of course, his toilet took no long time. On one occasion, as he was travelling, and up as usual Ions before dawn, lie urged hia muleteer to dress himself quickly, at which the latter irrevereutly exclaimed, "Cuorpo MONASTIC REFORMS. 3dJ As soon as Ximenes entered on the duties of his office, he bent all the energies of his mind to the consummation of the schemes of reform which his royal miuld not be conducted so privately as to escape the knowledge of Ximenes. He was no soon-.-r acquainted with it, than he dispatched an officer to the coast, with orders t i arrest the emissary. In case he had already embarked, the officer was authorised to lit out a fast-sailing vessel, so as to reach Italy, if possible before him. He was at the same time fortified with despatches from the sovereigns to the Spanish minister, Garcilasso de la Vega, to be delivered immediately on his arrival. The affair turned out as had been foreseen. On arriving at the port, the officer found the bird had flown. He followed, however, without delay, and had the good fortune to reach Ostia several days before him. He forwarded his instructions at once to the Spanish iniiiist r, who, in pursuance of them, caused Albornoz to be arrested the moment he set toot on shore, and sent him back as a prisoner of state to Spain ; where a close confinement for two and twenty months admonished the worthy canon of the inexpediency of thwarting the plans of Ximenes. His attempts at innovation among the regular clergy of his own order, were encountered with more serious opposition. The reform fell most heavily on the Franciscans, who were interdicted by their rules from holding property, whether as a community, or as individuals ; while the members of other fraternities found some compensation for the surrender of their private fortunes, in the consequent augmentation of those of their 1 fraternity. There was no one of the religious orders, therefore, in which the archbishop experienced such a dogged resistance to his plans, as in his own. More than a thousand friars, according to some accounts, quitted the country, and passed over to Barbary, preferring rather to live with the infidel than, conform, to the strict letter of the founder's rules. The difficulties of the reform were perhaps augmented by the mode i:i which it was conducted. Isabella, indeed, used all gentleness au-l p -r- Buasiou ; but Ximenes carried measures with a high and iuexorabl hand. He was naturally of an austere and arbitrary temper ; and the severe training which he had undergone made him less charitable for tliv lapses of others, especially of those who, Like himself, had voluntarily incurred the obligations of monastic rule. He was conscious of tho rectitude of his intentions ; and, as he identified his own interests with those of the church, he regarded all opposition to himself as an offence against religion, warranting the most peremptory exertion of power. The clamour raised against his proceedings became at length o d* Dioe ! does your holiness think T have nothing more t: do, thnn to shake myself like wet spaniel, aud tighten my cord a little?" Quintanilla, Archetype, ubi supra. A A 2 556 EISE OF alarming, that the general of the Franciscans, who resided at Rome, determined to anticipate the regular period of his visit to Castile for inspecting the'afl'airs of the order (1496). As he wa< himself a Conventual his prejudices were, of course, all enlisted against the measures of relorm ; and he came over fully resolved to compel Ximenes to abandon it alto- gether, or to undermine, if possible, his credit and influence at court. But this functionary had neither the talent nor temper requisite for BO arduous an undertaking. He had not been long in Castile before he was convinced that all his own power, as head of the order, would be incompetent to protect it against the bold innovations of his provincial, while supported by royal authority. He demanded, therefore, an audience of the queen in which he declared his sentiments with verv little reserve. He expressed his astonishment that she should have selected an individual for the highest dignity in the church, who was destitute of nearly every qualification, even that of birth ; whose sanctity was a mere cloak to cover his ambition ; whose morose and melancholy temper made him an enemy not only of the elegancies, but the common courtesies of life ; and whose rude manners were not compensated by any tincture of liberal learning. He deplored the magnitude of the evil which his intemperate meu had brought on the church, but which it was, perhaps, not yet too late to rectify ; and he concluded by admonishing her, that if she valued her own fame, or the interests of her soul, she would compel this man of yesterday to abdicate the office for which he had proved himself so incompetent, and return to his original obscurity ! The queen, who listened to this violent harangue with an indigna- tion that prompted her more than 'once to order the speaker from her presence, put a restraint on her feelings, and patiently waited to the end. When he had finished, she calmly asked him, "If h"e was in his senses, and knew whom he was thus addressing?" "Yes," replied the enraged friar, " I am in my senses, and know very well whom I am speaking to ; the Queen of Castile, a mere handful of dust like myself ! ; ' With these words he rushed out of the apartment, shutting the door after him with furious violence. Such impotent bursts of passion could, of course, have no power to turn the queen from her purpose. The general, however, on his return to Italy, had sufficient address to obtain authority from his Holiness to send a commission of Conventuals to Castile, who should be associated with Ximenes in the management of the reform. These individuals soon found themselves mere ciphers ; and, highly offended at the little account which the archbishop made of their authority, they preferred such com- plaints of his proceedings to the pontifical court, that Alexander the Sixth was induced, with the advice of the college of cardinals, to issue a brief, November 9th, 1496, peremptorily inhibiting the sovereigns from proceeding further in the affair until it had been regularly submitted for examination to the head of the church. Isabella, on receiving this unwelcome mandate, instantly sent it to Ximenes. The spirit of the latter, however, rose in proportion to the obstacles it had to encounter. He sought only to rally the queen's courage, beseeching her not to faint in the good work now that it was so far advanced, and assuring her that it was already attended with such beneficent fruits as could not fail to secure the protection of heaven. MONASTIC KEFORMS. cO7 Isabella, every act of whose administration may bo said to have had reference, mure or less remote, to the interests of religion, was as little likelv as himself to falter in a mutter which proposal these interests as its direct and only object. She assured her minister that she would support him in all that was practicable ; and she lost no time in present- ing the affair through her agents, iu such a light t the court of Rome, as might work a more favourable disposition in it. In this she succeeded though not till after multiplied delays and embarrassments; and such ample powers were conceded to Ximenes (1497), in conjunction with the apostolic nuncio, as enabled him to consummate his grand scheme of reform, in defiance of all the efforts of his enemies. The reformation thus introduced extended to the religious institutions of every order equally with his own. It was most searching in its operation, reaching eventually to the moral conduct of the subjects of it, no less than the mere points of monastic discipline. As regards the latter it may be thought of doubtful benefit to have enforced the rigid interpretation of a rule, founded on the melancholy principle that the amount of happiness in the next world is to be regulated by that of self- inflicted suffering in this. But it should be remembered, that, however objectionable sucli a rule may be in itself, yet, where it is voluntarily assumed as an imperative moral obligation, it cannot be disregarded without throwing down the barrier to unbounded licence ; and that the re-assertion of it, iinder these circumstances, must be a necessary pre- liminary to any effectual reform of morals. The beneficial changes wrought in this latt r particular, which Isabella had far more at heart than any exterior forms of discipline, are the theme of unqualified panegyric with her contemporaries. The Spanish clergy, as I have before had occasion to remark, were early noted for their dissolute way of life, which to a certain extent, seemed to be countenanced by the, law itself. This laxity of morals was carried to a most lamentable extent under the last reign, when all orders of eccle- siastics, whether regular or secular, infected probably by the corrupt example of the court, are represented (we may hope it is an exaggeration; as wallowing in all the excesses of sloth and sensuality. So deplorable a ]>ollution of the very sanctuaries of religion could not fail to occasion sincere regret to a pure and virtuous mind like Isabella's. The stain had sunk too deep, however, to be readily pursred away. Her personal example, indeed, and the scrupulous integritv with which she reserved all eeclesiastieal preferment for persons of unblemished piety, contributed greatly to bring about an amelioration in the morals of the secular eleriry. But the secluded inmates of the cloister were less open to these influences ; and the work of reform could only be accomplished there, by bringing them back to a reverence for their own institutions, and by the slow operation of public opinion. Notwithstanding the queen's most earnest wishes, it may be doubted whether this would have ever been achieved without the co-operation of a man like Ximenes, whose character combined in itself all the essential elements of a reformer. Happily, Isabella was permitted to see before her death, if not the completion, at least t!i rumniencenient, of a decided amendment in the morals of the religious orders ; an amendment which, so far from being transitory in its character, calls forth the most emphatic eulogium from a Castiliau writer far in the following century ; who, 358 XlilEXES. while he laments their ancient laxity, boldly challenges comparison for the religions communities of his own country, with those of any other, in temperance, chastity, and exemplary purity of life and conversation. The authority on whom the life of Cardinal Ximenes mainly rests, is Alv&ro Gomez d Castro. CHAPTER VI. XIMENBS IK GRANADA PERSECTTION, INSURRECTION, AND CONVERSION OF THE MOCKS. 14991500. Tranquil State of Granada Mild Policy of Talavera Clerpry dissatisfied with it Violent Measures of Ximenes His Fanaticism Its mischievous Effects Insurrection in Granada Tranquillity restored Baptism of the Inhabitants. MOEAL energy, or constancy of purpose, seems to be less properly an independent power of the mind, than a mode of action by which its various powers operate with effect. But, however this may be, it enters more largely, perhaps, than mere talent, as commonly understood, into the formation of what is called character, and is often confounded by the vulgar with talent of the highest order. In the ordinary concerns of life, indeed, it is more serviceable than brilliant parts ; while, in the more important, these latter are of little weight without it, evaporating only in brief and barren flashes, which may dazzle the eye by their splendour, but pass away and are forgotten. The importance of moral energy is felt, not only where it would be expected, in the concerns of active life, but in those more exclusively of an intellectual character, in deliberate assemblies, for example, where talent, as usually understood, might be supposed to assert an absolute supremacy, but where it is invariably made to bend to the controlling influence of this principle. No man destitute of it can be the leader of a party ; while there are few leaders, probably, who do not number in their ranks minds from which they would be compelled to shrink in a contest for purely intellectual pre-eminence. This energy of purpose presents itself in a yet more imposing form when stimulated by some intense passion, as ambition, or the nobler principle of patriotism or religion ; when the soul, spurning vulgar con- siderations of interest, is ready to do and to dare all for conscience' sake ; when, insensible alike to all that this world can give or take away, it loosens itself from the gross ties which bind it to earth, and, however humble its powers in every other point of view, attains a grandeur and elevation, which genius alone, however gifted, can never reach. But it is when assoeiated ^ith exalted genius, and under the action of the potent principles above mentioned, that this moral energy convoys an image of power which approaches nearer than anything else on earth, to that of a divine intelligence. It is, indeed, such agents that Providence selects for the accomplishment of those great revolutions by which the world is shaken to its foundations, new and more beautiful systems created, and the human mind carried forward at a single stride in the PEBSECTTIOXS IX GRANADA. 359 career of improvement, further than it had advanced for centuries. It must, indeed, be confessed that this powerful agency is sometimes for evil as well as for good. It is this same impulse which spurs guilty Ambition along his bloody track, and which arms the hand of the patriot sternly to resist him ; which glows with holy fervour in the bosom of the martyr, and which lights up the fires of persecution by which he is to win his crown of glory. The direction of the impulse, differing in the same individual under different circumstances, can alone determine whether he shall be the scourge or the benefactor of his species. These reflections have been suggested by the character of the extra- ordinary person brought forward in the preceding chapter, Ximenes de Cisneros, and the new and less advantageous aspect in which he must now appear to the reader. Inflexible constancy of purpose formed, perhaps, the most prominent trait of his remarkable character. What direction it might have received under other circumstances, it is impossible to say. It would be no great stretch of fancy to imagine that the unyielding spirit, which in its early days could voluntarily endure years of imprisonment, rather than submit to an act of ecclesiastical oppression, might under similar influences have been aroused, like Luther's, to shake down the ancient pillars of Catholicism, instead of lending all its strength to uphold them. The latter position, however, would seem better assimilated to the constitution of his mind, whose sombre enthusiasm naturally prepared him for the vague and mysterious in the Romish faith, as his inflexible temper did for its bold and arro- gant dogmas. At any rate, it was to this cause he devoted the whole strength of his talents and commanding energies. We have seen, in the preceding chapter, with what promptness he entered on the reform of religious discipline as soon as he came into office, and with what pertinacity he pursued it, in contempt of all personal interest and popularity. We are now to see him with similar /ral devoting himself to the extirpation of heresy ; with contempt not merely of personal consequences, but also of the most obvious principles of jrood faith and national .honour. Nearly eight years had elapsed since the conquest of Granada, and the subjugated kingdom continued to repose in peaceful security under the shadow of the treaty, which guaranteed the unmolested enjoyment of its ancient laws and religion. This unbroken continuance of public tranquillity, especially difficult to be maintained among the jarring elements of the capital, whose motley population of Moors, renegades, and Christians, suggested perpetual points of collision, must be chiefly referred to the discreet and temperate conduct of the two individuals whom Isabella had charged with the civil and ecclesiastical government. These were Mendoza count of Tendilla, and Talavera archbishop of Granada. The former, the brightest ornament of his illustrious house, has been before made known to the reader by his various important services, both military and diplomatic. Immediately after the conquest of Granada he was made alcayde and captain-general of the kingdom ; a post for which he was every way qualified by his prudence, firmness, enlightened views, and long experience. The latter personage, of more humble extraction, was Fray Fernando de Talavera, a Hieronymite monk, who, having been twenty years prior SCO of the monastery of Santa Maria del Prado, near Valladolid, was made confessor of Queen Isabella, and afterwards of the king. This situation necessarily gave him considerable influence in all public measures. If the keeping of the royal conscience could be safely intrusted to any one, it might certainly be to this estimable prelate, equally distinguished for his learning, amiable manners, and unblemished piety ; and if his character was somewhat tainted with bigotry, it was in so mild a form, so far tempered by the natural benevolence of his disposition, as to make a favoxirable contrast to the dominant spirit of the time.* After the conquest, he exchanged the bishopric of Avila for the archi- episcopal see of Granada. Notwithstanding the wishes of the sovereigns, he refused to accept any increase of emolument in this new and more exalted station. His revenues, indeed, which amounted to two millions of maravedis annually, were somewhat less than he before enjoyed. The greater part of this sum he liberally expended on public improvements and works of charity ; objects which, to their credit be it spoken, have rarely failed to engage a large share of the attention and resources of the higher Spanish clergy. The subject which pressed most seriously on the mind of the good archbishop was the conversion of the Moors, whose spiritual blindness he regarded with feelings of tenderness and charity, very different from those entertained by most of his reverend brethren. He proposed to accomplish this by the most rational method possible. Though late in life, he set about learning Arabic, that he might communicate with the Moors in their own language, and commanded his clergy to do the same. He caused an Arabic vocabulary, grammar, and catechism, to be com- piled ; and a version, in the same tongue, to be made of the liturgy, comprehending the selections from the Gospels ; and proposed to extend this at some future time to the whole body of the Scriptures. Thus unsealing the sacred oracles, which had been hitherto shut out from their sight, he opened to them the only true sources of Christian knowledge ; and, by endeavouring to effect their conversion through the medium of their understandings, instead of seducing their imaginations with a vain show of ostentatious ceremonies, proposed the only method by which conversion could be sincere and permanent. These wise and benevolent measures of the good prelate, recommended, as they were, by the most exemplary purity of life, acquired him great authority among the Moors, who, estimating the value of the doctrine by its fruits, were well inclined to listen to it, and numbers were daily- added to the church. The progress of proselytism, however, was necessarily slow and painful among a people reared from the cradle, not merely in antipathy to, but abhorrence of, Christianity; who were severed from the Christian com- munity by strong dissimilarity of language, habits, and institutions ; and now indissolubly knit together by a common sense of national misfortune. Many of the more zealous clergy and religious persons, conceiving, indeed, this barrier altogether insurmountable, were desirous of seeing it * Talavera's correspondence with the queen is not calculated to raise his reputation. His letters are little else than homilies on the love of company, dancing, and the like heinous offences. The whole savours more of the sharp twang of Puritanism than of the Roman Catholic school. But bigotry is neutral ground, on which the uiost opposite ecte may meet FERSECUTIONS IN GRAXADA. 361 swept a- ay at once by the strong arm of power. Thev represented to the sovereigns that it seemed like insensibility to the goodness of Providence, which had delivered the infidels into their hands, to allow them any longer to usurp the fair inheritance of the Christians, and that the whole of the stiff-necked race of Mahomet might justly be required to submit without exception to instant baptism, or to sell their estates and remove to Africa. This, they maintained, could be scarcely regarded as an infringement of the treaty, since the Moors would be so great gamers on the score of their eternal salvation ; to say nothing of the indispensable- ness of such a measure to the permanent tranquillity and security of the kingdom. But these considerations, "just and holy as they were," to borrow the words of a devout Spaniard, failed to convince the sovereigns who resolved to abide by their royal word, and to trust to the conciliatory measures now in progress, and a longer and more intimate intercourse witli the Christians, as the only legitimate means for accomplishing their object. Accordingly, we find the various public ordinances as low down as 1499, recognising this principle, by the respect which they show for the most trivial usages of the Moors,* and by their sanctioning no other stimulant to conversion than, the amelioration of their condition. t Among those in favour of more active measures was Ximenes, arch- bishop of Toledo. Having followed the court to Granada in the autumn of 1499, he took the occasion to communicate his views to Talavera, the archbishop, requesting leave at the same time to participate with him in his labour of love ; to which the latter, willing to strengthen himself by so efficient an ally, modestly assented. Ferdinand and Isabella soon after removed to Seville (Sov. 1499) ; but, before their departure, enjoined on the prelates to observe the temperate policy hitherto pursued, and to beware of giving any occasion for discontent to the Moors. No sooner had the sovereigns left the city, than Ximenes invited some of the leading alfaquis, or Mussulman doctors, to a conference, in which he expounded, with all the eloquence at his command, the true foundations of the Christian faith, and the errors of their own ; and, that his teaching might be the more palatable, enforced it by liberal presents, consisting mostly of rich and costly articles of dress, of which the Moors were at all times exceedingly fond. This policy he pursued for some time, till the eii'ect became visible. Whether the preaching or presents of the archbishop had most weight, does not appear. It is probable, however, that the Moorish doctors found conversion a much more plea- sant and profitable business than they had anticipated ; for they one after another declared their conviction of their errors, and their wiiling- to receive baptism. The example of these learned persons was soon followed by great numbers of their illiterate disciples, insomuch that no less than four thousand are said to have presented themselves in one day * In the pragrmiitica dated Granada, October 30th, 1409, prohibiting silk apparel of any dMOripttoB. .in exception was made in favour of the Moors, whoso robes were usually of that material, among the wealthier classes t Another law, October :. JM prowess he had experienced in a personal rencontre in the vejra of Granada. rs G RAX ADA. 364 various scientific subjects. They were beautifully executed, for the most part, as to their ehirography, and sumptuously bound and decorated ; for, in all relating tu the mechanical finishing, the Spanish Arabs excelled every people in Europe. But neither splendour of outward garniture, nor intrinsic merit of composition, could atone for the taint of heresy in the eye of the stern inquisitor ; he reserved for his university of Alcali three hundred works, indeed, relating to medical science, in which the Moors were as pre-eminent in that dav as the Europeans were dt-tieient ; but all the rest, amounting to many thousands, he consigned to indiscriminate conflagration. This melancholy auto ihife, it will be recollected, was celebrated, not by an unlettered barbarian, but by a cultivated prelate, who was at that very time actively employing his large revenues in the publication of the most stupendous literary work of the age, and in the endowment of the most learned university in Spain. It took place, not in the darkness of the middle ages, but in the dawn of the sixteenth century, and in the niidt-t of an enlightened nation, deeply indebted for its own progress to these very stores of Arabian wisdom. It forms a counterpart to the imputed sacrilege of Omar,* eight centuries before, and shows that bigotry is the same in every faith and every age. The mischief oeeasioned by this act, far from being limited to the immediate loss, continued to be felt still more severely in its conse- quences. Such as could secreted the manuscripts in their possession till an opportunity occumd for conveying them out of the country, and many thousands in this way were privately shipped over to liarbary. Thus Arabian literature became rare in the libraries of the very country to which it was indigenous ; and Arabic scholarship, once so flourishing in Spain, and that too in far less polished ages, gradually fell into decay from want of aliment to sustain it. Such were the melancholy results of this literary persecution ; more mischievous in one view, than even that directed against life ; for the loss of an individual will scarcely be -felt beyond his own generation, while the annihilation of a valuable work, or, in other words, of mind itself embodied in a permanent form, is a loss to all future time. The high hand with which Ximenes now carried measures excited serious alarm in many of the more discreet and temperate Castilians in the city. They besought him to use greater forbearance, remon- strating against his obvious violations of the treatv, as well as against the expediency of forced conversions, which could not, in the nature of things, be lasting. But the pertinacious prelate only replied, that, "a tamer policy might, indeed, suit temporal matters, but not those in wliich the interests of the soul were at stake ; that the unbe- liever, if he could not be drawn, should be driven, into the way of salvation ; and that it was no time to stay the hand, when the ruins of iietanism were tottering to their foundations." lie accordingly went on with unflinching resolution. But the patience of the Moors themselves, which had held out so marvellously under this sy>tein of oppression, began now to be exhausted. Many signs of this might be discerned by much less acute optics thau * Gibbon's argument, if it does not shake tie foundations of the whole story of th Alexandrian conflagration, may at least raise a natural scepticism as to the pretended amount aud value of the works destroyed. 364 XIMEXES. those of the archbishop ; but his were blinded by the arrogance of success. At length, in this intiamraable state of public feeling, an incident occurred which led to a general explosion. Three of Ximenes' servants were sent on some business to the Albay- cin, a quarter inhabited exclusively by Moors, and encompassed by walls, which separated it from the rest of the city. These men had made themselves peculiarly odious to the people by their activity i;i their master's service. A dispute having arisen between them and some inhabitants of the quarter, came at last to blows, when two of the servants were massacred on the spot, and their comrade escaped with difficulty from the infuriated mob. The affair operated as a signal for insurrection. The inhabitants of the district ran to arms, got possession of the gates, barricaded the streets, and in a few hours the whole Albayrin was in rebellion. In the course of the following night, a large number of the enraged populace made their way into the city to the quarters of Ximenes, with the purpose of taking summary vengeance on his head for all his perse- cutions. Fortunately, his palace was strong, and defended by numerous resolute and well-armed attendants. The latter, at the approach of the rioters, implored their master to make his escape, if possible, to the fortress of the Alhambra, where the count of Tendilla was established. But the intrepid prelate, who held life too cheap to be a coward, exclaimed, " God forbid I should think of my own safety, when so many of the faithful are perilling theirs ! No, I will stand to my post, and wait there, if Heaven wills it, the crown of martyrdom." It must be confessed he well deserved it. The building, however, proved too strong for the utmost efforts of the mob ; and at length, after some hours of awful suspense and agitation to the beleagued inmates, the count of Tendilla arrived in person at the head of his guards, and succeeded in dispersing the insurgents, and driving them back to their own quarters. But no exertions could restore order to the tumultuous populace, or induce them to listen to terms ; and they even stoned the messenger charged with pacific proposals from the count of Tendilla. They organised themselves under leaders, pro- vided arms, and took every possible means for maintaining their defence. It seemed as if, smitten with the recollections of ancient liberty, they were resolved to recover it again at all hazards. At length, after this disorderly state of things had lasted for several days, Talavera, the archbishop of Granada, resolved to try the effect of his personal influence, hitherto so great with the Moors, by visiting himself the disaffected quarter. This noble purpose he put in execution, in spite of the most earnest remonstrances of his friends. He was attended only by his chaplain, bearing the crucifix before him, and a few of his domestics, on foot and unarmed like himself. At the sight of their venerable pastor, with his countenance b uniing with the sunic serene and benign expression with which they were familiar when listening to his exhortations from the pulpit, the passions of the multitude were stilled. Every one seemed willing to abandon himself to tlu tender recollections of the past ; and the simple people crowd" ver- whelmincr odds as that <>f the whole Spanish monarchy. They implored them to lay down tin ir arms and return to their duty ; in which event they pledged themselves, aj far as in their power, to allow no further repetition of the grievances complained of, and to intercede for their pardon with the sovereigns. The count testified his sincerity by leaving Ids wife and two children as hostages in the heart of the Albaycin ; an act which must bj admitted to imply unbounded confidence in tl.1 integrity of the Moors.* 'ihese various measures, backed, moreover, by the counsels and authority of some of the chief alfaquis, had the effect to restore tranquillity among the people, who, laying aside their hostile preparations, returned once more to their regular employments. The rumour of the insurrection, in the meanwhile, with the usual . --eration, reached Seville, where the court was then residing. In vespeet rumour did justice, by imputing the whole blame of the affair to the intemperate zeal of Ximenes. That personage, with his tisual promptness, had sent early notice of the affair to the queen by a negro slave uncommonly fleet of foot. But the fellow had become intoxicated by the way, and the court were several days without any more authentic tidings than general report. The king, who always regarded Ximenes' elevation to the primacy, to the prejudice, as the reader may remember, of his own son, with dissatisfaction, could not row restrain his indignation, but was heard to exclaim tauntingly to tli- queen, "So, we are like to pay dear for your archbishop, whose ''islmess has lost us in a few hours what we have been years in acquiring." The queen, confounded at the tidings, and unable to comprehend the silence of Ximenes, instantly wrote to him in the severest terms, de- manding an explanation of the whole proceeding. The archbishop saw his error in committing affairs of moment to such hands as those of his sable messenger ; and the lesson stood him in good stead, according to his moralising biographer, for the remainder of his life. He hastened to repair bis fault by proceeding to Seville in person, and presenting himself before the sovereigns. He detailed to them the history of all the past transactions ; r< capitulated his manifold services, the arguments and exhortations he had used, the large sums he had expended, and his various expedients, in short, for effecting conversion, before resorting to severity. He boldly assumed the responsibility of the whole proceeding, acknowledging that he had purposely avoided communicating his plans to the sovereigns for fear of opposition. If he had erred, he said, it could be imputed to no other motive, at worst, than too great zeal for * That such confidence was justified, may be inferred from a common saying of Arch- oishop Talavera, " Tha*. Moorish works and Spanish faith were all that were wanting to make a good Clmstiau." A bitter sarcasm this on his own country UK 11 1 366 XIMEXES. the interests of religion ; but he concluded with assuring tnem, that the present position of affairs was the best possible for their purposes, since the late conduct of the Moors involved them in the guilt, and consequently all the penalties of treason, and that it would be an act of clemency to offer pardon on the alternatives of conversion or exile ! The archbishop's discourse, if we are to credit his enthusiastic biographer, not only dispelled the clouds of royal indignation, but drew forth the most emphatic expressions of approbation. How far Ferdinand and Isabella were moved to this by his iinal recommendation, or what, in clerical language, may be called the "improvement of his discourse," does not appear. They did not at any rate adopt it in its literal extent. In due time, how ever, commissioners were sent to Granada, fully autho- rised to inquire into the late disturbances and punish their guilty authors. In the course of the investigation, many, including some of the principal citizens were imprisoned ou suspicion. The greater part made their peace by embracing Christianity. Many others sold their estates and migrated, to Barbary ; and the remainder of the population, whether from fear of punishment or contagion of example, abjured their ancient superstition and consented to receive baptism. The whole number of converts was estimated at about fifty thousand, whose future relapses promised an almost inexhaustible supply for the fiery labours of the Inquisition. From this period the name of Moors, which had gradually superseded the primitive one of Spanish Arabs, gave way to the title of Moriseos, by which this unfortunate people continued to be known through the remainder of their protracted existence in the Peninsula. The circumstances under which this important revolution in religion was effected in the whole population of this great city will excite only feelings of disgust at the present day, mingled, indeed, with compassion for the unhappy beings who so heedlessly incurred the heavy liabilities attached to their new faith. Every Spaniard, doubtless, anticipated the political advantages likely to result from a measure which divested the Moors of the peculiar immunities secured by the treaty of capitulation, and subjected them at once to the law of the land. It is equally certain, however, that they attached great value in a spiritual view to the mere show of conversion, placing implicit confidence in the purifying influence of the waters of baptism, to whomever and under whatever circumstances administered. Even the philosophic Martyr, as little tinctured with bigotry as any of the time, testifies his joy at the conversion, on the ground that, although it might not penetrate beneath the crust of infidelity, which had formed over the mind of the older, and, of course, inveterate Mussulman, yet it would have full effect on his posterity, subjected from the cradle to the searching operation of Christian discipline. With regard to Ximenes, the real author of the work, whatever doubts were entertained of his discretion in the outset, they were completely dispelled by the results. All concurred in admiring the invincible energy of the man who, in the face of such mighty obstacles had so speedily effected this momentous revolution in the faith of a people bred from childhood in the deadliest hostility to Christianity ; and the good archbishop Talavera was heard in the fulness of his heart to exclaim, RISING IN THE ALPrXARTUS. 26j that "Ximcnes had achieved greater triumphs than even Ferdinand and Isabella ; since tliev had conquered only the soil, while he had gained the souls of Granada."* CHAPTER VII. IU31NI1 IJf THE ALTCXAURAS DEATH OF ALONSO DE AGUILAB EDICT AGAINST TH.': M -CPJ. 15001502. RiiiT'.cr in the Alpuxarras Expedition to the Sierra Vermeja Alonso de Agiiilar His 1 'irtraru-r. ;i!i'.l Death Bloody Rout of the Spaniards Final Submission l<> Ferdinand Cruel Policy of the Victors Commemorative Ballads K< lice against the Moors Causes of Intolerance Last notice of the Moors under the present Reign. W n ILK affairs went forward so triumphantly in the capital of Granada, they excited funeral discontent in other parts of that kingdom, especially the wild regions of the Alpuxarras. This range of maritime Alps, which stretches to the distance of seventeen leagues in a south-easterly direction from the Moorish capital, sending out its sierras like so many broad arms towards the Mediterranean, was thickly sprinkled with Moorish villages, cresting the bald summits of the mountains, or chequering the green slopes and valleys which lay between them. Its simple inhabitants, locked up within the lonely recesses of their hills, and accustomed to a lite of penury and toil, had escaped the corruptions, as well as refinements, of civilisation. In ancient times they had afforded a hardy militia for the princes of Granada ; and they now ex- hibited an unshaken attachment to their ancient institutions and religion, which had been somewhat eit'aced in the great cities by more intimate intercourse with the Europeans. These warlike mountaineers beheld with gathering resentment the faithless conduct pursued towards their countrymen, which, they had good reason to fear, would soon be extended to themselves ; and their fiery passions were innamed to an ungovernable height by the public apostacy of Granada. They at length resolved to anticipate any similar attempt on themselves by a general insurrection. They according seized on the fortresses and strong passes throughout the country, and began as usual with forays into the lauds of the Christians. * Talavera, as I have already noticed, had caused the offices, catechisms, and other religious exercises to be translated into Arabic for the use of the converts ; proposing to extend the translation at some future time to the great body of the Scriptures. Tliat time had now arrived, but Ximenes vehemently remonstrated against the measure. " It would be 'hrowing pearls before swme," said he, " to open the Scriptures to persons in their low etatn of ignorance, who could not fail, as St. Paul says, to wrest them to their own destruc- tion. The word of God should be wrapped in discreet mystery from the vulgar, who feel little reverence for what is plain and obvious. It was tor this reason that our Saviour himself clothed his doctrines in |>arables when he addressed the people. The Scriptures should be confined to the three ancient languages, which God with mystic import permitted to be inscribed over the head of his crucified Son ; and the vernacular should be reserved for such devotional and moral treatises as holy men indite, in order to quicken the soul, and turn it from the pursuit of worldly vanities to heavenly contemplation." The narrowest opinion, as usual, prevailed, and Talavera abandoned his wise and benevolent purpose. The sagacious arguments of the primate led his biographer, Gomez, to conclude that ho had a prophetic knowledge of the coming heresy of Luther, which owed so much of its success to the vernacular versions of the Scriptures ; in which probable opinion be u faithfully echoed, as usual, by the good bishop of Nisiues. 868 EISIXG IX THE AlPUXAEEAS. These bold acts excited much alarm in the capital, and the count of Tendilla took vigorous measures for quenching the rebellion in its birth. Gonsalvo de Cordova, his early pupil, but who might now well be his master in the art of war, was at that time residing in Granada ; and Tendilla availed himself of his assistance to enforce a hasty muster of levies and march at once against the enemy. His first movement was against Huejar, a fortified town situated is one of the eastern ranges of the Alpuxarras, whose inhabitants had taken the lead in the insurrection. The enterprise was attended with more difficulty than was expected. " God's enemies," to borrow the charitable epithet of the Castilian Chroniclers, had ploughed up the lands in the neighbourhood ; and, as the light cavalry of the Spaniards was working its way through the deep furrows, the Moors opened the canals which intersected the fields, and in a moment the horses were floundering up to their girths in the mire and water. Thus emban in their progress, the Spaniards presented a fatal mark to the Moorish missiles, which rained on them with pitiless fury ; and it was not without great efforts and considerable loss that they gained a firm landing on the opposite side. Undismaved, however, they then charged the enemy with such vivacity as compelled him to give way and take refuge within the defences of the town. No impediment could now check the ardour of the assailants. They threw themselves from their horses, and bringing forward the scaling- ladders, planted them against the walls. Gonsalvo was the first to gain the summit ; and as a powerful Moor endeavoured to thrust him from the topmost round of the ladder, he grasped the battlements firmly with his left hand, and dealt the infidel such a blow with the sword in his right as brought him headlong to the ground. He then leapt into the place, and was speedily followed by his troops. The enemy made a brief and ineffectual resistance. The greater part were put to the sword ; the remainder, including the women and children, were made slaves, and the town was delivered up to pillage. The severity of this military execution had not the effect of inti- midating the insurgents ; and the revolt wore so serious an aspect, that King Ferdinand found it necessarr to take the field in person, which he did at the head of as complete and beautiful a body of Castilian chivalry as ever graced the campaigns of Granada. Quitting Alhendin, the place of rendezvous, in the latter end of February, 1500, he directed his march on Lanjaron, one of the towns most active in the revolt, and perched high among the inaccessible fastnesses of the sierra, south-east of Granada. The inhabitants, trusting to the natural strength of a situation which had once baffled the arms of the bold Moorish chief El Zagal, took no precautions to secure the passes. Ferdinand, relying on this, avoided the more direct avenue to the place ; and, bringing his men by a circui- tous route over dangffous ravines, and dark and dizzy precipices, where the foot of the hunter had seldom ventured, succeeded at length, after incredible toil and hazard, in reaching an elevated point, which entirely commanded the Moorish fortress. Great was the dismay of the insurgents at the apparition of the Christian banners, streaming in triumph in the upper air from the very pinnacles of the sierra. They stoutly persisted, however, in the refusal DEATH OF ALOX90 DE AGUILAB. 369 to surrender. But their works were too feeble to stand the assault of men. who had vanquished the more formidable obstacles of nature ; and, after a short struggle, the place was carried by storm, and its wretched inmati s experienced the same dreadful fate with those of Huejar (March 8th, 1500). At nearly the same time, the count of Lerin took several other fortified places in the Alpuxarras, in one of which he blew up a mosque tilled with women and children. Hostilities were carried on with all the ferocity of a civil, or rather servile war ; and the .Spaniards, repudiating all the fedinus of courtesy and g< nerMiy, which they had once shown to the same men when dealing with them as honourable enemies, now regarded them only as rebellions vassals, or indeed slaves, whom the public safety required to be not merely chastised, but exterminated. These severities, added to the conviction of their own impotence, at length broke the spirit of the Moors, who were reduced to the ni;>>t humble concessions ; and the Catholic king, " unwilling:, out of his great clemency," says Abarca, " to stain his sword with the blood of all these wild beasts of the Alpuxarras," consented to terms which may be deemed reasonable, at least in comparison with his previous policy. These were, the surrender of their arms and fortresses, and the payment of the round sum of fifty thousand ducats. As soon as tranquillity was re-established, measures were taken for securing it permanently, by introducing Christianity among the natives, without which they never could remain well affected to their present government. Holy men were, therefore, sent as missionaries, to admonish them calmly and without violence, of their errors, and to instruct them in the great truths of revelation. Various immunities were also proposed, as an additional incentive to conversion, including an entire exemption to the party from the payment of his share of the heavy mulct lately imposed. The wisdom of these temperate measures became every day more visible in the conversion, not merely of the simple mountaineers, but of nearly all the population of the great cities of Baza, Guadix, and Almeria, who consented before the end of the year to abjure their ancient religion, and receive baptism. This defection, however, caused great scandal among the more sturdy of their countrymen, and a new insurrection broke out on the eastern confines of the Alpuxarras (Dec. 1500), which was suppressed with similar circumstances of stern severity, and a similar exaction of a heavy sum of money; money, whose doubtful efficacy may be discerned", sometimes in staying, but more frequently in stimulating the arm of persecution. But while the murmurs of rebellion died away in the east, they were heard in thunders from the distant hills on the western borders of Granada. This district, comprehending the Sierra Vermeja and Villa Luenga, in the neighbourhood of Ronda, was peopled by a warlike among whom was the African tribe of Gandules, whose blood boiled witli the same tropical fervour as that which glowed in the veins of their ancestors. They had early shown symptoms of discontent at the late proceedings in the capital. The duchess of Arcos, widow of the great marquis duke of Cadiz, whose estates lay in that quarter,* used her * The great marquis of Cadiz -was third count of Arcos, from vMch his descendants tnstrances of his courtiers, into the heart of the sierra, and take bloody vengeance on the rebels. These latter, however, far from bjing encouraged, were appalled by the extent of their own success ; and, as the note of warlike preparation reached them in their fastnesses, they felt their temerity in thus bringing the whole weight of the Castilian monarchy on their heads. They accordingly abandoned all thoughts of further resistance, and lost no time in sending deputies to the king's camp, to deprecate his auger, and sue in the most submissive terms for pardon. Ferdinand, though far from vindictive, was less open to pity than the queen ; and in the present instance, he indulged in a full measure of the indignation with which sovereigns, naturally identifying themselves with the state, are wont to regard rebellion, by vL-wing it in tho aggravated light of a personal offence. After some hesitation, however t his prudence got the better of his passions, as he reflected that he was ia a situation to dictate the terms of victory, without paying the usual price for it. His past experience seems to have convinced him of the hopelessness of infusing sentiments of loyalty in a Mussulman towards a Christian prince ; for, while he granted a general amnesty to thosa concerned in the insurrection, it was only on the alternative of baptism or exile, engaging at the same time to provide conveyance for such as chose to leave the country, on the payment of ten doblas of gold a head. Th< ments were punctually fulfilled. The Moorish emigrants were transported in public galleys fruui Estepona to the Barbary coast. J74 BISTNG IX THE ALPUXAEEAS. The number, however, was probably small, by far the greater part being obliged, however reluctantly, from want of funds, to remain and be baptised. "They would never have stayed," says Bleda, "if they could have mustered the ten doblas of gold; a circumstance," continues that charitable writer, "which shows with what levity they received baptism, and for what paltry considerations they could be guilty of such sacrilegious hypocrisy ! " * But, although every spark of insurrection was thus effectually extinguished, it was long, very long, before the Spanish nation could recover from the blow, or forget the sad story of its disaster in the lied Sierra. It became the theme, not only of chronicle, but of song ; the note of sorrow was prolonged in many a plantive romance, and the names of Aguilar and his unfortunate companions were embalmed in that beautiful minstrelsy, scarcely less imperishable, and far more touching, than the stately and elaborate records of history. The popular feeling was displayed after another fashion in regard to the count of Urefia and his followers, who were accused of deserting their posts in the hour of peril ; and more than one ballad of the time reproachfully demanded an account from him of the brave companions in arms whom he had left in the sierra. The imputation on this gallant nobleman appears wholly undeserved ; for certainly he was not called on to throw away his own life and those of his brave followers, in a cause perfectly desperate, for a chimerical point of honour. And, so far from forfeiting the favour of his sovereigns by his conduct on this occasion, he was maintained by them in the same high stations which he before held, and which he continued to fill with dignity to a good old age.f It was about seventy years after this event, in 1570, that the duke of Arcos, descended from the great ma-rquis of Cadiz, and from this same count of Urefia, led an expedition into the Sierra Vermeja, in order to suppress a similar insurrection of the Moriscos. Among the party were many of the descendants and kinsmen of those who had fought under Aguilar, It was the first time since, that these rude passes had been trodden by Christian feet ; but the traditions of early childhood had made every inch of ground familiar to the soldiers. Some way up the eminence they recognised the point at which the count of Urefia had made his stand ; and, further still, the fatal plain, belted round with its dark rampart of rocks, where the strife had been hottest. Scattered fragments of arms and harness still lay rusting on the ground, which was covered with the bones of the warriors, that had lain for more than half a century unburied and bleaching in the sun. Here was the spot on which the brave son of Aguilar had fought so sturdily by his father's side ; and there the huge rock, at whose foot the chieftain had fallen, throwing its dark shadow over the remains of the noble dead, who lay sleeping around. The strongly marked features of the ground called up all the circumstances, which the soldiers had gathered from tradition ; * The curate of Los Palacios disposes of the Moors rather summarily : "The Christiana stripped them, gave them a free passage, and sent them to the devil ! " t The Venetian ambassador, Navagiero, saw the count of Urefia at Ossuna in 1526. Ae was enjoying a green old age, or, as the minister expresses it, " molto vecchio e gentil corteggiano per6." " Diseases, " said the veteran good-humouredly, " sometimes visit me, but seldom tarry long ; for my body is like a crazy old inn, where travellers find such poor (are that they merely touch aiid go." UKATH OF ALOXSO DE AGT7ILAK. 375 their hearts beat high as they recapitulated them one to another ; and the tears, says the eloquent historian who tells the story, fell fast down their iron cheeks, as they gazed on the sad relies, and offered up a soldier's prayer for the heroic souls which once animated them.* Tranquillity was now restored throughout the wide borders of Granada. The banner of the Cross floated triumphantly over the whole extent of its wild sierras, its broad valleys, and populous cities. E\vrv Moor, in exterior at least, had become a Christian. Every mosque had been con- verted into a Christian church. Still the country was not entirely purified from the stain of Islamism, since many professing their ancient faith were scattered over different parts of the kingdom of Castile, where they had been long resident before the surrender of their capital. The late events seemed to have no other effect than to harden them in error ; and the Spanish government saw with alarm the pernicious influence of their example and persuasion in shaking the infirm faith of the new converts. To obviate this, an ordinance was published, in the summer of 1501, prohibiting all intercourse between these Moors and the orthodox kingdom of Granada. At length, however, convinced that there was no other way to save the precious seed from being choked by the thorns of infidelity, than to eradicate them altogether, the sovereigns came to the extraordinary resolution of offering them the alternative of baptism or exile. They issued a praymdtica to that effect from Seville, February 12th, 1502. After a preamble, duly setting forth the obliga- tions of gratitude on the Castilians to drive God's enemies from the land which He in his good time had delivered into their hands, and the numerous backslid ings occasioned among the new converts by their intercourse with their unbaptised brethren, the act goes on to state, in much the same terms with the famous ordinance against the Jews, that all the unbaptised Moors in the kingdoms of Castile and Leon, above fourteen years of age if males, and twelve if females, must leave the country by the end of April following ; that they might sell their property in the meantime, and take the proceeds in anything save gold and silver and merchandise regularly prohibited ; and, finally, that they might emigrate to any foreign country, except the dominions of the Grand Turk, and such parts of Africa as Spain was then at war with. Obedience to these severe provisions was enforced by the penalties of death and confiscation of property. This stern edict, so closely modelled on that against the Jews, must have been even more grievous in its application : for the Jews may be said to have been denizens almost equally of every country ; while the Moors excluded from a retreat among their countrymen on the African shore, were sent into the lands of enemies or strangers. The former, moreover, were far better qualified by their natural shrewdness and commercial habits for disposing of their property advantageously, than the simple inexperienced Moors, skilled in little else than husbandry or * The M oorish insurrection of 1570 was attended with at least one good result, in calling forth tliis historic masterpiece, the work of the accomplished Diego Hurtado de Mendo7.a, accomplished alike as a statesman, warrior, and historian. His " Guerra de Granada," confined as it is to a barren fr.igment of Moorish history, displays such liberal senti- ments (too liberal, indeed, to permit its publication till fong after its author's death), profound reflection, and classic elegance of style, as well entitle him to the appellation of the Spanish Salluat. 576 RISING rs* THE rude mechanic arts. AVe have nowhere met with any estimate of the number Avlio migrated on this occasion. The Castilian writers pass ovei the whole affair in a very lew words ; not, indeed, as is too evident, from any feelings of disapprobation, but from its insignificance in a political view. Their silence implies a very inconsiderable amount of emigrants ; a circumstance not to be wondered at, as there were vt-ry few, probably, who would not sooner imitate their Grauadine brethren in assuming the mask of Christianity, than encounter exile under all the aggravated miseries with, which it was accompanied. Castile might now boast, the first time for eight centuries, that every outward stain, at least, of infidelity was purified from her bosom. But how had this been accomplished? By the most detestable expedients which sophistry could devise, and oppression execute ; and that, too, under an enlightened government, proposing to be guided solely by a conscientious regard for duty. To comprehend this more fully, it will be necessary to take a brief view of public sentiment in matters oi' religion at that time. It is a singlar paradox, that Christianity, whose doctrines inculcate unbounded charity, should have been made so often an engine of pc-rst-cu- tion ; while Mahometanism, whose principles are those of avowed intolerance, should have exhibited, at least till later times, a truly philosophical spirit of toleration.* Even the first victorious disciples of the prophet, glowing with all the fiery zeal of proselytism, were content with the exaction of tribute from the vanquished ; at least, more vindictive feelings were reserved only for idolaters, who did not, like the Jews and Christians, acknowledge with themselves the unity of God. With these latter denominations they had obvious sympathy, since it was their creed which formed the basis of their own. In Spain, where the fiery temperament of the Arab was gradually softened under the influence of a temperate climate and higher mental culture, the toleration of the Jews and Christians, as we have already had occasion to notice, was so remarkable, that, within a few years alter the conquest, we find them not only protected in the enjoyment of civil and religious freedom, but mingling on terms almost of equality with their conquerors. It is not necessary to inquire here how far the different policy of the Christians was owing to the peculiar constitution of their hierarchy, which, composed of a spiritual militia drawn from every country in Europe, was jut off by its position from all human sympathies, and attached to no interests but its own ; which availed itself of the superior sci nee and reputed sanctity, that were supposed to have given it the key to the dread mysteries of a future life, not to enlighten, but to enslave the minds of a credulous world ; and which making its own tenets the only standard of faith, its own rites and ceremonial the only evidence of virtue, obliterated the great laws of morality, written by the divine hand on every heart, and gradually built up a system of exclusiveness and intolerance most repugnant to the mild and charitable religion of Jesus Christ. Before the close of the fifteenth century, several circumstances operated to sharpen the edge of intolerance, especially against the The tfiirit of toleration professed by the Moors, indeed, was imde a principal argument ftgainst them iu the archbishop of Valencia's memorial to Philip III. The Mahom*tVM would seem the better Christians of the two. DiATH OF ALOXSO DB AGUILAK. 377 Arabs. The Turks, -whose political consideration of late years had made tin-in the peculiar representative! and champions of Mahornetanism, had shown a ferocity and cruelty in their treatment of the Christiana, which brought general odium on all the professors of their faith, and on loors, of course, though most undeservedly, in common with the rest. The bold heterodox doctrines, also, which had occasionally broken forth in different parts of Europe in the fifteenth century, like so many faint streaks of light ushering in the glorious morn of the Reformation, had roused the alarm of the champions of the church, and kindled on more than one occasion the fires of persecution ; and, before the close of the period, the Inquisition was introduced into Spain. From that disastrous hour, religion wore a new aspect in this unhappy country. The spirit of intolerance, no longer hooded in the darkness of the cloister, now stalked abroad in all his terrors. Zeal was exalted into fanaticism : and a rational spirit of proselytisui, into one of fiendish persecution. It was not enough now, as formerly, to conform passively to the doctrines of the church, but it was enjoined to make war on all who refused them. The natural feeling of compunction in the discharge of this sad duty was a crime ; and vi.e tear of sympathy, wrung out by the sight of mortal agonies, was an offence to be expiated by humiliating penance. The _htful maxims were deliberately engraited into the code of morals. Any one, it was said, rnijrht conscientiously kill an apostate wherever he could meet him. There was some doubt whether a man might slay his own father, if a heretic or infidel ; but none whatever as tolas right, in that event, to take awav tne life of his son, or of his brother.* These maxims were not a dead letter, but of most active operation, as the sad records of the dread tribunal too well prove. The character of the nation underwent a melancholy change. The milk of charity, nay, of human feelinir, was soured in bosom. The liberality of the old Spanish cavalier gave way to the fiery fanaticism of the monk. The taste for blood, once gratified, begat a cannibal appetite in the people, who, cheered on by the frantic clergy, d to vie with one another in the eagerness with which they ran down the miserable game of the Inquisition. It was at this very time, when the infernal monster, gorged, but not sated with human sacrifice, was crying aloud for fresh victims, that Granada surrendered to the Spaniards, under the solemn guarantee of the full enjoyment of civil and religious liberty. The treaty of capitu- lation granted too much, or too little too Tittle for an independent state, too much for one whose existence Avas now merged in that of a greater ; for it secured to the Moors privileges in some respects superior to those of the Castiiians, and to the prejudice of the latter. Such, for example, was the permission to trade with the Uarbary coast, and with the various places in C'astile and Andalusia, without paying the duties imposed on the Spaniards themselves ; and that article, a<:ai;i, by which runaway Moorish slaves from other parts of the kingdom were made free and incapable of being reclaimed by their masters, if they could reach Granada. The former of these provisions struck at the * The Moors and Jews, of course, stood no chance in this code; the reverend father txyiresses an opinion, with which Bleda heartily coincides, that the government '.vould be i>cru.vtly justified in t.ilring away tLe lite of every Moor in the kingdoic IVi liieir 378 Kisrse ix THE ALI>UXARBAS. commercial profits of the Spaniards, the latter directly at then property. It is not too much to say, that such a treaty, depending for its observance on the good faith and forbearance of the stronger party, would not hold together a year in any country of Christendom, even at the present day, before some Haw or pretext would be devised to evade it. How much greater was the probability of this in the present case, where the weaker party was viewed with all the accumulated odium of lou'i- hereditary hostility, and religious rancour ? The work of conversion, on which the Christians, no doubt, much relied, was attended with greater difficulties than had been antic ; by the conquerors. It was now found that, while the Moors retained their present faith, they would be much better affected towards their countrymen in Africa, than to the cation with which they were incorporated. In short, Spain still had enemies in her bosom : and reports were rife in every quarter of their secret intelligence with the Barbary states, and of Christians kidnapped to be sold as slaves to Algerine corsairs. Such tales, greedily circulated and swallowed, soon begat general alarm ; and men are not apt to be over-scrupulous as tc measures which they deem essential to their personal salVty. The zealous attempt to bring about conversion by preaching and expostulation was fair and commendable. The intervention of bribes and promises, if it violated the spirit, did not, at least, the letter of the treaty. The application of force to a few of the most refractory, who by their blind obstinacy were excluding a whole nation from the benefits of redemption, was to be defended on other grounds ; and these were not wanting to cunning theologians, who considered that the sanctity of the end justified extraordinary means, and that where the eternal interests of the soul were at stake, the force of promises, and the faith of treaties were equally nugatory. But the chef-d'oeuvre of monkish casuistry was the argument imputed to Ximenes for depriving the Moors of the benefits of the treaty, as a legitimate consequence of the rebellion into which they had been driven by his own malpractices. This proposition, however, far from outraging trie feelings of the nation, well drilled by this time in the metaphysics of the cloister, fell short of them, if we are to judge from recommenda- tions of a still more questionable import, urged, though ineffectually, on the sovereigns at this very time, from the highest quarter. Such are the frightful results to which the fairest mind may be led, when it introduces the refinements of logic into the discussions of duty ; when, proposing to achieve some great good, whether in politics or religion, it conceives that the importance of the object authorises a departure from the plain principles of morality, which regulate the ordinary affairs of life ; and when, blending these higher interests with those of a personal nature, it becomes incapable of discriminating between them, and is led insensibly to act from selfish motives, while it fondly imagines itself obeying only the conscientious dictates of duty.* A moral lusoj'hy. of C' nscieiice, maice Slaves 01 ail me Jionscos, auu may [mi, meui iuio your own jpmeys or mines, or sell them to strangers. And as to their children, they may bo all sold at good TREATMENT OF COLUMBUS. 379 With these events may be said to terminate the history of the Moors, or the Moriscos, as henceforth called, under the present reign. Eight centuries had elapsed since their first occupation of the country ; during which period they had exhibited all the various phases of civilisation, from its dawn to its decline. Ten years had sufficed to overturn the splendid remains of this powerful empire ; and ten more, for its nominal conversion to Christianity. A long century of perseciition, of unmiti- gated and unmerited suffering, was to follow before the whole was to be consummated by the expulsion of this unhappy race from the Peninsula. Their story, in this latter period, furnishes one of the most memorable examples in history, of the impotence of persecution, even in support of a good cause against a bad one. It is a lesson that cannot be too deeply pondered through every succeeding age. The fires of the Inquisition are indeed extinguished, prob.ilily to be lighted no more. But where is the land which can boast that the spirit of intolerance, which forms the very breath of persecution, is altogether extinct in its bosom ? CHAPTER VIII. OULUMBU9 PROSECUTION OF DISCOVERY HIS TREATMENT BT THE COURT. 14911503. Progress of Discovery Reaction of Public Feeling The Queen's Confidence in Colnmbn* i lie discovers Terra Finn:i Isabella sends back the Indian Slaves Complaints against Columbus Superseded in the Government Vindication of the Sovereigns His fourth nd last Voyage. THE reader will turn with satisfaction from the melancholy and mortify- ing details of superstition to the generous efforts which the Spanish government was making to enlarge the limits of science and dominion in the west. " Amidst the storms and troubles of Italy, Spain was every day stretching her wings over a wider sweep of empire, and extending the glory of her name to the far Antipodes." Such is the swell oj exultation with which the enthusiastic Italian, Martyr, notices the brilliant progress of discovery under his illustrious countryman Columbus. The Spanish sovereigns had never lost sight of the new domain, so unexpectedly opened to them, as it were, from the depths of the ocean. The first accounts transmitted by the great navigator and his companions, on his second voyage, while their imaginations Avere warm with the beauty and novelty of the scenes which met their eyes in the New World, served to keep alive the tone of excitement which their unexpected successes had kindled in the nation. The various specimens sent home in the return ships, of the products of these unknown regions, continued the agreeable belief that they formed part of the great Asiatic continent, which had so long excited the cupidity of Europeans. The Spanish court, sharing in the general enthusiasm, endeavoured to promote the spirit of rates here in Spain, which will be so far from being a punishment, that it will be a mercy to them, since by that means they will nil become Christians ; which they would never have been, had they continued with their pareuta. By the holy execution of which piece of Justice, o great mm of money will jlow into your Majesty't treartury* 380 PEOGEESS OF DISCOYEET. discovery and colonisation, by forwarding the requisite supplies, and complying promptly with the most minute suggestions of Columbus. But, in less than two years from the commencement of his second voyage, the face of things experienced a melancholy change. Accounts were received at home of the most alarming discontent and disaffection in the colony ; while the actual returns from these vaunted regions were BO scanty as to bear no proportion to the expenses of the expedition. This unfortunate result was in a great measure imputable to the mis- conduct of the colonists themselves. Most of them were adventurers, who had embarked with no other expectation than that of getting together a fortune as speedily as possible in the golden Indies. They were without subordination, patience, industry, or any of the regular habits demanded for success in such an enterprise. As soon as they had launched from their native shore, they seemed t feel themselves released from the constraints of all law. They harboured jealousy and distrust of the admiral as a foreigner. The cavaliers and hidalgos, of whom there were too many in the expedition, contemned him as an upstart whom it was derogatory to obey. From the first moment of their land- ing in Hispaniola they indulged the most wanton licence in regard to the unoffending natives, who, in the simplicity of their hearts, had received the white men as messengers from Heaven. Their outrages, however, soon provoked a general resistance, which led to such a war of extermination, that in less than four years after the Spaniards had set foot on the island, one third of its population, amounting, probably, to several hundred thousands, were sacrificed ! Such were the melancholy auspices under which the intercourse was opened between the civilised white man and the simple natives of the Avestern world. These excesses, and a total neglect of agriculture, for none would condescend to turn up the earth for any other object than the gold they could find in it, at length occasioned an alarming scarcity of provisions; while the poor Indians neglected their usual husbandry, being willing to starve themselves, so that they could starve out their oppressors.* In order to avoid the famine which menaced his little colony, Columbus was obliged to resort to coercive measures, shortening the allowance of food, and compelling all to work, without distinction of rank. These un- Ealatable regulations soon bred general discontent. The high mettled idalgos, especially, complained loudly of the indignity of such mechanical drudgery, while Father Boil and his brethren were equally outraged by the diminution of their regular rations. The Spanish sovereigns were now daily assailed with com plaints of the mal-administration of Columbus, and of his impolitic and unjust severities to both Spaniards and natives. They lent, however, an unwilling ear to these vague accusations ; they fully appreciated the difficulties of his situation ; and, although they sent out an agent to inquire into the nature of the troubles which threatened the existence of the colony (August, 1495), they were careful to select an individual who they thought would be most grateful to the admiral ; and when the latter in the following year, 1496, returned to Spain, they received him with the most ample acknowledgments of regard. " Come to us," they said, in a The Indians had some grounds for relying on the efficacy of starvation, if, as siis gravely asserts, ''cue Spaniard consumed in a single day as much as would su ee families ! ' Lai ould suffice three fa TREATMENT OF COLUMBUS. 3S1 kind letter of oongrfttnlatum, addressed to him soon after his arrival, "when you can do it without inconvenience to yourself, for you have endured too many vexations already." The admiral brought with him, as before, such samples of the pro- ductions of the western hemisphere as would strike the public eye, and keep alive the feeling of curiosity. On his journey through Anaalu&ia, he passed some days under the hospitable roof of the good curate, Bernaldez, who d \\ells with much satisfaction on the remarkable appear- ance of the Indian chiefs, following in the admiral's train, gorgeously decorated with golden collars and coronets, and various barlnuic orna- ments. Among these lie particularly notices certain " belts and masks of cotton and of wood with figures of the devil embroidered and carved thiT'on, sometimes in his own proper likeness, and at others in that of a fut < an owl. There is much reason," he infers, "to believe that he appears to the islanders in this guise, and that they are all idolaters, having Satan for their lord ! " I5ut neither the attractions of the spectacle, nor the glowing represen- tations of Columbus, who fancied he had discovered in the mines of llisi aniola the golden quarries of Ophir, from which King Solomon had enriched the temple of Jerusalem, could rekindle the dormant enthusiasm dt' the nation. The novelty of the thing had passed. They heard a dillerent tale, mou-over, from the other voyagers, whose wan and sallow visages provoked the bitter jest, that they had returned with more gold in their faces than in their pockets. In short, the scepticism of the public seemed now quite in proportion to its former overweening con- lidence ; and the returns were so mean -re, says Bernaldez, " that it was very generally believed there was little or no gold in the island." Isabella was far from participating in this unreasonable distrust. She had espoused the theory of Columbus when others looked coldly or con- temptuously on it.* She firmly relied on his repeated assurances that the track oi discovery woxild lead to other and more important regions. J3he formed a higher estimate, moreover, of the value of the new acqui- sitions than any founded on the actual proceeds in gold and siKer ; keeping ever in view, as her letters and instructions abundantly show, the glorious purpose of introducing the blessings of Christian civilisation among the heathen. She entertained a deep sense of the merits of ( 'olumbus, to whose serious and elevated character her own bore much resemblance, although the enthusiasm which distinguished each was naturally tempered in hers with somewhat more of benignity and discretion. But, although the queen was willing to give the most effectual support to his great enterprise, the situation of the country was such as made ilday iii its immediate prosecution unavoidable. Large expense was ncet ssarily incurred for the actual maintenance of the colony ;f the exchequer was liberally drained, moreover, by the Italian war, as well as by the profuse magnificence with which the nuptials of the royal family were now celebrating. It was, indeed, in the midst of the courtly revelries attending the marriage of Prince John, that the admiral * Columbus, in his letter to Prince John's nurse, dated 1500, makes ample acknowledge orient of the protection of him. t Tin- salarirs :il..no, annually disbursed by the crown to pel-sons resident in the colony, amounted to six million maravedis. 382 PEOGEESS OP DISCOVEKI.. presented himself before the sovereign at Burgos, after his second voyage. Such was the low condition of the treasury from these causes,* that Isabella was obliged to defray the cost of an outfit to the colony at this time, from funds originally destined for the marriage of her daughter Isabella with the king oi' Portugal. This unwelcome delay, however, was softened to Columbus by the distinguished marks which he daily received of the royal favour ; and various ordinances were passed, confirming and enlarging his great powers and privileges in the most ample manner, to a greater extent, indeed, than his modesty, or his prudence, would allow him to accept.* The language in which these princely gratuities were conferred rendered them duubly grateful to his noble heart, containing, as they did, the most emphatic acknowledgments of his "many, good, loyal, distin- guished, and continual services," and thus testifying the unabated con- fidence of his sovereigns in his integrity and prudence.f Among the impediments to the immediate completion of the arrange- ments for the admiral's departure on his third voyage, may be also noticed the hostility of Bishop Fonseca, who, at this period, had the control of the Indian department ; a man of an irritable, and, as it would seem, most unforgiving temper, who, from some causes of disgust which he had conceived with Columbus previous to his second voyage, lost no opportunity of annoying and thwarting him, for which his official station unfortunately afforded him too many facilities. From these various circumstances the admiral's fleet was not ready before the beginning of 1498. Even then further embarrassment occurred in manning it, as few were found willing to embark in a service which had fallen into such general discredit. This led to the ruinous expedient of substituting convicts, whose regular punishments were commuted into transportation, for a limited period, to the Indies. No measure could possibly have been devised more effectual for the ruin of the infant settlement. The seeds of corruption, which had been so long festering in the Old World, soon shot up into a plentiful harvest in the Xew ; and Columbus, who suggested the measure, was the first to reap the fruits of it. At length, all being in readiness, the admiral embarked on board his little squadron, consisting of six vessels, whose complement of men, not- withstanding every exertion, was still deficient; and took his departure from the port of St. Lucar, May 30th, 1498. He steered in a more southerly direction than on his preceding voyages, and on the 1st of August succeeded in reaching terra firma ; thus entitling himself to the glory of being the first to set foot on the great southern continent, to which he had before opened the way. It is not necessary to pursue the track of the illustrious voyager, whose career, forming the most brilliant episode to the history of the present reign, has been so recently traced by a hand which few will care to follow. It will suffice briefly to notice his personal relations with the Spanish Such, for example, was the grant of an immense tract of land in Hispaniola, with the title of count or duke, as the admiral might prefer. t The instrument establishing the mayorazgo, or perpetual entail of Columbus's estates, contains an injunction that "his heirs shall never use any other signature than that of 'the Admiral, 'el Almirnnte, whatever other titles and honours may belong to them." That title indicated his peculiar achievements ; and it w;is an honest pride which led him by thi imple cxj sdient to perpetuate the remembrance of them in his posterity. TREATMENT OF COLTJ3IBUS. 383 government, and the principles on which the colonial administration was conducted. On his arrival at Hispaniola, Columbus found the affairs of the colony in the most deplorable confusion. An insurrection had been raised by the arts of a few factious individuals against his brother Bartholomew, to whom he had entrusted the government during his absence. In this desperate rebellion, all the interests of the community were neglected. The mines, which were just beginning to yield a golden harvest, remained un wrought. The unfortunate natives were subjected to the most in- human oppression. There was no law but that of the strongest. Colum- bus, on his arrival, in vain endeavoured to restore order. Tlit veiy crews he brought with him, who had been unfortunately reprieved from the gibbet in their own countiy, served to swell the mass of mutiny. The admiral exhausted art, negotiation, entreaty, force, and succeeded at length in patching up a specious reconciliation by such concessions as essentially impaired his own authority. Among these was the grant of large tracts of land to the rebels, with permission to the proprietor to employ an allotted number of the natives in its cultivation. This was the origin of the celebrate J system of repartimientos, which subsequently led to the foulest abuses that ever disgraced humanity. ^Nearly a year elapsed a'.'ter the admiral's return to Hispaniola, before he succeeded in allaying these intestine feuds. In the meanwhile rumours were every day reaching Spain of the distractions of the colony, accompanied with most injurious imputations on the conduct of Columbus and his brother, who were loudly accused of oppressing both Spaniards and Indians, and of sacrificing the public interests in the most unscrupu- lous manner to their own. These complaints were rung in the very ears of the sovereigns by numbers of the disaffected colonists, who had returned to Spain, and who surrounded the king as he rode out on horseback, clamouring loudly for the discharge of the arrears, of which they said the admiral had defrauded them.* There were not wanting even persons of high consideration at the court, to give credence and circulation to these calumnies. The recent discovery of the pearl fisheries of Paria, as well as of more prolific veins of the precious metals in Hispaniola, and the prospect of an indefinite extent of unexplored country, opened by the late voyage of Columbus, made the vice-royalty of the New World a tempting bait for the avarice and ambition of the most potent grandee. They artfully endeavoured, therefore, to undermine the admiral's credit with the sovereigns, by raiding in their minds suspicions of his integrity, founded not merely on vague reports, but on letters received from the colony, charging him with disloyalty, with appropriating to his own use the revenues of the island, and" with the design of erecting an independent government for himself. Whatever weight these absurd charges may have had with Ferdinand, they had no power to shake the queen's confidence in Columbus, or lead her to suspect his loyalty for a moment. But the long-continued * Ferdinand Columbus mentions that he and his brother, who were then pages to the queen, could not stir out into the courtyard of tlie Alhambni without beinp followed by fifty of these vagabonds, who insulted them in the grossest manner, " as the sous of the adventure! who had led so many brave Spanish hidalgos to seek their graves in the land of vanity and delusion which he had found out." 384 PROGRESS OF DISCOVERY. distractions of the colony made her feel a natural distrust of his capacity to govern it, whether from the jealousy entertained of him as a foreigner, or from some inherent deficiency in his own character. These doubts were mingled, it is true, with sterner feelings towards the admiral, on the arrival, at this juncture, of several of the rebels, with the Indian slaves assigned to them hy his orders. It was the received opinion among good Catholics of that period, that heathen and barbarous nations were placed by the circumstance of their infidelity without the pale both of spiritual and civil rights. Their souls were doomed to eternal perdition ; their bodies were the property of the Christian nation who should occupy their soil.* Such, in brief, were the profession and the practice of the most enlightened Europeans of the fifteenth century ; and such the deplorable maxims which regulated the intercourse of the Spanish and Portuguese navigators with the uncivilised natives of the western world.f Columbus, agreeably to tbese views, had, very soon after the occupation of Hispaniula, recommended a regular exchange of slaves for the commodities required for the support of the colony; representing, moreover, that in this way their conversion would be more surely effected, an object, it must be admitted, which he seems to have ever had most earnestly at heart. Isabella, however, entertained views on this matter far more liberal than those of her age. She had been deeply interested by the accounts she had received from the admiral himself of the gentle, unoffending character of the islanders ; and she revolted at the idea of consigning them to the horrors of slavery, without even an effort for their conver- sion. She hesitated, therefore, to sanction his proposal; and, when a number of Indian captives were advertised to be sold in the markets of Andalusia, she commanded the sale to be suspended till the opinion of a council of theologians and doctors, learned in such matters, could be obtained, as to its conscientious lawfulness. She yielded still further to the benevolent impulses of her nature, causing holy men to be instructed as far as possible in the Indian languages, and sent out as missionaries for the conversion of the natives. Some of them, as Father Boil and his brethren, seem indeed to have been more concerned for the welfare of their own bodies, than for the souls of their benighted flock ; but others, imbued with a better spirit, wrought in the good work with disinterested zeal, and, if we may credit their accounts, with some efficacy.J II 111 Lit rights or mail, witn wimt 1:11111 prescnoea as me legiiimau) jirurcigauve 01 MIU pope. Few Roman Catholics of the present day will be found sturdy enough to maintain this lofty prerogative, however carefully limited. Still fewer in the sixteenth century would have challenged it Indeed, it is but just to Las Casas to admit that the general scope of his arguments, here and elsewhere, is very far in advance of his :\e. f A. Spanish casuist founds the right of his nation to enslave the Indians, among other things, on their smoking tobacco, and not trimming tluir beards, A l'Ex)>agnole. At least, this is Montesquieu's interpretation of it. The doctors of the Inquisition could hardly have found a better reus, ,n. I ' Amo? a; other things that the holy fathers carried out," says "'"bios, "was a little THEATiTENT OF COLTTJlBrS. 