The History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Volume III Part 22

The term a.s.signed for the provisional government expired in December, and was not renewed. No other regency was appointed by the n.o.bles; and the kingdom, without even the shadow of protection afforded by its cortes, and with no other guide but its crazy sovereign, was left to drift at random amidst the winds and waves of faction. This was not slow in brewing in every quarter, with the aid especially of the overgrown n.o.bles, whose license, on such occasions as this, proved too plainly, that public tranquillity was not founded so much on the stability of law, as on the personal character of the reigning sovereign. [5]

The king's enemies, in the mean time, were pressing their correspondence with the emperor Maximilian, and urging his immediate presence in Spain.

Others devised schemes for marrying the poor queen to the young duke of Calabria, or some other prince, whose years or incapacity might enable them to act over again the farce of King Philip. To add to the troubles occasioned by this mesh of intrigue and faction, the country, which of late years had suffered from scarcity, was visited by a pestilence, that fell most heavily on the south. In Seville alone, Bernaldez reports the incredible number of thirty thousand persons to have fallen victims to it.

[6]

But, although the storm was thus darkening from every quarter, there was no general explosion, to shake the state to its foundations, as in the time of Henry the Fourth. Orderly habits, if not principles, had been gradually formed. under the long reign of Isabella. The great ma.s.s of the people had learned to respect the operation, and appreciate the benefits of law; and notwithstanding the menacing att.i.tude, the bustle, and transitory ebullitions of the rival factions, there seemed a manifest reluctance to break up the established order of things, and, by deeds of violence and bloodshed, to renew the days of ancient anarchy.

Much of this good result was undoubtedly to be attributed to the vigorous counsels and conduct of Ximenes, [7] who, together with the grand constable and the duke of Alva, had received full powers from Ferdinand to act in his name. Much is also to be ascribed to the politic conduct of the king. Far from an intemperate zeal to resume the sceptre of Castile, he had shown throughout a discreet forbearance. He used the most courteous and condescending style, in his communications to the n.o.bles and the munic.i.p.alities, expressing his entire confidence in their patriotism, and their loyalty to the queen, his daughter. Through the archbishop, and other important agents, he had taken effectual measures to soften the opposition of the more considerable lords; until, at length, not only such accommodating statesmen as Garcila.s.so de la Vega, but more st.u.r.dy opponents, as Villena, Benavente, and Bejar, were brought to give in their adhesion to their old master. Liberal promises, indeed, had been made by the emperor, in the name of his grandson Charles, who had already been made to a.s.sume the t.i.tle of King of Castile. But the promises of the imperial braggart pa.s.sed lightly with the more considerate Castilians, who knew how far they usually outstripped his performance, and who felt, on the other hand, that their true interests were connected with those of a prince, whose superior talents and personal relations all concurred to recommend him to the seat, which he had once so honorably occupied. The great ma.s.s of the common people, too, notwithstanding the temporary alienation of their feelings from the Catholic king by his recent marriage, were driven by the evils they actually suffered, and the vague apprehension of greater, to partic.i.p.ate in the same sentiments; so that, in less than eight months from Philip's death, the whole nation may be said to have returned to its allegiance to its ancient sovereign. The only considerable exceptions were Don Juan Manuel and the duke of Najara. The former had gone too far to recede, and the latter possessed too chivalrous, or too stubborn, a temper to do so. [8]

At length, the Catholic monarch, having completed his arrangements at Naples, and waited until the affairs of Castile were fully ripe for 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 a.s.siduously devoted himself to the affairs of the kingdom. He had avoided entering into the local politics of Italy, refusing all treaties 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 restoring the Angevins to their estates, he had thoroughly reorganized 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 re-establishment of their ancient university. [9]

In all these sagacious measures, he had been ably a.s.sisted by his viceroy, Gonsalvo de Cordova. Ferdinand's deportment towards the latter had 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 defence. The first item, which he read aloud, was two hundred thousand seven 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 enterprise. The second was seven hundred thousand four hundred and ninety-four ducats 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 saying of _cuentas del Gran Capitan_, at this day, attests at least the popular faith in the anecdote. [10]

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 favor. He again renewed, in the most emphatic manner, his promise to resign the grand-masters.h.i.+p of St. Jago in his favor, on their return to Spain, and made formal application to the pope to confirm it. [11] In addition to the princely honors already conferred on the Great Captain, he granted him the n.o.ble duchy of Sessa, by an instrument, which, after a pompous recapitulation of his stately t.i.tles and manifold services, [12] declares that these latter were too great for recompense. Unfortunately for both king and subject, this was too true.

