now agitated the minds of men from one extremity 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 Villena, 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 nephew, and thus the league, deprived of its principal supports, must soon crumble to pieces. Instead of resenting this proposal as an affront upon his honor, the abject mind of Henry was content to purchase 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. [22]
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 seclusion, 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 more effectually to discourage the formation of any faction 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. [23]
The near connection of Isabella with the crown, as well as her personal 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, was promised by Henry to Alfonso, of Portugal. Isabella was present with her brother at a personal interview with that monarch in 1464, but neither threats nor entreaties 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, that “the infantas of Castile could not be disposed of in marriage, without the consent of the nobles of the realm.” [25]
When Isabella understood in what manner she was now to be sacrificed to the selfish policy of her brother, in the prosecution of which, compulsory 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 outrage which the king had either not the power, or the inclination, to resent. [26] 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 dishonor, by her own death or that of her enemy. As she was bewailing her hard fate to her faithful friend, Beatriz 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! [27]
Happily her loyalty was not put to so severe a test. No 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 Almagro to Madrid, where 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 Real, 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 longer. [28] His death was attributed by many to poison, administered to him by some of the nobles, who were envious of his good 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. [29]
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 between the parties. The passions, which had been only smothered, now burst forth into open hostility; and it was resolved to refer 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 armor. The young prince Alfonso, scarcely fourteen years of age, rode by his side, clad like him in complete mail. Before the action commenced, the archbishop sent a message to Beltran de 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 description of the dress he intended to wear; a chivalrous defiance, which wellnigh 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 neighboring 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. [30]
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.” [31]
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 armed 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 feuds, 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. [32] In the country, the nobles and gentry, issuing from their castles, captured the defenceless traveller, who was obliged to redeem his liberty by the payment of a heavier ransom than was exacted even by the Mahometans. All communication on the high roads was suspended, and no man, says a contemporary, dared move abroad beyond the walls of his city, unless attended by an armed escort. The organization 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 Hermandad sometimes encountered on these occasions, served to aggravate the horrors of the scene. Meanwhile, fearful omens, the usual accompaniments of such troubled times, were witnessed; the heated imagination interpreted the ordinary operations of nature as signs of celestial wrath; [33] 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. [34]
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 Cardeñosa, 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, 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 happier 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 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 his party, who saw with alarm that the young lion, when he had reached his strength, would be likely to burst the bonds with which they had enthralled him. [35]
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 monarchs of Castile. [36] 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 subsequent recognition by the people. But I do not find, that the deposition of Henry the Fourth was ever confirmed by 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 by 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 commanding 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 license of a court, where the love of pleasure scorned even the veil of hypocrisy. On the death of her brother, she withdrew 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. [37]
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 a right 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 disapprobation 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. [38]
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 recognized 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 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. [39]
In pursuance of these arrangements, an interview took place between Henry and Isabella, each attended by a brilliant _cortège_ of cavaliers and nobles, at a place called Toros de Guisando, in New Castile. [40] The monarch embraced his sister with the tenderest marks of affection, and then proceeded solemnly to recognize 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 representatives of the nation, convened in cortes at Ocaña, unanimously concurred 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. [41]
It can hardly be believed, that Henry was sincere in subscribing conditions 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 Villena for the purpose of evading it; an accusation, which derives a plausible coloring from subsequent events.
The new and legitimate basis, on which the pretensions of Isabella to the throne now rested, drew the attention of neighboring princes, who contended with each other for the honor 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 have 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. [42]
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 favored his pretensions, the disadvantages resulting from such a union were too obvious to escape attention. The two countries were too remote from each other, [43] and their inhabitants too dissimiliar in character and institutions, to permit the idea of their ever cordially coalescing as one people under a common sovereign. Should the duke of Guienne fail in the inheritance of the crown, it was argued, he would be every way an unequal 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. [44]
The person on whom Isabella turned the most favorable eye was her kinsman Ferdinand of Aragon. The superior advantages of a connection, 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 resemblance 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 valor, combined with maturity of judgment far above his years. Indeed, he was decidedly superior to his rivals in personal merit and attractions. [45] 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 Toros 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. [46] 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 ascendency 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, [47] once belonged the ample domains of his own marquisate, which he 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 endeavored 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 heir of the Portuguese monarch; and thus this unfortunate princess might be enabled to assume at once a station suitable to her birth, and at some future opportunity assert with success her claim to the Castilian crown. In furtherance of this complicated intrigue, Alfonso was invited to renew his addresses to Isabella in a more public manner than he had hitherto done; and a pompous embassy, with the archbishop of Lisbon at its head, appeared at Ocaña, where Isabella was then residing, bearing the proposals of their master. The princess returned, as before, a decided though temperate refusal. [48] Henry, or rather the marquis of Villena, 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 in execution by his fear of the inhabitants of Ocaña, 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. [49] Notwithstanding this popular expression of opinion, however, 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 interests 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.
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. [50] Fortified by their approbation, Isabella dismissed the Aragonese envoy with a favorable answer to his master’s suit. [51]
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 in effecting this favorite 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 despatched a confidential agent into Castile, with instructions to gain over to his interests all who 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. [52]
Between parties thus favorably disposed, there was no unnecessary delay. The marriage articles were signed, and sworn to by Ferdinand at Cervera, on the 7th of January. 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 property 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 possession 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. [53] The circumspection 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.
While these affairs were in progress, Isabella’s situation was becoming extremely critical. She had availed herself of the absence of her brother and the marquis of Villena in the south, whither they had gone for the purpose of suppressing the still lingering spark of insurrection, to transfer her residence from Ocaña 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 archbishop 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 resentment, 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 sudden extinction of those hopes, which she had so long and so fondly cherished. [54]
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, reinforced 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 Valladolid, where she was welcomed by the citizens with a general burst of enthusiasm. [55]
In the mean time Gutierre de Cardenas, one of the household of the princess, [56] and Alfonso de Palencia, the faithful chronicler of these events, were despatched into Aragon 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 Villena. [57] 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. [58] 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. [59]
It was at length determined, that the prince should undertake the journey, accompanied by half a dozen attendants only, in the disguise of merchants, by 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 cavalry for the purpose of intercepting their progress; and the whole extent of the frontier, from Almazan to Guadalajara, was defended by a line of fortified castles in the hands of the family of Mendoza. [60] 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 his 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 expedition, they arrived, late on the second night, at a little place called the Burgo or Borough, of Osma, which the count of Treviño, 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 wellnigh brought his romantic enterprise to a tragical conclusion; when his voice was recognized 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 performed under the convoy of a numerous and well-armed escort; and on the 9th of October he reached Dueñas 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. [61]
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 approbation of it, giving him at the same time affectionate assurances of the most dutiful submission both on the part of Ferdinand and of herself. [62] 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. [63]
Agreeably to these arrangements, Ferdinand, on the evening of the 15th of October, passed privately from Dueñas, accompanied only by four attendants, to the neighboring city of Valladolid, where he was received by the archbishop of Toledo, and conducted to the apartment of his mistress. [64] 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 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 secured 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. [65] 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 color, 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.” [66] 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 demeanor, and modest even to a degree of reserve. She spoke the Castilian language with more than usual elegance; and early imbibed a relish for letters, in which she was superior to Ferdinand, whose education in this particular seems to have been neglected. [67] 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 coloring of romance.