385 In tlio s:imc beneficent spirit, the royal letters and ordinances urged over and over again the paramount obligation of the religious instruction of the natives, and of observing the utmost gentleness and humanity in all ell-alines with them. When therefore the queen learned the arrival of two vessels from the Indies with three hundred slaves on board, which the admiral had granted to the mutineers, she could not repress her indignation, but impatiently asked, "By what authority does Columbus venture thus to dispose of my subjects ? " (June 20, 1500.) She instantly caused proclamation to be made in the southern provinces, that all who had Indian slaves in their possession, granted by the admiral, should forthwith provide for their return to their own country ; while the few still held by the < rown were to be restored to freedom in like manner.* At'u-r a long and visible reluctance, the queen acquiesced in sending out a commissioner to investigate the affairs of the colony. The persoC to this delieate trust was Don Francisco de Bobadilla, a poor knight nf Calatrava. He was invested with supreme powers of civil and criminal jurisdiction. He was to bring to trial and pass sentence on all such as had conspired against the authority of Columbus. He was authorised to take possession of the fortresses, vessels, public stores, and property of every description ; to dispose of all offices ; and to command whatever persons he might deem expedient for the tranquillity of the island, without distinction of rank, to return to Spain, and present them- selves before the sovereigns. Such, in brief, was the sum of the extra- ordinary powers intrusted to Bobadilla. f It is impossible now to determine what motives could have led to the selection of so incompetent an agent for an office of such high responsi- bility. He seems to have been a weak and arrogant man, swelled up with' immeasurable insolence by the brief authority thus undeservedly bestowed on him. From the very first, he regarded Columbus in the liirht of a convicted criminal, on whom it was his business to execute the sentence of the law. Accordingly, on his arrival at the island, after an. : atious parade of his credentials, he commanded the admiral to appear him, and, without affecting the forms of a legal inquiry, at once I him to be manacled and thrown into prison (August 23, 1500). Columbus submitted without the least show of resistance, displaying in tin* sad reverse that magnanimity of soul which would have touched the luart of a generous adversary. Bobadilla, however, discovered no such sensibility ; and, after raking together all the foul or frivolous calumnies which hatred or the hope of favour could extort, he caused the whole loathsome mass of accusation to be sent back to Spain with the admiral, whom he commanded to be kept strictly in irons during the passage ; Id,'' says rYrdinand Columbus bitterly, "lest he might by any chance swim back again to the island." organ and several bslls, which greatly delighted the simple people, so that from one to twoti. -..113 were baptised every day." < 'olumbus remark?, with ; hat " the Indians were so obedieat from their fear of the admiral, arid at tho lesirous to oblige him, that they vvluntai-ily became Christians ! " * Las Casas observes, that "so great was the queen's indignation at the admiral's mis- oonduct in this particular, that nothing but the consideration of his great public services saved him from in; ii 21st, and May Cist, 14P9 ; tho it, however, was delayed until July, 1000, in the hope, doubtless, of ol ' such :idir.Lrs from liispauiola us should obviate the necessity of a measure so prejudicial taunL c o 386 PROGRESS OP DISCOVERY. Tius excess of malice served, as usual, however, to defeat itself. So enormous an outrage shocked the minds of those most prejudiced against Columbus. All seemed to feel it as a national dishonour, that such indignities should be heaped on the man who, whatever might be bis indiscretions, had done so much for Spain, and for the whole civilised world; a man who, in the honest language of an old writer, "had he lived in the days of ancient Greece or Home, would have had statues raised, and temples and divine honours dedicated to him, as to a divinity." * None partook of the general indignation more strongly than Ferdinand and Isabella, who, in addition to their personal feelings of disgust at so gross an act, readily comprehended the whole weight of obloquy which its perpetration must necessarily attach to them. They sent to* Cadiz without an instant's delay, and commanded the admiral to be released from his ignominious fetters. They wrote to him in the most benignant terms, expressing their sincere regret for the unworthy usage which he had experienced, and requesting him to appear before them aa speedily as possible, at Granada, where the Court was then staying. At the same time, they furnished him a thousand ducats for his expenses,. *nd a handsome retinue to escort him on his journey. Columbus, revived by these assurances of the kind dispositions of his sovereigns, proceeded without delay to Granada, which he reached on the 17th of December, 1500. Immediately on his arrival he obtained an audience. The queen could not repress her tears at the sight of the man whose illustrious services had met with such ungenerous requital,, as it were, at her own hands. She endeavoured to cheer his wounded spirit with the most earnest assurances of her sympathy and sorrow for his misfortunes. Columbus, from the first moment of his disgrace, had relied on the good faith and kindness of Isabella ; for as an ancient Castilian writer remarks, " she had ever favoured him beyond the king her husband, protecting his interests, and showing him especial kindness and good-will." When he beheld the emotion of his royal mistress, and listened to her consolatory language, it was too much for his loyal and genrimis heart ; and, throwing himself on his knees, he gave vent to his feeiings, and sobbed aloud. The sovereigns endeavoured to soothe and tranquillize his mind, and, after testifying their deep sense of his injuries, promised him that impartial justice should be done his enemies, and that he should be reinstated in his emoluments and honours. Much censure has attached to the Spanish government for its share in this unfortunate transaction ; both in the appointment of so unsuit- able an agent as Bobadilla, and the delegation of such broad and indefinite powers. "With regard to the first, it is now too late, as has already been remarked, to ascertain, on what grounds such a selection could have been made. There is no evidence of his being indebted for his promotion to intrigue or any undue influence. Indeed, according to the testimony of one of his contemporaries, he was reputed "an extremely honest and religious man ;" and the good bishop Las Casas expressly declares, that " no imputation of dishonesty or avarice had ever rested * Ferdinand Coltimbus tells us, that his father kept the fetters in which he was brought noiao, hanging up in an apartment of his house, as a perpetual memorial of national ingratitude, and, when he died, ordtred them to be buried ia the same grave vitii him sett TKEATMEXT OF COLUMBUS. 387 on his character." It was an error of judgment ; a grave one, indeed, and must pass for as much as it is worth. But in regard to the second charge, of delegating unwarrantable powers, it should be remembered that the grievances of the colony were represented as of a most pressing nature, demanding a prompt and peremptory remedy ; that a more limited and partial authority, depen- dent for its exercise on instructions from the government at home, might be attended with ruinous delays ; that his authority must necessarily bo paramount to that of Columbus, who was a party implicated ; and that although unlimited jurisdiction was given over all offences com- mitted against him, yet neither he nor his friends were to be molested in any other way than by a temporary suspension from office, and a return to their own country, where the merits of their case might be submitted to the sovereigns themselves. This view of the matter, indeed, is perfectly conformable to that of Ferdinand Columbus, whose solicitude, so apparent in every page, for his father's reputation, must have effectually counterbalanced any repugnance he may have felt at impugning the conduct of his sovereigns. "The only ground of complaint," he remarks, in summing up his narrative of the transaction, "which I can bring against their Catholic Highnesses, is the unfitness of the agent whom they employed, equally malicious and ignorant. Had they sent out a suitable person, the admiral would have been highly gratified ; since he had more than once requested the appointment of some one with full powers of jurisdiction in an althir where he felt some natural delicacy in moving, in conse- quence of his own brother having been originally involved in it." And, as to the vast magnitude of the powers intrusted to Bobadilla, he adds, " It can scarcely be wondered at, considering the manifold complaints against the admiral made to their Highnesses." Although the king and queen determined without hesitation on the complete restoration of the admiral's honours, they thought it better to defer his re-appointment to the government of the colony until the ".t disturbances should be settled, and he might return there with personal safety and advantage. In the meantime they resolved to send out a competent individual, and to support him with such a force as should overawe faction, and enable him to place the tranquillity of the island on a permanent basis. The person selected was Don ^Nicolas de Ovando, comendador of Lares, of the military order of Alcantara. He was a man of acknowledged prudence and sagacity, temperate in liis habits, and plausible and politic in his address. It is sufficient evidence of his standing at court, that he had been one of the ten youths selected to be educated in the palace as companions for the prince of the Asturias. He was furnished with a fleet of two-and-thirty sail, carrying twenty-five hundred persons, many of them of the best families of the kingdom, with every variety of article for the nourishment and permanent prosperity of the colony ; and the general equipment was in a style of expense and magnificence sucli as nad never before been lavished on any armada destined for the western waters. The new governor was instructed immediately on his arrival to send Bobadilla home for trial. (Sept. 1501.) Under his lax administration, abuses of every kind had multiplied to an alarming extent ; and the c o 2 588 PBOGRESS OF DISCOVERT* poor natives, in particular, were rapidly wasting away under the new and most inhuman arrangement of the repartimientos, which he esta- blished. Isabella now declared the Indians free ; and emphatically enjoined on the authorities of Hispaniola to respect them as true and faithful vassals of the crown. Ovando was especially to ascertain the amount of losses sustained by Columbus and his brothers, to provide for their full indemnification, and to secure the unmolested enjoyment in future of all their lawful rights and pecuniary perquisites. Fortified with the most ample instructions in regard to these and other details of his administration, the governor embarked on board his magnificent flotilla, and crossed the bar of St. Lucar, February loth, 1502. A furious tempest dispersed the fleet before it had been out a week, and a report reached Spain that it had entirely perished. Iho sovereigns, overwhelmed with sorrow at this fresh disaster, which consigned so many of their best and bravest to a watery grave, shut themselves up in their palace for several days. Fortunately, the report proved ill-founded. The fleet rode out the storm in safety, one vessel only having perished : and the remainder reached in due time the place of destination. The Spanish government has been roundly taxed with injustice and ingratitude for its delay in restoring Columbus to the full possession of his colonial authority ; and that too by writers generally distinguished for candour and impartiality. No such animadversion, however, as far as I am aware, is countenanced by contemporary historians ; and it appears to be wholly undeserved. Independent of the obvious inexpe- diency of returning him immediately to the theatre of disaffection, before the embers of ancient animosity had had time to cool, there were several features in his character which make it doubtful whether he were the most competent person, in any event, for an emergency demanding at once the greatest coolness, consummate address, and acknowledged personal authority. His sublime enthusiasm, which carried him victorious over every obstacle, involved him also in nume- rous embarrassments, which men of more phlegmatic temperament would have escaped. It led him to count too readily on a similar spirit in others, and to be disappointed. It gave an exaggerated colouring to his views and descriptions, that inevitably led to a reaction in the minds of such as embarked their all on the splendid dreams of a fairy land, which they were never to realise.* Hence a fruitful source of discon- tent and disaffection in his followers. It led him, in his eagerness for the achievement of his great enterprises, to be less scrupulous and politic as to the means than a less ardent spirit would have been. His pertinacious adherence to the scheme of Indian slavery, and his in! politic regulation compelling the labour of the hidalgos, are pertinent * The high devotional feeling of Columbus led him to trace out allusions iu Scripture to the various circumstances and scenes ol' his adventurous life. Thus he believed his groat rv announced in the Apocalypse, and in Isaiah ; he identified, as I have before stated, the mines of Hispaniola with those which furnished Solomon with materials i"r his ; he failed that he had determined tho actual locality of thcganli, the newly discovered rt_jert nf n. ciiisadc for the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre. This he cherished from the first hour of overy, pressing it. iu the most indent manner on the sovereigns, and making actual provision for it in his testament. This was a tlii'ht, however, beyond the spirit e\cn of this romantic age, nnd probably received as little serious attention from the queen, as from :er moro cool and calculating husband. OF COLUMUCS, 389 examples of this.* He was, moreover, a foreigner, without rarfk, fortune, or powerful friends ; and his high and sudden elevation natu- rally raised him up a thousand enemies among a proud, punctilious, and intensely national people. Under these multiplied embarrassments, resulting from peculiarities of character and situation, the sovereigns might well be excused for not entrusting Columbus, at this delicate crisis, with disentangling the meshes of intrigue and faction, in which the affairs of the colony were so unhappily involved. I trust these remarks will not be construed into an insensibility to the merits and exalted services of Columbus. " A world," to bomcvr the words, though not the application of the Greek historian " is his monument." His virtues shine with too bright a lustre to be dimmed l;y a few natural blemishes; but it becomes necessary to notice these, to vindicate the Spanish government from the imputation of perfidy and ingratitude, where it has been most freely urged, and apparent!}' with the least foundation. It is more difficult to excuse the paltry equipment with which the admiral was suffered to undertake his fourth and last voyage. The object proposed by this expedition was the discovery of a passage to the great Indian Ocean, which he inferred sagaciously enough from his premises, though, as it turned out, to the great inconvenience of the commercial world, most erroneously, must open somewhere between Cuba and the coast of Paria. Four caravels only were furnished for the expedition, the largest of which did not exceed seventy tons' burden ; a force forming a striking contrast to the magnificent armada lately intrusted to Ovando, and altogether too insignificant to be vindicated on the ground of the different objects proposed by the two expeditions. Columbus, oppressed with growing infirmities, and a consciousness, perhaps, of the decline of popular favour, manifested unusual despon- dency previously to his embarkation. He talked, even, of resigning the task of further discovery to his brother Bartholomew. " I have established," said he, " all that I have proposed, the existence of land in the west. I have opened the gate, and others may enter at their pleasure ; as indeed they do, arrogating to themselves the titLs ot' discoverers, to which they can have little claim, following as they do in my track." He little thought the ingratitude of mankind would sanction the claims of these adventurers so far as to confer the name of one of them on that world which his genius had revealed. The great inclination, however, which the admiral had to serve the Catholic sovereigns, and especially the most serene queen, says Ferdinand Columbus, induced him to lay aside his scruples, and encounter the perils and fatigues of another voyage. A few weeks before his departure, he received a gracious letter from Ferdinand and Isabella, the last ever addressed to him by his royal mistress, assuring him of their purpose to maintain inviolate all their engagements with him, and to perpetuate the * Another example was the injudicious punishment of delinquents fcy diminishing their Tegular allowance of food, a measure so obnoxious as to call for the interference of the sovereigns, who prohibited it altogether. Herrera, who must be admitted to have been in no degree insensible to the merits of Columbus, closes his account of the various accu- sations ur_'LKl mines.* Emigration to the new countries was encouraged by the liberal tenor of the royal ordinances passed from time to time. The settlers in Hispaniola were to have their passage free ; to be excused from taxes ; to have the absolute property of such plantations on the island as they should engage to cultivate for four years; and they were furnished with a gratuitous supply of grain and stock for their farms. All exports and imports were exempted from duty ; a striking contrast to the narrow policy of later ages. Five hundred persons, including scientific men and artisans of every description, were sent out and maintained at the expense of government. To provide for the greater security and quiet of the island, Ovando was authorised to gather the residents into towns, which were endowed with the privileges appertaining to similar cor- porations in the mother country ; and a number of married men, with their families, were encouraged to establish themselves in them, with the view of giving greater solidity and permanence to the settlement. With these wise provisions were mingled others savouring too strongly * Abundant evidence of this is furnished by the long enumeration of articles subjected to tithes, contained in an ordinance dated October 5th, 1501, showing with what indis- crinv'iate severity this heavy burden was imposed from the first on the most important procJ'icts of hu*nan industry. 392 SPANISH COLONIAL POLICT. of the illiberal spirit of the age. Such, were those prohibiting Jews, Moors, or indeed any but Castilians, for whom the discovery was con- sidered exclusively to have been made, from inhabiting, or even visiting, the Xew World. The government kept a most jealous eye upon what it regarded as its own peculiar perquisites, reserving to itself the exclu- sive possession of all minerals, dyewoods, and precious stones that should be discovered; and, although private persons were allowed to search for gold, they were subjected to the exorbitant tax of two-thirds, subsequently reduced to one-fifth, of all they should obtain, for the crown.* The measure which contributed more effectually than any other, at this period, to the progress of discovery and colonisation, was ihe licence granted, under certain regulations, in 1495, for voyages undertaken by private individuals. Xo use was made of this permission until some years later, in 1499. The spirit of enterprise had flagged, and the nation had experienced something like disappointment on contrasting the meagre results of their own discoveries with the dazzling siit of the Portuguese, who had struck at once into the very heart of the jewelled east. The reports of the admiral's third voyage, however, and the beautiful specimens of pearls which he sent home from the coast of Paria, revived the cupidity of the nation. Private adventurers now proposed to avail themselves of the licence already granted, and to iollow up the track of discovery on their own account. The govern- ment, drained by its late heavy expenditures, and jealous of the spirit of maritime adventure beginning to show itself in the other nations of Europe, t willingly acquiesced in a measure, which, while it opened a wide field of enterprise for its subjects, secured to itself all the sub- stantial benefits of discovery without any of the burdens. The ships fitted out under the general licence were required to reserve one-tenth of their tonnage for the crown, as well as two-thirds of all the gold, and ten per cent, of all other commodities which they should procure. The government promoted these expeditions by a bounty on all vessels of six hundred tons and upwards engaged in them. With this encouragement, the more wealthy merchants of Seville, Cadiz, and Palos, the old theatre of nautical enterprise, freighted aud sent out little squadrons of three or four vessels each, which they intrusted to the experienced mariners who had accompanied Columbus in his first voyage, or since followed in his footsteps. They held in general the same course pursued by the admiral on his last expedition, exploring the coasts of the great southern continent. Some of the adventurers returned with such rich freights of gold, pearls, and other precious commodities, as well compensated the fatigues and perils of the voyage ; but the greater number were obliged to content themselves with the more enduring, but barren honours of discovery . J * The exclusion of foreigners, at least all but " Catholic Christians," k> particularly recommended by Columbus iu his first communication to the crown. t Among the foreign adventurers were the two Cabots, who sailed in the service of th English monarch, Henry VII., in 1497, and ran down the whole coast of North America, from Newfoundland to within a few degrees of Florida ; thus encroaching, as it were, on the very field of discovery preoccupied by the Spaniards. { Columbus seems to have taken exceptions at the licence for private voyap. s, as nrt Infringement of his own prerog:i:ivcs. It is difficult, however, to ondonteM in wiiat wny. There ia nothing in his original capitulations with the government having- n.: SPANISH COLONIAL POLICY. 39.S The active spirit of enterprise now awakened, and the more enlarged commercial relations with the new colonies, required a more perfect organisation of the department for Indian affairs, the earliest vestige* of which have been already noticed in a preceding chapter.* By an ordinance dated at Alcala, January 20th, 1503, it was provided that a board should be established, consisting of three functionaries, with the titles of treasurer, factor, and comptroller. Their permanent residence was assigned in the old alcazar of Seville, where they were to meet every day for the dispatch of business. The board was expected to make itself thoroughly acquainted with whatever concerned the colonies, and to afford the government all information that could be obtained affecting their interests and commercial prosperity. It was empowered to grant licences under the regular conditions, to provide for the equip- ment of fleets, to determine their destination, and furnish them with instructions on sailing. All merchandise for exportation was to be deposited in the aleazar, where the return cargoes were to be received, and contracts made for their sale. Similar authority was given to it over the trade with the Barbary coast and the Canary Islands. Its supervision was to extend in like manner over all vessels which might take their departure from the port of Cadiz, as well as from Seville. "With these powers were combined others of a purely judicial character, authorising them to take cognisance of questions arising out of particular voyages, and of the colonial trade in general. In this latter capacity they were to be assisted by the advice of two jurists, maintained by a regular salary from the government. Such were the extensive powers entrusted to the famous Casa de Con- trdfttcinn, or House of Trade, on this, its first definite organisation ; and, although its authority was subsequently somewhat circumscribed by the appellate jurisdiction of the Council of the Indies, it has always con- tinued the great organ by which the commercial transactions with the colonies have been conducted and controlled. The Spanish government, while thus securing to itself the more easy and exclusive management of the colonial trade, by confining it within one narrow channel, discovered the most admirable foresight in providing for its absolute supremacy in ecclesiastical affairs, where alone it could ntest ed. By a bull of Alexander the Sixth, dated November 16th, 1501, the sovereigns were empowered to receive all the tithes in the colonial dominions. Another bull of Pope Julius the Second, July 28th, 1508, granted them the right of collating to all benefices, of whatever (k'HTiption, in the colonies, subject only to the approbation of the Holy Bv these two concessions the Spanish crown was placed at once at the head of the church in its transatlantic dominions, with the absolute disposal of all its dignities and emoluments. to the matter ; while, in the letters patent made out previously to hia second voyage, the right of granting licences is expressly reserved to the crown, and to the superintendent, .illy with the admiral. The only legal claim which he could make in all such expeditions as were not conducted under him, was to one-eighth of the tonnage, and thi was regularly provided for in the general licence. The "sovereigns, indeed, in consequence cf his remonstrances, published an ordinance, June 2nd, 141*7, in which, after expressing their unabated respect for all the rights and privileges of the admiral, they declare that whatever shall be found in their previous licence repugnant to these shall be null and void. The hypothetical form in which this is stated shows that the sovereigns, with an honest desire" of keeping their engagements with Columbus, had not a very clear perception in what manner they had been violated. I'art I. c'aap. 18, of this History. 394 SPANISH COLONIAL POLICY. It has excited the admiration of more than one historian, that Ferdinand and Isabella, with their reverence for the Catholic church, should have had the courage to assume an attitude of such entire inde pendence of its spiritual chief. But whoever has studied their reign, will regard this measure as perfectly conformable to their habitual policy, which never suffered a zeal for religion, or a blind deference to the church, to compromise in any degree the independence of the crown. It is much more astonishing that pontiffs could be found content to divest themselves of such important prerogatives. It was deviating widely from the subtle and tenacious spirit of their predecessors, and, as the consequences came to be more fully disclosed, furnished ample subject of regret to those who succeeded them. Such is a brief summary of the principal regulations adopted by Ferdinand and Isabella for the administration of the colonies. Many of their peculiarities, including most of their defects, are to be referred to the peculiar circumstances under which the discovery of the New AVorld was effected. Unlike the settlements on the comparatively sterile shores of North America, which were permitted to devise laws accommodated to their necessities, and to gather strength in the habitual exercise of political functions, the Spanish colonies were from the very first checked and controlled by the over-legislation of the parent country. The original project of discovery had been entered into with indefinite expec- tations of gain. The verification of Columbus's theory of the existence of land in the west, gave popular credit to his conjecture that that land was the far-famed Indies. The specimens of gold and other precious commodities found there served to maintain the delusion. The Spanish government regarded the expedition as its own private adventure, to whose benefits it had exclusive pretensions. Hence those jealous regulations for securing to itself a monopoly of the most obvious sources of profit, the dyewoods and the precious metals. These impolitic provisions were relieved by others better suited to the permanent interests of the colony. Such was the bounty offered in various ways on the occupation and culture of land ; the erection of municipalities ; the right of intercolonial traffic, and of exporting and importing merchandise of every description free of duty. These and similai laws show that the government, far from regarding the colonies merely as a foreign acquisition to be sacrificed to the interests of the mother country, as at a later period, was disposed to legislate for them on more generous principles, as an integral portion of the monarchy. Some of the measures, even of a less liberal tenor, may be excused , as sufficiently accommodated to existing circumstances. No regulation, for example, was found eventually more mischievous in its operation than that which confined the colonial trade to the single port of Seville, instead of permitting it to find a free vent in the thousand avenues naturally opened in every part of the kingdom ; to say nothing of the grievous monopolies and exactions, for which this concentration of a mighty traffic on so small a point was found, in later times, to afford unbounded facility. But the colonial trade was too limited in its extent, under Ferdinand and Isabella, to involve such consequences. It was chiefiy confined to a few wealthy seaports of Andalusia, from the vicinity of which the first adventurers had sallied forth on their career of discovery. It was no inconvenience to them to have a common port of entry, so SPANISH COLONIAL POLICY. 395 sentral and accessible as Seville ; which, moreover, by this arrangement became a great mart for European trade, thus affording a convenient market to the country for effecting its commercial exchanges with every quarter of Christendom. It was only when laws, adapted to the incipient stages of commerce, were perpetuated to a period when that commerce had swelled to such gigantic dimensions as to embrace every quarter of the empire, that their gross impolicy became mani It would not be giving a fair view of the great objects proposed by the Spanish sovereigns in their schemes of discovery, to omit one which was , paramount to all the rest, with the queen at least, the propagation of Christianity among the heathen. The conversion and civilisation of this simple people form, as has been already said, the burden of most of her official communications from the earliest period.* She neglected no means for the furtherance of this good work, through the agency of missionaries exclusively devoted to it, who were to establish their residence among the natives, and win them to the true faith by their instructions, and the edifying example of their own lives. It was with the design of ameliorating the condition of the natives, that she sanctioned the introdiiction into the colonies of negro slaves born in Spain (1501). This she did on the representation, that the physical constitution of the African was much better fitted than that of the Indian to endure severe toil under a tropical climate. To this false principle of economising human suffering we are indebted for that foul stain on the New World, which has grown deeper and darker with the lapse of years. Isabella, however, was destined to have her benevolent designs in n _ard to the natives defeated by her own subjects. The popular doctrine of the abso^'te rights of the Christian over the heathen seemed to warrant the exaction of labour from these unhappy beings to any degree, which avarice on the one hand could demand, or human endurance con- cede on the other. The device of the repartimientos systematised and completed the whole scheme of oppression. The queen, it is true, abolished them under Ovando's administration, and declared the Indians " as free as her own subjects." But his representation, that the Indians, when no longer compelled to work, withdrew from all intercourse with the Christians, thus annihilating at once all hopes of tneir conversion, subsequently induced her to consent that they should be required to labour moderately and for a reasonable compensation. This was construed with their usual latitude by the Spaniards. They soon revived the whole .tem of distribution on so terrific a scale, that a letter of Columbus, written shortly after Isabella's death, represents more than six-sevenths of the whole population of Hispaniola to have melted away under it ! + The queen was too far removed to enforce the execution of her own beneficent measures ; nor is it probable that she ever imagined the extent of their violation, for there was no intrepid philanthropist in that day, like Las Casas, to proclaim to the world the wrongs and sorrows of the Indian. { A conviction, however, of the unworthy treatment of the * Las Casas, amidst his unsparing condemnation of the guilty, does ample justice to th pure :uid generous, though, alas ! unavailing efforts of the queen. I The venerable bishop confirms this frightful picture of desolation in its full extent, in .tis various memorials prepared for the council of the Indies. ) 1-is Cas;is made his first voyage to the Indies, it is true, in 1408, or at latest 1502 ; \\t the7-e is no trace of his taking an active part in denouncing the oppressions of the Spaniards earlier thau l.">10, when he combined his efforts with those of the Dominican missionaries 896 SPANISH COLONIAL POLICi". natives seems to have pressed heavily on her heart ; for in a codicil to her testament, dated a few days only before her death, she invokes the kind offices of her successor in their behalf in snch strong and affectionate language, as plainly indicates how intently her thoughts were occupied with their condition down to the last hour of her existence. The moral grand-cur of the maritime discoveries under this reign, must not so far dazzle us as to lead to a very high estimate of their immediate results in an economical view. Most of those articles which have since formed the great staples of South American commerce, as cocoa, indigo, cochineal, tobacco, &c., were either not known in Isabella's time, or not cultivated for exportation. Small quantities of cotton had been brought to Spain, but it was doubted whether the profit would com- pensate the expense of raising it. The sugar-cane had been transplanted into Hispaniola, and thrived luxuriantly in its genial soil : but it required time to grow it to any considerable amount as an article of com- merce : and this was still further delayed by the distractions as well as avarice of the colony, which grasped at nothing less substantial than gold itself. The only vegetable product extensively used in trade was the brazil-wood, whose beautiful dye and application to various orna- mental purposes made it, from the first, one of the most important monopolies of the crown. The accounts are too vague to afford any probable estimate of the precious metals obtained from the new territories previous to Ovando's mission. Before the discovery of the mines of Hayna it was certainly very inconsiderable. The size of some of the specimens of ore found there would suggest magnificent ideas of their opulence. One piece of gold is reported by the contemporary historians to hive weighed three thousand two hundred castellanos, and to have been so large that the Spaniards served up a roasted pig on it, boasting that no potentate in Europe could dine off so costly a dish. The admiral's own statement, that the miners obtained from six gold castellanos to one hundred or even two hundred and fifty in a day, allows a latitude too great to lead to any definite conclusion. More tangible evidence of the riches of the island is afforded by the fact, that two hundred thousand castellanos of gold went down in the ships with Bobadilla. But this, it must be remembered, was the fruit of gigantic efforts, continued under a system of unexampled oppression, for more than two years. To this testimony might be added that of the well-informed historian of Seville, who infers, from several royal ordinances, that the influx of the pre- cious metals had been such, before the close of the fifteenth century, as to effect the value of the currency, and the regular prices of commodities.* These large estimates, however, are scarcely reconcilable with the popular discontent at the meagreness of the returns obtained from the New "World, or with the assertion of Bernaldez, of the same date with lately arrived in St. Domingo in the same good work. It was not until some years later, 1515, that he returned to Spain, and pleaded the cause of the injured natives before th throne. * The alteration was in the gold currency, which continued to rise in value till 1-107, whcr it gradually sunk, in consequence of the importation from the mines of Hispaniola. Clemencin has given its relative value as compared with silver, fur several different years ; and the year he assigns for the commencement of its depreciation is precisely the same with that indicated by Zurtiga. The value of silver was not materially aflocterl till th "iiscovery of the gr^ut mines of Potosi aud Zacatccas. SPANISH COLONIAL POLICT. 391 Zuf.iga's reference, that " so little gold had been brought home, as to raise a general beli.-f that there was scarcely any in the island." This is still further confirmed by the frequent representations of contemporary writers, that the expenses of the colonies considerably exceeded the profits ; and may account for the very limited scale on which the Spanish government, at no time blind to its own interests, pursued its schemes of discovery, as compared with its Portuguese neighbours, who followed up theirs with a magnificent apparatus of fleets and armies, that could have been supported only by the teeming treasures of the Indies. 11 While the colonial commerce failed to produce immediately the splendid returns which were expected, it was generally believed to have introduced a physical evil into Europe, which, in the language of an eminent writer, " more than counterbalanced all the benefits that resulted from the discovery of the New World." I allude to the loathsome disease which Heaven has sent as the severest scourge of licentious intercourse between the sexes ; and which broke out with all the viru- lence of an epidemic in almost every quarter of Europe, in a very short time after the discovery of America. The coincidence of these two events led to the popular belief of their connection with each other, though it derived little support from any other circumstance. The expedition of Charles the Eighth against Xaples, which brought the Spaniards, soon after, in immediate contact with the various nations of Christendom, suggested a plausible medium for the rapid communication of the disorder ; uiid this theory of its origin and transmission gaining credit with time, which made it more difficult to be refuted, has passed with little examination from the mouth of one historian to another to the present day. The extremely brief interval which elapsed between the return of Columbus and the simultaneous appearance of the disorder at the most distant points of Europe, long since suggested a reasonable distrust of the correctness of the hypothesis ; and an American, naturally desirous of relieving his own country from so melancholy a reproach, may feel satisfaction that the more searching and judicious criticism of our own day has at length established beyond a doubt that the disease, far from originating in the Xew World, was never known there till introduced by Europeans. Whatever be the amount of physical good or evil immediately ing to Spain from her new discoveries, their moral consequences were inestimable. The ancient limits of human thought and action * The estimates in the text, it will be noticed, apply only to the period antecedent to Ovando'a administration, in 1502. The operations under him were conducted on a far r.vTr extensive and efficient plan. The system ol' r - being revived, the wholo ,1 force of the island, aided by the best mechanical apparatus, was employed iu ng from the soil all its hidden stores of wealth. The success was such, that in A-ithin two years after Isabella's death, the four foundries established in the island i an annual amou:. to Ilerrera, ::.ccs of gold. It must be ;ed, however, that one-fifth only of the gross sum obtained from the mines was at that time paid to the crown. It!.saj> those returns exceeded the expecta- tions at the time of Ovan , nt, that the person then sent out as marker of the gold v. one per cent, of all the gold assayed, The perquisite, however, was ;'un..l i- .it the functionary was recalled, and a new arrangement made \vitii ids suivvs-ur. When Xavagiero visited Seville, the royal fifth of the gold which [assed through the mints amounted to about 100,000 ducats annually. 398 . SPANISH COLONIAL POLICY. were overleaped ; the veil which had covered the secrets of the deep foi so many centuries was removed ; another hemisphere was thrown open ; and a boundless expansion promised to science, from the infinite varieties in which nature was exhibited in these unexplored regions. The success of the Spaniards kindled'a generous emulation in their Portuguese rivals, who soon after accomplished their long-sought passage into the Indian seas, and thus completed the great circle of maritime discovery.* It would seem as if Providence had postponed this grand event until the possession of America, with its stores of precious metals, might supply such materials for a commerce with the East, as should bind together the most distant quarters of the globe. The impression made on the enlightened minds of that day is evinced by the tone of gratitude and exultation in which they indulge at being permitted to witness the con- summation of these glorious events, which their fathers had so long, but in vain, desired to see. The discoveries of Columbus occurred most opportunely for the Spanish nation, at the moment when it was released from the tumultuous, struggle in which it had been engaged for so many years with the Moslems. The severe schooling of these wars had prepared it for entering on a bolder theatre of action, whose stirring and romantic peril* raised still higher the chivalrous spirit of the people. The operation of this spirit was shown in the alacrity with which private adventinvi =. embarked in expeditions to the Xew World, under cover of the general license, during the last two years of this century. Their efforts, com- bined with those of Columbus, extended the range of discovery from its original limits, twenty-four degrees of north latitude, to probably more than fifteen south, comprehending some of the most important territories in the western hemisphere. Before the end of 1500, the principal groups of the "West Indian islands had been visited, and the whole extent of the southern continent coasted, from the Bav of Honduras to Cape St. Augustine. One adventurous mariner, indeed, named Lepe, penetrated several degrees south of this, to a point not reached by any other voyager for ten or twelve years after. A great part of the kingdom of Brazil was embraced in this extent, and two successive Castilian navi- gators landed, and took formal possession of it for the crown of Castile, previous to its reputed discovery by the Portuguese, Cabral ; t although the claims to it were subsequently relinquished by the Spanish govern- ment, conformablv to the famous line of demarcation established by the treaty of Tordesillas. J * This event occurred in 1497 ; Vasco de Gama doubling the Cape of Good Hope, November 20th in that year, and reaching Calicut in the following May, 1408. La Clede, Hist, de Portugal, torn. iii. pp. 104-109. t Cabral's pretensions to the discovery of Brazil appear not to have been doubted until recently. They are sanctioned both by Robertson and Raynal. J The Portuguese court formed, probably, no very accurate idea of the geographical position of Brazil. King Emanuel, in a letter to the Spanish sovereigns, acquu them with Cabral's voyage, speaks of the newly discovered region as not only convc. : but Mcettary, for the navigation to India. The oldest maps of this country, whether from ignorance or design, bring it twenty-two degrees east of its proper longitude ; so t!. Whole of the vast tract now comprehended under the name of Brazil, would fall < Portuguese side of the partition line agreed on by the two governments, which, it will be remembered, was removed to 370 leagues west of the Cape de Verd Islands. The Spanish court made some show at first of resisting the pretensions of the Portuguese, byprepuktioiiS for establishing a colony on the northern extremity of the Ura/iliau territory. It is n to understand how it came finally to admit these pretensions. Any correct admeasure- ment with the Castiliau league would only have included the fringe, as it were, of the ITALIAX WAES. 39* "\Vhile the colonial empire of Spain was thus every day enlarging, tho man to whom it was all due was never permitted to know tlie extent or the value of it. He died in the conviction in which he lived, that the land he had reached was the long-sought Indies. But it was a country far richer than the Indies ; and had he, on quitting Cuba, struck into a westerly instead of a southerly direction, it would have carried him into the very depths of the golden regions whose existence he had so long and vainly predicted. As it was. he "only opened the gates," to use his own language, for others more fortunate than himself; and before he quitted Hispaniola for the last time, the young adventurer arrived there who was destined by the conquest of Mexico to realise all the magnificent visions, which had" been derided as only visions, in the lifetime of Columbus. CHAPTEE X. ITALIAN WARS PARTITION OF KAPLES GONSALVO OYERBUNS CALABRIA. 14981502. Louis XII. "s Designs on Italy Alarm of the Spanish Court Bold Conduct of it Minister at Rome Celebrated Partition of Naples Gonsalvo sails against the Turks- Success and Cruelties of the French Gousalvo invades Calabria He punishes Mutiny His munificent Spirit He captures Tarento Seizes the Duke of Calabria. DUKIXG the last four years of our narrative, in which the unsettled state of the kingdom and the progress of foreign discovery appeared to doniaud the whole attention of the sovereigns, a most important revo- lution was going forward in the affairs of Italy. The death of Charles the Eighth would seem, to have dissolved the relations recently arisen between that country and the rest of Europe, and to have restored it to its aueieiit independence. It might naturally have been expected that 1'rauee, under her new monarch, who had reached a mature age, rendered still more mature by the lessons he had imbibed in the school of adversitv, would feel the folly of reviving ambitious schemes, which had cost so dear and ended so disastrously. Italy, too, it might have been presumed, lacerated and still bleeding at every pore, would have learned the fatal consequence of invoking foreign aid in her domestic quarrels, and of throwing open the gates to a torrent, sure to sweep down friend and foe indiscriminately in its progress. But experience, alas ! did not bring wisdom, and passion triumphed as usual. Louis the Twelfth, on ascending the throne, assumed the titles of Duke of Milan and King of Naples, thus unequivocally announcing his intention of asserting his claims, derived through the 'Visconti family, to the former, and through the Angevin dynasty, to the latter state. His aspiring temper was stimulated rather than satisfied by the martial renown he had acquired in the Italian wars ; and he was urged on by the north-eastern promontory of Brazil. The Portuguese league, allowing seventeen to degree, may have been adopted, which would embrace nearly the whole territory passed under the name of Brazil in the best ancient maps, extending from Para on tho north, to the groat river oi Sun Pedro on the south. Mariana seems willing; to help tiu- Portuguese, by running the partition line one nundred leagues farther west thaa thj liimod themselves. 400 ITAXiAX WAKS. great body of the French chivalry, who, disgusted with a life of inaction, longed for a field where they might win new laurels, and indulge in the joyous licence of military adventure. Unhappily, the court of France found ready instruments for its pur- pose in the profligate politicians of Italy. The Iloman pontiff, in par- ticular, Alexander the Sixth, whose criminal ambition assumes something respectable by contrast with the low vices in which he was habitually steeped, "willingly lent himself to a monarch who could so effectually serve his selfish schemes of building up the forttines of his family. The ancient republic of Venice, departing from her usual sagacious policy, and yielding to her hatred of Lodovico Sforza, and to the lust of territorial acquisition, consented to unite her arms with those of France against Milan, in consideration of a share (not the lion's share) of the spoils of victory. Florence, and many other inferior powers, whether from fear or weakness, or the short-sighted hope of assistance in their petty international feuds, consented either to throw their weight into the same scale, or to remain neutral. Having thus secured himself from molestation in Italy, Louis the Twelfth entered into negotiations with such other European powers as were most likely to interfere with his designs. The Emperor Maximilian, whose relations with Milan would most naturally have demanded his interposition, was deeply entangled in a war with the Swiss. The neutrality of Spain was secured by the treaty of Marcoussis, August 5th, 1498, which settled all the existing differences with that country. And a treaty with Savoy in the following year guaranteed a free passage through her mountain passes to the French army in Italy. Having completed these arrangements, Louis lost no time in mustering his forces, which, descending like a torrent on the fair plains of Lombardy, effected the conquest of the entire duchy in little more than a fortnight ; and, although the prize was snatched for a moment from his grasp, yet French valour and Swiss perfidy soon restored it. The miserable Sforza, the dupe of arts which he had so long practised, was transported into France, where he lingered out the remainder of his days in doleful captivity. He had first called the barbarians into Italy, and it was a righteous retribution which made him their earliest victim. By the conquest of Milan, France now took her place among the Italian powers. A preponderating weight was thus thrown into the scale, which disturbed the ancient political balance, and which, if the projects on Xaples should be realised, would wholly annihilate it. These consequences, to which the Italian states seemed strangely insensible, bad long been foreseen by the sagacious eye of Ferdinand the Catholic, who watched the movements of his powerful neighbour with the deepest anxiety. He had endeavoured, before the invasion of Milan, to awaken the different governments in Italf to a sense of their danger, and to stir them up to some efficient combination against it.* Both he and the * Martyr, in a letter Tvritten soon after Sforza's recovery of his capital, says that the Spanish sovereigns "could not conceal their joy at the event, such was their jealousy of fr'rance." The same sagacious writer, t'ue d^tauce of whose residence from Italy removed aim from those political factions ami prejudices which clouded the optics of his country- men, saw with deep regret their coalition with France, the fatal consequences of which he predicted in a letter to a frie;: . -i-nier minister at the Spanish court. "The king of France," says he, ''ane:- ne has dined with the duke of Milan, will coma nd sup with you.' r.UlTITIOX OF XAPLr-J. 401 queen had beheld with disquietude the increasing corruptions oi the papal court, and that shameless cupidity and lust of power which made it the convenient tool of the French monarch. By their orders, Garcilasso de la Vega, tlu- Spanish ambassador, road a letter from his sovereigns in the presence of his Holiness, commenting on his scandalous immorality, his invasion of ecclesiastical rights ap- pertaining to the Spanish crown, his schemes of seLish aggrandisement, and especially his avowed purpose of transferring his sou Caesar Borgia from a sacreo. to a secular dignity ; a circumstance that must necessarily make him, from the manner in which it was to be conducted, the instrument of Louis the Twelfth.* This unsavoury rebuke, which probably lost nothing of its pungency from the tone in which it was delivered, so incensed the pope, that he attempted to seize the paper and tear it in pieces, giving vent at the same time to the most indecent reproaches against the minister and hia sovereigns. Garcilasso coolly waited till the storm had subsided, and Jien replied undauntedly, " That he had uttered no more than became a loval subject of Castile ; that he should never shrink from declaring freely what his sovereigns commanded, or what he conceived to be for the good of Christendom ; and, if his Holiness were displeased with it, he could dismiss him from his court, where he was convinced, indeed, his residence could be no longer useful." + Ferdinand had no better fortune at Venice, where his negotiations were conducted by Lorenzo Suarez de la Vega, an adroit diplomatist, brother of Gareilasso. These negotiations were resumed after the occupation of Milan by the French, when the minister availed himself of the jealousy- occasioned by that event to excite a determined resistance to the prop* 1 - -ion on Naples. But the republic was too sorely pressed by the Turkish war, which Sforza, in the hope of creating a diversion in his own favour, had brought on his country, to allow leisure for other operations. Nor did the Spanish court succeed any better at this with the Emperor Maximilian, whose magnificent pretensions were ridiculously contrasted with his limited authority, and still more limited revenues, so scanty, indeed, as to gain him the contemptuous epithet among the Italians of pochi denari, or " the Moneyless." He had conceived himself, indeed, greatly injured, both on the score of his imperial rights and his connexion with Sforza, by the conquest of Milan ; but, with the levity and cupidity essential to his character, he suffered himself, notwithstanding the remonstrances of the Spanish court to be bribed into a truce with king Louis, which ave the latter full scope for his meditated enterprise on Naples. s disembarrassed of the most formidable means of annoyance, the * Louis XII , for the good offices of the pope in the affair of his divorce from the imfor- - 1 of France, uncardinalled Cresar Borgia the duchy of Valence .11 I) . io:it of -JO.OOOli.: usiderable force to support him in his - against the princes of Romagna. seems to have possessed little of the courtly and politic addrea of :i diploma! nt audience which the pope gave him, together with a -tile. I:;-- Hunt expostulation so much i nis Holiness, d it would not oust him much to have him thrown into the Tiber. The bold bearing of the Castiliau. however, appears to have had its effect; since we find the p revoking an offensive eccUsiiftical provision he had made ki Spain. ' iu'gise the character of the Catholic sovereigns i; full i 2 D 402 ITALIAN WAKS. French monarch went briskly forward with his preparations, the object of which he did not affect to conceal. Frederic, the unfortunate king of Naples, saw himself with dismay now menaced with the loss of empire, before he had time to taste the sweets of it. He knew not where to turn for refuge, in his desolate condition, from the impending storm. His treasury was drained, and his kingdom wasted by the late war. His subjects, although attached to his person, were too familiar with revolu- tions to stake their lives or fortunes on the cast. His countrymen, the Italians, were in the interest of his enemy ; and his nearest neighbour, the pope, had drawn from personal pique motives for the most deadly hostilitv.* He had as little reliance on the king of Spain his natural ally and kinsman, who, he well knew, had always regarded the crown of Naples as his own rightful inheritance. He resolved, therefore, to apply at once to the French monarch ; and he endeavoured to propitiate him by the most humiliating concessions, the offer of an annual tribute and the surrender into his hands of some of the principal fortresses in the kingdom. Finding these advances coldly received, he invoked, in the extremity of his distress, the aid of the Turkish sultan, Bajazet, the terror of Christendom, requesting such supplies of troops as should enable him to make head against their common foe. This desperate step produced no other result than that of furnishing the enemies of the unhappy prince with a plausible ground of accusation against him, of which they did not fail to make good use. The Spanish government, in the mean time, made the most vivid remonstrances through its resident minister, or agents expressly accredited for the purpose, against the proposed expedition of Louis the Twelfth. It even went so far as to guarantee the faithful discharge of the tribute proffered by the king of Naples. But the reckless ambition of the French monarch, overleaping the barriers of prudence, and indeed of common sense, disdained the fruits of conquest without the name. Ferdinand now found himself apparently reduced to the alternative of abandoning the prize at once to the French king, or of making battle with MTH in defence of his royal kinsman. The first of these measures, which would bring a restless and powerful rival on the borders of his Sicilian dominions, was not to be thought of for a moment. The latter, which pledged him a second time to the support of pretensions hostile to his own, was scarcely more palatable. A third expedient suggested itself; the partition of the kingdom, as hinted in the negotiations with Charles the Eighth, by which means the Spanish government, if it could not rescue the whole prize from the grasp of Louis, would at least divide it with him.t Instructions were accordingly given to Gralla, the minister at the Alexander VI. had requested the hand of Carlotta, daughter of king Frederic, for his son, Caar Borgia : but this was a sacrifice at which pride and parental affection alix:e revolted. The slight was not to be forgiven by the implacable Borgias. t Boe Part II. Chapter 3 of this History. Ferdinand, it seems, entertained the thought of visiting Italy in person. This appears from a letter, or rather an elaborate memorial of Garcilasso de la Vega, urging various considerations to dissuade his master from this step. In the course of it he lays open the policy and relative strength of the Italian states, i.M of whom, at least, he regards as in the interests of France. At the same time he advises the king to carry the war across his own borders into the French territory, and thus, by compelling Louis to withdraw his forces, in part, from Italy, cripple his operations in tli.it country. The letter is full of the suggestions of a shrewd policy, but shows that the writer knew much more of Italian politics than of what was then passing in the cabinet* of Paris and Madrid. PARTITION" OF NAPLES. 403 court of Paris, to sound the government on this head, bringing it forward as his own private suggestion. Care was taken at tke same time to secure a party in the French councils to the interests of Ferdinand.* The suggestions of the Spanish envoy received additional weight from the report of a considerable armament then equipping in the port of Malaga. Its ostensible purpose was to co-operate with the Venetians in the defence of their possessions in the Levant. Its main object however, was to cover the coasts of Sicily in any event from the French, and to afford means for prompt action on any point where circumstances might require it. The fleet consisted of about sixty sail, large aud small, mid cam -.[ forces amounting to six hundred horse and four thousand loot, picked men, many of them drawn from the hardy regions of the north, which had been taxed least severely in the Moorish wars. The command of the whole was intrusted to the Great Captain, Gonsalvo of Cordova, who, since his return home, had fully sustained the high reputation which his brilliant military talents had acquired for him abroad. Numerous volunteers, comprehending the noblest of the young chivalry of Spain pressed forward to serve under the banner f this accomplished and popular chieftain. Among them may be particularly noticed Diego de Mendoza, son of the grand cardinal, Pedro de la Paz,f Gonzalo Pizarro, father of the celebrated adventurer of Peru, and Diego de Paredes, whose personal prowess and feats of extravagant daring furnished many an incredible legend for chronicle and romance. "With this gallant armament the great captain weighed anchor in the port of Malaga, in May 1500, designing to touch at Sicily before proceed- ing against the Turks. Meanwhile, the negotiations between France and Spain, respecting Naples, were brought to a close, by a treaty for the equal partition of that kingdom between the two powers, ratified at Granada, November llth, 1500. This extraordinary document, after enlarging on the unmixed evils flowing from war, and the obligation on all Christians to preserve inviolate the blessed peace bequeathed them by the Saviour, proceeds to state, that no other prince, save the kings of France and Aragon, caii pretend to a title to the throne of Naples ; and as king Frederic, its present occupant, has seen fit to endanger the safety of all Christendom, by bringing on it its bitterest enemy the Turks, the contracting parties, in order to rescue it from this imminent peril, and preserve inviolate the bond of peace, agree to take possession of his kingdom and divide it between them. It is then provided, that the northern portion, compre- hending the Terra di Lavoro and Abruzzo, be assigned to France, with the title of King of Naples and Jerusalem ; and the southern consisting of Apulia and Calabria, with the title of Duke of those provinces, to N'aiu. The dog ana, an important duty levied on the nocks of the Capitanate, was to be collected by the officers of the Spanish government, and divided equally with France. Lastly any inequality between the respective territories was to be so adjusted, that the revenues to each of * According to Zurita, Ferdinand secured the services of Guillaume de Poictiers, lord ot CliMeux aud governor of Paris, by the promise of the city of Cotron, mortgaged to him in Italy. 404 ITALIAX WAES. the parties should be precisely equal. The treaty was to be kept profoundly secret until preparations were completed for the simultaneous occupation of the devoted territory by the combined powers. Such were the terms of this celebrated compact, by which two European potentates coolly carved out and divided between them the entire dominions of a third, who had given no cause for umbrage, and with whom they were both at that time in perfect peace and amity. Similar instances of political robbery (to call it by the coarse name it merits) have occurred in later times ; but never one founded on more flimsy pretexts, or veiled under a more detestable mask of hypocrisy. The principal odium of the transaction has attached to Ferdinand, as the kinsman of the unfortunate king of Naples. His conduct, however, admits of some palliatory considerations that cannot be claimed for Louis. The Aragonese nation always regarded the bequest of Ferdinand's uncle, Alfonso the Fifth, in favour of his natural offspring, as an unwarrantable and illegal act. The kingdom of Naples had been won by their own good swords, and, as such, was the rightful inheritance of their own princes. Nothing but the domestic troubles of his dominions had prevented John the Second of Aragon, on the decease of his brother, from asserting his claim by arms. His son, Ferdinand the Catholic, had hitherto acquiesced in the usurpation of the bastard branch of his house only from similar causes. On the accession of the present monarch, he had made some demonstrations of vindicating his pretensions to Naples, which, however, the intelligence he received from that kingdom induced him to defer to a more convenient season.* But it was deferring, not relinquishing his purpose. In the mean time, he carefully avoided entering into such engagements as should compel him to a different policy by connecting his own interests with those of Frederic ; and with this view, no doubt, rejected the alliance, strongly solicited by the latter, of the duke of Calabria, heir apparent to the Neapolitan crown, with his third daughter, the Infanta Maria. Indeed, this disposition of Ferdinand so far from being dissembled, was well understood by the court cf Naples, as is acknowledged by its own historians. It may be thought that the undisturbed succession of four princes to the throne of Naples, each of whom had received the solemn recognition of the people, might have healed any defects in their original title, how- ever glaring. But it may be remarked, in extenuation of both the French and Spanish claims, that the principles of monarchical succession were but imperfectly settled in that day ; that oaths of allegiance were tendered too lightly by the Neapolitans, to carry the same weight as in other nations ; and that the prescriptive right derived from possesMnu, necessarily indeterminate, was greatly weakened in this case by the comparatively few years, not more than forty, during which the bastard line of Aragon had occupied the throne, a period much shorter than that, after which the house of York had in England, a few years before, successfully contested the validity of the Lancastrian title. It should be added, that Ferdinand's views appear to have perfectly corresponded with those of the Spanish nation at large ; not one writer of the time, whom I have met with, intimating the slightest doubt of his title to Naples, whil< net a few insist on it with unnecessary emphasis. It is but i'uiy See ?art II.. Chapter 3, of this History. r.vuriTiox OF NAPLES. 405 to state, however, that foreigners, who contemplated the transaction with a more impartial eye, condemned it as inflicting a deep stain on the characters of both potentates. Indeed, something like an apprehension of this, in tin- parties themselves, may be inferred from their solicitude to deprecate public censure by masking their designs under a pretended zeal for religion. Before the conferences respecting the treaty were brought to a close, the Spanish armada under Gonsalvo, after a detention of two months in Sicily, where it was reinforced by two thousand recruits, who had been serving as mercenaries in Italy, held its course for the Morea. (Sep- tember 21st, 1500.) The Turkish squadron, lying before Napoli di ilnmania, without waiting Gonsalvo's approach, raised the siege, and retreated precipitately to Constantinople. The Spanish general, then uniting his forces with the Venetians, stationed at Corfu, proceeded at once against the fortified place of St. George, in Cephalonia, which the Turks had lately wrested from the republic.* The town stood high on a rock, in an impregnable position, and was garrisoned by four hundred Turks, all veteran soldiers, prepared to die in its defence. We have not room for the details of this siege, in which both parties displayed unbounded courage and resources, and which was protracted nearly two mouths under all the privations of famine, and the inclemencies of a cold and stormy winter. At length, weary with this fatal procrastination, Gonsalvo and the Venetian admiral, Fesaro, resolved on a simultaneous attack on separate <}uarters of the town. The ramparts had been already shaken by the mining opt rations of Pedro Navarro, who, in the Italian wars, acquired such terrible celebrity in this department, till then little understood. The Venetian cannon,' larger and better served than that of the Spaniards, had opened a practicable breach in. the works, which the besieged repaired with such temporary defences as they could. The signal being given at the appointed hour, the two armies made a desperate assault on different quarters of the town, under cover of a murderous fire of artil- lery. The Turks sustained the attack with dauntless resolution, stopping xip'the breach with the bodies of their dead and dying comrades, and pouring down volleys of shot, arrows, burning oil and sulphur, and missiles of every kind, on the heads of the assailants. But the desperate energy, as well'as the numbers of the latter, proved too strong for them. Sime forced the breach, others scaled the ramparts; and, aftc'- a short and deadly struggle within the walls, the brave garrison, fuur-fifths of whom with their commander had fallen, were overpowered, and the victorious banners of St. Jago and St. Mark were planted side by side triumphantly on the towers. The capture of this place, although accomplished at considerable loss, and after a most gallant resistance, by a mere handful of men, was of great service to the Venetian cause ; since it was the first check given to the arms of Bajazet, who had filched one place after another from the * Gonsalvo -was detained most unexpectedly in Messina, which he had reached July 19, by various Bmbamwment& cnumcnited in his correspondence with the sovereigns. Tlio difficulty of i lilies t'.r t!a- the moat prominent. The people f't tbr 111 to the car,- I until it seemed as if tlv y came from the devil himself. Ainoni: others, he indicates the coldness of the victri-y. Part of these letters, as usual, is in eypher. 406 ITALIAN TVAKS. republic, menacing its whole colonial territory- in the Levant. Th promptness and efficiency of King Ferdinand's succour to the Venetians gained him high reputation throughout Europe, and precisely of the kind which he most coveted, that of being the zealous defender of the faith ; while it formed a favourable contrast to the cold supineness of the other powers of Christendom. The capture of St. George restored to Venice the possession of Cephalonia ; and the Great Captain, having accomplished this important object, returned in the beginning of the following year, 1501, to Sicily* Soon after his arrival there, an embassy waited on him, from the Vene- tian senate, to express their grateful sense of his services, which they testified by enrolling his name on the golden book as a nobleman o"f Venice, and by a magnificent present of plate, curious silks and velvets, and a stud of beautiful Turkish horses. Gonsalvo courteously accepted the proffered honours, but distributed the whole of the costly largess, with the exception of a few pieces of plate, among his friends and. soldiers. In the meanwhile, Louis the Twelfth having completed his prepara- tions for the invasion of Naples, an army consisting of one thousand lances and ten thousand Swiss and Gascon foot, crossed the Alps, and directed its march towards the south (June 1st, 1501). At the same time a powerful armament, under Philip de Raveustein, with six thousand five hundred additional troops on board, quitted Genoa for the Neapolitan capital. The command of the land forces was given to the Sire d'Aubigny, the same brave and experienced officer who had formerly coped with Gonsalvo in the campaigns of Calabria. No sooner had d'Aubigny crossed the papal borders, than the French and Spanish ambassadors announced to Alexander the Sixth and the college of cardinals the existence of the treaty for the partition of the kingdom between the sovereigns their masters, requesting his Holiness to confirm it, and grant them the investiture of their respective shares. In this very reasonable petition, his Holiness, well drilled in the part he was to play, acquiesced without difficulty ; declaring himself moved thereto solely by his consideration of the pious intentions of the parties, and the unworthiness of King Frederic, whose treachery to the Christian commonwealth had forfeited all right (if he ever possessed any) to the crown of Naples. From the moment that the French forces had descended into Lombardy, the eyes of all Italy were turned with breathless expectation on Gonsalvo, and his army in Sicily. The 'bustling preparations of the French monarch had diffused the knowledge of his designs throughout Europe. Those of the king of Spain, on the contrary, remained enveloped in profound secrecy. Few doubted that Ferdinand would step forward to shield his kinsman from the invasion which menaced him, and, it might be, his own dominions in Sicily ; and they looked to the immediate junction of Gonsalvo with King Frederic, in order that their combined strength might overpower the enemy before he had gained a footing in the kingdom. Great was their astonishment when the scales dropped from their eyes, and they beheld the movements of Spain in perfect accordance with those of France, and directed to crush their common victim between them. They could scarcely credit, says Guieciardini, that Louis the Twelfth could be so blind as to reject the proffered vassalage and OF XAPLES. 407 substantial sovereignty of Naples, in order to share it with so artful and dangerous a rival as Ferdinand. The unfortunate Frederic, who had been advised for some time past of the unfriendly disposition of the Spanish government,* saw no rei'ugu from the dark tempest mustering against him on the opposite quart IT.-, of his kingdom. He collected such troops as he could, however, in order to make battle with the nearest enemy before he should cross the threshold. On the 28th of June the French army resumed its march. Before quitting Rome, a brawl arose between some French soldiers and Spaniards resident in the capital ; each party asserting the paramount right of its own sovereign to the crown of "Naples. From words they soon came to blows, and many lives were lost before the fray could be quelled ; a melancholy augury for the permanence of the concord so unrighteously established between the two governments. On the 8th of July, the French crossed the Neapolitan frontier. Frederic, who had taken post at St. Germano, found himself so weak that he was compelled to give way on its approach, and retreat on his capital. The invaders went forward, occupying one place after another with little resistance, till they came before Capua, where they received a temporary check. During a parley for the surrender of that place, they burst into the town, and giving free scope to their fiendish passions, butchered seven thousand citizens in the streets, and perpetrated outrages worse than death on their defenceless wives and daughters. It was on this occasion that Alexander the Sixth's son, the infamous Ca:sar Borgia, selected forty of the most beautiful from the principal ladies of the place, and sent them back to Rome, to swell the complement of his seraglio. The dreadful doom of Capua intimidated further resistance, but inspired such detestation of the French throughout the country, as proved of infinite prejudice to their cause in their subsequent struggle with the Spaniards. King Frederic, shocked at bringing such calamities on his subjects, resigned his capital without a blow in its defence, and, retreating to the isle of Ischia, soon after embraced the counsel of the French admiral Ravenstein, to accept a safe-conduct into Franco, and throw himself on the generosity of Louis. (Oct. 1501.) The latter received him cour- teously, and assigned him the duchy of Anjou with an ample revenue for his maintenance, which, to the credit of the French king, was continued after he had lost all hope of recovering the crown of Xaples. With this show of magnanimity, however, he kept a jealous eye on his royal guest; under pretence of paying him the greatest respect, he placed a guard over his person, and thus detained him in a sort of honourable captivity to the day of his death, which occurred soon after, in 1504. Frederic was the last of the illegitimate branch of Aragon who held the Neapolitan sceptre ; a line of princes who, whatever might be their characters in other respects, accorded that munificent patronage to letters which sheds a ray of glory over the roughest and most turbulent reign. It might have been expected that an amiable and accomplished * In the month of April the king of Naples received letters from his envoys in Spain, written by command of King Ferdinand, informing him that he had nothing to expect from that monarch in case of an invasion of his territories by France. Frederic bitterly complained of the late hour at which this intelligence was given, which effectually pre- vented an accommodation he might otherwise have made with King Louia. 408 ITALIAN TTAES. prince, like Frederic, would have done still more towards the moral development of his people, by healing the animosities which had so long festered in their hosoms. His gentle character, however, was ill suited to the evil times on which he had fallen ; and it is not improbable that he found greater contentment in the calm and cultivated retirement of his latter years, sweetened by the sympathies of friendship which adver- sity had proved,* than when placed on the dazzling heights which attract the admiration and envy of mankind. Early in March Gonsalvo of Cordova had received his first official intelligence of the partition treaty, and of his own appointment to the post of lieutenant-general of Calabria and Apulia. He felt natural regret at being called to act against a prince whose character he esteemed, and with whom he had once been placed in the most intimate and friendly relations. In the true spirit of chivalry, he returned to Frederic, before taking up arms against him, the duchy of St. Angel and the other large domains with which that monarch had requited his services in the late war, requesting at the same time to be released from his obligations of homage and fealty. The generous monarch readily complied with the latter part of his request, but insisted on his retaining the grant, which he declared an inadequate compensation, after all, for the benefits the Great Captain had once rendered him. The levies assembled at Messina amounted to three hundred heavy- armed, three hundred light horse, and three thousand eight hundred infantry, together with a small body of Spanish veterans, which the Castilian ambassador had collected in Italy. The number of the forces was inconsiderable ; but they were in excellent condition, well disciplined, and seasoned to all the toils and difficulties of war. On the 5th of July, the Great Captain landed at Tropea, and commenced the conquest of Calabria, ordering the fleet to keep along the coast, in order to furnish whatever supplies he might need. The ground was familiar to him, and his progress was facilitated by the old relations he had formed there, as well as by the important posts which the Spanish government had retained in its hands as an indemnification for the expenses of the late war. Notwithstanding the opposition or coldness of the great Angevin lords who resided in this quarter, the entire occupation of the two Calabrias, with the exception of Tarento, was effected in less than a month. This city, remarkable in ancient times for its defence against Hannibal, was of the last importance. King Frederic had sent thither his eldest son, the Duke of Calabria, a youth about fourteen years of age. under the care of Juan de Guevara, count of Potenza, with a strong body of troops, considering it the place of greatest security in his dominions. Independently of the strength of its works, it was rendered nearly inaccessible by its natural position ; having no communication with tho main land except by two bridges, at opposite quarters of the ' MI,, com manded by strong towers, while its exposure to the sea made it easily open to supplies from abroad. * The reader will readily call to mind the Neapolitan poet Sannaznro, whose fidelity to his royal master forms so beautiful a contrast with the conduct of Pontano, and indeed of too many of his tribe, whose gratitude is of that sort that will oiily rise above zero in tho sunshine of a court. His vuiic us IKK tk-al cflusii.ns aflord a noble testimony to the virtues of his unfortunate sovereign, the more unsuspicious as many of them were produced ui the days of his adversity. TAIiTITIOW OF XAPLES. 409 Gonsalvo saw that the only method of reducing the place must be by blockade. Disagreeable as the delay was, he prepared to lay regular siege to it, ordering the fleet to sail round the southern point of Calabria, and blockade the port of Tarento, while he threw up works on the land side, which commanded the passes to the town, and cut off its com- munications with the neighbouring country. The place, however, was well victualled, and the garrison prepared to maintain it to the last. Nothing tries more severely the patience and discipline of the soldier than a life of sluggish inaction, unenlivened, as in the present instance, by any of the rencontres, or feats of arms, which keep up military ex- citement, and gratify the cupidity or ambition of the warrior. The Spanish troops, cooped up within their entrenchments, and disgusted with the languid monotony of their life, cast many a wistful glance to the stirring scenes of war in the centre of Italy, where Caesar Borgia held out magnificent promises of pay and plunder to all who embarked in his adventurous enterprises. He courted the aid, in particular, of the Spanish veterans, whose worth he well understood, for they had often served under his banner, in his feuds with the Italian princes. In con- sequence of these inducements, some of Gonsalvo's men were found to desert every day ; while those who remained were becoming hourly more discontented, from the large arrears due from the government ; for Ferdinand, us already remarked, conducted his operations with a stinted my, very different from the prompt and liberal expenditure of the queen, always competent to its object.* A trivial incident, at this time, swelled the popular discontent into mutiny. The French fleet, after the capture of Naples, was ordered to the Levant to assi.-t the Venetians against the Turks. llavenstcin, ambitious of eclipsing the exploits of the Great Captain, turned his arms against Mitilene, with the design of recovering it for the republic, lie totally l'ail< d in the attack, and his licet was soon after scattered by a tempest, and his own t- t ;i wrecked on the isle of Cerigo. He sub- sequently found his way, with several of his principal officers, to the shores of Calabria, where he landed in the most forlorn and desperate plight. Goiisu'vo, touched with his misfortunes, no soonev learned his neee.-sities, than he sent him abundant supplies of provisions, adding a service of phite. and a variety of elegant apparel for himself and fol- lowers ; consulting his o\vn munificent spirit in this, much more than the limitrd state of his finances. This excessive liberality was very inopportune. The soldiers loudly oomplcined that their IM neral found treasures to squander on foreigners, while his own troops were defrauded of their pay. The Biscayans, a people of whom Goiisalvo used to say, " he had rather be a lion-keeper, than undertake to govern them," took the lead in the tumult. It soon swelled into open insurrection ; and the men, forming themselves into regular companies, marched to the general's quarters and demanded payment of their arrears. One fellow, more insolent than the rest, levelled a pike at his breast with the most angry and menacing looks. Gonsalvo, however, retaining his self-possession, gently put it aside, Don Juan Manuel, the Spanish minister at Vienna, seems to have been fully sensible of this trait of his master. He told the emperor Maximilian, who had requested the loan of 300,000 ducats from Sixiin, that it was as much money as would suffice King Ferdinand for the aoumiest, not merely of Italy, but Africa into the bargain. 410 ITALIA:: saying, with a good-natured smile, " Higher, you care-loss knave, lift your lance higher, or you will run me through in your jesting." As he was reiterating his assurances of the want of funds, and his confident expectation of speedily obtaining them, a Biscayan captain called out, " Send your daughter to the brothel, and that will soon put you in funds ! " This was a favourite daughter named Elvira, whom Gonsalvo loved so tenderly, that he would not part with her, even in his campaigns. Although stung to the heart by this audacious taunt, he made no reply ; but without changing a muscle of his countenance, continued, in the same tone as before, to expostulate with the insurgents, who at length were prevailed on to draw off, and disperse to their quarters. The next morning, the appalling spectacle of the lifeless body of the Biscayan, hanging by the neck from a window of the house in which he had been quartered, admonished the army that there were limits to the general's forbearance it was not prudent to overstep. An unexpected event, which took place at this juncture, contributed even more than this monitory lesson to restore subordination to the array. This was the capture of a Genoese galleon with a valuable freight, chiefly iron, bound to some Turkish port, as it was said, in the Levant ; which Gonsalvo, moved no doubt by his zeal for the Christian cause, ordered to be seized by the Spanish cruisers ; and the cargo to be dis- posed of for the satisfaction of his troops. Giovio charitably excuse this act of hostility against a friendly power with the remark, that " when the Great Captain did anything contrary to law, he was wont to say, ' A general must secure the victory at all hazards, right or wrong : and, when he has done this, he can compensate those whom he has injured with tenfold benefits.' " The unexpected length of the siege of Tarento determined Gonsalvo, at length, to adopt bolder measures for quickening its termination. The city, whose insulated position has been noticed, was bounded on the north by a lake, or rather arm of the sea, forming an excellent interior harbour, about eighteen miles in circumference. The inhabitants, trusting to the natural defences of this quarter, had omitted to protect it l>y fortifications, and the houses rose abruptly from the margin of the basin. Into this reservoir the Spanish commander resolved to transport such of his vessels then riding in the outer bay, as from their size could be conveyed across the narrow isthmus which divided it from the inner. After incredible toil, twenty of the smallest craft were moved on huge cars and rollers across the intervening land, and safely launched on the bosom of the lake. The whole operation was performed amid the exciting accompaniments of discharges of ordnance, strains of martial music, and loud acclamations of the soldiery. The inhabitants of Tarento saw with consternation the fleet so lately floating in the open ocean under their impregnable walls, now quitting its native element, and moving, as it were, by magic, across the land, to assault them on the quarter where they were the least defended.* The Neapolitan commander perceived it would be impossible to hold out longer, without compromising the personal safety of the young Gonsalvo took the hint for this, doubtless, from Hannibal's similar expedient. Cseaar notices a similar manoeuvre executed by him in his wars in Spain. The vessels which ha caused to be transported, however, across twenty miles of land, were much inferior In Ue to those of Gonsalvo. PARTITION 01 NAPLES. 