[13]

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 a.s.sumed 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 honor, he prepared to quit the land, over which he had ruled with so much splendor and renown for nearly four years.

The Neapolitans in a body followed him to the vessel; and n.o.bles, cavaliers, and even ladies of the highest rank lingered on the sh.o.r.e to bid him a last adieu. Not a dry eye, says the historian, was to be seen.

So completely had he dazzled their imaginations, and 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 of Ribagorza, Ferdinand's nephew. [14]

On the 28th of June, the royal fleet of Aragon entered the little port of Savona, where the king of France had already been waiting for it several days. The French navy was ordered out to receive the Catholic monarch, and the vessels on either side, gayly decorated with the national flags and ensigns, rivalled each other in the beauty and magnificence 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-colored livery of the royal house of Aragon. Louis the Twelfth came to welcome his ill.u.s.trious guests, attended by a gallant train of his n.o.bility 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. [15] Horses and mules richly caparisoned awaited them at the landing. The French king, mounting his steed, gallantly placed the young queen of Aragon behind him. His cavaliers did the same with the ladies of her suite, most of them French women, though attired, as an old chronicler of the nation rather peevishly complains, after the Spanish fas.h.i.+on; and the whole party, with the ladies _en croupe_, galloped off to the royal quarters in Savona. [16]

Blithe and jocund were the revels, which rung through the halls of this fair city, during the brief residence of its royal visitors. Abundance of good cheer had been provided by Louis's orders, writes an old cavalier, [17] who was there to profit by it; and the larders of Savona were filled 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 honorable, offices of chivalry. [18]

As the gallant D'Aubigny was confined to his apartment by the gout, Ferdinand, who had always held his talents and conduct in high esteem, complimented him by a visit in person. But no one excited such general interest and attention as Gonsalvo de Cordova, who was emphatically the hero of the day. At least, such is the testimony of Guicciardini, 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 reports of their country-men. 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." [19]

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 sovereigns and himself. During the repast he surveyed his ill.u.s.trious 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 satisfaction, at parting, by taking a ma.s.sive chain of exquisite workmans.h.i.+p from his own neck, and throwing it round Gonsalvo's. The historians of the event appear to be entirely overwhelmed with the magnitude of the honor conferred on the Great Captain, by thus admitting him to the same table with three crowned heads; and Guicciardini does not hesitate to p.r.o.nounce it a more glorious epoch in his life than even that of his triumphal entry into the capital of Naples. [20]

During this interview, the monarchs held repeated conferences, at which none were present but the papal envoy, and Louis's favorite minister, D'Amboise. The subject of discussion can only be conjectured by the subsequent proceedings, which make 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. [21]

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 n.o.bles and cavaliers. He was soon after joined by deputies from many of the princ.i.p.al 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 circ.u.mstances, by the greater state and show of authority which he now a.s.sumed. The residue of the old Italian army, just arrived under the celebrated Pedro Navarro, count of Oliveto, [22] 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. [23] 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 recognize 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 Tordesillas. 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. [24]

From this time the Catholic king exercised an authority nearly as undisputed, and far less limited and defined than in the days of Isabella.

So firm did he feel in his seat, indeed, that he omitted to obtain the const.i.tutional 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 princ.i.p.al 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 rights, they argued, were not disturbed by his resignation, which was a compulsory act, and had never received any express legislative sanction; 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 furnished an argument for disobedience on the part of discontented n.o.bles, 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 const.i.tutional 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. [25]

Ferdinand's deportment, on his first return, was distinguished by a most gracious clemency, evinced not so much, indeed, by any excessive 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 rancor 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?" "Who would have thought,"

replied the other with equal bluntness, "that my old master would have outlived my young one?" [26]