The interview lasted more than two hours, when Ferdinand retired to his quarters at Dueñas, 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. [68] 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, in the palace of John de Vivero, the temporary residence of the princess, and subsequently appropriated to the chancery of Valladolid. The nuptials were solemnized 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. [69] 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 document 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 interests of Henry, and who knew that Isabella would never consent to a union repugnant to the canons of the established church, and one 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 everything like artifice, was filled with no little uneasiness and mortification at the discovery of the imposition. [70] The ensuing week was consumed in the usual festivities of this joyous season; at the expiration of which, the new-married pair attended publicly the celebration of mass, agreeably to the usage of the time, in the collegiate church of Sante Maria. [71]
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 favorable disposition. Henry coldly replied, that “he must advise with his ministers.” [72]
* * * * *
Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdés, author of the “Quincuagenas” frequently cited in this History, was born at Madrid, in 1478. 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 his 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 principal work, “Historia General de las Indias,” in fifty books. Las Casas denounces the book as a wholesale fabrication, “as full of lies, almost, as pages.” (Oeuvres, trad. de Llorente, tom. i. p. 382.) But Las Casas entertained too hearty an aversion for the man, whom he publicly accused of rapacity and 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 Quincuagenas. It is entitled “Las Quincuagenas de los generosos é ilustres é no menos famosos Reyes, Príncipes, Duques, Marqueses y Condes et Caballeros, et Personas notables de España, que escribió el Capitan Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdez, Alcáide de sus Magestades de la Fortaleza de la Cibdad é Puerto de Sancto Domingo de la Isla Españiola, Coronista de las Indias,” etc. At the close of the third volume is this record of the octogenarian author; “Acabé de escribir de mi mano este famoso tractado de la nobleza de España, domingo 1730; dia de Páscua de Pentecostes XXIII. de mayo de 1556 años. Laus Deo. Y de mi edad 79 años.” This very curious work is in the form of dialogues, in which the author is the chief interlocutor. It contains a very full, and, indeed, prolix notice of the principal persons in Spain, their lineage, revenues, and arms, with an inexhaustible 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 New 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, however, much for the illustration of domestic manners, and copious particulars, as I have 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 honors of the press. His book, however, still remains in manuscript, apparently little known, and less used, by Castilian scholars. Besides the three folio volumes in the Royal Library at Madrid, from which the transcript in my possession was obtained, Clemencin, whose commendations of this work, as illustrative of Isabella’s reign, are unqualified. (Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. Ilust. 10,) enumerates three others, two in the king’s private library, and one in that of the Academy.
FOOTNOTES
[1]
“Nil pudet assuetos sceptris: mitissima sors est Regnorum sub rege novo.” Lucan, Pharsalia, lib. 8.
[2] Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 8.–Rodericus Sanctius, Historia Hispanica, cap. 38, 39.–Pulgar, Claros Varones, tit. 1.–Castillo, Crónica, i. 20.–Guzman, Generaciones, cap. 33.–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 Castilian sovereigns by the less flattering title of “the Impotent.”
[3] Zuñiga, Anales Eclesiasticos y Seculares de Sevilla, (Madrid, 1667,) p. 344.–Castillo, Crónica, cap. 20.–Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. pp. 415, 419.–Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 1, cap. 14 et seq.–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, 1462.
[4] Such was his apathy, says Mariana, that he would subscribe his name to public ordinances, without taking the trouble to acquaint himself with their contents. Hist. de España, tom. ii. p. 423.
[5] Pulgar, Crónica de los Reyes Católicos, (Valencia, 1780,) cap. 2.– Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 1, cap. 4.–Aleson, Anales de Navarra, tom. iv. pp. 519, 520.–The marriage between Blanche and Henry was publicly declared void by the bishop of Segovia, confirmed by the archbishop of Toledo, “por impotencia respectiva, owing to some malign influence”!
[6] La Clède, Hist. de. Portugal, tom. iii. pp. 325, 345.–Florez, Reynas Cathólicas, tom. ii. pp. 763, 766.–Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 1, cap. 20, 21.–It does not appear, however, whom Beltran de la Cueva indicated as the lady of his love on this occasion. (See Castillo, Crónica, cap. 23, 24.) Two anecdotes may he mentioned as characteristic of the gallantry of the times. The archbishop of Seville concluded a superb _fête_, given in honor 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 honor, never to dance with any other woman.
[7] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., cap. 42, 47.–Castillo, Crónica, cap. 23.
[8] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., cap. 35.–Sempere, Hist. del. Luxo, tom. i. p. 183.–Idem, Hist. des Cortès, ch. 19.–Marina, Teoría, part. 1, cap. 20.–part. 2, pp. 390, 391.–Zuñiga, Anales de Sevilla, pp. 346, 349.–The papal bulls of crusade issued on these 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 offenses committed upon earth, and as purgatory is situated upon earth, it properly fell within his jurisdiction, (cap. 32.) Bulls of crusade were sold at the rate of 200 maravedies each; and it is computed by the same historian, that no less than 4,000,000 maravedies were amassed by this traffic in Castile, in the space of four years!
[9] Saez, Monedas de Enrique IV., (Madrid, 1805,) pp. 2-5.–Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., cap. 36, 39.–Castillo, Crónica, cap. 19.
[10] Pulgar, Claros Varones, tit. 6.–Castillo, Crónica, cap. 15.– Mendoza, Monarquía de España, tom. i. p. 328.–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 large proportion of the domains originally attached to it, was conferred on Don Juan Pacheco, by whom it was transmitted to his son, afterwards raised to the rank of duke of Escalona, in the reign of Isabella. Salazar de Mendoza, Dignidades de Castilla y Leon, (Madrid, 1794,) lib. 3, cap. 12, 17.
[11] Pulgar, Claros Varones, tit. 20.–Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 10, 11.
[12] At least these are the important consequences imputed to this interview by the French writers. See Gaillard, Rivalité, tom. iii. pp. 241-243.–Comines, Mémoires, liv. 3, chap. 8.–Also Castillo, Crónica, cap. 48, 49.–Zurita, Anales, lib. 17, cap. 50.
[13] Ferreras, Hist. d’Espagne, tom. ii. p. 122.–Zurita, Anales, lib. 17, cap. 56.–Castillo, Crónica, cap. 51, 52, 58.–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 one of his missions to her court, she invited him to dine with her _tête-à-tête_ at her own table, while during the repast they were served by the ladies of the palace. Ibid., cap. 40.
[14] See the memorial presented to the king, cited at length in Marina, Teoría, tom. iii. Apend. no. 7.–Castillo, Crónica, cap. 58, 64.–Zurita, Anales, lib. 17, cap. 56.–Lebrija, Hispanarum Rerum Ferdinando Rege et Elisabe Reginâ Gestarum Decades, (apud Granatam, 1545,) lib. 1, cap. 1, 2.–Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 1, cap. 6.–Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 9.