411 prince under his care. He accordingly entered into negotiations for a truce with the Great Captain, during which articles of capitulation were arranged, guaranteeing to the duke of Calabria and his followers the right of evacuating the place and going wherever they listed. Th Spanish general, in order to give greater solemnity to those engagements, bound himself to observe them by an oath on the sacrament. On the 1st of March, 1502, the Spanish army took possession, accord- ing to agreement, of the city of Tarento ; and the duke of Calabria with his suite was permitted to leave it, in order to rejoin his father in France. In the mean time, advices were received from Ferdinand the Catholic, instructing Gonsalvo on no account to suffer the young prince to escape from his hands, as he was a pledge of too great importance for the Spanish government to relinquish. The general in consequence sent after the duke, who had proceeded in company with the count ot Potenza as far as Bitonto, on his way to the north, and commanded him to be arrested and brought back to Tarento. Not long after, he caused him to be conveyed on board one of the men-of-war in the harbour, and, in contempt of his solemn engagements, sent a prisoner to Spain. The national writers have made many awkward attempts to varnish over this atrocious act of perfidy in their favourite hero. Zurita vindi- cates it by a letter from the Neapolitan prince to Gonsalvo, requesting- the latter to take this step, since he preferred a residence in Spain to one in France, but could not with decency appear to act in opposition to his father's wishes on the subject. If such a letter, however, were really obtained from the prince, his tender years would entitle it to little weight, and of course it would afford no substantial ground for justi- fication. Another explanation is offered by Paolo Giovio, who states that the Great Captain, undetermined what course to adopt, took the opinion of certain learned jurists. This sage body decided " that Gonsalvo was not bound by his oath, since it was repugnant to his para- mount obligations to his master ; and that the latter was not bound by it, since it was made without his privity ! " The man who trusts his honour to the tampering of casuists, has parted with it already.* The only palliation of the act must be sought in the prevalent laxity and corruption of the period, which is rife with examples of the most flagrant violation of both public and private faith. Had this been the act of a Sforza indeed, or a Borgia, it could not reasonably have excited surprise. But coming from one of a noble, magnanimous nature, like Gonsalvo, exemplary in private life, and unstained with any of the grosser vices of the age, it excited general astonishment and reprobation, even among his contemporaries. It has left a reproach on his name, which the historian may regret, but cannot wipe away. * In G on salvo's correspondence is a letter to the sovereigns, written soon nfter the occu- pation of Tarento, in which he mentions his efforts to secure the duke of Calabria iu the ith confidence of his own ascendancy over the young man's :md assures the so'. :lie latter will be content to continue with him till .'.1 receive instructicns from Spain, how to dispose of him. At the same time the -:u took care to maintain a turceillai.ee over the duke, by means of tha itt.n'uiuts on hia person. We fuvi no allusion to any produces ander oath. CHAPTER XI. WABS. BCPTUBE WITH FRAKCE. GONSALVO BESIEGED nr BABIJRTA. 15021503. Rupture between the French and Spaniards Gonsalvo retires to Barletta Chivalroui Cliaracter of the War Tourney near Tram Duel between Bayard and Sotomayor Distress of Barletta Constancy of the Spaniards Gonsalvo storms and takes Ruvo Prepares to leave Barletta. IT was hardly to be expected that the partition treaty between France and Spain, made so manifestly in contempt of all good faith, would be maintained any longer than suited the convenience of the respective parties. The French monarch, indeed, seems to have prepared, from the lirst, to dispense with it so soon as he had secured his own moiety of the kingdom ; and sagacious men at the Spanish court inferred that King Ferdinand would do as much, when he should be in a situation to assert his claims with success. It was altogether improbable, whatever might be the good faith of the parties, that an arrangement could long subsist, which so rudely rent asunder the members of this ancient monarchy ; or that a thousand points of collision should not arise between rival hosts, lying as it were on their arms within bowshot of each other, and in view of the rich spoil which each regarded as its own. Such grounds for rupture did occur, sooner probably than either party had foreseen, and certainly before the king of Aragon was prepared to meet it. The immediate cause was the extremely loose language of the partition treaty, which assumed such a geographical division of the kingdom into four provinces as did not correspond with any ancient division, and still less with the modern, by which the number was multiplied to twelve. The central portion, comprehending the Capitanate, the Basilicate, and the Principality, became debatable ground between the parties, each of whom insisted on these as forming an integral part of its own moiety. The French had no ground whatever for contesting the possession of the Capitanate, the first of these provinces, and by far the most important, on account of the tolls paid by the numerous flocks which descended every winter into its sheltered valleys from the snow-covered mountains of Abruzzo.* There was more uncertainty to which of the parties the two other provinces were meant to be assigned. It is scarcely possible that language so loose, in a matter requiring mathematical precision, should have been unintentional. Before Gonsalvo de Cordova had completed the conquest of the southern moiety of the kingdom, and while lying before Tarento, he received intelligence of the occupation by the French, of several places, * The provision of the partition treaty, that the Spaniards should collect the tolls paid by the flocks on their descent from the French district of Abruzzo into the Capitanatc, is conclusive evidence of the intention of the contracting parties to assign the latter to Spain. EESOLUTIOX OF THE SPAXIAKDS. 413 both in the Capitanate and Basilicatc. He detached a body of troops !'.T the protection of these countries, and, after the surrender of Tarcnto, inarched towards the north to cover them with his whole army. As he was not in a condition for immediate hostilities, however, he entered into negotiations, which, if attended with no other advantage, would at least ^ain him time.* The pretensions of the two parties, as might have been expected, were too irreconcilable to admit of compromise ; and a personal conference between the respective commauders-in-chief (April 1st, Io02) led to no. better arrangement, than that each should retain his present acquisitions till explicit instructions could be received from their respective courts. But neither of the two monarehs had further instructions to give; and the Catholic king contented himself with admonishing his general to postpone an open rupture as long as possible, that the government might have time to provide more effectually for his support, and strengthen itsdf by alliance with other European powers. But, how- ever pacific may have been the disposition of the generals, they had no power to control the passions of their soldiers, who, thus brought into immediate contact, glared on each other with the ferocity of bloodhounds, ready to slip the leash which held them in temporary check. Hostilities soon broke out along the lines of the two armies, the blame of which each nation charged on its opponent. There seems good ground, how- ever, for imputing it to the French ; since they weiv altogether better prepared for war than the Spaniards, and entered into it so heartily as not only to assail places in the debatable ground, but in Apulia, which had been unequivocally assigned to their rivals. In the meanwhile, the Spanish court fruitlessly endeavoured to- interest the other powers of Europe in its cause. The Emperor Maxi- milian, although dissatisfied with the occupation of Milan by the French, appeared wholly engrossed with the frivolous ambition of a Roman coronation. The pontiff and his son, Cocsar Borgia, were closely bound to King Louis by the assistance which he had rendered them in their marauding enterprises against the neighbouring chiefs of Romagna. The other Italian princes, although deeply incensed and disgusted by this infamous alliance, stood too much in awe of the colossal power,. which had planted its foot so firmly on their territory, to offer any resistance. Venice alone, surveying from her distant watch-tower, to borrow the words of Peter Martyr, the whole extent of the political horizon, appeared to hesitate. The French ambassadors loudly called on her to fulfil the terms of her late treaty with their master, and support him in his approaching quarrel ; but that wily republic saw with distrust the encroaching ambition of her powerful neighbour, and secretly wished that a counterpoise might be found in the success of Arairon. Martyr, who stopped at Venice on his return from Egypt, appeared before the senate (October, 1,301), and employed all his elo- quence in supporting his master's cause in opposition to the French envoys ; but his pressing entreaties to the Spanish sovereigns to send thither some competent person, as a resident minister, show his own conviction of the critical position in which their affairs stood. * Gons-ilvo, in hta account, of tnese transactions to the sovereigns, notices "the intem- perate language aud betting H botE of the viceroy aud Alegre. This port of the letter to in cyi her. 414 ITALIAN WAES. The letters of the same intelligent individual, during his journev through the Milanese,* are filled with the most gloomy forebodings of the termination of a contest for which the Spaniards were so indifferently provided ; while the whole north of Italy was alive with the bustling preparations of the French, who loudly vaunted their intentions of driving their enemy not merely out of Naples, but Sicily itself. Louis the Twelfth superintended these preparations in person ; and, to be near the theatre of operations, crossed the Alps, and took up his quarters at Asti. (July, 1502.) At length, all being in readiness, he brought things to an immediate issue, by commanding his general to proclaim war at once against the Spaniards, unless they abandoned the Capitanate in four-and-twenty hours. The French forces in Naples amounted, according to their own state- mentsj to one thousand men-at-arms, three thousand five hundred French and Lombard, and three thousand Swiss infantry, in addition to the Neapolitan levies raised by the Angevin lords throughout the kingdom. The command was intrusted to the duke of Nemours, a brave and chivalrous young nobleman of the ancient house of Armaguac, whose family connexions more than talents had raised to the perilous post of viceroy over the head of the veteran D'Aubigny. The latter would have thrown up his commission in disgust, but for the remonstrances of his sovereign, who prevailed on him to remain where his counsels were more* than ever necessary to supply the inexperience of the young commander. The jealousy and wilfulness of the latter, however, defeated these intentions : and the misunderstanding of the chiefs, extending to their followers, led to a fatal want of concert in their movements. "With these officers were united some of the best and bravest of the French chivalry ; among whom may be noticed Jacques de Chabannes, more commonly known as the Sire de la Palice, a favourite of Louis tho Twelfth, and well entitled to be so by his deserts ; Louis d'Ars ; Ives d'Aldgre, brother of the Precy who gained so much renown in the wars of Charles the Eighth ; and Pierre de Bayard, the knight " sans peur et sans reproche," who was then entering on the honourable career in which he seemed to realise all the imaginary perfections of chivalry. Notwithstanding the small numbers of the French force, the Great Captain was in no condition to cope with them. He had received no reinforcement from home since he first landed in Calabria. His little corps of veterans was destitute of proper clothing and equipments, and the large arrears due to them made the tenure of their obedience extremely precarious, f Since affairs began to assume their present menacing aspect, he had been busily occupied with drawing together the detachments posted in various parts of Calabria, and concentrating them on the town of Atella in the Basilicate, where he had established his own quarters. He had also opened a correspondence with the Barons oi * The unconstrained and familiar tone of Us correspondence affords a. pleasing example of the personal intimacy to which the sovereigns, so contrary to the usual stiffness of Spanish etiquette, admitted men of learning and probity at their court, without distinc- tion of rank. upus Epist. epist. 230. t Martyr's epistles at this crisis are filled with expostulation, argument, and entreaties to the sovereigns, begging them to rouse from their apathy, and take measures to seoure the wavering affections of Venice, as well as to send more effectual aid to their Italian troops. Ferdinand listened to the first of these suggestions; but showed a strange Insensibility to the last. EESOLTJTIOX OF THE SPANIARDS. 413 the Aragonese faction, who were most numerous as well as most powerful in the northern section of the kingdom, which had been assigned to the French. He was particularly fortunate in gaining over the two Colonnas, whose authority, powerful connexions, and large military experience proved of inestimable value to him.* With all the resources he could command, however, Gonsalvo found himself, as before noticed, unequal to the contest, though it was impos- sible to defer it, after the peremptory summons of the French viceroy to surrender the Capitanate. To this he unhesitatingly answered, that " the Capitanate belonged of right to his own master ; and that, with the blessing of God, he would make good its defence against the French king, or any other who should invade it." Notwithstanding the bold front put on his affairs, however, he did not choose to abide the assault of the French in his present position. He instantly drew off with the greater part of his force to Barletta, a fortified seaport on the confines of Apulia, on the Adriatic, the situation of which would enable him either to receive supplies from abroad, or to effect a retreat, if necessary, on board the Spanish fleet, which still kept the coast of Calabria. The remainder of his army he distributed in Bari, Andria, Canosa, and other adjacent towns ; where he confidently hoped to maintain himself till the arrival of reinforcements, which he solicited in the most pressing manner from Spain and Sicily, should enable him to take the field on more equal terms against his adversary. The French officers, in the meantime, were divided in opinion as to the best mode of conducting the war. Some were for besieging Bari, held by the illustrious and unfortunate Isabella of Aragon ; others, in a more chivalrous spirit, opposed the attack of a place defended by a female, and advised an immediate assault on Barletta itself, whose old and dilapidated works might easily be forced, if it did not at once surrender. The duke of Nemours, deciding on a middle course, deter- mined to invest the last-mentioned town ; and, cutting off all commu- nication with the surrounding country, to reduce it by regular blockade, This plan was unquestionably the least eligible of all, as it would allow time lor the enthusiasm of the French, the furia Francese, as it was called in Italy, which carried them victoriously over so many obstacles, to evaporate, while it brought into play the stern resolve, the calm, unflinching endurance, which distingxiished the Spanish soldier. One of tke first operations of the French viceroy was the siege of Canosa (July 2, 1502), a strongly fortified place west of Barletta, garrisoned by six hundred picked men under the engineer, Pedro iXnvarro. The defence of the place justified the reputation of this gallant soldier. He beat off two successive assaults of the enemy, led on by Bayard, La Palice, and the flower of their chivalry. He had prepared to sustain a third, resolved to bury himself under the ruins of the t<.wn rather than surrender. But Gonsalvo, unable to relieve it, commanded him to make the best terms he could, saying, " the place was of far less value, than the lives of the brave men who defended it." Xavarro * Prospero Colonna, in particular, was distinguished not only for 1 -ience, but his fondness for letters and the arts, of which he is commemorated by Tir.-iiiosi.-lii as a munificent patron. Paolo Giovio has i is portrait among the efii^ics of illua- tri ms men, who, it must be confessed, are more indebted in hia work tc the hand of tbt hiitorian tliaa the artist. 416 ITALIAN WABS. found no difficulty in obtaining an honourable capitulation ; and the little garrison, dwindled to one-third of its original number, marched out through the enemy's camp, with colours fly ing and music playing, as if in derision of the powerful force it had so nobly kept at bay.* After the capture of Canosa, D'Aubigny, whose misunderstanding with Xemours still continued, was dispatched with a small force into the south, to overrun the two Calabrias. The viceroy, in the meanwhile having fruitlesslv attempted the reduction of several strong places held by the Spaniards in the neighbourhood of Barletta, endeavoured to straiten the garrison there by desolating the surrounding country, and sweeping off the flocks and herds which grazed in its fertile pastures. The Spaniards, however, did not remain idle within their defences, but, sallying out in small detachments, occasionally retrieved the spoil from the hands of the enemy, or annoyed him with desultory attacks, ambuscades, and other irregular movements of guerilla warfare, in. which the French were comparatively unpractised. The war now began to assume many of the romantic features of that of Granada. The knights on both sides, not content with the usual military rencontres, defied one another to jousts and tourneys, eager to establish their prowess in the noble exercises of chivalry. " One of the most remarkable of their meetings took place between eleven Spanish and as many French knights, in consequence of some disparaging remarks of the latter on the cavalry of their enemies, which they affirmed inferior to their own. The Venetians gave the parties a fair field of combat in the neutral territory under their own walls of Trani. A gallant array of well-armed knights of both nations guarded the lists, and maintained the order of the fight. On the appointed day (Sept. 20, 1502,) the champions appeared in the field, armed at all points, with horses richly caparisoned, and barbed or covered with steel panoply like their masters. The roofs and battlements of Trani were covered with spectators, while the lists were thronged with the French and Spanish chivalry, each staking in some degree the national honour on the issue of the contest. Among the Castilians were Diego de Paredes, and Diego de Vera, while the good knight Bayard was most conspicuous on the other side. As the trumpets sounded the appointed signal, the hostile parties rushed to the encounter. Three Spaniards were borne from their saddles by the rudeness of the shock, and four of their antagonists' horses slain. The fight, which began at ten in the morning, was not to be protracted beyond sunset. Long before that hour all the French, save two, one of them the chevalier Bayard, had been dismounted, and their horses, at which the Spaniards had aimed more than at the riders, disabled or slain. The Spaniards, seven of whom were still on horseback, pressed hard on their adversaries, leaving little doubt of the fortune of the day. The latter, however, intrenching themselves behind the carcases of their dead horses, made good their defence against the Spaniards, who in vain tried to spur their terrified steeds over the Peter Martyr says, that the Spaniards marched through the enemy's camp, shouting "Espaiia, Espuiia, viva Espaiia ! " (ubi supra.) Their gallantry in the defence nf , elicits a hearty eulogium from Jean D'Auton, the loyal historiographer of Louis XII. " J Be veux done par ma Chronique inettre les biensfaicts de? n oubly, ri.i'tf c!;r que pour vertueuse defence, doibuent auoir louauge honorable." Ilist. de Loujc ilL chap. 11. RESOLUTION OF THE SPAXIABDS. 417 barrier, In this way the fight was protracted till sunset ; and, as both parties continued to keep possession of the field, the palm of victory was adjudged to neither, while both were pronounced to have demeaned themselves like good and valiant knights. The tourney being ended, the combatants met in the centre of the lists, and embraced each other in the true companionship of chivalry, " making good cheer together," says an old chronicler, before they separated. The Great Captain was not satislicd with the issue of tho fight. "We have at least, said one of his champions, " disproved the taunt of the Frenchmen, and shown ourselves as good horsemen as they." " I sent you for better," coldly retorted Gonsalvo. A more tragic termination befel a combat a Voutrance, between the chevalier Bayard and a Spanish cavalier, named Alonso de Sotomayor, who had accused the former of uncourteous treatment of him while his prisoner. Bayard denied the charge, and defied the Spaniard to prove it in single fight, on horse or on foot, as he best liked. Sotomayor, aware of his antagonist's uncommon horsemanship, preferred the latter alternative. At the day and hour appointed (Feb. 2, 1503,) the two knights entered the lists, armed with sword and dagger, and sheathed in complete harness ; although with a degree of temerity unusual in these combats, they wore their visors up. Both combatants knelt down in silent prayer for a few moments, and then rising and crossing themselves, advanced straight against each other; "the good knight Bayard," says Brantome, "moving as light of step, as if he were going to lead some fair lady down the dance." The Spaniard was of a large and powerful frame, and endeavoured to crush his enemy by weight of blows, or to close with him, and bring him to the ground. The latter, naturally inferior in strength, was rendered still weaker by a fever, from which he had not entirely recovered. He was more light and agile than his adversary, however ; and superior dexterity enabled him not only to parry his enemy's strokes, but to deal him occasionally one of his own, while he sorely distressed him by the rapidity of his movements. At length, as the Spaniard was somewhat thrown off his balance by an ill-directed blow, Bayard struck him so sharply on the gorget that it gave way, and the Bword entered his throat. Furious with the agony of the wound, Sotomayor collected all his strength for a last struggle, and, grasping his antagonist in his arms, they both rolled in the dust together. Before either could extricate himself, the quick-eyed Bayard, who had retained Lis poniard in his left hand during the whole combat, while the Spaniard's had remained in his belt, drove the steel with such convulsive strength under his enemy's eve, that it pierced quite through the brain. After the judges had awarded the honours of the day to Bayard, the minstrels as usual began to pour forth triumphant strains in praise of the victor ; but the good knight commanded them to desist, and, having first prostrated himself on his knees in gratitude for his victorv, walked slowly out of the lists, expressing a wish that the combat had had a different termination, so that his honour had been saved. In these jousts and tourneys, described with sufficient prolixity, but in a truly heart-stirring tone, by the chroniclers of the day, we may discern the last gleams of the light of chivalry which illumined the 418 ITALIAN WARS. darkness of the middle ages ; and, although rough in comparison with the pastimes of more polished times, they called forth such displays of magnificence, courtesy, and knightly honour, as throw something like the grace of civilisation over the ferocious features of the age. "While the Spaniards, cooped up within the old town of Barletta, sought to vary the monotony of their existence by these chivalrous exercises, or an occasional foray into the neighbouring country, they suffered greatly from the want of military stores, food, clothing, and the most common necessaries of life. It seemed as if their master had abandoned them to their fate on this forlorn outpost, without a struggle in their behalf.* How different from the parental care with which Isabella watched over the welfare of her soldiers in the long war of Granada ! The queen appears to have taken no part in the management of these wars, which, notwithstanding the number of her own immediate subjects embarked in them, she probably regarded, from the first, as appertaining to Aragon, as exclusively as the conquests in the New World did to Castile. Indeed, whatever degree of interest she may have felt in their success, the declining state of her health at this period would not have allowed her to take any part in the conduct o* them. Gonsalvo was not wanting to himself in this trying emergency, and his noble spirit seemed to rise as all outward and visible resources failed. He cheered his troops with promises of speedy relief ; talking confidently of the supplies of grain he expected from Sicily, and the men. and money he was to receive from Spain and Venice. He contiived too, says Giovio, that a report should get abroad, that a ponderous coffer lying in his apartment was filled with gold, which he could draw upon in the last extremity. The old campaigners, indeed, according to the same authority, shook their heads at these and other agreeable fictions of their general, with a very sceptical air. They derived some confirma- tion, however, from the arrival soon after of a Sicilian bark laden with corn, and another from Venice with various serviceable stores aad wearing apparel, which Gonsalvo bought on his own credit and that of his principal officers, and distributed gratuitously among his destitute joldiera. At this time he received the unwelcome tidings that a small force which had been sent from Spain to his assistance, under Don Manuel de Benavides, and which had effected a jtmction with one much larger from Sicily under Hugo de Cardona, was surprised by D'Aubigny near Terra- nova, and totally defeated (Dec. 25th, 1502). This " disaster was followed by the reduction of all Calabria, which the latter general at ,- the head of his French and Scottish gendarmerie, rode over from one extremity to the other without opposition. The prospect now grew darker and darker around the little garrison of ' Barletta. The discomfiture of Benavides excluded hopes of relief in that direction. The gradual occupation of most of the strong places in Apiilia by the duke of JNemours cut off all communication with the neighbouring country; and a French fleet cruising in the Adriatic rendered the arrival of further stores and reinforcements extremely precarious. Gonsalvo, however, maintained the same unruffled cheerfulness as * According to Martyr, the besieged had been BO severely pressed by famine for som tiiiio bet'uiv this, that Gonsalvo entertained crious thoughts of emburki'i.r the \vhoie of his little gurridou on, board the fleet, aud abandoning the place to the cueiny. BESOLtTIOX OF THE SPANIARDS. 419 before, and endeavoured to infuse it into the hear's of others. Ho perfectly understood the character of his countrymen, knew all their resources, and tried to rouse every latent principle of honour, loyalty, pride, and national feeling; and such was the authority -which he acquired over their minds, and so deep the affection which he inspired, by the amenity of his manners and the generosity of his disposition, that not a murmur or symptom of insubordination escaped them during the whole of this long and painful siege. But neither the excellence of his troops, nor the resources of his own genius, would have been sufficient to extricate Gonsalvo from the difficulties of his situation without the most flagrant errors on the part of his opponent. The Spanish general, who understood the character of the French commander perfectly well, lay patiently awaiting his opportunity, like a skilful fencer, ready to make a decisive thrust at the first vulnerable point that should be presented. Such an occasion at length offered itself early in the fol- lowing year (Jan. 1503). The French, no less weary than their adversaries of their long inac- tion, sallied out from Canosa, where the viceroy had established his head-quarters, and crossing the Ofanto, marched up directly under the walls of Marietta, with the intention of drawing out the garrison from the " old den," as they called it, and deciding the quarrel in a pitched battle. The duke of Xemours, accordingly, having taken up his posi- tion, sent a trumpet into the place, to defy the Great Captain to the encounter ; but the latter returned for answer, that " he was accustomed to choose his own place and time for fighting, and would thank the French general to wait till his men found time to shoe their hordes, and burnish up their arms." At length Xemours, after remaining some days, and finding there was no chance of decoying his wily foe from his defences, broke up his camp and retired, satisfied with the empty honours of his gasconade. ^No sooner had he fairly turned his back, that Gonsalvo, whose soldiers had been ivstrained with difficulty from sallying out on their insolent foe, ordered the whole strength of his cavalry, under the command of Diego de Mendoza, flanked by two corps of infantry, to issue forth and pursue the French. Mendoza executed these orders so promptly, that he brought up his horse, which was somewhat in advance of the foot, on the rear-guard of the French, before it had got many miles from Barletta. The latter instantly halted to receive the charge of the Spaniards, and, alter a lively skirmish of no great duration, Mendoza retreated, followed by the incautious enemy, who, in consequence of their irregular and -ling march, were detached from the main body of their army. In the meantime, the advancing columns of the Spanish infantry, which had now come up with the retreating horse, unexpectedly closing on the enemy's flanks, threw them into some disorder, wliich became complete when the flying cavalry of the Spaniards, suddenly wheeling round in the rapid style of the Moorish tactics, charged them boklly in front. All was now confusion. Some made resistance, but most sought only to escape ; a few effected it, but the greater part of those who did not fall on the field were carried prisoners to Barletta, where Mendoza found the Great Captain with his whole army djawu up under the walls in order of battle, ready to support him in person, if r.ecvssary. The whole affair passed, so expeditiously, that the viceroy, who, as has been said, K 2 420 ITAilAN WABS. conducted his retreat in a most disorderly manner, and, in fact, had already dispersed several battalions of his infantry to the different towns from which he had drawn them, knew nothing of the rencontre till his men were securely lodged within the walls of Barletta.* The arrival of a Venetian trader at this time, with a cargo of grain. brought temporary relief to the pressing necessities of the garrison.f This was followed by the welcome intelligence of the total discomfiture of the French fleet under M. de Prejan by the Spanish admiral Lezcano, in an action off Otranto, which consequently left the seas open for the supplies daily expected from Sicily. Fortune seemed now in the giving vein ; for in a few days a convoy of seven transports from that island, laden with grain, meat, and other stores, came safe into Barletta, and supplied abundant means for recruiting the health and spirits of its famished inmates. Thus restored, the Spaniards began to look forward with eager con- fidence to the achievement of some new enterprise. The temerity of the viceroy soon afforded an opportunity. The people of Castellaneta, a town near Tarento, were driven by the insolent and licentious behaviour of the French garrison to betray the place into the hands of the Spaniards. The duke of Nemours, enraged at this defection, prepared to march at once with his whole force and take signal vengeance on the devoted little town ; and this, notwithstanding the remonstrances of his officers against a step which must inevitably expose the unprotected garrisons in the neighbourhood to the assault of their vigilant enemy in Barletta. The event justified these apprehensions. Xo sooner had Gronsalvo learned the departure of Nemours on a distant expedition, than he resolved at once to make an attack on the town of Ruvo, about twelve miles distant, and defended by the brave La Paliee, with a corps of three hundred French lances and as many foot. With his usual promptness, the Spanish general quitted the walls of Barletta the same night on which he received the news (Feb. 22nd, 1503), taking with him his whole effective force, amounting to about three thousand infantry, and one thousand light and heavy armed horse. So few, indeed, remained to guard the city, that he thought it prudent to take some of the principal inhabitants as hostages to insure its fidelity in his absence. At break of day the little army arrived before Ruvo. Gonsalvo immediately opened a lively cannonade on the old ramparts, which in less than four hours effected a considerable breach. He then led his men to the assault, taking charge himself of those who were to storm the breach, while another division, armed with ladders for scaling the walls was intrusted to the adventurous cavalier Diego de Paredes. A dispute arose, soon after this affair, between a French officer and some Italian gentlemen at Gonsalvo's table, in consequence of certain injurious reflections made by the former on the bravery of the Italian nation. The quarrel was settled by a combat d I'outrance between thirteen knights on each side, fought under the protection of the Great Captain, who took a lively interest in the success of his allies. It terminated in the dis- comfiture and capture of all the French. The tourney covers more pages hi the Italiau historians than the longest battle, and is told with pride and a swell of exultation, which show that this insult of the French cut more deeply than all the injuries inflicted by them. t This supply was owing to the avarice of the French general Alegre, who, having got possession of a magazine of corn in Foggia, sold it to the Venetian merchant, instead of reserving it, where it was most needed, for his own army. KESOLTTTIOX OF THE SPANIARDS. 421 The assailants experienced more resolute resistance than they had anti- cipated from the inconsiderable number of the garrison. La Palice, throwing himself into the breach with his iron band of dismounted gendarmes, drove back the Spaniards as often as they attempted to set foot on the broken ramparts ; while the Gascon archery showered down volleys of arrows thick as hail, from the battlements, on the exposed persons of the assailants. The latter, however, soon rallied under the eye of their general, and returned with fresh fury to the charge, until the overwhelming tide of numbers bore down all opposition, and tiny puured in through the breach and over the walls with irresistible fury. The brave little garrison were driven before them; still, however, occasionally making fight in the streets and houses. Their intrepid young commander, La Talice, retreated facing the enemy, who pressed thick and close upon him, till his further progress being arrested by a wall, he placed his back against it, and kept them at bav, making a wide circle around him with the deadly sweep of his battle-axe. 15ut the odds were too much for him ; and at length, after repeated wounds, having been brought to the ground by a deep cut in the head, he was made prisoner ; not, however, before he had flung his sword far over the heads of the assailants, disdaining, in the true spirit of a knight- errant, to yield it to the rabble around him.* All resistance was now at an end. The women of the place had fled like so many frighted deer to one of the principal churches ; and Gonsalvo with more humanity than was usual in these barbarous wars, placed a guard over their persons, which effectually secured them from the insults of the soldiery. After a short time spent in gathering up the booty and securing his prisoners, the Spanish general, having achieved the object of his expedition, set out on his homeward march, and arrived without interruption at Barletta. The Duke of Nemours had scarcely appeared before Castellaneta, before he received tidings of the attack on Ruvo. He put himself without losing a moment, at the head of his gendarmes, supported by the Swiss pikemen, hoping to reach the beleaguered town in time to raise the siege. Great was his astonishment, therefore, on arriving before it, to find no trace of an enemy, except {he ensigns of Spain unfurled from the deserted battlements. Mortified and dejected, he made no further attempt to recover Castellaneta, but silently drew off to hide his chagrin in the walls of Canosa. Among the prisoners were several persons of distinguished rank. Gonsalvo treated them with his usual courtesy, and especially La Palice, whom he provided with his own surgeon and all the appliances for rendering his situation as comfortable as possible. For the common file, however, he showed no such sympathy ; but condemned them all to serve in the Spanish admiral's galleys, where they continued to the close of the campaign. An unfortunate misunderstanding had long subsisted * The gallant behaviour of 1ft Palice, and indeed the whole siege of Ruvo, is told by Jean D'Auton in a truly heart-stirring tone, quite worthy of the chivalrous pen of o'A Froissart. There is an inexpressible charm imparted to the French memoirs and chronicles of this ancient date, not only from the picturesque character of the dctiils, but from a gentle tinge of romance shed over them, which calls to mind the doughty feats of "prowest knights. Both Payuim and the peers of Charlemagne." 422 ITALIAN WAttS. between the French and the Spanish commanders respecting the ransom and exchange of prisoners ; and Gonsalvo was probably led to this eevere measure, so different from his usual clemency, by an unwilling- ness to encumber himself with a superfluous population in the besieged city. But, in truth, such a proceeding, however offensive to humanity, was not at all repugnant to the haughty spirit of chivalry, which reserving its courtesies exclusively for those of gentle blood and high degree, cared little for the inferior orders, whether soldier or peasant, whom it abandoned without remorse to all the caprices and cruelties of military licence. The capture of Ruvo was attended with important consequences to the Spaniards. Besides a valuable booty of clothes, jewels, and money, they brought back with them nearly a thousand horses, which furnished (Gonsalvo with the means of augmenting his cavalry, the small number of which had hitherto materially crippled his operations. He accordingly selected seven hundred of his* best troops, and mounted them on the French horses ; thus providing himself with a corps burning with zeal to approve itself worthy of the distinguished honour conferred on it. A few weeks after, the general received an important accession of strength from the arrival of two thousand German mercenaries, which Don Juan Manuel, the Spanish Minister at the Austrian court, had been permitted to raise in the emperor's dominions. This event determined the Great Captain on a step which he had been some time meditating. The new levies placed him in a condition for assuming the offensive. His stock of provisions, moreover, already much reduced, would be obviously insufficient long to maintain his increased numbers. He resolved, therefore, to sally out of the old walls of Barletta, and, availing himself of the high spirits in which the late successes had put his troops, to bring the enemy at once to battle. CHAPTEE XII. ITALIAN WAB NEGOTIATIONS WITH FRANCE VICTORY OF CERWNOLA SUBRENDB OF NAPLES. 1503. Birth of Charles V. Philip ana Joanna visit Spain Treaty of Lyons The Great Captain refusf-s to comply with it Encamps before Cerignola Battle, and Rout of the French Triumphant entry of Gonsalvo into Naples. BEFORE accompanying the Great Captain further in his warlike opera- tions, it will be necessary to take a rapid glance at what was passing in the French and Spanish courts, where negotiations were in train for putting a stop to them altogether. The reader has been made acquainted in a preceding chapter with the marriage of the infanta Joanna, second daughter of the Catholic sove- reigns, with the archduke Philip, son of the emperor Maximilian, and sovereign, in right of his mother, of the Low Countries. The first fruit of this marriage was the celebrated Charles the Fifth, born at Ghent, YICTOEY OF CEBIGXOLA. 423 February 21th, 15uO, whose birth was no sooner announced to Queen Isabella, than she predicted that to this infant would one day descend the rich inheritance of the Spanish monarchy.* The premature death of the heir apparent, Prince Miguel, not long after, prepared the way for this event, by devolving the succession on Joanna, Charles's mother. From that moment the sovereigns were pressing in their entreaties that the archduke and his wife would visit Spain, that they might receive the customary oaths of allegiance, and tnat the former might become acquainted with the character and institutions of his future subjects. The giddy young prince, however, thought too much of present pleasure to ht-ed the call of ambition or duty, and suffered more than a year to glide away before he complied with the summons of his royal parents. In the latter part of 1501, Philip and Joanna, attended by a numerous suite of Flemish courtiers, set out on their journey, proposing to take their way through France. They were entertained with profuse magni- ficence and hospitality at the French court, where the politic attentions of Louis the Twelfth not only effaced the recollection of ancient injuries to the house of Burgundy, f but left impressions of the most agreeable haracter on the mind of the young prince. J After some weeks passed in a succession of splendid fetes and amusements at Blois, where the archduke confirmed the treaty of Trent recently made between his father, the emperor, and the French king, stipulating the marriage of Louis's eldest daughter, the princess Claude, with Philip's son Charles, the royal pair resumed their journey towards Spain, which they entered by the way of Fontarabia, January 29th, 1 502. Magnificent preparations had been made for their reception. The grand constable of Castile, the duke of Xaxara, and many other of the principal grandees waited on the borders to receive them. Brilliant fetes and illuminations, and all the usual marks of public rejoicing, greeted their progress through the principal cities of the north ; and a praymatica relaxing the simplicity, or rather severity, of the sumptuary laws of the period, so far as to allow the use of silks and various coloured apparel, shows the attention of the sovereigns to every circumstance, however trifling, which could affect the minds of the young princes agreeably, and diffuse an air of cheerfulness over the scene. Ferdinand and Isabella, who were occupied with the affairs of Andalusia * The queen expressed herself in the language of Scripture, " Sors cecidit super Mathiam," in allusion to the circumstance of Charles being born on that saint's day ; a day which, if we are to believe Garibay, was fortunate to him through the whole course of his life. t Charles VIII., Louis's predecessor, had contrived to secure the hand of Anne of Bretague, notwithstanding she was already married by proxy to Philip's father, the emperor Maximilian ; and this, too, in contempt of his own engagements to Margaret, the emperor's daughter, to whom he had been affianced from her infancy. This twofold insult, which sunk deep into the heart of Maximilian, seems to have made no impression on the volatile spirits of his son. * St. Gelais describes the cordial reception of Philip and Joanna by the court at Blois, where he was probably present himself. In passing through Paris, Philip took his seat in the parliament as peer of France, and subsequently did homage to Louis XII. as his suzerain for his estates hi Flanders ; an acknowledgment of inferiority not at all palatable to the Spanish historians, who insist with much satisfaction on the haughty refusal of his wii'e. the archduchess, to take part in the ceremony. This extreme simplicity of attire, in which Zurita discerns the " modesty of the times," was enforced by laws, the policy of which, whatever be thought of their moral import, may well be doubted in aii economical Tiew. I shall have occasion tc draw th reader's attention to them hereafter. 424 ITALIAN WAUS. at this period, no sooner heard of the arrival of Philip and Joanna, than they hastened to the north. They reached Toledo towards the end of April ; and in a few days, the queen, who paid the usual penalties of royalty, in seeing her children, one after another, removed far from he* into distant lands, had the satisfaction of again folding her beloved daughter in her arms. On the 22nd of the ensuing month, the archduke and his wife received the usual oaths of fealty from the cortes duly convoked for the purpose, at Toledo. King Ferdinand, not long after, made a journey into Aragon, in which the queen's feeble health would not permit her to accompany him, in order to prepare the way for a similar recognition by the estates of that realm. We are not informed what arguments the sagacious monarch made use of to dispel the scruples formerly entertained by that independent body, on a similar application in behalf of his daughter, the late queen of Portugal. They were completely successful, however ; and Philip and Joanna, having ascertained the favourable disposition of cortes, made their entrance in great state into the ancient city of Sara- gossa, in the month of October. On the 27th, having first made oath before the Justice, to observe the laws and liberties of the realm, Joanna as future queen proprietor, and Philip as her husband, were solemnly recognised by the four arms of Aragon as successors to the crown, in default of male issue of King Ferdinand. The circumstance is memorable, as affording the first example of the parliamentary recognition of a female heir apparent in Aragonese history.* Amidst all the honours so liberally lavished on Philip, his bosom secretly swelled with discontent, fomented still further by his followers, who pressed him to hasten his return to Flanders, where the free and social manners of the people were much more congenial to their tastes than the reserve and stately ceremonial of the Spanish court. The young prince shared in these feelings, to which, indeed, the love of pleasure, and an instinctive aversion to anything like serious occupation, naturally disposed him. Ferdinand and Isabella saw with regret the frivolous disposition of their son-in-law, who, in the indulgence of selfish and effeminate ease, was willing to repose on others all the important duties of government. They beheld with mortification his indifference to Joanna, who could boast few personal attractions, and who cooled the affections of her husband by alternations of excessive fondness and irritable jealousy, for which last the levity of his conduct gave her too much occasion. Shortly after the ceremony at Saragossa, the archduke announced his intention of an immediate return to the Netherlands, by the way of France. The sovereigns, astonished at this abrupt determination, used every argument to dissuade him from it. They represented the ill effect it might occasion the princess Joanna, then too far advanced in a state of pregnancy to accompany him. They pointed out the impropriety, as well as danger, of committing himself to the hands of the French king, with whom they were now at open war ; and they finally insisted on the importance of Philip's remaining long enough in the kingdom to become * Petronilla, the only female who ever sat, in her own right, on the throne of Aragon, never received the liomnjre of cortes as heir apparent ; the custom uot having bocs established at that time, the midulo of the twelfth century. VICTORY OF CEEIGXOLA. 425 familiar with the usages, and establish himself in the affections, of the people over whom he would one day be called to reign. All these arguments were ineffectual ; the inflexible prince, turning a deaf ear alike to the entreaties of his unhappy wife, and the remon- strances of the Aragonese cortes still in session, set out from Madrid, with the whole of his Flemish suite, in the month of December. He left Ferdinand and Isabella disgusted with the levity of his conduct ; and the queen, in particular, filled with mournful solicitude for the welfare cf the daughter with whom his destinies were united. Before his departure for France, Philip, anxious to re-establish harmony between that country and Spain, offered his services to his father-in-law in negotiating with Louis the Twelfth, if possible, a settlement of the differences respecting Naples. Ferdinand showed some reluctance at intrusting so delicate a commission to an envoy in whose discretion he placed small reliance, which was not augmented by the known partiality which Philip entertained for the French monarch.* Before the archduke had crossed the frontier, however, he was overtaken by a Spanish ecclesiastic named Bernaldo Boyl, abbot of St. Miguel de Cuxa, who brought full powers to Philip from the king for concluding a treaty with France, accompanied at the same time with private instruc- tions of the most strict and limited natiire. He was enjoined, moreover, to take no step without the advice of his reverend coadjutor, and to- inform the Spanish court at once, if different propositions were submitted from those contemplated bv his instructions. Thus fortified, the archduke Philip made his appearance at the French court in Lyons, where he was received by Louis with the same lively- expressions of regard as before. With these amiable dispositions, the negotiations were not long in resulting in a definitive treaty, arranged to. the mutual satisfaction of the parties, though in violation of the private- instructions of the archduke. In the progress of the discussions, Ferdi- nand, according to the Spanish historians, received advices from hia i nvoy, the abate Boyl, that Philip was transcending his commission ; in consequence of which the king sent an express to France, urging his son-in-law to adhere to the strict letter of his instructions. Before the messenger reached Lyons, however, the treaty was executed. Such is the Spanish account of this blind transaction, f The treaty, which was signed at Lyons, (April 5th, 1503,) was arranged on the basis of the marriage of Charles the infant son of Philip, and Claude princess of France ; a marriage, which, settled by three several treaties, was destined never to take place. The royal infants were immediately to assume the titles of King and Queen of Naples, and Duke and Duchess of Calabria. Until the consummation of the mar- riage, the French division of the kingdom was to be placed under the administration of some suitable person named by Louis the Twelfth, and the Spanish under that of the archduke Philip, or some other deputy appointed by Ferdinand. All places unlawfully seized by either party Such manifest partiality for the French court and manners was shown by Philip and his Flemish followers, that the Spaniards very generally believed the latter were in the pay of Louis XII. i Some of the French historians speak of two agents besides Philip employed in the negotiations. Father Boyl Is the only one named by the Snnrish writer? as regularly 1 fi>r the purpose, although it is not. improbable ti.at Ijvui'.u, the residual minister at Louis's court, took part in tue discussions. 426 ITALIAN WARS. were to be restored; and lastly, it -was settled, -with regard to the disputed province of the Capitanate, that the portion held by the French should be governed by an agent of King Louis, and the Spanish by the archduke Philip on behalf of Ferdinand. Such in substance was the treaty of Lyons ; a treaty which, while it seemed to consult the interests of Ferdinand, by securing the throne of Xaples eventually to his posterity, was in fact far more accommodated to those of Louis, b*y placing the immediate control of the Spanish moiety under a prince over whom that monarch held entire influence. It is impossible that so shrewd a statesman as Ferdinand could, from the mere consideration of advantages so remote to himself, and dependent on so precarious a contingency as the marriage of two infants then in their cradles, have seriously contemplated an arrangement which surrendered all the actual power into the hands of his rival ; and that too, at the moment when his large armament, so long preparing for Calabria, had reached that country, and when the Great Captain, on the other quarter, had received such accessions of strength as enabled him to assume the offensive, on at least equal terms with the enemy. No misgivings on this head, however, appear to have entered the minds of the signers of the treaty, which was celebrated by the court at Lyons with every show of public rejoicing, and particularly with tourneys and tilts of reeds, in imitation of the Spanish chivalry. At the same time, the French king countermanded the embarkation of fresh troops on board a fleet equipping at the port of Genoa for Xaples, and sent orders to his generals in Italy to desist from further operations. The archduke forwarded similar instructions to Gonsalvo, accompanied with a copy of the powers entrusted to him by Ferdinand. That prudent officer, however, whether in obedience to previous directions from the king, as Spanish writers affirm, or on his own responsibility, from a very natural sense of duty, refused to comply with the ambassador's orders ; declaring, " he knew no authority but that of his own sovereigns, and that he felt bound to prosecute the war with all his ability till he received their commands to the contrary." Indeed, the archduke's despatches arrived at the very time when the Spanish general, having strengthened himself by a reinforcement from the neighbouring garrison of Tarento under Pedro Xavarro, was prepared to sally forth and try his fortune in battle with the enemy. "Without further delav, he put his purpose into execution, and on Friday, the 28th of April, 1503, marched out with his whole army from the ancient rails of Barletta ; a spot ever memorable in history as the scene of the extraordinary sufferings and indomitable constancy of the Spanish soldier. The road lay across the field of Cannse, where, seventeen centuries before, the pride of Rome had been humbled by the victorious arms of Hannibal,* in a battle which, though fought with far greater numbers, Neither Polybiua nor Livy, who give the most circumstantial narratives of the battle, are precise enough to enable us to ascertain the exact spot in which it was fought. Strabo, in his topographical notices of this part of Italy, briefly alludes to " the affair of Cannae " without any description of the scene of action. Cluverius fixes the site of thd ancient Canna: on the right bank of the Aufidus, the modem Oianto, between three arid four miles below Canusium ; and notices the modern hamlet of nearly the same name, Ouinc, where common tradition recognises the ruins of the ancient town. D'Auvilla makes no difficulty hi identifying these two, having laid down the ancient town in hit map* in the direct line, and about midway, between Barletta and Cerignola. YICTOKT OF CEEIGKOLA. 427 was not so decisive in its consequences as that which the same scenes were to witness in a few hours. The coincidence is certainly singular ; and one might almost fancy that the actors in these fearful tragedies, unwilling to deface the fair taunts of civilisation, had purposely sought a more fitting theatre in this obscure and sequestered region. The weather, although only at the latter end of April, was extremely sultry ; the troops, notwithstanding Gonsalvo's orders on crossing the river Ofaiito, the ancient Aufidus, had failed to supply themselves with sufficient water for the march ; parched with heat and dust, they were soon distressed by excessive thirst ; and as the burning rays of the noon- tide sun beat fiercely on their heads, many of them, especially those cased in heavy armour, sunk down on the road, fainting with exhaustion and fatigue. Gonsalvo was seen in every quarter, administering to the necessities of his men, and striving to reanimate their drooping spirits. At length, to relieve them, he commanded that each trooper should take one of the infantry on his crupper, setting the example himself by mounting a German ensign behind him on his own horse. In this way, the whole army arrived early in the afternoon before Cerignola, a small town on an eminence about sixteen miles from Barletta, where the nature of the ground afforded the Spanish general a favourable position for his camp. The sloping sides of the hill were covered with vineyards, and its base was protected by a ditch of con- siderable depth. Gonsalvo saw at once the advantages of the ground. His Kit. u were jaded by the march ; but there was no time to lose, as the French, who, on his departure from Barletta, had been drawn up under the walls of Canosa, were now rapidly advancing. All hands were put in requisition, therefore, for widening the trench, in which they planted sharp-pointed stakes ; while the earth which they excavated enabled them to throw up a parapet of considerable height on the side next the town. On this rampart he mounted his little train of artillery, consist- ing of thirteen guns, and behind it drew up his forces in order of battle.* Before these movements were completed in the Spanish camp, the bright arms and banners of the French were seen glistening in the distance amid the tall fennel and canebrakes with which the country was thickly covered. As soon as they had come in view of the Spanish encampment, they were brought to a halt, while a council of war was called, to determine the expediency of giving battle that evening. The duke of Nemours would have deferred it till the following morning, as the day was already far spent, and allowed no time for reconnoitring the position of his enemy. But Ives d'Alegre, Chandieu, the commander of the Swiss, and some other officers, were for immediate action, represent- ing the importance of not balking the impatience of the soldiers, who were all hot for the assault. In the course of the debate, Alegre was so much heated as to throw out some rash taunts on the courage of the viceroy, which the latter would have avenged on the spot, had not his arm been arrested by Louis d'Ars. He had the weakness, however, to suffer them to change his cooler purpose, exclaiming, " We will fight * Giovio says that he Lad heard Fabrizio Colon ja remark more than once, in allusion to the intrciichmeuts at the base of the hill, " that the victory was owing, not to the skill of :r,;i::;i icr. nor the valour of the troops, but to a" mound aud a ditch." This - curing a position, which had fallen into dUuse, was revived after this, .. !!. same author, and came iuto general practice among th* best captain* f the ag. t bi supra. 428 ITALIAN WAES. to-night, then ; perhaps those who vaunt the loudest will be found tc trust more to their spurs than their swords ; " a prediction bitterly justified by the event. While this dispute was going on, Gonsalvo gained time for making the necessary disposition of his troops. In the centre he placed his German auxiliaries, armed with their long pikes, and on each wing the Spanish infantry, under the command of Pedro Navarro, Diego de Paredes Pizarro, and other illustrious captains. The defence of the artillery was committed to the left wing. A considerable body of men-at-arms, including those recently equipped from the spoils of Ruvo, was drawn up within the intrenchments, in a quarter affording a convenient opening for a sally, and placed under the orders of Mendoza and Fabrizio Colonna, whose brother Prospero, and Pedro de la Paz, took charge of the light cavalry, which was posted without the lines to annoy the advance of the enemy, and act on any point as occasion might require. Having com- pleted his preparations, the Spanish general coolly awaited the assault of the French. The duke of Nemours had marshalled his forces in a very different order. He distributed them into three battles or divisions, stationing his heavy horse, composing altogether, as Gonsalvo declared, "the finest body of cavalry seen for many years in Italy," under the command of Louis d'Ars, on the right. The second and centre division, formed some- what in the rear of the right, was made up of the Swiss and Gascon infantry, headed by the brave Chandieu ; and his left, consisting chiefly of his light cavalry, and drawn up, like the last, somewhat in the rear of the preceding, was intrusted to Alegre. It was within half an hour of sunset when the duke de Nemours gave orders for the attack, and, putting himself at the head of the gendarmerie on the right, spurred at full gallop against the Spanish left. The hostile armies were nearly equal, amounting to between six and seven thousand men each. The French were superior in the number and condition of their cavalry, rising to a third of their whole force ; while Gonsalvo's strength lay chiefly in his infantry, which had acquired a lesson of tactics under him that raised it to a level with the best in Europe. As the French advanced, the guns on the Spanish left poured a lively fire into their ranks, when a spark accidentally communicating with the magazine of powder, the whole blew up with a tremendous explosion. The Spaniards were filled with consternation ; but Gonsalvo, converting the misfortune into a lucky omen, called out, "Courage, soldiers; these are the beacon lights of victory ! We have no need 01 our guns at close quarters." In the mean time the French van under Nemours, advancing rapidly under the dark clouds of smoke, which rolled heavily over the field, were unexpectedly brought up by the deep trench, of whose existence they were unapprised. Some of the horse were precipitated into it, and all received a sudden check, until Nemours, finding it impossible to force the works in this quarter, rode along their front in search of some practicable passage. In doing this, he necessarily exposed his flank to the fatal aim of the Spanish arquebusiers. A shot from one of them took effect on the unfortunate young nobleman, and he fell mortally wounded from his saddle. At this junct;ire, the Swiss and Gascon infantry, briskly moving up VICTOIIY OF CEEIGXOLA. 429 to second the attack of the now disordered horse, arrived before the entrenchments. Undismayed by this formidable barrier, their com- mander, Chaudieu, made the most desperate attempts to force a passage; but the loose earth freshly turned up, afforded no hold to their feet, and his men were compelled to recoil from the dense array of German pikes which bristled over the summit of the breastwork. Chandieu, their loader, made every effort to rally and bring them back to the charge; but, in the act of doing this, was hit by a ball, which stretched him life- less in the ditch ; his burnished arms, and the snow-white plumes above his helmet, making him a conspicuous mark for the enemy. All was now confusion. The Spanish arquebusiers, screened by their defences, poured a galling fire into the dense masses of the enemy who were mingled together indiscriminately, horse and foot, while, the leaders being down, no one seemed capable of bringing them to order. At this critical moment, Gonsalvo, whose eagle eye took in the whole operations of the field, ordered a general charge along the line ; and the Spaniards, leaping their entrenchments, descended with the fury of an avalanche on their foes, whose wavering columns, completely broken by the violence of the shock, were seized with a panic, and fled, scarcely offering any resistance. Louis d'Ars, at the head of such of the men- at-arms as could follow him, went oft' in one direction, and Ives d' Alegre, with his light cavalry, which had hardly come into action, in another ; thus fully verifying the ominous prediction of his commander. The slaughter fell most heavily on the Swiss and Gascon foot, whom the cavalry under Mendoza and Pedro de la Paz rode down and cut to pieces without sparing, till the shades of evening shielded them at length from their pitiless pursuers. Prospero Colonna pushed on to the French encampment, where he found thcijables in the duke's tent spread for his evening repast; of which the Italian general and his followers did not fail to make good account. A trilling incident that well illustrates the sudden reverses of war. The Great Captain passed the night on the field of battle, which on the following morning presented a ghastly spectacle of the dying and the dead. More than three thousand French are computed by the best accounts to have fallen. The loss of the Spaniards, covered as they were by their defences, was inconsiderable.* All the enemy's artillery, consisting of thirteen pieces, his baggage, and most of his colours, fell into their hands. Never was there a more complete victory, achieved too within the space of little more than an hour. The body of the unfortunate Nemours, which was recognised by one of his pages from the rings on the fingers, was found under a heap of slain, much dis- figured. It appeared that he had received three several wounds, disproving, if need were, by his honourable death, the injurious taunts of Alegre. Gonsalvo was affected even to tears at beholding the * Xo account, that I know of, places the French loss so low as 3000 ; Garibay raises it to 4500, and the French marechal de Fleurange rates that of the Swiss alone at 6000 ; & r.nmd exaggeration, not readily accounted for, as he had undoubted access to the best menus of information. The Spaniards were too well screened to sustain much injury, and no estimate makes it inure than a hundred killed, and some considerably less. Tha odds arc indeed startling, but not impossible ; as the Spaniards were not much exposed by personal collision with the enemy, until the latter were thrown into too much disorder to think of anything but escape. The more than usual contusion and discrepancy In the various statements of the particulars of this action may probably bo attributed to the lateness of the hour, and consequently imi>erfect light, in which it was fought. 430 ITALIAX WABS. mutilated remains of his young and gallant adversary, -who, whatever judgment mav be formed of his capacity as a leader, was allowed tu have all the qualities which belonged to a true knight. "With him perished the last scion of the illustrious house of Armaguac. Gonsalvo ordered his remains to he conveyed to Barletta, where they were laid in the cemetery of the convent of St. Francis, with all the honours due to his high station. The Spanish commander lost no time in following up his blow, well aware that it >is qiiite as difficult to improve a victory as to win one. The French had rushed into battle with too much precipitation to a.uroe on any plan of operation, or any point on which to rally in case of defeat. They accordingly scattered in different directions, and Pedro de la Paz was dispatched in pursuit of Louis d'Ars, who threw himself into Venosa,* where he kept the enemy at bay for many months longer. Paredes kept close on the scent of Alegre, who, finding the gates shut against him, wherever he passed, at length took shelter in Gaeta, on the extreme point of the Neapolitan territory. There he endeavoured to rally the scattered relics of the field of Cerignola, and to establish a strong position, from which the French, when strengthened by fresh supplies from home, might recommence operations for the recovery of the kingdom. The day after the battle of Cerignola the Spaniards received tidings of another victory, scarcely less important, gained over the French in Calabria the preceding week.f The army sent out under Portocarrero had reached that coast early in March ; but, soon after its arrival, its gallant commander fell ill and died.J The dying general named Don Fernando de Andrada as his successor ; and this officer, combining his forces with those before in the country, under Cardona and Benavides, encountered the French commander D'Aubigny in a pitched battlc^not far from Seminara, on Friday the 21st of April. It was near the same spot on which the latter had twice beaten the Spaniards. But the star of France was on the wane ; and the gallant old officer had the mor- tification to see his little corps of veterans completely routed after a sharp engagement of less than an hour, while he himself was retrieved with difficulty from the hands of the enemy by the valour of his Scottish guard. The Great Captain and his armv, highly elated with the news of this fortunate event, which annihilated the French power in Calabria, began their march on Naples ; Fabrizio Colonna having been first detached into the Abruzzi to receive the submission of the people in that quarter. The tidings of the victory had spread far and wide ; and. as Gonsalvo's army advanced, they beheld the ensigns of Aragon floating from the battlement's It was to this same city of Venusium that the rash, /and unfortunate Varro madt nis retreat, some seventeen centuries before, from the bloody field of Canna;. t Friday, says Gnicciardiui, alluding no doubt to Columbus's discoveries, as well as thes* two victories, was observed to be a lucky day to the Spaniards; according to Gaillard, it was regarded from this time by the French witli more superstitious drend thm t The reader may perhaps recollect the distinguished part played in the Moorish war by Luis Portocarrero, lord of Palma. He was of noble Italian origin, being descended from the ancient Genoese house of Boccanegra. The Great Captain and he i Bisters; and this connection probably recommended him, as much as his military talent^ to thu Calabriau ctminand, which it was highly important should be Intrusted to ouo who woul i maintain a good understanding with the commaiider-iu-chief ; a thing not ea*;y to secure among the haughty nobility of Castile. VICTOBY OF CERIGNOLA. 431 the towns upon their route, while the inhahitnnts came forth to greet the conqueror, eager to testify their devotion to the Spanish cause. The army halted at Bcnevento; aud the general scut his summons to the city of Naples, inviting it in the most courteous terms to resume its ancient allegiance to the legitimate branch of Aragon. It was hardly to be expected that the allegiance of a people, who had so lon<* seen their country set up as a mere stake for political gamesters, should sit very closely upon them, or that they should care to jx-ril their lived on the transfer of a crown which had shifted on the heads of half a dozen proprietors in as many successive years. * With the same ductile en- thusiasm, therefore, with which they greeted the accession of Charles the Eighth or Louis the Twelfth, they now welcomed the restoration of the ancient dynasty of Aragon ; and deputies from the principal nobility and citizens waited on the Great Captain at Acerra, where they tendered him the keys of the city, and requested the confirmation of their rights and privileges. Gonsalvo, having promised this in the name of his royal master, on the following morning, the 14th of May, 1503, made his entrance in great state into the capital, leaving his armv without the walls. He was escorted by the military of the city under a royal canopy borne by the deputies. The streets were strewed with Howers, the edifices decorated with appropriate emblems and devices, and wreathed with banners emblazoned with the united arms of Aragon and Naples. As he passed along, the city rung with the acclamations of countless multitudes who thronged the streets ; while every windw and housetop was tilled with spectators, eager to behold the man who, with scarcely any other resources than those of his own genius, had so long defied, and at length completely foiled, the power of France. On the following day a deputation of the nobility and people waited on the Great Captain at his quarters, and tendered him the usual oatha of allegiance for his master, King Ferdinand, whose accession finally closed the series of revolutions which had so long agitated this unhappy country. The city of Naples was commanded by two strong fortresses still held by the French, which, being well victualled and supplied with ammu- nition, showed no disposition to surrender. The Great Captain, de- termined, therefore, to reserve a small corps for their reduction, while he sent forward the main body of his army to besiege Gaeta. But the Spanish infantry refused to march until the heavy arrears, suffered to accumulate through the negligence of the government, were discharged ; and Gonsalvo, afraid of awakening the mutinous spirit which he had once found it so difficult to quell, was obliged to content himself with sending forward his cavalry and German levies, and to permit the infantry to take up its quarters in the capital, under strict orders to respect the persons and property of the citizens. He now lost no time in pressing the siege of the French fortresses, whose impregnable situation might have derided the efforts of them, at formidable enemy in the ancient state of military science. But the * Since 1494, the sceptre of Naples :nto the hands of no less than seven iiriacos, FLiMinaiul I., Alfonso II.. L II., Charles VIII. Frederic III., Louis Xll., fc\ nil: Kind the Catholic. No private estate in the kingdom in the same time ha I probably changed masters half so often. 432 ITALIAN WAP.S. reduction of these places was intrusted to Pedro Na % TO, the celebrated engineer, whose improvements in the art of mining h ~e gained him the popular reputation of being its inventor, and who disju^yed such unpre- cedented skill on this occasion, as makes it a memorable epoch in tha annals of war.* Under his directions, the small tower of St. Vincenzo having been first carried by a furious cannonade, a mine was run under the outer defences of the great fortress called Castel isuovo. On the 21st of May, the mine was sprung ; a passage was opened over the prostrate ramparts, and the assailants, rushing in with Gonsalvo and Xavarro at their head, before the garrison had time to secure the drawbridge, applied their ladders to the walls of the castle, and succeeded in carrying the place by escalade, after a desperate struggle, in which the greater part of the French were slaughtered. An immense booty was found in the castle. The Angevin party had made it a place, of deposit for their most valuable effects, gold, jewels, plate, and other treasures, which, together with its well-stored magazines of grain and ammunition, became the indis- criminate spoil of the victors. As some of these, however, complained of not getting their share of the plunder, Gonsalvo, giving full scope in the exultation of the moment to military licence, called out gaily, " Make amends for it, then, by what you can find in my quarters!" The words were not uttered to deaf ears. The mob of soldiery rushed to the splendid palace of the Angevin prince of Salerno, then occupied hy the Great Captain, and in a moment its sumptuous furniture, paintings, and other costly decorations, together with the contents of its :generous cellar, were seized and appropriated without ceremony by the invaders, who thus indemnified themselves at their general's expense for the remissness of government. After some weeks of protracted operations, the remaining fortress, Castel d'Uovo, as it was called, opened its gates to Xavarro; and a 1'rench fleet, coming into the harbour, had the mortification to find itself fired on from the walls of the place it was intended to relieve. Before this event, Gonsalvo, having obtained funds from Spain for paying off his men, quitted the capital and directed his march on Gaeta. The important results of his victories were now fully disclosed. D'Aubigny, with the wreck of the forces escaped from Seminara, had surrendered. The two Abruzzi, the Capitanate, all the Basilicate, except Venosa, stiil held by Louis d' Ars, and indeed every considerable place in the kingdom, had tendered its submission, with the exception of Gaeta. Summoning, therefore, to his aid Andrada, Navarro, and his other officers, the Great Captain resolved to concentrate all his strength on this point, designing to press the siege, and thus exterminate at a blow the feeble remains of the French power in Italy. The enterprise was attended with more difficulty than he had anticipated. * The Italians, in their admiration of Pedro Navarre, caused medals to b struck, oa which the invention of mines was ascribed to him. Although not actually the inventor, tiis glory was scarcely less, since ho was the first who discovered the extensive and formid* able uses to which they might be applied to the science of destruction CHAPTEE WITH FRAlfCB UNSUCCESSFUL UTVASIOW OF SFAIK TBBCt. 1503. Ferdinand's Policy examined First Symptoms of Joanna's Insanity Isabella's Distress I Fortitude Efforts of France Siege of Salsas Isabella's Levies Ferdinand's Successes Reflections on the Campaign. THE events noticed in the preceding chapter glided away as rapidly n> the flitting phantoms of a dream. Scarcely had Louis the Twelfth received the unwelcome intelligence of Gonsalvo de Cordova's refusal t ..> obey the mandate of the archduke Philip, before he was astounded with t lu- tidings of the victory of Cerignola, the march on Naples, and the surrender of that capital, as well as of the greater part of the kingdom, following one another in breathless succession. It seemed as if the very means on which the French king had so confidently relied for calming the tempest had been the signal for awakening all its fury, and bringing it on his devoted head. Mortified and incensed at being made the dupe of what he deemed a perfidious policy, he demanded an explanation of the archduke, who was still in France. The latter, vehemently pro- testing his own innocence, felt, or affected to feel, so sensibly the ridiculous, and, as it appeared, dishonourable part played by him in the transaction, that he was thrown into a severe illness, which confined him to his bed for several days. Without delay, he wrote to the Spanish court in terms of bitter expostulation, urging the immediate ratification of the treaty made pursuant to its orders, and an indemnification to France for its subsequent violation. Such is the account given by th<. French historians. The Spanish writers, on the other hand, say that, before the news of Gonsalvo's successes reached Spain, King Ferdinand refused to confirm the treaty sent him by his son-in-law, until it had undergone certain material modifications. If the Spanish monarch hesitated to approve the treaty in the doubtful posture of his affairs, he was little likely to do so when he had the game entirely in his own hands. He postponed an answer to Philip's application, -willing probably to gain time for the Great Captain to strengthen himself firmly in his t acquisitions. At length, after a considerable interval, he dis- patehed an embassy to France announcing his final determination never to ratify a treaty made in contempt of his orders, and so clearly detri- mental to his interests. He endeavoured, however, to gain furttier time by spinning out the negotiation, holding up for this purpose the prospect of an ultimate accommodation, and suggesting the re-establishment of his kinsman, the unfortunate Frederic, on the Neapolitan throne, as the means of effecting it. The artifice, however. was tv> gross even for : who peremptorily demanded of the ambassadors . absolute ratification of the treaty, and, on their declaring r 434 NEGOTIATIONS WITH FEANCE. it was beyond their powers, ordered them at once to leave his court. " I had rather," said he, "suffer the loss of a kingdom, which may perhaps be retrieved, than the loss of honour, which never can." A noble sentiment, but falling with no particular grace from the lips of Louis the Twelfth. The whole of this blind transaction is stated in so irreconcilable a manner by the historians of the different nations, that it is extremely difficult to draw anything- like a probable narrative out of them. The Spanisn writers assert that the public commission of the archduke was controlled by strict private instructions ; while the French on the other hand, are either silent as to the latter, or represent them to have been as broad and unlimited as his credentials. If this be true, the negotiation must be admitted to exhibit, on the part of Ferdinand, as gross an example of political jugglery and fasehood as ever disgraced the annals of diplomacy. liut it is altogether improbable, as I have before remarked, that a m<*Larch so astute and habitually cautious should have intrusted imlimited authority, in so delicate a business, to a person whose discretion, inde- pendent of his known partiality for the French monarch, he held so lightly. It is much more likely that he limited, as is often done, the full powers committed to him in public, by private instructions of the most explicit character ; and that the archduke was betrayed by his own vanity, and perhaps ambition (for the treaty threw the immediate power into his own hands), into arrangements unwarranted by the tenor of these instructions. If this were the case, the propriety of Ferdinand's conduct in refusing the ratification depends on the question how far a sovereign is bound by the acts of a plenipotentiary who departs from his private instructions. Formerly, the question would seem to have been unsettled. Indeed, some of the most respectable writers on public law in the beginning of the seventeenth century maintain that such a departure would not justify the prince in withholding his ratification ; deciding thus, no doubt, on principles of natural equity, which appear to require that a principal should be held responsible for the acts of an agent, coming within the scope of his powers, though at variance with his secret orders, with which the other contracting party can have no acquaintance or concern. The inconvenience, however, arising from adopting a principle iu political negotiations which must necessarily place the destinies of a whole nation in the hands of a single individual, rash or incompetent it may be, without the power of interference or supervision on the part of a government, has led to a different conclusion in practice ; and it is now generally admitted by European writers, not merely that the exchange of ratifications is essential to the validity of a treaty, but that a govern- ment is not bound to ratify the doings of a minister who has transcended his private instructions. But whatever be thought A Ferdinand's good faith in the early stages of his business, there is no doubt that, at a later period, when his posi- tion was changed by the success of his arms in Italy, he sought only I" :imusi: the French court with a show of negotiation, in order, as we Jiavi: already intimated, to paralyse its operations and gain time for securin;;- his ci'iniue^t ;. The French writers inveigh loudly against this crafty and tmichermis policy ; and Louis the Twelfth gave vent to his owa INSANITY OF JOANNA. 435 indignation in no very measured terms. But, however we may now yiL it, it was in perfect accordance with the trickish spirit of the tige ; and the French king resigned all right of rebuking his antagonist on thie neore, when he condescended to become a party with him to the infamous partition treaty, and still more when he so grossly violated it. He had voluntarily engaged with his Spanish rival in the game, and it afforded no good ground of complaint that he was the least adroit of the two. While Ferdinand was thus triumphant in his schemes of foreign policy and conquest, his domestic life was clouded with tiie deepest anxiety, in cons, -(jin -nee of the declining health of the queen, and the eccentric conduct of his daughter, the infanta Joanna. We have already seen the extra- vagant fondness with which that princess, notwithstanding her occasional rallies of jealousy, doated on her young and handsome husband.* From the hour of his departure she had been plunged in the deepest dejection, sitting day and night with her eyes fixed on the ground in uninterrupted silence, or broken only by occasional expressions of petulant discontent. tShe refused all consolation, thinking only of rejoining her absent lord, and "equally regardless," says Martyr, who was then at the court, "of herself, her future subjects, and her afflicted parents." On the 10th of March, 1503, she was delivered of her second son, who received the baptismal name of Ferdinand, in compliment to his grand- father, t No change, however, took place in the mind of the unfortunate mother, who from this time was wholly occupied with the project of returning to Flanders. An invitation to that effect, which she received from her husband in the mouth of November, determined her to under- take the journey, at all hazards, notwithstanding the affectionate remonstrances of the queen, who represented the impracticability of traversing France, agitated, as it then was, with all the bustle of warlike preparation, or of venturing by sea at this inclement and stormy season. One evening, while her mother was absent at Segovia, Joanna, whose rt Mik-nce was at Medina del Campo, left her apartment in the castle, and sallied out, though in dishabille, without announcing her purpose to any of her attendants. They followed, however, and used every argument and entreaty to prevail on her to return, at least for the night, but without tltt i-t ; until the bishop of Burgos, who had charge of her household, finding every other means ineffectual, was compelled to close the castle gates, in order to prevent her departure. The princess, thus thwarted in her purpose, gave way to the most violent indignation. She menaced the attendants with her utmost vengeance for their disobedience, and, taking her station on the barrier, she obstinately refused to re-enter the castle, or even to put on any additional clothing, but remained cold and shivering on the spot till the following morning. The good bishop, sorely embarrassed by the dilemma to which he found himself reduced, of offending the queen by complying * Philip is known in history by the title of " the handsome," implying that he was, at least, quite as remarkable for his personal qualities as his mental. t He was born at Alcalii de Heuares. Ximeues availed himself of this circumstance to obtain from Isabella a permanent exemption from taxes for his favourite city, which his princely patronage was fast raising Of the palm of literary precedence with balaiiiauoa, the ani.