With all this complaisance, however, the king did not neglect precautions 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 the fas.h.i.+on of the Swiss ordonnance, and placed under the command of his chronicler, Ayora, an experienced martinet, who made some figure at the defence of Salsas. This inst.i.tution probably was immediately suggested by the _garde du corps_ of Louis the Twelfth, at Savona, which, altogether on a more formidable scale, indeed, had excited his admiration by the magnificence of its appointments and its thorough discipline. [27]

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 ascendency he had obtained over Philip. The duke of Najara, however, 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 strong-holds to the king, who, after detaining them some time in his keeping, delivered them over to the duke's eldest son. [28]

With another offender he dealt more sternly. This was Don Pedro de Cordova, marquis of Priego, who, the reader may remember, when quite a boy, narrowly escaped the b.l.o.o.d.y fate of his father, Alonso de Aguilar, in the fatal slaughter of the Sierra Vermeja. This n.o.bleman, in common with some other Andalusian lords, had taken umbrage at the little estimation and favor shown them, as they conceived, by Ferdinand, in comparison with the n.o.bles 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 king beyond all bounds. He resolved at once to make such an example of the offender, as should strike terror into the disaffected n.o.bles, and s.h.i.+eld the royal authority from the repet.i.tion 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 preparations, and, having completed them, advanced rapidly to the south. When arrived at Cordova, he ordered the imprisonment of the marquis. A formal process was then inst.i.tuted 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, that he had incurred the penalty of death, but that the king, in consideration of his submission, was graciously pleased to commute this for a fine of twenty millions of maravedies, 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. [29] Sentence of death was at the same time p.r.o.nounced against several cavaliers, and other inferior 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 favor of the young n.o.bleman, to grant something to the distinguished services of his father and his uncle. The latter, as well as the grand constable, Velasco, who enjoyed the highest consideration at court, were equally pressing in their solicitations.

Ferdinand, however, was inexorable; and the sentence was executed. The n.o.bles chafed in vain; although the constable expostulated with the king in a tone, which no subject in Europe but a Castilian grandee would have ventured to a.s.sume. Gonsalvo coolly remarked, "It was crime enough in Don Pedro to be related to me." [30]

This ill.u.s.trious 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 mult.i.tudes so numerous, that accommodations could scarcely be found for them in the towns on the route. [31] 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 Urena, 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 s.h.i.+p, I fear, will require deeper water to ride in than she will find in Castile!" [32]

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. No allusion was made to the grand-masters.h.i.+p. When 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 intention to evade them altogether.

While the Great Captain and his friends were filled with an indignation, at this duplicity, which they could ill suppress, a circ.u.mstance occurred to increase the coldness arising in Ferdinand's mind towards his injured subject. This was the proposed marriage (a marriage which, from whatever cause, never took place [33]) of Gonsalvo's daughter Elvira, to his friend the constable of Castile. [34] Ferdinand had designed to secure her large inheritance to his own family, by an alliance with his grandson, Juan de Aragon, son of the archbishop of Saragossa. His displeasure, at finding himself crossed in this, was further sharpened by the petulant spirit of his young queen. The constable, now a widower, had been formerly married to a natural daughter of Ferdinand. Queen Germaine, adverting to his intended union with the lady Elvira, unceremoniously 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 ill.u.s.trious 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 honors he had before exclusively enjoyed, of immediate attendance on her royal person whenever she appeared in public. [35]

However indifferent Gonsalvo may have been to the little mortifications 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 ingrat.i.tude. He obtained leave, without difficulty, to withdraw to his own estates; where, not long after, the king, as if to make some amends for the gross violation of his promises, granted him the royal city of Loja, not many leagues from 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 grandmasters.h.i.+p 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." [36]

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 neighboring districts. He took great interest in the fate of the unfortunate Moriscoes, numerous in this quarter, whom he s.h.i.+elded 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 n.o.bility and cavaliers, who resorted to it, as the best school of high-bred and knightly courtesy, He showed a lively curiosity in all that was going on abroad, keeping up his information by an extensive correspondence with agents, whom he regularly employed for the purpose in the princ.i.p.al 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. He was as little desirous of employing him in public affairs at home, and suffered the remainder of his days to pa.s.s away in distant seclusion; a seclusion, however, not unpleasing to himself, nor unprofitable to others. [37] The world called it disgrace; and the old count of Urena exclaimed, "The good s.h.i.+p is stranded at last, as I predicted!" "Not so," said Gonsalvo, to whom the observation was reported; "she is still in excellent trim, and waits only the rising of the tide, to bear away as bravely as ever." [38]

FOOTNOTES

[1] Mariana, Hist. de Espana, tom. ii. lib, 29, cap. 2.--Zurita, a.n.a.les, tom. vi. lib. 7, cap. 29.