[15] Castillo, Crónica, cap. 65.
[16] See copies from the original instruments, which are still preserved in the archives of the house of Villena, in Marina, Teoría, tom. iii. part. 2, Ap. 6, 8.–Castillo, Crónica, cap. 66, 67.–Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 1, cap. 57.
[17] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 1, cap. 62.–Castillo, Crónica, cap. 68, 69, 74.
[18] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 1, cap. 63, 70.–Castillo, Crónica, cap. 75, 76.
[19] The celebrated marquis of Santillana died in 1458, at the age of sixty. (Sanchez, Poesías Castellanas, tom. i. p. 23.) The title descended to his eldest son, Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, who is represented by his contemporaries to have been worthy of his sire. Like him, he was imbued with a love of letters; he was conspicuous for his magnanimity and chivalrous honor, his moderation, constancy, and uniform loyalty to his sovereign, virtues of rare worth in those rapacious and turbulent times. (Pulgar, Claros Varones, tit. 9.) Ferdinand and Isabella created him duke del Infantado. This domain derives its name from its having been once the patrimony of the _infantes_ of Castile. See Salazar de Mendoza, Monarquía, tom. i. p. 219,–and Dignidades de Castilla, lib. 3, cap. 17.–Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 8.
[20] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 1, cap. 64.–Castillo, Crónica, cap. 78.
[21] Castillo, Crónica, cap. 80, 82.
[22] Rades y Andrada, Chrónica de Las Tres Ordenes y Cavallerías, (Toledo, 1572,) fol. 76.–Castillo, Crónica, cap. 85.–Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 1, cap. 73.
[24] L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 154.-Florez, Reynas Cathólicas, tom. ii. p. 789.-Castillo, Crónica, cap. 37.
[25] Aleson, Anales de Navarra, tom. iv. pp. 561, 562.–Zurita, Anales, lib. 16, cap. 46, lib. 17, cap. 3.–Castillo, Crónica, cap. 31, 57.– Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., cap. 55.
[26] Decad. de Palencia, apud Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. p. 65, nota.
[27] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., cap. 73.–Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. p. 450.–Garibay, Compendio, tom. ii. p. 532.
This lady, Doña 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 wise, virtuous, and valiant.” (Quincuagenas, MS., dial. de Cabrera.) The last epithet, rather singular for a female character, was not unmerited.
[28] Palencia imputes his death to an attack of the quinsy. Corónica, MS., cap. 73.
[29] Rades y Andrada, Las Tres Ordenes, fol. 77.–Caro de Torres, Historia de las Ordenes Militares de Santiago, Calatrava, y Alcantara, (Madrid, 1629,) lib. 2, cap. 59.–Castillo, Crónica, cap. 85.–Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., cap. 73.–Gaillard remarks on this event, “Chacun crut sur cette mort ce qu’il voulut.” And again in a few pages after, speaking of Isabella, he says, “On remarqua que tons ceux qui pouvoient faire obstacle à la satisfaction ou à la fortune d’Isabelle, mouroient toujours à propos pour elle.” (Rivalité, tom. iii. pp. 280, 286.) 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 Voltaire rendered fashionable in history. I doubt, however, if, amid all the heats of controversy and faction, there is a single Spanish writer of that age, or indeed of any subsequent one, who has ventured to impute to the contrivance of Isabella any one of the fortunate coincidences, to which the author alludes.
[30] Lebrija, Rerum Gestarum Decades, lib. 1, cap. 2–Zurita, Anales, lib. 18, cap. 10–Castillo, Cronies, cap. 93, 97.–Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 1, cap 80.
[31] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica MS., cap. 82.
[32] Zuñiga, Anales de Sevilla, pp. 851, 352.–Carta del Levantamiento de Toledo, apud Castillo, Crónica, p. 109.–The historian of Seville has quoted an animated apostrophe addressed to the citizens by one of their number in this season of discord:
“Mezquina Sevilla en la sangre bañada de los tus fijos, i tus cavalleros,
que fado enemigo te tiene minguada,” etc.
The poem concludes with a summons to throw off the yoke of their oppressors:
“Despierta Sevilla e sacude el imperio, que faze a tus nobles tanto vituperio.”
See Anales, p. 359.
[33] “Quod in pace fore, sen natura, tune fatum et ira dei vocabatur;” says Tacitus, (Historiae, lib. 4, cap. 26,) adverting to a similar state of excitement.
[34] Saez quotes a MS. letter of a contemporary, exhibiting a frightful picture of these disorders. (Monedas de Enrique IV., p. 1, not.–Castillo, Crónica, cap. 83, 87, et passim.–Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. p. 451.–Marina, Teoría, tom. ii. p. 487.–Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 1, cap. 69.) The active force kept on duty by the Hermandad amounted to 3000 horse. Ibid., cap. 89, 90.
[35] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., cap. 87, 92.–Castillo, Crónica, cap. 94.–Garibay, Compendio, lib. 17, cap. 20.
[36] Marina, Teoría, part. 2, cap. 88.
[37] Lebrija, Rerum Gestarum Decad., lib. 1, cap. 3.–Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 1, cap. 92.–Florez, Reynas Cathólicas, tom. ii. p. 790.
[38] Lebrija, Rerum Gestarum Decad., lib. 1, cap. 3.–Ferreras, Hist. d’Espagne, tom. vii. p. 218.-Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, part. 1, cap. 92.–part. 2, cap. 5.
[39] See a copy of the original compact cited at length by Marina, Teoría, Apend. no. 11.–Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, part. 1, cap. 2.
[40] So called from four bulls, sculptured in stone, discovered there, with Latin inscriptions thereon, indicating it to have been the site of one of Julius Caesar’s victories during the civil war. (Estrada, Poblacion General de España, (Madrid, 1748,) tom. i. p. 306.)–Galindez de Carbaja, a
contemporary, fixes the date of this convention in August. Apales del Rey Fernando el Católico, MS., año 1468.
[41] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 4.–Castillo, Crónica, cap. 18.–Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. pp. 461, 462.– Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, part. 1, cap. 2.–Castillo affirms that Henry, incensed by his sister’s refusal of the king of Portugal, dissolved the cortes at Ocaña, before it had taken the oath of allegiance to her. (Crónica, cap. 127.) This assertion, however, is counterbalanced by the opposite one of Pulgar, a contemporary writer, like himself. (Reyes Católicos, cap. 5.) And as Ferdinand and Isabella, in a letter addressed, after their marriage, to Henry IV., transcribed also by Castillo, allude incidentally to such a recognition as to a well-known fact, the balance of testimony must be admitted to be in favor of it. See Castillo, Crónica, cap. 114.
[42] Isabella, who in a letter to Henry IV., dated Oct. 12th, 1469, adverts to these proposals of the English prince, as being under consideration at the time of the convention of Toros de Guisando, does not specify which of the brothers of Edward IV. was intended. (Castillo, Crónica, cap. 136.)