-ieiit " Athens i'f !S|>ain." The citizens of the place long preserved, and BtUl preserve, for aught 1 know, the cradle of the royal infant, in token of their irratitude. v a 436 INVASION OF SPAIN. with the mad humour of the princess, or the latter still more by resisting it, dispatched an express in all haste to Isabella, acquainting her with the aft'air, and begging instructions how to proceed. The queen, who was staying, as has been said, at Segovia, about forty miles distant, alarmed at the intelligence, sent the king's cousin, the admiral Henriquez, together with the archbishop of Toledo, at once to Medina, and prepared to follow as fast as the feeble state of her health would permit. The efforts of these eminent persons, however, were not much more successful than those of the bishop. All they could obtain from Joanna was, that she would retire to a miserable kitchen in the neighbourhood during the night ; while she persisted in taking her station on the barrier as soon as it was light, and continued there, immovable as a statue, the whole day. In this deplorable state she wa& found by the queen on her arrival ; and it was not without great difficulty that the latter, with all the deference habitually paid her by her daughter, succeeded in persuading her to return to her own apart- ments in the castle. These were the first unequivocal symptoms of that hereditary taint of insanity which had clouded the latter days of Isabella's mother, and which, with a few brief intervals, was to shed a deeper gloom over the long-protracted existence of her unfortunate daughter. The conviction of this sad infirmity of the princess gave a shock to the unhappy mother scarcely less than that which she had formerly been, called to endure in the death of her children. The sorrows, over which time had had so little power, were opened afresh by a calamity which naturally filled her with the most gloomy forebodings for the fate of her people, whose welfare was to be committed to such incompetent hands. These domestic griefs were still further swelled at this time by the death of two of her ancient friends and counsellors, Juan Chacon, adelantado of Murica,* and Gutierre de Cardenas, grand commander of Leon.f They had attached themselves to Isabella in the early part of her life, when her fortunes were still under a cloud ; and they afterwards reaped the requital of their services in such ample honours and emoluments as ro^ai gratitude could bestow, and in the full enjoyment of her confidence, to Miich their steady devotion to her interests well entitled them. Lat neither the domestic troubles which pressed so heavily on Isabella's heart, nor the rapidly declining state of her own health, had power to blunt the energies of her mind or lessen the vigilance with which she watched over the interests of her people. A remarkable proof of this was given in the autumn of the present year, 1503, when the country was menaced with an invasion from France. The whole French nation had shared the indignation of Louis the Twelfth at the mortifying result of his enterprise against Naples ; and it * Mirror of virtue, as Oviedo styles this cavalier. He was always much regarded by the sovereigns, and the lucrative post of conto.dor mayor, which lie filled for many years, enabled him to acquire an immense estate, 50,000 ducats a year, without imputation on his honesty. t The name of this cavalier, as well as that of his cousin Alonso de Cardenas, grand naster of St. James, have become familiar to us in the Gran.idine war. If Don Guitcrre iu KUUKUUXU. " IJi e 01 uuy luipuiutiiue, a&ym wvieuu, was uuuv wiuiuub His advice." He was raised to the important posts of comendador de Leon, and coutador , which last, in the words of the same author, ''made its possessor a second king I'ver the public treasury." Ue left large estates, and more than five thousand vassals. His eldest son was created duke of Maqueda. IXTASIOX OF SPAIN. 437 answered his call for supplies so promptly and liberally, that, in a few months after the defeat of Cerignola, he was able to resume operations on a more formidable scale than France had witnessed for centuries. Three large armies were raised ; one to retrieve aflairs in Italy, a second to penetrate into Spain, by the way of Fontarabia, and a third to cross into Roussillon, and get possession of the strong post of Salsas, the key of the mountain-passes in that quarter. Two fleets were also equipped in the ports of Genoa and Marseilles, the latter of which was to support the invasion of Roussillon by a descent on the coast of Catalonia. These various corps were intende'd to act in concert, and thus, by one grand, simultaneous movement, Spain was to be assailed oil three several points of her territory. The results did not correspond with the magnificence of the apparatus. The army destined to march on Fontarabia was placed under the command of Alan d'Albret, father of the king of Navarre, along the frontiers of whose dominions its route necessarily lay. Ferdinand had assured himself of the favourable dispositions of this prince, the situation of whose kingdom, more than its strength, made his friendship important j and the lord d'Albret, whether from a direct understanding with the kSpimish monarch, or fearful of the consequences which might result to his son from the hostility of the latter, detained the forces intrusted to him so long among the bleak and barren fastnesses of the mountains that at length, exhausted by fatigue and want of food, the army melted away without even reaching the enemy's borders.* The force directed against Roussillon was of a more formidable character. It was commanded by the mar6chal de Rieux, a brave and experienced officer, though much broken by age and bodily infirmities. It amounted to more than twenty thousand men. Its strength, however, lay chiefly in its numbers. It was, with the exception of a few thousand lansquenets, under William de la Marck,t made up of the arriere-ban of the kingdom, and the undisciplined militia from the great towns of Languedoc. With this numerous array the French marshal entered Roussillon without opposition, and sat down before Salsas on the 16th of September, 1503. The old castle of Salsas, which had been carried without much difficulty by the French in the preceding war, had been put in a defensible condition at the commencement of the present, under the superintendence of Pedro Xavarro, although the repairs were not yet wholly completed. Ferdinand, on the approach of the enemy, had thrown a thousand picked men into the place, which was well victualled and provided for a siege ; while a corps of six thousand was placed under his cousin, Don Frederic de Toledo, duke of Alva, with orders to take up a position in the neigh- bourhood, where he might watch the movements of the enemy and acnoy him as far as possible by cutting off his supplies. Ferdinand, in the mean while, lost no time in enforcing levies through- The king of Navarre promised to oppose the passage of the French, if attempted, through his dominions ; and, in order to obviate any distrust on the part of Ferdinand, eut his daughter Margaret to reside at the court of Castile, as a pledge for his fidelity. t Younger brother of Robert, third duke of Bouillon. The reader will not confound him with his namesake, the famous "boar of Ardennes," more familiar to us now in the pages of romance than history, who perished ignominiously some twenty years bctore this }> Tiod, in 1434, not in tight, but by the hands of the common executioner at Utrecht. 438 INVASION OF SPAIN. out the kingdom, with which he might advance to the relief of the beleaguered fortress. While thus occupied, he received such accounts of the queen's indisposition as induced him to quit Aragon where he then was, and hasten hy rapid journeys to Castile. The accounts were probably exaggerated ; he found no cause for immediate alarm on his arrival ; and Isabella, ever ready to sacrifice her own inclinations to the public weal, persuaded him to return to the scene of operations, where his presence at this juncture was so important. Forgetting her illness, she made the most unwearied efforts for assembling troops without delay to support her husband. The grand constable of Castile was commissioned to raise levies through every part of the kingdom, and the principal nobility flocked in with their retainers from the farthest provinces, all eager to obey the call of their beloved mistress. Thus strengthened, Ferdinand, whose head-quarters were established at Girona, saw himself in less than a month in possession of a force which, including the supplies of Aragon, amounted to ten or twelve thousand horse, and three or four times that number of foot. He no longer delayed his march, and about the middle of October put his army in motion, proposing to effect a junction with the duke of Alva, then lying before Perpignan, at a few leagues' distance from Salsas. Isabella, w r ho was at Segovia, was made acquainted by regular expresses with every movement of the army. She no sooner learned its departure from Girona than she was rilled with disquietude at the prospect of a speedy encounter with the enemy, whose defeat, whatever glory it might reflect on her own arms, could be purchased only at the expense of Christian blood. She wrote in earnest terms to her husband, requesting him not to drive his enemies to despair by closing up their retreat to their own land, but to leave vengeance to Him to whom alone it belonged. She passed her days, together with her whole household, in fasting and continual prayer ; and, in the fervour of her pious zeal, personally visited the several religious houses of the city, distributing alms among- their holy inmates, and imploring them humbly to supplicate the Almighty to avert the impending calamity.* The prayers of the devout queen and her court found favour with Heaven. King Ferdinand reached Perpignan on the 19th of October ; and on that same night the French marshal, finding himself unequal to the rencontre with the combined forces of Spain, broke up his camp,, and, setting fire to his tents, began his retreat towards the frontier, having consumed nearly six weeks since first opening trenches. Fer- dinand pressed close on his flying enemy, whose rear sustained some annoyance from the Spanish ginetes in its passage through the defiles of the sierras. The retreat, however, was conducted in too good order to allow any material loss to be inflicted on the French, who succeeded at length in sheltering themselves under the cannon of Narbonne, up to which place they were pursued by their victorious foe. Several places on the frontier, as Leocate, Palme, Sigean, Roquefort, and others were abandoned to the Spaniards, who pillaged them of whatever was worth * The loyal captain, Gonzalo Ayora, shows little of this Christian vein. He conclude* one of his letters with praying, no doubt most sincerely, "that the Almighty would b* pleased to infuse less benevolence into the hearts of the sovereigns, and incite them to chastise and humble the proud French, and strip them of their ill gotten possessions. which, however repugnant to their own godly inclinations, would tend greatly to replenish their cotfcvs, as well as those of their faithful and loving subjects." INVASION 0V SPAIN. 43S carrying olF; without any violence, however, to the persons of the inhabitants, whom, as a Christian population, if we are to believo Martyr, Ferdinand refused even to make prisoners. The Spanish monarch made no attempt to retain these acquisitions ; but, having dismantled some of the towns which ottered most resistance, returned loaded with the spoils of victory to his own dominions. " Had he been as good a general as he was a statesman," says a Spanish historian, "he might have penetrated to the centre of France." Ferdinand, however, was too prudent to attempt conquests which could only be maintained, if maintained at all, at an infinite expense of blood and treasure. He had sufficiently vindicated his honour by meeting his foe so promptly, and driving him triumphantly over the border ; and he preferred, like a cautious prince, not to risk all he had gained by attempting more, but to employ his present successes as a vantage ground for entering on negotiation, in which at all times he placed more reliance than on the sword. In this, his good star still further favoured him. Thft armada, equipped at so much cost by the French king at Marseilles, had no sooner put to sea than it was assailed by furious tempests, and so far crippled, that it was obliged to return to port without even effecting a descent on the Spanish coast. These accumulated disasters so disheartened Louis the Twelfth, that he consented to enter into negotiations for a suspension of hostilities ; and an armistice was finally arranged, through the mediation of his pensioner Frederic, ex-king of Naples, between the hostile monarchs. It extended only to their hereditary dominions ; Italy and the circum- jacent seas being still left open as a common arena, on which the rival parties might meet, and settle their respective titles by the sword. This truce, first concluded for five months, was subsequently prolonged to three years. It gave Ferdinand what he most needed, leisure, and means to provide for the security of his Italian possessions, on which the dark storm of war was soon to burst with tenfold fury. The unfortunate Frederic, who had been drawn from his obscurity to take part in these negotiations, died in the following year. It is singular that the last act of his political life should have been to mediate a peace between the dominions of two monarchs who had united to strip him of his own. The results of this campaign were as honourable to Spain as they were disastrous and humiliating to Louis the Twelfth, who had seen his arms baffled on every point, and all his mighty apparatus of fleets and armies dissolved, as if by enchantment, in less time than it had been preparing. The immediate success of Spain may no doubt be ascribed, in a considerable degree, to the improved organisation and thorough discipline introduced by the sovereigns into the national militia at the close of the Moorish war, without which it would have been scarcely possible to concentrate so promptly on a distant point such large masses of men, all well equipped and trained for active service. So soon was the nation called to feel the effect of these wise provisions. Hut the results of the campaign are, after all, less worthy of notice as indicating the resources of the country, than as evidence of a pervading patriotic feeling, which could alone make these resources available. Instead of the narrow local jealousies which had so long estranged the 440 ITALIAN WARS. people of the separate provinces, and more especially those of the rival states of Aragon and Castile, from one another, there had been gradually raised up a common national sentiment, like that knitting together the constituent parts of one great commonwealth. At the first alarm of invasion on the frontier of Aragon, the whole extent of the sister kingdom, from the green valleys of the Guadalquivir up to the rocky fastnesses of the Asturias, responded to the call, as to that of a common country, sending forth, as we have seen, its swarms of warriors to repel the foe, and roll back the tide of war upon his own land. What a contrast did all this present to the cold and parsimonious hand with which the nation, thirty years before, dealt out its supplies to King John the Second, Ferdinand's father, when he was left to cope single- handed with the whole power of France in this very quarter of Roussillon. Such was the consequence of the glorious union, which brought together the petty and hitherto discordant tribes of the Penin- sula under the same rule ; and, by creating common interest and an harmonious principle of action, was silently preparing them for con- stituting one great nation one and indivisible, as intended by nature. CHAPTEE XIV. ITALIAN WARS CONDITION OF ITALY FRENCH AND SPANISH ARMIES ON THE OARIGLIANO. 1503. Melancholy State of Italy Great Preparations of Louis Gonsalvo repulsed before Gaeta Armies on the Garigliano Bloody Passage of the Bridge Anxious Expectation of Italy Critical Situation of the Spaniards Gonsalvo's Resolution Heroism of Paredes and Bayard. WE must now turn our eyes towards Italy, where the sounds of war, which had lately died away, were again heard in wilder dissonance than ever. Our attention, hitherto, has been too exclusively directed to mere military manoeuvres to allow us to dwell much on the condition of this unhappy land. The dreary progress of our story, over fields of blood and battle, might naturally dispose the imagination to lay the scene of action in some rude and savage age ; an age, at best, of feudal heroism, when the energies of the soul could be roused only by the fierce din of war. Far otherwise, however ; the tents of the hostile armies were now pitched in the bosom of the most lovely and cultivated regions of the globe ; inhabited by a people who had carried the various arts of policy and social life to a degree of excellence elsewhere unknown ; whose natural resources had been augmented by all the appliances of ingenuity and industry ; whose cities were crowded with magnificent and costly works of public utility ; into whose ports every wind that blew waftea the rich freights of distant climes ; whose thousand hills were covered to their very tops with the golden labours of the husbandman ; and whose intellectual development showed itself not only in a liberal scholarship far outstripping that of their contemporaries, but in works i>f imagination, and of elegant art more particularly, which rivalled the A.BMIES 05 THE GAEIGLIAIfO. 441 best days of antiquity. The period before us, indeed, the commence- ment of the sixteenth century, was that of their meridian splendour, when Italian genius, breaking through the cloud which had temporarily obscured its early dawn, shone out in full effulgence ; fof we are now touching on the age of Machiavelli, Ariosto, and Michael Angelo, the golden age of Leo the Tenth. It is impossible, even at this distance of time, to contemplate without feelings of sadness the fate of such a country, thus suddenly converted into an arena for the bloody exhibitions of the gladiators of Europe ; to behold her trodden under foot by the very nations on whom she had freely poured the light of civilisation ; to see the fierce soldiery of Europe, from the Danube to the Tagus, sweeping like an army of locusts over her fields, defiling her pleasant places, and raising the shout of battle, or of brutal triumph, under the shadow of those monuments of genius which have been the delight and despair of succeeding ages. It was the old story of the Goths and Vandals acted over again. Those more re- fined arts of the cabinet on which the Italians were accustomed to rely, much more than on the sword, in their disputes with one another, were of no avail against these rude invaders, whose strong arm easily broke through the subtle webs of policy which entangled the movements of less formidable adversaries. It was the triumph of brute force over civilisation, one of the most humiliating lessons by which Providence has seen fit to rebuke the pride of human intellect. The fate of Italy inculcates a most important lesson. With all this outward show of prosperity, her political institutions had gradually lost the vital principle which could alone give them stability or real value. The forms of freedom, indeed, in most instances, had sunk under the usur- pation of some aspiring chief. Everywhere patriotism was lost in the most intense selfishness. Moral principle was at as low an ebb in private as in public life. The hands, which shed their liberal patronage over genius and learning, were too often red with blood. The courtly precincts, which seemed the favourite haunt of the Muses, were too often the Epicurean sty of brutish sensuality ; while the head of the Church itself, whose station, exalted over that of every worldly potentate, should have raised him at least above their grosser vices, was sunk in the foulest corruptions that debase poor human nature. Was it surprising then, that the tree, thus cankered at heart, with all the goodly show of blossoms on its branches, should have fallen before the blast, which now descended in such pitiless fury from the mountains ? Had there been an invigorating national feeling, any common prin- ciple of coalition among the Italian states ; had they, in short, been true to themselves, they possessed abundant resources in their wealth, talent, and superior science, to have shielded their soil from violation. Unfor- tunately, while the other European states had been augmenting their strength incalculably by the consolidation of their scattered fragments into one whole, those of Italy, in the absence of some great central point round which to rally, hud grown more and more confirmed in their original disunion. Thus, without concert in action, and destitute of the vivifying impulse of patriotic sentiment, they were delivered up to be the spoil and mockery of nations whom in their proud language they still despised as barbarians ; an impressive example of the impotence of 442 ITALIAN WARS. human genius, and of the instability of human institutions, however excellent in themselves, when unsustained by public and private virtue.* The great powers who had now entered the lists, created entirely new interests in Italy, Avhich broke up the old political combinations. The conquest of Milan enabled France to assume a decided control over the affairs of the country. Her recent reverses in Naples, however, had greatly loosened this authority ; although Florence a.nd other neigh- bouring states which lay under her colossal shadow, still remained true to her. Venice, with her usual crafty policy, kept aloof, maintaining a position of neutrality between the belligerents, each of whom made the most pressing efforts to secure so formidable an ally. She had, however, long since entertained a deep distrust of her French neighbour ; and, although she would enter into no public engagements, she gave the Spanish minister every assurance of her friendly disposition towards his government. \ She intimated this still more unequivocally by the supplies she had allowed her citizens to carry into Barletta during the late campaign, and by other indirect aid of a similar nature during the present ; for all which she was one day to be called to a heavy reckoning by her enemies. The disposition of the papal court towards the French monarch was still less favourable ; and it took no pains to conceal this after his reverses in Naples. Soon after the defeat of Cerignola, it entered into correspondence with Gonsalvo de Cordova ; and, although Alexander the Sixth refused to break openly with France, and sign a treaty with the Spanish sovereigns, he pledged himself to do so on the reduction of Gaeta. In the mean time, he freely allowed the Great Captain to raise such levies as he could in Rome, before the very eyes of the French ambassador. So little had the immense concessions of Louis, including those of principle and honour, availed to secure the fidelity of this treacherous ally. With the emperor Maximilian, notwithstanding repeated treaties, ho was scarcely on better terms. That prince was connected with Spain by the matrimonial alliances of his family, and no less averse to France from personal feeling, which, with the majority of minds, operates more powerfully than motives of state policy. He had, moreover, always regarded the occupation of Milan by the latter as an infringement, in some measure, of his imperial rights. The Spanish government, avail- ing itself of these feelings, endeavoured through its minister, Don Juan Manuel, to stimulate Maximilian to the invasion of Lombardy. As the emperor however, demanded, as usual, a liberal subsidy for carrying on the war, King Ferdinand, who was seldom incommoded by a superfluity of funds, preferred reserving them for his own enterprises, to hazarding them on the Quixotic schemes of his ally. But, although the negotia- tions were attended with no result, the amicable dispositions of the Austrian government were evinced by the permission given to its subjects * The philosophic Machiavelli discerned the true causes of the calamities, in the cor- ruptions of his country ; which he has exposed, with more than his usual boldness and bitterness of sarcasm, in the seventh book of his " Arte della Querra." t Lorenzo Suarez de la Vega filled the post of minister at the republic, during the whole of the war. His long continuance in the office, at so critical a period, under so vigilant a sovereign as Ferdiiiaud, is sufficient warrant for his ability. Peter Martyr, while he admits his talents, makes some objection to his appointment, on the ground of his wan} of scholarship. ABMIES OJT THE GARIGLIAXO. 443 to serve under the banners of Gonsalvo, where indeed, as we have already seen, they formed some of his best troops. But while Louis the Twelfth drew so little assistance from abroad, the heartiness with which the whole French people entered into his feelings at this crisis made him nearly independent of it, and, in an incredibly short space of time, placed him in a condition for resuming operations on a far more formidable scale than before. The preceding failures in Italy he attributed in a great degree to an overweening confidence in the superiority of his own troops, and his neglect to support them with the necessary reinforcements and supplies. He now provided against this, by remitting large sums to Rome, and establishing ample magazines, of grain and military stores there, under the directions of commissaries, for the maintenance of the army. He equipped without loss of time a largo armament at Genoa, under the marquis of Saluzzo, for the relief of Gaeta, still blockaded by the Spaniards. He obtained a small supply of men from his Italian allies, and subsidised a corps of eight thousand Swiss, the strength of his infantry; while the remainder of his army, comprehending a line body of cavalry, and the most com- plete train of artillery, probably, in Europe, was drawn from his own. dominions. Volunteers of the highest rank pressed forward to serve in an expedition to which they confidently looked for the vindication of tlir national honour. The command was intrusted to the marechal de la Tremouille, esteemed the best general in France ; and the whole amount of force, exclusive of that employed permanently in the fleet, is variously computed from twenty to thirty thousand men. In the month of July, the army was on its march across the broad plains of Lombardy, but, on reaching Parma, the appointed place of rendezvous for the Swiss and Italian mercenaries, was brought to a halt by tidings of an unlooked-for event, the death of Pope Alexander the Sixth, lie expired on the 18th of August 1503, at the age of seventy- two, the victim, there is very little doubt, of poison he had prepared for others ; thus closing an infamous life by a death equally infamous. He was a man of undoubted talent, and uncommon energy of character. But his powers were perverted to the worst purposes, and his gross vice* were unredeemed, if we are to credit the report of his most respectable contemporaries, by a single virtue. In him the papacy reached its lowest degradation. His pontificate, however, was not without its use ; since that Providence, which still educes good from evil, made the scandal which it occasioned to the Christian world a principal spring of the glorious Reformation.* The death of this pontiff occasioned no particular disquietude at the Spanish court, where his immoral life had been viewed with undisguised reprobation, and made the- subject of more than one pressing remon- strance, as we have already seen. His public course had been as littU to its satisfaction ; since, although a Spaniard by birth, being a native- of Valencia, he had placed himself almost wholly at the disposal of Louia the Twelfth, in return for the countenance afforded by that monarch to the iniquitous schemes of his son, Caesar Borgia. The pope's death was attended with important consequences on. the The little ceremony with which Alexander's remains were treated while vet scarcely old, ia the best commentary on the general detestation in which he was UM. " 4W ITALIAN "WARS. movements of the French. Louis' favourite minister, cardinal d'Amboise, had long looked to this event as opening to him the succession to the tiara. He now hastened to Italy, therefore, with his master's appro- bation, proposing to enforce his pretensions by the presence of the French army, placed as it would seem, with this view, at his disposal. The army, accordingly, was ordered to advance towards Rome, and halt within a few miles of its gates. The conclave of cardinals, then convened to supply the vacancy in the pontificate, were filled with indignation at this attempt to overawe their election ; and the citizens beheld with anxiety the encampment of this formidable force under their walls, anticipating some counteracting movement on the part of the Great Captain, which might involve their capital, already in a state of anarchy, in all the horrors of war. Gonsalvo, indeed, had sent forward a detachment of between two and three thousand men, under Mendoza and Fabrizio Colonna, who posted themselves in the neighbour- hood of the city, where they could observe the movements of the enemy. At length cardinal d'Amboise, yielding to public feeling, and the representations of pretended friends, consented to 'the removal of the French forces from the neighbourhood, and trusted for success to his personal influence. He over-estimated its weight. It is foreign to our purpose to detail the proceedings of the reverend body thus convened to supply the chair of St. Peter. They are displayed at full length by the Italian writers, and must be allowed, to form a most edifying chapter in ecclesiastical history. It is enough to state, that, on the departure of the French, the suffrages of the conclave fell on an Italian (Sept. 22), who assumed the name of Pius the Third, and who justified the policy of the choice by dying in less time than his best friends had anticipated, within a mouth after his elevation.* The new vacancy was at once supplied by the election of Julius the Second (October 31), the belligerent pontiff who made his tiara a helmet, and his crosier a sword. It is remarkable that, while his fierce, inexorable temper left him with scarcely a personal friend, he <5ame to the throne by the united suffrages of each of the rival factions of France, Spain, and, above all, Venice, whose ruin in return, he made the great business of his restless pontificate. No sooner had the game, into which cardinal d'Amboise had entered with such prospects of success, been snatched from his grasp by the superior address of his Italian rivals, and the election of Pius the Third been publicly announced, than the French army was permitted to resume its march on Naples, after the loss an irreparable loss of more than a month. A still greater misfortune had befallen it, in the meantime, in the illness of Tremouille, its chief; which compelled him to resign the command into the hands of the marquis of Mantua, an Italian nobleman, who held the second station in the army. He was a man of some military experience, having fought in the Venetian service, and led the allied forces, with doubtful credit indeed, against Charles the Eighth at the battle of Fornovo. His elevation was more acceptable to his own oountrymen than to the French ; and in truth, however competent to ordinary exigencies, he was altogether unequal to the present, in which The election of Pius was extremely grateful to Queen Isabella, who caused Te Deucu and thanksgivings to be celebrated in the churches for the appointment of "so worthy pastor over the Christian fold." ARMIES OX THE QARIGLIAXO. 445 he was compelled to measure his genius with that of the greatest captain of the age. The Spanish commander, in the meanwhile, was detained before the strong post of Gaeta, into which Ives d'Alegre had thrown himself, as already noticed, with the fugitives from the Held of Cerignola, where he had been subsequently reinforced by four thousand additional troops, under the marquis of Saluzzo. From these circumstances, as well a? the great strength of the place, Gonsalvo experienced an opposition, to which of late he had been wholly unaccustomed. His exposed situation in the plains, under the guns of the citv, occasioned the loss of many of his best men, and, among others, that of his friend Don Hugo de Cardona, one of the late victors at Seminara, who was shot down at his side while conversing with him. At length, after a desperate but ineffectual attempt to extricate himself from his perilous position, by forcing the neighbouring eminence of Mount Orlando, he was compelled, to retire to a greater distance, and draw off his army to the adjacent village of Castcllone, which may call up more agreeable associations in the reader's mind as the site of the Villa Formiana of Cicero.* At this place he was still occupied with the blockade of Gaeta, when he received intelligence that the French had crossed the Tiber, and were in full march against him. While Gonsalvo lay before Gaeta, he had been intent on collecting such reinforcements as he could from every quarter. The Neapolitan division under Xavarro had already joined him, as well as the victorious legions of Andrada from Calabria. His strength was further augmented by the arrival of between two and three thousand troops, Spanish, Ger- man and Italian, which the Castilian minister, Francisco de Roxas, had levied in Rome ; and he was in daily hopes of a more important >ion from the same quarter, through the good offices of the Venetian ambassador. Lastly, he had obtained some additional recruits, and a remittance of a considerable sum of money, in a fleet of Catalan ships lately arrived from Spain. With all this, however, a heavy amount of arrears remained due to his troops. In point of numbers, he was still far inferior to the enemy ; no computation swelling them higher than three thousand horse, two of them light cavalry, and nine thousand loot. The strength of his army lay in his Spanish infantry, on whose thorough discipline, steady nerve, and strong attachment to his person, he felt he might confidently rely. In cavalry, and still more in artillery, he was far below the French ; which, together with his great numerical inferiority, made it impossible for him to keep the open country. His only resource was to get possession of some pass or strong position which lay in their route, where he might detain them till the arrival of further reinforcements should enable him to face them on more equal terms. The deep stream of the Garigliano presented such a line of defence as he wanted, t On the 6th of October, therefore, the Great Captain broke up his * Cicero's country seat stood midway between Gaeta and Mola, the ancient Formtoe, about two miles and a half from each. The remains of his mansion and of his mauso- leum may still be discerned, on the borders of the old Appian Way, by the classical and eredulous to- : ilian writers do not state the sum total of the Spanish force, which is to :-reldierv, (specially the foreign mercenaries, which nothing, indeed, but the most delicate and judicious conduct on his part could have averted. f In this difficult crisis, Gonsalvo do Cordova retained all his usual equanimity, and even the cheerfulness so indispensable in a leader who would infuse heart into his followers. He entered freely into the distresses and personal feelings of his men, and, instead of assuming any exemption from fatigue or suffering on the score of his rank, took his turn in the humbiest tour of duty with the meanest of them, mounting guard himself, it is said, on more than one occasion. Above all, he displayed that indexible constancy which enables the strong mind in the hour of darkness and peril to buoy up the sinking spirits around it. A remarkable instance of this fixedness of purpose occurred at this lime. The forlorn condition of the army, and the indefinite prospect of its continuance, raised a natural apprehension in many of the officers that, if it did not provoke some open act of mutiny, it would in all probability break down the spirits and constitution of the soldiers. Several of them, t:n re fore, among the rest, Mendoza and the two Colonnas, waited on the commander-in-chief, and after stating their fears without reserve, besouirlu him to remove the camp to Capua, where the troops might find healthy and commodious quarters, at lea.it until the severity of the ii was mitigated; before which, they insisted there was no reason to anticipate any movement on the part of tiie French. But Gonsalvo felt ton deeply the importance of grappling with the enemy before they should gain the open country, to be willing tc trust to any such precarious Contingency. Besides, he distrusted the effect of such a retrograde Movement on the spirits of his own troops. He had decided on his course ui ier the most mature deliberation; and, having patiently heard 1'is officers to the end, replied in these few but memorable words : " It is indi>pensable to the public service to maintain our present position ; a:.d be assured, I would sooner march forward two stops, though it should bring me to my grave, than fall back one, to gaia a hundred years." The decided tone of the reply relieved him from further importunity. 'J here is no act of Gonsalvo's life, which on the whole displays more strikingly the strength of his character. When thus witnessing his faithful followers drooping and dying around him, with the * This barren tract of uninhabited country must have been of very limited extent ; fir it lay in the Campania Felix, in the neighbourhood of the cultivated plains of Sussa, the M :i,--k-;m mountains, and Falernian fields. names which call up associations that must live while jrood [>oetry and good wine shall be held in honour. t The Xeajioiitau conquests, it will be remembered, were undertaken exclusire'y for the crowu of Aragon, the revenues of which were fiir more limited than tuoae of Castile. 450 ITALIAN WAES. consciousness that a word could relieve them from all their distresses, he yet refrained from uttering it, in stern obedience t-o what he regarded as the call of duty ; and this, too, on his own responsibility, in opposition to the remonstrances of those on whose judgment he most relied. Gonsalvo confided in the prudence, sobriety, and excellent constitution of the Spaniards, for resisting the bad effects of the climate. He relied, too, on their tried discipline, and their devotion to himself, for carrying them through any sacrifice he should demand of them. His experience at Barletta led him to anticipate results of a very opposite character with the French troops. The event justified his conclusions in bott respects. The French, as already noticed, occupied higher and more healthy ground, on the other side of the Garigliano, than their rivals. They were fortunate enough also to find more effectual protection from the weather in the remains of a spacious amphitheatre, and some other edifices, which still covered the site of Minturnac. With all this, however, they suffered more severely from the inclement season than, their robust adversaries. Numbers daily sickened and died. They were much straitened, moreover,, from want of provisions, through the knavish peculations of the commissaries who had charge of the maga- zines in Rome. Thus situated, the fiery spirits of the French soldiery, eager for prompt and decisive action, and impatient of delay, gradually sunk tinder the protracted miseries of a war where the elements were the principal enemy, and where they saw themselves melting away like slaves in a prison ship, without even the chance of winning an honourable death on the field of battle. The discontent occasioned by these circumstances was further swelled by the imperfect success which had attended their efforts when allowed to measure weapons with the enemy. At length the latent mass of disaffection found an object on which to vent itself, in the person of their commander-in-chief, the marquis of Mantua, never popular with the French soldiers. They now loudly taxed him with imbecility, accused him of a secret understanding with the enemy, and loaded him with the opprobrious epithets with which Transalpine insolence was accustomed to stigmatise the Italians. In all this they were secretly supported by Ives d'Alegre, Sandricourt, and other French officers, who had always regarded with dissatisfaction the elevation of the Italian general ; till at length the latter, finding that he had influence with neither officers nor soldiers, and unwilling to retain command where he had lost authority, availed himself of a tem- porary illness under which he was labouring, to throw up his commission, and withdrew abruptly to his own estates. He was succeeded by the marquis of Saluzzo, an Italian indeed by birth, being a native of Piedmont, but who had long served under the French banners, where he had been intrusted by Louis the Twelfth witli very important commands. He was not deficient in energy of character or military science ; but it required powers of a higher order than his to bring the army under subordination, and renew its confidence under present circumstances. The Italians, disgusted with the treatment of their former chief, deserted in great numbers. The great body of the French chivalry, impatient of their present unhealthy position, dispersed among the adjacent cities of Fondi, Itri, and Gaeta, leaving the low ARMIES ON THE GABIGLIAXO. 451 country around the Tower of the Garigliano to the care of the Swiss and German infantry. Thus, while the whole Spanish army lay within a milt- of the river, under the immediate eye of their commander, prepared for instant service, the Frencn were scattered over a country more than ten miles in extent, where, without regard to military discipline, they sought to relieve the dreary monotony of a uarnp by all the relaxations which such comfortable quarters could afford. It nrzst nst be supposed that the repose of the two armies was never broken by the sounds of war. More than one rencontre, on the contrary, with various fortune, took place, and more than one display of personal prowess by the knights of the two nations, as formerly at the siege of. Barletta. The Spaniards made two unsuccessful efforts to burn the enemy's bridge; but they succeeded, on the other hand, in carrying the stroii.. <>f Kocca Gugliehna, garrisoned by the French. Among the feats of individual heroism, the Castilian writers expatiate most complacently on that of their favourite cavalier, liiego de 1'aredes ; who descended alone on the bridge against a body of French knights, all armed in proof, with a desperate hardihood worthy of Don Quixote ; and would most probably have shared the usual fate of that renowned per- mmagc on such occasions, had ho not been rescued by a sally of his own countrymen. The French find a counterpart to this adventure in that of the preux chevalier Bayard, who with his single arm maintained the barriers of the bridge against two hundred Spaniards for an hour or more. Such feats, indeed, are more easily achieved with the pen than with the sword. It would be injustice, however, to the honest chronicler of the day to suppose that he did not himself fully "Believe the magic wonders that he sung." Every heart confessed the influence of a romantic age, the dying age, indeed, of chivalry, but when, with superior refinement, it had lost nothing of the enthusiasm and exaltation of its prime. A shadowy twilight of romance enveloped every object. Every day gave birth to such extravagances, not merely of sentiment, but of action, as made it diflieult to discern the precise boundaries of fact and notion. The chronicler might innocently encroach sometimes on the province of the poet, and the poet occasionally draw the theme of his visions from the pages of the chronicler. Such, in fact, was the case ; and the romantic Muse of Italy, then coming forth in her glory, did little more than give a brighter flush of colour to the chimeras of real life. The characters of living heroes, a Bayard, a Paredes, and a La Palice, readily supplied her with the elements of those ideal combinations in which she has so grace- fully embodied the perfections of chivalry. CHAPTER XV. ITALIA* WARS ROUT OF THE OARIGLIANO TREATY WITH FRANCE GONSALVO's MILTTAA1 CONDUCT. 15031504. Gensalvo crosses the River Consternation of the French Action near Gneta Hotly con- tested The French defeated Gaeta surrenders Public Enthusiasm Treaty with France Review of Gousalvo's Military Conduct Results of the Campaign. SEVEN weeks had now elapsed since the two armies had lain in sight of each other without any decided movement on either side. During this time, the Great Captain had made repeated efforts to strengthen himself, through the intervention of the Spanish ambassador, Francisco de Itojas, by reinforcements from Rome. His negotiations were chiefly directed to secure the alliance of the Orsini, a powerful family, long involved in a bitter feud with the Colonnas, then in the Spanish service. A reconci- liation between these noble houses was at length happily effected : and Bartolomeo d'Alviano, at the head of the Orsini, agreed to enlist under the Spanish commander with three thousand men. This arrangement was finally brought about through the good offices of the Venetian minister at Home, who even advanced a considerable sum of money towards the payment of the new levies. The appearance of this corps, with one of the most able and valiant of the Italian captains at its head, revived the drooping spirits of the camp. Soon after his arrival, Alviano strongly urged Gronsalvo to abandon his original plan of operations, and avail himself of his augmented strength to attack the enemy in his own quarters. The Spanish commander had intended to confine himself wholly to the defensive, and, too unequal in force to meet the French in the open field, as before noticed, had intrenched himself in his present strong position, with the fixed purpose of awaiting the enemy tlure. Circumstances had now greatly changed. The original inequality was diminished by the arrival of the Italian levies, and still further compensated by the present disorderly state of the French army. He knew, moreover, that in the most perilous enter- prises, the assailing party gathers an enthusiasm and an impetus in its career which counterbalance large numerical odds ; while the party taken by surprise is proportionably disconcerted, and prepared, as it were, for defeat before a blow is struck. From these considerations, the cautious general acquiesced in Alviano's project to cro s the Garigliano, by establishing a bridge at a point opposite Suzio, a small place garrisoned by the French, on the right bank, about four miles above their lu ad- quarters. The time for the attack was fixed as soon as possible, aftei the approaching Christmas, when the French, occupied with the festi- vities of the season, might be thrown off their guard. This day of general rejoicing to the Christian world at length arrived. It brought little joy to the Spaniards, buried in the depths of these dreary morasses, destitute of most of the necessaries of life, and THE FREXCH DRIVEN FROM NAPLES. 453 with scarcely any other means of resisting the climate than those afforded by their iron constitutions and invincible courage. They cele- brated the day, however, with all the devotional feeling and the imposing solemnities with which it is commemorated by the Roman Catholic church ; and the exercises of religion, rendered more impressive by their situation, served to exalt still higher the heroic constancy which had sustained them under such unparalleled sufferings. In the meanwhile, the materials tor the bridge were collected, and the work went forward with such dispatch, that on the '28th of December all was in readiness for carrying the plan of attack into execution. The task of laying the bridge across the river was intrusted to Alviauo, who had charge of the van. The central and main division of the army, under Gonsalvo, was to cross at the same point : while Andrada, at the head of the rear-guard, was to force a passage at the old bridge, lower down the stream, opposite to the Tower of the Garigliano. The night was dark and stormy. Alviano performed the duty intrusted to him with such silence and celerity, that the work was completed without attracting the enemy's notice. He then crossed over with the vanguard, consisting chieiiy of cavalry, supported by Navarro, 1'aredes, and 1'izarro , and, falling on. the sleeping garrison of Suzio, cut to pieces all who offered resistance. The report of the Spaniards having passed the river spread far and wide, and soon reached the head-quarters of the marquis of Saluzzo, near the Tower of the Garigliano. The French commander-in-chief, who believed that the Spaniards were lying on the other side of the river, as torpid as the snakes in their own marshes, was as much astounded by the event as if a thunderbolt had burst over his head from a cloudless sky. He lost no time, however, in rallying such of his scattered forces as he could assemble, and in the mean while dispatched Ives d'Aldgre with a body of horse to hold the enemy in check till he could make good his own retreat on Gaeta. His first step was to demolish the bridge near his own quarters, cutting the moorings of the boats, and tinning them adrift down the river. He abandoned his tents and baggage, together with nine of his heaviest cannon ; leaving even the sick and wounded to the mercy of the enemy, rather than encumber himself with anything that should retard his inarch. The remainder of the artillery he sent forward in the van; the infantry followed next ; and the rear, in which Saluzzo took his own station, was brought up by the mon-at-arms, to cover the retreat. Before Alegre could reach Suzio, the whole Spanish army had passed the Garigliauo, and formed on the right bank. Unable to face such superior numbers, he fell back with precipitation, and joined himself to the main body of the French, now in full retreat on Gaeta. Gousalvo, afraid the French might escape him, sent forward Prospero Colonna, with a corps of light horse, to annoy and retard their march until he could come up. Keeping the ri^'ht bank of the river with the main body, he marched rapidly through the deserted camp of the enemy, leaving little leisure for his men to glean the rich spoil which lay tempting them on every side. It was not long before he came up with the French, whose movements were greatly retarded by the difficulty of dragging their guns over the ground, completely saturated with rain. The retreat was conducted, however, in excellent order; they were eminently favoured by the narrowness of the road, which, allowing bat a comparatively small body of troops on either side' to come into action, made success chiefly depend on the relative merits of these. The French rear, as already stated, was made up of their men-at-arms, including Bayard, Sandricourt, La Fayette, and others of their bravest chivalry , who armed at all points found no great difficulty in beating oft' the liirht troops which formed the advance of the Spaniards. At every bridge, stream, and narrow pass, which afforded a favourable position, the French cavalry closed their ranks, and made a resolute stand to gain time for the columns in advance. In this way, alternately halting and retreating, with perpetual skir- mishes, though without much loss on either side, they reached the bridge before Mola di Gaeta. Here, some of the gun-carriages, breaking down or being overturned, occasioned considerable delay and confusion. The infantry, pressing on, became entangled with the artillery. The marquis of Saluzzo endeavoured to avail himself of the strong position afforded by the bridge to restore order. A desperate struggle ensued. The French knights dashed boldly into the Spanish ranks, driving back for a time the tide of pursuit. The chevalier Bayard, who was seen, as usual, in the front of danger, had three horses killed under him ; and at length, carried forward by his ardour into the thickest of the enemy, was retrieved with difficulty from their hands by a desperate charge of his friend Sandriconrt. The Spaniards, shaken by the violence of the assault, seemed for a moment to hesitate ; but Gonsalvo had now time to bring up his men-at- arms, who sustained the faltering columns, and renewed the combat on more equal terms. He himself was in the hottest of the melee ; and at one time was exposed to imminent hazard by his horse's losing his footing on the slippery soil, and coming with him to the ground. The general fortunately experienced no injury, and, quickly recovering him- self, continued to animate his followers by his voice and intrepid bearing, as before. The fight had now lasted two hours. The Spaniards, although still in excellent heart, were faint with fatigue and want of food, having travelled six leagues, without breaking their fast since the preceding evening. It was, therefore, with no little anxiety that Gonsalvo \ for the coming up of his rear-giiard, left, as the reader will remember, under Andrada at the lower bridge, to decide the fortune of the dav. The welcome spectacle at length presented itself. The dark columns of the Spaniards were seen, at first faint in the distance, by degrees growing more and more distinct to the eye. Andrada had easily carried the French redoubt on his side of the Garigliano ; but it was not without difficulty and delay that he recovered the scattered boats which the French had sent adrift down the stream, and finally succeeded in re-establishing his communications with the opposite bank. Having accomplished this, he rapidly advanced by a more direct road to the east of that lately traversed by (ronsalvo along the sea-side, in pursuit of the French. The latter beh'eld with dismay the arrival of a fresh bodv of troops, who seemed to have dropped from the clouds on the fiekl of battle. They scarcely waited for the shock before they broke and irave way in all directions. The disabled carriages of the artillery, which dogged up the avenues in the rear, increased the confusion among the THE FREXCH DRXTEX FEOM NAPLES. 455 fugitives ; and the foot were trampled down without mercy under the lie, Is of their own cavalry, in the eagerness of the latter to extricate themselves from their perilous situation. The Spanish light horse followed up their advantage with the alacrity of vengeance long delayed, inflicting bloody retribution for all they had so long suffered in the marshes of Sessa. At no great distance from the bridge, the road takes two directions ; the one towards Itri, the other to Gaeta. The bewildered fugitives here separated, by far the greater part keeping the latter route. Gonsalvo sent forward a body of horse under Xavarro and Pedro de la Paz, by a short cut across the country, to intercept their flight. A large number fell into his hands in consequence of this manoeuvre ; but the greater ] irt of those who escaped the sword succeeded in throwing themselves into Gai-ta. The Great Captain took up his quarters that night in the neighbouring village of Castellone. His brave followers had great need of refresh- ni3nt, having fasted and fought through the whole day, and that under a driving storm of rain which had not ceased for a moment. Thus terminated the battle, or rout, as it is commonly called, of the Garigliano, the most important in its results of all Gonsalvo s victories, and furnishing a suitable close to his brilliant military career. The loss of the French is computed at from three to four thousand men left dead on the field, together with all their baggage, colours, and splendid train of artillery. The Spaniards must have suffered severely during the sharp conflict on the bridge ; but no estimate of their loss is to be met with in any native or foreign writer. It was observed that the 29th of December, on which this battle was won, came on Friday, the same ominous day of the week which had so often proved auspicious to the Spaniards under the present reign. The disparity of the forces actually engaged was probably not great, since the extent of country over which the French were quartered prevented many of them from coming up in time for action. Several corps, who succeeded in reaching the field at the close of the fight, were seized with such a panic as to throw down their arms without attempting resistance. The admirable artillery, on which the French placed chief reliance, was not only of no service, but of infinite mischief to them, as we have seen. The brunt of the battle fell on their chivalry, which bore itself throughout the day with the spirit and gallantry worthy of its ancient renown ; never flinching, till the arrival of the Spanish rear- guard, fresh in the Held, at so critical a juncture, turned the scale in their adversaries' favour. Early on the following morning, Gonsalvo made preparations for storming the heights of mount Orlando, which overlooked the city of Gaeta. Such was the despondency of its garrison, however, that this strong position, which ba ie defiance a few months before to the most desperate efforts of Spanish valour, was now surrendered without a struggle. The same feeling of despondency had communicated itself to the garrison of Gaeta ; and before Xavarro could bring the batteries of mount Orlando to bear upon the city, a flag of truce arrived from the marquis of Saluzzo with proposals for capitulation. This was more than the Great Captain could have ventured to promise himself. The French were in great force ; the fortiiications of the place i~)G ITALIAN WARS. in excellent repair ; it was well provided with artillery and ammunition, and with provisions for ten days at least ; while their fleet, riding- in the harbour, afforded the means of obtaining supplies from Leghorn, Genoa, and other friendly ports. But the French had lost all heart ; they were sorely wasted by disease ; their buoyant self-confidence was gone, and their spirits broken by the series of revers s which had followed without interruption from the first hour of the campaign to the last disastrous arfair of the Garigliano. The very elements seemed to have leagued against them. Further efforts they deemed a fruitless struggle against destiny ; and they now looked with melancholy longing to their native land, eager only to quit these ill-omened shores for ever. The Great Captain made no difficulty in granting such terms as, while they had a show of liberality, secured him the most important fruits of victory. This suited his cautious temper far better than pressing & desperate foe to extremity. He was, moreover, with all his successes, in no condition to do so ; he was without funds, and, as usual, deeply in arrears to his army ; while there was scarcely a ration of bread, says au Italian historian, in his whole camp. It was agreed by the terms of capitulation, January 1st, 1504, that the French should evacuate Gaeta at once, and deliver it up to the Spaniards, with its artillery, munitions, and military stores of evfvy description. The prisoners on both sides, including those taken in tie preceding campaign, an arrangement greatly to the advantage of t.ie enemy, were to be restored ; and the army in Gaeta was to be allowed a free passage, by land or sea, as they should prefer, to their own country. From the moment hostilities were brought to a close, Gonsalvo displayed such generous sympathy for his late enemies, and such humanity in relieving them, as to reflect more honour on his character than all his victories. He scrupulously enforced the faithful performance of the treaty, and severely punished any violence offered to the French by his own men. His benign and courteous demeanour towards the vanquished, so remote from the images of terror with which he had been hitherto associated in their minds, excited unqualified admiration ; and they testified their sense of his amiable qualities by speaking of him as the " gentil capitaine et gentil cavalier." The news of the rout of the Garigliano and the surrender of Gaeta diffused general gloom and consternation over France. There wa.s scarce a family of rank, says a writer of that country, that had not some one of its members involved in these sad disasters. The court went into mourning. The king, mortified at the discomfiture of all his lofty schemes by the foe whom he despised, shut himself up in his palact-, refusing access to every one, until the agitation of his spirits threw him into an illness which had well nigh proved fatal. Meanwhile his exasperated feelings found an object on which to vent themselves in the unfortunate garrison of Gaeta, who so pusillanimously abandoned their post to return to their own country, lie commanded them to winter in Italy, and not to recross the Alps without further orders. He sentenced Sandricourt and Alegre to banishment for insub- ordination to their commander-in-chief, the latter, for his conduct, more particularly, before the battle of Cerignola ; and he hanged up the commissaries of the armies, whose infamous peculations ha-i been * principal cause of its ruin. THE FRENCH DRIVEN FROM NAPLES. 457 But the impotent wrath of their monarch was not needed to fill the bitter cup which the French soldiers were now draining to the dregs. A large number of those who embarked for Genoa died of the maladies contracted during their long bivouac in the marshes of Minturnae. The rest recrossed the Alps into France, too desperate to he- d their master's prohibition. Those who took their way by land suffered still more severely from the Italian peasantry, who retaliated in full measure the barbarities they had so long endured from the French. They were seen wandering like spectres along the high roads and principal cities on the route, pining with cold and famine ; and all the hospitals in Rome, as well as th< heds, and every other place, however mean, afford- ing shelter, were tilled with the wretched vagabonds, eager only to find some obscure retreat to die in. The chiefs of the expedition fared little better. Among others the marquis of Saluzzo, soon after reaching Genoa, was carried off by a fever caused by his distress of mind. Sandricourt, too haughty to endure dis- grace, laid violent hands on himself. Alegre, more culpable, but more courageous, survived to be reconciled to his sovereign, and to die a soldier's death on the field of battle. Such are the dismal colours in which the French historians depict the last struggle made by their monarch for the recovery of Naples. Few military expeditions have commenced under mnv brilliant and imposing auspices ; few have been conducted in so ill-advised a manner through their whole progress ; and none attended in their close with more indis- criminate and overwhelming ruin. On the 3rd of January, Io04, Gonsalvo made his entry into Gaeta ; and the thunders of his ordnance, now for the first time heard from its battlements, aiinounc'-d that this strong key to the dominions of Naples had passed into the hands of Aragon. After a short delay for the refresh- ment of his troops, he set out for the capital. But, amidst the general jubilee which greeted his return, he was seized with a fever, brought on by the incessant fatigue and high mental excitement in which he had been kept for the last four months. The attack was severe, and the event for some time doubtful. During this state of suspense the public mind was in the deepest agitation. The popular manners of Gonsalvo had won the hearts of the giddy people of Naples, who transferred their affections, indeed, as readily as their allegiance, and prayers and vows for his restoration were offered up in all the churches and monasteries of the city. His excellent constitution at length got the better of his disease. As soon as this favourable result was ascertained, the whole population, rushing to the other extreme, abandoned itself to a delirium, of joy ; and, when lie was sufficiently recovered to give them audience, men of all ranks thronged to CastelNuovo to tender their congratulations, and obtain a sight of the hero, who now returned to their capital, for the third time, with the laurel of victory on his brow. Every tongue, says his enthusiastic biographer, \\a> lu.fuent in his praise: some dwelling on !;:> noble ]>ort, and the beauty of his countenance ; others on the elegance and amenity of his manners ; and all dazzled by a spirit of munificence which would have beeome royalty it- The tide of panegyric \\as .swelled by more than one bard, who sought, though, with indifferent - i rat ion from so glorious a tbenie ; trusting doubtless, that his liberal hand would not stint the 458 ITALIAN WAES. recompense to the precise measure of desert. Amid this general Inirst oi adulation, the muse of Sannazaro, worth all his tribe, was alone silent ; for the trophies of the conqueror were raised on the ruins of that royal house under which the bard had been so long sheltered ; and this silence, so rare in his tuneful brethren, must be admitted to reflect more credit on his name than the best he ever sung. The first business of Gonsalvo was to call together the different orders of the state, and receive their oaths of allegiance to King Ferdinand. He next occupied himself with the necessary arrangements for the re-organ- isation of the government, and for reforming various abuses which had crept into the administration of justice more particularly. In these attempts to introduce order, he was not a little thwarted, however, by the insubordination of his own soldiery. They loudly ciamoured for the discharge of the arrears, still shamefully protracted, till, their discontents swelling to open mutiny, they forcibly seized on two of the principal places in the kingdom as security for the payment. Gonsalvo chastised their insolence by disbanding several of the most refractory companies, and sending them home for punishment. He endeavoured to relieve them in part by raising contributions from the Neapolitans. But the soldiers took the matter into their own hands, oppressing the unfortunate people on whom they were quartered in a manner which rendered their condition scarcely more tolerable than when exposed to the horrors of actual war.* This was the introduction, according to Guicciardiui, of those systematic military exactions in time of peace, which became so common afterwards in Italy, adding an inconceivable amount to the long catalogue of woes which afflicted that unhappy land. Amidst his manifold duties, Gonsalvo did iiot forget the gallant officers who had borne with him the burdens of the war ; and he requited their services in a princely style, better suited to his feelings than his interests, as subsequently appeared. Among them were Navarro, Mendoza, Andrada, Benavides, Leyva, the Italians Alviano and the two Colonnas, most of whom lived to display the lessons of tactics which they learned under this great commander, on a still wider theatre of glory, in the reign of Charles the Fifth. He made them grants of cities, fortresses, and extensive lands, according to their various claims, to be held as fiefs of the crown. All this Avas done with the previous sanction of his royal master, Ferdinand the Catholic. They did some violence, however, to his more economical spirit ; and he was heard somewhat peevishly to exclaim, " It boots little for Gonsalvo de Cordova to have won a kingdom for me, if he lavishes it all away before it comes into my hands." It began to be perceived at court that the Great Captain was too powerful for a subject. Meanwhile, Louis the Twelfth was filled with serious apprehensions for the fate of his possessions in the north of Italy. His former allies, the emperor Maximilian and the republic of Venice, the latter more especially, had shown many indications, not merely of coldness to him- self, but of a secret understanding with his rival, the king of Spain. The restless pope, Julius the Second, had schemes of his own, wholly independent of France. The republics of Pisa and Genoa, the latter one * The Italians began at this early period to feel the pressure of those woes, which a century and a half Liter wrung out of Filieaja t ic beautiful lament, which has lot somo- tiling oi its touching graces, even uudur tho ha: id of Lord Byron. THE FEEXCH DKIYEJT FEOH XAPLES. 459 of her avowed dependencies, had entered into correspondence with the Great Captain, and invited him to assume their protection ; while several of the disaffected party in Milan had assured him of their active support, in case he would march with a sufficient force to overturn the existing government. Indeed, not only France, but Europe in general, expected that the Spanish commander would avail himself of the present crisis to push his victorious arms into upper Italy, revolutionise Tuscany in his way, and, wresting Milan from the French, drive them, crippled and disheartened by their late reverses, beyond the Alps. But Gonsalvo had occupation enough on his hands in settling the dis- ordered state of Naples. Kini; Ferdinand, his sovereign, notwithstanding the ambition of universal conquest absurdly imputed to him by the French writers, had no design to extend his acquisitions beyond what he could permanently maintain. His treasury, never overflowing, was too deeply drained by the late heavy demands on it, for him so soon to embark on another perilous enterprise, that must arouse anew the swarms of enemies who seemed willing to rest in quiet after their long and exhausting struggle ; nor is there any reason to suppose he sincerely contemplated such a movement for a moment.* The apprehension of it, however, answered Ferdinand's purpose, by preparing the French monarch to arrange his differences with his rival, as the latter no\v earnestly desired, by negotiation. Indeed, two Spanish ministers had resided during the greater part of the war at the French court, with the view of improving the first opening that should occur for accomplishing this object : and by their agency a treaty was concluded, which guaranteed to Aragon the undisturbed possession of her conquests during that period. The chief articles provided for the immediate ces- sation of hostilities between the belligerents, and the complete re-esta- blishment of their commercial relations and intercourse, with the excep- tion of Naples, from which the French were to be excluded. The Spanish crown was to have full power to reduce all refractory places in that kingdom ; and the contracting parties solemnly pledged themselves, each to render no assistance, secretly or openly, to the enemies of the other. The treaty, which was to run from the 25th of February, 1504, was signed by the French king and the Spanish plenipotentiaries at Lyons on the 1 1th of that month, and ratified by Ferdinand and Isabella, at the convent of Santa Maria de la Mejorada, the 31st of March following. There was still a small spot in the heart of Naples, comprehending Venosa and several adjoining towns, where Louis d'Ars and his brave associates yet held out against the Spanish arms. Although cut off by the operation of this treaty from the hope of further support from home, the French knight disdained to surrender : but sallied out at the Lead of liis little troop of gallant veterans, and thus, armed at all points, says ErantOme, with lance in rest, took his way through Naples and the centre of Italy. He marched in battle array, levying contributions for his sup- port on the places through which he passed. In this manner he entered France, and presented himself before the court at Blois. The king and queen, delighted with his prowess, came forward to welcome him, and made good cheer, says the old chronicler, for himself and his companions, The campaign against Louis XII. had cost the Spanish crown 331 euentot or millions ol maravedis. A moderate charge enoutrh for the conquest of a kingdom; and made null tighter to the Spaniards by olio-tilth of the whole being drawn iroiu Naples iUelC 460 ITALIAN WABS. whom they recompensed with liberal largesses, proffering at the same time any boon to the brave knight which he should demand for himself. The latter, in return, simply requested that his old comrade, Ives d'Alegre, should be recalled from exile. This trait of magnanimity, when contrasted with the general ferocity of the times, has something in. it inexpressibly pleasing. It shows, like others recorded of the French gentlemen of that period, that the age of chivalry the chivalry of romance, indeed had not wholly passed away. The pacification of Lyons sealed the fate of Xaples ; and, while it ter minated the wars in that kingdom, closed the military career of Cfonsalvo de Cordova. It is impossible to contemplate the magnitude of the results achieved with such slender resources, and in the face of such overwhelm- ing odds, without deep admiration for the genius of the man by whom they were accomplished. His success, it is true, is imputable in part to the signal errors of his adversaries. The magnificent expedition of Charles the Eighth tailed to produce any permanent impression, chiefly in consequence of the precipi- tation with which it had been entered into, without sufficient concert with the Italian states, who became a formidable enemy when united in his rear. He did not even avail himself of his temporary acquisition of ^Naples to gather support from the attachment of his new subjects. Far from incorporating with them, he was regarded as a foreigner and an enemy, and, as such, expelled by the joint action of all Italy from its bosom, as soon as it had recovered sufficient strength to rally. Louis the Twelfth profited by the errors of his predecessor. His acqui- sitions in the Milanese formed a basis for future operations ; and, by negotiation ^nd otherwise, he secured the alliance and the interests of the various Italian governments on his side. These preliminary arrange- ments were followed by preparations every way commensurate with his object. He failed in the first campaign, however, by intrusting the command to incompetent hands, consulting birth rather than talent or experience. In the succeeding campaigns, his failure, though partly chargeable on himself, was less so than on circumstances beyond his control. The first of these was the long detention of the army before Rome by cardinal d'Amboise, and its consequent exposure to the unexampled severity of the ensuing winter. A second was the fraudulent conduct of the com- missaries, implying, no doubt, some degree of negligence in the person who appointed them ; and, lastly, the want of a suitable commander-in- chief of the army. La Tremouille being ill, and D'Aubigny a prisoner in the hands of the enemy, there appeared no one among the French qualified to cope with the Spanish general. The marquis of Mantua, independently of the disadvantage of being a foreigner, was too timid in counsel, and dilatory in conduct, to be any way competent to this difficult task. If his enemies, however, committed great errors, it is altogether owing to Gonsalvo that he was in a situation to take advantage of them. Nothing could be more unpromising than his position on first entering Calabria. Military operations had been conducted in Spain on principles totallv different from those which prevaihd in the rest of Europe. This was tlie case, especially in the late Moorish wars, where the uld tactics and the character of the ground brought light cavalry chiefiy into use. THT FBEXCH DEIVEX FROM XAPLES. 461 This, indeed, constituted his principal strength at this period ; fur his infantry, though accustomed to irregular service, was indifferently armed and disciplined. An important revolution, however, had occurred in the other parts of Europe. The infantry had there regained the supe- riority which it had maintained in the days of the Greeks and Romans. The experiment had been made on more than one bloody field ; and it was found that the solid columns of Swiss and German pikes not only bore down all opposition in their onward march, but presented an impregnable barrier, not to be shaken by the most desperate charges of the best heavy-armed cavalry. It was against these dreaded battalions that GonsaljO was called to measure for the first time the bold, but rudely armed and comparatively raw, recruits from Galicia and the lie lost his first battle, into which it should be remembered he wa< precipitated against his will. He proceeded afterwards with the greatest caution, gradually familiarising his men with the aspect and usages of the enemy whom they held in such awe, before bringing them again to a direct encounter. He put himself to school during this whole cam- ] ai-n, carefully acquainting himself with the tactics, discipline, and novel arms of his adversaries, and borrowing just so much as he could incorporate into the ancient system of the Spaniards, without discarding the latter altogether. Thus, while he retained the short sword and buckler of his countrymen, he fortified his battalions with a large number of spearmen, after the German fashion. The arrangement is highly commended by the sagacious Machiavelli, who considers it as combining the advantages of both systems; since, while the long spear served all the purposes of resistance, or even of attack on level ground, the short swords and targets enabled their wearers, as already noticed, to cut in under the dense array of hostile pikes, and bring the enemy to close quarters, where his formidable weapon was of no avail.* While Gonsalvo made this innovation in the arms and tactics, he paid equal attention to the formation of a suitable character in his soldiery. The circumstances in which he was placed at Barletta, and on the Garigliano, imperatively demanded this. Without food, clothes, or pay, without the chance even of retrieving his desperate condition by venturing a blow at the enemy, the Spanish soldier was required to remain passive. To do this he demanded patience, abstinence, strict subordination, and a degree of resolution far higher than that required to combat obstacles, however formidable in them>i-l\vs, where active exertion, which tasks the utmost energies of the soldier, renews his spirits, and raises them to a contempt of danger. It was calling on him, in short, to begin with achieving that most difficult of all victories, the victory over himself. All this the Spanish commander effected. He infused into his men a portion of his own invincible energy. He inspired a love of his person, which led them to emulate his example ; and a confidence in his genius and resoun -es which supported them under all their privations by a firm reliance on a fortunate issue. His manners were distinguished by a Machiavelli considers the victory over D'Aubigny at Semhiara as imputable in a great to the |>eculiar arms of the KMUliwdo, who, with their short swords and shields, pliiliiiH in among the deep rinks ol the Swiss spearmen, brought them to clse combat, win. re the firmer had the whole advantage. Another instance of the kind occurred at UM memorable battle of Ravenna some years later. Ubi supra. <62 ITALIAN WAB3. graceful courtesy, less encumbered with etiquette than was usual \vilh persons of his high rank in Castile. He knew well the proud and inde- pendent feelings of the Spanish soldier ; and, far from annoying him by unnecessary restraints, showed the most liberal indulgence at all dines. But his kindness was tempered with severity, which displayed itself on ouch occasions as required interposition, in a manner that rarely tailed to repress everything like insubordination. The reader will readily recal an example of this in the mutiny before Tarento ; and it was doubtless by the assertion of similar power that he was so long able to keep ia check his German mercenaries, distinguished above the troops of every other nation by their habitual license and contempt of authority. While Gonsalvo relied so freely on the hardy constitution aud patient habits of the Spaniards, he trusted no less to the deficiency of these qualities in the French, who, possessing little of the artificial character formed under the stern training of later times, resembled their Gaulish ancestors in the facility with which they were discouraged by unexpected obstacles, and the difiiculty with which they could be brought to rally. In this he did not miscalculate. The French infantry, drawn from the militia of the country, hastily collected and soon to be disbanded, and the independent nobility and gentry who composed the cavalry service, were alike difficult to be brought within the strict curb of military rule. The severe trials, which steeled the souls and gave sinewy strength to the constitutions of the Spanish soldiers, impaired those of their enemies, introduced divisions into their councils, and relaxed the whole tone of discipline. Gonsalvo watched the operation of all this, and, coolly waiting the moment when his weary and disheartened adversary should be thrown off his guard, collected all his strength for a decisive blow, by which to terminate the action. Such was the history of those memorable campaigns which closed with the brilliant victories of Cerignola and the Garigliano. In a review of his military conduct, we must not overlook his politic deportment towards the Italians, altogether the reverse of the careless and insolent bearing of the French. He availed himself liberally of their superior science, showing great deference, and confiding the most important trusts, to their officers.* Far from the reserve usually shown to foreigners, he appeared insensible to national distinctions, and ardently embraced them as companions in arms, embarked in a common cause with himself. In their tourney with the French before Barletta, to which the whole nation attached such importance as a vindication of national honour, they were entirely supported by Gonsalvo, who furnished them with arms, secured a fair field of fight, and shared the triumph of the victors as that of his own countrymen, paying those delicate atten- tions, which cost far less indeed, but to an honourable mind are of greater value, than more substantial benefits. He conciliated the good will of the Italian states by various important services ; of the Venetians, by his gallant defence of their possessions in the Levant ; of the people of Rome, by delivering them from the pirates of Ostia ; while he suc- ceeded, notwithstanding the excesses of his soldiery, in captivating the Two of the most distinguished of these -were the Colonnas, Proepero and Fabrizio, of whom frequent mention has been made in our narrative. The best commentary on the military reputation of the latter, is the fact, that he is selected by Machiavelli as th* principal interlocutor in his Dialogues on the Art of War. ILLNESS AND DEATH OF ISABELLA. 463 giddy Neapolitans to such a degree, by his affable manners and splendid style' 'it' lite, as sinned to efface from their minds every recollection ol tb'o last and most popular of their monarchs, tlie unfortmxitc Frederic. Tlie distance of < tonsah <>' s tbc-atre of operation* from liis own country, apparently most discouraging, proved extremely favourable to his pur- poses. Hie troops, cut oil' from rctivat by a wide sea and an impassable mountain barrier, had no alternative but to conquer or to die. Their lonir continuance in the field without di>banding gave them all the stern inflexible qualities of a standing army ; and, as they served through so many successive campaign! under the banner of the same leader, they were drilled in a system of tactics far steadier and more uniform than, could be acquired under a variety of commanders, however able. Under these circumstances, which so well fitted them for receiving impressions, the Spanish army was gradually moulded into the form determined by the will of its caveat chief. When we look at the amount of forces at the disposal of Gonsalvo, it appears so paltry, especially compared with the gigantic apparatus of later wars, that it may well suggest disparaging ideas of the whole contest. To judge correctly, we must direct our eyes to the result. "With this insignificant force we shall then see the kingdom of Naples Conquered, and the best generals and armies of France annihilated ; an important innovation effected in military science ; the art of mining, if not invented, carried to xmprecedented perfection ; a thorough reform introduced in the arms and discipline of the Spanish soldier ; and the organisation completed of that valiant infantry, which is honestly eulogised by a French writer as irresistible in attack, and impossible to rout ; and which carried the banners of Spain victorious for more than a century over the most distant parts of Europe. CHAPTER XVI. ILLNESS AND DEATH OT ISABELLA HER CHARACTER. 1501. Decline of the Queen's Health Alarm of the Nation Her Testament and Codicil Har Resignation and Death Her Remain* transported to Grauada Isabella's Person Her Manners Her Character Parallel with Queen Elizabeth. THE acquisition of an important kingdom in the heart of Europe, and of the New World beyond the waters, which promised to pour into hei lap all the fabled treasures of the Indies, was rapidly raising Spain to the first rank of European powers. But, in this noontide of her success, ehe was to experience a fatal shock -in the loss of that illustrious person- age who had so long and so gloriously presided over her destinies. We have had occasion to notice more than once the declining state of the queen's health during the last few years. Her constitution had been greatly impaired by incessant personal fatigue and exposure, and by the Unremitting activity of her mind. It had suffered far more severely, however, fiom a series of heavy domestic calamities, which had fallen on her with little intermission since the death of her mother in 1496. The 464 ILLNESS AND LEATH OF ISABELLA, next year, she followed to the grave the remains of her only son, the heir and hope of the monarchy, just entering on his prime; and, in the succeeding, was called on to render the same sad offices to the best beloved of her daughters, the amiable queen of Portugal. The severe illness occasioned by this last blow terminated in a dejec- tion of spirits, from which she never entirely recovered. Her surviving children were removed far from her into distant lands; with the occa- sional exception, indeed, of Joanna, who caused a still deeper pang to her mother's affectionate heart, by exhibiting infirmities which justified the most melancholy presages for the future. Far from abandoning herself to weak and useless repining, however, Isabella sought consolation, where it was best to be found, in the exer- cises of piety, and in the earnest discharge of the duties attached to her exalted station. Accordingly, we find her attentive as ever to the minutest interests of her subjects ; supporting her great minister Ximenes in his schemes of reform, quickening the zeal for discovery in the west, and, at the close of the year 1503, on the alarm of the French invasion, rousing her dying energies to kindle a spirit of resistance in her people. These strong mental exertions, however, only accelerated the decay of her bodily strength, which was gradually sinking under that sickness of the heart which admits of no cure, and scarcely of consolation. In the beginning of that very year she had declined so visibly, that the cortes of Castile, much alarmed, petitioned her to provide for the government of the kingdom after her decease, in case of the absence or incapacity of Joanna. She seems to have rallied in some measure after this ; but it was only to relapse into a state of greater debility, as her spirits sunk under the conviction, which now forced itself on her, of her daughter's settled insanity. Early in the spring of the following year (1504), that unfortunate lady embarked for Flanders, where, soon after her arrival, the inconstancy of her husband, and her own ungovernable sensibilities, occasioned the most scandalous scenes. Philip became openly enamoured of one of the kidi s of her suite; and his injured wife, in a paroxysm of jealousy, personal!