[2] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 324, 332, 339, 363.--Mariana, Hist.

de Espana, tom. ii. lib. 29, cap. 3.--Carbajal, a.n.a.les, MS., ano 1506.-- Bernaldez, Reyes Catolicos, MS., cap. 206.--Robles, Vida de Ximenez, cap.

17.

"Childish as was the affection," says Dr. Dunham, "of Joanna for her husband, she did not, as Robertson relates, cause the body to be removed from the sepulchre after it was buried, and brought to her apartment. She once visited the sepulchre, and, after affectionately gazing on the corpse, was persuaded to retire. Robertson seems not to have read, at least not with care, the authorities for the reign of Fernando." (History of Spain and Portugal, vol. ii. p. 287, note.) Whoever will take the trouble to examine these authorities, will probably not find Dr. Dunham much more accurate in the matter than his predecessor. Robertson, indeed, draws largely from the Epistles of Peter Martyr, the best voucher for this period, which his critic apparently has not consulted. In the very page preceding that in which he thus taxes Robertson with inaccuracy, we find him speaking of Charles VIII. as the reigning monarch of France; an error not merely clerical, since it is repeated no less than three times. Such mistakes would be too trivial for notice in any but an author, who has made similar ones the ground for unsparing condemnation of others.

[3] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 339.

A foolish Carthusian monk, "laevi sicco folio levior," to borrow Martyr's words, though more knave than fool probably, filled Joanna with absurd hopes of her husband's returning to life, which, he a.s.sured her, had happened, as he had read, to a certain prince, after he had been dead fourteen years. As Philip was disembowelled, he was hardly in a condition for such an auspicious event. The queen, however, seems to have been caught with the idea. (Opus Epist., epist. 328.) Martyr loses all patience at the inventions of this "blactero cucullatus," as he calls him in his abominable Latin, as well as at the mad pranks of the queen, and the ridiculous figure which he and the other grave personages of the court were compelled to make on the occasion. It is impossible to read his Jeremiads on the subject without a smile. See, in particular, his whimsical epistle to his old friend, the archbishop of Granada. Opus Epist., epist. 333.

[4] Mariana, Hist. de Espana, tom. ii. lib. 29, cap. 3.--Zurita, a.n.a.les, tom. vi. lib. 7, cap. 26, 38, 54.--Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 72.-- Sandoval, Hist. del Emp. Carlos V., tom. i. p. 11.

[5] Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. rey 30, cap. 16.--Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 346.--Zurita, a.n.a.les, lib. 7, cap. 36-38.--Zuniga, Annales de Sevilla, ano 1507.--Bernaldez, Reyes Catolicos, MS., cap. 206.

The duke of Medina Sidonia, son of the n.o.bleman who bore so honorable a part in the Granadine war, mustered a large force by land and sea for the recovery of his ancient patrimony of Gibraltar.--Isabella's high-spirited friend, the marchioness of Moya, put herself at the head of a body of troops with better success, during her husband's illness, and re-established herself in the strong fortress of Segovia, which Philip had transferred to Manuel. (Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 343.--Bernaldez, Reyes Catolicos, MS., cap. 207.) "No one lamented the circ.u.mstance," says Oviedo. The marchioness closed her life not long after this, at about sixty years of age. Her husband, though much older, survived her.

Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 23.

[6] Reyes Catolicos, MS., cap. 208.--Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 71.-- Mariana, Hist. de Espana, tom. ii. lib. 29, cap. 2.

The worthy Curate of Los Palacios does not vouch for this exact amount from his own knowledge. He states, however, that 170 died, out of his own little parish of 500 persons, and he narrowly escaped with life himself, after a severe attack. Ubi supra.