Mr. Turner, in his History of England during the Middle Ages, (London, 1825,) quotes part of the address delivered by the Spanish envoy to Richard III., in 1483, in which the orator speaks of “the unkindness, which his queen Isabella had conceived for Edward IV., for his refusal of her, and his taking instead to wife a widow of England.” (Vol. iii. p. 274.) The old chronicler Hall, on the other hand, mentions, that it was currently reported, although he does not appear to credit it, that the earl of Warwick had been despatched into Spain in order to request the hand of the princess Isabella for his master Edward IV., in 1463. (See his Chronicle of England, (London, 1809,) pp. 263, 264.)–I find nothing in the Spanish accounts of that period, which throws any light on these obvious contradictions.
[43] The territories of France and Castile touched, indeed, on one point (Guipuscoa), but were separated along the whole remaining line of frontier by the kingdoms of Aragon and Navarre.
[44] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 8.–Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 10.
[45] Isabella, in order to acquaint herself more intimately with the personal qualities of her respective suitors, had privately despatched her confidential chaplain, Alonso de Coca, to the courts of France and of Aragon, and his report on his return was altogether favorable to Ferdinand. The duke of Guienne he represented as “a feeble, effeminate prince, with limbs so emaciated as to be almost deformed, and with eyes so weak and watery as to incapacitate him for the ordinary exercises of chivalry. While Ferdinand, on the other hand, was possessed of a comely, symmetrical figure, a graceful demeanor, and a spirit that was up to anything;” _mui dispuesto para toda coga que hacer ginsiese_. It is not improbable that the queen of Aragon condescended to practise some of those agreeable arts on the worthy chaplain, which made so sensible an impression on the marquis of Villena.
[46] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 5.
[47] See ante, note 10.
[48] Faria y Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, tom. ii. p. 391.–Castillo, Crónica, cap. 121, 127.–Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 7.–Lebrija, Rerum Gestarum Decad., lib. 1, cap. 7.
[49] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 7.–Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 7.
[50] Pulgar, Claros Varones, tit. 2.
[51] L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 154.–Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 162.–Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 7.–Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 9.
[52] Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 157, 163.
[53] See the copy of the original marriage contract, as it exists in the archives of Simancas, extracted in tom. vi. of Memorias de la Acad. de Hist., Apend. no. 1.–Zurita, Anales, lib. 18, cap. 21.–Ferreras, Hist. d’Espagne, tom. vii. p. 236.
[54] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 12.–Castillo, Crónica, cap. 128, 131, 136.–Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 162.–Beatrice de Bobadilla and Mencia de la Torre, the two ladies most in her confidence, had escaped to the neighboring town of Coca.
[55] Castillo, Crónica, cap. 136.–Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 12.–Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 69.
[56] This cavalier, who was of an ancient and honorable family in Castile, was introduced to the princess’s service by the archbishop of Toledo. He is represented by Gonzalo de Oviedo as a man of much sagacity and knowledge of the world, qualities with which he united a steady devotion to the interests of his mistress. Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 2, dial. 1.
[57] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., cap. 14.-The bishop told Palencia, that “if his own servants deserted him, he would oppose the entrance of Ferdinand into the kingdom.”
[58] Zurita, Anales, lib. 18, cap. 26.–The enrique was a gold coin, so denominated from Henry II.
[59] Zurita, Anales, lib. 18, cap. 26.–Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. p. 273.
[60] Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. p. 78, Ilust. 2.
[61] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 14.–Zurita, Anales, loc. cit.
[62] This letter, dated October 12th, is cited at length by Castillo, Crónica, cap. 136.
[63] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 15.
[64] Gutierre de Cardenas was the first who pointed him out to the princess, exclaiming at the same time, “_Ese es, ese es_,” “This is he;” in commemoration of which he was permitted to place on his escutcheon the letters SS, whose pronunciation in Spanish resembles that of the exclamation which he had uttered. Ibid., part. 2, cap. 15.–Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 2, dial. 1.
[65] L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 182.–Garibay, Compendio, lib. 18, cap. 1.–“Tan amigo de los negocios,” says Mariana, “que parecia con el trabajo descansaba.” Hist. de España, lib. 25, cap. 18.
[66] “En hermosura, puestas delante S. A. todas las mugeres que yo he visto, ninguna vi tan graciosa, ni tanto de ver corao su persona, ni de tal manera e sanctidad honestísíma.” Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS.
[67] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 201.–Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. p. 362.–Garibay, Compendío, lib. 18, cap. 1.
[68] Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. p. 465.
[69] Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 1469.–Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 16.–Zurita, Anales, lib. 18, cap. 26.–See a copy of the official record of the marriage, Mem. de la Acad., tom. vi. Apend. 4. See also the Ilust. 2.
[70] The intricacies of this affair, at once the scandal and the stumbling-block of the Spanish historians, have been unravelled by Señor Clemencin, with his usual perspicuity. See Mem. de la Acad., tom. vi. pp. 105-116, Ilust. 2.
[71] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 16.–A lively narrative of the adventures of Prince Ferdinand, detailed in this chapter, may be found in Cushing’s Reminiscences of Spain, (Boston, 1833,) vol. i. pp. 225-255.
[72] Castillo, Crónica, cap. 137.–Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 16.
CHAPTER IV.
FACTIONS IN CASTILE.–WAR BETWEEN FRANCE AND ARAGON.–DEATH OF HENRY IV., OF CASTILE.
1469-1474.
Factions in Castile.–Ferdinand and Isabella.–Gallant Defence of Perpignan 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.
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 his appointment to the command of the military order above mentioned, a dignity inferior only to the primacy in importance. It was 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. [1]
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 Guisando, 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. [2]
This 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 unfavorable influence on Isabella’s cause. It exhibited her rival to the world as one whose claims were to be supported 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, [3] the Mendozas in all their extensive ramifications, [4] the Zuñigas, the Velascos, [5] the Pimentels, [6] 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 Dueñas, [8] were so poor as to be scarcely capable of defraying the ordinary charges 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 church 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 humors, 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. [9]
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 foundations 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, [10] could bring into the field, 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 chiefs of these ancient houses having recently died, the inheritance descended 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 Rodrigo 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 preferred by his father to his other children in consequence of the extraordinary 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 honors, 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. [11]
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 which 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 commodities 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 unhappy 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. [12]
While Ferdinand’s presence was more than ever necessary to support the drooping spirits of his party in Castile, he was unexpectedly summoned into Aragon to the assistance of his father. No sooner had Barcelona submitted to King John, as mentioned in a preceding chapter, [13] than the inhabitants of Roussillon and Cerdagne, which provinces, it will be remembered, were placed in the custody of France, as a guaranty 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 favorable. 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 such of the French, in the principal towns, as had not the good fortune to escape into the citadels, were indiscriminately massacred. Of all the country, Salces, Collioure, and the castle of Perpignan alone remained in the 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. [14]
Louis the Eleventh, deeply incensed at the defection of his new subjects, 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 mean while, had convoked the _ban_ and _arrière-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 the 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. [15]
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 Mançanara, in the face of a driving tempest, which concealed 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 colors flying and music playing, at the head of his little band, to greet his deliverers; and, after an affecting interview in the presence of the two armies, the father and son returned in triumph into Perpignan. [16]
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 monarchs, in which it was arranged, that the king of Aragon should disburse 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 contravene their reciprocal engagements. [17]
There is little reason to believe that this singular compact was subscribed in good faith by either party. John, notwithstanding the temporary succor which he had received from Louis at the commencement 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 of 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 reorganize 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. [18] 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. [19]
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 disgraced that of Henry and his consort. Thinking men were led to conclude that the sagacious administration of Isabella must eventually secure to her the ascendency over her rival; while all, who sincerely loved their country, could not but prognosticate for it, under her 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 Gonzalez de Mendoza, archbishop of Seville and cardinal of Spain; a prelate, whose lofty station in the church was supported by talents of the highest order; and 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 affairs 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, [20] secured the attachment of the other members of this powerful family. [21]
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 depository 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, Beatriz 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 then 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 endeavored to obtain her brother’s sanction to her union with Ferdinand. 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, condescended 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 and splendid entertainments, 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. [22]
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 assassination. 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 friends. [23]–But, if the visit to Segovia failed in its destined purpose of a reconciliation with Henry, it was attended with the important consequence of securing to Isabella a faithful partisan in Cabrera, who, from the control which his situation gave him over the royal coffers, proved a most seasonable ally in her subsequent struggle with Joanna.