} assaulted her fair rival in the palace, and caused the beautiful locks which had excited the admiration of her fickle husband to be shorn from her head. This outrage so affected Philip, that he vented his indignation against Joanna in the coarsest and most unmanly terms, and finally refused to have any further intercourse with h r. The account of this disgraceful scene reached Castile in the month of June. It occasioned the deepest chagrin and mortification to the un- happy parents. Ferdinand soon after fell ill of a fever, and the queen was seized with the same disorder, accompanied by more alarming symptoms. Her illness was exasperated by anxiety for her husband, and she refused to credit the favourable reports of his physicians while he was detained from her presence. His vigorous constitution, however, threw oft' the malady, while hers gradually failed under it. Her tender heart was more keenly sensible than his to the unhappy condition of their child, and to the gloomy prospects which awaited her beloved Castile. Her faithful follower, Martyr, was with the court at this time in Medina del Campo. In a letter to the count of Tendilla, dated October 7th, he states that the most serious apprehensions were entertained by HEE CHARACTER 4C.J the nhysichns for the queen's fate. " Her whole system," he says, " is pervaded by a consuming fever. She loathes food of every kind, and is tormented with incessant thin-t, while the disorder has all the appear- ance of terminating in a dropsy." In the meanwhile, Isabella lost nothing of her solicitude for the welfare of her people, and tin- ngat concerns of government. While reclining, as she was obliged to do great part of the day, on her couch, she listened to the recital or reading of whatever occurred of interest, at home or abroad. to distinguished foreigi . ially such Italians as could acquaint her with particulars of the late war, and above all in regard to Gonsalvo de Cordova, in whose fortune she had always taken th" liveliest concern.* She received with pleasure, too, such int'-lligc-nt travellers as her renown had attracted to the Castilian court. She drew lortn their stores of various information, and dismissed tin-in, says a writer of the age, penetrated with the de> -pest admiration of that ma>culine strength of mind which sustained her so nobly under the wi ight of a mortal malady. t This malady was now rapidly gaining ground. On th? luth of October we have another epi>tle of Martyr, of the following melancholy tenor. " You a>k me respecting the state of the queen's health. \\ e n-owful in the palace all day long, tremblingly waiting the hour when religion and virtue shall quit the earth with her. Let us pray that we may be permitted to follow hereafter where she is soon to go. She so far transcends all human excellence that there is scarcely anything of mortality about her. She can hardly be said to die, but to pass into a nobler existence, which should rather excite our envy than our sorrow. - the world lilled with her renown, and she goes to enjoy life eternal with her God in heaven. I write this," he concludes, " between hope and fear, while the breath is still fluttering within her." The deepest gloom now overspread the nation. Even Isabella's long illness had failed to prepare the minds of her faithful people for th icy recalled several ominous circumstances which had before escaped their attention. In the preceding spring, an earthquake, accompanied by a tremendous hurricane, such as the oldest men did not reineiiiber, had visited Andalusia, and especially Carmona, a place belonging to the queen, and occasioned a frightful desolation there. Ihe supcr>titiuus Spaniards now read in these portents the prophetic signs by which Heaven announces some great calamity. Prayers were put up in. . temple ; processions and pilgrimages made in every part of the country for the recovery of their IK.- loved sovereign, but in vain. n-lla, in the meantime, was deluded with no false hopes. She felt too Burely the decay of her bodily strength, and she resolved to perform what temporal duties yet remained for her, while her faculties were still unclouded. A short time before her death she received a visit from the distinguished officer, Prospero Colouna. The Italian noble, on being presented to I' id, told him th:it ''he had come to Castile to behold the woman, who, t,-, .111 her sick bed, ruled the world." t Among the foreigners introduced to the queen at this time, was .1 celebrated Venetian trivclli-r, named Vianelli, who presented her with a croxs of pure t'"ld set with precious stones, anvils which was a carbuncle of inestimable value. The liberal Italian met itheran uncourtly rebuke from Ximenes, who told him. on leaving the presence, thu "he had n-.ther have the money his diamonds coet, to spendi n the service of the church, than all the gem* of the Indies." H H 466 ILLXESS A^D DEATH OF ISABELLA. On the 12th of October she executed that celebrated testament w hich reflects so clearly the peculiar qualities of her mind and character. She begins with prescribing the arrangements for her burial. She. orders her remains to be transported to Granada, the Franciscan monastery of Santa Isabella in the Alhambra, and there deposited in a low and humble sepulchre, without other memorial than a plain inscription on it. " But," she continues, " should the king my lord prefer a sepulchre in some other place, then my will is that my body be there transported, and laid by his side ; that the union we have enjoyed in this world, and, through the mercy of God, may hope again for our souls in heaven, may be reprc- ented by our bodies in the earth." Then, desirous of correcting by her example, in this last act of her life, the wasteful pomp of funeral obsequies to which the Castilians were addicted, she commands that her own should be performed in the plainest and most unostentatious manner, and that the sum saved by this economy should be distributed in alma among the poor. She next provides for several charities, assigning, among others, marriage portions for poor maidens, and a considerable sum for the redemption of Christian captives in Barbary. She enjoins the punctual discharge of all her personal debts within a year ; she retrenches super- fluous offices in the royal household, and revokes all such grants, whether in the forms of lands or annuities, as she conceives to have been made without sufficient warrant. She inculcates on her successors the import- ance of maintaining the integritv of the royal domains, and above all, of never divesting themselves of their title to the important fortress of Gibraltar. After this she comes to the succession of the crown, which she settles on the infanta Joanna as " queen proprietor," and the archduke Philip as her husband. She gives them much good counsel respecting their future administration ; enjoining them, as thev would secure the love and obedience of their subjects, to conform in all respects to the laws and usages of the realm, to appoint no foreigner to office, an error into which Philip's connections, she saw, would be very likely to betray them, and to make no laws or ordinances " which necessarily require the consent of cortes," during their absence from the kingdom. She recommends to them the same conjugal harmony which had ever subsisted between her and her husband ; she beseeches them to show the latter all the deference and filial affection " due to him beyond every other parent, for his eminent virtues ; " and finally inculcates on them the most tender regard for the liberties and welfare of their subjects. She next comes to the great question proposed by the cortes of 1503, respecting the government of the realm in the absence or incapacity of Joanna. She declares that, after mature deliberation, and with the advice of many of the prelates and nobles of the kingdom, she appoints king Ferdinand her husband to be the sole regent of Castile, in that exigency, until the majoritv of her grandson Charles ; being led to this, she adds, " by the consideration of the magnanimity and illustrious qualities of the king my lord, as well as his large experience, and the great profit which will redound to the state from his wise and beneficial rule." She expresses her sincere conviction that his past conduct aftbrdg a sufficient guarantee for his faithful administration, but, in compliance HEE CHARACTER. 467 with established usage, requires the customary oath from him on entering on the duties of the ottice. She then makes a specific provision for her husband's personal main- tenance, which, "although less than she could wish, and far less than he deserves, considering the eminent services he had rendered the state," she settles at one half of all the net proceeds and profits accruing from the newly discovered countries in the west ; together with ten million maravedis annually, assigned on the alcavalaa of the grandmasterships of the military orcL. rs. After some additional regulations respecting the descent of the crown on failure of Joanna's lineal heirs, she recommends in the kindest and most emphatic terms to her successors the various members of her house- hold, and her personal friends, among whom we find the names of the marquis and marchioness of Moya, (Beatrice de Bobadilla, the companion of her youth,) and Garcilasso de la Vega, the accomplished minister at the papal court. And, lastly, concluding in the same beautiful strain of conjugal tenderness in which she began, she says, " I beseech the king my lord that he will accept all my jewels, or such as he shall select, so that, seeing them, he may be reminded of the singular love I always bore him while living, and that I am now waiting fur him in a better world ; by which remembrance he may be encouraged to live the more justly and holily in this." Six executors were named to the will. The two principal were the king, and prinuite Ximenes, who had full powers to act in conjunction with any one of the others. 1 have dwelt the more minutely on the details of Isabella's testament, from the evidence it affords of her constancy in her dying hour to the principles which had governed her through life ; of her expansive and ious policy ; her prophetic insight into the evils to result from her death, evils, alas ! which no forecast could avert ; her scrupulous attention to all her personal obligations ; and that warm attachment to her friends which coidd never falter while a pulse beat in her bosom. After performing this duty, she daily grew weaker, the powers of her mind seeming to brighten as those of her body declined. The concerns of her government still occupied her thoughts ; and several public measures, which she had postponed through urgency of other business, or growing infirmities, pressed so heavily on her heart, that she made them the subject of a codicil to her former will. It was executed November 23rd, 1504, only three days before her death. Three of the provisions contained in it are too remarkable to pass unnoticed. The first concerns the codification of the laws. For this purpose the queen appoints a commission to make a new digest of the statutes VBJifragmdticM) the contradictory tenor of which still occasioned much embarrassment in Castilian jurisprudence. This was a subject she always had much at heart ; but no nearer approach had been made to it than the valuable though insufficient work of Montalvo, in the early part of her reign ; and, notwithstanding her precautions, none more effectual was destined to take place till the reign of Philip the Second. The second item had reference to the natives of the New "World. Gross abuses had arisen there since the partial revival of the reparti- mientos, although Las Casas says, " intelligence K this was carefully I 408 ILLXESS AXD DEATH OF ISABELLA. kept from the ears of the queen." Some vague apprehension of the truth, however, appears to have forced itself on her ; and she enjoins her successors, in the most earnest manner, to quicken the good work of converting and civilising the poor Indians, to treat them with the greatest gentleness, and redress any wrongs they may have suffered in their persons or property. Lastly, she expresses her doubts as to the legality of the revenue drawn from the alcaralas, constituting the principal income of the crown. She directs a commission to ascertain whether it were originally intended to be perpetual, and if this were done with the free consent of the people ; enjoining her heirs, in that event, to collect the tax so that it should press least heavily on her subjects. Should it be found other- wise, however, she directs that the legislature be summoned to devise proper measures for supplying the wants of the crown, "measures depending for their validity on the good pleasure of the subjects of the realm." Such were the dying words of this admirable woman, displaying the same respect for th'e rights and liberties of the nation which she had shown through life, and striving to secure the blessings of her benign administration to the most distant and barbarous regions imder her sway. These two documents were a precious legacy bequeathed to her people, to guide them when the light of her personal example should be with- drawn for ever. The queen's signature to the codicil, which still exists among the manuscripts of the royal library at Madrid, shows by its irregular and scarcely legible characters, the feeble state to which she was then reduced. She had now adjusted all her worldly concerns ; and she prepared to devote herself, during the brief space which remained, to those of a higher nature. It was but the last act of a life of preparation. She had the misfortune, common to persons of her rank, to be separated in her last moments from those whose filial tenderness might have done so much to soften the bitterness of death. But she had the good fortune, most rare, to have secured for this trying hour the solace of disinterested friendship ; for she beheld around her the friends of her childhood, formed and proved in the dark season of adversity. As she saw them bathed in tears around her bed, she calmly said, " Do not weep for me, nor waste your time in fruitless prayers for my recovery, but pray rather for the salvation of my soul." On receiving the extreme unction, she refused to have her feet exposed, as was usual on that occasion ; a circumstance which, occurring at a time when there can be no suspicion of affectation, is often noticed by Spanish writers as a proof of that sensitive delicacy and decorum which distinguished her through life. At length, having received the sacraments, and performed all the offices of a sincere and devout Christian, she gently expired a little before noon, on Wednesday, November 26th, 1504, in the fifty-fourth year of her age, and thirtieth of her reign. " My hand," says Peter Martyr, in a letter written on the same day to the archbishop of Granada, " falls powerless by my side for very sorrow. The world has lost its noblest ornament; a loss to be deplored not only by Spain, which she has so long carried forward in the career of glory, but by every nation in Christendom ; for she was the mirror of every rirtue, the shield of the innocent, and an avenging sword to the wicked. HER CHARACTER. 4ti! I know none of her sex, in ancient or modern times, who in my judgment is at ;ill worthy to be named with this incomparable woman." No time was lost in making preparations for transporting the queen's body, unembalmed, to Granada, in strict conformity to her orders. It was escorted by a numerous cortege of cavaliers and ecclesiastics, among whom was the faithful Martyr. The procession h -iran its mournful march the day following her death, taking the route through Arevalo, Toledo, and Jaen. Scarcely had it left Medina del Campo, when a tremendous tempest set in, which continued with little interruption during the whole journey. The roads were rendered nearly impassable ; the bridges swept away, the small streams swollen to the size of the Tamils, and the level country buried under a deluge of water. Neither BUU nor stars were seen, during their whole progress. The horses and mules were borne down by the torrents, and the riders in several instances perished with them. " Never," exclaims Martyr, " did I encounter such perils in the whole of my hazardous pilgrimage to Egypt." At length, on the 18th of December, the melancholy and way-worn cavalcade reached the place of its destination ; and, amidst the wild strife of the elements, the peaceful remains of Isabella were laid, with simple solemnities, in the Franciscan monastery of the Alharnbra. Here, under the shadow of those venerable Moslem towers, and in the heart of the capital which her noble constancy had recovered for her country, they continued to repose till after the death of Ferdinand, when they were removed to be laid by his side, in the stately mausoleum of the cathedral church of Granada. I shall defer the review of Queen Isabella's administration until it can be done in conjunction with that of Ferdinand ; and shall confine myself at present to such considerations on the prominent traits of her character us have been suggested by the preceding history of her life. Her person, as mentioned in the early part of the narrative, was of the middle height, and well proportioned. She had a clear, fresh complexion, with light blue eyes and auburn hair, a style of beauty exceedingly rare in Spain. Her features were regular, and universally allowed to bo uncommonly handsome. The illusion which attaches to rank, more especially when united with engaging manners, might lead us to su>pi ct some exaggeration in the encomiums so liberally lavished on her. 15 ut they would seem to be in a great measure justified by the portraits that remain of her, which combine a faultless symmetry of features, wiih singular sweetness and intelligence of expression. Hir manners were most gracious and pleasing. They were mark* d by natural dignity and modest reserve, tempered by an affability which flowed from the kindliness of her disposition. She was the last peiWB to be approached with undue familiarity ; yet the respect which she imposed was mingled with the strongest feelings of devotion and lo >_>. She showed great tact in accommodating herself to the peculiar situation and character of those around her. She appeared in arms at the head of her troops, and shrunk from none of the hardships of Avar. During the reforms introduced intc. ',he religious houses, she visited the nun: in person, taking her in die-work with her, and passing the day in the society of the inmates. When travelling in Galicia, she attired" herself in the costume of the country, borrowing for that purpose the jewels and (70 ILLXESS AXD DEATH OF ISABELLA. other ornaments of the ladies there, and returning them with liberal additions. By this condescending and captivating deportment, as well as by her higher qualities, she gained an ascendancy over her turbulent subjects which no king of Spain could ever boast. She spoke the Castilian with much elegance and correctness. She had an easy fluency of discourse, which, though generally of a serious com- plexion, was occasionally seasoned with agreeable sallies, some of which have passed into proverbs. She was temperate even to abstemiousness in her diet, seldom or never tasting wine ; and so frugal in her table, that the daily expenses for herself and family did not exceed the moderate sum of forty ducats. She was equally simple and economical in her apparel. On all public occasions, indeed, she displayed a royal magnificence ; but she had no relish for it in private, and she freely gave away her clothes and jewels, as presents to her friends. Naturally of a sedate, though cheerful, temper, she had little taste for the frivolous amusements which make up so much of a court life ; and, if she encouraged the presence of minstrels and musicians in her palace, it was to wean her young nobility from the coarser and less intellectual pleasures to which they were addicted. Among her moral qualities, the most conspicuous, perhaps, was her magnanimity. She betrayed nothing little or selfish, in thought or action. Her schemes were vast, and executed in the same noble spirit in which they were conceived. She never employed doubtful agents or sinister measures, but the most direct and open policy. She scorned to avail herself of advantages offered by the perfidy of others. Where she had once given her confidence, she gave her hearty and steady support ; and she was scrupulous to redeem any pledge she had made to those who ventured in her cause, however unpopular. She sustained Ximenes in all his obnoxious but salutary reforms. She seconded Columbus in the prosecution of his arduous enterprise, and shielded him from the calumny of his enemies. She did the same good service to her favourite, Gonsalvo de Cordova ; and the day of her death was felt, and, as it proved, truly felt by both, as the last of their good fortune. Artifice and duplicity were so abhorrent to her character, and so averse from her domestic policy, that when they appear in the foreign relations of Spain, it is certainly not imputable to her. She was incapable of harbouring any petty distrust or latent malice ; and, although stern in the execution and exaction of public justice, she made the most generous allowance, and even sometimes advances to those who had personally injured her. But the principle which gave a peculiar colouring to every feature o Isabella's mind was piety. It shone forth from the very depths of her soul with a heavenly radiance, which illuminated her whole character. Fortunately, her earliest years had been passed in the rugged school of adversity, under the eye of a mother who implanted in her serioiis mind such strong principles of religion as nothing in after life had power to shake. At an early age, in the flower of youth and beauty, she was introduced to her brother's court ; but its blandishments, so da2zling to a young imagination, had no power over hers ; for she was surrounded by a moral atmosphere of purity, " Driving far off each thing of sin and guilt." Such waa the decorum of her manners, that, though encompassed by HER CHAEACTEE. 471 false friends and open enemies, not the slightest reproach was breathed oil her fair name in this corrupt and calumnious court. She gave a liberal portion of her time to private devotions, as well as to the public exercises of religion. She expended large sums in useful charities, especially in the erection of hospitals and churches, and the more doubtful endowments of monasteries. Her piety was strikingly exhibited in that unfeigned humility which, although the very essence of our faith, is so rarely found; and most rarely iu those whose great powers and exalted stations seem to raise them above the level of ordinary mortals. A remarkable illustration of this is afforded in the queen's correspondence with Talavera, in which her meek and docile spirit is strikingly contrasted with the puritanical intolerance of her -sor.* Yet Talavera, as we have seen, was sincere and benevolent at heart. Unfortunately, the royal conscience was at times committed to very different keeping ; and that humility, which, as we have repeatedly had occasion to notice, made her defer so reverentially to her ghostly advisers, led under the fanatic Torquemada, the confessor of her early youth, to those deep blemishes on her administration, the establish- ment of the Inquisition, and the exile of the Jews. But although blemishes of the deepest dye on her administration, they are certainly not to be regarded as such on her moral character. It will be difficult to condemn her, indeed, without condemning the age ; for vt-ry acts are not only excused, but extolled by her contemporaries, as constituting her strongest claims to renown, and to the gratitude of her country. t They proceeded from the principle, openly avowed by the court of Rome, that xeal for the purity of the faith could atone for every crime. This immoral maxim flowing from the head of the church, was echoed in a thousand different forms by the subordinate clergy, and greedily received by a superstitious people. It was not to be expected that a solitary woman, filled with natural diffidence of her own capacity on such subjects, should array herself against those venerated counsellors whom she had been taught from her cradle to look to as the guides and guardians of her conscience. 1! "\\vver mischievous the operations of the Inquisition may have been in Spain, its establishment, in point of principle, was not worse than many other measures which have passed with far less censure, though in a much more advanced and civilised age.if Where, indeed, during the * The archbishop's letters are little better than a homily on the sins of dancing, feasting, .#, and the like, garnished with scriptural allusions, and conveyed in a tone of sour rebuke that would have done credit to the most canting Roundhead in Oliver Cromwell's The queen, far from taking exception at it, vindicates herself from the grave imputations with a degree of earnestness and simplicity which may provoke a smile in the reader. "I am aware," she concludes, "that custom cannot make an action, bad in itself, pood ; but I wish your opinion whether, under all the circumstances, these can be consi- dered bad : that, if so, they may be discontinued in future." t Such encomiums become still more striking in writers of sound and expansive views ke Zurita and Blaucas, who, although nourishing in a better instructed age, do not scruple to pronounce the Inquisition " the greatest evidence of her prudence and piety; whose uncommon utility, uot only Spain, but all Christendom, freely acknowledged ! " J I borrow almost the words of Mr. Hallam, who, noticing the penal statutes against Catholics under Elizabeth, says, " They established a persecution which tell not at all hurt in principle of that for which the Inquisition became so odious." Even Lord Burleiprh. commenting on the mode of examination adopted in certain cases by the High Comn n Court, does not hesitate to say, the interrogatories were BO curiously penned, so full ery from the benefits of toleration, as a religion which the public good required at all events to be extirpated. Such were the crude views of the rights of conscience enter- tained iu the latter half of the seventeenth century, by one of those gifted miuds, whose rcttwdinaiy elevation enabled it to catch and reflect back the coming light of knowledge, Jong before it had fallen on the rest of mankind. t The most remarkable example of this, perhaps, occurred in the case of the wealthy Galiciau knight, Yaiiez de Lugo, who endeavoured to purchase a pardon of the queen by iho enormous bribe of 40,000 doblas of gold. The attempt failed, though warmly sup- ported by some of the royal counsellors. The story is well vouched. J The reu'ler may recollect a pertinent illustration of this, ou the occasion of Xirnenea'g appointment to the primacy. . among other instances, her exemplary cliastisement of the ecclesiastics of luxillo HER CHARACTER. 472 directed against the fashionable extravagances of dress, and the ruinous ostentation so much affected by the Castilians in their weddings and funerals. Lastly, she showed the same perspicacity in tlie Selection of her agents ; well knowing that the best measures become bad in incompetent hands. But, although the skilful selection of her agents was an obvious cause of Isabella' yet another, even more important, is to be found in li.-r own -vigilance and untiring exertions. During the first busy and bustling vears of her rei^n tln-c exertions were of incredible magnitude. Shi- was almost always in tliesaddle, for she made all her journeys on horse- back ; and she travelled with a rapidity which made her always present on the spot where her presence was needed. She wa> lu-ver intimidated by the weather, or the state of her own health; and this reckless exposure undoubtedly contributed much to impair her excellent constitution. Shu was equally indefatigable in her mental application. After aiduous attention to business through the day, she was often known to sit up all night, dictating dispatches to her secretaries. In the midst of these overwhelming cares, she found time to supply the detects of early education by learning Latin, so as to understand it without ditticulty, whether written or spoken ; and, indeed, in the opinion of a competent judge, to attain a critical accuracy in it. As she had little turn for light amusements, she sought relief from graver cares by some useful occupation appropriate to her sex ; and she left ample evidence of her skill in this way, in the rich specimens of embroidery, wrought with her own f-iir hands, with which she docorated the churches. She was careful to instruct her daughters in these more humble departments of domestic duty ; for she thought nothing too humble to learn which was useful. With all her high q ualihoations, Isabella would have been still unequal to the achievement of her grand designs without possessing a degree of fortitude rare in either sex ; not the courage which implies contempt of personal danger, though of this she had a larger share than falls to most men ; * nor that which supports its possessor under the extremities of bodily pain, though of this she gave ample evidence, since she endured the greatest Buffering her sex is called to bear without a groan ; but that moral courage which sustains the spirit in the dark hour of adversity, and gathering light from within to dispel the darkness, imparts its own cheering influence to all around. This was shown remarkably in the stormy season which ushered in her accession, as well as through the whole of the Moorish war. It was her voice that decided never to abandon Albania. Her remonstrances compelled the king and nobles to return to the tield, when they had quitted it, after an ineffectual campaign. As dangers aud difficulties multiplied, she multiplied resources to meet them ; and, when her soldiers lay drooping under the evils of some protracted siege, she appeared in the midst, mounted ou her war horse, with her delicate limbs cased in knightly mail ; and, riding through their ranks, breathed new courage into their hearts by her own intrepid bearing. To her personal efforts indeed, as well as counsels, the success of this jrlorious war may be mainly imputed ; and the unsuspicious testimony of the Venetian minister, bavagiero, a few ji.ars later, shows that the nation so considered it. "Queen Isabel," Among many evidences of this, what other need be givec than her conduct at the fkuous riot at Segovia 474 ILLXESS AXD DEATH OF ISABELLA. says he, " by her singular genius, masculine strength of mind, and other virtues most unusual in our own sex, as well as hers, was not merely of great assistance in, but the chief cause of, the conquest of Granada. She was, indeed, a most rare and virtuous lady ; one of whom the Spaniards talk far more than of the king, sagacious as he was, and uncommon for his time." Happily these masculine qualities in Isabella did not extinguish the softer ones which constitute the charm of her sex. Her heart overflowed with affectionate sensibility to her family and friends. She watched over the declining days of her aged mother, and ministered to her sad infirmities with all the delicacy of filial tenderness.* We have seen abundant proofs how fondly and faithfully she loved her husband to the last,-| though this love was not always so faithfully requited. For her children she lived more than for herself; and for them too she died, for it was their loss and their afflictions which froze the current of her blood before age had time to chill it. Her exalted state did not remove her above the sympathies of friendship. J With her friends she forgot the usual distinctions of rank, sharing in their joys, visiting and consoling them in sorrow and sickness, and condescending in more than one instance to assume the office of executrix on their decease. Her heart, indeed, was filled with benevolence to all mankind. In the most fiery heat of war, she was engaged in devising means for mitigating its horrors. She is said to have been the first to introduce the benevolent institution of camp hospitals ; and we have seen, more than once, her lively solicitude to spare the effusion of blood even of her enemies. But it is needless to multiply examples of this beautiful but familiar trait in her character. It is in these more amiable qualities of her sex, that Isabella's superiority becomes most apparent over her illustrious namesake, Elizabeth of England,|| whose history presents some features parallel to her own. Both were disciplined in early life by the teachings of that stern nurse of wisdom, adversity. Both were made to experience the deepest humiliation at the hands of their nearest relative, who should have cherished and protected them. Both succeeded in establishing themselves on the throne after the most precarious vicissitudes. Each conducted her kingdom, through a long and triumphant reign, to a * We find one of the first articles in the marriage treaty with Ferdinand enjoining him to cherish and treat her mother with all reverence, and to provide suitably for her royal maintenance. t Among other little tokens of mutual affection, it may be mentioned that not only the public com, but their furniture, books, and other articles of personal property, were istumi-ed with their initials, F. I., or emblazoned with their devices, his beiug a yoke, and hers a sheaf of arrows. It was common, says Oviedo, for each party to take a device whose initial corresponded with that of the name of the other ; as was the case here with jupo and JUchaf. { The best beloved of her friends, probably, was the Marchioness of Moya, who, seldom separated from her royal mistress through life, had the melancholy satisfaction of closing her eyes in death. Oviedo, who saw them frequently together, says that the queen never addressed this lady, even in later life, with any other than the endearing title of hija marqutta, " daughter marchioness." As was the case with Cardenas, the comendador mayor, and the grand cardinal Mendoza, to whom, as we have already seen, she paid the kindest attentions during their last illness. While in this way she indulged the natural dictates of her heart, she wai eareful to render every outward mark of respect to the memory of those whose rank or services entitled them to such consideration. II Isabel, the name of the Catholic queen, is correctly rendered into English by that BUsabetiv HEE CHARACTEK. 474 height of glory which it had never before reached. Both lived to see the vanity of all earthly grandeur, and to fall the victims of an inconsolable melancholy ; and both left behind an illustrious name, unrivalled in the subsequent annals of their country. But, with these few circumstances of their history, the resemblance ceases. Their characters afford scarcely a point of contact. Elizabeth, inheriting a large share of the bold and bluff King Harry's tempera- ment, was haughty, arrogant, coarse, and irascible ; while with these fiercer qualities she mingL d deep dissimulation and strange irresolution. Isabella, on the other hand, tempered the dignity of royal station with the most bland and courteous manners. Once resolved, she was constant in her purposes, and her conduct in public and private life was characterised by candour and integrity. Both may be said to have shown that magnanimity which is implied by the accomplishment of great objects in the face ot great obstacles. But Elizabeth was desperately selfish ; she was incapable of forgiving, not merely a real injury, but the slightest affront to her vanity ; and she was merciless in exacting retri- bution. Isabella, on the other hand, lived only for others, was ready at all times to sacrifice self to considerations of public duty ; and, far from personal resentments, showed the greatest condescension and kindness to those who had most sensibly injured her ; while her benevolent heart sought every means to mitigate the authorised severities of the law, even towards the guilty.* Both possessed rare fortitude. Isabella, indeed was placed in situa- tions which demanded more frequent and higher displays of it than her rival ; but no one will doubt a full measure of this quality in the daughter of Henry the Eighth. Elizabeth was better educated, and (v. ry way more highly accomplished than Isabella. But the latter knew enough to maintain her station with dignity ; and she encouraged learning by a munificent patronage. The masculine powers and pas- sions of Elizabeth seemed to divorce her in a great measure from the peculiar attributes of her sex, at least from those which constitute its peculiar charm ; for she had abundance of its foibles, a coquetry and love of admiration which age could not chill ; a levity, most careless, if not criminal : and a fondness for dress and tawdry magnificence of orna- ment which was ridiculous, or disgusting, according to the different periods of life in which it was indulged. Isabella, on the other hand, distinguished through life for decorum of manners, and purity beyond the breath of calumny, was content with the legitimate aflection which she could inspire within the range of her domestic circle. Far from a frivolous affectation of ornament or dress, she was most simple in her own attire, and seemed to set no value on her jewels, but as they could serve the necessities of the state ;f when they could be no longer useful in this way, she gave them away, as we have seen, to her friends. * She gave evidence of this in the commutation of the sentence she obtained for the wretch who ttal.bi.-ii her husband, and whom her ferocious nobles would hnve put to death without the opportunity of confession and absolution, that " his soul might perish with his body!" (See her letter to Talavera). She showed this merciful temper, so rare in that rough age, by dispensing altogether with the preliminary barbarities sometimes prescribed by the law in capital executions. t The reader will remember how effectually they answered this purpose in the Mooiisb 176 ILLNESS AXD DEATH OF ISABELLA. Both wore uncommonly sagacious in the selection of their ministers ; though Elizabeth was drawn into some errors in this particular by her levity, as was Isabella by religious feeling. It was this, combined with her excessive humility, which led to the only grave errors in the admi- nistration of the latter. Her rival fell into no such errors; and she was a stranger to the amiable qualities which led to them. Her conduct was certainly not controlled by religious principle ; and, though the bulwark of the Protestant faith, it might be difficult to say whether she were at heart more a Protestant or a Catholic. She viewed religion in its con- nexion with the state, in other words, with herself; and she took measures for enforcing conformity to her own views, not a whit less des- pctic, and scarcely less sanguinary, than those countenanced for conscience* sake by her more bigoted rival.* This feature of bigotry, which has thrown a shade over Isabella's otherwise beautiful character, might lead to a disparagement of her intellectual power compared with that of the English queen. To estimate this aright, we must contemplate the results of their respective reigns. Elizabeth found all the materials of prosperity at hand, and availed herself of them most ably to build up a solid fabric of national grandeur. Isabella created these materials. She saw the faculties of her people looked up in a deathlike lethargy, and she breathed into them the breath of lite for those great and heroic enterprises which terminated in such glorious consequences to the monarchy. It is when viewed from the depressed position of her early days, that the achievements of her reign seem scarcely less than miraculous. The masculine genius of the English queen stands out relieved beyond its natural dimensions by ita separation from the softer qualities of her sex ; while her rival's, like some vast but symmetrical edifice, loses in appearance somewhat of its actual grandeur from the perfect harmony of its proportions. The circumstances of their deaths, which were somewhat similar, dis- played the great dissimilarity of their characters. Both pined amidst the royal state, a prey to incurable despondency, rather than any marked bodily distemper. In Elizabeth it sprung from wounded vanity, a sullen conviction that she had out-lived the admiration on which she had so long fed, and even the solaje of friendship, and the attachment of her subjects. Nor did she seek consolation, where alone it was to be found, in that sad hour. Isabella, on the other hand, sunk under a too acute sensibility to the sufferings of others. But amidst the gloom which gathered around her, she looked with the eye of faith to the brighter prospects which unfolded of the future ; and, when she resigned her last breath, it was amidst the tears and universal lamentations of her people. It is in this undying, unabated attachment of the nation, indeed, that we see the most unequivocal testimony to the virtues of Isabella. In the downward progress of things in Spain, some of the most ill-advised measures of her administration have found favour, and been perpetuated, while the more salutary have been forgotten. This may lead to a mis- conception of her real merits. In order to estimate these, we must listen Queen Elizabeth, indeed, in a declaration to her people, proclaims, " We know no*,, nor aave any meaning to allow, that any of our subjects should bo molested, either by examination or inquisition, in any matter of faith, as long as they shall profess tht Christian faith." FEKDIN AND BESIGNS TO PHILIP. * i I to the voice of her contemporaries, the eye-witnesses of the condition in which she found the state, and in which she left it. We shall then see but one judgment formed of her, whether by foreigners or natives. The French and Italian writers equally join in celebrating the triumphant glories of her reign, and her magnanimity, wisdom, and purity of character. Her own subjects extol her as "the most brilliant exemplar of every virtue," and mourn over the day of her death as " the last of the prosperity and happiness of their country ;" while those who had nearer access to her person are unbounded in their admiration of those amiable qualities, whose lull power is revealed only in the unrestrained intimacies of domestic life. The judgment of posterity has ratilicd the sentence of her own age. The most enlightened Spaniards of the present day, by no means insensible to the errors of her government, but more capable of appreciating its merits than those of a less instructed age, bear honourable testimony to her deserts ; and, while they pass over the bloated magnificence of succeeding monarchs, who arrest the popular eye, dwell witli enthusiasm on Isabella's character, as the most truly great in their line of princes. CIIAPTEE XVII. FERDINAND REGENT HIS SECOND HAERIAOE DISSENSIOH3 WITH PHILIP RESICKATIOK O? THE REGENCY. 15041506. Ferdinand Repent Philip's Pretensions Ferdinand's Perplexities Impolitic treaty -with Tii, Kii '> Sri- nd Marriage Landing of Philip and Joanna Unpopularity of Kurdinanil Ilia Interview with his Son-iu-law He resigns the Regency. THE death of Isabella gives a new complexion to our history, a prin- cipal object of which has been the illustration of her personal character and public administration. The latter part of the narrative, it is true, has been chiefly occupied with the foreign relations of Spain, in which her interference has been less obvious than in the domestic. But still we have been made conscious of her presence and parental supervision, by the maintenance of order, and the general prosperity of the nation, rfer death will make us more sensible of this influence, since it was the signal for disorders which even the genius and authority of Ferdinand were unable to suppress. AVliile the queen's remains were yet scarcely cold, King Ferdinand look the usual measures for announcing the succession. He resigned the crown of Castile, which he had worn with so much glory for thirty years. From a platform raised in the great square of Toledo, the heralds proclaimed, with sound of trumpet, the accession of Philip and Joanna to the Castilian throne, and the royal standard was unfurled by the duke of Alva in honour of the illustrious pair. The king of Aragon then publicly assumed the title of administrator or governor of Castile, as provided by the queen's testament, and received the obeisance of such of the nobles as were present, in his new capacity. These proceedings 478 THE EEGE>*cr OF FEBDIXASD. took place on the evening of the same daj on which the queen expired. A circular letter was next addressed to the principal cities requiring them, after the customary celebration of the obsequies of their late sovereign, to raise the royal banners in the name of Joanna ; and writs were immediately issued in her name, without mention of Philip's, for the convocation of a cortes to ratify these proceedings.* The assembly met at Toro, January llth, loOo. The queen's will, or rather such clauses of it as related to the succession, were read aloud, and received the entire approbation of the commons, who, together with the grandees and prelates present, took the oaths of allegiance to Joanna as queen and lady proprietor, and to Philip as her husband. They then determined that the exigency contemplated in the testament, of Joanna's incapacity, actually existed, t and proceeded to tender their homage to King Ferdinand, as the lawful governor of the realm in her name. The latter in turn made the customary oath to respect the laws and liberties of the kingdom ; and the whole was terminated by an embassy from the cortes, with a written account of its proceedings, to their new sovereigns in Flanders. All seemed now done that was demanded for giving a constitutional sanction to Ferdinand's authority as regent. By the written law of the land, the sovereign was empowered to nominate a regency, in case of the minority or incapacity of the heir apparent. This had been done in the present instance by Isabella, and at the earnest solicitation of the cortes, made two years previously to her death. It had received the cordial approbation of that body, which had undeniable authority to control such testamentary provisions. Thus, from the first to the last stage of the proceeding, the whole had gone on with a scrupulous attention to constitutional forms. Yet the authority of the new regent was far from being firmly seated: and it was the conviction of this which had led him to accelerate measures. Many of the nobles were extremely dissatisfied with the queen's settlement of the regency, which had taken air before her death ; and they had even gone so far as to send to Flanders before that event, and invite Philip to assume the government himself as the natural guardian of his wife. These discontented lords, if they did not refuse to join in the public acts of acknowledgment to Ferdinand at Toro, at least were not reserved in intimating their dissatisfaction. Among the most prominent were the Marquis of Villena, who may be said to have been nursed to faction from the cradle, and the Duke of Najara, both potent nobles, whose broad domains had been grievously clipped by the resumption of the crown lands, so scrupulously enforced by the late government, and who looked forward to their speedy reco- very under the careless rule of a young inexperienced prince like Philip.* But the most efficient of his partisans was Don Juan Manuel, * Philip's name was omitted, as being a foreigner, until he should have taken the eustomary oath to respect the laws of the realm, and especially to confer office on none but native Castiliaus. t The maternal tenderness and delicacy which had led Isabella to allude to her daughter's infirmity only in very general terms, are well remarked by the cortes. t Isabella in her will particularly enjoins on her successors never to alienate or to restore the crown landa recovered from the marquisate of Villeua. HE KESTGNS TO PHILIP. 479 Ferdinand's ambassador at the court of Maximilian. This nobleman, descended from one of the most illustrious houses in Castile, -was a :i of uncommon parts ; restless and intriguing, plausible in his address, bold in his plans, but exceedingly cautious, and even cunning, in the execution of them. He had formerly insinuated himself into Philip's confidence during his visit to Spain, and, on receiving news of the queen's death, hastened without delay to join him in the ^Netherlands. Through his means, an extensive correspondence was soon opened with the discontented Castilian lords ; and Philip was persuaded, not only to assert his pretensions to undivided supremacy in Castile, but to send a letter to his royal father-in-law, requiring him to resign the govern- ment at once, and retire into Aragon. The demand was treated with si line contempt by Ferdinand, who admonished him of his incompetency to govern a nation like the Spaniards, whom he understood so little, but urged him at the same time to present himself before them with hia wife as soon as possible. 1 t rdinand's situation, however, was far from comfortable. Philip's, or rather Manuel's, emissaries were busily stirring up the embers of disaffection. They dwelt on the advantages to be gained from the free and lavish disposition of Philip, which they contrasted with the parsi- monious temper of the stern old Catalan, who had so long held them under his yoke. Ferdinand, whose policy it had been to crush the _rown power of the nobility, and who, as a foreigner, had none of the natural claims to loyaltv enjoyed by his late queen, was extremely odious to that jealous and haughty body. The number of Philip's adherents increased in it everv day, and soon comprehended the most considerable names in the kingdom. The king, who watched these symptoms of disaffection with deep anxietv, snid little, says Martyr, but coolly scrutinised the minds of those around, him, dissembling as far as possible his own sentiments. He received further and more unequivocal evidence, at this time, of the alienation of his son-in-law. An Aragonese gentleman, named Conchillos, whom he had placed near the person of his daughter, obtained a letter from her, in which she approved in the fullest manner of her father's retaining the administration of the kingdom. The letter was betrayed to Philip ; the unfortunate secretary was siezed and thrown into a dungeon, and Joanna was placed under a rigorous confinement, which much aggravated her malady. With this affront, the king received also the alarming intelligence that the Emperor Maximilian and his son Philip were tampering with the fidelity ot the Great Captain ; endeavouring to secure Naples in any event to the archduke, who claimed it as the appurtenance of Castile, by whose aimies its conquest, in fact, had been achieved. There were not wanting persons of high standing at Ferdinand's court to infuse suspicions, however unwarrantable, into the royal mind, of the loyalty of iiis viceroy, a Castilian by birth, and who owed his elevation exclu- sively to the queen. The king was still further annoyed by reports of the intimate relations subsisting between his old enemy, Louis the Twelfth, and Philip, whose children were affianced to each other. The French, monarch, : t was said, was prepared to support his ally in an invasion 480 THE REGENCY OF FEEDI*. *. of Castile, for the recovery of his rights, by a diversion in his favour ca the side of Iloussillon, as well as of Naples. The Catholic king felt sorely perplexed hy these multiplied ein harrassments. During the brief period of his regency, he had et> ileavoured to recommend himself to the people by a strict and impartia. administration of the laws, and the maintenance of public order. The people, indeed, appreciated the value of a government under which they had been protected from the oppressions of the aristocracy more effectually than at any former period. They had testified their good will by the alacrity with which they confirmed Isabella's testamentary dispositions at Toro. But all this served only to sharpen the aversion of the nobles. Some of Ferdinand's counsellors would have persuaded him to carry measures with a higher hand. They urged him to reassume the title of King of Castile, which he had so long possessed as husband of the late queen ; * and others even advised him to assemble an armed force which should overawe all opposition to Ids authority at home, and secure the country from invasion. He had facilities for thin in the disbanded levies lately returned from Italy, as well as in a con- siderable body drawn from his native dominions of Aragon, waiting his orders on the frontier. Such violent measures, however, were repug- nant to his habitual policy, temperate and cautious. He shrunk from a contest in which even success must bring unspeakable calamities on the country ; and, if he ever seriously entertained such views, he abandoned them, and employed his levies on another destination in Africa. His situation, however, grew every hour more critical. Alarmed by rumours of Louis's military preparations, for which liberal supplies were voted by the states-general ; trembling for the fate of his Italian possessions ; deserted and betrayed by the great nobility at home ; there seemed now no alternative left for him but to maintain his ground by force, or to resign at once, as required by Philip, and retire into Aragon. This latter course appears never to have been contemplated by him. He resolved at all hazards to keep the reins in his own grasp, influenced in part, Srobably, by the consciousness of his rights, as well as by his sense of uty, which forbade him to resign the trust he had voluntarily assumed into such incompetent hands as those of Philip and his counsellors ; and parti y, no doubt, by natural reluctance to relinquish the authority which he had enjoyed for so many years. To keep it, he had recourse to an expedient, such as neither friend nor foe could have anticipated. He saw the only chance of maintaining his present position lay in detaching France from the interests of Philip, and securing her to him- self. The great obstacle to this was their conflicting claims on Xaples. This he purposed to obviate by proposals of marriage to some member of the royal family, in whose favour these claims, with the consent of King Louis, might be resigned. He accordingly dispatched a con- fidential envoy privately into France, with ample instructions for arranging the preliminaries. This person was Juan de Enguera, a Catalan monk of much repute for his learning, and a member of the royal council. "Louis the Twelfth, had viewed with much satisfaction the growing * Tbe vicp-ehaneellor, Alonso de la Caballeria. prepared an elaborate argument in Mipport of Ferdinand's pretensions to the regal authority and title, less as husband of tb late queen, than as the lawful guardian and administrator of his daughter. HE EESIGNS TO PUILIP. 481 misunderstanding betwixt Philip and his father-in-law, and had cunningly used his iullueiu-e over the young prince to foment it. He felt the deepest disquietude at the prospect of the enormous inheritance which was to devolve on the former, comprehending Burgundy and Flanders, Austria, and probably the Empire, together with the united crowns of Spain and their rich dependencies. By the proposed marriage, a dis- memberment might be made at least of the Spanish monarchy ; and the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon, passing under different sceptres, might serve, as they had formerly done, to neutralise each other. It was true, this would involve a rupture with Philip, to whose son his own daughter was promised in marriage. But this match, extremely distasteful to his subjects, gradually became so to Louis, as every way prejudicial to the interest of Franc . Without much delay, therefore, preliminaries were arranged with the Aragonese envoy ; anu immediately after, in the month of August 1505, the count of Cifuentcs, and Thomas Malt'errit, regent of the royal chancery, were publicly sent as plenipotentiaries on the part of King Ferdinand, to conclude and execute the treaty. It was agreed, as the basis of the alliance, that the Catholic king should be married to Germaine, daughter of Jean de Foix, viscount of Narbonne, and one of the sisters of Louis the Twelfth, and grand- daughter to Leonora, queen of Navarre, that guilty sister of King Ferdinand whose fate is recorded in the earlier part of our History. The princess Gennaine, it will be seen, therefore, was nearly related to both the contracting partii-s. She was at this time eighteen years of age, and very beautiful. She had been educated in the palace of her royal uncle, where she had imbibed the free and volatile manners of his gay, luxurious court. To this lady Louis the Twelfth consented to resign his claims oil Naples, to be secured by way of dowry to her and her heirs, male or female in perpetuity. In case of her decease without issue, the moiety of the kingdom recognised as his by the partition treaty with Spain was to revert to him. It was further agreed, that lerdinand should reimburse Louis the Twelfth for the expenses of the Neapolitan war, by tlu- payment of one million gold ducats, in ten yearly instalments ; and lastly that a complete amnesty should be granted by him to the lords of tlie Annwinor French party in Naples, who should receive full restitu- tion of their confiscated honours and estates. A mutual treaty of alliance and commerce was to subsist henceforth between France and Spain : and the two monarchs, holding one another, to quote the words of the instru- ment, "as two souls in one and the same body," pledged themselves to the maintenance and defence of their respective rights and kingdoms against every other power whatever. This treaty was signed by the French king at Blois, October 12th, 1.30.3, and ratified by Ferdinand the Catholic at Segovia on the 16th of the same mouth. Such were the disgraceful and most impolitic terms of this compact, by which Ferdinand, in order to secure the brief possession of a barren authority, and perhaps to gratify some unworthy feelings of revenge, was content to barter away all those solid advantages, flowing from the union of the Spanish monarchies, which had been the great and wise object of his own and Isabella's policy; for, in the event of male issue, and that he should have issue Mas by no means improbable, con- sidering he was not yet lifty-four years of age, Aragon and ita I z 482 THE KEGENCY OF FEEDIXAJTD. dependencies must be totally severed from Castile. In the other alter- native, the splendid Italian conquests, which after such cost of toil and treasure, he had finally secured to himself, must be shared with his unsuc- cessful competitor. In any event, he had pledged himself to such an in- demnification of the Angevin faction in Naples as must create inextricable embarrassment, and inflict great injury on his loyal partisans, into whose hands their estates had already passed. And last, though not least, he dishonoured by this unsuitable and precipitate alliance his late illustrious, queen, the memory of whose transcendent excellence, if it had faded in any degree from his own breast, was too deeply seated in those of her subjects to allow them to look on the present union otherwise than as a national indignity. So, indeed, they did regard it ; although the people of Aragon, in whom late events nad rekindled their ancient jealousy of Castile, viewed the match with more complacency as likely to restore them to that political importance, which had been somewhat impaired by the union with their more powerful neighbour. The European nations could not comprehend an arrangement so irreconcilable with the usual sagacious policy of the Catholic king. The petty Italian powers, who, since the introduction of France and Spain into their political system, were controlled by them more or less in all their movements, viewed this sinister conjunction as auspicious of no good to their interests or independence. As for the archduke Philip, he could scarcely credit the possibility of this desperate act, which struck off at a blow so rich a portion of his inheritance. He soon received confirmation, however, of its truth, by a prohibition from Louis the Twelfth to attempt a passage through his dominions into Spain, until he should come to some amicable understanding with his father-in-law. * Philip, or rather Manuel, who exercised unbounded influence over his counsels, saw the necessity now of temporising. The correspondence was resumed with Ferdinand, and an arrangement was at length con- cluded between the parties, known as the concord of Salamanca, November 24th, 1505. The substance of it was, that Castile should be governed in the joint names of Ferdinand, Philip, and Joanna ; but that the first should be entitled, as his share, to one half of the public revenue. This treaty, executed in good faith by the Catholic king, was only intended by Philip to lull the suspicions of the former until he could effect a landing in the kingdom, where, he confidently believed, nothing but his presence was wanting to insure success. He completed the perfidious proceeding by sending an epistle, well garnished with soft and honeyed phrase, to his royal father-in-law. These artifices had their effect, and completely imposed, not only on Louis, but on the more shrewd and suspicious Ferdinand. On the 8th of January, 1506, Philip and Joanna embarked on board He recgivad much more unequivocal intimation in a letter from Ferdinand, curious as showing that the latter sensibly felt the nature and extent of the sacrifices he waa making, "You," says he to Philip, "by lending yourself to be the easy dupe of France, have driven me most reluctantly into a second marriage ; have stripped me of the fair fruits of my Neapolitan conquests," &c. He concludes with this appeal to him: "Sit atis, fili, pervagatum ; redi in te, si films, non hostis accesseris ; his non obstantibus, mi filius, nmplexabere. Magna ot patomtu vis natune." Philip may have thought his father-in-law's late conduct an indifferent commentary on the " pateruie vis naturae." HE RESIGNS TO rillUV. -iSS a splendid and numerous armada, and set sail from a port in Zealand. A furious tempest scattered the fleet soon after leaving the harbour; Philip's ship, which took fire in the storm, narrowly escaped Ibmi' It-ring ; and it was not without great difficulty that they succeeded iu bringing her, a miserable wreck, into the English port of Weymottth.* King Henry the Seventh, on learning the misfortunes of Philip and liia consort, was prompt to show every mark of respect and consideration for the royal pair thus tlirown upon his island. They were escorted in magnificent style to Windsor, and detained with dubious hospitality for nearly three months. During this time, Henry the Sc-veiith availed himself of the situation and inexperience of his young guest so far as to extort from him two treaties, not altogether reconcileable, as far as the latter was concerned, with sound policy or honour, f The respect which the English monarch entertained for Ferdinand the Catholic, as well as their family connexion, led him to ofter his services as a common mediator between the father and son. He would have pe?suaded the latter, says Lord Bacon, "to be ruled by the counsel of a prince so prudent, so experienced, and so fortunate as king Ferdinand ;" to which the archduke replied, "If his father-in-law would let him goveca Castile, he should govern him." At length Philip, having re-assembled his Flemish fleet at "Weymouth, embarked with Joanna and his numerous suite of courtiers and military retainers ; and reached Coruna, in the north-western corner of Galicia, after a prosperous voyage, on the 28th of April. A short time previous to this event, the count of Cifuentes having passed into Francv for the purpose, the betrothed bride of King Ferdinand quitted that country under his escort, attended by a brilliant train of French and Neapolitan lords. On the borders, at Fontarabia, she was received by the archbishop of Saragossa, Ferdinand's natural son, with a numerous retinue, composed chiefly of Aragonese and Catalan nobility, and was conducted with much solemnity to Duefias, where she was joined by the king. In this place, where thirty-six years before he had oeen united to Isabella, he now, as if to embitter still further the recollections of the past, led to the altar her young and beautiful successor (March 18th, 1506). " It seemed hard,'' says Martvr, in his quiet wav, ' ' that these nuptials should take place so soon, and that too in Isabella's own kingdom of Castile, where she had lived without peer, and where her ashes are still held in as much veneration as she enjoyed while living." It was less than six weeks after this, that Philip and Joanna landed at Cor.;na. Ferdinand, who had expected them at some nearer northern. prepared without loss of time to go forward and receive them. He in express to arrange the place of meeting with Philip, and advanced himself as far as Leon. But Philip had no intention ot such an interview at present. He had purposely landed in a remote corner * Jonnna, according to Sandoval, displayed ranch composure in her alarming situation. \Vhcn informed by Philip of their danger, she attired herself in her richest, dress, securing a cnusidenible sum of money to her person, that her body, if found, might be recognised, and receive the obsequies suited to her rank. t Due was a commercial treaty with Flanders, so disastrous as to be known in that country by the name of "maius iiibercursus ; " the other involved the surrender of to* unfortunate duke of Suffolk. iti 484 THi: EEGEXCT OF FERD13AM). of the country, in order to gain time for his partisans to come fonv.ud and declare themselves. Missives had heen despatched to the principal nobles and cavaliers, and they were answered by great numbers of all ranks, who pressed forward to welcome and pay court to the young monarch. Among them were the names of some of the most considerable Castilian families ; and several, as Yillena, and Xajara, were accom- panied by large, well-appointed retinues of armed followers. The archduke brought over with him a body of three thousand German infantry, in complete order. He soon mustered an additional force of six thousand native Spaniards, which, with the chivalry who thronged to meet him, placed him in a condition to dictate terms to his father-in- law ; and he now openly proclaimed that he had no intention of abiding by the concord of Salamanca, and that he would never consent to an arrangement prejudicing in any degree his, and his wife's, exclusive possession of the crown of Castile. It was in vain that Ferdinand endeavoured to gain Don Juan Manuel to his interest by the most liberal offers. He could offer nothing to compete with the absolute ascendancy which the favourite held over his young sovereign. It was in vain that Martyr, and afterwards Ximenes, were sent to the archduke, to settle the grounds of accommodation, or at least the place of interview with the king. Philip listened to them with courtesy, but would abate not a jot of his pretensions ; and Manuel did not care to expose his royal master to the influence of Ferdinand's superior address and sagacity in a personal interview. Martyr gives a picture by no means unfavourable, of Philip at this time. "He had an agreeable person, a generous disposition, free and open manners, with a certain nobleness of soul, although spurred on by a most craving ambition. But he was so ignorant of affairs, that ho became the dupe of artful men, who preyed on him for their own purposes. Ferdinand at length finding that Philip, who had now left Corufia, was advancing by a circuitous route into the interior on purpose to avoid him, and that all access to his daughter was absolutely refused, could no longer repress his indignation ; and he prepared a circular letter to he sent to the different parts of the country, calling on it to rise and aid him in rescuing the queen, their sovereign, from her present shameful captivity. It does not appear that he sent it. He probably found that the call 'would not be answered ; for the French match had lost him even that degree of favour with which he had been regarded by the commons : so the very expedient on which he relied for perpe- tuating his authority in Castile, was the chief cause of his losing it altogether. He was doomed to experience still more mortifying indignities. By the orders of the marquis of Astorga and the count of Benevente, he was actually refused admittance into those cities ; while proclamation was made by the same arrogant lords prohibiting any of their vassals from aiding or harbouring his Aragonese followers. " A sad spectacle, indeed," exclaims the loyal Martyr, " to behold a monarch, yesterday almost omnipotent, thus wandering a vagabond in his own kingdom, refused even the sight of his own child ! " Of all the gay tribe of courtiers who fluttered around him in his prosperity, the only Castilians of note who now remained true were the HE RESIGNS TO PHILIP. 48 J duke of Alva and the count of Cifuentcs ; for even his son-in-law, the constable of Castile, had deserted him. There were some, however, at a distance from the scene of operations, as the good Talavera, for instance, and the count of Tendilla, who saw with much concern the prospect of changing the steady and well-tried hand, which had held the helm for more than thirty years, for the capricious guidance ot Philip and his favourites. An end was at length put to this scandalous exhibition ; and Manuel, wli ther from increased confidence in his own resources, or the fear of bringing public odium on himself, consented to trust his royal charge to the peril of an interview.* The place selected was an open plain near Puebla de Senabria, on the borders of Leon and Galicia (June 23rd). Hut even then, the precautions taken were of a kind truly ludicrous, considering the forlorn condition of king Ferdinand. The whole military apparatus of the archduke was put in motion, as if he expected to win the crown by battle. First came the well-appointed German spearmen, all in lighting order ; then the shining squadrons of the noble Castilian chivalry, and their armed retainers. Next followed the arch- duke, seated on his war-horse and encompassed by his body-guard ; while the rear was closed by the long files of archers and light cavalry of the country.f Ferdinand, on the other hand, came into the field attended by about t\vo hundred nobles and gentlemen, chiefly Aragonese and Italians, riding on mules, and simply attired in the short black cloak and bonnet of the country, with no other weapon than the sword usually worn. The king trusted, says Xurita, to the majesty of his presence, and the reputation he had acquired by his long and able administration. The Castilian nobles, brought into contact with Ferdinand, could not well avoid paying their obeisance to him. He received them in his usual gracious and aftable manner, making remarks, the good-humour of which was occasionally seasoned with something of a more pungent character. To the duke of Najara, who was noted for being a vain- glorious person, and who came forward with a gallant retinue in all the panoply of war, he exclaimed, "So duke, you are mindful as ever, I see, of the duties of a great captain ! " Among others, was Garcilasso de la Vega, Ferdinand's minister formerly at Rome. Like many of the Castilian lords, he wore armour under his dress, the better to guard against surprise. The king embracing him, felt the mail beneath, and, tapping him familiarly on the shoulder, said, " I congratulate you, ( iareilasso : you have grown wonderfully lusty since we last met." The desertion, however, of one who had received so many favours from him, touched him more nearly than all the rest. As Philip drew near, it was observed he wore an anxious, embarrassed air, while his father-in-law maintained the same serene and cheerful aspect as usual. After exchanging salutations, the two niouarchs alighted, and entered a small hermitage in the neighbourhood, attended There are several letters of Philip to the Catholic king, written soon after landing fille< I with ux ] nvssions of respect, and affecting a great eagerness for the interview, which he was so careful to defeat. t The only pretext for all this pomp of war was the rumour that the king was levying a considerable t'urce. and the duke of Alva mustering hia followers In I/jou ; rumours willingly circulated, no doubt, if not a sheer duvu-e of the enemy. 486 THE BEGEXCY OF FEEDIXAXD. only by Manuel and archbishop Ximenes. They had no sooner entered, than the latter, addressing the favourite -with an air of authority it was not easy to resist, told him " It was not meet to intrude on the private concerns of their masters;" and, taking his arm, led him out of the apartment, and coolly locked the door on him, saying, at the same time, that "he would serve as porter." The conference led to no result. Philip was well schooled in his part, and remained, says Martyr, immovable as a rock. There was so little mutual confidence between the parties, that the name of Joanna, whom Ferdinand desired so much to see, was not even mentioned during the interview. But, however reluctant Ferdinand might be to admit it, he was no longer in a condition to stand upon terms; and, in addition to the entire loss of influence in Castile, he received such alarming accounts from Naples as made him determine on an immediate visit in person to that kingdom. He resolved, therefore, to bow his head to the present storm, in hopes that a brighter day was in reserve for him. He saw the jealousy hourly springing up between the Flemish and Castilian sourtiers ; and he probably anticipated such misrule as would afford an opening, perhaps with the good will of the nation, for him to resume the reins so unceremoniously snatched from his grasp.* At any rate, should force be necessary, he would be better able to employ it effectively, with the aid of his ally, the French king, after he had adjusted the affairs of Naples. Whatever considerations may have influenced the prudent monarch, he authorised the archbishop of Toledo, who kept near the person of the archduke, to consent to an accommodation on the very grounds pro- posed by the latter. On the 27th of June he signed and solemnly swore to an agreement, by which he surrendered the entire sovereignty of Castile to Philip and Joanna, reserving to himself only the grand- masterships of the military orders, and the revenues secured by Isal testament. On the following day he executed another instrument of most sin e import, in which, after avowing in unequivocal terms his daug incapacitv, he engages to assist Philip in preventing any interference iu her behalf, and to maintain him, as far as in his power, in the sole exclusive authority. Before signing these papers, he privately made a protest, in the presence of several witnesses, that what he was about to do was not of his own free will, but from necessity, to extricate himself from his perilous situation, and shield the country from the impending evils of a civil war. He concluded with asserting that, so far from relinquishing his claims to the regency, it was his design to enforce them, as well as to rescue his daughter from her captivity, as soon as he was in a condition to do so. Finally, he completed this chain of inconsistencies by ad I ing a circular letter, dated July 1st, to the different parts of th announcing his resignation of the government into the hands of Philip * Lord Bacon remarks, in allusion to Philip's premature death, "There was an obser- vation by the wisest of that court, that, if he had lived, his father would have upon him in that sort, as he would have governed his councils and designs, it' not his affections." The prediction must have been suggested by the general estimation of their respective characters ; for the parties never met again after Ferdinand v.ithdrew to Aragon. HE EESIGN3 TO PHILIP. 487 and Joanna, and declaring the act one which, notwithstanding his own right and. power to the contrary, he had previously determined on executing so soon as his children should set foot in Spain. It is not easy to reconcile this monstrous tissue of incongruity, and dissimilation with any motives of necessity or expediency. Why should he, so soon after preparing to raise the kingdom in his daugh- ter's cause, thus publicly avow her imbecility, and deposit the Avhole authority in the hands of Philip ? Was it to bring odium on the head of the latter, by encouraging him to a measure which he knew must disgust the Castilians? But Ferdinand by this very act shared the responsibility with him. Was it in the expectation that uncontrolled and undivided power, in the hands of one so rash and improvident, would the more speedily work his ruin ? As to his clandestine protest, its design was obviously to afford a plausible pretext at some future time for re-asserting his claims to the government, on the ground that his concessions had been the result of force. But then, why neutralise the operation of this by the declaration, spontaneously made in his manifesto to the people, that his abdication was not only a free, but most deliberate and premeditated act ? He was led to this last avowal, probably, by the desire of covering over the mortification of his defeat ; a thin varnish, which could impose on nobody. The whole of the pro- ceedings are of so ambiguous a character as to suggest the inevitable inference that they flowed from habits of dissimulation too strong to be controlled, even when there was no occasion for its exercise. We occa- sionally meet with examples of a similar fondness for superfluous manoeuvring in the humbler concerns of private life. After these events, one more interview took place between King Ferdinand and Philip (July 5th), in which the former prevailed on his son-in-law to pay such attention to decorum, and exhibit such outward marks of a cordial reconciliation, as, if they did not altogether impose on the public, might at least throw a decent veil over the coining sepa- ration. Even at this last meeting, however, such was the distrust and apprehension entertained of him, that the unhappy father was not permitted to see and embrace his daughter before his departure. Throughout the whole of these trying scenes, says his biographer, the king maintained that propriety and entire self- possession which comported with the dignity of his station and character, and strikingly contrasted with the conduct of his enemies. However much he may have been touched with the desertion of a people who had enjoyed the blessings of peace and security under his government for more than thirty years, he manifested no outward sign of discontent. On the con- trary, he took leave of the assembled grandees with many expressions of regard, noticing kindly their past services to him, and studying to leave such an impression as should efface the recollection of recent differences. The circumspect monarch looked forward, no doubt, to the day of his return. The event did not seem very improbable ; and there were other sagacious persons besides himself, who read in the dark signs of the times an abundant augury of some speedy revolution. CHAPTEE XVIII. OOUJMBU8 HI3 RETURN TO SPAIN HIS DEATtt. 15041506. Return of Columbus from his Fourth Voyage His Illness Neglected by Ferdinand Hto Death His Person and Character. "WHILE the events were passing -which, occupy the heginning of the preceding Chapter, Christopher Columbus returned from his fourth and last voyage. It had been one unbroken series of disappointment and disaster. After quitting Hispaniola, and being driven by storms nearly to the island of Cuba, he traversed the gulf of Honduras, and coasted along the margin of the golden region which had so long flitted before his fancy. The natives invited him to strike into its western depths in vain, and he pressed forward to the south, now solely occupied with the grand object of discovering a passage into the Indian ocean. At length, after having with great difficulty advanced somewhat beyond the point of Nombre de Dios, he was compelled, by the fury of the elements and the murmurs of his men, to abandon the enterprise and retrace his steps. He was subsequently defeated in an attempt to establish a colony on terra firma, by the ferocity of the natives ; was wrecked on the island of Jamaica, where he was permitted to linger more than a year, through the malice of Ovando, the new governor of St. Domingo ; and finally, having re-embarked with his shattered crew in a vessel freighted at his own expense, was driven by a succession of terrible tempests across the ocean, until, on the 7th of November, 1504, he anchored in the little port of St. Lucar, twelve leagues from Seville.* In this quiet haven Columbus hoped to find the repose his broken constitution and wounded spirit so much needed, and to obtain a speedy restitution of his honours and emoluments from the hand of Isabella* But here he was to experience his bitterest disappointment. At the time of his arrival, the queen was on her death-bed ; and in a very few days Columbus received the afflicting intelligence that his friend on whose steady support he had so confidently relied was no more. It was a heavy blow to his hopes, for " he had always experienced favour and protection from her," says his son Ferdinand; "while the king had not only been indifferent, but positively unfriendly to his interests." We may readily credit that a man of the cold and prudent character of the Spanish monarch would not be very likely to comprehend one so- ardent and aspiiing as that of Columbus, nor to make allowance for his extravagant sallies ; and if nothing has hitherto met our eye to warrant the strong language of the son, yet we have seen that the king, from the first, distrusted the admiral's projects, as having something unsound vnd chimerical in them. * Whatever cloud may be thrown over the early part of Columbus's career, there Is abundant light oti every step ot Lis path after the commencement of his great enterprise. BETURX OF COLTniBCS. 188 The affliction of the latter at the tidings of Isabella's death is strongly depicted in a letter written immediately after to his son Diego. " It i* our chief duty," he says, " to commend to God most affectionately and devoutly the soul of our deceased lady the queen. Her life was always Catholic and virtuous, and prompt to whatever could redound to His holy service ; wherefore we may trust she now rests in glory, far from all concern for this rough and weary world." Columbus, at this time, was so much crippled by the gout, to which, he had been long subject, that he was unable to undertake a journey to Segovia, where the court was, during the winter. He lost no time, however, in laying his situation before the king through his son Diego, who was attached to the royal household. He urged his past services, the original terms of the capitulation made with him, their infringement in almost every particular, and his own necessitous condition. But Ferdinand was too busily occupied with his own concerns, at this crisis, to give much heed to those of Columbus, who repeatedly complains of tin.- inattention shown to his application. At length, on the approach of a milder season, the admiral, having obtained a dispensation iu his- favour from the ordinance prohibiting the use of mules, was able by- easy journeys to reach Segovia, and present himself before the monarch (May, 1505). JI was received with all the outward marks of courtesy and regard bv Ferdinand, who assured him that "he fully estimated his important Cervices, and, far from stinting his recompense to the precise terms of the capitulation, intended to confer more ample favours on him in lie." These fair words, however, were not seconded by actions. The king, probably had no serious thoughts of reinstating the admiral in his p>\ eminent. His successor, Ovando, was high in the royal favour. His rule, however objectionable as regards the Indians, was every way acceptable to the Spanish colonists ; and even his oppression of the poor natives was so far favourable to his cause, that it enabled him to pour much larger sums into the royal coffers than had been gleaned by bis- more humane predecessor. The events of the last voyage, moreover, had probably not tended to dispel any distrust which the king previously entertained of the admiral's capacity for government. His men had been in a state of perpetual insubordination ; while his letter to the sovereigns, written, under distressing circumstances, indeed, from Jamaica, exhibited such a deep colouring of despondency, and occasionally such wild and visionary projects, as might almost suggest the suspicion of a temporary alienatiou of mind.* But, whatever reasons may have operated to postpone Columbus's restoration to power, it was the grossest injustice to withhold from him the revenues secured by the original contract with the crown. Accord- ing to his own statement, he was so far from receiving his share of th& remittances made by Ovaudo, that he was obliged to borrow money, and This document exhibits a medley, hi which sober narrative and sound reasoning ar strangely blended with crazy dreams, doleful lamentation, and wild schemes for th<* r iy of Jmisalem, the conversion of the Gram! Khan, Are. Vagaries like these, which come occasionally like clouds over his soul, to shut out the light of reason, cannot fail to fill the mind of the reader, as they doubtless did those of the sovereigns at the time, witb mingled sentiments of wonder had compassion. 430 BETCTRTir OF COLUJIBPt,. bad actually incurred a heavy debt for bis necessary expenses. Tha truth was, that, as the resources of the new countries began to develop themselves more abundantly, Ferdinand felt greater reluctance to comply with the letter of the original capitulation ; he now considered the com- pensation as too vast, and altogether disproportioned to the services of any subject ; and at length was so ungenerous as to propose that the admiral should relinquish his claims in consideration of other estates and dignities to be assigned him in Castile. It argued less knowledge of character than the king usually showed, that he should have thought the man who had broken off all negotiations on the threshold of a dubious enterprise, rather than abate one tittle of his demands, would consent to such abatement when the success of that enterprise was so gloriously established. "What assistance Columbus actually received from the crown at this time, or whether he received any, does not appear. He continued to reside with the court, and accompanied it in its removal to Yalladolid. He no doubt enjoyed the public consideration due to his high repute and extraordinary achievements ; though by the monarch he might be re- garded in the unwelcome light of a creditor, whose claims were too just to be disavowed, and too large to be satisfied. With spirits broken by this unthankful requital of his services, and with a constitution impaired by a life of unmitigated hardship, Columbus's health now rapidly sunk under the severe and reiterated attacks of his disorder. On the arrival of Philip and Joanna, he addressed a letter to them, through his brother Bartholomew, in which he lamented the infirmities which prevented him from paying his respects in person, and made a tender of his future services. The communication was graciously received, but Columbus did not survive to behold the young sovereigns. His mental vigour, however, was not impaired by the ravages of disease, and, on the 19th of May, 1506, he executed a codicil, confirming certain testamentary dispositions formerly made, with special reference to the entail of his estates and dignities ; manifesting, in his latest act, the same solicitude he had shown through life to perpetuate an honour- able name. Having completed these arrangements with perfect com- posure, he expired on the following day, being that of our Lord's ascension (May 20, 1506), with little apparent suffering, and in the most Christian spirit of resignation. His remains, first deposited in the con- vent of St. Francis at Valladolid, were, six years later, removed to the Carthusian monastery of Las Cuevas at Seville, where a costly monu- ment was raised over them by King Ferdinand, with the memorable inscription " A Castilla y a Leon, Nuovo mundo di<5 Colon ; " 4f the like of which," says his son Ferdinand, with as much truth as simplicity, " was never recorded of any man in ancient or modern times." From this spot his body was transported, in the year 1536, to the island of St. Domingo, the proper theatre of his discoveries ; and, on the cession of that island to the French, in 1795, was again removed to Cuba, where his ashes now quietly repose in the cathedral church of its capital.* * On the left of the grand altar of this stately edifice is a bust of Columbus, placed in a niche ia the wall ; and near it a silver urn, containing all that now remains of the illus- trious voyagei HIS DEATH. 491 There is considerable uncertainty as to Columbus's age, though it eems probable that it was not far from seventy at the time of his death. His person has been minutely described by his son. He was tall and well-made, his head large, with an aquiline nose, small light-blue, or grayish eyes, a fresh complexion and red hair, though incessant toil and exposure had bronzed the former, and bleached the latter, before the age of thirty. He had a majestic presence, with much dignity, and at the same time affability of manner. He was fluent, even eloquent in dis- course ; generally temperate in deportment, but sometimes mirried by a too lively sensibility into a sally ot passion. He was abstemious in his dii't, indulged little in amusements of any kind, and, in truth, seemed too much absorbed by the great cause to which he had consecrated his life, to allow scope for the lower pursuits and pleasures which engage ordinary men. Indeed, his imagination, by feeding too exclusively on this lofty theme, acquired an unnatural exaltation, which raised him too much above the sober realities of existence, leading him to spurn at difficulties which in the end proved insurmountable, and to colour the future with those rainbow tints which too often melted into air. Tiiis exalted state of the imagination was the result, in part, no doubt, of the peculiar circumstances of his life ; for the glorious enterprise which he had achieved almost justified the conviction of his acting under the influence of some higher inspiration than mere human reason, and led his devout mind to discern intimations respecting himself in the dark and mysterious annunciations of sacred prophecy. That the romantic colouring of his mind, however, was natural to him, and not purely the growth of circumstances, is evident from the chimerical speculations in which he seriously indulged before the accom- plishment of his great discoveries. His scheme of a crusade for the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre was most deliberately meditated, and strenuously avowed from the very first date of his proposals to the ish government. His enthusiastic communications on the subject must have provoked a smile from a pontiff like Alexander the Sixth ; and may suggest some apology for the tardiness with which his more rational projects were accredited by the Castilian government. But these visionary fancies never clouded his judgment in matters relating to his great undertaking ; and it is curious to observe the prophetic accu- racy with which he discerned, not only the existence but the eventual resources of the western world : as is sufficiently evinced by his precau- tions, to the very last, to secure the full fruits of them, unimpaired, to his posterity. Whatever were the defects of his mental constitution, the finger of the historian will find it difficult to point to a single blemish in his moral character. His correspondence breathes the sentiment of devoted loyalty to hi :;s. His conduct habitually displayed the utmost solici- tude for the interests of his followers. He expended almost his last maravedi in restoring his unfortunate crew to their native land. His dealings were regulated by the nicest principles of honour and justice. His last communication to the sovereigns from the Indies remonstrates Against the use of violent measures in order to extract gold from the natives, as a thing equally scandalous and impolitic. The grand object to which he dedicated himself seemed to expand his whole soul, and raised it above the petty shifts and artifices bv which great ends ure 492 KEIGX AND DEATH OF PHILIP. sometimes sought to be compassed. There are some men in whom rare virtues have been closely allied, if not to positive vice, to degrading weakness. Columbus's character presented no such humiliating incon- gruity. Whether we contemplate it in its public or private relations, in all its features it wears the same noble aspect. It was in perfect harmony with the grandeur of his plans, and their results, more stupendous than those which Heaven has permitted any other mortal to achieve.* CHAPTER XIX. REIGK A1TD DEATH OF PHILIP I. PROCEEDINGS IN CASTILE FERDINAND VISITS HAPLM. 1506. Philip and Joanna Their reckless Administration Ferdinand distrusts Gonsalvo Ha sails for Naples Philip's Death and Character The Provisional Government Joanna's Condition Ferdinand's Entry into Naples Discontent caused by his Measures there. FEBDIXAND had no sooner concluded the arrangement with Philip, and withdrawn into his hereditary dominions, than the archduke and his wife proceeded towards Valladolid to receive the homage of t he- estates convened in that city. Joanna, oppressed with an habitual melancholy, and clad in the sable habiliments better suited to a season of mourning than rejoicing, refused the splendid ceremonial and festivities with which the city was prepared to welcome her. Her dissipated husband, Avho had long since ceased to treat her not merely with affection, but even decency, would fain have persuaded the cortes to authorise the confine- ment of his wife, as disordered in intellect, and to devolve on him the whole charge of the government. In this he was supported by the archbishop of Toledo, and some of the principal nobility. But the thing was distasteful to the commons, who could not brook such an indignity to their own " natural sovereign : " and they were so staunchly supported by the admiral Enriquez, a grandee of the highest authority from his connexion with the crown, that Philip was at length induced to abandon his purpose, and to content himself with an act of recognition similar it * Columbus left two sons, Fernando and Diego. The former, illegitimate, inherited his father's genius, says a Castilian writer ; and the latter, his honours and estates. Fernando, besides other works now lost, left a valuable memoir of his father, often cited in this history. He was a person of rather uncommon literary attainments, and amassed a library, in his extensive travels, of 20,000 volumes, perhaps the largest private collection in Europe at that day. Diego did not succeed to his father's dignities till he had obtained a judgment in his favour against the crown from the council of the Indies ; an act highly honourable to that tribunal, and showing that the independence of the courts 01 justice, the greatest bulwark of civil liberty, was well maintained under King Ferdinand. The young admiral subsequently married a lady of the great Toledo family, niece of the duke of Alva.. This alliance with one of the most ancient branches of the haughty aristocracy of Castile proves the extraordinary consideration which Columbus must have attained during his own lifetime. A new opposition was made by Charles V. to the succession of Diego's on ; and the latter, discouraged by the prospect of this interminable litigation with the crown, prudently consented to commute his claims, too vast and indefinite for any sub- ject to enforce, for specific honours and revenues in Castile. The titles of duke ol Veragua and marquis of Jamaica, derived from the places visited by the admiral in his last voyage, still distinguish the family ; whose proudest title, above all that monarchs can confer, is, lo l;ve descended from Columbus. FEBBINAXD VISITS >*API.I -. 493 that made at Toro. No notice whatever was taken of the Catholic king, or of his recent 'arrangement transferring the regency to Philip (July 12, loOG). The usual oaths of allegiance were tendered to Joanna, as ([tieen and ladv proprietor of the kingdom, and to Philip as her husband, and finally to their eldest son, Prince Charles, as heir apparent and lawful successor on the demise of his mother.* llv the tenor of these acts the ruyal authority would seem to be virtual] v vested in Joanna. From this moment, however, Philip assumed the government into his own hands. The effects were soon visible in the thorough revolution introduced into every department. Old incumbents in office were ejected without ceremony, to make way for new favourites. The Flemings, in particular, were placed in every considerable post, and the principal fortresses of the kingdom intrusted to their keeping. No length or degree of service was allowed to plead in behalf of the ancient occupant. The marquis and marchioness of Moya, the personal friends of the late queen, and who had been particularly recommended by her to her daughter's favour, were forcibly expelled from Segovia, whose strong citadel was given to Don Juan Manuel. There were no limits to the estates and honours lavished on this crafty minion. The style of living at the court was on the most thoughtless scale of wasteful expenditure. The public revenues, notwithstanding liberal appropriations by the late cortes, were wholly unequal to it. To supply the deficit, offices were sold to the highest bidder. The income drawn from the silk manufactures of Granada, which had been appropriated to defray King Ferdinand's pension, was assign*. d by Philip to one of the royal treasurers. Fortunately, Ximenes obtained possession of the order, and had the boldness to tear it in pieces. He then waited on the young monarch, and remonstrated with him on the recklessness of measures which must infalliblv ruin his credit with the people. Philip yielded in this instance ; but, although he treated the archbishop with the greatest outward deference, it is not easy to discern the habitual influence over his counsels claimed for the prelate by his adulatory biographers. All this could not fail to excite disgust and disquietude throughout the nation. The most alarming symptoms of insubordination began to appear in different parts of the kingdom. In Andalusia, in particular, a 011 federation of the nobles was organised, with the avowed purpose of rescuing the queen from the duress in which it was said she was held by her husband. At the same time the most tiimultuous scenes were exhibited in Cordova, in consequence of the high hand with which the Inquisition was carrying matters there. Members of many of the principal families, including persons of both sexes, had been arrested on the charge of her, sy. This sweeping proscription provoked an insurrec- tion, countenanced by the marquis of Priego, in which the prisons were broken open, and Lucero, an inquisitor who had made himself deservedly odious by his cruelties, narrowly escaped falling into the hands of the infuriated populace. f The grand inquisitor, Deza, archbishop of Seville, * Joanna on this occasion was careful to inspect the powers of the deputies herself, to nee they were all regularly ainnoiiiit .-..- ra madwoman ! t I backhanded pun, usually nick names Tanebrero) resumed his inquisitorial -death. Among his sub> rictims was the good archbishop Talavera, whose last days were embittered by his perse- cution. His insane violence at length provoked again the interference of government 494 JtEIGN AND DEATH OF PHILIP. the steady friend of Columbus, but whose name is unhappily registered on some of the darkest pages of the tribunal, Was so intimidated as to resign his office. The whole affair was referred to the royal council by Philip, whose Flemish education had not predisposed him to any rever- ence for the institution ; a circumstance which operated quite as much to his prejudice with the more bigoted part of the nation, as his really exceptionable acts. The minds of the wise and good were filled with sadness as they listened to the low murmurs of popular discontent, which seemed to be gradually swelling into strength for some terrible convulsion ; and they looked back with fond regret to the halcyon days which they had enjoyed under the temperate rule of Ferdinand and Isabella. The Catholic king, in the mean time, was pursuing his voyage to Naples. He had been earnestly pressed by the Neapolitans to visit his new dominions soon after the conquest. He now went ; less, however, in compliance with that request, than to relieve his own mind by assuring himself of the fidelity of his viceroy, Gonsalvo de Cordova. 5Chat illustrious man had not escaped the usual lot of humanity ; his brilliant successes had brought on him a full measure of the envy which seems to wait on merit like its shadow. Even men like Rojas, the Castilian ambassador at Rome, and Prospero Colonna, the distinguished Italian commander, condescended to employ their influence at court to depreciate the Great Captain's services, and raise suspicions of his loyalty. His courteous manners, bountiful largesses, and magnificent style of living, were represented as politic arts to seduce the affections of the soldiery and the people. His services were in the market for the highest bidder. He had received the most splendid offers from the king of France and the pope. He had carried on a correspondence with Maximilian and Philip, who would purchase his adhesion, if possible, to the latter, at any police ; and, if he had not hitherto committed himself by any overt act, it seemed probable he was only waiting to be determined in hi* future course by the result of King Ferdinand's struggle with his son-in-law.* These suggestions, in which some truth, as usual, was mingled with a large infusion of error, gradually excited more and more uneasiness in the breast of the cautious and naturally distrustful Ferdinand. He at first endeavoured to abridge the powers of the Great Captain by recalling half the troops in his service, notwithstanding the unsettled state of the kingdom. He then took the decisive step of ordering his return to- Castile, on pretence of employing him in affairs of great importance at home. To allure him more effectually, he solemnly pledged himself, by an oath, to transfer to him, on his landing in Spain, the grand master- ship of St. Jago, with all its princely dependencies and emoluments, the noblest gift in the possession of the crown. Finding all this ineffectual, and that Gonsalvo still procrastinated his return on various pretexts, the His case was referred to a special coinmisdion, with Ximenes at its head. Sentence was pronounced against him. The prisons he had filled were emptied. His judgments were reversed as founded on insufficient and frivolous grounds. But alas ! what was this to the hundreds ho had consigned to the stake, and the thousands he had plunged in misery ? He was in the end sentenced, not to be roasted alive, but to retire to his own benefice, and confine himself to the duties of a Christian minister ! * Gonaalvo, in pno of his letters to the king, notices these imputations, so prejudicial to nis honour. He implores his master to take no precipitate measures in consequence, and concludes with the most vehement protestations of loyalty and devotion tc his service. FEBDIXAXD VISITS NAPLES. 495 king's uneasiness increased to such a degree that he determined to press bis own departure for Xaples, and bring back, if not too late, his too powerful vassal. On the 4th of September, 1 506, Ferdinand embarked at Barcelona, on board a well-armed squadron of Catalan galleys ; taking with him his young and beautiful bride, and a numerous train of Aragonese nobles. On the 2-ith of the month, after a boisterous and tedious passage, he reached the port of Genoa. Here, to his astonishment, he was joined by the Great Captain, who, advised of the king's movements, had come from Naples with a small fleet to meet him. This frank conduct of his general, if it did not disarm Ferdinand of his suspicions, showed him the policy of concealing them ; and he treated Gonsalvo with all the consideration, and show of confidence which might impose, not merely on the public,, but on the immediate subject of them. The Italian writers of the time express their astonishment that the? Spanish general should have so blindly trusted himself into the hand* jf his suspicious master. But he, doubtless, felt strong in the conscious- ness of his own integritv. There appears to have been no good reason lor impeaching this. His most equivocal act -was his delay to obey the royal summons ; but much weight is reasonably due to his own t xplanation, that he was deterred by the distracted state of the country, arising from the proposed transfer of property to the Angevin barons, as well as from the precipitate disbanding of the army, which it required all his authority to prevent from breaking into open mutiny.* To these motives may be probably added the natural, though perhaps unconscious, reluctance to relinquish the exalted station, little short of absolute sove- reignty, which he had so long and so gloriously filled. lie had, indeed, lorded it over his viceroyalty with most princely sway ; but he had assumed no powers to which he was not entitled by his services and peculiar situation. His public operations in Italy had been uniformly conducted for the advantage of his country, and, until the late final treaty with France, were mainly directed to the expulsion of that power beyond the Alps. Since that event, he had busily occupied himself with the internal affairs of Naples, for which he made many excellent provisions, contriving by his consummate address to reconcile the most conflicting interests and parties. Although the idol of the army and of the people, there is not the slightest evidence of an attempt to pervert his popularity to an unworthy purpose. There is no appear- ance of his having been corrupted, or even dazzled, by the splendid offers repeatedly made him by the different potentates of Europe. On the contrary, the proud answer recorded of him, to Pope Julius the .d, breathes a spirit of determined loyalty, perfectly irreconcilable with anything sinister or selfish in his motives. The Italian writers of the time, who affect to speak of these motives with some distrust, were little accustomed to such examples of steady devotion ; f but the historian, * There are several letters from Gonsalvo, in the year 1506, announcing his speedy return, an 1 explaining the postponement of it by the unsettled state of the kingdom, which, indeed, forms the burden of his correspondence at this time t This way of damning a character by surmise, is very common with Italian writers of this age, who uniformly resort to the very worst motive as the key of whatever is dubiou* cr inexplicable in conduct. Not a sudden death, tor example, occurs, without at : totpftto of poison from some hand or other. What a fcaiful commentary on the maraJs of tfcelaud 1 ISMJ EEIGN AND DEATH OF PHIL!?. \vho reviews all the circumstances, must admit that there was nothing U justify such distrust, and that the only exceptionable acts in Gonsalvo'i administration were performed, not to advance his own interests, but those of his master, and in too strict obedience to his commands. King [Ferdinand was the last person who had cause to complain of them. After quitting Genoa, the royal squadron was driven by contrary winds into the neighbouring harbour of Portofino, where Ferdinand received intelligence which promised to change his destination altogether. This was the death of his son-in-law, the young king of Castile. This event, so unexpected and awfully sudden, was occasioned by a fever, brought on by too violent exercise at a game of "ball, at an enter- tainment made for Philip by his favourite, Manuel, in Burgos, where the court was then held. Through the unskilfulncss of his physicians, as it was said, who neglected to bleed him, the disorder rapidly gained ground ; * and on the sixth day after his attack, being the 25th oi September, 1506, he breathed his last.f He was but twenty-eight years old; of which brief period he had enjoyed, or endured, the "golden ares" of sovereignty but little more than two months, dating from his recognition by the cortes. His body, after being embalmed, lay in state for two days, decorated with the insignia, the mockery of royalty, as it had proved to him, and was then deposited in the convent of Miranores, near Burgos, to await its final removal to Granada, agreeably to his last request. Philip was of the middle height; he had a fair florid complexion, regular features, long flowing locks, and a well-made, symmetrical figure. Indeed, he was so esteemed for comeliness both of person and countenance, that he is designated on the roll of Spanish sovereigns as Felipe El Hermoso, or the Handsome. His mental endowments were not so extraordinary. The father of Charles the Fifth possessed scarcely a single quality in common with his remarkable son. He was rash and impetuous in his temper, frank, and careless. He was born to great expectations, and early accustomed to command, which seemed to fill him with a crude, intemperate ambition, impatient alike of control and counsel. He was not without generous, and even magnanimous sentiments ; but he abandoned himself to the impulse of the moment, whether for good or evil ; and, as he was naturally indolent and fond of pleasure, he willingly reposed the burden of government on others, who, as usual, thought more of their own interests than those of the public. His early education exempted him from the bigotry characteristic of the Spaniards ; and, had he lived, he might have done much to mitigate the grievous abuses of the Inquisition. As it was, his premature death deprived him of the opportunity of compensating, by this single good act, the manifold mischiefs of his administration. This event, too improbable to have formed any part of the calculations of the most far-sighted politician, spread general consternation throughout * Philip's disorder was lightly regarded at first by his Flemish physicians, whose practice and predictions were alike condemned by their coadjutor l.udovieo Marliano, an Italian doctor, highly commended by Martyr, as " inter philosophos ct iccdicos lucida lampas. " He was at least the better prophet, on ihis occasion. t Fortunately for Fen Inland's rcjuitat inn, I'liilip's death was attended by too unequivocal circum.sianccs. and recorded i>/ ton many eyewitnesses, to admit the suggestion cfpoisoo. it seems lie drank i'rc.uly of cold water while very hot. The lover he brought c a was an epidemic, which at that time alllictcd Castile. JTKDIXAND VISITS X.Vl'UiS. 497 the country. The old adherents of Ferdinand, with Xinienos at their head, now looked forward with confidence to his re-establishment in the regency. Many others, however, like Garcilasso de la V \vhose loyalty to their old master had not been proof again>t the ;' viewed this with some apprehension. Others, again, who had <>pcnlv from the first linked their fortunes to those of his rival, as the di. Najara, the marquis of \'illena, and, above all, Don Juan .Manuel, saw in it their certain ruin, and turned their thoughts towards Maximilian, or the king of Portugal, or any other monarch whose connexion with the royal family might attbrd a plausible pretext for interference in tho nmeut. On Philip's Flemish followers the tidings fell like a thunderbolt; and in their bewilderment they seemed like so many -hcd birds of prey, still hovering round the half-devoured carcass from which they had been unceremoniously scared. The weight of talent and popular consideration was undoubtedly on the king's side. The most formidable of the opposition, Manuel, had declined greatly in credit with the nation during the short, disastrous period of his administration ; while the archbishop of Toledo, who might be considered as the leader of Ferdinand's party, possessed talents, energy, and reputed sanctity of character, which, combined with the authority of his station, gave him unbounded influence over all cl: of the Castilians. It was fortunate for the land, in this emergency, that the primacy was in such able hands. It justified the wisdom of Isabella's choice, made in opposition, it may be remembered, to the wishes of Ferdinand, who was now to reap the greatest benefit from it. That prelate, foreseeing the anarchy likely to arise on Philip's death, assembled the nobility present at the court, in his own palace, the day bi lore this event took place. It was there agreed to name a provisional council, or regency, who should carry on the government, and provide for the tranquillity of the kingdom. It consisted of seven members, with the archbishop of Toledo at its head ; the duke of Infantado ; the grand constable and the admiral of Castile, both connected with the royal family; the duke of Xajara, a principal leader of the opposite faction; and two Flemish lords. No mention was made of Manuel. The nobles, in a subsequent convention on the 1st of October, ratified these proceedings, and bound themselves not to carry on private war, or attempt to possess themselves of the queen's person, and to employ all their authority in supporting the provisional government, whose term was limited to the end of December. A meeting of cortes was wanting to give validity to their acts, as well as to express the popular will in reference to a permanent settlement of tin' government. There was some difference of opinion, even among the king's friends, as to the expediency of summoning that body at this : but the greatest impediment arose from the queen's refusal to sign the writs. This unhappy lady's condition had become truly deplorable. During her husband's illness she had never left his bedside ; but neither then, nor sinee his death, had been seen to shed a tear. She remained in a state of stupid insensibility, sitting in a darkened apartment, her head resting on her hand, and her lips closed, as mute and immovable as a statue When applied to for issuing the ncce^ary summons for the i, or to make appointments to office, or for any other pressing K K 498 EEIGX AKD DEATH OV PHILIP. business which required her signature, she replied, "My father will attend to all this when he returns ; he is much more conversant with business than I am ; I have no other duties now but to pray for the soul of iny departed husband." The only orders she was known to sign were for paying the salaries of her Flemish musicians ; for in her abject state she found some consolation in music, of which she had been passionately fond from childhood. The few remarks which she uttered were discreet and sensible, forming a singular contrast with the general extravagance of her actions. On the whole, however, her pertinacity in refusing to sign anything was attended with as much good as evil, since it prevented her name from being used, as it would undoubtedly have often been, in the existing state of things, for pernicious and party purposes. Finding it impossible to obtain the queen's co-operation, the council at length resolved to issue the writs of summons in their own name, as a measure justified by necessity. The place of meeting was fixed at Burgos in the ensuing month of November ; and great pains were taken that the different cities should instruct their representatives in their views respecting the ultimate disposition of the government. Long before this, indeed immediately after Philip's death, letters had been dispatched by Ximenes and his friends to the Catholic king, acquainting him with the state of affairs, and urging his immediate return to Castile. He received them at Portofino. He determined, however, to continue his voyage, in which he had already advanced so far, to Naples. The wary monarch perhaps thought that the Castilians, whose attachment to his own person he might with some reason distrust, would not be the less inclined to his rule after having tasted the bitter- ness of anarchy. In his reply, therefore, after briefly expressing a decent regret at the untimely death of his son-in-law, and his undoubting con- fidence in the loyalty of the Castilians to their queen his daughter, he prudently intimates that he retains nothing but kindly recollections of his ancient subjects, and promises to use all possible dispatch in adjusting the affairs of Naples, that he may again return to them. After this, the king resumed his voyage, and having touched at several places on the coast, in all which he was received with great enthusiasm, arrived before the capital of his new dominions in the latter part of October. All were anxious, says the great Tuscan historian of the time, to behold the prince who had acquired a mighty reputation throughout Europe for his victories both over Christian and infidel, and whose name was everywhere revered for the wisdom and equity with which he had ruled in his own kingdom. They looked to his coming, therefore, as an event fraught with importance, not merely to Naples, but to all Italy, where his personal presence and authority might do so much to heal existing feuds, and establish permanent tranquillity. The Neapolitans, in particular, were intoxicated with joy at his arrival. The most splen- did preparations were made for his reception. A fleet of twenty vessels of war came out to meet him and conduct him into port ; and, as he touched the shores of his new dominions, the air was rent with acclama- tions of the people, and with the thunders of artillery from the fortresses which crowned the heights of the city, and from the gallant navy which rode in her waters. The faithful chronicler of Los Palacios, who generally officiates as tha FERDINAND VISITS NAPLES. 499 master of ceremonies on these occasions, dilates with great complacency on all the circumstances of the celebration, even to the minutest lined with satin of the same colour. On his hoad was a hi- . l."unet, uarnishcd with a resplendent ruby, and a pearl of i : : lie rode a noble white ch;i :rni>hed caparisons stubborn, .a temper to do so. At length, the Catholic monarch, having completed his arrangements at Naples, and waited until the affairs of Castile were fully ripe lor his return, set sail from his Italian capital, June 4th, 1507. He proposed to touch at the Genoese port of Savona, where an interview had been arranged between him and Louis the Twelfth. During his residence in Naples, he had assiduously devoted himself to the affairs of the kingdom. He had avoided entering into the local politics of Italy, refusing all treatises and alliances proposed to him by its various states, whether offensive or defensive. He had evaded the importunate solicitations and remonstrances of Maximilian in regard to the Castilian regency, and had declined, moreover, a personal conference proposed to him by the emperor during his stay in Italy. After the great work of ring the Angevins to their estates, he had thoroughly re-organised the interior administration of the kingdom ; creating new offices, and entirely new departments. He made large reforms, moreover, in the courts of law. and prepared the way for the new system, demanded by its relations as a dependency of the Spanish monarchy. Lastly, before leaving the city, he acceded to the request of the inhabitants for the -tablishment of their ancient university. In all thes sagacious measures he had been ably assisted by his : >y, Gonsalvo de Cordova. Ferdinand's deportment towards the latt.Tnad been studied, as I have said, to efface every uncomfortable impression from his mind. On his first arrival, indeed, the king had condescended to listen to complaints, made by certain officers of the exchequer of Gonsalvo's waste and misapplication of the public moneys. The general simply asked leave to produce his own accounts in his ooe. Th3 first item which he read aloud was, two hundred thousand : hundred and thirty-six ducats, given in alms to the monasteries and the poor, to secure their prayers for the success of the king's enter- The second was seven hundred thousand four hundred and ninety-four lucats to the spies employed in his service. Other charges, equally preposterous, followed ; while some of the audience stared incredulous, others laughed, and the king himself, ashamed of the paltry part he was playing, dismissed the whole affair as a jest. The common 504 FERDINAND'S RETURN AND REGENCY". saving of cirentas del Gran Capitan, at this day, attests at least the popular i'aith in the anecdote. From this moment, Ferdinand continued to show Gonsalvo unbounded marks of confidence ; advising with him on all important matters, and making him the only channel of royal favour. He again renewed, in the most emphatic manner, his promise to resign the grandmastership of St. Jago in his favour on their return to Spain, and made formal appli- cation to the pope to confirm it. In addition to the princely honours already conferred on the Great Captain, he granted him the noble duchy of Sessa, by an instrument which, after a pompous recapitulation of his stately titles and manifold services, declares that these latter were too great for recompense. Unfortunately for both king and subject, this was too true.* Gonsalvo remained a day or two behind his royal master in Naples to settle his private affairs. In addition to the heavy debts incurred by his own generous style of living, he had assumed those of many of his old companions in arms with whom the world had gone less prosperously than with himself. The claims of his creditors, therefore, had swollen to such an amount, that, in order to satisfy them fully, he was driven to sacrifice part of the domains lately granted him. Having discharged all the obligations of a man of honour, he prepared to quit the land over which he had ruled with so much splendour and renown for nearly four years. The Neapolitans in a body followed him to the vessel ; and nobles, cavaliers, and even ladies of the highest rank, lingered on the shore to bid him a last adieu. Not a dry eye, says the historian, was to be seen. So completely had he dazzled their imaginations, und captivated their hearts, by his brilliant and popular manners, his munificent spirit, and the equity of his administration, qualities more useful, and probably more rare in those turbulent times, than military talent. He was succeeded in the office of grand constable of the kingdom by Prospero Colonna, and in that of viceroy by the count cf llibagorza, Ferdinand's nephew. On the 28th of June, the royal fleet of Aragon entered the little port of Savona, where the king 01 France had already been waiting fur it several days. The French navy was ordered out to receive the Catholic monarch ; and the vessels on either side, gaily decorated with the national flags and ensigns, rivalled each other in the beauty and magni- ficence of their equipments. King Ferdinand's galleys were spread with rich carpets and awnings of yellow and scarlet, and every sailor in the fleet exhibited the same gaudy- coloured livery of the royal house of Aragon. Louis the Twelfth came to welcome his illustrious gi; attended by a gallant train of his nobility and chivalry ; and, in order to reciprocate, as far as possible, the confidence reposed in him by the monarch with whom he had been so recently at deadly feud, immediately went on board the vessel of the latter. Horses and mules richly caparisoned awaited them at the landing. The French king mounting The revenues from his various estates amounted to 40,000 ducats. Zurita speaks of anoiuer instrument, a public manifesto of the Catholic kin,?, proclaiming to the world hi sense of his general's exalted services and unimpeachable loyalty. This sat of testimony seems to contain an implication not very flattering, and, on the whole, is so impr that I cannot but think the A -toriau has confounded it witi the u r rant of . bearing prueisuly the same 'late. February li.Hh, and c-'-nt-iininar also, though inci- ier tally, and as a thing of course, the most amplo tribute to the Great Capttiu. OF GOXSA.LVO. 503 his steed, gallantly placed the young queen of Aragon behind him. His cavaliers did the Mme with the ladies of her suite, most of them hwoni'-n, though attired, as an old chronicler of the nation, rather peevishly complains, after the Spanish fashion ; and the whole party, with the ladies en croupe, galloped off to the royal quarters in tia. iilithe and jocund were the revels which rung through the halls of this fair city during the brief residence of its royal visitors. Abundance "1 cheer had been provided by Louis's orders, writes an old cavalier,* who was there to profit by it ; and the larders of Savona were tilled with the choicest game, and its cellars well stored with the delicious wines of Corsica, Languedoc, and Provence. Among the followers of Louis were the marquis of Mantua, the brave La Palice, the veteran D'Aubigny, and many others of renown who had so lately measured swords with the Spaniards on the fields of Italy, and who now vied with each other in rendering them these more grateful, and no less honourable, offices of chivalry. As the gallant D'Aubigny was confined to his apartment by the gout, Ferdinand, who had always held his conduct and talents in high esteem, complimented him by a visit in person. But no one excited such and attention as Gonsalvo de Cordova, who was empha- . th> hero of the day. At least, such is the testimony of irdini, who will not be suspected of undue partiality. Many a Frenchman there had had bitter experience of his military prowess. Many others had grown familiar with his exploits in the exaggerated i nl 1 their eountrvmen. They had been taught to regard him with mingled feelings of fear and hatred, and could scarcely credit their senses as they beheld the bugbear of their imaginations distinguished above all others for ''the majesty of his presence, the polished elegance of his discourse, and manners in which dignity was blended with grace." But none were so open in their admiration as King Louis. At his request Gonsalvo was admitted to sup at the same table with the Aragonese sovi-rei-jns and himself. During the repast he surveyed l>is illustrious guest with the deepest interest, asking him various particulars respecting those memorable campaigns which had proved so fatal to France. To all these the Great Captain responded with becoming gravity, says the chronicler; and the French monarch testified his i'ctiou'at parting, by taking a massive chain of exquisite workman- ship from his own neck, and throwing it round Gonsalvo s. Ihe ]ii>t..riaiis of the event appear to be entirely overwhelmed with the magnitude of the honour conferred on the Great Captain, by thus admitting him to the same table with three crowned heads; and Guicciardini does not hesitate to pronounce it a more glorious epoch in his life than even that of his triumphant entry into the capital of Naples. During this interview, the monarchs held repeated conferences, at * For fighting, and feasting, and all the generous pastimes of chivalry, none of the old French chroniclers of this time rivals D'Aut-n. Ho is the very Froissart of tl eenturv. A part of liis work still remains in manuscript That which is printed retains tho same t.>rm. 1 believe, in which it was given to the public by Godcfroy, in the beginning of the 17th century: while many an interior chronicler and memoir-monger has oeen published and re published, with all the lights of editorial erudition. 600 FERDIKAXD'S RETOIX A:\D XEGEXCY. which none were present but the papal envoy, and Lou!..'.-; favourite minister, D'Amboise. The subject of discussion can only be conjectured by the subsequent proceedings, which makes it probable that it related to Italy ; and that it was in this season of idle dalliance and festivity that the two princes who held the destinies of that country in their hands matured the famous league of Cambray, so disastrous to Venice, and reflecting little credit on its projectors, either on the score of good faith or sound policy. But to this we shall have occasion to return hereafter. At length, after enjoying for four days the splendid hospitality of their royal entertainer, the king and queen of Aragon re-embarked, and reached their own port of Valencia, after various detentions, on the 20th of July 1507. Ferdinand, having rested a short time in his beautiful capital, pressed forward to Castile, where his presence was eagerly expected. On the borders he was met by the dukes of Albuquerque and Medina Celi, his faithful follower the count of Cifuentes, and many other nobles and cavaliers. He was soon after joined by deputies from many of the principal cities in the kingdom, and, thus escorted, made his entry into it by the way of Monteagudo, on the 21st of August. How different from the forlorn and outcast condition in which he had quitted the country a short year before ! He intimated the change in his own circumstances by the greater state and show of authority which he now assumed. The residue of the old Italian army, just arrived under the celebrated Pedro Navarro, count of Oliveto,* preceded him on the march ; and he was personally attended by his alcaldes, alguazils, and kings-at-arms, with all the appropriate insignia of royal supremacy. At Tortoles he was met by the queen his daughter, accompanied by Archbishop Ximenes. The interview between them had more of pain than pleasure in it. The king was greatly shocked by Joanna's appearance ; for her wild and haggard features, emaciated figure, and the mean, squalid attire in which she was dressed, made it difficult to recognise any trace of the daughter ' from whom he had been so long separated. She discovered more sensibility on seeing him than she had shown since her husband's death, and henceforth resigned herself to her father's will with little opposition. She was soon after induced by him to change her unsuitable residence for more commodious quarters at TonlesiUas. Her husband's remains were laid in the monastery of Santa Clara, adjoining the palace, from whose windows she could behold his sepulchre. From this period, although she survived forty-seven years, she never quitted the walls of her habitation ; and, although her name appeared jointly with that of her son, Charles the Fifth, in all public acts, she never afterwards could be induced to sign a paper, or take part in any transactions of a public nature. She lingered out a half century of dreary existence, as completely dead to the world as the remains which slept in the monastery of Santa Clara beside her.f From this time the Catholic king exercised an authority nearly as * King Ferdinand had granted him the title and territory of Oliveto in the kingdom of Naples, in recompense for his eminent services in the Italian war. t Philip's remains wore afterwards rctnnvcd to the cathedral church of Granada ; whcro i posited, together with those of his wife Joauuu, in a magnificent sep'ilchrj erected by Charles V. near that of Ferdinand and Isabella. RT1IUE1IXT OF GOXSALVO. 507 undisputed, and far less limited and defined than in the days of Isabella. 11 did he feel in his seat, indeed, that he omitted to obtain the con- stitutional warrant of cortes. He had greatly desired this at the late irregular meeting of that body ; but it broke up, as we have seen, without effecting anything : and, indeed, the disaffection of Burgos, and some other principal cities, at that time, must have made the success of such an application very doubtful. But the general cordiality with which Ferdinand was greeted, gave no ground for apprehending such a. result at present. Many, indeed, of his partisans objected to any intervention of the legislature in this matter, as superfluous; alleging that he held the regency as natural guardian of his daughter, nominated, moreover, by the queen's will, and confirmed by the cortes at Toro. These rig-ts, they argued, were not disturbed by his resignation, which was a c m- pulsory act, and had never received any express legislative sancti n ; and which, in any event, must be considered as intended only for Philip's lifetime, and to be necessarily determined with that. But, however plausible these views, the irregularity of Ferdinand's proceedings tarnished an argument for disobedience on the part of dis- contented nobles, who maintained that they knew no supreme authority but that of their queen Joanna, till some other had been sanctioned by the legislature. The whole affair was finally settled, with more attention to constitutional forms, in the cortes held at Madrid, October 6th, 1510, when the king took the regular oaths as administrator of the realm in his. daughter's name, and as guardian of her son.* F>. rdiuand's deportment, on Ms first return, was distinguished by a most gracious clemency, evinced not so much, indeed, by any exc remuneration of services, as by the politic oblivion of injuries. If he ever alluded to these, it was in a sportive way, implying that there was no rancour or ill-will at heart. " "Who would have thought," he exclaimed, one day, to a courtier near him, ' ' that you could so easily abandon your old master for one so young and inexperienced f " " TVho would have thought," replied the other with equal bluntness, " that my old master would have outlived my young one '' " "With all this complaisance, however, the king did not neglect precau- tions for placing his authority on a sure basis, and fencing it round so as to screen it effectually from the insults to which it had been formerly exposed. He retained in pay most of the old Italian levies, with the ostensible purpose of an African expedition. He took good care that the military orders should hold their troops in constant readiness, and that the militia of the kingdom should be in condition for instant service. He formed a body-guard to attend the royal person on all occasions. It consisted at first of only two hundred men, armed and drilled after tin- fashion of the Swiss ordonnance, and placed under the command of the chronicler Ayora, an experienced martinet, who made some figure at the defence of Balsas. This institution probably was iiunied: .. by the garde-du-corps of Louis the Twelfth, at S;ivoii:i t r on a more formidable scale, indeed had excited his * y. " rdinand's subsequent convocation of cortc- '.n of the nation. It w;is the result of the ir . Louis XI 1., : : which wao to aecu 508 FERDINAND'S HETTIEX AND BEGENCY. admiration by the magnificence of its appointments and its thorough discipline. Notwithstanding the king's general popularity, there were still a few considerable persons who regarded his resumption of authority with an evil eye. Of these, Don Juan Manuel had fled the kingdom before his approach, and taken refuge at the court of Maximilian, where the counsellors of that monarch took good care that he should not acquire the ascendancy he had obtained over Philip. The duke of Najara, how- ever, still remained in Castile, shutting himself up in his fortresses, and refusing all compromise or obedience. The king without hesitation commanded Navarro to march against him with his whole force. Najara was persuaded by his friends to tender his submission, without waiting the encounter ; and he surrendered his strongholds to the king, who, after detaining them some time in his keeping, delivered them over to the duke's eldest son. With another offender he dealt more sternly. This was Don Pedro de ordova, marquis of Priego, who, the reader may remember, when quite a boy, narrowly escaped the bloody fate of his father, Alonso de Aguiiar, in the fatal slaughter of the Sierra Vermeja. This nobleman, in common with some other Andalusian lords, had taken umbrage at the little estimation and favour shown them, as they conceived, by Ferdinand, in comparison with the nobles of the north ; and his temerity went so far as not only to obstruct the proceedings of one of the royal officers sent to Cordova to inquire into recent disturbances there, but to imprison him in the dungeons of his castle of Montilla. This outrage on the person of his own servant exasperated the kiug beyond all bounds. He resolved at once to make such an example of the offender as should strike terror into the disaffected nobles, and shield the royal authority from the repetition of similar indignities. As the marquis was one of the most potent and extensively allied grandees in. the kingdom, Ferdinand made his preparations on a formidable scale ; ordering, in addition to the regular troops, a levy of all between the ages of twenty and seventy throughout Andalusia. Priego's friends, alarmed at these signs of the gathering tempest, besought him to avert it, if possible, by instant concession ; and his uncle, the Great Captain, urged this most emphatically, as the only way of escaping utter ruin. The rash young man, finding himself likely to receive no support in the unequal contest, accepted the counsel, and hastened to Toledo to throw himself at the king's feet. The indignant monarch, however, would not admit him into his presence, but ordered him to deliver up his fortresses, and to remove to the distance of five leagues from the court. The Great Captain soon after sent the king an inventory of his nephew's castles and estates, at the same time deprecating his wrath, in consideration of the youth and inexperience of the offender. Ferdinand, however, without heeding this, went on with his prepara- tions, and, having completed them, advanced rapidly to the south When arrived at Cordova, he ordered the imprisonment of the marquis (Sept. 1508). A formal process was then instituted against him before the royal council, on the charge of high treason. He made no defence, but threw himself on the mercy of his sovereign. The court declared tliat he had incurred the penalty of death, but that the king, in con- sideration of his submission, was graciously pleased to commute this for BETIRE1TEXT OF GOXSALVO. 509 a fine of twenty millions of maravedis, perpetual banishment from Cordova and its district, and the delivery of his fortresses into the royal keeping, with the entire demolition of the offending castle of Montilla. This last, famous as the birth-place of the Great Captain, was one of the strongest and most beautiful buildings in all Andalusia. Sentence of death was at the same time pronounced against several cavaliers and other inii rior persons concerned in the affair, and was immediately executed. The Castilian aristocracy, alarmed and disgusted by the severity of a sentence which struck down one of the most considerable of their order, were open in their remonstrances to the king, beseeching him, if no other consideration moved him in favour of the young nobleman, to grant something to the distinguished services of his lather and his \incle. The latter, as well as the grand constable, Velasco, who enjoyed the highest consideration at court, were equally pressing in their solicita- tions. Ferdinand, however, was inexorable ; and the sentence was executed. The nobles chafed in vain ; although the constable expostu- lated with the king in a tone which no subject in Europe but a Castilian grandee would have ventured to assume. Gonsalvo coolly remarked, " It was crime enough in Don Pedro to be related to me." This illustrious man had had good reason to feel, before this, that his credit at court was on the wane. On his return to Spain, he was received with unbounded enthusiasm by the nation. He was detained by illness a few days behind the court ; and his journey towards Burgos, to rejoin it, on his recovery, was a triumphal procession the whole way. The roads were thronged with multitudes so numerous, that accommoda- tions could scarcely be found for them in the towns on the route ; for they came from the remotest parts of the country, all eager to catch a glimpse of the hero whose name and exploits, the theme of story and of song, were familiar to the meanest peasant in Castile. In this way he made his entry into Burgos, amid the cheering acclamations of the people, and attended by a cortege of officers, who pompously displayed on their own persons and the caparisons of their steeds the rich spoils of Italian conquests. The old count of Urefia, his friend, who, with the whole court, came out by Ferdinand's orders to receive him, exclaimed, with a prophetic sigh, as he saw the splendid pageant come sweeping by, " This gallant ship, I fear, will require deeper water to ride in than she will rind in Castile ! " Ferdinand showed his usual gracious manners in his reception of Gonsalvo. It was not long, however, before the latter found that this was all he was to expect. Xo allusion was made to the gmndmastership. AY lu-n it was at length brought before the king, and he was reminded of his promises, he contrived to defer their performance under various pretexts ; until, at length, it became too apparent that it was his inten- tion to evade them altogether. While the Great Captain and his friends were filled with an indL tion at this duplicity which they could ill suppress, a circumstanco occurred to increase the coldness arising in Ferdinand's mind towards hi injured subject. This was the proposed marriage (a marriage which, from whatever cause, never took place,*) of Gonsalvo's daughter, Elvira, * He had two -wives, DoCa Blanca de Herrera, and Dona Juana de Aragon, and at hi lo in the church of Santa Clam dc y . j.tr Kivira ; '.iut of C-ibnt. S10 FERDINAND'S RETTLRN AND REGENCT. to his friend the Constable of Castile.* Ferdinand had designed to secure her large inheritance to his own family, by nn alliance with his jnv son, Juan de Aragon, son of the archbishop of Saragassa. His displeasure, at finding himself crossed in this, was further sharpened by the petulant spirit of his young queen. The constable, now a widu\ver, had been formerly married to a natural daughter of Ferdinand. Queen. Gennaine, adverting to his intended union with the lady Elvira, uncere- moniously asked him, " If he did not feel it a degradation to accept the hand of a subject after having wedded the daughter of a king ? " " How can I feel it so," he replied, alluding to the king's marriage with her, " when so illustrious an example has been set me ! " Germaine, who certainly could not boast the magnanimity of her predecessor, was so stung with the retort, that she not only never forgave the constable, but extended her petty resentment to Gonsalvo, who saw the duke of Alva from this time installed in the honours he had before exclusively enjoyed, of immediate attendance on her royal person whenever she appeared in public. However indifferent Gonsalvo may have been to the little mortifica- tions inflicted by female spleen, he could no longer endure his residence at a court where he had lost all consideration with the sovereign, and experienced nothing but duplicity and base ingratitude. He obtained leave, without difficulty, to withdraw to his own estates; where, not L.ng after, the king, as if to make some amends for the gross violation oi promises, granted him the royal city of Loja, not many leagues Iruiu Granada. It was given to him for life ; and Ferdinand had the effrontery to propose, as a condition of making the grant perpetual to his heirs, that Gonsalvo should relinquish his claim to the grandmastership of St. Jago. But the latter haughtily answered, " He would not give up the right of complaining of the injustice done him for the finest city in the king's dominions." From this time he remained on his estates in the south, chiefly at Loja, with an occasional residence in Granada, where he enjoyed the society of his old friend and military instructor, the count of Tendilla. He found abundant occupation in schemes for improving the condition of his tenantry, and of the neighbouring districts. He took great interest in the fate of the unfortunate Moriscoes, numerous in this quarter, whom he shielded as far as possible from the merciless grasp of the Inquisition, while he supplied teachers and other enlightened means for converting them, or confirming them in a pure faith. He displayed the same magnificence and profuse hospitality in his living that he had always done. His house was visited by such intelligent foreigners as came to Spain, and by the most distinguished of his countrymen, especially the younger nobility and cavaliers, who resorted to it as the best school of nigh-bred and knightly courtesy. He showed a lively curiosity in all that was going on abroad, keeping up his information by an extensive * Bernardino de Velasco, grand constable of Castile, as he was called par excellence. Buceccd .1 in 1492 to that dignity, which became hereditary in his family. He was third count of Haro, and was created by the Catholic sovereigns, for his distinguished services, duke of Frias. He had large estates, chiefly iu Old Castile ; with a yearly revenue, according to L. Marineo, of GO.OOO ducats. He appears to have possessed many noble and brilliant qualities, accompanied, however, with a haughtiness which made him feared rather than loved. He died in February, 151'-', after a few hours' illness, as appears by a letter of Peter Martyr. AFBICAX EXPEDITION OF XI3IEXES. 511 correspondence with agents whom, he regularly employed for the purpose in the principal European courts. When the league of Cambray was adjusted, the king of France and the pope were desirous of giving him the command of the allied armies ; but Ferdinand had injured him too sensibly, to care to see him again at the head of a military force in Italy. Jit- was as little desirous of employing him in public affairs at home, and suffered the remainder of his days to pass away in distant seclusion ; a seclusion, however, not unpleasingto himself, nor unprofitable to others.* The world called it disgrace ; and the old count of Urefia exclaimed, "The good ship is stranded at last, as I predicted !" "Not so," said Gonsalvo, to whom the observation was reported, " she is still in excel- lent trim, and waits only the rising of the tide to bear away as bravely as ever." CHAPTEE XXI. xrirv- CONQUESTS nr AFRICA UNIVERSITY OF ALCALA POLYGLOT BIBLI. 15081510. Enthusiasm of Ximciics His warlike Preparations He scuds an Army to Africa Storms Oran His triumphant Entry The King's Distrust of him He returns to Spain Nrivarro's African Conquests Magnificent Endowments of Ximeucs University of -Complutensfem Polyglot. THE high-handed measures of Ferdinand in regard to the marquis of Priego and some other nobles excited general disgust among the jealous cracy of Castile ; but they appear to have found more favour with the commons, who were probably not unwilling to see that haughty body humbled which had so often trampled on the rights of its inferiors. As a matter of policy, however, even with the nobles, this course does not to have been miscalculated ; since it showed that the king, whose talents they had always respected, was now possessed of power to enforce obedience, and was fully resolved to exert it. Indeed, notwithstanding a few deviations, it must be allowed that Ferdinand's conduct on his return was extremely lenient and liberal ; more especially, considering the subjects of provocation he had sustained, in the personal insults and desertion of those on whom he had heaped so many favours. History affords few examples of similar moderation on the restoration of a banished prince or party. In fact, a violent and tyrannical course would not have been agreeable to his character, iu which passion, however strong by nature, was habitually subjected to reason. The present, as it would seem, excessive acts of severity, are to be regarded, therefore, not as the sallies of personal resentment, but as the dictates of a calculating policy, intended to strike terror into the turbulent spirits whom fear only could hold in check. To this energetic course he was stimulated, as was said, by the counsels of Ximenes. This eminent prelate had now reached the hi ecclesiastical honours short of the papacy. Soon after Ferdinand's Tb Inscription on Guicciardini's monument might have been written on Gonsalvo'i " Cttfus negotium, an ctium. sloriosius incertum." 512 AFRICAN EXPEDITION OF XIMENES. restoration, he received a cardinal's hat from Pope Julius the Second ;* and this was followed by his appointment to the office of inquisitor- general of Castile, in the place of Deza, archbishop of Seville. The important functions devolved on him by these offices, in conjunction with the primacy of Spain, might be supposed to furnish abundant subject and scope for his aspiring spirit. But his views, on the contrary, expanded with every step of his elevation, and now fell little short of those of an independent monarch. His zeal glowed fiercer than ever for the propa- tion of the Catholic faith. Had he lived in the age of the crusades, he would indubitably have headed one of those expeditions himself ; for the spirit of the soldier burned strong and bright under his monastic weeds. Indeed, like Columbus, he had formed plans for the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre, even at this late day.f But his zeal found a better direction in a crusade against the neighbouring Moslems of Africa, who had retaliated the wrongs of Granada by repeated descents on the southern, coasts of the Peninsula, calling in vain for the interference of the govern- ment. At the instigation, and with the aid of Xinienes, an expedition had been fitted out soon after Isabella's death, which resulted in the capture of Mazarquivir, an important port, and formidable nest of pirates, on the Barbary coast, nearly opposite Carthagena (Sept. 13, 1505). He now meditated a more difficult enterprise, the conquest of Oran. This place, situated about a league from the former, was one of the most considerable of the Moslem possessions in the Mediterranean, being a principal mart for the trade of the Levant. It contained about twenty thousand inhabitants, was strongly fortified, and had acquired a degree of opulence by its extensive commerce which enabled it to maintain a swarm of cruisers that swept this inland sea, and made fearful depreda- tions on its populous borders. No sooner was Ferdinand quietly established again in the government, than Ximenes urged him to undertake this new conquest. The king saw its importance, but objected the want of funds. The cardinal, who was prepared for this, replied, that " he was ready to lend whatever sums were necessary, and to take sole charge of the expedition, leading it, if the king pleased, in person." Ferdinand, who had no objection to this mode of making acquisitions, more especially as it would open a vent for the turbulent spirits of his subjects, readily acquiesced in the proposition. The enterpiise, however disproportionate it might seem to the resources of a private individual, was not beyond those of the cardinal. He had been carefully husbanding his revenues for some time past, with a view to this object ; although he had occasionally broken in upon his appropriations to redeem unfortunate Spaniards who had been swept into slavery. He had obtained accurate surveys of the Barbary coasts from an Italian engineer named Yianelli. He had advised, as to the best * He obtained this dignity at the king's solicitation, during his visit to Naples, f From a letter of King Emanuel of Portugal, it appears that Ximenes had endeavoured to interest him, together with the kings of Aragon and England, in a crusade to the Hcly Land. There was much method in his madness, if we may judge from the careful survey lie had procured of the coast, as well as his plan of operations. The Portuguese monarch - in round terms the edifying zeal of the primate, but wisely confined himself to Jus own crusades in India, which were likely to make better returns, at least in this -world, than those to Palestine. TTXIVEBSITY OF ALCALA. 513 mo'V 'perations, with his friend Gonsalvo .ion as the Spanish army had landed, and formed in order of battle, .Xinienes mounted his mule, and rode along the ranks. He was dresM d in his pontifical robes, with a belted sword at his side. A I'raneisrun friar rode before him, bearing aloft the massive silver cross, the arehiepiscopal standard of Toledo. Around him were other brethren of the order, wearing their monastic frocks, with scimitars han^iim- t'roin their girdles. As the ghostly cavalcade advanced, they raised the triumphant hymn of J'fjrili'tt /<;//.<, until at length the cardinal ascending a rising ground, imposed silence, and made a brief but animated harangue to his soldiers. He reminded them of the wrongs they had suffered from the Moslems, the devastation of their coasts, and t u 614 AFIUCA.:N EXPEDITION or XIMEXES. their, brethren dragged into merciless slavery. When he had sufficiently roused their resentment against the enemies of their country and religion, he stimulated their cupidity by dwelling on the golden spoil which awaited them in the opulent city of Oran : and he concluded his discourse by declaring that he had come to peril his own life in the good cause of the Cross, and to lead them on to battle, as his predecessors had often done before him. The venerable aspect and heart- stirring eloquence of the primate kindled a deep, reverential enthusiasm in the bosoms of his martial audience, which showed itself by the profoundest silence. The officers,, however, closed around him at the conclusion of the address, and besought him not to expose his sacred person to the hazard of the fight ; reminding him that his presence would probably do more harm than good, by drawing off the attention of the men to his personal safety. This last consideration moved the cardinal, who, though reluctantly, consented to relinquish the command to Navarre ; and after uttering hia parting benediction over the prostrate ranks, he withdrew to the neighbouring fortress of Mazarquivir. The day was now far spent, and dark clouds of the enemy were seen- gathering along the tops of the sierra, which it was proposed first to- attack. Navarro, seeing this post so strongly occupied, doubted whether his men would be able to carry it before nightfall, if indeed at all, without previous rest and refreshment, after the exhausting labours of the day. He retxirned, therefore, to Mazarquivir, to take counsel of Ximenes. The latter, whom he found at his devotions, besought him " not to falter at this hour, but to go forward in God's name, since both the blessed Saviour and the false prophet Mahomet conspired to deliver the enemy into his hands." The soldier's scruples vanished before the- intrepid bearing of the prelate, and, returning to the army, he gave instant orders to advance. Slowly and silently the Spanish troops began their ascent up the steep sides of the sierra, under the friendly cover of a thick mist, which, rolling heavily down the skirts of the hills, shielded them for a time from the eye of the enemy. As soon as they emerged from it, however, they were saluted with showers of balls, arrows, and other deadly missiles, followed by the desperate charges of the Moors, who, rushing- down, endeavoured to drive back the assailants. But they made no* impression on the long pikes and deep ranks of the latter, which remained unshaken as a rock. Still the numbers of the enemy, fully equal to those of the Spaniards, and the advantages of their position, enabled them to dispute the ground with fearful obstinacy. At length, Navarro got a small battery of heavy guns to operate on the flank of the Moors. The effect of this movement was soon visible. The exposed sides of the Moslem column, finding no shelter from the deadly volleys, were shaken and thrown into disorder. The confusion extended to the leading files, which now,, pressed heavily by the iron array of spearmen in the Christian van, began to give ground. Retreat was soon quickened into a disorderly flight. The Spaniards pursued ; many of them, especially the raw levies, breaking their ranks, and following up the flying foe without the least regard to the commands or menaces of their officers ; a circumstance which might have proved fatal, had the Moors had strength or discipline to rally. As it was, the scattered numbers of T7NIVESIir OF ALCALA. 51,"j the Christians, magnifying to the eye their real force, served only to increase the panic and accelerate the speed of the fugitives. While this was going on, the fleet had anchored before the city, and opened a very heavy cannonade, which was answeriil with equal spirit froru sixty pieces of artillery which garnished the fortifications. The troops on board, however, made good their landing, and soon joined themselves to their victorious countrymen, descending from the sierra. They then pushed forward in all haste towards Oran, proposing to carry the place by escalade. They were poorly provided with ladders, but the desperate energy of the moment overleaped every obstacle ; and planting their long pikes against the walls, or thrustinir them into the crevices of the stones, they clambered up with incredible dexterity, although they were utterly unable to repeat the feat the next day in cold blood. The first who gained the summit was Sousa, captain of tho cardinal's guard, who, shouting forth "St. .Ta^o and Ximenes!" unfurled his colours, emblazoned with the primate's arms on one side, and the Cross on the other, and planted them on the battlements. Six ther banners were soon seen streaming from the ramparts; and the soldiers, leaping into the town, got possession of the gates, and threw them open to their comrades. The whole army now rushed in, sweeping . thing before it. Some few of the Moors endeavoured to make head against the tide, but most fled into the houses and mosques for protection. Resistance and flight were alike unavailing. No mercy was shown ; no respect for age or sex ; and the soldiery abandoned themselves to all the brutal licence and ferocity which secrij)ts. The character and station of the cardinal afforded him, it is true, uncommon facilities. The preciou* collection of the Vatican was liberally thrown open to him, especially under Leo the Tenth, whose muniticeut spirit delighted in the under- taking. He obtained copies, in like manner, of whatever was of value in the other libraries of Italy, and, indeed, of Europe generally ; and Spain supplied him with editions of the Old Testament of great antiquity, which had been treasured up by the banished Israelites* some idea may be formed of the lavish expenditure in this way, from the fact that four thousand gold crowns were paid for seven foreign manuscripts, which, however, came too late to be of use in the compilation. The conduct of the work was intrusted to nine scholars, well skilled in the ancient tongues, as most of them had evinced by works of critical acutencss and erudition. After the labours of the day, these learned were accustomed to meet, in order to settle the doubts and difficulties which had arisen in the course of their researches, and, iu short, to compare the results of their observations. Ximenes, who. however, limited his attainments in general literature, was an excellent biblical critic, frequently presided, and took a prominent part in these- deliberations. " Lose no time, my friends,," he would say, " in the prosecution of our glorious work; lest, in the casualties of life, you should lose your patron, or I have to lament the loss of those whose ser- vices are of more price in my eyes than wealth and worldly honours."* The difficulties of the undertaking were sensibly increased by those of the printing. The art was then in its infancy, and there were no in Spain, if indeed in any part of Europe, in the oriental character. Ximenes, however, careful to have the whole executed under his own c \v, imported artists from Germany, and had types cast in the variou* languages required, in his founderies at Alcala. The work, when completed, occupied six volumes folio ;t the first four devoted to the Old Testament, the lifth to the !New ; the last containing * The scholars employed in the compilation were the venerable Lebrija, the learned Nuiiiv. , i>t' wiinm the reader has had some account. Loju-z de Zuf.iga, a contro- versialist of Erasmus, Bartholomeo de Castro, the famous Greek lemetrius Cretensis, and J u:m de Vcrgara : all thi>n>u_->i linguists, especially in the Greek and Latin. To these were joined Paulo i nso a physieian, and Alfonso /amora, converted Jews., and familiar with the oriental laiiiriia^cs. Zaruora has the merit of the philological com- pilations relative to the Hebrew :i: :u the last volume. t The work was originally put at the extremely low price of six ducats and a half a copy. As only n.'wevef. were struck off, it has become exceedingly rare and valuable. According to Brunei, it has been sold as hit'U as UU. 522 AFRICAN EXPEDITION OF XIMENES. a Hebrew and Chaldiac vocabulary, with other elementary treatises of singular labour and learning. It was not brought to an end till 1517, fifteen years after its commencement, and a few months only before tha death of its illustrious projector. Alvaro Gomez relates, that he had often heard John Broccario, the son of the printer, say, that when the last sheet was struck off, he, then a child, was dressed in his best attire, and sent with a copy to the cardinal. The latter, as he took it, raised his eyes to Heaven, and devoutly offered up his thanks for being spared to the completion of this good work. Then turning to his friends who were present, he said, tkat, " of all the acts which distin- guished his administration, there was none, however arduous, better entitled to their congratulation than this."* This is not the place, if I were competent, to discuss the merits of this great work, the reputation of which is familiar to every scholar^ Critics, indeed, have disputed the antiquity of the manuscripts used in the compilation, as well as the correctness and value of the emendations. Unfortunately, the destruction of the original manuscripts, in a manner which forms one of the most whimsical anecdotes in literary history, makes it impossible to settle the question satisfactorily, f Undoubtedlv, many blemishes may be charged on it, necessarily incident to an a^e when the science of criticism was imperfectly understood, and the stock of materials much more limited, or at least, more difficult of access, than at the present day. After every deduction, however, the cardinal's Bible has the merit of being the first successful attempt at a polyglot version of the Scriptures, and consequently, of facilitating, even by its errors, the execution of more perfect and later works of the kind. Nor can, we look at it in connexion with the age, and the auspices under which it was accomplished, without regarding it as a noble monument of piety, learning, and munificence, which entitles its author to the gratitude of the whole Christian world. Such were the gigantic projects which amused the leisure hours of this great prelate. Though gigantic, they were neither beyond his strength to execute, nor beyond the demands of his age and country. They were not like those works which, forced into being by whim or transitory impulse, perish with the breath that made them ; but, taking deep root, were cherished and invigorated by the national sentiment, so as to bear rich fruit for posterity. This was particularly the case with the institution at Alcala. It soon became the subject of royal and private benefaction. Its founder bequeathed it, at his death, a clear it venue of fourteen thousand ducats. By the middle of the seventeenth century, this had increased to forty-two thousand, and the colleges had multiplied from ten to thirty-five.* a me, o a roce-maer o e own, wo soon wore em up n te reguar way o his vocation ! lie assign!! no reason ti.v doubting the truth of the story. The name of the librarian, unfortunately, is not recorded. It would have been as imperishable as that of Omar. t Ferdinand and Isabella concede 1 liberal grunts and immunities to Alcalii on more than no occasion, WARS AXD POLITICS OF ITALY. 523 The rising reputation of the new academy, which attracted students from even' quarter of the Peninsula to its halls, threatened to eclipse the glories of the ancient seminary at Salamanca, and occasioned bitter jealousies between them. The 'rield of letters, however, was wkv enough for both, especially as the one was more immediately devoteU to theological preparation, to the entiiv exclusion of civil jurisprudence, which formed a prominent branch of instruction at the other. In this state of things, their rivalry, far from being productive of mischief, might be regarded as salutary, by quickening literary ardour, too prone to languish without the spur of competition. Side by side the sister universities went forward, dividing the public patronage and estimation. As long as the good era of letters lasted in Spain, the acadi my of Ximenes, under the influence of its admirable discipline, maintained a reputation inferior to none other in the Peninsula, and continued t > forth its sons to occupy the most exalted posts in church ai d state, and shed the light of genius and science over their own and future ages. CHAPTER XXII. WABS A.lfD POLITICS OP ITALT. 15081513. League of Cambray Alarm of Ferdinand Holy League Battle of Ravenna Death o Gaston de Foix Retreat of the French The Spaniards victorious. THE domestic history of Spain, after Ferdinand's resumption of the :.cy, contains few remarkable events. Its foreign relations were more important. Those with Africa have been already noticed, and we must now turn to Italy and Navarre. The possession of Naples necessarily brought Ferdinand within the sphere of Italian politics. He showed little disposition, however, to avail himself of it for the further extension of his conquests. Gonsalvo. indeed, during his administration, meditated various schemes for the over- throw of the French power in Italy, but with a view rather to the pre- servation than enlargement of his prest-nt acquisitions. After the treaty with Louis the Twelfth, even tlusc di signs were abandoned; and the Catholic monarch secmrd wholly occupied with the internal affairs of his kingdom, and the establishment of his rising empire in Africa. The craving appetite of Louis the Twelfth, on the other hand, sharpened by the loss of Naples, sought to indemnify itself by more ample acquisitions in the north. As far back as 1504, he had arranged a plan with the emperor for the partition of the continental possessions of Yi nice, introducing it into one of those abortive treaties at Blois for the marriage of his daughter. The scheme is said to have been commu- nicated to Ferdinand in the royal interview at Savona. No immediate action followed ; and it seems probable that the latter monarch, with his usual circumspection, reserved his decision until he should be more clearlv satisfied of the advantages to himself. At length the projected partition was definitely settled by the cele- brated treaty of Cambray, December 10th, 1508, between Louis tht 624 WARS AND POLllICS OF ITALY. Twelfth and the emperor Maximilian ; in which the pope, Icing Ferdi- nand, and all princes who had any claims for spoliations by the Venetians, were invited to take part. The share of the spoil assigned to th Catholic monarch was the five Neapolitan cities, Trani, Brindisi, Gallipoli, Pulignano, and Otranto, pledged to Venice for considerable sunn advanced by her during the late war. The Spanish court, and, not long after, Julius the Second, ratified the treaty, although it was in direct contravention of the avowed purpose of the pontiff, to chase the bar- barians from Italy. It was his bold policy, however, to make use of them first for the aggrandisement of the church ; and then to trust to his augmented strength and more favourable opportunities for eradicating them altogether. Never was there a project more destitute of principle or sound policy. There was not one of the contracting parties who was not at that very time in close alliance with the state, the dismemberment of which he was plotting. As a matter of policy it went to break down the prin- cipal barrier, on which each of these powers could rely for keeping in check the overweening ambition of its neighbours, and maintaining the balance of Italy. The alarm of Venice was quieted for a time by assurance from the courts of France and Spain, that the league was solely directed against the Turks, accompanied by the most hypocritical professions of good-will, and amicable offers to the republic. The preamble of the treaty declares, that it being the intention of the allies to support the pope in a crusade against the infidel, they first proposed to recover from Venice the territories of which she had de- spoiled the church and other powers, to the manifest hindrance of these pious designs. The more flagitious the meditated enterprise, the deeper was the veil of hypocrisy thrown over it in this corrupt age. The true reasons for the confederacy are to be found in a speech delivered at the German Diet, some time after, by the French minister Helian. " We," he remarks, after enumerating various enormities of the republic, " we wear no fine purple ; feast from no sumptuous services of plate ; have no coffers overflowing with gold. We are barbarians. Surely," he continues in another place, " if it is derogatory to princes to act the part of merchants, it is unbecoming in merchants to assume the state of princes." This then was the true key to the conspiracy against Venice ;. envy of her superior wealth and magnificence, hatred engendered by her too arrogant bearing, and lastly, the evil eye with which kings naturally regard the movements of an active, aspiring republic. To secure the co-operation of Florence, the kings of France and Spain. agreed to withdraw their protection from Pisa for a stipulated sum of money. There is nothing in the whole history of the merchant princea of Venice so mercenary and base as this bartering away for gold the independence for which this little republic had been so nobly contending for more than fourteen years. Early in April, 1509, Louis the Twelfth crossed the Alps at the head of a force which bore down all opposition. City and castle fell before him ; and his demeanour to the vanquished, over whom he had no right* beyond the ordinary ones of war, was that of an incensed master taking vengeance on his rebellious vassals. In revenge for his detention before Peschicra, he hung the Venetian governor and his son from the battle- Bients. This was an outrage on the laws of chivalry, which, however WAK3 AND POLITICS OF ITALY. 52J hard they bore on the peasant, respected those of high degree. Louis's rank, and his heart it seems, unhappily raised Mm equally above sympathy with either class. On the 14th of May, 1509, -was fought the bloody battle of Agnadel, which broke the power of Venice, and at once decided the fate of tho war. Ferdinand had contributed nothing to these operations, except by his diversion on the side of Naples, where he possessed himself without difficulty of the cities allotted to his share. They were the cheapest, and, if not the most valuable, were the most permanent acquisitions of the war, being re-incorporated in the monarchy of Naples. Then followed the memorable decree by which Venice released her continental provinces from their allegiance, authorising them to provide in any way they could for their safety : a measure which, whether originating in panic or policy, was perfectly consonant with the latter. The confederates, who had remained united during the chase, soon quarrelled over the division of the spoil. Ancient jealousies revived. The republic, with cool and consummate diplomacy, availed herself of this state of feeling. Pope Julius, who had gained all that he had proposed, and was satis- fied with the humiliation of Venice, now felt all his former antipathies and distrust of the French return in full force. The rising flame was diligently fanned by the artful emissaries of the republic, who at length < 'fleeted a reconciliation on her behalf with the haughty pontiff. The latter, having taken this direction, went forward in it with his usual impetuosity. He planned a new coalition for the expulsion of the French, calling on the other allies to take part in it. Louis retaliated by summoning a council to inquire into the pope's conduct, and by inarching his troops into the territories of the church. The advance of the French, who had now got possession of Bologna (May 21, 1511), alarmed Ferdinand. He had secured the objects for which he had entered into the war, and was loth to be diverted from nterprises in which he was interested nearer home. "I know not," writes Peter Martyr, at this time, " on what the king will decide. He is intent on following up his African conquests. He feels natural reluctance at breaking with his French ally. But I do not well see how he can avoid supporting the pope and the church, not only as the cause of religion, but of freedom ; for if the French get possession of Rome, the liberties of all Italy and of every state in Europe are in peril." The Catholic king viewed it in this light, and scut repeated and earnest remonstrances to Louis the Twelfth against his aggressions on the church; beseeching him not to interrupt the peace of Christendom, and his own pious purpose, more particularly, of spreading the banners of the Cross over the infidel regions of Africa. The very sweet and fraternal tone of these communications filled the king of "France, says Guicciardini, with much distrust of his royal brother ; and he was heard to say, in allusion to the great preparation! which the Spanish monarch was making by sea and land, " I am. the Saracen against whom they are directed." To secure Ferdinand more to his interests, the pope granted him the investiture, so long withheld, of Naples, on the same easy terms on which it was formerly held by the Aragonese line. His Holiness further released him from the obligation of his marriage treaty, by which tho 526 WAKS AND POLITICS OF ITALY. moiety of Naples was to revert to the French crown in case of Germaiue'i dying without issue. This dispensing power of the successors of St. Peter, so convenient for princes in their good graces, is undoubtedly the severest tax ever levied by superstition on human reason.