Not long after this event, Ferdinand received another summons from his father to attend him in Aragon, where the storm of war, which had been for some time gathering in the distance, now burst with pitiless fury. In the beginning of February, 1474, an embassy consisting of two of his principal nobles, accompanied by a brilliant train of cavaliers and attendants, had been deputed by John to the court of Louis XI., for the ostensible purpose of settling the preliminaries of the marriage, previously agreed on, between the dauphin and the infanta Isabella, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, then little more than three years of age. [24] The real object of the mission was to effect some definitive adjustment or compromise of the differences relating to the contested territories of Roussillon and Cerdagne. The king of France, who, notwithstanding his late convention with John, was making active preparations for the forcible occupation of these provinces, determined to gain time by amusing the ambassadors with a show of negotiation, and interposing every obstacle which his ingenuity could devise to their progress through his dominions. He succeeded so well in this latter part of his scheme, that the embassy did not reach Paris until the close of Lent. Louis, who seldom resided in his capital, took good care to be absent at this season. The ambassadors in the interim were entertained with balls, military reviews, and whatever else might divert them from the real objects of their mission. All communication was cut off with their own government, as their couriers were stopped and their despatches intercepted, so that John knew as little of his envoys or their proceedings, as if they had been in Siberia or Japan. In the mean time, formidable preparations were making in the south of France for a descent on Roussillon; and when the ambassadors, after a fruitless attempt at negotiation, which evaporated in mutual crimination and recrimination, set out on their return to Aragon, they were twice detained, at Lyons and Montpelier, from an extreme solicitude, as the French government expressed it, to ascertain the safest route through a country intersected by hostile armies; and all this, notwithstanding their repeated protestations against this obliging disposition, which held them prisoners, in opposition to their own will and the law of nations. The prince who descended to such petty trickery passed for the wisest of his time. [25]
In the mean while, the Seigneur du Lude had invaded Roussillon at the head of nine hundred French lances and ten thousand infantry, supported by a powerful train of artillery, while a fleet of Genoese transports, laden with supplies, accompanied the army along the coast. Elna surrendered after a sturdy resistance; the governor and some of the principal prisoners were shamefully beheaded as traitors; and the French then proceeded to invest Perpignan. The king of Aragon was so much impoverished by the incessant wars in which he had been engaged, that he was not only unable to recruit his army, but was even obliged to pawn the robe of costly fur, which he wore to defend his person against the inclemencies of the season, in order to defray the expense of transporting his baggage. In this extremity, finding himself disappointed in the cooperation, on which he had reckoned, of his ancient allies the dukes of Burgundy and Brittany, he again summoned Ferdinand to his assistance, who, after a brief interview with his father in Barcelona, proceeded to Saragossa, to solicit aid from the estates of Aragon.
An incident occurred on this visit of the prince worth noticing, as strongly characteristic of the lawless habits of the age. A citizen of Saragossa, named Ximenes Gordo, of noble family, but who had relinquished the privileges of his rank in order to qualify himself for municipal office, had acquired such ascendency over his townsmen, as to engross the most considerable posts in the city for himself and his creatures. This authority he abused in a shameless manner, making use of it not only for the perversion of justice, but for the perpetration of the most flagrant crimes. Although these facts were notorious, yet such were his power and popularity with the lower classes, that Ferdinand, despairing of bringing him to justice in the ordinary way, determined on a more summary process. As Gordo occasionally visited the palace to pay his respects to the prince, the latter affected to regard him with more than usual favor, showing him such courtesy as might dissipate any distrust he had conceived of him. Gordo, thus assured, was invited at one of those interviews to withdraw into a retired apartment, where the prince wished to confer with him on business of moment. On entering the chamber he was surprised by the sight of the public executioner, the hangman of the city, whose presence, together with that of a priest, and the apparatus of death with which the apartment was garnished, revealed at once the dreadful nature of his destiny.
He was then charged with the manifold crimes of which he had been guilty, and sentence of death was pronounced on him. In vain did he appeal to Ferdinand, pleading the services which he had rendered on more than one occasion to his father. Ferdinand assured him that these should be gratefully remembered in the protection of his children, and then, bidding him unburden his conscience to his confessor, consigned him to the hand of the executioner. His body was exposed that very day in the market-place of the city, to the dismay of his friends and adherents, most of whom paid the penalty of their crimes in the ordinary course of justice. This extraordinary proceeding is highly characteristic of the unsettled times in which it occurred; when acts of violence often superseded the regular operation of the law, even in those countries, whose forms of government approached the nearest to a determinate constitution. It will doubtless remind the reader of the similar proceeding imputed to Louis the Eleventh, in the admirable sketch given us of that monarch in “Quentin Durward.” [26]
The supplies furnished by the Aragonese cortes were inadequate to King John’s necessities, and he was compelled, while hovering with his little force on the confines of Roussillon, to witness the gradual reduction of its capital, without being able to strike a blow in its defence. The inhabitants, indeed, who fought with a resolution worthy of ancient Numantia or Saguntum, were reduced to the last extremity of famine, supporting life by feeding on the most loathsome offal, on cats, dogs, the corpses of their enemies, and even on such of their own dead as had fallen in battle! And when at length an honorable capitulation was granted them on the 14th of March, 1475, the garrison who evacuated the city, reduced to the number of four hundred, were obliged to march on foot to Barcelona, as they had consumed their horses during the siege. [27]
The terms of capitulation, which permitted every inhabitant to evacuate, or reside unmolested in the city, at his option, were too liberal to satisfy the vindictive temper of the king of France. He instantly wrote to his generals, instructing them to depart from their engagements, to keep the city so short of supplies as to compel an emigration of its original inhabitants, and to confiscate for their own use the estates of the principal nobility; and after delineating in detail the perfidious policy which they were to pursue, he concluded with the assurance, “that, by the blessing of God and our Lady, and Monsieur St. Martin, he would be with them before the winter, in order to aid them in its execution.” [28] Such was the miserable medley of hypocrisy and superstition, which characterized the politics of the European courts in this corrupt age, and which dimmed the lustre of names, most conspicuous on the page of history.