* On the 4th of October, loll, a treaty was concluded between Julius the Second, Ferdinand, and Venice, with the avowed object of protecting the church, in other words, driving the French out of Italy. From the pious purpose to which it was devoted, it was called the Holy League. The quota to be furnished by the king of Aragon was twelve hundred heavy and one thousand light cavalry, ten thousand foot, and a squadron cf eleven galleys, to act in concert with the Venetian fleet. The com- bined forces were to be placed under the command of Hugh de Cardona,. viceroy of Naples, a person of polished and engaging address, but with- out the resolution or experience requisite to military success. The rough old pope sarcastically nicknamed him " Lady Cardona." It was an appointment that would certainly have never been made by Queen Isabella. Indeed, the favour shown this nobleman on this and other occasions was so much beyond his deserts, as to raise a suspicion in many that he was more nearly allied by blood to Ferdinand tban was usually imagined. Early in 1512, France, by great exertions and without a single con- federate out of Italy, save the false and fluctuating emperor, got an army into the field superior to that of the allies in point of numbers, and still more so in the character of its commander. This was Gaston de Foix, duke de Nemours, and brother of the queen of Aragon. Though a boy in years, for he was but twenty-two, he was ripe in understanding, and possessed consummate military talents. He introduced a severer disci- pline into his army, and an entirely new system of tactics. He looked forward to his results with stern indifference to the means by which they were to be effected. He disregarded the difficulties of the roads and the inclemency of the season, which had hitherto put a check on military operations. Through the midst of frightful morasses, or in the depth of winter snows, he performed his marches with a celerity unknown in the warfare of that age. In less than a fortnight after leaving Milan, he relieved Bologna (February 5), then besieged by the allies, made a countermarch on Brescia, defeated a detachment by the way, and the whole Venetian army under its walls ; and, on the same day with the last event, succeeded in carrying the place by storm. After a few weeks' dissipation of the carnival, he again put himself in motion, and, descending on Ravenna, succeeded in bringing the allied army to a decisive action under its walls. Ferdinand, well understanding the peculiar characters of the French and of the Spanish soldier, had cautioned his general to adopt the Fabian policy of Gonsalvo, and avoid a close encounter as long as possible. This battle, fought with the greatest numbers, was also the most murderous which had stained the fair soil of Italy for a century (April The act of investiture was dated July 3rd, 1510. In the following August, the pontiff /emitted the feudal service for the annual tribute of a white palfrey, ;u:a Uie aid of 300 iancea when the estates of the church should be invaded. The pope had hitherto refused the investiture, except ou the mostexorbitant terms; which so much disgusted Ferdinand that he passed by Ostia on his return from Naples, without condescending to mgct his Holiness, who was waiting there for a personal interview with him. WABS AND POLITICS OF ITALY. 527 11, 1512). No less tliaii eighteen or twenty thousand, according to authentic accounts, fell in it, comprehending 'the best blood of Franco and Italy. The viceroy Cardona went off so.newhat too early for his reputation. But the Spanish infantry, under the count Pedro Navarro, behaved in a style worthy of the school of Gonsalvo. During the early part of the day, they lay on the ground, in a position which sheltered them from the deadly artillery of Este, then the best mounted and b^st s rved of any in Europe. VVhen at length, as the tide of battle wa.* going against them, they were brought into the field, Navarro led them at once against a deep column of landsknechts, who, armed with the- long German pike, were bearing down all before them. The Spaniards received the shock of this formidable weapon on the mailed panoply with which their bodies were covered, and, dexterously gliding into the hostile ranks, contrived with their short swords to do such execution on the- enemy, unprotected except by corslets in front, and incapable of availing themselves of their long weapon, that they were thrown into confu and totally discomfited. It was repeating the experiment more than once made during these wars, but never on so great a scale ; and it fully established the superiority of the Spanish arms. * The Italian infantry, which had fallen back before the landsknechts, now rallied under cover of the Spanish charge ; until at length the overwhelming clouds of French gendarmerie, headed by Ives d'AlOgre, who lost his own life in the m4fe, compelled the allies to give ground. The retreat of the Spaniards, however, was conducted with admirable order, and they preserved their ranks unbroken as they repeatedly turned to drive back the tide of pursuit. At this crisis, Gaston de Foix, Hushed with success, was so exasperated by the sight of this valiant corps going oft' in so cool and orderly a manner from the field, that he made a desperate charge at the head of his chivalry, in hopes of breaking it. Unfortunately, his wounded horse fell under him. It was in vain his followers fulled out, " It is our viceroy, the brother of your queen ! " The words had no charm for a Spanish ear, and he was dispatched with a multitude of wounds. He received fourteen or fiftean in the face; good proof, says the loyal scrviteur, "that the gentle prince had never turned his hack." There are i'e\v instances in history, if indeed there be any, of so brief, and at the same time so brilliant a military career, as that of Gaston de Foix ; and it well entitled him to the epithet his countrymen gave him of the " thunderbolt of Italy." He had not merely given extraordinary promise, but in the course of a very few months had" achieved such results as uii^ht well make the greatest powers of the Peninsula tremble for their possessions. His precocious military talents, the early age at which he assumed the command of armies, as well as many peculiarities of his discipline and tactics, suggest some resemblance to the beginning of Napoleon's career. Unhappily, his brilliant fame is sullied by a recklessness of human life^ the more odious in one too young to be steeled by familiarity with the iron trade to Avhich he was devoted. It maybe fair, however, to churre this on the age rather than on the individual, for surely never was there MaehiaTelli does justice to the gallantry of this valiant corps, whose conduct on this occasion furnishes him with a pertinent illustration, in estimating- the comparative va'ue frf tho Spanish, or rather Roman arms, and the German. 623 TVAUS AXD POLITICS OF ITALY. one characterised by greater brutality, and more unsparing ferocity iii its wars.* So little had the progress of civilisation done for humanity. It is not until a recent period that a more geaerous spirit has operated ; that a fellow-creature has been understood not to forfeit his rights as a man because he is an enemy ; that conventional laws have been esta- blished, tending greatly to mitigate the evils of a condition which, with every alleviation, is one of unspeakable misery ; and that those who hold the destinies of nations in " their hands have been made to feel that there is less true glory, and far less profit, to be derived from war than from the wise prevention of it. The defeat at Ravenna struck a panic into the confederates. The stout heart of Julius the Second faltered, and it required all the assurances of the Spanish and Venetian ministers to keep him staunch 'to his purpose. King Ferdinand issued orders to the Great Captain to hold himself in readiness for taking the command of forces to be instantly raised for Naples. There could be no better proof of the royal consternation. The victory of Ravenna, however, was more fatal to the French than to their foes. The uninterrupted successes of a commander are so far unfortunate, that they incline his followers, by the brilliant illusion they throw around his name, to rely less on their own resources than on him whom they have hitherto found invincible ; and thus subject their own destiny to all the casualties whicli attach to the fortunes of a single indi- vidual. The death of Gaston de Foix seemed to dissolve the only bond which held the French together. The officers became divided, the sol- diers disheartened, and, with the loss of their young hero, lost all interest in the service. The allies, advised of this disorderly state of the army, recovered confidence, and renewed their exertions. Through Ferdinand*! influence over his son-in-law, Henry the Eighth of England, the latter Lad been induced openly to join the League in the beginning of the pre- sent year.f The Catholic king had the address, moreover, just before the battle to detach, the emperor from France, by effecting a truce between him and Venice. The French, now menaced and pressed on every side, "began their retreat under the brave La Palice ; and to such an impotent state were they reduced, that in less than three mouths after the fatal victory, (June 28,) they were at the foot of the Alps, having abandoned not only their recent, but all their conqxiests in the north of Italy. The same results now took place as in the late war against Venice. The confederates quarrelled over the division of the spoil. The republic, with the largest claims, obtained the least concessions. She felt that she was to be made to descend to an inferior rank in the scale of nations. Ferdinand earnestly remonstrated with the pope, and subsequently, by * One example may suffice, occurring in the war of the League, in 1510. When Vicenza was taken by the Imperialists, a number of the inhabitants, amniounting to one, or, according to some accounts, six thousand, took refuge in a neighbouring prottc with their wives and children, comprehending many of the principal families of the place. A French officer, detecting their retreat, caused a heap of fugots to be piled up at the mouth of th cavern and set on fire. Out of the whole number of fugitives only one escaped with life ; and the blackened and cor :muice of the bodies sht. But the ' ' chevalier sans rcproche " was an exception to, rather than an example ot, the prevalent spirit of the age. t He had become a party to it as early as November 17, of the precedingyear ; he deferred it* publication, however, until he had received the last instalment of a subsidy that Louis XII. was to pay him for the maintenance ot peace. Even the chivalrous Harry th Eighth oould not escape the trick isli spirit of the sg*. WAES AND POLITICS OF ITALY. 529 menus of his Venetian minister, with Maximilian, on this mistaken policy; but the indifference of the one, and the cupidity of the other, closed against argument. The result was pivri-dy what the prudent monarch foresaw. Venice was driven into the anus of lur perfidious ancient ally; and on the 23rd of March, 1513, a definitive treaty waa arranged with France for their mutual defence. Thus the most ellirimt member was alienated from the confederacy ; all the recent advantages of the allies were compromised ; new combinations were to be formed, and new and interminable prospects of hostility opened. Ferdinand, relieved from immediate apprehensions of the French, took comparatively little interest in Italian polities. He was too much occupied with settling his conquests in Navarre. The army, indeed, under Cardona, still kept the field in the north of Italy. Tlie viceroy, alter re-establishing the Medici in Florence, remained inactive. The French, in the mean while, had again mustered in force, and crossing the mountains, encountered the Swiss in a bloody battle at Novara, (June 6, 1513,) where the former were entirely routed. Cardona, then rousing from his lethargy, traversed the Milanese without opposition, laying waste the ancient territories of Venice, burning the palaces and pleasure-houses of its lordly inhabitants on the beautiful banks of the i'renta, and approaching so near to the " Queen of the Adriatic" as to throw a IVw impotent balls into the monastery of San Secondo. The indignation of the Venetians and of Alviano, the same general who had fought so gallantly under Gonsalvo at the Garigliano, hurried them into an engagement with the allies near La Motta, (Oct. 7,) at two miles' distance from Vicenza. Cardona, loaded with booty and entangled among the mountain passes, was assailed under every disadvantage. The German allies gave way before the impetuous charge of Alviano ; but the Spanish infantry stood, its ground unshaken, and by extraordinary discipline and valour succeeded in turning the fortunes of the day. More than four thousand of the enemy were left on the field ; and a large number of prisoners, including many of rank, with all the baggage and artillery, fell into the hands of the victors. Thus ended the campaign of 1513 ; the French driven again beyond the mountains ; Venice cooped up within her sea-girt fastnesses, and compelled to enrol her artisans and common labourers in her defence, but still strong in resources, above all in the patriotism and unconquer- able spirit of her people. CHAPTEE XXIII. CONQUEST OF KAVARHi 15121513. Oorereigns of Navarre Ferdiuaiid demands a Passage Invasion and Conquest of Navarw Treaty of Orthes Ferdinand settles his Conquests His Conduct examined Gross abuse of the Victory. WKTLE the Spaniards were thus winning barren laurels on the fields of Italy, King Ferdinand was making a most important acquisition of territory nearer home. The reader has already been made acquainted with the manner in which the bloody sceptre of Navarre passed from the dands of Eleanor, Ferdinand's sister, after a reign of a few brief days, into those of her grandson Phojbus (1479). A fatal destiny hung over the house of Foix ; and the latter prince lived to enjoy his crown only four years, when he was succeeded by his sister Catharine (1483). It was not to be supposed that Ferdinand and Isabella, so attentive to enlarge their empire to the full extent of the geographical limits which nature seemed to have assigned it, would lose the opportunity now presented of incorporating into it the hitherto independent kingdom of Navarre by the marriage of their own heir with its sovereign. All tbeir efforts, however, were frustrated by the queen-mother Magdaleine, sister of Louis the Eleventh, who, sacrificing the interests of the nation to her prejudices, evaded the proposed match under various pretexts, and in the end effected a union between her daughter and a French noble, Jean d'Albret, heir to considerable estates in the neighbourhood of Navarre. This was a most fatal error. The independence of Xavarre had hitherto been maintained less through its own strength than the weakness of its neighbours. But, now that the petty states around her had been absorbed into two great and powerful monarchies, it was not to be expected that so feeble a barrier would be longer respected, or that it would not be swept away in the first collision of those formidable forces. But, although the independence of the kingdom must be lost, the princes of Navarre might yet maintain their station by a union with, the reigning family of France or Spain : by the present connexion with a mere private individual they lost both the one and the other. Still the most friendly relations subsisted between the Catholic kins: and his niece during the lifetime of Isabella. The sovereigns assisted her in taking possession of her turbulent dominions, as well as in allav- ing the deadly feuds of the Beaumonts and Agramonts, with which tiny were rent asunder. They supported her with her arms in resist- ing her uncle Jean, viscount of Narbonne, who claimed the crown on the groundless pretext of its beiug limited to male heirs. The alliaiice with Spain was drawn still closer by the avowed purpose of Louis the Iwilfth to su;; t ,ort his nephew, Ga^on de Foix, iu the claims of his CONQUEST OF NAVARBE. 531 deceased father. The death of the voting hero, however, at Ravenna, wholly changed the relations and feelings of the two countries. Navarre had nothing immediately to fear from France. She felt distrust of Sjiuin on more than one account, especially for the protection afforded the lieaum.mtes- exiles, at the head of whom was the young count of Lerin, Ferdinand's nephew. France, too, standing alone, and at bay against the rest of Europe, found the alliance of the little state of Navarre of importance to her ; especially at the present juncture, when the project of an ox j "edition against Guieime, by the combined armies of Spain and Kr.glaud, naturally made Louis the Twelfth desirous to secure the good-will of a prince, who might be said to wear the keys of the Pyiva >, as the king of Sardinia did those of the Alps, at his girdle. With these amicable dispositions, the king and queen of Navarre dispatched their plenipotentiaries to Blois, early in May, soon after the battle of Ravenna, with full powers to conclude a treaty of alliance and confederation with the French government. In the meantime, June 8th, an English squadron arrived at Passage in Guipuscoa, having ten thousand men on board, under Thomas Grey, marquis of Dorset, in order to co-operate with King Ferdinand's army in the descent on Guienue. This latter force, consisting of two thousand five hundred horse, light and heavy, six thousand foot and twenty ]>ieces of artillery, was placed under Don Fadrique de Toledo, the old duke of Alva, grandfather of the general who wrote his name in indelible characters of blood in the Netherlands, under Philip the Second. Before making any movement, however, Ferdinand, who knew the equivocal dispositions of the Navarrese sovereigns, determined to secure himself from the annoyance which their strong position enabled them to give him on whatever route he adopted. He accordingly sent to request a free passage tlirough their dominions, with the demand, moreover, that they shouid entrust six of their principal fortresses to such Navarrese as he should name, as a guarantee for their neutrality during the expedi- tion. He accompanied this modest proposal with the alternative, that tl e sovereigns should become parties to the Holy League ; engaging, in that case, to restore certain places in his possession which they claimed, and pledging the whole strength of the confederacy to protect them against any hostile attempts of France. The situation of these unfortunate princes was in the highest degree embarrassing. The neutrality they had so long and sedulously main- tained was now to be abandoned ; and their choice, whichever party they espoused, must compromise their possessions on one or other side of the Pyrenees, in exchange for an ally, whose friendship had proved b}* repeated experience, quite as disastrous as his enmity. In this dilemma they sent ambassadors into Castile, to obtain some modification of the terms, or, at least, to protract negotiations till some definitive arrangement should be made with Louis the Twelfth. On the 17th of July, their plenipotentiaries signed a treaty with that monarch at Blois, by which France and Navarre mutually agreed to defend each other, in case of attack, against all enemies whatever. By another provision, obviously directed against Spain, it was stipulated that neither nation should" allow a passage to the enemies of the other through its dominions ; and, by a third, Navarre pledged herself to 1 532 COXQtTEST OF NAYAKBE. declare war on the English, now assembled in Guipnscoa, and all these co-operating with them. Through a singular accident, Ferdinand was made acquainted with the principal articles of this treaty before its signature.* His army hud remained inactive in its quarters around Yittoria ever since the landing of the English. He now saw the hopelessness of further negotiation, and, determining to anticipate the stroke prepared for him, commanded his general to invade without delay, and occupy Navarre. The duke of Alva crossed the borders on the 21st of July, proclaiming that no harm should be offered to those who voluntarily submitted. On the 23rd, he arrived before Pamnelmia. King John, who, all the while he had been thus dallying with the lion, had made no proYi.-iou for defence, had already abandoned his capital, leaving it to make the 'best terms it could for itself. On the following day, the city, ha sing first obtained assurance of respect for all its franchises and immunities, surrendered; "a circumstance," devoutly exclaims King Ferdinand, "in which we truly discern the hand of our blessed Lord, whose miraculous interposition has been visible through all this enterprise, undertaken for the weal of the church, and the extirpation of the accursed schism." The royal exile, in the meanwhile, had retreated to Lumbier, where he solicited the assistance of the duke of Longucville, then encamped on the northern frontier, for the defence of Bayonne. The French com- mander, however, stood too nmch in awe of the English, still lying in Guipuscoa, to weaken himself by a detachment into Navarre ; and the unfortunate monarch, unsupported either by his own subjects or his new ally, was compelled to cross the mountains, and take refuge with his family in France. The duke of Alva lost no time in pressing his advantage ; opening the way by a proclamation of the Catholic king, that it was intended only to hold possession of the country, as security for the pacific disposition of its sovereigns, until the end of his present expedition against Guienne. From whatever cause, the Spanish general experienced so little resistance, that in less than a fortnight he overran and subdued nearly the whole of Upper Navarre. So short a time sufficed for the subversion of a monarchy, which, in defiance of storm and stratagem, had main- tained its independence unimpaired, with a few brief exceptions, for seven centuries. On reviewing these extraordinary events, we are led to distrust the capacity and courage of a prince who could so readily abandon his kingdom, without so much as firing a shot in its defence. John had shown, however, on more than one occasion, that he was destitute of neither. He was not, it must be confessed, of the temper best suited to the fierce and stirring times on which he was cast. He was of an amiable disposition, social and fond pf pleasure, and so little jealous oi his royal dignity, that he mixed freely in the dances and other enter- tainments of the humblest of his subjects. His greatest defect was the facility with which he reposed the cares of state on favourites, not always * A confidential secretary of King Jean of Navarre was murdered in his sleep 1 mtstn iii-ads of the proposed tivary with Fra- -:of Pampelona. who was induced fiy the }i> 'y M.myr, in a i<- trut'i is at tested, by the conformity of the proposed terms v.-ith those of tho actual t. T OF NAVARRE. 033 the most deserving. His greatest merit was his love of letters. Unfor- tunately, neither his merits nor defects were of a kind best adapted to extricate him from his present perilous situation, or enable him to cope with his wily and resolv.lc adversary. For this, however, more com- manding talents might well have failed. The period had arrived, when, in the regular progress of events, Navarre must yield up her independence to the two great nations on her borders ; who attracted by the strength of her natural position, and her political weakness, woula be sure, now that their own domestic discords were healed, to claim each the moiety which seemed naturally to fall within its own territorial limits. Par- ticular events might accelerate or retard this result, but it was not in the power of human genius to avert its linal consummation. King Ferdinand, who descried the storm now gathering on the side of France, ivs< 'hid to meet it promptly, and commanded his general to cross the mountains and occupy the districts of Lower Navarre. In this he expected the co-operatioii of the English; but he was disappointed. The marquis of Dorset alleged, that the time consumed in the reduction of Navarre made it too late for the expedition against Guienne, which wn- now placed in a posture of defence. He loudly complained that his master had been duped by the Catholic king, who had used his ally to make conquests solely fur himself; and, in spite of every remonstrance, here-embarked his whole force, without waiting for orders; " a pro- ceeding," says Ferdinand, in one of his letters, " which touches me most deeply, from the stain it leaves on the honour of the most serene king my son-in-law, and the glory of the English nation, so distinguished in times past for high and chivalrous emprise." The duke of Alva, thus unsupported, was no match for the French lunder Longueville, strengthened, moreover, hy the veteran corps returned from Italy with the brave La Police. Indeed, he narrowly d being hemmed in between the two armies, and only succeeded in anticipating by a few hours the movements of La Police, so as to make good his retreat through the pass of Itoneesvalles, and throw himself into Pampelona. Hither he was speedily followed by the French general, accompanied by Jean d'Albret. On the 27th of November, the besiegers made a dt spcrate, though ineffectual, assault on the city, which was ted with equal ill fortune on the two following days. The beleaguering forces, in the meantime, were straitened for provisions ; and at length, alter o siege of some weeks, on learning the arrival of fivsh reinforcements under the duke of Najara, they broke up their encamp- ment, and withdrew across the mountains ; and with them faded the last ray of hope for the restoration of the unfortunate monarch of Navarre. On the 1st of April in the following year, 1513, Ferdinand effected a truce with Louis the Twelfth, embracing their respective territories west of the Alps. It continued a year, and at its expiration was renewed for a similar time. This arrangement, by which Louis sacrificed the interests of his ally, the king of Navarre, gave Ferdinand ample time for settling and fortifying his new conquests ; while it left the war open in a quarter where, he well knew, others were more interested than himself to prose- cute it with vigour. The treaty must be allowed to be more defensible on the score of policy than of good faith. The allies loudly inveighed '.... treachery of their confederate, who had so unscrupulously saeiiliced the common interest, by relieving France from the powerful 534 CONQUEST OF NAVAREE. diversion he was engaged to make on her western borders. It is no justification of wrong, that similar wrongs have been committed by others ; but those who commit them (and there was not one of the allies who could escape the imputation amid the political profligacy of the times) certainly forfeit the privilege to complain.* Ferdinand availed himself of the interval of repose now secured to settle his new conquest. He had transferred his residence, first to Burgos, and afterwards to Legrono, that he might be near the theatre of operations. He was indefatigable in raising reinforcements and supplies ; and expressed his intention at one time, notwithstanding the declining state of his health, to take the command in person. He showed hi* usual sagacity in various regulations for improving the police, healing the domestic feuds, as fatal to Navarre as the arms of its enemies, and confirming and extending its municipal privileges and immunities, so as to conciliate the affections of his new subjects. On the 23rd of March, 1513, the estates of Xavarre took the iisual oaths of allegiance to king Ferdinand. On the 15th of June, 1515, the Catholic monarch, by a solemn act in cortes, held at Burgos, incorporated his new conquests into the kingdom of Castile. The event excited some surprise, considering his more intimate relations with Aragon ; but it was to the arms of Castile that he was chiefly indebted for the con- quest : and it was on her superior wealth and resources that he relied for maintaining it. With this was combined the politic consideration, that the Navarrese, naturally turbulent and factious, would be held more easily in subordination when associated with Castile, than with Aragon, where the spirit of independence was higher, and often manifested itself in such bold assertion of popular rights as falls most unwelcome on a royal ear. To all this must be added the despair of issue by his present marriage, which had much abated his personal interest in enlarging the extent of his patrimonial domains. Foreign writers characterise the conquest of Navarre as a bold, unblushing usurpation, rendered more odious by the mask of religious hypocrisy. The national writers, on the other hand, have employed tneir pens industriously to vindicate it ; some endeavouring to rake a good claim for Castile out of its ancient union with Xavarre, almost as ancient, indeed, as the Moorish conquest. Others resort to considera- tions of expediency, relying on the mutual benefits of the connexion to * On the 5th of April a treaty was concluded at Mechlin, in f.be names of Ferdinand, the king of England, the emperor, and the pope. The Castiliau envoy, Don Luis Carroz, was not present at Mechlin, but it was ratified and solemnly sworn to by him, on behalf of his sovereign, in London, April 18th. By this treaty, Spain agreed to attack France iu Guieuue, while the other powers were to co-operate" by a descent on other quart ere. Thi* 7 t ^ French historians, that is, the later ones, for I find no comment on it m contemporary writers Ferdinand, when applied to by Henry VIII. to ratify the acts of Ms minist. r in. the following summer, refused, on the ground that the latter had transcended his powers. The Spanish writers are silent. His assertion derives some probability from the tenor ot one of the articles, which provides that in case he refuses to confirm the treaty, it shall still be binding between England and the emperor; language which, as it anticipates, may teem to authorise such a contingency. Public treaties have, for obvious recoils, been generally received as the surest basis for history. One might well doubt this who attempt* to reconcile the multifarious discrepancies and contradictions in those of the perio-l ander review. The science of diplomacy, as then practised, was a mere game of finesae ind falsehood, in which the more solemn the protestations of the parties, the ;u..re ground for distrusting their sincerity. CONQUEST OF NAVAREE. 535 both kingdoms; arguments which prove little else than the weakness of the cause.* All lay more or less stress on the celebrated bull of Julius the Second, of February 18th, 1512, by which he excommunicated the sovereigns of Navarre as heretics, schismatics, and enemies of the church ; releasing their subjects from their allegiance, laying their dominions under an interdict, and delivering them over to any who should take, or had already taken, possession 01 them. Most, indeed, are content to rest on this as the true basis and original ground of the conquest. The total silence of the Catholic king respecting this document before the invasion, and the omission of the national historians since to produce it, have caused much scepticism as to its existence. And, although its recent publication puts this beyond doubt, the instrument contains, in my judgment, strong internal evidence for distrusting the accuracy of the date affixed to it, which should have been posterior to the invasion ; a circumstance materially affecting the argument, and which makes the papal sentence not the original basis of the war, but only a sanction subsequently obtained to cover its injustice, and authorise retaining the fruits of it. But, whatever authority such a sanction may have had in the sixteenth century, it will find little respect in the present, at least beyond the limits of the Pyrenees. The only way in which the question can be fairly tried must be by those maxims of public law universally recognised as settling the intercourse of civilised nations ; a science, indeed, imperfectly developed at that time, but in its general principles the same as now, founded, as these are, on the immutable basis of morality and justice. We must go back a step beyond the war, to the proximate cause of it. This was Ferdinand's demand of a free passage for his troops through Navarre. The demand was perfectly fair, and in ordinary cases would doubtless have been granted by a neutral nation ; but that nation must, after all, be the only judge of its propriety, and Navarre may find a justification for her refusal on these grounds. First, that, in her weak and defenceless state, it was attended with danger to herself. Secondly, that as, by a previous and existing treaty with Spain, the validity of which was recognised in her new one of July ITtli with France, she had agreed to refuse the right of passage to the latter nation, she consequently could not grant it to Spain without a violation other neutrality. Thirdly, that the demand of a passage, however just in itself, was coupled with another, the surrender of the fortresses, which must compromise the independence of the kingdom. But although, for these reasons, the sovereigns of Navarre were warranted in refusing Ferdinand's request, they were not therefore authorised to declare war against him, which they virtually did by entering into a defensive alliance with his enemy Louis the Twelfth, and by pledging themselves to make war on the English and their con- federates ; an article pointedly directed at the Catholic king. True, indeed, the treaty of Blois had not received the ratification of * The honest canon Salazar de Mendoza (taking the hint from Lcbrija, indeed) finds abundant warrant for Ferdinand's treatment :u the hard mtrtsure dealt by the j-aelites of old to the people of Ephron. and to Sihon. kind of the Amorites. It might eeni strange that a Christian should look for authority in the jiractices of the race he so much abominates, instead of the inspired precepts of the Founder of his religion ! But, in truth, your thorough-bred casuist is apt to be very little ot a Christian. 636 CONQUEST OF JTAVAERE. the Xavarrese sovereigns; but it was executed by their plenipotentiaries duly authorised, aud, considering the intimate intercourse between the two nations, was undoubtedly made with their full knowledge and con- currence. Under these circumstances, it was scarcely to be expected that king Ferdinand, when an accident had put him in possession of the result of these negotiations, should wait for a formal declaration of hostilities, and thus deprive himself of the advantage of anticipating the blow of his enemy. The right of making war would seem to include that of disposing of its fruits ; subject, however, to those principles of natural equity which should regulate every action, whether of a public or private nature. No principle can be clearer, for example, than that the penalty should be proportioned to the offence. Now, that inflicted on the sovereigns of Navarre, which went so i'ar as to dispossess them of their crown, and annihilate the political existence of their kingdom, was such as nothing but extraordinary aggressions on the part of the conquered nation, or the self-preservation of the victors, could justify. As neither of these contingencies existed in the present case, Ferdinand's conduct must be regarded as a flagrant example of the abuse of the rights of conquest. We have been but too familiar, indeed, with similar acts of political injustice, and on a much larger scale, in the present civilized age ; but, although the number and splendour of the precedents may blunt our sensibility to the atrocity of the act, they can never constitute a legitimate warrant for its perpetration. While thus freely condemning Ferdinand's conduct in this transaction, I cannot go along with those who, having inspected the subject less minutely, are disposed to regard it as the result of a cool, premeditated policy from the outset. The propositions originally made by him to Navarre appear to have been conceived in perfect good faith. The re- quisition of the fortresses, impudent as it may seeia, was nothing more than had been before made in Isabella's time, when it had been granted, and the security subsequently restored, as soon as the emergency had passed away. The alternative proposed, of entering into the Holy League, presented many points of view so favourable to Navarre, that Ferdinand, ignorant as he then was of the precise footing on which she stood with France, might have seen no improbability in her closing with it. Had either alternative been embraced there would have been no pretext for the invasion. Even when hostilities had been precipitated by the impolitic conduct of Navarre, Ferdinand (to judge not from his public manifestoes only, but from his private correspondence) would seem to have at first contemplated holding the country only till the close of his French expedition. But the facility of retaining these conque sts, when once acquired, was too strong a temptation. It was easy to find some plausible pretext to justify it, and obtain such a sanction from the highest authority as should veil the injustice of the transaction from the world, and from his own eyes. And that these were blinded is but too true, if, as an Ara^uiu sc historian declares, he could remark on hi death-bed, "that, independently of the conquest having been under- taken at the instance of the sovereign pontiff for the extirpation of the schism, he felt his conscience as easy in keeping it as iu keeping hia crown of Aragon," CHAPTER XXIV. DXATH OF OOVSALYO DK CORDOVA ILLNESS AND DEATH O FEKDIWAKD HIB CHA*JkCTra. 15131516. Oonsalvo ordered to Italy General Enthusiasm The Kinsr's Distrust Gonsalvo in Retirement Decline of his Health His Death, and noble Character Ferdinand's Illness It increases He dies His Character A Contrast to Isabella The Judgment of his Contemporaries. NOTWITHSTANDING the good order which King Ferdinand maintained in Castile by his energetic conduct, as well as by his policy of diverting the effervescing spirits of the nation to foreign enterprise, he still ex- perienced annoyance from various causes. Among these were Maximilian's pretensions to the regency, as paternal grandfather of the heir apparent. The emperor, indeed, had more than once threatened to assert his preposterous claims to Castile in person ; and although this Quixotic monarch, who had been tilting against windmills all his life, failed to excite any powerful sensation, either by his threats or his promises, it furnished" a plausible pretext for keeping alive a faction hostile to the interests of the Catholic king. In the winter of 1J09 an arrangement was made with the emperor, through the mediation of Louis the Twelfth, by which be finally re- linquished his pretensions to the regency of Castile, in consideration of the aid of three hundred lances, and the transfer to him of the fifty thousand ducats which Ferdinand was to receive from Pisa. Xo bribe was too paltry for a prince whose means were as narrow as his pv weiv va>t and chimerical. Even after this pacification, the Austrian party contrived to disquiet the king, by maintaining the archduke Charles's ; - to the government in the name of his unfortunate mother : until at length, the Spanish monarch came to entertain not merely distrust, but po>itive a\c-rsion for his grandson ; while the latter, 8 he advanced in y> ;irs, was taught to regard Ferdinand as one who excluded him from his rightful inheritance by a most flagrant act of usurpation. Ferdinand's suspicious temper found other grounds for uneasiness, where there was le warrant for it, in his jealousy of his illustrious subject Gonsalvo de Cordova. This was particularly the case when circumstances had disclosed the full extent of that general's popularity. After the defeat of Ravenna, the pope and the other allies of Ferdinand urged him in the most earnest manner to send the Great Captain into Italy, as the only man capable of checking the French arms, and restoring the fortunes of th- The king, trembling for the immediate safety of his own dominions, gave a reluctant assent, and ordered Gonsalvo to hold himself i: - to take command of an armv to be instantly raised for Italy (May, 1512). These tidings were received with" enthusiasm by the Castilians. Men 53S DEATH Or GOXSALVO. of every rank pressed forward to serve under a chief whose service was itself sufficient passport to fame. "It actually seemed," says Martyr, "as if Spain were to be drained of all her noble and generous blood. Nothing appeared impossible, cr even difficult, under such a leader. Hardly a cavalier in the land but would have thought it a reproach to remain behind. Truly marvellous," he adds, " is the authority which he has acquired over all orders of men ! " Such was the zeal with which men enlisted under his banner, that great difficulty was found in completing the necessary levies for Navarre, then menaced by the French. The king, alarmed at this, and relieved from apprehensions of immediate danger to Naples by subsequent advices from that country, sent orders greatly reducing the number of forces to be raised. But this had little effect, since every man who had the means preferred acting as a volunteer under the Great Captain, to any other service however gainful ; and many a poor cavalier was there, who expended his little all, or incurred a h'eavy debt, in order to appear in the field in a style becoming the chivalry of Spain. Ferdinand's former distrust of his general was now augmented tenfold by this evidence of his unbounded popularity. He saw in imagination much more danger to Naples from such a subject, than from any enemy, however formidable. He had received intelligence, moreover, that the French were in full retreat towards the north. He hesitated no longer, but sent instructions to the Great Captain at Cordova, to disband his levies, as the expedition would be postponed till after the present winter ; at the same time inviting such as chose to enlist in the service of Xavarre (August, 1512). These tidings were received with indignant feelings by the whole army. The officers refused, nearly to a man, to engage in the proposed service. Gonsalvo, who understood the motives of this change in the royal purpose, was deeply sensible to what he regarded as a personal affront. He, however, enjoined on his troops implicit obedience to the- king's commands. Before dismissing them, as he knew that many had been drawn into expensive preparations far beyond their means, he distributed largesses among them, amounting to the immense sum, if we may credit his biographers, of one hundred thousand ducats. " Never stint your hand," said he to his steward, who remonstrated on the magnitude of the donative ; "there is no mode of enjoying one's property, like giving it away." He then wrote a letter to the king, in which he gave free vent to his indignation, bitterly complaining of the ungenerous requital of his services, and asking leave to retire to his duchy of Terra- nova in Naples, since he could be no longer useful in Spain. This request was not calculated to lull Ferdinand's suspicions. He answered, how- ever, ' ' in the soft and pleasant style which he knew so well how to assume," says-Zurita; and after specifying his motives for relinquishing, however reluctantly, the expedition, he recommended Gonsalvo's return. to Loja, at least until some more definite arrangement could be made respecting the affairs of Italy. Thus condemned to his former seclusion, the Great Captain resumed his late habits of life, freely opening his mansion to persons of merit, interesting himself in plans for ameliorating the condition of his tenantry and neighbours, and in this quiet way winning a more unques- tionable title to human gratitude than when piling up the blood-stained DKATII AXD CHAKACTER OF FERDIXAXD. 535* trophies of Victor}-. Alas for humanity that it should have deemed otherwise ! Another circumstance, which disquieted the Catholic king, was the failure of issue by his present wife. The natural desire of offspring was further stimulated by hatred of the house of Austria, which made him eager to abridge the ample inheritance about to descend on his grandson Charles. It must be confessed, that it reflects little credit, on his heart or his understanding, that he should have been so ready to sacrifice to personal resentment those noble plans for the consolidation of the monarchy, which had so worthily occupied the attention both of himself and of Isabella in his early life. His wishes had nearly been realised, (iueeu Germaine was delivered of a son, March 3rd, 1509. Providence, however, as if unwilling to defeat the glorious consummation of the union of the Spanish kingdoms, so long desired and nearly achieved, permitted the ini'ant to live only a few hours. F rdinand repined at the blessing denied him, now more than ever. In order to invigorate his constitution, he resorted to artificial means. The medicines which he took had the opposite effect. At least from this- time, the spring of 1513, he was afflicted with infirmities before unknown to him. Instead of his habitual equanimity and cheerfulness, he became impatient, irritable, and frequently a prey to morbid melancholy. He lost all relish for business, and even for amusements, except field sports, to whieh lie devoted the greater part of his time. The fever which consumed him made him impatient of long residence in any one place, and during these last years of his life, the court was in perpetual migration. The unhappy monarch, alas! could not fly from disease, or from himself. In the summer of 1515, he was found one night by his attendants in a stal' ol iiiM nsibility, from which it was difficult to rouse him. He exhibited flashes of his former energy after this, however. On one occasion he made a journey to Aragon, in order to preside at the deli- berations of the cortes, ana enforce the grant of supplies, to which the nobles, from selfish considerations, made resislance. The king failed, indeed, to bend their intractable tempers, but he displayed on the occasion all his wonted address and resolution. On his return to Castile, which, perhaps from the greater refinement and deference of the people, seems to have been always a more agreeable residence to him than his own kingdom of Aragon, he received intelli- gence very vexatious, in the irritable state of his mind. He learned that the Great Captain wi.s preparing to embark for Flanders, with his friend the count of Urefia, the marquis of Priego, his nephew, and his future son-in-law, the coune of Cabra. Some surmised that Gonsalvo designed to take command of the papal army in Italy; others, to join himself with the archduke Charles, and introduce him, if possible, into Castile. Ferdinand, clinging to power more tenaciously, as it was ready to slip of itself from his grasp, had little doubt that the latter was his purpose. He sent orders, therefore, to the south, to prevent the meditated embarkation, and, if necessary, to seize Gonsalvo's person ; but the latter was soon to embark on a voyage where no earthly arm could arrest him. In the autumn of 1515 he was attacked by a quartan fever. Its approaches at first were mild. His constitution, naturally good, had 040 DIIATH OF GOXSALTO. been invigorated by the severe training of a military life ; and he had been so fortunate, that, notwithstanding the free exposure of his person to danger, he had never received a wound. But, although little alarm was occasioned at first by his illness, he found it impossible to throw it off; and he removed to his residence in Granada, in hopes of deriving benefit from its salubrious climate. Every effort to rally the declining powers of nature proved unavailing ; and, on the 2nd of December, 1515, he expired in his own palace at Granada, in the arms of his wife, and his beloved daughter Elvira. The death of this illustrious man diffused universal sorrow throughout the nation. All envy and unworthy suspicion died witli him. The king and the whole court went into mourning. Funeral services were performed in his honour, in the royal chapel and all the principal churches of the kingdom. Ferdinand addressed a letter of consolation to his duchess, in which he lamented the death of one " who had rendered him inestimable services, and to whom he had ever borne such sincere affection " ! * His obsequies were celebrated with great magnificence in the ancient Moorish capital, under the superintendence of the count of Tendilla, the son and successor of Gonsalvo's old friend, the late governor of Granada. f His remains, first deposited in the Franciscan monastery, were afterwards removed, and laid beneath a sumptuous mausoleum, in the church of San Geronimo ; and more than a hundred banners and royal pennons, waving in melancholy pomp around the walls of the chapel, proclaimed the glorious achievements of the warrior who slept beneath. J His noble wife, Dona Maria Manrique, survived him but a few days. His daughter Elvira inherited the princely titles and estates of her father, which, by her marriage with her kinsman, the count of Cabra, were perpetuated in the house of Cordova. Gonsalvo, or, as he is called in Castilian, Gonzalo Hernandez de "Cordova, was sixty-two years old at the time of his death. His counte- nance and person aie represented to have been extremelv handsome ; his manners, elegant and attractive, were stamped with tliat lofty dignity which so often distinguishes his countrymen. " He still bears," >ays Jtlartyr, speaking of him in the last years of his life, " the same majestic port as when in the height of his former authority ; so that every one who visits him acknowledges the influence of his noble presence as fully as when, at the head of armies, he gave laws to Italy." * I have before me a copy of an autograph letter of Ferdinand to his chaplain, Father De Aponte, in which the king directs him to wait on the duchess and tender her the con- eolations proper under her bereavement, with the assurance of the unalterable c< mtinuauc* of the royal favour and protection. The sympathetic tone of the epistle, aud the delicaU terms in which it is expressed, are honourable to the monarch. t Peter Martyr notices the death of this estimable nobleman, full of years an- 1 of honours, fa a letter dated July 18th, 1515. It is addressed to Tendilla's son, aii olation flowing from the mild and philosophical spirit of its amiable author. J On the top of the monument was seen the marble effigy of the Great Captain, armed and kneeling. The banners and other military trophies, which continued to garnish the walls of the chapel, according to Pedraza, as late n# 1000, had d:- .re the eighteenth century ; at least we may infer so from Colmenar's silence respecting them ill his account of the sepulchre. Gonsalvo was created duke of Terra Nuova and Sessa, and marquis of Bitonto, all in Italy, with estates of the value of 40,000 ducats rent. He was also grand constable of Naples, and a nobleman of Venice. His princely honours were transmitted V. Elvira to her son, Gonzalo Hernandez de Cordova, who tilled the posts, under Ch;t: of governor of Milan and captain-general of Italy. Under Philip II. his descendants were aiscd to a Spanish dukedom, with the title of dukes yf Uaeua. EK.VTH AXD CITARACTKR OF FICUDIXAXD. 5-11 IT is splendid military s: . o gratifying to CastiHan pride, liave jiado the name of Gonsalvo us familiar to his countrymen as that of the id, which, floating down the stream of popular melody, has been treasured up as a part of the national history. His shining qualities', even more than his exploits, have been often made the theme of fiction ; and fiction, as usual, has dealt with them in a fashion to leave only confused and erroneous conceptions of both. More is known of the Spanish hero, for instance, to foreign readers, from Florian's a-iveablo novel, than from any authentic record of his actions. Yet Florian, by dwelling only on the dazzling and popular traits of his hero, has depicted him as tl. "U of romantic chivalry. This i i inly was not his character, which miu-ht he said to have been formed after a riper p -riod of civilisation than t; :ivalry. At L ' had none of tlie nonsense of that age, its faneiful vagaries, reckless adventure, and wild romantic gallantry.* His characteristics were prudence, cool liness of purpose, and intimate knowledge of man. lie underwood, above all, the temper of his own countrymen. H& inav be said, in some degree, to have formed their military character ; their patience of > v< re training and hardship, their unflinching- obedience, their inilexible spirit under reverses, and their decisive- energy in the hour of action. It is certain that the Spanish soldier, under his hands, assumed an entirely new aspect from that which he had displayed in the romantic wars of the Peninsula. Gonsalvo was untainted with the coarser vioes characteristic of the- time. He discovered none of that griping avarice, too often the reproach, of his countrymen in these wars. His hand and heart were liberal as the day. He betrayed none of the cruelty and licentiousness which. disgrace the a ire of chivalry. On all occasions he was prompt to protect women from injury or insult. Although his distinguished manners and rank gave him obvious advantages with the sex, he never abused them ; and he has left a character, unimpeached by any historian, of unblemished morality in his domestic relations. This was a rare- virtue in the sixteenth century. Gonsalvo's fame rests on his military prowess ; yet his character would Beem, in many respects, better suited to the calm and cultivated walks of civil life. His government of Naples exhibited much discretion and sound policy ; and there, as afterwards in his retirement, his polite and liberal manners secured, not merely the good-will, but the strong attachment, of those around him. His early education, like that of most of the noble cavaliers who came forward before the improvements intro- duced under Isabella, was taken up with knightly exercises more than intellectual accomplishments. He was never taught Latin, and had no pretensions to scholarship ; but he honoured and nobly recompensed it in others. His solid sense and liberal taste supplied all deficiencies in himself, and led him to select friends and companions from among the most enlightened and virtuous of the community. On this fair character there remains one foul reproach. This is hi breach of faith in two memorable instances ; first, to the young duke of Oilabria, and afterwards to Cijesar Borgia, both of whom he betrayed Gonsalvo assumed for his device a cross-bow, moved by a pulley, with the motto, "Ingenium auperal vires." It was characteristic of a miud trusting more to policy titan force aud during ..-.. 542 DEATH OF GOXSALTO. into the hands of King Ferdinand, their personal enemy, and in violation of his most solemn pledges. True, it was in obedience to his master's commands, and not to serve his own purposes ; and true also, this want of faith was the besetting sin of the age. But history has no warrant to tamper with right and wrong, or to brighten the character of its favourites, by diminishing one shade of the abhorrence which attaches to their vices. They should rather be held up in their true deformity, as the more conspicuous from the very greatness with which they are associated. It may be remarked, however, that the reiterated and unsparing opprobrium with which foreign writers, who have been little sensible to Gonsalvo's merits, have visited these offences, affords tolerable evidence that they are the only ones of any magnitude that can be charged on him. As to the imputation of disloyalty, we have elsewhere had occasion to notice its apparent groundlessness. It would be strange, indeed, if the ungenerous treatment which he had experienced ever since his return from Naples had not provoked feelings of indignation in his bosom. Nor would it be surprising, under these circumstances, if he had been led to regard the archduke Charles's pretensions to the regency, as he came of age, with a favourable eye. There is no evidence, however, of this, or of any act, unfriendly to Ferdinand's interests. His whole public life, on the contrary, exhibited the truest loyalty ; and the only stains that darken his fame were incurred by too unhesitating devotion to the wishes of his master. He is not the tirst nor the last statesman who has reaped the royal recompense of ingratitude, for serving his king with greater zeal than he had served his Maker. Ferdinand's health, in the meantime, had declined so sensibly, that it was evident he could not long survive the object of his jealousy. His disease had now settled into a dropsy, accompanied with a distressing affection of the heart. He found difficulty in breathing, complained that he was stifled in the crowded cities, and passed most of his time, even after the weather became cold, in the fields and forests, occupied, as far as his strength permitted, with the fatiguing pleasures of the chace. As the winter advanced, he bent his steps towards the south. He passed some time, in December, at a country seat of the duke of Alva, near Placentia, where he hunted the stag. He then resumed his journey to Andalusia, but fell so ill on the way, at the little village ol Madrigalejo, near Truxillo, that it was found impossible to advance further. (Jan. 1516.) The king seemed desirous of closing his eyes to the danger of his situation as long as possible. He would not confess, nor even admit Ins. confessor into his chamber. He showed similar jealousy of his grand- son's envoy, Adrian of Utrecht. This person, the preceptor of Charles, and afterwards raised, through his means, to the papacy, had come into Castile some weeks before, with the ostensible view of making some permanent arrangement with Ferdinand in regard to the regency. The real motive, as the powers which he brought with him subsequently proved, was, that he might be on the spot when the kine: died, and assume the reins of government. Ferdinand received the minister with cold civility ; and an agreement was entered into, by which the regency was guaranteed to the monarch, not only during Joanna's life, but his own. Concessions to a dying; man cost nothing. Adrian, who DKATH AXD CHAEACTEE OF FEEDINAXD. 513 was at Guadalupe at this time, no sooner heard of Ferdinand's illness, than he hastened to Madrigalejo. The king, however, suspected the motives of his visit. "He has come to see me die," said he; and, refusing to admit him into his presence, ordered the mortified envoy back again to Guadalupe. At length the medical attendants ventured to inform the king of his real situation, conjuring him, if he had any affairs of moment to settle, to do it without delay. He listened to them with composure, and from that moment seemed to recover all his customary fortitude and equa nimity. After receiving the sacrament, and attending to his spiritua. concerns, he called his attendants around his bed, to advise with then: respecting the disposition of the government. Among those present, at this time, were his faithful followers, the duke of Alva and the marquis of Denia, his major-domo, with several bishops and members of his council. The king, it seems, had made several wills. By one, executed at Burgos, in 1512, he had committed the government of Castile and Aragon to the infante Ferdinand during his brother Charles's absence. This young prince had been educated in Spain under the eye of his grandfather, who entertained a strong affection for him. The counsellors remonstrated in the plainest terms against this disposition of the regency. Ferdinand, they said, was too young to take the helm into his own hands. His appointment would be sure to create new factions in Castile ; it would raise him up to be, in a manner, a rival of his brother, and kindle ambitious desires in his bosom, which could not fail to end in his dis- appointment, and perhaps destruction. The king, who would never have made such a devise in his better days, was more easily turned from his purpose now than he would once have been. "To whom then," he asked, "shall I leave the regency?" "To Ximenes, archbishop of Toledo," they replied. Ferdinand turned away his face, apparently in displeasure ; but after a few moments' silence rejoined, " It is well ; he is certainly a good man, with honest intentions. He has no importunate friends or family to provide for. He osves everything to Queen Isabella and myself; and, as In- has always been true to the interests of our family, I believe he will always remain so." He, however, could not so readily abandon the idea of some splendid establishment for his favourite grandson : and he proposed to settle on him the grand-masterships of the military orders. But to this his attendants again objected, on the same grounds as before : adding, that this powerful patronage was too great for any subject, .aid imploring him not to defeat the object which the late queen had so much at heart, of incorporating it with the crown. " Ferdinand will be left very poor then," exclaimed the king, with tears in his eyes. " He will have the > ^rood-will of his brother," replied one of his honest counsellors, " the best legacy your Highness can leave him." The testament, as finally arranged, settled the succession of Aragon and Naples on his daughter Joanna and her heirs. The administration of Castile during Charles's absence was intrusted to Ximenes ; and that of Aragon to the king's natural son, the archbishop of Saragossa, whose rood sense and popular manners made him acceptable to the people. 1e granted several places in the kingdom of Naples to the infante 644 DEATH OF GON SALVO. Ferdinand, with an annual stipend of fifty thousand ducats, chargeable on the public revenes. To his queen Germaine he left the yearly income of thirty thousand gold florins stipulated by the marriage settlement, with five thousand a year more during widowhood.* The will contained, besides, several appropriations for pious and charitable purposes, but nothing worthy of particular note. Notwithstanding the simplicity of the various provisions of the testament, it was so long, from the formalities and periphrases with which it was encumbered, that there was scarce time to transcribe it in season for the royal signature. On the evening of the 22ud of January 1516, he executed the instrument ; and a fe\v hours later, between one and two of the morning of the 23rd, Ferdinand breathed his last.t The scene of this event was a small house belonging to the friars of Guadalupe. "In so wretched a tenement," exclaims Martyr, in his usual moralising vein, "did this lord of so many lauds close his eyes upon the world." Ferdinand was nearly sixty-four years old, of which, forty-one had elapsed since he first swayed the sceptre of Castile, and thirty-seven since he held that of Aragon. A long reign; long enough, indeed, to see most of those whom he had honoured and trusted of his subjects gathered to the dust, and a succession of contemporary monarchs come and disappear like shadows. J He died deeply lamented by his native subjects, who entertained a partiality natural towards their own hereditary sovereign. The event was regarded with very different feelings by the Castilian nobles, who calculated their gains on the transfer of the reins from such old and steady hands into those of a young and inexperienced master. The commons, however, who had felt the good effect of this curb on the nobility in their own per- sonal security, held his memory in reverence as that of a national benefactor. Ferdinand's remains were interred, agreeably to his orders, in Granada. A few of his most faithful adherents accompanied them; the greater part being deterred by a prudent caution of giving umbrage to Charles. The funeral train, however, was swelled by contributions from the various towns through which it passed. At Cordova, especially, it is worthy of note, that the marquis of Priego, who had slender obligations to Ferdinand, came out with all his household to pay the last melancholy honours to his remains. They were received with similar respect in Granada, where the people, while they gazed on the sad spectacle, says Zurita, were naturally affected, as they called to mind the pomp and * Ferdinand's gay widow did not long enjoy this latter pension. Soon after his death, he gave her hand to the marquis of Brandenburg ; and, he dying, she again married the prince of Calabria, who had been detained in a sort of honourable captivity in Spain ever since the dethronement of his father, King Frederic. It was the second sterile match, says Guicciardini, which Charles V., for obvious politic reasons, provided for the rightful heir of Naples. t The queen was at AlcaK de Hcnares when she received tidings of her husband's illness. She posted with all possible dispatch to Madrigalojo ; but, although she reached it on the 20th, she was not admitted, says Gomez, notwithstanding her tears, to a private interview with the king till the testament was executed, a few hours only before his death. { Since Ferdinand ascended the throne, he had seen no less than four kings of England, e many of France, and also of Naples, three of Portugal, two German emperors, and naif a dozen popes. As to his own subjects, scarcely one of all those familiar to the reader in the course of our history now survived, except, indeed, the Nestor of his time, the octogenarian Ximcueo. DEATH AND CHARACTER OF FERDINAND. 545 splendour of his triumphal entry on the first occupation of the Moorish capital. Jiy his dying injunctions, all unnecessary ostentation was interdicted at his funeral. His body was laid by the side of Isabella's in the monastery of the Alhambra; and the year following, when the royal chapel of the metropolitan church was completed, they were both trans- ported thither. A magnificent mausoleum of white marble was erected over them by their grandson Charles the Fifth. It was executed in a style worthy of the age. The sides were adorned with figures of angela and saints, richly sculptured in bas-relief. On the top reposed the effigies of the illustrious pair, whose titles and merits were commemorated in the following brief, and not very felicitous inscription : "MAHOMETIOfi SECTJB PROSTRATORES, ET 11&KET1CM PERVICACI.E EXTIXCTORES, FERNAK DCS ARAGONUM, ET HELISABETA CASTELLJE, VIK ET UXOR UNANIMBJ, CATHOLICI APPELLATI, MARMOREO CLAUDUNTUR HOC TUMULO." King Ferdinand's personal appearance has been elsewhere noticed. *' He was of the middle size," says a contemporary who knew him well. " His complexion was fresh ; his eyes bright and animated ; his nose and mouth small and finely formed, and his teeth white ; his forehead lofty and serene ; with flowing hair of a bright chestnut colour. His manners were courteous, and his countenance seldom clouded by any thing like spleen or melancholy. He was grave in speech and action, and had a marvellous dignity of presence. His whole demeanour, iu fine, was truly that of a great king." For this flattering portrait Ferdinand must have sat at an earlier and happier period of his life. His education, owing to the troubled state of the times, had been neglected in his boyhood, though he was early instructed in all the generous pastimes and exercises of chivalry.* He was esteemed one of the most perfect horsemen of his court. He led an active life, and the only kind of reading he appeared to relish was history. It was natural that so busy an actor on the great political theatre should have found peculiar interest and instruction in this study. He was naturally of an equable temper, and inclined to moderation in all things. The only amusement for which he cared much was hunting, especially falconry, and that he never carried to excess till his last years.f He was indefatigable in application to business. He had no relish for the pleasures of the table, and, like Isabella, was temperate even to abstemiousness in his diet.l He was frugal in his domestic and personal expenditure ; partly, no doubt, from a willingness to rebuke the opposite spirit of wastefulness and ostentation in his nobles. He lost no good opportunity of doing this. On one occasion, it is said, he turned to a gallant of the court noted for his extravagance in dress, and, laying his hand on his own doublet, exclaimed, " Excellent stun this ; it has lasted me three pair of sleeves ! " This spirit of economy was carried so far as to bring on him the reproach of parsimony. And parsimony, though * "Ho tweed lightly," says Pulgar, "and with a dexterity not surpassed by any man in the kingdom." t Pulgar, iudood, notices his fondness for chess, tennis, and other games of skill ia early lii'o. i " Stop and dina with us," he was known to say to his i nclo, the grand admiral Honriiincz. "TVC are to have a f<.wl ; . would hav afforded small scope for the fct 1 '" i ot'a Vatol ur ;iu Udu. M Jf 546 ERATH OF GOXSALTO. not so pernicious on the whole as the opposite vice of prodigality, has always found far less favour with the multitude, from the appearance of disinterestedness which the latter carries with it. Prodigality in a king, however, who draws not on his own resources, but on the public, forfeits even this equivocal claim to applause. But, in truth, Ferdinand was rather frugal than parsimonious. His income was moderate ; his enter- prises numerous and vast. It was impossible that he could meet them without husbanding his resources with the most careful economy.* No one has accused him of attempting to enrich his exchequer by the venal sale of office, like Louis the Twelfth, or by griping extortion, like another royal contemporary, Henry the Seventh. He amassed no treasure, and indeed died so poor, that he left scarcely enough in his coffers to defray the charge of his funeral, f Ferdinand was devout ; at least he was scrupulous in regard to the exterior of religion. He was punctual in attendance on mass ; careful to observe all the ordinances and ceremonies of his church; and left many tokens of his piety, after the fashion of the time, in sumptuous edifices and endowments for religious purposes. Although not a super- stitious man for the age, he is certainly obnoxious to the reproach of bigotry ; for he co-operated with Isabella in all her exceptionable measures in Castile, and spared no effort to fasten the odious yoke of the Inquisition on Aragon, and subsequently, though happily with less success, on Naples. J Ferdinand has incurred the more serious charge of hypocrisy. Hia Catholic zeal was observed to be marvellously efficacious in furthering his temporal interests. His most objectionable enterprises, even, were covered with the veil of religion. In this, however, he did not materially differ from the practice of the age. Some of the most scandalous wars of that period were ostensibly at the bidding of the church, or in defence of Christendom against the infidel. This ostentation of a religious motive was indeed very usual with the Spanish and Portuguese. The crusading spirit nourished by their struggle with the Moors, and subse- quently by their African and American expeditions, gave such a religious tone habitually to their feelings, as shed an illusion over their actions and enterprises, frequently disguising their true character even from themselves. It will not be so easy to acquit Ferdinand of the reproach of perfidy which foreign writers have so deeply branded on his name, and which. * The revenues of his own kingdom of Aragon were very limited. His principal foreign expeditions were undertaken solely on account of that crown ; and this, notwith- standing the aid from Castile, may explain, and in some degree excuse, his very scan remittances to his troops. t The state of Ferdinand's coffers formed, indeed, a strong contrast to that of h brother monarch's, Henry VII., "whose treasure of store," to borrow the words of Baco " left at his death, under his own key and keeping, amounted unto the sum of eighteen hundred thousand pounds sterling ; a huge mass of money, even for these times." Sir Edward Coke swells this huge mass to " fifty and three hundred thousand pounds I " J Ferdinand's conduct in regard to the Inquisition in Aragon displayed singular dupli- city. In consequence of the remonstrance of cortes, in 1512, in which that high-spirited body set forth the various usurpations of tho Holy Office, Ferdinand signed a compact, abridging its jurisdiction. He repented of these concessions, however, and in the following year obtained a dispensation from Rome from his engagements. This proceeding produced such an alarming excitement in the kingdom, that the monarch found it expedient to renounce the papal brief, and apply for another, confirming his former compact. One may well doubt whether bigotry entered aa largely, as less pardonable motives of sUto policy, into this miserable juggling. DF.ATH AXD CHARACTER OF FERDINAKD. 547 those of his own nation have sought rather to palliate than to deny. It is but fair to him, however, even here, to take a glance at tlie a ire*. He came forward when government was in a state of transition 1'r.nu the feudal forms to those which it has assumed in modern times : when the superior strength of the great vassals was circumvented by the superior policy of the reigning princes. It was the dawn of tlie triumph of intellect over the brute force, which had hitherto controlled the move- ments of nations, as of individuals. The same policv which these monarchs had pursued in their own domestic relations they introduced into those with foreign states, when, at the close of the fifteenth century the barriers that had so long kept them asunder were broken down. Italy was the first field on which the great powers were brought into anything like a general collision. It was the country, too, in which this crafty policy had been first studied, and reduced to a regular system. A single extract from the political manual of that age may serve as a key to the whole science, as then understood.* "A prudent prince," says Machiavclli, " will not, and ought not to observe his engagements when it would operate to his disadvantage, and the causes no longer exist which induced him to make them." Sufficient evidence of the practical application of the maxim may be found in the manifold treaties of the period, so contradictory, or, what is to the same purpose for our present argument, so confirmatory of one another in their tenor, as clearly to show the impotence of all engagements. There were no less than four several treaties in the course of three years, solemnly stipu- lating the marriage of the archduke Charles and Claude of France. Louis the Twelfth violated his engagements, and the marriage after all never took place. (Mich was tlie school in which Ferdinand was to make trial of his skill with his brother monarchs. He had an able instructor in his father, John the S.vond, of Arapm, and the result showed that the lessons were not lost on him. " He was vigilant, wary, and subtile," writes a French contemporary, " and few histories make mention of his being out-witted in the whole course of his life."t He played the game with more adroitness than his opponents, and he won it. Success, as usual, brought on him the reproaches of the losers. This is particularly true of the French, whose master, Louis the Twelfth, was more d'irectly pitted against him. Yet Ferdinand does not appear to be a whit more I'lmoxious to the charge of unfairness than his opponent. If he deserted his allies when it suited his convenience, he, at least, did not deliberately plot their destruction, and betray them into the hands of their deadly y, as his rival did with Venice, in the league of Cambray. The partition of Naples, the most scandalous transaction of the period, he (shared equally with Louis ; and if the latter has escaped the reproach of the usurpation of Xavarrc, it was because the premature death of his general deprived him of the pretext and means for achieving it. Yet Louis the Twelfth, the " father of his people," has gone down to posterity with a high and honourable reputation. * Charles V. in particular testified his respect for Machiavelli, by having the " Pnncip** ^ranslated for his own use. t " This prince." says Lord Herbert, who was not disposed to overrate the talents, any more than the virtues of Ferdinand, "was thought the most active and politique of his time. No man knew better how to serve his turn on everybody, or to make their ends conduce to bos." W N 2 548 DEATH OF GOSSALYO. Ferdinand, unfortunately for his popularity, had nothing of the frank and cordial temper, the genial expansion of the soul, which begets love. He carried the same cautious and impenetrable frigidity into private life that he showed in public. " No one, says a writer of the time, " could read his thoughts by any change of his countenance." Calm and calcu- lating, even in trifles, it was too obvious that everything had exclusive reference to self. He seemed to estimate his friends only by the amount of services they could render him. He was not always mindful of these services. "Witness his ungenerous treatment of Columbus, the Great Captain, Navarro, Ximenes, the men who shed the brightest lustre and the most substantial benefits on his reign. Witness, also, the insensi- bility to the virtues and long attachment of Isabella, whose memory he could so soon dishonour by a union with one every way unworthy to be her successor. Ferdinand's connexion with Isabella, while it reflected infinite glory on his reign, suggests a contrast most unfavourable to his character. Hers was all magnanimitv, disinterestedness, and deep devotion to the interests of her people. llis was the spirit of egotism. The circle of his views might be more or less expanded, but self was the steady unchange- able centre. Her heart beat with the generous sympathies of friendship, and the purest constancy to the first, the only object of her love. We have seen the measure of his sensibilities in other relations. They were not more refined in this ; and he proved himself unworthy of the admirable woman with whom his destinies were united, by indulging in those vicious gallantries too generally sanctioned by the age. * Ferdinand, in fine, a shrewd and politic prince, " surpassing," as a French writer, not his friend, has remarked, " all the statesmen of his time in the science of the cabinet," may be taken as the representative of the peculiar genius of the age. While Isabella, discarding all the petty artifices of state policv, and pursuing the noblest ends by the noblest means, stands far above her age. In his illustrious consort Ferdinand may be said to have lost his good genius. From that time his fortunes were under a cloud. Xot that victory sat less constantly on his banner ; but at home he had lost " All that should accompany old age, As honour, love, obedience, troops of friends." His ill-advised marriage disgusted his Castilian subjects. He ruled over them, indeed, but more in severity than in love. The beauty of his young queen opened new sources of jealousy ; while the disparity of their ages, and her fondness for frivolous pleasure, as little qualified her to be his partner in prosperity as his solace in declining years. His tenacity of power drew him into vulgar squabbles with those most nearly * Ferdinand left four natural children, one son and three daughters. The former, Don Alonso de Aragon, was born of the viscountess of Eboli, a Catalan lady. He was made archbishop of Saragossa when only six years old. There was little of the religious pro- fession, however, iu his life. He took an active part in the political and military move- ments of the period, and seems to have been even less scrupulous in his gallantries than his father. His manners in private life were attractive, and his public conduct discreet. His father always regarded him with peculiar affection, and intrusted him with the regency of Aragon, as we have seen, at his death. Ferdinand had three daughters, also, by three different ladies, one of them a noble Portuguese. The eldest child was named Dcfia Juan a, and married the grand constable of Castile. The others, each named Maria, embraced the religious profession in a convent at Madrigal DKATH AXD CHAKACTEE OF FEEDIXAA'D. 549 allied to him by blood, which settled into a mortal aversion. Finally, bodily infirmity broke the energies of his mind, sour suspicions corroded his heart, and he had the misfortune to live long after he had lost all that could make life desirable. us turn from this gloomy picture to the brighter season of the morning and meridian of his life, when he sat with Isabella on the united thr-'iics of Ca-tile and Aragon, strong in the love of his own subjects, and in the fear and respect of his enemies. "We shall then find much in his character to admire ; his impartial justice in the administration of tlii 1 laws ; his watchful solicitude to shield the weak from the oppression of the strong ; his wise economy, which achieved great results, without burdening his people with opprcs.-ive taxes ; his sobriety and moderation : the decorum and respect lor religion which he maintained among his subjects; the industry lie promoted by wholesome laws and his own example : his consummate sagacity, which crowned all his enterprises with brilliant success, and made him the oracle of the princes of the age. Machiavelli, indeed, the most deeply read of his time in human character, imp raid's successes, in one of his letters, to " cunning and good luck, rather than superior wisdom." He was, indeed, fortunate ; and the " star of Austria," which rose as his declined, shone not with a brighter or steadier lustre. But success through a long seii> < <>f \\ ::r- sufficiently, of itself, attests good conduct, " The winds and w;. (iil.'n.n, truly enough, "are always on :de of tb^ most skilful mariner." The Florentine statesman has Li d a riper and more deliberate judgment in the treatise, which he intended as a mirror for the rulers of the time. "Nothing," says he, " gains estimation for a prince like great enterprises. Our own age has furnished a splendid example of this in Ferdinand of Aragon. We may call him a new kimr. 'u a feeble one, he has made himself the most renowned and glorious monarch of Christendom ; and, if we ponder well his manifold achievements, we must acknowledge all of them very great, and some truly extraordinary." Other eminent foicLn. rs of the time join in this lofty strain of pane- gyric. Tin Ca-ti!i:i:>. mindful of the general security and prosperity they had enjoyed ui. seem willing to bury his frailties in his grave. While his own hereditary subjects, exulting with patriotic prid-- in the glory to which he had raised their petty state, and touched with grateful recollections of his mild paternal government, deplore his lo>s iu strains of national sorrow, as the last of the revered line, who was to preside over the destinies of Aragon as a separate and independent kinydouu CHA.PTEE XXV. , DEATH, AND CHABACTER OF CAKPINAL 1516, 1517. Ximenes Governor of Castile diaries proclaimed King Ximenes' Domestic Policy Ha intimidates the Nobles Public Discontents Charles lauds in Spain His Ingratitude to Ximenes The Cardinal's Illness and Death His extraordinary Character. THE personal history of Ferdinand the Catholic terminates, of course, with the preceding chapter. In order to bring the history of his reign, however, to a suitable close, it is necessary to continue the narrative through the brief regency of Ximenes, to the period when the govern- ment was delivered into the hands of Ferdinand's grandson and successor, Charles the Fifth. By the testament of the deceased monarch, as we have seen, Cardinal Ximenez de Cisneros was appointed sole regent of Castile. He met with opposition, however, from Adrian, the dean of Louvain, who produced powers of similar purport from Prince Charles. Neither party could boast a sufficient warrant for exercising this important trust ; the one claiming it by the appointment of an individual who, acting merely as regent himself, had certainly no right to name his successor ; while the other had only the sanction of a prince, who, at the time of giving it, had no jurisdiction whatever in Castile. The misunderstanding which ensued was finally settled by an agreement of the parties to share the authority in common, till further instructions should be received from Charles. It was not long before they arrived (Feb. 14th, 1516). They confirmed the cardinal's authority in the fullest manner, while they spoke of Adrian only as an ambassador. They intimated, however, the most entire confi- dence in the latter ; and the two prelates continued, as before, to administer the government jointly. Ximenes sacrificed nothing by this arrange- ment ; for the tame and quiet temper of Adrian was too much overawed by the bold genius of his partner to raise any opposition to his measures.* The first requisition of Prince Charles was one that taxed severely the power and popularity of the new regent. This was to have himself proclaimed king ; a measure extremely distasteful to the Castilians, who regarded it not only as contrary to established usage, during the lifetime of his mother, but as an indignity to her. It was in vain that Ximenes a;td the council remonstrated on the impropriety and impolicy of the measure.t Charles, fortified by his Flemish advisers, sturdily persisted in his purpose. The cardinal, consequently, called a meeting of the prelates and principal nobles of Madrid, to which he had transferred the * Crabajal has given us Charles's epistle, which is subscnoed "El PrincM[X!." He did not venture on the title of king in his corresixmdence with the Castilians, though hu affecteo it abroad. The letter of the council is dated March 14th. 1518. THE KEGENCT OF XIMEXES. 551 cat of government, and whose central position and other local advan- tages made it, from this time forward, with little variation, the regular capital of the kingdom.* The doctor Carbajal prepared a studied and plausible argument in support of the measure. As it failed, however, to produce conviction in his audience, Ximenes, chafed by the opposition, and probably distrusting its real motives, peremptorily declared that those who refused to acknowledge Charles as king, in tne present state of things, would refuse to obey him when he was so. "I will have him proclaimed in Madrid to-morrow," said he, " and I doubt not every other city in the kingdom will follow the example." He was as good as his word ; and the conduct of the capital was imitated, with little oppo- sition, by all the other cities in Castile. Not so in Aragon, whose people were too much attached to their institutions to consent to it, till Charles first made oath in person to respect the laws and liberties of the realm. The Castilian aristocracy, it may be believed, did not much relish the new yoke imposed on them by their priestly regent. On one occasion, it is said, they went in a body and demanded of Ximenes by what powers ho held the government so absolutely. He referred them for answer to Ferdinand's testament and Charles's letter. As they objected to these, ke led them to a window of the apartment and showed them a park of artillery below, exclaiming, at the same time, " There are my creden- tials, then ! " The story is characteristic ; but, though often repeated, must be admitted to stand on slender authority.} One of the regent's first acts was the famous ordinance, encouraging the burgesses, by liberal rewards, to enrol themselves into companies, and submit to regular military training at stated seasons. The nobles saw the operation of this measure too well not to use all their efforts to counteract it. In this they succeeded for a time, as the cardinal, with his usual boldness, had ventured on it without waiting for Charles's sanction, and in opposition to most of the council. The resolute spirit of the minister, however, eventually triumphed over all resistance ; and a national corps was organised, competent, under proper guidance, to protect the liberties of the people, but which, unfortunately, was ultimately destined to be turned against them. Armed with this strong physical force, the cardinal now projected the boldest schemes of reform, especially in the finances, which had fallen into some disorder in the latter days of Ferdinand. He made a strict inquisition into the funds of the military orders, in which there had beeu much waste and misappropriation ; he suppressed all superfluous offices in the state ; retrenched excessive salaries, and cut short the pensions granted by Ferdinand and Isabella, which he contended should determine with their lives. Unfortunately, the state was not materially benefited by these economical arrangements^ since the greater part of what was thus saved was drawn off to supply the waste and cupidity of the Flemish court, who dealt with Spain with all the merciless rapacity that could be shown to a conquered province. The foreign administration of the regent displayed the same courage * It became permanently so in the following reign of Philip II. t According to Robles, the cardinal, after this bravado, twirled his coitlelier's belt about his fingers, saying, ''he w.in-.ed nothing better thau to tamu the pride of the Castilian nobles with ! " But Ximenes was neither a fool nor a madiuuu, although his over zealous biographers make him sometimes one and sometimes the other. 