The occupation of Roussillon was followed by a truce of six months between the belligerent parties. The regular course of the narrative has been somewhat anticipated, in order to conclude that portion of it relating to the war with Prance, before again reverting to the affairs of Castile, where Henry the Fourth, pining under an incurable malady, was gradually approaching the termination of his disastrous reign.
This event, which, from the momentous consequences it involved, was contemplated with the deepest solicitude, not only by those who had an immediate and personal interest at stake, but by the whole nation, took place on the night of the 11th of December, 1474. [29] It was precipitated by the death of the grand master of St. James, on whom the feeble mind of Henry had been long accustomed to rest for its support, and who was cut off by an acute disorder but a few months previous, in the full prime of his ambitious schemes. The king, notwithstanding the lingering nature of his disease gave him ample time for preparation, expired without a will, or even, as generally asserted, the designation of a successor. This was the more remarkable, not only as being contrary to established usage, but as occurring at a period when the succession had been so long and hotly debated. [30] The testaments of the Castilian sovereigns, though never esteemed positively binding, and occasionally, indeed, set aside, when deemed unconstitutional or even inexpedient by the legislature, [31] were always allowed to have great weight with the nation.
With Henry the Fourth terminated the male line of the house of Trastamara, who had kept possession of the throne for more than a century, and in the course of only four generations had exhibited every gradation of character from the bold and chivalrous enterprise of the first Henry of that name, down to the drivelling imbecility of the last.
The character of Henry the Fourth has been sufficiently delineated in that of his reign. He was not without certain amiable qualities, and may be considered as a weak, rather than a wicked prince. In persons, however, intrusted with the degree of power exercised by sovereigns of even the most limited monarchies of this period, a weak man may be deemed more mischievous to the state over which he presides than a wicked one. The latter, feeling himself responsible in the eyes of the nation for his actions, is more likely to consult appearances, and, where his own passions or interests are not immediately involved, to legislate with reference to the general interests of his subjects. The former, on the contrary, is too often a mere tool in the hands of favorites, who, finding themselves screened by the interposition of royal authority from the consequences of measures for which they should be justly responsible, sacrifice without remorse the public weal to the advancement of their private fortunes. Thus the state, made to minister to the voracious appetites of many tyrants, suffers incalculably more than it would from one. So fared it with Castile under Henry the Fourth; dismembered by faction, her revenues squandered on worthless parasites, the grossest violations of justice unredressed, public faith become a jest, the treasury bankrupt, the court a brothel, and private morals too loose and audacious to seek even the veil of hypocrisy! Never had the fortunes of the kingdom reached so low an ebb since the great Saracen invasion.
* * * * *
The historian cannot complain of a want of authentic materials for the reign of Henry IV. Two of the chroniclers of that period, Alonso de Palencia and Enriquez del Castillo, were eye-witnesses and conspicuous actors in the scenes which they recorded, and connected with opposite factions. The former of these writers, Alonso de Palencia, was born, as appears from his work, “De Synonymis,” cited by Pellicer, (Bibliotheca de Traductores, p. 7,) in 1423. Nic. Antonio has fallen into the error of dating his birth nine years later. (Bibliotheca Vetus, tom. ii. p. 331.) At the age of seventeen, he became page to Alfonso of Carthagena, bishop of Burgos, and, in the family of that estimable prelate, acquired a taste for letters, which never deserted him during a busy political career. He afterwards visited Italy, where he became acquainted with Cardinal Bessarion, and through him with the learned George of Trebizond, whose lectures on philosophy and rhetoric he attended. On his return to his native country, he was raised to the dignity of royal historiographer by Alfonso, younger brother of Henry IV., and competitor with him for the crown. He attached himself to the fortunes of Isabella after Alfonso’s death, and was employed by the archbishop of Toledo in many delicate negotiations, particularly in arranging the marriage of the princess with Ferdinand, for which purpose he made a secret journey into Aragon. On the accession of Isabella, he was confirmed in the office of national chronicler, and passed the remainder of his life in the composition of philological and historical works and translations from the ancient classics. The time of his death is uncertain. He lived to a good old age, however, since it appears from his own statement, (see Mendez, Typographia Española, (Madrid, 1796,) p. 190,) that his version of Josephus was not completed till the year 1492.
The most popular of Palencia’s writings are his “Chronicle of Henry IV.,” and his Latin “Decades,” continuing the reign of Isabella down to the capture of Baza, in 1489. His historical style, far from scholastic pedantry, exhibits the business-like manner of a man of the world. His Chronicle, which, being composed in the Castilian, was probably intended for popular use, is conducted with little artifice, and indeed with a prolixity and minuteness of detail, arising no doubt from the deep interest which as an actor he took in the scenes he describes. His sentiments are expressed with boldness, and sometimes with the acerbity of party feeling. He has been much commended by the best Spanish writers, such as Zurita, Zuñiga, Marina, Clemencin, for his veracity. The internal evidence of this is sufficiently strong in his delineation of those scenes in which he was personally engaged; in his account of others, it will not be difficult to find examples of negligence and inaccuracy. His Latin “Decades” were probably composed with more care, as addressed to a learned class of readers; and they are lauded by Nic. Antonio as an elegant commentary, worthy to be assiduously studied by all who would acquaint themselves with the history of their country. The art of printing has done less perhaps for Spain than for any other country in Europe; and these two valuable histories are still permitted to swell the rich treasure of manuscripts with which her libraries are overloaded.
Enriquez del Castillo, a native of Segovia, was the chaplain and historiographer of King Henry IV., and a member of his privy council. His situation not only made him acquainted with the policy and intrigues of the court, but with the personal feelings of the monarch, who reposed entire confidence in him, which Castillo repaid with uniform loyalty. He appears very early to have commenced his Chronicle of Henry’s reign. On the occupation of Segovia by the young Alfonso, after the battle of Olmedo, in 1467, the chronicler, together with the portion of his history then complied, was unfortunate enough to fall into the enemy’s hands. The author was soon summoned to the presence of Alfonso and his counsellors, to hear and justify, as he could, certain passages of what they termed his “false and frivolous narrative.” Castillo, hoping little from a defence before such a prejudiced tribunal, resolutely kept his peace; and it might have gone hard with him, had it not been for his ecclesiastical profession. He subsequently escaped, but never recovered his manuscripts, which were probably destroyed; and, in the introduction to his Chronicle, he laments, that he has been obliged to rewrite the first half of his master’s reign.
Notwithstanding Castillo’s familiarity with public affairs, his work is not written in the business-like style of Palencia’s. The sentiments exhibit a moral sensibility scarcely to have 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 in a strain of considerable eloquence. The spirit of his work, notwithstanding its abundant loyalty, may be also commended for its candor in relation to the partisans of Isabella; which has led some critics to suppose that it underwent a _rifacimento_ after the accession of that princess to the throne.
Castillo’s Chronicle, more fortunate than that of his rival, has been published in a handsome form under the care of Don Jose Miguel de Flores, Secretary of the Spanish Academy of History, to whose learned labors in this way Castilian literature is so much indebted.
FOOTNOTES
[1] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 21.–Gaillard, Rivalité, tom. iii. p. 284.–Rades y Andrada, Las Tres Ordenes, fol. 65.– Caro de Torres, Ordenes Militares, fol. 43.
[2] Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 23.–Castillo, Crónica, p. 298.–Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 24.– Henry, well knowing how little all this would avail without the constitutional sanction of the cortes, twice issued his summons in 1470 for the convocation of the deputies, to obtain a recognition of the title of Joanna. But without effect. In the letters of convocation issued for 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. See the copies of the original writs, addressed to the cities of Toledo and Segovia, cited by Marina, Teoría, tom. ii. pp. 87-89.
[3] The grand master of St. James, and his son, the marquis of Villena, afterwards duke of Escalona. The rents of the former nobleman, whose avarice was as insatiable as his influence over the feeble mind of Henry IV. was unlimited, exceeded those of any other grandee in the kingdom. See Pulgar, Claros Varones, tit. 6.
[4] The marquis of Santillana, first duke of Infantado, and his brothers, the counts of Coruña, and of Tendilla, and above all Pedro Gonzalez de Mendoza, afterwards cardinal of Spain, and archbishop of Toledo, who was indebted for the highest dignities in the church less to his birth than his abilities. See Claros Varones, tit. 4, 9.–Salazar de Mendoza, Dignidades, lib. 3, cap. 17.
[5] Alvaro de Zuñiga, 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 Castile in 1473, and the office continued to be hereditary in the family from that period. Pulgar, Claros Varones, tit. 3.–Salazar de Mendoza, Dignidades, lib. 3, cap. 21.
[6] 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. L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 25.
[8] Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 70.
[9] Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 170.–Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., cap. 45.
[10] This nobleman, Diego Hurtado, “muy gentil caballero y gran señor,” as Oviedo calls him, was at this time only marquis of Santillana, and was not raised to the title of duke of Infantado till the reign of Isabella, (Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 8.) To avoid confusion, however, I have given him the title by which he is usually recognized by Castilian writers.
[11] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 3.–Salazar de Mendoza, Crónica de el Gran Cardenal de España, Don Pedro Gonzalez de Mendoza, (Toledo, 1625,) pp. 138, 150.–Zuñiga, Anales de Sevilla, p. 362.
[12] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 4, 5, 7.–Zuñiga, Anales de Sevilla, pp. 363, 364.–Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 35, 38, 39, 42.–Saez, Monedas de Enrique IV., pp. 1-5.–Pulgar, in an epistle addressed, in the autumn of 1473, to the bishop of Coria, adverts to several circumstances which set in a strong light the anarchical state of the kingdom and the total deficiency of police. The celebrated satirical eclogue, also, 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 one of its stanzas it boldly ventures to promise another and a better sovereign to the country. This performance, even more interesting to the antiquarian than to the historian, has been attributed by some to Pulgar, (see Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. p. 475,) and by others to Rodrigo Cota, (see Nic. Antonio, Bibliotheca Veins, tom. ii p. 264,) but without satisfactory evidence in favor of either. Bouterwek is much mistaken in asserting it to have been aimed at the government of John II. The gloss of Pulgar, whose authority as a contemporary must be considered decisive, plainly proves it to have been directed against Henry IV.
[13] See Chap. II.
[14] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., cap. 56.–Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. p. 481.–Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 191.–Barante, Histoire des Ducs de Bourgogne, (Paris, 1825,) tom. ix. pp. 101-106.
[15] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., cap. 70.–Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. p. 482.–L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 148.–Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 195.–Anquetil, Histoire de France, (Paris, 1805,) tom. v. pp. 60, 61.
[16] Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 196.–Barante, Hist. des Ducs de Bourgogne, tom. x. pp. 105, 106.–L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 149. –Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., cap. 70, 71, 72.
[17] Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 200.–Gaillard, Rivalité, tom. iii. p. 266.–See the articles of the treaty cited by Duclos, Hist. de Louis XI., tom. ii. pp. 99, 101.–Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., cap. 73.
[18] Louis XI. is supposed with much probability to have assassinated this brother. M. de Barante sums up his examination of the evidence with this remark: “Le roi Louis XI. ne fit peut-être pas mourir son frère, mais personne ne pensa qu’il en fut incapable.” Hist. des Ducs de Bourgogne, tom. ix. p. 433.
[19] The two princes alluded to were the duke of Segorbe, 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 off his match. Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 62.–Faria y Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, tom. ii. p. 392.
[20] Oviedo assigns another reason for this change; the disgust occasioned by Henry IV.’s transferring the custody of his daughter from the family of Mendoza to the Pachecos. Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 8.
[21] Salazar de Mendoza, Crón. del Gran Cardenal, p. 133.–Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 46, 92.–Castillo, Crónica, cap. 163.–The influence of these new allies, especially of the cardinal, over Isabella’s councils, was an additional ground of umbrage to the archbishop of Toledo, who, in a communication with the king of Aragon, declared himself, though friendly to their cause, to be released from all further obligations to serve it. See Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. lib. 46, cap. 19.
[22] Carbajal, Anales, MS., años 73, 74.–Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, p. 27. –Castillo, Crónica, cap. 164.–Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 75.–Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 23.
[23] Mendoza, Crón. del Gran Cardenal, pp. 141, 142.–Castillo, Crónica, cap. 164.–Oviedo has given a full account of this cavalier, who was allied to an ancient Catalan family, but who raised himself to such pre- eminence by his own deserts, says that writer, that he may well be considered the founder of his house. Loc. cit.
[24] Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 70.–This was the eldest child of Ferdinand and Isabella, born Oct. 1st, 1470; afterwards queen of Portugal.
[25] Gaillard, Rivalité, tom. iii. pp. 267-276.–Duclos, Hist. de Louis XI., tom. ii. pp. 113, 115.–Chronique Scandaleuse, ed. Petitot, tom. xiii. pp. 443, 444.
[26] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 83.–Ferreras, Hist. d’Espagne, tom. vii. p. 400.–Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. lib. 19, cap. 12.
[27] L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 150.–Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. lib. 19, cap. 13.–Chronique Scandaleuse, ed. Petitot, tom. xiii. p. 456. –Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 91.
[28] Of the original letters, as given by M. Barante, in his History of the Dukes of Burgundy, in which the author has so happily seized the tone and picturesque coloring of the ancient chronicle; tom. x. pp. 289, 298.
[29] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 10.–Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 74.–Castillo, Crónica, cap. 148.