552 THE REGEXCY OF XIMENES, and vigour. Arsenals were established in the southern maritime towns, and a numerous fleet was equipped in the Mediterranean against the Barbary corsairs. A large force was sent into Xavarre, which defeated an invading army of French (March 25, 1516) ; and the cardinal followed up the blow by demolishing the principal fortresses of the kingdom ; a precautionary measure, to which, in all probability, Spain owes the permanent preservation of her conquest. The regent's eye penetrated to the farthest limits of the monarchy. He sent a commission to Hispaniola, to inquire into, and ameliorate, the condition of the natives. At the same time he earnestly opposed (though without success, being overruled in this by the Flemisn counsellors), the introduction of negro slaves into the colonies, which, he predicted, from the character of the race, must ultimately result in a servile war. It is needless to remark how well the event has verified the prediction. It is with less satisfaction that we must contemplate his policy in regard to the Inquisition. As head of that tribunal, he enforced its authority and pretensions to the utmost. He extended a branch of it to Oran, and also to the Canaries, and tbe Xew World. In 1512, the new Christians had offered Ferdinand a large sum of money to carry on the Navarrese war, if he would cause the trials before the tribunal to be conducted in the same manner as in other courts, where the accuser and the evidence were confronted openly with the defendants. To this reasonable petition Ximenes objected, on the wretched plea, that, in that event, none would be found willing to undertake the odious business of informer. He backed his remonstrance with such a liberal donative from his own funds as supplied the king's immediate exigency, and effectually closed his heart against the petitioners. The application was renewed in 1516 by the unfortunate Israelites, who offered a liberal supply in like manner to Charles, on similar terms : but the proposal, tx> which his Flemish counsellors, who may be excused at least from th& reproach of bigotry, would have inclined the young monarch, was finally rejected through the interposition of Ximenes. The high-handed measures of the minister (1517), while they disgusted the aristocracy, gave great umbrage to the dean of Louvain, who saw himself reduced to a mere cipher in the administration. In consequence of his representation, a second, and afterwards, a third minister was sent to Castile, with authority to divide the government with the cardinal. But all this was of little avail. On one occasion, the co-regents ventured to rebuke their haughty partner, and assert their own dignity by sub- scribing their names first to the despatches, and then sending them to him for his signature. But Ximenes coolly ordered his secretary to tear the paper in pieces, and make out a new one, which he signed, and sent out without the participation of his brethren. And this course he continued during the remainder of his administration. The cardinal not only assumed the sole responsibility of the most important public acts, but, in the execution of them, seldom conde- scended to calculate the obstacles or the odds arrayed against him. He was thus brought into collision, at the same time, with three of th& most powerful grandees of Castile ; the dukes of Alva and Infantado, and the count of Urtfia. Don Pedro Giron, the son of the latter, with several other young noblemen, had maltreated and resisted the royal officers while in the discharge of their duty. They then took refuge in the little HIS DEATH AND CHARACTER. 553 town of Villafrata, which they fortified and prepared for a defence. The cardinal, without hesitation, mustered several thousand of the national militia, and, investing the place, set it on tire, and deliberately razed it to the, ground. The refractory nobles, struck with consternation, submitted. Their friends interceded for them in the most humble manner ; and the cardinal, whose lofty spirit disdained to trample on a fallen foe, showed his usual clemency by soliciting their pardon from the king. But neither the talents nor authority of Xiroenes, it was evident, could much longer maintain subordination among the people, exasperated by the shameless extortions of the Flemings, and the little interest shown for them by their new sovereign. The most considerable offices in church and state were put up to sale ; and the kingdom was drained of its funds by the large remittances continually made on one pretext or another to Flanders. All this brought odium, undeserved, indeed, on the cardinal's government ; for there is abundant evidence that both he and the council remonstrated in the boldest manner on these enormities r while they endeavoured to inspire nobler sentiments in Charles's bosom, by recalling the wise and patriotic administration of his grandparents.* The people, in the meanwhile, outraged by these excesses, and despairing of redress from a higher quarter, loudly clamoured for a convocation of cortes, that tin y might take the matter into their own hands. The cardinal evaded this as long as possible. He was never a friend to popular assemblies, much less in the present inflamed state of public feeling, and in the absence of the sovereign. He was more anxious for hi- return than any other individual, probably, in the kingdom. Braved by the aristocracy at home, thwarted in every favourite measure by the Flemings abroad, with an injured indignant people to control, and oppressed, moreover, by infirmities and years ; even his stern inflexible spirit could scarcely sustain him under a burden too grievous, in these- circumstances, for any subject. At length the young monarch, having made all preliminary arrange- ments, prepared, though still in opposition to the wishes of his courtiers,, to embark for his Spanish dominions. Previously to this, on the 13th of August, 1516, the French and Spanish plenipotentiaries signed a treaty of peace at Noyon. The principal article stipulated the marriage of Charles to the daughter of Francis the First, who was to cede, as her dowry, the French claims on Naples. The marriage, indeed, never took place. But the treaty itself may be considered as finally adjusting the hostile relations which had subsisted during so many years of Ferdi- nand's reign, with the rival monarchy of France, and as closing the long series of wars which had grown out of the league of Cambray. On the 17th of September, 1517, Charles landed at Villaviciosa, in the Asturias. Ximcnes at this time lay ill at the Franciscan monastery of Agaflen, near Aranda, on the Douro. The good tidings of the royal landing operated like a cordial on his spirits, and he instantly dispatched letters to the young monarch, filled with wholesome counsel as to the conduct he should pursue in order to conciliate the affections of the people. He received at the same time messages from the king, couched - * Charles might have found an antidote to the poison of his Flemish sycophants in thr ".Ul'ul counsels ut his Castili.au iniuisturs. 554 THE BEGENCY OF XttlEXES. in the most gracious terms, and expressing the liveliest interest in Hi restoration to health. The Flemings in Charles's suite, however, looked with great appre- hension to his meeting with the cardinal. They had been content that the latter should rule the state when his arm was needed to curb the Castilian aristocracy ; but they dreaded the ascendancy of his powerful mind over their young sovereign, when brought into personal contact with him. They retarded this event by keeping Charles in the north as long as possible. In the mean time they endeavoured to alienate his regards from the minister by exaggerated reports of his arbitrary conduct and temper, rendered more morose by the peevishness of age. Charles showed a facility to be directed by those around him in early years, "which gave little augury of the greatness to which he afterwards rose. By the persuasions of his evil counsellors, he addressed that memorable letter to Ximenes, which is unmatched, even in court annals, for cool and base ingratitude. He thanked the regent for all his past services ; named a place for a personal interview with him, where he might obtain the benefit of his counsels for his own conduct and the government of the kingdom ; after which he would be allowed to retire to his diocese, and seek from Heaven that reward which Heaven alone could adequately bestow. Such was the tenor of this cold-blooded epistle, which, in the language of more than one writer, killed the cardinal. This, however, is stating the matter too strongly. The spirit of Ximenes was of too stern a stuff to be so easily extinguished by the breath of royal displeasure. He was, indeed, deeply moved by the desertion of the sovereign whom he had served so faithfully ; and the excitement which it occasioned brought on a return of his fever, according to Carbajal, in full force. But anxiety and disease had already done their work upon his once hardy consti- tution; and this ungrateful act could only serve to wean him more effectually from a world that he was soon to part with. In order to be near the king, he had previously transferred his residence to Iloa. He now turned his thoughts to his approaching end. Death may be supposed to have but little terrors for the statesman who in his last moments could aver "that he had never intentionally wronged any man ; but had rendered to every one his due, without being swayed, as far as he was conscious, by fear or affection." Yet Cardinal Richelieu, on his death-bed, declared the same ! As a last attempt, he began a letter to the king. His fingers refused, however, to perform their office, and after tracing a few lines, he gave it up. The purport of these seems to have been, to recommend his university at Alcala to the royal protection. He now became wholly occupied with his devotions, and manifested such contrition for his errors, and such humble confidence in the divine mercy, as deeply affected all present. In this tranquil frame of mind, and in the perfect possession of his powers, he breathed his last, November 8th, 1517, in the eighty-first year'of his age, and the twenty-second since his elevation to the primacy. The last words that he uttered were those of the Psalmist, which he used frequently to repeat in health, " In te, Domine, speravi," "In thee, Lord, have I trusted." His body, arrayed in his pontifical robes, was seated in a chair of -.tate, and multitudes of all degrees thronged into the apartment to kiss MIS DEATH AXD CHAKACTER. 553 the hands and feet. It was afterwards transp, irted to Alcala, and laid in the chapel of the noble college of San Ildetbnso, erected by himself. His obsequies were celebrated with great pomp, contrary to his own orders, by all the religious and literary fraternities of the city; and his virtues commemorated in a funeral discourse by a doctor of the university, who, considering the death of the good a fitting occasion to lash the vices of the Hying, made the most caustic allusion to the Flemish favourites of Charles, and their pestilent influence on the country. Such was the end of this remarkable man ; the most remarkable, in many respects, of his time. His character was of that stern and lofty c-a>t which seems to rise above the ordinary wants and weaknesses of humanity. His genius, of the severest order, like Dante's or Michael lo's in the regions of fancy, impresses us with ideas of power that exritc admiration akin to terror. His enterprises, as we have - wi-re of the boldest character ; his execution of them equally bold. He disdained to woo fortune by any of those soft and pliant arts which are often the most effectual. He pursued his ends by the most direct means. In this way he frequently multiplied difficulties ; but difficulties seemed to have a charm for him, by the opportunities they afforded of displaying nergies of his soul. "NVith these qualities he combined a versatility of talent usually found only in softer and more flexible characters. Though bred in the cloister, he distinguished himself both in the cabinet and the camp. For the latter indeed, so repugnant to his regular profession, he had a natural genius, according to the testimony of his biographer ; and he evinced nis relish for it by declaring, that " the smell of gunpowder was more grateful to him than the sweetest perfume of Arabia ! * In every situation, however, he exhibited the stamp of his peculiar calling ; and the stern lineaments of the monk were never wholly concealed under the mask of the statesman or the visor of the warrior. He had a full measure of the religious bigotry which belonged to the age, ; and he had melancholy scope for displaying it, as chief of that dread tribunal over which he presided during the last ten years of his life.f He carried the arbitrary ideas of his profession into political life. His regency was conducted on the principles of a military despotism. It was his maxim, that, "a prince must rely mainly on his army for securing the respect and obedience of his subjects." It is true he had to deal with a martial and factious nobility, and the end which he proposed was to curb their licentiousness, and enforce the equitable administration of justice ; but in accomplishing this, he showed little uriiijr this period, Ximcnes "permit la condamnation," to use the n.ild language o< Llorente, of more than 2500 individuals to the stake, and nearly 50,000 to other punish- ments I In order to do justice to what is really good in the character of this age, one must absolutely o'i>se his eyes against th.it odious fanaticism which enters more or less into all. and into the best, unfortunately, most largely. 556 THE BEGEXCY OF XIMEXES. insolent and irreverent to their rulers." The people, of course, had no voice in the measures which involved their most important interests. His -whole policy, indeed, was to exalt the royal prerogative, at the expense of the inferior orders of the state : and his regency, short as it was, and highly beneficial to the country in many respects, must be considered as opening the way to that career of despotism which the Austrian family followed up with such hard-hearted constancy. But, while we condemn the politics, we cannot but respect the principles of the man. However erroneous his conduct in our eyes, ho was guided by his sense of duty. It was this, and the conviction of it in the minds of others, which constituted the secret of his great power. It made him reckless of difficulties, and fearless of all personal conse- quences. The consciousness of the integrity of his purposes rendered him, indeed, too unscrupulous as to the means of attaining them. He held his own life cheap in comparison with the great reforms that he had at heart. Was it surprising that he should hold as lightly the convenience and interests of others when they thwarted their execution ? His views were raised far above considerations of self. As a statesman, he identified himself with the state : as a churchman, with the interests of his religion. He severely punished every offence against these. He as freely forgave every personal injury. He had many remarkable opportunities of showing this. His administration provoked numerous lampoons and libels. He despised them as the miserable solace of spleeu and discontent, and never persecuted their authors. In this he formed an honourable contrast to Cardinal Richelieu, whose character and condition suggest many points of resemblance with his own. His disinterestedness was further shown by his mode of dispensing his large revenues. It was among the poor, and on great public objects. He built up no family. He had brothers and nephews ; but he contented himself with making their condition comfortable, without diverting to their benefit the great trusts confided to him for the public. The greater part of the funds which he left at his death was settled on the university of Alcala. He had, however, none of that pride which would make him ashamed of his poor and humble relatives. He had, indeed, a confidence in liis own powers approaching to arrogance, which led him to undervalue the abilities of others, and to look on them as his instruments rather than his equals ; but he had none of the vulgar pride founded on wealth or station. He frequently alluded to his lowly condition in early life with great humility, thanking Heaven, with tears in his eves, for its extraordinary goodness to him. He not only remembered*, but did many acts of kindness to his early friends, of which more than one touching anecdote is related. Such traits of sensibility, gleaming through the natural austerity and sternness of a disposition like his, like light breaking through a dark cloud, affect us the more sensibly by contrast. He was irreproachable in his morals, and conformed literally to all the rigid exactions of his severe order in the court as faithfully as in the cloister. He was sober, abstemious, chaste. In the latter particular, he was careful that no suspicion of the licence which so often soiled the clergy of the period should attach to him. On one occasion, \v hile on a journey, lie was invited to cass the night at the house of the HIS DEATH AXD CHABACTEB. 6J7 duchess of Maqucila, being informed that she was absent. The duchess was at home, Lowerer, and entered the apartment before he retired to ivst. "You have deceived me, lady," said Xiiuenes, rising in anger ; " if you have any business with me, you will find me to-morrow at the confessional." So saying, lie abruptly left the palace. lie carried his austerities and mortification so far as to endanger his health. There is a curious brief extant of Pope Leo the Tenth, dated the last year of the cardinal's life, enjoining him to abate his severe penance, to eat meat and eggs on the ordinary fasts, to take off his l-'rauciscan frock, and sleep in linen, and on a bed. He would never consent, however, to divest himself of his monastic weeds. " Even, laymen," said he, alluding to the custom of the liouian Catholics, "put these on when they are dying ; and shall I, who have worn them all my life, take them off at that time." Another anecdote is told in relation to his dress. Over his coarse woollen froek he wore the costly apparel suited to his rank. An im- pertinent Franciscan preacher took occasion one day, before him, to launch out against the luxuries of the time, especially in dress, obviously alluding to the cardinal, who was attired in a superb suit of ermine, which had been presented to him. He heard the sermon patiently to the end, and after the services were concluded, took the preacher into the sacristy, and, having commended the general tenor of his discourse, showed under his furs and tine linen, the coarse frock of his order, next un. Some accounts add, that the friar, on the other hand, wore fine linen under his monkish frock. After the cardinal's death, a little box was found in his apartment, containing the implements with which he used to mend the rents of his threadbare garment with his own. hinds. With so much to do, it may well be believed that Ximenes was avaricious of time. He seldom slept more than four, or, at most, four hours and a halt. He was shaved in the night, hearing, at the same time, some edifying reading. He followed the same practice at his meals, or varied it with listening to the arguments of some of his theological brethren, generally on some subtile question of school di- vinitv. This was his only recreation. He had as little taste as time for lighter and more elegant amusements. He spoke briefly, and always to the point. He was no friend of idle ceremonies and useless visits, though his situation exposed him more or less to both. He .frequently had a volume lying open on the table before him ; and \\ hen his visitor stayed too long, or took up his time with light and frivolous conversation, he intimated his dissatisfaction by resuming his reading. The cardinal's book must have been as fatal to a reputation as Fontenelle'a ear-trumpet. I will close this sketch of Ximenes de Cisneros with a brief outline of his person. His complexion was sallow ; his countenance sharp and emaciated ; his nose aquiline ; his upper lip projected far over the lower. Jlis i -yes were small, deep set in his head, dark, vivid, and penetrating. His forehead ample, aud, what was remarkable, without a wrinkle, though the expression of his features was somewhat severe.* His voice * Ximenes' head was examined some forty yean after his interment, and the skull WM found to be without sutures. 5o3 TOT: REGEXCY OF XIMEXES. was clear, but not agreeable. His enunciation measured and precise. His demeanour was grave, his carriage firm and erect ; he was tall in stature, and his whole presence commanding. His constitution, natu- rally robust, was imputed by his severe austerities and severer cares ; and, in the latter years of his life, was so delicate as to be extremely sensible to the vicissitudes and ir? clemency of the weather. I have noticed the resemblance which Ximenes bore to the great French minister, Cardinal Richelieu. It was, after all, however, more in the circumstances of situation, than in their characters ; though the most prominent traits of these were not dissimilar.* Both, though bred ecclesiastics, reached the highest honours of the state, and, indeed, may be said to have directed the destinies of their countries. f Richelieu's authority, however, was more absolute than that of Ximenes, for he was screened by the shadow of royalty ; while the latter was exposed, by his insulated and unsheltered position, to the full blaze of envy, and, of course, opposition. Both were ambitious of military glory and showed capacity for attaining it. Both achieved their great results by that rare union of high mental endowments and great efficiency in action, which is always irresistible. The moral basis of their characters was entirely different. The French cardinal's was selfishness, pure and unmitigated. His religion, politics, his principles in short, in every sense were subservient to this. Offences against the state he could forgive ; those against himself he pursued witli implacable rancour. His authority was literally cemented with blood. His immense powers and patronage were perverted to the aggrandise- ment of his family. Though bold to temerity in his plans, he betrayed more than once a want of true courage in their execution. Though violent and impetuous, he could stoop to be a dissembler. Though arrogant in the extreme, he courted the soft incense of flattery. In his manners he had the advantage over the Spanish prelate. He could be a courtier in courts, and had a more refined and cultivated taste. In one respect he had the advantage over Ximenes in morals. He was not, like him, a bigot He had not the religious basis in his composition, which is the foundation of bigotry. Their deaths were typical of their characters. Richelieu died, as he had lived, so deeply execrated, that the enraged populace would scarcely allow his remains to be laid quietly in the grave. Ximenes, on the contrary, was buried amid the tears and lamentations of the people ; his memory was honoured even by his enemies, and his name is reverenced by his countrymen, to this day, as that of a Saint. * A little treatise has been devoted to this very subject, entitled "Parallfele du Card, Ximene's et du Card. Richelieu, par Mons. 1'Abbe" Richard ; a Trevoux, 1705." 222 pp. 12mo. The author, with a candour rare indeed where national vanity is interested, strikes the balance without hesitation in favour of the foreigner Ximenes. t At the time of his death, the chief offices that Ximenes filled were those of archbishop of Toledo, and consequently primate of Spain, grand chancellor of Castile, cardinal of tiia Bouian church, inquisitor-general of Castile, and regent. CHAPTER XXVI. OERERAL REVIEW OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF FERDINAND MTD ISAEELLA. Policy of the Crown towards the Nobles the Clergy Consideration of the Commons- Advancement of Prerogative Legal Compilations The Legal Profession Tr Manufactures Agriculture Restrictive Policy Revenues Progress of Discovery Colonial Administration General Prosperity Increase of Population Chivalrous Spirit The Period of National Glory. ~\VE have now traversed that important period of history, compre- hending the latter part of the fifteenth and the beginning of the six- teenth century ; a period when the convulsions which shook to the ground the ancient pclitical fabrics of Europe roused the minds of its inhabitants from the lethargy in which they had been buried for ages. Spain, as we have seen, felt the general impulse. Under the glorious rule of Ferdinand and Isabella, we have beheld her emerging from chaos into a new existence; unfolding, under the influence of institutions adapted to her genius, energies of which she was before unconscious ; enlarging her resources from all the springs of domestic industry and commercial enterprise ; and insensibly losing the ferocious habits of a feudal age, in the refinements of an intellectual and moral culture. In the fulness of time, when her divided powers had been concentrated under one head, and the system of internal economy completed, we have seen her descend into the arena with the other nations of Europe, and in a very few years achieve the most important acquisitions of territory, both in that quarter and in Africa ; and finally crowning the whole by the discovery and occupation of a boundless empire beyond the waters. In the progress of the action, we may have been too much occupied with its details to attend sufficiently to the principles which regulated them ; but, now that we have reached the close, we may be permitted to cast a parting glance over the field that we have traversed, and briefly survey the principal steps by which the Spanish sovereigns, under Divine Providence, led their nation up to such a height of prosperity and glory. 1 i nlinand and Isabella, on their accession, saw at once that the chief source of the distractions of the country lay in the overgrown powers and factious spirit of the nobility. Their first efforts, therefore, were directed to abate these as far as possible. A similar movement was- going forward in the other European monarchies; but in none was it crowned with so speedy and complete success as in Castile, by means of th"M. bold and decisive measures which have been detailed in an early chapter of this work. The same policy was steadily pursued during the remainder of their reign ; less indeed by open assault than by indirect means. Among these, one of the most effectual was the omission to summon the privileged orders to cortes, in several of the most important sessions of that body. This, so far from being a new stretch of prerogative, was AGO FEEDIXAKB AXD ISABEIL-i. only an exercise of the anomalous powers already familiar to the crown, as elsewhere noticed. Xor does it seem to have been viewed as a .grievance by the other party, who regarded these meetings with the more indifference, since their aristocratic immunities exempted them from the taxation which was generally the prominent object of them. But, from whatever cause proceeding, by this impolitic acquiescence they surrendered, undoubtedly, the most valuable of their rights, one which has enabled the British aristocracy to maintain its political con- sideration Unimpaired, while that of the Castilian has faded away into an empty pageant. Another practice steadily pursued by the sovereigns, was to raise men of humble station to offices of the highest trust ; not, however, like their contemporary, Louis the Eleventh, because their station was humble, in order to mortify the higher orders, but because they courted merit where- ever it was to be found ; a policy much and deservedly commended by the sagacious observers of the time. The history of Spain does not pro- bably afford another example of a person of the lowly condition of Ximenes attaining, not merely the highest offices in the kingdom, but eventually its uncontrolled supremacy. The multiplication of legal tribunals, and other civil offices, afforded the sovereigns ample scope for pursuing this policy, in the demand created for professional science. The nobles, intrusted hitherto with the chief direction of affairs, now saw it pass into the hands of persons who had other qualifications than martial prowess or hereditary rank. Such as courted distinction were com- pelled to seek it by the regular avenues of academic discipline. How extensively the spirit operated, and with what brilliant success, we have already seen. But, whatever the aristocracy may have gained in refinement of character, it resigned aauch of its prescriptive power when it condescended to enter the arena on terms of equal competition with its inferiors for the prizes of talent and scholarship. Ferdinand pursued a similar course in his own dominions of Aragon, where he uniformly supported the commons, or may more properly be said to have been supported by them, in the attempt to circumscribe the authority of the great feudatories. Although he accomplished this to a considerable extent, their power was too firmly intrenched behind positive institutions to be affected like that of the Castilian aristocracy, whose rights had been swelled beyond their legitimate limits by every species of usurpation. With all the privileges retrieved from this order, it still possessed a disproportionate weight in the political balance. The great lords still claimed some of the most considerable posts, both civil and military. Their revenues were immense, and their broad lands covered unbroken leagues of extent in every quarter of the kingdom. The queen, who reared many of their children in the royal palace, under her own eve, endeavoured to draw her potent vassals to the court ; but many, still cherishing the ancient spirit of independence, preferred to live in feudal grandeur, surrounded by their retainers in their strong castles, and wait there, in grim repose, the hour when they might sally forth, and re-;i by arms their despoiled authority. Such a season occurred on Isabella's death. The warlike nobles eagerly seized it ; but the wily and resolute Ferdinand, and afterwards the iron hand of Ximenes, kept them in FliVJLW OF THEIR ADiirXI-SIU.VTIOX. i>(\\ check and prepared the way for the despotism of diaries the Fifth, round whom the haughty aristocracy of Castile, shorn of substantial po\\vr, were content to revolve as the satellites of a court, reflecting only tli>' borrowed splendours t if royalty. The queen's government was equally vigilant in resisting ecclesiastical encroachment. It may appear otherwise to one who casts a sup, rh'cial plance at her reign, and beholds her surrounded always by a troop of {Jiostly advisers, and avowing religion as the great end of her principal operations at home and abroad. It is certain, however, that, while in all i,. r ai-ts she confessed the influence of religion, she took more effectual j:ieans than any of her predecessors to circumscribe the temporal powers cf the clergy.* The volume of her pragm&ticas is filled with laws de- d to limit their jurisdiction, and restrain their encroachments on the secular authorities.! Towards the Roman See she maintained, as we have often had occasion to notice, the same independent attitude. Jiy the celebrated concordat made with Sixtus the Fourth, in 1482, the Sope conceded to the sovereigns the right of nominating to the higher iirnities of the church. The Holy See, however, still assumed the collation to inferior benefices, which were too often lavished on non- residents, and otherwise unsuitable persons. The queen sometimes extorted a papal indulgence, granting the right of presentation for a limited time ; on which occasions she showed such alacrity, that she is known to have disposed, in a single day, of more than twenty prebends and inferior dignities. At other times, when the nomination made by his Holiness, as not unfrequently happened, was distasteful to her, she would take care to defeat it, by forbidding the bull to be published until laid before the privy council ; at the same time sequestrating the revenues of the vacant benefice till her own requisitions were complied with. She was equally solicitous in watching over the morals of the clergy, inculcating on the higher prelates to hold frequent pastoral communi- cation with their suffragans, and to report to her such as were delinquent. I'y these vigilant measures she succeeded in restoring the ancient dis- cipline of the church, and weeding out the sensuality and indolence which had so long defiled it ; while she had the inexpressible satisfaction to see the principal places, long before her death, occupied by prelates whose learning and religious principle gave the best assurance of the * Lucio Marmeo has collected many particulars respecting the great wealth of the clergy in his time. There were four metropolitan sees in Castile. Toledo, income .... 80,000 ducats. St. .1. uues 24,000 i!Ie , 20.000 Granada , 10,000 Ti.ire were twenty-nine bishoprics, whose aggregate revenues, very unequally apportioned, union; is church livings in Aragon were much fewer and leaner than in Castile. The Vein-tun N.iv.i^'iero speuks of the metropolitan church of Toledo as "the- 1 'iidom;" its canons lived in stately palaces, and its revenues, with thos'.- <>t' the uv ''quailed those of the whole city ot'Toledu. lie notices also ; lie churches of Seville, Gu.idalr. ; t From one of these ordinances it appears the clergy were not backward in remon- Btnti kt they deemed an inuingvment of their rights. The queen, however. while ~t their usuriKitkms, interfered more than once, with her usiul :-o. on their application, to shield them from the encroachments of the civil tribunals. O O 62 FERBIXAND 4^. j ISABELLA. stability of the reformation. Few of tho Castilian monarchs have been brought more frequently into collision, or pursued a bolder policy, with the court of Rome. Still fewer have extorted from it such important graces and concessions ; a circumstance which can only be imputed, says a Castilian writer, " to singular good fortune and consummate prudence ; " to that deep conviction of the queen's integrity, we may also add, which disarmed resistance, even in her enemies.* The condition of the commons under this reign was probably, on the whole, more prosperous than in any other period of the Spanish history. New avenues to wealth and honours were opened to them, and persons and property were alike protected under the fearless and impartial administration of the law. " Such was the justice dispensed to every one under this auspicious reign," exclaims Marineo, "that nobles and cavaliers, citizens and labourers, rich and poor, masters and servants, all equally partook of it." We find no complaints of arbitrary imprison- ment, and no attempts, so frequent both in earlier and later times, at illegal taxation. In this particular, indeed, Isabella manifested the greatest tenderness for her people. By her commutation of the capricious tax of the alcarala for a determinate one, and still more by transferring its collection from the revenue officers to the citizens them- selves, she greatly relieved her subjects. Finally, notwithstanding the perpetual call for troops for the military operations in which the government was constantly engaged, and not- withstanding the example of neighbouring countries, there was no attempt to establish that iron bulwark of despotism, a standing army ; at least, none nearer than that of the voluntary levies of the hermandad, raised and paid by the people. The queen never admitted the arbitrary maxims of Ximenes in regard to the foundation of government. Hers was essentially one of opinion, not force. Had it rested on any other than the broad basis of public opinion, it could not have withstood a day the violent shocks to which it was early exposed, nor have achieved the important revolution that it finally did, both in the domestic and foreign concerns of the country. The condition of the kingdom, on Isabella's accession, necessarily gave the commons unwonted consideration. In the tottering state of her affairs, she was obliged to rest on their strong arm for support. It did not fail her. Three sessions of the legislature, or rather the popular branch of it, were held during the two first years of her reign. It was in these early assemblies that the commons bore an active part in con- cocting the wholesome system of laws which restored vitality and vigour to the exhausted republic. After this good work was achieved, the sessions of that body became * Since the publication of the earlier edition of this work, I have met with an instance of Ferdinand's spirit in the assertion of his ecclesiastical rights quite e.)U.-d to any dis- played by his illustrious consort, and too remarkable to be passed over in silence. 1 011 occasion of an infringement of what he deemed the immunities of his crown at Naples. It Declined in liOS ; and in a letter dated from Burgos, May 2'Jnd of that year, he reproves, in no measured terms, his Viceroy, the count of llivargoza, for allow! publication of the papal bull, which had been the cant* of offence, lie asks why not cause the apostolical envoy curso apostolico to be seized and handed mi tl" . rs him in recall the mission which had been dispatched to Rome, and declares that if the offensive bull is not at once revoked, he will withdraw the obedience o( the .-. ;ile and Aragon from the Holy See ! It is curious to see how the common taturs t a Jatcr date endeavour to reconcile this bold bearing of the catholic king with UU loyalty aj true son of the church. BEVIEW OF TIlKIIl ADMINISTKATIOX. 563 more rare. There was loss occasion for them, indeed, during the existence of the hermandad, whii-h was of iN-lf an ample repre- sentation of the Castilian commons, and which by enforcing obedience to the law at home, and by liberal supplies for foreign war, superseded, in a great degree, the call for more regular meetings of cortes. The habitual economy, too, not to say tniirainy, vriueh regulal d the public as well as private expenditure of the -. enabled them, ;>'':.! this period, with occasional exceptions, to dispense with other aid than that drawn from the regular revenues of the crown. There is every ground for believing that the political franchises of the people, as then understood, were uniformly respected. The number of cities summoned to cortes, which had so often varied according to the caprice of princes, never fell short of that prescribed by 1 . On the contrary, an addition was made by the conquest of Granada; and, in a cortes held soon after the queen's death, we tind a most mrro'.\ impolitic remonstrance of the legislature itself auairjst the alleged unau- thorised extension of the privilege of representation. In one remarkable particular, which may be thought to form a material exception to the last observations, the conduct of the crown deserves to be noticed. This was the promulgation of pray maticas, or royal ordinances, and that to a greater extent, probably, than under any other reign, before or since. This important prerogative was claimed and ised, more or less freely, by most European sovereigns in ancient times. Nothing could be more natural than that the prince should ;i.-Mimc such authority, or that the people, blind to the ultimate consequences, and impatient of long or frequent sessions of the legislature, should acquiesce in the temperate use of it. As far as these ordinances were of an executive character, or designed as supplementary to parliamentary enactments, or in obedience to previous suggestions of , they appear to lie open to no constitutional objections in Castile. But it was not likely that limits, somewhat loosely denned, would be very nicelv observed ; and under preceding reigns tnis branch of prero- gative had been most intolerably abused. A laru r <- proportion of these laws are of an economical character, :adc and manufactures, and to secure fairness in fo'.iiinereial dealing.* .Many are directed against the growing spirit of luxury, and many more occupied with the organisation of the public tribunals. Whatever be thought of their wisdom in some cases, it will not be easy to detect any attempt to innovate on the settled principles of criminal jurisprudence, or on those regulating the transfer of property. When lh be discussed, th - were careful to call in dot' the legislature; an example which found little favour with their . It is good evidence of the public confidence in the government, and the generally beneficial scope of these laws, that although of such unprecedented frequency, they should have escaped parliamentary animadversion, But, however patriotic the intentions of the Catholic sovereigns, and however safe, or even salutary, the power intrusted to such hands, it was a fatal precedent, and under the * Indeed, it is worthy of remark, as evincing the progress of civilisation under this iiat most of the criminal legislation is to be referred to its commencement, while period chiefly concern the new relations which grow out ot an lucn. ic industry. o 2 664 FEKDIXAXD AND ISABELLA. Austrian dynasty became the most effectual lever for overturning th* liberties of the nation. The preceding remarks on the policy observed towards the commons in this reign must be further understood as applying with far loss qualification to the queen than to her husband. The latter, owing- perhaps to the lessons which he had derived from his own subjects of Aragon, "who never abated one jot of their constitutional rights," says Martyr, "at the command of a king," and whose meetings generally brought fewer supplies to the royal coffers than grievance'* to redress, seems to have had little relish for popular assemblies. He convened them as rarely as possible in Aragon, and when he did, omitted no effort to influence their deliberations. He anticipated, perhaps, similar difficulties in Castile, after his second marriage had lost him the affections of the people. At any rate, he evaded calling them together on more than one occasion imperiously demanded by the constitution ; and, when he did so, he invaded their privileges, and announced principles of government which formed a discreditable, and, it must be admitted, rare exception to the usual tenor of his administration. Indeed, the most honourable testimony is borne to its general equity and patriotism by a cortes convened soon after the queen's death, when the tribute, as far as she was concerned, still more unequivocally, must have been sincere. A similar testimony is afforded by the panegyrics and the practice of the more liberal Castilian writers, who freely resort to this reign as the great fountain of constitutional precedent. The commons gained political consideration, no doubt, by the depres- sion of the nobles ; but their chief gain lay in the inestimable blessings of domestic tranquillity, and the security of private rights. The crown absorbed the power, in whatever form, retrieved from the privileged orders ; the pensions and large domains, the numerous fortified places, the rights of seignorial jurisdiction, the command of the military orders, and the like. Other circumstances conspired to raise the regal authority still higher ; as, for example, the international relations then opened with the rest of Europe, which, whether friendly or hostile, were conducted by the monarch alone, who, u.nless to obtain supplies, rarely condescended to seek the intervention of the other estates ; the concentration of the dismembered provinces of the Peninsula under one government; the immense acquisitions abroad, whether from discovery or conquest, regarded in that day as the property of the crown, rather than of the nation ; and finally, the consideration flowing from the personal character, and long successful rule, of the Catholic sovereigns. Such were the manifold causes which, without the imputation of a criminal ambition, or indifference to the rights of their subjects, in Ferdinand and Isabella, all combined to swell 'the prerogative to an unprecedented height under their reign. This, indeed, was the direction in which all the governments of Europe, at this period, were tending. The people, wisely preferring a single master to a multitude, sustained the crown in its efforts to recover from the aristocracy the enormous powers it so grossly abused. This was the revolution of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The power thus deposited in a single hand was found in time equally incompatible with the great ends of civil government ; while it gradually accumulated to an extent which threatened to crush the monarchy by its own weight. EETIEW OF TIIEIB ADMINISTRATION. 56.1 But the institutions derived from a Teutonic origin hav been found to possess a conservative principle, unknown to the fragile despotisms of the East. The seeds of liberty, though dormant, lay deep in the heart of the nation, waiting only the good time to germinate. That time has at length arrived. Larger experience, and a wider moral culture, have taught men not only the extent of their political rights, but the best way to secure them ; and it is the reassertion of these by the great body of the people which now constitutes the revolution going forward in most of the old communities of Europe. The progress of liberal principles must be controlled, of course, by the peculiar circumstances and character of the nation; but their ultimate triumph, in every quarter, none can reasonably distrust. May it not be abused. The prosperity of the country under Ferdinand and Isabella, its growing trade and new internal relations, demanded new regulations which, as before noticed, were attempted to be supplied by the praijmdticas. This was adding, however, to the embarrassments of a juris- prudence already far too cumbrous. The Castilian lawyer might despair of a critical acquaintance "with the voluminous mass of legislation, which in the form of municipal charters, Roman codes, parliamentary statutes, and royal ordinances, were received as authority in the courts. The manifold evils resulting from this unsettled and conflicting jurisprudence had led the legislature repeatedly to urge its digest into a more simple and uniform system. Some approach was made towards this in the code of the "Ordenan9as Reales," compiled in the early part of the queen's reign. The great body of Pruyrndticat, subsequently issued, were also collected into a separate volume by her command, and printed the year before her death. These two codes may therefore be regarded as embracing the ordinary legislation of her reign. In 1505, the celebrated little code, called " Leyes de Toro," from the place where the cortes was held, received the sanction of that body. Its laws, eighty-four in number, and designed as supplementary to those already existing, are chiefly occupied with the rights of inheritance and marriage. It is here that the ominous term "mayorazgo" may be said to have been naturalised in Castilian jurisprudence. The peculiar feature of these laws, aggravated in no slight degree by the glosses of the civilians, is the facility which they give to entails ; a i'atal facility, which, chiming in with the pride and indolence natural to the Spanish character, ranks them among the most efficient agents of the decay of husbandry and the general impoverishment of the country. Besides these codes, there were the " Leyes de la Hermandad," the " Quaderno de Alcavalas," with others of less note for the regulation of trade, made in this reign. But still the great scheme of a uniform digest of the municipal law of Castile, although it occupied the most distinguished jurisconsults of the time, was unattained at the queen's death. How deeply it engaged her mind in that hour is evinced by the clause in her codicil, in which she bequeaths the consummation of the work, as an imperative duty, to her successors. It was not completed till the reign of Philip the Second ; and the large proportion of Ferdinand and Isabella's laws admitted into that famous compilation, shows the prospective character of their legislation, and the uncommon discernment 566 FERDINAND A*D ISABELLA. with which it was accommodated to the peculiar genius and wants of tha nation. The immense increase of empire, and the corresponding development of the national resources, not only demanded new laws, but a thorough reorganisation of every department of the administration. Laws may be received as indicating the disposition of the ruler, whether for good or for evil ; but it is in the conduct of the tribunals that we are to read the true character of his government. It was the upright and vigilant administration of these which constituted the best claim of Ferdinand and Isabella to the gratitude of their country. To facilitate the dispatch of business, it was distributed among a number of bureaus or councils ; at the head of which stood the "royal council," whose authority and functions I have already noticed, fn. order to leave this body more leisure for its executive duties, a new audience, or chancery, as it was called, was established at Valladolid in 1480, whose judges were drawn from the members of the king's council. A. similar tribunal was insti- tuted, after the Moorish conquests, in the southern division of the monarchy ; and both had supreme jurisdiction over all civil causes, which were carried up to them from the inferior audiences throughout the kingdom. The ' ' council of the supreme " was placed over the Inquisition with a special view to the interests of the crown ; an end, however, which it very imperfectly answered, as appears from its frequent collision with the royal and secular jurisdictions. The "council of the orders" had charge, as the name imports, of the great military fraternities. The " council of Aragon" was intrusted with the general administration of that kingdom and its dependencies, including Xaples ; and had besides extensive jurisdiction as a court of appeal. Lastly, the " council of the Indies" was instituted by Ferdinand, in loll, lor the control of the American department. Its powers, comprehensive as they were in its- origin, were so much enlarged under Charles the Fifth and his succes- sors, that it became the depository of all law, the fountain of all nominations, both ecclesiastical and temporal, and the supreme tribunal, where all questions, whether of government or trade in the colonies, were finally adjudicated. Such were the forms which the government assumed tinder the hand* of Ferdinand and Isabella. The great concerns of the empire were brought under the control of a few departments, which looked to the crown as their common head. The chief stations were occupied by lawyers, who were alone competent to the duties; and the precir; the court swarmed with a loyal militia, who, as they owed their elevation to its patronage, were not likely to interpret the law to the disparagement of prerogative. The greater portion of the laws of this reign are directed in some form or other, as might be expected, to commerce and domestic industry. Their very large number, however, implies a extraordinary expansion ol the national energy and resources, as well as a most earnest disposition. in the government to foster them. The wisdom of these effort;-, at all times, is not equally certain. I will briefly enumerate a few of the most characteristic and important provisions. By a pragmatic of 1500, all persons, whether natives or foreigners, Were prohibited from shipping goods in foreign bottoms, from a port KEVTT.W OP TIIKIR ADMIXISTKV-IOX. 567 where a Spanish ship could be obtained. Another prohibited the sale of .iiers. Another offered a large premium on all vessels of a certain tonnage and upwards ; and others held out protection and various immunities to seamen. The drift of the first of these laws, like that of the famous Fnglish navigation act, so many years later, \\ the preamble sets forth, to exclude foreigners from the carrying ti and the others were equally designed to build up a marine, for the defence as well as commerce of the country. In this the sovereigns were favoured by their important colonial acquisitions, the distance of which, moreover, made it expedient to employ vessels of greater burden than those hitherto used. The language of subsequent laws, as well as various circumstances within our knowledge, attest the success of these provisions. The number of vessels in the merchant service of Spain, at the beginning of the six- teenth century, amounted to a thousand, according to Campomanes. AVe may infer the flourishing condition of their commercial marine from their military, as shown in the armaments sent at different times against the Turks, or the I'arbary corsairs.* The convoy which accompanied the infanta Joanna to Flanders, in 1406, consisted of one hundred and thirty Is, great and small, having a force of more than twenty thousand men on board ; a formidable equipment, inferior only to that of the far-famed " Invincible Armada." f A pragmatic was pa-si d in 1491, at the petition of the inhabitants of the northern provinces, requiring Knglish and other foreign traders to take their returns iu the fruits or merchandise of the country, and not in gold or silver. This law seems to have been designed less to benefit the manufacturer, than to preserve, the precious metals in the country. It was the same in purport with other laws prohibiting the exportation of these metals, whether in coin or bullion. They were not new in Spain, nor indeed peculiar to her. They proceeded on the principle that gold and silver, independently of their value as a commercial medium, con- stituted, in a peculiar sense, the wealth of a country. This error, common, as I have said, to other European nations, was eminently fatal to Spain, since the produce of its native mines before the discovery of America, and of those in that quarter afterwards, formed its great staple. As such, these metals should have enjoyed every facilitv for transportation to other countries, where their higher value would afford a corresponding profit to the exporter. sumptuary laws of Ferdinand and Isabella are open, for the most part, to the same objections with those just noticed. Such laws, prompted in a great degree, no doubt, by the declam'ations of the clergy against the pomp and vanities of the world, were familiar, in early times, to most European states. There was ample scope for them in Spain, where the example, of their Moslem neighbours had done much to infect all classes with a fondness for sumptuous apparel, and a showy magnificence of living. Ferdinand and Isabella fell nothing short of tne most zealous of their predecessors in their efforts to restrain this improvident luxury. They did, however, what few princes on the like occasions have done, enforced The fleet fitted out against the Turks, in 14S2, consisted of seventy sail ; and that under Gonsalvr. in 1500, of sixty, large and small. t Cura des los falacios, indeed . ie complement of this fleet at 25,000 men ; a round number, which must certainly include persons of every description. The Invincible Armada consisted, according to Dunham, of about 130 vessels, larpe and small, 20,000 ioldiers, and 8000 seamen. The estimate falls below that of most writers. 568 FERDINAND AND ISABELLA,, the precept by their own example. Some idea of their haHtual economy, or rather frugality, may be formed from a remonstrance presented by the commons to Charles the Fifth, soon after his accession, which represents his daily household expenses as amounting to one hundred and lifty thousand maravedis ; while those of the Catholic sovereigns were rarely fifteen thousand, or one-tenth of that sum. They passed several salutary laws for restraining the ambitious expen- diture at weddings and funerals ; as usual, most affected by those who could least afford it. In 1494, they issued a pragmatic, prohibiting the importation or manufacture of brocades, or of gold or silver embroidery, and also plating with these metals. The avowed object was to check the growth of luxury and the waste of the precious metals. These provisions had the usual fate of laws of this kind. They gave an artificial and still higher value to the prohibited article. Some evaded them. Others indemnified themselves for the privation, by some other and scarcely less expensive variety of luxury. Such, for example, were the costly silks which came into more general use after the conquest of Granada. But here the government, on remonstrance of the cortes, again interposed its prohibition, restricting the privilege of wearing them to certain specified classes. Nothing, obviously, could be more impolitic than these various provisions directed against manufactures, which, under proper encouragement, or indeed without any, from the peculiar advantages afforded by the country, might have formed an important branch of industry, whether for the supply of foreign markets, or for home consumption. Notwithstanding these ordinances, we find one, in 1500, at the petition of the silk-growers in Granada, against the introduction of silk thread from the kingdom of Naples ; thus encouraging the production of the raw material, while thev interdicted the uses to which it could be applied. Such are the inconsistencies into which a government is betrayed by an over-zealous and impertinent spirit of legislation ! The chief exports of the country in this reign, were the fruits and natural products of the soil, the minerals, of which a great variety was deposited in its bosom, and the simpler manufactures, as sugar, dressed skins, oil, wine, steel, &c. The breed of Spanish horses, celebrated in ancient times, had been greatly improved by the cross with the Arabian. It had, however, of late years, fallen into neglect; until the government, by a number of judicious laws, succeeded in restoring it to such repute, that this noble animal became an extensive article of foreign trade. But the chief staple of the sountry was wool ; \vhich, since the intro- duction of English sheep at the close of the fourteenth century, had reached a degree of fineness and beauty that enabled it, under the present reign, to compete with any other in Europe. To what extent the finer manufactures were carried, or made au article of export, is uncertain. The vagueness of statistical information in these early times has given rise to much crude speculation and to extravagant estimates of their resources, which have been met by a corresponding scepticism in later and more scrutinising critics. Cap- many, the most acute of these, has advanced the opinion, that the coarser cloths only were manufactured in Castile, and those exclusively for home consumption. The royal ordinances, however, imply, in the character and minuteness of their regulations, a very considerable REVIEW OF THEIK ADMIXISTIUTIOX. 5G9 proficiency in many of the mechanic arts. Similar testimony is borne by intelligent foreigners, visiting or raiding in tlie country at the beginning of the sixteenth century; who notice the fine cloths and manut;i of arms in Segovia, the silks and velvets of Granada and Valencia, the woollen and silk fabrics of Toledo, which gave employment to 1< n thousand artisans, the curiously wrought plate of Valladolid, and the tine cutlery and glass manufactures of Barcelona, rivalling those of Venice. The recurrence of seasons of scarcity and the fluctuation of prices, might suggest a reasonable distrust of the excellence of the husbandry under thi> reign. The turbulent condition of the country may account for this pretty fairly during the early part of it. Indeed, a neglect of sericulture, to the extent implied by these circumstances, is wholly irreconcilable with the general tenor of Ferdinand and Isabella's legis- lation, which evidently relies on this as the main spring of national prosperity. It is equally repugnant, morever, to the reports of foreigners, who could best compare the state of the country with that of others at tin' same period. They extol the fruitfuluess of a soil which yielded the products of the most opposite climes ; the hills clothed with vineyards and plantations of fruit trees, much more abundant, it would seem, in the northern regions than at the present day: the valleys and delicious vegas, glowing with the ripe exuberance of southern vegetation ; exten- sive districts, now smitten with the curse of barrenness, where the traveller scarce discerns the vcsti-e of a road or of a human habitation, but which "then teemed with all that was requisite to the sustenance of the populous cities in their neighbourhood. The inhabitant of modern Spain or Italy, who wanders amid the ruins of their stately cities, their grass-grown streets, their palaces and temples crumbling into dust, their musMve bridges choking up the streams they once proudly traversed, the very streams themselves, which bore navies on their bosoms, shrunk into too shallow a channel for the meanest craft to navigate, the modern Spaniard who surveys these vestiges of a giant race, the tokens of his nation's present degeneracy, must turn. for relief to the prouder and earlier period of her history, when only such great works could have been achieved ; and it is no wonder that he should be led, in his enthusiasm, to invest it with a romantic and jvrated colouring. Such a period in Spain cannot be looked for in the last, still less in the seventeenth century, for the nation had then reached the lowest ebb of its fortunes ; * nor in the close of the sixteenth, for the desponding language of cortes shows that the work of decay and depopulation had then already begun. It can only be found in the first halt of that century, in the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, and that of their successor Charles the Fifth ; in which last, the state, under the strong impulse it had received, was carried onward in the career of prosperity, in spite of the ignorance and mismanagement of those who guided it. There is no country which has been guilty of such wild experiments, or has showed on the whole, such profound ignorance of the true prin- ciples of economical science, as Spain under the sceptre of the family of * A point which most writers would probably agree in fixing at 1700, the year of Charles II. 's death, the last and most iinlxv -tria'.i dynasty. The population of the kingdom, at this time, had dwindled to !'.. -le, who seems to have better foundation for this census than for most of those iu his table. 670 FTRDIXAXD AND Austria. And, as it is not always easy to discriminate between their acts and those of Ferdinand and Isabella, under whom the gerins of much of the subsequent legislation may be said to have been planted, this circumstance has brought undeserved discredit on the government of the latter. Undeserved, because laws, mischievous in their eventual operation, were not always so at the time for which they were originally devised : not to add, that what was intrinsically bad, has been aggra- vated tenfold under the blind legislation of their successors. It is also true, that many of the most exceptionable laws sanctioned by their names are to be charged on their predecessors, who had ingrafted their principles into the system long before ; and many others are to be vin- dicated by the general practice of other nations, which authorised retaliation on the score of self-defence. Nothing is easier than to parade abstract theorems, true in the abstract, in political economy ; nothing harder than to reduce them to practice. That .in individual will understand his own interests better than the government can, or, what is the same thing, that trade, if let alone, will find its way into the channels on the whole most advan- tageous to the community, few will deny. But what is true of all together is not true of any one singly: and no one nation can safely act on these principles, if others do not. In point of fact, no nation has acted on. them since the formation of the present political communities of Europe. All that a new state, or a new government in an old one, can now pro- pose to itself is, not to sacrifice its interests to a speculative abstraction, but to accommodate its institutions to the great political system of which it is a member. On these principles, and on the higher obligation of pro- viding the means of national independence in its most extended sense, much that was bad in the economical policy of Spain, at the period under review, may be vindicated. It would be unfair to direct our view to the restrictive measures of Ferdinand and Isabella, without noticing also the liberal tenor of their legislation in regard to a great variety of objects. Such, for example, are the laws encouraging foreigners to settle in the country ; those for facilitating communication by internal improvements, roads, bridges, canals, on a scale of unprecedented magnitude ; for a similar attention to the wants of navigation, by constructing moles, quays, lighthouses along the coast, and deepening and extending the harbours, " to accom- modate," as the acts set forth, "the great increase of trade;" for embellishing and adding in various ways to the accommodations of the cities ; for relieving the subject from onerous tolls and oppressive monopolies ; for establishing a uniform currency and standard of weights and measures throughout the kingdom, objects of im- vearied solicitude through this whole reign ; for maintaining a police, which, from the most disorderly and dangerous, raised Spain, in the language of Martyr, to be the safest country in Christendom ; for such equal justice as secured to every man the fruits of his own industry, indiicing him to embark his capital in useful enterprises; and, finally, for enforcing fidelity to contracts, of which the sove- reigns gave such a glorious example in their own administration as effectually restored that public credit which is the true basis of public prosperity. "\Vhile these important reforms were going on in the interior of the BEVIEW OF THEIR ADMINISTRATION. 571 monarchy, it experienced a greater change in its external condition hy the immense augmentation of its territory. The most important of its foreign acquisitions were those nearest home, Granada and Navarre ; at they were the ones most capable, from their position, of being brought under control, and thoroughly and permanently identified with Ihr Spanish monarchy. Granada, as we have seen, was placed under the sceptre of Castile, governed by the same laws, and r< presented in its cortes ; being, in the strictest sense, part and parcel of the kingdom. Navarre was also united to the same crown ; but its constitution, which bore considerable analogy to that of Aragon, remained substantially tho same as before. The government, indeed, was administered by a viceroy ; but Ferdinand made as few changes as possible, permitting it to retain its o\vu legislature, its ancient courts of law, and its laws themselves. So the forms, if not the spirit of independence, continued to survive its union with the victorious state. The other possessions of Spain were scattered over the various quarters of Europe, Africa, and America. Naples was the conquest of Aragon ; or, at least, made on behalf of that crown. The queen appears to have/ taken no part in the conduct of that war, whether distrusting its equity or its expediency, in the belief that a distant possesssion in the heart of Europe would probably cost more to maintain than it was worth. In fact, Spain is the only nation, in modern times, which has been able to keep its hold on such possessions for any very considerable period ; a circumstairce implying more wisdom in her policy than is commonly led to her. The fate of the acquisitions alluded to forms no- exreption to the remark; and Naples, like Sicily, continued permanently ingrafted on the kingdom of Aragon. A fundamental change in the institutions of Naples became requisite to accommodate them to its new relations. Its great offices of state and its legal tribunals were reorganised. Its jurisprudence, which, under the Angevin race, and even the first Aragonese, had been adapted to- French usages, was now modelled on the Spanish. The various inno- vations were conducted by the Catholic king with his usual prudence; and the reform in the legislation is commended by a learned and im- partial Italian civilian, as breathing a spirit of modern! i"n and wisdom. He conceded many privileges to the people, and to the e.-.pital espe.-ially, wltos.' venerable university he resuscitated from the decayed state into which it had fallen, making liberal appropriations from the troasurv for its endowment. The support of a mercenary army, and the burdens incident to the war, pressed heavily on the people during the first years- / of his reign. But the Neapolitans, who, as already noticed, had 'been transferred too often from one victor to another to be keenly sensible to tlu loss of political independence, were gradually reconciled to his administration, and testified their sense of its beneficent character by celebrating the anniversary of his death, for more than two ccif- turies, with public solemnities, as a day of mourning throughout the kingdom. But far the most important of the distant acquisitions of Spain were those secured to her by the genius of Columbus and the enlightened patronage of Isabella. Imagination had ample range in the boundless perspective of these unknown regions; but the results actually realised trom the discoveries, during the queen's life, were comparatively 572 KERDI>*A>*D AXD ISABELLA. insignificant. In a mere financial view, they had been a considerable eharge on the crown. This was, indeed, partly owing to the humanity of Isabella, who interfered as we have seen, to prevent the compulsory exaction of Indian labour. This was subsequently, and immediately after her death indeed, carried to such an extent, that nearly half a million of ounces of gold were yearly drawn from the mines of Hispaniola alone. The pearl fisheries, and the culture of the sugar-cane, introduced from the Canaries, yielded large returns under the same inhuman system. Ferdinand, who enjoyed by the queen's testament, half the amount of the Indian revenues, was now fully awakened to their importance. It would be unjust, however, to suppose his views limited to immediate pecuniary profits ; for the measures he pursued were, in many respects, well contrived to promote the nobler ends of discovery and colonisation. He invited the persons most eminent for nautical science and enterprise, as Pinzon, Solis, Vespucci, to his court where they constituted a sort of board of navigation, constructing charts, and tracing out new routes for projected voyages. The conduct of this department was intrusted to the last-mentioned navigator, who had the glory, the greatest which accident and caprice ever granted to man, of giving his name to the new hemisphere. Fleets were now fitted out on a more extended scale, which might vie, indeed, with the splendid equipments of the Portuguese, whose brilliant successes in the East excited the envy of their Castilian rivals. The king occasionally took a share in the voyage independently of the interest which of right belonged to the crown. The government, however, realised less from these expensive enter- prises than individuals ; many of whom, enriched by their official stations, or by accidentally falling in with some hoard of treasure among the savages, returned home to excite the envy and cupidity of their countrymen.* But the spirit of adventure was too high among the Castilians to require such incentive, especially when excluded from its usual field in Africa and Europe. A striking proof of the facility with which the romantic cavaliers of that day could be directed to this new career of danger on the ocean, was given at the time of the last-meditated expedition into Italy under the Great Captain. A squadron of fifteen vessels, bound for the New World, was then riding in the Guadalquivir. Its complement was limited to one thousand two hundred men ; but on Ferdinand's countermanding Gonsalvo's enterprise, more than three thousand volunteers, many of them of noble family, equipped with unusual magnificence for the Italian service, hastened to Seville, and pressed to be admitted into the Indian armada. Seville itself was in a manner depopulated by the general fever of emigration, so that it actually seemed, says a contemporary, to be tenanted only by women. In this universal excitement, the progress of discovery was pushed forward with a success, inferior, indeed, to what might have been effected * Bemardin de Santa Clara, treasurer of Hispaniola, amassed, during a few years' esidence there, 06,000 ounces of gold. This same n&uveau riche used to serve gold dust, says Herrera, instead of salt, at his entertainments. Many believed, according to the same author, that gold was o abundant, as to be dragged up in nets from the beds oi the rivers J REVIEW OF THEIR ADMINISTRATION. 573 In the present state of nautical skill and science, but extraordinary fo? tlu- times. The winding depths of the Gulf of Mexico were penetrated, as well as the borders of the rich but ruined isthmus which connects the American continents. In 1512, Florida was discovered by a romanti<; old knight, Ponce de Leon, who, instead of the magical fountain of health found his grave there.* Solis, another navigator, who had charge of an expedition, projected by Ferdinand, to reach the South Sea by the- circumnavigation of the continent, ran down the coast as far as the gn at llio de la Plata, where he also was cut off by the savages. In 1513, < Nunez de Balboa penetrated, with a handful of men, across the \\- part of the Isthmus of Darien ; and from the summit of the ' 'ordillcras, the first of Europeans was greeted with the long-promised vision of the southern ocean. The intelligence of this event excited a sensation in Spain inferior only to that cans- d by the discovery of America. The great object which had BO lonir occupied the imagination of the nautical men of Europe, and formed the purpose of Col urn bus's last voyage, the discovery of a com- munication with these far western waters, was accomplished. The famous spice islands from which the Portuguese had drawn sin h count- less sums of wealth, were scattered over this sea ; and the Custilians, after a journey of a few leagues, might launch their barks on its quiet bosom, and reach, and perhaps claim, the coveted possessions of their rivals, as falling west of the papal line of demarcation. Such were the- dreams, and such the actual progress of discovery, at the close of Ferdinand's reign. Our admiration of the dauntless heroism displayed by the early Spanish navigators in their extraordinary career is much qualified by a consider- ation of the cruelties with which it was tarnished; too great to be either palliated or passed over in silence by the historian. As long as Isabella lived, the Indians found an efficient friend and protector ; but " her death," says the venerable Las Casas, " was the signal for their destruc- tion." Immediately on that event, the system of repartimientos, originally authorised, as we have seen, by Columbus, who seems to- have had no doubt, from the first, of the crown's absolute right of property over the natives, was carried to its full extent in the colonies. Every Spaniard, however humble, had his proportion of slaves ; and men, many of them not only incapable of estimating the awful responsi- bility of the situation, but without the least touch of humanity in their natures, were individually intrusted with the unlimited disposal of the lives and destinies of their fellow-creatures. They abused this trust in the grossest manner ; tasking the unfortunate Indian far beyond his strength, inflicting the most refined punishments on the indolent, and hunting down those who resisted or escaped, like so many beasts of chase, with ferocious bloodhounds. Every step of the white man's progress in the Xe\v World may be said to have been on the corpse of a native. Faith is staggered by the recital of the number of victims im- molated in these fair regions within a very few years after the discovery ; and the heart sickens at the loathsome details of barbarities recorded by * Almost all the Spanish expeditions in the New World, whether on the northern or southern continent, have a tin^e of romance beyond what is found in those of other Euro]" One of the most striking and least familiar of them is that of Ferdinand U-fateddiMVWerof the Mississippi, whose bones bleach bc:iu:ith its waters. 674 FEBDIXASD AXJO ISABELLA. one, who, if his sympathies have led him sometimes to overcolonr, can never be suspected of wilfully misstating facts of which he was au eye-- witness. A selfish indifference to the rights of the original occupants of the soil is a sin which lies at the door of most of the primitive European settlers, whether papist or puritan, of the yew World. I'ut it is light in comparison with the fearful amount of crimes to be charged on the early Spanish colonists ; crimes that have, perhaps, in this world, brought down the retribution of Heaven, which has seen n't to turn this fountain of inexhaustible wealth and prosperity to the- nation into the waters of bitterness. It may seem strange that no relief was afforded by the government to these oppressed subjects. But Ferdinand, if we may credit Las Casas, was never permitted to know the extent of the injuries done to them. He was surrounded by men in the management of the Indian department, whose interest it was to keep him in ignorance. * The remonstrances of some zealous missionaries led him in 1501, to refer the subject of the repartimientos to a council of jurists and theologians, f This body yielded to the representations of the advocates of the system, that it Avas indispensable for maintaining the colonies, since the European was altogether unequal to labour in this tropical climate ; and that it, moreover, afforded the only chance for the conversion of the Indian, who, unless compelled, could never be brought in cor.tact with the white man.J On these grounds, Ferdinand openly assumed for himself and his ministers the responsibility of maintaining this vicious institution : and subsequently issued an ordinance to that effect, accompanied, however, by a variety of humane and equitable regulations for restraining its abuse. The license was embraced in its full extent ; the regulations were openly disregarded. Several years after, in 1515, Las Casas, moved by the spectacle of human suffering, returned to Spain, and pleaded the cause of the injured native in tones which made the dying monarch tremble on his throne. It was too late, however, for the king to execute the remedial measures he contemplated. The efficient inter- ference of Ximenes, who sent a commission for the purpose to Hispa- iiiola, was attended with no permanent results; and the indefuti. * One resident at the court, says the bishop of Chi.ipa, was proprietor of 800, and another of 1100 Indians. We learn their names from Herrera. The first was Bishop Fonseea, ths latter the cornmeudador Couchillos, both prominent men in the Indian department. The last named person was the same individual sent by Ferdinand to his daughter iu Flanders, and imprisoned there by the archduke Philip. After that prince's death, he experienced signal favours from the Catholic king, and amassed great wealth as secretary oi' the Indian board. Oviedo has devoted one of his dialogues to him. t The Dominican and other missionaries, to their credit be it told, laboured with unwearied zeal and courage for the conversion of the natives, and the vindication of their natural rights. Yet these were the men who lighted the fires of the Inquisition in their own land. To uch opposite results may the same principle lead, under different circum- tances ! { Las Casas concludes an elaborate memorial, prepared for the government in 154". on the best means of arresting the destruction of the aborigines, with two pr..;>. .sit i, am. 1. That the Spaniards would still continue to settle in America, though slavery were abolished, from the superior advantages for acquiring riches it offered over the Old World. 2. That, if they would not, this would not justify slavery, since ''G<*d forbi Is us to tio ei'U that good may come of it." Rare maxim from a Spanish churchman of the sixteenth century ! The whole argument, which comprehends the sum of what has been sincu said more diffusely in defence of abolition, is singularly acute and c.-gent. In its a! principles it is unanswerable ; while it exposes and denounces the misconduct of hio countrymen, with a freedom which shows the good bishop knew no other fear than that of his Maker. BEVIEW OP THEIR ADVIXISTIUTION. 575 "proteecor of the Indians," was left to sue for redress at the court of f'harles, and to furni itary example there, of a ;etrated with the true spirit of Cliristian philanthropy.* I have elsewhere examined the policy pursued liy tin- Catholic sove- - iu tin- government of th"ir colonies. The supply of precious nu-tals yielded hy them eventually, proved far greater than had ever entered in' -ption of the most sanguine of the early discoverers. Their prolific soil and Denial climate, inoi cover, ati'ordid an intmi'o variety of vnet.ihlc products, whieh mi.u r ht have furnished an unlimited. Commerce with the mother country. Under a judicious piotcetion, their population and productions, steadily increasing, would have enlarged to an incalculable extent the general s of the empire. Such, ind'-cd, might have heeu the result of a v, .islation. J'.ut the true principles i>f colonial j)olic\- were sadly misunderstood in tl. : century. The discovery of a world was estimated, like that of a rich mine, by the value of its returns in gold and silver. Much <>f 1-aln-lla's legislation, it is true, is of that comprehensive character which shows that she looked to higher and far nobler objects. 15ut with much that is gond there was mingled, as iu most of her institutions, one germ of evil, of little moment at the time indeed, but which, under the vicious culture of her successors, shot up to^ a height that overshadowed and blighted all the rest. This was the spirit of iction and monopoly, aggravated by the subsequent laws of Ferdi- nand, and carried to an extent under the Austrian dynasty that paralysed colonial trade. I'nder their most ingeniously perverse system of laws, the interests of both the parent country and the colonies were sacrificed. The latter, condemned to look for supplies to an incompetent source, were miserably dwarfed in their growth ; while the former contrived to convert the nutriment which she extorted from the colonies into a fatal poison. The streams f wealth which flowed in from the- silver <[uarr; /acatecas and l\>tosi were jealousy locked up within the limits of tho Mila. The great problem proposed by the Spanish legislation of the s:.\t' enth century, was the reduction of prices in the kingdom to the same level as in other European nations. Every law that was p:i however, tended, by its restrictive character, to augment the evil. The . hich, permitted a free vent, would have I'.-rtilised the :i through which it poured, now buried the land under a d- which blighted every green and living thing. Agriculture, coinn. manufactures, every branch of national industry and improvement languished and fell to decay ; and the nation, like the Phrygian monarch whi> turned all that he touched to gold, <;ursed by the \ery consum- mation of its wi>h' s, was poor in the mid.t of it- From this sad picture let as turn to that presented by the period of our History, when, the clouds and darkness having passed away, a new morn > break upon the nation. Under the firm but temperate * In the remarkable discusskm between the doctor Sepnlveda and Las GUMIS, before comin i by Charles V.. in ]. '.')(), the Conner vin> Chris- i>f Jlosea was a law of rijfour. but that of Jesus Christ one : mercy, peace, goodwill, and charity." r ise Spaniard first jxT-ecuted the Jews, an: thuu them a* an authority for persecutiuc all other in9dcl. 576 FERDINAND AND ISABELLA. sway of Ferdinand and Isabella, the great changes we have noticed were effected without convulsion in the state. On the contrary, the elements of the social system, which before jarred so discordantly, were brought into harmonious action. The restless spirit of the nobles was turned from civil faction to the honourable career of public service, whether in arms or letters. The people at large, assured of the security of private rights, were occupied with the different branches of productive labour. Trade, as is abundantly shown by the legislation of the period, had not yet fallen into the discredit which attached to it in later times.* The precious metals, instead of flowing in so abundantly as to palsy the arm of industry, served only to stimulate it. The foreign intercourse of the country was every day more widely extended. Her agents and consuls were to be found in all the principal ports of the Maditerranean and the Baltic. The Spanish mariner, instead of creeping along the beaten track of inland navigation, now etruck boldly across the great western ocean. The new discovers h;i ytan they burned nearly 2000 heretics;" thus not only diffusing this amount over a greater period of time, but embracing all the tribunals then existing in the country. 2. Broaldez states that five-sixths of the Jews resided in tha kingdom of Castile. OfO FERl)I\AJN'i> AND ISABELLA. was doubtless serious enough. Under the otherwise beneficent operation of their government, however, the healthful and expansive energies of the state were sufficient to heal up these and deeper wounds, and still carry it onward in the career of prosperity. With this impulse, indeed, the nation continued to advance higher and higher, in spite of the system of almost unmingled evil pursued in the following reigns. The glories of this later period, of the age of Charles the Fifth, as it is called, must find their true source in the measures of his illustrious predecessors. It was in their court that Boscan, Grarcilasso, Mendoza, and the other master-spirits were trained, who moulded Castilian literature into the new and more classical forms of later times. It was under Gonsalvo de Cordova, that Leyva, Pescara, and those great captains with their invincible legions were formed, who enabled Charles the Fifth to dictate laws to Europe for half a century. And it was Columbus who not oiily led the way, but animated the Spanish navigator with the spirit of discovery. Scarcely was Ferdinand's reign brought to a close, before Magellan completed, (1520,) what that monarch had projected, the circumnavigation of the southern continent ; the victorious banners of Cortes had already (1518) penetrated into the golden realms of Monte- zuma ; and Pizarro, a very few years later, (1524,) following up the lead of Balboa, embarked on the enterprise which ended in the downfall of the splendid dynasty of the Incas. 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