[30] This topic is involved in no little obscurity, and has been reported with much discrepancy as well as inaccuracy by the modern Spanish historians. Among the ancient, Castillo, the historiographer of Henry IV., mentions certain “testamentary executors,” without, however, noticing in any more direct way the existence of a will. (Crón. c. 168.) The Curate of Los Palacios refers to a clause reported, he says, to have existed in the testament of Henry IV., in which he declares Joanna his daughter and heir; (Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 10.) Alonso de Palencia states positively that there was no such instrument, and that Henry, on being asked who was to succeed him, referred to his secretary Juan Gonzalez for a knowledge of his intention. (Crón. c. 92.) L. Marineo also states that the king, “with his usual improvidence,” left no will. (Cosas Memorables, fol. 155.) Pulgar, another contemporary, expressly declares that he executed no will, and quotes the words dictated by him to his secretary, in which he simply designates two of the grandees as “executors of his soul,” (_albuceas de su anima_,) and four others in conjunction with them as the guardians of his daughter Joanna. (Reyes Cat. p. 31.) It seems not improbable that the existence of this document has been confounded with that of a testament, and that with reference to it, the phrase above quoted of Castillo, as well as the passage of Bernaldez, is to be interpreted. Carbajal’s wild story of the existence of a will, of its secretion for more than thirty years, and its final suppression by Ferdinand, is too naked of testimony to deserve the least weight with the historian. (See his Anales, MS., año 74.) It should be remembered, however, that most of the above-mentioned writers compiled their works after the accession of Isabella, and that none, save Castillo, were the partisans of her rival. It should also be added that in the letters addressed by the princess Joanna to the different cities of the kingdom, on her assuming the title of queen of Castile, (bearing date May, 1475,) it is expressly stated that Henry IV., on his deathbed, solemnly affirmed her to be his only daughter and lawful heir. These letters were drafted by John de Oviedo, (Juan Gonzalez,) the confidential secretary of Henry IV. See Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 235-239.
[31] As was the case with the testaments of Alfonso of Leon and Alfonso the Wise, in the thirteenth century, and with that of Peter the Cruel, in the fourteenth.
CHAPTER V.
ACCESSION OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.–WAR OF THE SUCCESSION.–BATTLE OF TORO.
1474-1476.
Isabella proclaimed Queen.–Settlement of the Crown.–Alfonso of Portugal supports Joanna.–Invades Castile.–Retreat of the Castilians.– Appropriation of the Church Plate.–Reorganization 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.
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 licentiousness 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 satisfactory basis for the pretensions of Isabella. [1]
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 regulating the succession, and to determine the succession itself, in the most absolute manner, is incontrovertible, having been established by repeated precedents from a very ancient period. [2] In the present instance, the legislature, soon after the birth of Joanna, tendered the usual oaths of allegiance to her as heir apparent to the monarchy. On a subsequent occasion, however, the cortes, for reasons deemed sufficient by itself, and under a conviction that its consent to the preceding measure had been obtained through an undue influence on the part of the crown, reversed its former acts, and did homage to Isabella as the only true and lawful successor. [3] In this disposition the legislature continued so resolute, that, notwithstanding Henry twice convoked the states for the express purpose of renewing their allegiance to Joanna, they refused to comply with the summons; [4] and thus Isabella, at the time of her brother’s death, possessed a title to the crown unimpaired, and derived from the sole authority which could give it a constitutional validity. It may be added that the princess was so well aware of the real basis of her pretensions, that in her several manifestoes, although she adverts to the popular notion of her rival’s illegitimacy, she rests the strength of her cause on the sanction of the cortes.
On learning Henry’s death, Isabella signified to the inhabitants of Segovia, where she then resided, her desire of being proclaimed queen in that city, with the solemnities usual on such occasions. [5] Accordingly, on the following morning, being the 13th of December, 1474, a numerous assembly, consisting of the nobles, clergy, and public magistrates in their robes of office, waited on her at the alcazar or castle, and, receiving her under a canopy of rich brocade, escorted her in solemn procession to the principal square of the city, where a broad platform or scaffold had been erected for the performance of the ceremony. Isabella, royally attired, rode on a Spanish jennet whose bridle was held by two of the civic functionaries, while an officer of her court preceded her on horseback, bearing aloft a naked sword, the symbol of sovereignty. On arriving at the square she alighted from her palfrey, and, ascending the platform, seated herself on a throne which had been prepared for her. A herald with a loud voice proclaimed, “Castile, Castile for the king Don Ferdinand and his consort Doña Isabella, queen proprietor (_reina proprietaria_) of these kingdoms!” The royal standards were then unfurled, while the peal of bells and the discharge of ordnance from the castle publicly announced the accession of the new sovereign. Isabella, after receiving the homage of her subjects, and swearing to maintain inviolate the liberties of the realm, descended from the platform, and, attended by the same _cortège_, moved slowly towards the cathedral church; where, after Te Deum had been chanted, she prostrated herself before the principal altar, and, returning thanks to the Almighty for the protection hitherto vouchsafed her, implored him to enlighten her future counsels, so that she might discharge the high trust reposed in her, with equity and wisdom. Such were the simple forms, that attended the coronation of the monarchs of Castile, previously to the sixteenth century. [6]
The cities favorable to Isabella’s cause, comprehending far the most populous and wealthy throughout the kingdom, followed the example of Segovia, and raised the royal standard for their new sovereign. The principal grandees, as well as most of the inferior nobility, soon presented themselves from all quarters, in order to tender the customary oaths of allegiance; and an assembly of the estates, convened for the ensuing month of February at Segovia, imparted, by a similar ceremony, a constitutional sanction to these proceedings. [7]
On Ferdinand’s arrival from Aragon, where he was staying at the time of Henry’s death, occupied with the war of Roussillon, a disagreeable discussion took place in regard to the respective authority to be enjoyed by the husband and wife in the administration of the government. Ferdinand’s relatives, with the admiral Henriquez at their head, contended that the crown of Castile, and of course the exclusive sovereignty, was limited to him as the nearest male representative of the house of Trastamara. Isabella’s friends, on the other hand, insisted that these rights devolved solely on her, as the lawful heir and proprietor of the kingdom. The affair was finally referred to the arbitration of the cardinal of Spain and the archbishop of Toledo, who, after careful examination, established by undoubted precedent, that the exclusion of females from the succession did not obtain in Castile and Leon, as was the case in Aragon; [8] that Isabella was consequently sole heir of these dominions; and that whatever authority Ferdinand might possess, could only be derived through her. A settlement was then made on the basis of the original marriage contract. [9] All municipal appointments, and collation to ecclesiastical benefices, were to be made in the name of both with the advice and consent of the queen. All fiscal nominations, and issues from the treasury, were to be subject to her order. The commanders of the fortified places were to render homage to her alone. Justice was to be administered by both conjointly, when residing in the same place, and by each independently, when separate. Proclamations 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. [10]
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 Villena, who, inferior to his father in talent for intrigue, was of an intrepid spirit, and is commended 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 Estremadura. 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 fortunes of the cardinal Mendoza, could no longer brook the ascendency which that prelate’s consummate sagacity and insinuating address had given him over the counsels 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 labored to elevate. [11]
Under the auspices of this coalition, propositions were made to Alfonso 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, unsupported, as the latter must be, by the co-operation of Aragon, whose arms already found sufficient occupation with the French.
Alfonso, whose victories over the Barbary Moors had given him the cognomen of “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. [12]
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 prospect of permanent success. [13]
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 favor of 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, the king of Portugal put his army in motion, and, entering Castile by the way of Estremadura, 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, with the usual solemnities, sovereigns of Castile; and circulars were transmitted to the different cities, setting forth Joanna’s title and requiring their allegiance. [14]
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.